001Miss Miller, >> Miss Williams here, >> Miss Chzn here, Miss Karns >> here, >> Miss Lanny >> here, >> Mr. Moore, >> Mr. >> I'll stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge algiance 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. >> Okay. Approval of the agenda. Is there a motion? A motion. >> Thank you. Jennifer, is there a second? >> Sorry. >> Give that to Kim. Would you call the vote, please? >> Yes. >> Miss Miller? >> Yes. >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Chzn? >> Yes. >> Miss Burns? >> Yes. >> Miss Lanny? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richmond? >> Yes. >> The motion passes. All approved. Okay. Items on discussion number
002one and I will turn it over to Dr. McGinness. >> Thank you. Can you hear me? Okay. Test, test, test. Okay. We are going to start off with a brief recap of our September 22nd board of education meeting. So at that meeting, we reviewed multiple options for facilities and possible reconsolidation along with some possible building retirements. administration recommended option two for a Lafayette and Central model and option seven for a Benton Central and Hyde model. We are having this public hearing to be in alignment with board policy FC which states that the board of education will convene a public hearing to gather community input regarding potential school consolidation and reorganization. Policy FC requires that before any facility is permanently closed, the board must hold a public hearing to elicit comment on the proposed action. And
003that policy is in your pamphlet. As part of this process, our administrative team has prepared an impact analysis which includes one possible al alternatives to the proposed action including maintaining the status quo. So leaving things as is. Number two, the projected impact that each alternative would have on every affected school. Three, current enrollment data and three-year projections for all schools that could be affected. And that information is in your pamphlet. So, we are going to go into that pamphlet. Now, if I can draw your attention to the front page that has impact analysis, and if you can just fold that all the way out, we'll look at all four of those slides. our K12 enrollment. If you look at that impact analysis front page, we ended the school year in May of 2025 at 9,969
004students, which is 83.6% of capacity, leaving 1,959 seat 555 seats open throughout our district. Maintaining our existing facilities with declining enrollment has created inefficiencies in space, staffing, and operating costs. At the high school level specifically, the combined optimum capacity for Benton Central, and Lafayette is 3,866 students, and current total high school enrollment is 2,950 students, leaving 916 empty seats. These inefficiencies are intensified by the continued decline of our district's operating fund balance and Dr. Hedgeforth will speak to that here in a bit. Making it essential that we evaluate the most sustainable structure for the future of our district. the alternatives considered on that column in your pamphlet and in alignment with policy FC. We considered alternatives including maintaining the status quo which is the very first one. Maintaining the status quo leaves a lot of
005capacity in our building specifically at Lafayette and Benton at about 50% capacity. We also have looked at a Benton and Lafayette model. The total high school capacity for those two buildings is 2,134 students. Our projected enrollment being just shy of 2900 students. It wouldn't work. We couldn't fit the kids in those two buildings. Insufficient capacity. We would have to do major renovations or additions to those buildings. We would also have parking limitations. We've also heard and had it suggested suggested from several people in our community, have one high school, have Central High School and have that be the one model. The optimum school capacity at Central is 1,732 students. Again, projected enrollment just shy of 2900. We would need major renovations there in additions, possibly even imminent domain to acquire that space. That would also
006mean Central High School as a one school model would be the largest high school in the state of Missouri. Blue Springs currently has just shy of 2400 and they are the largest high school currently. If you look at the far left column where it says most impacted schools, it shows our current enrollment and projections for all schools impacted by options two and seven. The first column is our current enrollment which was taken this year on our September 24th count day just a few weeks ago. The three columns to the right of that are the projected enrollment from an enrollment study that we had conducted in 2019 by Preston Smith. When those projections were completed, Preston Smith included a high range, a middle range, and a low range in those numbers. The numbers listed in those
007three projected columns are the low range projections. So we are actually falling lower than the low projections by Preston Smith in 2019. If you turn it over to the very back back side of your pamphlet, this compares the two models that we have presented. So first you'll see the Lafayette and Central model. And then on the right you'll see the two columns for Benton and Hyde and Central model. The total number of displaced students for Lafayette and Central that means they could be impacted by this potential move. That would be 3,878 students. If you look over to the right, Benton High School, the possible number of students that this could impact would be 4,257. With both of these options, we do have the ability to provide additional opportunities for extracurricular activities and course offerings. We've
008talked about this at several board meetings where we have honors classes that are offered at Central High School that sometimes we cannot offer those to Benton or to Lafayette students. So either one of these models would allow us to provide more of those opportunities. Extracurricular opportunities. Um we also have swimming at Central High School. If we go to two high schools, that could be something that we offer for all students. It was about a year ago that Central had three tennis players. You have to have four tennis players to make a team. So some of this consolidation could provide extra opportunities for our kids both with activities and with courses. And the next piece I believe is staffing and Mr. Pell is going to speak to that. >> Thank you. >> Um based on our
009plans that we've looked at, plans two and seven. Um you can see there on the left and kind of the middle right we project 4 to 500 staff members could possibly be displaced. And when we say displaced again, we are talking not reducing our staff, but those that may need to um be relocated to a different building. Um over the last few weeks, we have met with multiple buildings in our district to discuss some of these potential relocations. Um we've asked for some feedback. In the next couple weeks, we're going to visit some other buildings that might not be as affected as others. Um, based on our conversations, we have informed our staff that our our goal and intention is to reduce staff through attrition, and attrition is retirements and resignations. Um, our goal is
010not to reduce staff through cuts, but through attrition. Um, when we looked at this staff, it includes admin, teachers, support staff, secretaries, nutrition, maintenance across the board, coaches, um, things like that if the board chooses to consolidate. Um, as we attended this, as we attended these meetings, our our main goal, my main goal as HR was to gather feedback from our staff on the best way to tackle this. We did not want to go in and say, "Here's our plan." We wanted to gather our staff's feedback to see what choices they thought were fair um to figure out where our staff may end up. We had explained to them that we are looking um to meet with 500 individual teachers roughly and have conversations with them versus we're going to send you an email and
011say this is where you're going. We're trying to make it as personal as possible because we understand that this could be extremely difficult. Um you'll also see on some of the projections of the possible staff reductions. Um Dr. Hitchto will talk about savings here in a little bit. Um but realistically if we reduce our staff through attrition um we will not have the right amount of staff retire or resign next year. And I and I've used this example in multiple buildings. I'm not picking on social studies, but I was a social social studies teacher. So, for example, if we needed to, and this is an example, if we needed to reduce our staff in middle school by four social studies teachers, it's unrealistic to think that we are going to have four middle school social
012studies teachers resign or retire next school year. So, we know going into year one, we're most likely going to have a surplus of teachers, and we're okay with that because if the board does choose to do this, we know there's going to be mistakes on the way and we do want to be overstaffed um in year 1 and then as we move into year two and year three through attrition, that's about when we're going to be right staffed. Um that's about all I have to say. >> Thank you. >> And then we'll turn it over to Mrs. Stutter for the instructional piece. Good evening. Can you hear me good? Thank you. I'm thankful that you guys are here um tonight. Um it shows how much you care about St. Joe. Um our motto this year
013is we believe in St. Joe and I believe in St. Joe. The lens I'm going to share with you is an academic lens. Um and equity has been our mission um in the academic service department. And so as we um have um observed classrooms, we've ensured that there is equity and highquality instruction taking place no matter what site or school or classroom you are in. Hence why you can see that the practices um we've aligned whether that be the foundational practices whether that be the number of literacy minutes a child receives whether that be math instruction minutes or even as you get into the secondary the um lesson plan framework design what does a a general lesson plan framework. We've also been leading um high quality um instructional materials, ensuring that our teachers have access
014to the tools and resources um to uh to really dig into the content and ensure that they're leading with grade level materials. Um our academic service team, and I'm grateful for the team, they're sitting right over there on the left, um feels very confident that in either model, we can lead high quality instruction in the classrooms. And there's a couple things I want to speak to. Um, in both plans, we expand early learning. Um, and early learning we know is a key piece not only to vision forward, but on all research and in all evidence um that we um get our kids kindergarten ready. Um, in both plans, you see that. The other thing I've been on a mission since for 20 years serving in the the uh middle school classrooms is that we get
015our middle schools a consistent pattern. And what I mean by that is we have two schools that service sixth grade um in their middle level and the other schools service um sixth grade um at the elementary level. We feel we are leading with the right plan that sixth grade is in the elementary schools and so both of these plans get that right. We feel regardless of either plan we in our academic service team from Dr. Reed to Dr. Davis we have gone through the freshman program of study and we've said these are the core classes that we want our freshmen to ensure that they take as a freshman. We are dictated by DESIE, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, on what courses we offer to freshmen. There's not a lot of choice your freshman
016year. You have five core classes in which you leave and you get two elective courses. Um, and so we have aligned those courses that in both plans that a student would have access to either of those elective courses and continue expanding Hillyards. That's been our mission. We continue that mission today. We are leading the expansion of Hilliards. Um we know that CTE programs and getting students in their professional um pathway of study is so critical especially as we lead um the college and career pathways. Um that work and that piece as students get into 11th and 12th grade. We want to provide our students with um apprenticeship, mentorship, um internship, the all the experiences so that they have a solid idea of what they're going to do postsecary. The last piece I want to share
017is a team effort really and we had um a lot of discussion based off this. Um we actually have been listening at those uh building um meetings, those building level meetings and the question I asked our team is do we do we value alternative education in the St. Joseph school district? Where does that fit? And we do and we heard from classroom teachers that we value alternative education and that alternative education educators also share that sentiment as well. We would like to um really rethink the Webster and have it be a transition or a phased approach. There are so many special programs there, whether that's high road to public day or just even elementary education. We're in our third year with the alternative education model. And we would love to rethink um and get it
018right an alternative education here in the St. Joe's school district. And so um what I'm sharing with you is that Webster then would be a phased approach um to ensuring that we take care of all the students first um and then we look at those special programs that we offer at Webster. Um and we look at that a phased approach um through 26 27 and even to the 2728 school year. And the next piece is the finance piece which is a big reason why we are where we are today. So I'll turn that over to Dr. Hedgeport. Dr. uh what you have in front of you uh today is some scenarios uh via our projection tool that we've used in the past to talk about what the future of our finances look like. And just
019to kind of set the table here a little bit uh this is a projection tool. And so what it uses is uh analyzes past results uh to try to predict what our revenues and expenses will look like in the future on the revenue side when we look at assessed valuation and also um how we look at our Prop C and and other uh local property taxes. And so one thing I do want to point out is it does assume the current foundation formula uh that the state currently has that is uh Governor Kho has a committee to review and revise and so we have no way of estimating what that new uh foundation formula will be going forward. Um and so the most logical practical thing for us to do is to use the current
020foundation formula and then forecast that out by years. So, um, there will be some school districts that, um, I believe receive more in the future when that foundation formula is revised, and I believe they're districts that will receive less. So, it just depends on where St. Joe lands and how they write that formula in the end, um, which is supposed to, uh, be due to the governor in December of 2026. So, um, I imagine FY28 will have that first formula implemented. And so, please note, I do want to give that caveat before we kind of talk about what this proposed to show. So the first page is kind of our baseline of what we have for our district going forward. Um in the workshop I'm going to be presenting a October budget amendment and this
021projection tool has those savings from that October budget amendment in it. Um we were able to reduce expenses by 2.7 million for this fiscal year. Um that is revised from the June preliminary budget that you guys approved um about four months ago. Um this reduces that budget by 2.7 million. Um over on the right hand side you can see some of our assumptions. Uh you can see about $1.3 million of that is purchase service. Uh $900,000 is supplies and then $188,000 is capital improvements and then 311,000 for salaries. Um you also see that we still are going to look to reduce uh purchase service and supplies by another 500,000 going forward. So um those assumptions in this budget amendment for October are the same tools that we use to calculate these plans. Um so those
022figures are consistent for all four plans after this. So I just want to make sure you knew that. Um the other thing I wanted to mention is um our district will always continue to look at ways we can reduce inefficiencies and so we also plan in the future to continue to do that. However, the calculations I have in here for the plans only include the plans themselves because if I include other areas, that would not be comparing apples to apples. So, the savings you see in here from the plans are from the plans only and not other assumptions that we would be making in the future for budget reductions. So, just to kind of set the stage. All right. So, if we can go to the second page here, um we are looking at plan
023two, which is the central loafette model. And in plan two, uh the first one we have is maximum savings. So Mr. Frell talked earlier about how the staff reduction will be through attrition with retirements and resignations. And so if we have the perfect storm of people retire or resign for those exact positions that are needed, this is the max amount of savings that we will have for that plan. It'll all be realized in FY27. And then as you project that out, you can see in FY30, the um proposed reserve ratio would be 21.37%. Now, we highly doubt that we're going to have that perfect storm and have everybody um in those exact positions uh resign or retire. And so, we created a plan to estimated savings. So, based on past trends and looking at certain
024positions and how often we have those positions um turnover, we looked at what that'd be estimated. So you see the savings in FY27 um for those positions and then any position that maybe didn't see the full um reduction like Mr. Crow gave the example before social studies teachers we might have two uh retire one year and two retire the next and then so we believe in the next year in FY28 we would realize the rest of those savings and so that is what the estimated plan looks at. So it's more of a realistic uh model in my opinion or what we think the actual will be. There's no telling what the actual retention will be amongst our staff and so this is best estimates and you can see that model uh brings us to 20.03%
025uh by the end of FY30 and so those are the central Lafayette. Uh the next page is the plan seven which is the central uh bent and hide model. And so you can see in that plan how the maximum amount would um play out in future fiscal years if we saw the again the perfect um scenario where those positions that um we can consolidate those people would resign or retire. Um that would be the estimated savings for that. And then the last page is the estimated for plan 7, how we believe that plan will actually play out with estimated um again resignations and retirements. And you can see it spread out over two years uh for that plan reaching in year five is 16.14%. So I didn't dive a lot into um you know everything.
