001for for for good evening everyone it is 5:45 I'd like to call this school board meeting to order Laura would you start with our roll call attendance L yes noan jacket here Tracy Hennis here Craig westall here Don frore absent and Heather all right thank you would everyone please rise and face the plague for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the of the United States is there a motion to adopt the agenda so move is there a second I'll second it is there any discussion about the agenda this evening hearing none all those in favor of adopting the agendas presented by saying I I I any oppos say a the motion carries we will roll forward the agenda as presented next on our agenda is our public comment portion of the meeting lur
002do we have anybody sign up to address the board this evening okay so we will move on in the agenda then after that is our donations great thank you Tracy um I'd like to take a moment to thank our Heartford athletic booster club club for their continuing support where today we recognize them for their $3,750 contribution to offs at the cost of huddle again for those of you who don't know huddle is a technology service that helps stream and record video for athletic teams to enhance our stability and skill development so again as always thank you to our hard outl booster club thank you Mr Walters and thank you to the booster club next on our agenda is our unanimous consent agenda is there a motion so move is there a second second um any
003discussion he none all is in favor of passing unanimous consent agenda say I I I I any oppos saying n motion carries next in our agenda is our report starting with our citizens facilities committee report great as our chair of the committee Joe comes forward um I know there's other members of the committee the audience or possibly listening uh at some offsite location so first of all thank you for your hard work and commitment that the brought us to this point today um I think everyone's really excited um for Joe and maybe others to share some of the recommendation the committee arrived at um here in the last week or so regarding all of the work that you've spent um looking at all of the details since we first released that facility audit so again
004thank you to the entire committee and I'll turn it over to Joe Mitten at this time all right there it is all right thank you so uh first a quick review of our June meeting um after the survey results came in uh we went through and reviewed the survey results with the committee members who weren't in the attendance at board meeting uh we unanimously decided we want to keep the cost Target somewhere close to that 25 million that the the community um showed that they support um that pool repair should be the focus instead of replacement and that the projects ranked one through five um which we'll get to in the following slide should be included in any recommendation that we make and again just a reminder on the right the results from the survey
005showing that there was great support for $25 million and even some general support up to $40 million and then down below the the community feedback regard any questions from our June meeting okay so again just a review of all 16 of the projects um ranked um based on their priority so again one through five is focusing mostly on the infrastructure you've got the roof the HVAC system uh teched shop area building security and then updating restrooms there so in our July meeting uh we work to develop a recommendation that again respected the community feedback um regarding cost and project importance uh we did some discussion and group work and they resulted in two recommendations they're essentially the same recommendation um unanimously we agreed um the members that were in attendance um that our individual opinions
006regarding the pool um unanimously were to do nothing um but again we have an obligation just I think as the board does as well to uh to the community to respect the feedback that was given uh so we did present an option that includes pool repair as well any questions so there were some additional attatchments this is hard to read I wanted to try to fit it on slides good have to jump between additional attatchments but I just jump in because of that um obviously the board and our leadership team has access to the agenda but just a point of clarity as everybody else does as well so you go on our website go to the Schoolboard and access board docs you're able to see all of these attachments or supplementary materials on whatever device
007you choose so so this is um option A and this includes a heavy repair of the nitorum structure itself as well as uh reigning the pool drain repainting the deck repairing finishes replacing bleachers um it also includes all items one through five as we previously referenced uh it also includes replacing the track uh regrading and drainage to the practice fields I think it's also important to note number 17 um that's adding a 100 stall parking area west of tennis courts and this um total comes out to just over $23 million so under that that $25 million cap sorry does that say $1.3 million it does for a parking lot it does yes hope get any other questions in regards to this the second option again includes all of items one through five it does include
008again the repair of the natatorium structure itself um additionally does include the track and the drainage um the the difference here um besides not including U any of the pool items is this this option does include a turf field inside of the track and again it still includes that additional 100 spaces for parking and this comes to just over 25 any questions on this option Joe was the addition of a CTE lab space on both plans or just the second one it's in yeah all of items one through five it was important for us committee to include all of those items okay thank you any additional questions so this is the concept for what the parking area would look like and one of the main reasons for that additional parking is the CTE lab space
009um as it's mocked up here would take up quite a bit of our our existing parking and then there's um some changes to to the actual traffic flow itself which would take up some some spaces we've heard as I'm sure you've heard that parking is in in high demand so I think it's I think it's an important item for us to address from safe listic stand Point well any questions on these so so how many how many stalls are they losing that would be student do we know that between 30 and 40 you can come forward if you'd like good evening everybody Alex Lopez from PSI so um I'll go through this fairly quickly so the there are a couple of issues that we wanted to solve um in this particular concept we've shown a
010couple of Concepts already but with the building addition a potential building addition to the north we're looking at making that drive a little bit safer I know you go around the that area right now and there's a couple of blind spots on the East and West Corners um having the addition will necessitate and including the parking lot which is off the page here um will necessitate some potential uh detention or retention area right now that has not been engineered so on the the the green bubble on the right there on the North side it takes that into account right now you we're looking at potentially uh losing between say 30 and 40 spots from what you have right now in that whole area there's about 60 uh but again that's going to dep the the
011final number will depend on the size of the detention or Ren are whether it's needed or uh maybe somewhere else on the site but we felt that it was important for you all to know that that is having an addition to impact your parking attention so hopefully that answers your question yes all right so next steps obviously we have the July Workshop our group is hoping to continue to work with the board um here on potential resolution one one question I guess to consider now and as the days leading up to the workshop um is there anything that you the board um need from us or from Performance Services prior to the workshop um any further clarifications anything for us to look into any materials guess I'll ask that question now but also just leave
012that for you to think about and please communicate with us if there is thank you uh we do have a um additional committee meeting scheduled for 81s immediately following that Workshop So based on the outcome of that Workshop um again we our schedule to meet and then review refine any recommendation um for the board and how to proceed um and then again the the actual um meeting itself you know depending on the outcome we either may or may not have have that meeting but we wanted to have something scheduled um obviously it's difficult to to get a group of folks together this time year otherwise um and then just a reminder um on the board action I don't know if the new board members had seen this piece yet but um again as we move
013forward the board will uh need to consider uh future necessity of this committee um after we work to develop this recommendation so just want to remind all board members that as well then any additional questions any takeaways for us I just have that it was the project ranking yep that right there is it possible for our meeting Workshop to have a third column there just to show what dollar allocations it is I tried doing that and I'm like yeah so yeah we we have that here this is the the same it's in the same order you can see the options it's ordered so you see priority ranking on the left goes one two three four five six and so on now there again you can see item six 61 67 68 items that we did
014not select we zeroed out but we can add those um those numbers back in just so that it's kind of ties into the survey results to that's sure thanks of course Joe I guess a question I have for you in the committee is do you feel good about having enough information from our community do you feel go with the survey I know way early on in the process we talked about maybe having Town Hall meetings at some point I guess where where are your thoughts with that yeah I think we I think the community um delivered us some great feedback I think we've gotten great feedback from um unsolicited feedback from other community members um that some of us have brought to committee meetings um we've gotten great feedback from board members I know several
015of you have gotten feedback from from community members so I I think again U what we've put is put together is really representative of not only the needs of the district but um what the what the community is willing to support okay thank you any other questions from board members looks like we're good all right well thank you guys look forward to uh working together in the 31st thank you and next on our agenda is our principal report right happy Monday everybody I am excited to share with you some snapshot of our AP data so this year as always we always have our EP exams in the month of May and we just kind of wanted to share with you you some highlights and areas where you can spring forward to do even better next
016year so one thing we wanted to say is this was the largest amount of AP exams that were administered in the last five years which is great it was a little under 200 more than last year I do think some of the reasons are more people are wanting to take these exams but we also increased our AP class operates for example we had this year AP pre-cal and we about 70 kids take that test this year which is great so how many kids are taking our AP exams but most importantly what is their success rate AP says they're successful if they score a three or higher the AP test is scored by a one through five ranking five being the best and it is extremely difficult to get a five but I will say we
017had about 48 kids get fives on their exams this year which is pretty impressive and many had multiple hies so in this graduating class 27.2 of our seniors scored a three or higher on at least one AP exam last year's data was a 30.7% what I do want to highlight is our 10th and 11th graders is as you can see those percentages are much higher than last year so 11th grade 24.9% have scored at least a three or higher when last year is8 %. and then what was great almost a 9% increases in her 10th grade is that last year's only 10.1% that scored a three or higher so right now with this trend we are having with I think is with the BL schedule you get opportunities to take AP exams a little sooner
018depending on what your pathway is and kids are taking advantage of those opportunities which is great to see so going by grade what type of test did they take and what was their score so for the nth grade there were five different AP exams that were taken and they had an average score of a 3.4 10th graders took 108 AP exams with an average score of a 3.61 and there are a total of 10 different exams that were taken and I'll let you read it for a little bit but as you can see there's array of different type of Conta or content that they wanted to pursue the 11th grade there is 216 AP exams taken with a mean score a 3 03 and there's 16 different exams so it's basically same with above and
019then we had the art AP Art and Design art history biology computer science principles and environmental science I do want to state that environmental science we do not offer that as a class but any student can take an AP exam even if they don't take the class so that was a student that opted in to take that exam and learn the content on her own and then 12th grade 180 exams were taken with a mean score of 3.18 and we added chemistry macro and micro econ physics 2 but did not include some of the other ones I do also want to State physics 2 was a student that did not take physics 2 class but opted in to take the apep exam so what I do want to get out of here is every class
020had an average of a passing score which is pretty remarkable this is just a sh a chart that has the total AP students that chose 282 so with that amount you can tell that many students up to us one student taking six AP exams and that was one of our graduating seniors so many did take multiple AP exams and this is a score distribution from 1 to five so it has the number of exams and the score the percent of total exams and then the number of AP students this is just an overall snapshot any questions on that graph so then on the next chart I'm going to break it down um that kind of goes by I know this is really hard to read so I do apologize there wasn't really a great way
021of showing all the different content areas so I do apologize but this has a total exams broken down by all the subject totals so as you can see again the environmental science in physics 2 there's only one student that took it and those are not AP courses that we had here all the other courses the students took at HS any questions and I do want to state is I know I did not have it in the slide at first but we had quite a few I think we had seven exams that our score was not only above the state average but national average as well this is just a Snapchat I want to state that uh me and Stevie will be presenting this data a little bit more in depth along with the ACT data
022and pre act secure and here's some more highlights so here's our school summary and we wanted to kind of see the trend of where we're going and what we can do to [Music] improve so as you can see our goal is for kids to get a three involve that means that they are going to receive college credit at the school if they choose to go to college for instance credits are different per exam for instance if a student gets a five on the BC Kelk that is equivalent to two semesters of college Kel which is 10 credits so that means that student is going into college with 10 credits of math and will not need to take in college and they can go into Kelk 3 then there's some other that may be only like
023three credits it all depends on the course and the exam and also the schools some schools do take threes some schools like Madison really only want a four or five but they do honor a three and allow for elective credits any questions with those graphs so that is it for kind of the AP highlights I am very proud of all of our teachers and students because this is a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication at HS we want to give opportunities for kids to pursue whatever path they want and I feel for kids that are College Bound AP is a great opportunity not only do we have AP classes and AP exams that help give them college credits but we also offer cap opportunities as well so that means they can take
024a class like AP Cel AB or BC and if they have certain requirements they earn college credits and they do not need to take the AP test any questions no thank you looks like something to celebrate you're welcome to leave that slide up there for another minute or so MCO just so everybody can absorb this okay um thank you thank you so I think this is really important data um as you can see um we have more students taking advanced placement exams we have more students being successful we have more exams being taken and if you're a parent of a student who takes advanced placement or at least goes off to college you're celebrating because these results are thousands and thousands of dollars that you're not paying for tuition when your son or daughter goes
