Cuyahoga Falls City Schools BOE Regular Meeting 5/13/2026

001Yeah. Bo cmtigers.org. Is that it? >> This one doesn't have a sticker. >> Oh, no. >> Good evening. It's 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13th. I'll call to order this regular meeting of the Ka Falls City School District Board of Education. Miss Doyco, will you please call the role? >> Mr. >> Here. >> Mr. Harris, >> here. >> Mr. Schaer >> here. >> Miss White >> here. here. >> Thank you. Item B is approval of the agenda. There's a motion to approve the agenda. It's recommended the board of education approves the agenda of the May 13, 2026 board of education meeting. Action by the board of education adoption of consent agenda means that all items are adopted by one of their motion less a member of the board of education treasur or superintendent requests that

002any item be removed from the consent agenda and voted upon separately. Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the RO. >> Mr. Gomez, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> hi. >> Mrs. Schaefer. >> Hi. >> Miss White. >> Hi. >> I. >> Thank you. Item C is our opening ceremony. Number one are ourformational items. This [snorts] meeting is a meeting with the Ka Falls Board of Education in public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business. It is not a public community meeting, although there are opportunities for public participation. If an individual wishes to address the board regarding a topic found on the meeting agenda, the individual must complete a registration form found inside the attendance notebook and present it to the treasur. Following the introduction of the topic by the board president, followed by

003board discussion, the individual will be recognized. If an individual wishes to address the board regarding a topic not found on the meeting agenda, they must notify the superintendent and or board president of the topic no later than three business days in advance of the meeting. These individuals may share their comments during the board business portion of the agenda. In both cases, the individual preface comments may announcement of their name and address and limit comments to three minutes. All statements should be directed to the board president. No person may address or question board members individually. An unabraed board agenda for this meeting can be found your electronic device at the address shown on the screen. And for your convenience, hard copies of board agenda may be found on the table by the signin book. And there's

004also something extra there night. if you want to address. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Gomez. We have a copy of um Ka Falls uh legislative contacts of our state representatives and our uh state senators in the area. Uh as you all know, public education is under attack. So, we urge you all to uh help uh help push things forward here and make your voices heard. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Harrison. The next finance committee meeting is May 19th, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. of the board of education offices at 405 Town Road. And the next policy committee meeting is May 20th, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. at the Board of Education offices. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Kite Falls board of education is May 27th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. here in the Blackbox

005Theater, 263013th Street. Now for our pledge and welcome, Mrs. Schaefer. Please stand as you're able and join me in the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Welcome. Our vision. Ka Falls City School District. The hub of our community. Committed to a culture of caring. We innovate. We create. We personalize education for all. Our mission. Every student, every day, every opportunity. >> Thank you, Mrs. Schaefer. We have a number of exciting presentations tonight and great things to celebrate and great students to honor. And first up is our gifted student recognition and invite up Mrs. Belco. >> Good evening um members of the board, administrators, families, students, staff. Um, tonight we celebrate

006the accomplishments of exceptional students who have demonstrated dedication and perseverance, leadership and academic excellence, and a commitment to enrichment and personal growth. Their achievements reflect not only their hard work, but also the support of their families, teachers, and our school community. We are proud to recognize the positive impact they have made in our schools. I would like to start with our um third graders, our third grade uh black tigers and um specifically they are national math stars. So the national math stars um thanks our national math stars program recognizes students with exceptional mathematic talent, problem solving ability and enthusiasm for mathematics. Before I call the students up, I wanted to um share a quick video to give you a little recap of what the program's about. It's new of this year to Ka Falls. I

007discovered it just this year, so it's kind of exciting. Um, but this will give you a brief recap or recap of um the organ the organization. >> Hi there. I'm Nana, CEO and founder of National Math Star. I'm so excited to congratulate you on being nominated as a National Math Star. You stood out among all the students across your district and scored in the top 2% of young mathematicians in your grade. That's amazing. Your community sees something special in the way you solve problems, think creatively, and love learning. This nomination is just the beginning of an incredible journey. And all of us at National Math Stars are so proud of you. Keep exploring. asking questions and keep shining bright. >> So, she said the top 2%. So, they the the students that I'm going to

008call up were in the top 2% of their entire grade. They took a nationally normed test um last year in the spring as second graders and that's where the the numbers were derived from. So, I want to recognize um those top 2% um Mason Adler [applause] Jackson Ambuski. [applause] Thank you. They're not the right. [snorts] Um Braden Tingler, [applause] Hannah Peterson, [applause] I'm not sure [applause] she's I'm not sure she's here tonight. and Evelyn Wal. There you are. And I do want to mention that Evelyn uh scored a perfect score on her OST. [applause] >> I don't think she's here. I think we're missing. >> If you guys want to just stand up here um for a minute and then we're going to get your picture at the end. Okay. Come on. Congratulations. Okay. Um,

009in continuing our math um recognition, I'd like to also mention um that we are uh this year we moved our 24 tournament to um a bigger audience and we moved from a district competition to um competing against six other schools at Copley Fairon Middle School in um February. And so we took our top nine students, our top nine third and fourth graders, and they um went to a tournament with 84 other students, six different school districts. And our top student, Ella Kan, fourth grader, want to come out? [applause] Ella scored in the sweet 16 spot. Congratulations, [applause] >> [applause] >> Okay. Um, moving on. Um, I think yes, we're at the Stop the Hate. So, last year we introduced a new program. It was a stop the hate poetry and essay contest through sponsored through

010the Maltz Museum. And this year we also um participated and we had a third place winner for our poetry and that was Christina Cetry. Is Christina here? [applause] >> [applause] >> SO, I DO want to note, I don't think she's here, but um over 3,000 participants in this competition. So, there was a lot of students that participated in this um uh writing write uh writing um song lyrics and essays and poetry. So, she did a really great job and she was third place. All right, moving on. We um introduced the spelling bee this year, a middle school spelling bee. And um it was following a round of classroom tests where we narrowed it down to 24 students across sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. And those 24 students um basically had a real they had a

011real spelling be where they got up, stood up in front of an audience in an auditorium and spel um did the script spelling be. So it was really exciting. It was probably nerve-wracking for those. But out of those 24 kids, our champion was Noah Walker. Eighth grader Noah Walker. Come on. [applause] Noah's winning word was decimation. >> Decimation. All right. Um, moving on to our power of the pen. So, this is our second year um participating in the power of the pen. And this is a timed creative writing competition where a team of six eighth graders and six seventh graders compete against other students across the state. Um we obviously started in Northeast Ohio and um they are timed there. It's a 40-minute round and they do that three times at a tournament. So, it's

012pretty pretty intense. Um, from that competition we had three regional qualifiers. One was Noah Walker, eighth gra Noah Walker, Ryan Kennedy, [applause] and Brooklyn Payne. I'm sure SHE [applause] give her a minute to get down here. I also want to note that both Riley and Noah won the best of round writing at the district tournament. So that qualified them to move automatically to the state level and that's what they will be doing on Monday. Um they are going to go to Ashen University and compete in the state power the pen tournaments. Additionally, those best of round pieces were nominated as platinum pen and a platinum pen gets you published in the book of winners. So, we will have two um published authors. [applause] >> I I think that's it. Can we Where's Miss Stewart? Are

013we doing a picture after Where is Topiger. >> Top tiger. >> Okay, if you can just wait and then afterwards we're all going to leave and get pictures taken. Okay. >> Congratulations, GUYS. [applause] [applause] >> WONDERFUL. NEXT, I'd like to invite up Mrs. Hman for our preschool recognition. Thank you, President Gomez, Vice President Schaefer, board members, Dr. Celico, Mrs. Stoycoy, community members, and colleagues. We have something truly special to celebrate. And so, I'd like to invite anyone that is attached to launching our preschool to please join me. If you want to line up over here or maybe around the back of the room, we'll make a big L. So, if you can join me, please. So, that'd be preschool staff me members, administration, special education, treasure, superintendent, registration, anyone that was part of launching our

014new preschool. Yes. Anyone that works there, anyone come on up. Thank you, Miss Seaman. Bring everyone. Miss Bogdan, you help hire all these people. Come on. Oh, I know it. [laughter] You'll get me later. Our preschool has officially earned the Step Up to Quality Gold rating. While this is the highest honor a preschool can receive in Ohio, what makes it truly incredible is that we achieve this as a brand new program. Usually, it takes years for a school to find its rhythm, but our team reached the top tier of excellence right out of the gate. There were many preschools that tried for this new rating, and they did not succeed, and we were one of the few in the area that did. Across Ohio, only about 25% of programs have reached the gold status. The

015state recently changed the step up to quality rule, shifting from a simple checklist to a much more challenging system. It isn't just about having a safe classroom anymore. It's about proving that our teaching is making a measurable difference in the lives of our children. Meeting these new rigorous requirements was a massive task, but our team did it with passion and heart. This success was made possible by the vision of our superintendent, Dr. Celico, who championed the creation of this program as an important resource for our families. And with the full support of the board of education with the resources and the support that you gave us, the tools, the space, prioritizing early childhood excellence, we appreciate all of your support. Their belief that our youngest learners deserve a world-class start provided the foundation for this

016gold rating. And although Mrs. Sabatiki, our director of the program, could not attend tonight, we congratulate her on her leadership and success of this new program. We couldn't have done it without her. We also have to give a huge shout out to the people who did the lifting before our first student ever arrived, walked through the door. Launching a preschool from scratch is no small feat and our registration, special education, and treasures departments really were the unsung heroes behind all the processes. They were in the trenches early on, setting up a registration system that actually made sense for parents, making sure our classrooms were ready to welcome every single learner with the right support and navigating the complex business side of a new state program. because they did such a great job building that foundation,

017our teachers, our staff, administration were able to hit the ground running on day one. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to our maintenance and building departments. Achieving this rating required meeting incredibly strict state lensure and safety. Our facilities team worked tirelessly behind the scenes preparing the school, handling complex equipment updates, and ensuring every square inch of our campus met the highest standards for health and safety. This gold rating is also a direct reflection of the incredible teamwork happening in our classrooms every day. Our teachers, related service providers, pair professionals, administrative assistants have worked hand in hand as one cohesive team, ensuring that every child receives the specialized support and attention they need to grow. Because these departments and staff members did such a great job building that foundation and working together, our educators

018were able to begin their work. Since day one, our teachers, staff, and administration have worked hand in hand. They have meticulously organized student progress, tracked every developmental milestone, and made sure that our classroom environment supports the unique needs of every single learner. An essential component of this success was our team's dedication to learning Frog Street curriculum. This is a brand new requirement that we had to change our curriculum for this year. Even while opening a new school, they were dedicating themselves to mastering the brain-based way of learning. They learned how to turn every song, story, and science experiment into a powerful teachable moment. So to our staff, to all of you who are here today, and for those who may not be here with us tonight, you didn't just open a preschool. You opened an

019awardwinning program. You've shown that even a new program can lead the way when there is a shared vision for our children. Thank you for your hard work, your late nights of planning, and providing that gold foundation for our littlest learners from day one. Congratulations to our amazing team on this historic achievement. Thank you. [applause] Next up, we have our athletic recognition, Dr. Celico, please. >> Good evening. [laughter] >> Still all right. Still there, right? Okay. Well, um I am actually presenting these awards uh these awards this evening uh on behalf of uh Mr. Johnson who would typically be here, our athletic director, but he is at an event this evening, so he was unable to be with us, but he did um leave me some notes and our our certificates are ready to go. So,

020at this time, I'd like to um recognize our winner sports uh athletes that are here with us tonight. So, as I call your name, please come forward and stay up here. I know you're gonna be a little taller than than the last group we just had. So, just don't block my view so everybody can see me and the people I give awards to. All right. Okay. So, here we are. Tonight, we are proud to recognize several outstanding student athletes for their accomplishments during the winter sports season. These athletes represented our school with tremendous dedication, hard work, leadership, and success throughout the year. From our boys basketball program, we would like to recognize senior Hayden Johnson. HAYDEN. [applause] THANKS. All right. Hayden, we're going to talk about you for a minute, had an exceptional season on

021the court and earned recognition at the league, district, and state levels for his accomplishments throughout the year. Hayden was named first team all suburban league, second team all northeast district, and honorable mention all Ohio. Congratulations to Hayden on your outstanding basketball season. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] OKAY, moving on to our girls basketball program. We would like to recognize junior Casey Lee. [applause] >> [applause] >> Casey earned first team all suburban league honors and was also named honorable mention all northeast district for her outstanding performance this season. Congratulations Casey on a tremendous year. Good job. [applause] All right. Next, we have from our bowling program, we would like to recognize junior Jonathan Rash. [applause] Congratulations. Here you go. This is for you as well. Okay. See, I told you guys were taller than that last group. Jonathan had

022an incredible season, earning first team all suburban league honors and being named the Suburban League bowler of the year. He was also selected first team all northeast district and qualified for the regional tournament this season. Congratulations Jonathan on an outstanding accomplishmentfilled year. So congratulations [applause] from our swimming program. We would like to recognize sophomore Reed Turney and junior Tyler Eisentro. [applause] Let me see. Let me see who looks like a Tyler and who looks like a Reed. Oh, [laughter] you know how I knew you did? You kind of gave a clue. I saw it. I saw it. Thank you. All right. Um Reed earned first team all suburban league honors and qualified for the district meet this season. So congratulations to you Reed on a great year in the pool. Tyler had an exceptional season

023earning first team all suburban league and first team all northeast district honors. Tyler also qualified for the state championships in the 500 freestyle event this year as well. So congratulations to Tyler on an outstanding season. Great work. [applause] Finally, this may surprise some of you. You may not even know it exists. But finally, from our wrestling program. Oh, I'm not bringing up a young man here. I'm going to bring up sophomore Briana Papovich. BRIANNA, [applause] how many of you knew there was a girls wrestling league? How many knew? >> [laughter] >> All right. Briana made school history this season by becoming our first ever state qualifier in girls wrestling. She also earned first team all northeast district honors. Congratulations to you, Briana, on this historic accomplishment and an incredible season. Good for you. [applause] Congratulations

024to all of you. It is so great to see you all up here. We're sorry for the delay. We're talking about winter sports, although I don't know, this weather's not really convincing me that it's spring just yet. So, we're not, I guess, too far away from that, but I apologize for the delay. But, I'd like to um ask everyone to just join me again in congratulating all of these student athletes for their hard work, dedication, and accomplishments during the winter sports season. We are extremely proud of each and every one of you and look forward to your continued success both in competition and in the classroom. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> Stick around for photos though. We're almost one more recognition that we're all going to get pictures together. >> I'll invite Dr. Celico to stay up

025there for our top tigers. >> Yes. Thank you. And Miss Zimmerman, I believe you're helping me this evening. >> All right. Well, good evening again. Where are my top tigers? Raise your hand. Let's see it. All right. No, not adults. Just kids. No, I'm kidding. I didn't see any adults raise their hand. I'm just teasing. All right. So, um, how many of you this is your first time to as a Top Tiger parents or family members? First time rec being recognized, one of your children. All right. Very good. Okay. Well, let me tell you a little bit about the top tiger award. Um, it's given by our board of education to students uh by from each building each month. And the students are chosen by various staff members in their buildings. And I get the

026honor of reading about each one of those students. So I'm going to ask, now this is different every time. You never know what you're going to get because sometimes we're in the auditorium, sometimes we're in the black box, sometimes rooms are available, sometimes they're not. So let's see how we do. And if I'm wrong, Mrs. Stewart, correct me. But as we call your name, students, here's what you're going to do. You're going to come forward. You're going to stand right here. Mrs. Zimmerman is going to help give you some goodies. And I would be remiss if I did not mention this because Miss Mrs. Cario wanted to point out to me that she's not only given me this one time, but she's given it to me three times. Thank you. Um that you will all

027be getting a top tiger sign that you can put in your yard or window to display. So that's compliments of our teachers union. So thank you for that, Mrs. CARLILELE. [applause] OKAY. OKAY. SO, when you come up and you get all these great things, um, I'm going to read a little bit about you and then you're going to come behind me and you'll see Miss Stewart here. She's going to take your picture. All right. So, students will get your picture taken. All right. And then um we are also I also want to point out that what's in these bags are also um given to are things that are given to us from a number of generous community sponsors including our uh Kyoga Falls Schools Foundation and alumni association. So, we want to thank them and

028our partners for all that they do to support our students. So, after you get your picture taken, you will go back and sit in your seats. And then from there, we'll have more directions on where we'll go for to get pick up the rest of your goodies and um t-shirt, I believe, and a picture. So, we'll I'll hold off because I'll tell you that now and then in 20 minutes, you may not remember if you're like me. So, we'll we'll do that later. And um also at this time, I'd like to call forward Anne Stormer who's going to speak to you from uh the foundation. So, thank you, Anne. Good evening. My name is Anne Stormer and I am proud to serve as a trustee in the Kyahoga Falls Foundation and Alumni Association. Uh we

029are one of the sponsors for the top tiger awards. Uh in addition to top tigers, each year the foundation awards over $150,000 in student scholarships, award grants to teachers for innovating classroom projects, and helps connect alumni by assisting with class reunions and class websites. Each May, we also recognize two to three distinguished alumni and host a recognition program and reception. All of our top tigers are invited to march with us in the Memorial Day parade tonight after the top tigers. Well, after So, should I tell them where to go? >> Yeah. Okay. Sorry. We were going to tell you, but we'll skip on that part. Um, so we're going to take the photo. Um, the adults that will be accompanying students, we will give you a folder uh that explains a little bit more about