026I kind of focused on that end reserve ratio with those um but be happy to answer any questions that you may have. uh regarding these plans. >> Then Dr. Hedgeworth, can you explain a little bit for people who may not be aware of how we got here financially? >> Yeah, absolutely. Be happy to. And so if you go back to the home page, um if you look at um the almost near to the bottom at FY24, of course, the um gray column down the middle is FY25. That's our last fiscal year. uh you will see projected surplus in funds one and two. So you can see in FY24 we finished the year with over 11 million deficit and then in year FY25 over a $10 million deficit. So uh how we got there were three
027different things. One um was we estimated the impact of the salaries and benefits from the 2750 that was added to the salaries and staff schedules. And so those estimates were about six or seven million below what was estimated. So not only did that affect FY26, but it also was in the FY I'm sorry, FY25, but also in the FY26 preliminary budget. So that's why this uh October amendment is important to try to reduce those expenditures. Um, another piece to this was our HVAC spending. We were cancelling schools um because we could not bring those schools up to temperature in some of those really cold winter months. And so, um, some investment was poured into those buildings, uh, to try to make sure we had those learning environments at the temperature they needed to be. Um,
028and that brought our fund for balance, um, to the negative. So, some of you might remember in some of the spring board meetings, uh, they did something called basically an Eminem sir tax uh, transfer from fund two to fund four to try to make up for that huge deficit in fund four because we can't get fund four in the negative to finish the fiscal year um, legislatively. So when that was done, that reverted some previous years from our ASBR. They thought it wouldn't go below 20%, but unfortunately we ended uh that year at 10.02. Uh and then the last thing that affected some of those projections was the federal funding. We believe that we were going to receive some federal funding before June 30th. We did not. Uh the 2324 and the 2425 uh federal
029funding payments uh were delayed um through a lot of different reasons. Um, but I'm happy to say that we did receive the 2324 payment in August and we got notified from DESIE uh this last week that we're going to get the 2425 payment on October 21st. So, uh, happy to make sure we got those two different fiscal years um, completed as far as all the requirements go from Desi to get those payments. I know it took a lot of work from a lot of different people um, in our uh, departments and so it was a team effort and I appreciate you know who you are so I appreciate all your help for that. So, um, those were the three major things that drove us, uh, quickly. You can see in FY23, we're at 28.81%. In
030FY24, we dropped to 17.96. And then this last year, we finished up at 10.02. So, it's not only just being at 10.02 that's concerned, it's how quickly we got there. And so, um, that is why, you know, looking at consolidating some square footage, being able to save through some utility cost. Um, and the biggest cost is the staff to maintain uh those buildings and run those buildings and using that as a catalyst to be able to consolidate that staff. So, those are those are some of the background for why we got to the position we're in. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Back into your pamphlets, that bottom left hand side of both models, it talks about community. We understand the challenges that this brings not only to our students, but our families and our
031community. and there would be significant impact. We do understand that. Um, I also want to draw your attention to the tables that are in the pamphlet. So, those are the three-year enrollment projections for 2026 through 2029. If we were to go to any of to either one of those models, I will say you can notice that we have a relatively stable but still declining enrollment over the next few years. Uh, and then you can also see the early learning centers. We would have three of those and you can see the possible retired sites. And at this time I want to transition into some of the questions that we've been asked by our board. And Jake, are you able to project the boundaries so everyone can see those? We do have maps out in the hallway
032that also define those. And then the documents that Dr. Hedgeworth was referring to are also available online on our website under board docs. Okay, we will I'm too tall and I don't want to do that. Um, we'll start with the Lafayette and Central Plan. Um it's kind of washed out a little bit, but the the north half of the district here um would attend Lafayette High School above the wide blue line that's got orange on it, but it's hard for you guys to see with the with the screen. And then the uh southern part of the town here would attend Central High School. Um there are more elementary schools that would feed to Central versus Lafayette in this plan. Um because of the capacity that we have um at Lafayette to keep it around 1150
033or under um forces more of the schools into central for for plan two. Um, from the preliminary plans that I showed you guys, um, there hasn't been a lot of change. Um, mostly the changes that have been made to this point, um, on this plan are to get the borders around as many neighborhood as we could to divide along the the major roads in the city. Um, and you all have a copy of this in your in your packet um if you need it. Are there any questions on these? No. Okay. Then we'll move to the um Benton Hide and Central model. Um we'll start here once again. the the northern half um more northwest um on this model would feed to Central High School. Um and then the the southern portion um southeast would
034feed down here to Benton High School as part of the Benton and Hyde combo. Um, once again, very similar to what we showed you before. Um, but it's just trying to to keep as many neighborhoods together as we can. So, some of the lines that you see where there's the the offshoots are to try to get in around those areas where there's a neighborhood of kids. Okay. Do you have any questions on this? And on both of them um these maps um were provided to us um by the city. Um our operations director Casey Houseman was able to get it and then I manually drew the line on these to show for the meetings. Um so we still have GIS is where our um official maps are that whenever you select a plan that's where
035the map will be through. Um, this is just so that way we could have something to print out for you guys and to have something out in the hallway on a larger scale that people would be able to see. >> Is your light on? >> Yeah. >> 13. >> Well, there we go. Okay. >> They'll get you. >> Okay. So on this plan um the early learning centers would remain late. >> No on this plan. >> Oh >> the Benton Hide or do you want to look at the lock? >> I'm sorry. I are you you're going to go through this one and the other one. >> Well, it's whichever one you want to talk about. >> Okay. Well, let's talk about this one first. Okay. From here. >> So, and I and this is
036really for both of them. So, when we uh transitioned Mark Twain from an elementary school to an early learning center, one of the things that we talked a lot about um in the facility committee meetings and the the board meetings when that happened was not having to move those kids that were affected again. Does that hap does that happen through either of these plans? >> Um yes, both. So, in both plans, those kids will have to move. Some of those kids may have to move again. >> Yeah. Though, some of them may have to um if they were what, this is year three. So, we'd have next year you'd be looking at grades five and six that there probably would be one or two that would be affected. There would be a few. >> We
037could we can figure it out, but >> one or two kids per >> Yeah. because you're talking about two grades and it's going to be mainly the kids that would be going to Truman in both of these plans that would be relocated. >> Okay. Well, the only thing that I would ask to that and I'll have more questions when we get on, but the only the only request I would have to that is that if we do go with these two plans >> Yeah. >> Um that somehow those kids be, >> you know, the follow through on what we promised we would do. >> Yeah. And I can I can figure out who those kids are pretty easily and we can see exactly how many there are. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Is that
038it? Any more questions? >> Oh, go ahead. >> I'm trying to I'm trying not >> You're okay. >> Okay. Um, so with this plan, Lake becomes an elementary school. >> Great. And we put a significant amount of money turning Lake, we closed Lake >> and then we turned it into an early learning center. We put in an early learning playground. We took out the playground for the elementary school. >> Will we So now the playground that's there is for early learning. So will we have to switch that or what does that look like? >> You see what I'm saying? some modifications to uh the playground. Of course, if you're making that elementary, you're going to have, you know, K through six kids. So, those kindergarten and first graders would be able to play on some
039of those equipment. Um, but we'd also have some um ele or sites that would also not need their playground equipment anymore. We would be able to uh relocate some of that equipment to uh those different locations where they were converting one way or the other. So, we would need to make some conversions to the playgrounds. So, I will say that moving playgrounds is never as easy as it sounds. Uh, things don't go quite back together the way they're supposed to. So, my concern with moving Lake back and I think some other things that we'll get into again is that we've told the community we need this for this purpose. We put dollars into those buildings for that purpose and then not even three years later, we hack it all out. So, those are those are
040my concerns. >> Yeah. And I think as far as interiorwise, furniture was the big expense. Um, and it would all be relocated to to pick it in that sense. Yeah. >> I have a question along those lines as we're moving the early learning into an elementary or like a middle school into like an elementary. Is there like um cost projections? >> Yes. So, one of the documents you have in here from DLR talks about the two different sites and what some of those conversions would be at those sites. Now, their focus was on the secondary level and not necessarily elementary level. But when you look at these two plans, um you do see that there are two middle schools in their locations that go to elementaryaries that we need to do some changing around. We
041would also want to ensure that we had moving services for our staff and had boxes available with labels so they could box those up, pack them and then have people move those for them. So all those have been included and if all those costs are included in fund for the expenses on those projection sheets. Um we don't believe that the cost will be um significant but we know there'll be a cost there. Um, we believe that the cost at the high school levels um would be probably the most significant piece for that conversion. Um, looking at some of the things that you see on this document, just so you know which one I'm referring to that's in the packet. Uh, but there would be some some things that would we need to move like the
042playground equipment and some of those modifications. U, we would need to put up some walls. Um, there were drywall. Um, you know, nothing that CU block or anything like that. most likely the only space where um some major demolition if we wanted to expand the cafeteria at Lafayette DLR does have those costs in there for doing that. We think it might be able to be accommodated by having more lunch shifts. Not sure yet 100%. Um but the main focus were on those high schools because we felt like that was the biggest um modification it was going to be at. So um it has some of those pieces in there if anyone would like to see those. Okay, thank you. And that information is it's also listed online for everybody to see. >> It sure is.
