001me to order you all please rise and join me in theed States and for stands one nation indiv with liy and justice for all thank you then would you please take Ro Lorie here FR here Diana Johnson here J here Tina Johnson here David Sher here David Smith here Craig Wartman here Mike Higgins here thank you preview the agenda you have any changes we need to make to the agenda no changes to the agenda all right then we'll move on to public input this one of two times which members of the public May address the board this ask that you wait to be identified give your name and address for the record and keep your remarks brief is there anyone who like to be recognized at this time and I should say please make sure
002to FL out the list we have there thank you so you folks know that we are always here to ask you to support our students um we're here tonight to thank you for supporting our students on our staff um we want to offer our condolences I think you probably all know that the district lost the students parents are notified today and we want to offer our condolences and thank you for supporting our St services staff and making them available to students as parents and community members that so again we we offer our condol with and our gratitude for taking care of our things all right thank you pleas go ahead okay I'm Fred gerberg um address is n93 County Highway em and I'm a member of the Watertown FFA alumni um we've the alumni has
003been very much revitalized in the last couple of years um and through fundraising we've been able to do donations to the egg program at the high school and last year we gave out $10,000 in continuing education scholarship to graduating seniors and we hope to be able to do the same thing again this year our membership of community members have doubled in the last two years and we were working on five and 10 year plans on where we'd like to see the egg program go to um three points I'd like to touch on real quick tonight um number one I know tonight you on your agenda you have a couple of new egg classes uh that are up for your approval uh we've been asking for an updated curriculum for the EG program for a number
004of years so I think these two are really good choices to get started with and we look forward to work with the administration to improve the list of classes that are offered in the future um with the relatively New Lebanon LEAP School program uh elementary students are getting now getting Agriculture and the junior high now has an elective agriculture class we expect that the high school EG program will become very popular in the next few years so we are lobbying to be prepared for the coming W of interest um I'm going to pass out some paperwork that I've got here okay um second point relates to what she can be handing out here um the I'm reading a lot of this because I'm horrible to public speaking so my best public speaking is kindergarten that's
005El um anything to show and tell kind of thing so um what you have in your hand for you you'll find two pages the top page has a black bar which is Agra science that's the page that our students get water to second page is God's version of the same thing one of the things that's been bugging us for years is that we have rotating classes in the EG program that go on a three-year rotation if you look at that sheet there uh for example egg power in production is one of them that's only offered every three years kids don't have any idea of that when they're signing up for so I'm hoping that uh we can push through a slight change to how this is presented to the kids and uh be able to
006include what DOD wanted done it's a really simple chain we've been asking for for years through the teachers every year we get hope that it's going to some change will be made and every year that comes out exactly the same way we wonder why the kids don't sign up for these classes well they have no idea when they're going to be offered during the time they're at M school so this is something that really needs to be changed also dodin runs their classes on a 2-year rotation which I think is better because kids get interested in something for instance tractor mechanics three years down the road they've kind of forgotten about that so it's nice to be able to run it every two years that way the kids can see it that's obviously a longer
007term fix but um I think it's something that needs looking at the third issue I want to address tonight is that egg power and production class um the class does not work well with the trimester system that the high school is using class only runs every three years and then then only for one trimester and also includes Crop Production this is kind of like saying we'll teach a computer programming class in brain surgery in trimester those are both things that you could easily stretch into a year class and we're jamming both of them into one trimester class last time this class ran um the the Hands-On part involved working on a donated tractor at the time that students had the tractor taken apart the mechanical portion of that class was over and students didn't get
008a chance to put anything back together it's hard for students in a Hands-On class to achieve any satisfaction without finishing a project um also I want to note that the two agriculture Machinery dealerships in Watertown have been struggling to hire new technicians for the repair departments to a good paying jobs that keeps and keep smart kids uh local and help contribute to our economy and the kids aren't applying it for because kids students don't have haven't been introduced to the field um so having been presented this problem I want to uh present a suggestion on how the mechanical program in the agriculture Department of the high school could be changed our suggestion is to create an after school program where students could work on tractors using the a Department Shop we've already contacted at least
009one of the two dealerships and they've offered to supply technicians to help students when they get stuck on problems so we can get some free uh experienced people showing them the way and these are people who would actually be doing the job that the kids would hopefully be trained for um show the to so that this could work we experimented with an after school program two years ago where students were given the opportunity to work on an engine from 25 to 3:15 on Wednesday early Blaze days I personally came in every Wednesday for uh about a half of the school year and worked with a student our project that year was taking put an old Massie Ferguson tractor engine disassembling it and turning it into a cutaway engine the students uh tore down the engine
010they then began to cut away parts of the valve cover the head of the block and other parts of the engine after this they reassembled the engine created an engine that displayed the inner workings of an engine when the trank was turned it's an educational tool that can be used a the future the engine went on to be displayed at the tractor rest restoration display at the state FFA convention that year in Madison and at the J County Fair in beaverdam where it earned a top purple ribbon um things we learned from this experiment first only a few students started with this project but as other students came into the shop during that hour of free time that they had they became interested in what would join in and working on the project so this
011this the kind of thing that they see one kid doing and they get interested in and pretty soon they're grabbing tools and starting to help uh the project build confidence with the students ability to use their hand with tools um if you worked with tools I mean you can 3/4 inch wrenches you're can have a box end wrench you can have an open wrench you can have a socket wrench the kids need to learn what wrenches they can grab they need some confidence to be able to get onto that um I'll wrap up real quick here but um I accomplished this after school program what we would need the board Administration to do is to let us set up some project coaches similar to what athletic departments would use to make sure safety procedures are
012followed um we would need to do a small remodel project in the Egg Shop um what we'd like to do is to remove the old tool storage area put up pegboard storage for pan tools build a small mezzanine area for storage and the displace egg equipment and the alumni is willing and offering to uh provide labor to tear out this old tool sh shed that's in there and we can provide some of the funding from our from our budget there's also money in the district Greenhouse account can be used for a programs and there's a small Grant that's available for the State Alumni Association so it wouldn't be real massive expense but we need to start looking at this um we also have community members that would also be willing to grad to um contribute
013to this plan and also a little extra note there that current tool room that's in there is a wooden structure that's inside of the high school and it's not sprinkled it really doesn't meet uh fire codes by any means it was something that was built by an instructor about 15 years ago and has kind of just slid by through the year so there is also a bit of a safety issue to this um thanks for the chance to introduce these ideas thanks for your time thank you anyone else anyone online again thank you very much then we will move on to announcements and recognition Communications our first item up is our student board representative from Watertown High School Grayson Walter good evening I'm Grayson Walter the whs student council represented over the last month we've
014had a few things happen on October 25th NHS hosted a trunk or treat at the high school for Waterton Elementary School students 86 whhs students volunteered with uh 28 different Vehicles NHS also participated in the annual rake fest with 70 whs volunteers raking 37 Lawns on November 4th NHS is also running their big annual fundraiser through Bears Brothers this year the wbr dance team took first place with the highest score in Hip Hop at the Trojan dance invite on November 11th this past weekend on November 23rd the blue review dance team and whs band walked in won's annual holiday parade and lastly this week closes the first trimester for w high school students thank you next up we have the Spanish trip proposal all right good evening um you don't know am one of our
