001Good evening and thank you for attending the May 5th, 2025th 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 in the back of the room for our guests or you may find it on your mobile device by connecting to the district's website at www.wcso.org. Click on our district link, select board of education, and follow the board docs link to current meeting agenda. There will be an opportunity for public comment this evening. There's a signup sheet located in the table on the table in the back of the room. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board and the timer will be shown on the screen in the front. This portion of the meeting shall be limited
002to no more than 60 minutes. And with that, Miss Marshall, will you please call the role? Mrs. Alman, here. Mr. Heckleman, here. Mrs. Mrs. Valentine here. Mrs. Lee here. Mrs. Meyer here. Would you please join us with in the pledge of allegiance? All right, next up is the fun part of the night, district highlights and recognitions. And I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues, Miss Valentine and Miss Leon. All right, good evening everyone. So, the first recognition that we have tonight is for the 2025 indoor state track championship. So, first up, we are recognizing students at Westerville North High School who earned two spots during the 2025 indoor state track championship on March 8th at the Spire Institute in Geneva. I'd like Kofi Asari to join us up front. [Applause] So Kofi placed
003fourth in the triple jump and eighth in the long jump and just added today also set a school record this past weekend in the triple jump at 46.1 feet. That's a lot of feet. [Applause] Congratulations. All right, we also have Reggie Tate. if you can come up and join us. He's not here. Okay. Okay. Well, Reggie's not here, but we will uh make sure he gets his award. He plays seventh in the 60 meter dash. Uh we'd also like to invite up Casey Carlos if you're here. He's on his way. Okay. Well, if he comes in Oh, Casey, we just called your name. Come on up. Hi, Casey. Nothing like putting you on the spot. Um, congrat. So, Casey placed sixth in the 1600 meter run at the championships. Congratulations, Casey. [Applause] And finally, can
004Casey, Noah Kemp, Jeffrey Karns, and Gabriel Wise join us up in the front if you are here? Oh, hello. So, these four placed fourth in the 4x 800 meter race. So, we want to wish a congratulations to all of these members of North's track and field team. We are super proud of their dedication, hard work, and you have to have a mindset that you refuse to give up. Uh we know we're still in the middle of track season, so we do wish all the best for everybody in their upcoming competitions. We also want to acknowledge Coach Johnny Jackson. He's here. As well as Kurt Yansy, the North High School principal. Congratulations. All right. Up next, I would like to invite Laura Ferguson from Westerville North to join us. Thank you. We are recognizing Laura Ferguson.
005Congratulations for receiving a 2025 K through2 education innovator award from Ohio State University's College of Education and Human Ecology. This award recognizes educators commitment to excellence and creativity in their classroom as well as their dedication to supporting students and mentoring aspiring teachers. Abby Mayor, an OSU teacher who has been Laura's student teacher since the start of the year, nominated her for the honor. This is what she said about Laura. Uh Abby Mars shared, "She cares so much about her students and she goes above and beyond for students who aren't even in the classroom. I recognize that I want to be like that as a teacher." Congratulations, Laura. This well-deserved honor highlights your dedication, passion for education, and the lasting impact you make on students and aspiring teachers. I also want to acknowledge Norse principal Kurt
006Yan Yansy, who is in the audience this evening. [Applause] All right. And finally, for the last award, um, we'd like to call Brody Alexander from Westerville South up. Congratulations. Yeah. So, Brody is the recipient of the 2025 Billy Michaels Student Leadership Award. This is a national honor that recognizes students who embody the American spirit in their community. Each year, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans presents the award to one student from each state and the District of Columbia who has demonstrated values of leadership, teamwork, tolerance, creativity, and perseverance. Brody regularly honors veterans through his bagpipe performances at events and memorials in Westerville. That is super cool. Uh last summer he performed at the 80th anniversary of D-Day at the National World War II Museum. In October he joined veterans during an Honor
007Flight trip, performing at every stop. Honorflight is a nonprofit organization that flies veterans to DC to visit memorials dedicated to their service. So Brody, congratulations for receiving this prestigious [Applause] award and only one in the whole state. That's amazing. So glad. All right, that is it for those recognitions. Okay, before we begin, um let us start by saying congratulations. We are thrilled that we can recognize our retirees in person and share with you how important your contributions are to this district. Although it does make us sad because we are losing such a talented workforce and a group of great employees, we can rejoice in knowing that this starts a new chapter in your life. Collectively, the Westerville City School District is losing over 1450 years of district combined experience from its licensed and classified staff.
