001We need a break after the adoption, right? Recess >> I don't know. Mike, are you up there? >> You snuck in. >> You come down here. >> Great. Yes, sir. >> Wow. Roll call, please. Mr. Bavis, >> Mrs. Eyolds, >> here. >> Mr. Marks, >> here. >> Mrs. Sing >> here. >> Mr. Summer >> here. >> Mr. Tullis, >> here. >> At this time, is there a motion to adopt the regular meeting agenda? >> Still moved. Second. All in favor? >> I This time we will stand in recess until 7 o'. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, come on. Guide you. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Baby, hey. That's pretty much Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey,
002Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Got you. Heat. Heat. Power. Guide you. To the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Uh, Mr. Davis, any public commentary? >> We have none this evening. >> You with that, we'll move on to correspondence, recognition, and announcements. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh, I'm going to start with a uh short slideshow this evening, uh, which is kind of out of order. I'm going to uh draw letter D first because Dr. Stewart is busy uh, initiating a student that I'll have to state today. um like to share a couple of resources and some summary uh
003because we haven't been together um in over a month, but a lot has been happening around Indian Hill this summer. So um mainly for our audience, we want to just review quickly. Uh this summer we onboarded a new principal at Indian Hill Middle School, Miss Lauren Gentine. Want to welcome Lauren. She is off and running. Uh staff has been meeting with her the last couple of days. We also hired 14 new faculty members, eight aids, three substitute bus drivers. We have current staff uh 10 of them who are in new roles this year this year including our new uh K12 de students uh Daniel Lince who had been a fourth grade teacher at uh IES for some time. And just to give you a snapshot of the uh human capital work that goes on behind
004the scenes in the district this past summer, 803 applicants were screened and 183 interviews were conducted uh to build the team and we welcomed everybody in orientation that Mr. Nichols led uh a week ago and uh it's a very talented group joining the great family. This summer was also the launch of our personalized professional learning plan which is a major part of our strategic plan uh implementation the IH promise and our staff has done an incredible job of taking their own professional learning to a new level. This model of board members is one of less than a handful in the state of Ohio and one of maybe 20 in the nation where we are truly personalizing professional learning not just for compliance work for lenture but to deepen learning that ultimately directly impacts children in
005the classroom. Um I know Julie is here tonight. Piper I I want to just thank our teachers and our administrators and our classified staff members who participated this summer. When you look at some of this data up here, um the number of hours earned just through book studies this summer, 650 plus hours, this is time that our teachers are putting in to better their craft and ultimately to impact children. We're so thrilled at how this model is working. And um obviously when our staff works hard and they get to trade that time later in the year, it it makes their work more flexible and how they approach their career more flexible. Um, so we're proud of all of our staff that took part and this is us just getting started this summer. Uh, Dr. Kim
006Given did a lot of work with this model. Mark Richardson, Dr. Stewart, and of course our IHPO leaders and teacher leaders at every building who decided that they would give this a try. So, we're thrilled with this data and uh the stats from the summer. Also uh we will do a major presentation next month on our strategic plan the IH promise and the initiatives that we are beginning to uh research uh those that are in discovery and those that are in implementation. But just to give you a little an idea here of what's coming. Uh there will be meetings happening throughout the fall and uh faculty and staff taking part in initiative teams where they will dive deeper into one of the 10 initiatives. And if you've been paying attention for anybody listening in the
007audience tonight, throughout the summer, our streamline communications initiative is already up and running and being fully implemented with targeted newsletters to groups. That was a direct result of input and feedback from our community members about what they wanted to see with our communications. Just want to remind everybody that we work with some really important strategic partners when it comes to students wellness, health, wellness, uh mindfulness, mental health, all of these issues that uh are front of mind as we're returning to school for everyone. Uh we have some strategic partners in Cincinnati Children's Hospital, mind peace one and five, and of course, we have our own brave character education program that our staff works very hard on. They've actually spent the last two days in professional learning sessions, both full days, working on mindfulness, wellness, and
008brave character education lessons to make sure that that program, which was board approved 3 years ago, is fully implemented with a range of academic and wellness activities throughout the school year. Also, just a reminder about our committee calendar for the year. These will be posted to the website after tonight's meeting, but we have several of our uh quarterly um engagement opportunities with the community that we started last year and uh these dates will be shared again. Thank you. So, a couple of uh recognitions this evening and some announcements and I know Mr. Tuls, you probably would like to jump in on this first one. But I would like to take a moment to uh thank our staff members, uh Brian Phelps, our athletic director, Amy Clark, our activities director, and our high school principal, Jeff
009Gamado, who worked with a small committee of community members to organize our first annual IH golf outing. Uh it was a wonderful event uh held in Loveland at the country club there, Oannon, and uh we had some volunteers who took the lead like Scott Popoff and Bobby Slatterie. uh IH graduates who who gave time to help out as um committee members and all the main sponsors Paul Gainer um all of the sponsors and partners who helped to support this outing that benefited athletics and activities. I just would like to send a big shout out thank you to this will become an annual tradition at Indian Hill and I think it was a great launch and I can just echo the thanks. Um it was a great great event. We had a good turnout on a
010probably weather day. I know those events don't happen without a lot of work from a lot of people. Uh thanks for everybody. Um I got to play with uh Mr. Ki, Mr. Mars, Mr. Barrett is in the audience and going to go ahead and go on record stating that next year I'll probably have some different golfers. Uh maybe some play. But uh it was a great time. Uh we had a lot of fun. Appreciate every effort that Thank you. >> And the golf was directed at Mr. connect and myself as well. So, >> yes, I'm so proud of everybody who was there that day and we had a great time, I think, with the group. Uh, a lot of sponsors uh too many to name tonight, but um over 15 different sponsor groups and again
011just getting started. A lot of community members have participated. I think over a hundred uh very proud of the efforts of everybody who was involved. Uh next up, I'd like to invite Miss Milana Bear to come up to the stage here for a moment, please. Uh Milana was selected and attended a special accounting business camp this year at Miami University of Ohio. Uh that's available to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors. She was the only student from Indian Hill who attended. Um this is a 3-day, twoight camp in July. And uh that's about the extent that I know about all the activities except that I know that Milana was impacted by the camp. And so first want to congratulate you Milana for participating uh in that camp. and we have some Red Hawks here who are
012very excited to hear about your experience. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about the camp and what you learned. >> Um, so it was a camp at the Farmer School of Business and it was a accounting camp. So the big four firms for accounting took they had different talks with us and we got to learn a little bit about accounting and like auditors and stuff like that. But it was also more like I felt like it was more of a recruiting process too because they toured us around a lot and got to see all the different buildings and I got to meet a lot of great people that I still talked to and it was it was really great. I really enjoyed it. >> What grade are you going to be in this