030the foundation. Um, we encourage you to look through the information in that folder and please consider uh becoming a member of the foundation. On behalf of the Kyoga Falls Schools Foundation and Alumni Association, we congratulate all of the top tigers on earning this very special recognition. We are proud of each and every one of you and look forward to seeing you in the Memorial Day parade. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. [applause] We also have other members of our foundation here, Genevieve and and Chris Shrader. Right. So, we appreciate you being here as well and all the support that they've given to our students. You heard, I believe the number is 166,000 in scholarships. Amazing. So, 166,000 [applause] just this year. Yeah. All right. Been waiting very patiently. Are we ready? >> Top tigers, are you

031ready? >> Let's hear it just from you. Top tigers, you ready? >> [laughter] >> Now, I'm probably going to be reading things that are like they're enthusiastic, they're sweet, they're this, and then no one even like said anything to be excited. Where's that enthusiasm? All right, we'll get started. We won't delay any further. All right, we're going to begin with the high school. So, our first student from Kyoga Falls High School is Jenna Huar. [applause] Congratulations. Stand here. All right. Jenna is an outstanding role model for her peers at the high school. This year in her AP literature and composition class, Jenna has shown a dedication to academic achievement, especially during the last few months of her senior year. She is an active participant in class, never misses an assignment, and is always kind and

032respectful towards her classmates. Jenna's ability to gracefully balance her academics and activities, including cosmetology, the yearbook, and her involvement as both a dancer and a student and student teacher at the dance studio. Wow. Is admirable. Jenna represents her black tiger pride on a daily basis and has excelled both in the classroom and in the greater school community. Congratulations. Very nice. [applause] Our second student this evening from the high school is Owen Liot. [applause] >> Hey Owen. Owen has demonstrated perseverance and resilience in AP literature and composition. You guys classmates, let's look at this. I knew it. And best friends, that's amazing. And is a fantastic representation of Black Tiger pride. No matter what personal challenges he experienced this year, Owen has always come to class with a positive attitude and a smile on his face,

033ready to give his very best effort. It would be an understatement to say that Owen always participates. In fact, he usually drives the class discussions and is the first person to volunteer to read aloud, especially when the class reads plays. Owen's enthusiasm for life is infectious and evident in just about everything he says and does. Whether he is complimenting his classmates, supporting his friends, or greeting customers at Dairy Queen. Owen's kindness has made an impact. I might have gone there before this meeting to cram in a hamburger. I did. Congratulations. [applause] YEAH. ALL RIGHT, moving along to the middle school. Our first student is Liy Bvard. [applause] Did I get your name right? Board. I had a feeling. All right. Sorry. and I was like, that's probably not right. So, it's Liy Board, take two.

034All right. Loly is the definition of a lead by example student. While her academic achievements speak for themselves, it is her kindness and work ethic that sets her apart. She has a unique ability to lift others up while pushing herself to new heights, proving daily that she is much more than just a student. She is a leader. Her presence makes our community stronger, and we are so proud to have her representing her sixth grade team, THE CREW. CONGRATULATIONS, [applause] ALL RIGHT. AND OUR SECOND student from the middle school is Chase Essenberg. CHASE. [applause] HEY, CHASE. Chase didn't start his year in Kyoga Falls, but he has acted as if he has been a black tiger his entire life. He quickly acclimated to our culture, becoming a pillar of our school community. Chase is a student

035who is engaged, asks questions, and approaches every lesson with excellence. His ability to maintain high standards while encouraging his classmates to reach their own potential is a testament to his character. Way to show Black Tiger pride, Chase. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] All right, we're moving on to our elementary school. Our first school is Dwitz. And our first student to recognize is Maxilliano Martinez Leon. There he [applause] is. [applause] I was like, I wonder if he goes by Max. Am I right? Yeah. And I knew that because it says it right here. But I did wonder because I'm like, that's a long name. Can you spell it? >> You can. Okay. How old were you when you could first spell your name? Like five. Six. >> How old are you now? >> Six. Okay. All right. Well, then

036we'll go with like five. How's that? All right. Max, you ready? All right. Max. Max has been a shining example for our classroom since the very beginning of the school year. He has worked very hard at making good choices and demonstrating excellent behavior all while learning and speaking English. His confidence and exuberance are contagious, and he loves to share his thoughts and ideas with classmates and teachers alike. Max is funny, smart, and most importantly, kind to everyone. He follows all the tenants of Black Tiger pride by being respectful to all, taking responsibility for his actions and practicing safety inside and outside Dwit. Max is a quiet leader who listens, follows directions, and helps others. Keep up the good work, Max. Good job, [applause] buddy. All right, our next student at Dwit is Grace Wood. GRACE,

037[applause] [applause] Grace has got her power walk on. That a girl, come here, Grace. All right. Grace began her kindergarten year a little reserved, quiet, and shy. Now she has moved past the shyness and participates when others are afraid are afraid of being wrong. She is also friendly and responsible. Grace often helps a peer clean up without being asked and without expecting a reward. She also can be heard giving emotional support and saying kind words like nice try or good job to friends that may need them. Grace, we are looking forward to seeing what you achieve in the future. Is that your baby? I can't tell if that's a boy or girl. Is that a baby brother or sister? girl. >> A baby girl, baby sister. Do you ask to help mom at home too

038with her? Perfect answer. Good job. All right. [applause] Good girl. All right. A It's a real tiny baby, huh? >> How old? >> Two weeks. Oh, congratulations. >> A We're happy you're here. Anytime I get a peek at a baby, I'm happy. All right. Okay. Our next student is from Lincoln Elementary. And the first student is Carter Ashford. Carter. [applause] That smile. [applause] Love that smile. All right. Right here, bud. Last year, Carter faced some hurdles. Move up here, honey. Let's Let's get There we go, so everybody can see that smile. Last year, Carter faced some hurdles. When tasks became difficult, the frustration was often overwhelming. However, this year, his teachers noticed a remarkable transformation. Carter has created a never give up attitude and has truly taken his learning into his own hands. By finding

039the courage to use his words and advocate for help when he needs it, he has moved from a place of struggle to one of empowered independence. What makes his growth even more special is the kindness Carter shows to everyone around him. He has become a natural helper, always looking for ways to support his peers and lift up others with a gentle spirit. Way to go, BUD. GOOD JOB. [applause] ALL RIGHT, OUR NEXT STUDENT from Lincoln is Avery Osman. [applause] Hello. That is a great pendant necklace. Okay. Avery is a standout second grader who navigates her world with a beautiful smile and an exceptionally kind heart. This year, her dedication to her studies has truly paid off as she has consistently earned all A's and B's in her schoolwork. Avery is a shining example of Black

040Tiger pride, stepping up as a natural leader. She is particularly known for her empathy, often going out of her way to reach out to new students to ensure they feel welcome and included from day one. Though she has many talents, she currently dreams of becoming a cashier when she grows up, combining her love for math with her passion of interacting with people. That is pretty perfect. Thank you, Avery, for being an outstanding example of leadership, kindness, and positivity at school. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] [applause] All right, our next school is Preston. And our first student has a great name. Winter Walters. I love that. Winter, are you here? [applause] All right. That flows so nicely. Winter Walters. I love it. This way, sweetie. Here we are. Nice. Oh, look at you. All right. Are you in fifth

041grade? >> No. No. Kindergarten. Okay. She told me. All right. Well, I thought maybe you were you in fifth grade. All right. Ready? Winnie, I love that, too. That's her. Is that your nickname, Winnie? I love it. Okay. Winnie doesn't just show black tiger pride. She lives it. Winnie brings a level of dedication to her schoolwork that is second to none. Winnie also shows her kindness by always looking for ways to support her peers and brighten someone's day with her personality. Her thoughtfulness is a testament to her character and is an absolute joy to have in the classroom. Winnie, I think I saw you at the zoo yesterday. Did I see you at the zoo? I thought so. You look familiar. Congratulations. Good job. [applause] All right. And our second student from Preston this evening

042is Hudson Zerby. [applause] Hudson. All right, Hudson. Hudson consistently shows up to school each day with a smile on his face. Yep. Check. And he is always willing to give 110% effort in all that he does. He is so kind to everyone he meets and will always go the extra mile to make sure all his classmates feel loved and cared for. Hudson is such a great addition to his kindergarten class and it has been an absolute pleasure to have him in class this year. You're pretty tall for [applause] good job. All right, our next school is Price and our first student is is Mariti Sunar. [applause] >> [applause] >> How'd I do on the name? >> Yeah. All right. Is Mariti has made phenomenal academic progress, has an unstoppable drive, and has a generous spirit.

043She has proven that with hard work and a positive attitude, any obstacle can be overcome. Beyond her academic success, her polite manners and eagerness to help organize or clean the classroom makes her teachers learning space a brighter place for everyone. Is Mariti is a rare fourth grader who is not only dedicated to her own incredible academic growth, but also is so invested in taking care of their classroom, classmates, and teachers. Keep up the great work. Good job. [applause] All right. And our next student from Price is Brandon Williams. Brandon. [applause] Whoa. What grade are you in? Fifth. I knew it. I could have said kindergarten to be silly, but we knew that wasn't right. You're pretty tall. All right, Brandon, come here. All right, let's embarrass you a little bit. Okay. Brandon is a well-rounded

044person in and out of the classroom with a genuine heart, athletic talent, I see it, and unyielding effort. His quiet, friendly nature is a powerful presence, proving that true strength doesn't have to be loud and that character matters just as much as accomplishment. Whether you are showcasing your skills on the field or tackling a challenging assignment, you never give up and persevere when the work becomes difficult. Brandon, we appreciate your quiet determination and hope you always stay true to the special characteristics that make you a leader in our community. Congratulations, bud. [applause] I think he is quiet. I could tell. I could tell. All right, moving along to Richardson. Our first student is Isa McInness. ISA. [applause] >> YEAH, that's sparkly pretty. All right. Isa truly embodies what it means to be a black tiger.

045She is a ray of sunshine in our classroom and approaches each day with a smile. Yep, we got it. Uh, Isa shows consistent kindness and care to her peers and teachers and is well loved in our classroom because of it. She is always the first person to offer others a helping hand and goes out of her way to ensure everyone is included. Isa is hardworking, empathetic, creative, helpful, and a great friend and leader. I am proud to know Isla and to have watched her bloom this year in kindergarten. Way to go. ALL [applause] RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. AND OUR second student from Richardson is Nolan Maguire. NOLAN. [applause] HI, NOLAN. Nolan is an extraordinary student. From the very first day of kindergarten, he has been a leader. He always tries his best in class, helps others

046when needed, and shows kindness to everyone he encounters. Throughout the year, Nolan challenges himself and others, all while helping create a welcoming classroom environment for everyone who enters. Nolan loves to be silly and spend time with his friends both in and out of the classroom. He also enjoys sports, which keep him busy outside of school. Keep showing that Black Tiger pride. Congratulations. [applause] All right, moving along to Silver Lake. Okay, thanks for your patience. Here we are. Our first student is Owen Flock. OWEN, [applause] it's a long way, huh, bud? All right. Owen is an absolute joy to have in our kindergarten classroom. He distinguishes himself as a standout student through his attentive listening and his dedication to every task he undertakes. He is a true leader who lives out black tiger pride every single

047day, setting a wonderful example for his peers to follow. Above all, Owen's kindness is a gift to our class. He is consistently respectful, courteous, and mindful of others. He is truly deserving of this honor. [applause] All right. And our next student from Silver Lake is Avery Schwarz. [applause] >> Oh, you got down here quickly. >> Class of 2038. Wow. >> Let's do the math on that. I'd rather not, but All right. Okay. I will be long retired. Throughout this year, Avery has been a shining example of Black Tiger pride. She doesn't just show up to learn. She actively builds a more positive, supportive, and kind environment for everyone around her. Whether she is taking the initiative to keep our classroom organized or showing care for our shared space, her sense of responsibility is truly impressive.

048While she may be one of the quieter students, Avery speaks volumes through her creative writing and artistic expression. Watching her find her voice and achieve such significant academic growth has been a highlight of the year. We are so proud of you. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] All right. Saving the youngest for last. How cruel is that? Our preschooler has waited all this time to be announced. And our student from preschool, we do one student each month from preschool. That's our new addition. You heard about our outstanding program. and so so proud of their successes. But our our student this evening to be recognized is Amos Ramdan. [applause] See, he got tired of waiting. He probably left us. No, I'm kidding. We will certainly follow up with Amos. I know the staff is here. Did anybody see him? >>

049I haven't seen him. >> Okay. Well, we'll make a special we'll make a big deal out of that for him when he returns to school. I know you all will. I know that group. Okay. Well, congratulations to him as well. All right. Well, um what I'd like to just close with a couple remarks. Um every time I read these, um we generally see uh common themes throughout. And how many times do we hear hear the word kindness and empathy, right? And that we're we're kind to others. And that warms my heart, I hope, as it warms all of yours in a world that can be difficult. It's great to see kindness that our children exhibit that to one another and to their teachers and are respectful and uh that credit is just as much deserved

050for all of you in this room for raising your children. So, please a round of [applause] applause for you. And lastly, I just want to point out all the staff members that are here. They come this evening. We have many uh folks that come out each month to recognize our students, our principles, our staff, our admin assistants, teachers of just a variety of people. So, would you please stand to be recognized? Staff that are here this evening. [applause] Very nice. Thank you. I know some of you didn't stand. I'll talk about I'll talk to you later. Um [laughter] All right. Um, so with that said, I again congratulations to everyone this evening. I'm so incredibly proud of all of you and um just for making Kyoga Falls such a great place to work and to

051go to school. So thank you. And uh now what we're going to do, we got to follow these directions. See if I can give them correctly. All right. So there's we're changing um our normal procedures because typically we would either we would be in the auditorium and come here or we would go here and go in another room and all these rooms are being occupied. So here's what's going on. want to give the directions. [laughter] >> I'm so offended. Um I I'm not >> talking to [laughter] each other about why we weren't sure why you were left up there to get >> Yep. It's true. See, I can make jokes about others, but they give them right back to me. >> So, all right, I'll give it to Miss Stewart. All right, let's see how

052you do. I'm gonna stand here and see how you do. >> So, we are going to have all of our families take pictures. um the groups of students that were all and our preschool staff. Um you are going to the learning stairs which is in our student dining area. So it's going to be a little bit of a walk um but you get to see the beautiful campus if you haven't already been in the inner parts of our sixth grade wing. So the way we can get there and um Mr. Elder who is right there, he'll kind of be the the beginning of the tour guide. Um, I just volunte. And um, you can either go out these stairs down here where Mr. Elder is or out here. If you are unable to do stairs,

053you can exit out this door and turn to your right. There's a ramp. Otherwise, there's a few stairs that go down in in regardless. You're going to turn right and you'll just keep following the hallway. You really can't get lost going this way. And then unless you're Dr. Celico, then you might get lost. And then um we'll go down there. There'll be stairs and some learning stairs which will act as our risers. And from there, what we'll do is we'll do our top tigers first since we have some of our youngest students. And then you can make the track all the way back up. And there's a room [clears throat] um that you're going to pass where you'll see the foundation is going to be waiting for you for the yard sign and your t-shirts.

054So, because you'll have to make your way back here to get out to the parking lot. So, if you're looking to get steps in this evening, you've come to the right place. >> Perfect. >> How did I do? >> All right. Okay, we're ready for presentation number five, gifted update. Miss Balco. [snorts] >> All right. Are you tired me? Tired of me yet? >> No. [laughter] Um, first I would like to um begin by expressing my gratitude to the board of education for your continu continued support of our district's gifted programming. Uh, your commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all learners has allowed us to move from vision to implementation in meaningful ways over the last two years. Um, this year we've made additional progress in building and refining a gifted program that both

055challenges and supports our advanced learners. This year alone, we have served approximately 430 uh elementary and middle school students through enriching enriching programming opportunities. We have also seen increased participation in AP assessments and CCP courses. Um go back one. So um our gifted identification has also increased um from 2024. We went from 828 to 853. So that's a plus. Um that looks better on our report cards. Um this and this progress of course is a a direct result of your support, trust and investment in ensuring that every student has access to opportunities that foster their full potential. Tonight I look forward to continuing um uh to share with you the growth that we've um experienced this year. So in our honors ELA classes, we um also incre increased our enrollment from 202 to 223 from

056last year. So there's extra kids jumping into those programs and um experiencing that enrichment that we're trying to provide them. Um [snorts] our math our math accelerations, we've also um increased those. We had 79 eighth grade students take algebra. Um there were three eighth grade high school um geometry students that actually went and took the the course at the high school for with our high school teachers. Um, but additionally, we had four eighth grade students who did an independent study and all four of them passed. Um, so they're going to move on to algebra 2 and they're super excited. They were just they were just thrilled. Um, and then we also have an eighth grader who took algebra 2. So we're definitely seeing some rigor there and some kids that are really pushing themselves. Um,

057you met these two um, fine young children um, eighth graders are part of the Penn State qualifiers, Riley and Noah. And um as I mentioned earlier, they were platinum pen finalists. So their their last stories, their best of show stories are going to be published in um the Power of the Pen book, which is really cool. We expanded and included a middle school spelling be this year. That's new this year. I'm hoping next year to increase that to our elementary uh levels as well. um our stop the hate competition that we participated in last year. As I mentioned, we did that again this year, but we also had a culminating event where we took our seventh and eighth graders to the Malts Museum for the tour, and it's a Jewish heritage museum. So, um it

058was it was very um informative. The kids got a lot out of it. Um this I actually Oh, wait a minute. I have something I have to give you guys because I cut off the actual important part of that. So, I'm going to pass this down this way. Um What I wanted to point out was our um the yellow bar there where it says 28 I think it's I can't read it now. Um hold on a second. Let me >> our AP our AP our AP assessments at 5.8% last year. That was how many students took the test. Um this year 23.9% took the AP test, which is what we want to see. If you're going to take the course, we want you to take the test. So that was an improvement. Um, we also

059saw more students um that earned three or more college credits and that was that's the orange line. So that went from 14% to 27 and a half%. And I attri attribute that to just um communication with our students and letting them know what the opportunities are out there and encouraging them to push themselves. Okay. Uh Christina Cetry was unable to uh join us today, but she is our eighth grade student who won the poetry um contest for Stop the Hate, and she walked off with $200, not today, but at the competition. And um I also wanted to note that this the finalists um for the poetry and essay contest. So in this case, Christina, her poem will be um published and available in all the Kyogre County libraries because it's a Kyogre County event. But

060if you're in Cleveland and you happen to be in a library, her book will be available. And I'm going to see if we can get them over here, too. um our uh regional event or we moved to a regional event from um excuse me from our 24 tournament that was just in house last year. We moved to the regional event and um you can see our participation increased here too from 75 students to over 120 students in 2000 or in 2025 and 2026. And there we are. That was our first competition in January at Preston. and our fairlong tournament. We took nine third graders and nine fourth graders and we have the return of the reading writing festival this year. Um I am not I'm not um moderate moderating it. We have a teacher that's

061moderating it but we were excited to bring it back and as I mentioned the all new um this year was in math stars. The thing I wanted to mention about the math stars is that there's um scholarships involved. So the students that came up and with the 2% that received their um certificates today, they um their parents enrolled them in the program and they have just opportunities basically throughout their um educational career to earn scholarship money through this program. It's just just a great opportunity. So this is the process. They were nominated because they were in the top 2%. Um, and then they moved to the finalists and the stars based on their grades, their their um, achievement on their Iowa tests. And that's pretty much it. Um, again, thank you for your advocacy and

062the dedication to our students, our gifted students, and our and I appreciate your time and listening to me babble today. Thank you. [applause] >> Any questions for I do have a question. Um, with the how is how are the honors sections working with the pods and the um team teaching model in middle school? Are they working well within that framework? >> From my perspective, they seem that the case as far as I know think because I think we're going to the 432 model next year. >> Correct. >> Yeah. 44ractic Great. >> I think you raised a good point as we look forward as with the reductions we've made to make sure that we make sure that those opportunities are still there. Mrs. It's a very good point to bring up because we don't want them

063all clustered into one pod because as we know um that's part of why we changed to this model of gifted because we want um peers to be spread out and different peers to have different experiences amongst all learning um experiences and learning levels because we've learned that that's what's really beneficial to all learners. Any other questions? >> No, just to thank you Miss Belco for implementing all these things. I was a part of reading and writing workshop when I taught power the pen and obviously the mind which I think is not anymore but I I really appreciate the time and the effort you put in to our gifted program. Not that I'm gifted. I'm not. [laughter] I really do appreciate it. Thank you so much. >> It's very evident of what we were, you know,

064what we saw to this this evening, you know, and all the the students we're recognizing. So, just thank you. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you. And then I'll invite up Mrs. Hman and the literacy coaches for our early literacy update. Some extras extra papers. First, I I want to thank Miss Felco. She's a quiet leader and she just puts her head down and does her work. Um and then when she shares all her wonderful um evidence of her work, it's really exciting. So, thank you, Miss Belle. Thank you. >> And it ties very well into this piece because of what she's taking on on behalf of the district next year with >> Yes. She's helping with the middle school. >> Yeah. >> So, it all ties together. Mhm. >> So, we have uh again three

065literacy coaches that are working at the K5 level. Um they do so many things for our teachers and our administrators and our students. Um they are hands-on still with our students, helping them in many ways. They're coaching teachers. They're supporting administrators, uh leading day-to-days, doing so many things. And we have some really, you know, exciting news that we'll be sharing today. So, thank you for having us here. So, introduce yourself. >> I'm Tina Majis. I'm the literacy coach at Price and Richardson elementaryaries. >> I'm Amanda Heler. I'm the literacy coach at DIT and Preston. And I'm Crystal Parnon, the literacy coach at Silver Lake in Lincoln. We have a little slideshow. I saw it up there. There it is. the one about literacy. >> Yeah, that would be it. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> You

066scared me there for a minute. [laughter] I was like, >> "Yeah, you wing it a little. You're frightened, Mr. >> Um, so we're going to take a little uh look back um over the past many years of where we've been with our curriculum. So, if you skip through this kind of our little agenda of things we'll talk about. So, this one um thinking back to many years ago in this district, we had Journeys. That was the curriculum main curriculum we were using and we used that for many years. Um I believe I was trying to count back to the early days. I think it was 2008 that we started using journeys and we used that for nearly 15 years. So there was a long time between curriculum adoptions and then as you can see um

067starting in 2021 it things really picked up and we had we've had in that five-year period a lot of different curriculum materials that we've had to learn and our classroom teachers have had to work with. um all good things, but it's just been a lot at once. So, in 2021, we had the Fontis panel. That was our initial adoption. Um the following year after some research and in needing some more um foundational skills practice, we went back to we had already uh our kindergarten team has always worked with foundations, but we really implemented it with Fidelity K through two beginning back in 20 uh 22. And then in 2023 we extended that into third grade. Um that year as well we um our intervent or our it was our title of reading teachers at the

068time started using a program called UFly is what the nickname is but it's the University of Florida literacy institute um as a resource in their toolkit for intervention needs. Um the following year we started with witten wisdom. We know that um the switch had to be made due to uh state mandates. So that was our next move was wit and wisdom. And then we just had what we called the first followers. So the teachers that um were willing to try it out for the first year. Instead of doing just a building level pilot, we had a teacher at every building at every grade level that was trying it out. And then from there, we went into the full implementation at the beginning of this year. And along with that, we built up our intervention program

069even more by incorporating Orton Gillingham for our new structured literacy specialist, which were our former former position of our title one reading teachers and some of our intervention specialists as well. So, um through this this is this is a lot to learn for all of our teachers. So that is part been part of our job um since 2023 or 2022 I believe um to get help teachers implement this learn this um and learn how to utilize it in a way that it best supports our students. So looking back um so this year one of our focuses we've continued to support teachers in many ways and one of the ways that we did this um this year was Alyssa Bird whose name you I'm sure are familiar with um she held monthly virtual learning sessions for

070teachers and they each had a topic of focus in regards to wit and wisdom and it was a way for teachers to ask questions and build deeper knowledge of certain parts of the curriculum and I would say by and large that they were very successful the feedback from the teachers um and the attendance really um showed the interest and the need was there. Um another thing we worked on this year and we hope to expand upon and in next year um you'll hear hear about this a little later are our learning walks. It was on the the first one, sorry. Um our learning walks and then if you could go Yeah, just back a little. There we go. >> One more. >> Yeah, there you go. Um, and so we spent some time with grade

071level teams, um, really digging into Whitton Wisdom. So each of the coaches worked with a grade level team in a building and, um, we just dug into what they were working on, whether it was pacing, whether it was looking at assessments, um, what kind of tools they needed, um, what kind of things in the curriculum that they were struggling with implementing. uh we we sat for and they had some release time uh once a month and we would work with that and we also worked with Alyssa on that. Um and we hope to expand that a little a little bit more next year. And then we also held monthly TBTs that were focused on pacing um looking at writing samples, discussing the rigor of all of the assessments. Um and we held those in partnership

072with the building principles. So those are just some of the things that we've done to help the teachers this year um implement some of this newer curriculum for them. This is just some of the feedback. Um, one of the kindergarten teachers was talking about year one, first year two of witten wisdom. It is kind of meaty to get into initially, especially the manuals are very wordy. So, for some teachers, it was a little overwhelming the first year. And now, since this teacher's in year two, she feels like she's so much more confident with it. She's way more comfortable with it, and she's seen a lot of growth within her students. And then um the grade level team that we worked with um really felt value in those learning um learning walks or grade level coaching

073cycles that we did and they were looking forward to it knowing that they would get the support that they felt like they needed to implement the curriculum correctly. And then these are just some writing samples. Um, I think writing is one of the strongest parts of this curriculum. And we've seen a lot of growth um, from kindergarteners independently writing sentences without asking for support, just picking up the pencil and knowing what to do and building that confidence to second, third, fourth graders um, writing these multi-elabic or multi-paragraph responses that are te based upon text and evidence. And I feel like they are just growing year after year with this. And it's been it's been really interesting to see them displayed in the hallway and how proud they are of all their work. And it really

074is quality writing that we're seeing um out of these students. Yes, the digestive system in second grade is very interesting to them. Very interesting topic. A huge vocabulary that they're building from these two because these topics are just so interesting. All right. >> All right. So, I am going to just share a little bit more about what we do um in the data world. Um so, what we actually do um is we hold a lot of data meetings with our teachers to really try to figure out where we can troubleshoot and solve some problems ahead of time to make sure that our students are getting the support that they need regardless of ability level. So in doing this we have a lot of different data meetings that we handle throughout the year but our main

075one which is kind of like our Super Bowl at the beginning of the year is called a day-to-day meeting. They typically last about two hours and what we do as a team we administer benchmark assessments to all students K to five. These assessments have a variety of measures. We look at that information as a team and we decide if we have to dig deeper. We want to make sure that we are we are providing whether it's tier one or intervention instruction that we're meeting the needs of the actual student. So sometimes we do dig a little bit deeper and we have to give some additional diagnostics to figure out where that need is. And so those require a little bit more time. We take that information then we brainstorm as a team what do we

076want this instruction to look like? And so usually we do that three times a year. They're usually about two hours in length. We have a nice group of teachers, the intervention specialists, the e teachers, English language teachers, um the gened teachers, ourselves. Everyone's a part of this committee to try to make sure that the instruction we're going to provide is going to be beneficial for our students. So, we do that at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year. And in doing so, we create collective commitments that we can make sure we're monitoring throughout the school year to make sure that our students are progressing. And then our teachers themselves are holding themselves accountable. So they can watch the data as students are progressing and identify if

077a student isn't progressing and say the manner they would like. We want to stop and intervene and make sure that we're giving them support because there might be a small change such as the minutes of instruction a student is receiving. A small tweak like that could have big impact on our students. So we need those larger chunks of time to really cycle through the student data. So that's kind of like our Super Bowl happens three times a year. [snorts] And then if you want to go to the next slide, we have what we are calling our progress monitoring meetings. Now with our progress monitoring meetings, those are a little bit more infrequent but a little bit more consistent. We have larger ones twice a year and with that we are really going to be looking

078at that data from the students and we're trying to identify what measure our students need to receive that skill of instruction in. So this is just a hierarchy and with it you'll see at the top there's comprehension and at the bottom you have your phenemic awareness which are your basic early literacy skills and if you're thinking about a ladder students are climbing up and so then we as coaches will sit with our teachers and we try to identify where is it that a student needs to grow a little further. If they're mastering that your next step is and if they're not let's step back and supply this intervention. So we really work with the teachers to make sure that they're using researchbased and evidence-based interventions and support. And it's not just limited to interventions. We

079also want to make sure that we're providing enrichment opportunities for our students as well. So this hierarchy does allow us to adjust as needed for groups, whether it's whole group instruction or just a small group instruction. Um as Mrs. Majes mentioned, we did start using Orton Gillingham this year. So, Orton Gillingham is an intervention program that is very systematic and it follows a a very concrete scope and sequence and with that we use it to make sure that we're addressing any holes that a student may have in their phonics. So, we want to make sure that our students have a very strong solid understanding of phonics as they are progressing through the grade levels. Foundations does that as our whole tier one, but every once in a while you will have a couple kiddos who

080may not have a particular skill and we want to make sure that we can identify that missing skill and address it. And Orton Gillingham works well with foundations and we try to pick up those skills as we're going. And so with our Orton and Gillingham and our foundations, that's really the meat of what we're trying to ensure that our students have is a basis of their reading before they can get to the comprehension and that fluency piece. So those are our two main programs that we really lean heavily into. And if you can go to the next slide. Okay. So when we're looking at progress monitoring, we can look at our data as a group, as a whole classroom. you have a cohort, you're teaching whole group instruction and you may find that one year

081you have students who need more fluency and another year you may have students who need more comprehension skills. So we are working with the teachers to make sure they're identifying that and teaching to the needs of their students and helping support in that manner. But in addition to that, if you can go to the next slide, what we actually do is we track our students and we try to identify if we're actually making progress with our interventions or tier one instruction. This is a great example. This is a student that has an identified measure that they need to work on. You'll see the third graph in says nonsense words, whole word red. You'll see those data points are above that solid line. And that's exactly what we want to see. That's how we get assurance

082as teachers that what we are currently doing is working for the student and they're growing. And the way it's easy to explain is if we see that our students are progressing up and they're above that line, they're actually exceeding the benchmark. And that's really what we're looking for. If we do happen to monitor students and we do start to see that maybe their data points are going up and down, that's when we start to look closely at potential factors that may be impacting that. or if somebody is starting to flatline, then that's when we want to address it and potentially make a change or, you know, just look at the situation. So, we have the teachers progress monitoring students anywhere from a weekly to a monthly basis or occasionally just like a every six week

083check-in. And during those progress monitoring days, that's what we're doing. We're cycling through all the students in the grade level, just making sure everybody's meeting those targets. And if not, then we'll just kind of work together to brainstorm and figure out what the next best steps are. All right. And so with that, as I said, OG and foundations is really kind of our lifeline, our starting point. And one of the good things with technology is this year we were fortunate enough to use an online piece of foundations that allows the teachers to put in their data from assessments that they're giving. So for foundations in OG, they have spelling tests. That's the way that they're assessing if students understand syllable patterns and they're applying what we're learn or teaching them. And so with this, you

084can actually see as a whole group how one particular home room is doing in a snapshot. And you'll see that the green is obviously good. Those kids are above benchmark and that's what you want to see with the teachers. So if we do start to see that a group is scoring below 80% that's when teachers would look at this data and they would stop and they actually retach. A retach lesson could be anywhere from 3 days to potentially two weeks. We are trying to eliminate those holes in their learning and address it when it comes up. So then that way they can continue on with their progression. So this is a really nice feature that's newer to the teachers this year. So this one's very valuable. And if you go to the next slide, do

085>> we allow space in our pacing guidelines for like assuming that there will need to be reteing? >> We do. >> Okay. >> Yep. Yep. >> Kind of add it in and then we're going to review this year to see how we did with pacing and how many days and then we'll modify again for next year depending on that feedback. But we receive positive feedback on their page this year. >> And that's part of our data meetings. We were all in our data meetings this week and we were starting the conversation for pacing for next year. Where are you at this year? How did that work? And so then when we're building it, we're keeping those things in mind because if you actually look at foundations, they do not allow for reteing in their pacing

086guide. It's one week after another. So part of what we're doing then is we're also looking at those units to make sure that we're getting to the meat of what we need to without skipping the essential >> have to like with there's usually too many standards in any grade level and that's why you have to go to the power standards and say >> where where do we have overlap that we can try to tie in multiple standards because otherwise we're never going to get correct to all third grade. >> Yes, we're not. And the third grade curriculum for foundations is pretty needy too. It could probably extend like a year and a half. >> So that is something that we're looking at >> in a third grade. You have the guarantee. >> Oh yeah. >>

087Pacing always kind of scared me because what if they don't get it and you have to go back. Yes. You know, you don't want to go forward till you make sure all there pacing. That's that's good to go back and recheck. Thank you. >> We've also consulted the curriculum companies as well. So when we were going through the foundation's adoption of third grade, our second grade teachers didn't get as far as we hoped. And so when we talked to the foundation's representative, they assured us that if you received if they got instruction till this point, they'll be fine starting third grade. Just take it slower at the beginning because it's going to be a review. So absolutely, that's something we have to be very cautious of. So and then this is just a little bit

088more simplified. Um, this one is really what a teacher can use to make sure that when they are changing instruction or reteing, they can identify those areas of potential weakness that their students might need a little bit more practice in. So, this is a result of a foundation's test. You could see where it says words, you have units seven, eight, and nine have the little yield sign. So, that's indicating that the students are starting to struggle. So if I were to look at the scope and sequence with the teachers, we would identify what's that syllable type. What's the reason for the struggle? And that's when we're going to start the conversation of, okay, do we need to retach? Is it isolated? What could have caused this? Because you don't want to stop and retach the

089entire class if that's not necessary. That could be something that's handled with an intervention or just like a small group. So this is really helpful for the teachers and as they're becoming more and more proficient with foundations, they will become even more knowledgeable and find this tool even more useful as they're progressing. >> So on the bottom >> sentence bold trick words. >> Yes, >> they they have a red X and then it was yellow and then they got back on track. Is that the interpretation? >> So well when they were given a sentence during the dictation portion there are certain words. So that would be the bold trick words. So those are the ones that don't have the phonetic pattern and they are learning new weekly words. So with some of the tests, I'd

090have to sit down and look at it with the teachers and that's kind of what we would do. So for these particular ones, I'm not exactly sure if it was just the word that they were learning this week or if it was in addition to the prior units because it's probably a combination. But that's a good point and that's the type of conversation that we have with the teachers because you may have to incorporate say foundations is maybe requesting a five to 10 minute lesson for these heart words or trick words. We may have to up it to 15 minutes for a particular group of students. Yep. Okay. Next slide. Okay. So now this was really exciting for us. Um, so as you know, the literacy coaches and I have been working in the district

