001You've been on a roll. So, Wolf Lab is a new learning environment. Um, it's more based on student ability to selfmotivate, um, move at their own pace and kind of ask for questions when they feel that's needed. Um, they have more freedom in terms of where they want to work. Um, they're not confined to a desk all day. They have, um, Uh, good evening. Welcome to the May 19th West Penmont regular business meeting. Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Patton, present. Mr. Rudy, present. Mr. Chumley, present. Miss Sanborn, present. and Mrs. Spencer let us know she'll be a few minutes late. Thank you. Uh please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with
002liberty and justice for all. First up is the motion to adopt the agenda. Would someone like to make a motion? So move. Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Chumley. Is there any discussion? Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Rudy, yes. Mr. Chumley, yes. Miss Samborn, yes. Mr. Patton, yes. Four. Yes. Looks like we're moving on to recognition. Dr. Fulps. Good evening, everyone. This is always an exciting time when we get to recognize our community and our staff. Our first uh recognition tonight is for Merwin Elementary's cardiac response team. Uh Merwin Elementary's cardiac response team or they call has gone above and beyond to ensure the safety of students and staff in the event of a cardiac emergency. They this volunteer team of staff members became CPR certified, developed a
003comprehensive emergency response plan, and conducted practice drills to prepare for real life scenarios in collaboration with project atom and Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The team worked to meet all criteria for the head for the head heartsafe school designation. So we are proud uh to recognize the certain members. As I call your name, please come forward to Josh, Aaron Parker, Trista Harold, Lori McMillan, Cindy Bay, Jill Everett, Karen Sharpenburgger, Victoria Macintosh, Christy Brown, Sarah Long, Megan Breen, Holly Shoemaker, Mark Hall, Sean Smith, and Charlie Tol. This Oh yeah. So was the last one, Josh. So was last. [Applause] This round. There we go. All right, let's give him a round of applause. [Applause] Thank you so much. Thank you. I know. Who's that guy? So before you guys sit down, I was a part of your debrief.
004Is there is there anything that you would add about what was learned through this process and why you think it's important at Merwin and and eventually all of our schools and anybody I know everyone looks to Aaron but she doesn't have to talk anybody can just that we got to be ready to go when things happen like that and that part of the team will step in like that. The partnership with Pierce Township is so great too. Like in the drill, we actually timed us doing a mock 911 call and seeing what that response time would be for them to come and they were just amazing all the time in that way. And we actually did it one of the modulars so that they had to like navigate around like we made it the most
005difficult it could be to see how well work. So I'm really proud of the team. They just jumped right to action and they always do when there's small or big. Yeah. Well, and I was impressed at the debrief because it's like you got all these important people from Children's Hospital, from the police department, the fire department, and it's like a lot of pressure. Everyone's staring say, "Okay, what did you do right? What did you do wrong?" And I just thought everyone handled that so beautifully. And I know we had a custodian who was headed out. His shift was over and he was headed out and so he stayed on duty to like take care of this. And so, um, just very impressed and thank you for being the trailblazers in this work. We appreciate it.
006All right. Next, we have the Purple Star Schools. West Clement proudly recognizes its schools that have earned the Purple Star award for the commitment to supporting military connected students and families. With trained staff liaison, accessible resources, and ongoing efforts to create a welcoming school environment, these schools ensure that military families feel supported and valued as a part of our community. This is the first year that Wamsvillesville Tobasco Elementary School has received the Purple Star award. Millia Elementary, Merwin Elementary, and Will Elementary are all being re renewed after three years of being a Purple Star schools. So, we're proud to recognize the following elementary schools. And I'm going to call uh their their representative to come up and get the award. So, for Withersville Tabasco Elementary, Angela Nicodemus, come on up. [Applause] uh for um Elia
007Elementary, Gretchen Briggs and Kennedy Geyser. Geyser, sorry. [Applause] Okay, I knew a maiden name, so that threw me off for a second. Who's this girl? Um, Marwood Elementary'sries Aaron Parker and Trista [Music] Harold and Willville Elementary'sries Kevin Jones. Let's give them all another round of [Music] applause. The board's getting their exercise tonight. Ups and downs here. So close. Thank you. [Music] Next, we want to recognize a special group at Amelia Elementary. Amelia Elementary's dedicated pair of professionals play a vital role in supporting students and teachers. Their hard work, flexibility, and willingness to adapt to student needs makes a significant impact on student success. Their contributions are essential to the daily operations of Amelia Elementary School, and we are truly grateful for their commitment. We're proud to recognize the following Amelia pair of professional aids. So
008if I call your name, please come up. Uh Bernard Iker, Kristen Packer, Jasmine Digman, Stephanie Bush, Amber Aan, Doulce Weerhold, Kelly Watson, Rachel Reinhardt, and Teresa [Applause] Martin. Now, don't do what you used to do when you were a kid with subs and give Josh a different name. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. So you guys aren't getting off the hook. So what um I know you don't always get the attention of the board like this and we we are really proud of our pair professionals at Amelia and across the school district. I'm I'm just curious if you have anything that you would share with the board. things that you're most proud of, things that surprise you the most about this job because we all say that um kids today need different things
009and some days really surprise you. So, is there anything that you would want to share just to give people a taste? I know everyone's censoring themselves, but just a taste of of what the what the what what the role is and what you what you love about it. So, well, I just want to say thank you to our amazing leader um because I feel like we do such a good job as a team. team behind us. Oh, but as far as the job goes, you run around. I love what I do. It's hard to put it on paper, isn't it? It really is. But there's no way on it, but we definitely need the team. Yes. That's what And this is a great team. We really We love You have a great team. Yeah. Well,
010that's why you're being recognized because teaming and collaboration is so important here in West Claremont and you guys stand out. So, thank you so much. Thank you. [Applause] All right. So, next we have the West Claremont School District Volunteers of the Year. The West Claremont proudly recognizes the 2425 volunteers of the year for their dedicated service to our schools. Their extra time, support, and care make a meaningful impact on our students and staff. We are grateful for all that they do. We will call up the principal to recognize each building's volunteer of the year and how they contributed to the building. So, first let's start with Amelia Elementary and principal Shane Schult. Shane loves going first. That's usually what he says. I say that all the time. Yeah. Yeah. So, we are deeply grateful to
011uh Joseph and Carrie Armstrong uh for their years of dedicated service to the support of our Veterans Day programs at A Elementary. Uh their commitment to honoring our veterans and creating a meaningful experiences for our students has made a lasting impact on our school community. Uh through their time, energy, and thoughtful planning, they've helped us build uh a spirit of gratitude and patriotism in our young Tigers, as well as helping us receive our second Purple Star award this year. Uh it's with great appreciation that we recognize Mr. Mrs. Armstrong as our volunteers of the year, and thanks for your outstanding contributions. We couldn't do it without him. Yeah. So, we'll bring all the volunteers up. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's good. High school or Yeah, just bring them all up. We'll do elementary, then we'll do
012secondary. How's that? All right, good. All right, our next uh our next school is Kloff with Principal Curtis Mason could not be here. So, Mr. You have a Mr. Drew to fill in for him. All right. Um, if I could have Cara Fights to come on up, please. [Applause] Mr. Mason writes. He says, "Mrs. Feight has been an amazing asset to our PTO this year with helping to organize and run multiple PHO events here at Kluff. She has also takes care of our PTO's newsletter, which is no small task. She is a frequent volunteer in our classroom, and her involvement is appreciated just beyond words. Thank you, Mrs. Fights, for all you've done at Kluff Elementary. You truly make a difference." Next we have principal Josh Young from Holly Hill Elementary, superintendent. Unfortunately, our volunteer
013couldn't be here this evening. Mr. Terry Brothers is a retired engineer and he said he can do what he wants. I said, "Yes, sir." And no, I'm I'm just kidding. He's in Gatlinburg. Great guy. I'm kind of like a used car salesman anytime people are around the school, in the building, outside the building. So on election day, we have pole workers. So I'm down there flinging my card trying to get volunteers in there. Mr. Brothers took me up on it back in November. Um he's just been a phenomenal guy. So uh I guess just to kind of encompass the different hats he wears. It was like the different names that the kids call him like Mr. Terry, Uncle Terry, Grandpa Terry, all those things. I encourage Mr. Terry. But uh being a retired engineer, he
014does everything from basic math facts. He helps with geometry. Um, but he volunteers two, three days a week, spends a few hours in the hallways, in the classrooms, working with students one-on-one or in small groups and just like it's it's to the point now where kids will ask when their time with Mr. Terry is coming up or they'll be jealous and say like their older sister works with him, like when's their turn. Teachers are fighting over him. So, uh, just a great guy. So, we're very honored to have Terry. Wish he was here, but he's enjoying uh the mountains right now. Next we have Principal Aaron Parker from Merwin Elementary. Um we're recognizing Liz Roacha and her little her youngest. This is like a this is um Liz like all the time there's always one
015kid attached to her. This is so lovely. Um she's been the PTO treasurer and member since two um 2021 at Morwin. She attends literally every evening event from the start to the finish to ensure its success. She supports the school day events by ordering and delivering items for our PBIS rewards. Some of those things could be like a trunk load of donuts and milk that she brings for us. She's a parent of a West Claremont Middle School Wolf, a second grader, a preschool student, and one still to come my way, I think. Um, when it comes to volunteering, Liz's entire family is involved and I joke very often with their children that they could run the place instead of me. So, we're just so appreciative of Liz. [Applause] Next, we have Principal Lisa Courtney from
016Somerset Elementary. Hello. It is my honor to recognize Mrs. Satie Williams as our volunteer of the year at Summerside School this year. Mrs. Williams has been on the executive board for our PTO for the past two years, serving as a leader and champion of our school in every way possible. Mrs. Williams goes above and beyond in making every event at Somersside special, including details that are inclusive and so thoughtful in all you do. She seeks opportunities to support students and staff in big and small ways, ensuring that our PTO is a true partner in our program and that all students are able to engage in what the PTO has to offer. From making sure that every student gets a book at bookf fair to making sure that our car line runs well to creating an
017incredible Veterans Day celebration to honor our veterans. Um, Miss Williams is beyond talented at seeing the big picture and the special details needed to make the greatest impact. She's a powerhouse. she gets it done and her family support has been much appreciated too. Her husband here, Mr. W Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams will be going down in um fame or in legendary status for being the glow-in-the-dark stick figures at Summerside for the Halloween hun or for the uh spooktacular um for being the best hang it up, get it done team that is second to none. Her leadership has been paramount to our continued success and we're so thankful for your tireless hours and efforts to lead our PTO. We're going to miss her and her outgoing fifth grader and family and we wish you best
018on all your adventures ahead. Thank you. You can introduce her to Jake after this meeting. Next we have Principal Kevin Jones from Willville Elementary. We would like to recognize Nancy Miller. You will not find a more dedicated, passionate, and knowledgeable volunteer than Nancy Miller. Nancy has a a strong connection to our district. Uh she was a West Claremont employee for 42 years. 42 years. Spending 35 of those years as a teacher at Willowville. Since retiring, she's been giving up one morning each week for the past four years. She's there every week to help in fourth grade. She helps in a multitude of ways. Whether she is listening to students read, working with a small group on comprehension strategies, guiding students on their writing assignments, chaperoning field trips, laminating or running copies. Nancy continues to make
019a positive impact at Willowville. We're grateful for her. You name the task and Nancy will always help with a smile. She knows the students names and they know that she cares about them. If you ask her why she comes each week, she will not hesitate to tell you that it's fun to work with the students and to be able to make a difference. So, thank you, Nancy, for for all of your work. Thank you. Next, we have Principal Sue Litman Hall from Withersville Tobasco Elementary. She got back from the office. Hi, good evening. Mrs. Julie Gore exemplifies dedication, compassion to support WT's library and first grade classrooms. She is a prominent champion to engage our students with literacy, library procedures, and supportive teachers during this weekly commitment. She consistently two plus hours a week on
020her own time comes in every single week to WT. Mrs. Gore is an asset to WT's focus on building the capacity of all stakeholders to create experiences to improve our student achievement as well. We appreciate you, Miss Gore. Thank you. [Applause] All right. Next, we have Principal Jake Cogn from West Claremont Middle School. [Music] Good evening. I'm very excited to introduce Miss Andrew Kleman as our volunteer of the year. So, as our PTSO president, um, she might be Yeah, I mean, I think it's safe to say she's one of the hardest working people in our building. Whether it's single-handedly putting on grade level dances, if it's organizing breakfast for staff on PD days, she really can and does do it all, including uh our field day for tomorrow, which hopefully we don't get rained out
021for. Um, but she just tireless, she is a tireless worker and a tireless advocate for our kids and is always a constant presence in our building. Our staff and our student experience would not be the same without her and she deserves all the recognition we can give her. So, thank you, Amber. [Applause] All right. And finally, we have um Associate Principal Angela Fall Habver to introduce West Clemer High School. Our volunteer of the year is Laura Coas. Laura has a long history of being first in line to lend a hand whenever and wherever it's needed. She has devoted countless hours to supporting PTSO, not only at the high school, but also during her time at the middle school. From coordinating school projects to leading communitydriven events, she consistently steps up in meaningful ways. For the
022past several years, Laura has organized and hosted a carpool to ensure the students in our district have a reliable way to get to and from school. Even when her own daughter started to drive herself, Laura continued to support the carpool efforts. She has led initiatives that provided muchneeded items to students and staff, showing compassion, creativity, and a strong commitment to service. Her gift for communication has strengthened family engagement across our school community. Whether it's spreading the word about important events or helping parents stay informed through social media, she is a trusted and valued connection between home and school. Laura exemplifies the spirit of West Claremont, and we are truly grateful for all she continues to do. [Applause] Okay, let's give them all another big [Applause] hand. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. I don't recognize you without it.
023Thanks. Congratulations. Thank you so much. One, two. Um, before you guys have a seat, I just uh, you know, Natasha's two cents. Um, I I just want to thank you for keeping the spirit of volunteerism alive in West Claremont. Um, especially I know Mrs. Gore, not even having family or children in the school district, dedicating those years, that consistency that you bring to Willowville, just incredible. And I'll say for Laura and Amber, I know you guys have been up here on the stage before and I I know as you progress in the system, fewer pe fewer people are standing beside you. And so I just give you all the credit in the world for your commitment to our secondary schools and trying to build that army of volunteers. And um speaking of army of volunteers,
024thank you so much for for your military um your your love of service uh to our country and what you you bring to our students. You're also a face in the crowd that just keeps coming back year over year over year. Really, all of you have those faces in the crowd that just stay with us committed and we just appreciate what you do so much. Don't underestimate the power that you have. And my final thank you really is thank you for what you do for our principles. I put our principles on a very high pedestal in the school district. They are talented people. They work hard and they can't do their job without people like you. So, thank you for every little thing that you do for them. It really means the world. Thank you.
025[Applause] [Music] [Applause] So, at this point, we're going to take about a 10-15 minute break. We're going to go out and have We got cookies and refreshments out there. We'll be back in about 10 or 15 minutes. Yep. We're really He's gonna he's going to start trying to get the video. So, we are back from the reception. 7:40. Sure. So tonight's video, WC Strong video is from the Wolf Lab at the high school. This is the first year of this program. And just this last week, two students from the Wolf Lab went up to the Stay in the Game Conference in Columbus with a few of us from the district. They represented the Wolf Lab uh on a on a student panel to talk about innovative programming in schools that's keeping kids engaged, keeping them
026wanting to come to school. So they represented us very very well. This video is to help give a a deeper look into what a Wolf Lab experience is. And if I was describing it in a quick nutshell, this is a high school opportunity. We have five teachers who work in an intervention specialist or four teachers in adventure. What What is it? Five or four? Five with an intervention. Is it six or five? Yeah, four plus one. Okay. Inter they work together. They they serve in the media center. So, they've got access to to both floors. So, they have a a different kind of classroom environment. Students are more self-directed. So, a lot of times if you're talking to a Wolf Lab kid, they'll say, "Well, this is really preparing me for college because I've got
027to really plan my time management and I have to access teachers not just once a day. I have access to the access to them throughout the day and I have to like plan my studies and prioritize." So, those are the kinds of things they talk about, but it's multiaceted. This video will give you a sense. Uh, but what I'm most grateful for is just the creativity of the administration and the teachers who signed up to do this to provide a program that represents the entire student body. So, it's it's not any one kind of group. It really reflects the demographics of West Claremont High School and is giving our students an edge on building independence and lifelong skills that they need to to reach portrait of graduate skills. So, now we're ready. [Applause] [Music] So,
028Wolf Lab is a new learning environment. Um, it's more based on student ability to selfmotivate, um, move at their own pace and kind of ask for questions when they feel that's needed. Um, they have more freedom in terms of where they want to work. Um they're not confined to a desk all day. They have um special type of furniture. Um they have desks if they would like desks. Um but they can float between the upper and lower media centers and really just choose to work on the subjects that they want to work on. Um while also having that support from teachers to keep them on track for graduation. This is the first year of the Wolf Lab and there are already 120 students enrolled. Right now it is only open to juniors and seniors. We
029have every type of student in Wolf Lab. And I think that's the best part about Wolf Lab is it doesn't matter if you're a straight A student or if school hasn't been your thing the past 2 three years. Um we have kids who take AP governments who are super high level kids take other AP classes, TCP classes out in a traditional classroom. Um we have kids who are identified um and have uh IEPs who get the support they need in here from our intervention specialists. But the best part is is our intervention specialist doesn't just help kids with IEPs. She's able to help all students in this environment. So, kids are getting a more individualized learning approach in this environment. There are five teachers assigned to the Wolf Lab, including math, science, history, and English.
