001Meeting of the Aurora Board of Education is called to order. Please rise for the pledge. Oh >> stage that way. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Shiraldi, please call the role. Mr. Aum >> here. >> Mrs. Schneider >> here. >> Mrs. Click >> here. >> Mrs. Mahalis >> here. >> Mrs. Ful >> here. >> All right. We begin tonight's meeting with special reports and recognitions. Tonight we are recognizing and congratulating two middle school students for being selected by Rotary International of Aurora as students of the month. They are Leah Himl and Kaden McDow. May I have a motion, please? >> Moved. >> Second. Thank you. Would the
002students please come forward and I will give you your certificates. >> Congratulations. You wear in the picture afterwards. >> Congratulations. >> You can show that to your dad. He'll be very generous. >> All right. You can take a picture with it afterwards. Please do tell him I said that, too. Congratulations. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> I don't know if you have to do the roll. Believe me. >> Do we vote for I don't think >> we vote. >> Yeah, we'll go ahead and vote now. >> All right. We'll vote. >> Mrs. Click. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fuller. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mahales. >> Yes. >> Mr. Agam. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Snder. >> Yes. >> All right. Mr. Ramovich, please introduce the students. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mahalis and Board of Education. Uh, today at
003for our Rotary students of the month from Harmon Middle School. Uh, two individuals who are very involved in what goes on in the school. Uh, and they never let that as be an excuse for what they do inside the classroom. They are outstanding leaders by example. Uh, and they do a lot of service before self. And we see that constantly. Uh when Leah, you're going to hear she's very quiet individual, but always with a smile on her face, but when she gets on the stage, for instance, at our recent school musical, it's outstanding. And she always goes about her job and just does it so well. Uh Kaden, he's one when for the first time ever, and all the times I've done this, when I told him, you have to write a speech, he was
004like, "All right, no problem." And by the time he left my office, I think he already had his speech mapped out and where to go with it. I'm like, and that's outstanding and that's how Kaden is. Um, and very involved and again going about things every day with such a positive attitude. So with that, I want you to hear from themselves about who they are. So our first up is Leah Himl. >> Thank you. Hi everyone. My name is Leah Himl. I'm an eighth grader at Herman Middle School. I'd like to thank my teachers and educators for choosing me to get accepted into this Rotary Club and appreciate the encouragement they have given me throughout the school year. I've also gotten much support from my family, my mother and my father, and mostly my sister
005Emma, the person I've looked up to my whole life. She's inspired me to get more involved in my school community, and I took the time and dedication to try and also have the honor of getting into Beta Club in the school musical. In Beta Club, we love to help our school and community. Even performing small tasks like recycling to help my teacher feels rewarding. The journey has been amazing. The school musicals has always been the highlight of my year because of the students performing with me. My school friends, teachers, and clubs I have joined have been a motivation for me to go to school and have the inspiration to learn. I feel that I've personally created friendships with my teachers, which has helped me throughout the years of middle school. It's sad to think that
006my last year of middle school is ending and I'll be taking a big adjustment into my freshman year of high school. Even though I'm very excited to start that chapter of my life because I truly bonded with my educators and friends. School has shown me what some of my interests are. I've always loved theater and singing and really love the opportunity of performing every year in the middle school. My love for music also leads to band class. I play the alto saxophone and even though it's an instrument I never expected myself to play considering I began with the piano was young when I was younger. I've learned a lot about my personal interest through my school. People have always asked me what I want to do with my life in the future. And the truth
007is that I don't know what I want to do with my future. But I know I have decisions to make and I'll see what the future holds for me. I guess the main reason why I'm most grateful for this award is that I'm getting individually noticed by my school by my teachers and peers. That brings me back to m how much I love my school community and how my school and family support me. Thank you. And now we'll have Kaden McDow. Good evening everyone. I'm Kayen McDow and I'm currently an eighth grader at Harmon Middle School. I would like to thank the Aurora Board of Education and the Rotary Club of Aurora for acknowledging me as the Rotary Student of the Month. Being named Rotary Student of the Month motivates me to keep working hard,
008not just academically, but also as a leader. This is an honor and I'm thankful for all my teachers and Harmon administrators who have nominated nominated me. I couldn't do all I do without the support of my parents, Kristen and Brian, and younger siblings, McKenna, who is in sixth grade, and Asher, who is in kindergarten. I'm really enjoying Harmon in middle school and trying to make the most of all the opportunities available to learn and grow. I enjoy getting to know the amazing teachers as well as my staff and classmates. On the learning side, my favorite subjects in school are Spanish and math. I play the violin and the eighth grade orchestra and I'm looking forward to all the new classes I'll be able to take next year. At Harmon, I participate in various clubs and
009sports. In sixth grade, I volunteered for the tech club, a group of students who stay after school to help senior citizens troubleshoot problems with technology. I also served on student council and was elected to serve as a class representative. In 8th grade, I was honored to be selected to join Beta Club. The Beta Club is a leadership, service, character, and academic achievement focus club. One of the requirements of membership is completing two service hours a month. I have found these easy to accomplish because of my serviceoriented life, something my parents and grandparents have always modeled in their own lives and passed down to me. I also love being active and playing sports. Currently, I'm on the eighth grade boys basketball team for Aurora. I also play football, baseball, and run track. All these are great
