001each of the funds for the same it's the same numbers just broken down uh in more detail 24 25 26 27 so they want the current year two previous years and then tax year 27 is the estimated year that the county commissioners are going to look at. Um I added some notes um at the end just so the budget commission will know why we have um funds in the 070 like we do uh because of our projects that we've been doing uh because they are going to see this number 27.3 million uh and they're going to have questions on that I'm sure so I want to go ahead and spell it out for them. Uh other than that the tax budget is the same. Uh we just list the tax millage here at the beginning
002on what we're expecting to collect. So five inside mills and then our voted outside mills. Don't know exactly. Typically we don't meet with the budget commission. They haven't been doing that. I don't know if the budget commission is going to want uh me to come this year since the tax budget process is new. I probably will try to go uh just to hear how they're kind of deliberating things and how they're talking tax budgets and how they're different. So might do that just because um see how the process is. I don't know what questions are going to come back. This is a whole new process for all 88 counties, every school district. uh is doing it a little differently uh with the full balances. Any questions on this tax budget? >> I just think that's
003a great idea. Um also for transparency and for our residents to be informed. Um will this information be put on our website? >> Yeah, it'll be once I sign it and we approve it, uh it'll I'll put the new ver updated version in here. So, it'll be available here. Yes, it will be available. >> Okay, great. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> You look at have any questions, just give me a call, email. Be happy to go over with you. >> Thank you, Mr. Roberts. >> This number four is a routine item. Uh just allow the superintendent treasure to attend professional meetings, reimbured. Five and six are also routine routine items. Um thing I point out is any contracts over or less than 25,000 do not need board approval. Uh anything
004over that need board approval. It's not always the case. Sometimes we just want to bring the contract to make awareness happen. Uh so there are contracts we bring to you that's under 25. Um but that's the threshold for it. Um, I did change exceeding this used to have a dollar amount, but a higher advis code is changing the bid limit every year. So, I just put to the legal bid threshold. We want to change the amount every year because they're increasing that every year on the I think by 2%. Um, we were required to bid up to that threshold by the IRS code than the others. Um, superintendent a little bit different. they've got the authority to hire temporary substitute personnel um or board action. Measure just pretty much allows me to invest our funds.
005Any questions on the two routine items >> on item number four? Um just so that our school community um are aware typically how many u meetings do you attend and also for Mrs. time for professional meetings >> in general >> not not many where I'm a member of Oasbo and she's a member of FASA a lot of times those are covered through those organizations >> OSBA meetings would be other ones that we would call uh for professional meetings Ohio Department of Education workforce meetings we attend um as needed just to keep us updated most the time. Uh and then I'm not sure if this falls under there, but then also leadership opportunity meetings. One of the ones I'm involved with that I've mentioned is the um school leadership institute that I'm attending this year. >>
006Most of my meetings are insurance related, finance related forecast with other treasures, things like that means. >> Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? >> Then we've got board comments. >> Oh, there's one more. >> 125 per meeting. >> The max for highrise code. >> Yes. >> Questions on the consent agenda. >> Hearing none. Um, Mr. Roberts. >> Mrs. Tally. >> Yes. >> M. Green. >> Yes. >> Mr. Art. >> Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Twist. >> Yes. Motion carries. Next up, I move to adjourn the organizational meeting at 7:02 p.m. >> I'll second. >> Mr. Roberts, >> Sally, >> yes. >> Mr. Twist. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ar. >> Yes. Cob. >> Yes. >> Green. >> Yes. >> Our organizational meeting is adjourned. If anyone wants to leave um before a regular
007meeting um that is certainly okay. Next, I call to order this January 12th, 2026 regular meeting at 7:03 p.m. Um, Mr. Roberts, >> yes. >> Green >> here. >> Mr. Sty >> here. >> Mr. Twist >> here. >> We will now stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance flag, United States. Do we have any additions or deletions to the agenda? We do not. I move to approve the agenda as presented. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Mr. Roberts. >> Mr. Stally? >> Yes. >> Miss SC? >> Yes. >> Mr. Art? >> Yes. >> Miss Green? >> Yes. >> Mr. Swiss? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. Next, we will have our uh first and only presentation from C.WEA. WA. >> Good evening. First of all, congratulations to the new board members. Tonight, I'm
