001Good. Welcome everyone to the Legal and Contracts Committee meeting. I am the chair, Nathan Gerose. Joining me is vice chair, member Montgomery. Also, member Hall should be joining us shortly. We also have with us general counsel, Mr. Sapusak. We have uh Mr. Canfield. We have Dr. Lash, our assistant superintendent. We also have board members Renee Dr. Renee Molnar and board president Barbara Sykes in attendance. So, when we think about why are we here today? The first answer is that we are here for the students. We are here for the children of the Akron Public Schools to make sure we give them the best opportunities possible. And when we see the specifics of what we're here for, we see the Legal and Contract Contracts Committee purpose is to review review and make recommendations on legal matters
002and contracts, including employment agreements, vendor service contracts, and policies ensuring compliance with school policy, state, and federal laws. Now, this used to be a one committee joined with the Board Policy Committee. So, it was the Legal and Contracts and Board Policy Committee. Board Policy is now a separate committee and Legal and Contracts is now its own committee. So, this is the very first meeting of its time and the purpose moving forward is to ensure that there is transparency and accountability on all legal and contract matters. The first item here is the pre previous meeting minutes and since this is the first meeting of its kind, there are no prior minutes to approve. So, this item will be noted and we will proceed. Now, we have a guest speaker, but we also have open to public
003participation. Is there anyone here for the open public participation portion of the evening? Okay, seeing none, I do have a brief just introductory disclosure for our speaker and this is from our general counsel uh Sapusak that this is is a public meeting of a board created committee, so the open Ohio Open Meeting Act applies. We may review information and ask clarifying questions, but we we will not take action or form consensus on behalf of the entire board, but rather just the committee. Second, several items on the agenda may involve contracts, personal matters, and safety-related topics. To remain compliant with the Open Meetings Act, we will not discuss negotiation strategy or any personal evaluations in public session. If topics arise, we can always consider an executive session. However, we want to try to keep everything in
004the public. Third, we have a member of the public who wants to address the SROs. I just want to remind all participants that we cannot discuss any student-specific incidents, discipline matters, or identifiable safety events just based off of the laws with FERPA as it strictly forbids disclosure of personally identifiable student information even if indirectly. So, we'll try to keep comments on the systems, policy, and programmatic level. So, we will proceed with our with our speaker, uh Dr. Goggins. You have about 10 minutes or so to give your remarks and we might have about 5 minutes for discussion. Uh to the chair, vice chair, and the members of the uh Law and Contracts Committee, thank you for this opportunity to speak and share some thoughts. I'm uh Dr. Lethardis Goggins II. I'm here with my colleague,
005Leah Holden, and we are here on behalf of the NAACP Akron and our community partners. Uh to discuss to present our uh policy brief and recommendations for a safe and nurturing school initiative that was sent to you uh initially in the fall and then uh again um last week. Today's message is is simple. We uh can strengthen safe speed strengthen safety and student well-being by building school environments grounded in accountability, healing, and community partnership. We affirm that safe nurturing um learning environments are the foundations for academically rigorous learning and achievement. Uh the Akron Public Schools is facing uh many converging pressures. We know uh as it as it pertains to uh student uh behavior and and and along with the the trauma that comes with that, uh behavioral distress and concerns about school climate and
006sustained uh community trust. At the same time, the policy brief uh that was sent to you identifies some key legal policy issues with the Akron um APS and uh uh student police SRO agreement uh that have not yet that are not yet fully aligned with uh the Ohio requirements as as we understand them. And and the auditor uh has also provided some uh recommendations as well in terms of practices around role clarity, transparency, and oversight. This initiative is not a new program, uh but it is a system-level approach to redefine how APS achieves safety through lawful compliance plus community learning centers plus uh wellness infrastructure. Our policy brief recommends that APS fully adopt and implement a policy uh a safety and nurturing schools initiative anchored by three mutually reinforcing pillars. The SRO uh the the
007the school resource officer SRO uh compliance and accountability through uh through policy, contract, and oversight, community learning centers um model being fully adopted uh district-wide and the creation of wellness centers in every school. Um To begin, let's with the start with the SRO memor uh memorandum of agreement uh into full compliance uh and best practice alignment, the brief calls for uh renego well the brief draws attention to to uh three major concerns. The SRO are the SRO the brief. The SRO duties uh to are to be more clearly defined uh as law enforcement not disciplinary um management, uh annual training in adolescent development, de-escalation, trauma-informed care uh and bias reduction and community and student oversight uh engagement mechanisms. Uh requiring quarterly public meetings on uh SRO interactions um disaggregated by race, gender, age, and incident
008type. Uh establishment of school safety and wellness advisory councils that include educators, students, parents, and community to review the data and recommend uh improvements. Um Specific contract gaps, we also did a a gap analysis and you have that table of what what we saw in the current uh contract and compared that to what the state says is required or recommended as best practice and then also based on the uh uh the the uh the independent police auditor uh recommendations off of it uh off what he recommended given an incident. And so, in that analysis, there it addresses some some particular things. And one of which, again, these some things that come up. An explicit program goals. So, one of the things that the the state says is required that the SRO should express specific goals
