June 23th 2025 - Board Meeting

001At this time, I would like to call to order the June 23rd, 2025 meeting of the Hartford Joint One School District of the Board of Education. May we have a roll call, please? here. Here this is the meeting of the board of education in public for the purpose of conducting the district business and is not to be considered a public community meeting. There is a time for public participation during the meeting as indicated in the agenda. Any district resident or parent of a currently enrolled student wishing to speak should have filled out a card located on the sign-in table and given it to the board secretary. At this time, I would like to stand for the pledge of allegiance and I would like Mr. Ed to lead us. To the flag of the United States

002of America and to the for it stands nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. The agenda notes of the board's mission of we will support our community through dedicated government leadership and stewardship. so that our students achieve. It also states our values and expectations as a board in governing our meetings. The purpose of the agenda is twofold. The first reason is to verify that public notice has been given according to state statute 19.84. Mrs. Navar, has the meeting been properly noticed? Yes, sir. Thank you. The second reason for approval of the agenda is to cons consider tableabling an item or to rearrange the order of events. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the agenda. I'll second. All in favor? I I I citizen delegation to be heard. Is there any Thank

003you. Um, Miss, this is me. Okay, perfect. Um, tonight we do have a recognition. The Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators Volunteer Recognition Award. Mr. Ed Poka received this recognition by being nominated for his longstanding volunteer dedication at Lincoln Elementary School. So, I am honored to introduce this, but I would be remiss without recognizing the Lincoln team members that are here. So, if I could have those team members start assembling this way because I know you have a few words to say and I will talk until you get up to the front. So, I am thrilled um to be recognizing Mr. Ed Poka, who I have had the honor of meeting once before uh when he was volunteering for us and now seeing again in person. Uh each year the WASDA association, which is the

004W Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, nominates uh or awards a single individual with the Bert Grover Child Advocacy Award. And while Mr. Dr. Ed Pokco was not the recipient of that award. He was one of the nominees for that and we feel very privileged and honored that you are able to work with our students here at the Hartford Joint One School District. And so we did read uh this recognition previously, but we knew that you were able to be here this month. So we wanted to actually come and have people speak about you while you were here. Um because what's more fun than having people talk about you while they get to listen to all those good things? So, I'm going to pass this certificate over to Principal Hanlin and then let him and

005his team take it away. Um, I know that Ed wasn't here last um time that we were talking about him, but I'm sure his ears were burning. Um, lots of really amazing things that we um were able to talk about. I'm going to let the team really talk because Ed works with the team more than he works with me and with the front office. However, um we've known Ed and um his family for a long time and we are just thrilled that he keeps coming back uh to his second family. Um because we would be remiss, as Dr. Bill Lobos said, of not being able to recognize Ed for his contribution u to our to our district because it's not just Lincoln kids. We have kids in the middle school uh who work with Ed

006and I believe we have kids at the high school who also work with Ed that still remember their time with you. So, we're really, really proud of the fact that you uh keep coming back and we want you to keep coming back and be part of our process. Um, but we love having you in the building. Our kids love you personally and we just are just absolutely thrilled that you've stuck with us and the rowdy bunch that uh assembled beside me um for as long as you have. So, again, couldn't have done it without you. We are so proud of the fact that you're one of our Lincoln Lions and uh I'll pass it on to the team to talk as well. So Ed came into my kindergarten classroom for a few years. He wasn't

007sure about kindergarten at first because I believe he started in third grade, right? Third grade. And so we convinced him that kindergarten was okay. It wasn't scary. And he realized that he really loved the little kids. They said very funny things to him, especially when he came during COVID and he'd be wearing a mask and then he'd take his mask off and they would say, "You're old." [Laughter] We also had fun celebrating his birthday. So, when he turned 83, instead of putting 83 on his birthday hat, I put 38. And just to be funny, and one of my support staff had just turned 38, and so the kids were amazed that he and Miss Bigger were the same age. So yeah, lots of fun times. Ed even came on during uh virtual and he was

008on the computer when the kids were in the classroom. So that was pretty cool, too. So Ed um came to my room, I think one of the first times he was here. He was with the third grade. and he I was going to say something about co as well. He would join the Google meets and he'd have his mask on and we saw Pat's quilting room and the kids loved having him. Um but probably one of my favorite memories I have two. One was with an e student, an English learner student. So Ed taught them English and by the end of the year she was speaking English with Ed. You remember remember Elizabeth? And then I have another student who actually write uh wrote a story about Ed, included him in his writing as the

009grandpa. And um I had the chance to show Ed and Pat the story and um I think you saved it, right? It was it was great. And the kids love writing letters and just really enjoy our time with Ed. Um I haven't worked with Ed for a few years. They did it when I was a third grade teacher. Fifth grade was a little too far down the way for Mr. Ed. Um, but just so many good memories and a relationship that I've built with him over the years as an adult, not just with the kids, but and Pat even quilted quilts for both my kids that were born. And just just loving people, too. They he wasn't there just for the kids, he was also there for the staff, too, and has um become a

010part of our Lincoln family as well. Yeah, what everybody else has said, it's just been a joy to watch Ed come into the building. The kids are all excited to see him. even the kids that are down in the four five wing that had had you years prior just excited. There's always kids out in the hallway waiting for him and it's just been a really cool experience. Um when I came when I said I was coming tonight to my family my almost freshman said even like Mr. Ed still comes to the school so she remembers Mr. Ed reading to the class too which would have been your co year for the Google meets and stuff. So it's very very familiar fun face to have in the building. Yeah, Ed's been coming since I came to

011Lincoln in 2017 and um I remember my first year there and they're like, "Oh, it's Mr. Ed." And then like, "Oh, okay." And uh like, "I don't know who that is." But then I got a chance to meet him and um I love when he's reading in the halls with the kids because I'll see the smiles on the kids' faces, the smile on Ed's face. They truly enjoy all their time with him. They look forward to him coming in. Um, and it's been a pleasure to get to know you and, uh, very honored to have you as a Lincoln Lion. So, just to close, I know that last time I spoke, um, Ed is very humble and doesn't think that he's an educator. Um, but you are, and we've got a lot of kids and

012a lot of staff members that believe in you and are thankful for you brought to our district. So, thank you very much. I think the Burke Grover Award made a mistake. Dr. Vo, Dr. Dr. Vos and I agree, but we're not going to get into it. Um, but we're very, very proud that we could send your application in and reading the letters that went with that was absolutely amazing. So, please don't ever think that you don't mean anything to our building or to our staff just because you're not there as much as you used to be. So, thank you, Ed. So, Ed, we would like to present you with the certificate. And if you could um have if teachers and staff, if you could go surround Mr. Ed, I'd love a picture with you and

013Mr. Ed. And then board members um we'll go around next. Board members and administrators next. Okay. and then stay there and we'll have the board members and administrators and come around. Okay, just take I'll take a Oh, guess what? It's raining already. Yeah. [Music] So you'd rather stay But the reason is volunteer. So actually [Music] Are you guys witness? Our next agenda item is district update. So first and foremost, we have the information attached for the schoolboard members on school safety drills report. So everything was completed as required by state statute and submitted to Chief Burkard uh earlier this month. So that is attached for you. Um we also process those regularly and when left on any areas of growth that we can do that's done by building and then also district office use that

014as well. The second thing on the district updates is the 4K extension program guidelines. So, uh, it is shocking to me that next week is July. That being said, registration and enrollment is very, very quickly approaching. And so, this is something that we'll want to be using with our 4K families. So, it is simply a draft so that way you can get a flavor for what is in the information that will be shared with 4K families who are utilizing the extension program. Um, the the name of it right now is Roaring Ahead. How did we come up with that? Uh, honestly, there's a lack of creativity in my department. When I say my department, that is me as an individual human. Um, but all of us uh represent the big cats and so cats roar.

015And an extension program day helps you move ahead. So, we're roaring ahead trying to um work together uh to create something cute and fun for our students. Uh, one of the questions that came up from the board preparation meetings was, "What is the difference between the $25 registration fee and the $17 daily fee?" The $25 registration fee was just to enroll in the program and then $17 per day. Um, this is only offered after morning 4K. And then for those of you who looked at it in your attachment, uh, Jamie and I checked this, it looks funny. It did not merge over properly, but it is actually typed up correctly. So, the schedule that's reflected is correct. There's some weird programming or formatting issue. Uh, then the last thing is is that um we are

016still working out transportation logistics. So, there may be some updates there, but that gives you a good idea of what information we'll be sharing with families in the very very near future. And that concludes the district updates. Oh, thank you. Yes. Now we're on to board updates. Yes. So, I have a legislative update. So, on Friday, I met with our lobbyist from the SAA and uh for those of you who monitor the goings on in the state, the joint finance session was held. Uh there is a $325 increase for both years of the bienium budget that are included right now. Um Just as a note to everyone that is taxing that is not additional funding given to us that's based on taxing. Um they are looking at increasing special education reimbursement. The ask was for

01716% 6. Uh they are looking at 35% in year 1 and 37 a.5% in year two. So yes is it higher? It is. Is it what was asked for? It is not. Uh instead the uh proposal right now is to fund high-cost special ed reimbursement uh that aid at 90% um that does not impact us a great deal. It sounds very good when you talk about reimbursing at 90% but when you're only talking about the most severe situations or students who have $30,000 in expenses before being aided it it impacts less than about 4,000 students statewide. So, this is not something that will impact us uh and not not a trade-off for the special education aid that was asked for. Um the other thing that impacts our school district is that there was no change

018to the low revenue limit ceiling. So, uh as you know, um the district has been fiscally responsible and highly conservative uh which is good for taxpayers. However, when we are talking about increasing prices uh across the board, the low revenue limit ceiling increase would have been very beneficial for us and so that is something that is not going to be uh considered at this point in time. Um additional discussion points were no ad to general or equalized aid, no money um or money uh in was going into sparity aid which helps rural districts doesn't a lot. It helps rural districts, which means we're not going to see a lot of that. Um, right now the legislators are very interested in robotics and so there's been a lot of robotics money invested for the high school

019level. Um, that does not impact us. There's been funding for private school. I do anticipate the governor vetoing that if that makes it through. uh we talk a lot about uh the deficiencies uh of that we're seeing in DPI in terms of the reduced amount of staff and such and so those of us who work with DPI on a regular basis typically have people that we feel very good about working with and that we have a good relationship with. Um however uh DPI uh what has been proposed right now is a receiving a 10% reduction or about $1.3 million per year. So right now with concerns over DPI's expedience to response that support especially when it comes to licensing uh I'm not sure how DPI would take that uh but uh or apply that reduction

020but um it does for sure mean that it will impact their ability to continue to serve and assist us when needed. So that is of concern. um increases to independent charter schools and private choice schools was were included uh in the initial proposal. That's increases of 449 in year 1 and 447 in year two. That is higher than what was projected for public schools. So um that is something that is concerning. Uh another area that's concerning that Mr. Majeris and I just spoke about today is that u it was proposed that the open enrollment amount that follows students who open enroll would move from just over 8,900 to just over 11,000. That would impact our district really significantly in a negative manner. Uh this this budgeting process is not over. So the joint finance met

