001[Music] a [Music] ready good evening everyone today is Monday March 3 and I'd like to welcome all of you to uh our regular Board of Education meeting um we previously met in executive session uh for 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 leny or student unless the employee official license or student requests a public hearing um so that being said uh we are returning to public session and I would love for you all to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance here it is I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you uh
002next I want I would like to hear if we have a motion to adopt the agenda I move that we adopt the agenda present oh I move that we adopt the agenda presented with one modification that being number one under other board business moves to the superintendent report second that uh motion with the uh addition has been moved and second end anybody any discuss Mr Zan can you please call the RO Mrs catburger hi Miss Shany hi M Clark Sutton hi Mr calan I Mr do hi thank you next uh I would like to uh have a motion for the approval of the minutes minutes there are no minutes to there are no minutes moving right along uh we uh will move on to the superintendence report excellent good evening again president katsen Berger vice
003president shaa SE distinguished board members Treasurer Zan it is my pleasure to first introduce um our principal of Harris ele Harrison Elementary Mrs Sabrina [Applause] Crawford welcome and good evening board president uh Miss katsen Berger vice president miss shanesy distinguished board members superintendent and wik and Treasurer Zan first I would like to recognize our Harrison resilient Ranger meline Riley finally known to us as Maddie Maddie's teachers Mrs day and Mrs sperle shared some thoughts with me about mat Maddie and I totally agree Maddie is a role model for others she comes to school with a big smile excited to learn each day she gives 100% effort in all her classes and tries her best even when the task is difficult she encourages others when they need help and is always happy to lend a hand
004she is respectful and kind to our entire School community and can often be caught giving a hug or a smile to a younger student she is very involved at Harrison including Garden Club news crew Battle of the books band and peace Pals she is also president of our student council this year she makes Harrison a better place and we know she will achieve great things as she continues her journey at Garfield next [Applause] year Maron or Maddie uh congratulations on being a resilient Ranger and for contributing so much to the Harrison Community and I'd love to uh give uh give this lovely certificate for you as a congratulations take your hand [Applause] congratulations uh mine do you have do you have folks with you here today uh yes who do you have with me um
005my baby sister Hannah my younger sister Kinsley and my mom and dad oh wonderful [Applause] can I just take the baby for the rest yeah uh I would also like to recognize our most improved student uh relation with regards to attendance and that's Joseph iano fondly known as Joey Miss Parker our F FRC shared that Joy's attendance has significantly improved this school year his efforts and commitment to attending school on time every day has earned him the role of a front door greeter this week congratulations Joy [Applause] congratulations Joey and your uh improved attendance here's a certificate for you congratulations shake your hand do you have folks here with you tonight um my parents uh perhaps they'd like to join us for a photo [Applause] okay s our Harrison presentation today features all sorts of
006good things uh related to The Grow Ohio grant that Harrison received in September I have Mrs hickey one of our L teachers here at Harrison and one of our teacher leaders who helped to oversee the grant um she and Mr Stormer are one of our who is one of our preschool teachers they work together and um make sure that we're following all the guidelines and everything associated with the Grant in addition to Mrs hickey a few of our garden leaders Maddie Nora and Sheldon will will walk you through what we have been doing as it relates to the [Applause] grant we go um thank you so much for um in inviting us to present what we've been up to and hopefully you saw um some of the hydroponic lettuce as we were coming in and
007we really think a project like this actually speaks to every our portrait of a Lakewood Ranger everything we want our students uh to be achieving so we thought we would break it down and I think Sheldon you're gonna help us do this first one right students that uh students that have never before experienced growing plants have developed new lifelong skills related to garding and a appreciation for homegrown produce they are motivated to known more H students have known about a agriculture agriculture pollinators food related aqu acup Pati and what grows well in Lakewood excellent can you tell them what does grow well in Lakewood um strawberries oh tomatoes and what's the other thing that grows well in our outdoor Garden that you said weeds and I that lives out there and do you feel like
008you've learned a lot in Garden Club yeah yeah what's one thing you've learned that all plants don't need to be walled every day there we go all right thank you [Applause] shelvin okay and um Maddie is also one of our garden leaders Garden leaders will visit the ranger CAF at Lakewood High School we will engage in a lesson about where F food comes from lesson one fork Farm and learn about food safety SL preparation and have a tour of the program we will dine together on salad grut Harrison and pizza collaboratively made by the West Shore and Harrison students the Harrison Community is engaging with several local food producer organizations throughout the school year including resource Cleveland and spice Farms excellent and do you remember when that trip is MD that is I believe 14th
009March 14th yeah so coming right up we're going to be visiting the Ranger Cafe and um we also have a field trip planned at the end of the year to go to um the farm run by resource fet thank [Applause] you okay and here's Nora students demonstrated empathy in regards to how their peers felt about eating something new a schoolwide lesson on food insecurity was taught in hydroponic was introduced as a possible solution we have been working through some challenges including a leaking hydroponic farm and recent Downey milde disease students had to troubleshoot and research about the cause of the problem and how to solve it excellent nor can you tell them anything more about that you want to tell them about what's been going on in the farm here so the plants had some
010mold on them because of the dowy M de disease so we what' we do uh we had to put a fan in there that we could blow them thought maybe it was a little too wet on it over the weekend and food can grow in the winter that's right you're we're limited by where we live right but here we have all this lettuce growing right here at Harrison thanks we actually grew 25 pounds of lettuce last month with with that's a lot of lettuce you don't normally measure lettuce in pounds but that's a requirement of the grant which is kind of funny um I mean it's not you know you have to have a measurable outcome but pounds of lettuce is a lot of lettuce but everybody was able to uh sample the lettuce in