015Spanish teachers at uh Watertown High School and it's been a while since we ran a Spanish trip uh it's been since 2019 when we went to Peru uh we had been doing every two years pretty much but uh one due to co and two due to me having four kids under the age of eight just hasn't worked out but I think we have all of them on of diapers by 2025 so I think the country for week we been a half um we're looking at getting out right after graduation I know the dates right up there now are June Jun une 10th to June 20th um that was before the the um proposal was sent out or the survey was sent out for what our calendar is going to be whether we're going to have
016the whole week of Thanksgiving or whether we're going to have a couple days of Thanksgiving um you know obviously we have we we're over a year and a half out right now we have plenty of flexibility I confirmed with our D company so we'll be out after as soon as we can after graduation so um but we're looking to go to Panama we're looking to spend about seven days in Panama um and in Panama we're kind of centered around three main things one is getting we get to take a look at and really get to know the Panama canel how it works and how it's important to worldwide Commerce and things like that uh two we get to take a look at the biodiversity we go to a place called Monkey Island where we get
017to learn about all the different monkeys that are there uh and know we're also going to be taking a look at the it's called a b bio Museum talk learning about the biodiversity uh of Panama because there are a lot of rainforce stuff there um and then we also get to meet and interact with uh local indigenous tribes and Villages and also do some cultural exchanges uh to learn about food music history uh and culture in Panama so that's kind of what our trip is under around there and then we fed for the last three days to Thea Colombia and K has always been a place that has been um kind of on my bucket list been for the past 20 years it's been an xat Hub uh it's always been you know when when
018we think about back in the 70s and 80s and early 90s lot of ises with Colombia it's always been you know that was May but with C has always been on the outskirts and that's always been like the the safe haven of Colombia so and Colombia's has gone over past 20 years a huge cultural revolution um and so we're and so ef2 has finally felt within the past 5 years that felt hey we really feel like part the hand is a very safe place uh we'll be going with ef ters by the way who I've gone with four times before and their their commitment to safety uh and and wellbeing of our students has always been very impressive um and so that is what we're and then so in C we'll take a look at
019the history the colonial history particularly there um we get a food cooking lesson to learn about uh to learn about Colombian cuisine and then our last day is kind of a for the kids we go to we take them like a catamaran Cruise out to this island and we get to uh just have a beach day been kind of soaking some Less on um hopefully it's not but yeah so that's what we are looking to do as far as our trip goes um no extra cost of the district all students pay their own way for it uh The Price is Right Around $55,000 in there a little less than that um so yeah questions board members question question s there's a resolution on this later in our agenda what what prerequisite uh we we are
020we're opening up to kids who are in Spanish classes who are enrolled in classes right now if they're not enrolled next year you know we hope that they would be enrolled next year um but if they're not you know it's not going to disqualify them from the trip um but kids who are who are enrolled in Spanish classes whether that's Spanish you know 1 two 3 4 or it's texting comp or Spanish language arts whatever whatever it might be whatever levels um one one some one course of span they be enroll in at least this year great other comments or questions from board members anything right thank you very much next under announcements and recognition communication we have some donations to recognize I do um plenty of donations for uh skills USA matter of fact
021all of them that I'm reading are from there uh so $500 for months automation Moss Brothers Construction is a $1,000 donation cleer heating and air conditioning $100 donation CN muffler shop $150 donation record recor heating and air conditioning $500 donation grinwell Ford $500 donation CNC Solutions is a ous donation uh Integrity wire EDM is a $1,000 donation Dave's Turf Marine ,000 donation uh Farm and Fleet Watertown $100 donation River City Truck Repair $150 donation Fisher Barton group $2,000 donation uh in pack of Wisconsin $1,000 donation g&b machine Co $1,000 donation all of those are for our skills USA program Round of Applause good job Jesse people to get those donations I know you had a great part in helping secure that so congratulations all right and then what else do we have under communication I
022do have uh one communication that didn't make the agenda but um it's just a quick thank you letter um this thank you letter is from Michael schwar rear Admiral US Navy uh superintendent Burke I wanted to take a moment to express my express my sincere gratitude towards you the distinguished alumni selection committee and the Watertown Unified School District and your entire staff for the honor and activities of the 2023 Waterton Unified School District distinguished alumni award the hospitality and generosity of the entire District team was absolutely overwhelming thank you my years at Webster Elementary Riverside junior high school and Watertown High School were so very formative I cultivated a love of learning knowledge creativity and academic competition that remains with me to this day I applaud the Excellence on display by Watertown Unified School District
023if I can contribute to the growth and Excellence of your students in the future please feel free to reach out to me at your convenience thank you once again go Gosling gos and pride you g I'll pass this along so it anything else under Communications for this evening no nothing else all right then we will move on to strategic discussion and our first item up is a presentation from John Lang with the why hi everybody I um was trying to recollect when the last time I was before this entire board and it was pre pandemic so it's been a while so um lots of good things to talk about tonight and I'll jump right into it so it's a a little bit more than an update it's also an announcement um so I just just
024very quickly now into the future we have had a tremendous partnership with the school district when it comes to before and or after school care programming in day camp we run uh in shures Webster and Douglas during our after school program we our day camp program um does both traditional day camp and then rap program for your summer school kids and um that's something that that we believe in and we're happy to be a part of that um now also include the collective and I know T Tina crra was here to talk to you about everything that's going on I've actually got a video that speaks much better than I can um but the YMCA is is actually about half of the tenant space in that 55,000 Square fet we have our Early Education Center
025which is a 126 person Child Care Center uh we've got about 60 kids in the program program right now we have 13 of our 21 uh professionals hired and that's happening over time and we're doing that on purpose uh when we open that Center we wanted to really focus on three main things number one we wanted to double the number of infant and toddlers um infinite toddler care is really hard to come by and we could have filled all of those rooms already but we're we're having to scale that up um the second thing we wanted to do is we wanted to increase wages so the average wage of a childcare teacher was 1098 when we started this project we're paying $17 an hour for child care teachers $15 an hour for um for assistant
026teachers and that still doesn't really cut it um health insurance retirement all those things are part of our benefit package and the third thing and the thing that uh we've been starting to work on is employer sponsored care and that is an opportunity just like uh employers sometimes Buy corporate memberships a why how can an employer also come alongside a family and participate in the weekly cost of care and so there are different ways that employers can do that we've set that up and are starting that process because we've opened basically August 1 um that will be something that happens over time and just like any new facility you set the stage and over time you start to really uh kind of create and develop and so uh we see that as being something that
027will do well into the future um and and I'm willing to talk to you more about that at at a different time uh Bellinger Center was the second piece that is the last y facility with the old building and it's also the first wise facility of the new building um it's kind of that transition piece when we named it after Bill Allen year we knew that Bill had that same thought in mind as when he said how can I bring the community together and W wrap different organizations dra on health and wellbeing that's what he did at the hawk and so the ability of name that yell linger Center was kind of a no-brainer for our board of directors and so we're excited about that I have a a quick video that just shares kind
028of the story if you will Okay Tyler I'll let you the play let's just move on you going to try one more time yep give me one second all right I appreciate the gentleman was talking about us speaking the speeches in kindergarten I kind of feel like some people want to tell me that let's move on yeah yeah you move on um I'll I'll get that to you it's a it's a YouTube link that you'll be able to watch at your leisure but um it really does kind of show what's currently happening in the y center and how we've already started to change the game both with individuals who can't get up the stairs not Street and um and then our special needs kids that are now part of our service boundaries program two days
029a week and are doing Fitness friends at the eler center so it's really kind of a cool Next Step all right you want to give me back to the power point oh that's video right to happy there we go thank you apologize for that um so while the collective was being built we already started campaigning for the new YC so for the last year very quietly we've been out talking to people who might be able to bring this YMCA this new YMCA to coition when we looked at the collective as a site for the Y um it really was can we put Child Care here can we maybe do some more uh uh programming and that's where the Ellinger Center was born and then can we site the new wi share uh and so all
