Board of Education Livestream - 07/28/25

001Heat. Heat. N. Good evening and welcome to the Akran Public School Board meeting held July 28th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. Dr. Thompson. Roll call, please. Mr. Alexander, present. Miss Autry is present. Miss Hall present. Reverend Harrison say present. Reverend Harrison say present. Miss Autry present. Dr. Jackson present. Dr. Molinar present. Mrs. Sykes present. Seven present, zero absent. Okay. Uh, may we please stand for the pledge of allegiance led by board member Altry. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, member Altree. Next, I do not have um is the list to address the board. Oh, here it is. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Okay, we have one uh person signed up to address

002the board. Participants will not be permitted to speak on matters related to vendor, business matters, formal complaints, grievances, specific students or student records, personnel matters, and potential or pending legal matters. Participants must speak on matters related to the business of the board. Please keep your comments to three minutes or less. The board will not respond, but will assign through the superintendent the appropriate person for followup. Please state your name and group affiliation. Um, we have Brandy Vickers from Buckeye Logistics. Good evening, members of the board and superintendent. On behalf of Buckeye Logistics and Transit, I stand before you today with the and pride. Thank you. Thank you for your confidence, your vote, and your vision in selecting Buckeye Logistics and Transit as the primary transportation provider for Akran public schools. This is more than a

003contract. It's a partnership built on trust, accountability, and a shared commitment to the students and families of this city. The vote has opened a new chapter, not just for our company, but for the entire community. Because of your decision, I am proud to announce that Buckeye Logistics and Transit is now the largest minorityowned business in Akran. That that statement represents more than size. It represents progress, perseverance, and purpose. When we first began, we were a group of dedicated drivers who knew that the families we knew were serve. We served them by name. We weren't a corporation. We were our neighbors. And while our structure has grown, that heart, that clo closeness, that community connection remains at the core of everything that we do. To now be entrusted with the safety and care of Akran's children

004on a district-wide scale is both humbling and deeply meaningful. It says something powerful that homegrown minorityled businesses can rise to meet the highest standards of excellence and impact. We don't take this responsibility lightly and we are committed to delivering safe, reliable and compassionate transportation to every student every day. Uplifting our community by hiring locally promote promoting from within and investing in career pathways for those often overlooked. Serving as a model of what equity, inclusion, and professional excell excellence looks like in action. This moment is a milestone, but it's also a launching point. To the board, thank you for believing in our vision. To Akran Public Schools, we thank you for allowing us to serve your families. We also want you guys to know that we want to mend the broken relationship and get back to

005the warm welcoming climate that we once had at APS. And to our Buckeye logistics team, I just want to say thank you to all the van drivers for making this possible through your hard work and integrity. And together, all of us, the board, Bugai Logistics, and APS, we are showing what's possible when community, equity, and opportunity come together. So, thank you guys. Thank you, Miss Vickers. Excellent. Thank you so much for that, Miss Vickers. Uh, next we will have board member community reflections. Are there any? Yes, Dr. Molinar, please. Thank you always, Madame President. Dr. Jackson. Um, so my community reflection today, um, I still don't know what our official student recruitment strategy is. Um, so I'm just going to keep talking about what I've been talking about, which is our summer programs. Um, and

006so I was able to visit some of the amazing summer experiences our kids are having. And so one, it's a third semester, fifth quarter. Um, summer camp was especially inspiring. I even came back with a t-shirt here for the fifth quarter. Um, and this one was with Akran Inner City Soccer Club also. Um, so this camp was led by Coach Todd and Alexandria Hubert, one of our APS elementary teachers from Portage Path and I was there for the presentations and these were studentled projects around the theme, how can we bring soccer into our community? And anyone that works with middle schoolers knows the work involved in building the rapport to achieve studentled group projects and presentations, especially in a tight three-week timeline and over summer. And the fact that they accomplished this task and it

007was held in a church. So it didn't have all the amenities that our school buildings would have. And so it didn't have air conditioning or Wi-Fi. And these students still made these amazing commercials, like Tik Tok style commercials where they ran around and had cell phones and you saw everyone's face. This is why I love soccer. This is why I love my community. And there are so many wonderful presentations. And I would love um I don't know the progress on our student success committee and who is leading that but um this is not the only fifth quarter uh APS summer program and to have the students share their studentled presentations through their voice and their experience rather than me just rambling on going it was great they passed a phone around. Um I would love

008to highlight the students in that way. Um and at the end you could tell how much the students enjoyed it. They got soccer balls and they all had Sharpies and they were signing each other's balls like they're autographing each others because they do go to different schools and so a lot of the students didn't know each other until this camp and now they uh hopefully will be friends forever. Some of them will go to school together next year and they didn't know it until they were together at this camp. Um so and as coach Todd said um he said I think this program went well overall. the kids had fun and learned a great deal. And from my perspective, his perspective, this is a great program to help promote mental and physical fitness for our

009youth. So, thank you to everyone running all of these programs. I hope to um highlight it more with our community. And then the last thing uh with our last 30 seconds uh here. I know we have our back to school zoo backpack giveaways, but this weekend is also Ohio's taxfree weekend. And so I know that there are a lot of families looking forward to buying their school supplies and things this weekend. And so um if we could share supply lists or information on how to figure out who your teacher is and what parts of the supplies are actually what your class needs or if there are any specific things so uh families can buy them and be ready for school. Time to go back to school. Excellent. Thank you Dr. Molinar. Are there any board

010community reflections? Yes, Miss Hall. Member Hall, excuse me. Thank you, Madame President. Um, yesterday, um, there was an empowering youth football camp at Griffin Stadium hosted by a few different graduates of Akran public schools that actually graduated from BKO. Um, and they put on a football camp for our youth. Um, as well as gave free physicals. And you know, sometimes physicals can be challenging when you're trying to get your kid in sports and you can't get that doctor's appointment, right? So, this was a wonderful camp. Um, they had girls and boys on the field. Um, so I just want to say thank you to the book alumni for hosting this event for our youth um and just trying to make a difference. Also, um, OSHA just declared that girls flag football is now up and

011rising. So, that's official by the state. And, um, I know that we have a couple schools that have flag football teams. I know with Akan Early College and a few other schools and my little one's starting to play flag football, too. So, it's not just a boy sport, it can be a girl sport, too, with flag football, no tackle. Um but other than that um I will say at our next board meeting I will announce um where all the different um supply giveaway so that families will know where they can go. A lot of them will be starting August 17th and forward all the way to school. So I will um announce that information as well as if we don't have it miss at APS um I can send you the flyers. Maybe we can

012post that on our website um to let our families know where who and where they can receive free book bags, school supplies, and all of that. All right. Thank you, Member Hall. Are there any other board member community or school reflections? Yes, member Altry. Thank you, Madam President. Uh since we last met, I had the opportunity to attend additional parades. um the Mador Parade um and the Canton Community parade. And I just again want to thank the coaches who take the time with our young people. I think every cheerleading team from our high school and middle schools participated, several of them even placed. So, it's just nice to see them out in the community and other communities representing APS and being recognized and awarded uh for their hard work. And so, that's actually all that

013I have today. So, thank you to those coaches and to all of our cheer teams. No problem. Thank you, member Altry. Are there any board member community reflections, school or community reflections? All right, seeing um and hearing none, we'll move on to the president's report. Um Dr. Molinar, to your point, um as we discussed, I think it's very important for us to get the student success committee up and rolling. I've spoken with the superintendent so that when we begin in August with our committee meetings that that committee uh will convene as well. U member Hall will serve as a chair since it's replaced in the last committee which she chaired and I think that would be an excellent um opportunity to for all the culminating um programs that you've been speaking about since this summer

