001Good evening. Thank you for attending the Oh, yeah, it is on. Thank you for attending the November 24th, 2025 meeting of the Westerville Schools Board of Education. This evening's agenda will be displayed on the screens in the front of the room. Printed agendas are on the table for um in the back of the room for our guests. Or you may find the agenda on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website at www.wcc.org. Click on our district link. Select board of education and follow the board docs link to our current meeting agenda. There will be one opportunity to address the board this evening and agenda item 5.01. There's a signup sheet located on the table in the back of the room. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will
002be shown on the screen. And with that, Miss Marshall, will you please call the role? >> Mrs. Alman, >> here. >> Mr. Huckleman >> here. >> Mrs. Valentine >> here. Mrs. Leeand >> here. Mrs. Meyer >> here. Would you please join us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the it stands nationy and justice for all. Next up is district highlights and recognitions. And this is the most exciting part of the night, our 2025 fall A+ awards. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues, Miss Valentine and Miss Leanne. Good evening everybody. Make that a little taller. So we're here to present the A+ awards this evening. Um these are presented a couple times each school year in the fall and in
003the spring to employees who distinguish themselves through a single or ongoing demonstration of exemplary performance. The selection committee's decision is guided by evaluating how each nominees action support the district's mission, their willingness to go above and beyond normal expectations, and how their behavior is consistent with one or more of the district's values. We're honored tonight to recognize all of the 2025 fall A+ award winners. All right, so first up, um it is Walnut Springs Middle School principal, Dr. Dr. Michelle Martin, who unfortunately was unable to attend, but we are still going to recognize her anyway. Dr. Martin was nominated by two parents who both shared that she is an exceptional educator and leader who consistently goes above and beyond to support her students. She's a constant presence at school events, performances, athletic competitions, meetings, and
004ceremonies. She remains available long after the school day ends and always makes students and families feel welcomed and valued. Whether guiding students academically, supporting them emotionally, or holding them accountable with compassion, Dr. Martin embodies every district value: respect, inclusiveness, communication, collaboration, community, trust, and accountability. One parent wrote, quote, she played a vital role in helping our daughter navigate the challenges of transitioning to middle school, creating a personalized plan to ensure she feel felt safe, supported, and encouraged. She checks in regularly, reads the same books as her, and even attends her track meets to cheer her on, celebrating successes and offering pep talks when needed. End quote. The other parent shared, quote, "We have watched our daughter grow into a confident eighth grader under her leadership, and we are profoundly grateful." Westerville is extremely fortunate to
005have Dr. Martin, whose dedication, presence, and unwavering care make her fully deserving of this A+ award." End quote. Congratulations to Walnut Springs principal, Dr. for Michelle Martin. >> Next up, please help me welcome FA Elementary School art teacher Heather Fredo. >> Miss Miss Fredo, come on down. Congratulations. >> Thank you. Yes, >> thank you. >> Miss Fredo was nominated by a parent who shared that she is a dedicated art teacher, a reassuring presence for families at FA Elementary, and one of the kindest individuals she has ever met. She introduces students to all areas of art, ranging from painting and drawing to more intricate paper collages and lessons on art history. She encourages students who struggle, celebrates their efforts, and praises her willingness to try something new. One parent wrote, "Every morning when I drop my
006daughter off at school, Miss Fredo is waiting outside in the car line, greeting students, giving hugs and high fives, and welcoming everyone with a smile. Not a single student walks past her without stopping to say good morning. As a parent, it warms my heart knowing that there are teachers in the building who are invested in not only my daughter's academic success, but also her mental success. So, congratulations to FA Elementary Art teacher, Miss Heather Fredo. Next up, please welcome Manurva Park Middle School attendance secretary, Michaela Leonard. Congratulations. Nominated by a co-orker, Miss Leonard deserves to be recognized for the constant warmth, care, and patience she shows to every person who walks through the doors at Manurva Park. In addition to the daunting daily responsibility of tracking 760 students, ensuring they are accounted for, checking in
007when someone is absent, and alerting the counseling team when concerns arise. She goes above and beyond throughout the entire building. Excuse me. Miss Leonard also spends her evenings assisting at home sporting events, serving as the welcoming face who greets families, collects tickets, and helps with concessions. One colleague shared, quote, "Miss Leonard is not only a joy to be around. She is the loving, calm, hardworking presence every building would only dream of having. She brings drive, calm, love, and care. And she helps make all Panthers better by just being a part of our home." End quote. Congratulations to Manurva Park Middle School attendance secretary Michaela Leonard. All righty. Next is Genanoa Middle School teacher Matthew Phillips who is also unable to be us be with us this evening. Excuse me, but we will absolutely recognize him.
008Nominated by a co-orker, Mr. Phillips serves as a behavior intervention specialist at the middle school level and his impact on students is nothing short of extraordinary. Mr. Phillips has a rare gift for seeing and supporting students whom others may find the most challenging. He never stops advocating for them, consistently reminding colleagues that every behavior was has meaning. Whether he's singing a silly song to break down walls or creating a safe space for students to share their deepest feelings, his approach builds trust and stability, teaching students not only how to navigate school, but how to navigate life. One colleague shared, quote, "Matt's work is not easy, but he approaches it with patience, joy, and a belief in the potential of every student. He is a constant reminder that relationships and respect are at the heart of
009education." End quote. Next, we want to welcome Hanby Elementary School teacher Tenley Arrington. Congratulations. Uh, also nominated by a co-orker, Miss Arrington embodies the qualities of an outstanding educator through her skill, compassion, and unwavering dedication to student success. She has a true gift for intervention and differentiated learning. Miss Arrington meets students exactly where they are, recognizing their strengths, understanding their challenges, and tailoring instruction so every child can thrive. Beyond her instructional expertise, she creates a strong sense of belonging in her classroom, giving students the confidence to take risks, make mistakes, and grow. Her students know she sees them not just for their academic abilities, but as whole individuals who matter. One colleague shared, quote, "Miss Arrington's commitment to excellence, her passion for teaching, and her deep care for children make her the kind of educator
010every student deserves. She is truly an A+ educator in every sense of the word." End quote. Congratulations to Hanby Elementary School teacher, Tenley Arrington. Next, please help me welcome, excuse me, Hanby Elementary School teacher, Donna Schrodes. Nominated. Congratulations. Nominated by a parent, Miss Schro is described as having an incredible heart and a deep commitment to including and caring for all students. She creates spaces where children learn the importance of community care and understand that anyone, no matter who they are, can make a difference. This school year, she put those values into action during a unit on what it means to have a great heart, partnering with fourth grade students and teachers at Hanby. She helped create Jackson's Pond, a project honoring Jackson Preston, who passed away from brain cancer before he could attend school. Through
011this work, students learned how they could positively impact their community by raising funds for Angel Works and the cure starts now. One parent shared, quote, "Miss Schroes is constantly living her values and uplifting the lives of those around her. If there's anyone deserving of this award, it's definitely her." Congratulations again to Hanby Elementary School teacher, Donna Schroes. Next, please welcome Mark Twain, elementary school teacher, Angie Lee. >> Nominated by a parent, Miss Lee is praised for her belief that strong relationships with students and families are the foundation of meaningful learning, and this is truly her superpower. She takes time to know each child personally, checking in regularly, building on their strengths, and challenging them to grow. One parent shared, quote, "Our daughter is not outspoken or overly confident. However, she was empowered by Ms. Lee
