001e e e [Music] [Applause] [Music] good evening and welcome to the convening of the acan public school board on February 24th 2025 Mr Thompson roll call please Mr Alexander present Miss ay present Miss Hall present Reverend Harrison present Miss Jackson present Mr Sykes present six present one absent thank you Dr Thompson um we will now stand for the Pledge of Allegiance member Hall would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance sure I pledge allegiance to the flag FL of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you member Hall um now we have we have a Dr M just okay I recognize member molar is here so she's present so you're going to add her I'm
002adjust that okay do we have to do another roll call no I just was wondering cuz you tapped me I'm sorry I just wanted you to know she was here thank you I'm welcome member monar um is there a motion to amend the agenda Madam I I make a motion I'd like to move that we amend the agenda to include the new in new business three new agenda items uh consisting of the first reading of the motion to resend the following board policies board policy 220.03 Equity policy board policy 22 60.0 5 working definitions of diversity Equity inclusion excellent education and board policy 22607 racial Equity policy this is the first reading of a motion to amend also the bylaw 0.1 0155 committees by removing uh section d uh Equity committees okay it's been moved
003by uh vice president Alexander is there a [Music] second I'll second it's been second by member Hall is there any discussion member Sykes thank you mad president Madame President and members of the board I first of all wasn't aware that we were going to be doing this but since we're doing this let's let's just get to it so uh could you I I need a better understanding what what are you saying uh you are doing here yes what we're saying is that we're going to uh put these these these uh items in new business so we can discuss it further and we also want to resend that we don't want to uh move too fast with with the policies and move forward so we're trying to move it a little slower so that's why we're
004resending it at this point and then we will hopefully have some more discussion later as well it's in policy policy committee uh to uh decide what we're going to do from that point Thank you thank you uh vice president um and Madame President let me just just just bring a uh since you're doing this at this particular time let me bring this uh particular concern that I have to this board so this is dealing with Dei diversity equity and inclusion yes and we are referring this to new business so that we can discuss this so we can discuss it further and then we hopefully we'll move it to policy committee to also discuss it this Wednesday which policy committee are we talking we're talking about uh legal legal uh Madam Madam president let me just
005share my concern uh this is dealing with Dei I am concerned about the ethical process that we're going through here Dei has uh employees that are members of board members families so I am concerned that this board may be moving into an ethical situation uh it is not enough to Simply abstain to to abstain from issue when a family member is involved but we need to recuse ourselves and so as I see it we have three members sitting here that should consider and perhaps you want to ask legal if you should recuse yourself from even discussing this vice president Aris Alexander member Hall and member Harrison so this is serious stuff I need think we need to get a legal opinion if we can proceed with the three board members involved in this discussion yeah
006yes and and M I don't have any problem asking legal if we could do that and if they say yes we're fine with it if they say that we need to recuse recuse ourselves and remove then that's okay I'm okay with it um Madame President thank you thank you vice president Ariz uh Alexander and before we take a vote we need to do that we need to find that out now because we do not want to put this board in Jeopardy okay uh thank you member saon for a pointing to Clarity our board policy does speak to this and it says exactly what member Sykes is stating that in the event that a board member has a relative or a loved one or someone that they're connected to that they are that they're to um
007refrain from not only the vote but also any discussions so I'm not sure that it's there's necessarily a need for legal the proper action will be simply to just Rec you will recuse yourself from any uh further discussions um or as well as voting on the matter additionally As I understood and we can uh get clarity uh because I know it said it was being referred to legal and I know there there's some time constrictions but my understanding is being referred back to the back to committee yes to the equity committee um for further discussion member SES yes madame president and since since vice president Alexander is the chair of legal then we again we need to deal with this before we do anything else yeah and if policy says that then we'll do a
008polic polic policy says we'll do it I have no problem with policy says that not only does policy says that but the Ohio ethics says and it says that I'm okay with it and we'll have to follow what they say to do yeah that's all we must and so again a point of clarity so if it goes to the ethical committee U member Hall is the chair of the ethical committee and so being that you are one of the ones that recus then it will go to the co-chair to conduct the meeting um and so at this time we've heard what's on the floor which is which is correct when we get to the discussions of the matter um as I stated as I understand that these matters were being moved to new business then
009to be referred to back to committee I sent an email to the entire board with this that I was going to make the recommendation and referred that I was going to ask to remove uh these from the agenda into new business and then refer that they be sent back to the equity committee I sent this uh email yesterday evening but in any event that's where it would be uh further um just a more audit on the policies with more Fidelity uh to make sure uh that things are being done in a a decent and proper manner so um that's my understanding not necessary that we would discuss it as the board on this floor at this time but that the refer that when new business it goes to new business then to be sent back
010to [Music] committee and as what has already been stated will go forth that those members having family members um and have a a possible conflict will recru thems and not be involved in the discussion M Madam president for clarity could I have the items in which we are there I believe there were three that were stated could could I have those numbers one more time yes policy 22 6.04 policy 22 260.05 policy 22 6.07 and board bylaws 0155 section D thank you so much thank you all right so there was there is a motion that is on the floor um member SES in the discussion um posited the the question in regards to the members recusing thems I think as far as um the unclarity for myself is that because you brought the motion if
011we need to resend and in the motion to whereas I bring the motion and you second the motion then someone else should second it just for the sake of making sure we don't find oursel in any issue that's fine Madam president as long as we do what we supposed to do it's right all right thank you um mam vice president so I move to amend the agenda to include new business three new agenda items consisting of a first reading of a motion to resend the following board policies board policy 22 22604 Equity policy board policy 22605 working definition for diversity Equity inclusion and excellence in education and board policy 2260 07 racial Equity a first read of a motion to amend board board bylaw 0155 committees by removing section D Equity committee so it's been
012moved is there a second thank you member it's it's been moved by she cannot second no you second it m s yeah um it's been moved by uh president Jackson seconded by member Sykes is there any dis [Music] discussion yes hearing none roll call please and for the record abstaining will be uh vice president Alexander member Hall and member Greg Harrison Mrs syes yes Dr Molar yes Miss Jackson yes Miss ay yes motion carries 40 thank you moving on we will have recognitions by the superintendent for the book club of the month thank you president Jackson congratulations to our top readers for January for elementary kindergartner Slater Harris from Betty Jane uh who read an impressive 52 books let's give her a hand [Applause] please Middle School Cooper grra seventh grader from National inventors Hall
013of Fame who read nine books Cooper is a repeated winner from last month awesome job J to Cooper let's give him a hand please and for high school da Boon a 10th grader from ellot CLC who read three [Applause] books in total our Scholars achieved the following Milestones K through five 590 books middle schoolers 87 books and high schoolers 26 books and and special congratulations to the schools with the highest number of books read Betty Jane CLC with 252 books inis middle school with 62 books and stem high school with 14 books let's give them a hand please and are our Scholars present are any of our Scholars present come on up all right come to the front please come to the front to be recognized by your board and superintendent great [Music] job no
014we don't take a picture [Music] all right Navy jrtc [Music] thank you congratulations to [Applause] [Laughter] and we want to thank Acme for the generous support of providing gift cards for our Scholars thank you thank you superintendent next we will have a board member and board uh scholar member Reflections today we have with us miss Z West uh representing Firestone High School um Zia without further Ado please thank you madam president Madame pres president Mr vice president Mr superintendent and honor honorable board members and distinguished guests my name is Zia West I'm a senior at Firestone CLC After High School I plan to attend a four-year college and major in special education with either a double major or a minor in business management however I have not made my final College decision yet during my
015time at Firestone I've had the privilege of being involved in many activities I'm a fouryear Letterman in two Sports golf and track and field I do shot put and discus I do not run I am a two-time city champion in the shop put and I was the runner up last year I'm also in 2023 I was the city champion in The discus um I've also been a track Captain for three years Beyond Athletics I've been active in several organizations I'm the member of the student student Summit County Youth Coalition the founder of C akan students for equity and Excellence I'm involved with the youth NAACP I serve as a president of the locker room experience I was a vice president of student council and I'm a part of the always climbing group led by the
016amazing Bryce Harris additionally I founded a nonprofit called Limitless dreams which advocates for individuals with special healthare needs through Sports and activities we recently hosted our second event this past September and I hope to continue it at the Collegiate level this is my second year as a scholar board member and as I approach graduation it is Bittersweet to leave but I'm grateful for the opportunity to use my voice um at this platform as my time in acon public schools comes to the end I've been reflecting on the changes I hope to see despite my efforts to be involved and use my voice there are Still Moments where I feel unheard and I know many other students across the district feel the same way many of us dedicate time energy and even sacrifice time away from
017school and schoolwide activities only to feel like we're running into a brick wall while I recognize there's opportunities for students to be heard like attending board meetings like today the reality is speaking at a board meeting can be very intimidating especially today like um and also inaccessible for many people students want to be heard in aan public schools and we really want to try but it's also very hard and it's again very intimidating so I'm just here to share that I know I can't solve every problem that students face but I want to do more for a diverse for diverse diverse voices to be heard and valued sorry my call to action is simple i propos setting up dedicated days where students can meet directly with board me members and the superintendent this will create
018opportunities to build genuine relationships break down barriers and ensure students can feel seen and heard without this connection we cannot truly improve the culture of our school district I'll say from personal experience I have a younger sister she goes to Miller South she's in eighth grade and you couldn't pay her a billion dollars to try to come to Firestone and it kind of hurts because I want to her to share that same experience that I had I love fire so you know Stone to the Bone that's just me but still at the same time it's very hard being a high schooler um it's just I would say for me when I was talking to my friends before I came here today I was like how does school feel to you guys it feels like prison
019like I mean we have Gates on our bathrooms so that doesn't really help we go through metal detectors and my sister when I was talking to her she said I don't want to feel like that when she visited private schools and I I get you know we've been through a lot as a school district but when she visited private schools like she said I was kind of shocked that I didn't have to go through metal detectors when I walked in I thought somebody was going to stop stop me or asked to see my Yonder bag or something like that but I'm only one person and so my issues aren't everyone else's issues but I want people to be heard and seen so thank you for allowing me to share my space thank you for allowing
020me the space to share my thoughts and experience I appreciate the time and the consideration you've given me and I hope my words Inspire meaningful action for the further of acam public schools thank you I'm always so impressed and thankful um for your Insight Z and I speak the same talk I just talked about that at our last board retreat the importance of student voice and speaking to board members so that you know that you have a seat at the table and so that we can uh culminate and come with action steps that really speak to the needs of the school in order to impact the culture and the climate of the school so thank you so much for sharing and you speak your voice speaks volumes not just for you that sentiment is a
021lot of your student bodies that's why you're a student board member just like each of us we represent someone I particularly I know I represent you I represent students for sure and so again thank you for that and thank you for everything that you're doing I'm so proud of you thank you are there any additional board comments for Isaiah and then board Reflections member Hall yes thank you madam president this is my comment for isah I've told you many times your voice speaks volume um you're courageous you are um the example which you know I told you I would love for my little one to see um you're confident and I just um along with all the other members of c and other groups and other board members that come here to speak I just
022see your future being great I see you maybe one day being around this table cuz every time we say we leave an acarine somehow it brings us right back and just keep doing what you're doing and um continue to have a successful senior year I'm and make sure that you are getting scholarships and applying for scholarships okay yes ma'am got it thank you never heard of that also the heral case sub scholarship for our Scholars is avail ailable um you can email Miss Jackson for it and um Miss Culver is here she has the information I know cuz Miss Miss green Miss green told me she was going to send it to you I'll make sure you have it um and so it can be shared with our Scholars and I'll make sure Zia has
023that and the deadline has been extended are there any other board comments for our student board member all right if not let's give her oh yes I'm sorry uh ay thank you so much so Z as everyone else has already said extremely proud of you just watching your growth over these last few years I just want to continue to encourage you um I'm sorry that you feel unheard at times I'm sorry that you uh your siblings experience about feeling in prison and so that's something you know that definitely needs to be um addressed and I know speaking with students you probably have solutions that we haven't even thought about so I just want to um as the fire St Le aison um I know you just have a few short months left but please reach
024out I'd be happy uh to come and speak with you and some of your peers um I know my schedule's a little bit more flexible than most working part-time but I'm available to come and listen and hear uh what solutions that you uh might have to offer for some of those things thank you also I wanted to add um one more things I know I've kind of said a lot but um just like moving forward I'll say for me when I'm in these different organizations it's kind of like the same people I see every day um and I just wanted to highlight that like sometimes the same person could only speak on so much so like moving forward if there were like you know one group or one student Voice have one group of people