008Regardless of where this phase of your life's journey takes you, please know how proud we are of the work you have accomplished during your time here. Your legacy will be treasured for many years to come as a students whose lives you've touched and guided move on to become successful adults. In addition, you have touched the lives of your peers. So seeing the results of your work firsthand provides us with an optimistic outlook on the state of our schools, the state of our community and the state of our country. Because you have touched the life of a child and have taught our future leaders well. We wish you a long, healthy, and happy retirement. Yours will your big shoes um to fill. This year's retirees will be honored much like a graduation. Each retiree in attendance
009will be called up to the podium and we ask that you stand facing the audience as we will share three words that your co-workers say best describe you. You will then proceed down the receiving line. And with that, let's begin the celebration. [Applause] Congratulations. I am excited uh to first call up Thomas Cook in the AEC. [Applause] Congratulations. And three words that describe Thomas are intelligent, compassionate, and engaging. [Applause] All right, the next uh retiree on our list is Susan Klene from Alcott [Applause] Elementary. Oh, no [Applause] way. I've known Sue well. My kids went to Alcott and they were always in the nurse's office. Um, so the three words that your co-workers said best describe you are energetic, charismatic, and a team player. So congratulations, Susan. Up next, congratulations again, is Shannon Whitmer from
010Anhurst. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. And the three words to describe Shannon are hardworking, delightful, and assertive. [Applause] Congrats again to [Applause] Shannon. All right, next we have Deanna Kavichia. Did I say it right? Kavikia uh from Central High School. And the words to desri describe Deanna from her co-workers are loyal, positive, and wise. [Applause] Congratulations. Congratulations again. Next, we have Scott Walberry from Central High School. Congratulations. And the three words to describe Scott are of course dedicated, reliable, and energetic. [Applause] All right, congratulations again. Next, we have Judith Walker, also from Central High School. All right, three words to describe Judith are dedicated, dependable, and friendly. Thank you so [Applause] much. Congratulations again. Up next, we are excited to honor and recognize Wanda Meyers from the Early Learning Center. Congratulations. And three words to describe
011Wanda are adaptable, supportive, and [Applause] adept. All right. Next up, also from the Early Learning Center, is Teresa [Applause] Wood. So, three words to describe Teresa. Organized, reliable, and supportive. Thank [Applause] you. Congratulations again. At this time, we would like to recognize Mary Zarly from the Early Learning [Applause] Center. Congratulations. In three words to describe Mary are detail oriented, organized, and multitasker extraordinaire. Oh boy. [Applause] All right. Thank you, Mary. All right. Next, we move to FA Elementary, and we'd like to recognize Susan Dune. [Applause] All right. Susan has been described as dedicated rule follower and caring. You don't have to follow the rules in retirement, [Laughter] though. Congratulations. Next, we want to recognize Jodie Russell from Genanoa Middle [Applause] School. Congratulations. Jod's three words are generous, caring, and dedicated. [Applause] Congratulations. Congrats again. All
012right, we have one more retiree with us this evening and this is uh Lori Marburgger from South High School. [Applause] Three words to describe Lori are loyal, dedicated, and warm-hearted. Thank you so much for your [Applause] service. Thanks again, Lori. So, just want to say thank you again to all the retirees for their dedication and years and years of service. Teaching is not an easy profession. Being a staff with students is also not an easy profession. So, we thank you all for all that you have put in. Thanks so much. Oh, there are going to be pictures out in the atrium. So, if you follow Charlie, she's raising her hand back there. She would like to grab your photos. Thank you. Have a great meeting. Okay, I think everybody's settled in, so I'm going to
013move us along. Um, next up we have uh 4.01 the superintendent's comments and I'm going to turn it over to Miss Hamburg. Thank you so much. I would like to congratulate our retirees, most of whom just left to get their picture taken and our other award winners this evening. Um wish you the best of luck to our retirees in your next chapter as we wind down the school year and celebrate I say wind down but it doesn't feel like we're winding down. It's been pretty fast-paced. But as we end the school year and celebrate staff appreciation week, I also want to thank our staff for their hard work and dedication. Um it's a really hard time to be in public education right now. There's a lot coming at us and I just am truly grateful
014for all of you for continuing to show up every day for our kids. I do want to take a moment to provide an update on where we are with staffing. Um so we've had there's a lot of rumors and things I've asked um Mr. Reeves and Mrs. Baldwin to speak just a little bit to kind of what that looks like at the secondary level, but just want to give some general updates. We have made some reductions where we can through absorbing positions. Um this is due to the fact that we're we're deficit spending and so as we have retirements or resignations, we are looking at are there ways we can combine positions, can we shuffle things around, do things differently? But I do want to be clear that we are not um there's some rumors
015out there and I know we sent an email out today, but just to clarify with our elementary staffing every year we look at where we need to have teachers and we move those around. So we have 15 elementary schools and it's very common in every district that has multiple elementaryaries to look at how many teachers are needed at each grade level. Typically, we're able to keep those teachers in the same building because we may have resignations or retirements within that building. Sometimes we're not able to do that. So, I just want to be clear that um we're not looking at class sizes of 30. We know that we have magnet lottery and some um intradist enrollment, open enrollment where kids are requesting other buildings that's pending. So, we will continue to monitor those numbers. And
016if we need to add sections or reduce sections throughout the summer, we will do that. And this is really important for us to do every year, whether we're on the ballot or not, whether we have a levy up or not, because with 15 elementary schools, we really have to tweak those and and kind of finesse that every year to make sure that we're using our resources the most efficiently. So, just wanted to be clear about that. And also um there are some rumors that there are teachers who are potentially being reduced or losing their jobs because of that. Um those teachers have contracts and they will have a teaching job next year just maybe in a different building at a different grade level. So I did want to um talk about that. And then at
017the secondary level, because again, as we're trying to look at how we can be efficient with our staffing, we have tasked our secondary team to look at how they're using staff throughout the district. And so again, I've asked um Mrs. Baldwin, Mr. Ree, if you don't mind just kind of maybe sharing a little bit of insight on kind of where we are with scheduling, um what's typical with that process and what families can expect between now and when school starts in August, please. Thank you. Um, I appreciate you having the uh opportunity for us to come up here and and I'll share with you from from a high school lens kind of to to that perspective. Several years ago, um, Central was pushing 1,900 kids and we moved several staff towards Central to accommodate for