012to run for class president. She practiced her speech over and over, stood up there confidently, and she was voted class president. Without Ms. Lee's encouragement, she never would have worked that hard or believed in herself enough to try." End quote. Ms. Lee builds a remarkable sense of community both inside her classroom and throughout the school. She greets students in the hall by name and by the time they reach fourth grade, they are excited to have her as a teacher. She also extends her care beyond the school year, volunteering each summer with the big bus to support English language learners, creating a familiar and trusted presence for families. Congratulations to Mark Train Elementary School teacher Angie Lee. Next, please help me welcome Huber Rich Elementary School teacher, Dela Pototts. Congratulations. >> Nominated by a teacher, excuse
013me, nominated by a parent, Miss Pototts has served as their son's intervention specialist at Huber Ridge Elementary for the past three years, and she has been nothing short of remarkable. Her patience, compassion, and unwavering dedication make her a true saint when working with students who face behavioral and emotional challenges. One parent shared, "We first met Miss Pototts in the middle of a school year, a time when change can be difficult. Our son struggles with transitions, but it didn't take long for us to realize that Miss Pototts was exactly the teacher he needed. She communicates with us regularly, sharing not just challenges, but also the many successes along the way. She genuinely cares for her students, always offering encouragement, support, and love. Miss Pototts has helped prepare their son for sixth grade, and the family credits
014so much of his growth and success to her guidance and care. Congratulations again to Huber Rich Elementary School teacher, Dela Pototts. Next, please welcome McBay Elementary School counselor Andrea Weisman. Congratulations. Nominated by a co-orker, Miss Wisman consistently demonstrates a deep commitment to supporting students and families beyond her daily responsibilities. Recently, she worked closely with a family experiencing significant housing transitions, ensuring they were connected with community resources, and that their child could continue attending school regularly and successfully. One colleague shared, quote, "As the family circumstances evolved day by day, Miss Wisman remained a steady and compassionate presence, proactively checking in, adapting supports, and maintaining open communication. She went beyond school-based efforts for researching and connecting the family with additional community supports, truly reflecting the district's values of nurturing, collaboration, and inclusiveness." End quote. Congratulations to McVey
015Elementary School Counselor Andrea Weisman. And last but not least, please welcome North High School intervention specialist Matt Petro Petro. Congratulations. Nominated by a co-orker, Mr. Fetro goes above and beyond to support students through his teamwork, flexibility, and in inventive thinking. When a colleague reached out asking if he had access to a 3D printer to create a custom iPad keyguard for a student with communication and fine motor challenges, Mr. Petro immediately stepped up to help. One staff member shared, quote, "Not only did he offer to print two different versions of the keyguard, but he also collaborated closely with me to refine the design to meet the students specific motor needs. His willingness to innovate and problem solve will directly impact the students ability to communicate independently using the LAMP Assist technology app. His creative use of
016district resources also saved approximately, get this, $150 to $200 per keyard, funds that could now be redirected to support other students with similar needs. So, thank you and congratulations to North High School teacher Matt Fetro. Well, congratulations to all of you. I'm sure Charlie wants you to go outside so she can take pictures of you now, too. But thank you so much for all that you do for our schools and our kids. She's like, >> you want I know you usually have better stuff than I do. >> I love you so much. Congratulations. Obvious. All right. Um, next up, uh, we have reports and, uh, we have our superintendent's comments. Miss Hamburg. >> Thank you. I feeling a little uh, you know, hi everyone. Um, significantly cleared out there after the wonderful turnout that we
017had for our A+ award winners. would like to congratulate all of them for their hard work. Appreciate the turnout tonight. I would also like to congratulate our newly elected board members. I know our newest board member who will um be sworn in in January, Tatiana Brown, is here tonight. And also congratulations to Anise and Christy for being reelected. Um excited to continue to work with you and Tatiana, we're excited for you to join our team as well. Um, I would like to take just a moment to thank our community for the passage of the earned income tax. Um, want to share that we will continue to work hard to stretch those dollars and we'll continue to advocate with our legislators for fair and appropriate state funding so that um, we can hopefully not have to
018come back to our community anytime soon. Um, there's a lot going on legislatively and Nicole will be sharing a little bit more about that. Um but we know that we are definitely in a challenging time when it comes to taxes and that makes it even more meaningful um that we are able to pass this issue. So again, a big thank you to our community. I would also like to thank the many community volunteers who helped to educate our community on the ballot issue. Uh a special thank you to Emma Nelson and Kevin Hoffman who co-chared the campaign committee. Um so during an election, a lot of people don't realize this, the district's not permitted to run a campaign. we can only provide information and so we're certainly grateful for the many community members who were
019very engaged in this ballot issue who stepped up and helped us in those efforts. So big thank you to all those folks. Um we are certainly grateful and appreciative. I know um in the last few weeks I've talked to a lot of staff members whose jobs were, you know, potentially at risk for being reduced if that didn't pass, even one tonight who said, you know, I'm just still just so relieved. Um, I've talked to a lot of parents who are also extremely grateful that their children will not have to lose uh valuable programs and services. So, can't say enough how grateful we all are and again our commitment to making sure that we use these dollars wisely and continue to stretch them as much as we possibly can for our kids. Um, other than that,
020I'm just kind of enjoying uh post-election, getting out to some classrooms. I'm wearing my Squid Squad shirt today. um got to go to squid dissection in third grade at McVey today and over at Hamby on Friday and um you know just being able to be in the classroom and see the excitement of the kids I I will tell you like I don't know if I could have done that as a third grader but they are into it and so watching that hands-on learning is super exciting and just wanted to take a moment to thank you know I know this happens every day in our schools but the many parents who showed up for that activity at both buildings and helped because you could never do a dissection of squid with a room full of third
021graders without lots of parental help. And so big thank you to our parents who continue to show up in support in many ways um including dissecting squid. So that's all I have this evening. Thank you. >> Oh yes. Um thank you so much Miss Hamburg. Are there any questions or comments? Okay. Um moving along to 4.02. We have a legislative update from our treasurer, Miss Marshall. >> Uh, yes. Thank you, President Meyer, members of the board. So, there was a lot going on this month in uh with the 136 General Assembly in this great state. Um, are you able to pull that up as a slideshow, Jennifer? Is that just a PDF? You'll probably have to pull it up in Google Slides. No, there's no transitions. I just I don't know. I just thought it
022should be a slideshow. >> Kyle, edit this part out when you saw my uh legislative update, please. Okay. So, um today is uh November the 24th. Um our both houses, so the House and the Senate um had their final sessions before break last week and lots of things happened uh very quickly in those sessions. They had lots of hearings and um they pushed through some pretty significant legislation. Will you go to the next slide, Jennifer? Oh, wait. I have to think. Sorry, that's my fault. Okay. Um so, property tax reform, I have that in quotes, uh reform, because there's varying ideas about whether this is actually a meaningful reform um that will really make a difference for what the state needs. our property tax system is broken. The legislature has admitted themselves, president, Senate President
023um Rob Macaulay um has shared many times that the state has done a really good job of messing up property taxes over the last couple of decades. And so there's been a variety of bills. There's still many many more besides these um that have moved through the legislative process. Uh, a lot of this was actually part of the state's budget bill, the most recent banium budget bill, and were most of those provisions were vetoed by the governor. Um, so what we have in front of the governor's desk today for consideration. So these have passed both the Senate and the House. Uh, House Bill 129, it adds fixed sum levy types to the 20 mil floor calculation. Just a reminder, we are not a district that's on the 20 mil floor. All of our voted levies
