Rolla Board of Education Meeting - January 8th, 2026

001All right. Good evening everyone. We're going to start our meeting by saying the pledge of allegiance. Those who wish to participate are invited to stand, face the flag, remove any hats, and place their right hand over their heart. Participation is voluntary and respectfully welcomed. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. This evening, we've got some recognitions. >> Okay. >> You want to go? >> So, the board of education extends its appreciation to Maria Buzzi, our student representative to the board of education. Maria made history as the first student ever elected to serve two years in a row, representing students during the 2024 and 2025 calendar years. [snorts] Her hard

002work, thoughtful input, and steady leadership have made a real difference. Maria will graduate from high school this year and plans to attend Missou next fall as a biology major on the premed track. As she finishes her term, the board thanks her for her service and wishes her success as she begins this next chapter. [applause] You can get up and come down. Yeah, absolutely. I know what it is. >> Maria, is there anything you'd like to say >> at the microphone? >> I know I've I know. >> I sure know. >> Don't really need papers to tell me how grateful I am to all of you guys. Um, it's been a crazy journey. I can't believe I was the first one to ever get to do this twice. Thank you so much, Dr. Dar, for letting

003me run again for a second term. That was an amazing opportunity. I have learned so much from my time on the board and it has been an honor. It's been a pleasure to serve the Raleigh 31 school district. There's no other place in the world I'd rather be. I'd rather go to school, no student body I'd rather represent. They truly are something special and I hope I did them did them justice. I did right by them for the last two years. >> Um I'm just really proud of everything that we did together. I'm really excited for what Ashton's going to bring. He's a good friend. He will be amazing. I have total faith in him. I'm so grateful. I'm so thankful. And it's a great day to be a bulldog. [laughter] >> Thank you. [applause]

004>> Yeah. the student representative to the board, uh, Ashton Stony, will be sworn in by the board secretary. >> So, Ashton, come on down. [clears throat] >> We'll have you go to the podium. >> All right, go ahead and raise your right hand. >> I state your name. I, Ashton Stony, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I'll support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of Missouri >> and the Constitution of the State of Missouri >> and that I will faithfully and impartially >> and that I will faith fa faithfully and impartially >> discharge the duties of school director, student representative >> discharge the duties of student representative in the Rais School District. >> in in the RA

005school district. >> To the best of my ability. >> According to law. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Welcome. >> And if if you guys don't mind, I have a little speech prepared. Is that fine? >> Okay. So, good evening all um members of the board, administrators and educators and fellow community members. Um, first of all, I'd like to say how grateful I am both for this opportunity given to me to be student adviser and how grateful I am for the trust that you have placed within me. And secondly, I'd like to say how much how much I admire you fellow board members for not just allowing student voices to be heard, but putting value in that voice. My mission for student for being student adviser is quite simple. To improve communication between students to the

006board in a clear, honest, and constructive method. I plan on first learning, listening to ongoing processes, and helping create pathways for students input that is both practical and effective. I am honored for this responsibility and I look forward to working with you all. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Very good. Thank [applause] you. >> All right. Moving on now to questions from the floor. At this time, any person wishing to speak on any question previously discussed through administrative channels and not on the agenda will be granted three minutes to make a presentation to the board. Seeing none, we'll move on then to presentations on agenda items. Any [snorts] person wishing to speak on any items on the agenda will be granted three minutes to make a presentation. Seeing none, we'll move on. Uh before we

007start the consent agenda, we'd like to just take a few minutes to um announce some retirements that we accepted during close session. Um we'd like to start with Gail Friend with 24 years at the Raleigh Public Schools. James Reinhardt for 24 years at Raleigh Public Schools and 28 years total. Cara Hanland for 17 years at Raleigh Public Schools. Aaron Patton for 15 years at Raleigh Public Schools and 28 years total. Mark Cabalero for nine years at R public schools and 25 years total. James Jane Capillo for eight years at R public school. We wish them all the best during their years of retirement. All right, moving on then to our consent agenda. Um the consent agenda is utilized by the RA board of education as a means of dealing with routine matters which must be

008considered by the board of education but require minimum of discussion. All board of education members receive and review written information supporting the items listed on the consent agenda well in advance of the meeting. While any board of education member is welcome to remove any item from the consent agenda for separate consideration or discussion for any reason. Normally all items on the consent agenda are approved in one motion with a minimum of discussion. Tonight we have items A through E. Is there anything we need to pull out? >> Uh I was just going to mention the midstate petroleum equipment piece. Um that's part of our monitoring system for our fuel tanks at the transportation department. So over the past few years, we've updated um probes and and pieces of that, but this is actually kind of

009the module and printer. uh does daily leak tests, um monitors the amount of gallons of fuel in the in the system, those kind of things. Uh the the printer itself is actually what broke. Uh but quite honestly, uh that thing has been in existence for years and years and years and it doesn't exist anymore and it can't be repaired and it's just time to upgrade that piece. So, um that can be uh easily transferred if we decide to do something different with those tanks down the road, but it's just a piece we have to have for for documentation purposes. So, uh, happy to answer any other questions, but I think the rest of that's pretty straightforward. >> Okay. If I can get a motion then to approve the consent agenda items A through E. >>

010I'll make a motion we approve the consent agenda items A through E. >> I second that motion. >> All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. All right. Moving on now to old business with our long range facility update with Dr. Fulton. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. >> Hello. Good evening. >> We have had um a whirlwind of a month and a lot of things started and a lot of things underway. It's really exciting in our district. There it goes. So to talk a little bit about the early childhood center, um I will note that they were they did not work over Christmas break. SM Wilson did not, but there is a lot of really um good work going on there right now on first floor. What you

011see there on the left hand side is they are getting ready to um cut the floor to put in the plumbing for the kitchen and the restrooms. And so I did wasn't able to get a picture of them actually with it open, but that should be going right by now. And then on the right side is a picture of the entry where they have actually demoed all of the ceilings. So what what you used to see there was an entry, you know, was a stairwell and then, you know, stairs behind it that went outside and that was the pup's plaza and and it looks really good. So a lot of exciting work going on there right now. This is a view from second floor. Eventually this will have a we'll have classrooms in it. We

012won't be able to look down. So that where you see in the very back of that area um just way back in there that was the stage. So just keep that in mind. So that is really exciting. That all looks very different. >> As many of you may have noticed um we are doing some work at our at our football field. What you see there is a picture and it just kind of encompasses the whole thing. We are looking to address drainage issues off of our bleachers. So, we are addressing those issues. We have actually addressed issues in the parking lot over Christmas break, put in two more culverts up there to handle the amount of water that comes in and during rainy times, which is good because that will keep it from flowing over

013over that end of the bleachers. But they have gone in and they have tore up and taken out, as you see, part of the turf over here, and it is stacked over there along with the blocks. And we will be replacing all of this to address the drainage. We need we need more drainage in this area right here where the trench drain is. So, we'll be going in and addressing all of that and putting the fence back. They will see here before long. It's going to be it's going to be a coordination effort because when the turf comes up, we have to do certain things and then we have to replace all the ligh heads because we're replacing all the lighting. So, it will take a day to replace each pole. There's about 14 poles

014there. So, it' be about three weeks of work to replace all the lighting in there. Um, but it has to be at an uncertain time because we can't put the big trucks on the turf and with the work that they do. So, KN&S is working to coordinate that. But you will see new lighting at the football field, the baseball field, and the soccer field as well. So, all of that will come in. Will the lighting be in by the time baseball plays? I don't know. A lot of it depends upon the turf and how all of that coordinates. So, I know there has been some talk on u on Facebook. Gina has written an article to go in the Phelps County Focus has done a great job, but our turf has outlived its life and

015it is time to to you know to make that new because we don't want any injuries on that turf. Any questions about the football stadium and that awesome Mark Twain Elementary exciting bids are due next Tuesday. We had a pre-bid meeting um two days ago. We did receive official word that the insurance will replace, of course, the cafeteria as a cafeteria storm shelter, moving it down, but they will also pay to replace all the windows facing Salem Avenue to replace the new ones. So, that is good news. Just a just as a reminder, you've seen it before, but for those that may be viewing tonight and new, this is a picture of the storm shelter and cafeteria rendering. Again, it'll look very close to this whenever it's done. This will be it's a rendering of

016what that face will look like facing Salem Avenue. It'll look like a new building instead of 1955 on that end. [laughter] And whatever the board decides to do whenever we put out the bids, that is a rendering that could be two additional classrooms. So that will be a decision when after the bids come in for you all to make. So the drawings were issued on December 17th. We had a pre-bid meeting on the 6th. Bids are due to us on the 14th. We will be coming back to you for approval on January 22nd with the notice to proceed late January, early early February. I will tell you, they keep saying this will be done in a year. I'm just putting March because you know whether all the things that we're going to have to deal

017with. I just want to cover it. If it's before March, great. But they they announced in our previous meeting had to be done by December. So, but we will hope for that and I'm going to shoot for March. So, and if it's before then, we would all we win. So, >> questions about any of the projects that we have going on. I did not mention the softball field, >> but we're waiting on the fencing to come in and for work to get started there. So, we have to fence that off because middle school uses that area to play, but that is underway as well. >> Sounds good. >> Questions? Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on down to Dr. dare with the calendar for 2627 and 2728. Wow.

