Board of Education Workshop - October 20, 2025

001[Music] And I I would invite Joe and Patty up to the chairs up here if you wanna be a part of the conversation. So, we've got a a workshop on facilities this evening and obviously it can go anywhere the board wants it to go, but there are four areas that I identified as helpful in kind of putting together some goals, a process, and a timeline for to help um with our efforts in the school district. The first is naming of buildings. We're going to build a new building. So, that's something to consider. The second is school boundaries and finalizing what that looks like when we open new buildings. The third is school property reuse. So, reuse of our facilities that we are vacating. And the fourth would be kind of more general long range facility

002planning. Um I handed out some documents that can be helpful. The long range facility plan uh and then some policies that are administrative policies. Um those include 5120 attendance boundary modification guidelines, 7100 facilities development, 7250 naming facilities, and 7300 disposition disposal of school property. Um if it's all right with the board, I'd start with naming of buildings. >> Can I bring up a related, please? Um, just I'm I'm sure that this is already on your and Nick's mind, but are we do we have a good plan to like document the buildings that we're taking down as we make the transition over the next couple of years? I think having that local history, having as many images, as much of that as we can for the archive, right, will be really interesting. And then there are

003maybe opportunities to bring some of that history into the new building or future new buildings or things. >> Yes, we have already done walkthroughs of our current buildings to identify kind of key historical artifacts and elements um and we have identified spots in the buildings for their collection in perpetuity. Uh you know so we are definitely thinking about that. Um, you know, we always work with the historical society as well. You know, they have limitations on space as we do and so being thoughtful about some of those things, but definitely trying to memorialize what we can. >> Great. Thank you. >> Uh, naming of buildings. Uh, and so I'm curious just first like with goals with the process two things that I thought about as goals in the naming process where it should feel fair

004and ideally it would bring our community together. Those are two things that I thought about should feel fair and it should bring our community together. Curious if there's other goals or principles that you would want to apply to that process or if you reject those out of hand. [Music] I guess I'm just reflecting on how we did the naming of the North Side School and um it looks like I don't know if Scott's still on, but naming it North Side doesn't necessarily bring the city to I mean I think it was an appropriate name and I I'm glad you named it that but I I bringing the community together. Um I'm not sure that was a goal. Um and I it was still appropriately named. So, I guess that's what I'm just struggling with. >>

005And I get maybe I'm thinking more our school communities or our neighborhoods or, you know, just trying to bring unity as opposed to division. Maybe not creating division is better than bringing our community together. >> Yeah. I mean, I've had outreach of people talking about state road and obviously renaming it because you're bringing two schools together so that you can feel as one instead of, you know, the hinchin kids coming into to State Road and saying you're a State Road kid now. And I mean I that would be my recommendation is to obviously rename that school, but I mean >> I like that. >> Molly, what are your thoughts? >> I think I think that somebody already brought it up, but like I think it should also reflect the neighborhood itself too because I think

006that's also important >> in in past instances. Have have kids been pulled or are we worried about naming it ending up with school? [Laughter] We'll get it into that uh British research British research vehic ve vehicle named Bodie McBoatface. >> Um the policy what we'll get to next does indicate kids should be included in the process >> to probably the appropriate extent possible. >> So we as a board are bound by this policy. If we as a board all just said, "Hey, we just want a name uh we want a new name for State Road." Do we like does that have to go through this process or is the board how does that work? I'm trying to understand >> this policy here is an administrative policy. So, we have indicated to ourselves when we rename

007something this is the process we'll use. It's the board's discretion to name. So the board can use this process or not or change this process as it sees fit. This is just kind of what's been on the books and how we have done things in the past and happy to adjust that policy. Now this is an administrative policy. It's not a a board policy. It's kind of like how we do business, but it's not kind of inconstant law so to speak the the way a board policy would be. Tim. >> Uh, and for those of you that maybe aren't aware of this, but in the past, the years that I've been here, we started naming schools after a position where they were in the community, North Side Elementary School. Then we Southern Bluffs. Then we

008got away from that and we started or maybe back and forth, but naming schools after some individual that was prominent at the time and people wanted to recognize. So those were the two criteria that were in the past. What what goes forward I have no idea. >> Yeah, that's something I was kind of curious about too since we're losing Hinch and Spence and Hogan. I know Hinchin is also named after someone. Is Spence named after someone else? Like there are we losing a part of our history that perhaps we could enshrined with naming a new school. >> I mean this this is a process for the community here, but that's just something like I kind of thought of consideration. >> Can you tell us how we what was the process for the North Side Elementary?