024are subject to those reduction factors due to House Bill 920. So this does not apply to our school district or our community. Um it also caps revenue growth to inflate for to the inflation amounts for 20 mil floor school districts and adjusts credits the House Bill 186 does. So this is a little bit complicated. Uh but what they're looking at is for those districts that are at that 20 mil floor when they come in for a reappraisal or an update that growth will be capped at whatever the last three years of inflation was for that re-eval reevaluation or the um update. In addition to that, they also added um they're changing the way the roll back credits work. So, every non-b businessiness property right now has a 10% roll back on all voted levies from
0252013 and prior. And then any owner occupi occupied uh property, so residential where you live gets an additional 2 and a half% owner occupancy credit. Uh there was an amendment added at the very last minute um which I haven't been able to work out all of the details to just yet and quite understand how the math works. But what they're saying what they said in in the committee hearings was uh that amendment will adjust down that 10% non-b businessiness credit over a 5-year period or no over a four-year period. It will phase it out over four years and it will increase the owner occupancy credit up to 15.3% over the same period of time. So right now the owner occupancy plus the roll back you're getting 12 a.5% so that would increase to 15.3% but
026they're also phasing out all the 10% non-b businessiness um credits. So all of that those credits are reimbursed to the school district by the state. Um they said in hearing that this would not affect local government's revenue and that this is just a shift in how the state is reimbursing some of those credits. I do think ultimately uh the folks with the non-b businessiness uh roll back if it's not their um if it's not where they live they are going to see a tax increase as a result of these credits that credit shift. So um it's very complicated. Could you also talk about this is the one that um would impact people who live in a 20 mil floor district in terms of retroactively because I don't want our residents to be confused. Could you
027maybe touch on that a little bit? >> Yes. So this the House Bill 80 186 specifically goes back to tax years 23 which is a retroactive um and some um property taxpayers will see a credit as in uh credit in their next bill for those previous amounts because we're not a 20 mil floor district. This will not apply to our community. Um, and there's there's about a little over 400 school districts that are at that 20 mil floor uh that will be impacted by this, but uh we are not that district. And the state is um taking some money out of the sales tax credit um fund and they're uh making some making up some of that revenue loss to those entities, those school districts. Uh the other piece too is um that will continue
028throughout the in the future with those 20 mil floor districts as well. >> Miss Marshall, could you just >> Yeah, I know. >> explain quickly the 20 mil floor. >> Yes, >> it's confusing. So, in Ohio, um, as as I've said many many times, uh, for all voted levies, as values increase, tax rates decrease, except for for school districts tax rates, we're required to collect 20 mills of local property taxes in order to receive state funding. And so, our tax rates will decrease as values increase, but not below that 20 mills because we're required to collect 20 mills. that includes that inside millillage which is non voted set by the state constitution back in 18 whenever. Um and then uh so for any school district that's at that 20 mil floor if values go up
029by 30% their tax revenue does go up by 30%. So that's but we are still subject to those so we're not at that 20 mil floor. So the idea behind this is it's capping that growth and I think most people gen genu generally agree that that is something that is responsible to do and something to look at all of that. Um however just to remind everybody our state share is based and updated on how much our values our property values increase. And so it's decreasing their state share at the same time, but they're not seeing that revenue just like we don't see the revenue now because we're subject to House Bill 920. Um it's artificially inflating what they're getting at the local level according to the state funding formula. So the state I mean they
030know that we I mean we've been complaining about it for years as House Bill 920 districts. Um they call it phantom revenue. Uh but that is something that they'll uh just I don't they just need to look at a lot of things but this is this is their attempt. So I I do want to remind everybody that um there is a statewide uh push to abolish property taxes in Ohio. And so, um, there is a group that is going around, uh, collecting signatures trying to get a constitutional amendment that would prohibit any taxation on property, um, in the state. And so, I think our lawmakers are really concerned about that getting on the ballot and whether that would or wouldn't pass. Um, and so they are doing um, all of this to try to help
031stave off that ballot issue in my opinion. And so, uh, I think it's just the way that they're going about some of this stuff just doesn't make practical sense. And there is a lot of, um, there was a lot of testimony. So, Mike Soil used to work for the Department of Taxation. He shared in committee, you know, um, for school districts specifically, a lot of us cross counties. Um, some as many as six counties, which I didn't know that. Um, and not every county is on the same reappraisal and update schedule. So, you will be having um, one county that will be adjusting that tax revenue, that rate to not collect as much based on inflation and then maybe you don't have the next county over being appraised for another year or two and then
032they're adjusting that, but that's going to be a different retro look for inflationary number. So, that'll be a different rate. Um, and we have in our state constitution uniformity with taxation with our property taxes. So, there's a lot of questions about whether this meets that constitutional requirement. Uh, the other piece too is it's tied to the property. And so he made the he gave the example that so in in Franklin County if I have a $300,000 home and just making up numbers, let's say um I have a re-evaluation and values are updated and I'm now due a $500 reduction from what the actual tax is because of inflation cap or whatever. Um that and then Fairfield County is on a different update cycle. So they're not going to see that same that $300,000 home is
033going to be paying more taxes than the $300,000 home in Franklin County. But then if somebody builds a new $300,000 home in Franklin County, they're going to be paying that full amount. And so it's there's a lot of um it creates a lot of unevenness with the tax. And I can't even imagine well I can't imagine because they all went down and testified what our county treasures and county auditors and just the administrative nightmare that this is going to cause. Um there was literally someone a county treasurer that um went down and testified that there's no like it's not physically possible for them to update tax bills and that like their software won't let them. Uh they don't have the ability to do that by the first tax bill. And they said that the soonest
034they would be able to do that would probably be the second tax bill, the second half. Um, and then they were concerned about like all of the confusion as some people have their taxes escroed and then all of this adjusting. Are we adjusting up? Are we adjusting down and all of these things? So, this was um just everything taken as a whole. Also, >> this is that was my question. Is this all supposed to be effective January 1? >> Are all these bills uh effective January one? Yeah, our goal is to get it in place as soon as >> and then so you're talking about like how this impacts taxes are paid six months in a rears, right? And you know people trying to get credits back or being subject to the new bills and
035and that's would be I can just imagine be >> so I think it's going to be extremely confusing and complicated for people to understand. But my biggest concern, I think, is because I've seen, you know, the social media posts about the biggest tax relief and all these things and $2 billion. Well, that $2 billion is future growth that they're talking about. So, it's not a $2 billion savings to taxpayers today. And it doesn't apply uniformly across the state. And so, um, that's my biggest concern is that people don't understand, most people don't understand property taxes at all or what, uh, 20 mil floor, House Bill 920 or that there's even different tax that we're separate from the city. You know what I mean? Like, there's so much that goes into it that I think just
036the the regular person off the street doesn't understand most of this. And if they're looking at their tax bill and expecting something because of something that they saw on social media, I think that's going to be problematic. Um, so that's 186. And then House Bill 335, um, is essentially the same thing, but is applied to that inside millillage. So I've done many presentations on House Bill 920 and how that affects, um, our overall revenue growth from property taxes. Uh, that inside millillage was set by the state constitution. That's 10 mills shared among um overlapping jurisdions. So our portion of that 10 mills here in Westerville is 3.8 8 ms and we collect uh so our overall tax rate is about 38 ms. So we collect 3.8 ms that never changes. So if um that portion