043Yeah, that's one of the documents that was uploaded to assembly. >> And this reporting to school or by plan? >> Uh yeah. So it has uh two different um columns. One is the bent and hide model and then the other is the Lafayette model. Jake Jake number 12. the um the two plans call for the two high school models um one and the other and you laid out a proposed way in which the elementary would the boundaries would also be are we saying tonight or I guess I'm asking the questions are those boundaries we if we set the high schools as a primary are those boundaries fixed or are they adjustable? I mean they're they're adjustable but if we want to keep a a feeder pattern like we would have to switch um in order
044to say numbers and feeder pattern like if we wanted to for example Truman to go north then we have to find the same amount of kids out of the other two schools to go south. Right? So you have to they're fixed based on enrollment but they're adjustable. you would just have to flop schools in order to make it work. Like we couldn't just say we want Truman to go north and we're going to keep it that way in in this model because then that would overpop populate the high school >> just to add on to that off. >> Okay, thanks. Just to add on to that, if the majority of the board says we would like to look at something else or a tweak to boundaries, we can do that. We just need that direction
045from the board. And so it may be a little work that you have to shift and shift and shift all the way around to different schools. But to answer your question, no, these are not set in stone until you guys tell us. >> Correct. Well, I I think >> that gives us an opportunity here as we hear from the community. Um because this is a lot to digest in every case and I'm I'm not sure that some of the things um it it'll be important for me to hear from the community um individual cases um individual thoughts about about those boundaries in particular the the elementary and middle school. >> Anything else for Mr. Kelly, >> go ahead. Got her. >> Go ahead. Okay. Um, one of the questions I think we've all gotten many
046times is the seniors. Uh, the seniors, will they be able to go to the school and graduate their class? Are they going to be are they going to have to go to the new school? Can you go ahead and address that for us? >> He's going to hand that to me. >> Yeah, I was going to say I'll hand that off. So in these plans, we are looking at closing open enrollment. That would be on both options. We understand that would be difficult for seniors who are transitioning. But if we don't close those boundaries, we won't have capacity where we need it to be. If we keep that open, um we can't guarantee that our capacity will be where it needs to be and shake out. We do have board policy JCB that is a
047transfer hardship. So, that is something that would be an option, but we can't guarantee that for every student. We just couldn't capacitywise. Anything else for Mr. Kelly with boundaries? Thank you. Last question about the staff. Sorry. >> Can you hear me? >> Okay. And this is either >> a coral question or anybody else as we're looking at the information we're looking about about the number of the employees impacted and I think that everybody understands you know that they'll be moving around and everything is there a projected like like time frame I guess I'm asking of that the employees in another Yeah. So, that question has been asked every single building that we've gone to. Um, I know there's been some concerns that they say we're we're not coming in with a plan, but again, we
048are wanting feedback from our staff first. I would hope um here in a few weeks prior to you guys making a decision that our team would sit down and and start creating a plan for staffing and what that looks like. Um we we need to get started as soon as possible because if we have 500 staff members that is going to be a lengthy process especially if we're going to meet with them individually. So, we would start that process immediately if you guys chose to make a decision. Um, we have to have contracts out by April 15th for certified staff. So, we would hope that something would be um set well prior to that date, we don't expect to go up to April 15th because our staff members, even though they are signing a contract
049with our district and not a building, they still want to know where they're going to be next year. so we can eliminate that unknown. So, we're hoping to get the process completed. We don't have an exact date, but get it completed um early spring, like February, somewhere in March, maybe prior to spring break would be my ideal goal. >> So, what the criteria I think I understand what you're saying with contracts and the timing for all of that. Um, but as far as knowing how those decisions will be made, I I I'm glad you brought up that attrition is the goal, but it's not going to be able to happen necessarily just by attrition uh for the examples that you provided. So, have we talked about how those decisions, you know, like the eligibility criteria
050of like are we going to go by performance, which I wouldn't recommend um because I wouldn't either, but because of our to be clear because of our um performance development um system. >> Um of what my thought looked like. >> Yeah. So, those are those are really the conversations that we had with our staff at these meetings to kind of ask them, >> what do you believe should be the set criteria? And really, a lot of those conversations started with tenure. Um, are we going to do tenure? Are we going to do tenure plus evaluations? Um, some have mentioned, are we going to have to reapply for our jobs and then reinter? And I think that's going to be a hot mess if we try and do that as well. and I am against that.
051Um, just all kinds of scenarios out there. We we've talked about coaches as well. Um, somebody actually in this auditorium suggested, could you bring all the coaches together? Let's say it's football. Could you bring those coaches together and have a conversation first? Because somebody may not want to be the head coach. They may want to step down. Or we may have three coaches who say, "I want to coach." And then we're going to have to have those individual conversations with that. So really, not just with with teachers, but with all staff members, secretaries, and all of them. Um, that's the that's the process we have to get ironed out as a team, I think, prior to you guys making a decision. >> Well, and I I would just say, um, I don't I don't know
052the best answer. I don't know the individual really does, but I think being able maybe some sort of tiered approach that says here's what we're doing. Here's uh the positions that are already filled. Here's the attrition that's happening. Um so I'm going to I'll use the example that that you used. If you're talking about football and you say, "Okay, we're closing this school, so these positions are no longer to are going to exist." then you give the remaining positions that are already filled a timeline to say by this time we need to know if you're planning to stay in that position or not. Um, I just think that it can create, you know, we've talked a lot about favoritism and nepotism and all the isms. Um, and so I just wouldn't want to create more
053of those issues, >> right? And we also talk about certification as well because that has to be the priority. Um, we would not let a a first grade teacher who decides, you know what, I want to give high school science a try. um if they're certified, yes, but we would not just be able to place them if if they want to go back and take their practices and do all that, that would be an option, but we would look at their certification as well. >> Um I have a question for Mer. Um so, um neither. Okay. So, the the Lafayette Central plan, I think my biggest concern about that plan is the that there's a three high school model and that you have such long transportation for for kids that I mean, if you just
054look at the top of the map, the northeast side of the map um for middle school are going to be traveling all the way down to Benton, right? So, my concern there is that we've done so much intentional work around attendance um that if especially low-inccome kids if they miss that bus they're not going um so do you have any um thoughts or ideas on how that how this plan with the three model and the distance would affect attendance for academics >> you know um I'm glad you brought that up um no we haven't um thought that through I will say that we are um the core mission of us is improving attendance and I share with you guys on a board weekly update. Um we we we've even problem solved with our attendance interventionist
055on ways that um we can support them in their work to ensure your kids are there. But um that would be something that we would have to um wrap around and and support and think through as well. >> Jake, can you hear me? There you go. You don't have to come up here. Um, but is it possible um as we evaluate these um into the detail of these lines that we could get a layout you do such a good job on your artwork that we could get a layout of what the current boundaries are. I realize we have open enrollment so there' be some exceptions but I it'd be nice to be able to lay that against that and and visually be able to see where are we making those changes. Yeah, we can do
056that. And in the meantime, they are available on our website online. Our current >> Thank you. >> I have another question really quick about the graduates. Is there any way that we're able to get the number of the kids affected? Well, because I know we're closing open enrollment and everything like that, you know, but And I understand, you know, that choices are hard and extra difficult, you know, but graduates, if we're able, you know, to do anything, if we're able, you know, to learn about the number of kids impacted, then if we could maybe contemplate keeping those kids in their schools on that last year. I'm not saying it's a possibility. I just want to know like if we're able to look into it. >> Mr. Kelly, I'm going to ask you if you can
057pull that data. >> Seniors, >> thanks. >> Okay, I'm going to proceed with the long-term vision. Just a little bit about that and then we will transition into public participation. So, we are in a financial situation where we have to take action. I understand that's difficult. We do not like change. We don't want to do those things. This is the first time that we've had this financial situation that has prompted a sense of urgency. And so long-term vision with our declining enrollment, again, that 2019 study from Preston Smith, we are lower than the low for projected enrollment. So, the long-term vision would to have would be to have two middle schools feeding into two high schools so that we could provide consistent opportunities for all of our kids throughout the district. We have to make
058steps now strategically to start moving towards that goal. These pieces are not going to fall in place and be perfect overnight, but I believe it's important that we take action steps to start to rightsize our district and become financially responsible for our district. So, I just wanted to make that note. Um, we know this is difficult, but we have some very tough decisions to make to move forward. This hearing is about make is not about making a final decision. It's a step required by board policy FC to ensure transparency, public input, and datadriven decisionmaking. Tonight, community members will have the opportunity to share feedback about all of these options. All comments will be considered before any final decision is made. Our goal is to make the most responsible decision for long-term success of our student,
059staff, community while ensuring the s sustainability of our district's resources. Miss Williams, do you have anything else to add before we begin public participation? Um, just about the rules. Um, I've got the name of everyone asking in order to speak. Everyone will have up to three minutes. Um, everyone's only able to speak one time. Our discussion will only be about the reorganization of the facilities and at the beginning of your speech I'll need your name say your addresses question so I can understand the process. >> So we'll have the public hearing shortly. Following the public hearing we'll adjourn. We'll go into a work session that has several other options including what are we calling it now these days the facilities plan. So is there going to be and then we'll go to the we'll have
060a town hall but then we'll also have the board meeting later this month. Is there any any time at which I know that there's a community group that's formed with another plan um that retains the three schools and does some different feeder options. Um I've I've just seen a little bit of that. Is there any point that we're going to or that anyone is interested in entertaining that or we just go in with these two? Um I know that I also received some information and in all honesty it's a point in the community you know we need to look at all options prior to making a decision. And so if the board is interested in more information about about the >> I'm not doing that. That's not me. As I was saying, if the board
061is interested in looking at more information, um I'd be okay with that, you know, but if there's not other members of the board interested, you know, then we can move on. >> Well, and I know that um I think there's going to be a member of that group that speaks or maybe even several of them. So, I guess I'm not asking necessarily for um the decision right now. Um it's something I would be I would be interested in. Um but I just wanted to see if we were open if we were there was an opening to that or not. >> Are any other members of the board interested in any other information about anything? >> I would like you hear me. Am I on? >> No. >> Hello. >> Okay. I would think we all
062would be open to listening to it at least. >> I think what would be helpful, you know, I know that they're going to they're going to speak this this evening. I think what would be helpful for me is if we could get that plan. Um, and to be clear, I'm not saying I support the plan or don't support the plan, but that plan in this format so that you can definitively put that plan next to these two to if there is comparable cost savings um or students impacted staff all of those things but it's hard it's hard to say yeah that's a good plan when you know we haven't really done the same >> are we all okay with getting more information about that then I mean unofficially >> well I'm hoping we're going to
