January 26, 2026 Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening. Let's call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Miss Williams, >> here. >> Miss Miller, >> here. Rhonda. >> Miss Chzny >> here. >> Miss Karns >> here. >> Miss Lanning >> here. >> Mr. Moore >> here. >> Mr. Richmond >> here. >> All stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Are there any recognitions? >> No. >> Okay. Moving along. audience participation. Miss Cook, >> I know she was Miss Cook. >> Here we go again. Um, I just have a question about the uh contract amendment with DLR, and maybe you guys can address this at some point in time. Um, does this

002supersede the need to have two additional bonds fail as far as payment that's made to them? Is this instead of to cancel that contract? And that that was just something that I was curious about. And I wanted to let you all know I was at Cardon Park Friday and there were six children in the kindergarten class that I was reading in. They were not dressed appropriately the way that you and I would probably put our children in to go to school. And I know we're worried about some kids are not eating except maybe they get breakfast and they get lunch at school. So when we're looking at when kids have to have the free lunch and stuff, is there a way that next year we currently have some schools that kids don't they don't have

003to sign up, the parents don't have to sign up. Is that something that will still be intact with some of the schools or is every school going to be that the parent is going to have to sign up for the child to still get the free and reduced lunch? And those are just a couple questions I had. I appreciate it if somebody could get back with me with an answer. Thank you. >> I appreciate your time. Thank you, Miss Cook. Okay, moving along. Approval of the agenda. Is there a motion? >> Like to make a motion to add the salary schedule revision to the action items. >> Um I think >> I think that's already listed. >> Well, it has to be added because it was posted before >> that was added. So, >> okay.

004I have a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay. Have a motion. and a second. Any discussion? >> This is to approve the amended agenda. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay, if you call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Miller? >> Yes. >> Miss Chzny? >> Yes. >> Miss Karns? >> Yes. >> Miss Lanning? >> Yes. >> Mr. Moore? >> Yes. >> Excuse me. >> You all right? >> I'm okay. >> Yes. >> I was thinking about And the motion passes. All oppose. Consent agenda. Is there a motion for approval? Call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams. >> Um, yes. >> Miss Miller, >> yes. >> Miss Chzn, >> yes. >> Miss Karns, >> yes. >> Miss Lanning, >> yes. >> Mr. Moore, >> yes. >> Mr.

005Richmond, >> yes. >> And the motion passes. All approved. Admin reports. >> Dr. McInness. >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening. I would like to report on our superintendent student advisory council that we just launched on Friday. So we have a total of 15 students from all three high schools that will carry on for the remainder of second semester and then also carry on all of next year. I think with our district reorganization process, this is going to be imperative to keep those same kids on the team. And so, um, when we met on Friday, we went over the district reorganization and what led us to that decision, including enrollment declines, academic inequalities between the three high schools, staffing challenges, financial issues, and then we actually took them through the district website to show them that

006reorganization site and how that's continuously being updated with frequently asked questions. um they had a lot of questions uh detailed questions and concerns. So I want to share a few of those just from a student's perspective. Some of the things they asked about were school traditions and they wanted to know where the trophies the the equipment from Lafayette, where the records will go and if we could carry on some of the special awards and recognition that they currently have at Lafayette if that could continue at least to see that class through. And they also asked about having gowns, green gowns for graduation. They were very curious about advanced coursework and those opportunities uh being similar with the two sites. They asked about Lafayette's fundraising accounts. They had lots of curiosity about foreign language classes being

007offered. Um and I appreciate there was a comment about how they can take classes online, but it's not the same experience as when they have a teacher right in front of them. So, our kids notice that as well. Um they also communicated some concern and worry about where their teachers are going. I think they're hearing that from teachers and that's something that um is affecting them as well. Um they were they mentioned the concern at middle schools being unbalanced with Lafayette having more and so we got to dive into um what that will look like in a phased approach for our facilities. Um they had some ideas that were great. Uh open houses for students who are transitioning um getting student government councils and sukos together ahead of time to kind of build some connections.

008Um and they explored ways to get students involved. And so I thought that was a great conversation. When I asked them, what do you think administrators should keep in mind? They said class rank. um we have a student who's in the top and just wants to know how that is going to play out when they have additional students added um to the school. Teachers being overwhelmed. They wanted us to be mindful of that. They wanted us to be mindful of having appropriate class sizes and that DC and AP classes are in person and to think about how assemblies are held. So, I value that student voice. I think it's important that we constantly have them at the forefront of our decision making. And so that was our first meeting on Friday. We'll continue to meet

009every month. So I will give you some brief updates on that as we go along. So and then everything else that I will speak to will be in the district reorganization. So that's all I have for you tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. McGinness. >> Okay, Miss Stud. >> Good evening. Hi. First of all, I want to start with celebration that Landy Quinnland um she is a principal over Trimman just completed her letters for admin. So I know I presented the list to you guys I think back in November or October, but Landy is our um first secondary uh principal who achieved um and was awarded the letter certification too. So congratulations to Landy if she's listening tonight. Um as part of my report, I wanted to share an update on the elementary academic

010data. I know that when we met in December, we did not have the math data and I wanted to ensure that was shared with all board members and the community as well. So, in your folder, I printed off for you um the ELA. Again, it's a repeat of what you saw in December, but in the um packet itself, you will find um math as well. So, you'll be able to find the third, fourth, um fifth, and sixth grade math data. um laid out by building from where they scored in the first predictive, that's our internal monitoring progress of how's tier one going um to predictive two and then you would be able to see growth or opportunities for improvement for us. Um and so you can um kind of check that out. Um we spent

011some time in the academic um service committee meeting analyzing those results and getting feedback from our stakeholders, our community stakeholders. um and some just general talking points there. The other piece I wanted to share with you is an update on student attendance. And we know that attendance is is foundational to learning and that it directly um does tie to our academic goals. And so what I did was back on January 16th, we have to get these reports so early that back on January 16th, um I provided in the weekly update a comparison of where we were on January 17th of 2025 to where we were on January 16 of 2026. Now, um you'll find that outlined um also in your folder there. you can see the early attendance numbers um and where they were last

012year um in 2025 to 2026. Um and then you'll find the um special shout out to um Coleman and Ellison. They showed the most notable improvements among our schools at the elementary sites there. Um and again, you'll see those um positives and differences and then you'll check out the secondary sites. Um, a shout out to Lafayette. It's the only school with a positive total attendance um, change of a plus two percentage points, showing some improvements there. And then at the middle level, you will see that Bod and Rubidio also um are um, showing some improvements in their attendance. Um, this morning at our superintendent cabinet, I I I really wanted to show an update of where what happened last week. Um, so that you have that data as well. Um, and so I placed that

013at your station when you walked in. It looks like Oh, it looks like a spreadsheet. That's it. Mr. Moore has it there. So that spreadsheet and that's an updated version as of January 23rd. Um, so January 23rd, you could see where each site is um, performing um, in regards to attendance. And Mr. Moore asked a good question as I laid that down. Where are we as a district right now? And so we are at 81.28% 28% um as a district in attendance. So, I thought I would share that update with you, too. >> Really, really quick, >> I'm looking at the attendance and I think it must be like a typo. It says 100% for Bodie Middle School for the sixth grade. >> I'm sorry, Miss Williams. Where do you see that at? >> This

014one right here. >> Oh, okay. is correct. So basically [clears throat] that means that 100% of the kids are there 90% of the time or more. >> So when we give our attendance it's based off of that 90% expectation for the state >> I'm talking about. Okay. So these >> are the grades right here. Right. >> It's that the Excel sheet. Yes. [snorts] >> I'm looking at this the 100%. >> Yeah. >> Meaning 100% of sixth graders are attending BOD 90% of the time or more. >> Well, we don't at this point we don't have sixth graders there and so there must be Yes, I know it's so hard with our middle school via um and so this I will absolutely um connect um and get this um correct at Miss Williams here. Nope. Yep.

015And this is my apologies as well. I printed this. This is hot off the press today. I wanted um to look at this, but I'll look at this um with our tech team to see if this influences any of our overall district numbers as well. [clears throat] >> Remind me what our target is for attendance at the 90% level. What is our target? >> Well, you know, we would love to be 90% um as a district overall. That is the goal. We at least would love to be 85%. Um and so we've been leading some Dr. Adams and um Dr. Reed and myself have been leading some targeted work there. I know Dr. Lao has spent some time um looking at that as well. Um but yeah, 85 um would you know is is would

016be a short-term goal for us and then 90% would be um what we would love to see in May. I um I have had the pleasure of attending some of the academic committee meetings and so in that meeting we talked about um in the data you gave here we talk about what's the change between the first predictive and the second predictive but we also talk about the absolute score and um I I think on the attendance when we report what's the change from the previous year it's also probably noteworthy to say which who's hitting that target and who's not hitting that um probably a it's just it's just another way to look at the same data and um and so some of the schools that are maybe up need to be up even more and

017some of the schools that are slightly down are still ahead of what the plan is. I realize we're trying to move the whole water there, but I I still think that it gives some opportunity to recognize top performance. >> Absolutely. Thank you for that feedback, Mr. Richmond. We want to celebrate successes and celebrate wins and the strengths of um what our uh building leaders and our building um educators are doing. So, thank you. >> Yeah, you drill into our mind at 45%. So, see, I know that one and so on attendance, I'd like to kind of see that same thing. Um it might even be worth talking about in one of our upcoming meetings. >> I'd love that. Thank you. The other thing I wanted to share is you know we have so many data

018pieces and I keep bringing data to the table and I hope you know there's a lot of work behind the data pieces that we bring and so I provided with you um our academic service team you've become data rich but um action poor like where you have all this data and you're not really moving or implementing anything and so we at our last instructional leaders network led principal learning in which we looked at all these data snapshots from attendance to climate and culture to academic um to midyear evaluations and observations that are taking place in our classrooms. And what we asked our principles was do to look at that cumulative that all that big picture of data and let's create an action plan of where you're going to be working and targeting and focusing on

019the next you know three months. Um, and so our principles designed an action plan based off all the data pieces that they're seeing at their individual site. Um, and I provided an example for you and I provided that for our principles as well. Um, it's a sample. I wouldn't call them exempller. It's a sample. And this sample shows to you um exactly what we asked um our um instructional leaders to do. And so what you'll see is you'll see this is the climate culture survey data, the attendance data and then we did a mock um school. This is just a sample school um where you have ELA and math. Um and then you will see based off that first page what would be the plan for a building leader to do the next three months.