008happy to report on the diverse learning opportunities happening across our district, ranging from STEM and literacy to character development into and the arts. I'd like to begin with our youngest learners at Indian Trail Elementary. Our student support specialist reports that kindergarten through 2 grade students are focusing heavily on accountability, which is the character trait for the month of January. The goal is to teach students that behavior is a learning process. When mistakes happen, rather than simple punishment, we are using educational consequences. This involves think sheets for reflection, writing apology letters, and delayed learning opportunities by starting the day with accountability quotes and focusing on repairing harm. We are seeing a positive impact on student behavior this year. Moving on to the second grade science curriculum. In Miss Hazelbaker's class, students are getting their hands dirty
009with the annual pumpkin life cycle experiment. They are observing the decomposition process firsthand, tracking the changes from fruit back to soil, a memorable hands-on lesson in biology. At the third through fifth grade level, we have several exciting updates. First, our third graders recently completed a major project-based learning unit, the annual gingerbread house project. This wasn't just about frosting. Students were hired as architects, project managers, and builders. They had to collaborate to design and build a house for Mr. Gingi while adhering to a strict budget. The unit culminated in a parade of homes. I want to specifically extend a thank you to our third grade families. They donated the supplies and volunteered their time. We absolutely could not have done this real world simulation without their partnership. In fourth grade English language arts, students have begun
010their annual study of the novel because of Wind Dixie. They are diving deep into themes, historical fiction elements, and vocabulary. Glasses help by the way. This will result in a creative body biography project where groups analyze a specific character through a visual and textual presentation. In the Winchester Trail Library, there is a buzz about books and bots. On the literacy front, students are studying the criteria for the prestigious Calicott and Newberry medals. They are reading contenders and making data-driven predictions on who will win the awards later this month. On the STEM side of things, we are preparing for the second round of Tech Quest. Our club exploring coding and engineering. Students will spend two weeks building Lego robots and writing code to control the robots movements, lights, and sounds. Finally, at the middle school [clears
011throat] level, our seventh grade social studies classes are bridging the gap between history and the arts. As part of their study of Islamic empires, they are analyzing the impact of art on modern society. Students are currently creating their own tiled patterns and tessillations, mirroring the mathematical beauty of historical Islamic art. These updates reflect a district-wide commitment to creative, rigorous, and character-driven education. >> Thank you so much. Next we have our public voice or public comments. Do we have any? We do not. Moving into executive reports, we will hear from our treasurer, Mr. Roberts. Good evening, board. Uh first, the governor right before the holiday break. remember it was on the 19th or 20th signed uh the four house bills uh that impacted us the most. Um so now we know what's out there. Now we've
012got to figure out um kind of what that means to us in the process of that. County audit auditors are in the process of figuring how to calculate those things, how to do the values, how to do the tax rates. Um nothing is going to be impacted on the first settlement um on your first tax bill. uh will be the second settlement. So we won't see the impact until July August when those second tax bills are paid and issued. Uh so tax credits will not be on the first settlement. Uh they'll be on the second settlement. So we have a pretty good understanding of of the impact. Uh forecast update will be coming next month. Uh this will be a lot more details, a lot more information on how much our forecast has changed. Fortunately,
013it's it's pretty similar to the one that was introduced u before. Like now we're in a position to where we just got a game plan. Kai and I have been meeting look at options, look at all the solutions, whether it's levies, whether it's cuts, whether it's combination of the two. So, we're putting our plan together. Um, combining that with the plan for what we're happening with capital projects. Um, as many people know, we've got the performing arts center project happening. Uh, includes an athletic facility, includes new baseball and softball fields. All those things are kind of working together. Um, you also add another element in that [clears throat] we're not sure of yet. We we moved the inside millillage for permanent improvement. This is the first year for that. So seeing how the tax reform
