001e e e uh good evening welcome to the March 17th West Claremont school board meeting Mr Rano will you please take a rooll Mr Pat presid Mr Rudy present Mr Chumley present Miss Sor present Mrs Spencer present five yes thank you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all next up is the motion to adopt the agenda would someone like to make a motion thank you Mr Rudy is there a second second thank you Mr Chumley is there any discussion will call please Mr Rudy yes Mr Chumley yes Miss Sor yes Mrs Spencer yes Mr Pat yes five yes moving into recognition good evening
002members of the board I'm so excited today to talk about our momentum Award winners so I'm going to ask that um today in the gallery we have the BLT the building leadership team from each of the buildings I'm going to ask Summerside and Holly Hill to come up thats good so we are proud to recognize the building leadership teams of Hol Hill Elementary and somerside Elementary both BLT teams LED their schools to being awarded the momentum award for by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce develop the momentum award is given to schools that have improved their performance index by three or more points from previous Year's Ohio state report card and received a value added progress rating of four or more stars this accomplishment shows the outstanding improvements and achievement and continual growth that
003we are occurring that are occurring at Holly Hill Elementary and somerside Elementary so for Holly Hill we have I don't know if they're all here but uh Megan Frankle Angela best Tara Hector Heather Copley Angela priest Lauren hinley Katie miners Bridget Grace Lisa May Alis Kim Reese and principal Josh Young and then from Summerside we have Lisa sheffy Shannon flarity Katie stulti V Carrie LC excuse me sorry Monty Wilson Shelley Miller paty Bruner Beth desen Brock Joey bassetta Mindy Sabo Joe stall Natalie Edwards and Lisa Courtney so please join me and give him the hand [Applause] H Hill I think this is your third time getting this right that's what I was thinking that's a pretty big deal just 10 like 10 minutes yeah if that yeah let's say 10 have put somewhere that St
004Patrick's Day well I don't I don't think it would be a reach I think people would notice that well speaking of St Patrick's Day this is not lucky leaders here these are these are people that have worked their tails off to accomplish really rigorous outcomes for their kids and they none of them make an excuse about their population they they believe they all can make students learn and that they're the ones who can make that happen and their strong beliefs plus all the learning that they've done all of the um teamwork that they've accomplished um better collaborating with one another has shown really impressive results and I know this is the second or no third time I believe that Holly Hill has received this award over the last probably eight years so um it's it's
005a big deal this is a big deal award so congratulations you guys congratulations I think at this point we're just going to take about a 10-minute uh reception just to kind of go out celebrate uh and then we will be back in about 10 minutes e e e okay thank you welcome back to the West clemont school board meeting we'll start next with the student athlet leadership leadership team video not a chance don't jinx us [Music] [Applause] [Music] the student athlete leadership team known as salt is taking we care to a whole new level at West Claremont High School um salt is basically just a big group of our athletes here and we are just working to unite and basically become closer with one another unite sports teams and also just make an impact on
006the school and definitely our community and doing like a lot of fundraisers and things like that that and helping like we are doing like gift drives and things like that that are helping students in need and also just making sure that like the athletes are really contributing to our students in our school that aren't athletes this is the second year of the club and 56 student athletes are part of it this year the students range from freshman to seniors I'm striving to be better as a person and also an athlete and really it helps me also be a leader on my team not just in the school but it also plays an impact on how I'm viewed like on my sport team and how I can contribute to my teammates and like build into them
007oh 100% uh just to give back to the community you know especially me growing up in the community it means a lot and the fact that I can just give back to everything and you know influence younger students is is huge for me because that's that's what life needs to come to nowadays um for me I wanted to be ins salt because I think I was like more of a selfish player and I wanted to be able to like help myself learn how to just be a better teammate and be a better athlete and our assult leader she helped us like be able to just be able to talk about like just everything in general and just have our own experiences to be able to be a better athlete so far this year assault students
008have found unique ways to get involved they've cleaned up trash at the stadium After Fall Sports they've written teacher appreciation letters and they gave back to some of the areas most vulnerable including a toy drive at Christmas time and most recently a stuffed animal throw at a basketball game to benefit foster children I really like the toy drive that we're doing right now because it gives other families opportunities that can't afford Christmas to uplift others and like get helping with our basketball like more people to come in and watch the game and helping with our community as well I think we should reach the littles so little kids or middle schoolers or Elementary schoolers who want to get involved in sports but are too scared or don't have a community and people to lean on
009I think Sal would be a perfect opportunity for that it should go further and we should influence it more in our middle schools and our elementary schools because if we can influence it here at the high school already that shows that the little the smaller kids middle school and Elementary School be able to you know get to have a life outside of it and they can look forward to going to high school at West Claremont because I think that'll influence our all of our sports teams to be better than what they they are not saying that they're we're bad or anything we're pretty we're a really good school to go to play sports but to say that you go to West Claremont now means a lot but if we go to West Claremont in the
010future with how salt is going it it'll mean a lot more to the state and to to the [Music] country so Kelsey Kelly is the softball coach and she also helps out in athletics in a million different ways but she is leader of the salt team and just listening to those students I'm impressed with them the most because they aren't scripted they're just being interviewed and what they're sharing about giving back um taking care you know developing leaders from elementary all the way up to high school um clearly they can see a big picture and they see a purpose in their life that's not just about you know dialing it in Monday through Friday and I'm I'm just so impressed that um the athletic department James kind of started this two years ago with Kelsey's
011help and how they are taking leadership development so seriously inside of their Department because clearly um it it will only like Ripple out and and make a difference in how we work with one another treat each other and and our outcomes ultimately so so thanks for that very very well done Becky okay looks like next is public speaking at the school board meeting it says visitors who wish to address the board are asked to State their name address school or organization remarks must be addressed to the board and should be briefed 3 minutes until the point speakers may offer such as objective criticism or suggestions regarding School operation or programs the board will not will not hear any personal complaints of school Personnel or against any person connected with the school district unless those complaints