030those questions were answered yes that's how we proceeded forward um and over the last year we've been very quietly talking to people who can make this reality um we're now public because we've had great conversations so um so let me just share with you the um somewhere this summer The the conversation stopped being about when are we going to build a new Y and how much of the new y are we going to build and that was kind of a cool opportunity and so on the 11th of November at our auction we were able to announce the public portion of the campaign for the new YMCA the first phase the first phase consists of $17.8 million to basically replace everything that's on eth street okay so gymnasium uh walking Track uh um exercise spaces Etc
031everything that that is at the 8th Street location it also sets up the second phase which is the Aquatic Center um 25 million bucks all in isn't something we thought necessarily we could do we thought we'd ask the donors um and there's still the shot that that may happen um we do know however that we're going to do phase one I'm I I mean I'm at the four yard line of getting phase one done we announced that we have 1 point we're at $1.7 million uh in a public days the campaign so uh with with uh with donations that we believe will be coming in and then donations from the community amounting to 1.7 million will be able to build phase one now there's an outside chance that more will happen we've applied for a
032state grant that states put up $50 million for entities to apply for that are not state or governmental entities we've applied for $4.5 million we've got uh our our Representatives working on that if that money comes through we'll actually only need to raise three million to finish phase two because I have a million and a half dollars starting again for phase two so we're going to raise 1.7 million and and if all really goes well we're going to be working like dogs to get to three and potentially we could be building the whole y instead of doing it in two phases now if we do it in two phases is the intention would be people who are making a 5-year pledge payment we'd ask them three years in would you be willing to continue for
033a few more to finish the pool phase and that would come you know three to five years later so um so it's it's really exciting and we didn't want to rile people up unless we thought we were at the four yard line we are we're in the Red Zone um so the the pictures are are a little bit hard to see um the the lower level will actually meld right into the elinger center so you'll basically come in on the same second floor level like we do now at the collective and you go down the stairs there'll be a a studio that overlooks the river there'll be a large free weight Center our free weight Center is one of the most popular things we have that'll all be twostory glass overlooking the river and then
034you'll walk into the Ellinger Center so that that lower level will be all those adult facilities the gymnasium 6 to eight pickle ball courts and we're still working out the details of that and then the locker rooms we'll start with universal locker room space the potential will be to add additional locker room space when we had the pool facilities and so it'll um uh in some ways it'll mimic what we currently have at the collective the the the second floor will be the where you enter the Y in kind of that beige area all of our membership offices are teen lounge and Tech Lounge place where um seniors will hang out during the day and and connect and then three rooms overlooking uh the river two multi multi- space Community rooms and then Kids Corner
035for babysitting all will Overlook the river one of the cool pieces of this there'll be a track around the gymnasium that track will Overlook the free weight center with glass the free weight Center has got twostory glass so you'll be able to look out over the freeway Center over the river so it'll be uh a really a striking view um it was important to us that we have the the facility feel like it's an extension of the current Collective and yet um move beyond that as well so the kind of the back half you can see that three that Tower in the middle that's that's where the current building ends and then the new y Begins the cream color at the front there's the pool Edition so you're seeing the whole thing um that'll be
036green space to begin with but uh uh again knock on W there's an outside chance it won't be green space but it would be the whole thing um so so uh so the intention the intention is to to really have a brand new YMC in this community uh in short order um so here's the projected timeline we're in the K campaign right now we're finalizing design we want to go to bid in the spring of the year with ground breaking June of 24 and ribbon cutting fall of 25 so we're on our way um the the most people say you don't want to announce a capital campaign publicly until you're at 50 or 75% I waited till 90 for a reason that's that um I really wanted this to be a full court press that
037finish we've got six months to do it I'm really confident in the people that we have working to get this done and uh it's cool to be the next exciting thing that happens a lot of time so um just by you know I uh I Echo what the the um person said earlier I want to thank you for all that you're doing um this is not an easy job being a school board member and and being in school it can be really difficult and you work on behalf of our kids and our families every day and and I really appreciate it is someone that's in the trenches doing that same work with you thank you thanks for the work questions board members questions comments well to start off with saying congratulations on the official launch
038I know it's you and a whole bunch of people behind you that spreads out for community so congratulations on that and it is exciting to see just out of curiosity on the pool you kind of get from the diagram you get a hard sense of like how big is this and what's yeah but the intention of the pool would be that it' be a complimentary pool to side pool you've got a nice competitive Aquatic Center at at Riverside so we would have some La Lane but it's more zero death entry instructional therapy water exercise so it'll really serve as a compliment to the existing aquatic sign other comments or questions award members Tina thank you so much for just your dedication to being you know to bringing this to Watertown and everything and yeah I
039I know that there's a a lot of people invested in this and and I just I appreciate your passion and um the different Partnerships that you have with the school district so thank you would be remiss if I didn't call out David Trader David's the been the Energizer Bunny on this thing as long as I've been working at the Y here he has seen the vision and I'm sure he approaches his school board worked at the same boom boom you know just keep just keep getting it done and he's been our campaign chair and really PR of this thing so David thank you he's embarrassed by that I know but can any other questions thank you I'll leave the plers here you can any questions or comments feel free throw my away okay okay thanks
040all right then we move on to our next item of strategic discussion which is summer school program so before I can get over to Jenny to um recap uh Mr C response to you are the education committee education committee is looking for um a you know kind of a discussion about where where is summer school going to be here um and what is the programing going to look like uh Jam's response has has been more of a not only a conceptualizing this is what it's going to look like again for next year but also seeking input from you as a board um so the document may not be um everything that maybe the ed services committee or other board members were looking for as a complete but he felt like getting some feedback would help
041him finalize and complete for this year the things that we think we can in this year um and then planning for future years Jenny will go over and and talk about with you so U the memo is available and and and Jenny I can have you kind of go through that with the board and then any other um questions or or or comments seeking that Jamie needs from us um you know we can we can do that as we go through the discussions perfect thanks um as Dr Burke shared um as a result of our ed services meeting I believe in October we were looking for additional feedback from the full board regarding summer school of 2024 um as you can see from Jamie's memo the recommendation essentially focuses on um Elementary and Middle School
042summer school coursework as it relates to students who may not be at grade level um what Jamie is proposing and I know he wanted to be here tonight but wasn't able to be is that we uh work at process with our Administration where we are beefing up our recommendations for summer school for students who are below grade level um not pushing it as a full requirement for any student who is below grade level but um brainstorming ideas and ways that our classroom teachers can um put a little bit more urgency behind uh summer school recommendations for those students um I know that came out of a conversation from Ed Services um during ed services in the month of December and not to be too much of a spoiler alert we are going to be examining
043a research study proposal for uh summer 2025 and Beyond um in looking at more full recommendations for changes for summer school at that point given where we're at for planning um we felt that um making this beefing up the recommendation for students not at grade level for summer would be a an appropriate Next Step but certainly acknowledging the fact that there may be better approaches to summer school out there that we want to um we want to examine and explore and that's something that we'll gu a little bit deeper um in December ed services so this is strictly a recommendation for summer of 2024 and from Ed Services it was clear that the ed services team wanted the full board to be able to provide feedback um on this topic in particular so that is
