001Good evening. Thank you for attending the September 20, sorry, September 8th, 2025 regular meeting of the Westerville City Schools Board of Education. This evening's agenda will be displayed on the screens in the front of the room. Printed agendas are available for our guests in the back of the room on that table or you may find the agenda on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website which is www.wcc.org. Click on our district link, select board of education, and follow board docs link to our current meeting agenda. And with that, Miss Marcia, will you please call the role? >> Mrs. Alman, >> here. >> Mr. Hackman >> here. >> Mrs. Valentine. Sorry. Mrs. Lee >> here. Mrs. Meyer >> here. Would you please join us in the pledge of allegiance? Thank you. Um, next up
002is district highlights and we don't have any this uh evening. So, we'll move along to 4 um.01 under reports, food service report. And welcome Mr. Casper. Um, I'd like to thank the board for allowing me to make this presentation on food service. Um, last year we served a total of 1,788,844 meals. We did it out of 23 buildings. We have 106 employees all trained in food safety. 41 have advanced training in food safety. And I brought the coordinators tonight, Daniel Parton and Elaine Adams. Um breakfast, we we uh charge $1.50 per grade level. Lunch is $2.75. Middle school is $3. Um I forgot to put the food cost per meal on. Um but at the elementary school, it's $1.27 per meal. Um, lunch is a $1.78. Uh, middle and high school is a $140 and
003it's $1.99 for lunch. All meals are served in compliance with the United States Department of Agriculture referred to as the USDA. The National School Lunch Breakfast Program meal pattern requirements along with board of education policy. Uh most people don't realize that our department is self- sustaining, meaning we cover our own expenses with federal reimbursements and program sales without additional support from the general fund. School meals are important because hunger affects students ability to concentrate. Addressing hunger through school meal programs is vital to ensure students can focus on their education and reach their full potential. the food services u resource uh page. You have access to the menus, link to free and reduced online application, link to pay school central, the new online payment system and the orange icon you see is the link connect mobile
004app icon that can be found in the app store. Um and you can see the online menu um with it um and filter the allergens out. Um you can see student transaction history and check students balance. Um we also uh do lunch counter balance notifications weekly for negative balances. Uh the components for lunch are fruit vegetable subgroup grains meat meat alternate and milk. The vegetable subgroups are dark green red orange beans peas and lentils starchy other vegetables and additional vegetables from any subgroup. We do offer alternate meals such as gluten-free, egg free, dairy free, and soy free. Under offer versus serve at lunch, we must offer all five components to students. Uh must choose at least three with one component being a fruit or a vegetable. Offer versus serve is required for lunches in high
005schools, but optional in middle and elementary schools, and it's not required for field trips. If you look at the picture in the center, the student with their arms raised screaming is finding out that they can have pizza more than one day a week. Um, but we do however suggest a variety. The components for uh breakfast are fruit, grains, and milk. Under offer versus serve breakfast, we must offer four food items from the three required food components. Students select at least three of the four offered food items with one being at least half a cup of fruit. Beginning July 1 of 2025, there were limits at to added sugars in school breakfast. Breakfast cereals may have no more than six grams of added sugars per dry ounce. Yogurt may have no more than two grams of
006added sugars per ounce. And flavored milk may have no more than 10 grams of added sugar per eight fluid ounces. Because of the shortened time and not wanting students to be late to class, breakfast is grab and go. Here are some examples of the type of breakfast that students can choose from. Allocart items are all item are all non-meal items sold. An example would be a hamburger, bag of chips or bottled water. In the auto cart item sold, the nutritional label has to be run through the Alliance for a Healthier Generation product calculator. This tells us if it is compliant or not. The food must meet the nutrient standards for calories, sodium, fats, total sugars. There are beverage standards for each grade level. Also, all grade levels conserve plain water, fruit or vegetable juice, 100%
007fruit or vegetable juice diluted. Uh, milk in high school only low calorie, no calorie beverages with or without caffeine andor carbonation. Uh, caloriefree flavored water. So, Gatorade and sparkling ice would be examples of that. Our department takes pride in not only compliance with the bi-American requirements from the USDA but also Ohio proud in highlighting items produced or grown here in the state. We purchase products produced by Marzetti which is based in Westerville. And by American only refers to food items. There are exemptions for items not grown in the United States or not enough grown in quantities. Uh bananas, pineapples, mandarin oranges, and kiwi are examples. Um we did the farm to school summer challenge. Um when we offered um fresh peaches, some kids hadn't seen a peach before. Um at first they thought they were
008moldy because they had peach fuzz. Um but our staff along with the teachers convinced them that they were fine to eat and everybody ended up enjoying them. Um, while we did participate in the uh summer the farm summer challenge, we won the silver beat award. Uh, this is because we did the cucumber crunch and we served uh peaches from Bowman Orchard. We're currently working with Jeff Bracken at Westerville North High School and their garden to supply produce to the cafeteria north. We're looking at hydroponic lettuce and bell peppers. [Music] Um in October we did participated in the apple crunch and highlighted local apples. Um we serve apples from Bowman Orchard to students at all grade levels. Um years ago when we started looking into farm to school we saw Bowman Orchard at the Westville Farmers
009Market. Uh so we started buying apples, peaches, and plums from them. Um this past year we had our administrative review where they um go over every aspect of the program. Uh they'll review applications, menus, alle cart binders. They'll come in and watch the menu service to make sure we're claiming um meals correctly. We also in addition to this had a procurement review um and they make sure that we follow the federal procurement process. Uh we also had our resource management review where it looks at paid lunch equity, revenue of non-program foods and indirect costs. All of these were closed with no violations. The administrative review we received a commendation on the organization of our paperwork and the variety of our menu items. Over the summer, we uh upgraded some kitchens. Um, all the equipment purchased