063hear it tonight I would assume I would think we're all open to hearing from it and then deciding from there absolutely Would that mean >> would that mean that we would have to do another hearing or do we know would we have to find that out? >> I think we're all new >> and I'm after looking at the information I guess >> we'll see after looking after looking at the information looking at the policy and everything like that. >> Okay. >> Go from there. Okay. Any other questions prior to getting started? >> Excuse me. >> Okay. Everybody knows their number. >> Everyone signed up and you received a number when you signed up to speak. If we could have all the odd numbers line up to this mic and the even numbers line up to
064that mic, I think it would make it go go by a little quicker. Goodbye. [Music] As everyone's lining up is my mic on everybody. >> Okay, cool. As everyone's lining up, I know that everybody understands, you know, that this is an emotional time and such. All we're asking is that when a person's up here, everyone acts accordingly. Gives everybody all the respect you know that you would want to receive yourself. >> Okay. Number one. Good evening. My name is Kelly Evans and I'm speaking tonight as a parent, a taxpayer, a local business owner, and a lifelong supporter of public education in St. Joseph. We all understand that the district faces hard realities. Enrollment has fallen by nearly 1,000 students over the past decade, and our reserve balance has dropped to barely 10%, half of what's
065considered financially healthy. We need change, but we need the right change, not rushed or reactionary decisions that create bigger problems than they solve. That's why I'm asking you to support plan two or if time allows to pause this vote until every financial detail and facility cost is confirmed. Plan 2 is the most balanced student centered option. It keeps reserves on track to reach the 20% target by 2030 while impacting fewer students and fewer teachers. It saves more money, keeps more schools open, and maintains smaller class sizes that directly affect academic performance. Nowhere is that more evident than at Eugene Field Elementary. Field is one of the district's top performing schools. 59% of students scored advanced or proficient in math compared with the district average of 36%. 58% scored advanced or proficient in English language arts
066versus 38% districtwide. Field also holds the highest attendance rate in St. Joseph School District. Eugene Field is not a failing school. It's a model of what is working. Our school's APR is 96.5 out of 100, one of the highest in the state. The district average is 67.9 out of 100. If the district stays below 70 for three consecutive years, we could risk losing accreditation and we risk losing even more families to other districts. Fields performance is one of the few things keeping us above water. What happens to that APR if we remove one of our strongest schools? We've already seen what happens when we consolidate too fast after Lindberg and Hosia absorbed students from closed schools. Their state scores dropped from the high 80s to below 70 and they've never fully recovered. Overcrowd overcrowding undermines
067instruction, plain and simple. Meanwhile, the argument for keeping Benton High School open is largely emotional and not educational. Benton currently serves fewer than 700 students, less than half of Central's enrollments, and its facility needs exceed $10 million in deferred maintenance. Operating three aging high schools for a shrinking student body is financially unsustainable. Under plan two, we can redirect those dollars into academic programs, teacher support, and facility upgrades across the district instead of pouring them into a building we can't even fill. And while we talk about numbers, we can't forget people. Teachers and staff have endured years of uncertainty, pay freezes, and turnover. If we rush this decision without clarity, we lose not just good schools, but good educators. Even with a plan that makes sense, we still don't have every number. The turf, track, and
068HVAC projects are already over budget, and the cost to repurpose four to six additional buildings by next August hasn't been fully funded. Is that my >> Sorry, that's okay. My son actually is uh behind me. He's number two. So, I'm going to go ahead and welcome him to the mic. >> Good evening. My name is Jack and I'm a sixth grade student at Eugenefield Elementary. I transferred from field field last year from Oak Grove. Since coming here, I've had more opportunities to be involved and grow as a student. I'm engaged the president of student student council and also part of station control theater and band. At Field, teachers really encourage us to try new things and believe in ourselves. They notice when we're struggling and celebrate when we succeed. The counselors care about how we're
069doing, not just in school work, but in how we feel. At my last school, I was bullied and there weren't any and there weren't many resources to help. But at Field, teachers and counselors actually stepped through. They care about every student's mental well-being and that makes a huge difference. The thought of losing field makes me sad, not just for me, but for my little sister and for my classmates who might be split up and sent to other schools. I understand that sometimes schools have to close, but I don't understand why any plan would be to close one of the best schools in the district. field helps raise the district's overall scores and shows that and shows what pos and shows what's possible but uh when teachers and students are supportive if class sizes get too
070big some kids will fall behind the ones who need extra for the ones who need extra help and even the ones who need more challenges gives every kid the chance to be seen and belong and that's what school should be thank you for listening I hope you choose a plan to keep schools like Field open because they make St. Joseph proud. >> I appreciate your time, Mr. Jack. Thank you. >> Okay, number three. >> Um, my name is Julie Salsbury. I'm a teacher at Betsy Ellison and I want to speak from the heart today because I was at Webster when it closed in 2009 and so I've gone through this before. Um, also budget reasons. Um, Bestie Ellison is a very special place to a lot of people. Um, it's been my home for 16
071years since Webster closed. Um, it's located 5 miles from the Belt Highway and yes, it's three miles from city limits, but this is not a bad thing. This is a uni unique situation we have. We're surrounded by cows and fields. And what other school do you see that? It's a quiet, peaceful place to have a school. It's where I'd want my children to go if I had kids. Where else can students see the process of planting crops, growing over the summer, and then coming back to harvest time? Often we're at recess and we get to see the the combines picking the crops. The students can look out the library window and see a pasture of cows grazing. The beauty of being in the country is that we also have a lot of space. Bessie Ellison
072has a lot of room to grow. The families, the teachers, the students, the administration, the staff. There's a sense of community that I can't even put together in words. Ellison families are perhaps what I love the most about the school and community and what I would be the most sad to lose. Currently, you don't have a plan for our building as it's listed on both plans two and seven as a possible closure. I would ask that you rethink about keeping Bessie Ellison open. It's not as far out as you think. Everyone who comes to visit our school always says they love coming to our school because it's such a special place. Thank you. [Music] Thank you, Mr. Number four. >> My name is Courtney. >> He's coming. There you go. >> All right. My name
073is Courtney Crawford, concerned community member, student advocate, and proud Lafia alumni. And I speak tonight because the proposals currently on the table to consolidate and close schools demand more than a rubber stamp. These are not just lines on a map or numbers in a spreadsheet. They are decisions that will uproot families, sever critical supports in underserved communities, and disproportionately harm our most vulnerable students and staff. I understand this district is facing real fiscal pressures. Recent reports show the district is examining reorganization options in response to budget gaps and long-standing facility needs. But budgetary pressure is not an automatic justification for decisions that will cut services and destabilize communities. In past cycles across the nation, rush closures have been shown to increase chronic absenteeism, lower student achievement in the short term, and fracture neighborhood trust. Outcomes
074that are particularly pronounced for students living in poverty, students with special needs, and English language learners. The plans proposed here would by your own estimates and by community accounts uproot a third of our students and staff. that is not a small or acceptable collateral consequence. When buildings close, programs such as before and after school care, wraparound, social services, specialized special education placements, and partnerships with community providers are often lost or become inaccessible because of disturbance or excuse me of distance or transportation gaps. If the goal is better outcomes for students academically, socially, and emotionally, we need thoughtful options, not blunt instruments. I respectfully urge the board to require the administration and superintendent to come back with a revised plan that includes the following. A transparent impact analysis that quantifies in writing who will lose services,
075where students will be reszoned, and how transportation wraparounds supports will be maintained. Decisions without data-driven mitigation are experiments on children. a phase to a phased approach and contingency plans that prioritize keeping vulnerable students connected to the people and programs they rely on, especially those with IEPs, those experiencing housing instability, and families without reliable transportation. Three, real alternatives explored publicly, targeted budget reductions, renegotiated contracts, repurposing underuse space, community partnerships, and the phase use of any new bond dollars to avoid wholesale closures. We are a community a full cost benefit comparison not only of dollars saved but of services lost and student outcomes affected. Four, a genuine community engagement timeline that gives families, teachers, and service providers time to review, respond, and propose alternatives with meetings scheduled at times parents can attend and clear public documentation of
076feedback. Board members, your role is to balance fiscal stewardship with stewardship of children's futures. Closing schools without ironclad plans to preserve services will deepen inequity and do lasting harm. I ask you today to require a better plan. One that protects our most vulnerable, preserves essential services, and shows the community you made the hard choices with data, transparency, and care. Thank you for your service to the community. >> Thank you, Miss Courtney. >> Hello, my name is Ethan Lowe and I'm a proud product of the St. Joe School District and currently teach special education at Lake Early Learning Center. I want to say thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. This is a hard decision and I appreciate the time and effort that each of you have put into understanding both these plans. After reviewing
077both plans two and seven, financial security has to be our main focus. Under plan 7, we'd be operating at only a 9% federal reserve for the next 2 years, rising to just 10% after that and wouldn't reach 16% until 2030. In contrast, plan 2 allows us to just be under the recommended 20% reserve by the end of 2030. My question to you all as the school board and district administration is how many years after 2030 will plan 7 take us to reach that 20%. And how can we justify to taxpayers not choosing the plan that not only protects our financial health but also saves nearly a million dollars more than plan 7. Plan 7 is simply too risky. All it's going to take is one miscalculation, one delay in funding or an unexpected expense to
078push us down by 3 or 4%. And then all of a sudden we're operating at a 6% reserve and the possibility of state intervention becomes very real. But we do have the opportunity to completely avoid this. Our number one goal must be financial responsibility to protect the stability of our district and ensure that we're moving towards that 20% reserve and allow that that plan two allows this to happen a lot more quicker and efficiently than plan 7. When I began looking beyond the reserve funds and compared both plans as a whole, plan 7 is the least disruptive option for students and staff. It affects 379 fewer families and 118 fewer staff members than plan 7. In addition, plan two aligns with the district's long range plan long range plan supports our expansion of preschool opportunities
079outlined in our vision forward plan and allows us to build from a stable financial foundation. This is a hard decision and there's not one where everyone is going to win. It's hard on families, staff, and our entire community. There's many people that have strong ideas about what they believe is best, but at this point, we cannot continue to create new plans to entertain and satisfy everyone's individual agendas. We have to stay focused on the bigger picture, which is being financially responsible before we ask taxpayers for more support. It is the responsibility of the board of education and district leadership to protect taxpayers dollars and ensure the long-term financial health of our district. That's leadership and that is how we're best going to serve our students. I would love to see a new high school in
