001(upbeat music) (James) Good evening everybody. Welcome to the October 27th, 2025 public hearing for the 2526 budget. Please roll call please. (Kinsey) Meister. (Samantha) Here. (Kinsey) Knill. (Jeanette) Here. (Kinsey) Mineau. (Alex) Here. (Kinsey) Gerlach. (Lynn) Here. (Kinsey) Lyerly. (James) Here. (Kinsey) McCoy. (Laura) Here. (Kinsey) Becker. (Andrew) Here. (James) Okay, all board members are present and accounted for. We are also joined this evening at the table by two representatives from the intra city student council. Would you please introduce yourself? (Speaker 1) My name (inaudible) I'm a junior at Green Bay West and I'm the secretary treasurer of the intracity student council. (Kia) My name is Kia Yang. I'm from West. I'm a junior and I'm a part of the ICSC. (James) Welcome. And as always, please feel comfortable chiming in and in the conversation. All right,
002the budget meeting has one agenda item and that is to get a report on the 2526 budget from our CFO, Angie. Welcome. (Angie) Good evening. So this is our second night meeting. So tonight we will be asking the board to adopt a final budget for 2526, along with you will be voting to certify the levy later on in the meeting. So Kinsey's gonna pull up the change analysis sheet. So if you recall two weeks ago on October 13th, we didn't have final numbers from the state until October 15th. So what that means is we got our final equalized aid number. We got our private school voucher number, which affects the levy. So overall for this budget, we did increase three cents on the mill rate. So the mill rate that was presented two weeks ago
003was $7.38 per 1000. And that increased to $7.41, very minimal. Usually we see a little bit of a change because that private school voucher number is an estimate and we never know what that's going to be until the 15th. So if you look at this up on the top, that first column is presented budget, October 13th, and then the recommended budget for tonight. So the changes are there with the differences. I'll quickly run through them. If you have specific questions, just stop me. But really what you're seeing is the property tax levy went up a little bit. Basically because your equalized aid or equalized aid, we received a little bit more than what we had anticipated before we received those final numbers. So that increased by 413,000. Our equalized aid increased by 284,000. That state
004tax exempt aid, that was a very small adjustment of $444. And then the per pupil categorical aid, that's that $742 that we receive from outside of the revenue limit or that's our categorical aid. So that decreased by a few students just because we got that third Friday count. There was a little bit of a change there. So when we get down to the expenditures, the private school vouchers, so our private school vouchers went from 13.7 million, which was an estimate to almost $14.1 million. So that change increased that property tax levy up above. That was the biggest, probably the biggest change. And then payments to independent charter schools that actually decreased slightly this year. So that is the charter school, the one charter school that we have within our, kids are going up to New
005Leaf in Howard. So that slightly decreased, that number decreased. So we had to adjust that. And then just a few changes, we had made a few changes to salaries and benefits. So overall revenue minus expenditures, the overall change for the budget is about $169,000. So fairly minimal. We're still looking at that $3.5 million deficit. And then Kinsey, if you scroll down just a little bit, we can just look at what the actual property tax levy looks like. So the general fund or operating fund, that is our major fund that we talked about last, two weeks ago. So the general fund property levy will increase by that $413,000. Debt service and community service funds stayed the same. So what the board will be voting on tonight is that $115 million levy. So that's what will be
006presented to the board later on in the regular board meeting. So again, like I had mentioned, that tax or the mill rate is what we call it, went from $7.38 per thousand to $7.41. So again, just a slight increase, but the overall levy did increase from last year to this year by about 5% overall. So is there any questions? There's a final budget book that was attached as well for reference. So that has all been updated with the final numbers. And then I think there's a property tax valuation that kind of shows by municipality what the changes are. (James) Laura. (Laura) Thank you. Before I start with my questions, Angie, I just wanted to thank you, you and your team for every year putting our budgets together. I know it's a long, complicated, arduous process,
007but it's really, really important. I mean, I looked through that budget book and it is emblematic, not really emblematic actually. It's a defining document for our district every year. And I know you guys put a lot of time into it. So thank you, I'll start with that. More specifically, so if I'm reading this, what we just looked at, if I'm reading this, did our amount that we give to New Leaf go down this year? Okay. (Angie) Yeah, so there was a little bit of a change in student enrollment. So last year it was, I believe 88 students and that dropped to, I think 83. So it declined. So enrollment declined a little bit. (Laura) But that money that we give to that particular school comes right out of Fund 10. (Angie) Yes, we get to
008count those students when it comes to revenue limit purposes, but then that shakes out just like private school vouchers and then those amounts get paid to the charter school. (Laura) But, so just, let me think about that for a second. So the money we lose to voucher schools, we can levy for that. Did you say we can levy for this money that we send to that charter school? (Angie) We don't levy for it, but we get to count them in the revenue limit. So we do get that per pupil amount for those kids. (Laura) But then it goes to that school. Okay, so we lose that money. Yeah, okay. Cause I just, I think it's important to delineate how that particular school has a different, it's a different equation than the voucher school stuff. So,
009and I just wanted to highlight that amount that we're going to levy to our local taxpayers on for vouchers. I think that is, this is an issue that's heating up across our state as schools across the state struggle financially, and we're no different. And that is a very large amount of money. So thank you. (James) Jeanette, do you have a question or? All right, other? Andrew. (Andrew) And then I'm not sure if there have been any changes in this recently, but if, if we do have someone who goes to a voucher school and then the voucher school kicks the kid out of the voucher school, now they, the voucher school keeps the money. Do they keep the money for the rest of that semester or do they keep the entirety of the year? How does
010that work? (Angie) It's prorated. So then when we get that January, we usually have a count in January. So we got the third Friday in September. If that kid would leave and come back, then we would then count them in the January count. So it's prorated. It's not the full voucher amount. They have different payments. I don't know if it's three or four times a year. (Andrew) Okay, so, so if they kick someone out after, after three weeks, though, we're not gonna get all but three weeks of the money. Are we, we're gonna get like maybe the second semester or maybe, yeah. (James) Other discussion, questions? Angie, can you just describe how we intend or what the strategy is around entering the year with a $3.5 million deficit? (Angie) Yeah, so, so we are projecting
011the $3.5 million deficit, as we talked about a couple weeks ago. So we will continue to, we are working on, as we have been, right? We're consolidating schools next year. So that will address next year's deficit as well. And we continue to look at methodologies for staffing and continue to align and right size or align it with our declining enrollment. So staffing through attrition, as people leave, we will not backfill as we look at different groups. And then of course we are decreasing department budgets. So we will continue to monitor whatever is not, right? The three and a half million can be, could be less. Whatever is not covered at the end of the year to balance the budget, we'll use fund balance. (James) Thank you. (Angie) Mm-hmm. (James) Jeanette. (Jeanette) Could you explain what
012fund balance is? The way I look at it like, it's like a rainy day fund. (Angie) So fund balance is, so the way that I would describe fund balance is it's not a savings account. It's really our equity. So when we build, so what we have as a board policy is we have to have fund balance is 15% minimum. We are at about that 23% mark. If you talk to auditors, right, they like it around that 25%. So we have a strong fund balance. But what you don't want to do, right, is it's one-time money. So to cover, right, we're gonna cover this deficit with fund balance, but it's not a one-time fix. So it's not highly recommended, but because we were able to put some money away in fund balance last year, we've built
013that up. We have a very strong fund balance. We will continue to be fiscally responsible and good stewards of taxpayer money, but that fund balance really allows the district to not, a strong fund balance, not have to cash flow borrow like we used to have to do. So we've built that up so we no longer have to short-term cash flow borrow and pay interest on that money because the way that the money comes in from the state, we don't get any money now for a while. So we have to float on that fund balance to pay the bills until we get our December aid payment, and then we start getting property taxes in January and February. So just the way that the cash flow works from the state perspective of how we get our money,
014that fund balance essentially covers us until we get the cash inflows. So if that drops too far, you know, whether it's 17% or 20%, then that's where you start to see where you'd have to go cash, you know, to cash flow borrow. And a strong fund balance is very good when we go out for debt for capital referendum. We have a great rating, we have a double A rating. So when we go through our Moody's report, that says we're fiscally sound, we have a great fund balance, and that really goes into, you know, into the determination of what your borrowing rate is, and then you get better interest rates. So there's a lot of things that surround that, but really one time, you know, one time fixes isn't how we want to continue to go
015through that, so. (James) Jeanette (Jeanette) Well, and I just want to remind everybody that we had this discussion at our work session that the reason we're going into the deficit is so that we can continue to pay our staff and provide them the benefits that they deserve. That's correct, right? (Angie) Yeah, so we, the board voted and we recommended the 2.95% cost of living increase as we've done every year. We recognize that our employees are very important. And so yes, we decided to do that. And, you know, a three and a half million dollar deficit. Like I said, we were able to put some money into fund balance last year to give us some cushion. So yeah, I feel that was the right thing to do. (James) Alex. (Alex) Can you explain, either provide a
016response or explain in some way when we talk about how our mill rate, our tax rate is actually going down, but then some people have concerns or make comments regarding while my taxes went up from the school district and so on and so forth, so that maybe people can understand that better. (Angie) Sure, I can attempt. So, okay, so the first thing is, is that mill rate is based off of fair market value for school districts where it's assessed value in other municipalities like the city, for example. So fair market value overall, as we discussed, our fair market value increased on average across all of our municipalities, which there are eight by 8.77%. So in general, what that means, depending on where you live, whether it's the city of Green Bay or the town of
017Scott, depending on how our levy is distributed among those municipalities, everybody's going to see an increase of fair market value. So your home, your property value goes up. So that's why in the past, when you see a mill rate drop, if the mill rate doesn't drop as much percentage-wise as what your property value went up, then you would see a slight increase. Now, in addition to that, this year, we discussed this two weeks ago, but we did see an overall levy increase. So last year, our levy stayed very, we barely moved, but this year, due to some factors from the state budget, how we fell for equalized aid, we did see an overall increase in our levy, meaning our levy went from 109 million to 114 million. So we are asking the community for a
018little bit more than what we had before. So overall, that additional $6 million will have to be spread out over all of our municipalities. So that's also a potential for an increase. So depending on where you live, what municipality you're in, it's really going to be, each individual taxpayer is going to be different depending on where you live and then how much your fair market value increases. So even though our mill rate decreased from $7.65 per thousand to $7.41, it sounds like a big drop, but the main reason for that is really because we saw such a spike in equalized values. You take your levy, you divide it by equalized value, that's how you get your mill rate, multiply it by a thousand. So when that equalized value rate goes up by a billion dollars,
