Board of Education Livestream - 03/10/25

001e e e [Music] [Applause] [Music] good afternoon and Welcome to our board acon public school board meeting on March the 10th of 2025 Dr Thompson roll call please m Mr Alexander present Miss alry present Miss Hall present Reverend Harrison present Miss Jackson present Dr Molar present Mrs Sykes present seven present zero absent please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance member uh Dr monar would you please lead us 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 we'll now have recognitions of the Gold Award uh typically I the super okay uh Chief of Staff Dr Carter [Music] the superintendent did make his part and he's coming from another meeting he'll be here shortly thank you president Jackson I

002want to congratulate um the head custodian from Jenning CC and the principal from Jen Jenning CLC Don Harper we are excited to announc the next goat goat award the special recognition celebrating exceptional commitment to building cleanliness and operational excellence among our head custodians for the month of February and so if Thomas Frederick and Don Harper please come forward [Applause] conratulations next looks good congratulations [Applause] congratulations and thank you next we'll have board member reflection starting with our school board member Taylor Blair from ellot CLC thank you good evening Madame President Mr superintendent honorable board members and guests thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today I stand before you not just as a student but as a representative of my peers students who often feel unheard unseen and uncertain about their place in

003our schools my name is Taylor Blair I'm a senior at LC after graduation I plan to further my education and commission as a naval officer I'm involved in nrtc and serve as a cc commanding officer I'm highly involved with my marketing pathway as a school store manager I serve on the scholar board as well as a student council at LC but today I am here for something bigger than extracurriculars I am here to speak on behalf of those who feel like their voices don't matter I join the scholar board because I believe our schools should not just repair us academically but also ensure we feel valued respected and safe our school should be more than a place for students to achieve academic Excellence they should should be a place of comfort where students feel confident

004in their voices and feel supported valued and motivated to succeed while many students I've spoken with at LC appreciate the sense of community created by teachers staff families and friends other struggle with issues that affect their ability to thrive as a first year member of The Scholar board I believe it is my responsibility to bring these concerns forward and to advocate for Meaningful change LC has created an envir enironment where many students feel supported some of my peers have shared that their parents motivate them every single day and provide them with the biggest source of motivation others have expressed their gratitude for teachers and friends who give them a reason to come to school each day many students appreciate the freedom to express themselves in certain clubs sports events and other extracurricular activities a student

005in my senior class emphasized the importance of our safety and security relating to how the security guards never failed to protect the Halls we walk in every single day while also pushing the students to succeed but always ensuring a safe environment to learn and to be a part of these are the aspects of our school that students cherish however when talking with my peers not all students feel the sense of belonging many have voice concerns that needed to be addressed I was informed that students feel like their voices are ignored when they bring up issues that deeply affect them some students feel as though their sports team funding is not distributed fairly seniors are struggling to pay their dues because of financial burdens on families who are already struggling these kinds of issues create obstacles

006for students who are simply just trying to succeed imagine waking up every single morning dreading going to school not because of tests or book assignments but because you feel invisible that is the reality for too many students today bullying remains a very significant issue to address bullying is affecting attendance mental health and overall Student Success the numbers reflect this reality attendance is declining engagement is decreasing and students are starting to feel powerless they speak up yet many feel that nothing changes in my four years as a student at Ellet I know many students who have personally been impacted by bullying schools must be a place where students feel free and supported not isolated and ignored we truly have to believe in the power of education so we can believe in the power of student voices

007it is time for real change and I urge the board to take action in the following ways strengthen anti-bullying policies when any student or staff reports bullying something must be done students need to see real consequences for those responsible for bullying our schools must take a stronger approach to hold students accountable and protect those who are affected creating a student advisory Council students deserve a seat at the table where they can help make decisions about their education and well-being those who experience these challenges firstand should be included in the decision- making and discussions on how to address them make attendance about belonging rather than punishing students for missing school by taking away their prom field trips and Academy celebrations we need to focus on addressing the root causes of the absences if students feel safe

008supported and valued they will be more likely to attend school every single day Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter today I refuse to be silent this is not just a speech it is a call to action the question is will we continue to acknowledge these issues without making real changes or or will we finally find the necessary steps to make schools a place where every student feels like they belong the future Generations depend on the decisions that we make today I urge you to listen not just with open ears but with Open Hearts and a willingness to act thank you for your time your attention and hopefully your commitment to change excellent [Applause] Taylor I want to thank you

009for that uh I think it was very well said excellent and I love every point that you made and I'm in agreement with that and um especially the when you talk about student advisory committee to really so students are at the table with things that impact them I find that very important I've mentioned that before and I would love to talk to you because I think um when I mentioned it amongst my colleagues the the need to unpack really what that looks like was necessary and so I would like to lean further in that with you at some time to talk about that because I think that's a great idea and also um I would like to say the charge for the bullying I think also uh last board meeting we talked about how we

010have policies in place but what it is a policy if the policy is not enforced and at that time we were talking about cell phones um because according to our policy bullying is a level three offense I think it's a level you know it has levels which as at level three requires that an action is taken suspensions and so um I'm glad that you said it in this forum how excellent you are and what a great representative you are and I'm I'm I'm also grateful to hear that you're thinking about our um arm Services I was in Navy rltc and had a great experience when I was at Garfield Commander Williams was our um over our program at the time but I'm just so thankful when the students come in your voice that you're really

011a advocating as you're supposed to that you are um being the voice of change for your peers and challenging the the decision makers to make decisions that can um benefit you all so again thank you and I appreciate your comments um they were heard and they were felt um any other board member comments for Taylor yes member Hall thank you madam President Taylor you did a very very good job you spoke with so much confidence and I know it's hard sometime to speak up because you know a lot of the adults you know the kids think adults listen I hear it every day from my 11 year old you knowen um but thank you for that um one point that you touched on and I've always felt some kind of way about far as attendance

012right we don't know what's going on in our children's lives you know some kids are taking care of themselves trying to get up and get their siblings up and take them to school I know when I was a senior my mom um woke up one morning just couldn't walk anymore and I had four siblings and I had to take my siblings of school but the staff didn't want to hear they wanted to say well if you if you're late you're getting a detention you know and so we had to you know follow up and all of that stuff and also one thing that we're going to be talking about today is attendance right and when I was reviewing some of the policy um it stated that you know if inappropriate um or habitual attendance um

013absence you know the principal can uh contact the juvenile court yes and it's and I put in my notes I said well what are we doing before we contact juvenile court are we reaching out to the parent are we going to the house to find out what's going on are we talking to the kids to see really what's going on and why are you late or why are you missing school and maybe there's ways that we can help right um so thank you for that for just being open-minded and coming here and just talking to us and letting us know how you feel thank you good luck to you and your future any other board member comments for yes uh Mr Alexander yes I want to thank you for coming as well um you were

014very Stern in what you were saying so I knew you had to be in the military which was good and I see that guy out there uh has been working with you guys for a number of years and uh I want to thank you for coming and expressing all the things you've you've expressed to us and we will look up look out look at those things and see what we can do to help because students are the only reason that we here and we care about you guys so we have to make sure we do that so continue to do the work that you do and uh support your fellow uh students at the school okay thank you thank you member ay thank you Madame President um Miss Blair thanks again for your confidence for

015your leadership I really appreciate that um and I just want to say as a member of the policy committee um Mr Alexander is the chair I'm the co-chair but we'll definitely look at that and maybe we'll have an opportunity to speak together to kind of look at it with some some of those students and peers that might feel unheard we can actually look at the policy and see where students are feeling like it's failing them so I just wanted to share that with you and thank you and congratulations thank you all right any other comments okay let's give her a hand clap that's worthy of that [Applause] yes all right Taylor thank you so much again we appreciate you and your comments um um next we have are there any uh board member Reflections any

016board member Community Reflections member Hall I'll just say um real quick thank you madam president um and I won't rain on your parade because I know it's important to you too um Saturday we had the first ever middle school cheerleading competition that was held at um higher CLC what an amazing time the these young sixth seventh and eighth graders just got out there and showcased their talent and they were so proud the only thing I would have loved to seen was the high school cheerleaders come and support the young kids um but other than that they won spirit sticks they had dance off they cheered I mean I sat there like oh God I want to get up and cheer too so just shout out to um Lexi Diana's daughter and also she's a coach

017at East High School and Janelle Williams who's a coach at B BTO she was one of my uh classmates when we cheered together at bookto so just great great great um event um just showcasing our children is my big thing and just letting them know that we care about them so thank you thank you member Hall are there any board member Community Reflections uh member Harrison thank you madam chair M just want to let the community know I think we um since we met last we probably got 20 emails I would assume 20 emails I try to answer all of the emails that come in with at least some things to say I've received the emails but it's not possible to answer all emails but want to acknowledge that we do get the emails we

018do read the emails we do appreciate people who come down we do take it into consideration we to our students who speak so elant about things that they are passionate about um so just wanted to kind of acknowled that you know we do receive emails and we are trying to answer we areen so thank you who com out I was one came down frequently and don't always feel like I was heard but we do thank you member Harrison uh member ay thank you madam president um I just wanted to to share that since we last met um I did have the opportunity to attend one of our Cornerstone meetings on academic achievement um I was the only one there and so I was disappointed in that but I just wanted to thank that team for

019their work and putting a presentation together um they're doing a great job moving us along um in that area and hopefully we can explore um how to have that better received and I don't know if we have to go to where people are at but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to do all of that work and planning and then board member atrey is the only one who shows up because it's open to the community to parents and so I just wanted to share that and thank uh the individuals who put all of that together um also on March 1st I attended btal pta's annual black history program and taste of culture um the BTO uh jazz band and Middle School choir performed there were a lot of community uh individuals poets

020vendors a wonderful event um and they raised money for scholarships um also on March the 6 I visited kclc for read Across America and was able to read to Mrs peaches fourth grade class and Mrs Collins fifth grade class amazing Scholars uh again their big issue is school lunch um I know we have smoothies now I saw a post going around about smoothies they said they didn't come to case CLC so they want to know how they can get the smoothies at case but they were a wonderful group of kids um and then member Hall already mentioned for the love of cheer um it was a a great program it was nice to to see uh the diverse can I say that word diverse crowd come out and come together and just have a nice

021uh Saturday afternoon um it was a really nice event and then uh lastly I just wanted to share that I took some time since we last met to go meet with some students at uh bookto CLC and at Firestone CLC just to get their perspective on what's been going on with all of the Dei stuff and so they had a lot of comments but I heard a lot of them just concerned about what can happen and what can't happen and unfortunately I just didn't have a lot of answers but I just went there to actually listen um but they showed a lot of courage and Leadership they were concerned about their siblings many of them were upper classmen but they were concerned about their siblings coming behind them um many of those some of them

022uh with disabilities and so they shared that they would indeed like us to have a policy on the books um they weren't too sure that we would do the work without a policy because they said Miss atrey uh board members change and so do superintendent so they wanted me to know that and so I just wanted to share that information it was a lot more shared as well well but my time is up but thank you thank you so much for that um member alri member molar thank you Madame President um my community reflection is going to start with I went to uh PTA event last week a cookies and canvas my gnome painting did not uh turn out quite as good as everybody else's um but I tried my hardest and they told me

023that that's what matters is that I tried my hardest so I really appreciate that encouragement um but I did in talking to a lot of the films was very well attended um the whole cafeteria was full um and talking to S family members there are some people that were uh kind of disappointed about the way that we have been portraying ourselves as a district and some of our press releases and things and I thought I don't know I don't know what that is so I went and read it and I I did read one sentence um I'm going to read it says residual effects remain among the scattered debris of uncertainty the issues are undeniable unresolved Union contracts a divided school board and the superintendent's challenging relationship with local media and I just I I

024understand why a lot of the uh community members were saying something because that's a salacious description that I just wouldn't expect to have come from within and so I tried really hard to tell people that we as a board we have had so many committee meetings especially lately we've had you know usually committee meetings are once a month we've had once a week for for the equity committee um so three meetings in three weeks where we are actively and collaboratively coming together to support our students our staff our community um a divided board I I really want to emphasize our successful productivity we had full board attendance um our administrators were there we had Community participation as we are co-creating this policy and we're continuing to co-create this policy together we're all working towards a

025common Mission that's supporting our students supporting our community and we're listening and responding and pausing as needed to make good decisions good lasting strong policy and so um I really want to say I know um our our goals are you know proactive coverages of key messages and I really want like positive media mentions reinforce Excellence uh highlight District successes and I think what we're doing as a committee should be highlight as a district success so I really wanted to talk about that um and then uh member Harrison just commented about the emails we do get and read emails I have an apology to give I have not been reading my spam emails and I just found out today I had 560 messages that had gone into my spam um and so uh there was a

026parent that came up and she said she tried to email me and I did I found that message in my spam um there were messages from from other board members messages from attorneys uh messages from a principal who wanted a building visit and so I'm sorry I have not responded to any of these messages I'm reading them now I'm trying to uh react to them now so my call to action when it comes to these spam emails is to let people know if you are emailing board or board members and you don't want your email to go to spam I highly recommend in your subject line because there I'm guessing there's a lot of ELP people here I did have some ELP messages in my spam in your subject line put something specific in there

027uh maybe the name of a building or something like that that shows that it was not a robot and that might make it less likely to go to spam and I will try to continue to monitor my spam um and if I see any other hints that might uh get things back to our inbox but I um apologize and we'll do better and hopefully we will get all of our messages thank you thank you for that Dr M I'm going check my spam I used to get a lot of emails and I yes my so if you've emailed me and you think I selectively respond to emails because you hear me addressing certain things and not others I did not get your email I'm going to follow my colleague I'm gonna look at my spam

028because I do try to respond and deal with issues that are brought to me so yeah Dr Molar I'm glad you said it on on the floor so I can say same for me I'm going to but I haven't checked mine Dr monar has to begin checking hers I haven't checked mine yet but I will after this meeting so thank you Dr monar for that are there any board member uh Community Reflections all right uh seeing none we'll um entertain our community Reflections after I read this Preamble participants will not be permitted to speak on matters related to vendors business matters formal complaints grievances specific student 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 3

029minutes 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 upon coming um to the mic the first person we have um to address the board is Kelly Lutz good evening board members my name is Kelly Lutz I'm an early childhood educator teaching in a full day EOP classroom at Helen Arnold CLC I come before you tonight out of deep concern for students my colleagues and the Integrity of the district's Early Learning Program let me be clear I fully support the benefits of our youngest children having access to a rich and diverse full day early learning education when properly planned and resourced the impact of such a program is immeasurable for these children and their families unfortunately that is not

030the reality in akine we are facing a complete and unsafe lack of Staffing because of this we continue to see children spending far too long in soil diapers many of these children are changed standing in a bathroom in a classroom or laying on an unsanitary bathroom floor without adequate changing tables par of professionals are substitute teachers are being pulled from special education units to diaper children in ELP classrooms leaving those units unsafely short staffed we are expecting classrooms full of four-year-olds to stay quietly on napping mats for up to 90 minutes often with only one adult supervising I ask you how many of you have seen a 4-year-old sit quietly for 90 minutes my colleagues and I regularly go without lunch and planning time because we refuse to turn a blind eye to these unsafe

031conditions we are exhausted and yet every time we raise these concerns we are met with empty promises from this Administration words meant to pacify rather than create real change many of us are not just frustrated we are at at the point of mental and physical exhaustion have any of you ever arrived at work feeling that way do you believe it is possible to be productive passionate and excited about your job when you feel like that is this acceptable to you we are here tonight because we cannot keep working under these conditions this is not sustainable and I don't believe this is you want for acam public schools it certainly isn't what I want please don't turn away from this show us your leadership by talking to our leadership so we can find real solutions because

032our children our Educators and our families deserve better thank you [Applause] I have a B I would like to say but I'm going to move through these speakers um the next speaker we have is Brooke gray Miss Lut again thank you for your comments hi good evening um I'm Brooke gray I am an early intervention specialist at oh yeah gosh sorry um I'm an early intervention specialist um in the Alp and I come to you tonight as an advocate for our youngest Learners and also someone who has dedicated my career to ensuring that our preschool students receive the strong Foundation they deserve uh one of my favorite parts of being in the Alp is that I get to be one of the first experiences with children and their families in our school district and the

033school program and we really hope to make a really great positive first impression hopefully they end up like Taylor who is here and stays with us for a long time um over the last year however I've watched what was once an outstanding and respected preschool program spiral into the exact opposite the expansion of our earlyer learning program the increase in our classrooms um the extension of the school day it could have been a step forward for our children but instead of a well-planned and well supported rule out this Administration has rushed these changes with little to no foresight ignoring the very real concerns of the Educators and our Representatives who work with these classrooms every day we are really lucky to have a new supervisor with us this year who works really hard in supporting

034us and our children and our families but there is only so much she can do as well Early Education teachers and aea fully support expanding access to high quality preschool for all children we believe in the power of early learning and the life-changing impact it has on our students and their families we cannot support is the expansion that so poorly executed that it threatens the quality of Education that we're trying to provide and the safety and well-being of our students my colleagues and our Representatives when trying to point out real concerns for the safety of these children have been ignored instead of addressing these issues the Administration has chosen to push out a narrative that everything is working in an outstanding way but it isn't none of my colleagues speaking here want to be in

035this position we should not have to go to these lengths to call attention to the concerns that directly affect the well-be of our students but we have tried to work within the system we've asked the administration to work towards real solutions and Partnerships with our leadership we've gone above and beyond to make this work the administration continues to tell you that everything is just fine and that they're working out the changes and everything will be great but it's not fine and it's not great right now we believe that it's this Sport's respons responsibility to answer to your employees to answer to the families of our students and to explain why this Administration continues to treat us with disrespect why is this Administration so completely opposed to collaboration when anyone raises concerns our preschool students deserve

