001The chairs are different. Like the seating is different tonight. Looks like they can see the screen. [Music] There you go. [Music] Good evening everybody. Today is Monday, May 5th, and this is uh the regular Lakewood Board of Education meeting. The board met in executive session earlier uh for the uh consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of an employee or official or the investigation of charges or complaints against an employee, official, lency, or student. Unless the employee official Student requests a public hearing and for the consideration of the purchase of property for public purposes purposes or the sale of property at competitive [Music] bidding. Um we return to public session now and please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I alian to the flag of the United States of America.
002and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Next we move on to the adoption of the agenda. President Kath, I move to amend and adopt the agenda. um move to amend it to add to building sites and major purchases a resolution to initiate the sale of Franklin Elementary uh located at 13465 Franklin Avenue. Do I have a second? Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Um Mr. Deman, can you call the role? Mrs. C. Hi. Miss Shaughnessy. Hi. Miss Clarkson. Hi. Mr. Tahan. Hi. Mrs. D. Hi. Thank you. Um next uh we have Approval of minutes. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? I I I. And now that brings us to the superintendent's report. [Music] Good evening
003again, President Kenberger, Vice President Shaughnessy, distinguished board members, Mr. Zean. It is my pleasure to invite to the podium our principal of elementary M. will be sharing our Lincoln Resilient Ranger and her building [Applause] [Music] report. Hello. Here we go. Good evening, Superintendent Nizuki, Treasurer Zean, President Katzenberger, Vice President Shaughnessy, distinguished board members, and all who have joined us tonight in person. Um, as well as through our video streaming. Um, it is my pleasure to be with you tonight along with Mrs. Jen Woolly, our wellness specialist at Lincoln to share with you some of the exciting things that are happening at Lincoln this year. And we're going to begin by welcoming up the 2025 Resilient Ranger Rosalie [Applause] Robinson. So we have lots of exciting things to share so you can get to know Rosalie
004from Miss Cavelli in kindergarten. Every day she walked in with the brightest smile. It lit the room and my heart and it still does. She was fiercely independent and like a quiet little rock of strength, very humble and always there to help her peers and me. Rosley certainly deserves to be recognized as our resilient ranger. From Mrs. Habestro in first grade. Rosalie was my first grade class during the COVID pandemic. I could always count on Rosalie to have a smile on her face and a positive attitude during remote instruction. I clearly remember Rosley's parents has had a designated work area for her to participate in remote learning. Rosie was responsible and did not require parental supervision during remote learning. Rosalie completed first grade with strong skills in all academic areas and was ready for second
005grade despite remote learning and the COVID pandemic. I truly enjoyed having Rosalie in my first grade class. She is an excellent example of a resilient Ranger from Miss Sison in second grade. Rose. Every day she greeted us with a warm, genuine good morning, setting a positive tone for the class. She played a key role in keeping our classroom organized and was a vital part of the daily operations of the Citizens Solutions. I could always count on her to bring a smile, offering a calming presence, and even provide some fashion advice. Rosalie embodies the qualities of an exceptional student. Kind, inclusive, hardworking, and always striving to do her best. Her friendly spirit and thoughtful nature made her a joy to have in class. And she always made sure to bring others along with her. While her
006presence will surely be missed, I have no doubt we will continue to hear of the many amazing things she will accomplish in the future. From Mrs. Kelly in third grade. I loved having Rosalie in my third grade class. She brought a quiet, positive energy to our room. She worked hard and was kind to all. Rosley has a flare for organizing. Notice a theme here. She shared this talent in third grade by fixing some of our shelves and cabinets. She also created a great writing piece, some great writing pieces. My favorite was her mystery entitled Mrs. Kelly is gone. It's a must readad. Rosley also made bookmarks for the whole third grade class. Rosalie is definitely a resilient reader, raider, and ranger. From Mr. B in fourth grade, often, whether through self-promotion or misbehavior, the squeaky
007wheel gets oil. Rosalie, through her quiet leadership, offers a warm respit to that old adage. Rosalie leads by example, by working hard, by treating people kindly. Ros's empathy is a great strength. She actively listens to others. She encourages others to do their best. But most of all, Rosie is accepting and welcoming to all. Congratulations, Rosley. From Mrs. Budsar, Rosley is a true example of a Lincoln leader. Her quiet, confident, friendly way. In her quiet, confident, friendly way, she is continuously demonstrating any one of our ranger competencies and using her refined emotional regulation skills to manage challenging interactions with others. Rosalie demonstrates a mature understanding of when and how to speak up and when to give others space. Rosie has also demonstrated she cares about the well-being of others through her participation in the Leaders of
008Community Service Club. Rosley has been an asset to each class throughout her Lincoln journey and a role model for all. From Mrs. Anderson in PE, Rosie has been a pleasure to have in PE class. She is a team player and works well with her peers. She is a hard worker, kind, and makes everyone around her feel included. And she does all this with a smile on her face. Congrats, Rosley. Welld deserved. And finally, from Mrs. Corgan in fifth grade. Rosley is a ray of sunshine. She arrives at school with a positive attitude every day. We can always count on her to put forth her best effort while at the same time looking out for her classmates. She has the innate ability to see when someone needs help or just a kind word. Rosley works well
009with anyone and everyone. She shares her ideas while at the same time making sure that others working with her are heard. Rosley pro proactively seeks feedback to ensure that her assignments and projects meet the high standards that she sets for herself. It has been a true pleasure getting to know Rosalie this year. I'm excited to hear about her future success in middle school and beyond. Rosalie truly sparkles. Rosalene just want to give Oh, she Okay. Oh, wait. Thank you so much for this award. I'm very honored to be the resilient ranger of this year. I'd like to thank my mom, dad, and all my amazing teachers throughout these years. I love Lincoln, and I hope also love it just as much as I do. Thank you. Congratulations. Um, do you have any folks here with
010you tonight? My mom and dad. Well, we'd love to welcome them up for a photo. [Applause] And next we put together um a short video about the exciting things that have been happening at Lincoln this year. Lincoln Elementary, right where we belong. We believe belonging is key to success. In Lakewood, we define belonging as each student, family, and staff member feeling accepted, valued, included, and encouraged as an important part of our school community. At Lincoln, we strive to create an environment where all feel they belong, and we are excited to share with you many ways we are currently working on this. At Lincoln, staff greet us with a smile. every morning. It helps me start my day off happy and I say good morning back. Families and community members are [Music] great. Belonging is to
011be good to other people and friends in the best way possible. New to Lincoln, also new to Ohio. At Lincoln, whenever I was mad or sad, my friends would help calm me down. I made my friends at football and they helped me make more friends. Now I feel like I belong at Lincoln. At Lincoln, we're working on the three Bs. Be safe, be respectful, and be responsible. Starting this year, our schoolwide expectations are just like the other six Lakewood Elementary [Music] schools. Belonging means to be kind to your friends and yourself. Hi, I'm Dasha. I feel I belong when people or my friends treat me nicely and respectfully. [Music] At Lincoln, we share unique things about ourselves and recognize what makes each of us special and important. Who we are helps make a great place
012to be. [Music] I think belonging is to have friends that support you. Belonging means to have friends that believe in you. If what I am is what's in me and I'll stay strong and I'll always be the best me that I can be. There's only one me I am in the dream I'll fall away. It's up to me to try. [Music] I'm keep my head up high. Keep on reaching high. [Music] Lincoln students get to take on different leadership roles both inside and outside of the classroom. Having a leadership role makes me feel happy cuz I get to hold the door every day. It makes me feel like I have a purpose. At Lincoln, our teachers pay attention to what we like, how we think. They give us lots of choices. [Music] All right, turn
013and ask someone. Will you be my partner? Will you be my partner? Find a partner. If you need one, go to the middle and find one there. Lovely. And if there's one friend left, I will give you a job. Good words, friends. Join your partner on the piano, please. Can you wave to your partner and sing? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. How are you today? [Music] Hi, I'm Margo and belonging means to me that other people help me. Hi, I'm Olivia and one time I felt belongs was when I was doing a tricky problem on the board and my friends were cheering me on. At Lincoln, our teachers take us on field trips to different places in our community. [Music] When we go on field trips, we include everybody. [Music] at Lincoln. Thanks to our teachers,
014we have lots of before and after school clubs. Being a part of a club makes me feel more involved at Lincoln. I like it because I'm involved with my friends. My name is Daisy Hummer from fourth grade and jump rope club makes me feel part a part of Lincoln because people that I don't quite know yet teach me how to do tricks and then I learn their name and something about them. My name is Laney Traducian and I'm in fourth grade and I love being part of jump rope club because we work on teamwork and communication while learning the tricks. It's so much fun. [Music] At Lincoln, we also work on strengthening our staff's sense of belonging through identity work, collaboration, and celebrating different events. and each [Music] other. Hi, I'm Jane, president of the
015Lincoln PTA and part of the school community for eight years. It is an honor to serve and I'm happy to share some highlights of our ongoing work. This year we achieved record fundraising and attendance with our annual fun run, a free inclusive outdoor event for all students and families. We also introduced something new. We invited students to a PTA meeting to learn and use their voice. They voted on how to use uh the funds that they raised among other things. There were some passionate responses around playground enhancements, as you can imagine. From family events like trunk or treat and doughnut dates to programs like snowflake shop and teacher appreciation, we're focused on creating a strong sense of belonging for every student. We're proud of what we've accomplished so far and thanks to the PTA partnership
016between our amazing and engaged board, engaged parent, volunteers, and educators, I am truly thankful for our Lakewood Rangers support. Thank you. [Music] really good. We believe our high attendance rate and positive feedback from students and families reflect the work we are doing to help everyone feel like they [Music] belong. At Lincoln, we recognize there is always more work to be done around belonging. And thanks to our growth mindsets and the high standards of the Lakewood City Schools, the high standards of the Lincoln staff, and the high standards of the Lincoln community, we will do our best to move forward with open hearts and open minds toward an environment where all feel they truly belong. Hi Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer Woolly. I'm the student wellness specialist here. Our ongoing work for belonging. Um, one of them
017is our No Place for Hates club. And we are working towards a designation, a nationwide designation to be a no place for hate school. And our club members have been working really hard um during this process at our meetings. They have created lessons that I've been I've been teaching in the classrooms. They chose books. They created the activities. Um, if you notice when you entered in the hallway, there's a huge paper chain. That is something they wanted to do. It's called a kindness chain. And all of the grade levels um have access to these little papers in their classroom. And when someone is kind to them or they've done something kind, they get to write a little note and I add it to the chain and as does our No Place for Hate um members.