012have first been addressed through the individual's department or administrative uh involved it looks like we have two um Rich first I don't know if it's good or bad that you know me about my first name I'm not sure that's on so first of all I wanted to again thank uh Mr Romano for being easily accessible I've uh probed and asked quite a few questions we've had quite a few conversations in the last few weeks um so thank you for that um one thing that you guys have on your agenda for night is the uh the FTE report the full-time equivalent report um I'm just questioning why we have as our headcount for teachers uh a number of 464 but the board has 438.68 are occupied showing three are available how do we have three spots
013available when we have 464 but we're only required to have 438 that seems to me like there's 26 difference and then in total you have 972 as your headcount with only 922 as what's been approved by the board so why do we have 50 people more than we're actually supposed to have or what are in the contract or in the the board uh requirements um also tonight you guys have listed on your agenda you're going to talk about uh the transportation contract but there's no document that's listed on the the agenda for people to see I'm just kind of wondering where we can go to view those proposals do we need to do public records requests to get those um do we always go with the lowest bill bid what's the criteria for the bids
014if the contractor meets the criteria and they're the lowest bidder is that the one we pick what's the selection process for that and then is there any other public meeting uh of the board where things like this are discussed the public can come and attend and not have to come to maybe this venue and ask for that or to find that information and then also and I didn't do it tonight I apologize I do live at 816 Massachusetts Drive um why why is it that here in the board meeting we have to stand up give our name and our address and tell you where our school affiliation is and all those things but when you have a town hall meeting we're allowing people from outside of the West Claremont School District to come in and
015attend uh and be part of those meetings and part of those discussions okay thank you thank you you ready Mr next up it looks like a Scott Baker hello Scott Baker 454 Odin Drive Holly Hill good evening I am the father of two children who currently attend Holly Hill Elementary and have for nearly seven years now Holly Hill has always been a small family centered school where teachers and staff pour their all into each student we've always been proud to say our children attend Harley Hill but recent events has left us questioning the moral standing of both the school and the district The Claremont County Library sends individuals to the school as part of their three for me program on multiple occasions this year they have sent an inappropriate individual into the school this individual
016is male with facial hair makeup and women's accessories this is completely unacceptable inside of our school buildings this individual is free to do as they wish on their own time but every adult who enters the school owes it to the students who conduct themselves in a proper manner including the way they present themselves we send our kids to school to re receive an education not to be conditioned to the things such as this I have spoken to many people over the past several weeks regarding this matter and not and the only thing they have had in common is that not one single person is reported this in our schools this is something we should this is not something we should be normalizing for our children while they're in school our children should not have to
017ask the questions such as is this a man does he think he's a girl why is this man wearing makeup out of school this is not in the best interest of our children we've attempted to address this at the building level but the response of we do not have the authority to impose dress code and appearance regulations on an employee outside of our organization is not an acceptable response as well as the suggestion to provide alternate educational services to our children during this time to avoid interaction with this individual our children should not have to have their education interrupted because someone doesn't want to have a difficult conversation to to prevent immoral and unethical things from happening inside our school buildings administrators have a duty not only to educate but to protect the physical and
018mental well-being of every student who enters the doors and I hope this matter will be addressed accordingly thank you thank you Mr Baker looks like we are moving on to the consent agenda first up is the human resource Personnel agenda good evening in front of you is the Personnel agenda for March 17th 2025 on the agenda today we have the retirement of Lynn Hatfield special education teacher at Amilia she she's in her 34th year with the district and Rita Reynolds the cafe manager at hollah Hill who is also in her 34th year in the district so we wish them well on their next Adventures uh on the board agenda we have the resignation of two teachers at the end of the school year one PA professional Aid and one third shift custodian this agenda also
019includes the proposed hiring of one secretary at WT Elementary one pair professional Aid and two custodians on the agenda you will have the proposed transfer of Joe stall from instructional coach to the assistant principal atlu beginning the 2526 school year and Joe and his family are are here tonight uh so we're able to celebrate them uh on the agenda also includes the contract renewal of Greg Rose the Middle School assistant principal this agenda we have the proposed approval for supplemental contracts for multiple Lighthouse team members multiple advisors multiple coaches assistant theater director and athletic contest worker also is the proposed approval for multiple unpaid leaves of absences and cafeteria substitute and multiple School volunteers and student teachers and finally in the work beyond the contract section of the proposed approval for payments for prated casier
020stien for Courtney Dean she temporarily filled in a wut uh Elementary secretary um when Mary Ellen Robinson passed earlier this school year so this concludes the review of the agenda submission for your consideration thank you Dr folz next up is West clont high school education Rising national competition overnight field trip good evening this evening I um am requesting approval for the Educators Rising National Conference this is the National Conference for our teacher Academy program and um this is for students who at the state level qualified to compete at the national level and so we're super excited that our students have the opportunity to participate we have seven students who have qualified who will be traveling with their teacher Michelle Dorman um the conference takes place in Orlando Florida um June 26th through the 29th um
021students are participating in fundraising activity they're hoping to cover the trip costs um like around $580 and their fundra fundraising activity um is designed to help them raise 500 of those dollars themselves so they're anticipating the cost of the trip per student will be around $80 um they will then meet up with other organizations across the country who will also be competing at the national level are there any questions yes just one slight thing um there are eight Ms Mills for the uh students but there's no cost for those eight meals unless it's going to come out of the $92 it's all includ it's included in that that $580 amount okay just wanted to clarify thank you yeah no that's that's great thank you I just want to go hungry right me either they wouldn't
022do very well I don't think uh without food any other questions great thank you thank you okay um item 7.03 is request for approval of the minutes the first of the minutes is for the meeting the regular business meeting that took place on February 24th 20125 item 7.04 is request for approval of the regular business meeting of March 3rd 2025 item 7.05 is request uh for approval of donations as presented I will read those briefly um Lisa barter donated $100 for lunch balances in a book at Withamsville Tabasco Elementary Amanda Luken Heimer donated 120 dry erase markers to Withamsville Tabasco Elementary adgo Inc donated ,000 as a scholarship for West clemont High School Amanda Luken Heimer donated 50 headphones for two second grade classes at Withamsville tabas Tabasco Elementary David crook at school store donated