021on June 19th. Um we we still have work to do and to hear about. So, um I know that uh boss had indicated that he felt there was going to be a balance struck um that would help support us while also keeping taxes at an all-time low. Um was also stated that individuals with more property wealth in their district should fare better than those who are property poor. Uh so there's still a lot of questionable information out there, but those are some of the legislative updates right now. I wish that it was more optimistic. However, it um is very relevant and applicable, especially when you see that on our agenda for later today is the preliminary budget approval. And so with so many things up in the air, you will hear Mr. Majaras and I

022talk about how this is incredibly preliminary because there are just so many unknowns at this point in time. So, um the SAA will continue to keep us noticed about um what is um or is not occurring and you know what what happens or doesn't happen in the assembly and then at the governor's table. Thank you. I'll just comment that you all have access to WSB. Um the capital chats every Friday is very informative. It definitely keeps um us up to date as board members as to what's going on and obviously you always have the ability then to contact you know our congressman um and discuss the matters that pertain specifically to our districts and I would encourage each moving on discussion administrative report Dr. Vobos Meras Mr. Carol will provide a brief overview of all

023of the updates we have on our screen today. Some information that um we've been sending out to staff and wanted to share with you as well. Um we took a couple pictures as they've started launching some things. So first I can tell you that um again there were some construction items that were started even before school finished. So, because of the amount of work in areas like the Lincoln uh former locker rooms, they needed to get some work done, some of which you were um uh contacted about. Um they got a a real nice set of work done before school even ended. Um our staff had to do a lot in terms of logistics and moving things in areas that are going to be impacted by construction. Mr. Carol, the summer crew, um buildings and

024ground staff in general, uh the teachers who helped package up and box up and get their classrooms ready did a excellent job. Um we've started our construction meetings with Myron and P every two weeks to as we talk through some of the things that need to be addressed and as they give us updates on how the work is going. And uh um Garrett gave us uh very high kudos when it came to getting the areas clear and ready to go. Um he says that in a lot of projects, again, there's a lot of time that gets eaten up in the construction budget right off the bat because the districts are a little bit tardy or certainly not as efficient as we were in terms of getting the areas ready. So, um, excellent job by Doug

025and all those staff. Again, they were able to hit the ground running on June 9th, uh, which would have been our Monday right following school. They did a lot of logistics the first um, week, setting up fencing and and getting portable toilets ready and bringing equipment on site and just kind of getting prepped. But they really accomplished a lot in Lincoln school right away that first week. Um taking care of things like removing the old uh cooler and freezer at Lincoln. So again, a lot of good work going on. We just again wanted to show you some things that are happening. So this is the central front office. So right away um this picture was taken I think Monday afternoon and everything was cleared out of there and they already had started uh disconnecting electricity

026um kind of prepping for the HVAC changes that needed to happen and just started work there. So that's excellent. This is the area um if you were looking at Central Middle School in the hallway, if you would look to the right of this picture, that'd be where the cafeteria and the kitchen are. So, that little CL um area right there with the door that you can see is the old kind of concession area and things, if you remember in the plan, we're turning that into a family bathroom. So, they did all the saw cutting that they needed to do. And um per the reports I got this week, they're pretty far, if not completed, and rough plumbing already in that area. And then the next area with the door open that you can't see is

027the um custodial maintenance kind of area. We're kind of gobbling a little bit of that up for the space that's needed for the bathroom, but there's some plumbing like the slop sink and and some of the stuff that we need in the custodial area. That's all roughed in and stuff, too. So, again, a lot of stuff happening there. We're trying to host summer school there while this is all happening. Fortunately, Jordan staff and the students have been pretty tolerant. so far with the work that's going um getting done there. So, that's great. There's a picture of one of the old locker rooms. So, again, demolition in there, taking out things that were there. So, uh as of like today, there's already some steel stud walls that are back up in those areas. So, a lot

028of the demo type stuff is done and now we're already kind of moving into reconstruction phase there. So, we certainly intend that the new art and music room, this would happen to be the music room, the one that we took a picture of, but uh we fully anticipate that those areas will be done by the time school is ready to go outside here. What this picture shows is again kind of some prep work as we get ready to do the brick replacement. So, if you remember, there were some bushes there and just some stuff. So, they had to clear all that debris out of the way. they put it on the parking lot until they could get it out of there. Um, in terms of transportation and then this is what's generally going to be

029happening around the area that's getting the new brick work. They need to dig down an area so that we can install a little curb foundation for the new brick to sit on. So, uh, that this will be happening all the way around the building. This was the first week. Um, not a lot of stuff was done during the first week at Rossman. They, again, logistics wise and stuff, getting the fencing ready in both the front area and the back area of school. So, that had started at that point. Again, we'll be putting a new canopy almost where you see the flag pole there. Going to be a shorter um just as wide, but uh a shorter canopy as you enter into Rossman School. This is a newer picture um from the back so you can

030see what's happened uh canopy completely gone now um certainly opens up the space. It looks a lot different um with not having the canopy there. And so that came out well without any issues. And then what will be remediated here obviously is the cuts that they had to make to get the post out of the ground. They'll replace all those and put a little bit of concrete there so that we patch those all in. Um, again, very happy with what has happened so far. Um, abatement work is should be completed, I would think, by the end of this week. They're already doing a lot of work with doorways and again those bathrooms and some stuff in the classroom areas, especially down and what Myron's referring to area A which would be the K2 wing where

031the new special ed suite is happening. So again, starting to take some walls out and and do the demolition required to get us up and going to start putting those rooms back together. So just a lot of good things. Again, we're having construction meetings every other Thursday. Um, so we had our first one uh just shy of two weeks ago. We'll have another one uh this week. We didn't have one last week or did we have one last week? So, we'll have one this week. Um, again, what we do is uh we go and just check in. We talk about issues that again they need some direction for us or that they want to communicate how things are going. um if there's any barriers to what's happening. Um again, just providing us a lot of

032information in terms of how things are going, we need to continue to stay out of their way. Um, so if there was a reason or something where we wanted to go take a look, uh, they're very, um, strict in terms of making sure we have hard hats on, high viz, uh, best, glasses, and things like that because it is still construction sites in all these spots. So, we're keeping people out, especially at Lincoln School, out of the building other than um, the main office. But even then there there'll be some stuff that ends up happening in the main office too. But we'll adjust to that as we go. But very happy so far. Haven't had any real things with product impacting us yet. Haven't had any real uh weather issues that are pushing us back.

033So all in all, I think we're off to a great start. Any questions? The last thing I'd say is Mr. Carol and the staff. I mean, we still got summer things to do. So, uh, they started cleaning at Rossman School. A little bit difficult because we also have Boys and Girls Club there, but they're doing an amazing job there, too. Uh, so we're probably by the end of this week, we should be well over halfway to having that cleaned. Then we're going to go to Central School to start the cleaning there. Obviously, we'll have to work around what's happening for summer school and the construction areas at Lincoln. I'll end up being last just because again, they're making the most dust there. Pretty exciting. Thank you for those updates. We will also now talk about

034the 4K extension program guidelines. This is a directive information to share with families using our 4K extension program. other section down farther. I'm so sorry. Oh, achievement. Sorry. There you go. Yes. Thank you. Got to move my screen up and then I'll know where I am. For the ATR grants, end of the year goals for K3 math and reading must be reported to the school board. So, I am excited to turn this over to Miss Katie Walter to share with you information about the AGR and the peer report. Crazy to think that this is the end of the year report already. How fast this year has gone. Um, as you know, it's shared out annually and this really is a um a snapshot view of um student performance in both math and reading for kindergarten

035third grade. And I typically mention that although the report does give us some really great insight, it's important to remember that it's one measure um among many and does not fully tell us or capture our students achievement um for growth. Um and I want to also mention that this will be the last time that you'll be seeing the report in this current format. um with our renewal contract that um you may recall from last um board meeting, we've updated the contract as well as the goals. And so we're very excited for a report makeover. Dr. Vobos and I have been talking about a better way to show more of a comprehensive view of the report. So this will be the last time that you see it in this format. Get very excited for what next

036year brings. Um as indicated in your packet, you'll see the district um end of the year um measurements are highlighted in purple. I'll speak to those during this meeting. Um but you also have the individual schools um in your board packet as well if you want to take a look. There's Rosman is in red and Lincoln is in blue. Um so we'll begin with math. Um, as discussed during our February board meeting, the current math assessment that you see reflect proficiency in um, recently taught standards rather than measuring growth from fall to spring. We're really excited that now that our ATR goals and assessments have been updated and the contracts have been submitted, future reports starting next year will include web map. So that will give us a better picture of student growth from fall

037to spring. Um and then for kindergarten that actually serves in middle in uh mid year to spring. So you'll be able to see that as well. Miss Connealy and I are very excited for um our math committee is going to be collaborating on some developments of our assessments so that with those mind visions they're going to be able to measure the same skill set taught throughout the year. Um and that'll really help us to track mastery as well as to see any gaps um but also to better inform instruction and small group planning. So those assessments will be used um starting next year. The results our kindergarten um assessment on number corner kindergarten it shows us that 79% of students met the standards um based on that checkpoint assessment in first grade 70% of students

038met it second grade was 65% and third grade 53%. Again, um it's important to emphasize that this is a single assessment. It does not reflect the full picture of student learning. Our educators and many that were just in this room here, they see meaningful progress throughout the ongoing formative assessments that they're proctoring in the classroom dayto day as well as the more comprehensive evaluations such as our aim at math and our for our data. um for reading. Um during our midyear report, we acknowledge really consistent student growth in all the subtests that you'll see in your report packet. Um and we see that again. You see that trend again with our spring data. Generally speaking, an increase in student growth in K through three and all all those grade levels. Um if you look specifically

039at kindergarten, you'll see on those subtests that there has been growth again. year um to end of year right now um including rhyme awareness, beginning sound awareness, blending and segmenting. All of those skills, there's an increase in proficiency. The FMP benchmark assessment, we also see growth in that area as well with um an increase to 51% of students showing proficiency in kindergarten. Moving on to first grade. Um end of the year report shows us that all of um the percentages of students proficient have increased um nearly meeting the goal of 85% or higher which is very exciting with segment coming up for results. Um and FNP benchmark assessment there's an increase to 60% of students meeting the end of the year uh proficiency level. Second grade again all proficiencies show an increase. Um it's very

040exciting to see the um subtest of adding the skill for adding has increased from if you look at fall 55% of students meeting the end of year goal to 94%. Um and I speak to that one because that's one of the more challenging skills that our students need to develop their skills in reading specifically fluency. So that's really quite celebration. Um third grade end or second grade end of the year benchmark assessment for FMP again an increase to 68%. Third grade, similar pattern, very exciting growth. Meeting per uh performance goals in the subtest of adding, deleting, substituting, blending, add and segmenting all have increased and have either met the 85% goal for end of the year or have met have reached beyond that. And the FNP benchmark assessment again increase to 64% the end of

041the year. So, we're really very enthusiastic about the year of learning, the year. We have lots to celebrate this year in reading. We're really excited for what next year brings um with our continued professional development and our goals that are specific to any questions. Thank you. Uh, next is our school improvement plan reports by Lincoln Elementary School. Mr. Hamlet, thank you very much. Um, being a Mac user of course without technology here. So, I don't that's the right reference, right? Bite it does all the things for people at the back that he's going to be clicking. Uh, and so hopefully this is on for you. Um, so Ryan, if you could just go to the first slide for us. As you can see, I mean, I put some things together in your packet quite quickly,

042which is sort of a makeup of this presentation. There are some bits and pieces to add, but uh, obviously the board goals that we've had throughout the year. Um, no surprise to anybody, they're the ones that we're moving away from. Um I will point out that our um poster on the right hand side uh when we were really excited when we were moving forward with the referendum, we did tell the students um just to use black pens, but I think it looks better in color, but that's the way it goes anyway. But if we could just move forward um the first one that we have, and I'm going to get to the photo in a second, but Ryan, if you just can like do just a couple move in for us. One of the big

043things that we worked on this year um was the opportunity to kind of get some consistency across how we do some um modeling practices in terms of our reunification. Uh each building did something that was very similar but it still had some pieces to it that were not quite the same. So I was very very um you know proud and pleased to lead this charge this year. I know Mr. Stevens and Dr. Regatska were really really positive with the meetings that we had in terms of looking at how the high school can help them in their reunification practice. Dr. Buouie and uh Mrs. Azoth were equally uh helpful in looking at Rossman. But uh the second point there is kind of moving more with the Rossman standpoint at the moment. I know Mr. Majaras and

044I are looking at having some meetings over the summer, but best practices for Rossman in particular. um we're a little stuck with some of those components as to what that looks like. It's great the way it is, but we do think that there are better pieces that we can put in place for them. Um but moving forwards into next year, the importance of things like micro trainings for each of our particular pieces in the building so that everybody knows each other's roles is crucially important. One of the things that we're we continue to I think lead the charge in a little bit is the importance of appendix 20 reports. We want to make sure that Dr. Voboss, Mr. Carol, um Mr. Majaras and the school board by default get as much information as possible. And

045that means not just telling you when things go well, but when things are not going well as it's equally as important. As I said, um the last um I think the last one that we did at Lincoln was one of our um lockdown drills and there were some pieces there that we just presumed were going to be very very standard and they weren't for a couple of people. Uh we had a sub that was working one of the classrooms that didn't read the plans that the teacher left. We had another person that uh didn't follow protocol. So, they're really good and important is for us to follow up on with staff to make sure that we're really watertight in what we're doing. Um, the picture is kind of important. This is again I'm very grateful

046to the board for letting me go. This is a picture from the glass conference in Kalamazoo. This is the Great Lakes Association of School Safety. This gentleman is Frank D'Angelus who is um the past principal of Coline High School. So, he was the principal when Coline happened. He told us a lot about that process and that day. Um, which really again brings into light why we do what we do and why it's so important. Um, some of the pieces that he talked about that weren't in place at Coline and have not been in place at some school districts since uh are the importance of preemptive programs. We're in I believe our second full year of purposeful people. We piloted it for a full year with everybody on our staff. We've gone through it again this

047year and Mr. Navar and myself uh and Jade Walner uh we're really proud to to sort of mention to the board that our sort of major referrals if you like have almost been cut in half again and we think that a lot of that is to do with the consistent language that is being used in purposeful people. Um you'll notice by jet lag which I'm still suffering from I apologize is where it says insert because I forgot the name of the CMS program which is character strong. Um but the importance of those preemptive programs and making sure that students are heard in a variety of different areas um and that they have safe spaces to have conversations that goes along with the board's um approval which I'm really really happy and proud of um the

048board moving in this direction with gaggle therapy and how that's looked since December and giving another outlet to our students not just at the elementary level but across the district in into the middle school especially Um, I did talk to the leadership team about epigenetics and ACEs. I won't get into that necessarily here, but there's some incredible research that's being brought out in terms of how students grow in terms of adverse childhood experiences and how those are actually changing some chemical makeups in our genes which are then getting passed along in genetic um kind of fashion which is fascinating but not for tonight. Um, but what are we doing moving forward? I think the most important part is we're not looking at major changes in terms of school safety at Lincoln or across the district,

049but really tightening and being consistent in what we do and what we know works. Um, we're detail driven. Dr. Vlos always gets a phone call or a message from us when people come through our Raptor system. Um, and we get alerts on that. Mr. Navar has been in the building when I haven't. Uh, and we've had somebody come through our Raptor system that we've get we get an alert from. Um, I'm really proud of the fact that I don't have to be there for our protocol just to be followed and I know what the next steps are. I know that people are notified. I know there's a reason behind what we're doing. But the things that we're doing right now are great, but like anything, we can always tweak and improve. next steps again really

050looking at terms in terms of that standard reunification model and how we can tighten that up a little bit more across the district. But I'm excited as to where we are. When we were listening to Frank D'Angelus, one of the most important things I want to bring back to the district is um sometimes we don't celebrate when we're ahead of the curve. We always feel like we're chasing the next thing. We're way ahead of the curve in terms of what we do in safety in our district and a lot of that is thanks to support from the board in the programs that we're putting in place. Severe weather alerts going off again. Um, but we are ahead of the curve and that's something that I think we should really celebrate and be proud of. Uh,

051it wouldn't be a presentation for me if one of my kids didn't get in it. So, this is Ellie who is going to be going to WMadison in about eight weeks. I don't want to talk about it because I'm gonna start crying. Um, but we're super proud of what she's doing. The reason she's there is when we think about student centered decisions, it's all about our kids, but we often just think about the major points like the Ames web testing or the forward results. But the truth of the matter is that as a district, we are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating what we do. And we have some staff that are better at that than others. So our role as administrators is to really talk about that with our staff and to really take what our

052students give us as this as the springboard for how we can change. Um some of the things that we've done over the course of this year we had some really hard conversations with parents. I know Mr. Navar um created a document that he shared with Dr. to be a low boss myself. Really looking at our habitual truent kids and what it looked like for parents in terms of how much school they have missed. Not just so far because they hear that all the time. Oh, your kids missed 12 days this year, 14 days. But what um Joe did was he extrapolated that across that kid's journey in school and put it into a visual um document where parents could see uh and families could see if you continue along this pathway at the end of

053fifth grade, at the end of 8th grade, your child will have missed x number of years of schooling, how many minutes of literacy your child has missed, how many minutes of math your child has missed. I think that's really important um because parents and families switch off when they hear a lot of those details every year. Your kids threw your kid missing time. But when we can bring it back to at the end of when you leave us, your kid is going to be deficient with this number of minutes of instruction, then hopefully it's not just about your child isn't at school, but this is what you're doing by not having your children at school. So, we're we uh are going to be continuing to do a lot of work with attendance. I know Joe

054and Jade have done some work already this summer, which is amazing on what language is going to look like for attendance next year and what we can do. Um the leadership team know I'm a bit of a John Heddy freak but some of the things that we are really talking about in our building and we have done for years is reminding staff that they're a change agent that they're the reason that kids grow and more importantly the the mind frames. It's a book about 10 mind frames. These are the ones we talk about all the time with teachers. Less monologue more dialogue. Kids do not come to school to watch you work. They come to school to learn, grow, experience. And so in other words, less talking from you, more talking amongst them and more

055process driven uh instruction that way. And the importance of feedback. I think we always think about feedback as what um our kids give us in writing, but feedback is a lot of things. We talk a lot about feed forward in our building. Um so what's next? And that's that's what we that's where we get change from. Feedback has already happened. what you would you providing information to kids about what they've done. Most important thing is what they're doing next. How are you changing that? So that's a lot of our discussion. And then in particular for our attendance subgroups, uh our three big subgroups, socioeconomic, e, special ed. Um but we also want to extend that out to looking at why students are not at school, whether that's a cultural reason, uh whether it's a transient

056issue, uh trauma, a lot of those particular things. um we were actually talking about it earlier on tonight, but what are those barriers that are preventing kids from coming to school? And some of that is quite simply the parents uh experience at school themselves. So really turning that around and being welcoming and being that kind of community school that we espouse to be all the time, I think is really critical for us to welcome those families back in and demystify what education is for them so that they then see the importance trickling down to their kids. And the final one, the the really I didn't quite realize how bad the photo was until I put it in the presentation, but when we talk about our board goals, it says promote fiscal responsibility. And I really

057think the key word there is promote. We talk to our staff all the time about what we can buy, what we can't, why it's important, but we want to promote the fact that our district is um fiscally responsible. We do have systems in place. Um, and that goes all the way through PTO, but also to what we're doing in the building, supply lists. Um, we've decreased the number of items on supply lists for families for this year, and we've gone back to our school-based pieces, a Rossman list, a Lincoln list. Um, so we're we're really proud of the fact that we continue to go down that road for families and decrease the number of items. If they're not needed, we don't want them there. projects. We really try and flesh out with the business office

058with Dr. V. Lobos what's needed, what's not um in terms of the management of projects in the building, but also sending people out uh whether that's needed or not, needs versus wants, etc. And as we get towards the end, the one thing that uh Ryan and I have been talking about for at least half a year now is control what we can control. So some of the pieces we can't control with finance, but the ones that we can, we really want to. So the example that I put there is about photocopies. Um Ryan came to me in one of our weekly meetings and talked about the number of copies that our district uh or our building was making um monthly. Um I was shocked. We had some conversations amongst the staff about why that was.

059We provided the information. Orion was very kind enough to provide information to us on not just individual teachers but teams and we really looked at what we could do to cut that down um to stop the waste and those kind of pieces. So the things that we can control first of all is making them aware of what's the problem is and then changing the practice. Um and so I think at least I hope that we've continued to go to go down in um the number of copies that we're producing at Lincoln because we're again going back to the teams and saying you've got control of this really think now about what you're doing and so the proofs in the data for us there's a decrease in output and then finally um as we look through

060what's happening next um what I would like to do for our school improvement plan next year. I think I've been the one of the three principles which has been the most reticent to kind of involve other people in the process. And so it's time now for me to let go of the reigns a little bit. Um Jade is going to be in her second year as our counselor. We've got a new psychologist coming on in Sarah. Um Joe's been with us for a number of years now, our pack leaders. Um so I want to involve more people in our decision- making and how we shape that in terms of new board goals what we do and how we entwin that with the current uh situation in the building continue to you know champion what we

061do and celebrate the uh the good work and finally again the the conference was amazing I haven't been to a conference like that for a very long time and without your support I wouldn't have been able to go so being able to bring back some of those pieces have conversations and look at the challenges that we have as a district um has been really really great. So, thank you for letting me go. I was much appreciated. So, if you have any questions, I'll answer them, but I know I'm the third of the three and so we I don't know if you have anything that you need. I have a question. I just thought I don't know if everybody remembers back at the advent of internet, we all we heard was we want a paperless society.

062So, I just think that's but but good for you. All the copies. Yeah. And some of it paperless. It's gotten worse. Some of it is legit. I mean, some of it is very is legitimate when we look at it and say, well, okay, why is this person running so many and then we we dig it down. It's like, okay, they're doing it on behalf of the team, so the rest of the team don't have anything, but this one person that's kind of highlighted for us is doing it on behalf. But we do have pockets that we could get better at. And um so that's that's our goal is just to keep bringing the information back to the teams and having them just just think about what they're doing. So, not just be mindless and just

063copy, copy, copy, oh, it's throw it away, one-sided, whatever. Really think about what they're doing. I appreciate you talking about the successes because I think that's what we always look at is what else can we do? We're not celebrating what we are doing. We are a safe district. We are really trying hard to make sure our students and our families are taken care of. And I truly appreciate that um from your from all of you because it's not an easy job but we keep doing it every day and when we need to fix something you guys do and I'm so appreciative of that having students actually in the school system I never worry. It was very surprising to hear other districts there you spraying notes taking things like we've been doing that for 90 years.

064Um so it was it was that was positive. Thank you. Onto our action items. Our first one is the student and family handbook. This handbook is reviewed by administration, updated and approved annually. This is part of online registration and will be available on the website in the schools and in the district office and through district newsletters. Is there a motion? A motion to approve the 202526 student and family handbook. I'll second. Any discussion? I would just add that um reviewing a handbook doesn't happen in a quick process. This was uh we started the review in January. It begins with our assistants. So those who work with the directors and myself um they start working on any updates uh for changes that they know are coming whether it's statutory or whether it's policywide. Um then we

065have the opportunity to review that as directors and administration and then it results in further further updates and modifications, additions, subtractions and then as an admin team we look at this. So there are changes throughout that have been uh reviewed by numerous people along the way. Um some of the changes that I mentioned previously would be 4K uh with the uh bringing that back on site and then uh we have the co-curricular handbook on the agenda for later this evening. So you'll see now that we have co-curriculars coming back. We've made sure to include a section about after school events and activities. So along with other changes that are within any other questions this is just a vote. So all in favor I I the second action item is central co-curricular handbook. The handbook guides

066athletic clubs and other curricular activities and includes participation requirements, fees, code of conduct, and statutory information. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the central co-curricular handbook. I'll second. Any discussion? So, the first thing that I would say is that this is the second year of the co-curricular handbook. Mr. Stevens is the creator of that document. So, I'm going to turn it over to him shortly if he has any additional comments uh that he would like to share. But I'm just very excited that last year we met um we being Mr. Majeris, Mr. Stevens, myself uh and a few committee members to talk about what that would look like for bringing athletics and co-curricular options back for our students. And clearly through the origination of the handbook last year and now the updates this year

067that also include basketball, outdoor club, chess club, art club, uh that we are making good on that promise to the community. So Mr. Stevens, I'm not sure if there's anything else you wanted to add. Not a whole lot to add. I'd say this first year cross country track and field welcoming that back to Central Middle School has been really positive. Um thing I appreciate about Dr. Doo also just making sure that we're very intentional um and not fighting off more than we can chew and just having a phased approach. Uh so I feel really comfortable and good about the athletics that we're welcoming back this year as well as adding some clubs uh to continue to provide opportunities for kids. Uh I think I don't think you can really put a price tag on having

068the school activities for kids and the impact that's had on our school building and the culture of the building. Uh so I I really look forward to that. Not much has changed as far as language. Um I just known as far as grades and requirements try to be intentional and just being all-encompassing and not just athletics but uh having those high expectations for all activities and clubs sports. So, I appreciate the board's support with u with the goal of welcoming back more opportunities for kids. Can you remind us how many participated in the fall and spring sports? I'm just curious. Um, I have the full numbers. Cross country. We're a little bit smaller. We're hoping that that number grows next year. Um, I think we're around low 20s for the cross country club. Track and

069field. I know we're hovering around I think 50s per track and field. Um so solid participation there and really hoping those programs continue to grow. Any other questions? I think it's good they highlight the academic eligibility or ineligibility. I think that's important for this participants to realize that there requirements for them. This is just a regular vote. All in favor? I Our next action is virtual program handbook. This handbook is for students participating in our virtual programming for all or part of the day. Expectations for students, families, and school are outlined. Is there a motion? to approve the 2025.6 virtual program handbook. I'll second. Any discussion? The only comment that I would share is that this is the same handbook that we brought to you in the past. Um Dr. Agatha took a look at

070this before submitting it for reaffirmation for this school year, the upcoming year. And just to clarify, we because we have a Spanish teacher, so that virtual Spanish is no longer. So, we're very excited. Miss Malter has already met with our new Spanish teacher and we're very excited about her. Any other questions? This again is just a vote. All in favor? I I action four advanced learner handbook. This handbook serves as a comprehensive and inclusive guide to support the unique educational needs of all students. This document provides the district's vision, program overview, definitions, and policies related to advanced learning processes and procedures as well as criteria for programming. Is there a motion? I move to approve the 202526 advanced learner him. I'll second. Any discussion? Yeah. So, much like I mentioned with Mr. Stevens and the

071co-curricular handbook, this is the second year or this handbook. This handbook was put together by Miss Connealy and Miss Malter. And you'll see that there are not that many changes from last year to this year. the changes that are there really have to do with placement and identification of students as advanced or gifted in terms of learning. And so um if if either of you have anything additional to say otherwise I think that they did a nice job um with the implementation of this last year and so this is a continuation of that work. Okay, this is just a regular vote. All in favor? I action five education for employment plan and academic and career planning. The planning documents require annual approval and will be hosted on the district website for accessibility as part of

072the required notices to family. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the education for employment plan and academic and career planning. I'll second. Any discussion? So the EE and the ACP plan come from Miss Malter. Uh there are no changes from last year. This is a statutory requirement. So this is not something that uh we felt needed to be changed at this point in time that it still reflects what we have been and this is just a regular vote as well. All in favor? I action six employee handbook. The handbook has been reviewed and updated for 202526 fiscal year. Edits were highlighted within the document. Is there a motion? A motion to approve the 202526 employee handbook. Second. Any discussion? So much like the student handbook, the student family handbook that we spoke about earlier

073tonight, the same process ensues for this handbook. It's first reviewed by the administrative assistants and then by administrators and then by all administrators. So uh that process was the same for this handbook. However, additionally this year the feedback that I had received from staff members particularly the HA when Mr. Majaras and I would meet with them is that the handbook is too lengthy. And so, uh, we paid our attorney to go through and strike the language that was either outdated or not required. And so, he did that and then we went through uh with our updates. Most of the updates were based on if he struck something and notified us that we needed to replace it with language about what policy replaces it or which statute replaces it. The other updates originate from information that

074we received through our rounding uh data. So we rounded last year in uh February. This year we rounded in January. And so some of the feedback that we heard was around the dress code. It was around sick leave requests and um making sure that those were handled more like personal days for administrators so that way there was time to approve. So giving notice which helps us retain substitute teachers. Uh there was also a request for our another day being able to be used uh in hour increments versus half day increments so that way people could come back and not take off as much time. Uh there were some requests about hours of work and so I've attempted to more clearly define that uh within the handbook. Um, time sheets, we added some information. Evaluations is

075something that the building principles and I have met to talk about uh, and the HA has brought up as well. So, we modified that language. We also made a change about the mentor language and time sheets. And then breaks. Uh, one of the big things that we heard in our rounding was breaks. And so uh we spent most of our administrative time together actually talking about how we handle breaks and what we can do that is more friendly for our employees. So we're trying something new and if it works and uh we get improved feedback from rounding then wonderful. If it does not uh have the desired impact then we will go back to the drawing board. So uh those are the major breaks or major changes in the document. Obviously, there are other changes

076throughout uh in terms of boarding updates or things like that, but those are the major ones I wanted to make sure that the board had heard about. Any other questions? This is a roll call vote. Oh, sorry. Uh Ian, John, hi Louise. Hi. And I'll say action seven, administrative assistant guidelines for 2526. The guidelines have been reviewed and updated for the fiscal year. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the 202526 administrative assistant guidelines. All seven discussion. So, this handbook mirrors the employee handbook. Um, not not with its length or anything like that, but we attempted to remove the same language that our attorney told us was not relevant for the employee handbook. We also struck from this handbook. And the big change in this handbook is vacation time. Uh so one of the things

077that Adam and I have noticed as we're attempting to hire some of the retirees that have been here for many years is that um our vacation time did not stack up or compare uh to what we needed in terms of the employee market that is out there. So, we updated that language and then we cross-referenced that with all of our existing employees to make sure that everyone either remained the same or benefited from that new language and that no one was either left behind or lost out on something. So, those are the big changes for this document. This is also a roll call vote. Louise, I Don. Hi, Ian. I and I'll say action eight, employee recruitment initiative. The district recommends continuing the staff recruitment bonus pay opportunities to help attract quality applicants, fill vacancies,

078and further support staff morale and a positive workplace culture. Is there a motion? Motion to approve continuing the employee recruitment incentive for 2025 26. I'll second discussion. So the only change within this document is that in the past all employees were eligible. I feel pretty strongly that as an administrative team it's our job to make sure that we are gathering the best people um on our team and so administrators are no longer eligible for this bonus. It's part of our job expectation. This is also a roll call vote. Ian I. Louise I. Don I. And I'll say I. Action nine. 4K extension pair professional job postings. The position supports the 4K extension program that was referenced in the overall 4K programming plan approved January 28th of 2025. Is there a motion? A motion to approve

079the air professional 4K extension job posting. I'll second discussion. So the reason I'm bringing this to you is because by policy 411, anytime you create a new position or want to create a new position, I need to bring it to you before posting it. So, this was something that was part of the proposal that Miss Connealy put together back in January for bringing 4K back on site. And now that we're in the summer and July is just around the corner, we are looking to post for those two positions. So, the time is now to bring it to you for approval. This is also a roll call vote. Hi, Louise. I Ian I and I'll say it. Motion passes. Action 10. CISA 6 contract services for 2526. The district contracts with CISA 6 for services which

080are used throughout a school year. Services purchased eliminate the need for district staff or full-time staff. CISA are used to save money and are reviewed on an annual basis. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the 2025 26 contract for CISA 6 services. All second discussion. So in reviewing this contract I enlisted the support of Miss Malter, Miss Conneely, Mr. Majeras and Dr. So the five of us have looked at this document. It is actually not the original contract that we were issued by CISA. They have made modifications based off of the feedback that I received from everyone that was just listed. So this is the contract that if you approve uh we will return to CISA 6. You will notice that there is one typographical error on that contract. I've been in contact with

081CISA to notify them. It does not change the fact that we require their service. It just needs to be updated. This is also a roll call vise. I Ian I non I voting. Motion passes. Action 11, Character Strong and Purposeful People renewal. This is the annual renewal of the Character Strong and Purposeful People Tier 1 and Tier 2 curriculum. Character Strong was originally adopted by the board in July of 21 and has been in place since then. Purposeful people along with tier 2 components of both character strong and purposeful people was adopted by the board in April of 24. Purposeful people was piloted the year prior to its official adoption. Staff are excited to continue the program and provide meaningful character education for students. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the renewal of character

082strong and purposeful people at the cost not to exceed $11,495 $494. Excuse me. Should I be safe? You're good. Good. I will second discussion. So, um, I have to interject by saying Miss Connealy and I argued over when this was approved because I thought it was much more recent and she reminded me that it was last school year. So, the year has gone by very, very quickly. Um, but as you've seen from the presentations that have been conducted by people from both Rossman and Lincoln Elementary, and we've heard about how Dr. Regatska and Mr. Stevens and team are using character strong up at the middle school. This is something that our team is very excited to continue. It's really about citizenship at an appropriate age level uh for each of the grades. Um so this

