001Hey, hey, hey. Happy birthday. >> [music] >> Happy. Heat. Heat. The employment of a public employee. And um now we're returning to public session. And would you please join me in the pledge to the flag? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much. >> [snorts] >> First item of business is adoption of the agenda. Is there a motion? So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and uh seconded. May we have a roll call. >> Mrs. Shaughnessy. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Dottman. Hi. >> Mrs. Clark Sutton. >> Hi. >> Mr. Callahan. Hi. >> Miss Katsenberger. >> Hi. >> Thank you. We now move on to the superintendence report.
002Superintendent Nick. >> Thank you. Good evening, President Shaughnessy. Vice President Dapman. Uh, distinguished board members, Treasure Roodie, it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Yakubat to the podium. [applause] >> Shaughnessy, members of the board of education, superintendent, treasure, thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to provide you with an update on the WHO career technical district. Before we get started though, we do have some recognitions. So, we want to take a few minutes to recognize some folks who are with us uh this evening. If I could please call up to the podium Isabella Brown. Isabella is our West Resilient Ranger. Isabella, if you can join me here as I read your [applause] recognition. I would like to recognize Isabella Brown as the West Resilient Ranger. Isabella is a student in the West Business
003Management program and is truly deserving of this recognition. When Isabella first entered the program, she was very quiet and shy. Over the past year, however, her program teacher, Miss Tessarakus, has grown has Mrs. Tarakas has seen incredible growth in her confidence and leadership. A major turning point came during her work-based learning experience. Her confidence began to grow both in and out of the classroom. After participating in mock interviews through the program, Isabella shared that she no longer felt nervous during interviews and started believing in herself and her abilities. That confidence paid off when Isabella interviewed with PNC Financial Services and earned a position as a bank teller after graduating high school. >> Great. >> What makes Isabella's story so meaningful is that her growth happened through perseverance, quiet determination, and a willingness to step outside
004of her comfort zone. She is a wonderful example of how students can grow when given opportunities to challenge themselves and believe in their potential. Please join me in congratulating and recognizing Isabella Brown as a West Resilient Ranger. [applause] Congratulate you. Thank you so much. So proud of you. It's great to do and that comfort zone that's hard to get out of. Great job. >> Well done, Isabella. I think we could take some pictures with your family. >> Family, if you want to join her. >> Uh yeah, why not? >> S with you. Uh, this is my grandma Nancy. >> And then this is my mom, Don. Hi. [applause] Next, I would like to invite Miss Michelle Gagan to the podium. Michelle is our student support specialist who Michelle is going to recognize uh Kathleen Ward.
005>> I would like to introduce Kathleen Ward for our staff spotlight. Kathleen serves as a prayer professional with the Westshore Career Technical District and has been with the district since n uh 2019. She primarily supports our sports and exercise and auto technology programs where she consistently goes above and beyond to help students succeed. This year, our sports and exercise program welcomed a new teacher and Kathleen played a crucial ro role in helping that teacher transition smoothly into the classroom. She supports students in subjects such as anatomy, medical terminology, exercise science, and the preparation for the NASA NA personal trainer certification. As a certified personal trainer herself, this work is a natural fit for her expertise. At the same time, Kathleen also assists students in auto technology and an an area outside of her wheelhouse. Even
006so, she has created study groups to help students prepare for and earn their ASE automotive industry credentials. Her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone speaks volumes about her dedication to students and their success. Kathleen is passionate about helping others and the students truly appreciate and value her support. She consistently goes the extra mile to encourage and motivate them. Kathleen is here today with her husband Dan. The two have known each other since high school and have four children who are all active in sports. Together, Kathleen and Dan enjoy traveling and staying active. Outside of school, Kathleen works as a personal trainer at the West Park Fairview YMCA, where she primarily works with wellness programs such as active older adults and Silver Sneakers. Please join me in recognizing Kathleen Ward as our staff spotlight.
007[applause] >> Kathleen, we want to give you this small token of our esteem. We're so impressed with the whole Wishore program and with your contribution to it. That's great. Would you like to introduce your husband or anyone who's here? >> Well, I brought my husband Dan here tonight and thank you very much for supporting me. [laughter] >> Thanks for coming. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Do you want to say anything you want to say about >> um I would just like to thank everyone for coming. Thank you very much. And Dr. Vidat, Michelle Gagan makes it very easy to go to work every day. and the people that I work with are just really special and I'm really appreciative of this special acknowledgement. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you for your efforts.
008[applause] >> [cough and laughter] >> There you go. >> Thank you. [applause] At West Shaw, we are expanding opportunities for our students. Uh, as you recall, in the fall of 2023, we received a substantial grant from the state of Ohio in the amount of $5.78 million to expand career tech pathways. And we were able to identify two in demand professions, micro electromechanical systems, MEMS, and welding. So I wanted to provide a quick update on those two programs since we just completed the first year of both. In the first year of our MEMS program, uh we designed a state-of-the-art lab called a clean room. And our students attained technical skills that's going to prepare them for futures in advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, and electronics pathway. We're also able to create strong partnerships with post-secondary institutions, industry leaders.
009And these are partnerships resulting in our students obtaining internships and summer employments. And we're also very excited to share with the board that we're going to receive a $20,000 grant from from Lorraine County Community College to support our MEMS program. So overall, we had a great year in MEMS. Our students did great and our educator staff member there, Kyle White, has done a fantastic job. So that's the update on MEMS. for Weldon. Mr. Zernich also had a great year. That's our welding teacher. Our students earned hundreds of industry credentials supporting graduation pathways. Our seniors also engaged in internships with Eerie industrial uh equipment and these internships resulted in summer employment. Our welding students also engaged in projects such as repairs made to the maintenance and music department. And our students also created some additional projects.
010In fact, you guys have some of those projects in front of you. Those were actually done using scrap metal, using oxifuel cutting and brazing. And so these may be art projects, but these art projects are still reinforcing those welding skills that students are using in the classroom. So that's a gift from our welding program. Another expansion at West Shore is the creation of the West Career Center. Uh this space is really unique. It's for West Shore career tech students and actually even other students are able to come and learn everything about career tech whether it's uh work-based learning how to earn industry credentials how to earn college credit through west shore and this space reflects our focus on helping students prepare for both college and for the workforce. An area we are very proud of
011growth is our work-based learning and this slide highlights some of the businesses, schools and community partners that worked with our students. We recognize that in in order for our students to receive receive and obtain authentic learning experiences, we need to have strong partnerships with businesses. And this slide here is an appreciation to all of our business partners that we have. Without them, our students wouldn't wouldn't experience the learning that they're doing. So, we want to thank thank these business partners. And now, I'd like to introduce our project lead the way, Mr. Ben Branco with his students. All right. Good evening, folks. Uh, my name is Ben Branco. I am one of the Project Lead the Way teachers at Lakewood High School, uh, and the new robotics and engineering academy that we're starting. Uh, first of
012all, I want to thank you all for having me here tonight. I want to thank the Lakewood community for the opportunity to share a quick update on our robotics program. I'm truly grateful for the support that we get to allow this program to grow. Um, this year our students worked through hands-on engineering challenges where they built, tested, failed, improved, and tried again. They learned that engineering is not about getting it perfect the first time. It is about problem solving, teamwork, communication, and improving an idea. Throughout the year, engineering students explored many aspects, including the design process, where they had to create a shoe for a very particular four-legg client. forces in mechanical design with a farm assistant challenge where they had to save chickens and improve harvests. I think I have this upside down. There
013we go. Um, and then they moved on to the robotics where they were able to build a Rube Goldberg machine out of these robotics you see right here. So, at the beginning, the first person just pressed play. Their robot started to spin a wheel that then contacted the floor over. It ran into the milk crate which pushed the next machine into movement. It then triggered the third one to swing an arm that then ran into a ramp and finally threw a golf ball into a bucket. So they were able to program all of that to run together. Uh they then continued the year by tinkering with circuits using digital simulations to understand ohm law. And then finally today we tested our popsicle bridges. The heaviest uh weight was 103 pounds. So destroyed your class, Ally.