018So today I just walked in and there was one that said um my friend helped tie my shoe this morning. Like what a little thing to take um to take in and think about and recognize that that's a very simple thing that's super kind. So, we I'm really excited that they're doing this and they've really sort of embraced it. Another thing that we have a little treat for our board members, they painted these kindness and belonging rocks and I have them for you and you get to pick one out and take it home for your gardens. And then you wanted to add um and just finally we're really excited to share that next year Lincoln Elementary will be joining other elementary schools across the district in launching the house system. We too will be five
019houses, one [Applause] family so that no matter where we all where we are, we all belong. I just washed my shirt. So, it's beautiful. Let's see. I'll take greeny. Thank you. Any questions? Uh just very much appreciate the presentation and the video is beautiful. I was chuckling when I was looking at the list of clubs and saw the classic movie club. I'm I I worry what the kids might consider classic movie. probably like 80s movies and maybe a little sad. Um, and I just really love the idea about the no place for hate initiative that's going because I think it's such an important lesson to teach as early as possible and the kindness chain and everything because, you know, we're all part of one community and we're all neighbors to each other. So, um, driving
020those lessons uh home with our kids and, you know, they can bring that home to their families and everything. It's such a great lesson to to to to bring home. So I think that's a wonderful thing. I just appreciated that. Thank you. And I think I was really happy to see the emphasis on belonging as a concept that was tied into everything because ultimately that's the way that we counteract divisiveness. So I appreciate that. Thank you. What are um what are Great job. Um what are leadership assemblies? Um each month we have a leader assembly that um that highlights one of the competencies. So we highlight one competency for about a month um really promote that competency and then from every classroom two uh Lincoln leaders are designated that really embody that um competency and
021and we come together and we celebrate them. And um if you go go in our front hallway, you can see um who the the leaders were that were um honored at our last assembly. Okay. You have some very competent children that were presenting there. Very good job. And the attendance percentage 96.6 is impressive. Yeah. To you, to the teachers, to the students, and to the parents. Nice job. Thank you. Absolutely. Congratulations. Thank you. And next, I invite up to the podium our assistant superintendent, Dr. Palumbo. She has um scholarships and spotlights to honor tonight. Thank you, Superintendent Nikki. Every year we recognize students who have been selected to receive the Mary Louise Beach Scholarship. Alexa Delar Roza and Bryce Sandival are the recipients of the 2025 Mary Louise Beach Scholarship Award. Alexa and Bryce, if
022you can join me. Beginning in 1969, a $1,000 scholarship has been received from the estate of Wifred B. Young in memory of her sister, Mary Louise Beachch, a teacher of English at Lakewood High School from 1919 to 1941. The $1,000 scholarship is to be paid to a graduate or divided between two graduates. The faculty committee consisting of the high school principal and two staff members selects the scholarship winners from faculty nominations and student applications submitted on or before April 1st of each school year. The nominees are to be of excellent academic promise, outstanding character and citizenship citizenship and in need of financial assistance. The purpose of the scholarship money is to assist the graduates during their first year of college. Let me tell you about this year's beach scholarship recipients. Alexa Dar Roza currently has
023a 3.8 grade point average. She plans to attend Louisiana State University and will pursue a major in elementary education. During her time at Lakewood High, Alexa has been the editor and chief of the Lakewood Times yearbook and newspaper. She is also a member of the art club, photo club, National Art Honor Society, and Amnesty International. Alexa has been very active in many of H2O's activities and has volunteered at a local food bank. Alexa has also been an active member of one of our district level task forces for the past two years. Congratulations, Alexa. Our other beach scholarship recipient is Bryce Sandival. Bryce has a 3.992 GPA. He plans to attend Baldwis Conservatory of Music and major in cello performance. While at LHS, Bryce has taken full advantage of the many music opportunities. He is a
0244-year member of the Lakewood Project and Barntormers. Bryce is a member of the Tri Music Honor Society. He has also been a member of the cross country team and a six-year member of the superintendence advisory committee. And you may have recently seen Bryce on stage in the Civic as Mars in layiz. Congratulations, [Applause] Bryce. Congratulations, Alexa. There you are. Congratulations, Bryce. Um, I believe you both might have some family members here. We'd love to have you guys come up for some pictures. I recognize some of these folks. Congratulations to the parents. [Applause] And now moving on to our educator spotlight. Building on our years of successful work with our vision of a Lakewood graduate and with input from our many stakeholders, we proudly recognize colleagues who we believe most exemplify our vision of a Lakewood
025educator. Tonight, I'm honored to share with you an exemplary educator nominated by his colleagues to be recognized because of his commitment to our students and the ways in which he embodies our vision of a Lakewood educator. Please join me in welcoming up Alex Kamock so I can share with you how he exemplifies our vision of a Lakewood educator. Lakewood High School social social studies teacher Alex Kamock is a true embodiment of the Lakewood City Schools vision of a Lakewood Ranger with a focus on growth mindset for both himself and his students. Whether in the classroom or on the sidelines as the head coach for our Ranger varsity basketball team, Alex displays our vision of a Lakewood educator competencies. Says Alex's nominator, fellow social studies teacher Ron Lewis. What sets Alex apart is the example he
026sets every day. He models goal setting, reflection, and hard work, not just on the court, but in the classroom and throughout the school community. He holds himself and his students to high expectations, always pushing for excellence while maintaining a deep sense of empathy and understanding. Alec Alex leans on his empathetic nature and collaboration skills to build relationships with his students and players. Collaboration goes a long way to building rapport, which to me is number one with my students, says Alex. Alex's growth mindset is a natural outgrowth of his personal mantra of trying to win the day by being just a little bit better each day. He imparts the same philosophy to his students. About growth mindset about Alex's growth mindset, Ron says whether he is adjusting a lesson to better meet student needs or recalibrating
027game plans midseason, he is constantly reflecting and evolving. Growing up as a Ranger, Alex had the inkling that he may want to be a teacher when he helped out with the DARE fifth grade basketball teams. He realized that he enjoyed working with kids and helping them helping them improve. He's been doing that ever since he joined the district as a full-time teacher back in 2008. Ron sums up Alex's impact on our district. Alex's steady presence, strong initiative, and passion for both teaching and coaching make him a role model for students and colleagues alike. Thank you, Alex. [Applause] Congratulations. Thank you so much for all you do. Did you have some anybody Well, we'd love to have them come up for a photo. All the little ones. Oh, sure. Mom and dad, too. No. Oh, yeah.
028Come on. [Laughter] [Applause] Next we have Mr. Mr. Zean with a financial update. Thanks for opportunity to present tonight. Um it's going to be a brief update regarding our May forecast update. That's good. All right. So rep represented on this slide is um our current fiscal year. 2025 general fund. The general fund encompasses the majority of our revenues and expenditures and that's where the district operations generally come from. We have other funds, bond retirement, capital improvements, student activities, those type of things. However, the general fund encompasses the majority of the district activities. As you can see on the slide, um revenues for this year on the general fund total just a little bit over 85 million and expenditures are coming in at 88,200,000. This is the first year since a community supported the 2020 levy
029that expenditures are exceeding revenues. You'll see in a later slide that that's the nature of school funding. A community passes a levy, brings in additional revenue, and then over time those expenditures exceed the revenues that that levy brings in, and then that cash balance starts to go down. So again, that 2020 levy that was passed brought in $3.9 million in 2020. It brings in $3.9 million today. something called House Bill 920 that was enacted back in 1976 limits the amount of money a levy can bring in based upon what it originally brought in when it was first passed. Overall in our expenditures, our expenditure was a personnel services business. Our costs are salaries and benefits. Putting teachers, administrators, uh administrative staff, custodials, our nutrition services staff, that's what we do. anywhere between 80 and 85%
030of your expenditures are going to be in salaries and benefits. We're right in that kind of sweet spot. We're not above that 85%. Um, but we're in that that middle road there. The other component of that you'll see is um Oh, I jumped ahead. That was on the revenue side. Sorry, you had a preemptive on the expenditures. So on the revenue side, roughly uh 60% of our revenues come from our local property taxes and the other 27% comes from state funding. The 27% from state funding is a is a little misleading though because 6% of that actually is property tax reimbursements from the state. So the state funding component that we receive is actually about 21% of our overall revenues. Again, we are a a local property tax driven community. We rely on our community
031support levies in order to continue our operations. We're a guaranteed district. That roughly $18 million, that fair school funding plan and the restricted state funding, we've received that same amount of money since 2008, and we will continue to be a guaranteed district, unless of course the state decides to reduce the guarantee, and I'll talk about that a little bit later. You already heard about expenditures. I won't go into that much more. However, purchase services makes up the other larger part of that. What comes out of purchase services? Again, our substitute costs, um our transportation, uh repairs and maintenance and utilities are the major components of that uh purchase services. And then the other slices of pie there is supplies, capital outlay and miscellaneous expenditures. So again, you heard me talk earlier about how revenues initially
032when you pass a levy will exceed expenditures. So on that first graph, you can see revenues are the blue line, expenditures are the orange line. You see that blue line remains pretty consistent, right? Unless we have a new levy, new operating dollars come in, our revenue does not grow. We're we're a guaranteed district. And again, we're limited by House Bill 920 on what those levies can bring in. Over time, because of natural inflation, expenditures will exceed that. And again, in 2025 is the first year expenditures exceed revenues. And you see that again, inflationary amount continue on through the 2029 fiscal year. The graph on the right shows our cash balance represented in from one year to the next. And you can see again that cash balance declines over time as expenditures exceed revenues. Again, a
033community supports a levy. You build up a cash balance. And then as expenditures exceed those revenues, that cash balance goes down, which forces us to go to the community again for additional operating dollars. So part of um what's going down at the state right now is every two years a bianual budget and with the bianual budget there's first the governor's proposal and then there's the house makes their proposal and then it goes to the senate. So through the governor's proposal and there'll be a graph later that'll show kind of what his proposal did to Lakewood City Schools but this is an impact of what the house has proposed. What the house has proposed is flat funding for school districts. So again, Lakewood being a guaranteed district from the state on the foundation or fair school
034funding plan, we're going to receive the same amount of dollars. However, in the House proposal, they're also recommending that if you have a cash balance that exceeds 108 days or 30% that the local county budget commission, so the county auditor, county prosecutor, and pro county treasurer can reduce the tax amounts that the community has supported in order to reduce your cash balance to that 108 days. So, what they would have is it' be represented as a tax credit that would reduce for Lakewood City Schools, that's approximately $14 million over a two-year period. So, a $7 million reduction in 2026 and an additional $7 million in 2027. What this graph represents is our cash balances on the blue current forecast. If the House proposal was to go forward, you would see our cash balance depleted significantly
035by that proposal. One of the concerns we have with that, outside of the fact that they're taking away local control, our community has supported those levies, is the fact that how do you then propose a levy going forward. What do you put on the ballot that could again in house in school funding build up a cash balance that in essence they will never let you collect on? So there's a lot of concern with that currently. So this this graph represents on the left side is our revenues and on the right side our expenditures. So the annual change in revenue historically was at 4%. And why is that? Well, we passed a new levy. That's how we had an annual increase in revenue. That's what's represented there. But you see going forward our revenue is minimal
0360.19%. That's because again we're property tax driven. We're a guarantee district. So unless we go to the community and ask for additional dollars, there's no new revenue coming in. On the right side is expenditures. Historical expenditures were 3.58% and then going forward you see 4.2%. The 3.5% is a little bit lower one because we had pandemic dollars. So those dollars helped offset some of the general fund expenditures historically. So that's what drove that down. And then inflationary costs going forward, you know, that 4.2% 2% is actually kind of right on par with inflation right now. So again, a representation of our cash balance on hand. You can see going back to 2021, the community supported a new levy, you see that cash balance go up and then as expenditures exceed revenues, that cash balance goes
037down. And then this forecast or what you see up here represents um the current forecast without the House proposal. So by 2029 we have 18 days of true cash. True cash is calculated by your total expenditures divided by 365 days to come up with a daily amount and then you take that amount into what your cash balance is to come up with those days. The district has a cash balance policy that addresses this. We have a minimum cash balance policy of 90 days and if we exceed 150 days then the superintendent myself will come to the board and explain how we're going to utilize those dollars whether it's addressing the strategic plan capital improvements or those type of things. So we have a policy in place to address our cash balance. Again just another graphical
038representation of what the house proposal would do to our cash balance um on a daily basis. Here's our expenditure per pupil. Again, you can see a little dip in 2022. Again, part of that was offsetting some of our general fund expenditures to the federal relief program that was in place. And you can see a gradual increase inflationary speaking. Just to note, in 2024 that $20,698, we are the 15th lowest expenditure per pupil in Kaga County. So, we're right in the middle of where dollars are being spent in regards to expenditure per pupil. Here again a representation of 43% of our expenditures are born by our local community. The other 57% is whether it's state federal um type of dollars. So this graph here shows on the left hand side our revenue variance for we do