010was using funds from the food service account, uh, not funds from the general fund. Um, at Hanby, we went from, uh, serving on countertops to serving out of hot and cold wells. At Hawthorne, we added a steamer, upgraded the exhaust hoods, and installed prep tables. At Whittier, we added two combi ovens, upgraded the exhaust hoods, uh, new prep tables, and installed a walk-in cooler similar to the one at Hawthorne. We're also adding hot and cold service wells that will be installed when hamies get installed. I would like to thank Charlie Boss for supplying pictures for the presentation. School meals are important because hunger hungry students ability to concentrate. Addressing hunger through school meal programs is vital to ensure students can focus on their education and reach their full potential. We will continue to replace equipment,
011upgrade serving areas to be more efficient in serving meals to our students. Our staff will continue to serve students nutritious meals in a friendly environment. And we will continue to look at new items and do taste tests to find out the most popular items while analyzing the menus to see what we need to be replaced. Any questions? >> Thank you so much for this um presentation. I really found it very helpful. Um we obviously know that eating habits are direct have a direct correlation with students academic performances as well. One of my questions just kind of pertains to the procurement um review. Obviously, it's to ensure that we are being compliant, but could you kind of speak to the equity piece um in terms of we're doing that to also make sure that we're we're
012giving different vendors an opportunity to contract with the district? Correct. >> Uh that's correct. They went through um all of our financials when it came to the purchasing piece and they came up with seven of our vendors, whether it be a micro purchase, a small purchase, a contract. Um and then they went through and they analyzed all of the transactions that we had with them. Um we made some corrections based upon their suggestions and so we're doing what we're supposed to do. >> Thank you so much. I just had a question about uh revising menus and with our changing demographics in the district and different ethnicities sort of being uh more prolific inside of our district. How is that process work in terms of said taste testing? But like could you outline that process a
013little bit about when you decide to rotate an item into the menu? >> Well, usually what we'll do is we'll start I'll start looking like um in the springtime going over the sales and you'll find that items that aren't that popular. Um and then through food shows or sales reps that come in, we'll look at new products. Um um and then now that we have the two coordinators on board um and both of them are looking at the taste testing piece to go back to that. We have done that stuff in the past where we had raisles that we would um at the high school we would take samples up and down the line while kids were waiting in there. Um and then I think we have brought in um like pot stickers and what
014was it? Chocolate c um sun butter for the elementary kids to taste. So >> thank you. >> Um excuse me. Thank you so much. And thank you also for being here. Um I want to I mean that's amazing. Almost 1.8 million meals. So yes, kudos. Thank you. Um, you know, the food really is a lifeline for so many of our kids. I remember during COVID how, you know, we we had to get meals to kids because that's we're keeping kids alive by feeding them every day. >> So, thank you for doing that. Um, and my question is just about the the food preparation and the movement of meals throughout the day. Can you just give us a a brief overview of um you know where meals are prepared and how they're getting distributed across the
015district because I think a lot of people don't know. >> Um yeah, at the the elementary level we do what's called satelliting out. Um it comes out of um South High School or Central High School. Um those buildings in addition to having a food a food service license from the health department, they have one from the department of agriculture. So they also get that inspection too. Uh but the food gets cooked at the central kitchen loaded into hot carts or cold carts and then it gets shipped out to the buildings. One of the things that I'm trying to do and we did it with Wilder or yeah with Wilder was adding piece to them. Um we added another piece of equipment to Hawthorne because they already had a convection oven. So now they have a
016steamer to steam vegetables. >> Great. Great. Thank you. It's a it's a amazingly complicated process that you all manage every single day. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> And your additions that you're adding, which I think you mentioned earlier, comes from our food service money that you're able to invest back into that equipment, but I know you'd mentioned that um the reason you're trying to add some of that equipment, the elementary, so they're able to keep the food warmer or fresher, do some of it on site. So, it's still satellite in, but then being able to do some of that. And if you want to elaborate on that a little bit, >> we're gonna Well, we're going to elaborate. We're gonna It's going to be shipped in frozen. Um, we did add um freezer
017units, bigger freezer units to uh Wilder and Hawthorne. Um so, they'll be able to cook more as needed. One of the disadvantages the satelliting in um some some products out there don't hold up well in a hot cart. So if they're going to be in there for five hours or whatever, they're still going to be food safe, but it might not be as quality. So the the last child in line isn't going to get something that's same as the first child. So we're kind of as we can move away from that um so that they can have the fresher food. That's one of the goals. And when I came back, Carrie knew that was one of the priorities that I did have. >> And Brent, that would be you're not wild, right? I know we
018have a lot of lot of elementarymentaries and same letters. So, >> thanks. >> Um, I just want to say thank you to all the whole team. You know, I over the summer I was in Westerville South for band camp and I saw the massive undertaking in just one school that happens with checking every expiration date, stocking everything. It's a lot of work and I just really appreciate all the work that you guys put into it. My question is something that I've heard a lot about and I know we've answered this but I think it would be useful to um just answer it again. It's really around um payment and I know that we use a new system this year but there's other ways that um parents can send in money so that that can be
019loaded to their um students accounts. Could you just elaborate a little on that? Yeah, I think on the food service web page, you correct me if I'm wrong. Uh I think it's is it under pay schools or it's under negative balance, something like that. It actually has a list of like what you can do like send in a check um that you can also use pay schools, but it kind of explains that part too. And I kind of overlooked that one. >> Yeah, I I know um I've sent in just for people that are watching at home, I've sent in cash to my son and he's like, "Okay, I'll just get it loaded." and they've been really helpful and I know that's probably a little bit of extra work for um them but just really
020appreciate the opport the many opportunities that we provide families to be able to loan money to their students accounts through pay scale of check and cash. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. That is a lot of food. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, next up we have 4.02 and this is the Westerville City School Coach Advisory Guide book. Welcome, Miss Yiani. >> Hi, thank you very much for having me here tonight. I'm ready to present about our coach advisor guide book and just kind of show a little bit about what we provide to our coaches. Um, this is uh available for all of our staff members through our bookmarks. Um, Tim Sifler was able to do that. But, uh, this is what we
021make sure that all of our coaches have. Which way do I point it, Brent? >> Did you do that? >> Okay. Um, so the first place, if somebody is interested in coaching on a team, um, the the positions are posted in frontline. Uh, those are available for anybody to apply to. Um, and when somebody interviews and they go through that interview process with our athletic directors as well as our principles, then one of the things that they will receive if they feel like they're a valuable candidate is a guide. The guidebook code as well as the coaches tool chest um is something that we provide for all of our coaches and adviserss and they'll get their code for that. It is a yearly professional development um that has all of the different pieces that will
022help that coach or adviser um receive some of the certifications that they need. So, we made sure that both of those were on that same sheet so that they have this available right to them from the get-go so they could learn what is expected of them. Turning it on is always phenomenal. this way. Got it. Or maybe not. Brent, >> did you turn it off? >> Yeah, the green light. >> I think battery dead. I don't see a green light. the battery died. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, >> did she do that? >> We're here to learn about the guide book. >> Test it. >> Nice. I appreciate you all. Thank you, tech support. Um, some of the different pages we will walk through today, but this is a a guide book for all of our
023coaches across all of our eight schools. And our athletic directors from those eight schools where our kids participate did all have input in all of these different pieces that we'll go through. It's all there on the side, but we're going to highlight a handful of those for you. The first one is those resources and expectations about what is expected for our coaches. Um, every coach needs to have a pupil activity permit and as well as making sure that they do the the yearly training and so those things are highlighted there. Um, and those are all popouts that will come um that are part of our site. We want to make sure that they understand that not only they're representing, you know, us, their school, but they're also representing the Ohio Capital Conference as well as
024the Ohio High School Athletic Association. There are many rules that we need to follow and make sure that we are in line with. Um, one of the things that we like to point out for our coaches is the fact that we are a multi- high school district and there's lots of rules that go to with that, um, including when can who's going to go where and when can you talk to an eighth grade student. So, all of those things are are laid out. You can see that huge flowchart there. That's all part of that process. We want to make sure that they understand supervision, security, and safety. Um, so what is expected of them before, during, and after a practice? Um, kids are our responsibility and we want to make sure that we're keeping everyone
025safe. So, we need to make sure that we're very clear about what the expectation is. Another thing that's highlighted is all of the communication that goes into being a coach. First, you've got the communication between yourself and the athletic department. Then you've also got all of the logistics that go together with having a team, whether it's transportation, what your general needs are for your team, working with our athletic trainers through Ohio Health, um, as well as all of the families and final forms because all of those things need to be filled out. You have to have some kind of team communication. Right now, our teams are using final forms. They're using Remind. You can use an app with the adults only, but you should not be using an app with students. And so just making
026sure that all of those things are clear. Family rosters need to be going to the athletic secretaries or secretaries at the buildings. You have to have team expectations and we use our positive behavior um intervention and supports to make sure that we're building some of those team expectations and have examples of those. We want people to share with everyone what how do you letter when you're in varsity? What does that mean? Sometimes coaches also have to update their scores and then all the way up to how do I get this kid to make sure that they have college signings. So all of those different pieces of communication could all be part of what our co our coaches are doing. We have a lot of district processes um that we want to make sure are clear
027and we're trying to build more and more consistency. If you can imagine with three different high schools all running, there's a lot of different coaches that are trying to maybe do it their own way, but we still want to make sure that we're doing it the Westerville way. Some of those examples are from our treasuries department as well as like our our PE waiverss. Our treasuries department, if you don't have a purchase order, you're not going to get what it is that you want. Um, and so that is um part of what we we share with our coaches as well as if families are interested in using a PE waiver when they're in a high school sport, this is the way that they do that. And so, and this was a change and this was
028a change for the coaches as well as for our families. So we made sure that this was very clear and we shared this with our families as well as we shared it with our coaches so that if a kid came up to them how is it that I get a PE waiver it was clear for everyone and that's through power school. Now we want to make sure that they understand that there are handbooks that students have to follow. It's not just the rules of their team but is our school rules our school expectations as well as our code of conduct for extracurricular expectations. So it's you are representing more when you're wearing a uniform. And so we want to make sure that that is very clear. They have to understand all of those specific policies.
029For an end of a season, we want to make sure that our coaches know that we do survey our students. We survey our families as well as they will go through an endofear evaluation. they have can see all of those different questions that are asked of them and all of those expectations prior to um those end of end of year items happening. Those are conversations that athletic directors have as well as administrators have with their coaches. Some of the feedback that we've received from those um surveys are what highlight in our chalk talk newsletters. So, yes, we've got this website that is available for them at all times, but then bi-weekly, we put out a chalk talk newsletter that highlights character. It highlights building community, so culture on your team, um being positive, finding our
030Westerville way, as well as um that communication piece. All of those are different things that we've gotten feedback from our families as well as our students that we need to improve in. not on every team, but enough that it needs to be highlighted. Finally, we have our We Are the Veil Award. It is our sportsmanship award that we want to make sure our coaches are thinking about sportsmanship throughout our seasons. And they have a nomination form that will go to them each season. And there is a student from a middle school and a student from a high school that is highlighted here at one of our board meetings. And so that is highlighted as well. And finally, before we go, we've got some upcoming news that we are going to be working with Coach Beyond
031uh through the Ohio State University, our mental health team as well as some of our coaches and athletic directors and students from each one of our high schools. Um we are going to meeting be meeting with Coach Beyond and our we are the um activities that we have done before are going to be happening in November and we're really excited about that partnership that we've got with um Coach Beyond as well. Any questions? >> Could you just explain a little bit what Coach Beyond is? >> Yeah. Um, so they are a group that's formed mostly from social workers and mental health specialists about how the way that we work with our students and the culture that we build on our team. We want to make sure that they're making great lifelong choices. And it is
032phenomenal work. They've done a lot of mental health work um with Ohio High School Athletic Association and uh they've done some work with some of our coaches already in the district and we're just going to expand it further. We've got two classes that they're going to be running at our Westerville educator day and then we're going to be working with our with our students as well as the coaches in this November event. >> And so is we are the event being moved to November instead of the summer? Oh, that's exciting. >> Yep. So, we'll be focusing with our athletes up until then at our high schools independently and then they'll all come together. We're going to have that hopefully here and make that event happen. >> Thank you. I just have one last question. I
033think you talked a lot about the high schools, >> but I this also applies to the middle schools as well. And I know it showed it at the beginning, but I think it's just important to know that the the coaches also have this for middle school and that the students are required to also sign both the handbook and the code of conduct too. >> Yes, that's all part of final forms. It's all part of their power school that they do for the beginning of their school year is making sure that you understand your expectations. But then it's also in final forms understanding that there's high school expectations as well as our school expectations. >> Thank you. This is really great. I know you've been working on this and put it together last year. So, thank
034you for all this work. >> Thank you so much. I just had a question regarding the surveys. When did we start surveying students and families? >> Um, we started that two years ago and we do it each season and it will come out after the state finalists. Um, so anybody that could possibly All of the seasons are closed and so we send it out to middle school as well as high school and it goes to through final forms. Final forms has a student account as well as an adult account that is linked up to that specific student. It is an anonymous survey. So we're just getting feel of okay what are some of the trends that we are seeing for our different teams. >> Thank you so much. Very informative. Um feels a little bit
035weird to be bringing this up but uh to futurecast a little bit. name, image, likeness, and how it is impacting uh our seniors who will be going out possibly to to work in that world. What are we doing to educate both coaches and students on sort of their rights around image likeness and their their privacy and that balance? >> Um that is something that some of the school counselors have talked to our kids about as well as some of the um athletic directors. So it is not something that we have broached as much as we we can but you're right is definitely on the forecast of things to come. >> It's just going to be a short time to have to talk about that. >> Thank you so much. I know this is a ton
036of work. We've been talking about having some this consistency here for a long time. Um and you know from what I can tell what is in this handbook is I'll just make up a percentage. 60% of it actually applies to other curricular other extracurriculars, right? >> Yes. >> So, is there a vision in the future where there is a similar handbook for all the extracurriculars? >> Well, this is available for absolutely anybody. Um, I know I do focus on the coaching side of it because we did make this with athletic directors, but you're right, it bleeds into almost every single one of our extracurriculars because you're all part of a team. Whether that is you're part of the theater team, you're part of the band team, you're part of the marching band team, you're all
037part of a team. And so and actually our choirs and our bands are our largest teams that we have. So um it it could apply to all of those different pieces. The band directors do have likenesses within some of their guide books, but it's not all on the same page yet, but that is definitely something to future. >> Thank you so much. Next up, we have our superintendent comments. >> Thank you. I'd like to thank our food service team for being here tonight and that presentation as well as Nishani. We appreciate um just the opportunity to kind of focus on all the work that goes on behind the scenes for the board. I'm excited to share that our team gets to host leaders from all three high schools. This Wednesday we have our first superintendent
038advisory of the year. Um this is one of my favorite things to do. We have um kids that will all come here from the three high schools. We do some icebreaker and interaction so they can make friends from the other schools which we've actually had a lot of um our three speakers from convocation met through that and they've started doing some other things together as well. So excited to have them all here this week and then we will go out to their high schools multiple times throughout the year to more specifically at their buildings about what they're interested in. So, that's always a great opportunity to hear from the kids about what they want from their schools. And so, we have some activities planned to get some feedback from them about um what do they
039value at our schools, what would they like to see improve and, you know, as we think about um potentially difficult situations that may come our way attached to the ballot issue, I think it's really good to have information directly from the kids. So, looking forward to hear from those leaders. Um, last Wednesday I had the opportunity along with Nicole to attend the board member candidate forum at the local library and I just wanted to thank all of our board candidates for taking the time to participate in that activity and sharing their views and engaging with the community. I think it was really helpful. Um, and then just wanted to take a moment to make sure that our community is aware. We've kind of mentioned this before, but it's it's quickly going to be upon us.
040Our plan is at the next board meeting on September 22nd to include a conversation with the board around potential reductions if the ballot issue fails. So, our team's been putting together information for all of you that includes what is required by law. So, if we had to look at um reducing areas down to what's required and what would be the potential cost savings of eliminating programs and or positions that are not required by law. And just want to remind everyone that this is something we've been working on. After the last ballot failure last fall, we've already eliminated 4.8 million from our budgets, as you all know, another 3.3 million, including 33 positions and staffing. And we're continuing to look for opportunities everywhere we can to tighten up and see what we can do without, but
041we are at a point where we know we'll need to make significant reductions if this ballot issue is not successful. So, we do plan on bringing that to all of you next board meeting. want to encourage the community to stay involved in that process and engaged. And then once the board has an opportunity to discuss that and give us some direction, we will plan to communicate the possible reductions to the community as soon as we're able to do so. And that's all I have tonight, but I'm happy to take any questions. >> Thank you. Um, next up we have public comments and the board of education welcomes public comment on educational issues of our interest to our school community. The board does not discriminate based on the identity or viewpoints of the speaker during our
042public participation. However, the board president may limit comments that are obscene, abusive, or harassing. In an attempt to protect the privacy interests of our students, the board asks that speakers not identify students by name during their comments, persons having public complaints about district personnel, programming, or operations will be referred to the process set forth in board policy 9130. Finally, the board reminds speakers that their statement should be directed to the board as a whole and not to individual members. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on the screens and Miss Dennis will call minutes have elapsed. Our first speaker this evening is Miss Jana Dy. Sorry. Welcome. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Jana Dowy. I live here in
043Westerville and have two children at McVey Elementary. And I have to give a special shout out to the amazing McVey staff and teachers for everything they've done for our family. I've only lived in Westerville for four years, but I chose to move here because it reminded me of the community I grew up in. I immigrated to the United States at the age of five. My family settled in a suburb of Cleveland in a large public school district much like Westerville. School quickly became my safe space. Through challenges and instability at home, it was my constant. It was where I built friendships that have lasted decades. It was where I took nearly a dozen AP classes that set me ahead in college. It was where mentors guided me through the admissions process as I became a
044first generation college student. It was where I discovered my love of leadership through extracurricular activities. I could say with absolute certainty I am not the person I I would not be the person I am today without the nurturing and opportunities my public education gave me. These opportunities helped me earn both a bachelor's and a doctorate degree and serve today as a national pharmacy director. At McVey, my children are already experiencing the kind of opportunities that make a difference in young lives. They're surrounded by teachers who set the tone for curiosity and kindness every single day. And there's a true sense of pioneer pride in the building. The lessons learned from Miss Drum, Miss Spectal, Mrs. Florence, and Miss Mantel are regular conversation pieces at our dinner table and tie into everyday life. Before school, the
045choir club led by the best music teacher, Mr. McIntyre, fills the halls with energy. There's a girls running club where kids build confidence alongside endurance. The STEM club run by Miss Smith is so packed with students that I've lost count. Um, all of them eager to uh learn and exercise. Um, science and technology in a fun, hands-on way. There uh these are the kind of experiences that shape kids far beyond the classroom. And when I look ahead to high school, I get excited about what's waiting for them. a wide range of AP classes, engineering labs spark innovation, athletic facilities that bring our community together, and countless clubs, and programs where they'll discover their passions. These are the very opportunities that launch kids into their future. That's why I'm here tonight to urge everyone in this
046room and in our community to vote yes for Westerville schools. This ballot issue is not about politics. It's about making sure my kids, your kids, and all the kids in the community have the same opportunities that I did. Without it, we face larger class sizes, fewer teachers, higher pay-to-play fees for sports, the loss of AP courses, and the disappearance of clubs that build leadership and belonging. And these are not extras, they're lifechanging opportunities. An investment in our schools and is an investment in our community's future, and the return is infinite. Please, let's protect and strengthen what makes Westerville a place families want to call home. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, next up we have Mr. Antonio Valentino. Welcome. >> How y'all doing? Um, appreciate everybody's time. Um, just kind of want to start out
047um by kind of letting everybody know that I'm I am a product of Westerville City Schools. Um, my m my mother graduated from Westerville South. she graduated while she was pregnant with me. Um, and the stories that she usually tells me about, you know, the the kind of support that she had from her teachers, um, being a as being, uh, as taboo as being a teen mom in the n the late 90s were. Um, so, you know, I I'm very thankful for those people. Um, but I I don't know if you guys can tell, I've been an athlete all my life. Um, so I'm going to going to try to speak through an athletic lens, even though I'm not speaking about athletics. I just think it's a great microcosm of um of our society as
048a whole. Um, I played football for 20 years. I started as a little 5-year-old boy who needed some some energy to, you know, a positive way to get his energy out. Um, that led me to, you know, playing at Blendin Russell North and then eventually um at Penn State University where I graduated and at the University of Florida, excuse me. Um, I then was able to, you know, pursue the NFL for a little while and, you know, that kind of came to an end and now I'm back home. Um, but I'm back home for a reason. Uh, because I know that the the resources that are here that are available, um, you know, kind of compared to what our some of our students go through on a day-to-day basis is kind of, for lack of