037goes up by 30% in values that portion goes up it's really about a 3% increase though overall for overall property tax revenue. And so this would also cap that to inflation um based on the last three years. And again, we'd have the same sorts of things with depending on what county you're in, you might see different rates. Um, and you'll hear me a lot talk about everyone in Westerville schools pays the same tax rate. Uh, I may not be able to say that anymore after this, depending on how those calculations work out. Has there been any preliminary calculations about capping for us here in Westerville or are inside millillage and to tying it to inflation and what that would result in uh plus or minus? >> Um so I that is not a retroactive piece
038that is a future piece. So I haven't done any calculations with that at this point. Um I have a small like based on our estimates for the projections I have a small percentage increase. I mean, I didn't put 30% increases in there because I knew there was a lot of stuff going around with this conversation. So, um, yeah, I don't have that dollar figure off the top of my head, but I I did I mean, this past uh reappraisal that we had in 2023, we saw like less than 3% increase overall in our property tax revenue as a result of 40% increases in values. And so I would say I don't know >> and that was that was significantly less than inflation. >> Yeah. >> Right. So >> yeah, but I think they're looking at
039the individual 3.8 mills. So I do think that that would have dropped down to maybe a few hundred,000 versus like the two I think it was about 2 million we got overall. And then we still have all the border revisions that are also reducing that further. So and then how so that's House Bill 335. Um, I think the one that I'm most concerned about, honestly, is this House Bill 309. Uh, I think this is a direct attack on our local school boards. Um, this gives the county budget commission and our voters. Uh, this gives county budget commissions um the authority uh the implicit authority to override voted levies. Um there is a um like a safety guard for uh new levies within the first five years. Um but any of the older levies um they
040can if they determine they're excessive um or not needed in any way. Uh they would have the authority to reduce the tax rates and reduce the revenue collected on those >> property tax levies or does that would that include earned income tax? >> Uh this would be property tax. >> Okay. And >> but I should mention um they look at all of our revenue sources for determining the level of funding that we need. So, >> and it's my understanding they haven't they haven't put criteria behind what is excessive yet. >> No, no, they did not. So um it is really important and we do this uh but it's really important that we are having board adopted plans so that we can make it very clear to the budget commission should we need to go in
041front of them to explain you know these are our board adopted plans for all the things that we have. We don't we don't budget like from one year to the next. We have projections because we have long-term contracts and all the things that we have all of the requirements under law that we have to satisfy with that. Um, and so it's a little bit different with how counties budget. They sort of just look at one year or the next. And so it's just I think it's just about having that conversation. But my biggest concern about this one, honestly, is that it's um being decided by only one one county that represents our school district. So we span both Franklin and Delaware County. And so our budget commission is tied to our most populous county, which
042is Franklin County. But we still have a pretty significant population in Delaware County and um Delaware County does not have residents do not have any representation on that Franklin County budget commission. Um not, you know, not anything against Franklin County and their budget commission or anything like that. Um but you may have uh someone who's elected to like our county auditor doesn't live in our school district, right? but he's one of the represent representatives on the county auditors um budget commission. And so I I just think that it's we have a locally elected school board. Uh you all have the authority to direct us to roll back or um whatever adjust our budgets and whatever we need to do if there were excessive collections. Um, I think that it's um just very shortsighted for legislators
043to think that our local elected school boards aren't equipped to be able to have this conversation and that they're trying to turn it over to where we have to defend our voted levies that our community voted for and passed um to representatives that don't uh re represent them to elected officials don't represent all of our community. So, it's I don't know. >> Is there any talk about um if this particular one were to get passed that there would be a like a lawsuit or anything? Because it seems like this could be unconstitutional because the voters are approving something for an amount of time and then we're just giving somebody else the authority to say no thanks. >> Yeah. So, I think um I've heard that there's a legal argument for just about every one of
044these provisions. Um it's just a matter of them being challenged. And I do expect that if they get signed into law, they will be challenged. >> Yeah. >> Who's authoring and co-authoring 309? >> Who's authoring? Yeah. Uh the majority of these were brought forward by um Dave Thomas out of Ashtabula. Um he's a former county auditor in Ashtabola and he's been on estate rep for I don't know if this is his first term maybe. Um and then uh House Bill 124 is also on the governor's desk and it modifies property tax sales assessment ratio studies. So uh right now the process is every county goes through their reappraisals. Again they're on different cycles depending on the year. Um, and then the state department of taxation overseas to make sure that their value changes are reasonable
045and that they make sense again because we're worried about uniformity across the state. Uh, so this basically um switches it to where uh the counties have the say on what those values look like and then the state uh board of tax bills would have to like appeal those values. Um, so essentially I think it's important to understand we have 88 different counties in the state of Ohio and we already have some uh discrepancies between how different counties interpret the law in different ways. Uh, I think this is just going to foster something that looks like 88 counties doing 88 different things across the state. And that's really problematic for jurisdictions that overlap different counties. So So that's what that is. And so I I'm sorry to do this to you, but I think it's really
046important that people see this video. Um, so this is Senator Bill Blessing. He's out of Cincinnati. He's uh the only Republican that voted no on the state's most recent budget. Um, he also voted no on some of these bills in the Senate. Um, this is nearly 10 minutes. I apologize, but um, I do think it's important that we watch this question. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I'm not going to stand in opposition to this per se. Uh, I just want to offer a little bit of a different approach with respect to philosophy. Uh but before getting into that uh I want to acknowledge how hard Chairwoman Sandy O'Brien has worked in this space. Property taxation is one of the most complicated policy areas in Ohio. It is a Byzantine network of state laws. Constitutional
047provisions, court cases that also happen to be directly influenced by two other very complicated areas. one of which is housing, which Senator Reynolds is deeply familiar with, and school funding, of which Senator Brener is deeply familiar with. You can disagree with the policy policy outcomes all you want, but what is not up for debate is her work ethic, courage, and perseverance. I respect her deeply for that, as well as representatives who've worked on this the most, representatives Thomas and Romer. This is also true of the staff and folks at LSC who are probably ready for this to be done so they can grab a well-deserved drink and think about anything other than property taxation. I get the sense that everyone is tired wants to move on and talk about anything other than property taxes. After
048all, it has dominated discussion for at least two years now. Unfortunately, I don't think this is the end, but the end of the beginning of the property tax fight. These are clever bills, but let's take a step back and look at what they're implicitly saying. Ohioans want property tax relief. It was the valuation increases from the trienal appraisals that increased property taxes, especially for floor districts. Though inside millillage also had a significant impact. This led to a revenue windfall for local governments, especially school districts. Therefore, we are going to legislate in such a way as to claw back these increases as they were not voted on. and limit future increases on the 20 mil floor and inside millillage alike. This will solve the problem. I don't believe that this will solve the problem. Implicit in