020And so, um, our academic service team looked at all those data pieces and we said we would lead with this particular grade level. This is, um, you know, where teacher A is scoring. This is where teacher B is scoring. And then these are the action steps. These are the things I'm going to do, the principal is going to do as a leader to really move teaching and learning in the St. Joe School District. And so, um, Dr. Adams and Dr. Dr. Rita and myself, we have those action plans and we're going to support our building leaders in these action plans and the work that they lead. This will give us a focus area for working with each building. We're getting to the point if if we want to move the annual performance report in individual

021buildings, you're going to have to develop individuals within your building and you're going to have to provide some targeted learning for them to be successful with student outcomes. Um and so I just wanted to provide that sample um piece, the action plan. Again, our building principles have done this because they've looked at theirs and they they shared it with our team. >> Do some universal some universal goals and plans, but yet you fit it to a particular school so they have opportunity to uh submit for their own students to to plan. >> Yeah. And >> so I like the both. >> Thank you, Miss Miller. and if they need help or support, we would be more than happy to walk through their building, be in their building. Um, we're in the buildings all the time,

022but if if we know where they're concentrating their work on, we can provide that targeted support for them, too. >> And I I really like that. I didn't realize it was a sample, so thanks for telling me that. But now that you have actual plans from different ones of the principles, are you coaching them relative to their plans? Because because some are, you know, some will have something different and maybe maybe their plan could be improved. And then also, um, you know, following up with them on their plan, I think, um, I like all of that stuff that you're doing. I think that's good. I just, um, I just wanted to make sure we're looking that over. >> We are. And you know what? happened was this coincided with our midyear evaluations. So our midyear

023evaluations were due on January 23rd and I know Dr. Adams and Dr. Reed both um were in buildings meeting in midyear evaluations and this was a talking piece at each one of them. So again the implementation um and the coaching and support will be there from our team. >> Any more questions? These are great questions and so much great feedback. >> Thank you guys for your support. >> Personnel report, Mr. Pearl. >> All right. Thank you. Um I'm going to direct you to So you have the personnel report and the supplemental report. I'm going to direct you to the personnel report. Um, on page two of the personnel report, section five, Roman numeral 5, um, under where it says resignation release of the following support personnel. Um, item number three, um, that individual has rescended

024her resignation. Um, so, um, I'm going to ask when we vote on this that going to ask for approval. If you don't have any questions, um, ask for a motion for approval minus item number three under section five and then my office will get a new report to Donna um, in the morning for that to be uploaded. I was not made aware of that until this morning that she had rescended, which is a good thing. She had rescended her resignation. Anybody have any questions about the personnel report? >> I have a question about the personel report. >> Um, on section three number one, is there a resignation or will that be like enclosed? >> No, there's not. Um, this is for um an absence. If you have more questions about that, I can I can

025answer that later. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Are there any other questions about the personnel report? >> Okay. Is there a motion for approval? >> Motion. >> I have a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? Okay. Call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Miller? >> Yes. >> Miss Chzn? >> Yes. Miss Karns, >> yes. >> Miss Lanning, >> abstain. >> Mr. Moore, >> yes. >> Mr. Richmond, >> yes. >> And the motion passes all with one abstension. >> Okay. The financials. >> Thank you. Um, if I can point your attention to the financial document that shows how we're trending um in our certified, non-certified salaries and benefits, purchase, services, supplies. You can see that we're running within about a

026percent of our two-year historical average um in those expenditure areas. Of course, we talked a lot about about purchase, services, and supplies, materials that a lot of those items are purchased up front and that those budget managers know their budgets for this year. Um we do have a spending deadline of May 1st um for those items. So that way I can give you an update um as we approach the preliminary budget for next year of how we'll finish this year as far as our budget goes. Um, one thing you'll notice on the revenues, you will notice that our federal percentage is higher than our PE historical average. Uh, you guys might have seen my weekly update that talked about our title funding for this year. U, we've already received our title funding for title one,

027two, uh, three, and 4A um, from our expenditures from July through November. Um, so we are on track for our residuals calendar. uh we'll make another budget application in March for expenditures from December uh through February and continue that cycle that you guys saw in the past. So uh just another step uh in our process improvement cycle that we have um for federal programs and to make sure that we receive the revenue as quickly as we can after those expenditures to ensure we get that within this fiscal year. So just wanted to to point that out. Um as far as our health care trust goes, uh you can see that our balance there is just over 5.2 million. Um we are running just a little bit high in regards to our expenditures um versus our

028deposits for our um self- insurance pool. Um I don't see you know that trend probably going to stay flat. Um you know as you get different months people you know go to the doctor different times as deductible cycles go through and January hits. So, um I think that'll come down a little bit as we finish um the year out, but we do have um a healthy balance in that healthcare trust as we continue on throughout the rest of this fiscal year. Uh and then the last item we have is our uh bond tracking document. Uh you can see that uh in the bottom right hand corner, we have just over $300,000 remaining in expenditures on those projects. Um and then last meeting, I kind of talked a little bit about uh savings or interest that

029we have in in those. And so any interest earned off of bond proceeds do need to go for those capital projects that were designated for that. Um and so you know we have some other related projects that we can use that for in regards to HVAC or the district organization. So happy to answer any questions that you have on the financials. >> Can you explain some more? Can you go into more detail about the approximate amount of interest earned that you believe is going to be earned on those >> Yes. >> issues? I sure can. So, we invest those dollars with MOAP. Um, we invest those in different treasuries uh that are approved um by the state and with those we have earned about over a little over $800,000 uh via the last report that

030they sent us uh for those proceeds that we received uh when those bonds were sold. >> So, the $800,000 is earned to date. Yeah, I can I can include the report um in the next board meeting if you'd like for the most latest investment report. Um it should have also been on the quarterly investment report that we did. I believe it was in December or November was the last quarterly report we had. That would also show the interest earned on those bonds. >> And then are you feeling I mean I know that we have you've given us a report about like the current bond status but are we you're You're still expecting for this to all come in under that original budget? >> Yeah. So, right now on the bond tracking, we have it coming

031in for total expenditures. Um, it should be around uh 19,941,92344 is where we believe that to be at. Unless there's a late change order, um, which there might be, but if it is, I don't anticipate for being a very high dollar change order. >> Okay. Thanks. >> No problem. I think it's noteworthy and just to reemphasize that um we had that lag of receiving federal funding um for basically two years and that's drawn a lot of attention. Um the fact is you all have worked to um improve the process and with the idea of we submit that during the year and then and then are able to receive some of that during the year and that that's already happened. I don't want us to just go by that without recognizing the improvement in the process

032and the fact that um we now are receiving that and and I I realize there's going to be some consternation still about the fact that we had that lag in previous periods, but the fact that we've changed the process and that it's working and it's it's demonstrated in that we've already gotten some of that money for some of the services rendered is a positive I want to mention. >> Yeah, it was definitely team effort. So yeah, appreciate everybody. >> I'm saying that at you, but I really mean as the other people. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. I was excited to see that budget application get approved and it just mean that all of our documentation was in line with what was, you know, needed for them to approve uh at that budget level and um I

033was excited to see that come in. So to have those uh reimbursements come in for the same year that we spent had those expenditures and um doing that in a three-month cycle because the reason you have the first July through uh November is because you can't get that app approved until November. And so once that was approved, we're able to to run those through or we would do one in September if we could. Um but then to continue the cycle to where every three months we're getting those um reimbursements for for our title one, two, um three 3C and four. Um, we're excited to see that come in and just a lot of hard work for some people to get that done. >> Keep us posted on that because that that's just a that's just

034a good new pattern. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Okay. Is there a motion for approval? >> I have a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Motion in a second. Any additional discussion? All right. If there are none, would you call the vote, please? >> Miss Williams? Yes, >> Miss Miller. >> Yes, >> Miss Chzn. >> Yes, >> Miss Karns. >> Yes, >> Miss Lanning. >> Yes, >> Mr. Moore. >> Yes, >> Mr. Richmond. >> Yes. >> And the motion passes. All approved. Approval of the bills. Dr. Hes. >> Yeah. Nothing specific to point out in approval of bills. We did have a supplemental and hopefully you can uh see that in the agenda and be happy to answer any questions. >> I'll make a motion to approve the bills. I'll second

035motion to second. Any additional discussion? All right. If there are none, would you call the vote, please? >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Miller? >> Yes. >> Miss Chzn? >> Yes. >> Miss Karns? >> Yes. >> Miss Lanning? >> Yes. >> Mr. Moore? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richmond? >> Yes. >> And the motion passes. All approved. >> Okay. Action items. Had >> yes. So, I'm asking the board to approve uh an amendment to the professional services agreement um that we have with DLR. And so, that original agreement was signed um in November of 2024. Uh and that that agreement outlined um the bond that was uh ran last spring for uh the new high school uh for the district. And so, uh, some of the language in in there when looking at the original

036agreement, um, it states on, uh, page 39 of the document, which is page three of exhibit B, uh, that this contract terminates one year after substantial completion of the project. And so, um, with, you know, the project voted down, there is no substantial completion. So, you we are still under contract with DLR. They're a great partner. They've done a great job um, in all the work that that I've personally been with them from July. And so this agreement, the reason the amendments needed is because in the original contract it was um focused on a brand new high school. And so the scope of this has changed with um it being some remodel work at Benton. And so that's what the agreement um is outlining because it's only two pages um to make sure that that

037specific um language is there for their services and what it would charge. uh their services would be an estimate of about $37,500 and that is based on a total cost of $513,000 um that we uh anticipate that might be needed at Benton um that is based on you know this document um that you've seen a lot this fall that talks about whether we're going to be a central Lafayette model or a central Benton model for the two high schools and what those remodeling costs might be. So be happy to take any questions. So it's the total it's the total 513,000 plus 37,000 or is that included in the >> 375 is included in there. So you can take 375 minus 513 and that's what we believe the other cost of the projects for construction will

038be too. >> Thanks. >> Yeah. >> If the contract was expired a year after the contract, can you explain why we didn't need a bid process, another RFP. >> Sure. So, it was actually a year after substantial completion of the project. So, the project hasn't been completed. Um, on page nine of of the contract, it also states that uh if the owner terminates architect services prior to attempting a total of three bond elections, the owner will compensate the architect the total lump sum fee for pre-bond issue services based on the last bond referendum bond program placed before the voters plus any allowable reimbursement expenses. And if you go on into the contract on page 23, that amount is 1/4 of 1% of the total bond. I believe our bond was 160 million. So quick math,

0391% of that is 1.6 million. A fourth of that is $400,000. So if we went out to an RFP and changed architects in the middle of this process, uh we would need to write a check to DLR for $400,000 per the original contract. >> Isn't this a new process? >> No. Well, I mean, anytime you get an architect, you are, you know, combining them with a team from a construction manager, and their job is to work together to complete the process. And so, yes, you know, phase one of of that bond getting voted down, um, you know, was a setback, but they're continuing to work with us, looking at our, you know, master facilities plan and what we can do for next year to ensure that we have spaces at both Central and Benton that

040can handle um, equitable, you know, services and educational opportunities at those spaces. And so, you want to continue that momentum. um they've done a great job. If there was a reason that um I felt like their services were subpar um then maybe we could look at some of those things. But they are an excellent architectural firm. Um they do a tremendous job with our staff and and I trust them. I've worked with them in the past and um you know we are under contract with DLR. So uh that's my recommendation is to accept the amendment and move forward with what we need to do to get ready for next school year. >> So I'd like to make that motion that we accept that amendment. I'll second. >> I still have additional questions. >> It comes.