019that's why that drops, but it doesn't necessarily mean that your taxes are going to drop. Does that help? (James) Laura. (Laura) Okay. - Do you happen to know when the property tax bills are going to come out? (Angie) I believe in the beginning of December. I know that we have to, by November 10th, I believe is our date to get our levy out to all of the municipalities and then they have to do their thing and send them out. So I would think sometime in December. (Laura) Property taxpayers are going to see something new on their tax bill this year, which is the amount that our district has to levy to make up for the difference that what we lose to vouchers. So my question to you is, is that $14 million, is that the
020amount that they're going to see on their property tax bill? (Angie) Because the city of Green Bay is the only municipality out of all eight that are going to have that printed at the bottom of the tax bill that will be prorated. So whatever, it's about 70% of that number, because that's about how much of the levy that the city of Green Bay takes up. (Laura) I'm sorry, I cut you off there. Of course, I should know that. So we don't know, it's not on here, the exact amount that the Green Bay taxpayers are going to see on their bill, but that number has been computed and we know what that number is going to look like. Okay, very good. Thank you. (James) Other questions, discussion? No? Angie, thank you very much. All right, so
021this is a public forum now. On specifically the budget, and we have one registered speaker. If anyone else would like to speak on the budget, there's a little bit of time, there's a pink form that you need to fill out. This is specific to the budget, and then we'll have another public forum in the regular meeting. Okay, so the registered speaker for the budget is Damien Doran. Okay, please provide your name, address. This is a public budget hearing, so the timing is three minutes, not five. (Damien) Sounds great. My name is Damian Doran, D-A-M-I-E-N, D-O-R-A-N. And 1078 Roscoe Street here in Green Bay. Just on the budget, what I wanted to mention is, it's a moral document, right? Budgets tell the truth, they reveal what we really value. And honestly, if we truly value our
022students, our dollars should prove that, in my opinion. That means investing in mentorship, mental health, creative arts, and leadership development, the stuff that actually changes their lives. I know you guys can't do it alone, it's gonna take a village. We have local organizations such as myself and others around the area that are already in the trenches doing the work that can work hand in hand with the district to accomplish these goals. So I don't think reinventing the wheel is necessary. We can start reinforcing what's working in the community. Equity means every kid, whether at East Preble Southwest or West, my school, how can I forget that one, deserves access to opportunity, not just access to a classroom. I feel like suspension should be the last thing that we're doing for these children. We should really
023give them support instead of pushing them out, we should pull them in closer. That's pretty much all I have for the budget. (James) Thank you, sir. All right, so misunderstanding. I think I have two other speakers for the budget. The next up is Jason DeGrave. Jackson, sorry, that's twice, I apologize. (silence) (Jackson) Hi, I'm Jackson DeGrave. I live at 1055 South North Uro Green Bay, Wisconsin. A DaVinci Assistant Talent Show coach works two to three days a week, September through December and gets paid $1,688. Preble Esports coach four nights a week, two to three hours a night, September through May, zero dollar salary, zero dollar budget, approximately 40 to 50 students. DaVinci forensics coach, November through April, two, three days a week, almost $2,000. Preble Trap coach, September through November and March through June, 50
024to 70 students, no facility, no budget, no salary. Does this sound like equality? Football team, multi-million dollar facility, thousands in upkeep, thousands in equipment, pads, helmets, balls, PA systems, thousands in transportation, Preble Esports, two classrooms, no equipment, except school computers that are used daily. No budget for equipment, no salary, no transportation budget. Does that sound like equality? When doing your budget, please remember, not all students get a fair share. Why is one child more important than the next? Is the teachers, coaches, parents, the love of the hobby or sport that makes it happen? Many of these unfunded programs provide a safe place to enjoy themselves. Many do charity events, no recognitions, just because they wanna help. Football, basketball numbers are declining. Esports and Trap are the fastest growing sports in America. Just some things to
025think about, thanks. (James) Thank you, Jackson. I hope that's the case. We can check it. Next is Jeff DeGrave. Please verify that the microphone is working because it doesn't sound like it's coming over though. (Jeff) Is that working? I don't know. Hi, I'm Jeff DeGrave, 1055 South Northview Road, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54311. (James) Yeah, it is. Okay, thank you. Just... (Jeff) My concerns with the Green Bay School Board budget are simple, education is not cheap. There is no simple equation that comes up with the right answer. As a parent, I fully believed that extra dollars that I spend will be greatly rewarded later in life by our students. Equality, we have to make sure that we're spending every dollar the same on every student, whether they're an A student, a failing student. If they're an
026athlete or if they're an e-sports member or they're a DECA member or a forensic member, it has to be the same amount. I see some of the best money spent is on teachers, on parents, on staff. These people are incredible. They do it for the love, not the money. That is where we get our most. We can build a new school. They don't raise the grades. We can have a fancy building. They don't raise the grades. It's the people in the buildings that raise them scores that teach our children. As a taxpayer, I'm willing to spend more. If I see us going for something that is valued, something that is equitable to all students, not just some. (sighs) It is important to me that we show our students that we are there, whether it's financially,
027emotionally, or other support that they need. I applaud the financial people for coming up with these great solutions. It's money that is well spent educating our students. One thing I do have a problem with is our gifted and talented program. My son has been in it for 10 years. For six years, he has gotten nothing but two emails. Basically one saying that he's in the program and one stating that he will be mentored or monitored. He's never, ever met the new gifted and talented teacher. All we get is an email. That is not money well spent. I don't know what that program involves anymore. I can't find out answers to what that program involves anymore. All I get is a simple email. That is money not well spent. We need to fix that part of
028the budget. I appreciate your time. (James) Thank you, sir. Those are the individuals that have been registered to speak this evening, last call. All right. That is the only agenda on this meeting, so I would entertain a motion to adjourn. (Laura) Motion to adjourn. (Jeanette) Second. (James) All in favor? All right, we are adjourned. We're going to transition directly into our next meeting. All right, so we're going to transition into our October 27th, 2025 regular Board of Education meeting. We will start with the roll call, please. (Kinsey) Becker? (Andrew) Here. (Kinsey) McCoy? (Laura) Here. (Kinsey) Lyerly (James) Here (Kinsey) Gerlach (Lynn) Here (Kinsey) Mineau? (Alex) Here. (Kinsey) Knill? (Jeanette) Here. (Kinsey) Meister? (Samantha) Here. (James) All right, all Board members are present and accounted for. Let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. (All) I
029pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (clears throat) (James) All right, will someone please read the mission statement, Lynn. (Lynn) We educate all students to be college, career and community ready, inspired to succeed in our diverse world. (James) Thank you. I'll read the land acknowledgement statement. We, the members of the Green Bay Area Public School District, recognize and honor the original inhabitants of Northeast Wisconsin. Our district lives, works, and learns upon the ancestral homelands of the Menominee and Ho-Chunk nations, and the current homeland of Oneida Nation. We acknowledge the 12 diverse and vibrant Wisconsin First Nations who have persevered here since before recorded time and continue to be an integral part of
030our community. We uphold our responsibility to repair relationships, initiate partnerships, and stand with all First Nation communities. All right, we'll go right into recognition, and we have an agenda item. AFSCME is in the, come on up and join us at the table. So AFSCME is making a donation into the McKinney-Vento program. So you can, if you wanna have a seat, and use those mics, and I think you have used the mics before, but it is the face that looks like there's sound waves coming at it, and if it turns red, you're right. All right. (Bendalee) Good evening, members of the board, superintendent, and community. My name's Bendalee, this is Christina Ha. I'm here tonight on behalf of AFSCME Local 3055. The support staff union representing the hardworking employees of the Green Bay Area Public School
031District. Our members are the backbone of our schools, the cooks, secretaries, noon hour supervisors, monitors, food service workers, van drivers, bus aides, IT staff, custodians, day technicians, engineers, and utility workers. These are the employees who often go unnoticed, yet they play an essential role in the success of our students in our schools each and every day. We know that the relationships our staff build with students can often make a lasting impact. Sometimes it's quiet, quite moment. Sometimes it's a quiet moment in the cafeteria, a friendly face on the playground, or a simple gesture of kindness that makes a difference in a student's day. AFSCME Local 3055 takes great pride in giving back to our community, our family, and our students. Tonight, we are honored to present a $1,000 donation to the McKinney-Vento program, which provides
032vital support to students and families experience housing instability. This contribution represents our members' deep commitment to the mission of the Green Bay Area Public Schools, ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. While this donation may be a small gesture, it comes from the hearts of our members who believe strongly in supporting the students we serve each day. Thank you for your time and for the opportunity to continue working together to make a positive difference in the lives of our students and our community. (James) All right, so Lisa, can I have you come up, Lisa Bynum? She's in charge of that McKinney-Vento program and is here to accept the donation on behalf of the school district. (Bendalee) There you go. (Lisa) Thank you. - Thank you so much. It really means a lot that you
033thought of our students who are the most vulnerable. Students who are experiencing homelessness have a lot of barriers to school that not everyone sees. And this money will help our social workers support those kind of behind the scenes with those basic needs. So thank you so much. (Bendalee) Absolutely. (Lisa) Much appreciated. (James) Yeah, thank you. - Thank you. - All right. We're gonna transition to open forum once again and we will start with the intra city student council report. (Kia) Oh, our good news is, with EAST they did a Boo-Back Fundraisers, which is like a candy cane sale and their homecoming was successful and they started a basketball up. Their sophomore student council class had a Root Beer Float fundraiser and NHS is selling Seroogy bars. John Dewey, they had a travel agent project, which
034went well, and their Town Hall Club. They also went well. For Preble, their homecoming was successful and they had a orchestra and band concert and had a homecoming block party along with a football, which they nearly qualified for playoff. - And over at Southwest, their cheer and dance team had like a type of camp. A girl from the girls golf team was a runner up for state. They have their Spongebob musical, which is set for December and their Little Women musical, which is set for April and they had their first ever Harvest Cabaret Gala. They have Fall Fest in this week. Over at West, Bowling had their first meeting. We're co-oping with EAST again for our JV Anchor. We may have enough for a girls varsity team. NHS and IB Club are holding their welcoming
035party this Thursday with a Halloween party. They're also selling Seroogy bars. Vollyball had their annual pink out event on Thursday, October 16th, which they faced Fox Valley Lutheran. Pink out is to raise awareness for breast cancer and the West East game was October something, I forgot the day, but the score was seven to three with West winning and that was our second win. (James) Thank you very much. All right, so we're gonna move to public forum again. I don't have any other registered speakers. Oh, sorry, you're correct. So we do have one person that wants to speak, Jared Hessler. You wanna speak at both? Okay. Thank you. All right. We'll start with Jackson DeGrave then. So we're no longer in a budget hearing. So the time you have goes back to five minutes, right? (Jackson)
