Regular Board of Education Meeting - June 18, 2024 (6:00 p.m.)

001e okay and we've got okay it is 6:50 so I would like to call the regular board meeting of the Board of Education to order and my apologies for the late start we had some um um business that um we had to take care of um Michelle can we get a roll call please Megan Miller present tom henkins here Brian Anderson here Tia John here Brian Nichols here Amy Levy here Greg Schneider present all members are present thank you um approval of the agenda I I'd like to I'd like to Mo make a motion that we uh in the interest of time tonight because we've got a couple of probably close sessions that we move future meeting dates uh 6A to become number 5A in in front of the human resources and human resources become

002six and executive session remains seven and meeting closing eight okay a motion with a movement of the future board meeting dates I'll second motion by Brian Nichols with the change and seconded by Megan Miller any discussion hearing none all in favor I I I I I any oppose motion carries and tonight for the Pledge of Allegiance we have Mrs um Brandy Herford representing our meil um Elementary school and she also has a student and I will let her do the introductions even Elementary School all right there we go um good evening I have a loud voice so I really don't need a mic but I will use one um Brandy Herford Prince BL Marl Elementary School I'm here introducing anaia she has been at mea um since I've been there so kinder so maybe even

003before then um anaia is such a leader um she is a member of student council she is also the vice president of the House of aastad um that is our red house at Marill she um also is very much into math and so um she does a lot of small groups with me and we work on her imagine math um and she's always looking for me to do that so she is a a real true reader and a learner and a leader ad Miro so I'll let her go ahead in go you just have Allegiance I pleased allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and for which it stands one nation God invisible and and justice for all thank you [Applause] thank you uh Miss Herford and Amalia we really appreciate that

004that brings us to public comment M Miss Shope do we have any public comments for tonight I do I have quite a few here in the room and then I have six um emails okay from board policy 18 seven public participation at board meetings speakers will be announced and invited to the podium by the board secretary Michelle schop each person will be allowed up to 3 minutes to speak should the individual require translation assistance a translator may be of the individuals choosing or one provided by the district public comments requiring translation will be given 6 minutes an individual's 3 minutes may be yielded to another individual however each person must complete a public comment card indicate if speaking or yielding time give the public comment card to the board secretary and approach the microphone to

005state your name and that the three minutes are being yielded to another individual an individual may speak on behalf of a group however no more than two other people may yield his her or their time to any one speaker individuals wishing to comment are expected to comply with the following Norms in order to maintain a respectful an orderly meeting and to prevent discussion of confidential matters in a public for comments should be directed to members of the Board of Education and not District employees students or other members of the public in attendance at the meeting signage banners or other material which impedes any person's view of the proceedings shall be re relocated speech that is belligerent disorderly disruptive repetitive or which exceeds the allowable time permitted for each speaker is prohibited concerns or questions that

006entail the disclosure of identifying information regarding specific students are prohibited response from the board if any will be limited to clarifying inaccurate information seeking additional information from the speaker or acknowledging that the speaker has been understood the board will not debate with an individual individual and the board may not take action on an it item raised during public comment that is not on the meeting notice or agenda the chair will interrupt and Rule an individual who violates any of these Norms out of order if ruled out of order by the chair the individual's opportunity to address the board will end immediately and the microphone will be turned off thank you for your participation and courtesy Michelle who's our first Speaker tonight our first speaker is Patricia my name is Patricia Zodi and I live in

007the city of bloy I'm here to let the Board of Education know that I truly enjoyed the listening session on Wednesday June 12th 24 as a person who voted in support of the referendum I learned a great deal about the reasons the referendum failed in April I believe strongly that these listening sessions should be continuing throughout our community before any decisions are made about writing a new referendum and putting it on a ballot thank you very much thank you m our next speaker is Susan I Susan Adams I want to comment on the referendum I'm from beloy I see the referendum is on the agenda for discussion SL action I hope it will just be discussion and that you'll wait to vote until after you have more information I'm glad there were four members of

008the board at the listing session last week and I believe more board members need to hear from many in our community so I think it's too early to vote on when to have the referendum at the listening session president Tia Johnson said she'd work with the Communications Department on ways to make sure the superintendent and board get in front of a more diverse group for future sessions I urge you to do Town Hall type meetings that allow the board and the staff to answer questions community members have and not limit community members to merely stating opinions without getting answers to any questions if you do answer questions right away and we all get to hear the answers and we all save time as well and hopefully there'd be less misinformation out on social media because

009social media is not the best place to receive one's information I think in these meetings it needs to be clear which programs were cut already and which ones would be cut if this doesn't pass so clearly money does make a difference in how well a school district can operate and you cannot make improvements without money same as your personal budget anyway it's seriously hampered by a lack of money s um I think it should be in I would vote for November but I'm going to vote for for it no matter when you have it but um it's a presidential election so there's more people that are going to vote of course we do need them to be well educated and most people at the lisening session especially those who spoke were for the referendum so

010do it soon do it when most people are voting and number three if we do have the vote in November and it passes then the money would presumably you be able to be used earlier than if it passed in April so I think there's plenty of time for these uh Town Hall type sessions prior to a November ballot thank you thank you Miss sh next we have Tommy Bickle this still on yes okay hi I'm Tommy Brio um I live in the city of booy I know that recently there's been um some debate in the community on which uh flags are flown here at central office so I come to you tonight not as a district administrator but as a citizen uh a proud purple Knight Alum and a proud gay man growing up before

011uh gay State alliances were even founded in our Public Schools I knew at a young age that representation was critical to showing young people that their identities were valid and that they were safe in their safe and supported in their schools and communities thankfully even without the representation back in the late 80s and 90s when I attended I had um a tremendous amount of teachers and a family who supported me not every student has that privilege therefore I think it's necessary that our public institutions step up and continue to show their ongoing support for some of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities especially here in blit representation and support saves lives and that is why I'm able to still be here in front of you tonight and that's not easy for me to say so

012I want to thank you for your time thank you our next speaker is Tim and I have Jennifer and Anthony who are yielding their three minutes so it' be nine minutes total well thank you very much and I do hope I don't won't take all nine minutes but um uh it's really pleasure to be here and it's it's nice to the board to um be willing to have a discussion of the the grow your own program and and how it's had some attacks shall we say in in recent times um this so I thank you for holding this this session I want to thank the board for your service I was in the Jamesville school board for a while so I know what you do and I admire you for that um what we need

013to do I believe and I maybe should give one more side note I started a program in Jamesville very similar to grow your own it's called the Jamesville Multicultural teacher scholarship and uh when I started it 99 and a. half% of the teachers in Jamesville were white and about 16% of the students were students of color at 16% is now 32% it's going to 40 and um uh the teachers are now from a half% to six so it's taken us longer than we thought to get going but we've got 20 students scholarship winners in college next fall freshman through senior year so we're going to start start cranking um main thing I think this kind of program grow your own ours over in Jamesville is that it's really intended to help the students be successful

014after After High School uh and one of the ways to be successful and adjust to society is it helps them a lot if they have a teacher who doesn't look like them both ways that a that a white student has a teacher of color that that a teacher of color has a white student it's just important because especially if you don't have a if you're white and you don't have a teacher of color hardly ever and you get into your first job and your first supervisor is a person of color you have no EXP experience and got to know somebody well like you do in the classroom so I think that's that's a really big big part of this is to help students be successful uh when they when they get out of out of

015um high school and it's also um uh important to note that both our program and your program are 100% privately funded the scholarships do not have one penny of public money involved in them and I think this that can get mixed up when with some of this criticism here but I think that's important that that be um very very clear uh and I actually I I help at their your folks request I help start a grow your own because we already had something like that going in Jamesville and I am a big supporter of grow your own in fact I I've never said this publicly ever that um I give $5,000 of my own money every year to grow your own and um I I'll keep doing that in fact I got a book coming

016out next month on Jerry mandering and I've always given the the proceeds from that book to Jamesville Multicultural teacher scholarship but I pleased to tell you tonight that when this book comes out um 50% is going to go to each one of the programs 50% the Jamesville school district and 50% Jamesville multiculture teacher scholar at 50% to grow your own so that will hopefully help get some some more money and it's also fun to in that book because I don't put any money in my own pocket uh that's makes it a little bit more comfortable uh and so I'm looking forward to that but I think another thing I think is worth pointing out is the the the United States that these students are going to live in is going to be the most racially

017diverse United States in our history um for the in in 2040 the prediction is that for the first time in American history white people will be the majority of the different colors but they'll be less than 50% for the first time ever and so that tells me that even more so that these students growing up today need to be ready to to be successful and be accepting of that world that they're going to live in so I'm wanted to make that point as well um um you know I think all that um um I think everybody basically tells me what I wanted want you to know I love Beloit um I told a few people tonight when I ran for the state senate the first time in 1974 50 years ago um I would not

