September 22, 2025 Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening. Thank you everyone for coming out on this rainy night and attending the September 22nd, 2025 meeting of the Westville City Schools Board of Education. This evening's agenda will be displayed on the screen behind us. Um, printed agendas are available for our guests over at the door here or you may find the agenda on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website at www.wcsoh.org. Click on the our district link. Select board of education and follow board docs link to our current meeting agenda. There will be one opportunity to address the board after the work session. There are signup sheets located on the table where you entered the auditorium. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on this screen. And with that, Miss Marshall, will you

002please call the role? >> Mrs. Altman >> here. >> Mr. Heckleman >> here. >> Mrs. Valentine >> here. >> Mrs. Leeand >> here. >> Mrs. Meyer >> here. Would you please join us in the pledge of allegiance? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. So, next up is district highlights and recognitions. And this is a fun part of the evening. Um, may I have a motion to approve the resolution of com commendation for Ganet Trestler Davis? I'm sorry, I need some glasses. Um, may I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um, and can we take the vote? >> Mrs. Almond, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >>

003Mr. Hackleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. And welcome, Mr. Reeves. Well, before you join us, um, tonight we are recognizing Janet Trestler Davis, who is retiring as president and CEO of the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce. On October 30th after 33 years of service, she is a proud Westerville South alum whose long-standing partnership with the district has led to many initiatives that have prepared Westerville City School students for the workforce and connected staff with local employers. to share more about her work with the district. I'd like to invite Scott Reeves, the district's chief personnel and policy officer to the podium. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Stiff. Janet. Well, I can say that in the 15 years that I've been here, I've known Janet nearly the entire time. She

004has been a valued partner to us, to me, and an incredible asset to this community. And it is my honor to read this resolution for you and the resolution of commendation for Janet Trestler Davis. Whereas Janet Trestler Davis served 33 years as president CEO of the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce. And whereas her long-standing partnership with the district led to initiatives that prepared Westerville City School students for the workforce and connected staff with local employers. hand. Whereas, she organized a business advisory council that was instrumental in identifying the career fields for the district's pathway program. And whereas she collaborated with the district to launch the Westerville educator externship to help educators better understand local workforce needs and what skills students need to be successful. And whereas she advocated for the development of pre-apprentice programs which

005gives students on the job training with local employers and a pathway to career success. And whereas she served on the Westerville Workwise Collective of which Westerville City Schools is a member. And whereas Trestler Davis, who is a proud Westerville South alumni, often supported, hosted, and or participated in school and district related functions. Therefore, be it resolved that the Westerville City Schools Board of Education and Superintendent sincerely thank Janet Trestler Davis for the dedication, commitment, and leadership she displayed in her role as the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CT CEO this date, September 22nd, 2025. Congratulations, [Music] [Applause] Okay, moving along. Next up, we have reports in 4.01, the superintendent's comments. Miss Hamburg. >> Thank you, Mrs. Meyer. I too would like to personally thank Janet for all of her work. Um we've had

006a great relationship. I've only been here just about a year and a half, but I've already had so many um really impactful interactions with you, Janet, and I just appreciate all of your work for our students and I've enjoyed being part of the Westerville partnership, which you've taken such a big leadership role with. So, thank you and we will definitely miss you. Uh would also like to share it was in our news and announcements this Saturday about our Buckeye Bridge program. I was invited to speak at that announcement. Um, a huge opportunity for our low to middle income students who can earn an associate degree from Columbus State and then they would be able to attend Ohio State for their bachelor's degree for free. Um, all of their tuition and mandatory fees would be covered.

007Uh, if you're interested to qualify, students must be an Ohio resident, complete an associate degree at Columbus State, file a FAFSA annually by the priority deadline, maintain full-time enrollment at Ohio State, have a family adjusted gross income of 100,000 or less, and this will officially launch for students who are graduating from Columbus State in spring of 2026 and seeking to start at Ohio State that autumn semester. I know we have students who are able to graduate from high school with their associates degree from Columbus State and we have many others who are well on their way. So I wanted to share that and highlight this new opportunity for our students and we're grateful for the opportunity. I also wanted to share we are sitting on the set of one of our plays for this fall.

008Westerville North will be putting on Arsenic and Old Lace October 9th through 11th. Westerville Central will be featuring the movie game this weekend, September 25th through the 28th. And Westerville South is putting on Lay Miz also October 9th through the 12th. So hopefully you can get out and support our actors. When we asked to have the meeting here tonight, they said, "Well, we're building the set the night before." But we decided that was okay. We didn't mind sharing the stage with our theater students. So um just again wanted to share that. I hope you can get out and support them in their efforts. And that's all I have this evening. >> Thank you. >> Um, next up we have 4.02, the financial forecast. And Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about this, please? >>

009Yes. Thank you, President Meyer, members of the board. There we go. Uh so we are um updating the forecast today, September 22nd, 2025. It is now known as a financial forecast, not a five-year forecast. And I'll talk a little bit about that. Um the purpose of the forecast, it's a valuable long range planning tool. It serves as the basis for the district to be able to sign to sign the 412 certificate which is required for all long long-term contracts, appropriation measures, bargaining agreements, salary schedules or anything like that. And it also provides a method for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and the Ohio Auditor of State to identify districts headed towards financial difficulties. And we've talked about those some of those things in the past that they look at um in previous presentations,

010so I won't bore you with all that right now. Uh we had some new requirements for the financial forecast under House Bill 96, which was the state's most recent budget bill. Uh so no longer is it a five-year forecast. We now file a current year budget plus a three-year projection. No later than October 15th for this year, fiscal year 2026. And then next year that will be by August the 31st of uh 2026. And then we come back and update projections no later than the end of February February each year with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Previously we were doing the initial forecast in at the end of November and updating it by the end of May. So this is a big change with the timing of when the forecast is done. Uh

011we will continue to present five years uh to the board of education and district leadership in order to adequately plan. Uh we believe that five years is uh required in order to be able to adequately plan for the future. And we have a lot of uh multi-year contracts that uh span a five-year period in order to have some cost savings for um the district. uh three years actual information is also included for historical purposes and that will continue to be the case. The forecast includes the general fund only. So that's the district's general operating fund. And I like to mention that it it's really in three parts. It has revenues, expenditures, and then balances and reserves. Just a reminder that the school district's um fiscal year runs from July 1st through June 30th. Nicole, not

012to interrupt you, but you might want to move your microphone up a little, especially with the noise from the storm >> being very loud. I think it's a little hard to hear you. Thanks. >> Um, challenges with pretty much every forecast, but especially this forecast. Uh, we are always dealing with legislative changes. Uh, state funding has been a big issue. We've done a lot of, uh, advocacy for that over the this past benium budget cycle. and federal funding. It has been a recent uh unknown for us and this forecast is developed based on the best information that we have available to us today. Um those estimates will most definitely change going forward as information changes, but this is what we have today to work with. This is a picture of all revenues. Um, I've highlighted

013year 2030 because that's not technically part of the financial forecast, but we're presenting it today so that we can adequately plan. Uh, fiscal year 2026, we have funding reduced and further reductions are expected in the years going out. Uh, the updated budget bill for school funding still included funding based on what it cost to educate students in 2022. Um it continues to update our local wealth factors which make our community look wealthier uh which is increasing our local share in that calculation. There's also a new base funding supplement and performance supplement payments uh that are included in 26 and 27. And so we won't have updated uh payment reports for a while from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Um but we do have a calculator that we're using for these estimates. We had

014a one-time transfer in. I I just want to highlight this because it looks a little like an anomaly on the forecasted revenues. Um in 2025, that was part of we had transferred money out into a capital projects fund to combined with the bond issue that was on the ballot last November to be a no new millillage. When last November's ballot issue wasn't successful, we transferred that money back into the general operating fund because we're seeing deficit spending and we didn't get additional operating dollars as part of that. So that is showing as a revenue, but it's not really a revenue for the general fund. Revenue uncertainty, state funding continues to be extremely unstable and uncertain. Um, you know, going back all the way to 2020, we had significant cuts made in 2020 and 2021. We

015had a new funding formula that came into play in 2022 and 2023 that wasn't fully funded. Uh, the formula, the funding formula continued in 24 and 25, still not form fully funded. Our funding was significantly reduced in fiscal year 25 compared to fiscal year 24. We're now in fiscal year 26, if anybody's keeping track. uh funding formula for 26 and 27 continues to use the the old outdated costs, the 2022 costs and update those local wealth factors, increasing our local share. And this forecast also includes new bianium budgets for 28 and 29 and then again for 2030 and 31. Homestead and rollback reimbursements continue to be up for debate with the legislature. the state let the state picks up a portion of property taxes for um senior citizens and disabled residents for homestead exemptions and

016the schools are reimbursed for that. And then there was a um reimbursement and exemption back that went away for all new levies after 2013 for people for residential properties and people who lived in their in that property. So owner occupied properties. Uh we continue to see reimbursement from the state for those exemptions. Um but it is continually coming up for debate about whether the state is going to continue to reimburse schools for those dollars along with property taxes. Um that continues to be a topic of conversation with the state legislature. We're very thankful to the governor for vetoing some very dangerous provisions that he vetoed as part of the benium budget that would have decimated school districts around the state, not just ours. Uh the governor's work group, he's created a work group. They're currently

017working on uh some property tax reform and they're meeting now. I think they're supposed to have their report out by the end of what next week maybe. Um in addition to that, there's several bills. Last time I counted, it was 17 pending that are being debated by the current general assembly, the 136 that would affect property taxes in some ways. When we talk about the decreased uh state share of funding, so the state looks at our local community, they look at our local property wealth and our resident income and they compare us to the other 610 public schools around the state. And at we as we continue to look wealthier as a community, the state says that our community should pay more towards the cost of educating students. In 2021, our state share was 43%.

018Today it's about 18%. We're in fiscal year 26. By next year we're estimated to be around 11% based on the current benium budget. When I talk about the instability of state funding, what I'm talking about is the state updating this calculation for that state share that makes our community look wealthier, but they're keeping those costs the same. They're saying, "What does it cost to educate a student?" And then what's the state share? What's the local share? I wanted this is a lot of numbers on a slide in a table here. So for just kind of bear with me for a minute if you will. Um I wanted to kind of highlight just how unstable this is for us. So from fiscal year 24 coming into fiscal year 25 both years used those 2022 cost inputs

019but our state share calculation dropped uh by 7%. So, as you can see on this slide, as you can see on this slide, um, our total enrolled ADM and I just want to mention enrolled ADM for the purposes of our payment reports count students in fractional amounts. It doesn't include our preschool students. A half day kindergarten student would be counted for like a half of a student. And um, as kids enroll and leave the district, it counts kids as fractional amounts. So our enrollment is around 14,600 our our official enrollment count but for the purposes of the payment report it uses enrolled average daily membership numbers. So our total for the purposes of base funding from 24 to 25 looking at the June number two payments and they update these every uh twice a month

020um for our payment reports. We gained about 99 students and the calculated funding decreased by about $6.7 million. And then we have all of these categorical add-ons on top of that base cost. And so for special education, we gained about 148 students in that category. Um, and the calculated funding decreased by over $700,000. And you can see what it looks like for the rest of those categories for funding. Now, this wasn't our ultimate funding because after this, the state did a whole calculation on we're only phasing in a portion of the overall funding formula. it got really complicated to put on a slate. So, I just I just want to show um try to show what this looks like when we talk about how our school funding is unstable. Um this is something that we're

021dealing with constantly as the state continues to not update the funding formula appropriately with the appropriate inputs. So looking at looking at our calculated state funding for fiscal year 26 versus 25. I know this is really hard to see. So I did this really cool zoom thing. Um so you can see for uh fiscal year 25 which was our actual we were at about 38.9 million. And this year according to the calculator that we have available again I don't have updated payment reports it's just an estimate. We're at about 37.6 million. And that was what was in the Legislative Services Commission's um estimates that they did for the uh general assembly when they were finalizing the state budget bill. So that's a reduction of about $1.3 million overall. That's revenues. Now looking at expenses, uh

022the district continues to see increases annually with inflation. We're all dealing with inflationary increases. Uh this forecast includes the reductions that we've already made and we'll talk uh some about those. And then uh it also includes a one-time transfer out as we're thinking about the instability of our funding that we get from the state and trying to make sure that we have programs and services in place um without having to make significant cuts for our students and those programs. uh the board transferred out in order to appropriately reserve funds uh for certain resources and we also reduced expenses out of the general fund as part of that transfer. And so just to highlight a good example of this because you can see it in this line like capital outlay a lot of technology and things

023like that. We're ba basically zeroing that expense out of this general fund and we're going to pay for it out of that other reserve fund that the board's created. And the reason why we took this approach is because as part of all of this conversation around the state budget and property taxes and what everything looks like um we had a lot of lawmakers that were suggesting the transfers. Uh this is a quote from an an AB6 ABC6 interview um that aired on April the 28th. Uh state rep Dave Thomas. He's out of Ashtabula. um says that districts can move money from their general funds into specific reserve accounts meant for something like a roof or a school bus. And he said you either should be reserving it towards something future some future purpose for the

024voter or it shouldn't be in your account. Uh these reserve accounts include termination benefits fund which is basically to account for funds to pay for required severance payments. Under Ohio law, we are required to pay severance payments to our employees upon separation for leave that they've earned and accumulated that hasn't been used. Um, and then also capital projects fund, and that's to help account for uh various items that we would need under capital projects that might include motor vehicles or anything of a fixed asset. >> Yeah, Miss Marshall. Um, just because not everybody is in fund accounting every day. >> Yes. >> Um, thank you. So with the general fund, can you just give uh everyone just a quick overview of, you know, I think it's probably pretty clear, but what that means and that

025these other funds like we can't just go making them up, right? >> Right. Yeah. So we have um very specific accounting funds that we can create and can have. The general operating fund is just that. It's our general fund. So, anything um most of our property tax revenue that we get, the state funding, all of that goes into that. Our other funds are considered restricted funds. So, they're it's revenues that are set aside and allocated for a specific purpose. The general account can be used to pay for anything that is a proper public purpose just like the rest of our funds. Um but it doesn't have any restrictions on what those funds can be used on. If we want to pay for school buses out of the general fund, we can. If we want to

026pay for um to build a new building out of a general fund, we can. Uh but this allows us to allocate funds for specific purposes. And as the lawmakers were talking, um, they feel like if we're paying for some of these things out of the general fund, tech, let's take technology for example, that that's not being transparent to our taxpayers, and that we should have these in the we should have these dollars set aside in a reserve account so that everybody knows that we plan to pay for these things out of this reserve account for that specific purpose. And so that's the idea behind this, I think. >> Thank you. So, austerity measures, uh, we'll talk a little bit more about this during the work session, but, um, what we looked at was rescending that

027capital projects fund and transferring back the $30 million originally allocated for facilities projects that we had combined with the bond issue. Uh, we reduced fiscal year 2025 budgets by $4.8 million. We reduced current projected budgets for curriculum and technology by over 2.4 million. We absorbed over 30 positions this school year um in this school year alone for a savings of over of over 3.3 million and that's an annual savings. And then we eliminated transfer out. We were setting aside money um through transfers to the permanent improvement fund for turf replacement to save up and we eliminated that transfer out of the general fund. As we do with every forecast, we have a lot of uncertainty in our expenses and what those might look like. And um I can't stress enough that these are estimates that

028we have today. Uh but we continue to look at staffing needs, the educational needs of our students, the economy, and inflation. Uh state mandates are a real thing that happens pretty much every time we turn around. And then health care costs. You'll see tonight um the board has a resolution to uh adopt our pre our health insurance premiums um that dental and vision as well. Um but we're looking at a 13.8% increase in our medical premiums because the cost of claims and cost of health care has just grown so much. And so we continue to keep an eye on all of those things. So this looks a little wonky. Um that's a technical term by the way. Uh so this is this shows our revenues and expenses during the forecast period. So we have fiscal

029year 23 24 25 actuals. Uh the green line is our revenues for actuals and then the projected are 26 through 30. And then the red line are our expenses. And then the blue bar is our um unreserved ending fund balance for our general fund. Uh we continue to see a gap in our revenues and expenses. And I do just want to highlight those uh peaks there are from those transfers that we talked about um not actual changes in revenues and expenses. And then we also had esser funds during this time that we were paying for other we were paying for some expenses that were normally paid out of our general fund. Um we were paying for them out of the er funds which were COVID relief dollars that we received during the COVID pandemic. And