036It's truly amazing how this is my third time up here speaking on the same issues when I'd rather be discussing more positive notes, such as appealing to get certain helpful websites unblocked, but I can't for the third time I've had to waste my night to come up here and speak my and other students minds. And yet again, this is the third time the school board has made me feel belittled. And last week was the second time I left with my tears boiling due to anger and frustration. It hurt me to hear the words, students don't matter. Yes, they do. They're quite literally the only point of a school. A school cannot run without students to teach. I will now cover the issue of no backpacks at all. Here are the following reasons that putting backpacks
037in lockers prevents school shootings. They don't. I looked and I could not even find a single reason to have it like that. Here are the reasons not to. Last week, a board member said, students don't matter. I made the walk from one end of Preble to the other in time. Well, let's use some simple math that is taught in the schools. Story problem, little Susie is a student at Preble High School. She has two classes right next to each other near the south side of the building, but she has to get her homework from her locker near the gym. She has six minutes to get to her locker and back, walking in total half a mile. An average speed of three miles an hour, will she make it to class on time? Now let's see,
038one hour divided by three miles equals 20 minutes per mile. Cut that mile in half. And what do you know, she is four minutes late to class. So if we also factor in the hallway being about three feet thinner because everyone is at their locker at another minute or so spent at the locker plus hall traffic, not too shabby math. Here's another scenario. There's a 17 year old boy, junior year, he was forced to get rid of his backpack. He spent hours picking out online because it has to be clear. He has a sparkly new iPhone and he can't use it because it gets taken away from every class. And he forgets to scan in every day. So he goes from perfect attendance to no attendance. Can you imagine how stressful that is for a
039kid to go through? I've always been a firm believer that there needs to be a motive for things to happen. A why, the reason the incident happened at Preble last month in the first place. I was at the meeting last time and I heard how, when and where we are missing the why and what. Even though we implement these policies, it doesn't stop anything. When I was growing up, I thought Preble was the coolest, most awesome school on the planet. So excited to go, but two years in, I'm embarrassed to go to Preble. This school has gained such a reputation among kids my age who live in the greater Green Bay area. I was once joking with my cousin about this and I said, did you know there was a fight at Preble today? A
040kid got sent to the hospital. He believed me. Again, I was making that up, but he believed it. Here's the kicker. Little did I know there was actually a fight at Preble that day. When I found out about that, I became ashamed and embarrassed. In my eyes, Preble went from the top of the schools to laughing stock of the greater Green Bay area. If it's this bad at Preble, then I can only assume the problem is as bad, if not worse at other schools. Students should not have to feel ashamed or embarrassed to be at the Green Bay schools. I feel more and more like a prisoner each day. When my things are confiscated, I'm forced to check in somewhere because I'm not trusted to be where I'm not supposed to be. And because I'm
041not trusted enough to have a non-transparent backpack. I want all board members and others at this meeting to take a nice look at me. And think, does that boy really want to be up here? Could he have better things to do with his night? Unfortunately, yes, I do. I could be doing homework, driver's ed, or hanging out with my friends. But that doesn't matter, because I need to be up here. I need to cover things that I need to cover. I need to help everyone understand that we should work together. That does not mean the board needs to work together. It means we as a community need to work together. I hope that using your heart and mind, you put things that benefit students into effect. So the point being, listen to the people, don't
042get rid of backpacks unless you want more misbehaved students and more tardiness. Never, ever say the students don't matter ever again. And please do something soon. I can't keep doing this. As the only student representative, I'm tired of it. Thank you all for your time. (james) Thank you, Jackson. Jeff DeGrave? (Jeff) Board members, administration, fellow parents. I've heard many security questions and suggestions. Clear backpacks, walkthrough scanners, backpacks in the lockers, uniforms, closed lunches. But the one I don't hear is the one that addresses the bullying, the harassment, the fear of violence that leads to the situations that we are in. Parents are begging, staff is begging, the community is begging to stop the bullying, stop the harassment, stop the violent. It's the easiest and cheapest solution to this problem is to address the actual problem.
043Students have brought this up at the round tables. They brought it up at past board meetings. Parents have brought it up. It seems like no one is listening. At least at the last board meeting, the board spent an incredible amount of time discussing the scanners, the backpacks and lockers. Questions were asked. In fact, there was one comment made that why weren't their board council members here? We have 20 of them. If you're not being heard, why do you attend? Why do you waste your time? I get told all the time by other people that why are you going, they never change, it doesn't change. My son goes to school and the kids are, why do you bother? Why do you put your time and effort into something that isn't gonna change? I think it's time
044that we show him, show them that what we say, what students say, what parents say matters and we change those things. I'm gonna bring up an incident that happened to my son. Last Monday, I received a phone call from the principal at Preble. He explained to me that my son was part of three boys who broke a chair. Okay, I was disappointed when I heard that. Why would my son do that? It was kids screwing around, but still, it shouldn't have happened. He explained to me that my son would be put into four hours of school suspension. I agreed, you do the crime, you pay the time. He then explained to me that the RSO officer would be calling and that Jackson could be subject to a $754 fine for destruction of public property. Again,
045I agreed, if you do the crime, you pay the time. He was then told that he would have to pay his portion of the chair. I agreed, you do the crime, you pay the time. Unfortunately, this is one incident where actual student who admitted doing what he did, screwing around, is paying for the crime, paying the time. Why isn't this policy, and I asked this question, why isn't this policy across the school board? He told me it was. I have witnessed millions of times where stuff gets broken. In fact, Jackson's computer was smashed last year in a urinal in front of several witnesses. It was even caught on videotape because the kid thought it was funny. When I asked how do we replace Jackson's computer, I was told by the administration, we have a fund
046for that. Just go to the library and grab one. I said, no, who's paying for that? That's what we have that fund for. The crime was committed, no time. When there is nothing, there are no consequences to actions. This is where we lead to, if I see someone doing something, then I can do it. It should be good for everybody, correct? But it's not. Was this retaliation against him and I speaking? Or was it an actual, this is the board policy and this is what we're following? Because if it is, we need to do it across the board. I've been always proud of my son. And when he does something wrong, I want him to know that it was wrong. I was most happy that the principal and the RSO officer said my son was
047blatantly honest about what happened. He could have said other things that would have led him not to get in trouble, but he was completely honest. So, lesson, as I've told him his whole life, if you don't ever lie to me, I can always back you up. So basically the moral here was, he did what he was supposed to do, he took the punishment he was supposed to get, and he lived with it. He will miss out on several good activities facing my punishment. But that punishment has to go across the board, plain and simple. We are looking to you guys to lead, and that's what we want. Thank you. (James) Thank you, sir. All right, the last speaker, Jared Hessler. All right. With that, we'll transition to the fourth agenda item discussion and the superintendent
048update. (Vicki) All right, a lot has been going on in the district since we last gave an update in September, so I'm going to quickly go over some of the highlights that have been happening. Thank you to the ICSC students for your setup for some of this information. You're good with clicking for me? All right, let's get into it. End of September, Arnie Herber bust dedication happened at West High School. Arnie was a West High School graduate. He graduated in, is Dexter here? Do you remember Dexter? That's, I'm putting you on the spot. I actually know Dexter. Arnie graduated in 1928. He was a multi-sport athlete at West High School. Star football player, obviously. And then he went on to play for the hometown Green Bay Packers in 1930. While he was on the team
049to win four NFL championships over 11 seasons. So if you happen to be over at West High School and are by the stadium, please check that out. Lori Blakeslee, who is that donated by? Is it the Packer Hall of Fame? Donated that bust. We also have one of Vince Lombardi over at Lombardi Middle School. Also at West High, we had the rededication of the Del Marcelle Stadium and the Green Bay Area Public School District Education Foundation had a fundraiser prior to the game. They had a chili bowl. I don't have the totals yet, but I believe it was, well, it was a good turnout. I was one of the servers. We had a lot of people come and then they went and enjoyed the rededication. It was a great night. Coincidentally, as soon as I
050started speaking at the podium, it started raining. I'm sure that has nothing to do with me. Let's keep going. Okay, September 30th was Orange Shirt Day. And this is growing across the district, at least with acknowledgement by both staff and students. By wearing an orange shirt on that day, you're honoring indigenous residential school survivors. And that's something in Wisconsin that's very important for us. And that day comes every year. And the theme is every child matters. The marching band showcase occurred. I know a lot of you were there for that event. It was a beautiful hot, hot day. Many of us were dressed casually and our marching band students were in very heavy garb, but it was a spectacular event. The stadium was packed. Great day at West High School. The end of September, actually,
051I think this might've been early October, was the last farmer's market on Broadway. Our team actually sets up a booth at the farmer's market each week on Wednesdays. And it was well attended. Students and families stop by and get to write about what their aspirations are for school, reaching for the stars. It was a great event. So thank you to the team for always being there and welcoming our families. Unbound Ed continues as a teacher professional development under David John's leadership. We're continuing with their training with educators to improve instruction. So every student thrives in our classrooms. I was able to pop into a couple of the PDs for our staff and it was very engaging. Feedback from the teachers that were part of this training was they were really excited about trying some of
052these strategies back in the classroom. So I think we're headed down the right track here. I wanted to remind the board and the public that quarterly I'm able to meet with state legislators. This is a more formal process, but they sit on a panel at CESA seven. And this is with all of the superintendents from our region. And we are able to ask them questions about bills that are pending, why they do what they do and challenge them sometimes. Most often they're asking for our feedback on things that they're pursuing. So it's a good opportunity to engage with them in civil conversation. I was able to be part of a food service tour. This was Chappell Elementary School. They were over at our building on the east side of town. We call it the ASB,
053Auxiliary Service Building. That's where food service and many other operations work out of. Chappell students were able to see the production of food that's open to all of our elementary schools. And I think actually all of our schools who come over and tour and learn more about our food production. We kicked off this year's Ambassador Academy. We have about 30 participants, community members, parents, a really good group. We started with a communication presentation and also Ingrid Parker Hill talked about our family engagement opportunities and what that looks like for our district. (audio cuts out) Langlade Elementary had their final mile walk. This is an event that they do every year. As you'll recall, Langlade Elementary will be closing at the conclusion of this school year. So they're celebrating every milestone. Interestingly, the Langlade mascot, Louis
054the Lion, up in the right-hand side, whenever Louis appears, principal Melissa is gone. And the students are getting curious. They're starting to make some connections. She says it's not true that she is Louis, but we will find out I think at the end of the school year. One of the most amazing events I've been a part of, and I'm so grateful to Lori Blakeslee and Amy Fish for helping bring this dream to reality. We held our very first Hall of Fame for the entire district. And I know some board members were able to attend if you want to jump in and talk about that experience, I would love it. The winners were so proud of our district. And all of them spoke of the teachers and the coaches that they had, and what an impact