018>> Hard to believe her. >> Okay, I'm still uh wrapping up my cold, so I brought my water with me. Please forgive me for that, but we may we hope we get through it here, but we may not. [snorts] Um so, a little different uh approach this year and in some um unique circumstances. Uh, I'll start this by saying, um, you know, if you kind of look around at the regional news, you're probably going to start to see some news articles. There's districts who are actually petitioning the state board of education for early start dates and uh all kinds of different approaches to this calendar because it does provide some uh very unique challenges uh with with the parameters that we have to follow within the law. Um, we had some basic conversations about I

019just want to start with this about possibly asking to start earlier. Uh, quite honestly, I I don't know what success they're going to have in asking for that, but we didn't feel like it was going to um for every problem it solves, it creates another problem kind of thing. So, uh, what we're proposing to you tonight would be to work within the parameters that we have and and, uh, make the best of the situation. So, I'm going to do my best to explain um all those things to you and certainly stop me if you have questions. [snorts] Oh, and [clears throat] I should mention that the draft calendars are in your um uh in your online packets. So, uh talk a little bit about some of the the those uh requirements that we have to

020follow. Uh the,044h hour minimum uh several years ago there used to be a days minimum. We had to go a certain number of days and hours and all those things and that's gone. Uh so it's it's a,044 minimum uh for the year. Uh we we far exceed that. Um and so that's not an issue. Uh we have for many many years had 169day student calendar. There's new provisions uh from Senate Bill 727 from a couple years ago that actually kind of reward us for that um 169day calendar. uh the the kind of the history with that was uh they couldn't really figure out a way to punish the 4-day school week folks. So, they decided to reward those of us who are still fiveday school weeks. That's that's really what happened there. And uh uh

021whatever comes from that funding has to be used for teacher salaries and they are actually being very specific with that. It has to be additional funding to the teacher salary uh fund above and beyond the previous year. So it's not just that that money can be set aside and and used them that way. It has to be used to increase uh the the overall teacher salary pot. Uh so for FY26 and FY27 uh that equates to about 1% funding at current at our current funding rates that equates to about $176,000 for us. Uh and then starting in FY28 it goes to 2% funding. Uh assuming of course that there's funding at the state level to fund those things. but it's uh funded in in um uh kind of a rears. So the FY26 money that

022we're eligible for this year is actually because we had 169 day calendar last year and so it it it rolls forward in that way. Uh but you know we it's not a bad thing and and since we were doing it anyway we we focused on trying to continue with that. Uh the biggest challenge for this year is this this first day of school piece. This was passed back in I think 2019, signed into law in 2019, but took effect for the 202021 school year. Uh [clears throat] our first day of school cannot be any earlier than 14 days prior to Labor Day. And uh there was a whole lot of discussion at that time around tourism, uh the state fair, agricultural kind of things and all that. And so that's what the legislature decided. And

023so we've we've operated under that uh premise for the last few years. Uh the difficulty with this upcoming calendar is Labor Day is September 7th. So that pushes our first day of school off to the last possible um latest possible date. Uh as we talk with uh we do have a calendar committee. So we meet with them comprised of representatives from each building, support staff and certified staff. We have parents that serve on that committee. Uh, and then we do a full um survey to all of our staff and and the parents send that information out. We just try to collect feedback on the calendar. It's not a vote. It's not a uh do you want this or this. We just try to get feedback. So, we did make several changes from the drafts that

024were taken to the committee uh trying to use some of that feedback. Some of the things we're not able to do. So, I always tell everybody it's it's we wish it was Burger King, but we can't have a calendar for everybody. we have one calendar that everybody has to follow. So, we're able to make some concessions and do some things and and then sometimes we're just not. Usually the bigger discussion points are the first day of school. Uh and and that usually comes in and when can we start and then we we get this kind of faction of let's go ahead and start on Monday. No way we can start on Monday. Um we've done that before. There's always these things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's always the discussion there. >> Um and I'll I'll

025talk to you about kind of where we landed with that here in a minute. Winter break is always the big piece. Everybody wants two weeks, two full weeks at winter break. And um uh we were able to work that in. The last day of school then becomes an a question, you know, when do we get out? Um and how does that relate to uh Memorial Day and the start of summer school? Uh this year we had a lot of conversation. This has come up the past few years, but a little more conversation this year about Thanksgiving break. There are some area schools that take a full week at Thanksgiving. Um, I would tell you the feedback was very mixed. We have some parents, students, and and and staff that are very favorable of a full

026week of Thanksgiving. We have some people who are very very much not in favor of that. Um, there's some u pieces that go with that, and I'll talk about those here in a minute, too. But, um, that was probably one of the pieces that had a little more um, conversation this year than it has in the past. Um, we actually proposed the possibility of shifting first semester to ending after the holiday break. Um, there were some folks who were okay with that, but for the most part, um, most people did not like that. They don't like that the students would have to wait uh to come back and take finals, especially our high school students. Uh, it primarily affects the semester long classes at the high school. So, it's not everything in every every situation,

027but um it it's it's still a factor. And so, there was a lot of discussion about that. And then trying to find some balance between the semesterers. Again, for those high school semester classes, that's probably where it matters the most. Um but we do also recognize that second semester is usually offset by more weather days. Uh we have our state testing. There's more field trips in the spring. And so, you know, balance between the semesters may not necessarily mean equal number of days. Uh, a little bit about weather days. For the past several years, we've done what's called a a max calendar. Um, and so, you know, many of you remember back in the days of of our childhoods, we we made up snow days. You missed a day, you had to make it up.

028And you either took your holidays or you took days from spring break or you tacked them on at the end or whatever. And, uh, it was always difficult to kind of know what was going to happen. People make plans that they have to then adjust. And so, uh, we've started building this max calendar and basically we take our,044 that's required. We build in the 36 additional inclement weather days. Um, under state law, the most we would have to make up for inclement weather is 10. So, we build all of that in so that no matter what happens, we would not have to make up the weather days. We [snorts] have a couple of extra days built in because there are things outside of weather sometimes that could force us to close. And so, um, in

029doing so, we believe that the calendar stays the calendar. People can plan around that and it doesn't change. So, the last day of school stays the last day of school. The vacations and and and breaks that are scheduled stay the breaks and and and things. So, that's uh we've received good feedback on that. People like knowing what it's going to be and being able to plan and uh so we're we're continuing with that model. Um, back on the Thanksgiving break piece, uh, again, some area districts are doing that. We did see some districts uh stop doing that this year. I think that's a lot due to the calendar format. Um but we we did see that and and talk to some of those folks. Some of the things that were mentioned were travel. You know,

030if you're traveling for Thanksgiving, uh having a couple of extra days there would be helpful. Um wanting uh kind of seeking a break in the fall, a little longer break. Uh but some of the challenges um our support staff would not get paid for those days. Those aren't holidays. And so that's the paycheck that actually comes to them uh as the final paycheck before Christmas. And so that was a little bit of a concern for some of our support staff. We would obviously have to have those days somewhere else in the calendar, but it still doesn't make up for that check time. Uh child care was mentioned by our parents. Um you know, not everybody's closed the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving. Not everybody's closed the Wednesday or Friday of Thanksgiving. So that would just

031compound that problem. And then there were some uh comments made by mostly our older um higher grade level teachers about academic progress that you know taking that Thanksgiving break is great, but adding another couple days and having that full week plus the the weekends there would you know be difficult to get kids back on track coming back in December for that short term right before um testing and and finals. So >> [snorts] >> um we in looking at the feedback and things there there's at this time we are not recommending to move that. So, we will stick with our Wednesday, Thursday, Friday uh Thanksgiving break. I I think it's um certainly we were happy to look at it and and understand that it would probably be beneficial to some but not to others. So, it's

032one of those that's just u a hard one to make the decision on. So, in summary, the two calendars that you have are nearly identical in layout. Um so, a couple of key things uh we did we were able to shift to the first day being on a Tuesday. Uh, [snorts] and then one change that we made, and this came from feedback from a lot of people, but mostly from our staff, uh, Monday of that first week is not a contract day, and that's different than it's been in the past. That's typically been at least a work day or a professional development day of some sort. Uh, but we use we have our staff in for that full week before. And so for their own children going through open houses and all those kind of

033things, having that Monday gives them the time to get their own kids prepped for school, to finish up any last minute things without scheduled activities, to get their classrooms finalized on their own in their own way, on their own time, those kind of things. So >> um I think uh that's been something that's been kind of talked about and requested and um we we've tried to structure it around that. >> Again, we're proposing to keep Thanksgiving as it has been with the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Uh two full weeks at Christmas. we were able to make that work. Our spring break, we we try to align that with Missouri S&T. That just works well for a lot of our staff and and families um who have um connections there. And then that puts the last day

