001Good evening and thank you for joining us at tonight's um board meeting. It's on October 13, 2025. Thanks for your patience. We had some technical difficulties up here. Um but before we begin begin, may I have a motion to name Laura Hendris Hendris as the treasure prom? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Would you please take the vote? >> Mr. Heckleman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Alman. Yes, >> Miss Valentine. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Lee. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Meyer. >> Yes. Um, so again, thank you for joining us. This evening's agenda will be displayed on the screen in the front of the room. Printed agendas are available for our guests um outside these doors where you may find the agenda on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website at www.wcs.org. Click on our
002district link, select board of education, and then follow the board docs link to our current meeting agenda. There will be one opportunity to address the board this evening during agenda item 6.01. There's a signup sheet located on the table where you entered uh the auditorium. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on the screen. And with that, Miss Hendris, will you please call the role? >> Mrs. Altman, >> here. >> Mr. Huckleman, >> here. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> here. Miss Lean here. Mrs. Meyer >> here. Would you please join us in the pledge of >> allegiance algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. All right. Um,
003moving along to district highlights and recognitions. This is the fun part of the night. I, um, we have one graduation tonight, so I'm going to turn it over to Miss Usher. Good evening, President Meyer, members of the board, Superintendent Hamburg, and Mrs. Hendris. I have the honor of welcoming you and our visitors this evening to the Westerville City Schools summer 2025 graduation ceremony. Each year we are excited to recognize students who have recently completed their graduation requirements. And although our graduate has already received his diploma, tonight we are excited and proud to celebrate with him and his family. After Superintendent Hamburg confers the diplomas, Westerville Central's assistant principal, Eric Nickel, will come forward to congratulate and recognize our graduate. At this time, I would like our graduate to please come forward as your name is
004to be read and recognized this evening. President Meyer, members of the board of education, Miss Hendricks, honored guests, and the proud family of Bashara Alhazen of Westerville Central High School. The state of Ohio establishes in law two requirements for earning a high school diploma. number one, the successful completion of a rigorous academic curriculum. And number two, the successful completion of all state of Ohio graduation requirements. The administration of Westerville City Schools has verified and the board of education has unanimously approved your candidacy for graduation. And so it is with great pleasure as superintendent of the Westerville City Schools that I confer Bashara a Westerville City Schools high school diploma. Congratulations, President Meyer, members of the board of education, Superintendent Superintendent Hamburg, and Mrs. Hendrickx. Good evening. As one of the assistant principles at Westerville Central
005High School, it is my honor to publicly congratulate our graduate tonight and to wish you success in all that you do moving forward. On behalf of our entire Westerville Central learning community and all of the district employees who have impacted your journey, please accept our heartfelt congratulations. Bashar, as a Warhawk, you have lived our out our blueprint. You have pursued excellence in your academics, athletics, arts, and service. You have proven that we are always better together, leaning on classmates, teachers, and families to get this to to get to this moment. And you have shown what it means to own it. Taking responsibility for growth, your choices, and your future. As you step into the next chapter of your life, remember this. Obstacles and fail failures will come, but each challenge is an opportunity. An opportunity
006to grow, to get better, to learn how to succeed. Carry the wings up mentality with you and let it guide you toward even greater accomplishments. Congratulations once again. Please know how proud we are of you and how much you have grown and how confident we are in your your achievements. Now, it's my pleasure to introduce our newest graduate, Bashara Yseph Alhedazine. You and your family are more than welcome to head back into the room and celebrate your graduation. Congratulations. All right. Um, as they're filing out, uh, next up we have our reports and 5.01, our superintendent's comments. Miss Yamberg, thank you very much. And again, a big congratulations not only to Bashar, but to the whole family as you head out to celebrate. We appreciate being part of your evening and accomplishments tonight. Um, I