049this is that school districts, for example, are flush with cash and do not need the money. Have we examined if this is objectively true? I'll give you some reasons that I don't think that it is. Ohio has had high property taxes for some time. According to LSC using FY2023 numbers, Ohio ranks 15th in per pupil public elementary and secondary school local revenue. Only Pennsylvania is higher when looking at our surrounding states. However, we rank 37th in per pupil public elementary and secondary school state revenue. We're behind all of our surrounding states. So much so that if we had done the entirety of the fair school funding plan in FY23, we'd still be the worst of our surrounding states. slightly below West Virginia. Interestingly enough, when you add up state, local, and federal dollars, we're right
050in the middle at 25th amongst the states. Given that public education is the largest state-only share of the state budget, as well as the largest share of local property taxes, it stands to reason that if state support is lagging, it will be made up elsewhere. Since federal funds are such a small share, the burden falls increasingly on local property taxes. We Republicans pride ourselves as fiscal conservatives, staunch defenders of every taxpayer dollar. Have we taken the time to look at our local school boards? Though they are nonpartisan, I'm willing to bet the vast majority of school boards in this state are Republican dominated even after the results of the election this past month or during this month, I should say. We have 607 school districts in Ohio. The urban eight school districts are heavily represented
051by Democrats, likely representing a quarter of the state's population or more. But what of the other districts? Given that Republicans dominate county offices to the tune of 80 to 90%, it would be entirely believable if Republicans held at least twothirds of the schoolboard seats in this state. Is it really true that Republicans are fiscally conservative at the state level, but not at the local level? I don't buy that. I think the most likely answer is that school boards are better with money than they're given credit for. What about high cash reserves? How does one justify cash reserves over 100%. And there are school districts that do have cash reserves over 100%. From my perspective, quite easily. And the r and the behavior is quite rational. As mentioned earlier, state support of public education is lacking
052compared to the rest of the country. Federal revenues are a drop in the bucket, though that's not unusual. So local revenues have to make up the difference. Unfortunately, it's not so easy. Since everything outside of inside millillage in the 20 mil floor must be voted on, and our constitution applies tax reduction factors, schools have to go to the ballot to raise needed revenue. But voters can and do shoot levies down. It is this uncertainty in revenue that drives school districts to keep larger cash reserves. This allows them to weather a failed levy cycle or two while dealing with the same rising costs that all of us deal with. I could go on, but you get the picture. I believe the net effect of what we are doing today will be the following. First, we're going
053to see an increase in the number of levies over the coming years, accelerating as cash reserves are spent down in any state level temporary support like the expanded sax sales tax holiday Monday dries up. Second, we'll see more districts in fiscal watch and fiscal emergency. When it becomes harder to raise local revenue, this is a likely result. There is also a threat at the federal level to cut Title One funding, which would put more pressure on some school districts, though not all. Third, local governments and school districts will direct their eye at the state when they go to the ballot. Fourth, bond ratings for local governments and school districts will go down. Fifth, services will almost certainly be cut if levies fail to pass. Sixth, what happened to simplicity? This definitely complicates the property tax
054situation. And lastly, and finally, this didn't work in the late '7s and early 80s when House Bill 920 was enacted and the tax reduction factors were put in the Constitution. That was to avoid unvoted tax increases then. And we're doing something similar now. In the following decades, we simply voted on more levies. Why would we expect a different outcome today? If all this is correct, what does a long-term fix look like? I really think it's as simple as boosting state level school funding. Nobody likes to go to the ballot to ask for new money. So, I think it's more likely than not the school districts would choose renewal levies for the f foreseeable future if we did this. They'd also go to the ballot less often. That's because they could more fully count on state
055dollars and their constituents would rightly ask why new money is needed when the state started pitching in closer to their fair share. Over time, the state and local funding split would reach a healthier ratio. As for the local side, I would encourage folks to look at land value taxation. I know I sound like a broken record. It's probably the 10th time I've mentioned it today. It's currently constitutionally prohibited, but I'm looking to change that with SJR7. We need more housing, but added supply and helps our local governments and schools as well from a revenue perspective. This grows the pie and spreads the tax burden amongst more people. Unfortunately, property taxation has the perverse side effect of discouraging more housing. Land value taxes, however, encourage more housing as well as density. I think it's eminently reasonable
056to conclude that property tax rates would go down as tax revenue in the aggregate goes up while local governments and school districts phase in land value taxes and phase down property taxes. Allowing local governments and school districts to directly vote on the rate of taxation would increase bond ratings, lower cash reserves, stop the levy cycle, and produce better governance overall. After all, this is how the general assembly operates today. Ditto for local governments and school districts in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Why is this good for the goose but not for the gander? So, at the end of this, you know, I understand that school districts and local governments are going to be upset. Uh, I would urge the local governments and schools to take stock of what's going on and rather than be angry, pivot to
057longer term structural fixes and next year's budget. You will have to work with the general assembly whether you like it or not, irrespective of how you feel about the reforms today. But what a lot of what we're doing today is short-term. A lot of what we're going to need to be doing is long-term and I hope that we will all work together on that. Thank you, Mr. President. There we go. Um, so, uh, Stephen Dyer is a former state representative, uh, attorney and, um, policy expert on school funding and other things in Ohio. Uh, he put this blog post together recently. He has a blog that he keeps. Um, and it's actually linked if you click on the small picture up there, it'll take you to his blog post, but he put this uh, slide
058together to adjust for inflation K12's uh, state budget spend. uh adjusted for inflation from 1975 to 2025 and concluded that we are at our lowest point since 1997 on a per pupil um spend and you can see the uh when the ed choice started and ed choice expansion. So that red line is the public school spend, student spend and then the total K12 state budget spend is the blue line and how that breaks apart there on um with that ed choice expansion. >> They like to say they're making record investments in education, but again it's important to note that that's not just public schools and that the increase is not ours. >> Yes. Um, just a reminder of who our state leaders are. Uh, so Governor Dwine, all of those bills are on his desk
059uh, today. I plan to send a note and ask him to veto House Bill 309 specifically. Um, and then our House Speaker, uh, Matt Huffman and Rob McCaui. So, I will say while uh Dave Thomas, a freshman representative, is uh like sort of the poster child behind a lot of this reform, um I think it's important for people to remember that nothing goes through the House or the Senate without these two and their approval. Um so, you know, at the end of the day, they're really the ones that are putting this putting this uh in front of the general assembly for consideration. So, and just a reminder of who our local legislators are, if you're not familiar, we have Fort State senators and Fort State representatives that cover various parts of this area. I will
060say um uh our all of our um senators and representatives uh voted no for that legislation except for Brener, uh Loren, and Lear. They voted yes on those legisl on those pieces of legislation to go to the governor's desk. So, um, Senator Craig and Demora and Lon all voted no and as did Pickle Antonio and Abdulahi. Um, just so everybody's aware. And this is our senator's contact and our House of Representative members contact. And this uh presentation is available on board docs if anyone wants to go back and pull that down. Any questions? >> I don't have a question, but I would just encourage our community to reach out to Governor Dwine. I'm curious. I can't remember when they hit his desk. Do they hit today? They didn't hit today. They hit last week, right?