009because I I that seemed clean. >> I don't I don't I wasn't Yeah. Do you remember Joe how the the process went? >> It seemed like easy and this seems like getting complicated. That's the reason I asked. >> We followed We followed this process. So the school came up with three names and they brought it back to the board and I remember the students and the staff coming and presenting it to you as on the on the board and what their recommendation was and then the board voted on that. seemed sweet and easy. >> Yeah. >> Um, >> so if we followed the process >> with three just terrible names >> like I don't know that even >> then you would reject them >> like uh nope no we're not >> nice try. >> Here's

010my thought. I I'll just throw my thought about Hogan. Um I'm a history guy and you know the Hogan family donated that land a long time ago. Um, and keeping it Hogan Elementary School to me would be the the appropriate thing to do. But I mean, I I don't know. I don't know if there's Hogan, you know, family around or, you know, ancestry part of it. But I don't know. I just Hogan Elementary is is easy. >> It's also not been an active school long. >> Correct. Yeah. It's kind of new again. >> Correct. I had a thought about that. >> I I I agree. I I I feel like that neighborhood is just identified as the No Hogan neighborhood and so keeping that name seems to make sense. Um I also agree with your

011comment um about renaming State Road. Um I have talked to some people that have gone to State Road a long time ago who did not agree with that. Um but uh I I I reflect on the comments that we got from the linkages after uh Lincoln Middle School was closed. And again, it was closed in January, February, and the kids started in August or September, whenever. I mean, it was a very short turnaround. So, this is Monday morning quarterbacking, but it was those kids coming to our school, and we don't want that to happen. And so I think keeping the name State Road contributes to that and renaming it something. So now it's Hinchen and State Road's new school I think is fair and brings the community together. >> Just just my thoughts that I

012I had. I think we might get a little push back on that um because it's just been known as that. But I think that there's some other good names. Dr. Dr. Engel one day told me Pamel Creek School and I kind of like that one but um anyhow that's just my thought. Were you gonna say something Jim? I'm sorry. >> Well the only person that I hear in the community and I have a number of colleagues behind me um that would like to name Hogan admin that a Hogan Elementary School whatever we call that they would like to name it after Dick Schwans a f a former superintendent and city council president. I mean, in my lifetime, if there's a person out there that you look up to and say, "Hey, did this person make

013a significant difference to education and the city of Lacrosse?" It would be him >> and I've also received some feedback as well. >> So, my my recommendation would be to use this process. So we would go we would involve the people we would have a committee there would be a person assigned they would bring a series of recommended names um to me and I would bring them to the school board and the school board would make the ultimate decision and could be on that list or not on that list but it would be a way to ensure that there was a level of involvement the community people had an opportunity to submit recommendations and suggestions there's a screening process eliminates the administrative burden for the school board and you can feel like there was a

014reasonable amount of community engagement to to make a decision that could last 150 years. >> Do we as a board need to direct the administration to do this process for State Road because it already has a name? And I I I want to make sure that we are clear and intentional in that process. >> Is there is there a lot of cost in changing the name? Um, I mean obviously the high school is a lot different because you have gymnasiums that have logos and everything. I is State Road. I don't remember it. Like it's to me it's not probably it's not >> couple thousand dollars maybe for some exterior and internal signage. >> Letter head has to get updated regularly anyway. >> Probably I don't like changing state road. That's like my neighborhood that I

015grew up in. So, like I grew up in State Road neighborhood like the Hogan neighborhood is >> I wasn't a fan of Riverhawks, but I'm one now. >> Yeah. >> That's some of the feedback I got from people in that neighborhood as well. >> That's such a generic name. I don't know. >> I I just >> Historically, it was on Highway 33, the state road Yeah. uh out by the Aura Trail Farm as a one room schoolhouse. It was moved up the road a little bit closer to Lacrosse, probably a quarter mile. Uh and then when it was reconstructed in the >> uh gosh, what was it in the >> 50s 40s? >> 50s it was moved to that new location. >> So go ahead. >> Well, we talked about Hogan, but how about Josephine