011the cafeteria have like a little mini salad with their regular lunch and then they Incorporated it into to um the salads that were being served as well so we have um some video footage of that which everybody loves watching themselves on video about um the hydroponic garden probably how we had to take out the how we Harvest it in the cafer not yeah CAF and then we had to put in the new ones nice nice okay so um and did you help with starting the Little Seeds too no okay you weren't there that day all right how about Monroe did you help with the seeds yeah I liked learning about like the different types of lettuce we were going to grow like I liked I I really enjoy romae lettuce and we were going to
012grow that and I was really excited and I liked Green Star lettuce and I was just like I can't wait to eat that and good news guess what today's the taste test yeah I know and I'm so excited yeah so yesterday we harvested did like 25 lb of lettuce which that is a lot of lettuce like it you can feel it in the basket had some weight and how many days did the lettuce yeah do you remember Nora how many days it takes uh it's just like the moon I think it took like two like month two months just one month yep like 28 days oh that's crazy yeah Nora how about you what do you like about indoor lettuce my favorite part was in the big machine seeing all three of dogs trying and
013failing to set the machine up that was actually pretty funny there was a little trial and error right with get DEF the pump to work the light to work yeah um that that's pretty funny that that was your favorite part yeah cuz adults have to learn too yeah Mrs hi's had to learn about pH and balancing water and and all the minerals that go into the water and then you're like wow I really starting to like dirt our new UN it actually comes with a it's called a TDS meter so that's that little thing you see me sticking in the water yeah and that tells us if the water needs more minerals okay that's smart I thought it was going to check the temperature and it checks the temperature oh that's that's actually cool yeah
014but it's pretty steady in the cafeteria yeah yeah M what do you and we also have the unit in the hallway nor do you love the unit in the hallway yeah yeah why do you like it uh chives yeah you like the tries I was showing her the onion tries and while we were um taking out some of the little tiny lettuce um while we were putting in some of the um New lettuce seeds me and Nora were just taking some tribes and eating them I smelled your breath my grand yeah you don't want to do that garlic yeah yeah onion and the the one in the hallway some of the teachers say Mrs hickey thank you for doing that because it's like a happy light because in this time of year we don't see
015a lot of sun so we just have some pretend Sun at ha I have a happy light in my room and it's pretty nice yeah we've got one in the hallway and one in the cafeteria now right you just kind of feel feel the plant cafeteria always f with like yes yeah we we had the cafeteria hydroponic garden like so the daytime was when the kids were at school so it really kind of brightened up that space give me a thumbs up if you can hear awesome all right so my name is Miss Ally and we're here today to try some really local fresh salad and lettuce so this lettuce was actually grown by your classmates in Mrs hickey's class does everybody know who that is yeah awesome so this lettuce was actually grown with
016just two things can anybody guess what those two things are are you can just shout it out what do you think yes good job anything else water and nutrients that's all you need and usually you need soil so this kind of lettuce is really cool because it can be grown um year round indoors so we're going to try some of that lettuce and then you're going to vote on if you loved it liked it or didn't like it and you'll get a really cool sticker afterwards too and then we have one more more really fun surprise we are going to have a special guest come out in just a second he's going to come up to your table so make sure you keep eating um your delicious lunch and he'll come up to you to
017say hi if you don't want to say hi to him just let him know nicely and he'll move on um to your next friend okay everyone you want to start going around you think can I take pictures about anybody with samples is that okay to show you tried it awesome thank you do you want a sticker so this one shows that you tried it and what did we think of it um loved it the flavor the flavor think about it what else that's okay well that's good enough answer how about you the tast you like thean on what you think about it it's good what did you like about it did you like it all I gave you is going to be your vote okay so you love and in the back in the background
018you can see uh Munch Munch The Fox that was the it's the Ohio Department of Education mascot and he's he wore a green t-shirt that day because he was all about the veggies and um kids have been asking me when our next lettuce party is so I would say it was huge success like I don't I don't know if we're doing it every month but um it's it's really been an amazing opportunity like I said it um it all this kind of Project based learning is so good for our kids it you know overlaps with real life and you heard in the slides the adults have learned a lot too and you know we even have some teachers like oh no thank you I don't I don't really eat that like oh the kids do
019you know they're eating it and they've tried new things so thanks so much does anybody have any questions I just want I'm assuming the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce was the source of funds for the grant yes great yes yes they were very generous they funded um they liked our our plan because it Incorporated um a lot of field trips and they also really liked the um collaboration with uh the high school and other organizations sounds thank you yeah looks wonderful and and one of those pictures was Mr Green who is our coordinator of um nutrition services was helping there too so you Incorporated our district supervisor yeah it was so nice he he's been um really helpful and he got us lots of Swag like there was really nice stickers and he actually
020invited uh Munch The Fox and he made a Harrison vinegret so was like a curated vinegar just for the event we also had Ranch just in case people W adventurous but it was really tasty I mean a lot of the kids were like we would love to have this um dressing every day that's great thank you so much yeah thank you thank you congratulations great job guys thank you guys next I would like to invite up to the podium Dr Palumbo she has an educator Spotlight thank you superintendent mwiki 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 educator tonight I'm honored to share with you an exemplary educator