030so all of those expenses have slowly been coming back to the general fund over that time. And so that included uh some of that as well. If I take out uh the transfers because it looks a little noisy to me um and just look at revenues over expenses. When we talk about the district is operating in a deficit, what we're saying is that our revenues are not keeping up with our with inflation and the expenses that we have. And so, um this just is that same graph showing the difference between revenues and expenses year-over-year. So in 2025, our expenses re exceed exceeded our revenues by 8.3 million. In 2026, this year we're projected to be around 12 million. And then next year we're projected to be around 18 million. And that deficit continues to grow

031without additional revenue or significant reductions in expenses. And that is my forecast presentation. >> Thank you. Um I know we've talked a little bit about this in the past, but for the purposes of this meeting tonight, I think it's important to remind ourselves about it and I know there's been some conversations about the federal funding that we received. We were lucky to be able to get that, you know, after they froze it the first day before school started. What can you remind us what we've heard from our our um state reps about what they're thinking about for the federal funding, too? So, we get around $8 million in federal funding, and that money is used for things like reading and math instruction, um professional development for staff, supports for some of our students with specialized

032needs. Um, and we are very concerned, you've probably heard the talk that if they shut down the US Department of Education, they're going to send the money to the state and block grants. And in talking with one of our legislators recently, I specifically asked again because this has come up multiple times, um, if we can count on getting that same amount of funding because we have a lot of things that we are counting on paying for out of that money. And the answer was, let's just say, led me to believe that may not be the case. So just concerned um and I just shared if that money were to be diverted away from our public schools that those would be additional revenue gaps that we would be facing in addition to the reduction we've seen

033in our state funding. >> And in terms Thank you. And in terms of state funding, can you remind us how much we've been underfunded? I think you in this slide you've shown since 2022 or 2020 I know you've >> the state shares dropped it would be 25% by this year and then it's projected to drop another 7% next year based on the current budget that's been approved. >> Do you know that in the terms I I know you've told me this number before but what is that in terms of millions? So, we're receiving about uh nearly $8 million less this year compared to what we were receiving in 2021. >> And over the years, that's >> over years it grows to be it's over $45 million. >> Thank you. That's >> Thank you, >> Miss

034Marshall. Would you mind going back one slide to the revenues and ex revenues versus expenses? Yes. So, one of the things that um I'm hoping you can just explain to people is when you look at those revenues and they look really flat, right? A lot of times people say, "Well, you know, my property was reassessed, my taxes went up, the schools must be getting a lot more money." But that green line is pretty darn flat. So, can you just explain why that's the case? >> So, it's flat one because our state funding continues to be declining. Um, we know what the state budget looks like for fiscal year 26 and 27. Uh, we have, um, so every six years our properties are reappraised, a full reappraisal, and that last the last full reappraisal was done

035in 2023. And we've talked at length about that. Um, you know, we're House Bill 920 district, which means as on voted levies, as values go up, tax rates go down. So the revenue that the district receives remains relatively the same. We don't see a lot of growth on property taxes. We have a small portion um it's 3.8 mills of like around 3940 ms that we collect that's called inside millillage set by the state constitution and that never changes. So we see a little bit of growth from that. Uh the other thing that we see growth from is new construction if it's not been abated for economic development or something like that. So um that's our opportunity to receive new growth on revenue is through new new construction or that inside millillage. So as state funding

036uh so we have another update year for uh values coming in 2026. They reappraise every six years do an update every third year in between. um we're not projected to see a huge growth in the overall um property tax because of that because we don't have any new property tax levies on the horizon and um we know that it's only a small portion. We're actually seeing when we talk about new construction, we're actually seeing the opposite of growth on um revenue because of uh board of revision changes that happen. Um right now uh you know when the county went back and did its mass reappraisal in 2023 how they valued some commercial properties um some of those businesses are coming back and saying hey wait a minute I my property lost value because of COVID

037and all these other things and they're adjusting um which is a straight revenue loss to the district when those get adjusted down and so um it's something we keep an eye on. Um, but that's why when we look at this going out, if we see growth in property taxes without a new levy, um, without a new property tax levy specifically, we don't really see a lot of growth, enough to make that grow on that graph. Um, especially when we have the state declining revenue um, on top of that. >> Now, thank you. So just like to underscore that the percentage of the share that the state's giving continues to drop but I know it's really confusing the difference you know when we talk about millage and inside mills and outside mills the inside or the

038nonvoted mills it's it's about a tenth of our millillage right now that's inside mills so you know for example on someone's house about a about a tenth of it is >> going to increase over time right it's because you're collecting a percentage on that tenth Yeah, >> the other 90% you're not collecting a percentage on. It's a capped dollar amount when you look across the district. Now, individual taxpayers might see things go up or down, but as a district, >> yeah, as a district, we don't see growth on those voted mills because of that. >> But I think it's important to note that individually you might see a difference in your taxes because your tax bill will change depending on how much your property value grew compared to the average. Um, so for example, the

039the 2023 reappraisals in Franklin County, on average, residential values went up by 38%. And so what this means is that if your value grew by more than 38%, you likely saw an increase in your tax bill. If your value grew by less than 38%, you likely saw a decrease in your tax bill. And Franklin County said that 30% of people who own homes in our district actually saw a decrease in their tax bill because of the 2023 reappraisals. Now, that means 70% saw either a little saw some of an increase or a lot of an increase, right? Um, and it's just shifting who's paying that depending on how values changed. And I have a whole presentation on that if anybody's ever interested in seeing it. >> Um, it's very confusing and I think the whole

040conversation around property taxes, and I try to stress this to our lawmakers, is that um, schools have what's known as the 20 mil floor. So what that means is as values go up, tax rates go down, but they won't go below 20 mills. So we're at about 39 mills right now. They won't go below 20 mills. There's over 400 school districts in the state that are at the 20 mil floor. So if I'm a district at a 20 mil floor, then if my values go up by 30%, my revenue is going up by 30%. We are not one of those districts, but there's over 400 districts in the state that are experiencing that and people are rightfully losing their minds over their tax bills going up by 30% or whatever it is. And so that's

041the conversation that I think the state's um focused on the most is that 20 mil floor and what that looks like. Uh but a lot of these districts are districts that haven't been on the ballot for years and years and years. Um, and so it's it's a tough conversation to have right now, but I think that's why people are looking so closely at this because of the way the values have changed. >> Yeah, thank you for going through that. And she does have a great presentation. So, um, everyone everyone I hear, if you're ever interested, but I just think it's really important to understand um, again because people think, oh my, you know, I was reappraised, it went up, the schools are getting a lot more money. that that's just not the case. >> Yeah.

042>> So, thank you. >> Hey, um I thank you so much for that as well. I if you don't mind, I want to take us back to slide nine regarding the unstable state funding formula because something that comes up a lot, at least certainly for me, is questions regarding enrollment. Are we seeing an increase? Are we seeing a decrease? Obviously, we know that the needs of our students just continue to skyrocket. Can you speak to us a little bit about enrollment, what we're actually seeing here in Westerville? Yeah. So, um, so we saw a slight drop in enrollment during CO and our enrollment overall has been relatively stable since. So, our official enrollment number is the October, the first week of October. We call it the October count. It's a whole thing um that's been

043around forever. That's the number that we use as our official enrollment number. There's no shortage of um enrollment numbers if you look on the Department of Education and Workforces site. Uh so they have we have the enrolled ADM here that we use as part of the payment reports which only counts fractional amounts. Um we also have the they use a weighted enrollment number which counts students as more than one. So if they fall under some of these categories they could count as much as four times a student. And so when you look at our overall weighted student number, um, we've seen growth in the specialized learning areas that sort of those categorical add-ons that we're looking at here. And I do want to point out with this, this is a snapshot in time. And I

044and I know we talk about this, but this payment report is updated twice a month, and these numbers change on every payment report. So, this is comparing our final payment reports for um fiscal year 24 and fiscal year 25, which is where we landed for the year. But if you look at these reports today, it won't look anything like some of this because it changes and shifts. So, I'll be able to compare um this data with June of 206 data once we get there. um I just didn't have that for this current year to compare to. But yeah, it's um while our enrollment as a whole isn't changing significantly, the um categories that students fall into um for specialized learning has grown significantly um over time. >> So we're seeing growth, but we're seeing a

045decrease in investments at the state and at the federal level. >> Yeah. as as the state I mean our school funding model is designed that it is a shared responsibility between the state and the local community and it is designed that as our community looks wealthier the state picks up less and the local community picks up more. Um the problem with our unstable formula is that the state isn't updating those cost inputs. We just want them to look at they've done lots of cost studies. All of these categories, special education, disadvantaged peoples, English learners, gifted, career tech, they have cost studies on every single one of these. They know how much it costs to educate. But all of these amounts, those dollar amounts are calculated on some arbitrary number that someone's come up with somewhere,

046not using the actual cost cost studies that they've done. And the same thing for base funding. Um, they're just not using the cost studies that they've done. and they're not using them because they've acknowledged they don't have the funding to fully fund that. So, they're doing more of this residual funding. >> Yeah. >> So, I have a point of clarity or clarification. Uh I've heard from state lawmakers that that schools I'm using I'm saying schools received more money uh this year than last in total. But when we define schools, we're defining not just public but private and charter in the voucher system. So has the public schools received a larger share uh versus previous years or is that all going to charter? Is it being divided equally? Are we are we receiving proportionately more or

047proportionally less? Um so we are so o overall total traditional public schools are receiving a little bit more but it's like a little over 1% versus uh private schools are seeing a little over 9%. Charter schools are seeing I think close to 7%. So it's um if you if you're comparing it relative to the overall student population, no it's not comparable. um they're receiving significantly more. And there are several traditional public schools like ours that's seeing a decrease in state funding. And you're right, when they talk about historic investments in education, they're talking about um their overall primary and secondary education budget, which includes chartered schools, uh private schools, JVSDs, like all of the things along with traditional schools. Um something that we keep hearing about is uh you know why TNG seems to be

048do you know doing this and could you talk about how what schools were comparable to actually and and why we're comparable to those schools rather than like the ones that are directly >> close to us. >> Yeah. So, um the DIS the Department of Education and Workforce has a similar district kind of um list that they compare us to and they compare us to districts uh based on student demographics that have the same sort of makeup as us. Um sometimes it's it's not really based on geographical area, but just more like what do our student how do our students show up to us every day. Um Oland Tangi is not on the list of similar districts. But the other thing I do want to say is if you look at Tangi's expenditure per pupil because

049this is one that keeps coming up um we are pretty close to them overall uh if we look at the weighted per pupil amount which is on the which is on the report card from the state um they're actually higher than we are um but if you look at the overall expenditure for pupil that doesn't weight students I think we're just a little bit higher than they are and so um but they are not a compar terrible district. And I I also want to say when we're talking about state averages and you know the funding formula and all that, it does not take into account um geographical location for markets and things like that. Um you know, we have healthcare costs for central Ohio that we have to contend with. So do the other districts

050around us. Um but when we're comparing us to districts outside of central Ohio, it's difficult to compare to as well. Um but yes, uh we're not um comparable to PNG or New Albany or upper Arlington or Beexley or any of those. >> So the ones in our area that the state compares us to are typically Pickerington, Gahana, Worthington, and Hillyard. >> Yes. >> We try to look at those a little more closely. >> Thank you. And then I just I have one other question just as a followup to what um my colleague Miss Alman asked about and you had mentioned that during COVID um well they did these I'm sorry the county did these reappraisals and businesses had lost some value during COVID. So what happens when they come they go to the board and

051through those reappraisals and um they found that they have lost some value. Do we have to pay that money back? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, normally if a property owner will file with the board of revisions, um, and we mostly just look at commercial property, if a property owner files with the board of revisions, uh, they there will be a hearing, a period of time, they pay their tax bill during that time. And so like one case that we're dealing with right now is um a couple years out, I think three years actually. And um it's a refund of about $730,000 back to the business um because their value was adjusted appropriately. So um they have, you know, um appraisals that they've had done and all of that. We've had attorneys take a look at it

052and they are we are working on uh slowly phasing in the new value to help minimize the loss to the school district. Um which I appreciate them doing but it's um it's a significant I mean that's you know 730,000 that's going back to the property owner which it should but it shouldn't have been collected in the first place and those rates aren't aren't going to be adjusted because of that because of the timing. You know what I mean? So, >> thank you. So, it just makes it a little bit harder to to have stabilization in our funding and and forecasting. So, >> and the other thing I'll say too is that the state of Ohio has made it significantly harder and added a lot more bureaucracy for us to even be able to pay attention

053to those property values. Um, it continue they just continue to make it harder and harder for us to be part of those conversations. Um, I don't know, Miss Hamburg, maybe this is something for you to address, but when we talk about um enrollment, right, one thing that, you know, I hear is, well, if the enrollment went down, I'm just going to make this up. If if we lost a hundred elementary school students, we should be able to cut four elementary classes, right? But the way we are we are constructed as a district that's not how it works because those students are spread across a lot of buildings. So can you just talk about how that works and how we pay attention to that? >> Yes, thank you. So we have 15 elementary schools. So we

054actually lost between 6 and 700 total students across the district. Um we have 25 sites that actually have students. And so when you look at over a thousand classrooms and you divide those students out, you're looking at less than one student per classroom. So if they were all concentrated in one area, then that would work. But when we're trying to spread them out over um the entire geography of our district, it really doesn't result in a significant savings. Now, we do look every year, and we've had these conversations at previous meetings. We look at our enrollment every year and sometimes we get late move outs or late moveins and we have to make tweaks even after school starts. But we are looking every year to see, you know, um could we reduce a teacher at

055a grade level in this building? Do we need to add one at a grade level in this building? And we're constantly looking to balance that. And I'll just use elementary as an example because we have so many buildings. Um having lots of small elementarymentaries is a beautiful thing for culture for kids. There's lots of research around the type of environment that our staffs are able to create when it's a smaller school like that. The that's the pro. The con is you're constantly trying to balance staffing across. So if you had just maybe four or five huge elementarymentaries, um it's really easy to adjust third grade staffing. But when you look at third grade across 15 buildings that have third grade, it becomes really challenging to maintain those ratios. So we don't see across a thousand

056classrooms in the district um huge changes where we're able to reduce a teacher because of enrollment decline. We certainly would do that. Um we don't keep them just to keep them, but you know it's it's challenging and sometimes decreasing them would make the class sizes really really big in that building, but keeping one makes them smaller than we would like. So we're constantly looking at that piece. >> Thank you. Because that's at this is where different districts are different, right? You look at a district like New Albany where they have more of that sort of consolidated grade level schools, right? >> They just have one building per grade band. So they all of their third grades in one school. So it's a lot easier to just say we need one more third grade or we

057need one less versus we may need one more third grade teacher in eight buildings. We may need one less third grade teacher in three buildings and the rest stay the same. So that's what we're constantly looking at. It's very different from like in New Albany. us. Thank you for talking that through. >> Uh, one final question for me. When we we've heard about unfunded mandates, uh, things that uh, passed through law that the school is required to then offer uh, to its students and staff. Could you just give a few examples of what uh what those look like and some things that have come down over the past four or five years that uh we're expected uh by law now to to do both from educational side and then how that affects staffing and things

058along those lines. >> Yeah. So, um, one example we gave, uh, when we were talking about the state budget was, um, financial literacy, like that was a new requirement that came down, um, and you know, that was about a half a million dollars cost that we had to talk about, science of reading. Um, there was a lot of professional development and different things that went into that and curriculum development and all of those. The, uh, one that I can think of, which is most recent, is uh, the cell phone ban, right? like um that that takes people and resources uh to make sure that kids don't have their cell phones during the school day. >> I could speak to that even um in stopping in the buildings. There was one day where one of the

059high school assistant principles shared that she had taken 51 phones that day. >> Yeah. >> Um hopefully, you know, that's settling down as kids are getting used to that. But those are the types of things that, you know, we all agree that less distractions on phones in the classroom is a wonderful thing. Um, but then when we hear, well, why do you need so many assistant principles? Because they're also trying to do all their other jobs, take care of the discipline and and evaluate teachers and and manage the lunchroom and all the other things that they need to do, and now they're running around dealing with cell phones because it's a law. We don't have a choice. So that would be an example of you don't think of a cell phone ban as having a

060cost to it, but it's definitely diverting resources from from other things. >> Great. Thank you so much, Nicole. Really appreciate that. Um, next up we have a May I have a motion to um suspend Robert's rules of order? So moved. >> Second. >> Would you please take the vote? >> Mrs. Leean, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mr. Heckleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. Um, thank you, Miss Marshall. And now we're going to enter into our work session. >> Thank you. And I've invited um our our three chief officers to join us up here to help with sharing some information. So, I'd like to welcome Mark Cooper, our chief academic officer, Carrie Dennis, our chief operations officer, and Scott Reeves, our chief policy and personnel officer.