083is something that Miss Connealy has put forward previously and that uh is time for renewal because this is an electronic purchase versus uh character strong which was uh what Mr. Pridemore had introduced to the district that is paper version so we don't need to continually renew that. Um but this is electronic so that does require the approval. And Miss Connealy if there's anything else you wanted to share at this time. No I think what's what's nice about all the presentations is it's being used actively. It's being used by staff being used by kids being used by parents. Um, and so it's something that I think we all feel very passionate and strong about keeping within our district. Um, when I do talk with other districts, they're they're act they're looking for something like this. And

084so it's nice that we are ahead of the game um and really developing well-rounded students, not just act up at the event. Even from my perspective, I I get the same feedback at business official meetings and sometimes we all talk about issues that our districts are facing and student behaviors and managing those things come up and I share what we're using with them too even. So yeah, Alex is totally right. People are looking for what is the best way to impact the kids in terms of trying to get them to be better students, better people, better citizens in kind of our environment. It seems like again from the data that that you've gotten in the school improvement plans and stuff, it's there. So that's why we want to keep doing that. I think the other

085comment I'll say is you know obviously I have children in the district but um we know that children don't have avenues sometime some of the children at home do not have avenues this gives them the opportunity to understand and to be part of something bigger than what they experience in their day-to-day home life. um and gives them an avenue to, you know, understand that there are more than what they see dayto-day. So, I truly appreciate it. And I think my concern if we were not to propose it would be, as you referred when you were doing the updates for um state legislation, there's no additional money for behavior. And so, how are we going to handle situations that are coming in? we always say, you know, it's the parents or whatever. Well, this is a

086way for the kids to take ownership and teach them how to, you know, be able to handle some of those things that they're not getting at home. So, um I I hope that we're all um understanding that it's really for the kids and that's really what we need to do. The one thing that you stated that um resonated with me and I should have stated it earlier previously is that these programs very much mirror what Daniel has done for the middle school staff and has begun doing for our elementary staff with our literacy curriculum is that for behaviors we're creating common language among all of our staff so that way everyone is understanding of what specific things mean what we're looking for there so that there's consistency among the education team, not just the students

087too. Yeah, to play off of that too, um some teachers that I've talked to, one of the lessons in third grade, for example, is about flexible thinking and they were shocked that they they were able to teach that to kids what flexible thinking means and what that term is. And so now as kids grow up and get older, we can talk to each other about that if that makes sense. The other thing that I want to just point out is um this time is really a great time for students to have time to develop relationships with each other, develop relationships with staff, and again feel success um and a part of the school day that maybe they don't feel in other areas. Maybe they're not the strongest reading or math or writing student, but everybody

088gets to kind of level the playing field here um and talk about things. just some highlights of some of the scope and sequence pieces that I do want to talk about especially um you know you mentioned virtue and trying to get that back onto the schools. Um this is how we're doing that and and and and how we're doing that. Um for example fifth grade um so the the pillars of each of the grade levels is to be kind which is social skills be strong which is executive functioning like organization being able to sit and focus and um out their activities and um do their you bigger projects. And then the last one is be well. So emotional regulation, mental health, but like for example, fifth grade is all about leadership and how do I

089positively influence others? How am I roll out for kids in the school? They're doing goal setting. So they have a target, they set a goal, they visualize the result, they anticipate and plan for obstacles. We're teaching them how to do that. And then they plan the action step. So, this is something that I wish my kids were getting into their school and they're not since I as a parent have to make sure I'm doing this. Um, the other thing that's within the fifth grade is stress management. So, how am I noticing when I'm feeling stressed and what coping skills do I have for that? Um, I know everybody watches the news and the amount of mental health issues that kids are having. It's on us to make sure that we're preventative and proactive to making

090sure we're arming our kids to be able to function. um and have coping skills with at some of the other things at the middle school that I want to talk about um especially at seventh grade um was they're talking about what their values are. So as a human, what are my values and how did I come to those values? How do I use those values to guide me both through school and and through life? And so and how do I maybe I have a kid sitting next to me who has a different value than how do I appropriate conflict management but still my point across. Um, and so I think some of these lessons, it's just really a nice way to make sure we're sending our kids off to high school or into the world

091equipped with the things that they need to just be productive citizens. Um, again, some of the other lessons that I want to talk about is in second grade, one of the big things is engagement and talking about school and community involvement. So, we're instilling really early in our kids that your community and being involved in your community is important and how can we do that? Um, and so I don't know if anybody has any predetermined notions what they think the programming is, but I'd be happy to share the spoken secrets with you so we can better understand, you know, what what we're trying to do for our students. Thank you. Because I was struggling with it. Yeah. Um, but it's really a whole lot of money. So, but anyway, you chopped it up, right? Well,

092and I'll just say also with that, I think the concern, you know, we have CO kids lost that opportunity to be around people and I think a lot of I mean every age so far still all the way up till 8th grade people are still having a hard time socializing and so it doesn't really matter what age. And that's why I'm also excited that we're bringing it. We have it at the Central Middle School because those are the kids really that kind of in the heart of it lost that opportunity to really understand what it means to be part of society and to be vocal. So I think it's a fantastic program and um I just can't say enough about it. My kids really enjoy it. I was going to say something similar the response

093that we had that the government whoever had all that we all had to co I mean you're still suffering some of the side effects of isolation the virtual learning that was you know the attempt was great but imagine if we had something like this before the response to co and how they would bounce that easier um because even my ch both two of my kids are both still struggling with the the phonics and the math and they're the district is doing things to help them obviously us as parents as well. But I mean this just reinforces everything that the district has already presented to us doing. So I think it's a good good tool at our fingertips use. Any other discussion? Is this is the cost more than what we spent last year? No. concern.

094Any other discussion? It was so this is a renewal. So we implemented this in April 2024, right? This is also a roll call vote. Ian I Don Hi, Louise I and Ali. Motion passes. Thank you. Action 12, well-being screener. The well-being screener is designed to help the district identify students who may be struggling internally and is a proactive data-driven tool aligned with district initiatives and character strong and purposeful people to support student well-being and promote a culture of belonging. It strengthens our ability to respond early, allocate resources efficiently, and ensure that all students receive the support they need to thrive. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the motion to approve the well-being screener. I'll second discussion. So, this very much um closely aligns with the curriculum that the board just adopted. Uh 75% of

095the questions come directly from character strong and purposeful people. And this information will be used by the people services team to support our students so that way they can be successful not only academically but also emotionally and socially and this was uh put together by Miss Keely. You've had numerous talks about this before bringing it to the school board. So I don't know if there's anything else you want to share. Yeah, this was really driven by our um people services team psychologists and counselors were just trying to figure out ways to more proactively identify students that might more internally be struggling. Um again normally tell like externalizing behaviors and they need some support but internalizers. I think the other piece of this is um the middle school has been doing a lot of work on

096a sense of belonging for students. So this will really help us measure where kids are at. Um when kids are struggling with this, how can we again support them so they feel like they belong there and and can thrive. So I think it gives us a better tool to do that in um in a way that's more systematic. I love that it's data driven. I think so many times we're trying to figure out like how many people is it, you know, do we have a huge problem? Is it just a small problem? And it's not going to fix things, but if you can find, you know, we always say we can help one more child. One more child. Maybe one of these questions that they bring up opens the door for them to feel that

097they can talk to somebody and then they can continue to thrive themselves and go on a better journey than what they had. And I think that's again why we're here, right? That's why we're members of the board. The other um kind of piece of this is when we went to kind of the threat assessment question development students um or adults students who are making aggressive threats towards schools adults don't know about them but students do and so there is a specific question on here that just asks do you have any other friends that you feel could use a little bit of a checkin or support um so there is definitely some pieces of from this safety lens too um where very excited about the connection to a trusted adult at school, too. So, we're deliberately

098asking them, do you have any trusted staff at school that you feel you can go to? And kids don't answer that they can't they don't have that's a concern for us. So, we can make relationships kids. I cannot go to their ALA teacher or their home room teacher and say, "Hey, they don't have anybody that they can go to. Can you intentionally try to check on that kid or have a five minute conversation once a week to develop that relationship?" So again, just trying to be proactive as possible and catch kids that they might be missing that building or supports and help. I also think it's an great partnership with the gaggle that we brought on. You know, now you've got twofold, two ways to communicate or have children communicate with us, which again is

099what we want. We want to know how they're thinking, how they're feeling, you know, how we can make their world better so that they can go out and run. Any other questions? This is just a regular vote. All in favor? I'm sorry. Does everyone get asked these questions or is it just certain people or is this going out everyone? Sorry. It's not for all students. It's for Alex Green. But all students grade will be as three times a year just like an academic assessment. They'll get those three times a year. It's less than 15 minutes um just to kind of get a pulse and teachers can then look at their classroom and their classroom they pay more attention to. And again, psychologists traditionally make small groups for um you know different reasons but usually it's

100from teacher recommendation or receiving behavior data. Um but again it's missing some kids. So they're going to also be using that information to form groups around anxiety or groups around some of the questions around like attention and focus. Um so helping them some of those executive function not just social skills pie. Well again this is just a regular vote. All in favor? I. Motion passes. Action 13, academic readiness intervention systems or AIS curriculum for early childhood program. The academic readiness intervention system is foundational curriculum focused on communication, social interaction, motor development, and academic readiness. Early childhood is a dynamic environment with diverse individual needs. Currently, there is no consistent curriculum in place. Instead, teachers use various supplemental materials to align instruction with the students IEP goals. The ARIS will support this individualized approach while also

101providing consistent language and practices. Is there a motion? A motion to approve the academic readiness intervention system a ris curriculum for early childhood program at cost not to exceed $5,995. I'll second discussion. Yes. So even though this is under my spending threshold because it's curriculum I felt um in transparency purposes that we would bring this to you. AIS is something that I'm very excited about. I learned about this a few years ago. Miss Connealia and I spoke about it and I think did you see it at the state convention? Yeah, at the state convention and then um and just exploring some different options for early childhood most of the local districts were using it too and so I got to talk fun um Alex did a nice job with researching everything to make sure it

102would be impactful for our school district and our needs. So this is an exciting opportunity for our early childhood students and staff questions. This is a roll call vote. Don I Louise I Ian I and I'll action passes. Number 14 memorandum of understanding with Kasa Guadalupe 2526. This establishes a partnership between Pasa Guadalupe Education Center and the school district of Harper Joint One aiming to improve graduation rates by supporting student attendance, behavior, and academics during the 2526 school year. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the 2025 26 memorandum of understand Guadalupe. I'll second discussion. So this is not and a brand new umou this is a renewal. So Dr. Regatska has been in contact with Kasa Guadalupe and they have worked together um to propose this update for you for this year. So we