014to kind of be recognized and highlighted. So just uh for that little tidbit of information also um since the last time we met this month um I want to say first I'm honored to shine a spotlight a spotlight on the power of legacy. Many people who know me know that I um I love legacy. I think legacy is very important. Um and this legacy deals with the community and opportunities that have been provided to our students. There are three themes that continue to shape the work that we do in my opinion here at Akran public schools and the lives of the students and families we serve. And honoring legacy is one of those things. So I want to highlight the Orlando Green Foundation. The Orlando Green Foundation. It exists to honor the legacy of a

015beloved coach by equipping high school students with the resources, mentorship, and opportunities they need to pursue their academic dreams. In the spirit of legacy and empowerment, we are proud to recognize three phenomenal scholarship recipients whose journey exemplify purpose, service, and leadership. Dallas Gator, a student from Bookto CLC, a recent graduate, said that for him, legacy is profoundly linked to purpose. Dallas is receiving a scholarship to help him attend the Ohio State University and he's looking to study mechanical engineering. Um he excelled academically while also participating in football, bowling, track, and completing 140 hours of community service. And I think that's something to um commend this young man about. Yeah. Um also we have Aaya White. She attends Akran Early College and she stated that some people think of legacy in terms of success, wealth or

016fame, but she think it's more personal. She will major in forensic science at Bowling Green State University. She uh was a leader in athletics, many civic programs, and student voice. and she finally said that she believes legacy is the ability and power to inspire to support justice and to continue um being an example to those around her. Now also Aaya was um a recipient of a scholarship also um from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated their catillian so she's doing great things and lastly is Savon Wright another young man from BookTo CLC and he says you have to leave a loving impression on someone in order to have a legacy and I thought the things these young people said concerning legacy was very moving Savon will study education at Kent State University one of our uh

017partners he's a strong servant leader and faith-driven advocate. His goal is to become a principal and establish a scholarship for minority lowincome students, embodying faith, humility, and servant leadership in everything he does. This young man is one of the young people also, as I spoke about last meeting, who I seen working as part of our jobs program within the community and uh so definitely wanted to h highlight that. Additionally, I want to highlight the Garfield CLC community flea market. I was not able to attend and anyone who knows me knows I am a thrifter. I love thrifting and my pastime or any extra time and so the board however had a retreat so I was unable to attend that but I heard great things about this event um and many people really liked it the

018connection the feeling of local pride. also Akran Sneaker Academy. Dominique came and presented to us um earlier in this year about the sneaker academy and since the last time we met uh this over this past weekend I believe they had the academy expo and it showcased um interdisciplinary projects um stemming from uh melding literacy arts and social emotional learning through the lens of sneaker culture which I think is very cool because when we engage kids with stuff that they like it it um keeps them uh from negativity during the out of school time hours. So, I want to congratulate all the students who participated and also um Dominique and his whole staff that worked with our young people. Also, um shout out to I Promise um and the LeBron James Family Foundation for celebrating five

019years since they first started the I Promise Village. And the reason why I know some people wonder when we I speak about things like this, why? because these are supporters and these are those wraparound services that help our students in our community. And when we understand the focus of the I Promise Village and how it was created to help our families in need to have a sense of stability until they're able to get on their feet, I think that's something we really need to recognize and highlight and be thankful because it does take a village to help build strong communities. So, congratulations to uh the LeBron James Family Foundation on the I Promise Village fifth year. Additionally, which when I first came on this board, I was the liazison for Book and I loved it.

020Even though we all know that I'm a Garfield Ram, it was just very good to see positive things happening in a school in the area that you do not hear often the positive things that are happening within the walls. So recently, thanks to Remedy Church and the Book National Honor Society, a community food pantry um which is able to continue support local families were able to give out tons of food and also exemplify leadership with students in giving out um food to the surrounding BTO cluster community. And so I really like to give a special thanks to the Remedy Church, to uh Dr. uh Sims who works there as a counselor at BTO for helping with these efforts and for helping to support our community. And lastly, over the weekend, our board participated in a

021retreat. This retreat was deeply engaging, collaborative, and insightful. Despite the focus of recent coverage on financial challenges and governance difficulties, the retreat offered a strong foundation for unity and vision centered planning. Our experience was forward-looking. Instead of dwelling on deficits alone, we prioritized team building, open dialogue, the treasurer search, and goal setting with the superintendent, engaged in constructive discussion about how to strengthen communication and governance practices and in my opinion emerge with a renewed sense of purpose and belief in our collective capacity to lead. I'm very encouraged by the spirit of collaboration and mutual support shown throughout the retreat. It reaffirmed what many of us have long believed that we are in fact stronger together. Moving forward, I am confident that by continuing to work cooperatively with one another and with our superintendent, we can

022effectively guide this district toward meaningful improvements for our students, family, and staff. For it is truly a privilege to lead a board and serve a district that remains focused on the positive impact of education, community, and shared responsibility. The stories of legacy from Dallas, AA, and Savon together with the powerful community engagements and renewed board unity remind us that our best work lies ahead. Let us carry this energy forward into the new school year and beyond. Respectfully, Miss Jackson. Next, we will have the superintendent report updates. Thank you, Madame President. At this time, I would like to ask for Tina Lockrey, the principal at Firestone CLC, to come forward. Um, she will share an update regarding our FAST program. Um, at a couple board meetings, we've had questions and Tina actually reached out and volunteered

023to come down to help address any questions that we may still have. Thank you, Tina. Thank you. Thank you, board members, for having us today. Um, I want to start with some recognition. Um, since I got the floor for just a tiny second, um, I'd like to introduce, um, the Ohio High School Athletic Association, um, award winner for sportsmanship, ethics, and integrity award, and that's our boys and girls swimming coach, Cindy Dial. She also is the 2025 senior coach of the year for Lake Erie swimming and she has won this award more than any coach in the history of Lake Erie swimming. The 2025 age group coach of the year is Carl Shallenburgger who is our assistant coach at Firestone. And so I'd like to introduce him as well. and they represent the 2025 club

024community service award that the fast program run by their sock drive for project rise. So they are also the Lake Erie swimming community service club award winners. They'll tell you that that's their most important award because it's what we give back to the community. And so that's what we want to highlight tonight is all of the programs that happen through the natiatorum and that you'll keep funding the staffing for. And then we're going to explain why the staff keep coming up on the agenda. So if you could move ahead a couple slides or do I get to control it? It's my first time. And so there's coach Dial at the um state swim meet. All right. So, Akran public schools uh has the uh natiatorum. It is housed at Firestone and has the Firestone varsity

025and JV swim team as has been mentioned at the board meetings. Um students from other schools can um be on a swim team and if they're interested, they would contact Coach Dial um and that's how they would get the information. And our season runs from November to February. And we also have offseason practices that run with the fast program um that swim yearong. The one is the fast. So those are communities uh members from all over and our different age groups. And then the other one is our Firestone swim team. Other things that occur in the the pool area. Uh this summer um our swim team and the fast program hosted the I Promise School Nike Learn to Swim Camp. It was a partnership with the LeBron James family foundation. Um we have a Catalina

026club with our synchronized swimming. Um you may not know that Dr. Molar was in the synchronized swimming show this year in the staff number. Anyone who'd like to come and swim next year is more than welcome to uh to join. All of the middle schools and high school engineering programs come over to Firestone and race cardboard boxes through the pool. Um, we have had uh members uh volunteer to be inside a cardboard box and try to race it across the pole. Uh, we are very That's a fun day. Um, Coach Carl is currently working with two Elliot students um in order to pass their swim test in order to get into the Navy. um they are very excited and they're taking that back to the ROC and the other students. So, that's something we're looking

027to grow and we'll be looking for maybe some support of of a policy that would allow that to come during the school days. Uh varsity sports field trips. This is something we started to to explore of a recovery model with our partnership with the Akran Children's Hospital uh athletic trainers and utilizing the pool as a different type of workout for student athletes. And so we're looking and exploring what that would look like. Um and so we're very excited for where that could go as well. And then we have FAST. So the Firestone area swim team is a 503CB that swims out of the uh rents the nuditorium. Um you can join them by emailing Firestone Ninja.com in order to join. They have the swim academy which is the lessons all summer long. We only have

