001I call to order this meeting of the Stoman roll City School District Board of Education, Tuesday, November 11th, 2025. >> Roll call, please. >> East Jenkins, >> here. >> Sheen, >> here. >> Sodonic >> here. >> Wind >> here. Please join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Everything we do is designed to provide a future ready student- centered learning experience for every single child. Our strategic plan for 2021 through 2026 will help us accomplish this goal by considering every facet of a student's learning experience from curriculum to infrastructure to wellness and everything in between. As members of the board of education, we serve as
002trustees. Therefore, this is a business meeting being conducted in public, not a public meeting. We are grateful to serve an engaged community and therefore encourage and respect input from citizens. We expect that everyone present will behave in a manner consistent with the behavior we expect of our students. We reserve the right to have those who do not comply removed from our meeting. Okay. Our first items of the agenda recognition. Dr. Gold, I'll turn it over to you. Good evening everyone. Uh today is November 11th and we honor Veterans Day. a moment to recognize the courage, sacrifice, and steadfast service of our men and women who have worn our nation's uniform. To every veteran and military family in the Stom Falls community, we all want to say thank you. Your example reminds our students what it
003means to lead with character, resilience, and commitment. In the spirit of Bulldog, our schools have marked this day, and they have done lessons. We've done letters, act of kindness, gratitude, and even uh celebrated with the breakfast. We remain dedicated to teaching our students the values of service and civic responsibility each and every day. If you are a ve veteran with us this evening, we are grateful for you. And I will ask that you be stand and be recognized if you are in the audience. I would also ask that we observe with a brief moment of silence. Again, thank you for your service. Okay. And now moving into our cross country celebration. I have the awesome pleasure this evening and proud to recognize our outstanding Storow Falls High School cross country teams and their coaches for
004an exceptional season and their strong showing at the Ohio High School Athletic Association cross country state championships. Our student athletes demonstrated remarkable dedication, perseverance, and bulldog pride throughout the season, culminating in an impressive performances at the state level. Please join me in congratulating our runners who all earned Ohio all Ohio honors for finishing in the top 40 in their divisions. Trevor Ing as senior, 21st place at 1554, second team all Ohio. Danzy Jones, senior, 26th place, 1854, second team, all Ohio. And Maddie O'Brien, Junior, 31st place, 1902, second team all Ohio. On behalf of the board of education and the entire Storo Fall City School District, congratulations to all of our runners, coaches for representing our community with excellence, sportsmanship, and pride. You've made Bulldog Nation proud. Please uh join me with having the coaching
005staff come and say a few words and then we'll acknowledge our players and take a group photo. Again, congratulations to all of you. >> Good evening everybody. >> Yeah, we good. >> Awesome. Uh good evening everybody. I am Doug Herbert. Uh I work at the high school in our learning resource center and also get to be our girls head coach for cross country, indoor track and outdoor track at the high school. I'm joined here with coach JK who's my counterpart on the boys side. Uh he runs our boys cross country indoor track and outdoor track programs. Um I want to thank Dr. Golden the board for recognizing our outstanding athletes tonight and celebrating their accomplishments this fall season. Um so representing this team and we're going to call them up. I'm going to let JK
006give them uh these awards here. Um we have a few things that we're going to say about how this season went for us as a program. Uh but on the girls side uh we have Danzy Jones who is a senior for us. Mattio Brian who is a junior. Lily Hartenberg who is a freshman. Stay up please. Ava Prada who is a junior. Gianna Ruchi who is a sophomore. Freshman Sophia Jordan. Junior Katherine Canella. our two alternates on the girls side, junior Marissa Marshock and senior Ella Holland. And then on the boy side, we have senior Trevor Ing, senior Tristan Roach, sophomore Caleb Decker, junior Cooper Greg, sophomore Von Hamilton, junior Henry Wizneski, junior Seth Hartenberg, and our two alternates on the boy side, freshman Chase Schumacher, and freshman Cam Mccura. So, these group of athletes