103are excited to continue the partnership based on your approval. This is just a regular vote. All in favor? I. Motion passes. Action 15, property casualty liability and professional insurance renewal for 2526. The district has been long-term partners with RS Sumler and Associates Insurance Inc. for several years and with the insurance coverage. RSler and EMC, the insurance carrier, have been instrumental in protecting the district by documenting our needs, using accurate data, pricing the coverages fairly, and guiding the district to be a leader in low and loss ratio. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the renewal of property casualty liability and professional insurance with similar insurance at the cost not to exceed $225,000 $265,652. All seven discussion. Mr. Majeras did a nice job working with our assembler on this agreement. uh he was pleased with the

104information that they shared particularly in light of our claim, our recent claim. So I don't know if there's anything additional you'd like to add. I mean I just think that the one thing you have to keep in mind is some of it has to do with what we're doing here and then some are just strictly exterior factors that we don't have much or any control of. So when when we talk about ensuring the property itself, for example, um you know, they're going to assess what our VA what our values are of our buildings again somewhere in the neighborhood of $125 million and what that cost to kind of replace and they're taking in claims data not just from us but for everybody. So you know there there's things that happen in terms of renewal and

105updates and so just like any company they're trying to cover their entire book of business. um happy generally speaking with a lot of the things like um you know general liability and and some of the smaller policies cyber um we had to answer quite a bit of questions as it relates to cyber security just because more schools have been threatened in that kind of environment. So, um I I just based on what our um renewal states there, I think they're happy with what we're doing in terms of backing up and uh making sure we have systems and in processing place like multifactor, which we've talked about, and some other things. Um workers comp, that's something that we can control. Um certainly they give us the tools to help manage those things and those tools are

106only as good as our people doing the right thing. So when they have an injury, they need to make make sure we're documenting that via uh an accident report. We want them to be talking to the EMC work nurse right away so that they can get a handle on what is happening. So again, the fact that we choose EMC to be our carrier, they have the the kind of the tools and resources we need to help manage us through those situations. So overall, you know, having a $2,000 increase on $265,000 worth of premium, um, I'm I'm very happy with that. Questions? This is a roll call vote. Louise I, Ian, I, Don, I, and I'll vote on it. Motion passes. Action 16, abatement service contracts. The two contracts are those that Dr. Vobovos requested retroactive

107approval due to their time-sensitive nature and covers needed work for the conditions at in the Lincoln former locker rooms and other impacted construction areas in the building. The work is outside the Myron master contract, but costs are included in the total construction budget. Is there a motion? A motion to approve the abatement contracts at a cost not to exceed 138,000 $900. I second discussion. Uh the only reminder that I would provide the board with is the emails that I included in the attachment from May 16th and May 30th. Um, typically we bring approvals to you in excess of 10,000 on the front end, but because of the emergent nature of this need, uh, it's coming to you for retroactive approval. I, uh, would be lying to you if I said I am not invested in

108your response. The work has been done. So, we need you to vote yes. You, you said you would vote yes indeed for both of those situations. Fortunately, what I'll add is again the first part of what you approved early um that work is all completed and went very well. They were very timely and finished it a nice job there and that's led us to be able to continue to do work in those locker room areas. And then um the second part of that required because of the size and impact on the building required notice and certain things um that were past all those notice points. the work is well into that and we're expecting that work to be done by the end of this week and um in all reports and aspects um it's gone

109exactly the way they thought it was going to go. So we're pretty happy with that. Within a building of that age, we expect certain things to happen. Um the the few items that need to be addressed are when we have tile in certain areas. The the glue itself is an issue and then there are certain you know as that building has been painted over the course of time. There's certain paint that um has been a concern that they've taken care of that as they've done the doorways and some of the other areas throughout the building. So again their practices are very good. We bid that out to several places. They were not only the most cost effective, but they they've done excellent work. So, we're pretty happy with it. This is a roll call vote.

110Eden, I. Louise, I. Don I. And I'll say I. Thank you. Motion passes. Action 17, financial audit engagement letters. The district is required to have an annual financial statement audit which is scheduled for July 28th through the 30th. Vesta has completed the district's audit for the past several years. The total cost includes $20,800 for the financial statement audit plus $9,360 for the compliance testing and reporting and $4500 for the uniform guidance single audit testing. Is there a motion? Motion to approve the financial statement audit engagement letters with VESA at the cost not to exceed $34,660. Okay. Is there discussion with the the amount of districts? There's 420 districts in the state. There's only 20 firms that provide this service. Um, we've been happy with Vesta. The school board approved Vesta at the annual meeting as

111its as its auditor. Um, uh, we already have some of their prep materials in and started working on that. Uh, it's a week later than we would normally go, but I don't think it'll impact anything. Um, our staff is very trained and kind of uh, their requests are very similar year to year. So, we have a bunch of reports and things already set up um that we run once we're done making journal entries and doing all things to make their work as efficient as possible. The end result is the financial statement audit that they provide us in December or earlier that has to get posted to DPI and then any of the auditor um required reports for like certifying our numbers for DPI so that they can do final aid calculations and things that happen

112in October. So um again very happy with their work. We I unofficially kind of shop their work and know what other districts are paying. I think based on the size and complexity this district I'm happy with the amount that we're spending in this area. This is a roll call vote. Louise Ian I Don I and I'll motion passes. Action 18, student transportation contract. The district's 5-year contract, initially with Whittenberger and then assigned to Brightway, is expiring. The proposed contract length in negotiating with Rightway is three years ending in June 30th of 2028. The HUS contract will also expire at that time, which will allow both districts to request a new comprehensive contract proposal. Rates for the three-year contract remain under market rates, even with the first year 28% increase from 24 to 25. The next

113two contract years are fixed at a CPI plus 3%. Is there a motion? I motion to approve the 2025 heavy student transportation contract with Rightway Bus Service. Can we call for an amendment um right away 25 through 28? It's three years. I'll amend that to say motion to approve a 2025 through 2028 student transportation contract with breakway buses. Second. Do you have it? Uh no, that that is okay. And before I turn it over to Adam, the one thing that I would say uh and I'm sure Adam would echo it as well is when Brightway purchased Whittenberger years ago, uh they honored the contract that was in place uh which was very uh honorable and very much appreciated and the district benefited financially from that. Mr. has been very prepared for an increase uh a

114large increase to bring the rightway into alignment with standard rates for bus routes. So uh in talking about the uh contract received from rightway, this was something that we were both agreeable to and Mr. Majaras did his work in researching uh the different options that they provided us with to determine which one would be best uh and most fiscally supportive of our district. I mean, this is a tough one because it it it doesn't student transportation, student safety is super critical. Obviously, one of your four goals and things and they've definitely shown us right way that they're willing to do the things that we need them to do in terms of keeping our kids safe, giving us a brand new bus fleet, equipping them with the equipment that we need in terms of video and

115audio surveillance. Um they have document procedures in terms of uh getting maintenance done, background checking people, just doing all the things that they need to do in terms of inspections. Um and so yes, when they took over from right way or from Wenberger, they had to the way they had to do it was do a contract assignment otherwise they risked losing our business altogether. the only other way to do it was to negotiate a new contract then and that opened it up potentially other vendors to to do that work. Um, yes, we've been preparing for this increase. Again, it's money that doesn't go into classrooms, doesn't doesn't help with staff, doesn't help get behavior down necessarily. Um, but frankly, it's a it's a state required situation. We have to provide transportation. you have board policy

116that dictates when and when we do not provide those services. Certainly with adding co-curriculars, it it is a concern of mine um in terms of a service thing. Not as much the cost, although we'll obviously have to monitor that too, but how can they execute in terms of getting our kids to and from where they need to be for these other events. Um but if anybody's equipped to handle it, I think they are. Um, even at the end of this contract, I think we'll be under where their market rates probably would be, um, knowing where their rates are now. And we have the opportunity then as we mesh with the high school to go through and do a full review, honor would be included in that, too, because our three districts are the ones that

117are using this terminal and their services. So, uh, the intent was to get us on alignment before this. Um, unfortunately Harford Union kind of used their time frame and their situation to do what they did and so this is us now getting on their time frame so we can go at it all together. Obviously, we would want a provider that has a a depot here and staff here and that the buses aren't traveling to get here to provide service. Um, so all things considered, I I think this is a a good arrangement that gets us to where we need to be. Do you see any challenges with I know we changed our times for school starting and ending um with the high school there any are we concerned I mean it's not their it's not

118their favorite I mean certainly um they know when they have to deliver students to the high school and obviously the more time that they have to get around and do the things that we need to do um for our district um is important to us and they know they have to try to do their best to do that. We consulted with them through that whole process about changing times and what could work and what absolutely couldn't work. And Dr. V, while she might have done something even more different than where we're at, again, we're kind of locked into what we can do in terms of playing nice and having the resources available to get the kids again in here and get started in the morning. The end times since we're last, not necessarily as critical

119from Rightway's perspective. that that comes down to again more what we want to do. Knowing that we have staff meetings, knowing that we have co-curricular events that kids have to get to and what is best for our kids in terms of maximizing their learning time. So, we've worked through all that. They don't have any problems with doing that. Again, they know it's a little bit tighter, but they're up to it. How are they doing staffwise? We know like I mean all the bus companies are having challenges. We had very few instances where our routes were impacted because of staff shortages. Again, I do think it helps that we are the second one in the morning and the second one at night. So, I do think Hartford Union typically could get more impacted by that than

120us because they have to find subs, you know, for them first. And so they usually have a plan then those people are here and then they just continue on and do our stuff. So really ve very happy again from Wittenberger to here we have a lot less kind of miss routes late route things. It's it's pretty unusual. I think they're relatively consistent at getting like to Central Middle School for the transfer and getting out of there on time. It seems like it's way better than it's been in the past. So I have much more conf Jim is an excellent EO manager. He's doing a great job. He wants to engage in the community. He wants to do the right thing by all of us. And we've gotten nothing really but support from Rightway as a

121whole. So yeah, pretty happy with them. One thing I've heard, we haven't added or deleted any routes, right, from I mean not added, but do we have any normal routes? We haven't. So again, I think you know there's our we don't have to battle the challenges that the high school might in terms of again high school age kids. Are they getting rides home with people? Are they now getting their license and driving themselves? They're trying to really smash routes down and things. Our routes are pretty full. So, it's not like we're sending buses out with 30 or 35 kids where they kind of are because they have to traverse the whole 225 miles. Um, again, we actually download some kids first in the afternoon, for example, then go to Central Middle School, grab a bunch

122more, and take them where they need to end up. Um, so that way, I think we've done everything we can in terms of efficiency. The only time I could see us cutting a route now is just simply if we don't have, you know, if we continue to lose students and stuff and I just I'm not I'm not seeing that. Yeah, I've heard that they're congested. Like couple of routes right now are congested. Not that we can do anything about it because staff sort of just you have to condense things. I get it. But uh there's more routes that are full like for example Rettler Farms area out there and that's a relatively full route out there. Um because again there's just a lot of kids and and we're down there is a bus that goes

123straight out there first from Rossman side, dumps a bunch of them off and then comes back around and picks up some more and takes them out there. So again, I we're trying to do as best we can. Is having 65 kids on a bus that's 71 capacity ideal? No. um certainly can lead to behavior things and just general discomfort and stuff. Um but I think Mrs. Aoff, Mr. Nar, um Mr. Stevens, if he needs to be involved, you know, they're getting reports, they're dealing with those issues and stuff, having the cameras and again the audio, it's very easy to kind of pin down what the issues are so we can hold kids accountable. Nothing stands out obvious to me if any issues like we had in the past with with behavior on the buses unless

