9 14 21 Regular Board Meeting

001All right, it is six o'clock and uh I'd like to call this meeting to order. Uh roll call, please. Mr. Davis. >> Mrs. Iikolds >> here. >> Dr. Hooker >> here. >> Mrs. Johnston, Mrs. Lewis >> here, >> Mrs. Singh >> here. >> I would entertain a motion to adopt the regular meeting agenda and it addendum. move. Still move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I would entertain a motion to go into executive session. Whoever makes the motion, please read the entire executive reasons we're going to executive session. Please. >> I move we go into executive session in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 121.22 22 G5 matters required to be kept confidential by state statute Ohio Revised Code section 2317.02 attorney client privilege communications in order to obtain legal advice Ohio Revised Code

002121.22 22 G3 conferences with an attorney for the public body concerning disputes involving the public body that are subject of pending or imminent court action and Ohio Revised Code 121.22G1 to consider the employment and compensation of a public employee or official specifically the superintendent. >> Do I hear a second? >> Second. All those in favor? >> I >> All right, we'll be back. >> We're returning from executive session. Mr. Davis, would you lead us in the pledge of >> allegiance? Thank you very much. Um, so, uh, some recognitions and announcements and correspondence. Welcome board members. Thank you, Dr. Hooker. Uh, first up, we have a very special, uh, honor, uh, and announcement to make regarding our Project Lead the Way educator, Murdus Smith. MDIS recently earned national recognition from Project Lead the Way as outstanding

003teacher of the year for 2021-22. Uh Murtis is one of only 79 teachers across the entire country out of as you can imagine tens of thousands of programs to be honored for her work in STEM education. We're very proud of MDIS and obviously this is the preeminent education organization in schools when it comes to programming and coursework for STEM through the secondary level. It's a rare honor and it is a special award for her and and for our district to be a part of this. So, we're very proud of Martis and want to congratulate her. Tonight, we also have a strategic planning update and I'm going to turn it over here to Dr. Stewart and we'll show you some uh slides also for the audience paying attention. >> I am thrilled to have a chance

004to have a quick update on our strategic plan. I can admit that I'm 100% biased, but I believe I have the opportunity every day to work in the best school district in Ohio or arguably the country. So this strategic planning process allows us to have the right time and space and voices to make sure that we continue to have the best school district in all of the country. So here is a quick update. We are in the midst right now of working on including as many voices as possible. A postcard was delivered to all community members as well in a digital format within email systems to invite those people who would like to participate to be involved in the strategic plan process. And we are in the midst right now of working on all of

005those details. And the good news is is that though that survey was only open for a short amount of time, we right away had over 250 people respond that they would like to be actively engaged within the process. And it's just one of the many ways that our family members continue to be involved and be great partners with us. The next slide shows you some of the different ways that people will be involved. and they can be involved as a steering team member, an advisor, a focus group or a survey respondent. And the good news is this process is very responsive and inclusive. If somebody wants to be involved, there is an absolute way for them to be involved in involved in a way that's respectful of the time commitment that they're able to give

006us as well. And the last slide just shows you that right now as we look at starting those committees, we really have a blank page in front of us as far as our strategic plan. But by December, that page is going to be filled with a plan with the voices of all that was involved to allow us to build a path that continues towards greatness. I just have one question. Um, when you were talking about the community members, is that just parents and families or is that out the whole community? >> It was the whole community and we have had community members express interest in being involved that do not have children enrolled in the school districts and we welcome that. We think that adds a really important voice to the process. >> I think

007that's great. Thanks. Um, at what point are you are are these various groups going to be reporting to the board and telling us where they are so that it's not just at the end that we find out what the strategic plan's going to be. >> We'd like to be able to provide a monthly update. So, every time that we have a board meeting, we can come together and we can have these conversations. And right now, it's just an overview. The steering committee will be the first committee to meet, but there's other groups meeting that are equally important. So that steering committee first meeting is going to be the last week of September. So by the time that we meet again, we'll have a more detailed update for you. It's really exciting. >> Do you have

008some of our past students who have graduated from here Indian Hill part of this? >> We have a lot of alumni, but most of those alumni who have volunteered to be part of the process are not recent alumni. So thank you Mrs. Singh for bringing that up. This is a great opportunity for me to publicly say to recent alumni, we'd love to have you be involved. So, you can reach out to me or anybody else in the district office and we'd be happy to give you some information about how those people can be involved. >> Uh to follow up on Kim's question, um so when again I I totally want to be shown things all along and just drafts and everything. When are we look at this and I'm still a little confused. When are

009we going to vote as a board to adopt it? The idea that is that you're going to be looking at draft documents as we head into the November board meeting and finalizing them in December so that we can then launch after our organizational meeting in January. So we would do it. The only question I have is, you know, would it be a situation where this needs two readings, first and second readings? And so if we did that, we'd probably do a first reading in December and a second in January. >> Uh this wouldn't require two readings. This would just require a resolution for approval um when you're ready. And I think uh our job is to present that in draft form first. Then we can take feedback and and other input. We'll bring it back

010then for a final round approval in December. >> Great. Thank you. >> I mean, just to add, Dr. Dr. Hooker, your point is well taken. And if we do our job right, you shouldn't feel like there's any surprises at any of the board meetings. We've kept you updated through the entire process. >> And if something happens and we need to push it off, I would rather do it right than be in a hurry. So, >> thanks. I appreciate that. >> Just uh want to finish up by saying our facilitators that we're working with with that elements as well as our board members and administrators who will be involved along the way as facilitators and observers and listeners. This is going to be an amazing opportunity for vision creation and setting uh that I think is

011historic in this district and the amount of engagement we've already had has been so motivating and inspiring. We can't wait to uh have those conversations and I know that our facilitators are ready as well. Thank you, Dr. Stewart. So, moving on, um we also have an operations update tonight and I would like to turn it over to Mr. Nichols. Thank you, Mr. Kcki. We do have lots of things still going on in the district and uh I wanted to give you a quick update. I know a lot of our families were wondering about the modulars and how things were going and uh they're going well. We've seen some opportunities for enhancements that we could make and an example was just a walkway as as you may have seen back there. Um when the students come

012out, a lot of times they're coming out the ramp side and we don't really want them walking in the road. We want them walking on the sidewalks. U there's not much traffic. We actually limit what comes back there, but we still felt we could create a safer space. We've got some accessibility things going on there. So, we've added a sidewalk. We've got one more section that will go in here in the next couple of weeks. We also know here in Ohio, we get inclement weather from time to time. And so, we're not going to be able to completely cover the students from the building um to the school, no more than we could when they get on a bus, but we can increase that a little bit. So, we're going to be building some awnings

013over top of the wooded areas to make sure that those are safe passageways. If we have, you know, snow or ice, obviously, we will do all the great things we need to as far as salting that area and making sure it's passable. Our facilities team, they do a great job um on doing on taking care of that. So, that's happening. Other little things like we need somewhere to hang our bags and coats out there. So, we're we're adding some hooks out there. Many of those items we've been able to even pull from the middle school. Um they're still in good working order. Um and again, this is a temporary situation. So, we've been able to pull some of those things in there. So, we continue to enhance that environment. I think the teachers are very

014happy with the climate and ability to control that. That wasn't always the case at the old middle school. Um so, they've appreciated that uh that new uh ability. Um, also we all were uh for many of you, you took place in the groundbreaking uh last month and that was exciting as demolition began. Um, you might be wondering why you're not seeing the building actually down right now, but there's still a few more things that have to take place on the inside of the building. We continue to abate um and clean out that building. Um, there are a few things that we need to get out. We're not going to tear it down until it's safe to do so. even things like monitors that are no longer functioning, those items have to be removed before we

015can actually tear the building down. So, we've got a couple last things, but that's all part of the process and the timeline. We are on track um which is the key uh to everything. So, we again hope that to see that building almost completely down um in October and then they'll be hauling away the debris after that. Um last week our partner MSA, our architect uh came in and they met with many of our stakeholders including um some of our families and community members. They met with um our staff and most importantly they met with our students and uh it was a great conversation they had and they were getting feedback primarily on the elevation and how the building sits. We have many more of those kinds of conversations. You'll be engaged in some of

016those conversations as we go through as we make decisions about everything from the outside and what that looks like to the inside and and what that's made up and that process will take place. No final decisions have been made. So if you still have information or you want to give us feedback, there's still opportunity to do that. Nothing has been decided at this point. Um but we are getting to a place where we've got options which is a nice place to be in. um after we've gotten feedback and again this process started many years ago. So it's not just since the bond levy passed but we've been gaining this information over time. So that is uh going really well and we appreciate that. And then um I want to also assure everyone we've had some

