001e e e let's call this meeting to order well don't we need majority I you don't have I know three people on their way we can wait and then call it to order wait until you have leas okay cancel that e e e call this meeting to order perfect I'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and two Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all me do roll call uh yeah cuz I skipped it I was I was excited to start would you do roll call please yes Miss Lanning here miss chzn here Mr Garing here Mr Moore here Miss Williams here approval of the agenda is there a motion thank you is there a
002second second thank you would you call the vote please Miss Williams yes Miss chzn yes Mr Garing yes Miss Lanning yep Mr Moore yes and the motion passes 5 Z items under discussion it must be a training okay miss Catherine let's do this hi guys hi hello um okay I know the two people who aren't here so I want to introduce myself to you all since you guys are the newbies and I want to kind of hear your backgrounds and then we'll kind of get into it um so Katherine Whitaker I was a teacher for 10 years in Park Hill North K City School District math teacher specifically um which is why I like this training because it's a whole bunch of graphs that we're going to look at and and talk about um and
003I've been working with at msba now for two years yeah it's been a little over two years um yeah so that's a little bit about me I live in Columbia um and then you two I don't care who starts okay I'm Rhonda jne I'm retired from the SEL School District I taught preschool at hosia um kindergarten first grade at Edison um I retired um so um I now teach education majors at Western it was supposed to be a one-year temporary job this is my ninth year there so that's what I retiring is hard it is really hard and really a relative term and um I have six and three four grandchildren I one that's coming somewhere around October 10th is something around that's my birthday so well there you go that a great day yes
004crazy um so they're probably my favorite part of my life but but yes I love teaching and um I love children awesome thank you great well I'm Mike Moore and I'm an engineering manager at Altech a company in town manufacturers Utility Equipment okay um yeah on the board since April of course and um let's see first involved with the district by sending my kids through school here you know and then um um after that really got into some of the vision forward facilities committees that were formed several years ago and um uh you know got got involved with technical education training at hilard Tech here in town a little bit and kind of just led to uh running for the board so awesome glad to be here yeah great um and then random side note
005that has nothing to do with this but I was talking to Trent grundmeier this morning because he's usually in Iowa but he was in the office today and he said you guys have almost 500 responses for your yeah for your community survey that's awesome I thought was really he was really excited about it so yeah just little side note thank you yeah for sure okay here is our agenda for the evening I know we're scheduled for two and a half hours but um honestly this ends up being up to you all as much or as little as you want to discuss I've done this with boards where they just sit there and they look me and they don't want to discuss anything and that's on them but I've also been here um where we've scheduled
006it for two hours and it's been almost four because of whatever comes up so um up to you all I um so there's four big things we're gonna try to do I keep wanting to say this evening but it's three o'clock so anyways that we're going to do this afternoon um the first is just understand how we created the board self- evaluation that'll be quick um I want to give you some context um as to what data for superintend attendance looks like in the state of Missouri because I think that is important to kind of what you all are going through now then we're going to explore your results and then if we do have time maybe develop a goal or two uh for you all moving forward cool okay let's do it um so
007some norms for the evening because um I just never know when I do something like this what's going to come up um and so these are the Norms that I kind of have for this afternoon so the first is encourage communication and making sure that we're honoring all voices at the table and give everybody uh the chance to share making sure we're putting our truths on the table um monitoring tone of voice facial expressions body language um and device use and then Express observations using I see I think I wonder um and are there any other Norms to ensure the discussion is focused and productive that you feel like we need to have for the evening I know you guys have your own board Norms um and so I assume we would just follow those
008as well I'm I missing anything okay okay so why we do um the board self- evaluation first of all it is required under MIP 6 um under leadership standard one letter D it says regularly evaluate governance team strengths and opportunities for improvement and so that's what we're doing here today which is great um excited to show you guys the results um and then we base our board self- evaluation here at the Missouri school boards Association there's been limited research done on school boards um but the big one that we use is the foundational principles of effective government governance um and so our board self- evaluation is divided up into these six categories um and I like to combine a couple of them so we're really going to look at four chunks today so we'll look
009at all six but I chunk them um so clarifies District purpose connects with the community employs and evaluates the superintendent delegates Authority for District Operations monitors District performance and then takes responsibility for itself and so we're going to talk about these sections um today step one done question questions about our board self evaluation at all before we kind of get into some other things I'm just are they coming later or they're not coming um just curious Kim contacted over to Donna she will be late and I have not heard anything from SAR okay sorry nope you're totally fine I have to leave early for a middle school Bo at like 4:45 I knew you'd get mad that's why I just said it now why I just said it now that's really important those go fast
010okay so since you all are doing a superintendent search I want to pause on your evaluation results to talk about the Missouri and St Joseph context right now so I just want to share with you like this is and we'll kind of talk about these I said like graphs so here are some graphs so total number of vacancies across the 518 districts in the state and so you can see um blue is total vacancies so in 2019 we had around 70 it went up in 2020 State about the same in 2021 it really bumped big time it went from 80 to a little over 100 in 2022 um and we're still at 100 last year and or two years ago and then this was last year um so a little above 80 so it's kind
011of leveling back out after Co but it's still I mean that's a lot it's you know about 20% um of districts have Missour M this is just Missouri wow uhuh yep so like I said it's about 20% of the districts every year have some sort of superintendent turnover that really skyrocketed and then this this line right here is due to retirement so the other vacancies are like they're leaving um to go to a different state to do the profession um some of them are moving from District to district and that's why there is a vacancy um some are superintendent but they get you know a different job in in the district and kind of move down a level but these are the retirements and so um on average about 40 it jumped to 50 in
0122022 again this kind of Co time made things kind of explode um but it's looking like it's leveling out so about 40 retirements every year so just so you're kind of aware um my guess is there will be probably 80 vacancies as well in not competition but kind of competition with you all for other superintendent to be able to apply to okay so this is percent of filled vacancies based on prior experience so again this is six years worth of data and so this is who filled those vacancies and so in 2019 you had 35% were filled by experienced superintendents they had been a superintendent someplace else and went to a different District but then 65% were first year superintendant having never been a superintendent before um and we're seeing that continue to kind of
013be the case if you'll notice especially last year experienced superintendent really fell um and so my guess is um we're going to continue to have first year superintendent apply apply apply apply um so I just want you to keep that in mind when you look at your applicants there may be a lot of we've never been a superintendent before yeah just so you're aware of that so then this one is the scary one to us because you'll see all of a sudden in 2324 there's another bar to this so immediately prior experience of first year superintendent so of those superintendant that were hired as first year superintendents what were they doing before they were a superint attendant and so in 2019 you can see um like 15% were District administrators um almost 50% were building
014administrators meaning they were a principal of some sort um classroom teachers which I can't imagine going from classroom teacher to superintendent but some of our itty bitty districts that's just the case um and then we have this new category here called other yes can you explain other yes so other is they potentially have no education experience is it it's not like is legal Consultants that have come back as like no that's not a I wasn't trying to be funny I just it is legal um you can hire a superintendent who is not certified they have to get their certification in two years so you can have an uncertified superintendent for two years and then they have to get have their certification done are you able to receive that if there's no educational background or experience
015yes you we'll we'll tell you okay M we'll give you all of that information yep yeah so this other category is is a little unnerving um and so we're hoping like big time fingers crossed obviously that you will have someone who has been at least a district administrator the reason do you know why the district administrator is so low compared to building administrator being so high I was going to ask that yeah so there's tons of rural districts in the state of Missouri tons and tons and tons and their central office is the superintendent there's nobody else there's no CFO there's no you know there's no one in charge of curriculum there's no other assistant superintendent it's just a superintendent and they're like the basketball coach and the bus driver like I saw a posting
016I saw a posting maybe last week or two weeks ago where it asked for any applicants for the superintendency to also make sure they have their bus driver like lure or whatever so in case they have to drive emergency routes they can do it yeah so it'll be interesting to see the applicants that we get but I just want to give you some context so in case you're like dang why are all these people who have never been a superintendent applying here the pool is shallow that's that explains the other right yes just just availability of the problem yes yeah so I just wanted to keep you aware of that um because yeah like I said the pool is really really shallow and just keeps continuing to get shallower so just like we're having a
017teacher shortage we're seeing shortages across the board in education and other you know workforces as well but this is the education context for you a question yeah was the other category did it just start in 2023 or have have there been superintendent prior to that it just started I'm pretty sure it just started in 2023 I need to ask John DS is the one that got this data from desie um but because I 2023 could be the first year they started tracking other because they realized it existed but just the fact that there isn't other I don't like it it's concerning personally yeah so but again I'm really hopeful that you all will have someone who has some sort of District administration appli to your pool um just some other key facts just so you're
018aware so around 20% of Missouri Public School Superintendent positions were vacant annually in recent years and rough of half of these are due to retirements probably 10% of experienced superintendant are exiting the pool each year so just keeping that in mind a significant majority of vacancies are being filled with firste superintendent the majority of these are being filled with principals and teachers and and then last year on average there were fewer than five appropriately certified applicants per superintendent vacancy in Missouri I'm trying to fix my face because I know that's one of the rules I know that's what I was sticking to L like I can't help but make a facial expression when I think that you know they talk about the teacher shortage there's not a teacher shortage there's people that are appropriately certified
019to teach and people that are certified to be administrators but the The Squeeze on public education and everything that's happening legislatively makes an already difficult job significantly more more difficult yes correct so again just you being aware of all of these things going into I think is really important so I just wanted to share that um so this is um our data from last year which I know we shared with you when we pitched but I thought I'd just remind you so on average last year um with msba we had an average of 18 applicants per job so we're hoping that that average continues this year you guys are our first search and so we'll kind of see you guys will set the bar um 38% um were out ofate candidates hello um and so
020because you all are so close to Kansas and um Iowa I'm interested to kind of see how many out ofate applicants you all get um 48% of candidates hired um had doctoral degrees so again hoping that we'll have people who apply who are very well equipped to do this job um 25% were female applicants uh they were that's who were hired and then 8% of minority candidates um in the job pool so we'll see kind of how it pans out for the year 2025 but this is the stats from 2024 okay so I'm just kind of curious this is where I'm going to stop talking and give give you guys a chance so based on these Statewide Trends last year superintendent search data what do you guys kind of expect for your upcoming super intendent
