001here. >> And Paul and Tara are excused. Um, statement of public notice. Terrific. And then approval of the agenda. Um, I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. >> I guess it's just us today. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? I. >> All right. The agenda is approved. Next, we will stand for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and the Republic and next on the agenda is our recognition where we are recognizing Colar Company. This is One more. [Applause] Next on the agenda, we have persons requesting to address board members of the education members of the board of education. We have one. Great. Come on up. Yes. So, um, each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes. Policy 0167.3 outlines additional rules regarding
002public comment and can be found on the district's website. Okay, good evening. My name is Summer Mensor and I'm a resident of Coler and I have two students throughout our high school and middle school here. I'm here this evening to encourage our out of sight and out of sound policy for personal devices at Coler High School. Um, if it cannot be agreed upon at this time, I would at least urge that personal devices be removed from study halls. A study hall is a structured class period meant for focus and product productivity. It should be utilized to its full potential using the GoG Guardian secured devices that the school has already provided for every single student. As a reminder, when we allow our students to use unsecured personal devices throughout the day, we are also allowing
003access to apps capable of activating cameras and revealing a student's surroundings, face, and even location. Why are we allowing this risk within our school? The current personal device policy restricts photos and recordings during hall passing, lunch, and study hall. However, when students are permitted to use their phones during these times, they are still engaging with apps that can access cameras and location data, defeating the very intent of the policy. It is unrealistic to expect teachers to accurately monitor this kind of activity. data will never truly reflect the scope of the issue simply because it is not visible to us at all times. Why ask our teachers to take on yet another monitoring responsibility when we can remove the distraction altogether? Allowing constant access to personal devices has been proven to harm academic performance and mental
004health. Continuous exposure to social media fosters distraction, anxiety, and depression. Issues that are already at an alarming high level among our youth today. Perhaps we could even survey our teachers about how they feel the cell phone use is impacting their classroom. Their feedback could help us make informed decisions to to support our students and staff proactively rather than reactively. As a parent of both a high school student and a middle school student, I've had the privilege of joining many children during the lunch time and occasionally in the classroom, I'm grateful that our school allows and welcomes parents into these environments. It's a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand how exceptional our school community truly is. I encourage other parents to do the same. What we will all see, however, is how much more present and engaged
005our students could be without the constant pull of their personal devices. I will continue to advocate for an outofsight, out of sound approach for personal devices throughout our school and I thank you for allowing me time to speak this evening and for your continued dedication to our students and staff. Thank you. >> Thank you, Summer. Next is the board president's report. With Paul being absent, I will just um say a few things. Um so we're settling into the second month of the school year and we as a board want to commend our teachers, staff, and administrators for a strong start and their continued focus on student success. Um, for those who were able to join the homecoming events on Friday in our summer weather, um, we had a wonderful parade and tailgate party before the
006game, um, it was a wonderful celebration of school spirit and community, even though the game didn't go how we wanted it to. Um, tonight's meeting will highlight both the great momentum that we've built and the important work ahead as we continue supporting our students and families. And next is the superintendent report. >> All right. Thank you, Kelly. Couple things that I would like to comment. Homecoming week was exciting. Uh I appreciate uh the invitations, the warm welcome, and just the excitement that was throughout the school at all of our grade levels. Uh it was the biggest challenge was really picking which day I should be dressing up for. And it was nice to be able to participate in all of those activities. Uh the other thing I wanted to highlight was our Java with JW,
007the first coffee with the superintendent uh event that we had. That was exciting. It was a great conversation and just good idea sharing that took place on that Friday morning. One of the items that we discussed was around school spirit and pride and it was great to see that one of our students even implemented uh one of those ideas that came out of that conversation. So, it was definitely meaningful dialogue and I appreciate those folks that joined us uh for coffee and scones. Uh, and so those are those are the things I wanted to highlight today and we'll cover a number of other items throughout the meeting. >> Thank you, Mike. Next on the agenda is the student representatives report. >> All right. Uh, I'm Zach. I'm filling in for Charlotte tonight. Uh, I'm the