021nominated by her colleagues to be recognized because of her commitment to our students and the ways in which she embodies our vision of a Lakewood educator please join me in welcoming up Mandy Varga so I can share with you how she exemplifies our vision of a Lakewood educator [Applause] welcome Middle School teacher Mandy Varga who splits time between Harding and Franklin School of opportunity truly has leaned on the vision of a Lakewood educator competency of growth mindset this year after being asked to switch grade levels and teach eighth grade science although she had taught that grade before new curriculum had been introduced since that time her successful transition is part of why Franklin School of opportunity teacher Lucas yuso nominated Mandy for this honor Lucas also noted how Mandy took the initiative at the beginning
022of the school year to organize reading intervention supports for both Harding and Franklin School of opportunities intervention and enrichment periods collaboration is also a key Vision component that Mandy often relies on whether it's gathering in input from her students on Project topics or working with her Lakewood Teachers Association colleagues as the middle school chairperson for the association as a science teacher Mandy who joined the district in 2012 strives to make connections for her students to what's happening in the world around them in order to expl expand their Global awareness for example when teaching about the water cycle she may tie in current events such as a lack of the water supply in areas of the country or the world and how that affects the health of our planet says Lucas Mandy is a great teacher
023and students in her classes are super engaged her 21st Century Real Life problemsolving projects for science classes hit home hard and help students to learn thank you Mandy [Applause] and Mandy president Katen Burger has something to share with you but also we have a gift certificate to the ranger shop at Lakewood High School for you you're welcome congratulations Mandy thank uh for all you do for our students uh just want to shake your hand say congratulations and I think you y congratulations so next I invite our athletic director Mr Rob Sloan to the podium and before he starts because we knew Athletics was going to come up again because we have these awesome athletes that are just striving but you know one thing I have to say um this is one of our best hirers
024we've had over the years um Mr Sloan has done I I can't even count the amount of incredible not just processes you put in place collaborative processes for students and staff and coaches and you have leveled um up our department to just just the highest levels and so I thank you for that your time commitment to this district is outstanding I don't know how you do it we appreciate it I hope you take the time when you can which I know is never there as an athletic director but um I never ever ever hear a bad word about Mr Sloan and it's because he works just as hard as anyone else in this district and just this past week we were on the phone multiple times I didn't have a voice but he tried to
025hear me but um yeah you know s ads had a problem in their gym in the middle of a a game a very important um section or sectional District district game and he was already home came back opened the gym with multiple other people but this is just one other thing he does put the dinner on the table came back opened the gym so they could finish their District game here with us and we got so many compliments about how the facility looked and and that has to do with your high standards so appreciate all you do um in the late nights and the early mornings but thank you so much for being a Lakewood Ranger I appreciate that I don't do well with compliments so we're going to go to somebody else here um
026thank you superintendent NWI treasur Zan president katsen Berger vice president shaunessy and distinguished board members I've been invited here tonight to recognize the efforts of some of our amazing student athletes and the coaches to help them achieve their goals two years ago when I got into this District the boys and girls swimming and Diving teams had a combined total of 19 student athletes this year they have 36 student athletes with with 20 that qualified for either the swimming or diving portion of the District Tournament um their numbers are continuing to grow every year this year one of the divers Drew Wallen qualified for the state championship with that let me introduce head diving coach Denny Dyke and head boy swimming coach Patricia poric to this podium [Applause] Drew did an awesome job this year last
027year he missed state by by one dive this year he made state by one dive he worked really hard he worked hard for the last three years since he came on the team um my sister said during the summer last year he was down there every summer every day during the summer diving and she noticed him and I noticed Drew Drew worked really hard sometimes he'd give me a hard time during practice he'd do a dive and I'd say drew you got to do this and You' say no no I did it right coach I did it right I said no you didn't you did it wrong you got to do different no coach I did I was fine it was a good dive he he just give me a hard time but then this
028year he started working on his Dives I think he matured a little bit and he really really worked really hard just before State and he was hitting every every dive during practice the problem with that is he got down to State and he he wore himself out during practices he did such an awesome job during practices that he got down to State and his Dives weren't just quite quite there he looked really really good this year and I got a recommend got a commend him he did so well Drew come on up I got something for you do you mind if I say I'm gonna just tell a couple of Drew's stories um so I'm the head swimming coach I oversee kind of the diving portion when I first met Drew he was a sophomore
029he was full of energy anyone that knows drew that is him to a te um he came in with zero swimming or diving experience I tried to get him to swim I failed um but under coach Denny and Co coach Christy that actually you know turned out to be a really good thing so I'm happy I felt there um you really felt into the sport as coach Denny had mentioned he missed his State spot to a fellow teammate last year by one um I watched him celebrate that teammate and then come back even more focused and ready to commit so that's really hard to do that's a ton of adversity to overcome um especially somebody who's new to the sport that just had affinity for you know the love of water um my favorite part
030about watching Drew dive in a high pressure and high stake situation is he's Mr Charisma uh While most divers kind of look at those six officials and all of the eyes on them and just hone in on their Dives Drew takes a different approach he goes to the board he smiles he nods at each and every judge before his approach I mean his composure is just unmatched and then when he's off the deck uh behind the boards he is celebrating each dive very enthusiastically of all of his teammates and his competitors um everyone just really loves to be around Drew so his energy is pretty contagious um that's all I have congratulations and thank you for representing Lakewood at [Applause] States participation certificate I wanted to give it to you tonight because uh I think