014is impacting that. Um waiting to see that part of it as well. Um we were one of a few districts in central Iowa where all four house bills impacted us. I think Kai has been the superintendent meetings. Um I think you raised your hand on all four of them, right? And you were the the lone soul. Um, so we'll adjust. Um, we'll see how it kind of goes from there. Uh, luckily we were sitting in a really good cash position uh, to start this process. Um, some school districts were less fortunate to be [clears throat] there. You can see year-over-year revenues down 780,000. Um, mainly due to the adjustment and economically disadvantaged funding in the state funding formula. Um, all revenues are down 600,000. Uh, that's mainly due to one a one-time rate. Uh, we
015just filed an AT-ate reimbursement. We're going to get that back here soon. It's not going to be in the neighborhood of that. Um, tangible virtual property down 344,000. That's due to one taxpayer. Um, I did receive 10 of the values that, um, were kind of concerning. I wasn't expecting. our pup values went down uh over $5 million. I was not expecting that. So, I don't know if Fairfield County's values are uh correct. I heard another treasurer say last week that uh they got a response back from Fairfield County that their values were not completely done. So, I received ours from Franklin County. What they do is a bond and emergency levy calculation and they put the tenant the values in. So, not sure exactly they estimated that or that came from Fairfield County. So, we're
016still we're still waiting on a lot of information um come in. Uh we may not have all of that for the February update. We we're going to probably have enough to know exactly where we are. Um but we're not going to really look to make any changes in this fiscal year. Not that many changes in fiscal year 27. We're going to try to knock out some lowhanging fruit type items um to start saving on cost, start reducing costs, and start getting into that mindset. Uh but we're not going to know the true impact until later this year. And then we'll we'll have a real game plan uh really where we start looking at things in fiscal 28. We're about 18 months out um before we start being impacted uh too much. Um, like I said,
017working through the projects. Um, we met last last month on looking to increase the amount of uh loan money that we we've got for the project. So, working through that. I was going to bring it this meeting, but I didn't want Miss Mrs. SC, Mr. Art to first meeting on board, not to be aware of what we're doing with the project. So, I want to bring you two up to speed uh with what we're doing on those projects from a loan standpoint and financing standpoint. I didn't want to just bring a big number to you on your first meeting. So, um, at some point I told Mr. Art, I want to get touch base with him. We can touch base. I can bring you up to speed with everything that we're doing. Um, otherwise uh
018everything's trending to the forecast um and is expected sitting with 41.6 million currently uh in the general fund balance. Um overall sitting with over 80 million in the cash uh balances for all funds. Any questions on the financials at this point we're halfway through the year. Um so these should be in the 50% range. Um you can see salaries and benefit are right there at the 50% range. Just so you guys know what these reports do. Um, this first report compares our actual to the forecast column. When you see 49.6% of revenues, uh, you can tell that's our revenues are being projected pretty closely. Then the same for expenditures. These are down mainly because we haven't touched any of the transfers yet. Look at the individual lines up top. We're right on track with what
019we've got budgeted. If we were way above 50%, I'd be worried. Uh supplies, we're at 60. That's pretty normal because we frontload Chromebook purchases, uh textbook adoptions, and things like that. So, supplies are always frontloaded above the 50% or above the budget, it starts reducing as we get through the year. Any questions on the on the forecast? I know I approach these um revenue categories as buckets and uh 1.6 all other revenues. Can you um just review what's comprised in that section? Again, >> mostly interest earnings is a big driver for us. A lot of payment in lie of taxes. Uh so we have a lot more of the were from the warehouses coming in. Um rate is another decent size one. Um, so we get X amount of dollars every five years for a
020tier and then we've got our our internet paid. So big bucket of that is for that. Um, what else is in there? Those are your biggest players for the most part. Interest earnings is going to drive it the most. Um, if it were to drop, it'd be because of interest earnings. So, I've got my eye on that. >> Yeah, because I noticed [clears throat] that that was one of the larger um downward trends on this forecast. Yeah, it uh we had a onetime - payment last year. We had a big uh settlement. Uh we ran out of the five-year money and we're getting a new bucket starting this year. Uh so that that those reimbursements will start coming back a little bit higher as well. >> Does anyone have any other questions for Mr. Roberts