021vacancy well I don't know now I guess a lot of yeah first year I mean it's looking like either the principls or teachers applying I'm cautiously optimistic I mean we're a bigger District um so we're on the higher end of the pace scale y we're close to Kansas City which everybody seems to love um and even though we've had some challenges we've had some good things happen I think when you you know when a superintendent looks at the fact that we passed three Bond issues in a row that our staff got AR raise um I'm cautiously optimistic about that and I think go ahead yeah I'm in that camp exactly yeah I I I think we're attractive enough for somebody that's got a little bit of a you know hey I feel like I can
022make a POS positive impact I I think we're a great district for that yeah absolutely and I think just making sure when you all meet the candidates um Trent and I have kind of talked about superintendent searches that went well or didn't go well or whatever making sure that when you meet the candidates you talk to them about the positive things that are happening here in St Joe um we had a board I guess interview candidates um when they were in closed session they were down to like their final three and they had just found out some not great financial news for the district not terrifying they found out worst case scenario but then they also were shared you know here's all the things that they're doing to to fix this and here's what we're
023going to do well when they were interviewing these candidates they were just telling them the worst case scenario and like are you ready to handle that was basically what they were asking them and their best candidates walked out of the interview and said I'm I'm unapply I'm going to bow out of this and so making sure that you all are also highlighting the good things making people want to come here don't scare them off you know like making sure that you um come off as an attractive place for them to come and work is really really really important as well so knowing that you have big influence in that I think is good going into this okay all right so enough about superintendence let's talk about your board self- evaluation results so I printed them
024off for you so you can look at them later it's 84 questions or something like that so we're not going to go through all of them one by one by one by one that's not necessary um but I have pulled some that I feel like are important for us to look at and maybe just discuss um and think about um so we'll kind of get started so here are the categories and how I kind of Chunk them together um I like to look at connects with the community to kind of see how that's going I like to look at takes responsibility for itself that's a big one that lets me know if the board's kind of getting along or not that's what that category shows me delegates Authority and employs a superintendent that's all about
025board and superintendent relation so I like to put those two categories together to see kind of what that looks like and then clarifies District purpose and monitors performance that's basically are is the board doing their job every meeting what does that look like and so this is how I divide up the results okay so I look at it as a board voting that's how I look at these and so I have I chunk them into categories so there's a 70 or 61 so that means like all seven of you agreed and no one disagreed or six of you agreed and one person disagreed or said I don't know but the vast majority of you all are in the the same boat okay and then my next category is if there's kind of a split more
026of a 52 where we may not all be on the same page but there's still a majority and then the last category is when there's a big split when I can tell the board is not on the same page at all so like a 43 type of vote where four people agree three people disagree or a 421 would be like four people agree two people disagree and one person didn't know and there's obviously a bunch of other combinations of this but that's just the simple okay so I'm going to show you each category so you can see so connects with the community it had 14 questions four questions the board is definitely on the same page six questions we're majority on the same page but like a little not sure and then four questions where
027we are not on the same page as a board so 25% of the questions were not on the same page but I would say the rest of them I'm feeling pretty good about so I feel like in my mind as someone who knows nothing this is a good result for that category 25% you know 28% not on the same page but the rest were on the same page I feel good about that takes responsibility for itself now this one made me a little nervous I got to be honest so this had 29 questions in it and so we were on the same page for the most part with what 13 of the questions but 55% of the time we were not on the same page and so I'm going to save that category for last
028um that's the one we're going to talk about at the the end of all of this um just because there seems to be a lot of dissonance there um delegates Authority and employs the superintendent um we're going to actually talk about these two at the same time because this one made me nervous too especially since you're about to hire a superintendent for us to have so much dissonance about working with a superintendent makes me nervous and we need to not have dissonance like right now about hiring a superintendent and figuring out how we're going to work with them we need to that's the big one that I feel like needs to be fixed as soon as we can so um I really want to talk about that so there were 13 questions in that category
029six were kind of on the same page and then seven I'm like okay we're kind of all over the place and then this one there's 28 questions um when I combine those two and so seven were on the same page nine we're really close to being on the same page 12 um we're not on the same page but I feel I feel good about these two it's clear to me that we like to work with the community like that was obvious to me when I look at some of these answers it's clear to me that we're for the most part really focused on doing our job it was I'll show you some of the questions but you understand District data you understand the information being provided you feel like you can make decisions that are
030well informed that was obvious to me from the results but it's those middle two categories that we really going to dive into um because that's where I'm the most concerned okay all right so boards connect with the community that's where I want to start us um and so I like to pick some questions and then kind of have us discuss so here's an example of one of your all's questions and this is one where I'm like oh this is really good so this would be like a 70 vote so you guys said that you routinely recognize student Excellence all seven of you say we absolutely do that some say we strongly agree others said we agree but no one said they disagree or they you know don't know but then I thought this one was
031interesting and this is where I want to have this conversation because I think this is a really important thing to point out the board routinely recognizes staff Excellence so he here four of you agree that we're doing this but three of you disagree that we're not doing this and in my mind if we're recognizing student excellence and we all agree that the staff excellent should like mirror that that's what I usually see with boards that it's the same kind of result so I'm curious why is there a difference what do you all think and I don't know who said what so I can't answer that and you may not remember either it doesn't matter but why do we feel like there's a difference and then what could we potentially do to address this I mean
032I think if you go back and look at um if at the board meetings themselves I mean we are I think doing a great job of constantly bringing students up um and I think we're kind of re maybe recognizing a little bit the coach and the teacher because they're the ones actually kind of talking about it but I think if there's maybe individual things that teachers get or whatever that maybe we just don't know about it I think we could probably do a better job bring the teachers up and recognizing them and I don't know if there's other platforms that the district does recognize them I just for the meetings itself I kind of look at that as kind of the the platform where we recognize students um but I feel like we really bring
033a lot of students up but we don't necessarily bring teachers up so and a lot of that's typically extracurricular activities it's not like um so I knew a district that they would bring up like a third grade class that had the best attendance or they had the biggest Improvement in test scores or they achieved something through desie through test scores or a teacher that had the best you know youly or you know whatever um but we don't we focus more on activities and not academic when I think maybe in my mind I totally separated the two out and I'm not even I wasn't even thinking that okay we brought these children up somebody was in charge of these children you know to get them to do what they're what they're doing and maybe at the
034meeting we're not making enough recognition of the teacher the the coach or the whatever that that would be maybe a way we could do it is highlight that adult yeah as well and I do agree with you too Whitney that it's mostly extracurricular we're not we're not looking at like the children who were in the gifted program and went to the the big Hy Dewey in Kansas City where it was children from all over the world there we haven't done anything and I don't know what being some of the questions too I just want to put out there on the survey I marked I don't know because I don't know right yep totally agree and so I don't want to skew results here overall but super normal yes and so I don't even know what
035the process is to get kids recogniz I don't I don't know what has to happen prior to them getting recognized I I don't know what that process is fair and I think that's where we can kind of talk about what is the process how do people get on the agenda to be recognized sometimes sometimes Administration brings it brings it to us there's been a couple times that I know you've asked for for you've seen somebody achieve something I've seen something and said can we make sure that this gets on people contact us M only a lot of times we don't know MH right and so is that something maybe you want to make an expectation for the new superintendent you know that we would like to make sure we're recognizing both students and staff um
036I think so yeah well and even if you know we go to ribbon cuttings and you know all of the you know all these kind of chachy things but I would love to go like who's the who's the building that had the greatest like Improvement or had the best test score like I mean but we we haven't been talking a lot about academics either to kind of be able to know who who to celebrate you know my mind that that there's some some recognition but I think it's more District recognition than board recognition right so we we celebrate teachers of the year and what was the meeting we went to with the celebration towards the end of the year yeah last that's not yeah you're right it's not really us right so in my mind
037it's like okay you know they they're getting some recognition but but it's not really from us yeah mhm yeah so this was just interesting to me and I felt like this is something that's an easy adjust potentially to just have people come here they could be at the beginning you know you recognize them they can leave but it does I feel like make a difference and show that you care not only about students but also staff and their input and everything so just just food for thought moving forward okay um some other things in terms of board connects with the community so again so anything I like made green is good and anything I made red is like uh oh we need to talk about it um so I felt like this was really good
038the board use Community engagement as a valuable opportunity not a burden so five of you will all really agree with that two disagree but for the most part you all agree which I thought was good the board expects the district to annually report to the community progress related to student performance and other District goals using data from current and previous years you all were on the same page with that which is great the board follows the district process to systematically receive input from staff to inform District decisions six of you agree one disagree but for the most most part we all agree that that's happening which I think is really good this one then was really confusing to me because these three were really positive when we're open with the community and we share things
039but then this one I thought was was like hm I wonder why we're a 4-3 split here so the board is reluctant to openly discuss the district's achievement challenges with the community but we're not afraid to discuss any of the other things so I'm just kind of curious um we know the role of the board is not an easy role so how can we overcome this particular reluctance what do you think is happening here I mean I can only speak for myself as an individual but if somebody contacts me or whatever about a challenge I don't like say well I disagree with you we don't have challenges or I don't want to talk about this right now like I'll I'll have any kind of open communication someone that has an issue or something right so
040I guess I don't know the difference between that me as an individual where always collectively so is that kind of saying at meetings we don't acknowledge their challenges I put agree since I mean I think that the board um acknowledges and discusses maybe it could be a little more only I don't think that the board shies away from those difficult conversations MH and maybe you know this was like misinterpreted or something and you know that's why it's a 4-3 split which is totally fair that happens sometimes too is there anyone that put disagree could like explain well if if I did which I know who knows me neither um but if I did this might have been the perspective that I had that I just haven't seen it sure that that might be my take
041on it but I honestly have no idea I mean do you all feel like now you you discuss District achievement challenges during meetings yeah I think I mean I I think we don't have our meetings and everything sunshine and rainbow I mean I think things we're struggling with I mean I think it getss brought up meeting address well I feel like since since I took the survey we had the the uh Retreat where we did look at all the data and things that that has happened that I feel like I'm more informed oh good than I was yep last couple meetings we've been uh more purposeful about talking about the continuous Improvement plan as well and you know there's challenges within that that um are there for everyone to talk about and see so feel