014Yeah. [laughter] 103 pounds held by 100 popsicle sticks and glue. Pretty impressive there. Um what I love about these moments is that students are not just completing assignments. They are thinking, creating, testing, and adjusting before their accomplishments. The best people to explain the impact of the program are the students themselves. So, I invited a few here to briefly share what they've learned this year and what they enjoyed. Please welcome Ali, Kate, Liam, and Daniel. [applause] Good evening. Good evening, everybody. One of the things I love most about Principles of Engineering is that it covers many different skills and not just one subject. We get plenty of hands-on experience and get to collaborate with classmates throughout the engineering process. Rather than reading through a textbook, we get to actually work through problems and learn from our
015mistakes. Something I find much more valuable than sitting through a lecture. PLTW also helps students find interests in a field of engineering that they may not have known they had. The curriculum of the class touches on so much that it gives students many opportunities for their future. Thank you. [applause] >> Um, good evening everyone. Uh, I'm Kate Weekly. I really enjoyed taking the industrial robotics uh class because I was able to build projects like with my hands and I was able to use I was able to solve problems using critical thinking skills. Um the video you see playing is a project that me and a partner had to do um where we built a system off an assembly line that sorts poker chips by color using a optical sensor, a pneumatic solenoid, and a rack
016and pinion system. Um, I'm really grateful that I'm really grateful that I was able to take this class as a high school student. Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Daniel Zaggerman and this is Liam Wallace. And as you saw in the slides way previous ago, we're juniors at Lakewood High School. Here in front of you guys, uh, we want to show off our competition robot that we prototyped this past year. The robot was designed, built, and programmed to compete in the VEX Robotics Pushback competition. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go ahead and compete in the big giant like competition that other schools compete in, but the purpose of the game is to collect these red and blue blocks and put the um you would put them in the bot as
017you could see right there. And from there, it would you want to go ahead deposit them into these big golds that are on the field. um and score as much points as possible to try to go ahead win the match. [snorts] Before before continuing this, anyone here in front of me want to go ahead try this out? >> Anyone? [applause] >> [snorts] >> controls and then this one >> it launches it. >> You got it. >> You got to spin the wheels while >> while you're moving. Yeah. There you go. Oh, almost. [laughter] >> Lastly, building the robots to compete uh forces the students to work in a real world engineer scenario, which is a lot of the companies that are looking for. Um, we had the plan to we had to go ahead plan
018the robot, design pro and problem solve as a team between me, Liam, and this one senior. Unfortunately, he's not here. Um, I personally truly enjoy the creativity aspect of robotics where I get to and also Liam gets to go ahead see mine and his ideas also come into life. Thank you so much, guys. [applause] Um, so just talking about what we are expanding to for next year. Uh, we're excited to take the major step in actually launching the inaugural Lakewood Robotics team. I've spent many hours this year watching film of the competitions, meeting with area schools who have competed, including the 2019 state winner from Yria High School. And I've attended three different competitions live to see how they run, including one where I volunteered as a referee. That was a very long day. [laughter]
019All of this time I spent uh with All of this time I spent will help our team hit the ground running as a true contender next year in the VEX Robotics Competition Override that you see here. Competing allows students to take the skills they are learning in the class and apply them in a competitive team-based setting where they have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and represent Lakewood. I truly believe the Engineering Robotics Academy gives students a place to be creative, solve problems, and see themselves as engineers, programmers, builders, and leaders. I am incredibly proud of what our students have accomplished this year. even more excited to see where this program is headed. Thank you for your time tonight and thank you for supporting this opportunity for our students. [applause] >> Thank you. We'll take
020questions. >> Yes. Great. Thank Thank you for the remote control. >> I So, this just doesn't happen accidentally. I know that all the time you're looking and seeing where in career tech you need to go, where employers, where kids want to go and thinking about it and then waiting for money upon which to pounce and start a program like $5 million. But um where the robotics is being expanded and or new, are there other areas that you see change in that might affect the career tech program? That's a great question. Um, in fact, we just uh created a survey a couple weeks ago and we shared that survey with uh the communities, the folk communities to kind of solicit what's what's out there. And to answer your question, what we see that they there may
021be some changes with with AI coming that we have to consider uh how do we you know infuse AI in some in some of our programs. So that's an area that we need to investigate a little bit more. Uh, another one is, uh, you know, these are called CTSOs, career tech, uh, student organizations. And so, we want to expand a little bit more. We've expanded with, um, our robotics. We're going to expand with our welding. We already have it with our culinary program. We, uh, our kids are going to, uh, nationals in Washington DC. So, that's also another expansion that we're looking to to move forward. >> Great. >> That's exciting. >> Yeah. How's it going? I know that you've had some uh great participation in the welding and MEMS programs to kick it off
022this year. How is it going in terms of keeping the pipeline of students? I I don't know how one goes about recruiting both at Lakewood and the other partner schools. >> That's a great question. So, the way our recruiting happens is uh we it starts at the middle school, right? Right. We we give presentations at at at the local uh middle schools and then 10th grade what happens is we go out to the 10th uh to the high schools. 10th grade, we present the options and then they tour our our programs. And uh we're also creating a lot of uh promotional videos that we want to share with with each community so that way families can can learn about career tech because one of the things that we got from the survey is some of
023our families uh want us to have a deep and louder voice for CTE. So that's how we go about creating and really the truth the truth is the the the recruitment comes really from our students, you know, and and they're the they're the best recruiters out there because they'll talk to other students and they'll they'll glow about the program. They'll say good things about the program. And to me, that's that's the best way to get kids into the program. So at the end of the day, we can create all the videos we want. I can present as much as I want, but if we're not doing any learning and any critical thinking and any collaboration in the classroom, it doesn't matter. I just want to say thank you so much for supporting us and we
024hope you continue to support career tech education. Absolutely. >> We look forward to your next report. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Can I dismiss them? [laughter] >> You can. We just have a couple. We have a couple more um awards if that's but they can leave if they like to or you could stay. It'll be short. [laughter] >> Very good. So, we do have a recognition of Dazzle Awards tonight. Super exciting. And I'd like to invite to the podium Mr. Dominic Finelli. [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. >> Hi, and thank you so much for having me today. Um, we're here to recognize one of my students, Axel Scott, on their win at the Dazzle Awards for Supporting actor. Um, for those who are unfamiliar, the Dazzle Awards are like the Cleveland Area Tony Awards. So
025over 40 schools in the area competed uh with their musicals over the course of this past school year and there were 10 students nominated for supporting actor. And when Axel's name was called as the winner, um there was just so much joy. I I was surrounded in a sea of 50 high school students from Lakewood who were all screaming. But um what really struck me was when Axel walked across the stage, they were so humble, so genuinely shocked, surprised. Um, and it just really speaks volumes to their character. I've had the pleasure of having Axel in class for the last couple of years. Um, I've worked with them as a stage manager, as an actor, and you'd be hardressed to find a more resilient student with a growth mindset. So, I'm super grateful to have
026them as a student. Um, also very glad that they're a junior and I have them again next year. Um, and we're just very, very grateful to be here today. Thank you so much for not only this recognition uh but also for your continued support of the arts in Lakewood City Schools. Thank you. [applause] >> Congratulations. Fantastic. This is a little certificate of recognition from the board and this is a recognition um from the Senate Senator Nikki Antonio for your work. This accomplishment is a justifiable source of pride for the district and our community and that's an understatement. Wonderful work. You give us so much pleasure um as people to see you guys perform. You and your teammates. I just want Can I give you a hug? [laughter] >> I just want to hug you. [applause]