007proudly represented our program and community at the OSA Division One State Cross Country Championships at the beginning of this month. Uh the boys team placed 15th overall and the girls team placed 16th overall. So, good evening. We're also very proud of their academic uh accomplishments in the classroom. The Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches. Um so they recognize athletes who competed at the state championship and have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.5 or higher. And um we are proud to say that everybody here that's eligible, freshman eligible because they just started high school. Um but everybody who's not a freshman qualified for academic all Ohio this season. So on top of that, this season marked a historic milestone for our program. The first time in school history that both the boys and
008girls programs qualified as a team for the state championship in the same season. Um it was also the first time since 1971 and 72 that the boys team has qualified in back-to-back years. Uh we have an incredible history of running success at Stow. Uh our girls cross country program started back in 1978. outdoor track starting in 1972 following title nine. Uh our indoor track program which is the youngest of them and hopefully a uh school recognized sport soon started in 2010. And all of these running groups together have produced Olympians, world record holders, members of Team USA. So, a first of any kind is truly an exceptional thing and shows the effort, the sacrifice, the determination from these athletes, their dedicated teammates who push them daily and our excellent assistant coaches, uh, Jack Wilcox and
009Drew Bailey are with us tonight. Diana Edgar was not able to make it tonight. Um, but our coaching staff and supportive culture, I believe, were crucial to this team's success. So, and finally, we'd like to express our appreciation to the high school, uh, the staff and students at Highland Indian Trail and Riverview Elementary Schools for participating in the sendoff the day before the state championship. Uh, to Dr. Gould for attending that sendoff and for the board for taking time out tonight to recognize these athletes tremendous accomplishments. We're very proud to be Bulldogs and thank you. You're the pro. Where do you want us? >> We can put the girls in front of the guys. >> We usually put the girls in front of the guys. >> So, yeah. Ladies, [snorts] Again, thank you to our
010amazing athletes for working so hard, our coaching staff, all of our families and other supporters who made this happen. It's truly remarkable. >> Can I ask a question? You mentioned um that this is that indoor track is not yet a a recognized school sport. Is that in process? >> Um >> or did I [laughter] >> I sorry. Uh it has been a discussion. Um we're we're hopeful that we're moving in the right direction. Uh we've grown a lot as a program. We had 92 athletes participate in indoor track last year. Um I think one of the things that um we've looked for as a district is adoption from the OSAA. The um association Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, the same one uh that granted these kids academic all Ohio is the one
011that runs indoor track. Um I'm not sure if OSA really is interested in in adopting it as a sport. Uh but we we do compete in a state championship every single year uh for indoor track and field that's held at Spire up in Geneva. Uh and that is hosted by the OATCC as well. So over 600 programs in the state of Ohio participate in indoor track and field. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Okay. Our next agenda item is comments from the audience. At this time, we welcome any comments and concerns citizens wish to bring before the board of education. All comments must be directed to the entire board and be no longer than 3 minutes. We will listen to and consider your remarks, but there will be no conversation aside from clarifying
012questions. If you are seeking a direct response or further information, we ask that you submit your request in writing. Please begin your remarks with your first and last name. Oh yeah, athletes, feel free to go home. You're welcome to stay, but you don't have to. Sorry, I forgot about that part. Hi, my name is Marty Simpkins and I'm here about the checkbook. According to the checkbook register for March, April, and May, June, no electric bill was paid. Not at all. In July, a payment of $229,996 was made to the electric company. I'm curious as to how you can get away with that many months of not paying an electric bill without having to shut the electric off. And I'd also like to know what the amount of the um late charges were on that one.