017questions about some of the um items at the middle school that we want to preserve. You might know there's an art installation outside over there. Um there is a memorial rock garden that is a tribute to um lost students over time. And so we are taking great care in those items. There is a time capsule over there that also is all going to be taken care of. We're going to be storing those safely. Um we'll even be cleaning some of those items up. They need that. And so then when the building is built, we'll find a great place and a special place for those items. So we're taking great care in those areas. And uh that is our operations update. Is there any questions I could answer? >> Thank you, Mr. Nichols. Um also included

018in the uh announcements, board members, is our annual enrollment report. Those resources are shared with you. I just want to point out two items. Um we've had a lot of questions about the size of our primary school over the last couple years, and our enrollment has grown moderately each year for six of the last seven years. Um our first grade uh class, for example, that cohort is 170 students. Our fifth grade is a large elementary uh grade level at 185 students. Um those are the largest um but we continue to be able to keep very um reasonable class sizes and ratios at both buildings. And I think that's really important uh for our parents. Um we're really happy with moderate growth over time. And of course that fifth grade class is going to be really

019happy in a new middle school with plenty of space in in a year or two. The other thing I want to point out is mobility. Um people ask me all the time, you know, Mr. Kicki, I hear that we have students leaving or coming and going from, you know, private and prochial schools or other schools in the area in and out of Indian Hill. We're losing kids. When you look at this report, you you can see some facts here. And the bottom line is over the last um few months as we collect this data, we had 35 total students come into the district and 33 students leave the district. That's plus two for Indian Health. Um that's a really important report. We look at it every year and we compare that to all of the

020other um private parochial schools in the area uh and ourselves to see what what our student body makeup looks like and we're very happy that we have a stable student body. Uh moving on, if it's okay, to the superintendent report. First up, we have under uh letter A, annual review and approval of our career advising policy. This is something we approve annually that states uh that we have services, practices, protocols in place to make sure that our students and parents are aware of career pathway opportunities and education K through 12 in conjunction with our partners at the Oaks. Um that's an annual renewal uh and approval to notice that policy. Uh second uh letter B there, approval of bus routes and stops. This is not something that we um post um as a part of

021this meeting. However, they are posted annually in our transportation office. Um, as you can imagine, we want to make sure that people are aware of routes and stops where our buses may be in the event of an accident or emergency ever, they're easily um we're able to easily gather that resource and share with the public or our partners like the Rangers. Letter C is an approval for a renewal of our membership in the Alliance for High Quality Education. Letter D is the approval of an overnight field trip for our senior class annual trip. Uh that was of course put on hold a year ago unfortunately uh to Chicago. Letter E is uh typical personnel actions for tuition reimbursements professional meetings. We have uh under number one a renewal of a limited contract. Under number two

022approval of some non-certified staff contracts and salaries. Under number three, we have several uh retirements or resignations and two of those are on the addendum. Uh under number four, we have the approval of some supplementals and personal service contracts. Under number five, we have a list of tuition reimbursement that goes through letter T. Uh if there are no clarifying questions, I would ask Dr. Hooker that you would entertain a motion to approve section 7, items A through E 5T. Anybody want to make that motion? >> I move we approve um section 7 A through E and the addendum. >> Thank you. >> Second >> Mrs. Eolds >> I >> Mrs. Singh >> I >> Mrs. Lewis >> I >> Dr. Booker >> I >> treasures report >> for my report this evening I have the

023uh the approval of the minutes of the August 10 2021 meeting the August 16th special meeting and the August 31 special meeting. Item B is to approve the financial reports for the month ending August 31, 2021. Item C is to accept the bid submitted by Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council. Uh we are purchasing three 24 seat school buses, $16,911 each. Uh two of those are part of our uh renewal as part of our plan to continue to uh put new buses into our transportation system. The other one of those buses is a re is a replacement uh from an accident that we had last spring. Item D is the approval of a 2022 permanent appropriations resolution. Uh this is to increase fund 002 by debt service fund by $80 million. Um I know that might

024create some sticker shock. Um however, what it is is our bond anticipation notes that we approved back in May are now maturing and we'll have to get those paid and get those taken care of. So that's what that additional $80 million will cover. Item E is to approve the establishment of the following student activity accounts, a new tennis camp and a new girls lacrosse camp account. Item F is to approve uh two con three contracts for school year 2122. uh Claremont County ESC uh that's interpreter services for two of our students 63,000 and 58,500 to the Butler County ESC for the Union Day Therapeutic School for one student $41,500 and then interim healthc care nursing services for one student and that's $40 per hour as needed. Item G is to approve to pay now and

025then invoices. Uh the first one is for communication aptitude. It's a vocabulary application for students, $5,220. Two items for Cincinnati Floor Company, screen and coat for the high school gym at $4,000 and then the wait room floor at 25,000. Um those the two items there, the one is for our uh lease purchase energy program. Um once that was finished in the gymnasium, they needed to uh redo that floor and we had some miscommunication between the two departments on who should uh obtain that purchase order. Um the second one is for the wait room floor. If you remember that was a donation by by one of our uh community members. Um that floor is now in item four is for Raptor Technologies. It's a visitor management annual access fee, $5,225. And finally, the Hamilton County ESC

026third quarter internet services $20,000 $20,36.50. All of the uh the um employees who requested these have been advised of our purchasing um policies and made aware that they need to have purchase orders in place before they go ahead and do these um to obtain these services. So that's all been described uh to those employees and I ask now that we uh pay those now and then invoices. And then the final item on the the agenda for my report is the acceptance of donations. I'm always excited about this section. Um the one we have for this evening is the IH Foundation on behalf of the Dorothy Cook Family Foundation to the elementary school eyab fixtures and consumables for $7,500. uh the appreciation for that family and that foundation. I can't express how much I myself and

027the board of education appreciate that and the great program they have built at the elementary school in our steam department. Are there any questions this evening? The only question that I would have is um on item A that when we seek to do a motion um I think we should pull out the August 31st special board meeting because I can't I was not present. So that's the only one that I can't vote on. >> I can do that. >> So I'd entertain a motion to approve items A through G of the treasures report excluding item August 31st special meeting and we'll vote on that separately. So, I move uh to approve the treasures report items A through H. Um excluding the August 31st special meeting minutes. >> Mrs. Iicults >> I. >> Mrs. Lewis >>

028I. >> Mrs. Singh >> Dr. Hooker. >> I I'd entertain a motion to accept the or adopt. I was going to accept or adopt. I'm not sure. >> Approve. Thank you. I couldn't get the right word there. August 31st special meeting. Uh >> so moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Eicultz. >> I >> Mrs. Singh. >> I >> Mrs. Lewis >> abstain. >> Yes. >> Okay. Dr. Hooker. >> Hi. >> That concludes my report this evening. Thank you very much. >> Uh so under other business um do we have any report from the operations committee? >> I believe Mr. Nichols gave the report. Uh but we did have a meeting on August 9th and the minutes are attached. >> Thank you very much. and uh resolution to move the October 12th meeting to October 19th to

029accommodate scheduling conflicts. Uh would someone like to make that motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Do we need a roll call for that? >> We do. >> Okay. >> Mrs. Lewis >> I. >> Mrs. Iicults >> I. >> Mrs. Singh >> I. >> Dr. Hooker >> I. So, having done that, uh, we'd like to open for public commentary. And Mr. Davis, you've done a magnificent job managing this. I'm going to let you continue to do it. Thank you. Um, as we've done in the past, what I will do this evening is I'll read off the first four names. The first name will be the first speaker of the evening. And if the following people could line up next, uh, behind that person over on that wall, uh, Mr. Nichols will help you get lined

030up over there. And if you have anything um you would like to leave for the board minutes, please hand those to Mr. Nichols on your way out. And then also he may ask you for your name if he if he needs it so we can make sure we have the right person on those board minutes. So for this evening it will be Katie Foster, Dan Horton, Amanda Hullbrook, and Megan Seaman Casmmeer. Each speaker will have five minutes. Katie, I know who you are, but if you don't mind, state your name and where you live. Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Katie Foster. I live in Sims Township, Ohio. Um, thank you again for letting me speak tonight. Joyful, silly, and smart are words my husband and I would use to describe our six-year-old son. He is

031a child who knows no stranger, genuinely loves everyone he comes across, and is obsessed with cars. The world is his oyster, and he loves being an active participant in life. He loves to play, explore, and tell knock-knock jokes. His favorite being one about an interrupting chicken. If you were to meet our son, you would think he's a typical child, but on the inside, his windpipe and bronchial tubes are partially collapsed all the time. They collapse 100% when he coughs. Our son has a hidden disability called trachob bronco malaysia. It is a rare and incurable airway disorder that can potentially be relieved but not cured by a series of highly specialized and complicated surgeries. Despite this severe airway disorder, he does not qualify for a mask exemption. In fact, wearing a mask is is one of