018their enrollment growth. And now Central is not even our largest building anymore. And over the years, staff members have been transferred out of Central into either north or south or some kind of split to account for the fact that now Central is about 1500 kids and they've lost 400 kids. And so we've balanced staff accordingly. So even at the elementary level, that happens at the middle and high school level, including this year where there's some movement of staff. So that happens every year at every level. I'm going give you a really high overview of what our scheduling process is specifically for the high school because by the high school is by far the most complex because you've got hundreds of courses and thousands of kids and eight periods within a day to try to fit
019them in and then Mrs. Baldwin can kind of you know put some flavor to the to and specifics to well here's where we are and here's how staffing plays a role in that and the decisions that we make. So, as you uh realize and recall, for those of you who've been on the board for the last couple of years in December, maybe early early January, we bring before the board the academic planning guide for the board to approve to officially say, here's our course content for the high school level. Any new courses are in there and all of those for the board to approve. Uh in January and February, we begin our student request. We start with our juniors and work our way down to eighth grade visits from high schools to begin making those
020freshman requests. And that happens in January. In February, in March, those students, all of them, meet with their counselors individually to go over what their requests are. Does that align with their future goals, their academic goals, their college or or workforce readiness goals, and make any request changes as a result of those individual vis visits by early April every year. And we've done that since I've been here, and this is my 15th year here. Um, right around the second or so week of April, we sit down with the high school principles. We look at their requests. We look at their enrollments and very often we make staffing adjustments. This teacher, you don't need a whole math teacher. We're going to split a math teacher with central and south for example or we're going to do
021some different things that happens every year right around midappril. From that point then um the principles then looking at their request and the staffing that they're going to have begin building their master schedule when they look at the course request especially if it's what we call a singleton meaning it's a content area that has only one course or only one section like AP AP computer science A or something like that where there's only one. If in a particular building there's not enough request to run that and we're really talking about mid- teens or so then the administration looking at the total resources may make the decision not to run that course that year and provide kids the option to go to one of the other high schools. When they do that they reach out to
022the students who made that request and say we're not going to be able to run this. Is there something else you would rather take instead? Over the course of the summer, they once they settle through all that, they'll run the schedule and try to reduce conflicts as much as possible. When you only have eight periods and hundreds of courses and thousands of kids, sometimes I'm a student who may be in orchestra and in AP Calc and there is just nowhere to put either one where it conflicts with something else I have to take and at some point I just may have to choose. It's called conflict resolution. Typically, we do that during schedule pickup when there was just no way to create the schedule where you could have everything that's not in conflict. And sometimes
023the students will come in and say, "Well, what other choices do you want? Here's what's open third period. Do you want any of those?" And sometimes students say, "You know what? I just rather have a study hall. I could use the break." And so that's pretty much the process. It's been a little later this year in finalizing staffing because we have reduced seven high schools FTE at the uh reduced seven FTE at the high school level and doing that through attrition. You kind of have to wait to see who's retiring in the optimal content area that you really feel that you have a little room to absorb as opposed to someone retiring in a content area that you have to fill because you don't have the resources to absorb them. And I don't know if
024you want to layer onto any of that or No, I think you cover that. I know that our teams are really intentional about looking at the staff we have and the requests we have so that we can honor as many requests as possible for students. And the idea that if we aren't running a course, our students would know that before they left for the summer. And then um in the fall, we do have those conflicts that we work with our students on um and try to find a different option for them too. And that's one of the reasons um at the high school level we have 10 extended days for high school counselors. 12 12 and a and they backload not frontload the summer they backloaded to the start of the year because that's what
025they work on. They're working on trying to minimize the conflicts before schedule pickup so that most of the students can get everything that they want. So, just to clarify, typically we will know if we're not running a course, but a kid may have an individual conflict between two courses that maybe we don't know until we're finessing that throughout the summer. Correct. Correct. Um, thank you. So, a quick question to follow up on that. Um, it's probably an obvious thing, but I'm just going to give you the opportunity to talk about it. Um, I'm assuming that when you look at those courses where a lot of students might be enrolled in this course and that course, do you start to look at the numbers when you start to slot them into the master schedule? So, we're
026reducing the conflicts as much as possible. Yes. So, we take a look so we take a look at singletons and look at who's enrolled in those and what does that look like maybe for a typical schedule. Career Center is often another one that we pay attention to. Our juniors go half a day and our seniors go half a day. So, what kind of course requests are those students making to make sure that we're accounting for that? Um, so there really is a lot of intention and thought put into scheduling the courses, but ultimately we're going to have some conflicts along the way. Sure. But just looking at the data to see, you know, how can we minimize that as much as possible. Absolutely. So we have a balance between humans actually hand adjusting things and
027then also our software runs those conflicts and helps us with that right they actually give us a percentage you know you might run it the first time you know say you're 75% good you still have 25% of your requests have conflicts and here's where they are and then we can move it move it move it kind of like a game show you hit it again and it runs it takes a couple hours and then you say Boy, when you're up to 90% that is about optimal in terms of conflicts. Um, so thank you. You had said that most of the time the student would know before they leave for the summer um if a course was not going to be offered. And so how is that student how do how do the counselors work with
028that student or the parents to help them figure out what I know you said like you asked them what other courses do they possibly want to take as part of their graduation planning so that school counselor would talk with that student and they're going to be pulling up their school links and their graduation plan and thinking about if this course isn't here what are some other options that you might be interested in how's that fit in to your larger plan too because that's the ultimate goal as well is to help students find something that they're interested and passionate about as well as um being offered too. Thank you. Any other questions for them? All right. Thank you both. And that is all I have unless you have any questions for me. Okay. Thank you. Thank
029you. All right. Next up, we have public comments and we do have some tonight. We always appreciate when people come out um on a Monday night to pro uh talk to us about their concerns. So um the board of education welcomes public comment on educational issues of our interest to our school's community. The board does not discriminate based on the identity or viewpoint of the speaker during our public participation. However, the board president may limit comments that are obscene, abusive, or harassing. In an attempt to protect the privacy interest of our students, the board asked that speakers not identify students by name during their comments. Persons having public 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
030should be directed to the board as a whole and not to individual board members. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board. A timer will be shown on the screens in the front of the room and Mr. Reeves will call time when three minutes has elapsed. So our first our first speaker this evening is Jennifer Meiser. Welcome. Thank you. This is way out of my comfort zone, so I promise I will be nice. Uh, my name is Jen Meiser and I am the proud parent of a kindergartener and a third grader at Mark Twain Elementary. I would like to address the recent news that two positions at Mark Twain are being eliminated due to enrollment numbers, a first grade teacher and a fourth grade teacher. By some estimates, this would create first grade
031classrooms each with a ratio of roughly 27 to1 and fourth grade classrooms each with a ratio of roughly 29 to1. I know those numbers aren't set in stone, but as the current enrollment stands right now, that's what it looks like. Um, I urge you to follow recommended state guidelines of having no more than 25 elementary age students in a classroom with one teacher. I also urge you to review this with your Westerville teachers union to ensure studenttoteer ratio guidelines within the contract are not being violated. I also urge you to consider how RTI or response to intervention will be impacted by larger class sizes. Per the Every Student Succeeds Act, schools must have in place a system in which students are being provided tier 2 and tier three research-based interventions in order to supplement their
032rich tier one instruction for those who are academically and/or behaviorally behind. Larger class sizes could decrease quality and quantity of these interventions. potentially creating bigger gaps in learning for students and the potential need for additional staff such as reading specialists in your buildings. Lastly, I want you to consider how larger class sizes will impact students with disabilities. Federal and state law mandate that all children identified with disabilities are educated in their least restrictive environment. For many, this LRE is the general education classroom with supports from their intervention specialist occurring in that classroom so that they spend as much time with their non-disabled peers as possible. I urge you to consider how effectively these children will be served in their LRE in a classroom of potentially 27, 28, 29, or even 30 students. Potential consequences of
033a larger class size could be children with disabilities spending more time in a more restrictive environment or time away from their non-disabled peers. I urge you to be proactive with our students learning and consider the individual needs of students rather than what the numbers look like on paper. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Um, next up we have Stacy Silak. Did I say it right? I'm sorry. Okay. I really was trying. It's okay. It happens so often. It's okay. It's totally fine. Should I wait? Oh. Uh, we can probably restart. Okay. Can we all right? I Okay, thank you. Uh, so hi everyone and thank you from the school board for letting us come here to speak. Um, so I stand here before you today as a concerned parent based off the changes coming from Mark
034Twain, but obviously that sounds like there's a lot of changes across the board um that are coming for all the Westerville school district uh schools. And please understand when I make these statements, I know that our teachers always make our kids feel safe, loved, and ensure that their day-to-day experiences um are not impacted even in the face of change or increased demand. I feel incredibly lucky to be in the school district. Um the recent proposal to eliminate the teaching positions at Mark Twain is uh concerning to me. Um I understand that those teachers can apply for other jobs in the district and the FTE to student ratio analysis was done. Um but the loss of the two um teachers translates to larger classrooms, less access accessibility for children in wheelchairs, fewer resources for children with
035varying needs, and would be potentially impacted by children that would be added throughout the school year. Um additionally, I've been told that they're eliminating one specials team, which means that they will have to divide their time with other schools. So, I'm concerned about how we guarantee, you know, that those specials will not kind of lose their, you know, their piece there where, you know, we have two musics. Are we going to go to one music? I would be really concerned about that. Um, I also heard heard from someone else that we are going to be lo losing the gifted program um that happens in the schools. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but that has been mentioned to me. Um, so in general, you know, what services will or will not be available
036for the students next year. you know, if there's other impacts similar to like a counselor needing to be shared and if that they're not available for other children, that could be a huge uh disadvantage or um disservice to them. Um communication about these changes should you not be left to word of mouth. Um there needs to be 100% transparency about what is happening, who's impacted, and the data used to make those decisions. Um, I would re recommend a more proactive approach where changes like this um are coming so that the parents can digest, speak up as needed, and plan ahead for changes being implemented. Um, if this information is available and has been provided, um, you know, I'm happy to hold myself accountable to find that information. Where is it and make sure I'm proactive
037about reading that going forward. Um, Mark Twain is been a five-star school for the last two years. So, how we how could this possibly affect the standing for that? Um, I just don't want us to kind of unintentionally compromise the excellence of the school with some of those changes. Um, so I I urge you to potentially reconsider these changes. Um, I know there's, you know, a bank of operational savings that maybe we could use that to keep the staffing status quo. Um, and um, you know, as a community, we can help with the the next levy. Hopefully, we'll maybe be doing that in November so that we can get that back on the ballot. um it just seems like it might be a little too soon to make the decision to start eliminating teachers. So,
038uh we just want the best for the students and the kids and I know that you guys feel the same way. So, thanks. Thank you. Okay, next up we have Sarah Klehorn. Did I say that one right? All right, welcome. Well, um, as Christie said, my name is Sarah Klehorn and I am a teacher and a taxpayer and most importantly, I am the mom of two young boys who are Mark Twain students. I do not begrudge you your positions right now as school board members or as school leaders in these very difficult political and economic times, but I do urge you to do what is best by our children whenever it is possible. I am the mother of a first grader who is typically developing and has thrived under Lippy Bushong's teaching this year. My
039youngest needs to be seen and recognized as all young children do. As a high school teacher of more than a hundred students, I can assure you that that need does not go away with age or with time. Every educational researcher will affirm the benefits of smaller classes and lower teacher to student ratios. As a mother of a third grader who has an IEP who struggles primarily with math and social interactions, she too has grown this year due due in large in part to the success of his first year teacher and very large in part to the expertise of Mrs. Natalie Martin. He though iatypically developing needs what all students need. He needs affirmation. He needs teachers who have the appropriate equipment and tools to teach well and an environment that allows him to thrive. G