031it's something you should get tonight you're probably get more at the banquet so congratulations man you did a great job this year and here's a certificate from the board and recognition of all your achievements so thank you you know thank you so much for representing Lakewood so well congratulations thank you so much and uh I think gotta get a little [Applause] I only have a really quick story about Drew so last year I had to drive them to the state or I'm sorry the district championships in Bowling Green and I drove them in the van so afterwards it was like 8:30 or 9:00 at night so I figured I'd take him someplace to get something to eat and before I knew what was going on Drew was trying to get the phone number from our
032waitress so so when she said he has Charisma he's got Charisma he doesn't have much game but he has Charisma all right now turning to the coach that's in charge of the one sport in the in the district that is every other sports punishment cross country um three seasons ago Coach Moore took over a program that was also starting to lose numbers in those three short years that number has grown from 27 athletes to 45 athletes he's had four runners qualify for the state meet in his three years with Porter being the latest and has also LED his team to the first team Regional appearance as many years head coach Charles [Applause] Moore um thanks everybody for being here and congratulations to all these amazing rangers um I was worried I ate some of the
033lettuce out there I thought is it in my teeth it feels like it's in my teeth if anybody's looking for weeds in Lakewood they're on Manor Park by my house so um congratulations Drew i' had won an opportunity to work with Drew when he was um doing Middle School uh running and it's just amazing to watch these kids grow up and just um continue to perform and um you know we're just very blessed as as their parents and adults and coaches to get to watch it um I was trying to think of different things to say about Porter um and I just have so many stories he's only a sophomore but I've been very fortunate to kind of have my coaching Evolution go from recreational coaching the League stuff to Middle School to high school
034and kind of follow along the trajectory of his class there's two different class ranges so uh I was trying to add up the amount of times that I would have been at practices with Porter over the last you know nine years of coaching in Lakewood through that um and uh you know it's I don't know 750 or something or more that we you know times that we spent together you though he's only a sophomore so um you know if there's something that epitomizes Porter that I realized in thinking about that it's that you know Talent um plus incredible commitment equals the outcome that we're here for tonight so uh I you can't necessarily tell when they're very young what their levels of talent are going to be everybody has different talent in different ways I
035think Porter always felt it within himself that he he had some innate ability um and then he just continued to apply apply ridiculous consistency to his talent year after year after year after year when I started coaching at the high school he was still in the Middle School to give example and we would be doing these starting early June cross country practices June 10th 8: a.m. Lakewood Park he's in middle school and he would show up he would say Coach Moore can I come out and run can I come out and run with the guys uh for a number of years I've done cold weather run club stuff where we go to Edgewater Park in the freezing cold we have some donuts afterwards and there's Porter showing up showing up when I was at middle
036school we would go if the middle school kids were interested I would take them out to Endor spider meets and Porter always went he's just been this incredible uh consistent leader of our team um and then one he once he started adding that up to the level of talent he was actually born with we just saw incredible results so uh his accomplishments this year were just astounding to make it to the division one state meet um in the toughest District in the toughest region in Ohio was incredible um he helped lead our team as a sophomore to the regional championships we had to beat St EDS for that last slot to get to go which was incredible was a great battle between those two great programs and um you know Porter has just become another
037one of the names in the long line of history of great Lakewood athletes I'm very proud to get to coach the sport at Lakewood it means the world to me to get to work with kids like this um cross country and I always say it when I come here that um in the hundred-year history that's been cross country in uh this boort of in in the state of Ohio 1928 and 29 started right here we won the first two state championships and there's only one school that's ever gone to 50 state championships or more and that's Lakewood um the next closest is probably in the 30s it's pretty amazing and um Porter is stepping up and he leading a young group of guys we made it to Regionals this year with only one senior on
038our team and on our varsity team and uh it's just been incredible watching him at such a young age um accomplish what he has been doing and it was really fun to go to State and watch him run this year we just finished up an incredible indoor program where he is now the second fastest sophomore in the St entire state of Ohio in the two mile and we're going to start the outdoor season and you know he hasn't even finished up his sophomore season so it's been really incredible Porter it's just been you know he's also really good friends with my son and that group of friends so if I'm not coaching them they're usually crashed out on my couch when I come down on Saturday morning um and uh maybe we'll get you guys
039working on my weeds this year so maybe we maybe we can work with the young guys get the weeds so um but congratulations Porter um come on [Applause] up congratulations Porter for all your accomplishments and uh we look look forward to I'm sure many more to come congratulations do you have uh folks here tonight I do my mom is down there I think we might have to have her come up and join us [Applause] and finally I invite up to the podium our director of Human Resources Mr shade thank you Mrs nids Wiki are we are we is the board going to take action first or uh yes make an excellent point Mr SL um we are moving to The Other Board business item Mrs Jonathan thank you uh this is a um oh sorry
040keep turning that off um this is board action uh to hire a director of student services Stephanie Morgan and I move adoption of this resolution second it's been moved in second um and request approval on one reading so uh Mr Zan can you call the role Miss catburger hi Miss shauny hi Miss Clark Sutton hi Mr Callan hi Mr dotman hi thank you thank you great thank you so while I'm uh while Stephanie's making her way up here there she is I'd thank Mrs NWI Mr Zan of course board president Mrs katzenberger vice president Mrs shauny Mrs dotman Mrs Clark Sutton and Mr Callahan um on behalf of the Lakewood city school district I am pleased to introduce Dr Stephanie Morgan as the new director of student services beginning next school year uh with extensive
