02/05/2026 Lebanon LEAP School Closure Listening Session

001Yes. >> So many Wait. I mean, there's no piece of That's how >> which is why it's perfect. There it is. Make sure that we put the women into all of these people that Right. Absolutely. We're doing a great job. Okay. But this is exciting. Don't tell me. This is ide >> the banging >> sounds find us. >> Yeah. We have any more of these? >> There's no information. Oh, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thanks. >> I'll take one, too. >> Yeah. Good. >> You got a copy? Sarah got a flag. >> Thank goodness. >> Who's the president. >> Um, That's the one that rise. Join in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with

002liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Angel. particular >> window here. >> Sam O'Neal >> here. >> Dan Bner >> here. >> Julian Anthony >> here. >> Tammy here. David Hide >> here. >> Lori Hoffman >> here. >> Folks, I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. difficult uh conversation to have. Uh but we want to uh we do want to thank you. Um the fact that you're all here shows that you're passionate and that your the staff and the has the lives of your children and your families. So we're we're grateful that you're here. Um the format of the of this meeting is going to be a little bit different from a typical board meeting. We do intend for uh some feedback from you and we will engage in a little

003bit more of a discussion with you on on topics. Uh we intend for this to be somewhat of an informational session and There's going to be some emotion. I'm sure the this is a conversation that no board member wants to have. It isn't it's not something a board member signs up for. Whenever uh we spend so much time dedicating to uh dedicated to the minutia of providing an educational experience that's positive for every child in our school district that when it comes to something like this, this is not something a board member ever wants to have to be faced with a discussion of closing school. Uh we definitely appreciate all of the emails that you sent us. Uh and I'm sure that we're going to continue getting some emails from you and we appreciate that.

004It it shows that you are connected. This is exactly what we want in Watertown. Families that are connected to the Watertown School District. This is exactly what we work for, what we work hard for. much of the the emotions that and and sentiments that you shared in your emails. I don't think that anybody on this board would mind disagreement with we agree with a lot. We agree with the the success that has been shown here at least. We agree with, you know, how kids are are learning and they're they're going on to to to definitely achieve within our school district as well. I wish every building I know that every building in the school district has the same similar type of connection. Uh so much so that that's why We're working hard for making sure

005that a referendum passes in the future as well because we're having a discussion now about two building closures. If a referendum fails, it may be that more buildings may have to be closed. And if you certainly you you're so certainly familiar with the pain that this process brings about, I would urge you to not allow other parents to go through that same similar circumstance. And I know that that's asking a lot, but but it's meaningful and it's impactful to the school district. Uh, our school district is committed to keeping the best interest of all students in mind districtwide. So, the purpose of this meeting will be uh for the duration of this meeting, we we'll try to keep it strict strictly to two hours. We're we're here to listen. We're here to share information and

006also uh respectfully engage constructively. We will be listening. Uh we'd like to listen to one voice at a time. Uh we'll focus on experiences, questions, and any solutions that you like to bring. But the board wants to hear about your successes and celebrate what has made Lee great over the years. And we also want to want to be a bit of a shoulder that you can commiserate with because we share it some of the same sentiments that you do. We don't want this building closed. But we have to be realistic and we have to understand a little bit more about where the community it's coming from. So, as a brief overview, this for the 2026 2027 budget, we're projecting about a $5 million shortfall in our budget. That doesn't that's not sustainable. There is no

007credit card for education expenses in public education. If a school district fails, that bankruptcy, there's no such thing as a bankruptcy. Those dollars are passed along with the tax base regardless of what kind of debt involve. The money doesn't just appear out of thin air either. It's it's extremely difficult to plan around but we do have projections. We work with financial uh individuals with bar with our own business office. The decisions that are made are very intentional and very planned. Uh over the years we've also experienced a decline in enrollment. You may have uh noticed that the decline enrollment is somewhere in the neighborhood of se 875 students over a 15 to 16 year old year period which also means that we have access capacity in our buildings. At the December board meeting, the board

008made a decision based on based on the last referendum failure, which failed by about 1,700 votes. And we put out a survey to the community to find out what level of commitment the community would have towards a future referendum. By time we got those results back and were ready to make a decision, we reinterpreted that information in November and it was very clear that the public would not be able to support a $6 million referendum. So at the December meeting, the decision was made to go forward with a $4.5 million referendum. Now, what that means also is at that December meeting, the board made a commitment to cut 2.5 million from the budget. That's not $2.5 million for one year. It's it's for the duration. I if if a generous benefactor were to come up

009with $2.5 million tomorrow, that just covers one year of that shortfall. I also want to make sure that you're you're aware that no decisions have been made. The final decision will be made on February 23rd at our next board meeting, but this the surveys were pretty decisive that there was an expectation that two buildings would close among our community. We're definitely committed to making sure that every student happens to have what they need in our district. Um, one of the one of the things I I keep in the back of my mind is some of our smaller schools like Lincoln and LEAP happen to have a studenttoteer ratio in a neighborhood of between 13 and 15 students per teacher. It's important to keep that this in mind that currently when when children move up to

010the middle school, they experience somewhere in the neighborhood of a student teacher ratio currently of somewhere between 25 and 30 students in a classroom per teacher. and and that particular cla those particular classrooms can have up to and maybe even beyond 40% of those classes with students that have IEPs or learning special learning needs in those particular classrooms. And we'll have special ed teachers that would be able have to split their time between the same two groups of classrooms in the same period. What I'm trying to convey is the resources in our school district are already currently pretty imbalance and with a $2.5 million budget cut, it it puts a pretty big strain on on everything. So by keeping buildings open, if we were to keep our current situation, our current footprint, we wouldn't be

011able to fill the buildings with staff adequately as well. Any board members want to uh chime in with any thoughts or perspective? I miss Go ahead. >> Again, I just want to echo what Craig said. We do really appreciate all of you coming out on a Thursday night. We know you have busy lives and schedules and but this is important and we appreciate you being here to share with us your thoughts. And as he said, uh, thank you for the emails and things that have been sent as well. I do want to just make sure that you understand there has been no decision made. There has been no official vote of our board. No school can be closed until the board takes official action on that. We are not here tonight with closed minds. We're

012here with open mind and want to hear from you. We know that this is a unique school. We know it offers a unique programming and we know that when you have a school like this in a small community like this that the attachment to the school is even more so than when you have one like we do in the city of Watertown like a Douglas or Shurers or even Lincoln and um we understand the emotion behind that. So um I think sometimes people think there's a preconceived notion amongst us that is a foregone conclusion. You've heard us talk that yes um we recognize the financial realities because what Craig has painted for you is real. I don't think it's any secret that we are truly fiscally conservative on this board. Um, I'm on the finance

013committee and I can tell you we look very, very closely at every expense that comes through there. So, when this board tells you that we're running a deficit that is not sustainable long term and is unhealthy for our district, we're not just blowing smoke here and saying, "Oh, we just need more money." Um, I've heard that for years. And in fact, I used to ask educators, "How much is more and when is it enough?" And nobody would ever answer that question. But but we know that it does take, you know, takes a certain amount of money and prices just as you and I are experiencing at the gas pump and at the grocery store and other places, prices are going up. And so we are experiencing that as a school district. But I can assure

014you that we are not just looking for a referendum because we want to spend that money willy-nilly and do frivolous things with it. This is this is kind of the instructional superstructure for our programming. water count. That's what we're looking for is how do we maintain what we already have. And so these are important decisions and I have to say as a single board member, I'm honored to be a part of it. Um it's a weighty responsibility and I I speak for myself, but I I know these board members well, and I think we all consider it um a very important decision that it requires our very best deliberation. So, thank you again for being here tonight. Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> A couple of other other things that might be of interest to