032the easiest ways to protect his airway and ensure he can be in school. As I sit in a dark, cold, and cramped hospital room writing this, while also watching machines read out a myriad of information during my son's third sleep study in his six years of life. I wonder what it must be like to have a typical child. It must be freeing to to not sit and stare at a pulse oxometer all night when your child has a little cold or to watch to make sure your child's chest rises and falls. Not because that's what all parents do, but because there's a very real possibility that your child has completely stopped breathing in the middle of the night. My son doesn't just get a two-day cold, he gets a two week cold because of his

033airway disorder. This means that every little cold he gets is trapped deep down in his lungs and almost always turns to pneumonia. Now imagine having a child with this condition during this global pandemic and you can maybe understand a fraction of the terror we feel daily in making basic decisions like should my son go out and play with his friends? Other than chronic lung disease during COVID, there has been no limitations on my son's ability to participate in school or extracurricular activities except one. He must be around others that mask to protect his airway. This means when a school has a universal masking policy for the classroom, but fails to require masking during high-risisk activities like gym and music along with recess, after school activities, and has only a few mitigation strategies during lunch. A

034child like ours has to sit alone in an alternate space to eat. He has to sit alone in the hallway by the front office of the primary school with a sensory bin during gym and music while his classmates have fun and learn. To add insult to injury, his parents are told after school activities like Kappa hosted by the PTO are not a good fit because masking is no longer required after school hours. Each of those things are daily realities for a kindergartener. But why? Last year, we watched the school district do a remarkable job of keeping children, faculty, and staff safe all year long. It never shut down once because of its strong masking policy and mitigation strategies. But now, despite a more highly contagious variant of COVID circulating when it is more dangerous for

035children, our district is suddenly dropping all these tried and trueue mitigation measures. Why does my child's school district truly value political pressure over the lives of their students, faculty, and staff? That's certainly how it feels from our perspective. And then there's the option of virtual schooling. If you were told your child could either learn in person, which studies have shown to be a healthier environment for success, or stay at home with no social interaction, learning only math and reading. What would you choose? Forcing a child to have an inequitable education because of a god-given medical condition or disability is both unacceptable and illegal. The one thing that can protect our son and so many other children like him in the in this district is the small ask of wearing a mask at all times indoors.

036That's it. Literally, that's it. If all his classmates wear a mask and gym and music, our son can finally participate fully in school without risking his life. If all his classmates wear a mask in the classroom, he can receive the equitable education he is entitled to. That's it. Just a mask. Just a mask until he and all children under 12 are able to receive full vaccinations. A piece of cloth to save a life. How could that even be a second thought? And that's all I have to say. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh, next up in the line will be Amanda Fullbrook, Megan Seaman Cosmmyer, and Libby Ber. If I could please have you line up so that way we Dan, you're next. We're just trying to get the next. >> And if

037you don't mind, state your name and where you live. Thank you. >> Dan Dan Horton, Raiders Run Road. Thanks for allowing this. So, this past year and a half, uh, have been trying for everyone. Thank you for your leadership and service to our schools and listening to the science behind successful COVID mitigation. Your efforts are clearly working. And despite the Ohio 7-day average approaching 7,000 cases per day, we are still in school. So, my wife and I have three children, one each at the primary, elementary, and middle school. And Emma, our youngest, is in the primary school and has Down syndrome and several health complications. As an infant, she was intubated for two months and then survived a 45minute cardiac arrest at Cincinnati Children's. And since then, she has had a repaired heart, a tracheosttomy,

038G ttube placed, and a G2 place, dozens of tests and procedures, and receives at home care from us, her parents. Emma has overcome more in her almost eight years of life than most people do in their entire lifetimes. Yet, she persists and brings joy to everyone she encounters. However, it can take a village to support someone with complex medical needs. And Emma is relying on this village to keep her as safe as possible. So, uh, earlier this month, a Stanford and Yale University large randomized study on mask effectiveness conclusively found that masks impede the spread of CO 19. The science is clear. Masks work and keep kids in school, which is what we all want and far outweighs the minor inconvenience of a child wearing a facial covering. What's more, we have seen that children

039are not wholly unaffected by CO. As few as one in 20 will have long COVID symptoms, and some European studies have shown more. Emma's two siblings know that wearing a mask better protects them, their sister, their teachers, bus drivers, and classmates. They know that they are a part of a larger community of which they are stewards. This is a valuable life lesson that we want to impart on our children and is going to develop their empathy. Wearing or not wearing a mask to combat this novel virus can mean the difference between a severe illness or worse for someone else and even them. So, what's the price our community is willing to pay if we get rid of mask mandates, which work most effectively when everyone wears them? One, student with long COVID. to, god forbid,

040a student who gets admitted to the hospital. Some might respond, look at the percentages of kids who are not affected by it. Do we want to say that to the parents of a child who is? I've seen my child on the brink and I am confident that no one here would want that for any child and especially not for one in the Indian Hill community. Lastly, I urge the board to go and walk through the classrooms looking specifically at desk placement. It has been communicated here that three feet distance is being followed in all areas when it's possible, but this is not what we've seen in any of the three buildings. It's clear that we need a layered approach. Masking, excuse me, masking, filtration, and distancing for this Delta variant. The more layers we have,

041the less chance the virus gets through to our kids. Thanks. >> Thank you very much. And if you would state your name and your address, please. Thank you. >> Right. Uh Dr. Amanda Hullbrook. Um and I live in Indian Hill, Southern Indian Hill. Um I had my own words, but I thought what great timing. Um we all may have different political spectrums, but I at least think something that comes out of the governor's office today said it really well. And I'll just read this. We all share the goal. This is from Governor Mike Dwine's office um coming out today posted and supported by the Ohio Child Hospital Association um which all collectively Ohio hospitals have come together and recommended masking in schools. We all share the goal of keeping our kids in school. Reasonable people

042may disagree about it a lot, but we can all agree that we must keep our children in the classroom so they don't fall behind and so their parents can go to work and do not take time off to watch their kids at home. We must also keep our kids in school so we don't exacerbate the behavioral health challenges kid face by not being in the classroom with other children. The best way to keep kids open and best way to keep schools open and kids out of quarantine is for those 12 plus to get vaccinated. But because those under 12 are too young to be vaccinated, we need all students who come to school to wear a mask until we get through this. COVID 19 cases are increasingly at nearly twice the rate twice the way

043they were among school-aged children compared to the rest of the population. And also, as an aside of my own, if you look at the data last fall, we have a very different spike in that age group here to 19. This past week, we saw a 44% increase among school-aged children and only a 17% increase among the rest of us. Over the two-week period ending September 4th, there was an average of 99 cases per 100,000 for school-aged children, Ohio kids, versus 561 cases per 100,000 of the rest of us. Okay. The 16 highest number of cases per day throughout the entire pandemic for kids aged 5 to 17 in Ohio have been the last 19 days. The data is clear that there is a higher level of COVID in school districts where masks are not required.

044So, I think that says it really well. And I really had to think about the minutes today that you stated. When we go to build this school, we're not creating the architectural drawings, right? We go to an architect. When we're demoing the school, we're not out there with hard hits and and digging through it. We hire a contractor that we trust, that we know that has a good work ethic and can tell us how to do it well. When we build our educators, we go to those that know. We come as a collective and we make an educated decision. I truly believe as a physician, it is your responsibility as a board to listen to those who are knowledgeable in medical information both in public health and also children's health. and every single one of

045them is recommending to mandate masks. So in my opinion, it would be a dereliction of your duty to go against that and assume that you know better. I think it is your responsibility to listen to that information and really think about what is best for these children. This should not be a political decision. I know kids don't like wearing them. Parents are upset about it. But right now the numbers speak for themselves. The trends speak for themselves. And the overall goal of all of us, all of us, is just to keep these kids in school. One kid, one kid when they're not wearing a mask and exposes over, but many other kids that have to be out in quarantine. I said this to many parents along the last week. Yes, I worry about the severity.