061And they're going to help share some of the information that we've put together for you tonight. Um, and board members, you should have this presentation to be able to follow along, and it'll be up on the screen behind us. But we have been looking at um if we were not to be successful with the ballot issue in November um what would that look like in terms of recommendations for reduction. So we're going to talk about kind of the process we went through what we looked at and then what we're recommending to you this evening obviously work session. So feel free to jump in as we go and we'll just try to guide that conversation. And so we're going to start if uh Nicole you could go ahead and pull up that next slide. So we

062wanted to start with just some level setting because when we start throwing around amounts and numbers, we've talked a lot about different dollar amounts this evening and we kind of want to put that into scale for you. So just a little bit of information there about our district um for those who may not be as familiar. So we have around 14,600 students. We currently operate three high schools. traditional high schools, uh, five middle schools, 15 elementary schools, which includes two of our magnet schools. We have an early learning center, preschool. We also have some preschool classrooms that are at one of our elementaryaries because we've outgrown the space there at our early learning center. Uh, we also have an academic enrichment center. This is an alternative learning center that's located across from South High School

063where students are able to do credit recovery and acceleration. And we have over 2,000 employees that service all of those students. And then just a little bit of context there on the right side of that slide, we have a $229 million operating budget. Uh we transport 96 total bus routes which drive over 1.4 million miles annually. We also have 22 total van routes that drive over 300,000 miles annually. We serve over 1.2 million school lunches each year and over 500,000 breakfast. So just again a little bit of scale and and size context for you as we kind of have these conversations. And so Nicole's going to give us a little bit of background just on um our I'm going to call it financial validity here for what we're saying and then we'll kind of get

064into where we're headed with the recommendations. >> Yeah. So um I I think that it's important to understand that this district really does have a commitment to financial accountability. Um I spent seven years working for the state auditor's office and you hired me. So uh there's that. But no, I did seriously I worked seven years for the state auditor's office from 2005 to 2012. And um you know I come to work every day knowing that we are entrusted with tax dollars uh entrusted by our public to spend their tax dollars appropriately, efficiently um and all the things that go along with that. Uh the question we ask all the time is is it a proper public purpose? Does it make sense? Like that's that's what we go by, right? Um and with that the auditor

065of states award uh with distinction the district's earned it for 13 consecutive years. That predates me. I've only been around about going on eight years now. Um and uh you know when we had Scott Brown here, he said that he'd like to recognize the board, administration, and finance department. Uh would like to recognize the board, administration, and finance department. They've done an outstanding job watching over every dollar. and that was at our April 21st um 2025 board meeting. Uh about 4% of the public entities in Ohio, it's over 6,000 entities that are audited by the state actually receive this award every year. So that's a that's a real feat for this district to have been able to earn that for going on 13 consecutive years now. Um, and we um, Moody's our bond rating. I

066I wanted to calculate what the savings was for this and I wasn't able to get that in time for this meeting, but the district was upgraded from a double A2 to double A1 I think around 2016. And that is a big deal. That is real dollars saved for um our community who pays taxes as that when we go out and issue bonds um which we did in 2020 in order to uh build our new schools down in the southern part of the district and all of that. Um that's real savings in terms of interest rates and investors that are willing to buy those bonds. And um we continue to have conversations with lawmakers around them talking about messing with property taxes um because property taxes are such a reliable source of revenue. Uh that risks

067what our rating will look like with some of these credit rating agencies. And so um but we are double A1 and we're very proud of that. Uh we continue to be rated every year. they update that rating and we continue to stay at that double A1 which is um a just a great thing to have. And then we work with the government finance officers association. We receive their certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. Uh they review all of our financial reports every year. They send us comments and um we have a little plaque in our office. But um it's a great program that we um have been part of for a long time and we continue to receive that award. We also have a commitment to transparency. Uh I think coming into this

068district and you know I'll credit Greg Bbrance who was our executive director of communications um before he retired. Uh but our communications team I am the keeper of records according to all the things. Uh but our communications team really does a lot of work um behind and our IT team. Shout out to Stiffler in the back for all the email searches I have him do on a regular basis to respond to records requests. Um but they do a great job of uh really keeping up with public information requests that we have. Uh the auditor's office recognized the importance of um good public records policies and procedures and they created a new award back in the 2019 2020 fiscal year. And our district has received all of the stars um for that stars rating system since

069its inception. and we continually be commended be commended by the auditor's office for having such a great um process and transparency in our community. So moving on with that um I want to talk a little bit about austerity measures. So uh we keep getting the question what have we done? Um, this is a lot of the same information from the previous slide that was in the forecast, but we reduced the fiscal year 2025 budgets by 4.8 million. We reduced current and future budgets for curriculum and technology by over 2.4 million. We absorbed over 30 positions for fiscal year 26, which is our current year, um, with an over 3.3 million annual savings. And we eliminated that transfer out to the permanent improvement fund. the $4.8 million budget reduction. I get that question a lot, like

070what did that include? We postponed K5 math curriculum updates. Uh we postponed replacement of access control cards for entry doors. So like what we scanned into the building with. Um we postpone software updates for routing software for school buses. We reduce transportation costs. We con we reduce contract services and repairs for facilities. We reduced professional development for staff. We reduced instructional software available for students and staff. We reduced instructional supplies that weren't funded through school fees. We reduced planned school resource officer additions at our elementary. We had planned on adding additional school resource officers at some of our elementary schools. And so we reduced those. We reduced professional technical services. So design services um which helps us design and work on some of the facilities needs that we have. And then we reduce services for

071software on policy updates. So we work with Miola um and we reduce what those services look like in order to have a savings. We reduce technology purchases for individual devices. So when you think about h making sure that every child has a device in the classroom, the onetoone initiative that we were working on, we put that on hold and reduced that. We reduced purchases for audiovisisual equipment updates. Um, so those really cool uh screens that you see in some of the classrooms, uh, we had planned to try to put those in all of the classrooms and we haven't been able to get there. Uh, we reduced reports that were normally produced to help inform our community about different things that are not required. So the example I give here is the popular annual financial report.

072It's probably some of your favorite reading, but um, it's expensive. It's expensive to produce it and it's expensive to mail it out to our entire community and so we reduce that from our budget. So those are probably not all-encompassing. I'm sure I missed a few things, but that's a big list of um what that $4.8 million entailed. >> Thank you. When you you look at some of the the positions that we were able to absorb over the the last year, over 30 positions were absorbed, which means they were not replaced. Most through attrition, meaning when someone retired or when someone resigned, we did not replace those positions. And you can see seven administrative positions, 17 teaching staff positions, and nine support staff positions. And to be clear, the responsibilities of those positions were not that

073we did not replace. Those responsibilities didn't go away. They were added to the responsibilities of someone else. Kind of like Miss Hamburg mentioned with the administrators and chasing down cell phones meant they were not doing something else. When you're adding the responsibilities of other staff members, then the timeliness and the attention to the quality of service that you get sometimes are compromised. So this is um the same slide that we saw on the forecast and just a reminder of what we're targeting here is that revenue shortfall. So, we're looking at what is our current projected revenues and what are our projected expenses and what are those differences? Where is that deficit? As we plan for the current year and the next two fiscal years, um it's averaging to where we need to be at about

074a $20 million reduction if we don't see additional revenues. Um, and we'll have to start having that conversation about looking at beginning in fiscal year 2027 in order to make up. And should we be successful in November, um, the timing of income taxes, we wouldn't see full collections until 2028 um, with those income taxes and the timing and h how all of that works. And so I just want to be mindful of um when we're thinking about the deficit that we have, we are required to have a balanced budget and without additional revenue, we have to start making some we have to have conversations around reducing our expenses. So I think everyone here is aware we do have a ballot issue on the November 4th ballot for an earned income tax that would generate 24.3

075million approximately. We are looking at again as Nicole said kind of averaging that out if we're not successful. So we put the ballot issue on hopefully that will be successful but we're trying to plan um for the situation if it were to not be successful. So, if that ballot issue does not pass and we don't see additional revenue, we need to reduce our general fund expenses. And Nicole's talked a lot tonight between the forecast and the slides we just looked at on what those general funds look like. We would need to reduce our expenses. So, the rest of this is really going to focus on then what would that look like? What would we be recommending to reduce expenses? Scott already shared um the list we've reduced. That was only 3.3 million. I say only

076because we're looking at 20. So when you think about 33 positions being um 3.3 million, we've already reduced our budget significantly as Nicole went over. We've kind of trimmed out what we can there. And so really we're looking at um some things that are that are going to be I'm just going to say a little more painful and a little more impactful in the classroom. So, the positions that we tried to absorb after the first failure last year, we really tried to do um service positions like Scott said where people can pick up the work. It's still getting done. Um maybe not noticing it a lot at a classroom level, but we've kind of cut what we can in that area. Um so now, as we talk about an additional 20 million, um this this

077list has not been fun to put together. So we've had a lot of dialogue about how to do that and what that looks like. If you could go to the next slide and kind of what we were looking at. So we started with our mission to prepare students to contribute to the competitive and changing world in which we live and the process our team went through is we started with what are the legal requirements and I really want to emphasize that because some of the things we talk about are things that I am very passionate about. They're things that some of your children are very passionate about. other things that we know help children have a rich experience in our school district, but they're maybe not required. So, we started with what are we legally

078required to do. We also looked at graduation and college requirements. So, as we go through these lists, you will see that the um elementary and middle schools are a little more impacted because there are less requirements at those levels than what we have at the high school level with our graduation and college requirements. And then we looked at, you know, what are the things we have in place that help us remove barriers to learning for students? And then finally, what do we want students experiences to look like? And I will tell you, there are some things on this list that would, were they to be eliminated, greatly impact students experiences, but we could not keep them at the expense of something that's legally required. So, I just want to kind of say that on the

079front end. We'll emphasize that multiple times. And when you see this, I want you to know that nobody that gets into education thinks this is what we want school to look like. Um, but this is where we are with without additional revenue. All right. So, with that, we started with, if you could go to slide 11 there. Um, Mark's going to talk about this one. We started with our kind of extras. So, looking at the, um, extra and co-curriculars and and what we were able to do in that arena. So, part of what we're looking at here and and giving you a a graph of um looking at the expenses versus our pay to participate revenue from from the general fund. Specifically in that chart to the left there, the pay to participate fees currently

080at the middle school level uh for the first sport is $90 for the pay to participate. A second sport comes at a discounted rate of $60 and then the third sport at $0. Um but at the high school level, $180 for the first sport, $90 for the second sport, and the third sport doesn't have a cost to it uh for pay to participate. There's also a family cap of $360 for a family. So if a family has multiple athletes at the middle school and high school level, they are capped at $360 for the pay to participate. If you look at that uh chart there on the right, you will see that um the staff and transportation costs seen in that blue bar for our athletics program on the left. That first uh blue bar shows

081that we spend uh just over $2.5 million per year for supplemental costs for staff as well as transportation costs. The pay to participate revenue for our athletics um is that orange bar. So just under $500,000 a year that we collect um on the pay to participate revenue. So there's quite a gap there between what is paid as well as then what is uh paid out or or the expenses of the district for staff and transportation costs in particular. Um, from a clubs and activities standpoint, you will see there that we we spend a little over $500,000 a year on supplementals for our clubs or activities across our buildings and that does not currently have a pay to participate um revenue with that there. So, there's no cost for pay to participate for the general fund.

082I do want to highlight a couple of things with these um with these pay to participate uh revenues or fees. Um, some clubs and activities do have fees tied to them. So there may be an honor society at a high school level or a club at at an elementary level that may come with a fee. That fee goes to the materials, the supplies, perhaps a field trip or something associated with a cost of that actual club. It does not go to paying the transportation or staff fees specifically. Um with our boosters, our athletic boosters are a huge support to our schools. They may have fees associated with the sports. Again, those go toward other parts of paying for um the sports uniforms, um experiences within the teams. They do not go toward paying the supplemental

083fees with the caveat that there are a couple of supplemental positions that are paid from the boosters. The boosters have asked specifically if they can pay for an additional coach or an additional advisor for um an athletics team. And with that said, um that is not accounted for in the blue bar nor in that orange bar. So the blue specifically is the district's general fund. What that costs versus the revenue that comes through uh from our pay to participate. >> We see that with our theater and music boosters as well. Correct. >> Yes. When we look at needing to make up um some of that gap uh as part of these measures, uh what we're hopeful for is that we don't have to eliminate teams and athletics. Um but to do that, we have to

084look at that gap being partially covered uh through these the estimated pay to participate revenue. So, the recommendation um that has been brought from this team to the board is that we look at the middle school as a per sport fee of $350. There is no discounted for the second or third sport and the family cap does go away under this proposal. At the high school level, the proposal is for a $500 per sport fee for pay to participate. Again, there is no discount for the second or third sports. It is $500 per sport and there is no family cap. On the per club or activity fee, we would um recommend a $25 per club or activity fee for the middle school level and $50 per club or activity for the high school. So, if

085there is a fee already collected through a boosters association or for part of the materials or supplies of that club, that could still continue. This is on top of that specifically for the general fund for payment of the supplementals for that supplemental pay for the advisors. I do want to note that um we are unfortunately in that position where uh we recognize that that discounted rate certainly helps our students uh potentially it provides opportunities where a student may have only played one sport but because there's a discounted rate or a third sport there's no cost that a student may have picked up an additional sport. We know sports brings so much to our kids from a standpoint of um being a part of a team, just the social aspects um you know having something to

086do um being at practice and and being with their teammates. Um but with with the need to close this gap um that is something that is being proposed here. The clubs and activities, same standpoint there. We we recognize that um you know for some $25 or $50 may seem pretty nominal. We know that that'll add up for students who then aren't able to participate in all the different clubs and activities that that they would have liked to. And for that, we know that there will be some some loss of opportunities for kids to just be connected with others. Um, with that said, these are the numbers. Uh, I will note with the club's activities, it doesn't look like a very large bar on the collection of revenue. You can see the athletics gap closing just

087because it is such a greater scale of um the supplemental staff and transportation costs. um because it's a lower cost for the club's activities. Again, we're not looking for either of those two groups to have to make up the full costs at this time, but we are looking for uh that gap to be closed uh from what is current. >> Um Mr. Ker, I have a a question. We keep talking about athletics, but this also would include band and theater and any of the related arts. >> Yeah. So, it's been part of the clubs and activities with those. Yes. Mr. Cooper, do you have a sense of what percent reduction we would have in participation in these from any other districts who have undergone similar measures or you know uh what that might look like?

088How >> Yeah, it is hard to tell. I will say uh Scott Ree has a little bit of history on this and and can probably speak to that a little bit better. Yeah, for those who um were around in 2011 2012 when we had to elevate our pay to participation fees in a similar situation, uh we saw approximately a 25% reduction in participation of students, especially in the spring where we were trying to capture students to play a second and or third sport. So, we did see approximately a 25% reduction in participation. So, um I'm just put together a running total on what the deficit. So, we're our target is that approximately $20 million um deficit and then the change with the pay to participate fees would reduce that deficit by about 1.3 million. I

089want to stress that these are estimated amounts that we're using here today and actual amounts will definitely differ. Um and we're as we're having conversations around staffing, we'll be looking at um doing whatever we can through attrition as we have retirements and resignations and things like that as well. And that's a piece um we were able to do a lot of that. Uh the state teachers retirement system at the last minute last spring dropped that um folks in a certain range could retire a year earlier. Um that is always a possibility. I know there's a big push to try to get that back to um 30 where it used to be. There's also some changes that came out of the budget bill legislatively that will change that makeup of that board as their terms expire.