042okay about it yeah okay yeah and if we feel like this is kind of okay then we can move on but it was just something that I thought was interesting because it felt like everything else was really transparent so but maybe you guys are working on that and maybe you know the people who said disagree are just now becoming more informed or something like that yeah but as long as we're I mean because we got to talk about hard stuff and that's what makes the job tricky but as long as you guys feel like you're doing that great okay all right so I want to shift now to the next category because everything like I said in um board connects with the community was overall very good you guys are on the same page with
043that I highlighted the two things I thought were weird but um Board clarifies District purpose and monitors performance so reminder um this one I felt like was also a pretty good category so the primary task of the board is to continually Define redefine and articulate dri goals through your CIP which it sounds like you all are doing and then making sure you guys are using data to monitor progress towards those goals and so it sounds like we've kind of started doing that which is good which is maybe why these categories were so positive um so some things that I thought were good from this the board uses achievement and enrollment information to inform facility related uh decisions so five of you agreed with that one disagreed with that and one didn't know um which was
044totally normal but it felt like for the most part this was happening which is good I can name specific practice and programs at the district or School level that address District priorities so six of you said you agree one didn't know but again that can always adjust as time moves on I can name subjects or grade levels or schools where student achievement in my district is highest and also lowest so again the majority of the board feels like they can do all of these things and it sounds like potentially now these results would be different and maybe all seven of you feel like you could do those things so then this one is where I thought Okay so if we're doing what 54 and 74 and 82 say then what's the deal here I thought
045this one was really interesting so the board routinely demonstrates that student achievement is the district's single unified purpose three of you said the board routinely demonstrates this but four of you said they that you all don't so I'm kind of curious what is happening here and I'm curious if you can come up with then examples of when is the board doing this how do you show that you're demonstrating that student achievement is the single most important purpose and then what are examples of when the board is not doing this and how can we shift to we're doing it more not less I mean I'm looking at it um because I put agree and I look at it as I know will never remember sorry I'm like I could have been either she was like how
046do she remember how do I feel today I said it as um um our voice is our vote and we um demonstrate the priorities using our vote and so like if you look at the past um I guess five months or so I believe you know that the board has prioritize the achievement of our students passing of a bond I'm increasing the teacher wages um just a lot of good a lot of good and so on the other hand I can understand why it's some disagrees um it depends on how you look at the question I mean everyone's able to read a question you're able to get and interpret different exactly and so I was also looking at it like I know that there were some accusations of board members having like different agendas as
047our goal and so maybe they're looking at at on like a personal level and not like a board level I know when I read that question um the fir like the first person that came to my mind and kind of thinking of it the same what you do is like when I think of student achievement stuff I always think of when stasa comes up and she like we've got this that we really think is a great thing and I feel as a board we're always like yeah this is so I put agree because I feel like we're always like when the ones in the know who come up and are asking us for our vote to do something that is going to help students are going to further um or a new some new Innovative
048thing that they think is really going to boost things forward I feel like we as a board are always seven out like yeah this is going to help students and we're on board let's do it and so in my mind I felt like that's why I agree that we do that because um we're just always I think when they come up and have things that are going to help student achievement I feel like we're it's always a 70 like yeah we're going to do that well I didn't think of it like that but now that you say that I'm like well that makes sense I thought of it well I think part of it comes from and I had the new board member training and it was talking about the CIP and discussion it and
049all that I'm like oh my gosh I don't until the other day we hadn't done anything done anything like that so I took it more as a numbers game okay that are we looking at this this um this school is X numbers and this one's X numbers which I feel like we did that at the retreat so I might have been a disagree person because I wasn't thinking broader in more General like you were just saying Rick that initiatives that come across we are unified in those so that I guess I was thinking of it more in a specific number category maybe when I don't think either one of those is wrong no yeah I I kind of looked at it like uh if I think back and it's hard to um kind of separate
050from when I got on the board versus when I was just attending meetings you know but in my hand I I was thinking back to what uh what percentage of the meeting that the the board meeting was really aimed at improving things for for student and student achievement and this is totally my opinion right because I'm sure what's what's Falls in that category for others doesn't for me and vice versa but you know I just remember thinking that so much of the time we're talking about uh you know procedures or policies that are again in my opinion a step removed from what's really going to drive student achievement and so you I remember the first couple of board meetings earlier this year I I was just like you know when are we going to get
051to the kids I spend this much time on that you know and so I think I was a disagree for for those reasons fair I would I would say the exact same thing that you said Mike I think that one of the things and and I will say the last couple meetings when we've talked about bringing Vision forward out in the long range plan and being more involved with CET that's changed and so I feel more optimistic about that but I spent I felt like we spent a lot of time from the time you all came on through the summer talking about policies and procedures that were very removed from student achievement and it felt like a the majority of our time was spent on that and not how do we use the summer to
052support the staff and ideas about attendance and academics and retention and and those things that were really kind of the meat of the issue for that we that we all know is a problem that we all probably ran because it was a problem we just didn't spend a lot of time on that for a handful of months we feel like we're back in that territory to some degree so I think we're going in a good direction yeah great Kim would you like to input anything I will because I don't remember how I voted on most of these that's okay it's just a general so it's nice to see the questions yeah to see them again I know yeah no that's okay all right good well I feel like potentially since we took this to now
053there's been some shifts which is good okay okay so here we're going to have to get into some tough conversations um because we need to talk about these right here um so this is where I feel like we need to kind of talk as a board about what was happening is any of that still happening um can we get on the same page to some degree um and so I'm just going to be really honest and Frank with you all about what research shows and why I have some nervousness for your board moving forward I'm just going to be very honest and transparent with you because I feel like I'm not doing my job if I if I'm not that way okay so I want to give you some research about superintendent retention and then
054kind of talk to you about why why I'm nervous okay so um I'm kind of nerding out right now working on my PhD um and I'm actually going to study the relationship I think specifically between superintendents and board presidents um but by doing that I'm really looking at why are superintendents leaving their positions and so I found this dissertation um from North Carolina that studied superintendant who had been in their role for seven years or longer in the same district and they were feeling very very successful and so they did this qualitative study where they interviewed all of them and three big pieces came out from why they felt like they were staying and successful in their role so number one superintendents who engage their community in the district strategic planning process increase their own
055contextual awareness they have a better idea of what's going on in the community and feel like they can make better more informed decisions for the community because they're out there in the mix okay the second one was superintendents who listen are visible and accessible and who are flexible in messaging our effective communicators so being an effective Communicator was huge you have to be effective with all of the different kinds of people you're communicating with so I'm reading the dissertation and I get to this recommendation and I'm like okay I just want to read this section I'm not even going to read the other section so superintendents who build significant relationships with their board will gain support that will increase their capacity to successfully T face challenges and lengthen their tenure so I immediately flipped to
056that section because I'm like okay I want to read about this recommendation so the recommendation there are two big things they talked about superintendent stress the importance of knowing the board's expectations of them the whole board's expectations not individual pieces but they really wanted to know and this is really important when you hire a superintendent let them know here are the things that we need you to focus on do you feel like you can focus on those things and being very clear and intentional um making sure that whatever you guys feel like is the priority of the board you're hiring someone who can do that for you all does that piece make sense okay the second thing and this is where I'm learning a lot superintendent said that the most important factor in determining their
057longevity in a district was their relationship with their board um have you guys heard the saying that people don't leave their job they leave their bosses yes so that's what I'm learning from my research superintendant leave districts and they won't say it but they'll say it in a survey because of their board they leave because of their board and they can say they left because of retirement or because their family's closer to whatever but I'm I'm coming to realize that they leave because of their boor which also means they stay because of their board okay so here's a couple other things and I want to tell you a story about something something that happened in a superintendent search last year in Missouri so board superintendent relationship so this is from another study lack of school
058board support has been cited as a major reason superintendents leave their jobs that's the Colorado Association of School Executives board superintendent relationship Effectiveness is associated with student achievement results there's a correlation between the two outside of the factors of retirement and a stepping stone position most separations are a result of a deterioration of the relationship between the superintendent and the Board of Education board dysfunction oh no board function or dysfunction is a primary factor in superintendent longevity so I want to share something that happened in a district last year and this is why I just want to make sure like we've got to get on the same page here so we did a search for a district in Missouri last year um had a ton of applicants really great people um they all agreed 70
059to hire this one person he came to one board meeting he had bought a house he came to one board meeting and said no no thanks and left and they have an interim superintendent this year so I'm just saying that to help you understand the import importance of cohesion between the seven of you um it's just so important and I know that there are some things happening um that have been happening for a while but we we've got to figure out a way to move past that are you guys even if you get an amazing candidate if you can't figure it out they're not going to stay and that's why I'm nervous that's why I'm nervous I don't know what the solution is I'm just sharing with you what I know um and then it's
060up to you all to kind of decide how how do we move forward together the seven of us so that we can get the best candidates and we can get the best candidate to want to be here in St Joe with the seven of you and stay here for kids okay so that being said um these are just things that I think you guys should think about and you guys can talk to Trent and Janette about this or we can talk about it tonight I don't care I just think these are things you all need to think about and have answers to especially with Trent and Janette but what are the board's priorities for the district making sure you're all in agreeance on like one or two things that you really feel like St Joe
061needs to do in the next two or three years obviously your CIP would be the big piece of that but making sure the board collectively can um share that Vision with the candidates that you're bringing to the table it's really important that they see that the seven of You Are on the same page about at least one or two things okay um what is the vision for the future like I said and how can you ensure the new superintendent experience and priorities are aligned with your all's vision for S Joe which is why it's really again important to figure out what is the vision what do the seven of you be feel like is the vision of St Joe what are the two two to three things you feel like need to happen and how