036better our Educators deserve better and this community deserves a school district that values truth and transparency thank you for your time thank you Miss gray uh next we have Holly Kulik good evening my name is Hol Kulik and I am a full day early learning program educator at Essex I have been a preschool teacher for 18 years and have been at Essex ELP for the last 10 of those years I want to share some thoughts tonight regarding the many changes both implemented and proposed affecting our program like my colleagues I am deeply concerned that you may not fully grasp the lack of collaboration support and resources we are experiencing as we work to serve our youngest Scholars and their families in the best way possible While others tonight have provided specific details I want to

037take a step back and offer a broader perspective on what I am witnessing in the district the superintendent repeatedly states that change is hard and that we must simply trust his de decisions I agree that change is difficult but not in the way that He suggests the real difficulty lies in the fact that those leading these changes many of whom have not been with acam Public Schools long enough to understand its history and Community seem to strugle with the change the most if they had truly been a part of this District if they had lived in this community and understood the commitment our Educators have played in building our Early Learning Program they would have recognized that the contention and friction we see today are not inevitable they are the direct result of choices made

038by leadership districts around us are prioritizing Early Learning and building expansive programs and hubs for their youngest Learners acam Public Schools is doing the exact opposite coming into a unique District like akan and immediately refusing to collaborate with stakeholders dictating ill-conceived changes with no input from those expected to implement them or retaliating against dedicated employees simply for asking questions is either productive or Visionary this approach does not build a stronger school system it dismantles the amazing ELP program that has always been dismissing everything that is not my idea is not leadership it is narrow-minded and shortsighted over time this kind of thinking leads to senior experienced and professional Educators walking away disengaging and giving up if the reg go the goal of retaliatory leadership is to silence those with with different ideas to demand blind

039loyalty at the expense of collaboration and to shut down dissent then I worry that that's where we're at now I urge this board to address these concerns before things get worse and our ELP staff leave this District talk to our leadership talk to us seek out real input and apply it meaningfully do not dismiss your professional Educators so readily we are the ones on the front lines and we are exhausted please listen to us thank you thank you Miss Kulik did I say your name properly okay thank you next we have Jamie Sadowski good evening board members my name is Jamie Sadowski and I have been working in the early learning program at kclc for 10 years what has happened to our once outstanding Early Learning Program should be a concern for all of you

040the situation has become so alarming that many of my fellow Educators and I have seriously considered leaving the program I found out my classroom at kclc was being closed while watching the last board meeting I was not informed in advance and learned about this major change like many others through a public meeting the lack of respect and transparency is unacceptable no one is communicating with us no one is communicating with our leadership instead of thoughtful planning we're given last minute directives and told to just make it work so what happens when we are left without the support we need we have medically fragile students placed in classrooms with students with severe behavioral challenges and as a result many of these students are not receiving the support that they need we have over enrolled classrooms where

041far too often one adult is left to supervise our staff and students are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet they are individuals with needs and we deserve to be treated as such how is this sustainable it is not yet this Administration continues to spin this reality making it appear as though everything is fine it is not fine it is not business as usual and it's not acceptable stop pretending stop placing the burden on an overworked unders supported staff this Administration must take responsibility for the misguided decision to expand our Early Learning Program without adequate collaboration planning proper resources or the ability deliver on promises being made it's time to make this right please do not ignore us we will continue to speak out in support of our students and their families thank you thank

042you mrskin I apologize that someone actually came to me this weekend about you as I was eating my food that you're the teacher you were watching a board you were watching the Mee and that's when you found out and and I and that's I apologize for that because I didn't know what to say as I was trying to eat my salad I you know you want to have words but it's no excuse for that so I want you to hear from me that um that's not acceptable to hear about anything that's dealing with your career in such a way and not formalize and that's I'm speaking on behalf of me um because I cannot speak on on theal of the board without convening but thank you um Carrie hollingwood good evening board members my name

043is Carrie Haworth and I am an early learning educator at Harris Jackson in Helen Arnold CLC like my colleagues here tonight I am beyond frustrated and deeply concerned about what I am witnessing in our Early Learning Program there is a complete and unsafe lack of Staffing in our classrooms because of this educators are working from morning until dismissal without a lunch without a planning period and in many cases beyond our contracted hours we are arriving early when Vans drop off students and we are staying late when parents fail to pick up their children on time and in many cases we are left alone in classrooms with no one no way of even taking a bathroom break in addition two of my students that are typical peers wet their pants last week because there was nobody

044to take them to the bathroom I was alone in the classroom and there was no other staff and yet as Educators we always do we step in to fill the gaps silently without recognition and without support we do it because we care about our students let me be clear this is unfair this is UN unsustainable and this is unacceptable the board should be embarrassed by the way the Early Learning Program educators are being treated you have heard these concerns before for you know these conditions are not okay and yet the administration continues to ignore our voices and refuses to work with our leadership to find Solutions I ask you to stop expecting us to keep plugging the holes in a broken system while this Administration refuses to do their part stop turning a blind eye

045I am respectfully asking for authentic action and not empty words if we do not fix this now we will continue to lose outstanding dedicated Educators and that loss will ultimately hurt the very children we are here to serve thank you thank you Miss hollingworth next we have um Holly Jordan good evening my name is Holly Jordan I am here as a parent tonight for the Early Learning Program at case and Essex my son who is no longer in the early program was able to and benefit from both locations of the ELP and I can confidently say that this program was lifechanging for our family uh before going to the ELP we were lost we bounced around from daycare to daycare Private Preschool to Private Preschool trying to find a place to support my son he

046has autism and none of the places we were able to find had resources staff or training to meet his needs instead of thriving he was struggling instead of learning he was left behind then we found the ELP at case in essic for the first time my son had teachers who did not see his challenges they saw his potential they didn't fit him into a system that wasn't built for him they built a system around him they adapted they adjusted when something didn't work they found a way he had support from highly trained teachers from PA of professionals support staff AIDS who were instrumental into his Daily Success these staff members weren't just extra hands in the classroom they were the bridge between my son and his learning they helped him navigate transitions regulate emotions and

047feel safe in his environment because of ELP my son made incredible progress by the time he was ready for kindergarten he had an IEP carefully designed and to support his continued growth and then we started kindergarten and saw the cracks in the system his IEP called for oneon-one support person a relationship Builder who could help him transition into a general education program instead of providing that support the district removed that from his IEP the PA professionals and support staff who had been critical to his success were no longer there without the accommodations his disability was no longer treated as a challenge to support it was treated as a behavior problem instead of being set up for Success he was placed in environment that didn't have the resources to help him Thrive and now in front

048of you we are facing a decision to remove the very support staff that made a kid- like mind Thrive the closure of the ELP classrooms at case and essic will take away our preschool classrooms and not just because not because there isn't a demand but because the decision was made without the input of the Educators and the families who depend on those locations families who have already enrolled their children are now left scrambling unsure of options teachers and Par professionals support staff who have spent years building these programs are being overlooked in the decision-making process if we believe that early childhood education we need to invest in it in words in not just words but in actions the that means ensuring the special education students receive special accommodations they are entitled to and not quietly

049stripping them away that means hiring and retaining more PA of professionals thank you thank you one second uh M Harrison thank you madam president um I want to make a motion um that we would suspend the rules so that we can um let the people who have signed up all the people who have signed up have opportunity to speak so I will put that in the form of a motion okay um the motion is on the floor I think in our policy because that's what Alexander was telling me I could have just suspended the rules as the president but um I'll second it it's been it's been moved by member Harrison properly second by member Hall any discussion okay roll Mrs Sykes yes Dr Molar yes Miss Jackson yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Hall yes

050Miss ay yes Mr Alexander yes motion carry 70 thank you next we'll have uh Reverend Curtis Walker to Madam president to the superintendent to the members of the board to those who have come to share uh my name is Reverend Dr Curtis T Walker Senior come as a grandparent of a student at case CLC kayn E Walker uh I come to lift up three points rather quickly uh first to thank the board for pausing uh and considering through the equity committee the diversity equity and inclusion policy of the akan school board thank you for your courage thank you for your Insight thank you for taking time to make sure we get it right so that we can serve and continue to serve our very diverse Community to be able to meet the various needs that

051are before us the second point I wanted to lift up and encourage us to continue to fight for is the fair funding activity that has taken place at our state house right now akan was in the Forefront in the Culp Patterson funding project via the previous Treasurer we need to be in the Forefront to make sure that we are adequately funded to do what many of these teachers many of these parents are talking about tonight so we encourage you to fight uh and be assertive in making sure that we are at the table and receive the funds that are necessary the third is to lift up early learning program Earnie ELC rocks and as early learning is a part of our formula for Success we need to make sure that we have the adequate uh

052needs for those students so that they can succeed you've heard heard some of the concerns of parents tonight I want to encourage us on the positive we looked at in the past early childhood education all day kindergarten we need to not decrease but increase find the necessary funding find the necessary tools to be able to adequately meet the needs of our students staff and teachers so that we can be in the Forefront of making sure that we adequately teach our St our students at the earliest point of their introduction to Akon Public Schools I am APS proud and because of that I encourage us to be proud and do our best to meet the needs of our students thank you thank you Reverend Walker next we have Megan Morland hi good evening I'm Megan Morland

053thank you for the opportunity to express our concerns for the proposed closing of the Early Learning Program at case and Essex this issue is important to me as a mom of a student who has attended both case and Essex a PTA president and a partner looking for APS to thrive I wholeheartedly agree with the expansion of ELP enacted in the 2425 school year which provides our children a head start to develop kindergarten read I met Dr Robinson's leadership on the issue with Glee he stated last September that quote our new all day prek program is designed to give our youngest Scholars the best start possible by investing in Early Education we give our children the tools they need to succeed in school and Beyond despite this expressed need the administration announced recently that ELP classrooms

054at case and Essex will close this coming school year the Firestone cluster currently serves eight prek classrooms rumors of final changes abound but according to APS Chief of Staff the proposed changes would shift two classrooms to King with Portage Path would remain in place for a decade the Firestone cluster provided our community with seven ELP classrooms and currently serves eight these proposed changes would cut our classrooms by half and potentially eliminate 140 slots districtwide and not because of lack of Interest or demand in September of last year APS reported that quote the community's reception for the new all day offering was Spirited with families signing up quickly to fill all available opportunities Mike Quincy is a pandemic baby and upon his entry to pre K he suffered from separation anxiety having the opportunity to attend

055cas's halfday class at 3 and essex's full day class at 4 allowed him to build Independence and self assurance these offerings were imperative to his success moving forward as were the teachers who went above and beyond to help my son adjust to these new environments I would hate to see my neighbor's children not have the same safe place to grow my time to speak is closing but I have rapid fire points to consider first Investments were made to develop essics as a hub for teachers and bolsters the program as a whole it should remain second the current top- down decision methodology is not working Communications have been lackluster which diminishes morale and creates avoidable outrage as you are hearing now thirdly teachers need resources to succeed give them changing tables sufficient Aid support to allow

056for planning and lunch periods four it would behoove our district to increase compens especially for par professionals who currently make less than a living wage lastly reduction of classrooms with similar demand will undoubtedly increase class size strain student teacher ratios and diminish our staff's ability to teach effectively in conclusion I ask you to believe in ELP as we do and bolster the programming not by slashing seats but rather by building upon cornerstones that have been set up for the success of the program and children thank you for your time time and your service to the community thank you very much Miss Morland next we will have Maria cross good evening board members excuse me my name is Maria Krauss and I'm a school psychologist in APS I have worked in that position in the district

057for 33 years the last 17 of the Early Learning Program I am also the parent of a graduate of ELP I'm here to support my colleagues the students and the families I am honored and proud to serve the preschool program has been around a has been around in APS since 1986 although at that time it was known as the integrated preschool program it gradually grew into the program that we had in 2023 24 school year that was rated gold and 5 Stars by the state many of our teachers have their master's degrees our preschool not only has very qualified teachers and classroom assistants but also the services of speech and language Pathologists OTS pts teachers of the visually impaired teachers of hearing impaired and yes School sites I think we can say that the ELP

058teachers and staff know what they're talking about as a school psychologist and educator and parent I cannot stress the enough that a child's Early Education lays the foundation for success in school and Beyond majority of brain growth happens in the first 5 years of life when millions of of neural connections are being made Early Learning provides critical social emotional and academic benefits preparing students for to be lifelong Learners we sorely lack the to the tools necessary to maintain a high standard in ain's early learning program that that ain's early learning program was once known for lack of appropriate Staffing and resources poor planning and poor implementation have negatively impacted the Early Childhood learning for example young children need to have gross motor activity daily to be able to focus during instructional access developmentally appropriate design

059um materials currently there is no little to no gross motor time limited gym and playground access developmentally inappropriately and inappropriately designed and unsafe play grounds and reducing rather than increasing instructional time all raise justifiable concerns about what we are really trying to accomplish are we truly committed to providing a developmentally appropriate education to the youngest of our Learners changes in ELP should have been paired with collaboration and planning and increased support among the foundational values of the blueprint for excellent strategic plan are communication relevance relationships trust and Readiness I would venture to say that these were not met when making changes in ELP the very knowledgeable ELP staff was not consulted prior to all these changes being made when those of us who have dedicated years in early childhood education say that something is not

060working we expect to be heard we care too much about these students and the families to remain silent we need the board to acknowledge the reality we are facing and demand real solutions we need leadership from you that prioritizes the quality of Early Education over the quantity of classrooms and the truth and the untruthful picture that they are painting and showing the public please work with us work with our ELP leadership our youngest students our families and the Educators who who who we serve deserve nothing less thank you thank you m PA next we have apet know why I like I said that very loud I like I said [Music] your good evening everybody I heard some things back here before I go to what I'm going to say to you I'm very concerned it's

061raining is pouring the old man and woman are snoring they've bumped their head and gone to bed and it's time to wake up in the morning where's the rainy day fund money for this school system and I'm really saddened that teachers are not having lunch I come to you this evening um I'm apet I'm the pastor and Visionary of one of my churches is called no fear but God Fellowship Assembly Church Ministries and I'm the founder and Visionary of Mother's lives matter mom's lives matter I wrote you a letter and I believe the more you read the more you succeed and I'm going to stick to the reading so and then I made copies for each of you dear board members and other concerned parties some of my concerns are as follows please put prayer

062in the name of Jesus Christ back into our school system including the curriculum prayer pens paper and promising Futures have been removed pistols metal detectors tasers and prison population mass incarceration replace them students and parents fear for their safety with this obstacle they face every day Jesus Christ represents both lamb and you ewe male and female the X and Y chromosomes one person remove prayer I am the one person who is willing to and able to help us restore it and revive the life academic arena where there is prayer there is power where there is no power no prayer there is no power cell phone have been a major distraction for educators parents Etc they have not been used to enhance education but instead increase illiteracy and violence especially in black and poor communities parent

063and teacher communication must be restored to uh stop the prison pipeline in the academic process educator instructor communication needs to improve whether it be with a child or an adult I would like to help you bridge these gaps between the Church the courts the communities which are prevalent in these times children are being gunned down instead of graduating feel free to contact me anytime so we can complete this process together thank you for your time your attention and the sacrifices that you make for the school system um and for all of us we must study to show ourselves approved Work men and women needing not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth because the word of Truth is what makes all of us free our children our families our communities and please find

064that money that rainy F fund money because it's no longer a a story rhyme it's a real time in these times thank you thank you apet next we have niola Thompson you all have a blessed evening you too thank you good evening board members my name is Nikki I have three children within the district my son Caleb currently attends Essex ELP this is his second year in the program his introduction to school started last year at Stewart with small class sizes a fantastic environment and our wonderful teachers we enjoyed our first year EST lishing his IEP and making plans for Caleb's future we concluded the year in confusion and uncertainty as the news of steuart's closing rippled through and broke all of our hearts I personally had no idea where Caleb was headed until a

065month before school started when I received a letter from Transportation asking how I would like to get Caleb to and from Portage Path CLC with this new information I attended an open house and a one-on-one with his new teacher with a class size of 19 children more than one special needs one teacher one assistant and a door with no gate for runners I was apprehensive his teacher assured us that we would try for at least a week and see if it was a good fit day one concluded with his special needs teacher who was be in his classroom only two days a week for a few hours each day walking him out to say that it had been a tricky day but they would see us tomorrow that night I received a call telling me

066that Caleb was not welcome back and other arrangements would be made for him that night I cried this rejection of my child after Assurance broke me the next morning however I woke up mad this failure is on you my child was established with the district and his needs were no secret the fact that anyone thought mainstreaming him with 20 other children would work is preposterous after 2 weeks it was suggested that he go to Essex with hesitation and anger I went to see what was being offered once I saw the staff many from Stewart and many new loving faces I was thrilled to know that Caleb would now have a school home and now this we've already established that from my child and I'm sure many others mainstreaming will not work children will not get

067the benefits of the personal attention at a c on a CLC scale and the fellow classmates will not get the education they would with special friends called causing distractions in the 30 minutes of daily gym time that they are assured of in their current location is essential as movement for these friends is just as important as ABCs and 123s my son's smallest accomplishments mean the world to us and I know that the teachers that he has had are the reason we have beg to watch him Blossom I can say with confidence that at some point in your lives you got into the role of education for the love of children and the desire to secure a path for their Futures to be better this is not that path do not force these children to be