090So, we look to see maybe some action there. So, there could be some changes that happen with retirement age requirements that impact what we're able to do. And that is um impactful because if somebody retires and we absorb the position typically somebody at the end of their career at that high end of the pay scale their salary would equal about two brand new people in that role. So it does impact how many people um what types of reductions we need to do. So just kind of keep that in mind as we go throughout the presentation. >> All right. I think that takes us to transportation then and Carrie. >> It does. So as we looked at this conversation, we started to talk about um transportation. So we currently provide um service to our community about

091a mile distance um for transportation from um home to school, sorry. Um what we would be looking at is expanding those non-transport zones. These are not walking zones to be clear. These are non-transport zones which means that that responsibility would fall on the families. Um also increasing the distance between bus stops. So the services that our community receives will um definitely have a change in the way that it looks today resulting in a minimum reduction of at least 14 routes. Um so we currently have 96 bus routes. So we would look at um at least 14 reduction. >> I'm sorry. Could you clarify what a non-transport zone is for those of us who aren't in? >> Yeah. So, uh a non-transport zone is that where in which the district is not responsible for providing transportation

092that um currently could go up to two miles. Um and we currently said about a mile just to be clear that does not have a reflection on a safe walking route to school. This is a non-transport zone which means transportation to and from school would be on the responsibility of the guardian. Um just a a quick question. It's my recollection that the state does not require us to transport high school students. That's correct. >> That is correct. And we had a lot of conversation around that directly. And at this time, given the makeup of our district, we are 52 square miles. 52 square miles. and where our high school buildings lie. That would be absolutely devastating to our student population um and their ability to get to and from school on a day-to-day basis. But

093that is also something that we did consider and would be allowable. It's just not something we're recommending at this time. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> And part of exactly what these route reductions look like would depend on what happens with these other items because all of that affects our transportation, too. So again, just keeping that running total um after subtracting out the co and extracurricular participate fee changes and then the transportation, we have a remaining deficit of about 17.7 million. Okay, so that takes us into recommendations moving forward. And I will say that um as we talk about staffing, our assumption is that these reductions would start with next school year. So we would not be looking to make them in the middle of the school year. If we were unsuccessful on the ballot

094in November, we would begin working through and planning all of these reductions for the following school year. I will tell you that um we did have a coordinator, for example, who took a job in the private sector and we're not filling that job right now. So there might be positions where someone leaves in the middle of the year and we have an opportunity to uh realize those savings and I say realize those savings but with that also that work has to go to some other people to do um it's one less person to do that. So with all of these positions, I just want to re-emphasize these are all positions that um people that are very busy and doing a lot of work and so their work would have to be picked up elsewhere and

095these would be uh overall we would be looking at starting them for next school year. So that would be the 26 27 school year. Um we've already eliminated seven administrative positions last year or for this current school year which is about 7%. we would be looking at adding up to another 10 positions. Um, the majority of those would be at the district level, but there could potentially be a few at the at the building level as well. And again, I just want to emphasize that um with those reductions, so if we would be looking at, as an example, an assistant principal at a at a building level or a special ed coordinator, whatever the case may be, those are all um positions that their work would have to go to someone else and it would

096impact the timeliness and the level of service that kids and families receive. So we'll be looking at up to 10 in administration and then next up is elementary school. >> So just note Angie mentioned the difficulty of walking through this and and coming up with these recommendations to the board and that that legal requirement um having been an elementary teacher and elementary principal myself. Uh very difficult to talk through this. >> I'm sorry it's it's kind of hard. I think we're having a little hard time hearing. Maybe others will too. So we can remember that there are other people. >> Is that better? Is that any better? Thank you. Sorry about that. Um, but I've just noted that as a former elementary teacher and elementary principal myself, talking through um what this looks like for

097an elementary student is is concerning and and quite honestly a catastrophic experience for our schools. But um nonetheless it is where we are with some things and the recommendations um being that we would propose eliminating art, music and physical education classes at the elementary level. Um as well as library media specialists. Um so this would be up to 44 positions in these areas. Um now with that we would u be looking to then also have to consider the reduction of time in the elementary student day um to all lot for the appropriate amount of time for planning for our teachers and um ensuring that um you know that that the students are able to get the work that they need but the teachers are able to get their time for the planning as well um

098as oftentimes teachers are planning during those those specialist times. Can you um Mr. Cooper talk about what is required by law for tying for elementary and what we're talking about here? >> Yeah. So, art, music and physical education are not required by law. Um nor are media specialists to have those. Again, um this is a I think kind of an expectation um that our community has and certainly districts around um certainly expect of of having these opportunities for kids. We know that um students get so much out of our art, music, and physical education classes. It's an opportunity for them to, you know, uh, in many cases shine their light and and and what makes them, uh, enjoy coming to school, quite honestly, uh, for some students. And so, at the end of the day,

099they're not required by law for elementary school. Uh, we are required to hold to certain, uh, class size limits, uh, across the the, um, elementary experience. Um, but art, music, and PE, physical education are not required. >> And how much would we You're talking a potential reduction of time in elementary student day. What does that look like? >> Yeah. So, currently the the state has hours requirements uh for the whole year that we meet those requirements. We do go beyond the required minimum of hours for the for the uh school year. It's approximately 10 to 15 days beyond 10 to 15 days worth of time that we go beyond um the hour requirement by the state. The state used to have a day requirement. They moved several years ago to an hours requirement. Our school

100day is long enough during each day times the the days that students are in session. Um in that if we were to look at a reduction of perhaps 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, we'd have to look at that number. Uh and certainly we would look at that information for the board um you know if if it is necessary after the ballot issue in November. Um but there is the potential of reduction of time that then would allow our teachers the appropriate amount of planning time as again they get that right now during those specials times. >> Thank you. And just so my math is right, when we say up to 44 positions, three elementary or 15 elementary schools, that effectively means that there would be no arts, no music, or no PE at the

101elementary level. Is that correct? >> That is correct. We currently have 36 um art, music, and physical education teachers at the elementary level. Uh so 12 teams of three essentially. Uh and then our library media specialist beyond that. >> So some of the buildings share coverage. Yes. >> And again when we're looking at up to um as we look at those dollar amounts again it would make a difference to as we start looking at this holistically if we have a surge in retirements or not in terms of dollar amounts. All right. Next up is our elementary magnet programs. And so, um, we would recommend that if we were not successful on the ballot that we evaluate our magnet programming. Currently, we have two buildings. Um, we would recommend due to the number of classrooms available

102that we look at, um, potentially combining those. Um, looking at perhaps not offering classes in both buildings um, to capture some efficiencies and costs of running a building. And what this would do for us is it would reduce the overall number, not what it would do for us, that's I'm not saying it like that's a positive, it's a negative. Um it would reduce the overall number of magnet seats that would be available overall in the program. Um with that, we would look at um putting those extra whichever building we would look at not having open, we would look at putting those kids back in their home schools and we would look at larger class sizes. um we we would anticipate having to add some sections across the district, but we don't think it would be

103a one for one that we could just make the classes bigger in some cases. Um but then we would be able to save some of the other positions that are needed in the building um by not having that extra building open. So essentially we would be um saving a lot the administrative office, those type of costs, custodial etc. And so we would recommend evaluating the two locations on where we could get the most uh efficiency and then look at reducing positions accordingly. We think we could capture up to 20 positions with that change. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Yep. Thank you. Um just to clarify, we have two really incredible magnet programs. One which last year was recognized as one of the best in the nation. Is that correct? So, that's two magnet

104programs that we're going to have very difficult conversations about. I just want to be very >> honest about that. >> And I I I just want to emphasize and I appreciate you saying that. Um that again um as we look at this, want to be clear that it's not a value judgment on the programming there. It's really about the efficiency and what's required at that point. >> And what is the what is the student enrollment between those two programs? >> Um you guys pull that up quick. We have that. I still have in front of me. It's let's say like Cheryl might have it quicker. We'll grab it. Just give us a second. You got it. >> When you look at the the student enrollment of Emerson and and Hanby, Emerson's approximately 230 uh and

105and Hanb's is a little bit bigger than that. So you're talking 500 maybe just a tad over 500 students. >> Carrie has the actual sheet up. That's great. >> So >> yes, I got it. Um the two together have a combined enrollment of 625. So Emerson at 253 and Handy at 372. All right, that takes us to middle school and I believe Mr. Reeves has that one. So, when you look at our middle school programming, um very much like the elementary programming, there aren't a lot of requirements both from a legal uh and graduation requirements for that. So, looking at up to 31 positions in our five middle schools, looking first at the core with math, reading, science, and social studies. And we know that in our seventh and eighth grade, uh, the class sizes

106are pretty full. And so to be able to achieve some reduction in the core areas, that would mean the elimination of sixth grade teameming, which would, um, allow an approximate savings of about eight uh, staff right there. U library media center specialists like at the elementary level. And then looking at the electives, there is a legal requirement uh at the middle school level for electives that we have to have a career technical option for students in both grades seven and 8. We currently do that with our engineering classes, our medical detectives classes. So you do not see those up there because we are legally required to have those. But just like the elementary schools, we would consider eliminating music, art, and world languages, which we have Spanish in the um in the eighth grade. And

107one of the lessons that we learned the last time when we made significant reductions from our middle level is for several years we sat with students having two, three study halls every day. And we're looking to avoid that. And the only really way to avoid that is to again reduce the number of instructional periods that we have. We currently have eight. So whether we go down to seven, whether we go down to six, depends on the depth of cuts we need to make. Um as well like the elementary, we would probably look at a reduction of the the student day and we would take a look at the hours that we have. Just like elementary, we're significantly over the minimum hours for the state, but we would look at what makes sense so that we

108could still endure if we had some snow days, some weather days, or other calamities like that. So, um, >> and we would that would be necessary with the amount of cuts we need to make to be able to get our teachers plan time again outside of the student day. Um, but having been a former middle school principal, I I could see where that was probably pretty catastrophic. First of all, terrible that the kids don't have those courses, but putting middle schoolers in study hall for that large of a chunk of the day is just asking for discipline issues. Um, so I would not recommend that. I think it would make sense to lengthen the time they have in their core classes and shorten their day overall so that we would not be um having them

109sitting idally in study halls all day. Um, I know this has been talked about before and I think my daughter was coming into middle school when it was starting to come back, right? But can you talk about the a little bit about the length of time? Remember the 2011 >> ballot uh the levy failure and the length of time it brought it took to bring back that programming into middle school. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's 2025 and and we made significant cuts to middle school in 2012 and we're really just now getting a full slate of courses and electives. We just added courses like world cultures and music. The first course that we brought back was what is now called connections. We as we built our pathways program at the high school, we built

110electives, exploratory electives for students to be able to take to like medical detectives, the engineering, the CSIM course and all of those very valuable courses for, you know, we had a robust music program. We had orchestra, we had band, we have choir and and all of those things. Um, and so we had a what was global game changers and ended up being global issues when kids thought it was a gaming uh and not social studies. But that was built over a decade. It was very thoughtful. It was a lot of input from staff. We've had middle school advisory committees to help build those back. And you know, kind of what you destroy in a day takes takes a generation of students through your system to build back. and and we worked very very hard to

111have what I think is a really solid program. We even brought we had Spanish in the eighth grade for high school credit, but we also brought down uh art foundations into 8th grade as a choice. And what that did was allow kids when they went to high school to get to the higher level art classes and not use all of our high school FTE uh for art foundations. We brought health back. We didn't have health in middle school and we brought health back. We expanded PE so that every um student would have uh PE at one grade level and then we had some for choices in in eighth grade and and we expanded our art choices and so but we couldn't do it all at once and um something as significant as as this has

112lived through it and and you know there's some out here in the middle school world that have lived to it through it you know it doesn't come back very quickly and it takes a while and so um we are very very hopeful to maintain the programming that we have. >> So 13 years. >> Thanks. >> Right. And then Mr. Reeves, you also have high school. >> Yes. Probably more than any other pos. We have legal requirements for high school. We have to have the staffing so that students can get the minimum credits in the right areas that they need to graduate. We know that um 75% of our students are going on to 2-year 4-year university and so we want to make sure that that our system provides them the uh the tools and experiences

113so that they can meet the college uh entry requirements. So when we look at the areas in the core, we're talking across the board up to 19 positions looking at math, English, science, and social studies. And and what that does is in each of those course areas, we have very enriching um electives that we built over time in the last decade. And and so you would see a reduction of those electives. You would see an increase in class sizes because there are less teachers to have the courses that students are required, the four Englishes, the four maths, uh three social studies and and and all of those things. And so where that would come from is you would have a reduction of advanced placement courses. You would have a reduction of college credit plus courses.

114You look in in house. A decade ago. Uh we had no college credit plus courses. And then we built uh three incredible uh career technical pathways within our high schools. business pathway, our health pathway and and our engineering pathway and built on the end of those a lot of courses with Columbus State to have a career technical pathway where students are getting industry recognized credentials and and all of those other things and and we expanded the college credit plus into English and to some other areas. And so that obviously would be at the expense of of some of those opportunities. college credit. Plus, a lot of students can still go to a college campus to take some of those courses, but we know that's very prohibitive for some of our students to be able to

115do that. Um, >> if I could add to that, just so everybody's clear, we are required to pay for that. If a student wants to go take it on a campus, we are not required to offer it on our campuses. But I will tell you, um, when I came into this district in spring of 24, I was blown away by all the things that we offer on campus for our kids. And we have so many students who take advantage of these courses. Why would we want to eliminate them? Because we actually it's free for the kids and the families, but we actually are paying per credit hour. Our kids took 4,372 college credits last year. That's amazing. A lot of those kids are first-time college students getting an opportunity to try that out. Um but

116that is a large expense to the district. And so this is one that that hurts my heart because we just met with our superintendent advisory and the kids were so passionate about uh the CCP, the AP, the IB. They love those opportunities. A lot of them take a blend of different courses within those areas. Um but but they do come at a at a cost to be able to offer those. So I just wanted to add that piece to what Scott was sharing. >> Yeah. Yeah. And you look at the the family impact um being even greater when you look at the number of uh Columbus State courses is almost what we offer on campus in house. And the announcement uh within the last couple of weeks of Ohio State and Columbus State that if

117you have your associates degree from Columbus State, you go on to Ohio State tuition free, I believe. So imagine we've had kids almost every year graduate with an associates degree from Columbus State and a high school diploma from Westchester City Schools at the same time. So we pride ourselves in the opportunities we provided kids and those are some of the things that we're not required to do on in-house that that would is really something we're proud of. um elimination of electives. When you look at the number of core teachers we have, math, science, social studies, and English, and the number of credits that they have to have to graduate, they only need five elective credits to graduate. And we've built very robust music programs and art programs, both uh visual art programs and creative arts

118and and computer science and business programs and all of those things and our languages. and and we would have to take a serious look at enrollment patterns and different things that kids are choosing to see what we need to reduce because at the end of the day to graduate you only need five and then library media specialist and and it would be a conversation um to consider the phase out of the international back lawyer program at Westville South High School. >> I have a question around that Mr. Reeves. So when we say phase out of the IB program, I know we talked about these cuts needing to happen in 2020 in the next school year. Um what about the kids that are currently in the program that that that might impact? How would that look?