062can you make sure you have you find a candidate who can do those things for the district how can board practices be strengthened to ensure a strong board superintendent relationship and then what steps can the board take to ensuring the widest possible pool of quality candidates for the position um so just thinking about you know your job's going to be posted soon people are going to Google your District they're going to Google the board you know what do you want them to see when they Google the district or they Google the board and being really really intentional about what is happening here over these next couple of months while you're trying to recruit a really Quality quality person to come here okay and then one other thing that I just want to share with you
063and then the rest of the board too um the reason I want to specifically study the relationship between superintendents and board presidents is that's a huge piece of why superintendent stay too that relationship with the board president keeps people wanting to be here um the role of the board president is way more complicated than people understand um because you have to to get the seven of you on the same page and also making sure you're working with this eighth person to help bring them into the mix too um it's a huge burden that I think a lot of people don't realize um so just keep that in mind as you move forward and also when it's time for reorg meetings um yes absolutely just want everyone to know that as well any thoughts about this
064before we get into results or do you just want to kind of get into results or I don't know I want to stop talking for a second and give you a chance to process or ask questions I'm just loving all of this and I just want to already thank you okay just lean it out because this is necessary okay let's go to the results yeah okay all right so I just feel like I have to be honest so here we go board delegates Authority and employs a superintendent um so this one like I said was kind of concerning to me um and I'll I'll just get to the questions to show you why um the board demonstrates that the staff is directly accountable to the superintendent not the board four of you say absolutely yes
065two of you say no and one of you doesn't know um the board tends to micromanage District Affairs three of you said yes we do that four of you said we don't I refer citizen inquiries regarding board meeting agendas to the superintendent's office or to the board president five of of you say absolutely yes that is what I do two of you said I don't maybe interpreted it differently I'm not sure board members fully delegate operational decisions to the superintendent and administration and do not interfere in District Operations one person feels like that's happening five people feel like that is not happening this one I felt like was good I believe my opinion is valued by my superintendent so I bring all of this up to say how do we make sure 71 is true
066when you hire a new superintendent because I feel like in order for 71 to be true we have got to fix 8 23 55 84 so what are your thoughts am I misinterpreting something am I missing something because especially 84 I don't know I don't know y'all and I'm going to sit down cuz we just seem to have a real talk so I think I was a disagree and on which one on on I'm sorry on 84 okay and um I think it's because I've heard so much conversation about H uh board members reaching in and talking to either assistance soups or building principles or teachers directly okay and that usually brings a wave of uh hey you can't do that or shouldn't do that or and and so for me that's why I thought
067you know we're maybe too far down in the weeds right if we we go back to the new board training agree with that you know showed the they showed the uh the person overseeing the school dance and not you know down on the dance floor yeah correct correct and so that's why I was in no yeah I feel like that's a a very valid reason to be in no I was also I was also a disagree on number because I would agree with Mike I know that there are members of the board who will go directly to the staff of the superintendent and not to the superintendent even after the superintendent has has asks a lot of times I know that it still occurs and it still bothers them you know and so it's how
068come I put a disagree yeah and I feel like that what you all are saying like you're right that should not be happening and it makes me concerned if you have a new superintendent come in and that's what you guys are doing they're going to be like okay well I'm going to put an application next year then I'm not staying in dealing with this because that's not the board's role and if they come from a district where the board isn't doing that and I come here and the board is doing that they've seen normal someplace else they can try to find normal again and so that's why again we need to we need to figure this out and here's where it get for me that I've experienced just because I teach at Missouri Western and
069so I do a lot of partnering with the district and I think it's a lovely thing and I want to keep doing it yeah so I know I have well just because I also been here my whole life and I know all the administrative people right so I started to try to have just my normal Missouri Western conversation and people were saying to me oh I don't know that I can have lunch with you anymore and so this state of confus usion came into my brain I'm like but I I'm still me I and so you are a Bo member now right so I'm learning what the rules are now so what has happened because I still have to have those conversations I I meet in schools with my students I feel like you only
070learn to be a teacher when you're with real children and so I think I've been able to have some conversation and better understanding so the times that I have met like I I've met with DLo frequently because we're trying to get my students in the classrooms and things she will CC Gabe on the email then he comes and then when he sees that we're going the Missouri Western Direction then he leaves so for me I don't even know those rules exist I'm just doing my normal what I've always done so I'm navigating that to figure out what it what it looks like and I feel so far it's going okay but the last thing I want to do is cross online I'm not supposed to cross get and so so um that gets kind of
071tricky tricky for me but so far this year I think it's went well now that I kind of understand I just see see him on everything and then he can kind of choose what to do but I'm just doing what I've always done and I just need to figure out what that looks like so then I'm also like Rhonda I mean in my job at the Bartlet Center I work with the schools a lot and if it is a Bartlet thing um it's a bartl thing I feel like Gabe no like I need to call over to Edison for this you know things like that and then if it is a school district thing all goes through Gabe I mean I never contact a member of the staff unless Gabe already knows about it and
072approves of it and I think and that's a lot of extra work oh you're good I mean it's a lot of extra work you know only it's just at my normal job I work under a board and so I cannot imagine the members of my board contacting my directors and such and I'm not a part of that conversation it's just uncomfortable yep and I think this is one I do think I remember I think I put I don't know on this because I know um early on um when I was elected to the board I remember getting uh an email or two from you saying hey remember we've got a certain way if you need something talk to Gabe don't and so I don't think I had heard anything recently so in my mind I
073felt like well maybe that's getting better because I haven't heard anything but I don't know necessarily so I think that's why but I don't know I didn't know if it I knew we had been you know it had been explained to us kind of how we were supposed to do it but I didn't know people were still and so how do we address it if it happens do we is that is there a protocol it's an email well and I I wanted to mention I think one of the things that I do appreciate is the fact that we are a lot of us are going in the buildings um and making sure you know I do lunch duties sometimes which is very not glamorous but you know you can kind of tell when like oh
074the air conditioner is not working like but I think just being able so so I guess my my response is more for like Mike you had said like well I don't know I kind of hear that that's a thing so I think it's easy I mean I'm like you too Rick like I don't know if people are still doing that because I'm not on any of the emails to see and you know Gabe doesn't tell me that that's happening so I I don't know you know what other people know um but I do think it is a um delicate line Thin Line to walk when you are going to event and you're going into the buildings um some staff treat you like you're you know the rule of the world and they like Scurry away
075um and to be honest I don't spend a lot of time in those schools well I've known this person since like she was a little girl yeah girl what the heck so it's okay it's okay and and I think some Staff feel like that they that's going to happen and but you know there's other buildings where I can kind of go through and they're like can you take that trash to the front and I'm like yeah sure um so you know I feel like I've had that conversation with our superintendent about here's I want to be in the buildings I want to be helpful um and he kind of understands like if I hear something that doesn't mean I'm just going to like run back to you if I see something that doesn't mean I'm
076going to run back to you um but if there's a concern I would give it directly to him and I don't Badger him about it and so I I think he and I have always had a good um um you know his expectation I always do see all of his people even when it's like something silly just to say thank you put him on there so um I think he and I have had a good understanding of like you know if somebody here's how I'm going to deal with that also include me as well yeah like he and I have had a good understanding of that but if if you all don't know that then you it might look different well I try to if I'm going from Missouri Western I Buzz the buzzer I
077don't use my name badge I Buzz the buz buzzer they print me off a sticker I even wore my Missouri Western name tag so that when people see they know I'm there and that's the business that you're there for and please don't I'm not going to talk to anyone about board stuff that that's not my purpose for being here and I've also talked with Justin at hosia um you know okay when I'm here I'm going to tell your stuff I'm not here to do that and unless it's lifethreatening if I see it when I'm there with Missouri Western students I just see it as a Missouri Western student instructor um because I also don't want people to think I I don't want some to see something and then run to Gabe and it happened when
078I was there technically from Missouri Western because trust is really important to me and relationships are really important to me and I don't want to breach any of that because lots of the people there were my past students as well right and so that's kind of in my mind and I've made that clear with Justin uh that um I will buzz in just like I did the other four years I've been coming here to do what I've been doing so that's kind of how I've tried to do it myself AR we all buzzing in normally I mean as we're going into the schools no one's using like a name badge to go the SCH well I think we're supposed to be going through Raptor as well yeah so I I used the vet just when
079I'm comeing here or when I go to to meet with Gabe you know you only go to Jose I go to josea I'll be going to Mark Twain I'll be going to ELC I'll be doing all three of those schools this semester well I primarily just go to Edison but I think part of the reason why I go to Edison and I have been to Edison so many times is because there's they have a lot of tenur staff so seeing a board member doesn't weird them out so they act really normal um and then Tabitha is just always like are you going to do lunch you know it's it's not it's that delineation between board somebody volunteering you all assign schools as board members I actually when I was campaigning that was one of the
080suggestions I made that if we were assign schools some random way I don't even know how to do that that that we could have more of a focus but that's I'm trying to just my idea it doesn't have to happen because right now you guys have a really good rapport with Gabe but you're going to be bringing someone brand new into the mix and so you're comfortable with the way that you guys have handled things but figuring out how do we make sure that the superintendent is comfortable and like should we all be doing things the same way you know should there be a protocol for boards in you know board members in buildings I don't know I just think that would be helpful for someone new to the roleo and I think that I
081don't know that all of his his superintendent cabinet which is a large cabinet I don't think all of them are really comfortable with it and I know that he's talked about in the past that board members it was AB absolutely were not to go into the buildings you know to volunteer or whatever um and so he has a very different perspective of that um I think he's pretty astute to the fact that when you start letting board members in things you know people can get concerned or you know I think he understands the pros and cons of that oh for sure um and so I'm well aware that when we get a new superintendent like that convers that person may not be comfortable with that right and so I I don't plan on doing things
082the exact same way because if they're not comfortable with it I'm not going to say we we'll buy a go gosh I'm going to keep doing it you know we can find out some other way to do that but you know if they're not comfortable with it then it's they're going to feel undermined they're not going to feel valued you know it's it'll be dice it would be dicey for them yeah but I think just being aware they're going to potentially have especially if you hire an external candidate they could potentially have seen things done different ways and figuring out what is the right way for the new governance team um moving forward so any any other thoughts with these questions at all one of the things when I was teaching the board took turns