030So, students are still taking traditional courses, but in a non-traditional setting. We teach all of the same standards um that the state of Ohio gives us. We teach uh we give all the same assessments so that we can compare data from inside the Wolf Lab to outside the Wolf Lab. we just have a um less structured environment of how that's portrayed. Uh I joined Wolf Lab because of a what was what was at this point a experimental program where I'd be able to work at my own pace which is something I have definitely needed a lot in my academics because of what I do for a hobby. It is incredibly timeconuming. So being able to work at my own pace is very vital. U my hobby is I do actively um track weather systems, more
031particularly severe weather systems um across the United across the eastern tier of the United States anywhere from the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Atlantic coast. And I do have a lot of different programs that I need to use for that. I do see myself going into university after high school, more particularly Oklahoma University for meteorology and eventually becoming something similar to what my father does. My father does um he storm chases, but he's also a contract meteorologist. Wolflab, so I'm someone I can't sit down like I have to move my brain. If I'm listening to a teacher lecture, I'm not learning. So, Wolf Lab has helped me so much because I get to move around and I get to talk and I get to like do my work at my own pace and
032it really has like helped me improve my grade and I feel like I'm just not talking to myself anymore. Like I'm like interacting like I'm making new connections and new friends. Both Riley and Lexi say they've benefited significantly from the Wolf Lab. Wolf Lab has worked out a lot for me. It's done very well. Uh this year consecutively has had some of my best grades I've ever had in any consecutive uh period. Especially my overall GPA uh for any consecutive year definitely would be this year is the best because of the environment that Wolf Lab allows for me to work in. And then math math used to be my worst subject and I like this is the first time I've ever had a A in math. So being in Wolf Lab, it definitely makes me
033more independent. It makes me hold myself accountable for all the classwork that I have to do. you know, we're we really work to move through all of our contents and make sure that the kids are prepared for their state test. And um I don't think science is necessarily the student's favorite subject. And so biology, it was very hard to pull this kid and engage him in a traditional classroom. This year um I have that same student in chemistry and he is thriving in chemistry. He comes in ready to learn every day because he knows that he has ownership of when he can work on it, how long to work on it. He's not confined to a 90-minute bell. Mrs. Hollinger explains the skills these students are learning and how it can help them in the
034future after graduation. Yeah. So, the I really feel like the value of Wolf Lab is that we're giving kids the opportunity to take ownership of their own learning, be accountable, learn how to motivate themselves, like these soft skills that are needed for the real world and in real world jobs. Um, sometimes get lost in a traditional classroom because everybody's moving at the same pace. in here. It gives that those skills needed back to the students to figure out but with the support of a teacher. I would say that West Claremont strong would probably be to me would be a sense of unity which a large sense of unity does here does exist in the community. But I'd also say that it is a sense of success as well because a lot of success can be
035found here in this district. felt very much strong. I definitely think it brings the community together. It's making us stronger. It's building us into a more like better environment. Like it's like getting getting us out there and everything. And I definitely think like when people hear West Claremont strong, it's like we're up there. Like we're doing good. We are West Claremont strong. What is your WC strong story? [Music] One of the coolest things about this program is the community they've built. If you take a tour in there and you walk through, people like Riley try to stop you and say, "Oh, I have the best grades ever." Or they say a goal that they met that the community is very supportive. They set personal goals. They cheer each other on. It's just very special. And
036I think these kids are creating memories in high school that maybe they wouldn't have otherwise. um just mixed in with the different groups that they get to hang out with. So, it's very cool and I'm proud of them. Thank you, Becky, for uh creating that for us. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, next looks like we have public speaking. I do not believe we have any cards. So, we will move on to the consent agenda. First up, it looks like is Dr. Folultz. Thank you. In front of you is the personnel agenda for um May 19th, 2025. Um, on the agenda we have the retirement of Amy Store, the director of secondary teaching and learning. This is her 20th year in the district. Lisa May Ellis, a reading specialist at Holly Hill. This is her 31st
037year in the district. Jonathan Sers, a PE teacher at Westmont High School in his 29th year in the district. And Lorine La Palmer, a cafe work at WT and with her ninth year in the district. So, we wish them well on their their next adventure. Also in front of you is the resignation of one high school principal, six teachers, three pair professional aids, and one cafeteria worker. The agenda also includes the proposed hiring of eight teachers, one custodian, and three pair of professional aids. U the agenda also includes the reassignment of one part-time pair professional aid at Willowville to one full-time pair of professional aid at Somersside. This is the time of year where we we uh bring forward certified, classified, and administrative staff for contract renewals. in their respective levels. So on the agenda,
038we have the proposed approval for moving 18 teachers from a limited contract to a continuing contract. 11 classified staff from a limited contract to a continuing contract. We also have the proposed approval for administrative placement on the 2526 salary schedule. Exempt staff placement on the 2526 salary schedule. Classified contract renewals for the 2526 salary schedule following a one-year or two-year renewal. Exempt contract renewals for the 2526 salary schedule following a two-year renewal. Limited contract renewals for certified teachers for the 2526 school year by school. Part-time pair professional and office assistant contract renewals for 2526 school year. On the agenda, we have the proposed approval for extended days uh for our support staff. This allows our support staff time to close out this school year and begin the next school year. And it also allows support
039to support any summer work that we've done. On the agenda, we have the proposed approval for supplemental contracts for curriculum leaders, elementary performers, multiple coaches. We also have the proposed approval for multiple unpaid leave of absences, multiple substitutes, and multiple school volunteers and student teachers. Uh, every year we have to bring forward our renewal of how we pay our daily rate for our subs. So, that is on here as well. It's not changed. It's the same thing that we had for the 2425 school year. And then finally, in the work beyond the contract section, uh proposed approvals for ele for enrollment in district support, curriculum development, and summer school support if needed. This concludes the review of the personnel agenda submission for your consideration. Thank you, Dr. Folultz. All right. Yes. Okay. Just check. All
040right. Good evening. So tonight we're going to talk a little bit about our um resolution for our architect. What one of the things that the district does is they um contract the services from an architect. We've done this in the past. We've done it over the last several years. Um what we use the architects for are ongoing district improvement projects that we do have throughout the year. For example, this year, um, we're under contract through, um, I guess it would have been June 5th, uh, with SHP. During that time, we contracted them to help us with our master facility plan and then also ongoing district improvements projects. Uh, that contract is up. Some of the things that they did for us over the past year when we added the compressors at the middle school, they
041work with us on that. If you remember back to the middle school when we had a crack in the wall, they also come in with get the engineers in to see what that wall uh was a weight bearing wall or was it a cosmetic and we found out that was cosmetic because it was covering up some pipes. And so Chuck uses them, Dan uses them as we go throughout the year on different building projects. Um they help us um secure the lowest cost, lowest bids uh for particular projects. Obviously, it's over 50,000 that goes out, but I think that one of the things that we do utilize them for um a lot throughout the year. If we to try to do this alone, it'd be very very difficult. Um and we need their expertise. We
042need them to focus in on safety as our number one priority as well as when you look at aging buildings and you look at some of the things that happen in aging buildings, you want them on board with us. And so, um, one of the things that we'll do is we move forward. If you remember back in April, uh, we put the RFQ out, um, at the end of April, and that was due through May 7th. What we did in this RFQ is we made it comprehensive enough that we would include if the, um, ballot issue would have passed, it would have also included those buildings that would have been a part of that LFI. Um, so we wanted to be able to get those timelines and stay within that budget on that LFI. Uh,
043but we also wanted to put in there ongoing uh district-wide improvements. So when you look back at the documents on the B101, you're going to look at you're going to see four different things. You're going to see first it's going to be district improvement projects. Uh, and that those are all locations in the district. You're also going to see Ameilia WT and Club. that is if we were to pass the ballot issue, we would have gotten um what they would have done in their timelines. We were really looking at the timelines that they were able to satisfy if we were to pass the ballot issue. What I'm asking the board to or what we're asking the board to approve tonight is that first area where it was district-wide improvements. We need to utilize those for
044upcoming district-wide improvements. What might those be? Right now, we have two different areas. we have the middle school gym um roof that needs attention immediately. We know that we're looking at that. So, that would be the first thing that we would go into uh with our architects. The other one, as you saw the pictures from Holly Hill as well with the windows, that is going to be another thing that we're going to have to do. And then other things that come up, we utilize them for HVAC that we have any HVAC issues that we would have throughout the buildings, um electrical and so forth. And so we would continue to do that. What I'm asking the board to do is um select SHP as our leading design and authorized negotiation agreement for districtwide improvement projects,
045not new construction. It was one of those four that was listed in the RFQ. It was the top one. And we had the, you know, Dan and Chuck said, we want to make this comprehensive regardless of what happened on the ballot issue so that when we get the results, we can go right into our summer project. We can go right into the things that we would need and we will prioritize what we would need to fix as we move forward. Right now, the roof of the middle school, Holly Hill windows, and hopefully nothing else comes about, but we know that we will, and we need the architects to help us as we move through that process. So I would ask the board to approve that resolution. So I have a question on this uh 19
046plus million. So it's just for the Holly Hill windows and the project and design for the West Claremont Middle School. The 19.1 million was the budget that we gave in the RFQ. So when we went to those LFIS or those additional classrooms, those media centers um that we had and the um uh technology technology and safety and so that was the encompass to give them a budget. So they would say, okay, this is what we can do within that budget. This is the timeline we can do within that budget. Um that was not a cost. That was a budget that they would have to come in and tell us how they would meet that budget with their RFQ. Okay. So, we'll have probably some money left over for future use. No, there's no money involved
047in that. That was just a budget for those particular projects. Those projects are not on the table now. We didn't pass the ballot. So, those those are gone. So, so the only thing that we're doing with the RFQ would be districtwide improvement projects. Okay. But you have to have money in order for the SHP to come and do this design and project for us. Where's the money coming from? If you're not going to use this money, where are you getting the money? No money coming in from this. And this would then let Dan be able to answer that one. So here I think this this needs to be clarified. So through that process with the RFQ, there was a scope of work that was identified. A lot of that was tied to the master facility
048plan. That didn't happen, right? We know on May 6 that that didn't occur, right? One of the other other parts of u the RFQ and evaluating the services is the needs that we have ongoing all the time that Mr. Letha has when a boiler goes down when we need to do the windows at Holly Hill when the roofs at um at any of our buildings. Okay. You need the professional expertise to do the design, the engineering to do the bid specs and all that. One of the things that that the board needs to rest assured is that when we use them, you'll know what those projects are. The projects aren't just going to pop up and you not see them. Okay? The projects will be put in front of you. Okay? You'll see that. Okay?
049That'll happen. So, it's not like they're in that document right now. They're to come. And what we're really doing is securing the services so that when those projects come, if we decide to do the windows, if we do have funding in our permanent improvement fund to do those things, those will come to the board, too. And then we'll kick in the services of the architect. And there's money in the budget for these services. Like that's where the money comes from. Services of the architect. Yeah. I just want to make sure we had the money in our budget to do these. Yes. Correct. Gotcha. So I do have a question. So this 19 million that is not happening. So why is it on in the form? So so when we when we did the RFQ, right?
050Okay. Which was back in April in advance of the decision plan end of April we put the RFQ out so that we would have those LFIs that would be if we were to pass the bond issue. So it didn't pass. So you don't do it. It's comprehensive. So we wouldn't modify this statement at all. it would just stay because it was already in place before. So, it's just it included everything under the sun that could possibly happen. So, we would understand like what their costs would be and what timeline they would project. So, it's just we just won't do that. There's no commitment if that's what you're meaning. Like, okay. Just because it's written there. It's not a commitment. It's just the commitment is about the services, not about the details. We just want them
051to Yeah. The commitment is them, not the details. Right. And the cost for these district-wide improvements are to be determined, you know, as we go out and as we go to the roof, as we look at the roof, we look at the windows, we get the bids. Um, and then as we bring those, we'll bring those forward. And so when we go into our building usage report, which I believe we'll do next month, um you'll start to see if you remember the charts where all those red and all those buildings, remember those charts that had all the red, those are the things that we'll have to prioritize over the next 3 to 5 years that we know about. The things that are uncertain are the ones that scare me and scare the treasurer and the
052superintendent and Chuck. And so those are the things that you have to look at and when a compressor goes out or you have to replace the electrical panels, the 11 electrical panels at the middle school that aren't big dollar amounts. And so um you know hopefully we can go and hopefully those won't happen. Um but when they do, as we talked about when we went through the bond issue, when you start to put money into operations, it's going to take money from the general fund. And I don't want to speak out of turn, but we've talked about this over and over again. This is what happens. And so we're just sitting here with buildings that from 1960s hoping that something doesn't bad happen. Does this company assist with our modulars that those become a place?