028one week left to go, but when spring break rolls around next year and you start to get hot, think of us swim lessons. Adult Sunday swim uh is Sundays at 9:00 a.m. You have to be 18 and over and pass a swim test. Uh adult learn to swim. If you have a fear of water and you want to um get over that, you can email Coach Shelenburgger and we offer adult learn to swim classes. And then we also do Red Cross lifeguarding certification classes. And so all of that happens in our nitorium. In addition, uh coach Cindy can talk about that the employees of the pool maintain the pool area. So, we're pretty uh particular about how we keep the pool clean and um and manage our our pool. Um with the disinfection of the

029pool, we this is something that we were very particular about. Like I said, it is something that is done daily. um the with the pool deck because of people walking through with with regular shoes on. Um we do and the and the pool chemistry if we can't use regular chemicals on cleaning that. So we do have our staff clean the deck. We don't have the janitorial staff clean the deck. Plus it's a safety issue because we do have some janitorial staff that are afraid of the water and you put somebody out there that has a fear of the water cleaning the pool deck that doesn't go very well handinand. Um Carl and I take care of all the the uh pool chemistry. So we do have to have a little bit of a a background

030in chemistry to balance all that all the time. And we don't have our other staff doing that because we do have college uh students as well as high school students working as lifeguards. So that is all on Carl and I as far as the the filter room, the pool equipment. Um it's a whole another whole another world down there. Um, and we do make sure that we have our our staff trained. All the certifications, it's not just lifeguarding, it's first aid, it's CPR, it's all the things that you guys have to do with the background checks, we have to do double because of all the the coaching certifications that we have to have. And then finally, all the staffing. And you're you guys are going to have another one tonight to to approve. um with

031the the college and and the high school staff that we have, it's it's a lot of them only have to work maybe one or two days a week. So, we have to hire a lot of folks coming in. Our college kids are getting ready to ship on out. So, we have to have a whole another group of kids coming in that are University of Akran or Kent State that are going to be around. So, you'll see a lot of those coming through. But luckily that they come around and they stay around. They they'll come back next summer. So hopefully as long as they don't get uh deactivated that we have to have them do the everything all over again. So we we luckily we have a very good alumni group that come back around. So

032a lot of our staff are professionals. We have a nurse on staff. Um we have other professional engineers but again we have a very big staff but they only work one or two days a week. So that's why you see so many board wrecks coming through from us. We have a whole lot of people doing very short things throughout the week and then if you have any questions we can answer those. But thank you for giving us this time to highlight the program. Hopefully um show the community that the pool is open for everyone and if they reach out or we'll reach out to them if you know someone who needs something u we'd love for you know the pool to be utilized by the whole Akran community. Thank you for that. Uh bo board

033member questions at this time. member hall. Hello. Thank you so much for coming down. Who tells your story better than you, right? Um, no, I do appreciate that because all we hear, you know, again, we see these come through and we're like, okay, we just approved this, now we're approving it again. Um, and not realizing that you offer all of these programs. I know when the world opened back up after the pandemic, my daughter took some private lessons um with a couple of the students. Um but we never knew about adult swim. Um teaching adults how to swim, which is very important. Um so thank you for coming and sharing that information with not only us but with the community so that they know. So we can no longer say me no longer say why

034is this only available to the Firestone students because I wasn't educated enough to know the difference. So I appreciate you coming down and letting us know exactly what's going on and how we can utilize the pool. So thank you. Thank you member Hall. Are there any other board member questions? Member Autry, please. Thank you uh Madame President. Thanks again for your presentation. So I'm one of those scared adults. Um, and I'm ashamed that at this age that I I can't swim. Um, it's estimated that probably 80% of African-Americans cannot swim. Um, do you guys do any tracking as to how many uh students that you touch in the summertime um with your swim lessons? Right now we probably well with the the Nike IPS camp we had 110 kids come through this year which is

035phenomenal. Um and this was our third year doing that. So a lot of those kids from what where we had from year 1 to year three these kids were swimming with and a lot of them swimming laps of the pool which is something we want to keep exploring. But just in our um our swim academy we probably have had um probably close to 150 kids come through. And again, this is our last week of of the swim of the swim academy, and it has been full every week that we've that we've had. So, it's it's pretty phenomenal. And again, we just doing it uh bi-weekly uh uh offering it each week, 4 days a week, and keeping the cost down um very low just to at least cover our our bases and opening it up

036to the community. And I think that's what's the most important thing is to get the kids in and to teach them to be water safe. I have a followup. Yes. Go ahead. Thank you. So, are you saying it's like 150 per summer that you're about 150 kids per summer? Okay. And so my last question, um, historically speaking, how often are you seeing students from other high schools participate on the Firestone swim team? On the high school team? Yes. Um, we get quite a few in. Um, on the high school team, we'll have kids actually, um, I don't want to say transfer in, but open enrollment. We'll get quite a few in with that. Like, like this year with Saint V not offering a a team, we'll get all the Saint V kids in. But on

037the FAST program, we have a lot of kids. Okay. So for the actual swim team because I know you say any student could come. The practices are pretty early in the morning. My understanding. Absolutely. But again, this is part of who we are because it teaches them responsibility, dedication. Um it teaches them to do hard things. Isn't life hard? I mean, seriously, you know, if if a kid can do that and go through, you can you can accomplish great things. You can do college. That's a breeze. So, yeah, 6 am practice three days a week. You can do it. I've been doing this for 44 years. And again, people say I'm a uh maybe I'm more military. Carl and I have been doing this and we we produce some pretty good kids, pretty good adults.

038Thank you. Uh member member Hall, please. Just real quick, I'm sorry. Just to piggyback off of uh member Altri's statement question, how many kids do you not transferring in that are from other schools outside of Firestone within APS? How many of those students come and join the Firestone swim team? Like if a student from Elllet or East or Book or Garfield wanted to swim, do you have any of those kids? currently? No. But we have had kids in the past, okay, that have have come in. Uh we've had kids from um from Garfield in the past. We've had kids from um from Book in the past come in and come to Firestone. in the past and I don't know if this has changed but in the K in the past if a if a student

039wanted to swim and they say we're at Elllet they would actually come to Firestone be become a Firestone student to be on the team because what we have going on is because we are in different divisions. So Elllet is division two, we are division one. So that would mean we would have to have another coach for a division two because the schedules are very different. So we can get that information for you and we can also get you the number of students who open enroll um to Firestone and become a Firestone student through the open enrollment process. So there are students uh Firestone has a large open enrollment population. Um so I will get you all of that information and get it to you with numbers. Well, like quick followup. Yes, please. Just a quick

040followup. We were told that students can from other schools come and join the Firestone team where they don't have to open a row. They don't have to correct, right? Come to Firestone. So, because we don't have any, is it are we looking into that or is that just something we don't want to do if they're not going to transfer over to Firestone? And because if they're if if they're a student at Ellen, they're division two, but Firestone's division one, they don't have a swim team. But I understand how you know OSHA could work. But have we ever explored that to say okay well if kids from level division two or division three want to swim have we tried to explore that or open it up to kids to come? Yes. And not have to transfer

041to someone interested usually they swim for a club at the high school level just like students do AAOU for basketball. if they are interested there then this is who they would contact as Firestone in this area and we would absolutely do everything. Um there's lots of programs that have this. We have a gymnast for Firestone. You probably don't know that because they don't come through the board but we support them then because we have a gymnast who you know has a club. She works out of that but she competes as a Firestone student. And other schools have that as well. So there's no one right now, but if there's someone out there who is seeing this or hearing this or getting this through word of mouth, um then that would be what we would do