013I would think there'd be quite a few of them. My next thing is is that your next year's calendar that you have posted twice in the agenda has two wrong dates. It's either the date or the or the day of the week is wrong. February 23rd is a Monday, not a Tuesday. April 13th is a Monday, not a Tuesday. So, thanks Okay, seeing no further public comment, we will move on to the superintendent's recommendations. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second, >> Dr. Gold. >> Yes. I would like to recommend the following personnel recommendations. Any questions? >> Roll call, please. >> East Jenkins. >> Hi. >> Merlin. >> Hi. >> Sheen. >> Hi. >> Sudonic. >> I. >> Wind. >> I. Our next item is uh Neola policy package B. Do I
014have a motion? >> So move. Second. >> Dr. Gold. Any discussion of this? >> No, I'm just requesting that the board approve these policies as they have undergone the necessary review. >> Any questions? >> Roll call, please. >> East Jenkins, >> I. >> Merlin, >> I. >> Sheen. >> Hi. >> Sudonic. >> I. >> Wind. >> I. >> Next is item C, contract for services, peach jar. Do I have a motion? So moved. >> Second. >> The item for Peach drawer is a uh online platform that partners with school districts to distribute digital flyers uh including any schooltoome communication and community resources uh to parents. Uh it does not u replace um us being able to review the flyers and hold them to the standards for uh Storow Fall City Schools, but it does allow
015um all of the individuals who are submitting flyers to go through Peach Jar. Once they submit it to Peach Jar, it will be then sent to us for approval and then we will go through the process. There is a fee u for persons who would like to have their flyer submitted. We have already reached out and talked to them about certain groups who will not be charged a fee. >> So what are the criteria that are used to um approve or decline a flyer? >> So our approval standards are that is not in conflict with any of the district programs. They do not advocate any religious or political viewpoint. The activities must be within our local geographic uh area. They must be uh clear, professional, and then they must have a disclaimer that is at
016the bottom of the flyer uh that states that this event or activity or program is not sponsored by Storow Falls City Schools. Uh an approval to distribute flyers in the community service and does not imply any type of endorsement. >> Thank you. Any other questions, comments? >> Uh, being that this is something new and we're at the end of the year, um, I would like to make a motion to table this decision or table this vote until uh, January 5th of 2026. There's a motion. Do I have a second? >> I see none. Any further discussion? I >> So what is the distribution list for this? >> It is for any flyers. We have a lot of flyers that come into the district that are being sent to schools as well as to the district
017who want us to u market particular programs that are happening. Uh so uh this is to create an efflier uh list that'll go directly to families. Anything further? Roll call, please. >> East Jenkins. >> I Merlli. >> I >> Sheen. >> Uh no. >> Toonic. >> I >> wind >> I. Our next item of business is extended field trip for high school social studies. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Dr. Gold. Um this is a field trip for about 80 students um who will be uh traveling to Dayton and Cincinnati to understand major themes about American and world European and Ohio history. >> And not paid for by the district. >> Correct. >> Students pay on their own. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Any questions? Roll call, please. >> East
018Jenkins, >> I. Meritty, >> I. >> Sheen, >> I. >> Sudonic. >> I. >> Wind. >> I. >> Our next item is Neiola policy update transportation supplement. This is the first reading. There is no action required on this item. Any questions though before we move on? >> Okay. Did you have information, Dr. I would just say that most of these policies are policies that we currently have and they're just being updated. >> Thank you. >> Our next item is NEOLA policy package C for again a first reading. No action required on that one. Same thing, Dr. Gold. >> Yes, there are some revisions that have uh come into play uh for these particular policies. These are policies that we currently have, but these policies reflect the revisions. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Our next item
019C regarding legal counsel. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um I'm going to recuse myself from item 7 C. Any discussion of this item? >> Roll call, please. >> Ease Jenkins. >> I. >> Meridi. >> I. >> Sheen abstained. Sudonic. >> I. >> Wind. >> I. >> Okay. Our next item on the agenda are discussion items. Uh I have a point of point of order on that. >> Sure. Um, I just noticed missing I had seen that Mike Sheen requested a discussion on Moms for Liberty and that's not on there. Did that get taken off? >> It did at Mr. Sheen's request. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. >> Our first item uh regarding OSBA capital conference. Mr. Sheen, you requested this one, so I'll let you start the discussion. >>
020Yeah, I was just curious to find out who's attending. uh what is the cost to the district and uh I guess this would go with the first one is um of those that are attending who attended last year. >> So there's six uh employees going myself, Dr. Gold, um Mrs. Pro, Mr. Love, Mrs. Collier, and Mrs. Meritti. And then last year we had eight employees going. Uh the only different ones was uh Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Suodonic >> and myself. >> And you have the cost. >> Yes. And Mrs. Wind. >> And do you have the cost? Yeah, I have uh rough estimates uh because so roughly the district it would be $8,200. Mr. Galano or Dr. Ghoul, do we have sort of an estimate of how much um professional development time that $8,200 uh