053So doing plumbing, doing electric work. I mean, that's not just plopping the modular. You have to do a a whole process. Fire department, the permit department. Do they also assist at the middle school? Again, the roof has been leaking. You can absolutely. So to do any of these projects that you just mentioned and then the roof at the middle school, you have to have an architect to do that to keep you current with the codes and also they they know the sources. They know the labor. They know the materials and they they work for us so they can advise you. So if we were not if we if this recommendation wasn't before you tonight, we would have to bring one to you before we could even start the middle school. We would have to again
054for an architectural company to advise us and how to and legally take us through the process of. So tonight is just simply to start the process of these repairs that we need with an architect kind of on our hip through the entire process. So again, what I'm hearing is is that we just can't pull a modular in and park it, right? Has to have permits. Has to have Yeah, it's not an RV. We can't pull it in a light but extension cords. But to answer your question, yes, they will help us in determining engineering, going through the plot plans, going through what we have and giving us the best recommendation of where we would put modular classrooms and what buildings. And that goes back to I know Dave is Dr. Folz is going to talk
055about enrollment. Those are the things that we'll have to consider as far as enrollment. What buildings are going to be affected? What boundaries are going to be affected? are we going to have to redistrict to accommodate the needs of those particular buildings? And so, um, yeah, that they do all that for us. And u we've had those discussions preliminary you know uh initial discussions about that but it really comes down to when you start to look at the enrollment where is the enrollment going to be what's going to be the least um distracted to our uh our parents um and what less impacted as far as where we put those modules. I just can't sit them down um if we don't look at those projected enrollment numbers as well. And and as we move forward
056in this, I guess is a statement or a question for Dan. I mean, what you know, I'm a firm believer of trust but verify and obviously we trust but we're going to verify, but when we talk about these projects, I is it safe for me to assume that you're not writing a check that we can't cash? So like you're you're you're looking at the budget, you're looking at the numbers that you look at all day long and you're saying, "Hey guys, we can't do this. Come up with a different plan." Not only can't I write a check that we can't cash, we can't do a contract unless the money's available. Unless they assume for me to pay it and I'm not paying tax, right? Come on. That's the consequence right there. You know, and the
057things that you're bringing the thing that you'll bring to us is that hey guys, I'm dipping more into the operation piece of it. I need you to be aware of this because this is going to affect this. But again, we again our job is is to trust but to verify. I I understand that piece and and to and to approve. I think you know, one of the the important things is when Mr. father was describing the services. We don't we're not we can't wait till an emergency happens or we can't wait and plan at the last minute. All that has to be done up front. Okay, that aside from knowing those services that they do, they need to know our buildings too. Okay, so you can't just put a modular unit anywhere. Uh they need
058to know our buildings in advance when something happens. So I think that's that's an important part of of identifying retaining somebody not just to help us plan but also to to immediately respond if something happens. Okay. And they'll have all the footprints of our school current schools. And again, no project goes forward, okay, until it comes to the board first to know what we're doing. Gotcha. Thank you. I just want to go back and talk about HR for a minute, but because it was brought to my attention at December of 2023 when the union contracts were negotiated, they was negotiated for two years instead of three because of House Bill 187. And I just want the community to know the reason this is on the agenda tonight is you weren't sure you were going to
059have the state funding in order to give the personel the personnel section. Right. on the personnel section of the of the agenda. And so that's the reason we are approving it tonight because they've already been told the union has that we are going to approve this tonight. So I just wanted the community to know about this because there's been several questions to me about this and I'm I'm glad that you informed me of House Bill 187 and I'm going to look that up when I get home and and check it out. Yeah. because I'm I'm concerned about our budget for 25 or 26 27 school year. We need to make sure we going we're going to have the funds to continue to pay our staff and our stu our teachers and and we'll and we'll
060talk about that when later on we do the 5-year forecast, the updated version of it. We'll we'll talk about all that. Okay. I appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you. And and what I want to clarify I I don't even remember the details of the House bill anymore. It feels so long ago. what what is the big picture is he can't certify correct money if that that is not planned in in the five-year forecast and so he has to be able to certify it. So it it wasn't necessarily just a a house bill influenced that, but it's that's true every time we do negotiations. He can only certify what he can certify. So that's why it can change from one year to two year to three year to five year. It's it's it's it's moving. It wasn't
061because of a house bill alone. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Sure. So that was that was item 7.02 with a circle back and then Yeah. So now, so are all SHP questions good? Are we ready? Okay, so we'll do Needed some clarification as well. Yep. Thank you. Got it. Okay. Approval of minutes. Okay. Item 7.03 is the request for the approval of the minutes for the meeting that was held on May 5th, 2025. It's a regular business meeting. Item 7.04 is request and motion to approve the donations as presented. Uh can read them briefly. BAM Realy Group donated a new cooler to the Aspire Cafe at West Claremont High School. Withersville Tabasco PTO donated Magic Treehouse Books to WT Elementary for the right to read week. WTP PTO donated Finding Winnie Books, 25
062of them to WT Elementary uh to build classroom libraries. Barbing donated several book series to Cluff Pike Elementary. Amelia Walmart donated snacks, pop chips, dry erase markers, other materials for the Amelia Elementary for staff appreciation. And Wamsville Church of Christ donated uh $710 everything bagels gift cards to Wanville Elementary for teachers and staff and really for the appreciation. Um so it's recommended to approve those donations as listed. Item 7.05 05 is request for approval of authorization for the superintendent treasur to negotiate and execute contracts as presented. There are three of them there. Pocket talk HC uh Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities that is for the 2526 year coming up and Hamilton County ESC again for the contract for the uh 2526 uh fiscal year that is coming up. So again, the request for approval of those
063contracts. Item 7.06 is request for approval of purpose and budget statements for this current year 2425. So as as the activities of the school activities uh um change, request that those purpose and budget statements be approved. There's four of them listed there. Item 7.07 07 is request for approval of the financial statements, the bill's paid list and the investments for April 2025 um as presented. So the consent agenda is item 7.01 through 7.07 as listed and requested. Thank you, Mr. Romano. You've heard the recommendation. Would someone like to make a motion? Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Chum. Is there any further discussion? We'll call Mr. Rudy. Yes. Mr. Chumley, yes. Miss Samborn, yes. Mrs. Spencer, yes. Mr. Patton, yes. Five, yes. Okay. Up next is the innovation course
064of study updates. Um, this is Kristen and friends, I think. Yes. Okay. Friends for sure. Good evening. Um tonight we wanted to take just a few minutes to provide the board with an update on our innovation course of study and kind of the work that um that our team has been uh engaged with. Tonight to share this update with you, I want to introduce you two um highly valued members of our teaching and learning team. Um Mrs. Miss Elaine Giorgio, who's our assistant director of teaching and learning, and Sarah Kaufman, who serves the district as a curriculum and instructional technology specialist. Good evening. Let's see. There we go. I'm Elaine and this is our course of study team this year. Barb Kenny, Bill McFarland, Leanne Pierce, Nicole Dye, myself, and Sarah Kaufman. We have a
065variety of people that have math science experience and um four of which are on the discovery team right now teaching students about STEM and steam learning. So we have a draft of our shared vision. I'm going to take the moment to read this because it helps frame this work. Steam STEM learning empowers students to open, purposeful exploration, design thinking, and innovation through an inclusive assetbased approach. Problem solving, creativity, and technology integration are fostered through standards aligned crosscurricular experiences that promote deeper learning so that all learners develop the knowledge, skills, and mindsets needed to thrive in an ever evolving world. All right. So where we started, we looked at a few frameworks uh including the Ohio STEM and STEAM designation rubric, the Ohio's qual quality model for STEM and steam schools and the Ohio's personalized learning
066framework. And that picture is an example of everything that the Ohio's personalized learning framework encompasses. And that's something not only that we want to see in these classes, but across the board in all of our uh classes and all grade levels. Um, just to give you some reference for the STEM designation rubric, these are the three three domains for learning. And again, these are things that we want to see in every classroom. Um, so we're starting where it feels natural with the discovery team and teachers that are naturally inclined to teach innovation with um innovation in mind. What we've done so far through this process this year um we've so far um developed a draft vision as you've heard and that's going to be ongoing. That's why we're calling it a draft because we're constantly
067refining it to make sure we're meeting the needs for what our students need. Um, and currently we have K5 units planned for next year. They're we're still um working on those a little bit, but they are vertically aligned and also um horizontally aligned. And with those units, we've developed shared language. So we were going to talk a little bit about design thinking, project based learning and then connections to portrait of a graduate. So this goes into our shared learning. We started with the Ohio Steam STEM designation rubric. The state outlines what they look for in innovative classrooms. We also participated in the showcase um as observers at Indian Hill Primary. They are one of the STEM designated schools in the area. We also have been in contact in collaboration with the STEM council at Hamilton
068County ESC. We've unpacked the new Ohio technology standards. They were just launched in the last two months and developed from the ISTY standards. We piloted use the use of rubrics that we created during our course of study which has been super exciting. Um, as the team has worked to create standards aligned lessons and units, they really uh pinpoint a target and they look at rubrics as like the vehicle to get you to that intended outcome. And you'll get to see some of those rubrics. Um, we've done some co-eing and co-reflecting using the rubrics and feedback and assessment. Um, these are just pictures on the right of classrooms, but I can speak specifically to the bottom picture that's at Amelia with Mr. McFarland. He and I co-taught a lesson in a kindergarten class and we really
069worked on the intended outcome of students had dominoes to connect all the way down the table and their rubric focus was communication collaboration. And so in that particular case, we would walk around the room and provide feedback regarding like how they were working together and communicating with one another and regarding their structure. I wish you could see that closer up, but each students structures are very different, but they connect it all the way down. So um guidance for use in AI for K12 classrooms. We actually used quite a bit of AI when we were looking at ways to create crosscurricular units that were meaningful that helped promote important critical areas of learning for students and to help us categorize the units across the grade levels. When Sarah was talking about the units being developed horizontally
070and vertically, we wanted to make sure if you were a kindergartener and you're progressing through elementary school, the learning that you started with as a kindergartener was intentionally developed over time. And I I do want to recognize the um the positive influence of AI in our problem solving and creation and design and collaboration with the elementary science course of study which happened on May 6th. Um that was really exciting because we brought course of study teams in to look at the scope of the work that had been done so far. So science course of study had an opportunity to hear the innovation course of study share their work their their learning and their experiences their use of rubrics and their use of the design thinking process which we're going to go into next and I'm
071very excited about that as well. Um it was really exciting because we knew these are good researchbased practices. They help promote deeper learning and thinking and um one teacher that was retiring um she said I wish I wasn't retiring. I want to come back and see this happening. So I I'm just so excited and we are so grateful to be here in this moment and to give you an update because this is the beginning of really exciting work that I am sure is going to spread across the elementaryaries and across the district. So we're going to go on to the next one that is a model of design thinking process. We didn't make it up. It's it's a it's a very common process. You ask a question. You imagine different like possibilities. You make a
072plan. You create something. You reflect on that creation. You reflect on it and then you improve it. And then you launch it. And it's a continuous cycle of learning. And this is the process that our discovery teachers use in their classrooms. And you know, we said to each other, this is the process we use in learning. It really defines the the learning process. So science teachers are also using this. So what a great way to push this work out through this design thinking process. This is a draft right now, but again the team really lived this innovation process. Innovation is about trying something out and learning from something that went well and something that could be a next step. So well and design thinking is industry. It's not just a school term. Absolutely. Something that
073happens here. It's it's industry. Um many different groups use it. Yeah. Um these are our rubrics. So we uh as you see all these these three rubrics look very similar and I'll go into our units next but um the unit one for all grade levels K through five they came up with is innovative designer. And these are just some of the skills that were identified that are important for those courses and within that unit that they want to see. And they're skills that are important not just in these classes but for every class in elementary school and even secondary to be honest. And as you go up from unit from kindergarten to second grade a lot of the skills the root of those skills stays the same but there are slight modifications just to level
074up for that grade level. So it's really scaffolded support that those teachers are able to provide. And um we did have some teachers pilot using this and they said this was a very studentfriendly version to use these types of rubrics because with the discovery team right now those teachers have how many students? Yeah, sometimes 30. Um 30 at a time and they see maybe all of the students within the elementary building in their entire week. So just thinking about how to assess students in a teacher friendly and studentfriendly way. was something that they came up with and they were on board with using it. So it was a win for us. I would add that students can use this to guide their own learning. So it really promotes like collaborative reflection, co-reflection um and it
075just helps us to promote next steps in learning and be clear on it. And this is another example of that intentionality. Like Sarah had mentioned, these rubrics are intentionally built on one another to scaffold up So, uh, we did establish some unit themes for, uh, each unit. So, we have four units that take up the full year and that's the plan right now. We're going to pilot this next year and see how it goes and of course meet and refine as we go and as needed. So, um, first quarter will be about unit one. That's innovative designer. There are some of the key concepts for that. design and build is focusing on engineering prototyping and the third quarter, third unit would be technology and digital tools. And then the fourth quarter is is almost a
076culminating experience where they get to apply all of the skills learned from those first three units and try to solve a problem within their community or within their school and really apply the design thinking process. And then um I can speak to this uh we have also a lot of we did a lot of work with standards alignment. We align well as we said it's we tried to make intentional crosscurricular connections. So we looked at the new Ohio's learning standards for technology. A lot of this work is rooted in that. We also have connections to Ohio science learning standards, ELA standards for listening and speaking, math standards, and computer science standards. So, there's a lot of work that went into this. And but when we looked at the standards, there were a lot of connections
077that we thought made sense, and we're really excited to see how it comes together next year. Can I ask a question real quick? Um, so you hit these standards. Does Discovery not have standards of their own or are you just incorporate is this all incorporating into all of the classes and everything that they do? Yeah, Discovery doesn't have standards of its own. And so they were um creating experiences and lessons that promoted deeper learning, problem solving, collaboration. And we saw this as a perfect opportunity to promote crosscurricular connections and to really um help students, you know, take what they've learned in discovery and bridge it over into other classrooms and vice versa so that that learning is enduring learning. Yeah. Another thing, some feedback that we got from students, uh this is high school students
078as well as middle school students saying that you know when they get to high school make choices on their courses whether it be the cyber security or if it's STEM related design engineering the um aviation course they were saying you've got to take this down to the other like they need to know like what's possible. I had no idea aviation would be even a thing. And so their advice always to us is push this down further so that kids are exposed to these topics earlier and then can make better choices and plan their own paths. And so that this is all that coming together. I just want to commend you guys um your leadership team. This is really incredible work. Something that really didn't exist in West Claremont. Throughout Claremont County, we really have a
079um not a strong STEM or steam presence. And this is really the start of something special. I know when we started discovery it was to connect to outside careers and partners and I see lots of connections here for that. Um just to give a tangible example what this will end up being are things like Legos in kindergarten first grade that turns into 3D printing when you're in the upper grades where you're creating things and then it's going to be industry equipment by the time you're in high school. And so that that's really what we're after is that it's the thinking process. And as we see more and more advanced technology and AI and how it impacts our world, human- centered design so that we are designing for the end user and and we come at
080it with a human approach is going to be more important than ever. So these skills are going to continue. And you can see this if you're looking at any job search, which jobs are the most wanted in, you know, in the world right now, it's things that are related to these skills. So you guys did an excellent job. Thank you so much. Any other questions? Yeah, thank you. Appreciate that so much and I guess the vision would be to get that STEM designation someday. Yeah. So itself is really under represented. So yeah. So that's that's great. another trailblazing activity. Thanks. All right. So, up next we have the enrollment report, but it that also doesn't tell the whole story. This is really staffing and enrollment. So, uh David and Josh, the David and Josh show.
081This is a report that David has traditionally brought to us. He gives us a version every November and then updates it every May. So, that this is what this is to help us plan and project what's happening. Thank you. Yes, November really when we get the new prediction numbers and then we look at the May on those we remind everyone of those prediction numbers and then start to look at staffing needs. So the first slide is just um some some research on continued shortages, attrition and lack of qualified teachers. So, I was I was looking through some articles and it it hit me because from a national scale when we're talking about 74% of public schools reported difficulty hiring full fully certified teachers and that's one in eight national. So, think about almost a half
082we'll pop back up here in a second. Go check your email, Mr. Roman. Um, one in eight teachers, which is almost a half a million teachers nationwide, are uh positions are left unfilled or filled by individuals not fully qualified for those positions. But so, okay, that's national. Let's look at a state Ohio shortage news. So, they I was able to drill it down to Southwest Ohio that the attrition rate is about 14.5%. And so, remember that number because we're going to talk about our attrition rate compared to that. And then finally, um, the Ohio educator workforce is a steady decline even since the p pandemic and it's specialed, ELLL, math, science, and social studies. So, some of those core classes and special ed classes. Josh is going to talk about what we've been doing to
083try to recruit people to make sure that our numbers and sh and shortages do not reflect what we see nationally and statewide. Yeah. So, uh, Dr. Fol, we obviously we have a shortage. We know it's out there. Dr. Folultz sent me on a road show um around our state and Kentucky. Um I might be the first person to have a bit emmoji on a board, but here I am. Um so he sent me to all these uh career fairs around the state and we were strategic with what we did. Um we used title two data which is um which tell us how many college graduates they previously had in education. Um we hit five of the seven in the state of Ohio. Um University of Kentucky is also one of the top three in Kentucky.