015you. Uh if you happen to have a phone or a laptop or tablet and you're interested in more information uh in the board docs section of the agenda online, we have pulled forward a number of different documents that might help form an opinion or your perspective on where a district is as far as what we plan for it. For instance, the uh facility assessment report that indicates further capital improvement uh needs within our school district, somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 million. Uh and that's not that that's over about a 15-year period of time. That's what might be expected. Uh there are tier one expenses that are districtwide or somewhere in the neighborhood of about $30 million. So we have deterior deteriorating buildings deferred maintenance uh needs as well. But uh but also in that

016packet you will see our strategic plan. You'll hear you'll see our last budget hearing. the the presentation for that as well as the MDR rovers enrollment study which indicates um enrollment trends within our school district where the students are coming from where they're going to the growth of both the public school and the brochial school system which by which both are declining. The public school system is declining at a rate of about 17%. According to the 2024 study and the pro school system is declining at a rate of about 17 uh 7%. That that's all information that we wanted to pull forward for you for context. I think we're going to move along unless there's other comments or concerns or any any parting. All right, I think what we're going to do is move to

017the community um input section of the meeting. So, the board of education will be limiting public speakers to about three minutes per person speak. We also ask that district residents are allowed to speak first if time allows. Non-residents will also be allowed to speak. The board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on district matters. The period of public input that is allowed by the board is a privilege that the board extends to receive feedback during the business meeting of the board held in public. The board expects that the public model civility and decorum at all times. In short, we would just f we would ask you to focus on your experiences and and questions and solutions. Um disagreements are okay, but

018disrespect is not. Uh the presiding officer may interrupt, warn or terminate uh participant statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant. The presiding officer may request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum. And finally, the presid presiding officer may request assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person if when that person's conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting. Was there anybody that wishes to step up? >> If you could seat your name and address when you wish when you come forward to seat and the cards will be collected by Angel up here. I think there's a microphone. Thank you. >> Is it going? >> I think you need to turn it. >> All right. I'm Greg Frederick,

019chairman of Lebanon, lifelong Lebaneseer. Went to school here. Remember all the Fortman teachers. My mom 45 years ago tried to save the school, got elected to the school board. She also was a school board president. 45 years later, here we are. I spoke probably six years ago at the auditorium and the same thing was. And just how great the school is. Um, what I see about this is I've never seen parents and kids and everything come together here and the extracurricular things they do here, you know, fundraisers, everything they do. It's a community thing, you know. Um, I got a watching kind of good. So, um my basically some of my point out facts. Um everyone knows what's going on in Houston. Are we going to have country kids that want to come to Houston

020for here in the next year and a half, two years? Uh the housing there's I know some big projects that are going to be going on in Lebanon or excuse me, Watertown. Is that gonna increase students? You know, six, seven years from now, there's kids, more kids, you know, creating more population. What I really would hate to see is, but I've seen it before where they close a building and it just pisses people up when they close buildings and then five years down the road we need a new or whatever. And uh my analogy to this is if you have three pickup trucks in the yard and one needs a tire, one needs alternator, one needs a starter and it seems like some of the administrators think, well, we can't afford that, but let's sell

021them all and get escalate. That's my analogy. And if that were to happen, they wouldn't go over. So, I don't know what the timeline is on it, what the fiscal everything. I know how Lebanon budget is. I know numbers, but um as far as the town goes, we support this immensely on here. So, hopefully best things can happen. And that's my two cents. Thank you. All right. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to be clear from the start that I understand that the district is facing serious learning changes and difficult decisions must be made. My comment tonight is focused on which decisions make the most sense both educationally and financially. If the district is committed to reducing costs while preserving high quality program, then closing the elementary purse is not aligned with

022that goal. Lincoln STEM is a stroke strong program. But it is important to recognize that STEM is a program not a place. The instructional model at Lincoln STEM can be moved to another building with minimal disruption. Instead of classroomless materials and teaching methods are portable and the program could continue elsewhere while while still serving students effectively. LEAP is fundamentally different. LEAP's educational model is inseparable from the site where it currently exists. The curriculum is built around outdoor classrooms, gardens, agricultural spaces, and environmental learning areas that have intentionally developed many years. These features are not decorative. They are the classroom. They cannot be packed up and recreated elsewhere without losing the foundation of the program. It is all sold by the tone of blood for a dollar as an act of generosity and partnership. selling this

023profit property now to turn a profit would not be in honor of that generosity or their original intent to honk the township's investment in that public education. From a financial standpoint, LEAP also presents opportunities for cost savings rather than closure. Leaf is a small school that could realistically operate under a communic students model instead of the current principal principal. Currently, the principal spends less than two hours per week on site, which raises questionable reasonable questions whether the existing administrative structure is the most efficient use of the district resources. If the district is serious about addressing budget deficits, there are more logical responsible options available. Closing link in STEM and relocating STEM program to another building, seeing that we have enough space. Close and sell educational service center that that's prime location. Sell the property next

024to legally all drive that's city haven't touched that 28 store township town water that's probably a nice chunk of change. These actions could reduce overhead, generate revenue, preserve strong educational programs without dismantling a school like Lee that cannot simply be moved or rebuilt. Lee has demonstrated long-term academic success, strong community investment, and cost efficiency. Much of this infrastructure was created through grants, donations, and PTO fundraising, not district operating funds. closing link with me banning years of investment that cannot be recovered. I respectfully urge the board to prioritize solutions that preserve what cannot be replaced and to begin with closures and property property decisions that truly align with the district's financial goals. Posing Lincoln Center first and relocating his program makes far more sense than posing Sorry. like to take an opportunity to kind of address

025some some of the um some of the concerns brought forward. Um the uh I guess we're we're always focused on quality education here. Um the intention is to build and to propose an escalade brand for a new building. Uh we do have an existing footprint that that needs some work. We do also have we do have an estimated uh I mean that that was the enrollment decline over the last 15 years. So 875 students we do have at least that capacity in our buildings. Um the high school building happens to have the most space available and our elementary schools, you know, that might requires moving some students around school district and um sometimes that also means uh coming to the public with a some sort of a capital improvement referendum at at some point to

026support trying to outfit some of those spaces to serve those students the best possible way. We don't know what that future looks like at this point in time, but it's something that we've spoken about. The discussion about selling the ESC, that's a discussion that comes up often. It's it's been something we've been taking very seriously. uh when it comes to admin structures, you're absolutely right. Uh we we do need to look at admin structures and you know when we when we starting to um make cuts as deep as they are they are sometimes that means cuts to administration as well. the when it comes to buildings like for instance EBSC the only explanation I can that that makes a little bit of sense is the fact that sometimes when you move offices to other buildings

027you're you're required to do some sort of build out the construction and that costs some money and ESC is paid But yes, in their operational referendum wire on the back side, you'll notice that if if the uh if the referendum does not pass, the GSC would be considered for sale and re relocating staff. the um lower property tried to sell and for whatever reason uh we've had several alters on it and those offers have fallen through it and usually it's due to things like zoning things of that nature but I agree this program isn't easy to replace but we would like to hear what your thoughts are about bringing uh programming forward in the future if possible can come back and see all other people to Sure. I think in my opinion special I thought

028it was Turns out here to get money for our almost no garbage. No grass. I've had nothing but fun. It's a nice small school with nice big closing the school just to open it somewhere else. What's the need for the fresh garden outside beautiful? Hi, my name is Jackson, but every time a new family comes here, we get one less hour. Look at all the people here today at week. >> Okay. >> So, let's keep trying to keep open teachers, students, and families don't want leave to close. Let's keep trying to keep from Jackson. This is why I think we should have our school away. I think we should keep our school in business because I have been going to me for six years and I think every single teacher I have met is very