025and then the next it's not always the same I'll say for me I see the same six people every other week depending on which field trip I go to so just moving forward that's just also something else I wanted to see but thank you I will reach out thank you are there any uh yes uh vice president Alexander yeah I just want to say one quick comment don't be you said you're nervous try not to be nervous we all get nervous even as adults we still come here we have to speak we get nervous we go other places we get nervous but just continue to do what you're doing you'll be fine and you'll do well okay all right thank you member molar thank you thank you um Zia as everyone else said it's nice
026to see you um I saw you you worked so hard saw your track practice I think last it was track practice um but as everyone else said every time I see you I get the impression of someone who is more um confident I you seem more confident every time I see you and especially today as you said this could be a very intimidating crowd so if you had any um advice or tips if you don't have it now I don't want to put you on the spot but as you go back to that same group of six people of what you are doing to be so confident when you're here because this is intimidating for all of us um for me I say advice that I I do sometimes and not saying I know there's
027a lot of different religions and stuff like that I pray um but also I kind of like if you're speaking to a big crowd find someone that you know I just so happen to know Mr Johnson that's standing right in front of me so like when I talk I just like look up at him from time to time or it's just like I don't know I feel like because I know all you guys it's a little bit easier but I've been especially working with um always climbing they kind of help me to where I was where I just you know can be in different positions and learn how to do public speaking but some of the kids that are in there especially our sophomores you know it's a little bit harder for them but I
028definitely you know Miss Hall mention that akan has a way of bringing you back I'm like I'm trying to pick a college I'm like I don't really want to go no nowhere far because my work here I still feel like I have work here to do all right any other comments for our board member if not let's give Z another round of [Music] applause all right now are there any board board member Community Reflections member SES thank you madam president and Miss West you're so impressive uh you're so impressive as our so many of our students and so many of our administrators uh teachers and supporters here of akan public school until uh just recently akan public school was was recognized on the floor of the US Congress recognized on the floor of the US
029Congress and because of that I want to congratulate everyone all of us and share this with you thank you Mr Speaker today I Rise to recognize Katrina halasa Joanna O'Neal and Christa Galloway of the akan public school science and health department as Ohio's 13th congressional district champions of the week the department recently earned the presidential award for excellence and stem mentoring on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology policy in the naal Science Foundation as one of just five organizations in the country to earn this award this is truly an astounding achievement and one that our entire Community should be proud of this prestigious award recognizes their dedication to shaping the future of Science and Technology through mentorship helping to ensure Workforce reflects the diverse Talent of America acon public school's mission
030is to prepare each child for success and as a Alum of Aram public schools I can attest to their ability to create successful students Katrina Joanna and Christa support this Mission through science and health department by promoting inquiry and stem opportunities in and Beyond the classroom together Katrina joined provid of combined mentoring and during Dr hosa's 16-year tenure the department lowered barriers by providing stem opportunities to over 50,000 diverse Scholars their focus on a three- tiered approach consisting of teachers Scholars and partners allows all levels of our community to get involved in educating and mentoring our students to success Ohio's 13th congressional district has long been known for his scientific innovation and and Christa are also helping to ensure this Legacy for generations to come congratulations again to Katrina halasa Joanna O'Neal and Krista Galloway
031on this fantastic accomplishment and thank you for all you do for our students and Scholars thank you Mr Speaker and I yield back what an honor thank you member syes for sharing such a wonderful Community reflection representing akan Ohio and akan public schools and you guys didn't hear Z say it in the mic like Miss Jackson say what you say Amilia Sy is a firestone Alum just want to mention that she said she said just so they know I hope they know she's a fire I'm just saying you know greatness comes out of fire St that's that's yes oh you okay Miss halasa okay I just love the halasa family you know Dr Katrina I've been doing science fair since Lord have mercy um and your sister is amazing I love talking to her every
032day you know I just love seeing your face so again thank you so much mes for sharing that and it's great we have one of our own community members and uh high school graduates that is now a member of the United States Congress um what they see they can be so it's just that's just excellent I love everything about it are there any other community uh Reflections board Reflections uh member Hall please thank you madam president and congratulations to you Mrs Sykes you and Mr Sykes produced that amazing woman ailia syes you know and um this is not about reflection right now but my daughter takes the bar tomorrow so oh I get so choked up and emotional it's a two-day process the bar in Chicago please everybody just say a prayer in the morning
033for her she will pass this um so Excellence does look great on us um okay okay so I attended the um Youth Empowerment Summit that was put on by the Historical Society on um February 14th at The JCC which is a wonderful event I was not able to attend the whole thing Z you were there but it was so awesome for the part that I was there to actually hear students talk about the needs and how they don't see they're not heard or they're not seen and what we need to do so they didn't just bring up problems they gave Solutions and that's the best thing you know we always have problems problems problems but we don't ever give recommendations of solutions so our young our youth you guys are on the ball you guys
034are rolling and I'm so proud of you um also I attended the winter concerts at North High School with the strings instruments we have some talented kids I thought about the times when I used to play the violin I wouldn't dare pick it up now and it would just be like Screech um so congratulations to all the students who participated in the winter concert series and thank you to miss Don Wilson for putting that on job well done um I also attended the Black Chamber of Commerce kickoff what an exciting event um it just gives me chills and it it also lets our students know that you know you don't have to continue to wait for a seat at the table you can pull a chair up you know and just having these opportunities um
035to open more doors for our children um also I wanted to just um throw this out here um tumble together is a free washing and drying um event um that the city of akan is putting on um Wednesday March 5th from 3: to 7: and I'll have some more of these flyers here this is for it's going to be held at the Westside lundry mat it's a new laundry mat on Copley Road also a gas station this is a free service to all residents of akan come and get your clothes washed this is to uplift our community to make sure that if you're having um just issues with you don't have a washer and dryer or if you just need that extra support and that help just to make you feel whole again um again
036it's free up to three loads the detergent is supplied for you so you don't have to worry about that and you will also be served a meal so again March 5th Wednesday from 3:00 to 7:00 at the new Westside laundry mat come and wash your clothes now you will be washing your own clothes but the service will be free to all and also the detergent and a meal thank you thank you member Hall yes member m Dr monar thank you president Jackson um my reflection today is um last week I guess last weekish um I went to school normal day came pick up my kids and I noticed my uh little boy came out in a new coat and and he got in the car and he went mommy my Zipper was broken and I
037have a new coat because I thought I I don't know I was just going to let him go through the winter it's almost over he's going to grow the coat mostly worked and then and then my other son got in the car and he goes we all got new coats and I look looked and I saw that every student in their school had gotten a new coat not just my kid with the broken zipper so it made me um reflect that maybe I should have gotten my kid a coat sooner but they all got coats and then the next day was my son's birthday party and all the kids that came to his birthday party were wearing their new coats that they had gotten from school and it made me reflect on the breakfast that
038we give all students and the lunch that we give all students we aren't singling out the students that seem like they need it desperately we are giving this to all of our students and providing this to us and I think at this point in time it's a great example of what might be labeled under a framework of Dei work that has less to do with race but with resources and so much of what this district has been able to accomplish and other organizations and Partnerships have been able to accomplish have a lot to do with dignity and empathy and community and I just want to say that I'm grateful for this work I am proud of our community I have received so many emails I'm sorry I do not have time to respond to all
039of them I do try to respond but um there was one um email from an alumni Zoe dong and there are two things I'm going to say um read from this email the Board needs to take a courageous stance to protect the students of akan and if the board can't stand up for these children what are we doing as a city government and we are leaders we are Representatives we are role models and our community as Representatives our community is telling us our community is showing up and messaging us the values that are important to them and I think of um what we're doing and the decisions we make and what side of History we are putting ourselves on and I want to say that I'm on the side that gives kids coats and food
040and dignity well said member molar thank you for that are there any other board Community Reflections uh member alry thank you so much U Madame President and so um it looks like they have it on the screen already you can put it back up there I just wanted to share uh out about a positive event organized by our Middle School cheerleaders and their coaches they will be hosting the first annual for the love of cheer showcase on March the 8th it's a Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at higher Middle School um I am so proud of these young people who work together to put this first annual event on um as you know Che or you may not know cheerleading is probably the most expensive sport so proceeds from this event will help support those team
041seasons and so encourage you to come out and and enjoy the cheerleaders they're always cheering for everybody else so come out and cheer for this um I'd also like to congratulate higher Middle School girls basketball bookto boys middle school basketball who are the city Series champs and also um North High School wrestling and inis middle school wrestling congratulations uh to those sports teams and their coaches and those uh parents and families who support them again sports just unites us all those students work really hard to do their best and they should be congratulated and I do think bookto high school and Garfield High School as well boys basketball are in the tournament and they're still live and active good luck to those teams um and congratulations um I like to also share that since we
042last met I also attended a Winter concert series uh choirs High School choirs in around over at Firestone um it was an amazing event to see our young people again practicing and excited to come and show off what they practice um congratulations to those directors and also to Don Wilson again for putting this together for so many years um all of the choirs had wonderful beautiful custom robes thanks to the district so thanks to the district for that um and then also I was able to attend the fair school funding webinar this past Friday I think our treasur is going to be sharing more out about that but I just want to encourage each and every person to visit Fair schoolf funding plan.com fairschool funding plan.com to get a little bit more information um this
043is law um and we have the opportunity for it to have its final two years of funding so that it's fully implemented um and this uh lawful funding formula uh was put together by active superintendents and treasurers uh to help school districts just like the US and so it is important that they have updated input information for the fair school funding uh formula and I'm encouraging each and every one of you to visit the website so that they have sample letters so that you can notify our representatives to make sure they support this thank you thank you member alrie are there any other board Community Reflections all right um since our last meeting first I would like to make an announcement you can go to Carla Jackson for school board and also miss Culver is
044going to share this throughout the district I'll make sure she has that and Zia I'll email you directly is the hero stubs uh scholarship applications are open and the deadline has been extended the application is on my Carla Jackson for school board uh web page but it also will be disseminated as I'm understanding throughout the district if I'm speaking um out of term is clover please correct me so I'm not giving them wrong information once I give it to you um in Z I'll make sure you have it as well um just a little background because we are in ending um February which is Black History Month judge heral K STS um is African-American male this the Justice Center is actually named after him he was married to Miss Sandra stubs who served as the
045principal BTO High School a classy lady very elegant they attend um St Paul African and Methodist Episcopal Church which is also my church home and where the scholarship is H to honor his legacy and his work um judge uh St stubs was a member of capital Alphas side Fraternity Incorporated and his work and his legacy continues on through the scholarships that's provided so please apply apply apply um we also want to thank for our partners that um support our Learners in the district with other scholarships so please make sure Scholars that you are stopping by the counselor's office in the front of the office to get those um items um also just to talk about some other outstanding achievements like everyone else said I too attended the winter concerts I love everything that miss Wilson
046does because she does it with the spirit of Excellence on Friday the 21st I attended the Winter concert um at bookto however I quickly learned that that had been moved to Garfield and so I ended up staying for the book the basketball game our chief of security was there and he laughed at me but it was a great time and I had the opportunity to speak with principal beer as well as Mr an who was over our cosmetology uh department and I also had the opportunity to meet some of our wonderful um Learners who are participants in our cosmetology de Mariana Evans and Mayana ingel who share some exciting news along with their classmates rain Porter and aaya Varner who have completed all, 1500 hours required uh for their cosmetology hours they will have completed
047by the time they walk the stage meaning they will be eligible to take their state boards to become licensed cosmetologist and so celebrate that type of Excellence happening in our district additionally I was thrilled to see Jason Bailey some of you may remember I talked about the Bailey brand when I was highlighting all of our young entrepreneurs in our district and I was wearing his hoodie so now um Dr Chapman Jason Bailey is actually working as a peer professional at booko high school and so isn't that excellent yes and so he's giving back to his Alma mother and he's still doing his business thing so I thought that that was great as well I also attended February 11th as um um member alri stated the choirs in around at fire stone absolutely wonderful and then