023$10 Walmart gift card to withv Basco Elementary homage LLC donated $650 homage homage gift cards to human resources for Teacher recruitment Big B coffee donated $250 uh proceeds from the D to donate fundraiser to West Claremont whole learner assistance fund Lowe's donated 52 plastic buckets with lids to Merwin Elementary safety team mwin PTO donated items to fill lock down buckets to mwin Elementary safety team Chick-fil-A donated $1,518 38 which were proceed from the dine to donate fundraiser to West Claremont H assistance fund Donado Pizza donated 70 large pizza boxes to ailia Elementary for the first grade science Capstone project West Claremont Middle School ptso donated a laminator to West Claremont Middle School West Claremont Middle School ptso donated daily treats for testing to West Claremont middle school and Withamsville Church of Christ donated 520 bracelets
024and 520 stress balls for with Bill Tabasco Elementary incredible Kids Day event those were the requests for donations as I just read item 7.06 our request uh to approve authorization for the superintendent treasury to negotiate and execute contracts as presented there's one listed in this section and that is uh for uh for to Power School uh for software for special education item 7.07 is request for approval of purpose and budget statement for this current school um and the item or the the activities listed are for the uh willville principal's account for the middle schools where everyone belongs and for the high school prom um the revisions that they have requested item 7.08 are the financial statements bills paid lists and Investments um and those are the attached documents that are there and if I may
025if it is okay um to explain the FTE report that is listed on there and so the FTE report um does list um a head count which are are bodies basic we describ there is an FTE or full-time equivalent count which uh summarizes a full-time equivalent of the day so it may be a whole eight hour day or it may be a half a day to it so that FTE count will come up less than the the uh the head count which is like a body count to do that and then there are the positions that uh both payroll and Mr folz and his Department reconcile continuously through payroll and at the end of the month the head count the FTE count and those positions that are filled versus unfilled to do that so we
026we did clean that up a few few years back to make sure that those codes that were there do equal the emis filing that we have to report to the state so kind of a check and balance internally and then also which with what we filed to the State Department of Education to do that um so on the and and the Avail I don't know if you explain the available means that there could be positions that we need that we just weren't able to find staff to fill correct so it's maybe substitute at this point so just wanted to clear that up and there's a note on here too that explains why the head count it's going to seem it's because it's not just it could be that staff are in more than one position
027correct at the time as well to do that yeah but that's good question thank you that clarification so that would the the the consent agenda is items 701 through 7 get it 08 thank you Mr Romano you've heard the recommendation would someone like to make a motion thank you Mr R is there a second second thank you Mr I have a question Mr Patton on this power school from the director for curriculum instructions um is this just for one particular School building or is this for the entire District I was trying to figure this out the entire District the entire District okay all right so you won't have to do this agreement again until three years from now yeah and we're transitioning from another provider to this so we're moving from one platform to another
028platform was that REM mind no same goal okay and it's for preschool through grade 23 so it includes um any student with a disability 504 it also includes um like gifted we WS like it's really any special programs any of those things are included okay thank you for clarification I'm fine okay is there any other discussion okay thank you roll call please Mr Rudy yes Mr Chumley yes Miss Sor yes Mrs Spencer yes Mr Patty yes five [Applause] yes believe we're moving on to 801 um this is a resolution to authorize the superintendent and Treasurer to negotiate contracts for the replacement of Aging Network equipment this equipment will be replaced with um federal e- rate funding e- rate funding is on a 5year life cycle this application year will be the final final year of
029those 5 years so if we don't use that funding we lose it so um interestingly enough we have to get the proposals back before we know exactly which projects make the most sense because until we know how much each one will cost we don't know how to best manipulate them or choose them to utilize that funding and so that's where we are now we've received those proposal proposals back we're reviewing them all and comparing them and contrasting them then Mr romano and I will sit down and go through and figure out what's the best utilization of the funding that's available for the projects that we need but then we have to file contracts with the federal eate program before our next board meeting and that's kind of why we're asking for that uh permission for
030Mr Romano M Mrs Adams to be able to negotiate those contracts because we won't have time to come back again and and have that discussion yet again so is this like an a grant that you're re yes the federal year program has been in in place for many years um and it's on a 5year cycle so yes it's a federal funding that they provide to schools and libraries to keep their wireless networks and their internal networks kind of up to up to par okay thank you yes thank you okay so you've heard the recommendation would someone like to make a motion thank you Mr Rudy is there a second second thank you Miss sort is there any other discussion on that okay thank you roll call please Mr Rudy yes Miss Sor yes Mrs Spencer
031yes Mr Patton yes Mr Chumley yes five yes so item 8.02 is another resolution authorizing the uh the execution of a letter of intent to purchase Chromebooks so we have done our RFD at the board's approval we have gotten gotten those proposals back we are still vetting the final credentials of you know the best biders but we have found one that we think is going to be super suitable once we're once we've completely vetted them through the manufacturer of the device and their references the other school districts they work with uh we have not worked with them before but their pricing is actually lower than what we paid last year which is amazing to us the challenge is we need to issue that letter of intent so that we can commit to the purchase before
032tariffs might go into effect and raise prices on us considerably so that's why we're asking for their right to issue the letter of inent okay so is this just for the Chromebooks for fifth 9th and first Fifth and nth okay yes first Fifth and nth thank you yes ma'am thank you so you've heard yeah so you've heard the recommendation with someone like to make a motion thank you Mr Rudy is there a second go ahead thank you Miss Sor is there any other discussion on that thank you roll call please Mr Rudy yes M Sor yes Mrs Spencer yes Mr Patton yes Mr CH yes by yes next up must be Mr Excuse me good evening on February 24th we uh issued an RFP for transportation services and we received three proposals three different companies
033um we've picked fi final two and Mr Romano Mr gibart and myself interviewed both companies extensively then we settled on a preferred vendor then we began uh negotiations Mr Marano myself with an attorney and the company those negotiations were finished on Friday by Mr romano and attorney and I believe we have a solid contract the basis for the selection was not just cost it was also references within the state within the state Services they can provide to West Claremont experiences with West Claremont willingness to adapt to a study that we're conducting this summer through OD on transportation services for our district which could change routes and potentially cost so we vetted each company based upon that criteria and I feel confident we have a solid contract any questions well I would just add Dan was
