001Seeing a quorum of vote voting members, I call the April 21st Cincinnati School Board meeting to order. Let's do a roll call. Mr. Craig here. Mr. Crosset here. Mr. Mr. Lindy here. Miss M here. Mrs. Weinberg, Vice President Bolton present. President Moffett here. Um blinking. Do I do the amended now or late? I do it now. So um you can do the you can do it. Let's do the flag first. Superintendent Murphy, please introduce our wonderful students that will be virtually leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Yes, ma'am. So today we have students from Silverton Elementary School where their principal is Kevin Williams. Silvery Eagles, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
002under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So, thank you. [Music] Um, Vice President Bolton, please explain the virtual hearing of the public process. Thank you very much. Uh members of the public who are online and wish to speak during the hearing of the public this evening may do so by clicking the chat button now. The chat feature will be open for your requests for five minutes. If you would like a direct response to your questions, please make sure to share your name, your affiliation to the district, your school community, your topic, and your contact information. Thank you. And I'm going to need a motion to adjust the the agenda for this evening to allow our guests, the um Aken boys basketball team to be moved up in the agenda a little bit um
003so that we can celebrate them. And I know it's a school night. I don't want you all to be out here too late. So, we're going to um I need a motion to adjust the evening's agenda. So moved making the agenda uh change in order to honor the Aken Falcons. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. The motion is approved. Oh, I'm sorry. It's approved by me, but we got to vote. I know how you Wagner. Mr. Craig. Yes. Mr. Crossen. Yes. Mr. Lindy? Yep. Miss M? Yes. Vice President Bolton? Yes. President Moffett? Yes. Tonight's agenda is approved as adjusted. So, let's have our um wonderful 2025 Aken historic basketball team come up as we celebrate your season. Coach Black, we're going to need you to introduce everyone. Um, come on down. We need you
004all to clap them up. We are here to celebrate and read this awesome resolution. Um, let's see. Board members, we're going to present this to the coach and we're also going to present each of the players and take a picture with each of them and then we're going to take a collective picture. So, describe to us why, how you all made history and then we're going to um read our resolution. Okay. Um, we got a great group of student athletes, so they all bought into the mission. And this was probably, um, a two-year process. Most of these guys been here the previous year as well. So, it was just a two-year process of of commitment and dedication to the craft and just putting a great coaching staff around us with uh, student athletes and parents
005that were all engaged. And, um, you know, we went off into this year and we started off 21 and0 and we never imagined to even be that. and um we just took it one game at a time and just appreciated each opportunity we had together and we would we would always set it before every game that you know we want to go one and0 each night and that was the goal and then um you know once we lost in uh our last game of the season and kind of motivated us to make a run in the tournament and get that revenge game against the Troutwood uh team that we did see before we made it to the final four and then um after that it was just like um we just kept going. We we
006beat Sanduski and then we got to Lewisville, made a historic comeback and just fell two points short. So, um a historic season, but these guys were historic every day with their approach and just their commitment to being great and doing something um phenomenal for just the school culture itself. So, that's how we got to where we made it. Thank you. Board members, do you all have anything that you'd like to say or add? board member Craig. I I just want to say, you know, again, I think we all are very proud of the hard work that all the students put into it, but I know that in this day and age, there's so many other things the students could be doing. There's so many other things that our kids could be doing. And it's great
007to see such a positive team building, relationship building. These are the stories they'll tell their grandkids many years later when they sitting around talking about what did y'all do, grandpa? We went to state champion. Those are the things that that happen now. So, I'm very proud of all the hard work that you all did and very proud of the great example you set for CPS. Thank you. Any other board members? Board member Lindy, I just want to say congratulations. What what an incredible uh season that's been and and thank you for sharing your time and energy with our young people. Um, thank you all for the work you did together and with this team and thank you for bringing such uh hope, optimism um to this room. So, thank you. Thank you. Vice President Bolton.
008Yes. Thank you. Uh second all of the things that my colleagues have said and more particularly like to second everything that I have heard in the neighborhood and also among the alums. I date myself significantly by telling you that I am so old that I graduated from Aken in 1969 and I have never been more proud. And when I watched first of all surviving, but second of all watching you all have a remarkable, miraculous, excellent falconlike season. So I appreciate the wearing of the purple, appreciate the teamwork, and most particularly appreciate that you gave each other the best that you each had. So thank you. Thank you. So we're going to read. You just want to say something before we read that? Yes, ma'am. Board member Ma'am. So, I just wanted to congratulate all of
009you on such an amazing accomplishment. I was excited to be able to be at the school with you as well as travel up to Dayton. And I'm just extremely proud of the confidence that you exuded and the teamwork um and just the dedication to the craft. And most importantly, I just really appreciated how you encouraged each other out on the floor. Um so, I'm excited for this day for you all and thank you for making history for CPS. Thank you. We have a resolution and we're going to um before we actually present it to you, we're going to read it to you. So, let's have all the gentlemen come up so you can hear us. Come on down. Yes. I just wanted to say I just want to say go Falcons. There you go. We
010are super proud of you. And I'm going to tell you what you all did was definitely historic. You all got a lot of Achen alums awake that were not awake. My mom graduated in 1970 and she was running around talking about swoop too. So you all ignited the city. The mayor gave you videos. They did a video call and they had to show the video in three different sections cuz it was just awesome. To the coaches, you all did this. you all poured into these young men goodness and you got it back. So, thank you for all you do. All you do. So, we're going to read this resolution to you and then we're going to come up. We have a copy of it. I know it might not seem like kind of fun, but
011it's actually a pretty big deal. And um then we're going to take a picture. Is that okay? Yep. Y'all don't look excited. Is that okay? Well, remember that. All right. a resolution celebrating Aken boys basketball historic 2024 2025 season. Whereas the board of education is proud to celebrate the Aken Falcon boys basketball team on an outstanding 2425 season. And whereas the Falcons had a regular season record of 21 to1 losing only one close game at Trotwood Madison. Akens swept the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference, CAMAC, winning every conference game to become back-to-back CMAC conference champions. By winning the first 21 games of the season, the Falcons achieved the best start in school history and the best start in CMAC history. hand. Whereas Aken cruised through its first few division 3 playoff games against Talawanda, Ross, and
012Belbrook before defeating the Lasal Lancers 5655 on a last second go-ahad free throw. Next, the Falcons avenged their regular season loss by beating Trotwood Madison 7150 at Xavier University's Cinta Center to move into the state semi-finals. And whereas on March 16th, the Falcons prevailed in a comeback win against Sanduski before a large crowd at Wright State University's Nutter Center, becoming the only Cincinnati area boys basketball team to compete in a state championship game in 2025. On March 21st at University of Dayton Arena, the Aken boys were the pride of Cincinnati as they fought back from a 19-point deficit in the first half, losing by just two points to the Louisville Leopards. hands. Whereas the team achieved numerous individual awards and honors, including Jaden Arnold, who was named the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association player
013of the year and all Ohio first team, James Bernett Jr. who was named Lar Roza's MVP, featured athlete, and all Ohio honorable mention. and CMAC honors to Tavon Smith, Antoine Hinton, Justin Hawkins, and Antonio Hutcherson Jr. Whereas Akens 2024 2025 boys basketball team brought pride and adoration from Aken High School students and alumni and the entire Cincinnati public schools community with cries of being heard everywhere in Cincinnati. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education celebrates the Aken Falcons and congratulates the players and coaches on a historic 2024 25 season best boys basketball season. We are so proud of you. Now it's time for the hugs. Come on. [Applause] I like that. Come on. Wow. Thank you so much. million dollars to fund um originally the expansion of preschool um and that is
014shared with uh SAI preschool promise organization with Cincinnati public schools participating as well. So from the feedback I received um after various conversations we came down to one of two choices. One is well actually three. One is to continue at a $48 million fixed sum levy at a 5-year cycle. So it's just a straight renewal. Two continue as a $48 million on a 10-year cycle is a fixed sum levy. Um or three use the substitute levy. Um it still stays a fixed sum levy. Uh but the advantage you get with the substitute is that you can um get extra revenue for uh new construction. So it would it would increase the $48 million for the value of the new construction and any tips that would roll off. It's a harder to explain to the public,
015but it's basically the same levy. It's just it adds it doesn't take the um the millage rate from the beginning of the levy from 2016 um and those property values at $48 million. Um but it allows for new construction to be added on to that property base value. The the disadvantage of that is it might reduce our state share. That's it. Yeah. Is that it? Okay. Unless you have other discussions, but do board members have any questions? This was a topic that we talked about at the last meeting. We're just bringing it back so that we can revisit this. We have got to make some decisions around the levy. So, I figured we'll just keep talking about it until we come up with some answers. Any board members questions? Okay, let's start at this end.
016Board member Matt, thank you. So, just a quick question. You spoke about the substitute uh levy option. Uh so with that new construction money that would be added on, what would that I guess what would be like an ideal figure of what that additional money could look like? I don't I don't know. We'd have to have the send it to the Hamilton County auditor to certify the millillage and the values to answer that question. Okay. Off the top of my head, I don't know how much new value was added in the last 10 years. Yeah, it was just more of an idea of trying to get an understanding too. Like you said, it's a little bit more difficult to understand the substitute levy and so just trying to gauge what additional money would look like
017on top of that 48 million. Okay. Mhm. So that's a question that you would like to be brought back as an assignment. That's fine. Yes. Okay. Member Lindy question. Um thank you. My um question was a process one. Uh, I wanted to just touch base again on when we're going to vote. I'm not advocating this be sooner or later. I just wanted it to be clear and announced in advance um when we're going to vote on whatever we want to put on the ballot in November. I I certainly for my part support a renewal. I certainly for my part support renewal for 10 years. And if people want to argue for five, I'm open. But but that's where I am. Um I similar questions about the substitute levy. I'm I would want to know more
018about what range of outcomes could we see? Does it put it at risk if we put it on a ballot and call it something other than a renewal? Um does it make it harder to pass for some reason? But if if all we're doing is the 5y year or the 10 year, I certainly support the 10ear, but when when are we going to vote on the um decision? So, I'm going to I'm going to answer your question two different ways. There was it was unlikely that we would vote today, but we could have. I don't feel like we have enough information. I want to keep it on the agenda so that in the event everyone feels as as if they have enough information, we could vote. I believe that is scheduled according to the schedule
019that I got from the treasurer and the superintendent to happen sometime in May. But my other part of the answering the question is is that still around the timeline that you all are thinking that we need to have a decision for what the language what to make a decision from the board in May or June? Uh the board of elections I think it's a board of elections it requires it to be approved the first resolution to be approved by by mid January 100 days um July. Okay. Um and then the second resolution adopting the ballot language has to be done 90 days before the election. So you have a little bit of time. Um but the sooner the better. It gives you more time to educate. So my thought member Lindy was that we would
020discuss this in in May. Everyone get all the information that they needed um by either the end of May or June we have enough information to make a decision get get all of our questions answered. We're also with the time constraint of our treasurer leaving tounes to we've got Mr. Augustine coming on, but we also wanted to do some things around having um the treasure Wagner here and in the transition. So, I believe we will be making ready to make some decisions at the end of May. Thank you. Sure. Well, member Wineberg, did you question? Vice President Bolton. Yes. Thank you very much and thanks for keeping it on the agenda so that we get all the questions answered. Um I I am supportive of the renewal. I am supportive of the 10-year and I
021am supportive of the uh substitute version um and because I think we can't miss an opportunity for revenue. Uh and also I think it makes it clear for everybody that in many of these cases we don't get more money uh regardless of what happens regarding property values or whatever. Uh I do think that the sooner we vote for it the better uh for an educational piece for the public. I think there's probably a consensus and probably some degree of unonymity about the renewal itself. And there might be some unonymity, I would think, about the 10-year for the reason that it fits in the schedule with the rest of the requests we're going to be making of the public in the next several years. That that leapfrog could help us uh later on. I I would
022like to ask that the treasurer knowing that she will be uh not necessarily present in the next couple of uh uh weeks. I would like the the treasure and I think we have heard from the superintendent as well, but particularly from the treasur about uh what her recommendation is regarding the uh renewal and to see if we have uh uh a partnership between the treasurer and the superintendent as to what in your best judgment is what we what you might be maybe proposing. I won't say recommending yet if if we're not quite comfortable with recommendation, but where is the administration uh on uh this renewal? More money. See, I thought I was with you last meeting. Microphone. What's a substitute? 10 years. 10 years. I I agree with Jennifer Wagner. So, um, board member Matt
023point, um, asked me a good question. We probably should valu balance the extra revenue versus the possible confusion over a substitute levy and the risk of it not passing. Um, I'll work with um, David Connley and and Brenda Weamer and and we'll have Mike come back and present on May since I will be not in attendance. Yeah. Do you support the 10-year? Yes. Do you support that there should be a renewal? Of course. Okay. Well, I'm just saying. And the more money uh is that asking for more money in the renewal or is it asking for more money via the substitute even though we all know we do need more money and we need it as soon as we can get it. So, my original recommendation was an incre renewal with an increase, right? And
024so, but because of the climate, um, and those that are smarter than me, um, talk me down. And so, I would I would like us to see to go with a substitute. You can even make it continuing so you're not coming back to the ballot. Um, you can also do a 10 year up to 10 years of substitute levy and you can renew those as well. I I I don't I just don't know how hard it is to sell a substitutes levy because I've never heard of anybody that done it. But so I'll get some more information on it. But that would be my preference. Anything that would gain more resources since our other financial resources are shrinking. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Craig. Uh well I think you know there's a consensus