040would not have shown the growth this year that he has if it weren't for the opportunities that have been given him like reset rooms or pull out or push-in services or some very creative solutions that were afforded him. I appreciate this district's need and initiative to be fiscally responsible. But since our teacher assign reassignments are due neither to the levy failure nor to the potential difficulties of HB96, I ask that you consider maintaining the three teacher perlete grade level model at Mark Twain. We want to be a school district that offers continuity for our students, who provides them an appropriate educational supports whenever possible, and who gives our students the sometimes literal room to grow. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next up we have I'm a little intimidated by the name Tashi Anna Kawaki. I'm
041sorry. Did I am I close? I'll help. Okay, it's Tashiana Quatchi. But no, no harm. That's fine. Thank you for correcting me. It's my apologies. Well, my name is Tasha Quatchi. I have the benefit and privilege of living on East College with my husband and four daughters. Um, two of which go to Walnut Springs and two of which go to or two of whom go to see I'm already correcting myself. I feel like there's educators around. Um, two of whom go to Mark Twain. Um, I just wanted to share a quick story and this might be relevant or relate you, some of you might relate to this, but when I was in elementary school, I grew up in the 80s and really the only conversation about diversity really applied to the differences in our hair
042color, our eyes, and the color of our skin. Today, diversity is the key word in our classrooms. There is so much diversity in the classrooms that now we're talking about language, we're talking about cultural, we're we're talk culture, learning abilities, and so much more. Every student that walks in there has a different learning ability, and we're expecting our teachers to accommodate each one. Um, the reason why I'm here today is because I'm asking the board to consider the progression and the improvement that the district as a whole has made over the years. to uh anything any changes that would perhaps you know cause us to lose teachers, increase classroom sizes, um you name it would jeopardize uh some of the progression and the improvements that we have. I know my family, for example, we moved
043into the district and was very attracted to all of the positives um that we see in the district. Um we have great great families, great community, hardworking teachers. Uh, I know they would probably be a little embarrassed for me to say this, but I will tell you one of the ver I one of the very first things that I noticed when I moved into the district and my girls went to school is that there are teachers vehicles at the school before opening time. There are teacher vehicles there after hours, way after 7. So when we're walking in the neighborhood, my kids can actually identify whose teachers are in whose cars are in the parking lot. That's how dedicated they are. And I really do I'm concerned as a parent um that my children might walk
044into a school not see those smiling faces who are welcoming them every day who make them feel safe who make my my children like they cry when they've got to come back home. They just want more. I've had a daughter who honestly and I told the fifth grade teacher this. She we were I think we were on spring break and she was just rolling around as if she had the flu or something was wrong. I was really concerned and I finally said to her, "What's the matter?" and she said, "Mommy, I need a science kit." Or, you know, she needed something. And it was because her teacher was really, you know, helping her develop this love for education. And so my concern is if we if we challenge what we've already built that we're doing
045a disservice to our kids and all the learners in the district as well as our Sorry, you got my point. Thank you. Thank you. Um, next up we have, if I can read the last name, Laura Ferguson. Did was it right? Okay. I thought so. I thought you were back. Hi. Um, I'm Laura Ferguson. We met earlier. Um, I teach physics and engineering at North. Um, where I've been for the past 20 years. I'm also a parent in the district. Um, a student of mine passed away a little over a year ago during spring break. He was a junior at the time and he would have graduated this year. Um, his dad has asked if he can be acknowledged as part of our graduation ceremony this year. He had initially asked if Cooper could be
046awarded an honorary diploma, but we were told that wouldn't be possible since he did not meet the graduation requirements. And I have explained that to his dad, and he understands. However, um his family, his friends, and I would still very much like to see his memory included in some small way as part of graduation this year. I had asked about this a while back and was informed a few weeks ago that we will not be permitted to do anything in acknowledgement of him um as part of the ceremony. I am here to respectfully ask that this be reconsidered um for this student and also potentially as a general policy that could be put in place for anyone to whom this may apply in the future. I think it would be good if families in our
047district who have lost a child and would like them to be acknowledged at graduation could have that happen without difficulty. Um here's what we are asking to do in his memory. um have a chair for him somewhere in or near the section where the senior class is seated. We have a cap and tassel for him that we'd like to put on the chair and we'd like to have a picture of him and maybe some flowers on that chair. Um we'd also ask that someone maybe one of the class officers as part of their remarks just mention his name uh and ask that we take a really brief moment to remember him. Um, this student grew up in Westerville and attended Westerville City Schools all his life from um, kindergarten until the time sorry um, until
048he passed away. He went to um, McVey Elementary, Wana Springs Middle School, and finally Westerville North. Um, he was in my class for two years as part of the engineering pathway. I helped him complete his application to DACC where he was attending half days. Thank you. Last year as part of the construction program. Um, if you've ever seen a parent have to bury their child, I think you know that if there's something you can do to ease their pain, you will do it. Um, for many berieved parents, seeing their child remembered and acknowledged is so meaningful and can provide a little bit of healing on a very painful journey. Um, and so that's why I'm asking for this. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Um, next up. Wow. Um, Nicole Melture Roy. Meltroy. I
049know I butchered this one. I can't wait for you to correct me. Okay. Hi. Hi. Good morning. My name is Nicole Meluri and I currently have a kindergartener at Mark Twain Elementary. This year, I've had the pleasure and honor of volunteering in the classroom weekly, and I've witnessed firsthand the tremendous impact of smaller class sizes and individualized attention that our teachers are able to provide. It is clear to me that this environment has played a vital role in my son's success. My son, who has autism spectrum disorder, is preparing to enter first grade next year. His kindergarten year has been a resounding success, and we truly cannot say enough wonderful things about the school. It is no surprise that Mark Twain has earned a five-star rating. The commitment and care from his teachers and support
050staff have made all the difference. My son requires a less crowded classroom where he can move, self-regulate, and access the combinations in his IEP, such as flexible seating and movement breaks. We are deeply concerned that the recent cuts to two teacher positions will undermine these essential supports. Larger class sizes will limit the teacher's ability to connect with each student on a personal level. My son thrives in an environment where he feels secure and supported by his teacher. When he builds a close relationship with his teacher, he flourishes academically and socially. If teachers are stretched too thin, the critical connection becomes harder to establish and my son's ability to succeed may be compromised. In addition to the loss of critical support in a crowded classroom with 27 first graders raises significant concerns about the safety and