048on February 20th 20th excuse me I attended the Miller South uh performances and it was just great these are just some small reflections of exceptional Talent um commitment and hard work demonstrated by our students staff and Community every day the Phil harmonic actually performed it was a youth Phil harmonic at Firestone and it was exceptional and so again Excellence does look different and it looks like we collectively come together to give our students these exponential opportunities such as uh the art and art in performing and in actual drawing so that concludes my community Reflections um for the for today now we will go with our uh public Reflections to the board first um I have to read this little this little uh part part participants will not be permitted to speak on matters related to
049vendors 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 three minutes or less the board will not respond but will assign through the superintendent the appropriate persons for followup please state your name and group affiliations member Harrison stated I think we need to update that but um the first person we have is Dave Boon Dave Boon oraine I'm sorry I can't last name is boon b o o [Music] n okay uh Sue lri lri Sue lry did I say your name right to lri lochry okay thank you excuse the miss announcement good evening everyone my name is Sue locky I am a proud professional educator in our Early Learning
050Program I come before you tonight because I believe many of you have have been led to believe that the concerns in our preschool classrooms that we brought up last year have been resolved I'm here to tell you there are still many concerns that are out there alarming practices are still in place practices that put the safety and wellbeing of our youngest students at risk these aren't minor inconveniences I'm talking about syst systemic failures that impact the care supervision and security of the children usted entrusted into us every day some students continue to wait too long to be diapered or changed when they are many times they are changed late Chang standing up or placed on a bathroom floor instead of a clean and safe change changing table meanwhile out of the teachers who responded to
051surveys 50% of the teachers have gone without lunch for over 20 days 37.5% have missed their planning period for more than 20 days and an incredible 70% of ELP teachers have had no paraprofessional coverage for more than 20 days a full four weeks leaving them dangerously alone in a classroom struggling to safely supervise far too many students these conditions are unacceptable both for the children we serve the Educators or care for them and most importantly the families that trust us with their children now our Educators have been told by human capital that four ELP classrooms at Essex and one I found out tonight at case are being closed actually there are five classrooms at Essex you're being told there's four there's five there were six until January January we closed one of our classes and
052those children were absorbed by the remaining five classrooms at Essex meanwhile the superintendent has publicly stated that these classrooms are simply being moved Educators and parents deserve to know the truth this decision affects 106 scholar spots and if these classrooms are being moved and not closed why is human capital refusing to tell our Educators where their classrooms are going a lack of transparency is yet another example of how little regard is given to the very people responsible for our youngest Learners I'm not being an alarmist highly qualified and Veteran Educators at every level are leaving this District because of the way they are being treated The Exodus will continue the end of the school year and will be alarming if this Administration put as much time effort and money into guaranteeing the right classroom into
053guaranteeing the right classroom Staffing levels as they do with continuing to add administrator after administrator at 10 North Main perhaps we could assure our families that the children placed in our care will be safe unfortunately our Educators who know the reality of what is actually happening in our buildings do not believe they can make that Assurance the Educators in this District have been sounding the alarm yet our concerns are met with silence or worse with empty reassurances that do not translate into real action our students and their families deserve better and we as Educators have dedicated ourselves to this work and this District deserve better I urge you to take a long hard look at what is actually happening and not what you're being led to believe listen to the Educators listen to us let
054us talk to you thank you for your time [Applause] thank you so much uh for sharing with us next we have Olivia La lochry good evening my name is Olivia locky and I'm an intervention specialist at Mason CLC I work in a sale unit which is a classroom designed to support students students who require moderate assistance so that they can succeed in an inclusive general education environment this is the purpose of the sale program to help to bridge the gap to provide the scaffolding necessary for students to access learning alongside their peers but that is not the reality that I face in my classroom this school year over half of my students have been diagnosed with autism some of them more severe autism some of these students should not be in a sale unit they
055should be placed in an achieve classroom a program spe specifically designed to meet their unique learning needs achieve classrooms are structured resourced and staffed to provide the targeted interventions and supports that the autistic students require to thrive this is not just best practice but it is our District's protocol yet when I ask why my students are not receiving the placement that they deserve I am told there is no room no room in the very program created to ser serve them no room to follow the guidelines set forth to ensure that every child receives the education that they are legally entitled to and so these students very bright capable full of potential are placed in a setting that does not fully meet their needs and let's be clear this is not just a matter of logistics
056this is about Equity this is about access this is about a system that prioritizes convenience over compliance efficiency over Effectiveness and in doing so fails the very students it claims to serve but more concerningly I am required to support these misplaced students in a continually understaffed classroom some days I work from entry to dismissal with no lunch and no planning far too many of my colleagues in the same classrooms work with no lunch or no planning every single day this has become standard practice in this District tell the teachers to make it work tell the teachers to be a team player tell the teachers to accept this kind of treatment if they don't like it then they can file a grievance it is simply not sustainable we are at a Breaking Point and nobody appears
057to care enough to actually listen to us we who are on the front lines of this District are doing everything we can to hold the pieces together while being stretched beyond our limits you are being led to believe that everything is fine I respectfully ask you to make some hard decisions about the the lack of Staffing in our classrooms specifically those classrooms serving our students with disabilities and make this an issue this issue a priority for the board to help us to keep our students safe not just with words but with real immediate action thank you for your time and for helping me to keep my students safe thank you next we have Megan Lugo Megan Lugo uh good evening my name is Dr Megan Lugo I am an akan resident and the mother of
058three children I stand opposed to the repeal of the equity and diversity language proposed and my understanding which is touchy of the things that I heard earlier is correct I applaud the difference and time taken to examine this issue indeed I believe that amendments to the language are more prudent and appropriate at this time as an educator at the University of akan who teaches and researches diversity equity and inclusion I deeply understand the confusion and panic felt in light of the new political climate we find ourselves in I also understand stand fears of losing funding and legal repercussions for standing for these values but I also therefore understand that throwing the baby out with the bath water is not only unnecessary but represents a weak and cowardly path forward yes it is a challenge to
059carefully evaluate the language and the bylaws to best comply with the law which admittedly as it stands is even in a place of flux with judicial bodies currently evaluating whether these mandates are legal and if clients is even merited but these are challenging times these are the times we prepare ourselves for and most importantly as educators are children for as I've told my own children when explaining to them what is happening in this country and how it affects mommy's job I've told them I have a choice I can cower in fear and hide with my tail between my legs in the face of irrefutable wrongdoing or I can stand up for what's right even if it's hard and I choose the latter and I hope you all do too because that's what our children deserve
060from leaders and Educators and our school system at this time courage should the political Winds of Change lead you to gut these Provisions I ask you to reconsider what lessons are we teaching our children by repealing these bylaws and removing these policies were these principles and ideals not just moral right and inv valid a few years ago why if they are or were the right things to have done then would we change them now are we not teaching our students our children then by repealing bylaws that acknowledge systemic and immoral racism bias and prejudice against the very students who attend this District that not only is it better to cater to evil when it presents itself but also that their dignity and their human ity is something we are willing to barter our students deserve
061better in this hour of trial they deserve your patience in carefully evaluating these bylaws and amending them as is only absolutely necessary instead of a quick and heartless gut job they deserve people standing for their right to an education that acknowledges how our systems fail them they deserve your courage thank you thank you Miss Lugo next we will have I believe the name is danan I'm sorry danan could you come up and um give me the pronunciation of your last name I can't what wash okay thank you Mr Wash um thank you board uh definitely am very proud of the AC Community I love the diversity that is in the room um I do want to just point out a couple of different things though right when we talk about race in this country one
062of the things that's very important is to understand where it came from right Johan blooming Bach Carin theem all natur you know these ideas were were brought to us by European colonizers meant to divide you know I I definitely want to defer to uh your you all to wait and and give this more research and study but it's important to point out that the diversity of this room race didn't do that values did that and this Administration is attacking our values right I'm going to call a spade of spade we have fascists and Nazis in the white house right it's important for us to stand up to that and to not bend the knee one of the things that I was looking at uh just recently was not only understanding the history of where race
063is coming from but understanding that it's a cast system and if this is the beginning phases of that cast system beginning to crumble it's important for us to maintain the things that they can't take from us they can't take away our values they can't take away our identity they can't take away our culture right I don't know if y'all watched the Super Bowl and saw that Kendrick Lamar say a cultural divide right that that's reality that that we live in right and so I do think that there are novel ways for us to look at this problem I do think that you can research and study how you can uh enable our students to still get their needs met right you can look at socioeconomic status you could look at um extracurricular participation geographic distribution
064attendance rates Mobility rates there are lots of different ways that we can look at this issue and maintain our dignity right like I I understand the importance of protecting funding nobody wants a district that is underfunded right we're already dealing with that problem all over the country but in order to be able to do that it's important that we protect our students uh although Dr abar I don't know if he's going to be mentioning the things that he's brought up uh today but there are some recommendations uh that he's brought put together for the urbanly young professionals that I definitely would like for you uh to look into and to consider because now is an important time for you to stand up not sit down not acest to Nazis because that's what they are right
065and they are definitely coming for us and the reality is that the again the cultural divide the division between right and left this is a up and down problem not a right and left problem Elon Musk don't care if you're Republican he don't care if you're Democrat he cares about power and money just like Donald Trump does and if we continue to fight amongst each other right we're we're seeing what's happening as a result of that now you see so many Trump support rep that are like oh it wasn't supposed to be me well it is you and it's going to continue to be you until we recognize that it's a top and down issue that we're fighting and it's important that we stand together thank you thank you Mr Wash wash wash wash um
066W I believe thank you uh the wine wash um next we will have Dr NJ akar [Applause] I'm not as tall as dwan um thank you thank you all right so um good afternoon or evening everyone um as you know I've sent you an email with two documents outlining in detail your options uh to move forward uh as well as some proposed resolutions um as alternative to repeal um as you know um you know there was a reason why the racial Equity policy was enacted there's a reason why the chief diversity officer position is included in the policy uh rather than left to the discretion of administration um and there's a reason why the Board of Education you all of you um are the policymaking body and the only people who have that responsibility and
067we deser Reserve as citizens of this city for you to be careful to be thoughtful to be deliberate and to be transparent and most of all to include the Public's input in your process um there is absolutely no Excellence without access without diversity equity and inclusion there's absolutely no Excellence if you're not paying attention intentionally to where our students fall through the craps there's no excellence I also want to remind you that a federal judge has blocked the executive order Banning Dei um and ruled that it likely exceeds executive Authority so I ask why are we moving in this direction I want to give you a little history around the racial Equity policy why it was um established it was established to evaluate District y outcomes and align practices to ensure all student students have
068access to success it did not Grant preferences to any group but to intentionally ensure that no one was falling through the cracks it was derived from the 2020 resolution as the first district to have a resolution to declare racism as a Public Health crisis the resolution that was modeled across this country we were on the right side of History then we need to be on the right side of history now APS is is a public school which means we cannot turn students away we don't pick and choose who we serve we serve everybody everybody who comes here we serve we open our doors the chief diversity officer position uh was designed as a systemic auditor if you look in the racial Equity policy that word is there intentionally to ensure that we're looking at our
069policies and practices and resources and that Student Success and accountability is data driven and continuous Improvement processes are followed it is not preferential that position is an auditor we must not abandon our responsibility to advocate for students and staff based off political pressures they're asking us to willingly give away our rights and I stand before you with all the people here in this body in the gallery to say we do not want our rights willingly given away so thank you very much and remember that the board's decision will be a lasting decision will have a lasting impact it will reverberate all across this community and the people here and others are your external accountability we will continue to come here we will continue to speak and we want the chief diversity officer to be that
070internal auditor thank you thank you Dr next we have Patricia m I'm Sorry Miss Patricia did I say your name properly yes my yes good evening everyone thank you so much for allowing me a chance to comment uh and looking at the akan uh uh uh paper seeing that you're adding a couple new positions I've spent my whole career helping house hospitals across the country navigate reorganizations restructuring saving jobs at the uh for patient care that's the number one thing in health system I think of from you all from the uh student side the most important part is how we're educating our students so when I look at the addition of these two positions I'm hoping when you bring this to the board there's Clarity of are they replacing additional ones what are you doing