009as it pertains to uh safety climate uh and uh contribution to uh education and in creating a an educational environment and community trust. Uh minimum SRO re-qualifications uh require that youth and adolescent experience uh uh should be uh a prerequisite. Uh preventative disciplinary um prevent disciplinary transfer placements. Uh a clear road map and decision tree which uh would handle uh the handle what administrative versus police documentations and duties. Non-discipline clause and referral thresholds. Explicitly state SROs uh do not enforce school discipline set uh set criminal versus disciplinary protocols and affirms administrators final say on discipline. Uh crisis planning integration that tie the SRO work SRO work to school emergency operations planning drills and after uh action reviews. Annual review and stakeholder input require that annual public review uh and reporting, and student and student family
010and community input. Uh Use of force limits include explicit limits um in terms of head, neck strikes, all those kinds of different things to legal lethal force standards and training requirements. Um body-worn cameras and and the like. So, uh there's Let me just get through this. Uh the body-worn cameras, timely incident notification, uh arrests at last resort and uh diversion requiring initiatives. Bottom line, these are not abstract ideas, they are rational policies and contract provisions that support lawful practice, transparency, and trust. Uh the pillar The second pillar is a district-wide community learning centers. I know we have community learning centers, but they are really in name only. Uh when I go to the district to look at what how are you defining what uh community learning centers are? Uh there's there's information about how to
011get apply to to to rental, but I don't see anything and if I miss it, I missed it. I don't see anything in terms of the philosophy around what a community learning center is. When I come when I do analysis, when I look at uh some national standards, Patterson, uh New Jersey, uh uh they're Cincinnati adopted community learning centers after Akron did. We look at what they're doing. Those fall in line with what is the discussions around what a community school is, what community learning centers are. I don't see that here. Okay? Uh and so and a part of the discussion that we had in this uh was we know that school safety is is contextualized, right? Safe safe schools exist within safe communities. And so, how do we help structure a safe community? And
012one of the ways that we can do that is through uh the the adoption of a community learning center uh fully. And so so so that. And the third pillar is wellness centers in every school. Um on-site wellness centers for all for the schools. Uh This is an example again modeled. Uh I know in Cleveland they have the planning centers uh where every every school has a planning center. Each planning center has a what they call a PCIA, a planning center instructional aid. But also they're they are resources for the students, for the staff, for administration, and the community. Uh and these are centers in which students can uh learn more about social emotional learning and and have opportunities to practice it. Stu uh teachers uh can get resources and and coaching around how to
013implement effectively social emotional learning practices. Parents can come and uh uh learn about effective strategies with their with their students and with their children. And again, where the community can uh be connected to resources that they may need and as it pertains to behavioral health and uh social emotional learning. So, our recommendations are those three pillars. And uh then as a part of that is the uh community engagement um recommendation uh uh community engagement at school level and culture, oversight, transparency, uh restorative positive culture, wellness integration, emergency uh preparedness, and community connection. So, all of these ways that when we talk about the particularly SER program and the ways in which we're integrating safety, that there is a community discussion and and there are community um each school or each at least each uh cluster
014would have uh a a council or, you know, a community group that could review, uh look at, and make some recommendations, and and learn more about about the um uh community safety and school safety. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Goggins. So, we've reached our 10-minute limit. Are there any questions or comments from our administration or the board? Now, would you be willing to meet with the administration on and share the specifics about when you're talking about the contract and the state law? Would you be willing to set a time with the administration to talk through those? Oh, sure. Most definitely. >> And the administration, would you be accepting of that? Great. Okay. Yes. Um member Hall. Thank you, um Dr. Goggins, for coming out and um you know, bringing this to light. Um I do really
015like the community safety teams. Have the community involved cuz each district and each community needs something different. Every district does every cluster does not need the same exact support. So, thank you for identifying that and thank you for coming today. Thank you for the the opportunity. Yes. Uh Mr. Sapusak. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Goggins, thank you for your time today and your thoughts. I appreciate that. I just wanted to make sure I understood when you referenced the auditor, you were talking about the Ohio independent police auditor? The Akron Yes. Okay. Okay, thank you. Member Gerould. Yes. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Goggins, for participating and attending today and bringing to light some issues. You know, I I'm really focusing in on the the community learning centers. I find it interesting uh that
016you're absolutely right. Uh when you when we talk about community learning centers, we're basically looking at when a someone in the community want to use a facility. >> Mhm. But you're telling us that community learning centers in other communities are being used as a a safe haven within our communities to help our children uh understand more about um how to interact with each other, how to how a community learning center is used. >> So, and and and if what it means community learning center, right? So, anybody in the community Mhm. would see that center as a as a a hub, a where a a clearinghouse of information. Uh many community centers uh community learning centers will also have fundamental services that's involved with it. So, like in Patterson, um uh in Cincinnati, a parent can
017come to school, drop their child off, and walk through the door, turn left, and pay a light bill. Uh they could come in, turn right, and it will be a health clinic. Uh they can uh if they are interested in learning some new skills, you know, how to how how we going to deal with this AI stuff? They can go down the hall and turn left, and there's a class for them. It is not this this very strict delineation between school and community. It is where the community comes and learns. Um um In many cases, uh examples I'm thinking about again, Patterson, New Jersey, uh and some other places. We know that young people, particularly some of the uh young people that who are are uh let's say um housing challenged, Mhm. >> are able