039a forecast in November and May. On the lefth hand side shows the variance from November to what we're updating now and we have a positive variance. The major majority of that is on our investment income. So our revenues on investment income are higher than we anticipated in November. And on the right side is our expenditure variance. we have a um slightly negative uh expenditure variance of 106,000, but again on an $88 million budget, I think we're in a a pretty good estimate on that. So the last graph I'll have here and then I'll open up for some questions is the green line is the forecast as as current laws in place. guarantee district, House Bill 920, expenditures exceeding revenues. That green line shows our cash balance going down. However, still having a cash balance out
040there in FY29. The yellow line represents the governor's proposal. The governor's proposal had the um in essence the guarantee going away. And so by reducing in each year of the next two years by 5% and 10%. So for Lakewood City Schools, that would be 900,000 next year, 1.8 million in FY27, and then 1.8 million thereafter. So an overall roughly about a $4.5 million reduction in revenue, and that's represented by the yellow line. The purple line represents the House proposal. Again, that's uh guarantee funding. However, that 30% cash balance reduction or roughly $14 million in property tax is not being distributed to the Lakewood City Schools that the community has approved. So, the process right now is at the Senate. Um, I submitted written testimony to the Senate this week. Um, again, arguing our case, arguing
041why they should not do that. We have a cash balance policy in place. our community has supported those dollars in regards to what they expect from us in regards to educational programming, our dedication to fine arts and athletics and those type of things. And we're, you know, pleading with them to to make sure this proposal goes away. Um what'll happen with the Senate is they'll come up with their own proposal and then the House and Senate will meet to work out the differences between the House proposal and the Senate proposal and then it's called conference committee and then once they reach all the work out all the differences between that it'll go to the governor for signature questions. Sure. It's my understanding that the Yeah, it's my understanding that then there will be a rebate
042to property taxpayers. So yeah, so the example I've been giving um and again it's for me I always use easy numbers, right? So this is hypothetical. So let's say your tax bill on a per half basis is $5,000 and in Lakewood about 58% of that goes to the school, right? So that's roughly uh $2,900 of that, right? Goes to the school district. The other uh 2100 is split up between city, metrop parks, port authority, those type of things. So that 2,900 in essence would be reduced almost in half. So your tax bill would go from 5,000 roughly down to say 3,600, but that $1,400 reduction would be on the backs of schools. it's not spread equally among the other governmental subdivisions and it would show up on the tax bill as a credit um that
043because the school's cash balance exceeded 30% or 108 days. Was that helpful? Yes. And then we wouldn't have our 90 days or our 30% whatever the after the two-year period. Correct. Right. And so then you would be on a two-year levy cycle. Correct. And again, so you know, most likely we'll be talking with the board about an additional operating levy in 2026. What that levy amount will be will be very determined upon what happens down at the state, right? Depending upon what they decide. Generally speaking, our community has been very supportive. our last levies um was in excess of 70% approval um back in 2020, but that's because we've been able to stay off the the ballot for every six-year period, right? We had a 2013 levy, 2020 levy, and now most likely a 2026
044levy. If this proposal was to go into place, most likely we'd have to have a levy on every two years for a smaller amount in order to stay below that 30% threshold, but still have sufficient operating dollars to operate the district. And then last question. Sure. Um, never too many questions. So, it's not collect. So, if we pass in 26, it's only collectible for half of 27. Correct. And the full collection would not be till 28. Correct. So it's not like we get the money like in the January after it pass. Correct. Because tax year and calendar year and fiscal years are are split differently. So you don't get a full collection on any levy until 18 months after you've passed it. Thanks. So it so if they withhold the amount of uh levy tax
045money from us because of the 90 days and then we drop below that 90 days they don't then again then distribute that money to us that money is just off the table right so how how it's currently written is it falls to the budget commission again those three individuals I mentioned county auditor county treasurer and county prosecutor. Now in Kaaga County, we don't have a county auditor per se. We have the fiscal, but we have those other positions. So what they do is they reduce the tax bill for that next year, right? And then that's over the next two fiscal years, those dollars are removed. The question is is once you fall below the 90, then are they going to increase, right, the levy amount back up um in order to maintain that 90? That's
046not in law. So once those dollars go away, they continue to be away. Even though the voters have voted on. Correct. So it's all it's going against the Yeah. what our local voters have voted on. Correct. And I know our local representative, state senator and state representative are doing what they can do, but they're clearly in the minority. But it seems like this is going to impact every school. So there's a possibility that school districts we don't normally have the common interest with. We might this has garnered interest from all the state organizations whether it's my professional organization oaso Bassa which is the representative administrators and the OSBA which is the school board's representation. We all are lobbying and advocating um for what's right you know on the fair school funding plan what's right in
047regards to the community support and not removing that um what they've provided to us by arbitrarily saying everyone should be at 30%. Right. And then also in including with that um you know the continuation of the fair school funding plan not reducing that guarantee. Um on top of that you mentioned Senator Antonio um her and I had a email conversation where she again is doing what she can right um and now this is a Kent Zean comment not a comment by Lakewood City Schools or Lakewood Board of Education. I've been in this business for a long time. Um every two years we have a banial budget. Every two years there's something thrown at us, right? Um but I will say that this is the first time in the 30 years that I've been in this
048business that um the tenor and the attitude and the perception at the state level is the most negative I've ever seen. Yeah. And so there is a deep concern that somewhere along something's going to happen. Now again, I'm not a chicken little I'm not the sky is falling kind of person. Um but it's just that that feeling that sense and it's not just coming from me. It's coming from a lot of my uh peers as well. Um, so we're going to keep an eye on it. We're going to do what we can to advocate and we'll know hopefully by June 30 what the result of it is. So one can likely assume that I mean the governor had the governor's office had their proposal, the house had their proposal, Senate will have their proposal and
049through reconciliation there will likely be some proposal that will take more money away from public schools. That would be a very good perception. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And will charter schools be impacted by Well, you Okay. So, I wasn't going to talk about that. Um, but there is again when it comes to school choice, school choice is a valuable thing. However, it needs to be on a on a level playing field. And right now, school choice is not a level playing field. Whether you talk about publicly funded um community and charter schools or private school vouchers, the dollars that follow the child aren't then have the same restrictions that K12 public education has. um in the governor's proposal and in the house proposal, both of those institutions, um whether it's the private school vouchers or
050the community school vouchers, see increases, significant increases, um than K12 public education. In the governor's proposal, actually, there was a $13 million reduction in funding for K12 schools and corresponding roughly $200 million to charter schools and $200 million to private school voucher increases. I wasn't going to talk about it, but you asked the question. Go ahead. Go ahead. Thank you. My um questions have have actually been answered. Just wanted to clarify one thing. It's June that this would this has to be Well, yeah. By law, the the budget has to be um signed by June. Only once in my career has it gone where they've had to do like a temporary budget where it's gone into July. I don't see that being an issue this time around. Um actually the Senate is due to vote
051the week of what week is this is the 5th 12th the week of the 19th on the proposal. So it's moving very quickly as well. Will we hear any more like drafts or any updates before like once the Senate votes before the 30th of June? So, you would hope um but I can tell you what happened with the House process is that um all in essence amendments were due um by all the House representative members on a Tuesday and then they voted on those amendments on Thursday without seeing any of those amendments that were part of the amicus um amendments on that Thursday. So, they were kind of voting sight unseen in regards to the House projects process. So, we're not sure what's going to happen here at the Senate level, but we should have
052an inclination normally is how it works. Um, but we'll see. This is actually one of the most major assaults on public education. I mean, it's been coming and building, but it this is the point where really it's just a full like let's just drive the public schools out of business. Yeah. And again, I I know Miss Clark question, but I have one one other comment that's Kent Zemens and not the Lakewood Board of Education, Lakewood City Schools. Um advocation, right? We need community to advocate for this. Um what I've proposed to to for people to do is again reach out to Senator Antonio, um reach out to legislators, whatever you can. However, one of the other key points of that is, you know, with with Governor DeWine, who's been a proponent quite honestly of K12
053education over the last parts of his career, but he's has two years left. Um, and does he want to be the governor that in essence destroys public education? That's the question I would pose to him. So, so you're thank you for sending your written testimony. Um, so I have a couple different things. Um, thanks for all that. Um very glad you are the treasurer and not me and so is everybody else in this room. Um so um but so you submitted written testimony. Um, is there something that we can do as a board in the advocacy? Like I can make my pitch to all of you, you know, take your again um you can write letters, you can um I can share the the testimony with whomever would like it and they could use that
054to submit their own written testimony. Um advocate with Senator Antonio. In regards to the board, um, you know, some boards have passed resolutions. Um, but again, ultimately, unless it's submitted as written testimony, there's generally not much notice of that. Um, not that passing a resolution and advocating for K12 publication isn't a great thing. We could draft something for that for the next board meeting for sure. Would any of you be supportive of that? Oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah. Um, okay. So my next question um kind of has to do with the well so I don't if the county auditor or well we don't have one the c the county treasurer and the prosecutor when they're they're tasked with doing all this math and then figuring out what's a credit and what isn't. Where are they on
055all this? So the county auditors association from my understanding is opposed to this. Again, their their comment was very similar to what um President Kassenberger said earlier. Our community passed these levies in full knowledge of what those levies were to support and the dollar amount associated with those levies. Why should the county prosecutor, auditor, the budget commission in essence reduce what the community has supported and why should it arbitrarily fall to them to do so? So that's from the county auditors association. All right. Thank you. Um, and then when we talk about the 30%, how many dollars is that for us? Like what does that look like? Well, again, I went the wrong way. So, in essence, to get to here. Okay, good. All right. And I'll go back to Let's go all the way
056back here. I apologize. So, we received roughly $52 million on an annual fiscal year basis, right, in property taxes. Reduce that by $14 million. Wow. So, that 52 would go to 38. And how often does that get recalculated? Any year where you exceed 108 days or 30%, it's calculated. And then once you fall below that, there's no need to calculate it, but those dollars don't come back is the way we understand it currently. So you would need to pass a new levy. Correct. And again, a levy that wouldn't exceed 30% or 108 days. So as Mrs. Jones indicated, it would shorten the levy cycle significantly and probably put us in a in a catching up mode of the levy. in a levy cycle like we're not supposed to run at a deficit but we would
057almost be have to right you'd always you'd always be in essence trying to catch up you would never be able to get ahead of the game in this proposal so I I was looking through historical things as I clean out things in my house and um this just this the amount of money that we're talking about now tops what I thought was a an amazing amount of money, which was March of '09, the state just cut a million dollars like one day. Like they just said, "You're cut a million." The same school year, the state cut us by 1.6 million more and the next school year, an additional four million. And this was it was just a decision by the state. And um we had cut 5 million from our budget already to try to
058make the budget. So and 08 we all know was a catastrophic year economically but it just guts a school district. It's scary. It guts program. Yeah. Anything else? Such good news I brought. Sorry about that. You know, I do actually I do want to say one more thing um in that school choice and there's value in that because I um and I've gotten some interesting um emails and and even a phone call from people who don't live in Lakewood who say um wow, I really want to move to Cleveland and uh move to Lakewood and raise my children and send them to the Lakewood City schools, but but your property values I I can't buy a house. I can't afford it. Can you do something about it? And I'm like, a thank you for thinking
059I could actually do something about that, but no. Um, but and then they say, well, can I use a school choice voucher? I'm like, no, because the school choice vouchers are only for charter schools and private schools. And so, you have choice until you don't. Um, and so we cannot accept vouchers from anyone. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Se. Thanks so much, Kim. Um, you are not Chicken Little, but the sirens you are hearing and because I also manage weather in this job of mine, there is a cold red weather warning, which is just for a very severe thunderstorm um on Lake Avenue um between now and 8:45. So, I just want you to know that's why you receiving the this will not get us a snow day tomorrow. Um I'm sure of it, but if
060if I could give you one, I would. Um and then finally, I just wanted to um share that I hope uh that you were all able to see the followup from our last task force meeting uh last Wednesday. this very dedicated group of uh community members spent eight long evenings um studying, you know, so much about the district itself and the programming, not just at the elementary, but how boards need to um acknowledge all everything that goes on prek to 12 when working through as Mr. Zean said, finances and things. And so, right, they spent their time that evening. Um, they even came in, some of them, an hour and a half early to start reading the draft report. The draft report is over 70ome pages of everything that went on for the entire year.