007just want to remind everyone and probably a lot of the folks here are already aware that we do have a ballot issue on the November 4th ballot for a 0.75 earned income tax. As a reminder, this would be on wages, salaries, and net self-employment income. It would apply to the entire school district blueprint. Um, it has it does not apply to pension, social security, unemployment, or investment earnings. And I just wanted to take a moment to address there have been some posts on social media that are that are just inaccurate that we're claiming that our state saying that our state funding has actually gone up and that we're lying. I just wanted to share as our treasurer Nicole Marshall and I have both already shared publicly that the numbers that were provided do not match
008our state payment reports for those years. The money used to come to the district that was for voucher students and then that amount plus our local funds for that student would go out as a deduction to the private charter and career technical schools. Now that money flows directly to the private charter and career technical schools because they are backing out our local share in that figure. It makes it look as though we received less money than we actually did in fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021. We will continue to share accurate information which can be found on our ODW reports. Our state share has decreased by 25% since fiscal year 2021. That means the share of the calculated school funding formula amounts for students attending our schools that is paid for by the state
009has decreased significantly specifically by 25% since fiscal year 2021. We are not saying that our funding has decreased by that amount, but the state's share has decreased by that amount. This is also available on our payment reports on ODW's website. And you're also welcome to reach out to our treasurer, Nicole Marshall, if you have additional questions on that. That's all I have this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Hamburg. Um, as I've been out in the community, I've heard people asking a lot of questions about what, um, I think people are starting to pay attention a bit more about, you know, what's potentially going to be cut. And I'm wondering at the next board meeting if you wouldn't mind reminding us what um, would potentially be cut if this levy doesn't pass. >> Of
010course. We'll plan to present that information again as a reminder as we get closer to the election. >> Thank you. All right. Um, next up we have public comments. And so, um, I just want to I'm not sure that we will we'll pass that, but just in case, may I have a motion to suspend the overall time limit on public comments, but keeping the individual three minutes time limit to accommodate speakers who have already signed up. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Would you please take the vote, Miss Hendris? >> Mr. Huckleman. >> Yes. Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Otman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. >> Um, in public comments, the board of education welcomes public comment on educational issues of interest to our school community. The
011board does not discriminate based on the identity or viewpoint of the speaker during our public participation. However, the board president may limit comments that are obscene, abusive, or harassing. In an attempt to protect the privacy interests of our students, the board asked that speakers not identify students by name during their comments. Persons having public complaints about district personnel, programming, or operations will be referred to the process set forth in board policy 9130. Finally, the board reminds speakers that their statement should be directed to the board as a whole and not to individual board members. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on the screen here and Mr. Reeves will call time when three minutes has elapsed. Our first speaker this evening is Mr. Doug Krinsky. Thank you.
012Um, my topic is going to be something new, the income tax. Uh, I am going to vote no on this. I'm not going to go all the reasons why tonight. I've done that before. I'll just advise people if you want more information, go to concernedcitizensofwwareville.org. But one thing I do want to address tonight is the accusation that I'm absolutely against kids. I hate kids. Blah blah blah. I've heard it all over the place on social media. Um, I just want to take everybody back and the people that are on the board don't remember this, uh, but 23 years ago when this district was doing my son a big disservice on his IEP and weren't executing it properly and we sued the district, I contacted my state representative. When I contacted my state representative, I explained
013exactly what was going on, all the other services in the state that needed to be addressed for not only kids that had disabilities, but other kids. So what came out of that is Governor Taft appointed a huge task force and what came out of that were several things. So I just want to highlight some of the things I've done to actually help kids and adults in the state of Ohio. First one is the autism scholarship. Over 5,000 families in the state of Ohio right now take advantage of that program. The families get the right education for their kids. The John Peterson scholarship. Over 8,000 families take advantage of that to help their kids that need special services or whatever their individual needs are. An insurance mandate. I'll own up to it. I'm a Republican. I