025off of school so again to see this increase and get back to the percentage of passing and the increase in exams of students is certainly a huge piece um of the work that we've been doing here so kudos to miss Lamb our staff and our students um for making this happen um the other thing is obviously um that 40 some is number of kids fives that's really neat because that opens more doors than even those students who get threes or fours right so if you're going to some of those higher level institutions After High School fives might get you more opportunities in a three or four if you're going to state university schools or things like that a passing score does you really well there certainly is a difference and I'll stop talking because she
026did a really good job as a district assessment coordinator this year um so I'm probably talking out of my Lane so thank you Miss Lam and I also want to add is when people talk about getting fives or fours and fives that is a great Resume Builder what's interesting about the advanced placement test which is different than the ACT they only get one chance to do it so it is a little bit more difficult and the rigor is there so that is something that I would suggest to all students to State on a resume how many AP exams they took and what their score was because it is truly remarkable to get that and the last thing I'll add um Stevie Kelly and others have done a nice job in some of these classes you
027can actually choose how you want college trips you can either take the exam and get a passing store or you can pay hundreds of dollars to take that class on campus which guarantees as long as you're successful that you be off cred so some of our kids are not even choosing to take the exam because they're taking the for sure credits which again we could certainly bring back some of the information as far as how many kids are earning credits that way as well thank you thank you thank you next up is our superintendence report from Mr Walters great thank you um just a few quick nuggets today um the first one is um as we try to map out the work that we're focused in and making sure that us as a leadership team
028as a board um meet our Mark in regards to certain timelines and deadlines throughout the year um our leadership team has established a map for the board um and ourselves to understand those such things I just spoke about the timelines the work and things like that um this is certainly a Nimble document um something that needs to be flexible for all of us so if as board members you are um interested in topics or presentation or learning more about maybe even some of the things we just spoke about please use this as an opportunity to refer back to to understand what we might be doing in September what we might be doing in February and kind of how all those things fit together again some of these things are driven by requirements okay whether that's
029start college now applications um state report card that we report back on after it comes out you know Rob giving budget projections open enrollment seats all of those things but other things on this document are about the opportunity to learn together okay so again if you take a look at that um that'll be linked in our regular board updates um but hopefully that serves as a guide in regards to where we're going what we're focused on um and again some of those requirements that we need to meet so any questions or thoughts on that great um next uh our board listing session so this came up a month or two ago in regards to how to get feedback or engage with our community a little bit differently than we have in the past um so
030one of the things I did as I spoke with um Shaya Lewis our legal councel and I think she and I would be interested in maybe engaging um and hearing from the board a little bit regards to what our goal is and the structure of what that might look like so when I at first asked Shaina about hey Bo's interested in doing these listening sessions um I had asked like how does that look compared to a public comment section okay so our policy that drives public comments we've got time restrictions we've got other restrictions we've got total allotment of time um we've got it has to be about an agenda item things like that okay when it comes to listening sessions that was one of the things that you guys have talked about in regards
031to feedback um but the first question that sha had was why can't that just be accomplished during your public comment part of the board okay and I guess I'd be Ed in hearing where we currently sit as a board in regards to the goal of the listening session versus the goal of getting that feedback during public comment which is regularly part of our school board did you and shayana talk about the agenda items versus non agenda items comments we did not follow up after her communication because that was uh the next task was to kind of hear from the board again and from a legal councel perspective there certainly is concern for opening it up to any managent items at least in the last conversation I had with sha um and I think that's what
032the goal of the board was is to try to identify some of those opportunities to get feedback from non-agenda items um I know Mr Lacy uh is in the crowd to help us with another agenda item but you certainly wome to come forward um if there's any perspective on that he's part of shaina's office um as well uh while he does that um there's another important note about the time frame in the open meetings law okay so in regards to um listening sessions we want to make sure that even if no board members attend or one board memb is attend we obviously have know rules to follow in regards to the open meetings law um and what she said is if you don't uh identify a subject matter to be covered then the board will
033only be able to listen not engage with the public at all so if that's not the goal of the board then we have kind of an obstacle to address there so I apologize for putting in the spot a little bit but your timing is perfect might as well maximize your time while you're here right so any thoughts on that concept and how it might apply yeah I think the the the biggest issue from an open meetings perspective is that um when you publish an agenda notice that you're giving your entire community notice as to what's going to be discussed um what contents areas are going to be discussed that's why you want make your public comment to your agenda um because something potentially comes up you know during that comment period that Sparks a lot
034that might spark a lot of public interest but nobody was aware excuse me that that was going to be discussed so that's typically the biggest concern with you know holding whether it's you know public comment period or um you know listening sessions which would also um be public uh open meetings you know noticed and so forth because the board's going to be there um but yeah you do restrict yourself in terms of any interaction then on those um simply because you're not providing you know notice to the rest to the to the full community as to what's going to be discussed so this can I ask you a question absolutely so basically um it seemed that there were board members interested in finding a way that we can open ourselves up to communication from the
035public that wasn't necessarily confined to just the agenda items for our regular school board in the years past well I's just say quite a few years past we did host some listening sessions before school board meetings I'd say about 45 minutes before a meeting there would be two board members present um we we were maybe asking some clarifying questions but we were never giving any statements or decisions on behalf of the board so say where you were to try to do something like that again I understand we can't engage and make it you know a hearty discussion because that should be saved for a regular board meeting but could we ask clarifying questions they bring something for I mean technically probably yes because there is a provision in the statutes that says that you can
036essentially do exactly that the concern though is again um it's very difficult in the context of asking you know clarifying questions or prodding for more information not you know having that turn into a more robust discussion about the topic item not necessarily tipping your hand or anything along those lines but you know at least you open yourself up to those accusations that you know that you you have kind of um engaged in a more substantive conversation about an item that wasn't noticed to the rest of the community so I would just caution if you're going to have those openings or uh um public comment sessions or or listening sessions sorry my brain went blank there um that you treat them as as such as listening sessions and taking in information and then you can make
037a determination hey let's put this on on a board agenda in the future if it's something of you know interest to a large enough member of the board or however you set your agendas is different ways to do that so I believe Heather has a question well I just wanted to say that listening is listen listening so we really wouldn't be talking or think you know it's it's one way listening just listen right and um and if we made it more constructive so that when you bring something up it's not just um you know it's not vague you know maybe it was a little bit more like I don't know like a form where they would say here's the item I'd like to present for you to listen to here's what my concern is or
038my question is or my whoever the person presenting us um recommendations I mean the only way it's going to be helpful for us is not to just come up and complain it give us what's the information what you think a good recommendation is how you think it's going to be better than two whatever better students um because then it's able to be more constructively brought back here in an open session to say hey we heard you say but we listen and then we can move it forward but it I don't think it'll be as effective if it's just too vague or to um just throwing stuff out we have I listening to L you know where I work sure and it's at least somewhat constructive to what you're obtaining your yeah and I would say
039that's probably in how you communicate the you know invitation if you will to that um and and I understand that and I understand what you're saying in terms of trying to maybe help people who might not be as used to articulating you know the details of what it is they're trying to to get across I just again the concern though is that there's a fine line between that sort of engaging in that in that conversation and you know a dialogue on a topic that's of interest to the school board um that you know isn't part of a regular meeting that isn't part of your Noti agenda to to shaina's point that you could allow comments you know during regular board meeting or at least those who had interest in a particular topic know hey this
040is going to be discussed at tonight's board meeting or what have you tomorrow's board meeting um but so that's you know and in part what gives us heartburn is really protecting the board from you know getting too far you know a field from what you are you know permitted to do versus what the open meetings Law requires you to do uh and again you know sometimes you know what's going to be an item of significant public interest and and sometimes you don't and um see more board members getting you know and Boards get uh in trouble and use that term pretty Loosely chastised if you will um for having conversations about something without letting you know the the sort of the other side so to speak you know aware that this was going to be
041an item discussed so um so yeah think just a prey back off for that just probably the final things that sha had shared was in regards to how would the board plan to handle the information they received you know what would they use it how would they report it out to Administration um ultimately um and then in being responsive to the concerns or the feedback right um and then would they be required to sign up ahead of time and our policy currently does speak of if anybody is interested in an agenda there's a way in which an agenda item there's a way in which people could ask for that to occur um in regards to our board policy so those are probably the other um items that I would share from our conversation yeah and
042I would say there's the the typical things we're always concerned about you know we don't want it to turn into somebody coming to complain about you know the the AP Calculus I'll use that because clearly that's not going to happen uh but you know to complain about a particular uh teacher or coach or have you you know there's still certain things that that you have to be very careful of and then and then the other the other item I always mentioned in these kinds of conversations is you have to be prepared for how to handle not just those things that you want to move forward maybe you know have the administration work up something on it Etc but also the the other ones that you're really not interested in and spending any more you know
043time and effort on that people will be disolution having come to you know tell you about something and then you kind of just let it you know Fall by the wayside and there might be perfectly good reasons why that would be the case so um just just some things to be aware of in terms of how they can they can turn I believe CRA do you have a question I do how I mean I I think we have to be very careful with this because I think we're setting ourselves up to miscommunication and and miss interpretation um I've always felt that if somebody wants us to discuss something or review something if they send the board an email then it's very specific about what that person's ask is and I think it's very dangerous having
044an open forum and how do you control that um perspective to many of the reasons you had said um in my mind I I anticipated being people just coming and complaining yeah and and I've I I have clients who have done something similar to that you know and yeah we end up with complaints about Personnel uh people wanting to get into details about their own child and you know maybe a special education situation for example and those are very dangerous you know circumstances to put yourselves in I will say I mean it's a different time now obviously but it was probably about nine or 10 years ago when we did this and it largely turned into um people coming forward to make sure the board understood some of the great things that were going on
045behind the scenes that we might not know about so frankly it kind of it started to kind of turn into more of a showand tell and we said maybe we should put some of this at our board meetings instead and that's when we kind of rolled into more presentations at our meeting and we did away with the listening sessions because it that's basic what it turned into so luckily here we didn't have it turned into a complaint section at all I don't believe we ever heard someone come forward and complain about a particular staff member or anything one of those sessions um so but again that was quite a few years ago and it may be different times yeah well we're always worried about the worst case scenario I'm sure you are as that's legal
046and that's your job to be so I guess my question for you Mr laes I know I've seen other districts write some kind of very specific policy for when they do have Community conversations listening sessions whatever they might call them because I've been at other I've been at Statewide conferences where there are boards who do talk about doing something like this so I guess my question is I mean I don't know what what the other board members are thinking right now I think we need to dis gu discuss this as of grou but say we did want to look at this further and go down this road um has has your firm written some policies that would help us really lay it out you know this is this is what the board will and won't
047hear this is how the board can or canot respond in this particular format sure yeah I mean we a lot of this happened during Co you know early on in particular um kind of that same concept and so while there was primarily one issue on the on the minds of people um you know it kind of flow or kind of grew out of some some similar Concepts and yeah there's definitely you know ways to to structure that so that it's very clear what the expectations are what the limitations are uh and then also what the expectations on limitations on you know follow following that listening session simply raising something at the podium during the listening session for example doesn't guarantee that it's going to be on a future board agenda Etc so yeah that's certainly