083visiting like as a whole board this would be your board day yeah and so the board would come the principal would take them around um for me it was helpful because I don't I didn't go to board meetings I didn't pay attention I was too busy trying to do other things um it was helpful to know who the board people were yep I think and so that was that was helpful from a teacher perspective MH and then it wasn't so threatening because you had your day and everybody knew they were going well you knew they were going to be there yeah they do slightly freak out when that happens just so like when we took those tours I just cleaning everything and like I have a confession I use my badge at hos and I
084just go into mainly because my wife is the first one right there and I usually don't go into the buildings I'm just going right there I will admit at ba when when they're on the back and they I got to ring the doorbell I just bow him it's just a pick up just pick up you're right just full disclosure Mike were you gonna say something well I was just thinking real quick is U like I'm 55 talk there were a couple of folks that thought uh that said they don't ref yeah yeah would anybody care to speak to that or maybe the other one what's on top there uh demonstrates the staff is directly accountable to the superintendent yeah that's quite a bit different but yeah so are board members that feel that or they
085know that they don't or I know I thought that was because it says it doesn't say the board where you're like answering for what do we think the collectivist says I refer and two people said they are not referring yeah so so you would make that make us believe that two people said I don't do that so what what are anybody what's everybody else doing with uh what are those folks may be doing with inquiries just going after the answer I absolutely if it's something and I don't know that I mean I can probably count less than one hand how many times happen but i' let them know like if that's something you want on the agenda you need to contact Gabe contact the office and talk to them because then all honesty I'm not
086100% sure of the the steps to get if a teacher someone wants something on the agenda so I always fall back to that that CCD or something and it can't be you they need to figure it out exactly so I I don't ever get people asking me to put something on internet I never get that I typically do post on Facebook when we have a meeting and any like any items that I think they might be more interested in like typically they're not interested in you know a contract for sometimes they are with paper products I don't know but typically I don't get a lot of um agenda like can I something needs to be on the agenda or it shouldn't be on the agenda usually it's just people saying what is is that or
087why is that and then typically I can just say it's for this or it's all on sbly go look at it yeah go look yeah I recently just got a concern from a from a associate you know a teacher and um and so I listen to them you know I return the call and listen to them and I and I and I explained to them that I was going to you know turn it over to Gabe to try to get to the right person to deal with the with the question and you know that it does leave me in a weird spot cuz like I don't really follow up to make sure all that happened or at least I haven't yet right it's all pretty new but I usually just I usually always send them
088to their building person yeah and then if it's about their building person I'm like okay if we've already done that like here's your next step yeah and then I usually just finish it I'll I'll let Gabe know like hey this happened if it's if it's something that they can probably take care of about their building level or with Lara or um la like I'll just okay and if you if you have any more if you have if you have issues getting in touch with those people like let me know and I can tell you because it is hard especially when it's at a school building level they know they're a principal but they often don't know who's the next who's the next who's the next and that's what I try to help with too um
089but I fall short of like like trying to resolve it oh yeah don't do that I mean that's why I sent it to you because I'm like I don't know what to do with this person good anything else on this this one I guess eight I'm not real clear on that one I'm going to guess I put don't know on that reading it right now and and um I guess I just don't know like an example of what that would look like yeah I guess the way I read it is that we're again down in the weeds it's like it's like we're dealing with some maybe performance issue for a right associate that's uh underneath G three or four levels or whatever right that you're trying to solve something that is not solvable by you
090all yeah really doing bad yeah and people could have interpreted in a weird way who knows maybe that's why you put I don't know yeah I mean at the at the end of the day if a if a teacher or a staff person comes to me with with an inquiry like I I will listen to them I will empathize with them and all that but I will never say well I think we should can fix that or let me see like and I think so often I mean there's three sides of that story there's going to be their side the staff sides and then the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle and I mean I've had people blind copy me on emails to their superintendent or to their building person and then
091I will run to those people and be like I don't know why I was blind copied on this like I this is the first I've heard of it um but you have people do all kinds of stuff yeah I think some of that's just a lack of understanding of what our rule actually is fa you know that they don't they've got a problem they're not in their executive State they want it fixed and so you're the person that I just then happen to know some to tell you and just like you said like they're a lot of the times they're really upset or they're they're angry or they're frustrated or they're stressed and so it's usually I'll have people come back to the sorry about that like it's okay like I'm glad you got it
092it's fine they're like he's not as bad as I said you're like okay good cuz it's like an emergency in the moment you know you're panicking in the moment yeah but then a day later you're like oh wait maybe I was overreacting I think it's helpful to remind everybody that that the only associate that the board has a relationship with is the superintendent correct yep you know that may be even a good response to give to people when they come to us so they don't cuz I don't ever want people to think right that I'm blowing them off that this is just like but I think that might be to help people understand I mean some people think the board and the city council are all the same you know and so I think they
093just sometimes don't have an understanding of how we work and yeah that would be a great some some believe we're way we're more dayto day than we are well from this conversation I feel like it doesn't even match the results you know like I those had me worried but this conversation makes me not feel as worried well I think part of it's been like we we haven't we I never when I came on when you guys came on it's like we never had a time to talk about any of this stuff yeah no it's set go and so it's like so you didn't have time to talk about like how are we using the CIP because some of us didn't know what it was we didn't have time to talk about like okay how are
094you going to have those conversations with staff who what is everybody doing what you know does the superintendent expect we just we didn't have time to talk okay all right switching to the last category that we're going to look at um so this is the board collectively and individually takes full responsibility for board member activity and behavior um so members are obligated to express their opinions respect others opinions but ultimately speak with one clear voice um and so it sounds like we all understand Collective Authority but just a reminder um what a board member as an individual can do you can request agenda items you can State your opinion ask questions during board meetings obviously your vote and then the big thing is then once a board decision's been made whether you're on the winning
095or losing side quote unquote um the board decided and you've got to support that decision so that's that's where we fall down that's where we fall down that's what I think yeah I mean I'll just jump out there I mean we we we tend to faction off and it's US versus them and you know I think for the public for sure but for for for even on the board it's like you're put in a camp and um and so and so um it's not like hey this is the decision the board that's made we're gonna we're going to support it as one even though everybody can see I voted the other way yeah but but now it's time to F we don't do that we continue to focus on how why we why vote was
096right yeah and I don't like that um because that's not the role of the board yeah um that's you continuing to it's like a pride thing yeah and we've got to be better than that I'd love for somebody to tell me that's not true I'm open to that arue no that's completely true but that's what I've seen in my time here so far well one of the things that I really appreciate I'm going to use Rhonda as example um you know one of the things I've really appreciated about Rhonda is that Rhonda and I have very different opinions I'm going to use the book challenges because they're the most obvious I'm totally good with that it's okay um but hearing like hearing you explain why you voting the way you did because of the kids
097and then us being able to still talk afterwards and still talk about our kids and talk about our families and talk about our lives like that's been um really refreshing and I appreciate that and I wish we had more of that I think that's what you know the public expects of us and I think certainly that's what a superintendent's goingon to a new superintendent our current and our new superintendent both expect that and it's okay that we don't agree yes I mean it is absolutely okay but at the end of the day this is how many votes we all get one and it is we are I mean there's going to be things that we don't agree on and that's totally okay and we just have to keep moving forward move on after the vote
098no one expects votes to be 70 that would be weird that would show me that you are not doing your due diligence as a board if every single vote was 70 but it's your right it's the the second the votes over and the meeting's done you've got to let it go and I can tell you that a million times over but until you actually do it you know there's nothing that I can do and so how do we work to like actually make that a priority how do we because the other thing and this is where this I you know train new board members all the time but I said it at the last training oh it was here it was here in this room when I was training new board members two weeks ago
099I said I was like there's no way to kick a board member off the board and they were like what and I was like yeah like if you go and do weird stuff like they can't do anything about it and he's like well how do we fix this and I go you guys are in charge of yourself so you've got to figure out a way to how do we check each other check one another and check ourselves and check yourselves I think a lot of times that we try to check each other and we're not looking in the mirror at our own selves I also think that um communication is key like if you're not able to communicate you're not able to work together I mean I've got members of my board who refuse to
100speak to me and so how can we work together if there's no communication well and this was um the topic that I was like oh man have to have this one in front with the cameras on um but I think it it all goes back to like like you said you can't kick anybody off that's why it's so important from the beginning that everybody figure out a way to get along to go along go along to get along whatever the the wording is um so for [Music] me like you mentioned like how do you check each Each Other Well if there if if there are board members that don't want to be checked then I don't I think it just is what it is um and hopefully the majority of the the board members will
101kind of follow those Norms or whatever the expectations we have of one another um but I you know if we make an agreement that we're not going to reply all or we're not going to text all or we if we make an agreement not to do that and then someone's not doing it to me it's like well the the only thing I can control is myself so all I'm going to do is I'm just not going to reply I'm not going to reply I'm not going to text back I'm not going to email back and that's all I can do um I don't know I I when you said check each other I'm like I know I don't know I don't but it can't be the superintendent I tried to check no that's what that's
102what I'm saying is that yeah as the president of the board if there's a problem I me and I email it falls you contact a person or I email everybody and I let everyone know um and then if a person listens or not you know there's it's no control over that okay but at least it's acknowledgement you know of a problem or an issue and so I think at times maybe people don't understand that it's wrong or maybe they don't care you know but I always I never just leave it and be like well it's happening again no I'm going to always I'm then always at least check it in some form so I have two two questions and I don't know what the answer is you're vice president right I am is there any
103way that Mike could play a role in fixing what we're talking about yes we've tried I think we're actively trying okay second question is I know of a district that a board member will not communicate with the superintendent refus and they've hired a mediator to come in are we to the point where have we thought about that I my concern with a mediator I mean it's going to be a paid mediator correct have a budget and my thing is what a shame what a shame to have to use taxpayer dollars for adults that can't get along I totally agree but I'm also to the point like I saw what happened in that other District where the superintendent the new superintendent came to one meeting and said nope and left and you all are at a
104pivotal time where you have to hire the next leader in St Joe and if the seven of you all cannot be in the same room and have a normal conversation like you're not going to then hire the best candidate there's no way the best candidate will stay here there's no way I do think that I do think latan and Mike do a really good job of working with Gabe and working through a lot of those problems um those communication issues so I don't I mean yeah it will be difficult I I absolutely hear you're saying I do think that it's improved um and I think that having Mike Mike's help in that which didn't really have a lot of help for but um I think that's been helpful too so I I think it's um