014fought tooth and nail for 12 years against the Republicans to get an insurance mandate through. And you know what? We got it through. So, I don't know how many thousands of families take advantage of that. But I know that was a huge thing 12 years ago. actually more than 12 years ago when we started on that journey. But there are thousands of kids today and it was age limited up to 14. It's all kids that take advantage of it and now they have those services where they didn't have them before. The last one, which is actually the biggest one, and this does not include everything on the task force list, but the last one is a Medicaid waiver. This new Medicaid waiver is called the individual options waiver. 33,000 adults and kids take advantage of
015that waiver. So, anybody that says, "I'm not for kids. I'm working against kids," is totally totally wrong. I've done nothing for the last 25 years, but want to help kids in the state of Ohio as well as in Westerville. This issue is not about hurting kids, helping kids. It's about what the board is doing with overspending and wasteful spending. We have never said they misappropriate money. We have said you're just spending the money in the wrong areas. So, our campaign is fact-based. The state has done their thing on state funding and the local community has done their thing. We do not need to provide this district with more money right now. What we need to do is stop overspending and hope everybody looks at our website and votes no on this issue. Thank you. Um,
016next up we have Miss Mary Jean Butler. Butler, sorry, President Meyer and members of the board. I'm Mary Gene Boler. I'm a resident of Westerville. Yesterday, my husband and I attended the Westerville South High School's brilliant performance of Lay Miser Rob. As I listened to the beautiful falsetto of Jean Valjan, along with the amazing performances of other soloists and the chorus, I wondered how many members of our community fully understand what a difficult and challenging undertaking this was for high school students. My congratulations to the students and to the music faculty who worked with them and trusted them to meet the occasion. But we need to realize that this talent did not materialize out of thin air and that preparation for this performance did not begin a few months ago. It began in the elementary
017school music teacher who taught these students how to read music, how to correctly use their voices, how to negotiate a variety of rhythms, how to train their ears to hear pitches, and to appreciate a wide range of musical genres, and how to feel comfortable performing before an audience. No, what took place yesterday on this stage this and this weekend was a decade in the making. Behind the scenes was an orchestra with whom the same thing could be said. Elementary music teachers help children explore other instruments that can be used with or without voice. Ukulele, the sometimes maligned recorder and drums. Each introduced with purpose. Middle school music teachers expanded the mu the instrumental offerings and students are able to make common cause with other students as they play in band and orchestra. And then there
018was the creative set that helped uh pull the audience back to 19th century France. That all started with elementary art teachers who patiently watched as kindergarteners explored color and texture, train their eye, taught them the principle of design, and opened their imaginations. When it comes to school funding, the arts are often seen as lowhanging fruit. Music and art teachers are treated as if as if they are the fluff in the academic offerings with little understanding the central role of the arts in the life of the community and the intentional pedagogy that takes place in music and art classes every day with our youngest children. What we risk in this plan to cut music and art at the levy fails is too great a risk for this community. J. D. Salinger said, "Art is the signature
019of civilization." I hope a decade forward, we have prepared our high school students to have their signature in this to leave their signature in this community through other brilliant performances nurtured in elementary children and brought to fruition uh through the instruction and guidance of their music faculty. We must pass this levy. Thank you. Thank you. Um, next up we have Miss Patty Broard. Welcome. >> Good evening. I'm Patty Brohard, a parent of two Westerville Central graduates. Having attended kindergarten uh since the opening year of Alcott, my daughter was among the first to fly. I'm here tonight as a retired educator and a concerned senior citizen who recognizes my responsibility to advocate for the best interest of all children. The current ballot issue is not political or I wouldn't be here. It is about protecting children's
020fundamental rights to receive a high quality education in our Westerville schools. For us, that means ensuring that we maintain the related arts, that specialized program distinguishing us from surrounding areas continue, that parents aren't burdened with school transportation, and that the best of the best teachers and administrators are retained. There was a time when an education was for the privileged few. Motivated and able parents taught their children at home. Other families had the financial means to hire a tutor or pull their funds with neighbors to hire an educator. The rest, well, illiteracy was the norm. We've come a long way. Today, we recognize education as a fundamental right of every child. As such, we are all every member of this community accountable to ensuring not just the fundamental right to a basic education, but what I