013year? Wa >> 10th grade. >> So how does this shape your idea of when you hear us talk about career pathways or or possible, you know, college exploration? How does this influence you and what you do as a student? Well, it kind of gave me more of a like a window into what it would be like to be a college student and it gave me an idea of what certain careers would look like in business, like accounting, especially since that was what the camp was. And um it it was just kind it was really cool to see what it would be like to be in college. We got to stay in the dorms and we got to hang out at night and it was really cool. >> And what was the highlight of the camp
014for you in terms of the contests that the competitions that you participated in? Well, we got to do like skits in groups that I thought were really fun. And but my favorite part was there was like a they called it like an adventure race where you kind of ran around the the campus and did different challenges with your team and it was it was really fun and active. So, I really enjoyed it. >> Well, that's a great uh great experience. You got to spend a lot of time with Miami, obviously learning a little bit about a career pathway, but also about a great university. and uh we're really proud that you represented Indian Hill there. Uh that's a select camp, so congratulations. We're very proud of you. >> Thank you. >> Uh also, um want
015to celebrate one of our golfers, Alyssa Kerr, who you may have heard shot a hole in one last Tuesday as we were kicking off the fall sports season. I don't know in recent history if we've had a hole in one at Indian Hill in years. At least to my knowledge, we have not. Uh in the last four years, this is amazing. Um the the women's team started off at an invitational with um the low golfer and a whole one and the boys won their invitational tournament. So just a great start to the fall sports season. We're so proud of Melissa Kerr and again another person I probably need to get some lessons from. Sounds like she should be in there. >> Yeah, she should be in there for your job. We're placing you on the
016board for next. >> Okay. So, thank you. And again, thank you for being here, uh, Milan. Um, next up, we're going to have a short operations update from our director, Jim Nichols. And then we also have a special presentation from our project team tonight on all the progress that's happened with our facilities um throughout the summer. And uh we will also share this as a link after the meeting tonight on the website. But uh want to take some time to review all the work that's happened. I just want to uh take a moment to recognize all the time and effort that our director Jim Nichols has put in with the project team and our project team members who are here to present this evening. Uh there have been a lot of meetings and a lot
017of work to get ready for the opening of the school year this week, but we are ready uh thanks to all that hard work. So thank you Jim and turn it over to you. >> Well, thank you Mr. Connect. Um, I will try not to steal their thunder cuz there's a lot of exciting things happening on campus and uh we are going right to the minute to get everything ready and uh we got a lot of work done which will help us next summer too as well. So, but just a couple of things I will share with you. Um, we have as always been working on all kinds of our safety measures to make sure that uh we're providing a safe experience for our students. There is no more important job that we have than
018taking care of them. And uh those things that we do annually, but uh even spend a little more time. We spent some time with our rangers this summer. Um we did a drill with them last week that went really well and uh just practicing our ability to communicate with them and their ability to communicate with us um in any kind of event. And uh I really appreciate our Indian Hill Rangers, their um presence on campus at all times just to be here and just to engage our students and our faculty. um it's not uh out of the norm for them to be here and are I think it's just really helpful for us. So, we've had that going on. Um in addition, um we've got some new traffic patterns and I won't talk too much
019about those. I think we're going to see some pictures of them, but I will tell you our principles um through some of their newsletters and our new communication tool pushed out uh maps of that. So, if you haven't had a chance to go online and look at those newsletters, they have it in there. We posted on social media. I believe our middle school principles today got in their car and drove the brand new route that you would take as a car rider at the middle school. So, that was kind of exciting and uh so you'll be able to watch that video, but um we've got all that information out there. So, please take some time to take a look at that. Um we do want to encourage anybody that comes onto campus. There is still
020a lot going on. We're going to do a great job of separating all of our construction activity from our students and what's going on there, but it's still use extreme caution. Um we have students that walk out to their car after school and they come in and you just need to go really slowly in those areas. So um take your time and we'll have some good signage up to help everybody figure out where they need to be. And then um also I want to point out in related to safety, we've got a new section on our website. It's under students and parents and talks about safety. I know sometimes we get questions about what kind of drills we run. Um, we also have some great information there about communication if you know, of course, we
021all are familiar if a snow day occurs with the calls we get and things like that, but we use those same tools uh to inform you of anything going on. So, make sure that you take a look at that. Um, in addition on there, you've also got some great information about our new air purification system that's in all of our classrooms and making sure that um our air is um as clean as it can be. You know, especially in these times, we want to make sure. So, we appreciate our partners uh at Protect Ed who helped us put that system in. And then, um we know that at the end of our project, we're going to have some great updated entrances that will also enhance our security. Uh making sure that everybody that comes in
022gets to come in in a safe way. If you are a visitor coming to our campus, you will be asked, please bring your identification so that we give you a sticker. We use a system that helps us log everybody in. We always know who's in our building. So I will conclude with that but we are super excited and I'll turn it back over to you Mr. Jim if I could just a question with all the construction activity that's occurring there got a lot of people on our campus that we don't necessarily you know bring on be subcontracts and the like. How are we handling that separation from construction activity to the other portions of campus to any building access? >> Yeah. So each site really has its own plan. When you look at a site
023like the elementary school, there's no reason they have um gated off and fenced off the area they'll be working in. There's no access to the building from their construction site or vice versa or students can't get out there except for emergency exits for the fire department obviously and we have to be able to get out of the building. But those places are separated. If you look at a place like the primary school, they are working on the front interior and we have a a line of division there and there's going to be you have to have an access code to get through even that space to get into the main core building. Um if there is any need for construction to come into the buildings, they need they will come sign in just like everybody
024else. They will get their ID, they'll get a sticker. So those protocols are followed no matter who you are and even if you're there every day. So we do have a a site plan for all those things. The majority of our construction outside the primary school though is outside in fenced in areas. >> I just want to commend you, Mr. Nichols. I know that not only you working strategically and thinking things through and getting with experts, but you're also willing to put boots on the ground. I was driving by, meet the teacher primary school and you know, I look over and there's Mr. Nichols kind of, you know, looking making sure everything's going well. And there's not a lot of leaders that do that and just appreciate the effort and care that you put into