080the future. Our students in our community definitely deserve it, but it has to come after we strengthen our financial foundation. you have the you have the opportunity to make the responsible choice here, the one that protects what we have, provides the most stability for students and staff, and sets up our future generations for success. Thank you so much. Number six, my name is Jenna Ross. I currently have a sophomore at Benton and a fifth grader and a kindergarter at Field. We bought our house eight years ago specifically so our kids could attend Field Elementary, one of the schools that could be shut down. We anticipated that all three kids would attend the middle and high school in our boundary, which currently is set at Bodian Central. However, our path changed when my son, now a
081sophomore, lost his father in a car accident while he was in sixth grade. It was an incredibly difficult time, and after careful consideration, we made the decision to request a transfer to Spring Garden for middle school. He had grown up playing competitive sports with many students who lived in that area, and I knew several parents and faculty members there who could look out for him. This was not a decision made for academic or athletic reasons. It was a decision made for my child's emotional well-being and survival. My son was fortunate to be able to choose Benton as his high school his freshman year, allowing him to continue his journey alongside the same kids and families. Now, with the two restructuring plans being proposed, my son will be directly impacted either way. If either option is
082selected, he will be reassigned to Lafayette as a junior, resulting in him being separated from the students and families he has grown close to. Both scenarios leave me deeply concerned for his mental and emotional health. And I know my son is not alone. Many students in our district are struggling emotionally or mentally. We talk a lot about academics and sports, but for some kids, mental and emotional stability are the foundation that makes learning even possible. The number of children who could be negatively impacted by these changes is hard to imagine. I know you guys discussed this earlier, but I respectfully ask that you consider grandfathering in the current students and allow them to continue their high school education under the existing o open enrollment policy. I'm also concerned about the proposed middle school structure. One
083school could have 900 plus students while the others have only 300 to 400. Middle school is often where kids can engage in sports or other activities that they haven't had the opportunity to participate in when they were younger. How is it fair that some students will compete for a spot among 900 peers while others compete among 300? That doesn't feel like equal opportunity. And then there's transportation. Some buses already picked up before 6:00 a.m. How early will kids need to wake up if we start busting them even farther across town? I 100% understand that changes must be made, and I appreciate the board's effort behind exploring solutions, but these two plans do not feel like the correct answer, and implementing them as soon as next fall with so many unknowns feels rushed. As parents, we
084need adequate time to evaluate our options and determine what is best for our children depending on the direction the district chooses to take. The board has always said we want what's best for the kids. I truly hope that remains the priority because many students will be affected by these drastic changes. Finally, I want to say thank you to our teachers and staff for their dedication during this uncertain time and continue to show up for our kids every day. I appreciate the board for listening to our community and I hope you take our concerns to heart and work towards a plan that truly supports all of our students. [Applause] My name is Sean Connors. In 2024, I ran for a seat on the school board. I was not on the top three vote getters, but in
085I still won in my mind as we, the people of St. Joseph, passed the bond, which helped so many of our departments in our district. In the fall of 2024, I was hired as the music teacher at Edison Elementary. I am using Pathway to Teaching program and as of this week, I will finish my program and just need to take my practice exams to be fully certified. In my relatively short time at Edison, I have looked at our students and how resilient they are. We have a large population of kids who are in poverty, have experienced trauma, and a good amount of English learners. As I look at the two proposed feeder patterns, I'm shocked that the middle school that is literally right down the hill from our school is not the one that our
086sixth graders will be feeding into. Edison currently has two buses that take our K through six kids to and from school. Most of those kids either walk or are dropped off, picked up by parents. Imagine the culture shock of being a bus to either Benton Middle School or Lafayette Middle School when the closest neighborhood school is right down the street at Bodie. How many buses will you need need to transport the 60 plus sixth graders to one of the further middle schools? I know the school district has to consolidate operations to save money. Have have these added busing costs been considered for these plans? It makes no sense that Edison is not feeding into the school that is right down the street. But thank you for your consideration. [Applause] [Music] >> I'm Lieutenant Colonel Dave
087Jones. I'm a tenure high school teacher has taught two high schools in this district and floated to the third. My comments are solely my own. However, I know they're shared by many, many of my colleagues. Number one, the number one consideration that this board needs to base its decision about the way forward is securing full accreditation from DESIE in 2026 so that there's no chance that we go under provisional accreditation or lose our accreditation. As we fail to meet DESIE requirements for attendance, test scores, and finances, the board, district, and the teachers lose our autonomy. Dessi mandates and dictates what we must do. The decision you make must put this district in the best position to secure full accreditation in 2026. This must be your primary concern. Number two, the presupposition or assumption that if
088you adopt the Benton High plan is that the city will pass a bond or levy for a new high school to be built in North St. Joe's is both false and erroneous. No future bond or levy will pass in St. Joseph, especially after the recent revelation, the financial mess that this district is in. No one is going to give the board or district more money. Whatever decision you make has to be with the realization that no further funds are coming in the near term future from the public. You make the decision that we must live with what we have now, not on the false or unrealistic dream of what might be in the future. Number three, what plan provides for the best 21st century learning for our students? How is putting students in the oldest
089building in the district high designed a 100red years ago for elementary students 21st century learning? If the Benh High plan is chosen, why will students at Central be penalized and confined to the freshman annex? How is that 21st century learning? Number four, what plan provides for the least disruption of our students? What decision is best for our students? What plan provides for the least disruption of the staff? Our staff had dedicated their lives to serve the students of St. Joseph. Do right by and for our staff. Number five, this decision must be made now. Implement whatever decision that you have to make for next school year. Our students and staff have been traumatized for too many years on what may or may not happen. Make a decision, stick to that decision, and let's move forward.
090I'd like to thank Dr. McInness and her entire staff for putting forth these plans. I'd like to thank the board for their leadership. St. Joseph must enter into the 21st century. Thank you for the courage to lead this district and the city in what I believe will be a better future. We have much to be hopeful for. I believe in St. Joseph. Thank you. >> Number nine is Warren Ingram. I stand before you tonight because I believe that the current three high school plan is the best for St. Joseph. I understand that you are not planning on closing Benton or Lafayette, but even the repurposing of these two will cause everlasting damage. First, you're telling students that they will have to travel further to school and will spend will spend more time on buses. There
091are families that move in from the country so as their students will not have to spend an hour on a school bus every day. Next, the psychological damage will place on these students, upending them from schools, school homes, places they have known for up to four years. After that, there will be the academic disruptions that will occur due to prolonged bus rides, less time at home, and at a time when test scores are down. We can't afford this. After that, there will be the athletics that students will not be able to be able to participate in due to having to ride the bus or school politics that will prevent these students from participating at all. And we know all know it exists. The same goes for the arts. Students will not be able to perform
092or create due to the bus situation. In both situations, these students will always be tagged as those kids from that school or that part of town. And we know it's going to happen. In the past years, citizens with students and teachers alike have been leaving the St. Angel School District due to the hanging cloud of a high school closing. Area school districts have seen a rise in their enrollment up to 10%. We have heard of students who live in St. Joseph and now are attending Mid Buchanan and Savannah high schools or school districts, excuse me. As far as teachers are concerned, Benton has lost a great band teacher and a basketball coach. And I could be wrong about this basketball coach due to the looming possibility of losing their jobs. How do you expect a
093teacher to commit to St. Joseph when the St. Joe School District cannot guarantee their future? Lastly, I do not think you understand how even repurposing a school will negatively affect a neighborhood. Nobody wants to move to a neighborhood if their student has to ride a bus more than needed. And yes, selfishly, you are going to run down home values. And with that comes lower tax revenue. We all want what's best for our kids, our students, and teachers. But repurposing or closing a high school will not help that situation. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. One number 10. >> Good evening members of the board and community. My name is Cassandra V. I'm a local psychiatric nurse practitioner, a lifelong St. Joseph resident, proud SJSD graduate, and mother to four children currently in the district. I
094also serve on the SJSD academics committee and am actively involved in our community. Tonight, we discuss a decision that will shape the future of our schools in the city of St. Joseph for decades to come. Closing buildings and and redrawing boundaries is not just a logistical challenge. It's a choice that impacts students, families, staff, and the financial health of our district. After reviewing the two proposed options, plan two stands out as the most balanced, equitable, and sustainable option compared to plan 7. Capacity and enrollment under plan two, Lafayette and Central, will operate below capacity, ensuring room for growth and reducing overcrowding. Plan 7 leaves Benton and Hyde with tighter margins and less flexibility. Financial stability. Plan 2 projects a stronger reserve balance by 2030 up to 21.22% compared to plan 7 maximum of 18.86%. This
095difference matters because reserves protect us from unexpected costs and keep our district financially secure. Impact on students and staff. Plan two affects fewer students and staff overall. minimizing disruption while still achieving necessary consolidation. It also offers better alignment for preschool housing, which is critical for early childhood education equity. Plan 2 maintains a consistent high school model across the district. Plan 7, however, creates inequity by giving one high school a completely different structure, a freshman academy, and then a 10 through 12 setting setting while others remain traditional. This inconsistency could lead to disparities in student experience and outcomes. While plan two is strong, plan E deserves serious consideration if it proves fiscally equal or better. Plan E offers advantages like lower operational cost, improved efficiency, and potentially stronger long-term sustainability. If plan E can deliver similar
096or greater financial benefits, sorry, lost my place, financial benefits without sacrificing educational quality. It should not be overlooked. Finally, I want to address transparency. The long-range plan laid out what was supposed to happen, but now we're deviating from that road map roadmap. Every time we change course without clear communication, it erodess trust in the district and the board of education. Our community deserves clarity and honesty about why these changes are happening and how they serve our students best interest. This decision carries immense weight. It will define the educational landscape of St. Joseph for generations. I urge the board to prioritize plan two as a leading option while keeping plan E on the table for further analysis and to do so with full transparency and community engagement. To our community, please stay involved, attend meetings, ask
097questions, and hold all of us accountable. These decisions affect every child. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, number 11, Mr. Smith. My name is Travis Smith and I am a third generation uh graduate of Lafayette High School with two sons that one is a junior at Lafayette and another one that's in Rubadoo Middle School. So I I can't read off a card cuz I'm blind. So you guys are getting it straight from my chest. But I pick up key words of what you guys say. Everybody's talking about future. Again, I'm a third generation graduate and I stayed there. What about the future of my kids, too? What about their future wishes? You know, the they have dreams, too. And we all stay there. My mom is a graduate from Savannah High School, and she said she's