068ushered through given the bare minimum and call it an education please allow them to have their needs properly met and if you can't for the sake of the children admit your failings and release them allowing their parents to find them the right place I ask you to look at each child individually and classes as a whole and remind yourself of the person with within who wanted to see each child truly succeed thank you thank you our last speaker is Clara Fair Clara there or claraa hello um I'm more of a parent struggling with a kid at I promise who's been Billy for 2 years um being with several people here um I've talked to with no regards of anything until my daughter finally is tired and reacts and then she's in trouble there's something need

069to be done and I'm here today because I've talked to several people with a return of phone calls me coming down here I rate behind this with no response emails I have a whole team I have um a parent advocate I have Ohio rise worker who's reaching out and no response um two years of this until my daughter reacts to the part where just recently once again after another year of a kid running towards me and my daughter to fight with nobody stopping her her and my daughter getting a full F full alter and I'm told I'm kicked off the premises and criminal charges was filed against me this is ridiculous we're two years in I'm tired my daughter is tired why am my daughter constantly is not being covered I am concerned about her

070safety at the I prom school I'm concerned about the lack of communication as a parent a powerful parent cuz I don't I'm not bagging down this is just another step of me trying to get some clear under some clear communication and as a parent I should have that I have many emails I have openly had her therapist been rejected from the school this is ridiculous and I want some help I'm not getting no help and I'm coming to y'all today because I don't have nowhere else to go and I'm asking for help with my daughter I was told once my daughter is not considered bullying when she fights back but when she's egged on and she's we talking about kids 12y old kid what is we supposed to what is she supposed to do when

071nobody is covering her nobody is helping her I'm reaching out as a parent I went to principles myself face to face hey this is going on again my daughter's told to turn the other cheek nothing is happening until my daughter gets tired and she reacts this cannot go on just like Taylor was saying about the bullying these kids should not sit in school and not be protected somehow this enough as y'all know we're facing this thing with this little boy who just killed himself behind this this is ridiculous and as a parent and a strong parent I shouldn't be in the situations I'm in because I'm fighting for my daughter with no response thank you so much um for your comments and thank you for coming down on behalf of your child um as we

072uh the board uh unanimously agreed to suspend the rules because we do care about the comments and the concerns that are being shared with us and I I want to note our previous board meeting I remember some of the Early Learning Program someone came and made comments um about the program and I think to do this Justice and to show we're talking about transparency we do have individuals usually that attend the board meetings that represent um these various departments however also when we have our different committee meetings and I think this may be house in somewhere like instructional policy but this issues these issues and I just want to say this on the mic that's been brought have to be unpacked and addressed and dealt with fidelity because this is not the first time that

073it's come here and questions have been asked and those of you who know I say I'm going to say it on the mic right yes I say it on the mic because this whole transparency thing I'm not a person I don't do Shadow movement and I don't Slither either I like to stand straight up and deal with issues and so my concern is I wrote I took notes and I'm going to bring it to Administration and then I'm sure I'm going to get a response and then typically I will come back and I will read the response out at a board meeting but this is a lot and it's a lot of concerns and as an educator I'm thinking about okay so what are the teacher to student ratio for Early Childhood because the State

074art has that clear and you're talking about changing beds these are all this is not just akine we do at our preview this is State regulated things that you are saying and so it's hard for me and I said I want to get to um case and to look around it's very hard toite my head around some of the things that's being shared when we're talking about students soiling themselves um there's a lot so yes we hear you but I also hear you when you say we don't need empty words I respect that because I believe in action steps and so I just want to thank you as well as the parent who came from I promise to share your concerns and as a as a board member I'm concerned with what you shared and

075I'm Cur and I need to know what is the resolution what are the action steps and the solutions that we were taking so I do thank you and I thank my board colleagues because we did we need to hear the story from your end but it also has to be a point that when we hear the response that you need to be in the room too because if we're hearing this response and we're thinking things are being handled and okay th this is an incident here this happened in one classroom versus no this has happened in eight classrooms also about the 140 vacant seats I know last time we met and uh super this is I'm putting this out here because further conversation needs to be had we were told that because we did not

076have full enrollment in our prek programs that as we move students that they will be that it was space for students and if I'm hearing based off of these comments that that's not quite accurate or as they understand it that's not an accurate statement and so those who are in the room who work for office in this area so that you know the questions that I'm going to be typing up for responses are going to be align with this and I'm going to send them out and I would like to at least buy another board meeting to be able to speak to this but I'm also going to speak to these in these people and I want to visit the schools cuz I want to see from my own just my professional lens cuz I

077have we have they care and so I understand the ratio what the state requires and so some of these I don't think I don't know how it would be possible for us to function not align with State certain state requirements so again thank you for sharing um your concerns have been heard and this is a lot this is a whole separate meeting um for all that was shared on today so again I do want to thank you and let you know that you have been heard and I'm sure um I would I would go as far as to say I think some of my colleagues may be wondering some of the same things I'm wondering and if not it is my concern um so again thank you now we'll have um the superintendent report and

078updates we want to take a moment to just pause and recognize the effort [Music] um of the of the great work that Miss Felicia Ferguson uh provided to our district and unfortunately she passed away she was the daughter of Miss Ronda and Mr Ben Ferguson uh who are both APS employees uh she worked in uh as a student worker and then she also became a secretarial worked in a secretarial position throughout her time in APS and certainly we want to share our condolences with the family and let them know that we are thinking about them in this difficult time we also want to say happy birthday to uh board president Jackson uh which is on [Music] tomorrow couple of national days we want to acknowledge uh National nutrition month which is in the month of

079March um also National read Across America day Dr Seuss Dr Seuss's day uh National Employee Appreciation Day National maintenance worker Appreciation Day on March the 7th uh letting our maintenance workers know that we really appreciate the hard work that they put in each and every day also our social uh Work N uh School Social Work week uh we want to acknowledge I think we only have two social workers in our district but we do want to acknowledge their work uh and dedication to the schools that they're working um in National School social worker day is March 18th and certified nurses day which we have uh nurses working in our schools on March 19th and we want to say thank you to them for the hard work that they do each and every day National P

080day uh which is mathematics um that's on March 14th and St Patrick's day is March 17th thank you to our um grantors St Hillary parish for donating uh $1,200 to eclc for their baseball program also Mr Mahoney who donated $1,000 to North uh high schools wrestling program and the I promise School received a grant from the LeBron um yes we can clap on that um received a grant from LeBron James family foundation for $875,000 for the 2425 school year uh to refund to fund I'm sorry the reduction of teachers um instructional Specialists intervention specialist teachers um and a climate team member and so we want to say thank you to the foundation uh for their generosity and for always thinking about the needs of the scholars at the I promise school yes we can give

081them a hand on that congratulations also to an miss an R uh Rubble uh from North High School for placing seventh in the lady Vikings wrestling event and earned a place on the podium uh and all state honors uh Miss rubel finished her season with a record of 31 to8 uh and one all three uh 31 I'm sorry uh matches and this is a new record for the school and her coach uh said that she is a great competitor and has some of the best sportsmanship for uh of any wrestler uh CDW Logistics a technology company thank you for your generosity for donating three Samsung Galaxy tablets for our scholar of the Year event uh which is scheduled to be held on Thursday May 15th uh at 4:30 p.m. at Garfield CLC akan uh Native

082and bookal grad Paul uh tazwell uh won the Oscar for costume design and made Academy um Awards uh history in the process and he says I'm the first black man to receive this costume design award Mr tazwell said in his acceptance speech for the Blockbuster film Wicked let's let's give him a a round of applause yes he is indeed a bookal grad um bookal at one time was known for the Arts um many many years ago and so we still want to um acknowledge the great work and he's a part of that Legacy so now for our time for our um be kind 3:30 at the I promise School kindness is spreading uh one compliment at a time in celebration of National compliment day students and staff took a moment to share words of encouragement

083and appreciation with one another uh proving that even the simplest acts of kindness can have a a powerful impact a sincere compliment can brighten someone's day boost their confidence and create a culture where everyone feels valued and that's what beind 330 is all about small gestures that make a big difference and as we play this video are we ready okay my compliment trayon is that he a good partner to everybody and like when people need help he always helping them I like his see and he's a good partner I like your outfit I like your hair you are a great principal I think you are an absolutely perfect student here thank you you have very nice hair I like your personality so Jaden I think you are very creative um and you just bring life

084to this school I think you're a very nice person deavon is a great friend he's a professional learner and he has great shoes Elijah is a good friend he a funny kid and um and he's a problem solver I absolutely love your smile it is my favorite part of you I like your shoes and he helps people that she's a good friend thank you so much to the I promise school for providing that and thank you to the LeBron James found Family Foundation for the creation and sharing this event thank you thank you superintendent next we will have the treasur report Madam chair uh yes thank you madam chair with the superintendent's uh report let me just say that I I find it I I I cannot sit here and not ask something about their

085Early Learning uh as we've heard uh teachers and parents and Community leaders talk about it I don't expect you to talk about it or debate it here Mr superintendent but I would like to get some idea about where we are with this and addressing some of the issues and concerns that we've heard tonight from our parents from our teachers from our community and that we received in various emails and Communications from the communities I was writing I I'm listening from Essex case Harris Helen Aro and there's probably other schools could you just give us just a general overview where we are with this and where we can expect to see this going uh in correcting and addressing some of the concerns and issues or or whether or not there's anything to correct we need to

086know the community needs to know thank you I'm sure they do thank you Miss SES and I'd like to begin by saying that for me um some of this is the first that I'm hearing of it so I took meticulous notes on some of the things well it is it's the first time I hearing about some of these things when it comes mad Madam chair M superintendent I am very very sorry to hear you say as a superintendent that this is the very first time you he I did not say that this is the first time I'm hearing I said some of these things this was the first time I'm hearing about it I was taking notes at each of the schools what I am aware of is that at the very beginning of the

087year we had some concerns around uh changing tables and so we purchased additional changing tables but again some of these other things I have not heard about this is the first of my even hearing about it so that's why I took notes to meet with the director um on tomorrow to go through these things so that I can find out um where we need to work worked in order to improve whatever those conditions are but for me to sit here tonight you asked me for the to give you an explanation that's what I'm doing trying to be as very transparent as I can I'm not aware of all of these things and concerns so now that I am now I can now act on that and work with our director to make sure that we're

088able to address these concerns and provide back to uh you a detailed um explanation or listing of what are we what we've done thank you Mr superintendent Madam chair again I would just State I am very sorry to hear that this is the first time that you are aware of some of the concerns that the individuals the teachers the parents of community is bringing to us because if we were receiving the emails over the week time I find it I don't understand why these individuals would not have communicated that through their supervisors I I don't I don't understand it so I'm very I'm very sorry to hear that there is a serious breakdown in communication someplace and we are this is March right we're in March since in the school system started in August yes

089I'm very sorry to hear that and I would am eagerly awaiting some responses on on what we heard tonight [Applause] is was there anything else you were going to ask superintendent oh um cuz they talked about the the were you going to add anything like that you were aware of like the ratio or the time them not having breaks did you have any did you hear from any supervisors with things about that from the last meeting so again at the very beginning of the year those some of those things were brought to my attention I sat and met with um the director those were things that we were addressing um we don't have uh pa um enough pair of professionals someone mentioned something about that um so in terms of us prioritizing that that is

090something that we're prioritizing to make sure that we can hire additional pair of professionals um which we've been looking we've actually been working with other companies trying to recruit uh unfortunately there just aren't a lot of people that are seeking to come into education whether it's prayer professionals whether it's bus drivers those are areas that we've been struggling to try and feel um and when we did hire some the priority at that time was to make sure that we put place them in prek we also have a shortage when it comes to special education um which does play into prek but also in our regular um um and our buildings meaning K to K and above we also have a shortage there as well with teachers uh special education teachers um as well as um

091special education par professionals so we've been working trying to uh work with other companies trying to even find them um but those are some of the issues that I was aware of that we addressed before I was not aware that there were Contin issues with some of these things so this is some of it is the first that I'm hearing about it so that's the reason why I want to work with the director on tomorrow to go school by school to understand what we can now do to address that okay thank you sir I was trying to go through my emails very quickly while we were here but um like I said this so this will be another discussion this is going to take time and I'm in agreement with member syes as far as

092um um responses to the to it and this is for some of the central office staff that's in the room too because if it comes to you there is clearly and I was going to say this in my president's report so maybe I can skip my report it's clearly communication is not happening because when I sit up here and I 100% believe what triaa said to me when I met them and as I said because I'm not only a board member I'm an auntie of a student at triaa so the some of the thing the lack of communication and them the not knowing but and I'm not saying this necessary from the superintendent but teams have to meet and stop making decisions on things without everyone being aware of the information and how these decisions

093are being made because the community comes the community comes before this board and the community as you member Hall and I have discussed a multiple times they say the board and so the community has an expectation and understanding that the board is aware they elect the board members to represent their various interests and to fight to advocate for them when we don't have all the information it makes it very hard for us to support systems and things in place as we do we want to support our employees we want to support the work of the district but we keep hearing this lack of knowing they people didn't know I'm going talk about the people with the boots on the grounds don't know about things that's impacting them we keep hearing the same thing over and

094over over again and that that has to be handled it it really does and the people working in these various departments when you guys do your nice little readouts and saying you're communicating with people I'm there is a disconnect and I understand I see the body language for the people that work here feeling uncomfortable with what I'm saying but one thing about facts facts are consistent if something is factual it can be proven if something happen we can measure it if something's going on in the classroom we can observe we can see it if things have been bought we have invoices we can see all these things if teachers are communicating and getting emails here's the deal if these people been emailing people it we they we we can prove it right they're going to

095be able to show the trace of emails and who they talk to so people you can have all the body language and look uncomfortable if you want to because people not offended they're uncovered and so this is our duty as as elected officials now I I Tred to be am with everyone but I took this position strictly for kids and to serve kids and I know for children to be served properly the Educators that's serving them have to be equipped everyone needs to be held accountable for the work to be done and that's all I'm saying that's all I'm saying because we keep hearing this same thing and it's not all I'm talking about all departments that have to interface with these areas when we're talking about responses and so I I just want to

096say that because I don't like the thought of people feeling like that they come and their voices are heard and it's just words and that there's no action behind it and I want us to have act to do it with Fidelity and not necess not to beat anyone down but to do the work that we're charged to do in this district and it's it's just that simple so again thank you thank you super attending and those staff members who are listening that are going to work on this and thank you for those who have come out from um The Early Learning um centers and departments because you are valued and we do know that's foundational work and so we must work together collectively in order to see what can we do to continue to do

097the work and to move the district forward so again thank you for that and be looking for updates from this board concerning what you have shared with us today um treasurers is there any other I'm sorry treasure yeah because it was his he finished his report soy s's entered on discussion what she can so yes not to just I'm sorry thank you U madam president um listening to the elop I got about 20 questions but I won't ask them all on the floor but my biggest concern is um a few of them all stated just make it work so with this there's leadership right in place there's the teachers they report to somebody that person then report to somebody you know who and don't all answer okay but um who are these the teachers who

098are they going to telling them all these issues and who's saying just make it work um that that seems to be a lot of um feedback that I got from most of these teachers and then the change kids on the floor I would be mad if I was a parent and my child was on the floor being changed without a blanket or anything so is it a lack of changing tables in these schools we don't have them in the bathrooms yes no we don't we do some schools um I mean I think that would be like an easy fix right maybe order more changing tables at these schools make that a first step um but this like you said and Mrs Sy said this is concerning about um what this what is going on cuz

099I was so excited about us having a full day prek last year when we talked about I was so excited I was excited about people that's not in our district asking how can they get their kids in this so ah we just got to figure this out so that like um Pastor Walker stated um we' be on the front line let's be excellent let's have people bringing their kids to our district um for this Early Learning Preschool so superintendent you got a lot of work to do uh and I know that you will handle it and you know your staff I just want them to come to you with these issues and con concerns and I don't know if they are if they're not or whatever is happening but to tell someone just to make

100it work without any solution you know has to be hard so that's all thank you Miss Hall I'm not sure where the comment came from because it did not come from me no I'm not saying it's so certainly the things that I have sat down with Miss Douglas previously we've Auto she the very next day was ordering changing taes and those kinds of things so if I know about it we're going to move on it if it's something that we can't fix at that moment in time that's going to prohibit then we maybe have to look at movement and placing it in another room or another building or something of that nature but um prek is something that's very important to me so certainly um I would not have said to to anyone than just

101fix it just deal with it no so I'm not sure where that came from but it certainly did not come from my office super yeah uh member H but just clarification because you didn't say it came from you just said J yeah I I wasn't saying it came from you and I I support your leadership and all things um but it's it's being said from someone right so somebody saying something and not giving the full information back and not reporting back to you so again the communication has to be adequate it has to be honest it has to be truthful and whoever is saying just make it work we need to dig into it a little further and as teachers I I'm sorry just I'll stop right here because it's a lot but I I

102truly support you and all um everything that you do superintendent and I know that you will Rectify these issues uh yes uh vice president Alexander yeah yes I'm I'm hearing all the things I want to let everyone know that I hear you too I don't say a lot I just listen I absorb and and see what's going on it sounds like I keep hearing communication maybe there is a lack of communication I want everyone to know too and and and this is from I'm this is coming from me as a uh an administrator piece that there is a chain of command and if you follow your chain of command it's not getting done at one spot then you go to the next spot if it's not getting done there then you go to the next

103person and if it doesn't get done there then you go to the next person person if it goes to the superintendent is not getting done it goes to him and you know it goes to it's gone to him uh then it needs to come to us but don't I don't want people skipping over either because it's not fair to your your your supervisors either that you skip over someone that you want to let someone else know if I'm a line staff or a teacher then I'm going to skip my my school principal and I'm going to go to the supervisor so make sure we go through the change as well so maybe there that's where the lack of communication is because maybe someone may not understand or know that this has been done and so