046I worry about the sickest kid. I worry about those that are vulnerable. I have one of those kids, right? But as well, even the mildest case, it doesn't change how the school has to respond, right? You still have to quarantine all those other kids. That mask helps to decrease the number of times you have to do that per day, per week, and it keeps this district going for all the kids that are here that need us to protect them, but all the other kids that are otherwise healthy that just want to be at school. So, I really, really encourage you to listen to the public health officials, listen to the governing bodies as well as those that advise that we really should keep the masks in place. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Libby

047Ber, you're up next. If you don't mind, state your name and where you live. >> So, Megan, I don't believe is here. So, I'm Libby Ber. Um, >> I'm sorry. I >> That's okay. Um, I live on Walton Creek here in Indian Hill. Uh, and I have spoken before, so just as a reminder, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Ber. I'm a family medicine physician, uh, resident of our district, a mother of two students, a 15-year-old vaccinated sophomore, and a too young to be vaccinated 11-year-old sixth grader. And I suppose it was nearly inevitable that uh yesterday I received the dreaded phone call. My 11-year-old was a close contact in the lunchroom and is on quarantine. Um, hopefully he will remain asymptomatic. He'll get tested tomorrow and hopefully it'll be negative. Hopefully he won't end up with severe

048COVID or long COVID or in the hospital. And hopefully my 70-year-old mother who spent the weekend with us won't have a breakthrough infection. Hopefully my son's soccer team won't now be close contacts. This happened with universal indoor masking. Imagine the number of students who would be in quarantine if we didn't have that policy in place. There were three, I can tell from the email, as a result of that exposure. It would have been quadruple that or more if we didn't have universal masking in place because none of the kids in sixth grade are vaccinated at this point. They're too young. But not just that, imagine the grandparents, the friends, the family members who would have been exposed in the days between the exposure. My son's exposure was Friday. We found out on Monday that he

049that there was a positive test. We went the whole weekend living our lives cautiously. But as we normally do, unaware that everyone we came in contact with was potentially being exposed to my son. But what else does it mean? It means I'm off work for the next 5 days because I can't leave an 11-year-old home alone for eight hours a day to manage his homework and classwork with no formal support from his teachers. I don't blame the teachers for that. They don't have a choice. They don't have protected time. They don't have protected classes to be online. There was no contingency plan for quarantine this year, but that's the reality for my 11-year-old. It means a week of patients that won't be seen in my office. It means losing another essential worker from our dangerously

050strapped healthcare system. And this happens whenever a doctor, a nurse, a social worker, a psychologist, an environmental services worker, a cafeteria worker in a hospital has a child who is exposed or test positive. My point is the decisions we make here today don't just affect our children. They have ripples that extend far into our community. Additionally, the CEO of every pediatric hospital in the state of Ohio has signed an open letter encouraging everyone in the community to do their part, specifically asking schools to implement or maintain universal masking policies in K through 12. Currently, our pediatric ICUs remain near capacity. It doesn't matter if those ICU beds are filled with COVID, RSV, trauma patients, or other diseases. It means we need to do everything we can to keep those remaining beds open. It It means

051that if your child is in a car accident, they will have a bed and a nurse and a doctor who can provide highquality care. Or that if your child is diagnosed with diabetes or cancer that requires an ICU level of care, there will be a bed for them and a nurse and a doctor. And yes, if your child is diagnosed with COVID or RSV and needs a ventilator, that those resources will be available for them, too. We need to do everything we can to prevent each one of these things. We wear seat belts and cars to minimize trauma if we are in an accident. We need to wear masks to minimize the spread of infectious diseases, especially when there's limited capacity in our hospitals. We also need to be realistic about vaccines. At the last

052meeting you presented a lot of data and I think it's wonderful that 70 to 80% of respondents in the illigible age groups have been vaccinated but that number gets diminished a lot when you consider that 20% of people did not respond and that could bring vaccination rates as low as 56% for those grades. That's not enough. We don't really know what level is enough to give us herd immunity especially in the face of the new Delta variant. And I'd also caution our student body isn't really a herd. Those students spend significant portions of time with their families in community events in athletic participation. They are running in multiple herds and we have to consider all of those when we talk about herd immunity. Additionally, with breakthrough infections more common and evidence of waning immunity among

053imunocmpromised and elderly and high community spread, vaccination is not enough. It's why the CDC and other agencies have recommended indoor masking in areas of high transmission such as ours. Regardless of vaccination status, when it's raining, you wear a raincoat, but if you're in a hurricane, you might still expect to get wet. Vaccines are a raincoat, but we're in a hurry. >> Time. >> Thank you very much, Trishan Rule. and please state your name and where you live. >> Hello, I'm Trisha Nu. I live in the Carriage Trails area of Indian Hill. Uh first, I'd like to thank the three board members who instituted a masking policy a month ago in the face of a a vocal opposition to the masking mandates. I think um Indian Hill was the first if not one of the fir

054one of the first if not the first to institute that policy and many other districts followed um and the results I think speak for themselves. I think it's a critical component of why our we have low transmission rates and low quarantine rates. So thank you for that. Second, I'd like to address the selective use of facts um to push an agenda against masking. Arguing that some hospitalized children have RSV is not relevant. No parent wants their child hospitalized for a preventable infection. What reduces transmission of both COVID and RSV? Masks. Looking at a vaccination survey where 83% of the people respond and 75% of them are vaccinated does not mean 75% of the population is vaccinated. It means 62% of the population is vaccinated. Comparing general public vaccination goals and the requirements for masking with

055vaccinated people in general public places is not the same as a classroom environment. Me walking into Kroger with 20 foot ceilings spending no more than a few seconds in close contact with someone is very different than child spending an entire 30 45 60 minutes in a classroom enclosed with other students who are all breathing the same air. It's not the same thing at all. So I want to make four big points here. First, the equitable access issues and the potential lawsuits stemming from them are pretty serious issues I think the board has to con has to consider. I think for pushing an agenda, the liability that the board is potentially taking on from increased insurance costs or direct costs from liability is appalling to me as a taxpayer. It's not fair to taxpayers to riddle

056them with that kind of cost. Second, the values of this district boldly respect and value everyone. That means the imuno compromised, multigenerational households, families with kids in high school, middle school, elementary school. We need to look out for everyone. It breaks my heart to hear Dan and Katie stories that we can't protect their children by simply wearing a piece of cloth over our faces. Third, the mental health issues. A lot's been made of of these these issues that children are experiencing. Wearing a mask versus being quarantined versus being in remote virtual school. The mental health aspects of all of those are very different and I think we can all understand one is much worse than the other. Finally, the priority of this board, the priority of the board should be to safely educate our children.

057The research is unanimous. The almost all children learn better in person in school. And whatever we have to do to keep our kids in school is what we need to do. whether it's the inconvenience of a mask to prevent quarantines and prevent virtual schooling. If that's what we have to do, that's what we have to do to educate the children. So, in summary, the science is unequivocal, the authoritative guidance is very clear, our values teach us to take care of each other, and the liability risk is too great. All of this points to what we have to do in this current environment given the transmission rates and what's going on. We have to continue the masking policy. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> That include that concludes public commentary for the evening. >> Thank

058you very much everybody that spoke. Um so uh now we're just going to have a discussion amongst the board about this. Um I would entertain any thoughts from different board members who would like to speak. >> Would you like me to go through my presentation slides first, Dr. Hooker? Okay, >> that would be wonderful. >> Thank you. So, we we've done this at our last several meetings, and I'll uh run through um some updates and information that we like to share. Um first, uh the assumptions uh of our board of education is that our priority is in school learning. We're going to continue to mitigate likelihood of spread with cleaning and safety protocols in place. That includes uh HEPA um air filtration every day in our classrooms, in our buildings. Indian Hill will continue to

059monitor and receive local, regional, state, and national data and input from area health partners and government officials to make informed decisions. Indian Hill will offer in-person learning, and all of our typical annual calendar of activities are continuing uh as planned. We talked about our face covering policy in the past. We amended this officially on August 16th um and that our indoor requirement was to run through September 14th. I believe the board will be taking up a dialogue about that soon. Um, and talked about where uh masks are required and when masks can be removed. That would also include the federal transportation order that we know was amended and runs through January. We talked about our Is my time up already? >> Yeah, your time is up, sir. I apologize for that. >> I actually >>

060I need five more minutes. Um, we talked about our rationale for bi-weekly review periods early in August. um and to discuss several of the pieces of information we're going to talk about today. Obviously want to be able to offer consistent inerson learning opportunity weekly for children. We know that we don't have vaccine availability yet for those under 12. We are aware of regional and state delta v case load trends. We will talk about uh obviously input from local providers and partners. We have talked about the fact that we do not offer uh social distancing or physical distancing across our campus due to facility changes and our in-person enrollment numbers. And we've talked about our ability to change plans when and if necessary. Those things will all be reviewed again in the future. Want to look

061at some of our local data uh again just to provide updates. This is faculty vaccine data and again I want to thank our staff uh our IHPO faculty members who have taken the time to share information with us just as we want to thank our students and families who have done that. It helps us to get updated uh and a more accurate picture of our local uh population. So at this point in time again this is not a complete data set but we look at the number of teachers the number of people have responded uh over over 85% have responded to the survey we've put out twice now and of those who have responded we're looking at 92% uh or more of those responders vaccinated. We're proud of this number. Our staff is proud of