025the district and to our families. And I know a lot of people really appreciate that. So, thank you. >> I appreciate that. I really like directing some traffic out there. >> Some more time on Thursday and Friday. I >> I think uh I would just want to reiterate with the traffic patterns and safety and you know, there's always some chatter at the start of the school year. Uh very proud uh just to report right our students have been very cautious around campus. Uh we have not had safety issues involving students or staff to date. Uh right, we're we're working with the project team in an ongoing way to communicate about those things. But as traffic is coming back to CA campus, we are asking people to look at those traffic pattern maps. Take a look
026at the newsletters that are coming out. Make sure that you familiarize yourself because when you come into the parking lots, people want to look to see all the changes going on around the same lot that they need to park in. Most of the construction is not happening in that lot, but people get distracted when they want to see all the progress that's going on next door, especially at the high school here. Um, and we've all seen a lot of change in the last few weeks. So, it's good to familiarize yourself, take a look around, and I know Jim has worked with um some of our partners. There will be some other signage up, direction, caution signage, so that our students and uh visitors and guests are paying attention as they're entering and exiting campus. And
027um our project team members are exiting and entering in different places as well. And that's important to note. So you need to really watch that traffic on Drake Road every day. Uh because there are different vehicles coming from different exits. Um okay, Mr. Nichols, we'll turn it over to our project team members. I know Chris Pek, Chris Sto, I see her here coming down. Chris, I have your file here. So, if you want to just tell me, I can advance it for you uh over time. All right, thanks all for having us back again for the boarding this evening. Uh, as Kirk mentioned, I think Chris and me want to go through kind of high level, uh, kind of reiterate some of the things that, um, Mr. Nichols just talked about and the work that's
028been happening over the past, you know, really year and a half plus. um as we're developing these projects and implementing these projects, uh we always talk about, you know, right off the bat, um you know, a lot of the key points that are being made throughout about uh the district and the school and what this community is all about. So, I think this slide has always been front and center and with our kind of eye on the goal of what we're trying to achieve here as a community and as a group and I think all these things we continue to circle back on and make sure, you know, are we achieving these? How are we achieving these? whether it's with the designs with the construction implementation and so on. So, um Chris is going to
029go through some of the schedule stuff here high level and then we'll jump into some design elements. But, um I think just as a team, we're just uh really excited just as everyone else is to see progress. You know, so much time has been spent um for a long time now just trying to get things out of the ground, stuff that people don't often see in the planning side. Um and so starting to actually see physical uh examples of the work is really exciting for us as well. So, Chris, you want to go through some of the the timetable stuff and I'll jump back in. >> Hi, good evening. Uh, so this timeline, uh, we've got a lot of squares there, a lot of months. It's a long process and it's very encouraging to see
030the number of months that are in the rearview mirror and we're closing in on the end of the project and completion of construction. So, the last year or so, we've uh put a lot of hours into relocating utilities and demolition, a lot of prep work, and all that planning is paying off with the construction that we've seen over the summer of 22. Uh looking further ahead, uh completion of each of the buildings. Uh the elementary and primary schools are on track to finish at the end of summer of 23. We have some phases that are strategically waiting until the summer of 23, including the demolition of the sawtooth. And then the middle school will be wrapping up in November uh towards the end of 2023. Uh next slide. So starting off with the middle school,
031we're currently in phase three and uh the site will look like this for the duration of the school year and into next year. So uh this is straight from the logistics plan or the traffic flow plan that's been communicated out to the community. Uh in the middle there we have the bus loop uh where buses will be entering and exiting. Uh the pink lines uh towards the bottom that's the middle school drop off. That's very similar to what was in place over the last year or so. Uh just we have new roadways that we'll be following. And then to the north uh in the high school lot, that's the same traffic pattern as always uh for student drop off. Um, I would like to point out that as we start uh or welcome back students
032on Thursday, uh, in addition to all the signage and the planning and the videos and the maps that have been distributed, we'll also have personnel on site to help direct cars, uh, so everybody knows where to go. So, we'll have three to four people on each site to assist with that. Uh, the first couple of days, uh, there will be some rubberneckers, uh, like Mr. Kaki mentioned, but, uh, people will be looking at construction. I think things will simmer down after the first few days and uh we'll get into a flow for the rest of the school year. >> Chris, I ask one question. >> Yeah. >> Um thanks for all the work you guys have been doing. >> Have we thought through that first week just obviously construction has to kind of come in
033and out off the Drake. Obviously, there's a different entrance that they're using for coming in. But if we thought about in a certain period pausing, you probably already thought this through making sure that the main window for the high school that from for a 20 30 minute window, we're not having anybody come in. >> Yeah, we have the drop off and pickup schedules for all the buildings. Uh for example, at the middle school, we're currently uh we have some large material deliveries scheduled over the next few days. We have trucks staging offsite and they are told they cannot come in until after that uh drop off window in the morning. So we've been very strategic about that and communicating that to the subcontractors. So progress over the last few months uh will focus mostly on
034the summer. So June of 2022 in the top right hand corner we established the building pad for foundations for the new middle school as well as did a lot of site demolition for building out the new bus lot. So on the bottom lefthand corner uh this is what it looks like as of yesterday or actually probably this morning. Uh we have a new bus lot established. Uh to the left is a middle school uh car drop off or student drop off. So we have a separation there. Uh students will follow a path around the perimeter of the bus lot uh so they're not entering or crossing bus traffic uh as they make their way over to the high school entrance. Uh out in front of the auditorium uh we have steel uh that's been put
035up over the summer and we're continue to receive steel deliveries. Uh we have another delivery scheduled for Friday and they'll continue over the next few weeks and months. Go back to them real quick. One thing I just want to point out Chris talk through. So I think what's interesting about this is we've been um teams were taking aerial images throughout the course. Um you can see just over just about a year ago September of last year um you know demolition of the middle school started. You recall there's a lot of prep work that happened up to that point as well. So again I think just pointing out the um the amount of work that's happened and in particular the stuff you can actually see over the last month and a half which is on the
036bottom um is really amazing. And I think there's been a lot of like I said effort behalf of the staff, administration, um the team to to get there. Um so you just I think just interesting to see that um that progression. If you notice too, I think you get on the in the website um the uh construction zone. There's some recent uh videos posted as well that show a time lapse and that'll continue to be updated as well. So um uh really just again remarkable amount of work that's been happening behind the scenes to get to where we are today. So, we're really excited about that. Um, the next couple slides, a nice one, Kurt. What we did was we went out and tried to look at a comparison of kind of where we are