044what we're here doing tonight and I would say also Jenny not just on this topic for 24 but that uh what do we call it subcommittee what's the team that the research study team research study team which will be discussed probably a little bit more detail in December Y and it's in the notes for ed services is uh really just a question I'm not going to say a committee of the whole but what do we want to get out of our summer school programming and we recognized and had services at the October meeting that it was probably too late even at that time to change how 2024 was going to run we know we had some gaps for 2023 Sarah o uh got a little bit too excited about it and she almost volunteered um
045so we had to to back her down from uh being too involved in in uh designing a new summer school but before ed services went too far down the the rabbit hole one we knew we had to beef up 2024 and and two we're still looking for uh what do we want collectively to get out of summer school and because of timeline enrollment and and course catalog and expectations that's not something we're going to be able to do in a a two-month period and have it in in in effect for the summer 24 we'll have to roll that out and make that more official in 25 so that's probably just paraphrasing what Jenny just said but um this is a good spot for strategic discussion but I don't think we need to you know go
046into a fullblown discussion now just want to let you know what is going to be coming up and add services and trying to get input from all the you know interest holders on what we're trying to get out of that uh program I have a question if we don't have a discussion now on 24 when would that happen because I guess I was understanding from what Jenny just said that the ed services discussion will basically be 25 that's right this is 24 right here we had a brief discussion at at Services about things that we wanted to see but my understanding is this is our this is my first time seeing what the proposal is so if we don't discuss now I guess when would we discuss tonight tonight Jamie's looking for some feedback okay
047I just put good point so this would be more for the 24 feedback that if we're going to do a total yes tear it down and rebuild it that's going to be about A8 to 10 month process that starts in December this is just on this coming summer right that's what Jamie has in front of you here and what apparently he solicited staff and and principles and and administration on what we what we wanted to get out of at last time and what we're hoping to get out of it in the future and again at that this is again his very skeletal recommendation because if the board were to turn around and say we don't even like where you're headed here we want you to go in this direction then we're on a very short
048Runway to to consider and make that happen and then have that bring back to you so we can get communication out in January February uh at the very latest of families talking about what summer plans look like so this is the time for that discussion correct so I would if if now is the time for me to voice my two cents I would say that I would prefer to see some sort of um you know resource or credit credit recovery for the middle school also included in this I guess my question for that is do they really call them credit you know credits are typically High School earned sure so then it becomes a different correct me if I'm wrong a different process but I understand what you're saying is for the you know what
049credit recovery is their their credits to graduate just just saying a strongly encouraged to pursue enrichment or academic courses I don't think that that's adequate I think there's a for some students there might be more of a nudge than correct me if I'm wrong the difference is is that for high school there's credit and the consequences if you don't do credit recoveries you don't graduate yep way our structure is right now in middle school and Elementary School there is no consequence so that you're talking about summer school it's a much broader discussion than that well unless I unless I don't have it summarized it to your point it has to do with how you motivate people to participate so I'll just briefly reiterate my comments from the prior discussion which are that I would like
050the district overall to look at summer school in the broader context of having a sense of urgency and a much bigger sense of ambition about the tools and processes we bring to bear to advance achievement in this district and it is a massive opportunity for this district and frankly for every District around it's not just unique to watch and while at the prior discussion what I was told at that time the signals I was given at that time is too late to do anything for 2024 the subsequence of that I was getting some signals in the other direction of well maybe it's not too late maybe we can still do something and so I don't have Clarity at this moment as to whether that is or is not possible so I'm going to air on
051the side of it is possible and just say my two cents as a board member is I'm looking for something much more ambitious than this for next summer it do not have to go so far as a rework but if this is a yard stick and where we were in the initial presentation is at one end this may be moved to quarter inch I'm looking for a little more than a quarter inch so the the question that's that's my feedback I'm looking for something significant and what I'm looking at specifically are are two factors to broaden the [Music] participation so it is encompassing a much larger number of students and that the overall focus of that participation is primarily academic those do things to me that I'm looking to see progress on and given the
052short Runway which I recognize for next year I'd still think there's opportunities there particularly when you start looking at technological tools to still put things together that can see much broader participation and an increased focus in academics so that's that's my two cents for what I'd like to see for next summer yes I'd like to see more and it's a lot more than what is shown here and that's okay uh so the rest of the board is is that what the board would like to see those are Tony's responses and I well I agree there needs to be a push for academics because there are gaps that we have at the elementary level I'll just speak to that for example there's got to be an element of fun because if you lose that element of
053fun you lose the kids and where's the big shift when they go from elementary learning to middle school learning a lot of transition a lot of change and if we go this strong P while I agree we need to ramp up some some academic pieces I don't want us to lose the fun components that kids have have because to me you're going to lose them in a different way while you might make short-term games academically it's going to be a larger long-term game that you're losing because school's not fun anymore I don't even want to be here I'm not going to come you know so finding that balance has to be important um and so I want to make sure we don't lose that piece we're talking kind of broad scope yet when we look
054I guess when I'm looking at the proposal here I have a whole different set of questions when we talk about the high school so maybe I'll save those to transition um I guess a couple different things um when I first took a look at this I and I appreciate the information as far as like the understanding of where this is headed um because I really didn't have a context for this um you know as far as understanding okay where is this coming from or what phase is this this in you know what does this mean and that kind of thing um considering that you know there probably I'm guess you know was some feedback at the end of last summer and and things like that um I guess I was disappointed in the vness of
055this um as far as I I get you need some direction from the board um but as far as even like planning I think I saw um you know in increase enrollment well but what you know what does that part mean um and just as far as having a little bit more plan and a little bit more thought put into you know those other components um I fully agree with Tony and Diana as far as um you know I don't know exactly the details of you know like what the progression has been I think there had been a component that was required as far as academics um and I I don't know what the structure of that was and then there wasn't any you know required and stuff like that I think there definitely needs
056to be that academic component um I'm not sure how that you know comes across as far as that's concerned um but you do also have to have the other um call enrichment classes fun glasses whatever they are but I think we definitely need to have a much stronger focus on the academics for the kids that need it um you know because that's that's part of our strategic plan is affecting you know student achievement as far as that goes and the enrollment piece you know those those two things can have an effect as far as the summer school program so I'm G I'm gonna um basically call the question on the idea of mandatory enrollment for an academic or not um we've gotten some feedback in the past that if there's a mandatory enrollment for AC
057academic then I'm just not going to send my child we're just looking for an enrichment activity I don't know how much feedback there was but I just wanted to share that I think for Jamie and his planning him having a definite answer on whether or not we need to make it uh you know mandatory or not is is really important information for how he's going through the time and also where he's going to set expectations for enrollments and other things uh and that mandatory enrollment can come in in a lot of different ways it's yes everybody has to have an academic or you you only have to have an academic if you didn't pass all your classes uh or some other things now that can get us into some you know treacherous Waters about you
058know what you get access to or not access to um but some people put that suggestion out there all of which is quite confusing for a director who is looking to run a program um but is struggling you can see with the design concept because you know they put the recommendation out there to not and I think we'll have a better idea when they hear back from us as to what we say we we're looking for so again what you're specifically asking for is what tiny was referring to which is that at one point in time one point in time there was a requirement that if you enrolled in summer school at least one of the classes you selected had to be an academically oriented class and they were all clearly marked in the in