025has been given to you at least as far as the direction is to a renewal with the amount that you know that we were kind of at with uh the tenure I think again makes more sense given we have other things that will be kind of flowing through those cycles. Um, I do think the question of the renewal versus the substitute is a valid question to ask and then especially the benefit of not providing confusion to voters in a period of time in which we are trying to do a lot of different things and put a lot of different ideas on people's plates. It's always good. And then again, the places that have passed school levies more recently have really kind of tried to keep a concise message to it. Um, I do think whatever
026we decide to do, we should also still incorporate our preschool promise partners into once we've made a decision to allow them to be able to voice some of their uh some of the benefits that have come from better quality preschool education as part of that message so we have something that's more consistent and clear out there. But I I think the use of the substitute I I would be encouraged by it because I also believe that would spread some of the cost out on others uh in a different way at least slightly. So, you know, yes, it may bring in a little bit more, but at the very least, it might allow some folks to not carry the same burden as they were carrying um with the fixed levy that was currently there. Yeah, because
027the more taxpayers that are in the taxpaying pool, the smaller the individual price gets. Correct. Oh, we'll bring back some analysis. Well, member cross. Um, yeah, I would support a 10-year renewal and I think taking a little closer look at the substitute uh give us some upside for some money. Uh I also think that it'll take a little bit of extra communication with the public to get some understanding of that. But I do think to Brandon's point if if it means that over that 10-year period an individual taxpayer might pay less or have their share might be less would be a good selling point to get that adopted. So I'll go last. I um I'm for a tenure year because it matches what we've already done. Um I do think that as much as you
028have done an awesome job on our Just Ask Jgens, people really the messaging around levies is just still confusing to people. I think they think it's one levy. We just keep asking them for more money over and over again. So, um I think that will help with that. I'm for a substitute and um I'm even for the continuing I may be a little different. I think we I' I've been out already just talking to different people who have had their property taxes impacted and they're just like, "Oh my god, I don't want more." So, I'm also very interested in the income tax levy option as a way to get more money. And that we haven't really talked about. Um, but I feel like people I'm for renewal, but I'm also for getting taxpayers to to
029feel like there's we're we're trying to explore options. So, I think a lot of it is messaging and I don't I don't I think we'd have to ramp it up significantly. But, what are your thoughts on an income? So, an income tax levy would be a new levy, right? This is a replacement. So, if you went for an income tax in November, this one would expire. Well, I wasn't talking about in in in replacement of I was talking about in addition to Oh, okay. Um, yeah. So, the advice that I received was shoot for next November for the income tax. Gives you more time to um get it out there in public and get people to help people understand what it is and why you're doing what you're doing. um in in order to help
030fund the facility repair plan that's up to what 200 million now and then whatever is going on with the the third phase of the growth plan. You could or you could take the income tax levy next year to do the increase of needs of operations because our revenues are not keeping pace with inflation. So, we're just always in a state of cut to uh the facility repair plan. You can couple those into an income tax levy. Um and then when the bond renewal comes up for renewal, you can um go on the ballot to replace that for the growth plan. Okay. Well, just since we're sharing thoughts, the pro going back up in the next November just feels like again asking and asking and asking versus um and it defeats the purpose which is what
031we said was the purpose of the 10-year. Um and then I I just I do I would like some more information on that too. just not I definitely want our renewal levy how that looks substitute or continuing or but we need the money but also um additional ways that we could get money so that we're not taxing the taxpayers over and over again and I think a more equitable spread feels like the income tax levy. Um again I just don't know the timing for that. That's what I'm the feedback that I'm getting from older America uh older Cincinnati residents that are just like, you know, I want to do your renewal, but is there a way that we can make this a little bit more equitable? So, I'd like to get the information. Okay. Any
032other questions? All right. Thank you. Let's move on to our announcements and acknowledgements. I'm sorry, President Buffett. I have a question. Um, were we supposed to vote on the resolution for the Aken students? Oh, you know what? We voted on the amendment of the agenda, but not the resolution. We didn't. So, I'm sorry. Let's vote on that. They're gone. They're probably at home right now, but let's vote on that. We need a motion to accept it. So moved. Second. Second. Treasure Wagner. Mr. Craig. Yes. Mr. Cross. Yes. Mr. Lindy. Yes. Miss M. Yes. Mrs. Weinberg. Yes. Vice President Bolton. Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. I didn't say that right. President Moffett. Yes. I'm sorry. We were just waiting to vote for uh Mrs. Mrs. Wineberg to get here. So that was all we Thank you. Thank
033you, board member Craig. I like that save. She was He was waiting on you to get here. I was. So let's Do board members have any acknowledgements or announcements? Like acknowledge the Aken basketball team. This is a night of comedy. All right. I love that. Thank you. And you want to say it again? Is that what this is? Whoops. Don't don't encourage I'll calm down. All right. Announcements and and kudos from the board members. I'm just Thank you, Rob. Who's going first? Oh, okay. One member back. So yes, I just want to give uh acknowledgement and kudos to Pleasant Hill uh uh their career day uh last Thursday. Uh it was a great experience as you can see the different um professions that were there. Um the students were extremely excited to connect with Vice
034Mayor Jam Michelle Kernney, uh Judge Dante Johnson, uh CCT was there, uh the fire department, police department, and just a host of um different professions. As you can see over on the right hand side, that's my dad and my brother um showing their um prof their trade as a as a skilled electrician. And so the students were very excited and eager to engage um in the event as well as the teachers. Um so I just wanted to give a a huge shout out to Pleasant Hill Academy. And then I also wanted to acknowledge Dator Monasuri um for their unity fair and their literacy um night. And so, uh, with the, uh, unity fair, excuse me, uh, the students and families were able to experience the different traditions and customs, um, of the, uh, the families,
035uh, that attend the school. And so, uh, we were excited to experience food from all over, from North America, South America. Um, we had musicians from, um, uh, really highlighting their, uh, tradition from Ireland. And then you see my children in the middle for uh, literacy night as well. Good job, [Applause] Remember Craig? Yeah. Um, so I will keep it short because I only have really one and it's actually kind of a precude kudos. Um, this this uh I believe it's Thursday the 24th, we will have the uh citywide art show um and the award ceremony for it. And so I'm actually giving this kudos because my mom let me know that my niece is actually one of the folks who is winning an award. Oh, so I want to give a shout out to
036that because I can't go home uh if I don't. But that is that was just my little shout out [Applause] there. Anyone else? All right, Rob, I'll go. So, I was able to attend with some of my colleagues, board member Matt, board member Crosset, the CYC Dream Maker Celebration at the American Sign Museum. I had not been to that museum before. Lots of old nostalgic signs, the freshest big boys there. Bo member Mmber Cross, do you all want to say anything about the Dream Makers Celebration? Sure. I I think it's uh we're very lucky to have a partner like CYC in our district with all the the mentoring and tutoring that they do and and uh you know this is a a fund primarily I guess a fundraiser for them which is a good good
037process for a nonprofit to be exercising and uh lots of uh city officials city business folks were there significant representation by PNC bank so thank you I just want to echo that it was really a great event. Um, happy to see all of the students that were recognized. Um, and just appreciate the partnership that we had with CYC. Absolutely. And the food was great. They had food stations. Have to talk about the food. It was great. So, thank you to CYC for all that you do. Also wanting to give a big kudos to the team. CPS had the 22nd Century Conference I was able to attend. Board member um Craig spoke at the event along with board member Map was in attendance and the mayor came and gave a pro proclamation to the superintendent. I'm
038sure she's going to have more pictures, but I just really thought that um some of these pictures were just really cool with like the little teacher, the balloon teacher up in the top that was just so cool. And then um Congressman Congressman um Lansman also spoke. And if you look at the right side, Dator Culinary Program cooked light bites for the event. I'm super excited. And Akin provided their coffee. Here's a quick video of what I saw and they they taught me. Let's see. Thank you so much for being here. We are so excited to see our young people showcasing their talents. Yeah, there is so much talent at Dator in the culinary not outside of the culinary but in the culinary department itself like phenomenal future chef everything is funny cuz everybody always ask
039me like what do you cook or what are you cooking today they are doing the cooking work they do all the work they just make me look good all right CVS finest this is going on in dator school. So, I wanted to make sure that we we highlighted that. Aken provided the coffee for the entire event. Daterfed with little light bites. I'm just super proud of what's going on and it was a great day. Um I'm sure the superintendent is going to have more information, but I wanted to share that. And thank you to the teams uh that um Dr. Williams had her team out in the front. They made sure I got my badge and everything else. And to everyone that planned that event, thank you so much. Next. Oh, well, we could do
040that. And um I was informed I did not attend this one but uh students from Aken Hughes SCPA Taft and Woodward spent the day at Wilbur Forest University where they had the opportunity to perform with the university band and um they enjoyed a whole day on campus and apparently they rocked it when it was their turn to play. So congratulations to Aken, Hughes, SCPA, Taft, and Woodward bands. Congratulations for band [Applause] day. That's it for me. Sup. Okay. God bless you. Superintendent Murphy, do you have any acknowledgements or announcements? Yes, ma'am. I have actually several retirements to share. a certificated personnel. Please forgive me if I do not pronounce your name properly. Deborah M. Armstrong is our first teacher from Walnut Hills High School, followed by Alan C. Barrett, a teacher, another teacher at Wanda
041Hills High School. Denise M. Benge, a psychologist with the Department of Student Services. Susan M. Best who is a teacher at Parker Woods Montasauri. Laura Black Nazarene an intervention specialist at Winton Hills Academy. Thomas W. Blair a class three substitute teacher. Lisa Brunsman an intervention specialist at Hugh STEM High School. Vincent J. Sherelli Chillerella. Hi Mr. C. A teacher at Robert's Academy. I apologize. Bradley M. Khan, an intervention specialist at South Aenddale School. Debbie J. Couch, a teacher at Mount Washington School. Julie L. Delicave, a teacher at Winton Hills Academy. Kenneth J. Demand, a teacher at Fair View Clifton German Language School. Melissa A. Estelle, an intervention specialist at Woodford Academy. Susan D. Foster, an intervention specialist at Clark Montasauri High School. Darina A. Fox, a teacher at Wanet Hills High School. Christopher F. Groer,
042a psychologist with the Department of Student Services. Erica J. Gray, a teacher at Schroeder High School. Eric J. Gray, a teacher at Schroeder High School. Vicky C. Gray, a teacher at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Amy Ganell's a teacher mentor evaluator. Mary Jane Healey, a teacher at College Hill Academy. Kenneth Jackson, a teacher at the Dr. Odell Owens Center for Learning. Paula Jackson, an intervention specialist at Roill School. Judith G. Keller, a teacher at Winton Hills Academy. Esther Kintendu Kamaranga, a teacher at Western Hills University High School. Respect. Lori J. King, a teacher at Western Hills University High School. Robert J. Luggers, a teacher at the Academy of World Languages. Daytona J. Lyens, a teacher at Roseline Condan. Amy S. MS, a teacher at Sailor Park School. Matthew Muscleman, a psychologist in the
043department of student services. William A. Owens, a teacher at Western Hills University High School. Brenda Polus, a teacher at Kofdale School. Lisa M. Pope, a teacher at Western Hills University High School. S. David Price, a teacher at John J. Gilligan Digital Academy. Robert A. Pride, a teacher at Mount Washington School. Cynthia L. Reading, an occupational therapist with the Department of Student Services. Linda A. Ro, a speech pathologist with the Department of Student Services. William J. Russ, a teacher at Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School. W. David Schaw, a teacher at Oiler School. Kelly Cybert, a teacher at Frederick Douglas School. Martha Saigel, a teacher, a speech pathologist in our early childhood department. Lynn A. Simons, an intervention specialist in auxiliary services. Elizabeth A. Stevens, a teacher at Woodford Academy. Julia Stinger, a teacher at
044Roselon Condan School. Lynn M. Stove, Job, an intervention specialist at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Katherine Taylor Strickling, a teacher at Hartwell School. William R. Valeno, a teacher at Walnut Hills High School. Jennifer C. Wagner, oh, the other person, a teacher at Winton Hills Academy. Jacqueline A. Woods, a speech pathologist in the department of student services. Monica K. Austin, a teacher at Parker Woods Monastery. Lisa M. Hawk, a teacher at Carson School. Michael J. Kramer, a teacher at Aken High School. Kelly S. Steel, a teacher coach in our curriculum department. And Teresa A. Wessles, a teacher at John J. Gilligan Digital Academy. Congratulations. And then I have one more kudos that I'll just happen to uh just mention and ask people uh at their leisure if they could please check out this uh
045video. It's about an Aken students act of kindness and how it went viral. And so there is a link to a news story and we won't play the news story for the sake of time, but there is a link to the news story about this student Adrien Smith and how he helped a young boy find new shoes. So very proud of him. That concludes my uh kudos. We're not playing the video. I'm sorry. I thought we were playing in the video. Okay. Do board members have any questions, comments, concerns? Congratulations to our retirees. Vice President Bolton, the chair is yours to please conduct a hearing of the public. Okay. Thank you. We are now at the item on our agenda for hearing the public. Each speaker will have two minutes and will address all comments
046to the presiding officer. If you're online, once the request to speak has been granted, you'll be invited to enter. You should click on the camera icon to go interactive. Provide your name, your affiliation to the district, your school community, your topic, and your contact information if you'd like to have a response to any questions you might have. This request uh is consistent with board protocol and we appreciate your help. In the unusual event that someone is not willing to follow the protocol, we reserve the right to end the person's time. Again, each person will have two minutes to speak. When the timer goes off, your time is up. Please refrain from any dis any discussion of personnel matters. And after speaking, if you're online, you'll briefly see the welcome screen again as you transition back