037now, where we're going to be. Um, as we get into the spring and summer of next year, you'll start to see again more steel and and structures come out of the ground. So, on the upper left, you'll see each of these slides consistent. It's just a a view from a similar vantage point uh within the last couple days. And on the right is the uh you know, the renders that have been posted over the past year and a half. Um so the community entrance where you see the steel going up if you come onto the campus um that's going to be that new connector element and the um community entrance that takes you into uh some of the different spaces in the middle school and high school. And you see on the right what that's
038going to be. So you're starting to get an idea of what that's going to look like in the scale. The next one is just a little bit more close-up shot um showing the height. Um you kind of walk toward there at some point. We'll have some hard hat tours. really start to get a feel for, you know, how that's really going to um look in relationship to other buildings. Um that's kind of this initial phase of steel. As Chris pointed out, there's more steel that's coming here over the next couple weeks and we'll start seeing the rest of the building coming up as well. Go to the next one. Um this is on the um the opposite side, the back side of the school looking toward the there's foundations in the ground. You got to
039use your imagination, but you can see where the ones we do the middle school. We've been talking about these outdoor spaces and project porches. um and just the amount of uh space that's going to be captured on that side of the site once it's all said and done. The foundations in the foreground are these stair elements that come down off of those project porches. And so again, just starting to get a feel for the footprint where it's all going to be as you get back in those areas. Um another view from within what will be that connector space where the steel is from a similar vantage point. um you know as you come in and ultimately the auditorium you know will have a new face to it um as you come into the theater into
040the space we're in here right now and um and again this new kind of brand uh entrance element that'll really I think celebrate uh when Hill is all about >> nice one vantage point Chris can I ask you a question >> on that uh middle school and high school connector is what's the timeline on it like when will it be done and ready >> I'm sorry say again >> the middle school and high school connector. >> What's the timeline on it? Like when will it be done? >> So, it's all in similar time frame as the rest of the middle school. So, even though the steel is going up now, those spaces um you know will be completed the same time as the rest of the school. I think you want to follow there's some
041areas that'll start to be turned over as we get into next summer. Um yeah. Yeah. So with the connector starting first in the project, there is an opportunity to turn some areas over early. Um so it could be possible say early next school year um that connector will be open and available to use for functions. So till that time uh because we do have a lot of performances in the auditorium so kids will have to use the high school entrance like >> yeah all uh foot traffic will be routed through the high school entrance and then we also have a temporary entrance set up near the gym uh that's where seventh graders will be entering um so they can access the building. So that's the closest entrance to the gym and the auditorium. And then
042of course the uh what's what's to come. You know, we've been sharing a lot of these different images over the past um several months. So, the new welcome center, the new entrance, right, with all different features and elements and safety components that Jim touched on, the village green, the dining areas, these neighborhood spaces we've been talking about, just all the great learning environments that'll be in this new middle school. Um, so again, as the spaces start to come out of the ground and take shape, um, we'll start to see a lot of these elements um, more clearly. Uh, and we'll start to again share some of the imagery as the construction progresses. But, um, again, I think just really looking forward to and excited about, you know, where the construction's going, where the progress is
043going, and, um, as we get into the next next several months, >> where are we on where are we on selecting the finishes? I mean, we saw the boards out front, but what's the timing on all that? >> I'm sorry, was that >> So, I saw the boards out front for the finishes, but what's the timing on selections and >> at this point? Yeah. if you got a chance to cure, but those are here this evening. Uh we do have some of those finishes out in front. Um at this point, the the primary selections have been made for the finishes and all the buildings. That was kind of part of the bidding process, the GMP process and all that. Um we have been circling back with some of the backing staff to make some kind
044of final um uh decisions on certain things. Uh but for the most part, finishes have been selected. uh materials, exterior materials that's not been selected and uh and move forward with with what is being shown at this point. So >> I think it's important to point out for anybody who's here tonight though and and uh as we move forward when you see the color palettes and what's shared on the websites. So for example on this slide the bottom uh right hand and the top right hand picture are showing uh views of the future neighborhoods. There will be three of those neighborhoods. each of them would have a different color palette aligned to the overall themes of the whole project, but those colors in each neighborhood would look a little bit different. They're not going to
045be the same. So when people do see the um the boards out in the lobby um it's just you may see a range of colors uh within a theme and and there's a reason why at the middle school for example those colors may look a little different at the elementary or the primary based on what we're doing with some for example the primary some viewfinding um colors and direction that's in the flooring might be a little different than what you might see at the middle school. All right. Uh over at the elementary school, we're currently in phase 1B, which takes us through the 22 23 school year. Uh over the past few months, we've been focused on the front side of the building where we've built out a new turnaround. Uh in the top leftand
046corner, there's a circle kind of towards the bottom adjacent to the bus lot. Uh and then in the back highlighted in orange, we've been working on the building pad for the new addition. Uh we should see foundation starting within the next week and block will start going up uh in about 2 weeks. So we'll see some progress out of the ground. Um we've spent a lot of time coordinating with the district and community for the revised traffic flow at the elementary school. Uh this site in particular had some challenges uh since we're building on the parking lot and we really didn't have a place to offset that. Uh thankfully uh the district uh worked with the adjacent Indian Hill Church uh to help with some of the capacity and queuing issues at this site. Uh
047so that's all reflected in the traffic flow maps that have been sent out. Uh parents that are dropping off will enter at the church, go through the parking lot, and then snake their way around uh through the available driveways there as a drop off for students. Uh looking further ahead, not until summer 23, uh we'll demolish the saw to build out the new parking lot uh to have that ready for the fall 23. >> Uh so these are some aerial views of the site work that was completed. >> So did the soil turn out okay over there for that? >> Yeah, we've been pretty fortunate at the elementary school. Awesome. >> Yes. Uh so uh the aerial views for the elementary school, you see that traffic circle or turnaround uh up front. Uh the bus
048slot was expanded slightly. There's an additional four or five parking spots there. And then towards the top of the picture, you can see the building pad starting to take shape. And I would imagine the next check-in, you'll clearly see the outline of the addition and what that's going to look like coming out of the ground. >> So a quick question. Where is the playground here in the elementary school with all this construction happening? The playground was in the back, right? >> Correct. Yes. >> So, is that moved someplace >> right now? Right now, it's on the field, the turf field next to the school. That's the temporary area for most gym classes and and also um recess time. They'll be using Shauny Field, >> Shauny Boom. >> We also moved a little bit of equipment.