041experience in student services Administration Dr Morgan brings 17 years of experience to this specific role including her most recent stint at the Brunswick City School District where she has directed everything from programming students with disabilities to English Learners and those facing homelessness and that that's just a short list as you well know she has successfully managed federal grants and departmental budgets established compliance procedures and supervised prek-12 enrollment and special needs Services as well prior to that Dr Morgan spent 14 years as the Director of student services at Westlake City Schools she's also served as a special education coordinator in Barberton and was a school psychologist and intervention coach for the Brecksville Broadview Heights City School District throughout her whole career Dr Morgan has been deeply dedicated to Student Services continuously advocating for students and supporting
042their varying needs she earned her undergraduate degree from John Carroll University a master's degree in educational Administration from Kent State University and her professional doctorate from Youngstown State University tonight we celebrate Dr Morgan not only for these professional account lishments in her appointment to our Lakewood leadership team but also it's her birthday y tomorrow it's a big one tomorrow um she is joined this evening by her brother Peter and her sons Peter and Andrew and um her brother and Son Peter share a name with her grandfather Peter who was a significant inspiration and hero in Dr Morgan's life so with that we are thrilled to have Dr Morgan joining our team where we know she will work closely with all of our staff and families to advocate for the success of each of our Lakewood
043students please join me in welcoming Stephanie and we'll have a opportunity for her to say a few words bad thank you C here I come just uh good evening everybody good evening everybody thank you for having me thank you for welcoming me to the Lakewood Community I'm very excited to join just have to wait about five and a half six months um but I look forward to trying your lettuce and coming to watch you dive and hopefully maybe even getting to see you run so thank you for all you do to support the students I'm excited to be here to support um the students families and staff of Lakewood city schools I'm Ranger [Applause] ready thank you very much and that concludes the superintendent report thank you very much so many wonderful things to celebrate
044today um at this point in the meeting we would be getting ready to move on to our uh business of the meeting so we give folks everyone is welcome to stay but we give folks the opportunity to leave if they would like to so we'll take a minute to give everybody that opportunity you can leave you can leave the baby if you want [Laughter] wait Tom s okay moving right along uh next item on the agenda is our finance report Mrs Clark Sutton thank you um our investments purchased and matured for January 2025 um there are tables that have been included in the agenda materials that identify Investments That matured during 20 January 2025 as well as outstanding Investments as of January 2025 the investment earnings for regular board funds for the month total $226,300
04526,41 19 um $2.2 million uh in investment earnings so um thank you for that smart investing uh for the month of January 2025 general fund receipts totaled 3,338 , 738 and general fund expenditures totaled 8,452 650 uh revenues um year-to date actual and projected revenues through January show a positive $560,000 variance compared to the 5-year forecast the interest income is exceeding the fiscal year 25 estimates contributing to the positive overall variance for expenditures our year-to-date actual and projected expenditures through January show a negative 5,374 uh variance compared to the five-year forecast this is due to January was a three pay month which increased the monthly expenditures by $1.8 million benefits are exceeding the 20 fiscal year 25 estimates however we expect this variance um should be reduced by fiscal year end the transition to the
046Great Lakes Council of government from the Suburban healthc care Consortium created a short-term cash flow variance which should be resolved by the fiscal year end and to which we will be looking at um our cash reserves are sufficient through fiscal year 2026 um and a financial summary report is provided to show the monthly and fiscal year-to-date cash positions for non-general funds maintained by the district all accounts have sufficient funds available to cover the increase in the Appropriations the amend M increases allow Amendment increases allow the district to legally encumber and pay funds up to the amounts appropriated and that is my report for tonight thank you Mrs Clark Sutton um next we would typically have a building and sites and major purchases report but having none we will move on to the education report from
047Mrs dman Right uh first we have the weaving of tuition for a non-resident senior a liid high school senior has requested that she be allowed to complete her senior year on a non basis for the remainder of the school year following her family's move out of lwood city school district and we have some field trips the first um to Cincinnati and then Covington and Louisville Kentucky the Lakewood High School softball team will be playing two softball games at boom County High School and one game at Edgewood High School they will also attend the Louisville versus Duke softball game and visit the University of Cincinnati and this will take place March 28th of 31st of this year there is a field trip to England Scotland and France yes Fun Lakewood High School students will travel to
048England Scotland and France 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 students will experience expert Le Tours in edor Yorkshire Warwick stford upon Avon Birmingham region Oxford London and Paris this trip includes visits to the Edinburgh Castle national museum of Scotland yorkminster Warwick Castle William Shakespeare's birthplace Place uh visit New College Windsor Castle Big Ben Houses of Parliament Stonehenge Eiffel Tower the LOF notredam Cathedral and enjoyous um as Sun River Cruise the trip will take place March 26 through April 4th of 2027 then we have our resolution to adopt courses of study the courses of study for high school mathematics have been developed collaboratively by representatives from Lakewood High School
049math department and the department of teaching and learning we have a resolution to approve service agreement with PSI this is an annual contract between Lakewood city schools and PSI Affiliates um Inc PSI Associates Inc they provide Professional Services for students in non-public schools located within the Lakewood city school district to be funded with the auxiliary Services monies allocated by the state of Ohio these servic services are requested upon submitt of proper auxiliary services forms by the non-public schools to Lakewood city school district the contract's costs and service levels for the 2425 school year are as follows Lakewood Ruth Lutheran School speech language pathologist $4,440 and additional services will be built at an hourly charge approved by a district or school disign and then we have three gifts to schools uh the first Lakewood athletic boosters