042and APS would then use that supplemental contract for the coach if we needed to from that school. So yes, it's all can work. Yes, Dr. Molinar, please. Thank you. Um, as far as I see that there's two separate tracks for competition and so there's the Firestone team that if we could also have extra coaches, but we also have the fast league. So, can you kind of help us to understand how many students that don't go to Firestone that might be competing on the fast league and the types of competitions that they do if they make out of state competitions and awards? So fast, the easiest parallel to that is what people are familiar with is AAU basketball. So fast is the group that is the club. Um so the age groups there vary. Um it's

043not all high school students and that's why it's larger. So um coach style can give you exact numbers of fast. Yeah, that our fast team starts at basically age four and goes up to the collegiate level. In the summertime we do have college swimmers that come back. Yes. Um, but on the fast team, are they primarily Firestone students or do we have students from outside of the Firestone cluster? All over. Uh, yes, Dr. Thompson. Thank you, Dr. Molar. Thank you. Ju just to clarify any student even a student that does not attend Akran public schools if their high school does not offer a swim team they can swim on your varsity swim team as a division one they have to compete at the division of which the school they attend. So you don't have to

044hire any additional coaches or anything of that nature. you just they just come they have to get there obviously and that's probably an impediment but as far as any other requirements or additional staff that's uh that's not the case unless enough came that required you know to add additional staff because the number's too large but they would swim division one right well because that you just said you just said excuse me you just that was two different statements that were made. We'll make sure we follow up with the clear policy from Mr. Vaselott's office. We'll we'll give you that exact wording because we do have as M Dr. Thompson said um students who swim from Firestone from district schools who are now part of the Firestone swim team because their school doesn't have an act

045which I understand that but the different divisions we'll we'll get it in writing from you from Dr. from Mr. Vaselotti so that we're not breaking any Ohio high school athletics and that we'll I just want I want to clarify with him so that we don't we don't end up in a No, no problem. Thank you. Are there any other board members questions? All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Backpack adventure. Come join us at the Akran Zoo for our APS students entering grades kindergarten through fifth grade during the 2526 school year. What will be provided? Free admission to the Akran Zoo for students and two guests. Free backpack filled with school supplies while supplies last. Family fun resources and entertainment. That's coming up next week. Tuesday, August 5th, 2025, and also on Wednesday, August

0466 from 4 to 8:00 p.m. So, we hope that all our K through fifth grade families join us next week at the zoo. We are excited to invite you to join us as we kick off our 2526 school year at our annual staff convocation at the University of Akran. James A. roads are also known as the JAR Arena on Monday, August 18th from 8:15 to 9:15. This year, our theme is APS forward, achieve, propel, sustain. At this time, um, we want to say thank you to all of our partners, families, and supporters who generously donate and provide grants to support our scholars. And we want you to know that your contributions are truly appreciated. I would like to bring to the attention of the board that under section 10.1 you will see the resignation of

047Dr. Tama Caver. And I would like to take this moment to ask her to come forward. I didn't say come stand. So I remember when Dr. Caver first joined our APS family. I was in the position of executive director for school leadership and all of the principles presented uh updates on their schools highlights because they wanted her to see the good work that was going on in Akran public schools and was excited to see her take us to the next level. And so I just wanted to take this time to thank you Dr. Caver and to present you with this certificate. And it says, "In recognition of your leadership and dedication to Akran public schools, you have consistently demonstrated the courage to make tough decisions, always with the best interests of our students at heart.

048We thank you for your leadership and your wisdom. You are wish continued success in your future endeavors. Thank you, Superintendent Alli. Thank you, uh, board, uh, board president Jackson, um, Vice President Alexander, and board members. Thank you so much. This means a lot to me. Um I'm very proud of the work um being a part of the team while I was here at Akran public schools and I wish you all much success in your future and I'll be in touch with Miss Outley. Thank you. Thank you President Jackson. That does conclude my report. Thank you Superintendent Outley. Next we'll have the treasurer report. Dr. Thompson. Uh, thank you, Madame President, Board of Education, and um, Superintendent Ali. Just a Today I attended the latest briefing on House Bill 96, and there's just a few notes

049that um, I thought I would share just to make sure they're on your radar. Um I'm sure that um Deborah Folk is on this, but transportation um through an interesting wrinkle. If we're out of school, historically, if we were closed, then we didn't transport anyone. But now we'll be required to transport community school students even if we're closed for some reason. So that's going to take some some coordination. Uh Brandy Vicker said she'd take care of it all. Um there there is also a 10 million dollar grant that's available for safety for bus safety. So that's probably something we should jump on. Interesting change on the state board of education levels. Those no will no longer be elected positions. They'll be appointed by the uh governor. um schoolboard policies which were ahead of the game

050here on but cell phones will be prohibited at the from the start of the day until the end of the day. You can't bring them out at lunch. Um it's very specific policy that begins January 1, 2026. Um AI is we need to adopt a policy by July of 2026. It's how AI will be handled um at the at the uh educational level. Religious instruction re uh there that is uh very specific. One period a week in elementary school will allow students to um engage in some religious activity. uh middle school gets two periods per week and high school gets two units per week. Cyber security where we we are required to adopt a program um with safeguards in place which we do have uh but this is an addition an interesting twist. Districts cannot

051pay ransom without uh legislative approval. So something to keep in mind, diagnostic assessments are changing uh significantly with a real focus on science of reading, but to Dr. Caver's credit and the department's credit, they're already ahead of of that as well. Uh advanced standing, in other words, uh a 5.0 weighted scale uh is now required for career tech programs. So, they're going to have to figure out a way to build that into career tech. Um, advanced, this is an interesting one, too, which will be very challenging. Advanced math placement. So, if you score in the top two boxes of the standardized test, you will automatically advance uh to a higher math class uh regardless of whether you meet any of the other qualifications. Parent can opt them out, but that's the only way out. or

052the student skips if it's an elementary the student would skip two grade levels. So the logistically I'm not sure how that's going to work. Teacher assignments the superintendent controls uh where teachers are in teacher assignments is not based on seniority and however that doesn't go into effect until your current CPA expires. RISA, which is the resident educator program, that's been eliminated. Uh, financial literacy. So, we are now required to have the program 60 hours or a half credit in the high school. Early childhood education grants available at 130 million. Worth looking into CTE 7th and eighth grade waiver will go away. So that means um you have to have some type of programming in place and I believe we're on that as well. The forecast has some significant changes. Uh you must send in with

053your forecast your appropriations complete appropriations. It looks like the 5-year forecast is going to a three-year forecast. it is appears uh this year. October 15th is when the next 5-year forecast will be due, but after that it'll be August 31st. So that means we're going to close books and do a 5-year forecast. Bang bang. That's going to be challenging for the finance departments. 15% operational budget um ceiling on cost of administrators. So, just so you know, currently APS according to our cup report is at 6.7%. Right now, which is pretty good. And that's all of my I thought was the main updates from House Bill 96. I'll type them up and send them to you um so you don't have to try to remember all that. But um but I I just came from there

054to to our to our board meeting. Um the you're going to be asked to approve the monthly financial report. And what I want to really point out is um despite the turbulence, if you look at that page three, it'll show you that our revenue compared to the 5-year forecast, we missed by $295,000. That's spot on, folks. Um spot on. average miss across the state was 7.7%. They were off on their forecast. That is off by 01. Um and then if you go to the green box are um cash balances, we were off by $1 million, which is 03. Right above that box though to bring to your attention that I know we're all very well aware of is we spent $17 million um more than we brought in. So we're in deficit spending. We known

055that we've been in deficit spending, but that's going to be a challenge moving forward. And then finally, I never write anything down, but I wrote this one down. So, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the Akran Public School Board of Education for the incredible opportunity to serve as a CFO treasurer over the past three years. It's been an honor to work on behalf of the students and families of this community, and I'm sincerely thankful for the trust that you placed in me. Thank you to the administration and support staff. Thank you for your collaboration, professionalism, unwavering dedication to our mission. I have been continually inspired by the commitment to doing what's right for our students, and that's not always easy to do. I want to express my best wishes to Superintendent um Miss

056Outley. As she leads the district forward, I have full confidence in her ability to bring healing and clarity and a renewed purpose to the Akran public schools. To the leadership of the Akran Education Association, thank you for your steadfast commitment to students and to the educators who serve them. I especially appreciate your willingness to engage in a goodfaith dialogue in collaboration with the administration to reach a fair and equitable tenative agreement. and most importantly to the entire finance department. Words truly cannot express my gratitude. You are an extraordinary group of professionals whose talent, dedication, and integrity make a profound difference every single day. Saying we are family may be a cliche in some places, but in our department, it is the absolute truth. We are a family and I will miss each of you deeply.

