001Welcome to the December 16th Board of Education meeting. Can we call roll? Yep. Goodright? Yes. Starcher? Here. Austin? Here. Kuzma? Here. Kleinhenz? >> Here. Okay, will you stand for the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we'll move on. Need a motion to approve the December 16th, 2025 agenda as presented and amended. So moved. Second. Yep. We're good. Um Kleinhenz? Kuzma? Yes. >> Austin? Yes. Starcher? Yes. Goodright? Yes. Need a motion to approve the minutes of the November 20th, 2025 Board of Education regular session. So moved. Second. Austin? Yes. Starcher? Yes. Goodright? >> Yes. >> Kleinhenz? Yes. Kuzma? Yes. We're rolling here. Okay, we're going to move on to
002our um recognitions. So, Joy, you're going to be down here then? Yep. Okay. All right, it looks like we're going to start with the high school. Must have some place to go. Mhm. Good evening. My name is Margaret Davis. I'm the principal at Wooster High School. We're going first tonight cuz there's a choir concert, so I'm going to start um Mr. Schmidt nominated Bean Carroll tonight, but he could not be here, so I'm going to read a little bit on his behalf. Bean exemplifies all of the RISE characteristics. She's very respectful in class and is kind to everyone and listens to others. Bean is also a very diligent student who completes her work and shows responsibility in her college credit plus class. She makes good choices and understands the importance of completing her assignments on
003time and to the best of her ability. She's also mindful of the safety requirements of the classroom and school and is always aware of her surroundings. She's fully engaged in her learning and actively participates in class by asking numerous questions related to all aspects of American history. She fully deserves to be recognized for demonstrating RISE. She also participates in numerous extracurricular activities including drama, student council, NAACP, cross country, 4-H, and Green Club. She's one of the top student leaders of Wooster High School. Congratulations, Bean. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Congratulations. Our second student of the month is Willie Fuqua. Here to speak a little bit about him is his English teacher, Mrs. Dotson. Uh Willie is one of the hardest working students that I've ever had the pleasure of teaching in my over 10-year career. He's studious,
004on task, responsible, and always goes above and beyond. When I thought about what I could say about Willie that would really show the kind of kid that he is, I thought of two things. First, this is Willie's independent reading book. Throughout this book, there are sticky notes with passages underlined and annotations of different things that he noticed. The best part of this is I didn't tell him to do any of it. I did He did all of this by himself. He's done it from day one um to make sure that he was focused and prepared to write an essay at the end of the quarter on his book. He took the initiative. He is always willing to put the work in to make sure that he does the best job possible. The second thing, and
005I think the most important thing, is that Willie is truly kind. Every morning, he says good morning, and after every class ends, he always tells me to have a good day. As a high school teacher, that's pretty rare. Teenagers are too cool. Not Willie. His smile and genuine is genuine, and his heart is gold. When I look at my own children, who are four and two, I hope to raise them in such a way that they are kind like him. The world that could use more people like Willie. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Cornerstone. Good evening community members and members of the board. My name is Gabrielle Montgomery. I'm the principal at Cornerstone Elementary. I have two incredible students to share with you this evening. Um, the first is a kindergartner Svetlana Brown. She is homesick this
006evening. She's not able to come, um, but I talked to mom and they're planning on watching at home on YouTube. So, Svetlana, I'm going to read to you your nomination from Mrs. Duncan. I am so proud of the amazing leader you are at Cornerstone. You show your friends what kindness looks like every day. You help others, you try your best, and you make our school a happier place. I love how you welcome everyone with your sweet smile as soon as they walk into the classroom. You are excited to learn and you work hard every single day even if it feels tricky. I appreciate your positive attitude and the way you encourage your friends. You are a great listener and you help others without being asked. Thank you for being such a bright caring leader in
007kindergarten. Keep shining Svetlana. Our school is better because of you. So, Svetlana, we hope you feel better and congratulations. [Applause] My second Cornerstone leader to recognize tonight is Rowan Osborne. Rowan, you can come on up. Rowan is a fourth grade student. He's joined by his family. Um, mom Samantha and dad Tim, if you would like to wave to be recognized. Thank you for being here. [Music] And then, Rowan's teacher Miss Eberly is here to share with you his nomination. We're excited to honor Rowan Osborne as Cornerstone's student of the month. In just 2 years here, he has become a valued member of our community showing impressive growth in both academics and leadership. Rowan lights up any room with a warm smile and friendly hello. When challenges arise, he calmly offers thoughtful solutions that are win-win
008for everyone. He is a dedicated and responsible student who consistently lends a hand to others. An outstanding example of what it means to be a Wester General. Rowan, you've come so far and worked so incredibly hard. You truly deserve this recognition and I'm [Applause] Keane Elementary. Good evening. Um, we have two outstanding students to recognize tonight. Um, first I want to just thank Mr. Ickes and Mr. Lake for being here after a long cold day, cold week. Um, first I want to recognize, um, Keane's parents for being here tonight. Thank you for coming. Oh, there they are over there. Keane's over there. So, with that said, if you want to come over here and recognize Keane, thank you. It is my pleasure to nominate Keane Sherman for the December Board Student of the Month. Keane
009is a terrific leader in our classroom. His daily leadership role includes running our morning meetings and keeping us on task when discussing the seven habits and sharing our joke of the day. He even sometimes fakes a laugh for me so I don't feel as bad about it. He has such a positive attitude. Just the other day Keane had to get stitches and when I undoubtedly reacted in a very dramatic way, he told me not to worry that it was really not a big deal at all and that he got a milkshake and a hotdog from Five Guys, so it's all good. That is Keane. Always looking on the bright side and having an attitude of gratitude. Congratulations, Keane. We are so proud of you. [Applause] Way to go. Keep up the good work. Good job.
010>> Okay, next I like to recognize Willa's parents, um Jason and Anna. Thank you for being here. And Mr. Legg, if you want to come up and share. Willa is an outstanding student both academically and as class and school leader. She makes sure that everyone's agenda is checked and stamped each morning and then she keeps track of it all week to make sure they've been signed. She is the first one to volunteer when things need done and she works well with all of her classmates. Congratulations, Willa. [Applause] Melrose Good evening. My name is Jamie Tucker. I'm the principal of Melrose Elementary. I have two first grade students to share with you this evening. The first is Eric Mundo Sancho Lopez, who is nominated by Mrs. Corson. He's here tonight with parents Edmundo and Guadalupe. Can
011you wave to be recognized? [Applause] [Music] And Mrs. Corson's going to come up and read her nomination. Mundo is a role model to the peers in his class. He models the seven habits, follows directions, and treats others with respect. He is kind and caring to all students and always willing to help others. He is a bilingual student and has been an asset to our classroom family this school year. Mundo fills our room and our hearts with joy, enthusiasm, and pure happiness every single day. I mean, look at this. He is a hard worker, always putting forth his best effort. Mundo is an absolute joy to have in my class and I'm so excited to see him excel this year in first grade. I'm very honored to nominate him for board student of the month. Congratulations,
012Mundo, and keep up the amazing work. [Applause] Our next student is Luna Wagner, um who's running a little bit late tonight, but Mrs. Tabellion is here to read her nomination as well. Luna is well deserving of this award. She is thoughtful, artistic, brave, and is a wonderful leader in our classroom. Luna is observant and is detail-oriented. She works so hard on her classwork and pushes herself to achieve her goals. When I asked some of her classmates to describe her, one student responded with, "When I'm sad, she helps me feel better." Another student said, "She is helpful and helps me clean up quicker." Luna exhibits habit five, which is seek first to understand, then be understood. She is an empathetic listener and I am so proud of her in this accomplishment. She has already grown so
013much this year and I know she will continue to flourish. [Applause] Park View Good evening. My name is Katie Roth and I am the principal of Park View Elementary. I am here and excited to share two amazing leaders of the month that we have at our school. The first is Elise Hartzler. Elise, if you're She's joined here by her family, so if you would like to wave to be recognized. [Applause] Um Elise's teacher is Mrs. Struckel. She wasn't able to make it here this evening and so I have her nomination that I will read from Mrs. Struckel. So she says, "It is my privilege to nominate Elise Hartzler for the December Board of Education Student of the Month this evening. She's an excellent example of leadership, character, and well-roundedness both in the classroom and in
014her personal activities outside of school. In school, Elise consistently demonstrates the qualities of a great leader through her positive attitude and willingness to help others. She is respectful to her peers and adults, follows expectations, and is a positive role model for other students in our classroom and school. She sets a strong example to follow through her kindness, respect, and responsibility. Elise also actively participates in out of school activities. She most recently dedicated time and effort for a Christmas program at her church, where she worked hard to memorize and perform a solo. Additionally, she participates in gymnastics, where she attends practice multiple times a week and shows discipline, effort, and perseverance as she competes. Her leadership and positive behavior choices have set Elise apart in earning student of the month. She is always working to do
015her best, and it is a pleasure to recognize her tonight. Great work, Elise. Keep it up. [Applause] Congratulations. Our second student from Parkview is another third grade student, Sloane Thornton. Um Sloane is also joined by her family, if you'd like to wave to be recognized. And Mrs. Rett is here to share Sloane's nomination. Sloane didn't know she was coming to this today, so this is all a shock to her. Um Sloane is an amazing leader in our classroom. She sets a great example for others by always making good choices and helping others feel included and supported. She's an active learner who is always ready to participate, ask thoughtful questions, and try her best. Her creativity shines in her work, and she brings empathy by being kind and understanding to her classmates. On top of all
016of her academic and kindness, she is also very funny, and she adds humor to our daily lives and always knows how to make us smile. For example, it was snowman day, and Sloane was wearing a Olaf from Frozen costume with like a giant carrot head, and at the end of the day, everyone's out of the room for dismissal, and there's Sloane shoving books, and I'm like, "Sloane." So, it's just a snowman shoving books in the backpack. I'm like, "Sloane, how many books do you have?" Cuz she had a stack of four chapter books on her desk, and she just shoved two more, and she's like, "Well, I have this one, this one, and if you count the dictionary." She had nine books. So, Sloane, our classroom is a happier and better place because of you're
017in it. So, congrats. [Applause] Congratulations. Edgewood. All right. Hello, my name's Heidi Haas, and I'm the principal at Edgewood Middle School, and I'm really excited about all these upcoming these fourth graders that are going to be fifth graders. I can't wait to have you. Um tonight, I am here to brag about two of our special Edgewood kiddos. The first of which is Connor Hyatt, and Connor, if you could wave and everybody could acknowledge your dad, Thane Rudenback is in the back. So, All right, you ready? Mrs. Castores is going to brag about you, and Mrs. Castores had major surgery, but she said she could not miss coming in to talk about you two students, so that's pretty amazing, right? All right, here we go. Yeah, I had major surgery, but the kids are more important.