051the ability of all students to feel regulated and present. My son is not the only student thank you who needs physical space and movement to stay engaged. If students are not in an environment that supports their unique needs, it will affect their learning and their experience. Since spring break, my son's current teacher, intervention specialist, speech therapist, and OT have worked tirelessly to prepare him for the transition to first grade. They created social stories, increased exposure to the first grade classroom and teacher, and have gone above and beyond to help him not only feel ready, but excited for the upcoming year. If these cuts precede, all of this hard work will be undone. We will be forced to start over. I haven't even been able to tell my son yet as I can't bear to bring
052that disappointment upon him. In closing, I ask the board to remember that our children are not just numbers. They're individuals with unique needs and potential. My son's success this year has been the result of smaller class sizes and the unwavering dedication of his teachers. If these cuts go forward, the progress he's made is at risk. Every child deserves an environment where they feel supported, safe, and capable of reaching their full potential. I urge the board to prioritize our children's well-being and ensure the future decisions reflect the importance of indiv individual attention and manageable class sizes. Thank you for considering the long-term impact these changes will have on our students. [Applause] Thank you. Next up, um, is Sienna Reg. I hope I didn't butcher both. Gotten a lot of really difficult names tonight. Excuse me. Uh
053my name is Shauna Reg. Um and I'm a uh parent of a kindergartener at Mark Twain and a uh parent volunteer in the classroom. Um, and I'm here to address the board um to ask you to please reconsider eliminating a first grade and fourth grade classroom at Mark Twain Elementary School for the 20 2526 school year. I think eliminating these classes will have a negative impact on the students, teachers, and staff at Mark Twain. There are many reasons and examples that I would like to share with you, but for time um this is just one practical thing um that I've seen um as a volunteer in the classroom. Um as a parent volunteer in my child's classroom this school year, I have seen how a growing class size decreases the physical space available in the
054classroom. The addition of more students into the classroom partway through the year required the addition of another table and set of cubbies for my daughter's class. This addition reduced the space for each child to move within the classroom and the ability to take brain breaks, which all of us need, but as you can imagine, five and six-year-olds really need. Um, and it reduced the space available for the quiet corner in their room. The five and six-year-olds in my kindergartenner's class use these tangible methods of calming to help them gain control of their emotions and refocus their attention on learning. The physical changes needed for a larger class size make it more difficult for young students to reset their minds as they are attempting to learn so much new information. In addition to making it more
055difficult for students to learn, the cramped physical space is just simply not safe. We have students in our school, some of whom will be in first and fourth grade next year, who require the use of wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility devices, excuse me, I lost my uh larger class sizes will make it difficult, if not impossible, for these students to participate in classroom activities. This inclusion is imperative not only for the students requiring the mobility devices but also the students that interact with these classmates. The district needs to ensure that all students can be safe in their classrooms. I know that all parents and I think all of you um are wanting um to provide the best for our students. Um and I expect every Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next up, we welcome
056back Terara Stockdale. Good evening, Superintendent Hamburg, President Meyer, members of the board. I'm here this evening as a parent and Westerville resident. In April of 2023, our family enrolled in EF Tours field trip. After being heavily marketed and sold through district resources, we unfortunately trusted this would be a solid product as we were in a Westerville building and the sales agent was an employed teacher. Upon the first meeting after being locked into the financial contract with EFTs, we found out the trip was not 15 travelers as marketed. Instead, we were now going with 85 middle schoolers along with multiple postcontractual additions that would have impacted our decision to purchase. We decided to go forth with our buyer remorse and make the best of it. Since that meeting, we now know that EF Tours runs their
057sales on a multi-level marketing platform, compensating teachers with cash bonuses, free travel and accommodations and rewards, and their loyalty program. One page on their website boast $1,000 cash bonuses for signing up a second bus. Like the second bus our group was now traveling with. Fast forward to April 9th of this year at our second travelers meeting and it became clear a number of student data privacy laws were being violated. Accessing protected student data for commercial marketing and sales, including the unauthorized photographing of our minor children's passports on a Westerville teacher's unsecured cell phone. This violating federal furpa laws and Ohio Senate Bill 29. Upon further research, we discovered multiple violations of this board's own policies on the field trip approval process, use of district resources, including email distribution list, staff use of personal communication devices,
058etc. I first spoke to this board on April 21st asking for an examination of the relationship between the for-profit private travel company ESours and the district. Our inquiries first put out to our students administrator on April 17th have still not been answered, nor any subsequent inquiries and our multiple emails to the district level administrators and this board. Today we have been waiting for a phone call and we got it from Mr. Reeves who simply said that your attorneys are looking into um these potential violations. It appears Westerville City School District picks and chooses which policies that it follows. It's very disheartening to feel this way with a pertinent urgent concern involving the district at a time that public education needs supported not reported. Ethical practices around commercial sales with district resources to your own families
059should be a concern for the district as the trust from the community is crucial in these uncertain times for public education and we feel that we have lost trust due to this situation. Thank you. Thank you. Um next up we have Richie Harris. Welcome. Hi, I'm Tira's husband, so I'm speaking on the same matter, but just separately and um probably not as well verssed as she is. However, good evening, members of the board, and my name is Richie Harris, and I come to you tonight as a Westerville parent and a public educator. Um I have a real belief in public school programs that when offered to students opportunities um they operate in the best interest of the families with transparency and not an operation which would exploit the consumer or focus on turning profits. Um
060we in good faith with Westerville school signed up for the EF tours um Westerville schools EF tours trip to Japan. uh we were kind of pressured to sign up for a limited space trip. Um and we did because this is a one a very important event for us and so we did sign up before the deadline. Um at our first teacher meeting uh first traveler meeting excuse me nearly a year later we were met with policies and rules and a trip with an elevated number of travelers um more way more so than advertised at the beginning. We were also involved with practices which compromised our private information. Um we realized right then that this was a trip we would have never signed up for in the beginning after we learned a lot more about it.