018to bring their their clothes to school and use the laundry facilities so they have clean clothes. Cuz we know in in too many cases, there are children that miss school because they don't have clean clothes. Mhm. And that simple kind of thing opens it up. So, it's not so again, it's not that the school building is available for rental to the community. The school building is a part of the community, and the concerns and the needs of the people around the uh school are addressed in the in that building. Thank you, Dr. Goggins. Um um Thank you. Mr. Chair, one more May I follow up? Yes, go ahead. >> After Dr. Goggins, so I think that we have those resources. We just don't refer to them as the community learning center. >> Mhm. And so,
019is it your recommendation that they should be housed in one place if possible, or the way that we tend to do them in Akron and that they are in different schools around? >> Well, they're in different schools. That's that's That's fine. >> That's fine. That's that's beautiful. Okay. Uh then again, if if if I've not been able to see it. When I go to look at Akron's community school learning center or community learning center point Mhm. So those resources if they're available make them let it be known. Uh uh you know that kind of thing and in so many ways. I know that y'all and again in no means you know that I support y'all and I'm with I'm with y'all on this. But we there's ways to do it in a way that I
020think can maximize the resources that you have. It doesn't necessarily creating a new thing but doing what we doing what we we do what we do better and with more transparency and more with more community input I think would would go a long way. >> Thank you Dr. Goggins. Thank you ma'am Mr. Chair. Thank you and Vice Chair Montgomery and then we'll get to you Dr. Lash. Yeah. Thank you for coming Dr. Goggins. It was good to hear the feedback and the analysis that you at the NAACP did on this issue. I think to echo what member Sykes has said in terms of access you know for the last 9 or 10 months a handful of us were out in the community and that conversation came up a lot about the access to the community
021learning center. So I think all of us would love to continue that dialogue and what what the ideas are. I like how you say maybe not adding a new resource because we know we're getting revenue strapped here pretty soon. So how to reallocate them maybe something we're all willing to look at. But I just had one question in terms of a clarifying question. Your email that you had sent to us said that this analysis was done as a review of the SRO contracts. >> Yes. Did it also include a review of the board policy on SROs 8403? No. And if it didn't I'd like to make us maybe see that. Looks like that policy was implemented in 2018 and maybe it needs a good looking at in terms of what the contract is in place
022right now versus what the board policy is that's in place around SROs. So it did not include that. It did not include I I I uh The first analysis we did was about this time last year off off the old contract and it came to it came to my light uh talking with some folks that the SRO the state had this code about what SROs contracts should be and should look like. So I just went I just went with that. SRO uh the Ohio Revised Code section 3313.951 qualifications for uh school resource officers. They have a uh state sample of what a SRO memorandum should look like uh and we did analysis of the contract based on those two things and then with the new contract that came out was able to get that and
023did another analysis on that. Okay. Yeah and our policy again 8403 references that ORC code specifically that you mentioned. So maybe I would just ask us to take a look at uh whether those things align too if that piece hasn't been done. >> I would also then add talk to the people who are taking the the the the training because when when I asked them about what they were trained on specifically as it pertains to adolescent development those kinds of things that that is is what it's supposed to say they told me they that was not a part of what they did. Okay. I think we're all here for accountability. Like I'm not I'm not trying I'm not we're not all trying to push back at you. I'm just saying I want to make sure
024as we look at it that we've looked at all the pieces. So no I I appreciate your your passion about [laughter] this and I look forward to continuing the conversations. And then Dr. Lash. Thank you Chair Jeroson. Thank you Dr. Goggins for for being here tonight and and sharing with us. I guess maybe it's a moot point at this juncture but just want to reiterate what President Sykes because I I saw you know when you were talking about those things immediately thought about our family resource centers and there are six of them in the district five through funded through our partnership with United Way that do just those things that you were were speaking of. You know if families are in need of basic needs or or what have you. Need access to financial literacy
025classes or how to build a budget or you know some financial things because I want to become a home owner. Those are some of the wonderful and amazing opportunities that we have through our partnership and with our family resource centers. But I love your your your vision of thinking about how uh schools um become a place where the community comes and learns. So I appreciate you for sharing that. Thank you. Yes member Hall. Um Dr. Goggins what was the policy number you stated that you had it was three something? Uh So Ohio Revised Code section 3313. 51. Okay. Thank you. And we have reached our time on this discussion but to conclude so it appears that some next steps maybe scheduling a time with the administration to talk through some of these details. The SRO
026contract currently in place I believe is active until the fall of 2027. Is that an accurate time frame? So it may be difficult to make an adjustment between now and then. However that we can always look have some considerations for future contracts moving forward. There's another point that I want to make here. Some of the things you mentioned in even the email about the like lack of clearly defined goals or role clarity some of those things may be best fit in a committee like board policy or even instructional policy and maybe even like some disciplinary policies and procedures about when does someone step in what is the process when a conflict arises in the building and maybe that could be handled by instructional policy. Does that sound something that as a chair of the instructional