061They were able to pick it apart, um, add and delete, and then we went back through it to ensure that, uh, it has the points that they would like the task force, um, their voices to represent. And so that report is getting completed now and an executive summary will also come with that because I'm sure not everyone's going to want to read the 70page report that will come out of this. And so, um, our task force members did ask that they have an opportunity to share their findings, um, and their conclusions in the report and, and that wasn't something that was we had discussed prior to that, but absolutely, I'm very pleased that they would like to share that with the board. And so, there'll be more information coming about that soon. Thank you. Thanks
062so much. Uh yeah, I mean that's a volunteer duty that went above and beyond the call for sure. And we um we and the board were discussing about how there are some um we've received a number of questions both here in our meetings and through emails and just through conversations that we have with some of the folks in the community about different aspects of this process that um might not be might be either confusing or they might not be entirely clear on what the the process was or whatever. And so we thought we might talk a little bit about that at this point in the meeting and and bring up some of the details about the process, you know, things that have been uh part of it from the beginning and just kind of have
063a bit of a conversation about it. Um just in case that's helpful to anybody either in the room or watching on the live stream. Um so one of the questions and I'll I'll start. One of the questions that has come up is um just kind of why this whole pro process got started, you know, why enrollment was considered and and whether that's that big of a deal. Um, and uh, so I I just wanted to kind of put the numbers out there that um, since 2015, enrollment in our Lakewood schools has dropped by over a thousand students and 527 of those were elementary students. And we're projected to lose another 270 students over the next 10 years. And even though enrollment is relatively stable at the moment, um to put those numbers in context, two
064of the buildings, elementary buildings that we have right now are at roughly about 320 students and the remaining five are at roughly 270 students and some are a little bit fewer than that. So loss of 270 students in today's numbers is an entire building of an entire elementary building. So it's not a small matter. This is something that we wanted to look at and that's why we started having these conversations now because of the decline over the last 10 years and because of the projection that's coming up. We want to we wanted to stop now when we could have the conversation with the community and we could have that this wonderful group of people look at this data and talk to each other and and have these conversations. Um, of course it's not just about
065numbers, it's about our kids. Um and we also wanted to create an environment and because the not only is uh enrollment declining but it's not uh balanced across the district. So we also wanted to figure out how to how to address that so that uh our teachers can collaborate better. Our kids have better social emotional social engagement with each other because um and uh that's just better for their uh intellectual and social development. So that's I just wanted to put that out there again um to remind people that's that's part of the reason this got started is just to create the best educational environment for our children um while still preserving our neighborhood school schools still looking at walkability and and everything. So thought I'd kick off the conversation there. Yeah. Yeah. Let me let
066me jump in because class size I think is important and it's something that is talked about often. Um you talk about inequities. I'm an educator. I think in this role, one of my biggest things is making sure that everyone has the most equal education as possible. It will never be perfect, but we want to make sure that we don't have one class of 14 and one class of 27. That is educationally inequitable. So, it really is looking at how can we level it out. Obviously, if you have a class of 14, your class size will increase, but if you have a class of 25, the goal is to make it smaller and manageable. Um, I I can speak to my kids go to Hayes and I can speak to that and I know probably uh
067superintendent or Dr. Palumbo could probably tell you more about classes in other schools. My my middle daughter was in a class that was three classes and is now two, but they are big classes uh 25 each. They were 25 and 26 last year. Um, and they honestly would it would be bigger had uh Superintendent Isuki not put out the open enrollment. And I know there were a couple kids from Hayes that actually took that last year. Um, by that same token, Hayes has a fourth grade class now that is very likely looking at going into or is in the possibility of going into one class next year because of its numbers. So, not only is a teacher being moved, but the way that they do things there is they have um math and science teacher
068and then social studies and language arts. So, that for for that teacher alone, you've lost your collaborating partner. you are now going from teaching two to four subjects and other elementary teachers absolutely teach all four subjects but that is not what their workload is and then on top of it you don't have someone to collaborate with um I collaborate with my teaching partners all the time I would not survive without them um so when you look at those things and making sure that there is consistency then even with the students having more students to collaborate with being able to engage together I know throughout all three of my kids their careers and education and they have been able to counterparts in their grade level and you don't have that anymore. So I think when we
069talk about class sizes and just saying that they're going to be bigger or this disruption isn't necessary. It it is though because we want to make sure that they're having educationally the most similar experience and the best quality of education that they're getting across the board. I don't want my child in a class of 12 if somebody else is in a class of 26. that that's not we have to look out for everybody here. Yeah. Anyone if if I could uh uh speak to the the point of walkability um preserving that walkability. I mean we have recognized and and the task force has recognized that that is um a goal to to maintain. That's something that the community has has uh conveyed to us through surveys and um as a lifelong, you know, Lakewood resident,
070I I I certainly recognize that um you know, we all know that our our streets can't handle busing and that type of thing just isn't isn't isn't an option. Um and for most students, the the walking distance will remain relatively the same. um it it will change in some cases um if there is a repurposing of of a building, but um those those changes are um not too significant. Um and again with that goal of of um of maintaining walkability to the greatest extent possible. Um with consideration of average distance uh furthest distance um as well as the major um thoroughares as well the the busy crossings of course. There's also been a lot of discussion about the early childhood uh centralized early childhood and I would say that the topic of having expanded early
071childhood care started discussions in about 2003 when we were looking at rebuilding the schools because the value of early childhood education to students being successful at school is well documented. And um so it wasn't that we decided we wanted early childhood and how would we then find a place to put it because in survey after survey um generally the board would survey prior to a levy to see what people were interested in and the survey questions included um things about early childhood or just to a focus group. What's important to you? expanded early childhood services was important. What was holding it back was frequently the financial or the the resources were not there to do it. So as we talk about enrollment which was one of the driving forces in equality and opportunity for kids
072then we're not you know talking about and I haven't seen the report and we didn't go to the last two meetings so I don't know what the recommendation is going to be but I do know that as we've talked about enrollment we talked about finance if a school was going to be repurposed then early childhood to a lot of people was the logical way to go. That's a whole another discussion too. But it wasn't that one was driving the other. It first started with the discussion about declining enrollment. And on that note, um I don't know you know how many people lived in Lakewood at the time, but St. Augustine's which is Lakewood Catholic Academy was a girls Catholic high school that did not have the enrollment it needed. It closed and in um St.
073James, St. Luke's and St. Clemens all closed and so they formed one Catholic elementary well through 8th grade um and used the St. Augustine site and then in 2010 St. St. Serial and Methodius closed. So that was all because enrollment went down in those schools and they couldn't financially sustain them. So I'm not I understand everyone's feeling about closing schools. When we built the new schools, we had 10 elementaryaries. We went to seven because the state required 350 students in a new school. They wouldn't give money for restoration or rebuilding. So we went from 10 elementary schools to seven and that was very hard on a lot of people. Um they wanted the schools that they had gone to or that their they wanted their children or their grandchildren to go to them. I'm only
074saying this as a background of experience, not trying to tell anybody that they shouldn't want to have my kids came to Lincoln. I was PTA president at Lincoln. I love Lincoln, but I love all the schools that we have and I understand that people in those schools love them and have communities. I'm just giving a background for knowing that declining enrollment has been going on since 2000 and we've waited and we've looked and we've thought, what can we do? who the superintendent has done everything she can do to accommodate for that and move teachers and move students and ask students it's we have to face the issue now. So I look forward to the report of this wonderful committee and um I just wanted to share just having been around for longer than my fellow
075board members um what I know we live through. No. So, I appreciate your um historical perspective. Um it's helpful to go back through um old documents and um I I just would like to say that um as as Mrs. Sean pointed out, we did not go to the last two meetings um because we went to the several of us went to multiple task force meetings so that we could hear the information um that they were getting and that we could hear what their questions were um provide factual information if we had it. But most of the time we just sat there and listened um with the intent of gathering as much information as we could. the um we did not go to the last two meetings because they were working on the report. We don't
076we don't we're not helping write the report. We're receiving the report. Um I I have no idea how I will vote. Um and I know some of you don't believe me and that's fine. Um I will tell you that if I were Queen of Lakewood, my proposal is already dead. Okay. So the one that I was interested in that that thought was like, oh maybe that would be a good idea when we first looked at stuff that's not even on the table. Okay. So there's been some change and there's been a lot of information that's been accumulated through this entire process and um and so I look forward to people's comments this evening. Um and uh that that's it for me. Um, there were just a couple other things that came up during some of
077the the meetings and as Connie mentioned, we part of what we were just doing was listening and listening to some of the information that the task force received. And one of the things that's come up a lot in some of the questions or comments that we've gotten from um folks is uh concerns about safety, which is always a big concern. And I know superintendent knows Wiki has a ongoing safety committee and and and part of that uh conversation is um students crossing major roads and how that'll change with um if we were to repurpose a school. Um so one of the uh one of the um analyses that our our part our partners did uh was to look at how that number changes with each scenario. So currently um across the uh seven elementary schools
078we have 911 elementary students who cross at least one major road and we count those as Bunts, Clifton, Detroit, Franklin, Madison, and Warren. Um if we repurposed Lincoln, that number would actually drop to 863. If we repurposed Grant, that number would be 926. And if we kept all seven schools open and redistricted, the number would be 914. Um, I just thought it was interesting to share that information because I think the perception would be that it would swing wildly and it's not really it would kind of stay within a relatively narrow band of numbers. Um, so that's just one of the things that came up and that's why it was so interesting to have that group uh meet for so long and and go through such extensive data. I I do want to add something
079to that because through our conversations and and sadly enough um any street is a dangerous unsafe street because of distractive drivers um people backing out of their car or their driveways in the morning. Um and and so along with that you of course those are our major thorough affairs but any street and and so we want to continue to work with our you know I meet monthly with our safety forces and we discuss um you know differenti situations that have occurred while kids are coming and going from school and so we will continue to work with the city on that. Something that also came up is where our placement of crossing guards are. And as the city hires crossing guards, they hire crossing guards for kids to come to school and go home from school.
080And so we are going to continue to work with them on possibly looking at too where more of our students are today. That always changes in years. You know, you have your populations that have the babies and then they have the older kids and then in another area of town has um more babies than others. And so I think we had to be mindful of constantly looking at that and ensuring we're placing those crossing guards um at our most vital areas in the morning and in the afternoon. Yeah. Okay. There there were just a few things we wanted we had other stuff but there's just a few things we wanted to bring up in conversation uh following uh Superintendent Nziki's report. Um, so Oopsies. Moving on. [Music] So that concludes the super I think that
081was the superintendent's report still. Yeah, I think it was still part of it. Yeah. Very good. Thank you. Um, that thank you for your time and uh that concludes the superintendent's report. Thank you. Um, so now we'll move on to uh discussion of agenda items. And prior to that, we usually give folks a chance. If they don't feel like sticking around for the more detailed agenda of the board, you can uh excuse yourselves and go on about your evening. Uh, you of course are welcome to stay. So, we'll give you a few minutes to do that if you want to take off. Anyone? I know some folks have already left. I think they left. Yeah. There might be some other seats people can move into or whatever. Want me? I'm gonna bring you a jaw.