059the BR gu us to which ones were like that and then that requirement for an academic class as a portion of it was removed so you're asking specifically about that that that is the question that will get us started down a path of maybe some other questions for other discussion but um well I would love to answer that question I struggled to do it because to me summer school and the entire time that I've lived in this community my entire life has lacked an identity I see us straddling multiple identities are we doing summer school for academic okay if we're doing for academic what's the motivation for an academic I have yet to understand what that motivation would be for an academic piece we straddle with enrichment well that's the fun piece and I hear
060kids in the community say I'm going to summer school because it's fun because I get to do and that's the kid with some influences from others saying I want to go and do something fun and enriching that I get to do and then we have the child care piece we can't ignore that the child care piece exists and kids are there because there's a family need for them to be there and then we have the strength and speed and athletic piece as well that can at least sit a little bit by itself the way it's it's structured but we have those we have those three identities and until we have a mission statement or something that says here is why we're doing summer school I don't know how to answer that and once we do
061that then if it is academic we've got to have a we got to have a push and a reason for the academic that's why now right now it is it is absent and I don't know how we you know to say well however the principles decide to do it individually they encourage I don't get that that doesn't matter I would I guess I would step back and I would say well in this case this is the discussion we're having right we're trying to discuss we're trying to Define what is our what is our vision or what this what is our identity so to speak when it comes to this particular um topic and I I would support um Tony's course of action um to be more academic minded I would support a mandate um mandatory
062academic requirement for the program and you know so so yeah but I do find and enr enrichment as well um the kids should you know want to be there um and but I also find Value and a little strong encouragement in participating in those uh academic pores so I am in support of the academic requirement um so I don't know about you but I remember when my kids were doing this the class that would sell out at summer school the quickest was balls bald balls the thing with this is Dave you hit on the head with the child care pist or birth to five the Watertown Family Center has playg groups part of the play group is you get there you get play but they also have an activity so it's an art project usually
063and you get a snack they do this in the summer they do it in the Parks they rotate parks in [Music] here now again this is birth to five if we don't have an academic component to this we're the family center and we're the school district I think academic schools part and partial with that and I don't see there is a reason why we can't say hey if you want to come to summer school there will be a portion of this now we don't need to have enrichment and academics in two different Lanes in my opinion I mean most of the administrators here know that we can we can bake in that academics and other things and I think we can do that and maybe that's part of the the culum part of the instruction
064that we have to rethink here but there needs to be that academic part of this you know and it doesn't need to be it doesn't need to be stated in such a way that it's your vegetables that if you want your dessert you have to have this I think we can bake this in a little better than that D yeah I was just going to comment uh first of all thanks for all the input this validates the entire reason why we're we we have a cart and we have a horse and it's not exactly easy to figure out which one comes first uh all of your inputs are exactly what I was hoping to get when we tried to push this to the quote unquote Committee of the whole and the one question left unanswered
065was Tony's first question is how much runway do we have and everything that you guys said is exactly what I hope to be able to bring up and decide on and create the mission and Dave you summarized it great the the three characteristics of the program or the programs that we offer that's exactly what we would be looking for but it was I think my understanding and many of the administration's understanding that that was let's call it an 8 to 10 month process and summer of 24 was not in play okay so this is the document for us for summer of 24 if Tony's question gets answered which is we do still have enough time between now and then call it April 1 Call It Whatever Jared then we can put a bunch of people
066people on this to create a vision and a mission and a definition of what we're expecting but if the the feedback from the people who have to implement it and the people who have to get the teachers and enroll the students is that that we're we're it's too late I hate to say it that it got presented to us in October originally and we're too late to to change the summer of 24 but if we are then this is exactly what I wanted to get out of the committee of the whole is an understanding that we do have an appreciation to improve it and I think we all do and then we are left with okay what tweaks can we make to the summer of 20 did I say 24 summer 25 summer of 24
067that we missed last year that we missed because of a a a just a a gap in let's call it communication a misunderstanding uh people didn't realize what we were after and so this is the document that tries to dress up or a beef up as Jenny said it what we didn't get right in 23 and if we have time we can put more effort into this to get it right in 24 but my gut feel is is that that's exactly what we are going to talk about at ed Service in December that's the team that we're going to put together it's going to include all of your inputs which I agree with pretty much every single one of them and we all recognize that there's um uh competing uh interest in this so the
068call a question it doesn't have to be academic I think we all want it to be the question is can we make it that way in 24 or do we come back to Tony's original question and then that gets asked to Jared and staff it says what can we do between now and and then and if we if you just don't think you have the bandwidth then this is discussion for summer of 25 and I'm trying to not let the Strategic discussion go for a half hour that's why we were going to kick it off to a different group to talk about it but wanted to get your appetite and it's and it's High I mean people want it to get better so so if I may um you're you're very clear and and what
069I'm not trying to do is trying to do a visioning for a whole new program right not not tonight right not tonight but but to affect our key programming this summer having an idea of what route you want to go down academic or enrichment or strongly recommend or mandatory are two different things right um but if we have a clear picture of what this board is looking for to drive at least this summer and then we'll carry that into the visioning process that will be a great step in the direction of making progress is that one answer and one question then I mean one question and one answer what you just said is it mandatory or is it strongly encouraged correct that that's the only question we trying to answer tonight for summer of 24
070you can see the administrative recommendation from Jam is I would like to have it strongly encouraged and I I know there's ways that we can work on that as an admin team and we think we will have a better outcome than we did this year okay um if it's mandatory um academic and we have to scale down enrichment and beef up academic we can still do some of that on the short run not as a large visioning but we can still do that I just need to hear that that's what you're looking for is that a realistic in the man atory is that a realistic ask when you look if it's mandatory for kids to take XYZ enrichment class they have to have an academic that means we have to be able to offer all
071different levels of academic do we have the bandwidth to do that I I I said it will change the trajectory I didn't say we'll have a final and complete that's for discussion but we're talking about that for this next year if we're talking mandatory versus um strong recommended sorry Miss if we're talking that for just this next year I'm wondering do we have that bandwidth for 24 we had the bandwidth but you're asking do we have a complete answer for everything no um so I don't know what your level of discussion about do we have the bandwidth for that do we have the bandwidth to say we're we're mainly going to offer academics and it's required for you to do a um an academic course if you're going to access some of the enrichment courses
072um you know part part of what you're doing you can't just sign up for an enrichment course you have to have an academic we can do that if you're saying and how are we going to address every uh sector within the high school and every uh piece within all genres that we teach here no we can't do that no I'm saying that at the high school we currently don't have that and at the other levels if there isn't a lot of what's offered at the academic levels are for the lower the more needy um academic pieces so you've got can I say half I'm being generous half or more of those kids that wouldn't have an academic offering cor so are we excluding them if this is a mandatory piece which now our enrollment for
073summer school goes down which means the number of teachers need it's just it I'm just wondering does the domino effect affect too many things by having it man versus strongly recommended I'm not asking us to go down a huge rabbit hole and make these decisions it's just one decision does affect others that I'm wondering for this year for this you know if we're doing it right now so I'm okay with the strongly recommended I struggle with the mandatory for the reasons I just stated I'm I'm kind of in agreeance with Diana totally on this uh I think for this year for sure I mean 2025 is a whole new beast and you can you can tackle that I think strongly recommended for this year is the route to go I'm not here to tell you