027policy that sounds like you would want to take on Dr. Molnar? Thank you Chair Jeroson and Dr. Lash since you're here as you were speaking Dr. Goggins on my notes I said you know I think 30 to 40% of this you know the restorative trauma informed those types of discussions might be things maybe possibly even some of the training we can have in instructional policy and I think having these tangential conversations are one of the things that as a board we've been speaking of and have you know really um disaggregating and separating out different pieces of a topic in these different committees and then bringing it back together so we can really examine it. Um this might be a great opportunity. So if if you want to fit it into the next one or reach
028out since you're right here. Instructional policy can certainly look at student discipline and um that Well thank you so much for speaking to us and sharing your concern. I appreciate your passion for our students. So I thank you for your time tonight. Again thank you for the opportunity and the NAACP stands ready to to to partner and work with all of you. Thank you. Next item on the agenda was 3.01. I think maybe it's 2.01 on the printed agenda. And that was just the request for a 12-month contract renewal expiration report by the next committee meeting. So essentially what that is is that we have so many different contracts that we are trying to stay on top of and having it a report where each month has a certain number of contracts that renew or
029expire in said month that we as a board can see 12 months out. And that allows us to avoid situations in past meetings where a contract is brought up at the very last minute. The board members are expected to vote on that policy or on that contract with very little preparation or even being able to read it. And so we want to make sure that board members are informed of what contracts are coming up as well as the public should know what contracts are coming up. So this was not a request for tonight to have the report but is that doable for the next board meeting to have a 12-month contract renewal expiration report? Yes Mr. Chair. Excuse [clears throat] me. Sorry. Um we've been in touch Deborah Folk in her business management office serves
030as a hub as well >> [clears throat] >> as far as collecting organizing contracts but I believe you know the district could consider also there's different software programs and different organizational tools out there that can be also helpful in becoming better at organizing streamlining and timeline deadlines for agreements as well. We are working on that per your request in the agenda. Excellent. And the time frame would be the the same? I the timeline for the next meeting would that be the same? Yes that's our target goal. Excellent. Thank you. We'll update you if there's any changes. I appreciate it. All right. Was there another member? No. Okay. And the next thing was there any contracts we should be aware of that expire in February? Not at this time. Not at this time. Okay. Next was
031a just trying to get an update. I know at the last board meeting the pupil transportation was $976,054 variance in November. Do we have a reason as to why it was that high of a variance? Uh that's outside of my legal realm but we have asked Deborah Folk to speak on that for the committee. Thank you. Good evening Chair and members of this committee, and also President Sykes and additional Dr. Molnar and Assistant Superintendent Lash. This particular variance is a result of an approved contract for van transportation, and it it was an increase per route cost per student. We are currently doing around 1,300 students, and as they travel, each route is costing $220 per route. And as the sped student is assigned as an essential of their IEP, we are notified that we need
032to set that up. And the other part of our transport is the McKinney-Vento homeless requirement, where a student qualifies for transport by van also. So, at this point, that contracts those contracts were approved by the board in May of 2025, and we are seeing those services put into effect at the higher rate than it had been in the past. Any questions from the members of the committee? Now, with the budget for the van drivers, are we still within that budget? And do we expect to exceed the budget by the end of the year? We At this point, chairman, we will exceed the original budget that was planned for. The budgets were originally planned in February and March of last year. The process still did improve approve for approximately 1,300 students, but it also depends on
033where they travel, especially with McKinney-Vento. Originally, the law allowed once a student became fully housed, they had then did not need to be transported. The law changed, and that certification now lasts for an entire year. So, therefore, we currently do require transport to school of origin, which can be within five counties. So, as an example, if a student was in Ravenna, but is now housed in Akron, we must take them back to or to school of origin, even though we would certainly like them to enroll in one of our schools. Yes, member Hall. Just two quick questions. The first question, um when you state that if a student comes back to Akron, but their school is still Ravenna, do we receive any funding from Ravenna, or is all of that funding coming from Akron? I
034will be honest with you, as long as they are attending uh Ravenna, the state support goes to Ravenna. That's the school of enrollment. Um >> [snorts] >> McKinney-Vento does not provide any support directly for the transport to school of origin. Okay. So, I guess this is still my first question. So, why is that? Has that ever been looked into? If we're transporting a student to another school out of our district, why are we, you know, um taking on that expense? >> Because that's exactly where they are doubled up or housed at the time of the certification, and the parent can, according to the federal statute for McKinney-Vento, ask that the student still attend, while they are certified, which is for 1 year at a time, the school of origin. And we are obligated under federal
035statute for McKinney-Vento to provide that. Okay. And then just my second question. Sorry about that. Thank you. Um Um my second question is, how many routes do we have? Like, okay, so I'll that's too broad. I guess my question would be, if we have a student living in East Akron, and um we're picking them up on Arlington, there's another student being picked up um on off of in the Wilbeth or somewhere like that. I understand that some of those kids are not on the same bus or same van. Why is that? Why do we have multiple drivers going to the same areas? Um it actually depends on exactly when they are assigned to us or given to us by the particular um office, whether it is the sped or Project RISE. So, they will set