034of school to the Wednesday prior to Memorial Day for both calendars. And so staff would work on the Thursday and then everybody can have the longer weekend there. Uh so um [clears throat] again, you have those calendars there to look at. The the one thing I would call out to you is as it stands right now, first semester we're showing 77 student days with second semester with 92. That is the biggest spread we've had uh in in a a good while. Um but but I it's still manageable and it still uh allows our students to earn enough credits for their um uh Carnegie units and all those kind of things. So it's workable. Again, the primary impact to that is going to be those semester length high school classes. everybody else can adjust and and

035just shift a unit or something. Um, so it's not ideal, but we think it's it's workable and probably less impactful to the kids than trying to wait and hold the semester over. >> Yeah. Personal finance is a semester class, isn't it? >> Government, right? >> Yes. >> A lot in the summer, but I'm sure there's [snorts] several classes >> in fall and spring. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. that would be >> uh government would be another one that would be impacted there. >> Um yeah, >> so based on the calendar and I know you can't speak because we because of Missouri S&T and their graduation schedule, but it looks like maybe graduation would be May 16th. >> You know, honestly, I didn't look >> at their schedule for Mother's Day. >> Yeah, I didn't look

036at that, honestly. So, I'm not sure what their schedule looks like. Um, so the other piece of this is we're bringing you two years worth of calendars. That's different. Normally we do a year at a time. Uh, we've heard from our sending schools um the the schools that send students to RTITC, they try to follow our calendar and uh this is the time frame that we've done for years, but as more and more things are happening and more and more people are trying to plan ahead, uh they're getting pressured to do it earlier. And so, uh, as we've we've done some research and looked at other school districts, um, this is kind of becoming the the thing that we we'll go out for two years and then we'll stay a year out further. Uh, it

037helps with our athletic and activity planning. It helps with, uh, people who are trying to schedule vacations and book cruises or whatever they're doing. Uh, gives them all those times out farther enough out to do those things. So, we're actually requesting approval of 2627 and 2728. [clears throat] Uh if you lay those side by side, they're basically identical. Um as far as the dates, it's just off one day because of the shift in the in the calendar year. So uh but uh for our reporting purposes, we would ask for um approval in two separate motions. And then um I put the little caveat at the end. um you know should there be a legislative change or a procedural change from Desi or whatever uh the board always has the the not only the uh ability

038but the responsibility to make adjustments accordingly. So that doesn't change um that could happen to next year's calendar before August. You know the legislature the legislature could make a change this session. So um that's always been the case but um absent the necessity for revision it would just it would be there and be done. Happy to answer any questions. I went through that pretty quick. >> Yeah. So, the university's uh graduation is the 16th on 2027 and >> uh the 14th on 13th on 2028. >> And when is Mother's Day? >> Mother's Day should be like the third that >> usually the second. Yeah. said we shouldn't have a problem. >> So it'll probably be okay. >> So S&T is doing it on Mother's Day. >> You said for 27 it's on the 16th. >>

039It's on the >> Well, it'll [snorts] do it on the 16th. >> So ours would be on the 16th. >> And then theirs would be on the 13th and theirs would be on the 14th. >> Yeah. So we might miss Mother's Day. >> All right. Anybody have any questions before we take a motion? [clears throat] If I can get a motion then to accept the calendar uh as presented. >> I make a motion to approve the 2627 calendar. >> I'll second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Those oppos [clears throat] say no. >> All right. And then can I get a motion to accept the uh 2728 calendar? >> I'll make a motion to accept the 2728 calendar and I'll second. Right. All those in favor say I. >> I. I was supposed

040to say no. All right, they are approved. >> Okay. And then the last thing I would mention on those, so what you have in your packet are the what we kind of call our strategic working copies. Uh Gina actually makes the pretty copies that go on the website and get sent out to everybody. So she'll work on finalizing those and we'll get those sent out to everybody and posted on the website. So >> sounds great. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next up, Dr. Dar, do you know of any legislation that's been filed yet that's related to calendar? >> I do not yet. >> Okay. Just curious. And that would be a good question we could ask too at advocacy day. Yeah, >> we haven't heard anything. >> Hopefully, we'll know at least what's in

041the works by then at our [laughter] >> lunch and learns all the >> lunch and learns. They'll probably talk about [clears throat] >> All right, Mrs. Are you ready [laughter] for our FY26 budget adjustment? >> Okay, so no presentation this evening. Um, and just going to highlight some of the big ticket items of changes that I've made since I updated [snorts] the budget last with you. So, the biggest and most the one we're most grateful for is the additional gift amount of $546,000 from the Phelps County Community Foundation. >> That now fully funds the purchase of that building. >> So, that's in the budget and we're just waiting on some things to be approved to actually receive that funding. So, again, thank you very much to that foundation. I also needed to move uh $2.5

042million I had originally budgeted all of the $4 million federal grant money for the early childhood center to capital projects fund and based on some additional guidance received we've moved two and a half million from capital projects to the uh general operating fund uh for both the revenue and expenditures. Then I've added um an additional 1.5 million in local budget dollars to the capital projects fund to complete the renovation of that building. Also made some changes to update the federal title programs now that we have our full allocation for the year. So um updated all those. And then I did need to increase the general fund um expenditure budget by $23,000 for the music workers comp and liability insurance. uh once we finally got that bill for this year. So, all that being said, our

043original budget of projected ending fund balance was 23.32%. We're now budgeting for 26.15% ending fund balance. Um that is a significant deficit for a budget. Still don't anticipate that. I'll be looking at that closely as we start receiving now in January um our local tax revenue and that type of thing and adjusting that accordingly. So, there any questions? I'll take those. Otherwise, I do need motion for approval. Does anyone have any questions? If not, I'll make a motion to approve the amendments as presented. >> I'll second that. >> All right. All in favor say I. >> Those opposed say no. >> It's approved. [cough and clears throat] Moving on now to new business this evening. We have Stacy Reid with us, Dr. Reid, um, to go over special education and the 504 update. Thanks for

044joining us today, this evening. Welcome. Thank you. This is her favorite. >> I know. She loves this. [laughter] >> We're always so glad to see you. So, we always do fantastic among friends. Um, [clears throat] you know, this isn't my favorite things, but public speaking, but I absolutely love our special ed department and our students. So, thank you for letting me have this opportunity to share about our department. So um I will begin since I figured this out. Okay, just wanted to give you another glance at part of our department. So this was before school started actually last year. It's very hard to get all of us together at the same time because we do span districtwide. So that is primarily our teachers and a few therapists. So that doesn't even include our support staff.

045So but just wanted to kind of show you here we are some of us. And then I wanted to give you just an overview of our actual department and how many staff we have. So obviously myself, we have an administrative assistant. She also helps with ECSE and PAT. We have six process coordinators who work for every building has an assigned process coordinator. And right now early childhood special ed and junior high share a process coordinator. But they are basically our paper pushers. They help us keep compliant uh meet with parents, do all of those initial evals. And so they're they're very important and they stay very busy. Um, thanks to you all. We have a district-wide 504 coordinator. So, thank you for that. Uh, she stays hopping between all of the buildings as well. And

046then we have a transition coordinator who is housed at RTI and uh, eight ECSE teachers. Uh, as of this week, thanks again to you all. We added that early childhood special ed teacher due to our growing numbers. Uh, we have 12 elementary between the three schools, nine at middle, five junior high, 10 at the high school. We have 69 pair professionals as of today. [laughter] Again, that's another area that tends to fluctuate based on our needs. Uh, one registered behavior technician who's housed at Truman. Four speech language pathologist. I call them our little unicorns because they're very hard to find. Uh, we're fortunate to also have assistants. So, we have four SLP assistants. And then we contract with two SLPs who provide some supervision. I have not let Nancy Strawner fully retire from us yet.