016Hingen? Is there any hension around this family? I have no idea >> from the start because I was a hinchin kid and thinking about exactly you know like what the way you phrased it Dr. Angel around bringing two kids two groups of kids together. Uh from the start I've been talking about the importance of what this transition is going to look like and and I think the name is a big part of that in creating the sense of belonging. I wouldn't have known that State Road had a lot of, you know, investment in the same way that maybe the Hogan neighborhood did. Uh, but, you know, it's it's it's different. It's different for me from that perspective because I'm losing that school. And certainly any recommendation we bring can make sure to include the existing

017names for those sites on that list. And so that the board would of course have an option to consider that if the part of this committee's process would be to provide rationale for the recommendations for each of the names that are on a short list that's brought to the school board. And I could also imagine it not being a single name but a range of options maybe rankordered by the committee. Um and so the board would have discretion without you know trampling over the intent of of the group to to pick from a range of names. We could create a engaging process for the community that has some discretion and some uh community involvement but also leaves opportunity for the board as elected officials to make the decision that you all think is best. >>

018What is that process to engage the community? What would that look like? >> Um at a minimum >> bringing people in like like meetings or putting like how do we engage the community? >> So the the indication in the the policies. The committee will include representation from staff, parent teacher organization members, and neighborhood community members. Uh committee may include student members. If not, they must solicit input from students. So, that's the minimum level necessary. I could imagine having a survey out there or uh soliciting input, you know, like, hey, what names do you recommend? And then having this smaller group >> speak on it. Uh, I'm sure depending on how the process goes. Uh, there's always public comment if people want to weigh in, we could create a special opportunity to speak to the committee

019to gather all that up as opposed to a, you know, a formal schoolboard meeting as well. Um, we could have it posted on the website for comment for a period of time in this process. Hey, here's our four finalists. We're going to whittle it down to three. You know, what are your thoughts? you know, that could be something to generate interest uh and opportunity for feedback. Could look at a lot of different ways. I would turn it over to this committee to identify the best way to engage the community. And of course, that that process really is separate from us. You can just do that and we can also >> do something else. >> Totally. Yep. But I would I would like to hear from the community in terms of what they're for. >> Absolutely.

020>> 100%. >> I mean, that'd be a good starting point, I think, for us. >> So, my recommendation on timeline would be to start in January uh by appointing a committee chair to develop a committee, start working through the process. Uh I anticipate it could be accomplished in three to four months January through March, April time frame. Uh hopefully this board as seated currently would have the opportunity to make that decision. Uh it's tough when it transitions between boards because then you there's a learning process and a re reacquaintance with the the whole thing, you know. So wrapping up um by April would be the the goal with the a target of the maybe the second meeting in March. So when you talk about neighborhood community members, so for the Hogan site, you would include

021neighborhood members from the Hogan site, the Spence site, and the Emerson site. >> All the neighborhoods impacted by the proposed boundary areas, we would reach out to those neighborhood associations and include voice in that way. >> Yeah. And that would be uh Grand View Emerson, Hogan Wagon, and the Trinity Longfellow neighborhoods. >> They became named >> because of the schools, right? This what's the chicken and the egg there? >> Yeah, >> it's the school. Yeah. >> And then the neighborhood. >> This is a big big deal that you made me think about. >> Well, I've thought about it. >> So, we're not going to end up with the Aaron Angle Center because you can't read good. No. Uh, it says unless something happens, uh, you have to be deceased or no longer employed. And I

022hope to be neither. So, >> any further discussion on the naming? >> I do. Thank you. That was very helpful. I think Jeff is saying something. Jeff, please go ahead. >> No problem. Um, two things. one. Um, doesn't sound like I can you can hear me super well. So, um, make sure you just talked about having the neighborhood associations being involved in some of that conversation. You know, based on your initial criteria of having the entire community be brought into it, you might want to make sure that that happens um, in some sort of way, whether that's just general polling. Um, but I could also see this is a really good opportunity to have positive news in the positive activities with us in the news. Um, similar to the way October Fest kind of names