010ways to show leadership, teamwork, discipline, and hard work. I've learned firsthand through sports that if you work hard and put in the time, it does make a difference. Outside of school, one of my favorite things to do is to help at a vacation Bible school through my church. I volunteer as a helper for the younger kids. It is so much fun helping out the little kids throughout the day. Although I'm still figuring out my future as of now, I would like to attend college at Penn State University. It would be my ultimate dream to play a college sport at Penn State and bigger dream to become a professional athlete. On the more practical side, I would probably study engineering or IT and then see where that leads. Someone I look up to is TJ Watt
011from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's a great role model in his community and also an amazing football player. When I think of what motivates me, I think of my parents. Without them, I would not be in the spot I am today. They have taught me that the effort I put in now at impacts the opportunities I will have later. They encourage me to keep up with my work, finish assignments on time, and always do my best. They support me through all the ups and downs of sports, and they keep encouraging encouraging me to keep moving forward even when it's hard. I want to thank the Rotary Club once again for this honor, and I'm proud to represent Harman Middle School. I will continue striving to be a student, athlete, and community member who leads with kindness,
012service, hard work, and integrity. Thank you all for your time this evening. Thank you students. You're obviously very good examples of strong leaders. Thanks for coming tonight. And to the families for joining us, um you're free to leave as soon as some pictures are taken against the back wall. Just feel free to sneak out. And in the meantime, I think we'll just move on with the approval of minutes from our regular meeting of December 15, 2025. May I have a motion, please? >> Moved. >> Second. >> Are there any comments or edits additions to those minutes? Right. Mr. Shabby, please call the RO. >> Mrs. Fuller >> abstain. >> Mrs. Click. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Schneider. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mahales. >> Yes. >> Mr. Achim. >> Yes. >> Units are approved as written. All
013right. In which order would you like to go? >> Uh I will take uh it in the typical order which is uh for me to go first. Mine. So, um the superintendent's uh report for this evening um is dedicated uh to let me grab this uh board appreciation month. So, I'm actually going to leave uh my normal seat and go up to the podium here for a couple minutes. So, uh, as we mentioned in our organizational meeting, uh, January is officially, uh, board of education appreciation month. And so, uh, wanted to do a number of different things tonight to honor our board of education members as individuals, as a group, uh, for your commitment to our district. and we really was trying to rack my brain in terms of trying to come up with some
014things that we haven't done before, you know, in the last 10 years uh since since I've been here. So, uh I have some some friends in the audience who have helped me a little bit, but I'm going to take the uh the first uh part here on behalf of our our administrative team in our district. So, in your dark green folder, if you uh have that one, you will notice on the left hand side is a certificate that is not from me. That is from OSBA. uh and they send those certificates uh every year to our board of education members. However, uh on the right hand side, if you could take out that official proclamation, that is from me on behalf of the district. U and on the left uh you will find some pictures
015from Mrs. MacArthur's class. She wanted uh you know her her uh students wanted to to draw you some pictures in appreciation of the board. So, uh, without further ado, I figured that, uh, the mayor and Wilmer Benjamin cannot have all the fun in terms of coming up with proclamations and making those proclamations. So, tonight it's my turn as superintendent of the Aurora City School District to do a little proclamation. You can see with our our little green standard and our logos down below. And I'll read that to you before we move on to other portions. So, certificate of proclamation, Aurora City School District Board of Recognition Month, January 2026. Whereas the Aurora City School District Board of Education serves as the elected governing body entrusted with setting setting the vision, ensuring accountability, and supporting policies
016that prioritize student learning, safety, and well-being. And whereas the board of education demonstrates steadfast commitment to the success of every student by championing high-quality learning environments and responsible stewardship of district resources. And whereas through leadership, collaboration, and service, board members work to strengthen partnerships among families, staff, and the Aurora community, keeping students at the heart of the district's work. And whereas the board of education's dedication help dedication helps advance the ROR city school district commitment to developing the whole child in line with the root competencies in our strategic vision and upholding the green standard. Now therefore, I Dr. Dr. Paul Milstatic, superintendent of the Aurora City School District, do hereby proclaim January 2026 as board of education recognition month and express sincere grat sincere appreciation for the board's service, leadership, and commitment to our students,
017staff, and community. Thank you very much. >> When you see the mayor, make sure you know that I have now done a proclamation. I'm going to tell >> I won't do that at the state of city or state of schools, but I want to. >> All right. So, that is that is the uh the first piece of of our appreciation. Uh next, um you know, I wanted uh to have a student voice and sometimes we've done that through music, you know, through the choir or through the orchestra. Uh but tonight we have a guest speaker. Um I reached out to Mr. Rubin and said, "Mr. Reuben, uh, you know, you have so many wonderful government students and students who work with you, uh, you know, on in the speech club and, you know, I want