021believe is a fundamental right to a high quality education for every child living within our school boundaries. The United Nations recognizes the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family to be the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. This is why I stand before you today because a quality education is the cornerstone of that foundation. My children are grown. I could say funding Westerville schools is no longer my problem. I've done my part both as a dedicated 36-year veteran educator and as a taxpayer, but that is not a stance that I understand. The children of Westerville are members of our community. The children of Westerville schools are members of our human family. We are each responsible for upholding every child's right to receive an excellent
022education. We must protect and fund our schools so that our children can one day use their education to continue our work of ensuring freedom, justice, and peace in our world. It's that simple. Strong schools equate to a strong community. I ask, what do each of you want for your personal family? The best, of course, you want the best for your family. The students of Westerville schools are part of our human family. Our children deserve the best education we can offer. >> Thank you. Next up, we have Miss Christy Groger. Welcome. Hello. Uh earlier this week, the US Board of Education was hit with staff cuts, specifically in the special education and rehabilitation department where over half of the staff was let go. This is the office that oversees special education and monitors the $15 billion
023budget providing education services for the 7.5 million children with disabilities. One department leader spoke out and said there is a risk that the money to educate their children will not be given to the state. Federal funding for public schools has been declining and based on la last week's news there are no guarantees. I do not need to remind anyone that state funding for our schools has significantly decreased. The state share of the funding formula has decreased by 25% which is what you just told us earlier today. So where does this leave us? It leaves us asking the community. It leaves us asking the people who work and volunteer in our schools to give even more than they already do. And I know it isn't it isn't easy for everyone to agree. We see it all
024the time in this country right now where it can be so hard just to have a conversation with someone with different opinions. But this is our chance to change that. This is our chance to agree that the children of Westerville City Schools all deserve the best education that we as a community can provide them. And hear me when I say I do not take giving you more money lightly. Um, we are all trusting the board to spend wisely, to make cuts when necessary, and to be transparent as you have been. To anyone who is inclined to vote no because you believe the board has misused funds in the past. I urge you to keep coming to the meetings and keep asking the hard questions, but do not hurt our children's education with a no vote.
025Taking away specials and AP classes and increasing pay-to-play fees does not make the board more or less financially responsible. It makes our schools fail. It will negatively impact our property values. It will increase challenging student behaviors when all of their supports and outlets are taken away. A no vote does not help our community. A yes vote brings us together and shows our children that they are worth investing in. Thank you. Thank you. Next up next up we have Natalie Staer. Welcome. Good evening. Several years ago, as our family began to grow, my husband and I made the decision to put down roots here. We were searching for a place that embraced diversity from many different facets and had a strong public education system. We didn't know much about Westerville then, but what drew us here
026was the sense of pride people had calling this community their home. We moved here in December of 2019, just before the world changed. And like many families, we spent that first year exploring our surroundings from the safety of our car and the open space of local parks. We were amazed by Westerville's beautiful parks and city amenities and at the same time were struck at how expansive the area felt. We wondered if we made the right choice in coming here. Would our kids really know a true sense of community? As life slowly turned to normal, the answer became clear, yes, they would. Westerville may be a large district, but it has the heart of a small town. We've experienced the strength of its parents' networks, the warmth of its neighborhoods, and the deep pride this community
027has in its schools. And at the center of all of these connections are those schools. Not just the buildings, but the very foundation of what brings us together and moves us forward. It's been six years since our community last passed a school levy. Six years. In that time, costs have gone up, needs have increased, and expectations have only grown. And while we may be proud of our schools, pride alone doesn't keep the lights on. Pride doesn't pay for teachers, buses, classroom supplies, or support services. We say we value public education. We say we believe in preparing the next generation. But in this country, funding speaks louder than words. And if we truly believe in investing in our community's future, if we want to retain the families who live here and attract new ones who help