084Um and so we made the trip around. Our goal and our strategy behind it was one city away. Our thought process was we can recruit someone two hours away. It's not that far if you're from that original city. Um we could either recruit you back to recruit recruit you to Cincinnati or recruit you back to Cincinnati for those that went away to colleges in those different places. And so um that was those were our efforts to try to get out there and put our name out there. And that that becomes super important not just today but in the future. So, our stats from uh those career fairs, uh we had 121 candidate engagements. That means we had some sort of conversation one-on-one with a candidate at these career fairs. Um we conducted 52 interviews. Um
085those are like first first round survey type interviews just to get to know the candidates. Um we had 44 of them sign up for an email uh chain that I'm sending out every time we have a posting. So, we're putting those we're putting those job postings in these candidates inbox. They they conveyed to me that they liked what they heard about West Claremont. And so we want to be front and center whenever we have those postings go out. Um we've had two offers from them. Um two offers strictly from CareerFairs. Um and one of them has accepted. Uh and and so and while that one might be one, it's it's a big victory. It's it's one of our special education uh teachers that is joining us from Miami University. Didn't know anything about us in
086West Claremont, but we sold him on the great things happening here. Uh in our picture there, we have Greg Potabomb. He helped me out at this is us at Xavier University. If you take a look in the background, it doesn't look like much is going on. That's because it's the end of the day. We stayed there from the very beginning to the very end. We were interviewing people. Um we may not have had the position open right now, but we want to be prepared when it comes open that we've talked to those people. It's also a time for us to sell our district to other people. Even if they don't even if we don't hire them tomorrow, hopefully the next year they say, "Oh yeah, West Claremont's got an opening. I want to go work
087there." And so it's a long-term effect of how we get people to come and work for us in West Claremont. Other ways that we are able to get them to work for us um is our teaching candidates, those from the university. We hosted 39 student observers. Those would be the ones that come for maybe one to two hours. Um that small sections of time throughout the course of the week. Um they're typically the younger uh the younger um people within the college, uh freshman, sophomores, and then student teachers. That's where they come for a semester and they really get that teaching experience. We hosted 51 of those student teachers hired into West Claremont to date is four. um which is an awesome it's an awesome return. In our picture here we have Holly Hill um
088some student teachers with their cooperating teachers and I I tell you a story from one of those career fairs. Um Holly Hill, one of the candidates there, they had such a great experience doing their student teaching um at Holly Hill that they they were talking to their roommates, they were talking to their classmates about all the how great West Claremont was. And I had people come up to my booth, to our booth at West Claremont, at Xavier, and say, "Hey, my roommate talked about all the great things that happened there. Um, what's going on there? You know, what openings do you have?" And so, it's not going to be just the people that are in our buildings, but also what they say about us. So, some good momentum there. We're working to expand our connections
089with colleges. Um, it has to be win-win. It can't be just us taking in candidates from the outside and and doing things. We also want to make sure that we're giving back to them. Um, we're bringing those candidates in, but they're also providing things for us, um, and us for them. We went and did mock interviews at, uh, Xavier University, also Mount St. Joe's. Uh, Dr. Folultz went to the University of Cincinnati to talk to their sophomores about like the dos and don'ts of student teaching. Um, we have engagements where we're connecting, our our principles are connecting. Mr. Pota and uh Aaron Parker went to ENKU and we're partnering with Xavier University for they're giving us professional development free to our staff in exchange for us taking in um student teachers. We also have uh
090we we've invited all these groups to our take care of yourself day so they could promote themselves as well. So looking to expand those connections. We want to make sure that when they have those best candidates coming out they send them to West Claremont so we can hire them. Okay. So what you're seeing is that more traditional ways in which we go to find people, but as we continue to to have retirement, we'll talk about this in attrition. We need to really get kind of uh unique on how we find people or different think of different alternative ways to help support our staff. So let's talk about staff retention, keeping and finding. That was our that was the class of 2025 coming in. So we were excited about that. Um I've been keeping track over
091the last four years about our attrition rate. This does not include retirement. And so the blue is 2122, red is 2223, green is 232 24, and purple is 2425. So what you'll see is the highest uh percent we have so far this year is 32% and that's family and personal needs. So they're they're leaving us to take care of a relative, take care of a loved one, stay home like stay home spouse. Um behind the next two is they're leaving the prof profession completely at 24% or not a good fit for them or us at 24%. So you're seeing cheap that kind of speaks to that shortage again. People are leaving the profession. And then uh finally our lowest is 20% on better salary. If you look to this is all based on as of
092Friday May 16th 2025. If you look at our turnover rate um 13 uh per 1% in 2122. We've got that down to 4.7. Now last year at this time that 9.9 was 6.9. So we are doing better than the average in southwest Ohio in terms of attrition. and we're having less of it. I think that speaks a lot to the programs we have, the culture that we're building, the engagement that we've been getting into. Um, keeping that in mind and speaking to what Josh talked about, we still have holes to fill. So, retirements are trending upward. Um, I I will say if we're going to start with this blue line on the bottom. So on April 17th, OD or their new version of that uh reduced the retirement eligibility from 35 years of service to
09332 years of service. I think we had three three announce their retirement after that change. Um so you're seeing a a steep incline. The percentages on the on the right were 12.8% in the next five, 27.1 in the next 10. We asked that from survey questions we gave teachers that was prior to the retirement eligibility going from 35 years to 32. So, we're expecting those percentages to go up when we ask that question again. Currently, as of Friday, um we had 11 openings at the elementary. We still have six, five filled and six still to fill. The middle school, we had 15. That's nine filled and six still to fill. At the high school, we had eight. That's uh seven filled and one still to fill. So, um Josh, you're going to talk about our
094culture and engagement and and and I think a part of why our attrition rate is so low compared to the Southwest average. So, we administered our Gallup survey. Um this is nationally norm survey looking at culture and climate. Um we we've done this over the past couple years and want to share out some of those pieces that that that survey shared with us. Um you can see November of 2024 to March of 2025. uh we had a good percentage uh participate roughly around 90% both times uh if you look at there's three categories engaged not engaged and actively disengaged the one thing I don't like about Gallup is kind of that not engaged category and why I say that is and I had somebody from Hamilton County in a PD they said look the green
095engaged those employees are doing a day plus of work so they're doing going beyond a day's worth of work the yellow not engaged they said they're getting a full day's worth of work they're not bad employees they're coming in. They're doing their work. They're taking care of business. Could they do more? They could, but they're getting a full days in. And then our actively disengage. We want to get them bring them up. Um we we need to get more out of them. Um and so I like that a little bit better because it it tells a little bit better story in terms of what is actually happening here. Um we see the numbers jump up um from 44 to 48% kind of from November to March. Uh that's typical for us. Over the past couple
096years, we've seen them go from in the fall to the spring go higher. Um some of that is can be attributed to our principles and the work that they do um to actively try to push that engagement. Um the other thing that might be a factor in that is part of our onboarding and kind of bringing people into the fold. If some of the questions on there are like uh my supervisor or someone work cares about me. If I'm a new employee by February or March I probably feel that and I can I can answer that a little bit better if I've been inculturated into the culture in our buildings. So just some of the big surface level highlights from that. These were our these were our highlights as well. These were our two highest.
097Um development is that uh that someone cares about my development and they want me to get better. I would say that this is a testament to our TNL, our teaching and learning department in terms of all that PD they put on. Um you know for our teachers to try to make them feel make them better teachers. Um we also have it for our par profofessionals. We also have you know for our secretaries we're trying to make make all of our employees better. I have a best friend at work is another one. While while that might seem like, oh man, that's one of the work things, you know, you heard the pair professional over there tonight talk about her team and I would guess that she would probably say like, man, I've got a best friend
098and one of those teammates and they pick each other up and they they dust each other off when they have that rough day and they're there to celebrate with them and those are the things that make it great to come to work. Those are the things that make it great to come to work in West Claremont. So, two things to be proud of. We're continuing to grow our staff um in the ways of portrait of an educator and portrait of a leader. um new teacher academy. We had 77 uh new teachers attend this. Um it's part of that new teacher orientation to start the year, but then continual monthly conversations with their principles. Great way to communicate with your principal in a non-threatening way, in a kind of hey, how are things going to start
099that conversation. We also had a new leader academy. Um we had seven administrators go through that. Um it was led by Christy and she did a nice job of talking about leadership and uh different theories of leadership. I can say that because I was there with them. Um I'm the uh we had three assistant principles. We had a dean who's technically a teacher but kind of taking on some of those leadership roles. Um two special educators, special education supervisors and one director. New for this year was also um a the classified staff had the ability to take a micro credential. Um it's like a it's like a course um that they take. This course was on reframing behavior which focused on the neuroscience uh behind behavior and supportive strategies. So we offered it and if
100you took this course um you obviously gained knowledge that was going to be able to be applied within the classrooms that they work. This was for offered to all of our classified staff. We had 57 class member 57 classified members take us up on that offer. Um they did work in person but they also had to do work outside through modules um online modules which they could do at their own pace. So great success in terms of development for our whole staff. We had portrait and action celebrations. Um basically our principles, they nominated people who were doing the great things um found within RISE. We had 137 nominations. They are published once a week or once a week. Those uh we send out our staff newsletter. Um and that's where people are recognized by their
101principles for all those different characteristics there. We had 17 individuals for our administrators that were published within our district leadership team cabinet update. Um, and so we're trying to take a look at those things that they're doing and make sure they know they're doing great work. Okay, thank you. Back and focusing on enrollment. You've seen the numbers I'm about to show you. We've been talking about them, but I want to go over them again. Start with our kindergarten enrollment. So recognizing gaps. So if you look at um what was predicted to happen versus what actually showed up, if you look at the percent difference, we were almost 100% plus on until the 2425 school year. That is when we changed our policy to move uh H5 from September 30th to August 1st. And so we
102do we saw that dip in 669 to 669 predicted and 550 showed up. We anticipated about a 15% dip. So that's that's close to what we participate we anticipated. You'll see the number projected predicted for next year for kindergarten at 685. They're taking into account those kindergarteners who didn't start coming back now. So, um it's a bigger number, but we're we're excited about seeing that happen. If you look at the top right, um as of May 16th, we have 432 enrolled at 63.1% of our prediction. And last year at this time, we were at 61.1%. So, we're a little ahead of where we were last year in terms of enrollment, which is positive. Now, I say that to look at the blue on the bottom left. House Bill 114 is in still in process. It
103requires schools to admit to kindergarten any child who will be five years old by the first day of school. So, it's only passed the House Education Committee, but we're keeping an eye on that because that will change that August 1st date to when they're five and when we start the school year. So, that will also fluctuate with some of the numbers. You're going to start seeing the the uh signs on the blue pop up in yards. Uh they got the kindergarten enrollment signs out there. We've pushed it out on district website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, principal information, home to parents, school electronic billboards, and yard signs. So, we're excited about getting that out there. Um, looking back again at our trajectory, our trend data over the next 5 to 10 years. Um, you've seen this model
104before where it trends upward and this is driven by residential development. We'll talk about that in a second. But the big picture here is by 3031, we're anticipating 1351 kids and we're seeing our major the majority of our growth is coming from increased residential dwellings. So, uh the f there's a larger increase in that first 5 years and then a steady trend after. So, where are they coming from? So, we get this update in nove in October and I bring it to you in November. If we look at October of 2023, every red polygon is either construction happening or plans for construction happening that have been approved by the township. And if you compare the one on the right for last October and the one on the left the October before, you're going to see
105larger and more red polygons. So that's where they're building. And if you look, it's it's sporadic depending on where you're at. So that would then cause how the enrollment increases per each elementary attendance zone. So let's talk about that a little bit. So this is the forecast until uh school year 3031. I want you to look at the bottom line. It says different the bottom row. So next year we're anticipating to have an additional 280 kids for the 2526 school year and then an additional 291 for the 2627 and then an additional 355 for um 2728. So, we're seeing those coming pretty quick. Uh, schools grow at a different pace and that continued growth is going to happen in the next five years. And this is being out of space is a is a physical
106reality if those numbers actually turned out and show up. Well, we're out of space now. Right. Right. We're really out of space. We're really out of space when that happens. So, just an easier snapshot. Let's look at Let's look at Ameilia from this year to next year. They go from 672 to 708. that's at 36 kids for next year. But if you go across by the time 2030 31 comes around that's 207 additional elementary kids. 207 and we in that space um we know that Amelia has 27, Kluff is 216 and WT is estimating at 213. Those are our three largest enrollment growth pockets. Merwin and Summerside grow but not nowhere close to where they go. When we talk about modulars, we talk about redistricting, we're going to have to make some decisions as we
107continue to go down this path and our predictive numbers start to turn into reality numbers. We're really going to have to make some decisions on space. Dr. Folks, can I pause you for a minute, please? Can you can you actually go back to um I believe it's 22. So, a couple things. Okay. Yep. So, a couple of questions that I that I hear and that I that I have is and just to clarify, we as a school board, what what say do we have when it comes to building these homes? Is that is that a say? Do we have an opinion? Do we get to voice any concern as a board to where these builders are building? No. No. So when it comes to this and it comes to townships, do we have a say
108as a board of of allowing 600 homes to go in on a So when we don't have a say, we just we have to we have to respond. We have to respond to deal with what they're doing. Yes. In fact, um this I've been in this role, I believe, eight years, and this was the first year a builder actually came and talked to our superintendent, and that was the first time they proactively came to us. Typically, we're finding this out after the fact after after everything's been approved. So, then that's my my my next question to that is so we've clarified that we as a board, we don't have a say in in any of any of that piece of it. We have to educate the children that that are there. Uh how do how
109do you get this information? So, like the numbers out there, um, depending on where you go, I mean, I could sit here and Google something and and like like there may not be a shovel in the ground, I guess, is what I'm saying. So, how do we how do we get these numbers? So, every year the um um performance uh I called it decision insight. It's no longer decision anymore. Predictive enrollment analytics. That's it. Through power school, same company but different name. They contact local townships. They they pull contracts, they pull building permits, and so they they pull what types is it a multi-unit dwelling, is it a is it a um duplex, is it a single house? So, they pull all that information. Then they they look at um um birth rates. They look
110at you the type of families that move in. They use their own proprietary software that says, "Okay, if you have these many houses, it should translate to these many students." Because even senior citizens home and developments bring kids according to the formula. Yes. So, it's all built on finding factual data with the township's um actual planning zoning department, getting that putting into their proprietary their proprietary data machine, and then they look at how that fills out in terms of where we're at and how we're doing. So, it's all based on scientific research. Okay. Yeah. I just thank you for that clarification because I I I think sometimes that's a misconception that we as the board we we don't have much of a say and so sometimes you know and and and even putting requirements I
111guess for lack of better words like we don't have a say to go to these builders and say we require you to do this for our schools right we is that is that a fair statement is that that's accurate definitely accurate and then when we the last time that we redistricted our intended zones for elementary. Um there was very little to none on the east side of our school district. It was all north and so we we redistricted because of the big rumpky if you remember about 8 years ago they plotted that. That never happened. But look at all the red that's happened to the on the east side of our district. So the last time we adjusted our attendance boundaries we we didn't adjust it for the picture that we're seeing today. And and
112is it safe to say that that this is something that you're constantly monitoring? Yes. Like you're constantly getting this data. Um, you know, Josh has taken some road trips to different colleges. Are we are we going out into the Mr. Lafat has driven the district looking to see where these housing complexes are? So, someone of of of Natasha's team is is going out into the community and actually physically seeing what's being built to get a to even help you with these numbers. Yes. In fact, I can drill down to the name of the of the each Pelon and what it's called and what attended zone it is. And I was we were working on that last week of of flagging those and then getting our our summer drive to go make sure how much of
113it is built. Is any of it built? Is there halfway built? Now, we get all that information from performance enrollment analytics, but we like to, like you said, trust but verify. We like to verify. We go out and go, okay, they're saying we're going to get these many kids from these many dwellings. Is it really happening? So, that's what we do that periodically. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for jumping back. I apologize. Jump back on to Not a problem. So ultimately, and I and I throw this up there, and I think you're going to see this again, but just keeping in mind the realities of enrollment increasing, of space issues, and continued staffing shortages. The reality is we need to start, we need to continue to look at potential short-term mitigations and long-term solutions. Some
114of those could be moving back to half day kindergarten, increasing class size, elementary specials on a cart, targeted attendance boundary changes, staggering master schedules, repurposing facilities and lease space, and modular classrooms. And Randy reminded me that the amount here was November of last year, and that amount has increased. Yeah. And that's just for one of the units. That's just for one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. One unit. Can I What is staggering master schedules? What is that? Is that like for Just explain it to me. So it could be that half the school comes at one time and another cat comes at another time. So you stagger start early when it comes just to have enough space for everybody. It's a methodology that was used back in the 70s. I was going to say I think I
115did that. Yeah, you might have some space. Yeah, half a year. Well, half a day for fifth grade or something's crazy. Yes, it's that kind of um Yes, we're we're trying to get creative on on different options. We were looking at like every option that we could uh explore. No, I'm definitely Okay. Do you have any questions? Any more questions? Well, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us in regards to enrollment to look at everything to trust but verify and to make sure we have enough chairs and seats for all these students that are come to our district. Well, when they show up, the last thing you want to see with a new child, whether they be kindergarten or 12th grade, is we don't have space for you. Stand stand in
116the corner or sit on the floor. and that that their first day could ruin their their total feeling about who we are. So we we we want to always overprepare and be prepared so when they walk in they're walking in welcomed with these great staff that we have. Do you know off hand the the percentage of people leaving the profession in the state and nationally? I can get that for you. I looked I looked specifically at Ohio because I wanted to see in Southwest to try to find comparable data for us around but we can get some of that information. Thank you. I would say for everything that I've read the state's higher I mean sorry the nation's higher than Ohio but not by that much but I I I don't want to misquote so
117I'll get some information. I see it in the news all the time. I know. I know. And trying to attract people to this profession is is a struggle. And so then how do you we we've done a great job at retaining and even though we lose everyone loses but we've done a really good job over the last couple years of retaining our staff but at the same time um you you decrease how many years to retirement it it adds it adds a hole like we we lost three within the first week once that news came out and I know that's going to have a that's going to have a effect on us next year and then how do we how do we get creative about filling our classrooms and making sure that we have support
118staff that can help our kids and growing our own too. Definitely. The concern with gosh, a lot of these fields are having hard times finding. I know in my line of work, we're we're literally they're robbing Peter to pay Paul. I mean, we're all we're all jocking with different departments to see who we can get. And you know, when education's the same way, you know, we're hiring for something, the neighboring school district's hiring for someone, the other neighboring school districts. And so then it it it's what what is attracting them to us versus, you know, someone else. And so um you know the team t taking these journeys and trying to um recruit yeah attract uh these these young well if I if I can show another slide because I think people a lot of
119times they go back to um well if you paid us more if you paid us more if you paid us more. We're we're never going to be the highest paid and we don't we don't need to be the lowest paid. So we're typically right in the middle the mean for where we're at. But if you look at better salary position, that's only 20% of what people are leaving. So we we build like Josh was talking about and what the Gallup has shown us, we build a culture where people want to be there. You saw these ladies, the pair of pros, they want to be here. Could they go other places and make more money? Probably. But they they love their kids. They love what they do. They care for each other. So we continuously look
120at how do we build that culture because money isn't everything. We've had people leave for money and then call us and say, "Can I come back?" We have classified and certified. So they get out there like, "Oh, this is not I I I went for the paycheck and lost the culture, lost the feeling of friendship, lost that person at work and how how quickly can we get back to you?" And that says a lot for what we do because it yes, a paycheck is nice and we and we everyone needs to be paid, but at the same time, you want to love coming to work. You want to love the people you work with. If the work's hard, all four of th those three well five will tell you the work is hard at times,
121but they do it every day because it's important to them. It's they're passionate about it and it means something. No. Did did you guys do the visiting last year too to all those colleges or was this the first year you ever kind of actively went out and kind of tried to um We went to a couple but this year this year really branched out moving further away. um some of them were great, some of them weren't so great. So, we thought, okay, how can we shift that for next year and where can we go next year? So, it's it's it's trial and error. It's seeing where they're graduating. We typically stayed within the belt of of C that's UC Xavier, um Mount St. Joe, but um we branched out and we're going to branch out
122some more next year. Yeah. Part of expanding HR was to be able to open up more opportunities because David alone doing this there would it would be very very slim. Yes. And um being able to look beyond different states, being able to look further beyond, you know, larger areas in our state has all been part of our strategic plan in your department. Well, and we take advantage of partnerships. So, like Josh was saying, it isn't about just what they can give us. We go in and say, "What do you need from us?" And I've I've worked with UC for um I think this is our fourth year for sophomores and try to talk them about how to be professional in their student teaching. And I I do an hour every spring with them before and
123I do and inevitably there's one or two people in there that are that are getting student teach in West Claremont or went to West Claremont. And so I'm like talk tell them about us, you know, let's let's keep it going just to try to make that connection so they hear West Claremont and they hear that sounds like a cool place to work. That sounds fun. That sounds exciting. So, we're we're spending our time, dedicating our time and energy to do the mocks and to do the talks and to do the visits because of we're trying to tell the the incoming new teachers, we care about you. We want you to be here and then how can we how can we get you out to our school and take a walk, you know, and Greg Potabomb
124has done that a couple times. Jake has done that a couple times. Getting them out, having them walk the building and say, "Don't you want to be here?" And so, when that position comes up, they're applying for it. Okay. That's how I came to the district at interview at Miami University and that was in 1983 years ago. Yeah. What year? 1983. We're bringing out everyone's age tonight. Josh wasn't born yet. I feel like um we want to say like thank you Reverend Folultz. Yes. That's that's what tonight's presentation felt like. Thank you very much. Appreciate that information. Um, next up we have a recommendation to approve the authorization and confirmation of the settlement agree agreement of the Westclammont Local School District Board of Education and Richard Weber on behalf of Mia Weber as presented. Thank
125you. You've heard the recommendation. Would someone like to make a motion? I move. Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Was that you, Miss Samborn? Yes. Thank you, Miss Sambour. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Rudy? Yes. Miss Samborn? Yes. Mrs. Spencer? Yes. Mr. Patton? Yes, Mr. Chumley. Yes. Five. Yes. Up next, we have some combined business. Superintendent and Treasure, and we're going to have uh Mr. Gart come up and talk about the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission resolution. So, the journey to the OFCC, it started way back. I think if you can remember, we started talking about this, I think it was probably in 23 going into 24. And as we went into 24, that's when we started talking about the master facility plan. That's when we started to get SHP
126involved in it. They started that process and we started those meetings with the CAT team. Uh I believe it was February was our first one of 24. And so when we started into the OFCC, it's been a learning experience for all of us. Um we we've gone back and forth with OFCC trying to understand their process. Uh and it does get confusing. The first thing that we came into was the enrollment. We figured out that OFCC math is a little bit different than our math um because they don't include all our students. Some of our students like our CTE or career tech students in 11th and 12th grade, they don't include they're excluded. So, they're not in those enrollment numbers. Our preschool um are students that are not identified are not involved in those numbers.