018you to sort of give me a couple names or give me some individuals you think would be, uh, good to have this honor to represent the student body to to thank the board of education. And, uh, he picked uh, Miss Cameron Taylor, who you've heard from before. Come on up, Cameron. You're going to join me here. Uh, which is a a phenomenal choice. And I I couldn't agree more. You had And Cameron, you were in Mr. Ruben's class last year, not this year. Correct. So, uh, Cameron is actually going to be the voice of Greenman Nation of the student body to the board this evening and talk a little bit about the importance of of board governance and and talk about the importance of your role. Um, I'm going to brag uh for Cameron a
019little bit because she's humble, but recently uh we know that she's just an amazing student athlete, but recently uh she's had some really good news. Uh, she was accepted into Stanford on the West Coast. Yeah, that's Stanford uh University. pretty phenomenal. And just and I think this is hot off the press. Um Cameron applied to be part of the KO scholars uh program in the fall and uh which is nationwide. So she has made it to the regionals final level which means she she's one of 250 students in the entire country with the possibility of being in the final 150 which means some serious prestigious awards and scholarship money which I'm sure mom is very excited about as well. So, we will see how that goes regardless of what happens. You know, we are proud
020of you, Cameron. And um I am honored to be able to share this microphone with you and to have you address the board on behalf of our uh student body. You ready? >> All right. >> Do it. >> Okay. >> Good evening, members of the Aurora Board of Education, district leaders, educators, families, and community members. My name is Cameron Taylor, and I'm a senior at Aurora High School. On behalf of the students and teachers of our district, I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for your time, your dedication, and your commitment to serving Aurora's students and teachers through strong local governance and leadership. School boards play an incredibly important role in shaping not only our schools, but students futures through organizations like the Ohio School Boards Association. Boards are given the tools,
021training, and support to make thoughtful decisions that reflect the values of their communities. But what truly makes a difference is how those decisions show up in the lives of students each and every day. In Aurora, we feel that impact constantly. Because of the board of education, students have access to a wide range of academic, athletic, and extracurricular opportunities. I've had the chance to take 14 AP classes during my time here. Classes that challenged me, prepared me for college, and helped me discover my interests. Opportunities like these happen because the board prioritizes rigorous academics and invests in resources that allow students to push themselves outside the classroom. The support continues because the board provides resources to numerous sports and clubs. I have learned many valuable lessons. I've learned teamwork and resilience on the volleyball court. As
022a student of student as a student council member, I learned firsthand how to be a better leader. And through NHS, I learned the importance of giving back. Each of these experiences exist because the board believes that education is more than simply textbooks and exams. It's about helping students develop as entire people. What stands out the most about the Aurora Board of Education is its commitment to listening to students, families, teachers, and the community at large. That commitment to local governance ensures that decisions are made with care, intention, and a deep understanding of what makes Aurora unique. So tonight, on behalf of the students and teachers of the district, I want to celebrate all the great work that has been done to help Aurora thrive. Thank you for advocating for us, supporting our passions, and believing
023in our potential. Thank you, and congratulations to the Aurora Board of Education for your continued service and leadership. >> Thank you so much. Thank you Cameron and congratulations. >> So for the last portion we do have a uh sort of a classic that we always bring back and that is the katic staff uh and students expressing gratitude the board of education compliments of uh Miss Kim Stewart over there putting this together for the video. So Mr. Hayes if you can hit the video. Thank you. Yeah. Very nice. Thank you. Thank you. >> And that concludes my report. Thank you for your your service and your commitment to the district. >> Thank you. It's a privilege to serve in this district and think we're all grateful to work alongside such excellent dedicated educators and families and
024and fellow board members. So, >> thank you very much, >> Mr. Hayes. >> All right, Mr. Hayes. >> All right, so my report this evening is about the final piece of our state report card, which is value added. So, I know we've done uh several uh updates about the state report card in the fall when that comes out. um value added data uh becomes available to the district in the month of November. Uh this year was actually even later than normal at the very end of November. So throughout the really the month of December, we really looked at a lot of that that data, that information to kind of put something together for from an overarching perspective to present to the board. So with that, before we get fully underway, I want to, you know,
025talk about what uh value added data actually is. It's critical that we distinguish this from achievement scores we saw in the fall. Achievement asks did the student pass whereas value added asks did we push high performing students to go even further. Um and in Aurora there's no doubt that high achievement is the expectation. Uh so high growth though is the green standard proof that we're adding value to every student regardless of where they start. Couple things to understand about value added is the methodology. So there's two different uh metrics here. So for K through eight, we use what's called the gain model. This is where our students are uh moving up the ranks compared to their peers across Ohio. And then for high school students, we use what's known as called the predictive model. And