057Thank you for the privilege of serving alongside you. That concludes my report. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Is there a motion to approve the June 2025 financial report? So move. It's been moved by member Sykes. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Harrison. Is there any discussion? Member Sykes. Thank you, Madam Chair, Madam Chair, members of the board. I actually was going to say my comments for the resolution and accepting Dr. Thompson res resignation, but since he said some things right now, I think this would be appropriate time to say thank you, Dr. Thompson for for uh your work with the finance committee and for your uh quickly responding to our questions and concerns and issues that we had on the finance committee. Uh as you know, you constantly say House Bill 96

058and I said budget bill. We kind we kind of go back and forth with that. I want to in particularly thank you for the forecasting that you did because it is extraordinary to be able to forecast with such precise numbers so that we know where we are and where we're going and that those numbers, you know, we can't tell the future, but because of yourself and your staff being able to take a look at where we are, it helps us to plan better when we are so precise uh on where we are as far as our forecastings are concerned. Thank you for the updates that you constantly gave to us on the budget and what was happening with the budget bill, House Bill 96. And uh and and I want to say thank you for

059the levy work that you did. You know, quite often uh I found myself having to call to ask you questions about that or ask you to attend a meeting to answer questions with groups like the Chamber of Commerce or the Beacon Journal or some other groups that had some questions about the levy. and you were always there. You always came. You always participated in the whole levy process. And because of your clearness and your exactness and explaining where we are, where we were trying to go, and if we did not pass the levy, what would happen to this district uh made all the difference in getting the support that we needed from the community. So, I sincerely thank you for that. And finally, I want to thank you for being exact and precise as you

060talked to this board about what was happening with union negotiations and being able to keep us up to date and to explain to give us examples and options as to where we should go, what will happen if we do this, if we do that. I sincerely appreciate it. I thank you for your service. I thank you for your work with Akran public schools and on behalf of the children and the staff I thank you for your professionalism that you have shown and the fun that you've shown throughout the years the time that I've been here on the board. Thank you so much and I wish you all the very best. Excuse me. Thank you. Are there any other board uh comments? All right. Seeing and hearing none, Dr. Thompson, roll call, please. Mrs. Sykes, yes.

061Mr. Alexander, yes. Miss Audrey, yes. Miss Hall, yes. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Molinar, yes. Motion carries 70. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Next, we'll have the approval of our previous meeting minutes. Um, we have two minutes to approve. Is there a motion to approve our uh regular board meeting minutes for July 14th of 2025? I make a motion to approve our regular meeting minutes for July 14th, 2025. Thank you. It's been moved by member Hall. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Altry. Any discussion hearing and seeing none, Dr. Thompson, roll call, please. Mr. Alexander, yes. Miss Autry, yes. Miss Hall, yes. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Molinar, yes. Mrs. Sykes, yes. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Next. Is there a motion to approve our special board meeting

062minutes for July 18th of 2025? I make a motion to approve our special board meetings um held on July 18th, 2020. I'm sorry. Yeah, that's correct. July Yeah, July 18, 2025. Thank you, Member Hall. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Autry. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none, Dr. Thompson. Roll call, please. Miss Autry, yes. Miss Hall, abstain. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Molinar, yes. Mr. Sykes, yes. Mr. Alexander, abstain. Motion passes 50 with two abstensions. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Next is our personnel recommendation. Superintendent Outley. Thank you, President Jackson. Does the board have any questions about per the personnel items for section 10? Uh se I'm sorry. No, I was just going to reiterate. Are there any questions for personnel items from board members in section 10? All right.

063See you hearing now. You may continue. Superintendent. Section 11, miscellaneous. Section 12, supplemental contracts. Section 13, substitute teachers. Question. Yes. I'm sorry. back to section 12. Uh 121. Looking at 121. Um actually no, there was no question. My apologies. That's okay. My notes. Thank you. Um section 14, tutors. section section 15 support staff member hall. Okay, I do have a question here. Um section 154 um there are two um people here where it looks like the pay went from like higher to lower. Is that correct or was that a glitch? One went from 1521 to 1461 and one went from 1551 to 1521 with the degree. Member Hall, I'm sorry. Could you tell me which I didn't hear? 154. Mhm. Oh, 154. And if we're looking at the box below, um, one, it's the fourth

064one down and also the last one. Mhm. The rates went down. Was that a glitch or was that Oh, I do notice that. I'm going to check. It appears Yeah. that it's degree specific instead. So, but it went down. Well, the one for the excuse me for speaking, but the one for associates degree they start they started at 1551 and then it goes 1521. So, it dropped down and then the other one started at 1521 regardless of degree or not it dropped down to 1461. So, I see member hall I was going down in that way. So, I see. Okay. Um, Mr. Was please. Good evening. Um I will have to verify for you in that regard. I believe there was these are corrections that are being made for those two, but we'll follow up

065with the verification for you. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. May continue. Does that conclude member hall? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Uh superintendent may continue. Uh 16, paraprofessionals. Section 17, child nutrition. Section 18, maintenance, operations, transportation. Section 19, security. Section 20. There are no items for students. If there are no questions, I wish to recommend the approval of the personnel recommendations presented in categories 10 through 20. Thank you, Superintendent. One moment, please. Uh, Vice President Alexander. Yes. I was wondering with those two items that uh Mrs. Hall talked about should we be voting on those or should we pull those off and vote later? How's that work? Cuz they're the the uh difference in their rate of pay. Thank you for that. Uh member Alexander, uh Mr. Wamus, if because I think it would be

066right to remove those u before we vote on them and it's not the correct pay scale. It is it is my understanding these are corrections because it does reference in there what was previously sent to board for all of them. So all of these are corrections from what had previously gone to board. So that is my understanding this is a correction to what had previously went to board on I think it listed the date there. So these are correct. Yeah. So the change the part the part where it's decreased is the accurate correct amount. Correct. And so it's just updating it correct change. Understood. Okay. I I just want to make sure cuz we're going to come back to us come back. I was thinking, wait a minute, do we need to vote on that

067or not? But these are the corrections and I'm okay. Correct. The other the proper correction. Yeah, it was previously approved on June June 23rd because these were corrections being made from that meeting. Okay. Thank you. You Thank you. It's always good to have clarity before we vote. Um, superintendent, we were at the motion, correct? All right. Um, is there a motion to approve the personnel recommendations presented in categories 10 through 20? So, I'm sorry. So, so move. It's been moved by member Alexander. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Altry. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. Dr. Thompson. Roll call vote, please. Miss Hall, yes. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Molinar, yes. Mrs. Sykes, yes. Mr. Alexander, yes. Abstain from 10.7. Miss Autry. Yes. Yes. Motion carries with one abstension

068on 10.7 and 70 on the balance. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Next is the division recommendations, resolutions, and motion. Superintendent Alvin. Thank you, President Jackson. If I may first um ask that we recognize that under item 10.4 for was the employment of a general counsel. And that gentleman is here this evening and we just wanted to give an opportunity to um briefly read a bio and just have him stand for you. No words, just a bio. Thank you. Good evening. We have David Sepusk is a highly accomplished attorney and strategic advisor with extensive experience in public education, higher education, civil rights compliance, and risk management. It brings over 20 years of legal and leadership experience working with K12 districts, universities, and public entities, specializing in policy development, labor, employment law, title 9504 compliance, litigation, and organizational