047So, she's tried multiple times. She lives in St. Louis now and she's still helping us. But [laughter] we uh so we contract with them for supervision and and some testing. We have one physical therapist who's been with us for quite some time uh we who we adore and a physical therapy assistant, one occupational therapist districtwide. She's amazing as well as her um assistant, one teacher, the vision impaired, which is also uh very hard to find. So we have a new TVI this year and she's been amazing. She comes as far as uh the Branson area to serve us, but she helps other schools in the area. So, it kind of works out for her to see our our kids uh one day and then work with other districts while she's here. We have two contracted

048one-on-one nurses that are it's in their IEP that they spend the time with that specific student due to medical needs. And then we have two contracted BCBAs, uh which has been uh very helpful to us. uh one who works pretty much full-time with us uh weekly and then one who comes down one day a week to help us out. So that is our department. [laughter] We're changing and evolving. The next just an update. We receive this every summer. It's our program rating that Destie sends us and uh based on the previous year. So we met our requirements again um this year in all areas as far as our score. So we had a a four which is the highest score you can receive. You can see there strengths audit data timely data graduation rate our

049assessment participation uh disproportionality initial val timeline part C to B transition is our first step students moving into ECSE our early childhood program by the age of three and then postsecary transition planning so that we're working on getting our kids ready for what they're going to do post high school and then opportunities for improvement would be our assessment proficiency. So, those scores on that MAP test and the EOCC's, which we're constantly working on our curriculum and developing and and trying to expose our students to as much um of that Geno [clears throat] curriculum is appropriate and then our dropout rate, which I know our high school works diligently on as well. So, trying to keep our students in school and then finding how we can help them for that next step. So, if we can

050get them engaged [clears throat] and involved in what they want to do, then hopefully we can hang on to them, right? And we have a lot of programs like learning center and at risk programs to help those kids as well. So, but we're always keeping an eye on that too. [snorts] So, next is our compliance monitoring. So, you all are know that I'm super proud of this because I've bragged about it for several years now. We turn in our files for review every three years. So, we had four cycles of zero corrective actions, which is pretty unheard of. Like, we might even be the only district in the state. No, I don't know that for sure. [laughter] He couldn't tell me cuz I asked Start the but it was pretty rare and it's not a

051big deal to get a corrective action. I mean, you just kind of expect it. So, we're just really proud of this. Desi puts out every year the top 10 compliance um concerns for like that cohort that they reviewed that year. So, we always take a look at that. What were the top 10 that people were out of compliance for? So, we'll do that again. We keep an eye on it, but we are fortunate that we weren't one of them. So that that's been really nice. We will submit files this next year in the spring of 2027 and then that starts our new new review year. So next I just wanted to give you an over view of our overall numbers in special ed. So we're like we've been in that middle 500 range for a

052little while now. Um I only hit like the top five to show you specific numbers, but if you want to see all 14 areas of identification, I can show you the numbers for those. And um we had three. So we turn in a December one count every December 1. So where are we at on December 1. So it's just a snapshot of where we're at, how many IEPs we have, and how many kids are enrolled in the district at that time. So this fluctuates, but it's a good comparison from year to year. Um I pointed out autism is definitely our area that's grown every year. So I just kind of looked back at our 2021 year. we had 78 students identified with autism and we're now at 124. So, it's just that is definitely our

053area that continues to grow. You meet one person with autism, you've met one person with autism. So, it's a [snorts] huge spectrum disorder. Um, no one person's the same. And we have students that are out in our gened setting that need zero support, some that may need 504s for accommodations and then some on every placement continuum we have on our IEPs. So, [laughter] I just but that is definitely an area that we'll continue to learn and grow about that that's growing. Other health impairment is primarily students diagnosed with ADHD. So that's our other pretty big area. Again, if a student's diagnosed with ADHD, doesn't necessarily mean they need an IEP or they need a 504. Uh it just really truly depends on that student, but and if they need special ed services, then they might

054have an IEP. So I just wanted to kind of point out those main areas to you. You have any questions about any of those? Okay. I will say just because I see I don't like to talk but then I talk a lot. So [laughter] emotional disturbance I do like to say that used to be called behavior disorders. They change it to emotional disturbance. And I like to point out that's not always your acting out kid. It can also be your kid that's internalizing. And I think we all know we've seen an increase in anxiety and depression in our students. So they might also fall under the ID ED umbrella. Not ID ED umbrella. So, it's not always the kid that's having acting out behaviors. Okay. And then this is our early childhood special ed count.

055So, um December one, we had 66 students. I'm sure it's higher than that today. So, again, it's it's where we end the year. So, we ended the year last year with 89. Um so, again, we'll I'm sure we'll end this year higher than that. So, as far as early childhood special ed, but that gives you an idea. Most of our students in early childhood special ed uh fall under the category, it's a broader definition of YCD, young child with developmental delay. And again, it's all about early intervention, right? So, thank you for all of your support for early childhood and helping us and we're super excited about the center. So, uh that'll be a lot of fun. But, uh that's where we're meeting their needs. And then by kindergarten, first grade, they may or may

056not qualify for an IEP anymore. It just truly depends on the individual child. So if we are able to give them a we call it a K12 identification such as autism now we go ahead and do that. So [cough] see where those [clears throat] numbers or like sound system disorder only is speech. So next is our placement. So as a part of the IEP team so that's their individualized plan uh which the parents are part of. So the parent, the special ed teacher, the gened teacher, the local education agency, uh any therapist, they're part of developing the students plan. And what they're always looking at is that least restrictive environment. So where can this student be the most successful? Um what setting we try to keep them in the gened setting as much as is

057appropriate. It's not appropriate for every child, right? So we go but we talk about going through the continuum. So 80% or more is they're out in the gened setting 80% or more of the time. Then there's kind of the middle range. That's our students that are probably getting most of their academics in the sped setting, but are maybe going out for specials and lunch and recess. Then you have your less than 40% which is more self-contained in the special ed setting. That happens a little bit more by the high school level when we're, you know, we have class periods, but by then we're really working on those job skills and those life skills classes. So it might be considered a special ed class, but it's meeting their individual needs. And then homebound, there's two different

058that's so homebound can be medical. It can also be an IEP team decision. These particular students are very medically fragile. They actually attended BW Robinson. They are our students. So now they're ours because they can't attend school. So we provide their homebound services. So that's kind of where that is. But pretty much if a student's on homebound, it's not a long-term placement. Questions about that? Oh, private separate day facility. I didn't mention that one. Um that for us is primarily discovery schools here in town. And again, we've worked through options on the continuum. We provided all the supports we feel we can. Uh they're typically a safety risk either to themselves or to others. So that could also be a central institute for the deaf. We have a student that attends that as well. So

059it's basically we pay them for services. Okay. Next is section 504. So again, we have our awesome uh coordinator who oversees our 504s. And I just wanted to say that she had 318 students, but that is higher than that now as of today. So [laughter] she's constantly uh developing plans as well and evaluating students, but she does hop between all of the buildings and helps our our district phenomenally. She's helped the counselors quite a bit with that and took that off their plate for the most part. So that's been a good thing. and it allows consistency for our plans having that one person kind of guide us. Um I will say our 80% or more placement because ideally that's where the majority of our kids would be. A lot of them have moved on to

060504s. So it looks like our 80% placement has gone down some but that's because we're doing the right thing and if they don't actually need a special education service we're putting them on a 504 for accommodations in the gened setting. So, it's kind of a but we're doing the right thing for our kids. So, but we've moved quite a few off of IEPs onto 504s. It's good. And then just a highlevel overview of finance. So, as I look at Kendra, uh [laughter] this is an example of our uh Kendra and I have lots of chats [laughter] with Desi when it comes time. But, um this is an example of our revenue. So this is from fiscal year 2025 and it's based on the 23 24 expenditures, right? So we get reimbured or we send it

061all in in October to our final expenditure report in October for the year prior. So [snorts] these numbers are based on that year fiscal year 2025. But as you can see, we're mostly reimbursed for ECS expenditures. We pay very close to those what does you need to have a full-time FTE. So if we have to have 10 students, then we make sure we have that before we add a teacher. So we're very very cognizant of our FTE requirements for ECSE. But that's a an example of early childhood special life. Okay. The next is our K12. So you can see this is from 2425. So our IDA, we call them our part B funds. You can see that there. um that pretty much pays for a little over half of our paras. So it's not paying

062for anything more than that. I think people think we get a lot of this money and it's paying for all of our staff and it's basically paying for a portion of our paras. Our Medicaid funding that we receive that's based on our therapists. So our SLPs, our OT and our PT can do direct service billing through therapy log. So they do billing and we do get some revenue from that and then uh we can get some additional revenue through high needs fund or public placement fund. So high needs fund is three times ADA. So for example um this year ADA was 13,39575. So we had to spend at least 40,187 on a student and then we could submit over that $40,000 and then we will get a portion of that. [laughter] So, but it's a

063lot of just, you know, tracking all of that data and making sure we submit all of the right things. So, um, we submitted one student last school year for the 23 24 school year and we received, you know, the 8,000 plus, which was about 93% [clears throat] of our actual cost. This year, we submitted 26,161, which was for three students for the 2425 school year. I'm anticipating we'll probably get 90 some percent of the cost back, but I'm not sure what it'll be yet. So, it depends on what all the districts in the state turn in and they have like one pot of money and then they divide it all out. Public placement fund is for our students who attend school with us here, but their parents actually reside in another district. So, uh, if

064they've been placed by the state children's division, as long as the parental rights have not been terminated, if their parents live in another district, then we can bill what's called local tax effort to that district. Sometimes we receive money, we receive LTE from them, sometimes we don't, and then we can bill for that additional expense through public placement fund. So, and Dr. Welch's office also works with public placement funds. So, we keep track of all of our foster students and the services we provide. So overall in a nutshell, we expend more than we receive, [laughter] right? But we do a very good job of trying to meet our students needs. Okay. So then I just wanted to highlight some of our specific programs because that's really the fun part, right? So um early childhood special