029kind and thoughtful. I also have met countless friends in every single class I go to. Something I also love about this school is Jack and Richie. I also rest. It's nice to play in a nice place. This school also has great to teach math, writing, and especially science. Science is one of my favorite subjects. And something I also love is that we have computers. I know that other schools have computers, too, but I still love them. Also, we have a tiny school But that doesn't mean you have to choose us. I'm still care about the school. Why? Because of memories. I have many times and memories. And I hope this school shut down. If you mean that no other kids in the future will get to enjoy the things that I want to enjoy. And

030I don't think that's fair. I would hate for the school to shut down. We are one of the best schools in the history. Taking our school away from the earth would be like taking the cheese out of the north. It's just not right. So I would ask you, can you please let us keep going? Good evening. My name is Kylie. I'm here tonight because I want to share why is so important to me and why I would like to see you. I started out in first grade and one of my favorite experiences was helping pollinator garden. I didn't just plant it. I got to watch it grow one more time. learn between native and social and something real. In early spring, I took what I learned to take action. I created my own petition to

031stop the use of children. I gathered I gathered over 600 signatures which I think a big change was made at our school and had school participated In the week of summer where we read and discussed native best book and learned that disappeared including most of our flower sources but most we also learned how to create homeowners for So everything I've learned lately, I now have my own garden at home, helping pollinators continue to thrive even beyond the school. This doesn't teach us just the teachings of how to how to care, how to take action, and how to make a real difference in their community. That's why I hope My name is Bailey and I'm I am in elementary. I'm also speaking on behalf of my brother who is in third grade. I want to talk

032about why is this important to me and why I think it should not be closed. I think we did do a lot of things that other schools don't do. We hatch watch them grow and sold the eggs that helps me learn responsibility. We also have it behind our school. We had learned that bees. We had learned about bees and we got to extract our own honey. It was really cool and was something I will always remember. We extracted a pollinator garden and three and we have watched it grow since then. It shows us how the plants grow over time and how important it is to take care of nature. There's a lot green space in our outside classroom. We get to learn outside which helps some kids learn. Awesome. Is a small school so everyone

033knows. We get more time with our teachers and they really know about us and care about us. feels like a family. It feels safe and it feels like people really care. Please don't close. It is important to make it along other kids. Thank you for listening. >> We definitely appreciate the kids coming forward. I know that it's it's sometimes very intimidating for them to step up and say something. So, we really appreciate uh the courage to do so. >> Hi, my name is Melissa and I've been a teacher in this district for 26 years serving students at Douglas Lincoln Insurance for the past four years. Two years ago, the staff at Le School made a presentation to the board about the goals we are expected to achieve within five years. We met them all. We

034did so through grants, scholarships, and donations, and through the relentless hard work of dedication of our staff, families, and in fact, we had to condense our presentation because we accomplished so much. Meanwhile, the district itself met few of the requirements outnight, including a promised $40,000 to develop environmental agricultural program through curriculum materials in the question field. This program was built on the backs of our staff, families, and community. I can list the district's contributions on one hand. The weather station, outdoor equipment, outdoor materials, 2800 square foot pollinator garden, beehives, garden wagons, and tools were hunted by grants. The raised garden beds, apple and pine trees, benches, shade structures, shed, greenhouse, hoses, sprinkles, sprinklers, animals, enclosures, chicken run, boat hutch, and fencing were donated. professional development specific to our program, workshops, collaboration and training and use

035scholarships, proono work with colleagues, and our own networking. Place learning opportunities were provided by Dodge County, the Lebanon Fire Department, and families and staff. Together, we created exactly what was asked of us, a rich learning environment both inside and outside of our campus. So forgive us for struggling to trust the board's promise. It's simply moving this program elsewhere. We've never received what was promised at his inception. So with an even smaller budget now, how exactly does the district to fund this program at a new location, one that lacks garden, habitats, and green space that's essential for this learning model. For the past two years, lead hosted workshops for educators around the state where we explored how and why to grow agricultural literacy with students. Seasoned professionals were astonished by what we built in such a

036short time. Some shared that their own schools are turning up urban campuses to replicate what we already passed. How disappointing that others recognize the value of this program's educational aspect our whole district. I deeply respect every elementary school in our district and I know each has something unique to offer but we elementary is the only one that cannot be packed up into boxes and loaded into a moving truck. There is no other campus in this district that can replicate what exists here. In closing, leave elementary school is not affordable. Its value is rooted literally in the land and the community in the world down here. You cannot relocate the soil system and our collective effort with a new address and promise. If the district believes this program simply recreated elsewhere, then you have misunderstood what

037made it successful in the first place. I want to begin by acknowledging that I understand the district is facing real and serious. I recognize that the decisions for you are difficult but I do not responsibility. I'm here tonight because I believe that the that Leap Elementary cannot be evaluated in the same way as other schools under closure consideration. I counted wearing many hats. I'm a parent of two children who attended LE. I'm also a substitute care professional who works directly with students and classrooms throughout the village. I work one day a week as an administrative assistant to the relief office and I serve on the PTO. I've volunteered many hours both inside the school and on the school grounds and because of these experiences I can say with confidence that LEAP is not interchangeable with

038any other building in the district. I also want to speak directly to process and trust. In 2025 I was a member of the LEAP guiding coalition alongside other parents, staff, administrators and the school board president. We spent many hours discussing the future of the week and exploring what various lessons might look like and how community programming can move forward despite referendum and moving budget deficits. We were told that the school board would provide time for the guiding commission to present those options and are likely to work to the full board and that opportunity never came. As a result, the lack of followthrough has left many of us questioning whether our time, expertise, and based participation are truly valued by the board and the district leadership. I understand that schools such as SH and Lincoln STEM

039are also being considered for closure. SH offers an excellent dual language program and Lincoln STEM provides a strong applied approach to science, technology, engineering, and math. These programs are valuable, but they are also programs that could be moved into another building and they continue largely intact. LEAP is different. LEAP's education model is deeply rooted literally in the land where it stands. Our program depends on outdoor classrooms, gardens, animal ambassadors, and environmental learning spaces that have been built intentionally over many years. These include pollinator and prairie gardens, part beehives, weather stations and more. These are not add-ons. They are the curriculum. These spaces are created were created through grants, donations and PTO fundraising and they cannot be easily relocated or replicated without using what makes LEAP effective. Academically, LEAP has proven itself. For 14 consecutive years,

040a school has earned that exceeds expectations or significantly exceeds expectations ready to sell on the Wisconsin API reports. This is not an experimental program. It's a successful one. I have seen students who struggle in traditional classroom settings. I have watched children develop confidence, responsibility, and a sense of purpose by caring for their departments and their community. So the school works because of its location. I respectfully ask that as you make financial realities, you consider which programs can truly survive a move and which do not. Closing with me to something that cannot be replenished. Thank you for your time and for considering a picture of what represents. answer. Um, I guess I just wanted to say that I I definitely understand the position that you guys are in. It's not going to water down lots of

041districts. Like like has already said, I don't envy you. I don't want your debt solved. I wouldn't want to make that decision. However, um it does see a little bit like you're cut off part of the community here. No other um school in the water county district serves the country. So, I moved here from German Town and our family lives right up the road. This community is super tight. It's country. It has a vibe that nowhere else in our town has. So if you think this way, this is our community school and all of us are going to have to transport into water town where we don't spend any time. If you closed a school in Watertown, it just feels like the transition on the kids would probably be a lot easier. moving from city

042school into another city school instead of having kids who are out here, you know, working on the farm and doing I mean, we're just different and we do support and love on the school just like I mean par everything that everybody said. So, um just consider that that you're really going off a chunk of the community that feeds into the district in a different way. Um and also you mentioned the higher class sizes and yes they are going to have to go into a higher content counseling but like was just said kids from other schools transfer here because they don't you know at a younger age they need to have an option somewhere in the district that they can go and thrive in a smaller class. Not all kids are built for that. That's why