050donated $155,000 to be used toward the weit room at Lakewood High School the Lakewood Rangers Educational Foundation donated $20,000 to be used toward the weight room at LHS and the Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation donated $330,000 to be used toward a new baseball stadium scoreboard and that concludes my report thank you uh next we have the policy report which would be me uh we have a resolution to adopt the special education model policies and procedures the Ohio Operating standards for the education of children with disabilities identify the state requirements and federal part B individuals with disabilities education Improvement act or the idea uh act uh requirements that apply to the implementation of special education and related services to students with disabilities by school districts County Boards of Developmental Disabilities and other educational agencies the Ohio Operating
051standards for the education of children with disabilities operating standards require school districts and Community Schools to adopt written PR policies and procedures in a number of different areas our district has chosen to meet this obligation by adopting the model special education policies and procedures prepared by the Ohio Ohio Department of Education the Ohio Operating standards for the education of children with disabilities have undergone periodic updates to align with federal laws and improve services for students with disabilities these changes aim to enhance the educational experiences for students with disabil ities increase parental involvement provide more individualized support and ensure districts are meeting the legal and educational needs of students in a consistent and fair Manner and that concludes the policy report and next we have the human resources and Community Services report with M Mrs shanesy
052thank you very much we'll hit three items I think your microphone's up certified um first resolution deals with with certified appointments special compensation salary and pay rate adjustments and there are a total of 69 actions um the next resolution is deals with classified appointments and special compensations total of 10 actions and the final resolution deals with community recreation and education um all in Aquatics and there are total of 90 actions which must mean that summer isn't that far away um and we will vote on this in our next meeting thank you uh next we move on to the communications part of our meeting um first we have Board of Education comments and then we'll move on to public comments um I first I'll ask if any of my fellow board members have any comments they'd
053like to give if I could I just wanted to acknowledge the significance of those um gifts to to the Lakewood schools that that were mentioned just a few minutes ago the boosters that 155,000 to go toward the weight room and then the LF with the 20,000 and 30,000 respectively um those are significant contributions and we certainly uh I certainly am greatly appreciative of it and just wanted to put put a little emphasis on that so thank you absolutely ditto Kahan um I'd also like to um point out that um as we continue to look at our um safety study and transportation study um the City of Lakewood has um has a is continually looking for crossing guards they the City of Lakewood is responsible for hiring the crossing guards but I'm just going to make
054a pitch from the school board seat um that if there's anyone who's interested in doing those jobs they're pretty thankless but they're very important and um so you just go to the um City website and you can apply um just a reminder you pay attention what's going on with the Ohio legislature if you can please call um email keep going we are we have a lot coming down the pike so we have a big fight ahead of us thank you and I just had a response to some of the com uh questions that I've been hearing about our facilities committee but you're going to no you go you go first and then I won't be repetitive if you mention it okay um yes I wanted to to touch base on our uh facilities task force
055uh give a little update um on February 19th the district's uh Elementary facilities task force resumed meeting after a Hiatus for Community conversations uh faculty conversations and a community survey once again I'd like to thank the task force members for their time and the thoughtful communic contributions they bring to the table this also seems to be a good time to remind everybody of the process that was laid out by superintendent ninwiki when the task force started meeting the pro process outlined four stages the first stage involved the task force meetings in the fall to gather and process data consider draft scenarios and raise questions for future discussions the next stage consistent consisted of community meetings faculty conversations and a community survey during the winter uh that gathered information to present the work or that presented
056the work of the task force and gathered questions to incorporate into the task force later meeting meetings then the task force would resume meetings in late winter early spring with new data updated information and questions from the community they would then remove initial review initial scenarios possibly eliminate some from consideration and possibly introduce new ones finally the task force would make recommendations in the spring to the Comm superintendent for the best F best path forward for our elementary facilities this is the process we laid out in the beginning and this is the process we've continued to follow once the task force work is complete superintendent n wikii will share their recommendation with us the board and we will decide the plan for the elementary facilities as mentioned many times any possible changes would take place
057in the 26 27 school year at the earliest I'd also like to clarify a few more details about the task force first of all the members of the task force include a number of teachers parents community members Community leaders and school administrators several members also bring expertise in finance legal matters educational research and strategy Communications and more so it's a really great Rich group of people in terms of skills and abilities that produce wonderful conversations um in addition the task force is facilit facilitated by a consultant and their main role is to help make the meetings effective uh as well as process all the input from the meetings the community conversations the surveys and put it in a form that makes the usable by the task force and Board of Education members attend these meetings