036up the original van, and if a student is added in the same area they're already traveling, and they have an open seat, then we can certainly go ahead and add them to them. It just depends on exactly the timing and when we need to pick them up. We are still under the state requirement for what is called um concise transport. We cannot take a student off a van or a bus until 30 minutes before the school day starts, and we must have them off campus at the end of the day within 30 minutes of dismissal. So, sometimes, you are correct, we try to make sure that we could fill up the vans as appropriately available, which is usually seven seats, except elementaries are six because they cannot sit in the front seat. And but it
037also depends on the timing exactly when we can get them to travel across the the routes to get them, as you said, from, say, the east side of town to the west side, because we don't determine the location of service. The sped office does or the McKinney-Vento Project RISE staff advise where they need to be taken. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Member Montgomery. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, as a follow-up kind of to that, in terms of when we say we're going to run out of budget, and so, what changed from February, when the budget was set, to today? Is it we've had an increased number of students, and we maybe there's some revenue from that, but or is it do we look at the the vent the vendors that we're using for transportation and
038going into the how many people are in a van? Um has that changed? Do we get a number of multiple student transports versus single student transports, and like the optimization of which contract is getting which student and how the routes are done? I mean, if we're working with other offices for them to tell us where they need to go, but that doesn't fit within our budget, I don't know how that works. Okay. So, first of all, the budgets were originally set in the February-March time of the year. At that time, your cost for was $135 per route. The RFP was put out to secure additional vendors, and at the approval of the board's um um May 27th meeting, that route change went elevated from $135 to 220. And so, therefore, there was the original increase
039at the board's approval. The amount of students was originally estimated to be 1,300, but it isn't until we're truly notified as to when students are arrives. So, therefore, first of all, let's talk about sped needing students for an IEP. Uh they go through their process and not all sped students are qualified for transportation as part of their dedicated service on their IEP, and we will know those, especially once after we do the rollover in June. McKinney-Vento is certified from the first day of school through the end of June. So, as an example, when we finished June 30th of 2025, we started to get them recertified, and they started to land in middle of August. We continue to add them on a daily basis until we get to about mid-October, it does tend to change or
040elevate less than it was before, and we try to assign them to the closest van that is already traveling in that area, if they're going to the same school. One thing I can advise is, as an example, we do not always know that the last names of the students are identical to the same. We know an address, but we don't know exactly what they are. So, it could have come in not realizing that Mrs. Brown's students were also named Mr. Mr. and Mrs. Smith. So, we sometimes may miss that error, but we try to correct it as soon as possible. Now, we will see a decrease as you go through the end of the first semester, but families tend to also move again as we open up the second semester, so we may see more
041students qualify to be transported as they go through their uh sped renewals of their IEPs or the McKinney-Vento transports. Um I currently am currently working with a family that school of origin is within Akron Public School, but they are now permanently housed in from school A and school B, and the parent is deciding if she wants to then go to school B. So, it each one of them goes through a very specific process to determine which is the most active way to transport, but we try to fill the vans up as as much as we can, knowing we've got seven seats for middle schools and high schools, and six seats for elementary. But there was an increase from $135 per route to 220. That that's actually my follow-up question. As one of the members that
042wasn't here when that happened, what caused the $90 in I mean, that's a significant percentage-wise increase. Um we put out an RFP to secure services. We had 16 vendors respond. We narrowed it down to eight vendors, and presented that to the board at the meeting of uh the 28th there I'm sorry, the 27th of May. There was an adjustment as to the board's approval of that, and the resulting vendors that was accepted by the board went from 135 to 220. So, all the vendors are 220? The routes by both vendors right now that provide this is 220 per route, yes. Okay, thank you. Yep, member Hall. Thank you, chair. Um one more question. McKinney-Vento, Vento is that grant funded is that grant money coming from the federal government or is that coming out of general
043fund? There is some grant money that it comes through the federal government through the state but I can advise that that funding formula was changed a year before last and it reduced the amount of grant funding that came to support the program by $250,000. But that is based on a formula that is provided by the state as to how it comes. It does not cover general daily transportation. Just the quick It is to cover services. Okay, so it's just for the services not for transportation. So none of that funding would be deducted from >> That is correct. >> this increase. Okay, thank you. Seeing no other hands up. Thank you so much for the answer and for the explanation. Appreciate you. Next up on the agenda there's old business but since this is the standing
044meeting, I don't suspect any old business to be discussed. We'll now move into the 5.01 which is the IT director on Schoolytics. I meant about 10-minute presentation. If you happen to be finished sooner, that's that's okay. So looking forward to seeing what you have to share with us. Good evening honorable board members, Mr. Sapusek, Dr. Lash. My name is Nathan Ruyan and then I'm the director of data and accountability. This is my colleague Lucille Wyant who is the coordinator of software support. We're here to share some information regarding a purchase agreement that is on the January 26 board agenda for Schoolytics which is a data analytics platform. So the technology services department, myself and Lucille, we support the mission to ensure all APS scholars are college, career, and life ready by providing innovative educational experiences.