119>> Yeah, it's a great question. Um, and something that has actually been supported within the court systems of our of our country is that when students IB is a two-year program, they begin their junior year and and then finish their senior year. Once they start as a junior, we are obligated to allow them to finish as seniors. So the quickest phase out we could possibly do is the students who are starting now as juniors we would have to allow them to finish but we would not have to take another junior class on next year. However we have a hundred not quite that many I'd say about 50 students from north and central who have been administratively placed in south who are in the nth grade in the 10th grade currently uh with the purpose of

120taking the international balora program. we in the back international baloria program phase out and don't let them take it and then we put them back in their school. Well, for some of them who are student athletes that might have an eligibility issue for them and so you you look at maybe an elongated gradual phase out to make sure that the kids that are in the building for the purpose might have the opportunity to finish and that's a conversation we'd have to have. >> Thank you. Uh there might not be uh you might have not have the data on this, but I thought I'd ask. Do we have a sense of what percentage of our students uh are currently taking college credit plus classes as a whole? And then maybe what percentage of those are on

121track for first generation college? >> We might have to get you that information. >> Okay. We do, but not at our curious. Yeah, you can you can take a a a peek at um the sixth component on our state report card and they do give you a measure of the percentage of a class that did have some measure of at least I want to say six but don't get don't don't quote me on that college credits by the time they left and it's a it's an impressive I mean we set a goal a long time ago to have 3/4 to 80% of our kids have some kind of transcripted college level credit whether it be CCP API or career technical as we looked at career and workforce readiness. So, uh, college readiness. So, I could

122get you that, but there is a measure of that on our on our report card. >> We do have a lot, and I'll just start out while we're on this topic. And I know that, um, Mark is planning to do a presentation on the report card for you all next month. Um, but the new college career readiness measure just came out and we were pretty disappointed, as were a lot of districts, with the way they gauged that. So on that measure in particular, um you have to take 12 college credit plus hours in a year to count as a CCP student, for example, you have to get a three or higher on three AP classes or three AP exams in a year to count. And so we have some students that do a lot of

123our students and we just talked with them at as I said at superintendent advisory who do a hybrid. So they might be taking three college credit plus courses and two AP and they wouldn't count for either. So, one of the things that's special at Westerville that I've been really impressed by is we offer that variety. So, that as an example, if a kid um is really into wants to go into a STEM field, you know, they might be taking AP and CCP courses as part of their uh health pathway. And so, they're taking in both of those. And so, if you look at that measure on our report card, it looks like they're not taking either. So, I just want to point that out. Mark will get more into that next next time. that um

124certainly doesn't do us favors on the report card measure, but when we look at what's good for kids and them having lots of choices, we've done a great job of developing things in their specific aptitudes and interests. Um but that that's part of what we're talking about here that we would have to look at really significantly scaling back. >> And one thing I want to articulate, we were very explicit at the elementary and middle school level talking about reducing the student day. uh we are not bringing that as a recommendation at this point for high school because high school is much more fluent fluid because we have a significant number of students who have late arrival. We have students that have early release. Uh we have two different systems of career centers with which we

125match up our schedule and get kids to and from. Our career technical planning district is Columbus City Schools and we have kids that go to the downtown high school and Fort Hayes and we also open enrolled at Delaware Area Career Center. And so we wouldn't want to do anything that would inhibit at least that opportunity for students. >> Okay, next up, Mark's going to cover the next slide, which would be other positions across the district that we would want to consider. >> So, obviously, we've hit there the major categories, specifically administrators, uh, elementary, middle, and high school. um the other positions then that we would need to consider for elimination because we don't get to that that $20 million deficit um even with all of those reductions. Um so we would need to consider our

126gifted resources and support. Um our gifted uh we do have some self-contained classrooms at Hamby Elementary School. Um so depending on how that magnet program conversation goes um there is that potential too of some changes within our gifted program. Um other areas that we would look at um beyond the building level would be our specialized learning programs, our curriculum and instruction and student services uh departments and and um resources across the district. Um also technology support for the district and and positions that we have for the tech support um our HR team and fiscal support um positions as well as custodial maintenance across the district level. So, a lot of detail that would need to come with the planning of this. Um, but those are other areas that we would need to consider beyond the

127classroom levels. >> All right, takes us back to you, Nicole. >> Just really quickly on the the gifted piece, you just briefly mentioned the self-contained class and I just it's important we keep talking about what's required, right? >> And that having a self-contained gifted classroom in elementary is not a requirement. Just want to >> correct >> clarify that. Yeah. >> Yeah. The state of Ohio still has the identification requirement for gifted. It does not have a service requirement for gifted students. There are definitely some standards and and expectations if you do serve students. Um but that is not a requirement under law. >> $20 million is a big number. Um, so after CO and extracurricular activities and transportation and staffing of about 12.3 million, all of that that we just talked about, that still leaves

128a gap of about 5.4 million um that we would need to address. And I want to emphasize that these are estimated amounts and the actual amounts may differ in the future. >> Miss Marshall, maybe next when you can you talk a little bit louder. Yes. >> Thanks. >> Estimated amounts. >> Okay. So, then that takes us to other items we would recommend considering. Um, and there's a lot we've done some preliminary work in these areas, but there would be a lot more that would have to go into getting the actual costs for each of these. We have some rough ideas. Um, but we would we would recommend considering the complete elimination of summer school, which is not required. We've already scaled that back after our last levy failure. We would recommend um potentially eliminate eliminating

129that alto together, reducing some of our contracted services. So looking across um we've already done that in places where we can, but are there other places where we can reduce contracts? We would recommend uh eliminating field trips. Um this next one is is one that I hate to even say because we have had many conversations on our team about how do we get to all day kindergarten? and it's tuition free and that's a goal that we have. We don't have the funding to do it right now. This would be a step backward the other way. Um currently we offer a tuitionbased all day kindergarten that uh families can opt into the lottery for. We would recommend eliminating that because that is still Nicole ran some numbers and we are not collecting enough intuition to offset

130the cost of offering all day even though we think it's a wonderful thing. Um, so we would recommend looking at eliminating that. Um, we would look at greatly reducing overtime. So when do we use overtime? We have lots of staffing shortages. So when we think about our classified staff who make an hourly rate, um, many times we will have, for example, if we don't have enough custodians that we are able to employ, we might have bus drivers that um, will work overtime to help clean buildings. Uh, they might pick up painting in the summer, those types of things. It might be our secretaries who um are asked to stay for evening events and help support whether it's a curriculum night or or some other type of student family event. It would be um looking at

131a cleaning schedule which we already have reduced our cleaning services. So again, as we talk about um the cost, there's there's a financial cost and then there's a cost and what this does for us on a day-to-day basis. and we would be looking at a reduction in cleanliness would probably be um the biggest one we would see there. Uh we would look at then on the flip side increasing our student fees, increasing our facility rental fees. We've tried to keep those low especially for community groups who are within our boundaries, but we would need to look at raising those. Um, and then Mark talked at the beginning about the pay to participate piece of trying to offset the gap on some of our supplemental contracts and we were focused there on the co and extracurriculars.

132We also so we would recommend looking at reducing some of those if our participation numbers are lower. Um, we would look at also we have some supplementals that are things like department facilitators, um, people that perform really valuable tasks during the school day in addition to their regular jobs that get paid a supplemental contract. And we would look at um, recommending reducing many of those. And so our recommendation would be between all those areas um, that we think we could get to the remainder. So that takes us to our summary slide there. So at the uh the last agenda item understanding vis the last agenda item understanding business on the agenda is this specific list um that is being recommended to the board this evening. And so we would be voting on this list. Are

133there any uh additional questions for my colleagues? >> I had a quick question on the summer school program. What exactly does the summer school program encompass? If you know if that were going away, what would we be be losing? >> Already made drastic reductions. We're at this point mostly looking at um this past year we mostly looked at like credit recovery. We used to do a lot more um with our younger students who weren't on track with reading and math. That's the big part that we cut out this past year. Um so we have opportunities in the summer for kids to get back on track toward graduation requirements. And I don't know if either of you have anything you want to add. Um for those of you that may not realize, Scott was most pre

134um most recently the academic person. So that's why he's jumping in a lot on that as well. He's got a lot of that historical knowledge. Yeah, we actually built a a really robust program with the use of ESER funds and uh we had a very um we brought from kindergarten through 8 and we utilized two different buildings. We filled them both. We fed kids. We transported them. We didn't used to do that a decade ago. uh we scaled that back significantly coupled with the levy failure and the end of esser funds and uh we just focused on uh uh credit recovery at the high school level. did not do K8 uh intervention and summer programming, but we know that to expose students to some academics over the summer mitigates learning loss over the summer and

135keeps them exposed and their brains clicking on the things that teachers are teaching them all year. And uh we would just uh continue to eliminate K8 and push credit recovery uh back into the high schools. I also had a question about the staffing number. So with all of the projected um staffing either cuts whether it's through attrition or elsewise looks like 12.3 million is a roundabout estimate of what we would be saving for some of those um eliminations if it happens to come with let's say eliminating some AP programs or um eliminating um you know phasing out international balorate are we also capturing any amount in here that we would be saving from not having to, let's say, purchase curriculum materials for those AP classes or IB. Is that captured in here as well? And

136if so, where? >> No, it is not. It would probably come in that those other categories. Um, so these are all really looking at the staff classes we'd look through there. And even if we um I talked about how some of these things would impact transportation as well. So when we think about um the magnet conversation for example, if that would happen, that would impact our transportation. So there's definitely um some cause and effect that would happen across there and we would anticipate some additional savings and certainly if we were able to capture some of those and that would mean less staffing reductions that would be a great thing. >> Okay. Thank you. And I would just say from last year as well, one of our austerity measures was to push our curriculum adoption cycle.

137And we pushed purchases out a couple of years of things we were not required to do and only only bought the things that we legally had to do. So that would probably continue that push further out. >> Um, Mr. Just following up on my colleague's question. So when we say we're pushing, we would push credit recovery back into the high school. So, if I was to fail, let's just say algebra, I'd have to take algebra over again the following year. >> Yeah. And right now at the high school, you have you if you're a student, you really have three choices. If you don't have summer school, you could take that class over again in in the classroom. Again, we're already going to be stressed with class sizes. So, now you're putting a few more students

138in. We do have Apex is the online program that we use for credit recovery. And we do have some mechanisms that we have and are building for students who may be a credit or two behind to be able to catch that up, whether it's in a study hall period or if they had early release or late arrival, the opportunity to catch up some credit there. And there's always the credit flex option where students on their own can submit a credit flex application and and independently earn credit on their own time. And so those are the options that currently exist. uh especially for students who are just a couple of of credits behind. >> Thank you for walking through that. Mark, >> any other question? >> I do have a question. Um I'm just thinking a

139lot about the forecast and um specifically different buckets um like our EL populations, you know, or special needs, etc. where we know that there is a sign significant reduction in funding that we're anticipating right now. And I know the purpose isn't to get into specific, you know, who and what, but um just full transparency, is it safe to say that we would also anticipate reducing positions um even outside of the classroom, like you know, administrators throughout the district that also support parentf facing roles in the buildings, etc. And can you provide examples? >> Yeah, we would need to u look under when we looked at that um that slide of other positions to consider. uh we would look at our specialized learning program, you know, things that aren't legally required. Many of our students with

140special needs um have certain requirements legally. So that is a great deal of staffing and and um you know what is required versus then within our specialized learning program, some of our English language learners um some of those others that are support roles may not be required. Um we did have an elimination as you may recall from our elementary of some e um English learner pair professionals for example those weren't required by law and so those uh eliminations occur with the um with the change over this past year. Um so those would fit into those specific other positions to consider the specialized learning programs the curriculum instruction areas and the student services populations. >> Thank you. Um, and just to follow up on that, so as a public school, we're required to educate every child,

141right? >> So, we are not going to be turning children away who need special services in order to meet our budget, >> right? >> That's one of the hard areas for us because we have kids move in every day. and um Gertie Glass, our executive director of specialized learning programs, um she probably has one of the most volatile budgets in the district because she tries to plan for that, but we never know what kids are going to come in and what's already in their individualized education plans. They may need a one-on-one aid. They may need u multiple different types of therapy throughout the day. Um they may need a specialized placement. They may need a um ASL interpreter. they may need lots and lots of health issues that come through and so yes we are

142required to provide those especially if we already have an IEP that comes with them which often happens um we need to make sure we're meeting their needs and there are a lot of costs that are involved there that are difficult to anticipate ahead of time. >> Yep. And that is a difference between public schools and private schools. >> Correct. Private schools can say we don't have the staffing available in that area. We don't have the resources available. So, we're not able to serve your needs, but we are not able to do that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, any other comments or questions? >> I have one more question. Um, I think this is for Nicole. So, $20 million is around what we're targeting um if we are not successful in November with the levy.

143that $20 million um how long will that like mitigate us from being like severely underwater? So the $20 million is really a starting point if we don't see additional revenue down the road. So I'm looking at basically the average of the three years of the deficit. And so, um, if we have to cut $20 million starting next year, we're going to have to cut additional funds the following year if we don't see additional revenue. You can see how that deficit grows over the years. So, we have to be able to balance that budget overall. Thank you. Um, I would just say one of those unfunded mandates too that we have is that we have to bus kids um to private and charter schools and also have to service them if they need interventions. So, that's

144another example of an unfunded mandate. >> Yes, we do provide some of the special education services for any of the school private schools that are in our district boundaries. Um, and we are responsible for lots of other pieces for any student that lives within our boundaries. And then the transportation costs are huge for students who attend other buildings. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. And with the transportation for the private and charter schools, correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the public school district is off or, you know, we have a snow day or ice day, but they are still in session, we still have to have our bus drivers come in and bus those routes. Correct. That is correct. Okay. And does changing our transportation, right? like if we go to a larger non-transport,

145how does that affect the transportation of those students that are at private schools? >> So, the determination of impracticality. So, I bring to the board frequently or somebody from our transportation team does um an impractical transport resolution. Um so if we have students in our um non-transport zones are expanded, students in the um private or non-public school who are receiving our services would also have their boundaries expanded as well. So we would no longer um be responsible for transporting them either. We're not providing it for our students. We don't they're not eligible. >> Okay. Um well we have to enter back into May I have a motion to yeah reinstate Robert's rules of order. >> So moved. >> Second >> and um we're not approving this. >> Yeah we vote. >> Okay. No. Yeah. Can

146you take the vote on the Robert SWS? Sorry. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leean? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Altman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Heckleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? >> Yes. And though what I'm asking is we're not approving this list at the moment. We're going to take public comments. Or are we approving? >> We have public comments. >> Yeah. Okay. Um Okay. >> Uh can I make a motion? Can we make a motion to adjourn for five minutes for a break >> being here two hours so far? >> Yeah. Uh >> recess. >> Yeah. >> Just a just a recess. >> Recess. Yeah. So, may I have a motion to do a You made a motion. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. >> Can we take the vote? >>

147Yes. Mr. Hackleman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leean? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Alman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? >> Yes. So we'll just take five minute break. >> Women's is right off that way. >> It's 8:03. So we'll be back at 808. >> Welcome back. Okay. So, next up, um, we have, uh, public comments. And I'm going to may I have a motion to suspend the overall time limit on public comments, but keeping the individual 3 minutes time limit to accommodate all of our speakers tonight. >> So, move. >> Second. Miss Marshall, will you take the vote? >> Mr. Hackleman? >> Yes. >> Miss Zman? Yes, >> Mrs. Valentine. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Leian. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Meyer. >> Yes. Um, and the board of education welcomes public comment on

148educational issues of interest to our school community. The board 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 interest of our students, the board asked that speakers not identify students by name during their comments. Persons having public public complaints about district personnel programming or operations will be referred to the process set forth in board policy 9130. And finally, the board reminds speakers that their statements should be directed to the board as a whole and not to individual members. Again, each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. Um a timer will be shown on the screens and Miss Dennis will call time when the three minutes have

149elapsed. Um and uh those that we have on this list will have enough time will be given the three um minutes to uh to address the board tonight. So with that, our first speaker tonight is it looks like three people. Um, Miss Paige Stamon, Isaac Guerrero, and Claire Reynolds. Are you together? Yeah. Please approach the podium. Welcome. >> You can pull it down. >> Yeah. >> Right. Good evening board members and community. Our names are Paige Stamon, Isaac Guerrero, and Claire Reynolds. We're here tonight as students who have experienced firsthand the impacts of the programs you are considering for cuts. The international balora and advanced placement programs have been the cornerstone of academic excellence in our district. This year, I've seen classes like AP computer science and IB business management be cut due to lack

150of staffing. In a lot of cases, these are the only ways students are able to learn about these fields in their classes. Every year, um, from my experience, previous IB graduates have come to talk to prospective and current IV students and gush about how much these programs have prepared them for college life and beyond. And countless of my friends have been able to push themselves and expand their learning only because of these programs. In this district, many students participate in sports. So much so that it has become integral to our school culture. From Friday night football games to basketball to volleyball to golf. I have seen how much school unity and excitement is bred from sports. If funding is cut, uh sports would become more expensive. Fewer students would have the opportunity to be directly

151involved in our schools. And for some, this is the only avenue that makes college obtainable. Instead, we should look at how athletics are able to bring our school and community together. These programs build character, create lasting friendships, and give students like me a reason to be proud of our schools every single day. Um, our many clubs are able to give students with a passion a place to share that passion with like-minded peers. Clubs like culture club, DECA, and environmental club provide a range of different options for students to find their passion and enhance learning outside the classroom. These clubs provide immense values to students and tangible benefits to our schools. From the clubs I've mentioned come things like the culture fair, community and career projects, and a community garden with native plants. These programs not