026these are all things from the state of Ohio. Uh and the predictive model is based on a student's testing history. The state predicts a score. When we beat that prediction, we generate what's called a positive index score or a t-core. Uh we aren't just meeting expectations though, we're beating the odds. And what I want to do is kind of give you a little reminder of what value added data might look like here. Uh so you're probably very familiar with some of this information. We presented this over over the years, but this is uh basically showing us uh how the state uh views value added. So in that uh graph there that you see anything in the green is where we would consider to be expected growth. That middle ground there is what we would have
027a zero tcore or a zero index score which would mean our student actually grew uh an appropriate year's worth of growth in one uh academic year. Anything within the green is great. Uh and then as we continue to get uh further to the right uh into that blue, you can see that significant evidence of more growth. Uh and generally you're you're going to see at the very far end anything that extends beyond uh a 3.0 index score. Um so really we want hey we want to be really happy with anything in in the green. Um and of course anything in that yellow area evidence of less growth is where hey we can look at that data. We can look at it not only by a grade level but we can start breaking it down by
028teacher and understanding hey where are there areas that we can continue to close gaps and refine our strategies. but it's also an opportunity to celebrate the tremendous amount of growth that's happening across the entire district. Uh so I want to go through and break things down for you a little bit uh through each building. And just as a reminder, this value added data, although it's a reflection of PK through 12, the state really starts actually examining this at grade three. So we're going to start by uh breaking down things at Leighton. And so with Leighton, what I really want to emphasize here is resilience. So if you kind of look at some of this data, which I have on the lefth hand side, data from our ELA, math, and science from the 23, 24, and
02925 school year, so you can kind of see some historic patterns or trends. It's always important for us to be able to examine those patterns or trends because we don't want to look at, hey, this is something that's only reflective of one particular cohort. We want to be able to examine things over the course of time. So just for um you know, the visual sake here, you have the last three years for ELA, math, and science. Uh but going back to things, what I really want to emphasize here is uh resilience. So for example, looking at fourth grade ELA after maybe a slight dip in 2024, rebounded to a massive 3.55 index uh in 2025. And this really validates our choice to slow down and value the process over the product. So really the value
030of process of reading specifically. Um you know, changing gears to let's say fifth grade math. you know, we see a slight plateau here where we're currently auditing our approach to ensure we're not just rushing uh content for a grade, aligning with our design specs of, you know, going beyond points and grades. Uh and then when we look at science, hey, we've got really stable, consistent index scores, really showing uh great levels of growth here. And so again, just emphasizing anything in the green is tremendous. uh anything uh you know further to the right there is uh the type of growth that any school district would love to have for their for their kids. Just kind of jumping through moving into Harmon now we start looking at things from uh ELA math and science for sixth,
031seventh and eighth grade. Again, you can look at there from a visual, seeing some of the the trends here. Looking at ELA, uh to start grade six, strong recovery in 2024, 4.79, steady in 2025. Uh when we look at grade seven, similar to math, um seventh grade ELA really showing us to be like a powerhouse. Uh grade eight, we had maybe a slight dip in 2025 suggesting, hey, do we need to reexamine some of the things in our our PLC process? And you know we've already taken measures in that capacity but again not anything that we want to jump to a major conclusion but it continuously gives us something to assess. Uh looking at math you know we we see the impact here of social emotional shifts and what I want to emphasize is when
032we talked about uh achievement scores in the fall we we actually noted how sixth grade had a slight dip in achievement and this is where it's always really important to look at both achievement and growth. So although uh achievement wasn't where we would have wanted it to be for sixth grade, we could actually see that achievement is outstanding for sixth grade here. So it's always something more for us to dig into. Uh and really that that also looks at allows us to look at things like the shift from fifth to sixth grade and then what happens over the course of time as students are uh or their teachers are helping students meet their social emotional needs. Um and then you know looking at seventh grade you know once the kids are settling in you can
033really see that growth explodes. Um there's an index score of five and it just going back to the beginning you know an index score of three is basically off the charts and we have these types of uh growth measures all over the place. Uh which is just a tremendous and really looks at and I can see Mr. Broncazio over there one of our Harmon math teachers and I can speak to it. Our teachers are honoring identity through relationships. It's not just about, hey, can you compute, but do I know my kids as a person and do I understand their academic identity to help pull them and help them grow uh tremendously. Um, when I look at at science, we had a little bit of um normalization here. Um, a little bit of a candidate for
034us to continue to reexamine things. Again, though, this is saying that kids actually still exceeded a year's worth of growth. One of the things that we're looking at here is we we had one of our best teachers uh Angie Frankman who was amazing retire. And so even actually this year we're looking at hey could there be some uh adjustments because of losing a tremendous teacher due to retirement. So how do we make sure that we're we're zoning in and taking the appropriate measures to continuously help our kids uh grow and evolve. Um and then jumping into high school. This is a longer list just because there's six uh tested subject areas and again I have data from 23, 24, and 25. So we've got math which has two areas, algebra and geometry. We've got social