045We support the vision that all APS scholars will graduate as architects of their future prepared to thrive in an ever-changing world. This project supports Cornerstone 3 which is a commitment to operational excellence where we will improve operational systems and processes to enhance district performance and increased scholar outcomes. So where are we now? We are a very very data rich district but information poor. So our department integrates and analyzes massive amounts of data through a whole bunch of different systems including eSchool, Google Classroom, Munis financial systems, and a whole variety of third-party systems. And this data is so massive that it's difficult to synthesize into actionable insights. We do have an existing system in place and our recommendation is to move that on to another another product. It has a complex user interface. It's not very
046customizable and when we do want to customize it, there's an increased cost and it does have very limited opportunities to upskill our staff you know regarding new initiatives for the platform. So where we would like to be. So we would like to identify at-risk students for interventions early and quickly track those interventions and monitor them for success and then replicate that success. We would like to support and implement predictive analytics. So a predictive analytics would be to how do we take data predict an outcome and then take action on that predictive outcome and then circle back and recycle and analyze that. And AI is very much going to help us do that. We need to create a system and structure where students and teachers can easily access and understand their data. We would like to
047support data triggered workflows. So for example when we see at-risk students with attendance issues, we want to be able to instantly send their parents a very friendly email encouraging them to come to school. And then we want to evaluate high-impact data sets. So what data sets are the most important to increase student achievement and outcomes. Thank you. Last year a committee was formed from a number of members in a variety of different departments. That way we could get a cross selection. We identified three different companies and had demos from all three of them. The reason we chose those companies was because they had both an analytics platform and an MTSS. MTSS stands for multi-tier system of supports and goes along with what Mr. Ruyan had said about intervention. We created a rubric together and Schoolytics
048was the company that scored the highest. This is a sample of what Schoolytics would look like and one of the things they could do is make it very customizable and branded with with APS dashboards and logos etc. What is Schoolytics? Let's take a little deeper dive into it. It is a centralized set of dashboards and as Mr. Ruyan had referenced, we could bring data from Google Classroom, eSchool assessments as well as bring in data from our ERP Tyler Munis. Um currently a lot of our information in addition to being in our analytic platform we have, it's also in reports for Cognos and SSRS and often times our stakeholders are not sure where to go to look for that data. This would provide a centralized platform. Data would be updated nightly and there would be customized
049views for our administrators, principals, teachers, and eventually we could have that for our parents and students as well. Um diving into the other area of Schoolytics for MTSS, it would provide for real-time interventions and allow us to make analysis on the success of those interventions. The MTSS would allow us to identify students on four main areas, their attendance, their assessments, diagnostics grades and behavior and then those students depending on criteria would be tagged as having being intensive, targeted, or universal. And we could assign based on for those designations interventions and more importantly we can decide whether or not that intervention is successful. And so we will only be using things that are we've have a proven track record. Aside from the functionality, there were some other key features that made this product jump out for
050us and the most important one is this dedicated analyst. The dedicated analyst would allow us to have a twice a month meeting with a group or a committee that we would create to get a cross-section from the district and it would help with implementation. It would help with setting a priority on the order of creation of the dashboards as well as guide us in professional development. That way we get use out of the product. We certainly don't want to spend the money and not have an adoption. Um Also, Schoolytics is used by three other districts in Ohio. Those would be Solon, West Geauga, and Lakota. And I'm really hoping that we can have a collaboration and it would allow us to focus dashboards on things that are Ohio specific such as the report cards, their
051grade guarantee. And also they have a parent portal and public facing dashboards. Those would probably be later on in the implementation but the ability to do that is there. So as I mentioned, we do have a recommendation on this upcoming January 26 board meeting for to approve a purchase agreement for $140,000. The agreement would run from February 1, 2026 to July 31, 2027. Schoolytics is giving us access this fiscal year at no cost. So we will be able to gain access as of February 1 and begin to implement the product. There is an estimated cost savings of about $29,000 from our existing system. And we do plan to do a phased implementation to make sure we get it right and get buy-in from our stakeholders. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much for
052the presentation. Are there any questions from the members of the committee or the Yes, member Montgomery. So when you say $140,000, is that just the implementation or is that the annual maintenance maintenance and license? That is the annual cost. So but it was from February to July. So it wasn't it's so it's so we're going to get a year and a half. Correct. >> then is it 140 a year going forward? Yes. So is there a one-time implementation cost? >> No. Oh, okay. Cool. Ultimately, I do want to clarify, you know, the typical increase in technology is about 5% a year. I mean, currently, we do have that agreement in place for that that length of time, but there is no guarantee there would not be an increase in the future. So, it's a one-year