082That's wonderful. Feel free to move forward from the students that we recognize. They're going home and people can come up. It's not cold. What? All right, moving right along. Ask um briefly, what did you want to talk about? Yeah, possibly probably mention it. Okay. So, moving right along to our agenda items. Uh, first up will be our finance report with Mrs. Clark Sutton. I'm not trying to be um smart ally. Should I read another report after everything that you just gave? Um, I think you should. Our financial information for this month is solid. Yeah. Well, I Do you want me to put it into the record? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's the That's your investments purchased and matured March 2025. Tables um show that uh agenda materials identify investments that matured as well as outstanding investments
083as of March 2025. Investment earnings for the regular board funds for the month month of March totaled $254,890, bringing the year-to-day total to 2,489,277. And so I stand corrected from my comment at the pre at the last month meeting when I said we might not be showing positive investment earnings and we are. So um for the month of March 2025, general fund receipts totaled 22,333,742 and the general fund expenditures totaled 7,313,986. And that large amount of um fund receipts is because of the periodic payments of our property taxes in in chunks. um as opposed to a monthly paycheck. Uh 2025 summary revenues year-to- date actual and projected revenues show a positive 702,38 variance compared to our 5-year forecast. The interest income is exceeding 2025 estimates contributing to our overall positive variance. Our expenditures year-to- date
084and actual actual and projected expenditures show a negative $118,890 variance compared to the forecast. And this uh negative variance is due to um fees associated with the county auditor and treasurer. Um our five-year forecast was already presented and our cash reserves are sufficient through fiscal year 2026. That concludes my report. Thank you very much. Uh, next up is the building sites and major purchases report with Mr. Callahan. Thank you, President Kenburg. We have um first requests uh for approval this month for rental agreements. I believe there are seven. I will go through those. Um it is that time of year when we review these. I believe these are all annual agreements. Um, first is a rental agreement between Lakewood Board of Education and Horizon Education Centers Youth Summer Program 2025 at Harrison Elementary School. It's
085a resolution between the board and Horizon Education Centers to use Harrison Elementary School for the purpose of operating a youth summer program. Horizon Education Centers operates the before and after school program during the school year and wishes to continue through the summer using the facility. Uh second is uh another agreement uh between the board and Horizon uh education centers for schoolyear program 2526. This at Emerson Harrison and Horus man elementary schools. This is a resolution between the board and Horizon Education Centers for use of Emerson and Harrison uh elementary schools for the purpose of operating before and after school pro program. Horizon Education Centers has operated a before and after school program uh at Emerson and Harrison for the past several years. Uh they will be assuming before and after care at Horus man. Again
086an annual agreement. Um next we have a rental agreement between the board and Lakewood Community Care Center for the youth summer program 2025 at Lincoln Elementary School. This is a resolution between the board and Lakewood Community Care Center for use of Lincoln for the purpose of operating a youth summer program. Lakewood Community Care Center operates the before and after school program during the school year and wishes to continue through the summer. Uh then we have rental agreement. Um again the the other agreement between the board of education at Lakewood Community Care for the school year program uh at Lincoln. This is a resolution again between the board and Lincoln community care for use of Lincoln um for the purpose of operating a before and after school program. Um again the Lakewood Community Care Center has
087operated a before and after school program at Lincoln for the past several years. This too is an annual agreement uh rental agreement between the board of education and Lakewood Family YMCA youth summer program uh 2025 at Grant Elementary School. It's a resolution between the Lakewood Board of Education and Lakewood Family YMCA. Um let's see to use Roosevelt for the purpose of operating a youth summer camp. Um I believe there's a discrepancy between the title there and the location. There's an indication that that is uh at Grant and then the body saying Roosevelt. I'm assuming that one is grant. Um I can review it in the actual resolution. I do believe that one is indeed a grant. Um and then we also have uh rental agreement between Lakewood Board of Education and Lakewood Family YMCA uh
088school year program 2526 at Grant Hayes and Roosevelt. It's a resolution between the board and YMCA of Greater Cleveland Lakewood for use of Grant Hayes and Roosevelt uh elementary schools for the purpose of operating uh before and after school program. The YMCA of Greater Cleveland Lakewood has operated before and after school programs at those locations for the past several years. And then uh the final rental agreement is between the board and St. Edward High School. And this is for the varsity football games for 2025 at First Federal Lakewood uh stadium. And so those are all on a first read. We'll be taking action on those um at the second meeting uh of the month. And then we also have as amended uh tonight um a resolution to initiate the sale of Franklin Elementary School located
089at 13465 Franklin Avenue. Uh in in 2003, the board adopted a long-range master facilities plan. Since that time, the district has renovated or constructed seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and Lakewood High School. Other than those facilities, the district owns property at 13701 Lake Road, our administrative offices, and all day prek, and 13465 Franklin, the current home of Franklin School of Opportunity. Uh, looking to the future, superintendent is recommending the board of education offer Franklin Elementary building property for sale. Ohio Revised Code requires the board to pass this resolution and obtain an appraisal value for the property. Other legal requirements uh will need to have been met prior to sale. Those requirements include offering the property to high performing and startup charter schools uh that has its governing body within the district's boundaries. Uh once
090that step has been taken, the district can sell the property to another government entity or conduct a public auction. And again, this is a first read uh for action to be taken at our next meeting. And that concludes my report. Thank you. And unless there are any questions, we'll move on to the education report with Mrs. Dotman. I have three items. Um, first and possibly the most exciting, we have the approval of a Lakewood High School 2025 graduating class. Superintendent recommends the attached list of tenative candidates for graduation be approved, which is approximately 359 students. We have a resolution to adopt elementary courses of study. Uh these courses of study for elementary English language arts have been developed collaboratively by representatives from elementary ELA department and the department of teaching and learning. And then a
091resolution to approve an extended field trip to Puerto Rico. Lakewood High School students will travel to Puerto Rico and will have the opportunity to broaden one's vision of our world community and offer the platform from which a learner can come to an enhanced understanding of the world that surrounds us. They will go on tours in San Juan, Puerto Rico. And the trip includes a tour of Elon Rainforest, a trip to Ukio Beach and a tour of Elmoro in the old section of San Juan. They will visit um different places in San Juan's vibrance tree culture and even go snorkeling. And this will take place next April, April 4th through 12th of 2026. And that concludes my report. Thank you so much. Uh there's no policy update so we will move on to human resources with
092Mrs. Johny. Thank you. There will be a total of six actions acted on. The first will be certified actions. There are total of 135 of those. Um eight classified actions, 114 community recreation and education actions. There will be a resolution um to approve civic auditorium pay rate increases for this year and next year. I would say moderate. And um there will be a resolution to approve classified lunch monitor pay rate changes. And there will be a memorandum of understanding between the Lakewood City School District Board of Education and the Lakewood Teachers Union. Um we have language that um limits the use of electronic monitoring and surveillance um in obvious places like washrooms and in um class individual classrooms during instructional times. However, we've come to agreement that the welding classroom by the nature of welding
093um would benefit from having cameras in that room. And so um the teachers union has agreed with that and we will be um acting on that resolution as well. And that concludes my report. Thank you so much. This brings us to board comments. Would anyone like to start? I think the hike and bike is next week. So just, you know, be extra cautious. Hopefully you'll be able to get out and walk the ride with your students. I've already had a number of comments. So, yeah, I have a few things. Do you want um So, um good evening again. Um and thank you for being here. Um I am going to be the US government teacher for a minute. Um it's challenging to be an active participant in democracy. It takes intelligence, energy, patience, and a
094lot of time. It also takes trust of the process of leadership of each other and of our neighbors. As a US government teacher, I want to take a moment to recognize two specific groups of people who are standing up for democracy and public education for strong advocacy of their single position. Attending and speaking at public meetings and writing and calling your elected officials are important ways to be active participants in our democratic process. I picture a few of you taking leadership roles uh in our next operating levy campaign and even running for office someday. Also, I especially applaud the specific hours donated by each member of the elementary task force. It's more than the 10, 11, 12, two-hour meetings. It's downloading, organizing, and reviewing a lot of pages of information, tiny graphs, multiple spreadsheets, sample
095maps with slight variations between them, more handouts, and then there's talking to neighbors and attending a conver community conversation or two or seven. um and they keep showing up even as their purpose and their integrity are sometimes questioned. Maintaining an excellent school district prek to 12 isn't about trying to avoid controversy or doing whatever the loudest group wants. Let's look at some possible assumptions and outcomes that have been heard during this year. So, let's say the board votes to maintain all seven elementary schools for the next couple of years. The Save Seven group cheers and claims credit for their win. Or the board votes to repurpose Roosevelt and people say it's because they're the smallest school and they didn't campaign hard enough to save their neighborhood. Or the board votes to repurpose Grant and people
096will say, "I told you they were going to close Grant. The task force was just a screen to make it look like they wanted community input." They knew all along that that was the plan. Fourth, the board votes to repurpose Lincoln. And people say, "I knew they were going to pick pick Lincoln because they'll be able to split most of us into two schools being Horus man and Emerson with a few going to Grant. It's the least amount of work for administrators." And these are all things that we've heard. Um, none of these reactions and rationes give any credit at all to the time and thoughtful study and conversation of the task force members. The task force is made up of our neighbors. They didn't join and stay on the committee because they wanted to
097make our lives more difficult. Those of us on the board didn't voluntarily attend task force meetings and community conversations because we had nothing else to do in our lives. Does anyone seriously think that anyone on the school board is eager and happy about having to address too much district real estate with declining enrollment while the state government pushes their very strong bias for charter and private schools all while protecting and maintaining safe, accessible, excellent prek to 12 learning communities. None of us are looking forward. I've been enjoying this process. I just wanted to put that out there. Thank you. Thank you, Colin. Okay. Um I have a couple of things. Um on a slightly different topic. First, I wanted to congratulate uh Lakewood High School principal Joan Morgan sitting right in front of me and
098the rest of the uh Lakewood uh parents and staff and folks for a very successful prom and after prom this weekend. It was a wonderful event and it was my first time volunteering at was nominated for best musical in this year's Dazzle Awards. And for those who aren't familiar, the Dazzlles are Cleveland's version of the Tony Awards for high school musical productions, and dozens of high schools in Northeast Ohio compete to be recognized. For Lakewood to be one of the six schools nominated as a huge honor, and we're just very, very proud. Uh, the production also received nominations for Owen Hill for best who played Jean Veljon for best actor. They received nominations for best student orchestra, best scenic design, and best uh costume design. And we're so proud of all the student performers, musicians,
099crew members, and adult volunteers who made this happen. And it's fitting that it's teacher appreciation week because we're also very grateful for the talents and leadership of our amazing director, Carolyn Deolanis. Uh, vocal director Rea Brooks, orchestra Demolanis, uh, vocal director Rea Brooks, orchestra director Michael Dandrin, technical director Freddy Hill, and production manager Dominic Finelli Martinez. It was a wonderful production, and the memories will last a lifetime. And we hope to see some of you at the Dazzle Awards ceremony at Playhouse Square, the State Theater on May 17th where our uh uh cast of Lays gets to perform on stage which of the state theater which is super exciting. Um so it was just a really big deal. It's like the districts for sports team. It's it's very exciting. Um, and then to segue a
100little bit of a taking off on what Maggie said and Colleen said. Um, just another shout out to the elementary facilities task force. Uh, their hard work and dedication over the past nine months went above and beyond the usual call of volunteer duty. They say that when you volunteer, you vote every day for the kind of community you want to live in. and our neighbors who served on the task force did so much for our Lakewood community uh during their service. In today's climate, it's easy to focus on more on what divides us than on what unites us. Those of us who live in Lakewood know that our community is special and that we have to work hard to preserve what we have here. The superintendent and the board formed the task force because we
101wanted to preserve the things that are special about our school community. walkability, neighborhood schools, safety, excellent teachers, and excellent learning environments for our students. And we will continue to focus on these essential elements as we move through the rest of this process. I am certain that the people who have gathered here tonight also want to show that they value our Lakewood community and what makes our school special. You guys are also voting for the kind of community you want to live in, and that's something I value. There's a lot of uh good in seeing a full room and I appreciate that. Um I hope that everyone who speaks about this process either tonight or going forward keeps in mind that we are all neighbors, task force members, board members, parents, teachers, administrators, all of us
102are connected and that we all want what's best for our children. All of our community's children now and in the future. So thank you so much for participating. Appreciation week. and much harder than what we see, I think. So, thank you to all of our our teachers and staff. Yes, there's uh festivities going on at every building and I'm sure a lot of you are participating here and elsewhere. So, thank you for that. So, we are moving on to public comments and there's a lot of folks who signed up. Um, as I mentioned, every uh meeting there is a threem minute limit on comments and I you will be cut off at the end of that three minutes. So don't take it personally. Uh it's just in order to make sure that everybody has enough
103time. Um and uh as you may or may not know, we don't answer questions or have a back and forth conversation during comments, but we do listen carefully to everything you say um and take it seriously. So um with that being said, our first uh speaker is Cara Butler Cohen. Here she go. All right. Board President Katzinger, Superintendent Nidwiki, esteemed board members. My name is Cara Butland Conn and I'm a transgender educator and I am tired. Although I usually actively speak out against policy affecting public public education, tonight I am taking a different route, I will not be talking about House Bill 8 tonight, although you'll see me again talking about that one. But let's focus on the positive. Tomorrow marks National Teacher Appreciation Day. It is a day to thank teachers for their tireless
104efforts and dedication to their students, their classroom, their school, and their district. However, this job gets more challenging every year. Whether it's increased discipline challenges, cuts to school funding, or idiotic pieces of legislation passed by certain inept lawmakers, teachers are feeling the pressure more than ever. In fact, out of my cohort of science teachers from the University of Cincinnati, I am the last one out of 10 who is still teaching. We feel undervalued and we are tired. Every year I get asked by other teachers and people who aren't in education, what would keep teachers in the classroom? Would it be a pay raise? To this I reply, the best way is not to give us candy or repetitive professional development or even offer salary increases. While some of the gifts are nice, it really does
105not show that the district cares about its teachers. Instead, the district can provide relevant PD and or they can find ways to help administration handle the difficult students. I understand that money is limited, but there are always ways to not cut school psychologists, intervention specialists, or social workers. Students need those supports. And with those supports, teachers will have less issues. You can also stand up to the hate, the vitil, and the divide and rise above it. So I ask two things of you. One, thank a teacher for their service. And two, consider what teachers need to stay in the field. Lastly, I send although I am not a Lakewood City School District teacher, I extend a thank you to them as a fellow educator and to my own co colleagues as well. Happy National Teacher
106Day and thank you for what you do. Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Peter Sacket. Good evening. I've been a resident of this city for 35 years. My wife and I have voted for every single levy, ever request for money, always voting yes. In 2013, 70% of the people who voted said yes. Tear down the old schools, build new schools. And now 10 years later, who's making the decision about whether to keep this open? Are we are the 62% who pay taxes at this fund this school? No. Are you? No. Is the task force? No. You're going to ask the superintendent who does not reside in this city, does not reside in this county to make a decision that we all want a piece of. We want to be heard. And everybody here,