104therefore if they're being skipped then there is a lack of communication because there's one person who didn't know that this was being told because they got skipped over so we do have to work on the communication and I I want I want us to have a positive environment I want I'm I'm I'm a big proponent of of uh early childhood education I was in the first Head Start class I know what it did for me and so I understand what Early Learning is all about and education so we need to have you all here we don't need you all to leave this let's give the superintendent a little time to get uh some of this stuff stuff uh worked on and taken care of but at the same time make sure we go through that

105change so everyone knows because that's where a lot of lack of communication can come from and I'm I'm saying that from as an administrative point of view because I've been in administrative positions and people wanted to go past other people and come to me and what I did is I sent them back okay did you talk to your supervisor did you talk to the next person L because then that that's how you the communication can can be taken care of and it's it's not missed by someone or a group of people so uh we're going to leave on a positive note on this here it's going to be taken care of it's going to be done and we're going to keep all of you here you're not going anywhere we're going to keep you here

106and we'll do what we can to get some help okay so um we're going to be good thank you thank you vice president Alexander um Miss ay thank you madam president um superintendent I just wanted to ask I hearing about this number uh this 140 seats understanding the shortage of teachers and parent professionals is across the country um but in terms of the need and demand for the Early Learning can you give us any Clarity around that um and also I am a full supporter of the Early Learning Program I know many community members were excited to be able to have this opportunity for a full day um but it it sound sounds like and I know we need further research and conversation um that we might not have the staff to sustain the need

107can you give any insight at all on our numbers yes and I'm going to ask Miss Douglas to come up as well um but in some of the schools we do have a lack of staff so we have Subs in some of those classrooms and we I think it's four or five classrooms that I think one of them them um I'm not sure exactly which school it is they may be all in the same school but I know there there are four for sure maybe possibly one other but I'm not sure if it's in the same school but they have Subs in those classrooms um we so so technically those are four classrooms that are open basically um if those students are distributed to other schools um yes if we had the staff we could

108keep those four classrooms and the space as well um because before I came the board voted to move it out of Essex and Stewart this was kind of the last of that move and I think we had four classrooms still left at essic and so those will be distributed across the district um where we have the space um and where we can appropriately house them because there are certain things that need to be in the classroom designed a certain way basically like a kindergarten classroom so that there's change an area for changing tables um sometimes if the restroom is not in the classroom it needs to be right outside of the classroom so many feet away from the from the room so that they are able to to change and and if it if the

109building wasn't built for five kindergarten classrooms well the the two or three classrooms that it was built to have when the building was erected they might only have the bathrooms in those rooms and they have and they would have to go somewhere else in the building but we have to make sure that it's in within proximity so so those are things that we we is not a matter of just going stick them in buildings we have to make sure that we're going to be able to be in compliance um when it comes to the 140 um slots um I'm not aware that we will be losing 140 slots we may have 140 open but I wasn't aware of us losing um students but when you don't have the staff you can only you can only

110staff and and yes um if we were to go back and look at how things absolutely this was our first year uh we have a lot of learning that we've uh done from this so that we can now take that into the second year so that we can make it even more successful for next school year but by us not having all of the staff yeah that has a lot to do with why we are having to do some some um placements so that next year we can have if it's I've even asked for us I even asked this year we just didn't have the the pair of professionals because I asked can we maybe put an additional pair of professional to help support like if one is out we would still have an extra

111we just don't have the the extra pair of professionals uh I even asked it for this year coming up for 25 26 but we just don't have the pair of professionals when we get them we already have places where they the need is but I prioritize prek to make sure and special education uh in some of our other buildings yes Miss Douglas can you share anything that I might have missed on that oh um so we're not necessarily losing 140 seats when we look at how we can structure this the slots that we do have and maximize capacity within our classrooms although overall we may have a decrease in slots it it would not be 140 I will have to go back and do the math to figure out exactly what that is um I

112know I'm going to have to follow up with you quite a bit extensively yes excuse me D if I may I came up because I'm the one who reported 599 Scholars and we have had available 748 seats um for this school year and so when we did our op presentation in February we had 599 Scholars enrolled so that's about 14 I'm wondering if that's where the numbers came in in terms of the difference so as we are Staffing for next year and as Miss Douglas stated deciding um what we should do as we try to uh have operational excellence as we try to make the decisions and understanding that we were short staff Paris this year and things like that we made the recommendations to the superintendent and made some adjustments um but it wasn't

113closing those classrooms as we reconfigure some of the locations um to accommodate the fact that we didn't have the staff that we continuously tried to get this year we adjusted some of those classrooms so as of our latest plan we had 748 this year we think with the reconfiguration um as we work through and Miss Douglas I believe shared with the staff members today about which classrooms would be full day which would be half day we believe that we can accommodate a still at about 716 next school year some of those classrooms May not be full day but the 140 came in the discrepancy also in thinking that we're closing Five classrooms over at Essex let's say um then if you average about I don't know where the 140 came from but if you average

114about uh you know 20 students per class maybe that's where it came from but only thing I could think of is the difference in the number we have in roll and the number we were uh able to offer this year um one sec M second did you have was it some unreadiness it seemed like it was something else you felt you needed to share are you are you okay did you have something that you wanted to add no I'm thank you okay no problem thank you um uh Pastor Harrison in the member Hall thank you uh Madame President one of the things that I heard was sta well it's it's a theme the Staffing um the teachers are overworked they're not getting breaks um we can't get pair of professionals um but I also heard

115living wage have have we looked at what we're paying PA professionals as opposed to what other districts are paying them and maybe we need to pay more to bring in Staffing because it sound like a lot of what I'm hearing is Staffing related fine uh Ember hom let the uh superintendent uh address that okay so Pastor Harrison your question gets into the contractual contracts and Union contracts so I can't really sit and discuss that here certainly if I could I would certainly do it but I can't just do it that way it has to go through negotiations and so in terms of their wages for teachers and preparers um which I'm always in agreement of teachers having more and parents having more but we just right now I can't really get into that conversation um

116with you on that um but we are we are trying to do what we can do um to to support in terms of the um pay and we we have other areas too that we just aren't able to kind of have those conversations here about that and until that too uh when I first came into the district I know that uh at the time president um NJ Akbar there was a a study done as far as livable wages and um with the focus on the peer professional so we can maybe review that as well just to um as for some guidance but member Hall did you yeah I just had a quick uh thank you madam president um just miss Douglas real quick um all of these teachers are standing up in support of you

117do you have documentation of every single issue that these teachers have come with today yes some of them uh some of them have been brought to me previously a while ago and we've I thought they were addressed I'm hearing it sounds like there's continued so I need to find out where there continues to be some problems um we know that Staffing is a continued conc concern that is something that I am definitely aware of and I've been trying to work with HC really closely and they've been doing what they can to get us better staffed and so just one more question you said you thought some things were addressed so is it that because of you're you're I don't know how to say this and I'm I'm not trying to attack you or anything like

118that just a question um complaints that come to you then you pass them forward right does it come back to you that it's going to be a or does it come back to you saying okay we have all of these changing tables like are you in the loop with all the communication going back and forth yes I try to handle as many of the concerns on my own as possible when I need support then I go to my supervisors to to provide support to me to do that okay okay thank you and what I will um as we move away from this topic because we you know it it has to a deep dive what I experienced in this District when I first came is that I went to classrooms I went to Firestone Park

119I went to North High School and there were things lacking that the teachers were complaining about uh the classroom conditions were not conducive for learning it was this is not on you I'm just using this for an example to frame up this statement and so it was things about air condition I mean they were doing Assessments in 90 degree classrooms and so my question as an educator how can we really trust this data if the children are in this uncomfortable environment right North High School was the science lab the stools were like well over the table how this is not conducive and I was told oh that's just a drop in the bucket for our budget well handle it right and so I the teacher show followed the chain of command so I want the

120board to know that there is instances where they go to the they report it to the principal the principal allegedly sends it to central office what I found in that time when I wasn't uh that clear of how much in the we I wasn't supposed to be cuz I was a teacher until I was moving that way um a lot of times the message was not making it te and then it stopped at some point like I saw messages where the treasury responded like it's not in the budget for this but when I turned back around and I asked about it it was told oh it was fixed so sometimes it's about us cuz it is a a a a drop in communication and teacher may follow the protocol and somehow it gets stopped when

121it gets here to to make it up the full chain and they're getting told a no response or is not being responded that's just what I personally observed in my a year or two or one here that sometimes that does happen and so people don't have all the information all the time so it is good to follow up or even at this form because this is their board and it is a public uh meeting so however it's brought to us to be handled is how it should be brought to us so again I want to thank you all and um I'm feeling confident that we can move forward in this matter to do what's best for our our programming and our students and thank you teachers for all the work that you've been doing and

122your commitment sh I'm like I should have got to text something this is crazy this I had no idea but thank you thank you Miss h m h did you have anything additional to add okay I we ready to move forward for the treasur report okay now we have the treasures report uh thank you madam president uh school board members Dr Robinson so I just want to give a brief update on where we stand on the budget Bill House Bill um what I think if you're not accustomed to looking at these bills you would assume budget bill means it's all about money and it is but it's also like so many pieces of legislation that document gets thicker and thicker and thicker and a whole lot of verbiage and other things that really have no

123direct impact on the budget Bill end up being part of it so um Reverend um haris or excuse me um Reverend Walker made a good point when he was addressing uh the board regarding how important this is but it's a Ohio school fundings remains a top priority to the state um and they are still saying they're committed to the fair school funding act which again uh the Reverend mentioned um in recent budgets fiscal year 24 um saw increases overall in the educational spending so in year three is what we're moving into in this phased in process of the of the budget bill of the fair school funding um plan there are some significant changes that appear to be happening um and it just exacerbates a lot of the discussion that we were just talking about

124um in terms of being able to find the funds to do what we we need to do but in fiscal 26 it's poised for some key shifts in this distribution of funds so for example uh a major change scheduled for fiscal year 26 this can all change please understand that this is what is currently in the House of Representatives at the state level this is not federal this is State uh the reduction of the scare the um Fair school funding formula so under the current plan many districts were assured a minimum State funding level however in fiscal year 26 this guarantee is dropping from 100% to 95% the next year proposed to 90% meaning that districts will be expected um to generate larger shares of funding from their local community we know that that that

125Mo impacts because of the way the funding formula Works impacts urbans far more than it impacts wealthy Suburban schools or rural schools um you'll hear the word inputs a lot inputs inputs inputs and you might like what the heck is that what an in so I'll give you an idea of what it is so the big eight treasurers we just had a meeting we expressed our concerns to our local legislators and trying to come up with a uniform response from the urbans um the current fun funding formula still use inputs from 2022 so what that means is the inputs are what they're telling us it costs to have a preschool student this is what it costs to educate a special needs student or any student well we're using inputs from 2022 we're not adjusting those

126inputs so you can still keep phasing in the formula but you're phasing it in on three years old data that doesn't make sense it's a way to circumvent the funding formula is essentially what it is um so that's creating quite a problem um and without updating these figures to reflect educational costs the reduced guarantee may lead to disproportionate funding gaps again especially in districts where local resources are limited um the other major shift here and it's a major shift is recent budget proposals have reallocated funding that has historically gone to the public schools to cure and Charter programs although this shift is bolstered funding for school choice initiatives it it also compounds the challenges for your our traditional Public Schools so to put that in perspective we have this same pool of money but it's

127being redistributed $105 million right now is being proposed to take away from public schools and all nearly a$1 billion dollar moving to towards Charters and school choice so you know again putting a significant pressure on uh on our on our Public Schools so we we're trying to formulate a message that we hope we can get all the school districts behind or at least as many as we can because voice matters like Taylor talked about voice matters Reverend um Walker talked about so we want to really focus our messaging on the need to update the cost end points to better reflect current expenses make them real the potential adverse effects on districts already operating within funding bases and the broader strategy of reallocating funds to school choice programs versus supporting traditional public schools and our infrastructures

128which the state of Ohio is mandated by the state constitution to do any legislative mod modifications in response to these concerns are going to really shape fiscal year 26 so you know in summary I would just like to say that we have to be committed to advancing the fair school funding plan keeping that in place with up-to-date inputs that reflect the real cost of public education and we are without a doubt at a very critical transition point right now we need to focus on those data inputs continued shifts fighting the continued shifts towards choice and and just for example just the voucher program of students that have never attended acan Public Schools never came here they've been in privates or Charters forever is $28 million on the low end and only climbing every year for

129us and lost funding $28 million is as much as we're receiving from the levy we just passed so these challenges are real um it's important that we let our voices be heard loud and emphatically um I am making appointments with legislators who will ever take the appointments that I can get and I would encourage any of you that want to ride along um I'll play your music of choice on the 2hour drive and um the more that we can Advocate even if it's just a phone call but telling our story and continuing to keep the pressure on our legislators because that's the that's the only thing at this point um that's going to really matter in the long run of the finances and we all know we certainly need more funds um and I know

130that um a lot of people are doing that a lot of teachers a lot of Administrators Union leadership etc etc is doing that but I just um really encourage you to make that a priority and we'll keep our eye on it we won't know until June on the end of June what the f final outcome will be um so it's going to make forecasting difficult uh knowledge how to move forward difficult and that's not even to speak to $80 million or so that's federal funds and what may happen with those the latest word is to send those directly to the state and then the state will redistribute them which makes me very nervous that concludes my report any questions for the treasurer member ay thank you madam president and I think I shared at the

131last board meeting I just want to share again Fair school funding plan.com Fair schoolf funding plan.com if you go to that website um there's sample letters that you can personalize and tell our story um and so I'm just encouraged everyone we can't wait till it hits us here and then we're mad at each other and we have the opportunity to Advocate right now so um it just takes a few minutes um I'm again encouraging everyone Fair schoolf funding plan.com superintendent thank you am so on last week we sent um we we communicated with all of our families as well as employees as well as Community people to write to um our legislators um in state and we also sent something to we also provided information on um Congress woman sites um as well and for

132people to just and we provided them with um templates and letters example letters they didn't have to use those but they they could if they didn't know what they wanted to say or how they wanted to say it so that did go out um and so we're hoping that even though there was a deadline that they provided um because our local our instate um legislators had a deadline of when those letters had to be in but I would still encourage people to still uh write anyway um you know even after the deadline just continue to you we have and if you need the information we can always provide it again are there any other uh questions or comments for the treasurer M Madam president yes um Madam president thank you members uh let me just

133just add one other thing that the super that the treasurer uh knows but I'm sure just just forgot to say that one of the other thing that's happened one of the main thing that's happening in the Committees is that uh the legislators are saying well we can uh the governor has presented us a budget with less input which means less dollars because those dollars are as he said uh 2022 as opposed to 20 uh $25 and that's because the local communities have done so well in passing levies you forgot that part it's like yeah we did and we passed those levies because even with factoring in the fair funding numbers we still needed to pass the levy and so they're using that now as a reason for not uh using the the the 2025 numbers

134and saying of course we are supporting Fair funding but we have considered all of the fabulous communities that passed their levies and therefore they have so much money that they don't need they don't need this extra money so we're we we're just still using the numbers from 2022 instead of using the monies from 20 the numbers from 2025 and the numbers from 2025 says how much does it cost to educate a child and the governor's budget says whatever it costs in 2022 that's how much it cost and that's the input number that he has presented to the legislators and the legislators are now saying and that's correct because the communities have done such a great job in passing their levies so if we if the if they end up passing the the budget with the

1352022 numbers cost of doing cost of educating an individual child then we are going to find ourselves in this community significantly less with what it actually cost to educate our children and it will appear as if the levy that we passed had no effect whatsoever so that's why we're facing so when we talk about when we send something to our legislators say we want to make sure we say that too we need we support our community that's why we passed the levy and we need our Levy monies as well as the fair funding money in order to come close to adequately and correctly and fairly funding and educating one child this is the amount of money we need and the governor has submitted a significantly less amount in his budget but yet he's getting credit

136for supporting Fair funding that's what we're faced with such a game thank you member Sykes are there any other comments or discussion all right seeing and hearing none I'll move forward with my uh president's report I would like to make an announcement um first about the sourer truth Legacy scholarship this will also be on my um Carla Jackson for school board Facebook page the ajour of Truth Legacy scholarship the akan Press Club and so joural truth education committee presents this scholarship this is a $5,000 scholarship award akan Public School seniors who are considering studies in journalism communication marketing or public relations are encouraged to apply there is a QR code that is on on the flyer that you'll be able to scan in order to get the application um I know last year we had

137one of our bookto students the Marian Starks I think uh was his name he received the scholarship so we're very excited about this ad jourat true scholarship and um how it's giv back to our Learners um also a shout out for uh the counselors and everyone who shared the her stub scholarship application we're excited to um to see our Learners be highlighted at our banquet that's coming up on April 18th so hopefully you all can come on and support that as well additionally um the emails that I did receive and to hear the comments on today concerning bullying it's very concerning and I'm deeply moved by the words of the parents and community members and I want to give my heartfelt empathy for the pain the distress the frustration that was clearly um expressed by

138this parent and some of the consequences that it seems like she's endured as a result of issues um because it's it's it's deeply troubling bullying is a matter of utmost importance to myself and I believe many of my board colleagues I understand how profoundly it can affect a child's emotional and mental well-being so I want you all who have experienced this and for the parent although she is not here to please accept um my sincerest apologies for any distress that children who's been exposed to bullying have um had to endure I want to ensure both the community and these families that we are fully committed to making meaning changes working to ensure that our District's code of conduct is upheld with the highest level of oversight and accountability more than just policies we need a