127And so, those numbers come down. And so, when we first started going FCC, they were giving us projected enrollment. and we use a moderate and they use conservative. And so their projected enrollment for us in 2030 was what we currently have in our buildings now. And I went back and forth with OFCC and say, "Well, what are you talking about? This is not this is our math. This is what we do. We do it by the square footage and this is how we do it and this is what we're going to fund." And so when we start looking at the numbers as far as percentage that we would get from the state, it goes by what we call OFCC math. We're going to take the money as much money as that we can get from
128them. And so as we went through the OFCC and we went through this, we went through a lot of different um assessments, facility assessments, you remember I kept talking about, okay, I went back and they sent me a facility assessment. It wasn't even the right grade level. It wasn't even the right grade span. It was in a different building. Those are the things that come back. What they do is they maximize the number of students. And so in the letter that we'll send, you're going to see something that's going to say something like PK5. Well, we don't have that building or 48. We don't have that building. But on paper for them, they try to maximize a number of square footage, the maximum amount of square footage to get us the most dollars. And so
129that's why you're going to see a little bit of a different um grade span. Doesn't mean we have to build that school in that particular grade um level or grade span, but this is how we're going to maximize the number for you. So when they look at those assessment it goes back to 2016 and then it also for 2024 and we kept adjusting it as the CAT team went through this because the CAT team kept you know as we went through and we made modifications on what we wanted to do as far as our master facility plan we continually looked at that and so what's in front of you tonight is to participate and you think well we've been talking about this for two years or over a year and a half. Well, we we
130get our letter in May. It just came in last May as far as funding goes and what the last week. You mean? Huh? Last week. Last week. You said last May. Last week. Oh, last week. So, yes, it just came in the official. So, you're like, why didn't this happen a year and a half ago? We We don't dictate that. They put us in line, then they give us the funding, and they tell us how much they're going to fund of the total project that we put in our master facility plan. And as we kept going back and forth and back and forth and we wanted to build buildings that were going to be able to house our moderate enrollment projections and so we couldn't build buildings that were current capacity because we wouldn't have
131enough space. So what this is tonight is once we receive that letter then in July they will go in to the commission and it will be approved. We received a letter uh Dan um and and Natasha received a letter saying that this you're going to be funded for the total project amount that they have put through their master facility plan which came out to be about 20%. So that's what we're doing. So as we went through the OFCC we said once we go to the ballot you have 16 months to secure funding for a building project. So, with the with the uh ballot results or with what happened in May, a week ago, a couple weeks ago, we know that that's not going to happen. We're not going to be building buildings on that particular
132issue. So, I called OFCC and I asked them, I said, "So, with the master facility plan, if we do this and we put this in and say, "Yes, we want this funding. It keeps us in line. It keeps us in line with getting funding if you were to go down the road and wanted to go through another building project. Does it make it mandatory that we go to the ballot? No. Those are decisions that you guys will have to make as we go through the next 12 to 16 months. But what this does by signing this is saying yes, we still want to be considered for funding. It does not make it necessary that you have to do this. You don't want to get out of line because if we were say no, we don't
133want this. then we come out of line and now we contact or we would contact OFCC and say we don't want the money. I don't think that's the best case scenario for us regardless if we go to the ballot or not and that's going to be hard decisions to make as you go down the road. You saw the projected enrollment 2728 is going to be tough. Those are the things that we're going to have to look at as far as adding modulars, which means we got to look at those in 26 in the fall of 26 as a board to purchase those so we're ready for that in 2728. So all this does is it does not commit you to go to the ballot. It does not commit you to go to the taxpayers. What
134this does is say we want to stay in line. We don't want to lose our place in line. We want to be if we were to go for funding down the road within the 16 months and who knows that could even extend we we they do change things and we can do things but what you can do is you can stay in line you can amend the total project the total scope of work that it could be less than what we did the first time but remember the cost will go up so what you go through in a year from now will not be the same you're going to have 5 to 6% increase and so you're going to say well you said we could build it no is going to go up, but you
135can decrease the scope of work to one building and what you would feel is necessary to be able to meet the enrollment needs of the district. So, just to reiterate, this doesn't mean we're going to the ballot. This means we're just going to stay in line in case we wanted to down the road. So, in other words, and I've had a couple people ask me this, if we didn't approve this tonight, we would go to the end of the line with FCC and then there's no guarantee when our number would come back up to get the funding we needed to build a building. That is correct. Okay. So, again, just to kind of piggyback Well, we don't know what end of the line. We don't know where the end of the line. Well, I I
136don't either. I thought that we wouldn't be positioned where we are today. Correct. Yes. Again, if I'm hearing you, no harm, no foul. No harm. Just keeping the coupon. So, we keep we keep our place in line. Yes. Then as time goes on, as we as a board decide what we're going to do, no ballot, ballot, whatever we But that's all this is. Yes. Yeah. And if we learn through this process that um an amended plan would be more attractive to people and they they think it's important, then then that that flexibility is built in. But the amended plan to not spend too much time is back way back in the day when we could have built three or four buildings, but then we ended up only building one building for the same cost that
137we could have built three buildings. Yeah. Well, like what what he was saying is that it the cost is going to keep going up. So even an amended plan is going to be more expensive in the future than it is today. And we've kind of missed that window of that that price point. If you remember last year, we had a certain total cost came out and then two months later it went up 5%. Well, the new set of costs are coming out this summer which are going to be even a more increase. Yeah. Okay. So, are you going to get that cost in so you can keep track of that? Am I going to get it? No, I mean you're going to keep track of the data cost? Yes, definitely. Yes, we're going to have
138to because it's going to change the scope of what we can do. So, rec is there any more questions? Okay. Thank you. So, the recommendation is to approve the resolution authorizing the school district board to participate in the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission classroom facilities assistance program segment two final as presented. Thank you. You've heard the recommendation. Would someone like to make a motion? I'll move. Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Was that you, Miss Spencer? Thank you, Miss Spencer. Is there any other discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Rudy? Yes. Mrs. Spencer? Yes. Mr. Patton, yes. Mr. Chumley, yes. Miss Sambort, yes. Five, yes. Thank you. I'm going to hit advocacy at a very high level. Um, just a reminder that we have been very committed. You have been committed as a board
139in advocacy. Dan and I went up this week both to our um and participated in our our our associations legislative meetings this week and then we also attended hearings at the state house this week to stay connected to the latest information as there's a lot on the line for West Claremont when it comes to the budget bill that will be approved in June. So high level details is that we will be putting an op-ed in the newspaper this week that that does a call to action to our community to get involved with advocacy. What's really important to note is that you know just seven years ago the state was paying 50% of the share of student um education and then local was paying 50%. As time has gone on and as property values have gone
140up, then we are more it's it's 30%. Did you say 32? 32 32% being paid by state and the rest being shouldered by local. And so there needs to be strong advocacy in our community from our chairs, your chairs, and the community at large um to expect the state to do their portion of of student education. So, we'll be sending whatever we put in the paper, we'll also send out to families. We have a template that um people can just take our template as is and use that to help them craft their messages with our legislators and make sure that the voice of West Claremont families and community members are are told because our challenge really is that risk of losing state funding that we cannot afford to lose clearly from our story. So, any
141anything you would add? Um, I I think for us, for our school district, because you'll hear a lot about the fair school funding plan, but I think what's most important to us is there's a provision in there in that plan, in that formula that provides a guarantee to our school district. That's at risk. when that door opens up to say we're going to or or in legislation that they're going to start reducing that guarantee, that door gets opened up and over time that gets reduced. Um we're we're advocating that the guarantees stay in place. Number one. Um, two is there there is a provision on the cash balance and we'll talk a little bit more about that, but the the cash balance provision states that if a school district has a cash balance or excess
142cash uh beyond 30% then uh the provision states that the county auditor not may but will okay reduce the taxes to that community. So in other words, there's a provision that takes the local control, the local management of our finances kind of out of our hands and temporarily can reduce the funding to the school district, not from the state, but at a local level. Okay. So that's a provision that we do not want within the bill. The third thing is that you know there there's this um there's this ability to look at um the state funding separate from property tax reform and from our perspective those two things are school funding. Okay, state funding and local funding. So part of what we look at when we look at the the uh property tax reform, we
143all know that it's an issue, we all know that something's going to be done. Okay? It's it's not, you know, it's really what is going to be done. And I think part of our advocacy is if it's going to be done, we we advocate for that targeted relief, not just kind of a a a broad brush that that certain things be done because it really involves funding that we get both at a state and and local level. One of the things that that you know it and it's really kind of hard to explain, but state funding is really based off the fact of local wealth. And so what is really saying is our property values went up and they consider that with the adjusted gross income or average adjusted gross income, we are being looked
144at as to more of a wealthy community and the state is saying that we should be paying more. So if those guarantees go away, meaning we're going to get less funding from the state, okay, what's the real message? the real message is you should be paying more locally when the fact is that we're in the lowest spend of you know the lowest 16% within the state. So I you know there's some mixed messages there with the whole thing. So you want to give relief but yet if we get less state funding that's adding more pressure locally. So it seems like you know there's a lot of mixed messages that are going out there but I think our message is very clear. I'd love for us to advocate for more funding and right now we're just
145grappling to say at least keep us whole of what we've been getting. Okay. Which is it just you know it seems odd to me that that we're doing that but that's exactly what's happening as we go forward. So that's there. All right. You're up with the five-year forecast. Okay. With the five-year forecast. It did pop up. Okay. So, let's see if this goes this way because I shut it off. All right, now it's all this is not working. Okay. So, the five-year forecast, as the board knows, it is done twice a year. Once in November and then it's updated in May, okay, for that year. This PowerPoint presentation or this presentation is very similar to what we did in November. So, what I just really want to do is highlight what's changed, okay, as we
146go forward with it. And so there's there's the forecasts, there are the notes to the forecast, and then there's this presentation that kind of highlights some things with it. So you know that it's a required document that the board has to adopt twice a year. It's presented and adopt twice a year. It really focuses on the general fund and the money and and our operating fund that the board gets to do. Um the purpose is very specific to to three things. Miss Samborn, you brought up one of those things earlier, right, when we talked about the personnel section. Okay. And so that forecast really determines how far the board president, the superintendent, myself can certify what we spend on. Okay? And so when we had negotiations back in 2023 when the leadership of the superintendent
147and Dr. Folultz came back and said, "We're going to do interestbased bargaining." and and and that has more to do with how we live the contract sometimes than than just the contract. We were only able to settle for two years. Okay? So, uh the 20 uh 4 24 25 year and the 25 26 year. Okay, those were the two years that we could certify going forward because back at that time there was a lot of uncertainty um even on the property valuations, right? Was it going to be 15? Was it going to be 23% or was it going to be the 39% that it ended up being? Okay, at that time we only only could certify what we projected what was there. So the certification is one important part. There's another important part. The other
148important part is it looks at it gives the ability for the department of education and workforce and for the state's office to look at our fiscal health. Okay. are we in or are we approaching fiscal distress which really means is our cash balance going down so that at some point in the future um uh we've got to make some budget adjustment or you know we're running out of funds. Okay. So that fiscal health is an important part you know of doing that five-year forecast to do it. Okay. Um and I'm going to go through some of this stuff. What what's really overriding this forecast in May is that we are at the 25 year from January through June is the deliberation on the state's bianium of budget. So how much money is the uh state
149going to allocate to public education starting July 1 of 25 for the 2526 year and for the 26 27 year. Okay. Bottom line is that's a big uncertainty right now. We know that there's provisions in there that uh in the past in the in the foreseeable past, we've been held at the same dollar amount. Even though the formula has changed and there's a new formula, but the district has been beginning the same dollar amount. As our local funds increase, as that dollar amount stays the same, that share between local local and state um gets more skewed, you know, in favor of the local funding more to do it. Okay. Um so again the main drivers of our revenue are local and state funding with it. Okay. What are some of the concerns that are there?