021gets us? Do we have any guesstimate there? because I feel like it's a lot having been to >> count. I I think between Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, you're probably looking at an individual could gain 10 to 12 sessions, which are roughly 45 minutes to an hour of contact hours for professional development. >> Okay. And multiply that by all the people who are going. It's a lot of time. >> Yep. and also networking and uh vendors to see what's offered in the state of Ohio and what uh we could do to help sustain and offer our students and our staff and our facilities. >> Thank you. >> I just wanted to add I'm I'm I regret that I'm unable to attend this year because I found it to be incredibly helpful. Um and I'm very happy
022that there's at least one member of the board and the newly elected board um able to go. Um, and thank you to the administrators that are going and taking your time to do it because it's it's incredibly helpful for the district. >> It's a very busy time in Columbus. All all schools, 600 >> in 111 school districts uh usually attend. So, it's pretty chaotic down there. >> Very educational though. >> Anything further on that topic? And two, would it be possible or something I'd like something at least for us to consider uh to have the folks that did attend this uh whether it be all at one meeting or maybe half of one and half at the other as far as a recap of what they learn, you know, what they all learned, what can
023be implemented to help the district and uh you know, other valuable um takeaways that they had for that. So just something to whether it's the next meeting, the next two, this we can that can be kind of open, but I'd always be curious to know what uh the takeaway was. >> We've done that every year that I've been on the board. I think it's really helpful for everyone to share uh the information they've gained and the ideas that they're bringing back. >> Yeah, I definitely wanted to point out Dr. Wyn instituted that several years ago. So that's common. That's a already a procedure we do. Yeah, I'll be happy to share that with the board when when I return. >> Anything further on this? >> That's it. >> Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Moving on to
024item B. Uh the 2025 delegate assembly, also capital conference. Um the uh platform was attached to the agenda. Um, Miss Meritti, since you're the one who is our delegate, did you want to start this discussion out? >> Sure. Um, I attended a um recap on uh they had a recap meeting on YouTube to go over the agenda uh and talk about uh several of the items. Um, we I have some notes here. Uh some of the items that they'll be going over is um they'll be talking about the base formula and some of the um how uh the OSBA will advocate for the schools uh to be sure that that formula is updated. Uh currently uh the funding formula is at $2022 and so they want to ensure that that will be uh up to
025date. Uh, one of the other things is, uh, they want to emphasize, uh, districts that have a career pack or a a six district compact like we have and recognize those as kind of a separate track so that they can be emphasized. Uh they're going to be looking at um supporting financing for uh special education. Uh currently in Ohio there's 17% of the students uh that are in uh some sort of special education track and they want to make sure uh that that is funded without general fund money. Uh that that actually gets funded uh through the state so that the schools don't have to pay uh or through the federal government. uh they uh want to advocate uh for uh continuing financing for uh English language learners that this is their first lang or
026second language. Uh they are also going to be talking about charter schools and how uh the current practices the matching money and how the money um follows the students. Uh uh there's um basically they want to keep that formula even I more even I guess is what it is. It's really not right now. So that's um one of the items that'll be up for discussion. They'll be talking about um keeping taxes that voters vote for so that you cannot override what the voters have deemed necessary for their local community. So if a tax vote uh if a tax say property tax or whatever levy bond emergency issue if that is approved by the voters then that cannot be undone by the state. Let's see what else they um have studies that they did during COVID
027um and directly after CO that shows that universal free meals for students had greatly increased test scores and shown to improve the health of the students. and they are asking uh whether or not districts uh would support um school meals. They did not specify how they see that to be funded. Uh but that is going to be one of the topics uh of discussion. Um and that's pretty much it. Uh so it sounds like it's going to be a very busy afternoon. If I could just add just to clarify that um what the things that uh Ms. Mery is speaking of are um it's the legislative platform for OSBA. It's not uh policy that would be implemented by our school district or any school districts. It's essentially what OSBA um advocates for um at the
028state house. So um the votes are not taken to institute policy. It's just um a method of advocacy, >> right? As members, uh they would represent us uh or all of the school districts that are members uh to our state legislators and to the governor. So, uh, these are items that they want input from each individual school district um to see what we would support and what we wouldn't. So, that's these are going to be the items for discussion. And then what happens is is there is um well it's the governing bodies including their elected officers and then the delegate assembly which is what you know every district sends a delegate um along and then once the votes happen um it's something that's changing what either the OSBA constitution or their bylaws um nothing again