107I bet not one person wants this school to close. You cannot ignore the signs that say keep all seven open. Don't ignore what we want. We voted for you. We didn't vote for a task force. We didn't vote for this superintendent. We voted for you to follow [Applause] our job is to listen to us. Has one person asked any of you to close one school? Raise your hand. How many of you have heard, "Please close one of the schools." Okay, so four have not. So, let's just assume that that's how we all feel at all the schools. Keep them open. You're going to ask for more money and we're going to vote yes. We all want to protect our property values. And what you're doing to this community by closing schools is much more than
108the money. You have ruined the trust that we thought we had and our elected officials. Your conduct and creating a task force and letting the superintendent make the decision is a disgrace. You five were voted to make the hard decisions. keep our school open. Thank [Applause] you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Dan Kirk. Dan Kirk, Northland Avenue. From the very beginning, this process has been a sham. It was never honest, never truly open, and never fair. It's obvious to anyone paying attention, the outcome has been predetermined, and everything happening since is just a performance to make it look legitimate. The reality seems clear. District leadership made up its mind years ago that we need one less elementary school. Rather than developing a thoughtful long-term strategy, leadership chose in action. Perhaps even worse, closing a
109school and then turning around and asking families to vote for a task tax increase is not just tonedeaf. It's insulting. It's backwards thinking. It sends one clear message that the voice of parents and concerned community members don't matter. Worse, the entire process was built to give the illusion of transparency and public involvement while actually doing the exact opposite. The task force was never empowered to ask the best question. How do we keep all seven elementary schools open? Instead, they were handed seven pre-baked scenarios. six of which involved school closures. That's not problem solving. That's manipulation. Where's the evidence that alternative solutions were taken seriously? Nowhere. Because this was never about finding solutions. It was about manufacturing consent. What about the composition of the task force? From what I can tell, participation was invitation only. And
110who decided who got those invites? The people sitting right in front of us. Was there a public application? No. Was there transparent criteria for invitations? No. But if you had personal a personal connection to a board member or helped fund someone's campaign, your chances of being included went way up. That is not real community representation. It is not community input. That's putting a handpicked committee together to rubber stamp and validate a decision that you have already made. I'll end with this. When our daughter started kindergarten in Lakewood, my wife and I were so thrilled. We believed in the mission of a walkable neighborhood school based neighborhoodbased school district. We love that our daughter has an option for safe and easy walk or bike ride to school. We trusted our school district's leadership to be straightforward
111and honest. Lately though, that community trust has been deeply shaken and for me it's nearly gone. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jim Droger. D Kroger. I waved my tie. Dan said everything I wanted to say. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kelly [Music] Kirkbride. Good evening. My name is Colleen Kirkbride. My daughter is in kindergarten and my son is in second grade. They attend Roosevelt Elementary School. I bought my house three years ago today on May 5th, 2022. I chose our location because it is four blocks from the school and I wanted a sense of community for my then two-year-old and my four-year-old who was entering kindergarten in the fall. I grew up in Lraange, Ohio. I had a 15inute drive to school. The experience in Lakewood is something I never had
112as a child. At Roosevelt, we aren't just a community, we are a family. Several of us parents walk to and from school every day together with our kids. After school, the kids play on the playground while the adults build relationships. The kids finagle after school playdates and the adults plan activities for us to participate in for the weekends. Please don't take that away from us. This morning, we were seen on Channel 3 News walking to school. This is the community I signed up for and I hope that that will continue. This is truly a priceless experience. My parents and grandma also moved to Lakewood to support our community and to be close to us. Please don't close Roosevelt or any of the elementary schools in our community. [Applause] Thank you. Our next speaker is uh
113Peggy Meisen. Okay. Thank you. Uh next speaker speaker is Laura Lauren Dileia. Hi, my name is Lauren Dileia and I come to you in a unique position. I have my masters in early childhood education. I'm the director of a local nursery school and I'm moving back into Lakewood with my family this summer. Um, I'd like to speak about these plans. um coming to you mostly as the leader of a preschool that's been part of this community for 60 plus years. Um we've I believe we provide some of the highest quality early childhood education in the area. Um but one thing I'm not able to provide for my families is direct proximity to their local elementary school. I cannot do it. um I lose enrollment to one thing specifically and that is the offering of preschool
114programming in the neighborhood schools. I can't fault a tired parent doing the morning school shuffle who wants to make the commute easier on everyone. I'm never offended by parents who want their children in their neighborhood school as early as possible, allowing their kids opportunities to adjust to being in a building bustling with much bigger kids before the academic pressure creeps in. They're little. In fact, I agree with these families. These places are likely best for their goals for their families. What I will admit is that the idea of closing a school to repurpose for an early learning center can, I think, only mean positive things for my school. Why wouldn't families come to me? If they have to drive their children to another school than where they're already going, then my school is just as
115well of an option for them as yours. These are families. Some of them are sitting in this room. I care about them deeply. Their goals are my goals. I do not encourage them to abandon those goals. I want what's best for their families. I can confidently say that what is best for my school is not what is best for this community. I'm also a parent moving back to Lakewood this summer. And despite these plans to move, which we have been so excited about for for five years, my son will not be enrolling in our community neighborhood school of Hayes. Um, he will instead stay at his current CMSD school. This prolonged decision to redistrict, to close schools, to do whatever it is that may happen. There's many options. It's given me pause. He's bright and
116resilient, but he's also cautious and he's overwhelmed by the unknown. And as a parent, I can relate to that. This process has me feeling the same way. I know I'm going to run out of time. I have so much to say on this, but these people are little. They are your K to five. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Elena McCort. My name is Elena Mccor and I have two children at Lincoln. You say that your priority is equitable classrooms, but research shows that the way to achieve that is through redistricting conducted every 5 to 10 years and Lakewood hasn't redistricted in over 20 years. You say that you want to protect teachers, but the treasurer's savings are calculated solely on how many teachers are fired when their school closes. We've heard fear-mongering that
117schools under 60% capacity must be sold to charters. But if that were a legitimate concern, the high school at 57% capacity would be a much more immediate concern than the seven elementaryaries at 69% capacity. The board wants to frame this issue as fiscal responsibility versus emotional parents. Some community members believe that closing a school avoids a new levy. In reality, a levy four times the size of the 2020 levy will be needed regardless of whether you close our school. The reason for this unprecedented community outcry is that this process has revealed a breathtaking lack of vision, strategy, governance, and most importantly, a lack of fiscal responsibility by the board. The board has cited two fundamental reasons to close schools. one, declining enrollment in elementaryaries, and two, underutilization of elementary buildings. Contrary to the board's PR
118campaign that Lakewood elementaryaries are in perpetual decline, in fact, elementary enrollment has grown by over 3% in the last 5 years, while middle and high school enrollments have declined by over 10. In addition, our elementarymentaries are operating at a much higher utilization, 69%, than both of the middle schools at 63 and the high school at 57. It is inexplicable why the board has chosen to spend the past three years focusing solely on closing elementary schools rather than thinking strategically about the direction of the district, the best uses for all of our assets, and why we are losing middle and high school students. Instead of focusing solely on cutting teachers and selling buildings, let's broaden our vision and define where we are going as a district. Let's figure out why students are leaving middle and high
119school and work to reduce attrition. You have concepts of a plan for a centralized preschool. But your own survey data suggests that is not what people want. Your lack of data, failure to create a real plan, and hasty decision-making destroys trust with the very community members needed to pass the levy. It is time to stop this task force and begin to think strategically about how to leverage our neighborhood schools model to grow elementary enrollment and attract even more families to Lakewood. This board needs to shift its mindset from solely managing decay to leading our district to achieve its full potential. Lakewood is not a dying city. We supported your bonds and levies. We bought our homes. We moved to the Lakewood because we see the potential. We believe Lakewood can be the best school district
120and that our city, our schools, and our children's futures are bright. We want our school board to share our vision and chart a course to achieve it. [Applause] Our next speaker is Nick Chern. Nick Chern. Thank you, Nick Chern. So Lakewood is in a very serious situation. The numbers that were laid out today and the discussions that have been happening in the previous months make that abundantly clear. And what has come clear to me over that time is that it's going to require careful consideration of everything that we come across. And it's going to be asking uncomfortable questions and confronting and coming looking forward to see what's being said in this uh task force report. uh because right now I think a lot of the tension that we're experiencing now is because of a lack
121of transparency and clarity that some of the communication that we received in this spot a few months ago was somewhat different than the following communications despite it being presented as something that was more about collecting information. So what what I am requesting moving forward is that when this report comes out that there's plenty of time for us as parents and as the board to really carefully consider what is said in there, the process through which it was collected and whatever steps moving forward there might be. So ultimately a lot of the tension comes from us as parents that we have a number one priority in advocating for our students and it doesn't matter what school that they attend that there is going to be this discomfort there and that we have a responsibility to advocate
122as strongly as we can for our students and moving forward. I think that what we can also focus on too is although in our situation right now we're going to be, you know, there's going to be some real uncomfortable things said. It's going to be uncomfortable things said between members of the community, it's going to be uncomfortable things said about parents at different schools. That's just how it's going to be. And I think that one thing we can focus on despite of all of that discomfort is what's happening in the state house right now. And it is abundantly clear that there is this assault happening on public education. And if we really want to make a difference, it's not really about what we can do in communicating to our state senate and representative because really
123they're all on board. And us speaking to them is not going to move the needle at all. What we need to be able to do is everybody that you know throughout the state of Ohio, particularly that is in these further out districts that is going to be detached from the situation, they might not even really realize what's going on for schools. And it's not about affecting, you know, liberal schools in Lakewood, Ohio, but it's affecting schools all throughout the state of Ohio. So ultimately, I really encourage everybody to find out who's your representatives in the general assembly and also the House of Representatives. connect to your family and friends and make sure that they know the gravity of the situation so that you know they and us can make sure that we're advocating for our
124students in the best way that we know how. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Michael Alexander. Good evening, board members, Mr. Treasure, Mr. Superintendent. It's a big crowd. I love it. This is uh this is one of the bigger crowds that I've seen. I want to say thank you to all the parents, residents, the the proud, the strong, and the determined to advocate for this issue because I think it's a very strong point that a lot of people are making. You can talk about numbers all day. That's, you know, we have a lot of things that we can talk about. I personally had a long day and um I got to walk home in this in a minute. I don't know what these people do for a living, but I I'm sure
125they also had a hard day. And they don't want to be here. They don't want to be here talking about this issue. They want to just know that their children have this environment that they signed up for when they decided to move to this community, this this unicorn community in the state of Ohio. I don't I mean, you didn't offer any refreshments or snacks. So, these people are here. They didn't walk in off the street. These people are here because they care about their child's education and I need to make sure that it's clear that I'm sorry there was you took a little bit of the wind out of my sales and I'm I'm also dealing with a lot of very strong speakers ahead of me and it's getting me riled up. I had a
126I had a whole thing uh I was going to be nice and calm and it's out the window. So, I would say that the decision that you're making when you make it, however you vote, whoever you talk to, uh, it's going to when you dismantle this system that's been in place for over a hundred years, you can't rebuild it. And I think that that needs to be understood. And you're going to vote whichever way you vote. But um I would say that I don't know where the crowd of people or the Facebook page is for the people who support this this this proposal that you have. Um these parents are amazing and I think taking these positions this is this is an extreme I wouldn't want to be sitting over there to save my life.
127It's not it's it's not but I I think that you all have an educational background or have an interest in education. I don't know what each one of your backgrounds is, but I think the intent is there. But I I I think it needs to be driven home that like this is a unicorn system that we have in here and you can't compare it to Lorraine County or Lake County or Madina County or even the outer ring suburbs of post World War II. So, I like to keep our community as close to intact as possible. And I hope that this uh all of these comments have have have uh gone in one ear and not out the other. I'm going to ask like I did at the last meeting, pretty please with sugar on top,
128don't close the schools. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Erin Brady. Hi, my name is Aaron Brady. I have three student three children, two here at Lincoln. Um, first I would like to say people moved to Lakewood primarily for the community, something that doesn't have a price. My family and many of the others here could have moved to another nearby suburb and had more square footage and bigger yards, but we chose Lakewood because of the city's values and its walkable city-like feel. Prioritizing efficiency over the sense of community is a big mistake for Lakewood. I'm an educator in a public preschool in a neighboring district and I can understand the advantages of having preschool centralized. However, these advantages do not outweigh the sacrifice of losing a community school. The results from the survey the
129district distributed demonstrate the taxpayer taxpayers preference to keep more students within a shorter walk to school. that which is achieved by keeping as many elementary schools servicing school age kids as possible. Not by moving all of our smallest learners to one building where some families may no longer be able to access the education and then moving many other school age children further away from their elementary school. Early education, just like any education, is not one-sizefits-all, and what's best for other districts may not be best for ours. Limiting staff movement is one of the primary reasons being stated as a benefit for repurposing a school. However, reducing from to six from seven elementary schools will not have a significant effect on staff movement. You will still have bubble classes and will still have staff movement at
130almost the same rate it is now. Even in a centralized elementary school, staff movement amongst grade levels occurs. It's part of the profession and as long as it's done thoughtfully, respecting seniority and team dynamics, professionals should be able to manage such transitions when necessary. Keeping all seven elementary schools open at this time does not necessarily have to be a permanent decision, but repurposing a school will not be reversible. With enrollment stabilizing in the last four years, the limited amount of savings repurposing is predicted to provide, and the very limited payoff of a centralized early education center, can you really be sure that repurposing a school would be the right choice? Deciding not to repurpose a school now doesn't mean that it can't be done later if enrollment begins to decline further again or if circumstances
131change. However, right now there is not enough data or public demand to require such a permanent and drastic move. These schools are brand new. Let's at least finish paying them off before we take them away. [Applause] The community has shown up time and time again to emphasize that they do not want a school repurposed. The district needs to explore other options. The task force should not have been presented repurposing as the only option to solve enrollment issues, but should have been allowed more freedom to explore and brainstorm other possible solutions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Andrea Salem. Is Andrea Salem here? Oh, there she is. Good evening. Uh, thank you to the board and the superintendent for allowing us to speak tonight. My name is Andrea Salem. I'm a mom
132to of sorry two soon to be three rangers. My husband and I moved here in 2014 from Atlanta and we were drawn to the community because of its walkability, proximity to the lake, and relatively diverse population. Before becoming a mom, I was a middle school science teacher for a decade. So, the school system was also a big factor in our decision to move to Lakewood. I agree with many of the arguments made by the community members against repurposing an elementary school, but because of my background in education, I'd like to focus on the importance of datadriven decision-making and prioritizing student learning. As a district, teachers employ data datadriven decision-making on a daily basis as they use formative and summitative assessments to gather information about student learning and use that data to plan differentiated lesson plans.