139culture where every child's well-being is the top priority and where immediate effective action is taken when bullying is reported she referenced the tragic incident of the learner which underscores our urgency of this work and it only strengthens my resolve to create an environment in which every student is protected and supported I know I personally would continue to focus on Building A system that not only addresses bullying when it occurs but also prevents it through education support and compassion again I truly appreciate parents taking the time to share these concerns with us and for teachers and Community to share with us as well when these things happen and appear to go unchecked when I referred to our policy and I saw that bullying was a level three offense which requires a suspension or some action is

140taken I'm further perplexed how people can come and make complaints and say that it was reported but no action was taken regarding the bully I know that there's very various levels and I understand as a school administrator that there's always two sides to stories but when you continue to hear a current a constant theme that this is reported and nothing happened and my child then responded to to protect them I have to ask the same question I asked when was the cell phone policy why are we not enforcing good policies that we have to rectify these issues and these concerns that our teachers our communities and our students are telling us that we have so um I did want to definitely share that and um to let you know that I I am very um

141concerned and I understand what can happen to the social emotional health of a child that feels unsupported and and forc to stay in environment where their bullies go unchecked additionally I received um an email recently from peir professionals and so it was appropriate this concern and what we're talking about on today and the concern though that was shared was deeply concerning to me and I say it on the mic because I want you to know that I did receive it and and I've been processing this and I'm going to um also write a response for it but I was catching up as I've been um having a little under the weather but this pair professionals Shar that they are experiencing some brutal acts within the classroom that they are being hit um things are happening

142at a level and it's being dismissed that there are high levels of call-offs of pair professionals so when we talk about the under ratio or underserved PA Professionals in the district that some of these issues that's been concerned U I'm sorry that have been shared with us as issues of concern um could be also a factor not just with the pay of why people are not trying to work or they're leaving a district um and so this it was a very heartfelt email that I received and again I'm going to address it and I'll share it with the um entire board but basically this person was saying listen we're trying to work we're showing up I even show up sick and my colleagues and I know people are calling off because they are experiencing these

143things within the classroom and to her words nothing is being done so I wanted to say that I've heard your concerns and it it does warrant a look into in a very um real way to see how are we supporting our staff our pair of Professionals in the classroom we are we can take a look at the livable wage but also our systems and our policies that we have in place we have these policies why are they not being acted on why are they not being enforced just like we had a cell phone policy and then we had to go and buy Yonder bags and all these things when it was a sound policy that simply was not consistently being reinforced so therefore the culture was not conducive for the policy because we let the

144C culture the climate and shift in the building then dictate our responses instead of our policy determining our responses and our action so um that does conclude the president's report um on today next we will he are there any questions for the president regarding a report seeing in hearing n we will move on with committee reports first we have legal contracts and board policies thank you Madame President um we did meet on uh February the 26 at 430 here in this room here and we had uh various things that we talked about uh we had some updates that came from Special Air we had some updates to come from um uh pupil services and so they gave us those update we had some good conversation we actually did not get a chance to uh get

145into more of the meat that we wanted to but we will get into that later uh tonight you will hear uh our our third and final policy I'm sorry third and final reading of uh two of the policies is policy 5511 dress and grooming and policy 55110 one which is school uniforms for grades in kindergarten through 8 which we're going to be which is going to be repealed um later also in the meeting you will hear uh I'm sorry back I'm going a little too fast um our next meeting will be on March 17th here in this room at 5:30 uh we will be disc discussing the following policies nepotism uh vendor relationships Ico and uh service providers parents Bill of Rights electronic equipment um and so we those will be the third and final

146reading for this evening and I will be asking for a motion when I'm done also uh later we will have we will hear that there are other two other policies that will be read for the second reading and those policies will be parents and family involvement School Improvement Title One services special education homeless students Children and Youth in foster care attendance release time for religious instruction those will be the the second reading this evening uh for those policies and so I will need a I'm going to make a motion and hope that we will um approve policies 5111 dress and grooming policy 55101 uh school uniforms for for grades kindergarten through 8th grade uh I'll make a motion we receive these policies as read thank you m president thank you vice president Alexander the mo

147the motion has um been made for policy 5511 by Mr Alexander is there a second I'll second it's been second by member alry is there any discussion member Hall um just real quick on dress and grooming policy 5511 um when I was reading um far as the head piece um I know we had talked about it like being specific on what we're saying so I know ski mask is a big thing with these kids nowadays um and I know it says like hats caps Hi coverings not permitted but are we maybe able to put in the wording no ski mask because I that's a big problem in our community I I did talk to uh Miss Carter and we did talk about that and uh as far as the ski mask that's considered part of

148a hat and so therefore they can't have that in in school so if they have a ski mask they can't wear it hats are not permitted ski masks are not permitted cuz they'll wear it over their neck like they'll take it and pull it down so it's like a turtleneck until you're not looking then it goes up over the head and they shouldn't have those that's a hat considered a hat so they shouldn't have it at at school okay and then I just one more yes and then um 55 111.1 01 um I know you talked about Madam president um following our policies and you know we've had dress code policies we changed some policies this coming up school year um and maybe superintendent you can answer this how do we make sure that these

149dress codes are being followed you know we visit schools and we still see you know bellies and you know earlier in the summer shorts that were like biker shorts and things like that kids are just walking right past Administration staff and so forth if we're not supposed to wear that stuff how do we or how do our teachers and staff and principls enforce this so at the end of school last year we sent and we may have had two or three is Dr lash here yes we' sent home multiple mailings we let P even before even when school started this year we sent stuff home which we've been doing um what I have said to principles is you have to you have to monitor this in your building um that's a part of what the

150executive directors for school leadership when they go in their schools those are things that they are supposed to be discussing which I know they do because I get the feedback from them um with their principles there will be times when a child is going to come into a school some some adult in that building has to be the authority to correct that and instead of letting them go by send them straight to the office and call for a parent to bring something for them that's most appropriate but they know what they can and cannot wear the school at the last meeting um I wasn't able to make it to the last principal's meeting but I do plan to go to the next one to have that conversation with the principles as a reminder to them

151around the expectation that they we I'm here I'm not in your buildings I don't live there every day I'm not going to know what kids are wearing to school so if you you have to follow the policy help to to implement the policy and if that's not happening so if you go to a school just call me I want to know who the kid is I want to know which school it is so that I can properly address that because I'm not there every day I'm not going to know what they're wearing but we have set parameters in place for them to address the dress code policy but again that has to be the leadership in that building and if it's not happening then that's something that I need to address with this with their

152supervisors thank you thank you member AA you recognize thank you madam president and I think I brought this up at the actual policy committee meeting because it's probably one of the more common things when I go out in the community that I hear is about the dress code understanding um as Madame President previously said we have these policies in place for a reason and so um I guess I just wanted to suggest cuz I know the buildings are are challenging um we're talking about these Staffing shortages um I remember when we were going through the uh cell phone thing and and I remember reporting out that some of these kids turn into the incredible haulk if you try to take their phones away and it's very similar with the dress code you know my mama

153bought me this etc etc so I know it's challenging um but I will encourage building administrators to lean on your your parent groups your PT your Community people I run into people who want to be involved in the community um and so maybe if some of the uh Church groups uh might consider adopting a school where they can help support you know these dress code uh challenges that we have I hear it most more so at the high school level um but I'm just uh I just want to encourage that because I hear it all the time and I shared with folks as superintendent said I'm not in the buildings to enforce that I know there's a policy in place um but I know the young people can um they can be intimidating I know

154but when they see people that they know in the community they might have a different response so um this just a suggestion and a thought that I'm putting out there to anyone who might be listening looking for a solution to this thank you yes vice president Alexander yeah I want to comment on this too you policies are put in place for a certain reasons for people people to follow and and some guidance some directions and I would not say the school but I was at a school one time before we got the Yonder bags I was part of the policy committee and we had uh policies to who wrote the policy for the the cell phones and I went into a school and I walked in there and teacher was there and I walked past

155her and his kid had a phone I said hey don't you aren't you supposed to have that phone away you're not supposed to have that phone are you supposed to have it away or put it away or whatever you're supposed to do he said oh yeah yeah and he put it away but then the teacher came to me and said thank you for saying that that's not my job I'm I don't work at the school I was at my job going into the school and I say something so we can we can have all the policy we want but if it's not followed by staff or those who are enforcing it it doesn't mean anything and we're going to be right back at the same spot again having the same discussions doing trying to come

156up with some other different solution that we have um that we that we'll need to to answer some of those questions but we have to enforce I know I work at a court and it's law but there there there are policies there if you don't follow them you get called upon and I was a supervisor at one time who had several staff and if my if if my staff weren't following him I had to to say something to him okay cuz that was my job as a supervisor it was my job as a superintendent to make sure my supervises were making sure this was happening and so there are those levels and you got to be able to enforce I know kids can be intimidating at times but they also have to know that they

157have to follow the rules and regulations because if we let the rules and regulations or policies you know uh U not be followed then there going to be more and more problems and we'll keep having the same old discussions over and over again so what I'm saying is in the polite way is you know those who are out there just enforce it sometimes it's just a way you approach a kid you know approach them in a certain manner it's not threatening they don't feel threatened and maybe they will uh put that follow the policy and if they have a hat put in Locker if they're supposed to or whatever it may be but you got to we got to enforce policies in in in order for people to to follow them and if kids know

158that you're going to do it I mean there's some schools I'm sure we can go in to that is things are being uh policies are being follow and you don't have those problems but that's what you got to do it's got to be followed and and and enforced policies thank you madam president no problem thank you Mr Alexander member hall and then we'll move on just one last question so this is the third and final read for 551 111.0 which is school uniforms for grades kindergarten through 8th so just to confirm we are going back to uniforms next year or we're not no we're not going to uniforms okay so then since we're not going uniform next year we're not going to be voting again on uniforms or regular clothes this is going to stick

159for a little while because I know what since the pandemic 2020 every year this has come up for like the previous board and now excuse me and now us right are we going to be voting on this every year or are we no we shouldn't have to vote on it and I I'll refer to uh others but I don't think we should be should be voting on it every year should be we we vote on it if it's a policy and then we it's followed it was suspend it was suspended during as a result of Co it so now the motion that's on the floor is to repal it meaning that it will no longer be a uniform so with that in place it we wouldn't need to visit it unless a pol someone offered

160up another policy saying that we need to reinstitute this but other than that no thank you I just wanted to make sure and be clear yeah because it's been consistent for the past four years it was suspended voting every year and so some people may not you know know or they're like okay they're going to vote again next year are we going to go so good question this is It's only because it was suspended so each year it came up then they suspended it again to give more time work through it so the good question thank you thank you m did you have some okay all right Mr um Alexander he made the motion it was seconded by Miss alry um and now roll call please Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes

161Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes motion carries 70 thank you next we will have finance and Capital Management thank you madam chair finance and Capital Management we'll meet on March 17th 4:30 in the boardroom thank you member Sykes uh instructional policy and student achievement thank you madam president so the instructional policy committee met this past Monday uh March the 3D um we had several presentations including from the I promise school um from Principal Stephanie Davis and staff members Stephanie Arnett and Kelly pistello um and what they shared with us is their uh IPS house system uh which was created to increase the culture of safety and belonging Universal expectations schoolwide community character building and healthy competition um this is something that they adopted um after uh visiting the Ron

162Clark Academy um in Atlanta um that was sponsored by the um the foundation and so they have been uh implementing this going step by step and it is also uh aligned with our current PBIS uh program so it looks like it's going uh really well they had a video of some of the things that they're doing and it's just continuing to unfold and grow um also we had a presentation from Marcy ebite and Beth winter uh updates around our College and Career acmy of akan um they did complete an audit of our existing Elementary Partners um including embedding career exploration and our akan after school uh programs um they've met with the portrait of a scholar design team and are reenvisioning the social and study skills and establishing building portrait Champions also um they talked

163about uh the amazing Shake uh which is a program that teaches Scholars manners discipline respect and how to conduct themselves in a professional environment and it's currently being implemented uh with the fifth grade Scholars across the district and then uh lastly we did get an update um from Marcy ebite around uh bookal teacher academy uh pathway um in which it was shared um well I had previously learned at my visit at bookal talking with students that the program had been uh moved to Firestone um and so I asked for an update and it was shared with us that this has been the lowest enrolled pathway and it was shared with us that bookal still has uh remaining Pathways available and so I know some documents were provided to us some numbers um and so those

164pesky numbers um which can be made to support whatever it needs to support and so I understand and appreciate uh what was presented to us um and I think I shared then we ran out of time um but historically speaking um before I got on this board is been the case um that programming seem to not be able to stick at bookal CLC and so numbers is a common um reason for that I mean I know over this time as well um the redistricting had been changed I know there's students who live very close to bookle who are zoned to go to Firestone so we're talking about these numbers and sometimes just feels like they're being used against us um as I sat here and listened today about all of our staffing challenges with teachers

165and Par professionals um I just don't feel like we've done our due diligence in making sure that this program could be successful at BTO um I know during the time that uh the program was being revamped that there was a substitute in place um and it was probably even an in principal at that time when I visited the school two weeks ago there were 15 Subs in the building at that time so you have to wonder how successful our Pathways can truly be when you have that level um of instability in a building and so historically speaking I remember when bookto had fire safety which is now at ellot and it was already alluded to that we had a performing arts program in fact that's why I wanted to come to bookal but by the

166time I got there it it's gone and so now I guess we can add teacher Academy to the list um but I did want to share that I know that that team made a valent effort to grow that program I know it was in the single digits for a while and most recently had grown to 22 but then they were told to stop recruiting for that program and that is being moved to Firestone because they their students have more interest so U I'm sharing that out because it's frustrating after all of these years it kind of seems the same theme um and I know this proceed you Mr superintendent but um as Madame President often says saying it on the mic is uh important um so I just wanted to share that much um one

167other item that I have asked to be brought to the instructional policy uh Committee in light of all of these staffing issues is a presentation around Teach for America um and in some circles I hear that's a dirty word I don't know why but that's why I would like a presentation to learn more about it um my understanding that it's a program where uh young graduates will come and commit to two years and sometimes they end up staying and I think if they saw the awesome programming that acon public schools has to offer um they might consider that but we have to do something different we can't keep saying year after year these Staffing challenges that we have I know bookal and East consistently since I've been on this board are averaging 15 and up

168in substitutes and that's just not acceptable and so they're losing out losing Pathways and so I just think we can do a little bit better and so my co-chair um summer Hall if you want to add anything feel free thank you just real quick I know during um the IPS house system when they talked about um their process and policy and um what they were doing there and also um the third graders going to house it's kind of like a Harry Potter movie right you get you don't get the hat but you get the to spend a wheel and go to a house which I thought was amazing and I also said um that day was I encourage other schools to come to this committee and talk about what's going on in your schools the

169success in your schools so that we can hear about it um and then also to what you said all the substitutes I heard that last Friday East had 28 call offs 28 teacher call offs so teachers had to again miss their lunch didn't get their planning period to go and take over a classroom or the principles and the substitutes so when we talk about this lack of teachers but then we have all these call offs like what do we need to do differently what new Innovative ideals do we have to do for the teachers that come to work to get new to get more help um we just have to really sit down and everybody will have to work together and try to figure out a solution um for our school system thank you thank

170you member Hall m m thank you Madame President I feel compelled to say um I had the flu a couple weeks ago I know this is an incredibly bad flu season almost everyone I know has had you know there's lots of things going around and there are entire schools that have had to close because so many people in their building have the flu so once again again thank you to those of you that are coming to work I'm so glad and so proud that our district has not had to cancel school due to illness thank you uh yes member ay thank you Madame President um I I did have a question that I was hoping could be answered um regarding the bookal pathway and so I know it was stated that the students at Firestone

171had more interest was it offered to any of the other high schools just to sort of clarify firestones numbers were always going to get another pathway the that process was already in place concurrently at the same time that bookle was looking at what was going on with their pathways um it just so happened that when they did the investigation it came back as an uh one of the top three that the children and the advisory boards and the labor markets de uh uh recommended so it made sense at the time in order not to lose an education pathway altogether to allow that pathway to be the pathway that was added to fir Stone so it was never moving from one to the other they were always getting another one to begin with with it just

172was happening at the same time so as far as being offered to other schools all those factors that were in the report there's several factors Marcy never makes this decision there's several factors that go into play um the recommendations of the the advisories the recommendations of the labor market the rec the Staffing you know we had significant Cuts in this district and sometimes hard numbers come across with staffing issues we make those recommendations um so there's lots of factors that come into play at the end of the day uh so and where it would go to so I think your question was were other schools offer the education pathway no because no other schools needed another pathway does that answer your question somewhat okay but thank you okay the next instructional policy meeting is April

1737th at 4:30 um this may be a thank you are you finished I'm sorry um Miss F I had a because 28 call offs and so if the assumption is they have flu I'm asking this question because I know in a building we have a certain High population of students if they call off for uh for flu or some type of outbreak then it's recommended to close and maybe what is it for staff I'm I'm just curious good evening pres excuse me good evening president Jackson vice president Alexander members of the board and our superintendent Robinson and Treasurer Thompson actually we have always been fortunate enough to have a number of Subs that can do it we haven't gotten to a point where we've had to close due to lack of Staffing now I'm not

174saying we don't ask staff to collaborate with each other as the team in H puts out the sub calls in the morning no one has actually ever said to us that they could not cover for Staffing but if it's okay I understood if it's an illness right say if like five teachers call off then 10 then 15 then is it a point where we have to say okay we need to if we were informed that there was not enough staff members and I'm going to use something slightly different if you watch carefully a week ago Coventry had to close school because they didn't have enough bus drivers due to the lack of flu or flu that was running through so we are large enough that we usually have enough staff members no one has ever