071when you think about adding administrative overhead when I hear the comments from your teachers and the groups here today uh spending money in the classroom is most important so we can educate our students so I would just like to make sure that as you bring those positions forward it's clear if they are additions and ads are you removing positions that were there before how you are streamlining the organization especially in light of the challenges that the system has from a financial perspective and where our students are ranked in the state of Ohio with how much is being spent on their education and the outcomes that we're having thank you thank you very much next we have Kelly lee or Lei Kelly Le Madam president uh my mentor Kell Lee unfortunately uh she was here earlier
072she had to P her kids so she yeld three minutes to me is that okay if I speak on behal of her it's all right thank you so much uh Madam president uh good evening sry move my name is s win and uh indeed that there were a lot of things going on in the past uh last month in our country and um it is very scary for me as a refugee a for former Refugee and immigrants and uh I feel very nervous for my community uh so today I want to speak from my from my heart and uh just want to give hands up the English is my fourth language so sometimes they try to you know and you know pronounce make a correct pronunciations but I just want to speak for my heart
073and uh you know I I was the first person in my family to ever graduate from high school I went to high school I graduated in 2018 I remember uh the first time when I walked in when I walked into a North High School building I saw a huge Banner with a sence A Sign say welcome in my language which made me very very welcoming and very I feel I belong to this school and uh I'm I'm I'm where there you know with the current Administration uh with the the the EI and this could be a threat in in uh with the EI and uh I just want to share that see that signage uh when I walked in inside the building it makes me very uh proud and belonging and I don't want you
074to you know we I live in very challenging time and uh I want to urge you not to repeal this uh uh repeal Dei policy at ACU school if this uh policy repeal what does it mean it mean that we are basically repealing American uh fundamental values and promise I want you to keep Dei at AR public school and I know that this very challenging for your positions but want to make sure that you are looking at the rest of our communities and the students and the families I want you to uh I urge you to protect uh Dei and I also created this uh how you call it to describe North Hill at Aran I came up with this uh this vocabulary words to describe Aran is diverse Community is a home of immigrant
075refugees we have a multiculture we have uh so many good food and it's a home to me so I want you to protect uh thei policy and uh I want to thank you again M president for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight thank you thank you so much for sharing now I I want you all to know that I am quite literate but uh the handwriting here is in cursive and it's a little challenging for me but this I believe says Michelle seed seeden yes Miss seden thank you Miss seeden good evening thank you all for the opportunity to speak with you because I am let me say it like this out of terrible things come beautiful things I feel like this is an opportunity for the Aran public schools to partner with project
076kid to give a voice to the silent victim before I started this campaign I went to Amilia syes our uh congressional representative and I said what do you think about it is there a necessity for it her office said absolutely please do it so I created this t-shirt to send a message this t-shirt says on the back how to communicate and you danger you can communicate to anybody without your being seen by the person who has harmed or is bullying you this came out of a hurtful place a 5-year-old being assaulted for 2 years akan Public School 5-year-old being assaulted for 2 years but no voice and finally at 7 years old she got her voice when her mother passed away and she went into counseling she got with the counselor and was able to
077tell him what was happening to her for the last two years two years is too long there are hundreds of children thousands of children who suffer in silence our goal is to make communities aware that they encounter victims of abuse everywhere they're on your jobs in your schools and even in your homes these victims are not taught how to communicate that they need help nor are we taught what to do when we recognize the victim I want a platform in every school in Aram public school to be able to teach this thank you thank you Miss EV thank you very much next the last name I believe is Reynolds Reynold William Reynold thank you Mr Reynold so I broke my uh finger and I'm left-handed your security guard wrote that so you might want to
078talk to him about his writing um I'm William Reynolds a father of five and a leader with the freedom fre blck We Gather here today at a Crossroads for our cities our city and our children the decision by acon public schools to potentially repeal diversity equity and inclusion Dei initiatives is not just a bureaucratic change it is a statement about the values we choose to uphold the future we envision for our youth and the Legacy We Leave Behind Dei was never about giving some students an on Fair advantage over others it was about recognizing the barriers that exist for many children barriers rooted in race economic status and historical injustices and ensuring that every student regardless of their background has the resources and opportunities to succeed repealing Dei sends a dangerous message that Equity is
079Expendable that inclusion is optional and that diversity is a burden rather than a strength this decision Echoes National movements that seek to dismantle progress in the name of so-called fairness we are we see similar res similar rhetoric from president Donald Trump who actively is seeking to eliminate Dei programs at the federal level his administration painted these initiatives as divisive rather than acknowledging the systemic inequities that were designed to address now akan is following that same path turning back the clock on the efforts that so many in our community have F fought for furthermore the recent dear colleague letter issued by the US Department of Education underscores the importance of Dei initiatives in fostering Equitable educational opportunities the letter emphasizes the legal and moral obligations of school to create inclusive environments that support all students particularly
080those from historically marginalized communities ignoring this guidance not only undermines progress but also risks legal and ethical repercussions let us be clear this is not just about policy this is about our Scholars who will walk into classrooms tomorrow feeling unseen and onard it is about the Educators who strive to create a learning environment where every child is valued and it is about the message we send to the Next Generation do we embrace our differences as strengths or do we Retreat into past where an in inequality was the norm we must not be silent we must challenge this decision advocate for policies that uplift all students and hold our leaders accountable the future of aran's children is too important to be sacrificed at the alter of political convenience thank you thank you Mr Reynold that concludes
081our commu board Community um Reflections lastly we have um Miss I'm Sorry Miss Anna Stevenson is is Miss Stevenson still here hello uh my name is Anna Stevenson and I'm here to urge you to please stand against the federal push to roll back Dei initiatives I'm not an akran resident however many of my friends are graduates of the akan public school system and I'm a public school graduate myself I'm 23 years old and I commonly find myself reminiscing about my 13 years in public school much of that time I remember fondly and those experiences shaped who I am today unfortunately there are also many negative memories memories of students being discriminatory and discriminated against memories of targeted harassment and bullying and unfortunately what many of these memories have in common is that the students the
082targets were marginalized students sometimes my friends were those targets and sometimes it was me one of the many aspects of Dei policy is that it seeks to hold people accountable for incidents like these it seeks to ensure Equitable treatment of all students including students whose experiences have been historically and systemically devalued by Society the federal orders against Dei send a very pointed message to black and brown students to Gay and trans students to disabled students to students of immigrant families to students experiencing poverty it sends a message about whose experiences are most valuable and it isn't theirs as a college student we have also been combating Ohio Senate Bill 1 and House Bill six which aim to stigmatize and silence the voices of marginalized people and and controversial subjects in higher education it would make
083it so professors would have to stay neutral on these controversial subjects like marriage equality racial Justice and climate policy if they want to keep their jobs so marginalized students are being told by their country and by their state that not only will their voices and experiences not be heard and protected in public primary schooling but they will also not be heard in public higher education the question then begs where can they be heard and understood where can their experiences be considered important as a society we cannot ignore the societal historical economic and physical barriers to success that exist not talking about or addressing them does not mean that they go away it's how they Fester the answer to keeping all students safe is not to take away resources addressing the inequities that they face I
084ask that you please do everything in your power to keep Dei policy in place and to follow through on those policies please be a source of local respit from the stigmatization that our government is placing on us as marginalized people thank you so much all of our uh community members who came down and gave up your time today to share with us um your input and your voices are valued and heard also um our committee meetings are open to the public as well so when we convene and we meet whether it's instructional policy um Miss seed I'm thinking about your program and I'm just was curious is that something that possibly could get unfolded in instructional policy what does that look like or is that out of school time but these are those deeper discussions
085that happen at policy meetings also the entire board is available via email if you email board members if you have specific questions or concerns that you would like to share or to expand upon because we don't do like direct back and forth I'm just making a statement to keep no it's no problem but please email us because many of the board members I feel very confident that whoever you email they usually follow up I definitely will follow up and when I follow up I add my all of my colleagues so that they know the thread and what's being discussed additionally um Miss uh lri and uh both Sue and Olivia I would love to receive an email from you um sharing some of the things that you shared today because it is very Al alarming
086and very concerned and I'm at the U the point that I feel when we have these open meetings the response should be open and what happened the action steps should be too to some degree I know that there's privacy and things like that but this is very simple and we're talking about direct instruction and what we're doing about that and as far as teaching teachers and uh the same with the programming so again I appreciate everyone who came out today I appreciate your comments and just like when we said with Zia we don't want it to be seen that your comments are falling on deaf ears Dr um abbar spoke with me before the meeting he said hey Carla did you see the framework I said absolutely I seen the framework he said I just
087want to make sure and so again these are the things that collectively aboard because I'm one of seven right um will go through in process and make determination so again your voices are heard and the voice um your voices are considered superintendent um report please thank you president Jackson thank you president Jackson we acknowledge the loss of one of our employees uh Mr Terry Ronnie Terry he was a temporary custodial worker um at Krauss CLC and we certainly um want to keep the staff lifted the and and his family as well the grants that wanted to highlight tonight thank you to Meyers tire supply who supplied eclc with 680 boxes of disposable gloves to be used for our Scholars performance shop and lab work in the automotive technology pathway we also want to thank all
088of the businesses individuals and families who adopted students at Piper Elementary School for Christmas providing them with 100 with hundreds of toys I'm sorry and other uh gift items want to say congratulations to our chief of staff Miss Angela Carter uh for being selected as an honory for the leadership akron's new executive leader reception this annual event celebrates the top decision makers in our community who stepped into New Rose in late 2023 um or 2024 and so I want to say thank you um it was an honor myself to get it the year before so I guess we're flowing in APS but congratulations to her had an opportunity to meet with our parents and also our faith-based advisory committee meetings which were um absolutely wonderful meetings um great feedback from our families um that we
089have been able to already put some of those things into uh play also attending attended the uh Bridging the Gap a conversation on policing uh from a black perspective where four of our APS uh students also uh had the opportunity to be there um and one of them had the opportunity to actually share uh his views and perspectives and it was a awesome Community um event looking forward to the next one that they'll be having coming up in a few months just a reminder to our uh fam families um didn't think we would need this as much um but thank you thanks I guess thankful to the um thanks to the Ohio weather we've had to uh use it a lot I was at a church on yesterday and one of our students said thank
090you so much for the snow days I really appreciate it um so um but that's not the real reason why we have those but just to let our families know um that uh we try we really really try to make those calls um early as possible um sometimes those calls are happening at 3 4:00 in the morning uh trying to get the word out but we have the news media Outlets website uh text and Robo calls um and we just want to make sure that your emergency information is updated so that we can make sure that you're getting those um those messages just a reminder that we have our blueprint for excellence um strategic plan carstone meetings those Cornerstone uh meetings will be on Tuesday which is tomorrow we have one at 4 and at
091five for carstone 2 which is around academic achievement uh carstone 1 which is a culture of safety and belonging uh also carner Stone 4 family partners and Community engagement on the 25th as well at 3:30 and again at 5: so if you miss one uh you can catch the one you can catch all of them if you would like and on Thursday we have Cornerstone 3 which is operational excellence uh which is at 3:30 and again at 5: but those are virtual so uh some of our families like the vir virtual options so those are virtuals so you can definitely tune in to those as well um our beim for today we're shining a light on Jason wear a dedicated member of our custodial staff at eclc whose kindness makes a lasting impact every day
092uh at lunchtime Mr W uh goes above and beyond to support our Middle School um aim students making sure they feel seen valued and they're cared for It's Not Unusual to hear students calling out Mr Jason greeting him with a big smile laughter and even a hug the warmth in their interaction The Joy they share and the scene of family they create uh makes kindness truly contagious at eclc and so we want to continue to keep celebrating and embracing these moments uh that strengthen our school community and a special thank you to Dr Nolan for sharing this story uh and for helping us with kindness and keeping it thriving I want to also um at this time sort of shift gears to um reer to the DI Dei uh mandates that we've received um the
093reorganization and expense reduction road map designed to fulfill the district's 5-year um budget commitment and the Strategic plan uh have been under development for uh the past uh 8 weeks or so and the framework uh which we will be rolling out very shortly um is for reduction and reorganization map that will keep us focused uh will be presented at our finance committee meeting um on the 14th um simultaneously on February the 14th uh 2025 the year US Department of Education issued guidance that included the use of diversity equity and inclusion a Dei programs uh for K12 schools and other educational institutions across the country is what is called the dear colleague letter the guidance indicates that the use of Dei programming could constitute racial discrimination and violation of existing laws the guidance also instructs schools