041>> I'll note that down though. I have a motion to second and any additional discussion. Okay. So, just so like like I'm clear if there were issues in the company, you'd be okay with getting an RFP, bidding out the process. Okay. But because it's not, then it's okay to go ahead with this contract. >> If I felt like they were subpar or breaking their contract, I would first bring that attention to the board and basically state, hey, I feel like that um you know, this professional service agreement, they are not following through with this. Here are the ramifications of if we go away from them and break this contract and bid that out. What are your thoughts? You know, and answer those questions. but because there's, you know, been no reason to even entertain that

042um for the work that they've done and outlining the things in the contract that talk about substantial completion of the project um talk about needing to run that bond a total of three times or we would need to pay those services. So, you know, to date we haven't paid DLR a dime. Um that's because all those those pre-election services um were provided until the bond is passed. And so um they have they've provided a tremendous amount of work for us at no cost on the hope that we were able to pass that that project. And so um they have been very um you know accommodating with their time when they haven't sent us any invoices. And so just that alone for them to be very attentive to our needs and what we have um not

043invoicing us just shows me you know the integrity they have and that they want to see this through and be a partner. Are there any additional questions? >> Okay, I have a motion to second. Call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams, >> no. >> Miss Miller, >> yes. >> Miss Chzn, >> yes. >> Miss Karns, >> yes. >> Miss Lanning, >> no. >> Mr. Moore, >> yes. >> Mr. Richmond, >> yes. >> And the motion passes. >> 52. Um >> I'm gonna step in for Dr. >> Okay. Okay. Go ahead. >> So, the city of St. Joe has updated its contract for the civic arena rental for graduation um which we will use to host our graduation celebrations and I've attached the contract um and it's been reviewed by legal council for both parties. Um

044I know there was a question about the rental rate. Um, I received a response from Mary Robertson that last year the rental rate was $12,000, but we got 50% off that 122,000. Um, and we had a flat fee. Um, and so that was a $6,000 rental rate. This year the rental rate is $15,000 and so we um 50% off again. Um but they have equipment um that has also been figured into the uh final in uh contract here. So the invoice this year should be $8,942.50 for three graduations. >> So you need a motion to >> I do. Yes. I'd love a motion to accept the contract to for use of the graduation celebrations for our schools. I'll make that motion. Could you Some of us were there, some were not. >> So, could you

045explain just because it sounds like a a lot of money. >> Yes. >> But it covers all kinds of things that happen then, the day before preparation, the rehearsals. >> Right. Right. Yes. Absolutely. We take our students to rehearse there um and practice the graduation um ceremony itself. Um that ensures that we have all the right chairs lined up. Everybody knows where they're going. Everybody knows where they need to be to when they report to the civic arena, students and teachers. But also, if you hadn't been I love the Civic Arena right now because they have that amazing scoreboard ahead on up there. Um I was just there for some basketball games over Christmas break. And what I love about that is that we put our individual students up there and where they're going um

046after um their um high school experience. And so that's a nice touch. Um very personal for our students. Um our our choirs, our fine arts program does an outstanding job of welcoming individuals and we use some of their equipment for stage and um all the prep I know that Mary and her team does at the civic arena as well. It is a um it is a nice experience for our students and our families um in the community and there's enough seating and um it's it's you know um the last um couple times I know that it's been the air has been um fixed and working and so there's a lot of um great things happening at the civic arena with and if you have the updates are amazing as well. So >> thank you >>

047station is there somewhere that has that total because I try to that contract and thought, you know, if you get to the minutia of it, you got this much per se, this much for but >> yeah, I wish there was something on the contract. I just I have a response from Mary Robertson because you know in if you look at the contract itself and I printed out the contract. It's on the bold print on that second page there, right? >> Um where the deposit is but 8,000. >> Yeah, she said 8,000 there. But, um, that's the deposit. Um, but she listed out here, um, that she estimated the equipment charges to be this year at $2,885 for the equipment there. Um, and then she did state our invoice this year would be $8,942.50. >> Well,

048well, okay. So, is there any way to get all that information into the contract? Because the problem is if we're looking at the contract, we're agreeing to the information in the contract and not the information in the email. And so, that's what kind of >> right, she stated in the contract itself, the event is eligible for 50% rejection. Um, it's the last line of the full policy rate, but if you if you If you guys if you want to pause and you want me to go back to Mary and get a concrete number, I would be more than I know our team would be more than willing to do that. >> Well, I mean, I know that it's a bother only with I mean, if you're looking if you're looking at the issues I'm just

049worried about a misunderstanding later and the board's approved a contact contract under the is under the understanding. Okay. It's an email about another amount. It's just and another question I was going to ask is there any way that we can um in the future discuss ways about about maybe locking in a project in a project in a price especially if you're looking at our financial state and if it will increase every year and I understand I I completely understand, you know, everything increases. Okay. But the district is struggling moneywise and so just an idea. >> Let me ask you a question. Are you are you comfortable or um should we should we say should we approve that not to exceed $9,000 or should we do something like that in our approval? Um so that so

050that if it does go above an amount and maybe we put the exact amount she said um that there would be require an amendment or something like that for that to happen. >> Yeah, that would be a good idea. So that way you can approve it in principle and say not to exceed and then that way you know you're not at risk for anything more than that and then if it did come above that you would have to approve that going forward. And and the total that she gave is $8,942. >> $8,942.50. >> I knew I was missing something. Um I would make a motion that we that we approve 9,000. >> We've got a motion on the table. Sorry. >> Yeah, we can amend that. >> Are you amending your motion? >> Yes, I

051will amend it. >> That was a good suggestion, Tom. >> Thanks. 9 $9,000 just telling me >> not to exceed the 9,000. >> That way it comes back to the board if it's a big difference. >> Yes. Yeah. [clears throat] >> Okay. So that's the motion. >> It's already received a second. >> You did. Okay. >> Thanks for the second. >> We got it now. >> Okay. You can call the vote. >> Yes, Miss Williams. Um, yes, >> Miss Miller. >> Yes, >> Miss Chznney. >> Yes, >> Miss Karns. >> Yes, >> Miss Lanning. >> Yes, >> Mr. Moore. >> Yes, >> Mr. Richmond. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Thank you. >> Okay, policy changes are next. >> We had two policy changes come in. um one for instructional media center school libraries and one for

052instructional materials of which um I had Miss Stutter's group look over. Did they have any changes to those at all? >> No, we looked at that and it it looked like it included a lot of the e electronic um in the um language of MSBA. So, um, we we use, um, you know, digital tools all the time in our classrooms and so it looked like it encompassed that as well. >> Okay. >> Then we just need to approve these two policies with the changes. >> Is there a motion? >> Have a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Motion a second. Any discussion? >> Um, yeah. I I I didn't see anything looking through those that had any reference to the system that we put in place for parents to sign up

053and get notification as to what their students are checking out. And uh maybe that belongs somewhere else or is somewhere else, but it was just a a note of the mission in my mind. >> It was in the practices um not the policy itself. >> Okay. And we're aligning our practices to align with the policy. This is the policy of MSBA and we want to ensure that our practices align to the policy. >> I thought that might be the case. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Good question. >> Yes. >> Okay. We have a motion to second. You can call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Miller? >> Yes. >> Miss Chzn? >> Yes. >> Miss Karns? >> Yes. >> Miss Lanning? >> Yes. >> Mr. Moore? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richmond.

054>> Yes. >> All right. The motion passes. All approved, Mr. Crab. >> Yes. Thank you for adding this to the agenda. So, on Friday before I went home around 4:00, I received an email from Edgie Staff, who is our substitute provider. Um, and they informed me that our current rate, our current daily rate for a substitute for a secretary, our rate is $105 per day or $102.50 50s for a half day. [clears throat] Excuse me. If you do the math on that, um that comes up to $14 an hour. And as we know, on January 1st, um the state of Missouri raised minimum wage to $15. So, um then as I was doing a little bit more research, um I noticed that we currently pay our teachers $115 per day. Um I'm not for sure

055what that is in half, but um we are suggesting at a minimum that we raise the rate for substitutes for our secretaries to be um $112.50 per day, which would be $15 an hour and then a half day rate to be 5625. um did a little research this morning and it's going to cost the district approximately just for the secretary substitutes about $600 for the remainder of the school year. Um at some point with some guidance this evening um I was looking at possibly recommending to increase the teacher substitute wage as well, but I believe we We need to take that back to our salary and benefits committee for next school year. Um, and let them decide because we don't want to raise one group and then some of our teachers get upset that we're

056raising one group and not looking at at another group. So, we thought it'd be best to take that back to the salary committee. Um if we did raise teacher rates um from 115 to I believe it is 12250 per day which would be 750 additional. Um most of our subs are for teachers and that would cost us um about $33,000 for the rest of this school year. So I think we're going to put that on hold. Um, so I am recommending to the board um that you approve the salary schedule as presented for substitute secretaries only from $105 to $11250 to get that rate up to $15 per hour. Have any questions? I will be more than happy to answer those. >> I have a question. Okay. So, will this go back to the beginning

057of the year? >> This will go back to the beginning of this January one. Yes. Yeah. And I think I think the email that I that I got this morning I think that's like $76. >> I move for approve. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion in a second. Any additional discussion? >> Yeah. Okay. So following we're at 105 per day for a secretary sub. We're going to move it to 11250 to comply with the minimum wage, but then our teacher sub rate is 115. So if you're a sub, a teacher sub in the district currently, if this happens, then we'll pay them not 250 more. >> That is correct. So then my question is I just would like to see all of this done at the same time because I I hear what