058and attended the community conversations with the purpose of listening rather than actively participating we want to hear the thoughts feelings and ideas expressed throughout the process so that when we receive the recommendation at the end of the task force process we know what happened along the way this will help us re reach a more informed thoughtful decision we know this has been a long process and in fact many in many communities a decision to repurpose or close an elementary school building would be made quickly and announced to the community with no input our longer approach with the task force is not the easiest way to do this but we do feel that involving our teachers parents and community members in the process is important and a good way to reach the best decision possible and
059we appreciate everybody's participation so thank you was Sean see you had something just a little bit more specific and I'm just going to leave an ad I promise that to be inappropriate um mostly um we've I've had a number of people even in my own family just asking about the composition of the um task force and in the way same way we've done it in the past when we talked about changing the entire School struct the number of school schools build new schools the school the superintendent asked board members asked uh principals asked community members probably asked Chamber of Commerce who should we invite over a hundred people were invited the city was invited to participate everyone the people that are on the committee now are people that accepted the invitation and everyone can't do
060everything so I understand that um we don't have 100 people on the group but PE a wide net was cast and anyone who's worked on a committee knows that there is a finite number of people that can accomplish something and communicate and be listened to so I just wanted to say that because that's a question I've heard number of times is that there there were a number of invit ations and the people that are on the committee are the people that were able to commit to coming to these meetings so great does anybody else have anything to say okay so we will move on next to the um uh public comment section um just to remind everybody this is not typically a back and forth conversation folks make comments and uh we thank you for
061them um there's a three minute limit uh I believe a timer will pop up on the screen um keep an eye on it because unfortunately you know we do cap it at three minutes um and just out of respect to the fellow speakers and and the other folks in the room so I just want to prepare you for that um our first Speaker this evening is our good friend Linda BBE it's good to be here you really is President catburger superintendent Miss Wiki Treasurer Zan board members uh I just want to say's that maybe better just want to say how proud I am of you and particularly how proud I am of the statement that President katsen bergger made on February 3rd on behalf of this board of the district and of this community the
062long-term commitment of this board of education in the 40 years I was connected with it has always been to the rights dignity and well-being of all students and staff this community is known for welcoming and celebrating the diverse cultures within its borders we have to support local control of school of local school districts this school district in the face of federal state mandates that threaten that long-term commitment all students in this District deserve to be safe and accepted in our buildings so they can focus on their education this is a difficult time and I commend this board and the district for your courage and your foresight secondly I want to commend you for the work that's being done on the ongoing facility study which is particular relevant right now if I'm right Mr Zan the
063latest state budget may cut $1.8 million from this school's budget in the next upcoming two years these Cuts make may make a levy which we all hope to delay further much more likely and the voters in this community expect this board to be fiscally responsible the better allocation of resources May made by looking at the use of our facilities will make makes is fiscally responsible and will serve to assure the community that you are using their resources and your resources wisely further there is legislation who Force the board to lease or sell any underpopulated school board uh School building to a charter school as a community member I do not want to see one of our new buildings sold or leased to an entity that has neither the capacity nor the desire or ability to
064maintain it and it also competes with the public schools without having been audited or having sufficient State supervision of the quality of Education offered I know families have a strong commitment to elementary schools but we have closed schools before as you all know because of declining enrollment and we went from 10 to 7 in 13 for 2013 it's a difficult decision again and I trust you'll make the right decision and that it's going to turn out as well as the earlier and one more word Linda I'm so sorry I have to cut you off like I have to cut everybody else off thank you so [Laughter] much I know I know okay our next speaker is Charles Moore that I don't think he's here anymore um next speaker is Chelsea uh dataro davo davio davio
065thank you hi everyone I am Chelsea davio and I grew up in Lakewood I went to Hayes Harding and Lakewood um um and after college I moved away and had a career in Wisconsin working with um children with autism I moved back once I started my young family um but prior to that the pandemic happened and I had an aging and sick parent that I needed to get back to um I had looked at different districts to move closer and realized that everything I needed for our family was in Lakewood um I'm just here tonight to um gently remind everyone that our young kids have been through a lot with the pandemic and um I'm just one example of wanting to move closer and I kind of am blindly um talking tonight because I don't
066know if the data includes um young families that have recently moved here um but I just want that to be kind of thought about because um I do have other classmates that I I grew up with that are choosing to move back to Lakewood for the walkability for our um the culture that we provide in Lakewood um the other point I wanted to bring up being a behavior analyst I just wanted to um I know the task force is including um commitments to special education but just making sure when the decision is made that we're really taking into account um the consistency um and the routine that needs to be established so that our um Learners with unique abilities are um taken into account thank you thank you uh next I'm sorry it's a little
067tough to Lucy [Music] Corey Ben Corey sorry [Laughter] ready you got this fired up reminds me of my good old debate days fortunately I will not read this quite as quickly as I would do that good evening and thank you so much for the time to comment I just wanted to share some um things that people have shared on the website and in person on The Preserve Lakewood Schools page we bought our house purposely positioned near Lincoln and with property taxes creeping up if we don't have the walkable School nearby we may be leaving Lakewood to get better value and this is coming from a fourth generation Lite the thought of moving did cross my mind when I found out that they might close Grant so I have no doubt that other people have the