062this number. Our faculty members are proud of this number. Doesn't mean it can't be better, but they're proud and we appreciate them sharing this information. student vaccine data. Again, we put out a a a survey uh as we did earlier in August to parents. And again, I just want to thank anybody who's listening and all of our parents who provided responses to this information to be able to get uh for example, our grade 10 families, uh over a 92.7% response rate is amazing and we're so happy that you could share this information with us. And again, you can see on the far right column the percentage of responders who are vaccinated. We know that this isn't a complete data set, but these are good numbers. We should be proud of our students and families for

063sharing these numbers. We appreciate the information. Uh it all helps us to have, I think, a better sense of confidence specific to vaccination progress over time. case load data updates as of last Friday. Again, we report out all cases daily. Um, again, we know that today is 9:14, but our totals through 910 were 17. We'll update this again this week overall. Um, and you can see the distribution of cases by building there. Quarantine data again, you could see weekly and then you can see cumulative totals. some vaccination information that was asked of board members I wanted to share tonight. So again, federal COVID vaccination rate, this is all taken from the CDC website. 65% of adults in America 18 and over are fully vaccinated at this time. 75.7% of adults 18 and over have had

064at least one dose of a vaccine as of today. 63.1 children 12 and over are fully vaccinated. 73.9 children 12 and over have had at least one dose as of today. Federal benchmark that was communicated in the past was 70% as a goal for all age groups or demographic groups. Um and that has not been reached yet. Uh the Ohio vaccination rate as of today 49% across the state fully vaccinated all age groups. Hamilton County's percentage is higher, 51.33% fully vaccinated, all ages. And we also know that we have a positivity rate that is 7% or more in this region. And that signals significant community spread at this time. We talked last time we were together about some frameworks that we had dialogue about. Again, I want to emphasize for anybody paying attention or who

065would look at this link later and listen to what I'm saying, these are all frameworks that were provided for the board to look at different factors. This is one. I'll be going through several slides. Um when we look at data factors about uh again vaccine percentages, quarantine percentages, case load percentages, we have a certain threshold of uh known uh levels at this time based on the current survey. Again, incomplete survey data. We know that we have less than 79% of our uh campus vaccinated. Uh we don't have a defined target yet. We also know if you look at the target for quarantines and case loads, what we were able to manage last year and what those thresholds were based on our campus population. And if you look at the yellow, we know when they get

066too high for us to operate or staff our buildings. And so that's where we arrived at those numbers. Currently, two of those three uh target areas are met based on our measures in quarantine and case load. And again, we don't have anything defined to look at in vaccine status. If you look on the left on this slide, we have governing bodies CDC, ODH, HCPH, and again looking at the yellow, which is current policy language. We're not meeting um any of the green target areas. So again, we've highlighted that we're still in the yellow there based on the idea that all of our governing bodies are recommending masking indoors at this time. If you look at the data set on the right, we're looking at local partners and uh health organizations and we're looking at current

067policy language in yellow recommending masking indoors. and we're looking at hypothetical goal or policy language based on some of their data that they share weekly in the yellow. We're not meeting any of those. None of those data points are met at this time. So again, that would is highlighted as yellow. Currently, we're meeting zero. So there are nine different factors on those two slides. Those are things we talked about last month. Um just giving you an update with a visual look there so that you could see that. Uh we talked originally in August about evaluation factors that we would look at. Um I think all of those are met by the visuals that we just showed in the previous slides. Um and then we also talked about making sure that you know the board was

068given some information about case load by zip code and what those trends are like. Uh those numbers continue to go up over the last 11 weeks uh in our zip code area. Overall uh they have slowed but they continue to go up. Um and we talked about looking at case positivity percentages in the Hamilton County uh and surrounding region and we know that that positity positivity percentage is over seven um and is high right now. Um and then we also talked about looking at child or children hospitalizations uh ages 0 to 19 as reported by our health collaborative and Ohio hospitals. Um over the last two weeks, those hospital systems has reported peak use of hospital beds and ICU beds. Um and they break them down uh demographically and by age group in different ways.

069So we mentioned this before, when you look at the Ohio Hospitals website or you look at uh children's hospital data set or you look at what the health collaborative shares every Wednesday, sometimes that can cause confusion because the numbers aren't always the same. That doesn't mean they're their intentions are not to report. Um, and sometimes it's lagging when that data ends up on a different website. You know, I don't think that's anybody's um, fault. It's just the way those different websites operate and when they get their data loads. But um, what we know is that hospitalizations overall for children have climbed. We also know that uh, at children specifically week to week, the numbers have changed based on the number of students who are um, actively admitted with COVID and those in an ICU situation.

070uh and they are greater than they were earlier in the summer and they have changed weekly. Some future considerations we talked about um emergency author authorized use vaccine approval plans for children's 5 to 11 was announced in uh conversations this week with some CDC officials. Um and if you've been watching the news, we believe that that will come by October. Um so people can start to create their own timelines about what they may see and choices that people may be able to make uh for children 5 to 11 as any kind of emergency authorized use for a vaccine which would be fizer would be approved. Uh we'll learn more about that as we move forward. The FDA did formally approve Fizer on 825. We covered that in our last meeting. We know that booster shots

071have been recommended for adults 16 and over. Those start next week. um that will become a part of our conversation as we do our reviews from this point forward. We'll also track what we learn about that and what kind of information we can glean about those people who choose to get booster shots and those who do not. Um and the state legislature is back in session and there are several bills that could impact CO operations that we will report out on as we learn. Uh there are full sessions of the House and Senate going on this week. We'll continue to take uh input from our local health officials and the governing bodies we meet with weekly on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. And we know that we can amend our plans as we move forward. The

072rest of the slides, I'm not going to read through all of them again except to say we can again talk about when and where masks are required and not required. I think we've explained that thoroughly. If people have questions, they're always welcome to ask a principal or myself and we will we will clarify those things. contact tracing and quarantine. We continue to get some questions uh from people about how that works and we're welcome to talk through um basically unmasked and unvaccinated is an automatic quarantine and then we work backwards from there with with the other individual cases. We did uh host another mobile vaccine clinic last week. We're still waiting on the data about how many people participated uh but we do know that some of our families chose to participate and we will

073offer another mobile vaccine clinic the first week of October. We will announce that date and time soon. We have plenty of resources with partners available if parents and families are interested in learning more. Again, these are just a few of our partners listed here. And if anybody would like to reach out to any of our administrators for help, we're here to listen and try to help with anybody who is experiencing issues that we we may provide resources for. And again, we're going to continue to routinely communicate uh and want to reiterate again, if somebody is not feeling well, whether they are student, staff, or an adult visitor in our community, they should stay home or not come to our campus. We will continue to encourage the use of pickup patrol. We know that some uh

074people are not fans of pickup patrol, but it really helps our teachers and administrators to keep school open and operating in person daily. and uh we'll continue to do the data review sharing with the board. We'll continue to share health partnership information and we will continue to report out COVID cases found in our buildings. Um I do want to clarify while we're all all here, Hamilton County ESC runs our preschool program in the AM and PM and they are the reporting body for those cases and there were a couple of cases this week with the AM preschool. They did report them out. Some people had a question about that. um and then they share that information to us. And then we'll continue to provide vaccine information for children and staff as new opportunities become available.

075So that's just an overview. Again, board members and um if you have any questions, I'll try to answer any questions you might have. >> Thank you very much, Kirk. Um did you have something you would like to comment on all this? >> Um sure. Um first of all, thanks for putting all this together. Um Kirk and obviously your whole team and the information that we get weekly. Um I I I do think uh starting the school year with masks really has helped us. Um you unfortunately we're seeing more more cases each week. Um you know the the information that's gone out already this week is we've got more cases this week than last week I think already. Um so masking is helping. And when what I'm what I'm saying masking is helping masking is helping

076the spread and masking is also helping keep kids in class 5 days a week which is one of our stated goals and we really don't have a backup plan unless we go back to all virtual like last year. Um so I think that what we're doing so far is working. The spread is as bad if not worse actually it is worse than we first discussed it back in August. Um I I do think uh some of the things you've put together as far as giving our communities some insights on kind of okay when are when is when are we going to think about doing something other than masking? I think it's hard to make that decision sitting here today. But I do think there's a lot of information you've provided and I do have some

077questions with respect to the information um and you know some of my thoughts on what we put together. Um like the seventh grade there are a number of students in the seventh grade because of the age level that would not be eligible for the vaccine. And I think the good thing about uh what we've done with seventh grade this year, of course, not thinking that's not the reason we did it, but the seventh grade is in their own module. So it's not like they are with the eighth graders. So um as we think through maybe plans for um exemptions at at some point in time, I think that it really would exclude the seventh graders unless for some reason all of our seventh graders are are in fact eligible. And I just think we're not