152only create the connections that make high school memorable and meaningful, but they take what we're learning in the class and apply them to real life. Um they provide safe spaces where every student can find their community and develop their unique talents. So from IB and AP classes, athletics, and clubs, these programs don't just occupy our time, they shape our futures. As you make these difficult decisions, I ask you to remember that investing in these programs is investing in us. The skills, connections, and experiences we gain here will serve our community long after gra we graduate. Thank you. >> Thank Thank you. Um, next up I have Mr. Todd Lutz. >> Welcome. >> Thank you board and everybody in attendance for this opportunity to speak. My name is Todd Lots. I am proud to be the

153president of the Manurva Park Middle School PTSA. And it's amazing as I've observed how many here are supporting what's going down in November. And I'm still scared to death even more so seeing these numbers of the job cuts. Cuz what's that telling me is couple things. One, if we say if by saying no to levy is one, we're telling everybody in our schools, the students, the staff, those that bust their butt, pardon my French, to make this school, the system the best it is, they're telling them, "Look at that banner. We're telling our students and staff they don't belong in Westerville schools." You're telling my 13-year-old who has ADHD on an IEP, deals with anxiety, mental health issues, that by saying no to a levy that we desperately need. And it's every school that's battling

154budget issues, not just here. You're telling my daughter that she doesn't matter that she that she doesn't have the mental health services or what she has in place available to her with the job cuts. and you're further accelerating the mental health crisis that our children and staff were experiencing which is only getting worse and that's a national pandemic. So the question that just been on my mind for a while is what is it about supporting all our children that the anti- levy people are so against it? Could it be because money's involved? I've heard that with past levies uh accusations of financial risk management which the there was a slide earlier rewarding financial stewardship. I I think that's a more of a fact like this is coming state legislators using outdated data which is which

155is tough to imagine and I'm not the smartest tool in the shed. Is it because you intentionally don't want our district to be at its best? Look around. I see far more those people for the levy, the students, the staff, the parent council. That's just something want everybody to consider. This is about the kids. This is not about us and whatever selfish desires we we have. I want our school to be the best that it is. And I pray to God that come November that we don't have to take these drastic measures that are going to disable our kids and staff more and more. And I I said I I'm done. I just can't imagine. And it's it's a scary boat that we're in the next few weeks. So, please get out and vote to

156support our kids and our staff so our hardworking board of education members don't have to take these drastic measures. Thank you. >> All right. Next up, we have Farawasa Abdi Sarak. And I'm going to apologize if I mispronounce anybody's names tonight. And I'm going to ask you to please correct me. But welcome. Hi, my name is Sedok Basher. I am a parent of two children who attend Westerville City Schools. >> Could you talk a little bit louder, please? >> Can you hear me now? >> Yeah. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> I'm Sed Basher. I um am a mother of two kids who attend Westerville City Schools. Um >> and um my name is Farardo Sab Rahman and um I have one child. Sorry I'm not a public speak much of a public speaker but

157uh kindergartener in the district and uh three preschoolers. Yes. And we just wanted I took some notes and I wanted to express that we definitely need to say yes to the levy because I currently have a son who is on the spectrum. I have a son who is in the first grade and just making sure that all kids who need any sort of assistance or special help require them. We want to make sure that's something that's not going to go away. And also just looking at the numbers so to speak, and I'm not a mathematician, of course, but just a raw example at the 75 tax deduction. If you were to make roughly $100,000 annually, that's only $28 by weekly that would be deducted. And I'm sure we all spend that at Chick-fil-A on a

158weekly basis. So being able to know that that should cover $24.3 million if we all take a little piece of that Chick-fil-A bill and put it towards our students education. It would be much easier and we wouldn't have to worry about this state funding. And my next it's actually a question. We talked about how the state annually have been decreasing funds. Now, how do we move forward as far as even urging our state lawmakers to potentially change this formula? I heard you guys mention that the formula is outdated. So, how do we get them to see that? How do we as parents, as citizens, as community members, help them understand that this is something that needs to be adjusted? Because every year with inflation, with everything going on, prices are going to get increased and

159things are going to cost more. How are we sure that this levy, we want to make sure that this levy funds the school and we don't lose anything else? I hope that made it. That's all. Thank you. Sorry, with the last remaining few moments. >> Could you speak up just a little bit? >> Sorry, with the last remaining few moments, I just wanted to say like as a parent who's currently utilizing the all day kindergarten program. Like that would be like devastating for my family. And I know but just looking at all of the issues and all of the different >> Oh, it's okay. Sorry. Thank you. All right. Next up, we have Lori Kaiser. Welcome. Hi, my name is Lori Kezer. It's okay. Everybody gets it wrong. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

160At a time when our state and federal governments are increasingly delegating financial responsibilities to our local entities, we have the opportunity to impact our children's lives in a way that will influence our community for decades to come. Most people recognize that some kids today can be disengaged from the real world. That they are disaffected, disillusioned, and lack empathy for those who are different from themselves. What are the typical solutions offered to counteract this? Participate in a sport. Join the band or a musical ensemble. Get involved with the theater department. Join a club. Find a school subject that inspires you. Connect with a teacher that you admire. Studies have shown these activities improve cognitive abilities for all students and are present in our most successful students lives. Providing access to these solutions means investing in our

161schools. It means ensuring a diverse curriculum for students where we challenge them and meet them where they are right now. It means providing class sizes that allow students to interact with their teachers and receive appropriate feedback. It means removing financial barriers to participation for every student in our district. It means providing adequate transportation to school and to afterchool activities. These things may not be mandated by the state for our students, but they are essential for building a future society that will function effectively. We must protect our existing programming. I raised three children in this school district in the past 25 years with my youngest graduating next spring. I'm a PTA mom, a soccer mom, a band mom, and a theater mom. My volunteer time with grades K through 12 has shown me how this programming

162impacts our students, grounding them in their ed education at a time when our culture keeps pulling them away from human connection. I saw firsthand the effects of the failed levy in 2011 when my stepson was a junior at North and another son was in kindergarten. I remember the traffic jams around the elementary schools when busing was reduced. I remember large class sizes and the reduction of specials at the elementary level, secondary level students having multiple study halls due to lack of class availability and the exorbitant payto-play fees for high school sports. We have not fully recovered everything that was cut after the 2011 loss. Right now, North High School band students are participating in their annual fan pledge fundraiser to raise funds for items not covered by the district's allocations. Decreasing the current level of

163district financial support will devastate our music programs. Eliminating middle school music, even briefly, will decimate our high school music program for a generation. We saw that happen. We are still recovering those numbers. Now, this is true for many programs that support our students. The proposed cuts will have lasting impacts on our community. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have Mr. Doug Krinsky. Welcome back. Thank you. Uh I will speak about the income tax proposal on the ballot in November. Uh I'm against the income tax for many reasons. uh the group that I created, the pack we created, concerned citizens of Westerville and concerned citizensofwwareville.org, uh we are working to defeat this income tax and let me tell you why. In 2019, the student enrollment was 15,385 right off one of the district mailers. They

164were selling the levy at that time that there'd be 1300 more kids coming into the district. So that really adds up to 16,685 students. However, those 2,65 students never materialized and/or left the district since 2019. The district admitted last fall the projections were wrong. However, they continue to spend money, millions and millions more every year. As a matter of fact, $25 million more last year than the year before for a total of $53 million as an increase over the 2019 expenditures with a lower enrollment rate. Where has all the money gone? If they hadn't overspent every year like they did, there would be plenty of money right now and we wouldn't have to consider any cuts. And all the numbers we use on our website are from the five-year projection prior to tonight or the

165levy's website or the mailers the district has sent out. In addition to that, with all that money being spent, why are the test scores on the district's website lower than they were 10 years ago across the board, some significantly? If all this money is going to good use, why aren't the test scores higher? Comparing to other districts, they're lower. 10 years ago, they're lower. And again, all these numbers are on the district website. In talking about the reduction of enrollment, I understand it's difficult to redistrict, reallocate kids, but it's also very difficult to have to endure an income tax, any tax for working families that can't afford it right now. So, cost-saving measures. I understand the cut proposals tonight. I think you should reconsider, talk to the public about what their ideas are. There's a

166lot of really smart people in the community, employees in the district, students in the district, and the public at general. Get their ideas and consider them before you just move forward with any generic cuts. I disagree with making cuts in certain areas that you propose tonight, and I will give you that feedback. But other cost-saving measures like going to other districts, talking to them about sharing admin expense for these mandates that the state imposes, share your employees and let them all fill them out for all districts. There's other ideas out there that people have. In addition to that, if you want facts as we present them or straight up facts, go to our website, go to our Facebook page. The proposal on this income tax is higher than the property tax and I hope everybody

167decides to vote no. Thank you. >> All right. Next up, we have Elise Edgar. Welcome. [Applause] Good evening and thank you for giving me the chance to speak tonight. My name is Elise Edgar and I'm currently a junior here at Westville North High School. I'm in all honors, AP and CCP classes. I play on the volleyball team. I act in our school theater productions and I'm involved in several AC academic clubs such as WIT, Link Crew, Hope Squad, and hopefully National Honor Society. I know I may not have decades of experience yet, but I do know what it means to grow up in a district that supports its schools, not just academically, but as whole people. And I can say with confidence that being a part of Westerville schools has shaped me in more ways

168than I can count. For me, school is more than just tests and homework. It's where I found my voice. Whether that's cheering on my teammates on the court, delivering a monologue under the stage lights, or speaking up in a club meeting about the world's biggest challenges, these experiences have helped me build confidence, teamwork, and leadership. Not just grades. I've had teachers who go out of their way to help me succeed, staying after school to explain concepts or cheering me on at my performances. I've had many teachers who have helped me foster my love for learning and given me the best environment to do so without the resources they always have. I've been in classrooms where learning is exciting and challenging, where we don't just memorize facts, we learn how to think, create, and lead. And

169I've had the chance to explore my passions outside of class. From late night rehearsals to early morning games, all because these programs exist and are supported. But the truth is, these opportunities don't just happen. They're possible because our community invests in our schools. I'm here tonight because I care deeply about making sure every student now and in the future has access to the same incredible experiences I've had. When we support our schools, we're saying yes to the things that truly prepare students for life. smaller class sizes, passionate teachers, a variety of classes and clubs, and places to grow, whether that's on stage, on the court, or in the classroom. If we don't protect these opportunities, we risk losing the very things that make students feel seen, valued, and inspired. So, I'm asking everybody to vote

170yes, not just for me, but for every student who dreams of achieving something bigger. Let's invest in our future. Investing in our school district doesn't just benefit students like me, it benefits our entire community. Thank you. Next up, we have Bethany Kungle. Welcome. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Bethany and if you know me, you know I'm voting yes on the 0.75% earned income tax for our Westerville City Schools. As a mom of a first grader and a four-year-old soon to enter our schools, this moment feels personal for me. It's about making sure my kids and all of our kids have the strongest future possible. I want our children to dream big. And that requires us as a community to give them the support they need. This

171levy is an investment in our children, in our community strength, and in our shared future. It means higher property values, safe neighborhoods, and families who want to call Westerville home. But most importantly, this vote will shape our kids' daily experiences, in their classrooms, in sports, in clubs, in the arts and music, and at home. This vote impacts what kind of parents we get to be and what kind of memories our children will carry. If you haven't been following the decisions at the state house, it's our legislators who have left us no choice other than to contribute more as a community. I believe in our school leaders and I believe it's our shared responsibility to hold one another accountable to ensure our schools have what they need to ensure all students can thrive. Ask tough questions

172and push for transparency, but realize that a no vote isn't about district leadership. It is simply an immediate loss for our children. Our kids likely won't remember that we voted yes on November 4th, but they will certainly recognized recognize missed opportunities if this levy fails. One thing should unite us, making sure students have the best teachers, tools, and resources to build a strong future. And at the end of the day, we answer to our kids or our grandkids. They will bear the weight of this decision. Please join me in voting yes for strong schools, yes for a strong Westerville, and yes for our kids. Next up, I we have Katie Munger. Welcome. Good evening. I'm in favor of the levy, but if the levy fails, I'm hearing that you'll have to make even more tough

173decisions. And I'm here today to say, please don't cut classes and opportunities in music, theater, and the arts. AI is coming for jobs, and it's going to write our emails, do our coding. I'm a lawyer, and you know what? AI can write a pretty good contract. Yikes. But you know what? AI will not be good at management, creative problem solving, negotiation, developing relationships, being caring, public speaking. Where do students learn to do that? Where do they learn how to interpret facts and figures instead of just spouting them with no context? Arts classes. My kid has had valuable leadership roles in orchestra and in theater itself. She has learned to stick to things like tchaikovski even when it's really hard and developing that grit that is so important for success. She's worked with teams of diverse

174students to put on a show. She's been active and fully engaged with the real world. And I think that's the most important thing. The arts let our kids connect with humans, real folks in a real community instead of with dangerous people with agendas on the internet. We see news stories of young people being radicalized online. They are desperate for connection. And if they don't get it through positive activities, they'll find it down some Tik Tok or uh 4chan wormhole. We need this connection that we get from the arts. We don't want a generation of culturally illiterate students who lack the skills to be human. So, please always fund music, arts, and theater in our schools. Point two that I heard tonight. If you have to close a magnet school, please don't close Emerson. It is

175a historic building, an architectural gem of our community. The classrooms are absolutely gorgeous, and we are so lucky to have that facility. Emerson just has to be maintained as a school at all cost. We cannot throw away 130 years of educational history to fix a current spending issue. And I've heard a lot of talk about cuts. I have a question. Are there any opportunities to make any more money? Rent classrooms and gyms as office spaces or event space after hours. Allow student athletes and band kids to do custodial work to offset their activity fees. raising the price of all day kindergarten rather than just flat out cutting it. Fully stock those vending machines. Let's make a profit. For everyone here, please vote in November. Please make your friends vote so that this board doesn't have

176to consider any more cuts. Thank you. Next up, we have Samira Muhammad. Welcome to patience as I got up here. Good evening members of the board. My name is Samira Muhammad. I am a Somali-American woman, a current resident of Westerville, a proud byproduct of Westerville City School District, and a direct beneficiary of our English learner programming. Because of those supports, I graduated from Westerville Central High School, went on to earn my bachelor's degree from the Ohio State University, and today I work in government affairs and venture capital programming at OSU. I've proudly served at the Ohio State House in addition to advancing international development programming in Washington DC. I share this because I am living proof of the impact English learner services can have. Without them, my story and the stories of so many other

177students might have looked very different. Tonight, I speak not only for myself, but for the many families in our community who cannot be here due to language and systemic barriers. Westerville has a large Somali and Hispanic population. For these families, English learner programming is not an optional service. It is essential to ensuring their children can learn, grow, and contribute fully in our schools. Equally important are the English learner teachers and staff themselves. They are often the first trusted point of contact for families navigating an unfamiliar system. They bridge the gap between schools and parents, making sure families understand not only the language, but also the culture and expectations of the classroom. They create spaces where students feel seen and supported. And they ensure the that parents can engage as true partners in their child's education.