027>> I've only been doing this for a few years. [laughter] This is the part I always forget. >> Um, my mom and dad are here. Yay. [applause] >> [laughter] [applause] >> I know we hope to um recognize more of your crew your um in the coming months. So, And next I would like to toss it over to our treasurer. She just has a short update about an audit. >> Okay. Good evening board president Shaughnessy, Vice President Dottman, distinguished members of the board, and Superintendent Nwiki. I have a quick update about the fiscal year 2025 financial audit that recently concluded. Um at the conclusion of the audit, the district received an unmodified or clean audit opinion for fiscal year 2025. that's the 202425 school year. Um, a clean audit opinion indicates that the financial statements were
028fairly represented were fairly presented in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles and in the audit there were no material weaknesses identified, no significant deficiencies identified, and no compliance findings identified. So, it's good news, clean audit um from the Ohio Auditor Estates office and um there was one um recommendation in the management letter. So, it's um a supplemental to the audit report. Um it included one repeat recommendation related to the district's capital assets. Um auditors noted that some district's assets are fully depreciated, which means they're like zero value remaining on the books. Um but they're in active use. So, we're still using them. Um, that may, in their opinion, may not accurately reflect their useful lives on the financial statements. Um the auditors recommend that the district considers a salvage value um of approximately 5
029to 10% for depreciable assets and conducting a periodwide um or periodic district-wide inventory which is a count of all the physical a physical count of all the assets in the district um to asssure that the capital asset records remain accurate and up to date. So um historically the district has used uh a what's called a zero salvage value approach so that when the useful life of the audit on the books is over then um the value of that asset is zero on the books. So the recommendation is to change that to um having some sort of um salvage value or value that um perhaps if the asset were sold um it would be worthwhile. So um you know this is quite time inensive to do after um given the number of assets on the books.
030Um so it hasn't been something that's been prioritized in the past. Um and it doesn't the recommendation doesn't indicate a finding or compliance issue or an internal control deficiency. And so that's what's really important. Um, in any case, I will continue to evaluate that recommendation as part of future reviews of the district's capitalization policy, and I plan to investigate what's involved in entering salvage values um into the inventory systems for assets that are fully depreciated, but that we're still using to see if that's um realistic for us to do. And that's uh concludes my update. Thank you. >> Thank you. And that concludes the superintendent's report. >> Thank you very much. Um, at this is the point that we usually tell people that we'd love to have you stay, but you're free to go with
031no penalty. So, um, if if you have things to do and you need to go, thank you for coming. We really appreciate it. Great job. Okay, we now move on to to the legislative report. >> Thank you. >> Uh there's a couple of pieces of legislation that I wanted to touch base on. Um first is Ohio House Bill 443. Um it's in uh relation to the school vouchers. Um, as a reminder, taxpayers are sending in excess of a billion dollars to private and uh, religious schools. Um, while public schools are dealing with $3 billion budget shortfall, it's estimated that 80 to 90% of students using vouchers to attend private and religious schools never attend a public school, even though that was one of the justifications for the voucher program. Um, and Ohio public schools still
032educate approximately 90% of Ohio students. A bipartisan group of Ohio House members have introduced Ohio Senate Bill 443. Um they have a cute name for it. It's take the dough. We got to know. Um among a dozen provisions offered the the co-sponsors are Senators Bill Blessing uh which is a who is a Republican out of Koline Township, Kent Smith who's a Democrat out of Uklid, and Justin Pizzoui who's a Republican from Skyota County. Um, the bill would audit how state dollars are spent in two of the state's private school voucher programs, create report cards for academic performance, and require students to take the same end of course exams the public schools mandate. Um in addition they would have to report on things including um enrollment and capacity by grade level school building and education program
033number of voucher students enrolled um number of students with disabilities that the schools educate uh English learners home students um tuition and fees charged by the school and a f fiveyear cost trend of tuition and fees um any religious or faith-based instruction provided and um information about the school's accreditation. They would also have to submit weekly attendance records, conduct criminal background checks of its employees, and publish their dropout and graduation rates. So, these are things that are uh familiar to public school entities and should be part of this as well. Um Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman is pushing back on this, but we'll see how it evolves. Um hopefully it moves forward. Um, another bill I wanted to touch on is Senate Bill 113 sponsored by Andrew Brener, who's a Republican out of Delaware. It
034would require every local board of education in the state to adopt a policy that would end any current diversity and inclusion offices or departments and ban any diversity, equity, and inclusion orientation or training. He said that the bill defends merit-based education and characterized DEI programs as prioritizing identity overability. It's currently in committee and hearing testimony. Um recently about 80 people submitted opponent testimony to this bill. Um the main issue with this bill is that it doesn't define what it means by diversity, equity, and inclusion. So uh often when something a bill like this has an open-ended uh meaning like that, it people tend to overcomply because they don't really know what is within the bounds of it and what isn't. Um and uh one opponent noted that the state's own report card requires districts to
035track and close performance gap gaps that include data on race, income levels, and disability status of students. So that would be difficult. Um other opponents argue that the bill could interfere with uh civil rights protections and the idea act as well as concerns that the act could harm uh this bill could harm special education, disability services, and programs for gifted students. So, um, this is something, you know, is currently, uh, hearing, you know, in committee and receiving testimony and a lot of people are speaking out against it for a variety of reasons and it's receiving a lot of media coverage as well, which is probably a good thing. So, I just want to touch on those two measures. >> So, we should all write and call. >> Yes. Always. uh I not not only your
036own uh representatives and senators but also the sponsors of the bills andor the education committee members because those are the folks that are driving this or or not. So that's what I would encourage folks to do if they want more information or express an opinion. And that concludes the legislative report. >> Thank you very much. We'll now move on to discussion of the agenda items for the second regular monthly meeting. Um we'll have the next two weeks to ask questions or learn more about these and the first is finance Mr. Callahan. >> Thank you President Shaughnessy. We have first investments purchased and matured April 2026. The tables included in the agenda materials identify investments that matured as well as outstanding investments as of April. Investment earnings for regular board funds for the month of April
037totaled $192,994, bringing the year-to- date total to uh $2,215,255. Next, we have financial information. April 26 for the month, general fund receipts totaled $4,59,920. General fund expenditures totaled uh $6,973,525. The fiscal year 26 summary revenues year-to- date actual and projected revenues through April uh shows positive $451,694 variance compared to the five-year forecast. Um noted variances tuition payments are higher than the forecast at this point in the year, accounting for the majority of variance. expenditures year-to- date actual and projected expenditures through April shows positive uh $21,363 variance compared to the five-year forecast. Noted employee salaries are trending lower than the forecast while dues and fees are trending higher than the forecast. The net impact is favorable to the forecast. We have cash reserves and compliance items. Cash reserves sufficient through fiscal year 26. A financial summary
038report is provided to show the monthly and fiscal year-to-ate cash positions for the non-general funds maintained by the district. Appropriation modifications will ensure the district is in compliance with the state auditor's office and the county fiscal office. Uh all accounts have sufficient funds available to cover the increase in appropriations. The amendment increases allows the district to legally encumber and pay funds up to the amounts appropriated. Next, we have a resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission in an updated resolution to reflect the new 6.9 mil levy passed in May 2026. The original tax rate resolution for fiscal year 27 was approved by at the March 16, 26 meeting. Approval of the tax rate resolution is required annually by the Kyhoga County fiscal office to indicate the board of education acceptance