034still working on it before he walked in here so it was it was mostly finished on Friday but yeah a few details in the last few hours so is there anything else you would add no so and and I do apologize that it was not uh placed out on the agenda prior to right before the board meeting but the um uh the contract and agreement is out there the resolution is out there with the authorization there are um six items which I did post out there that although we have a meeting of the minds with it the language is not set or the occurrence of which kicks in some language has not occurred those six items are listed those will be handled either by anou or an amendment to the agreement um when they are
035settled okay thank you so you've heard the recommendation would someone like to make a motion thank you Mr Rudy is there a second second thank you Mr Chumley is there any other discussion thank you roll call please Mr Rudy yes Mr Chumley yes Miss sorn yes Mrs Spencer yes Mr Patton yes five yes thank you Miss there's no action tonight on the statement of facts but what I want to have Mr Rano do is take us on the website so that people will know where to find them if anybody want to review them or share them so we're going to tag team this first you will go to the bond information site and if you look at the bond issues on the right you see the word statement of facts do not sorry I can't
036see it from that place anymore I keep forgetting that I'm old and I can't see so on that is where you find the one pages that we've created and we've been sharing with those with you every meeting then if you go down the statement facts is listed there in the in the kind of presentation deck I think the only misconception that I've heard this week really is um just still question about the Middle School um thinking that it was fully renovated you know kuu was fully renovated it was taken down to its bones and built back um the middle school that's not what happened there was a bridge that connected the two two sides there were some updates in the kitchen and then there was paint and and and the floors were waxed the floors
037were cleaned so it was it was it was more of a I would call it a facelift more than I I would say a like a renovation in the same way that clu Pike was renovated uh they're vastly different in their approach so I just wanted to clear that up and then a second thing that I want to clear the record on that I've misspoken about we did some research today that um that I had wrong in my mind from from something that I heard when I first got here um I had referenced to you guys that the bond issue that was from the past when we had Amelia and WT come up had started as four schools plus athletic upgrades and it failed multiple times and by the time it passed what my statement
038was is that it was for the same millage that was incorrect it went down they went down and pretty much cut it and half um the millage was still very close but the cost of the project was like I guess it was half it was like 60,000 to 30,000 so I misspoke on that uh thinking I I had the information right from the past it was very it was a very close millage my My ultimate Point uh that I was trying to make is just the the timing of of this project and the costs today are probably going to be the the best costs we're going to see and that that's kind of part part of what what the rationale was there why that that millage was very very close when it started as a
039bigger project and then it just ended up being the two um buildings so I wanted to corre correct that for the record is there anything else you would add well what I would add to it and you know I think that part of that is under this section of why now um annually because we are members of the of the chamber um I attend and others when they have the opportunity to attend the economic forecast update and if you have never attended that I would recommend that in the future they do bring an economist in um it talks at a macro level globally talks about where our country is where the state of Ohio is and then it brings it down to a micro level of Claremont County um in the different locals within the
040county and uh as I sat through that 60 to 75 minute presentation and my head there and I do have the PowerPoint which I can copy and send to you it was a lot of affirmation and com information about the third bullet point about avoids inflation driven cost increases um and as the economists went through um his presentation again it was just affirming that yes uh projections are that costs will increase construction costs will increase uh but the time is right in 2025 okay if you're going to do anything and I think that was this message clearly to the businesses within the community that if you're going to do some things or even it's a residence if you're going to buy now's the year to do that as you look forward so um somewhere up
041the road if I find a right way to adjust that in statement of facts there's a secondary source which really was that economic presentation I don't know if the chamber puts that online or not but um and that same Economist group is the same one that has done the chamers presentation for for several years now they they are accurate their accuracy rating is pretty high so just to add that yeah and if you could go back to the website yep the other thing I wanted to point out to everyone because I I think this has been important when we do our community meetings if you go back to the bond page yes right there if you go down under the the one page of key facts there's a chart to keep going in this chart
042and there's directions there that that tell you how you can figure out what the impact to to you personally so it has the income tax on one axis and the property values on the other so you can find your number and we've had those pages at different Community meetings that we've attended recently and people find it very helpful to use so I would recommend everyone you know taking a minute to look at that because it's not as straightforward as as just a regular um property value only assess assess so I just wanted to take a minute there are lots of videos on that site Dan has explained a lot of financing 101 um questions that come up I I would say that o that other than the the misinformation around the middle school I we
043haven't really gotten many things in on info at West Clair it's it seems to be very light and so um My Hope Is that we all just continue to share the facts because when I when I do read comments and see things online it does seem like there's a lot of misinformation and so I would just really recommend it to to drive everyone here to the facts that's it for that for do you guys have any questions or comments around the statement of facts or anything that you're hearing because if you're hearing things out there that you want us to correct in our Communications we do have a newsletter coming out that will be for is it April it'll come out in April so we're working on that now so if there's anything that we
044could correct that you guys are hearing or anything you would like us to emphasize we' be happy to do that so the two things that I'm hearing kind of three one is a comment that I'm hearing is that the cost wasn't what they thought it was going to be to them the Middle School Oh you mean like when when people look at the charts yeah I've I've noticed that too yeah so i' I've heard that in the community the second thank you for clarifying the what was done at the middle school because again there's a conception that it's been redone and again I live that building it wasn't redone we knocked down a couple walls in the cafeteria you added your hallway and took down the canop so thank you for clarifying that it it
045was not redone well and clarify for me because that's one thing I just thought of is that the window units were they there when you were or was that something that was added they were adding that and the other thing that they added which I believe I could be wrong okay because I knew just enough to make me dangerous but it was a grant but they went and changed all the the lighting so they had the old fluorescent and we changed to the LED uh for another cost believe that was I believe a grand C that was pretty popular around that that time I remember so you know they did that part um the parking lot that was done but again that was done for a different reason um so yeah I mean the the