053contract. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Member Hall, yes. Thank you. Um so, the current program that we use costs what, $169,000 a year? That is the quote for next year, correct? >> That's the quote for what we currently have. It was a little less because there is an increase for FY 27. Okay. Okay, so saving the 29,000, so kind of it's a wash with the savings, pretty much. This new program, so if the old program is going to be 160, how much was the old program? Do you know how much The purchase order would have been cut for $169,000 for July. Okay. For the whole next year. What was it last year? Was it more, less? It I want to say it was $155,000, but I would I would I can confirm that for you
054at a later time if you'd like. Oh, no, that's okay. I just wanted to, you know, uh measure it out. So, by doing away with the current program that we have at 169, we're going to go with a program that's 140. And we're actually saving money. Then, okay. And getting more of a product. Okay. Thank you. And then, can I just have a follow-up? Okay. And then, um when you stated that it it identifies at-risk students, it it does it identify them when you put in the information, or is it stating that um when students are missing so much of school, it pulls that up. So, it's it's gathering all of our data from all the schools through this one program? So, my team, the data services, we will be sending files nightly, and that
055would have student attendance as well as their discipline dates. It would also have their diagnostic scores, their state scores. All of that would be there, and then you can set the programming behind the scenes of the dashboard based off of certain criteria. And uh you know, so we we have designated numbers for chronic absenteeism and all of the different tiers, and so we could program that in each dashboard. Thank you. Yep. Yep, Member Molnar. Thank you. Um first, I want to say thank you for bringing this. This was a question when I looked at Monday's agenda, I thought $140,000, that sounds like a lot of money. So, I appreciate hearing what we're spending it on, and now that I hear that's about $7 a student, this is something that every student in our whole district
056is going to potentially use and benefit from, every student and family. Now, it's starting to make a little bit of sense. Um one thing that I might have appreciate would have appreciated in this presentation and in future presentations, whenever there is a rubric that we are using to make a decision, I would love to see an example of what that rubric was, because for us to see that rubric, we can see the features that you were looking for, the features that you valued, the things that you found important, because odds are, if you thought it was important, we would feel it was important. So, I it would help us to see what you determined was important and that whatever you're choosing had and the other things may or may not have had. So, always, please
057share the rubrics with us. Um and then, the last thing is a general question uh for this committee. As you stated, and I'm aware, technology is increasing every year, um especially with AI. Um and do we ever um and as this is new, we don't know if we're going to love it, but we do have some programs that we do love. Do we negotiate multi-year, five-year contracts to uh prevent those increases? We do. So, we are in the process of following up with every vendor that technology services does business with and are asking those precise questions. Yes, Dr. Lash. And then, we'll go to you, Member Sykes. No, Member Sykes will go first. Thank you. As uh could you give us the the population of the three Ohio school districts that's using this now? So,
058Akron has 19,000 plus students. How many students do the other school districts have that's using this system? >> I believe that Solon and West Geauga are considerably smaller, but I believe Lakota is approximately 15. So, could you give us those exact numbers, please? Thank you. Okay. Dr. Lash. I will yield to Member Montgomery. I think his hand was up. Okay. My apologies, uh President Sykes. Um It's not you, this is the chair. Okay. Chair Gerosa, um thank you. I just want to um thank Mr. Ryan and Mrs. Wyatt. Um we are excited about this product because um not just because of this, but one of the um things that we really appreciate is the forward-facing dashboard. Um we've talked about that a number of years, and so to have the capability to have something on
059our website that our public can see, um we're excited about. Uh the other piece is that because um we're educators and we like to see different variations and representations of data, um this company will not charge us every time we ask for a customized look, um which is something that we did face with the the previous. So, in addition to the rising costs, anytime um if we wanted to match um the way the state calculates chronic absenteeism because of a student's FTE, um we had to pay for that. So, this um this company really specializes in customization and making it work for the district, so um those are two good pieces that we're we're looking forward to, in addition to having the accessibility of the data for those early warning systems, kind of that you
060were talking about, Member Hall, to be able to um you know, filter out data in a quick way to see who needs what so that we can respond right now. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Lash. We we are 2 minutes before the end of the meeting. I would like to call for a motion to recommend approving 10.1 to the board at our general meeting on 1/26. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All in favor, indicate by saying I. I. All opposed? Okay, so that's three affirmative, so we'll be making that recommendation of 10.1 for the board's approval. Thank you so much. Now, considering we have within 2 minutes, I know the last item we had was the Actually, that was 5.01. Uh 10.01 is 10.1 is the employment administrator position.