039of the amount and rates as determined by the budget commission and to authorize the assessment of tax levies by the voters of Lakewood. Uh next item is a resolution to approve permanent appropriations for fiscal year 27. The permanent appropriations reflect the current five-year forecast. The appropriations reflect our commitment to providing an excellent education at a prudent and community sensitive level. The general fund is showing an increase of 3.55% in fiscal year 27 compared to fiscal year 26 which is in line with current inflationary increases. The fiscal year 2027 appropriations are just one part of the ongoing discussion on the financial condition of the district. Next item is the service services agreement with Julian and Grub Incorporated is for the purpose of assisting the district in compiling its basic financial uh statements and compliance for fiscal
040years ending June 30th, 2026 to June 30th, 2028. The district has used Julian and Grub in the past and finds value in their work and continuity of service. And the last item is uh regarding the Lakewood Public Library. The Lakewood Public Library budget document for fiscal year 27 is provided for review and consideration as part of the official budget hearing process required by statute. This proc this proposed budget uh must be adopted by the board of education no later than July 15th and forwarded to the county budget commission prior to July 20th as required by Ohio Revised Code. And that I believe concludes my report unless Treasurer Roadie has anything to add or you all have any questions. >> Good. >> I do have a question. Um and perhaps Treasurer Roadie um could could answer
041it. Under the cash reserves and compliance items um number three, the resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission blah blah blah blah blah. Can you put that in like simply like what are they talking about? >> Sure. So each year um in the spring the county um budget commission they provide the school district a list of the tax levies and their amounts. So um I as the district treasur >> all of them going back >> right. So everything that's currently collected um is uh listed and then I engage with the county to make sure that the tax rates that are set um especially for our debt collection so on our bond levies are um at a rate that will collect enough to cover our debt payments. So that's the most
042significant conversation in in this whole process. But otherwise, it's um sort of a tool of communication for the county to say this is the number of um mil the number of mills that we plan to collect on and then that goes to the board of education for approval and then to be sent back to the county. So, it's um a mode of uh communication around the tax collections. So, that was already approved for fiscal year 2027, but since we had a change with the um new levy passed in May, that's why we have um this updated resolution to authorize the county to collect on that new levy. So, add it to the whole list. >> I thought some of it sounded familiar. >> Yes, it's back. >> Yeah, you saw it recently in March. The
043same verbiage um with uh the same resolution but without that 6.9 mil levy. >> Thank you. Yes, you all very much. >> Okay, any other questions? We'll move on to building sites and major purchases. Mrs. Clark said, >> this will now be my third summer on the board and I am always struck by how thick our packets are in the summer. >> [laughter] >> the students go home and everybody else is working like crazy. So, I have several um resolutions for us to consider. Uh the first is a resolution to approve agreement between Bluebird Fiber and Lakewood City Schools. Bluebird Fiber provides a second source of dedicated internet access separate from the connection through our local information technology consortium. Our three-year agreement with Everstream is coming to an end and we wish to continue begin
044use of Bluebird Fiber since Bluebird Fiber was purchased purchased Everstream this past year. Three years ago, we were paying $1,600 per month on a month-to-month agreement with Everstream. A three-year agreement with Everstream reduced the price to $1,200 a month. And this new three-year agreement with Bluebird Fiber will reduce the price even lower to $1,50 a month. And so this means that we will be saving uh uh $5,400 over the next three years. >> Kind of like negotiating and finding the best deal for your electric and gas. Uh so thank you to the technology department for that. A resolution to approve the agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and ODS Transportation. Superintendent recommends approval of the agreement with ODS Transportation to provide transportation services for athletic and general student field trips at the following rates.
045All trips have a minimum of four hours for this company and this contract would be for the 2627 school year. Day field trip hourly rate is 127. The athletic event hourly rate is also 127. Uh there's another um field trip uh service. We don't have our own fleet of buses, so we have to um engage in contracts and it's always better to diversify those contracts um just in case a bus company doesn't show up. So the next one is a resolution to approve the agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and Auxilio Services, Inc. The superintendent recommends approval of the agreement with auxilio services to provide and manage pupil transportation for field trips at a rate of 8250 per hour plus 0.92 per mile with a three-hour minimum per field trip where vehicles are available
046for such treat trips. Rates are inclusive of all expenses including drivers, fuel, insurance, maintenance, and facility. A more complicated math problem comes out to very similar dollar amounts. Resolution. Next one is the resolution to approve the HVAC preventive maintenance water treatment and building automation system monitoring and support contract between the Lakewood Board of Education and the Brewer Garrett Company. This is the result of a competitive bid process. The Brewer Garrett Company met all of our requirements and specifications to provide HVAC preventive maintenance, water treatment, and building automation services for all of our buildings. The contract allows for an option to renew annually for a period of up to two years at the direction discretion of the board of education. The annual cost for fiscal year 27 will be $146,000 and $146,000 and my apologies $146,112.
047It is recommended that the award approve the contract for the period beginning July 1st of this year through June 30th of 2027. Um, the Lakewood School District solicited quotes and proposals for this and um, Brewer and Garrett came in um, as compliant with everything in their request for proposal um, at a cost. Yep, I did the cost. Okay, two more. Uh, resolution authorizing a program agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and Innovative Solutions Group, Inc. for the SFS PAC food service sanitation and safety program. The SFSP pack food safety and sanitation system offers a complete line of products and educational materials for cleaning and disinfecting school nutrition operations while ensuring the highest standards of food safety. The SF S >> program, you could just say the program. >> The program provides many benefits including
048education, compliance, verification, and sanitation. The total cost to Lakewood City Schools is $18,180. And for $18,000, that seems like a lot of words and a lot of cleaning [laughter] cleanliness. So, I'm all about that. Um and then um this is an annual agreement that the last one is a rental agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and St. Edward High School uh and the state for the St. S the St. Edward home varsity football games in 2026 at the first federal Lakewood Stadium. This is a resolution between the Lakewood Board of Education and State ST that other school um for use of First Federal Lakewood Stadium for the purpose of home varsity football games. This is an annual agreement and in our attachments is a schedule and the prices. So that concludes my report. >>
049Thank you very much. Are there any questions for Mrs. Clerk Sutton? [laughter] >> Thank you. You explained it well. No. And we move on to the education report. Mrs. Kzenberger, >> thank you. I was going to ask, can you say the name of that? [laughter] But I won't. Um, okay. So, for education, uh, this meeting, uh, we are looking for approval for the handbooks for the 2026 2027 school year. They're being submitted for yearly approval for the different grade grade grade levels. Um, next, the City of Lakewood Police Department Drug Abuse Resistance Education or DARE program. It's an annual resolution to support the grant application submitted by the City of Lakewood Police Department for funding from Ohio for the city's DARE program. It also commends the police department for continued efforts to educate young people
050of the city as to the hazard hazards of alcohol and drugs. Next is an agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio. The Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio provides special education services to students whose needs require specialized services outside of the Lakewood City Schools through the Positive Education Program or PEP for the 2026 2027 school year. Next is the memor memorandum of understanding between the Lakewood Board of Education and the prevent blindness Ohio vision care outreach program. This agreement will pro permit Lakewood City Schools to become a community partner with PBO for their vision care outreach program. The goal of the VCO program is to reduce the incidence of unnecessary vision loss and impairment by providing access to a donated system of comprehensive vision v vision care