061Um we we were left with the EF tour's cancellation policy. We were left with the choice to cancel the trip with a serious financial loss. uh we feel as if we were misled in transparency of this trip and now do not feel comfortable or safe traveling on this tour and we have asked for a full refund. Um we've provided the details and intricacies of our situation with both EF tours and with the Westerville school board. So, I urge Westerville to examine your relationship with the FTours as the two entities work with each other to provide what should be positive um opportunities for students traveling and um I hope that they can figure out how to provide a transparent travel plan for all future trips that you have booked for all families involved. And personally, we
062would hope that the Westerville City Schools would maybe advocate for our family with EF tours in hopes that we could receive the full refund that we feel that we reserve, deserve, excuse me, um for this serious investment our family has put forth um to experience a once in a-lifetime trip to Japan. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Um, next up is Jen Arnold. Welcome. Hello. I come to you as a concerned parent of Mark Twain students. Um, I have four children. I have three who are currently at Mark Twain. One of them is a student of uh Mrs. Buchang in first grade. One is a student of Amy um McCoy in fourth grade. Um we are very saddened in our family to hear of the transitions of Mrs. Bashong and Mrs. McCoy. These two these
063teachers have had two of my four children this year. They have both gone above and beyond for my children, meeting their needs, seeing the gold within, and always supporting them. They will be terribly missed and in my opinion should not be losing their jobs at Twain, moved or involuntarily transferred. They are needed at Mark Twain are and are incredible assets. I'm concerned that class sizes are swelling to levels that are detrimental to the kids, especially kids on plans like two of my sons who have ADHD and not only need more attention from their teachers, but who can quite frankly be a handful. I know because I know to think of other kiddos with similar needs to theirs um next year who won't be getting the attention and support they need simply because there are so
064many children in the classroom is very concerning to me. I'd like to also mention as as mentioned um the the supports for children uh with accessibility issues. Um Mark Twain is a five-star school and we are proud of that. We are concerned that this will be in jeopardy with the loss of these excellent teachers and overly large classroom sizes. I trust the teachers and staff will do an incredible job in their absences, but I think it's asking too much of teachers and students. Please consider our concerns and maintain these teachers positions. I'd like to also submit the testimony of another concerned parent at Mark Twain. As the parent who is frequently in Mark Twain, the fewer classes in specific grade levels is very alarming. At Mark Twain, we have students who are in wheelchairs and
065use a walker as well. These larger classes will make it very difficult for these students to get around in their classroom in a safe manner. Larger class sizes will compromise these students safety and well-being. Not to mention, this could conflict with ADA policies. These students will not be able to move around their classrooms as they have done before, nor will they be able to be part of their classes as they currently are. The district prides itself on student safety, but this decision will put students in harm's way. Mark Twain is also a five-star school. What an accomplishment. Downsizing classes in certain grades is not the treatment a five-star school building should be getting. Keeping students safe is the top priority and downsizing classes is not keeping students safe. The board and district need to reconsider
066this decision and think about the impact this has on all students. Thank you for your time. Thank you. [Applause] So, thank you everyone. Um that concludes our public comments and um we're going to move along to 6.01 01 to approve the minutes. And may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting held on Monday, April 21st, 2025? So moved. Second. Any changes need to be made? All right, we take the vote. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mr. Heckleman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. And may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the special session board of education meeting held on Monday, April 28th, 2025. So moved. Second. Would you take the vote? Mrs. Leean? Yes. Mr. Ecklman? Yes. Mrs. Alman? Yes. Mrs. Valentine?
067Yes. Mrs. Meyer? Yes. And moving along to financials. Um, may I have a motion to approve the purchases in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 5705.41? 41D1 in board policy 6320. So moved. Second. And Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about these? Yes. Thank you, President Meyer, members of the board. So, uh, we have this is what we call then and now purchase orders. We have one this evening. Uh, this is where we have a purchase order that's stated after an invoice date or when goods or services were ordered. Um, and in excess of $3,000. We need the board's approval in order to pay this invoice. Uh this is this one is for the um English learners department for interpreter services. There was a purchase order open. It just wasn't enough to cover um the
068whole amount, but the purchase was budgeted for. So I do recommend the board's approval tonight. Thank you. Any questions, comments? Okay, we take the bill, please. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Altman, yes. Mr. Heckleman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. And is it okay if we take the personal consent agenda as one? Okay. And may I have a motion to approve the personal consent agenda 8.01 through 8.11. So moved. Second. Welcome Mr. Cooper. Good evening. President Meyer, Vice President Lee, members of the board, Miss Marshall, and Miss Hamburg. Tonight's personnel consent agenda includes action items with regard to resignations, retirements, leaves of absence, onetime pays, and other employment related decisions. I would like to recognize the following staff members who have announced retirement on this evening's agenda. One of whom was in uh your presence
069here this evening uh to start. So Sally Raymond, 19 years in Westerville City Schools. Scott Weston, 25 years in the district. Shannon Whitmer, 28 years in Westerville. Katherine Meyers, 19 years. And Scott Dorne, 31 years of service in the district. We appreciate all these individuals have done for our students, staff, and community, and certainly wish them the best in their years ahead. Um, excuse me. Additionally on this evening's agenda is the annual renewal of contracts for each of our classified staff members in the district um who have a contract expiring this school year. Um, at this time I'm happy to take any questions you may have. Are there any questions or comments? Just congratulations again to the retirees. Thank you. Thank you. Did you take the vote? Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Altman,
070yes. Mr. Mr. Hackleman. Yes. Mrs. Meyer. Yes. And is it okay if we take old policy as one or old business? I'm sorry. Policy's on my mind. All right. Um, may I have a motion to approve old business 9.01 through 9.05? So moved. Second. All right. Any questions, comments? Sorry, my mic wasn't on. Um, just wanted to let you know on the one policy that we did uh make that update on 751. Yes. So that it was medical. I know that was a question last time. Yeah, I appreciate that. And I emailed the person that flagged it for us. So, thank you. Great. Thank you. All right. Will you take the vote? Mr. Heckleman, yes. Mrs. Leian, yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Yes. And then next we have new business 10.01, the
071first reading of policy 6325, procurement of federal grants and funds. Miss Marshall, will you talk to us about this? Yes. Uh thank you again. So uh this is another policy update from the update to the uniform guidance. Um and so this is regarding grant funds and federal funds. And so changes to this policy include adding veteranowned businesses and large labor surplus area firms for consideration as vendors and increasing the um limit for micro purchases from 10,000 to 50,000 and adding language about the procurement of recovered materials and records retention related to federal awards. Any questions? and comments. Okay. Thank you. Um and next we have the first reading of policy 8442 reporting accidents. Miss Marshall. Yes. Uh so this is just an update to our uh policy reporting accidents to clarify that employee accidents should
