001We are uh reconvening after a recess here at 5:30. Uh in one sec >> just that >> Mike said that's what I was supposed to say. So that's great. Uh we will move on to number uh item 5A on the agenda recognition of the Coler villager. Mike, do you want to tee this up please? So, as we'll talk about on the board's goals that that were set in our workshop we did in July, one of the the big things was around um expanding some communication efforts. Um and Mary has been a partner from the get-go on this uh with making sure that we're able to to share the articles that you all put together to share that information with the community. Um and it goes just it goes beyond that too. sharing the good news
002from the school, retweeting us, reposting us, all that kind of good stuff. And so, uh, definitely appreciate it and want to make sure that we acknowledge that. And as a board, I think you are looking to make sure we recognize folks. >> So, Mary, I have a resolution. I'm going to go up there and read it if you'd like to join me. And you have the opportunity to speak if you'd like to. Yes, please. Okay. Whereas publisher editor of the Coler Villager, Mary Struck, has demonstrated outstanding dedication to sharing information and highlighting the achievements, initiatives, and stories of this Coler school district and greater community. And whereas Mary has provided valued partnership and support throughout the year, working collaboratively with the board of education and district leadership, particularly in the board's continued development and strengthening
003of communications. And whereas her commitment to accurate, thoughtful, and community centered journalism has helped foster transparency, engagement, and connection between the school district and the residents it serves. And whereas the community has repeatedly recognized and appreciated Mary's work through past linkages and acknowledgements that reflect the meaningful impact of her contributions. Therefore, be it resolved that on behalf of the board of education and the Coler School District, we extend recognition to Mary Struck for her professionalism, partnership, and continued dedication to supporting effective communication and community engagement. So, there you go, Mary. Thank you. >> I guess I'd mention that it's actually been 20 years villager turned 20 this year. I forgot to put that in my paper because I was so busy. Um, but I started working on the school newsletter in 2003. So technically it's
004been 22 23 years. So it's been a long run and I've really enjoyed it. >> Awesome. >> So thank you. >> Can we get a picture? >> Sure. >> With the Excellent. outstanding. We'll move on to item 6A, public comment. Megan, do we have any public comment? Okay, with no public comment, we will move on to item 7A, the board president's report. I will start with a congratulations to Kelly on her reelection to this school board. Congratulations, Kelly. I thank Heather, Emily, and uh resident Kevin Del Rey, who will be serving on the board of canvasers to certify that election. An important role that that group plays. So, thank you all for volunteering your time to do that. The final thing I will share with the group is that as we prepare for the May
005meeting, I would ask uh and I will coordinate that each of us uh uh have completed the Sunday before the May meeting our uh first draft of our superintendent evaluation. I will then compile uh what all of us have put together and then we as a board would discuss that in a closed session at the May meeting. Then we would give that to Dr. Dwick between May and June for his uh consideration and then we will do the formal evaluation with Dr. Dwick with a a close session with a discussion at that June meeting which is when we do the formal evaluations. There any questions on that or concerns about that timeline? >> Can you just restate the deadline? >> Yes, the Sunday before our May meeting. >> Okay. I don't have that date off
006the top of my head, but and I will send out all the documents for your review. >> That concludes my report. We will now move on to item 7B, the superintendent report. Mike, will you take it away? >> You stole my first one with congratulations, Kelly. Um, just kind of laying this out too is obviously the board of canvasers needs to meet first. Then Kelly's able to take her formal oath of office. Uh, we we'll take care of that separate and outside of a meeting. Kelly and I've talked a little bit about that and so we will we'll work through that process. So she's ready to go. Uh, based on the timing of the election and the board of canvasers, uh, a lot of the traditional April reorganization, those types of items uh, have they're
007moving to our May meeting just with when the election falls and all of those items. So, we're able to do that. And so, just kind of on the horizon as we talk about the board calendar, we'll run through some of those other May meeting items. Um, just looking at a couple other things. Right now, we are working through uh RFPs and we have interviews scheduled with food service providers um and employee benefits consultants. Those are kind of our insurance brokers, the folks that that help us uh negotiate insurance and outline those things. So, we'll have those interviews coming up here um and and determining next steps with that. Um The other things I wanted to update you on, just a quick overview from Winter Athletics, uh just some participation numbers that we're going to continue