023or put brings their theme every year or selects their button, right? Like you could find creative ways to bring uh the community as a whole, bring our students, bring our teachers from the buildings, you know. So, I just whoever leads that that committee, I just want to make sure that we're one making sure we're hearing from the broader community, not just the the neighborhoods are going to be impacted if we want to bring the entire community together. Uh, and two, make sure that we're bringing in um in creative and fun ways and we don't miss the opportunity to have fun with this um and don't just go through the process um just to get it done. So, those are my only two recommendations. >> Thank you, Jeeoff. if I took those notes down. I appreciate

024that. All right, the next item I have is school boundaries in the referendum process. Um, of course, identifying what the likely school boundaries might be was present in that process. Um, however, to formally change boundaries, it requires schoolboard action. And so, um, the next step would be to, um, just reacquaint ourselves with those boundaries and then go through a process to formally approve them. Um, so when I think about goals there, we want to make sure we meet our capacity requirements. can't have more kids than we can fit in there by fire code or or reasonable practice. We want minimal disruption to students. That was one of the goals of this referendum, bringing our communities together in whole as much as possible. And then ideally balancing enrollment to the greatest extent possible so that we

025have um representative buildings. >> Adam, >> I remember when we originally were going through the referendum that part of the things we had was a separate committee. I forget what it was called. Again, it's my memories. It up this late night. But >> Kim, what was the name of it? >> Did we teasing you? >> Oh, the facility. >> Yeah, that one. Did we have some kind of work done with this already in advance that we can look upon the the work is broad pretty much done, you know, in terms of like the work and um thank you to Tim Alberts for his work on the facility advisory committee. I believe that got to us where we are today. Without that, it wouldn't have happened. >> Yeah. um the so I I don't think the

026process will take very long but I just want to my my suggestion is to follow the policy again to kind of go back through all of the rationale and justification and an analysis provide it to the school board for approval at the end of that I just wanted to make sure you know if there's any other thoughts goals etc that we have in that process process in the process that you want to >> I'm sorry to steal your thunder >> oh quite Is that right? >> I thought when we approved the referendum, we had talked about moving kids, what kids were moving and what bound like I thought that's already been decided. Now it's reopened. I'm I'm confused what we're doing here. >> We didn't approve boundary changes and we got proposed for the different

027plans that we were considering. We we saw, you know, a perspectus of what the boundaries could look like. And as if memory serves, part of the reason that that we went with the plan that we did is it it really regularized the boundaries. It got rid of some of the busing islands and things and that was really significant. But we didn't like >> Yeah, we didn't officially approve it. But I'm just like >> what would we tweak from that? That's I mean because those were like >> I I wouldn't I think we probably have a conservative approach here. So remember this was a big deal with communities during the referendum and what if they would vote for the referendum or not was about these boundaries. So I think it's best probably to stay in between

028that what we already had devised. >> There's folks in our community and our schools who want to know for sure what the boundaries are and >> the school board has not formally approved the boundaries. So for me >> before the right >> more of a procedural thing. >> So is this just a formality then? >> It could be a formality but >> there could be questions. There could be questions, right? Then people have had questions like, you know, there's one portion of the Hinchin neighborhood that is headed to Hamilton and there's portions of Emerson that are headed to Hamilton. And so, it's worthwhile for something as big as this to just reacquaint ourselves with what the final product looked back in January of 2024 and just reiterate the commitment to that or any tweaking based

029on any new understandings. enrollment boundaries are as good as the next year, right? Like they can change every year. Uh and so the idea behind this is simply my my proposal is simply just to like affirm it formally. And it could be as simple as the board saying like no, we just want to affirm those boundaries and we're done. Wash hands, move on. But I am proposing to just reacquaint the board with it all with all the information so that in the light of day you can say yes, this is what we want. anyone who has a concern has an opportunity to address those uh so that we're open and honest about what's going on. >> Okay, I see your intentions. I just want to make sure we're not opening a big can of worms

030left from the referendum again. >> I I don't anticipate recommending anything different, but I just want to make sure. Yeah, I I feel like we haven't officially acted on it, but it was an inherent part of the referendum. So, I'd want to be transparent with that. But I will still say I really dislike the idea of make sending more poor kids to Hamilton. I just struggle with that. >> Y >> and I would agree with that. I mean, there was a really good purpose and that was again Ditch Schwans's whole thing. He was writing about it in books. he quoted across the United States in terms of what we're doing is we're putting many minority and/or poverty kids in one area and all the affluent kids over here. When do they ever mix? If we