043they come here and we are thriving. So just Thank you for your last. >> Uh my name is Brand Croy. I have two kids. I go to school here. Um I'm not originally from the area. Um, I actually moved to town just because my wife is from here and she actually went to Weep and has a deep history in the community here. Um, I know what it's like to move schools. I moved to three different schools when I was in grade school. It sucks. You get picked on. It's not a good thing. It's it's tough. Um, and I don't want that for these kids. um whether some of them are going to move out of the district or like someone had mentioned moving into the district is almost like coming into a different district because

044this is such a special um different type of place. And one thing I used to do is coach college football and you'll see it with Indiana football this year is culture wins championships, right? And that's what LEAP is. It's a culture different way of learning animals, small class size, so much community involvement, parent involvement. I've personally spent hours and hours here. Um just the way they do it out here in this special place that it is. There's people that come here and request to go here just from the district back in town. There's people that when the the private school closed down here or made changes or I don't know exactly happened, but we gained a lot of people from there. And so in the last five years that we've been here, I was originally

045part of the the group that looked at even it open uh five years ago when I didn't know anything about the school. I'm like, oh yeah, country school, whatever. As I learned about it, as I got to be a part of it, it's special. Um you know, I know costs, um everything like that's a big thing, too. I mean, I I work in business and I I know that's budget is a big piece of everything you do. Um the operating costs out here are minimal to a lot of the other schools in the district. And if you look at enrollment, PE is one of the only schools in the district in the last five years that has kept it steady or increased. We're at near capacity. Um and with Houston and other schools, we possibly

046could gain more and be over capacity or however the numbers work out like that. Um, you know, a lot of the long-term stuff has been maybe not necessarily upkeep that has been from the district to control like other schools, um, like major capital costs and things like that. And ever since I've been here, it's like we've just been the little brother that everybody's kind of wanted to to get rid of. And I'm not saying that's the attitude now. I'm just saying there's a feeling from someone from from the outside that that kind of what feels like a time and it's a gem that can be cherished and something that really should be, you know, utilize with the ground we have with a special environment that could be a a star for the district instead of

047something we're looking at globally. Um overall, you know, it's a special place. Um, you know, it looks like getting rid of this is kind of like rubbing nickels and dimes together to try and make dollars when it could be something that could be utilized and has been taken care of by the parents and the the PTO for all the special things they've done without funding from a lot of the district. So, >> there's other places that we can maybe make it up. I don't know what the answers are, but this is a place that needs Hello. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Ben Tates. I'm your local fire chief here in Lebanon. Um, I'm a parent of two former students here. I also have a student here right now. Um I was part of a

048committee with Brad and we sat down here five years ago, six years ago and tried to come up with a concept on what to do here at le um I was pretty instrumental in the idea of leak. Um since then I poured my heart and soul into the school a lot of donations. Um I can put my name on I guess that way but um been really instrumental. my family um actually the whole community has really done a lot to make make it what it is. Um I can't really say I don't want to discourage anybody but I can't really say the same for the district. You know with being involved here in a long time I haven't seen a lot that the district's actually done to make it grow. And I think you know

049if in the last five years there would have been more done to promote this program than it is right now. Um, I haven't really seen, you know, any advertising, you know, trying to get new students to to join here or anything like that. It's, you know, since I was a high school senior, some shoes here, I've seen teachers come and go, um, great teachers. Some of them are still in the district, some move to neighboring districts. Um, we get new teachers in, they're like, "Oh my god, this is amazing." I, you know, at first I didn't came out here kicking and screaming because I didn't want to come and once I get here, I don't want to leave. I don't ever leave. But then we throw things like this under, you know, the threat of

050closing the wool. And now, well, I'm not sure about my future. Now, I have I'm going to leave just for my own sake. Um, so I think we've seen a lot of good teachers come and go over the years just because it's always hanging over ahead about closing. Um, like I said, just for the board, I'd like to ask you, you know, take a look at how many of your voting members on your referendums live in the rural areas. It's a pretty big portion, you know, so closing a school like this where a lot of those rural people go, you know, you might have a harder time with your representative on the, you know, what's it saying to the rural community that we don't need you kind of, you know, you know, big part of

051your your voting base is in the rural community. Um, I don't know sports everybody. I was I participated in sports when I was in high school, but if I had to choose between quality education and sports, I'm sorry, but sports with gold. And I'm not saying you have to cut everything, but there's a lot of money stuck into sports. Um, yeah, there's things you can learn through them, but right now in the community, there's programs, there's um all these kids are in the the sports outside of schools in their local groups and stuff like that. Are we really hurting them if we're cutting sports? The kids that are want to play sports, their parents haven't signed up on these other leagues and stuff like that anyways. So, I don't really see, you know, so to

052speak, you know, on the sports side, but I guess I'm out of time here. So, I just want to thank you guys all for your time. I know what it takes as volunteer here. Um, I really appreciate it and just respect your guys here. Sorry for that. complete concern regarding the possible closure of Legal Elementary due to financial constraints. Building aid at the cost of necessary upgrades. I understand that budgets are limited and that maintaining an older smaller school presents real challenges. I do not take those realities lightly. However, I ask that you consider what would be lost if we were closed and why the very factor deems cited as reasons for closure of the state factors that make the school so profoundly successful. I am a parent of a seven-year-old student. Before coming here,

053my son attended another school where he struggled. He cried every single morning about having to go to school. He felt overwhelmed, anxious, and disconnected. As a parent, he was heartbreaking to watch. We changed everything. Because of its small size, my son is known, not managed. Because of its hands-on learning, he is engaged, not lost. because of his unique environments including the campus and outdoor learning opportunities schooling people enjoyable for him in many ways it never was before we small enrollment is not a liability it is a foundation with fewer than 60 students this school functions as a close-knit community where relationships are built needs are recognized early and children who have struggled elsewhere finally succeed the individual ualize attention by some proceeds simply would not be possible in a larger more traditional setting. The age

054and layout of the building while possibly maintained deeply support or directly supports the kind of learning we provides. The hands-on experiences, the agricultural components, the animals and the outdoor environment are not extras. They are the heart of this school. They foster responsibility, confidence, curiosity and connection. These experiences cannot be replicated in a standard classroom or absorbed into a larger school without losing what makes LEAP special. While I understand that upgrading an older building requires financial investment, I believe it is important to recognize that LEAP is not failing, it's working. Closing a school that is successfully serving children because it's small and unique sentency matters more than in depth. I also want to share something deeply personal. Leave elementary is a major reason why I have chosen to stay in water. Knowing my son has a

055school where he feels safe, supported, and successful has anchored our family. This school has provided stability that no other option has been able to offer. For rhinestone, weep is not just a school. It is the reason he believes he is capable. It is the reason he loves learning. It is the reason he walks into the school with confidence instead of tears. The decision before you should not be based solely on budgets or building age, but on outcomes, impact, and the well-being of children. My son is living proof that works. Please do not let financial limitations be raised in school that is changing lives simply because it it does so differently. Thank you for your time and consideration and willingness to listen to the families who most affected by this decision in the system. I have

056two children that have attended lead for four years. In this time, I've noticed that our rural school seeks very little support from the district. Out of sight and out of mind, as some may say. Luckily, this shields us from much of focus until now. Fortunately, we've been able to teach our children in a safe and welcoming environment. Our staff takes teaching to the next level by incorporating the world around us into its fur. Families feel comfortable with our small community at this building, often staying at their school and talking with each other, helping with our full duties and projects. Our students take great value on our schooling grounds, utilizing the expansive open spaces to run and explore. Unfortunately, this will likely come to an end. Moving Leap, the program, kids, and staff and no use