046roof has leaked when I worked there and it still leaks yeah and and we've invested a lot in it I mean since I in the seven years I've been here we were bringing a roof project back every every year and the other question that I do hear um is one where would would the elementary go yes and what are you going to do with the other buildings um some of the homeowners in Merin are questioning what are we going to do with that yes so we don't have location for the new Elementary decided yet I mean it it's under analysis right now so we we don't have anything to bring to you um we're looking at the population where it's expected to fall and what would make the most sense and so it's a it's
047a conversation that pairs with not only the enrollment but with transportation and what's the most efficient effective place that makes sense and so that's that's what's being studied and then the other one was the the other buildings um mwin and Holly Hill at this time what what where where we landed is that they would they would stay in place they would not be demolished immediately yeah okay yeah are you going to put anything in those buildings like you know have like a church uh rent part of the building or something like that honestly we haven't gotten that that far and and thinking I mean um there are there are rules that we have to follow you and to there rules we have to follow and um you know before any decision is made you know
048if if if they come down but I think you look at two things one alternative purposes that we would need as a public school district so what would those be two is if you go back and think about the um charts that Dr folz provided on the enrollment growth um keeping one of those buildings intact in reserve just in case population the student population starts to grow faster than projected or at certain points in time you know there there's space that we need that is a backup for us so um I think those are the two considerations that we have to have as we go forward another thing would be nice to have a boys and girls club at West Claremont or have uh Girl Scouts Boy Scouts you know Cub Scouts brownies in our
049bu in one of our buildings you know yeah and one of the things that when Dan and I go around to different Community meetings or clubs we we are making it very clear that we have a a possible project so that we are planning ahead if there's any joint ventures that people want to do with us that we don't have a shovel on the ground and say oh I wish we would would have thought of so we we're trying to get the word out any which way we can okay all right well those those are helpful we'll continue to emphasize that and I think another piece that um that gets underemphasized in some of the communication we've sent out is that we're already overcrowded in the elementary it's not like we're because you see our
050charts and you see the growth we're we're expecting 1300 more students by 2030 but we're overcrowded now so this is not like go we're going to sit and it's a sit and wait kind of game or or or just these kids are coming like that based on the the projections we are expecting that that enrollment growth and we have troubles today so thank you thank you and then for my comments I'll just add that we have a town hall this week right now I think we have a little bit over 50 participants signed up for that and that's at 6: to 8 o' at Amelia Elementary and that's really all my comments so I hope everyone could come out and be a part of that that's our last step uh physical Town Hall that we're
051having um 6:00 at a elementary a element oh did I not say that part thank you Michael for keeping ey it's this Wednesday it's this Wednesday all right good yes that's it thank you Mr Romano thank you um item 8.01 if I can explain what that is it's authorization for the treasury to issue requests for proposals for underwriting services so this is in preparation um I always have to catch myself in instead of saying if but when um the facilities issue in May passes and looking at the time timeline of when we would need to do some things and so it you know the anticipation is is that even this summer we would start some projects whether it's the additions on the two elementary schools or other improvements that are needed in order to do
052that there's a team to issue the bonds which is not just the school district it's our bond counsel and our financial advisor those two authorizations are annually provided at the organizational meeting go back and and look at the authorizations that were provided under um one was under legal counsel that was the bond counsel um Densmore and then the other one was under the financial advisor which was Bradley Payne those are in place you typically do not um address the underwriter um or the municipal Securities underwriter um until um you look at the marketplace and they're ready to go with that and then you take proposals for that I don't know what was done in the past but as as I go forward to do that I don't select those on my own I go through
053a process of requesting proposals we evaluate those need be we go to the finance committee and review that that and then we come back to the board to approve those Underwriters okay so this is the initial step just for that that fourth team member right The District bond counsel uh the financial advisors those are in place the fourth one would be the underwriter it could be a lead and a CO just depends on the proposals it depends on what we look at the marketplace and happening but we take those proposals evaluate those with an internal team and then provide a recommendation to the board for those for that underwriting Services okay to do that so that the request is just to ask the board to allow us to go issue those request for proposals so
054that they can be submitted to us for evaluation so item 9.01 is request for authorization for the treasure to Issue request for proposals rfps for underwriting Services thank you Mr Romano you've heard the recommendation would someone like to make a motion some moved thank you Mr Rudy is there a second than thank you Mr Chumley is there any discussion roll call please Mr Rudy yes Mr chumbley yes Miss sanbor yes Mrs Spencer yes Mr Patton yes five yes thank you okay uh the last item and and again I um had posted this a little bit before the board meeting too um it is is really to tomorrow morning up in the wi hours we're going to drive to Columbus it is the annual legislative day the superintendent myself and Miss sorn went last year uh
055I think it was pretty eye opening and lightning in the morning and then we met with the legislators in the afternoon um Mrs Spencer is joining that contingency for tomorrow um so in the morning we will meet with other school districts in kind of a General Session to have that presentation superintendent has scheduled meetings with um Senator Johnson and um representative bird and we're trying to uh coordinate a meeting with uh representative Schmidt if we can do that at that time but um part of what we want to to do is convey our message and our story and what our priorities are specifically on on two issues one is House Bill 96 and that's the state bium budget um that um has been talked about and is there and then the second one some input
056in our message regarding um property tax reform um and I you know we made those statements um in the past on what they are I also have that and a hand out to you for the board if you need that but what I'm going to briefly do I'm looking around and Mr gard's not here when I talk about time on presentation but um what I want to do is briefly show the board kind of what the fiscal impact is of House Bill 96 and then uh what that where where that leads us to in some advocacy efforts with our state legislators as we go forward one of the immediate things I did UPF front when House Bill 96 came into play because all you really get is pages and pages and pages of language and