035studies which has two areas, US history and government. Then we've got biology and then we've got uh English language arts. So just again looking at things across the board, you can pretty much see a a really uh consistent aspect of everything, most things being in that light blue category. Um really, you know, continuing to shatter the ceiling here. Uh our algebra and geometry numbers are our elite uh really driven by a collaborative like uh department uh vertically aligned from middle school on up. Uh doing a great job of really u varying their their teaching approaches. is we have teachers who were teaching some of the highest uh end classes to and also teaching hey our our fundamental uh intro classes and I can't speak highly enough about the department as a whole really uh helping
036each other continue to thrive and pushing each other. um you know being transparent up there you see biology that's an area where we need to have refinement uh we look at those scores there's diff definitely different things we can dig into we've already made some adjustments there uh you know want to give uh major uh props to Miss Bureau department head there already is working with the um ESC for some refinement aspects working individually with some teachers because we were able to dig out and see some areas that we could really adjust things we knew some of this going into last year and even made some staffing adjustments so it's one of those things that and we always want to uh you know we don't want to make a reactive decision for one cohort but
037we want to be cognizant of hey where things aren't meeting our expectation we're going to you know take the necessary steps to make uh the appropriate adjustments um looking at things like uh English language arts um really it's been continuously exceptional again testament to the PLC process uh and you know I really want to you know this again starts out from a fundamental level for kids to be able to thrive uh in their high school years it goes down to, you know, our kids at Miller andrch learning, you know, fluency and phonics and things like that, building up to teachers help at Leighton and Harmon, building kids stamina and also their love of reading, uh, and their ability to be critical thinkers, truly examining texts. Uh, and then from our our PLC's, our teachers who
038are really working to make reading engaging, allowing kids to have uh, empowerment and ownership over their learning, that takes an investment in terms of what's going on in society. Our teachers are looking at, hey, what are what are texts, what are forms of media that our kids are going to uh latch on to to help grow them as critical thinkers, readers, writers. I can't say enough good things there. Uh and then just kind of combining the US history and government really again a reflection of a committed PLC process. You know, we had a few years ago where we really refined things in US government. You can look back to the 2023 year where we were in the yellow there. Uh, and we knew that going probably a year prior to that, making adjustments with curriculum,
039making adjustments with staffing. Uh, and then not just making adjustments, but those staff members committed to the cause of really working to say, "Hey, what do we need to do to help grow our kids, not just get them to pass the test even in the year when uh that was in the yellow in 2023, our kids were passing at an over 90% achievement rate, but it's really about growth. So, how are we really working hard digging in the trenches to understand where our kids need to continue to uh you know evolve their skills uh and what can we do as teachers to sharpen our pedagogical approaches and so again true testament to the teachers in those PLC processes that are really working incredibly hard um again being innovative with their practices being data driven and
040being vulnerable to say hey things aren't where we need to be let's work to get uh get them where we are and uh the data shows that hey when they're willing to do that the growth is going to occur. So again, want I can't say enough good things there. Um and then just kind of wrapping up, you know, really just want to confir this this type of information really confirms that Aurora is a district of exceptional learner growth. Uh we're working to remain a uh to remain with a sense of humility while being diagnostic uh and using data to truly refine our practices. Um and just overall I I want to express gratitude to of course our students. They're the backbone behind all the hard work that goes into this. Their their desire to want
041to learn is what allows this growth to truly occur. That's also a reflection of our families and community as a whole. Uh and then to our our staff and that's our educators, our administrators, uh our coaches, our counselors, every single person that steps foot in this building is helping to uh nurture our kids' roots to help them become future ready. So, I want to extend immense gratitude to uh everybody uh on our staff uh including our board of education for all the support. So, everybody here today, all the administrators representing your buildings, just want to thank everyone for the ongoing commitment to learner growth. Uh and so, you know, ultimately I want the board to know we're committed to that green standard. We want to continuously help propel our kids to grow uh so that
042it's beyond the blue and it's about being wonderful human beings, wonderful learners. So, appreciate everyone uh appreciate the time and uh as always, go green grieving, but if you have any questions, I'm also happy to address anything. >> Well, I appreciate the way that you explained how this data helps you all make informed, solid instructional decisions. And so, I can see that the metric is useful in that way. I'm wondering as as our achievement levels grow higher and higher, assuming they do, won't it be harder to achieve growth? Do you know what I'm saying? It seems like there are limits. >> Yeah. So, this is where that that methodology comes in. So, that predictive model going to the beginning, they're using that growth comparing uh you know, what's uh what they're predicting for a kid