057space will never work. Leave is only what it is here at this location. Staff, families, and students have poured everything into this place to make it what it is. This school was neglected and let down by the district. Money was promised to repair the necessary things to keep me going. Money was stolen from us to fund something else in the district. That never stopped us, though. Through donations of families and friends, we've soared to success creating their environmental and agricultural learning pack. Staff spent countless hours applying for grants to cover the cost of the specialized program. LEA has succeeded despite having the district turn it back on us. Our children are flourishing and they're scoring high. We are filling seats despite our own school administration trying to people from coming through our doors. Our school

058has created a community of active participants in our students learning. This school is one of the golden stars, a selling point to come to our district. By closing leap, you display 60 children. Those 60 children have never experienced a large setting, excuse me, a large school setting with over double or triple the number of kids that are. You are basically taking a fish out of water and expecting it to thrive on the land. These kiddos are used to daily sunshine on their faces and grass between their toes. Not only will they have to split from the very tightened communities that they have ever known, but they'll have to adapt to new levels of distractions and fears. By shutting down Leap and Lincoln, you will displace 200 children. No single elementary school can accommodate all of

059these kids. A matter of fact, we will now fully max out two of the three nation schools at capacity. This only allows 33 spots at the very most. You will put so much extra pressure on staff, students, and the facilities that something is bound to go very wrong. And lastly, I ask that you reconsider the close the closure at least and also ask that you communicate with your community about what the actual plan is. You already know that there's two outcomes to this referendum. You will gain much more respect and participation with a concrete plan for when the answer is either yes or when the answer is going to be no. The families at this school deserve to know what we need to prepare our children for. The community deserves to know the plan prior

060to this referendum. Withholding this information only fuels the growing distrust of our community towards the board, the administration, and the district. Is there anybody online that wanted Go ahead if we have audio for them. So he's not unmuting himself. Okay. Can I now unmute? Yes. >> All right. Just waiting to be recognized. >> My name is Tony Arnett, 408 South Washington Street. I imagine most of you know me. I'm sorry I can't be there in person this evening. I do have a close connection with this issue since as a member of the board, I championed keeping Lebanon open the last two times. And it's also been my pleasure to coach youth baseball out in Lebanon the last six years. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I'll keep it brief. First, I would just like to

061highlight that from if our focus is on academics, then Lebanon is the last place that we should be looking because its per capita academic output and achievement far exceeds most other locations in the district. Second, it is our most logical place as a laboratory school. A place where you can try new things because of its size, because of its location. And laboratory schools for a district that wants to advance are a great thing to have. Next, it is the only elementary school that has significant open land. Several others are incredibly hemmed in and the ones that do have a little bit of land, it is a little bit of land. Next, I made the point the last two times that it is highly unlikely that should the district choose to close this school, we will

062retain most of these students. they will go elsewhere and that will only further exaggerate the decline in enrollment. And to that point, we know that just over the hill, as I say, Houston's fur is struggling. They have a referendum coming up. I really hope it works out for them. I really, really do. Um, but they've got a tough history as far as referendums go. And should they close, Lebanon Elementary will be the closest elementary school to those students? The closest. It would it seem to me at least prudent to wait for the outcome of that issue before you any further in this decision-making process. Thank you. Uh my name is Justin Brook and I live in on Midway Lane here. Um Dick, our town chairman, made some really good points. Uh usually what happens with

063schools closing and then they want to open up one big new brand of school. I do have another question though. For the last 10 years, maybe 15, has the number of teachers in the school district increased or decreased? By how many? question. >> 875 students down at 25 students per teacher according to my math with benefits as an employer. That could be anywhere from 3.1 million to 4.375 million. Instead of closing down a good school, why don't you go with teachers who are inadequate and maybe tired of the job? But for teachers that are passionate, enjoy being there, not putting students to sleep because someone would enjoy one of those teachers putting you to sleep in high school. Just in a game of numbers, it's a lot easier to maintain a building than to build

064a do at three times the cost that this one does. the district puts out bids in a short putting in boiling arrangement. Do they look at multiple companies or do they just perhaps choose one of two companies to develop? There's many ways to save money in the district. I just don't believe that it's being utilized. Thank you for your time. Any other comments? >> Did you ask if there was anyone else? >> Yes. I should have took notes. Would you like to use the mic so people could everybody hear me without it? Well, >> it's also for online. >> Okay. All right. Number one, it's been pointed out already that this is an agricultural community. It's a community school. It's the for the community double admin. We have a different culture than any of the

065schools in town. You may close the school and move students, but you will not move culture. It's going to be different for the kids. Um, there must be some way you can find a way to to fund what you need for a week. Just want to point out that I voted no longer referendum the last time. I didn't know that was on cutting board. I don't even think my granddaughter was attending here. when the reverend came up. But she has grown so much in the last two years. I can't explain. If I had known that me was on the cutting board, I probably would have wanted Yes. Would added to maybe one one $150 tax. I don't know. But knowing that, I would have been willing to vote for the referendum if I hadn't deep

066state on that in a correct. Um, just one other thing, when the kids came up and spoke in and spoke was so inspirational. I should not find some other way to people Peace. One say you yourself here. Good evening. >> Good evening. My name is Tyler. I'm the music teacher here at Le and also at Douglas Elementary School. It's my 15th year teaching and my second year in Watertown. One thing I'd like the board to consider is the effect that facility would have on the program here at LE without having a comparable dedicated space to be located. Um it's my opinion that stores are closed to the environmentally focused programming that exists here would not be continued in an authentic way that preserves the current educational opportunities offered here. My current understanding of possible district

067restructuring may include moving aspects of the environmental and agricultural focus to other buildings with an intent to integrate it into pre create pre-existing spaces. While that would be a wonderful addition to other learning spaces, it would break apart the strong comprehensive programming that keeps the strong and unique learning environment that it currently is and that draws in so many students and families and our community. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While the parts are all valuable in and of themselves, what we have here is a beautiful collectible of different learning spaces dedicated to different animals, plants, gardens, and environmental sustainability. The line of big ideas are bolstered together. And if they're torn apart or lost altogether, we lose the strength and significant learning opportunities for our children here. If you support

068maintaining the unique educational programming offered by a school with an environmental focus in our district, I believe it's essential to either keep the school open or rehouse the programming in its entirety at a new location. Thank you for your time and your opportunity to speak up on behalf of our services. Is there anybody else? Okay. Um, do any of you have a card? Okay. So, we So, can we just basically go to the district out of the city? Um, I think that if you have this school open, you're appealing to people like me want to country and teach children how to grow and make Hi, my name is Andrew. I live in but I teach here and I've been a special teacher for 12 years now five years here and I agree with everything that's

069been said. So I just put some in my hand. But teaching here, okay, before I was here, I was a very large elementary school or large middle school in a very city. That job was fine, but being here, I'm the best candidates I have ever been. I had to be sad. I'm just always cry because that's how passionate I feel about the people, the kids, and everything about the school. So special. Anyway, so working in a big school before this, I see kids in the hall. I haven't recognized nothing about them. I know every student in this building. They know me and I don't teach any of them directly. Well, my teach but the majority of them I don't but I teach who can help be a peer model in a certain situation. Um all

070of these things like I have the opportunity to help the students that struggle the most in ways that I've never been able to do before using the outside spaces, the community, just everything. And I just think it's really important for everyone to know that in any of the other buildings I've been in that are large, I've never been able to do what I can do here for the students that struggle with us. So, thank you for listening. I have very difficult jobs to do. Hi, my name is the road police. I'm a 30year community resident and the mother of a 2004 Watertown High School student who came to that time Lebanon Elementary as a coming fourth grader from Hail's Corners, Wisconsin. And he threatened to leave home because there was no way he was going

071to build up street elementary school. Well, 50 street elementary school and be happy. Well, let me tell you what. He credits everything that he is today to that move of D student school and having the extra time given to him at that point of his elementary career to then be able to be successful to move on to the middle school at high school. He currently lives in Denver, Colorado. He's one of the few residents that grew up in this community that chose to move away from this community because my family's originally. There's a community here that believes here is where they want to be and the value of this community and the students and the families that you have that are here. Other people have said it. We are I have recently as of four