065ed top, they always invite us to their holiday program every year. So they invite parents and central office. We like to go over and celebrate. Uh Dr. Dear's down in the corner. That's actually from the year prior because it was a really good picture. But they do invite us over for Halloween every year and we get to hand out candy and it gives central office an excuse to dress up. So that's a lot of fun too. [snorts] >> And then uh Apple Day, they invited Mark Twain and Truman friends and Mrs. Diaz's class from Raleigh Technical Center to help run their Apple Day stations. They had cookie day where they went and worked with culinary program. So we included RTI um to decorate our cookies and kids did Ruth's kids again. and Miss Diaz's kids

066did story time with them. Uh we still partner with Special Olympics of Missouri. They weekly do gross motor activities with our early childhood program and Mr. Tim comes down once a month from Jeff City. So that's pretty awesome as well. And then um parents' teachers is obviously Mrs. Brown like they're very connected and so they did a fine and gross motor family night with parents' teachers. So just all the various ways different communities and different organizations are even involved with just ECSE. So just more collaboration integration. This is uh Wyman. So uh they have a snack attack cart. I know that Mark Twain also has one. So I think they're in several of our buildings, [laughter] but they're a good way to work on those uh skills, math skills, social skills. So uh they're out

067spreading joy. Then they have the second grade program where all students are included in a core sponsored activity, the Anandaga cave. So we also appreciate appreciate funding from core for several of our activities. So then Truman just uh I think this is a really good one to highlight like our first responders. Our first responders are amazing with our students, our SRO's um the firefighter c like they come, they understand if they need to wear headphones. They're just very aware of maybe sensory needs, uh if we're nonverbal, how to communicate. So I do appreciate that about our community. So these are just some examples of our firefighters at Truman. And then they also went to McDonald's and ordered and we had students who are non-verbal using communication devices to order and it was pretty neat experience.

068So just more community and staff involvement. Our annual uh Mark Twain carolene. So they came over and sang to us again. They also did at the nursing home which is pretty cool. And then they uh finish it up by eating at Alex's where they get spoiled a little bit. So just more pictures of that community involvement and getting out there and spreading cheer. We're still learning from each other. So, I wanted to highlight um some of you will know Mason Davis. He's a Rala graduate. So, pretty proud of him. And he came and spoke at middle school kindness day this year. So, uh he's a successful pharmacist here in Rala. So, pretty proud of him. But he gave a great presentation. The kids were very engaged at the middle school. And we also had some

069teachers speak at kindness day about their their own children. So that's neat. And then uh junior high is just an example of integration pushin class. Our students if you were to walk into a pushin class you wouldn't know which kids have IEPs and which students don't. So just again working together integration. Next this is fun employment skills that postsecary like I said we're working on after high school. What are we going to do? So on the job training we had uh 10 students last semester doing OJT for the district. We have eight this semester doing OJT. So they serve typically in a paraprofessional role in the cafeteria or custodial. Uh this is a pretty cool picture. I think most of you know the little girl up front, but she was super excited to go work

070in early childhood special ed. She just started this week and she's reading a book to early childhood special ed class. So it's just an example of that coming full circle, right? So um it was pretty neat. She had a great time. And then at the bottom, Champs Brew. Again, you all, most of you know about Champs Brew because we've talked about that a lot, too. Please stop by in the mornings and get yourself a coffee from our atrium upstairs at the high school. But again, that's our life skills program running our coffee shop and they've done an amazing job. Ashton, have you had coffee from our jam? >> I have. [laughter] >> And they're profitable. So, they've done a great job with that program. Um, some of our students also go out into the community

071to work uh on job skills. Uh, again from that life skills population. Some of the community like businesses that we work with are Treasure Isle, Price Chopper, Green Tree, Presbyterian, Phelps Health, and Kroger. So, they're going out weekly and and working on those job skills. Make sure I hit everything there. And then again, RTI. So, they're pretty amazing. uh RTI doing what they do best, right? Working on those job skills, employment skills. So, Intro to Service Careers is on the right. Uh it used to be our supermarket program, but they had 10 students successfully passed their Serve Safe test this semester already this year. So, that's pretty good. >> And then we added this year, this has been the talk of the Sped World, the adaptive technical career shop. So sorry to read it because

072it's so big. Anyway, it's uh been amazing as when you walk in, students are measuring, they're doing fractions without really realizing they're doing fractions and just doing amazing things working in the shop class. So, it has been a truly wonderful addition to the program over at RTI. >> Did you know that last month they got a present from there from RTI? No. >> They got one of the pins that they were doing. They gave them all pins. >> Very good. Okay. So, you have firsthand experience with the program. So, um, anyway, again, I always like to say, you know, special ed service, not a place. So, we don't pigeon hole our kids and we make sure, uh, we just meet them where they're at and try to get them where they're going, what they want

073to do. And last but not least, I wanted to land on Special Olympics because, well, I love Special Olympics and uh, it'll make you super happy if you go. So, in the fall, we do bowling. In the spring, we go to track and field. I invite you all to track and field in Wesville on April 10th to come support our athletes. And Ashton has been a unified partner. So he has helped our students at Special Olympics. >> It's an amazing program. >> It's awesome. So again, we are very fortunate I feel with our staff, Jenned, not just special ed gened, our support staff, our board members that support our program and our students. So thank you very much. You good? >> Good. >> Fantastic. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Awesome. >> Thank you so much.

074>> You did great. You did so good. >> You did great. >> All right. >> Not for sure he took a breath, though. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Thank you, Dr. Reid. Next up is Dr. Fulton to talk about music umbrella insurance. >> So, I won't lie. I had just about a brief moment of panic a minute ago because at the end of this presentation, I'm going to ask you to approve a money amount, but no check. No, that is planned. We did not receive the invoice till the 23rd. So, this is very different than what I've done before. So, we're going to approve up for us to pay them at the next meeting. Okay. Because I went, oh my gosh, I forgot to put the check number in. Oh, yeah. I

075didn't get the invoice in time. So, [laughter] there we go. >> I almost messaged you yesterday [clears throat] to ask you. >> I did not receive it. You We will do a check for them. So, and I don't know what it is because it's not cut yet. So, again, a brief review of what is music. Music is our insurance company. It's a consortium of school districts, community colleges, and education associations in Missouri. With over 475 members, music uh ensures our property and liability insurance for our B buildings, buses, general liability, workman's comp, and they um are the insurance company for over 90% of all schools in Missouri. And we are very grateful for them. They are they have been wonderful to work with. Key factors in what I'm bringing you today and in what I

076presented to you last time is the number of students at 4,123 67 buses in our fleet with 23 other vehicles that we insure. The umbrella liability that I'm bringing to you today does not include um our cyber pollution programs. We did that before. It does include our sovereign immunity, automobile accidents, property conditions, etc. We opt in for the 8 million in additional coverage for us. We I'm going to point out that that is a 7% increase in rate in our rate over 2025. >> Over 2025 because this is for 2026. >> So, one question on the $8 million. That's just additional that we do each year. >> Correct. Okay. >> We have choices to do lower amounts, but we we always opt for the bigger amount. >> So, >> thank you. >> You're welcome. With

077that, I need you to approve for us to cut a check number unknown to music and Gallagher Basset for $45,627. >> Does anyone have any questions? And that will come through on on the next board meeting. >> Okay. >> And we'll just approve the payment. >> Just approve the payment and then I don't have to call it out next time. >> Yeah. I'll make a motion that we approve the uh renewal for our insurance coverages in the amount of $45,627. >> I second that motion. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Say no. >> Thank you. >> I know that is very different, but it's >> all right. >> Start something [clears throat] new whenever we can get there. >> All right. Staffing requests. >> Okay. So, I'm just going to say as I

078go into this in a minute, just remember what Dr. Reed said because that means a lot to what I'm going to ask for. This presentation will be in two parts. One for the current school year and one for next school year. So here we go for 2627. So this year's budget, we would like to add a custodian at RTC and central office. We have been operating with two custodians in this building. It has been very difficult to get all areas of the building clean. Um and it is it is a need. I mean there are areas of our building that suffer and you know we have college classes here and things and we really need another custodian. The budget impact with salary and benefits total is $44,835. That is step two on the salary schedule.