178Without these relationships, many students and families would be left disconnected from the very system meant to serve them. If these services are reduced or removed, it will only widen the educational and socioeconomic gaps in our community, especially for those who speak the more than 50 languages spoken in this school district. That outcome doesn't just harm those students, it holds back Westerville as a whole. Our immigrant and minority communities have played a key role in making Columbus one of the fastest growing cities in the country. We have started businesses, contributed to the workforce, and strengthened the local economy. By continuing to invest in English learner programming, you were investing in the long-term success and prosperity of our district and our city. I want to be clear, I support the levy wholeheartedly, but with your current language

179suggesting cuts to in English learner personnel and programming, you will not get full community buyin. Families need to know that their children will be supported, not sidelined. And protecting these programs is not just an investment in our students, but in the trust and partnership between this district and the diverse communities it serves. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to all students. Next up, we have Christy Greger. Welcome. >> Hello and thank you. Uh my name is Christy Groger and first I want to thank you for your work educating us uh on the upcoming increase on the ballot. I was moved to speak based on the facts you shared this evening. So I apologize that this might not be as refined as I was like as I changed my focus a bit. I'm

180a parent to an elementary and middle school student as well as a substitute in elementary and middle schools. I have the privilege of working with students that are not in a typical uh general education classroom. I sub mostly as an is an inter um intervention specialist. The most common way for these kids in our specialized learning classrooms to interact with their peers is to leave their classroom and go to specials. They almost always can go to gym, to art, to music, and to the library. For these 45 minutes, our SLC students are just like every other kid in that building. And all of our GenEd kids learn kindness, empathy, and how to work with peers that might be non-verbal, have limited mobility, or simply aren't at the same educational level. These specialized classrooms have accommodation

181materials for all the kids that need them. headphones, pencil grips, and sensory friendly art supplies to name a few. As these kids get older and into the middle school, some of our SLC students are in choir. They are in drama club and other afterchool activities. So, while it is easy for some to think that eliminating these fun classes and activities is not a big deal, I assure you that for our most vulnerable population of students, it is truly a big deal. It is how they connect. It is how they thrive. It is how they maintain friendships with their peers. I watch every day all students use these times as specials to be inclusive and to embrace different passions that make them feel empowered. This time allows them to take mental breaks and find so many

182reasons to smile. I urge all of Westerville residents to think about all of our students and their needs. Please vote yes for the increase. Please allow all of our students to continue to engage, to be inclusive, and to learn that differences are what make us unique. This is a time to teach our own children and grandchildren that giving to public schools matters to every student. Thank you. [Applause] Um, next up we have Summer Pereella. Did I say that right? Summer Pella. Maybe I'm home. Are you somewhere? Okay. Are you like um Okay, we'll we'll move along. Um uh I apologize. Um it's hard for me to read this handwriting, so I apologize if I say it wrong. Si and please correct me. I have the worst handwriting, but um I'm >> ironic considering what I'm

183about to say. >> I'm sorry. >> I said it's ironic considering what I'm about to say. Um >> could you move the mic a little bit closer? Thank you. >> There we go. Hello everyone. Thank you Westerville City School Board for giving us the opportunity to speak. My name is Salama. I graduated high school at Westville Central and also graduated at Ohio State University. And although I'm not a parent, I do have two cats at home. So maybe I can claim that they go to Westerville Kitty schools. Sorry, I just had to. Jokes aside, I am voting yes on the levy because kids should have the quality education that both parents and students signed up for. And I'll give you an example. I used to be a terribly slow typer and had pretty bad online

184literacy as a kid till I took an elective called 21st century text skills at Central. It was a small class as it wasn't very popular and there were talks that it was going to get removed, but those were rumors. When I took it, I went from forgetting where the letters on the uh forgetting where letters are on the keyboard to typing like a reporter, a journalist. My WPM shot up a whole 20 words. Not only that, I understood how to navigate the internet much better. To give you an idea of how much this has impacted me, I hate writing on paper because nobody can read my handwriting. It's terrible. Or at least I used to like think that it used to be terrible, but that your pronunciation was a wakeup call. And in college at

185OSU, my laptop was my best friend because I typed out my notes every single class. In fact, in my UX research course, my Google Docs notes for that class was 32 pages long. That's not all. Another course I owe a lot of my success to is AP Language and Composition. My teacher, Mr. Painter, who taught our class in his last year before retiring, made it a memorable one. He made us write at least one essay every single week, and he made us work on them every single day. At first, I hated it. Who wouldn't? At least he's funny, I would always say before considering dropping it. But after finishing that course and even after I graduated high school, writing essays was a breeze. People often ask me for help on their essays considerably often, including

186my own older sister. Electives and AP courses like that teach important life skills and teach them well. So that's why I'm voting yes to keep them funded. I think people are rightfully worried about the cuts being suggested and I would strongly reconsider the areas being put forward, particularly the areas that the great people who spoke before me. Thank you. [Applause] >> Well, Molly, apologies for not being able to read your handwriting. Um, but nobody can read mine either. So, next up, I think this is David. Okay. I couldn't tell. There's a menu. Members of the board, thank you for this time to speak. My name is David Oerberg. I do not envy you. The choices going forward uh should the worst come to pass. I have a daughter at McVey Elementary School and son who

187was looking forward to going to school. He asked me this afternoon, "When does he get to go?" I looked at him and I said, "Next year, buddy." But without this levy, the schools may not look like what his sister experienced and the support programs that allowed her to be to turn around and become su a successful student. They may not be available. I hope as a father that the Westerville schools remain as we have known them. I want the levy to pass and I hope it does. Thank you. I'm not on the roll. Next up is Muhamad. Good evening. Uh first of all, I' like to thank you guys for the opportunity for allowing me to speak. Uh there's a couple things I really want to hit on. One thing that was kind of reiterated

188was the 2011 tax. During that time I was actually a student here at West of the North. Um and at the time there were some elected that I was looking forward to taking the following year, you know. Uh and unfortunately that you know did not come to pass. Those classes were cut. There was also larger class sizes as well which definitely impacted uh a lot of the students. Um and so uh a couple of the courses that I managed to take or that I you know thankfully had the opportunity to take were AP government right AP physics. I was able to take a personal finance and a sports history classes some electives um and and you know looking you know seeing these electives and coming into school I look forward to going to school because

189I enjoy taking some of these classes right with Mr. pointer was one of my favorite teachers right here teacher but also taught that sports history class and I'm a master sports so I thought it was really fun um but these are opportunities that unfortunately you know I don't have any children but I know you know parents here do and some of their children may not be able to see or uh have the opportunity to take um and I also think the CCP you know the the college courses that are provided here I think those are wonderful opportunities for individuals for students really to be able to take college credit courses and to be able to kind of get a jump start on their college education. Um, and one thing that I definitely want to also

190mention is, you know, some of the particular staff positions that I think that may be cut if the levy isn't passed. Um, and some of that could be guidance counselors. And I think I want to mention, you know, some of the guidance counselors here where how impactful they were in being able to not only help me apply for university, but also helped me make sure, you know, try to take advantage of any, uh, grant or or or financial aid that was, you know, uh, available to me at the time. Um, and and thankfully I managed to, you know, graduate from the Ohio State University. Um, and and I, you know, I still live in the Westerville, you know, district. Um, I, you know, I live maybe 15 minutes from where my mom lives, uh, here

191in Westerville. Um and and I and I hope to you know hopefully my children in the future uh be able to continue you know hopefully having some of these opportunities. Um but uh I I I just do want to reiterate this one last time um that I am in favor of the levy. I will vote yes and I hope you all do too. Thank you. >> All right. Next up we have Jessica Thanks for the shout out. Thanks for the shout out. Um, hi. I'm Jessica. Uh, I live in Westerville. I'm an alumni of this school we're in right now. I have two children, an elementary school child and a middle school child. I'm a school counselor in a neighboring comparable district that was mentioned prior to this. Um, and so I just want everyone

192to know I think most of us are in favor of this except for Doug, but he left after he said his comments. So I'm gonna say most of us are in favor of schools. Also test scores do not determine intelligence. Um, but I'm just gonna say as a resident, and this is my plea for you guys, um, we can only do so much as parents and we all know as working adults and as busy professionals, we get a lot of information in front of us. Doug was the only one interviewed over there. Not sure why. Um, so I'm having a hard time with working in a different district where we just passed a levy by a like a small margin, but we were pounding the paper. We were at every door. We were knocking on

193every business. We had signs everywhere. And I live literally right across like in uptown and I've seen four signs. I have seen very little stuff for West City Schools. As a parent, I get the emails. The emails we all know. on Saturdays, maybe Sundays. We're not getting the information that we need, I think. And like, please, like, plead tonight. That's why I came tonight. Please spread this information like wildfire. I don't know what we're doing. I signed up for a text campaign. Still haven't gotten any information about it. So, I'm hoping that we can get this out because my friends, my neighbors, especially people who don't have children in school, know nothing about this levy. I have I work with two teachers who have children, little children in West City schools. They work in my

194district and they know they didn't even know this was on the ballot. They didn't even know this was coming up. I feel like in the November levy and I I love I know this is a thankless job, guys. So, I'm speaking with love to all of you and to everybody who works in the district. We didn't get anything. Nobody knew anything. It was crickets. I think that's why it failed. I don't think we had a lot of information out there. My neighbors, I live with a lot of people who are retired and no longer go to West City School. So, they care but they're not in the information. And so I'm pleading to you that we figure out a way between now and November 4th to pound the pavement. And it can't just be those

195people in red shirts that work for this district. It cannot just be the educators. It has to be civilians. It has to be the students. It has to be like, we all know we're all voting for it, most of us, right? We need to be out there. So if there's anything that we can push, not just through Facebook, because I'm not on Facebook and a lot of people my age are not on Facebook anymore. We need to have something out there. And that's it. Thank you so much. Have a great day. Next up, we have Jacqueline. One of the things I love about this community is it supported invested in more important legislators are slashing funds in public school inflation growth inflation. There has been the ask where has the money gone? The answer is

196simple. It has gone to our students. It is clear by the reports that our tax dollars have been spent responsibly. The cost of everything from student lunches, staff, health care premiums, and even basic utilities increased dramatically since 2019. Very few of us could maintain the same standard of living if we lived on our 2019 income. Our school district is no different. Our school district spends thousands less than other higher performing school districts per student. And people wonder why our scores our scorecard is slipping. If this levy fails, I would like to wouldffect my daughter who is currently in second grade in longer bus routes. My daughter's current pickup time is 6:45 in the morning. On the day she has to take the bus, she has to get up at 5:55 in the morning. I can't

197imagine if the bus were any longer. The magnet program would not only force my daughter to change school for friends, but also to learn to adapt to new teaching methods because the magnet programs teach differently. The loss of a self-contained gifted program for them and the advanced ways they learn and the given to them to continue to grow instead of them becoming stagnant in general education classes. Lastly, her favorite classes are music They're the only at the end of the day. The loss of these specials would devastate her. The western area laptops are forget about the latest and now I'm unable to at home. My daughter is not. We are fortunate enough to have the money to purchase her device allows her to access these programs. There are other families in the district who cannot.

198This lack of technology at home, especially in our lower neighbors, those leading against the tax state they know can be managed better. They know how to do it. And yet, none of them came forth to run for the school board to help fix the problems or to help plan for the cuts that need to happen. And the speaker didn't even hear the other side. If this tax fails and resources are cut, overall growth in West will decrease. I am I choose to live here and one of the reasons the education my daughter will receive. If this district funding fails and options for my daughter decreases, I will have to consider moving to a school district that can offer her a speaker of the night. Good evening members of the board of education. Hope you can

199hear me. Okay. My name is Kevin Hoffman. I am a resist and have been so for the last 44 years. I have unfortunately the opportunity to sit in your seats. You've done a tough good job. Thank you for the transparency that you show. We understand this difficult understanded by We all understand we've seen that local revenue has been flat. We've seen an increase in educational diversity, special education, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students, students, all who need additional services to meet their special needs. The need is here. The need is now. This is why we have to As I said tonight's session, I understand the information that you shared, but I'm here to ask our community to make this conversation. I'm here to advocate for this community to vote yes for the West School ballot

200issue on November 4th so the district can continue to execute on its magic mission, prepare students to contribute to the effective and changing world. to this community. I remind you that you are being asked to vote on an earned income tax. An earned income tax that does not affect social security, retirement income, investment income, or disability income, not a property tax. This board heard the concerns and provided a pragmatic alternative. Election day is 43 days away. Early voting starts in 15 days. To the voters in this community, I wholeheartedly encourage you to vote yes for Westville schools. Thank you for the opportunity tonight. I think it's now time for you to resume your previously schedu Yes. May I have a motion to approve investments for August? get closer. Sorry. All right. We're going over the

201August 31st month in for general fund receipts of 78.6 million month of our fiscal year. Um and then for all funds we have 2 million expenses million questions. May I have a motion to approve the insurance for medical insurance? >> Second, I know you talked a little bit about this, but would you talk a little more about it? >> Yes, thank you again. So, our district, we are large employer. selfinsured for our medical insurance and um we have an insurance that's made up of representatives and we work with our broker and we work with Gallagher to develop rates for insurance. Uh we can continue especially in Ohio market and so that we are recommending. Premiums again for selfinsured that goes into self And so that's what you have before you this is the total amount.

202There is a split contract that we have. Um we also have dental and vision coverage. I'm sorry. I didn't mention this. What is the increase? >> 13. Yes. Once this is approved, again, just a I will file the current year budget forecast. >> Yes. >> And may I have a motion to app Uh yes, thank you again. So we have we are adjusting the general fund appropriations with the forecast update. Uh we have an increase for the appropriations in our termination benefits fund. We've seen changes in the retirement system. We're seeing those severance payments coming a little bit higher than anticipated. We also have some um allocation increases for auxiliary services. So that's state funding that goes to private schools that run through us that we are required to administer. Um and then we have

203some allocation changes from grants. So these will be our permanentation county. >> Yes. Yes. >> May I have a motion to approve the personal consent agenda 11.01 for 11.9 >> second and good evening of the board. I would 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 couple of items to be noted. Regarding resignations, we have five classified and two licensed resations for the board to consider this evening as well as a small number of employees resigning from their supplemental contracts positions. Leave of absences and contract status changes. We have two leads of absences for approval and our typical classified contract status changes changes for the various schedule changes that some of our employees undergo. We have a single one-time

204pay for project leadway training which are our foundational courses of our high school career programs. We are eager to recommend the hire of six new classified employees and the board will notice several resended supplemental contracts which come from those who held the contract previously but have to continue with that contract this year and retirements. The board has four licensed retirements to approve this evening. Bradley Blankenship will be retiring from Blendon Middle School after 32 years as a visual arts teacher in the district. Blankenship will be retiring as a first grade teacher at Chington Middle School. Maryanne has served the Western City Schools for 29 years. Matt Ree will be retiring after 31 years of service teaching social studies currently at Westerville South in the Academic Enrichment Center. Tamara Salsman is retiring as an English language

205arts teacher at Walnut Springs. She is actually retiring on March 1st, 2026 after serving Westerville school for 28 years. All told, these four longerving educators served Westerville City Schools for 120 years. And from the spring of 26 when they will retire, the collective service of our retirees would take us back to the year 1906 when Ohio's own Orville and Wilbur Wright received a patent for what they called their flying machine. The great San Francisco earthquake leveled the Bay Area city. And by visiting Panama, Teddy Roosevelt became the first sitting president to visit another country. Devil's Tower in Wyoming, brought to the world in the blockbuster movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, became the nation's first national monument. And back here at home, 1906 marked exactly 100 years remaining that Westerville would remain dry. and

206I will take any questions you may have on the piece of >> I learned some new history tonight. Any questions or comments? >> I that's an incredible number of years. Yeah. So, just great thanks to all these educators. Um I they do such amazing things every day. Just on a little personal note, two of my children have Mr. Blankenship for visual art. Just an incredible teacher like they all are. So, thanks to them all. >> All right. Shall we take the vote? Thank you. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mr. Appleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Libian, >> yes. Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. Next up, we have old business. And may I have a motion to approve to approve policy 5223, release time for religious instruction during the school day. So

207moved. >> Second. any comments or questions? >> Yeah, actually I do. Um, so this one's a challenge in that, um, if you go and actually read the legislation, um, that requires us to have this policy. Um, in I guess my opinion, there's not a great definition of a sponsoring entity and religious instruction. Um, and I know that that's something that, you know, we have looked into and There's probably not a lot we can do about it, but if ever if ever there's a opportunity for those to be more clearly defined either by the district or by the legislature, I would encourage that to happen. Thanks. Uh I had two questions. One is is there anything in this legislation that prohibits us from defining what a sponsored entity is? Is it enumerated in the legislation that

208we cannot? the way that you posed the question. There is nothing in the legislature that yeah the legislature >> long night uh that prohibits us from defining it. However, if an organization does not meet our definition that does not allow us to prohibit them from having release time for religious instruction for our children if they meet the states uh and the legislation six requirements for that organization. And would there be anything in the legislation that would prohibit prohibit us from um qualifying an organization to ensure the little legitimacy such as sending us a letter or some type of authorization that we can basically say, hey, it's not just somebody out there who says they're an entity and we have no way to verify that. >> That's a great question. >> Mr. Reeves, can you >>

209I'm sorry. That's a great question. Um, but no, that is not within our authority to do. The only requirement that an organization has is they meet the six requirements, which since I've mentioned it twice, I'll I'll outline that for the community. The six requirements for an organization to enact religious uh release time for religious instruction is they must have parents written permission. So, the onus has really been put back on the parent to vet who they let their child release to. The sponsoring entity maintains attendance records available to the school. Transportation is the responsibility of the sponsoring entity or the students parents. The sponsoring entity assumes all liability of the student. No public funds or public school personnel are involved in providing the instruction. The student is responsible for missed work. So kind of there's

210not even a mention in the legislation of an identifier for the organization to be Does the entity sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. No, the entity report to us for if we request >> uh attendance as you mentioned they they required. So do we have already have we already outlined what our schedule of reporting is for example like you must report every week with all this information back to us or is that affiliate to the >> No, they've actually uh we have an sponsoring entity in Westville that has already begun a release time and we have worked out attendance for them and attendance for us and we share that with every instance they meet with students weekly and we share attendance each and with that policy I'm assuming we have this written as a policy

211that so so for example if another entity comes along that isn't this entity that we're currently working with we have it as policy that these are our requirements that match the state we have that as a written policy we have the actual specifics of how we implement that policy in our >> Thank Thank you. >> And I just wanted to confirm and and thank Mr. Reeves. So I did ask him to reach out to our attorney and just so we had our interpretation, but we wanted to get her interpretation as well. So um you were able to confirm all that with our attorney. >> Yes. >> Correct. >> Thank you for looking into that. Um any other comments or questions? >> Right. Would you please >> Mrs. Le? Yes. Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs.