072years ago gotten reinvolved with the student body and the school because I'm the caretaker of a student that was at Sh Elementary and then they brought up here because it offered a better chance for her to improve her reading skills that she was not getting at the larger school. I want to kind of touch on a few things that other people have said and I just feel is huge. The community goes without being said, the country community. However, these are not country bumpkins that are being turned out of this school. They are learning how to be responsible for the environment, how to pass these things along. We have input from the FFA kids that are at the high school level and they are turning these children into lovers of the land, lovers of caretaking. All

073of these things are that are so important. This school is your gem of the school district that will attract from outside the district. people wanting to move homesteading and people returning to the country is one of the fastest growing populations right now in the whole country. This is where people want to send their children. And right now, just getting back briefly, your small classroom may have 13 to 15 students per class. As was reiterated by your special ed teacher that just spoke, that's fine. That you can think that you can put these kids into bigger classrooms, but you can't. it sorry a little here it's not the same by them coming here and getting that special attention that they get at the very young level will prepare them to move to the bigger classroom size

074when we get to the next high school have a lot more that I can say but my time is up and I decided I should I just want to share my own experience moving with my children. I have two children. I have a child currently. Um, and we need to run out of time. So, I drive every day to bring my children to large. We have two older children and high school. Um, and honestly, music is the reason we are still driving 30 minutes in 30 minutes back home. day because of we transfer our kids from another school in the district that I feel was not a good fit and really let us down really really let us down and my two oldest daughters they went to that school and I feel like I failed

075them all once I leave my little one here. That guilt I still feel it every day. And honestly, if it was not for me, we would have blessed church. And now that being for me, like every day I am asked, "What are you going to do? What where are you going to go?" It is very stressful because not being from the area anymore trying to make very I have worked into other schools before we did it. Not at all. So if we if you guys do choose to close it where it is decided we will be having to district and find you know but this school is amazing. It is literally my children's second. They spend more time here than they do at because not only is their school here, their extracurricular, their sports, it's

076all still in water. So they love it. It reminds them of the country. So they're used to open other it's not even just spending day a whole day not in offices not with the administrators sit in the classroom sit in there experience feel it here what all these teachers are going through and then also Yes. >> Can I add one more thing? >> Um, I want to get back to anybody else that would like to speak and then if we we have so much time. Uh Joey Jetto. Uh both my daughters go to Wall School District here. So uh you know I'm looking at the your flyer here and um unfortunately I think that you guys are still going to have trouble selling this to the community because you know you have to lead by

077example. The thing I look at there is on the bottom of the list building first, right? Because it's an opportunity. >> When you go to sell the community, you need to say tried everything. So I guess you know just like the 20 acres was brought up by Piggly Wiggly. How many price cuts were on that from the past four or five years 2022? >> Zero. So are we motivated? Are we trying everything we can or we just, you know, doing the easy way out? So we want to sell to the community. The community needs to see what you guys I know you guys are crunching numbers doing everything you can aspects. The community needs to see that, hey, we did this. with this. I understand that people aren't going to buy property and do that.

078That's not a bad self, but at least they're going to see your time. Thanks. Anybody Anybody else want to make comments? My name is Daniel. I live on the road. So I don't have a low speech, but have any of you actually come out to the classroom during working hours and sat with your kids? Wow, impressive. Do you know the experience of the classroom? Walk around, build nests. Whether you're having a really bad day as a student or you're struggling with reading, how cool is it that a chicken just comes through the classroom? It's like, oh, where are you going to find that at SH Douglas or Redster? You're not. You're going to take all of these little evolving wonderful brains and you're going to put it into a city school with double the class

079size. tons of anxiety that these kids are already going through knowing that tomorrow is unknown. What support are you going to give them? Do you have a plan? >> We can follow at the end. >> That would be great. You will lose the 16 pits that you guys are not worried about to other 12 districts to go off of Laura's so you can have your 33 seats at all your other schools plus 60. You will lose it. Is it really worth it? I am Don Paris. I don't need a microphone because I work at the school. I've been working here for 38 years now. And there's a reason. That's what every single person in this room has said. This school has improved over all the years I've been here. Uh the last five years our

080staff have really pushed to make school an environmental agriculture school. We've done it given up our time. We come here during the summer to take care of the animals. They're just usually chickens. There are not chickens there are pets. We have other kids in the school that they're just they're not they're not animals, you know, talking about and again I went out here in uh 77. I lived four miles down the road. I got this job in 1988. I didn't think I'd be here this long. It's just a little school. And guess what? I'm still here 38 years. every single person at that thing about this school and if you close it it's going to be very disappointing. Anybody else? All right. Uh, I think was first. >> Okay. You're welcome to go first. >>

081I apologize. I didn't introduce myself before. I'm George Fer. Live in Lebanon Township M. Um, I just want to emphasize the person that was on the uh whatever. He pointed out that this is a laboratory school. I think that's important in the end. All I have did you have anything to add or everybody else? >> All right. Um, we really thank you for your comments. very looks very heartfelt. Um, you know, there's there's obviously some um there's some hard feelings it sounds like and um it's it's touching to hear the stories from the kids and families that directly impacted what happened here in Lebanon. extremely grateful for all of the dedication of our staff and you as parents and your connection to kids. Uh I'd like to give uh the microphone over to some board

082members in a little bit. Uh I there is a fair amount of things I' I'd like to try to address if I can. Um you know, one of one of the comments was made you know, geared toward our staff and that was hard to hear. Um, when it comes to getting rid of that, so good more of us. And I'll be the first to tell you, we have some of the best staff in the entire state. I'm I mean that's hard to hear for me. Um I we we have uh we have gone down staff year over year through attrition. It's it's not easy. We haven't hired as many teachers as we we have retiring. That's always been a thing. Um, in fact, this last year we have we cut $1.2 million from our budget

083as well. And let me tell you, that's felt that's felt in the classroom. Um, the class sizes, we know that works. It's the same principle behind having uh homeschool. And we know that homeschooling has been largely successful with educating kids because individualized attention. Uh so we we know absolutely that the smaller individualized attention smaller kind of sizes that you have here at the same thing that's true at Lincoln. Um we know that that works. We know that that's successful. We know that our community also has decided that that's not a sustain sustainable financial model, unfortunately. Because if we want to do that districtwide because we know it's successful, we have to add at least $20 million worth of wages and benefits to our existing budget. we just don't have it. When it comes to um

084putting money into buildings, it's like we um I think part of the part of the um the trouble there is it's just the lack of communication. Um but yet I I can understand the perspective when it comes to support to Lincoln rather. I think that uh that's hard to hear because a lot of the decisions that we made districtwide touch every we'd like to think touches every student. If it was as simple as just investing more money into a building maintenance-wise, we would do it. That's not that's not what what we're after today. When it comes to selling the ESC, I know that that topic has been has come up multiple times. the ESC. I don't know how many people are aware, but the ESC is actually a very uh multi-purpose building. And underneath the

085ESC is a lot of a lot of uh storage for um bulk materials, bulk bulk supplies that we we hang on to for cost savings and we we buy them in bulk as you would in your household. Imagine when you buy something in bulk, you get uh an economy of scale to save money. Uh there's also a a whole workshop like wood shop for our maintenance crews at ESC. There's group blueprints to our facilities there. It it is very wellused building. We also have we also housed uh ecampus academy out of our ESC building and then of course central administration which includes payroll HR accounting business services and then a director of technology or student services director superintendent um our building and grounds. So So ESC is a is a very well utilized building. Moving

