001Um, good evening. Thank you for attending the June 23rd, 2025 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 on the back of the room um on the table or you may find the agenda on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website at www.wcc.org. Click on the our district link, select board of education, and then follow the board docs link to our current meeting agenda. There will be an opportunity for public comment this evening. There's a signup sheet located on the table in the back of the room. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board and a timer will be shown on the screen. This portion of the meeting shall be limited to
002no more than 60 minutes. And with that, Miss Marshall, will you please call the role? Mrs. Alman, here. Mr. Aleman, here. Valentine here. Mrs. here. Mrs. Meyer here. Would you please join us in the pledge of allegiance? All [Music] right, I'm getting feedback. I don't know if that's me. Okay. Is that me? Should I just yell? Okay, I'll just sit back here. Um, so next up is uh our 2024 2025 state middle school track meet awardees. And I'm going to call up my colleagues, Miss Valentine and Miss Lee Ban. [Music] Alrighty everyone and we are here today uh to recognize two incredible students um for uh the state track meet. First, we are recognizing students who earned top spots during the Ohio High School Athletic Association's 2025 7th and 8th grade state track meet on
003May 17th at Hillyard Derby High School. I'd like Madison Ivory to join me at this time. Join me up front here. Madison was a seventh grader at Walnut Springs Middle School who placed fourth in the 100 meter hurdles and 12th in the 200 meter hurdles. Her state finished uh cap an incredible season. Madison went undefeated in the regular track season. She now holds five school records at Walnut Springs in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and in her two primary events, the 100 meter meter hurdles and 200 meter hurdles. That's a mouthful. She trains year round with the plus two university track team, competing at the local and national level. And for the third consecutive year, she placed fourth in the nation in her age group in the 100 hurdles at
004the New Balance Nationals last week in Philadelphia. [Applause] Congratulations again, Madison. Uh John Cuffour, can you please join us up front? [Applause] So John was an eighth grader at Blendin who placed seventh in the 110 meter hurdles. His state finish is remarkable when you consider he was seated 19th before making it to the podium. That's impressive. It's even more remarkable when you consider this was his first time competing in track and running the hurdles. So, he worked with track coach Rick Fector for weeks before the start of the season to work on form. He placed in the top three in every meet during the season. He set a goal qualifying for the state meet. And when he got to the state meet, he set his sights on another goal, making it to the podium. John
005got there with a time of 16.1 seconds, beating out his fastest time during the regular season. John was named team MVP and coach Fector said in his 50 years of coaching he had never seen a student with such determination to be his best. Congratulations John. [Music] [Applause] So congratulations again to Madison and John. We also want to acknowledge Walnut Springs principal Michelle Martin. She's here tonight. Yes. [Applause] And Blendin assistant principal Fred Tomb. As well as all the other family members who are here this evening who I'm sure helped to make this happen for their students. Thank you. Congratulations [Music] again. [Music] Yeah, I think All right. Next up, we have the superintendent's comments. I'm going to turn over to Miss Hamburg. Thank you. I'll be short and sweet tonight. Um, just a congratulations to
006our two middle school athletes. It was really neat to see Madison here when her mom got recognized at a meeting not so long ago and had the whole family back out. So, that was cool. Um, I know we have our high school track state finishers coming soon, hopefully to our next meeting. So really proud of all of our kids and it's exciting to still be recognizing their efforts even into the summer um from our last school year. The only update that I have um I'm sure it'll come up a little bit as we talk about a couple of the resolutions that we have on here for a potential ballot issue, but uh we've talked a lot about what's going on with state funding. So just wanted to give a quick update in case you're not
007aware. They're currently in conference committee. It does sound as though there are not going to be opportunities to testify during that time and we are anticipating that we will be hearing the final version that comes out of conference committee very soon. So, um, we'll get into that a little bit more with resolutions, but I just want to take a moment to thank all of our community members who have been actively engaged with advocating for fair school funding. um wanted to thank this board for their leadership and a special thank you to our treasurer Nicole Marshall who has been um a huge leader in that space for the state and so really just really really appreciate her efforts with that as well. Um and then the only other thing that I wanted to share, we did
008take some action on a few items but as we move into July um we do have a restructuring in my office. So, just so folks are aware, um Scott Reeves will be um moving over to the chief officer of personnel and policy. So, he is filling in tonight for Mark Cooper who is out. Um they are essentially switching spots. Mark will be the chief academic officer and Carrie Dennis um same position but changing her title to chief operations officer. So, just want to share that again. we kind of did when they were on the agenda, but you might start seeing those different titles and just wanted to reiterate that um it's just a restructuring. We actually absorbed the deputy superintendent position. So, we haven't added a bunch of new people. We're just kind of restructuring
009and trying to be a little bit more efficient as we've eliminated a position and reassigned some of those duties. All I have this evening. Thank you. Okay. Next up, we have public comments. Um, the board of education welcomes public comment on educational 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 interests of our students, we um ask 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. And finally, the board reminds speakers that their statements should be directed
010to the board as a whole and not to individual board members. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on the screen. Mr. Reeves will call time when three minutes has elapsed. And our first speaker this evening is Mr. Tom Curry. Welcome Tom Curry. Like to uh first of all thank you for the job you do. I can't believe this me this menu or this agenda for tonight. So many things that you have to act on. Um I know there's an awful lot of reading involved. Uh big decisions. Um, I want to comment also on your the item here to uh oppose Senate Bill uh 330 or House Bill 335 where they're the state is trying to get into your individual school districts funding on that millillage without
011voting and so forth. Um, they have no they have no reason to doubt that you all don't know what you're doing and and u I I strongly support you in opposing and I hope hope that it gets some attention and and perhaps we'll uh get things changed. The other item is u uh Senate Bill one and the the article in today's paper Ohio Department of Higher Education gives colleges guidance on Senate Bill one. Um I'll be 80 88 on Thursday. I have a master's degree in in engineering. I have a couple of uh almost equivalent master's degrees from my time in the Air Force. Um, going to or professional education courses. I I taught or ran the electronic engineering technology department at Columbus State Community College for for 15 years. Retired in 1998. So, but
012things have not changed. Oh Law is still has has not been repealed. Um reading the article here, they specify reading material that people have to take in order to get a bachelor's degree. They have to take a three credit hour course um during their time working on their bachelor's degree. Um, I've read the read the list of reading material that they they needed to take. I I have to admit that I have not read more than half of them. It starts with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. That's fine. Uh, but Martin Luther King's letter from the from prison. um five articles from the uh Franklin papers so forth. Time is almost out. Okay. Um I would suggest that you consider teaching this course in in perhaps their senior year of of of high
013school so they can go sir with if you I really appreciate that. Will you if you wouldn't mind maybe talking with Mr. Reeves right here so that we can um make sure we get all of what you're trying to convey. Would I do what? Would you um if you have written comments or if you have further comments, if you wouldn't mind talking to Mr. Reeves right behind you so that we can make sure that we get that information and we can um like we all will hear it and all uh talk about it. So, he's right behind you. [Music] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming in and commenting. Okay. Moving along to 6.01. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular work session board of education meeting held on
014Monday, June 9th, 2025? So moved. Second. Any um comments or changes? Hey, will you please take the Mrs. Lean? Yes. Mrs. Valentine? Yes. Mrs. Altman? Yes. Mr. Hackleman. Epstein. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. Moving along to financials. 7.01. May I have a motion to approve the financial report investments for May 2025? So moved. Second. Miss Marshall, will you talk to about this please. Yes. Uh thank you President Meyer, members of the board. Uh so this is our May uh month end financial report. So this is the second to the last month of the fiscal year. Our fiscal year ends June 30th. Um for the general fund, we had year-to- date receipts of 244.9 million. I do want to remind everybody that 30 million of that includes the transfers back of that fund balance. Um, so really our
015year-to- date revenues are right around 215 million. And year-to- date expenses, um, so far as of the end of May for the general fund, we were at 210.9 million and we ended with an unencumbered fund balance of 189.8 million. Just a reminder, our annual budget is around 230 million on that. And then for all funds, uh, we had year-to- date receipts of 316.3 million, again inflated by that 30 million. Uh, and then year-to- date expenditures for all funds of 323.9 million. And we ended with non-encumbered fund balance for all funds of 222 million. And that was for the month of May. Any questions? Please, Mrs. man. Yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mr. Yes. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. May I have a motion to approve the purchases in accordance with Ohio Reise Code 5705.41D1 and
016board policy 6320? So moved. Second. And Miss Marshall, you talk to us about this, too. Yes. Thank you again. So, um, these are what we call and purchase orders. This is where we have a purchase order uh that's dated after an invoice date and anything in excess of $3,000 must be approved by the board before we can pay it. Uh for in these cases um we have two uh purchase orders that were um from our communications department. We actually had purchase orders open for both of these, but they were closed prior to the invoices being paid in full for these services. Uh, so the money has been budgeted is actually in a purchase order at one time. We just had a new purchase order because the old ones were closed. And um, I would recommend
017board approval so we can paid timely. Thank you. Questions trying to talk whatever. Okay. Mrs. Leian. Yes. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Alman. Yes. Mr. Heckleman. Yes, Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution for the final appropriations for all funds for school year 2024 and 2025 school year 2025 second. Talk to us about Marshall. Yes. So we are at fiscal year end. Uh we have these in the last meeting of of the year, the last meeting in June every year. Um so these are our final appropriations. Uh we are aligning everything with expenditures and also updating with um the forecast updates that we did uh to include the transfers. That's why you see that large um increase in the general fund. That is for the transfers to transfer that fund
018balance as we discussed at the last work session. Um just a reminder about that. Thank you. Any questions? Mrs. Alman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mr. Yes. Mrs. Le. Yes. Mrs. Mer. Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution for temporary appropriations for all funds for the school year 2025 2026 fiscal year 2026. So moved. Second. You talk to us about this. Mel. Yes. So also every June uh we have to have appropriations in place for us to get started with our fiscal year that starts July 1. Uh so these are our temporary appropriations. We will bring permits back before the end of September as required by law. So this is for us to get started with the year. Thank you questions. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Lean, yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mr. Heckman,
019yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution establishing a capital projects and termination benefits fund authorizing transfers to both funds for the general fund. I'm sorry, from the general fund. So moved. Second. Will you talk to us about this? I know we talked about it last time, but just remind us. So this is that resolution that we discussed at the last board meeting during the work session portion. Uh so this will allow us to establish two funds. the capital projects fund and the termination benefits fund. Uh termination benefits is just a term that's used for uh we have required severance payments under Ohio law and collective bargaining agreements and board policies. Um and so this will allow us to move fund balance from the general fund to that fund
020and then start paying those expenses out of that fund. And then for capital projects uh we have um a list of things. It's actually an attachment to the bottom of that resolution. You can see there the schedule uh for things that we generally pay out of the general fund that would be considered um uh capital projects in terms of accounting for fixed assets, the acquisition of fixed assets for capital projects. And so we are transferring a c a portion of our general fund cash balance out of our general fund into the 070 fund and then we will start paying those expenses out of that. Um, and it's really just a change in how we are accounting for the dollars that we have on hand. Uh, there's been a lot of conversation around cash balances and
021a lot of um, recommendations from lawmakers around the state uh, saying that if we have intended uses for those funds, we should be transferring those into the appropriate fund to account for that. And so that's what we're doing here. uh not that what we were doing wasn't accounting for it, but just so that it's clear that we are accounting for it in those separate funds um to move forward. So, uh we are transferring approximately 40.6 million to the capital projects fund and that's just out of the general funds cash balance and then um about 6.6 million to the termination benefits fund. Um, and the amounts are listed there in the resolutions, but it's the same numbers that we talked about the last work session on the worksheet. So, there weren't any changes to that. And
022just so I know I don't think everybody can see this, but some of those things that are on the the capital improvement that you were talking about are things like curriculum and equipment um and textbooks just to give you an idea of what that's called. Yeah. And everybody should be able to see that. that's um it's at the end of the resolution that's on the agenda. Um if they pull up the agenda, they should be able to see that. And I think one of the biggest um items just to point out is technology. Obviously the size of district we're constantly replacing machines and infrastructure and equipment. So that'll be one that again is just a reaccounting of how we're spending that. Yeah. And I just want to make sure it's very clear. Um, this transfer
023does not affect the amount or timing for any levy requests that the district would need. Our needs remain the same whether we account for this in the general fund or we account for it in the capital projects and termination benefits fund. There's no change with that clarification. any other I was going to um ask if you wouldn't mind explaining what that termination benefits fund is because it sounds like we're giving people a bunch of money when they're terminated. Right. So, um under Ohio law, there are specific requirements for paying out vacation payments and sick leave through severance payments uh for retirees and um people who uh leave the district. Um there's also the allowance for an irregular pay cycle. So we are on 26 pays because of the way the calendar works. Every 10 years
024or so we have a 27th pay and we adjust contract pays for that to account for that. But every 10 years we have an extra pay period in the fiscal year. We're not expecting an um a 27th pay in the fiscal year until around 2033. So that's not included in this. But what we're looking at is what do we currently pay um on average per year for um those severance payments as required by law and collective bargaining. And so uh we've averaged that for the next five years and that's the amount that we're transferring um out into the termination benefits. Great. Thank you. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mr. Heckleman, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. And may I have a motion to approve the transfer of funds as presented? So moved. Second.
025Sorry, Miss Marshall. Please talk to us about this. Uh yes, thank you again. So uh this is in addition to the transfers from the last resolution, we also have an annual transfer that we do to the food service fund. Um the food service fund is considered a federal fund and so uh it cannot hold negative lunch debt. Um so uh this will be moved into the general fund. The general fund will hold that debt uh and all of the negative lunch balances will be assessed in power school for families to be able to pay it through power school um into the next year. So uh the the total amount is $73,574.84. Um, and as as I said before, uh, because the food service fund can't hold negative debt, that's why we do this transfer. Yeah.
026Can you um uh just I guess enlighten me on when the food service balance goes back to the general fund. If families can't pay, is there a way for them to apply for assistance or does that um fee just sit in power school? And what happens if they don't pay it? Um we do work with families on payment plans and things like that. And uh sometimes we have donors that help cover some some fees for families. Okay. All right. Thanks. We've had quite a few donors. We had a lot of donors. Um very thankful for Okay. Another question. Mrs. Leean. Yes. Mrs. Alman. Yes. Mr. Hackleman. Yes. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And moving along 7.07. 07 fund um to fund advances. May I have a motion to approve the fund to fund advances?
027So moved. Second. Will you talk to us about this? It's busy time for me because it's end of the year. Um so that's why we have so much stuff. So again, we do this every year. We have um federal and state grants that are accounted for in other funds that operate on a reimburseable basis. That means we're waiting on reimbursements to come in uh for expenditures that have already been made. And so these advances are being done to cover those funds because we can't have a negative fund balance at the end of a fiscal year. And so these advances will cover the fund balance um to make it whole. And then once those revenues are received from the state um whether it's federal or state, grant it all comes through the state. Once those are
028received, we'll uh advance the money back to the general fund to repay the general fund. So, it's just a timing piece. Thank you. Are there any questions? Could you um just kind of distinguish for us the difference between the idea B and IDEA B preschool? Uh so idea B is um just the regular IDEA B. So it's for special education. It's an entitlement grant for special education through the federal government. And then the preschool is the same thing but specific for preschool because K12 is accounted for separately from preschool. Great question. Okay. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Leand. Yes. Mrs. Alman. Yes. Mr. Heckleman. Yes. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. I may I have a motion to approve the resolution requesting certification of alternative tax rates for an income tax of 0.75% 34 of a quarter. So moved.
029Second. Will you remind us? I know we talked about this last time, but remind us because we're also going to do one next on 1.25. So can you just talk to us a little bit about this? Yes. So, we um as we discussed at the last work session, we're um asking the Department of Taxation to certify the rates. Um I'm estimating a 75 um rate, but the amount being requested is an earn it's for an earned income tax and it would generate $24,297,281. Um so that's what we're requesting the certification for. Uh, so this would be this this would be essentially 75%. And when we're talking about earned income, we're talking about the Ohio modified adjusted gross income as it relates to W2 wages and self-employ net self-employment um tax and uh we have discussed
030the needs based on uh what we're looking at with the forecast and um updated projections and all of that. So, this would keep us um essentially in a good spot to maintain what we have um moving forward and likely not need to come back to the voters until around calendar year 2029. Um assuming that the estimates are accurate, state funding doesn't take a nose dive and they don't completely fall back everything that we like assuming property taxes still look the way they do and all of those things, right? Uh lots of things up in the air right now. So this could definitely change moving forward. I want to make that clear. Uh so that's uh based on our current need. As you know, we were on the ballot last year for a property tax levy.
031Uh the thing with income taxes is there's about an 18month window before the district will see full collections with a property tax levy. So um that's a significant amount with an income tax levy for an income tax levy. Thank you. But that's a significant amount of time versus a property tax levy. We would see a half year in the first fiscal year. and then a full year in the next fiscal year. So this accounts for all of that. Uh there's also um you know an income tax is subject to the economy the eb and flow of what the economy does in this space. Um and I do want to mention when we were here earlier in the month we had old amounts from the department of taxation. They updated those tables last week. Um, so
032even the 75% what originally their estimates were at 26.5% 26.5 million is now at 24.3 million. So it's it's a huge swing with those estimates. Um, down from where we were before. So I I'm still suggesting to maintain where we are um we would be at that 75%. Uh we do have a second resolution after this one that I think that the board should consider should um the House Bill 335 and all of the conversation around property tax reform should the state eliminate inside millillage. Uh for Westerville schools, our inside millillage amount is 3.8 mills and it generates about 16.3 million a year. And so that is the difference in revenue between a 75 and a 1.25% 25% earned income tax levy for our district. And so that's why we have both resolutions on here.
033Nicole, just to clarify, we have to have it in um quarter percent increments. Yes, it has to be in quarter percent increments. Um and we have to file uh with it has the same filing deadlines as a property tax levy as far as um getting it on the ballot with the board of elections. So, we would need to come back in July and do a resolution to proceed. Um, and I think we're looking at a July 21st date if all of the board members are available for for that to have a special meeting. We have to have special meeting. And I do just want to mention I made a note here um when we talk about um 75% if we have a modified adjust adjusted gross income of $50,000 um it's about $375 the tax
034would be just so you're aware how that works. 100,000 would be $750. So, our federal adjusted gross uh median according to our payment reports from 2022 is the latest number that I have was $59,789. Um so, the federal AGI is um essentially uh the start before you have like adds and subtracts from the modified adjusted gross. And so, just using that as an estimate, a 75 would be about $448 and 25% would be about $747 tax. That impact might be for someone. Thank you for reminding us of why we have two separate ones on here too. We really like as you said, we don't know which way the budget bill is going to go. If they'll roll House Bill 335 into the budget bill, it's what they signaled in their press statement. So, we have
035two on here, but when we come back, we'll only move forward with one. But this is an investment in our like our school district, which is really an investment in our community. Um, and so it's important that we we need to go back to the to the voters. So, yeah. And we'll have as we're um you know planning in the future and coming back in July, we'll have more uh specific conversations around what does it mean if this doesn't pass and what would that look like um moving forward with the district. So yeah, that would be good conversation to have for sure. Thank you. Any questions? Just a point of clarification. This only impacts wage earners who reside in Westerville and would not impact retirement income or anything along those lines. Correct. Yes. So, it
036doesn't apply to retirement income to interest, dividends, um estate or unemployment taxes. Unemployment income. And it also scales right with people's income too as you talked about. Right. So, it's as we earn more, it may be a little bit more, but as we learn earn less or if we go into a recession, it'll be less. And everybody who's within the Westerville city school district boundary would be impacted by this. It's not just the city of Westerville. Right. Right. And it doesn't just impact property owners would earn income guides within the school district boundaries. um the entire school district boundaries and who earns income through uh so has wages with their W2 or self-employment or sole proprietor um ship or partnership. Okay. You there? Um I'll just say that, you know, we're at this moment where
037we don't know if they're going to get rid of inside mills, right? So, yeah, we don't know if they're going to get rid inside mills. Um, we're also hearing a lot from lawmakers saying that we can't continue asking our communities for property tax levies, um, and that we should try to diversify our revenue. Um, and so this there have been uh more than a couple of lawmakers that have specifically said school districts can ask their community for an income tax and instead of asking for additional property taxes, they should be asking for income taxes, which is literally the only other way we can diversify our revenue. you can't sell products that um and so you know I think if folks are so moved they should reach out to the legislators and and let them know
038understand that in the Westerville City School District you can see right in front of you the difference you know right if inside mills go away we're going to have to look at making that up so we're looking at 1.25 25. That's why we have both of these on here. So, there is a moment here where you can reach out and let people know your feelings. Yeah. And I do want to just clarify, um, school district income taxes only apply to people who live in the district and it doesn't apply to people who might live outside the district but work in Westerville School District, if that makes any sense. So, city income taxes are a little bit different where they tax workers as well as residents versus school districts. It's just the residents. So to be
039clear, that's not a choice that we made. That's just the way it is. That's the way that's the way statute works. And the difference, just to follow up on that 75 versus 1.25. These are both local share, right? So education in Ohio, it's a shared responsibility between the state and the district. Um so you know, right now those inside mills are on property tax. If you prefer that more of that move to income tax, well, you can talk to your legislator about that. So, that's the thing here. This is all local share. So, inside mills are a little bit complex, but they are they are property taxation. And if those go away, what we are what we're discussing up here is shifting that burden from property tax because that vehicle those inside mills would be
040not available to us and moving it on to income tax. I just want to be clear. So that's for the difference between the 75 and the 1.25%. Yes. Has the governor signaled at all his support of or lack of support for the inside mill? And would that be a route uh people could take to encourage line item veto of that if it makes it into the bill? I think um people should always feel empowered to encourage a line item veto and things that they don't support. That's in the state budgets proposal. Um the conference committee, as um Angie said earlier, they're they've had one hearing. Um they're scheduled to meet again tomorrow for a possible vote and amendment. It doesn't seem like they're having testimony from just um from people. Uh they did have um
041the budget director last week and uh someone from Legislative Services Commission. And so, um, yeah, I think that we don't know what will really what that will really look like until that comes out. I will say on the school funding side, uh, none of the proposals have looked great for our district. Um, so I I don't anticipate much on the state funding side. Uh, we're already severely underfunded where we need to be. the state our state share continues to decrease which means our local share continues to increase and um I don't think that there's an appetite at the state to do that. I I will also mention um when we look at a 75% should we not have to go down the inside millillage road uh part of the Senate's proposal was to reduce the
042state income tax by 75% in the second year of the bienium. So, um it would be a net wash for in that case. Um one thing it's important to note too and we may have spoken about this last meeting but when we talk about the inside millillage potentially going away that doesn't only impact our school district but other local services. So just you know if you've not been really familiar with that conversation would encourage you to really look into that. I mean we're talking about loss of critical revenue for safety services, cities, villages, etc. across the state. So we also depend on as a business, as an organization in the local community. So again, it just Yeah, I think also um to my colleague's question, we heard from Chairman Serino uh and he basically said
043the Senate is about as good as you're going to get. So basically, get on board or it's going to get worse. So, I don't expect to see a lot better considering those those statements and those comments and we know that um Speaker Huffman is very much we know where he stands. So, um, but I would reiterate my colleagues, um, comments about contacting your legislators, but contacting, um, you know, the people on the the conference committee and the governor and then, um, really expressing, you know, what you'd like to see in this budget that's coming forward. Public education is the foundation of our healthy communities. And you know, we wouldn't be back here if we didn't feel it necessary. And regardless of where it ends, we need to invest in our in our system, which is
044really an investment in our community, in all of us. [Music] Anything else? Oh, sorry. From your understanding, Nicole, um [Music] the cutting of the public education funds is a choice. They are choosing to still continue to invest at or above levels from last bienium for private education. Correct. Correct. Okay. And we're still planning on, as far as far as I know, somebody correct me, giving $600 million away to a football stadium for a football stadium. Correct. Uh they so um yes they're using unclaimed funds for financing the football stadium which is still money out of our pockets going to a football stadium that a millionaire could probably afford. Yes. Okay. Okay. So just wanted to reiterate again that these are choices that our state legislators are making. they're choosing to not invest in our kids
045um in the public education arena. So, I think to your point, Christy, making sure you are calling your legislators, especially when this goes to the governor's desk, making him aware of how we're feeling because the money has to come from somewhere. And clearly, this is why we're at this point with the income tax. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions or comments? Will you take a man? Yes. Mrs. Lean? Yes. Mr. Yes. Mrs. Valentine? Yes. Mrs. Meyer? Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution requesting certification of alternative tax rates for an income tax of 1.25%. So moved. Second. Anything else we want to add to Just a reminder, the 1.25% is my estimate. Um and that would generate 40,628,68. Um the our inside millillage generates about $16.3 million annually uh for operations. Uh,
046and that would be an annual operating loss should inside millage be eliminated. And so that difference is the 16 16.3 million. Miss Marshall, actually just two quick things about inside mills just to be clear to people because it's sort of, you know, the lingo. It's like these are the unvoted mills, right, that we just carry and um that this is the only portion of our property taxes that's inflationary on value. Mhm. So in our voted millage we um we don't see inflation on that voted in except for when new properties come online but on the inside mills or the unvoted mills those do actually grow that small portion grows. Right. So I just want to be clear. Yeah. So inside mills um was established by the state constitution and all jurisdiction jurisdictions overlapping have 10
047mills to share. So our portion of that 10 mills is 3.8. 8 mls and that stays at 3.8 ms based on our value applied. So as values increase that increases. As values decrease that decreases. Whereas all of our voted levies are subject to what's known as House Bill 920 that was approved back in the um 70s. And so what that does is as values increase uh the county reduces tax rates so that the revenue that we receive stays generally the same. Um but but your individual tax bill will shift depending on how much your value change compared to the average around the county and the school district. So sometimes it's a shifting but overall what we see and that doesn't really change. Um so yeah that that is that's the difference um and that it
048is unvoted and that's what the lawmakers are saying is that uh you know residents have never voted for that and um that they shouldn't see inflationary increases on tax revenues. So thanks for clarifying [Music] yes Mrs. Valentine. Yes, Mr. Aleman. Yes, Mrs. Leeand. Yes, Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And can we take personal consent as one, please? May I have a motion to approve the personal consent agenda 8.01 through 8.15 moved? [Music] Second. Thanks. Welcome, Mr. Reeves. Thank you, and good evening. I would like to present to you for your consideration tonight's personal consent agenda. Along with the regular action items in tonight's agenda, there are a number of items I'd like to note. Resignations. We have three classified resignations and three licensed teacher resignations. Of note, you will see two resignations from high school assistant principles,
049one at North and one at Central. Both schools are currently reviewing candidates to interview and we hope to have the new hires for both schools on the July 9th consent agenda. Amended reduction in force. You'll see two amended changes to already approved reduction in force. Both the classified and licensed action move the effective date to July 1 rather than the approved date of June 30th so that they can fulfill their contract through the end of June 30th. Keeping the previously approved effective date of June 30th would mean their actual last date of employment would be June 29th shorting their contract by one year. So we want we are recommending that change. Onetime pays. Of note, you will see one-time pays for Hawthorne and Point View to conduct summer staff training and utilizing their federal title
050funds. Substitute rate of pay. Also on this consent agenda is an attachment with the listing of the substitute pay rates for our various classified positions for the upcoming school year. Employment along with the various amended start dates and extended days. We'd like to welcome four new classified and 12 new licensed hires to Westerville City Schools. And we lastly, we always like to end with retirements. We'd like to say a big thank you to Tim O'Brien, who will retire at the end of this month. Tim has served Westerville City Schools for 35 years. We also have one licensed retirement, Westerville North math teacher Eric Nelson, who will officially retire on January 1 with 31 years of service. That's 66 years of total service to the district and I will respectfully refrain from a history lesson unless
051called upon for an encore. And so just in case those who haven't experienced it before to see what you may be missing, 66 years takes us back to the year 1959 when both Hawaii and Alaska became the 49th and 50th states. Mottown Record was founded and Disney released Beauty and the Beast. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Actually glad that you did your history lesson. Thanks. Questions? [Music] He is proud of it. So, thank you. We take them out. Mrs. Leean, yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mr. Aleman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. Um, is it okay if we take old business as one, too? Okay. May I have a motion to approve old business 9.01 through 9.06? So moved. Second. Any [Music] comments or anything? Right. Take the vote. Mrs.
052Lean. Yes. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Alman. Yes. Mr. Hackleman. Yes. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And there's no um new business in 10.01. 01. So, moving along to 11, recommended actionstanding business. 11.01 is donations. And we're always so thankful to our community for their generosity. May I have a motion to approve the donations? Moved. Second. And Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about them? Thank you to our generous community. Um, we have our current request value is uh $14,29642 bringing our year-to- date to total to $362,87546. This exceeds last year's total of $349,62.14. We're very grateful to our community. Um, I do want to mention we see a lot of donations to our food services department which will go to help offset some of the negative lunch balances that we have um for our families. And
053I would like to add um we also have a lot of very generous community members donating instruments to help the growth of our um orchestra and band programs. And a special thanks to Becca Yanni for all the work she's done on that instrument drive and we appreciate all those donations. [Music] I just have a quick question about the food service donations which is how do we apply donated funds to the to those balances? That is a great question. So it depends on how they are donated. In some cases um a donor might donate it to a specific school or a specific grade level or just districtwide. Um, but because of uh regardless however it's donated, because of federal uh IRS rules and individual fundraising and all of those things, we have to apply equally among
054the negative balances. So, it brings down everybody. Yeah. Great. Thank you. We do often have times where people will target like seniors for example. So, we appreciate that. We try to encourage when there's an opportunity. I keep hitting my mic. That's not helping with all of the other noises. Apologies. Yeah. Mrs. Otman. Yes. Mrs. Lee Man. Yes. Mr. Apple. Yes. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution to award the contract to Regal Plumbing and Heating Company for the South High School baseball and softball irrigation system restoration project in FY26 Hamby Elementary HVAC project. So moved. Second. Welcome, Mr. Schwarz. Thank you and good evening. So, as the resolution says, there are two scopes of work affecting two of our school buildings. So, first, South High School.
055The scope of work involves the restoration and expansion of the uh irrigation system affecting both the competition softball and baseball fields at that facility. They are both grass infield and outfield. So, we'll be irrigating all of that. Special note in terms of trying to save money, we're uh near and dear to Super to Treasurer Marshall. Uh we're introducing what's called a deduct meter. Essentially, that means we're not going to pay any sewer fees when we use that water. So, should reduce our cost by about 40% on the bill. Um secondly, Hanby Elementary, uh we've got an air handling unit for those at home. Essentially, that's our furnace. It serves the second or middle floor of Hanby. Uh the fan has wore out, but the unit is still good. So, we're replacing it with what's called
056a fan array. What is that, you might ask? Instead of one big fan, we're going to have a basically a box that has up to 12 fans in it. That means we can run one fan, two fans, five fans, 12 fans. Today, we probably run 12 to keep the the cooling going, if you will. Uh, but that means we reduce electricity by controlling and eliminating the use of that fan and modulating and also saving uh noise levels within that building to share. Uh, we did publicly bid this. We had four bids. The low bidder, qualified bidder was Regal Plumbing and Heating Company in the amount of $278,500. Uh, and with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. [Music] All right. Thank you, Mr. Yes. Mrs. Valentine. Yes. Mrs. Alman. Yes. Mr. Leman. Yes. Mrs. Meyer.
057Yes. And may I have a motion to approve the resolution opposing House Bill 335? [Music] Second. Miss Hy, would you talk to us about this? Yes. This was mentioned a couple different times throughout the evening. Um, but this is the House bill that has been introduced that would be amongst many things um of our main concern, eliminating the inside millage that we just spoke about in the last couple items. Um we are not certain at this point if this would be rushed into the current budget bill and so wanting to get this sent out tomorrow um just to kind of show again that we do not um support this total undermining of our school funding and destabilization of the money that we and other local political subdivisions rely upon to operate. um don't typically read
058all You don't want me to read all this, do you? Okay. I didn't think so, but happy to answer any questions. I do just want to mention part of House Bill 335. And there's also a provision in the budget bill that would um add additional authority to county budget commissions. Um and that's sort of a unique situation for a district like ours where we are split between Franklin and Delaware counties. And that's also the case for the city. They have portions that are in Delaware County as well. Um, and there's cities and school districts around the state that go between multiple counties. And so our um most populous county is Franklin County. So that is our tax taxing authority. We work with the Franklin County Board of Elections for um levies and uh board uh
059and all those things. Um and the Franklin County is also our budget commission. And so this would empower county budget commissions which are typically made up of uh well under statute they're made up of the um county auditor, the county treasurer and the county prosecutor. And so these are elected officials for for that county that would be making decisions that will impact services in both Franklin and Delaware County. So anyone who lives within our school district in Delaware County wouldn't have elected representation on that board making those decisions. And so I'm trying to stress that with some of our legislators to make sure that they understand that that's how that provision would work. Um, right now we have a locally elected board of education, uh, that is elected by our entire school community that has
060the authority to make the decisions around tax levies and all of those things, what's being put in front of the community. Um, and that I believe that that should stay with locally elected officials. Um, because they they continue to kind of couch this as um, giving more local control back. Um, and that's just not true. Um, so it's uh problematic at best. Um, I just want to make sure everybody's aware of that provision as part of this as well along with eliminating $16.3 million in annual operating revenue and um a cash cap call back of over 30%. There's so many things that are problematic um in this legislation. just add for the the public today, Miss Marshall sent a um pretty detailed email to our legislators just outlining all of that for them, too. Um
061which I appreciate. Thank you for doing that. So, this is just another added piece that we can send down to the legislature to make it very well known that this and that this will be harmful to our school district. [Music] Mrs. Valentine Yes, Mrs. Albert. Yes, Mr. Aman. Yes, Mrs. Leer. Yes, Mrs. Meyer. Yes. We have a motion to approve the settlement agreement as presented. So moved. Second. Second. Take a look. Mrs. Alton, yes. Mrs. Le, yes. Mr. Aman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. And next, uh, 12.01 board comments. Who'd like to start? Um, well, first I want to congratulate our two track stars. Um, so deserving of the award. Um, and so congratulations to them. I also want to thank all of the amazing and generous community members that are donating to
062support our students. um as we all heard tonight that really makes a huge impact on those kids and their performance academically and just gives them a chance to do the things that they love. Um so thank you so much for that. Um I will leave the legislative remarks I think to other colleagues. Um but I really just wanted to just um it's taken a lot to get to this point in terms of the advocacy that this board has done um at the state level. we are almost at the finish line, but really continue to call um those members that are a part of that conference committee. You never know that one phone call could genuinely change someone's mind. So, continue to do that. Um I also just wanted to wish everyone a happy 4th of
063July um since we will not be meeting until afterwards and I personally just look forward to joining this district um at the parade on the 4th. So, thank you. That is all for me. I'll just say a couple of quick things. One is that I mean we tried to stress this in talking about you know the the options that we've considered um for an income tax levy. And I just want to say like I wish we weren't in that position, right? I mean I wish we weren't in the position of I wish the legislature and the state was adequately funding schools. Um I never take it lightly. It's a really serious thing. I live in this district obviously that's why I serve up here. Many family members in the district, many friends lived here most
064of my life and to vote to put a tax on everyone. I take that very seriously. I really wish the state was doing their share. But when push comes to shove, we only have a few ways to fund educating the children in this community. And uh push has come to shove. So, please um reach out to legislators, reach out to the conference committee because we have a day or so to weigh in on um what they're deciding and in particular the conversation about the inside knowledge is going to be, you know, um a conversation that's probably going to go on for a bit. So, please reach out. Um share your voice. doesn't mean we all know I I so appreciate this board and Amber and Miss Marshall especially your leadership um in advocating for public
065education. We know that doesn't mean advocating doesn't mean things always go the way you want but I can tell you that having a conversation reaching out it does change things right it does. So if all of that hadn't happened I can't even imagine where we'd be right now. But I'm grateful to boards all across the state, treasurers and superintendent and members of the public who have stood up for public schools. So, thank you for that. We need you to keep doing it. Promise I was not just scrolling on social media. Um, I was trying to look up the act the actual members of the conference committee so you could give the names. Um, I know for sure. Um, we know them all. Oh, I'm going to say I know for sure. Nicole knows. Yeah, let's
066Can you Can you read those off? Um, it's the it's the chair and vice chair and ranking members for both finance committees that serve on the conference committee. So, Senator Serero, Vice Chair Chavez, and ranking member Hex Hudson on the Senate side. And for the um House side, it's uh Stewart Villo and Sweeney. Yeah, Sweeney. Yeah. Representative Sweeney. Sweeney outside. Yeah. So, those are the folks that you all should look up to contact because they are really the only ones who are in these closed door conversations right now. Once those closed door conversations are finished, then that those will go to the full House and Senate floors for votes. But that is going to be a very quick process. Once that comes out, there is not going to be much deliberation. It's going to be
067here's the bill, let's take a vote. Um, and that will be happening this week at some point. Yeah. And then the governor can he has the power to do the line item veto. So, if there are specific things in here that the communities, you know, have a lot of outrage over, he could consider um vetoing those and then they hopefully would not be part of the budget bill. So, um, strongly encourage everybody. I know it's a lot. It's a lot of advocacy. It's a lot to keep track of. I know that everybody is so busy, especially over the summer. We've got, you know, camps going on and the kiddos are at home and everything. So, I I get it. I get that it's a lot. And thank you to the public for continuing to stand
068up for public education because this is how we invest in Ohio's future. This is where it starts. And if we're not as a state willing to invest in our kids and in Ohio's future, I'm not really sure what else is more important than investing in this. So, thank you all for your support. Um, I just like to add that this is happening because they think we're not paying attention. This is being slid in last minute, the 11th hour, right? Why we have to take a look at these things? Let's just show them that we are uh it is your money. It is your community. So, let's not let uh the lawmakers dictate this sort of on the down low behind our backs. Um I'd also like to say that sometimes there's criticism leveled at public
069schools. Things like live within your means, you don't need more money. For anybody who would say that, I would challenge them to take a look inside of all every building here in this district and see the commitment that teachers, administrators, educators have. We are not living above our means by any stretch. And as someone who pays taxes in this district, you know, I'm coming forward like gh I certainly don't want an income tax. But what I want less is for this amazing place to live, which is our schools, to go away, uh, because we can't afford to fund it. So, uh, that's all I would have to say to add to what my colleagues have added. Well, I will do my colleagues and congratulations and just add congratulations to Mr. Melson and Mr. for O'Brien
070and their many years of service and well thank them for their many years of service and congratulate them on their retirement. Um, you know, something that I think really has been inspiring me is community members are paying attention. I've been out talking to a lot of people in our community and they're actually asking me, hey, do you know where it is at the moment? What's going on? um they have told me that they've contacted their legislators. And while there are some closed conversations that are happening, I challenge us to to also tell our legislators how we feel. And when they say, "Well, we're not part of that conversation." Well, you can go tell them that you're getting calls from your constituents and they're not happy. Right? And so I've heard legislators tell me, "Well, I'm
071not part of those conversations. I don't ask you if you were. I'm asking you to go tell them that you're hearing from your constituents that we want all of this stripped out. We want fully funding um please fully fund our our you know our public education. I am a product of Western City Schools. I'm back here with my husband who is not but in from Ohio for the school district. We're very invested in this. And to my colleague's point, um, Mr. Huckle, like I'm a taxpayer, too. You know, we don't, we've all said this, we don't want to go to the ballot and ask you guys for more money, but we do really strongly believe in a good public education is really the foundation for a good community. So, that's all I have. And happy
072fourth. Yes. See you at the parade. Um the board will meet in regular session on Wednesday, July 9th at 6 PM at the Early Learning Center. That's here 936 East one drive, Westerville, Ohio 43081. And just to reiterate, July 9th is a Wednesday and then we typically meet on Mondays. Um, and with that, may I have a motion to enter into executive session for the purposes of discussing the discipline, employment, and compensation of public employees? So moved. Second. All right. Would you take the vote? Mrs. Alman, yes. Mrs. Leian, yes. Mr. Aleman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. Thank you for coming out tonight. 708.