018Um so, I'm Kristina Castores, Connor and Thais's ELA teacher. Um when our team came together 3 years ago, the first thing we were tasked with was coming up with a team name. We were the team that was divided among the seventh grade um other groups. We decided on STARS as an acronym standing for students trying and reaching success. When being asked to choose December's students of the month, Thais and Connor were unanimous choices. Both students exemplify the meaning of our team, as well as demonstrating RISE daily. Connor is a polite young man who greets each of us daily with a smile on his face. He is dependable and works well independently to get his work done all of the time. Miss Straub calls him a geography wizard, as he has memorized all Has he As
019he has memorized the locations of every country in the world and is currently working on memorizing countries' capitals around the world. Connor always tells Mr. Harball, "I'll see you in science class." when he sees him in the hallway in the mornings and I can always count on Connor to double-check my spelling when I'm writing notes under the document camera for students to copy. Congratulations, Connor. [Applause] [Music] All right. The next student of the month that we have is Thais Velez and she is here with her dad, Elmer Copa. If you want to wave and be acknowledged. [Music] All right, Thais. Mrs. Castor is going to brag about you. You ready? Here we go. Okay, Thais. Thais is a quiet, hardworking leader who always turns in work of the highest quality. Her work is always completed
020on time and she is conscientious of each assignment's expectations and far exceeds them. She uses class time as well as EI wisely in an effort to maximize her time at school for work completion. When called upon in class to answer or when giving a presentation, she's confident, articulate, and well-spoken. These attributes of confidence and articulation, as well as politeness, carry over to speaking with and to adults as well. It is our pleasure to honor Thais and Connor as the Stars team students of the month as well as we are all proud of their leadership, work ethic, and their commitment to their own educations. Congratulations, Thais and Connor. [Applause] Hey, okay. Okay, we're going to move on to Oh, by the way, so this is the time, should you want to leave, oh Oh. We have
021more? Oh, great. Wonderful. Don't leave. Don't leave. Thank you. Mhm. Understood. >> Back at it. Okay. Luna is well deserving of this award. She is thoughtful, artistic, brave, and is a wonderful leader in our classroom. Luna is observant and is detail-oriented. She works so hard on her classwork and pushes herself to achieve her goals. When I asked some of her classmates to describe her, one student responded with, "When I am sad, she helps me feel better." Another student said, "She is helpful and helps me clean up quicker." Luna exhibits habit five, which is seek first to understand, then be understood. She is an empathetic listener and I'm so proud of her in this accomplishment. She has already grown so much this year and I know she will continue to flourish. [Applause] Okay, so for those
022of you who want to go eat dinner or do whatever, go play in the snow, this is the time to leave. Why is this thing moving? >> One of our first of our two reports. So, Mr. Tutor, do you want to welcome Mrs. Davis to the podium? >> Yes, we're going to have our high school principal, Mrs. Davis, as our first presentation as typically every year at this time, we make a little a few tweaks to our high school course selection guide and that goes gets rolled out in January. So, Mrs. Davis is here to share that, but as I'm sure she'll say, a lot of work by all the departments along with the administrative team there kind of goes into these recommendations. So, go ahead, Margaret. Thank you, Mr. Tutor. You stole my thunder
023a little there. I was going to shout out the department chairs and the counseling team. You still can. They put a lot of work into this alongside administration, so I really do want to thank them for all of that. And then kind of go through some of the updates. So, I just want to first start by talking about some of the additions that we're making and then I'll talk about some of the things that we're taking out and then obviously if you have questions, I'm happy to answer those. So, the English, math, and social studies departments, when they were going through the course selection guide, realized that they had a lot of offerings for honors, AP, CCP courses. And so, they each of those departments decided they wanted to add a course designed more for
024students who are not interested in taking some of the accelerated level courses. So, English decided to add a course called fantasy and science fiction. Math is adding a functions and mathematical modeling course. And social studies is adding geography. So, kind of for students maybe not interested in some of the pre-AP or AP courses. Social studies is also adding a pre-AP course. Last year math added some pre-AP courses and we've seen a lot of success with that. So, social studies is interested in kind of exploring that option. So, the pre-AP world history and geography is a course that is sort of designed to bridge the gap between our traditional world studies course and our AP European course. Kind of to be a middle ground for that. Social studies is also adding an economics course. This has
025been something that we've had in the past and has kind of tapered off due to a lack of interest. However, they did a survey and 80 students were really interested in being able to take that course. So, we wanted to add that into the course selection guide to give students that opportunity. The last couple of additions, music. So, Mrs. Mason has done a fantastic job the last couple of years growing the choir program. She deserves a lot of recognition for that. So, she's really excited to be able to offer a show choir next year. So, the last course is digital electronics and I'll talk a little bit more about this on the next slide as well. Our engineering program, we are moving to our robotics program becoming an extracurricular activity instead of a co-curricular activity.
026So, there's two courses that we're taking out of the course selection guide because of that. And this is the course that our engineering teacher wanted to add in as kind of that upper level program for his engineering program. The courses that are being taken out, so three of them. So, the first one is IT troubleshooting. It's a course that was designed by our technology department. It hasn't run due to low numbers, so they've kind of restructured how they do this course. They kind of work with students more on an individual basis after school. So, they've decided that we can remove that course. And then as I mentioned previously, engineering since robotics is becoming an extracurricular activity, they are removing advanced robotics and computer integrated manufacturing. Those were courses that were required to be in the
027robotics program and since it's now after school, we're taking those out of the course selection guide. And those are the major changes. Does anybody have any questions or Yeah, as you can see, I I think back we the first couple years we made a lot of a lot of changes to kind of get our CCP and AP aligned and then we also had our career tech additions and things. At this point, it's really just fine-tuning. And I think that these definitely all make sense and looking looking forward to to the those changes and I think that co-curricular or the extracurricular option with robotics will maybe provide some additional opportunities for some kids that maybe are interested in that with that weren't able to participate just because of the commitment both in the classroom and not.
028And I know there's pros and cons and I'm sure if they can do both, that's probably best still, but if they're not, it gives some flexibility with that. Absolutely. And I think it's important to note more from a staffing side. We're excited for at least to move at least to move to the high school for that, but it is not an additional teacher. We're just making some adjustments at the middle school within our elective wheel and utilizing the the music staff that is already there. And so, we'll be able to absorb that her moving to the high school without additional FTE. So, is there a um um student participation level minimum in order to run those? Generally we look at around 12, Um, but that's not necessarily a hard limit. We kind of look at
029students that signed up, would they have the opportunity to take the course again in the future? There's a lot of factors that we consider, but generally 12 is what we will be kind of our shooting for with courses. 15's a guarantee. Um, under 15, we start to, you know, look, but yeah, we've been able to Margaret's team does a great job with the scheduling and the last year they did a great job as well. We were able to run a few extra courses last year that were a little under that. Do you get many drops? From Well, if you had a class of say you had 14 kids and you were going to run it and you had six drop, would you run the class or not? We if we move forward and said that
030we were going to offer it, we would generally try to honor that even with drops just because if we thought that many were taking it, we probably would have already allotted for it in a draft version of the schedule. Um, so it sometimes is actually more challenging to remove the course than to just keep it once you start to kind of put all those pieces together. All right. Thanks. Thank you, Margaret. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. So, we're going to move on to our section second presentation. And Superintendent Tutor will talk to us about facilities finance. Okay. Oh, there it is. All right, uh, look forward to talking to you again tonight. I guess I will say, um, don't get you I I you know, I'm not going to do a presentation
031every month. It's last couple months we're doing that, but we we uh, I don't think you're going to want to hear from me all the time, but I look forward to talking to you about, uh, this tonight. Um, for those of you that, um, are maybe watching at home or and missed last month, uh, this is really a follow-up conversation to our board meeting last month. Um, uh, kind of based on some of the feedback that the board gave at that time. Uh, last month I presented, um, uh, five facility options that we could consider, um, in terms of how to address our facilities. I think the big thing that I, you know, uh, kind of my thesis behind that last, uh, month was, um, we do need to make decisions. Uh, we do have
032to address our facilities and I and the status quo will not, um, continue um, to work. And so, um, you know, and all of all five of those had action steps. Uh, you know, you guys made it clear you were interested in learning a little bit more about, uh, the building projects options. Um, so primarily this is going to be information on the K5 building and the 35 building, uh, which were two of the five options. The other three options were the Cornerstone renovation, um, just kind of some permanent improvement repairs, which was, uh, probably the lightest approach, or kind of modular trailers and moving out of Cornerstone was a fifth option. So, we looked at all of those options, but here tonight I'm going to focus more on the, uh, two options that, uh,
033you guys, uh, kind of gave feedback that were interested in and really looking at it primarily from a financial perspective. Um, and so obviously I want to, you know, make sure, you know, Mrs. Welty is a big part of, uh, this. You we we work together on this and this is based on our guidance. So, this is me speaking kind of for us, but, um, this is definitely Amy and I's work together here, uh, to provide some of this information for you this evening. Uh, so just things we're going to look at. We're going to look, uh, we're going to talk more about levies tonight. So, we are going to talk, um, about that not just that potential, but just the reality of that, um, and different ways to finance, um, a building. Uh, we're
034going to think about this from how this really and probably my recommendations are all based on, um, how this impacts, um, our overall financial forecast. Like where we're at financially now and then, you know, making recommendations based on that. So, um, you know, and how that will impact the general fund. So, um, hopefully we'll get all of this accomplished here in the next few minutes. So, the first thing I'll share is, uh, if we went out for a bond levy, which is a potential option, and I think it's a, you know, as a reminder from last month, as some people might wonder, why are we even having this conversation right now? Well, there's two reasons. One is there is urgency. We cannot continue to wait. Um, the second reason we're having this conversation right now
035is if the board selected to go out for a levy in May, there is a very short timeline for that to occur. Um, and so this board would probably need to make some action and recommendation in order for those things to happen in January on time, right? So, we are definitely going to be able to involve the new board as Bodie and Clayton are both here tonight and appreciate that. Um, but at the same time that's why we're starting this conversation this evening. So, if we went out for a bond, um, and to pay for it as a, um, the K-5 we estimated is about an $85 million building with $10 to $12 million in OFCC contributions available. And the 3-5, uh, building is about a $47 million building with about $7 million of OFCC
036contributions available. So, in layman's term, if we went out for a bond using tax millage, um, a new K-5 would cost 4.6 mills. Which, what does that really mean? Is that hardly means anything to anyone. It's once you actually start talking about what that is in taxes, uh, that would be about $161 per $100,000 of home value, right? So, if you have a, you know, um, a $200,000 home, it's $322, right? Um, the, uh, K-5 building, based on our estimates, would be about a 1.8 mills, which is $66 um, dollars per $100,000 of home value. And I think what is kind of helpful here is to really put this in perspective in comparison to the, uh, bond issue that, um, was unsuccessful in May. If you remember, in May we attempted a um, $67 million
037middle school project, um, and that at that time was 3.4 mills, which was $119 uh, dollars per $100,000 of dollars of home value. I make a note here at the bottom that's important is these options are being considered because they do address, I think, two things that were important to the district as we were working through and made the recommendation to go out for a May bond issue. One of those being we needed to address Cornerstone. We either need to put lots and lots of money into it or we have to move out of it. There is no kind of in between, right? So, um, these two options would address that. Also, we have felt, um, very strongly that it would be a a good time to bring our kids together at least in third
038grade as we are a very, uh, diverse community and we think grade banding would add to the culture of, um, our building and districts. We have great neighborhood elementary schools, but we think that would be of a lot of value. Both of these options do that. The middle school, we could still consider the middle school option, but if you kind of look here, the way I see it is the 3-5 is cheaper, so that's why that one is kind of being considered. And the K-5 building addresses more challenges at once, right? But is more expensive. So, it kind of takes the middle school and then kind of, you know, two options based on that. So, that would be if we decided to go out for a bond, um, you know, what would it cost if
039we went property tax wise. You could do income tax as well. Um, that is an option for districts. Most city districts do not do that. Um, you know, if the board, if you guys indicated that you really wanted to go levy and wanted to go in that way, I could obviously get you that information when needed. Okay. You guys can stop me at any time. Couple things when we think about the bond and you'll see my recommendation for this coming up here on a uh, a future slide. I think a couple things you need to think about, um, is tax sentiment in Ohio is not very, um, positive, uh, in terms of, you know, property taxes are high, right? And they're trying to address that at the state level. Um, I don't think all of
040that is bad. Um, some of that scares me a little bit as they really need to, you know, property taxes are almost 70% of what funds our district. I think what happens often times is that districts then are blamed for the high property taxes. Well, they do fund our district, but if you look historically, the state of Ohio, um, 20 years ago paid almost 50% of the per pupil, um, cost to educate the average within the state. It's only 32% now. So, if you have 18% less, where's the money coming from? It's coming from your local share, right? And so, bottom line is property taxes is a concern, so that is one thing to consider. The second is we we've tried two levy attempts in the last four years and we've been unsuccessful, right? In
041both of those situations and, um, you know, I I think, you know, uh, we we had good we had good message, we had the facts out there, but, you know, it it did not it did not pass and so that's that's a factor. Um, I think probably what I'm going to lean on the most in my recommendation to you this evening is really related to the third bullet point, which I'll continue to talk about. And that's that pursuing a bond levy now will not change the fact that we will need an operating levy in the next few years, right? So, without going to too much into district finances, we passed a levy in 2020. We, because we are above the 20 mil floor, we do not bring in more money on that tax increase than
042we did in 2020. By a we get a little inside millage, which they're probably going to take away, but it's like, you know, very small percentage of our actual increase. So, as inflation has grown, we are now starting to spend more money than we bring in per year. That's the levy cycle. If you didn't have a levy cycle, you'd never ask for money, right? That's the way the state has the system set up from the 1970s. Determined unconstitutional, but it's still the one we use, right? Um and so, we are on the back end of the levy cycle, right? At this point. And so, if we had no facility issues of either needing to major repair or build, we would still be starting to think about when that will happen. Now, a goal of a
043district and a goal of our district is to try to prolong that request as long as possible, because no one wants tax increases if they can avoid them, right? But, I think it's important here for when you think about it, if we if we decide to ask for a bond to build a building, it that would that would make Yes, we would pay for it through that those means. But, in a few years, we still would need to ask for operating. And I I think in Ohio, you're seeing statistically, it's pretty challenging to pass uh levies right now, let alone two in a short period of time, right? So, I think that's a concern that I think um I would definitely have as we consider whether we'd go out for a bond. So, my recommendation
044to you this evening is that we do not pursue a bond levy for this project. Um we um there are other ways uh to um fund a building. Uh really, the other two are you can do a cops loan, which is it's not really technically a loan, but it really is like that service, or you can use your own money, right? Or a combination of that. Um I am going to recommend that we um do that instead, and I'll talk more about that here um because of the fact that we have the issue of we will need to go out for an operating levy in the future anyway, and I don't think that the community has the appetite for multiple right now. One thing that even though we have tried to keep a cash balance
045so that we can for a longer period of time not need to go and ask the community for money. Um that's kind of the structure that most school districts try to do. They they try to hold on to that cash so that they can keep cash on hand and not ask the community for money. Um but, we do have cash on hand. That's one thing I think is important about our district right now that people need to understand. We're We are We have a lot of great things going here educationally, staff-wise, kid-wise, um and we do have money in the bank. But, I think people then view us as a rich district. We're not We're not a rich district, cuz at this point we're on the back end of of a levy cycle. Could be
046worse, but we definitely could be better. If we had some pipeline money, that would I'd take that, but we don't have a pipeline. So, um I'm recommending the cops, which really is um a loan, and then you use either funds from a PI or operating funds to pay your payment. Um just just to kind of like there's a lot of districts that have used this, but real locally, just one to as an example, West Holmes is building uh their K-5 building with cops. So, just as a an example of somebody local. Also, Triway. Triway passed their uh bond way before the pandemic. So, they ran out of money, so they are paying for a portion of their K-12 campus with cops, right? So, just a couple examples locally of that. But, to look at what