057then you ask uh the the you know the authors of the bill for what does it really mean as far as a simulation we got to simulation from Ohio legislative Services which gave us some Topline numbers and then what I do is go through a secondary thing to work with the Financial Consultant to say okay how what does this mean to us specifically how's that calculation formed which sometimes we don't know but we go through the formula calculation and say okay um do our numbers as we calculate does that correspond to what Ohio legislative Services did and although you can't read these numbers up here this is I guess my evidence say yeah hey they we we are in you know within less than 1% of what their calculations were so we're kind of on
058the same page of what it means what this page is showing to you is a summary it's not the detail this is the summary of what it kind of means to us if you look at the first line and it says core Foundation funding so what the governor's bill or hit 96 does in those calculations it Compares what we currently would get to what's projected to receive in FY 26 and FY 27 given that bill the red line is looking at the core funding of the fair school funding formula currently we get 23 just under $23.5 million if the bill were to be put in place under that formula the core funding would be 15 million in 26 10 million in 27 so the core funding goes down substantially in both of those years within
059the fair school funding formula there is a provision and and the reason why I put this in there because that provision is at risk right now that provision is called a temporary transition guarantee in simplest terms what that means is when they put the formula in place four years ago it says okay for school districts we're not going to give you less than what we provided to you in fy2 which was really for us equal to fy19 okay so that we're going to keep you at least flat we've been under the guarantee we've pretty much stayed under that guarantee during the past four years except one year where we bubbled out of it and then this year we went right back into it so the guarantee just tells districts like ours that hey we're not
060going to give you any more money we're going to keep you flat so regardless of inflation or other things that happened to you whether we tell you to to spend money a certain way we're not going to give you any more money and no matter if you have students that add to your population or not it's the same amount no matter how many students come in here so if you look at the core funding and that guarantee they really offset each other right so where our core funding went down from 23 million to 15 million our temporary transition guarantee went up from under a million to over $9 million by the second year of the vium over $14 million okay you'll hear me say the comment once in a while we are really deep into
061the guarantee that means that and and what drove us there was valuation increases so when local capacity goes up and local capacity is is the two major components are the property valuation per student and the uh adjusted gross income per student the 2023 valuation increase okay in the or the formula said hey you are more wealthy so locally you pay more of that core funding and the state will pay less okay except for the guarantee I want to take it all the way down to the line that that basically says um uh the hit 96 reduction of the guarantee phase in provision and it says per o OS which is Ohio legislative services so the the simulation Pro objection we received that says in 26 if this bill goes through as authored and proposed our
062reduction is about $700,000 the difference then between FY 26 and 27 um or or cumulative reduction is $1.4 million from 26 to 27 over the two years of the bium we are down $2.1 million if that stays the same okay and just these next three slides highlight that that's the core found Foundation that gets reduced the temporary transition guarantee increases okay and then because of the provision in House Bill 96 they're saying hey we're not going to eliminate the guarantee but we're going to start peeling it off we're going to start lowering that guarantee okay so you're not going to receive what we received in fy19 or fy20 okay it's going to be less to do that okay the message to to to our legislators are hey given that you're you're giving us two messages
063with this data in hand we already spend in the lower portion of the state we're in the lower 16% we on average spent in FY 24 we spent 13600 or $13,600 per student if you compare that to other groupings whether it's Urban Suburban or rural which when people ask well what are you we're really a blending of all three of those when you when you look at we have some components of all those officially they designate us as a suburban school district but if you look at us I think we have qualities and attributes of of all three of those when we compare our 13,600 to similar school districts we're still below them when we compare it to the average of the state we're also still significantly below that if you average that it's about
064$2,000 per student may not seem like a big number except when you consider if we have 20 21 kids in a classroom that's $40,000 per that classroom okay if we spend all that money that differential in there okay that's a significant number okay to do that all right so again go you go back hey you're reducing your funding to us from the state we're already spending less than 84% of the state right bottom 16 means 84% spend more than we are we give them our history of what we've done since 2020 which was the last local Levy ped and the reason why I think that's important because that's the last time and we were under the guarantee there that we went to the community and said hey help us sustain what we're doing okay we
065didn't we didn't ask for anything additional we were going to sustain the current Services okay and let us go forward we said we wouldn't come back to the community prior to 2024 because of valuation increases we were able to extend that out so yes we fully admit when our values go up we do get more funding and we use that to extend out when we need to come back that is there we did get Federal relas money for Co we spent that with the upward and onward made Investments and the big messages out of there as as the district took those Investments for one sole purpose improve performance okay and I don't have to go over that the superintendent and the team has told you what we've done and and it's created great momentum for
066this school district so because of the momentum because of the performance because we know that our local taxpayers okay are are paying the majority of this bill okay we jump away there it goes okay I guess one other component is if you look at our district over time we've changed our uh student population has increased um within economically disadvantaged over the last decade and a half we've increased in special ed um specifically in in students with more significant needs we've increased um in English language Learners and the diversity of our population has also increased so those that is a reality you know that that we've faced and done things with as Mr pz has told us and again this is the message we we want to tell to to our our three um legislators is
067our population is growing okay the black line as Mr fol discussed it even if we just look at the students that we have and we do a cohort of here's our current students as they move from kindergarten to First from 1 to Second Etc there is that student population growth the Blue Line says well on top of that if if not if but when the subdivisions come in when there's holes in the ground that a house is going to be built on top of we're going to get more more students in our school district okay the the delay from the co is going to happen it is happening in those students are coming with that as a superintendent said earlier we're kind of out of space already and so when they come we need a
068place to put them I mean keep in mind and this is what we told the legislators last year three we had to close open enrollment we closed open enrollment not because we didn't want other kids to come into the district is because we needed seats for our own children okay that was that was an important part the general assembly does not want us to close open enrollment they want that open and in fact in the fa school funding formula there was a penalty early on if you did that and and because of our situation that penalty did not come forward to us as we went forward so these next slides we really kind of explained our funding cycle and what it does to our cash balances what I want to get to um is this