058you're saying that we don't we want to have conversations but I worry if we don't get back to it. So when when would you be bringing back the teacher separate? >> Um I would say if we brought anything back it would be in April when we bring all of the salary schedules for approval for the 26 27 school year. but that that new rate would not go into effect until August. >> So in the meantime from January to August or from January to January through the rest of this year, our sub rate difference for our teachers and our secretaries is going to be $2.50 different. >> That is correct. If we We will increase the rate for subs. >> Could you repeat the hourly rate of the teacher subs please again? >> Yeah. So currently

059the the I don't know what it is per hour but the daily rate for teacher substitutes is $115 per day. Um I do have a little bit of research. So, um, Savannah and East Buchanan both currently pay $125 per day. West Plat is 140. Plat County is 147. Midbyan is 105. So, even if we raised the rate for teachers to 12250, we're still below um a lot of districts within our area. on like >> so there's >> eight hours >> 7 and a half hours. >> Okay. >> But you're not recommending that at this time. >> Um I am not recommending that at this time but I totally understand that >> 1533 is what it is. >> 1533 per hour. >> Yeah. Um, I I do understand that it does bring those two job classifications

060a lot closer together. >> And and there's no way to so we can increase the secretary sub pay, but there's no way to do the same for the remainder of the year for the teacher subay. >> We can totally do that. >> Well, now I'm just going to say I'm going to vote against this because that would be my preference. But you're saying you want to take it back to your teachers and those who want to process it and come up with a plan. >> Yeah, we thought it would be a good idea that it went to our salary and benefits committee because that's where all the salary schedules go. >> But the one for subs that wouldn't be implemented till next year, right? >> Correct. >> Well, so I'm just going to say I'm

061gonna vote no on this because then they're going to go the whole rest of this year at that differential. which which is fine. That's what I'm settled. >> Well, well, and I understand, you know, that you want to bring it to the committee and everything, you know, but the board's able to make a decision on this. >> If you want if you want to modify my uh motion, you're excuse me, my recommendation, you're more than welcome to do that. Well, is there is there any reason we can't have it at a work session and then do it next month >> and do all of them or or even I guess I would even be amendable to if we did this today and then at the work session in March we look at subs teacher subs

062and then at the March board meeting we approve a teacher sub rate change for the for the same prorated to January 1st. That that would be my preference. I would have preferred we do all of this at the same time, but we don't have that. >> And and what what's and I understand the concept both ways. What what's the um differential that it'll cost to raise the So you put them there to raise the secretaries, not very many people, correct? >> It's $6,000. Is that what you said? >> 600. 600 for the remainder of the school year for secretaries only. And then what would it be for all for all the subs? 33,000 for the rest of the year. Correct. Honestly, I I'm not opposed to that. Um I mean, I know I made the

063motion, but I'm I'm I'd seen that um some of those figures that that you were thinking about, I'm not opposed to that. our subs are important part of what we do and um I want to make sure they that we don't undervalue them. I am a little I don't know the process of the salary. So I am sensitive to the fact that you don't want to act independent of that that committee and um you know I don't want to start ball rolling that we change everybody's salary right now because this isn't the time period where we evaluate all those. So I'm counting on you giving me what's the right balance here that you recommend and that's why I support your recommendation. Will you say again why you don't want to do it just so I

064make sure that I have that? >> The only reason why I don't want to do it is I want to allow our staff who are on the salary and benefits committee to at least have a voice on this. >> So can we ask for the next work session? >> We are meeting Thursday. I think we can bring it up. I would just my suggestion I would I would think voting on the um secretaries would probably be appropriate tonight since we are below the minimum wage currently >> so we can get that taken care of but I'll be more than happy to bring that back to a work session to see what our salary and benefits committee said about about substitute pay for teachers. >> I like that. >> When's our next work session? >> February.

065>> Okay. And so you'll be able to bring us information then. >> Sure. >> Okay. >> So I think that the motion stand I move that we approved it for the secretaries. >> Y second. >> Okay. We have a motion and a second. >> Any additional discussion? Okay. Call the vote, please. >> Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Miller, >> yes. >> Miss Chzn, >> yes. >> Miss Karns, >> yes. >> Miss Lanny, >> no. >> Mr. Morg, >> yes. >> Mr. Richmond, >> yes. [snorts] >> And the motion passes with one opposed. >> Okay. Informational items. >> Yeah. Happy to introduce a couple gentlemen here. We have Dr. Mike Reich, Dr. Alan Markley. They're from Raymond James, our municipal adviser, and they are here to give you a financial overview of the district, uh,

066specifically our long-term debt. So, Kellen, I assume, you want us to podium. >> Good evening. Uh, thanks for having us tonight. We will be to the point and brief uh, and then answer any questions you may have. Uh, my name is Mike Reich. I'm with Raymond James Public Finance. And first I want to start with thanking you for uh your trust in Raymond James to work with you as financial adviserss and uh we're we're excited to be your partner and that's exactly what we will be your partner. Um you know this isn't just a job for us and uh so we're we're grateful to be working with the St. Joseph uh school district. Um so a little bit of background uh we're going to talk about numbers and your outstanding debt and some key financial

067information tonight. Um, but first thought you might want to know a little bit about us. I know that we submitted some information in our RFP response, but uh we've got a someone's advancing slides uh on the on the second slide. Brief bios there, but uh my background uh heard the name Plaque County R3 mentioned just a moment ago. I was superintendent at Plaque County R3 for 13 years and retired in 2022. So, I'm on my second career in public finance. But, uh as you pro probably aware in Plaque County R3 during that 13-year time period, we were one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. So, we issued a fair bit of debt debt to finance capital projects. So, uh it seemed natural to move to this side of the transaction. So, that's

068a little bit of background about me and I'll let my partner introduce himself. >> Thank you, Dr. Reich. Thank you everyone for allowing us to be here tonight. My name is Alan Markley. I was in the same position as Dr. Reich was as superintendent of schools. Uh and I finished I total 21 years of my 27 years I was superintendent schools in Missouri. The last 14 I retired out of Raytown schools in Raytown, Missouri. Uh like Mike, this seemed like a nice transition uh to be on this side of the table. And really it it's for the last few years it's been a joy to to help school districts, superintendents uh work through the process and uh not only uh the finance process but also how to get there, you know, get across that finish

069line. We're really enjoying that. So, thank you for having us here and I think we've quickly moved through our information. >> Yeah, just a little bit information about the firm. Uh, again, this was all our RFP response, but um we are a leading underwriter of school bonds along with being uh one of the most active municipal adviserss. Um, we're we're known for the size of our sales department and delivering aggressive interest rates. U one of the largest sales forces in the country in terms of retail sales. uh and institutional sales as well. And we have the largest capital position of any other firm that uh is a player in the Missouri space. Capital position doesn't really help you in our capacity as your municipal adviser, but it does speak to the strength of our firm,

070which we're proud of. And we also believe we bring a a unique uh team uh to the table here. Not only do we have one of the most uh active underwriting and municipal advising firms in the country, but also between Dr. Markley and I, we have 34 years of experience as superintendents. And as you might imagine, we are not always just answering questions related to finance. So, u we're happy to bring that to the table. So, if you'll advance to the next slide, uh one of the things I think many people find important is that we are committed to Missouri. In fact, when Allan and I first started with Raymond James, we we joked that we were the largest company that people have never heard of in Missouri. Uh, but we are all over the

071state. We have a big part of our company is wealth management. And you can see we have our public finance office uh in Leewood, but we also have several uh brokers across the state in terms of uh personal wealth management. uh 59 locations uh 213 employees and what's impressive is there's 15 15.2 billion assets under management. Okay, next slide. And you can see this is last year's rankings uh and uh rankings came out here recently and we dropped from number one to number two. Uh but as long as we hover in those top two spots, we're happy. Uh but uh again we're we're a firm who over the last 10 years we kept continually moved up to the top and the firm adding Missouri and Dr. Markley and myself uh to to work with the

072team as part of our our rise to the top. And then lastly just a couple of logos of district. This is probably already outdated uh but uh just some logos of districts we work with. Just some districts that we work with in the area. Savannah R3 right next door. We've done several financings with Savannah now. Um a district another district close by Black County R3 and uh a district sim similar in size in Lee Summit. So u and the this has been amassed in the four years or almost four years that Dr. Markley and I have worked with the firm because Raymond James wasn't a player in Missouri until we started with the firm. So we're proud of that. Okay. Dr. Markley is going to talk about some of your overarching financials. >> Thank you,

073Dr. Reich. Uh, just quickly, we'll move through slides eight and nine, but it shows your tax levy history. um your tax levy has, you know, for the most part has grown over time and of course that uh is it follows right along with the building projects or the renovation projects that you've had over time or even uh on the operating side any type of operating increase you might have had to to bolster uh salaries or purchasing needs or those types of things. So really it's it's move and that's that's a common theme among all the districts across the state that the average tax levy increasing over time. Your assessed valuation has seen some nice growth on on page next page please. >> Let me ask you I guess we can interrupt you. >> Yeah right

074ahead. >> Um relative to the levy size but as a percentage um what how's that compared to some of the other districts that you all work? Great question. And when we do this all the time, particularly with clients that we're working that we have several that are going for levy increases, uh whether it be operating or or total combined debt service levies. Uh at 491, you're probably maybe just above the half or up in the upper half. Uh for example, from there, uh where I was at at Raytown, our total levy was $6.32. So we were up at the very top. Okay? and working with a district like Morgan County R1 which is Stove which is down by for sales. Uh their levy is $329. So they're all the way down there. It's just really

075you're anywhere from 275 to almost up to to $6.5 in the state. So that's kind of >> So you reference some of these what's the >> they're lower than you are but I don't remember exactly off the top of my head. We do their tax levy calculations. >> County, >> Black County, I can tell you, uh, they just went under $5. So, they're they're above you, but not not very much. >> Right. Lee Summit is just under you, I think, at 480 somewhere in there, but they roll their levy back uh voluntarily. Their operating levy itself about 50 cents every year, but they're going for a Propy waiver uh full proxy waiver in the spring. So, that levy is going to increase. >> Thank you. Yes. So again the assessed valuation you can see that

076you've grown uh over the years and kind of on the average side of things you know the last 25 years at 2 and a.5% but the last uh three and five years has been has been more growth uh which we've seen and that's a trend across the state particularly during the co years uh with the personal property uh those if you remember if you were here during that time uh and of course whether you were on a school board or work with the school you saw personal property used vehicles used boats used contractors, anything that's personal property continued to grow uh in during the co time and that has kind of started to soften and reduce. So, we're seeing those come down a little bit. Next slide, please. So, I will consider a comparison of