021regarding his report? Hearing none. Thank you. Next, we will hear from our superintendent, Mrs. Kaia Hunt. >> All right. Thank you. First up, I want to say congratulations and welcome to Leah and Joe. Uh, we're glad to have you here. And congratulations, Monica, on your re-election. And congratulations on president and vice president to Chloe. Um, I'm going to start off first with our Knock Your Socks Off awards. Uh, these are our first for January 2026 and I'm excited to recognize six staff members as our January recipients. First up and is Lisa Pontius, school counselor at Winchester Trail and she was nominated by Mackenzie Malin. McKenzie said, "I would like to nominate Winchester Trail School Counselor, Lisa, who is currently doing the work of two people with the heart of 10." Come on up. Don't be
022shy. I recognize you. All right. As many know, Lisa is currently covering a second position due to a maternity leave. What people might not know or see is that despite having a packed schedule every day, her door remains open. Although she would be justified in closing her office to catch up on paperwork, she prioritizes the students and staff first, often staying after work hours to play catchup. She creates a safe place for our students every day, whether it is handling crisis intervention, responding to requests from staff, or simply checking in on a quiet student in the hallway. She makes our school feel safer and warmer. She's carrying a heavy load right now, but nobody would know it with the continuing support she provides. She is the definition of above and beyond and we are incredibly
023lucky to have her here at Winchester Trail. Congratulations. >> Thank you. We appreciate you for all you do. Thank you, Lisa. All right. Next up, we have Hannah Fowler, kindergarten teacher at Indian Trail. And Hannah was nominated by Miley Hmon. Hannah is Miley says, "Hannah is an amazing co-orker and teacher. She is constantly going above and beyond with providing services that are beyond her job description. She makes the school a better workplace and puts her heart and soul into everything she does as a colleague and a teacher. Congratulations, Hannah. Of course. Thank you. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Next up, we have Ashley Durst, seventh grade teacher at Canal Winchester Middle School, and she was nominated by Leanne Huitt. Leanne says, "Ashley Durst knocks my socks off.
024She is kind, thoughtful, and sincere. Someone whose compassion and genuine care for others shines through in everything she does. On days when the weight of the job feels heavy, or when I am questioning if I'm actually reaching anyone, I have the appreciation letters Ashley D has her students write. In these moments of doubt, reading the sincere words of a student acts as a lifeline. It shifts my entire perspective, reminding me that even on my worst days, I have left a positive mark on someone's life. They are my why captured in ink. Those letters have become treasures to me. They are priceless. Each one carries a voice, a memory, a spark of joy that lifts my spirits in a way nothing else can. I am so deeply grateful to Ashley for facilitating this tradition because the
025letters I have received are more than just compliments. They are fuel. They remind me that my work makes a difference sometimes in ways I don't immediately see. So, thank you Ashley and congratulations. >> Mrs. D knows this story, but my son I'm an a longtime educator and my son is an education and people say, "Oh, that's great. He followed in your footsteps." And he says, "Nope, I'm following in Mrs. D's footsteps." So, he's a teacher because of you and you know that. >> Thank you, Ash. Yes. Thank you for being here as well. Next up, we have Jennifer Eert, who is an intervention specialist at Indian Trail, and she was nominated by Tabitha Rap. Eert, it doesn't look like, is here, but I am still going to I'm going to read what Miss Rap said
026about Jennifer. Jenna is always going above and beyond to help students on her case load, but also any student in need. Anytime I'm stressing over something, she will literally take the problem off my hands. Whether it's helping with a behavior that's not her student, cleaning up a spill in the classroom or hallway, taking a student to the office, filling in on my duty I can't get to, making a quick copy, or helping a student make up absent work or test. She listens when I need to talk it out, and is always encouraging me to stay focused and do great. So, congratulations to Jen. Next up, we have Vonda Murdoch, par profofessional at Winchester Trail Elementary School, and she was nominated by Ruthie Webb. I also do not see Vonda here, but Miss Webb says that
027Vonda is always giving her best, loving our students, and instilling leadership skills. Colleagues can count on her to be positive and supportive. Congratulations to Vonda. And last, but certainly not least, we have Bailey Strickland, who's a PAR professional at Canal Winchester High School, and she was nominated by Tiara Freeling. And Bailey also is not here. But Miss Freent says Bailey is always willing to jump in and help. She makes sure kids are on task and always takes time to listen when a kid needs to talk or ask a question. She also helps run a club for activity day and helps coach the soccer team. She is such a bright and happy person. So congratulations to Bailey. And congratulations to all of our Knock Your Socks Off recipients. One more round of applause. Right. Thank you.