048if you decided you want to go through with that or go go forward with that want to make that sound like a bad idea but you know move forward with that I would definitely encourage you to have a structure that is part of that process in in the form of Po okay thank you any other questions or feedback either from Mr Lacy or for Mr Walters no ultimately my last question was we certainly do need direction um from the board in regards to interest the next steps if the interest is centered around trying to find some language on how to make sure the district is successful not expose ourselves to undo risk and things like that by holding an opportunity for get feedback um we can certainly do that unless there's other board members who
049have different thoughts what I I guess I don't what what's driving this are people asking are people not feeling they can communicate I mean I guess I'm maybe I'm maybe i s a ago but I don't I guess I I don't I don't see the reason to do this at this point I think we discussed it at the last board Workshop you remember that there was a conversation there and I think part of that conversation if I remember right had to do with um someone from the public having an opportunity to maybe not just continually bend the ear of one particular board member but to come forward and have that conversation with more than board member present was something I remember coming out of that Workshop so that's one of the things that I remember
050when we discussed it last time I don't know Heather or noan do you have any any input or feedback on this yeah I would still be interested in uh doing something like this I mean I hear uh people discuss things all the time about the school district but I get very little communication directly to me through my email or uh obviously we don't get all that many public comments here either so look at the audience here there's only a handful of people that aren't don't have to be here per se honestly and I sat through I sat through a bunch of town halls for the referendum and zero to two people showed up um I I I just question the validity of it and from my perspective if we want to move forward with this
051we're going to have to shift everything to a later time um if I'm to be included in it quite frankly because it's it's tough to get here at 5:30 quarter to 6 right now and I'm just being transparent that we would have to move everything however long you want to have this so that would be then the start of important meeting um and and also people that work I I think anything before five o'clock is I don't I don't think I think you're significantly limiting the audience that can actually participate in it and I think five o'clock is even a push um you know you look at your the people that would come if they work in Milwaukee or even a half hour away and they work till 5 now you're at 5:30 and you
052want to have a half hour listening session from 5:30 to 6 that means they they come directly here and that's fine versus them communicating through a different avenue email or or whatever now now you're you're able to communicate with that person I I I know you guys did this a while ago and and Technology was different seven eight nine years ago too um I think email good bad or indiff it it does give people that form of communication with other people and I guess if if timing before a meeting is the main issue then I think the board could discuss whether we have another different night all together I I wouldn't want us to say no because we're limiting ourselves to trying to do it just before board me okay I I just I know
053originally they talk about was beforehand so I'm just like I said being transparent about it so it sounds like no one is is interested in exploring this further Craig if I'm hearing you right I heard you put question the validity not not thinking it's kind of a dangerous thing are you not interested in exploring this further no I I I just am expressing my concerns okay I'm not saying no because we don't have anything definitive sure so it's hard to say no to something that isn't really I think there's two there's a lot of variables to whatever everybody's kind of point so I wouldn't want to make a a prejudgment of something until I've seen what it looks like okay I guess I'd like to look at this further as well um Heather where are
054you at I I don't want to write it off I think that um if we truly want to have this collaboration between Community parents students teachers faculty etc etc um I don't think it can happen without at least giving it a try to figure out what's out there we don't know what we don't know we don't know what to understand we don't know what's out there to understand or to learn more from so um I don't know I think you know promotion of it communication of it the objective of it the legality of making sure we're doing and not getting in trouble for what we're doing um I don't think it's something to to write off I just think it needs to be further explored and make sure I'll learn eyes are that AC cross
055okay thank you does that give you what you need joh got it thank you we'll bring something back to one of our gatherings in August or some further conversation and the last thing I just wanted to update the board on tonight um is lamb and myself based upon next year's calendar have been looking at Spring sports activities um all sorts of things in regards to how the calendar Falls next year and have concluded that the um commencement ceremony would be best if it was held Friday May 23rd at 7 p.m. which allows our staff enough time to finish the course work without considering letting our students out early um in a short schedule already and then also still respects uh those who enjoy all but a 3day weekend but bring for Memorial Day weekend so
056again a reminder our last day is Thursday May 22nd and Kelly and I both believe that Friday May 23rd at 7M would serve Us best for commencement to celebrate the class of 25 so so if I'm hearing you correctly you're recommending the Friday Memorial Day again that is correct and unless I hear any other questions or feedback that is off my report this even thank you Mr Walters next is our Schoolboard report I just have a couple of short things um you will notice that our agenda this evening follows the agenda policy as we approved it last month and so instead of having formal proposals we have items for discussion and possible action and this is something that um requires a little bit different format moving forward so when we get to that section of
057the meeting we will start with a discussion in our board packets there was a possible recommended action but that is not necessarily the way it has to be worded so we have a discussion and in the discussion a board member has has a different perspective on how they would like to word that proposal they can jump in and make a motion um and word The Proposal how they see fit and some of these after the discussion we might not even decide to take action and that's okay this is something that our attorney had advised us we could do believe a couple years ago I look at some topics and we're seeing this done more and more this way in other board meetings and it seems to float pretty pretty naturally and Nicely versus having it
058um chunked out differently the board meeting so let's let's see how it goes if you have any questions along the way please feel free to go ahead and ask it'll be a little bit different than what we're used to um I also like Jeff want to give a shout out to our our CAC our citizens for facilities advisory committee they have really worked very hard for well over a year on this and um we're coming to the pretty months we taking a look at the data and working together with them so look forward to that continued work and that's all I have for the evening for our board report um next on our agenda is our Equitable multi-level systems of support framework and gifted T handbook from Miss St thank you um the attached documents
059that you have in your agenda can also be found um online for audience members through box and then we'll be on our curriculum writing and assessment website um after the port meeting so these documents are General outlines of the Frameworks and systems that were developed during the 23 24 school year for the Equitable multi-level systems of support or emls for a shorter version um the instructional District leadership team worked to outline the student identification process using multiple data points that would provide a more holistic picture where where students are needing additional support in both academic and mental health and well-being areas during the upcoming school year the EM LSS team which will consist of the district reading specialist the district instructional coach our um associate principal Mr Dro and building principal Miss Lam will meet
060and discuss specific student progress and supports that will benefit students individually so looking at interventions that might be most appropriate for that student depending on where that data that complete picture identifies areas of need in both academic and mental health and well-being Frameworks continuing on that spectrum of supports for student educational options the gifted and talented framework that is also attached provides a structure to support those students who need accelerated options we're fortunate that we do offer many of those Advanced course options one of which you heard from miss Lamb tonight through AP courses cap courses pltw um start college now and other other things like that students also have various Advanced offerings um through Early College credit program as Mr Walters mentioned earlier this evening so that they can earn those college credits this
061framework outlines a process where identified students have targeted and specific conversations with their counselers to ensure that their diverse needs are being met as well so looking at both ends of the Spectrum in terms of supports that we are offering students both of these Frameworks provide us a process to provide academic mental health and well-being supports as well as supports for students who need accelerated options um we put in a lot of hard work this year to develop these Frameworks with that instructional District leadership team and we're really looking forward to the great supports that these Frameworks will bring in this in the upcoming school year we've already started to see um significant growth just with the intentionality that we had during the 23 24 school year and we're hopeful that we'll continue to see
062those grow as we have more explicitly outlined supports any questions from the board Stevie as I look this over I'm just trying to kind of glance through it does this require any additional Manpower in terms of Staff no it does not we have identified team members um and we began that process last year as we're outlining the Frameworks and identifying who those team members would be thank you any other questions or comments or board numbers I gu R thank you very much next on our board agenda is the eate funding from Miss Bale perhaps good evening um so every year I have to come forward to you and read a little blurb to say that we accept e raate funding so tonight's your night so Hartford Union High School participates in the federal e- rate
063program which um provides significant discounts on internet and fiber optic connections and services for technology infrastructure we are we are required to teach Internet safety and have internet protection software in place to block access to harmful im images and we do have those both of those we are required to acknowledge us in a public meeting and we ask if there are any questions or concerns about Internet safety please let me know thank you thank you next on our agenda are items for discussion and possible action our first item is approval of policy 2264 the new policy for non-discrimination on the basis of sex and education programs or activities so just as a reminder is reference before um as we move into this new approach to discussion and possible action um there is no longer a
064need for us to make a motions they decid then discuss so we certainly jump into the first item here this evening um in regards to the title n policy and have Mr Lacy come back up share the perspective Council sure yeah so this is really uh just kind of a guideline for our discussion but um obviously we're having these conversations all over the state and and understand that it's you know it's a it's a Hot Topic right now um so I just want to kind of you know touch on a few what I think are the critical Concepts number one um I know it's labeled as a new excuse me a new policy and technically that's correct um but you do already have a Title Nine um enforcement if you will policy 22 66 um
065which has to remain in place as well because the way the structure is built now there's there's overlap um so to stop just to break that down so for any instances that uh would be reported moving forward that occurred prior to August one4 that's the purpose for the old policy have St Place correct correct that's exactly 100% accurate yeah so how long that's going to be you know is anybody's guess but for right now that's the case um so so you know I guess directly speaking my advice to the board uh is to adopt the policy revisions um that incorporate the Department of Labor's revised regulations um those are the regulations that right now again well August 1 moving forward for conduct that that is at issue um sets out the U acceptable if you
066will compliance mechanism for purposes largely and I'll talk about this this in a second as well largely from a a structural standpoint from an investigation standpoint um and it's tied to as everything the Department of Labor does they tie compliance to um receip of federal funding so that's that's the uh the carrot if you will um so I did want to obviously mention and talk a little bit about the the litigation um and one thing I I think is important to note um there is almost never some Proclamation by you know a federal agency that doesn't result in some manner of litigation so that's that's a pretty common you know practice I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't already intuitively understand um and and this is no exception to that um so we
067have a decision from a from a federal called Tri court or district court judge in Kansas um issued a preliminary injunction on July 2nd uh the plaintiffs in that case included a number of state's attorney generals uh and then also a couple of private organizations um one of the facets of that order uh is that it applied to um the department of education's enforcement of its regulations uh as it applies to any that a um child of a member of uh moms for Liberty which is one of the plaintiff organizations uh any any school that is attended by a child of that organization so um what the court asked is that there be a a submission of of applicable schools uh Hartford Union High School is on that list that was filed with the uh
068with the court um so that that case obviously is going to continue in litigation it's already been appealed to uh the 10th circuit which is the appeals court that governs um that part of the country uh the lawsuit like like many others that are going on and and really have been going on for for some time even prior to this regulation uh specifically challenged the regulation's expanded definition of um the the term sex in Title 9 so Title is referred to that it's Title Nine of the education amendments Act of 1972 and that's the the law that we you know have heard a lot about for a long time that prohibits uh discrimination on the basis of sex in uh programming uh for uh educational institutions that receive federal funding uh so the new definition
069created by this regulation includes uh within the within the definition of sex uh sex stereotypes sex characteristics pregnancy or related conditions uh sexual orientation and gender identity uh and that's the the focus of the litigation on that the expansion uh of that definition it puts us in a in a bit of a uh confusing if you will position on its face in Wisconsin because Wisconsin is governed by in terms of federal court systems by the seven Circuit Court of Appeals which is in Chicago but has jurisdiction over Wisconsin um Illinois and Indiana uh and that Court interpreting title n directly so the department of education's regulations interpret title n through the that uh agency process regulation process which creates law um but the courts also interpret um the statutes directly so in Wisconsin the circuit
070in a case initially called Whitaker versus kosha Unified School District uh determined that again not regulations not a determination by the department B but that the statute itself when it references or uses the term sex that that incorporates um the concept of of gender identity and that uh actions deemed to be uh taken on the basis of On's uh status as a transgender student uh violates title n so in Wisconsin into the federal system regardless of what happens with these particular regulations uh our law is still um what the seventh circuit has said it is at least for now um and since that date since 2017 there have been um numerous cases that have sort of maybe question the logic but nonetheless followed it because it is the the precedent that controls our jurisdiction um
071Wisconsin law also uh has for a very long time expressly included sexual orientation within you know the the Wisconsin sort of corollary to title n or or non student non-discrimination it's broader as you can see includes you know sex but also race religion national origin Etc um sexual orientation has been included in that for for quite some time and that is enforced ultimately by the Department of Public destruction as as a practical matter often is tit line um so from a legal standpoint um you know I understand that litigation is ongoing and it will be hopefully at some point we get up to the US Supreme Court and we get a more U definitive at least clarification of what the law is Nationwide um we got that with title seven which is the employment discrimination
072um you know related kind of statutory protections that exist uh in which the court said that that term sex did include uh these Concepts uh as is laid out in the regulation in in the seven CC um so with that a couple of points uh first of all I always make this point that adopting the policy as a board member is uh nothing more than a recognition that as of right now this is the law that governs our jurisdiction right and to put the school district in the best possible position you know the the the lowest risk if you will from a from a liability standpoint from an exposure standpoint um adopting the policy it's just the policy uh is my view the appropriate course of action it doesn't mean agreement with that definition it
073doesn't mean acqu asence to you know the the concept of of gender identity and and related issues that come along with that it just is a recognition that as of right now that's the law um that we have to apply in the state of move to the next page and obviously I'll take questions I just I kept it short I want to be very clear as an attorney this is not an easy thing for me to do to keep it short um but just wanted to hit a couple more uh points like I said the the adoption protects the district uh and and has no downside because what we're always looking to do is put you in the lowest risk of exposure from a liability standpoint um the the the order issued by the Kansas
074judge doesn't direct the school district to do or not do anything it applies exclusively to the Department of Education so they are enjoined from enforcing again that carrot that they hang out there uh that they can take away is their mechanism of enforcement uh it prohibits them from doing so um but again like I said you still have the obligation provide uh the protections uh that the law lays out as determined by the seven circuit um also sort of you know related to that it does not dictate any specific right the regulations do not inorder as the policy dictate any specific right to a particular you know accommodation or a particular um you know we talk a lot hear a lot about you know uses of bathroom and locker rooms and so forth there's nothing
075in the regulation that dictates that it just merely says you know the definition we already have place in Wisconsin the devil is always in details in terms of how you handle things on a caseby casee basis so speaking of handling things on a Case by case basis Dr Dean you want to maybe talk about that briefly sure so I guess I would just indicate um as Mr Lacy pointed out in um the statute 11813 that has been there um as well as the kosha case and to the to those ends we really have followed the same process um on a Case by case basis in that if a student identifies for example as different um identifies as different than birth um we would reach out to the parents have that meeting or conversation with the
076parents um and it would be in writing in terms of name changes pronouns things of that nature and so if those circumstances arise that is the process that we follow it is uh only with parent written permission that that would UE um and so I would just say to emphasize that it is a case-by casee basis and that some of these components were already in the statute as well as the results of the court case so we have been following a consistent process that has not changed over time the the last point I wanted to make is just and you might have a better sense of this as well on you know on the ground so to speak but one of the benefits from my perspective of the changes in policy again that emate from
077the regulations is that it provides more flexibility to your administrators your title n coordinators um the ones who have to make those caseby casee uh you know investigations analyses and decisions um there's a lot more flexibility to handle things on an informal basis there's a lot more flexibility to manage things you know that that provide sort of uh interim supportive measures if you will to try to mitigate you know the the circumstances and get to what was described much more of an interactive process with the the student and the family to make sure that that these things you know that that whatever however uh the situation is manifesting itself is not impacting that ability that's that students ability to access the education program um the the prior regulations and policy that we have to work
078under for a little bit yet uh was far more prescriptive in that regard um and and frankly made investigating and decision making you know purely consistent with the requirements very difficult in a lot of cases to do um so so this is also like I said predominantly a structural document um in terms of the process of investigating and so for um something that you're going to have to do no matter what because it is it is a requirement that I'll shut up question so I have some questions or comments but um I'll let other board members chime in first if they would like to or anybody else would can ask Mr Lacy questions a question okay so Mr Lacy I've been involved in several conversations about this and a lot of them are with Jeff
079too he he knows my concerns and my questions um the new Title Nine is how many pages long well I have part of it but not the whole thing the it's roughly 1500 I believe right so it's fig around 1500 or more yeah and just can I just just clarify something on that so because you're right it's it's an extremely long document um and what for whatever reason federal agencies love to do this the actual regulations are maybe the last 15 to 20 pages of that the first however many depends on what format you will get it in is all their discussion about the comments they receive responses to it so yeah it's sad to say so I guess my fear is hearing how long it really is um I I it's complex it's very
080um emotionally loaded in today's culture and for some reason it's being shoved at it's like hurry up and approve this um by the way there's a lot of required training to belongs with the school districts so if we were to go ahead and say yeah let's jump in as of last week that training wasn't even released yet and it's it's it's cost and it's time that districts are required them provide to their staff but by the way it might change down the road depending upon the litigation so I guess I'm I'm struggling with the way this is being done to school districts right now I don't think it's right I think it's it's a political move in an election year and I really don't want to be a part of that game I don't want
081to put our district in that position I I also don't want to put them in in hars way right so I mean it it sounds like you were trying to simplify things for us and I appreciate that but I also am hesitant because we can't oversimplify this it's more than just moms or Liberty it's other organizations as well correct yeah yeah the other ones predom to deal with higher educ in terms of membership young America's Foundation is also on that list believe in Jeff our young America's Foundation chapter is still active at the high school here was um so that I mean that's Sor just clarify pce so Mr Nelson Dr Dean are have been our title n coordinators obviously the trainings are targeted to different roles that people play Within the districts so the
082three of us have participated in multiple training Point ready that tra specifically is all District staff and maybe what the guidelines were regarding uh training prior to the school year training prior to fall sport season like some of those challenges that districts might face and last I heard your your agency did move up the training for all staff that be available the week Mar service certainly helps us address the teachers and those who live here during the school year doesn't necessarily prepare for the fall that kicks off the first week of August and I don't know how stringent that would be to be regards to some of the training challenges yeah the biggest so a couple things on the training uh number one um that that was a component of the prior regulations and the
083prior policy that's already in place as well um that there if you're going to serve as a title coordinator you had to go undergo training if you're going to serve as an investigator you had to undergo training a decision maker and an appeals decision maker um so so that training requirement exists no matter what happens with respect to uh these current regulations or the new regulations which technically I guess they're not current yet um in terms of providing that training it it's it's always going to be an ongoing process because when you have you know turnover new employees what have you uh the one component that's that's new in terms of training specifically to all staff is predominantly focused on making sure staff are aware of where to find the policy where to find the
084you know notice where to how to assist maybe a student who's looking to uh you know get support to find the title n coordinators and what have you um which is actually less of a requirement than what existed or what exists under the current regulations which essentially makes you know everybody kind of a mandatory reporter in a sense oversimplifying that but um so I I and I totally agree with you the department of Ed does this to us all the time you know here's massive regulations that we've been sitting on for a year and a half uh and uh now we got around to imp imp menting them and you have to uh or you know officially um publishing them and now you have to implement them in three months and it's it's it's unreasonable
085but they they responded to that essentially by saying y all knew this was coming basically response um so I don't disagree with you on that but I will say that a lot of what is in there is stuff that you already are doing uh and the the training I know we provide training as a as a firm to our clients um and you know we did four sessions the last one is yet like you said got moved up by popular or adamant demand however you look at it uh and then we make those available to all the districts as recordings so if you have new coordinators new whatever uh decision makers Etc that are required under go training that they can uh they can just sit and watch it it's pretty exciting stuff too I
086don't do them personally but we have three of my partners who spent a lot of time you know working with title n investigations and so forth have put those together so we are trying to address all those things because I agree with you it's it's not a reasonable way for the government to behave um but unfortunately that's not all I mean and even you know on a Schoolboard level if we're looking at lengthy policy we're looking at several policies bunched together a lengthy policy we often will say this is our first reading we're going to come back to more time of digust the the so-called urgency of this and trying to have this happen really fast to me just doesn't it makes me very leery when you're looking at that kind of size and policy
087and I'm hearing different perspectives on what it could and couldn't mean which is why it takes the litigation in how many states are liation now because I'm hearing it's more more and more correct yeah and it's difficult because there's multiple different cases in multiple different courts and different states Attorneys General who have um signed on and now you got other groups who are so are you unsure of the number right now I don't know the total number I think the last time I checked by July 11 or 12 I believe there were 14 states that were officially involved in lawsuits that had injunctions issued yeah like that sounds that sounds reasonable Wisconsin is not one of them and I think it's fair to say our attorney general is not going aside on that I don't
088know that but I would suspect that that's fair to say that would never happen and I like that you you did validate that I mean I believe our processes here from what i' I've heard from Stacy from je um our processes here are working High School we're working with students with families if there is somebody who wants to use different different LA rles or conversations that are being held to make sure that we're being um respectable to respect to all involved in that situation so I believe that we are handling it here and our on our home front what's what's working well here for our student body I'm just I'm very hesitant to jump into this now especially since it's it's still I I hear it changes daily I mean that's that's something I heard
089a week ago is I oh by the way tomorrow it's going to look a little different in terms of what what the litigation looks like what's being discussed sure um so that's that's just where I'm at I have other Notes too but I'll let somebody else do some talking yeah could I make a point about the Kansas lawsuit uh so in June of 2024 the Supreme Court uh gave an issue on a Case called bobber brigh V uh Rond that's was the chevron's deference case uh and in simple terms that ruling sharply cut back the ability of federal agencies to interpret laws that they administer uh so that's something that we've seen very recently and in that Kansas lawsuit the judge uh actually referenced that uh in his ruling that issued the injunction there so
090uh that's that's one thing that gives me a lot of hesitation to implement this is that the Department of Education Without Congressional Authority shouldn't be going and making drastic changes like this well yeah and and that's that's a that's a good point I just one maybe I don't say minutia maybe nitpicky detail uh that case doesn't affect the agency's ability to issue regulations what it says is that courts do not owe them deference to the interpretations that they've reached relative to whatever the authorizing statute says so that seems like you know a distinction without a difference but it's why you're going to see that litigated in courts it's also why you know the point I was making before in Wisconsin what we have right now is a federal court not an agency a federal court
091saying this is what Title Nine the statute not the regulation means when it says um you know sex when it uses the word sex uh that's an interpretation from a court um that has jurisdiction over over us and It ultimately has to get to the Supreme Court to make you know a clarifying determination what are the odds that uh in your mind that it does reach a supreme court I don't I don't want to be held accountable for this but I mean it it has to they've already taken the title 7 case which is essentially the same again title 7 is the Civil Rights Act 1964 uh and title 7 protects employment employees from discrimination on the basis of a number of things including um you know sex and in that context the court and
092the bot stck decision seem like you've researched this so um you know made that determination there's some question as to whether that translates directly from a um from a precedent standpoint um but the fact that they took that case and decided that case leads me to believe that they're gonna have to take this case at some point in in the near future and what they typically do is wait to see all these other courts work through you know which is chaos with people on the ground like everybody in this room uh but work through their analysis so they have the benefit of all the different analyses um but you know until that happens uh or the seventh circuit could reverse itself that does happen as well um but the decisions that we're talking about uh
093were issued on what's called a nonbond decision which is again kind of mundane nuances but all the all the appic courts are organized with let's say 20 judges and I don't know exactly how many are the seven circuit they ship every case gets a three-judge panel you can ask that the full core here OCC Cas uh and that's what's happened in this situation uh it makes it far less likely that the seventh circuit would reverse itself given that uh the entire uh judicial um compliment is has reached the decision so I think it has to be a Supreme Court decision I think it will happen but it could take several years um my you know the concern to again like I said in Wisconsin for better for worse right now and until the Supreme Court