094to ensure that its policies comply with the interpretation of the law or risk losing Federal funding the guidance states that the Department of Education will take appropriate measures to assess compliance by February 28th um 2025 here in APS we receive $85 million in um the federal funding and that's for this year that may vary from year to year um these funds are used for valuable programs to help students and and within our district such as title one special education School nutrition after school activities College access initiatives driver Zed and also English as a second language um Esau um sorry we refer to it as e here sorry and more um I want to be very emphatically clear that um I am a indeed great supporter of the work that we do here um it was
095one of the things that Drew me to our district um it is it is it is an important component um that we certainly um need um and we come cross between law our guide our directives uh from Washington um and what we want to protect for our kids and so due to those unknowns related to this directive and risk associated with Federal funding at this time um I do recommend to the board um that we um look into the process of resending those policies taking those to the committee where we can further um massage them and really delve into what we need to do in order to meet those obligations um this is a really tough place for us to be and it's a very tough stance that we um have to take and so
096um that would be policies 2260 um 04 the equity policy 22605 uh working definitions for diverse Equity inclusion and excellence and education um also 22607 racial Equity policy this will also give us an opportunity to um see the mandates that come and more guidance that we um have not yet received um and as I talk with superintendents from across our state and across our nation um we're all sitting in a seat of great uncomfortability um but we want to do what's right for our scholars in our community but we also know that we have um looming above us these mandates that come from above uh in Washington um I understand that these are difficult conversations and they're extremely uncomfortable for for us to have to talk about out but I do want to ensure reassure
097our community um that this is not U the end um that this is not final that I want us to be able to have those conversations so that we can talk about and massage what this is going to look like for us um we don't know what tomorrow's directives may be but we just know what we have today and that that we want to make sure that we are trying to do the best we can uh with trying to be in compliance um but also wanting to do what is right for our our Scholars and for our community and our school system our students and our employ employees and our communities needs um will remain a top priority and we are committed to ensuring that this is met uh in order for us to do
098this um um we must also maintain the funding the necessary funding that we have as we receive additional guidance from the government um and to date it has only been the dear colleague letter um and we're in communication with um Representatives throughout our state um and our nation and we're going to continue to work through these challenges um and engage in ongoing convers ations uh with our board it is also um because people's lives are attached to this work um people's employment is attached to this work and so one thing that I have learned um is that we have a culture here that has existed for so many years um where we lose some of our best and brightest employees and we want to ensure that we maintain people here in APS um I was
099trying to but time did not allow me to put together some of the great work that has been done through Dr Chapman um so I will have the opportunity to take more time to be able to put it together um to highlight the work that was done there along with u Mrs Alexander and Miss Sydney as well um we want our community to know that we appreciate the work that they do um it is Meaningful to us and it's who we are as a district it's our culture it's it's who we represent uh who we are represented as and so she is they are our brightest and we want to ensure um that they excellent their knowledge their skill um that that remains here with us because we're committed to that work and so having
100said that um as we go through this tough time uh we will continue to keep our community updated on the information as we get it we will share that information with our community with our staff uh with our families and we just simply want to say thank you um to Dr Chapman to miss Alexander to Miss Sydney thus far for the work that has been done uh in our district and we want to continue uh to keep moving our district forward in ways that every child is going to receive and will continue to receive a quality education in akran public schools thank you thank you for uh that report uh superintendent uh is Diana Pho here are you yeah okay um what I would like you can come up um at this point Diana Pho
101is a legal councel for the district and I think at this point it would be appropriate if we have um our legal council provide a summary of the recent the dear colleague Le letter and the implications that it has for the district just to add some additional Insight on uh these policies that we're discussing that will later be refer back to committee thank you board president um Jackson Dina final my colleague Aaron Ross here as well to um speak to the board um the board president had asked us to provide a very highlevel overview of the recent guidance from the US Department of Education um relating to this February 14 2025 dear colleague letter that the super attendant already spoke about that's regarding the use of race and diversity Equity inclusion um in programming in
102schools um so this brief presentation is made for informational purposes um and to provide some context for this matter and a discussion um it is not discussion on the merits of the issue um but informational based on the guidance that was released in this dare colleague it is also not an exhaustive overview um we're not going to get into the the legal weeds here um but we must start that since the beginning the president um president Trump's Administration um there have been significant action regarding um diversity Equity inclusion programming um and other matters um but with respect to education um the most recent and very tailored guidance comes from the US Department of Education through this dear colleague letter and so my colleague here will go ahead and and walk the board through some of
103those key points of the letter and then we'll go ahead and kind of give a landscape of where things are right now um and turn it back over to the board thank you thank you mam president um so the US Department of Education First issued this uh dear colleag letter on February 14th of 2025 uh a dear colleague letter is really the way in which the US Department of Education and more specifically the office of civil rights provides guidance on their interpretation of the law so that's uh that's what we get with this dear colleague letter their interpretation of the law the letter kind of groups um all different schools together in terms of their discussion of schools so it includes um elementary schools secondary schools postsecondary educational institutions and preschools that receive uh federal
104financial assistance the letter really explains and reiterates uh the legal requirements under title seven of the Civil Rights act as well as the equal protection clause and um yeah thank you title six uh of the Civil Rights Act um and um and then other relevant authorities so the letter finds that American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race by routinely using race as a factor in things such as admissions uh financial aid hiring training and other institutional programs um they group these um fall down here um the schools have advanced these dis these uh discriminatory practices and justify these practices under the banner of diversity equity and inclusion programs um they really rely on a US Supreme Court holding uh recently to to justify this interpretation um and the letter indicates
105that if educational institutions treat a person of One race differently than it treats another person because of that person's race the educational institution uh violates the law the letter further stated that relying on non-racial information as a proxy for race and making decisions based on that information also violates the law this is true even when regardless of whether the proxies are used to Grant uh preferences of an individual basis or a systematic one the letter draws the conclusion that the federal law prohibits uh covered entities from using race and decisions pertaining to admissions um hiring promotion compensation financial aid scholarships prizes administrative support discipline um housing graduation ceremonies and all aspects of student academic and Campus Life the the letter the later excuse me the letter specifically states that put simply educational institutions May neither
106separate or segregate students based on race nor distribute benefits or burden based on race although some programs may appear neutral on their face the letter provides that a closer look reveals that they are in fact motivated by racial considerations and race-based decision making no matter the form Remains impermissible the department um will no longer tolerate overt or covert racial discrimination as they describ uh the letter specifically States the law is clear treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity racial balancing social justice or Equity is a legal under controlling Supreme Court precedent as um as uh superintendent Robinson mentioned the letter provides a date for which we need to come into compliance um and it's 14 days from the date of the the U dear colleague letter which
107puts it at February 28th of 2025 uh the letter uh advises that all educational institutions should ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends and finally cease all Reliance on third-party contractors Clearing Houses or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited use of race there in addition to the D colleague letter there have been other executive orders um related to diversity Equity inclusion and race Bas um programming um those are separate from this guidance um this guidance is interpreting um existing law and is telling um educational institutions how the department would view that law um and if they are not in
108compliance the risk would be to go after Federal funding among other legal action that is available um while there have been um a stay on some executive orders related to these matters um there has been no challenge that we are aware of yet to the implementation of the dear colleague letter that is the topic for discussion that we are having right now um it is of course possible that challenges will be filed this is an evolving and ongoing process um but for right now um this is the interpretation of the US Department of Education um that does have control and say over some of the district's programming and federal funds um so at this time the recommendation from the superintendent would be to look at these policies including up to a repeal um and so
109you know there are certainly various Avenues and um that's what we're here um for the board now to discuss so thank you president Jackson thank you we appreciate the insight excuse me again I just I invited our legal council to give the context of the separation of the executive orders of Dei and then the dear colleague letter which is referencing current law that it is alleging is being violated I think the best uh we'll discuss this in new business but just the separation of those things and that's why in order for this to be done with Fidelity the recommend ation is to send it back to the equity committee and we are on a timing frame but so that it's clear to the community the diff excuse me I apologize the difference between the executive
110order and that the dear colleague letter is citing current current El current civil rights laws and alleging that this work thank you is um violating that just for a point of clarity um as the discussions go forth and I wanted to make sure that the community was aware what the board was aware and presented with of this deadline of the 28th and that we have all the facts to make the decisions and when it goes back to committee and Dr Chapman um which I feel confident that the work will be able to happen it's just um how that's worked so again thank you uh to our legal councel and now we'll move forward with the president I'm sorry the treasurer's report thank you madam president members of the board for superintendent Robinson uh unfortunately we
111had our last Financial uh committee meeting that happened to hit on a day that really truly disappointed our students we had a snow day uh so we also cancelled our finance committee meeting so there's just but there are a few things that um that I would like to highlight and before we move into this is um finances is tied to all everything that was discussed tonight is tied to finances and doing the very best we can to manage these funds is critical and how we move forward how we impact student learning whether that's in preschool programs or any other classroom or Dei initiatives etc etc so uh I'd like you to take a look at um which I've all handed out to you and if we could pull that up um this is our uh
112January financial report um one of the things that is um a bit challenging still at this well not a bit challenging very challenging at this point is just the uncertainty about what funding is going to come what funding isn't going to come House Bill 96 which is the funding bill would probably really surprise most people if you read through it because it's dozens and dozens of pages that have absolutely no impact budgetarily yet there Provisions inside of baked inside of this document um you heard um member ay mentioned inputs so the fair school funding act which is in our five-year forecast which is in everyone's fiveyear forecast very much is in doubt as to how that's going to be phased in and what those percentages are going to look like if they look like anything
113at all so losing State funding clearly can impact us we're not at a point to sit here and tell you that that's what's happening what I'm here to tell you is I simply don't we simply don't know at this point what that's going to look like like that on top of what the discussion we just went through on federal funding and you have a recipe for trying to determine the financial stability of any public school is in question right now but where we're looking at right now if you could go ahead and flip to um revenue and cash balance yet let's hold there for just a minute so year-to-date Revenue so what you have before you is a summary as well as the document self but the year-to date Revenue uh January reached about 189.1
114million which is to put that in perspective is about $1.9 million higher in Revenue than we had last year anticipated that because of the passage of our Levy uh the cash balance is projected to be lower the forecasted June 30th cash balance is around 8.65 million and reserves as compared to the prior year balance of $ 106.5 8 million so you might say well that's an unbalanced budget and you would be absolutely correct but it's impossible over a long period of time for public schools not to go into deficit spending as we all know it's House Bill 920 right freezing Collections and perpetuity forever so creates Bo bus cycles and that's why public schools go into deficit spending so we have projected that deficit spending if you go on to the our next slide you
115can start to look at Revenue breakdown um January collections into local taxes and reimbursements and revenue some of that still not all in so we can't account for exactly what that's going to look like we collect tax taxes from the uh auditor's office twice a year year and while the state revenue saw a modest increase there was a slight decline in overall January collections but I don't expect that to continue I think more dollars will come in as we move forward um but with an overall increase of almost 2 million to date if you move to expenditures January expenditures total 32.9 6 million put that into perspective almost 33 million a month it's a lot of money to run a large organization uh like APS we're over a $500 million a year budget and roughly
116$3.79 million higher than in January again that's actually I I'm pretty pleased with that number actually because if you take those numbers and you multiply them by inflationary increases it would be way higher than that plus you have steps and and um increases in for for staff members all of that bakes bakes into that so I feel pretty good about where we sit um in that regard uh and most of that money comes from which won't surprise you at all is salary and benefits purchase services and other expenses um some of those other expenses that we might not be used to seeing which are going to impact our forecast our cops payments are now being made and so is our debt um on on uh Bond issues and and other and our other tax issue