091for a couple years now, and this was really enlightening to see that what we're doing is starting to kind of take off. Um, this is a report of our diagnostic trend data. So when we are doing our benchmarking with our students, three times a year, we are reporting that to the state at the K to3 level. And what you'll actually see is over the last couple years, our students are starting the year better every year after year. So we have a really nice amount of growth. I can't read the numbers from here, but it looks like the second one is 62% and now we have 82% of our students who are where they need to be with their readiness when they're starting kindergarten through third grade. And you're leveling out between males and females. >>

092Yes. Yes. I also noticed that as well. >> All right. So, one of the things that we are trying to do as well is just like teachers have to create lessons for their students based on their needs. We are also trying to be very mindful of our teachers and to provide them with the tools and opportunities to make sure that they're successful to help them. as well. As Tina mentioned, we do do a lot of lessons with students themselves, but we also create lessons for teachers and then we will teach them with the teachers and help the teachers to make sure that they have a full understanding and they feel comfortable doing whatever it is that they wanted to do. This is just an example of some of the things that we've done. Uh the

093studentfriendly OST rubric was a really big one this year. We really tried to dig into the OST results with our teachers um because we noticed that our teachers are working really hard but we may not have been seeing the payoff that we know that the students are capable of. And we really tried to identify what could we do to make sure that we are getting the results based on what the students are actually doing. And one of them was really just looking at the rubric for the state test and making sure it was in childfriendly terms and children understood it. Too many times students are given rubrics and it's just a checklist and they're not internalizing, they're not editing, they're not going back in. And this was one of the things that we did with

094the teachers. Um, so we made a child-friendly rubric. Uh, we taught lessons to some of the classrooms and we talked about how you want to include these key parts in your writing and not just in an OST. We use that as the framework when we were discussing of it. We just said these are things that good writers would do and include in their writing and this is how we would score it. And so it became like a communication tool for our students and teachers. And so a lot of the teachers started using us to help grade their writing as well. And that kind of led the conversation of let's make sure that we're assigning the same point value for certain characteristics within writing to make sure that we have that consistent across the district. So

095that was one thing that we did. And then if you go to the next slide, we also incorporated some other lessons that the teachers said that they wanted. Um a couple teachers reached out when we were looking at our benchmarking data and they said, "Well, retail is not as high as we think it should be. Is there something we can do?" Um, so Tina had created like a we call it a four-star retell. And basically anytime a student is reading, um, it could be just like in a conversation, even if they were watching a learning video, it's getting students to talk about what they're learning and have it be concrete ideas with the main idea followed by details. And we started calling it a fourstar versus say a one star. And it was really nice

096to see because a lot of students when they were actually doing the retell when we were assessing them they were genuinely saying do you think that was a four star like oh yeah four star five if you could get it. So they're really internalizing some of the lessons that we're going in and doing. And then we will just again craft them to what the teacher needs and the students need. And in the middle is just a couple other things that we've done. We've done like goal setting system navigation for some of the programs we use. um getting teachers and students more familiar with graphic organizers that are not all pretty and cute. Uh sometimes as educators, we like pretty and cute things like the Oreo, but then when you ask a student to write an

097opinion piece without an Oreo graphic organizer, they're not exactly sure what to do. So, it's trying to get them to make that transition from easy to a little bit more rigorous. >> I think this is really good because in high school we use outlines and it really it's a little, >> you know, This is so good because that's exactly what you do. You know, your introduction and then your um body and the introduction paragraph when they get there. We're not there yet. >> This is the perfect body paragraph that we use at high school level and middle school. And do you have one little >> Absolutely. >> nitpick. >> The you know when and I understand with little ones you have to use I think I believe but by the time they get to we

098try to get rid of that. They don't need it. know some done along the way on you know that um let's try to get rid of those because we really well it used to make us pretty you know >> especially [laughter] they all start the same >> but I I just love this idea >> because it will tie in right to middle and high school >> I'd like my oldest nephew to use that about his day at school every day >> because instead of him saying that what he did at school today was could, you know, >> four star retell of his day at school. >> How many stars? >> Yeah, >> cuz right now he's getting zero stars. [snorts] >> Stars on his school school retails. >> Great. >> All right, I'll turn it

099over to Amanda then. >> Okay, I have some very fun things to talk about. Uh, so first I'll be talking about teacher and family engagement. So one way to improve our collective e efficacy among [snorts] staff is just by ensuring consistent messaging to all teachers. So this year um we focused on incorporating a newsletter that I will talk more about in just a moment. And then for family engagement um we continue to use our partnership with the Kyoga Falls Library to reach our families and enhance our partners uh partnership in learning. So those are the two things I'll touch on there. Okay. So, this was new this year to streamline communication across all of our elementary buildings. So, this was uh literacy loop newsletter was sent out at the beginning of every quarter again to

100all all certified staff. So, this could be teachers of literacy or it could just be our fourth and fifth grade math, science, social studies teachers. We wanted all of them to have it. And really, this was just a way for us to communicate important information. Um, so for example, you see the information about upcoming Acadians benchmarking and Aadian data days. We just wanted our teachers to know what to expect ahead of time so that they feel confident and prepared for those meetings. Um, this was also a really great way for us to share some resources. So, we always had three different sections. We had something to read, something to watch, and something to listen to. So, they had three different things that they could choose from. Um so some examples of that we had a

101podcast about building fluency through repeated readings. So that was one of our things that we um included. We also had articles about things like um understanding orthographic mapping and how that's a cognitive process for our brain. Um and then we also wanted to highlight some of our fantastic teaching practices as well. So, we were able to just get like snippets of student writing work for the wit and wisdom uh tasks and things like that. We also really wanted to make sure that this was an opportunity for us to engage with our teachers and make it fun. So, we always had some sort of um like activity or riddle or something for them to respond with. So, we see, you know, who is actually really reading these and [laughter] paying attention to them. Um, I had

102many teachers tell me that they didn't even respond to me because they could not find all three baby echoes in that one. Um, they were like, I promise I read it. I just could not find them. Um, but we kept track of how many responses we got from that. And we are happy to say that. So, for the first year doing this, um, we had one out of every four teachers who teach literacy actively engaging and responding. So, that was pretty um pretty good. Okay, family literacy night is personally one of my favorite nights of the year. So, like I said, uh we continued our partnership with the Kyoga Falls Library and I am very happy to say that we had a huge increase in registration compared to the last four years that we've done

103it there. We had a 33% increase this year from last year alone. >> So that was substantial. >> Um so these are some just numbers there. So we had over 300 total registrations, 70% event attendance. So we did count every single kid um went in and got a bag and we checked off their name so we knew they came. And then we had 44 families provide feedback and these are some of the things that they had to say. So, a lot of our families really pointed out that they loved the opportunity uh to see other teachers outside of school and see friends and do fun things together. They also really like that we have it somewhere in the community um somewhere that's accessible to everyone and that it's a free event. We have so many

104families that appreciate that every single year. Um, and they really find good value in the education as well. So, one of the stations was about the decodables at the library. So, families got to hear about what a decodable is and how they can use it with their child. Um, we also had the dino stomp game was a big hit and um, the words that we took from that came right from our foundation's curriculum. So that was a nice crossover. And then I just included a little parent quote. We've attended the event the last four years. So they keep coming back and it's always fun. Okay. And then looking ahead. So we have some great opportunities coming up. One is the structured li literacy opportunities through the University of Akran. So there's a few things that

105we're doing with Akran this year um into next year as well. So one thing is the summer literacy institute. So that is something it's a one-day event at the University of Akran. Um it's my first time going this summer. I'm looking forward to it. They have u many speakers there. So that's about all I can say about that until I go. Um but it looks very very exciting. Um I think there's two three presentations going on that day. Um and then we also have some really exciting opportunities through the structured literacy program at the University of Akran. So we have two opportunities through a grant that they received. One opportunity is for a structured literacy classroom teacher course which is 45 hours and we maxed out our teacher registrations for that. And then the other

106one the second cohort is structured literacy dyslexia interventionist course. And so that is the 45 hours over the summer but then we also have 48 hours of practicum into the fall and spring of next school year. And we have also maxed out um for that as well. >> I will say um both we have almost 40 teachers in the first group which is really high. And this second one is this is a highly skilled type of role. This is someone that is almost like an academic language therapist. This is someone that could um provide really unique tutoring for students. And so to have I think six teachers going to be at that level >> is really unheard of and they receive a stipen from the grant to attend. >> So um it's really a win-win

107for everyone. So that knowledge is going to come back to us, you know, so much because we've just been building relationships with people. Um you know, they they knock on our door and so we're grateful to open it and say yes, tell us more. Um we are also going to uh continue our collaboration with Kent University for the keep academy. So that's our annual partnership that we have um with them for some professional development. And then some things that we want to work on in our role as literacy coaches um starting next year. So next year we really want to expand our learning walk procedures and what that looks like. um that's a really good opportunity for teachers to collaborate and share best practices together um that are ultimately going to improve student instruction. So,

108um we decided, you know, just to come up with some better definitions for these and how they're different from coaching cycles. So for a learning walk um we see this as just a 10 to 15 minute non-evalitative collaboration um collaborative observation um walkthroughs that we have but we also want to have a variation of different types. So this year we started having the conversations about um you know who's whose classroom do you want to see? What do you want to see? I had a fourth grade teacher who had no idea what foundations looked like and wanted to see what those students were learning in second and third before they come up to them in fourth grade. And um that was really really powerful. They asked some really good questions and had some really good conversations.

109But then we also recognize maybe there's um some teachers who aren't ready for that. So another opportunity would just be um to see someone's class. you know, if you're a new teacher, do you want to go see someone's classroom, see how it's set up, see what they have out, um see what classroom management, uh practices work for them. So, just different things for them to learn from. And then we obviously want to continue with our coaching cycles. Um we really loved what we did with Alyssa Bird this year with the wit and wisdom. So, we do want to continue our own variation of that. uh we're in the process of determining what exactly we want that to look like. Um but we do want to continue to offer just a variety of different structures. So,

110this could be mini coaching cycles that last anywhere from like one to two weeks or we can continue to offer um our full co full coaching cycles which usually lasts about a month, a month and a half and we dive in really deep with those or um I've been in some really great co-planning cycles as well where I just meet with a grade level and we all brainstorm and plan together and then I might go back to their classroom and just watch them teach and then we'll touch base again and debrief Um, so we really want to focus our cycles for impact. Obviously, we want a lasting impact. So, we are working on using a well- definfined common framework across all of our elementary buildings to make sure we are all doing similar things and

111just continue to ground our decisions in data that we have. >> So, coaching, you you mean professional development for the teachers? Do you identify who might need coaching or do they sell or do they ask for coaching? >> I'd say it's a >> I'd say both. >> Okay. >> Yeah, it really does depend. Um we we don't want coaching to feel forced, right? Yeah. Um that's not what we want because we really do want to partner with our teachers. Um so if we do see a need, we will offer it. We will suggest it. Um and usually they up on that offer. I would say yeah, >> I would say also sometimes it's just being visible. So if I have down, I'll go into a classroom just to support and then I'll be asked questions

112and then it leads into coaching cycle. So just being available and accessible sometimes kind of breaks down the barriers and then teachers will enroll or just want additional support that way too. >> And they're being humble. They're out in the car pool line many days too. >> [laughter] >> trying to help in any way they can. >> Yeah, that's great. >> And once you once you have that relationship established, like I've had so many teachers like I don't even need to approach them. They'll come to me and they'll say, "What's going on?" And they think that's >> it's not punitive, it's collaborative. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Um and then the last thing was just focusing on our day-to-day structure. So data days um is [cough] something that we've been doing for a while and

113we continue to dive deeper into uh certain aspects now that we have you know more knowledge and more familiarity with the process with our teachers. So next year we really want to dive deeper into our common assessments. This goes back to um what Mrs. Parn was saying about just identifying um similar practices across the board. So, you know, if one teacher is going to scaffold this common assessment in this way, well, then we all need to be doing that same scaffold so that we have, you know, that similar data. Um, so those are really the big things that we have to look forward to. This isn't everything that we've um been talking about, but it's a lot of the biggies. So, we have several things that we are looking forward to and supporting our teachers.

114Uh we're very excited to continue to strengthen our impact that we've had so far. Um and next year is year two of full Wisdom implementation. So we look forward to that with them. >> Thanks. I really appreciate the focus on the reading and the writing and the writing because we had another board member a while back um who really believed that even kindergarteners could write and we we are big fans of the reading and writing workshop and I think it was wit and wisdom that sets up the big ideas the essential questions. Thank you very much for your hard work and the time that you have put in because I think reading and writing across the curriculum is one of the best things to make our students think critically, analyze, and the writing, it just

115sets it down. So, thank you for all the work you do. It's greatly appreciated, even if we don't always say that, >> but I really appreciate the writing and the common assessments, the four what? Four corners. >> Four star retail. Okay. Yes. Yes. Because that will work right up into middle and high. I just Thank you so much. >> My pleasure. [applause] >> Can we have a copy of that? >> Absolutely. >> I just have one other thought, but um obviously with the summer coming up, one of the big things we push our students is to participate in the summer reading program at the library. And so maybe for next year cuz it's too late for this year, but they do like different prizes. Um maybe we could think of like a specific like some

116sort of Kaigga Falls Schools prize that only like students could enter into like they say like what their schools and at the end of it they could like put their name and their school in as a way of trying to further incentivize our students to participate in that. >> Well, maybe it's not too late. So, >> I'm not trying to put more anything more on a a school teachers plate in late May. So, >> no, I appreciate that. >> Next year in my mind, if you want to make it happen, that's your choice. But >> I'm not putting anything more on people's plates in May. But >> I'm just too excited to talk. This is very This is like the meat. This is what This is the >> what we do. And so, it was

117there's a lot of information, but we need to know know this stuff. So this is going to is what really lays the groundwork for our student achievement and continued growth. So thank you. >> We appreciate your support for this position because the state is providing some literacy coaches and they're starting to develop that. But they're not able to build the relationships like our three coaches are doing. And it's because of the relationships and trust and being being there every day we get to make that progress where someone's just stopping in to visit or teach. It's not going to be as meaningful. So, we do really appreciate your investment in this program. It means a lot to us. >> Well, it's one of those ways we try to personalize education here. >> Right. That's great. >>

118My son is in fourth grade and he brought home a um paper that he wrote about um set early settlement of of America. And it was from a point of view um and he said he had a partner who wrote from the other point of view. And I was really heartened to see that we're not shying away from, >> you know, the debate kind of >> model of of exploring an issue and he had to, you know, write his case. So I think I'm seeing that as a parent. >> Good. >> Manifesting at home and um >> going to get older take the the opinion that they don't want to and you write on that. >> I mean, [laughter] I think I don't want us to shy away from that. kind of stuff. And uh

119my my son to Mr. Gomez's point will do anything for a prize. [laughter] >> Thank you again. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Item E, Treasur CFO's business consent agenda. Miss Stoy Chloe. >> Thank you. I'd like to recommend the board of education approve all items listed in the treasur. >> Second. >> Discussion. Yes, busy. Um, we have the minutes. Um, and well, I'll do the donations now. So, we have a number of donations again, especially this time of of the year with different things. A number for the Ka Falls Community Hack, um, Dairy Queen, um, who does a lot. Um, there's a number of things that were given for students or staff appreciation week that were donated. So, um we appreciate all of that. The Farmresh program got a $10,000 donation. >> So, um that's

120very >> uh a couple other things. I'm kind of going to go out of order here. Um but the amended appropriations I only did, um permanent improvement, so nothing else changed other than that. That was the only one I decided not to do at this time. um the Julian and group contract. Um I know we just did a contract for the audit services. So that is for our actual audit that goes through the state auditor's office. Um we are also required um to um have GAAP statements done and so someone else has always done those. Julian group has always done those for us even prior to um even when the state was auditing us themselves. Um so we are at the end of our three year they also put together the annual comprehensive financial report

121that we do each year. They compile it. It becomes part of the actual audit. Um so we are at the end of our three years and then this will just be for another three-year period to continue to use them [clears throat] there. And then student fees for the 2627 school year. Um I provided you with the backup um of what I think there was minimal um changes and it was just some of the product increasing or uh you know food is is part of like FCS and things like that. So obviously those prices have increased um a bit you know over the last year. So um nothing much different from previous years. That's all. >> Any questions or comments from the board? >> Please call the role. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Schaefer.

122>> Hi. >> Miss White. >> Hi. >> Mr. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. >> This is item F. Your comments. >> I do not have any this evening. >> Item G. Superintendent CEO's business consent agenda. Dr. Celica. >> Thank you, Mr. Gomez. I'd like to recommend that the board approves all items listed in the superintendent's consent agenda. >> Second, Dr. Sa. >> Thank you. Um, number of items this evening for your consideration. Uh, there's sort of no particular order, but they kind of make sense and tie into one another. So, um, the first, uh, is you'll see a list of job descriptions there. And these are from our administrative and professional handbook. Um, these are not additional jobs. These are actually um I was a result of a cut in the administrator

123and as a result we had to um make some some changes and the these are really just noting a change in a position which as you know I'm uh recommending that uh with the reduction of Mr. Vagatti's position as director of operations that Mr. Hutch will be assuming uh a new position and we're going to retitle it uh chief operating officer. And so all of those job descriptions, all of those people will be reporting to him and as a result we needed to change the supervisor in those. So that's really all the most change that you'll see in those job descriptions. Um our handbook for administrators and professional staff. So again, there are two categories though. You see a number of um and you'll see these later. Uh administrators, there's a distinction to be made

124between administrators and professional staff. And you can see those distinctions in the um handbook. There's some differences in compensation and um benefits afforded to those uh professionals. But a lot of this is related to the changes I just noted um in the change in personnel um as a result of the reduction in administrators. We also did cut back on some days of administrators and administrative positions. So um want to make note of that as we've had uh people retire. We changed a 260 job to 209 days for example in our curriculum. and you'll note some of those other changes that are there. Um we also have under personnel um we have some certified appointments, we have some classified appointments, leaves of absences, um uh some resignations and retirements. And I do want to point out

125two, I believe two retirements of which we have um Terresa McBride who's an intervention specialist at Ka Falls Middle School. So want to thank her for her service as well as Joe Wenan, a tough one. It's going to be he'll be tough to fill an electrician. Um and we appreciate what he has done. He's been with us quite some time so he won't be missed as well and certainly have a void there. We'll be posting for that position if we haven't already. I know real soon. We've talked about reaching other uh avenues other than education because we know that the trades folks look at different locations to find jobs. Um we have the next series of um items that you'll see there are customary. They're just they're done annually. So you have a limited contracts

126uh one year, threeyear uh you have some non-renewals of long-term substitute teachers, non-renewals of sub supplemental contracts, classified staff, coaching. Those are all just required that for us to do that and certainly that doesn't mean that they're all out of jobs. We rehire uh many of them in the following year. Um also for your consideration are the administrative um and professional uh staff contracts. So we have a number of listed. We had a number of people up this year for renewal and some of them are here this evening. And we also have a resolution um which comes um sadly a resolution that is required uh due to our bargaining our negotiations and contract with C CFA our teachers that we do have a reduction in force of two folks um hopeful that things may shake

127out where they're able to come back but in reducing Miss Pog is it 50 I meant to ask you this today is it 50 that we've reduced in general >> staff members That's close number. I don't have a speific. >> Yeah, >> pretty close. I meant to confirm that with you today, but I know it's up there now. We've had a number of reductions of which the teachers were hit pretty hard. Um, but all classifications including administrators were reduced. Um, but they need a resolution for that. Um, and then we also have um college credit plus stipens. That also is just contract language. Those teachers that teach college credit plus uh get stipens for their for their work. We also have next one that I want to point out is our payment in lie of

128transportation and this one I just want to mention briefly. See is here from transportation. She probably processes these. Um we have to pay uh what is called uh payment in lie of transportation and this is not reimbursed by our state. If I just as a final yes uh not reimbured a total of almost $68,000 of which this money goes to parents of private schools that transport their children and make a choice to not put their children in public schools. But the law requires our district to transport them. we are unable to transport them or they choose to transport their child, we have to pay them. So they get stipens to do that and that is costing our district $68,000. >> That's on top of their voucher. >> Yes. On top of the vouchers. >> That's

129the amount of a salary. >> Sure is. >> Absolutely. >> Um so certainly a challenge and some of the things that we've been fighting with our advocacy groups regarding transportation and the house bills and legislature that's been prod proposed. Um we also have a um similar resolution for declaring transportation um impractical. So we do have the ability to um if if there are just a couple of students for example attending a school because again we have to transport students to private schools um if they are more than 30 minutes doortodoor or um there may be a few students attending meaning in this case it's Hoben there's just a handful of students that we can deem it impractical that we don't have a bus it's uh or enough students um or it's not within the time

130restrictions to transport so we're able to do that but we have to do that through a board resolution. So you'll see those students there. And then and they're also eligible for that payment on the above by the way. Um and then the early entrance to kindergarten document is just revised. This is our um our guide for uh young early uh entrance for kindergarten. We changed our policy. So as a result we had to the law changed. And important to note for our parents that the kindergarten age will actually the start date for kindergarters will probably vary every year because It is now based on the date they must turn five by the day that we start school. So we start school on August 20th. The next year we might start on August 16th. And I

131So it's a moving target. Um but that's what the state came up with. So um that will I believe it's August 19th I think this year. So if you're before that date, you would qualify to enter kindergarten if you're five. >> And I believe that's it. >> Thank you. That's over the last several years. Correct. >> I'm sorry. >> Over the last several years. >> The 50. >> No, that's 50 this year. only well I hate I hate to say only two reps because I don't like to see anyone >> um have to leave us but 50 through attrition and retirement >> we really try very hard to do it all through attrition sometimes we can wait or delay or >> try to time it the best we can um we do have an elementary

132person in here and generally you know we either may add a kindergarten or the district would be on recall. So feel pretty good that that that may happen. >> They'll be on the recall list for a year. >> It's always hard. >> Yeah, it is. It's always very hard. It's not a reflection on the people. It's just the process that it goes through. Uh but we've worked very hard through attrition through so 50 this year but we've been doing attrition for years and there people that retired three years ago we never filled their jobs either. We've been um working to rightsize the district and I uh one thing you didn't me mention was on the classified appointments just a lot of people getting their assignments for next year as well as part of that um

133movement throughout the district um because of the closure of Preston. A lot of people in the classified division getting moved around the district as well. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments from the board? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Schaefer. >> I miss white. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Thank you. Item H. Uh, superintendent's business. >> Thank you. Um, we've been have we have someone in the audience and the family waiting very patiently. And girls, you have done an outstanding job over there. >> Super good. >> Great job. [applause] a lot to sit through. Good job. Yep. Good smile. Um so this evening I am um recommending um the the board approve an administrative contract for Miss uh

134Elizabeth Liz Collins um as principal of the Kyoga Falls Middle School. >> Um >> shall I tell you about Yeah. move [clears throat] second then I'll second >> Thank you. I'm sorry. Um so just to tell you a little bit about uh Liz, she is um this was a this was a really hard decision. We a good problem to have. We had some very qualified candidates and it was um it was a really uh uh indepth um search and rigorous process that we put her through. I'm sure she could affirm that. Um and so we uh we had two rounds of interviews and then a building visit with me. I took her around the building along with another candidate and um both were very strong. It was very difficult but um Miss Collins is um

135currently she's has an educational uh foundation from Kent State University. She earned both her bachelor of science and education and a master of arts in educational leadership. She joins us with six years of administrative experience as an assistant principal within the Akran public schools. In addition to her six years of administrative experience, her previous role as an instructional coach provided her the opportunity to facilitate TBTs and lead data analysis to improve instruction. Mrs. Collins holds a 5-year provisional professional uh principal license and an integrated math license. We have another math person, Mr. Oswald's, also a math person. Um, and I'd just like to say that um what I liked about um Mrs. Collins is is her balance. I think um her instructional leadership, I think that being an instructional coach has certainly assisted in her

136ability to lead us in curriculum and instruction. Um and she kind of has a firm I not kind of, she has a firm hand. So, um our middle schoolers, all middle schoolers, um need that. [laughter] Kids are nodding. Kids are nodding. That's all right. You'll appreciate it when you grow up. Um that uh we know that middle schools need structure and they need um they need a blend of compassion and understanding and patience, but they also need expectations. And uh one of the things I was really looking for is someone that could um set and maintain that tone for our students and setting the bar high for expectations for their u behavior particularly. And uh I think we found the person to do that. So, I'd like to re recommend you for your consideration this

137evening, Mrs. Collins. Thank you. >> Any questions or comments from the board? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. White. >> Hi. >> Mr. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Mr. HI. [applause] >> That has to be your mom. >> Yeah. >> Right. Oh yeah. Oh yes, I see it. Would you like to come forward and say a few remarks, please? >> Just as much noise as they >> Yeah, they've been doing a great job. So, um I just wanted to thank Dr. Celico and her team as well as the board for giving me this opportunity. I'm very excited to be a part of the Kyogloss family and be a black tiger. Um, I'm really excited to work with Tish and whoever we bring on as the

138new assistant as well. Um, I think we're ready to make a a lot of changes and a lot of structure. And, um, like she said, I do run with an iron fist. I'm currently oversee sixth graders and I am the scariest one. So, um, I'm hoping to bring, [laughter] they know it. They've they've popped in a few days while I'm at work, so they they get to hear it. So, um, but I'm really excited for this new opportunity and I hope that I can continue to help Ka Falls grow and help our students succeed their goals. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] We have one more item to vote on and then we understand if you would like to to leave. We understand we'll be here a little while longer. Um, so but um and

139I'm sorry if the board I didn't know if you wanted to make any comments. I apologize. Welcome, welcome. >> Yes, very happy to have you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, next I would like to recommend uh this is again customary when we bring on a new hire that uh the board approve uh up to 10 days prior to the start of uh Mrs. Collins contract to serve as a consult room capacity as the principal so she can have some time to um learn the school and systems and get things ready in advance in preparation for the new school year. >> So moved. Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Schaefer. >> Hi. >> Miss White.

140>> Hi. >> Feel free to leave if you want. >> Congrats. >> Okay. Dr. >> Yeah, I got it. It is recommended uh that the board of education approves the contract between JF Marketing and the Kyog Falls City School District. >> Second, >> discussion. >> This is the auction, right? >> Yes. Well, I was glad to see that we could have an auction of things in the high school despite the water damage. Um, I don't we're not looking to make a million dollars off of this, but I hate to see things go to waste and I like that we have an opportunity for people to get a deal on something. So, thank you to Mr. Bagotti for researching this and >> getting a lot of calls. Mrs. Steuart will be happy when this is moving

141along. >> And I know I've had some concerns with having people in the building with the air quality with having had um the water damage and you know my concerns with envir the environmental issues. But Mr. told me that he had spoken to and I I'm sorry I cannot remember who we spoke with that said that he's gotten the all clear to um allow people to briefly come in to do that and that certain areas will be unavailable to >> um the >> who was it the >> that that Joe spoke with >> that spoke to I'm going to guess Gandandy is it >> yes I'm sorry thank you >> the associate from the remediation work. >> Yeah. When he when we went to the um Joshua's >> Yeah. Yeah. We saw business kind of

142told us what he was each other. He knew I had some concerns, so he made sure he wasn't going to be here this even made sure that he mentioned it. >> Is there a written report they provided? >> Because the report they provided to us previously showed that they had concerns about the status of the building. So, barring a written report from them that says that they're comfortable with the building, I'm not comfortable. I want people to be able to get things from the high school. I, however, am not comfortable having community members go into a building that we have publicly said that we believe is unsafe. >> Well, I I when I talked to Mr. He said that Oh, we have someone here who has a Well, Mr. Gomez is >> Yeah, he filled

143out a form, so he >> Okay. All right. >> Okay. He's the owner of the company. >> Okay. Got it. Well, um, Mr. Bugatti told me he And Dr. Seleno, didn't you walk with him through the building? >> I did. >> And you identified areas to be blocked off. He said to me that mo most of the building has kind of dried out and but this is not, you know, a followup from Gandandy. This is in Mr. Bagatti's expert opinion, I would say. I'm comfortable with his walk through of the areas that were would be off limits to the public. >> Yeah, there's one hallway maybe maybe a perpendicular part that by the main office and the going into CTE I'm recalling. I haven't been in there in a while, but I was shocked at

144how did dry out and again I have no I'm not an expert in anything of that sort but it it look it was had the appearance I felt much better having walked in it but was definitely um rope off areas and Mr. Hutch did you want to add >> Mr. Gomez concern the difference >> if you're gonna speak here just because I have a feeling you're about to say a little bit more than a couple sentences >> which is okay but I just over here. >> He's got his binder open. So, >> yeah, >> just going to read >> the the Gandandy report initially was at the worst condition of the building. The building has dried far better than anyone's expectations. So, the building as you're in there now is there's no odor of water

145damage. It it is much it's really recovered much better than we expected, which is why there's more comfort in letting people into that building. Their concern is disturbing anything, so blocking off areas where where things may have fallen from the ceiling. We're also going to make very clear we don't want people removing things that are fixed to walls, things that might disturb anything environmental. Um, but our conversation with Gandandy this week was that they were comfortable, assuming we block off areas as we've discussed that they are comfortable with us making that. Now, what I'm hearing you say is you might be more comfortable with that in a written recommendation. >> Yeah, since the only thing we have from them is in writing. >> I think that's a a fair point. >> They think it's not

146good. that represented a snapshot in at that time that wasn't that was the reality. That reality has shifted. So I appreciate your concern for wanting that notated formally in a different way. >> Yeah. And I don't have any problem with this company or their contract. I have no issues with them. Very comfortable with them. Comfortable with Roberts. My concern is just um the high school and also some other other things that have been seen at the high school and just the condition that it's in other [clears throat] otherwise. So people will go in to preview just no >> no preview is on everything's online. So people have scheduled pickup times. It's all very well spelled out. >> They go into the room to get their stuff or can people bring it? >> I don't know.

147>> Do you know the >> Yes, they would go to retrieve the things. >> The guy who owns the company is here. Do you want him to answer your question? >> I I don't know if that >> if that's what you want, you can have him come up. >> Well, if he has an answer, I guess we should let him come [laughter] up. Is it Freighic or Frolic? >> Freighic. I was right the first time. >> Dr. Celico and President Gomez and the rest of the board, thank you for having me here today. The questions that I hear are very valid questions and and I appreciate being able to be here to answer those questions. My background is 16 years as a professional auctioneer and I've handled multiple other high schools. As far as the

148the condition of the building goes, as we heard, it's it's really dried out well, and that's good. But this has been a big part of my discussion with Mr. Bagatti, and it is my responsibility to make sure that the areas that are quarantined off remain that way. I want to assure everyone on the board and everyone that comes, we will not have members of the community straying through the building looking for things. That's not how this auction will work. What we will do is I will bring a team of people in. We will take all the like items that are easily movable and we will move them and stage them in an area near a door. For instance, in the wait room, there's a big garage door in the wait room. We're going to stage

149a lot of stuff in that room so that people can show up. They'll have their receipt of what they paid for online and we will have one of our employees go and gather their stuff and bring it. If we have a a group or an individual that buys, for instance, there's about a dozen big huge weight machines in the weight room. Probably going to be a small company that buys those or someone is going to buy them and they will work directly with me to coordinate any equipment that they need to bring in. if they need to bring in something to lift that and take it out to their truck. But there will be incredibly limited number of people coming through. And if they are a member of the community and not a member of

150my team, they will be accompanied by a member of my team. Okay, >> that's great. And are there I assume that when you bid or buy on something, there's a disclaimer that says uh this kind of thing. you will not be allowed into the building. >> It's in our terms and conditions, >> right? >> It's in our terms and conditions. >> We are not responsible for loading, >> right? And the reason that we have our employees, my employees at the site, as you probably all well know, nobody reads that stuff. >> They don't. I can put it in bold print on the headline of my web page and they're going to still say, "Well, I didn't know." So that's why we do it that way. >> We learned that the first one Well, >> I

151would say also even if people do read that it's like people might view this as their last opportunity to walk through the building. So, you may have some people that would say, you know, I just kind of want to walk through again and just >> take a little that's above my pay grade. >> So, plain and simple. >> All right. >> I I do not have the authority to allow people to walk through the building. >> And we are going to need to communicate that when we put this out because before the damage was done, we were going to have another where people can take whatever they wanted, you know, off the wall, whatever the little momentos, but that's not going to happen now. So, we need to put that message out, >> but people

152are very curious about the auction. We haven't a lot of calls, so we could we could couch, you know, that in in there. So, I think Christine's back there >> making a note of that, right? >> Okay. >> If I could make a request, you've you've commented several times about promoting this auction because of all the phone calls that have come in. >> Should I could I work with Mr. Gotti to make sure that the proper information goes out to as many people as possible. >> Yeah, the person you'd want to reach probably reach with and I'll put you in connection with is Christine Stewart. She's our uh uh communications and uh community relations coordinator. >> Okay, great. I look forward to talking with you, Christine. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions from the

153board? >> I don't have a question for you. I have a question. So, when you talked to Mr. Batti, he said it's safe for people to come in for short periods of time. I'm trying to understand what he said because he's not here. >> Oh. Um he >> I mean >> when he he said did you get the the binder? I said yes I did. And he said I just went I'm not going to be at the meeting. So I just want to assure you that I had spoken to the person again I don't remember the name from Gandandy thank you and he said that um because it had dried up they were able to turn the heat on and dry it out that it was um much better now. So the areas that had

154the heavy damage would be excluded from places that they would be able to take place. So they wouldn't be able to walk through those areas, but the other places were were better. So they would only be in there a short period of time to go in there. And I said, you know, my concern obviously were people that would be in there for a any length of time, including like our staff and them. So he said that he did not feel it was a concern, but based on what the other person said, which I don't remember their name. So that did make me feel better about let allowing people to come in to claim their auction items. >> Kind of a moot point though since they don't have to come in. >> That does make it

155better. >> Yeah. >> Still I do agree we should, you know, get something in writing um saying that we can go in the building. >> Yeah. And that that is a great suggestion for now that that makes >> right. >> Yeah. >> We will have a we'll have a web page dedicated to the auction that people will be able to go to and our terms and conditions and major things like no walking through the building unattended. Those major points of the terms and conditions will be spelled out boldly. Then the remainder of the terms and conditions or a complete list of the terms and conditions will be found later on in the web page. If I could wrap up real quickly, as a graduate class of 1974, I have been blown away by the things

156that have changed since I was the last graduating class at Broad Street School before they >> So, I'm just over 40, I think. [laughter] >> But, it has been a pleasure, and I want to compliment the board and all the the teachers and all of the staff that are here. I'm just literally blown away by what has taken place here in Ka Falls and I'm very proud. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Mr. Gomez. >> No. Based on the information I have at this time. >> Mr. Harris. >> I. >> Mrs. Schaefer. >> Hi. >> Miss White. >> I. >> Mr. Zipper. >> I. >> Great. >> Thank you. It is recommended the board of education grants that Kaihoga Falls City School District high school diplomas to the following students contingent

157upon their successful fulfillment of all the uh state of Ohio and Ka Falls board of education adopted requirements. >> Second. >> Yeah, this is our good news, right? Um, I'm actually going to make one remark here. I was going to save it for my comments, but it's relevant here. So, we have 259 students that are on the list. We're hopeful that, um, we know that some are at at risk and we are working extremely hard, but so that number may, you know, unfortunately go down a little bit. But I just want to make this this one note. Um, I was very I'm very moved and touched and appreciative of the effort that our staff has put forth to get some of these students across that stage. And it's things that you don't hear about. My

158phone today, a text of a young lady that I know pretty well. Um, one of our social workers is sitting there after school today doing her online learning with her to make sure that she gets >> the work done. >> That's great. >> So, I'm And there's more of those stories. We have students who are um living couch to couch um home to home who are really in um you know in tough situations and we're doing everything we can and I just truly appreciate the efforts of our counselors of our social workers of our teachers those who are just advocate for these children because without them some of these children would not be walking across that stage. That's right. >> I just want to say that. >> That's right. >> Any other questions or comments?

159Please call the RO. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Schaefer. >> Hi. >> Miss White. >> Hi. >> Mr. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. >> Your comments. >> Thank you. Um do something a little different. I'm going to talk about a couple things that uh took place this week. One being um the Preston Zoo trip. So that was, you know, their last harrah that they were um really excited to be able to do for every single student. They had parents there. I actually went for about an hour and a half and walked around with students. It was a nice day. Thank you. >> It was pouring rain. If I would have gone, but >> baby giraffe. Did you see the baby? >> I didn't see the baby giraffe. >> I saw

160lots of monkeys were very active. Um and the carousel they had like, you know, they did it all. Um so that was really nice. They had t-shirts. I got a t-shirt. We were nice and bright. We could find each other. So that was that was fun. Kids had a great time. And then I saw him again this morning at another field trip. And that I just want to take a moment to thank um the mayor and all of Mary Spoggy and who also helped organize with Jen Scala for our district. She put together it's today and tomorrow. This was a result of our business alliance where we were trying to make career connections to our elementary folks. So um they actually met at the pavilion this morning. I I was there at nine o'clock to

161uh greet the mayor and he gave a speech to the the students um from it was Dwit and Price and Preston that were there today and they did uh they had a talk about city government and then from there they went to the fire station, Pilgrim Church and Riverfront and there's a lot of history um with the Pilgrim Church and I'm very excited this summer I'm going to go I'm I told Mr. Jones we're going to do that the Underground Railroad and the tunnels that lead. So, I want to I'm really interested in learning more about that. But it was really nicely organized. It's for third graders. And so, tomorrow will be Lincoln um Silver Lake and Richardson. So, they'll be doing the same thing. But I'm just real appreciative for Miss Scalla's work on

162that and the city's cooperation that um nice little field trip for our students. So, >> just want to give a plug there. >> Amy Davis used to do that for all the third graders. That was her thing. >> Nice. That's what they did. >> You went to the gorge, which you can't go to now, but yeah, >> you went to the Sherin. to see the river. Yeah. >> Yeah. It's nice. They got to be one of the first to go under the bridge. The broad street. Yeah. Instead of going 200 kids going across the >> broad everybody wait. Yes. Sorry. Yes. [laughter] It was my street. >> Yeah. Amy Davis did that for all her third graders. >> Yeah. So they did it districtwide. They started I asked if we could do it districtwide and

163Miss Galla took on the challenge and she did it. So, um, >> was it part of like the America 250? >> I don't think it was related to our business. >> We'll claim it, Miss Miss White. >> Yeah, pardon me. >> We'll claim it for America. >> Good. [laughter] >> It's per align perfectly, I think. >> Yeah. Well, other I know many of you will be mentioning other events, so I won't steal that. There's so many things coming up. One of which is the most exciting for us is graduation on the 19th. So, we're looking forward to that. But I'll defer to the rest of you on the rest. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Selco. This is the item I board business. We have two requests to address the board this evening. Um,

164when we call your name, please come to the podium. You have three minutes to address the board. There'll be a timer on here. Um, it makes a little audible ding when your time is up. Tradition of our board is that we don't gave you down right at the 3 minutes. We just ask that you um complete whatever sentence you're in the middle of. If you go on for an extended period of time from that, then we'll ask you to wrap it up. The first person I have tonight is Miranda D'vor. >> Okay, we'll have that. And then the next person I have is Robert Turney. >> Thank you for coming tonight. >> Tell me when to start. whenever you're ready. >> Good evening, members of the board, the community. Uh my name is Robert Turney

165and I'm a business owner and a property owner in Ka Falls. Over my 75 years, I've been a law enforcement officer, a security director of two large businesses in northeastern Ohio. And I was saddened to hear that a gun made it into the school system here, uh especially in a new building. I just feel that metal detectors are necessary in 2026 and are a are a pillar of every school that is being built. Monitored camera systems, not just camera systems that record, but with professional monitoring personnel all times when the schools are open, monitoring it. Uh these things can be done both with your police departments and security departments. There are grants and other things available. Uh the other thing that Miranda D'vor was going to mention was the uh the safety of these children

166parking all over the neighborhoods right now. It's it just draws it. The parents are just terrified of what could or could not happen out in these neighborhoods. As of yesterday, the terrible incident in Wayne County where the sheriff himself was stabbed trying to talk to an individual along the side of the road. He and his sergeant were both stabbed just on a routine. No, nothing was going on call. just a man walking weirdly along the road and they're both were hurt. This is the kind of thing that the parents who work for me at my businesses I hear and have to listen to being a security professional and been a policeman and a MP. Why is nothing being done? You know, they're they're like this has got to be tightened up. I will sum up

167with I would be happy to volunteer to either meet with your safety committee, help form a safety committee. I've got over 45 years of experience in both safety, security, and and taking care of people and property. And I have so many resources, and there are so many grants right now in our country for this type of thing. That's it. >> Thank you. >> I'm go out of order and we're going to do the first read of the elementary handbook. So this is the first read will be on for approval at the next meeting. If you have any questions, please direct those to Mr. Elder. And then next is first reading of the secondary handbook. Um same as above, it'll be on for approval at the next meeting. If you have any questions, please reach out

168to Mr. Elder. I do have one question, Mr. Elder. Do we um send these out electronically or do we provide hard copies of these? >> Uh so as of right now we are keeping these electronic and printed upon request. >> Okay. [laughter] >> Um we have questions about this. Do we ask you now? Do I email you or >> Either or. >> Um I guess I did read through these. Um so in in the cheating sections in both um we don't discuss AI use of AI and I don't know if it goes in here or we need or we have or need an AI policy of what explaining to students and parents what cheating with AI is or just saying that you can't you know just addressing it. So that was one comment. Um the

169parts about electronic devices does Ohio state law not require us they can't have them now? Isn't that a state law? >> Compelled the bell during the instructional day. >> Yes. >> Okay. So personal technology devices will be permitted to be used I I wasn't it wasn't clear to me that our handbook uh uh what's the word I'm looking for matches the law >> has caught up with the law >> you know the law the law changed officially in January >> okay so all right so you probably >> we adopted a policy >> what you're going to see here are a lot of featured links directed to the policy >> okay >> part of the challenge is as polic and laws are changing sometimes midyear it's it's seems to be more effective to have a link

170so that when we change one thing we don't you know we don't have to change it in five different places >> incorporate by reference >> correctly okay >> so so so that policy will be referenced a new link all these all the links that you see here the hyperlinks when you look at it electronically all those will be refreshed so that it represents whatever new policy is created or it'll take you to a web page that allows you to view a little bit more in depth. >> Okay. >> Mr. Z, can you give me that reference you were just looking? I do want to check something out though that you said >> about that is in the secondary handbook page 17. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Item T. And then um the other uh sort

171of relevant to our speaker um in the secondary hand Look under procedures, student driving and parking lot regulations. We do say students shall not park on community streets near the school in order to respect parking for those living and visiting within the neighborhood. So, so we're not we're not going to allow them to park on the streets as per this handbook. >> That is that has been in the handbook since I took over. >> Okay. All right. Right. So >> that so that is a little that could have some more meaning now. Are they not and can we tell them they can't park on community streets? >> No, we probably should look at that as well. >> And so I would Yes. So and then also add business lots to that >> because we've had

172to tell our students over and over they can't park in neighboring business lots. So I think that should be considered. I think those are my main I think that was it. And some of those might apply to um the elementary as well. It was the same kind of thing. >> For our elementary school drivers, >> um the AI cheating. Yeah. No elementary school on the street. Didn't park on the streets. Well, I actually um was thinking about bicycles because some students ride their bicycles. So, I don't know if we need to say something like you, you know, you're responsible for securing your bicycle. >> Um or >> there's nothing in here addressing kids that might and there maybe there doesn't need to be, but my son rides his bike sometimes. So, >> just something to

173consider. So the ebikes, is that what they're called? >> Yeah, I saw several of those today. >> Those I what I don't know is that if there's been any city ordinances that have banned the use of ebikes like on city sidewalks depending on the speed. I know in some cities that's been >> I wish that they would because my 12-year-old wants a motorbike. I keep saying no. So they should outlaw, but that's a different issue. That's different. That's a whole different conversation. >> A whole different conversation. >> Miss Schaefer, I know you had several questions. I sent an email to answer those. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate it. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Alder. Okay, we're going to go back to lovey discussion and story. [snorts] I'm gonna bring the mood down.

174Sorry. [laughter] No one wants to talk about levies. Um, okay. So, we're just going to go over I've kind of given some uh couple different scenarios for both property um and income tax um and kind of just the overall um since income tax is something we've not done just the general like idea and like what it is and and the stipulations and things like that just so you have that information. So, go. Okay. camps are playing here probably really soon. So, whatever. Um, as a refresher, we just want to talk about the cost savings, which we've done a couple times tonight. Um, but the cost savings that are already either in the um have already happened or in the process of happening. Um, so obviously we've closed an elementary school. We eliminated open enrollment starting

175next year. Um we are in the middle of sale of buildings property for four different um properties slashbuildings. Um we along with our the next two kind of go along a year ago we had to do our financial recovery plan with uh the department of education. So we had we deferred curriculum and technology adoptions. Um we started staff reductions through attrition that include both or all of administrative certified and classified staff and we we got that number of just what this year is earlier. So there have been a number of items we've done to um try to stay solvent um without getting to this point but um here we are. So property tax. So just um you can pull the other one up too. Yeah. So for reference, one mill generates about $1.28 million and

176that's as of the last you know this. Now that will change um that it will not change for a November levy. What it will change is if something happens and we need to you know it something doesn't pass or um things like that will change because this year's a reappraisal year for Summit County. So that will change and it could change significantly. Usually it doesn't in those in between years, but with a a reappraisal it could. So just as a a reference is that um you know that number is based on what's current right now before that. So this base forecast you'll see is kind of with the updates we have to this point through May. Um you know tax collections were a little under um due to delinquencies um even even a little bit

177more than we expected. So um there are some differences there. The next forecast is in um August, so it's right around the corner. Um but so it's been updated a little bit from what you saw in February. So based on that um this is what it says uh Levy Millage needs estim um estimator. So you can see the top is if each of those calendar years. So 26 27 28 the lower range mills to the higher range mills. So the lower range will give you about a three-year levy life cycle. Um while the higher range would trend toward a five-year levy life cycle. Um obviously as things change, you know, this is only a guide based on what we know right now. So as things change, um that may that may also change. Um but

178that's that's kind of how the forecast goes anyway. Um, also just as a reference, so right now our forecast only goes out to 2030. Um, and so you'll see you see 31 and 32 out here. Um, just so you know, like I they base those numbers based on like a five-year historical trend. So like I that's not an option for me within my software to be like, let me put in this stuff for, you know, like whatever my um assumptions are, things like that um that I know or don't know. So it's just based on trend from the last five years in each of those categories. So um you know obviously those are quite a number of years out. So um there's that but it does give the extended look kind of at if things

179were to continue along those same trends what what we're looking at in those years. And obviously in August 2031 will be part of the forecast um that I present. Technically uh the department of education if you remember is only doing four years. So right now 26 through 29 is technically what's required. We still remain with the fiveyear and and this one shows about a sevenyear. >> So oh go ahead. >> Um this is basically saying the longer [snorts] it takes us to pass a levy the more we'll have to ask for. >> Yes. So what happens is is so if you pass in 26 it's effective for that tax year but collection doesn't happen till the following year in 27. So there's the tax year and then the collection year. So each calendar year you

180get out, you're delaying those collections for a year. And so that's why it increases as time goes on because it's assuming nothing else is changing in this forecast. Um which obviously we know we would have to um if different, you know, if at any of these points maybe something doesn't happen or a levy doesn't pass, but this is assuming everything stays the same. um and looking at when that would start to be collected. And you can see you'll see that in the next um in the scenarios you'll there's a line for you can see up top there's nothing there now but where it says proposed new levies um you can see so these are all based on the fact of November of this of 2026. So um >> and the less we ask for the

181more often we'll have to ask for more. >> Correct. Correct. as it says, you know, your lower range here is more of a threeyear to a to a fiveyear. Um, and even that, as you'll see, it still doesn't really it may get us in the positive um end of ending balance, but I'm not sure if some of the some of the scenarios solve the problem of ex expenditures over revenues. Um, but we'll kind of we'll kind of look at that and then I kind of compiled that at the end so you could see it in a snapshot. >> Just just so I can get to that. I think we should ask for what we need, whatever that number is, and just be honest with our community. That's what we did in 2019. We asked, it

182was a 9.97 ask. That's a lot of money. I'm not. And I I when I met with people one on- one, I looked them straight in the eyes and said, I will not tell you that this is not a lot of money. A 9.97 mil levy is a lot of money to ask of people. I can't look at someone and say that is not a lot of money. So >> just for reference, just so I can point this out, in 2019, a mill was about 750,000. >> So it's significantly different. Just as an FYI, >> you know, you have to just lay out what the needs are and explain to people this is what we need. I understand it's a lot of money and then you have to make the decision as a voter. Can

183do I value this and can I afford it? Those are the two things I I would ask people when I met with them. I hope you value it and I hope you can afford it. And those are not both of those questions I can't answer for other people at the end of the day. Those are personal decisions people have to make. >> Okay. So, we'll go into I've I've done about I think three four different property uh tax scenarios. Now, the one is not truly a recommendation, but it is just to this first one is just to show what one mill will do. So you can kind of have that as a baseline as far as what a collection looks like of one mill and like if you were to do, you know, kind of

184get into the halves. I've done whole mills as your, you know, um, scenarios, but if you got into the, you know, 3.5 or 4.5, you this is kind of just a base for you to be able to have a a number here on one mil. So you can see that, um, we are still starting in 29. Um we have a revenue we have a deficit we're deficit spending um and we are also still in the red um with um our ending cash balance. I should also point out that all of the reductions for next year are incorporated that I know of as of now and some of it is estimated. Obviously we haven't rehired, you know, hired some people in positions that have retired that we are um that are not being eliminated. Um, it's

185very few, but I, you know, we have estimates in there right now. I don't know what kind of health insurance a lot of these people will be choosing until later again. So, it's not 100%, but it what I do know and plus my estimates are in there already for those 50 people um going into um next year. So, starting with three mills. So looking at um kind of the the top end of of this year is what it says it was 2.68 I believe. Um same thing still deficit spending um starting in 29. Um however the district would stay solvent in an ending balance until about 2032. 2031's real tight. I mean $47,000 isn't going to get us far um there. So, but it is in the black there. Um, and you can kind of

186see the differences um that just the two two mills makes between the between the two there. Um, four mills. So, we've pushed out we we start deficit spending in 2030 here, but cash balance wise we are good through 2032. And then obviously um little same scenario except in for five mills deficit spending is in 2031 again 31 32 there's a lot of unknown factors um as we always say years four and five of the forecasts are subject to significantly change um depending on things like health insurance and staffing and um a number of things like that mandates that you know we we don't expect that could happen that aren't funded. Um but in 203132 still deficit spending but a healthy cash balance um through the um entire period that is shown here for the five

187mills. >> Can you give me the amount that a mill brings in again? Sorry. >> It's on >> where is it at? >> It's at the very top of the first one. >> Nope. Go back. Okay. >> Up in the Yeah, up in the top of that. So, >> um yeah, >> why is it always why do we always end up deficit spending and the projections? I mean, some of it again is based on trends of things. And so, like I said, I can't go in there and alter those, but you can see um you know, it's it's going it's adding about 2 million each year, whereas you can see that's not necessarily what's happening in in these other years. It is it is assuming trend of negotiation raises. is it's assuming trend of if

188we had you know we did Preston and Price and we put air conditioning in. So it's it's considering that as well um as as part of the percentage trend over those five years which may be higher than what we need it may not be. So unfortunately I can't I couldn't get into like like that's not a part of it because it's only fiveyear forecasts that software but it does give us this for for levy purposes in that um I for these like once you get to like four or five mills I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock into that deficit spending. I mean a million five years out can be easily remedied. Um, it can be, you know, there are so many factors going into that that could change that. Could also change it

189the other way just depending on what things hit. You know, we've got insurance in there of 10% >> each, um, each year, um, which we're hoping one of these days it's not any, you know, that we're going to get, you know, something good like we've had in the past. So, it does have some of those things. Then if you think you know that 10% on 10% then on 10% you know those those things by the time you're getting out to 31 32 really compound. >> So and and you only we only ever collect x mills >> correct >> which essentially this many mills is not worth as much in the future. So you're we're always >> inflation and cost go always go up and our mills we collect always >> yeah the dollar amount that

190you're going to collect is going to stay. >> So the the fundamentally you're always going to have to ask for more money as long as >> through no fault of our own because costs go up out of our control. >> Yeah. I mean, yes, we wouldn't go forever like, okay, we're good. And, [laughter] you know, obviously that that happens and they're these are our revenue sources and yes, they're flat and then they're also going to, you know, if we were to ever be on the 20 mil floor, you know, all of that stuff is tied to inflation. Now, our inside millage is tied to inflation. We lost, you know, money on on that as well that we would have normally seen. Um, so there are certain issues like that. >> If we go for 5.5

191mills, it'll over the life of the levy, it'll bring in an additional 3.2 million, which would clear us through fiscal year 2032. Should keep us completely in the black. So, personally, if we're here, what we need to do tonight is decide what we're going to do. I think we should ask for what we need, which is 5.5 mills based on these projections will keep us in the black through fiscal year 2032. It would be the typical home in our district in 44221, it's 200,000. So, we shouldn't go off of 100,000. And now with the new language, it goes off that anyway. Yeah. >> So 221, which is we have all of that in the district. $200,000 home, that's 36750 a year. I'm not saying that's not a lot of money to people. I'm not saying

192that's not a lot of money to me. But I $367.50 a year. I'm not here to say that that's not a lot of money. >> But I think we should ask for what we need and see what the community responds to. I think we have a good story to tell about academic achievement. I think we have a good story to tell about cost-saving measures. And I think you know in June at our work session we can work on our statement of facts about the realities that our community will face in terms of cuts that will happen if a lovey doesn't pass. >> Yeah. >> Because of what we've cut. >> Yeah. And we will have to outline those in August anyway. Uh as we will that 29 year comes into um being the third year

193of the forecast. >> That's a good work session topic just to be honest. >> I agree. Um, and just working together as a board of what we will touch if a levy doesn't pass. But I I really believe strongly if you don't ask for what you need, you're coming back to people sooner. And I don't think they appreciate that cuz then it feels dishonest. It feels like you're just coming back to them again and again and again. And then it feels like it starts to create distrust because are you mismanaging your finances? you were just on the ballot. If that's what we need to stay solvent for as long as possible, that's what we did in 2019. It bought us seven years. >> I think we should buy as many years as possible. >> And

194then the community responds with their votes however they need to. It's it's their choice in their vote. >> But I really the next one just it's a little bit more the next. So that's what it looks like. There's one more I think. Yep. So that's what it looks like there kind of all comparatively um where we're at. Now I would and I would say so I'm going to talk a little bit about income tax next. >> Um uh and just >> hold your thought real quick. [laughter] >> Before last week I was >> I know I know I know but just hear me out. people were voted down income taxes in places that are very against property tax. So I don't I just I I really thought that we should have go for an income

195tax until I saw income tax 75% of all income tax levies failed across the state and more of the traditional property taxes passed. >> They did. And uh a vast majority of voters in primaries tend to be elderly folks. So these elderly folks came out were given a choice between property taxes or income taxes and they passed more property taxes. >> Yes, they did. >> I got some I have some other data I do want to show you and I won't I won't whatever. Okay, so Oh my gosh. Please stop turning over the ball. What are you doing? You look like when my child played in second grade. Okay, they did better the last two games, but what was h had that was me watching the game. I'm that kid. Like, what is what are

196you doing? That's what I yell at my kids for when I'm at watching them. I'm like, okay, so just a couple quick things just to go over for those of you who do not know um much or anything about school district income tax. So, this is something separate from your federal, your state, your city. A lot of people get it confused with like a city tax. It's completely separate. Um, who pays the tax? This is another confusing point for people. It applies only to residents of the district regardless of where you work. And it's not about where you work. It's about where you live. So, it does not apply to individuals who work in Kyoga Falls but do not live here like a city tax would. It's it is different from that. It is if

197you um are a resident, if your home is here, no matter where you work, if you have income, that's um you it applies to you. Um term increments. This is where um there's a little more leeway than a property tax. Um so you it's levied in increments of 0.25%. Um it can be continuing or fixed number of years just like the other ones. Um but there's no limit on the term. So you could do it doesn't have to be five years or continuing. It could be three years, it could be, you know, 10 years, it could be whatever it is um there. So there's a little more flexibility in that. Um what income is taxed? So there are two tax bases. So there's a traditional tax base and an earn income tax base. And I

198think the next two sides are kind of important just to decipher between the two. Um, so a traditional tax base, um, taxes your Ohio adjusted gross income, which includes all of those things that are listed there, your pension, taxable social security, rental income, interest, etc. Income that is not taxed is social security benefits, um, disability, welfare, child support, workers compensation, those kinds of things are not taxed. That is not um, part of the base. So part of the characteristics characteristics of this is that it's broad it's a broader tax base. You're you're hitting more people. Um the revenue then tends to be a little more stable. Um and then it's obviously a higher revenue potential because the next one we'll talk excludes some kinds of things. Um and so on this one retirees typically pay

199if they have taxable income. So here is for us what that yields. um each of those in those 0.25 from 0.25 up to three. I haven't seen anybody with one over two but it's just for your reference. So 0.25% is almost 2 and a half mills um in the traditional um tax base. And then your earned income which is where most people have headed and if I had to pick between the two this is the one I would do. Um so this taxes only your wages, salaries, tips, self-employment income. It does not tax pensions, social security, rental interest, any of those things that typically a lot of those are retirees um and things like that. So, it's a smaller it's a little smaller tax base because there's not as many people. Um but retirees typically

200do not pay unless they are working. um it can fluctuate with economic conditions because it it is not a a you know it's eliminating kind of that stable pension or benefit that you're getting every year. Um and it requires a little bit higher of a rate to generate something similar to the earn or to the traditional tax. Um but then this is what it looks like. It's not that significant. Um it's you know 1% is 8.84 mills.25 25 is 2.16. Um so this is what most districts have put on. Some of them do have traditional um but this is what most districts have put on um to kind of provide some relief to their retirees or senior citizens that um you know may be struggling with property tax um because they are on fixed incomes.

201And this essentially um unless they're working or you know have some other things they're not they don't pay this. Um so and this is just what it looks like together. Just kind of a view so you can put them up against each other so you can see the difference in um you know millage types and things like that. Um couple of things that can be done on the next page. Kind of frequent frequently asked questions. Um so can property tax millage be reduced to compensate for the increases in revenues due to a passage of an income tax because the benefit of an income tax is that it grows to your point of this is a property taxes. This is what the mill is. This is what the dollar amount is. with this it grows with

202income, people's income. Um the the percentage we collect doesn't, but obviously if their income grows, what what the dollar amount we collect grows. So it could have a little more sustainability long term as to not having to come back as often maybe as a property tax because you are seeing growth. Um, but they do let you, there's one of two ways you could let um any property tax levies expire or you can actually write it in to your ballot language um to say if this passes, you know, we will um you know reduce the existing property tax X. Um, and so just for reference, I've a couple of the scenarios I've included because it happens to time up exactly with our emergency levy renewal what what that would kind of look like just so you

203can see. Um, income tax. No, we've talked about this. Not the same as a um city tax. Um, and then the other one is when is revenue from the income tax received by the school district. So this is a little different than what a property tax is. Property tax is twice a year. So this will be quarterly. However, it takes about a year and a half for the districts to receive that full year because um it is up to each person to tell their employer. However, let's say I don't tell my employer because I have no idea for whatever reason and it starts and then I get to my tax return the next year. Well, you know, they ask the question like what district do you live in? Like it will be due then. So

204even if if you don't pay it through your employer, it doesn't mean you just got out of it. It's it will then be due at the time when you file your taxes. So that is why for some people, especially in the beginning, it's that year and a half because if they miss it during the year, it's not really until when they file their taxes that they're paying for that previous year. Um so, um that's normally what they say to see receive that first full year. Um so I'll kind of show you um go that we're looking at that but this is the typical then one more the typical ramp up of what you receive um in those first five years. So um on average of what they've seen um so it's about 5.9% which sounds

205low but it's I I promise it's it's a little it's not as bad as it seems. Um, and then you can see it ramps up and then at certain points, you know, you're overcolcting because you're collecting your current years plus what people may owe back, you know, from their returns and things like that. Um, and then you're always going to be collecting, you know, people are always going to true up on their state tax returns um with what they actually owe based on their um, you know, the income that's applicable. So, oh yeah, hopefully that's going to happen later. Um, so I just did the increments of 0.25 from that up to 1%. Um, so this is 0.25 and 0.5. Um, you can see 0.25 is very similar and these are all earned income tax.

206I did not do the traditional tax base. So earned income tax fiscal year deficit spending um 29 out in 30 to 32 ending balance is um still in the negative. Um as you see just on a half percent that gives us um an ending balance of uh that stays positive throughout this whole time frame. Um and then the revenue deficit does not begin and it's it's minimal in in year 31 and then also in 32. Um but you can see in that proposed new line um proposed new levies line what like you can see that like it's 163,000 next year. But then you can see how it does ramp up um as it goes on and through. So then the next two a lot of the same here. Um I was actually a little like

207taken I was like this can't be I had to double check these. Obviously we we've you know we don't have an income tax levy. This is the first time kind of delving into it. But um both of these scenarios give you a re revenue uh surplus. So revenue over expenditures um actually to a a decent amount. Um it's not just a little bit. Um and then you can see those cash balances are are become ridiculously big. Like this is too much um to me in my opinion. Um you know we're at 35 million the end of 32 and 20 almost 21 million at the end of 32 for the 75. So you can see how it does um you know grow how that is that growth of like you know isn't necessarily modeled in here

208so much um again but it's based on what it is right now but um again it could be could be more there. Um, so the next two scenarios are kind of what I talked about. Um, just to show you if you were to say, "Hey, if this passes, we will we will not renew the emergency levy that's expiring um type thing. So um other than 30 the 75 um in year 32 we are deficit spending. we would not be deficit spending with a 1% um and we would be solvent in our ending balances um for the for both scenarios even getting rid of that emergency levy. That emergency levy is about 3.7 million a year um and would have started in 28 is the first collection year if it were to be renewed in the

209future. So, the next one kind of just brings it all together. Um, those are the different estimates. Here's what the revenue over expenses looks like. Um, compared to the base, um, the two at the bottom are NR means non-renewal there. And then, um, and then our ending cash balance. Yep. there. Um, so solvent in basically all of the years except for 0.25. Um, so in this case, so kind of backing up because I did want to point out so in in that non-renewal scenario, let's say we were to go ahead and do something like that, potentially senior citizens may see a savings. people who are not working or not have income that qualifies could if if you were to go a route like that could potentially see a savings by voting for the income tax

210and that levy dropping off because they may not qualify to have any fun, you know, any of their money under the earned income tax, but they'd be losing a property tax levy in that in that scenario. Um, and then just some history. This is the part I wanted to. So, these are kind of around here. The ones that have um income tax. You can see a couple of them have traditional, but some of those traditional ones were also like 1990, 2000, like they're they're older. Some recent ones near I mean, Norton has one. Um these are the May results here of what was around us. Um, I I do think some of these um I should have put um I don't know why I don't have Wodsworth on there. Um I think there are some

211caveats to some of the reasons some of these failed. Some of them um were on for a continuing period of time and I think that can scare people um especially given current climate and things like that. So like Wsworth was for a continuing period of time. there's failed as well. Um, some of them others across the state were combined kind of maybe with bond issues um or things that they were going to move forward and and that may have had an impact on that. I don't know. Typically May is not the greatest as compared to November. Um, it's it's not as successful as November. If you hit one more, Ryan. So this is in the past from 2020 up until this point. Um you know you can see there's not there's not a ton that

212are on every year. Um so that the percentage of passing other than 24 which isn't even it's not terrible. Um and 26 which is terrible. Um they're above most above 50% some mostly 60% do pass. Um it's hard to say right now a property tax and income tax like what people's pallets you know what what they're looking at um for any of this. I think it people have just had enough and I I I don't blame them. I think there does need to be some reform to property taxes. Um it just has we we have to have a plan behind it, not just get rid of it, hope for the best. Um and so I do think eventually this is probably the the way things will will move because I I don't think people are

213going to give up on this property tax thing and you can only do so many legislative things to try to cap and and do this. And you know, House Bill 920 was supposed to take care of that. you know, helping people not be priced out of their homes and things like that. And we've obviously hit a point in time in the last 10 years where that's that's not happening now either. And and you know, there's been a number of legislative changes in order to remedy and give some relief to property tax owners, which understandable. Um, but, um, I just did want to give you the background on that. I I personally would lean towards an income tax levy just it's but I also understand um you know the the recent results um I I think

214I personally just think the income tax is if you can get it to pass it's going to sustain you a little bit longer than a property tax. Um and you you know it's it I see a benefit in that long term. Now again what is the appetite of the community for something like that or in g I >> I don't know. >> Can I ask a question point with that with Christiey's comment? Um >> have we in the in the past surveyed the city? Like has that been a strategy of the levy to put a survey out to to gauge where people are at property versus income tax? Like just >> Well, that's not something we can comment on because that would be a levy committee activity. >> The board couldn't comment on that. >>

215Not >> we have to separate ourselves from the two. The board can't comment on the be committee activities. >> Not even whether it has happened in the past or not. >> We can't. We have to keep a wall. Uh, it could be a strategy. >> Well, we have to decide tonight. So, I get how you're saying there's a strategy, but we need to make a decision tonight. >> You need to make a decision tonight of what we're going to do. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And any survey would take at least a month. >> Take care. >> So, that's not >> I didn't realize you were making that decision. >> Um, yeah. So, the there are along with this it's kind of the same process. two resolutions certified you know same timeline so that second resolution

216has to be done I have to have by a beginning of August so um two separate board meetings for two separate resolutions once you know that information it's the same similar process for both um options in in that >> so you're saying we need two more two board meetings >> there'll be yes there'll be two in order to put it on something on the ballot we'll have to have two board meetings between now and the end of July that they can take action on that are separate separate board meeting because one is to get a certification. So then that goes to the county and then once we get that back we would do the second resolution to put it on. >> So So if someone makes $100,000 that's their adjusted >> income they'll pay $500.5

217in.5% they'll pay $500. If they owned a $200,000 house and we did the 5.5 mil levy, they would pay $367. But if we phased out a property tax that would they would pay less property tax and maybe it would be kind of a wash just in that scenario. >> Yes, it would be different for everybody because it dep again it depends on your income. It depends on the the value of your home >> well and how many people are working within your home. >> Here's my theory. The people that are always going to vote against the levy are still going to vote against an income tax. However, people that traditionally have voted for our property tax levies have been from our higher income areas of our district. They are therefore less likely to vote for

218an income tax because it is going to hit them harder. >> Yeah. >> So then we're starting with our pot of no voters who are going to vote no matter what. And then our pot of yes voters are from our higher income areas of our district who are then less likely to vote for an income tax because an income tax is a form of a wealth tax and they are then less likely to vote for a tax that's going to take more money out of their pocket. >> And we need like almost what was it 75 cents or a dollar if we tried to tell people get rid of the emergency. >> Correct. Yeah. >> So, that's a lot. That's a big ask. I think personally >> you don't and you don't have to include

219anything like that, but >> if you >> it would be a caveat of >> you know for like I said potentially there will be some people that will pay you know everybody would save some sort of money most likely. Now, your higher income may not um some people may save a significant amount of money if they have no earned income. >> Yeah. >> I don't I don't know what the census data necessarily of that is in Kyoga Falls, though. You know, >> it surprises me that they Well, I think it's we're in an anti-ax climate currently and that explains the failure. But, um, I would think that a income tax would be palatable to on the flip side of this discussion to a lot of people, especially retirees, people who are very concerned about property

220tax. From a schoolboard perspective, it's attractive because that as you said continues to grow and it's a lot more um so I it's it's difficult I wish that we could get more data and on >> people's >> but people have also never voted for an income tax before and people are much more likely to vote against something that they don't understand that's what I'm >> right it is a messaging I think it would take a lot of outreach, messaging, marketing. >> Glad you said that. >> I'm not opposed to trying an income tax at some point, but I think we're up with what everything we're up against. Going with what people know is going to be more palatable. Also, knowing that people are voting down income taxes. I mean, Norton had a huge pro levy

221camp. I was surprised at the margin Norton had. Their community, I drove through it like a week before the levy. Their community was peppered with pro signs. Very pro signs. One of the people I work very closely with at work with lives in Norton. Hadn't heard a peep of any negativity about it and it went down. One of the things that I I was looking at was how much they're asking for. So if we're going for half a percent or 75 like I think that's relevant, you know, parm 1.75 that's a that's a lot in >> that's on the very like I said I I have not seen any that have even asked more than two >> and those are rare those are and most of them are one and under >> for the most

222part. I think the other relevant piece I was talking with the mayor this morning as a matter of fact because I just want to be reminded of what the city's income tax currently is. So people are already receiving a 2% tax you know whereas I don't know what these cities are for example like I don't know what Palmer's current one is you know what the city gets or charges. So >> a lot of our people work in Akran and Akan's two and a half. >> Yeah but he said >> so if you work in Akran you pay two and a half even if you're a false resident. Okay. Who would support an income tax? >> I would support an income tax, but I will also support a traditional >> I would not support an income

223tax at this time. >> I think I'm afraid of because of the weather that I've seen across the district. >> I was now on. I'm I'm I think I'm a no for it right now. >> Okay. So, we can't get to four votes on that. >> It takes four votes. So, I'm just trying to move us along. [laughter] So, >> I will say I I will I will say >> it takes four votes to put a levy on the ballot. So, I'm just trying to be realistic with >> done the resolutions in in June. >> So, if anybody did want to sit on it, it would be okay to sit on it and come back the next meeting and and give me that. That would give me enough time to do that. But that's I

224don't want to I don't want to push anybody one way or the other forever. I just don't want to try it in November. >> If that makes sense. >> Well, I'm waiting till June does not give us time to or not us but a committee's >> an unrelated committee [laughter] >> to do the kind of research we that >> that would help us understand if our community would support. >> I don't think we've ever tried it. >> No. No, they're not they're not until of recently they're not popular around here. They are very popular in southern Ohio where there's a lot of farmland um and people own a lot of property and a lot of you know it it's valued very high. Um so they were they're very popular down there. These ones you can

225see like Wayne is starting to kind of get into like you know very rural more rural where they you know they've had them for 2005 2008 1990 you know they they have those um around here Birkshshire's had theirs for a while but that's also pretty rural um and then you've you've got your you know Norton has one Garfield has one Garfield has 1.5% um Northwest Cloverleaf and then out in Mahoning a couple of them. So um they're starting to pop up more now than they have before. Before they were predominantly in in rural areas that did not, you know, were were not um wanting a property tax. >> Are we okay with 5.5 mills? Where are people at on that? >> That would be 300 about 367 for a $200,000 house home. >> Yeah. >>

22630 mills is 350 >> and that gets us >> comfortable 32. >> Yeah. And I can I can again if you we're okay like to do the two meetings in June if you want me to actually run that give it to you be you know and then >> you can come back on the next meeting and >> I can I can still get stuff like the general outline of stuff started with the attorneys for stuff it just the specifics we can you guys can you know take the two weeks I'll get you what five and a half is and Um, >> okay. >> That way you have that way you have it like in front of you visually. >> Not enough direction for now. >> Yeah. >> And just to reiterate, we have to do

227something >> or we will forced to do be forced to do something >> in as of August. So I don't know. Yes. >> And then work session in June, >> we'll work on statement of facts and what we're willing to what we're going to put into that or not. >> Okay. >> Y >> and so that'll be a future agenda item. >> I have one more slide. Hold on. This is the most important slide. >> Because it's your >> I had I had to finish the this is the spring sports season which we decided to pick up another sport. So we were doing two. >> Um and flag football was the new one which is really really fun to watch. It is very fun to watch. Like I was I knew it would be fun.

228I like watching my kids, but I was surprised about how entertaining. >> Mr. Zimmerman went to a game. >> I am. It's It's fun and they all are in one place and everything. There's one there's one more, I think. Brian. >> Yeah, there's that's my other one. She also played, but she got in there. So, in the discus though, Morgan has taken third in every invitational. Three is her lucky number. So, we have our fingers crossed that she can make it to state this year. So, um she will be actually at throwing at Woodridge tomorrow for the league meet. So, >> all over the place. >> Future agenda items, we have our retiree celebration at the next meeting. As a reminder, please come early to mix and mingle. And then we're working on our work

229session for June. Is there anything else at this time? Okay. Committee reports. Mr. Harris. >> Uh we had BAC uh business alliance council. Um the docu Dr. Celico mentioned uh you know we were at Joshua's. Fantastic. Want to thank the students. Um they always do such a good job. I I couldn't make it last year. I didn't make it I think the year before, but the spread is just incredible. I mean it was it was awesome. A big pile of bacon. I loved it. Um but yeah, you gave the update on Mscala. It was it it was great to see you know that they're going around the city doing all that stuff. And I think you gave a few updates yourself on, you know, just some of the um actually you mentioned and I love

230that idea of getting visiting some of our actual uh uh programs, you know, getting getting into the school a little bit with some of the BAC folks. So looking forward to that, but it's about it. And then the legislative. >> Okay. Uh for mine athletics, we have a meeting scheduled. Board policy, we have a meeting scheduled. community engagement empowerment team. We did have a meeting and we had a speaker come in and speak about wellness and then uh Mrs. Hman is going to come up and speak about an adjustment to the um daytime event for students. the update about our um the family event, how we we changed or I'm sorry, the children visiting their schools, how we changed course. >> If you can come up and gonna give a very brief update on that.

231>> Um so thank you again for having me. Uh so due to that uh we had some evening events with our families um and there were some changes that had occurred with uh students and open enrollment had been modified and so forth. We thought that uh the events that we had planned in the evening was a better way to support our students moving forward. Also then at open house in the fall um we will be more strategic and have that because we'll know the families and all the children will definitely be there and any new family we can do some more orientation for them. So um so yes we did shift that event and we appreciate you understanding why we did that. Um, and you know, we apologize that we publicly shared that and we

232rarely want to make a change like this when we announce something publicly. So, um, please accept our apologies that we made that change. >> Thank you, Mrs. Houseman. >> Okay. M Simmerman. >> Uh, we have a financial advisory committee meeting on Tuesday. Um and then our alumni association had our um alumni and distinguished service awards dinner and then our awards ceremony for those people and our graduating seniors who received scholarships last Tuesday. Um which was a very celebratory event and they gave away almost 70 scholarships. Um, I think they were able to give a scholarship to pretty much everyone who who wanted one or who applied who who met their uh application requirements. And um and then they also gave a bunch of teacher grants. So um it was just our our alumni association really

233works hard and and um is a great organization. So and they know all the historical information of everything that's ever in the district. So, it's good for a new newbie to be part of. So, that's my report. >> Thank you, Miss White. >> Yes. Um the core team met and [clears throat] um did we just went over there's like nine total items open on the punch list. Just kind of closing everything up. This we'll probably be done in August, I think, would be our last meeting, but you know, just starting to get everything done. um the tabletops in the digital art room and just some things um in the science room tops need to be replaced. Um I'm just gonna quickly there is a lot but it's not a lot you know most done but

234bolic is gone totally if you didn't notice when it's like gosh where to go wild >> yeah but it is done um so that is good that is done parking lot will um start being done um Let's see. The bleacher repairs in um the stadium are are going to um the middle school bleachers. You can't I don't It was something about sticky. You can't get anything to stick on. So, we're trying to work that out. Um >> and then just um basically >> just the last minute work that needs to be done. um the paint off the handrails, paint on the walls. We know that some of our walls have been marked up in the middle rooms, just things like that that we're going to have to look at. And then the parking lot will

235be done. Everything by 8:14 should be done gone. So that'll be nice. I mean, it'll all be finished by the 14th of um August, I think they said. So, >> thank you, Mrs. Schaefer. >> I don't believe I had Okay. Comments, Miss White. >> Oh, yes. Well, I'm not going to do as many as I had because it's so late and I don't want to keep everybody here, but I did have a few things. I did want to say again, congratulations to our preschool. I did read in the notes. So, I'm glad Miss Houseman made that presentation and they were all here. But that is really something when you think about how well the work [snorts] they've done in one year to earn that. Um, gold gold star. So, congratulations to those folks. Again, I

236also wanted to talk about MTOY and the new roar. I love these because they're just readable and anybody can understand them, including me. And you know, not that I but whatever. So, you know, the lottery and it's only like and I'm going to be fast, but if you get the roar, read it because she does it so succinctly, so well that you can understand it. But we get like 25 cents of every dollar in ticket sales. So again, the state is not fully funding us. And again, please vote for people that support public education. I also had a little thing in um the Akran Beacon about universities Akran and especially Kent. Um Kent State is facing challenges while still conducting important research, educating key healthcare workers and making it smart in those programs. adjusted for

237um inflation. The state support for Ohio's universities is 27% lower today than it was in 2005. So here again, wonder why colleges are so expensive? Oh gee. Again, vote for people that support public education and our public schools. I I I can't tell you how much it was when I went to a school, but I could work and pay my way through college. Kids can't do that today. And that's a shame because we have some smart kids in this district that cannot afford to go to college. And to me, that hurts. That hurts us all. And so, please, when you vote, please vote for those that support public ed. Um, I also attended the foundation, alumni foundation. I was going to read a little bit of this, but it's so late. I'll just kind of

238go along with Miss Zimmerman. We had three um one distinct the distinguished service award Susan Keller everybody knows her that you see her around John Fume I think who gosh his bio he was the director of the Akran Art Museum he's he served on Stan Huitt and Weather Vein and so on and so on just amazing and then Jeff IA who is my friend um and he's just so funny but he he was wonderful they did give all the um uh teachers, they everyone that asked or applied for a grant got it and all the students that applied for scholarships received them. So, thank you to the alumni. I also wanted to um say that I did get to attend the art walk. I think we talked about that. Yep. Okay. Well, luckily I went

239there at 4:30 and I just as I was leaving an hour later I missed the rain, but it was so wonderful to see all the the wonderful art. They had done a big cement with the the pool and the lily pads with the ducks on them and and then it just poured down and I felt so bad. But those kids are so talented. Their artwork from the little ones on up. It just it's amazing what they do. I just I just am so I can't believe it. So that was another thing. Um, and then I wanted to do a shout out to the library. Our Ka Falls library is once again this year the highest user in um I think it's Sora ebooks in Neonet Consortium. So that is something we had 24,34 checkouts this

240year alone. That's amazing. Our kids are reading whether I don't like ebooks but okay I'll take it whatever way they want to read. So, congratulations to our wonderful librarians who do do such wonderful work for our community. I'll save my book and article for next time. >> Mrs. [laughter] Too late. >> Yeah, it's been a real busy time, of course, as everyone knows. Um, especially if you're a parent in the district or staff or anybody. Um, I went to the middle school band concert. uh uh just immensely impressed with with our program. I just really something to be proud of. Um I was uh president the Lincoln and Silver Lake uh community engagement nights where we welcomed some of our uh students who were switching buildings in and and they seemed to go very well.

241Um, I think it really helped just the families to just be in the space and see that um, it's full of teachers that that are nice and care and full of uh, new friends for them. And I think um, the kids I talked to uh, I said, "How you feeling about it?" Most of them I said, "Do you think you could be okay here?" And they most of them were like, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be all right." So, um I appreciate our family's resiliency and um understanding and and positive attitudes about it. Um I went to flag football, so that was fun. Yeah, good friend. Um uh his her daughter is the quarterback, so that was exciting. Um and then I I went with a Mr. Harris, Miss Schaefer, and Mr. Gomez to the board leadership

242institute in Columbus um from the Ohio Schoolboard Association and uh just for a day and a half it was a lot of great information, learned a lot. Um I sat in on a Purple Heart school session. Um so I'm hoping I've been tasked with helping get Silver Lake and Mrs. Travelli is here. I've already talked with her about that. Um, so I I love that program supporting our military families and I see the um it's not just about military families. It helps all of the students learn about civics and American history and and public service. So um and then uh excited about the two about an idea I had with I talked with Miss Schaer about the 250th and Miss Stewart potential. I won't talk about it anymore. No, we we'll do it easy. >>

243Okay. >> Local history project, >> right? >> Oh, really? Okay, >> that's it. >> Okay. And up next, I made it briefly to the art walk, but I got drenched in the rain. Got to see the duck that Saturday and talked with Miss Schulman, Mrs. Schaefer, and I had a meeting with some Hudson board members about the sixth district compact. I think we'll share more about that at the work session um because we'll need a little bit more time. went to the elementary welcome night at Richardson. It was really wonderful. Um I was asked to speak to a local boy scout troop about um what the school board does. That was really fun. Um I asked them how much they think we should make per year based on our responsibilities. They said at least 20,000.

244Then I told them how much we make sign up on their requirements [laughter] for >> Yeah. >> Nice. >> For Weeblows. Um and they thought that was really funny. um has an event with um the superintendent from Akran, Mary Alley, and we had a nice conversation. She was telling me about all the different things they're doing for uh the open enrolled students that are coming back to Akran. So, it's really nice to hear from that. We had our Northeast Region Executive Committee for um Ohio School Boards Association. Um we had um Tom Hosler and Melania Bernie from OSBA there to speak to us. I was also at the VLI. I'll share more on that another time. And then Mrs. Schaefer and I had gone down to Columbus the week before for a seminar on um

245what to do when your district is facing a financial crunch. >> Okay, Mr. Harris. >> Oh yeah, just a another congratulations to all the amazing folks we recognize tonight. I know we we talk a lot of the nonsense business and the levies and all that stuff, but um you know, I love what we do the start of those meetings recognizing our students, our uh our staff and all those amazing folks. So, uh just uh congratulations to them. I was also I I was actually um the art walk I was on my way down with my son and wife and the rain happened. So, uh we we had to kind of split things up a little bit, but we did get to see a little bit of things. The big duck was the the the thing

246Theodore wanted to see the most. So, you know, it kept going up and down and we could actually see it from our front porch so we could uh kind of tell when we could head down there to see it. So, we just amazing job every year. Um I made it down the BLI um board leadership institute as well. Uh sat in some legislative uh a legislative uh session, sat in a a great session. And I think um it was about uh from the um superintendent partners and something for the superintendent from uh oh I can't remember um Westville >> Westerville Westerville I can't read my writing. Westerville city she gave a fantastic um presentation um on uh just you know part community partnerships and stuff like that and what they've been doing there. So uh

247and then I'm looking forward to graduation. So yeah, that's it. Schaefer. >> Um, so I also attended the welcome night. Um, I went to Price and then I was looking to do it when I got off work late. Um, I I was happy to see all the programs that they had represented there. Like the library was there, they had the Asia program there, PTA was there, and I was late getting to the DWIT one this week, so I wasn't able to notice staff members there, but they had um at Price had 10 teachers and five support staff there was with with the um the students that were leading the the the tours and and I don't think they're not required were required to be there. So, they just showed up to to welcome the the

248the kids that were coming in their transition to the building, which I thought was really nice. Um but of course, um Principal Brown was over there. a lot of her students will be going over to Price and then over to Dwit also went to board leadership institute. Uh I am going to share just one of my favorite sessions was on brain plus eyes keys to supercharge learning and at OSBA capital conference they had a little booth set up that I also went to that booth so it's the same people and I thought it was really interesting because we talk about vision and getting you know corrective lenses to so you can see what's going on so you can read but it's more than just getting a 2020 vision. there's other um connections between your vision

249and how it it speaks to your brain. And I thought it was just fascinating. And I'm just going to share a couple facts that I thought was were very interesting. Um vision issues can feel like dis can cause disengagement. Oh, let me put my glasses on. Hold on. [laughter] Feeling clumsy. Skipping the lines when you're reading. Struggling with spelling. poor handwriting, eye fatigue, feeling overwhelmed, and it can cause just a dislike for reading. Um, and then they were said one in eight children have vision issues. Um, they could be caused by ADHD, autism, head and traumatic injuries, dyslexia, and then other types of um physi other physical ailments. And so then with these pro this program that they it's the neurological they called it neuroplasticity um it was helping train the connection between the eye

250and the brain and it was actually having a protective effect against future brain injuries like um concussions and such. They worked originally with athletes in college level athletes and then they brought it to um to school programming and they had us do some eye stretches which >> I was going to walk us all through but it's kind of late so I'm not going to do that now. >> I'm just trying to keep mine open. >> Yeah. Right. >> And they was one more thing I wanted to share but my eyes are tired now. And they said 80% of learning is through the eyes. 20% of your calories that are burned are by the brain despite only 2% of the body's weight. Which I thought was interesting >> and I did not fact check that but

251he seemed very smart. Um and then in inefficient communication between your eyes and your brain can lead to mental overwhelm >> and 40% of the brain is 100% dedicated to vision and 80% of the brain can be involved in processing visual information. So I thought it was really interesting how just the connection between how your eyes and your brain speak it has nothing to I shouldn't say nothing. It's not just correcting your vision. It is how your eyes are actually communicating with your brain. >> Um I think she was saying how it with your handwriting and you know being clumsy and when you're walking and bumping into things and everything. I thought it was very interesting and they talked about not just dyslexia but um a binocular vision disorder. Oh, >> it was it was

252interesting. And they have a program in um I think it was Dayton city schools where they are screening people and so I I put my name and phone number down so that they're going to call with more information. Maybe we can get a grant and have a program there would be great >> on my wish list. All right, that is all. >> Item G is executive session number to Ohio Code section 121.22G1 and section 121.22G6 22 G6 hereby move the board adjourn to cone session for negotiations or parking sessions with employees concerning compensation and other terms and conditions of employment and to discuss details relative to the security arrangements and emergency response protocols for a public body or public office of disclosure of matters discussed could reasonably be expected to jeopardize security of a public

253body or public office. >> Please call the role. >> Mr. Schaefer. >> Hi. >> Miss White. >> Hi. >> Mr. Zimmerman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Gomez. >> Hi. Mr. Harris >> I for an executive session at 9:20