043based off of uh their previous achievement levels. So, there's still opportunity. So when we actually break this data down, we can see it based off of where the state is predicting a kid to fall and they growing within those particular domains. >> And one thing to to remember, I probably closer to micro microphone. It's about their placement and that curve equivalency too. So like it's a distribution of scores of all the different students in the entire state on each test. So it's really are they maintain that place in that distribution, moving up in that distribution. So if you're seeing like Mr. Hayes is talking about with the blue that means they're not just maintaining that place in that distribution of scores. They're continuing to move up versus their peers in each tested subject level. So
044it is hard. I mean if a student gets a perfect uh you know they kind of need to just about get a perfect the next year uh you know to maintain that blue. It is a challenge when you're having a high achievement level but we've also continued to do this you know year after year. >> Okay. >> All right then. concludes your report. >> That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Shabi. >> All right. Um I have financials for November and December. We'll start with uh the end of November 2025. Uh for the num month of November, expenditures exceeded revenues by uh 3.4 million. This decreases the general fund cash balance to 17 million, slightly over that to end November 2025. Um, and that's typical for uh, you know, heading
045into November, December, uh, even January because we, uh, stop collecting tax revenues, which is where our fund balance grows. Um, so you'll see those cash balances dwindle in those winter months. Um, and then February, this month, we'll start collecting again. So you'll see see it start to grow again for the rest of the year. Um, through the month of November, revenues were 4.4% 4% greater than previous year, while expenditures were 3.9% greater than previous year. Uh revenues for the month of November, revenue is down um $16,963 compared to last year, a year-over-year change of -3.3%. However, year to date through November, revenue is up uh just over a million dollars compared to last year. The month-to-month variance is due to a decrease in earnings on investment stemming from again decreasing uh interest rates coupled with
046shrinking cash balance resulting in fewer funds being invested um to earn those uh interest dollars. Um the year-to-ate increase of 4.4% is more in line with the forecasted projections. Revenue received through November totals 24.8 8 million of the annual budget budgeted total of 53 million. The amount budgeted of budgeted revenue remaining is a little over 28 million um based on projections. Expenditures for the month of November expenditures are down uh 1.2 million compared to last year, a year-over-year change of negative 24%. Um, however, the year-to-ate through November expenditures are up $880,000 compared to last year, a year-over-year change of 3.9%. The month-to-month decline is due to November of last year being a three pay month. So, that's what that big variance is for. This year is only two pay month. Um, expenditures through November total
04722.4 million of the annual budgeted total of 52.9 million. The amount of budget expenditures remaining is 30.5 million. The total cash balance for all funds is $18.1 million with the general fund having a cash balance of 17 million. This overall cash balance is 3.4 million less than that at the end of October as during this point of the year. As I said, revenues start to slow down as expenditures continue as as is. Any questions about the November financials? On to December. For the month of December, expenditures exceeded revenues again by 3.5 million. This decreases the general fund cash balance to 13.5 million to end December 25. Through the month of December, revenues were 4.7% greater than the previous year, while expenditures were 2.9% greater than the previous year. Um, for the month of December, revenue
048is down $6,000 compared to last year, a year-over-year change of negative 1.2%. However, year to date through de December, revenue is up 1.1 million compared to last year. Um, again, month-to-month various uh variances m mainly caused by earnings on investment um and a decrease in restricted state aid. So, our foundation funding um the year-to- date increase of 4.5% again more in line with our forecasted projections. Uh and revenue received through December totals 25.3 million of the annual budget of 53. The amount of budget revenue remaining is 27.8 million. For the month of December, expenditures are expenditures are down 126,000 compared to last year. a year-over-year change of negative3%. However, year to date through December, expenditures are up 756,000 compared to last year, a year-over-year change of 2.9%. The month-to-month declined due decreases in other expenses
049in salary and benefit expenditures. Um through December, our expenditures total 26.4 million of our annual budgeted 52.9 and we have about 26.4 four remaining for the year projected total cash balance for all funds is 14.5 million with the general fund having a cash balance of 13.5 this overall cash balance is 3.5 million less than that at the end of November as during this point of the year again the uh collection rates are slow um but we should receive our first tax collection this Friday actually so we'll start to see a climb again and And our next meeting I will have the forecast to present to you guys because that is now due at the end of February. So we will have a fun one then. >> Okay. Uh we have exhibit D1 which is a
050resolution to approve the financial statements and reports for both November and December. May I have a motion please? Actually I'll make the motion. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Are there any questions for Mr. Sheraldi? Right. Then please call the RO. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mr. Aim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> All right. Thank you. Um, on to new business. Exhibit E1A is a resolution to accept gifts and contributions. May I have a motion, please? >> Moved. >> Second. >> Uh, we thank all of our donors for these generous donations. Any other comments? And Mr. Shy, please call the role. >> Mrs. Clip, >> yes. >> Mr. Aim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >>
051yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> All right, moving on to personnel resolutions. Without objection, I'll take the first 14 together. >> We'll save the last one to do separately. Um, I'll read through them, then I'll get a motion. Exhibit E1 B1 is a resolution to accept resignations and retirement. Uh, exhibit E1B2 is a resolution to approve a leave of absence request. Exhibit E1B3 is a resolution to employ license substitute teachers for this school year. Exhibit E1B4 is a resolution to employ a building substitute teacher for this school year. Exhibit E1B5 is a resolution to award supplemental contracts to non-district personnel. Exhibit E1B6 is a resolution to award supplemental contracts to district personnel. Exhibit E1B7 is a resolution to employ support staff substitutes for this school year. Exhibit E1B8 is a resolution to employ support
052staff. Exhibit E1B9, a resolution to terminate the employment of a support staff member. Exhibit E1 B10, a resolution to approve the updated job description for a director of facilities, maintenance, and operations. Exhibit E1 B11 is a resolution to employ a long-term substitute specialist. Exhibit E1B12 is a resolution to employ the introduc introductory appointment of support staff. Exhibit E1B13, a resolution to approve a revised salary schedule for maintenance staff. And E1B14 is a resolution to improve to approve a revised job title and contract date increase for what is now called our director of pupil services. And I make a motion for all of those. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Are there any comments or questions about any of those before we vote? All good. You have two. >> Yes. Uh, unless there are
053so many of them. I don't unless there's a question, right? Then I think we're good to go. >> Okay. >> All right. Then Mr. Shelby, please call the RO. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mr. Akum, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Right. All of those are approved. And now exhibit E1B15 is a resolution to approve a revised salary range for administration. May I have a motion, please? >> Chair seconds. Um, did you want to say something before? >> Yes, thank you. So, um, just wanted to uh clarify this and I know I've put this in my um weekly updates to the board, but once we um resolve the AA contract and the OPS contract, um really needed to uh turn my attention
054to our administrative salary ranges. So, uh, participated in the greater Cleveland, uh, salary study going back to the fall just to get information from districts around the area, um, to see, you know, where where we stood in terms of what we paid our administrators for all the different positions. U, it was very, uh, very helpful actually. And then Mr. Schwaldy and I both um, were able to utilize some of the frontline software uh, that we have to to find some comparative school districts as well to add to that. And so that is the recommendation for all these different positions. most of them obviously adjusting the ranges and just to be clear uh that's that's sort of how we have done it in Aurora um we adjust the ranges which is what we're doing tonight um
055but there are no salary adjustments until the end of the year in the summer based on uh evaluations recommendation uh from me to the board president and then to the board for approval. We don't have um like a salary schedule with with steps and things like that responsibilities some districts do. that's just not how we're set up right now. So again, these are to make sure that we are staying competitive with our pay for our administrative team and able to make those raises uh uh year after year uh sort of commensurate with u with their responsibilities and um you know with uh peer uh schools and uh roles are being compensated. >> Okay, thank you for that. Are there any questions? >> Could you just quickly elaborate like what would be the factors that go
056into that low like me that range. >> Yeah. So essentially um this there was I didn't set up the original one which was I think set up maybe 20 years ago but the thought was that um we would establish okay what is a low point for an administrator in that position who um doesn't have much experience here or elsewhere versus some what is sort of like the average range given years of experience for that position. And then then the high would be how high are we able to go up to for somebody who does have that uh experience maybe coming from somewhere else if we hire them in. Um and that was sort of the the rationale. Um when we did our uh study uh to to look at moving these up was really looking
057at what our administrators paid. um how does that sort of match up with peer schools? Uh trying to find the the the averages uh making sure we were there uh or try to move uh slightly above to stay competitive. What I found though is actually um you know we uh we pay our administrators um well uh but but really there's a lot of room to grow in terms of uh how we pay them compared to other school districts. And so that was when we were trying to reestablish those ranges. That was the thought process to get that midpoint up to uh what it was in the salary study in peer groups or maybe slightly above. Right now we are we're not um you know what we're b we're paying our administrators is probably slightly below
058average in not in the whole study but just in our peer group uh study similar school study. >> Does that help? Okay. >> Okay. Um, we've got a motion in a second. >> Yes, we have a motion and a second. >> All right. Then please call the RO. >> Mr. Hikim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> All right. >> Okay. >> Um, exhibit E1C is a resolution to establish student fees. May I have a motion, please? >> Move. >> Second. >> Are there any questions? Just a quick comment. There's really hardly any changes in here except for if there were like slight workbook change fees or things like that, but really the fe fees are pretty much the
059same as last year. >> Okay. I had a question about the kindergarten fee. Um, do we offer payment plans or spread that out? You might know, right? We do offer payment plans and there's also um free reduced lunch uh families and students who uh pay on an ability to pay. Um so yes, there there is assistance with that. Uh and that's interesting that you asked about that because um I'm actually going to have a little report uh on that topic and a protect a potential creative way to defay some of those costs next month, but we'll wait on that till February. But yes, there is um there is assistance with that. Any other questions? Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahales, >> yes. >> Mr.