049You can kind of see it there in the picture in the grassy area right there. There's a hoop out there as well. so that they can use the bus lot at times when we're not obviously bringing buses in and out. >> I think the gaga pits were the most important thing too forget the so these images again at the elementary school showing vantage points Chris point out with all the foundation and pad prep or packing back of the building and then on the right what that new unified art is slated to look like. we'll start to see that take shape over the next several months for the next one. So, so obviously then more to come, right, as that building starts to come out of the ground. Uh we talked about there's going to be
050continued improvements at the existing main entrance. Um that some of that work is going to start happening more in the next summer um so as we don't uh disrupt the traffic in the main building and same kind of features and branding and so on that we'll see at all the buildings that'll be happening there as well. And on the right in the bottom, the village green as we talk through, you know, this new multi-purpose performance and recreation space, uh the high lab, classroom spaces, music spaces, all those things, uh that will start to take shape. And as mentioned earlier, I'm seeing kind of finished pallets and things that have been developed at this point for those projects um as seen. And um again, just, you know, looking forward to uh that building starting to take
051some form and shape. All right. Lastly, with the primary school, we're currently in phase two. Uh we're currently focused on the new addition out front of the building. But before I get there, uh what we've accomplished this past summer is uh we've renovated a few office spaces. We've installed new flooring and the main academic wing. Uh we've renovated the group restrooms and the bus entry. Uh the group restrooms are uh still have a touch more work to do. We had some materials that were running late that are coming in over the next week or so uh to allow those bathrooms to be put into use. Uh but the bus entry is complete um as well as the offices and I encourage everybody to take a look. It's uh very exciting and uh the refresh is
052beautiful. Um then for the rest of the school year uh like I said we're focusing on the new addition entry and lobby. So, we've taken over that space. Uh, we've gutted about approximately 80% of the partitions and finishes in there. Uh, it's quite bizarre walking into the auditorium and not seeing any seats in there. U, so the upcoming refresh, it's very exciting to imagine uh what that's going to look like once it's all done. Chris, just a quick question. You said on the bus entrance, that's just the building part, right? It's not Are we redoing the asphalt on the bus side? >> No, no, just the bus entry lobby itself. Okay. Doing that as well at some point. >> Um I don't think that's currently part of the project. >> Okay. >> Um but that's
053something that we could look at doing. Yeah. >> U so the addition renovations up front, those will continue through the end of the 23 or 22 23 school year. And then fast forwarding into next summer, uh we have one last push to renovate the kitchen, cafeteria, and the playground. Uh so we'll be taking over those spaces and replacing the remaining flooring uh in the building. Just as a reminder uh and again people can see these up close with some of the releases from the principles. The the traffic flow of the primary school is different. Accessing the principles and the secretaries and the main office is a temporary main office. It's in a different part of the building near the uh the playground and parking lot uh on that side. Um, and that's where those temporary
054offices are. So, as parents are learning some of the new uh flow in and out of that building, we will be there to help uh in these next couple days. We've had a lot of people in the buildings already from meet to teacher and kindergarten orientation. And so, they're kind of getting oriented themselves. But uh that will be a big change this year that the the temporary offices are on the other side of the primary school and that's where parents would pick up and drop off and access children who may have an appointment during the day or need to go see a doctor or have a checkup or something. What are they doing this year, Kurt, for that classroom space they wouldn't use in the auditorium? That's obviously a service for a while. They're they'll
055be using the gym. Uh they'll be using the cafeteria and other classrooms. And during the pandemic, um Miss Watson and our teachers got very good at moving things around our carts and they're they're going to continue to do a great job this year. Um and uh knowing that they're going to have a great new home that's being renovated. Um one thing I just couldn't wait to speak since that so as Chris mentioned uh you know starting work on the uh the new addition in the front half of that building through call. It's really where the a majority of the work will be happening that's more transformative. Uh so on the lower right what that new entrance will ultimately look like. There's now fencing things up to separate traffic uh between construction and students. Uh but
056that start to take more form and transformation here opening in the next several months and the front of that building. Much of you almost what we won't be able to see from the road is what's happening inside the next one. Just another vantage point of that new addition. um as that canopy out there comes down and some of the elements start to uh to take shape on the front of the building. Next, so on the inside, Chris mentioned that they've been able to start demolition a little bit ahead of schedule on the front half of the building um thanks to kind of coordination with staff and faculty over there. Um, but this is actually looking back toward the existing entrance and you can see a lot of those areas have started to be uh to
057be demolished and and the transformation on the right when that becomes sort of main entrance. The load village green space um looking at some different elements that will be in that space uh for students um from a exploratory discovery standpoint. The next one, this is a space Chris mentioned, uh, which is right now the bus entrance area. Um, and one thing just to point out, you know, this space as well as some of the other areas, they have had some work this summer. Um, you know, some of some of it's not final final. Uh, the idea was to get this in place as much as possible uh for the start of the school year. So, as you walk through, you may see some things. There's also fire suppression that's been started. It's a big part
058of this building was to provide fire suppression throughout the entire building, which isn't there today. So, there's some piping things you might see that are exposed. Um, just be aware that that's not all done yet. There's some things that scans can do this summer to prep for next uh school year and for next summer and those things will be finished up kind of as the final project's done. But this at least starts to give you an idea of on what some of these areas will look like um one way, shape or form. And um just dressing it up and it's amazing what a you know new coat of paint floor and ceiling can do to a to an old space along with some of the reconfiguration. Uh then the multi-purpose room, if you recall, we
059came in the building off to the right. You know, it had a a tiered floor to it. And um big part of this was just taking that floor, making it flat, more um more functional. So on the right, um you'll see what that'll look like and be able to just be used in in uh in more ways in the new in the new building when renovated building when it's all done. Um but nice to see the auditorium. All the seats are gone, all the finishes are out. Um so again, a transformation of the space as well. just dressing it up. All new seating, um, new stage, you know, acoustics, AV, lighting, all that. Um, it's kind of being planned and worked on in this auditorium space. So, it's nice to see it, uh, in progress.