077your tax levy our homework for next time we're with you. So, we'll make make sure we put that together. It's always interesting to see and uh we can do that in area schools. We'll get uh some uh districts that you compare yourselves to here locally and throughout the the metro uh as well as give you an idea of where you fall throughout the the entire state. >> So, let's let's look at your outstanding debt. Um so, this is just kind of the overview of everything that you have outstanding. Uh the top six are your general obligation bonds outstanding and then the bottom two are your coops outstanding. And actually that series 2020 fully matured on 415 2025. So you can cross that uh the top lease certificate of participation line off because you have fully

078paid that. So again, just an overview. It gives you the the issue, the tax status, uh the amount issued, the amount outstanding, final maturity dates, and you can see 2033 is the is the uh is the final maturity that is the longest out. And so that would be if no other debt is issued, that would be when your your uh your debt would be fully retired. And then final maturities, callable debt. Um, you've got some some of your bonds are callable and I'll talk about that in a moment. Um, your call dates are listed and then uh the underwriter fees paid all the way over to the right. >> And this is in million, right? >> Yes. Yes. Thank you for asking. >> Uh, the answer, you know, but I know that when people look

079at this, it's going to look like, oh, that's not a lot. That's only like 9,000. No, >> no, it's more than that. Yes, you you have relatively low debt for a district your size, but yes, you're right. This is in millions. And thanks for clarifying. I know as an educator, we were always guilty of throwing out acronyms and confusing everybody around us. And now that we're in public finance, we tend to do the same things. We look at these numbers all the time, so they look a little different for us than they do for you. Uh so, uh next slide, please. Uh this is the uh debt profile for just your outstanding general obligation debt. Not much really more to say here. It shows your principal outstanding your projected interest and then your total debt

080service uh and then your principal balance as we go through to to the full maturity of your longest uh uh debt which is 2033. Then a graphical representation that shows your total aggregate geo debt service by the projected interest and principal outstanding in graphical form. And then lastly uh the graphical representation of all of your outstanding series of debt. Okay, next slide please. This is u maybe a little bit tough to see but to get it all on one page uh it needs to be small. So this is actually your your debt service schedule by series of outstanding debt. And as you can see your outstanding debt has been issued uh to shape your debt which allows for level debt service or a predictable amount yeartoear that grows as your assessed valuation grows. So the

081most important uh column here is again you've got your principal and interest and then um so you've got your principal and interest for each of your outstanding series. The series are lined up uh rowby row but then look at the aggregate over to the right hand side and you can see your fiscal year payment. So, uh, this is so small that it's challenging me from this position, but you're at roughly 8.1, you go to 8.3, then it drops down to 7.6, down to 4.3. So, your your debt service payments are going to be significantly reducing as you move forward. And so, just wanted to to uh demonstrate that on this slide. Then if you'll flip over to the next slide, all of the uh all of the maturities that are highlighted in the kind of

082light blue, those are callable bonds, callable maturities. So just kind of going from left to right, your series 2012A, um you do have a 2028 maturity that is currently callable. um that has a 2.3% coupon and you're not going to do any better than that right now. In fact, if we uh to to do better than 2.3% um we would need to experience supply chain disruption and possibly a pandemic like we did in 2020 2021 when rates were historically low. So, you've got a good rate on that. That's a good that's a good thing. Uh the next series 2012b uh you've got less than a percent on that coupon. that's not callable and it doesn't matter because you're not going to beat that. So, you're doing good there. Uh your 2013, you do have a

083couple of 4% coupons. Uh that is currently callable as of uh 2023. You've got a couple of 4% coupons and that's something that we will look at run some numbers on. um it's close to the potential for of course your your uh 26 maturity is already scheduled to be paid, but that 27 maturity might be something worth looking into in terms of a refunding possibility. It would be close. It's probably not in the money just yet, but we would want to keep our eye on that that maturity. And then the rest of them are uh 3% 3.1 3.2 3.25 uh probably not producing any any uh meaningful savings in the Um, currently, uh, next series of debt, 2013b, uh, non-allable, but again, 1.16%. Uh, great. You got a great coupon there. Um, and so you're

084good. 2020 is uh does have a call provision on TW uh 31 of 25. So, it's currently callable, but again, you've got 2% coupons there, and the rates uh won't allow for you to refund that debt to leverage lower interest rates. And then lastly, the uh best opportunity you have for a refund aside from uh the one maturity I mentioned on your series 2013 is your series 2024 which you recently issued. Um it is call it is not callable until 2029. And just to make sure I'm being thorough here, pullable, you know, unlike your mortgage where you can after six months of getting into a mortgage, then you can refinance whenever interest rates lower. Um, terms of general obligation bonds and certificates of participation or lease lease forms of financing. there's a certain period of

085time that you are guaranteeing investors a rate of return and therefore you cannot call or refund or refinance debt prior to that call date. So when I say they're callable that means that it's past the call date and you are you are a able to leverage lower lower interest rates. And so you do have two coupons that are callable. They have 5% and if they were callable today we would we would be talking about a refund to save uh interest cost there. So we will certainly keep an eye on that as we approach the call date of 2029. >> If we have a general obligation done today, translate what I'm saying because I'm not saying it right. What would be the interest rate you would expect today? >> So that's a really complicated question. I

086know you didn't intend it to be that way. Um but that depends on several factors but um you know so like the the do we have the MMD rate >> I would say some it depends on the the structure of the debt okay so the term uh you know is it a 10 year is it 20-year um the the call provision uh has an impact on the the interest rate um your credit rating has an impact on on the interest rate. So, there's several factors specific to St. Joseph School District that would be relevant to answer that corre correctly. >> Uh your amount, your PAR amount, they all have a a factor in that interest rate. Um but to get just to give you an idea, um I just did a refunding for a a

087$5 million refunding for a school district that had eight maturities left that were callable. um $5 million was the par amount approximately and we'd put 4% of coupons and again this this is another couponing and the sale price of your bonds also plays into what your interest cost is because we try to sell your bonds in in excess of par amount which is $1,000. So we would like to sell your bonds for 1,100 and so we can generate additional cash, pay down principal faster, but you know we issued 4% coupons and refunded 4% coupons and because we were selling their bonds in excess of par, we were able to get rid of some of their principal outstanding and then we ultimately lowered their total interest cost. So that's just an example and that's why I

088mentioned this 4% coupon is worth looking at. Yeah, I was just kind of curious how that related to regular interest rates. And >> yeah, unfortunately, public finance is a little more complicated than like the overnight rates you hear about or the or mortgage rates where it's, you know, if rates are at 6.5%. It's 6.5% for most everybody. Now, there is some creditworthiness that goes into that, but uh it's a little more complicated because there's several moving parts that determine what your actual coupon is. Okay. Then uh moving on to your cop debt. Next slide please. So this is your your profile, your principal outstanding uh projected interest, projected debt service and then uh your principal balance. As you can see that will fully mature in 2031 and then your graphical representations. But flip over to

089the next slide slide please. This is your actual debt service on the on your one series of outstanding COP debt and again fully matures in 2031. And if you if you go over to the second column from the right, your fiscal year payment, you can see your payments are hovering 1.2 1.3 million a year uh on your your outstanding COP that you have currently. And keep in mind the difference between go debt and coop debt is your go debt is isolated in fund three and has no real interaction with any operating funds. Um your cop debt however um this 1.2 $1.3 million payment that you're making until u 415 2031 is u comingling with your operating funds. So this is serviced from operating funds in essence. And then next slide, please. This debt is also

090currently callable. Um, however, you have a 2.5% coupon on this outstanding debt. And that's a low rate, especially given that cop debt or lease purchase debt usually comes at a little higher interest cost than go debt because it is subject to your annual appropriation. Um, so your 2.5% is good. So, it's not really a good candidate for a refunding. However, I do want to mention um although it's not a good candidate candidate for a refunding, if the district were in a strong cash position or became in a strong cash position and wanted to relieve itself of this operating burden, um a cash defecence would be in order and that would save you interest cost. Okay. And any questions on your outstanding debt? I know I Yes, sir. >> Last thing you said just meant if

091we paid it off early. >> Yes. Prepaid. Yes. >> Yep. Any questions on debt outstanding? Not a lot of refunding opportunities, but there are a few. We'll keep our eye our eye on those. Um your COP debt is is uh callable. Um and we'll we'll continue to work with administration and and be back if there's an opportunity there to to leverage some savings as well. Dr. Markley and quickly I'll go through your debt limit calculation. You've got that. You've probably already seen it uh if you've been on the board and through study sessions, but you're capped at 15% of your total assessed value. Uh the way that if you look on page 19, it shows you the calculation how that works. Uh it's important to note that state assessed property is estimate. So whenever we

092put together a total bonding capacity for you, we're going to get certified letters from those utilities to make sure that that amount is correct. We do not want to get to an election, have the election, pass the election, and all of a sudden we don't have the bonding capacity or that authorized amount. It would nullify that election. So it's important that we get those. Uh we won't flip back to it, but on slide 12, I will make the comment. Look how quickly you are paying down your debt. uh you're paying at a very rapid rate and that's if you look on this calculation you can see uh a subtraction of that is the general ob obligation bonds outstanding that you have uh goes against you but in your case you're continually paying it down at

093such a rapid rate it's going to improve your bonding capacity along with uh your AV we we have it if you look on the next slide you can see we're looking at 190 uh actually two slides over go to slide You can see that we have it at a 2% and we believe that's conservative uh because the last 10 years you've grown at 2.65% and the last 25 you've grown at 2 and a half. So you can see over on that far right the estimate of bonding capacity as the years go by you're going to continue to grow and you're growing because your AV is going up and you're paying down your debt. Uh so all good things. Any questions on how that works? That's that's a good explanation. >> So back to the rate

094question uh today's MMD rate which is a index that we use to kind of answer the question that you asked. Um for a 20-year on a AAA rate these are AAA rated bonds the rate would be 3.98. >> Okay. >> You're pretty close to four. >> Yeah. Yes. And your your bonds will be your bonds will be double A+ rated >> on general obligation. >> Okay. So, moving on from Yeah, there we go. So, uh we always do a tax levy analysis to give you an idea of where you stand relative to cash flow. And as you can see here, I'll go over this from left to right uh quickly, but first um we made some assumptions. we have to because we're forecasting into the future. Um and so as Dr. Markley mentioned, we are

095using 2% as your annual growth uh moving forward um past what we know currently. And then this assumes a 98% collection rate. And so we're not anticipating receiving 100% of your tax collections in any given year. We're we're anticipating 98% to be on the conservative side. Um and then also um this is the this is only showing your tax revenue collection. You do have some other sources of revenue to the debt service fund, but we consider that to be padding um to so that we stay on the conservative side. We want to make sure that we're setting you guys up to where if you ran no tax levy increase bond issues in the past or if you do so in the future that we are able to stay within your tax levy that you promised