047that payment would be, and we're estimating that, it's a it's a 30-year uh uh loan um or, you know, bond there, that but it's just it's not a bond through taxpayers, but it's still sold in the market like a bond. Um at about a 5% interest rate, um looks to be about $4.7 million per year for a K-5, and $2.6 million per year for 3-5. Uh for 3-5. Both very substantial, uh but K-5 obviously being more, but it's a it's a uh you know, a larger project. So, as you start thinking about if you take the recommendation to not go out for a bond and instead utilize cops to uh to fund this. Um And one thing I think Let me go back here. Um I think I also need to make a note here
048as well, and I'll talk more about it, but I am not just saying that we use cops to fund the project. I am recommending that we use it to fund the project entirely. Um so, in May, we put $23 million from our general fund into an 070 capital improvements fund. We really did that because the state was telling everyone that if you have more than 40% cash balance, you were going to basically need to use it or lose it. So, we put it in there to shelter it and then we were planning on using it for facilities if required, right? Um, that 40% cash balance provision was vetoed by Governor DeWine. So at this point, we don't have to spend it, right? We can and we could use it for this project. Amy and I
049have purposely left it in the 070 account until we make a final decision of what we're going to do here. Um, but our recommendation is that we don't use that 23 million for that. Now, it's the same as that means you're you're borrowing more, right? Um, but if we put that 23 million back in and we use it right now, that operating levy is going to come really soon, right? Where if we put it back into the general fund budget with some good stewardship, we'll be able to hold off longer, which I think the community would probably prefer right now. So our current forecast does show that deficit spending will continue to grow each year, ultimately requiring that operating levy. Um, if we but I think why you're going to start so First I'm recommending
050cops and I'm recommending we use cops for all of it. Now I'm going to talk about K5 versus 35. Okay? Um, this recommendation is really based off the consideration that whichever project you do does impact your operating fund still, right? Because your yearly payment comes out of your operating fund. And so, you know, for example, we have to think about if we did a K5, you're taking 4.7 million dollars a year out of your operating fund every year for 30 years. 35, it's 2.6. Um, you know, I don't know exactly, you know, cuz we have to wait till we get there and where property tax valuations are and all that to what millage that would be, but I'm just going to use a number that is an example. If let's say that in 20, you
051know, when we finally do go out for an operating levy in a few years, which definitely can still be a few years away, let's say we needed five mills, right? Which is, you know, kind of in the middle there. If you're also then going to have to accommodate for your cops payment, we get One nice thing for me as a social studies guy is we get about one million dollars, give or take, for one mill. Right? So if we needed five million dollars more a year, that would be five mills, right? Well, if you think so when you start thinking about it, just you do simple math here, you would need to add almost another five mills or 4.7 mills onto your ask when you do go out for a levy. So now you're not
052just asking for five mills, you're asking for like 9.7, right? A higher millage rate by all accounts will always be higher or harder to pass. So, you know, that's where, you know, cuz there are pros and cons to the 35 versus K5, for sure. Um, but when you start thinking about that from a a standpoint and really as we kind of lean into our recommendation, um, it's concerning to think about how much a 4.7 million dollar payment would have on our operating cost, which then subsequently would be on our operating levy request at some point. Now I I think another important thing and it to to consider here is we we do believe in either building um, option, we will have um, efficiency savings, um, which will offset cost, right? Um, however, uh, it would
053be greater efficiency savings on a larger building, economies of scale, um, than it would be the smaller building. At the same time, it is difficult to make a recommendation of spending, um, on projected savings, right? When you really get to that point where if I would never It's kind of the same as, you know, when you when you buy a car, okay? You might want to buy the brand new car, but you might not be able to buy the brand new car. You could say, well, I'll have a lot less maintenance spending on the new car, but you still may not be able to afford the new car, right? Um, and so even though it is more efficiency savings, again, that's a projection until we open the building and start to experience it, um, those
054are not just thrown on the wall numbers though, those are based on, um, staffing, energy efficiencies and other things that we've worked on to kind of create those estimates. Another factor to consider here on your interest rate, so we we would have an interest rate just like you would when you go borrow something. Your interest rate is based on your ability to pay, right? So when the bonds are sold at market, they're going to be sold, um, overall, school districts are a low risk investment for bond people, right? I mean, overall, that that's probably the lowest risk there is. But, your risk is higher if it's more challenging to pay for, right? And so, a higher operating um ask, or in theory a higher loan payment through cops, could make our interest rate go up
055because it might be more challenging for the bond market to feel that we have the ability to pay. Okay? So, is that per year? Yes. That's per year. Yeah. As of right now. Now, as property values rise, your millage will, at some point, 1 mil will be 1.2 million or 1.3, right? As, you know, as property valuations are changed every 3 years. But, right now, it's about 1.1 million. So, you can kind of see this in real terms or real time here as an estimate of when, you know, you start to show our cash on hand go down dramatically, uh where in '29 um you would um you know, basically be um out completely if you had a K-5 payment and 3 through 5, you'd be getting really close. Just so you know, no district
056is going to want to get all the way to that point before you start to address it through There's only two ways that you can address things. You can address things through cost reductions or bless you, tax increases, right? Um or a combination of those. So, you know, you're looking there that probably around 2028 um is when Amy and I feel that we'll probably have to um you know, address this. Now, we would hope and and it's always our goal that maybe we can extend that longer, but as of right now, if somebody asked when, it's probably around 2028 that we're going to have to really dive in and start to think about that operating ask. So, in the end, I think a couple things to factor in as we we we go to our
057final considerations and my recommendations is, as I said to start this presentation, our facility needs do require action now. Um uh you know, these recommendations, you know, we we have spent a lot of time on these and are based on a thorough evaluation of all five options, but then more recently on these two. Um you know, I I do I think it's important to note and I I I tell you this as somebody that works with all seven of you in a way right now um closely. Um this is a complex decision. Uh this is a really important time to be a board member, but it's also a challenging time. So, I first want to thank you for what you're willing to do and just have these conversations, um but also just know that, you
058know, Amy and I will support the decision you choose, uh but we did feel that we needed to make a recommendation to you based on your feedback on the 20th and as we continue to move forward. So, my recommended action steps is that we do not pursue a bond levy to fund the project. Whichever project you choose, um and even if you went back and choose a chose a different one besides the two options I showed you here, um I don't feel that my recommendation would change to you, um which is that right now, I don't feel is the best time um to go out for a levy. But, unfortunately, we don't really have the option to do nothing. Um I do believe that um there is not a number two. There wasn't a I
059just didn't count very well, but there wasn't one that was sticking out. So, um fund the new building entirely through the uh a cops issuance, um and let our 23 million um move back into the general fund. Um Amy would uh you know, as long as we work through this process and get enough clarity, you know, Amy's plan right now would probably be to put that money back in for the February forecast, which is her next forecast, right? Um I do recommend that we move forward with the less expensive 3 through 5 option. And I do tell you that recommendation um with some hesitancy um from just being very transparent. I would love to build the K-5 anyways. Um you know, I because Melrose, Keen, and Parkview are 70-plus years old, um they do have
060um needs of their own that will cost us money over time. Um you can save a lot of money with a larger building, um and uh you know, I I can see some value in that K-5. Um I think it would set us up for a long time. But, I don't feel comfortable to make that recommendation to you based on the cost of that, um and then what that does to our um our forecast now and what it will continue to do for many years to come, right? Because in the end, as important as this building project is, and it is really important, what we do inside those buildings is way more important, right? And if we have too much leveraged with this project, that's going to challenge what we're able to do inside the
061buildings, right? And so, um you know, I I understand the the the interest in a K-5 and would happily help um you know, manage and build that, but I I don't think I can make that recommendation at this time based on all these factors at play, right? And you know, one that we haven't talked a lot about tonight, I think I mentioned it briefly, we don't know exactly even what's going to happen with property taxes in Ohio. Um there is a lot going on and and you know, so far in the last couple of years there really hasn't been a lot of favorable tax bills for public education. So, I don't know if that's going to I don't I don't know if that trend is going to change anytime soon. So, there's a lot in
062flux and a lot in play here. So, moving forward with the less expensive 3-5, and then technically, I would love your feedback tonight in case we're not in the direction that you want us to go or there's more information you need. Um you're all You're the board. You can do what you'd like. My recommendation is to wait until um January to actually vote on this. What you'd actually be voting on um is um to basically go get involved in the COPS program, right? Um it's actually a lot less um resolutions need needed than on the ballot, right? Technically, there's like three on the ballot. You got to you know, have a 4% that you're going to actually go out and then you have to say how much money it is and then the auditor has
063to tell you what the millage rate's going to be. So, it's really like three. This is just basically a one like basic issue that, you know, recommend the district, you know, issue COPS to to pursue a building up to a certain amount, right? Um but my recommendation is that we would have the new board vote on that. Tentatively, our meeting is January 20th. The new board has to actually vote on um the uh board meeting dates for next year, but if we keep the same calendar as this year, that January 20th would be the date of that. Um and you know, um Clayton and Bonnie who, you know, I have It's maybe a good time to say how much I've appreciated working with Cody and Ryan. Um they have been tremendous uh supports of our
064district, um given great feedback. Um I thank them so much for their time and work here. It is a a thankless position, but uh one that I'm so thankful I was able to work with them. Um but at the same time why I wouldn't have them vote on it is they're leaving and Clayton and Bonnie are going to live with these decisions, right? And they're going to be on the board and and and they knew that. They knew that when they ran that they would have to weigh these and make their own decisions on these, but I feel it would probably be more appropriate to have um the new board um make those final decisions and that's the end of my presentation. I moving that way. So, know that's what we talked last month. Um
065the there was a uh so Mr. Manion, again, what was the cost of a modular? For for one? Well, it it depends if you They're about $500,000 for a double wide, which is two classrooms, and you can kind of put them together. How many did we say that you would need if you did with the modular route? 10 classrooms. And there's two classrooms in each. Is that right? >> Correct. Our our view was uh if we did it, we would put them They would put them together and they can have a hallway and a bathroom, but it's still just double wides together. We see a lot of that in South Carolina, but the weather's not the same there as it is here. So, okay, I was just throwing I just was just asking about that
066for clarification cuz I know um some of our in our conversations we were seemed to be committed to potentially provided better learning or a nicer learning environment, more quality learning environment for the kids at Cornerstone. So, that's how we got to this point, right? >> Right. Yeah. Yes, it was a I mean, I think your conversation, my conversation we've had is it's that combination >> yeah. Yeah, it's it's tough because um any millage that we would um collect or try to collect, you know, it's more than what a lot of people have already. So, there's other ways. I think that's I appreciate the fact that you researched and found other ways to potentially uh solve the problem um having students and and the you know, staff and students, even though it's a wonderful building, you
067know, my guess is the building's not going anywhere, but it would be uh something that um we just currently wouldn't have kids in. Yes. Yeah, that's a good point, Rick. I would say um as soon as the officially was a decision was to be made where we were using another funding source, so it'd be either passing a bond or doing this cops resolution, we would start the work on um you know, trying to engage and see what we can do to to you know, keep Cornerstone. We've had conversations with different groups and things, but they kind of stall out at a certain point because of using the building. >> know that building's aged. And then um we also know is that you know, this building is Worcester City Schools' newest building. And from start to
068date to today, it's like 34 years. And so that's a while. Yeah. That's a while. It's not like Park View and Melrose and those schools which were there when I was a little kid. Um we're still using those, too. And they would become as I mentioned last month, those three would be K-2 buildings, right? At which we've already even kind of prepared the redistricting plan for that based on uh at the time the levy potential of last May. I I just wanted to get more clarity there, so I'm assuming the rest of our board has something to say, but I just wanted to get more clarity. Remind me with us waiting till January, that takes the bond or the OFCC funding funding? So remind me of the >> Oh, good. So OFCC funding is available
069through November. Yes. Um the um however, if we would there's also regardless of a 3-5 or a K-5, we will have to make a master plan change with the OFCC, which they will do. Um it's just it takes time cuz then it has to go back to their commission and things as well. So, I really view we we probably have um we have one master plan change in us. And if we the only way I would recommend waiting till November and going out for a bond in November is if you felt comfortable with the alternative, which would either be um putting our own money in Cornerstone or doing modulars, right? Because what we wouldn't have time to do is fail in November and then issue cops in time. Cuz the cops issuance does come with
070the OFCC money. They don't care which kind of money you use as long as you have the money. So, that's why I'm taking it. So, yeah. Thanks for the clarification. So, for in theory a May bond option, that would still theoretically be on the table timeline-wise. I mean, is that still with January meeting, would that mess up So, what we would have to do um and we can do that. We're prepared to do that. >> know what's on the table. So, I have currently under my agenda tonight, I have the 4% consent resolution, which basically just starts the process. I have that on uh new business tonight, okay? If you voted for that and voted yes, that would at least start your process to get the other two resolutions done. We would need to that
071would tell me that you're interested in a levy, right? And so that would mean that um on January 6th at our organizational meeting, we are having a special meeting thereafter for just board retreat. If we were going to do go towards a bond, there would then also the special meeting notes would change and I would also say it was to include resolution one. You would have to vote on resolution one on January 6th, okay? And then on January 20th, the new board would have to vote on resolution two in order to get to the Board of Elections by the deadline, which I believe is January 27th. Okay? So, um if you're not going out for a levy, the only timeline that then now applies is the OFCC November timeline. Okay? Um but one other factor
072and you know, it's um it's not the reason I would recommend not going out for a levy, but in construction, every month costs money, right? I mean, uh every year is at least about in the last 5 years has been at least 5% inflation. Over COVID times, it was over 10 for a couple of years. So, you know, you start talking about a $50 building, you know, that's between two and two and five million depending on what your inflation ends up being. Yes, I would I would just add um so I certainly appreciate all the time and effort that you and Amy have put into this and the rest of your team. I mean, it it is it's just it it is a hard decision, right? Because it's like I I wish that I want
073the community to to have engagement and us know that they're supporting what we're doing, but at the same time I feel like I mean, we are at a crossroads where it's time to make a decision and and you know, I just I do worry um just about uh the perception of the community with us moving forward with making a decision without the vote and what that means for the district long term. Um but yet I also feel strongly that we need to do something sooner rather than later. And so it's, you know, it's I think we just all need to invest some time and really think this through about what's best long term and short term and long term. Yeah, and I think it'll be important uh whatever decision we make that we continue to
074communicate how that Right. >> how we made that decision and then how that decision, how we play out that decision moving forward, right? So if we do, if you went with this recommendation, it's going to be important that um you know, we think about how we can continue to reduce cost, extend that operating out as far as we can so that we don't have to, you know, engage voters right now um when I don't think, not just for this project, but in general, I'm just not sure people have it based on the current property tax rate. Yeah. Yep. Completely fair. Thank you. I do appreciate the time and effort that you guys and the data and stuff that you came up with. Now, um did I remember that um potential renovation cost at the old
075high school was Uh uh we estimated about 34 million. >> Yeah, 34 million. Um yeah. That would be for just the major repairs. Um wouldn't really change much of the you know, structure of the building, but it would be HVAC, windows, roof, electric, safety upgrades, things like that. Warm, safe, and dry. Yeah, that would be of course at one time all these taxpayer dollars. Correct. Yeah, that's what, you know, that's I certainly would do what, you know, our board people want to do, but I have a hard time um voting to spend good money on what I would consider a bad project. That's really all I have to say. These are tough decisions and none of them don't have pros and cons to them. >> Right. Um you know, but the kind of the way
076you look at it, it's kind of like um unless we do nothing, which again, I I keep saying I don't think is possible. You're you know, close to $35 million into this one way or another, no matter what you do. Thank you guys. I really appreciate it. >> you. And you guys can talk about it again later so we can go through that resolution. Okay. Um So now we're moving on to Molly. Okay, public participation on agenda items. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and thank you to the board members for your service, particularly the outgoing board members and uh congratulations to the new board members. Uh See what you got yourself into. Um I don't want to speak to the specific recommendations that were laid out there, but more to the sense of
077urgency um that uh Mr. Tudor spoke to. Um I don't want to be an alarmist, but at the same time um I think um Mr. Starcher talked about this being a crossroads. I would go a step further and say maybe to some extent Wooster City School District is approaching a tipping point. And again, not today or tonight, but in the not too distant future, um Wooster City Schools has always been a strength of the community. You know, we've always prided ourselves as being kind of the keystone school district in the county. And that's the way it's always been. I think there's a It's easy to think that's the way it's always going to be. There's nothing that we can do that's going to change that. And I would say that's not the case. And I
078don't think you have to look very far for other communities where that's been true. Um there's a time when Mansfield City Schools was the keystone district in Richland County. Canton City Schools the keystone district in Stark County. And um not a reflection on those communities, but those are that's no longer the case and it's not realistic to think it's always going to be the case in Wooster as well. And I think we're seeing that already a little bit. You're seeing that in your open enrollment requests both inside the district as well as where where places people want their kids to go and outside the district Excuse me, outside the district as well. Um back when Mr. Goodright and I were in school, people did not transfer to other school districts. That's just not something that
079happened. And there were very few options, very few privates, homeschooling really wasn't an option. Those things are all on the table now. It's a competitive environment. And to some extent we're falling behind as a district and it's it's not good for our kids, it's not good for our community. Um so, I would stress upon you that it's important that we take action and get on top of the situation cuz it's to some extent and I'm not faulting the current administration, current board. Um but as a community, as a district, we're falling behind a little bit in that regards. And you're going to have to make some tough decisions going forward in the next few meetings and there's no getting around that fact, but if you keep in mind what's best for the children both the
080ones that you are in charge of now and the ones that are going to be here a generation from now, you know, you you can sleep well at night knowing you've done the the best you can. So, that's all I've got to ask of you and I wish you best in making these decisions. Thank you. Thank you. We have one more um Tate Emerson, his address 659 North Buckeye Street. Dear board members current and upcoming, I am I am unable to attend today's meeting as I will be next door for my son and daughter's choir performance. Please consider the following perspectives prior to voting on the next facilities plan. Yesterday I reviewed Mr. Tutor's facility options presentation and the meeting video from last month's board meeting. I appreciate Mr. Tutor's work and the board's decision
081discussion of this topic. However, it is disappointing that the administration and the board do not see the value that Cornerstone and the entire Cornerstone property continue to bring to our community. Vacating the Cornerstone property will be an irreversible mistake. Maintaining a school downtown is the most important thing you can decide to do as a board member. A school is more than a building, is a community gathering space, a public outdoor play space, a safe space for the children that live downtown. It is the heart of a community. Where else in our town can each citizen claim ownership? Each time we go there, drive past, walk across its grass, sit under its trees or stop by at night to see the northern lights or the moon, each time we are expressing our appreciation for having such
082a wonderful public property to which we all have access. If you vote to vacate the Cornerstone property, you will be removing the community heart that was gifted to us and cared for by five generations. In support of this wonderful public property, the Cornerstone building itself was built with such grand architecture because it represents the pride of our town and the commitment we all have made to educating generations of children. 100 years is not too old for a building. We have friends in Germany whose kids attend school in a church that's over a thousand years old. My house is a hundred years old and many buildings in churches downtown are well over 100 years old. These buildings create a generational culture that binds us together, but that is lost when they are abandoned. The generational culture
083is the reason we call these buildings iconic. I've heard the staff complaints about the buildings, but I haven't heard the kids or the parents complaining about the building. My kids have attended Cornerstone for the last 12 years and my family has no complaints. We love the building. My wife was on PTO for nearly all 12 years. We chose Cornerstone over Montessori and St. Mary's. We visited visited and immediately knew it was the best place for our kiddos and we were right. You are all doing a wonderful job educating my kids. You don't need a new school to do a great job. It seems, however, that you all may be placing too much value on efficiency. Being an engineer, I understand the desire to do things faster and to eliminate waste, but you are doing a
084great job. And more importantly, a school is not a business and it should not be managed like a business. You are not for profit, you are for the good of the community. Gains in efficiency should not be equated with gains in quality. More often the opposite is true. And gains in efficiency do not equate to a stronger community. An uncomfortable indoor environment is very stressful. Let's fix that. No one would complain about a more secure entrance. Let's build that. Long transition times are good. I want my kid up and moving around more while they are in school. Let's embrace that. 5 to 6 million more for a new 3 to 5 intermediate school would be a huge net loss to the community. I support the Cornerstone major repairs option and I would go even further.
085Do you want me to stop? Yeah. Okay, good. Okay, we need a motion to consider the consent agenda for the treasurer. So moved. Second. Amy? Okay. Uh so, tonight I have for you the um financial report for month end of November. And um so, looking at where we're at five months of actuals, seven of um projected. Um we are as revenue trending favorable um largely because um state revenue we are showing up a little bit as to what I forecasted. I would attribute that to really the timing of that. If you remember, we um had to submit the forecast earlier this year because of the change in legislation. So, we really did not have our um full enrollment numbers in at that time. So, now we're seeing where we stand in terms of student enrollment.
086So, state is up a little bit. Um local taxes is up as well. And then we are seeing um some decline in our other revenue and that is really attributed to interest income um as we're seeing that fall a little bit. As far as expenditures, um we are showing unfavorable in that regard largely due to salary and benefits. Um some of it is again the timing of when I had to submit the forecast. So, I'm um really digging into where we're at with our salary and benefits for the um forecast I'll submit in February. And um we are right now looking at at some savings in our our purchased services. And um other expenses are are up a little bit as well. So, we are you know, Gabe and I and and the administrative team
087are monitoring that. So, all in all, overall, we're um we are still showing um favorable, you know, by $130,000 at this time. But, I'm looking forward to working through the forecast to bring to you at the end of the end of February. As far as donations for the month, um right now the donations that we have um are going to athletic teams. So, of course, always appreciate that. Um I will add that um and we we will bring this um you know, to the next next meeting. Of course, the the district has been working hard some of us in um on break boxes for our kids. Um so, we received a lot of donations um to supply things to some of our kids during break and and that's been been fun to watch and be
088a part of. And then the last thing that I have for you is a new fund. So, we received a grant in the uh Ohio Attorney General School Safety Grant in the amount of $40,000 for the purchase of a new PA system at Melrose. So, um bringing you a new fund um in that regard. And that is all I have for my consent agenda. All right. Sorry, Gabe, did you want to add something? >> No, I was just saying thank you, Amy, but yes, and that'll be um work well with the strategic system. That was why we were pursuing that. Any thoughts from the board? Yeah, just one note and obviously I think you guys know this, but with another rate reduction in interest rates last week, that revenue's likely to continue trending down. Yes.
089Yeah, you're right. Thank you. Okay. Uh Goodright? >> Yes. Starcher? Yes. Austin? >> Yes. Kuzma? >> Yes. Kleinhenz? >> Yes. Need a motion to consider the consent agenda for the superintendent. So moved. Second. All right. Um it looks bigger than it is tonight. A lot just second readings on some technical corrections and things to policy, uh changing it from school bus to school vehicle. Um the technical corrections is partly that we've changed the titles of our uh two people that are harassment officers. Their names haven't changed, their jobs haven't changed, but it's as they you know, they change we have we just any anytime you change anything with policy, you have to approve it even if it hasn't substantial changes or not to it. Um the other policy that um I guess is more substantial
090is we did put at kind of a recommendation from uh legal and also the auditors, the cash balance policy that Amy uh worked on and recommended, which really it doesn't actually tie you to anything, but really says it's it's common sense. It says that you get to the point where you are at about 90 days cash cash on hand or less, you should start thinking about either reducing expenses, raising revenues, or both, right? Um so, that that would was it on policy? Um in terms of no certified uh resignations right now, some long-term substitutes, some some familiar names uh that uh we always appreciate um you know, working with us specifically Kristen Bannick, Jen Carlton, and Beth Young do several long-term substitutes for us. They're so flexible and are willing to do that. Really appreciate
091that. Uh Beth has been retired retired for a while now and uh we keep asking her to come back and she keeps saying yes. Um Classified, we have a couple resignations and a um leave of absence there. So, appreciate those that are leaving for their work here. We put our supplemental always on the classified side, but you can be classified or certified with it. A weight room uh supplemental just addition here. Um bass guitar for the drama count and some golf workers. Always uh thankful to have um some golf workers. Um the course selection guide is reflecting what Mrs. Davis showed you this evening. So, it's just reflecting those changes. Uh the changes are in yellow or struck through if they've been removed. Uh couple uh trips that happen every year. Um, the Bill Dies
092Memorial Tournament in Firestone is always the overnight trip that the wrestling team takes. They pay for that through wrestling funds that they fundraised. Um, speech and debate middle school trip as well. The Columbus there in February for the state tournament. Um, same thing that they've done that for many many years. Um, a change to an addendum change to our with TCSA, um, which is our side of tech technology site. It really it's for wireless access points at our elementary schools, but I think the biggest thing that I would want to note is this is e-rate which is part of the funding from the state of Ohio and it's based on your socioeconomic level or free or reduced. So, 80% of these costs are paid for through e-rate. So, it's it is still a cost for
093the district, but it's a great value for us to upgrade our um, access points. Um, couple situations just you know, students student placement. Those are obviously, you know, based on an IEP and team decision or could even be a foster place situation depending on, you know, what it is. So, we always have you approve those as well. And that's the consent. Questions? No. So, my my thoughts on that course, um, in offering those elective courses was more so as I think those sounded pretty good. I just hate the thought of, you know, getting an enrollment and then have the numbers drop and then you drop the classes because it looks like there was work spent on that on those those choices. So, I just want to let you I mean, tell you why I asked
094about that cuz I'd hate to see you do work and create something and then not have and have people sign up and then people drop it cuz I know kids drop sometimes. Then, so just to hold on to the I mean, that was good work. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't just going to drop those classes after the preparing them. So, throw that out there. Good. Um, Kuzma? Yes. >> Kleinhenz? >> Yes. >> Austin? Yes. >> Goodright? Yes. >> Starcher? >> Yes. Okay. So, we are moving on to um, treasurer's regular agenda. Uh, we know need a motion to approve a then and now certificate. So moved. Second. Okay. So, I have a then and now certificate for you. So, this is for um, our board docs which we use every night
095for our board meetings and the amount is $9,600 and we just didn't get a purchase order in place before we got the invoice. It's an expense we have every year. Questions? Okay. Uh, Goodright? Starcher? Yes. >> Austin? Yes. >> Kuzma? >> Yes. >> Kleinhenz? >> Yes. Superintendent's regular agenda. So, we need a motion to consider increasing the Little's Generals preschool tuition rate from $100 to $175 to $225 per month. So moved. Sorry. Second. Sorry, Rick. So, this is uh, this is um, this recommendation is based on evaluating other preschools in our area. We are still significantly lower um, than any preschool around um, and we have not raised our rates in a few years. This is not a cost neutral like we we like we we still obviously with salary and benefits and the number
096of people, um, you know, but it will it will be help and just put us a little bit more on a a fair playing field of that. Remember, we're a grant funded preschool as well. So, for students that do qualify for assistance, um, they don't pay anything and actually the district through the government actually receives more money than the tuition cost. Um, so, but we do have a lot of kids that are, you know, to that do pay tuition as well and and, you know, I may be a little biased, but I would put our preschool up against any we have an amazing preschool. You may not know offhand, but do you know what that reimbursement is? Uh, 4,000 per student. Yeah. So, this this equates to about $2,100 per year. So, technically, we we
097want all kids. Now, we do the state says how many grant spots we have versus full pay spots and we always have more full pay people interested than we do a grant spots, but we by state requirement we hold a certain number of grant spots, but financially we do better with grant. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but it's it goes back to the concept is it's really to try to get more kids involved in early education so they're more prepared for kindergarten and it is extremely evident. Go ask our expert kindergarten teachers. They'll tell you and they can tell who are preschool kids and who are not. So, do you have openings for grant-funded students? >> We do. Interesting. Thank you. And do we have a waiting list right now for full pay? Not right now. Okay.
098Okay. Okay. Thank you. But we do have we do have grant spots available. Find hands. >> Yes. >> Kuzma. Yes. Austin. >> Yes. Starcher. >> Yes. Goodright. Yes. We need motion to approve the 4% consent resolution for the May 5th, 2026 election. So moved. Second. So, here's what I would say about this. This is connection obviously connected to my presentation earlier. Um, if you are not going to go out for a levy, there is no reason to approve this. If you are considering going out for a levy, then you should approve it. Um, what would be helpful for me? So, no, we're not making all the decisions tonight, but if I need to have a resolution ready, a second resolution that you know, the first about the actual amount of money we're going uh, ask
099the community for for a May ballot issue, I do need to have direction on that because I'm going to have to get that prepared for you by our January 6th meeting. Okay? Um, so yes, January 20th is when the big vote would be with the new board of deciding, you know, what they might want to build or it could be even later. I mean, the new board could table that and not do anything at that time, but that would probably be the earliest we'd do that. But if that is a possibility at all that you want to consider a levy, then you need to approve this. Um, and I would need some guidance on what you want me to prepare in terms of because the levy ask has to have definition to it as well.
100So, you know, I would need to prepare that levy ask of uh, it's going to be a K5 or a 3-5, right? Like I have to I have to do that in in that. Again, officially, it nothing actually gets official till the second one is done in January 20 on the second uh, second meeting of January. Um, so it and it gives us something to talk about. >> And if this were to pass, you still have the opportunity not to pursue that, correct? >> 100%. Until you pass the third really three resolutions, it's not officially on the ballot. Yeah. I mean, my my stance would be we keep every option open for the incoming incoming board that's available to them. Yeah, I know it's some extra work, of course. >> that's no that's I would
101agree. Can I So, approving I mean, that the action would be approving this. That's just first step. Does that mean you also want me to have a resolution ready on January 6th? Well, right because I thought 802 required a conversation in essence based on what you said. I agree with you, Cody and Jody, because I know we had an issue that came up a few months ago where we made a decision to continue something simply because it was such a low lift to continue and it applied it implied no decision. This technically make commit you to nothing, but at the same time >> this is the same thing. This is another very low lift that literally just continues things and generally I do like doing that because it seems to be very important to demonstrate
102to people that we are like out in the open and I totally want to do that. No, I'm just >> However, however, um, I mean, sometimes, you know, too much of a good thing isn't a good thing anymore. And and I'm definitely open to the fact that the my problem something I this is the same and should be more nimble because I should do my job here. Um, I don't object to leaving it open simply because it means zero. Um, but like just to say you gave us a lot of good compelling information about the options to fund a building looking forward. And I don't want to like minimize that either. Oh, none of that uh, I >> So, I don't know like you're you're seeking a little bit of information about how we feel
103is what I'm sensing or hearing. Is that correct, sir? It would. Um I because, you know, this is >> Right. somewhat ceremonial. But, Indeed. if that is indicating that you still want to keep a levy on the table, I want to be prepared for what's next with that. Now, one option that could happen if if it just would be it would it would be a big first month is So, I'm just playing out a timeline here cuz that's kind of what you're working through, right? If if this if this board especially with, you know, Bonnie and Clayton coming on is kind of not comfortable with, you know, taking something off the table and trying to figure out, you know, what guidance to give or not give. Um what you what we could do is on
104we have a we have to have an organization meeting on January 6th, right? I could not have the resolution ready at that meeting. Um and that meeting with the new board could you could give me guidance at that time, but if you do that, um we would then have to call another special meeting prior to January 27th. So, like you could you could be like January 6th, you might say you might say, "No, we're we're not going to go out for a levy." And then this timeline all falls apart and it's not, you know, it really slows things way back down. But, if the levy is still on the table and then at that meeting you say, "Yeah, a levy's on the table and I want you to consider, you know, a 3.5." Um then
105we have to have two more meetings by January 27th for you to vote on those. Right? Or you could put on the agenda in the old business and we could just vote on that. Correct. Okay. You mean this this current thing right here or Well, you're the second part of that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I mean you could I mean you could um you know, I could have a res- So, if you knew which So, there's just so many factors Indeed. But, if you knew if you knew what you wanted >> lot of contingencies here. Yeah. Um if you knew what you would want to consider pursuing, I could have that resolution ready and the new board could vote yes or no on that, right? Right? Um That's what I was trying to say. Like I
106like keeping things open. I want to be transparent and I want to be thoughtful. But, you need to know what But, like sometimes you Right. Sometimes you start to drown in your contingency, so I don't know the answer here other than I'm going to vote with the board. I mean I I I certainly have thoughts and know how I feel, but I also want to work within the system here, so. I mean I guess would would an option be to just I mean to keep it open, we review it on our next board meeting when they've had time to digest, get acclimated, and then if if we decide to do a levy, we'd have to do something between the 20th and the 27th. We'd have to do a special meeting between the 21st and the
10726th essentially. Oh, no, cuz you'd still need time to develop. Oh, the development we can we can make that work. I mean I I I will say that the uh the So, the the the the lawyers can get things written up fairly quickly. Um you know, figuring out the exact cost estimate Right. >> takes a little bit of time. No, we have pretty good estimates, but our I'm sure architects are going to want to do a little bit more, you know, refining to to make that. But, I do know what you're saying, Jody. You could um you know, you could do resolution one on January 20th. That wouldn't be hard to get. We could get that timing done. Um the doing another meeting to get all of that done by that time would be a
108little tight. >> Feels it. But, uh um you know, we can if that's the direction that we end up going, I mean we can make that happen. Um again, all of that only matters if you do decide to pursue a ballot >> Right. in May. I believe you if I may respectfully ask, so based on your presentation, we talked about 2028 as kind of like a sweet spot when maybe there would be a continu- a just a continuing an updated bond issue just for funding. Mhm. Forgive me cuz I'm tired. I don't mean to be. So, like how And that's no matter what. That's whether And I'm not saying what I'm thinking I want to do, but whether we go after a levy to fund a building now or whether we don't, we're still looking
109at It's just a matter of the size. Correct. And the size was based on middle school versus So, we're either adding a couple mills or 4.6. Yes. But, no matter what, we have another levy coming in 2028. You could say theoretically without like trying to commit myself to anything. Yes. No, right. I mean we don't want to give you a committed date, but So, no matter what, we're doing one levy or two levies in the next 3 years. Yes. In essence. In essence. And so we're keeping open the conversation of doing two maybe for some reason that would be unknown. Yes. Would be the way I would put it being me. Got it. So I mean I feel very clear about how I feel on the issue of other not two bonds versus one makes
110sense for sure. So I'm whatever the the group wants I'm for. But two levies in three years feels like a lot. Is that common? I I mean I think these days there's there's no >> that ever been common? Back in the days when everybody wanted to vote for levies and >> Some some districts operate on emergency levies. Which need to be re- >> Oh, those are yeah, we don't want that. >> need to be re- which need Well, they're pretty much re- Kind of feeling. Well, sure. They go pretty well, but they're renewed like every five years, but they're on different cycles. Okay. So That doesn't feel friendly. But anyways, I think we need to Okay, so 8:02. Whatever everybody wants I'm good with. Yeah, so I think what we need to do is to
111prepare We need to get official input at a board meeting from Bonnie. Okay. Okay. Okay, we can't really do that here cuz >> Yes, correct. Okay. Right. Yeah, that sounds good. So what So then my recommendation is that you do approve this and we will we'll do some additional prep work that we can kind of be prepared depending on how the conversation maybe goes on the 6th. I will have no resolution on the board agenda for for January 6th, okay? But based on feedback that we might get from the new board, we will pivot as needed, okay? So I think that I think that makes sense. I think that's good conversation. It's very good transparent conversation. Like I said, this is really challenging from a from a lot of different standpoints, so I appreciate you
112guys' thoughtfulness and feedback. Well, I think it keeps the conversation in front of the public too. Not that not that the 6th isn't. The 6th is an open meeting, right? But it's >> is. But it's I mean it does have a different purpose. So it's restructuring for the you know, organizing for the year, right? So So that means all the conversation is at this meeting again. And then we decide how to move forward. Is that right? We can have conversation, so I will put I will I will make the purpose on the 6th cuz So the purpose right now so we have really have two different So it's complicated. It shouldn't be. We have to have an organization meeting every year, right? That happens at 5:30 on January 6th. That's where you're going to pick