061Did you want to give us a summary? We might have to table this for the next meeting, but give us the summary as to the intent of 10.1. Yes, um I would love to give a summary if we don't have to table it, but I understand um if so. So, this uh position is actually the replacement of my former position, um director of student and family services, and so currently, there is is a vacancy in in that position. Um and cuz I want to uh look at our uh council to make sure I'm not But when you say summary, summary of some of the duties and responsibilities, okay. So, you know, they are very critical functions um with the director of student and family services, from uh student discipline with suspension, uh expulsions, working with
062our special education department, um whenever there are students with disabilities that are um referred for for discipline, definitely implementing the student code of behavior and coaching principals and administrators through that, understanding attendance and truancy laws and how to work with our um county uh juvenile detention center and juvenile court uh for what that support um looks like, um student placement, be it requests for transfers from building to building, uh re-entry of students if they are uh returning from um detention, if they are transitioning from uh building to building, or uh returning from expulsion, those kinds of things, custody, residency, enrollment, open enrollment, bullying, harassment, uh Title IX, uh PBIS, uh the engagement center, student records, work permits, um some of the the typical student services types of of task um make this um critical for
063for our district. I know I have numerous questions about the position. I don't know if the fellow colleagues do, but seeing as it's 5:30, uh I would recommend a tabling of this motion or of this uh item for it to be referred to the 12 or the 2 18 26 committee meeting. Is there a motion to table? No, yeah, I'll second. Member Hall. Um thank you. Uh thank you, Dr. Lash. Just one quick question. Um, I know you made a motion to tabling, but is this position already being works is some is someone in this position doing not as director, but doing the work right now from when you left or are you currently still doing it? >> Yours truly is still doing it. Okay. Seeing as we are over time, is there a motion
064to table? I guess I have another question. >> ahead, Mr. Montgomery. Dr. Lash, the I understand there's a the need to table this to answer more questions. I guess my concern um, there's a specific person we have in mind for this, I believe. Um, are they are are they a current APS employee? I don't remember. Or are they No, they're from the outside. So, what risk do we have of a tabling? Is that By delaying until I mean, if we delay it to the February 18th meeting, then it doesn't go to the board until the meeting on the 20 third or fourth, whenever that is. Um, Member Montgomery, I'm going to look at attorney Saposnik just for Just the guardrails to again advise committee to avoid discussing specific personnel in in public. Uh, we have
065an exception in the executive session rules for that. Um, so as far as any comments on a particular individual, I would advise and request to refrain from from that. I'm not trying to ask about the but we there is a stand. Um, I will say I'm going to look at attorney Saposnik to give me a nod. I will say that and I'm going to look at our executive director of human resources. We did post for the position and follow our processes to select a candidate. Okay. And have there been considerations for redistributing those duties to among the other directors? I know we have 15 directors and the senior staff. Is there any way that that can be delegated to other directors as opposed to being all on you? Well, Chair Giros, when you say as
066opposed to being all on me, when we look at our our other directors and the experience and I am wondering if if we do need to table if you're going to have those specific questions. That way we can, you know, answer them and not feel rushed. Okay. So, I will call the Is there a motion to second? Or Okay, thank you. May I May I Chair? So, can you do you think that you can get the answers to to the questions between now and Monday's meeting that the committee may have? Yes, we have the answers. I think the, you know, concern is just discussing I'm going to use attorney Saposnik's words, discussing person in open You're not discussing a person. We're asking you to discuss the position. Yes. Correct. I understand. Okay, thank you. Thank
067you. Um, so has there been a consideration of redistributing that work? We feel like that work is very specialized and it mitigates a lot of risk for the district when you're talking student discipline, when you're speaking when you're dealing with, you know, students with disabilities and that the truancy, Title IX, sexual harassment, sexual assault, those kinds of things that um, the the weight of that we don't feel at this time that that is work that can be redistributed to another director who has their slate of responsibilities for their department. Okay. Yes, Reverend Okay, Reverend Harrison. Thank you, Chair. I guess mine would be more of a comment. It is really difficult to hear um, this position was on the agenda. It was a late addition to the agenda. Um, so it's really difficult to hear
068that this is such a critical position and we only hear about it a day before we're to vote on it. And so with the many questions, I I I I think everyone would benefit when we have what we would consider a critical position that we have to feel if those conversations, discussions are relatively timely so that we don't have to table, postpone or incur any unnecessary risk by not hiring a person for the position. Thank you. Is there a motion to table? >> [snorts] >> Is there is there an alternative motion someone would like to make? Well, I guess my follow-up question would be as President Sykes mentioned, if questions can get answered between now and Monday, is there a comfort with making a motion to put put it before the board pending the answer
069to questions? >> I would be okay with that. Yes. Then I will make that motion. >> I'll second that. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Okay, three ayes. Thank you. Our next meeting will be February 20 Excuse me, February 18th. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. All right, second. Thank you. All in favor. Aye. All right, thank you. Meeting is adjourned. Okay, sorry.