079The next one is the addition of a transportation support staff float. Now what does that mean? That is a general substitute everywhere that we need one. So they could be the one, they're going to be the one that will be called in. We want to guarantee them three hours a day. They can drive a bus. They could actually help maintenance help maintenance. It's it's our bus maintenance. All of our mechanics out by driving buses. We have to drive buses in order to keep um their speed up to help clean out the engines. And so we need people instead of taking our mechanics from away from our fleet, they can actually drive those buses. They can fill in in the office. All areas as needed, bus aids, etc. So, we would like to help because if

080we have someone on call, it's very easy to call them at 5:30 in the morning when they get a call out rather than to call many people. So, we would like to employ that person for three hours a day guaranteed. And we do buses, bus drivers with that three hours guaranteed for 185 days with a budget impact of $9,570. Questions about that? And the addition of a bus aid. So, bus 40 runs two routes. So what we do is we pick up a group of kids and we take them home. Then we come back to school and pick up another group of kids and take them home. We do have room on that bus for all of the students. The the problem is is that sometimes it's a little bit difficult to manage for the

081bus driver. So we would like to put a bus aid on that bus to eliminate that double run by adding a person on there. That is still a savings versus all of the things that we have with a bus with a budget impact of $9,570. three hours a day for 185 days. >> Yes. >> So some kids would be getting home sooner than they were. >> Yes. And and then school doesn't have to keep watching those kids either. Sometimes they're not picked up till 3:45, >> right? >> Yes. >> Action needed for the current school year, a custodian RTCCO, one transportation support float driver person, and one bus aid position. Please. the hours for the transportation float driver and a bus aid. Would it be possible for that to be the same person? >> It

082would not. >> Okay. >> The [clears throat] bus aid needs to be on that bus every single solitary day. This person, the bus, the float would go be able to drive a bus >> and to be able to fill in these things, right? It's not necessarily a bus driver. >> I might I [clears throat] might just couple of clarifying things. So, we used to have three custodians in this building and uh uh with some attrition uh retirements and that kind of thing, we went to two. We weren't using all the space in the building at that time. >> Now, we're using all the space plus some and and it's just become a a very difficult thing. So, >> uh we've used some student workers and some things to try to fill in, but it's it's

083not being effective. So, that's that piece. >> How much longer will ECC be in building? >> Till 27. >> Okay. >> Yeah, till 27. But then I would tell you um we had a meeting today and I I voiced to them. I think every space that ECC is in has been spoken for about three times >> probably. >> Yes. >> I had another request for another room today that we didn't even think about. So >> and then the other one I would mention is on this on this transportation support float. Just think permanent sub. They're just going to show up every day and sub where we need it. That's what that is. >> And if they don't show up at 6 in the morning, they're going to show up about 8 o'clock to help out

084in in >> in the workplace. I just always try to think if there's any additional way that they could have more hours or work a different something. >> Correct. >> So, >> just Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> If not, can I get a motion then to approve the custodian, the transportation support float person, and the bus aid position. >> I'll make a motion that we approve the custodian transportation support float and the bus aid position. >> I second that motion. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed? See, no. >> It is approved. Thank you. Now, we're going to start working on school year 2627. [snorts] So, I'm going to This is all dealing with early childhood. So, again, think about what Dr. Reid said in her great presentation

085on early childhood special ed. She did a great job. I You should have just tied it in with mine. So, there we go. When we look at funding sources for early childhood positions that I'm going to ask for, they're going to come from two sources. they're going to come from we will be able to claim some um average daily attendance for these students and then in ECSE we will be able to gather some partial funding and then some full funding. It just depends on how the case loads go and how well special ed does that and they do it very well as you noticed in there. So um Dr. Reid is very cognizant of that and she keeps us all in line. The one thing I would like to point out is that bus drivers,

086bus aids, and the social worker, that funding could be partially from ECSE and could be partially from ADA. It just depends on what's there. If we have a full-time ECSE route, early childhood specialed route, that will be fully reimbursed. But if we because we are transporting all students, if we mix them, it would only be a portion of the funding. So, it just depends. I've kind of put it both. It goes in both places. Questions about that? Dr. Reid can answer them all for you. She's going to kill me. It'll be fine. So, what I am coming to you tonight to ask for to [snorts] start off with is four early childhood teachers. We are asking that they of course have the certification for early childhood with special education preferred. So, we could be able

087to use them in both spots. Budget impact is a masters at step 15 plus benefits which is $80,29.92 times four teachers at $320,839.68. I will point out and I put this on every slide. This is based on the 2526 salary schedule because we have not addressed the 2627 schedule yet as it is. So all of this is based on 2526. I'm not going to read that each time, but I will. I have it on every slide. Yes, sir. This is an average or an estimated of what would correct. >> So it could be less. >> It could be less. >> Could be a little bit more. >> Correct. >> For budget purposes, we kind of hit the middle spot. >> The middle spot. Yep. >> So it could be up or down. >> Yes. This

088is Yeah. Our guesstimate. >> Okay. >> So [snorts] this we are looking at we're not going to have a counselor in this building, but we are eligible to have a social worker. This is a new position. you you will see attached we have created a job description that person would work with our with our families providing them resources and those students in ECSE it could be students outside of that not really sure how it's going to look we're creating the job description we're trying something new we believe it will be a benefit to our families it will also allow the social worker who will be our employee having a masters in social work to work with to work with our families and provide them and get them to resources if they're needed I know that

089they have this in Lebanon and in Springfield and in other places and it's very successful. Again, we did that based upon social workers with that level. We pay on a teacher salary schedule. Again, the same one master step 15 teachers impacted $80,29.92, but this is a peers they will pay into peers retirement. So >> for early childhood paraprofessionals budget impact step three at $185 days plus benefits of 32,796 and $9685 altogether all four of them $131 $131,187.39 again partially funded not sure if they will be in early if they'll be in special ed or if they will be in a regular classroom. We know we need custodians. That's a that's 44,000 worth of square foot. We're starting with two. >> So, we're going to ask for a lead custodian budget impact step 15 and benefits

090of $63,262 and one custodian uh at step three plus benefits of $45,819.33. We need an ad, we need a secretary, administrative assistant level one, which is in line for the secretaries that do all of the budgeting at the elementarymentaries. Budget impact step three plus benefits $35,3529. School nurse, we're asking for an RN preferred, but we are she is looking for an LPN. They are hard to find. So, we're starting um [clears throat] budget impact step three at $61,760.26. We need five early childhood school bus drivers. The plan is is to you have already approved buses for this that we are going to lease. Um, so we are looking at that for three a driver for three hours a day times 185 days budget impact of step two of 9,800 $816.96 >> Each correct sorry I

091didn't put the times five up there but yes each I did on this one bus aids. [laughter] And I even had people preview this. Okay. So, um, five early childhood school bus aids, $32,796 times five. I think that's a little bit over. I think that was one of the ones that we changed. We flipped it. I think they are too. >> Yes, I think they are. Okay. So, that's the bus driver and then the bus aids. Sorry about that. The end number is going to be the same. So tonight for 2627 I need from you an approval for four early childhood teachers, four early childhood paraprofessionals, one lead custodian, one custodian, one administrative assistant, one school nurse, [clears throat] five early childhood school bus drivers, five early childhood bus aids, one early childhood social worker

092with a budget impact of $856,591.93. That is our best guesstimate based upon the 2526 salary schedules. confirm this when we pay it out next year, we would not bill that back until the year after >> the year after. Correct. >> And it's at what percentage? >> So ECSC is that way. >> Okay. >> The ADA payment, the 8% payment is paid in the current year. >> In the current year. >> Okay. >> So it will be a little mix of both. >> A mix of both. Okay. >> Mhm. Um, the other thing I would point out and and um, we're asking for four teachers and four paras. That may not be enough. Our plan is as we go through screenings and we see what our enrollments look like, we will adjust upward as we need

093to. U, we don't want to um, jump out there too far. But at full capacity, we would actually need six additional on top of this >> on top of >> correct because at full capacity was 360 or >> full capacity was 350ish. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, rough numbers, we we would we we originally budgeted the the proposal that I brought to you when we talked about opening a center was for 10 additional teachers at full capacity. So, just want to I just want to make that upfront and clear. Um, we're just starting with where we think we will need. >> Help me out a little bit. We've got four classes at the moment. >> Four classrooms? >> No, currently. >> Currently, don't we have four classrooms? >> We have eight. >> I'm just talk Okay,

094time out. I'm talking about non early childhood special ed classes. We have four early childhood classes. Two two one and one. >> We have three >> there's three three prek. >> Okay. >> Uh teachers who offer two sessions each. >> Okay. So they all have to be duplicated to to serve the same basically the same number of students. So the proposed four additional seats is what we believe would cover what we've typically seen like on our weight list every year. And so we think that's a safe place to start. Um but as we continue to have students sign up for screenings, we'll have a better idea of what our total enrollment will be next year and what might be needed. So we'll have our current teachers positions that are already approved. This would be the

095additional positions um to those. The configuration between early childhood special education classrooms and prek classrooms will be determined based on the students that come in and do registration with us and which of those criteria they meet. So technically we'll need x number of teachers but the type of classroom will depend upon the student body and that will be flexible and probably change every year to some degree. So, I think to answer your question, we're not necessarily doubling what we have because we're going to increase the class sizes a little bit. >> Um, but we did take that into account as we're looking at this, but I I would tell you I'm I'm fairly confident we're going to need more teachers in this, but we're just trying to be >> responsible with it. >> Okay. And