068same thoughts we need to bring in more families I have a friend who has two kids at Grant right now they own a house here and are now looking to move out of Lakewood and one of the big reasons why is because Grant make clothes Mick from Lakewood said as a family that moved to Lakewood from a town where they closed schools and shifted away from neighborhood School model I can tell you firsthand that closing well-attended walkable schools leads to school levies failing to pass this is a time for creativity in public schools from education to funding don't pull the rug out from one of the last walkable school districts around healthy neighborhood schools make for healthy thriving communities Rachel from Lakewood said my fourth grader had to take kindergarden virtually due to co the
069growth and sense of community he experiences on a regular basis while walking to school has really helped him find himself and form deep and Lasting friendships finally Christoph freedlander a local realtor had this to say walkability in Lakewood school system are often cited reasons why my clients want to move to Lakewood people move here to reduce their Reliance on cars and want these schools to be close removing the abundance of elementary schools in my opinion will discourage young families to choose our community and will start a trend that will be hard to reverse we are resourceful and creative and I do hope that those traits can be used to come up with solutions that don't involve closing schools in disrupting one of the most appealing aspects of moving to Lakewood I hope you'll consider this
070and many other comments like these on our website as you make your decisions thank you thank you our next speaker is Marie uh last name starts with an F yes yes I'm sorry I can't read it good evening everyone I'm Marie fet Kirk I live in Lakewood with my husband and my kindergartener I was an educator in the state of Pennsylvania for 10 years I'm certified in three subjects and um so just putting that into perspective uh tonight however I'd like to explain why many working parents choose liquid City schools for elementary school yet choose a private daycare for preschool and prek first I'll start by highlighting the benefits of a private daycare with an integrated preschool and prek program extended day coverage from 8:45 to 3:05 is not enough to allow for an 8-
071hour work day and a commute an extended day typically from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. is a real need for Working Families coverage for the summer the only summer camp for children under four or partial day a few day camps except children starting at 5: yet none of the summer camps cover the entire summer finally if you have more than one child under five having a one drop off makes life easier given these benefits many working parents need to choose a private daycare for preschool and pre- due to convenience and would not be interested in a centralized PK program however these same same families including my own that chose Lakewood over other uh neighboring suburbs for the kindergarten and the pre we choose Lakewood city schools for the community's reputation Lakewood is known as a
072caring diverse and tightened community and we wanted this for our family we also choose like wood City schools for the teachers and the quality of Education provided our family um our friends our neighbors and the children that we've talked to were all overwhelmingly positive about the level of care experience and patience provided and their love for their Elementary School the Final sell Point selling point was walkability this is a unique feature and it sets Lakewood apart I'd like to share an example of how this walkability Fosters connection and keeps us at Lakewood city schools on Thursday February 5th it was 30 Dees out and we walked home from school my kid had a ball playing with classmates in the school yard then at the playground we ran into another grand family with an impromptu play
073date on Wednesday February 12th there 31 degrees outside we've participated in the winter walk to school with 10 kids a few parents couldn't join due to a conflict that their kids participated these kids had a great time and the parents had peace of mind that their kids were safe these stories illustrate that no matter the season when you attend a neighborhood school there are more opportunities for connection whether it's a greeting or conversation these positive interactions create positive association with school and boost attendance and performance and build our sense of community retaining walkable schools also keep our kids safer it's safer when you walk with more kids and families not just the kids that have to walk to school because they don't have a car also whether you're sick or running late or have a
074conflict it's nice to have a village to help you get your kid to school so please consider retaining these seven schools thank you thank [Applause] you and then I think our last speaker is Susan last name starts with an H Han or hi my name is Susan hutner uh I live near Emerson so this would conceivably not even impact my school um except it would because it would completely change the nature of a neighborhood School the first meeting of the elemente school task force as you know met on August 28th 2024 this year this school year and according to the notes that I read online future think presented seven scenarios by October the super intendant was giving presentations that Focus primarily on just one one that erodes the unique special precious thing about Lakewood schools
075schools in your neighborhood that your kid can walk to eliminating up to two of those schools means a complete change to the city busing isn't feasible as we've heard so now there's enormous car lines winding through the neighborhoods with one of the precious schools left kids lose their schools and Trust in public schools and the people leading them is continues to be eroded and lost I'm so glad that at the latest February 19th meeting it looks like from the notes that I've read online The an alternative plan keeping all the schools open but modifying boundaries that divide what school household would go to was considered because of those that um because of that updated data that they got that that option wasn't presented as a serious consideration at the earlier community meeting is a little
076curious but I'm so glad it's being examined and taken seriously now I'm urging you to continue to consider options that keep all the schools open because I sincerely worry that voters may not support a levy when you close the schools for our youngest students thank you so much thank [Applause] you no um last item on our agenda is uh one other board business item Mrs chy thank you very much this is a classified action request is a requesting approval on one reading uh resignation for the purpose of retirement to other resignations for classified employees and I move adoption of the resolution second uh this has been um moved request approval on one reading Mr Zan can you call the rooll Miss kastberger hi Miss shy hi Miss cark Sutton hi Mr Gan hi Miss do
077hi thank you thank you um unless there's any other business uh I request a motion for adjournment so moved second all in favor I I meeting is adjourned