133I'd like to ask that the district be held to the same standards and provide accurate and comprehensive data to prove thanks to prove that the repurposing of a school is so beneficial that it outweighs the many negative impacts that it will have. I have not run across any studies providing evidence that student learning changes meaningfully when one elementary school has one classroom of children in a grade level while the school down the street has three classrooms in that same grade level. And while teachers may not prefer to change buildings or grade levels each school year, those things do not significantly alter student learning either. One factor that has time and time again been consistently shown to impact student learning is student attendance. Chronic absenteeism has been proven to have a negative impact on student learning.
134And one of the leading causes of chronic absenteeism is a lack of transportation and an inability to attend school regularly. It's hard to receive emails from the district about the gains we've seen through the stay in the game initiative or listen to the Roosevelt or Lincoln staff rightfully tout the hard work they've done to increase student attendance this school year while knowing that repurposing a school or redistricting will absolutely make it harder for students to attend school each day. I can't speak for each and every teacher in the district, but if students don't even show up at school, it's extremely difficult to increase student learning, which should be the top priority of this school district at all times. If transportation has been cited by many studies as one of the biggest barriers to attendance, let's
135make it easier for students to get to school and learn, not harder. Please don't negate the hard work of our amazing teachers and administrators when there are many unknowns about the need for a centralized preschool and when these options don't even fully address the financial difficulties the district will face in the coming years. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jeff McCquort. Hello everybody. Um Jeff McCord. I have two kids in Lincoln. I actually spoke uh at the meeting a couple weeks ago, but wasn't expecting the three-minute shot clock. So I just wanted to come finish my thoughts. Um so my concern, similar to what I think a few people just said, is is not with this the end decision, it's with the process. And what I see is both a broken process in
136the task force and a lack of strategic vision and proper planning and governance by this school board. Um the the two points that were mentioned previously that uh you know in the sharet you all did before the public comment started you used the 2015 10year statistic of uh you know declines but uh that includes the period before the new schools opened that you spent uh years and hundred million dollars of public funds building. So 2015 is before the new schools open. You use that in your data. But if you look at the last five years since COVID, elementary enrollment is actually increasing and the middle and high school as has been said is is declining. Yet we've spent two or three years and a lot of consulting money and a lot of people's time invested
137in which elementary school is going to close in this myopic view around closing elementary schools rather than looking at the big picture of where are we going as a district and what is our plan. So the what comes off in the community is essentially a PR campaign that's saying the schools the city are dying and your job is to manage decay and not think about the things that we all came to live in this community new ones that came to this community why we came here and why we believe in Lakewood we believe that Lakewood is thriving look we live close to the park and we have a new skate park we have a new pool with like new slides we we're reinvesting in the awesome solstice the steps to put a pier out there.
138And now I have to explain to my son that he has a pool in his skate park now, but his school is closing because the community can't afford it because that's what the school district perceives as like the trajectory of Lakewood. So I would ask you to put this task force process on hold. You've spent a year plus putting together 70 plus pages of analysis on seven scenarios that started with the same scenarios that you're ending on. That's 10 pages of content and essentially varnish of the same decisions that you already made going into the process. I appreciate what you said, Miss Clark Sutton, that you had other scenarios that are now, you know, not going to happen. But our question is why? Like why? Like I've seen the task force materials. There's a lot
139of good suggestions that have been brought up, but they appear to not be on the table as scenarios that are now being pushed through this funnel towards a final vote of which of the three new schools that we built do we on a strategic plan and think about how Lakewood and this community can be the growing thriving district that we see. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Chris Min. Good evening. My name is Chris Moore. I live on Virginia and I have a daughter in first grade here at Lincoln. Uh in regards to discussion about repurposing elementary school buildings, I've heard, you know, so many arguments and and comments by both parents and Lakewood citizens, and uh I share those concerns, but I'm here tonight to bring up something that I haven't heard
140talked about yet. Um recently a post was made on the Lakewood City School social media accounts. The post read, and I quote, uh, "The overall decline in enrollment, 10,00 plus in 10 years, has led to underutilized buildings, unbalanced class sizes, and disruptions to both student learning and teacher collaboration." The post also mentions that many buildings are operating well below their intended capacity, which apparently affects the consistency and quality of education. again mentioned in the post. I'm concerned about these comments uh regarding disruptions to student learning, the quality of education our kids are receiving, and how teacher collaboration is being affected. I spent 17 years as a music teacher in another district in the greater Cleveland area. I'm primarily an instrumental music teacher, but my certification in Ohio states that I'm qualified to teach any music
141class in grades K through 12. The district I worked for called upon me to teach every type of music class including um elementary and middle school general music classes for which I took one class in my undergraduate studies choir never sang in a choir and music classes for special education students zero training I also taught in eight different buildings there were a few years buildings in a single day the support of my colleagues and administrators helped me through these challenges my dedication to my students made all the efforts worth it. I have no doubt the educators in the Lakewood City Schools care about their students as much as I did and that they are all accomplished professionals. I also have no doubt our building administrators are supporting staff and facilitating collaborative environments. With that said,
142I'm confused by the comments posted in the district. I'm all too aware of how difficult it can be for teachers to change buildings and have to in the argument regarding repurposing buildings. Teachers and administrators are professionals if they need to switch buildings and or teach a new grade or subject is the responsibility of the administration to facilitate that transition. If a district-wide curriculum is utilized, then teachers must be given time to familiarize themselves with said curriculum and time to integrate with their colleagues so collaborative efforts can occur. I understand why reductions in student populations might create variations in class sizes across the district, but this reduction shouldn't cause any disruptions to the quality of education our children receiving. My child has received an excellent education so far, for her teachers and her administrators have all
143been wonderful. Their inclusion in the district's post has made me even more suspicious of your intentions. Thank you. Our next speaker speaker is Robert Sweeney. Hello, I'm Robert Sweeney. You'll all be happy to know that I have almost nothing to say. I'll be very very brief. Um because everybody before me has been so impressive. Um I want to say I guess I'll start out with the theme that numbers are funny things. And I, for example, I appreciate very much the financial report that was made. I've learned a lot more about what's going on in Columbus. Uh all that is objectively true. Uh numbers there I think I can trust. uh numbers otherwise thrown by people who are trying to make a point can be used in all kinds of different ways that can be untrustworthy.
144Um I I can tell you that for example as a parent of students who went to St. Ignatius or St. Eds when you go to those high schools what they tell you and try to sell you on is the the student faculty member ratio. And the lower that number is, the more they pound their chest and say, "You you should come to this school." That's what guarantees good education. 14 students for every teacher is much better than 27 students for each teacher. Here tonight, that calculus is flipped on its head. And I have a hard time understanding that. That's a number I can't trust. Um, I guess my message overall is this. I'm a lawyer by training. And in law, there are two different standards of proof. If you're going to take away somebody's liberty
145or a affiliate I mean affect their lives significantly, you have a higher burden of proof that you must prove by the evidence before you can put them in that box. Um you have a a per burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If on the other hand they are decisions that don't necessarily change the character of the community otherwise could be recovered from if you go the wrong way then you can proceed on basis of a prepundonderance of the evidence not a burden beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision that we're talking about here today is existential to this community. you change the character of Lakewood if you go the wrong way here because as the last speaker said if the wrong way wants to be reversed five years from now we can't do it. You
146take away these comm any one of these community schools you'll never be able to bring it back. So please be very careful about whether or not you're satisfied in your own mind beyond a reasonable doubt the decision you're about to make is the right decision. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak again tonight. My name is Kelly Moyer and I have three boys here at Lincoln, second grade, kindergarten, and preschool and their almost one-year-old brother who hopes to follow them into this amazing community. I just wanted to say first of all, thank you for the updates you provided earlier in the meeting about the process. Um, but some facts were incorrect. The largest mistake I wanted to make sure to address would be saying we are losing 270 elementary students over the
147next 10 years when in fact the number is districtwide and we will only be losing 65 students K through five over that time frame. And that's according to the report that you publicly shared. I didn't want the night to go by without correcting that. According to the Ohio School Board Association, the school board is a policymaking body and members are the chief adviserss to the superintendent on community attitudes. It seems pretty clear to me that the community has made their attitudes known through over 1,400 signatures on a petition, through hundreds of yard signs, through the local print and TV media, through a school districtbacked survey, and through the dozens of parents and community members that have spoken out at this and other schoolboard meetings. All of these Lakewood residents are shouting the same refrain. Do
148not close any of our seven neighborhood elementary schools. Start building back the trust lost through this process and mentioned tonight by doing your job as the voice of the community. Listen to the thousands of residents and keep our schools open. Let's move on and work together on passing the levy, combating the detrimental legislation from the state mentioned tonight and get back to what Lakewood does best, working together as a unified community for the betterment of all. Do not delay this decision any further. keep our schools open. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Nathan Lzanic. Nathan Lzanic. Okay. Uh next we would have Mark Seiel. Hi, I'm Mark Cipiel, Lakewood resident in support of preserving our neighborhood elementary schools. Clearly, I'm not alone. We, the residents of Lakewood, have consistently shown strong support of
149our schools through our votes. In 2014, we voted with our ballots and with our dollars to build modern, walkable elementary schools in the center of Lakewood. three brand new schools, Lincoln, Grant, and Roosevelt, which now serve as anchoring community assets in ne in Lakewood's central neighborhoods. In 2020, we passed another levy by 76% of the vote to preserve school programs. We voted to build walkable neighborhood elementary schools, and we voted to preserve them. So today, we have to ask why. Why are we even talking about closing one of the very schools that we just built? And why is there no issue on the ballot for us to vote on now? Just as each just as we expect of our students, show us your work on how a school closure actually solves a severe problem and
150that there's no other alternative possible answer. The school district's own data shows that the highest enrollment schools are Lincoln, Grant, and Roosevelt. that population growth of residents and families is the highest in the center of Lakewood, right where these three schools are located, and that year-over-year enrollment across all Lakewood elementary schools has been stable or increasing since 2020. Recent data. This data supports keeping schools open, not closing them. Meanwhile, US News and World Report ranks Lincoln the number one elementary school in Lakewood. Grant is ranked second, Roosevelt third. We're told we're told that operating expenses are up and that savings by closing a school could be $500,000, just 0.6% of the district's total annual budget. We're talking about a decision that will reshape this community forever for a savings that's less than one penny of
151every dollar in the budget. And we're not even given any alternative financial solutions. We're just given an answer, school closure, without showing the work. We're told that a new school levy is needed in 2026. But here we are now with no vote, no levy on the table, not even a clearly articulated problem, and you're on the cusp of deciding whether to close one of our schools that we just built, one of the three best attended schools in Lakewood, where the highest population and family growth is occurring. Why would any Lakewood resident accept that? Would why would that be a responsible decision that aligns with Lakewood values? And why is the board considering the most extreme possible solution before exhausting all others? Why? So again, show us your work. That's what we demand of our students.