069operations. His career reflects a strong commitment to equity, integrity, and educational excellence. We have Mr. David Sepusk. Thank you. Does the board have any questions about the division recommendations, resolutions, and motions for section 22? Dr. Molinar. Thank you, President Jackson. Um, I have a question. Uh I see on 221 to approve school bus stops. The public content here says a motion requesting approval of the bus stop schedules including any possible charter and non-public school schedules for the 2526 school year. But there's nothing in administrative or executive content. So I was wondering um what are what are we approving because there's nothing here. Thank you. Miss Pulk. Good evening, President Jackson and board members and superintendent and treasurer. You are approving the allowance to go forward and actually put the routes together. And once they are

070actually completed, we will then make them available in our route finder to the individual schools and send notices out to parents. We're in the process of doing that now. So, you're just giving us the motion to allow us that once they're done, they are completed and ready to roll. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Uh, did you have a followup before I go to member Harrison? Okay, member Harrison. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, Madame Chair and and Superintendent Outley, I think this becomes an example um of a difficult choice to make um when we only have one board meeting before school starts um to approve something that we don't know. And and I understand that we probably do this every year. Uh and we may do it this way every year. Um but again, I think we

071have continue to ask we need to vote on what we can actually see. And and I I wouldn't say that we're going to go out and check every bus route that you generate. That that's not what we're going to do. But certainly if we have to vote on something, we need to see something, we need to feel something, we need to be able to say, we're we're signing a check again and we don't know what we're signing. And so I think this is a perfect example of if we can have some idea of something. We're two weeks before the start of school and we're going to approve something that if we don't approve it today, what happens? Actually, it is required that you approve it within the uh pri just prior to the start of

072school within 30 days prior. So therefore, this meets the regulation of the code for transportation of students and they become public once they are completed and anybody's allowed to go school-wise into viewfinder and parents will be notified of their individual stops. I I can appreciate that, Madam Chair. I if if we don't approve this today because we can't see anything. So if we if we don't approve it today, what happens? I I guess that would be my then the bus routes cannot move and we cannot issue the notices to the parents of where their bus stops are. And and I guess what was as soon as we could have approved it and none of Well, let me just say this. It's hard to approve what we don't know what we're approving. And we continue to

073get behind the eightball because we're approving things in advance of the work being done. And at some point with some things, we have to know what we're approving. And we get laws and we get letter we get regulations and we get official language that this is what we're doing. But at the end of the day, we're still writing and signing blank checks. And so I I I guess, Madame Chair, I I would say we we have uh we we we we come down to these decisions. We we make decisions. Do we approve stuff that we don't know that we're approving or do we get the stuff and we see it and then we approve it? And I guess that's for me. Um, I have to continue to say no to anything at this point that

074I don't know. Uh, thank you, member Harrison. And I'm just going for clarity. I think what member Harrison said was the earliest that we could have gotten this like if we would have got it the the previous me possibly. However, the the request is so that they can put the information based off enrollment, the information that the district has been provided that some is still they're still going to have to reroute. It's adjustments going to have to be made even when they do these routes for transfer students or parents who just didn't, you know, decide early enough. And so what we have here is the request is being asked, can I can we just start like based off our information, can we run a route? And so to your point, what's the earliest we could

075have did this? Because they're going to have to update and change it. It would seem to me possibly maybe our last meeting it could have ran and then once we gave them approval to say yes, you can start formulating like putting the routes together, formulating am I kind of like running the based off of the enrollment and the the request for transportation? Yes, we actually did our rollover effective mid June and we finished it on June the 21st and then we would have gotten that information from our students but then we still cannot route until we get it into transfinder. Okay. So then I'm back with well that in this regard I don't have anything else to say because with all that information then we could have had the information by before this meeting. So,

076I'm I'm going to I was just going off of my experience knowing about transportation, but it's moot at this point based off what you just said because we couldn't in fact have the information. Member Hall. Thank you, Madam President. So, if this is regarding getting our students routes right to get on the bus, why is this coming to the board? Isn't this just standard operation? No. Or is this money? Is this a cost that goes? This is a resolution that you have approved the buses to actually be routed. It is required by the state transportation standards. These are the eight resolutions that must come to each board each year and it is very specifically timed as to how many days before school you can bring it forward. So it's a state law that you can

077only bring it 30 days. Yes, that is correct. We can provide you with the policy. Uh, school starts. Thank you. Let me see. Hold on. Thank you, Miss Folk. Are you front? Okay. All right. Um, are there any other questions or superintendent? Yes, please. Member member Muller. Thank you. Um, so I don't know if this is related to that or not, but 223 authorizing contracts with parents transporting their children. I know typically we get a list of the people that we are giving contracts to. Is this not when we get the list of the people or when when will we know who we are authorizing? Is are we waiting for the bus schedules to authorize? Thank you again. This is actually your payment in lie and we're in the process of going through that to

078determine exactly who does qualify for transport but there's not an asset to provide it or a timing to provide it. You will see your first listing more than likely at your second meeting in August. So this is just to allow us to go through this process but you will get a resolution to your point Dr. mer of every student that qualifies because we have to list each student and the one of the items as to why they do not get an asset. It's one of six qualifications for impracticality followup. So this resolution is to make the list but we don't actually pay anyone until we have the list. You do not pay anyone until the end of the school year following. So, as an example for FY25, you just issued the checks about 2 weeks

079ago cuz the whole year has to go on. And as you remember, I brought eight lists before your um for your approve approval over the last school year of FY25. So, if we approve this and nothing else, no one gets any money. Not at this time. Thank you both. All right. Member Harrison. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, Madam Chair, I I just want to be I just want to make sure and I I know we continue to beat this horse with the uh transportation, but I I see three other resolutions in here. And when we're speaking of um transportation um with the um our um qualified board contracted student transportation services. Um we're we're talking Can we list those out? We're talking to Metro, Metro Services, uh Metro Bus, the school bus drivers. Um I'm

080just trying to make sure that um we we are transporting that what qual qualified uh providers in this case is Metro. It is also Peterman and for yellow bus services and it would also include the two companies that you have approved this year which are Buckeye and Templeton. But there is an occasion when parents will also transport their own students and that is a parent contract um and those are issued individually to a parent and that's what we were talking about and those are those are the ones that come the PIL come forward to you because we have to declare the impracticality reason. Okay, that is the only one that you have to do the additional approval for. Okay. And so we have Buckeye as as primary and Templeton as secondary. They are currently both

081in the process of being routed at this time and per the board's information that they approved at the board meeting of May the 27th on the amendment. Yes, we are working on contracts with both of those and we have assigned students for both of those vendors going forward. We actually have completed the contract with Templeton and the meeting with Buckeye is tomorrow. Okay. And I guess that goes to the point um Buckeye is primary and Templeton is secondary at this time. That is correct. There was a there was a section in the con if we needed to expand fleets we could expand fleets because they could grow and that was what you asked but Buckeye has the primary student listing at this time. So, we will exhaust Buckeye and then we will move to Templeton.