078there yet, which is probably why the percentage is where it is. >> I just and I think one of the important things we've talked about in the past, going back to last year, if you all remember, is whether we're talking about something in the future or not, we have tried to look at our buildings and campuses as separate entities. Even when we've talked about shifting plans or shutdowns, and I think that that's something we should continue to just consider moving forward because of the physical makeup of our campus. Seventh grade is in their own wing right now. eighth graders are with ninth graders. That can have positive or negative impact. Those are things we should just look at. >> Okay. Um and then um I think you know what we've talked about before is I

079I'm so glad that we're getting more responses on vaccinations. um we need the information because be before we can actually make a decision um we need to have a 90% or I don't even know what that number is whether it's 90 or 95% response rate in order to make an educated decision about what percentage of our students um are aren't vaccinated and again I don't know what that percentage is um but it's something that I think that we ought to talk to our health partners about and kind of think about it because um I I don't think the percentage of responders vaccinated. We can really say that's that's the percentage of responders vaccinated, but we don't know what the percentage of of vaccinated people are. Um the only other thing you know in the information

080that you provided I that I had a question about is um the decision factors I I think I what I heard you say is on the quarantine numbers that last school year we got to the point that if there were more than 5% of the population that was quarantined we couldn't operate. Is that what I understood you say? What we actually said was last year what we learned was when we reached 7% we had a problem and that's when we ended up shifting. So when we came up with this threshold we actually decided to be um to use that those numbers and kind of back off of that a little bit but we felt like 5% puts us into that kind of u threshold of really concern um and as we're approaching 5 to 7%

081right that could happen within days or a week. So that's why we chose 5% to be more cautious. >> Yeah. And I and that's the reason I asked the question because I think that we have to be more cautious on that because we're not ready for BVA right now. >> And it was a staffing issue on top of the student issue. Right. So there's a combined kind of operational issue there. When we talk about those numbers, we're talking about everybody, not just students. Do you think that it would make sense in thinking through this as we're putting parameters on this so that people understand should we separate out staff versus students? >> We can show the data to to you or to the public in both ways. We can show combined and we can show

082separated. I think what we learned was it was a combination of staffing issues as well as the overall number of students because when it came to the way we were running our our in-person learning last year, um that ratio of teachers who were out, it it impacted not only the students in school but also BVA. Now this year where we have everybody back on campus um if if we separate out the teacher issue from this I think what we will learn is it'll be the student number probably this year that matters more to us. Last year that was different and and I think part of it is because of vaccination that we're going to see a difference but we can break it out and show it any way you'd like to see it. >> Um

083no I just mean from a quarantine perspective if you have 3% of your staff quarantine could we operate? Um, I think what we learned was that that 7% included a large number of teachers last year. That's what got us into trouble and it was across two buildings that really became problematic for us at that time. Um, and so yeah, I think we could look at that. I think we could show that out, you know, show that very specifically. Um, I do think the threshold overall probably doesn't change much, but we could show it. You guys could decide. I personally would like to see it broken apart. I think it's very important. >> Those are really only my my questions based on that information. >> Thank you. Nancy, did you have some stuff you'd like to

084say? >> Um yeah, so um you know with this is what fourth, fifth meeting? I don't know. I've lost count. Um and we can talk data, you know, till we're blue in the face and I think we all look at different numbers. Um the other thing is I think we're going to be dealing with this for the next decade, you know. So we what I would like to see us do tonight is to come to some um consensus as a team on the data that we'll use and the framework so that we can let this administration run the schools. And so what I've done is um I've prepared a motion that gives us a starting point because obviously we can amend motions, you can change things, but I thought we got to start somewhere. So

085if it's okay, I'd like to make the motion and I've written it out, okay? So it's kind of lengthy, so bear with me. Um, and even with your questions, Kim, I can already see there's a couple things we would already amend with, you know, the staff breaking out, etc. But, okay. Beginning September 14th, the Indian Hill Board of Education will review a decision framework to include local data points of weekly case load numbers, weekly quarantine numbers, and vaccine report percentages to guide the administration in making decisions regarding COVID mask policies for students and staff in grades 8 through 12. And the the reason for that is at the end of this motion. Um the board will evaluate the following four factors. Weekly case load numbers, weekly quarantine numbers, vaccine report percentage, uh percentage of students

086and staff having uh reporting having had positive cases of COVID. So I think that's an important um piece of information for us. Um and then take into consideration the following CDC current policy, ODH current policy, um HCPH school guidance, Tri Health Partner input, Cincinnati Health Collaborative input, AAP guidance on a bi-weekly basis to evaluate the extension or removal of mask requirements indoors for the identified grade levels. These guidelines will be considered for grades actually that should say K. Oh yeah, K through seven. Once vaccinations become available to our students under the age of 12 or when case loads in the district reach a number that we feel comfortable with. Um so I guess is there a second or um discussion? I think before we uh make a motion on it, I think it is better

087let's hear everyone out and then discuss it a little bit more because you know I don't want to say no direct right away without discussing. >> Well, we can if we have a motion in a second then we can discuss and we can amend. So since I've already made the motion I guess >> we can still discuss it without a second. So I think uh there seems to be lack of a second for this moment. So, let's discuss now, but and then we can come back and if need be, you could remake the motion. >> Okay. >> Yep. And >> Miss Cycles, could I have a copy of that if you have an extra one so I can make notes on it as we >> Yeah, because I know this I know we'll revise this

088meant to be revised. Um, so, uh, my only, uh, concern is I don't think that I I I'm not sure why we're doing a bi-weekly review. Um, I think right now we're looking at this. I hope you're wrong, 10 years, but I do think this is going to go on for a while. Um, and I think that, you know, it should be probably reviewed at at the next meeting that we already have scheduled. Um, if something massively changes, like CO disappears, uh, then I would be all for calling an emergency meeting to discuss it. As far as your list, you've got a lot of great things here that we should be looking at. But I'm not going to lock I I can't say any one of those is, oh my gosh, if this changes, I've

089changed my mind. I think you have to look at the whole thing. Um, and I'm I'm fine with I mean, I think all of these things are lovely and we should be looking at them. Um but uh I don't think it it it one thing and one thing only is going to make our change. >> Um I I I think that I don't think we have all the data yet. I mean that was kind of what I was talking about when I was going through the quarantine numbers. I mean we're not even at a point to know where quarantine numbers are. So the weekly quarantine numbers to me are until we get to a level and I think we have to discuss what that level would be but until we get to a certain percentage

090level you can't count on the quarantine numbers. I I'm sorry not I'm sorry the vac >> Okay. Yeah. I wonder what you meant about that. >> Um the vaccination numbers I apologize. So, I mean, I don't even think we have good information yet to be able to >> Well, I mean, I think we've got I've got I think we have actually very good information because we've had three surveys, which is really pretty statistically solid. And my concern about continuing to survey, the same survey with the same questions, is a you're going to have survey fatigue. Uh b you're going to have people who, you know, they, you know, they've already answered. It's basically survey fatigue. And I'm not sure that we can continue to get really good data. That's just my only concern about continuing

091a survey. I mean, and at this point, I don't know that that the number the the number that might change is the percent of responders is the the percent of vaccinations at this point in our community, especially for our staff. I don't know that that's going to change that much because it's already so high. Well, >> if you look at the percentage difference from last time to this time in students, it's Yeah, you can put it I mean it's pretty significant. It went down a lot >> of responders. You mean >> both responders and vaccination rate went down? >> Well, right because the responders went down and that's my concern about survey fatigue. People just pull it back. >> It's a cumulative survey. So, we didn't lose anybody. >> So, if you look at where

092we were on Oh, I don't have the old response. Sorry. >> You were you looking at students or staff? >> I was looking at students. We don't have the old one. In the old survey, which I don't have in front of me, the percentage of responders vaccinated is higher than it was when we did it before. We got more people to respond. >> Yeah, grade nine, grade nine would be a good example, Kim. Grade nine went down. >> Actually, I think they might have all went down. So, I guess my point is until we get enough data, >> and again, I wish I had the old report. I just don't have it in front of me. So, because I didn't know we were going to >> Well, Kirk is going I can tell what he's

093doing. I know know where he thinks he's looking for that right now. Um, uh, yeah, I just I do think that just while he's looking for that, the biggest thing that I think the whole board would encourage everybody, I I certainly am, this is me speaking, but please go get your vaccine if you're not vaccinated. It's safe. It's been studied, and that is our way out of this. And I would totally agree with Nancy. We need to get everybody vaccinated. We need to pay attention to the vaccine rates. Um, but we are not anywhere near where we need to be yet. We're doing really well and better than some, but we are not where we need to be. So, please, please, please go get your vaccine. >> This was the data last time. >> And