047to live stream meeting. Finally, we ask that your public commentary be respectful of the listeners. Thank you very much. Rob, do we have anyone online today? To the vice chair, we have three online speakers today. I'd like to begin with the online folks if we could. Thank you. Our first speaker is going to be Kyia. Kyia, you're welcome to unmute your camera and microphone and please you have two minutes. Hi, my name is Kira George. I'm part of what we're marching band. Um I want we've been fundraising for a while to get to Atlanta and Hawaii and I wanted to know why it was taking so long to get our bus, hotel, and park admissions order for our trip even though we had ordered it. not ordered, ask for it months beforehand. And also why
048there aren't um new up-to-date ways schools can receive money like cash app. Thank you. Uh hold on just superintendent. Did you get everything that the student was asking about? I believe Kya is talking about fundraising for Woodward Career Technical High School band. I know that they are hopeful to be able to participate in a trip to at least Atlanta and and possibly Hawaii. I believe the question is why is it taking so long to get a bus secured and why we don't have applications like Vinmo and Cash App. Correct. Thank you. As long as the administration understood what was being asked, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. appreciate your comments. Thank you. Our next speaker will be Willie Stevens. Willie, you can go ahead and unmute your camera and microphone. Great. Hello, CPS Board
049of Education. My name is Willie Stevens and I am in the Woodward Career Technical High School marching band. Me and some of my peers joined this meeting to talk about our experiences being in the marching band. During our time in band, we had we have went to multiple different places in city, out of city, and out of state. And recently, we've been given opportunities to go to Atlanta and Hawaii next year. And we've been fundraising to get to both of these locations. We hope that you can lend us help on paying for the bus, hotel, and the the events we are doing while at we are at uh Atlanta. We are trying to p we were trying to purchase swe a sweatuit but the process took far too long and they wouldn't be done in
050time for the trip and I would like to ask why this took a long time even though we asked about it a while ago and why there isn't and why there isn't their electronic options like cash app and VMO to make purchases easier and faster. Thank you very much and the administration understood the request. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you. Our last speaker will be online will be Allison Goodman. Allison, you can unmute your camera and microphone. You have two minutes. It's Pepper. Hello. Greetings board and superintendent and treasure Wagner. Um, I am a PRM parent and I am asking the board a question that I was able to ask Superintendent Murphy at her wonderful town hall that she hosted at Pleasant Ridge Monastery last week. Um, kudos to her for getting in front
051of our community and taking lots and lots of questions. Um, I look forward to coming to the one next Monday, I believe, um, at the, um, ed center. And so my question for her, which I'm now presenting to the board, is, will you continue to support Yonder Pouches for our high school and middle school students across the district? I am a big sports fan and um appreciate the work that Josh Harden and Brett Langghorn do for our athletics. But um two weekends ago, Rory Maroy won the uh Masters. And one of the big takeaways from that tournament was how much people enjoyed watching it through their own eyes because Augusta does not allow cell phones and how present people were for his victory and how they took in the information with their eyes and their
052ears in such a different way because they did not have phones on them. And I have to think that our students would benefit um in the exact same way for continuing to take in their education with their eyes and their ears without screens in front of them. So I am optimistic that you will continue to support that for our district because I am one parent who feels like it's been a big win. So thank you for your time. Thank you very much. And now we'll go to the inperson. I believe we have only one speaker tonight and that is president of CTF Julie Sellers. And we remind the audience and the public that uh due to uh agreements, President Sellers has more than aotted two minutes. President Sers, welcome. [Music] It's not good. [Music] Good
053evening everyone with the hand mic. Okay. Thank you. Um good evening everyone on the board, the superintendent and treasurer. Um, I would like to first say that, um, I'm going to be really quick this evening because I know there's a lot to cover, but I would like to again invite everyone from the board to fill out your RSVP because you are invited to the CPS CFT community town hall to save our schools. um at this town hall and it is open to the public and the community, parent and community members. Actually, anyone who is a taxpayer in this in the Cincinnati public school district is invited. We will have three statewide experts talking about um how legislation is going to be impacting public education. We're going to have a person who is an expert on
054the um school funding formula and an expert on um the vouchers um of Ohio with the expansion of vouchers and they are all going to be talking about the impact that this has on schools. If you um go to the QR code and do you have a post-it? Yeah. Okay. If you go to the QR code from your screen, you can scan it right there to register. Anybody who is a board member, you can scan it right from the QR code. There are flyers over here on the table if you have not um um already registered. The second thing tonight, I hope everybody can make it. that is Tuesday, May the 6th from 6:00 to 7:30 right here in the ILC at the Board of Education building. I think this is um an opportunity you
055do not want to miss and there will be plenty of audience Q&A. Um the next thing I want to say is that STRS board has just voted to reduce the number of years of service for any certificated staff to 32 years. So, the information was sent out on Friday to STRS members, but I would just like to say this is teachers and administrators. And so, we want to make sure that um the district and the board knows that there are more certificate um certificated employees who would be reti be eligible for retirement for um next year. So, those are the two announcements that I would like to make this evening and that's it. Thank you. Thank you, President Sers. That concludes the hearing of the public. Thank you. Superintendent Murphy and Treasurer Wagner will be
056presenting the fiscal year 2026 budget update. I think I'll just start uh by letting the board and the public know that the senior leadership team has spent uh many weeks on working on the fiscal year 26 budget. You'll hear in this presentation a lot about our process and where we are now and uh what our next steps will be and how we have tried to work to begin to prioritize uh meeting the budget uh by the time that we established earlier. So I think Jen is going to carry the weight. Happy to. Thank you. Um flip slides. So, first I wanted to start off with um an update on the OASBO conference. Um the OASBO stands for the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. Every year all the treasurers and business managers um join uh
057ODW and um legislators and um have a conference and they talk. It was very depressing um because the financial news is not good and um there is there are a lot of bills out there that could hurt us. So, I just want to go through some of that um information that we heard um and then talk a little bit about the budget. So, um Mike and I and Kevin and um Cody Hutchkins as our treasure pipeline dude is went with us and um it was just very depressing. So, keep next slide. So, this is where we stand. We're right in the middle of the House bill that was the substitute house bill that was passed on April 9th while we were all out at Columbus. Um and it's headed to um the Senate to work
058on their version. Um they'll go into conference committee sometime in May and June and then vote on hopefully a final budget by the end of June. Next slide. So I can't stress enough stress enough about the dire circumstances we can find ourselves in if these things move forward. So, we don't know what the Senate is going to do with the budget bill. The current House bill, I'll go into that in a minute. Senate Bill 66 is the one I'm most worried about because we we could lose $21 million in revenue immediately if they change the mil the 20 mil floor calculation if they use the fixed sum levy millage into that calculation. And the reason I'm so worried about this is because there's actually three bills out there that modify this calculation. So, that tells
059me there's a lot of support on both sides of the house. Um, and so, um, enough said. I'm I'm very worried about it. House Bill 89, a decreases, uh, it's a temporary decrease in property taxes. We don't really know. It's just been introduced. We don't really know anything on that yet. House Bill 186 is similar to Senate Bill 66. What it does is it in um uses a three-year inflation index or inflator adjuster um and that to it caps how much you could earn on the 20 mil floor. House Bill 129 eliminates the u ability to re allocate inside millillage. You know, one of our local districts try to do that and they had to reverse it because the public what it is is just an increase in tax without a vote and not good.
060We would never try that. So, I'm not concerned about that. House Bill 28 is where they're eliminating the replacement levy. It did pass the House and is moving into the next step. Um, had we chosen to use a replacement levy, the $48 million, we would have uh received an extra 24 million because um it takes you back up to your original millage calculation. So in House Bill 920 um in order to combat inflation and increase property values on fixed sum levies it reduces your um I'm sorry not on fixed levies on fixed rate levies it reduces the millage rate if property values go up so that on that particular levy you collect about what the public approved. So it it it prevents the the revenues from growing and creating more um pain on the public.
061They call it the house reduction factor. So as your fixed rate millage is reduced reduced reduced because property values are going up and you go under underneath that 20 mil floor, the replacement levy would take those um the the levy that was passed. it would go back to the original millage that it was passed at. So our one of this one I think is 5.4 now it started out at 8 mills and so it would the replacement levy would take it back up to the 8 mills so we would get that much more revenue instead of 48 million. Does that make sense? I know I mixed my words a little bit but so a replacement levy was a good strategy to have but they're eliminating Ohio districts from being able to do that anymore. Senate
062Bill 93 um is to another and other intent to develop a new funding formula. So, it could be good for us. We don't know. Um and then we don't know exactly what our federal grant reductions are. Um I think the next slide shows a summary of a conference that was going on at the same time we were at OASBO. It was a state and federal conference. quite a few of the district staff went programmatic and financial and they're um they're hearing that there's going to be reductions in title one and title two and three. We don't have any information yet. Um and we don't know what that will look like across all of our states. Um so we'll keep coming but it looks like it's under the microscope at this point. Next slide. So um
063Dr. Tran Roush is the the chief of budgeting and chief of staff and he has wears many hats at ODW. He did this presentation and I asked him to give me the fiscal year 22 data so I could do a comparison. I tried to put it on one slide but it was just messy. So if I just want to point out here this is the pie chart of how OD funds education. So in that pie chart in 2022, the last time they did a banium budget, traditional school districts represented 76 and a half%. Flip to the next slide is where we are now. Um, and you see that traditional districts dropped in their share and other things increased. So if you go to the next slide, here's a comparison. I've sent this to all my
064treasure buddies. Traditional school districts dropped by 4% while every other category grew or stayed flat. Yes, sir. It's scholarship. Yeah, scholar. That's a voucher. Two and a half% increase. Mr. Bo Crosset, turn your mic on. They didn't hear. Thank you. Uh, where is the voucher information? I guess it's in the scholarship. Yeah, those are their their terms here. So scholarship means um it means the non-public vouchers, autism, John Peterson um and then everything else is like the county and their little tiny bits all moved together all squished together. So that was depressing. Not surprising, but depressing. Next slide. So here's the substitute bill from the House that was passed on April 9th. three major areas of change that affect the econ the financial side of the house. One being um they increased the cash carryover
065set aside from they were recommending 25% the governor did the house passed it at 30%. We're at 11% right now so it's not really concerning to us. there is a way. So what that what's that saying is each district can only carry cash a cash balance into the new year that represents less than 30% of their prior year spending. So and districts are concerned because they were saving money to do facility projects and so they were trying to build some cash balance. Well, there's a way to do that at the end of the year. You can transfer money out of your general fund into a permanent improvement fund and preserve and still build that money. only this rule only applies to the general fund. The second thing is they passed a rule that says administration
066can only be 15% of your budget. They didn't really define with how they're going to calculate administration. So, we've looked at it different ways. I think we're okay um based on my understanding of the of the definitions, but we'll continue to get more information. Um, and the third thing is they changing the five-year forecast from a 5-year to a three-year, which sounds kind of nice because it'll be simpler to do, but it will limit your treasures ability to certify longerterm contracts, including collective agreements if you show negative in that third year. So, um, but the biggest challenge here is the bill. There's language in there that even though they didn't touch the formula student the fair funding formula, they kept it in place. There's language in there that prohibits DEW from issuing payments against the
067formula. So what they're saying is since public schools, you have fiscal, you have X amount of dollars for fiscal year 25, we're going to increase it by.1%. Which for us is about $150,000. So, a teacher and maybe a half a parah. Um, and that's how they're going to fund school next year if this uh passes into law. I'll well, I'll keep going. Next slide. So, how does that compare? How does the house version compare to what we forecasted for fiscal year 26? It's a almost two million up. Um, but there's other factors that's from the November forecast. You know, Kevin and Mike are working on the May forecast. So, we'll um when they get that done and bring it back in public, it has to be approved by the end of May and filed um
068with ODW by May 31st. Um we'll remind you what the new forecast and how it compares to the House version or whatever we know about the Senate version that's coming out. Next slide. So the fair funding team is the team is a bunch of superintendents, treasures, um experts. Mike soils, you know that if you remember Mike Soil, he's a um expert on fair funding. Anyway, they're asking for districts to ask to protect the integrity of the fair funding formula and fully fund it, say no to the 30% cash balance, and then um write letters against the tax reform efforts um for those all those bills that I said that were at risk. Next slide. So, where does that leave us in our budget? Um, so I first presented in April 7th. Um, and then we're
069giving you an update. I'll just keep this as a running dates. Keep going. So you remember the pyramid fixed obligated cost um, state funed minimums critical operations. So we updated the fixed obligated costs from Friday finance committee. We learned that the budget for the CPS foundation increased and so we're up to 61.6 million in fixed or obligated costs. Next slide. Um Mike shared these with you last time. The state funed minimums. Keep going. So this if we took the state minimums of the formula on FTEES and to use against our salaries, it's 289 million. Next slide. So if you take if you think back to the pyramid again, the state minimums and obligated equal 289 million plus the 61. So, we're we've already committed um $350 million of our budget. Our target is still 624.
070Um the critical to operate, the essential and love to keep. Um and I'm defining critical to operate as can the district function without it? If it can't, then it's critical to operate. If it can, then it goes into the essentials column or maybe a love to keep column. So, that's the kind of the work that we're going through. Um if you go to next slide. So as of today the budget draft is greater than the budget target which has been the case for the last 30 years that I've been involved. Um and so that superintendent is reconvening the budget task force. Thank you union leads for participating to help us go to the next step. So go ahead. Thank you. Um you're starting to read my mind. Um so today we sit at April 21st.