028Next up, we have that January is school board recognition month, and I want to take just a moment to thank our board of education members for their service, leadership, and commitment to Canal Winchester schools. Their time, care, and thoughtful decision-making help guide our district and support the success of our students, staff, and schools. We are grateful for the many hours that you all dedicate behind the scenes and for your willingness to serve our community. Your leadership helps ensure our district continues moving forward in a positive direction. So, we would like to honor you. First, we have certificates of appreciation and these are from the Ohio School Board Association. And then also, and we do not have to grab these, but you each uh just for our gratitude, uh we got you each a Canal Winchester
029blanket so that when you're, you know, thinking of all the wonderful things that you're planning, um on a Friday evening on the couch that you are surrounded by love of the county with Chester School. So, thank you. Congratulations. All right. Next up, we are just going to report a few things from across the district. So, we were happy to welcome back our students and our staff to school on January 5th after winter break. We hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable break. And it has been a great and it has been great to see our buildings full of learning, energy, and familiar faces again. Our staff worked hard to ensure a smooth return and a strong start to the new year. It was wonderful to see so many students, families, and staff at the
030grand opening of the new Canal Winchester Library branch, which was this past Saturday, January 10th. This new space is an exciting addition to our community, and we are grateful for our partnership with the library. Board President, Mrs. Tally presented a statement of congratulations to library leadership to help celebrate this milestone. Looking ahead, Canal Winchester High School will host host Pathways to Success Night on January 28th. This openhouse event gives students and families the opportunity to explore course offerings, learn about future pathways at Canal Winchester High School and beyond, and connect with teachers and staff. Families can attendformational sessions for incoming 9th graders. Students interested in the career center and those exploring military options. An art show featuring student work will also be part of the evening. Since students will begin scheduling classes for next year
031in February, this is a great time to ask questions and plan ahead. We hope to see many of our families there. This concludes my report for this evening. Thank you again for your continued support to our students, our staff, and our schools. Thank you, Mrs. Hunt, for that update, and thank you for um appreciating uh for your presentation for appreciating the board. And um I think it's it's very uh cool that OSBA used scaling new heights because it totally corresponds with the district's climbing still climbing theme >> that we had at the beginning of the school year. >> Of course. Yes. >> And that was planned. No, just kidding. But it was great to see that. >> Yes. Um next we have our board committee reports. We will start with the CWJRD. Uh, first off,
032I want to welcome Mayor Stagger in the crowd. So, good to see you here, Mayor. Thank you for being here. Uh, JRD is right now has open um, uh, open opportunities to play for baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse, soccer, and Mr. Art's favorite, I rest sound bath. So, I know he's he enjoys doing that one. So, uh, and that's all we have. We have a meeting tomorrow night. Mr. is uh going to be on that chair on that and uh he will be welcomed there tomorrow night and we'll get him caught up all caught up there. And I just want to finish by saying uh the Steelers have a big game tonight. So as a longtime Browns fan, go Texans. [laughter] >> And that's all. >> Thank you, Mr. Twist. Um, I will speak on