029nothing directly affecting school districts just just the OSBA policy blank. Those all sound like excellent plank amendments. Um, and important things for us to be looking at. Um, so am I in favor of letting the voters vote stand on levies? Yes. Am I in favor of us providing meals uh to our students regardless of their socioeconomic status? Absolutely. I don't know how everybody else feels about it, but that's where that's where I'm at on those items. anything further that anyone would like Miss Merlin to consider as she goes and represents us. Okay. Again, thank you. Those can be some really long evenings. I do not envy you that task. So very much appreciated uh for you to represent us. Okay. Our next discussion item C, uh role of the school board, Ms. East Jenkins. Good
030evening, everyone. Um the last year and a half that I've been on the board, I realized there's a lot of misinformation about what the board does. Um, we get a lot of emails that are about curriculum or about things that we don't control. And I thought it might be helpful, especially as I'm rolling off. It won't impact me, but the next board hopefully won't will have a better un the community will have a better understanding what that next board does. Um, so um there's a we're going to Carrie and I are going to talk about some of the different things and the different questions that we've received over time. Um, the hope is that at some point there'll be a section on the website that kind of tells you where to go for different things
031so you're not emailing the wrong person and then we're forwarding it and forwarding it and forwarding it so that the community can get help a lot faster with some of their questions or concerns. So just quick basic things. I think uh one of the biggest con misconceptions in the in the school district is you'll hear the school board or the board or the board of education used interchangeably. And I think sometimes when the board of education is used, people actually mean the district office where the administrators work and not the actual school board members. And I say that because there's a lot of times people think that we're full-time and they were at that office. people have called the office looking for us and we're not ever going to be there because we don't work
032there. So, most board members are um have other full-time jobs outside of the district and like I said, we're not full-time employees. We It's $80 per meeting. There's not this exorbitant amount that that board members are paid and we're only paid for this meeting that you see here. Any other committees or things like that we are are not paid for. Okay. Um, just quickly to go over um [clears throat] the the way things the I can't >> chain of command. >> The chain of I lost my words. Um, thank you. Uh so the school board has two employees which are the superintendent and the treasurer and essentially all communication from the board should be through the superintendent and the treasurer so that um they are able to manage their departments properly. The superintendent has employees
033which are the director of human resources as which is um Mike Love. assistant superintendent, director of special services is Kristen Pro and director of operations, uh, Mark Train. And then we also have the building principles, um, which somewhat also report to, uh, both Dr. Gold and Mrs. Pro, um, at the moment. [clears throat] And then we have the teachers reporting through the principles and the athletic director reporting to the director of human resources. So, you know, basically when we get emails coming in for something through the administration, while it's not something, of course, I I would like to pay attention to it and make sure that issues are resolved, what will most likely happen is is forwarding to the proper person to handle that situation. um to make sure that that person that that the
034superintendent or their treasurer is number one aware of the issue and number two able to help get resolution because as a board member there's very little that we can actually do um to control day-to-day operations nor should we be controlling day-to-day operations. The next slide just gives next two slides just give you a chart. I'm not going to read it, but this will be posted, I'm sure, on the on the website, but just showing you kind of the overarching um role for each group. So, you know, the board is just governance, not nothing day-to-day. Treasurer handles all financial things. Superintendent is in charge of the district leadership and then and so on and so forth. And that's the next slide has a it goes down through the teachers and basically what they do. >> I
035mean, I think I I think it bears can we go back for a second? I just think it bears repeating, you know, that essentially the day-to-day functions are controlled by the two members or the the two district employees that report to the board, which are the treasurer and the superintendent and uh the board provides oversight uh to those employees. Um so a lot of the things when you look at like one of the things I thought about in particular was uh implementation of policy where while the board will be setting policy implementation through um you know happens through the superintendent's office or this the treasurer's office and uh through um why did I lose my word again? what is the word when you >> administrative >> through administrative guidelines um and those are actually created
036through the superintendent's office um and managed through that um that department as well that's not something that the board does so there's difference between the governance and the enactment so I think that's one of the biggest issues that I've had and I still you know encourage this just after having been on the board now I guess for a couple years I still have people question me on you know what is the role of a board member and seem to be rather are confused on what that actually is. So, the next slide is just kind of a who to contact um for different things. These are some questions or things that have come up over um over the time that I've been on the board. And I think some people just don't know where to go.