071We have five board public board meetings um to get to a balanced budget and approved resolution. And then we have some we have the opportunity to do some town halls possibly using some of the um cow agenda time if needed. And then we have May and June's finance committee meetings um we can also use. So I think that was my last slide. Thank you. questions. Do board members have any questions? Well, member Craig, um, thank you um, for bringing this to our attention and bringing information to us. I think it's always good to see how we progress along the line there. Um, I do think, you know, we talked about the pyramid before. One of the things that I took some I don't want to say pleasure because none of this is pleasure. So like
072less pain and was that idea of really trying to tackle what are those things that are critical that we absolutely need and what are those things that are essential that we absolutely need as we get past the stuff that we have to do right so I always you know I've always heard like you can't not pay your electric bill you can't not pay our utilities in our schools we can't not have a superintendent can't not have a treasur kind of deal what are the other things that we need that are essential to the district functioning and working um and so I just was curious curious, are we having any conversations also with think about what are roles that could potentially be modified or rethought as we're going through some of these things? I know we're
073changing a lot in the district anyway, but are we we rethinking how we utilize certain roles as we look at whether or not they're essential or critical or something we would like to have? Absolutely. Uh so the senior leadership team has spent the past several weeks um including treasurer Wagner uh incoming treasurer uh Mike Gustin working through what we currently have in place thinking about what kind of work could be consolidated, what work could be eliminated, changed, adjusted, all of that. And so where we started out around $51 million to date uh and and and we don't believe everything will stick necessarily. Uh we are about 32 million. Um and so we're constantly uh working through that. It's great um to have a few more uh trusted eyes on the process as we uh continue
074this tomorrow. And then I I will just add to that that some of these cuts are pretty devastating to individual departments. But so I'll give you some examples of of what I'm saying about critical nature. So if you think of transportation state requires us to transport K8, right? And so can we operate with only transporting K8? Yes. Our tenants probably be horrible in high school, but we could operate that way. So that would come the 912 would become more of a essential or critical. So uh there's another example that I could came up with is with the software that we use to build the budgets. Aliv can we operate can we function as a district without that software cost? Yes, we can go back to Excel spreadsheets. Um the accuracy and the in the quality
075of the budget would suffer greatly, but um and it's not a real expensive software application, but that's just an example. we're actually going into that level of weeds to determine whether it's critical um to have or is it something we could live without. And I I think you know again as we go through to figure out it is not to say that if something is not essential that it won't get done. It's to say that you have to start with those things that are absolutely necessary to make sure the district stays working and build upon it. I think the other question I would have is just are we looking at that from all sides of how the district operates because I think we've done a lot of cuts to central office over the years and
076there's not much left in central office that to cut outside of things that are probably pretty essential or pretty critical to the district functioning and working well. So I just hope that we're also looking at ways to be innovative even in our schools and thinking about some of those roles and positions. Thank you. one of our process you did. Yes. I just thought uh we do have a our internal audit department has done over the years uh pretty good risk assessments and they have to remain independent but some of those risks assessments might be helpful in determining where uh what's essential and what's critical. So just they they can't help you build the budget but they might have information that could help you make some decisions. recommend. We have a a brainstorm brain dump list
077of about I don't know 60 70 80 possibilities. Uh those recommendations are part of those possibilities. Thanks for the reminder. Thank you, Vice President Bolton. Yeah, thank you very much. Um, and with that list and all the work that's been done, uh, um, it would be great to to see if there's certain things that you perceive to be non-starters that basically the reading of the board. Uh, because it really won't do any good to present 80 things that perhaps are going to be, you know, 10 that don't even start because then your number goes down again. But I I have a different perspective on this. what I've always liked which is on page or slide 13 I think the pyramid slide and I think we started to touch on it the last time we were
078here and I don't know if it was if I remember if it was Mr. Lindy or or Mr. across it that mentioned it on this pyramid piece and I like the idea that it says there's the fixed but I like the idea that the obligated costs seems like the real base of the pyramid is all of one and all of two and all of four in part because that's they are things that we have to do and that would be the fixed or obligated costs and you've got good hard numbers for that. Then the number two is the statef funded minimums meaning things that are so they are very low but we've got to have that right because and it they're almost irrelevant because they are so low but still you have to have that
079and there's a there are hard numbers for that and then when you get to four I'm skipping over three because I think that starts to be interesting coming out of finance the other day the idea of how you start to to talk about critical and nice to have or what have you. But then you go to the the the collective bargaining agreements. At least as they stand now, we are obligated to meet everything that's in all six of those contracts. That's correct. So those are things are not up for well, one of them is kind of up for negotiations, but we won't say that right now. But um meaning the we're in contract negotiations, but those three things are hard numbers for us. And then looking at what was said the last time and I
080it's the idea of okay after you have all three of those things in one place and you got the hard numbers and then I like that you're saying okay with 624 we have this many millions is already accounted for in the in those three bases those three layers. What is it that and this is where the administration could tell the board, not even ask the board, but could tell the board what you actually need to attain our goals. Live by our guard rails, pursue the strategic plan, our growth phases one, two, three or whatever it is. uh those things to which we have committed the vision and the mission. Those are things we've voted on. Those are things that the board has said to the public are important to us and those are things that
081we have that you all as the experts could tell us what it would take to get to those goals whether it's you know attendance or whatever the what would be the staffing what would be the operations and then after you would tell us all those things that you need and some of them might be very little and some of them might be huge. I don't know. But that's you guys figuring that out. Then after you figure that layer out, which would be the second layer, the third layer starts to be okay, what's critical besides that. And then when you get to the tiptop, instead of it being this reference regarding initiative, investment kind of thing, that would really end up being you might have a pyramid without a point or an apex because those are
082all new, something we really didn't do the previous budget year. But I just think that there are more things that we have no control over than than than the pyramid kind of shows us. And I just think it would be interesting to even have the administration try to figure out. And I think you do always do it. I just don't know if you do it within that same framework of how do we achieve the goals, the guardrails, the strategic plan uh and our vision and our mission and the forecast and the growth one and two or whatever the things we have told the public we've made a commitment to. I just think it would help me and I'm I'm the one that is slow on on the uptake on all of this, but it would
083help me because I wouldn't be able to tell you if you told me you needed this to reach the third grade reading situation. If you all say that's what we need to reach that goal, then that kind of takes the board's role in in saying what the goal is, but us not having the expertise as to how to reach that goal. I don't know. That's sort of where where I am about the building this budget. And I'm so glad we're getting to the point where we're trying to build a budget and we're making a commitment to 624 and with the whole public knowing that the people in Columbus and the people in Washington already are figuring out ways to reduce the money that our children are going to be getting. And so we're living with
084that reality, too. And I appreciate you bringing that bad news because the public has a right to know what actually you all are up against. Thank you. Thank you. Finish. Yes. Anyone over here? More member Lindy. Yeah. Thank Thank you very much. Uh I think I I had a couple two thoughts I wanted to share, but I wanted to just provide some context first. Um and on the context side, um this is incredibly difficult and I just wanted to share how grateful I am for the hard work you all are doing and the inclusive transparent process that you are running. Uh you have not hid any of the hard details from us for a year plus about how difficult this budget was going to be. Uh, I appreciate the different groups of leaders, labor leaders,
085administrative leaders that you are pulling into the process. Um, and I can't think of a better way to do that. There's no butt. I just appreciate it. This is really hard and I appreciate you putting how hard it's going to be on our radar for quite a while. Um, I also think in terms of context, um, this district has seen some improvement over the last couple years. Uh there is so much happening in the world whether that is coming from DC or Columbus or anywhere um that is really depressing and really difficult but this district has seen some improvement and I don't want us to lose sight of that. Our third grade reading has gone up. It went up from 30 excuse me 48% last year to 57% on this most recent report card. So
086that's an increase. Our algebra 1 rate uh pass rates have gone up from 29% to 38%. So that's been an improvement. Um, so this is intensely challenging. There are terrible things happening around the country and in our state around public education and this is a district that has actually seen some improvement over the last two years. That said, I think we would all agree there is an enormous amount of work that we still need to do. So even though we've seen improvement in third grade reading, even though we've seen improvement in algebra 1, there are areas other parts of our district, if you look at how economically disadvantaged students did last year in uh for example 8th grade reading, only about 21% of those students are on grade level. That's for economically disadvantaged kids who
087are in eighth grade. So for me uh in thinking about the budget and the reason I'm sharing all of this is I think the most important question we can ask is what can we do to make a difference for kids with the limited resources that we have. uh and I I would like to see us talk about not not just how do we go about making cuts which is critically important but also what is the small number of most cost effective things we can do to continue making progress in this intensely challenging environment. And on that front I have two things I would like to bring up. Uh I brought them up at our committee the whole meeting last week. I'll I'll keep bringing them up until we're all the way through our budget cycle.
088Um but the first is uh are we doing everything we can to ensure that the highquality instructional materials that this board has adopted are being used in classrooms. Uh I think this is a really important issue to focus on. Um not just because it makes a difference but because it is incredibly cost-effective. Um, we have already spent millions and millions and millions of dollars buying really good materials. Uh, we have data that shows that they're not being used nearly as much as they should be used. Uh, and uh, good research, not just my opinion, uh, shows that this is a a very coste effective way of making a difference for kids. I'll just share one statistic and then we can keep moving. But the Center for American Progress, and this is a Democraticleaning think tank
089out of DC, uh has found that using highquality instructional materials is 40 times 40 times as cost-effective as a class size reduction. So that these are opportunities to continue making a difference for kids that don't necessarily need to be incredibly expensive. Um, the second, we can talk more about this another evening, but you know, not all of our subject areas and not all of our schools, I think, need the same level of support to see improvement for students. And so, I would like to see us do something with how are we encouraging, how are we offering extra compensation to those strong principles, strong teachers who are willing to work in our highest need schools and our highest need subject areas. So, there's more to discuss, but I you have asked so thoughtfully, both I think
090Superintendent Murphy and Treasurer Wagner about where do we have perspectives as board members. Um, and the more I thought about this, the more I've been thinking I actually do have a perspective on these two issues. I wanted to make sure I shared them with you and I hope we can continue making progress and building off what we've seen these last few years. Thank you. Thank you. Cross it. I just wanted to get some clarification on what board member Bolton was saying. Um, but before I do that, thank you for the all the amazing hard work and your team. I know it's a very difficult challenge this year. And also I want to uh thank uh board member Lindy for the comments that you just made that we have to continue to try to do something
091to improve our outcomes with less resources is what we're faced with. But I think I just want to clarify. Um, so board member Bolton, you were asking for them to put together a budget, but also put together a how much more money it takes to to achieve our goals because our budget isn't enough money to achieve our goals. Is that what you were suggesting? It's a yes or no answer. I'm I'm trying but I'm trying to see which one it is. Uh, in other words, if our budget is 624, but to achieve our goals, you they might come back and say, you know, we don't have the money, but if we in a dream world to achieve our goals, we might need 700 million. Is that what you're asking? No. No. Then then the answer
092is no. What I'm looking for is that we've made a commitment to 624 for the general fund. But one area where we're not terribly transparent is that we're not being very transparent about what is going to be required regarding personnel costs and savings. We are not being transparent about that. And I understand why because it sets it sets the grass fires going and we Okay. So, so we have that but there's also uh besides the general fund budget as we know there are also many other issues besides parts of revenue or what have you than just what it is that year that the property taxes are producing whether it's our carryover or whether it's other sources or funds that we have not tapped into for various reasons. So the 624 is a number I'm I
093can live with. We've had a relatively flat budget for a number of years and that's to the credit of a number of boards and certainly to the administration over a number of superintendants and frankly one treasurer. We've had a very flat budget and that's why we haven't gone for new money in over eight years. Yeah, I understand. Okay. But but but it's not that I'm not asking what the dream is. What I'm asking for is after we finish all this stuff that we know what the number is, which is those three items, which is the obligated and the state minimum and the uh collective bargaining agreement. After we have that number, what is it that they need to still be able to achieve even minimally what we've established as our vision, mission, strategic plan, goals,
094and guard rails? Is is there stuff that's part of that first base that helps you do that? And then besides that, is it what else do you need to achieve that? and then talk about what other things are critical because we're going to find out we're spending a tremendous amount of money that has almost nothing to do with what our five goals. I mean that's that's just a matter of reality. And so I think it would be good to be able to separate those dollars of what's for what we know we've committed to. uh and that would help us determine as they're trying to find out here what's critical to operations because as again we might find that and I know we will a lot of what we spend is maybe something to which we've
095not committed it's just that we've been doing thank you okay thank you both I'm going to just share my did anyone else have anything else to say so I have um two things I want to add and I I really actually do appreciate the Vice President Bolton said to look at that. I don't think we've looked at it that way and I think that feels better to look at what we actually have to have and but I also want to encourage or regarding staffing because I think that there may be some areas around um vacancies and we've had a 20 pages of retirements uh 20 slides of retirees and so maybe there's some cost savings there too. I'm not exactly sure but I'd like that information. If we go to slide number eight, Rob, I
096um I want to point out that it's been said by some schools that are you said scholarships are vouchers. Is that correct? I want to make sure that that that comes across to people because it is it's being hidden that school certain charter schools are offering scholarships and those are vouchers. Is that right? My understanding is the Ed Choice vouchers that are given for scholarship and the autism and the I can go back and double check, but that's my understanding. Okay. I just wanted to kind of clarify that because Dr. Muffet, you don't you don't need a voucher to go to a charter school. Correct. Okay. Yeah. The community school and charter school is the same thing. Okay. The scholarships are the Ed Choice vouchers, the autism Peterson scholarships. Okay, I got you. I understand.
097Now, if we go to slide 14, I have some questions there. You mentioned that um the foundation budget went up and I'm wondering why from the proposed 1.1 to 1.3. Um what was shared at finance committee was the original 1.1 was napkin kind of calculation and as they went through the process they realized I don't know if they made a mistake or got new information. I don't know exactly what caused the increase. I hadn't seen it yet. Okay. I I would love some additional information on that because to me um that that's not a little bit of money. It's not like it's $100,000 but it's significant and um I I'd like some further information. Additionally, I know we had kind of had a a cursory discussion around Bramble and crossing guards. Can you tell me
098are those in this on this slide here? Are those added in there as well? The crossing guards are not in this slide. No, they're not fixed or obligated. And so, and and Bramble as well. and Bramble. Um because I'm look I'm just trying to figure out we have definitely committed to those things but we have the foundation here. We don't have brown but we don't have crossing guards and the crossing guards should be just an additional difference between what we were paying and what it cost us now out of pocket. Right. So you talking about the lab the monastery lab school when you say Bramble? Yes I am. Okay. Um, yes, I will add that. Thank you. So, that number is really not I think I think that's $2 million now that we are the
099month the materials came in. Um, and the crossing guards was an additional cost to us estimated about a million. So, it would be three million more to this slide. So, it was like we were paying X number of dollars and then we're having since we they we brought them back, we're having to pay additional an additional amount or it is an additional $1 million. It's not an addition. It's an additional amount estimated because we have to pay a s search sir charge because of the salaries of the crossing guards. Okay. And then my other question is around um when when you mentioned you said something and I can't I tried to capture the slide that you said it in but you mentioned the level of the weeds. Um I I just I want it to
100be very clear because it's clear to me that we're we're in a a a fiscal pickle and we're having to make some difficult decisions. But I also think it's not clear that we're talk, you know, we we're looking at vacancies. We're looking at hiring practices. We're looking at all of those things. We're also looking at transfers. We're looking at ways to do the same thing with less money really. And that's all areas. And so I just think that needs to be you you mentioned level of the weeds and you you mention when I've asked you before we talk about um making it very clear to people but I just don't know if it's very clear what we're talking about with regard to all of these numbers. So, I just wanted to get some additional data
101from you around those things that are not listed here and then um and have that brought back so that we have a clearer picture and we're not just talking um one of the things I don't want to talk about is have everything be a package but there's pieces to the package missing or there's questions about it and here we are under one impression and it's not that. So foundation went up and then um the monastery school and then um the vacancies. How much are the retire how much are the retirements saving us if any? So um we recalculate the average salary cost because we have to budget the schools on average salaries. Mhm. So, as the early retirees notifications comes through, um, which I think captured a lot of these people because I I don't
102think their names come through the superintendent report until it comes back from the state that they've certified, but we include it in our recalculation average salaries as soon as we're notified. So we we'll go we can go back and recalculate because um what we do is we take the retiree out and we'll add in somebody um that replaces them at step three which is a much smaller salary typically um and so we'll recalculate the averages. Okay. Well that that's all my questions. Do any other board member cross it? Yeah I just had a question on the foundation. Did they have a goal to raise $2 million for fisc for the next fiscal year? Uh, and that money is used uh to pay CPS expenses. Is that $2 million of revenue in in your calculation for
103the budget? No, because it's we're separate entities and it will only help us if they pay for things that we're already paying for. If they pay for new things, it doesn't necessarily help our budget. Might help the district, but it won't help our budget problem. Okay, maybe that's uh something we can look at a more a little more closely because I think there's some benefit from that $2 million that could help should is intended to help the district. We'll see. Maybe we can get some clarification. Bo member Craig. Um yeah, and I I think and we've talked about this before when it comes to salaries because I want to tap into something you were talking about. um our obligations on salaries are also somewhat dependent upon how we obligate roles within each of the schools.