028it thrive, then we need to act. A no vote and a nonvote will only deter those people. Let's not just talk about how great Westerville is. Let's show it. Let's meet the basic needs of our schools so they can continue to provide a high quality education to every child because our students in our community deserve nothing less. Thank you. Um and last up we have Miss Stephanie Wageni. I'm sure you'll correct me if I said it wrong. My apologies if I did. Welcome. >> Thank you. It's okay. It's uh often uh misstated, so it's okay. Um with an income tax or not, uh accountability and responsibility is a big concern to me. Um based upon last published fiscal reporting, I have a few concerns. Um bond interest is reported equal to or very close to
029the line item amount regular teacher pay. So bond interest is a big concern and the refinancing of bonds only increases this interest and there is a reported refinancing of bonds. Teacher count on the report has increased 9% only 9%. Administrative count has increased 30% over a 10-year period, which is concerning. Money spent on attorney and legal retainers based upon a public request I did was an averaging $500,000 over these years. My child too had an IEP. Westerville Central uh paid for an attorney to attend our AE meetings. The attorney was from Bricker Neckler and um this was caused intimidate. Tutoring was also required for our child. It was not provided. I had to do a public records request to ask for documentation for this tutoring. Uh the the school swore that it was provided. When
030we got the time sheets, we determined that the person had falsified my signature and other parents signatures on her time sheets indicating that tutoring had been provided. Tutoring was not provided yet. Westerville schools paid for these services. Based upon our personal experiences, there's a lack of accountability and oversight on these fiscal matters and it does cause true concern for an overall uh view of the financial situation. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um that concludes public comments. Moving along to um board meeting minutes. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the board of education retreat meeting held on Friday, September 19th, 2025? So moved. >> Second. >> Any changes or comments? Okay. Would you take the vote, Miss Hendris? >> Miss Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman,
031>> yes. >> Mr. Huckleman, >> abstain. >> Missy, >> yes. And may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting held on Monday, September 22nd, 2025? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments? Okay. Miss Hendris, would you please take the vote? >> Men? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Alman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Huckleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? >> Yes. And moving along to financials 8.01. May I have a motion to approve the purchases in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 5705.41D1 in board policy 6320. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Hendris, are you able to talk to us about these? >> Certainly. >> Thank you. >> Um yes, this is um regarding purchase orders that we uh call then and now purchase
032orders. basically when the uh service begins prior to the purchase order being open. Um there are several on the agenda tonight. Uh mostly just due to timing uh some change orders with construction items uh that had to get going uh before we could get the purchase order open uh in order to be able to get done for the summer. Uh a couple of just um POS that were open slightly after the uh services began. Any questions? Okay, seeing none, would you please take the vote? >> Mr. Huckleman, >> yes. >> Miss Saltman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mark, >> yes. And can I take personal consent agenda as one? All right. May I have a motion to take the personal consent agenda 9.01 through 9.11 as
033one? May I have a motion to approve? Sorry, the personal consent agenda 9.01 9.11. It's been a long Monday. >> So moved. >> Back in. >> All right. Um, welcome, Mr. Uh oh, Mr. Reeves. I'm not used to this, so obviously I don't know what what day it is anymore either. Okay. So, welcome, Mr. Reeves. >> Thank you. And good evening. I'd like to present for you for your consideration tonight's personnel consent agenda. Along with the regular action items in tonight's agenda, there are a number of items to be noted. Resignations. We have five classified resignations and zero licensed resignations for the board to consider this evening, as well as one employee resigning early from a supplemental coaching position. Leave of absences and contract status changes. We have three classified and three licensed leave of
