001All right. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for being here. Um we would like to welcome you to our board meeting. This is March 3rd, 2026. It's our 5:00 board meeting. It's 5:03. We're going to begin by indicating who's here. Julie Jackson Kim Chandler Connie Burgess Chris Winn Karen Winder Clark Nelson Todd Harbor Ben Horsley And Nicole McDermott All right, first up we have our strategic plan. So, we're going to invite Dr. Bramble up and any other guests you'd like to bring. All right, good evening, uh board and superintendency. Thanks for inviting me to speak on this. We are looking again, as we have um every other month, on the strategic plan report. So, this is an update on some of those measures that we're looking at. So, just this reminder slide of what our goals
002have been, and then the three different areas of academic, social skills dispositions, and talent development. Our leading indicators that we're looking at tonight are the increasing ELA and math proficiency. And so, we've got some leading indicators that um we don't want to wait till the end of the year to say, "Hey, are we are we doing better this year than we have in other years?" We want to look at um what we can say what we can find early on in the year to see what course corrections might need to be made. Um in social skills and dispositions, we're looking at regular attenders. And then in talent development, uh the retention of um our non-retiring licensed granted educators. And this one um we we really don't have the data until June and so this is
003one that we're reevaluating to this should be a leading indicator at this time. So we're going to start with the ELA proficiency. So if you recall as we've been looking at PBL and the correlation we can draw between PLA PBL grades and our rise and Utah Aspire proficiency, we found that as we've been getting better with standards-based grading, we have had a tighter correlation between those grades and then what our students end up getting at the end of the year. So because of that, we have decided that this would be a good leading indicator and we pull our students' grades that are within that range that we would consider proficient. So those that are getting threes and fours and we calculate that to see where we think we might be in terms of proficiency. We
004look at quarter two because that has been the great the quarter that has aligned most closely or had the highest correlation. As we look at this, this is a good one for our schools to also look at as they pull their scores and determine where there might be some gaps or where our teachers might need some support in terms of getting our kids to proficiency based on their PBL grades. The next one we're going to look at is math and in math, this is actually a higher correlation overall as we run these from year to year. The math seems to have a a tighter correlation to the rise scores at the end of the year and Utah Aspire Plus. I wanted to also share with you some other leading indicators. While these are not on
005the list of things that we were going to share, I thought it would be helpful for you to see that we do have other leading indicators that our schools are using and we can look at as at a district level, too. One of the assessments that our students take is the NWEA MAP assessment. This is a reading assessment that's given um in 4th through 10th grade. I didn't pull 9 and 10 um and uh so this is just showing you 4th through 8th, but what we can see here is a fall projected proficiency and a winter projected proficiency. And what I think is important to look at here is the growth that our students are making in terms of their projected proficiency. These are are calculated based on some linking studies that NWEA MAP has
006done. So, that what they look at is uh the performance of our students on the RISE assessment in ELA and then they look at the performance of the students on their NWEA MAP test and they're able to link this and say, "We could project that if the students were to take that RISE test right now, this is the proficiency they would get." So, this is kind of a nice way to look at um that growth that we're making towards proficiency and then where we're projected to be at. Uh schools are looking at this as they look at uh course corrections in their own um practice in their schools and it's a nice one to look at at a district-wide level. Another um assessment that we look at for leading indicators is our i-Ready Math Diagnostic.
007This one I pulled for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade and this is also one that's um helpful for schools to look at and also as a district I think to see again a projected proficiency. So in the fall if you look at third grade, when the students took it in the fall, there was a 9% projected proficiency. So that is based on if those students took that RISE test right now without making any more growth, they would expect to be at the 9 a 9% proficiency level. When we see that jump to winter, that's a nice jump where we're increasing our students that are projected to be proficient. They also will project out for us if our students make typical growth what they are projecting them to be in the spring. So while we can
008look at this at a district level, schools look at it their school level, this is really powerful information when they look at this information at the individual student level and they can determine what areas gaps for students, where they need to focus more attention on some of the standards that are being taught so our students are ready to show as much as they can on that end of level assessment. So any questions before I move on to These are just the projections. These are just projections. Yeah. It's It's great to have the powerful assessment tools that we have that are linked to the curriculum that we're using because we really can develop some good action plans and then act upon the data that we're seeing and that's where we're hoping to move a lot of
009our schools and teachers is not just giving this test but responding to it, using that data to inform their instruction and change practice if they need to, identify students that might need additional supports. And so it's it's great data to be able to have. The other indicator we're looking at tonight is the regular attenders increasing by 10%. So we identify or Um, our regular attenders as those that are attending at least 90% of the time. And here, um, what I've pulled is, uh, by quarter, and then you're going to see, um, some years displayed here, too, so you can see some trend data. So, if you're looking at that first, um, portion of, uh, the graph, we're looking at quarter one in, uh, 2023, 24, 24, 25, and 25, 26. Uh, so, traditionally, we can
010tell from this we have, um, better attendance in the first quarter. Um, quarter two, obviously, we're we're dropping, um, and then quarter three looks like we tend to come up a little bit. So, we see some some pretty, um, distinct patterns. Um, our year-to-date, at the very last chunk of this, the 25, 26, doesn't yet include the all of quarter three and quarter four. So, that's why it's, um, higher. So, this is something that we continue to work on, um, as we try to get kids to attend on a regular basis. The last goal is retention of, um, 85% of teachers, um, and this one, we had 91% of our contract teachers who started. This is, again, old data, so, um, it's reporting back from last year. And we won't have the 25, 26, uh,
011data on this until June 2026. Um, actually, before I move to our BOOST report, um, I wanted to just, um, also give an odd to the fact that the strategic plan goals that we've been reporting on, um, this year have been reviewed and revamped a little bit by, or quite a bit by our SALT committee. And so, we're in the process of um, um looking carefully at these goals and the measures that I've been uh bringing to you to say, are these really the right measures to look at for the goals that we've set? So, know that that process is happening right now. And so, some of these goals we're going to adjust just to make sure that we're looking at things that we think are the most important elements that we should be tracking.
012These goals and measures were set uh 5 years ago when the strategic plan um rolled out. And so, it seems like a good time to revisit these and just make sure that we're tracking the things that we um need to be tracking. All right. BOOST School update. Um this uh is a portion of this um every other month report that I think has been fun to present to you as well. We have some schools that are working really hard on these initiatives to um improve their student performance. And so, I've invited Carly Pate from um Beehive to tell you a little bit about what has happened at um Beehive and her experience um in the BOOST program. This is your second year, is that correct? >> first year. So, we were identified last year, but
013it was official like BOOST this year. So. >> Yeah. >> I'm going to have her share a little bit of what have been the highlights and um the things that have helped um at Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to come and share. My name is Carly Pate and I am the principal at Beehive Beehive Elementary. I have been serving and uh the staff and community at Beehive for the last 7 years. I am a graduate of Granite, graduated from Hunter High, so I feel like this is my home uh being out in that Kearns network. I love it out there. Uh just a few things. Uh we've worked really hard. As you know, we are one of the BOOST schools. We worked really hard this last year and uh we're notified that