082And we already know that we will need both service contracts. That is correct. Yes, ma'am. I'm I'm fine with both. I just want to make sure that is correct. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. All right. President Jackson, at this time I wish to recommend the approval of division recommendations, resolutions, and motions in section 22. Thank you, Superintendent Outley. Is there a motion to approve the division recommendations and resolution motions? So move. Thank you. It's been moved by Vice President Alexander. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Altry. Any discussions? Dr. Molinar. Thank you, President Jackson. I I want to say I'm I understand the urgency to approve the school bus stops. Um and maybe the issue is the language to approve school bus stops. Um because it sounds like we aren't

083approving the bus stops. we are initiating the routing and so I understand the urgency to initiate school bus routing. Um and that is as I understand this that we will begin the routing and we are not yet approving or finalizing necessarily the routes. Um, and if you could please let me know at the end or let somebody know how and when families will know when they have routes, that would be um appreciated too. But thank you. No. Uh, thank you member uh Molinar because that is a big question and parents sometime to the wire are sending emails like what is the bus stop especially when they're transitioning from elementary to middle. That's a very um pointant question. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Member Hall, please. Just one quick question regarding Metro Transit. Um, the bus

084passes that our students get. Um, can they use those after school hours also? And like on the weekends to go to work and things like that, is that all year? I see everybody like, "Yep, yep, yep." Is that all year round? Okay. Thank you. That's nice. I guess the answer would be yes. All right. See no other questions, comments. Okay, moving on. Roll call, please. Dr. Thompson. Thank you. Reverend Harrison, no. On 221, yes on the balance. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Mr. Molinar. Yes. Mrs. Sykes. Yes. Mr. Alexander. Yes. Miss Autry. Yes. Miss Hall. Um, abstain on 22.3. Yes. To the balance. You guys always make one of them tricky. So on on 22.1 we are 61 with one no vote obviously uh on the balance we are um well not on the on 22.3

085we are 6 with one abstension and we are 70 on the balance. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Next is the business affairs recommendation. Superintendent Outley, does the board have any questions for section 23? Okay, member Hall. Oh, thank you, Madam President. for section 23 23.2 too. Um, looks like we're in a partnership with universities, which is amazing. Um, but my question is, and maybe I should have asked this earlier, but um, other partnerships with other universities um, for teacher candidates, do we partner with all the other universities like in Ohio or just certain ones? Uh, I know we partner with Kin State and the University of Akran. I'll let um Larry Johnson come up and share the remainder as we do. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Good evening. We partner with all universities that have students that

086are attending those universities that are going to participate in their field experience here in Ara public schools. Okay. Thank you, member Harrison. Or we Thank you, Madam Chair. We took a vote on 22. I thought my question was in 23, but I just want a a clerical clarification in 22. Uh just just for the purpose of making sure the resolution is correct. uh the necessary uh vacuum pump for North High School. Yes, Miss Faulk, you may want to come up. This was that the price difference. Member Harrison. Yeah. Yeah. I I just wanted to make sure that we have the correct price in the resolution. I think that should be 75,000, not 50,000. The threshold. All right. I'm I am terribly sorry. Can you update me again? Yeah. Uh I just want to make sure

087we we we have it a clerical correction. The threshold the resolution reads that 50,000 is the threshold. I thought we moved it I thought they moved it to 75. Oh no. Our current threshold is 50,000. You have not changed the board's policy at this point regarding that. Yes. And I guess the only thing that I was saying is the 50,000 is referencing the OC, not us. So if we can just move that to 75 so that we can Okay. It's just clear. Oh, thank you. Yeah, but because it's a resolution. Thank you. No problem. Thank you, Miss Faulk. Thank you, Member Harrison. President Jackson, I wish to recommend the approval of the business affairs recommendations presented in category 23. Um, thank you, Superintendent Outley. Is there a motion to approve the business affairs recommendations in

088category 23? So move. It's been moved by member Hall. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by Vice President Alexander. Any discussion? Thank you, Member Molar, please. Thank you, President Jackson. Um, I just wanted to point out that in section 23, I believe it's all in section 23. Yes, in section 23, we are approving actually over a million dollars. Just an FYI here in discussion. um over a million dollars to private Christian schools. Um and I wanted to point that out because we were part of the Ed Choice voucher um lawsuit and um the June 2025 ruling actually does not include uh the vouchers hurt Ohio. Um it does not impact these because it's title one funding. So, uh, Title One is federal and the federal funds remain, um, under public control, but, um,

089it still is something that we are required to give to these private Christian schools. Um, so while I personally find it troubling that we are legally required to approve more than a million of our public tax funds to these um, religious schools um because these are public dollars meant to serve all students regardless of faith and we do have a diverse community that we are serving. Um, but this is not related to the vouchers. So this is a separate issue and we are continuing to um lose and spend money. So million dollars here. Thank you member Moner. For important clarification, Title One funds are not for all students. They're for students who qualify for said funds. And so a student can be in a public institution in certain areas and not or certain public schools

090may not qualify for title funds. It's based on certain criterion, test scores, and also the social economic status of that body of kids, if they qualify at or below poverty, and also how that school performs. So, it's not just a general pool of money that all children receive. And for the students who receive it in a private institutional setting, all the students do not get the title one tutoring or get to use the resources provided or purchased by title one funds. So I want to be clear, the dollars follow the child based off the school and the child's perform the school district or which the child will be coming from and the child's social economic status. So it's not general money just for clarity. Thank you. Are there any other for um section 23? If

091not, Dr. Thompson, roll call, please. Dr. Jackson, abstain on 2311, 2312, 2316, 2318, and 2319. Yes. on the balance. Dr. Molinar. Yes. Mrs. Sykes. Yes. Mr. Alexander. Yes. Miss Autry. Yes. Miss Hall. Yes. Reverend Harrison. Yes. We are 60. Um with one abstension on 23.11.126 18 and 1 nine and we are 70 on the balance. Thank you Dr. Thompson. Next we will have our committee report starting with legal contracts and board policy. Thank you Madam President. Uh the policy committee will be meeting this coming Monday uh August the 4th here in this room at 5:30. Policy committee will be meeting August the 4th in this room 5:30. Thank you ma'am. Thank you Vice President Alexander. Next we will hear from finance and capital management members. Thank you madam president madam president and members of the

092uh board. Uh the finance committee did not meet in the last uh few weeks. We will set a meeting in August. However, we will wait until we uh choose a new uh treasurer to make sure that that that U date also fits that the new uh acting treasurer's uh agenda, but we will probably keep the same date that we have, but just to make sure and just to give respect to that to that person. I would like to say uh if if I may, Madame Chair, that we now have a position as an employee called general counsel. And as you heard from our treasur, we are in deficit spending. And I would hope that we will be able to see a reduction in contractual legal fees that this school system has used. And so I

093understand it's been a while since we've had a position that's actually titled general counsel. and that that person will actually attend the meeting even though I note that he is no longer here at this meeting but perhaps he will be able to attend the full meeting uh to provide some assistance. I'm looking forward to that and I'm really really looking forward to a reduction in the contractual legal fees that this district has been paying. Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely. Thank you. I I you know concur that statement. Yes. Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. All right. Next we will have um instructional policy and student achievement. Yeah, member Audrey, I'm sorry. Thank you, Madame President. Instructional policy and student achievement will be meeting uh a week from today, August 4th at 4:30. Thank you. Thank you. Um also

094as I stated earlier um and member hall will be the chair for the student success committee which also will be meeting in August and the date is to be um assigned. So um that concludes and did you have anything that you wanted to say member hall? Okay that concludes our committee reports. Next week is um we don't have any unfinished business but we do have new business and this um addresses what we talked about earlier today. uh both me uh member Sykes and uh our treasurer Dr. Thompson and it's the resignation of um Dr. Thompson and then the appointment of our interim treasurer Mr. Rain Bowers. Um before we uh well yeah we can get is there a motion for item 26.1 to approve the resolution accepting Dr. Thompson's resignation as treasurer and CFO of

095the Akran City School District. No. No. So move. It's been moved by member Alexander. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Hall. Any discussion? Yes. Member Harrison. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I just want to stand and um offer uh thank you to Dr. Thompson for his work, his efforts in moving the district forward. Um, want to remind some people may not remember but Dr. Thompson did not come here as treasurer. He came here as chief operating officer and the um diversity, equity, inclusion conversation uh was the foundation of his first work and his first work was the LTOP the uh long-term operational plan is that that that was the long-term operational plan for um our district, our buildings in which all of the buildings and the facilities ities were evaluated