060Achim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> All right. Exhibit E1D is a resolution to approve the Spark program agreement. And I will make a motion. >> Second. >> Are there any comments or questions? >> I could just comment quickly that this is just this has nothing to do with us. It doesn't change any services. It's just spark essentially being consumed by the COG, which is a governmental agency, and they just need us to board approve this, and I need to, you know, send them the resolution so they can go forth with what they need to do. That's really it. But it changes nothing for Aurora. >> Okay. All right. Please call the >> Mrs. Mahalis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Achim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >>
061Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. Exhibit E1E is a resolution to approve an out ofstate and overnight field trip >> to Canada. May I have a motion, please? >> Are there any comments or questions? All right, then. Mr. Shy, please call the RO. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Mr. Achim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahales, >> yes. Exhibit E1F is a resolution to approve changes to a policy and a regulation regarding expense reimbursements and also a policy change regarding pro procurement and administration of overdose reversal drugs. May I have a motion please? >> Moved. >> Second. >> Are there any comments or questions? >> Just a quick comment that these are all required changes and very little latitude. So it's just a matter of getting them into
062the policies and then getting them changed with OSBA once you approve them. >> Right. We've had lots of time to review them. Any questions? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Mahalis. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fuller. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Schneider. >> Yes. >> Mr. Achim. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Click. >> Yes. >> Exhibit E1G is a resolution to approve an overnight trip for the future business leaders of America. Have a motion. Please. >> Moved. >> Second. >> Any comments or questions? Mr. Mr. Shaldy, please call the RO. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mr. Aum, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahales, >> yes. >> Exhibit E1H is a resolution to approve a bus purchase. May I have a motion, please? >> Moved. >> Second. >>
063Are there any comments or questions other than the thousand I've already asked? Do you mind if I comment on this one just to remind everybody how this >> So, um, we don't have the permanent improvement funds where we can just go out and buy five buses. So, we are on a rotation. Um, and we have to bid this out to the lowest bidder. Uh, that's what we did working with Mr. Arquella. Uh, and you can see that the lowest bid for uh, the bus that we need in terms of having uh, you know, the cameras and security and all the features that we would normally have goes to Cardinal. And we did that for four typical buses and with one special needs bus. They were uh the lowest in both contracts. And we will pay
064um for one bus for the next five years. But that allows us to get five new buses uh this summer. So that's what this bid is for. But we it's essentially financed over five years or essentially buying one per year if we get them all this summer. >> Questions? >> All right. Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Click. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fuller. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Snder. >> Yes. >> Mr. Achim. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mahales. >> Yes. >> Exhibit E1i is a resolution to approve a food service contract. May I have a motion, please? >> Moved. >> Any comments or questions? >> I would just say that uh both these uh groups did a great job. uh but we decided to to uh keep nutrition group as they were sort of the top
065uh top uh vendor that emerged throughout the entire process. uh they've been doing a great job and really trending upwards uh recently uh in terms of the choices that they're giving to our students, the product, working with Christini uh who has been incredible in terms of helping us from that director position and um if you remember I mean I can remember years ago where we were losing money on food service and now we're hopeful we're getting to the point where um you know every year uh we'll be getting a guaranteed income from food service potentially 175 to $200,000 a year. So, we've come a long way. Uh, and they've they've done a a great job being a good partner with us. So, Aramark made an incredible pitch, but uh, Nutrition Group still came out on
066top. >> Okay. >> Questions? >> All right. Please call. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mr. Achim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Mr. Whoop, sorry about that. Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> All right. And E1 E1J is a resolution to approve emergency school closings. May I have a motion? >> Second. >> Should I make a comment on this one, too? So, uh, we actually don't need to approve these. Um, it's not in our board policy. It's been a habit, a longtime habit. So, we discussed that we might not approve these anymore because I have the discretion to make the decision and do it. So, this might be the last one. Uh, thank you for watching the vote and approve it. However, I just wanted to remind the
067board we do have five Calamity days that we have used. We will have uh one more and per our plan as I shared with you uh we will have three virtual sort of blizzard bag uh asynchronous learning days coming up. So, we're preparing with our teams and our principles for that if that were to be the case. Uh we will all be doing some communicating uh to the families and community. Um so, we'll see. It's only early February, so it might have to happen. Yeah, I I did ask Dr. Milsuch what happens if the board votes no, >> and I had no answer. >> So, >> it's already done. >> If you want to see chaos, feel free. >> I do have to appreciate the my son's teachers have been very good at communicating what's
068going >> Okay, good. Yeah, we'll continue to work on that until and I'll be communicating that actually if we get beyond uh or we get to day six, I'll be reminding everybody that the next three are virtual learning days or blizzard bag days depending on the level. >> Okay, please call the role. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahalis, >> yes. >> Mr. Aim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Okay, we have no discussion items. Any board items? All right, then. Could I have a motion to adjurnn, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh, Mr. Shley, please call the role. >> Mrs. Click, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mahalus, >> yes. >> Mrs. Schneider, >> yes. >> Mr. Achim, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fuller, >> yes. >> Meeting is
069adjourned. And thank you all for coming.