096voters. And so just moving from left to right, calendar year is the lefth hand column and then you can see the AV is in the second column from the left blue numbers are actual and then uh below those blue numbers are showing the 2% annual growth and we've got the annual growth rate. And then this next seven B uh columns are nothing more than your principal and interest payments for each outstanding series of debt. And so if you want to scan all the way over to total debt service, that's what your annual obligation is. And so as you can see, your total debt service in 24 was 3.1 and then went up to nine, go down to 8.6, down to 8.2, down to 7.8, and just so on as you get closer to that 23

0972033 final maturity. Okay. Then the next several so got kind of put a star by that column because that's an important column the total debt service and then the next several uh columns are your revenue sources and then your expenses rel relative to collection. Um, and then the second to last column from the right is your debt service fund balance. And box that in or star that column because that's another important one. And then as you can see your the last column is your actual debt service tax levy and uh it's current currently sits at 5701 5701. So I I had you star the total debt service column and the debt service fund balance column and I think many of you are uh if not all of you are probably aware that the state auditor's

098calculation will only allow you to keep so much in fund balances. uh roughly two years uh of your principal and interest payments are allowable in your fund balances and you may have uh been a part of some cash deficences or prepayments in the past um because if you don't do execute something like that you may lose a portion of your levy. And so, uh, if you go down that debt service fund balance column, you can see that you're building, if nothing changed, uh, no, you didn't issue any new debt or you didn't, uh, execute some sort of a cash prepayment, um, you would be building some pretty significant fund balances in the debt service fund. And so, you know, looking kind of eyeballing here where you start to double up uh your debt service fund

099balances over your total debt service where you're looking at I mean definitely your 2029 sticks out as a year where not only do you double it, but you get close to tripling it. Uh the year prior you're okay, but uh and then it compounds from there from 12 million to 17 million to 22 million to 31 to 39. Obviously, that's not something that the district is interested in um in terms of building fund balances that large. So, again, this is assuming nothing changes and so it's uh it's a status quo idea of what uh what your tax levy analysis looks like in terms of cash flow. Any questions there? And the for that is two times the previous year's um roughly >> two times the previous year outstanding fund balance. >> Yeah. Roughly two two

100times your uh principal and interest pay excuse me you can carry fund balances two times your current principal and interest payment. So when we we punch in your your calculation >> saying that that 2029 gets that because then it's down to 4 million264 265 and and and the um debt service fund goes to 12 million. So, so to not sacrif Yeah, that's the And >> that's an important thing. >> Yeah, it is. And that's that's the key takeaway here on this slide. Um, you know, if you look at the year prior to if you look at 28 you're you're we're estimating $ 8.4 million in or almost 8.5 in fund balances. Well, when we do that calculation with your total debt service of 7.4, we're not going to have a problem. But the next year

101when you are at 12.7 fund balances with only 4.2 in and principal and interest payments, that's where that that will come into effect. and knowing that in advance and strategizing as we get closer to that date is is important. Okay, moving on to the to the wrapping up the presentation. Um we've got some graphical information. The last few slides are relative to the market. Um really put these in here because uh folks find it interesting. I mean, this is a 30-year MMD, which again are triple AAA rated bonds and the market movement um over the last 30 years. And uh you know, as you can see, rates have been higher than they are right now, but you can see where that bottoms out there right around 2021. That was historic in terms of lows for

102u for public finance and uh and rates. So it bottomed out during that time and districts were you know borrowing at you know 1% coupons and uh and there wasn't a lot of demand for for the these type of bonds at that time and so um but as you see it's shar it's raised sharply but we're still historically if you kind of take where you know where where we are all the way over on the right of January of 25 which is dated a little bit and kind of draw a line over. We're about in a 30-year history, we're right right about the middle in terms of where rates are historically speaking. The next slide is roughly the the same um showing uh shorter maturities, the a 10 year, a 20 year, and a 30-year.

103But again, same type of movement over a over that time frame as well. So from from this is actually from 08 to 26. And then uh the next slide is a rate forecast and it just showing I mean to summarize we're anticipating rates dropping this year and we would anticipate that trend to continue uh throughout 27. But I will tell you that these rate forecasts are moderately helpful right now because we're rates are u there's a fair bit of market volatility and we're seeing rates move right now as much on headlines as they are on the on the standard economic calendar like the release of PPI and and uh you know the Fed speaking uh and things like that that uh CPI and you know things like that that you generally are the mo market

104movers but headlines right now are moving markets as much as anything. So you know we do forecast and you know we Raymond James has a you know a very wellnationally known economist that works on these formulas but it's still just a little bit more than a guess. So with that, >> some others are some others are predicting two or three. >> That's right. >> Yeah. Well, actually on our call on Monday, there's some real skepticism as to whether or not we're going to see that many rate cuts in in the coming year. >> So, I wanted to answer any any additional questions. Thanks for asking questions throughout. We were hoping it would be more of a conversation than a presentation, and we appreciate that. So, >> okay, cool. I just have a couple questions. Number

105one, are we able to get this a little earlier next time because this is um close to 30 pages and I know that everybody on our board, you know, isn't as quick to process information and there could be additional questions and I know that I would have liked, you know, to ask you to your face. I know I can email later on, you know, but it's a lot of information and I know I'm not the only one. And so, are we able to get this earlier next time? >> We can have this as early as you need it. But just to make you feel more comfortable, you're not taking any action on any of this stuff tonight. And if you want us to come back next month or the month after, I just I'm 25

106minutes down the road. So, I'll be here whenever you guys need me to be here. Okay, perfect. I appreciate that. Okay, so in looking at the information, are you expecting our district to need a bond like in year 28? >> That's really a question that you all would need to answer. you know, we're we're your fiduciary. So, you know, we're going to tell you factually what the numbers show. And I can tell you that if nothing changes, going back to that tax levy analysis and your cash flow, if nothing changes, i.e. issue additional debt, >> prepay outstanding debt, but you're going to be limited on prepayments because you all of your debt goes away after 2033. So there are some limitations. If if the district's intent is to maintain the 5.5701 levy, there will need

107to be some strategy deployed. But that strategy, we will give you the information on the financial analysis, but that's really a decision that you all would need to make. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Are there any additional questions? >> Kind of similar to what you're asking. So now that we're not I mean, it's my understanding based on our conversation at our last meeting that we're no longer working off of the long range plan. Um, so what what is administration's I mean, are we looking at a new high school in I mean, I know that's that was part of why we talked about plan 4 is that it's set us up for a new high school. Are you all talking internally about a new high school bond in 2028 or what what are we

108going off of now? >> So, we're currently in the process of updating our facilities plan. That was a rough draft that I brought to the board last month, but that is still a work in progress. >> So, if we've talked about where we are being to set us up for a new high school, when when do you foresee that happening? I guess that's it. It seems like this this presentation was kind of geared towards 2028, but I'm just trying to understand. >> Not at all. We we just wanted to have Raymond James in front of you all to give you an overview. And so that's what they've done. It does appear from the information tonight that we would need to do something prior to 2029 if everything stays the same. But again, we we are

109in the process of updating our facilities plan. >> Okay. So we so we don't we don't have facil plan that we're working on right now for BR was to set us up for a new high school bonding capacity wise we need to do something before 2029. Did I get all that right? >> I believe so. >> Okay. >> No >> bonding capacity. >> I'm sorry I couldn't hear everything. >> Yeah, I'm sorry. I just caught the tail end of that. Um you know your tax calculation and your tax levy analysis is independent of your bonding capacity. So they're two separate issues. Um your bonding capacity, we were showing 190 million roughly. Um but >> if we were to do something today, >> yes, if you were to do something today and then we show on

110that slide where we analyze your current bonding capacity and its growth, um what it would be each and every year based on some assumptions. But the tax levy analysis is what I was talking about relative to 2020 uh 2029 uh when you triple your fund balances over your principal and interest payments that year. And that's that's what is the the factor that would need to have some strategy deployed and some thought given to. It's also important that >> it's also important to know bonding capacity and what you can do as a no tax increase are two different things as well. >> So that would have to be analyzed. >> Okay. Are there any additional questions? >> Good presentation. >> Thank you for the information. >> If not, we appreciate your time. Thank you. And we'll

111contact you with other questions. Is it easiest if I email my questions after looking at everything in depth to you to ask over to them? Is that easier? >> Yeah, we can do either way if you or you could email them and copy me. That way I know what the conversation is so I can maybe input some district information into that. They'll give the fiduciary answer to that question and we can go forward. And also just want to mention they did have the information previously. That's on me on that not being I don't see it in the agenda. I don't know what happened, but uh so do not do not blame them for that. That's that's on me and I just wanted to make sure you guys knew. So >> it is on assembly. >>

112It is now. If you refresh, it should be there. >> She just added it a few minutes ago, but I appreciate you taking responsibility for that. >> She said it wasn't on there, so I went and looked for it. Found it. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, next. Reorganization. Is that you, Dr. Oh my goodness. >> Yeah, it's going to be a team approach tonight. So, we'll probably be bringing this every month so that we can update the board and the public as far as where we are at with our district reorganization process. So, I want to go back to policy JCB that we talked about last month or either the work session about student transfer specifically for employees. And that policy states that district employees may request that their children be

113placed within the district, but but approval will be subject to availability within the requested school. Employees who work at a school other than the child's home attendance area may transfer their children to the school where the employee works. Now, I do want you to know our practice has been that we allow our staff to choose the school for their children. So if I am a parent at Spring Garden or if that's where I'm working at Spring Garden and I choose to have my children attend Pickicket, then I've been able to do that. That's been our current practice. And so we want to continue that practice. We do have a lot of change right now. So we feel like upsetting the apple cart on this one would not be wise. And so um if the board

114is supportive of that, we would like to continue that practice. But I did want to follow up because I know we discussed that at our last meeting. And so then we will talk about individual staff meetings. Those have continued. And so I'll let Mr. Carell speak to that. >> Yeah. So >> can I before you move on? So and I apologize. I said something. If um so their choice is any school in the district, >> correct? >> It's not their resident or where they're teaching. It's not those two options. It's any school. >> Policy states they can have their children go where the employee works. That's what policy states. Our practice has been to allow the employee to choose the child's school. >> And do do um are they eligible to be bus to those

115locations if it's out of their out of the normal bus rate? >> I do not think busing is accommodated for that. >> No. If you don't if if you don't live within the boundaries of your specific school, then transportation is at the it's the responsibility of the parent. >> Thank you. >> Typically, they're transparent. They're transporting their children. >> Okay. So, I have a question about that. >> Sure. >> As you just asked. Okay. So, the policy Okay. So, the policy and the practice are just a little different, right? >> Correct. >> Okay. But we're going to go by by the practice and not the policy. >> Correct. That's what we've communicated. We actually had this discussion with MSTA and NA as well. This is something that's probably worthwhile to send to our policy committee