105I think it's improved and I think latan does a good job with the situ that she's in I just the idea of hiring a mediator I think we've I to me people are people are going to behave how they're going to behave and if you have a a counselor or a therapist or a mediator um at the end of the day that that your choices your choice of how you're going to behave and communicate are are or that so until we all make the decision that that's what we want to follow then I'm just trying to think like you all are going to hire a new employee and have to on board a new employee one employee a superintendent do you want them to inherit this board as it stands right now I guess I
106would kind of echo what would I feel I feel like things are trending the right way and I feel like each passing week each pass like I've thought it's a little better a little bit better I guess I'm cautiously optimistic that when December rolls around January that if we keep trending the way we are that I feel like things are slowly getting better choice being that uh a a mediator versus I mean we we've got the board we've got right I mean right and so I mean I don't know I just I'm thinking it from people who going to apply here's perspective mhm I don't I I'm just asking these are just open-ended questions for you all to think about and and decide I'm willing to try whatever my board wants to do Kim go
107I think it's necessary to restore Y and you don't do that by ignoring or walking out when someone's talking that you don't want to hear talk when you come up when you have the opportunity to praise the other for something that's been done well to not do that um to not appreciate the gifts that we all bring to the board to um to squelch conversations that are going to be tough but must do if we're looking to restore it's going to get Messier before it gets better correct that's what sucks about I that's what sucks about the position that we're in um and it breeds mistrust for me it does um because as I look around there are talented gifted people sitting at this board and if I can't appreciate those talents or gifts then
108how do we pull it together so they're just even recently to have been a participant in something and other board members come to attend don't even speak to me can come to my table now this sounds like a whiner but it's an example that sticks out because that's the typical Behavior so I'm sitting at a table and there's a gentleman here so the board member comes to that table and can carry on a conversation but never greet or can pass me by or can get up and leave the minute I want to say something now I I'm pretty sure it it isn't just me yeah but we can can't um so the factions I think come because there is no restoration there's no we're not accepting my own part in that it doesn't draw me
109to you there hasn't been a time with this board that we have set out purpose to do something as a board yeah it it it doesn't happen to hey let's do Donuts let's go here you know let's let's do this together where we're not trying to set policy or anything like that and we're there's not any conversation but to say we need to Let's represent that so there have been times when that was supposed to happen but because um because I didn't follow I I wasn't included all along in the process all of a sudden I'm supposed to be told what to do and if I don't follow through with that I'm hanged outside an office and you know that doesn't breed you know it's not going to make me bow to that it's not
110going to make me say oh I think I need to join you now so it's our approach to each other and just an approach of mutual resp respect M or kindness would be nice yeah so I the things that were up here it was a hard time trying to figure out where I fell in a lot of those yeah no one just because of that but I do know um I do know that there has been no restoration no apologies yeah because we're all stuck in the mud yep and don't you dare try to get me out of it there are some that I can't can't have a personal conversation with because I don't know what it's going to look like later whether it's on social media or somewhere else so that's difficult for me
111y there's someone in here that won't even talk to me that I've tried to have a conversation with before and and I can't even get the conversation yeah what so I if it is just you know if there's something I did to just tell me in a way that I can hear you yeah how did we end up here yes how yeah how did what was it what was it way back there or up here or here and how can we move past it yeah yeah in a conversation that doesn't end up on social media sure in a conversation that can be polite and kind and help rebuild trust yeah sure because right now this is me on trust TR yeah right because I have seen it hit social media I have seen my emails
112be sunshin MH and my friends accosted in the media right so wow you know that that just vomits over into um the thing we're doing now these book challenges anybody who challenges a book is plastered you know their information is hung out there they're demeaned hared because they felt something in the book needed to be restricted right nobody's Banning right you know but it's put out to defame and demoralize our community and I don't feel like that's our job so um I guess my question um to you would what would res what would restoration look like because you mentioned that you want something to be restorative what does that look like it looks like you apologizing to me over how you treated me at the capital in February of this year yes now that that's
113a long time but then there are instances since that time feelings have just been hurt so little things feel bigger potentially yeah well this this was a pretty big thing sure sure because I reported it to the police department so it it's that kind of thing that really boom and it it's hard to get that back so and that's my desire My Desire is Whitney because you have a lot to offer this board and this District you do you have some great ideas but there are times when I can't hear them because of delivery or what has transpired in between because I I would like to okay so in February um you're upset about an interaction that you and I had with one another let me finish you're upset about an interaction that you and
114I had with one another February 3rd February 6th I believe it was no can see and this is part of the trust you you explained what your problems were me and I'm just taking notes on what you're saying so help me respond so in February we were in a disagreement that prior to going to the event at Great Northwest days there was disagreement in whether or not we would all meet as a board you and assara chose not to meet with the rest of us as a board I heard what you said where you felt like latata made all of the arrangements for that and we were the all just told where to go I felt like that was pretty in line with that event um and so I know there were issues going up
115down to that I shared my concerns and have shared my concerns with you about what happened um you you have shared your concerns with me about how I responded to that then you went and filed a police report against me assara filed a police report against me and since then there have been many things that have transpired related to that legally I'm not going to interact with you unless unless the cameras are on and the same is true for assara I don't talk to you when we're walking in I don't talk to you when we're walking out I'm not rude to you I'm not disrespectful to you I don't interact with you I don't interact via email I don't call text or respond because legally my attorney has told me not to so I don't
116know what more restoration I can provide to either of you other than staying away from you I don't know what else you want I'm not going to go tip fort with you on I think you should apologize for this I think I should apologize I'm not going to do that I've told you before I think the best way for us to proceed is by moving forward and that's what I've told you I believe I sent an email I think you were both included on it in June I'm not responsible for your emails being sunshin either even in any way more than I think you are responsible for when mine gets sunshin I don't care what you do on social media I don't care what people that you're friends with do on social media I do
117not care what I care about is what we do in this boardroom and what we do moving forward if you're upset by my personal behaviors my professional behaviors how I am to work with I don't know what to do for you for that but what I can tell you is I'm not not disrespectful to you I don't interact with you and I really just try to stay away from both of you and I will continue to do that I respond sure actually I want to add something in because I think a portion of that it was aimed at me um ever since it's been issues in between you guys I'm kind of Dragged In and and um I don't really know why I know that I have emailed text or called numerous amounts of times
118asking to communicate I've even said if there is anything that I did I do apologize I have done that time and time over again and then it was indicated that you don't want to talk to me and that's why unless we're in a board meeting or meeting I mean I stopped reaching out I will admit that I'm the person that approached the table and talked to a gentleman and yes I did not greet you CU in all honesty I don't ever know if it will be a response or not and that's why unless it is like a board matter I was giving you space I mean because I have emailed everyone in the board about moving on and like I'm not asking anybody to be friends and everything like that and like and everybody's up
119here can attest you know that I have asked everybody to move on I've asked everyone to put the district first I do understand that personal feelings are personal feelings okay but we were also elected in order to do a job and so despite how I may feel about personal issues I have done all that I can in order to do the best job as president of the board um and so um if you feel as if I still owe you an apology for something that I don't even know that I did I mean I mean it is what it is I if you need that I'll give it to you I just want to be able to do our job I want to be able to know that if I need to contact a board
120member if I need a meeting with the board member that I'm able to do that and not need immediate or or to be told well I'm afraid to be alone with you when I know I haven't done anything like that um I just want to be able to get the work done like and like I said I mean I think that we can all name things that we all are owed an apology for and in all honesty whether anybody apologizes to me or not it is not important I just want to do our job effectively here okay so I'm before you before you respond I I need to say something that I've observed just to share so I I brought up the pride thing earlier about how you know when there's a vote and we're
121on the other side sometimes you brought it up we leave the meeting and we don't support the V the the vote of the board and I said that probably has to do with pride I'm hearing your you're upset about some things you're upset about some things you're upset about some things what I'm not hearing is you taking responsibility for anything you may have done you taking responsibility for anything you may have done you taking responsibility for anything you may have done I'm hearing you did this you did this you did this but we all have messed up well I hope you're also hearing I I don't I'm not I'm not going back to all like I just want to do the work for the kids so whether or not and I mean arguably arguably I
122have had the most recourse for all of that I think everyone can agree to that so the fact that I can still sit here and have a conversation with you I've had conversations with the cameras on with assara I can still work with you all on this board I think as a test Testament to my willingness to move forward again I don't care what happens on social media I do not care I don't care what happens this person told this I don't care what I care about is us making good things happen for this District so I'm sorry that I can't provide that restorative justice that you're s searching for if it makes you feel better to know that um you're you're Criminal report I've lost my job I've gotten on you know things have
123happened to me I think you you know if that's the restorative justice that you need you have it as far as us having a relationship that's not going to happen that doesn't mean we can't come to a board meeting and work together I'm not saying that I I I'm not behind I know that there's a faction of people that support you and there's a faction of people that support me I don't care about any of that I do not care I care about the kids in the district don't care don't care who's the most popular do not care what I care about is us doing good things now can I yeah I do apologize L but I haven't um I apologize because I can't I want to trust you there are just some things that
124we said behind doors that came out differently when we were out in the open I don't recall an apology and I'm technically I am not looking for that just to be able to air it and be done sure sure and be able to forward so for my part I have withdrawn from that and that is never desirable so it isn't that's not my desire for you either Whitney I I agree it's unnecessary to have relationship outside of this room and I do accept my part in uh struggling to have that but you cannot restore what I need and you cannot restore what I need or it was looking for that was not the point because I have found that otherwise God's pretty good about that so my apology to the board is that all this
125mck has made me distrust and you know so in my head unless it unless I can do differently and interact differently it's not going to be different so I have to be content with how it is Kim is there something I can do I know you you've tried that Mike um but it and that's why I have never said I would never meet with you what I've said is I can't do it alone somebody has to be with us when we're having that conversation and I know you have offered that Mike so I appreciate it um should that happen you say should it or did it should it should should the three of you meet it would be great um it doesn't stop my desire to serve our community it doesn't stop my desire to