072be reported to the treasur's office as our office handles bureau of workers compensation claims um and those processes and that the other uh sorts of incidents and accidents are to be reported to the business office. Um it's also adding forming to the policy. Thank you. Any questions, comments? All right. And then next, you're up again. First reading of policy 8442.01, workers compensation. Uh, yes. And this policy is being updated to clarify the current process and add um BWC as definitions for leave status. Uh we're also correcting the form name and removing reference to salary continuation as that's not something that we do. Thank you. Any questions or comments on this? Okay. Thank you. Um, we have no recommended action standing business. So, moving along to board comments. Who would like to start? I guess I
073can kick us off. I want to first congratulate all of our retirees. I mean, we are so lucky to have individuals that chose to work in this district. 14 1,450 years of service combined is just mind-blowing to me. So, again, congratulations um to all those that retired. Um on the advocacy piece, I just wanted to share with you all that uh if you go on our district website right now, we do have a feature um regarding uh with more information about the state budget and how you could engage. So, please check that uh part out on the school website. It's really important that we are browsing that and getting familiar with it. And I just want to thank the team here who made that possible. Um yeah, thank you. Uh so again, uh congratulations to
074everybody uh the retirees and all of those others who were honored. May is uh the time of year that really makes it the hard work of being on board which is always going on but May is just a joyous time. We get a little more time to celebrate people. So um happy to have done that this evening and congratulations to all of them and all the hard work and dedication to our students um that the retirees have put in for many many many years. So, um I just wanted to also say regarding uh everyone who's here to talk about teachers at Mark Twain, thank you for being here. Um the kinds of questions that I ask as a board member are going to be questions like what do what will the student to student teacher
075ratios, what do they look like at other buildings because have to think about how you know impacts across the district. um you know and making sure that we're providing as much as we can uh sort of a equitable experience across the district in terms of things like student teacher ratio. So just know that your comments and emails, you know, these are they raise questions that we'll continue to ask and get answers to and that um it is a process I've seen lots and lots and lots of times. Um, but when it affects your school, it feels really different. So, thanks for coming and sharing your voice, and I'll follow up with some questions to make sure that I understand what is happening across the district in terms of moving teachers around. So, thank you. I
076will reiterate all of the thanks to the retiring teachers and staff. That is a lot of talent that we will be missing for sure. Um but congratulations to them on their journeys ahead in retirement. Um also thanks to all of our speakers for coming out sharing your thoughts and requests. We take these comments and requests very seriously and I want you all to know that we do our best to ask questions and determine kind of what is the appropriate course of action moving forward. We may not always end up at the exact same position or seeing eye to eye, but do know that we do take care to review and we do ask a lot of questions and we do um work with the administrators um a lot. So, um I think that is it.
077Uh I would say congratulations has been said. So, I do want to say enjoy your retirement to everyone who's still here and has put in such hard work. Um you really deserve it. I think uh there's a lot of professions that you could have chosen and I'm so glad that you chose to be a part of this one. Uh I just want to also thank everyone who came out tonight for your uh passion for our educators. Um it doesn't go unnoticed or unrespected or unconsidered when these very tough decisions come down sometimes. And uh you're here because you care for teachers and we can't ask for a better community than a community that cares for its teachers and its students. So, uh, thank you for that. I'd also like to say, please don't let off
078the gas when it comes to our legislative push that we're making right now. Uh, the, uh, there is some good information on the website. There's some good things the district is sharing with social through social media. Please, you know, focus in on that and pay attention. Uh, right now is a very critical window we're operating in. So, the more you can find a little bit of time to make those calls and pay attention to that, I think the better we'll all be in the long run. Well, um I told uh some of the retirees tonight, uh it's kind of bittersweet, right? Really appreciate um and congratulate them on all the years, but knowing that such caring staff are leaving is always really hard. So, um I just want to say echo my colleagues and say
079congratulations and thank you. and to the students that had an amazing like you know run times and distance and and one student in the whole state gets picked for leadership. That's amazing like congratulations to them. I want to also thank each of you for coming out. I like my colleagues um have written down a few more questions to ask too. Um I agree uh with everything that's been said so I won't really reiterate it. It's something though that does we talk a lot about right in my experience that keeps me up at night thinking as how are they going to this impact all of the students across the district. So I know you guys are parents or parents too and so I try to think through that lens of how would I feel? So I
080I do really appreciate you coming on and and taking the time to spend with us on a Monday um and sitting through me butchering some of your names. Um, I also want to take a moment to appreciate further appreciate staff. So, this week is driver appreciation. Um, actually today is driver appreciation day and Wednesday is uh school nurse appreciation day and they are vital staff in the cog of this district and sometimes they don't get recognized as much as they should. Um, something that I learned that I I'm sure others don't know either is that when we go on spring break, our school bus drivers, not all of them get to go because they're driving other non-public school kids to schools. And so, just really appreciate all that our staff do for our um, students
081and our families. I also want to remind everyone that tomorrow I I saw this on social media again and I know we put some stuff out, but tomorrow is voting day, right? And we know we have two schools um that aren't fully closed off, but that we will have SRO officers on the inside of the building. Um, we know this is a problem and we've heard you and we're working on changing that and hopefully that will all be closed off within the, you know, at the beginning of the next school year if everything goes right. So, the things that you guys do share with us, we really do take them to heart and try and bring them here and we ask questions and we work through them. So, thank you for voicing those concerns. Um,
082and then I think that's it for me. So, uh, we will be meeting my computer shut down. So, uh, the board will meet in regular session on Monday, May 19th, 2025 at 6 p.m. at the Early Learning Center, 936 Eastwind Drive, West of Ohio, which is right here. Um, and with that, may I have a motion to move into executive session for the purposes of preparing for conducting or reviewing negotiations with employees regarding their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment and for the purposes of discussing the employment and compensation of public employees. So moved. Second. Ready when you are. Miss Marshall. Mr. Aleman. Yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yes. You're welcome to stay if you want. But thank you. 7:23. All right, we're back. It's
0838:23. May I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. We take the role. Mrs. Valentine, yes. Mrs. Lee, yes. Mrs. Alman, yes. Mr. Heckleman, yes. Mrs. Meyer, yep.