117now yes we receive more money to make those payments for sure but you're seeing that show up as an expenditure um year-to-date expenditures uh through January are 220 million uh marking an increase of $15 million over the same time period a year ago and with notable R uh raises or Rising textbook cost and then we're pay making interest payments as well so those are all uh a piece of that and then uh the forecast Trend variance and that's really what we really want to watch how are we varying from what we projected we would be at so revenue is on the plus side of about 1.42 million or 39% higher than what we anticipated while expenditures are unfavorable at about 7.23 million or 1.9% over what we originally forecasted so uh we are obviously in
118deficit spending but we are not in a deficit does that make sense we're spending more than we're taking in surely but we still have cash reserves that we're eating into at this point holding at about $80 million at the end at the end of the school year our district policy says that we must keep on hand 60 days of unencumbered cash reserves uh at all times 60 days for us is a little over $60 million 63 64 million so we'll still hit that threshold um but we're getting perilously close to Falling below that as as as we move forward and we know that it's critical that the reductions uh that we have that the board has approved um that we continue to move through those reductions and make sure that we sustain those reductions or
119the forecast won't hold any questions about the monthly financial report [Laughter] no questions no questions just if you could just just expound a little bit on cops so that the public would understand what's what that is all about and uh reductions sure and where we are with that I know that is in conjunction with the superintendent perhaps he wants to jump in here but I am concerned about our reserves and I the reserves are there for emergency and not for daily expenditures but heing that that's what's happening here and and I'm having this conversation with you because we did not have a committee meeting and normally we would talk about that so if you could just a little bit talk a little bit more about those those areas thank you sure um and I I
120apologize it's easy to get caught up in our own acronyms and forget that not everybody we're not talking about the akan police department we're talking about cops are certificates of participation it's a note that we took out a low interest loan that we took out using our own District property as um collateral for that lowest loan that's $42 million which is this the majority of the money that would be expended to build the Miller South Piper combination building on the Kenmore campus so that's that's what that's reflecting um and then the second piece of that mrsy was um could you repeat that one more time reserves so so I will say this and I know this is a very difficult concept um for for folks to to Really wrap their heads around but I think
121everyone in this room would agree on the fact that no matter what we do expenses will rise I don't care how fiscally conservative we are our expenses will rise we're a service industry so a little over 80% of everything we do is people the other 20% is very difficult to cut it's electricity it's fuel it's buses it's repairing of buildings etc etc there's not a lot and negotiated Agreements are going to drive the majority of that 80% so there's really not a lot of wiggle room truly in a budget there is there is we need to be fiscally conservative we need to be cautious about where we move those dollars do we move them over to this side of the house or this side of the house there's a lot of different ways to move
122those Dollars around I'm not arguing that but I am arguing that um those those costs for personnel include Administration stat teachers custodians it's it's everyone and we all contribute to that but House Bill 920 says that and it's codified in the Ohio Revised Code or in the Ohio Constitution that Revenue when you pass a levy that dollar amount that you pass and receive those those dollar amount can never go up it always stays Frozen in time so I would I would say it's much like if I said to you you could you're you could get a job for $25 an hour hour might say okay that's okay I I can do that but what if you made $25 an hour 5 years from now 10 years from now 15 years from now you wouldn't be
123able to make ends meet right well that's exactly what happens to schools we're Frozen at House Bill 920 we pass a levy like we just did we bring in more Revenue than we actually need right now to try to build our cash reserves knowing that we're going to go eat into those cash Reserves at some point when that axxis of of expenses crosses over that flat line of Revenue so very very difficult not to um at some point move into deficit spending but what we cannot do legally is run a deficit we cannot we cannot sit here and report that we're minus $26 million in our holding that you cannot do that we would go into State receivership etc etc and we are walking a very fine line considering the fact that we just passed
124a levy and we still are needing to make reductions and so that puts us in a different position coupled with I don't know I'm not confident in the sustainability of the numbers that we've put in here no no fault of our own and knowing what's going to come from the state in terms of our state funding I have a question so uh the the money that you said we're spending money and we go into a deficit the cash Reserve we're not going to have to go into that cash Reserve are we because I know that cash Reserve was policy was put there so that we can if something happens an emergency it's like sister syy said that we go into an emergency that we have that money so the district can function for at least
125three months uh if not then and we don't have that Reserve then we can't run a district and teachers can't be here nobody can be here to teach the kids and so we lose out so we're not going to be getting into that those finances are we yes unfortunately the answer is yes so we're we're sitting at it started the school year at roughly $106 million above uh in cash reserves unencumbered cash reserves no nothing drawing that $106 million out but um our axis has been Crossing and we're we're we're across that so we're eating into our cash reserves by a little over $20 million and that and that would what what this Finance report tells you is that we're doing it a little bit faster than we anticipated $7 million faster than we anticipated
126which is 1 9% um so that's what it is telling you so it is critical that as we move forward that we do everything we can to make sure we enact the reductions that we said we were going to we hold to that and and I'll turn that over to um Dr Robinson to talk about the steps that are he he mentioned it a little bit earlier about plans moving forward but those those reductions have to to be made and if we get below $60 million in cash reserves then we know if we get there we know that you either have a choice of being on the ballot for additional funds which is not popular or making further reductions in expenditures and that's it's that simple Dr Robinson you want to talk about the reductions
127the 10 million thank you so miss um board members Mrs Sykes board members we are um finalizing the presentation on on that to present to the finance committee um I think I don't think I know you'll be a little happy um because we have a little bit more than what we said we would do um when the 5year forecast was done but we do know on the flip side of that the unhappy side of that is that we know we're going to have to continue to to do additional reductions even into the follow the next year so we we're aware of that um and so we're as we're doing what we're doing we're looking at the entire district and ensuring um that we're making reductions in the right places there are places where we do
128need um additional support um so as we're doing all of that we're making sure that those opportunities are going to be provided for the additional support but also to make sure that we're meeting the obligation that we have before us and that is the 10.2% uh I meanti million dollars that we have to um reduced but those those will be reduced um I mean those reductions will be done I'm sorry but um we were able to do a little bit more than that as well but we just don't know exactly how much that overage is going to be on the positive side but the again we know that we're still going to have to do even further reductions um just for that very same reason looking at the cash reserves and um slowing down some
129of the unfortunate bleeding Financial bleeding if you will the second uh piece that I'd like to bring to to your attention is you'll see on 6.1 what is the rationale for the bond issuance resolution um Ohio law requires that public schools pass or public school boards pass resolutions authorizing the issuance or sale of bonds to ensure that borrowing for capital projects which of course we did um and they it could be for construction renovation all those things improvements and that it's undertaken in a trans transparent accountable and legally compliant manner in the essence the resolution must do a few things formally document the need and purpose which this document does um this particular dollars that we're talking about is not the kinmore project but rather the North High School project um it has to specify
130financial terms in and such as total bond amount which of course it does uh anticipated interest rates Etc ET Etc which are all included and then obviously we need to safeguard public funds and the re resolution acts as a formal check ensuring that funds will only be borrowed for what is clearly defined so it is very in our office in the finance department office we have to do a very tight job of tracking the bonds and making sure those dollars are the dollars that go to North and North contractors and not um using letting the certificates of participation or dollars for kinmore to cross those things cannot cross one's for one and one is for another and will obviously be audited uh these requirements are set forth in the Ohio Revised Code 11.18 and are
131designed to protect taxpayers by ensuring school districts engage in responsible fiscal planning before incurring debt and and by passing this resolution the school board not only complies with statutory mandates but also upholds the principles of transparency accountability and managing Community Resources thank you Mr Treasurer is there a motion to approve the resolution of the bond issuance hi thanks sorry I had my hand up before I don't think any one sees me down here I have questions about the financial report oh okay I'm sorry that's okay okay so um it says that our expenditure trend on page six our expenditure trade is 7 million unfavorable compared to the forecast right so that that's our Trend right now um and I know we were talking about dipping into the cash reserves and and that page five I
132don't know if you have that or anything um but page five really stood out to me um because as we're talking about and I heard the superintendant saying that we're having a plan for reductions or we're going to hear about uh reductions soon um on the top here is this saying that not only have we not started the reductions yet but we're actually spending more um not only haven't reduced yet but it says um expenses for the month were up three million um and then I was wondering if someone could expand on I'm I'm just reading in in the little box um higher classified regular salaries of a million dollar um and higher interest are the actual expenses so is this saying what I'm reading from this and tell me if this is right that
133we're not only have not start started reducing the salaries that we plan to reduce in January but we're actually spending on top of that is that what this is saying well let let let me clarify what you're looking at is um and it gets it gets it can be very confusing because you'll go from comparing year to year over and comparing do uh uh numbers to the five-year forecast so what you're looking at right now is year-over-year so the fact that um salaries benefits went up roughly 1.2 million from the previous month was to be expected because you've got steps pay increases about a 7% increase in health care coverage all of those things are that's just normal day that's just normal operating um what you see on when you hit the $7 million number
134when you could when you compare to the 5year forecast that's offset sum by a little over 2 Mill million doll more in Revenue than we anticipated so but that that is that number tells you that compared to our 5e forecast we're eating into our cash Reserves at a faster clip than we anticipated so then in what's on the screen now this was all budgeted for well yes it's a okay yeah yeah staff's all budgeted for unless the only way staff is isn't budgeted for as if something um after the October um Finance after the Octo October you voting on Appropriations for October the final Appropriations in October anything after that if it were added new then no it wouldn't be budgeted for but if it's replacing something then it's it would be budgeted for so
135what we do is we take all our staffing we know what the pay increases are we know what the steps are etc etc etc we bake that into the 5year forecast okay thanks you're welcome are there any other questions before we move to the motion for the treasurer all right is there a motion to approve the resolution of the bond issuance so move thank you it was moved by member Sykes is there a second a second it's been moved by member Sykes and properly second by member Hall any discussion hearing none um roll call vote [Applause] [Music] please Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr mullinar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes motion carry 70 we have3 motion to approve the resolution is there a motion to approve
136the resolution for the January 2025 financial report so move it's been moved by member SES is there a second second it's been second by vice president Alexander any discussion seeing and hearing none uh roll call vote please Reverend Harrison yes yes Miss with your frog Miss Jack Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes motion carry 70 thank you Mr Treasurer we will now have um the president's report my report I would I would like to take a moment to congratulate and to recognize uh David Hill Community Learning Center and Akon online for their remarkable achievement um being released from additional target support and Improvement thank you Jennifer penl um at our last board meeting I had highlighted I promise and at that time I was
137not aware that David Hill also was taken off of that list as well as our acran online and so I definitely want to take this time to highlight these additional success and I want to give honor to their hard work and dedication that led to this Milestone again the progress made by these schools is a Testament of the district's commitment to academic Excellence particularly in literacy a sign a significant factor in this success has been the adoption of a science of reading curriculum three years ago the structured phonics-based approach aligns with brain science and provides students with explicit instruction on how to read effectively Additionally the district required all early literacy teachers to complete a rigorous 60-hour letters training over the course of a year to deepen their understanding of the science of reading and
138its application in the classroom while this requirement exceeded the state minimum and was met with some concerns regarding workload the investment has yielded meaningful improvements in early literacy outcomes as we approach the end of black history month I would like to take a moment to highlight a significant local figure in Akon's history Christine fer the first African American woman to serve as superintendent of akan public schools as we celebrate the ongoing success of our schools and the impact of the Letter's training I find it fit to acknowledge that the superintend Ed fer Mack was instrumental in bringing this training to our district I also want to reflect on the important initiative led by superintendent Christine fck during her tenure under her leadership the district made significant strides including conducting safety assessments increasing security staff introducing
139the concept of student services and focusing on achievement student opportunities and engagement in Middle schools she also prioritized the creation of building based achievement plans Based on data reviews something as I came to understand was not previously occurring along with strategic facilities planning these efforts have laid the foundation for the positive developments we are seeing today a special thanks to all of our staff for their leadership in advancing literacy initiatives and to all of the dedicated teachers and I mean dedicated teachers the amount of their workloads it was rigorous but now they are bearing the fruits of their hard work and also a special thanks to our instructional staff across the district your commitment to our Student Success is truly making a difference and we deeply appreciate your hard work and dedication however while we