175gotten to that point I actually got the most recent update from Summit County last Thursday and I'm happy to report that flu was on the way down and it was on the way down in School attendance at a rate of 17.1% so I think we're at the end of the flu season it seems to have been extremely hard this year to Dr molnar's particular item um I won't necessarily know that that isn't going to be a trend that will keep going as we get into the better better weather it just seems to be a very long season we did our flu clinics we had our students be able to get a flu vaccine if they like to I don't know exactly what families do when they don't take advantage of the flu clinics that we

176offer okay I just was asking for illness spread yeah we have not gotten to a point where somebody said that they felt that a particular school didn't have enough staff yeah okay outside the staff I'm just talking about the spreading of the like sickness like if if it was third like what's the percent I know like a school in Georgia shut down because the the percentage of the student population that were getting called off for flu so they shut the schools down to detox and that's what I'm asking like do we do that for teacher or student we have certainly sanitized our buildings we keep them clean with our custodial staff and we do have the right materials to do so okay thank you all right uh next we will have the equity committee um

177I am temporarily I the co-chair of the equity committee but temporarily um chairing while we go through um the equity policy and all of the related features to the equity policy icy so since our last meeting the equity committee has met twice February 26th and March 3rd we started um going through our Equity policy and now we are moving through with our racial Equity policy as we are looking um not at reacting to a dear colleague letter um but we are um uh looking at a long-term sustainable policy revision and review um as Reverend Walker I don't if he's still here as he said as we look at how we can continue to serve and support the needs of our students moving forward and um we are having a lot of really great participation as

178I uh alluded to in my community reflection um with um a lot of interaction and involvement board members Administration community members as we come together and instead of um you know rushing through a hasty policy that sets you up for regret we're looking for something that will be um sustainable and successful um for our district uh the next uh committee meeting was going to be tomorrow but the board uh cannot meet in the boardroom tomorrow someone else is using it uh so it is going to be Thursday the 13th at 5:30 I believe the next committee up is is equity is that correct oh then we've gone through all the Committees yeah okay so you want to let the vice chair handle that approval am minutes I'm sorry personal recommendation no we're M Mr pres

179Mr vice president Mr treasure would you please note that the president is not in their chair and that the vice president is conducting a meeting thank you okay go ahead on the minutes number nine oh I'm Sor we're on nine approval of previous meeting minutes got it got it we need to have the approval of meeting minutes from Monday February 24 24th 2025 is there a motion so move it's been moved by Pastor Harrison is there a second second second by Dr Molar any discussion no discussion roll call please Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes motion carry 70 thank you Mr Alexander um next we'll have Personnel recommendations from our superintendent thank you president Jackson Personnel recommendations section 10 are

180there any questions on Personnel recommendations proceeds brend it can proce a question okay then I wish to recommend the approval of the personnel recommendations presented in categories 10 through 20 please thank you so move yes we on 10 I said in section 10 that's I was asking if there were any questions on Personnel recommendations okay so in section 10 none section 11 okay so he say section 10 section 11 section 12 section 13 section 14 section 15 Madam president so we just heard from um um member molar about uh Equity committee and I just need some clarification so on Section 15.3 we classif we classification of the administrative secretary so is this position still will this position still be in the Dei office or is this position someplace else this position has nothing to do

181with the Dei office this is the this position is in the Labor Relations um uh area where the general Council would be but also because um the current employ employee that also works with some of the legal stuff um there is there are some concerns that were brought to me and so I try to I guess work through those things and the the employee is being very cooperative and working with us um but there are some some issues on the the mount the load that um and so this person would be also as a backup and also assisting her while also doing some of the work that has to be done in labor relations because there isn't anybody there right now so but this has nothing to do with the Dei office at all okay

182thank you Mr superintendent I asked that because I'm just looking at the the person that's going from that from this position secretary 3 to the administrative secretary confidential uh and so that person is in the Dei office yes but that person applied for the job that person applied for the job now how long has this position been open um this position this this would be a new position here this is a new position yes but it would be in our in our budget that's we're going to be presenting um um next meeting uh the finance committee meeting we'll be discussing some of those things and finalizing that in April but that is going to be a position that's already budgeted for thank you Mr superintendent madam Jackson may I ask another question so so the

183this position is not budgeted yet that's what I hear you saying this is not in the budget not for that's not Curr but it will be in for the upcoming school year but not currently in the budget right but is effective tomorrow um well it I'm not sure let me look at the date exact it might be tomorrow yes if approved but it's not in the budget not not right now it is not for this year for 2425 so how are we approving this if it's not in the budget how are we paying for this um we have other positions that we didn't feel in other places that we can offset it so it's not going to do anything to our 5year forecast or our budget but we will be offsetting it but it's not

184in our budget it is effective tomorrow right so Mr superintendent Madam president so if we have not approved this in the budget then my question would be how are you paying for this position effective tomorrow we always have provis Visions to make for things like this Miss SES um I would much rather address that issue around the budget and keep an employee rather than overwhelming somebody who is who has the expertise and if they leave then we're going to have a bigger problem so yes I'm I'm asking the board to work with me on this because there are issues that I can't sit on the floor and discuss in public about somebody's employment absolutely not so but we can discuss what's in the budget and this position you just said is not in the budget

185so how are you paying for this position it's a very simple question yes it is a very simple question and I said that it's going to be offsetted by other things that we didn't feel but you don't have the approval from the board to do that it is not that's the reason I'm bringing it that is not what you're saying an approval that is not what you asking Mr President Mr Mr superintendent but let me just move on to another issue that I have so we heard the the report from the equity committee and that we are working diligently for a long-term policy and so we may not call this diversity equity and inclusion let's just say we call this fairness and opportunity but what I'm watching here is that this fairness and opportunities office

186maybe is being dissolved before our very eyes because we also have on the equity committee two coordinators positions so those positions Miss Sykes has absolutely nothing to do with the Dei office nothing yes Mr superintendent I I I understand those are positions that we needed anyway irregardless to the Dei office I haven't dissolved anything mhm right now that office is still intact nothing has been done to that so Mr superintendent so it is the intent of you to replace the secretary 3 position in the Dei office or the fairness opportunities office well I really can't say what we're going to do until I know what we're doing because that right now I don't even know so nothing is being dissolved so when if the person is approved they will currently still have an opening in

187that office but I wouldn't go about fing anything until I know what we're doing and what direction we going in but but it would be there so that when I know what we're doing we can we we would have a position there uh thank you Mr superintendent so this accounting procedure I'm just not familiar with whereby we are hiring individuals we have not budgeted for this position the position is scheduled to start tomorrow and there is not any money in the budget for this position I'm just not familiar with this accounting procedure that you're using and my concern is that even if we find that the Dei office we have to make some changes there that we do appear to be dissolving that because the two coordinators position is in the equity committee because it

188was and it was referred to equity because it was our understanding that the individuals in Dei were going to be offered these two coordinators positions those correct those positions which which is what I was trying to explain a couple of weeks ago those positions have nothing to do with Dei those are positions I was asking and and and not filling them this year those were job descriptions that I was asking for in preparation for our planning for next year as we're doing our restructuring planning uh reorganization rather for next year in the event that we would have had to do something this was an opportunity for them but even if we even if we didn't have to to dissolve it I still would be asking for those positions given our the work that has to

189be done and and so no that even even if those people moved I'm not sure what direction we're going in in terms of the Dei work so those positions are what still still be there and once I know what we're doing then I can fill those positions if we needed to fill them but these job descriptions which I was trying to explain a couple of weeks ago have absolutely nothing to do with the Dei work or moving people it the the opportunity was offered which would have been a wash if we were dissolving but once I understood what direction the board or I think I do understand the direction that the board wanted to go I still needed it anyway for the preparation for next year and that was approving job descriptions but not hiring

190somebody currently in this particular school year just making sure that I would have those positions approved that the job description approved so as we're planning and during the restruct and reorganization for the 25 26 school year I would have those those um job descriptions already approved thank you Mr superintendent Madame President may I follow up with one more question comment so this issue that we have before us tonight is a position whereby we've been asked to uh and uh and I totally support advancement I want to see advancement especially for females I totally support that uh however uh this bud this position has the money is not in this in this budget this year and therefore I do not as I say understand the accounting procedure that would allow us to approve this position whereby

191we do not have money in the budget to pay for it Miss Carter um so we do have um at first while we were thinking that we were going to need to make um some adjustments with the Dei office at first we were not going to replace this position but we do have positions that we are not replacing and one is actually in the human capital Department which is the Personnel Tech which the salary is comparable to the salary of the confidential secretary I reviewed this with um Dr Thompson and he basically explained that that would be mostly a wash as relates to not filling the Personnel Tech and then adding this position also we have positions um next year that will not be filled due to um attrition as relates to retirements as well

192that's going to help with supporting some of the re reduction and reorganization within the district member Harrison I'm not speaking specifically to 153 but I'm speaking to budgeting um so we've heard about needs in buildings that are not filled I'm I'm not sure how um and I'm glad Dr Tompson weigh in with human capital but I believe that the last meeting we talked about $7 million off of our scheduled uh forecast was that correct Madam Madam president um can I ask the treasure for for the record how much were we off of our forecast amount expenditures are about 7 million over and revenues about 2.6 million over so the difference is about 4.4 million okay so 4.4 million over right now and we're going to adjust the budget in the next 5year forecast to account

193for the 4.4 and potentially new positions our 5-year forecast wouldn't be impacted by what we're doing in terms of us going over budget um when you have an FTE in one area of your District that you're not using you can move that somewhere else in the district and it's not going to can you can the you said fpb I I don't FTE yeah that's just a position okay full time okay yeah I was like okay um yeah and that would be my point but i' would also like to say Pastor Harrison that a part of the offset of the 4 million is the project that um it's for one of the schools that we can't put in an 034 account it has to come out of general fund and so that that has something to

194do with the 45ish kind of um are we talking about the bookle yes okay so we're talking about the book though but I want to stay with the finance here well I was just explaining to I understand sir yeah um well I wanted to ask about the book though because we we we talked about the booko before we did the forecast and prior to you being here we talked about bookal yes um and prior to the last superintendent Dr Christine fer Matt we talked about bookto so the the the capital projects that we we have promised community that we were going to complete um they should not throw us off on our budget because those are projects that are already on the table that we've already promised that we have continued to put aside but

195when we start to add positions um and we're moving now towards our next 5year forecast and I understand we're not going to hit the fiveyear forecast that's that's a forecast and we just try to get as close to it as we can but adding positions and this is um we've looked at the two positions that we voted on last meeting we're looking at adding another position we've heard the building um um The Early Learning Program we heard that they have needs we've heard about staffing issues um a substitute teachers at bookto we've heard about um not having a lot of stuff on the ground level and when I'm saying ground level I'm saying building level and I think at a certain point we have to stop putting people in this building and start putting people

196in school buildings I agree I agree with you oh so we are actively trying to recruit par professionals and other positions that we are lacking I know um Larry Johnson uh just held a um job fair here and um has attended a job fair they were somewhere all day um last week in hopes of getting more substitute teachers and more pair of professionals he's also working with the University of akan in hopes of getting a program started where um they would work for us and we would get reimbursed by the university and we're hoping that some of these creative things that we're doing will help with filling some of our PA professional needs where we are seeing a shortage Madame President may I ask another question so I still wasn't clear Mr superintendent so for

197the office that's working with the committee on Equity that we're really trying to work and come up with with a solution for that and looking for fairness and opportunity and making sure that when we hear about what's happening in our schools when we heard about Caleb tonight from the parents that because that that would be another child that we want to make sure that's that needs some extra assistance that and has fairness and opportunity that we are going to have an office that's dedicated to this an office with staff that's dedicated to this and that we're not dissolving this office is my is my concern because that anything I don't know ex I can't hear you please sorry I'm not doing anything because I'm not quite sure where we're going so we're not dissolving anything

198right now so my question is is there going to be a secretary in the DI off Dei office now to work with the committee as we still work towards and work with the staff that's there towards coming up with language that's going to be offered that's going to be fair and have opportunities for our 20,000 students and our 4,500 staff people are we going to still have a functioning office that's working with us to help us do that so to your point Miss Miss Sykes um I can't sit here on the microphone and tell you anything that I don't know um Mr superintendent you are the superintendent and you have responsibility to adequately if you let me finish I will be glad to answer your question I have but don't know don't know I didn't

199do it I don't know it's not an answer anymore for well I'm referring to the directives that we've received through the president of the United States have you received a directive other than the original Dear John Letter that we received a dear dear constituent dear dear dear colleague letter that we received have you received something else from the from the presidents who and I may add that was not a law that is not a law that is not how we get a law we know that how we get a bill passed that was not a that was just a dear colleague letter so have you received anything else that would say that we should look at not continuing to function in this office so I have not received anything like a directive but we are

200getting information through even the state of Ohio in terms of things that are happening there hopefully this week um I will get information um in terms of any updates that they were providing to just to superintendents within the state of Ohio specifically Ohio um so hopefully by the end of the week I will have some updates of whatever is being done and then I can share that information but I am not dissolving anything until I know what direction the board is saying that we're going so it would have to be posted and someone can apply for it but I wouldn't want to put somebody in it right now until I know exactly what we're doing and what direction we're going uh and how how it's all going to be structured so you're not fing position

201so will we have a temporary person there I was asked M Misty wheeler did email me yesterday and I told her I would ask the superintendent if we can get a sub secretary so she um I know that um Dr Chapman asked for a sub secretary I said I will check with the superintendent via email so I didn't get a chance yet to ask him about a temporary secretary but we do have sub secretaries again I I just can't say enough you know that we may not call it diversity equity and inclusion but we need something within this District that recognize that we need to let our students and our staff know that we're trying to be as inclusive that we're trying to be not inclusive we're trying to be as Fair as possible and

202that we are trying to provide as many opportunities as possible regardless of who they are and that is still very important and to dissolve that office and not to put it where it deserves would really be a disservice to this district and to this community so miss Sykes again I'm not dissolving anything until I know um I've been to the meetings that you all have had um listening cuz to your con to your concerns and your thoughts um and then I then would work with my team to determine how we would go about making that work um for the district and what all is needed there once I understand the full picture um because there may be additional staff that may be needed I mean it just depends on the focus that the board but

203it is very important to me um you know that our district we don't and I think I said that before we're not I don't care what a law or Bill or whatever we know what we need for our babies for our community right um that's one of the things that I sat and told the board that was that was there the time um that I would provide and I'm not going to go back on my word I'm going to be in compliance with whatever I'm supposed to do um whether that's to the board to the state whatever um but I have been watching a lot of articles that are coming specifically from the state of Ohio which to Dr Thompson's point is a little concerning even to me as well it's not just the federal

204funds but it is also um other funding mechanisms that will impact our district we're looking at all of that I have shared that information even on the federal side of our money that um and I've leaned central office um very much I've I've cut it completely down um significantly so to your point um what I can assure you once I understand the vision and where we're moving with this with the board then I know what I need to do in terms of internally um ensuring that we have a place that is going to look at our district um we may not we may be restricted on certain words and things that we can do but we're not ever going to lose sight and misstep on what our kids need to be able to to thrive

205and to enjoy school I don't want any of what's happening for our kids to see or feel a difference right in in the classroom I know they hear things on TV and they're and they're talking to people but when they come to school we just want them to have a Continuum of the great things that are happening for them and we just have to figure out how do we still provide those things thank you thank you madam president just one last statement I I will make and and that simply is that even though we may not be able to keep the words Dei we still have laws in this state and in this country it's called civil rights and protective class classes and those individuals are still in this should be a part of this

206and should be considered at all times and I just think that that uh working to make sure that we have presence in this District that we're visible in this district and sand it's just like the young man said from North you know he said when he walked into the school that he saw a sign that welcome him in his language and that had nothing to do with his race or his sex it just had to do with him as an individual and feeling that he was a part of our school system because we recognized and appreciate his language just a word welcome so that's what I'm looking for I'm just looking that we continue to keep throughout our system I think that as we pres I'm sorry for taking us so much time I think

207that as we work collaboratively together mes we can still provide all of those same things superintendent this discussion has ended thank you um member of SES um for that now just for for clarity uh this is for you Mr Treasurer because I heard cuz I'm trying to get clarity on this position to that it's a there is another position that is currently not filled in the communication secretary is it currently vacant it's going to be she's retiring but the position I'm talking about that's vacant that would help um with creating a wash for this position if we before this position would be the person Tech which is vacant currently currently is vacant okay so that Personnel Tech account position is vacant it's it's from Personnel full-time Personnel yes account so the money's in our that

208line that's in our budget we have not filled that position since um we lost that person okay so am I to understand then that you're saying that because I'm I'm very with the conversation unclear so are that that money then we're repurposing that we're repurposing that position that we used yeah so instead of us filling that Personnel Tech we're going to be hiring the confidential secretary okay and it's money that's already because they said it was not you're saying this is money that's already in the budget correct is this what you're understanding too yes when I met with Dr CU when it was cuz when I was listening when syes asked the question that's why I'm trying to get clear Clarity I wanted you guys to sorry to repeat it because I thought it was

209said next something about next year that it wasn't currently in the budget correct and so that's why I'm trying to be very specific with my questioning that there's a vacancy currently with money yes for payroll and you're saying that because that's is position is vacant it's not going to to be filled that then this salary would absor be absorbed by this position correct and um like Dr Robinson was saying we were not going to fill this position but we're going to support it with the sub secretary until we do F the other position as relates to the position that the person that's going into the confidential position is taking so the sub secretary is for the secretary that is this a secretary position that Miss Sykes just inquired about as a sub correct we'll replace