061>> Well, 124 I think has been on his desk. It would have been last week because it would have they voted it out on I think the 19th or the 20th. Okay. >> So, we don't have a lot of time. >> Yeah. >> So, they would need to call as soon as possible. Yeah, I think it's um you know, they're not blasting the Ohio channel out on cable TV or anything, but like if anyone takes time to go and listen to some of these committee hearings and some of the stuff like I mean I you know uh hear Senator Sandra O'Brien who's up out of the Ashabula area, former county auditor, she is chairing the local uh or the Senate local government oversight committee. um literally yell at people over these windfalls that schools have
062gotten and how they've made record investments in the school funding model and all of these things in committee. And it's just it's disappointing to hear uh lawmakers like one act like that in committee when people are trying to share how this is going to impact them. Um but also it's just not true. like there's um we're going to have a lot of unintended consequences I know from this, but if you listen to Mike Soville's hearing about just how unbelievably complicated this is going to make things and like just completely uh shift how all of these things work and um completely eliminate any uniformity we have in our property tax system across the state. I think it's not going to help our uh cause with wanting to keep the ballot issue at bay. I mean, >>
063it also it says to me too though that that's wasteful spending, right? We're we're complicating something even more where now we'll have to be spending more to actually work through that and understand it. Not us, but our taxpayer dollars will be going towards this >> to have to work through it and have to understand it. And I can't even think of the manpower that our counties are going to have to invest in to be able to make any of this a reality and what that looks like and all of the legal fees. Our attorneys, like not our attorneys, but attorneys across the state are probably going to have plenty of business with all of this. Um, and you know, while they're doing this, I mean, these are like five bills that are on the governor's
064desk right now. There's lots of other things moving forward that would add all kinds of new requirements to public schools specifically. Um, and it's just it's unbelievable some days uh when you see what they're pushing through. So, yeah. >> Oh, well, thank you. This I imagine we'll continue to have updates. >> Yes. Really appreciate that information, Miss Marshall. Um, if there's no other questions or comments, move along. Okay. Um, we have no public comments this evening. So, we're going to move along to the board meeting minutes. And may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting held on Monday, October 27th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions or changes needed? All right. Will you please take the vote? Mr. Aleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Altman,
065>> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> abstain. I was sick. >> Mrs. Leean, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. I'm moving along to financials, uh, 7.01. May I have a motion to approve the financial report and investments for October 2025? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Marshall, will you please talk to us about this? Yes. Thank you again. I have a report here somewhere. Okay. Uh so we are going over month end October um 2025. So for our general fund, we had year-to- date receipts of 95.5 million, year-to- date expenditures of 77.4 million. Uh for all funds, oh I'm sorry, and we had an unencumbered fund balance of 124.9 million for the general fund. For all funds, uh, we had year-to- date receipts of 121.7 million, year-to- date expenditures of 105.8 million, and unencumbered
066fund balance for all funds at 220.4 million. And that is all I have for you. >> Any questions? Okay. Um, you take the vote. >> Mr. Aleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. Mrs. Alman, >> yes. Mrs. Leean. >> Yes. Mrs. Meyer. >> Yes. And moving along to 7.02. May I have a motion to approve the purchases in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 5705.41D1 and board policy 6320. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Marshall, will you talk to the to us about these purchases? >> Yes. Thank you again. So, um, these are what we call then and now purchase orders. And what this means is that we had invoices that are dated um prior to a purchase order being opened um a purchase order date. And so we do have several on this
067um agenda. The first one for Westerville South High School's theater department. I just want to make sure I have the right list here. Hold on just a second. Yeah. So Westerville South's theater department um for vocal director for one of their shows. Uh the that was just a matter of timing. They didn't have the purchase order opened in time. That was budgeted for. However, food service had um some equipment upgrades. Again, that was a communication issue with getting the purchase order opened on time. And then transportation had uh van fuel and bus fuel. And there was a purchase order opened, but the vendor changed ownership, which caused them to have to create a new vendor profile, open a new PO. So, it's really just a formality that um that's being approved as well. And then,
068uh the North Athletics, the Lacrosse's score table and they're the boosters are re reimbursing for this purchase and so they didn't have the check in time to be able to open the purchase order. There was a little bit of communication with that as well. Uh special education, Medicaid billing services. Um this also we had a change in vendors the ownership of the vendors which required an updated W9. So we had to open a new purchase order. There was a purchase order open and then a utility bill for um a from the treasur's office. Uh we had a PO that was closed in air. So um in order to reopen that we'll have to have the board's approval to pay that. >> Any questions or comments? Okay. Take the vote. >> Mr. Aleman, >> yes. >>
069Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sleand, >> yes. Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. >> And moving along to 7.03, may I have a motion to authorize um for the authorization to reissue a state stale data check? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Will you talk to us about this too? >> Yeah. Uh so um we have um under Ohio law any uh stale dated checks uh with after five years um they get removed from our outstanding checklist and essentially those funds go into the general fund. Um we had a former employer employee that discovered an old payroll check that had not been cashed. uh we verified with our records that this check had not been cashed and since it is outside of the five years in order for me to reissue
070that check to them. Um I would need the board's approval to do that. I do recommend that we do that. That was money that she was taxed on and uh you know we did pay out. We just didn't have it cashed at the time. So >> is this really from 1999? >> Yes. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Any questions or comments? All right. Will you take the vote? >> Mr. Aleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Leean, >> yes. >> Mrs. Otman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. >> And can we take personal consent as one? Okay, great. Um, may I have a motion to approve the personal consent agenda 8.01 through 8.11? >> So moved. >> Second. Welcome, Mr. Ree. >> Thank you, and good evening.