212Altman, >> yes. >> Mr. Hackleman, >> no. >> Mrs. Meyer, yes. >> All right. Next up, we have 12.02. May I have a motion to approve policy 6830 audit? So, moved. >> Second. >> Any further discussion about this one? Right. See, would you please take the vote? >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Otman, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. Next up, we have new business. Um, and 13.01 is the first reading of policy 2020 or 2266. We are going to We had some questions raised about it. It's the non-discrimination on the basis of sex and education programs or activities. So, we're going to um hold that one for now. and work through some of those questions and then we'll we'll um talk about bringing

213them back. So, next up we have I'm going to take these three all at once since I know that they all are the same. Um 13.02 to 13.04. These are the first reading of policy 1623, 3123 and 4123. And these are are um about section 504 ADA prohibition against disability discrimination and employment. Welcome Mr. Reeves. >> Thank you. And uh as you said for efficiency we are going to bundle the policy 1623, 3123 and 4123 together as all three of the policies and changes are the same. In our policy system, the numbering system identifies the employee group. 1623 is for administration. Uh 3123 is for professional licensed staff and 4123 is for classified staff. The policy changes are for the most part purely grammatical. For example, changing the words his/her to the phrase the employee.

214The only change of substance is changing the address of where to file civil rights complaints uh based upon disability. IEP504 complaints from an address in Cleveland to an address in Washington DC. That is listed in our policy. Again, all three policies read the same and make the same recommended very small grammatical changes. >> Any questions or comments? All right. Well, thank you so much. Um, next we have recommended action, standing business, and 14.01, some fun stuff for the night, donations. We really just appreciate all of our community members and the donations, but Miss Marshall, will you please talk to us about this? Oh, yes. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the donations as present? I get so excited. >> Second. >> Thank you. Now, will you talk to us about this? >>

215Yes, of course. Uh, so we have an additional donation to credit towards fiscal year 2025. So it's $13,815, which brings our grand total for fiscal year 2025 donations to $400,37156. That is amazing. Um, very thankful for our generous community and all of the support that they provide. We also have a current request for fiscal year 2026 um donations of $6,34624. Our grand total for fiscal year to date 26 is 23,88772. Uh the total donations to approve today are 20,16124 from our amazing community. I just echo those. Um, really great. Uh, thank you. We appreciate our community so much. >> Sorry, I have a quick question, Nicole. If one would like to donate, >> how does somebody go about doing that? >> Um, they can work directly with their building. Uh, they're they have all of

216the donation forms and everything there and they're always happy to accept donations. >> Okay. Amazing. Thank you. And if it's a school lunch and just in general, I know that sometimes we have people that just generally donate to the district. Do they work through? >> Yeah, they can work with the food services department and anyone's always welcome to contact my office and we can point them in the right direction as well. >> Great. Thank you. All right, you take the vote. >> Mr. Hackleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. Mrs. Hutman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the negotiation and exe exe I can't even talk tonight. Execution of an agreement with Osborne Engineering to serve as

217the design professional for the FY26 HVAC projects. Oh my goodness. >> So moved. Second. >> Thank you. Welcome Miss Dennis. >> Good evening, President Meyer, members of the board. fix it. Boy, I thought I was all right. Is it better? So, the resolution in front of you this evening is authorizing the approval of an agreement with Osborne Engineering um for professional services for the Westerville City Schools FY26 HVAC projects. The proposed contract and its related services are in full alignment and support of the district's preventive maintenance plan and the purpose of permanent improvement funds. projects and schools included in the FY26 HVAC project list, which just to note is currently estimated at a construction cost of $4.5 million. Covers nine buildings and they include the early learning center. Um it is an IT room to

218add um a mini split to that space to help maintain proper temperatures for the equipment in there. At Emerson, an air handling fan replacement and boiler replacement. Hawthorne, a rooftop unit. um along with a new dedicated rooftop unit for our third grade classrooms. Mark Twain Elementary School is a replacement of an air handling unit, make that two air handling units. Point View Elementary Schools the rooftop unit replacement um one of theirs. Whittier um is replacing a unit heater. Heritage Middle School is um the addition of a mini split in a tech room again to help maintain proper temperatures on that equipment. Central High School. It is the domestic hot water boiler replacement and related system upgrades and um the air handling unit in the office for it is a cooling coil replacement. Something I never

219thought I'd say. Um, at North we have the air conditioning mixing box replacement on one of the units along with the direct digital controls upgrade and replacement of the pneumatic controls on four of the air handling units and the replacement of um 13 unit ventilators with uh VAC rooftop units and also a replacement of a roof mounted chiller. It's a lot of work that we are anticipating in the FY26 HBAC work. To note um that at the June 9th board meeting, the board approved a resolution um to for us to negotiate the contract that is in front of you this evening. The reason we brought it back to you this evening was um due to excuse me um it being finalized. So, it is being recommended that the board of education approve the agreement with

220Osborne Engineering Company to provide design services for the Westville City Schools FY26 HVAC projects in the amount of $386,000 using permanent improvement funds. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Any questions? >> Uh, that's just a not to exceed amount if I'm reading that correct. Not to exceed 386. Thank you. >> That is correct. Yes. >> Okay. Yep. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Valentine, >> yes. >> Mr. Hackerman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Leeman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing an agreement with JL DML LLC DBA digital scoreboards Ohio for the Westerville South High School scoreboard replacement project. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Dennis, will you talk to us about this? >> Yes. So, this

221resolution in front of you this evening is authorizing the approval of an agreement with JL Deml LLC doing business as digital scoreboards of Ohio or DSO. This provides construction services for the Westerville South High School baseball and softball scoreboard replacement projects. The scope is in full alignment with the district's operational and educational based standards and the facilities department asset replacement program. The scope of this work is um to remove the existing scoreboards, steel structures, and then back fill beam location, drill new holes, provide and install beams and concrete into place along with the prepping and painting of those beams. Then they will install and connect the new scoreboards. The design services creation of the documents um that identify all of the scope codes necessary for the requirement required permit for the city of Westerville's building

222department. The amount of this work is in total of $37,200 and will be funded from the permanent improvement funds. I just would also like to note that the scoreboard replacement was a joint project with um the boosters and athletic department there at South. They did put in some funds for both of these boards and I just want to make sure that we do note that. Um we always grateful for their support. Um, it is being recommended that the board of education approve the resolution um for the agreement with DSO for construction services for the Westville South High School baseball and softball scoreboard replacement projects. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. >> I do just have one random one. Um, how can you help us understand how we determine that contingency dollar

223amount, that $5,000? >> Uh, typically depending on the project, it would be a percentage of the overall scope of the work. And that typically is if let's say they run into wet soil and we've had that condition in other projects before or maybe there was power that they thought was there that's not there. Um so typically they try to anticipate based on the project what that man might look like. >> Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Would you take the vote, please? >> Mrs. Valentine. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leian. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meer. >> Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the proposed reduction measures pending outcome of November 4th, 2025 ballot issue? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um any further comments

224or >> uh sorry this is just a general question for our treasurer. uh these proposed reduction measures. I want to be very clear about proposed reduction and the the nonspecity of some of those measures. Uh we're required to have this uh as a part of our uh budgeting process. Correct. >> Yeah. So, this is part of the auditor's guidance around um ballot issues in general and that in order for us to be able to talk about what might happen should the ballot issue fail in November, um we have to have the board approve a formal reduction list, if you will. So, I think it's important to understand that um what you're voting on is what what was presented here tonight and that um it would be in the event that the ballot issue fails in

225November. >> And that's a framework. Uh we're not voting for specific positions or anything at this point, right? We have general areas identified with an a target number of positions for the staffing piece and then some other items outside of staffing. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> All right. Will you take the vote? >> Mr. Hackman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Altman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valentine? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leean? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer? >> Yes. Next up, we have board comments. Who would like to start us off? I can start us out. First of all, I want to say thank you to Nicole, uh, the entire leadership team, the superintendent, and, um, for all of your work and putting this together. This is not fun. This is not easy. This is not where

226we want to be. um putting together these budgets and things that we could potentially have to lose should we not pass the levy in November. But I thank you all for your efforts and trying to do the best job that we can while still trying our best to protect um the things that matter for the kids the most. So, thank you. Also want to say thank you to the speakers. We had quite a few speakers tonight. Love seeing students and former students come in and talk. That's amazing. Thank you for standing up. It is not easy to public speak, so thank you for joining and sharing your opinions. Um, I did want to talk briefly about um the levy and some of the things that could potentially be cut if it does not pass. Not

227specifically about any one thing um but the ripple effects that this has. And it sounds like from those who were around in 2011 2012, things that get cut at a particular point in time are not so easily just put back in if the levy passes the next round. So, you know, thinking about things like the job environment for the staff and our educators and uncertainty that the staff and the educators have with the budget could lead to staff and educators leaving the district. we will not necessarily be able to retain that top talent and it is much harder to recruit people back and convince them that no it's fine now um even if we have future levies that pass. So that's you know kind of a ripple effect isn't a necessarily a direct cut but

228it's something that is going to impact folks. um you know, having parents having to spend money on music lessons or art classes outside of school because we don't offer those anymore. That's something they're going to have to be paying for and putting into their own budgets. That could be something that was shared by the entire community. Um less time in schools for kids if we have to cut the length of the days. That's going to cost more in child care for uh parents of young kids. And this could all lead to parents and future parents not choosing Westerville as their community. So this has major impacts just outside of oh well who cares if that kid doesn't have art class. This has major impacts for the entire community. So I want folks to think about,

229you know, is educating our future generations, is that a shared community responsibility or are we okay with that being solely each parents individual responsibility? Full stop. So along with any financial considerations that I know are on voters minds, we are all feeling the pinch. Um I think this is a question we have to ask ourselves is how are we willing to educate the next generation? Um and that was it on my end. Um so uh again congratulations to our retirees and we do want to thank everybody who's here tonight. This is a very long meeting so um especially thanks to those who are still here um but those who spoke too. We really appreciate hearing your views. Um, I guess I just want to say that I feel the situation we're in is like if

230you imagine your household budget, right, and you had a sudden uh, you know, just escalating costs and um, flat revenues, at some point you would you would find yourself needing to cut things that are really important to you, right? And the things that you would cut first might be really important to you, but you you didn't absolutely have to do them. And you would probably choose, you know, to continue paying for your housing and continue paying for your food and and leave those things for last. Well, that's sort of the situation we're in here. So, I just want to say that all of the things we talked about, we know are really important for kids. Um, I know many of these things have been important and are today important to my own children, and I

231know they're important to kids all across the district, but we're like a household that's had escalating costs and flat income, and you have to start somewhere. So, thank you to everyone who's put in all the work um to do this carefully and with the least possible impact. There'll be an impact if if the cuts need to be made, but the least possible impact. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Um I also want to thank everyone in the district who took a lot of time, several weeks, really putting this together. I mean, I I know that that wasn't easy. Um, before I kind of get into what I really want to talk about, I also want to clarify earlier when I was discussing the magnet programs. I absolutely value both buildings. I know it's not

232a matter of values. I just wanted to emphasize that those are two really incredible buildings and it's just unimaginable and unfair to have to decide um to be to be put in a position to have to decide what to do there. So, I just wanted to clarify that. Um I I think tonight my biggest takeaway and something that I really just valued was going through the forecast um and just kind of reminding the public that you know we do have lawmakers who are telling us to diversify our revenue. I mean as a community we did our what we needed to do. We advocated really hard along with students. We did because someone had asked earlier what can the community do? We've done what we can do and it fell on deaf ears. Unfortunately, this board

233unanimously made the decision to put forward something really creative and earn income tax levy. Um, whereas, you know, normally we're used to the property tax. Um, and I guess where I'm going with this logic is this community is used to property taxes. Um, and something with this earn income tax that I think is really interesting is just a relief that it is giving to seniors, folks who are retired who are earning social security incomes. Earlier we talked about the many ways that there are relief at the state level for seniors. Um and so this district is doing everything that it can do to really think creatively listen to the community. We've done the listening. We've done that in so many different ways. There was a comment about that earlier. And really where we're at right

234now is I mean honestly it's just ridiculous that we're in this situation. As a parent who will have a little one entering kindergarten not too long from now. I can't even think about not having you know all day kindergarten. When we talk about equity and all the amazing things that this body has done historically to ensure that kids get access to education that is it's not right. When I think about having to cut positions that obviously impact kids in the classroom, that's awful. But I'm also thinking about the drivers of these buses that now have to deal with their schedules being whacked or putting more on their plates. I'm thinking about the principles who have to now administer medicine because maybe a nurse is in a different building across the district. These are the things

235that we are um having to decide. And so I just want to conclude with um I am absolutely going to review my notes that I've taken tonight. I appreciated the community members talking about the importance of the arts, how sports sparks joy and and provides stability for our kids. I mean, there's not a single C category that's more important than the other, but I really do value that the approach we're taking is what is the state telling us we have to do? What is not required? It doesn't mean that I agree with it, but it's a good starting point. And so, I definitely value that. Um, and then I just want to end with thanking all the retirees who contributed to the 120 years of service in this district and of course the donors um

236who continue to show up and pitch in so that our kids can get um great experiences in the buildings. >> Uh so I'd like to echo everything there. A lot a lot of great things have been said. I want to address uh just two things that haven't been addressed. First of all, on a positive note, my daughter has had both Mr. and Mrs. Blankenship. So, congratulations to them. Um, I also wanted uh to take just a moment before speaking about uh the ballot issue to uh address my vote on release time for religious instruction. Um, I do genuinely appreciate the hard work that uh the district has put into this. I have an issue with ambiguity as it relates to our students and I felt like we should have spent a little more time on

237this trying to work this out. If our legislators were unwilling to define it uh who we can send our kids to, I wanted us to be able to do it. Uh and if we I just want our policies to be super concrete and uh so that that explains my vote hopefully. Uh and again, it's not an indictment of the policy uh as it sits. It's just I think we can do a little bit better. Um the word that came to mind as we talked about the levy for me was it's an ecosystem and you know when you think about this in science you know you you seem like you might be losing something unimportant your ecosystem particular n or a mosquito or something but the way that ripples through up to the top of the

238food chain the way it ripples through the entire uh the grass and the prair water and everything gets impacted by one minor seemingly change and you know as someone who spent their life in the arts I think about well why people are probably like well we'll just take away music in the elementary school and it's like well yeah but then you lose music in the middle school and then you lose it in the high school and then you think about all the people who come to our high school football game it's not just for the football team but for the bands and you can just see the impact on the ecosystem so please take do your due diligence take your time and really consider the negative aspects of those values you're not passing. Um, and

239you know, vote your conscience, but please do consider that a little reminder. I think at our heard that saved the student's life. Try not to tear up. But any rate, this student's life was dramatically changed by coach. We know these things. I watched it in my own daughter. How art has unlocked her and my son. anything else. These things matter to our kids to interact or you know others that aren't like all of these things are really hard to Thank everyone for coming out. for taking a moment and I guess I would say to someone for you doesn't make a lot of sense out whoever budget on it. But I'll just leave that question whereach out. I just know it's been hard to work on this for a couple weeks now. not something um the

240board will meet in regular session Monday at 6 a.m. South High School. That's 303 South Avenue. And that may have a motion to move into session. >> So >> yes. Yes. This works. Oh, okay. All right. Um, it's 10:04. >> 10:04. And may I have a motion to adjourn? So move. Second. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes.