5.12.26 B.O.E. Work Session

001No. That's not mine. Did you uh did Did you uh see Park in Yeah, I did. Oh. This is all this stuff. I I I I got a shovel over I think this one is Really? Yeah, cuz they're all down in there. There'll be other stuff and fun stuff down there. But nothing like that. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to the May GMSD board work session. The first item on our agenda this evening is second reading of the general fund FY26-27 budget. Mr. Maynard. There are some slight changes to this budget item. Um so we're going to have Mr. Cathy and we're going to have Ms. Huffman talk briefly about some of those changes to our budget. Yeah, no major big changes. The The only two that you'll see is operational plant was decreased

002$81,826. Um and Mr. Prokosch he'll talk about that a little later, but we actually had a very favorable uh RFP response environment to our custodial RFP. So, that's where the reduction is and we'll show you we're still in the due diligence process right now of going through, but the pricing was actually favorable that came in. So, we reduced that budget and we had an additional teacher in the special education budget and with that I'll turn it over to Ms. Huffman. Not too much to share other than when I was going through my other funds budget and general purpose I was like um I forgot this position and came and begged to my friend Josh and said, "Hey, we didn't fill this last year and it's something that I would like to post." So, that's just

003a error on my part. Not an error, but Well, okay, an overlook, [laughter] an oversight. But those are the adjustments that we have to the budget if anybody has questions. Yeah, those things happen. I mean when there's a lot of moving parts I'd say the budget I truthfully for it to only be the the amount that we had I was really pretty impressed. I think [clears throat] it just shows that you know, everything that went in. So, these things happen. I think every year there's always been >> Yes. at least a small change and I would I would put this in the small change bucket. So, >> I appreciate it. Looks like every Yes. and everything worked out. Yes. Okay. Other questions? Ms. Curry, did you have a question? Before we get going too much

004further I'd like to welcome Alderman Tony Salvaggio to our meeting. So, I appreciate you stopping by. Um so, the next item we're going to stay on that item for the general fund budget, but Mr. Maney I want to ask cuz we weren't there, but my understanding is that the recent budget work session at the city that you received some questioning about some funding and I'd like for you to elaborate on that if at all possible. Sure. So as as you know, I had to go to the city and present or really just answer questions about our budget because I had presented previously to the FAC. But I was asked a question by the mayor at the end of that meeting about maintenance of effort and I think the question and I may not get it

005exactly, but it was why has the city of Germantown given so much more money to our school district when our neighbors haven't increased maintenance of effort in some of the municipalities. My answer was that I believe that they should talk to those municipalities, but that we had been doing our research as you were Mr. Curry because we did receive notification last year >> [cough and clears throat] >> from the finance department of education that they were receiving questions about maintenance of effort from the city. We had also received notification from Mr. Heisman that they were no longer going to increase our maintenance of effort as property taxes increased in the city of Germantown. And so I told them that we had been speaking with attorney for the Board of Education and with comptroller to to

006really get clear on what is the requirement to support a school district and have a municipal school district. So that was the question and my short brief answer in that time, but I think we may benefit from having a speakman help us go through a little bit about what are those requirements and what have we learned and what have we heard from those sources. Okay, so um this is a blast from the past. I mean you have to go back and look at when the district was formed and all the things that we had to do to ensure that Germantown School District became a Germantown School District. And so, where all that starts is a state board rule, and it's up here projected up here. State Board Rule 0520-01-08-015. And this is what I like

007to call the skin in the game requirement. Because what it's really about, and this is just one provision from that state board rule, but what it's really about is is it is it says if you're going to become a municipal school district or city school district, you got to be willing to put some skin in the game. And some of the requirements are that you have to agree that you're going to employ a full-time director of schools who meets all the legal and regulatory requirements. You have to promise you're going to have you're going to employ teachers who meet the legal requirements, that you have buildings, that you have all these things. But one provision in particular says no city school system shall be created or reactivated for the purpose of operating a school system

008of public schools unless such school system spends each fiscal year for the current operation of its public schools an amount of money Now, this is in addition to the amount required to be raised by the county, and this is where a lot of people get confused. They conflate the county's responsibility with the city's responsibility. These are two separate sums of money. So, let's go back. In addition to the amount required to be raised by the county, at least equal to that which a 15-cent tax levy on each $100 of taxable property for the current year in said school district city school district would produce if the same were all collected. Now, that's even kind of funnier because a lot of people would say, "Oh, we didn't collect it, so you only get the part that

009we collected." It even goes as far as to say the amount if it were all collected. So, you know, this is a healthy requirement. It's like it's kind of like if you think about it, it's like um if you bought a TV set and it said on the package, "Electricity not included." Okay, so this is So, you know, your your TV's not going to work unless you've got the electricity to support it. And so, here's here's the electricity from the city's standpoint. This is what they are agreeing to do. And I'm going to take I'm going to take us back a bit, too. So, we're going to tag team on this a little bit. So, prior to this, too, I I I just want to clarify when we were forming as a school district, even

010before my time, the city hired a institution. And I always say it's Dr. Mitchell's institution, but I know there he works with others, but it's the Southern Educational Strategies Group. And they created a document for each municipality about what is the feasibility to create a group and what do you have to do to create that? When we were all selected and they had the school boards form form and they created everybody, then we had a presentation and I had meetings with the attorney for the city at the time, with Mr. Lawton, who was the city administrator at the time. We had meetings that talked about what was going to be required. At one of those meetings with them, they gave all the superintendents and they gave all the city administrators a document that said, "How

011do you create your budget each year?" And I want to read the first paragraph from that line that we all received. It says, "To determine the municipal property tax revenue." That means that's this amount that we're going to receive. "Determine the total dollar amount of property tax revenue that 1 cent on the local municipal property tax produced in your municipa- municipality during, and this is the important part, the most recent fiscal year. Multiply by 15 to determine the minimum amount that your local municipality must contribute annually to the municipal school district's operating revenues. And that's what many municipalities have been doing each year. They take that amount of money of the property tax that the city is receiving and they're projecting in their new budget and they do this calculation. It's not related to student

012numbers, it's not related to enrollment. This is all about skin in the game. It's what is your municipality taking into account and then what are they required to contribute. So, even at the own presentations from their consultants, we were told how to calculate this funding. So, with that, I'll take you back. And also, too, you have all received a document in front of you. This is what was sent This is what Miss Speakman is going to be referring to. This is the assertion that our municipality and all the municipal school districts had to provide to the Commissioner of Education at that time to say, "We are going to do these things." These are the requirements. So, I think you're going to go through some of those things included in this document that was provided to

013the Commissioner of Education. Before uh Yes, sir. Is there a different [clears throat] interpretation to this rule that the city is having? Not that we can find in writing from anyone. Okay. The only answer that I have received is that they uh spoke to some other municipalities who were not doing this and so they said that they weren't going to do it. Uh they had said they reached out to Miss Derski with finance from the Department of Education. I called Miss Derski this week, too. She said the answers that she was giving were not about the skin in the game, this this revenue stream. The questions that she was answering were about the big funding. So, each year we receive a statement about here's your projected TISA funding, here's the minimum amount that your funding

014body has to provide, and that's about the maintenance of effort piece from the county funding. And so, she was answering questions about that, not about this piece. But, we have not received anything from them saying here's here's the document that says something to the contrary. So, back to the skin in the game uh State Board rule, uh there's a provision in here that says no city school system shall be created or reactivated for the purposes of operating a system of public schools education unless such school system furnishes all information as requested by the State Commissioner of Education on behalf of the State Board of Education relating to the creation or reactivation of the new school system such as supporting statistical and fiscal data and furnish certified results of a referendum election indicating the willingness of

015the local people to meet the standards of adequacy as herein set above. Okay? Um and to provide the necessary local funds okay, to do so after the new school system share of the state and other school funds has first been applied. All right. So, what happened after this was that every new municipal school district had to fill out this a similar packet, all right? What's in that packet? Well, you know, it says in here uh you know, from the school district's uh standpoint we know we're required to do all these things that are in the skin in the game thing and and otherwise, all right? So, in your packet, the first thing that you see in there that uh buttresses what I just said is a letter from the the uh attorneys for Germantown School

016District that said, "Okay, what this packet is, it's it's our affirmation, our promise that we and our governing body are going to do all the things that were required to do to be a school system." And that had to happen before the school system could start day one, all right? The next thing you'll see a tab and it is actually an ordinance from the City of Germantown and it's ordinance number 2013-7. And you'll notice on the second page it says, "Whereas State Board of Education Rule 0520-1-8-015 provides that a municipal school system must spend each fiscal year for the current operation of its public schools an amount of money in addition to the amount required to be raised by the county at least equal to that which a 15 cent tax increase levy on each

017$100 of taxable property for the current year in the municipal school district would produce if the same were all collected." So, that very same language is in uh ordinance passed by the City of Germantown. >> Yes, so just just to reiterate, so that language was passed by the City of Germantown and signed by Mayor Goldsworthy and attested to by Dottie Johnson, City Clerk in this document 2013-7, which once again reiterates that each fiscal year the amount to be provided. So, then again, in the same packet, ordinance number 2013-9, you'll see that uh in about the third whereas clause, it says, "Whereas, the question presented by the municipal municipal special referendum on the creation and funding of a municipal school system was answered in the affirmative by a majority of the qualified voters of the city

018of Germantown participating in the referendum, showing the people of the city of Germantown have indicated their willingness to meet the standards of adequacy and funding required set forth by the State Board of Education in rule 05, etc., etc., right up here on your screen. And then it's signed also by the mayor. So, that is to give you the historical background on that. Uh and then um you know, we've taken measures that I'm I'm sure um uh the chairman would like to discuss after this to in fact ensure that our understanding was the same as the uh voters of the city of Germantown, the then mayor of the city of Germantown, and the uh the uh commissioners or the Board of Mayor and Aldermen as a whole of the city of Germantown. So, the challenge that

019we faced was that the city had been operating underneath this rule. We had each time that there was an increase each time that we were calculating our budget as property taxes were going up and the amount of money received for property taxes were going up, we were receiving increases amounts to the equivalency of of that state school board rule. So, once we told we're told that that wasn't going to happen, of course, um Mr. Curry can attest to we we had to do our due diligence to see, "Okay, well, what is the rule? Maybe we're wrong. Maybe we're misunderstanding this." But, everybody that we spoke to confirmed that that we're not and that it's very clear in the state board board rules. So, uh Mr. Hendricks, to your question of what was I have not

020seen anything that says anything different than this. The state board of of education attorney confirms and Ms. Speakman has been in correspondence with her and Mr. Curry has also that their our interpretation is the same as their interpretation of this rule. In what manner was the school district or board um informed about this sudden change of the interpretation? >> um we were told I think Mr. Strain, I don't know if you were at that meeting at the time. I I don't know if you were board chair, but it was in or maybe I don't I'm I don't remember, but Mr. Heisman told us, but we also had questions from finance department from the department of education saying, "Hey, we're getting questions about this information." That's when we started researching to see if there was something

021we're missing. So, uh conversation with Mr. Heisman and the mayor um and I I don't know if it was just Mr. Cathy and myself, but I I believe there was It may you may have been there. I don't remember. I may have. I know you told me about it if I wasn't there. So, then it was formally broached and we were put on notice that their interpretation had shifted. Yes, and that's when we started doing our our research. So, it would have been in the summer of 2005. I'm getting my years correct. Yes, that's or no, sorry. Spring. Spr- sorry, spring of yeah, the spring of 2004 we were notified by the state. Um I had conversations with the city administrator to make sure that um there was not a misunderstanding. Uh he confirmed at

022the time that uh again that they had changed their interpretation. Uh but nothing was ever presented in writing to us or anything. I think it was just a verbal we're not we're not raising the funding. I think that that's my understanding. You never You never received anything in writing from the city, correct? >> No, I did not. So, there was a point where I engaged Ms. Speakman to um to research this with the State Board of Education. A- And I want to be clear, this isn't about looking for anything extra. This is ensuring that we were getting the minimum amount. I'll be honest with you, I don't think anyone would have known to even look. I think we would just assume that the number that we were given that was the correct number and that

023everything would roll on. It just so happened that we were notified that they weren't raising the funds anymore. And so, to that end, uh it got us to look and go back and reread the rules and to talk and and seek opinions on it. Uh um we have a fiduciary duty as school board members to ensure that the funding is correct, right? I would I don't think we have the ability to say, "Look, I know things are tight with the city budget, so we'll just we'll just not worry about that this year and we'll we'll move on to the next." We don't have the legal ability to do that. And so, if we know that something is not correct, we owe it to our students, we owe it to our voters, we owe it to

024them to get the correct answer, to make sure that everything's being done in accordance with the law. And Mr. Mr. Curry, you've done Yeah, but you've also done some calculations yourself, I think, to determine this this is not an insignificant amount of money. So, our funding that we're currently receiving from the city, and that was from FY15, was $3,082,064. Based on a rate of 255,000, which is current value of once in a property tax in Germantown, and it might There might be 255 five and some change, but a round number would be 255,000. Uh the amount of annual funding would be three 3,825,000, a difference of $742,936 per year. So, that's 742,936 for this fiscal year, and then 742,936 for the upcoming fiscal year, a total of if I'll do my calculation right here, uh

025one one million 485,872 dollars. So, we're talking a a real amount of money here that we we owe it to everyone to make sure that this is correct. And so, that's the due diligence on our part. And I also think, too, I'll reiterate that also, too, that our school board and the city made an assertion to the Commissioner of Education that this is what we are going to do. And so, not only our fiduciary responsibility, but our responsibility to live up to that assertion. Well, our neighbors to the east have published in their annual budget, approved from last year, like us, they're in the midst of approving their budget for the upcoming year, and it states plainly, the town of Carylville provides 15 cents equivalent payment to the school district each year. Same as what

026we understood it to be here. I don't look to them to make our policy or rules, but I am, you know, thinking that I always check our neighbors, and it's right here in black and white, which is exactly our understanding going into this past year. I'd also like to point out that approximately 4 years ago, I noticed that there were several people in our community and both elected and city official status positions that used the term overfunding our schools. And I would immediately say, "No, wait a minute. There's no such thing. That term doesn't even That That's not even That's not even a possibility. You could never overfund our schools." But the point was is the bare minimum was perceived as overfunding for year after year after year. I will say that after I'm having

027some pretty pointed conversations with some neighbors um in those positions, I noticed that they stopped using that term in writing and in presentations. And maybe that's because they were no longer overfunding our schools in their mind with this adjustment. I hope that's not so, but the timeline fits. So, just for sake of clarity, so each time in the past when the property tax has increased, the city's funding under this provision has increased to the school district. Yes, so when we started, I think they were at 2.1 million, so it increased incrementally as property as the amount of property tax that they collected were increased. Once again, like I said, the study from Dr. Mitchell's group, the SCS group, that was presented to the superintendent said, "How do you build your budget? You look at the

028previous fiscal year, collected taxes, and the projection of what they're going to take in, and that's how you calculate this 15-cent equivalent." Um so, and that was um common in several municipalities. And the only basis for the cities reaching out to the state board or others was that we have heard is just a change in interpretation, or do we know of anything >> They heard that other districts weren't doing it. Okay. Other municipalities. >> Other municipalities were not doing it. Yeah, this is something we don't take lightly, but I think it's important that everyone's on the same page, and that we all know kind of what has happened and and how we're at this point. Again, I would say 1.48 million, and that's real money. It's real money to the city. It's real money to

029us. Again, I'm I'm not oblivious to that fact. But, if something is required in law, that doesn't mean that we just choose not to do it. Right. I mean, I think at the end of the day, our expectation is that, you know, we receive what we're entitled to receive per the law. Um it's what we have to do to stay open. And so, um again, I I want to be clear. I'm I'm very understanding, empathetic. I understand there's there's a lot of pressure on the city budget. I get it. I mean, I I get it. Um but there is a cost of doing business that is not optional and that's where this falls in. If we want to maintain and be a municipal school system, these are things that have to be done in order

030to keep the doors open. And so my hope is that we can reach a solution and get to understanding. Again, I know we've got We've heard from the State Board of Education attorney, correct? So I think that they're they're the ones that have the ultimate I don't know the enforcement. However it ends up, but I think it's something that we need to make sure that we're all on the same page with our partners at the city to make sure that we're doing what is required under the law and nothing less. As far as next steps, I guess we'll see, you know, what the outcome is here. We might need to look at formally notifying the city. That Mr. Bigelow, I would defer to you on that if there's something that we need to do just

031just a formal notification of hey, here's where we are. I'll I'll defer to your judgment on that. Something probably more formal than this conversation is is probably due, but I'll I'll again I'll defer to on you on what you think the best path forward is. Well, we we can't yell from the mountaintops that the state is not funding special education and then when it's right here in our own backyard be quiet like church mice. So to me this is a a no-brainer. We we have to make sure that what's right is being done. Chairman Curry, I'm curious as to where cuz I've had the same conversation. You and I discussed it last spring where I was told that the our city is exceeding their minimum requirement. And you and I discussed that after that meeting.

032So, I'm curious to where that interpretation is because it's pretty black and white with these numbers that that's not there. So, I don't know how we have such a difference of opinion on this. Yeah, once once again, the only thing that they can reference is that they talked to other municipalities who were not that did not increase that. We have to go back to, okay, well, what does the ordinance say that we passed in Germantown? And what does the state school board policy say? And what does the state school board attorney, whose job is to interpret these policies, say? And everything points back to this. Um So, other than hey, somebody else wasn't doing it, I I don't know if that's a valid argument. And and I think I try to look at things logically.

033If you look at the argument that, hey, the amount of annual funding is the amount that it's supposed to be in 2013 and it never goes up for the next 100 years, I think uh to use a legal argument, I think that would be an absurd argument, right? To say that, you know, as the city grows and the taxes grow, you could you can't I don't think you could say with a straight face that that's the amount that you give in perpetuity. And obviously the interpretations that we have received from the state board rule, they validate that yeah, it it it's meant as as the city grows, um I'll I'll just use They don't have a municipal system, but I'll use a city over in Middle Tennessee that's fast growing that a lot of people

034are familiar with, Spring Hill. So, Spring Hill is just south of Franklin in in Williamson County. Um Spring Hill um again, they very explosive growth. So, let's just let's just say that Spring Hill had started their own school system. And back when they were a community of 5,000 people. And then they grew to 50,000 people. Again, you wouldn't say that the funding that they started with at 5,000 is that's the the just again that there's just no rationality to that argument. And so that's I I think I think again, I can't speak to what other municipalities are doing. I can only look at what we're doing, but I it prompted it was a good exercise to go through because and we've I can tell you I've I've personally been researching this for at least a

035year. Um and so but it's been good to go in and make sure that our understanding because we don't want to be in a situation where we're under an assumption and it is wrong. You know, obviously that that's not good for anyone. Um but doing our due diligence and going through and really trying to understand and make sure that we're correct on this has led us to the point where we've received multiple validations that what you see that that's it. Um you know, and so that's where we are. And I have one point of clarity here too that people get confused on. So if you ask questions about TISA funding in relation to maintenance of effort and enrollment. When we are talking about our county funding that is directly related to and you've heard me

036use this acronym before the WFTE ADA which is the weighted full-time equivalent of average daily attendance. When we look at our state funding that is tied to our average daily membership the ADM number. All those are student related. This skin in the game this funding stream is not related to student enrollment. So if then you try to pivot and switch the argument well oh well we're not going to talk about um whether it was in perpetuity or whether it's each fiscal year, but oh we've Germantown schools has had a drop in enrollment that they should reduce the maintenance of effort. That's not what this state board rule says. This is a different revenue stream. Now, there are specific requirements around if Shelby County was going to reduce their funding, but it's a very large threshold

037and reduction that has to happen for them to reduce their maintenance of effort, but this is not that case. So, if there are future discussions about enrollment or ADA or ADM's, this is a straight-up formula about what is the property tax that the city collected versus the 15-cent equivalent. So, I just want to point out that that has been discussed. That is something that we're going to have to keep on clarifying. To anyone's knowledge, has there been any shift to the ordinance as it pertains to the mayor and alderman? No. Other agreements financially that were made in the development of the district in the beginning with the loan in the beginning with the assumption by the city of Germantown to um pay the debt, if you will, on our what we call um the OPEB

038>> Yes. Um So, those things were like agreements, handshakes type things. >> [clears throat] >> Yeah, so the agreement with the city, there was actually a three-way settlement, I think, between and involved the city and the school district and Memphis Shelby County Schools about paying for the OPEB benefits for the employees that had worked for Germantown Schools, but were transferred over. So, that that was actually an official agreement to do that. But, there wasn't a specific agreement about who would pay that amount of funding. So, you're correct on that part. When we started going through COVID and the city was concerned about they didn't know what tax implications were going to happen, they transferred that requirement over to us. So, they were paying that that amount of money, but we took over that during COVID.

039And we paid we paid the remainder of that and paid that off last year. >> But, that was one where there were agreements and it was okay, we'll do it. Okay, now we don't know if we can do it. So, now you're going to have to do it and we did it. I go to that and I compare it to the beginning of the district and some of what I'm going to call the gray areas of the financials going into the establishment from that first year when we all got put on pause and there was revenue raised and set aside in most municipal municipalities in Shelby County. And then I go to the >> think so. So, I do want to clarify cuz I think there's been some misinformation out there that when we were

040start when we they first tried to start the municipal school districts, it was deemed that it it wasn't constitutional state constitution. And so, we had that year of the merged district. The municipalities had already raised their tax rates and so, they collected that amount of tax because the ordinance says you have to give you the equivalent, but you don't have to necessarily pay that through property tax. So, our cities and most municipalities chose to do that through sales tax. So, when that happened and we got that year of pause, all that tax revenue was collected by the city. We were not handed money to start out as a district. We were we started our district with an 8 million dollar revenue anticipatory note. And so, we had a loan that we got that the city

041had to get for us, but we had to pay that loan back in that first year and build up our reserve in that first year. So, there was not an amount of money that was given to the district to start. So, sorry. I appreciate you clarifying that for us and for those listening. I make a point about those two scenarios because they were just agreements. They weren't rules. They weren't ordinances. Those are substantiated. We were told we'd do this, but well, halfway down the road, we changed our mind. That we've been through before. This change of interpretation when none of the rules or the ordinances have changed in language whatsoever, this is the difference to me. That's correct. So, there has been no change to these or the assertions that they made to the Commissioner

042of Education. Thank you. This was a very informative discussion. Um I've learned a lot during this process. Um a lot more [clears throat] than I ever wanted to know about school finance. But, I think it got us to a point where uh we're able to identify an issue and hopefully again get this resolved uh for our students and for our residents and keep the school system um that they they voted for um that clearly they wanted uh and keep it in good standing. I will just um I've got the uh the results of that vote from 2013. So, if you'll remember at the time the yellow yes signs that were around. So, this is a really nice catchy sign with the yes with the schoolhouse on it. That was this vote. So, there were there

043were signs all over the city. I think half the city's out on vacation. There were over 8,000 votes in that election, which is pretty telling. It was a heavier turnout by about 2,000 than our recent um primary. So, 8,046 votes in that election. 7,501 Germantown residents, 93.23% of the city voted for this. So, that that was a a resounding yes. 545, 6.77% voted no. So, the city the residents of the city at that time made it loud and clear that this is what they wanted. And if that ordinance did not pass, the the referendum if it didn't pass, we wouldn't be here today. We would be part of Shelby County Schools. So, that's how critical that vote was. It was not a non-binding vote. It was a binding vote. That if that does not happen,

044we're not in existence. The citizens, wisely I believe, I'm fortunate that I'm sitting here and my our kids just graduated from the school district. They they made the vote yes, but nothing has changed. The requirements haven't changed. So, the the voters at that time voted very clearly for this and they enthusiastically showed up. I mean, you're not going to get 93%. I don't think you'd get 93% of a yes on anything hardly nowadays. So, the fact that 93% of the voters at that time, over 7,500 of our our voters our citizens, voted in favor of this. They were very clear and the city followed, obviously, and the you know, everything that went to the commissioner was pivoted off that vote. So, um Uh yeah, I I think making sure that we have this right, making

045sure that we're operating, you know, not in the gray area, that we're operating in what's established by law. I think it's where we need to be and and it's my hope and expectation that we get there. Any other discussion on this item? I mean, I would just say let's let's ask the city just to I mean, again, let's let's hear, you you let's let's hear their change interpretation and so we can better understand that. I appreciate everyone's willingness to pursue it because like Chairman Curry said, it's not like we're looking for additional money. We're looking for understanding of the shift in expectations. Um I just want Like I appreciate you saying not living in the gray area. We understand budgets are tight. Anybody If anybody, we understand that. I want to know what the plan

046is now and in the future and if this is the understanding that when there's an opportunity to stay the course with the level of funding and our community leadership elects to reduce that, I'd like to understand the culture in which we're approaching that shift. All right. We'll move on to our next item on the agenda. First reading FY26-27 other funds budget. Mr. Manuel. We're going to have Ms. Able come up to I think the first few are hers. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. We'll be um producing presenting each of the federal programs budgets, you know, the title budgets, Carl Perkins CTE. Yeah, go ahead. Take care. Take care. I was just saying >> Okay. Back to the other funds budget. We'll be going over all of the title funding, Carl Perkins CTE, and Sarah

047Ms. Huffman will present the IDEA funds. Um consolidated admin is our first federal budget that we will be looking at. And so this one is a an account that supports the administration and oversight of all federal programs, including the planning, the compliance, monitoring, reporting to ensure that funds are used effectively and according to federal requirements. And so we have a three-year comparison, and we'll just go budget by budget to see if you would like to stop and ask any questions about any items. So in consolidated admin on page seven, what questions would you like to go over? If any. Okay, you want to jump on to after consolidated admin, move over to title 1A. You want to tell us what title 1A is for? So title 1A provides additional academic support for schools with higher

048percentages of economic economically disadvantaged students to help ensure that all students meet academic standards. Um we the next year will have three schools that qualify to receive title one funds. We will have Riverdale, Houston Middle, and Houston High School. And so these budgets include money that'll be allocated to the schools directly for title one spending. This is on page nine and 10. Pages nine and 10 breaks it down into categories. So if you look at the three-year comparison, I'm happy to answer any questions. So it's a pretty big drop year-over-year. Was this expected going in so we we were able to plan for it? Yes. When we formed as a municipal, um we fell under the hold harmless. All the municipals are. And so, we are receiving approximately 85% fewer funds each year. There we're

049moving down a little bit each year. Um and we do also get carryover funds. So, when this when this school year ends, whatever we haven't spent from Title I will carry over. We do have to um spend those funds down by December of the following year. Uh so, you're seeing some of the funds that have been carried over from previous years. Okay. Any other questions on Title I-A? We'll move on to Title II-A. Tell us what Title II is. All right. I feel like I could quiz some of you on these and I bet you know them, but for back background information on Title II, it supports teacher and school leader quality through professional development, instructional coaching, recruitment, retention, and leadership development. So, all the focus is around professional development. And once again, all of

050these funds have to be submitted to the Department of Education and they have to approve each use that it meets the needs for why they have received that federal funding. And so, we're uh actually increase year-over-year, but I I know as we go through this, I definitely want to make sure that we are maximizing these funds. And if we can I guess we we have more less than 2 years ago, but more than this last year. But if we can do more with less, so spreading out and doing some things to really where we can maximize this benefit, um we've seen what PD can do. Uh I know I I won't speak for my fellow board members, but I probably could confidently say that we you know, we're big believers in PD. We've seen the

051the positive results of that. Um but you know, I I I know for me personally, I want us to get as many as we can. So, if there's a way to reduce costs in ways where we can spread it out to more, then I'd want us to see or want to see us do that if we can. I agree. We've been very creative this year with with budgeting and trying to move as much as we can into our title funds. Um it's also good to go to site visit sometimes or go to conferences, but it's also good to bring in-house people and eliminate the expense of travel. So, we look at both of those. Moving on to title three. Yes. Did the uh Capturing Kids Heart, is that what fell into like title It was

052partially funded Yes, sir. It was partially funded through title two, not fully, but we did we were able to do par- part of it. Okay, thank you. And it will cost much less this year. Any other questions? Okay, title three. This is our a funding source that supports English learners by funding language instruction programs, academic support services, and family engagement to help students develop English proficiency and succeed academically. So, we're looking at our English language learners. This budget pretty much stays the same from year to year. Open to any questions. So, I'll point out um just for the community, uh you have a very nice note cuz I was going to ask a question about it, but you answered it. So, there are 40 different languages spoken across the district. That's uh that's uh to

053me that's an impressive number. Um it shows the the culture um that we have in our district, but it also shows that we do have uh English English as a second language, and so obviously there's a need for us to fill there. But, 40 different languages, that's uh it's quite impressive. Absolutely. Okay, I'm moving to the title four. So, title four funding supports a well-rounded education, safe and healthy schools, and effective use of technology through flexible funding for student support programs and instructional resources. So, a lot of the things that you'll see here are programs such as suicide prevention, nursing supplies, professional development for the lead nurse, for our PE teacher, social workers, school counselors, and anything technology related can fall under here to for the well-rounded student. So, any comments or questions are entitled

054for budget. Okay. All right, I have one more for me that I'll be presenting that's on the Carl Perkins basic funding. This falls under career and technical education CTE. Supports the CTE programs by funding equipment, industry-aligned instruction, workforce readiness skills, career pathways, and opportunities to help prepare students for college and careers. So, I'm happy to answer any questions about the CTE Carl Perkins basic budget. All right, that's it for me. I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Huffman. Really quick, [clears throat] Ms. Abel. The um the software increase from last year that doubled over the past couple years, I think you have mentioned to us in another presentation that there was something we were maybe getting for a new program, but I can't remember what. For CTE specifically? Yes, um we had some leaders

055who currently recently attended a work-based learning conference. We have increased our work-based learning enrollment for next year, and so we're looking at a program called Pathful Job Ready Work-Based Learning to track hours, and the documents between the student and the employer surveys can be handled directly. So, So, more of a accountability and tracking system to streamline everything for work-based learning. Um also, we are looking at a better Adobe program, TOSA Adobe. Um so, those are two of the things that caused cuz it did increase about, you know, from I think it doubled almost, yeah. Thank you, I appreciate that. And is that increase in the work-based learning um as a result of the block schedule allowing for more people to participate I think that yes. They have had a huge um increase in the enrollment

056in CTE courses cuz there more opportunities for students. So, we're excited also too because having students enrolled in the CTE also generates more revenue when we look at the weights uh that are provided from the state. So, besides giving students incredible opportunities a state focus and it's a district focus. That's right. Um so, we're investing exactly where we're supposed to be. I appreciate that and thank you for explaining that software because a lot of families are very interested in work-based learning, but kind of that back-end documentation like you said, accountability is the part that we've the as you know, we've received it, you've received it, feedback to enhance and it sounds like we are working really hard to get that done. Yes, and we're looking at more in-house work-based learning as well through school-based enterprise

057with our Sting Studios and and other methods where students can actually do work-based learning during the school day at school. >> Without having to leave campus. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I have IDEA Part B. And those are federal funds set aside for students with disabilities ages 3 to 21. Um if you have any questions regarding that, there's personnel and then contracts and in-service fall under this. So, it supplements what's in the general purpose budget. Just to clarify on this, this this is going to be federal funding, correct? So, I know we get some weighted state funding for our students. That is that in added in here, or is that separate bucket? I know it's a separate bucket, but it but it all You've got it to where it all rolls up. So,

058I guess the way for your department. >> Yeah, so that falls in my general purpose. That's where the general purpose moneys come from. So, this is strictly what comes from the federal side. But, you're correct. It also uses um It reads numbers two times a year. So, it takes the amount of services each student gets and funds them on a certain percentage at the federal level, and that's how they determine the money we get. Okay, yeah, I just wanted to clarify that the the 1.2 million There's more than that we generate from federal. So, you're you're dealing with more than uh yeah. Yeah, this is just supplemental. All right. And so, the next piece is my humongous IDEA preschool budget. These are federal funds that are only spent on students ages 3 to 5. So,

059I do not have personnel, obviously, in this budget. Um but, some of it just to highlight these funds, the other contracted services this used to is used to pay for a contract uh speech language pathologist that pushes into community preschools to provide those services. Any questions about preschool? All right, thanks. So, just to reiterate, we receive other than uh a non-recurring grant that we have to apply for every year that covers just a portion of it. Um there is no direct funding from the state to cover this state and federal federally required program. You are correct. Yes, sir. You're going to make me say that a lot. I love it. >> [laughter] >> Next up is school nutrition. All right. I've got school nutrition. As you know, we contract out SFE um for all our

060food nutrition services. It has been a uh rewarding relationship and um the uh the main thing look at here basically the the budget balances out. Um any surplus we had, we put that into equipment for next year mainly due to rising costs. >> [snorts] >> Any questions? Okay. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Next budget is the capital improvement budget. This is the funds that we anticipate receiving from the Shelby County Commission for capital improvement projects. Um just to refresh everyone's memory that those are the funds that we're using to fund the Farmington roofing project that's getting ready to take place this summer as well well as the Houston High School improvements that are taking place with the ceiling tile and grid and LED lights in the bathroom renovations. So, when we get those, we plan

061and we spend. Um now this is always an educated guess based on previous funding. We don't actually get our allocation from the Shelby County Commission until the fall. So, this is an educated guess based on funding that we've received in the past. And uh we have internal controls in place that we don't spend this money until we receive it. So, uh that is our anticipation in funding for CIP from the Shelby County Commission. Be happy to answer any questions. If there are no questions about the county funding, I'd like to take this opportunity since we're dealing with capital improvement to talk about where we are with funding from the city for Houston High. So, Mr. Manuel, Mr. Kathy, if you either one just kind of I think it's a good opportunity to make sure the

062public knows where we are and and what we're thinking at this point. My understanding is that the city has $10 million planned to fund the Houston High master plan. They've included that in the first reading of their budget. So, our understanding is that that $10 million in funding would be available to us in the fall. We are moving forward with 4F for design for the cafeteria innovation. Any dollars left over looking at a small fine art swing. And $10 million is we're going to make it go as far as it can go. But, I remind people that the Houston Middle Edition cost $17 million. The track and field renovations that we recently did were was a $3 million project. The renovations that we're doing at the high school are $2 million. $10 million just doesn't

063go very far in the world of construction. So, after we get done doing full design on the cafeteria, we'll see what we have left and stretch that as far as it can go. That is a very brief my understanding of where we are in that process. So, do we have any indication of anything longer term? So, I know we were in meetings, but I know y'all y'all had conversations with the city administration. Is the plan as debt rolls off to be able to look at doing more? I guess from from our standpoint what are we planning for that's realistic at this point? We're just planning for the $10 million and then hoping for more beyond that? Yes. The only conversations, and again, these are just conversations just that, so not binding. But, they've had we've

064had conversations with city administrator Hausman about possibly putting something in the outer years uh 6 to 7 years from now possibly. Um and again, not large amounts uh but something in the outer years 6 to 7 years from now. But again, those are conversations uh and uh the only thing that's bird in the hand that's that's been actually put into a document in a budget is the 10 million. And that did pass the first and it's timely that we're having this discussion. So that did pass first reading last night. Um Yeah, I I guess for us I'm assuming we're going to have uh like you've done in the past kind of a menu of items for us to choose from. So as as we look at the projects, you will have So we'll have the

065cafeteria on the menu, the fine arts, you know, the different items to see basically where cuz we're going to have to stretch 10 million and make it, you know, make it work for us. >> Yeah, our first touch will be to do the cafeteria and then do some cost projections and then see kind of where we are, roughly what we're looking at. And then from there, we'll plan with what we have left. And we always have the things that are base things. But yeah, if there are a menu of options like we brought to the board with the track and field renovation, we'll bring those options and try to stretch it as far as it can go. And I want to say again as I said earlier when we were talking about the annual funding

066I I empathize with the city and and how tight and how difficult their financial situation is. Um I sat through the budget last year. Uh we I think we all were there that we sat through their budget hearings. Um and they're dealing with um a lot. There's a lot on their plate. So I don't want it to be mistaken at all that we don't empathize and understand. Uh so I'm I'm very appreciative of what we received. Um is it going to be transformational? No, it's not. And I'm I'm not going to sit here and and tell you it is. Are we going to be able to do good with it? Yes, I do believe we'll be able to make some but is it going to do anything in the master plan? From a funding percentage,

067it's about 10% of what we were looking at if we were going to truly transform that campus. So again, I don't want it to be mistaken. I'm I'm extremely grateful because as tight as things are with the city budget, they could have easily said zero. Like they they went through it. We saw all their pension obligations. We saw it was we saw a lot of you know burdens on their budgets. I'm very I'm understanding of that but I I I want it to be realistic. I don't want it to come across at all. I'm I'm very thankful for what we what we received but we're going to have to be realistic about what it's going to accomplish for us. And I commit just as a board member that you know, I will make sure and

068try to scrape, you know, I'm going to look at everything that we can possibly do to stretch to the last penny on that. But um you know, it's there's still going to be a lot of work over there to be done to get the school to the I think to meet the expectation of our families. Outside of the high school, I know we received some projections on the Farmington addition and needed to go back to kind of look at some of that. Um have we heard back on projections for um the park behind Houston High on any additional I will turn it over to Mr. Prekoski to talk about where we are with the Parker projections there. Yes, Mr. Prekoski has been working hard on the properties behind. I'm actually meeting with that team Thursday

069to start working on a timeline. Um we did a lot of surveying and boring and drilling out there to get an idea of what kind of soil we were doing dealing with. It's wet a little bit as is all soil in Germantown, I think once you get down past about 6 in. Um but they they said it's not wet enough that it's going to cause a real increase in price. So they're sticking with that original cost estimate that that we were given on the front end. Um obviously, if we decide to add, you know, things as we go through, that would increase the price, but we should be pretty pretty consistent with those cost estimates as the mitigation plan they said could just involve a couple of weeks of turning the soil, letting it dry,

070turn it again, let it dry. Um as opposed to adding substrate to that soil. So I think we're we're still kind of in line with those cost estimates, but I can get a I can get a more updated uh current response Thursday. Okay, I I and I and I've still got those original numbers from a while back, so that's good. I was just I just was wondering. Appreciate it. >> [clears throat] >> He's we're still proceeding through that process. The next step, we're getting the um we'll get documents ready to go out to bid for it and um we'll move on to the next step, so that's what we're working on right now. Next item is health insurance, Ms. Stratton. Good evening. So just to highlight a few of our revenue sources for the health

071insurance fund for the 26-27 school year, we're increasing the employee portion of our premium rates by 5%, which equals approximately $290,000. In addition, GMSD budgeted an additional 2.4 million in general funds and reserves for the employer portion of the medical premiums to help cover claims and administrative costs for the upcoming school year. Uh the increase in employee and employer contributions attributes to around $9.4 million in revenue. Other sources of income that we expect to receive includes quarterly pharmacy rebates through Welldyne, which is our prescription drug administrator. This year we've been averaging around $25,000 in rebates each quarter, and we are also accounting for anticipated stop-loss reimbursements as our 3-year stop-loss reimbursement average has been around $650,000. So, this brings us to a total revenue budgeted amount of $10,214,060. On the expenditure side, we have budgeted

072amounts to cover potential increases with our medical stop-loss premiums and pharmacy claims, as well as administrative services for FY27. Uh our administrative services includes our benefits consulting fees from employee employee security planning, our third-party fees from Lucent Health, Welldyne, and Concern, which is our employee assistance program. In addition, we're budgeting $540,000 for an employee health clinic to cover expenses. And later on in this work session, I'll be sharing an update on the future of GMSD's health clinic, which includes some exciting changes. This brings our total expenditures budgeted for the health insurance plan to $10,214,060. I'm happy to answer any questions that the board may have in regards to uh our health insurance budget for FY27. Okay, thank you, Ms. Stratton. >> All right. For the OPEB trust, um this is our um other post-employment benefits

073account. It is invested in a well-diversified portfolio. Um we've seen healthy gains on it over the years. We'll continue to see that, I foresee. Um revenues and expenditures will continue to go down just as we have um our retirees that are going into Medicare once they hit 65. So. I'll take any questions. This is what I want to point out. We've seen the cost curve actually benefit us on this. It's gone down substantially. But that's from boards prior to this fully funding it each year. And so, we're not playing catch-up because we did the right thing on the front end. Uh our cost will see go down. And so, um and obviously, the market has done really well over the last couple years. I know we've um we've reaped significant benefits from that. And so,

074my thought is is that uh you know, us doing the right thing I don't know how low this number will go, but just from 2 years ago, we're close to uh or just under $400,000 So, um I again, I think that's a testament to the boards prior to us uh really making that investment and sticking to it. And then we're seeing today the benefit of that. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. That was very intentional, and I'm grateful for all the leadership both administratively, financially, um that have supported that's that consistency. I think that it has made us better um fiscally. Um and and it's also just an example of good stewardship. That concludes our other funds budgets. All right. Uh that brings us to item number three on the agenda. >> [clears throat]

075>> RFP number GMSD FY2026-002 sports medicine services provider for Houston High School. Mr. Bland. Got it. This is RFP for athletic training training services. Uh we currently use OrthoOne. We've gone out to RFP for this and apples to apples we're going to save a little bit of money uh but we will we are recommending that we uh utilize the third the option for a third trainer uh which is about about $10,000 for 20 hours. Uh we currently pay 40 for OrthoOne and then we give them about 5,000 for training supplies. Uh with this deal, they're going to give us 7,500 for training supplies. And the initial contract is 35,000. Uh you add on the additional trainer which we desperately need uh with the amount of spring sports. So, that takes us to about 45,000 uh

076and then they're giving us a little bit more. So, we're recommending that we go with Campbell Clinic for our athletic training services. Will those uh trainers be available for uh the freshman and junior varsity games as well as the varsity uh for all sports? You >> There's not a guarantee. So, what they have to look at is they have to sit down with uh our head athletic director and the coaches and say here are the events we have coming this week and they decide they have to decide coverage. There's never enough to cover everything. So, they could but adding an additional trainer will help push down into those sports. Yeah. But no guarantee. I think just the weekend before last, I think we had there was a lacrosse game going on at Johnson Road Park.

077I believe there was there may have been a baseball game going on at the same time. Then there was a sectional track meet or sub-sectional track meet. So, there was a lot going on and I know I heard from a parent of an injury at the track where a sprinter doing some practice sprints ran into someone. Basically, I don't know what happened. Anyway, the ambulance was ultimately called but there was there wasn't a trainer at that moment because they were they were spread pretty thin. So, I think the need for the third trainer is I think it's there especially during the spring. Um and hopefully that will help. Um I know Campbell has a very large presence in our city. So, I think you know, should something happen, you know, they have the after hours

078clinic. I mean, there's a lot of Campbell resources that are right they're here within our our city boundaries. So, I'm I'm hopeful and knock on wood that no one needs it but should they need it, you know, having it right here in in the city I'm hopeful is beneficial to our families. Is it? Thank you. All right, brings us item number four on the agenda. RFP number GMSD FY2026-003. GMSD janitorial services. Prokoski. All right, you guys have a copy of the RFP and you also have a pricing breakdown that um, we've provided and pulled from those proposals. We had 14 responses for this, which we're very appreciative of, but um, has led to us still completing our due diligence on all aspects of these proposals. We will have a recommendation for the board at the

079business meeting on the 19th. So, as we do in the business meeting now, we do have um, an opportunity for Q&A um, as Mr. Manuel goes over the items. So, at that time, if any members have any questions about the specific bid, then feel free during the board business meeting to ask those at that time before the motion is made. Uh, and I too am very encouraged. Um, that's the most I've seen for an RFP in quite some time. So, that very encouraging to see. Um, as far as where we are today, with with our current expenditures, where is this roughly falling out? About the same, less? >> No, it's a little less, about uh, 150 less. That's very encouraging. Mhm. Is that 150 less on the least expensive bid? Correct. Thank you, Mr. Prekaski.

080>> Kaski. Brings us to item number five on our agenda. Insurance renewal for property, liability, workers compensation, and student accident insurance. Mr. Cathy. Thank you, Mr. Curry. Um, this is a request for the board to renew our um, insurance policies for those aforementioned property, liability, workers compensation, and student accident insurance. Um, on page one, you'll see the premium summary, and uh, really everything else kind of shook out as static. There was a bump in property, which explains the majority of the increase. Um We've been very happy with this carrier. We've had a long-standing relationship with Mr. McDonald. Uh he is here tonight. If you have any in the in the in the weeds nitty-gritty questions about insurance, um but that is the that that is the gist of this item. Be happy to answer any

081questions you might have. Stop looking at me. >> [laughter] >> I know I'm the only one that would love to talk about insurance here. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, please. No, everything looks looks on par. I know I've seen insurance in my homeowners or the homeowners cost increase um and auto. So, insurance is going up. So, I I'll be honest with you. This is um I was I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that um you know, given what I've seen with my own and I'm sure my fellow board members, the cost of everything going up to see just the I think small increase in the grand scheme of things. Um I found that to be pretty encouraging for us. So, you are your own insurance company. So, there are no profits that an insurance company gets.

082Y'all are in a single cell captive with other municipalities in the state of Tennessee and other school districts. So, at the bottom you see these member dividends. And so, at the end of the year, if they do make a profit, they return it to all the members in the form of a dividend. I wish I would get a dividend. >> [laughter] >> Okay. All right, moving along. Item number six on the agenda. Amendment number one to the pupil transportation services agreement. Mr. Prokoski. I'm back. Um all right, so we this year ended our 3-year contract with Durham and we have an opportunity for extension here. The pricing sheet at the end of the contract that you have um outlines the 4% increase over last year, pretty standard and has been the same for the past

083few years. In talking with and working with the directors of the other municipalities, we all agree that a 1-year extension is in our best interest at this time. Bus service is never perfect, but it's been pretty good this year. Any questions for Mr. Prokosch? Sorry if this is in the weeds, but can you remind me how we do the split on fuel? I mean, are we spending a lot more on fuel? We spend a little We've spent a little more on fuel, but um it hasn't been anything outside of what we've budgeted so far. We kind of add in case we have a situation like that. >> wondering I'm just with prices having gone up so much recently. I'll probably know more with the May invoice. Yeah, you're going to be scared to open that

084one. All right. Thank you, Mr. Prokosch. Brings us to item number seven on our agenda. Shared health clinic with PartnerWell. Mrs. Stratton. So this year our HR department has been researching various ways to assist with the cost of our overall health insurance budget. And one of the areas that we are exploring is our health clinic. Currently, GMSD operates a one-site health clinic named the GMSD Health and Wellness Center through a third-party administrator called Community Care Associates. And the Health and Wellness Center has been serving GMSD employees and their dependents and our retirees since September of 2022. And it's located in the office building that is on the same campus as Methodist Germantown Hospital in Germantown. The clinic is open 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And it

085offers services that includes treating minor medical conditions, chronic care management, preventative care, as well as serving as one of our workers' compensation facilities. And the annual cost to operate the GMSD Health and Wellness Center is approximately $540,000. GMSD will be ending its partnership with Community Care Associates on September 24th of 2026. And there were several factors that led to this decision. Over the past few years, GMSD has experienced a significant increase in medical and prescription claims, which has placed considerable pressure on our overall health insurance budget. The Health and Wellness Center costs the district more than $500,000 annually to operate and is only open 3 days a week. Our employees consistently provide feedback to HR to expand the clinic hours, but the operating costs do not allow us to increase this availability. In addition, although

086the Health and Wellness Center offers pharmacy services, the current for- formulary is limited and has not produced a meaningful reduction in our plan's prescription costs. And finally, the current reporting structure does not include district claims data, which limits our ability to evaluate measurable outcomes towards the impact the clinic has on our health insurance claims. So, GMSD is looking for a clinic provider that allows for expanded medical care access at a lower overall cost, pharmacy capabilities that will directly impact and reduce pharmacy expenses, and provide us with regularly regular regular data analytics using GMSD claims data to clearly demonstrate the clinic's impact on our overall health plan. And we have found all this and more with a provider called Partnered Well offers a shared health clinic option through a partnership with Baptist Urgent Care. GMSD employees,

087their dependents, and our retirees will have access to six health centers in the Memphis area, including clinics in Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Olive Branch, and Horn Lake, Mississippi, as well as 80 health centers across the United States. And the additional locations offer ease of access to all of our employees, including retirees who may have moved out of the Memphis area. The clinics are open 7 days a week, Monday through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., which gives our employees flexibility and expanded access to a medical provider, which is what our folks have been asking for. Um GMSD employees who utilize our health insurance will have priority access at all centers, and the clinic offers all of the same services

088as the health and wellness center, such as treating those minor medical conditions, preventative care, chronic disease management, and workers compensation. These facilities even have X-ray machines at their locations, so employees will no longer have to go to the emergency room for confirmation of a sprain or a broken bone, which is an enhancement from our GMSD Health and Wellness Center. In addition, GMSD employees will also have access to care coordination services, which means that a dedicated team member from Partnered Well will call our employees after a visit to discuss their experience to number one, make sure that they are receiving exceptional customer service, and number two, to offer support with coordinating follow-up appointments. So, for example, Jessica with Partnered Well will follow up with an employee who's recently visited the clinic to assist with scheduling his

089or her colonoscopy. Jessica is going to review GMSD health insurance plan that the employee is on and will research the providers who take our health insurance to coordinate that appointment. Uh she's going to take the hassle out of scheduling an appointment off of our employees. Plus, she'll make sure that they do not delay any necessary medical procedures. And this is just one example of what care coordination services our GMSD employees can expect with Partnered Well. One aspect of partnering with Partnered Well that we are very eager to utilize is the pharmacy capability. So, Partnered Well contracts with ASMed's pharmacy to offer an expanded pharmacy formulary, which will offer our employees a $0 copay for brand name drugs and has the potential to reduce GMSD pharmacy claims by $700,000. Prescriptions included in this pharmacy formulary include

090those GLP-1 drugs for diabetes, as well as Tremfya and Rinvoq, which are some of GMSD's most expensive brand name drugs. And finally, Partnered Well has reporting analytics capabilities tied directly to GMSD claims data so that we can truly demonstrate the clinic's impact on our overall health. So, the estimated cost for the shared health clinic is $396,000 annually or $60 per participant on our health insurance plan per month. Which this is locked in for 2 years and then the participant fees go up 3% each year. Um we also are not locked into a long-term contract. If we're not satisfied with the services that Partnered Well to offers, we just have to provide 120-day notice. So at this time, Chairman Curry, I'm happy to answer any questions you or other members have um in regards to transitioning

091over to the Shared Health Centers offer with Partnered Well. And I'll I'll just have one more thing to say. You did an incredible job. But for me, cost significantly less, but more opportunities for our staff to get in and see a doctor. Huge potential for savings with prescription drug costs. When you put all those factors on the the table, I think it's an incredible opportunity for us. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Allen. That was outstanding. Um you know, your your analysis I mean, it's a no-brainer, I I think. Um I do want to point out for our employees, I think this is important. Right now, they only had the one option and and they obviously were asking, but there's going to be six in the Memphis area and we know that we have employees that live

092in Collierville, that live in Bartlett, you know, they live around. Um and so the fact that they have access to more locations with better hours. Um I'm I'm proud that we're able to do this for our employees. Uh at first when I saw this, I knew how popular our clinic was with our employees and so you know, when you just read it, I'm like, "Oh, no." Right. Because I didn't want that that benefit [clears throat] to go away, but it we're enhancing it for less money and um again, longer, hopefully, uh longer-term savings on our prescription costs. So um I appreciate the presentation. Um Um This is the creative research that we need to try to bend our cost curve down, particularly with health. We've talked a lot about, you know, the the just the

093the headwinds, I guess, for lack of a better term for our our health care costs. Everyone's dealing with it, but we we knew that we were going to have to get creative, and you did. So, I I appreciate that. Yes, thank you, Mr. I'm sorry, Bill Good. I would I was just wondering, um if the current health clinic, does it have any of this expanded pharmacy formulary opportunity for saving, or is that with It it does not. So, it does have a pharmacy where our employees can get some of um prescriptions, but it doesn't have that expanded pharmacy pharmacy. And so, what happens in those cases, they have to go to a Walgreens, or they have to go to another place where there's a middle man, and so there's an upcharge for all those uh

094prescriptions. So, we're we will get them at cost with this formulary. So, now this is uh sounds like a uh improvement, uh which is what we want, especially when it comes to health care. So, thank you for this. Uh my question is uh when it comes to the wait times, Mhm. um I see it has priority access for GMST employees, uh dependents, and retirees. What does it What does that exactly mean, though, in regards to what they should expect for wait times? >> That's a great question. So, um on average, they say that a GMST employee can expect to wait maybe 30 minutes to 45 minutes, depending upon how busy the clinic is. And so, if um an employee it goes to the clinic and there are other people that are there, uh if they

095are on our GMST health insurance, they have priority access, which means they jump to the front of the line. Um they can schedule an appointment if they want, or if can just walk in. And if they walk in and there are other people there, that's when they have that priority access. They also have virtual capabilities, too, so that they don't even have to go to the clinic. They can um do that virtually. So, a 30-minute to 45-minute wait time. Okay. Awesome. And that's compared to what at the current facility? Well, at the at our current facility, it's probably a little bit less, like maybe 15 to 20 minutes. They do schedule out the appointments in 45-minute increments, but I do think that they get to see them in just a little bit quicker. >> All

096right. And then lastly, uh I think you mentioned GLP-1s are going to be on the formulary now. For diabetes purposes, not >> for weight loss. Okay. And that's the Is that the same coverage that they currently are? >> Yes. Yes. >> All right. All right. >> But right now, our employees uh the way they go get their prescriptions, they have to pay a $100 copay. But if they go and and get their prescriptions filled through um our the new clinic, they will pay a $0 copay, which is great. And then we also are going to um have a significantly reduced cost in paying for those drugs, as well. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, Mr. Hendrix, my concern was just the wait time, cuz I've I've heard all kinds of great stories where somebody will go during

097a planning period or something and be back in time. Um but I think also having the extended hours, Yes. you know, again, it's not maybe quite as convenient, but if you can go after work, as well. >> Or on a Saturday or Sunday now. Yeah, that's a game changer. Yeah, I think on on the whole, it it's it almost sounds too good to be true, but let's Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, we're not going to No. I'll I'll be I'll definitely want to hear hear back people's experiences and Yes. But thank you. Uh any other questions on this item? All right, that takes us to item number eight, GMSD tenure recommendations, Mr. Stratton. So, the GMSD teachers that we're recommending tonight for tenure consideration have served the required probationary status of working in a Tennessee

098public school for at least 5 years and have proven continued success as a classroom teacher by earning level of effectiveness scores of either above expectations or significantly above expectations within their last 2 years of teaching on a probationary status. These level of effectiveness scores are determined through classroom and professional evaluations as well as student achievement and growth data. Uh as a reminder, tenure is an employment status. So, all teachers in GMSD are considered either probationary or tenured. Tenured provides due process for teachers during discipline or dismissal cases. In addition, tenured teachers have continuing employment with GMSD unless they're being dismissed for cause. Earning tenure is one of the highest professional distinctions that an educator can accomplish. And while the state of Tennessee outlines the tenure eligibility requirements, the granting of tenure is a local Board

099of Education decision. For your review, we've provided a handout that explained our process for identifying this year's tenure eligible teachers as well as the individual names of the 36 GMSD teachers who we are recommending the GMSD School Board to grant tenure status. The GMSD Human Resources Department, along with the support of all six of our school principals and Superintendent Manuel, is excited to recommend to you this year's educators who are eligible for tenure in our district. And at this time, Chairman Curry, I'm happy to answer any questions that you or the board may have in regards to the tenure process. Thank you again for the explanation and bringing that forward. It's one of the more serious things that we do. It's It's uh uh May is always a celebratory month because we celebrate the status,

100but it um you know, it it's a very significant milestone for these these employees, and so um always look forward to this each year. I'll open up floor for any questions for Mr. Stratton. I just like to say there's a lot of great teachers on here that definitely deserve it, so. It's helpful to have that first-hand validation, so. I mean that you've really swayed my decision, so I'm all right. >> [laughter] >> I appreciate you. No, and that and honestly that that that helps because yes, you've been and I know looking at the list I've seen some teachers that my my daughters have had, and so it's it's neat to see that they're being recognized, and um look forward to next week and being able to um you know, have the have the recognition. Well,

101and I make this note every year, but and likely [clears throat] will next week, there are some people on this list that have achieved tenure in other districts. There are some people on this list who have been with us since they graduated their prep program, went straight to work, and and they're achieving it for the first time. Um and have been with us every step of the way. So, there's a a blend and mixture of experience, but yet this is very unique and special for our district employees um who are with us now and who have earned this opportunity and designation. All right. And last but not least, item number nine on our agenda, miscellaneous FY25-26 budget amendment number 11. Summer learning camps. Mrs. Abel. I'm happy to present to you our summer allocation for

102this year for our summer learning camps. I can give any kind of background information if you would like on our our summer camps. This we are in our sixth year of planning camps. It's hard to believe that we started this in 2021. Um but we have received the same allocation every year and with this particular year for our summer learning camps, this is the first time that they have lumped our transportation budget in to spend however we would like. It doesn't have to be allocated toward transportation. So last year our amount was 620 2,000. Uh no, 670,000 was our amount that we received the previous years, last year and before and prior to that. This year you can see our allocation is 792,000 because they lumped in transportation and they're being a little more lenient

103about how we spend that toward the camp. So um to give you some background knowledge, it is a camp for our rising K through ninth grade students who identify through priority status. We invited over 1,200 students. Um we have 309 who have registered so far, which is slightly higher than when I was this time last year. We usually have around 300 students total for the camp. Um we have hired 56 teachers, eight educational assistants, and two nurses, two counselors so that each location, which we're still sticking to our two locations, Forest Hill and Houston Middle, two nurses, two counselors, and then two administrators, which is an outstanding leadership opportunity for assistant principals. They're eligible to apply to become the administrator for each of the camps. Uh this year we have Ethan Constant serving at Houston

104Middle School and Joy Phipps returning to Forest Hill um as our lead administrators for those two camps. And I will open the floor to any questions. Do you anticipate additional students coming or do you think it'll stay around that 309? We think it'll stay around that. We will receive next week our raw scores from the state testing and that's when we will start calling the third grade parents um who might who did not score proficient to see if they wanted to choose camp as their promotional pathway if they haven't already. So, we might pick up some more through that. Got it. Is there a theme yet for >> Yes, there's a theme. I'm so glad you asked. We are sticking with the empowering personal potential theme of Survivor. So, it's join us in the jungle

105for Survivor, learn, play, and achieve. So, we're excited about our Survivor theme. Megan Gaschler oversees our camp programming for the district, and we have lots of fun things planned. Yes, it is an academic camp to help them with ELA math intervention. They have steam also stem steam activities, but it is a academically focused with lots of fun. Survivor challenges, I'm sure, during recess. Yes. As far as um the just subtle or slight increase, are we seeing a shift in that middle school opportunity? I felt like early on in the camp's access when it was very focused on elementary, and now that it's expanded, and you know, some of those, excuse me, sixth, seventh, eighth graders have that opportunity, and families are seeing the benefits of that. Um do you feel like that's part of that

106little bit of growth? It is, actually. Um we've struggled with getting rising ninth graders to attend. You know, they're they've finished the middle school, they've moved on, but we've really promoted to families that this is a great opportunity for that transition from middle to high school. We typically have anywhere from like five to eight eighth graders. This year, we already have 20 registered, so we're excited. Um they're taking advantage of that. I think that that speaks volumes for not only the need, but also, you know, understanding the benefit of what you put in your department or are putting out to help that's and that support. Thank you. Any other questions for Mrs. Abel? Looking forward to it. I know uh we should see some rockets going off out here, right? Absolutely. And if anybody wants

107to see a video about summer camp, we are featured on the state website, Tennessee Learning Acceleration. You can see our video from last year. It's still posted there. It gives you a good background of what camp is about. Okay. Thank you very much. That brings us to item number 10 on the agenda, further business. So Okay, come on now. So I'll [clears throat] go first. Um I do have an award for Mr. Curry. So if if you aren't aware, we give Wave Awards for people who do incredible things with communications. And I guess this one should also be for Ms. Griffith too cuz she played a role in birthing somebody. Um But Mr. Curry captured a moment that truly became international. And and and and My daughter captured I posted He posted it. He posted.

108It was a family It was a family affair. So they they made it happen. But it truly was something special that highlighted like what makes GMST special that we're about those moments for kids in our schools. And I can't imagine having a moment like that, how cool that would be to do that. But we did want to present this Wave Award to Mr. Curry for his posting of the internet broke for this award. He was able to break the internet with his post. Yeah. Yeah, so actually uh believe it not I still get likes on it which is really strange at this point. We are up to 3.3 million views, 278,000 likes, over 6,000 repost. Uh it's absolutely amazing. 3.3 million views of Henry Griffith worldwide. Uh let's see. Last I saw Yeah, I I

109get updates every day. They're like people just keep reposting it and then then keep commenting. It's just hilarious at this point. Um I was looking to see Oh yeah, by country. Um so we still have 81.6% views in the US. 3.3% were in Canada, 1.5 in Japan, 1.2 in Australia, and 0.7 in the Philippines. So [laughter] Henry Griffith is he is worldwide. Mr. Rakowski Before my further business, all those 10-year teachers were hired in the 1920 school year. So just the fact that they're still here, I think is very impressive. >> [laughter] >> 1920. Yeah. No, the 19- Yeah. Yes. They're not that old. Um the further business is just kind of a heads-up that we are opening a bid on Thursday for two commercial dishwashers for Dogwood and Riverdale. We've had been having a

110lot of issues with those and they're basically not serviceable at this point, but we're opening a bid Thursday, so we will have a recommendation at the um business meeting. And so is the expectation that that'll come out of cafeteria funds for that? Yes. This didn't hit the threshold for pricing, but the people who manage cafeterias and nutrition in the state said that because it's coming through federal funds, it was their request to do a an RFP for it, so we will be bringing it to the board even though it's not typical of what the price level that we bring boards. I hope not. I hope not. Yeah, that's that's what I was a little That's what I was a little worried about, yeah. He's over there. And I think at this point, I guess just

111looking at that, I think most of our kitchens have been updated for the most part, right? I know obviously Forest Hill was new, Dogwood was [clears throat] renovated. I don't know about Riverdale. I don't know when that was done over the in the addition. I don't know how that went. I guess they had the old cafeterias, so I don't know. I don't know about Farmington. When When was the last They've had minor updates here and there. All the equipment has been updated, so everybody's everybody's dealing with the same or similar equipment. >> we're doing whatever we're doing in the cafeteria there, we're going to have an opportunity to to make some upgrades there. And so obviously I think the cafeteria [clears throat] fund will be hopefully utilized to the extent that we're able to for

112that. I know um COVID was helpful in that regard because we were able to get a lot of USDA money at the time as I recall. Um the balance hasn't gone up near as much as it did during that time. Um but, you know, we still are making money with SFE, and so I'm glad we're in a position to be able to do that. >> Part of that's also looking at the flow inside the cafeteria and just making it more efficient so that, you know, you don't spend half your lunch trying to get a lunch. Makes sense. All right. Look forward to that. So the May meet just just you can see all the items on the agenda plus the items are going to be brought forward. Just plan on a pretty long May meeting,

113so. >> [clears throat] >> Any other further business? All right. With that, we are adjourned. Thank you, everyone. >> And then with the reading during the meeting. I remember once in a law school class Yeah, yeah. Haha.