055those people had on their lives. I didn't talk about this last month, right? This is new, okay. The gentleman second to the left. Is, well, I would say a scientist. If you have a cat or dog that's ever needed some medicine for anxiety, he's the reason why you have it today. And he got up and spoke about how a coach who is also a math teacher at Southwest High School said to him, "Why aren't you taking "the advanced math classes?" And he purposely wasn't taking them because he didn't want to work that hard his senior year. But the coach talked him into it and he took those advanced math classes. And he said it changed his life. It made him want to pursue the career that he pursued. And that's just one example of the
056comments that the recipients shared that night. I wish it was filmed. It was magical and a great reminder of how we should be so proud. I did share with them at the end of the evening that I share them in our buildings today exist the same type of coaches and teachers that they had back in their day. And that they're continuing to inspire our students to do better. Did anybody want to speak that was there? (Lynn) I'll just say that it was probably the most positive, 100% positive school district experience that I had. It was just wonderful. It was wonderful to see Bill Galvin's daughter speaking from Morocco. I was very disappointed that Curly Lambeau didn't show up, but otherwise it was wonderful. (Vicki) Oh boy. (laughs) Well, they set the bar high for future
057Hall of Fame, so that's for sure. Next one, please. PTNO. It's a new acronym for me. Parent Teacher is the easy one. What's the N? Neighbors. And Ingrid Parker Hill and her team facilitated the first Green Bay Area Public School District parent teacher neighbor organization event. You might not have heard of it because we didn't really blast it out there other than to PTOs. But it was an opportunity to start bringing those groups, the citywide groups together and collaborate and brainstorm and create stronger parent teacher neighbor networks for their school community. It was highly engaging and really, I thought well attended, just a good night. Ingrid and her team did a great job. I was invited to McAuliffe fourth grade for their unit on cultural and identity. That particular unit, they were focused on Italy,
058Mexico and Japan. There are three classrooms of fourth grade at McAuliffe and the students would move from room to room and experience the music, the food, art, other cultural aspects of those three countries. And then finally today, again Ingrid Parker Hill working and focusing on family and community engagement, hosted the district office building open house. It started at three o'clock this afternoon. Students were encouraged to come in Halloween costume and work their way around the building. And actually in one of the rooms, I think it was 138 on the first floor, there were activities based on the portrait of a graduate. That was fantastic. I'm hoping all of our schools take some of those ideas back. Well attended and some people even, if they didn't have students in the district actually came to take a
059look around and enjoy the building. They had memories of this back when it was a vocational college and they wanted to see what it looks like today. And that concludes my report. (james) Thank you Superintendent Bayer. Any questions for her? All right. We'll move on to 4B, the Clean Energy Advisory Committee update. Cale is joining us at the table. (silence) (Cale) Good evening. I have a brief update for you. Our Clean Energy Committee met on October 14th. This meeting consisted of a review of multiple projects we have ongoing in the district right now. We have four solar projects in the district. In addition to our referendum projects that also have solar components to them. With that we are also starting our retro commissioning of buildings. Which is taking a look at how to make those
060more efficient. With our partner McKinstree. So we received an update on that process. And then also prepped us for our next meeting on November 11th, which we will introduce our dashboard. So we're gonna get the feedback from the committee on that dashboard that's gonna share the information from the solar projects that we've completed at King and Lombardi. And then also share feedback on the efficiency of our existing buildings. So we're gonna take some of that feedback and then hopefully tweak that and then bring that to our website or other platforms that could get some exposure to that. Along with that we discussed kind of next steps with our capital season kind of coming upon us rather quickly here in the winter as we're planning and making adjustments to our long term capital plan. And getting
061feedback from this committee while also utilizing that data that that dashboard is going to provide to help maybe guide some future decisions on projects or recommendations for the board. And then the last piece, oh sorry, two more. We discussed the creation of our subcommittee for our focus on food waste initiatives and pilot related projects. If you remember that was part of the recommendation that the board accepted in response to the resolution that we have. So we will be working on developing that subcommittee and then soon starting that with our volunteers and students. And then finally we discussed we have a RFI that will be going out in regards in conjunction with a net zero schools project. So that's a grant funded project that's gonna do an RFI for the districts at no cost to look
062at feasibility and cost for geothermal system at Nicolet Elementary or Nicolet Community School, I should say, yes. And then as I said, next meeting we'll be looking at our dashboard. So if anyone would like to attend that meeting is on November 11th. (James) Laura. (Laura) This is the first I've heard about the potential of geothermal at Nicolet. That's very interesting to me. (Cale) We wanted to take advantage of obviously the grant opportunity. The net zero team that we've been working with was looking at other facilities. Some had ties with the McKinstry projects that we're doing. And because of the recent land acquisition at Nicolet, it provided a good opportunity to get some information. Is it feasible? What that kind of cost would be. So a great opportunity to get some information, some data for us
063to review. - I forgot that we have more space there now. Thank you. (James) Jeanette. (Jeanette) I'm glad to hear that you're taking on food waste, especially as we approach a potential food crisis across the country, but here in Wisconsin and with our students. So if there's anything that I can do to help, because I think you know that's a pet project of mine. So thank you for doing that. (James) Others. - Lynn. (Lynn) Can you please just remind us what are the four schools that have solar arrays? (Cale) Okay, I'm gonna try to do this off the top of my head. There's two currently done, that's King Lombardi. We are currently installing at Edison, Washington East. And I'm forgetting one. And part of that was a previously funded grant that Ned Dorff had worked
064with the students at Aldo to put that together, but we just kind of expanded on that array there as well. The referendum also, Starr, Chappell and Doty will also have arrays. (James) Thank you. Others? Thank you, Cale. We'll move on to 4C, the legislative update. Jeanette. (Jeanette) Okay, I'm not gonna read my entire legislative report. It's not very robust this time around. There's not much going on, but I'd like to highlight a few things. As I had just mentioned to Cale, that we will probably have a food crisis for people who are suffering or are food insecure. SNAP benefits are gonna end as of October 31st, and this is gonna affect many of our students and families. So there are area food pantries. Preble has a food pantry, and I know that some of the
065other schools do as well. So not just to the people at the table or in this room, but if anybody's watching, please keep this in mind. And food pantries can not only use food, but they can also use donations because they can use that money to buy food for pennies on the dollar from very large organizations. So because even though this doesn't sound like an educational thing, if kids are not fed well, they're not gonna learn well. The bill that I brought up last time for the annuitants is stuck in committee. So you can read last month's report to get more information on that. But if you feel so moved, it would be very helpful if you contacted your state assembly rep or senator and asked them to talk to the people on the committees
066to try to push it out. Probably not very many meetings are going to occur on the floors as we approach the election year, next year. So we're gonna see less and less things happening. So the annuitant bill would be helpful for our schools. And then you can read the other things that I have on there. Nothing terribly pressing that needs our attention. Thanks. (James) All right, any questions or discussion? Thank you, Jeanette. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Can someone please read the motion? (Alex) I move that the consent agenda items as presented be approved. (Jeanette) Second. (James) Discussion, Laura. (Laura) Just before we take the vote, which is always a pretty routine affair. I just want to point out the list of gifts. Our community is incredibly generous to our schools in so
067many different ways. But the gifts this month include just shockingly generous donations around clear backpacks. There's other things included, but this particular report captures, for all I know, the donations are still coming in, but it just illustrates in black and white, right there for everyone to see how our community stepped up when we needed them to. And I just want to express my gratitude. Thank you. (james) Thank you, Laura. Others? All right. - Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. Lynn, are you able to vote online? (Lynn) Nope, I vote yes. (Kinsey) All right. (Kinsey) All votes have been entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. (James) All right, thank you. We will move to seven action items. So for the public and individuals in the room, these are
068all items that we discussed during our work session, and we'll just take a series of votes on these items. We'll start with 7A, the superintendent search survey approval. Can someone please read the motion? (Laura) I move that the superintendent search survey as presented be approved. (Samantha) Second. (James) We have a second from Samantha. Discussion or questions? I have a comment. I thought that the turnaround met my expectations, the quality of the survey met my expectations. The superintendent search work products are looking really, really good. And so I'm excited to get this out and get this in front of our taxpayers. So Laura. (Laura) Is it premature to make a picture for anyone who's listening to please fill out the survey? We really, really, really, really would love it if everybody in this community filled this
069survey out. (James) Yeah, I appreciate that. Others? All right, Kinsey. (mouse clicking) (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. All votes are entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. (James) All right, we'll move to 7B, revised high school daily schedule. Will someone please read the motion? Lynn. (Lynn) I move that a consistent daily schedule across all four comprehensive high schools to begin in the 2026-27 school year be approved. - I have a second? (Samantha) Second. (James) Questions or discussion? Alex. (Alex) The first thing I just wanna make sure I point out in the finer points, such as the key points, is that one of the things that at least I asked for, an option for was potentially a little bit longer lunch than the initial plan. So if you didn't
070all notice, there is a feature, a second option with a 40-minute lunch plan. And I think that that's something that would, I think, have a lot of value for not only students, but also staff as well. And I would just briefly add, having spent the overwhelming majority of my career with a 30-minute lunch, it's really not a great experience. And if we can go to 40, it would still be a huge reduction from what's currently there. And as David put in the schedule, as far as what that would actually look like, and if you compare the two, it doesn't affect, I don't think in any negative way, any of the other opportunities that the schedule presents. So just something to think about. And I thought that was great. And then the question that I had,
071and also, I guess maybe something to point out, is one of the concerns I brought up was just making sure that teachers and staff had enough prep time to start adjusting lesson plans for such a schedule, especially when you're talking about East being with trimesters. But really all staff in some capacity are gonna need to make adjustments. He did note that there will be opportunities on the 16th of January, February 6th, and May 22nd. I guess, and I don't know if he can answer this, but I would just maybe like to also push for a little bit of clarification on how much and what that time looks like, and then also continue to make a plea for possibly even more time. (James) Welcome, David. (David) Good evening board, good evening student leaders. Happy to be