037So, if you have an issue with your child's teacher, the principal is the first line of defense. You shouldn't just be emailing the superintendent or or jumping the kind of chain of command. Um mostly because it's going to delay you a result. it's just going to go, she's going to email that right back to the principal and then it's going to take that much longer for you to get the result that you um are looking for. Um we've gotten questions about open enrollment um which we do not handle as you see it's assistant superintendent. We get calls when a child is expelled or suspended. We don't have any knowledge of of that. It's not brought to us um just every every piece of discipline that happens in the in the district and we never know
038the names of the students. So it's we're not involved in discipline you know at all in terms of students and employees and then I don't need to read each one of them but again that'll be a reference if you have questions you know after this meeting and just back on that sorry back on that slide again just as a um to clarify I the board is always at least I know myself I am always open to hearing from the community um feel free to email and ask questions. It's it's just a matter of when we're looking for re uh uh resolutions. It it following the proper chain of command is going to be the most um effective way for everybody. Um so if there's something that's not getting handled prop, you know, if if there's
039something that's going on that you find that you're just not getting results, don't don't hesitate to reach out. That's not a problem. That's you know, we do want to hear from you. Um it's just chances are the first that you know we are going to go right back to the superintendent and have it follow the proper chain of command and see where where something went wrong. >> Just a couple of things that the board does not do that um we've heard as well. So we don't have access to any of the credit cards checking account. Um we should not be in communication with the bank at all. We don't um sign up on day-to-day transactions again because we're not in the building. So, in this meeting, we would approve a larger scope of things, but
040not the day-to-day stuff. We don't make decisions about school closings. We would be closed a lot more often if it was my choice. Um, so that is a superintendent call. Um, in terms of disciplining employees, that chart that we showed with the chain of command is how that's going to go. If it's a teacher, it's going to be a principal. If it's a principal, it's going to be one of the people that we showed. But we won't know anything about what happens unless it's egregious. We're not getting a report of teachers that are disciplined or teachers that are that things that are happening unless there's a reason for us to know and it's not something that we know on a day-to-day because we don't handle day-to-day stuff. Um, and then hiring, we don't participate in
041any part of the hiring other than hoping that our staff is providing us with the best candidates that they have interviewed and selected. We have people in place that are supposed to be experts in their area. So when they present us a slate of people that we they want us to hire, the hope is that they're qualified and we believe that and then we approve it. But we don't we're not in interviews. We're not going back and forth about salary. None of that is is our uh perview >> except for the superintendent and treasurer. >> Those two people. Yes. >> Go ahead. >> That's all. >> Okay. Thank you for putting that together, especially the the Huda contact we've talked about a number of times and um I'm hoping this can get posted and maybe
042revisited and mentioned um because I think there is a lot of misunderstanding and really the most efficient way to handle a problem is directly within that person's chain of command because they're the ones who are aware of the people involved, the problem involved, And that's typically the quickest way to handle it. And not and again um as you said Miss Suodonic um not that the board doesn't want to know um that big picture but we are not HR >> and you know I don't that's not casting any judgment on anybody for not knowing. I did not know until I was on the board how different it was from what I actually perceived as a citizen and and or as a as a community member. And it wasn't until I really dove in and took some
043training, took some of the classes through OSBA, um attended conferences, you know, really spoke to other other schoolboard members throughout the state. Um that's when I really started to understand the actual uh governance role and how different it is than um the day-to-day >> absolutely >> operations. Um I'd like to make a point too. Uh like you said, we don't have an office. We're not at the district office. We also don't receive cell phones, which I've been asked. We do not receive laptops or computers or any equipment whatsoever from from the school district. So, um I think people I don't know why they think that we do, but we don't we don't get any any equipment. They assign us an email address and that's pretty much it. Any further discussion on this? >> Okay, thank