018have won if people beloy hadn't cast so many votes for me um they had Jerry maner Jamesville out of the district my hometown uh but um I was hoping beloy would vote for me 65% uh and I would have a chance because the rest of it was Walworth County and re Western Recine County and so on and rather than bate voting for me 65% they voted for me 73% and I had a chance to win so i' never forgotten that and I just wanted to mention that but thank you very much for for listening to me thank you Senator colen Michelle next I have Margarita and Patty yielded her three minutes so 6 minutes total greetings to the board their guests and audience I would like to start by presenting some numbers the first one

019is the gap between um white students and minority students which is 20 20% in t scores um this is Nationwide no wisconsinwi in in Belo is the stat of my students is about 10% over that of the minority students the white students are 10% higher um the most appealing part is that the these numbers had been going on for decades and this Gap has not changed much um I was a member of a school board committee and they consider this unacceptable these numbers are going on for decades this same way so they asked themselves what why not do something about it um so there was a uh a thought process started according to high authorities in the field of education and learning the top contributing factors to the monsters Gap a school could address to

020chip away this Gap is the sense of belonging in school and the role models that they could identify with the students can identify with another piece of information is that according to Nationwide statistics beloy has 68% minority students and only 18% minority teachers and numbers are similar Nationwide teachers are the key the key to school atmosphere a sense of acceptance and belonging they are also Role Models if you key in in your search engine the words impact on Children's Schools performance having a teacher similar the similarity and or Nate language you will get thousands of results all of them agreeing of the impact not only on school performance but also an Outlook of Life self-image not engaging in Risky behaviors choices Contin their education not engaging in early sexual activity or pregnancy a group of

021people here in beloy took the initiative with creativity and not innovative ideas based the studies that show that having Ro models of their own background and yes skin color they could do better the children the students could do better so the group grow your own started they Envision a community where children grow and succeed where children are accepted feel accepted and have a role models that encourage them G wanted to start making dance in the invisible wall that they knew existed Beyond most of minority children's View G did not have a penny and budget no staff to start with that dream so with a handful of people like a Jack in the bean stock with their three little beans giy started it started to cultivate the little Pro program that you see now with only

02245 $41,000 to operate the TW this year and no stuff just a handful of volunteers that like them one a community of happy children educated on equal ground with success does not have skin pigmentation where we have a Workforce with a basic and solid education they have received by caring faculty in welcoming schools the will organization comes here telling us they address discrimination Injustice and reinforcement of equality really isn't obvious inequality where the numbers reflect isn't it unjust that children are defeated before the end of their basic education or high school we had been failing our children we will think that institution like will will have addressed the Monstrous Gap that exists but instead they can't pointing their finger at us to a little group with a mined budget and threat with litigation bu bully

023us so we change or else well dear will organization you see that the Supreme Court truly repudiates the desire of racial balance between teaching staff and students what kind of justice is that what kind of Justice do you practice to close I want to remind everybody everybody here that slavery was illegal child labor was legal wom Bo was not legal neither their ownership of property the people they stood up and protested they were T taught to be wrong today today we know they were right they just were fighting a a world that did not longer fit and today we know they were right thank thank you GW G wo I'm sorry thank you to all of those that stand up against unjustice thank you all for your [Applause] helping thank you Michelle next next I

024have Mario and Paula yielded her three minutes ready mic so ready hello everyone my name is Mario Flores if you guys already know me um being a part of the lgbtq community has never been easy but with the inclusion that um the school district has brought and specifically theer Learning Academy I personally had the best experience as a queer student I myself I can only speak on the behalf of the Learning Academy because I only went there for 2 years and I've that's the only thing I can remember um [Music] um uh sorry um I have gained the respect and the love from so many teachers and students at bla I have always felt welcomed and valued by by the entire environment they have provided I'm here to inspire other members of the lgbtq community

025and to encourage people to be themselves always don't let anyone don't let anyone stop you from being who you are even if it's your own family thankfully the district has made me feel included I'm appreciated of what the school offers and how the LGBT lgbtq community is represented here I am proof that no matter what you are or what you want to be you can be successful and that your dreams can become reality I want to say a special thankss to all the staff at Belo Learning Academy who have supported me and encouraged me to push forward lastly I want to say although some of the older generation still doesn't doesn't understand what our people are or what we what we come from and all the struggles that we have that we myself and the

026lgbtq community are heartwarming and sweet people and I hope that um you guys can eventually become educated get educated on our culture and that we aren't the quote unquote monsters that one moment that people portray us to be lastly I want to say that just thank you for everyone that is listening to me I want to encourage a lot of younger people that are obviously not out yet and remember that some things that you do say and you do could impact your family and your life and can be making one of your family members take two step back two step steps back instead of you pushing them two steps forward and that's it thank you so much thank you next I have Kelly hello I'm Dr Kelly grud um the director of instructional leadership in

027Steam um for the district and I am here tonight to also speak um in support of the pride flag and just to say thank you for making sure that it is flying outside our building to some a flag might seem like an insignificant s sign um symbol but the flag is a symbol of inclusion in organizations like ours especially public organizations symbols can bring energy they convey meaning and messages and they can express an openness to bring people into our community in their full and authentic selves the pride flag that flies outside this building conveys a message that we as a district Embrace wholeheartedly our Dei mission that we Embrace that statement and we are proud of the diversity because it is our diversity that brings us strength that we support all of our students

028our families and staffs from all walks of life as an ally of the lgbtqia plus community and as a family member of some very amazing LGBT TQ in individuals this flag is not just a a random symbol outside the building it is very personal to me for me it's a s symbol that means that my friends my co-workers my family and that I belong in this community and I'd like to continue to belong in this community it allows us to be authentically ourselves within the boit community and as a part of SB our strength in this District is our diversity and I'm proud that as a district as an organization we Embrace that invers diversity so again I want to say thank you and I sincerely hope that that flag will continue to fly in

029the years to come I am Belo proud thank you thank you any more Michelle yes next I have Jen [Music] I'm sorry I forgot to mention that she has Melanie and Anita who have both yielded their three minutes so she has a total of nine I have nine minutes so I have a water [Applause] bottle good evening board President Johnson superintendent Garrison Board of Education and those here and watching online my name is Jen papke and I I am an educator in the School District of Beloit I'm wrapping up my 12th year in the district and my 27th year in education in my career I have had the opportunity to work in three very diverse districts the Albuquerque Public Schools the Delan deran school district and here in the school district of bit where I

030hope to retire in the next 10 to 15 years working in such diverse districts I have done a great deal of reflection on my limited experiences as a white woman raised in a predominantly white community attending primarily white schools from early on in my career I recognized that in order to best serve my students I had to get to Know Myself and I had to get to know who they were learn about their culture and background and open myself to learning about experiences that I never had before what hasn't been diverse in my experience is looking around at my colleagues I have worked with primarily white women people who had positive School experiences in their past and who were generally successful in schools I am not naive to think that all of my white friends

031and schoolmates had great school experiences but I have been afforded much unearned privilege throughout my life that I wouldn't begin to see until I collected more experiences as I worked with Native American black Hispanic Asian and multi-racial children I recognized that my perspectives and my experiences were just one source of information and it would be important for my students to have experiences with Multicultural staff members this thought was brought into the spotlight when I heard that Senator Tim Cullen was interested in supporting staff in belit who wanted to start the grow your own Multicultural teacher scholarship program the grow your own team consisted of District leadership and bit Education Association teachers who were passionate about the research they had read and found on the importance of students having a variety of teachers especially with teachers

032of the same racial and cultural background as them I was excited to become a part of this committee about 10 years ago and we took the ideas brought forth and ran so I'd like to focus tonight on our scholarship recipients to date and I've had the chance to stay in contact with each of them they've been so appreciative of the opportunity to receive this scholarship and so grateful to our donors my math might be a little off here but in around 2017 Stephanie is that Seema right 2017 2018 we offered our first scholarship unfortunately the student changed Majors kind of like I did and so he did not continue on with the program but our next student Evelyn Rodriguez graduated from boo Memorial High School completed her degrees at Blackhawk Tech in W Whitewater and

033now will begin her third year teaching in the DLI program at Todd Elementary Karen SoDo received a scholarship graduating from blit Memorial and then bloy college and is currently in graduate school pursuing her school C counseling degree Jaden Bell just graduated from Rockford University he is starting right back up in the fall as a graduate student studying Kinesiology and Elementary education and would like to teach fied next up we have aaria Robi succeeding in year one at w Whitewater and our first staff recipient Victoria mallister who works full time at bmhs as well as completing her bachelor's degree at Concordia University and finally I look forward soon to bring you this year's scholarship recipients so that I can introduce them to you but let's celebrate Maya Matthews from bmhs who is headed to Jackson State

034in the fall and Aldrich staff member Linda Garza who's working on her bachelor's at W Superior these six grow your own Multicultural teacher scholarship recipients look forward to returning to the school district of Floy for their career and I hope that you will consider the value that this scholarship brings to our students of color we are looking to bring our staff diversity a little closer every year to our student diversity so right now we have about 18% minority teachers and 68% minority students we can and must do better and while education is losing the large pools of candidates that we Once Upon had a time for each vacancy scholarships like this can make College attainable 100% as Tim said of our scholarship comes from donations no school district money goes into the scholarships um I