060And then again, more to come, just like everything else. So, Chris mentioned the, you know, the cafeteria is a big thing that'll that'll be done as part of the overall food service next summer. Um, so that will continue to exist as is for the school year. And then the entrance itself, uh, the welcome components and all the branding and safety features that'll go into that um, just like the other buildings um, to really kind of provide a whole new identity to the primary school when it's all said and done. So, a lot going on um, a lot in progress, a lot's been done um, and still a lot more to go. So, again, I think the team has has worked really hard. Um, it's amazing what what Chris and his team have been able to
061do in the industry the past couple months. So um continue to work with the team and uh appreciate everyone's support and help on as we move forward. >> So one quick question again Chris um I really appreciate all the work you guys have done. It is really um like towards end of July. I was kind of getting nervous seeing all the pictures that Mr. if anything was posted that school was about to start and we were like still in the construction and it was scary but you guys did an amazing job pulling everything together. Uh so one question is for the primary school all these uh the auditorium the front entrance will it be done by December? Is that what the timeline says? Like I was looking at the timeline and I could not understand
062that >> the all of the work of the primary interior that can happen throughout the year will happen but it will not be turned back over to us until next summer. >> Oh the even the front entrance and the auditorium. >> Correct. >> So the students won't have the access to auditorium this year at all. >> No. Um so we uh we understand the request and we're currently evaluating our schedule to see if there are opportunities to possibly turn over spaces early. Uh part of the challenge of that is just the way the space is laid out is that how can we continue to separate the construction work from staff and students. So we have to approach it from that mindset uh to see what we can turn over early and make available to the
063district. >> So then the question is for you Mr. Kennedy. So where are all the uh performances for the primary school going to happen here? >> Uh they'll happen in on multiple spaces and um if we need to transport the students or have them come to a different venue, we will we'll be using the auditorium, we'll be using the elementary school in different ways and we'll be using the primary school in different ways, different rooms like the gymnasium or the cafeteria. Um but we will also have performances here at the auditorium. Okay. >> So, I just want to thank the project team members and everybody else who's here. As Mr. Menhal from NCS was coming in tonight, he said, uh, this is a great presentation to remind everybody that this is a multi-sight project. Every
064building and every site has a budget. Every building and every site has a timeline. And to coordinate all that is a lot of work. And our project team members uh have done a great job thus far. and they've also been pressed. Uh we want to make sure that we're keeping to the timelines and turning the buildings over uh to the students as soon as we can. Uh the other piece of this as we move forward is that there will continue to be uh changes and final design and uh I think the board has done a great job of trying to stay on top of what's going on with the market, which we'll get to. But um people are going to be envious of these projects when they see them completed. That's what you said, right?
065Yes, sir. >> Hall. >> Yeah. I liked hearing that on the way in. I think it's a great reminder and a great celebration of all the progress uh that's going on. So, thank you all for that presentation this evening. Thank you. >> Just to echo Kirk's comments, there's a lot of moving pieces here. It's a very complex issue, issues that we're facing. So, there's been a lot of work. There's been a lot of meetings, a lot of collaboration. So, it shouldn't be taken lightly what's going on here. We should be proud of what's happened so far. and we are going to have a fantastic finished product. >> Uh thank you everybody. Echo everybody's thanks. Um pretty exciting to see steel going up and structure of the building. Uh with that we'll move on to our
066superintendent report. >> Thank you, Mr. Chis. Uh couple of items tonight. Uh first up, uh under 7A, approval of our athletic handbook. This is an annual update uh that follows our code of conduct uh policies and guidelines. Um item B is another resolution declaring the practicability of transportation offering payment to parents in L of transportation. Uh letter C uh we have some personnel actions tuition reimbures and professional meetings that go on to the other page and the addendum here. Um some changes certified contract there for an art teacher who are moving to full-time. approvals of classified staff contracts with bus drivers. Uh a slate of approvals of supplementals uh that take place uh for activities. Many of these um are activities that took place during the summer uh for both students and staff. Uh we
067have a retirement resignation under number four. Uh and we have some tuition reimbursement. And if you look at the addendum, we also have uh some classified substitute approvals under C6 that runs through letter H. Um if there are no questions, I would ask the board entertain approving uh items 7 A through C6H. >> Just a note of clarification, um there wasn't an addendum for this evening. >> Oh, am I looking at the wrong page here, Mr. Davis? Yeah, I apologize. You're correct. So, it would be 7 A through C5 I apologize for. >> So, before that, I just want to say um to the team, great job because I know that a lot of times we put into when you we think about the national teacher shortage across the country and teacher recruitment and you
068know, letting our not just certified educators but our classified staff know how much we value and appreciate them. Um I think it's really really powerful the things that happened over the last year including things like you know looking at um all the supplemental contracts and the work that was put in around you know creating tiers and different uh schedules so that folks know exactly where those dollars are being invested in you know not only in athletics but also to move to the arts and then thinking about providing that supplemental tuition reimbursement. you know, I'd look down at some of the folks that are on that list. Um, you know, specifically look at things like Mrs. Karns who already is a worldclass uh counselor and yet she's invested in herself. And I think it's tremendous the
069work that this team meaning uh the leadership has done to you know really invest in our staff not just in the tuition university things that have been around but that we continue to invest in because I think it's I hear often from you all how important it is to communicate and how much we appreciate our staff. So, um, with that being said, I'd make a motion to approve 7A through, uh, >> C5. >> Second, >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leolds. >> Hi, >> Mr. Sing. >> Yes, >> Mr. >> Yes. Thank you. Any else? So, >> name treasures report, please. >> Before I begin my report this evening, I just want to say how cool is accounting camp. Anybody? And I was hoping that before she left, I
070could ask her if they gave out some swag because I would love to wear some accounting camp swag. So, we'll find out if they did indeed pass that out. But I thought that was great, a wonderful idea, and it's great to see our students uh get a chance to see what that feels like before they enter the uh world of college. So, congratulations to Miami for uh presenting that and for our students for going. Under my report for this evening, I would like to approve the minutes of the June 28th regular meeting and the July 18th special meeting. Approve the financial reports for the month ending July 31st, 2022. There's an annual reporting for commercial paper that we get uh we have to do each year by Ohio Revised Code. U those attachments were supplied.