126help our kids because man I love working in with the in the schools with the kids right I love that uh this has just gotten way messy more than it's supposed to be so if it's possible yes but I I also don't recall an apology and that's I'm not looking for that I'm just looking for ways to be able to move move on move forward and um and make things work for our kids because they're the ones who matter but I brought that up because it's just seems like a big old pile yep that keeps growing yep and I feel like that's the factions yep so it even if it started out like this it just grew and I guys I'm I'm going to circle back just sitting here feeling this tension I'm so I'm
127so scared for a superintendent I I don't I don't know how else to tell you so what gu my question to you is what else would you recommend a mediator like for real like I kind of brought it up just to be like have you thought about this but then hearing this conversation like if if a superintendent seven bosses can't look at each other or talk during a meeting why would they ever stay here but I don't I don't think that and this is this is just me I I do think during meetings we have conversations I'm not not saying that there's not people poking things or being passive aggressive that that does get quite old um but again I'm just going to go back to my behavior and what I can control and again
128if I don't have a problem working here I don't have a problem working and I I think I think it's disappointing that we're having this conversation for the first time only in an open setting with cameras on that seems a little disingenuous I'll be honest about that um but I don't think there's a lot of I mean I don't know what the stress that's put on the superintendent about meetings or not meetings I do um and and and that's my thing is I don't know I I guess my thing is I come to meetings yeah and I read my packet and I ask questions and I go home MH so I guess when when I hear about a mediator I don't know what more at least from my perspective I don't know what more mediation
129I could provide well I'm open to a mediator [Music] um it's my con I want to know what the outcome is going to be sure like I know that in the process of a mediator I will not do act or say anything that I have not already done and said and try MH apologies it's an email everyone's on them and so like if you need a mediator I will give you that okay but the thing about it is is that we all have to be open and honest about ourselves and our actions and I don't think that you're doing that okay where is that where you're not open and honest about your actions before just one second Whitney I would prefer it not to be in front of the camera however if you're not talking
130to me if you avoid me it's not going to happen but but my point my point is that you haven't asked for that it wasn't until the cameras came on that you're like let's have this difficult conversation where I would have much more appreciated if this has been weighing on you and you're upset about our relationship which I'm telling you legally I cannot and will not have with you that should have been that should have been an email and a request for a conversation between between who whatever faction of the board that needed to be between I I that would have felt much more genuine and it would have felt more genuine before today but my point to you is and this is I I will say this to anyone forever I don't have to
131like anyone want to work with them sure and and I don't I don't I don't know how anyone could possibly ask me to have a relationship when you you filed a a criminal report on me for a disagreement your side my side truth somewhere in between you wrote a letter to the editor three of you calling for me to resign from the board the week before our election and you you want to ask me to have a relationship with you I think I'm doing an excellent job of being able to continue to work with you on this board again all I care about is reading my packet coming asking questions coming to the board casting my vote and leaving I don't care what happens outside of here I don't I do I do not care
132so if so again if you are needing resolve to this you're going to need to find that for yourself I cannot give that to you and this is the resolve that I've found and again this is my point with a mediator I don't know what anything different I can personally professionally or legally do so I'm not looking for that Whitney I'm not looking for relationship then what then what is the complaint what is the complaintant because that there's because if she can feel it it was an attempt to resolve tension and I'm I'm going to say this as a third party not even knowing the details of whatever we're all talking about is there a chance that she brings this up not because there are cameras but because this is the first time we've talked
133about anything like this like is this the first opportunity to really no this was this happened this happened seven months ago right seven months ago so when have we had opportunity talk about my point is no my point is when have we had opportunity to talk about it any anytime that you were concerned about your relationship with me you could have reached out to me and please notice there are other people in this room that are having to be a part of the conversation that have nothing to do with it these three have nothing to do with the tension that we're talking about with the issue that we're talking about so again this setting is not appropriate to me it's not appropriate um again it's just more fodder for social media after we leave here
134it's more fodder for a school superintendent to watch before we get here this is this is not this was not and is not the time in place um especially knowing you've said you don't want a relationship with me I don't want one with you that's not to be rude or disrespectful but there's no coming back from what has happened but again I'm willing to continue working on the board I want to read my packet I want to come cast my vote I want to go home that's what I want and that's what I'm I have been doing and what I'm willing to continue doing and I'd like the focus to be on our kids so so much of what we just talked about with the board of you know whatever the question was that we
135put student Achievement First that was my point the first four months that you guys were on the board all we talked about about was board policy and who interacts with who and how does that happen and blah blah blah wasn't about the kids now the bulk of this meeting is about our relationship about our relationship it's not about the kids or our functionality as a board and so that is what is disturbing to me so I'm going to come to meetings I'm going to cast a vote I'm going to go home but but today's meeting was for this purpose though right that's what I thought the agenda item wasn't really focused on the kids is focused on board functionality and board relations but my point is this relationship this conversation about you did this you
136didn't do that I'm upset about that could have happened anytime in the last six to seven months and so that is what you're not asking you're not asking for a relationship with me I think she'd like a working relationship with you just like you relationship how do we have one how do we not have one I feel like step one would be to say hello to each other when you see each other other like that's but where where where do I see you at that I haven't done that and again a criminal report I know right so if I can walk past you true like my thing is like and let's and let's bring it back around to where where we started right because um this is this is the serious part of this is
137is somebody very knowledgeable about the situation is letting us know that this absolutely will impact our ability to hire the best superintendent I'm literally I'm literally terrified and and here's here's what I'm saying that's why I think that we all should what what do you want different from me put aside our personal feelings and issues about each other and do the job you know that we were all elected in order to do I don't think it I don't think it truly matters if a person on the board hurt my feelings a year ago and I'm not over it like I owe the district in order to do the district a good job in spite of all of that it's how come I've always been saying let's move on let's come come together to work I
138mean I understand you know that you guys guys are not over things I'm not able to fix that I'm just asking everyone in order to be able to work together in terms of the school district and so like as the president of the board I have to be able to communicate with everyone communicate with everyone yeah it's my only concern if there is like a personal thing not concerned about that only if I email a board member text a board member call a board member and they're not responding because they're mad about an issue over a year ago then that is a problem if we are putting our own personal feelings about each other above the 10,000 kids in the district it is a problem and so all I'm asking is if I email about
139a board matter text about a board member about a board matter call about a board matter I'm just asking for a response it's all I'm asking I'm not asking for anything else I have given that I have given have at times not all the time I am in agreement that we do need to focus on the kids and I think we do a good job when it comes to board time to do what's best for our kids so it is unnecessary probably for all of this because um it's tough for a resolution and my heart does not need that resolve from them in particular I just know that it helps us be more cohesive as a board to have been able to speak it and be done you know if it's never been that way
140um there there have been times that we've been shut down when it gets difficult and my idea is if I have to sit here all night I I I would like that I would like it to just be seven grown-ups sitting down loving on the kids and being good you know being about that I don't want it about this other muck stuff I hate that because it's distracting it takes takes us away from our mission which is helping our kids and Community I get it I just think there's been some serious serious hurt feelings and and I go ahead I would like to apologize I think that I have apologized a couple of times maybe you didn't hear it or maybe it was not acknowledged I do apologize about the comment that she made in
141private and I repeat it in a meeting I do apologize about that um the comment was it restored I thought in our conversation that it was explained and misinterpreted but it felt like it was thrown out to cause disruption I I don't agree with that okay and that's okay um just apologizing over the issues that it has caused because I understand that it has clouded your judgment of me being on this board and being the president of this board ever since that one comment caused you to think that I was against you and it was never and it was never like that and I just want to apologize for it I'm sorry it wasn't just the one comment I typically work better than that but that was my life was threatened after that after that
142meeting it was really difficult to get past that because of your statement to the community of my St of of that comment I received threats life threats from the that community and it was tough to get past so that Kim okay but the thing okay but the thing about it is as we're all owning up to it I never threatened your life or anything like that I'm only in control of my own actions and I have apologized for correct okay but you also need to understand like on this board I have treated you kind and professionally okay but I know I know of the things you have have done in private I know like of the things that have occurred in the chat rooms and everything you know that's led to a lot of issues
143and it's not only your lives being affected in a negative way it is also my underage child's life that's also been affected in a negative way by the very ones that you associate with but I have never held any of that against you if it comes to the board I worked effectively I never leave you out of things I always contact you I mean I always I still attempt even if at times I'm mad and hurting about things in the past because in all honesty as we've all stated it doesn't matter it's it will never prohibit me from doing my job as president of this board and moving forward for the district because I know that you're only in control of your own actions okay but if we are being honest and I am completely
144honest about the things that I have said and done I think that we all need to be completely honest or we all just need to move on and do our jobs and I think that's you know for me you know you're talking about restoration of trust for for you to me or or whatever um The Incident That's that really sparked this involved my six-year-old kindergarten daughter now here's the deal Kim you say that's not true that's great I say it's true you have your depiction of events that happen at the state capital I have mine again my kid is never going to have an apology from assara or this District my family is not and I've come to accept that and again if all of that can happen and we can go through all of
145that and the worst first that happens is that I come to a meeting and leave a meeting without saying hello I would say that's progress so again I'm willing to move forward and have been willing to move forward but we keep not moving forward and again I don't know what Behavior if you have things that you think are not I'm not I'm not going to entertain the uh you said hi to me you didn't say hi to me you you set by me you didn't that's that's childish and I'm I'm just not going to do it I think it's just people wanting a working professional relationship and I still stand by my recommendation that mediation is something that but and I and I understand in a in a normal in a normal functioning world I
146understand that um you know I I said over there last year you came and did a training and you talked about um this is a safe space and we need to be able to have Brave discussions um and right when you said it I thought this is not a safe space but I'll play along we'll do it um and after that meeting we some of us just got totally railroaded um conversations between board members on social media about did you hear that she said this or she wore that or she was on her phone so it's it's not I I understand what you're saying um and and in most normal circumstances perhaps a mediator can work but again um I've been in the mental health field long enough to know if you're not willing to