074and I don't think anybody else here is how to do it I think it's just all right you got the bandwith great you're telling me you're good uh that's strongly recommended and and I agree with you um I I guess I'm not sure how to express this but I do have a little bit of disappointment that um the past 2023 summer where we've had discussion about an academic requirement possibility uh why it hasn't happened and now we're here in November and um we're told that potentially there's not the um bandwidth to have that academic requirement so I I do disagree I think we should um push for the academic requirement I will share some sentiment with you about the disappointment the disappointment is not necessarily aimed um at any one person or anything the disappointment
075is in that the discussion no matter where it's generated or not generated and I can take full responsibility for it that's fine um but I'm taking responsibility now and saying there's clearly um not agreement yet on this board and or with the recommendation Administration made right um and until we can get some clarity we're not it'll be summer 27 and I'll come back to you and say we don't have Clarity on where summer school is going at fast and I'll make it fast uh so if we're going to make changes I I I feel strongly we have to do this right the first time don't just throw stuff at the board because we want it let's let's fix it and make it right and make it right for 10 years coming right um so I'll
076end it that I will just say that I I can agree Di's sentiments about this next year but we're gr strongly around here there is I sense a the value proposition of having an academic by the board I can sense that here and if we don't have any sense of a movement towards mandatory by 2025 we will be strongly disappointed Lori I just I agree with what you just said there and I I guess I just look at it as it's an opportunity I look at Summer Schools an opportunity to enrich these students with some more academic and what that looks like I I don't I I don't know what to I don't want to tell you what I think that looks like I think we need some a better plan for sure and yeah
077Dave two quick comments to me if we're going down the road of strongly my only recommendation would be it needs to be if it's strongly it also needs to be consistently and what's proposed has lots of inconsistencies in how we're recommending so I think that needs to that need to be focused on on flushing out so that it is being consistently recommended another quick thing would be around the identity as well is I think I would encourage the administration to look at the at the resources and the priority of those resources it seems to me that how we have how we have tackled summer school with our resources has always been it's it's somebody's second or third or fourth responsibility to do this for summer school versus having any priority set around it so I
078think that's a lot of way hell okay does anyone have a motion to make with regard to an academic requirement for next year's for summer school in 2024 I'll make a motion Craig what is your motion I'll move to um require at least one academic course of the 20124 summer before enrolling and nourishment course okay is there a second on that motion is there a second on that motion all right I'm going to Second it so we get a vote on it okay comment brief comments or question we've already talked it through brief comments or questions on the motion you have Clarity on what the motion is saying all ages all courses I can't can't take strength and speed without that's I heard that's okay any other comments or questions on the motion roll call
079please hen no BR Y no Diana Johnson no Tony ernette yes Dana Johnson no David Sher no David Smith no Craig Wartman yes Mike hden no all right the motion fails okay make a motion that we strongly recommend or or adopted and approved these as written the general construct I mean I'm with you like I it's a working document right Jared I mean I mean you guys can approve of Jamie's recommendation if that's the motion I'd like to put some language in it not to say m is wrong but what David said and Brad you might have had a comment but I I like the idea of the consistency I want to know who we are strongly recommending how what's the identification process how is it being consistently employed against across all the middle or
080the elementary schools and the middle school and not put teeth in it but just make sure that everybody's on the same page in which case that doesn't necessarily have to be part of this document as much as it is just a continuing effort shared of you and your staff otherwise I'd second Mike's motion to to take this document as is but know that there's a few things that need to be dressed up in yeah we we are definitely going to have to bring another update to ad Services whether that comes all the way full circle to the board outside of minutes then yeah that's up to the [Music] services anything else it it need summer school needs to lo I think what I'm hearing the board say summer school for 2024 needs to look different
081than it did for 2023 it does not need to be as different as it will be for 2025 but it cannot be repeat but we have a motion on this floor right we do not have a motion at this moment okay then I like to comment um if we go ahead with something and know what Mike is pro proposing strongly accept strong I think we need to have wording in this that we will have movement towards a mandatory uh academic within the 20 by the 2025 year that that we need to we need to lay out a plan to get there otherwise we're going to be here having the same conversation next year and I think that needs to be part of motion I would say that it we could do it that way but
082it is coming through at next week week after whenever we had head services 2025 is up for discussion coming through services that could easily come kick off the team for 2025 I think Jenny or that's what you J set up the Outline by which we're going to tackle this for 25 and we can Circle back and write a resolution for 24 at the same time as setting out the outline for 25 or Dave can because I'm G to be out of town nice so me reality is we voted down the requirement so that's reality um my last comment is I think we asked the wrong question because that whole question of mandatory versus not is working within a existing construct which that's entirely what I was trying to drive us to move away from and
083I'm still like to think that there would have been something possible for us to Pilot something for next summer that would be looking at different ways of delivering a summer program that is not based on to be politic about the way you described it uh ways to fill half a day during the summer you're brightly described and so that's to me like this was the wrong question for us to been asking but that's where we are so but that that's the question that's been uh hanging out there in reflection to how summer school has operated or not operated to satisfaction in the past um and has been put by the board to Administration um as as we've gone so getting Clarity on whether or not we want mandated or not and there were clearly two
084voices yet tonight that said yes we want it mandated um that wasn't the full board's response but I I think that that um given the question about 25 or further I'm still wondering how much of the board wants a mandated or not mandated um or how strongly that academic component really is starting to get a fi for that but if you're looking for more that come from the discuss I understand that that that'll come but but the idea that we're not hitting the mark that yes there's frustration around the table but it's not just born about the board but as board and administration shared frustration on this topic and I'm I'm glad we're getting some clarity well that's what that looks like strategic discussions for but I do like Tony's idea of a pilot and
085and Jenny when we talk when you talk next Tuesday um in and and in the summer when Jamie puts together the the staff and the programming if there's any ideas that can be vetted and brought to the surface between now and then and pilot a path of not just enrollment of programming of of coursework something that I don't want to say develop a couple of best practices that doesn't affect enrollment doesn't affect teachers doesn't affect uh you know the course selection um but it it's a it's a great suggestion that if we're going to go down a path for 2025 we'd like to at least run it through a couple of Paces in 24 if we could without changing any uh requirements or or anything like that but I think it's a it's a great
086idea Tony it's a matter of how to get staff to try to pick a couple different ways to do things between now and next summer um which which maybe that team will discuss and be able to implement without having make making any major programmatic changes um otherwise I'll just say more to come um if more discussion is welcome you can always reach out to Jenny and add Services obviously Jamie myself and I don't necessarily like to bring everything to a strategic discussion of the whole but at the same time you can appreciate that if four people in ed services discussed this we'd be right back here having this discussion in February after we presented it to you the first time so it's probably better to get your input up front because we've been doing the
087whole thing all over again after the first revision my my last comments are are of gratitude in that so here's some of the things I heard right um I heard that um the board doesn't want to continue seeing this as an afterthought programming that we want to look at and and align resources towards this being some some equal equal to our first thought program pramming right that there are about three different things that we have to consider one of them um was what do we do to affect this as not only academic programming but child care as well as enrichment opportunities um but how can we make sure that those courses even if they're not academic identified and we see the Clear Connection show us the connection to curriculum maybe even in the course guide
088how those are tied to specific skills and Concepts students will learn right and I think that gets at your broader Point as to this has to be very much re-envisioned right and so um I have those as part of my comments but also uh you know a comment on you know less discussion about what's mandatory what's not and what is um kind of for the betterment of students and academic focused because then it doesn't make a difference if it's if it's mandatory or not because you're getting it and so I've got those comments written here and those are are great pieces that will guide the 25 discussion and we'll try to weave some of those into the 24 discussion on the short Runway we have left because I think there's some of that that we