098never seen the North End anything like that of how they all stay together. And we are all friends of guys 20 years, 30 years younger than us. It's something very special that doesn't exist. But I also ask that before we start making decisions on serious detrimental plans, we come up with better stat statistical facts. We have pamphlets that are put together and they use words like attendance at schools. How do we figure a correct attendance when kids aren't even in the correct schools that they should be going to? Now, you got some kids that are riding school buses passing a school that they should be in. You got some houses that didn't turn around out of their backyards and look at other schools and they're going to another school across town. These decisions to close
099schools and things like that, as the last gentleman said earlier about what it does, it has a big impact on your community. But it also think about the bus drivers, you know, that that's a lot of time that your safety of a kid traveling on roads in bad conditions. And then we also talked about in here expenses about maintenance of things like an HVAC system that didn't keep up in the last winter. I'm not sure where you were at last winter, but there are a lot of homes in St. Joe that didn't keep up. There are buses that didn't start. Those are things that just happened and we have to work around them. But I don't know your guys's you guys' feel about we are about St. Joe. Well, there's a lot of people or
100we believe in St. Joe, but right now with this decision, there's a lot of people that do not believe in you guys. And I want to thank Miss Landing for proposing that other plan cuz I know exactly what she's referring to. Thank you so much for putting that on the board because it absolutely does make sense. And then there's another gentleman earlier who said he wanted to talk with the community first. Thank you because that's why you guys are elected. You are the voice of your community and and thank you. And if people have a problem making decisions based off what the city people want and the taxpayers, then maybe they need to step aside and let somebody else get in there that does want to do what the people want. But we we deserve
101the best as taxpayers and family members and most of all the students deserve the best. But thank you for your guys' time and I really do hope you make the right decision and that's to leave all three high schools alone. [Applause] >> Um, my name is Clarel Turner and I'm a sophomore at Benton High School. Um, I want to share why I support the Benton Hide option. From a student's point of view, this plan makes the most sense for our district. It would help create a more balanced student population across the schools and make things more equal. Having nearly 2,000 students at one high school in our current state of facilities feels overwhelming and would be really hard to manage. The Benton Hide plan also makes the most sense geographically. With one high school in
102Midtown and one in the south, it is most equitable. It will take some students 20 minutes to get to school. This is without even considering how early buses would need to be or the parents drive time with kids in multiple schools that would now be located all over town. not to mention after school activities. Bittton's building has a lot of potential for the future. It has strong facilities, better parking, and space to grow. From what I see every day as a student there, it's a school that can continue to serve our community well for a long time with room for with room for growth here. It also provides the most equal decision for the future if the future plan is to put a new high school north. Our concern I do have, one concern I
103do have is about the middle school numbers being discussed. It sounds like one middle school could have 800 to 900 students while the others might only have about 300. That's a big difference and it could really affect opportunities for activities, electives, and sports. I hope the district has a plan to make sure all students have fair and equal access to those things no matter what school they go to. No matter which direction you go, one side of town is going to be left hurting. Our schools are more than just buildings. They're the heart of our neighborhoods. This decision could impact families and friendships and divide our town for years to come. From a business perspect perspective, franchises have to be a minimum distance away from one another because they can better serve their community and
104their needs. I definitely think that philosophy should also serve our schools. I just ask you take a listen to what you're hearing tonight. The majority of the people are against both of these plans. Rather than build a bridge across the community, the option to close bitten seems to isolate this area. Every person who has spoken, no matter what side they're on, is worried about how this will hurt their community. That should say something people or please don't overlook this impact that it has on students mental health. Not just the changes themselves, but the constant uncertainty hanging over them. It's all I can think about. I imagine having my last practice, my last home game, and even graduating in a different colored gown. These thoughts are consuming my friends and myself. The Benton High model is
105the best option to connect all of our city and all zip codes without isolating part of our community. Long term, there is much room to expand the building and amenities. It also allows the best option to put a new high school north. Thank you guys again for listening and for all the hard work you're doing to strengthen our schools and our community. [Applause] Okay. Number 13, John. Good evening, distinguished members of the St. Joseph Board of Education and the St. Joseph District administrators. Uh my name is John Hoffman and in full full disclosure, I taught 30 years here at Benton. I was a a producer and a director. Thank you. I think we've been here long enough. But uh I was a producer and a director of Broadway musicals and Broadway plays and department chairman
106for 20 of my 30 years. And also I chaired numerous North Central Association accredititation uh committees which covered northwest Missouri and even up in the Iowa area. And I found out, of course, I'm biased, you know, because I I graduated from Central, I graduated from Missouri Western Junior College and I graduated from Northwest Missouri State University. Uh, and I substituted here in St. Joseph and I absolutely fell in love with Benton. I really did. My father was a bluecollar worker, a diesel truck mechanic. My mother was a factory worker and I felt very much at home here in the southside which is made up primarily of bluecollar workers. I'm the first graduate of any side of my family, mother or father. And I just want to tell you that uh you know it comes down
107to this one statistic here that really struck me and I know you've heard enough statistics to last a lifetime but it says here and I I agree. Um, the news press did a good job of they did their homework. They found out that Lafayette was operating at a 53% capacity and that Benton was a 73% capacity. Well, it says here there are 242 empty seats at Benton High School, a capacity of 8.84, 84 and there's uh 86 empty seats at Central High School, but there's 588 empty seats at Lafayette and the capacity is 1,250. To me, it is logical and I've gone my entire life as an adult trying to be logical and objective in everything I do in my personal and professional life. It seems to me that since Lafayette and Central are only
1082.2 miles apart, they're basically serving the same area, the same students. I think it would be much easier and more logical if those students were transferred from Lafayette, although I hate that because my father went to Lafayette and my grandfather, but I would I think that's the logical thing to do. uh then there would be a 100 or 200 central students transferred to Benton. I'm a great believer in co-curricular activities. I believe you learn as much in after school activities, fine arts, performing arts, athletics, cheerleading, uh pompoms, band, everything. And I I would sincerely hope that all of you would consider the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Thank you very much for allowing me to >> 14. Hello. Uh my name is Tara Weslake. I am a
109concerned Bessie Ellison parent that strongly encourages the board to vote no on the two current proposed plans and find a new one. Thank you for taking the time this evening to listen with open hearts and open minds to your community's concerns. I understand that your job is difficult and that this decision carries a huge impact for families, students, and staff across the district. With this significant impact, how are you okay with two current proposed plans? Why would you allow these two plans to close the highest rated school in your district? In our district, our students at best are performing at the top and they are continuing to excel year after year, which shows in their high performance in MAP testing number one. Parents and community members deserve to understand why this district would even consider
110closing its strongest school. Let's talk about attendance. Bessie Ellison is the second highest school in attendance across the district. Attendance is where the money is. And that's why every single minute of our students attendance is tracked so carefully. Our students at Bessie Ellison show up. They are engaged. Our families are committed. That kind of dedication is not something that can completely simply be moved or recreated elsewhere. Moving these students to other schools will not raise those schools performances enough to offset the loss of this one school. Instead, it risks bringing the whole district's overall averages down. We are proud of what our school has accomplished. It is a model of success and it deserved to be protected and not shut down. I'm asking you please to vote no on these two proposed plans and request
111the district develop a new plan, one that values success, supports growth, and keeps Bessie Ellison open. Please. Thank you. [Applause] Mr. Kelly. >> Good evening. My name is Kevin Kelly and I've had the great pleasure and privilege in the last few years of being co-chair of two bond issues that passed. They passed the district. If you sit back and look at why did they pass, they were factbased. They were databased and they made a lot of common sense to them. Let's fix what we got. Let's pay the teachers, attempt to pay the teachers what they're worth. And we're at that point again. We have a big decision in front of us. We've heard about it tonight. We've got a budgetary issue. And frankly, this is in the realm of human DNA. We don't like change.
112Nobody likes change. We have to change. We are at a decision point right now. The district cannot continue to operate the same way it has for the last 25 years. We're we've lost 20% of the students and we want to keep every building open. We want to do everything the same. Explain to me how much common sense that makes it. It doesn't. We are at a point where we have to consider what to do to improve St. Joseph School District. I would like someday to have St. Joseph like the old days tradition. I'd love to have St. Joseph be a destination school district. It used to be. We used to have people from the surrounding communities in the region. They wanted to send their kids to St. Joe. Does that happen today? >> I'm not
113sure it does. And we have a decision to make on moving forward whether it's one plan or the other or a hybrid version. Here's my point, and I'll leave you with this. Strategically, we have to change. We have to move the district forward. And if we don't, folks, bad stuff's going to happen. If you want the state to come in and take over the district, keep doing what we're doing. It isn't going to work. So, we have to make some smart decisions. I leave it up to the school board, to the administration. We've got some good people, good plans out front. They're able to be modified obviously, but we have to get on the wagon and change if we're going to continue to move the school district ahead. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Kelly.
114And I want to remind the members of the audience if you could keep the comments at a minimum as people are at the mics. We appreciate it. Hi, my name is Victoria Schwer. I am also a parent from Bessie Al. I have a kindergartener there and I've looked forward to sending my kids there since I was in school in this district myself. It's always been and continues to be a pinnacle in the St. Joe school district as an a great elementary school filled with people that value community and education. My daughter Reagan along with my other kids would be an escape district under the proposed new plans. I understand money has to be found somewhere, but logically I don't see any argument to shut down your higher achieving elementary school and route kids for a
115longer bus ride to a lesser school. To compare Skate and Ellison, the teacher to student ratio is worse. The proficiency scores are 20% lower. And as far as national rankings go, you're sending kids from one of the top 100 schools to a school ranked mid 400s. That doesn't make any sense. I would like to clarify I don't have a background in education or administration, but I was raised in these public schools and I do love our town. I'm fighting today to keep my kids in the public school system. I believe in public school, but I'm discouraged by these two proposed changes. There are a lot of creative minds in this town that have come up with better plans like plan E, the idea of negating middle schools, or several other ideas that would point the
116district in the direction of building our town up, which starts with properly educating our kids. That's the point is to educate them. The two plans have kids going to schools that are already having trouble handling that fundamental goal, and making them bigger is only going to magnify that. Our children are our future, and I trust that if the board would make decisions that encourage them and lift them up, the money problems will eventually fix themselves. Our constituents will vote and pay for a sensible plan that fits the personality and fights for success of our kids, not one that makes sense on a spreadsheet and tries to rewrite the fibers of our towns. I kindly request you go back to the drawing board. fresh eyes and a goal of educating our kids rather than cutting costs.