150Okay. The governor came out with it with its budget um in January or it proposal in January gave gave little funds to public education. But one of the big things to our school district was it started to open the door on the guarantee that said, "Hey, um we're going to start phasing that guarantee out." Okay, you will hear a number that it says we're going to give you 95% of what you got the year before. Okay, that doesn't seem like it's a a huge cut, but what you don't see is that every year the formula is updated and because our valuation, our property values went up and there is a factor of onethird of that valuation. So, it does a three-year averaging. So, because our valuations went up 39% almost 40%. Okay, the first year
151only a third of that came in consideration when we get into the second year which we're going to now the twothirds of that valuation is there that means the guarantee that we're deeper into the guarantee than we were the year before. Okay. So although the 95% is on the prior year, our current guarantee is deeper. So, with the governor's proposal, we lost over the two-year bienium um $2.1 million. It went to the house. Um and it was, you know, the superintendent, myself, met with our local representatives and one of the things that um they wanted to do was hold us harmless and have every school district in the state get at least something. What that proposal did though, it it sort of bridged or abandoned the fair school funding formula, which a lot of the
152associations in the school districts were kind of dead set against because they worked hard to put that in place and wanted to keep that. Okay. The fact of the matter for this school district, it did hold us harmless and it did give us a little bit more. Okay. the House version of it. It also then had the provision of it in it with a 30% cash balance and we'll talk about that in a little bit because we're doing some things according to that. Okay. But that's there. The other concern is on the property tax reform and all all of the different um elements of property tax are being considered. And what does that mean? Well, we're at the 20 mil floor. That means when property values go up, we do get more funding locally. They're
153looking at the emergency levies and putting the emergency levies, which we have two. We have the emergency levy of 2020 and we have a continuing substitute. They want to put that against the 20 mil floor. We have inside millillage that is in our permanent improvement fund. They want to put that into the 20 mil floor. Okay. So all of those things are I don't like to use the word threat, but they're they're threatening our revenue stream to us. The superintendent made a great comment, you know, a while past is, you know, when you look at our budget because we spend in the lowest 16% on on average expense per pupil. We don't have an expense problem. We've got a revenue problem. Okay? Okay. And the revenue problem comes from comes from that state level where
154we're not getting any additional funding and there's the threat that we would get reduced funding. Okay. To that I think people really need to understand that. I think that's that's what we're going to try and come out. Uh we've had put that forward. It's been a consistent message and as we look at others helping us advocate we we need to get that across to do that. Um the the bianium budget is now at the Senate level. I believe last Friday was the cuto off for um the senators to submit amendments to the bill. I don't know if we I I haven't seen anything from that yet of what's being submitted and and they'll probably be put together um this week um to do that. So, kind of the summary of what I just said on
155the budget timeline, we're we're in May. If so, if you look at uh kind of twothirds across the way, it's at the Senate level. They will come out with their version. It will then go to conference committee between the Senate and the House to come out with another version. Uh everything has to be approved by June 30th. Yeah. And I'm meeting with Senator Blessing on Wednesday who had a proposal so we can learn more about that. So those are forward. Um so I I did give the board and you know at your at your uh sheet there in front of you is the forecast itself. Okay. And I just want I just want to highlight for you a couple things with it. Actual doesn't change. Right? So those first three columns are the same as
156they were in November. And so what has changed from fiscal year 25 through fiscal year 29? Okay, I'll start at the very end. If you go to um line 10.10, which is on the second page, and that is the fund balance June 30th for certification for appropriation. And if you go all the way to that far right column, fiscal year 2029, in uh in November, the deficit was uh a little bit over $9 million in a deficit. The deficit increased over those um five years, an additional million dollars. Where did that come from? Okay, most of that is driven by um there were some changes in the current year. There were some changes in in 26, but most of that is driven by the fact that our health insurance costs are now being projected to
157be over 10% beginning January 1 of 26. Okay, this coming January, um we are working with um our consortium on ways to mitigate that increase. Um we've told you about working with um employee management services um not just our district but all the districts in Swoosh to try and and um curtail that increase to do that. But when you add those increases over those four-year periods that adds an additional million dollars. What's not in this? Okay, we did not make any adjustments to the revenues for any pending legislation because we don't know what that is. We won't know that till probably closer to June 30th. Okay. So, pretty much the revenue projections that were in November are holding true to today. There's a there's a little bit adjustment in the current year for we we
158did make more earnings on investment that is recorded in there. There's some modifications on the state funding based on enrollment and the categorical programs. Those are in there. Okay. But for the most part, um they stayed the same. What else did I not put in there? Okay, you'll recall that I notified the board that the county auditor's office notified us that uh they advanced to the district an additional $2.1 million. Okay, that is really not due now but due in August. Okay, so they they simple terms they overpaid us. Okay, they also told us that that we could keep that. We're going to have a discussion in a few minutes. okay with that. But I did not put that in this forecast. The main reason why is because as we get closer to June 30th,
159if it's hitting the uh 30% cap and that becomes a reality, okay, I will make arrangements to refund that back to the county June 29th, June 30th, okay? And then at the same time request that that advance be given back to us, okay, to do that. So we we'll have that discussion in a couple minutes, okay, to do that. But that is not added in this forecast to do that, okay, with it. So um I I I can go through this presentation again, but I I think you recall from the past that our revenues are stairstepped, our expenses follow an inflation an inflationary trend line. So cash balances are built up, then cash balances are depleted, okay, to do that. All right. The other thing that's that's changed that we know over time is that
160we're going to have some added pressures on our general fund. The bond issue did not pass. We know that that as we look forward, there was about the study that that was done with Mr. Lefod, Mr. Guppart with the architects was about $65 million in um major maintenance that could happen over the next 5 to 10 years. How we look at setting those funds aside, okay? Whether it's through the operating fund or for the per through the permanent improvement fund, we need to really look at we need to do some planning on on on uh preparing for that to have happen. We need you. You had really you know you had you had two two pieces of information today that come really important annually it gets updated but Mr. Lefod Mr. Kart do the building
161um condition and utilization right so condition means what conditions are building in utilization means um Dr. Folks gives the enrollment of projections and how are we utilizing that space. Okay. One of the things we don't talk about we did talk about with the bond issue and Mrs. Preston's in the back but it's about that you know the the learning environment and that modern learning environment. Okay. Didn't get the chance to talk about that. You heard a little bit about you know the innovation and what spaces we need need for that. But those are the things that really impact um our budget and what we look at. Okay. So as we go forward, we need to start planning on that. Okay. So as I told you what's in there and I told you what's not in
162there, expect something in July and August. Expect that we will redo this five-year forecast once we get more information. Okay? It will change. Okay? I can't today tell you how it will because that's based on what the state does with the bianium, but but it will change. Okay? I'm betting that it will. Okay. So, um, again, I you've seen all of this before. Um, if you have questions over it, let me know. One of one of the things that will come up, I was going to go back to this because I know Mr. Patton, you brought it up in the past, and that's the days cash that we have. Okay. How many days? you know, in a little bit we'll talk about a cash balance policy that's being recommended um by the associations that we
163adopt one. Okay. Um what I think what's happened is the 30% came about where when someone must have looked at um and read a cash balance policy where we should at least have 60 days or 90 days uh cash on hand. Okay. Okay. And if you take the the the sixth year of the 90 days, divide it by a year, you know, it's going to be between, you know, that 25 and 30% of what we should have on hand as a minimum, not as a maximum. And all of a sudden, the minimum became the maximum. And it's just the opposite of what we should be doing. Okay? so to do it. So I I do know and we do recognize, okay, that we continue to continue to have efforts where we made a commitment to
164not come back to the voters before 24. We've moved that to 26 because we did get the additional funding of the valuation increase. We continually look how we can and if we can move that from 26 to 27. Okay? and we will continue to do that. I think you know and as I heard from each of the board members we have to live within our means. We know what we know what those totals are and wherever we can take advantage of that we will. We talked about the staffing. Okay. We know that through normal u staffing methods that we have that although enrollment went up slightly because of where the students fell we're able to um reduce positions okay teaching positions in that five to seven positions with that okay I did build that in
165that forecast too so th that is in there you know as we go forward so we're trying to take advantage of all those things. One things I will note that's just that's a normal process. That isn't that didn't come about by saying, "Hey, we're going to cut the budget or cut positions. That came about just through our our normal procedures of how we do staffing." Okay? That we do things like that. Okay? I don't know if there's any questions that you have on this, but th this is an action item that we have for the board that they approve the five-year forecast um as submitted and uh along with that the notes that accompany that forecast. So, um the recommendation um that the board approve the five-year forecast as presented. Thank you, Mr. Romano. You've
166heard the recommendation. Would someone like to make a motion? Some moved. Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Miss Aborn. Thank you. Is there any discussion? Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Rudy? Yes. Miss Samborn? Yes. Mrs. Spencer? Yes. Mr. Patton? Yes. Mr. Chumley? Yes. Five? Yes. Thank you. Well, thank you guys so much for your patience. What we're getting ready to do is to talk about the May bond issue failure, the big picture impact, and the next steps. And it's it was very important that you have a lot of background information to help do that. The including the enrollment, the finances, etc. So, what I'm going to while Dan gets this uh presentation up, I'm just going to ask you guys to stand up because just stand up for a few minutes
167so we can just move our bodies a little bit while we're listening. And if you don't mind, grab this poster because this is going to be one of the first things that we look at. Whenever you look at any of our literature that we send out, uh, like our newsletters for instance, we have on it usually we listened, we learned, and we responded. And we've made a real intent and real intentional effort to do that through all of our engagement, through all of our whether it's a focus group or a survey or town hall meeting. And because of our listening and engagement, we've made decisions, you have made decisions at this district that have led us to some really great outcomes. And so I give this to you as just a reminder of the academic
168success that we saw in in the latest results. And I say latest, but we're just now hearing u from the state on the preliminary that we're getting back. And um we're we're seeing some big gains. I mean some places seven points uh percentage- wise better than last year, some even more than that. We're continuing to be on the rise as a district and we're even though we spend in the bottom 16% of the state, we are investing that money wisely. You're seeing on the back you're seeing programs that we've been added things like leader and me programs that our community and our families say you like we we want some education in there about you know our vision is learn lead succeed we want to make sure we're academically strong and we want to make
169sure our kids are developing leadership skills and you heard tonight with the innovation course of study that we don't want programming that is outdated. We want modern curriculum that is going to set our kids apart that's going to create a competitive advantage. So, we've listened, we've learned, and we've responded. And now the ultimate, we have a ballot issue on May 6th and we failed pretty big. And so, what is listening, responding, and learning? Uh, what does it mean now when when the community shouts very loudly about a failure? Because the reality is it can't it's not black and it's not black and white for us. It's not gray. Just because the community says no doesn't mean our problems disappear. We had five problems we identified several years ago. It was safety and well-being of students,
170educational programming, purpose and design of school facilities and transportation. And that's what we've been working on our community. And at this point, we don't know did they not like the plan? Did they not want to spend any money? Is it because it had income earned income tax plus um plus property tax? Like what is the reason? There's still lots of questions that we have. So, we we hear people loud and clear, but what does it really mean ultimately? And for you guys and for us, just because people say no doesn't mean this problem goes away. We still we have a lot of work still to do. So, I'm going to flip through this really quickly, but I just wanted to center us on the past a little bit um before we get into discussion tonight
171because we really as a team need to hear from you guys. So the first is just to remind everybody as part of our strategic plan that we're that we gathered all the data from the community to decide what goes into this plan. The the three-year objective is that we're going to create a long-term master facilities plan and transportation plan that addresses the aging buildings in equities across the district and the diverse needs of our growing student body. So, we're still committed to that and the strategy that we used is to educate all stakeholders about the impact of the facilities, transportation, and technology on modern learning and student outcomes. Well, we've been working on that. Did it make the impact that we wanted to to get a passage? No. So, is it enough? Are we are
172talking to the right people? Are we saying all the things that people need to hear? That's what we have to figure out because our goal was to gain community understanding for a master facilities plan. We we have a very proactive approach with what we put on the ballot. Maybe being proactive isn't what people are interested in doing right now. Maybe people are not interested in spending money. Maybe they don't like the plan. Maybe they don't like the income. Maybe they don't like the property tax. Whatever it is, we we have to dig in and figure that out because this this goal is is still an important goal for the long-term success of this school district. And just because and I I'm gonna click through here, but just because um we didn't pass doesn't mean we
173don't have a lot of work to do when it comes to our learning environments. So I I bring you here just to remind you of the big picture financial planning. This is a slide Dan did a long time ago, so there's nothing new on here, but it just gives a quick summary as to well what's true about West Claremont. Well, we spend in the bottom 16. This it was this was we were 17% when we did this slide, but it's really 16% today. That means per student in Ohio, we're spending $2,000 less per kid or $40,000 less per classroom. And the way the funding model works, just as Dan just shared, we are still being funded at 2019 levels. It is 2025 and the inputs have not increased since 2019. So no matter the inflation,
174no matter how many students have come into the school, we are still we're on the guarantee funded at 2019 levels. Who can keep up if they are still being paid at 2019 levels? Right? So this is where we call out and make it very clear that this is about a a state funding problem and a state share problem. This is not about it being a spending problem. And then we add two other details. We have a master's facilities plan to solve district challenges. And if and and to do that, we need to add additional funding to the mix. And if that doesn't work, we're going to compromise being able to have positive momentum u with our student achievement because what will happen is money that we've been able to invest in the classroom will start
175to be diverted into break fix, keeping the lights on, operating the aging buildings, etc. And so that's why it's important that you also see in in this bottom bullet here that our most recent five-year forecast even tonight indicates that without increases from the state funding sources, there will need to be additional local funding in 2026. We always say here we we had said at first it was going to be 24. We were able to push it to 2026. Our hope would be able to get it to 2027, but with the unknowns with the state budget, we just we aren't sure if that's even a possibility and what it would take. And so not funding this facility plan and having to put money from classroom into facilities will cause the millage of any request we'll have
176going forward to be higher than it would have been otherwise. So those are just important big picture basic financial things to note. And the next thing is this the timeline and this is just to remind you what's what's in store for us. So this May 2025 ballot issue has passed. Looking ahead that green box is to remind you that the heavy enrollment and David said it tonight the heaviest enrollment years are coming in the next three. So that the bulk of that projection is not in spread out over all the way to 2030. It's like coming in the next three years. That's why that green is there. We also want to remind you that negotiations, our contract, as we mentioned tonight a couple times, that that two-year agreement will be up. And so by contract,
177that means we will start working on negotiations in February. So that is a topic that has to go into this big picture as we continue to plan for 2030 where just to remind you that there is a renewal from the 2020 levy planned for that at this time. So, it's just kind of knowing we we have to kind of eat the elephant as a board and as a team and understand the whole picture and then take take it into pieces. So, we were very clear that if the levy passes, we're going to be able to continue the momentum investing in the classroom in the ways that we have been where we've been seeing some tremendous success. If it fails, that money is diverted. the things change and we've we've beat that to death tonight and
178I talking about it over and over, but clearly we'll just have to start spending money on modulars and fixes and all the things to keep us um able to operate. David reminded you of this list. We brought this to you um you know during the fall and we had even had some questions about it tonight just to remind everybody that we we are out of space now know we are very tight and so we'll have to start doing more um intrusive changes things like half day kindergarten because we could go down half our classes in kindergarten overnight with that one change alone. What you have to know about every single bullet up there though is every bullet has an impact and that's our job is to make sure that okay so kids come into West
179Claremont half of them are ready according to the state assessment for kindergarten half of them are not and that's what already getting full day programming right now so you cut that down to half day programming what happens to that those statistics how far are we able to grow our students in half the time that we are today so it's it's just kind of thinking through yes there's lots of things we can do. What's going to be the impact of each one? So, this page here, and we're going to get to the discussion really quickly, but this page here is just to kind of remind you as a board, these are all the things that have to be kind of swirling around in our minds in the background as we think about next steps and kind
180of if if there's any homework, it's just getting commands of these these details. So, we've already covered the five-year forecast. So really understanding what Dan Dan has said tonight about the forecast and what David and Josh have said about up enrollment and staffing it will be really important to understand our we have we're out of space now our our projections are that we are growing that our staffing situation the high level is that it's not as easy anymore to find teachers the population um of students going into college for education is decreasing greatly and it's not going to be a luxury going forward number Two, what are our operational facilities improvement priorities? Chuck brought these to you a couple weeks ago, but just to keep them top of mind, the two main ones that we'll
181be focused on this summer, our windows at Holly Hill and targeted places, not throughout the whole place and u the roof at the middle school. Those are the two main main topics. The third thing is this reality that according to legal counsel and how and their interpretation of the otter of state's rules, we cannot survey from this chair, from this um podium here, we cannot survey the families and the community and find out why did this go down. Is because you don't want to spend any money on it? Did you not like the plan? Is it because of the income tax? Is it because of the um property tax? What's the main reason right now? We cannot survey that here, but it's going to be imperative that this dis that the district and this board
182know the answer to those questions to plan what comes ahead. Um, number four, we got to stay on alert on on the proposed legisl Oh, go ahead. Can I pause you just for a minute? So, so we can't survey, but as as I've as I've continued to ask, we can have the community come up and give us their their thoughts and their opinions. The community can definitely come in here. um other organizations that are not um connected to or funded by us could do surveys. So so it is possible and um those kind of surveys and and experts in that you know type of pro uh type of survey are out there but it's just something we can't put taxpayer money toward. Okay. So it leaves us really at a strong disadvantage to not be
183able to unpack this. But yes, we would love to have people come to the podium and and and explain because we we really do believe when people have all the information, when they have all the facts, we we are more likely to come to the same conclusions and um we we just know this is a difficult time in the economy and we've got to be able to sort these things out. Y we knew that going into it. Okay. Um we'll stay paid attention uh paying attention to the legislation. We that'll get all wrapped up by the end of June. Dan and I will continue our advocacy work and and ask the community to join us. Uh, as you know, we have a transportation study, another transportation study that's coming out that's it's comprehensive, looking at
184every route we have, trying to again achieve that middle school start time change, trying to look at high school busing and look at the whole picture and figure out are there efficiencies we can pick up to make some of these things that we haven't been able to make true to happen. And as you know, there's a direct correlation to like where the routes are and then where the buildings are. So that means where the kids are. So David's uh attendance boundary changes, Ry's transportation report, Chuck's focus on buildings, all those things go together and we have to understand how they impact each other. David's already made you aware tonight. We're already increasing class sizes. Specials are on a cart. Those are the big changes for next year and even more will take place if we
185have to. And I give examples like we David mentioned that Amelia is looking to grow. Well, you see that Holly Hill isn't in the same way. So there could be targeted attendance boundaries between Amelia and Holly Hill. Like that would be an example of what we mean when we say this. Um, and then finally, I wanted to make it clear to you guys that just like we had to put a resolution of necessity, then a resolution to proceed, and there were all these steps that we had to take to get an issue on the ballot, the deadlines for the November ballot are July 7th, July 29th, and August 6th. So, I want to just put it out there for you tonight to so you know what that is. And you may choose uh to let
186me know tonight. We're taking that off the table. We're not interested in that at all. um or we got to get our act together here and make sure we have those resolutions in place. So, you might be ready to to have a say in that tonight or not. But I I just wanted to make sure you had that knowledge because that'll be right around the corner. Next slide is really where the discussion needs to come in. And what we did is we brainstormed several now what steps. Listen, I'm I'm not pressuring you to say you have to make a decision tonight and decide everything and then let's call it a day. What I am asking and putting some pressure on is A, are we considering November or not, B, of all these choices, and I'll
187go through them quickly here in a second, is there more data and information that you need that would help you lean toward one versus the other? I'm not bringing you any kind of recommendation. I'm just saying here's a lot of choices. Are there other choices that you guys are thinking of? And what what more information do you need so that we could get to a point down the road where you can decide these are going to be the next steps? So the obvious one is will the board go back to the voters in November with the same exact plan that we have today? Will the board go back to the voters maybe in November, maybe some other time? That would be a modified plan. We we learned tonight OFCC would let us modify our plan.