210it we'll replace that position with the sub secretary for right now okay I wasn't understanding that was confir and then um we do have a Personnel Tech position that we're not feeling which would be the wash for this correct this position that this other young has but at first I thought we weren't going to be filling the uh Dei secretary position but you're but you are but we are and like I said I got an email last night from Misty asking I got understand I'm just trying to see where the might I that I'm seeing the flow of money because with the first discussion it was not clear to me that there was right I mean in in all honesty we have several positions that we're not feeling but I just know that we have

211options as it relates to which position we're going to use to repurpose in order to get this position so it's going to be the Personnel Tech and it's not going to be the Dei secretary okay I understood knowing that we don't know what we're we're doing right now okay member molner thank you Madame President um first I want to acknowledge that I appreciate the superintendent says it's difficult because you don't know what direction the board's going to go right it's it's hard to make a decision and say what I'm going to do with this position because we're not sure where it's going to go and that's exactly why there are so many times I've asked for the org chart for this District and I've made such a big deal about the org chart it's so

212difficult as we approve a position move a position uh you know Miss Carter right here is a great example of I have no idea where you are on the or chart right now like not even the first clue and so as we move and repurpose and and people are coming in and out I don't even know where where the department headings are on the orc chart when we met on the 21st you said that you would have an or chart for me on the 24th that was our our last board meeting um and you you you were there and so I I don't know where we are and how as a board can we keep making these decisions and so this Friday and as a as a um in the Friday notes I I asked

213again for an update and so as of Friday it was that this was a new position and that this position would not be replaced it sounds like since Friday changes have occurred so this still feels incredibly unstable for me um that so much has is changing since Friday um but also on Friday what I asked for was a followup on our February 2st conversation about the budget I I'm not asking for a new budget I'm asking for a copy of whatever it is you're working off of if this if this position's coming here and it's coming off there and it's a wash just show me what it is that where the wash is and where the wash is coming from and what what these are and so um as of Friday so I I did

214just receive a piece of paper I have not looked at you but as of Friday um it says it said that uh I want to ensure to provide you with an accurate response but unfortunately the individual responsible for providing the necessary information did not share it with me before their departure I don't know who that is or how long they' been gone I'm actively working to obtain the details and we'll follow up as soon as possible um but even then I didn't know when I'd receive it so I guess how do we know the positions of wash if we didn't have like not even I didn't have the information but you didn't have the information that you could even share with me where do where's the wash and so I I am incredibly as as

215a fiduciary responsibility for our taxpayers for our community I am very uncomfortable with this and then on top of that knowing that we're supposed to be in the middle of we are supposed to do our 20 20 25 2026 fiscal budget reduction reduction and restructuring and so now we're we're already behind and we're creating new positions and we still need to restructure this entire situation seems very irresponsible to me and for that reason I understand that that there's two things happening at once right there is an individual who might have a a situation but there also positions that we are building and creating and moving and I and I feel for the situation for an individual that luckily we have lots of open positions that might that might be fine but as far as creating

216and building positions without a budget and without an org chart I would like to propose I'd like to move this uh we moved the other positions to the equity committee this feels like an equity committee I would be fine also moving to the finance committee where we can look at the document with numbers that we have not seen or reviewed yet um I don't know if anyone else has seen these but I would like to move this conversation to a committee before we approve a new position when we're already um in debt thank you just explain I want to say something first okay Alexander thank you madam president when you have a budget okay you have some money there you have line items you spend on your line items if I don't spend on one

217line item I have money left I can use another line item okay and so I can transfer if I have a position that is open okay or several positions that are open that I have I don't have to pay I'm not paying out any money that's money there so if there's three positions is $25,000 a piece that's $75,000 okay so that money is there all I'm doing is moving it over here to pay for this position okay now in acam public schools our budget starts again on July the 1st okay we have several months couple months before we can move I don't see a problem with this here I'm just sitting by listening and I'm saying there's money there why can't we make these these moves if we want to make these moves if we

218get to a point where we don't have the money then I have a concern but when it's it's there I I don't have a concern and so we we're making I think we're making a big deal out of this when we really don't have to you know so because the money's not there if if they have several positions that are open and they not being no money's going out that money is sitting there okay and that money can be used to be paid over here now that if you have several positions that are open and there's money sitting there how come you do not have any money the money is sitting there and so that money is going to be used for this position now that's okay you're still not going outside of a budget

219you're stay within your budget of what you said you're gonna have for that fiscal year so there's nothing wrong with that and I don't I don't know we we we getting too far and too deep in this and we really don't have to okay um treasure uh Treasurer Thompson let let me at least explain the document that you're looking at so um Miss Carter asked asked me to um put together a document and and I think this do doent will will update this every month um so I think that'll help us really track actual dollar so if you look at the funding codes they're all there and then this is and what you're looking at under fund fund name fund and not you see 93024 munus Appropriations that is your budget and that's what the

220board approved in September so this June you will be asked to approve temporary Appropriations which means a temporary budget and then you'll be asked by Statute this is statutory that in septe in September you will be asked to approve the Appropriations so what I've done is I've taken all those every single one of those accounts and then to the right is expenditures as of 22825 and then as of 2 2825 any incumbrances which means uh the money's not gone yet but we've written a purchase order against it but the but the vendor hasn't charged us is basically what it means but it's spent and then you can see to the right the percentage of used how much the the percent of that budget have we actually used now you know that we're spending more money

221than we're bringing in we're in deficit spending so in our 10-year plan or excuse me our five our our $10 million Cuts over the next 5 years calls for a reduction in force of 29 staff members so um regardless of how we Shuffle the the pie whatever you if anything's added then some then something has to be added to the Riff list so it's just a matter of where where where your priorities are does that make sense um yes uh Mr Harrison and then uh Dr Molar um thank you madam president I I want to respectfully disagree with my colleague uh member Alexander um when we are dealing with our our own checkbooks with our own home finances we can do that we we can take what we didn't spend here and put it here

222there's a reason why I asked for the titles there's a reason why I ask why this position that was general fund and 100% general fund is going to 50% Title One funding or 50% this fund and and why we're moving money around it's a reason why I ask because at a certain point we're not going to get past riffing people no we're not going to get past that and we can take pieces of the pie and we can chop it up and we can throw it in there and we can call it a salad we can call it a chef salad we can call it whatever we want to call it okay we have to stop spending money we're spending more money than we're taking in and we're going to get in trouble spending more

223money and we're creating new positions that we have to now cut somewhere else and for me putting anyone at 10 North Main Street is the wrong answer if we don't need to fill a position there that means we had too many positions and we clearly hear that we don't have enough positions in the classroom so if I can ask a question about uh this administrative secretary confidential is that a bargaining position okay so if that's not a bargaining position and we have to cut that position does that person go back to a bargaining position they can yeah they it depends on the contract I mean yeah they will be able to to after within a certain amount of time Carter you need to speaking to Mike please thank you I believe it depends on the

224um time period depending on when the position so you're if you mean like if you cut it like next year or something no okay if if this position is Riff does this person that we're going to move from I'm assuming she's in a classified position now M she's in a uh yes a union position so she's in she's protected yes okay so we're moving to an unprotected position okay so now if we have to riff does this person go back to a protected position she will have the opportunity to go back um depending on the timing on which the position is cut if not she would have to apply to go back so we don't know she would have to apply to go back to a secretary position that's a classified position so then what

225would dictate if she's allowed to go back if she applies it has to be a position open or it would have to be a position open we are currently in need of um secretary positions as well I and and I'll let this go I I I think this is a risky I I think taking someone from a classified position creating a new position when we know we have to make cuts and those cuts are going to be deep and they're going to be painful so we're creating new positions we created to last meeting we filled the HC position last meeting correct I think it was $73,000 so we are filling positions and and we're saying we're not going to fill a position but we don't know that those position as a board member I don't

226know what exists and what doesn't exist so if you come back to me three months from now and says hey um here's the HC position that I need feel I don't know if that's the position we're talking about and it's not my job to know my job is to make sure that we are not spending more than we're bringing in and right now we're spending more than we're bringing in M molar thank you uh Madame President um and as I just heard you say we have open positions so I don't know why we're creating a new position for an individual when we have open positions I understand some that might be unsatisfied but my questions are my questions are for the treasur and I will ask all three of them and then um first are

227we in deficit spending second do we need to cut or do will we need to reduce 29 staff members and third if we approve this new position does that go up to need to reduce 30 staff members yes yes and yes yes so if we approve this new position then that is another person we're going to have to riff so my last thing this is a lovely document I would love to go through it I think a committee would be a great place to go through something like this and I have a motion on the floor move this motion was to move this item to committee I remember mon did have a motion on the floor then there was a question then it was not a second and her motion was to move um this

228job description to either do you want to decide a committee or leave it either or you said either Equity or legal Finance okay um to finance so member monar motion is on the floor to move this job description to the finance committee um is there a second second question um Mr Alexander no oh uh oh I want to say it wasn't a job description it's an actual job person person that's being recommended for a position that would be moved to the finance committee it's not a job description um one second so member monar repeat your what Your motion is it's not a job description this is a new position and I would like to know because I'm being told that this new position is being funded from other positions that are not funded and in

229Theory there might be money somewhere I would like to know where that money is before I prove a new position so finance committee please show me I would like to move this item for the finance committee to demonst or someone to demonstrate within the finance committee where the money's coming from to cover a new position okay that's the motion is it SEC is there a second did you have another discussion I just have a quick question if I could for clarification we're talking about which I've lost my spot on the 153 thank you that's all I have it says recl [Music] reclassification um so I I I Madam president may I just may I just do a clarification okay so so if it moves to the committee it would be the position it would not

230be the person because I understand we put the person on the next board do we do it would not be the person it would be the position [Laughter] because because we're not in a we're not in a in a position of of dealing with persons this is not a slavery situation here let my goodness this this would be the position and you would bring the position and I would suspect that there is a job description someplace right you would bring that job description to the committee to review with that classification with the steps and all of that that's what we would be so so to move it on the position all right so the the the motion is on the floor to move this position the administrative secretary the reclassification position found at 15.3 two

231to the finance committee it's been moved by member molar is there a second second it's been second by member Harrison any further discussion seeing and hearing n Roll Call vote please Dr Thompson Miss Hall I'm sorry yes well you to call my name yes you're right you're right I threw myself off when I said oh sorry um still here I was Ved in Miss aye no Mr Alexander no Mrs Sykes yes Dr Molar yes Miss Jackson no Reverend Harrison yes that leaves us at 3 three which is not enough to carry yeah so the motion fails all right so um we're that motion still is not GNA yeah superintendent um section 16 section 17 um one second just for a clarification because although the moot the motion that was made from member monar was to

232move it into a committee you there um you never made because discussion was had when you were discussing Personnel we had discussion and part of that discussion member monar um in her discussion made a motion that did not care car now you can still make a motion even though if it didn't if this motion didn't carry you you can still make a motion for this it will go for a vote it won't I mean if I'm looking at here she it won't pass but you still can finish the business and then you may have to re bring it or before you re rebr it to miss member molnar's point that information could be made available cuz we were just moving on so make motions for to to accept the to accept the person personel recommendations

233okay but that point five do you so 15.3 okay do you guys understand what I'm saying when we get to that point yes okay so we'll move forward I just want to clarify number 16 section 16 17 section 18 section [Music] 19 uh there's nothing in section 20 and then section 21 um I would be recommending ending what number was that 15.3 so I would be recommending all um Personnel matters with the exclusion of section 15.3 which um that would be excluded and so I do want to say Madame President to the board that um hopefully the employee does not resign um but if so then we would have to fill that position because it's a very significant amount of work that has to go into a lot of the things that we do internally

234um resign from what Madam president resign from what Mr super District the person she has not been offered the job I'm referring to the other oh employee uh Mr Alexander yeah isn't 153 still on for the vote it stays on because it was voted on and didn't pass is that correct and why am I wrong 153 was voted to be moved so yes it still would it remains on the Personnel yes but he was making a recommendation to remove it but it could stay on you recommendation to move it so I'm just recommending the Personnel I'm correct that I'm making the recommendation to uh present the categories 10 through 20 excuse me okay um C the superintendent has uh moved to accept made a motion to accept the the Personnel in sections 10 through 20

235um is there a second he made the moot the mo the motion I'll make the motion okay Mr Alexander made the motion is there a second second it's been second by Miss alry is there any discussion pleas make a correction to your recation Madame President can I make a correction please yes thank you superintendent um the recommendation stays the same um but I'm removing 10 point 15 15.3 you can make that that's fine so the the motion the amended motion that's on the floor was moved by U motion by Mr Alexander motion is to accept all the Personnel recommend recommendations as given by the superintendent with the exception of 15.3 it it's been it's been moved seconded by Miss ay any further discussion Miss alry thank you I just wanted to quickly acknowledge in item

23610.1 uh the retirement of Sheila gavo um I just wanted to wish her well and congratulations she uh I know was building teacher of the year at bookal some time ago um I know she's worked in other capacities as well but she was also the president of the akan Council of ptas for many years and uh was a great mentor to me so I just wanted to acknowledge Sheila gabo and her retirement and congratulations sounds like a good place to thank you uh seeing hearing that a roll call please yes uh Vice President Alexander I I also wanted to say uh congratulations to uh coach Mitchell who was over at Firestone a football coach who is retiring from aan public schools he served the district for a number of years he did good over there

237he served our students he made sure the students were first and so we want to wish him well on his retirement uh and uh hopefully he enjoys his his time away from uh public service for a moment thank you all right no problem thank you M member Harrison I didn't U realize that Eric uh Mitchell was on the agenda so I want to just give him a shout out Eric Mitchell um Garfield class of 85 um running back for the first state championship or we lost a state championship that year Cincinnati Princeton 107 um but just want to give Eric a shout out uh childhood friend and when you say about the students Eric took a program that nobody really wanted to work in or for and Eric built that he came from Brush High

238School to akan back home to akan so um coach Mitchell just just a great allaround guy um worked to send a lot of kids to college um and and not just star kids but average kids there it's somewhere for everyone to go and Coach Mitchell found that place for them whether it was in football track or just coaching men so just want to say congratulations to Eric Mitchell um Lillian and his family um Ram Pride 85 all right thank you miv Harrison all right seeing no further discussion uh roll call vote please Dr Thompson Reverend Harrison yes yes Miss Jackson yes Dr molinar yes Miss Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss Autry yes and Miss Hall so yes to all except for 15 153 is not there yes motion carry 70 thank you next

239um we'll have the uh board letters and resolution board letters and resolutions and motions in the consent agenda thank you president Jackson I wish to recommend the approval of the resolutions and motions presented in category 25 they're in proper format and I'm moving for their approval please thank you this is there a motion to approve the consent agenda so moveed it's been moved by member Sykes thank you is there a second second second by member Alexander any discussions seeing and hearing none roll call vote please Dr Thompson Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall okay so this is the part that gets confusing we stopped at 20 we voted from 10 to 20 right correct and now we're on 206 the the motion was made

240to approve the Personnel recommendations um and that's 21 so we're on 21 yeah well we it was a motion to approve the personnel and we all went with 15.3 being removed we said the superintendent said make a motion to approve 10 through 20 I'll thinkk and that's what we voted on okay understood so now we're at 21.1 approval of personnel recommendations we did that we did that that's what I so we're we're on 26.1 POS POS a possible motion to approve the consent agend okay so then that's that's what I've asked before when say the full number like we're voting 10 through 25 let's say 10 through 25 if we're this is a work session right that's correct and we're going over all of this we need to say 10 through 25 not 10 through

24120 correct because if we're saying 10 through 20 then that means all the 20s then right right so I guess cuz I need to abstain then from 23.2 if that's the case 23.2 23.2 and 25.3 Madam Madam chair uh yes uh member Harrison yeah um I I was under the same impression as member Hall I was going 10 through 20 Personnel recommendations and uh I had a question about 221 board letter legal contracts and board policy um and so we went down to the consent agenda are are we going to go um cover 22 that's part I'm sorry I'm listening no no I'm just go ahead what was your yes of the committee of the whole is what you're saying for the me item discussion yeah if he has a if you have a question

242we can discuss those items what no one sec one second okay so I want to recognize Mr Harrison and and member hall for their questions because we have moved on in the agenda thinking that there were no discussions and so now appointed a correction is that we stopped at 20 Mr Harrison has some questions about what um one of the items in member Hall needs to abstain from one of the items 23.5 23.2 25.3 okay so and then Mr Alexander what was your question yeah I was saying did we get to 22.1 and 22.2 we I think we skip we this is discuss that's what we're discussing now yeah so that's what we're that's what the point of correction where we're at now yeah I think our motion was from for 23 right it wasn't

243it item 23 but was in the board letters and is that correct right but it wasn't it didn't so since that wasn't the amendment will have to be made to that motion once we correct what we're doing now okay you understand because we moved on once we approved the Personnel recommendations through 1020 right now we're at 21.1 we should be 22 we went to 23 we made a motion to to uh move forward 23 okay and we didn't do 22 so if we can go ahead probably can go ahead and do uh vote on 23 and then go back to 22 and vote yeah I have discussion 22 board board policy development yes wait a minute yes cuz we didn't we didn't do 22 board I'm sorry board letter and legal contracts right we didn't

244do 2 we went straight to 23 oh yeah I don't have it on here okay so we I think we can vote on 23 now and then go back and do 22 if I'm correct is that right Mr uh if we take it out of the consent agenda so what what has been passed is everything through 20 right and then um now we need to the next motion is everything from 22 on correct um so th those would have not been voted on yeah well we have a motion on the floor for the consent agenda right okay and and so the consent agenda as I'm looking at it starts at uh 25 no the motion I put on for was for board letters and resolutions and motions in the cons agenda that was the okay