094I mean, just on our own district, we're ahead of the national average, which feels pretty good. No, thank you. Not at this time. >> Thank you for your respectful way of asking though. We appreciate that. Um, yeah, I I think that it's it's very important that we push our vaccine rate up. I I think this has been discussed. 70% was brought up as a number. That is a madeup number. Dr. Faci the CDC would tell you that they said we hope if we get to 70%. Certainly better than being at 50%. But in likelihood with the Fiser vaccine with the Delta variant being only 80% effective now um you probably need to be over 90%. So >> yeah, but now you're making up a number. >> I am. I am. Um I I do I

095was actually not done answering um NY's question yet, but um I do think and that's what I think I said at the beginning is that I think we need to develop a framework so that our community knows kind of where we're looking at things both from the 8th to 12th grade level. And then the greatest thing is that we're going to have vaccines for the under 12 community. And so, you know, we're not going to be able to do anything until those children are vaccinated and those percentage of vaccinations are higher, but we could at least establish some guidelines so that people would know what to expect. I'm just not sure that we have enough information sitting here today. I think we're getting close to getting information and um you know, I don't know like

096the I I I think are you asking us to put a number on each one of these? I I don't really understand the motion >> because it just says the board will evaluate, >> right? So, basically what I would like to see is I I like the matrix that Kirk has shown us now a couple different times. I'd like to establish what those values are that we can all live with so that we can give the administration the guard rails and the leeway to run the school district and that we don't have to keep having the same conversation every time that we have a meeting. And I think they've they've shown us what the numbers are as far as Let me back up a second. I don't I think everything needs to be taken into

097consideration but all that we can manage and control in our own world and it is all about keeping the quarantines down and keeping the kids in school and our that's our job is that our local data is all we really can you know it's all we can really count on so we have to use it so if if Kirk is recommending a certain percentage of you know in school versus quarantine a certain percentage you know I don't I don't know that we're there on the vaccines but a certain percentage of vaccines and then uh the case load why can't we adopt those >> well I mean I think we we haven't really talked about the other guidelines as well because I personally am not sure how comfortable I am if our local data is like

098this that if all of our healthc care providers across the country locally in the state all recommend universal masking and and that may change as as data changes but I'm not again I think we have to look at all of it I mean you're I think you're just talking about the top level are you just talking about our local data meaning vaccine percentage quarantine percentage case load percentage or you also talking about the other factors where we have zero zero zero boxes uh checked right now which is our healthc care partners as well as the CDC ODH and and Hamilton County. >> Well, right. I think all those need to be taken into consideration but the only numbers that we actually have and can control and that directly impact our schools and are keeping our

099schools open due to quarantines or non-quarantines would be our local data. So, I think we at least need to start there and get some level of comfort. And and when you look at the high school, we've had zero cases for what? Four, how many weeks we've been in school? Four, six, four. We've we've had zero cases in the high school. And even if we did have some quarantines in the high school, we're still talking about a very small percentage of that universe that could be quarantined if you know regardless of the masking because of the vaccination rates. So, I think we need to talk about the the high school building and we I think we pretty much all agree that we're not going to be able to do anything with the lower grades until the

100vaccine the vaccines are available and that they're used. So, I think if we can at least give guidelines for the high school and still it would be mask optional. I mean, I'm not anti-mask. I'm not even anti-mandate. I'm just anti- any of that if we don't have the data to support it. And right now, we don't have the data in the high school to support requirements. We sure we certainly should still strongly recommend masking in the high school. Um, but we have to start somewhere because we just keep having the same conversation and we're not getting anywhere. So, we just need a plan so that the administrators can work from the plan. That's all I'm trying to get to. And that's why I put something on paper and I don't care how much it gets

101messed with. It's, you know, I'm in a variet of authorship. Um, I just want to see us leave here tonight with some kind of directive for our administration. >> Okay. Can I >> Sorry, un no that's fine. Uh, can I respond? Sure. >> Yeah, please. >> So, couple of things that I heard. I appreciate uh Nancy that you took time out and put this together. I think it is important that we have some criterias clarified a little bit more but as Kim said that I I even I feel that this information is not enough for me. when you say local data, I think our kids uh in a district are moving around out of our zip codes with all the sports activities and extracurricular activities. So, it'll be important to see that number too instead

102of just focusing on what's happening in a district. So the weekly quarantine I think the weekly quarantine and same thing in this paper that we have I think quarantine based on last year versus this year it's very different because last year quarantine numbers were in effect for K to 12. Now as so many of our students are vaccinated and if you're vaccinated you don't have to quarantine. So that number does not reflect the students who are quar who are vaccinated from 7 to 12th grade. >> Right? So I think the quarantine number in my opinion may not help us guide through a decision but absolutely yes the case load number would definitely make a difference. vaccine reports. Yes, the national say that it should be 70%. But I don't know what is the right percentage

103it should be for us to consider that is safe for a district and then uh so you know with I think we need a little bit more work that we need to do in this we need to get few things from what Mr. Keniki has suggested in past and put everything together and probably have something more in here that will guide us through for further. So the other thing I would like to say is September 14th I think it is too early to say that we should give a mass exemption to our high school kids. It's not that high school didn't have any uh COVID cases. We did have I think three or four kids who were tested positive. Uh no sorry were had to quarantine were not tested positive but they were quarantined but

104not tested positive. There are three kids based on till September 10th. I think three kids were in high school who had to quarantine. based on the numbers that I received is where I >> It's like there were two the first week of school and we they probably were inherited cases. They came in with them. Okay. So, yeah, let's just let me just answer the one question about quarantine. So, to your point, if if we have a number on quarantine for the let's say for the high school, um I'm also saying let's watch it if it goes too high. If it goes too high, then that indicates a certain behavior. If it goes lower, then that would indicate a different behavior, >> right? >> Goes both ways. >> Okay. Yeah, it goes both ways. But I

105think at present where we are and the situations we are in, I don't think it would be wise enough to change the mask policy because I'm not in oppose of mass. Like I understand that if one of the incentives to get vaccinated was to be prevented and to be able to walk without mask and but is this the right time to do? I don't think so because I'll just I just got some information from the data that I will read it. So uh today based on the data from the Ohio Hospital Association shows that COVID 19 hospitalization among Ohioans 17 and younger has increased 857% over the last 8 weeks and this is not the data that I am getting this is from the Ohio hospital association. Then another one that I would write read

106is from the Ohio Capital Journal that says that Ohioans 19 and younger are now driving the state's COVID 19 pandemic comprising a large share of cases than any other age group. Roughly one of the one in three people who has contracted COVID 19 this month are 18 or younger according to the analysts of state data. Those aged 20 to 29 are the next most prevalent cohort compressing 16% of the month case. So the numbers are rising that we are seeing everywhere. today as one of the parents said uh govern Governor Divine tweeted that our local health um Ohio children hospital association which consists of six different children hospitals in Ohio along with American pediatrics are urging everyone to wear a mask in an indoor settings like hospital, schools during any large gatherings. It was sad

107to see that over the long weekend, Cincinnati Children had to issue a holiday emergency and an urgent care message saying, "If your child has an unexpected medical issue or injury this weekend, we recommend that you call your primary care doctor to figure out where to go." I never thought I would read something like this in my I can't even imagine if my kids were younger and I have to read this. So because the emergency department and the urgent care were extremely busy at that time. I'm not saying anywhere that this overwhelming experience that they are experiencing is just because of co but there is so much that is happening right now and co is one of it. So and I actually wanted to read few lines that one of the parent uh sented to us

108through her email and I think she is a practitioning physician and I believe that she was here because I would just like to read it because it really touched me when I read it. She says it's true that our pediatrics ICU remains near capacity. It really does not matter if those beds are filled with COVID, RSV or trauma, it means that we need to do everything we can to keep the remaining beds open. So if any of our children need it for any reason, they have a bed with a nurse who can provide highquality care for them. If the children is diagnosed with COVID or RSV and needs a ventilator, there is one available for them. right now the situations that we are in I think we like it I think it is it'll be

109too early to put our guards down just hey so the other thing I wanted to say is the way I'm looking at this situation right now I looked into some cons and pros uh that we had been facing since the pandemic started so since the when the pandemic started our kids have already missed a lot of learning opportunities. Many special milestone milestone moments whether it was graduation, senior year, major theater performance, big game or social interaction with the with their friends or teachers due to co I thought that was a big loss of due to pandemic. Something that I'm very happy that we are able to provide this year is able to offer everything that's on the calendar that we used to do the things we could not do because of the co are now