069one slide is and again we can speak to ourselves but we can also speak about the other school districts in Claremont County as those people as those legislators represent them too of the districts in the county only two have an increase in their minor increases everyone else the formula does not work for them and as the guarantee goes away they also have a reduction in state funding one of them kind of stays flat um over the next two years doesn't really increase increases one year and decreases right back down in the next year if you look at those percentages is our school district significantly the state funding of that core gets significantly reduced just for perspective um seven years ago when I first came here it was about 50% that the state was investing in
070West clar so you see the change to 28.4 down to 14.5 it's just you know a debate saying certain things but is like okay when you see these numbers what's the message from Columbus what's the message to our community and is it is it that we're because we're quote unquote wealthier we should be paying more of our share at the same time then okay there is a property tax reform and different reform bills that are out there that says okay we got to do something with that all I know and and for 40 some years is school funding is based off what the state will give you and what you can get locally when you Tinker with one you're really messing with with whole school funding local property tax reform is about school funding yes
071it is about property taxes but it is it is also about school funding to do that so we are in essence kind of I don't want to say attacked but both of those um Revenue sources are really you know coming under strain well and it's it's just very easy schools are very easy targets for the the first thing that people think is well they're just not managing their Ry and that's that's just a common place in every single community so just some comments for local property tax we are at the 20 mil floor the 20 mil floor simplest way to describe it is as tax rates go down the year after the equalization was put in place or the the last property tax reform in 1976 the year later came back and said hey that
072rate can't go below 20 Ms we're at that 20 Ms the inside millage which is 10 ms distributed to all the overlapping governments we have 4.2 of that 4.2 3.7 is to our PI fund which really is it has been designated um since the high school was built and and the Middle School Renovations and others okay that's been designated to pay off the debt for that all right so that's already identified one of the um pieces of legislation wants to put the 4.2 Ms in our district back into calculation of the 20 mil floor that's putting us at risk on paying that debt off okay people need to know and understand that uh the district has two emergency type levies one is the emergency Levy of 2020 and the second one is a continuing substitute
073Levy which was done in 200 N um The Substitute yeah the substitute or the third eight and 13 maybe it was okay but that one is ongoing okay those two emergency levies there's legislation that says hey can't treat them as outside the 20 mil floor anymore you got to put them inside and have to go towards that calculation what that means they are already are fixed dollar amounts what that really means is though that when you put them against the 20 mil floor it changes that formula so that the 20 Ms quote unquote whatever calculated there it comes off the floor so there is no growth then built in okay our bond millage is at one which that's pck to a debt schedule that will continually go down it will continually go down as valuations
074go up um our Levy history reveals that there's difficulty in passing continuing levies that's why usually a continuing Levy was proposed didn't pass and then it went to an emergency that's why those two emergencies were there as we look forward okay so um last line local property tax pressure is brought about by no additional State funding you know I think the realization is that if our revenue for the state is flat even um anticipated increases in our expenses such as inflation have to be covered 100% locally there's no State share in inflation for our district we have to cover that with local dollars to do that I feel like I want you to take this slide and then highlight every single one of them where there's a legislative bill that that um that could wipe
075it right out because this is what this is how we survive yeah so you I think you know one of the things that I saw when I try and look back I I always think well here's where we are let's go forward but when I look at the 20 mil floor and I I can't you know tell you exactly when that came in for the school district or when the inside Village was mov and things like that it it wasn't done or it's not to the point where we Thrive but as much as survive okay and you have some of these changes in there it takes you know it takes a survival mode almost out okay because of that so um you know that is important to us so what do we advocate for when
076we talk to them and again I went through this because this is a message and if there's other messages you believe we need to to provide tomorrow then let us know okay so um the top priority which may be different you know from other school districts it may be different from some of our organizations whether it's the school boards or the superintendent Association or the treasures Association we want to keep the guarantees in place there's a there is a movement to say hey update the formula the fair school funding formula with the cost input because they're not fully in there our position is okay that would be great but if you do that remember how deep we were into the guarantee of those numbers accelerated increased much it won't bring us out of the guarantee
077so even before you do that our advocacy is keep the guarantees in place there was it was intentional back four years ago to try and keep them in place and and our request would be that that happened that there' be an amendment to to keep the guarantees in place the other aspect of the formula is within this calculation U there's really two components there's the core funding and then there are categorical programs so special education disadvantaged students um English language Learners gifted uh Career Tech what am I missing Ellie I think those are the the five big ones okay typically and historically they were outside the formula you got additional funding for those categories of students when the fair school funding formula came in place they were placed inside the formula so you're G so
078that you're guarantee that you know was there in place even though our student populations as I showed you on the other slide of of how more diverse we are even though those areas increased within the formula it showed that we got more money but it never got us out of the formula working in total it never got us out of what we received in the prior year okay in Ence what that did is shifted money you know from this population of regular students to these specialist okay without any more money so our request is go run some simulations if we took the categoricals outside and treated it differently would we be able to grow and get more dollars for when those populations grew to do that um there's a statement of re-evaluating the threshold costs
079that is really for excess cost for special need students that calculation is done every year uh we we do that calculation um there's people that track all those costs for the students and we can submit that to the state to get reimbursed for that more and more students more and more school districts participate in that now although the pot for that is increased because more districts participate we receive less money okay on average per student so we're requesting that that you look at that the the request with the state is uh there's an emphas emphasis on leaving local property tax Provisions intact rather than addressing those look at doing targeted relief for um individuals not just in our community but Statewide we we do understand that that valuation increase um hit people off guard it