117Ellison has earned a right to continue to be a part of the school district and be a tragedy to keep kids from attending it. Thank you. [Applause] >> Okay, let's see. Hi everyone. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. My name is sorry, Lia Wooten and I am the director of bands at Central High School. I also teach at Bodie Truman Ellison Field and Parkway. I'm the product of two educators who are the product of educators before them. I never wanted to be a teacher. Uh yet somehow it was the exact profession for me. I moved here eight years ago to start a new career in a new town, eager to finally take my turn as an educator. I've worked hard, improved my teaching and my musicianship, and along with my amazing band colleagues,
118built a band family with a strong culture that's hungry for excellence. We chase it daily. And if I do say myself, we've got a pretty great band. We've exceeded expectations at our jobs, and now we're about to pay the price for others who didn't. Imagine my surprise when I see the number of affected staff at Central to be zero. When the reality is an entire school community stands to be ripped in half. To think that zero of our staff will be affected is a smack to the face to every educator who has ever been encouraged to build relationships with their students to foster a sense of community and belonging in their programs and in their classrooms. But the reality is there are far more things to take into consideration of which buildings to close and
119which to maintain than just the number of students and staff affected. But those are detail those details and concerns are going unanswered. Our staff deserve answers to questions that they have in a timely manner, not at the end of March or the beginning of April. We're poised to pay the price of mistakes that we did not create. And the cherry on top of this is the lack of answers to legitimate concerns from district employees. I don't know how the board can even confidently choose a plan at this point when there are so many unanswered questions. So, I offer you this. Take the time to do it right or we stand to never get anything approved from the community ever again. get answers to the questions staff and families have regarding these options, the realities of
120the learning environments of the buildings, and what they can offer, and confidently come up with a solution rather than looking at a pamphlet's worth of numbers in an appropriate amount of time. Uh, excuse me, our staff deserve to have answers in an appropriate amount of time. So, I suggest taking the next year to create that plan, inform staff by November of next year, and implement the P plan in 2728. that gives staff time to decide if they want to weather the storm or look elsewhere with an appropriate amount of time. Other solutions like phrase phased approaches uh to building closures could also be explored, but this entire situation needs a fine tooth comb and it seems like you all are trying to just drop a bomb to solve it. And who pays the price? [Applause]
121number 18. >> I'm Coach Book. I I probably know quite a few in here. Um, I'm probably not a very good speaker to be speaking on your your cause here because if you ask me, I've got a lot of years in this and and I think smaller schools are probably best for the for the majority of kids. Then you come back and ask me, would you like to see new facilities for South community? And I'd say absolutely yes. So those kind of don't go with either plan, but that's how I feel. team. I am here to speak tonight and I I I I want to speak out not not on the plan but on on a group that's been left out the last 30 40 years and uh coach Leak behind me we we've tried
122to do this we went to we went to the upper echelon and sold them trying to speak out for the for the the have nots of St. Because when you make these decisions, when you make the boundaries, housing, schools, the path of least resistance is the have nots and they've kind of been pushed around. And I know that's difficult because we've had conversations and said some nemes, but I hope going forward you guys can think about that because it they are a large uh portion of our community. I want to tell you how we got to this point real quick. It's 1988. I'm standing in Lafayette locking room. I'm a young coach back in STEM. There's a realer here, very prominent realer. I won't call him out unless you won't see him after his number.
123And he says, uh, one of these kids, six, sixth grade boy, he went play basketball a lot. And we have a little talk and just nonchalant. He says, this is 1988. And he says, "Are you aware that a housing addition will never ever be built in Lafayette?" And I don't I'm young. I don't understand it. We talked a little bit and he said, "Well, like when Steve asked him, what what were he saying?" He said, "Any housing is at this point forward in history will never be bust or go to Lafayette. It may on paper, but there's not going to be a kid breathing auction that goes there." And we we when he left, we thought, "H how can how can he make that statement?" And we got 91, 93, 97, we see housing edition,
124housing edition. And we get 37 years later and everything he told us that night was true. And so we've we've put the have nots aside. And I I'll tell you what we've done. I'd like you to think about this. There's a fear and I think it's unwarranted. There's a fear in the city by certain group of going to school for for kids. And that's unworthy. What you should fear is going to school with kids that don't allow daily education to happen. Poor kids are not a problem. I I meet tons of poor kids as I travel around some different schools and say hi to some kids. It's it's kids who won't allow that daily education to happen. Going to school with poor kids is is I think good for your life. Thank you. [Applause] [Music]
125Good evening board members in the district know that for you. >> Good evening board members and district leaders. Um thank allowing the time for me tonight. Uh my name is Jason Grayson. I'm a parent of three students here at Benton High School and a business leader here in the community. Um even though we live outside the official boundaries, our family chose Benton because of the strong sense of community, the support of teachers and staff and most importantly the friends that they have attending here. I respect the difficult decision and the diff the difficult choices due to enrollment decline facility needs and budget realities. I get it, you know, but from the human side of the equation, you know, my my wife and I, we quickly learned that Benton is more than a building. It's community
126here where students feel seen, they feel connected, and they feel supported. I'm sure you can say that about many other schools here in our uh community, but all I only have to speak to is what I know and what I've experienced here at Benton with my family. Enforcing new boundary lines or or closing Benton will disrupt student relationships and undermine the sense of belonging for some students. For many students, school stability and connection are directly tied to academic success and their mental well-being. You know, thankfully my my kids, they have friends in every single school here, public or private, in this community. Frankly, we can't probably say that in all the all the kids in this community. So, I want you guys to keep that in mind that it will have a direct impact on
127their mental well-being. What I ask the district leadership to consider flexibility and boundaries, you know, allow open enrollment or school choice option for families who may have already built roots in the Benton uh facility, Benton School District. Uh we've already talked here. It sounds like there may be some um consideration for that. I ask that you clearly keep that on the list. Avoid splitting established student cohorts where possible. Thoughtful transition planning. Now that's that's very critical. Keep current Benton students together during reassignments should they choose to want to do so. Include Bitten teachers and staff in new placements. We want to preserve those relationships. Trust relationships. I'm in the business community. We all know it's about relationships. Relationships matter. If we can preserve those relationships, let's police try and consider that. And most importantly, clear
128clear communication, an early and clear timeline to families so we can plan what we want to do in our households. But first and foremost, and should be at the center of all our decisions are keeping the students at the front of every decision. Balancing financial efficiency with compassion, that's a me. I get I deal with it every day in my professional life. We got budgets. We have employees. So consider allowing more time for the evaluation of the plan. And I appreciate you guys and your leadership. [Applause] >> M. My name is Jeff Leak. I teach at Lafayette High School and been a part of every facilities committee uh in the last 20 plus years except for the one they kicked me off of. So I've been around for a little bit. Um this is not
129about nostalgia. This is about opportunity to where a lot of people in this town want people to compete for an opportunity. I want to give people an opportunity to compete. Tonight we played down at one of the great schools that everybody envys, Park Hill South, and we won. And we won with girls who would not have got the opportunity to play at a large school. They would have been cut or they would have been told, "Hey, maybe only one sport or something like that." But those are the opportunities that mean a lot. And like Coach Book said to our have nots, those are lifechanging opportunities. Uh, I'm I'm having a little trouble here with the the budget crisis. Um, and and just to get this right, this crisis would almost be to our reserve if
130we basically would have turned our homework in on time. That's where we're at. So, because of that, we want to upend the entire community. We had an opportunity to raise the the levy a little bit, which would have helped a little bit in the August meeting. And I know the statement was made that we don't want to raise taxes even up to 9% without a community vote, but we have no problem upending the entire school district without a community vote. [Applause] This community does support its district and pass three tax increases in in two years time. Give us something good and we will support it. The long range plans there, the plans put together are irreversible, cause great harm. They're not flexible. And there is another plan that can be phased in. It can be
131modified. It can be adjusted. But once you go with one of those other plans, you can't go back. U you've asked over and over again for the community what they want. The community has said what they want and then you come back and continue to ask the same question in a different package. All right. This community wants to move forward. I want to move forward. I we should be in a constant state of upgrade, a constant state of bringing in new facilities, phasing out certain facilities. We want to go in a certain direction. And as two past superintendent said, ultimately it comes down to what the community supports. Just like the other two plans, if you honestly think that you're going to pass a bond with going with one of those plans, you're delusional. You
132could not pass a bond without any organized opposition. What do you think's going to happen when you run another bond? There is one plan. It's an alternative. It's not perfect, but it's a framework and it does lead to future support by the community and taxes. >> Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Uh, good evening members of the board, teachers, parents, and community members. My name is Hannah Rush, and I'm a concerned parent and the product of Benton High School. To add on to Coach Book and Coach Leak, I was also a have not. I'm standing here tonight not as someone from the north end or the south end, but as someone who deeply cares about every child in this district because while the decision may be about which high school stays open, the truth is it's
133much bigger than that. It's about who we are as a community and what kind of future we're building for our kids. Lately, it feels like we've forgotten that. We've allowed this conversation to turn into an us versus them battle. North against south, old verse new, my school verse yours. But the kids don't see it that way. I don't think they care what side of town that their friends live on. They just want a school that feels safe, supported, and full of opportunity. It seems as though a lot of our energy right now is being wasted on anger and division. Instead of fighting for each other, we're fighting against one another. Meanwhile, the real problems, the ones that actually affect our students every day, are being ignored. These special programs and resources are crucial in providing
134our students with the appropriate supports they need. Not every child gets to have the picture perfect home. In fact, many do not, and they look at school to be their safe place. Other districts around us are expanding programs that prepare students for modern careers. They're investing in technology, trade skills, advanced placement courses, and behavioral and mental health support. They're creating environments where students feel proud to belong. And when you look at us, too often we look like a district that's stuck, one that can't get out of its own way because adults can't stop pointing fingers long enough to build something better. We owe our kids more than that. We owe them leadership. We owe them creativity. And we owe them unity. Our students are watching how we handle this. and they're watching whether we let
135our pride and politics tear our community apart or whether we rise to the challenge and work together to build something stronger. If we truly want to do right by them, this can't just be about keeping one building open versus another. It has to be about transforming our district into something that our kids can be proud of. So, let's put real energy into recruiting passionate teachers, modernizing classrooms, and expanding extracurriculars that spark joy and curiosity. Let's build partnerships with local businesses and colleges so our students graduate ready for what comes next, whether that's college, trade school, or the workforce. But most importantly, let's stop waiting for somebody else to fix it, like the government, cuz they're they're on our tail. We are the community. We are the ones who can make the calls, raise our hands,
136show up to volunteer, and be part of real progress. We can spend the next year arguing about who's to blame, or we can spend a building in a district that finally puts kids first. Thank you. [Applause] My name is Caitlyn Pog and I'm both a teacher and a parent of three children who attend Eugene Field Elementary. I know exactly what happens when a school like ours closes because I've lived it. I taught at Lake Contrary when it shut down and it changed everything. The close-knit community we had built had built disappeared almost overnight. What had been a team became fragments of what once was. That experience left the lasting lasting mark on me. But this time it's personal. My oldest son, who is in fifth grade at field, has autism. When he attended a larger
137elementary school, he struggled terribly. He became lost in a sea of numbers and needs. I remember sitting down for dinner one night looking at my son crying, wondering if I needed to quit teaching so I could homeschool him just to make sure he got the education he deserved. That year nearly broke me. When we moved to Eugenefield, everything changed. Here, my son is seen. He's supported by every teacher, every staff member, and every classmate. They found his strengths, built on them, and gave him what he needed to succeed. And because of that, he has reached milestones I once thought were out of reach. Last year, he scored advanced in both math and ELA on the math test. He now seeks out opportunities to engage with his peers at recess. From a child who once felt
138invisible at school to one who now believes in himself, that's what happens when a school sees the whole child. The power of a small school, that's what we're in danger of losing. Last year, Eugene Field welcomed more students and became more diverse. Our scores have remained topnotch. That speaks volumes about our teachers, our culture, and our unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of every child, no matter their background or circumstance. Our success isn't a coincidence. It's the direct results of connection, consistency, and care. The data backs us up. Eugene Field consistently has the best attendance and some of the top academic performance in the district. The district's overall APR score is 67.9 while Eugene Field is 96.5, the highest in the district and well above the state average. Our scores help lift the entire district.