094or the seventh circuit tells us otherwise um our definition of sex as it relates to the statute of title n is essentially what's embodying that regulation now they don't spell it out in that detail but essentially it's the same um and the department of Ed may be enjoined from enforcing certain things against districts such as your District here uh by virtue of that of that Kansas decision uh and being on the on the list officially filed with the court um but that doesn't necessarily impact private litigant so some a student who files a complaint against the school district doesn't need the Department of Education to support that they have a private cause of action um and one of the things that's in the regulation now granted that creates sort of a weird J position as
095to whether that applies but one of the things that's in there is is that um not having or having a policy that uh discriminates or that you know provides an Avenue for discrimination wildly paraphrasing here uh is defined as less or or more than a DI Minimus negative impact and another words it can be the basis for liability so that's why I say my concern is that adopting the policy protects you in the sense that you don't open that allegation up and it doesn't at the end of the day probably be materially change the way your coordinators are handling cases which is good that means you guys are doing a good job um and then as things develop as is always the case it will invariably be I mean you you're Neola client so you
096see that policies are amended somewhat uh you know tingly frequently right um and that's probably going to be the case as we see where this you know where this process goes um but again my role is to say what what puts you in the in the strongest legal position and you know I I believe adopting the policy and then of course continuing to monitor developments um and continuing to uh allow your your uh coordinator and other administrative folks who are involved in this process you know work through individual cases as they seems to be working CHR oh I'm sorry he's up C so Mr Lacy you're you're part of the firm that represents us so it's probably safe to understand that multiple people in your firm have read the 1500 pages and you're saying to
097us that the recommendation of you and your firm is to move forward with this yes yeah and and internally I can tell you that we have had I can't even count how many hours of conversation among all of us reading the regulations talking about did you see this you know what is this mean working through this uh working through the policy revisions and recommendations for clients so that we all are on but you know there's always a little bit of nuance right between individuals but generally speaking uh everybody's on the same page that you know um regardless of what what we feel about the interpretation self that this is an obligation that that the district should um follow through an adopted policy in development so if if we don't adopt the policy tonight what what
098does that mean what what risk does the is the district act it sounds like there's at least a litigation risk but are are and maybe you don't have that are there other risks I heard there's funding there's questions of funding being held back what so if we don't do this tonight if this does not get passed tonight what does that mean for our school district so the the department of EDS control this funding and at least they have not officially said this but at least there's there's reason to believe that they wouldn't pursue that against any District that was included within that injunction so we don't know that for sure because they're certainly questioning whether that court has authority to make that rule okay so just kind of putting that piece aside but that is
099Department of Ed's uh sort of penalty if you will um they also conduct audits they Farm LS out to the Department of Public Instruction a lot of times and they are extremely active so you're probably G to get hit under l what does that mean well again it's all tied to whether or not your funding is effective um the other piece is that it it puts your coordinators in difficult position because while uh like I said structurally um you know overall anyway structurally you're still working through things on a Case caseby casee basis you're still supporting the students there processes and largely it isn't going to change but there are certain specific requirements within um you know new regulations versus the old regulations your title n coordinator is supposed to maintain compliance so it puts
100it puts that a little bit of a tricky uh situation but then ultimately like I said if if you have a student and hopefully you don't because they're not that common that we end up with lawsuits from students I don't want I don't want anybody to get the impression I'm telling you you're gonna get suit August second if you don't adopt the policy but um when a student does assert that their uh rights have been violated and that right let's say as a as a transgender student for example that right is established in in federal law that applies to Wisconsin um one of the arguments is going to be that you don't even have in place the policy requirements to enforce those protections and therefore you're already behind the eight wall because you haven't adopted
101what um has been established by the agency as the appropriate mechanism to combat what is also a protected uh concept as as according to the seventh circuit does that does that create a perception that we don't know what we're doing that's certainly the argument I mean that's certainly the argument that's gon to be made the arent you'd make if I were yeah absolutely absolutely I would say you clearly don't take this seriously is that fair I you know no I don't think that's a fair statement but it's what's that the fair starts y fair fair that's fair sorry Heather so without going into detail of 1500 pages just listening and um I have to say my one thing that's really sticking with right now paraphrase what you said if this is not a responsible way
102for our current governance why would we join that m jump to this getting forward where litigations ons a lot unkn and if we feel it's being pushed I just I have that feeling that we're going too fast we slow the train down we don't understand that need more discussion there lots of variables and I hate ha I hate it when the Department of Education start say oh we're going to threaten your funding we're going to threaten this threaten that we on it I I think there's a point where we've got to just take a stance and say hold on we're slowing the trade down we've got things in place we're taking care they situations come and would def us KN that's so I don't know I'm kind of I'm in what Trac mentioned slow the
103train down things happen a lot going now um the clar said clarify EV and that I don't know know we hear a lot of large out yeah and I guess what I would say to that is number one I I understand what you're saying completely same thing that's what you're saying this is not a a reasonable way for the federal government to act unfortunately I would say that I have my uh self hear myself saying that on a virtually a daily basis but it doesn't change with the law says you as a local school board or as a you know as a covered entity um or it's what they refer to as a recipient because it's all TI of funding um that doesn't change your obligation to follow it and challenging it as many are
104doing through the court system takes a long time to do but presently um again my biggest concern is that we we the primary issue in dispute there's really no challenge to changes to the procedural structure the changes to the authority of the type of Mind coordinator Etc or the use of you know a more Ro robust informal resolution process it's all about the definitional term that's in that regulation and we have we're not we're not covered by that let's say expanded definition by virtue the regulation alone were covered by that by virtue of the federal court system which has created that you know quite some time ago in terms of time so you know yeah I agree with you it's it's unreasonable to make these SE changes they did it to us in 2020 as
105well uh same same title Title Nine regulations that were dropped you know months before they were expected to be enforced uh and you know For Better or For Worse it happens um but it doesn't change the fact that that is the legal requirement but I I understand what you're saying and then Mr La I looked into it a little bit I unfort forgot my copy home but if we were to be found out of compliance say this this the state decided to take a look as federal government did they said you're out of comp clients looking at the process they give us a chance to remedy that correct mean look at the process has Ty I think I saw like 57 years nobody's ever lost their funding they've been given a chance to remedy the
106process just like a financial a yeah generally what the department of Ed does is they want um agreements whereby you have to adopt in short order revisions to policies or or additional Provisions within a policy and then there might be other um provisions of oversight that the that the department opposes as a as part of that they call consent decree um the Department of Public Instruction same thing they do Audits and policies and you know it's pretty common they'll find something they always do uh and then they'll tell you you know what it is you need to do to fix that and they'll come back and they'll Reit and so for so it's an administrative burden but yeah they will give you time to fix it like I said I think it's a practical matter
107uh the immediate concern is is really as to um you know private against using using this as an opportunity or as a as a basis and Heartland you know I don't know if you guys are you know targeted what have you um but there are groups out there looking for opportunities to bring those cases and of course my job is to say don't let your for people you know you can work through this there's the the underlying concerns about you know what is this create in terms of obligations in the school again relative to some of those you know um facilities related concerns and so forth you know that stuff we already have we're going to have to work through that um this is just taking one other you know Avenue of of assault if
108you will against the district in a particular case out of the hands of of people outside the district and then working on how do we apply these um any other board members I think I would just add for the record in addition some of the pieces that we are already currently doing uh just related to taking complaints orally or in writing that is something that we currently do anyway um I would also say that we are very transparent to um parents students staff in terms of where to go for the reporting for the bullying and harassment form um I'd also indicate that given as Mr Lac talked a little bit about the seventh circuit uh case as well as 118 we do have identity identity and orientation on that reporting form so that is I
109guess another piece to just be aware of that has not changed and then finally I would just note in terms of the supportive measures there's a piece in there and you could expand on that regarding the complaint respond um in terms of you know questioning those supportive measures or challenging those supportive measures and that's something certainly we work with students and families around already in terms of type of supporting measures and things of that nature so just wanted to note that uh some of those pieces yeah yeah and that's and there's more flexibility I think in these regulations as to some of those measures that are really designed to to resolve issues before they become you know form complaints or or certain lawsuits the other kind of interesting thing just from um an enforcement perspective
110or question um most complaints involving 11813 which is against the state law but also making allegations you know the title n is also implicated in most cases end up being reviewed by the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Public Instruction does apply title M it does apply the regulations whether they should or not is a question we've raised numerous times but they do um I have no idea how they're going to view these injunctions that go to the Department of Education specifically um but again um my concern or my my desire I should say in you know the position that I represented is to just take that off the table and again we continue to work through individual cases so that so that no students you know wres to uh supportive and accessible
111academic environment is hard great I don't know if you have the answer to this but why why are we named in this Kansas whatever well you're so again the the lawsuit was brought a number of organizations uh one of which who filed the list and and you know other organizations that also you know do work in or have reach I should say the um K12 system uh one of the uh dictates that the court is that this injunction would apply to uh again against the department of Ed relative to any school at which either a litigant or the child of a litigant attended so they filed moms for Liberty in this case filed a list specifically um of districts or schools that they thought were covered and while was near high school here uh so
112you know without getting too far into the weeds of things that would probably only interest boring attorneys but you know one thing that's you know to me always a tenant of the law is that you can't you can't apply a ruling to someone um immediately in the sense that they have to do or refrain from doing something without providing them notice being certained you know if you get sued you have a right to be served so that you're aware of the fact that you're part um this is because it depies to the Department of Ed is kind of a you know back door including a number of districts there's been requests to expand the scope to just be by County um you know as of now that's not the case um but we'll see what
113happens like Friday there were number of rulings on on Friday that extended the deadline for example to create that list until the end of this week so it's an ongoing fair but that's how tell so so where's the connection of Mom's from Liberty to Harford Union High School uh the group who is one of the plaintiff groups in the Kansas case uh included Hartford Union High School as one of these specific schools at which the child of a member attends and that was what the court asked the the the parties to file they don't have to identify who that child is in fact they probably they should um nor does nor is there any you know verification what that would look like anyway but so it's just a list that is filed with the court
114that includes you know schools all across the country okay Tracy are you still associated with Ms for Li I am but I don't currently have students here right I just want to make clear that there's board members that are part of this organization yeah this for me my record has nothing to do with the underlying issue nothing to do with any of the organizations it's just simply a legal analysis that you know For Better or For Worse we like it or we don't like it it's my daily assistence with the federal government uh this is the law this is what we are expected to follow here in Wisconsin here in this district and uh until we have you know a direct Authority that changes that which would be set seven Circuit of the Supreme Court
115um you know my strong recommendation is that we make assure that the district is in compliance and then there undoubtedly be uh reasons to to revisit specific components of this policy like any other policy over time um Mr Walters lazy I think earlier you referenced maybe the right words exposure to a possible student a District's Legal C that to ur what role could you see yourself trying to defend the district that did not adopt these regulations well I think our defense primarily would be that um whether we did or not our title n coordinator provided the level of uh support investigation Etc that the law requires and that we followed you know all the expectations and you know in fact we're probably going to have those issues because while they cut off the two regulations
116on a specific date no one seemed to account for the reality that there's going to be conduct before August 1 after August 1 they're going to be part of the same complaint so kind of the same argument that you know we're we're doing what is required to protect the interest of the student and whether we have a policy that mirrors that regulation or not we're still doing what is necessary to protect that student so we can't be accused of being you know what the term is deliberately indifferent um but again the claims and I don't know about how a court will handle that how an agency whether it's the Department of Public Instruction or what hand um and so my role is always say do take that variable off the table and um we might