008to track. Dan did a nice job of making sure everything's submitted to the WIA and tracking that. We had 14 uh girls that participated in our our basketball or on our basketball teams, 26 boys. We had one on our boys hockey co-op, which is one of the largest co-ops I think I've seen geographically and with a number of schools. Girls hockey, if you weren't aware, we are part of a girls hockey co-op. And again, that's just we keep that open just in case we had um a female athlete that was interested in playing hockey. We had no one this year on that one. And then our boys swim co-op. We had three uh students participating in that. So, uh good representation for our kids and we're going to continue to look at this. We've talked
009about just kind of tracking our participation numbers over, uh year-over-year, and so we'll continue that work as we move forward. And then my final thing is just outlining, we're working through our community and staff survey. Um, and so we have right now our draft of some postcards that are coming out or will be going out too so we can engage folks looking in April 20th a kind of that week of the 20th and then a closing date of May 10th. So that's kind of how we're we're working through that and outlining that uh with our partners to make that happen and make that a reality. uh shared that with our HR committee too uh for for their review and feedback and so we'll continue uh to work through those items. >> Quick question um the
010staff survey are we using school perceptions like we have in the past. >> We did not we used Panorama before. >> Um and we're working with the Donovan group who we've been partnering with for a number of things. They have a branch of their survey. They do all the presentations all that kind of stuff. Nice to have a third party engaged in that. >> That was just my question. Okay. Thank you. the competitive bidding for food service. Appreciate taking that approach. That is something that this board had conversations about in the past. It's great to see just a competitive bidding process so that we get the best value and the best quality for our students. So, appreciate you doing that. Any other questions or comments for Mike? Okay, hearing none, we'll go on to item
0117 C, our student representative report, Charlotte. >> So, starting off, I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing spring break. So, before break, student council hosted dress up days along with a raffle to raise money for Down Syndrome awareness. And we're excited to share that we raised over $100 for this important cause. And thank you to everyone who participated and showed their support. We would also like to thank all the teachers who helped administer the junior's ACT as well as the freshman and sophomore preac today. We truly appreciate the time, effort, and care you put into supporting students during these important assessments. Prom is coming up on Saturday, May 2nd at the Walder House in Coler with a theme of The Great Gatsby Gala. Tickets are $25 and will be available for purchase during the
012week of April 20th to the 24th. All sophomores, juniors, and seniors are invited to attend. Also, good luck to all of our spring sports teams as their seasons begin. We are excited to see our blue bombers in action, and we wish you a great season. Also, best of luck to all of our HOSA members who are currently competing at the state level. We are proud of your hard work and dedication, and we hope you have a great experience. And lastly, as we begin the fourth quarter, we are very excited for all the fun and opportunities ahead. It's a great time of year and we're looking forward to finishing the school year strong together. >> Thank you, Charlotte. Great report. For those that might not know, you've got swim goggles around your neck. Could you describe
013what's happening there? >> Yes. So, currently the um class of seniors is um we're participating in something called senior splashin. And basically every week we have I guess a target and um these goggles we're wearing act as immunity and we get each other out by with a water gun so it's all safe and fun. So and we have about 45 participants so it's really exciting. >> Very good. Well you're well protected here in the board meeting. You got your goggles on. So thank you Charlotte. Okay, we will now move on to uh uh item eight, the consent agenda. I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda, which includes approval of the March 11, 2026 board minutes and the approval of invoices. Is there a motion? >> Motion from Kelly. Is there a second?
014>> Second from Heather. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Chair votes I. Motion carries. Now move on to item 9A. Board learning series school finance. Mike, hand it off to you. >> All right. So, as we continue our learning series, again, going back to the work and the the goals that that were laid out with the board of making sure that we continue to talk about a variety of topics and one of the most exciting in schools in my opinion is school finance. Um, and so this is something where I'm going to kick this over to to Melissa in a second and you all have had I think one opportunity to meet her, but I think it's a good chance for her to also introduce herself on day eight.
015Um, and so just kind of working through this, but a chance to really showcase and highlight some of the learning around school finance. Um, and so this is how I look at finance and how this is really connected is we have a number of professional organizations that are connected. And up there, it's a little harder to see right now. You have the schoolboard association, the association of school business officials, and then the district administrator association throughout. And I think this is really kind of a a triangle and partnership uh that builds on the understanding of this. Obviously, our school business officials need to be the most well-versed um in these areas. District administrators, I think, need to know more at times, but that's okay. I will not editorialize that too much. Uh but that's something
016to to continue to learn. And obviously the board is involved in this and it's about educating folks when this isn't your job all the time and making sure that the professionals in the school business arena are are able to share that information. With that being said, that also doesn't uh excuse folks from from not understanding or asking questions and so wanting to make sure that we're also proactive on our engagement and our learning series on this. Uh so we continue to share information so you're the most educated and informed school board on school finance in the state. Uh that's a goal right now and we'll continue to to work on that. Uh there there are some resources that are out there and if there's things you're interested in learning more. Feel free to reach out.
017Uh the last slide has a number of ancillary resources for you to take a look at. This is a book that I have that I have a couple copies of too. And if it's something that you're interested in learning more as we continue to talk about, just let me know. Um and we can make sure we're sharing either similar resources, this resource, or all of the above. So with that being said, I'm really going to uh turn this over to Melissa now to to highlight some items about school finance. >> Um we're going to focus mostly on revenues today. Um that's how I kind of start my budgeting process. So we're going to talk about a little bit of the history and then kind of talk about what we're going to work in towards um
018as a budgeting cycle in totality. So to talk about some finance from a historical perspective, in 1949 they introduced equalization aid which reduced the reliance on property taxes to fund schools. In 73 they guaranteed that base amount using a standardized funding for all school districts across the state. Then in 93 they introduced what we're still utilizing today called the revenue limit. um it gives you the maximum amount you can raise via property taxes and general aid. Then in 200910 there's a portion of that calculation which we'll go over that was decoupled from CPI and a lot of schools have discussed this in various points um but it got decoupled um in that year and then in 2017 that revenue limit that base amount per pupil um was raised so every district at least got to
019a certain threshold in 18/19 there was some additional funding through the blue ribbon commission for special ed and other resources in that area. And then in 2024, just recently they passed um the 325 per pupil increase for 400 years and we will see what happens with that moving forward. >> Also, before we move on, you used an acronym CPI. Can you spell that out? >> Yes, the com uh consumer price index. >> Great. Thank you. >> Um and then this is just a Oh, sorry. Is it this one? We both did it. Okay. the fiscal year at a glance, just to kind of give you a time frame of when we're looking at. So, our fiscal year starts on July 1st and goes through June 30th. In September, we do a third Friday membership count
020of kids that are are members, so live within our district boundaries. It is different than enrollment. And then on October 15th, um property valuations and equalized aid comes into play, kind of formalizing our revenue limit. and then we adopt a formal budget um officially by November 1st and then that is then is what given to our municipalities for our tax base. Um so just kind of a brief overview of some of those pieces and this is what we will be working towards um with my start date. Unfortunately we weren't able to follow it this year. Um but this is what we'll be working towards next school year when we have a full year to plan for 2728. Um just kind of planning and data collection. So finalizing that budget in that August, September time frame,
021getting those um finalized numbers to then project forward from there. In October, November, we'll do initial budget drafting. So just kind of initial projections on what we're able to anticipate at that time. We'll bring that information forward to our building principles and our department heads to kind of get feedback um any requests that they have and things of that nature. Those will then be reviewed by the business office and superintendent. And then Mike will talk a little bit more about the May, June, and the board's um involvement in that, but we'll bring forward the approval and the adoption of the preliminary budget in June. And then here is just some very broad and general um accounting terms. So we have to follow Woofer, which is a standard set of account codes to kind of code
022all of our expenditures and revenues. um and it helps to classify them into these different funds. So the funds are all separate in their own rights and most of our operating cost costs come from the general operation fund which is within that revenue limit. The other things that are factored in the revenue limit are fund 38. So that would be debt that you have not gone out to a referendum for um and capital expenditures. Uh currently Coler only puts the revenue limit into fund 10. Um, other funds that we do have that aren't impacted by that revenue limit calculation are fund 21, which are donations and gifts, special education costs have to be coded to fund 27. And if there's not enough revenue in fund 27, you do have to transfer funds from fund 10
023to offset those expenditures. Um, long-term debt, so referendum approved debt. Um, food service. Um, so anything related to our food service activities go into fund 50. And then community related activities as well. Um, those are all just kind of general um things and how we have to divide up our accounting and when we present most of our data most of our focus is on fund 10 and fund 27 because that's where most and majority of our operations fall. >> I just really appreciate that slide as somebody who used to be on finance because it is you know fund this fund that and I've never seen it like this. So I really appreciate just the breakdown of seeing what those funds mean when we're hearing this at the board level or in in committee. So thank
024you just that basic slide. >> Yeah. Um so to kind of talk a little bit more about our revenue limit. So this is our biggest portion of revenue that we receive in our fund for our operations and it's taking that three-year membership again those kids that reside in our district boundaries times that per pupil amount which is what I've been talking about has been fluctuated over the years. Um you get to add in one time non-recurring exemptions. Currently the only exemption the district has is for private school vouchers. um we don't have any recurring exemptions. Um and putting that calculation together gives us our revenue limit authority. So that's the amount that the state limits with their calculation and it's comprised of both um state aid and property tax. And this is just a depiction
025of how that inflation gap has grown over the years since it's been decoupled in 2910. Um as of the 245 school year, it was 3380. So that was last school year. Um and just using membership calculation from this year um of 469 membership times that amount that's 1.5 roughly million dollars of revenue um in difference since that has been decoupled. >> I'm sorry Melissa can we go back to the revenue limit calculation slide? Yes. >> So this is specific these numbers are specific to Coler. Is that correct? >> Yes, that's this year's revenue limit worksheet that we're living within right now. >> Terrific. So the onetime non-recurring exemptions of the 65,000 >> so those are students who choose to go to private schools and then the money follows how um is where where are we
026recouping that money from? >> So it it comes in at the end of the year there is a final payment from the DPI that accounts for all your ins and outs for the entire year. So open enrollment in open enrollment out. So we do get the money >> um and it's accounted for that way, but we get it through property taxes. >> Through property taxes. Okay. >> So, we increase our levy um to pay for it and then it's accounted for when we make our final payments. >> So, when when students are going to voucher schools, we can then increase what um how we're taxing the tax base. Okay. Thank you. >> And then this is just an example of a visual. So again, that revenue limit is the full cup we're allowed to get.
027Um, Colar is a property wealthy district. So, the majority of our revenues do come from property taxes over the different state aids that are provided overall. Um, and how we kind of get to the mill rate and the taxation portion is we take that revenue limit. Um, any approved levy debt that we have for our referendum payments, our community service fund is also part of our revenue limit. So those three pieces create our total tax levy in totality. You then take that um by the total base of our equalized value multiplied by a thousand to get our mill rate which is what is then shared with the municipalities. That mill rate is based off of market value and when it's applied on your taxes it does come down to an assessed value. So that number
028is not the exact one you may see on your bill. Um, and overall, um, every school district is different. Um, some districts have to cash flow borrow throughout the year depending on their how they're funded. Um, with Colar being heavily tax, um, reliant, we don't get our first major revenues until January when tax payments come in and depending on your fund balance. And that's the importance of fund balance is it's kind of your internal line of credit just to ensure you have money to pay your invoices, pay your employees, and such. So, that's something that um, we will make to always make sure we're in a good space. We have not had a cash flow borrow um because we do have a healthy fund balance to offset um that time frame before we start to
029receive those taxes. Um but some districts aren't in that same scenario and they do have to cash flow borrow to kind of get until those payments come in. Um my next steps for this year being that we are in a bit of a different time frame is to put together the revenue projections which is really focusing on those enrollment and membership numbers. Um just to give you a little tidbit. So the revenue limit is 57% of our revenue and then open enrollment is 32. So a lot of our revenue is student based. So really projecting those numbers is very key for us in determining what our revenue um will be for the next year. Um and then I have started um to engage our principles this week and we'll be starting to engage our department
030heads to determine their budgets for next year um and staffing which is salaries and benefits and then all of our other non-related staffing expenditures. So, I start with revenues and then work into ex um expenditures is my process and then we will um be bringing stuff to the board which I'll let Mike talk about. >> As you all are learning about me on certain things, it's a two-step process. And so, this is the same uh recommendation and the same way that we'll approach this too is we'll bring that information to you in May, give a presentation, highlight what that is. Um that allows you some time too before action needs to be taken in June uh for that final approval. And so we'll walk you through that process of what that looks like, but trying
031to also make sure we do this in a two-step so you can gather information and then ultimately uh make that decision. This is a pretty straightforward process, but wanting to just make sure that we do those um consistently and throughout and even on the front end when we do this doing this in two steps so that way you see it have time to process and then we can come back when action is necessary. So with that being said, are there any questions? Okay, hearing no questions. Great presentation. Welcome to the team, Melissa. We will move on to item 9B, board goals check-in. Mike, I'll hand this to you. All right. So, nine months from our retreat, we set out and we set goals three, six, and nine months out. Um, and forgive me in my
032transition here to my different packet. So, tonight we're going to look at our nine-month goals that the board had set. And just as a reminder here, laying those out, those first eight were our three-month goals, then our six-month goals, and nine-month goals. I'm happy to also say that one of those nine-month goals was completed at the six-month timeline. So, that's a good thing. But giving you a couple updates on this. Um, so first one, nine-month board goals. really looking at curriculum the review cycle can share that information. We also have a curriculum committee meeting where we're going to go through in a more detailed uh fashion with the work that's been done here the WASB self-evaluation. You all completed that. We're already taking that feedback and have incorporated that into our learning series. And then
033kind of our big one to our strategic planning process. Um and so this this is something where we we'll talk through a few more slides on this topic. So looking at adoption process and again the curriculum committee is going to get a report in more detail on this and then they'll bring back in May for their um report. So we'll go through this. This just lays out our adoption process. We have a spreadsheet that then come covers what years we look at different resources and that that road map is there. Again we'll we'll share that information um at that curriculum committee because we can go into a little bit more in depth. Uh but this is really looking at how are we going to adopt these different items? What does this look like? How do
034we have some systems and structures and phasing um in this process? And in a second I'm going to share a slide with you that I think reiterates that point of making sure we have some of the structures there uh to move through that. This is connected to the uh evaluation that you all did and looking at that development tool. A reminder, the board of the board of education learning series, we've started that and these were really the topics that were were hit on that survey and in those results of going through just a couple of those different items. School finance, there were a few more topics and so we're going to continue to cover that um through throughout our next few months as we continue to educate. And then this will be another tool that
035that the board will work on through the retreat process and then also as we complete this tool to set goals for the future. And then I spoke with board member a couple weeks ago and we had talked about how do we take some of this learning to now let's take it to we understand the concept here's where the action and results are and so I'm excited for us to be able to start to put that action in and so we continue the learning series well then it develops into the done series and so we can uh look through things that have been completed. So, as we talk through our final uh point on strategic planning is this is something that we got to continue to look at and develop our plan and our timelines and
036I'll show you that in a minute. But I think what's important here too is is looking at this of how do we start to to have more alignment and this speaks to that curriculum slide too is we have a lot of school districts it's a lot of random acts of improvement. How do we make sure that we start to funnel those in? And then we make sure we have alignment and really the board's responsibility and goal and setting policies and then looking at out and up. What is that vision? How do we continue to move forward with that? And how do we look to align those different areas? And then through that planning process, it's our job to look at the operational items and the implementation of that process. setting those benchmarks and and continuing
037to work on sharing that information of this is how this is going and this is the strategy and that out and up that the board has taken. So looking at this, this is just another uh leadership model that that I'm sharing is is this is taking those arrows and putting it into a different format for a lot of school districts that kind of live in the the green. uh a lot of the process accelerator standard. We're working through some of those things, but where are some of the goals and the behaviors reflecting that? How do we make sure we have that solid foundation uh to build on that? And so, as we work through this process, this is about that alignment and and bringing those items together. So, I mentioned the profile of a graduate
038uh through this strategic planning work is really looking at a partnership. And so, I've been working with Dr. Robersonson, a superintendent from the Oxford School District, and him and I have been working together too because they have just been completing their strategic planning work and developing that and aligns to a number of different things that we talked about earlier in our linkage. You heard about the profile of a graduate or the portrait of a graduate. I'm accustomed to the graduate profile, but it's the same topic. And if you note this too, and it's a little tough to read, but I think if you look at your screen, you'll see a number of those points that are outlined with communication, uh, creative thinking items that you heard. And when we recap the linkage here is things
039that I'm guessing are going to be talked about. So, how do we make sure that we're identifying what do we want to make sure our students and our graduates are leaving with? What are the skills that they have? And how are we making sure that those skills are demonstrated throughout? And then this work has also included mapping out what does this this look like from a strategic planning process, making sure that we're engaging in good conversations, and then making sure we're looking to to to build this out. So, here's really our steps that we're going to look at in creating um our strategic plan. And so, we're going to look kind of our our first area here. And this is the one I was a little more ambitious of trying to uh tackle this in
040in uh April and we had some other things that we needed to address. And so we're working through these items, but this is going to be something that we really start to kick off um in the fall summer and getting stakeholder engagement and having listening sessions. I don't know that we're going to be as successful as we would like to be in that work, but this is going to be kind of our aim to start off. And this is probably a one to two month process of making sure that this information is laid out. And this is where my collaborative efforts with Dr. Robersonson have come into for us to be able to to have these conversations and build out this roadmap as well. Then we're really looking at our collaborative planning and strategic pillars.
041This is probably a three to four month process of making sure that we take that information, what are those values, taking the information we get from the community, um, and really looking at developing the strategies and what are we going to prioritize. From there, we take that information and we really look at our feedback. This is what we heard from folks. This is what we've look looked at and put together. And now, how are we going to continue to get the feedback, refine this, making sure the board's ready to take action and approval and then to roll this out. And this is one to two months. And this is going to be kind of depending on our rhythm through this process. And so, we're really looking at what is our roadmap for this work moving
042forward. And while that's a very specific uh nine-month goal, but it's the update and the work that's already taken place and is taking place and now it's our job to make sure that that work continues. So that is the 369month goal uh updates and we'll continue that work moving forward. I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Robersonson speak last summer and really high impactful guy focused on closing achievement gaps. So, uh he's done great work with the Oxford school district and it's glad to hear you're you're working with him to help shape your thinking on the strategic plan here for uh this district. Any questions or comments for Mike? >> Great. Thank you. As for April, I I don't know if now is the time to do it, but I think the should look at
043dates for a summer retreat if that's her plan. >> Kelly, you are ahead of me on the agenda, so it's perfect. But yes, >> I also just wanted to say how much I appreciate the robust curriculum adoption process. I know being on the school board with or being on curriculum with Kelly for a little bit, that was both something that we wanted to continue to build. And so I'm really excited to hear the work that comes from that committee through this process. So, I appreciate all that went into that or will go into that. >> Okay. Thank you, Mike. We move on to item 9 C, community conversations, business professionals, and civic and clergy. I was unable to make it to the business professionals conversation. They had a work commitment, but would hand this over
044uh for comments or thoughts for those who are able to attend it. Heather, would you like to start? Thanks. >> Um, I have loved all of these, but this one, um, I don't know if it's because I'm in education, but it was really inspiring. Um, my kind of big takeaways were, um, a common theme that I heard from all um, of our business leaders was just looking for additional exposure opportunities within our schools. um specific to colar. I know our data shows majority of our students are on the four-year track, but I have always kind of wondered is that simply just because we haven't exposed them to any other of these rich opportunities when it comes to the trades. I know we are growing in that. Um but I just I would love to see
045that to continue to grow. Um so my kind of I wonder was just how do we continue to offer exposure opportunities? They talked about trade shows, career experiences. Um really some great um Kelly had a great like what are other schools that are engaging in this that you know we could take a take a look at. Um and then also like how do we continue to build the use of Zello which was mentioned um not just as a program the students engage in but how do we offer those opportunities alongside Zello um which um I don't know if I'll speak correctly to it but it's a online program that kind of introduces kids to different career opportunities um that as parents I believe we have access to it as well. So, just really great stuff
046today. >> Yeah, I thought it was um I learned a lot and um one of the things that I took away from it was the social emotional skills that are being taught in schools. Um the employers are saying those skills are very important. So, I'm glad we're um doing that work. Um, also all of the employers that were here were um, willing to come into the schools and they said they can really personalize it to the community. So, having a conversation with employers on what the what their needs are and how we can work together and figure out how we can, you know, do a personal plan for Colar students. I thought was great. I was really impressed with the programs that they have all already established to help the students who are interested. Um,
047and how they spoke about how they didn't want it just as a field trip for everybody to come, but to really self- select this is an industry that they're interested in and the opportunity to get that initial experience to kind of help decide is this something I'd actually be interested in pursuing. Um, I thought that was really useful and I don't know if we include that in the junior conversations because we have a a meeting with um the counselor for the juniors and I don't remember if we discussed that but I think that's something they kept mentioning sixth through 12th grade so by junior year that's probably not too late but but definitely farther along in the process but a another good opportunity to hit that was that was kind of one of my big
048takeaways too is that middle school level really got referenced a lot and as somebody who teaches at that level it was eye opening of wow this is this is when employers want schools to kind of start building up those opportunities for kids. So that was kind of new learning for me too that we're not we don't want to wait till high school. We really want that middle school exposure to these are the different options. So Great. Thank you, Tara. Any other comments? >> So, next month, Mike, we will have civic and clergy. If you like to add to that, >> questions are right there. if you have any feedback as always. Please let me know. Uh if you have anybody that we should be inviting, we've already started reaching out to uh some of our
049partners this way, but if there's anybody you think of, happy for those introductions um and happy to get connected with different folks, even our our folks that joined us today through some of those connections. Um and that was great. So, thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on to item 9D, our broadcast communication. Uh this uh forthcoming article for the villager is authored by Heather and will be a recognition of uh the great work our staff do during staff appreciation week. I thank Heather for writing this thought it was done very well and anybody have any comments or thoughts for Heather or Heather anything you'd like to share on your article? Again, I just think it goes to kind of what Tara said too of that that parent involvement is so important and um you know,
050just saying thank you to a teacher goes a long way. So, continuing to recognize all the work that everybody does behind the scenes. >> Great. >> Well done, Heather. And I move on to item 9E, board calendar. Mike, >> yes. So just quickly on that, I will work next month as Charlotte and Carmine's opportunity. We will work together on this, Charlotte. This is not just you. So we will we will work together on this um just for a reflection of their time with what they've learned, a chance to showcase them as well and what they've accomplished in their high school career and school career. So wanting to make sure that we work on that. So that'll be for next month. Um and then as mentioned, we have a few items. We'll have our committee reports
051that take place. We kind of our standard reorganization um elements that that we'll work through on that one. And as we've talked about too, uh superintendent evaluation builds into those next uh two meetings and then our policy uh recommendations that we will have from the 35.1 Miola update that will reflect a few different items. So, >> any questions? And then it's setting a date if there's a retreat interests. >> Yeah, I I think on that probably the easiest way to do that is could we just uh uh could through your office just do some electronic polling and we can figure out a date. Uh I don't want to speak for the the entire board, but I'm interested in a half-day retreat this summer. If everybody else is, I think we should work to schedule that
052on a day that would work for all of this board. I see Tather Heather's sorry Tara's nodding her head. I saw Heather nodding her head earlier. Emily, are you comfortable with that? Great. So, if you could just coordinate figuring out some dates there. I think something I I I'll be interested with that is maybe moving evolving from uh the kind of can foundational WASBY retreat topics to some things that as a board we might want to have some targeted discussions on. Those would be TBD. But I think that would be a wise use of our our time. If there's any foundational kind of procedural work that needs to be handled by WASBY, we can certainly do that, but let's try to compress that to maximize our time together. >> Okay. >> Sorry, we can wait
053until the May meeting to do the reorganization. There's Okay. Okay, hearing no further discussion on the board calendar. I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion from Emily, second from Kelly. All those in favor say I. >> I. We are jjourned. Thank you everybody. Thank you for everybody