033behalf of the legislative liaison committee and I I too would like to recognize our senator um Michelle Reynolds. Thank you for being here. our district um plans to renew its membership with the Ohio School Boards Association um what we refer to often as OSBA. Um this organization provides school board members with essential tools, guidance, and support to effectively serve our district. OSBA offers legislative advocacy, legal resources, and timely communication on critical issues impacting public education. Their advocacy efforts also have a positive fiscal impact by supporting statewide initiatives that help districts secur funding. In addition, we plan to utilize OSBA to conduct um a new board member orientation and workshop. Um Mrs. Huh? We're still on board for doing that? >> Yes, we're just waiting back for There was some retirement, so we're just waiting back
034to find a date. But yes. >> Okay, sounds good. Also, um the 136th General Assembly um has released its schedule for the first half of 2026. The House will begin committee work during the first week of February with this first session scheduled for Wednesday, February 18th. The Senate will return earlier, resuming committee work on Tuesday, January 27th, followed by its first session on Wednesday, January 28th. Both chambers will recess in the spring for the primary election and again in midJune for summer break. Um, this concludes my report and thank you for your attention. Next, we will hear from our student achievement uh our previous student achievement liaison. >> Thank you, Mrs. Tally. Um we just have one thing that came to our emails today. Um the Pickerington Community Pool is looking for lifeguards. So, if
035you know someone who is 16 years old um by May 23rd of this year and they would like to be a lifeguard, they are looking for some people over there. Um you could also reach out to Mr. Ramsey as well. should have some information for those students who might be interested in doing that. That's all I have to report. Thank you so much, Miss Green. Next on our agenda, I need a motion to approve consent agenda items. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you very much. We'll start. Number two is our minutes uh from three December meetings, December 8th, December 18th, and our December 30th meeting. Number three is donations. We do have three donations. Um two come from the CW performing arts group, and those donations are to the high school drama and
036the high [clears throat] school choir, and we have a donation from Carol Spires to the now Winchester marching band. So, thank you to those individuals who donated. Number four is our certified personnel. Uh we do have resignations. Number five is our classified personnel. Again, we have several resignations and we are uh asking you to approve a position for evening custodian and then a credit recovery aid and both of those were due to resignations. Also under classified resignations, we do have substitute classified recommendations uh for a subbus driver. Number six is our supplemental personnel and stipens. We are we do have a couple rescended contracts and again just as a reminder and then to the new board members uh we have changed how we do our supplementals and we approve all coaches and adviserss in May.
037uh that allows us to cover through the summer when they're coaching and then as they either resign or if somebody changed their minds or we issued a contract that was not intended to be fulfilled, we would resend that contract and then fill it later. So that's you will see these pretty standard for board meetings moving forward. Um and then following up, we do have uh approving our assistant high school baseball coaches as well as an assistant director for theater. And number seven is we have three early graduation requests. And that's all I have for consent agenda this evening. >> Sounds good. Um I would like to uh just mention that our high school choir ensemble did such a phenomenal job at the grand opening on Saturday. Um it was just awesome. So uh thank you
038to Mr. Brennan and his team. Um, but they really did make us uh, CW proud. And are there any um, comments or discussion regarding the consent agenda items? Hearing none. Mr. Roberts, >> yes. >> Miss Green, >> yes. >> Mrs. Tally, >> yes. Motion carries. Next, um if there are no further um discussion items, uh I move to adjourn this regular meeting of the Canal Winchester School Board at 7:33 p.m. >> Second. >> Mr. Roberts, >> yes. >> Miss Green, >> yes. >> Mr. Art, >> yes. Rob. >> Yes. >> Mr. Twist. >> Yes. >> Motion carry. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you so much and have a great evening.