245so we went all the way down okay so yeah so my motion was for board letters and resolutions and motions in the consent agenda 22 okay okay and so next is the board letters and consent agenda Dr Robinson how we did all that talking to it should voted on cuz he's going to talk about that and then we'll um move to approve of the resolution and motion Madam president yes uh I I think what might be a little bit confusing thank you madam president is that the board letters are all culminated in the consent agenda so that means items 22 through 25.6 are all the same so the board letters are actually summed up as a consent agenda right so so the president cor she asked for the consent agenda and we did the consent

246agenda I thought this was the cow so it's giving people the opportunity to go item by item so that's what was skipped is all right yes because this we do talking to at L so to get to the business so you you just need to make sure member Hall when I say you that you that your exensions are recorded which is M Harrison did you record what Miss member Hall stated since we didn't go by each one that's what she wanted to recognize with her vote so what are we doing on these first meetings I thought it was a cow where we were going over each section and then the last meeting was just going over the business that voting but we start off going through like the superintendent he said 6 7 8 9

24710 11 and then we go here from 20 and then we jump all the way to 25.6 we can't go I'm sorry but it's it's fine if that's how we're going to do it but I just want to be consistent if we're we're going to one way and then we switch no I think I agree I I agree with consistency I don't think you're wrong for that but um member Harrison well I think member Alexander um I wanted to pull 221 out of the consent agen I want to discuss that so I think member Alexander is going to take care of that with his okay yes Madam president I'm going to resend my motion uh for those and then we can get a chance to go through 22 and we go do the C and

248then we can can go to the vote all right [Music] okay um the member uh Alexander has resented the motion and now we are discussion um superintendent so we're at 20 you have a question for 22.1 I mean to remove Mr uh Harrison please thank you madam president um I I do have a question and a concern for 221 I know we had approved um last meeting um for here I'm a paron Interruption so Mr Alexander has motion that we remove yeah I I rescinded my motion to resend this motion and then but then you made a motion to remove 20 the what is it 20 21.1 from the consent agenda right no no Pastor hon has some questions on that so I I remove my my motion so it takes it away now we're

249going back to 221 which is part of the is in the consent agenda and we to discuss it don't we remove it from to for to enter in discussion has to be removed from the consent agenda because we just approved the consent okay oh okay go ahead R says that Kyle just talk let's [Music] go thank you madam chair so 2021 I know we um well let me lay some foundation for this you know this is dealing with the schools the building of Piper Miller uh South um and and I've continuously had questions about do we have enough money to build and to tear down the schools so we we approved different things now we're at the a point of approving the CMR um my concern is that we got two documents I asked um

250Ruth um because the documents were inadvertently not attached um but one of the contracts is 47 or 43 pages and one of them is 27 Pages um and I guess this question overall is about the building project in general we have not seen anything that says how much money we have we have not seen anything that says how much we are paying Architects cmrs um we have not seen anything and so now we're at this point and I see the contracts so one of my questions would be how much money do we have to complete this project and when I say complete the project I mean tearing down the buildings and building the one building I'm sorry for if we have the money or not that would be a question more appropriately answered by Dr

251Thompson but as for the cost of the contracts the architectural contract number the cost of it was voted on an improved last spring okay um I don't have the contract in front of me for the exact dollar amount and the CMR contract cost is part of the contract that is attach now attached to okay I didn't see the cost in here okay it it's it is supposed to be in there for what yeah so the cost is not in here but Madam president uh can I address the Treasurer yes member Harrison thank you for this particular project how much money do we have on hand for this project this building the total budget now this is a three-year-old budget projection M was $63 million for the total build and demo and demo so we have

252the cops money which is earning interest so we remember that's the four $40 million that we took out on a loan a low interest loan um at this point and and we've begun to make payments on on that money that's 40 million probably end up being more like 42 million or so maybe a little more with interest M Mr Mr treasure can I just ask how much money do we have on hand we have $55 million for this project on hand the balance of 8 million to get to 63 was at the time we made the made the uh uh cops deal we were under the understanding that we were going to split the o4 right lfi money with the city well that's still in a holding pattern to to best of my knowledge so

253what we actually have on hand is $55 million and and you reported out that construction cost is rising about 16% a year now maybe it's starting to slow down I you might know a little bit is not slowing down yeah it's not slowing down okay so so here is my concern and it's a concern of a lot of people who have lived around school buildings who are still living around school buildings that have not been torn down right okay um so we have $55 million and we have to we have to tear down three buildings and build one and that's the best case scenario $55 million I'm yes sorry yeah so yeah um then you you start tearing something down you don't know what you're going to find under what was built so you know

254yeah so my concern is we get 80% of this done and we don't have any money where does a 20% come from we would have two possible funding well three possible funding sources you could pass a bond issue if you could pass it you take out another cops issuance which we could with a payment or it's general fund those are your three funding options so and and and this is not a question to be answered today but this is certainly a question and I I presented before and I had asked that we be given some updates and I was told that it was all being done in an internal committee and that at at the end of the day this board is responsible for finances and policy in this District period at the end of

255the day that's what we're responsible for and for me I can't stick my head in the sand and act like we're not in a fin financial crisis with this build we are in a financial crisis with this Miller South Bill we do have enough money to build North because we passed the bond issue but and and and this is not a a reflection of your leadership Mr superintendent because these things were in place before you got here but we are here as you would say yes and we don't have enough money to build these building this building $55 million to tear three buildings down and to build one the the same situation could potentially occur at North as well because that bond issue is has a cap also absolutely so the longer it takes to

256get to demo move the dirt start finding out what your soils are like you'll hear the word unsuitable soils all day every day which means a change order I mean I've never done a construction project that doesn't so so um now we have a contingency fund that that's built into a contingency fund uh but the the we what's Paramount is to get on these projects moving as quickly as possible because every day every day we wait is Ching on the construction cost Madam president uh Mr superintendent this is one of the things that you know you and I have talked about um well I've shared my concerns with you early on um the um North project absolutely we need to jump on it because we have a a locked in number that we have for

257that but again we're at this place here where we're spending money today that we may need at the end out of general fund and so when we're in positions today that impacts tomorrow $55 million to build a school I mean that that's that's just a razor thin margin and I I I think we're going to be in the general fund at the end of this and I think we have to be honest and upfront with that but I would ask that this internal committee whatever this internal committee is it needs to bring the finances to the board when when something comes up because we're approving a raise a step raise for $800 but we're not approving we're not seeing the numbers to 10 or $15 million we have to see these numbers and we have

258to talk about these numbers and we have to be transparent with the public about these numbers because $55 million uh is is it's going to be razor thin and that is again and I'll sit down why I believe that that $17.5 million should be in Community Learning Centers period Andress yes superintendent then remember member mner so um Pastor Harrison the money that the lfi money which is what you're referring to that meeting um I think we finally were able to secure a meeting um there are some discussions that are going to have to happen legally and one of those discussions will have to be um because the money that is there was used for the building of L of um clc's and so at this point um we will have to have legal which we

259had some previous legal discussion around who really owns who really has the money is it ours solely is it partially the city um those are questions that we will hopefully be able to answer once that meeting uh uh takes place and our attorneys begin to really have discussion on both sides around what do next steps yield does it does it mean that the money that's there is the school systems or do we have to go back to the taxpayers and ask them since this was done some years ago in terms of can we use that money um for the building of of these two buildings Andor as well as North when I came in the I was told that there was 16 million eight was supposed to be used for Piper Miller South and the

260other eight was being asked could we use it for north and so that's the level uh area that I've been working in since I've since I arrived um and so hopefully this meeting that we're having with the city which is our um joint bard of review I think that's what it's called um we will hopefully leave that meeting my goal is to leave the meeting knowing exactly when we walk out of there who does the money belong to and what is the next step in terms of us moving because that money was accounted for for the building of these two buildings okay the 8 million portion of it thank you and um I do have a message to follow with the city just to uh solidify that the agenda and um align with what's been

261understood that uh these monies can be designated for um member monar thank you Madame President um I do think that this is important information this is an important conversation this is important to know as board members I don't want to hear it at a board meeting I don't think this is the appropriate time or place to have this conversation I think that a lot of districts I know that a lot of districts when they do something important like a building project they have a committee for a building project and we're not building one building we're building three buildings I hear there might be an internal committee I don't know if any board members are involved in that committee I know I haven't been invited to any of those committee meetings I think this would be

262an appropriate time to have an ad hoc committee because ad hoc committees study very explicit problems within a specific time frame when the need arises so I would like to move that the board establish an ad hoc committee as permitted by policy to focus on matters related to the three buildings Miller South Fifer and north and this committee will receive all of the relevant information planning construction progress until the new buildings are fully operational and students are attending regular classes so that would be the defined scope and time frame providing updates and recommendations to the full board so that way we don't have to have there there are multiple there's Financial there's legal there are lots of things that we don't have to use board meeting time to learn about decisions we have to make

263as board members related to the buildings uh yes uh Dr Thompson typic so on on the agenda tonight's the CMR the construction manager at risk so typically what happens is the architectural firm will lead meetings that include the board um in design then the CMR they'll be weekly meetings sometimes daily meetings that Steve will be attending um then there's usually a meeting that the superintendent and you three board members would serve on that and have monthly meetings with the CMR and the CMR is the one that runs the you know they're the GC they run the whole thing and that's typically what I at least what I've seen in my experience leading up to that yes but that's not for all three and so what the committee would do is the committee would have a

264once a month meeting like the other committees where we just keep track of the three buildings and the progress on the three buildings and bring the necessary information on the progress of those three buildings to the full board right um the mo uh member molar Dr Molar C has made a a motion to that we add a ad hoc committee for the purpose of discussing the building projects the three building uh projects within the district um is there a second [Music] uh I I didn't think we needed a motion for an ad hoc but if if we're entertaining it that way toate a committee she wants to create a ADOT committee and so we would have to uh As I understood we would have to it would be a motion to add this because it's

265a committee even though it's ad so you don't you don't have to have a motion I just made one it you you as president could just say we're having a committee oh okay all right to do to to um I'm sorry madam president yes they're going to have a committee anyhow so that part that committee that they're going to have could be part of the board like Steve said uh Dr Thompson Thompson okay yeah see it's getting late you know what happened my bra so I so I won't um appoint adoc committee at this time we can revisit it after um based off of the information of the treasurer with the CMR the person that's being employed and um I think that uh member Ward does make a good point as far as the communication

266and so however you work that out as uh Dr Thompson said three board members or whoever would select to be on that committee I think that would be fine thank you to my board colleagues for assisting um with that um member mner can I I I want to just throw out there if that is the route that we go then only those board members could be involved if we had an ad hoc committee it would operate like the rest of our committees were on important days that more than three board members would like to come and attend then the the full like the equity committee the four full board could sit and attend we cannot do that if we follow this route also a reminder that we have different cmrs and so the it would

267be this would be a combination of what's Happening um across no instead it's only point of clarification the CMR and in question now is strictly for the Miller South fer build North will be a completely separate project with completely an entirely different parties involved unless the same firm is des is determined to be the highest ranked most qualified firm for whichever point we are on in that project so we we can have the CMR committee for uh the Miller South Hyer um project which we will and we could bring other updates outside of the Miller South project and include North but it would not have the parties involved in the north project involved in that exactly so they would not be involved so what the board committee what the ad hoc board committee would do

268is it would be the one place that the board would receive this information and sometimes the Miller South people might come sometimes the north people come maybe sometimes we have Miller South and North but the board committee would keep track of the highlevel information of the progress and the timeline of the three building projects because the other committees are meeting in silos and more frequently in silos as needed but the board committee would be operating differently and this way the full board could attend if needed I thought okay um as I said I think I'll think on that cuz we you presented legal we can have presentations at uh legal contracts and board policy over the various bills you've presented in that form but I think to okay let me I need to process this

269because to one our point they get Len lengthy so I think I'm at this time not going to appoint any committee because I want to be clear on exactly what I'm what I am doing um when I do it so uh not that I believe that it's not necessary but I just want to be clear I don't want to just say yeah I'm going to do a adhoc committee for this so with more clarification on what it is we desire and what what is going to be the outcome so I'll um revisit that at a later time of course happy to do so whichever direction is decided to go thank you so much thank you both um member hall and then we're going to call just a quick question will kinmore the new Kenmore or

270Miller sou and Fifer and um North High School will they be considered clc's right now we don't know that that depends on what happens in this joint board of review um because that money was clc's that you have to be CC's if you use this money we don't know that we don't know that yet so I don't want to sit here and say yes or no once we've had that joint board of review meeting and our attorneys have discussed that because that question it's a good question I've I've asked the same question question myself but I don't know just yet until we have that meeting okay and the attorneys will tell us what direction we actually need to go okay so we need to kind of stop talking about that money then going to these

271schools because if we don't know if it's going to be a CLC you can't use that money for something that's not a CLC what's in the Cooperative agreement it states that has to be a CLC so that's all I'm saying but we don't know about that particular part of M right now okay we make a use it and it's not doesn't have to be a cc we don't know no yeah that's what she saying it's in a Cooperative agreement that it has to be a CLC that's what that's um one of the things when I meet with uh about the agenda for the jbr that they want to discuss so that we're clear based off the Cooperative agreement that the uh agenda is following that flow all right uh yes uh Miss we're we're on

27226 point .1 we're set on 26.1 so U Miss alry go ahead I just wanted to say that the joint border review meeting is Friday April the 4th at 10: a.m. Friday April the 4th at 10:00 a.m. is the joint border review all right um thank you both thank you all right now I'm I I'm ready to read now we want approval of the resolutions and motions in the consent agenda so moved it's been moved by Mr Alexander is there a second second it's been second by miss alry any discussion we didn't had plenty of discussion okay hearing none Rogue all vote please Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall still need 23.2 and 25.3 abstentions no well 23.2 and 23.5 23.5 got it okay

273and yes to everything else got it Reverend Harrison yes um motion carries six Zer on um all things and it carries uh are 60 with one exstension and the exstension being 23.2 and 23.5 70 on the balance 23.2 23.2 and 2 3.5 and 23.5 yes yes ma'am said did I read it wrong thank you uh next we will have the business Affairs recommendation Dr Robinson are there any questions on the business Affairs member Hall you've been recognized had a quick question regarding um the business Affairs uh which is 27.2 um with the stadium bleacher like the bleachers bookto ellot kimmore MH um and I see that booko has general fund of $989 47 um will this also go and coincide with the concession stand and the Press office being redone I know the bleachers are

274connected to it no these are the repairs that are needed to the bleachers that were found when they were reviewed for maintenance this is strictly the repairs you earlier last month provided the repair funds for the inside bleachers these are the outside the right I understand that that's why I'm saying we're getting a new concession stand new box office and we have bleachers that's connected but they're not actually connected the way they may not be this is maintenance to keep them up and going because you just approved us to go into in the consent agenda to start negotiating with a designed firm for the Press right I understand that I'm just I'm just I was just saying out loud if we're spending this kind of money to me going to a school it looks like

275the bleachers are connected to all that stuff so I'm asking the question if we're spending $9,000 to repair and then we're getting a whole new system but it's not new bleach okay thank you no our bleachers actually are new they're only four years old so this is the maintenance on those okay thank you thank you you okay yeah I'll ask you later okay super no other questions superintendent any other questions president Jackson I'm rich to recommend the approval of the business affairs recommendations presented in category 27 is there a motion to approve the business Affairs recommendation category 27 I move to move the business Affairs recommendations to approve the business Affairs recommendations it's been moved by member Ary properly second by Mr Harrison any discussion again go ahead just one more quick thing on 27.5

276with the roofing uh Solutions so Fifer is going to be torn down once we built the new kimore um are these just like patches being made or what is what's going on because we're tur the school down this is to provide preventative maintenance and repairs for the existing time that the building is open okay okay and then Steward since we're reopening being stored all they need is $1,900 for repairs for their roof yes the cost is based on whether the roof is currently under warranty and the age of the roof as well as the square footage of the roof the overall profile of Stewart is fairly small in terms of square footage for the roofing area that's why the cost is so low for that specific school okay thank you MH all right uh roll

277call please Dr Molar abstain on 2715 yes on the balance 2713 I'm sorry 15 2715 the last one thank you Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes um motion carries 60 with one exstension on everything except 271570 on the balance okay so now I'm at 28.1 um is there any unfinished business okay see any hearing none tax complaints for tax year 2024 is there a motion to approve the seven-year tax complaints for the tax year 2024 all move it's been moved by member Sykes is there a second second it's been second by member Harrison any discussion yes U I'm sorry you uh question uh vice president Alexander so this section here this is money that is owed to us I I I wrote that

278down as a question yeah there their their challenges to what is owed to us gotcha gotcha okay their Challen in their tax bill so they're challenge the tax bill okay gotcha okay thank you you're welcome right no further discussion roll call please Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes motion carry 70 all right is there um there's no new business currently but there is a need to go into executive session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 12122 G1 to consider the employment or discipline of a public employee and or officials and pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 12122 G3 to conference with an attorney for the public body concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of pending or immediate or

279imminent excuse me me Court action is there a motion to go on to Executive session so move it's been moved by member Alexander is there a second second it's been second by member alry any discussion hearing and seeing none roll call vote please Dr Thompson Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr AR yes Mrs Sykes no motion carry 61 at 9:50 we stand in recess at 950 for executive session e e e e e e standing back in at 10:46 from our executive session there is no action being taken um from our executive session is there a motion to adjourn so move thank you it's been moved by Mr Alexander probably second by Miss Hall any discussion roll call please miss ay yes Miss Hall yes

280Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes motion carry 70 pleas stand a journ at 10:47 p.m. oh [Music]