096for the early childhood specialed classes, are they going to attend full day or >> Yes. Yes. There will be some exceptions, but the plan is for full day for for >> every kid unless there's a reason not to. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I just I I'm thinking that you're being too conservative starting out with just four. >> Well, we'll start there. I mean, we just opened the enrollment period and so Laura's been very excited [clears throat] to share the numbers and how those have been rolling in and obviously as they continue to grow. We'll know that as the second semester continues on. And Dr. Fulton may be back in a [clears throat] few months to ask. >> Actually, he may be back in a few weeks. We we are meeting with uh Mrs. Brown every

097week. >> So, this is something that we're going to keep an eye on, but we know we needed to start. >> I may come back to you in two weeks and she says we're going to have more than we need. So, I expect to be back doing this and ask multiple times >> just for this. >> And then the other thing would be filling these positions uh custodial and aid positions. I'm assuming that you may wait a little bit or >> we may wait, but we've actually advertised these as anticipated to see what we've get. >> Right. We'll we'll open them as anticipated because what we think will happen, we think like for the early childhood teacher side, we will probably have some elementary teachers that we want to move over. So, we want to

098get those dominoes going. >> Yes. >> And then uh most likely our lead custodian would probably be an existing custodian somewhere so we can go ahead and start those domino pieces. But yes, to your point, for the regular paras and some of those, we will not be out we will not be hiring those right now. >> Uh because of the timing of that, but but it's still out there so people kind of know what's what's out there and >> can apply for ships. >> They can go ahead because I' I've already gotten contacts. >> Absolutely. People that want to be a >> PAR. Yeah. Yeah. We we are happy to look at those and you know, everybody has different circumstances and that kind of thing. So if it especially if it involves moving any of

099our existing staff, we want to we want to make sure we're giving time for those things to happen. Great. >> Any other questions? >> Um, I don't know if you know this number, but so we got this 856,000. How much of that is going to be reimbursed >> depending depending upon the class sizes and where the kids lie and fall within that? We don't really know. >> We don't know. >> We're going to get reimbured for >> we are going to get reimbured, but I'm not sure what level. Yes. a lot of we we think we'll get reimbursed for a lot of the of the early childhood. So, for example, um bus driver, >> uh we can get the portion of early childhood special ed kids. So, if there's um I'm going to use round

100numbers, so I'm going to say if there's 50 kids on the bus and 25 of them are special education kids, we can get half of the driver, uh half of the bus cost, half of the fuel, half of the oil, half of the tires, half of all of it. the other pieces of the funding will come from the actual ADA pieces which we've never been able to claim before because we weren't serving enough time. >> So that's a new that's a new revenue stream for us that we've not had before. So it's not a reimbursement. It's actually just >> uh those kids will count like our regular kids do in the formula. >> Uh and so it it's difficult to say exactly where we're going to land because those also can't duplicate. So, they have

101to be free reduced lunch eligible uh to qualify for the formula funding for early childhood or for special education, sorry, for early childhood. Good. >> Uh but they if they're early childhood special education, they can't also get the formula money. So, we that's where I think what Dr. Welch is getting at that those class makeups will somewhat be built on those funding mechanisms almost have to play in because we don't want to duplicate kids in spots. We want to make sure we're we're maximizing that ability to get as much. >> And you're you guys are looking at that all. >> We are chasing that kid to kid. >> Yeah. Every every single kid will be a factor in that. >> Correct. >> Wow. >> So we're the positions that she's requesting, they've the teachers are

102being encouraged to be dual certified so that if they are in a pre-K classroom, they have that early childhood um certification, but then also if they have that special education component that they would have that as well. It's not a requirement, but just knowing that every year depending upon the student body, those classrooms may need to be flexible. Um, teacher certification will be important there. So, it just gives them a little flexibility, too. >> Thank you. >> That's a great question. >> All right. Any other questions? If not, can I get a motion then to approve those positions? Early childhood um teachers, pair professionals, the league custodian, a custodian, administrative assistant, level one, school nurse, early childhood school bus drivers, aids, and a social worker. >> I'll make a motion. [laughter] >> I'll second your

103motion, Larry. Do >> you want me to go ahead and finish it or no? >> Go right ahead. So, I will make a motion that we approve the following positions for the 2627 school year. Four early childhood teachers, four early childhood pair professionals, one lead custodian, one custodian, one school nurse, five early childhood bus uh school bus drivers, five early childhood bus aids, one early childhood social worker, and one administrative assistant level one. >> Perfect. >> I'll second. Oh, no. >> Yeah, we got Yeah, I'm [laughter] think we're good. All in favor say I. I. >> Those opposed say no. All right. We are approved. >> All right. Moving on to uh set a work uh session. >> So, we would like to ask u we have our regular meeting um in two weeks on

104the 22nd. We would like to ask if you're available to come in early that day uh at 1:00 um so we can do some work session items around uh the construction projects um the funding with the insurance and what's not insurance and those kind of things. We also have a few other uh projects within the district. We'd like to talk to you about some contracting pieces and um uh just just some just some time we need to discuss some things with you and go through some things a little more detail. Um so that's what we're asking >> right >> for that one. >> Can [snorts] everybody kind of check and see is one o'clock going to be okay on the 22nd? >> I I may be um in Raleigh. I was planning I if I

105am traveling I I was going to make sure I was at the hotel in time to be on um for our meeting but I don't know that I can uh it would be something I'd be able to be on for that. So I may it's not 100% yet I'm traveling but I may be gone. >> Okay. All right. Anybody else have any >> You're good for Okay. >> Charlene, are you guys okay? >> I'm fine. One o'clock. You said one o'clock. Yeah. >> One. >> Okay. >> On February 22nd. All right. Can I get a motion then to approve um a work session on January 22nd to start at 1 p.m. >> I move we have a work session at 1:00 on the 22nd. Second that >> all in favor say I. I. Those oppos

106say no. >> All right that's set. And then we want to set a special uh meeting. So, uh, during the federal government shutdown, the audit regulations, uh, were not finalized for the federal audit, for the single audit. And so, those came out later, and our auditors, uh, Kendra and her team have been working to get them all the information they need, but of course, they're dealing with that for everybody. Uh, and so they're trying to work through those. There is a chance that they will finish that in time for the next meeting, in which case we could just cancel this. But what they've communicated to us is that they believe they will probably not finish that until after the 22nd. Uh, but we do have to have it finalized and reported by the 31st. So,

107we're proposing to have a special meeting on January 31st at 4 P or I'm sorry, on January 27th at 4 PM. Uh, it will be very short. um five t minutes. It's it's pretty straightforward. >> Um but but it would be something we would need the board's approval for uh to do. If we're able to get it for the 22nd, we would obviously shift that and put it on that agenda and cancel this, but we wanted to go ahead and see if we could get that on your calendars and see if that worked for a majority of the board to do just in case. >> Four o'clock. Does anybody have any on the 27th >> issues with being here at four o'clock on January 27th? that coordinates with our agenda setting. That's why we picked

108that. >> I might be out of town with basketball, so >> Okay. So, >> I can always call in. >> Yeah, you sure can. >> All right. >> Video in >> whatever I need to do. >> Yeah. Zoom in. So, you can vote. Let me know. >> All right. Anybody else? If not, can I get a motion? >> I'll make a motion that we set a special meeting for January 27th at 4 p.m. >> I'll second. >> All in favor say I. Oppose say no. All right. That is approved. Right. Next up is our superintendent report. >> Okay. Just a a few items. Uh if you'll bear with me for a minute here. Um during the last few meetings, we've had um several public comments uh around um a book process, a book review process.