044you very much. Uh, next item, uh, item D, 20 26, board of education meeting dates, Mr. Galano. >> Yeah, these are two options. Option A is having two meetings a month and option B is just having one meeting a month. Um, these are just up to look at and have discussion. Um, I did look at the dates that was brought up in public comment and um, I did correct those. So, thank you for bringing those to our attention. But anything else that the board would like to discuss, it's discuss, it's your discussion. And I believe these get approved at the organizational meeting in January. So, we could you have couple couple months to uh, determine any changes and then approved in the new calendar year. I think it would be nice too if our our
045newly electeds could take a quick look online and see if you think what you you know what your thoughts are too just because obviously this is going to be something that um impacts you as well and won't won't be voted on until the new board is sworn in. So I mean while we're sitting here you know we can discuss all we want but it doesn't really change you know it really won't we won't we will need to make that change with new people involved with the decision. I do think it's important to look too at the number of special meetings we've had to have in addition to the two meetings a month. I think it would be really difficult to get the work done in one meeting. I absolutely agree. I think we we tried
046for a while doing the one and it's just going to continue to force additional special meetings. I think it's better to have a meeting and to pull it off the calendar than it is to add a meeting. >> Yeah, that's my opinion. >> Adding special meetings becomes difficult for scheduling all of the people involved that we need for a meeting, the board, administration, all of that. It also, I think, discourages public participation when our meetings are not predictable, right? And you know on that calendar >> I do think too one of the goals with reducing would be a cost savings just because that's one less meeting to pay the board and then one less is what other is there a fee for security? >> Yep. >> So that's you know it's it is it is
047there is a cost associated so it is something that you know it's it's part of the equation. However, you know, I guess I'd have to take a look and see how many how many specials we added during the time we were doing one per month and see if it was a wash. Anyway, it was a lot of special meetings from my recollection. That was a couple years ago. Um, but that experiment of trying to have one meeting a month did not work very well. Um I think at that time we had scheduled um an additional like work meeting once a quarter >> and that was wildly insufficient from how I'm remembering it. >> Yep. But again different people have different opinions so we can revisit in a couple months. >> Yeah. In the meantime it's
048there for folks to take a look at. Anything further on that? Okay. Our next discussion item is the board handbook that I have been working on. Everyone uh has a draft and there is a draft attached to the agenda uh for anyone in the public who's curious. Uh the goal here is to bring us in line with um common best practices of boards around the state to have all of the most essential information gathered up into one place uh particularly to orient new board members. We have had a number of folks to orient while I've been here including all of you. Um, and I think across the board there were a lot of questions uh when each of you was coming aboard that could have been answered had we had a handbook in place. Um,
049so I invite everybody to take a look um and any comments, questions tonight. I first of all I appreciate you pulling this together because when I started um I guess I just started with going to the Ohio Revised Code and um but you know having that all in one place. So, you've put the revised code, you've put our policies in here, and you've also put some things in our bylaws in addition to um you know, how uh the district office is set up and um our our goals and mission and so um those type of things. at least it gets you started and it gives us a template to uh move forward. Um it I I think it will be extremely helpful uh to anyone starting just to at least have it all in one
050document and then you can kind of go forward from there. Um, you know, so I I really do appreciate you working on this. >> Does looks like a lot of what you have included is is um board policy that's been around for decades maybe even >> and the goal to uh pre to save folks the task of searching through all of our policies for the most important things. Yeah. I wish I had this when I started. [laughter] >> It was It's actually something that we had discussed maybe a month or two into my term that has taken this long to to kind of pull together. Unfortunately, there's other things that pulled our attention. Um, but it is, as I said, a pretty common best practice. So, I'm happy to bring us in line. Anything else?