116for a potential revision. >> Okay, good. That's what I was going to ask cuz it's my fear it will be an instance in where the uh procedure isn't exactly aligned in the policy and it could just it's just always easier to go by the policy and so >> and we can do that if that's what you would like to do now. We just know our practice has been this for several years. >> Yes. Yes. And I like the practice. I think it's amazing. I think it's a good perk and I want to protect the practice and the only way to do that is if it's a part of the policy. >> Sure. >> If you guys are okay with that. >> What question? >> That was my question. So my recommendation was going to be

117that we bring back the policy and revise it to match what we've been doing if that's what we continue if we're going to continue to do that. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Cool. Is everybody in agreement with that? >> Yeah, I can support that. >> Okay. >> I mean, so will we bring that to the work session and then to the board meeting next month? >> We'll have it go to the policy committee and then bring that >> to the board. But we do have some other policies in the offer for the committee. And so Mr. Carell I know is smiling because we have some that we are in the process of right now but we will add that to the list. >> And what's that next meeting >> of the policy committee meeting? I'm sorry

118not the work session. >> Well the current policy committee meeting we're having right now is is not for policy JCB. So we would have to form another committee for that. Um so I may >> it's a different committee for every policy. It's not a committee to look at everyone every month. We choose different individuals for each policy that we're looking at. That way it kind of aligns to those that it might affect. So currently we're we're looking at um we're looking at staff absences. So we've we've gathered individuals from lots of different departments and areas to have those conversations. The one before that was about um administrative procedure for snow days. So that was more aligned to district administrators. So we had district administrators on on that committee. So um I may have a conversation

119with Dr. Noly about this and see if he can't head up a committee since this really aligns to him. >> Okay, another question. Is the process already open for transfers of the students? I mean, are people already able to put their information in? >> I'm going to defer on that question because I don't know. >> Well, well, the reason I'm asking is if it's already open, are we able to expedite a policy committee because that may affect a request if it's already open? You know, >> just like I said, I will I will talk with Dr. penalty and see if he can't form some type of committee for that. >> You'll be able to bring us an update at the work session about it. >> I I hope >> we will do our best. We

120just have different policies. And for example, vacation time that only affects two 60-day employees that work all year long. So we don't have staff on that committee that are not typically 260s. And so that's just one example. So we would want to have and we like mixing that up to get different staff involved in that process. >> Can we also get an update on the policies like at the work session just a general overview [snorts] of the committees currently in place and what you guys are doing on those committees or is there only one at a time? Um there is only one at a time and I've been sharing that information on on the weekly update. >> Right. It's only the one and then when it's completed you'll form another one. >> Correct. But again

121I'll talk with Dr. Noly and see if he can't get one put together um and get you some information by February whatever date that is 9th. That one. >> Thank you. I appreciate But I can't make any promises. >> Individual staff meetings. >> Yes, thank you. Um, so last week, Miss Stutter and I and some other individuals from academic services, met with staff who are uncertified and staff who are not properly certified um within the content that they teach. So they might be certified through the state of Missouri, say in um Spanish, but they're only teaching social studies. So that they would not be properly certified within that content. Um really the goal of these conversations was to um really seek some information to find out what their progress is on seeking certification because as

122I've stated before, our goal in our district every year is to ensure that certified staff is in front of our students. Um that may be a lofty goal to have, but that is a goal that we have to make sure that all staff is certified and properly certified. Um, so again, finding out what their progress is, um, their anticipated completion date, whether they're in our grow your own or our pathways program, and then they were able to provide some some questions for us, maybe to clarify the process moving forward, things like that. Um, we met with 79 staff members um who are either uncertified or not properly certified. Um, and I'm happy to announce that only two of them um are not currently seeking any type of certification. Um, both of those individuals, one stated

123they plan on starting in March, um, and then the other one plans on starting this summer. Um the majority of them are going to be completed with their certification this summer. So an overwhelming majority we will um probably cut that number in half which is good. Um I believe that's all I've got. Study >> explain what you mean by cut that number in half. What you mean? Well, so of of these 80 roughly individuals, almost half of them will have certification by August. >> So then we may only have 40 who are continuing to seek some type of certification. >> So when they're hired, how does that work? Do is there an agreement that um they're coming under they're coming to serve and say within two years they'll have a certification or just what does

124that look like for me? >> Yeah. So that is really dependent on the applicant. So, kind of the unwritten rule has been if you are a certified teacher but not certified in the content you're teaching, it's usually a two-year window to take that practice test to get properly certified. Um, other individuals, depending on when they're hired and if they are uncertified, um, we have some individuals who are in their first semester of obtaining their bachelor's degree. And then we have some individuals who are in the Pathways program um who have lots of education um have a bachelor's degree and um just need some alternative certification. Some of those programs are two years. Um we've got one individual who started in school to get a degree in elementary education. Um some things didn't work out for

125them. Now they are coming back. Um so their their timeline is much shorter but we we are just hoping that one they're in a program with us on grow your own or pathways and they are making some adequate progress but to give a time frame on one just to say you've got x number of years. It's difficult depending on how how they come in as a as an employee. >> Is there a policy or like a law with the state about that? So, the state and Miss Tuttor, if you could help me with this, that the state submits um a report to us that says there's there's so many certified teachers and there's so many with a master's degree and doctorate and it goes all the way down to those that are uncertified. the the

126difference between uncertified there are I I can tell you we do not have any according to the the state desi we do not have any uncertified teachers that they classify that as that means they don't have a subcertificate they don't have a degree they've got nothing and there are teachers in the state of Missouri who are in front of students that don't even have a subcertificate all of our that we classify as uncertified, they have a subcertificate. Um, so there's a certain percentage in in the state of Missouri that says um there's a certain number of uncertified teachers, but we do not fall in we do not fall into that category because all of our teachers at least have a subcertificate. >> Anything else? Yeah. So I had read in your we had talked last

127time about um the initially the staff were not going to be included in comparison or assessment against all the other central staff for release and you had said that was going to be interviewed. I think in your last report you had mentioned that that is going to happen. Um but the wording I didn't quite understand like I think your wording was that it was going to be offered. Um so all of those my question then is are ben staff going to be interviewed all of them and are there certifications and credentials going to be compared against all the other secondary staff placement? >> Thank you Miss Lane. Yes, we are interviewing or we are meeting a one-on-one with employee discussions on Wednesday and Thursday of this week with Benton every um that message was sent

128out on Friday after we concluded. You know, as far as is everybody attending the one-on-one employee discussions? No, some are just submitting the Google form and they are saying their preferences through Google form and saying, "I don't need to meet. I've already submitted my Google form and this is um the direction my preference. Um, but this past week we did circle back with individuals who were either like on maternity leave or absent um from previous discussions. So, I spent some time back over at central um meeting one-on-one with those individuals. But in regards to Ben, yes, a signup genius has been sent out. It was sent out um and our academic service team met this morning and we're going to host those one-on-one discussions just like we did at Central and Lafayette. I was just

129kind of confused by the wording in the report, so I just want to double check. >> Yes. >> And then we also have our staffing transition committee that Dr. Adams and Dr. Reed are leading up. So that will kick off soon. Mrs. Stud, would you like to chime in on anything with that? >> No, I'm just excited that there will be a representative from every site that is impacted on this committee team. So, and we have 20 staff members that um Dr. Adams and um Dr. Reed have invited. >> I have a question. Okay, so pretty much everyone's impacted though, right? Like isn't that almost all the schools in the district who are impacted right now? >> Not I wouldn't say necessarily all schools. Like I could I'm just going to throw out it like

130over right now barely. I mean there's no impact there. We're talking about um field in Persian and Lafayette ensuring that there's a voice on that committee majorly impacted. >> Yes, we have people on that committee that have been through this process before and there's some things that we've learned in the past and so we want to make sure we have those members on there. So, I know academic services has taken that into consideration. Becky Evans served as principal at Mark Twain during um Mark Twain's repurposing and we ensured that Becky Evans, she had some great insight. I'm grateful that Tabitha Keyser is on the team now. She was at Edison in that and so she'll be um there to support to and provide that voice. Academic services also has the course request form that is

131one consistent form for the high schools next year. So that's something shout out to Dr. Davis and her work on that. And then the last piece will be the consolidation projects. So Dr. Hedgecore. >> Yeah. So during our workshop, Miss Landing asked us to kind of put everything together on a page that we've talked about that we'll take for reorganization and what that looks like as far as construction goes. So the first one is of course is bent classroom reconfiguration. Um, not only is that is for increased population in Benton, but also just to reimagine the spaces, you know, because as we look at the offerings that uh both Benton and Central have to offer, we want to make sure that those are as equitable as possible. That was part of the reason why um,

132you know, the move to two high schools in the district. And so that piece um, we've talked about at length, approved the DLR contract for that tonight. Um, as this continues to go forward, please know as part of that process, you approved DLR to make the development design piece of that, anything further going forward would be put in front of you as far as a um, you know, construction documents or anything that would actually be bid going forward. You would also then have another uh, process to approve anything that would be spent beyond that. So, please know that that was just for them to do the design work. um as we discuss that design work, if you don't like what's designed or what's being shown, that's all as far as you have to go. So,

133just wanted to mention that. Uh but estimated to do work at Benton, u it would be a total of $513,000 to ref reconfigure those spaces uh for next year. Uh in previous board meetings, we've talked a lot about Rubidu Playground and uh making sure that that that space has a playground, you know, becoming an elementary school. And so we have the equipment at Eugene Field at Persian. Um and we estimate that cost to be about $150,000. That's based on the cost at uh Oak Grove Elementary School. We had to recolocate some of that equipment um for that drive around the back and so we're basing that 150,000 on that. We have not bid that cost yet. Um we used that estimate from a year ago from moving oak. So that's where that number came from.