051services for uninsured or underinsured adults and children in Ohio. This agreement will allow prevent blindness to set up Lakewood City Schools as a referral site to assist students with obtaining vision services. Next, an agreement between the Lakewood Board of Education and Thrive Early Learning Center LLC. Thrive Early Learning Center LLC provides special education cons consultation and support to classrooms and teachers whose students require specialized services for the 2026 2027 school year. Next is a memorandum of understanding between College Now Greater Cleveland and Lakewood High School. Contracting with College Now provides a vital position at Lakewood High School, serving collegebound students. Mrs. Sandival, the College Now counselor assigned to LHS, helps students apply for financial aid, secure waiverss for application fees and admission testing fees, publishes a scholarship bulletin, and helps students navigate the college selection
052process, all of which are very important. Uh this program will be funded by the Lakewood City Schools at a rate of $500 per day for 50 days. Uh and continuing on, we have some out ofstate field trips. There's a field trip to Rochester, New York. Lakewood cross country team wishes to compete in the annual McUade Jesuit cross country invitational from October 2nd to October 4th, 2026. Lakewood cross country has a long-standing tradition of selecting runners from the boys and girls teams to participate. Runners are selected based on team leadership, varsity status, and dedication to the sport. There will be close to 250 schools and well over 6,000 runners competing in 26 different races over the course of the day. It's a sight to behold and they go camping for the wonder as a part of
053this, which is supposed to be super fun. >> Uh in addition, there's a field trip to Italy. Lakewood High School students will travel to Italy and will have the opportunity to broaden their vision of uh our world community and offer the platform from which they can uh come to an enhanced understanding of the world that surrounds them. Students will experience expertled tours in Venice to see the Grand Canal, relax on a gondola ride, explore the island of Birano the students will then head to Florence Aisi and Rome with a visit to Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, Patza Nana, the Trevy Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. The trip will take place during spring break, March 30th, 2029 through April 9th, 2029. Sounds lovely. Um, now we have some community based career technical
054agreements that I will read through. You're gonna be with me for a little while. um community-based career technical agreement between the Westshore Career Technical Education District and Gordon Food Service. This three-year agreement will provide a community-based career technical expertise for up to six Westshore students. These students will participate in vocational exploration, assessment, and training in a real world environment. Students will be provided with training experiences designed to develop functional daily living skills, appropriate social behavior, and communication skills. Students are not paid for this work experience. A Westshore teacher will be assigned along with an aid to provide direct on-site supervision of all students. Next is a community-based career technical agreement between the Westshore Career Tech Educational District and the Winking Wizard. This one-year agreement will provide a community-based career tech experience for up to eight
055Westshore students. All students will be provided with training experiences that are designed to develop functional daily living skills, appropriate social behavior, and communication skills. Students are not paid for this work experience. Westshore Teacher and NAD will work cooperatively with the Winking Lizard personnel to instruct students in related job fundamentals. Um, next is a community-based career technical agreement between the Westshore Career Tech Educational District and O'Neal Healthcare. This three-year agreement will provide a community-based career technical experience for up to 10 West Shore students. Um the uh goals and skills are similar to the ones I've uh just uh re uh mentioned with the other opportunities. Um and they will also be supervised by West Shore teacher and an aid. Next is a community-based career tech agreement between the Westshore Career Technical Education District and Burlington. This
056three-year agreement will provide a community-based career technical experience for up to 10 Westshore students. These students will participate in vocational exploration um and training in a real world environment uh with the same goals and uh skill development as the other experiences and same supervision from Westshore. Uh next is a resolution to approve agreement between Clever and Lakewood City Schools. Clevver uses the data that school districts already have in Clevver to automatically provision, update, and deprovision user accounts and organizational units for students, teachers, and staff in Google Workspace. Using Clever IDM allows the district to automatically provision and deprovision accounts with daily syncs from our student information system, manage group memberships, and keep tabs with audit logs so we can control access and catch issues even before they occur. Next is a resolution to adopt a
057memorandum of understanding between the Lakewood Board of Education and Asian Services and Action for uh English Language Learning Summer School 2026. Lakewood City School District has been working with Asian Services and Action to provide services to our EL students in summer school. This contract represents a continuation of the academic support afforded to our students during the summer of 2026. In addition, opportunities for EL student teaching experiences are provided by the partner organizations. Specific arrangements for programming were developed through conversation between agent services and action staff and our district personnel. Next is a resolution to approve adoption of new science curriculum materials for grades one through five. The kindergarten through fifth grade curriculum materials trial team has concluded their work in reviewing programs for new curriculum materials adoption and bringing forward the following recommendation. The kindergarten
058through fifth grade committee is recommending that the district move forward with an adoption of the FOS next generation curriculum along with Carolina curriculum science kits for first through fifth grade. The team elected to keep the curriculum and kits currently being used for kindergarten. A big thank you to the kindergarten through fifth committee for their work with the elementary teaching and learning coordinator to review standards and courses of study while going through a vetting of options to make this recommendation. We selected a seven-year contract length to get a lower per year cost and spread out our future adoption cycles. And then we have a few gifts to Lakewood City Schools. First, Edward Denk uh donated 350 tree seedlings for the purpose of being distri distributed to all third graders in each of the elementary schools, which
059I think is a ongoing e effort from Mr. Dank and is very lovely. Um, >> next is an anonymous donation of $766.88 to Lakewood City Schools to be used by nutrition services for the purpose of clearing negative lunch balances as of April 30th, 2026. Next, uh, the Marquy Group donated 43 pieces of Lakewood branded clothing items for the purpose of being distributed to students in need. Uh, next, Karen Gardner donated $50 to the Miles Makers Club at Lakewood High School. And lastly, Lakewood Arts Festival donated $2,000 to the Lakewood High School art department for the purpose of buying buying art supplies. And that concludes the educational report. Thank you very much. That was great. [laughter] Um, any questions? No. Questions? Okay. >> I just um I just want to make a comment about the um
060science curriculum for uh grades one through five. Um, as an educator, I appreciate a seven-year contract because it gives educators time to introduce the curriculum, test the curriculum, work through it. We're not trying to change things every other year because there's some new shiny program out there. So, um, besides it being um, fiscally responsible, I I think it's educationally responsible. So, thank you. >> Thank you. That's good question or comment. Um, we have a po we do have a policy um that we'll be considering under other board business. Um, so I will get past that and we now move on to human resources and community services. Mrs. Dotman, >> do you believe I have the shortest one tonight? [laughter] We have 96 total certified actions being considered appointments and special compensation. one appointment for a
061certified non-employee coach or advisor, 38 classified actions, 12 appointments, and 26 special compensation. I have six total actions for the appointment of classified non-emp employee coach advisor and then 51 community recreation education and I feel like less than last time in aquatics, athletics, field maintenance and programs. And then there is a resolution to amend the employment contracts of the assistant treasurer and treasurer And that concludes my report. >> Great. And we'll be we'll be voting on those in two weeks. We now move to the communications portion of our meeting. Um I will first ask the board for any communications they've had or any comments they want to make. >> Perhaps I could begin. Thank you, President Johnsy. Um just wanted to acknowledge our graduates. Uh just a wonderful ceremony. Um yesterday our student speakers uh
062and our board president were were excellent speakers. Um all of them. And what a what a just a wonderful celebration of our community of uh of of um the the such a wide-ranging um achievements of so many of our graduates. It was really a special celebration yesterday. Uh so congratulations to them. Congratulations to everyone uh concluding this school year and and uh hopeful for um a fun and and safe summer for all. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> No, go ahead. >> Uh, I just uh to piggyback on what Mike said, the uh one of the things that was neat about the the graduation is having students stand up if they had been recognized for academic, athletic, artistic, community service, you know, accomplishments. and it was almost every single [laughter] one of the 330