035would estimate at last review that about 10 to 15% of our District staff make donations into the scholarship program every little bit makes a difference in growing this scholarship Senator cin has remained a partner and a strong donor to our program every year and is passionate about not just donating but being a part of meetings being present with us and being an idea guy so thank you for that board I know that this is a matter that's beyond us and for a legal team to make uh a determination but I hope that as representatives of our district you hear how much this program means to us thank you now I'm not done going to change my hat and take on one other important topic to me so outside this window we are flying the progressive

036pride flag the progressive pride pride flag was an update to the original pride flag developed to represent LGB people to further Encompass transgender folks people of color and so many more identities that people have in 2021 I purchased this flag and randomly asked the superintendent at the time to consider flying it and he made my wish came come true but it wasn't just my dream it was the dream of hundreds of sdb students sdb staff and sdb family members community members and members of queer supportive organizations in our area that they they would be seen recognized and valued I was even asked at the time to write a blog about it and to sum up what I wrote at that time it's about my goals as an educator to nurture develop create and Inspire spaces

037where everyone feels a sense of belonging and safety so tonight I have another flag I present to you Dr Garrison since Miss kristofa is not here a Jun flag and I'm not sure that we can get it up before tomorrow's holiday but I'd like to offer to continue the tradition by buying additional cultural heritage and recognition month Flags to be flown for times like Hispanic Heritage Month Asian-American and Pacific Islander month Black History Month and more I look forward to connecting with you and with Miss kropa if the board uh is willing to take me up on this offer flying a flag or showing support to a group of historically marginalized people represented here in our district is not meant to exclude anyone it is to to help us all recognize the beauty that is

038Among Us in our diversity as one of our district Motel says beloy is strengthened by diversity in the end I'm simply BL proud I hope that all of our students staff and families can feel that pride and let love be louder thank [Applause] you thanks you we have Stephanie R and Melissa yielded her time so it'll be six minutes good evening board members and um guests here today I also am going to discuss two things tonight I would like to start out with the um pride flag that has been um there there's been a lot of discussion about I'm standing here in front of you right now as a proud sister of a gay brother and a lesbian sister um two members of my family are in that uh group right there and I have

039grown up with this all of my life and I've had to deal with a lot of different prejudices so I understand right now the significance of Pride for our lgbtq students as we celebrate pride month it's crucial that we recognize why Pride matters Beyond just colorful parades and flags for lgbtq students pride is more than just a word it's a Lifeline it's about embracing one's identity despite societal pressures and prejudices it's about feeling safe and supported in our schools our homes and our community it's about being seen and being accepted for who they truly are without fear of discrimination imagine navigating a world where your very existence is questioned or marginalized for many lgbtq students this is a daily reality they face higher rates of bullying mental health challenges and even homelessness due to rejection

040from their families in such circumstances Pride becomes a Beacon of Hope for them a reminder that they are not alone and that identity is something that they should celebrate and never hide Pride empowers lgbtq plus students to stand tall and embrace their authenticity it Fosters a sense of belonging a community offering them a space where they could connect with others who share similar experiences it encourages them to pursue their dreams and Ambitions without compromising who they are moreover Pride promotes an education and awareness it challenges harmful stereotypes and promotes inclusivity in schools and in society at large by fostering this culture of acceptance and respect we can create safe environments while all students can Thrive academically socially and emotionally as we commemorate pride month let us reaffirm this commitment in our community to supporting these

041lgbtq plus students let us advocate for positive policies that will protect their rights and ensure equal opportunities let us educate at ourselves and others about the challenges that they face and the contributions that they can make to our community that flag is a symbol that we as Belo Educators and our community are supporting these students please please do not take that flag down and as Miss Papi suggested let's put up some other ones so that we can show that we Embrace everyone and we don't discriminate against all the second thing that I would like to speak to you about is uh the gyo scholarship many people do not know but I was on the original committee with Senator Cullen in Jamesville I was lucky enough to be on that committee um when that program first

042began and when I came to blit 10 years ago the first thing I did was talk to Steve mcneel about bringing that program down here to bit because Boo was a more diverse Community than janzel and I could not understand why this was not something that these people down here in bloy were thinking about or talking about and so that conversation with Steve mcneel led us to conversations with Doc Williams and uh Dr Bond when they were here and luckily they embraced it and Senator Cullen was gracious enough to come down and and help us get the program started and as Jen said we've had a lot of successful graduates with this program this is something that I believe in um as an educator and I do think that it's an important thing for our

043students to see and as Jen said none of our time all of our interviews are done outside the school day all of the work that we do for the program is done outside the school day we rely on donations nothing is taken from the school district or the taxpayers so I really am urging you to uh look at that program and and keep that program going because it is something that's very valuable to us in this District so thank you for your [Applause] time next I have Stephanie s hi I'm Stephanie Stevens um I reside here in BL I'm a proud product of the blit School District I'm going to date myself I went to Waterman um I went to Aldridge and actually Tia went to Waterman with me years ago and I graduated from

044BL moral in ' 87 my husband graduated in ' 85 my father was uh graduating in 1952 and our children graduated from the school district in 2011 2013 and 2019 um so we have three generations of school district of blit students and graduates in our family um um I am also an it's been an honor and a privilege to work for the school district for 23 years as an educator I worked at mcneel for 22 years and this past year had the opportunity to go over to murill which has been a wonderful um kind of feel too but like McNeil it's it's wonderful um why did we have wonderful experiences here in blo um it was because of the Educators and the administrators that we had my husband and I and our generation our next

045generation or children um we me and my husband had some of the best Barb Hickman uh Sally Adams Booker Street Mr gupton um and our children were um blessed to have Audrey Gentry or some people called her Audrey vaugh uh Paris Eckles Brandy Herford Amanda Seline um and Michelle Hendrick Sora also as those are some of their past Educators um what do they all have in common they have talent dedication determination and they are all persons of color they all have enriched my family's life and I don't want to see this stop in BL schools we need this diversity in the workforce here at stb we need to mirror our children our students need to see themselves in professional roles um approximately 76 Educators Al of the 459 Educators that we have here in the

046school district are minorities that's 16 177% of of our Educators being people of color while our minority rate with school district is approximately 68% of our population is persons of color students um grow your own scholarship program who I financially have helped um Support over the years is a great way to continue to help this effort of helping support growing our own to come back to Beloit here in the stb do not let the negativity of certain groups stop this wonderful scholarship opportunity here at the school district of beloy I tell my students each and every day at school at mural show me your greatness so today I'm asking you to show me your greatness and I plead with you I encourage you to please continue with the grow your own scholarship program thank [Applause]

047you next I have Tracy greetings to everyone here thank you for having public comments um I'm speaking to you on the topic of the pride flag as a uh Turner graduate I made a purposeful decision for my kids to go to bit Memorial and all bit schools until my gay son didn't feel comfortable at boo Memorial and transferred to Parker in addition they do two musicals a year so that was a thing so I have been a parent I'm a former District employee although now I work at Parkview because I like little people and I'm white wasn't going to talk about that but I feel like make it space here maybe it's important for our kids to see other people and have that experience so grow your own um I am also um the vice

048president of the El Road organization in boy and we support Rock County in lgbtq plus inclusion efforts um and just making sure that that visibility in inclusion is present um I want to say that visibility is one thing it can mean tolerance but when you take something down that is supposed to be a celebration that sends a really loud message that there is not acceptance and many people today have pointed out that diversity includes all kinds of different people so please I humbly ask keep the pride flag up love the idea for more Flags um I just wanted to say just a couple more things what pride and visibility does for students in school districts it can help them learn about the other students learn about and respect the diversity of people and families in

049the world and it helps them promote acceptance it makes the representation can help students feel like they're not alone and can encourage positive mental health very important to school and when they feel safe being out to more peers at school can be associated with higher grades less harassment and seeing peers who are out can be associated with a sense of safety even if they're not out themselves having a welcoming environment which includes Pride flags and other symbols is important for students and students of color who may experience a lot of other discrimination in school um if you do nothing else tonight hopefully you'll keep the pride flag up thank you thank you Michelle and I have one last person in the room Pam okay well everyone's speaking about what they're passionate about so so I'm

050going to talk about what I'm passionate about I was looking at the website today and I saw uh a tab for family exit surveys and I know that our enrollment is constantly going down and I'm wondering why haven't we seen these family exit surveys is anyone completing them and if they are are they being talled are they being brought to the board because if they were I missed it I don't know what's going on with these but I would think that if these are being done the board should definitely be um looking at what these exit surveys say so that we might keep our kids in the district here um you know about three years no about five years ago we had a thirdparty surveyor that did staff staff climate and staff exit surveys and

051I don't see those anymore either it just seems like we don't have any input from staff or families about how they feel about the district and what we can do to make it better and how can we make it better if we don't have that imp put so I would ask you all to consider bringing that to a board meeting please if the data is there um I want to talk about budget cuts several School level budget cuts were brought to a meeting a few weeks back and they all affect teachers and classrooms and programs and I didn't hear one board member saying wait so I'm lost I know a lot of other people are lost and a lot of teachers are asking how are these Cuts being made if they come in a presentation

052from the administration to the board does that mean it's a done deal does that mean those cuts are done because it seems like it because choir at Aldridge was cut you can't sign up for it next year so that cut has been made and I did not hear a board vote on that so we need to know how this is working we need to know what what if we have a voice in it and if we don't do the people that we elected have a voice in it um I just don't think that it should just be brought to the board as you know something that gets rubber stamped and has already acted on people are asking um is there going to be any kind of a committee formed and I saw that there was

053something on tonight about a committee um it's not clear exactly if that's the committee that that a lot of people are hoping for but I do hope that the finance committee will hold meetings I know that with this new quote board Cadence there aren't meetings going on now which really seems horrible considering we have $10.8 million to cut we need board meetings and we need Finance meetings now and I hope the finance committee will appoint an ad hoc Committee of qualified individuals to get together and really do a deep dive into our budget and to see what it is that we are cutting and what we should be cutting prioritize just like we do with our home budgets prioritize and keep the kids first um then that brings me to the last one which is

054I've been I've asked several board members to take a look at this and it hasn't happened but policy 2.1 it is fiscally irresponsible for us to have a policy that allows the administration to spend up to $100,000 as many times as they would like without board approval this has to be changed we have to get this under control no no administrator should be able to spend $100,000 of taxpayer money without board per from the board um so I do hope that you know that that you'll take a look at this and the fact that there's no aggregate it could just go on every day it's something that this board really needs to look at changing is policy 67 2.1 I mean you've heard a lot of important issues tonight but I do hope that we

055can get the budget under control and get the focus back to what matters which is student achievement our kids have to do better in school if they're going to do better in life thank you thank you Miss that's all I have for in the room and then I have the emails to be read the first email I have is from Azaria hello everyone my name is aeria I am 19 years old and we'll be going into my second year of college at the University of Whitewater JN has asked me to speak on my behalf of receiving the grow your own scholarship winning this scholarship was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me the great thing about this scholarship is that it lasts all four years of college it doesn't matter

056which college you go to if it's a four-year school then you're set for those four years the scholarship has really helped me with not having to pay out of pocket for certain things when it came to financial aid my first year at Whitewater I can say was a little tough when I was going through that rough time trying to figure it out I wanted to stay at at Whitewater or not Jen was there to help and make sure that everything would work out with me personally and the scholarship all together and everything did actually end up working out the people who organized this Foundation are truly there to help and make sure you succeed and keep succeeding and I realized that when I got the help earlier in the year grow your own was not

057the only scholarship I applied for and it is definitely not the only scholarship out there in the world when I went to the banquet to be acknowledged for getting it there were so many other students out there that had applied in one and when I say students I mean there were students of all Races getting the scholarship moral of the story this Foundation is not only focusing on staff or students of color or a part of the minority group these students and teachers have worked really hard to get nominated and then chosen for the scholarship including myself I hope my message is given the people who are against the program some sort of understanding that's it thank you next the next one is from Evelyn and she says good afternoon I am Evelyn recipient of

058the grow your own Multicultural scholarship I am writing this email to express the Gratitude I feel for the scholarship I have a lot to thank the donors of this scholarship since I come from a lowincome family so thinking about going to school and obtaining a University degree was impossible since I did not have the money to go to the university thanks to the grow your own scholarship my dream of going to school came true for students who are in the same situation as me this scholarship means a lot to us since it helps us financially but also helps us realize our dreams of obtaining a University degree thanks to this scholarship I obtained my bachelor's degree in early childhood education and in special education and today I am a bilingual teacher at Todd Elementary School

059and I am very happy to be able to help my community and the students preparing them to be successful that's it next I have a a letter from the foundation against intolerance and racism uh from Manuel dear school board members the foundation against intolerance and racism known as fair is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and Liberties and promoting a common culture based on fairness understanding and Humanity we have tens of thousands of members Nationwide including in Wisconsin our website fair for all.org can give you a fuller sense of our identity and activities as a fair member and a parent within the school bit schools School District bit I write today in order to raise important considerations that must be accounted for in advance of the upcoming Pride activities which will take

060place during the month of June it is important that the school district of beloy allows students to freely participate in any activity in a manner that comports with their free expression rights it is equally important that the school district enforce its relative policies in order to ensure that students who wish to abstain from participating are not subjected to bullying or harassment and do not otherwise feel compelled to participate the importance of public schools stringent protection of their students First Amendment rights cannot be overstated when it comes to so social political and ideological matters public schools are charged with teaching students how to think and with avoiding teaching students what to think I would like to applaud the school district for the many ways that allows students the freedom to explore and express their beliefs and

061I'm sorry on important matters during the critical time in their personal development the principles of open inquiry and free expression derive from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution serve as an important pillar of a well-rounded public education these foundational principles are clearly reflected in the relevant body of the Supreme Court Supreme Court law the First Amendment demands that public school students have a variety of ideas and information available to them that students have the freedom to interact with and respond to ideas and information in ways that are not substantially disruptive to the learning environment and that students are free to reject ideas and beliefs they do not hold the important balance inherent in this body of law is what allows students to learn and freely Express themselves in a safe envir environment I

062urge the school district of blit to closely review its existing policies in advance of pride month activities to ensure they provide faculty and staff with the tools necessary to ensure a positive experience for all students where their first amendment rights are honored and Safeguard Safeguard furthermore I ask that you consider issuing a school district to blowi communication that delineates the school district policies and plan for ensuring the maintenance of a safe learning environment that protects all students okay next I have uh one from Angie I am writing to you today out of the deep concern for recent attention given to two issues that impact our students staff and families and I hope that you will stand together as a board in support of the diversity in beloy I have two daughters who have been students

063in the school district of booy since 4K and are now going to be a senior in sophomore they have excelled in many areas from being recognized for the superintendent award letters in academics theater and Orchestra they have also struggled at times and they wouldn't be doing as well as they are without The Talented teachers and kind students that they have met in the schools theater and Fine Arts are two areas I'm very passionate about and sometimes some of the most unique students who didn't feel like they fit in in school found themselves and their success through these programs the reality is many of the students they know have struggled with mental health challenges and I'm grateful for the support the district has partnered with Community Mental Health Providers to provide another marginalized group who are

064often associated with theater and arts are lgbtq students the St statistics for mental health among lgbtq students are shocking and I'll share a few my information is from the advocacy group called glsen 68% of lgbtq students felt unsafe in school 31% were physically har harassed and 12% received some form of physical assault 97% of the students surveyed still hear the very old negative use of the word gay and other homophobic slurs and only 10% of these students had a supportive teacher intervene 40% of lgbtq students avoided school bathrooms gym classes and locker rooms and 32% had missed at least one full day of school a month because of bullying 30% of suicides are lgbtq individuals and greater than 50% of transgender youth attempt suicide that's just a start so I'm excited that the school district

065has flown the pride flag at colak for the past few years unfortunately due to a few complaints the flag was taken down thankfully the community came together in an effort to share their support and it came back up why would we remove a visual symbol of support not only to our students but also staff and the families in the district I am afraid that if we don't stand for something what will what will we fall for our community deserves our support and flying the pride flag in June does not hurt anyone thank you okay this one is from Britney she's a parent in the district and I'm writing to comment on two different issues all of it uh all of it comes back to keeping our students Center and prior prior prioritizing what is best

066for our students the first issue has to do with pride months supporting our students and flying the pride flag I thank all staff and Schoolboard members that work to ensure the sdb is a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students um it always makes me smile to see the district to go the extra step during celebrations like pride month including with flying the flag it is symbolic and important it is disappointing that members of the public feel it necessary to take their negative energy and direct toward the district and ultimately our students why the symbol of the pride flag is important from the 2020 study by John's at all lgbtq plus young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers the Trevor projects 2023 US national survey on the

067mental health of lgbtq young people found that roughly half of transgender and non-binary youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year while these stats are staggering and tragic it is critical to note that lgbtq plus young people are not inherently prone to Suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society so please continue to to Center students with all decisions act in best interest of their mental and physical health proudly show our district is a loving and inclusive environment and do not be swayed by the negative few that constantly criticize and project their negative adult emot motions and bigotry onto the district thus directly or indirectly causing harm to our amazing students second issue please continue to

068support and grow the grow your own program it is an absolutely fantastic investment in our students alumni staff and thus Community my daughter's kindergarten teacher benefit from this program and because of the district's investment in her education she is able to pay it forward to classrooms of students every day again the negative energy and attack from the very few in the community is a destructive distraction and drain of energy and resources we have actual issues and problems to solve in order to continue to continue to grow the most important investment a community could make and in order support those fulfilling the most important role and job our students and teachers please not only protect the grow your own program but also continue to invest in its growth thank you for your time and the last

069one I have is from Jaden hello my name is Jaden I a past recipient of the grow your own scholarship I recently graduated in May from Rockford University I will be returning in the fall to pursue my masters in elementary education receiving the grow your own scholarship meant a lot to me I couldn't be more grateful for being one of the chosen recipients the beautiful thing about Boo is the diversity that spreads around it and the opportunities that rise from that I believe that all kids deserve to see teachers that reflect our community gyo is a part of the solution not the problem that's that's all the public comment that I have thank you Miss sh that brings us to uh agenda item 3A the 2024 referendum consideration and Mr chady and I start I

070can start okay okay sure so um thank you um for president um Johnson for allowing us to second conversation for the um School dist referendum um and future planning conversation first of all let me just say that of course we've been in this conversation not just this month and I know sometimes we we may feel like this conversation has been going on for quite some time since we' since I've arrived um but I do understand that um that that pressure that we have to you know kind of deliver this conversation is ongoing um and so we've been having a conversation around referendum um as you all know um on June 4th we of course you know talked about you know our election results from our last election I'm not going to go through this entire

071presentation because this information is really already um out there for everyone to see naturally we had our referendum and of course of course some of our outcomes um um naturally we were not successful at the polls um of course we had a budgetary conversation where we went through um our budgetary constraints and of course where we are right now at this time as a school district um of course we still have a little ways to go um to get to that balanced budget number before I proceed I just want to make sure everyone is keenly aware that you know as we work through our budget conversation yes we do have until that October date but we're not waiting till October to continuously have these conversations it is not easy um to continues to continuously shave

072um budgets from a a school district as you all know we had this conversation um in 2022 when I first arrived here we had to make those same type of budget cuts and so this is an ongoing budget cut conversation we all know this is a funding concern not just in the School District board but across the state of Wisconsin it is my job as the District administrator to make sure that we are all keenly aware that it is all of our responsibilities to come um to a uh rational conclusion around where we should be um in the funding conversation in the school district of booy um nationally as you all can see operational referendums are not new to the school district um this this graph we went over of course since 1990 you see

073over 86% of of the districts going to operational referendum um that's a that's a large amount um that's pretty much saying that the majority of our school districts in the state of Wisconsin has had this conversation around a need different needs across the United across the state of Wisconson we have those same needs here in booy um where we are asking for that support and it is very hard to continue down the road that we're on without the proper funding to support the education of our students um it's important to note that um as we have had these operational referendum conversations and had to work work through the cuts we've steady had to maintain our enrollment we have steady ship as it pertains to increasing our academic achievement we have made plus 10 plus million

074dollar worth of cuts uh we have shifted our district from a K5 to a I'm sorry from a K3 to a K5 District 68 then back to a 9 12 traditional system um all of these things we've done um to show the community and to show the community that not only we are we are making these changes for various reasons but to show the community that we are trying to do what we believe is what the community wants us to do is which to show results and and under this administration's time frame over the past 17 months I do believe we have shown a considerable amount of results um that that I believe our entire Community can be proud of um I know that there's been conversations around um some other themes here in our

075school district but just by mentioning those simple facts that I just you know shared with the you know you all you all have heard those before um one could rest their hat on some of those themes uh and and really really be proud of those moments um again as a district we have worked extremely hard to make sure our community know that we are having success in our school district be also um put this information together here where it talked about um what has passed in the what referendums have passed in in the state of Wisconsin since 2000 where you see a non-recurring and a recurring opportunity here as as such um I highlighted when we went to um um referendum here in the past and of course April has a 66.1% chance of passing

076since 2000 and of course November has to uh during the presidential election has a 70 .3 um chance of of passing the November time frame um clearly shows that there's just for whatever reasons higher turnout and and or higher um success rate in the non-recurring conversation but if you look closely to that same um left or right you will see that same space represented across across all statistics there um November being a space where again for whatever reasons referendums have a little more success than than than April February or in August um of course we had our school perceptions um survey and again I'm going through this real fast because we already heard it and so I kind of kept a mental note about four or five minutes to do this before we get into

077the deeper conversation around when do we want to go to referendum um there were takeaways um that you all have seen here um approve attempted in a percentage again and so the information is as such I don't want to go through all that again future board future um election dates um one of the things that we have had to contest with our future election dates are very clear um if we do plan on going to referendum either in November and or in April of the following year this slide pretty much shows when we have to make certain decisions I'm it stands if we do decide to go in November we have to have our question ready by August um pretty much let's just say August and if we have to have if we go in

078April we have to have our question ready by January um that's kind of what you see here on this slide we further had a conversation in relationship to advantages and limitations of our um either going in November and or in April um so what you see here is the it's a November snapshot and of course the next slide shows an April snapshot um and we didn't try to be all- encompassing in this conversation because it was really Geared for the board to have a discussion around you know what do you think will be the better time to go um but as you can tell some of the advantages are higher voter turnout broader Community engagement align with a budget cycle heighten public attention um statistically higher pass rate and I'm not going to go through

079all these limitations voter fatigue three consecutive um elections that we would have to to you know compete against competing priorities a short time short period of time to develop a solution um of course have a shorten campaign and as as such as you can tell here in April um we have some advantages as well um Extended planning period time um focus on local issues we can reduce a little bit of the voter fatig fatigue um we can of course have more time to plan between the referendums is pretty much what we are I want to say used to because since I've been here we've wi in April and of course we kind of understand that that timeline and that time frame um the limitations are very clear as well law of order turnout um all

080failed operational referendums have been in April for the school district of booy um that's that's something that we do would need to contest with and of course for whatever reasons again I don't have the specific answer for this board members but April seems to have a lower um success rate um in referendums both in capital and in operational referendums we did have the board um I did ask the board to participate in some lunch and learns and I would like to thank the board members who were able to attend we did a part one and a part two Wednesday June 5th and of course um Wednesday June 12th um that's a real quick overview of what we have already discussed I do want this time to feel more boardled at this point um as it

081pertains to you know how the board feels as it pertains to going to referendum in November Andor in April I know we've had some conversations about this um and of course we have a listening session as well um just to kind of hear people's you know comments and thoughts um and ID like to turn it back over to board president um Johnson for a further discussion of course Mr chady and myself are here to answer any questions that you may have um and of course my cabinet um can participate um as needed uh thank you Dr garon before I open it up to the board members um Mr CH was there anything else you'd like to add at this point just a resource thank you uh any board members have questions Megan Miller thank you

082um thank you so much to our Administration for putting this together and I want to thank everybody who um made our listening session possible on Wednesday I hope we have many more as was recommended um in a variety of formats so I want to talk a little bit about um based on what we just heard tonight what we heard Wednesday and what we heard a public comment um I just I looked at some themes um didn't have a ton of time but somebody was kind enough to provide us copies of the comments that people were kind enough to leave um and I think we got really valuable feedback from people with a variety of perspectives very valuable and so I want to summarize my takeaways and then make a recommendation about um how I believe

083we should move this discussion forward um I see a lot of people asking us to follow the data um we just got a recap of the data like for example we know that we have a more likely chance of this passing in November um looking at data like we just heard a comment this evening about looking at enrollment and things like that absolutely like let's get it all out on the table and take a look at what makes sense um we heard a lot of people asking us to sort of show us the money and Mr chaty I please correct me if I'm wrong but regardless of whether we go in November um or April we're going to be looking at a situation of having to deal with like multiple budget scenarios to or any

084unknowns so I think it would be beneficial um for us to just like we did last time make sure we're clearly communicating um scenario a scenario B and I want to I think our Administration did a great job of that last time and I think we need to connect that information right to more voters um another theme that I see emerging is more Community engagement we just heard several comments to that effect even this evening um and again just that transparency with the budget somebody for example had recommended did a third party review and of course we do that annually uh bar comes in and gives us that um third-party sort of review of our finances so just making sure people know that that's there and that that's a practice that is occurring so my

085recommendation because we don't really have to make a decision until August I believe that we should behave like we are going in November what that literally means from my perspective and the work that I am willing to do as a board member is I would love to get some dates on the calendar to do um a variety of listening sessions in different areas of the community particularly on our west side because some feedback we've received is a feeling of disenfranchisement and we need to face that headon and deal with that um and make people feel heard and make sure that we're receiving their concerns appropriately I also believe that we should get um dates on the calendar where I again mentioned last time I think we should buddy up I think we should knock on

086doors directly engage with people and I think it's obvious that many of us up here have different groups of stakeholders to support us and I think it's important for us to go um representing as many groups as we can like I think we need to pair up intentionally so we can show people that despite whatever differences we might have we all have this shared goal of bringing our community together to support our children because as many comments mentioned in even just this packet that I'm holding up here things will not get better until our community is willing to fund our ability to Resource our staff and students with what they need um lastly what I would need some help from the district with as a board member is while I am um not in a

087situation at this moment where I'm a grandparent I want a grandparent brag book about our district I think our our data and information was fantastic props to Monica and her team also I want to be able to like open up a book and be like here's our strategic plan look at what's going on over here at Gaston and look at what our kids are doing like everybody just about knows about our jazz band let's keep talking about that but let's talk about Beyond just kind of that surface level information that most people have and let's give most people what most of our teachers and parents and families know is powerful and exciting in our district so those would be my asks and just to summarize I want us to pretend like we're going in November

088and if we can shake it great let's decide to go in August if we can't cuz we're like oops we're not prepared enough great we'll go in April two I want a calendar let's get all of us up up here out knocking on doors and engaging with people and getting out in the community and having those sessions third I want my my in my case Grandma brag book so I can brag on our babies and really show people what's going on in our district so thank you for entertaining my long comments really appreciate it thank you Megan Miller Tom thank you um this idea of having another referendum I know we've baned about and we're not going to make a decision tonight I understand that um I keep looking at the these same slides and

089I'm not criticizing at all they're relevant but I've made these Point outs before these be projections and um they are projections I I just want to reiterate booy is a unicorn we can't be lumped in with all these other statistics and nowhere does it say anywhere that referendum has failed except in ours District three times in a row I mean that's that's a huge thing to consider and Dr Garrison has said and I think we as a board has said nobody wants to go into a referendum to fail I don't believe we're ready to pass one yet here in beloy I think there's a lot of work to be done I do believe we do need the money but I don't think it'll pass yet as of today June 18th uh takes a lot of

090time and energy from staff to do these referendums the board is a voluntary thing and I do agree with Megan once we do have the answers to the public I wholeheartedly thought the listening session was great and they should be more of them I just don't think that we're prepared at this time to ask the voter fatigue to me is a very real real situation here in booy and I don't think they want to be hit up with a another referendum in November thank you Amy leafy thank you so much um I will be brief because a lot of what I would like to share has already been covered by board me member Miller um I do definitely think that we should take advantage of the higher voter turnout and go back to referendum in

091November um I have a slightly different take on it and thank you to my colleagues who were able to attend the referendum webinar and help me flesh out some of my thoughts around this um I think we should ask for a 4-year non- reoccurring referendum and the reason I say four years instead of 3 years is that I want us to provide Financial stability and security predictability for our students for a class to go from freshman year to senior year um and thank you I don't remember who made the comment um but while we're tracking freshman through senior year I think it would be incredibly important to also track second grade through fifth grade um with that Financial stability I want us to be clear about the progress that we were able to make over

092the those four years with respect to our state report card I know that that comes up in a lot of discussions um and and so I think that the four years is going to be really significant we can show the public the growth that our Freshman Class had from entering High School to exiting high school and then our community can decide whether they want to try that experiment again um I think the listening sessions are definitely a critical component of this we definitely want to hear back from our community about messaging for those that that did not feel that they were able to support the referendum um in the past what are some items that would get you to a different space um and I would respectfully ask that those listening sessions are planned in

093advance so board members can make sure that those we can accommodate those in our schedule thank you so much thank you any other board members Mr Schneider I agree with with Megan um I think we need to move forward as if we were going to referendum in November if we wait any longer to begin even some of that process um we're going to run short on time and like she said if we get to that point and we really we're not prepared we're not ready to move forward um we can always delay it but we can't start in end of July the beginning of August and and expect that we can get there on time um I I agree the listening session was good we need to have a lot more of those so that

094we can hear from everybody um I like the idea of town hall meetings and not listening sessions uh at the last one people asked for specific answers to questions uh and unfortunately we couldn't give them um and so that was kind of a downfall on them that um I think it's somewhat of a dialogue that we need to have with the community um as we go forward with those meetings um um so I agree that we need to move forward even from tonight as if we were going in November because we can always delay it later thank you uh Brian Nichols or Brian Anderson I I'll jump in I uh you know I think I agree with what everyone said there um and I think you know we'll see it a little later in the

095agenda you know with the potential of an ad hoc committee to address some of those concerns um you know I think I think having a mixture of a listening s session versus a presentation session you know we got to find the right mix of how do we get information out but also take information in and and opinions and feedback so um like I said I think some of those comments will work out um a little farther down the agenda tonight but I I agree with what everyone has said so far thank you Mr Nichols um I it just it just hit me I mean I've I've looked over these slides multiple times since you first put them out do Dr Garrison and um it's interesting that the the percentage is a little bit less but

096the number of referendums is like almost eight times the number are ran in in April than in November so um I think that takes me back to a uh a comment that board member Anderson made last week it's actually easier to move it's probably going to be it would be easier to move the numbers in April than it would in November because you you got you got a smaller base of people but if we get out and do our jobs then it's it's more likely I think we had a better we would have a better shot in fact the big referendum that was passed what in 2012 was passed in April I know that was a capital referendum but that was a lot of money and it was passed in April correct okay so I

097I I would agree with board member Hansen that I think you know now's not the time we're not we're at this moment we're not ready maybe we'll be ready in a in August 1 of August but right now we're not ready I don't think I don't think the people are ready well thank you Mr chady and Dr Garrison and everyone who came to the listening session and have um weighed in on this um if there aren't any other comments or questions we'll move on to item three 3B potential line of credit dispersement request Mr tady good evening thank you for the opportunity to discuss the board tonight um as the board hopefully is aware um we have a line of credit in place with First Mid Bank and Trust it's a $7 million line uh

098the line is available to us uh we can borrow the money and we have to repay the money uh by November 1st however the last date that we can tap or utilize the line of credit is June 30th so between July 1st and whenever the district approves or holds our budget hearing for the 2425 school year and thereafter we can't enter into a new line and we can't borrow against our current line of credit bring this all up because we've been doing some cash flow forecasting um we we there's typically school districts hit low points in cash uh really three times of the year one of them is mid June happy to report that we made it over that hump easily uh however the next opportunity that comes up is in midt which looks very

099questionable and then we'll hit another low point in mid November and I'm not even worried about that one yet um so we're just kind of looking at that mid-september time frame thinking that boy if we need to utilize our cash flow line we need to execute that distribution um here by the end of June so what I'd like to do is I'd like just to just share a few numbers with you first and foremost um looking at today's Cash availability this was as of the start of the day today we had 18.5 million in cash available to meet our day-to-day cash flow needs when I look at last year summer of 23 cash out flows the amount of money that left the district uh between now and essentially mid September it was 17.6 million based

100on the numbers we're $900,000 to the good that's a little tight for me um so today it was just another cursory review of cash we did this back on June 10th we did it again today my business office team and I will gather on Monday June 24th um and we'll get into the numbers a little bit more in depth to try to determine is there a need for us to do a a borrowing um obviously we' prefer not to but at the same token the business office um would like to be able to sleep at night come late August through the midpoint of September as well you know $900,000 it's not enough to even make a payroll our payroll is about 1.2 2 5 million so one and a qu million so if we you

101know if Trends were to follow what what has uh we would be okay however if we encounter some unex um unexpected High expenditures health insurance claims you know we're self-insured so we can have good periods good weeks where we have very low claims come through and then we can have really bad weeks when all of a sudden we get hit with million plus Dollar in claims um instead of like a $400 to $500,000 weekly claim uh so to sum it up uh really we're just looking for perhaps board authorization to utilize that line of credit that $7 million line of credit in an amount to be determined by Dr Garrison and myself and the Business Office Team um not to exceed 7 million obviously because we wouldn't need to go that high and honestly if

102I were to look at you know might we need to borrow you know a million and a half or $2 million doll just to have available for us uh if the need were to incur um I I think that might be wise to do keep in mind that once we access that line uh here in late June we're going to take on interest expense we're going to pay interest on that until we repay the funds um we can invest the funds put the funds in our savings account or uh Municipal accounts and make 5% interest however the interest rates that we would be charged would vary no uh would be no less than 6% nor greater than 7 a half% so we'd have a 1 to 2 and a half% spread of interest expense um

103that we would have to pay the other point I would make is that if uh and when we determine as we go through the summer months and come out of the summer and approach that September time frame we feel comfortable that we have sufficient cash we can repay the line of credit earlier too to help reduce our interest expense I hate interest expense I love interest earnings um because I always want to make money for the taxpayers in the district and try to minimize the um the paying of interest to the financial institution but at the same token we need to have some certainty that we're going to be able to make it through this low Point uh with some comfort it's entirely possible that when uh the business office team gets together on Monday

104uh we've got a number of different options that we want to explore such as uh some Grant Claims can we do our timings um in a more appropriate or timely structure so that we get our reimbursement dollars back sooner because that then gives us cash and helps us get over that that hump um there's also our debt service checking account that has about3 million doll in assets in it it's not a best practice to tap into that for cash flow need needs but there are districts that do it all the time in fact blit has done that regularly prior to my arrival um something we talked about internally in the business office again we'd probably prefer not to do that but it might be kind of a saving grace that we could access we could