152That's accountability. You were entrusted to manage community assets that Lakewood residents voted for and paid for. You were given that trust with the expectation that you would protect those assets, fight for them, and yes, advocate to the state. We voted to build build and preserve these schools. Show us your work, put it on a ballot, and let us vote. Thank you. Our next speaker is Katie Solomon. Good evening. My name is Katie Solomon and I'm a mother of three children here at Lincoln. I want to be clear, we are not unreasonably unreasonably emotional parents. We are committed taxpaying members of this community who care deeply about Lakewood's future and we're calling for a fair process that obtains broad community input. We chose to live here and raise our families here because of what this district
153stands for, neighborhood-based schools, walkability, and excellent teachers. I believe everyone up there knows deep down there have been some missteps throughout the process. I could stand here and list them, but tonight I want to focus on what's still missing. Some of these comments might resemble my speech in earlier January, and I want to use that to make a point that not much has changed. Where is the urban planning input from the city? Where is the traffic study? Where is the professional analysis showing demand for and feasibility of a centralized prek model? We've asked for a data breakout on teacher shuffling at the elementary level, one of your main justifications for school consolidation, and yet we still haven't seen it. Where are the new scenarios that should have come from these talented task force members or
154our community inputs unique ideas? Where is any evidence that public feedback has shaped the direction of these plans in a meaningful way? Where are the annual goals for the superintendent and treasurer? What are we moving towards? And perhaps most critically, where is the explanation for why we can't expand pre-K within our current neighborhood schools? My understanding is that the task force wrapped up nearly eight months of work without having the the answer to that question. Our walkable, decentralized school model is why we've connected to fill this room tonight. It's why we invest in this city. If you close schools and increase walking distances, families won't walk, they'll drive. And that destroys the very fabric of what makes Lakewood special. We are not Bay Village. We are not Rocky River. We are not Uklid. We are
155Lakewood, the most densely populated city in Ohio. We don't have or need school buses. We don't need or want centralized preK. We can look at expanding this in our current buildings. It's time to reset with a growth mindset and a commitment to rebuilding trust. That begins with leadership change. It continues with a transparent, forward-looking, strategic plan shaped by the entire community. That's how we meet this moment and protect what matters most, our neighborhood schools, our walkability, and our identity as Lakewood. Let's not trade an unmatched walkable legacy for a daily traffic jam. Thank [Applause] you. Thank you. Next is Paul Lero. Paul Lero. What? Paul La [Music] Pro. Okay. Emily Lindberg. Thank you. Um Emily Lindberg. Um, I have a child at Horseman and one at Harrison. Um, sorry, Harding. Um, I just wanted to
156say, um, I'm not usually here because I'm usually advocating for the complete street ordinance, uh, at city council, which meets at the same time. Um, but I care deeply about keeping our seven neighborhood schools open because of the walkability of our community. And I feel so strongly that we do not need or want a centralized preschool. Um, as a number of other parents have noted, it's it's not what we want. It's not who we are. Um I I have been working tirelessly on the hike and bike program um behind the scenes and um I do see that some of the things that I've said have come through like the fact that we need to look at where our crossing guards are on a yearly basis not just one and done. Um things like that but
157We we don't want this. We want our We want our schools. Um I happen to live in a home that my kids could have walked across the street to go to to go to elementary school, but instead we have to travel over a mile away. And that's a reality a lot of families are going to face once you close the schools. Maybe this time it's one. and that it's it's just going to snowball with people moving away, people not trusting, people people don't want to be in in this community anymore. I think we can I think we can find a solution that that works for our community. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Eric Saleo. I am Eric Sow. I have uh two children here at Lincoln. Uh one is on her way out
158as a fifth grader and one is hopefully going to start her uh first year of kindergarten next year. come to you guys uh as a a son of two educators as well. So, I understand the position that you're in. Uh don't envy it on any level. But I think the the overall resounding thing that I hear that that brought me here tonight was I think that there is an undermining of what's actually happening. Our community is built on trust and stability and we see that every single day when we get to see all these lovely faces when we drop our kids off at school because we get to walk. We get that foundation in and we drive that home with our kids that you can trust other parents. You can trust your community to take
159care of you. And uh as many people have mentioned here, this has felt to me from the very beginning like a huge PR campaign where we actually don't have a say. This has felt like a predetermined decision backed up by a lot of statistics and numbers that you cannot always trust. And that's one of the things that we don't know how to explain to our children is these kids who have the majority of them gone through COVID. They had their community ripped away from them for over a year where they didn't see any other children. And now we're expected to say, "Hey, by the way, your school's not here anymore. You have to go to this one for for something that is a lack of foresight. It's a lack of planning and it's based on
160nothing that is tangible to anyone in this room. We're looking at we're looking at what we feel like is an attack on our stability and our an attack on our trust for this community. That's terrible. We're we're already facing a time in the world right now where a lack of trust and a lack of stability is pretty much where we all live in. And we're trying to provide that back for our children by taking away a community school like this that is so centralized in how we need to bring our kids up. It it's it's for for the reasons that you guys are doing it. it's completely wrong and I think shortsighted is you're using statistics that that you bend and manipulate to justify the the end result of hey closing a school when you're
161actually not looking at any of the alternatives in any cumulative way. And I think that everybody that's showing up here is is telling you that is that we need trust. We need that stability and we need it in you. And we don't have it. Nobody has that anymore because we don't know where these things are coming from or how these decisions decisions are being made and that's why we want to keep these schools open. Thank you. [Applause] Next, next we have JP Galty. Good evening. My name is JP Gralty. Uh, and I've spoken here before. Uh, I'm a community engagement professional uh, and dad to two future uh, uh, Lincoln Elementary School students hopefully. Uh, and I come to you today as a community engagement professional uh, with an offer of resources and help. So,
162I was looking at the website today of the Ohio School Boards Association. And on their website, they have something to say about how school boards should engage the community. This is a report that was created by the Illinois Association of School Boards, fully endorsed by the Ohio Associ uh, the Ohio School Boards Association. And so I'd like to both read you a couple short excerpts from this and then leave this with you for your reference. So what is what do they say about how school boards should engage the community? First they say engaging stakeholders is one of the primary responsibilities of citizen school boards. It helps ensure that the public in public education is preserved. Community engagement is at the heart of why American democracy has established a system of governance for our public schools
163using locally elected citizen volunteers. As school board members, local boards of education are uniquely positioned to engage their neighbors in important conversations. Next, every community has a diverse range of voices that need to be heard. In many instances, board members often hear from a select few. Those who came to the board with complaints, those who want something unique, or the voices that they themselves bring to the table. However, in order to have a successful community engagement process, the board needs to hear from all the various and diverse voices in the community. And I'm going to skip this last one, but it's highlighted here because I have something else to say and I have one more minute. In my opinion, the community engagement steps taken so far have been insufficient for the magnitude of the critical
164decision facing our community. Proceeding with any decision without further community engagement that includes a commitment to collaborative decision-making and problem solving about any school closures risks undermining community trust and doing as people have noted today irreparable harm to our Lakewood community and our Lakewood community schools. As a Lakewood resident, father of two future Rangers, and a community engagement professional with over a decade of experience in the field, I am offering to you today a free consultation with the Lakewood School Board to better understand the context and process of your decision and to recommend evidence-based strategies and processes for collaborative decision-making and effective community engagement. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Our next speaker is Marie Fetch Kirk. Marie Marie Kirk. Marie Fetch Kirk. Good evening. Um, I'm putting on my Marie Fetchukerk sustainability manager hat. Um,
165so Lakewood is known for its walkability. Walkability attracts people to our neighborhood and it helps define who we are as a city. As a community with a walkable school district, we need to look more deeply at the safety ramifications of our decisions. Repurposing schools without a very vigorous traffic study is an issue. Lakewood is growing as you can see by the growing retail and um commercial properties, residential properties. For instance, just the Berry Buick development is adding 124 new apartments and 1500 ft of retail space. That means more cars in Detroit. At the same time, if we repurpose Lincoln or Grant, we'll be adding more students to walk along or across Detroit to get to a different school. These students have to navigate complex intersections, but also business driveways and apartment driveways with limited visibility
166yet where people are going to be entering quickly or exiting quickly on their way to work or to go pick something up quickly. This could be a real problem for Lakewood and the safety of our children. According to the National Traffic Safety Administration, young school age children are just developing a sense of danger. So, they don't realize dangerous traffic situations. Further, kids in grades K through three do not naturally use their peripheral vision, so they're slower at seeing relevant objects like turning cars. Additionally, young children are often restless, impatient, or distracted and have trouble waiting. If you ever tried to wait with a kindergartener or a group of kindergarteners trying to cross the street, it is hard work. So keep that in mind as you're thinking about this, especially because if you look at Noaka,
167the Northeast Ohio Area Coordination uh organization, they have a map on their website with the levels of traffic stress. And many of our streets are at very high levels of traffic stress, including Clifton, Franklin, and Hillyard. And we also have a struggle to feel the needs for crossing guards. And we will need more if we need more students across Detroit, Franklin, Hillyard, and Madison. Thus, more families will decide to drive to school because walking or biking isn't safe for their young children. There will be greater traffic stops because drop off lines will be longer and will take more time. Thus, drivers will be less patient, more likely to run lights, and less likely to yield to pedestrians and young cyclists. This will change our community. It'll change the character of our development and will lead
168to potentially more car crashes and people moving as they seek places that are safer to them and their family. Finally, I'm going to put on the hat of Jenny Goodwin, a neighbor who had to leave to let her dog out to pee. Moving here from the city of Atlanta and living in a highly valued, rare, walkable community. I'm a huge proponent of walkable schools. And though I do not have children, I still value a walkable community which is includes kids walking to school safely. It is the backbone of our unique community. Thank you. Thank [Applause] you. Next we have Jim Kenny. Okay. I thought I was getting That's not okay. Um, Angela Clunk. Okay. I am tired of being here, but passionate as everyone else is, and that's why we're still here. Um, we would
169like to probably all spend our time a little bit differently. Um uh we do obviously appreciate the task force members. I don't think there's confusion about that. We keep um thanking them and and we should and um if there's any divisiveness, I would just say whose idea was this? Because the task force didn't come out of nowhere. We didn't ask for this. It came from somewhere. So um the city schools posted other people have mentioned it um a post about the declining enrollment which also is talking points around the country. So again, let's be specific to our community and not just, you know, glom on to talking points around the world. Um, but there were at the end of the day over 150 comments and I'm not a fan of AI, but Meta AI gave
170me a whole summary of all of those comments and that's what I'm going to read. You've already heard it. We're all in agreement. Um, but this is what people are saying in regards to your um, declining enrollment post. Community members expressed strong opposition to closing elementary schools, citing benefits of smaller class sizes, walkability, and community impact. Concerns include decreased individualized attention, increased class sizes, and potential state takeover by charter schools. Residents urged meaningful engagement and transparency in decision-making, emphasizing the importance of preserving community funded schools. I didn't want to come back after the last time I was here because if you weren't listening then, you're not listening now. But you keep saying you're listening. Um, so I just wanted to put that concise uh uh um organization of thoughts that AI did for us together
171and say that um if we're worried about class size, which again was brought up, we redistrict, which you're doing anyways. You've said that anyways. So I think that's a great place to start. As I said at the last meeting, there are two schoolboard spots open this fall and the school board members are responsible for putting in the superintendent. And so I think we really need to think about who is listening to us. I I know their intentions are good. You may not feel that your um intentions are bad or that these ideas were predetermined, but that's how we feel and that's on you all. Um, so we should probably um vote and make sure that we support somebody that has these same ideas um so that we can get a superintendent in that is from
172this county at minimum. Thank you. Thank you. And that is the end of our uh public speaking for the evening. Thank you everyone who spoke uh I would just like to say something very quickly. Um, thank you all very much for speaking and Angela. Um, we are listening and we we haven't made a decision so that's why we're still listening. Um, we still have two items of other board business. So, take it away, Betsy Shaughnessy. Okay. Uh the first is uh a request for approval on one reading of a classified employee resignation. I move adoption of this requires a roll call vote. I second. It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Zean, can you call the role? Mrs. Cassburgger. I. Miss Shaughnessy. I. Miss Clark Sutton. I. Mr. Callahan. I. Mrs. Do. I. Thank you. Thank
173you. And the next is a resolution accepting a resignation and adopting an employment separation agreement and release. Request is approved uh requesting approval on one reading. I move adoption of the resolution. I second. It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Zim, can you call the role? Miss Cassenberger. Hi. Miss Shaughnessy. I Miss Clark Sutton. I Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss D. Hi. Thank you. Wonderful. That concludes the business of the meeting. Uh do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Move. Moved and second. All in favor? I I uh