071Um these are simply supplemental um investments that we're allowed to do. Um we still are making sure we hold on to our um principal. They're not risky investments, but we do have some additional reporting that's required by law. Item D is to amend a contract for the 23 school year. as the Hamilton County ESC. Uh there was a few additional items that we needed to put on there that wasn't on there when we had it approved in June. Uh they were mostly uh from the line of human resource uh software that we've added on the last few years and those have helped to prove improve streamline that HR capability. That total addition was $36,14423. Approve the following contracts for 23 school year. Here we have uh four of those items. Interim healthcare Cincinnati for home
072health care home and home care and healthc care staffing services. Stepping stones incorporated for the stepup program for two of our students. Cincinnati center for autism one student and the Butler County ESC for Union Day therapeutic school for one student. Item F is the annual approval of school year change fund account. Um the two two funds you see the athletic department and cafeteria these are change funds they hold throughout the year. Um we also ask the improved temporary basis for other events as they occur such as pow-wow and events like that that do need change funds throughout the year. Item G is a new item for this year. Um it's a transfer of 170,000 from the general fund to athletics for general operation of athletics. Um, this is something initiative I've wanted to do for
073a long time. Um, I I've actually done this with the other the buildings in the district. I've given them cost center. We use the general fund money to fund those different buildings. Um, with athletics, we've always had money that's come out of general fund. We do give them a budget each year. We've never moved it over into their own account 300 where they have their own supplemental funds. I would like to do this in order to A will help the accounting process, b it'll help the budgeting process, c it'll give us a little more ability to look at the history instead of trying to have to go back and forth between two funds. Um, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. Um, I do need board approval for the transfer, but 170,000
074has been the budget for athletics out of general fund for a number of years. Item H is an annual transfer that we've done. Um, this was another initiative that I started when I first got to the district. Um, there was no mechanism that was provided for changing out our athletic turf each year, or not each year, but each time it needed change. Um, there were no dollars being set aside. I began the the the set aside 140,000 to make sure we have the ability to change out those uh turf fields when needed. Um, you can see what's happened over at Tomahawk Stadium this summer. A beautiful new turf in there. also helps increase the safety of our athletes that are using it. Um we are now looking at uh Shaunie field and then the softball
075and baseball fields will be needed after that. So we continue to put money into those funds, make sure it's available so we can pay for those facilities when when it's needed. That transfers for 140,000. Item I is approval of FY23 permanent appropriations. And item J is an acceptance of a donation. This is another thing that we're doing a little differently this year. Um the the that should say the IH boosters. I apologize for that. This is a donation from the IH boosters for arts and athletics. It's $25,000 for discretionary purchases. Um each one of those group is groups are going to get $12,500 um to use to purchase for discretionary items throughout the year. Um, this is something that the boosters have wanted us to kind of help with. They they've managed these accounts. Now,
076it gives us a little more control over what's being purchased and uh making sure that all the items fit fit the needs of our athletes and our and the folks in our department as well. So, with that, that concludes my report for the evening. Are there any questions? Motion to approve. Um I move to approve um item 8 A through just lost >> J >> A through J with the um change to the boosters versus foundation and letter J. >> Second >> Mrs. Eles. >> Hi >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes, >> Mr. S. >> Yes, >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Telus. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Mick. Um, now we'll move on to other business by board administration. Mick, do you want to talk about item A and then we'll dive into the
077finance committee report. >> Sure. So, Ohio Revised Code uh provides a part of that law that says that the treasur and superintendent must obtain a a shity bond every 3 years in order to perform their duties. Um and make sure that they're held fiscally responsible should anything happen to uh funds within the district. Um charity bonds are kind of an older thing. It's been around a long time. Um and over the past few years there's been some lobbying done to um kind of take over the need for a shy bond. Now through our casualty plan we can we've already got a um an employee dishonesty and faithful performance of duty policy that's already part of the plan. Um this would simply substitute for that shity bond. It would have all the guarantees that that shity
078bond would have. um it would eliminate the cost of about $600 uh every three years that it cost to get those and it's something we're already doing and it's it's it's been done throughout the state. Um I've already checked with our county auditor and they're fine with the replacement of the shity bonds with this type of policy. So that's that's essentially what this resolution is doing. >> Thank you. Uh we could there a motion to approve that. Don't go through the rest of the >> I'll move to approve item 9. >> Second. >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hi. >> Mr. Sing. >> Yes. >> Mr. Pis. >> Yes. >> Um thank you. So, so with that, um, just to give a little color to folks maybe listening about
079the overall project and the budget, uh, it's so secret with inflation, we're seeing the market that that's starting to impact and has impacted the project and our budget. uh we through the finance committee and through discussions and research and the work have been looking at ways to mitigate the inflationary pressures we're seeing and to bring in the project as close to the original um estimated numbers as possible. Uh the finance committee meeting met the finance committee met on August 9th and if I could ask Mr. summaril to kind of give an overview of what was discussed and reported and then some options looking at how we finish out the project responsibly going forward. >> Yeah, thank you. So, where we are on this is we want to get in front of the rising costs, rising
080inflation rates. We want to be as judicious as possible and looking at saving in every single penny we can knowing the environment that we're in with prices going up each week. So, what we want to do is get out in front of the uh supplemental borrowing resolutions with the with the uh rates going up. There's going to be a lot of leg work that is needed. And by doing this now, what we can do is have the ability to pivot when we're ready and not be waiting to sign all the paperwork and get all that eyes dotted and te's crossed. So, this will give us that ability to do that. And then we will have some flexibility while we are getting this done to determine what path or paths we go down in terms of
081how we structure this. So there's several different options that are laid out that we will be finalizing along that course. The project is 90% bid out. We are waiting for that final 10%. We have really pushed hard to get that final 10% to us by the end of this month so that we can have clear understanding and total transparency of the overall project costs and then we can act judiciously again to do what we need to in terms of uh those steps and just walk through. We don't have to go through the details on the rates, but in essence, what we're discussing is a private borrowing scenario where the school district without raising any taxes within the district can acquire additional dollars to help fund the project just like your homeowner would acquire a mortgage.