188And so I just threw one example up there would be um 58 middle school only and that we just go for that piece. That's a possibility. Should the board focus on the operational levy? All along we've said once we get through this May issue, we're going to have to turn our attention to operations. So does the board want us to just focus on operations and put the facility master plan on hold and just break fix, just make it work? Is that what the board wants? Does the board want us to get out of line with OFC? Now, tonight we voted on something that allows us to have that flexibility, but at one's point you might just say, "We're going to forfeit forfeit that money. We're not going to be able to bring it to fruition
189in 16 months. So, we're going to just take that off the table and get back in line someday when we can." Um, does the board want to do a combination? Do you want to have a property um sorry, not property, do you want to have an operational levy and a bond at the same time in May? coming up next year, a year from now, or down the road, do you want to not consider facilities at all? Do you want to say, you know what, what matters most is operational. We don't want anything on the ballot this May or next May. Well, we already had one. Okay. So, you don't want anything in November or May. So, start cutting. Start reducing and push this thing as far away as possible because our our um community is
190not going to vote. and and so we need to start cutting and making reductions to get us to stretch as far as we can. And then I left number six to say maybe you have other versions. We we just tried to think of all the things that could possibly be a version and to put it in your mind so that again you don't have to decide tonight but if we could rule out November, let's rule it out and if there's any direction you can give us to come back to you with more data and information, give us that direction. Well, um I had a question about our assets, our property assets, about selling them and maybe helping us with some of the offset of the um permanent improvements. Instead of just doing a few windows
191at Holly Hill, actually do all of the windows at Holly Hill because I don't know, the last picture I saw the windows were actually falling out of the of Holly Hill. And to my understanding, the the thought was later we might even keep that building. So, if we're going to put anyway selling the assets that we already have to offset some of the permanent improvements that we need, that would be something that was as a way to generate some revenue, right? Yeah. Okay. What else is on your own's mind? Again, me personally, I I don't think we've got enough information and with the timetable that you're giving us to even think about a November anything if if we have to start these things in July, we're already in, you know, the middle of May. So,
192I I personally say November needs to be off the table because again, we haven't we we don't know what the community liked or disliked. I think we need to figure out a way to be able to get more information from them. So, my opinion is November's off the table. I agree. I agree. I don't think Yeah. I just think that that's way too soon. Okay. So, could we do a town hall, a couple town halls before November and try to figure out what the community will support, what they will get behind to help our school district move forward. We need to do something to find out what will you support, how will you support it, and when will you be able to help us do this? Because specifically, we have buildings, we have needs, and
193we're not it's not going to go away. It's always going to be here. So, we have to find out from the community, hey, what will you do to help us move this district forward? We have children in this district. We are out of space. We need help. Can you help us? give us five bulleted points that will that we can write down and we can focus on as a district and see where we are and maybe we could do a ballot initiative in November, but maybe not. I don't know. It might be too short of a a time frame. We have to know in July. Yeah, November is too soon. But but again, I'll go back to we've done these things. The qu the big question is how do you get the community to come
194into and and tell us what they want to hear? Like we've had town hall meetings and and some of them unfortunately didn't have the success rate that others have. Not all of us pay attention to Facebook. Not all of us we don't at least I don't gather all of my information from Facebook or the Next Door app. We need to hear it. And the other issue with that is is that we as a board need to hear it, not one individual. We all need to hear the message because maybe it is a good message, but we all need to hear it. Because again, my understanding that I've learned on my tenure on the board is is that we are now a board. Once I leave this board, I am just Ryan Patton. I I don't
195I don't have any authority on the board. So, it's important to get those. So, yes, I agree with you on both of you really saying the same thing like we need more information. So, just I'm just pointing out to everybody just the reminder of there will be certain things we can ask and we can learn and we will certainly do as many town halls or engagements as you want us to do. we are restricted on the kinds of things we can ask about and the things we can talk about. It's like doing things with three hands tied or you know three hands tied behind your back and so we will need help from that from the outside. Um because there are sophisticated instruments that can help you understand why something is hot or cold. You
196you can you can learn that but it's not something we can pay taxpayer money on. So that's very tricky. It it uh because I know we all want to know but we we are limited on what we can ask and what we can do. And I know it makes no common sense to people, but that's the reality. Well, I think that the community did speak very loudly when they said no. Whether good or bad or whatever, the way we did it or the way it was hand whatever, they don't want that. But we need to know why though. Well, was it because they have no money? Is it because they didn't like to me if if I was just saying that, I would just say they they feel whether it's true or not, they cannot
197afford any more taxes. period because of the major hit that we took last year. I mean 43% I and then everybody's property everybody's my homeowners insurance went up because my the value of my home went up. So everybody else is doing the same. I mean you know I don't think that anybody's I'm not any special or different than anybody else's but when they vote 85 or 83% no I don't think we should go back this year at all. I don't even think it should be on the board on the table at all. So, so then we as a board need to to to have the community help us be to advocate with where this is coming from. This is not coming from here. The the developments are not coming from here. The cuts are not
198coming from here. They're coming from other places. And so we we need assistance with getting that right. But this is the hand we're dealt. So what we have is we we we have we don't have enough money. So this reduction thing that you've got on number five, we should probably move that to number one. Well, they're not ordered. Okay. They're not ordered. They just listed. Okay. So, and in terms of priority, they just so that's fine. Maybe we should start there and showing the good faith to the community that we are willing to sacrifice. We are willing. we're going to try to do this and I understand that it's not going to make it any easier, but maybe if they see, well, you know what, maybe they're they're trying at least and we're going to
199do this and this and this. We've already pushed it two years beyond what we originally stated. Like I know, but that was before our taxes went up 43%. Right. I think taxes are always going to be going up. It's never 43%. I understand that. But in the history, we push it two years beyond because our taxes went up higher. It helped. I understand. Right. But like another year or two um I don't think is going to drastically change. Well, I didn't say a year. Well, this says 2027 or beyond. Well, I didn't I don't mean that. said maybe we should start reducing and then maybe next May we can go back and say hey we have done this in good faith we have tried to think of what you guys want us to do and
200say maybe this will help you understand that we are really really up against it and we are maybe that would help I I'm just throwing it out there I agree I agree that this year is not a year to try yeah I don't think um but I do think that if we got more information from the community that we could put together maybe a modified plan. Um again, I don't know. This is something that we're going to have to find out. So that so that a question would be um like Tammy asked about what would selling assets look like. So that'd be more data we could bring to you. You just asked what would a modified plan look like? What would that cost? Do you want us to bring that to you? That can be
201research we can work on. I think that would be good. Yeah. Okay. So, of these plans though, because even the modified plan, it does nothing to Merwin and it does nothing to Holly Hill and those are two schools that are also becoming a cost. That is the reason we merged Glennesty and Amelia and there was some this this is just an example. A modified plan could include those two schools. Uh it could I mean it could be whatever you tell me, but we could break it down multiple ways. We we just um used it as an example because we knew we had that flexibility with OFCC and if you think you could get it in two bites. I mean one one of the things to think in the big picture is when you're a neighborhood
202school district having one neighborhood care about another neighborhood is like moving mountains. So we already knew that we were up against that. So one of the reasons things were packaged the way they were is because of all the impact in the middle because it impacts everybody. So there's some um goodness to the packaging of the plan because of the high impact. You start separating it out and you do 58 and then you do well we need to get those additions at Kluff so then you do Kluff and then you do oh we need to get those additions at we need a new Holly Hill Merwin so then you do that. Can you peacemeal this plan and get support all the way around? Like that that's at risk. I mean that's a question and not saying
203it's impossible. It's just it's it's already hard and that would add more difficult things. So, I I think we should look at it. I'm just mentioning that as it's a it's a continual challenge in neighborhood school districts. I personally would like Dan to look at number four. Okay. And look what a combination plan would look like. Okay. Like what would that cost be? What what would that look like? Okay. And we can't we can't do what we did during the last levy, right? Uh you mean the 2020 levy? Um we did a survey in the last levy. Um 2020 even just the way we we went out and gave information. We can't do it the same. Yeah. So um the superintendent and the treasurer are very restricted. So we are allowed to give information and
204that was true back in 2020 and we did that. We just did it to an extreme level. We were 85 90 sessions. Um now we we just kind of followed the template that we had been using which is about you know three to four town halls a semester um and then took invites but I would say like I the PTO's invited me in and um one legislative group political party invite well maybe it was two but we got to do one um not a lot of people tried to get this information out and so that's why it's like yes it is loud and clear people don't want to spend money right now, we think. But what else about the plan do they not like do they not like the plan? Like we've got to know
205that. And so there what we can continue to do is to um work with our legal on the things that we can ask. But I'll tell you, it's very limited, very very limited. And it's frustrating because we we just want to know. And I'm not saying we're we're like we're dumb and we can't even predict some of these things, but the truth is you guys need data in your hands. So, so when you talk about to go to Tammy's question about number five, the reduction piece, are we talking about because I guess I want to wrap my head around it. Are we talking about reduction of staff, reduction of classes, reduction of of art, things that are not required? Like what is the reduction of that would uh we we don't we wouldn't know until
206we talked about it. But um often, you know, Dan Dan could look it would you would have to tell us something like this. You would have to say, "We don't want to come out till 27. What's it going to take? What has to be cut for us to not come out till 27?" Or, "We don't want to come out till 28. What's it going to take?" And then Dan would do some projections. And then we would say, "Okay, that is equivalent to this amount of money." And we could start to show you it breaks down to this many FTEEs, this many admin, this many teachers, this many programs, this many services. things like um busing being limited, you know, like that. That's where we would start to say, "Okay, this is what it would take
207to add all these things up to bring a proposal to you to get to the dollar amount that would stretch it to 27, 28 or whatever you whatever you would say." So that's that's what you you guys would direct on a time where you would come back with a number and and then show you in reality what gets taken out of the mix. Like that's how that would work. Because the way I'm visualizing this in my head is let's just say we even go that route. we've already heard and established that staffing is is the pool is very thin. So when then we do get to the place we're like uh oh not a good decision. Yeah. How are you going to fill those positions back? So that so that is the thing with every
208Yeah. You know you can do math easily like take a number and start whacking things away. It's you have to understand the impact for each decision and that would be what we'd have to bring to you is okay we can reduce busing this would be the impact. We could reduce teachers and this would be the impact. They go away. They never come back. We're still hearing the impact of the busing. That was how many years ago? That was 11 plus years ago. We're still hearing the impact of that. It's true. It's true. So by reducing the busing 11 years ago, we're still hearing it. I think that one thing we have to remember in this situation is right now every kid has a building to go to right now. And we have we had a
209building solution. Let's build some more buildings. Well, we already have buildings. Why do we need to build some more buildings? People aren't impacted daily by the fact that we had a plan for buildings and but we already have some people already they're going to a place every day. So I think that I don't think that's true. I think people are being impacted every day. When your child gets on the bus and they go to classrooms that are too busy or they're too full, they do get impacted and they but they have to make choices on where their resources go. And this time they chose right now they felt they cannot afford it. Yeah. So moving forward this is the hand we're dealt. So but if we go till next May we're still under the 16
210month. Yes. Yeah. May May 26 would keep us in that 16 month in May. Yes. If we wait till May would we do any of the reductions? would we have to do reductions or because these reduction or this the stuff that's changing like next year wouldn't have I mean we wouldn't have gotten any money that wouldn't have mattered really right next year are you talking about the um from the bond is that what you're saying right yeah all all it there there's no set dollar amount like we give that gave the estimate of $65 million that shows like all the repairs that would need to happen so there's no one there's no one specific thing like Randy was saying earlier there's certain known that we know that we that we have to work on. And
211then there's known unknowns, right, that you're just like, you know, crossing your fingers on. Well, it's like the budget. We don't know what the state's going to do yet either, right? As far as that goes, but right now the levy failed. Do know that our community is not happy. They feel they cannot afford it. So now we have to figure out what to do and if we're going to present it again. So I'm not I think maybe might next May. Okay. So, so, so to consider a future may so one of the options if there is to do a combination operational and bond um or do you want to look at just bond like do you want to see what looking at just one or looking at both looks like? I'd say look at both.