034absences for approval. Because the unpaid leave of absence exceeds 20 days, which ends the board's payings its share of insurance, we are excited that one of our classified employees and one of our licensed employees have now since returned to work. We also have our typical classified contract status changes to accompany work schedule adjustments. Onetime pays. The board will see one-time pays in our preparation for our upcoming weduca uh Westerville educator day in 3 weeks. End of note for the K5 teacher training for math and the K2 reading training we are required to do around the resources we were required to purchase as a result of legislation. Employment. We are eager to recommend the hire of 10 new classified employees and a new art teacher for Cherington and Point View. One of the classified hires is
035a transportation specialist, which the board will see as a new FTE. That FTE came about as a result of our My Van expansion, which allows us to significantly reduce the use of contracting with third-party transportation vendors. The reduction in cost of the vendors is more than enough to cover the funds for the new position which is needed to support the expansion of the my van fleet. We also have a few supplemental contract adjustments and a few remaining fall hires and lastly retirements. The board has two classified and two licensed retirements to approve this evening. Karen Camp will be retiring at the end of October as a food service worker from Huber Ridge Elementary School after 20 years of service to the district. Lisa Mounts will be retiring at the end of January as a devoted
036secretary at Blenden Middle School. Lisa has served Westerville City Schools for 22 years. Thomas Carter will be retiring after 33 years of service to Westerville as a physical education teacher at Emerson and Whittier elementary schools. And Beth O'Reilly is retiring as a third grade teacher at Wilder Elementary after 32 years of service. All told, these four long-erving educators served Westerville City Schools for 107 total years. From the end of the school year, their collective service would take us back to the year 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I. The US Congress passed the 19th Amendment to grant women the right to vote. And it's a great historical reminder to ensure that everyone exercises their right to vote. An explosion of African-American art, music, and literary culture took root in Harlem, New
037York, which became better known as the Harlem Renaissance. And a little closer to home and a little more personal, in 1919, James and Anna Evans gathered their family and belongings and left Ray County, Tennessee for the south side of Columbus, Ohio. That pair, the parents of my grandmother, marked the first of my ancestors to come to Columbus. I'll answer any questions you may have. >> That was pretty interesting. Thanks for that history. Listen, um I just have a a question about that you had mentioned in one time pays required to purchase some curriculum due to the state. >> Um I'm assuming we and I'm just so I'm asking >> do we get paid for training them >> or is that coming out? Does the state reimburse us? You see the onetime pay. We we are
038um >> the state doesn't >> Yes. This is not the science of reading training. This is the training. We had to purchase additional materials that did not qualify of the list that the state gave us for K2 reading materials. We had to purchase those last year. If the board recalls, this is additional training on those resources. Teachers did get a siphon for the the science of reading overall that every administrator and every teacher in our state had to do. This is specifically to the training for the resources we had to purchase to align with the requirements from the state. >> Okay. So, it's additional >> correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Um my only other statement is uh congratulations to the retirees. Some of those are hard to see. Uh you know, a lot of them
039are hard to see to go and just really appreciate all the service that they have provided the district. All right. Thank you, Mr. Reeves. Miss Hendrix, would you take the vote? >> Mr. Huckleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Alman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Miss Sleen? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? >> Yes. And may we take old business as one? All right. May I have a motion to approve old business 10.01 through 10.03. >> So moved. >> Second. Any discussion or questions? All right. Would you please take the vote, Miss Hendris? Mr. Mr. Huckleman, >> yes. >> Miss Leam, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Miss Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. No new business. So, moving along to 12, recommended action and standing business um in 12.01. Oh,
040may I have a motion to approve the early graduate candidates who have completed all local and state requirements? >> So moved. back in. >> This is really extensive. It's exciting. Miss Sasha, welcome back. >> Thank you. Um, good evening. Tonight we have 28 students representing all three high schools who are candidates for early graduation. These students are on track to complete all required coursework and meet all state and board requirements prior to their cohorts scheduled graduation. I am requesting approval from the board of education for early graduation for these 28 students contingent upon the successful completion of all remaining requirements. >> May I have a motion or may I have a vote? I'm sorry. Miss Hendris, will you take the vote, please? >> Mr. Huckleman, >> yes. >> Miss Zman, >> yes. >> Miss Valentine,