140celebrate this achievement we also recognize that there are still work to be done it is my belief that by carefully reviewing best practices and the successful models that have led to this progress we can continue building on these efforts to ensure that more of our schools not only exit this status but also remain on a path of sustained Improvement by learning from what has worked and reinforcing our commitment to Excellence by listening to the teachers as they describe what's best practices and the professional development that they need we can continue to drive meaningful lasting change for all of our students once again congratulations to David Hill TLC to all of the teaching staff and the building administrator to Akon online and I promise on this well- earned recognition and thank you to everyone who continues
141to uplift and support our schools and our Learners last board meeting we had a a parent that approached us to address some some some concerns which were viewed at Public Schools we deeply do value the well-being of our students and as that parent spoke I was overwhelmed with true concern and I was glad to see that our central office St went to follow up with that parent I additionally followed up with the superintendent as I was interested and concerned at what measures were taken to help us to support this parent we recognize that situations involving student safety and Care can be deeply emotional and we remain committed to addressing concerns with compassion transparency and collaboration which is why I'm sharing this with you on today in response to that parents concerns our team engaged in
142multiple conversations to understand her perspective review the incident and ensure that appropriate Pro protocols were followed to protect all students we understand that witnessing a diffic a difficult moment involving a child in distress can be upsetting and we have taken steps to provide additional support and training for staff to reinforce best practices in student care to ensure a supportive learning environment as I understand the district has worked with its parent to explore several alternative school placement options because those of you who are present remember the parent did not feel safe at that time for her child to attend one of our schools while the options were not selected at that time we do remain committed to continue dialogue and collaboration and identifying a solution that aligns with her expectation our goal is always to foster
143a safe inclusive and supportive educational experience for every child we appreciate this parent dedication as a parent and we remain open to ongoing conversations to ensure best possible outcomes we cannot say that we want to be transparent or we want to hear from the community and not publicly address the concerns because you the community want to know what is the board's response what is central office doing we had two Educators share with us that we are not getting Clarity and all things are not transparent as I've stated before I took this seat transparency is very important and it is important that we do what we say we're going to do when we say we're going to do it and that we work collectively together to move the district forward in regards to De this Dei
144policy changes we still stay commit committed to serving all as we navigate the evolving legal landscape re regarding diversity equity and inclusion policies our district remains steadfast in its commitment to serving all students including those from diverse cultural backgrounds and those with varied learning abilities while these recent Federal directors require adjustments to certain Dei programs our core mission of ensuring access to high quality education for every student remains unchanged it is my hope that the district will continue to evolve in its commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all students ensuring that every child has access to supportive learning environments while previous policies have played a key role in promot promoting accountability for all students this is what Equity policy will sought to do I believe the district working together will still move forward in
145the spirit of Excellence to maintain that our students are served with differentiated instructional practices that can address each needs of our Learners as a district again we are fully committed to educational practice that uphold both federal legal requirements and our moral responsibility to serve all students effectively while we adapt to these policy changes we remain unwavering in our Focus to serve all Learners together we will continue to provide a rigorous inclusive and student centered education that empowers every learner to achieve their full potential and this concludes the president's report next we will have committee reports legal contracts and board policy thank you madam president uh we have for this evening uh for a second reading uh prior to approval policies 5511 uh dress and grooming policy 551 111.0 school uniforms for grades grade kindergarten to
1468th grade this is the first I'm sorry the second reading for these policies we will have a further uh act for further approv in future meetings uh we also did not have a legal uh committee meeting due to the cancellation of our last meeting therefore we have rescheduled it for this Wednesday February the 26th at 4:30 here in the boardroom thank you madam [Music] president thank you vice president Alexander next um we'll have a readout of finance and Capital Management thank you Madame President uh so we also had to cancel because of weather so uh finance committee right now is subject to call thank you member Sykes uh next instructional policy and student achievement thank you Madame President um there's no report at this time our next meeting is scheduled for a week from today
147Monday March 3rd at 4:30 here in the boardroom thank you member ay next Equity committee thank you madam president um I have nothing to report out our next meeting will be March 3rd at 4th I'm sorry at 5:30 thank you member Hall next on the agenda we have the approval of our previous meeting minutes is there a motion to approve the regular board meeting minutes for February the 10th 2025 I move to approve the February 10th 2025 meeting minutes it's been moved by member ay is there a second I'll second the meeting it's been second by member Hall any any discussion seeing and hearing n Mr Treasurer roll call please M Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes motion carry 70 thank
148you next is our personel recommendations from Dr Robinson thank you president we're in section we're in section 10 are there any questions regarding section 10.1 president member Hall thank you madam president I just wanted to um and I might ask this probably all the time but with all these different retirements and resignations um how quickly are we with um putting these teachers back in place so when someone resigns how quickly are we to replace that teacher back in that school it it depends I mean if we have a pool of teachers which is not always the case um we're able to fill those positions immediately but if we don't have a teacher who's applied and depending upon if we knew about it early enough we can post it early um so that hopefully someone does
149apply and you have kind of an even exchange but that's not always going to be the case so it it's not that we don't feel them and sometimes we're not able to always feel it depends on what the the teaching assignment is and that's not just Elementary but I'm talking K12 okay and then I'm sorry just a followup question do we have a pool of teachers waiting no we do not okay thank you okay section section 10.2 three member Harrison yes I have a question on and I if if if I could do 10 three and 10 4 it's the same basically the same question um so listening to the finance report um listening to Staffing uh my my it it seems like are we adding positions to reduce positions are are we um 10
150three is that a new position and I see the funding is general fund and title four um is is that a new position so yes in one instance that is but we also um have to move rep okay yeah you can come but we also have to move um money from title uh four into um we would have to take it off of the the federal dollars and move it into general fund uh point of order yes please so as I said at the beginning of this meeting if this has anything to do with de then Pastor Harrison should not ask about this at all okay okay okay so and if this does then this also to my understanding that you were moving this all the way to new business yes yes member Sykes you
151are absolutely correct yes is this person is this because in the um thank you for the um the point of clarification and point of order and now I'm going into point of clarification because m um superintendent Dr Robinson to member syes point this job description of talent coordinator is this somehow involved with the uh current uh Dei work not currently no is this the renaming of a position from no it's not this would be a new position but it would be offset it by someone who would be feeling that so it's not costing us okay yeah I think just I am going to have to recommend this because the the question is we we're not going to say you know but okay yes so I'm going recommend this be uh I want to make a
152motion that 10.3 also be uh moved to new business 103 and four 10 thank you uh remember 10.3 and 10.4 I make a motion at 10.3 and 10.4 also be moved to new business um and the reason for the rationale for this change for those watching at home who are curious is because all of the items dealing with the equity work and what entitles with Equity job descriptions and things of that nature as we discussed earlier in the meeting there are three board members that should not be weighing in discussing it or voting on it we are choosing to move these things back to committee so that they can be uh an audit an equity audit on our policy on the positioning that it can be done with Fidelity that we make changes while we
153still follow the uh the laws and also do what best organizationally so again that is the motion to move both 10.3 and 10.4 to new business and I make that motion is there a second second you can second it's been second by member s she hard to save y from any ethical violations here all of us so um second yes member syes thank you uh it's been second by uh member Sykes any discussion okay um roll call [Music] please Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander abstain Miss ay yes Miss Hall abstain Reverend Harrison Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes uh motion carries 40 with three extensions thank you Mr Treasurer section 11 any questions 11.1 thank you member syes I'm going reintroduce my question for 111 um the replacement positions oh um are are those currently
154filled are how long have these positions been um so this is with our um tech services so with the tech services support um especially these individuals are hired through uh temp agency and after so many days then we hire them in and so it's a replacement as it relates to the person that was hired through the temp agency was filling in for someone but that's the way we do our TSS positions they go through a temp agency first for a probationary period and then if they're working out then we hire them in so he was at his number of days working with the temp agency so now we're hiring them in to be our employee and then with the human capital specialist position that is a replacement for someone that resigned last month okay so
155are are these positions in the budget have we budgeted for these positions yes this this is a replacement okay are there any other question question superintendent okay um 112 3 114 section 12 121 122 got to slow down member Harrison you're recognized thank you m'am president the uh supplemental contracts I I know um unfortunately we read articles we read an article in the paper that was the first time I had ever son seen that and it dealt with supplemental contracts I know I had brought it up at a previous meeting um not that particular incident or whatever they were addressing there I didn't bring that up but I brought up supplemental contracts do we have a system in place now where we are looking at supplemental contracts making sure that the work is being done
156making sure that we're not doubling up contracts um that was the question that I was trying to ask before and I'm not sure that I got a clear answer on that so we do have a system in place um that has seemingly been working um that we are able to Monitor and keep track of these supplemental contracts um we also did some modifications from last year to this year in terms of um the number of supplemental contracts but a lot of this stuff is not all of it but some of it is embedded within the contract so we have to abide by that contract as it relates to those things um and and meeting and making sure that we're meeting the obligation of the contract but we do monitor to ensure that people are doing
157and there are some cases where people are not following through and doing what they say they were going to do um and we do address that as well we do resend them just as a followup so I think the my wording that I want to use is have we established clear standard operating procedures for these supplemental contracts to ensure as it's been written written in the papers um the things that have been seen as far as taking place for clarity I know that you know I follow up with you all if I have additional questions and this is going to be one of those additional questions um I know that I had questions about various policies that will help negate some of that when we're looking at supplemental contracts and how they're issued it was
158a question that came to me about uh nepotism and I understand that that is revisiting um is in policy and supposed to go to policy to be Revisited um and so I'm just curious when we make these statements as member Harrison just if it's something and it works that's fine but I just for me as an individual it's just easier for me if I can see a a procedure and Po and know how it goes and can read it because then can be consistent all the time when we're talking about how we issue these contracts and how are we mitigating the risk of um people who take these contracts and maybe never had a was at a wrestling match or you know things of that nature what is the accountability practices correct so we do
159have a procedure in place how the contracts are established and then one thing that um we have been talking about in human capital is just making sure that we're providing supports to the building managers the building administrators as it relates to how do you follow up to make sure that the work that is supposed to be happening with the contract is happening or that if you are if you're um over a certain club that you actually have students in that club or if you are a crossing guard that you actually have students out there or crossing guard supplemental make sure you have students out there actually doing you know doing the work so we know that on our side that we want to make sure that we provide the administrators with the support they need
160in order to execute the um directives and the expectations regarding those that want to pick up supplemental contracts and so it's ongoing so we're in education so we're always revisiting things so in light of like you said um some of our recent things that have been happening we are revisiting the process with principles as it relates to making sure the expectations are in place for anyone that picks up a supplemental contract so we will constantly revisit and provide ongoing PD and support to principles to make sure that they're monitoring these contracts and know how to deal with it if it's not happening okay thank you for that so how would I if I want if if a audit was done like for instance if someone comes into my billing they say they substitute if you
161didn't sign that log you didn't substitute you're not getting paid correct so there should be rosters in place regarding who's on the team or who's in the club there should be attendance records and things like that and so those are some of the things that we're working with principles on to make sure that these things are in place and so like I said it's something that we have to revisit and keep it on an ongoing cycle but see you those are the examples that we need because when you saying attendance and things that are measurable I can look at and see that and just saying we're doing ongoing evaluation that leaves that's too evasive when you have concrete things that you're doing that can be measured so that's why I wanted to ask the question
162to be sure what actually was being done thank you member Hall thank you madam president just like we did in our Equity committee with all of the funding that goes to all the schools like far as Athletics and things like that looking at um how much money is coming out of the general fund the donations and so forth I'm curious to see if maybe in one of our committees e either Equity or instructional policy um student achievement if we could have a breakdown of um who all coaches or really it would be more the coaches [Music] um what am I trying to say who are the coaches for all of these Sports because I I understand and I've heard you know from students and community members um that sometimes you'll have a teacher that is