109And uh so we've had a few questions about that. So I thought just for those listening, maybe I would go into a little detail here and kind of explain uh a couple things. So, uh, for those reconsideration requests, um, we've obviously had that interest expressed by parents and members of the community about specific books in our libraries. Um, we have referenced the policies. Carla has done a great job with that. U, but I I I thought maybe, uh, kind of explain what those policies actually say. So, we have those policies in place that govern our instructional materials and library books and and any questions around those. That process is slightly different for assigned curriculum materials. So things that are being taught in a classroom versus things in the library where students would have the choice

110to check out a book or not. Uh so specific to the library books uh there are many factors that are considered through this process. But by policy we do have a process and that work is completed with a committee. Uh that committee is comprised of the building librarian, a building administrator, at least one teacher, at least one community member. We have typically and and in this case as well, we typically try to expand that committee to include more teachers and more community members to get more depth and breadth in that uh response. Each committee member is required to read the material in its entirety uh because context is a factor and then they have to report back to the committee. The committee then works to reach a consensus uh decision uh typically around one of

111three options. So option one is to keep the book in the library with no changes. Uh option two would be to keep the book in library but add a restriction and that basically means that parents would have to grant permission for their kid to be able to check out books that are on the restricted list. And then option three is to remove the book from the library. Um as that process goes through, if those those individuals who have filed those complaints aren't satisfied, they can appeal the committee decision. Those appeals go to Dr. Welch as our assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction. So she would review the process uh and make a ruling there. if they're still not happy with that appeal, then it does come to the board of education. Um, so as many have

112spoken during public comment, um, the board obviously hasn't responded and the reason for that is because it hasn't been a board agenda item because we're still in that commun committee review process. So the board doesn't have anything to take action on at this point. Um, would just kind of as a side note, book challengers are not new uh, and they've been somewhat prevalent in the US over the past five years or so. However, uh there have been a myriad of legal issues surrounding free speech, library materials, and the processes that school districts have used around those materials, and that's what our process tries to protect. So, the committee process allows the review to occur within the legal boundaries uh to protect the district, but also to protect parents and students. So, um we want to

113make sure everyone's rights are are are considered and that we're doing the right thing. So, it does take time and we we recognize that and we know that it's frustrating. It takes time, but it takes time for them to review all the materials and and come to consensus. Uh, but we do feel like it's appropriate. We feel like it's expected that we follow our policies and allow the process to work as it's outlined. So, I hope that um kind of explains that a little bit. If people have further questions, those policies are online and we've referenced those before. Um, and those are available on our website, of course. If you have specific questions or anything, of course, please reach out. We're happy to answer questions and have those discussions. So, um, second item I have,

114uh, some of you may have noticed we are clearing some underbrush behind RTI. We've had some community members asking questions. So, I [clears throat] will say we have had some incidents, uh, seemingly very increased level of incidents lately with unauthorized people being on campus. Um, those areas are very close to our students and that's a that's a safety concern. Uh, but that has been in our plans uh, for quite some time as we've gone through campus to campus. We're trying to clean up those areas. Uh that work is safety related. Uh some of that underbrush is uh invasive species and there's some other reasons for it, but most of it is safety related. So looking for line of sight, uh trying to make make sure we're protecting our campus access and who's coming in. There's

115a fire risk uh that we're trying to minimize there. There's all kinds of things that happen. So larger trees uh we look to leave those. Those are evaluated for health. So I'm not saying that we leave all the big trees. Some of them will come down. Uh but we do evaluate those as we go uh to make sure that they're healthy and safe to be there. Um and uh we appreciate everybody that kind of you know their understanding with that. We know it's it's different and it changes the landscape a little bit but u we just feel like that's a necessary thing. Uh the Phelps County Community Foundation Early Childhood Center building uh now has its own web page on the district website under the schools menu and um uh Amy pulled that up for

116you. So, uh, one thing I want to point out, we we, uh, Gina has worked hard to get this launched and ready to go and and, um, but we obviously will have more things to add to this as we get closer to opening and develop and, uh, further. Uh, but probably the key thing right now is under that registration tab at the top uh, is all the screening information. So, if you have a four-year-old uh, that you're looking to get screened for next year, that's where you're going to find that information and how to go about that process. You can get to that page from our main web page by going to the buildings section and finding the early childhood center. Um and um we'll uh we'll continue working on that. But appreciate that uh

117we got that up and running. And then last uh thing I have tonight uh beginning on February 24th, we're starting a series that we're calling community conversations. And so um Amy's pulled up the flyer for the first one there. Our first meeting is going to be focused on mental health uh and kind of some of the stigmas uh associated with those diagnosis and treatment um uh components of that. Uh Josh Varnner uh we've invited him to come back and speak. Uh this is open to the community, so we're hoping we get parents and community members to come out and um uh kind of get some information, learn a little bit. Uh Josh has uh spoke with our staff before, but he's highly regarded, highly soughtafter speaker and presenter. uh does a lot of work with

118mental health, student well-being, those kind of things. And so uh we [clears throat] appreciate him coming and sharing his knowledge and expertise with us. We also will have local representatives from Compass Health and Prevention Consultants um to talk about local resources. So uh Jamie Meyers and Dr. De Frost. Um we have great relationships with those groups and and certainly appreciate their willingness to continue working with us. but they're going to talk at the end about resources that we have available here in in the Phelps County area and what that you know kind of casting that wider net to the greater community. So, uh, of course you you all are invited and and um it's wide open. It'll be at the auditorium at the high school at 6:30. Uh, we will have some light refreshments ahead

119of time. Um, cookies and water or something like that, but I'm hoping to get a good crowd to come out and and uh continue those conversations. Uh we have a a preliminary plan for a second meeting uh to to talk about some cyber security safety kind of things, sexion and um you know social media dangers and some of those kind of things. And really we're gearing this toward the adults. This is not so much about the kids but kids are welcome but uh trying to educate the greater community and and um help out our students in the process. So that's all I have on that. It's a great idea. >> Okay. And Ashton, moving forward, this would be the time that you would present to us just what's going on in the district from in

120students and >> yeah, >> I I hadn't prepared anything, but um it's okay. I want to let you know this is this is your time um during this comment piece. >> I'll make sure to >> report out >> next to me. I'll make sure to come up come with a report. But um I think the school community is doing really good especially first week back. I think we're have a lot of optimism especially with that twoe break. I think we're we're refreshed and I think it it all seems pretty good right now. >> Good sir. >> Great. >> Good. >> All right. Well, thanks and welcome aboard. >> Yeah. Welcome. Feels great to be here. [laughter] >> And I think Charlotte, you've got some updates from the MSBA. >> So, uh, yesterday I had a

121MSBA uh, meeting. [clears throat] She rattled off a ton of dates. I just want to make sure we all have those. I know Amy's already got us registered for lunch and learns. Those start next week. Uh, they're once a month, of course. And then advocacy day, March 10th, um, March 31st. And we we know that everybody's done their refresher. That is the deadline for everybody to have their board refreshers done. uh that we can apply for the governance team award and we can use either the old form or the new form this year on the governance team award and it looked like the deadline was April 13th on that submitting that and that's all you know online uh summer summit the dates are June 14 to 16 and fall conference October 22 to 24 one

122of the things we talked about at um our meeting was potentially making a change to when awards would be handed out for the governance team award. Um the committee kind of had the bottom line to leave it at uh summer summit. Uh the the attendance was not that difference and the cost for people to go to Kansas City is a little bit more and uh there wasn't it it just wasn't an overwhelming reason to make a change. Um they also had brought up uh years ago there used to be uh some individual board awards in addition to the governance team and I think we applied for that one time and actually won it. Uh it was either 16 or 17 because they stopped it in 18. Um but uh they they had it just as

123board awards for a while and then it was these different categories. Do you remember this Jim? Uh I I I really had to reach to remember we won it for I I think it was facilities and it was after we had done our first 10-year plan and we had done the uh the bond and levy issue. I think that was 2015. >> Remember that >> and all of that. So I think Greg was our president at the time. >> It's a hot lot of work. I can I remember that. Uh it takes a lot of work not just from the board but from folks in the district. So anyway, uh after they talked through it, we didn't see any real great reason to leave it. We left it with just the government's governance team award.

124Um so that was really great. Um the other thing I was going to mention is the drug-free communities task force. Um uh David will come back and present to us in May, but they've been doing a thing that I thought you guys would would think was pretty neat. um they've partnered with the soccer boys and they've come up with trading cards and these boys go to the junior high periodically and they hand out these trading cards and um David gets some uh David Churban he gets some video and so I shared a a Google drive with that has some of the cards and one of the things on the trading cards is why do I choose to be drug-free and it's a statement from those students um so anyway I just found it really encouraging.

125He had some videos there and they're in a a drive that you guys can Yeah, I tried to get um cards to trade with everybody, but they're out. They've given them all away. [laughter] So, that's great that the students have them. So, anyway, >> great. >> And um just to add to the advocacy day, I have already booked all of our meetings. >> Oh, great. >> So, at one o'clock we'll be with Bill Hardwick. Um 1:30 at with Don Mayhew. 2 o'clock will be Justin Brown. and 2:30 will be Tara and Vinnie. Great. So, um those are on our calendar. Um Amy's got them all loaded for us and the room numbers that we'll be meeting in should be on there as well. Um Justin, Tara, and Benny um may we may have some changes

126if once they get into session and uh we'll see if those times work for them or not. But hopefully it'll all work out. I know they're short. They're only 30 minutes, but they are going to be busy at that time. So hopefully we can maybe take a few minutes, jot down some things that we'd like to discuss with them and get that covered. Okay. See if I have anything else. All right. So it looks like our um Oh, for written reports, we have attendance um substitute teacher list and the financial report cafeteria reports. And for our upcoming meetings, our next board meeting is January the 22nd with our work session starting at 1 and our regular meeting starting at 5:30. And then February 5th will be our next board meeting starting at 5:30 for open

127session. >> Attendance is looking good >> so far. >> It's up. It's up over last year. That's good. >> All right. If there's nothing else, can I [clears throat] get a motion to adjurnn? >> I move we adjourn. >> I'll second. >> All right. All in favor say I. I. >> Those opposed to