124I'm missing something. But I think so it's gotten better. I would imagine just out of knock on something if you could. Yeah. Yeah. I mean um just I I would think the cameras and audio helps with that. Yeah, I mean I think it's a I think it's a com. Yeah, I do think that that's again another piece of it is you know how to it's a long day and we experience most of the issues in the afternoon and um you know I think those pieces in terms of cooperating and respect and how to communicate and not be touching and doing all the things that kids do. Um, you know, I I think that certainly helps and I do think that Rightway's ability to train and manage their people is far superior than what the resources

125were before. So, I think that certainly helps as well. I think the character strong purposeful people curriculum will also assist with behaviors not only in school but also on the way to and from school. That's it's good. discussion. Do parents uh who have kids in co-curriculars is that a huge number or do you wish to require some bus service for them as well? Yeah. So um what I'd say about that is um you know Mr. Stevens had to arrange transportation for the events that we did have this year. And that's not again without its challenges in terms of when our students have to leave the building when our again getting back after an event not as critical. Again, it's more the leaving. Um how early do we have to leave to make sure we a

126get to where we need to be for the event, but b how much school are they missing? And certainly because they don't have excesses of staff, you know, a lot of the drivers are the same drivers that run the school routes. And so, um, I do think it's a concern for sure that again because they can't have five or 10 extra drivers or have just co-curricular type drivers. Um, you know, it forces us to leave school a little earlier probably than we'd like to. and then they're on site maybe also earlier than we'd like them to be. Um, but it's, you know, that's one of the cons stacked up against all the pros for again participating and and school pride and success and all of that stuff. So, it's just kind of one of those

127things you have to deal with. Um, basketball will add an additional layer to that. um other districts are requiring full parent transportation um and not providing any district transportation to those events. I think we've found that it's important to us at least as we start here to start with transporting the students and see how that goes and then we'll make decisions after we get going. Um but again, we're going to try to transport those kids to and from to start with and see how that goes. But in terms of like a late bus or something like that, um sending them back to their homes after the events, no, we are not planning to do that. I assume also as we bring basketball on doesn't always work, but I know at the high school they do

128try to bus share if if both programs would be going to the same school. I I know that doesn't always happen, but if basketball happens to be at the same place as a cross country meet, Yeah, you'd have to talk you'd have to talk to Mr. Stevens about that. Right. And I'm just saying I know that that that's what the high school does when they can. They will share a bus if two groups are going to the same school. Yeah. I mean, for basketball, we'll transfer the nth grade teams together. I'll just say working right away. I mean, they've done a nice job. Jim College has fantastic as far as partnering with us. Um, I think their communication is really solid. So, in the event it is a PM route driver that'll be the transport,

129they're usually communicating that the day ahead of time, we can figure out those logistical pieces. That hasn't happened often this year for cross country or track and field. Um, but as we add more activities and more events, I could see us being impacted by that. As far as bus behavior and those sorts of things, I think the communication was really solid um between both and the follow and just being consistent. So, I guess I'll just give you my feedback as far as Yeah, there through through the renewal process, they did mention that they they do think we're we've done a much better job again when they document issues, us doing something about it to try to get it to stop. Um, and these guys take that seriously. Um, again, it's only as good as the

130information we get. So, if they're willing to fill out documentation, there was an issue that'd be very clear and and kind of complete in their stuff, then we're willing to again do the things on our end to speak to the students, investigate it if we have to investigate it, and then issuing, you know, consequences and stuff. So, um, again, they they mentioned that that that has gotten better and again, as we get better and better and more used to dealing with that and some of these other pieces, maybe we can get away from some of that stuff. But it'll always be a component that that we're going to have to deal with in offsite and the least probably supervised environment that we have in terms of one adult for 50 to 70 kids. I it's

131just a lot for that person to to supervise especially when they are driving the bus. But we have had riders again we Mr. Navar has ridden if he's had to Mrs. days off has ridden I don't know I've did ride this year at least a couple times again for more than anything when those bus the more swirly buses let's say they've jumped on and made sure that hey this is the way we need to be doing it discussion this is a roll call vote Louise Ian I Don I and I'll vote on motion passes action 19 food service preliminary budget for 2526. The budget reflects the increase in meal prices approved at the previous board meeting, the increases in employee compensation, and the reduction revenues and expenses due to Peace Lutheran choosing to terminate their

132contract for catering meals. Overall, there is a planned food service operating deficit for the 2526 year, but the current fund balance is approximately 500,000, which is more than enough to cover the deficit. The district will continue to replace any equipment as needed using the food service fund balance. Is there a motion? Motion. Motion to approve the 2025 26 preliminary service. I'll second discussion. Do you want me to go? Go ahead. Yes. But before you go, please. Um I just wanted to share that uh this does not necessarily have to do exactly with the budget. However, it does have to do with food service. And so, um, during Don's meeting with me, he, uh, shared a newspaper article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and it was in regards to potential changes, uh, coming out of both

133legislators from Wisconsin and also from the Health and Human Services Secretary uh, Kennedy out of the US. And uh while uh we don't know what will come of this bill or proposed bill um what I do know is that our current food food service is in compliance with all requirements and should anything pass uh we will continue to remain in compliance with things and uh budgeting for those meal and food prices is what is part of this budget. So, Mr. Majarius, you want So, again, the budget, uh, we're we're certainly not trying to, um, drive revenue as it relates to our food service budget. Um, in an ideal world, again, we'd be break even, slightly ahead, slightly behind. And some of that's going to be driven by how much equipment needs replacing. um with this

134uh preliminary budget for um the 25 26 year, you did already approve uh a meal rate increase. Um that this budget captures that and we're still projecting a deficit. I think some of what's happening is um there were a lot of controls in terms of Taher and their management and things and and having a a 20 year veteran um experienced person dealing with food ser food service and and ordering and doing the things um under the the previous kind of parameters is different than what we're doing and certainly Sarah while she's doing a great job managing ing the employees, managing menus, managing um ordering and things like that. Um we've certainly identified some ways to improve. One of those ways is joining the food um nutrition cooperative. So, I would say I'm probably pessimistic in

135providing you this this budget. I do think that we'll be able to capture some um efficiencies and some savings as part of that cooperative that that 70 schools are a part of versus us standing alone on our pricing from the different vendors. Um but until we get into it, I I won't know for sure. Staffing drives a lot of um what we do in terms of the the food service expenses. um we're as lean as we have been. I would say that, you know, one of the concerns and one of the things I'm kind of guarding against is while we might be slightly overstaffed, I think as it relates to like part-time workers and things, a we're going to have some retirements coming up this next year that's going to impact what we're doing. Um,

136from things that I've heard, it could be as many as three or four people um that are going to be retiring out next year just because that's where they are in their life cycle. Um, they provided us a lot of years of service and we're grateful for that. Um, so I guess I'm willing to be a little bit heavier this year on staff knowing that I have to and Sarah has to get some people ready potentially to fill those roles. I don't know that all of the roles will be filled by internal people. We'll have to wait and see how that goes. We certainly have some candidates that I think would do a nice job in filling those roles. But there's some people that want, you know, a part-time schedule because of their students and

137the things that they have going on in their lives. So, um, again, willing to invest be going a little deeper in terms of a deficit to, um, kind of make sure that we have coverage and have opportunity for people to learn as much as they can before we hit that point. um coming out of COVID, we were fortunate and got a lot of support from federal government, state government programs, and that's how we generated a lot of that, um food service surplus that we have. And so, um again, it's not necessarily surprising to me that we find ourselves in a spot where, you know, we have so many funds coming in that now it's the time to have to start expending those funds. we hadn't reduced or increased the food service prices since before COVID.

138Um, could we have done that or should we have done that sooner? I don't know. Um, again, the food's variable. You go to the store, one week or one month or a period of 6 months, eggs are super expensive. And now egg costs have seem to come back down. We use a lot of eggs. Chicken the same way. I mean, the the things that are happening with chickens and things like that. So, um, I do think there were some things that were unique to this last 12 months that hopefully now are starting to settle down a little bit and with the help of the cooperative and and meeting with them on a regular basis, I think Sarah will pick up some more things and kind of have some resources back that she had before at

139that she didn't necessarily have this year that she'll be welcoming back in terms of some of the managing tools and tricks. We are not. So this this next year will be the first year we're in it. So this last year because of the turnover and us going self up um we were able to convince the food companies that we did have with Taher um to provide us a one-year contract knowing that we'd be probably changing some things. they were gracious enough to do that and actually DPI had us scheduled for an administrative review this year and they knew what kind of the change over and their short staffedness that um because we had had excellent reviews all the way through um they pushed us. We are expecting a review this year too which is another

140component. So we got to make sure we have the staff and the things available to make sure that we're passing those reviews with the way we would expect to. Fortunately, our interim inspections and things from the county terms of food service and and all that stuff all been outstanding. So, no issues to report or correct. It says here the district will continue to replace any equipment as needed using the food service balance. Yep. I'm a little confused. How come we have a $50,000 deficit if there's food service fun? So the the deficits the the deficit refers to just the year-to-year operation and um so if I can equate it to your your home budget for example um you know you may have a year where again your expenses in any 12-month period might be more

141than you had anticipated. You know you have to do some house replacement you're going to replace your car you might spend more than you might anticipate in a 12-month period. But we the food service fund balance is again our savings account specific to food service program. And again going into this year we had a $569,000 food service fund balance which um again in terms of our annual revenue they want you to have a couple months worth of reserve. We have like a year worth of reserve. So again, I think this buys some time, we get to see kind of how this year goes and then we'll make adjustments as needed. I've already prepped the splitter that, you know, we might have to do something with staffing um which impacts the, you know, the elementary buildings,

142the middle school buildings, um in terms of, you know, we we need certain people at certain times to do things. We might have to figure out a way to do it a little bit differently if we have to again some things where we have a one person less. I don't I don't know. It's not going to happen for this year. So, I'm not going to again worry about it too much. Um, you know, as students drop off um you know on our enrollment such you know we might have to consider doing that not only just operationally but financially. Also, Barb, just so you know, the equipment that still has to come to us. So if they if something would break that would be that would be an action item. Correct. We still continue to monitor

143grants. DPI has a grants program that we're patiently waiting for their response. Um they said they would get us information in late May which they then pushed to mid June which it's now the 23rd of June and we still haven't heard whether we're uh getting money or not. And so again, we put some things in place to claim some of those grants if they get our approvals in, but again, patiently waiting. So that obviously helps the food service overall budget if we can get grant dollars to replace piece of equipment versus us planning to replace those equipment on a regular cycle. So that's also again part of this budget is knowing that some portion of equipment is going to have to be replaced and I'm not making any assumption that we're getting that money. We

144can get up to 25,000 under that program. Let me make one comments since I brought this in today. For instance, red dye number three is a carcinogen and all it does is make their food look cosmetically more appealing. So, do I really need it? I would say no. I don't care if my cherry is a little pale. Yeah. I mean, as far as that bill goes, and I think whether that bill passes or not, I I certainly would intend to give that to Miss Flooter and see what products we're even talking about. How much of this, if any, is happening here. Um, similar to other bills of legislation that happen that get thrown our way. Um, sometimes it's very applicable to us and sometimes it's not at all applicable to us. So, we'll we'll start