089can do within our short Runway to the 24 season I appreciate that and thank you for your comments okay then we'll move on to reports and the first item up is the superintendent's report turn this thing so the short uh superintendent report again for November 27 it is sure that's sure that's it thank you thank oh yeah the battery okay okay hey um just some recognition congratulations to Webster Elementary and their staff on being awarded a 2024 best elementary school from US World Report congratulations and your [Music] congratulations um a celebration um that is yet to come Tuesday November 28th that's tomorrow night uh from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Watertown High School you'll get to see the Student Art Show uh being showcased these are um pizza with Picasso from last year this isn't
090this year's art um but these were uh displayed at Douglas Elementary so um just using a picture from last year to show some Student Art and then again opportunity for you to review our state report cards um I just wanted to remind people this is more for the public that they're out there and available um just happened the last couple of weeks uh and here are some important reminders of dates coming up we don't have any school or we we have an early release on the 22nd no school on the 23rd through the 2nd we will have the district office open on the 22 um very minimally staffed maybe only one person here uh on the second to take any uh board um election nomination paperwork in um and that's going to be really the
091only function for that day it's generally a day that we're not even staffed here at the central office so um just know that if you come by and it's a little bit dark there will be at least one person here on that day um and committee and board meetings uh December uh 5th is educational services and the sixth is policy December 11th Human Resources the 13th is fiscal management the 18th is our regular monthly board meetings know that those are different than our normal dates because of the holiday season upon us and then December 11th is a superintendent evaluation uh close session meeting where I get to sit and talk about our second quarterly uh with the board so just a reminder of those dat any questions that you have for me on any of
092this stuff questions or comments no all right thank you fiscal Brad thank you uh the fiscal committee met on November 15th all committee members were present also present were board president Tony Arnette director business Sarah Duncan superintendent Jared um Lori was here as well virtually and Diana was there as well and uh first item on the agenda was the bus and ground update by our new supervisor of Bel and grounds Kevin suko Uh Kevin provide us updates on the different projects that we have going on the gym floor bleachers at our are done vmac at Webster urance is about 90% finished uh all the units are installed and operating um they're just finishing up a few things there um and they have um started the discussions on the master plan RFP for our facilities plan
093uh we've got five respondents of that any further update since then yeah so we did have a walkth through um where those who responded um if they chose to come they came and did a walk through with Kevin uh through all of our facilities took notes um you know came back at lunchtime asked a few questions uh and then finished uh the course and round um and we do have a a question and answer document that we're going to be finalizing out here shortly um for our timeline um and then we'll continue on of that all right s update s$2 do have all been spent S 3 is about 8% spent um we've got some more budget items on track to be completed by next year September um and we have an updated plan for
094the science and social studies curriculum will take place um at a future ed services committee um Administration is going to bring a recommendation for utilizing the remaining $100,000 that is unallocated to the December fiscal Meeting those there uh and then this next part I'm just going to read this one verbatim an uped fiveyear Financial forecast was presented to the committee some of the key items that were updated since March include increased funding from the state by anual budget which provid an additional 3 million in revenue for the 2324 fiscal year and be slightly better than anticipated enement numbers the projection continues to show deficits in the range of $5 million each year which will gradually reduce the district's healthy bond fund balance the committee determined that an operational referendum in April of 2024 is is
095not necessary Administration and the planning committee will be monitoring the fin the financial situation as well as the needs of the district and will be planning for a potential operational referendum in the future um there were no changes to the planning calendar for the fiscal committee and the next meeting is set for December 13th thank you comments or questions on the report good hearing we'll move on to HR Tina yes we had our meeting on Monday November 13th um and let's see at that meeting we had um the majority of our committee we also had Director of Business Services human resources and then also representatives of the United lakeood Educators um for Watertown um and so we um exchanged um bargaining proposals we went into closed session um for those details and things like that
096we came out a Clos session at 603 um so there is a resolution on the agenda for tonight regarding um the outcome of what those discussions were um and then we went through the consent agenda we do also have a resolution for that um for the board for tonight for the staff appointments resignations and terminations um we also reviewed a draft of the 2425 calendar um and we're able to kind of give some input some questions and some direction and things like that that will then um Margaret will take that back with staff um and then that will come back to the HR committee meeting in December and then from there um it would typically come to the full board after that so you will see that in December um as far as future meeting
097planning um topics for December meeting will be the calendar will also be a rounding summary um and then in the future most likely February most likely March actually will be a support staff salary study um we'll have the information regarding that and then we did go into um closed session again um as far as um that discussion and then we went back into Open session at 7:26 and our next meeting is Monday December 11 comments or questions on that report thank you very much ed Service yes Services met on uh let's see November 7th all committee members were present plus several others distinguished guests uh couple of the topics we've already discussed at length this evening one was uh summer school I shouldn't say a couple of the topics one we discussed already at length
098and that was summer school and then we'll also be hearing more in a resolution about the whhs course book proposal um there were several teachers and attendance to discuss both of those uh the minutes are pretty comprehensive in that so when we get to the resolution you can either uh ask the question or you can review the minutes um other topics were act 20 which Jenny's going to have more to talk about at a future um ed services meeting we also got an update from Jason bull regarding the eCampus Pathways um and they gave a summary of uh where we were as far as enrollment uh profit Etc uh revenues costs and uh I I think that from an ed services there were no additional questions regarding uh the curriculum the efficacy what kids were
099learning so any additional questions regarding those programs if they were necessary would be handled by fiscal uh Jason did note that those cont contracts do come up from time to time and that would likely be handled in the in the fiscal Arena as those contracts were reviewed uh if they weren't strictly uh education uh related um and then we did scratch on restorative practices and um although we got we did get a good update uh from Mr Cunningham um and uh Josh um there's still a general consensus that I was picking up from the board in general just regarding overall climate culture behavior and and how we're addressing it collectively proactively strategically as a as a district and so this was just the beginning of a conversation we're still looking for a way to um
100uh have a better understanding of the direction we're going uh on that subject and so that was uh pretty much all the items that we discussed uh I may have missed one or two I'm sure uh and uh we still uh couldn't keep her under two and a half hours two and a half hours 9:50 we adj germ next one is next Tuesday and I will be not Independence and Dave Smith has agreed to chair that along with Jenny and if we're done by nine then we Dave you're nominated you're I'll step down glad I'm going to let Jenny do 99% of the work comments or questions on Force thank you hearing none we'll move on to policy so there was a subc commmittee of the um policy Review Committee that met on November 10
101and that the members pres Tina and bred regarding the discussion about the extracurricular activities and what those U definitions uh were going to look like Diana Johnson also presented uh was able to present her uh uh perspective uh must must have been from via email or something of that nature the committee and they had a discussion which will be a further discussion at the December 6th uh committee meeting regarding uh those uh proposed changes to the extracurricular activities um definitions I guess the uh for the upcoming December 6th meeting uh couple of things might be of interest to you um and the Jared and Lyn had gone through very diligently uh to try to match up the uh board uh how was it the board um our policies versus neis template policies yeah for uh
102the bylaws but so the bylaws are going to be up for first um read more or less uh you can access that in board docs by clicking on the draft down for policies and the draft to see the uh the work that has been done for for Rie on that uh so that will be a large part of our discussion there will be also a discussion regarding uh whatever audit had taken place regarding um retention and that would be what we're going to discuss next um there may be another uh discussion in there regarding Transportation uh which we W have yet to discuss so that's report for the policy if I can add to his report just a little um seeing the changes that you're seeing um in some of those templates mostly what you're