096and identified um what needed to be done where that was the groundwork um as a u taxpaying citizen that was sitting on the other side of this table. Um it had always been um a burn for me that some clusters seemed to thrive while others clusters seem to always be in need. And Dr. Thompson helped to identify um the buildings that um were in need and that was some of the foundational work the athletic facilities and um so want to thank him for that work as he u transition to treasure. I don't think any of us um won't know that the the board has went through some changes. Um leadership has changed and um the one thing that doesn't change is numbers. Numbers do not change. And as treasurer, you know, you're going to get

097the numbers, you're going to get a result based on the numbers that you have. Um it has not always been easy. Um Dr. Thompson and I have disagreed passionately. U and I uh he said appreciate the fact that we can disagree passionately uh and understood that we disagreed on the issue but we're not disagreeable to each other. It was helpful that you would always admit you were wrong. Well that that Yeah. Yeah. And you know still trying to see how you get in them suits, bro. Um so um but I just appreciate the fact that um we are legislative body and we're not always going to agree. We're not always going to see eye to eye. We're not always going to get along. Um but we can be professionals about it and we can come

098back the next day and yesterday was yesterday and today is today. Then we can work it out because we're all on the same team. Wish you well Dr. Thompson. I wish you were staying. Um but if you got to go, you got to go, bro. And we thank you for your service. Um and you in in my eyes, uh my experience, you are more than a capable treasure. You have been more than professional in your dealings with me. Um and I just look forward. I'm sorry that you can't be here because I do feel that the district has turned a corner and that we will be a bigger, better, stronger district. Um, and I wish that you could enjoy some of the fruits of um, the labor that you have already yielded. Um, but I

099wish you well. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, member Harrison, are there any other comments? Well, um, Dr. Thompson. As has been said by the members of this board, um all the sentiments have been shared and on behalf of the board, I would like to present you with the certificate of appreciation for your work, your time, and your service spent here at Akran Public Schools. Thank you. Could Could we mount it up there up there? No, sir. All right. Thank you very much. That's very kind of you to um put something like that together and I appreciate it. Thank you. No problem. Thank you. Um now, Dr. Thompson, roll call vote, please. Dr. Molinar, yes. Mrs. Sykes, yes. Mr. Alexander, yes. Miss Autry, yes. Miss Hall, yes. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Motion carries 70.

100Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Next, is there a motion for item 26.2 to approve the resolution appointing Wayne Bowers as the interim treasurer and CFO for the Akran City School District? So moved. It's been moved by member Hall. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Altry. Any discussion? All right, Mr. Bowers, would you mind coming up? Oh, as Mr. uh Bowers comes uh to the podium, just to tell a little bit about um Mr. Wayne Bowers, he served several governmental entities for over 30 years, working in school finance since July of when he began his career. Upon graduating from Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting, his career began in the state auditor's office where he worked on many Summit County School District audits including Akran City Schools. He then spent

101time at Twinsburg City Schools and Portage Lakes Career Center working on a variety of school finance and human resource duties. From there, he advanced to the Northeast Ohio Network for Educational Technology where he served as the fiscal officer managing the physical support team for 40 area school districts. Since 2016, Wayne has been with Akran City Schools serving as an assistant treasurer um from two 2018. On a personal note, um he shared that uh he attended Cyberlink Elementary from kindergarten through sixth grade and my middle school, Goodyear Middle School for one semester before moving to Stow where he now lives with his wife, Colleen. Um and they will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary in August. Uh Mr. Bowser has two children, uh McKenzie Luke, a 27 and 25 respectively. Um on behalf of the board,

102u Mr. of ours. I want to extend our sincere thanks and congratulations to you on accepting the role of interimm treasurer and CFO for Akran public schools. Your willingness to step into this position during a time of transition is greatly appreciated and we are confident in your ability to provide steady and effective leadership in this role. Um members of the board and to uh the community, we welcome Mr. Rain Bowers. Could you please give him a round of applause? anything you would like to say? I just like to say two things. Steve, thank you for the leadership you poured into the finance department. You will be missed. We really appreciate all your experience and I work I look forward to serving in this capacity. I've been doing the payroll side for seven years. So, it's

103exciting to to do something new and serve the community of Akran. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bowers. Congratulations again. All right. Are there if there's no other comments? Dr. Thompson. Doc Audrey, you got something? Dr. Thompson, roll call, please. Mrs. Sykes, yes. Mr. Alexander, yes. Miss Autry, yes. Miss Hall, yes. Reverend Harrison, yes. Dr. Jackson, yes. Dr. Molinar, yes. Motion carry 70. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. Um, next we will have uh there is a need to go into executive session pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code 121.22G1 to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or officials. 121.224 224. Preparing for conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their comp compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment. Um when is any discussion or

104yes me I'm sorry member Harrison. Uh ma madam chair if if I can offer an addition to that um I would like to um discuss legal services on there legal services with uh our legal. Okay. So that would be um we need the language for uh discussing uh the contract with a an employee. I need the right language in order for us to re I can't just say legal. I need to be able to quote the right language as for why we are going into employment of legal counsel. Okay. This is why, as member Sykes said, it's good to have a general counsel, someone that would uh be there. Um, let's see. So, I need to know before in order to do that. No, seriously, I need to know because we say 121.22. I need

105to know the right language in order for us to recess and to add the addition. If you can get um look that up because we have to do things in in order. Understand? So, as we do that, then I we'll just take a a quick recess. Um I need to take a a restroom break. So, as we get the quite the proper language, um the board will be in recess at 7:14 for 5 minutes. I'm not sure what happened. Um, can you tap on the door? I'm good. Thank you. We stand back from recess at 7:25 p.m. As stated, there is a need for us to go into executive session. Again, that is um pursuing of the Ohio Revised Codes 121.22G1 22G1 to consider the employ appointment appointment employment dismissal discipline promotion demotion or compensation

106of a public employee or official 121.224 Preparing for conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment. And um 121.22G6 22G6 which is for matters of the dis that discussed publicly of contract that would jeopardize security um concerns jeopardize the security of the public body or public office. Is there a motion to recess into executive session? So move. It's been moved by member Alexander. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Hall. Any discussion? Seeing hearing none. Roll call, please. Mr. Alexander. Yes. Miss Autry. Yes. Miss Hall. Yes. Reverend Harrison. Yes. Dr. Jackson. Yes. Dr. Molinar. Yes. And Mrs. Sykes. Yes. Motion carry 70. Okay. Okay. And again, just to clarify that the um 1212G6 details relative to the security arrangements

107and emergency response protocols for a public body or public office. Thank you. We stand in recess for executive session at 7:27 p.m. The board stands to reconvene into our regular meeting at 8:48 p.m. from executive session. Um, there is u action that's needed to be taken. Is there a motion to approve the AEA negotiation contract in 28.2? So move. It's been moved by member Hall. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member Autry. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. Roll call vote, please. Miss Hall. A little. Yes. Reverend Harrison. Yes, Dr. Jackson. Yes, Dr. Molinar. Yes, Mrs. Sykes. Yes, Mr. Alexander. Yes, Miss Autry. Yes. Motion carry 70. Thank you, Dr. Thompson. The next meeting will be held on Monday, August 11, 2025 in the um boardroom at 10 North Main Street. Uh,

108is there a motion to adjurnn? So move. It's been moved by Vice President Alexander. Is there a second? Second. It's been second by member hall. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. Dr. Thompson. Roll call, please. Dr. Molinar. Yes. Mrs. Sykes. Yes. Mr. Alexander. Yes. Miss Autry. Yes. Miss Hall. Yes. Reverend Harrison. Yes. Dr. Jackson. Yes. Motion carries 70. Thank you. We stand adjourn at 8:50 p.m.