080it it hit individuals that are in a valuation growth home that that maybe their income does not support that and so there's there's ways to Target that there's ways to provide relief for that that would be the the advocacy that that we would do is not not to play around with either parts of those formula I.E local and state leave it intact and let's do the targeted that that's really necessary within this so I know I ran through that I know it's nothing new from what you've heard you know in the past is there additional things we want to say or some different things that we want to say to our to our three legislators tomorrow um well I've been looking at uh all of these house bills that have been out here online and
081that it's just not just this bill there's other house bills and Senate bills that will affect education drastically so it could change the numbers even more than what you have here tonight right yeah all the all the property tax relief has a big impact on what could happen because because the formula as it is assumes that the former um property tax value um plan was in place last week Dan and Ellie met with representative bird and representative Schmidt at a legislative meeting with the Claremont County Superintendent as well as treasurers and so they got a chance to talk about some of these things so we'll be able to go up and reiterate and to answer any of their questions and I know when I last talked to Senator Johnson he was curious about our school
082population and how it's changed that was some information he wanted so we'll be able to share that and today Dan and I met with the Chamber of Commerce because their legislative advocacy one of their top priorities is funding public schools and we just want to give them a little more detail about Fair school funding and how these bills are impacting us so they they're keeping a close watch on that and keeping their members um updated uh because at at this point because we're in the middle of of a bond issue it it complicates things because it adds to all the communication that that needs to go out but it it would be really beneficial if people other than us were also talking to the legislators about and advocating for these things um to put the
083de The District in the best possible position so we're happy to help anybody with that if uh we can create templates and help people with um writing or communicating with their legislators we're happy to do that um if any anybody wants to reach out we would support that but but I think Al as I said although it's a a complicated time because we have a lot of topics in the air um this is significant for public education I would call it a drastic change in public education it it is it is drastic yeah do doing away with the G they're not away with the guarantee is 100% but the writing's on the wall right I mean when you start peeling that back in this first bium these first two years you know that it's going
084to continue and so chipping away at that is not at all to our advantage and because we're so deep into that guarantee you know it it again it's just really shifting that they reduce State funding it shifts looking for additional funding locally okay or some other source I mean we we continue to look at other sources but I mean the major source of there okay thank you thank you next so we will move to board comments Miss Spencer I don't really have I'm I'm looking forward to going up up to Columbus tomorrow just to kind of see what their thoughts are on on the funding and I'm going to follow Dan's lead because I I feel like I don't know that much about but I do know that it's it is chipping away at at
085the kids education and it just doesn't seem like it's it's they don't act like they want it to work very well for most schools and if they want us to pay for all of it then stop asking us to do things I don't know I don't know I'm not sure what the answer is either but we will go up and we will do our best we can and I would encourage all of the community to write there um Adam bird and Mr Johnson and Jean Schmidt about the concerns that we have about the education and the funding done okay thank you Miss ambor um I will reiterate that I I really think that uh it looks like there's a huge push on charter schools and homeschooling versus the students coming to a public school um
086and all of the some of the upcoming house bills and Senate bills I read that in the little short blurb and I'm and I'm thinking well evidently the governor is pushing that and that's not good and so we really need to speak to him about considering all schools not just charter schools and homeschooling I think that that needs to be advocated uh in a big way uh the second thing I wanted to talk about is the state of the schools I went to that event I had a wonderful time um saw a lot of parents a lot of students saw the clu Pike children did a phenomenal job singing that night uh it was just a phenomenal group I saw parents taking the information about the levy with them I actually talked to uh mom
087and dad and two students as I was leaving the building and and she said what do you think about this and I said we really need the money we really do and and she's like are you sure and I said well I tell I said I tell you what you read the information and if you still have questions about it you're more than welcome to talk with superintendent Adams or Mr Romano about your questions and they'll get all your questions answered they will meet with you whenever it's convenient for you so I tried to I'm trying to Advocate that you know it is needed um I met Mr farmer he's a phenomenal teacher the kids were just blown away by the similation that he was doing there they were wanted to push all the buttons
088he's like no no don't push that button so uh it was really nice to see all the parents and the students out I really enjoyed the evening thank you Miss Sor Mr CH hope everyone has an enjoyable St Patrick's Day uh drink a green beverage for me uh um but the real holiday is coming up opening day next week so that's what we're counting up to hope everyone enjoys that I know I will all okay Mr Ry uh I want to congratulate Joe doall I still call him Joey he I've known him since he was a toddler he was a student of mine for two years he traveled with me to Europe twice the group and I'm very uh very excited for cl because I think he'll make a great addition he's in a CL
089Al lumus so that was really good news thank you um the two going with Mrs Adams and M Romano thank you for going and representing our district and advocating for sorry advocating for our district um this this is a topic that definitely needs some attention brought to it as we move forward it seems like like um they're wanting us to take away from us and put it on the community which then becomes a struggle so thank you guys for taking time tomorrow to to do that I I personally appreciate that I also want to recognize again the momentum Awards to the two schools great job on that guys um keep keep doing what you're doing and keep us moving uh forward I definitely appreciate that just to reate a couple important dates coming up again
090miss Adams has already said but our next town hall is um this Wednesday March 19th at 6: p.m at AIA Elementary again it's open to the public so please show up if you have questions comments concerns come come learn what we're learning and then our next board meeting is going to be April the 7th at 7 p.m at the Civic Center again that is April 7th um here at the Civic Center at 7M so that's it for the public speak or I'm sorry I apologize for the board comments I went the wrong way uh we do have a a reason to go into executive session for the purpose of considering the appointment employment dismissal discipline promotion demotion or compensation of a public employee and to consider the investigation of charges or complaints against Public Employee
091officials leny or students I will put that out in a form of a motion do I have a second thank you Mr Rudy I assume there' be no discussion correct Mr R roll call please Mr Patton yes Mr Rudy yes Mr Chumley yes Miss Sor yes Mrs Spencer yes excuse me five yes and there is no there will be nothing yeah there'll be no nothing that we're voting on nothing no decision being made so thank you guys e e e