063kids uh just showed how involved and accomplished our graduates are. And um so it's always a nice day. It's always a happy day. And um you know I know that this next couple days before the end of the school year will hold a lot of you know year end parties and field days and and kudos to everyone for wrapping it up and and you know to also uh as you mentioned that these uh packets are thick over the summer. There's also always a lot going on in our schools over the summer. So, thank you in advance to our, you know, coaches, band directors, you know, orchestra directors, all the folks that continue to work and work with our students and and not to mention summer school and all the other summer instruction and programs that
064go on. So, uh, you know, the the Lakewood City School District never sleeps. [laughter] So, looking forward to a nice summer. >> Nice. I thought your comments might be a little more of a segue to Mr. Callahan than mine are. Um, I actually have a couple of topics for discussion. Um, I have a few things to say, but feel free board me fellow board members to interrupt, ask questions like it's meant to not meant to be a monologue necessarily. Um we will be considering a resolution later this evening um on um accepting a resignation um of our um superintendent and I thought maybe we should talk a little bit about it and this is the time this is the portion of the meeting where we do that. So um I thought we could talk about
065the criteria and I have some information to share and then um what criteria are used to determine when to retire and whether to continue working generically people. Um, and then two, what are the required procedures a board member must f board a school board must follow in a specific instance of wanting to accept a resignation and offer to rehire the same person, especially if it is the superintendent. Um, and so, um, I I did a a rather long math problem to figure out the whole sweet spot of when to retire and when not to because that's um and and then I got to the end of it and I was like, wow, it's really none of my business. Um, >> and so, as you are likely aware, Social Security has a tiered payout system. Collect
066as early as 62, you get x amount for the rest of your life. Collect at 67, get xx amount of life of money for the rest of your life. Delay even longer to 70 years old. If you're still alive, your monthly payment will go up even more. Everyone's social security benefit is calculated by taking the average of all of one's earnings, which I didn't realize until I was doing the research. It starts with your first >> minimum wage job at 15 and goes all the way to your last professional um uh paycheck. The rules for work and compensation keep changing. Prior to the 21st century, because it happened in 20ou um in uh 2000, people receiving social security had an income cap on what they could earn with an extra job. Today, once a person
067reaches full retirement, there is basically no limit on how much any of us can earn in addition to receiving our social security checks. And I got that from AARP. Public employee retirement accounts and payouts work the exact same way. Licensed teachers and school administrators and their employers contribute and their employers, so each school district, um, contribute to the STRS pension fund. There are a minimum number of years of work before educators are eligible to begin drawing from their retirement accounts. Teachers and school administrators pay into and draw out of STRS. The years of service and the age of the person keeps changing in Ohio. Um right now, uh someone who is 57 years old with 30 years of experience is eligible to retire. It used to be that you had to be older than that
068and you had to have more years than that and they keep changing the math. >> I can jump in just really quick. It also just used to be years of service. It didn't even have to like an age wasn't >> right. [clears throat] >> They change it all the time. >> All the time. And um the calculation is a little bit different from social security because um STRS uses the last five years of or the I'm sorry, not the last five, the five highest years of um income. So for example, um teacher Z retires after 33 years. Um and um actually we're going to skip that math problem because you get the idea, I think, right? Okay. Um so um and then I want to talk about the phrase um the term um double dipping.
069Um so I want to be clear with our terminology. Um the Ohio Revised Code uses the term double dipping to describe when certain government entities participate in the retirement and rehiring of the same person in the same or similar job. Double dipping and retire rehire are synonyms in the Ohio Revised Code, which I thought was kind of interesting. So, even if we're not sure what double dipping is, it sounds shady because we were all taught very early in life to not double dip in the salsa bowl, right? Okay. And so we're just so several of Ohio's public employee retirement programs, not just STRS, allow people to retire in order to begin collecting from their pension program that they paid into and return to public service to earn a full paycheck. Sometimes even the same job
070from which one retired. It is legal. This retire is legal. Choosing why and when to retire, as I mentioned before, is a personal finance decision. This is really, really important. It is a personal finance decision. As nosy as I am and as opinionated as I am, it is absolutely none of my business what Superintendent NWiki wants to do with her money. Um, and it's legal and it's personal. And in this instance, the there is no additional cost to the Lakewood City School District >> by accepting this retirement to then offer a rehire. >> Last thing, um, is the rules and procedures for rehire, retire, uh, retire, rehire. Um, and these are all in the Ohio Revised Code. They're all very spec some of them are very specific to the superintendent. Um, and um, so tonight's
071resolution is about accepting the superintendent's resignation with a request and understanding that we are likely to rehire her in the very near future. So, we're not accepting a resignation and then surprising people in July with a with an idea of rehire. We're right. >> It's it's out there tonight. I'm just ahead of the script. Um, and we usually accept resignations of school administrators on one reading. Um, you can go back through past agendas long before I joined the board and see this practice. Ohio law, um, but in the retire hire for superintendent, Ohio law requires that they need to do one of two things. They either need to leave the job for 60 days, which is really hard to do if you're a superintendent. They don't even get Sundays off. >> No. um or they
072give up collecting their STRS money for two months. Um our superintendent um intends to keep working and forego some of her retirement funds. Between now and our first board meeting in July, there is a time for us to as a board to review the existing contract and make revisions or not. Uh, and there will be a public hearing to receive resident input, which you'll get from the resolution, and Treasurer Roadie will um post. I'm always open to community input. No problem. But to be completely forthright, it is highly unlikely that anything anyone says about being ticked off about the um the the retire rehire or the timing or any of it will cause me to not want to offer a contract to our superintendent um at our July 6th meeting. One last thing, um, since
073it's out there in conversation, the superintendent's youngest child will be a senior at this same high school where all of his siblings graduated next year. Um, at this point in time, um, with a new contract in discussing a new new repeat contract, I believe it is unkind to require this superintendent to relocate just because that is what previous superintendents have done. Well, but um Superintendent Nziki's contract still has three years on it. So, it would be sort of continuing that contract or closing out that expected term of service. So, um just wanted to point that out. And also, you you mentioned resignation. It's resignation for the purpose of retirement, >> right? >> Oh, yeah. Um, and also, you know, just I think you brought up some great points in terms that it's not an additional
074cost to the district, which is important, and it's um the, you know, retirement funds are funds that Superintendent Nwiki has earned through all of your different jobs and education at all the different districts you worked at over the past 30 how many years? 30. >> It'll be 33 at the end of this year. >> 33 at the end of this year. So that's uh you know as that's the culmination of of all of that. So um as you said you know this is an opportunity for her to do that but the relationship uh whether it's uh you know financial or the work um duties and and everything between superintendent Niki and the district remain pretty much identical to what they are now. So um it's just a m you know so that's an important thing
075I think. >> Yeah I just do want to stress the personal part of it. It is a personal decision to collect money whenever >> you deem fit your own money >> and decide when you are going to stop working. >> Yeah. And I know it is sort of a weird it's unfortunate that the revised code uses that language because it's it's >> I think it's misleading at best and you know pjorative at worst and it's uh >> I think um you know you hear kind of that and I think people have a visceral reaction to it without ne necessarily knowing how things work. So, we're trying to do the best we can to explain that and we will continue to do that over the next, you know, throughout the per terms of this. The process
076is pretty uh uh they have a very outlined process to to follow for this uh kind of a thing and um it does involve time for there's a specific time for public comment but we always have time for public comment and um >> we always welcome that. So, uh I think that is good to know too. >> And part of why I wanted to talk about the procedures and the the part where public comment is um not only just allowed uh encouraged at board meetings, but that there has to be a special hearing date and time posted. >> Very vague in the Ohio Revised Code about how that happens or when or where. Um, and so, um, but this is the government teacher in me that gets annoyed when the government gives the general public