049a better term, confusing to me. Um, like I said, I graduated from North. There are a lot of children who do not eat unless they are at school, but directly next to the school, there's a neighborhood full of houses that go for almost a million dollars. Um, so I I I kind of just wanted to I know I only got about a minute left, but um I had a bunch of notes written down, but I just wanted to kind of I guess use my testimony and kind of be a little bit of a a living and breathing example of what can happen when as a community we invest into our young people. You know, I don't have children. Um I would hope to one day. I would hope to also raise them in the West
050City Schools District. I have two younger siblings. My younger brother goes to South. my sister uh goes to Wilder and you know I want to make sure that they have all the opportunities and everything that I had you know as we we face trying times, uncertain times. Um I don't think that anybody has ever regretted investing into young people. Um, I work in higher education now over at Dennis. So, I I do understand I'm aware of, you know, the the shifting tides, I guess we can say, to kind of keep things um, level. But, um, there are many more kids who have the same potential that I had and can fulfill the same lives that I did. So, I would love to, you know, encourage everybody to vote yes. Appreciate you guys. Thank you. >>
051Thank you. Next up, we have Miss Sarah Pros. Welcome. >> Hi. Um, I just wanted to thank the board of education for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Sarah Pros. I am here because my son Charlie, who is two and a half, will soon start school here in Westerville. I didn't attend Westerville schools, but my husband is a 2003 graduate of Westerville North High School. And I have fallen in love with Westerville since moving here about seven years ago. I wanted to speak although I don't have a student in Westerville schools yet because of the incredibly special place Westerville schools holds in this community. The connections my husband Tyler made in these schools continue to shape him. From the teachers and coaches to the secretary Mr. Sail who remains one of
052his favorite people to this day. Westerville schools and the people who work in them made my husband the person he is today. And if you know him, Lord knows they had to put up with a lot of shenanigans for him to get there. I'm here to speak in favor of the proposed point. Z75 income tax on the ballot this November because I want to be a part of a community that continues building and strengthens strengthening its schools. Having looked at the opponents of this valley ballot issues information, it just doesn't make sense. Both literally they seem to combine a bunch of random numbers and always come back to the same conclusion. Less for our schools and figuratively it doesn't make sense to not support our schools when they bring so much value to our community
053and our property values. Charlie loves to visit the school playgrounds and watch the big kids play on the athletic fields. We moved to Westerville because we wanted Charlie to have the same opportunities Tyler did growing up here. Our family plans to vote yes on the ballot measure in November to continue the legacy of outstanding education in our community. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. And uh last up we have Mr. Eric Den Denison. Okay. Welcome. Like to thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um, again, my name is Eric Dennison and I know I don't look like it right now, but I am employed as a nuclear physicist with the state of Ohio. Um, I don't know if you're aware or if you understand, but in the final analysis, every tax is collected
054by force or by threat of force. If you don't understand this, I ask you to think to the logical conclusion of what happens if you refuse to pay a tax. Eventually, someone will come with a gun to take you into custody, seize your assets, ruin your life. I know people say that the schools need more money, and that may be the case. I don't know what churches you attend. I don't know what faiths you profess. I don't know what ethical systems you ascribe to. I am not aware of any church, faith, or legitimate ethical system that says that it is a good thing to take by force assets from one person or group of people so that someone else can do what they want with them. You have said again by putting another levy on
055the ballot that you endorse the use of government influence and government force to take money from my pocket so that you can do what you want with it. you don't care or you don't seem to care what local businesses I might want to support with that money, what charities I might want to support with that money. You don't seem concerned with the fact that some of my neighbors will have a harder time paying their mortgages and their rent because of this levy. that some of my friends across town will have a harder time putting food on the table and putting clothes on their children's backs because of this levy. For all of you who support the levy, I ask you to consider this. The schools may need more money. You're welcome to that opinion. It
056may be factual. If you believe the schools need more money, then put up your own money. You are welcome to give as much of your own money to the schools as you want. Instead of taking your kids to Disney for the summer, write a check to the schools. Instead of taking a cruise for the summer, write a check to the schools. Instead of going to a show or to a Buckeye game or to a Blue Jackets game, write a check to the schools. But it is simply not ethical, moral, or philosophically justifiable to force someone else to give money so that you can do what you want with it. >> Thank you. >> All right, that concludes our public comment period. Um, next up we have um board meeting minutes. And may I have a
057motion to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting held on Monday, August 25th, 2025? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments or questions? >> Okay, we take the vote, please, Miss Marshall. >> Mr. Hackleman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Meyer, >> yes. And moving along to financials 7.01. May I have a motion to approve the resolution requiring the con the continuation of a five-year financial forecast? So moved. >> So moved. >> Second. >> And Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about this? >> Yes. Thank you. So, um, as part of the most recent state budget bill, um, the five-year financial forecast was changed to be what I like to call a four-year financial forecast. Um, except for they use some creative
058language around that. Um, specifically, the new language requires the current year budget plus three additional years. So, our current forecast has the current year budget plus four additional years. Um there was a lot of conversation around this, you know, uh as we're looking at trying to responsibly plan for the future and was as we're signing long-term contracts, sometimes up to as much as five years, that financial forecast is what we use to determine our if we're able to sign some of these contracts. And so um talking with my colleagues around the state um our associations um I feel and my most of the people experts in this space feel that it's um prudent to continue to have that long-term planning tool. Uh we will of course still file with the state of Ohio the requirement