051I'd like to make a motion to adopt it. Second. Any further questions? I think it'll be a good starting place for new members and if we have uh a planning meeting at the beginning of the year and we adjust to anything then we have this template to go forward and we can make those adjustments. >> Right. I was just going to say some of the information obviously changes over time right the the particular contact information the names of people in positions. So, I anticipate it being a living document that will get modified over time, >> right? I realize it lists the current board and some of those things and those will >> will change. Um, >> but at least it would give new members coming in something to go by. >> Agreed. >> I guess
052that would be my question is what would be the process for modifying something if we vote on >> if we adopt it? If we adopt this as an an official handbook, um would it require then a vote of the board every time we need to change a board member's name or you know a a policy policy update? >> It might. >> No, you don't think or >> you don't have to vote to change names and all of those type of things. Those are things that would automatically happen. >> Okay. But if we [clears throat] had policy change policy that would require >> Yes. >> Okay. I think uh I think I might like to just confer with like legal on how difficult it is to change if we adopt it. >> That's a really good
053point. >> Um only if we just don't have that spec I mean I I I understand the point of like the little you know the minutia could easily be changed. I just don't want it to be something that's becomes more difficult than >> supposed to be helpful you know. I guess that's all. and we have another meeting in a couple of weeks. We could um move to postpone until our next meeting. Yeah. >> And consider it then after we have more information. >> That's I would like to move to postpone the vote. >> Okay. I would definitely second that. >> Second. >> Okay. >> Sorry, I don't mean to more time. >> So, we need a a roll call on that postponement. Who uh who was second on that? >> Tina. >> Thank you. All
054right. So motion to postpone. Um East Jenkins >> I >> Sheen >> I. >> Sudonic >> I. >> Wind >> I. >> We will pick that back up next time after a little more research. Thank you. Our next item discussion item F. uh SNAP and free and reduced meals. Uh this is one that I asked Dr. Gould to clarify. I've had a lot of questions uh from community members about how what's currently going on at the federal level might or might not um affect our free and reduced lunch program and and other items of our you know nutritional program. So um in speaking with uh Angie Hardy, our child nutrition um supervisor, our there will be no interruption for our students who are on free and reduced um lunch services. I will ask that our
055families uh and community just uh remember we are uh using information in regards to SNAP and free and reduced meals. We also have to remember our federal employees who have also lost jobs as well who uh may need access uh to resources. Uh in the uh community newsletter there is information in regards to uh stuff the bus food drive and we've also put out information of where food pantries and other items can also uh be uh given uh to families uh so that they have resources and access to that >> and any families affected can fill out that free and reduced application at any time. It's not a if you didn't do it in August, you're for the year. No. >> Um if your circumstances change, you can always um submit a new form. >>
056Uh so that's um out there for our families who need it to take advantage of. >> Yes. And Miss Hardy did share with me that our meal uh consumption has increased for both breakfast and lunch. >> Thank you for putting together those resources. Yeah, important. >> Yeah, very helpful. Anything further on that? Okay, our next item, discussion item G, inclement weather and school cancellation. One of the most hardest decisions that is made by the superintendent is when to close schools. And people have a lot of questions in regards to that. So we have been uh testing our system uh we have tested our system um for our families uh who are attending our schools as well as our non-public families. But to give people a clearer picture, we have also put together a inclement weather
057school cancellation playbook. No, we don't. Uh it is attached to uh the agenda and it goes through a actual flowchart uh and school cancellation process. So you can see uh exactly what happens uh in order to make that particular uh decision. Remember this is anything hazardous because now we also have heat index days and not just uh cold weather uh here in Ohio. And especially because at our high school, I remember uh coming in as a superintendent and I thought I was actually being um teased because I had to close the high school the first day of school because uh the air conditioning went out. Um so if you just take a look at that, um this isn't um just so that people understand exactly what goes into that actual decision. Uh who is all
058involved in that decision. Uh a lot of times I get calls in regards to what is happening on streets. We do not regulate what happens on streets. People tell me about oh this street was this. The school district does not regulate a street. We only are responsible for our school properties uh in those areas. So I just want to make that uh very clear. But please uh take an opportunity. This is to uh keep our community informed about what takes place behind just that one um decision. >> This is an incredible amount of detail. Thank you. >> Um I think it's more than I've seen in the past on um managing these decisions. Um and you bring up a point of the the distinction between where the cities are responsible and where the school is
059responsible. Um, that might be something to add, Ms. Jenkins, to your next version is where that separation is between the school and the cities. I've seen some confusion over time on numerous things there. [snorts] We get a lot of emails in regards to that during uh the time of a closure. >> I like the point that you have here on at the bottom where a parent believes travel is unsafe. parent may keep child home because ultimately no matter what the decision is of the district, parents are still parents and can ultimately make the decisions for themselves if you believe that the decision to to stay open was not if it's not correct. So anything further on this? >> Okay, thank you for that. Especially given the fact that we've had our first snow this week,
060it feels very timely. >> Yes. All the second graders told me I was supposed to close school [laughter] because there was a snowflake. Got it. >> I agree with the second graders. >> Okay. Um our next item is executive session um under Ohio Revised Code 121.22G1 to consider the employment of a public employee or official. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> East Jenkins, >> I. >> Mory, >> I. >> Sheen. >> Uh, I'm going to recuse myself from the executive session. >> Zodonic. >> I. >> Wind. >> I. >> We in executive session at 6:59 p.m. >> Action afterwards. >> There will be no action taken afterward other than injurment.