134Um and then the restrooms, uh we have an estimated cost of $15,000. We have many um you know spots in Rubidoo where the fixtures in there are right sized um but we have some spaces where we need smaller fixtures because we're going from kindergarten all the way up to sixth grade. The sizes of kids from kindergarten sixth grade can be very different and so we need to add some smaller fixtures in that school uh to get that to the kind of the right ratio for the kids we're going to see in that school and we estimate about $15,000 for Rubidu for that. Um and then we've also talked about um restrooms or sorry relocation expenses for teachers. And so we had talked about one of the things when Lake Elementary was closed that a lot

135of the teachers had to move some of their things boxes or some of those things up. And so we talked a lot about having a moving RFP where we would uh supply boxes to the teachers. They would box their belongings up, you know, basically label where uh they were relocating to. Then the moving services company in conjunction with the maintenance department would relocate that um to that location. Um you know we haven't you know put out that RFP yet. That's still with discussion. We know the feedback from the teachers they'd like to have that. It's something that we don't have to do. It's something I think we should do. Um what that would come out to I put TBD. I I don't have any idea because of the scope of that yet. Um as we

136know you know where people will be placed going forward with that. we'll have a better idea of how many relocations we have. Um, but I think that would be something that uh to help the process if a teacher was relocated to their building to have that service instead of asking them to try to, you know, pack up some of those things. So, be happy to answer any questions on the items that we have um for those reorganization costs going into next year. >> Another question, are we able to get an amended one of these? Because when I'm looking at the scope of the word, it lists a combination of >> hide and bitten. >> Sure. >> As much as like the classrooms and everything like that. I mean, are we able to get an updated

137one? >> Yeah, absolutely. And so really, I included these not to show that these were current, just to show that these were what were included in a lot of our board meetings in the fall of the two different versions. So this was the earlier version. >> Yeah. Um and then as we looked at the cost of um adding significant square footage to Benton, it was 4.1 million to 5.7. We were like, we cannot afford that type of upgrade. Um and so that's why that was removed and it was um shrunk down to these two columns at the last meeting. We voted in November. So it wasn't meant to be an updated document just to show some history of what we had. >> But I can updated >> course. Of course. So this was really just

138to show where we come. But I can definitely now that we've approved the DLR contract um I can have this updated um with the as we get the scope defined for that. Um, of course this column would obviously fall off >> and then we would make sure that the scope was been high school and the things that they'd be looking to do within that building >> cuz we already know what well it should be almost about the same like about the capacity and such cuz it's what was used you know to make a decision in November. So >> I just I think that looking at this information it could be kind of confusing or misleading. And so, >> no, that's a good point. Yeah, we uh I can get something updated that kind of shows

139some of those calculations um in there. And so, it truly was just meant to be history, not what's current. So, >> right. >> Okay. So, my next question is, are you able to bring that at the work session or will you need till the end of >> I I will I will push to make sure you would like it at the February work session. Is that correct? I will push to get something for you at that February board meeting. No problem. >> And I'm sure you answered this before. Did we say we were going to have all these done before the school year starts next year? >> That is correct. >> That is our goal. >> It seemed like there was a little bit of concern at the last meeting that there were costs associated

140with this reorganization. So that's why we wanted to give a little bit of history and explanation that we had talked about this in previous board meetings. >> Sorry, Mr. Richmond. Whitney had something or sorry to did you have something Whitney? >> Yeah, I was sorry I had the same question that Jennifer had about that we anticipate having a half a million dollar renovation to been done by August, but you said that that's going to happen. So, I look forward to seeing it. >> Yeah, and that's one of the reasons why this is so early because we want to get this bid out because NAB Holes is our construction manager. You guys, I don't know if you remember, you approved them right after DLR in November of 2024. I think they were December the next board

141meeting and that that partnership them working together NAPL will bid this out to um show the scope of work for whether it's electrical uh plumbing HVAC all those different things um they'll go through a bid process take the best bid and then as we move forward to get that secured for the summer because as we wait and people's schedules start to close down in the summer those prices get more expensive. So that's why I'm coming in January to get that contract approved for DLR so we can move forward and get this stuff bid out um and get that work secured for the summer so when school ends they get the process started have it wrapped up before August start date. >> Are we needing an amendment >> to the Napole contract or is that still

142good for us? >> Yeah, Navles is a percentage the same it was the original contract moving forward for this project. Can you email that to the board because there's a couple new members now? >> Sure. >> And they weren't a part of that process and so >> and I just I wasn't either. So just FYI. So I'll be grabbing it from previous archives and then giving you both those original contracts. The original DLR is actually on this board agenda, but I can send you guys the original map polls as well. >> I appreciate that. >> Sure. No problem. >> My question is on the teacher relocation expenses. >> Sure. Um, does that set up a precedent that says any kind of a relocated teacher? Will you do that in the future? >> That's why I

143put to be determined. Um, so we could have this conversation and um, you know, get thoughts about that. Um, I did put out a moving RFP in the past and and we did those services when you had a major um, you know, reorganization or movement or building a new building or consolidating buildings. Um, you know, I've done that in the past for folks and it went over pretty well. Um I could understand maybe you have the caveat is you know the district will provide those things when there's major movement. Um but if it's just you know um 202027 and it's just because you know section numbers changed or something you know obviously they can always put in a maintenance work order in in other years and we would help them out. But as far as

144>> we might we might we might end up wanting to clarify that if we bring that so that this would be because of the reorganization. >> Sure. Absolutely. >> And then and then do something to try to help determine what's the cost. >> Sure. >> I I want to add to that a little bit because Dr. Edgeport and I spoke about this briefly. Um, we're probably going to recommend that teachers have personal items in their classrooms that they probably take those with them because things get when when we're moving possibly 300 staff members and that move things get shuffled and possibly lost. Um, that's always a liability. So, it's something personal. They may want to try that on their own. And then everything else within their classroom that that may need to be moved would

145be through this this resource that would allow them to decide what was personal and what wasn't as well. You know, some of them will say this may not be personal, but I want this to classroom and so they could do that and be responsible for moving that but what would be left. Yeah, but we have to be careful on certain fixtures and things like that might need to stay within that classroom versus I like this and needs to go with me. So, we'd have to we'd have to identify some of those things, too. >> Any other questions with district reorganization? >> Okay, thank you. >> Okay. Um board notes. Um I think I mentioned everything in the word session. Um I don't have any other updates. Anybody else? >> Okay. Madam President, as you know,

146MSBA suggests different activities that we might do to develop ourselves as board members. One of those is to attend the board meeting of another district. And so I don't know a couple weeks ago, yeah, Miss Karns, Vice President Chzny and I went up to Savannah and we were welcomed uh uh by that board and we just sat in um on their evening and and and um it was really focused on uh positive recognition of their students. It was about half of their meeting, which was pretty short. But >> I was going to ask about the timeline of their meeting like how long was it? >> Yeah, it was uh it was uh 30 minutes. >> Impressive. >> So, >> also you reminded me of of one thing a couple months ago we mentioned about about

147the um governance award. >> Yeah. Um, and I was looking at the information and we're only one meeting away from that. It's in the spring. It's the advocacy meeting. As long as a member of the board attends that or the lunch and learns, we're good. And just to recap, if anybody forgot at the end of the week, as I mentioned at the work session a couple weeks ago, that I'll be attending a director's meeting at the end of the week. It's for up to three days and then at the beginning of the week um a couple board members will be attending great Northwest days and we'll have there will be updates on those activities on the 9th. >> Um I just wanted to ask could we at the next session talk about the committees that

148we have in place? I just I've had I've talked to some members of the committee that I think feel kind of frustrated or confused about how we're using them or not using them. But I think it might be a good idea just to revisit their purpose and what we're doing because I mean even at talk about those committees >> are you need the academics and the finance committees. >> Yeah. And we had talked about also so I know you know we assign people to those committees and other meetings but we don't ever talk about that in our meetings and from what I can see from the agendas things that we talk about at other meetings then go to the committee. Um I'm thinking specifically about finance the audit came to us and then the next

149day went to the committee. I think that's kind of >> that's kind of but but if they don't have any type of authority then I don't know you know I I just don't know that they have a clear purpose. We have also talked about when we were forming these two committees that we wanted to um potentially add in a facilities committee once we had a direction. So, I don't know if that's something we want to revisit now that we at least have a consolidation plan. So, I I don't I'm not saying that we need to talk about that now, but if we can maybe put that on the next work session to talk about it. >> Okay, cool. I appreciate that. Are we able to add that on the list of the agendas in order

150to talk about the committees um and what's going on? >> Yeah. just hear. I mean, are we a year into them? I'm not sure. Not quite that much. >> Five sessions. Yeah. I just love to hear how it's going. You know, >> I know that I stopped attending >> um because in all honesty, I just assumed it'd be updates at the board meetings and such and stuff. >> Yeah. I'd just love to hear what what goals are we working towards and how do we think it's going, >> right? >> I've attended all >> and we can add that on the work session. >> Sometimes there's Candy. [laughter] >> Mr. Richmond, if you come to mind, there's candy, right? >> Absolutely. And they've actually been good. The finance has been more educational, I would say, than

151it has been. I'm looking forward and we talked about that at the last meeting is what's the balance of that, but there's been a number of things to get everybody on the same page, including a more thorough look at the audit together. was the last time and the um academic committee's been really well attended and both have been well attended but it's been really well attended and it's primarily to work with the uh ELA and um you know some of our goals of the academic team and and um it's actually been really it's been really good. I'm I'm not trying to give the summary here. I'm just giving you a flavor. >> You're fine. We can add about the finance committee. Being brand new to the district and coming into a situation where I'm announcing

152to the world that we're 10.02, you know, reserve ratio. Um, you know, I'm meeting these committee members for the first time. Um, and so I feel like I need to build a base with them. Um, you know, here's where we were, here's how we got here, here's where we from an hour at a time. And so, uh, I felt like it was important to build that base to kind of go through those steps, go through the audit, talk about federal funding, how we're improving those things, have activities with them about ways we could reduce our expenditures, and maybe boost our revenues, um, until we really can go forward. Because if we don't have that base, we don't have that relationship, don't have that understanding, how do you jump in day one, first month of the

153finance committee and say, "Hey, you're a decision-making committee. Let's go." We needed to figure out how we got to the situation we were in. and what we're going to do to go forward educationally before we could even get to that spot. >> So that is >> and I understand I just >> they've always been I mean I think previously they had been an advisory committee >> to us like as a work that moves to us but now that hasn't really been happening we it just feels very disjointed. We can add that on the agenda. >> And we can discuss all of this at the work session. >> Okay. >> Um, all right. Also listed on the agenda are the meetings of our next month. Also, I have a question. I'm looking at the list of

154meetings and the dates closed. Are we also closed on the 13th? >> Day. The 13th is I'm sorry. Yes. The 13th is professional learning day for our teachers >> that the district is not >> kids don't go to school that day though, right? >> Okay. All right. >> Okay. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> A motion to adjourn the executive session 610.021 close meeting and close records for legal hiring, firing, disciplining, promoting [clears throat] the particular employees and individuals identifiable identifiable personal records. >> I have a motion. Is there a second? >> All right. This meeting's ajourned.