145doing the work to see what exactly out of that of things that they're considering banning that we either have or don't have. And I don't have any problem reporting back to what the results of that kind of analysis is. Maybe a hard question to answer, but do you see us going to a near zero like even with the with the boot balance rather than deficit breaking even with our potential? Yeah. I mean again, one two ways to get there. One is increase revenues um in a in an environment where we're declining in students not necessarily that easy although and we certainly want to promote part participation in our food program. Again I think we provide an excellent service. Tara and I spend some time in the kitchens serving and seeing what kids are eating and

146what they're not eating. I think we do that for a couple reasons. A to see kids. be to kind of reduce a load for our staff a couple times a year, build relationships with them. Um, but again, we can see what's happening in terms of uh food and how many people are going through and what there are for leftovers and we get to see what's foods getting chucked in the garbage and and so what things are the favorites and what things aren't the favorites. We offer fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal, but students generally, I'd say, do a really good job taking those items. Um, and don't need to be asked necessarily. They're taking them. Um, we make sure obviously that we have all the components on their plate so we can have reimburseable

147meals. Um, having said that, again, I think will a potential increase be in order for next year? too early to say, but certainly if we if food costs don't relax, uh we're going to have to kind of consider something. I do think, you know, 310 or whatever we're charging for an elementary meal. Um I should try to buy your student a meal for that price. And I do think the food quality is certainly there. You if you take what we offer, there's no way you can be hungry. I can tell you that. We we've eaten the meals after we serve those meals. I mean again it would be hard to be hungry if you take the food that's offered. I I hear about the waste you know how do you prevent that? You know that's

148kind of out of our control but awareness teaching kids you know I would think is part of being character stronger. The other aspect of that is you know being a good steward of your community involves all these things. So yeah, when you get dictated what has to be on the plate, I mean, we have no way to dictate that they stick that food in their mouth. Yeah. So we we do our part to provide a healthy meal at a reasonable cost and it just is what it is, right? I think also with Sarah being new and obviously all the changes we have done to the food service department in the last 18 months, um I'm not saying this is But I I do not see it being a a major issue. Um because again, we're

149growing. We're we're it's a growing pains. You know, we have money to cover it. So, yeah, it looks like a deficit. Maybe it will be, maybe it won't be. There's a lot of whatifs. And so, at the end of the day, kids need to be fed. Well, I appreciate the conservative outlook because then you as a board know that this is kind of the worst case scenario budget. that Mr. Majaras has prepared. So, should anything better happen than this, then we've been prepared for the worse. This is a roll call vote. Louise I, Don, Ian, I motion approved. Action 20, preliminary budget approval for 2526. Annually, the district is required to adopt a preliminary budget for the following school year. Details for the f final budget become solidified between July and November. Is there a

150motion? A motion to approve the 202526 liinary budget. All seven discussion. Before I turn it over to Mr. Uh, one of the things I shared with each of you during our board preparation meetings today was that first uh, we don't have a state budget uh, which certainly impacts what this looks like. Uh, our members not only uh, we don't have preliminary information, but we also will not have final information until October. So this is a requirement that the board approve a preliminary budget prior to the start of our fiscal school year or fiscal year which is July 1st. So this is an appropriate time to do this but again it's extremely preliminary because there were many variables still at play. Yeah. I mean when it comes to this process um you know we're we do

151know what um generally speaking our January enrollment was. So um you know I say take a threeyear rolling average of student counts. We know what the the two previous years were. We have to guess a little bit at summer school which um I made a phone call to see how many people we have and I think I could extrapolate relatively closely what that means for NFTT percentage because again stu summer school students only count a certain percentage. So when you divvy all that up, I think will be relatively similar to to previous years. And then what it's going to look like for our September count, which that, you know, when the September count comes, that's when they get the data from us, and then that's when they finalize the the calculations in October. Um I

152do anticipate us going down in students again, which is not particularly helpful. Um, it reduces the amount of equalization aid we get from the state. Um, it reduces what our actual revenue limit allows us to have as as a limited revenue. Um, again, our state legislature and governor not yet being on a similar page and um kind of thinking that maybe the only tool that we'll have is um again the the slated revenue limit increases that the governor did approve. Um you know, it it makes it challenging. Uh we you know you've approved some contracts that we know of things that are going to go up. Again happy that the insurance didn't go up as much. Not you know a realistic um fact that transportation's going up. So we have to account for that stuff.

153We know we're rolling out athletics and that that has a cost. Um you know we know what our salary and benefit increases were coming in. We'll have to see what insurance does in the uh kind of renewal time frame toward the end of the calendar year. So, we'll be keeping an eye on that. I'm certainly not making any changes that um would work in the staff's favor perhaps. I mean, um again, we'll have to see how the results end up as to whether we have to request an increase or not. But um as of right now not projecting any change there. I think this year turned out pretty well so far with a couple weeks left to go. The biggest thing is again what our what the state is or is not going to do.

154So I have projected um what we what we believe is true for special ed aid. Again we're not recipients uh to any large extent for high cost. Um but uh a little bit higher reimbursement rate for all special ed is helpful because it reduces the amount of money that has to be transferred from 10 fund 10 to fund 27. Um, and I I know that Alex and her staff and um and the principles and such will keep monitoring what special ed numbers are so that we're providing the correct amount of services um that we're required to provide to students and their families um so it doesn't get um you know out of whack. And we're still projecting a balanced budget. We're still projecting a probably smaller increase or a smaller contribution to fund 46, but

155we are still projecting a contribution to fund 46. Um, so that's good. Uh, we're just going to, again, we're going to have to wait and see with the revenue side. That's the challenge that we have is we're running a $30 million business and we have not that much control necessarily in terms of the money that comes into this facility. Um, we have lots of control in what goes out and we're we're going to keep monitoring that as best we can. Um, so hopefully we get some information soon whether it's positive, negative, or whatever. Just in the end, let's let's end on something so we can move forward. This is a roll call vote. Ian I Louise I and I'll vote. Motion passes. Action 21 resolution awarding the sale of $8,200 general obligation promisary notes. The

156resolution covers the competitive sale of the $ 8.2 million million dollar bond to be spent on referendum expenses. This is in response to the original resolution passed by the board in August of 2024 and a referendum approved by the community during the November 24 election. Is there a motion? A motion to approve the resolution awarding the sale of $8,200,000 general obligation pro. I second discussion. So, I know Adam just handed out the paperwork to you. If you recall, your board packet included information that indicated it was draft preliminary insert information here. And that is because Adam spent all day, not all day, most of today uh down at Beard. Um half the day, half the day. We'll keep whittling away at the amount of time that you half the day's full half the day uh

157at Baird making sure that this was finalized, prepared, and ready for you. So that way you had it in the most timely fashion. We had good results. I won't reveal what those are, but we did have a very high number of biders and the interest rate came in really good. And so I will let Adam share that information with you. So the first document I point to you is the document that Barrett's um heading is on. They provide kind of a postclosing little results book um on page two after the title page that shows the results of um how many biders and what these are measured by how much interest cost um that our deal has. So, um, very pleased in the fact that we had 10 biders. In fact, Bar's comments today were out

158of all the competitive deals that they've had so far in 2025, based on the size and kind of what we're what we're dealing with, they hadn't seen a deal with as many biders as we have. I think, you know, certain things make a bond deal more or less attractive. And so one of the things that is included in this postclosing book is our Moody's rating report. So when we issue new debt, um, one of the ratings agencies, we've had Moody's uh, as our reviewer. They have a call with me. They get our financial information from past years. Look at our uh forecasts for enrollment and finances and things talking about the conditions of what's happening in the community of Hartford. Um employers uh housing starts. They look at all different kinds of data to come

159up with um what they believe our bond rating should be compared to all the debt issuers in the world. Um happy to report that when Moody's uh published their final report they left our rating as double A3. The double A category is the second highest category that you can get. Um one the one two or three at the end just suggest levels. So double A one would be the highest double A kind of level. Then regular double A or double A2 would be the middle and double A3 would be the end. Um, again, our outlook is stable. They're pleased with our information. Uh, one thing that they're monitoring is is our enrollment, which obviously we're monitoring as well. Um but they're happy with the fact that we have resources um set aside in our general

160fund balance, that we have resources set aside in items like fund 46, um just our general tax environment in general, uh that our employers in the area and what they're doing, what populations doing in the area. So they take all those factors and again good rating which drives um the most biders that you can try to capture in terms of our issue. If you um take a look at page four it says on the bottom the last page that had has Barrett's logo on you can see the structure of our deal. So again following 8.2 2 million in the box that's called final there. Um our 8.2 million and kind of how that breaks down in terms of the maturities yeartoyear and what the interest cost is. So the winning bid for this deal was

1613.77%. When Bayer did their projections for us through the referendum process and postreferendum they were thinking 4.77% or 4.75%. So we we through the process through getting a new current rating um the projection came in much lower in terms of what our interest costs would be. If you see the bottom little box that says ref referendum estimate final indifference. So having um almost a percent lower in terms of what the total interest cost was bid on the deal versus what they projected that is scheduled to save us $659,000. Great. So again very happy with that. Um so the the process that we need to employ now is we need to um pass a resolution. Um then they will issue the I have to actually email them tonight within two hours after this meeting that we

162approve the resolution. Then they'll continue to work on the paperwork and the bonds actually settle in July. My plan with the dollars is um there has been some expenses that we've had to pay for already. Since we have our fund 46 money, I've paid what's out there, which isn't a lot necessarily. Um once the money comes from the the bond sale in mid July 14th, I think the date is, we'll start using that money. So, it'll stay in our bank account, which again is invested every day, and we'll draw that down first, and then we'll use our money last. So, um, again, happy with the process. We got to see it live and in person this morning. I actually took my son with since he's a aspiring accounting finance nerd. So, he got to see

163all the workings and talking with the salespeople and watching them make phone calls, trying to get this deal done. And then as the bids came in, we we got to see that too. So, um, very good process. Bar is happy. We're happy. Corals and Brady was very timely with getting us the documentation for tonight. So, the the paperclipipped packet, um, while there's going to be a few things that we need to fill in and things that we need to have you sign, um, all of the exhibits now are in the back here that we have information for so that we can complete this thing. So the only thing we need left is your approval. Any other discussion? I mean it's obviously not an easy task this and the item before. So I mean sometimes you

164make it sound easy, but I'm sure we all know it's not as easy as it looks. So thank you. Welcome. This is a roll call vote. D. Hi, Louise. Ian, I Motion passes. Thank you. Action 22, consent agenda. Consent agenda includes approval of the minutes, bills, treasures report, and personal recommendation. Is there a request to pull an item out from the consent agenda? Is there a motion? I'm motion to approve the consent agenda. I second discussion. There's no discussion. Hold that. Sorry. Robo. Louise. I. Don. Hi. Ian. I. No. Motion. Pass. This. And we are to adjournments. Motion to adjurnn. Motion to order. All in favor? I I meeting is journed at 8:32.