139If you removed our APR, that district score would drop even further. And that's why I struggled to understand the consolidation plans, especially option seven. Option seven affects 118 more staff members and 379 more students than option two. And option two saves nearly $860,000 more than option seven. If this decision is truly about reducing cost, how can we justify an option that hurts more people and saves less money? If cuts are necessary, they should be shared across all levels of the organization, not placed on the backs of building staff and kids. Because at the end of the day, it isn't just about building it buildings. It's about children. Children who need stability, relationships, and belonging to thrive. Every decision we make should protect that. Please don't take away what is working. Don't dismantle the kind of
140environment that allows children like my son and so many others to be seen, supported, and successful. Thank you. [Applause] My name is Michelle Zeke. Um, I'm not an educator. I'm not a budget person. All this data is kind of overwhelming. All I know is I have I have three boys. Two graduated from Lafayette. One's a junior. My junior is like he's not sure what next year's going to be. He's not sure where he's going to go to school. We're not sure where he's going to go to school. I want you all to look at the three high school model. Just entertain it. Look at it. Because lots of people get more things from high school than just school. They get some of some kids have no family. They need they're the have nots. They they
141get more from their teachers than they do their their parents. They're hungry. They participate in activities so they get food. I mean, I just if we're really worried about our kids, our community, we need to look at ways that it can save everybody. My oldest, he wants to be an educator. He went to Lafayette. He loves He wants to come back to Lafayette. Is there going to be a Lafayette? Is there going to be a B? I'm not saying I don't want any of the high schools to close down because there's only one basketball team, one pass football team, one soccer team, one play, one orchestra. Somebody's going to get left out. We need to look at if we're really thinking about the kids, that's what we need to do. [Music] on the floor. My
142name is Stacy Sanders. Um I'm a parent of the district. Um I'm not here to point blame at the administration or the board for where we are today, but I'm here to discuss something um that's a little bit different than everyone else here discuss. Um, did you know that the state created a budget for public schools in 2008 and it has never been revised for inflation? Inflation from 2008 to 2024 was 45 to 50%. How many people in this room could still survive on this in this economy on the same amount of money you made in 2008? You probably couldn't, and you would be looking at ways to survive. I looked up the property taxes on my house from 2012 and then 20 uh 24. The increase was 32% in 12 years. The amount of
143inflation for those same years is 34.5%. Property taxes are close to following that inflation. Now, let's look at the budget from the state. Since I couldn't easily find the budget for 20 or 2008, I went for 2022 and my information came from the Show Me Institute. In 2012, the state budget for public education was 11 billion for all public schools. In 2025, the public school budget is $ 8.7 billion and the projected budget for 2026 is $9 billion. If that budget was to follow the inflation rate, the public school system should be receiving around $14 billion. It's a $5.3 billion. We are underfunded. How did we get here? We have politicians that are not supporting public education. And we have foundations like the Herszog Foundation that are pressuring politicians to fund, to pass budgets and
144policies that hurt public education. And they do this under the term school choice. These groups have infil infiltrated our state government and even the local school boards. And we have elected a governor that is allocating 50 million of our already short budget to go to private school vouchers. In short, we have to stop electing people that are hurting our public schools by diverting public funds to private schools and consistently reducing funds for public education. It's impossible to keep the system going while it's horribly underfunded. And I think we can all agree that the main people that are getting hurt in all of this are our students and our staff. My point in sharing this information is to illustrate how public schools have been underfunded over time and the fact that the decline is in funding
145is likely going to continue in the future. This fact in addition to our local budget issues call for I call for all of you to make the best financial decisions given the circumstances. I hope you will approach this issue with the best interest of students, staff, and public education as your highest priority and not bow to the will of outside influences as so many other local and state officials do. Thank you. [Applause] >> Yeah, good evening. I'm Pat Dylan and I know many of you Thank you. First, let me say thanks for all your service on the board. Tough decisions. Thanks for the administration, all your hard work. Uh this been going on for a long time and I heard many people tonight say we need to move forward and I agree. Um I do
146support the facility plan and move forward. Whichever one you pick, whether it's Benton and Central or whether it's Lafayette and Central, those are decisions you'll have to make. Um whatever you think's best for our students. But I do think moving forward with a plan is what's best for our students. We've heard some great stories tonight about students that are doing well at certain schools. Uh collaboration, culture, we we could all collaborate together. These schools can all have that same thing. I think uh Dr. McInness, you mentioned equity across the school and education. I think that's the goal and that's what we're shooting for. So here's my concerns. If we don't move forward with a plan soon, which I think you should do right away, too many families are going to continue to move out of
147St. Joe and move to other communities because of their school district. And when that happens, we continue to lose population, we continue to lose enrollment, and we can continue to lose a tax base. So, this isn't just about the right thing to do for the numbers that's costing the school. It's what's costing the community, too. It's all together. We're all together in this. So, we have to look at that. This is an economic development issue. We have dollars going out of the community and as I said, we continue to lose enrollment. We continue to lose population. Companies in St. Joe, large employers are having a tough time hiring. Many people hire from out of town and one of the first things they look at is their school district. So, when you have folks bringing young
148families to town, we want them, as someone said earlier, to put their kids in our schools in St. Joe live here, pay taxes, and be great citizens. I would say, and it's not anecdotal, you can talk to some of these companies. They're having a hard time recruiting some of the younger families to live here because of this problem. We have to move now. We have to move fast before this gets any worse. So, keeping this many buildings, the facilities plan is a good idea. You're going to reduce buildings. None of us can continue to support square footage, buildings we don't need. So, you're in charge of the tax dollars. And I don't think you're being good stewards of the tax dollars if we continue to spend them the way we are. Thank you and I
149appreciate all your hard work. >> Thank you, Mr. D. >> Okay, Mr. and first of all, I just want to say most of all, the most important people in this room are all of you. Thank you for being involved. Thank you for stepping up and showing our concern. Thanks so much. Here's what's sneaky and low down about this is we don't get to vote on this. How many times do we have to tell them no in the last few years? Um I wonder how much how much time it's taken to come out with all these ridiculous plans and this handout. how much time was spent on that instead of educating our kids. There's nobody here on these boards capable of making decisions like this about what they're going to do and close schools and things
150like that. You know what we do and coach a book mentioned it. He brought it up first. I was going to mention it too. What we have in this town is poverty discrimination. We've always had poverty discrimination and we still do. and um ignoring that fact and going down to two schools, especially being promoted by the elite, the few, the who that you know, beat this deafening noise. We're going to have something new and shiny. It's not good for us. Smaller is better, especially at the grade school levels. Not that I know anything about it, but I spent three years as the committee chairman of finance. This narrative they're spinning about not having funds is a total lie. It's a fabrication. This is not true at all. They're trying to scare us into doing something
151that's ridiculous and has long-term ramifications for our town. Three schools. There's nothing wrong with three schools. Our plan was to build have three schools. And there's nothing wrong with having different size high schools. There's nothing wrong with uh having high schools the size of 800. In 5 years, the plan would be go ahead and build one new high school on the east side of 29 somewhere. Go ahead and do that in about 5 years. But let's get our ship right now. Let's take care of the disadvantage, those have nots, the poverty discrimination that we do constantly. You know, when I was on the board, the most threats I got is when we started talking about enforcing the boundaries are put in place 37 years ago. Like the coach said, you think was a 4-day whale
152creek? No, I didn't get any threats about that. How about the committee structure? They get I got tons, 60, 70 emails for a month from everybody out there in the northeast of town saying, "I would be the one leaving town if we dare made our kids go to Lafayette." That was a deafening drum beat that time, the whole time. Um, you know, the stats showing that these last three bonds passed by these big margins, another falsehood lie. They passed because there was no opposition and also because they spent a hundred grand on that last one trying to pass it on us. >> Okay, Mr. That's your time. We appreciate it. Thank you. [Applause] >> Yeah, I have number 27. Can you hear me? >> Can you hear me? No. >> Yes. >> All right. Hi,
153my my number is 27. My name is Lori Brown. I am a third generation of the district. My children were fourth generation. And I'm here to tell you now, my grandchildren are being taken out. One of them is already at Midbuck and the other will be going to Savannah. It has nothing to do with the new school. It has to do with bad decisions. I'm asking the board, please make the district give you true facts. Make them do their homework. If you recall the last time we voted, the board members didn't have the true information from the district. There was a lot of discrepancies out there. what we were being told as a community. As a community, we were feel we felt threatened that we had no choice. We had that shoved down our throat
154when there was no plan. I'm in and out of schools and I'm disgusted that little kids are crying because administrators are coming in and out of these schools now talking to teachers and it's getting back to little kids in first grade, second grade. Mrs. Brown, our school's closing. No, it's not, honey. Little kids should not be worrying about that now. They shouldn't be worrying about their teachers being upset. You sir, you talk about having to meet with all these teachers and your concern and their concerns. How many little kids are going to be uprooted and change? How many families how many little kids are going to miss the bus and then scared to call their parents? They're they don't even have parents at home most of the time. So, you need to be worried about
155kids. you who work with early learning. We have early learning kids in our preschool that have no IEP plans and they're coming in our school kindergarten classes clearly with autism and learning behaviors. How do they get through our learning years two and three years with no IP plans? The teachers are overwhelmed. The kids are not getting the education they deserve. You sir talk about money. I hear you talking about cutting staff. People retire, different things. I don't hear about cutting any administration. We added three or four administrations and I'm going to guess their payroll is anywhere from 80 to 100,000. We I didn't hear anything about the money we had to spend on Hosia because of district decisions closing late and overwhelming Hosia. We paid for trailers. Now we've paid for addition I believe and
156we have extra staff there trying to control all the kids the behavior because of the uprooting. So again, it's about the kids. [Applause] The the district gave people choices. There should be no choices. Decisions are made on the money on the savings. That's not being done. [Applause] Thank you. Um, with all of the individuals listed, we received a packet of letters from a class at Edison. A group of kids gave us opinions on each of the plans as extra credit. And I'm going to ask every board member if you're able to take a letter and to actually give the children a response. Um, I'll be able to get the letters back to the kids. It's no pressure and it's no it's not mandatory. Only if you would grab a letter and respond back in the
157next week, I'd really appreciate it. And they're waiting on a response. or if you like I can scan them all and you can answer them all if you like. I'm going to answer them all. >> Thank you. >> Are you guys okay if I scan all these letters and I can email them in the morning to all members of the board? >> I appreciate it. Thank you. And my agenda side. Okay. Members of the board, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Thank you. And would you call the vote, please? >> Yes. Miss >> Mr. Richmond. Okay, this meeting is adjourned and we will convene in 10 minutes for you guys. Okay, great.