110possible. This is possible just because we are able to keep our numbers low by getting vaccinated and keeping a mask on. I think our kids are wearing masks. That's why our numbers are looking so different than other schools. >> Well, our kids are wearing masks six day six hours or so when we have them in school, but the second that the school, you know, day is over, they're not wearing masks. And they're also around all the other kids in other school districts who don't have mass requirements at the high school level and we're still not seeing cases. No, actually I would disagree on that with you. The schools who went with mask optional, their numbers are much higher than what our numbers are. But our kids are hanging out with those kids and they're not

111bringing cases back with them. At least not not according to our data. >> Well, our case loads. >> Nikki, thank you. Do you have anything else you wanted to mention tonight? Now all I just want to say is I think it is too early for us to make mask optional. I think we are seeing the surge and I'm not in oppose of making mask optional and looking into different numbers different ways. All I'm saying is it is too early to change a mask policy. >> Thank you. Um go ahead Kim. >> Um I just have one follow-up question for Kirk. without identifying um any particular high school where in in schools where and I'm just talking about high school. I'm not talking about the the younger levels where there's mask optional in just the high

112school buildings. Um, having looked at the data, which I know you look at every week, um, those high schools, do they have significant numbers of quarantines in comparison to our numbers? >> Uh, for the schools that have been in school for a month, uh, they have had more quarantine. Um, the numbers of cases have varied, but I would say they're larger than our number of cases. And for those who have been in for school less than two weeks, I don't think there's a real clear picture yet. And um uh but I would say schools of similar size um who have been mask optional um we have seen a larger number of quarantines and again I'm not I I don't know the reason for that but I would say it's larger and um when you look

113at larger school districts around us um the number and the percentage has been larger and I think also So how they operate physically with some of their physical distancing is something that you know is different everywhere. But by and large those numbers have been larger at those school those high schools. >> I also wanted to to just in responding to kind of what we're talking about I am not opposed at all in go in having a decision tree at some point. Um, and I'm not sure I would. I'm at the point of mask optional as opposed to mask exempt. Um, I'm sorry, vaccinate vaccination exempt. So, for, you know, basically if somebody wants to show that they're vaccinated, um, and then they would not have to wear a mask. Um, but I just I don't

114know whe whether we're going to be able to reach consensus tonight, but kind of my thoughts um on that is, you know, we really have to have a higher percentage response rate in order to have better data. I don't know what that number is and I would certainly be you know happy to take any re recommendation from you know one of our u medical um professionals but if that you know if the response rate is you know closer to 90% for each of those and again I'm not counting seventh graders because seventh graders would be exempt and then the percentage of responders vaccinated I think you made a recommendation I I I recall I don't know what it was whether it was 80% or 85% I don't recall but I think that's the percentage we

115have to talk about and get comfortable with. Um, and I would certainly like some um, medical professionals input on what that percentage would be or should be. Um, but I, you know, the weekly case load numbers I think make sense that that the percentage we talked about. Um, the 5% number I like the way you were thinking about you had to back it off from where we were last year because we couldn't operate at that level. Um, but I think it would be helpful to kind of see where we are. Um, uh, students versus, um, a staff at that level. But I think we're going to get there. It's not going to be like this is forever. I just think we have to get comfortable with what that is. And by the and I apologize,

116but I think the other thing we do have to keep in mind all of the time is and you've put this in your motion is that we have to take into consideration all of the other policies from our healthcare professionals that if things are getting worse, they're going to tell us and we're going to >> Sure. >> Could I could I just say one thing for clarity purposes again because I'm not a physician. Um, and I think you understand this when you were bringing this up about the vaccine target, what we put in that visual in green that we don't have a number there for. We have a question mark. That's because no medical body knows what that number should be. Um, and I think we heard that from public participants as well. So again,

117that number I I hear you. I understand what you're saying and we're not presenting a particular number tonight. I think what I heard Miss Cycult say with her language was that she was open to talking about the how of that as one of the other factors that was listed. I what I have heard is that case load and quarantine either percentages or numbers are things that maybe people could or want to continue to look at. Um, and I also think if you look at the local partnered data, there are two of the three, Tri Health and the collaborative that do weekly report specific numbers that matter that I would consider data, not policy language that we could continue to use. And so, of those nine factors that we've shown you there, there are four that

118are set data points that or thresholds. And then there's the fifth one that is nebulous, which is the vaccine target. And then there are four pieces of policy language. So as you're thinking through the how, I would just point those things out. >> So one one thought that I'm having about because it's going to be really difficult to get to a percentage of vaccin vaccine rate that you know anybody feels comfortable with since it's not out there anywhere is if our job is to keep our kids in school and not have them quarantined. What is the percentage of vaccinated students in the and staff in the high school that would keep us below that 5% quarantine rate? That's the number, right? So, we'd have to do the math on that. But what that's the percentage.

119whatever the percentage is that would keep keep quarantines lower than a 5% load staff and students in the high school right >> now I I don't think you can connect those two I wish you could um as I said I think I've said previously maybe not in this meeting um we don't know what the herd immunity number is I I said I'd like it above 90% you're absolutely right I was guessing Okay, I do think that we ought to maybe try to get our tri health partners, maybe the see if the CDC is willing to come up with it. So, I don't know that you can say, well, if we get over a certain vaccine rate, we'll have less than a certain quarantine rate. I just don't think >> but we would because if you're

120vaccinated, you're not quarantined. >> I I hear what you're saying. Okay. I I get what you're saying, but uh Nancy, I applaud what you're trying to do here, which is you're trying to get some guard rails, as you use the term, uh for the the to allow the district leadership to make decisions without us having a board meeting. I just don't think I nor it seems like the other board members are at that point where we feel that the data is solid enough and believable enough and actionable enough to make that set of guard rails uh is just kind of where I am. But I do applaud your wanting to do that and I think we need to continue to work on this. The district leadership uh Mr. Kcki needs to work on this and

121bring more to us at the next meeting um to decide. >> But we keep we keep asking for more data and there really isn't any more data. We have what we have. >> Well, and we I mean it's going to be the end of the school year before we give them any guidance. >> Well, we do have data right now. You're right. And it all says keep the mask on 100%. That's what every piece of data I'm looking at says. keep the mask on. >> So, so anyway, um uh I don't think anybody was seconding that motion. Um I do think that we would need a motion since we the way we made the last motion, uh we need a motion related to continuing the mask mandate. >> Can we vote on it separately? um

1228 through 12 and K through 7. >> I don't know. Whoever makes a mandate or makes a motion can set it up any way they want. I'm not sure we need to separate them, though. >> I mean, I think that um some members might vote in favor of of 8 through 12 and and K. So, I think we probably should um I don't have the motion in the original motion, but it's basically a motion to extend >> I think you're just assigning a new date is if you're making that motion. >> Well, let me try to do this as best as I can based on what Nancy's asking. So, I would make the first motion to extend the mask um policy that we put in place on August 16th. Is that the correct date? Um,

123for grade levels K through 8, I'm sorry, K through 7. >> Second. >> Got to give me a date. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Um, through October 19th. >> Second. Mrs. Lewis. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Eicols. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Sing. >> Um, not sure about it. Um, >> well, right now we're just voting on K. I Dr. Hooker >> I >> um second motion I would like to make is making a motion to extend the >> can you do >> existing mask mandate of o August 16th for grade levels 8 through 12 >> until what date? >> Until October 19th. October 19th. Second. >> Can we have a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Lewis, >> I. >> Mrs. Singh, >> I. >> Mrs. Eicult, >> no. >> Dr. Hooker, >> I wish I could come

124up with a motion that we could um do something as far as trying to put guard rails towards mask exempt. Um I am currently not there. I think that there will be a lot more information between now and October. And when I'm talking about information, our cases have gone up. The um all around our area has gone up. Um I think to the extent that we see those leveling off and going down, we will be in a much better position to put guard rails on this. And I think that what the administration has done as far as getting information to us with our local district and then we have to listen to also obviously our healthcare providers as you pointed out Mr. Kcki the most important ones are the ones on the back um as

125far as having specific data points. Um I think that potentially by October 19th and again none of us know when it's going to peak but from you know what other states are experiencing when I think what everybody's predicting is that it is likely to peak and likely to potentially go down by then. Um, so I just I I don't have a motion to make with respect to that, but I I do think that that's something that we really ought to strive to achieve um as as we as cases start to go down. >> I agree completely with you uh Kim on that that we should just wait till then and we'll have more data that we can look at it and once the numbers go down we'll be more comfortable making a mask exemption. So

126thank you. >> All right. If there is no further discussion, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> thank you. Exclusive coverage on the Indian Hill Television Network has been a copyrighted presentation of the Indian Hill High School video department.