077this idea that they that we as the general public have control um or have influence. Um, this isn't one of those places. So, like there's this hearing and people can say what they want to say and we will listen and but I just need you to know ahead of time that this is a resignation with the intent to rehire. Um, we are very upfront about that from the get-go. And I'd be really hardressed. I don't know what people would say that would make me say I think I'm going to vote no on this country. So, I just I just want to make sure that that's out there. Um because I do appreciate when people participate in and come and give of their time and [snorts] put themselves up on that um podium and and speak
078their their mind. [clears throat] Um, and so when it people's sometimes sort of like the unfortunat the the double dipping term um in the Ohio Revised Code, it's it's this unfortunate image where people can walk away and feel like, well, that was totally fixed. And it's not this is the procedure. This is how we do it. And there's time for us to listen, but it's just kind of awkward. And I just want to I just want to put that out there. Yeah. Well, and the one other thing I wanted to say is remembering that the reason we want to continue this is because we're very appreciative of the work that Superintendent Nwiki has done and continues to do and want that she wants to continue to uh see the uh uh elementary project through to
079its you know transitional phase and and some other you know projects going on. And so, um, I know that we are eager to continue working with the superintendent as well. And that's part of the reason why we want to do this. It's not It's >> Yeah, >> it's important. >> I think we'll have an opportunity to talk about those positives >> um in this too of the growth of our career tech and the the our kids getting recognized for reading excellence, the staff, because that all comes along. So, I think we'll have an opportunity, but this is a very prescribed >> um process >> situation here. We're not we're going to follow the rules and um and that's what we're going to start with tonight. >> Okay. >> But thank you very much. That was
080good overview. >> Okay. So, any other board of education comments? Oh. Okay. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. So, now we come to the public comment section of our meeting. And as we've been doing, I'll just briefly um go through the public participation um rules that uh the board has. The board does not discriminate based on the identity of the speaker, content of the speech or viewpoint of the speaker. Attendees must first sign in and indicate their intent to speak before entering the meeting. During public participation portion of the board meeting, speakers will be called in order of signing in and will be requested to state their name, city, and street. They will be limited to three minutes as indicated by the clock on display. All statements must be addressed to me as the presiding officer.
081Questions or comments directed at individual administrators or board members will not be permitted. Needless to say, comments that are repetitive, obscene, or threatening will not be tolerated. Participants may be asked to stop speaking and or leave the meeting if there is that disruptive behavior or not observing reasonable decorum. Um, participants are encouraged to direct any concerns about individual staff members to the st superintendent prior to bringing them to the board. And thank you very much. And I will now call in order of signing in. And the first um sign in is Rebecca Vanas. Hello, my name is Rebecca Vanost and I live on Parkside. Good evening, President Shaughnessy, Vice President Dottman, members of the board, Superintendent Nidwicki, and Treasure Roodie. Um, before I begin my prepared remarks, I just wanted to say that as an
082engineer, hearing about all the outstanding work going on at West Shore Career Techch and the hands-on design projects for Project Lead the Way and yes, the Lakewood Robotics Competition team. All right. [laughter] So excited and I will be reaching out to them to demo at Emerson Steam Night. Um, so tonight I'd like to highlight an opportunity and request a small change that could further strengthen transparency in our district and that is regularly publishing the supporting documents on the board doc's platform. So today meeting agendas are already made available to the public in advance, but the documents behind many agenda items known as like the meeting packet are generally not available unless they're specifically requested. Tonight's agenda provides a good example. Um, this agenda told me that the board is authorizing next year's spending. It's adopting
083new elementary science curriculum materials as well as voting on agreements with these many service providers. Um, and even with our own administrators, but the agenda doesn't hold the details. And for example, I can see contracts are being voted on, but in advance, I can't review the scope or the cost, the length, any of the terms or provisions of an agreement unless I go and request those records separately. So, in other words, I can see decisions are being made, but I can't always see what specifically is being decided. We're all familiar with the phrase, show your work, and educators ask students to do this, not usually because they doubt the answer necessarily, but because demonstrating the process itself of getting to that answer matters just as much, if not more. So, publishing meeting packet materials follows
084that same principle. It brings the community along with you, allowing us to better understand how decisions are made and it builds confidence in that process. The good news is that we don't have to start from scratch. We already use the board doc's platform to manage our agendas and neighboring districts like Bay Village and Rocky River already publish their contracts, personnel agreements, and other supporting documents through board docs. The city of Lakewood similarly makes its meeting packets available on its own platform. So, we have several models for how to make this work. And of course, sensitive information should always be redacted where appropriate. But in closing, I just feel very strongly that making these materials routinely available will benefit both the district and the community through increased understanding, reduced records requests, and strengthening trust over time.
085I hope the board will seriously consider this as an opportunity. Thank you for your time and service. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, Holly D'Angelo. >> Hi, good evening. Um, Holly [clears throat] D'Angelus. I live on Clifton in Lakewood. Uh, to [clears throat] start by showing some context, I moved here to send my kids to the public schools here. The older of my two sons is going to start kindergarten in the fall. Um, I want to share my thoughts. um in October when you voted to approve the superintendent's plans regarding Lincoln um many of you talked about having students best interest at heart and personally I believe that you were genuine in that um but I want to challenge you in your leadership positions and say that intention is not enough. You have to actually be
086right. In my opinion, the decision to close Lincoln was wrong in October and it's still wrong now. Um, you've now confirmed that the resignation is not actually a resignation. It's a rehire. It's about personal finance. Um, respectfully, I ask that this be a real resignation and that the board hires a superintendent who will better understand the community and seek to meaningfully engage us in some of the most important decision making, including closing schools. To the board, I encourage you to use this moment to restart with the community and repair some of the damage that was done in that decision and do better moving forward. I ask that you pause on the link closure plans and go back and clearly articulate what problem are you solving. I can tell you from the community perspective, it's not
087clear what exactly the problem was. It seems like the goalposts were moving. Is it a financial problem? Is it an equity problem? Concisely, what is the problem you're trying to solve? And then I ask that you meaningfully engage this community in problem solving. I think it's really wonderful that we have such an engaged community and group of parents. Personally, I think it's an asset. I hope you see it as an asset as well. Going forward, I hope to see you work with us in building on the strengths of this school district um instead of plowing forward with the unpopular plans regarding consolidation. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um I believe Amy Seiel C. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. Um sorry, roads is the last name. Okay, thanks. No, it's not your handwriting. It
088I Is it Austin? >> That's right. >> Oh, okay. I just needed time. Thank you. >> Hi. Um Austin Roads, um Virginia Avenue. Um I came mostly to comment about the resation rehire, which I didn't know had been kind of like a formalized decision already. Um you did say that it won't have additional costs to the district. Mhm. >> I think from the community perspective that's really hard to understand and it might be useful to provide more information there because from the outside I don't see why you would do this if it wasn't financially beneficial for you. So that makes me think that there must be a means by which you are obtaining retirement package and a paycheck at the same time which means that even if you have paid into the retirement package like