105borrow from ourselves so to speak uh for a few weeks if needed and then avoid the need to do uh the line of credit borrowing so lots of options I I don't have certainty yet but here's the kicker is that um the dispersement requests would require Schoolboard action so that's why we're perhaps asking the board to consider a resolution or a motion this evening to approve aign of credit dispersement in an amount to be determined by uh Dr Garrison myself um if that's needed and then we can certainly inform you as to how much if we do that uh please know if we don't do it we're going to be tight we're going to be watching it really really close it's it's going to be that close thank you um board member Amy Levy has

106your hand up thank you so much um if authorization is provided and the decision is made to borrow um a modest amount of money with respect to our total budget and those funds are invested for the time being to prior to that um law at midt as you mentioned to mitigate the interest expense how soon could those funds become liquid or pulled out of the investment Arena if we did need them for the day-to-day operations of the district same day okay yep yeah um without any Financial penalties correct right thank you so much yep Tom henkins Mr chady so I just want to make sure I'm understanding you so with a resolution that yet is to be made but you're looking for direction um so let me go back you talk about $3 million being

107in my current understanding is we have no debt service at this point right we we do have Debt Service um so we have debt principal and interest payments outstanding uh both in fund 39 and in fund 38 so those debt service accounts that 3 plus million in assets that's sitting in that dedicated checking account is supposed to be there to service those future debt payments um when that time would come we would have resources available to meet those obligations uh so again using of those funds for day-to-day operational purposes is not a best practice it's not illegal um you know the district a great example would be a year ago at this point in time we had about $10 million in debt service funds should have been in that checking account that was in our

108general checking account okay you know just it got deposited in the wrong bank account was still earning the same amount of interest on our accounting side it was reflected accordingly it was just in the wrong bank account okay thank you the so once we tap into that line or you are given permission we don't start interest on it until you or the you the district uses those funds or or transfer them into our our fund balance and so so you're and at your discretion if we give you do are we are you looking for permission to use all 7 million I know you said you wouldn't and I know you wouldn't do it unless you absolutely needed to so is that what you is that a blanket thing or is it come back once you

109say we give you permission then like in July you say okay we're going to take 4 million out well so let's back up a little bit so we're seeking the permission of the board to access the line of credit in an amount to be determined okay I would not foresee that amount to exceed 3 million okay probably less than that to some extent um the dispersement would occur on June 28th which is the last Friday last business day of the month withdraw okay we so we tap into that line June 28th correct not in July or August correct thank you yep so I understand okay any other questions have a statement a board member go go ahead Dr Garrison so let me just make sure we're we're clear about this this request here you know

110we we can't use what we don't have okay let's make sure that everyone understands that you know we can't use what we don't have the $900,000 is very close to us not having correct okay and so let's just I like to be you know clear on certain things so let's make sure that's you know something that we all need to take in consideration secondly when we are able to access these funds we can't we won't take what we don't need correct so those are the two sides of the coin that the Board needs to consider that Mr Chay so eloquently you know went through it's just my responsibility to make sure the board understands that we can't use what we don't have and then when we are able to access the funds we can't spend

111what we we can't overspend it we won't spend what we don't need and so that's that's how we operate in a school district thank you uh I was just going to thank you so much for the additional explanation I I see no reason not to um give permission it sounds like we don't want to put our district in a situation where we can't meet our obligations I think this is a reasonable request and I don't want to cut off discussion but I I am willing to make a motion um Brian Nichols I'm sorry uh Brian Anderson yeah so I I just follow with up with you know great explanation by Mr chady it it's exactly how that type of credit facility should work in real life you know we we're as a district we're under

112the the additional limitation of you know that other businesses that have a similar line of credit don't have where there's a window where we can't draw on it so you know his his forecas team has to say well we might need a certain amount of money um but the reality is and he has to draw that by you know the end of June but if by you know July 30th he said he updated forecast say we don't need it he can pay it back right so there's there's there's a there's an opportunity to minimize any additional or you know cost that that would have um and so I I would be in full support um of a motion as well any other uh questions or [Music] comments is there would somebody like to make a

113motion on this yes thank you I move to approve a line of credit dispersement in an amount to be determined by the superintendent and Executive Director of Business Services if determined to be necessary to support anticipated cash flow needs between July 1st and October 31st first 2024 before there's a second I would love to offer a friendly emotion to not exceed $4 million I I would like to have an amount there and it seems like that would meet the needs as the pro projections are showing unless I missed something there is that that accurate Mr jady yeah okay does that work for everybody if you're willing to accept it I'm I'm willing to accept if if it works for our Administration and I'm seeing a nod we're fine with that that's that's beautiful fully accepted

114so then move to approve line of credit dispersement um not to exceed $4 million um if determined to be necessary to support anticipated cash flow needs between July 1st and October 31st 2024 second motion with the amendment to not exceed $4 million motion by Megan Miller amended by Amy Levy and seconded by by Amy Levy all in favor I I I sure I'm sorry we have a request for a roll call it's a lot of money sure sure thing no that's fine sorry about that I okay Greg Schneider I Amy ly I Brian Nichols I Brian Anderson I Tom henkins I Megan Miller I and tia Johnson I um motion carried unanimously thank you that brings us to uh item 3C ad hoc committee conversation I'll start this off with the partnership of Mr chady

115again and um first of all I would like to thank you know the board for allowing us this this second conversation again not second conversation this conversation as it retains to um some budget um concerns that we have here in the district one of the things that we've heard um from the community in different ways is that you know having more information about our budget um is is is important um I understand that that thought please note I want the board to also understand that we have had numerous conversations about our budget um both with constituents in the public and in regular presentations um we've been super transparent um as it pertains to where our budget is naturally one could always argue can you be more transparent I mean um I always say of course

116you can be more and more and more um communicating the numbers for our school district is not an easy feat um there's a lot of line items a lot of stuff that we've um tried to uncover and of course show um to to to our constituents um the level of work that Mr chady does in his profession is an expertise that he brings to the table um that just needs to be noted it's the same expertise that Mrs Mork brings to the table that Mrs beavers brings to the table that Mrs alander bring to the table that Monica brings to the table even that I bring to the table and I'm not always asking people in the public to understand all of our expertise but when we do bring you the information we do want

117it to be by sizable so that we all can understand it now some some will like to spend more time in many different subjects um and spend more time in many different areas but it is our responsibility to make sure the information is clear and so we um had a conversation um at at our level as pertains to the possibilities of having this ad hoc um committee um that's focused around our um budget and as you everyone can see on bardocks um it is to consider a potential ad hoc budget committee to review the district's budget as a whole focus on referendum needs and review budgetary information the committee will consist of someone from the community the baa teachers parents Administration and and of course um the board um it is our goal to make

118sure that we have enough information out there for our public um even if we weren't going to a referendum this type of committee could be in place and I think sometimes running these side by side of a referendum and and or um not having a referendum has its benefits because it allows people just to learn about you know the ins and outs of a budget um in an a high Committee of course it is our goal to provide the public with information that they're requesting and then naturally we would um be a partner in this thought but we wouldn't be leading the thought because this this is what the the committee is asking us to provide and then of course we would bring that back to to fruition I'm going turn it over to Mr

119tayor to add anything that I'm possibly missing and then of course I'll turn it back over to um board President Johnson for a further discussion as pertains to um um our at thought we we also know there's a policy that's on on the document for this as well um but I want to take it a little step by step as we get there uh Miss CH yeah thank you Dr Garrison so throughout my career I've seen other districts um do such transparency work I guess is the best way to put it in fact as a parent uh back in the day goes back a couple of De decades I served um on a task force for the school district of Fort ainson and unfortunately that led to me becoming a school board member and that

120led to me becoming a business manager and here we are today but uh nonetheless it trying to stay attuned to what's requested and what the talk is within the school district of booy there seems to be a lot of interest and rightfully so about knowing where and how the school district utilizes our resources some may say we misappropriate misspend some may say that we don't you know we don't need to get into that per se but I you know we have a $124 million budget and I'm not sure that really people understand how and where that $124 million goes and I think we have work to do there this is hard work this is ugly work but it's also the right work um I've heard this talked about as far as a budget thing and

121I'd like to kind of remove budget out of the equation because to me budget is our 2425 school year or then the 25 26 school year you know these upcoming school years and I I'd like this perhaps to be framed more as a financial transparency certainly we're going to look at budget numbers um but another reason to move beyond the budget focus is again if we're looking at budget from a 2425 school year here it is mid June you know we'll be bringing to you a preliminary budget in July we'll have a late or I'm sorry a um final budget that the board will enact uh in late October so that's like four months I don't think four months provides us the time to do the financial transparency work that is expected and needed so

122that's why I I somewhat try to separate the two from budget to more financial transparency in and looking at the bigger picture you know I talked about the hard work the ugly work the business office myself is more than happy to entertain this work because again it's the right work I don't want to be part of the planning committee I want nothing to do with that I want to be told or requested you know the what the when the how and we'll deliver I don't you know I don't want my fingers in there um but I think the right people need to be at the table to try to figure out how this process can work effectively for the school district of booy you know certainly citizens and members of the committee whatever need a

123process to ask questions hopefully questions come in advance hopefully that Advance has like a two-e window out so that the business office can do our homework gather the information and be able to then present it at what ever the next meeting is um again it's ugly work and hope I mean my desire is is that this planning committee ad hoc committee whatever that can help put this together I'll just use the term you know I want a shield for the tomatoes you know I I don't need people throwing insults at me I'm not here for that I'm here to do the right work um so you know again it's about the structure making sure that the right structure is in place make sure that the right people are at the table make sure that we're

124talking about what needs to be talked about in a logical fashion that gets us to the end uh I know you know we were talking a little bit earlier this evening about potential referendum time frames and again if if we're going to do the right work I don't know that that happens between now and August when the School Board needs to uh adopt a question and certainly you know probably lingers even Beyond a November election cycle but it might align really well for April of 20125 um because again you know in my mind I I see this as probably a six plus month Endeavor and quite honestly it may be something that lasts for a year plus you know it's going to take a long time $124 million budget and people just want to know

125I mean i' I've got board members that are asking questions we certainly read out um read about it in social media and teachers School staff ask about it as well so we have a lot of work to do there thank you Mr chady uh board member Amy Levy thank you um I agree with what you said Mr chady here is my concern when looking at policy 186 ad hoc advisory committees number two do I'll read out loud it says ad hoc committees are finite advisory committees formed to study specific issues and make recommendations to the board where I think we may have an issue with what you described in contrast with policy is the function of the advisory committee is does not include oversight directives to Administration or involvement in day-to-day operations of the district

126so I'm not opposed to what you're describing but it seems like that may not be in line with what our current policy is because the budget is absolutely interconnected with the day-to-day operations of the district and it seems like per our current policy that ad hoc committees are to study a specific thing and report back their findings to the board so I just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of how our current policy describes ad hoc committee formation Brian Nichols thank you board President Johnson um I I hear what you're saying Bob I I I I agree with you 100% you you don't want you want to you want you want the best for everybody and and so I think and so do we and so does the citizens of the state the

127city um I would I would would like to recommend and and I'll make a motion if you'd like I'd recommend that we move this to the business Ops finance committee for the January July the 2 meeting and let them let them take it and work with work with you guys work work with everybody together provide provide community members Bea members parents teachers Etc on the committee it can't be it can't be too big obviously because then you get then you kind of get you I get it gets more challenging the more people you people you get but you know we've got a we've got an outline in this uh you know on the agenda item which I think is a pretty good place to start but I I would I would make a motion that

128we move this to the to the business option and finance committee for the July 2nd meeting may I ask a clarifying question before offering a second um I think that's a great idea I also but if we do make that motion can we have continued discussion on on the topic or are you asking um Mr Nichols to just like let's just set into committee and like have a discussion there I think we would always Entertain Entertain discussion yeah but I mean think think you know the committee has has a little more history than everybody as as a whole I'm not saying I don't mean that demeaning l i mean that but I just think and you know you know sitting here I've been sitting here through this discussion I already think of a person or

129two that would be a great what I think would be a great but that's for the committee to decide so no that sounds great um can I offer a second and then make a comment board president okay so we have a motion by Brian Nicholls um to move the ad hoc committee to the standing Board of the finance business operations committee and a second by Megan Miller and thank you and then just a comment on that um just like we heard a wonderful suggestion earlier regarding how we do our listening sessions and like how there are a variety of formats we heard both from speakers and I think board member Anderson made some really good suggestions as well um in the past we have and it doesn't have to be this but there are other

130options um having been involved in I think our most recent ad hoc which was to study language barriers in the district we were in line with what board member leevy just delineated in the in um the policy but I know there also have been like superintendent advisories there could I mean there are a lot of different and I I'm so kind of my question then goes to Dr Garrison and to Mr chady um I love everything that I heard I think this is a fabulous idea is there a way through our Administration that could include the participation of board members that we set up like an advisory that wouldn't have the stipulations that an ad hoc committee has that currently in policy um thank you and I'd like to direct you to um follow following

131Amy Levy's um question and pointing pointing this out so a board ad hoc advisory committee um is slightly different than a standing committee ad hoc um committee too many committees there um where it sounds like according to our policy the standing um this is uh 186 rule one uh number two parenthe uh parentheses C standing committee chair s shall set the first meeting date the superintendent or designity shall convene the first meeting and instruct each committee as to the specific charge of the committee and the service the standing committee wishes to render so I think that addresses um that issue yeah I mean that makes sense to me but I I think I would agree with Mr Nicholls like this is maybe a discussion to have within the context of the committee and I just

132wanted to put that into the space because I think our Administration should consider also like What mechanisms that they have where we can pull all these different kind of options together to execute on what Mr chady just sort of outlined for us okay Brian Anderson I see your hands up is that from before uh no so I think I think I would certainly accept this into the committee um and I and I I think and in board member Levy you know that's a great comment that you made and I think you know Mr Shady commented that you know if we said this was about the budget which was where I would have come at this three weeks ago and said hey let's have let's talk about the budget which is a very finite thing thing

133then I think we it would fall under that but if his comment today about hey this is about financial transparency this may transcend our decision about whether or not to go to referendum in November or April you know it could impact that and they could provide information that could help us make some decisions but it's not necessarily designed to be started and completed with recommendations you know before an August uh 27th deadline you know so yeah I don't hopefully that that would help fall us into policy better um just my thoughts so I'd be happy to I like to hear what you have to say thank you um board member Amy Levy thank you just to reiterate um I I really like what board what board member Miller said um I don't see how this

134I'm not opposed to what is being discussed I don't see how this fits as an ad hoc advisory committee and just to clarify before you get to 186 rule one you have to clear 186 and so the committee would be doing research work and Reporting back to the board it can absolutely go to the committee for further discussion but it needs to be established by the full board and we still haven't gotten around item two where it does not provide oversight it does not give directives to Administration and it's not involved in the day-to-day operations of the district so with those quote unquote barriers in place I think it would make sense to explore other avenues to create the thing that we're describing because it doesn't seem like looking at our current policy it fits

135in the container of an ad hoc committee any other discussion or question Tom henkins I just want to comment I I think we all know the intent of what we want to do but kicking it back to to uh business and finan is probably a good idea to more Define what we are want to do with that whatever name you want to put on it in the scope and who's going to be involved and their parameters on what it's advis I mean what we name it ad hoc or whatever uh obviously has its limitations we're looking for Community input and transparency we all know the end result uh let's not get stuck in the mud I think the idea of getting and uh kicking it back to business and finance makes perfect sense to me

136uh board member Greg Schneider I think you're the only one who hasn't weighed in yet I'm I really like the idea of the committee um as a way to uh make sure that we're providing the the transparency and the information to the community that they're that they're asking for uh and as a group to really just look at at that transparency piece as we move forward um again concerned with how we're going to meet policy with that um and if it is something that's an ad hoc again that's established by the whole board and and cannot be by a committee um I can understand it going to committee to to better Define what this may look like um and then come back to the full board for approval and selection of of uh members or

137approval of members on the committee yes um thank you and that's exactly what it says in uh policy 186 rule one okay so we have a motion by Brian Nichols and a second by Megan Miller um the motion is to have this um go to the finance business operation committee all in favor I I I I I any oppose motion carries that brings us to item four the the consent agenda does anyone have a need to remove any of these items for discussion if not I will entertain a motion move approval of the consent agenda second motion uh to approve consent agenda by Megan Miller seconded by Amy Levy any discussion hearing none all in favor I I I I any oppos motion carries that brings us to our board member future dates we have

138a regular board meeting on Tuesday July 2nd 2024 at 6:00 p.m. and a policy committee meeting Wednesday July 3rd 202 24 at 5:30 p.m. we um let's see we have a request to go into um Clos session regarding the HR employment exhibit a oh I'm sorry I'm sorry um um yeah yeah we had switched those two thank you so much no no problem no problem um so um for eight uh human R resources um I will entertain a motion to go into close session for uh section 1985 parent 1 parent C to consider employment exhibit a specifically the resignation of a professional educator and for the next agenda item which is the um response to Legal claim and this is 19.85% and Liberty matter and item um legal advice on staff compensation issues uh Wisconsin

139state statute 19.85% to come back out and do an open session approval of exhibit a and I want to be mindful of our administration's time so while I totally see the logic of lumping it together do you think we could possibly just like separate it out so we can just get through HR and then go into like other close session Dee doesn't want to stay here all night I mean I don't want I don't want to speak for her but I do appreciate your consolidation thinking I just want to be conscious of her time um okay sorry okay okay so we'll just go into close session then if I can get a motion just for the um HR portion of that so moved second motion by Megan Miller seconded by Amy Levy uh can we

140get a roll call please Megan Miller hi Tom henkins hi Brian Anderson hi Brian Nichols hi Amy Levy I Greg Schneider hi and tia Johnson I that passed unanimously I e e e I get a motion to go into close session for we have to approve a can I get a motion