113the president, the vice president, committees, and establish the board meetings for the year, okay? As soon as that's over, I already did call and will put the notice out for a special meeting. That was every time we get a new board, we do a little bit of what we would call a board retreat. It's a no board action. It's just kind of getting to know each other, talk about how you want to be communicated to, like when you're available, you know, just stuff like that. I'll go over some things of you know, things that honestly I think all of the all five of you including the new board members would know, but you know, sunshine law and how that all works and things like that, right? We can also go into work session, which is
114what I would recommend that we go into work session, which means you have you get rid of Robert's Rules and you don't make actual decisions and we can talk more about this, right? And you can give me guidance because guidance is not a vote. So what you could do is you could start to say I want you to prepare a resolution for another date or not and depending on that recommendation, we would start to determine if we need to start looking at another date to schedule, right? Because again, bottom line is if you choose to go out for a levy in May, you're going to need one additional meeting. If you in the end don't think that's going to be the case, then on May on January 20th, the cops could be on the agenda
115or nothing could be on the agenda. Your timeline becomes a lot looser. Right? Bonnie and Clayton are out there wondering like what in the world they're getting themselves into. It's a lot of moving parts. Okay, we're good. All right. Good, right? >> Yes. Starcher? Yes. Austin? >> Yes. Kuzma? >> Yes. Heinholds? Yes. Okay, we need a motion to approve the resignation of Ryan Kuzma as a Wayne County Schools Career Center representative effective December 31st, 2025. So moved. Second. So Ryan's got a three-year term. His you know, Wooster term ends now and so it's not uncommon. Dan Stahli and these other did the same thing when he left is just you know, leave the both boards at the same time. Now we just we're ready for your 10-minute speech, Ryan. Thank you all for everything that
116you've done for me. Good. All right. >> already hear that. Klein hands? Yes. >> Kuzma? Yes. Austin? >> Yes. Starcher? Yes. Goodright? Yes. Okay. Okay. Uh We need a motion to establish president pro tem of board of education for the annual organizational meeting. So moved. Second. Okay. So Hm? Guess we did that already, right? We need a motion. Okay, we are motion to open nominations. So moved. Second. Okay, we need to have a nomination for president pro tem. I nominate Rick Goodright. I second that. Any other nominations? Okay, we need a motion to close the nominations. So moved. Okay. Sorry. Second. Um We will now vote on the motion to close the nominations. All in favor, say I. I. >> I. All opposed, say nay. Okay. Um So I think we should vote on Rick
117Goodright, right? >> Yeah. Goodright. Motion to vote on Rick Goodright for This is the last time I'll have to do this. So moved. I didn't read down below before we started. I'm sorry. Um as president pro tem. So moved. Second. Oh, we're voting. I'm sorry. That's not a motion. Yes. Oh my goodness. We're waiting for you to do this part. You were right, Jody. You were right, Jody. Oh, I was? Yep. Oh, okay. Okay. So now we're going to Vote. Vote. Okay. Klein hands? Yes. Uh Goodright? Abstain. You said abstain? >> Yeah. Okay. Um Starcher? Yes. Kuzma? Yes. Austin? >> Yes. And just a a reminder to the public that That's because you have to have somebody run the meeting and we don't have a board president on president on January 6th. So, that's what
118that's for. >> That's just for that day, though, right? >> just for that day. >> For that day. And we can pass the torch. All right. Old business? I don't see any. So now, um we'll move on to Molly again. Public participation participation on non-agenda items. No one? Okay. I didn't have a chance to meet you, but this is some where we get our Wooster High School input. What you got? >> Yes, my name is Lucy Franks. Okay, Lucy. >> Yes. I'm a senior at Wooster, so obviously here. But All right. Winter sports are in full swing and the student body is showing up and showing out full of support and enthusiasm. Any just students are volunteering throughout the community and in the coming weeks you will see them ringing bells for the Salvation Army
119at Walmart and serving at the Hope Center food bank. NHS members set up a Christmas tree in the Wooster High School main office to help people to people ministries supplying gifts to children in the community. They also offer peer tutoring during study halls throughout the day in all areas of study. NHS is planning the annual blood drive event that will take place on March 12th, which will be open to the community and the student body. Best Buddies is having a great year with 83 members in 25 friendship matches, which is the most out of any school in Ohio. Best Buddies created fundraising opportunities that involved both peer members and student with and students with disabilities. These included making tie-dye t-shirts, decorating cowbells, and preparing for the quarter auction. Students with disabilities have taken a lot
120of pride in helping raise money for their activities with friends. Many buddy pairs are meeting outside of school and going out for ice cream, bowling, and other activities building real friendships outside the walls of Wooster High School. Best Buddies is working to plan events for the spring semester, plus an exciting event coming up on February 5th, the Improvaneers, a Down Syndrome a Down Syndrome improv comedy group. They will be visiting Wooster High School for two comedy shows. Um the Generals Leadership Council is going strong and leading inside the walls of Wooster High School and out in the community. Next, members from GLC will be helping decorate breakfast with Santa at Cornerstone Elementary on Thursday, December 18th. Their next meeting will be tomorrow with guest speaker Eric Heller. Uh, Wooster High School Drama Club recently wrapped
121up all things Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the tune of many kind words. It was our third most successful musical attendance-wise in the last 15 years, trailing behind Elf the Musical and Annie. The week following winter break, we will be they will they will be auditioning for the spring play This Murder Was Staged. It's a comical whodunit revolving around the death of a play's director, where all the cast and crew and even the audience become suspects. Or according to Mr. Heiner, he the director, it is a hilarious and will be it is hilarious and will be represented April 10th through the 12th alongside the Wooster High School's Fine Arts Festival. The Science Club Science Club's last meeting um, on using paper chromatography to pull pigments out of leaves was a hit. Mr. Heller, the
122Science Club advisor, reported that everybody was falling all over to do it again. As they turn towards winter, the group is getting a science-themed bulletin board ready for the main office display, and their next meeting will be in January. The Student Council had recently set up a movie night, winter winter spirit week, and some fun things during PBIS day. They also just helped with stuff the cruiser and are currently wrapping up the semester. Next semester, the Student Council hopes to do more service acts and as well as student activities. None of those are yet finalized, but they are currently in the works. Thank you. >> Wow. Awesome. Thanks for the update. Yeah, thank you, Lucy. We really appreciate you being here. I know it's, you know, a lot of time, and not all the meetings
123last this long. That's okay. But, you know, we Are you in our next meeting? Um, yeah. So, I'm finishing out the semester. I wasn't able to do the first semester, so Callan stepped in for the first semester for me. >> you get community service hours for these? Um, I'm actually not in NHS because I'm involved with so many other things. I didn't actually I missed them. You got two hours today. I know. Well, well, that I I I would appreciate that. Thank you. Thanks for the updates. Very good. Uh, future board meetings, we have um, January 6th Can we before we before we go to that, cuz that's the last thing, right? Uh, oh, yeah, we got Just comments and We're still part We're still involved with comments and questions. >> Yeah. I mean, just
124again, uh, Mr. Tutor mentioned this earlier, but just a thank you. See, I I feel like I'm going to get a little choked up here. I said I would not do this, but a thank you to Ryan and Cody. So, I've worked with them the last four years. They've just been fantastic. Um, I don't know that everybody really realizes the time and investment commitment, thought, leadership, all of those things, and it's been a real pleasure to work with both of you, so hopefully we can stay in touch and call on you as needed. So, thank you both. Second that. Like I said earlier, stay by the phone. All right. You guys It has been a pleasure, and I'm sure that um Wooster's in better hands cuz you guys are a part of the board. Yeah,
125absolutely well said. I've seen a lot of board members over the years, and you two are really good. You guys are real collaborative, and it's been a pleasure. Yeah, absolutely. >> Thank you all. It's very kind, and I know I'll speak for myself, but I think I speak for Ryan. It's been our pleasure. Yeah, for sure. No, absolutely. I mean, I was just talking to Jody just right before this like it was four years ago. I mean, Dane was in a play in Mansfield, and we were talking about being on the new board and doing all this stuff, but time just flies by, and it really It goes quick. For sure. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Okay. Um, so, uh, moving on to our future board meetings, we do have January 6th is our organizational meeting
126at 5:30. And January 6th is a special board meeting, so board retreat type thing at 6:00. And then I did hear earlier tonight that we have a another meeting at least on January 20th, 6:00 p.m. Yes. Okay. Um, no need for executive session. So, we need a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Nice. Nice. All right. Austin. Yes. Cusma. Yes. Starcher. Yes. Kleinhenz. Yes. Goodrich. Yes. Thank you, everybody. >> Thank you for coming.