089you're still getting a paycheck along with it which is why it's called double dipping in the in the legis in the whatever you reference Miss Clarkson um the code. So, I'm just saying it would be really helpful to have that made clear um because this is coming on the back of the Lincoln closure um and on the levy passing and from the community perspective, it that's a that's tough. It's tough for us to see like we're making financial decisions, closing schools, and potentially rewarding our superintendent even if that's not really the case. But we need to understand that. And so I just wanted to communicate that confusion and and and hope that the board will clarify that. That's all I have. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Okay. So I do want to um
090state and a document will go out tomorrow. I have a contract right now that goes to 2029. And so this is just extending the contract. I am not asking for any more that was already in that contract that if I wasn't to retire that I would be getting. So that's why it's no new money for the district or any additional dollars. The only benefit to me is collecting my retirement at the time that I can collect my retirement. Like people can collect social security when it's time for them to collect. So that's that's really the gist of it. there's no other additional dollars being added to my contract that weren't already in my contract or that if I didn't retire that I wouldn't be able to utilize for the next three years. >> Thank you
091very much. And uh I believe the last is Angela. Okay, I'm glad you know who you are. [laughter] Thank you. >> No, no. >> Um well, and I was going to um say that I think the superintendent should be staying through at least the first two years of this program, which it sounds like that would be happening anyways to see it through and um uh answer any questions and respond to the community. Um, and so it seems like to me it is a um extension of the contract if needed. Maybe that's not even needed. Um, I think the the um reiring and rehiring aspect of it all, although it's normal and it does happen, it seems like it's just taking a lot more time. I would think money because it's taking time um when we
092should be really focusing on the students and the the people um in this district more than kind of like the administration I guess um as you've heard there's like going to be a lot of changes and I think there's a lot of repair that needs to happen in a lot of different ways. Um so I feel like our focus should be there instead of this other thing. um if you're extending it, it should just be extended. And in my opinion, and I'm not a financial person or a um you know, someone that deals with these kind of contracts obviously, but um the whole rigomearroll I feel like although like I said, I know it's normal sometimes, it seems like be here if the contract is already going through the program in a couple years of
093the program and getting it going. I don't think really anything is necessary. um you retire when it's over and you've seen the first years through and we've got everything established so we can do some repair and stabilization. I think everything else feels a little unnecessary right now. So that's my comment. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And that concludes uh the public comment and we now move on to other board business. Um and I will talk about the um did oh >> okay um we are going to be considering a resolution to approve cyber security governance and disaster recovery plan. Uh this is the first reading as required by Ohio House Bill 96. This plan establishes the district's formal cyber security governance framework and outlines operational procedures related to cyber security safeguards, disaster recovery, incident
094response, operational resiliency, vendor and cloud service oversight, student data privacy considerations, backup and recovery practices, and cyber security reporting requirements. The plan aligns with recognized cyber security standards and best practices including the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST cyber security framework and applicable centers and applicable center for internet security CIS controls. Um I believe that this is um yes that it's also re uh Ohio revised code requirement um enacted through the Ohio House Bill 96 requiring that we adopt a cyber security program. I think we had much of this in place, but it's all put together now and includes everything from security awareness training um ongoing vendor oversight and review, vendor evaluation and risk management. I think student data privacy is huge. and then uh names all the employees and their role in the
095notification if we would get a um have a critical incident and then what recovery prioritization will be backup validation and recovery testing. I'm just going through this like this so you understand the scope of um what's been worked on and developed. disaster recovery plan for servers, disaster recovery for phones, disaster recovery for local area network, and then how to uh assign incident severity to whatever happens. Um, and if you know it, I know just personally I was glad to see it because the news goes along and then there's a ransomware event and it frequently seems to be a hospital or a more vulnerable institution and a school system is one of those vulnerable institutions. So, um, we have, um, as I said, two weeks that we'll be looking at this and then we will vote
096on it at our next meeting. >> I do have a question for my colleagues about um, one aspect of that would be awareness training. Do you think there would be any usefulness for us to receive some awareness training about what this looks like and what >> I I don't think it would hurt if you I mean we have district emails just like we have like the two factor >> and so we know what's happening to our staff and our with our staff and students. >> Yeah. Okay. So is that um something that >> Yeah, absolutely. Um and we've discussed that a little bit already. Um, some of this will be on um I'm trying to think of public school works and others will be open session. So, we will certainly put something in line for
097the board to participate in anything the staff does. >> Great. Thank you. >> Good idea. >> Um, so this will be voted on. >> We now move on. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> It's me to you. >> All right. So, I have three total certified actions. uh two resignations for the purpose of retirement and one resignation and I request approval on one reading. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> It's been moved and seconded. May we have a roll call. >> Mrs. Shaughnessy. >> I. >> Mrs. Dman. Hi. >> Mrs. Clark Sutton. >> Hi. >> Mr. Callahan. Hi. >> Miss Kenberger. >> I. >> Thank you. >> And then I have uh two total classified actions. Two resignations for the purpose of I'm sorry, two resignations. and I request approval on one reading. >> Second. >>
098It's been moved and seconded. Um, may we have a roll call? >> Mrs. Shaughnessy. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Dman. Hi. >> Mrs. Clark Sutton. >> I. >> Mr. Callahan. Hi. >> Miss Katsenberger. Hi. >> And that's classified uh employee actions. >> Okay. And then I have a resolution to approve the resignation retirement of the superintendent. Whereas the board of education has received a letter of resignation by superintendent Miss Maggie Nitzwiki as superintendent of schools of the Lakewood City School District and as the West Shore career technical superintendent collectively superintendent for the purpose of retirement effective July 31st, 2026. And whereas contained in the resignation document is a further request for reemployment by M. Nidwiki as superintendent of schools of the Lakewood City School District and as the West Shore career technical superintendent. And whereas before
099this board can consider the remployment of Mrs. Wiki. Sorry, I'm having trouble with words now. as superintendent of schools of the Lakewood City School District [clears throat] and as the West Shore Career Technical Superintendent, it is required by Ohio Revised Code to give public notice that she will be retired and is seeking re-employment as superintendent. And whereas as part of the statutory requirement to give public notice, this board is required to hold a public meeting on the issue of Mrs. Miss Wiki being remployed as a superintendent. Now therefore, be it resolved that this board accepts a resignation for the purpose of retirement of Mrs. Wiki as superintendent of schools of the Lakewood City School District and the West Career Technical Superintendent effective July 31st, 2026. Be it further resolved that this board hereby establishes a
100public meeting for the purpose of providing public input on the issue of room employment of Ms. in his wiki as superintendent such public meeting to be conducted on July 6th, 2026. Be it further resolved that our treasurer is directed to provide proper proper public notice of public meetings as required by the board policy and our Ohio revised code. Be it further that the two reading rule be waved in this resolution of employment be approved on one reading. >> Thank you very much. Is there a second? >> Second. Is there any discussion? >> I said my stuff. I >> think we already did that. >> Yeah. No further. >> Okay. >> Uh may we have a roll call. >> Mrs. Shaughnessy. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Dottman. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Clarkson. >> I. >> Mr. Callahan.
101>> Hi. >> Miss Katsenberger. >> Hi. >> Thank you very much. So the resolution is approved and the word will go out on time for a public hearing and we have a meeting in two weeks which we can also take public comment on this. Okay. Um, do any board members or superintendent do you have anything additional? >> No. Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone? >> Okay. Then is there a >> motion to adjourn? [laughter] >> So moved. Oh, >> I mean I mean second clustered. >> He's got right in. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor signify by saying I. I >> I opposed. >> Silence. Thank you.