059of the current year budget plus three years um three additional years. Um, but for our district, for us to be able to continue to plan, I would like for the board to continue to receive a five-year financial forecast um, from me. So, basically, I would just drop off the last year of that forecast that gets submitted to the state. Um, I just want to make sure that we're transparent with our community about what's coming up and what we're looking towards. >> There are no penalties for us internally, if you will, preparing a fiveyear, right? >> Oh, no. I can provide all the financial reports. Um, so far, I mean, unless, you know, they come out and say they'd have to pass new law for that. So, >> but under current law, there's no restrictions. >>
060The only thing that's required is the current year budget plus three additional years. There is nothing that says you can't add additional years to that. I mean, in some cases, we even look out 10 years depending on what the situation is, but I don't think people know that. Um, but anyway, so I would recommend board approved this resolution. It just shows that I have your support behind this and it's really just a matter of what I'm presenting at school board meeting so that you guys can see that in short we're we're requiring a I'm going to say higher standard in terms of maintaining the but a different standard that exceeds what the state is requiring and um in order for the treasur CFO to stop doing that we would have to resend this. Yes. Just
061want to be clear. >> Any other Okay, we take the vote. >> Mrs. Alman, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lee, >> yes. Mrs. >> Yes. And can we take personal consent as one? >> All right. May I have a motion to approve the personal consent agenda 8.01 through 8.10? >> So moved. >> Second. Welcome, Mr. Ree. >> Thank you and good evening. I'd like to present to you for your consideration tonight's personnel consent agenda. Along with the regular action items in tonight's agenda, there are a number of items to be noted. For resignations, we have nine classified resignations. And as typical, we have a few who've resigned as substitutes to take a contracted position within our district. We have a single teacher resignation from a candidate who resigned before actually starting her
062role as a licensed teacher. And we have one administrative resignation from Rachel Pinto who coordinated the nurses within our district. We have a single licensed leave of absence from an employee completing leave for child care. And as we've seen in the past few meetings, we have minor contract status changes for those classified employees who make slight adjustments to their date. We have onetime pays for gifted training coming up this semester and payment for a couple of staff members who were board approved and hired after a one-time pay event had already been approved. So, we want to make sure that we don't leave those folks out and they get uh their correct payment. We recommend the hire of seven new classified employees and a collection of classified substitutes. We also have a pr-rated amendment to the
063contract of a licensed employee who was unable to begin work on the first contract day of the teacher year and we are excited to have all of them join the Westerville family. We are also rounding out the few remaining supplemental coaching and advisor positions as well as the many hourly workers who support our extracurricular events. And the board has two retirements to approve this evening. Deb Asta will be retiring after 31 years in the district. Deb started out as a crossing guard and has become a valuable valuable member to our human resources team. Kim Ayatana will be retiring as a second grade teacher from Robert Frost. And Kim has served Westerville City Schools for 33 years. Kim and Deb have collectively served Westerville City Schools for 64 years. And this marks the second board meeting
064in a row where the collective service of our retirees dates back to the year 1961. So what else happened in 1961? Now who can forget the comic book debut of the Fantastic 4? Nobody was happier than Barbie at the release of the Kin Doll. America listened to the music of the modernday Romeo and Juliet as Westside Story stormed into the theaters that October and a multicultural and multi-racial group of freedom writers hit the road for equality and Westerville kicked the title of a village and became a city. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. No questions. Just congratulations to the retirees and thank you. Um, okay. Mr. Appleman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lee. >> Yes. Mrs. Alman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer. >> Yes. We don't have any old business. Um, moving
065along to new business. I see you move far. 10.01. Our first reading of policy 5223. Release time for religious instruction during the school day. Mr. talk to us about this. >> Yes, this is a revision to policy 5223, release time for religious instruction during the school day. The board will recall that House Bill 8, which took effect this spring on April 9, made it a requirement for public school districts to allow students to have release time for religious instruction during the school day. And we changed our policy to be compliant with that legislation this spring. This summer's budget bill made a few additions compelling this policy revision where participating students absences will be excused during release time. And we identified that the release can occur up to one class period per week excluding core curriculum
066and we had to define core curriculum which is considered to be all graded curriculum with state approved standards. And our policy must allow for students to return to school with program materials from their release time instruction. Now, also referenced in this policy is policy 9700, which governs the distribution of those materials on the return of students, which includes this clause. No outside organization or staff member or student representing an outside organization may distribute or post literature on that organization's behalf on district property either during or after school hours without the permission and prior review of the superintendent which simply means students are welcome to bring materials back but we ask that they keep them secure and refrain from distributing them to other students who do not partake in the religious time instruction. Cheryl Relford and
067I have met several times with the leadership of LifeWise over the past several months to develop our process for this school year and we are confident that we have a mutual understanding of our policies and processes. >> Any questions? >> I just had one question regarding uh the definition of sponsoring entity. I know we're in particular uh focused on lifewise, but does the state uh outline what qualifies a sponsoring religious entity or do we internally uh define what a sponsoring entity is? >> They do define it. I can get to you that language and it's kind of like a bonafide religious institution. Um but I can I can provide for you what the qualifications are but it is there are qualifications and parameters for what qualifies as a religious institution for this time. Thank you.