163the wrestling coach the track coach the cheerlead coach all of these things how are these kids really being served with one person doing all of this and then does this person I'm not just saying teacher I'll just say person does this person um have these skills to be a cheerleading coach or to be a wrestling coach so I'm curious to see how many um sports or how many activities one person has okay we can pull a report okay okay want to try here which committee would you put that in um you could put it in the I don't know finance committee since it's dealing with funds no not really dealing with funds I just want to see just like I said when we did with the uh the High School athletics just to see a
164breakdown of what's going to these schools and that was in the equity committee um Diana you were on that committee with me last year right um just to see a full breakdown of how many people are over one I mean multiple Sports I think she can just get a print does that have to go to a committee no I can just or can be a print just yeah I think you can share the report yeah oh and then she can get it in real time and doesn't have to wait for it to come through thank you y thank you for the question um you need a charger here technology issues have to get [Music] some section two section 14 I'm sorry my my apology superintendent I do have just a quick question about the uh
165these uh 13.2 um substitute teachers general fund um I see a lot of just even with the regular teacher substitute resignations retirement my only question is do we have any like a pool of substitute teachers that may um be trying to get their credential to become actual teachers uh it's like the grow your own program I'm just using that termin but I just threw that out there I'm just gonna say it but where we have a because we're it seems like the shortage we have these we heard the um educator speak earlier um about the the the prek preschool I'm sorry I say pre but I I'm just curious do we have like a pool something that's sustainable that maybe we can well there is a process for our substitute teachers who hold bachelor's degrees
166to um go for their alternative resident educator ler and so we are in contact and communication with Subs as relates to how to go about that process if they're interested in becoming a licensed teacher thank you Miss Carter section one two three section 15 section 16 one two three four five section 17 section 18 section 19 Section 20 no students president Jackson we have moved uh 10.3 and 10.4 to new business outside of that um I'm recommending for approval of the Personnel recommendations presented in categories 10 through 21 thank you your mic it's been move it's been motioned by the superintendent to approve the Personnel recommendations uh through category 21 is there a second with the exception I'm sorry with the removal of 10.3 and 10.4 which was moved to new business second okay it's
167been moved in prop prop second any discussion member molar hi sorry I heard section 20 and there was no one in 20 but I did not hear 211 um Can someone please explain the mou in 211 I didn't I would have spoken up when it was said I didn't hear it I think we moved quickly no 211 is resolution that's resolutions that's in another section you just said 10 through 21 so 21 is part of 21 oh sorry about that didn't realize that was part of personnel right I say that yes what what about it no she I'm sorry well yes can you please tell me about it okay so um section oh let me get my glasses so section 21 is regarding um anou where we worked with this particular um Union to look
168at the hiring process separate from the traditional civil server service process that we usually um go through due to the um High needs of our district um it usually takes a long time to to get a list and so both the labor and management are requesting that the board supports the resolution presented today so that we can make sure that we can move swiftly with filling these um positions that fall with under this uh this particular uh Union and so we did this we did this previously I can't remember was it like last year where we were stuck where we weren't getting list and um we need to be able to fill some high needs positions as relates to building secretary positions and payroll positions just one second member monard if did you want did
169you have a followup the treasurer is here saying that he can add additional Clarity if needed because it's in his Department if that would be helpful uh Miss Carter oh sure there there is a high need for uh us to be able to fill these positions and just this whole civil server proc process slows it down and so this is why the union is actually working with us as well in order to make sure that we get these positions filled yeah the superintendent uh in there his monthly meeting that I was in uh sitting with this was discussing your meeting with the superintendent on Friday right yeah I had a a question and then no one had an answer so yeah information is great thanks I was clear on the explanation but go ahead treasure
170well first i' I'd want to thank uh HC on this for working with us so this particular individual is in the finance office and the payroll department and how it works is only certain positions but payroll is one of them Finance is one of them the person has to apply of civil service we have a temp in there who's awesome she's great um and we want to keep her and but she's running at a lower dollar amount with no benefits so how would H if we went there without the the HC working with us and without the unions cooperation she we would have lost her because she would have had to she has a family she's got to get some coverage and um but she would normally have to apply to Civil Service we'd have
171to wait through that entire process could take 6 months before they issue a t a list and a test if there's 10 or more they have to take a test if there's not we don't have to and then we could interview her when she's been working for us for months so um I'm grateful to both the the union and HC for working with us to make sure we didn't lose a good employee and we're already down one person in payroll and uh you usually people get the most upset about two things their children and their money so he deals with the children part I deal with the money part so I'd like to not have them be upset yes M R thank you this this is um very interesting one of the questions I had
172on Friday that I did not understand so is this something that is renewed annually or is this on a person byerson individual basis or what what kind ofou is this so this will take us to the end of the school year and if in fact this is something we wanted to do again we'd have to come back to bring it to the board but it would be up until the end of this fiscal year I I guess my question is it would it only apply to this individual or is it something no it's for the enti anybody it's for all positions that fall with under this group MH um are you clear did you have a followup okay thank [Music] you every time I do this thing we have to go back to the the
173the motion to approve the Personnel is there a second we were at the second okay it's been moved improperly second thank you it was been moved improperly second by who was it moved by super it was moved by the superintendent and second by Alexander excuse me um the discussion has been the superintendent can't move sorry I mean the motion was that every time we get in discussion I find myself that's I was looking at on like help me out all right so I is there a motion to approve the Personnel recommendations Sykes you did you make the motion syes I did but I will thank you I appreciate you so much has made devotion now it's been second by Alexander I thank you all for your patience we've had discussion uh U member monar is
174there any additional discussion or unreadiness if not roll call V please thank you all Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss ayy yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes motion carry 70 next is the board letters and consent agenda Dr Robinson thank you president Jackson I wish to recommend the approval of the resolution ions and motions um presented in category 25 and that would Encompass 20 yes is there a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved it's been moved by Mr 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 Mrs Sykes yes Mr Alexander yes Miss yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes motion carries 70 thank
175you next we would have business Affairs recommendation there are no items currently at this meeting um unfinished business there is none but however there is new [Music] business at the beginning of the meeting um board policy 226 0.04 Equity policy board policy 226 0.05 working definitions for diversity Equity inclusion and excellence in education and board po policy 0.07 racial Equity policy as well as agenda items 10.3 and 10.4 or moved to new business I move that these items are referred back to the equity committee for further discussion um and Clarity is there a second second thank you it's been moved by President Jackson second by member Sykes is there any discussion all right seeing in hearing none there is a need for us to recess into executive session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 12122 G1
176to consider the employment dismissal and discipline and or discipline of public employees and or officials is there a motion to go and we oh I'm sorry on the Move I'm sorry uh it's been moved the properly second roll call please as far as the movement of it was it was it was uh okay seconded by it was moved by President Jackson second by member syes roll call vote please Miss Jackson yes Reverend Harrison up [Music] stay Miss Hall [Laughter] obain Miss ay I'm sorry I do have a question that I should have brought up during discussion I know the motion was to move this to equity committee so I'm assuming at some point it would come to a legal policy committee is it going to be going back and forth between those committees um at
177this point it probably will be necessary but the recommendation that's on the floor is that it go to the equity committee and then to make sure that we are saying in line with federal laws and regulation it will eventually have to probably move to legal but the the desire of me making this recommendation is to really unpack those um those policies the job descriptions in a away with Fidelity that we have some type of framework we are working on a time uh we know the 28th is a time so it's very likely that a committee a uh member monar you'll be serving um as the chair for Equity so that we will have to give the proper notice more likely than not when we come out of this session as far as when the next
178meeting will be held so that the business uh can go forward as far as uh the deadlines that we're working on to really mitigate and discuss all of that so to answer your question um member alry uh yeah at some point it would have to as far as the reworking of it as far as uh the policy especially if the name of the committee which has to be worked to this is just Carla Jackson in my opinion who who's not a lawyer is what I'm just sending it to equity okay does that does that I'm sorry uh I was going to say Madam president member I don't have anything else to elaborate on that any is there any other discussion we still need to finish the vote Yes my vote is yes thank you Miss
179Aly Mr Alexander yes I'm sorry Mrs syes yes and Dr mullar yes motion carries 40 with three abstentions thank you Dr Thompson um now there is a need to go into executive session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 12.22 G1 to consider the employment dismissal and discipline of a Public Employee Andor official is there a motion to go into executive session so moved it's been moved by member Hall is there a second second it's been second by member alry any discussion madam president yes all right so uh we have been going into executive session for least since December meeting and we've had special meetings and so this is a serious business when we take our business the business of the people outside of their View and have executive sessions now I'm not saying that these subjects
180are not worth executive sessions but I am saying that uh for us to constantly go into executive session dealing with the public monies and public business because we are a public body that I am very concerned and I would hope that as we vote to go into executive session which I'm going to vote now that we will be very conscious of the time that we spend in executive session and as we go forward that we try to eliminate the need for executive sessions thank you uh Miss Sykes I'm not in complete disagreement with that I do as I understood it is certain matters of personal matters and individuals which caus us to go but I don't m madame president yes exactly it is it is but still it remains whether or not everything that we
181go into executive session if there is a need as per one2 1.22 in those six items and so my my concern and I have been in every executive session is that whether or not we as a board if this if we have to go into public executive session month after month after month then we are in a state of emergency and perhaps we need to think about something else and this district and what we were saying to the public as we find ourselves constantly going into executive session as a voter and a taxpayer I'm tired of it and I'm concerned about it and I would ask this board if we could really think about what this means and how this looks and whether or not we are doing what the voters expect us to do
182as we take their business outside of their view because this is serious three solid months at least of executive sessions for hours something is not working right here that's what I'm saying and I do not deny that you're using the right session section but I am concerned about how long we expect to do this and how long we expect the public to put up with this thank you for sharing a member sites um I'm not sure how long we're going to do it it depends I guess what the Ohio Revised Code says concerning employment each time time that I've been in executive session and I do agree with the time that things can happen with more Fidelity but we're dealing with employe employment issues and specific issues concerning those employees that I don't think is
183the proper form in a public meeting nor do I I'm not sure that we are at Liberty to discuss it as I've stated I'm fine with transparency and if we are then this board as I'm one of seven as is each of us if we discuss that and we can have Clarity moving forward I'm not in disagreement that Les executive sessions will be appropriate but the discussions that since we've been on habitually continuously have dealt with employment so just like with any organization when we dealing with employment we can look at a different M we have two employees and management styles so I'm not sure before this moment and we're going into executive session your concerns have been heard the members of the board can discuss that we can seek legal to get clarity moving
184forward as to what things we will discuss openly as I think we had some insight um on in our previous meeting and we can move forward that way and as for now um I believe are we at calling for the vote for executive session Madam president yes one out a statement if in fact we are going to uh do this and uh I think that at the very least when we come out we should have more to say to the public about the business that we are conducting outside of public ey agree and I think that that would be fair for them and for us and we can do that absolutely not in disagreement with that is there anything else okay we've got it we're ready to take the vote okay roll call please Mr
185Alexander yes Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes Miss Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs Sykes no motion carries 834 we stand in recess as we go on to Executive session at 8:34 e e e [Music] e e e [Music] we reconvened on Executive session at 10:15 a.m. the PM there is uh no action uh that needs to be taken at this time um the next meeting will be Monday March 10th 2025 also we have an um um announcement uh concerning uh Equity uh committee that we wanted to make sure that we made before we left that there will be a special meeting the meeting will be noticed tomorrow and it will take place on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. after legal contracts uh 4:30 to discuss the the matters that were moved to
186new business and that were sent back to [Music] committee um we now stand adjourn it's it's been moved by Mr Vice President Alexander is a second to adjourn okay it's been second by member Hall any discussion hearing and seeing none this we stand aour roll call roll call please do that every Miss ay yes Miss Hall yes Reverend Harrison yes M Jackson yes Dr Molar yes Mrs syes yes Mr Alexander yes motion carries 70 we stand and journ thank you good night [Music] e