104How we kind of figure out what they're necessary for each of those schools. So I think that is another part of why it's not loo and fixed is because it's not guaranteed to be fixed each year based on what formula was used way based on what the school ultimately decides they need. Um, I do think maybe one thing that might be helpful for us to look into is things like for instance, the role of uh as we bring athletic directors back in, how do we utilize them and what roles maybe that get added into those positions? Similar deals with crossing guards even. Is there a way to maybe do in certain places or certain schools the crossing guards differently so we don't have we have the same place being covered but maybe not in the
105same way we were doing it. And I think that it's not going to be huge amounts, but I think that's helps us get down. I will say again, I think this is part of what we talked last year about our budget. This is part of a little bit what uh Treasure Wagner kind of raised, which is that we were pulling things and twisting things and making things work to make it get to the budget number, but ultimately we still had a lot of things that we have to make hard decisions on because they weren't going, you know, the number we had for this past year and the year before was not going to be the number we were ever going to get for this current coming up year. And so, um, I think it is
106on on on us in some ways to give some direction, but then once we've given sufficient direction to you've had a time to work through with our union leaders and with others at the table for us to be looking at these things in a how does a district operate because that's what our budget's really telling us. And maybe that gets a little bit to where uh Mr. Lindy was going also with that idea of if the b if the budget's a reflection of these are the most important ways to get these results and these things done then it will be a refreshing image to that will have some pain that will have some things that don't feel great but needs to be kind of looked at if it doesn't reflect that if it's more a
107reflection of which dollar was easiest to to do without anything else I think maybe to board member Bolton's point that that won't necessarily be a reflection of how the district operates and so I Thank you all um bringing in the leaders and and and everyone else to really think through that part of it is a little bit more into that strategic side and then identify some of those critical things. Um the last thing I will say really quickly is I do think there is also maybe potential room for us as a board to give some direction as to you know or some level at some stage we have to kind of give direction to the schools as to what they will have and won't have and kind of better understanding of what they need and
108don't need and I think that's a little bit of what we'll learn today and some of it is how we're kind of moving along in the growth plan and some of these other things but um it's helpful to get the updates because I think something like Bramble is a great example but also something like the foundation where those costs have changed from where we originally were. It's help for us to understand how that fits into that whole budget picture as well. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Um just um a reflection on the retirement and the growth in retirement. Keep in mind that we also have to do a sick leave conversion payout. So we might save on salaries, but the balance of the sick leave is higher than and because we're on a cash basis, we
109just comes out of our budget. So it's it sounds like a great thing if we have more retirees, but it's actually going to cost us more money in the end. So we can and we can show you an analysis on that, but just keep that in mind. Okay, great. Thank you. Um, Superintendent Murphy, please update the board about middle schools. Absolutely. Uh, so I think where we're going to start, Rob, is there is uh if you do the growth update first just so that this can build and u make sense because tonight we have the middle school principles with us. And so I just wanted to um just point out a couple of items uh just for everybody's awareness and and knowledge. So the first link is the middle school junior high engagement events. So
110now that we have our principles in place and we've started uh our training with them, they are all creating events for their schools. some of them specific to the staff that they will have, others specific to the new students and their families, and still even more uh the broad community at large. And so the principles are keeping this updated on an ongoing basis, and all of our board members have access to it. And so we thought we would share that on tonight. Then the second link in that same document is uh to our growth plan overall to make sure everybody stays update updated broadly. And so this is a group uh that meets every two two weeks and it includes members of central office as well as school-based uh personnel including our principles. And so
111this spreadsheet just goes over everything A to Z about the growth plan from packing and uh when will my classroom be moved to what are our transportation needs for the for the year? And so I'll have Rob at the bottom with a tab slide all the way over to where the schools start with eight. Okay, stop right there. Just right there. So at No, no, no. You're good. Right there is great. I'm just going to pick a school. Any school. and Douglas. Let's do um Ethel M. Taylor. So, the principal, uh you'll meet him shortly. Principal Snow at Ethelm. Taylor is able to plug in any questions that he may have about uh staffing or transportation or student dining or purchasing in real time. put that question in and the goal is by the next
112meeting uh that question is responded to by uh the director or the leader of those particular programs and so that we have that for every school uh who is a part of phase two. So if we come on up out of that then what I'd like to do is shift to the next document. I believe it's yellow and it says the middle school junior high update for 2125. You got that? Okay, great. Thank you. And uh so those were my just introductory remarks on that. And I want to just add to that, we're going to have um not only an introduction to those principles as they begin to come down front, but also very appreciative to Mike Turner for doing double duty on this. Mike Turner got involved because he is uh what we call
113a master schedule guru in our school district and that uh was pretty much where we began um with this work, but it is has grown tremendously uh since then with the support of uh Hamilton County Educational Service Centers. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mike and then you will be able to hear from each of our principles including uh principal Battle who started our first junior high school this year. Oh my goodness. [Music] Yes. Yes. I'll use the handheld. How's that sound? Okay, here we go. Well, good evening everyone. Uh, board president Moffett, Vice President Bolton, Superintendent Murphy, and Treasure Wagner, and all you other wonderful board members. It has been my pleasure, as Superintendent Murphy said, to work with this great group of principles. And so we have uh made a lot
114of progress in moving forward. So as Rob advances through the slides, I'm going to go pretty quickly just in uh where we uh were and where we are. So implementation really started in February and everything from principal selection uh to then drilling down with the principles and meeting them and and Hamilton County really putting together some great leadership activities uh for them. They've had two principal institutes thus far that were tailored especially uh to the work ahead of them. Of course, they've been very busy with their staffing and um working with CTF on who comes from which school and then the vacancies that they need to fill. Uh, as Superintendent Murphy said, master scheduling is a big part of this because these schools don't have a master schedule um, at this point. And so they
115have been working really hard and then community engagement has been uh, up very upfront with that and so they have done a phenomenal job in really living in two worlds at the same time. their current school and assignment but then the new that they will be in uh as we get to uh next month in the next slide May June and July uh we will will still be continuing the same things that we've been doing uh except now an added component in May will be staff institutes so staff members uh teachers in those buildings will have an opportunity at the end of May to come together with the principles and start the process as an entire uh staff. uh they'll have one more principal institute in June and they also are going to be able
116to benefit from the American middle level um uh leadership institute and that will really give them some very valuable knowledge from really the trusted organization when it comes to middle school education. And then transportation and facilities will be really really busy in June and July making sure that everything is in place for August. And speaking of August, the next slide shows us uh that we will just jump right into the school year. They'll principles will have meetings. They'll have professional development with their staffs. Lots of community engagement and again a lot of drill down. They'll have to go into their master schedule, look at their students, make sure that they review, revise, because the goal is on day one that every student is in a class and that transportation gets those students there so that
117they can jump into their new schools. And we are very, very excited about that. Uh as our first principal um Miss Simmons comes over, I do want to say on the next slide, you can see some of the things that we've done in the principal institutes. And they have covered the gamut from theory down into the weeds. And I just again need to say that I'm so excited uh for this effort. Um, I started my career as a middle school teacher and it's so exciting to see that middle schools and junior highs are back. And so I'm going to turn this over to Miss Simmons. Okay, y'all gonna have to clap or something. [Applause] Of course. Thank you. I appreciate that. No. Um, good evening everyone. My name is April Simmons and I am truly
118honored and excited to be the principal at South Aenddale Middle School. Every step is fueled with intention. A culture cultivated in purpose, passion, understanding, resilience, possibilities, opportunities, service, and empowerment. Our students will have a space where they can make meaningful connections and thrive through mentorship, clubs, and extracurricular activities. Our students will also go on a journey of self-discovery by engaging in social emotional learning, community service, as well as career exploration with a specific focus in career technology and steam. I have a team that is ready to unlock the academic potential of every student by providing highquality instruction with a built-in daily intervention and enrichment as well as extended learning opportunities built strictly for the middle school student. As your principal, you can expect me to be visible within the communities as well as in my
119classrooms, working collaboratively and just making the best decisions for every student. I am fully committed to fulfilling our purpose and I am definitely looking forward to this journey with you all. Thank you [Applause] board. Uh would you like to hear from all of them or one at a time? I think in the best interest of time, let's get through all of them first and just ask board members to write your questions down for specific principles and then we'll bring you all back up and then you all can I'm expecting dynamic presentations. So, let's just do it all at one time. Thank you, Principal Simmons. Good evening. I am Alita Hardy. I am the proud principal of Pleasant Hill Middle School. Pleasant Hill Middle School is the first social justice middle school in Cincinnati public schools.
120Our mission is nothing more than transformative. We are here to we are committed to empowering our students to be world changers through hands-on learning, community engagement, academic excellence, and advocacy. We cultivate an environment where community and belonging thrive, where identity is celebrated, and where character strengths and hope are embedded in everything that we do. Here, students are learning how to become critical thinkers and take meaningful action. At the heart of our school, we have a strong academic foundation. In math, students will learn how to use problem solving and data to understand how community disparity and resource access applies. In ELA, students will engage with diverse texts that will challenge them to think critically about history, society, and justice. Pleasant Hill is more than a school. It's a movement. We're building strong bridges between students, families,
121staff, and the broader community. The students of Pleasant Hill Middle School are not just preparing for the future, they're already shaping it. Welcome to Pleasant Hill Middle School, where we lead with love, learn with a purpose, and grow students into world changers. [Applause] Good evening, board. I am Antoine Lewis, and along with our amazing staff, we invite you to a hands-on, mindblowing STEM experience that will have kids building robots and designing the future. We're not just a school. Instead, think of us as a springboard for students futures. At Hartwell Middle School, we are going to continue to focus on improving the academic outcomes for every student as we ignite the passions and build future innovators. But wait, in addition to all the academics and the circuits and equations, we've got a stage where stars are
122born. We got a field where champions rise and a band that will make you move. From robotics to student leadership, we're building well-rounded, unstoppable individuals. And the best part, everyone belongs. We're a vibrant, diverse family where every voice is celebrated. Our motto states we are the little school with a big heart. We're talking about a community built on respect, responsibility, and a love for learning. We're not just educators, we're partners. We welcome our families to dive right on in. Join our PTO chaperona field trip. Just be part of the magic. We're going to continue to keep you in the loop through constant updates with newsletters, social media, our focus app, and talking points app. At Heartwell, we're not just preparing students for high school, but we're launching them into a world of endless possibilities. Join
123us and let's make the experience at Hartwell Middle School an adventure students never forget. Go Warriors. All [Applause] right. Good evening. Good evening. I'm Britney Tutor and I am honored to stand before you as the inaugural principal of Evston Junior High School where something extraordinary is about to happen. This isn't just the opening of a new building. It's the launch of a bold vision for what middle school can and should be. At Evston Junior High, we will work each day to build a successful tomorrow for our students academically, socially, and globally. Evston Junior High will be the first school in our district to build an international baloria program from the ground up, specifically tailored for middle school students. We're blending what makes middle school special, exploration, collaboration, and connection with the intellectual rigor and curiosity
124of the IB's inquirybased approach. And we're not stopping there. We're layering in a career tech focus in the foundations of business where students will learn to pitch ideas, understand financial literacy, and develop entrepreneurial mindsets. These aren't just 21st century skills. These are life skills. Our students will leave 8th grade with the toolkit to lead, create, and thrive. At Evston Junior High, we will cultivate curious, compassionate, and globally minded learners. Students who are inspired to ask big questions and empowered to make real change. We are building more than a school. At Evston Junior High, we will build the future. I couldn't be more excited to welcome our students, staff, families, and community to partner with us and be a part of this incredible journey. Thank you. [Applause] Greetings. I am Nathaniel Snow, a Aken High School
125class of 95 alum and a proud product of Cincinnati public schools. Currently, I am the principal at Athm Taylor Junior High School, which is the gateway to the west side. Miss Etham Taylor herself believed in the importance of obtaining a good education. Ethman Taylor Junior High isn't just a career tech school. It is a launch pad for future heroes. Imagine this, a junior high school where we have realworld immersions. In addition to reading textbooks, they have an opportunity to engage in Cincinnati finest, the very police officers and firefighters who keep their community safe. Think about having hands-on demonstrations, mentorship opportunities, and maybe even shadowing a first responder on a non-emergency call. Also, at the Taylor Junior High, we're sparking passion early by exposing junior high students to these vital public service roles. However, if they
126are not interested in service roles, our rigorous academic and datadriven instruction will prepare our students for any career path they choose. We also building bridges. These initiatives aren't just about careers. They're about fostering stronger relationships between young people and first responders who serve their very own community. It is about building trust, understanding, and mutual respect for one another. This isn't just a career exploration. It's cultivating generations of communityminded leaders. By providing these unique opportunities, atm Taylor Junior High is setting itself apart as a place where students don't just prepare for a future, but for a future they will can actively contribute to in shaping their communities for a better place. Students will be challenged every day so we are working extremely hard to continue to close the academic achievement gaps. Ethm Taylor Junior High is
127an incredible and exciting place to be where excellence is always expected. Thank [Applause] you. Good evening. I am Danielle Battle and I'm honored to stand before you as the principal of Schroeder Middle School where we are growing binds, building bonds, and charting new paths every single day. Middle school is often looked as as a bridge to high school. But at Schroeder, we believe it's something much more. It's a bold, life-shaping journey. When our student walks through our doors, they aren't just entering a school. They're stepping into a space filled with purpose, possibility, and discovery. And in just one year, we've seen what happens when we put our students at the center of everything. Real, measurable growth in academics, behavior, confidence, and connection. We've embraced interdisciplinary learning because we know the real world doesn't happen in
128silos. Students have created podcasts that connect English and social studies, use math to analyze greenhouse data, and now they're expanding into career technical education. This year, we introduced a career tech program that engages students in engineering, environmental systems, and health sciences. hands-on learning that strengthens academics while building communication, critical thinking, and early career awareness. It's not just enrichment, it's whole child development and action, and the results speak for themselves. 88% of our students showed measurable growth from fall to winter in English. And our writing scores rose by 12%. And one of our partners stated, "This is the best benchmark data they've seen in three years." That's the power of data-driven instruction, responsive supports, and a team that refuses to let students fall through the cracks. Behaviorally, we reimagine what discipline looks like. With over an
12980% drop in promise center assignments, we've gone from reaction to reflection, from consequences to connection. Students and families are learning how to reset, rebuild, and grow. That's the Schroeder effect. Artistically, we brought the arts to life with our first theater production, Lion King Jr. The Jumpstart Theater program allows students to express themselves, collaborate, and discover new passions, and they are thriving. College and career exploration through adopt class. Students toured construction sites, met with local leaders, connected learning to real world careers. These experiences complement our growing CTE programming and prepare students to make informed choices about their futures. And families have noticed a shift. They're seeing stronger academic performance, improved behavior, and renew confidence in their children. That's because we lead with connection. That's the Schroeder effect. And in year two, we're going even further, elevating
130student voice, project-based learning, targeted staff development, and community learning days with partners like Cincinnati Recreation Center and the Cincinnati Public Library. Why does all this matter? At Schroeder, students aren't just learners. They are leaders in the making. we where they are academically challenged, personally known, and deeply supported. Why does our middle school matter? Our students are discovering who they are, their role in the world, and how to bring their dreams to life. This is Schroeder Middle School, a place where each day brings discovery, where passions are nurtured, and where students become the authors of their greatest adventure. We're just not preparing them for the next chapter. We're preparing them to write it. The Schroeder legacy, it's only just beginning and we're only going up from here. Thank [Applause] you. So, wow, you guys. You guys
131brought a little energy up in here. I'm ready to get excited. Principal Simmons said, "Okay, you can do better than that." Hello, everybody. So, thank you all. So you all scoot down just a little bit. Center this. I'm sure my colleagues have questions. I'm absolutely sure. So thank you for the presentation. Superintendent Murphy, did you have anything else to add? Superintendent? Not at this time. Okay. Board members with questions. Should we start one end or go first? Go first. It doesn't matter. First I want to say thank you all for stepping up to the plate. um middle school. That is a very interesting age group and I am looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful things that this district will do for our babies. They're still babies. I still call them babies. And I
132just want to say the energy that you all bought up to this microphone. I am looking forward. Superintendent, I have this vision and I'm pretty sure the communications they have the vision as well. getting you all on camera, getting the stories being told, sharing it out on camera, social media. I'm even seeing um what do you the drones going over the school, getting just getting it all because you all have a story to tell and the story actually hasn't even started yet, but I'm seeing and I'm looking forward and I know that our students are going to do well. That's my first comment. I have a couple of questions, but I think my questions are probably going to be geared towards the superintendent. So, I'm going to back down for a second and then come
133back up. But I just wanted to give you all another round of applause for um just coming today presenting and being excited about helping our children grow grow. And I also appreciate you um the words that you used. And as you were using these words, I'm just kind of also visualizing you said life skills, thriving, future, building, being innovative, whole child, the first education, leaders, and so much more. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Um, do you want to pose your questions to the superintendent? You may as well get them out. No, I'm going to have everybody finish and then I'll get back to the superintendent. Well, we're not just doing kudos. We're doing Well, I don't know. Maybe somebody else has something else. I'm I'm not quite ready there. Okay. Thank you. Person
134Craig. All right. Uh so I I appreciate each and every one of you coming up and again taking the charge on these things. I think some of the schools you are bringing new things we have not had in the district in a lot of ways and in some cases bringing things within those communities that they have been longing for in a long way. Um the one question I might have and again any of you all are welcome to answer because I think this is something that all of you are going to experience with regard to middle school is just there's an aspect of this that is a new concept for a lot of parents who are going to be navigating what otherwise feels like a very complicated process and a very complicated system. I know
135way too many parents this year even who are asking me how to use focus which was a mistake on their part altogether because I know nothing about how to use it. Um, but there's a lot of things like that that will be part of this getting your kids in, getting your kids acclimated to the school, getting your kid just really comfortable because we know for a lot of our students that consistency, that comfort, that recognizing, appreciating allows them to learn better, allows them to be able to feel like they can make friends better and those type of things. So I guess just my thought is just and again anyone can kind of answer. What are your thoughts on how you plan to kind of encourage maybe even an earlier presence for parents to get to
136know who might be coming in new or or um coming to a different school? Great question. So we have all been a part of a lot of engagement in communities as well as going into other schools to meet with students to meet with families. This week, I know for sure Evston Junior High as well as South Aenddale Middle School will actually have open houses where future staff can come in as well as families can come in, those who have already got in, those on waiting list as well as community members. But all the principles have already started making those events happen and we'll continue to because everyone can't make one event. So, we'll have multiple events, multiple opportunities, and all of us have open doors where families can reach out and we'll do our best
137to answer with what we know. And to also build on what um Miss Tutor is saying, we had a lot of parent engagements meetings already. And um some things that that we're doing is um we're attending these sixth grade celebrations um to help parents. Um we having parent nights. I know um at the Taylor we having a parent night on May 8th where all the sixth graders from the six feeder elementary schools are invited to come. Um we did a parent night last Thursday where we would dealt with just the middle school students. So the eighth grade students that's at Western Hills moving on but the seventh graders who will be transitioning down um to Ethel Taylor just getting information with the parents. Now, you said something about focus and some things that we've been
138doing about focus is having um tutoring sessions to show parents how to do and how to get on focus because parents are concerned about grades and they don't understand. They have it at the tip of their phone um hand fingertips because they have a cell phone, but it's just showing them how to use it as a app so they can stay constantly on their student grades. So, it's just about communicating and having some opportunities where we teach the parents how to utilize focus. Yeah, and then just one of the things that we started doing, u myself and principal Watson down at Rockdale, um we started planning playdates for our kiddos because we're trying to build community and it really starts with them. Um and so we had our prek through 2 grade go down to
139Rockdale. We actually walked them down as a staff. Um our staff had an opportunity to engage with Rockdale staff because they're going to be working together. Um and so Principal Watson planned a play date where they had community partners there. Um they made friends. Um they they set goals and just really got to know one another and it got the kids excited about their new school, right? Um and so that's some of the things that we're planning to do with like our third and fourth grade as well after testing our fifth and sixth. Um and I call it being on a world tour. So I've already been over to Evston. Um I've been over to Douglas. I've been over to Woodward. I've been um down to Rockdale. We've been having parent meetings. Um we're also
140meeting with community partners to see, hey, who's staying with the middle schools and what can you provide and if you're not staying with us, who can support our elementary buildings. So, we've all been doing a lot of collaborating. Um we love each other up here, but it's blood, sweat, and tears through this. So, um we've really just been really working together to communicate to families and really trying to fast forward into next year as well as in this year on a great note as well. So, those are just some of the things we've been doing and I'm pretty sure there's some other things. Um, if you all look back to the events that we started tracking, there's so many things that we've been doing. Um, and so we'll continue to put everything that we're doing
141there. I just want to, you know, to kind of end out by saying thank you for sharing those things and thank you really for for doing the hard work early because I think so much of what this is is about the folks who are doing the hard work, which are not the folks on the stage here, but but you all to make sure that those students who come through are successful. And at the end of the day, having passionate people like yourselves working hard to make sure every one of those families are successful, not just the student, but the family is how we will continue to grow those buildings, how we continue to grow the students in our district, Vice President Bolton. Thank you. And thank you all for uh being the vanguard uh the
142beginners, if you will, in this great effort that the district's in engaging in. And uh Principal Lewis, I I know a few year actually three years ago uh you were in an engagement uh meeting um in this building and somehow the topic of middle schools came up and I remember distinctly um a matter of fact it took some courage to show up at a couple of those engagement uh and I don't need to rehash when that would have been but uh I can distinctly remember you talking about your love of the middle school kid and the middle schools and we needed more of them. So, I know you must be pretty happy here. Now, for for Hartwell, it's it's STEM, not STEAM. It's STEM. It says STE. Okay. It says steam on the slide, but
143STEM, but it is STEM. Okay. Okay. Okay. Good. Okay. Good. Um, a couple other things. Uh, and this might be um, uh, I don't know for whom, but some of these show very specific CTE and some of them show more generic. I see that that, uh, Ethel Taylor is is is specific and and uh, uh, Pleasant Hill is specific and the others aren't. Can you explain that? Yes, I can speak to that. Uh so from the one end of the spectrum, Evston is very specific because that was the wishes of the board to have international balari but also the business focus. And so the way that career tech standards are laid out in Ohio, you can do a middle school business program pretty easily. we go to Ethel Taylor. When we look at public service
144at the middle school level, it's going to have to be done in an experiential fashion because trying to have a middle school firefighting program. You need equipment. You need all of that. And we could have just left the kids at West High for that to happen, right? So at Ethel Taylor, we will infuse career tech in courses like art, physical fitness, technology because what you can do is tie that for example physical fitness can be tied to an exercise science pathway on the back end and it really is a career tech course. But what the physical fitness teacher will end up doing is infusing some career standards into that course. But we will be addressing public safety, public service, sorry, in an experiential fashion. The same goes for um Hartwell. We're going to infuse in
145courses like art, technology, physical fitness, and also at South Aendale the same. Now, Pleasant Hill is very interesting because social justice being an upstander, how does that fit with career tech? Well, interestingly enough, and Aken takes the lead on this. Um, you know, I knew you would like to hear that. That's why I said it, but it's true because Aken has a very strong agriculture program and as principal uh Hardy alluded to uh when she was talking, there's a lot in looking at the inequities that exist, especially in the area of food and food deserts and why are prices higher in, you know, certain communities than others. And so we will have an urban agriculture focus as a semester course for seventh and eighth graders uh at uh Pleasant Hill and that will be a
146very interesting way to work the continuum in that part of the city because Aken does this as a high school. Aken grows food that then goes to some of the students who need it work with a lot of community organizations. So, one of the great things about Career Tech, and then I'll be quiet, is that we can tailor it to fit the school personality, the school theme. That's why you see something very different across the continuum. I Well, I I'll get done in just a second. the um I just saw uh today in the parking lot Diana Porter who is legend around here as far as I'm concerned and she specifically asked about Pleasant Hill Academy and whether or not the agriculture the outdoor whatever would continue under the new kind of opaces. So I
147think this is this would be reassuring. And then for f for families, I've started to hear a lot of fa families say that they have a a degree of comfort about sending their kids to a middle school or junior high rather than having to make that decision in sixth grade about which high school to go to. And I'm I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if that begins to pick up in any of the marketing. And then finally for marketing uh we keep talking about feeder schools. What if uh a family is particularly interested in STEM but they may not be in that particular corridor? Superintendent, how are we marketing the and of course how do we market the middle schools versus the junior highs versus is everything a middle school but uh getting
148some questions about interest in the focus versus the geography. Appreciate that. And so I think for the marketing piece, our emphasis right now has been around enrollment and understanding the corridors and the movement in the corridors. At this point, I feel really great about each of these principles being able to talk about the focus and the purpose of their individual schools. And so as people are interested in particular school selection, happy to sit down and have the conversation about how we can make that work for them and work through a particular process so that they can have the school and the experiences that they're interested in. One last thing, the the six neighborhoods that these schools are located in, every one of them is known very well known as being incredibly supportive of the schools.
149a long time, generation after generation, whether it's Evston or Madisonville or College Hill. And some people don't realize, and I'm glad that we're keeping the name, I hope we are, of Eth Taylor because many people may not recognize that neighborhood as being as supportive long-term of the schools, but it's been it's been supportive of our schools and that neighborhood school for 50ome years. So all of you, I'm so glad to hear that you're reaching out to the neighborhoods because they are going to embrace you and be excited about this. Thank you. I'm going to just share thanks a thanks because it's first of all, it's not easy to come up here in front of the board members. You know, we have some mean looking faces sometimes, so I can imagine it would be stressful and
150sometimes it's a little hot. So, I can imagine it's a little warm when we look at each other and and it's late. It's like 8:30. You guys are tired. You've been working all day. So, I want to really say thank you because it has been I can tell it's a labor of love and you all are super you brought some energy and I'm super excited. I'm excited for our middle schoolers. I wouldn't want to be you all cuz they they are they are children of the corn. They have been uh kidnapped by aliens and they are a different beast. So, I have full trust in you and thank you for what you do. I do have a couple questions though. I think um your engagement has been robust and it has been um very innovative,
151but unfortunately it's been hidden and so I have personally entertained way too many conversations about what is going on in our middle schools and you all have been doing work. So, I'm going to invite you to be a lot more creative and um public about what you're doing because that is missing. There should be not one person within the communities that you all are in that doesn't know about you. I'm talking about from um Miss Rosa who sits on a stoop and she's just you know watching the kids go by to their community council to um just any of your lead agency any any agency and anybody everybody should know your face and should know what you're doing to the point where they're not contacting board members about what's going on. And so while that
152is part of you because I can see what you're doing that's also part of the administration's um job as well. I think that the marketing of our middle schools needs to be increased exponentially. Um it's unfortunate that all of this energy nobody people don't see this as much as they should. So I think you all are doing what you need to do. I'm going to invite you to just do a little bit more cuz I know by the time the students come it's going to be like what? So um please know that I I completely support middle schools. This is a tough time. Um, but the community is asking. And when I tell you I've entertained way too many people, it's way too many people. And the superintendent heard this. I'm saying it publicly to
153you all because you're going to hear about it from me. I I just need the community to see what you're doing. From organizations like the Urban League and the NAACP to the vice mayor, the mayor, they need to see you. They need to see what's going on so that they're not asking these questions because they're asking these questions. And um additionally, I didn't see if you could put the slide back up, Rob, around um the calendar. I think that I saw open houses are going on. I saw August welcoming students for open houses, but I also really would invite you to do something in the summertime. I've said this before. I think other board members have said this, too. Maybe a bridge program. I don't know if this is title fundable, title dollar fundable, but
154I think it would be beneficial to have students get familiar with what's expected in the middle school for parents to get familiar with what's expected. Um, and I just we we've kind of we mentioned that when we talked about summer programming and I just didn't hear any of that going on from the teachers being able to see what the students are, from the parents being able to see what the building is or even just the level set. So I didn't hear that part and then I have a I'm going to let you answer that question Mike and then I have a couple questions for Miss Battle. So Rob if you could go to slide five think so there there uh our plans to have August bridge part of the challenge in doing bridge in June
155or July is in what four out of six of the buildings they're having to do facilities work with some classroom space. Also, bathrooms have to be readjusted for bigger kids. So, I each principal here are are making pl they are making plans to do August bridge. That way the students, parents will see what the building looks like and so that is in the in the pipeline uh to do that and actually when they meet with their staffs in at the end of May that will be part of the topic of conversation and then at the final principal institute in June those plans will be finalized. Thank you for that. I I I think the physical getting to the physical building is one aspect of what I'm talking about. I'm talking about maybe being a little
156bit more creative and having them at another location, but they're at at least able to understand and level set on expectations before the summer. So, however that needs to look, that's perfectly fine. I do have a question. Since you mentioned the principal institute, is this a CPS principal institute or is this a Hamilton County principal institute? So, it's so as superintendent Murphy mentioned, Hamilton County has been supporting this work. The vision from the beginning was once this wonderful group, and I do mean wonderful group, I'm impressed by each and every one of them. Once they were all on board as a group, it was very important to plan methodically when they would get together to look at their own mission and vision, how they're going to impart that to their staffs. And so there was
157a principal institute in uh March, we had one in April, skipping May because of all the busyiness of the end of the school year and finalizing testing and then picked them back up in June again. So these are Cincinnati. We're very involved in the process. They are held at Hamilton County ESC. Uh but yes, they are tailored specifically for this group. So, I'm just wondering though if if this were to stop tomorrow, is this a Hamilton County initiative that we're paying for or is this a CPS thing that we're doing and the Hamilton County is supporting? I might superend. It's a combination. We are definitely at the table designing what we want and need this to be. We also have people um from Hamilton County doing presentations and walking through the work with them as
158well as our own staff coming out and walking through the work with them. Uh for example, we've had curriculum out. We've had positive school culture out. But we've also had presentations from Hamilton County about what does a junior high school look like and how that's defined. What is the difference between a middle school? So, I would say it's been a joint um design of getting to where we want to be. And so, is this professional development anticipated to continue for the rest of the year? It's it's got a cost. So, it's a $400 some,000 in the bud in the in the budget. So, I'm wondering is this something that is ongoing or is this something that we're maintaining oursel? This is uh with Hamilton County through the rest of this school year. That June institute
159which will involve their entire staff is included in the work that we're doing with them with Hamilton County. But they won't get support during the school year that they're starting. So August, September through December, will they have this contract only goes through the end of June? Okay. Principal Battle, I have a couple questions for you since you are an up and running middle school. Um, can you share some of your challenges? Can you share what worked, what didn't work? Do you happen to have uh connectivity with the high school? So, how does that me I almost say mentoring. How does that uh work with the transition for students? Well, this is your first year, so you won't have any eighth graders yet that that move, but just share some of your challenges. One of our
160biggest challenges this year was uh working with Metro Transportation. I think it's been across the board that way, but we've been very savvy on uh helping our students move through the neighborhood where we have um our security guard, he patrols at Oakley Transit. Um we've had staff ride the buses. We've also had parents volunteer to ride the bus to help monitor to at least to make sure that our students get to the safe location or to get home. Um the community has been really great. We have uh several competing organizations that would love to help us with our greenhouse. Um, we will be working on that this summer. And I will have to get back to you on the other details about what's worked. Okay. And what hasn't worked or where we need to make
161some adjustments? What about your parent engagement? Would you find that like at the middle school level, are they forming PTO's, LSDMC's? We're forming an LSDMC which will trickle down to the PTO. Um, one of our biggest connects going back to Metro, we had at least five parents call to volunteer to ride the bus. Okay, that was back in October when they noticed that several well their students came home and told them, "Mom, teacher rode the bus today and the teach and the parent called and said, "Hey, um, is everything okay? Do you guys need help?" And that with her network, she reached out and so we have support in that manner as well. Good. Okay, thank you. Board member Lindy. Thank you. And I'm sorry I had to step out just a moment ago. Uh
162I had one comment, one question. U my comment was uh as a former seventh grade teacher uh and a volunteer sixth grade teacher at my temple on Sundays. I love middle school students and I'm glad you're doing what you're doing and thank you. Um my question is is there if and I apologize if I missed this while I was out. Is there anything our board can be doing to make your work more uh effective or easier? That might be a loaded question because everybody's face just went blank. Well, I mean, not not loaded, genuine like we how can we help you make a difference in this next school year? I think just the continued support, you know, this is a new model and middle school and junior high is really really really important. Um, and
163I believe you'll we'll see the trickle up effect when they get to high school. Um, just with the academics improvement and being able to just help close some of those gaps before they get to high school. So, um, I would just say just the continued support. Um, again, it is new. So, obviously, I'm sure like I told my staff today, we're going to probably have to hit reset on a few things because we thought it was a great idea in April and then we realized, oh, the kids are here. This isn't working. So, let's we had to change on the fly. So, I would just say the support um and just continue checking in and we just I think we're just all excited about the opportunity. Another way is um y'all have a copy of
164the parent engagement. Y'all can just show up. Show up. Um because what that shows the community that we have support of the board to move this mission. So, if y'all see a date where we having parent day or um a parent engagement opportunity like after Taylor on May 8th, just show up. Um so, just follow that because y'all can follow the trend and follow us and um just show up because it shows your support and shows a unified front and also in the summertime, I know you spoke to the summertime, Dr. Moffett, um there's a lot of events going on, so y'all will probably get word of those events. just communicate. Just let us know and we willing and flexible enough to show up, throw a tin up and have some information to pass out
165so you're not being bombarded with a whole lot of questions. Got it. Well, member Matt, so yes, thank you for the presentation and I appreciate you all sharing your aspiration um for the mission and vision of each one of each one of your schools. Um so, thank you for that. Um, I do have a few questions and uh, board member Moffett expressed some of those concerns, but just speaking on the engagement piece, I do know that there is um, some schools that may be doing a little bit more so there could be more consistency and making sure that that connection is happening with um, the previous principles as well as the uh, students as well as the uh, parents and staff. I think that would be helpful. Um, my question though that I have is
166about enrollment. So, I know that we receive projected numbers. Have we been able to reach all of those students um from each one of the transitioning schools to make sure that they are enrolled and what is that process looking like? So, right now in focus we can a lot of us can see our eighth graders because they are coming directly from other schools. So, the rising the rising eighth graders. So for me those seventh graders currently at Witthro are already in the system as eighth graders but as far as the seventh graders there is a lot of work being done in customer care to ensure that we can reach all of the students. So for some we can currently reach but the other ones it is very close um to being complete where we can
167reach 100% of our students. Okay. However I'll add we do know the pathways for which the children can apply to come to our schools. So, I have done it myself and I'm pretty sure the other principles up here have as well. Sent information to the principles of those elementary schools and asked them to forward it to their complete sixth grade body whether they're coming to our specific school or not. Okay, thank you for that. Um, and then the other question is a little different. I know that principal battle received this question, but I am curious to know what are some of the specific challenges that you all are interfacing with as you're going forth with this work? So at Hartwell it's a different model. While we always had middle school students, it's um changing into
168a middle school if that makes sense. So just the mindset around scheduling and offerings and extracurriculars and things like that. Um just want to be able to offer an authentic opportunity for the students and the families. And so I would just say that's the biggest thing just kind of getting that idea of okay this is how we did in elementary and while some aspects may look kind of similar it's going to be different right like with the number of bells and kids moving around and um trying to start amping up getting kids ready for like hopefully algebra wants to start looking at kids who we think we can get ready just been able to again get them more ready for high school. Um, so I would say for us, I mean, we got a unique
169situation where we're not getting a brand new set of students and staff. We are keeping most of our 95% of people we already have, right? So, it's just getting that mindset and putting up those new operation procedures and changing that culture again. Okay. Thank you. And then lastly, um, as you've been able to engage with the students and parents, um, and having like the playdates, what has their response been to the transition? Um, I will say specifically, um, for mine, the kids are excited. Um, the staff feels less anxious and stressed out about the transition. Um, I even had, as a matter of fact, the day that we were going down to Rockdale, it was supposed to rain like, and I prayed just for a little bit of a dry spell, a little bit of
170sunshine. And I had one parent come in because me and Principal Watson were like, "Hey, maybe we should cancel it because I don't want the kids walking in the rain." But we did buy them all ponchos. So, but the parent came and even inspired. She said, "You know what? They going to have to learn how to walk on the rain anyway. So, we going down to Rockdale." So, we even had one of our parents go down there with the kids as well just to engage um overall um a lot of our parents that have come up um to meet Principal Watson. So, Principal Watson had come up to South Aenddale. So, I do a first Friday with our um for you know, just for parent engagement. And so she showed up and so they got
171an opportunity to meet her. So hopefully that's bridging the gap so they know who she is. They're getting to know her and so that when they do have um engagement they will then be like, "Okay, we met her. We're going to go down to Rockdale and see what's going on." Um the same thing I did go over to Douglas. I got called out in the board meeting. Hey, someone didn't hear from South Aenddale. So I'm on my way. Um and so last week did um um donuts with the students and engaged with some of the parents. Um and even that that parent specific uh specifically they had you know just a a question about you know his son and and and going to South Aenddale. Um and so a lot of our parents are feeling
172a little more at ease about their children's transition. And so the more that we've been engaging um everybody is just like the walls are starting to you know to come down because again yes we are putting communities together um however a lot of the people that are coming a lot of the communities that are coming to South Aenddale have never actually been on the inside of South Aenddale. Um sometimes they only know what they see on TV and it's not the same as when you come on the inside of South Aenddale. So we're just working through those barriers and just trying to break down those walls um through continuous engagement. So, thank you for that and thank you all for your leadership. I know that this is something new and yes, it will come with
173a lot of positives, but also those challenges, but thank you for, you know, just uh taking this work head on and really um just leaning in and doing some difficult things to create uh greater opportunities. So, thank you for that. Um, one question for you, Superintendent Murphy. So, I know that we've been having our town halls. Um, have the principles been able to be present at those town halls or have you discussed what the growth plan looks like pertaining to these uh the middle schools? Uh, the principles at the schools where we were having the town halls or so no these the principles that are transitioning to middle school and junior high. So I know that was at Pleasant Ridge and Gamble, but those schools are not beinged. No, those principles were present, but this
174group of principles, they were not. So, I guess to the point of the marketing, are they able to So, I know that there's another one coming up um here. Are they able to interface with the community? Because again, this is a huge transition within our district. And so, if we're trying to lay eyes on this and have people aware, I think that they should be present to interface with our constituents as well. So, next Monday night, you all are invited to come here to the ed center at six o'clock. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Any other questions? Oh, board member Weinberg. Yes. So, I'm going to circle back. So, thank you so much. Um, it is nice to hear that families, staff members, students are at ease because as uh President Moffett stated earlier, as board
175members, we got lots of emails, we got lots of calls. I be at the grocery store, someone would say something and it's nice to hear that there is a sense of ease. And superintendent, it's also nice to hear that you will be including them um and having that engagement um and allowing individuals to hear more about what is to occur and what's going to happen. I think for me, my one question that I have for either of you all to answer or the superintendent is athletics. What is the plan? And I know that it was talked about very slightly here in the slide, but just having a little bit more information on what is to occur. Uh, our districtwide athletic director has talked with all of the principles. There is a plan for athletics and
176extracurricular activities for all of the schools. Do you know what sports that will be? Can you guys help me out with what sports you'll have at your school? I want some more. I want some. So, real quick, so I can I can confirm that that is happening. Um, actually Josh Harden and his crew came through um South Aenddale, did a walkthrough of the building and everything. Um, and so we know that for South Aenddale specifically um in the fall we'll be doing uh football. We'll be doing volleyball and volleyball. Basketball. Cheerleading. Football. Basketball. Soccer. Soccer. That's the other one. soccer. Um in the winter basketball um for both boys and girls and then in the spring we'll be doing track and we are bringing um girls flag football which is new this year for the
177district. So anybody else? Anyone else? Um shameless plug. Hartwell is going to be defending our boys and girls basketball championship next season. Thank you. Okay. Spoken like a principal. There we go. Pleasant Hill will have the same except we will have wrestling at Pleasant Hill. We'll have exactly the same. When athletics came out, they also looked at the facility specifically to see what can occur in the building, what field could be used as a practice field, and what exists in the neighborhood. So, we will be able to have some sports events happening in the building, practices happening in the building, and then we'll also utilize Owl's Nest, which is down the street. And also at Taylor, we have those sports. In addition, we have baseball and softball in the spring along with flag football depending
178on the level of interest. Awesome. Board member Weinberg. Uh, one of the things for the June Institute, um, for these fine people, Josh Harden and his team will be coming out not to tell them what they already know, but to drill down with any problems that he foresees or they foresee with some kinks that need to be worked out because June is a couple months from now. That's why we purposefully save that for the June Institute knowing that he would be drilling down with them. But there's probably some fine tuning that would need to be done at that time. Thank you so much. And then superintendent, with everything, whether it's the addition of sports, the facility has to be obviously upgraded to fit the standards for our older students. I am curious and you can
179get back with me on this just the cost of everything. So, thank you. Yes, ma'am. Well, oh, wet. Yeah. I just wanted to thank you all for being here and and you've exhibited really great professionalism tonight. I really appreciate it. Thank you. So, let's give you a round of applause and thank you again. We are so proud of you and we're tired. So, that's probably the reason why we're not standing. But we you have our support. So, all you have to do is say less and we will be out there. I wrote that down. May the 7th. Um, you said May the I guess it is down here. So, we will be we board member Weinberg said, "Can you send her a calendar invite?" Let us know and we will be there to support. Thank
180you. May 8th. Oh, Lord. Send me a calendar invite. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Mr. Burkhart and Mr. Gullahoo will quickly present our growth update. So, uh, President Mafet, neither of them are able to be here tonight. I just shared the link with the overall plan and that's why I went ahead and shared that because neither one of them are here if that's okay. Okay, that's fine. How about we just put that on to the next board meeting and then we'll um or do you have it? Is it Oh, I mean are you going to present on it, Superintendent Murphy? I shared it during the top of their presentation. Okay. Okay, gotcha. All right, moving on. We are We are cooking with grease, guys. I will update us about our
181memberships and of prof within professional organizations. Um I think that board members Rob well I think it's on board docs we have to make some decisions around um the the budget for the board and any professional organizations that we are going to be supporting. So on board docs here and it's now on the screen. Thank you Rob. you will see what the board office budget is. I asked for this to be overtime so that we can see what some of the costs are. And thank you to the board admin staff. I won't call out P2 P squed uh specifically, but thank you for putting this together for me. The first line is the Council of Grey City Schools. They are they've invoiced us for $48,195. OSBA, Ohio School Board Association has invoiced us for $13,835.
182And then there is an OSBA legal legal I think it's legal assistance fund that we've paid for. And then we are not a member of NSBA per se. It is um we have COSBA which is included in our OSBA membership. Um NSBA kind of dissolved. So in 2022 so now we are included in COSBA with OSBA. And this is just a snapshot of the budget and the question was around remaining in um council of great city schools. I did have an opportunity to speak with our official representative member Craig. Does anyone have any um questions, comments, concerns around maintaining these memberships? you see the costs and and the costs for OSBA and the cost for Council of Great City Schools are both based on the enrollment of our district. So, um I asked board member
183Craig just is there a cheaper version and there was not one that's based on our enrollment. So, anyone have any questions for member Craig? So, I would just share the thought and again I think as you can see we spent money on various different things throughout the years. I mean some of the costs are also associated with things like we did searches for positions or we did board development and these type of things. So there are different things that we've paid for over the years. But I would just state I think in the given the current climate that we are living in um our participation in the council great city schools is a group of folks who who actively are engaged in the conversations with litigator with uh legislators in the uh US capital. And
184so, you know, I I my concern with also leaving something like that is that we'll also no longer be in touch with the information that is gained. The guidance that is given out as part of that relationship. Um I recognize we have a we have a relationship with OSBA, but again, these are folks who are more attached to Columbus and more of what's going on within our state government more so than um some of the efforts within our our federal government. So, you know, again, I think any decisions that are made should be made with that understanding that if that's an avenue that we would be giving up access to and would have to have some other method or form to be able to gain access to because we don't technically have any lobbyists in
185DC um on our own behalf. So, I would just kind of throw that part out there. So, I'm just going to share with you all too that as part of um COSBA and OSBA, I have been sending you all the weekly legislative updates from the state and from the federal government. You all get them via email. I also send them to our um the board direct reports, which would be Treasurer Wagner. Actually, I don't send it to Mike. I'm gonna send it to you, too, Mike. I'm sorry. Um Superintendent Murphy, um Lauren Roberts, and then um Dan Ho. So you all get those updates. They do include some federal uh legislation as well, but I just I am a little confu little concerned about the cost and so I'm looking to the other representatives that
186engage actively with council gracity schools. Is there another are you aware of another option that would be a little bit more cost um effective for us other than almost triple the number for OSBA member Lindy um I I will share that just from my part I found the materials from the council to be much of much higher value than the materials from OSBA that's one person's experience um I think that it would be interesting to see what's the percent we're trying to reduce the overall budget. I think it's entirely fair that we reduce the board budget by the same percentage. I also like to see on here the board professional development funds and travel expenses that board members use over the course of a year. I'm happy to give up mine. Um but I' I'd
187like to see if we can find a way to get to the same percent cut um without losing that membership because I've found their uh professional development to be really valuable. But if that's if that's the only path, then I think we got to do for ourselves what we're asking other people in the organization to do. Thank you. And we can definitely include professional development. I will say um to the public for their edification board members receive is it 2500 or 3500 Miss Phillips? two or three per per person for professional development which is inclusive of our travel to um the OSBA conference and any other professional development. There are some board members who don't choose to use their money and other board members receive their funds, but we're not talking about a lot of
188money. And then also, let me also add, board members receive $5,000 each as salary from the state. So, we're not talking about a lot of money. Um, if it were between cutting professional development, which I think the majority of board members use or or council great city schools, I would not want to cut the professional development to the board members. That's just my personal opinion. And I did pass around the report that was submitted um the some of our staff members. I think it is it on board docs as well, Rob? Anything else under this topic? This is it. Um, there was a very brief report. We did have I asked our staff that have attended the conference. I think on page three you can see the staff members that attended. Not very many of
189our staff were able to attend or found value in the in the um professional development conferences from the council of great city schools um because I did ask for that their feedback around that um before bringing this here. So, we did have some board members, I'm sorry, some staff, um, attend that are no longer here. And so, um, for the most part, I asked our own internal auditor, our own treasurer, and they, um, did not have a problem with not maintaining that. But are the is there any other feedback? Vice President Bolton? Yes. I, you know, again, it's a part of the whole budget. Um, the board budget is is singularly small. Um, you know, council people have staff members u serving each individual and we are fortunate for seven of us to have two
190great people uh as our staff people let alone the whole income piece uh for for board members. Obviously, it's a it's a shoestring budget. I do think that it's duplicative um especially with the change now uh in the last two years of uh um the National Association of of School Boards u having changed to the COSBA and then now also having the fact that our previous um OSBA executive director has been named the executive director of COSBA. uh now which I think is crucial. I think that it makes the um uh the um role of OSBA and COSBA more uh um u significant for us and and and I would like to think we get rid of some of the duplicative nature of of having both uh great city schools and and also um COSBA
191as well as OSBA. Um I also know that to the um as the point that's been m mentioned about the Washington lobbying uh uh we we do participate in what is the federal legislative uh group uh flag which is determined by not school district but determined by congressional district and Cincinnati um public as well as the uh Hamilton County Service Education Center uh and another school district to be named. We of among the three of us, we represent the first congressional district uh of uh of Ohio when we go to Washington. Uh so I think that's I think we've got that coverage. I think we have to look at the uh amount of dollars we spend besides that on lobbying. I mean, we've all been talking about this and the reality is in the new
192world we live in, are we getting the kind of lobbying information? I know we are going we're going through the great eight. I know that they were going through OFTA and aft and uh as well as our own wonderful local people. I also know that the people that we have used uh most recently in these last couple of several years uh at least one of the partners or members has now retired. Uh, and so I think we should from a budget standpoint as well as our needs both in DC and in Columbus, uh, we may need to look at that part of our budget and see if we're getting the best uh, uh, u dollars uh, the best service. Uh, no reflection on anybody, but there's just such change uh, that I think that's a
193place to to focus our budget. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to direct the board members. Um I put this report on well I'm sorry I didn't. Uh our admin put this report on board docs and um page seven is what I was referring to around um the conferences that our staff has been able to attend. I will say too they gave me some clarification. The total for all seven professional developments for board members is just $25,000. Um it's now that part is on there and that CPS paid for we paid for our searches um they were done with RFPs and that um we did not receive a discount on any of professional or technical services because we were members just to clarify. Any other comments board member Matt? All right. Yes. So, I don't
194necessarily know if there's anything um more costefficient um as we're looking at the uh Council of Great City Schools, but I will say that I did appreciate um being a new board member being able to um learn um from uh Council of Great City Schools about the role of governance and what the expectations of um a board member is. And I also appreciated having going to the conference just the intentionality around making sure that we're focusing on our goals and also the intentionality around um being able to have conversation and to learn from other districts that are more similar to us as a district in terms of um where we are as a urban uh public school district. And I don't know if I necessarily got that from OSBA having had the opportunity to attend
195their conference as well. But I do um agree with board member Lindy's point that we also want to make sure we're modeling where we are in terms of budget decisions. And so it is a astronomical cost. Um maybe we can look at what the um both I guess organizations provide in terms of benefits and maybe be able to make a decision that way. Well, in comparison to OSVA. So, I'm going to um invite you all to take a look at board docs. The this this particular document that I'm passing around is there along with the invoice and um their summation of what they provided to the district for 23 24 um and uh that would be the value for the um the amount of money. So, we do have to make a decision. And I
196don't know when we need to make that decision for the budget um before we submit for approval. Oh, okay. So, we have some time in the next couple weeks. I got you. Great. All right. Are there any other comments, questions? All righty. Board members, are there any assignments other than what has been or if you had an assignment, repeat it. I know board member map, you had one. Um so yes, the assignment was around um providing more details um and kind of the pros and cons of that substitute levy. Any others? Vice President Bolton? Yes. Um what are the ways um that new revenue can be achieved? Not necessarily regarding uh taxes or levies. I think we we've talked that to the point of no return. Are there other things that can produce revenue? or
197they're um I'm Mark I I found it interesting as a member of the recreation commission to find out that after school care conducted by recreation department is actually a profit center. Um uh I'm I'm interested in knowing um what other ways are there to create revenue uh for us besides increasing taxes? Are there things that we kind of hand out to other people that produce revenue for them uh that could be producing revenue for us? Uh, of course, we've talked about selling property. Um, and I I know we've talked also about some of the extra accounts uh that might exist. Um and uh even over any number of years we're talking in terms of open enrollment uh and more enrollment from outside the district. Uh I know when we've done the studies of that it
198you it is at least a um uh same sum or a little bit more revenue generated. And then finally on the revenue piece somewhere along the line this the treasurer mentioned some uh weeks ago and it's been in a slide and I can't remember it. We have to have a certain amount of enrollment to be able to I don't know if it was about keeping the floor or what it was that we had to hit a certain number of enrollment for this coming year that would help us uh with our revenue. Do you remember what that was? I can look it up. But again, this I'm really focusing on revenue in all of this. So your question is around revenue. How do we produce revenue? Are there things we're not doing? I think what I
199said was we have to either maintain or grow enrollment because a reduction enrollment will our forecast revenues will decline. Okay. So it was I think it was like a bar chart and I I'll find it. Okay. But yeah, I think it it must maybe that's what it was that to improve the three-year plan, the three-year uh average or something. And then we had to Okay, we have All right. The growth makes sense, but revenue. That's the assignment. Revenue. I think I asked for an assignment around the income in income tax levy information. Are there any others? Yes, ma'am. I just forgot to add on with the substitute levy. I know that you were going to look into ideally what a figure could look like in terms of that new construction money. So, um, if you
200could present that and then I don't know if, um, we received, I know I think we talked about it last time as an assignment where there would be kind of a, um, some type of visual graphic, uh, discussing the different benefits or the challenges proposed in each levy or have a scenario base so we can begin to make a determination about what would be most ideal for us as a district. I'm sorry, I didn't catch all that. our last meeting I believe that I assigned um providing some type of um visual for us to see in terms of what you all's recommendations were around the levy discussion. So um identifying what would be um possibly the the pros of certain levies, the challenges of certain levies, but providing the scenarios also for us to consider
201um and presenting that back to us. Is that clear? again. I I think so. Okay. All right. We're going to limit you 30 seconds. That's okay. Vice President B. Two assignments. I think we want to assign to the board the need to discuss what we think the purpose of the foundation is because we've talked about about the creation of the foundation and and a great effort and I know that the foundation group is beginning to meet and indeed um you know we have to make appointments there but I'm not sure the board has given the kind of broad or narrow direction to the foundation board as to what we think and because I don't know what we think is the use or the purpose of the foundation what we would uh I think so I
202think that we need to have a board discussion about that and then also an assignment to the policy committees uh efforts because there's going to be a number of requests regarding name changes for schools All right. Thank you. A proposed board member Cross wanted to reiterate on the foundation. Um their um the money that they raise is really for us to decide how it gets spent. So there there might be an opportunity to have it help our budget in some form or fashion. It's it's it's our call. We have board we have representation on the board to help make that make that happen. So, for whatever it's worth. Yes. And the representation on the board needs to know what the board as a whole I I I agree. I I'm just trying to context. I
203agree. Right. A proposed consent agenda has been distributed. Do board members, the superintendent or the treasurer have any exception items to the consent agenda? What member Weinberg? for the superintendent report. Page 19, section E, lines one and two. I'm sorry, say page 19, page 19, section E, line 1 and two. And then for the treasur, uh, page 10, line 13 and 14. And you're abstaining from both? Yes. Is that it? Is it board member Matt? Uh yes. The treasurer's report I would like to abstain from page six line item three and page eight line item three and four. Okay. Is that all? All right. I need a motion and a second to approve the items of the consent agenda with exceptions. So moved. Thank you. Treasurer Wagner, please call the voting role for passage of
204the consent agenda and any revisions. Mr. Craig, yes. Mr. Crossen, yes. Mr. Lindy, yes. Miss Matt, yes. Mrs. Weinberg, yes. Vice President Bolton, yes. President Moffett, yes. The chair will now entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Unanimous consent.