068>> Okay. Any other? Okay. Thank you. Um, moving along to the first reading of policy 6830 or audit and Miss Marshall. >> Yes, thank you. Uh, so this is uh sort of an update based on a newer wall that was put in place a couple of years ago. Um, just as a review of the policy, we realized that this hadn't been updated, so we're adding it now. Uh there was a new requirement that should a treasurer separate from employment um they would work with the board to make sure that all monies are accounted for and then there's a certificate an official certificate that's involved. Um so we're updating the policy to include that language. It just mirrors what's required under Ohio law. Um I'm assuming there was probably a treasure somewhere that ran off into
069the sunset with a school district's money or something and so they felt like they had to add this. I'm not aware of it being a requirement for any other public entity, but um it's a new thing for this. Thank you. Any questions? Okay. All right. Thanks so much. Um there's no recommended action or standing business and so moving along to board comments. Who would like to go first? Well, I just want to congratulate and thank our retirees as always. It's just incredible seeing folks choose to work in this district. So, thank you so much for that. I also want to thank our guest speakers um who took time to share their stories and how this district really shaped them into the people that they are. Um that was really incredible hearing those testimonies. So, thank
070you for that. And then I just wanted to thank our treasur and superintendent for participating in that uh education forum hosted by the chamber. Thank you so much. >> I will echo my colleagues uh statements but also say uh thank you in particular to uh the food services if you haven't watched like a changeover and like it is a military operation like to the minute regarding like what happens between lunch and or between breakfast and lunch and how this all just comes together. It's really amazing. And also thank you uh for the hard work of our coaches and and that team uh putting together some really solid policies I think we can all build on. >> Um I just uh something very brief. So we've gotten into the thick of it here. I feel like
071we're really getting into the school year and um I'm particularly excited about the handbook for coaches as we're um here deep in into fall sports. Um, and I just really encourage families, um, to pay attention to that. You know, understand, um, you know, we have some really amazing coaches. It's really important that not just the students and the coaches, but also the families understand what's in that handbook and just make sure that you're aware of all the policies and procedures. Um, I think sometimes we roll things out like this. It's very easy as as busy families to, you know, miss stuff. Um I know kids in school I get very busy and miss things but this is it's really important. Um having that consistency having that resource is really important. So please if your children
072participate in athletics or other extracurricular extracurricular activities so much of this is relevant. Please take some time when that is distributed. So do we know is that and here because I don't have an a child who's an athlete. Has it already been distributed? Is it on its way out? What's the >> So, the athletes handbooks are already on the website. And then the other piece she was talking about is more for staff, but the family the handbook for families should be on our website. >> Yeah. Great. So, please go read it. Thanks. >> And I will say we've already had to sign it, too. Yeah. As parents and students. So, um just want to echo my colleagues. Thank you all uh for coming out tonight. Um there's plenty of opportunities to learn more about um
073the earned income uh ballot measure. And so I I really encourage you to learn more and to dig in. Um and I also want to just say there's a lot of information coming out. It's, you know, we're settling into the new the new year, but there's curriculum nights, there's parent teacher conferences. So just take a look at your emails and and be mindful of that. But thank you um to our uh you know, our food staff for coming out and Miss Yanni for all their work, too. And with that, I'll just say thanks. Um, the board will meet in special session on Friday, September 19th at uh 2025 at 8:30 a.m. in regular session on Monday, September 22nd, 2025 at 6 PM at the Early Learning Center, which is here. And that address is 936
074Eastwood Drive, Westerville, Ohio 43081 for those online. Um and next may I have a motion to enter into executive session for the purposes of discussing the employment compensation and discipline of public employees? So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Lean. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Altman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Meyer. >> Yes. All right. Well, thank you. You're welcome to stay, but I'm not sure when we'll be back.