103going to be seeing is um uh where we've put combinations but it will all make sense when we share with you um at the committee are spreadsheets that say we did this and this because just looking at it you're not going to see which policies we took things from or or which we said we're not going to use our old policy we're just going to use the new policy and vice versa um those kinds of things uh will all be explained as we give our working documents to you guys at the committee meeting as well right but in order to um have that be productive conversation giving it to you ahead of that won't make sense to you we'll we'll just bring it at that meeting and say Here's here's how we plan it but
104then next time we'll just have that as a rolling document for you guys to be able to see a Google act that you can have access to um and you'll be able to see as we're doing those what we're doing so that you can preview a lot of it ahead of time yes so to clarify what I was trying to say before is the board the previous heading was board operations and what has been the Neola heading is the bylaws correct so can I ask a question so we're not going to be pre looking at you can look at though because I can't find them and that's another time but yeah we we'll we'll we'll show you how are they being in there or okay I we can try to connect tomorrow and I'll show
105you how to get in there and look at them but um you'll just see what we changed but you don't you won't make the connection to what was there so it's okay if at them before policy it'll be fine okay then we'll just keep moving forward it will seriously it will and it actually will make more sense if you just perfect don't even show me how to get homework other I have too many questions the teacher just said no homework no homework it will make more sense if you just wait perfect thank you I'm sorry Craig um we didn't convey probably this followup to you um we had our subcommittee meeting on um that Friday November 10th we do have a followup to that um that this Friday December 1st at 2:30 p.m. um we
106kind of gathered the information together on that Friday November 10th and had some discussion um and so then we're going to kind of bring those you we had a chance side by side to take a look at them so then um with the idea of then it would be ready to the community so I'm sorry about that not and I've got a little bit of work to do pro present to that committee on how well our current offerings match up to those definitions where I think they would fit okay okay all right any other comments or questions in that report thank you planning um we started look first well everybody was present uh we started the meeting by reviewing what board policy says our role is as a committee um in summary this committee's job
107is in planning is to focus on the process of what happens and then delegate those roles out to other larger committees or subcommittee work um we then we took all the different things that we had brainstormed earlier in the year and put them into their three different pillars three different categories and are really trying to hone that focus in um only touching on one area that was planning board development and superintendent evaluation so hitting on one topic per pillar per meeting so that way we're still moving some big rocks but we're not fumbling through a lot of other things so so in terms of planning under that big rock or that pillar um the big topic there was what direction are we going to be going as a district are we going to be moving
108in terms of a strategic plan and do we need to focus some working energy there or are we moving maybe in a role of a referendum do we need to focus work there but we hadn't had the discussion yet at fiscal so we didn't know but both still need some background work so we're bring in I'm looking at some people who can help us better lead or give us information in terms of writing a referendum writing a strategic plan um and divide and conquer so Fred's kind of leading up the referendum piece where looking at outside Consultants to bring in to talk about referendum and Lori is and is working with Jared who can we bring in to look at different pieces of a strategic plan because those of us around the table may not
109have all of the knowledge possible but let's see what resources can help make us the most efficient and strongest in doing that so now that we know the direction that FCO went we can now have a primary focus be one way and a secondary Focus be the other um in terms of board development we talked very very briefly about the Border treat that we had Tina had not yet gotten feedback back from all the different board members but one of the pieces that we did believe strongly in is we need to continue to work and move forward in um building that bridge between the board and the administration um and so what we were proposing to do at our next board meeting and this was the help of HR because they had talked about it
110um on the side as well is at 5:30 there'll be a little social out I don't know if we're doing ugly but or not if that have been I don't know determined or not um but just at 5:30 a social kind of of like we had done with the um retirement things just mingle talk whatever before we come into board meeting so nothing to over the top just a chance to have that conversation piece that we don't always get otherwise and then lastly um in terms of our third pillar and that's that superintendent evaluation process we briefly reviewed the goals of the dates process number one being goal oriented number two being systematic and consistent and number three um to minimize end of the year surprises um we are very goal oriented but the other
111two areas we found could use some improvement and so if you've noticed everybody on planning has taken a role in doing something so last but not least was my role in working and finding some outside people to help us with the dates process that we have this year so I have um since reached out to cesa and gotten a little bit more information there um um looking at possibly Drew HCK who had done our board retreat just to give us some guidance how we can better move forward um in doing all the different things that we're doing within the district so as far as future planning dates it's really hard to put dates to things when we're just creating our calendar for the first time this year so as you can see there um we're
112going to continue to talk about board development we're going to continue to talk about the superintendent evaluation process the Strategic plan all of these will continue to be discussion pieces at our January meeting which will be January 10th at 5:30 sorry that was long but there was a lot of bir run things through to get the bar motion comments or questions on that report two and a half hours good [Music] yes be fair be fair two hours and 20 minutes I tried to stop them wow all right this carries us to the consent agenda resolution 9256 the consent agenda includes our board meeting minutes committee summaries under personnel and Staffing you have retirements resignations and appointments the approval of bills and the first and second reading of policies for this evening there are no policy
113items do I hear a motion 49256 motion second moved by Fred second by Craig comments or questions on the motion hearing none roll call vote please waren Howen yes Brad young yes Diana Johnson yes Pony Arnette yes Tina Johnson yes David Sher yes David Smith yes Craig foron yes mik yes and the motion carries we have four action items for this evening the first is resolution 9257 which is our CPI adjustments for 20123 2024 for non-represented employees and that is for a adjustment of 6% on the base wage do I hear a motion on 9257 motion second moved by Fred seconded by Diana comments or questions on the motion hearing none roll call vote please Lor excuse me Lor Holland yes BR y yes Diana Johnson yes Tony Arnette yes uh Tina Johnson yes David
114shaderain David Smith yes Craig wman yes Mike Higgin yes and the motion carries next we have resolution 9258 which is the CPI or sorry rather adjustments for certified staff of the 2023 202 4 school year again in the amount of 6% on the base wage do I hear a motion motion move by Fred I second second by Diana comments or questions on the motion hearing none roll call vote please Lori Howard yes Brad young yes Diana Johnson yes Tony ernet yes Tina Johnson yes David Sher yes David Smith yes Craig lman OB Mike Higgins yes and the motion carries next is resolution 9259 which is approving the Spanish trip that we heard about earlier this evening for June of 2025 do I hear a motion move move by Craig do I hear a second [Music]
115the second over here di again all right davei the yeah comments or questions on the motion all those in favor signify by saying I I post motion carries and our last action item is is 9260 which is a set of adjustments to the course of study for Watertown High School do I hear a motion motion Mo by Fred second by Tina this was covered in the ed services meeting and you see the notes from there comments or questions on the motion hearing none call vote please Lori Howen yes Fred y yes Diana Johnson yes Tony arnet yes Tina Johnson yes David Trader yes David Smith yes Craig wman yes Mike Higgins yes and the motion carries that ends our action items for this evening under agenda planning I do not believe I heard anything from
116this evening that I needed to capture for a future board meeting May I um just make a quick comment on behalf of my family and the families of all the staff here I want to thank you guys for the you just gave it with B it's very um I think appropriate for the time and um the timing of it is is really fortunate for everybody here and I just want to say thank you I don't want that to go underscored it's just a resolution that went past thank you very much good you all right then public input the second time on the agenda where members of the public May address the board is there anyone that you be recognized at this time seeing none I'll entertain a motion to adjourn motion second move by Fred
117seconded by Diana just can't get in there all those in favor signify by saying I stand