014we are not going to be going into the springboard status, which is a huge celebration for Beehive. Uh we were here just last month. We were one of the schools that were recognized in the top five uh high proficiency schools. So, that was a huge celebration for us um with how hard my staff has been working. So, we are excited to continue this BOOST support uh and help to make these changes more sustainable each and every year. And so, some of the positive impacts that we have had here at Beehive. Um one of the things is we've just with the support that we've received from the district is we are honing in on teacher clarity. And so, we have been doing a book study as a staff. Uh we are working on implementation of what
015we've gleaned from that book study at the beginning of the year now. And then we've been just targeting our PDs um before and after school on teacher clarity. So, it's been fun to get into the classrooms and see that change that is happening um the evidence of it in our classrooms. The other uh impact that it has had is having a full-time assistant principal. That's opened up so many doors for me as an instructional leader, but also having someone there full-time. Uh she is also a strong instructional leader that shared responsibility and support in PLCs. She wasn't there today and we have PLCs on Tuesdays and I was in and out being pulled and having someone there full-time. It allows me to be in there and supporting and working alongside of my teachers. So, that
016is uh noticeable difference. Along with the classroom observations uh with the teacher clarity, we are going into classrooms every week and providing feedback to our teachers. I feel like I've been in my classrooms a lot more this this year than I have been. And having that shared responsibility with my assistant principal, she's going in there and we're able to give some consistent feedback as we are working on um implementing that teacher clarity. She's also helped with the school culture, reinforcing and supporting our school wide PBIS, setting those high expectations for our students and staff. and uh just having her there full-time, too, it helps build those stronger relationships with the parents, teachers, and families. The operational support, just managing discipline, um it's evidence going to happen throughout the day, so just she's there for those
017day-to-day operations. Um it also having her there to help with that discipline, it's allowed me to be more um available and in the classrooms uh much more than I have been in the past. And then she's also a change facilitator. It's been a wonderful support to our teacher clarity focus, just supporting with those PDs, the drop-ins, and those collaborative conversations that we're having with our staff. And then the other uh component that has been so beneficial of being one of those boost schools is having a full-time instructional coach. I've been at Beehive, like I said, the last 7 years. I have never had an instructional coach up until this point, and so that has made a huge noticeable difference. Uh she supports with improving teacher practices. She's creating those coaching opportunities. We've had a literacy
018coach, as well as our tech coach, and having uh Marla Warner, our instructional coach, it's kind of it's been another breath of fresh air for our staff and getting in, providing another perspective. And uh she's also very data-driven within the instruction and facilitating collaboration, so she's guiding weekly PLC's. Again, Tuesdays are um run by our coaches, and so she works alongside two grade levels where she's analyzing that student data and adjusting, helping teachers adjust the instruction to meet the student needs. Uh building teacher capacity through those coaching opportunities, too, has been huge. Um and then like I said, the coaching, she's played such an active role in our coaching program at Beehive, and she is always continually looking for ways to support teachers in their planning instruction student outcomes. So, those are three areas that
019have been so beneficial to Beehive uh with not only our staff building their capacity, but also with the student outcomes that that are seeing, and I look forward to continuing it. Good job. Thank you. Um I also invited Ben Peters, but I did not communicate correctly that it was this meeting, and so I think he was thinking it was 7:00. So, I'm going to share with him or share with you what he texted me about the celebrations he's had at Magna as a boost school. Um he said they have done um the hard work of creating new PLC structures that are sustainable. They restructured their entire PBIS system during quarter two. Um Magna had some real growing to do and some creation of um new uh culture pieces and systems that um were really important
020for him to build um in uh the year that and he's done a lot. Their their school has done a lot of hard work with that. Uh they currently have all teachers and coaches and staff with the intent to return for next school year. They had a large reduction in office referrals from August to December. Um they're currently using all of the RISE benchmarks in grades three, four, and five. And they got to celebrate that fifth grade um on their most recent science benchmark hit their end uh year goal of 23% proficient. They're on track to meet their yearly attendance goal of 1 and 1/2% increase from 87.24. They're currently at 90% consistently. They have had incredible uh community engagement at their STEAM night in the fall, and they will have a career night tomorrow
021night with 18 different businesses coming for students. And then on March 10th, they have their next big STEAM night. Uh they've seen incredible increase in teachers' ability to use academic specific praise and pressing students to explain their answers through the use of on AI technology that they're using called TeachFX. So, uh he's quite excited and should be for a lot of the great growth they've seen there. Questions? Just a hopefully brief one and may have asked you this in the past, but on slide eight, you projected proficiency data. I'm assuming this is not the first year that we're using this. I'm just curious if we know how accurate that data is from past experience. Uh this NWEA MAP data specifically, Yes. this one is um because there was a standards change on our ELA test
022and they uh they re- revised that from those standards. It's I was a little I was a little reluctant to compare it to last year. Um I'm confident in the large linking study that they did across the entire state because there's a lot of other districts that are using NWEA MAP. So, I I did not pull last year's data, but we do have it, but there are reasons that I didn't know that it would be really comparable. Okay. Just was curious. Thank you. Good question. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> You're so welcome. Thanks. Great work. Thanks so much for being All right. Up next, we have Oh, Christie, you're in the hot seat. It's you. School name change with Luke. Come on up. Yeah. Sorry, if it came out
023as Christy, I know your name's Krista. All right, good evening board. Krista and I are excited to be here to present a summary of the recent community engagement we've been doing in regards to a potential name change for Woodrow Wilson Elementary. Uh so, in in early 2025 an interest was expressed to us about whether the name could change. So, we we the previous Wilson administration of the communications department were asked to engage with the community uh to determine if the current name of Woodrow Wilson Elementary still resonated with the community or if a potential name change would be valued. So, in spring of 2025 um Christy Christensen and I met with their community council at the time and we put together with um in collaboration with them these five potential options for what a new
024name for Woodrow Wilson could be. Um and we sent out a survey to parents, staff, and students and I'll leave this slide up for a moment just to um give you a chance to look at those results. You'll see that the idea of South Salt Lake Elementary was the top option with 42% followed by keeping the name the same at 29% and the others were uh between 5 and 15%. Um but then um as you all know, there was a change in administration and with the closure of Redwood Elementary uh Wilson absorbed a lot of new students and families and we didn't feel like 149 responses in that previous survey was really sufficient. So, we decided that time to um put the process on on pause until the new administration could get settled and the
025new students from Redwood could get settled and we could kind of re re-engage with this process. Okay, so thank you for letting us be here. So um like Luke said, I came in and started in July and it just didn't feel right to continue the process knowing that we were bringing on the Redwood community as well. And so we wanted to make sure we could engage that community to see if they still were interested in having a name change. We also didn't want to pursue it and start the year with a name change and then have people confused of where they were sending kids. So we re sent the survey. We did drop the Granite Glacier and that was part of what community council was looking at. They felt that there were too many options
026with and so we eliminated that one. Looking at the results, maybe it wasn't the right one to do, but we did. Woodrow did come out on top, but when we were looking at these results, we still felt there was an appetite for a name change because when you combine the other three, I think it's 58%. So it did show that maybe there's an interest for a name change, but we just weren't settled on which one yet. So we removed Granite Granite View. Do you want to go to the next one? Oh, no. We Oh, I see. We actually removed Granite View on this one and reset this and kept it out for another week just to see if it would help determine where where we were at. We still didn't have a great idea on
027what to do. So we eliminate or went forward with our top two choices, which was Woodrow Wilson and South Salt Lake. And we extended this for a longer period of time cuz we still were kind of running 50/50. And then after we had parent-teacher conferences, we put posters everywhere, tried to get some more parent engagement, and it came out at 48% with Woodrow Wilson and 52% for South Salt Lake. Is that the last one? Yeah. And that's uh that's where we're at now. So we can entertain any questions or discussion. Could I speak to this for a second as part of their presentation? >> a really long name. South Salt Lake? South Salt Lake Elementary. You're going [snorts] to have to write that out. Do they realize this? Like the kindergarteners? I'm just wondering. The
028kindergarteners definitely did not. >> [laughter] >> This turns to so so. So so. So so. So so. >> Sorry. I grew up I grew up in the area, so I'm not like dissin' on it. I'm just saying this is a long name. >> Woodrow Wilson is also very >> Woodrow Wilson is very long. >> [laughter] >> Shorter, not longer. Okay, sorry. Go ahead. I want to just preface this by indicating that we've given [clears throat] a lot in our policy we've given a lot of latitude to our communities um and also given them um kind of the directive to uh work on marketing and creating welcoming environments in their schools. Um we want school names that reflect the community. Um we're by the era of just simply naming schools after uh presidents and or previous
029school board members seems to have gone by the wayside. And we want schools that uh excite people and get them um with a desire to come and participate in school in that location and not just every other elementary. So it'd be my recommendation that we actually change it to something even I would love to hear community's input on this as well as South Salt Lake Academy. So I did meet with community council yesterday and I brought that up to see Did they swear? They didn't love it. Okay. Just for the fact that they do feel that there is a lot of pride in South Salt Lake and they feel that for them anyways, I mean we didn't take we didn't ever add it academy to any of these, but for them they just felt like
030academy felt too private and they wanted it to make sure that it was a welcoming that we're open it's for everyone and they feel elementary does that. Good. Did you tell them that they could be the Slay Academy that they're Slay? We should have said that. Sorry. Clark is your school, right? >> I'm backing away now. Oh, it's Connie school. Okay. So, it's it's a Cottonwood Network school. Yeah, it's Connie's. Just a reminder, the board does We do have a policy on how we engage the community on this, but ultimately at the end of the day, it's the board's decision whether they would like to change the name or not, and ultimately what the name would be. May I ask a more foundational question initially? Pardon me for interrupting. Um Kim, uh there it was
031stated in a slide that there was ex- interest expressed back in 2025. Do we know the original source of that interest? Where did it generate? Where was the groundswell coming from? I'll speak to this, uh if you don't mind, because I'm the one who originally asked Christine if there was interest in our community. We heard from a couple of community members. It wasn't widespread, um with respect to the the Nobody really identifies South Salt Lake with Woodrow Wilson. That's uh most most of our families probably don't even know who Woodrow Wilson is. And in this era of having to compete against other charter schools and and other schools and even within our own district in terms of school closures, right? And in an era of declining enrollment, is there a name that would better reflect
032um the community and uh be better for marketing, I guess would be the way to say that. So, I asked them to look at it and see if their community wanted to do something with it. And so, they had done that initial work under Christine's leadership, and then you can see how we got to where we are at now. Just to follow up, did the community council generate the various ideas, or was that an amalgamation of many different thoughts and and um inputs, I guess, from from the district, from from communications, from others? Sure. Yeah, the initial list of name options, that was developed by the community council. So, I remember uh I Principal Christiansen and I sat with them in a meeting probably February, January of 2025 and I remember some of them had
033chatted with their neighbors and friends and brought some options and collectively we decided to forward those five. I was going to ask a similar question, so thank you for for asking that. I just a comment then after survey three, I mean, to me it seems a pretty close 48 to 52% that almost half the school doesn't actually want their name changed if those are the options. Um, why would we go ahead with the name change with such a narrow margin? If I can just If I can just point to the data underneath the parent as well. I realize that's a small sliver versus the students and in terms of the total, but from a parent standpoint who represent the community more than anybody, I would think, um, it's 60/40 still to stay to stay put.
034And along those lines, cuz that's when I was reviewing these slides, that's one of the things I noticed because of course parents are making decisions with their kids on, you know, where to send them, but ultimately it resides with the parents. And so, if we're talking marketing and strategy like that, it seems to me that we don't the marketing pull of this isn't there if 60% of our parents are already okay with Wilson. So, just to kind of piggyback on on Clark's comment a little bit. I I I see Woodrow Wilson was brought from the old school that was Woodrow Wilson and and the kids just came. And I look at the neighborhood and I think South Salt Lake is trying so hard to be bigger, better, whatever you want to say that um that
035it really would almost help South Salt Lake to get away from the old school where probably the people and maybe even the parents are not near as familiar with that as younger people move into most of Granite's district. So, I you know, I'm I'm all for a change if um you know, if that's something that that even the kids would want because they they're familiar with South Salt Lake, not Woodrow. Connie, would you be willing to elaborate a little bit more on the history there? I'm not familiar with it when you talk about the combining of Woodrow Wilson prior school. >> was named, but the old Woodrow Wilson was on Second East, and South Salt Lake bought that property >> [cough] >> and use it as a community center now. Do you know what the
036name of it is now? I don't. I just call it the Woodrow Wilson. >> [laughter] >> So, it's an old school, and that's and then they just transferred it to the new one. It well, part of our after-school program goes there, too, and I can't remember exactly that location's name, but it does have a name. It's something Moo or Yeah. >> Oh, that's right. Yeah. We just call it the old Woodrow Woodrow. Yes, I think that's what a lot of us refer to it as as well. Yeah. So, it was just transferred. There was They didn't ask for a name change. They didn't You know, they just moved it. But that was gosh, 20 years ago when So, when when the district occupied this building at the same time, right? >> Yeah. Could I speak
037to some of the things that have been presented? I I appreciate these two presenting this information. If there's concern about why we would even consider this, feel free to address that to me because I'm the one asking our schools to be more conjoined with their communities and have schools that reflect their communities needs and desires and to market better so that we can retain our students at a higher rate and degree. This the name was carried over 20 years ago when this facility was opened. That being said, when we have closed old schools and rebuilt them such as Olin Walker Elementary, which used to be known as Roosevelt Elementary, we have done so with the community with the desire to again reflect something that the community can have pride in. And that's not to say
038that they can't have pride in Woodrow Wilson Elementary, but again, when families are moving into a community, it does spell itself out as just another elementary school in the neighborhood where I'm going to and we want our schools to stand out and and be We want them to be different. We want families to feel like they're going to go and and have a unique and welcoming experience. And so I I recognize the numbers here are are not huge. If you see the total up there, we had 67 parents participate in a self-selecting survey. So I want to just put that in scientific context and there's a couple of doctors around here who can correct me if I'm wrong. And and with The reality is that's not a significant sample size. And so I I don't
039want to look at the survey and go, well, that's a mandate or that's not a mandate. Ultimately, I think the conversation the board needs to be having is does Woodrow Wilson, the name, really attract and uh invite students to come and be a part of that particular school above all the others that are around it uh in the same vein. And if And if so, let's retain that name. That is your prerogative. Uh but at the same time I I will continue to push our schools to find ways to attract and retain and welcome students um in a changing uh market and environment. And my map says that Central Park doesn't sound right. Well, the Central the old Wilson is Central Park. That doesn't sound right to me. >> It doesn't sound right. Central Park,
040maybe. Anyway, go ahead. Um I just have a comment. When I was reading the survey and looking at this, South Salt Lake to me sounds like not a Granite school. It sounds like a Salt Lake City School District name. So, sometimes I would I think when we were on that edge of Salt Lake District and our district and we have a school that has Salt Lake in their name, I would hope that they know that's a Granite school. But I think I've seen it with some of our other schools in, you know, bordering schools that they they don't know they're in Granite when when it comes to the names, sometimes. But that just stuck out to me that with Salt Lake in the name, it I it could be confused that it's not a Granite
041school. It's a Salt Lake District school name. Um anyway, that's just my thought. We did have a conversation that Canyons has a Granite Elementary, so maybe we should have a Canyons Elementary, but I don't know if this is the right location for that. Can I just make one more comment to the survey, too? Cuz we did get a more parents responding to this one, and it did show when you combined it the three other choices that it was a higher percentage of wanting a change, just not really solidified on which change. So, I'm not sure when we kept sending it out if parents felt, "Oh, I don't need to take it. I've already taken that survey, and I already made my vote." And so, maybe we lost some parent participation from that when we sent
042it out again. And then another plug just a for South Salt Lake. We do partner a lot with South Salt Lake. They run our after school program. They're in our community. Um we're also working with them right now to work on a mural to get painted, which South Salt Lake is really known for. And so we just kind of feel that is our identity at Woodrow Wilson that that's where we reside. It's our location. And we do have South Salt Lake pride. I think the South Salt Lake administration uh the municipal administration would agree with you in that regard certainly. I am thinking of myself sitting in a community council meeting and I'm saying to me, "What would you like your school to be named?" And like I'm just not sure that I would be
043picking the thing that was going to attract people. Like I wouldn't be looking at it with a marketing brain. I would be looking at it with my like how do I build community? And that's what we want. But if our goal is to have a marketing brain, like this was I don't think these were created with a marketing frame of mind. And I I mean I think that if that's what we want to do, we should be getting some expert marketers to suggest some names and also Woodrow Wilson and see because um I'm not sure that South Salt Lake I mean I don't I don't know. But I mean is that going to If the goal is to attract more kids, is South Salt Lake Elementary going to attract more than Woodrow Wilson? I'm not
044so sure. If the goal is to create stronger community, which also could then you know, attract more kids. Maybe so. And also it could really strengthen our relationship with South Salt Lake and South Salt Lake Promise. And I mean [clears throat] a flagship school we know is a big deal. It It is a big thing. So, Anyway. I would agree with everything you just said, and just again applaud these two individuals for working within the confines of the policy for name selection. And if marketing if going out and getting some additional opinions was part of that, I certainly Obviously, we have a limited scope in in how we could produce those names based on the how the policy is written. I I but you're not wrong. Um It It's just a matter of resources, and
045uh again, when we have a self-selecting survey, um we have to kind of take the data for what it's worth, I guess. Krista, what's your mascot? It currently is a roadrunner, which we would also like to If this name change happens, we would look at that, too. It's a tongue twister. Woodrow Wilson Elementary Roadrunners. Do we have Are there I mean, we don't vote on this today. Are there two um Is there a first and second reading, or what's the It's generally been on your consent agenda. So, they come and present the information. We have it on consent today, and I missed it? >> Okay. This is just the information item, and then now you can tell us what you would like us to do. And then we go back out and do some work.
046If you want it on consent it next time, then you would let the board president know about that. If you like us to go out and do some additional work on this, we'd be happy to. Um Can I speak to that? I I would invite all of you to disagree with me, but my my take on where this is has evolved in our discussion is that we're not opposed to a name change as a board, if that's the appropriate and and a and a a good thing to do for for your community, uh for that school's community. I'm not sure we're compelled at this point that that is a clear path that we should take to move forward on it. And absent that, it's hard for us to take action It's hard for me to
047take action on it. If there was something more compelling, um I think we'd be willing to to to consider that um and and move forward in that fashion, but I don't think we have a path at this point to do so. So, what I heard you just say, and I'm looking at the other board members, is let's go back and have some additional conversations with the school community council and um see if we can generate some other more exciting options? I get the feeling that we're all kind of meh about it. Is that >> Well, I I'd actually if if you're going to go have more conversations, I would like there to be conversations with South Salt Lake with Sherrie Wood, right? >> Sherrie? Sherrie, thank you. I was like hesitating cuz I couldn't remember
048Sherrie or Sher. It's Sherrie Wood. And like, okay, Sherrie, like if we made this a flagship, what would you imagine what what mascot is really South Salt Lake? Like, how do we make this something that really brings some momentum and energy and you know, and I think that those people would be able to add some real value to that conversation and make it really cool. I will tell you there was a conversation. Um you had a conversation with her as well. Is that correct? >> I I didn't. Christie had had >> Oh. She was not thrilled about South Salt Lake Elementary. And I got the same impression. But I would welcome the We could certainly extend an invitation or for her to come and perhaps even some of the council members that represent the area
049and and further the conversation on that end. Have them there with community council members and have a discussion. Sure. I I think that would be valuable to me. >> brought that up cuz I wanted to make mention that we did uh have some connection there. Karen has a question. >> Along with that, just a comment, is when you take it back to community council, I think it's helpful cuz Julie, your your earlier comment on are we coming at this from a marketing angle? Are we coming at this from a community? Cuz I turned to Clark before your comment and I said, "So, do we believe South Salt Lake will actually attract Yeah. more students than Wilson?" I don't know the answer to that. Um I understand the community cheering for that, but I'm not sure
050if it's marketable, cuz those are two different things. So, I think that community councils are or you know, they have very intelligent people who are willing to come out and volunteer. And so, I think having a conversation not only on potential additional names, but what those names mean. What are we after? Are we going to try to just cinch this up and say, "We want a a name that is so strong that's going to get our community so on board that then it's going to turn into marketing?" Um because I think I don't know who said it earlier. Some of these early conversations it's probably like, "Oh yeah, let's do, you know, let's pick these names." What are you picking them for? Are these names community or are you going to like or are these
051names that you're going to recruit from other areas? So, I think as you lead that discussion, my suggestion would be have that open conversation on are we picking names for marketing or we picking names for community or maybe there's there's crossover and we can come up with a winner that does both. So, as a board member, that's kind of the question I'm looking at is if what is our purpose in the name change? Is it marketing or is it community or can we find a magic sweet spot in between those two where they overlap? I think that to me I like I said, I grew up in South Salt Lake, so that's not a negative to me, but I I list I heard that and my first impression was like, "Uh, really?" Cuz it is
052long and it's something that's cumbersome to And and that's not negative about South Salt Lake. It's just a that to me does not spark any like yay, yes, that's where I want to go. And I would love to see something that's like super exciting that the the families are all excited about, the community is excited about. Um And I I I appreciate that you when you guys showed that that the students, they look like they're very excited about a name change, period. And I like that you had Granite View as one of them and the students were very excited about that one, obviously. Um but I I just I I don't know. I I get that feeling that we're all kind of there that we we would like to have you maybe revisit this and
053just putting a plug in for the academy and I realize that's I understand what they're saying that it's not as inclusive, but at the same time, it's amazing what you do when you slap academy onto a name and everybody thinks it's a charter and it's exclusive and it's and it's really cool to go there and you attract a heck of a lot more kids and so I just I don't know if if that's maybe something to bring up and >> [laughter] >> Anyway, um I it's just in this in this day and age when we are competing against other charter schools, that's something that to me is very important for people to understand that it's I we yes, we want to be inclusive and everything, but we also we have to be marketable to people,
054so it sounds like I think we want a little bit a little bit more um on this, so But but would you agree that really only more about it if the community wants to bring it back to us? Like we aren't sending out like you need to bring back something else. >> if they don't want to do it, then then that's fine, but but having them understand the purpose that we do I think it's great that they want it to be something that's identified in South Salt Lake. Let's talk about it. Let's I mean, Mill Creek's already taken, that's a big thing, but you know, where what else is there in South Salt Lake that could be you know, impactful, marketable, something that >> with Water Tower Elementary. Well, that's what it's getting repainted to
055say South Salt >> And it's it's going to look really nice. [laughter] I mean, it's South Salt Lake is a very unique place and and so I think it should reflect that, the diversity of South Salt Lake and >> the That's what I'm saying. There's so much diversity. There's the you know, purely refugee population. It's really a rich area. There's got to be something more to celebrate there, you know. Not that South Salt Lake is negative, but it's just like >> It doesn't describe what's exciting. Yeah. It it So, anyway, does that does that give you what you need? I I will say this and it there is something about if I move to South Salt Lake and I look up a list of schools and I go South Salt Lake Academy, that sounds like
056the premier place to go to school in South Salt Lake for elementary kids. I'm just putting that out there. I would be okay with that, too. But South Salt Lake ties into if I'm moving to South Salt Lake. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. So, it's a challenge. So, we're happy to help continue with that and there is not a huge rush on this. I don't She had something else I wanted to add, but but before she does, I just we're just continuing to work on this. That's fine. I'm just playing devil's advocate on the academy because, you know, are we going to change them all cuz we have several now and when they all are, then none are. It loses its specialness. It it's true. And there's another term that charter schools try to
057hijack then and and tell our data, and I'm looking over at Dr. Bramble over there, until um we are not outperforming um all the quote-unquote academies across the board then I think we should uh not let them monopolize that word. You could use preparatory school. I also think the less people know what's a charter school and not that works in our favor. You know, cuz they just think oh charter school. I'm nailing it. really don't have an academy I mean the in the area on the east at all so it would be new to us here. Thank you for doing so much work. I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. This is what we needed to hear. Okay, where to go next? Thank you. Thank you. All right. She's amazing. All right, we're going to go
058ahead and take a break for dinner and we will return back >> [cough and laughter] >> Sorry. 6:30. Thanks. Yeah.