086the ESC has been something again we discussed and and talked about and considered. It would require us to do some buildouts at at other buildings in order for us to accommodate what we would give up. Um, but I I hear I hear the point. It's something that I've argued as well. I think I've heard that from other board members as well that you know, one of the one of the things that has to be in consideration is the ESC, but it still is. it it's not nothing's off the table when you're cutting $2 and half million dollars. Um that's the start of cuts. We don't know if the $4.5 million referendum will pass and there certainly could be more cuts in those particular areas that you're you're talking about. um the first school district that

087has come up to as far as being a struggling district that's the closest. What we know now is that we have a budget crunch. Also, we have $2.5 million that we have to make up for next year. We we know that we have a $4.5 million uh referendum that we need to pass. Also, we don't have a crystal ball. People have talked about future plans. It's hard to plan. We do have contingency plans. Um, and a lot of those those are discussed and and it's pitfalled by our board on a regular basis. It's hard to predict for the future when we don't know what the future looks like all the time, but we do plan most definitely. And it doesn't always make sense to um to toss out an idea that may or may not

088come to predict fruition to get everybody excited about that situation or to get everybody really frustrated about that situation. We just don't know. When we have definitive answers, that's when we move forward with executing a particular plan. And what that comes down to is with Houston spirit, we we don't know how that's going to look. Former board member reached out to me today about Houston. Otherwise, Houston hasn't said much of anything to to our school district at all. And And that's kind of surprising because because they are in a dire situation, they have no fun balance. They're actually in the hole. They're borrowing money just to keep the lights. This is a preventative thing. We do not want to be in that situation because because disillusion is a very real possibility for that school district.

089and they also happen to be talking about consolidation, whether another school district will um be able to absorb their students. We don't know what the state will decide also if they go down the path of disillusion. That's not up to us. We have no control over that situation. Um the sports and the sports program were brought up as as one of the areas to cut. I think that is a very valid concern. It's some place that we we have to look in our budget as well. But um another thing that we consider is that's that's also an area that brings folks that attracts folks to the district as well just like does. The uh the other thing to remember is that their sports programs are largely supported by boosters. the fund the funding in the

090sports programs uh it it wouldn't make a dent in our our budget needs. I I think I I don't think anybody disagrees that Lebanon is a feature of the school district. I think we're just farther down the road than than what you might think on it. unfortunate. Um, >> could you repeat that? >> Sure. Sure. the I think that we're farther down the road than that and what people might realize because of because of the cuts there's there's not a lot of there's not money. >> So why don't you just say that you're going to close it? We there hasn't been no official >> Have you all available? >> Is there a bunch of real estate at the high school building? Yes, sir. How about the opportunity for water if this is still open? It

091used to serve. Look at the opportunity we'd be missing. once you read all right story >> as an excuse to I understand your concern. The board did ask me to build it up because I have yet to speak to a board member that wants to close or lose this building. Mhm. >> And while you've spurred is an opportunity that might be broke here, it is not financially realistic of the cost that the district was voted to build up to allow any more of the what the current is. So do you have a possible solution for the for that? how we can keep this building and the programming and have in place where a secondary school would close. Where would those students be absorbed? Because you you are at capacity here. We attempted to try to

092get it built up. We looked into the expense for that. That was something that the board was seriously looking into. And it is not a financial burden the district can handle because of the expens it costs to build the building up. >> All I'm asking is that all options beh I would much rather it impact you guys moving to a different building than impacting kids. That's your priority, right? This is this has been a this has been a always been a good >> it's always been a good argument that that's been discussed on a regular basis >> and all we've heard the last couple years now is we tried >> there there is there is some belief that yes they have exhausted >> but the points you are not getting into that building are not

093the points at all I I appreciate your perspective and comments. >> Uh years ago, we were told that it cost 300 to $400,000 school. I asked would that include staff and they said no. So where does it cost $300,000 to $400,000 to run this? Give me some facts and figure electricity. What else? >> Yeah, I I familiar with with what you're referring to. >> So I was given information from Derek B about the cost per pupil and the cost per school. not based off of P, but based on factual figures over the course of I don't know years, the last the figures for this school were based off of a senior staff member that has since left the building. It no longer is here and replaced by it first. So I can only assume that

094the salary difference between those are are significant. Another figure that was in there was that the cost of the principal that is shared between Lincoln and Lee was split 5050 between the buildings. At the time that that information was submitted to us as the guidance coalition, we were told that the principal had signed a contract stating that it's at least spend 80% at Lincoln and 20% at least. I don't agree that that figure is happening with the current principal, but that's not I don't know what her contract is. This school is small enough that it could be operated under a dean of students model and I think we should consider that option because that could be a significant savings. When the school was offers or looked to my P to offer a buildup of the

095school, it was almost like a joke because we were given a diagram, but there were never any figures behind it. They drew up a model of a school that would be able to house Lincoln and in one building, but there were never any figures behind what the cost would be and what that would look like. And when the figures came out from Dr. on what the costs were to run this school. It was it was as if you would save no money by just shifting the students to another school. Look at what tax dollars come in from the townships and the cities. And when you look at what is cost per people that pay by the state, it was not a big difference of what was there. And so when you move this program from

096here to another school building and you're paying the fake staff, you look at those figures, you're saving almost nothing. And I understand that I you've said in the past that the cost is in the transportation, costing figures, bringing meals out to students and plowing the driveway grade and um mowing the grass, but that's where the large expense expense is. But I can't imagine that that can't be absorbed by closing a different school. Or when you look at the fact that if these students now are moved to another building, how many of them will have to move again? Some of the students that attend have just recently come from other schools. Some of you know the upcoming kindergarters, they they just started here. And if next year they're having to move to another school and you're

097looking at turning the middle school into being the third or sixth grade school in the near future, how many times are these kids going to have to move up? Why would you not look at adults to a different location? Who can handle a big event like that? kindergart and I did tour here not just for 10 minutes but we spent the half to be here. I understand the chairs. David understands. First of all, I want to thank everybody that was brave enough to speak. Public speaking is by far one of the most challenging, fearful uh things you can do in life. These children that came out here and the show and tell that was done. This is beautiful to see what's happening here. I just want to raise a question here and I don't even

098know if this is possible but to me this is a culture that says this is almost like a private school year. Your parental engagement is 15%. >> Yeah, it's very obvious you've raised funding through grants through volunteering. Look at how many people have turned out tonight. I would sort of just say this out out loud. Is there any possibility of this school connect so that an X from the school district? I don't know if that's possible. probably get yelled at by everybody, but I'm just gonna propose that as as a possibility because I see there's so many dreams and things laying right here and I want to just support what everyone is saying here and just just propose that I I'll pray I said what I need to say. Thank you so much everyone. I

099guess one question I have is like kind of based on like some people were saying about like what the actual cost of running the school is and like what what is the actual savings to the district like by shutting the school down like on a monthly, yearly, however you guys otherwise. And then like as far as like funding uh you guys get your buds and stuff based on the number of students in the district, right? Like you get so much per student and things like that. How much are we going to get by getting here to lead? And how much is the district going to lose if we say 30 students go to another school? Are they going to be even walk or a different district? like are we at a net even or we

100gain anything if we lose 35 46 and then the district is a worse place you know what I mean I don't know the answer question >> all those are great questions and considerations moving forward absolutely >> numbers you have >> what is it for student let's do some math real quick 28 for students. That's the figure last year. 22,80. Did you say 22,000 >> numbers? >> Know what the budget numbers are. What we're trying to convey is not specifics about the individual price of the school. What we're saying is that we need to make $2.5 million worth of cuts and we also may be faced with another four and a half million. There's a lot of question will be on February 23rd and the purpose of the the purpose of the goal is to provide

101some um clear direction on what steps are next so families can make appropriate plan moving forward. >> Why is the goal happening before the referendum? >> Good question because and actually if we look back and we look back at the last referendum, there was actually an assumption with the last referendum that that leak uh leaf would close at that time as well. that was that was baked into a two and a half one and a half million dollar cuts over the next three years. So part of that was the closure of lead. Instead, what we ended up having to do was we we were able to come up with $1.2 million worth of of funds, but yet um that referendum failed. The the $7 million reoccurring referendum failed. So that leaves us with uh quite