008secretary on the, uh, student council. Uh but uh a huge thank you to all the teachers, staff, and parents who helped make homecoming week such a success. Uh everything turned out amazing from the colorful decorations to the super fun dressup days. Uh we were thrilled to we were thrilled with how many students participated and brought their school spirit all week long. The games were a highlight. The seniors took home victories in both Powderpuff and Iron Man. At the pep rally, we had an intense round of musical chairs. And before the parade, the seniors snagged another win in trivia. The parade was a big hit featuring all of our sports teams. uh the homecoming king and queen class floats and the band. It was fun to see how many people from the community come out to
009support everyone. Student council also held a float decorating contest and after our teachers voted, the freshmen were crowned the the winners. In athletics, congratulations to the girls tennis team on finishing second at sectionals. Uh Isa Weber uh got first in singles, advanced to state second in sectional. Charlotte Bullard and Melanie Pelgro was number one in doubles, advanced to state third and sectional. Grace Vilwok two in singles, advanced to state sectional champion. Viv Torque three singles um sectional champion Lindsay Staferan for singles sectional champion. So amazing job to the girls. Uh for cross country, the boys are currently ranked second in the state and the girls are first. Incredible work from both teams. The rest of our fall sports are wrapping up with their regular seasons and preparing for postseason play. Finally, don't forget uh student
010council and HOSA are hosting a love drive this Friday in the event lobby. Be sure to sign up and make a difference. Once again, thank you to everyone who made homecoming week so memorable. What an amazing way to celebrate our school and community spirit. >> Thank you, Zach and Carmine. Um next up we have the early literacy presentation. All right. Welcome to the early literacy instruction act 20 requirements and strategic planning. Um this is our team tonight. Nate Hines, Ben Shenzner, Lori Turner, myself, Erikica Van Aston, and Andrea Walter. So ACT 20, the primary purpose of act 20 is that students learn to read. The vision is for every child to become a strong, proficient reader and successful in today's world. So what happens when they don't learn learn how to read? They're more likely
011to not graduate from our schools. They're limited in career choices. And research shows that it is harder for these students who don't learn how to read to overcome trauma and survive their circumstances. Act 20 primary purpose is to improve early literacy skills for students in 4K through third grade by mandating science-based instruction, universal screening, and personalized intervention plans to ensure all students reach grade level reading proficient by the end of grade three. The vision is for every child to know how to read. These requirements are not optional. Again, they are statem mandated and all are important components in being compliant with act 20. These include early literacy remediation plans, staff training, assessments, mandated universal screening, diagnostic and progress monitoring measures, again, personal reading plans for kinders through third grade. We also include family engagement, literacy
012surveys, letters to parents, and consistent family communication. I just want to say um I'm really proud to be here with our team tonight. I think that over the last year it was a huge year of learning um teaming and implementing things for the first time and this was a really heavy lift especially for our reading specialists Lori and Ben. So as you see the information we present I just I come here with great pride in their work and what we saw for the students. Um before we talk about the data, I want to clarify a few things. So this these data sets are new and we only have one year of data. So um while we've used Ames web plus in the past, we only used it as part of probably a gated screening system
013where we maybe gave MAP first and kids who scored low on MAP would then have as web plus. But last year for the first time, we had to screen every student for K through third grade using Ames web plus. And um and so what that does is gave us a different assessment of skills, foundational reading skills in our young children. And we know the work we are doing is important and it's very impactful for our students. Um based on last year's overall data, we saw a few themes emerge. We saw high growth in proficiency in reading comprehension, which is a huge celebration. We also saw greater than expected need in our students um based on national norms in foundational reading skills and fluency in some grades. And so those data trends led to additional conversations
014about action planning, which we'll talk about in a little bit. And then finally, the goal of um grade level reading proficiency by the end of third grade we found requires longer periods of intervention to truly ensure that those students are achieving mastery and automaticity of those skills. This is an example of some of the data that we've looked at. And so um we do look at different measures. On this slide, you can see that the left columns, and I know it's very hard to read, um, show the percentile cut scores and the percent of students we might expect to be within those ranges. Then the white columns show our grade levels in those same data sets. The top table shows oral reading fluency and the bottom table shows reading comprehension. So, without getting deeply into
015the data, those red numbers show that we were showing higher percentages of kids flagging in those areas. Um this year Ames web plus did adjust our some of the measures and cut scores. We had new norms released and we are finding with our new data less kids are flagging even using last year's cut scores or this year. So that's a real celebration. This is another important piece of the data that we're looking at from an outcome measure, the third grade forward exam. These results tie to a student's ability to exit a personal reading plan in addition to other measures. And it's important to note that these are reading scores that are pulled from the composite. So it's not the composite score, but it's the reading um portion of the forward. So the top um graph
016is our data and then the bottom graph is the statewide comparison. And our um data far exceeds the statewide comparison. And that's also a celebration. Students who continue to show need based on any of our measures, including the forward, will continue to receive interventions within our multi-level system of support. >> I'm just gonna pick it up. Sorry. Um, I get to brag and I love to brag about really good people doing really good work and these two people to my left are phenomenal. um at what they do. So, I just want to give them the spotlight. Like, they are doing a tremendous amount of work that we need to celebrate. So, give them a quick round of applause. You you two are um if you don't know, Ben and Lauri are reading specialists at the
017elementary school, and they have led Act 20. And I'm also new, so I get to kind of ride the the tide and the wave for them. So, um, they led ACT 20 last year and they helped develop the personal reading plans. They helped do the assessments. They helped do all the strategy, um, and really helped guide our teaching staff through Act 20 and the new mandates. So, just an incredible I know Andrea had a heavy lift, like a tremendous lift that was done by them. Um, and I think part of that too is also our our teaching staff really embraced Act 20. So, and I think that's an attribute to what these two did because they our teaching staff do not see ACT 20 is just another thing to do. They're actually embracing Act 20
018and using the data to help guide their instruction. And I think if we've all been in education long enough, it's another thing, it's another thing. But truly, in my first three months now, I can say that our our teaching staff are embracing Act 20 to say, how can we do better for our kids, which is ultimately what it's for. So, another kudos to you two, but also to our entire staff. I can't tell you the number of teachers who have come to me excited about letters training. And if you've ever done letters training, I'm in the midst of it right now. It's a lot. And for them to come and say, I feel like I'm re-energized and I'm ready to ret like just learn so many new techniques and strategies. Um, it's really an exciting
019time to be at Cer Elementary School. And also, like I said, professional development. 19 of our teachers have completed letters training. We have three currently doing it. I'm one of those three along with our two new hires. So, uh, just a lot to celebrate all the hard work that you guys have done in the last, you know, 12 months. So, thank you so much for that. Um, um, again, some of the data that we're looking at, um, the triangles are our third grade data that we saw and we progress monitored over last year going from fall, winter, spring. As you can see, the yellow triangle is getting very, very small and the green trial is getting much bigger. So, um, kind of hard for you to see back there, but we also are progress monitoring
020with, um, Ben and Lori are also masters of Google Sheets, which is a conversation that we are happily having right now of how we can maybe get more efficient with them and help provide them with some support so they can really use their expertise in different areas and not just typing in equations and sorting and color coding. Um, but again, their data and their tracking of everything is really what helps make that engine go because that data that we get in is the data that we can then take out and we can change our instruction. Um, and then the bottom left is an example of the personal reading plan that they also spend a lot of time licking stamps and sealing envelopes and sending those home. Um, but just again that communication with parents and
021families so they know what areas that their students are maybe struggling in and what our plan is to help them to help get with their grade level peers. And Andrea talked a little bit about it re uh last slide um that last year we had 50 personal reading plans. Preliminary data for this year is we are down to about 18. We're not all done with everybody but that's also an attribute to the cut scores changing but also we a celebration for us is that one of our grade levels 18 personal reading plans last year this year four even with the old cut score. So our students are growing. It's not just the scores are changing. So again, another huge celebration for us um at the elementary school. But where do we go from here? Um
022and the diagram on the left, all the cogs being on the same page, that data that we put in, how are we going to use that to determine our interventions? How are we going to do that to change our instruction? um we have noticed and again this is an attribute to our staff that there is a new um observation and maybe our curriculum is not quite hitting a couple of our areas that we needed to hit and that's uh the wonders program. So um the number of staff members who have come to me Ben, Lori, Andrea, Erica saying, "Hey, what can we do? We are noticing these gaps. What can we possibly change?" And that's that's really exciting. I don't know how many times uh we've ever had teachers come and be like let's do
023let's do something new. It's like man we just started to amplify the new science. We just started a couple new things, but we are noticing a gap in the uh vocabulary, the spelling, and then the phenemic awareness. And again, I keep looking at these two because I am learning this is so far off from hop skipping and jumping like I did in the fied world, but I'm so excited that I also get to take it home and practice with my own kids and they're like, "Dad, this is too much." But it's it's exciting. And like I'm excited to learn about it. Our staff are excited to learn about it. And again, it's just an attribute to what these two have done. and it's a lot of hard work. So, kudos to them. But I will
024pass the mic on to them right now. >> So, what are our next steps? Um, our staff wants to keep improving and so we're continuing to work on professional development. The letters that um Nate referred to is required training for administrators and teachers. Nate jumped in full force. Um, he's in there practicing his uh sounds and things like that. Um, we also want to do ongoing coaching. We've started now that we've added a second reading specialist. Thank you. And thank you, Colar Company. I believe they were part of that. Um, we are able to work more with the teachers in the classrooms and during their prep periods before and after school, kind of helping answering some of their questions and um doing some coaching around the things that they want to improve on. Um, we
025are, as Nate referred to, starting to review curriculum and instruction and, um, Ben and I have been sort of to looking through the things, the ones that are on the state approved list for the, um, for canoe and curriculums and contacting people. We know um, we both know a wide number of reading specialists and teachers who have used those. So contacting them and kind of getting feedback on some of those different curriculum resources. And Ben's going to talk a little bit more about one that we are piloting as a foundational supplement right now. Yeah. So, um, like Lori said, um, a lot of the teachers have already completed their letters training and like Nate said, they're starting to notice gaps and things that aren't really best practice or evidence-based. So, they're coming to us asking
026for help. Um, so one of the grades in particular, second grade, came to us last year saying, "Hey, we're noticing all of these gaps. Our kids are struggling. What else can we do?" Um, so we are trying out UFly foundations as a supplement to the Wonders curriculum. That way we can try and address some of these gaps while still using the curriculum and see how that goes this year. Um really hammering in on those foundational skills. Additionally, um other steps that we're going to look at is we will use the promotion policy that was adopted by you guys and we will start building the summer programming per ACT 20 standards. Um that's going to be a huge undertaking because the law is very vague and so we're going to really work together to make sure
027that we meet all of our students needs. Um, and another next step that we're looking at, which we kind of alluded to before, is also looking at a data management system. Because while I love color coding things and entering into spreadsheets, um, I think that our time could be better spent. Um, we can quickly look at data, we can organize it better, and that way our students can grow hopefully even more and we can be more successful in that area. Just real quickly, I wanted to also give a shout out to our speech and language therapists. So, when we see students who have flagged with oral language needs and are also in our reading intervention, um what the feedback I've gotten is that those students are um showing even greater growth than we would expect
028and based um compared to our other students. And she runs a phenomenal program for those students who have those needs. Um, in conclusion then I just want to um mention that ACT 20 falls within our multi-level system of support. Ben and Lori do work with students at other grade levels, upper elementary, middle, and even high school. And our diverse team works together because the requirements impact staff. They impact instructional practices, assessments, curriculum, and intervention support. And although it's not the purpose of our uh report tonight, I just want to remind that we have other systems of support for things like math and behavior and mental health. Um this year we're piloting a new math intervention with our middle school and that's really exciting as well. So um any questions regarding our literacy presentation? I just
029have one um regarding the reading plan. So if if a student in third grade still meets um needs a reading plan. Do they continue in fourth or is it just >> we look at exit criteria that includes a combination of those as web plus measures and then their performance on the forwarded exam and if they're still showing need then we will provide intensive intervention. It's not at that point called a personal reading plan but it's an intensive intervention plan that we will continue to provide. >> Okay. Wonderful. I just want to say to be able to create a culture where the coaches are welcome in the classrooms like you are and the teachers are energized the way they are about these programs is just such a huge accomplishment. Um so well done. I um got
030a sneak peek to the second grade pilot program through my own kiddo and even the material that came home for the parents to work with the kids is so comprehensive and um yeah I'm just you guys are doing a great job. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah, I don't have any questions, but I'm just going to second what everybody has said. Um, as someone in that education realm, the undertaking that this has been last year and this year and moving forward. So, I just like super appreciate all of you guys. So, that was just my two cents. >> Thank you. Right. Next up, we have the finance committee report. The finance committee met on September 29th. Um, we reviewed the annual meeting, the upcoming annual meeting. We talked about the budget
031book that's going to be shared with the community. Um, we also talked about some of the finance communic that are going to be going out to help people understand the property tax statement. Um, and Mike is going to talk about that a little bit more. We also had some business office updates, learned about the new procedures and processes that are being put in in the business office. So, as Emily mentioned, a couple communications that we just wanted to to talk a little bit more u about is something that we're working on and we're working as a collaboration uh with the village too of how to read your property tax statement. In that collaboration, I also learned that the county is going to be issuing a new format of property tax statements. Uh so while I
032appreciate what we've put together, uh we will have to revisit as to what that format looks like. This will still be something that we likely put out on the website just because it gives some good content, answers some questions. And so that's something wanted to to make sure the finance committee uh reviewed. You all had to take a chance to take a look at that. But that's something we'll still look at sharing and then look at updating. Uh we also spoke the village president myself spoke about potentially sharing this through some of their communications that they have uh and how do we make sure that our community members, our taxpaying residents, how are we receiving this information aside from just on the website. So that's an ongoing conversation that started last week. We're going to
033continue that and look to to share this information because as much as we can inform folks, I want to make sure we're doing that. And especially when it comes to taxes, I know how I feel about taxes and so I know others uh share that same sentiment and I'm also responsible for some of this. So if I feel that way, I know others do as well. Uh so I think we just want to make sure we're educating as much as possible, sharing that information and being uh proactive. We had another communication and and Heather feel free to to chime in on this one as well. Uh we've been meeting with board members and superintendent throughout Shabboan County. We've met once and then have another follow-up meeting uh later this month uh to talk about how
034do we best communicate finance uh budgets impacts and how the state budget has impacted different districts. So, we've been working with that team to to highlight where are some of the the gaps we're seeing when the state budget was adopted, where are some of the areas that that we would ask for additional support or bring uh to to light for folks. My recommendation for our school district in in talking with the finance committee is I have a couple meetings scheduled with our area legislators to include a tour uh next week and I would like for the opportunity to be able to have that in more of a discussion format uh versus us uh sharing some information. One of the biggest challenges we've found throughout the county is the state budget impacts us all very differently.
035Uh, and so that's something where I want to make sure we are also building those relationships as we connect with our partners. Um, and making sure that we're able to have those lines of communication and be most effective in our advocacy, sharing our story, and just building on our legislators knowledge when they have to take action in Madison. So, those were a couple of the highlights. We'll talk a little bit more about the annual meeting coming up as well, but wanted to highlight those items and just let you know some things that are coming that'll be on the website, but also some things that are in the works and and how I plan to approach some of that. So, off of that meeting, Heather, I don't know if there's anything you wanted to add a
036little different than finance committee. Um, I just wanted to brag about you really is what I wanted to do because when we were at that meeting, just the wealth of knowledge that Mike brought to me to walk me through kind of some of those discussions with the other superintendent. And one of the things that kind of came about of that brainstorming about how can we better educate the community about where our taxes are going and what does that look like? And so to see from that meeting and then you know Mike working collaboratively with the city on the how to read your property tax statement like that was something that was a direct conversation from that. And so it was just really exciting to see some of those ideas about how how can we take
037what this looks like for our community and continue to educate others. So, I just I greatly appreciate how swiftly that went from that table discussion to then it's already in the works and I I think this is beautiful even though it will be a draft now, but um I'm excited for the community to to see this. Um and I think it will be well received. So, I just appreciate appreciate Mike and his knowledge. >> Perfect. Anytime I can talk about school finance, that's always a good thing. So >> wonderful. Thank you. Next up, we have the budget update. >> Turn this over to Isaac just to give kind of a standard review of our finances and where do we sit in that? >> All right. Well, the school district is doing well with our finances.
038Um we are making good progress here in the se second month of school. Uh we have our revenue and expense monthly reports. Uh both of those are trending even better than last year. So our expenses as far as a percentage of our budget used are a little bit less than last year along with our revenues being a little bit higher than last year. So that's good news. Um as far as our checks go, everything is fairly standard. We're working on starting to make progress on some of our big projects that are coming up in the school year. Um those will be coming hopefully in the next few months. So we'll start to see some more progress on our big projects for the school year. And otherwise everything's pretty standard. Uh we're finishing up with a
039lot of the state reports that got turned in over the past month here and there's still a few more coming with the budget report being one of the biggest ones. But otherwise everything is on good track for the school district. >> Wonderful. Thank you, Isaac. Next up is the annual meeting update. >> So, this is just really a time to to share a few items uh in preparation for the annual meeting. Uh you all received a copy of the the budget book that this will be posted on on the website as well. Uh the collaborative effort with Isaac, Megan, uh myself, Andrea got his data. There's a number of folks. Natasha got us some points of pride data. A lot of folks bringing this information together. So appreciated that but wanting to share that out.
040This is again something we'll link to the website just in preparation of that annual meeting. Now obviously the budget hearing is one component of that. So that meeting really highlights just an overview kind of a state of the district where things are at in addition to information uh regarding the budget. So that'll likely be myself, Paul, and Tara presenting that information uh to to review that to welcome folks and to uh get that feedback from the community. Uh and so that that process is very structured uh timelines that are set up and uh mandated and uh well state law. So we will go through that process. There's additional items that take place in the annual meeting that are required per state law. and then afterwards has been typical of the Coler school district has been
041uh to have a meeting the board meeting after that to take action on that budget approval process. So that's what that evening uh will consist of and look like. I wanted to again make sure you had a copy of the budget book ahead of it being put on the website. So now that you all have had a copy, we've discussed it, we'll be putting it on the website along with our how to read your property tax statements. So kind of a two for one when it comes to school finance. Wonderful. Um the budget book looks terrific. Not only does it highlight everything that it needs to also looking at some of the things that we can celebrate as a community to start it off. Um that along with the how to read your property taxes.
042I think those are both will both go a long way in helping educate the public. um it it's easily understandable and you know taxes and budgets are not usually the most interesting but this um does a great job showing where where the money is being spent. So thank you. Okay, next up we have the consent consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Second. >> Any discussion? I just wanted to thank um the booster the Colar athletic athletic bomber booster club um for all of the donations to the different athletic teams. All right, let's vote on this. All in favor? >> I approved. Okay, next up on the agenda is the board goals update. >> All right. So, this is really a chance to to check in. uh when we met
043believe it was July 9th for the board retreat we went through a number of activities and outlined three sixth and ninemonth goals. Uh this is the time where those three-month goals come into play and so it's uh nice that we get to check in uh cover some of those highlight a number of those items and showcase some things that you all have committed to uh you said you'd do you have done and we keep moving forward. So good opportunity to share that and also what are some things on the horizon. So, this is really what you had as a three-month uh board goals. Adopting board norms, improving community engagement, developing a board calendar, reviewing committees in the calendar, adopting a superintendent evaluation tool, developing a crisis communication plan, reviewing policies, and identifying short-term goals. So,
044this is a was a lofty list of things to accomplish, and I appreciate the partnerships throughout because it's been a team effort throughout these different items. uh six-month goals talking about an onboarding manual and process that's for the board too and then growing regular communications and this has been something that I think you've already started to do things that we focus on and continuing to build our brand as an organization and as a school district and then the nine-month developing a curriculum review cycle uh you want to complete the WB self evaluation which is usually available early uh will be early in 2026 when you can start that process and then begin a strategic planning process which we've already started to highlight. What does that look like? So, establishing board norms. Uh this is something
045that you all put together uh and you adopted previously, but again highlighting that you said you would do it and you did it. Uh so, appreciate that. Appreciate that commitment. Those are going to be displayed throughout. We ordered a nice canvas and printed terribly. So, uh we got refunded and are ordering that as a different one. It's going to go on the wall up there too, just as a reminder to of what the norms that you all have adopted um and how you're going to commit to those norms and hold each other positively accountable as as well as us working collaboratively through that process. Improving community engagement and this is something that we've been focusing on in a number of different areas. I think we heard at the community linkage that the articles in the
046villager that was a good thing. It was well received uh by those individuals too. that's been coming to me and I appreciate the work that goes into that because I know you all are putting those articles together. Um, and I'm happy to be a part of that, but it's been good for you to be able to share that information and share that story. And the villager has been a awesome partner in this too of their willingness to display this and and Mary and I back and forth and making sure I'm sharing the uh Google Docs so she can edit for her format. Uh, linkage meetings. You had one linkage meeting so far. We're going to talk a little bit about November's meeting coming up later in the agenda, but that looks like that's going to
047be a go. We're working on finalizing the invitations with that. Tom is inviting the village board um and is sending out that communication. Him and I met last Friday to go through some of the details on that and I've outlined some potential questions for us uh for that meeting. And then the tax statement document, a simple thing, yet it goes a long way and it's a resource. If folks don't look at it, it's still a resource there. Developing a board calendar. We review this every month. We've outlined different activities. This is just a snapshot of some of those areas that we've covered and continue to build on. I always put this as a draft because it's a moving target, but we have an outline for what is coming. And so the early literacy presentation was
048outlined before that was part of your calendar that was developed so we know what's on the horizon. It's been really helpful too for me to be able to connect with our staff and our team so they're prepared for those different and upcoming events that are going to be taking place. Reviewing committees in the calendar. We've outlined here's where our committee structures are. We've outlined what are topics we need to discuss and mapped those out for the year. With that being said, I don't know that there's uh not going to be some adjustments throughout that process, but we still have a clear guide of this is when committee meetings are and they're scheduled around some key events. Uh meeting to talk about HR practices when we get to a hiring season made sense. Giving an update
049as we're about to close out the the financial aspect of the school district, that makes sense. curriculum in April as well of making sure that we're checking in on things we've piloted as we adopt as we move forward and build those things. So, I appreciate that. Uh I appreciate those structures and that calendaring anyways. Uh but it's I think been a nice addition for us to make sure we're on pace with we know where we're going to be when we need to be and what does that connect to? Adopting the superintendent evaluation tool. you all took action and adopted an evaluation tool for me uh for for this year and so I appreciate the collaboration in that and some of the benchmarks there and outlining where are areas that that we're looking to have success
050as an organization whether it's from community engagement to board governance uh we've been able to outline some of those aspects and that's been something that I've shared with teammates as well so they know what are some of those accountability measures I have and how are we able to partner through that process crisis communication plan. I shared this. This is something that's a a uh document that we're continuing to to work on. There's updates that need to take place in this, but I'm happy that we have a structured plan outline. So, we have all of those tools to include a template for here's an email that would go out in this situation and we can simply copy and paste add those those items in there that are pertinent uh to that situation. Again, it's one of
051those that's really around safety. Uh, I hope we don't have to use a lot of safety plans, whether it's communication or any of our other trainings that we have, but having those communications, having those laid out. We're going to continue to develop this as well, but we wanted to make sure in that three-month timeline, we had a tool that we're able to reference and use. Now, how do we customize that to our needs a little bit more? Policy review. Uh, we've we've caught up with Niola. That was a big thing. And so I appreciate Heather you smile over there because yes, I appreciate your your passion and excitement and and the map uh for those different policies to to lay out and check in. Uh and then I just appreciate everybody's willingness to update a
052significant number of policies so we can be in compliance with Niola um and updated on our our state law. We will have this throughout the year because Niola will send two large batches of policies that the board will need to take action to approve and so those keep us in compliance with state law and uh the other uh regulations that we have. Identifying short-term goals. This was something that was kind of out there. Well, we talked about what those goals were. We've built those things and uh we continue to to work towards that. So that's an update on our 369month goals and specifically around our three-month goals. So I would entertain any questions that folks may have. >> I don't think we have any questions. Again, thank you for putting this all together. It's so
053nice as a board to see where we are, where we're going, and having tools in place to hold us accountable. Next on the agenda is the community conversation. So we have an attachment with the proposed questions for the um board linkage next month with the local officials. Any discussion on that? I would welcome any feedback if you have any after you've had a chance to to review further. If there's anything that you think we should adjust, we can we can do that. I wanted to keep this as a high level. I outlined with Tom when him and I spoke just what the format would look like. This is really an opportunity for us to ask questions just like you did with Club 55 and receive that information. um wanting to have again a targeted set
054of questions so we're able to stay focused on point and we're able to really get good feedback and again similar to what we received with our club 55 participants. >> My only um feedback or just wonder was um how the like seating arrangement was. I know it might be different depending on who we have um but I I guess was if it worked having it be more of a roundt discussion as opposed to like them sitting there and then us. I think just when they came in too it was like oh you know how it was set up and it might not be logistically possible but I would love that was just my only like I don't know it it didn't I I would just love us all being together if that's a thing. So
055that's my only feedback. >> That's that's good. Yes. I my my uh learning experience from that too was to get a better sense of how many people will be joining us. So that we we had that note no I think it's definitely something we should do um and especially in this setting too uh when we're connecting with two organizations like that I think it would be important to to collaborate that way. So thank you Heather. All right. Next on the agenda is the broadcast communication. We have the draft going to um the Coler Villager at the end of the month. >> So this is an interesting timing with where we are in the state budget process without having the annual meeting. So this is really more of a draft than you've seen before. uh just
056wanting to outline the the concepts and Paul and I connected about this, but having just kind of those main points there, some of those details will need to be filled in because as you know, we don't even have our full numbers uh from the state with how our budget's going to be set up. So, this is an ongoing uh adjustment and it will then reflect just some of the activity that took place at the annual meeting, but wanted to give you all just a a template and really a first draft of what this will look like and then we'll get those details um in there. But I thought overall good content, good information and and we'll work on the specifics as we can commit to those numbers too. I am. Yes. For November. Yes. >>
057Yes. >> Okay. Our last item on the agenda is our board calendar, the monitoring calendar. >> So, just a general reminder kind of our recap and and looking at the the future meetings too. Uh so, obviously that um linkage meeting that would take place. Um Kelly, the article working with you on that. We'll talk about the uh state convention in January. I think there's some folks that are interested in attending that. Um I know we'll have Natasha and myself will also be attending that. Uh and so we'll look at who from the board is looking at that. We can get some more information in those signups. Um we'll donate donation approval as those come in too and then we'll continue to update on our development process. So the other object we're looking to present on
058is around community partnerships and agreement. Uh that's something that also came up in my meeting with with Tom about the partnerships with the village and that's been some of those agreements have been shared with me now. So we're able to to look at those a little bit more closely and get some of the historical perspectives because I learned some things as I asked for that information. So >> wonderful. All right. Um I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. All right. All in favor? I. We are adjourned at 6:21 p.m.