147change your behavior it does not matter counselor therapist mediator pill does doesn't matter and so again I'm going to get my packet I want to come I want to vote and I want to go home I don't care what happens out I don't care he what happens outside I can only control myself agreed but how okay so here's where we're at though right now it's time so we've been listen we it's not all negative right we've had as a district we've had we've had great wins we've had great wins several this year right big ones right and uh so now uh our next most important decision is hiring this new District leader right so what do we have to do as a board to give us the best shot of of of of of getting
148the candidate we need but I and I guess that's my that is my question is we we put together ballot language we helped with the campaign legally um you know we we we passed a long range plan so so to me is I under I understand I understand where you're coming from um but for the most part we're moving forward and we're making progress and you that that might be enough for a candidate you know I was kind of in that camp a little bit you're scaring me well yeah you being scared scaring me right but I was in that camp I was like you know we've actually got a pretty compelling run of of achievement here the last few months and and so I'm I'm I'm I'm kind of with you but I'm also
149listening very intently to what you're telling me yeah I guess I kind of look at it as I think we do get together at board meetings and continue to do good things and um I guess I just don't know you know better than me but I don't know if that's a deal breaker when letting applicants letting your applicants know like hey during the meetings these guys get stuff done just know certain members when the meeting's over they're not going to not going to go celebrate their victories together like they have a working professional relationship but it ends there I guess that's my question with applicant coming in is that deal breaker for them like okay I I understand I understand how that works you said something that really hit home with me which was you
150know hey gosh you know and I and I came on the board with the exact same thinking which was you know okay like like okay where's the team building no we we can't build that trust without being able to get together and do this and then of course all this other stuff you know cut got in away quorums and sunshine and and and so like like we really can't even in my mind legally do some of the stuff you're thinking about right so we do have to have a much more uh business-like approach I think MH you know what I mean I mean we we get we get in trouble if we get together now we're able to do those things if they're if they're done in a particular way like if they're put out
151in advance and everything like that but I think the Train the training says you got to be real real careful because no matter you you may get together and not talk a single thing about the district but that's not what people see noticed and things that and so so from my takeway on that is I just don't do it right I mean I you know and so I guess the biggest thing that we need to just I don't know if this will ever mend um but just like you're saying can we to the best of our ability push some of it to the side obviously we'll never be able to get over my guess is we'll never be able to get over what has transpired over the last year um and maybe immediate won't won't
152do anything but can we during board meetings work respectfully together so that you are making your new superintendent's job as easy and calm as possible especially if they are a brand new first year soup well and I guess that's that that to me is the question and that's probably the question to most of you um that aren't involved in this di tribe of do you feel and maybe you know Gabe needs to weigh on in on this like do you feel like it's hindering progress and I guess that was my I guess point is I I felt like we do like right with everything going on I still feel like that we come together as a board during the meetings and yeah do good I I think functionality has improved okay the last few months
153I but but I'm scared to death what you're saying which is uh you know someone looking at this job may be a great candidate but gets a hold of some of this and says yeah that's not for me yeah well and it's I it's not you know daughter of a 30-year superintendent I've worked for boards It's Not Unusual for board members to not like each other and not be you know I get that do we have something vastly different from that yeah criminal reports suing using herzog's at needs to sue me we have something different than that um and but again and superintendant know that oh of course they do the whole state knows that and so that's why I'm like can we continue without having to do a mediator if that's just not the
154way that it's going to work can we continue this positive progress forward as a as a working functional board during meetings I do I don't see I feel like we've we've done that I feel like again I've told do what I'm going to do I won't I won't waste your time but I don't know what else there is to do I'm normally not like optimistic because I'm just not as a person okay only um I honestly do believe that we're able to continue the positive progress in the district um because if you look at the timeline during our worst we still pulled out some amazing things to move us along further and so I think as long as we're able to continue in spite or despite of our issues cuz on the most part I
155mean as we are in the boardroom I mean all of us work it's the access you know that we have issues with sure so I guess then cuz I I feel like we're in a good spot and so I want to get to the we don't need to go through all of this we don't need to go through could I say one thing that I think yes um back on that page um the top the top item because we we kind of ended the last discussion and we went right into what a board member can do and we talked about what we should be telling people if they come to us with concerns feel that's a slippery slope sometimes where we tell them that but yet I my fear and my hope is that we
156are not letting outside people influence us on what to bring to agendas and put on um I feel like that can be scary sometimes when so I just wanted to state that yeah I think that's a good point um because I know that there will be times when I will hear talk of a topic or it's online cuz you know online is the devil but like it's online and then a day or two later it's our conversation and I do agree with Rick I think that that can be dangerous and it hinders our process at times in our progress Fair okay so we have 10 minutes left is there anything that needs to change about how we function as a board right now to keep us moving in a positive direction because we need all
157seven people to communicate so should communication always come from latata or should sometimes it come from the vice president would that be helpful um and getting responses from everybody like is there I don't know I I'm just I'm just throwing things out is there anything that needs to change or or do you you've actually talked about that yeah okay but the problem is it still allows for people of the board in order to not interact and completely ignore me oh so okay I see what you're saying so you'd like to keep that because we feel like we do need to just be able to interact with you which I think that is fair and understand that so then how can we help and I feel bad that isar is not here I do too um
158how can we encourage that and and this again uh maybe just gotten so jaded that it's just like um I've just kind of gotten to the point where if you I mean I hear you say like we need seven people yeah ideally ideally you need seven people but if they're if are board members that don't want to in interact with the chair that don't want to interact with the vice chair that don't want to be solution oriented or student oriented then everybody kind of has to move forward and and if if other people move in then that's wonderful but again I I hear thank you noine again I just I think that there is um an ideal state right and I think that definitely is an ideal state right um but if we can't achieve
159that ideal State then how do we continue moving forward and I think I I would I would not I would not personally support like oh well if people don't like latata then let's have Mike do it but if they don't like well if they don't like have Mike do it then we'll have the superintendent to like this the chair is the chair she got four votes and now she's the chair mhm that that that is part of our personal professional adult responsibility to say I don't like it I don't like her support the board's decision I don't I don't like her I don't like this but I'm going to put the district first and and be and do what I'm supposed to do right so I guess do we need to I mean should part
160of their plan moving forward be to meet with assara so that I don't know who would be part of that meeting with her but just to let her know what was discussed tonight share some of the things that I've shared about superintendent search superintendent retention um I I think Mike and I can meet with her sure I'm glad to and she can watch the recording true too yep I just want to make sure she's feels I know that she's not here but I want her to feel like she's a piece of this you know because she is a piece of this you know it's not like she's not one one thing that we might want to discuss um I I really liked your advice about uh uh prep for the soup search uh be able
161to share the board's vision and priorities oh yeah and and um so I think we're there um you know we we we we've got a community survey we've got a a board supporting uh vote for a long range plan that long range plan includes a bunch of Community Vision forward stuff that we we've done and uh but sometimes as board leadership we we take the Reigns and do stuff to to move us forward and have a recommendation to act upon and and kind of set the table I think that uh one of the some of the feedback I've heard over the the year is that uh some members feel like they didn't get to have a say in any of that so with regard to the superintendent search and defining the vision and the priority
162do we need to do something extra so everybody feels like kind of they had their say need that I've been thinking about that first one there what are the board's priorities for the district as a unit what would we say yeah about that I think they're I think it's evolving as we move like if you were if you were to ask me today I'm going to tell you that my priorities are getting a superintendent getting this long range plan in motion and kicking it in high gear and really getting some good information out to the looking um really moving this forward because I think it's can really transform our community um are you looking for a superintendent that's a change agent or someone to kind of keep the status quo I am I don't but
163I don't think so I wouldn't say keep the status quo and I wouldn't say change agent but somebody to keep us on the track that we're on because I think we're on a really positive track like so I your priorities for the for the superintendent to meia that's the long range plan and vision forward and the long range plan is more than just facilities so much so much about that facilities is feeder patterns and you know consistent Middle School model all of that's going to help with student achievement and staff retention so to me I had just put down longrange plan and vision forward they're that's everything we always talk about every I feel okay about that and see I put the longrange plan and then I'm also thinking our CIP as well because it
164actively involves all of those things including academic yeah it's the bigger the bigger yeah so that's what I was I just want everybody feel good about that be able to answer that question for a candidate in in a very similar way because they're going to want to know what their expectations are and if you can hand them that long range plan and say these are our expectations that will be so helpful to them like so helpful to them and it covers it covers everything y because it won't be cool for us to be in an interview session with the last three potential hopefully there's four potential but whatever those last potential people and we're making statements that are not in unison totally agree you know I think that's very concerning so I guess my question
165then is when and how do we get together and say okay oh yeah we're all on the same we do write it down whatever I also that we are all on the same page I think starting the conversation now is is perfect and I think we should I also think Janette and Trent are going to do that with you all when you get your community feedback right yes because a lot of your priorities should also be based off what the community says as well and so they will guide you through that conversation um so that you all have a very clear Vision so that they can share that with anyone applying for the job you know here are the priorities of the district and the board yeah because I think we're on a really good
166start to getting there I just want us to sound yeah like we know what we're doing I mean we do know what we're doing that's not what I'm saying but that we're consistent yes yeah that we're have a cohesive message that will really help that is telling if we can arrive at a cohesive message of what we want in a superintendent agreed that's going to be very critical and we can convey that we can articulate it and it doesn't matter if you ask Rick or you ask Lan or who you ask it's a Community member who is asking that we are all on that same page path perfect okay it's G to be great I'm excited for you all I really am about the superintendent but I just also needed to be honest and to
167share what I'm seen and what I've heard and then it's up to you all um appreciate it I appreciate it from the board as well same I mean this was this was this was good yeah um this was good and and so um let's be ready to focus on all that positive totally agree I'm just rooting for you all for real seriously I really really am so I'm excited to see and I know that you're worried you know but I'm not worried I'm glad I'm glad cuz we're accomplishing amazing things as we are imagine if as a board we get a little better imagine the things you know that we're able to accomplish and so seriously yeah and the fact that you guys said it was has been upward progress for the last few months
168I feel like let's just keep chugging with that for real okay well I'm done thank you guys so much thank you I appreciate your time yeah absolutely thank you yeah is there a motion to adjourn and Mike T okay Miss Miller yes Miss Williams yes Miss Chesney yes Mr Gary yes M Lanny yep Mr Mo yes have to meeting