102a chunk of change about $7 million that we have to still make up for. And so Lee and Lincoln are are outside of that that figure because we have to come up with a two and a half million dollar cut. It's it's that significant. >> I have a question related to like financial plans and things like that. Since this was donated to the district for the for a dollar is the district able to sell it and put those funds toward the district. >> Jul um that that actually can be stipulated. based on the original purchasing agreement that the school district had at the time which we which I don't know off the top of my head because then property could be sold for money that's not possible >> this the sale of property is something

103that that takes uh takes time and we don't always know whether or not that property will sell or whether or not that property will become a liability of the school district to bring it back to green case and that cost the district money at that point. Um and at that the intention then would be that that property would become part of the the tax roles at some point in time in an ideal situation. But um I mean nothing is ideal in this situation. You know I mean closing the building is not something any of us want to do it it you know. But anyway hold on I'll turn it over to Julian. So, it's already been said we do appreciate your input. I'm sorry that you don't believe we are being transparent. >> That has

104been one of the things we have really tried to do. Maybe we have I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have we we've we've done we've asked questions. We've asked for data. At one point, um, the former business manager, Sarah Kelly, supplied us in an open board meeting with those numbers. The um, in fact, one of our co-inter superintendent has it and says consolidation of at least two buildings, LEAP and Lincoln, would be needed. This would reduce budget operating budget costs by 1,659,567 annually. >> How much of that belongs to >> I I'm sorry because you're planning on closing one and then later closing the other. That's not fair to say. >> So, kind of like Linda, I may get myself in hot water here, but so be it. It has been very difficult at points for

105us to get the data that supports the questions we ask. Okay. And that is not casting a spurgeon on Jason Hall or Sarah. Okay. But 20 years ago when I was on the board and we were dealing with conquered, I had the same frustration that school funding formulas are horrifically complicated. And I think maybe purposefully so so that none of us ever know exactly how it's going. But we have tried to get specific numbers related to this cost savings for your school here in Lebanon individually, not collectively with link. We obviously need to do better at that. Uh there's no there's nobody on this board that wants to keep the information from you if we have it. And I'm sorry we don't have it tonight. Um, I think we're appropriately chided that we should have

106had that exact savings. Um, and I I can't divvy it up. That number I just read of 1.6 plus million, I can't tell you. Obviously, it would lean more heavily towards Lincoln because they have 160 students versus the 50 here. So, um, but I want to tell you that we have honestly, again, I'm sorry that you the perception is that we haven't been transparent. We talk about it at every board meeting. We talk about it every opportunity we have about sharing the information we get and being as honest as we possibly can and as forthright about it. So um we'll we'll we'll step back and look at it and try to do better so that we can give you the answers that you need. Um I know this is painful for you. This is not

107fun for us. This is this is painful for us in a different sort of way. We get that it's very very personal for you. If I were in this in your situation as a parent, I'd have been in here standing at the podium saying the same thing. So, we got to sort this out. And I'm telling you truthfully that when we bring this to the full board meeting in February, between now and February, I haven't made up my mind. February 23rd, I think, is our meeting. I still haven't made up my mind. I wanted to hear from you tonight. We've heard from you. I've taken copious notes. I plan on reviewing them and we will talk about all of the input that we've had tonight and about the realities that and I did come out

108and spend I don't think I spend two or three hours out here anyway. Um, and enjoyed it. Look, I'm an educator at heart. I enjoy being with students. I joined a little reading group up here and I and I went into the classroom and I shunned the snake. I continue to shun the snake, but um but I enjoyed watching the rabbit in the room. I I I wasn't real keen on the rat, but you know, I'm I understand all of these things and how they add to the academic and educational environment. And I understand it's unique. So, we're not looking to jettison it. Just you with with little consideration or with all the information that we have to have to make the decision. >> And that goes back to Craig. I do want to say

109that like everyone else, I appreciate every single person who's spoken up tonight. I want to specifically point out that I appreciate Greg the sheriff. I appreciate Greg Pullet as well. I appreciate Brad, Justin, and Joey. And the reason that I'm pointing you guys out specifically is because when I was coming here tonight, you guys are local. You guys spend far more time out here than I will ever be able to because of your locality and because of your investment. And I wanted to hear specific insights about how this building functions and the things that I have been trying to find out for the past two years. As as many of you know, I have advocated for keeping LEAP open as long as possible. So, I appreciate all of you that I just listed for providing

110me with specific, actionable insight into what's going on, as well as the rest of you for coming out here and making your voices heard in a very clear way. Thank you sincerely. I'd like to say that when I was out here with Linda, uh, I saw exactly what I expected to see in the Detroit School and I kind of knew from the past teaching and things like that what was out here. Every piece we had out here said, and it has grown and grown. So, I appreciate everyone. You did an excellent job saying what you want to say and presenting the case. Um, we have feelings clearly. We need to know some of the same information. Julain said the same thing. I'm going to throw out some numbers here. It's because, you know, as I

111heard earlier, Craig might might correct me something. I was under the impression told that it took $51,000 per student to run this school, which is about twice as much as it did for the other students. I don't know if that's correct. That's what I hear, but that's what he's saying. That's what we saw and uh I don't know. So we need to look. We ask good question. We need to find those things out before we actually make that decision. I like what you're doing. I think all the board likes what you're doing. Educationally, it's it's not good to close your best schools. and this one and we're going to go to this meth has an older building but you got something going here that most schools don't >> it's been very diff um I I

112miss it. >> Um and this is a listening session. I walked in hoping that you would have all the right questions because you know I do your school your board just I can visit but it's not like my grand but they can't go here because they will turn their school right um that's all I you guys are the experts on your school. Um, and so this is to make sure that we all have as much information as accurate as verified as possible. Um, I I love doing this about um exploring if this can be. I think um if anybody thinks I believe is being here um I don't know it's possible but I'd like to see that uh and I'd like to thank you all for coming um for speaking your mind anyone's heart I

113know you get angry I have you say things that say um but I really appreciate the time that you put in to to come up page and I would like >> Can I ask a question? The vote on the 23rd, is it going to be an open vote? Are you just going to say out loud? >> Oh, yeah. >> Yes or no? >> We we have a a roll call vote that we would have to take at the at the dance board meetings. Absolutely. We can >> we can break down the numbers um for the next board meeting so that we can uh so that that can be presented to the public. I think uh just a a cl point of clarification the number that David was mentioning per student was the maintenance cost per

114student and then that will be for 118. It doesn't it doesn't include the actual uh labor costs, the other other overhead. That's just the long things like that. We can make we can make a um a P presentation available potentially. The only reason I as built in that is necessary might not be your point. Very cool. Uh so I think we pretty much we pretty much got to the end of our meeting. We're a little bit over stay close to 7:30. The uh the next steps are that we will we will hold the board meeting at uh the high school in the auditorium and that will start at 6 o'clock on Monday, February 23rd. Uh we we appreciate your attendance and we also it's it's very evident what what the staff what this community what

115Leon means to this community and like I said that's it's exactly what we expect when it comes to parental involvement and it's encouragement. It's it's a good thing. It's not something that, like I said, we want to ever have to face and deal with, but we we really appreciate your time tonight. um seeking to understand and I I want to thank board members also for and staff for the time that they put in uh to also help seek to understand where you're coming from and and what the future looks like. And we we would encourage that no matter what what the situation is if you sick. >> Thank you very much. >> Do I hear a motion to move by seconded by David? All those in favor? Any oppos? Just another demonstration of three years.

116>> Oh man. Believe me, I'm I'm full aware. And that's why that's why I haven't really Next.