041>> yes. >> Miss Leven, >> yes. >> Miss Smart, >> yes. Congratulations to all of these graduates. That's really awesome. All right, moving along um to 12.02 out of state overnight field trips. Um may I have a motion to approve the out ofstate overnight field trips? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Sasha, will you talk to us about these? >> Yes. Tonight I have two outofstate overnight field trips to present for your consideration. The first trip is from the South High School baseball team. They would like to travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina during spring break to participate in the Ripken experience. The second trip is from North High School. They would like to provide the opportunity for students in their AP social studies classes to travel to Washington DC in February. The estimated
042cost to the district uh for both trips is zero. And students will also not miss any school days. And I am happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Any questions? I I just have a quick one about the um potential AP trip. Yes. And if you don't have the answer right now, that's fine. I'm just um wanting to know for students who might need assistance, if they want to go on the trip, but maybe need some financial assistance. I'd just love to learn, you know, if there are any options for that for them. >> Um absolutely. That would be something I would need to look into, but if there are any families that do have any questions, I would request they just reach out to me directly. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And
043how may they get a hold of you? >> Um, my uh email is on the website. So, ashermasterville.k12.h. us. >> Thank you. >> All right. Miss Hendris, will you please take the vote? >> Mr. Heckleman, >> yes. >> Miss Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Miss Sleman, >> yes. Mer, >> yes. And, um, next up is board comments. Who'd like to go first? Guess I can go ahead and kick us off. Um, I want to first just congratulate Bashada who we had the opportunity to recognize this evening. I mean, that's awesome graduating so early and I'm just so happy to see his loved ones around him. I also want to congratulate the 28 early um graduate candidates uh that we just approved. Um, and I want to congratulate everyone that was a
044part of the shows that we heard a speaker speak about. I mean, that is just wonderful. These shows really do put take a lot of time and energy and resources and funding as well. um and the community pitch in pitch in to make that possible. So I want to congratulate everyone who was a part of those shows. Um and then finally I want to congratulate congratulate our retirees as well. Um but just more importantly I think over the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to meet different families and parents. Um and you know there are a lot of questions and there will continue to be a lot of questions about this earn income tax ballot measure. So I just want to encourage folks to go back and rewatch our YouTube videos that are available.
045go on the website and just continue to reach out to board members and to district leaders as those questions um pop up. And I just wanted to make that reminder that this information is um available um to online. Thank you. Um, again, just uh congratulations to our retirees who I um you think about showing up pretty much every day for kids for 20, 25, 30 years. It's a pretty phenomenal achievement because we know not all those days are easy. Um, so I just want to thank them always. We're so grateful to our retirees. Um, and I think, you know, especially right now when we're seeing there are a lot of challenges in education, um, it just makes me really appreciate all that those people have put in over these many, many years. So, thank you
046to them. And actually, as we reach the end of the first quarter here, right, to all of our staff um who get kids to and from school every day, and we're always grateful, but end of quarter semester year is always a good reminder to just think about all the many things that have to turn so seamlessly every day just to get kids to and from school and to get them fed and to get them cared for. So, just a big shout out and a thank you to our staff. Uh, this seems to be a night of uh, a little bit of defense. So, I'm going to play a little defense for a moment. Um, last night my daughter was on this stage. Jen's daughter was on this stage. Um, so, uh, we take the arts
047specifically seriously, I think, as a board. Uh along those lines, there's been a lot of comments that have been levied at the board. Um and I want to jump to the defense of some of my colleagues for just a minute. Uh these individuals who serve with me on the board, they are parents. They are small business owners. Uh they have done their time and due diligence in really looking at these severe cuts that we are looking at take having to take. And as for me, I started a school, ran it for 2 years. So we understand collectively uh the finances that are taking place and there is no negligence. There is no uh lack of looking in the right corners to make sure that we're doing the absolute best for our kids and making sure