071I'd like to present to you for your consideration tonight's personnel consent agenda. Along with the regular action items in tonight's agenda, there are a few items to be noted. Resignations. We have seven classified and three licensed resignations for the board to consider this evening as well as one contract uh supplemental contract resignation. Leave of absences and contract status changes. We have three classified and two licensed LOAs or leave of absences to approve this evening. Of the five, four of those LOAs are extensions to leaves previously uh approved by the board. We have a fairly consistent number of classified contract status changes with 11 schedule adjustments to approve this evening. We are eager to recommend the hire of six new classified employees and one new intervention specialist and a home instruction tutor. The board will also
072see the large list of supplemental contract recommendations as we are finalizing our position for the winter sports season and performance season which is now upon us. and retirements. The board has one classified and 15 licensed retirements to approve this evening. A lot of congratulations. And we'll start with Francis Russ, food service worker at FA Elementary School for one year service to the district. Nancy Bro, science teacher at Blenden Middle School, retiring with 32 years of service to the district. Amy Ferris, educ uh educational media specialist at Central High School, 23 years of service. Katherine Finnegan, intervention specialist at Genanoa Middle School, 33 years of service. Jennifer Gentiel, grade 2 at Alcott Elementary School, 30 years of service. Carla Gilbert, science teacher at Genanoa Middle School, 38 years of service. Gloria Kaylor, second grade teacher at
073Alcott Elementary, 25 years of service to the district. Pamela Malcolm, occupational therapist at Mark Twain Elementary School and Walnut Springs Middle School, 20 years of service. Kim Mason, EL teacher at Walnut Springs, 17 years of service. Ailen Moran, reading specialist at Alcott, 37 years of service. Julie Penchiff, speech language pathologist at McVey. in Emerson, 15 years of service to the district. Tanya Salisbury, reading specialist at Cherington Elementary School, 26 years of service to the district. Sher Stevenson, grade 2 Alcott, 25 years of service. Terresa Vargo, intervention specialist at Walnut Springs, 34 years of service. Gerald Yader at Heritage Middle School, social studies teacher, 29 years of service. and Jamie Yator, mathematics at Genanoa Middle School. 31 years of service. All told, these 16 dedicated educators served Westerville City Schools for 416 amazing years. And from
074the end of the school year in 2026, the collective service of our retirees would take us back to the year 1610. Rare. We had to dig deep. Galileo discovered the first four moons of Jupiter. Crowds gathered to the Globe Theater to watch the first blockbuster performance of Shakespeare's McBth. The Spanish founded the city. Laia real da Santa Fe de San Francisco de Ais what we know today as Santa Fe New Mexico 8-year-old Louis I1 the 13th became king of France after the assassination of his father Henri IV his legacy today is the conac that bears his name Louis Tres sells for $10,000 or more per bottle and in 1610 English navig Navigator Henry Hudson made his fourth and final voyage trying to find a passage to the Pacific through the Arctic. His freezing crew wanted
075to go home. So, they mutinied, stuck Henry and a few loyal sailors in a rowboat in what is now Henry uh Hudson Bay and sailed back without him. The frozen Henry Hudson and his rowboat crew were never heard from again. And I'm happy to take any questions you may have. >> Very morbid at the end. Any any questions? >> All right. Seeing none, thank you for that history lesson. Will you take the vote, please? >> Mr. Heckleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Leean, >> yes. Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. Uh, we have no uh old business. So, next up, we have new business. Um and 10.01 the first reading of policy 2266 non-discrimination on the basis of sex and education programs or activities. Mr. Reeves, you don't
076have to go very far. >> No, not very far at all. Thank you. Uh first reading, as you indicated, of policy 2266, non-discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities. The revision to this policy is necessary because on June 23rd, 2025, the national incidentbased reporting system uh redefined the definition of fondling and changed that. The term is now officially criminal sexual contact. And so we had to change that and we the replacement of the term fondling with criminal sexual contact in the current policy is necessary to make that alignment to the reporting system. Uh which defines that term and and uh very detailed and graphic that you can read in the draft. Uh that definition includes instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of age incapacity due to temporary
077or permanent mental or physical impairment or intoxication for the purposes of sexual gratification, degragation, and humiliation. We also make updates to our Title 9 reporting email, uh, which we've simplified, updates to several different terms and processes in the Title 9 investigation procedure. So, even though it's a very long policy, uh, the big change is the definition and just some other minor uh, grammatical changes. >> Thank you. Are there any uh, questions, comments? Okay, seeing none, we can move on to the next one that's on your list, too. Uh 10.02 the first reading of policy 8462 student abuse and neglect. >> Yes thank you for this policy in the last bianium budget in 2023 schools were tasked with pro were with providing training and child sex abuse to certain designated staff including nurses, teachers, administrators, counselors,
078school psychologists and mental health providers. The law further specified that the training must be provided by either a law enforcement officer or a prosecutor who has experienced handling cases involving sex abuse and child sexual violence. In this bienium budget, House Bill 96 modified the law to strike the requirement that the training be provided by law enforcement or prosecutors. It also modified the requirement that the Department of Education and Workforce develop a model curriculum for the training. School districts are now tasked with developing their own curriculum for youth suicide prevention and child sexual violence in consultation with public or private agency agencies or persons involved in those areas and this bill incorporates that. So when we look at our staff training, we do that through our public school works which all of our staff go on
079and do annually. For students, we fight uh we use fightch childabuse.org in K6. At the secondary level, we do that training through our health classes. And for suicide prevention um grades 6 through 12, we you've we use the Sandy Hook programs. And all of those are resources that have been provided by the Department of Education and Workforce. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments for stories? Seeing none. Thank you. >> Had Oh, I just had one question. Um just very specific, but obviously the training um professional training um period that's outlined the five years, two years, obviously that would change as needed. Um so if we feel that there's an opportunity to do more training um as a district, we would obviously offer offer that to the professionals. >> Yes. when they put that thankfully
080back in our hands uh the the local professionals we have the flexibility to make those changes as we see fit and needed. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving along to 10.03, the first reading of policy 5130, withdraw from school. Welcome, Miss Baldwin. >> Good evening. The proposed updates to policy 5130 apply standardized language to more clearly define the responsibilities of the superintendent or designate regarding required notifications and compliance procedures. And additionally, the policy has been updated to reflect current Ohio law, which now requires the district to notify only the juvenile court when a student under the age of 18 withdraws without securing enrollment in an approved school or program. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Any questions? Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. And next up, we have 10.04,
081the first reading of policy 8400, school safety. Welcome, Mr. Mroy. Good evening. Tonight you have revisions to policy 8400 school safety before you. Policy 8400 has been revised to reflect the recent verbiage and procedures based on state law. Um a few key revisions to the policy are as follows. One, in response to the state's cell phone requirement effective January 2026, the district's emergency management plan for each school will include a protocol that addresses student use of cellular telephones during an active threat or emergency. And secondly, in response to RC 3313.6610, 6610. The district has registered with the safer Ohio school tip line, also known as the anonymous tip line, which is operated by the Ohio school safety center. And this includes the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. The number is 1844723 which is also 844
082safe. I'm open to any questions. >> Any questions, comments? >> Seeing none. Thank you so much. >> All right, moving along to recommended action, standing business 11.01. Another really awesome part of the night is donations. May I have a motion to approve the donations as presented? moved. >> Second. >> Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about these donations? >> Yes. And um thank you to our generous community. Uh so we uh for this current request value is $73,92.50 which brings our current fiscal year to date total up to 176 37854. Um lots of very generous donations. We do have a couple of anonymous donors um on there just for the board to note and we're just very fortunate to have a very supportive community overall. >> Just a I'll just say a very huge
083thank you. This is really great. Are there any questions of come? >> Okay. Will you take the vote? >> Mr. Huckleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Altman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lee? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? Yes. And moving along to 11.02. May I have a motion to approve the appointment of Miss Tara Trigg to the Westerville Public Library Board of Trustees to begin January 1st, 2026 and expire December 31st, 2039? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Marshall, will you also talk to us about why we have to approve this for the public? So >> that is a great question. So um this is just part of Ohio law. We are the taxing jurisdiction for the Westerville Public Library. That just means their boundaries are our boundaries. Um they uh
084we approve we appoint all of their trustee members. We also um have to approve any legislation for them to be on the ballot for tax issues or anything like that. So it's just how they're um created in Ohio law. So, the board of trustees did meet um at the end of October, October 28th. Um and they have Mrs. Trigg up for a recommendation for the board's approval and her resume is also attached in the um agenda if you're interested. >> Any questions or comments? All right. I All right. Uh will you take the vote? >> Mr. Hackleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. Mrs. Altman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leean? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? Yes. Moving along to 11.03. May I have a motion to approve the EF tours agreement? >> So moved.