072with you this evening. We also have high school principals and other members of the administrative team in attendance, if your questions would make sense to bring them forward as well. So I appreciate their time and commitment to this work as well. Mr. Mineau, you pointed out the time that is built in for the really important work that you singled out, and that was the kind of re-imagining and redeveloping of these courses to move either into the block or out of what is currently a block and into a shorter, more traditional period. Those dates that are listed there are dates that, because we build a professional learning calendar, a year in advance, we're able to look at for protecting some time. Those dates, some of them are half days, some of them are whole days, and
073there would be some additional time needed. Ideally through the support of the department chairs for this as well. So those days vary, again, from half days to full days of time, but for those who are doing block for the first time, that time would be protected to provide that support. (Alex) Are there opportunities, or can you speak to the ability to put that in the end of the year, the beginning of the year, professional development time? Because again, just for argument's sake, whether it's a partial day, all are part of three days, I'm just kind of putting my teacher hat on and just kind of thinking about the possibility of needing more time, just wanting to kind of tease out all of the possible options that might exist. (David) Right, those are the days on
074the calendar that we know exists. The calendar committee is restarting their work for the following school year next week, and that would be when we would look at those pre-service days, and again, try to put some protection around those for teachers to do that. We would certainly hope that that work isn't starting then, but that's why we carved out those dates for this winter and spring. (James) Others? Samantha? (Samantha) I just have a clarification. Based on what we're approving, would this be the schedule that's in the memo or the linked one with the 40-minute lunch? Which one is on the table here, because I think there's two options, and I realize it's five minutes. I say that because it looks like the five minutes is coming from advisory time. The one in the memo says
075a 30-minute advisory, the one linked with the longer lunch says a 25-minute advisory, and I know relating to a lot of our conversations around some of the school safety conversations, that advisory time, there was a lot of good discussion about potential things that could be put into that advisory time. In terms of social-emotional learning things, ability for mentorship with some really cool possibilities to use that advisory time more effectively, and I'm just wondering if we're taking time away from that that could potentially be really powerful instructional time. I realize it's five minutes, but I just need some clarification on which version we're voting on. (James) So I'll address that from the chair. You're voting on the motion that has been provided, which does not specifically call out which model or which schedule. It provides latitude
076to the administration to review each of those models and conform appropriate to their findings and their further discussions. That's what is the original motion. Andrew. (Andrew) Thank you. I'm looking at the document BOE requested, 40-minute lunch schedule PDF. So I see that lunches are 40 minutes in it, A, B, or C lunch, but it looks to me like advisory is showing as 20 minutes on there, but then a 15-minute gap between advisory and period three. So there's something missing there, and I think advisory still could be 9.20 to 9.50 as written there, could it not? (David) That's correct, Mr. Becker. Yep, that's correct. It would be a 25-minute advisory, 25-minute advisory with the five minutes being the one that's repurposed in the lunch. (Andrew) So is advisory to three a 10-minute passing, which was the
077only 10-minute passing then? So the advisory would be 9.20. Again, looking at that BOE requested 40-minute lunch schedule. (David) The direction we would need to move is in period three starting to 9.50. That gives that 50 minutes for that. Double check, yes, that gives that 50 minutes. - Yep. (Andrew) I'm not willing to, I don't support something that doesn't have a 40-minute lunch, that's a bare minimum. I would like to see a guarantee that students have access to open campus with the possible, since that ship has already sailed, freshmen, as long as there's access to the grounds and the outdoors, I'm willing to see how that goes for a year. But what I'm concerned about in voting yes on this motion is that we don't know what's gonna end up being the lunch, although I
078do appreciate seeing that there's, I think it would have added a lot of confusion to have four A, B, C, and D lunch, because some of them I think would be very hard to work, where here, you take one and two could be blocked, three and four a could be blocked. You could have the block with a lunch in the middle, and you could have a six, seven block. So it makes more sense there. If this is gonna be my last chance to vote, or if this isn't technically my last chance to vote because I could submit an agenda request later after we've already done this, and then have the handicap of it being trying to overrule a decision instead of weighing in in the beginning, is that's my concern about this. I don't have
079a problem with all the schools being on the same schedule. I understand the importance of that, but I just have a feeling that we wouldn't get back to this before it was too late to weigh in if there was something we didn't like. (James) So I hear you, and here's my suggestion to you. So you can either vote on this motion, or you absolutely have the rights to offer an amendment to the motion if you want to codify or have us vote on forcing a 40 minute lunch or something like that. So if you wanna modify the motion, please do, because I agree with you. I don't think that this is something that we should allow them to go down a direction and then months from now try to pull them back. I agree with
080you that that's probably not a winning scenario. (Andrew) Okay, I'll think about it while others have a chance to go on, I'll compose. (james) All right, others, Lynn. (Lynn) Just to be clear, so this motion simply says that we will now have a consistent daily schedule across all four comprehensive high schools. Is it within our purview, based on our policies, to dictate what that schedule should be? How long the lunches should be, et cetera? Or is our job simply to say they will have a consistent schedule and then, I guess I'm asking our legal advice here. Do we have policy that says that this is our job to do, or is that not within our purview? (James) Do you want to take that, or can I just make a statement to the effect of, that
081is a gray area. And as you look at our policies, some are very prescriptive and some are very high level. So the question on the table is kind of philosophical, and as you see your governance role, and that's why I'd rather have an up-down vote, have an amendment to the motion. Let's take a vote on that. And then if it passes, we've, as a board, decided the level of governance that we want to demonstrate. Otherwise, it'll fail and then we'll take a vote on the underlying motion. And ultimately what we want to do is to leave tonight with David Johns knowing what his next steps are and what he needs to do, because that was the reason why we didn't table it for further research is we need to get going. Jeanette. (Jeanette) So we
082have two students sitting at the table. I would like to know your opinions without putting you on the spot. If you're not comfortable, that's okay. What do you feel about a 35 versus a 40-minute lunch? (Speaker 1) I am mostly used to a 48-minute lunch. I mean, I like my 48-minute lunch. I don't like to sit in the lunchroom. I mean, I'm stuck in like the freshmen lunch, so I'm around all freshmen. I don't want to be around them at all. So if I have the opportunity to leave, I'm gonna leave. That's just how I feel. I don't know about the fifth and sixth-hour lunches, but I unfortunately got that lunch. So that's kind of my opinion with it. I mean, a 35-minute lunch, that won't, because I don't have a car, I can't drive
083yet, I don't have the opportunity to go to like, KwikTrip and back. I can't go to like a (inaudible) and back. And it just raises the question of like, if students don't make it on time, then closed campus might be an option, which I don't really like closed campus. I don't want to be inside the whole day of my school day. I want to have some time, you know, walk around and then come back, but closed campus, I can't do that. Obviously, 35-minute lunch, I can't do that either. I mean, and I know like at work, I have 35-minute lunch. I have to like, you know, clock out, and then I have to order my food, and then I have to wait for my food, but I don't have time to go outside. So I'm
084stuck in that building the whole time. So that's kind of where I'm at. (Kia) I think for me, I'm pretty content with my lunch hours and how long it is. I don't see any problems with what we have right now, because it's fun to just like talk with people while you also eat, and then you have enough time to even eat. And I think open campus is pretty good for people who like don't want to eat the food that's offered at school. So that's kind of my take. (Speaker 1) 48 minutes. I also do want to add, I mean, I know at our school, well, during my lunch period, I do see like a long line of students just waiting to get the school lunch, and obviously a 35-minute lunch, and then people waiting like
085half the lunch period, there's no time to eat. And obviously, if the freshmen, they go out like, take like 15 minutes before their lunch period ends, they're not going to have enough time to get their lunch, go sit down, and all of a sudden, oh, it's time for you guys to go outside. It doesn't really make sense. (Kia) And I also think that lunch is kind of like a more social time, and you can go out and like get some sunlight, so it's pretty good for it. (James) Thank you. Andrew. (Andrew) All right, I've emailed, I've emailed Kinsey so I can be put up on the screen. I moved to amend the motion that was made by adding to the end of it with that schedule, including at least a 40-minute lunch each day. (James)
086Do I have a second? (Alex) Second. - All right, discussion? Andrew. (Andrew) I'm not thrilled about 40, but I recognize that, I think 40 still leaves open campus lunch possible. I also think we could do what the district is looking to do with just keeping periods 48 minutes long, including lunch, and you would still have blocking opportunities, but I get that there's some momentum that way. Breaks and decompression time are important, and if you're at the back of the line and you had to walk from the far end of school to get there, you're losing some time already if you're eating in, and there's a part of the, I just think it's unhealthy to reduce the break in decompression time that students have that much, and I would honestly rather see the lunch period stay
087what they are, but I feel that if it is, if there's this minimum of 40 in it, that would be enough that I could, if I could do that, that would be enough that I could support the, I could support the change, and I think that it also, 40 is long enough that I don't believe there would be the, feeling the conception that it is a de facto closed campus lunch because you can't leave and get back comfortably in 35 minutes. I also think this is relevant for staff. I think the length of a staff break is important. We were told by previous personnel after Act 10 that one difference is that, well, now that things are different, but also, we're gonna have teachers be treated with the flexibility of salaried staff. So, I guess
088my question would be if, you know, I'm in a salaried position, most people in salaried positions could meet a friend for lunch at a local establishment during their lunch hour. That's already really pushing it at 48 minutes with five on either side for time to get out and back. It's barely hanging on at 40, and I would say it's gone at 35 unless you wanna, you know, yeah. So, I think for students and for staff, I can support this at 40. I would hate to have to vote no over a lunch guarantee that isn't there, but I will vote no if the amendment fails. (James) Alex. (Alex) I have two things. One, I appreciate you working that and getting the hours figured out to make that happen, and Andrew, the amendment as well, because I'm
089right there with you. We can't honestly sit up here in my opinion and talk about student, you know, thriving student body, thriving workforce. If we don't also think about all of the other things that can and do happen in that time, from students and teachers decompressing, from being able to go off-site, and I mean, many different groups of teachers have been getting together for lunch, even just once a week at certain spots, and doing all sorts of things. Times where you meet with students, you meet with athletes, you meet with your parents, like, "I wanna take one of my daughters out for lunch, and if we have 30, 35 minutes, that's not gonna happen." So, there's so many things that happen in that time that are so meaningful from a social, from emotional, from a
090relationship, even from a functional and a work and a learning standpoint, so definitely. And we can do this whenever we're off of this part, but I would also like to hear from the principals, if they can at least just provide some sort of general consensus that they have, or their own thoughts about this at the high school level. (James) Actually, I would too. So, if the building administrators could join us at the table, I would love that. (silence) Thank you, and I just wanna acknowledge that you being here allows us to kind of see the differences, right? All of your schools are in different neighborhoods with different access to localities where you can go get lunch or whatever, and they have different opportunities around there. So, I'd really like to understand from your perspective and
091for your building what this means to you. Alex? (Alex) I just wanna make it clear too, I wanna know about what you think about this, not just about lunch as well, just about what it means in all-- (James) Oh, like the blocking as well? (Alex) Yes, yeah, everything that it means for you. (Courtney) All right, hello, Courtney Keene, Preble High School. So, one factor that I'm constantly considering in surveys and just feedback with students is this overall domino effect. And so, when we look at lunch duration and knowing that we might get that time back with advisory, we think about student mental health and just overall easiness, the ease of the day and anxiousness. Our advisory is used for a lot of social-emotional learning opportunities as well as RTI. So, response to intervention for academic
092support, which greatly helps our students be able to, within the confines of their school day, retake a test, receive a reteaching, get into better academic standing, which in conversations and feedback, that really makes a difference as well, and also heavily impacts their post-secondary plans. So, as we kinda look at everything with lunches, that's something that right away I go to as well to wanna then hear from students on what that potential implication could be. (Speaker 2) Well, I wanna echo Ms. King's sentiment there. We're going back from 35-minute lunches to 35-minute lunches to 30-minute advisory, 40-minute lunches to 25-minute advisory. Advisory came upon us during COVID, but we wanted to make sure we reached every kid at all times, social-emotional learning, to make sure that we are enriching and touching our students. And now, we're
093doing this argument about that, and so what's the importance of it gonna be for advisory? What's the importance of it? And like with the schedule right now, I mean, it's in talks, but for me, as being at West High School, as an IB school, the consistency of learning takes place. We have that there. Everything is gonna be the skinny or block. We have that there. All this change that's going on in discussions, you know, we gotta think about the kids. These two are my kids at West High School. And I'm sorry that you stuck with freshmen to Mary, so I'm sorry about that. (laughing) Miss Zelsa, we tried to make sure that it was just all freshmen. Sorry about that. But I mean, you know, either we can go down the street, that Kwik Trip,
094Taco Burrito, or back at West High School with the 48 minutes. So you guys make the decision. (Kane) Kane Mock representing East. We had the opportunity the other day to actually collect a little bit of data, and so we trailed a couple of our kids who were at the very end of the lunch line. And it took them about eight minutes to get all the way through the very end of that lunch line to get their lunch, and approximately 12 minutes for them to comfortably eat with their group of friends. So that was a total of about 20 minutes or so in time. Currently, because freshmen have closed campus, we've looked for opportunities to be able to get those kids outside fresh air, run around, and so we utilize our football field, or now that
095it's cold, we shift them into the gym. And so we take those kids out about halfway through the lunch period, and they get that opportunity. And I will say that I think the difference between this year and last year with keeping our freshmen on campus has been immensely positive with them being on campus. They are like making new friends, they're exploring opportunities with each other, the wellness, just the general being and positive spirit of being at school has been much improved. I would also say that we've seen an increase in their pass rates in fourth hour class, specifically surrounding lunch, and the truancy around kids returning from lunch when they have that open campus opportunity. So the 35 minute lunch, I definitely think would be more beneficial for our students in terms of their academic
096success and the reason that we have them at school. I'd also wanna echo what Ms. Keene said about the advisory period and just the importance of that. If we were to shorten that to 25 minutes, by the time the kids transition into class, we take attendance, we get through any housekeeping items, that leaves very little time for meaningful engagement with our kids. At East in the last year, we've kind of worked to copy sort of some things that Preble and some of the other high schools have done in terms of flex advisory period. And so our teachers actually get to select some kids and say, "Hey, I want you to come in for some extra help, "get some intervention, let me reteach." We're also expanding that now, and we're working towards the point where our
097kids are able to actually themselves request where they'd like to go. And so we're actually gonna hopefully be able to start offering very soon enrichment opportunities as well. So those kids who don't necessarily need to go somewhere for academic intervention, they also deserve an opportunity to go for enrichment. And so shortening that time even further would take away our ability to do some of that stuff like meaningfully. (James) Laura. (Laura) Just to be absolutely clear what you said about closed campus for freshmen and truancy, like coming back after lunch, you're saying that the number's improved. (Kane) Well, for the freshmen significantly because the majority of them respect the rule and they don't leave campus, but there is a large discrepancy when you look at the data around attendance rates and truancy specifically around the lunch
098period and making it back to class on time, as well as the pass rates when you look at kids who that specific timeframe around lunch is when they have that flexibility of coming and going. Generally, a lot of our kids are great and we also have a large chunk of them who don't necessarily respect the time boundary that they're given. (James) Laura. (Laura) So, I mean, I'm gonna press you a little bit. Can we extrapolate from that, that if that was to extend to the other three grades that the truancy numbers, would it also improve? (Kane) Yes, I would, and my foreperson. (Vicki) Can I get your mic, please? (Kane) Yes, I would believe that that would extend to the other grade levels as well. And my colleagues can weigh in on that. But if
099we're able to keep kids on campus, to keep them meaningfully engaged with their peers, to provide them opportunities to have some brain breaks and movements and exercise, I firmly believe that that would help with attendance rates and passing classes across the board. (Laura) So this is something that we've been working toward and talking about for a long time, as far as kids drifting away, basically in the middle of the day, and not coming back. And so thank you, I appreciate that information. (Mike) Mike Whistler, principal over at Southwest High School. So they saved the best for last, they always say so. No, just kidding. You're gonna hear a lot of echoes from me in regards to what my colleagues have said, and I think they've said it well. - If you get me on the
100topic of advisory, I'll get on a soap box, and my colleagues know that. I think there's a lot of value to advisory. My colleagues have shared many of the things that we're trying to do and accomplish during advisory. One of the things that I'd like to expand upon is our work around academic and career planning. So how are we talking to our kids about what their lives are gonna look like past high school? Are they looking at trades? Are they looking at college for your two year? Are they looking to go to the military or just straight into the workforce? And advisory is that time period where, ideally we would have those conversations in all of our courses, right? In our math courses, our social studies courses, we'd have that integrated in there. But there
101are some certain things, sometimes maybe just working with 10th graders on building a resume and what that looks like, or things like that, that's, advisors are time to find that. So right now at Southwest, we're looking at Mondays and Tuesdays, we're working not only on social emotional learning collaboration, cooperation, that kind of stuff, but also job skills, soft skills, that sort of thing. And then I appreciate the comments about the FLEX periods and the enrichment periods that we are starting to gain traction on with our students and having some meaning there. And we are seeing our passing rates at Southwest and improving. We've been monitoring that for the past two to three years, heavily the last two years in terms of making sure that we have our students that are passing their classes and getting
102the credits. And I'm proud to say that we are universally above 80% passing rates. So at this point of the year, and we're not even to the end of a semester yet. So we are, that time is being utilized, as well as some of the other conversations. So I also agree that the 35 minute advisory period, I'm sorry, would be beneficial. Lunch period. I would also like to echo the comments around the tardies, anecdotally, our freshmen are not, they're showing up to class on time after their lunch period. I don't have the data to share with you right now. I can get that. I know that Mr. Johns has been talking to us about that and what that might be looking like, as well as comparisons of the other three grade levels. And that's a
103different cohorts, different kids. So we're not tracking the changes with that particular cohort. However, anecdotally, we're seeing more of our freshmen getting to class and that's having an impact. I would expect that we would also see that with our other grade levels if they are on campus. In terms of social, emotional concerns, behavioral concerns that return from off campus that we have to work with and that impede the learning of our students, that is very much a reality. At Southwest, our kids do have to travel, they do have to drive to get places. They do have to walk through the communities, whatnot. There are various issues that arise during that time, whether we like it or not, that we then support our students with when they return. And sometimes for the good, sometimes not for
104the good. So that is something to keep in mind when we're talking about the campus pieces. And then in terms of data around the lunch and anticipation for this conversation, I too was, I have the pleasure of supervising freshmen lunches and all lunches on Monday. I'm an old middle school administrator and teacher, so I love the ninth graders, right? But they're busy and I did follow them as well in our fourth period lunches, our freshmen heavy lunch. And the one by far that has most students and today, for example, and this is reflective of a time, from last week, I picked a student at the end of the line, it was at the beginning of the lunch period, seven minutes. Is what took that student to get through the lunch line. We have three or
105four different stations set up, students can choose, they know which ones are longer, right? And they pick a different lunch. And then by today, just timing it out, 17 minutes is about when things started to get really active, okay? So that's about when kids are done eating. And if I was a young man, believe it or not, back in the day, and I remember scarfing down my lunch so I could talk to my friends, right? And there is definitely value in the social piece of lunch and the downtime and all of that. So that is our job to try to make it the most of it for our students as well as allowing brain breaks during passing time, during the block periods, how do we shift our instruction, you know, all those sorts of pieces,
106because that is the reality. But I do think that the shorter lunch period would be ample amount of time. Also potentially, and I don't have any data on this, potentially lead to fewer disciplinary issues during that lunch period because there's less time for them to get active, so to say. And I would also anticipate, you know, the potential whether kids self choose to stay on campus if we don't have closed campus and we have a shorter lunch, they choose to stay here, that we would see our Tardy rates improve as well. (James) Lynn. (Lynn) I would like to go back to Mr. McNabb and Ms. Keene just briefly because I heard you speak about the importance of advisory, but I didn't, these two I heard very clearly say, 35 minute lunch period would really work
107better and the 30 minute advisory period. And I'm not real clear on what you, could you please just help me with that? (Speaker 2) I echo their sentiments, because I truly believe the importance of advisory. Like I said, how many students could choose, like at West we do, we have flex days and we have open days and every other Friday we have enrichment days where students can go and go to the teacher and do fun games, have things of that nature, the collaboration of building a community. So I truly believe in that 30 minutes for advisory because if we cut it to 25 minutes, like I said, with attendance and getting everything settled, you know, what's the use? What's engagement gonna happen there? You know what I'm saying? Teachers, you know, how much are they
108gonna get across to those students? So 35 minutes, 30 minutes. That's what I'm agreeing with. (James) Lynn. (Lynn) So you are, I hear you clearly saying you want 30 minutes for advisory and I'm with you there, but are you, you are definitely saying you prefer 35 minute lunch period. You would rather not be told that you have to may have a 40 minute lunch period. (Speaker 1) Yes ma'am. (Andrew) I'm gonna raise a point of order. (James) Okay. (Andrew) The motion on the floor is regarding an amendment to make the lunch be 40 minutes. And much of this conversation has been about the advisory and my amendment that I proposed is intentionally silent on how long advisory is and so I believe that at this moment, that discussion about advisory is not really germane to
109what's on the floor. (James) So I disagree with you in that it was presented that if we go with a 40 minute, that there would be an impact to advisory and that was in the original memo from David Johns. So you being silent on that, I don't think that makes it less germane because that's the trade off. We have to find the minutes someplace. But I agree with a point of order and that I do think the conversation has shifted in a way that is not germane to the conversation and that's around the campus, whether it's open or closed because that's not part of this memo. That's not, I do not envision making that a factor in my vote this evening. I'm out there so if we are going to constrain this conversation, it's about
11040 minute lunch as it was presented by Andrew. Laura. (Laura) I guess I agree with you, but it's so rare that we have all of our principals from all of our high schools all at the same time that it might be taking advantage of that and getting their feedback is-- (James) I understand the urge, but that is not appropriate. (Laura) Okay, all right. (James) Lynn. (Laura) Anyway. (Lynn) So could we please hear from Ms. Keene about what she thinks would be the-- (Courtney) So I recently reached out via email to all of our students, inviting them to respond to a survey where we specifically did ask a question about lunch and so I received 380 student responses to the survey and so as you know, people who have a strong feeling tend to make sure
111they respond and so I feel that this is a good sampling at least to speak to for some references and so in regards to the lunchtime timing, the concern was mostly around the length of the food lines and the wonderment from students so I think that there's a way that we can really hone in on that and support that and look at that and create efficiencies and support with that. We have two main lunch lines and then our school store and I have noticed as I stand at the door welcoming students every day into our building that a lot of our students choose to bring their own lunch. So I think we have a few variations that we can really hone in on to figure out in a way that it would be supportive for
112them. Students were concerned around losing off-campus privileges and the words that they shared was they look for their lunch for relaxation and socialization. So I think in whatever determination of time, we just need to make sure that we are keeping those key features in mind and supporting and providing opportunities for that and then lunch is a break for vital mental break within the day to decrease stress and reduce or increase productivity in how they choose to want to spend that time. So I think as we look at the campus, our campuses and the layout and the opportunities and the access points, it's important that we build our entire day with keeping that in mind so that students can get what they need when they need it and we're supporting them in that way as well.
113As far as probably goes, having 2,200 students, I do think it is possible to properly, adequately, timely serve our students within a 35 minute lunch period but I do think that I need to really make sure that we do it right if that is a decision that's made so that we're not here in September and we're not meeting the needs of our students. (James) Alex. (Alex) I haven't heard anything in regards to your staff. One of the things I was really looking for was from you guys right now was feedback. If you have any, have you asked your staff what they feel about the schedule and what is any consensus, any major feedback points? That's really what I would like to hear as well. (Mike) I believe that I'm safe to say that the biggest
114feedback I received from my staff are whether or not the course is blocked or skinnied. That's the biggest feedback that I've gotten not whether or not the lunch period or the advisory period or whatnot, it's more of just, is chemistry gonna be a block class or is it gonna be a skinny class? That's the biggest feedback. (Courtney) And just to build off of that, and Alex you mentioned this before, is making sure that when those decisions are made, there's adequate professional development time that's at the forefront and because our educators are professionals and they're perfectionists, right? And so to ease that and lessen their stress, we just need to make sure that we're providing adequate time so that we can help them be prepared so that they can be successful. (James) Others? Andrew. (Andrew) So
115I guess I'm wondering at some point is this, are we gonna have the principals with us for the entire remainder and fully participating in this debate? Cause it's a little unprecedented. I'm wondering at what point it comes back to just mostly being a board, I guess a board debate about some technical, not to cut off if there's anything more they have to say. I think they were brought to the table, but then I think at some point we have to get back to being a board debate. (James) All right, I agree. So if anyone else has questions for the building administrators, yes. (Speaker 1) Not really a question, but I do kind of see, this is kind of like a lose-lose thing. I mean, I wanna say I do like my long lunch, but I
116do like my advisory. I mean, I make up my stuff, all my work during advisory. So right now I kind of see, it's kind of like a lose-lose. (James) Sure. - There, questions for the administrators? Thank you for joining us. Okay, so we're back in discussion about the amendment. Andrew. (Andrew) Okay, so actually you don't have to lose your advisory at all because you could. And so this is where I get the, even I being relatively hands-on, as you know, it's a little weird for me to be talking about one minute incrementation, but I'm going to do it anyways, I have to to make the point. You could actually have, if we have 48 minutes classes right now, where you could have a slightly less pretty looking schedule with 40 minute lunches, 49 minute class
117periods, which is a minute more than we have now, and keep your 40 minute lunch and it would all work. And you could give all seven recapture minutes back to advisory and the advisory could be longer. So you could have class longer by one minute than we have now, advisory a couple of minutes longer than we have now and much longer than the proposed 25. I'm not suggesting making an amendment to dictate that particular schedule, but the reason to vote no on 40 minute lunch should not be based on the fact that you think it must reduce advisory to 25 because it does not have to, okay? I think it's also relevant to mention that the, well, I'm not going to talk about closed campus lunch because it's not on the table. There were mentions
118about the, exactly what I know a 35 minute lunch will do, which will be to create a de facto closed campus lunch as people start giving up on leaving, which I don't think will happen at 40, but I think we'll at, I'll happen a little bit at 40, but I'll live with it in the spirit of compromise. 35, we're going to start having a de facto closed campus lunch. And since this came up too, how many students that did nothing wrong? How many students with no tardies? how many students who did nothing wrong, is it worth punishing or restricting to prevent some tardies? (James) Andrew, we understood that the conversation slid that way and it was, it's out of order, right? Because it's not germane to this conversation. There are not, there's a punishment. (Andrew)
119I'll withdraw, but I'm, however, 35 minute lunch, if there's a thought that 35 minute lunch, open lunch will reduce tardies because people will self-select into closing campus lunch for themselves on their own. That was also said, that is germane. And that still is, that is, again, that's taking something away from all students to recapture some tardies. I don't even like that we did it for freshmen, but I kind of shut up about that. Students need break time and decompression. This amendment does not reduce advisory and you could have longer class, still keep longer class, longer advisory. If you want to, my amendment is just 40 minute lunch. (James) Thank you. Jeanette. (Jeanette) I'd like to speak in favor of the 40 minute lunch, mainly because I know how important it is to chill out, especially,
120you're sitting in that class for 48, 50 minutes. That's a long time to sit in class and being able to chill out a little bit at lunch, regardless of if you get in the car and you drive to Taco Bell, or you just bring your lunch and sit outside at a picnic table. But I think it is important for students to chill out. I also agree advisory is very, very important as well. But I think that if kids are distracted because they haven't had a chance to chill out, they're not gonna absorb anything from any of the classes. (James) So as a chair, I'm gonna recognize myself for just a second, because I've kind of let the conversation go. I'm gonna vote a certain way and that is going to be to not engage in
121a board level decision counting minutes. Because if I take that vote, I cannot imagine another operational or administrative decision that I would not be invited to participate in. We're talking about minutes and I cannot take the decision that the Board of Education is the only set of individuals in the administration and in the district that care about the wellness and the ability to manage breaks within the district. So when this was put on the agenda, I saw it as a, and the motion was written, as there are multiple models that the administration was going to evaluate as part of their decision as to the definition of what is a consistent schedule across buildings. If I put myself into the middle of that conversation without the ability to make a data-based decision because I don't have
122the means or mechanisms to gather the data, but others do. And I trust and try to make sure that they fulfill their roles and responsibilities in doing that. So I don't know that in my mind, this is a question of whether 40 or 30 minute lunch because both models are part of the memo and it would be a part of the evaluation. In my mind, this really is, is the Board's responsibility micromanaging minutes in the school day? And so that will form and shake my vote. Others, Alex. (Alex) So to kind of blend a little bit of the last two or three of you, we have our amendment and the amendment is to accept the day schedule as presented with that amendment for a 40 minute lunch. And I'm not going to, so to kind
123of with what you said, the minutes would come from wherever else they need to come. The one thing I think that is very important is that the amendment of the 40 minutes. So I'm not gonna get into parsing out the minutes for the reasons you said. However, in reference to the amendment, to provide a little bit of context, I would like the rest of the board members to at least hear me out when I say, now is that Washington Middle School when we were the only one if or one of two schools that had a resource hour for many, many years before they even existed in the rest of the district pre-COVID. So I experienced a 32 minute resource hour at Washington Middle School for seven years. Then I was at Edison for three or
124four years when we had the 30 minutes. The point I'm making is don't, and I'm not trying to pick any fights here, but the point I'm making is as a teacher in our district for a long time in a number of different environments, having a resource hour has value, but whether or not it's a specific set of amount of time within five to 10 minutes is irrelevant in my opinion. It did not, there was pluses and minuses to all of the different situations that just highlighted. And what you gain and or what you lose in my opinion in regards to the amendment of a 40 minute lunch is much more important than the other aspects of what would happen to the schedule. That's my opinion. (James) Thank you. When you had... (Lynn) I just want
125to support your position, James, regarding the amendment. I do not support the amendment. I spent a lot of years as a high school teacher and I would like to leave this in the hands of the administration rather than in the hands of the school board. (James) Andrew. (Andrew) Yeah, I think the micromanaging, putting the micromanaging tag on an amendment of just saying the lunch has to be at least 40, if I wanted to micromanage, I would micromanage a lot better than that. And I would have come up with my own alternative schedule. I think we can pass, this amendment can pass without being overly prescriptive. It says that it gives that, allows that break time for students and staff to be important, to be valued and not to backdoor cause people to voluntarily close campus
126for themselves. I think what we... Yeah, this is just not, I don't see it as a micromanage. I think it's still relatively high level to say we think 40 minutes or more is important for lunch. (James) I'm gonna let Samantha go and then I'm gonna call the question because everyone's already had a couple of times, Samantha. (Samantha) I would just echo, James, what you said in terms of, I don't feel comfortable getting down to dictating minutes. I think that opens the door for a lot of heavy handedness on part of the board going forward into what should be, district level operational decision making. I also think at the end of the day, I am not gonna support the amendment just because I'm gonna err on the side of more time for learning and academic minutes.
127And while, if I'm hearing feedback from our administrators saying a 20 minute for lunch and getting through the line and eating and then 17 minutes getting through the line and eating, I think that that still leaves 15-ish minutes for that social piece, for getting out, for walking around, for being out in the out of doors, for decompressing. I also think that then we can do a better job of structuring break times within classes. I think the assumption that kids are sitting for 50 minutes in any context is not necessarily appropriate. The vast majority of classrooms I've been in and experienced are teachers do a phenomenal job of ensuring that kids are not just sitting for 50 minutes. So for all of those reasons, I have to err on the side of more learning time. Well,
128this is school, we're in the business of learning. (James) All right, so the motion on the table is to amend the original motion. Kinsey? Yep, let's go online. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. (silence) All votes have been entered in the motion has carried the results of the individual board, or I'm sorry, the votes have been entered in the motion did not carry the results of the individual board members are as follows. Becker, yes, McCoy, no, Lyerly, no, Gerlach, no, Mineau, yes, Knill, no, Meister, no. (James) All right, so let's go to the original motion to accept the consistent daily schedule across all four comprehensive high schools. Back where you have discussion, yep, Andrew. (Andrew) So now I have to vote no because I know that in reality, right, even though this motion is to
129just have the schedule be the same everywhere, we know what's gonna happen. We know that the 40 minute lunch was presented as an alternative. And we are just gonna steamroll forward with a 35 minute lunch that is going to make, even if we say we're keeping open campus, it's gonna make it de facto impossible, even though we're not yet saying it's de jour impossible. Maybe you'll wait till I'm gone to try that one. I don't know. What we've done to kids today with this motion, to kids who have done nothing wrong, to kids who have never once been tardy that we are cutting their lunch by 13 minutes. This is the most disappointed I have been in the school board in years, years. And you have just collectively punished with this motion. You have de
130facto collectively punished thousands of students, some of which never have-- (Laura) Point of order. This is not necessary and not-- (Andrew) What's your point of order? What am I being-- (Laura) You're accusing our board. - Of doing horrible things to children. (Andrew) No, I didn't, I did say as a collective punishment, you are taking 13 minutes away from lunch to a whole lot of kids who did nothing wrong and were responsible with lunch. That is what you're about to do if you vote yes on this. (James) So I agree with Andrew. That is what we're gonna do. I disagree with Andrew in that he's attached a motive to that that I don't know that he has any data to support. And-- (Andrew) not a motive, it's an outcome though. (James) Okay, so I'll be okay.
131Jeanette. (Jeanette) Well, I do support, as I said earlier, I like the idea of the kids chilling out, but I appreciate comments from those of you who are in education. That they are there to learn. So I think that students are resilient and they're gonna figure it out. But I appreciate Sam saying that teachers are also, I have to keep remembering that, that they love the kids just probably more than we at the table do and are aware that they can't tolerate sitting around so they give them opportunities to move around and do things. So thanks for those comments. (James) Alex. (Alex) All I'm gonna say is unless I'm missing something, we have not heard at this table tonight or I can't think of it in one of the previous meetings, a whole lot from
132again, what staff have to say. We have thousands of staff members. And again, maybe I'm not trying to overstate this, I'm not trying to even ask for sympathy, take it how you will, but the one major benefit I can bring to this board table is the immense amount of connections to this day that I have to a vast amount of people, kids, families and teachers and staff that are in our school district right now, hundreds and hundreds, thousands that I have worked with across all of my schools. And when we had the opportunity to approve a schedule that does so many amazing things and have a lunch that I think I know with the amount of people that I talk to and that I'm connected with would really appreciate that and not having heard and
133hearing them be in favor of that, knowing that most staff would, and then not hearing any information from principals about how staff would really feel about that. I think it's interesting that all that kind of gets pushed aside when we could have, in my opinion, had both options and that's just how I'm feeling, especially when we had the opportunity and it was even presented as an option because it was something that was legitimately viable. And I think we're missing on a huge opportunity. So yeah, I can't vote yes. - Sam (Samantha) David, can you just clarify? This schedule was a result of it said in the memo, two years of work on this. Can you clarify the involvement of staff in that? I know I am trying to feverishly flake through this memo here, but
134I know that there was a heavy amount of staff involvement. (David) The staff involvement in this, what's being presented tonight is multi-layered. High level of staff involvement in the creation of this. Strong partnership with GBEA, their leadership, teachers identified by their leadership to join in the work. Initial surveys sent to staff asking for what are some improvement opportunities within the current schedule to be fair and to speak to Mr. Mineau's question. Were the staff asked, do you want 35 or 40? No. What became clear was that we could create a schedule that would optimize instructional and learning time in the class periods, create, sustain advisories that are built to serve the purpose they exist for. And that even at 35 minutes of lunch, we would be exceeding any lunch of any surrounding area, including many
135of the districts that we looked at as exemplars in this. When all that rolled up in that lengthy memo that you're looking at, that went back out to all high school staff, along with just some bullet points to call to their attention. It was not an active seeking information about how you feel about the lunch, more of a passive one to say, within what will be presented, lunches would be at this length, those types of things. I can say that the feedback I got, similar to what the principal said, were more curious questions about how the blocking would be determined as that was kind of front and center for them. When we did survey the large staff, if you were to word cloud the responses, there were a lot of concerns about the length of
136the lunch period as it currently was, as well as the status of campus being open or closed. Some of those were conditions that were raised in the language of, this has to be addressed in this new approach to a schedule, or we're gonna lose a lot of the benefits of what the schedule can be. (James) Andrew. (Andrew) So that's interesting that, if, are you saying that if I were to go talk to a bunch of teachers, I would find largely that they're relatively okay with 13 minutes less of unpaid time per day? Is that what we're doing, or do they get it back somewhere else? Cause they have a 48 minute, they have a 48 minute duty free lunch in high school. So another again, but 35 minute one. So if, I mean, if I
137would feel less bad about this, if I were to know that staff were widely okay with subtracting 13 minutes out of their unprogrammed time during the day, I would feel bad, but still less bad about this, but I just don't know they're gonna be as appreciative as some people might think to find out what they lost. That said, there's also, because we're not, this is gonna pass without dictating a 40 minute lunch. I also hold out some hope that we're also passing it without dictating a 35 minute lunch either. And I hope there will be more opportunities for some discussion, including staff perspectives, and maybe compromise can happen away from the board table towards something that protects that time better. But I still have to vote no. (James) Superintendent Bayer. (Vicki) All staff receive a
13830 minute duty free lunch and the rest of that time is assignable time for other responsibilities. Yeah. - Yeah. (Andrew) So no one really can, no one can count on taking their meeting a friend for lunch at any grade level in this district and they never could. That's unless you part of the year, you didn't have the assigned, that's not what I would say, okay. All right. (James) Okay, so can we call the question? Has everyone said this piece? All right, thank you. Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. All votes have been entered and the motion is carried. The results of the individual board member votes are as follows. Meister yes, Knillyes, Mineau no, Gerlach yes, Lyerly yes, McCoy yes, Becker no. (James) Thank you. Let's move to seven, c the final budget adoption.
139Will someone please read the motion? Lynn. (Lynn) I move that the 2025-26 final budget as presented be approved. (Samantha) Second. (James) Discussion? Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. All votes have been entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. (James) Seven D, the final levy certification. Will someone please read the motion? Lynn. (Lynn) I move that the levy of 115,239,887 dollars as presented be approved. (Samantha) Second. (James) Discussion? Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. - All votes have been entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. - Seven E, acceptance of school security drill evaluations. Will Lynn. (Lynn) I move that pursuant to Wisconsin Statute section 118.07 section 4CP, the written drill evaluation submitted by the principals from all district schools as reviewed
140be accepted. (Samantha) Second. (James) Discussion? Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. All votes have been entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. (James) Seven F, the job description updates. Someone please read the motion. Lynn. (Lynn) I move that the job description updates as presented be approved. (Samantha) Second. (James) Discussion? Kinsey. (Kinsey) Online voting is now open. - All votes have been entered and the motion is carried with all board members voting in favor. (James) Thank you. And with that, we come to the end of the agenda. I would entertain a motion to adjourn. (Laura) So moved. (James) a second? - Second. (James) All in favor. (All) Aye. - Aye. (James) Thank you everybody.