048that the impacts and the cuts that we have to make hopefully don't have to make are are as having the least impact on our kids as possible. So, I just want to say thank you and uh it's hard for me to be up here knowing my daughter was here yesterday. So, I'll just let that go. I echo the comments of all of my um colleagues here. I I actually had to like I was taken back. I was like 28 early grads, man. Good for them. Um that's incredible. Um congratulations to the graduate tonight, graduating early. And to uh all of those who will be retiring after all those many years within the district. I feel like it's so weird these days to hear about people staying anywhere for that long. So, it's great that we've
049got folks that are willing to put in the time here in Westerell. Um, I did want to comment as well about um the levy and the kind of question. I don't even know if it's been a question, but you know that we're overspending in certain areas or overspending on certain things and we need to rein it in or we're spending too much in one area and not another. It can be really easy to armchair quarterback this and pull line items out of a budget and say, you know, well, I don't really understand that. I don't know if that's necessary or this wasn't this expensive three years ago. Why are we spending so much on this now? or you know it's really easy to fall into the trap of saying well this is definitely more you
050know important than this over here but I challenge that train of thought because unless you're somebody who is regularly in these buildings or someone who's regularly mired in kind of the details and the inner workings of K through2 education and you know the aggregate and unique needs of our district's kids. It can be really tough to make those determinations just looking at a spreadsheet or having this much information when there's this much information that has to be taken into account. Um, I want our taxpayers to know that we are doing our very best at the administrative level and the board level to be efficient with your tax dollars while continuing to provide the district's kids with these enriching, diverse opportunities and experiences that are quite honestly expected in central Ohio. Um, so we want to
051make sure that Westerville is offering these things that help our students reach, you know, their upper levels of talent and discover what they want to do uh, when they grow up and when they move on from Westerville. And it's going to be really difficult to do that if we are nickel and dimming everything and having to make cuts like we have talked about before. There are certain things that the state requires that people in the audience, you know, may be thinking, why are we doing that? We shouldn't do that. There's a lot of state laws and requirements of what we have to deliver that maybe we don't necessarily think we should be doing, but it's a requirement from state law. So, I just want people to think about having a holistic picture about this um
052as you are considering whether or not to vote um for or against the levy when we get to November. Um, I'll just echo my colleagues comments. Um, and big congratulations to the retirees and the early graduates. Um, I saw one in there that both my uh my kids had, so that was uh hard to see um her retiring. Uh, but really I I really want to take a moment and echo Jen's comments, Miss Alman's comments, and and thanking the staff. Um, you know, there's a lot going on in the district and um, you know, the levy is something I'm sure that they're very worried about. They're constantly trying to make sure that all meeting all the kids needs and that takes a lot and they put their needs on the back burner. So, I I
053really appreciate that, too. Um, but there's a lot of amazing things that are happening. We heard the raves about Lamez, sorry, in all of the um productions, but you know, marching bands took home some great awards this past weekend. Um you know, boys soccer is doing amazing things. Girls soccer, they're all g gearing up for their tournaments. I encourage you to go out and be part of this community and cheer our kids on because they really need us right now, too, because they're watching. Um Uh, so at any rate, and before I get emotional about that, I just want to say um thank you guys for coming out tonight, I I really don't have anything else and I look forward to hearing again, just as a reminder um to the community about what is really
054on the ballot, what is at stake. If you have questions, I really encourage you to reach out to our treasur Nicole Marshall, our superintendent, Angie Hamburg, um or anyone up here. we can help you navigate that or get you to um our treasurer to our superintendent. Um please don't just go on to someone's Facebook page and and take um some information that that's been taken out of context as facts. So with that, um may I have a motion to adjurnn? Oh, I actually have to I'm sorry. >> Yeah, I don't know where I am tonight. It's been a long couple of weeks. My apologies. So, um, with that, the board will meet in regular session on Monday, October 27th, 2025 at 6 p.m. at Westerville Central High School. Um, and that's 7118 Mount Royal Avenue,
055Westerville, Ohio 43082. Um, so we hope to see you there. And with that, may I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Hendris, will you take the vote? >> Yes. >> Mr. H. Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Thank you.