085>> Second. >> Welcome, Mr. Cooper. >> Good evening. Scott Reeves and I have completed a full review of our partnership with EF tours as part of a larger review of all board approved travel for for our students. While the international trip experiences related to EF tours are typically scheduled to occur over the summer and other non-instructional periods of time, district staff member district staff members often lead the trips for students from our district. As such, we wanted to ensure appropriate protections are in place for our staff in the district while maintaining the amazing experiences for our students, families, and staff who choose to travel. The agreement before you tonight has been thoroughly reviewed by the district's legal council and it is recommended for your approval this evening. At this time, I'm happy to take any
086questions you may have. >> Are there any questions? >> EF Tours is not new to the district. Correct. We've been using them for some time. >> Correct. uh does EF tours do agreements on a district-by- district basis or I just happen to notice this is sort of on their letterhead and was curious how what our part in the drafting uh of this was. >> Yes. So they they do actually um have district by district uh dependent on various states um and so this one's specific to us. We did work through this multiple meetings that we've had with them virtual and in person as well as working with their legal uh council to ensure that we have language that specifically ties to Westville City Schools and and our needs. >> Okay, let me take the vote.
087>> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mr. Heckleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. And next up we have board comments. Um, and if it's okay, I'd love to start us. Okay. Um, so I'll hold off on all the other legislative stuff that I was looking at and just it was really doom and gloom, but I really wanted just to begin by offering my heartfelt gratitude to the Westerville community. I want to thank you for your support, for your confidence in our school district, and for reelecting me to serve on this board. It is an incredible honor to continue to work in this place where I grew up, where my husband and I choose to raise our family, where majority of my nieces and nephews
088attend, and more than 14,500 children are learning and thriving every day. I also want to thank our voters for passing the school ballot measure. Your support is an investment in our students, their future, and in our community. I take that trust seriously. As a board member, I remain committed to being a fiscally responsible steward of every dollar and to ensuring that every decision centers the needs of students because they are the heart of our work and the reason we are all here. I want to thank the countless volunteers that worked on the campaign as already mentioned and Emma and Nelson and Kevin Hoffman for chairing the committee. They spent countless hours pounding the streets, answering questions on social media, putting together events, and so much more. Together, we will continue protecting opportunities, strengthening our schools,
089and ensuring that all Westerville students have what they need to succeed. Thank you for believing in our kids, for believing in us, and investing in this community. And reach out anytime. I'm always happy to chat or meet. Um, I also want to congratulate my colleague Anisa Leanne and Miss Tatiana Brown on their successful election. And lastly, I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um, I agree with all of that that Chrissy shared. I definitely want to congratulate um and thank the community. I want to congratulate our A+ awardees um who were recognized today, but also our retirees who for their many years of contribution to the district. Um also a personal thank you to our district families and voters for their support um of the earned income
090tax ballot measure. I mean that really took a lot of collaboration and uh being on the campaign trail. I think more than anything it was important to hear um and really just connect with community members to hear what's working, what's not working. So, I look forward to continuing those conversations over the next four years. Um, and I'm happy to be able to keep my seat, but more importantly, I want to ensure that um all of the families in our district um have a voice um at the table. And so, I'm proud to be a part of this amazing district. And of course, happy Thanksgiving, but also happy Hanukkah to families who are observing that ahead um before we return on the 15th. Happy holidays. Okay. Well, um, first of all, congratulations our A+ award winners.
091I think, you know, I I love the A+ awards because we read the nominations and we get to hear from people who interact with these amazing educators every day. And that's that's what we're here for. I mean, in many ways, that's what this ballot issue is about is just allowing people to do the amazing job that they're doing and giving them the support that they need to do it. So, thanks to them and thanks to the community for seeing the importance of that work for our young people and supporting it um so strongly. And congratulations to my colleagues and Miss Brown who will be joining us soon. Um and you know, I just want to encourage people. Well, I know I realize that not everyone supported the ballot issue and people have their reasons for
092supporting or not supporting, but I just really encourage everybody in this community to take part in something in our schools. Go see a play, an athletic event, music performance. um if you have the opportunity to volunteer in a classroom or just it belongs to all of us. And I just really hope that everybody will take the opportunity to understand how much our schools and these incredible young people and the educators who shape them every day, how much they impact all of our lives. Whether you have children or grandchildren in school or not, our schools impact every one of us. So, please take the opportunity. Um, we have some amazing young people who do just wonderful things and um I just invite you in to see what they're doing and what their teachers are doing and
093um you'll be amazed. So, thank you. I echo all of the congratulations from everybody already, the A+ award winners, um all of the retirees. Man, that is a lot of years of service. And for some of those, my kids have personally had those teachers. And I cannot believe based on looking at them that they're ready for retirement. So, still looking good. Um, congratulations again to Christy Ana for being uh able to continue to serve on this board and to Tatiana, we're excited to welcome you on to the board as well. Um again, as my colleagues have stated, a very genuine thanks to the community voting in support of um the new income tax to help us continue to deliver the quality of services that parents and students need and expect in this district and for
094being able to provide teachers and staff with the resources that they need to be able to deliver those things. I'm very very grateful for that. Um, and hopefully hopefully we won't have to talk so much about the finances maybe for the next year or two. Nicole's looking over there like now we're still going to maybe it'll feel a little less urgent uh for the next year or two. Um, and yes, happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Happy Hanukkah. Um, yeah, we'll see everybody next month. Uh I mean I can't say a lot that hasn't already been said especially congratulations to my colleagues and to Tatiana uh for joining us uh very shortly. Um, I guess what I wanted to sort of uh off the cuff say thank you for is thank you to the teachers in the
095district who in the midst of this stress of an issue that was very very serious came in every day carried out their job did it with excellence as we saw tonight. Uh, I mean that's just an impossible position like cuz it's been coming since July and you had to start the school year under those stresses and still our kids had to show up every day and feel loved and supported and feel like they're in a safe environment. So kudos to you and especially administration wise additionally for all the support in walking that very fine line between not being able to support but making sure our community got the facts. Uh I know I greatly appreciated it as someone kind of sitting on the edge of all this and admiring that it was followed to the
096letter. Uh and that's very very difficult thing to do when you're so invested personally in the outcome. So uh thank you to them. Thank you. Congratulations to our retirees. I was really struck by our A+ crew tonight as I saw magnet schools and art teachers and counselors and all these things that we were sort of in our heads worried about, you know, uh a month ago, now just being empowered uh to go on and do the great work that they do. So, thank you so much. >> Very well said. Um, so the board will meet in regular session on Monday, December 15, 2025 at 6 PM at the Early Learning Center, which is here, 936 Eastwind Drive, Westerville, Ohio, 43081. And with that, may I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second.
097>> We take the vote, please. >> Mr. Hackleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Zman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meer. >> Yes.