117still have to make that argument again in the crossover case but you know I'd rather do that because of the fact that the regulations are a mess than because we decided that uh you know we didn't want to adopt the policy because of litigation and and waiting till it plays out I mean I understand what you say but I'm just it can take a very very long time years and years and years that's just the way courts work um this case Kansas is over a year old so um you know that is just going to take it's going to take a long time uh before we get a decision that's you know authoritative Beyond we have so far and I guess I'll just I'll close my comments by saying my job is similar to to
118our legal counes right um to bring things to the board for their consideration uh that supports all kids supports all staff reduces risk to the district um um you know I think it's important to you know take a look at the underlying STS that he shared in the second column that talks about adopting the policy cly implements the regulations doesn't signify agreement it doesn't believe that we should be at the mercy of the feder state government mandates especially those that are unfunded at times right um it's hard for me to look past uh that the legal advice to adopt the policy and not believe that that opens ourselves up to more risk and not less risk um and ultimately we compensate our legal council we compensate to bring policies to us both those organizations are
119bringing this forward and while there's a number of people on stage who maybe don't fundamentally agree with policy or the way in which it came to us ultimately my job is to compensate the leader of this District that not an elected official is to issues such as this that do not increase the RIS that arees and again there's a great balance that as a board have to make determination on in regards whether you want that window of uncertainty that could increase exposure of risk District to be left at somebody else's hands and just wait to see what happens next or make a decision and change that decision in a day a week a month should something change in regards to perspective from legal council or our the organization and I'm just I'm just thinking out
120loud je too me I'm hearing things are changing almost with this we potentially have another board meeting August 15 that's up um if not Aug August 26 okay and teacher in Services when we do August 19th okay and our training would Beed first and do we know what that cost is they've not told me there's any additional cost we P them ready wait cost for the training that we're providing no cost no no it's being provided as a webinar free of cost and then the video it's reported then the video is provided you have access to it as long as you want you still have access to the probably we do this is that time where we just release all of our trainings for all of our employees so whether it's blood War pathogens or
121lab safety or child abuse they all this is normal routines and practices as far as from training perspective um I think as lazy said before so it's not really that different for us navigate in the summer months and preparation for our spaff and it sounds like it's a video format that could be done yeah yeah and and part of the plan or part of the thought process too is that you're going to have people move in and out of particular positions you know that have to be training to perform them so make easy to do that okay you have new person IDI technically they watch our video but yeah we know no you won't get a surprise bill on that one just a reminder of our new procedures items for discussion and possible action not
122to push us forward but this would be the first chance for anybody to make a motion support the majority of the board in regards to how address these issues based on our like to make motion I would based on our legal recommendation that the leadership's recommendation I'd like to adapt policy 2264 as so Craig is making a motion to adopt policy 264 as presented 22 document in our packet is there a second ask is there a second on that motion hearing none is there another proposal from another board member I will motion I would like to motion to to keep our current Title 9 policy and to reject the update is there a second motion second okay so for discussion just so I'm clear are you looking to reject and not look at it further
123in the future are you looking at to reject it for now uh to rejected for no any other discussion or questions Craig what exactly does that mean um I guess to Craig's Point too I might just follow and asked to could that mayor looking to table it or would you like to use the term reject uh no I am not looking to table this item I am looking to uh reject it and fail it as a motion what does that mean to motion to keep our Title 9 policy the same as it current is and to not adopt 2264 as it's presented in our p i can I just make a suggestion from a procedural standpoint um if you take no action then that's effectively what occurs 2266 is already in place you're not doing
124anything to resend that policy so that remains your policy um from a record standpoint i' prefer that if you're not going to adop policy that you just not adop the policy you don't have the motion was made it wasn't seconded it failed um that status quo my suggestion would be to leave it at that he can't Grant what's it he can't Grant I don't believe that's what we're doing let's let's not let's let's be professional in our gting place again and this is just purely from from the standpoint of what I've talked about before if you don't want to pass it right now obviously that's your decision this is this is your if it works better procedurally to uh just move on to the next item then I'm perfectly fine with also doing that I
125believe what may be most appropriate then would be to withdraw your yep okay we'll withdraw my motion then so what so if we don't pass this what what does it mean I mean are we jeopardizing ourselves well it means you're gonna have to you you still have to continue to operate under the old policy and the old that that's based on previous regulations which has a lot more I would say unnecessarily cumbersome procedural components to it um but you're still going to have to apply the law as dictated by the seven Circle so it's kind of a hybrid model I guess so I guess I don't understand why we're not doing this I mean nobody's really given a good reason other than it's time and why we're not going to follow the advice of our
126legal councel seems somewhat confusing to me that's the whole purpose of the legal council so what's the rub I guess I believe that we did have a substantial discussion the Le board members were given the opportunity to ask questions to State their perspective I don't know that we need to spend more time further reason in it or asking why it seems that the motion um did not carry through and that the the current position then is we are going to stay put with what we have at this time so if there are no other motions on that discussion then let's move forward with our agenda thank you Mr thank you very much I we appreciate you being here tonight this is very complex and it's it's good to have legal perspective onk you um up
127next for items for discussion and possible action is possible approval of the August 15 2024 board Workshop changing to a regular board meeting Mr Walters so um we released the packet had some additional thoughts certain like the board's perspective just as a reminder August 15th was originally set as a board Workshop date when we sent our dates for the year um and that discussion based on the work and addressing our facility let us to consider that date to change it from a workshop to a board meeting rather than a workshop so the board can take possible the action my question for the board is with the workshop scheduled for Wednesday July 31st where hopefully we date more into what the recommendation facilities group is should we look at a date closer to that that that
128conversation might be more fresh in mind and identify a date the week of August 5th rather than the dates of August 15th as I've looked at it August 15th is you know more than two weeks away from us really B deep in talking about it and I would be concerned uh that as more collapses that might be prohibitive to us fully understanding any possible direction we want to go forward with with adopting a possible resolution so I'm open to conversation opportunity to schedule something the week of AUST in of considering changing the work meeting yeah so your new kind of perspective here is to just create a new board meeting uh earlier on in August and just leave the 15th Workshop either leave the 15th as a workshop or cancel okay could could we take
129what kind of piggy back up what Nolan said is have the board meeting that first week of August whatever whatever that is week before and keep the workshop and let's hope we pass it or move forward with the resolution and then how the workshop could be how that's going to be launched or or kind of looking through what that is that I mean I like it I I I like the the doing the meeting shortly there after the workshop because then it is fresh in everybody's Minds I mean I know we've all lived this for quite a while but we're we're almost to the Finish Line let's let's close that Gap and and make sure we can push it all the through so that's up front sorry to jump in one more time that's on
130the front end keeping that window of time smaller between August July 31st and some dat the week of the 5th and then also just providing a little bit additional time if the board would approve any resolution between the time resolution was adopted and US assuring that our work Beed and corals ofing and all of that is finalized prior to the deadline of 70 days prior to function I guess what what might be hard for me is I I was already reserving August 15th and August 26th the week of August 5th may be difficult for me um I can see if we can come up with a mutual dat but I I was not not aware that's be thrown out when is the latest date that we can approve a measure for the November B so
131no it's 70 days prior but you need some execution time between that 70 window so we certainly don't want to shoot days prior to November 5th then we don't have time to make that happen some of those Partners we need to work on should a resolution be ad so that's why the 15th still gives a little bit of a buffer earlier the week of August gives a little bit greater OPP to again to me that's not as nearly as important as possibly being closer to conv all days work for me that week of August and I I have a series of appointments that had to get rescheduled for a particular reason and I on a phone call tomorrow to find out forrow what my weeks like August I won tomorrow but I do have several
132maybe since we've just been planning on the 15th already for a while just for make sure we have no conflicting schedule it would be better for us to just stick to the 15 that is currently what's in the board packet um did you did you already kind of pull board members to see I mean do we have any idea if there's a mutual night so at the very least we want to have a me meeting prior to what we had scheduled for August 26 because that's too that is correct and you know honestly there's some tangent Tang gentle um things that we will need to bring to the board as well and obviously we're in High season so it's actually really beneficial that we have a second meeting that we're g to move towards in
133August instead of the 26 because that's after our teacher in service week so for any hires that we have to get done all of those things there number of number of loose ends that some dat AUST just thinking out loud here um we could call a special meeting in order to set the next meeting like say in the next couple of days find out that there is a day that would work early August you could call a special meeting as long as we have at least a quum correct to set that next correct correct could could we could we agree just kind of a side idea to not have a meeting to decide a meeting but if we agreed to have it the week of the fth which is the week before can we go
134can we agree to that and then a specific date we could do a a PO amongst us just so we don't have to have another meeting to decide date could if there was an opportunity for the board to be flexible that week we could approve a meeting to the week of August 5th and you keep the August 15 Workshop as rly as as a conversation I guess I I guess I I really think there's a huge benefit to having board meeting that next week after the workshop I mean yeah this is certainly it's on me a little bit I was trying to be convenient when we when we talked about moving the 15th from a workshop to a to their board meeting to me going 16 17 days between our workshop and July 31st is
135a bit problematic making sure that we're we have those conversations fresh in our mind really understand difference of direction we want to I guess if if the rest of the board memb present can to that week I I can see if I can there's potentially reasons that I might be needed out state so I I can try I just I was already planning on 15 I'm sure I would be able to find sometime in that week to do a meeting I mean I'm clear to that ultimately the board really doesn't need to approve a right like that's that's not WR anywhere that you guys prove a date that we have aard right we approve the set of board me we're kind of all on the same page you know official action we don't need to
136do we could we could pull you all and set it's not as if okay we need a majority of the vote to so we don't we don't need to do anything because we want to keep reason it's on the agenda tonight is because when we made that official approval we approved it as a workshop and if we needed board action that was the convenient date to have an actionable to consider a resolution so it sounds like the the directive now is to pull the board see what we can pull together possibly before August 15 and change that meeting if at all possible that is okay with no board action necessary if you guys are comfortable with that that is certainly something okay I'm good with that it sounds like the other board members are as
137well yeah good with that that good luck thank you and if board members do not respond give them a call I will just say it is imparis that we have decision so we have to commit to something rate not okay thank you Mr Walters um next on the agenda is approval of the human growth and development committee members this was in our packet um with a little bit of extra material we can see the the percentage wise of the different roles that are represented in this committee and correct me if I'm wrong Stevie but it looks like we would have room if say another healthare professional or clergy member came forward without really upsetting the balance of that percentage those are calculated with that correct the board if I could just add that the board
138did receive additional information after the last board meeting regarding MERS thank you um I would also like to point out that while we do have one Healthcare professional um who encompasses that role that we have several parents who do work in the healthare profession as well to provide that additional Insight thank you any other discussion or questions regarding our growth and development committee members Craig I said this last time still feel this way that this committee is to make a recommendation to the board or or to approve things within the school more importantly I think it's a conflict to a certain extent that we have two board members on this committee I think you're creating a level of I don't want to say intimidation but I I just don't think that's the way to to
139have a Community Committee with multiple board voting board members on it I mean if you want to be part of it that's fine because anybody could go to any of these meetings but to be a voting member of it it seems like there's it just doesn't seem right that 40% of the board is on this committee that could bring things forward to the board I mean I I just don't like that doesn't seem like very transparent it seems like you're creating undue influence to this committee and I would just ask have you attended one of the committee meetings I I have not I've not so having attended that I would say that I believe that in that setting our board members are working side by side with the other committee members and you can be
140assured I I didn't sense any intimidation um if anything I think it's it's just a really good Cooperative group sharing different perspectives um I think we're blessed to have multiple committee members I mean board members that are passionate about curriculum we're a school I I think it's it's wonderful we have board members who want to get involved and help with curriculum so we're each entitled to our own perspective but I personally feel that it's it's working very well and it has to do more with the the people that are involved not necessarily our formal titles and I'd like to add too is having joined it previously as a parent my parent had a rewarding to watch done she's collaborated with us we all come perspective of our of our kids of our upbringing of our
141kids educational journey and that's why I sit on the score educational Journey students I can't commment her not she's a great job getting different feedback and together great great that I'm proud of I can reassure you that I'm there and for me it's about curriculum it's not about the school board member being well I just think it gives a bad perception it doesn't matter because you're gonna vote how you vote so it is it any other comments or discussion no one uh I was going to make a motion to approve the human growth and development committee members for the 2024 and 2025 school year thank you Nolan so we have a motion is there a second okay seconded by Heather any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I any oppos say
142nay nay and the motion carries um next on the agenda is our approval of policy 9130 from theola updates 33.1 Jeff do you want to leave this conversation sure this was our st's welcome to jump in as well um this was a policy that was part of the volume updates um last month and it was tabled um based on a couple of items at the end I think specifically one talked about board decision was Final and one talked about the length of time in which the decision was Final I think there was a bit of confusion and we did not enough job of clarifying um so the information prior where it talks about the various levels applies just in general terms does not apply to instruction materials and you're looking at page two toward the
143bottom that's where it starts to refer to instruction materials and so the language um that we clarified is on the last page so parents of children attending school and District should refer to the guideline 9130 for informal complaint process and then should a resolution not be reached instructor's evaluator with the instructor's evaluator then there's some steps to take and then the last sentence um in green Decisions by the complaint Review Committee so that was not clear at all that's what it's referred to when you have a a person concerned about instruction materials District administrator Andor the board regarding individual concerns of instruction materials will stand for a calendar year and specifically individual request for reconsideration those items will be entertained so hopefully um you may agree with us that we did a better job of
144clarifying versus what appeared in front of you last month overall I appreciate the work on the clarify langage I think that makes it um read to what the intent was so thank you for that any other discussion uh yeah I guess I'll just chime in saying with me being the one board member that uh voted against tbling this last last month I'm uh happy with the way it's uh presented this time and I uh I like the policy thank you Nolan um anything from other board members um then I'd like to make a motion to approve policy 9130 from n update 33.1 as presented second so we have a motion in a second any further discussion as put it to a vote all those in favor signify by saying I I any oppos say nay
145and the motion carries uh next in our discussion items is the 2425 preliminary budget approval and I'm guessing the brains behind this one is ready AC cross the way here take it away Rob so in the handout you can see um The Journey started back in November December um we were presenting the budget projections board at that time if we had done nothing different we were looking at about a $1.6 million deficit so over the past six seven months a lot of discussion a lot of tough decisions were made being the second year of a state budget we have a lot of things that are definite that we know right we know we're going to get 325,000 more per student we know we're going to have our Pro stay at $742 per so it makes
146it much helpful to be able to put together a budget even though we're not going to finalize it till October that we can present a budget currently about $160,000 to the Nega that includes several pieces that includes the expense have budgeted 2% for staff increases none of those have been still in negations set done anything yet as far as it reflects all the the changes that brought to the Shar puts in debt service is allures we had 10% reduction in salaries benefits across the board of through our district team I have a document the second document that is attached is you can stay this that details out the different funds each fund and the revenues and expenditures that we have budgeted so far as I talked about we don't finalize the actual budget until October
147and there's there several reasons for that most of it is we have our third Friday enr in September that number will set the number of students that we have wetip dollar student that's dict that is25 this year than was last year then in October the state will certify the amount state that we our Revenue liit is made up of St and property tax so in this case we've got our July 1 tax estimate from the state and it's a close to 25% increase from last year good news for taxers it doesn't increase the PO of money we have in our Revenue limit it just reduces so that number goes higher the amount that we're asking from our taxpayers goes down so there there's no additional doll even though that increase is projected to be 25%
148then once we get that so have third Friday September count we have 15th of October is state will certify our state and then at the end of October we have our end meeting but after the end meeting we set the tax levy based on all those finals that we will know by them so we're still uh have some big pieces that can affect our budget we're still in the process filling our staff for next year that $65,000 deficit up or down we still have to finalize salaries for next year again that can change that decisions but what I'm happy to to present is we've estimated I've estimated a 10% increase in our equalized value total value all of properties across the school district and when you run that through it into aate rate decrease based
149this so a property taxpayer that has a $300,000 home paid $615 in school taxes just a school por and that go down to um we're we're in spot that the budget that's being presented today we will use for our meeting at the end of October we use all Thea mons to put the information in paper all our for that meeting the maybe go to is your microphone in yeah it's lit up okay um again this document what it does is it takes each fund that we have um and takes the budget that I put together for um salaries and for revenues and expenditures um and when we're talking about a deficit we're always talking about fun um in the case that if we don't have enough re revenues to um pay the expenses that we
150have then we dip into our fund balance um to pay for those additional dollars um and then we also have special education fund we have our debt service we have our food service and we have some Capital expension funds within this so if you want to go to the last page bottom coin um this will just show the um the total dollars that right now we're expecting to set as our tax levy and the corresponding decrease in what that Levy was from prior I know it's a lot of information to throw at you know we're we're we're still working on pieces of the budget to to make sure we're finding areas to be as efficient as we can within the constraints we have of our re and again as I point out the the decrease
151in the levy has to do with the additional State a we're receiving currently or projected tubes do board members have any questions for Rob okay so kind of an odd question so if houses were reassessed last year and people's assessments went up would we get more money as a school district no um again this is based on the revenue limit uh is based on the number of students we have and multiplied by that dollar amount and that becomes our bucket of money how it gets spread out across different municipalities depends on you know if you had a reassessment did your go up or down the same percentage as the rest of the people so it may not you may have had an assessment where yours was closer to the actual value that they put as
152an assessment but somebody else's went up 20% they're going to pay a little bit more than than maybe you if yours did go up that same percent but it all ties back to that per pupil amount so it's it's it's really kind of irrelevant that part of right we we can't uh the revenue limit is what dictates how much money we have to spend um it it doesn't change as the again as the state is projected to put more money in state aid to us that's going to decrease the amount we're asking from all of our taxpayers it doesn't give us more dollars to potentially spend our our pot of money and the revenue limit stays the same and is dictated based on the number of students that attend Harvard univers okay thank you any
153other comments or questions hearing none is there a motion for Action I'd like to make a motion to approve the 20242 preliminary budget second you have a motion in a second any further discussion hearing none all those I'm sorry this is a roll call vote do a roll call vote starting by s i i i i motion carries next on our agenda for discussion is approval of a 2024 2025 employee handbook would you like to leave this discussion John Mr Nelson will go ahead Mr Nelson all right uh in your packet is a a redlined copy of employee handbook from what it was passed last year and uh items in green are um changes that we're proposing um I'll just kind of walk through some of the the more significant changes at this point um
154we changed on page eight the employee classifications to try to streamline it a little bit better that we can then utilize those um categories in different areas and you'll see them mostly um in the time off and benefits sections um when we're determining groups of employees that are eligible for certain types of benefits or time um in Pages 15 to 17 uh there's some changes to uh title n uh information there specifically to designate a primary and a secondary coordinator and implementing some of the language that was part of the discussion earlier in the meeting today um in the handbook on pages 36 to 38 we've added um definition to uh what we will pay for uh when employees go out of District uh to attend professional development in pages 40 to 45 we based
155on having those different groups uh of employee groups that we Define or classifications back on page eight um we combined some of the wording um for dealing with health insurance eligibility and dental and some of those pieces um we also amended the cash and L amounts to reflect the changes we made during our budget development process on pages 46 55 um we we cleaned up and combined what had been two different uh personal business last emergency lead and PTO for certified staff there were two different categories or two different ways of looking at eight time mon we combined those and clarified pieces of that just to make sure that we're we're we're doing as as we combine those together to make sure this is similar to what it happened before but falling into one bucket
156versus having different buckets for different groups of employees one point of clarification uh we do have typically um for staff um non 12mth staffs our school year employee groups um we typically have had three holidays that are paid this next year with starting early um the Memorial Day 2025 Falls outside of when people are done working so there's potential for some groups that may not have that as a paid holiday as their work is done for the year um the military leave is a change to what the policy had been is we are paying for um their their time to serve in the military when they're away but it'll be reduced by the amount they received from the military then in uh the wage staff uh wage Matrix on pages 69 and 70 we increase
157the starting pay weight wages or hourly rate for the four different pay group categories or grades that we have again that's for starting wage um we've increased those a little bit to be reflective of to be remain competitive within the market to attract employees um and previously the board had had approved the uh student worker increase in the starting wage from 9 to 11 but that's reflected year Pages 81 and 82 we just removed the application for the sick Le Bank it doesn't change the sick Le bank that we have but we didn't feel that having the form in the p in the employee handbook was necessary so we removed that but again the sickly Bank is still as it has been in the past questions Rob I'm just looking at the the last talked
158about the sickly Bank on pages 81 and 82 so were you saying that there were proportions taken out there was a the form if someone wanted to fill out the form to to apply for it we took that out of the employee handbook that to us more procedural thing that we would have thank you any questions from other board members no one uh I would like to uh make a motion to approve the 2024 2025 employees handbook have a motion by Nolan is there a second I'll second seconded by Heather any further discussion caring none let's put it to a vote we have a motion and a second for approval of the 2024 2025 employee cook as presented all those in favor signify by saying I I any oppose say day and that motion carries
159thank you Mr Nelson um next is our discussion for approval of a 2024 2025 academic standards this is an annual update that the board approves every year um this year we just wanted to provide some additional information for the board in the heart of transparency for families and stakeholders um this year there's attached in um the board packet a document that is housed now on the district's curriculum web page for families to be able to access in this document it includes information regarding state requirements for each of the content areas as well as those requirements such as financial literacy digital citizenship Civics um and other state requirements this document is fantastic thank you for for the work that went into it it would be a great resource any comments or questions for Stevie is there
160any motion for Action I'll make a motion to approve the 2024 2025 academic standards have a motion in a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor of the approval of the 2024 2025 academic standard signify by saying I I any oppose say n motion carries next is our discussion of approval of the 2024 2025 educational options this is another annual update um again in the part of transparency we are also working to put this on a on multiple places on our district website So currently it is under annual notices our families can find this information but we're also um we also will be moving this into the curriculum and assessment tab of the website for families to be able to find information regarding educational options um just for E for families as
161they're looking for those for specific information on things like start college now ECP um Virtual School options thank you any questions or discussion from board members any motion for Action I will uh motion to approve the uh 2024 2025 educational options is there a second a second have a motion by Nolan and a second by Heather any further discussion heing none let put to vote all those in favor of the approval of the 2024 2025 ad ational options signify by saying I I canose say nay motion carries next discussion is approval of changes to policy compensation and the next two policies are related to you as board numbers um the first one oddly is titled compensation um It ultimately refers to professional learning opportunities and the process in which uh the district will use resources
162for you to attend such events um so the changes being recommend at the bottom um events sponsored by the Wisconsin Association School Board such as but not Li to webinars Regional meetings and the State Convention do not require board approval so as the total cost is500 and then should a board member be on to receive prior authorization again some of these webinars come up we want you to engage in professional learning a board member um there is an opportunity to request reimbursement at a subsequent board meeting so those are the recommended changes to this policy and then we'll talk about the next one if you guys want to act up this one any discussion or questions go ahead C the I believe it's the third sentence it says each board member is expected to report
163back to the board after attending to comens the district's expense right that's policy on 1441 if I remember right so so is there any um question or discussion 1441 is there a motion for Action I would like to motion to approve the changes to policy compensation is there a second I'll second have motion by noan second by Heather any further conversation here now let's put it to vote all those in favor of approval of the changes to policy 01441 compensation say I I any post say n motion carries next discussion is our approval of changes to policy 01 75.1 Schoolboard conferences conventions and workshops yeah and so I I should have said before the last one um our cabinet is really excited to have a kind of formal process that we're reviewing policies so myself