082Kind of walk through that briefly if you could. >> Yes. So, there's different options there all the way from a 10 to a 38year uh option. And what we want to do is we want to look at what's best for us and try not to stretch out the payments too long when you look at the interest that's there. How can we how can we find that happy medium to figure out what the best course of action is for us. So looking at those options, the 20 and 30 years seem to be very prevalent now and trying to figure out what which one of those past paths we can take. There's a blended approach that's another option for us. So we can do some of that now and some of it later. So there's definitely some
083some different scenarios that we have to choose from, but I'm very confident that that the ones that we are looking at and and and Miss Eichels was with me in trying to figure out what what those are, I feel very comfortable that we will act in the best way in the manner of the school district and and try and save us as much money as possible knowing what we're faced with today. And one of the reasons that we are recommending that we go ahead with these resolutions now is that I don't think anyone thinks interest rates will be going down anytime soon. Um the sooner we lock in the better. But these resolutions give us the option to um borrow less if we need to the way it's written up to. Um also gives us
084the opportunity to look at the different time frames. Um, I'm of the mindset that we should have as few carrying costs as possible over time, uh, but at the same time not get ourselves in over our heads currently. So, the two resolutions that we have give us the flexibility to work with the market as information comes in and we are at this point confident of the numbers that we are looking at uh, for the totaling. So this would be a good time to pass these resolutions so that we have the flexibility to do what's right for the district in real time. >> Now I just want to thank uh Miss Cycles, Mr. Sunall and the rest of the team that that worked on looking through that. That was a lot of work and meeting with
085you know our municipal adviserss meeting with the investment bankers with the team. There was a lot of work that went into giving us some options. So I just appreciate that work. >> Sure. Thank you. I feel like we've gotten some great advice from the people that we've been associated with and because we've gotten that advice, we're able to make sound educational decisions for what's best for this school district community. >> Well, and I think we've, you know, Mr. Davis has done a lot of work as well and just we've got, I think, the best treasure in the state. So appreciate all the efforts you do and um the amount of hours you put in, amount of research you put in and the guidance. So thank you. And I think to echo that to be clear,
086we wouldn't be in a position to to carry this additional borrowing cost if we weren't financially smart and sound today. Um, so that's a that's a reflection of the leadership from the administration, prior boards, um, and really the community and and making sure that we're going to have the ability to finish this project correctly the way we all expected. I would just like to echo what I heard um and thank Mick for the work that he put in front of us with the resources uh to think through the um different resolutions and also just to remind anybody who is paying attention again you know the board is looking at flexibility like this said for the future to lock in the best rates for borrowing when many many others are faced with a much different situation
087around the state of Ohio and the nation right now and I commend the board for making a commitment to finish this original project the way it was intended. Uh not looking at cutting program, not looking at cutting back things that could impact students in a positive way. This this is a significant um scenario that you're facing and I commend you for for looking through uh to the future here to try to do what's best for the kids and our staff. >> Yeah. Just a couple things to wrap this this topic up. What we're doing is we're not overstepping our bounds. We're not going out on a limb. We're not taking unnecessary unneeded risk. We're doing what's best for the community to Kirk's point and delivering the product that was promised, but we're doing so in
088a very prudent fashion with the wherewithal that we have as a district with our financial. And to echo the other comments, PIC has done an amazing job of keeping us in in the loop and staying a step ahead of us with all the recommendations and the numbers to make sure we're doing everything the right way. Is there a motion to approve the resolutions? >> No further discussion. I'll move to approve um >> Oh, sorry, Mick. >> Mr. Tuls, that would be one resolution at a time. >> Oh, okay. >> Yep. >> Anything else, Mr. Davis? >> Yes. >> Okay. So I move to approve um item 9B supplemental bar resolution 20 years or less. Second >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Nichols. >> Hi. >> Mr. Sing. >> Yes. >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes.
089>> Mr. Pelis. >> Yes. I'd also make a motion to approve item nine number letter C supplemental barring resolution 30 years. >> Second. >> Mr. Marks, >> yes. >> Mr. Sunro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Eolds, >> hi. >> Mr. S. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tullus. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you everybody. Thank you the project team for coming out giving us another great report. Always fun to see the pictures and the progress. Uh with that, is there a motion to >> We just have just a point letter D just that the finance minutes are to the agenda. >> Nobody. >> Thank you. I just want to make one comment. I want to thank the as before we adjourn, I want to thank the project team. I know that we've um asked a lot of questions.
090We've asked you to do lots of work around inflation bidding and so forth and so on and you've done a great job with with doing the best in these crazy times and then also um just appreciate what's happened. I know that to echo Mrs. Sing's point, it's been pretty amazing watching some of the transformation as quick as it happened for example in the primary school. Um so thank you guys for the work that you're doing >> and uh I'd just like to say uh before we adjour uh we are so excited to welcome all of our staff for our uh opening cookout tomorrow and uh they are all ready to see the kids on Thursday as we open an epic school year that uh is going to be awesome and in 2023 it's going to
091get even better. Uh and we saw a lot of that future tonight. So looking forward to a great school year. Are you manning the grill tomorrow? Sorry. You going to man the grill tomorrow? I think I think we're going to have someone help if they could. >> Uh, with all of that, is there a motion to adjurnn? Make a motion to >> second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Thank you.