212Okay. And then look at each one separately. So that way we have three different okay outcomes and we can look at it as a board and figure out what we need to do and what we think the community may wrap their heads around and and support the school district. Yes. Okay. Within that are you going to make reductions? Are you going to put that part of the plan as well? We would need direction from the board. So the question is like right now we don't have to make resuctions to do a operational levy in 26. Correct. Correct. that doesn't have to happen. If the board wants it to happen, you have to say a dollar amount you want reduced and then we would bring back the plan, but there's nothing saying that we have to
213do that right now. So, it would have to it would be a choice. Well, I personally I think the community would feel better about moving forward on a some kind of a levy if we showed good faith and tried to show that we are willing to reduce some of the force. So, but that's what I'm saying though. Where is the good faith that we're not showing them? We're I didn't say we're not. I'm just saying this is what I think. But that's but as I'm saying though, so even if we did this reduction, we we where are we not showing them? We show them that we spend in the lowest amount. we've we've established according to Dan is is that the money is not the issue is not what we're spending. It's what we're getting
214from the state and from from our other partners. So like I don't No, I understand but I just I don't I don't I'm just go to a slide. Oh, sorry. Which one? Enrollment. Uh which thing like these. There you go. Yeah. So some things that we could look at costing out. Okay. And showing you the dollar amounts on. So for example there is a real costsaving of moving back to half day kindergarten. Okay, with every action there's a reaction, right? So we do that. Superintendent also said, "Hey, we already have students that aren't pre coming in prepared. What's the impact of right right now we have them for a whole day if we have students only for a half a day at that early age? What's that impact on we go forward to the performance
215in the first, second or third grade, right? We we know that that's going to be an impact. Okay, a reaction is going to get a reaction to it. Okay, but we can go through and cost out what is the the cost savings, right, of going from full day kindergarten to half day. Th those those things are there. We can we can do that. We can show that. All right. We also one of the things that we've talked about but it's not on that list because it was kind of ruled out by the CAT team early on when we surveyed um but we could look at configuration. So one possible cost savings could be instead of neighborhood schools grade level schools across the system. So that could be something we cost out as well. It's not
216what people want according to our surveys, but it is a way to reduce without changing like what kinds of services are offered because everything else would be services in West Claremont change dramatically. I'd like to see that. Okay. Well, maybe show us both. Show us the neighborhood versus the grade level. And so we have a choice. We can see what may happen or what may not happen. Okay. So, you're saying Kluff would no longer be Kluff K through five. Yeah. potentially be K through three then yeah you could look I I'll just I'll just pick three schools like if you went on the um Willville Somersside Kluff and let's say we group them all together. Yeah, you would break the grade levels into thirds and you know put them in each building basically. So you
217know will that make sense transportation wise? I don't know. But it it is a way to maximize like if if you have a small class size of second grade at this school, maybe this school could absorb it. So So that's where you pick up efficiencies. So it could be looked at. It's just not popular. And so because our school district's so spread out, it's not like a Mason where everything is square footage wise close or um density. So So did you say the density? Yeah. So it might be where you look at grade uh a grade level on one half of the district, grade level on the other half of the district so that you you were you know cutting down that travel. So again I I don't we haven't run those numbers but it's
218just something um that that sometimes districts do going to grade level as a way to reduce costs. And again that would if we get savings there then it would it would mean the programs stay intact. They would we wouldn't be losing programs and services. Could you find out um I know nobody wants to hear this and I don't like to say it but um going back to state minimum for transportation. Yes. State minimum for transportation. We can look at that. And increasing participation fees for extracurriculars. Yes. Yes, we can bring that back to you. So, I know it's a lot to absorb, so you can spend some more time thinking about all the options. This is what I'm hearing so far. I'm hearing that November is off the table with this group right now. That
219we're not going to try to get some resolutions in July and make something happen in November. Is that does that feel correct? Okay. um kind of information that I hear the word May a lot. That looking down to May feels good. Not that anybody's sold on that, but but this idea of what happens if we're in May, whether it's a combination, it's operational or facilities, whether there's some reductions or not. Give us some May 26 options is what I'm hearing. Is that Did I get that correct? Okay. And then with that, what would um these different variations, one being what would a modified plan look like? What would a combo plan look like for May? What would cost savings of of things that were on that list like full day or full day to half
220day kindergarten as an example? Neighborhood to grade level schools as an example, and then additional operational things like transportation, extracurricular fees, etc. What would all those look like? So, does that capture what we think we said tonight? Did I miss anything? Well, I've got some uh things I'd like to share. Um um other areas that we would like to consider. I've heard from several of my constituents uh over the last couple of weeks, and they wanted me to share the following information. Number one, several have suggested that we reduce the district office staff from the top down. have a department of government efficiency be more efficient and effective in everything we do. We need to stop creating positions for the district office. We have too many of those happening. We need to better budget like
221the taxpayers are in their own homes. Schoolboard members need to manage the funds we already have. My daughter said that there may be a bill or something passed in Claremont County that gives the school boards the authority over new building developments. We need to stop participating and pick up on the pickup for all administrators. Push back on mandates that cost us money. We are at capacity so we cannot take on more. Have the state figure out what we need in this case. Redistric again. Stand up for kids in our district. that doesn't come with more money, but love and support. We have administrators that maybe forgot about this. We can't want a new car. We need and deserve a new car. But if you can't afford a new car, you don't buy it. You just
222take care of what you already have. So, go ahead. I think some of this we already [Applause] No, go ahead. You're good. Tina, this is what I'll say is is that if your constituents want to send these to you, we as the board need to hear. If not you reading what your constituents told you. So, if your constituents want to come and stand at that podium, I'll hear them for three minutes. I'll listen to what they say and I'll take what they say into consideration. As far as uh the several items, I mean, I'm not going to sit here and and and highlight any of these, but you know, have a department of government of Doge. So, yet we're trying to cut, but yet we want to bring in more things to do a Doge.
223Where are their facts? Where do they think that we need to cut? Have them come tell us where they believe that we need to cut so that we can show them our facts and then we can go there and dive into it and why they want to cut it. Correct. I mean, and as far as, you know, my daughter said that there was a bill or something being passed in Claremont County that gives a school board authority over new building development. What are they talking about? I have no idea. She didn't know. And I said, "Well, I'll have to look into this." So, you're here reading her her message to the world and you don't even have all the facts. It's important to in order for us to get our messages out and to be
224truth and verified, we have to have this information. So, me personally, I'd be very cautious reading what other people want. If any of these constituents want to be heard, they can stand right there for three minutes and be heard. I promise you, we'll listen to them. We may not engage because that's our protocol, but we're listening to what everybody says. They are listening to what everybody says, and we're trying to figure out what the best answer is. Well, you know what? People can't always come to these meetings all the time. They have other things in life. They have kids that have extracurricular activities, have baseball, softball, and other other things in their life. So, they can't come here all the time and give their uh I understand opinions. Stand up for kids in our district.
225That doesn't always come from money, but love and support. Again, where is the facts that we're not loving and supporting on our kids? Every every meeting, we've had some type of of just some type of recognition where we're loving on them. Where is the facts that that our school district is not doing this? This is very could be very damning to our district because this stuff is not true. Like I I just again if somebody's got facts that we're not loving on our kids and supporting them, please come tell me because I want to know about that. That is an issue. I I I would be screaming at the mountaintop for them to address that. If any of our administrations are not doing what they're supposed to do, yes, we may not want a new
226car. We may not want to buy a new car. But again, these things are a little bit different. Like I it's not like we're sitting here saying we want new shiny things. We're telling them that our buildings are falling down around us and that we need to get these new things. At some point, I have to buy a new car. At some point, the car is just it's not worth me putting any more money into it because it's junk. I have to get a new car. So, I mean, so I I know every every constituent, every staff member, every administrator, everyone will have their opinion of what feels like a good use of district money and what's not. Like, everyone's going to have a say on that. And so what will be true here at
227this table is that you'll give us direction things like I don't want to put a levy on in 26 or I don't want to go back to the voters to 27 that will yield as I said earlier a number from Dan so that then we will equate it to these are all the things that we can reduce to the best of our ability that will reduce or will limit and and minimize any impact to the classroom and we'll bring those to you. We'll bring them to the community when it's time to weigh out. Um sometimes we might we might present AB and C and then you decide of the AB and C we want these two or three things. I mean it's it's we did this before with the 2020 levy we brought here are
228the things like if we don't pass this is what has to go and the board just you know agreed upon these certain things and so everybody can have their opinion. We have to actually match up dollars with services and programs and give you real numbers because I mean people's opinions matter, but until you actually put a dollar amount to it and then know the impact of getting rid of it, it's just an opinion. And so we would need to bring those things to you. And that's how this would work. Um versus just random people saying cut this, cut that, cut this, cut that. It would be we need to come up with x amount of dollars. this is how we will get there and we'll just keep bringing versions of it to you until you
229would get something that you would be okay with that you want to put in front of people. So that's how it would work and I and I think that like you said everyone does have opinions. Everyone I I talked to many people throughout my day constituents who have opinions but like my job as a board member is to take that information absorb it and process it and bring it to this table as my own. not paring off of a piece of paper comments that someone said. That's not what we're supposed to be here for. We're supposed to bring our piece to the table, not everyone's piece just off comments off of paper like Well, I think it's important that the constituents have a voice. They have a voice. They can stand right there and have
230their voice be heard. They couldn't come. I just told you. Listen, this isn't all from the same person. I don't believe. No, it's from several different people. Okay. So, I I nuded them from town. But no, because it Well, number one, it's Memorial Day weekend, so people are getting ready to go out of town. A couple of them said, "I'm getting ready to go out of town, Miss Santorm, and I'm sorry I can't come tonight." Yeah. So, so the thing that I think what we're all saying is that we we care about what people have to say and we we've shown a big commitment to that. Whether it's been in this boardroom, through surveys, through focus groups, through town halls, we've we've done that and we we can't do our job without hearing from people.
231So, we're not going to stop. It's just we're in a this next journey is a little bit difficult because we have some limitations. We we want some answers that are going to be harder for us to get from these chairs. So that's like one thing we have to overcome. And the second thing is we need to continue to look at other methods. If somebody can't come, can they come to a Zoom meeting? You know, I'm just thinking of branching out and continuing to look at options for people to be able to participate to help inform our decision- making and they can come to future meetings. Yeah. So have to be tonight for sake of time. This gave this gave me and the team some really good direction. We won't bring it all back to you
232like in June. like it'll come in pieces, but we will we'll bring it to you. Dan has some items that he's going to go through like extremely fast. I'm just going to I want to add one thing to this because I remain silent and it's because I want to listen. But the dark cloud over all this is still that unknown of what's going to happen by June 30th. Right. Right. because we're looking at these things here, but be by June 30th, the state could come back and say, "A, we're not going to give you any more money or B is plan on receiving less money." Okay, so that that comes with that. All right, back to the agenda. Yeah. Policy. Okay. So, and and I'll be brief I'll be brief with items 10.01 and 10.02.
233So, our district does not have a um a cash balance policy on how much we should have on hand. Okay? Uh not that we didn't want one, not that I didn't recommend that we have one. It doesn't doesn't exist. Um I don't know over 40 some years, I don't know if it's good or bad to have one or not. It's a best practice to have one. This is a white paper that that I'm providing to the board to look at that. I will come back no later than the June 30th meeting. Okay. With a recommended policy. I will have a draft of that to you before June 30th. Okay. Um that policy will have in it two things. One is a lower limit. What is the minimum that we want to have on hand? okay,
234of an available balance. When we looked at our five-year forecast and we looked at the number of days we should have on hand best practices to have at least 60 days on hand, two months of that. We have a hund00 million budget. So, we're really looking at, you know, 212s, one sixth of that, you know, anywhere from 12 to 15 million on hand with it to do it. The other thing it will have in it is is there an upper limit? Right. Right now, current legislation says, "Hey, if you have 30% or more, then uh not current legislation, current proposed legislation." Okay? So that if you have 30% or more, the county auditor will okay reduce that tax for that year. Okay? And that could mean that it's going to go down and back up
235and down and back up, whatever. Okay? To do that. So I will come back again just background information on it to have the white paper with it. I will come back with a a recommended policy that we'll look at on June 30th. Okay. To do that. Um second item nine or let me get to it. 10.02. Okay. I already kind of made a comment with it, but um in April, early April, we did receive a letter from the Claremont County Auditor's Office that we were overpaid quote unquote, that's the word in the letter, overpaid by 2 point 2,190, okay? I will also tell you that, you know, although that, you know, doesn't occur every day, it it's it is an anomaly that happens. Okay. it it this this happened. It was based off an estimate.
236The the actual was overpaid and so sitting in our bank right now is technically 2.2 million more than we should have. Okay. Because of the unknown of that proposed legislation on 30% cash balance. Okay. I want to inform the board that I may between now and June 30th, depending on where that legislation is, contact the county auditor's office, tell them that I'm issuing them a check to refund that back to them. Okay? So that the June 30th balance is not inflated. I'm not saying I'm going to do it. I'm saying then I may do it. Okay? Dependent just is forming you forming the board now that that may happen. Okay. So that our June 30th balance does not have it in it and jeopardize putting us over 30%. Okay. So just just kind of a
237notice that that's there. Okay. I did have discussions with the county auditor's office. There was the allowance for us to keep that. I prefer to keep it because we're getting interest on that money sitting there. Okay. Which helps us out. Okay. But as soon as I tell them I'm going to write them a check, I will ask them and request that we that get advanced back to us. Okay. So that's there. If there's any concern on that, that's there. The second part of that is recall that I notified you that there is pending um Duke Energy did file for a change in valuation. Um and I've not heard anything on that yet, but it it sounds like it's more than likely to go through. That's goes back to tax years 21, 22, and 23. And
238the estimate for us is about $2.4 million. That somewhere going forward, we would have to refund that back. Okay. So, that's just a an awareness of that one. Okay. So, that's items that takes care of items 10.02. Any any questions on that? You I didn't did you say that Duke was going to give us about five years to pay that back or are those correct? It won't happen immediately. It would be over time. Okay. So my experience has been that at least the number of years that they want it back those are at least the number of years to go forward. So if it was at least three years plus goes back to 23 and that's two that it could be five years. Okay. And the county tax money we're going to give it back
239to them maybe if we do that. Correct. And then when when's our next draft? When are we supposed to get it back? I would ask for it back right away. We can request the advance back. But typically typically it would be at the end of July in July or August. Okay. Okay. So, so it would be a temporary hand it back to you, hand it back to me. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's a good question. All right. All right. Okay. Supplementing amending supplementing item 10.03 supplementing many annual appropriations. So, uh, there's a list of funds there. I'm requesting that we, uh, amend and supplement, uh, the the budget as projected there. Most of it is in the, uh, a a rotary account where we, um, have deductions for, um, from payroll that's in fund 022. I
240would tell you that the million dollars that I'm requesting in the general fund is is not an in it. When I look at the budget, I look at fund the general fund and I look at the permanent improvement fund because that's where our inside millillage is. We are collecting more in the inside millillage. We are using that and as I said to offset our general fund expenses, okay, to do that. So again, um it's almost taking money from next year's budget, spending it this year so that materials and supplies are in place. Um, I know there's some things that we are doing on the technology side so that that things are in place over the summer. So, it is not over over a two-year period. It's not increasing the budget. It's just spending it before
241July 1st, taking it back after July 1st to do that. Okay. So, the action item is on 10.03 is a motion to approve the resolution supplementing amending the annual appropriations for this current year, fiscal year 2025. Thank you. You've heard the recommendation. Would someone like to make a motion? Some moved. Thank you, Mr. Rudy. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Chumley. Is there any further discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Rudy? Yes. Mr. Chumley? Yes. Miss Samborn? Yes. Mrs. Spencer? Yes. Mr. Patton? Yes. Five. Yes. Thank you. And I'll suspend any further comments, I think. Thank you, Mr. Romano. On to the board comments. Moving to board comments. Mrs. Spencer, I'm packing up. I'm ready to go. I'm sorry. Um, we just, this being the first meeting after the levy failed, I know it's
242kind of heavy on everybody's mind, but I do believe we can all work together to find a solution to this because everybody brings in different takes on it and I think that we have a great group of people here working on it and I feel sure we'll find we'll find a solution that will move our district forward with everybody's help. Thank you, Mrs. Spencer. Mrs. the same point. Uh I was just thinking here maybe we could bring the uh state auditor uh Keith Faber in to look at a doing a performance audit that would not cost the taxpayers any money or the district to look at everything to make sure we have what we have and we don't need anymore or where we're short so that we can so that maybe the taxpayers would be
243more uh willing to support the school district. I was just thinking about that just now. Thank you, Mr. Chley. Look forward to celebrating with everyone Saturday. Thank you, Mr. Happy Memorial Day. Thank you. My only comment is is our next board meeting is going to be June 30th at 7 p.m. here at the civic center. Uh there is a need to go into executive session for the purpose of considering the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official. I'll put that in the form of a motion. Do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. Rudy. This will be no discussion. Roll call, please. Mr. Pet, yes. Mr. Rudy, yes. Mr. Chumley, yes. Miss Sanborn, yes. Mr. Spencer, yes. Five, yes. There will be nothing that we will be voting
244on. So, we will not be coming back out. Appreciate you guys.