164Rob Stevie and Stacy have signed up for one of the over 400 policies that our district has so we as the point people will work with our leadership team and others to bring policies to you um on a more regular basis so some of this is coming from that uh goal um to make sure that our policies aligned to practice um and are updated through FL current titles and names and all of those things so a much more intentional approach regarding this policy specifically um C was referencing the third sentence in here each board members expected to report back to the board after attending Conference of District Spence I think some of this needs to be a point of emphasis for us um we've probably not done a great job of doing some of those
165things uh in Prior years so now that we have a process in place and are able to do these policies in front of you just a reminder because of that sentence um the recommendation is to take out letter D which says members who attend meetings shall submit a report which will be acknowledged in the minutes of the board at reg meeting within a reasonable period of time my thought is that's a little rigid for your attendance at professional learning but yet sentence three in the policy still has the expectation that report back in some manner okay I don't think you need to fill out worksheets or file book reports or anything like that but I think some level of recognition of the event and what your takeaways were is addressed in incence three of the
166policy I guess to piggy back on my comments my apologies I thought we fur um expected what what does that mean I mean how is expected different than shall I mean I guess I think if if we're doing something as a board and there's an expense to it we owe the board some form of communication what we learned what happened those types of things so is is expected I take that as you have to do it um does everyone else feel that way if not maybe we should change it but but I think it's important that if we're spending District dollar we owe the other members of the board a little bit of feedback of you know hey we all should have went to this or you know no we should ever go to this
167again because of X Y and Z I guess I'd like to get everybody's opinion on that I get what you're saying I mean I think because of the way we hearded other people policy shall always seems to be that word that that packs that punch like this will happen right expected maybe a little fluid I don't know I guess I like that this statement is here versus D because we might have a workshop where appropriate we might have what if we get a ton of information from a conference and it just makes more sense to dump it in a Google file and share it with each other like there might be a different way to share it depending upon what it is and what we learn so I like the flexibility I I agree de
168like I'm not digging reports so but I I like that we should communicate I'm good with either is expected or shall I think the legal term shall does seem to be recommended to us when we really want something to happen um so I guess noan or Heather do you have any thoughts on that I'm perfectly fine with the way it's worded uh in that third sentence there I mean all the board members now when they go to a conference with the WB or what not you're going with the understanding that you should be coming back sharing what you learn sharing what was discussed and all that kind of stuff uh I'm perfectly fine with the way it's working that thought always happen it could come down to how we enforce it right true I was
169gonna say that again point of emphasis or something that we can focus on and I'm sure M trap can figure out a process because all of those registrations uh at District expect the expectations only those a district expense we'd love to hear back from board members it's not a district expense events but this only says if we're using District dollars and therefore since that's going through Laura she can certainly organize and formulate a way she can support you guys we can always also just add that to the report section of our meeting for after a meeting for a conference like that just always have the board member that attended this just give us small report on it correct think we can just make it a part of the meeting agreed but I guess my point
170that doesn't always happened when I think and Tracy and I you've talked and I have talked about it in the past that we would have really liked some feedback and we asked for it and never really got I guess it's kind of why I'm making this maybe a little bit bigger deal than need be but I think it's important right if we expect it of our leaders who are on staff in the district we should expect it of ourselves as well um so maybe just some communication between Laura and Jeff and I so we know whether to put it in an upcoming meeting agend or if it's more of a workshop type discussion Nolan's idea is the most formal way to do it I think we did that in the past the of it seems
171odd if there's another way to do it based on what it is I think we should certainly be open to it but you know near School Board president reports could be some of those board member professional learning reports absolutely right that works out well I was just going to add it could just be a close the loop on the attendance because maybe it's not formal and it doesn't come into our board meeting timely enough so maybe it's a Clos a loop between the three of you because we write something up and then share it it's there and then if we bring it up and a board me say what was it there were some documentations bullet point of what I learned or fliers ORS or something I would say for example the WB convention you
172get so many resources and I mean few years back there was a year where it was just phenomenal all these great resources and so I just wanted to share them I couldn't possibly share them all on the board I put it in file so there there are those times when you might get that kind of big download you can share out so I like I like your a thought because I think if it's a right kind of resource and that makes sense to write it up but I think it'll just depend upon what it is since we're on the topic you know continue to encourage you to watch those emails regarding any professional and I found there there are some new resources out there that aren't necessarily in WB so keep your eyes open and
173with that um at one of the August meetings depending on where we land um if there is interest in attending the state convention in January well probably not necessary for most or all of us the hotel room block opens up um and if there's interest in attending the hotel would be appropriate for your needs that starts August 13th so therefore shortly after that come the board if you have a request for only the hotel portion that Heather are you are delegate okay so that's the one where you might have a late night early on in the week and then an early morning the next day just add one thing that those Hotel BLS fill up very very quickly so start thinking about that right away and checking your schedule and letting you know if interested
174in booking one more reason maybe we'll do August we we'll get there all right any further discussion or questions is there a motion yeah I would like to motion to approve the changes to policy 0175 point1 Schoolboard conferences conventions and workshops motion made by Nolan is there a second I'll second seconded by Heather any further discussion all those in favor of approval of changes to policy 01751 School Board conferences conventions and workshops signify by saying I I any oppos say n motion carries next item for discussion is our 2024 2025 technology handbook all right there's nothing new to the handbook this year the same as it was last year the thing that was changed is the footer the date that says and updated so it was read through and updated any questions nice simple one
175I have no questions any other board members and make a motion to approve the 2024 2025 technology you motion second by Nolan any further discussion he none all those in favor of approving the 2024 2025 technology handbook say I I any opposed he motion carries next item for discussion is our 2024 2025 student and parent there wasn't many significant changes basically we changed outdates made things a little bit more clear or concised and then we got rid of irrelevant information such as the graduation requirements class of 2024 since they already graduated the couple additions we did put in that are more significant is a new immunization chart that we were required to do and then another spot with just Library materials so parents know what they need to do if they have conern any comments
176or questions for Miss L thank you than you miss Lam is there a motion I motion to approve the 2024 2025 student parent is there a second second seconded by Craig we have a motion by noan second by Craig for approval of the 2024 2025 student parent handbook all those in favor say I I I any opposed say nay motion carries next item for discussion is approval of increased parking rates um possibly from 25 $75 for lot a and $10 to $25 for Lot B in the 2024 2025 school year so currently um as it shows in board docks for the North Lot our students pay $25 go lot across the street they pay 10 we have about 26ish parking spot which currently brings in a revenue of $5,800 or something wallpark um in board
177dos we shared conference or neighboring districts in regards to what they charge the increase from 25 to 75 would put us still at the bottom of those ranges nowhere near our friends in cedarberg Germantown our Homestead addition to the others as a side note um germ Town School District and to be honest know kind of a uput peeve up l are traing halves and Have Nots inequity of school funding and all those things so I'm probably a bit sensitive the Germantown School District uh generates $11,000 of R their parking each year by January and we generate 5,000 rates um again just another example that um sometimes we're forced to do more with less and certainly up to that challenge but I certainly thought it was appropriate based on what other schools were charging to bring
178this uh proposal through um I have talk L che about this a couple of times and I'll just share with the board my perspective um living out where we do still within District bounds um if a student does not drive to school they are easily riding a bus for over an hour each way um so it's it's not a great way for a student to spend their day I think that if a student does want to be involved in things before or after school they need to drive here anyway we all know the price of gas has gone up quite a bit um so I I'm I'm not in favor of increasing the parking rates I'd like to see them stay the same because I believe we have a significant amount of students who are
179in a position where they really have to drive to school in order to be involved so that's that's just my personal perspective yeah I'm going to Echo that one too Tracy I also live out by you and uh this is something that I I actually kind of lived through personally so in my uh sophomore year uh my sister was a junior at that time we drove to school every day and at that time that was the last year that the parking rates were 75 and 25 and the next year when we drove to school again it was a real real uh relief to uh have those costs uh taken down uh the cost for a parking spot is a direct burden to the students and parents and uh you know I'm not really concerned with
180what other districts around us are doing I'm more concerned with our students and uh and not increasing any kind of cost for them just to park their car and get to school and from back to home faster other I'm out in the boonies too and um that extra hour on the front end and back end of an extended um ride on the bus um being able to Lily get to school um even the extra sleep it's it's invaluable these days especially with the stress that these kids are under so I'm I'm not in favor of raising it let's keep these kids um you know get as much rest and not have to sit on the bus for an hour okay um I was R Block but I've also have bought a parking T every year
181my kid had his license because he gets here at zero hour so and he can't walk in the back of the building so we've decided that it would be best for him to drive around and park there's parking on the street that's free there's a lot of it being living in this neighborhood I see it I see all the open spots during the day on the few times I've worked home so I I there's plenty of free parking the the kind of where where I get is I and I I I was kind of with you guys the rest of you until kind of yesterday when I went on my walk I walked around this block which is about a mile and I looked at the resurface how much did it cost to resurface the
182parking lot and we have two so when when I look at that and then I look at I believe we sell out our parking every year so just simply looking at the law of supply and demand what makes me want to be in favor of this um I I I understand I I I know where some of you live and and and I I have my son's friends that live far away I get it but I also don't think it's a huge debit for $75 for a entire school year and and maybe you could carpal with with one of your friends and split it I know my sons have done that in the past they were not supposed to that but you you could um I I just I think looking at and kind of
183thinking about what it takes to maintain parking lot this is not a Toler just a couple of other nuggets you know as I shared does talk about what the additional District Revenue be4 so nobody's interested make a motion in what's being proposed there certainly could be a motion for a different dollar keep the same and ultimately like I said we need to continue to seek other additional Revenue sources or continue to reduce expenses um as we continue to find ways to to balance the budget so all of those personal stories are understandable I'm a parent as well I have the same situation I would also say that as part of the propos of the CAC I believe both of those options additional inter additional spots this side of the intersection that might serve us well
184from safety perspective again just as comparison we have 260 spots schools our size at 500 spots so not only is more student parking on the campus but there's also I'd like to make motion to approve the increased parking rates from 75 from 25 to 75 for lot a and $10 to 25 for Lot B for the 2024 2025 school year okay so we have a motion by Craig Westfall for approval of increased parking rate from 25 to 75 for laot a and 10 to 25 for La B from 2425 school year is there a second ask again is there a second looks like we do not have a second for that motion so in effect the parking rates would stay the same unless we have a different motion hearing none then we will move on
185to the next item on the agenda next item for discussion is approval of the updated policy 2464 programs for gifted and talented students thank you um this policy was last revised in 2021 language in this policy has been updated to reflect language used by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction there are no substantial changes made to the policy outside of um changing the name from the tap program which stands for towns achievements and passion to identified as the gifted and talented program um as as used by the Department of Public Instruction thank you Stevie any questions or comments from board members hearing none is there a motion I would like to make a motion uh for approval of the updated policy 2464 programs for gifted and talented students is there a second I'll second it
186we have a motion in a second for approval updated policy 2464 programs for gifted and tallented students any further discussion heing none all those in favor signify by saying I I I any oppos saying nay the motion carries um our future School Board related dates our July 31st is our board Workshop August 15th is another board Workshop August 26 is our regular school board meeting and please stay tuned to communication from our district office about a possible meeting happening early in August um at this point the agenda are there any board any board members that like to bring forward some suggestions for future agenda items and again if you don't have anything this evening feel free to to email me as well um is there a motion to adjourn to close session so move is
187there a second to adjourn the CL session second we usually do a roll call vote in close session correct we'll do a roll call vote in the close session starting with Nolan hi hi I we are going to close session close session Wisconsin statutes 19851 e deliberate or negotiate the purchase of public properties the investment of District funds or the conduct of other board business whenever competitive