031really want a good mix, then we need to somehow bring them together. And if all you have in a poverty school is, I'll use the example that is used on occasion, a bunch of slow runners in track, they think the fastest one in the group, I'm great. I'm the fastest one in this group. I don't even see the rest of the world. But if we integrate them, then we have some aspirations that we can say, hey, listen, we're all in this. And that was the purpose of those islands is to integrate society. Uh I spent a lot of time, when I say a lot of time, six years at Hamilton. And let me tell you, there's a lot of poverty in that group. And whether that should continue or not, I don't I mean, I'm

032not here to argue that point. I just validate the purpose of those items. >> I think that's a that's a good point. I I don't I don't disagree with anything you're saying. I I think it's it's interesting and important to reflect on the different the different levers that have been pulled over the decades to try to equalize things, right? We we changed the whole school funding model as an equalization effort. We we went uh with open enrollment as a school equalization effort. And some of those things now sit in tension, right? So, so o open enrollment sits in tension with the the deep desire that people express for neighborhood schools, right? And and so, yeah, we're kind of caught in a difficult spot navigating all of those different initiatives over the years to try to

033figure out what to do. So, yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, and I can certainly as a part of this talk about the history of socioeconomic balance in the school district and how it has come and gone and come and gone and what the ultimate impact has been. Um, and we talked specifically about socioeconomic balance in January of 24 when we were talking about these various options. So, it was like definitely top of mind for the school board, but you know, there's folks who've been elected since then and others who might want to acquaint themselves with that whole outcome, too. >> My understanding was that the islands weren't having the redistributive balancing power any longer because of changes in demographics in those neighborhoods. Not to say that that there aren't other issues of concentration and things happening,

034but the islands weren't fixing that, weren't addressing that any longer. >> Yeah. With within two years, the islands did a lot to rebalance our school district on a socioeconomic basis. And then two years later, charter schools and interdist transfers were introduced um for a variety of reasons. And the result has been a gradual degradation of the benefit of socioeconomic balance. The consolidation on the north side into a new elementary school eliminated all of the islands that sent kids north, leaving only two islands left. The State Road Island over by Hamilton and the Spence Island up on the bluff north of State Road. Uh and so and those have a minimal balancing effect. And because of intrad district transfers and um migration, you know, kids attend all over the place. It's it's almost hardly aligned with

035those islands any longer. >> Any other comments? >> Jeff, you have anything you'd like to add? No, I know it was a big topic when we went through the referendum conversation. So, um just good for everybody to get acquainted with it to see if it's the final moves we want to make. >> So, my um tenative timeline would be again in January and you know present something one of the meetings in January probably final decision in February at some point should be pretty straightforward. I don't anticipate lots of conversation, but an opportunity to have >> wait till January. Could we do it sooner? >> We could. Um I've generally found it nice to be able to get through the start of the school year with more positive things and then after the new year start

036tackling some of the more challenging things. It has given new school board members seven, eight months to get their feet settled, understand policy, procedure, all the things. And so in my experience, it tackling tough stuff in after the new year has been an effective strategy. So that's why I recommend that. Certainly do it sooner though folks have an interest. >> I just based on the conversation on the table, I don't know that it's going to be a >> what's the word I'm thinking? Controversial issue. >> Yeah. I want I wonder if it would be possible just to get like some of the history over over the next couple of meetings or not necessarily a whole another workshop but maybe a quick information item on like what were some of the conversations at the last redistricting

037like I remember the when I was in school pushing the line to a barrier high school line was a big conversation >> and that's I think your attachment to to a particular place in town But the one among poverty and affluent is totally different. There are people that when they were assigned to Hamilton, they fought tooth and nail. Matter of fact, the superintendent was almost recalled uh from the office. I mean, there were people picketing the office and everything else to get rid of Dick Schwans because he proposed this solution and it is heart in it for the right reason and almost lost his job because of it and you know I could bring in all kinds of different comments but I'm sure you're aware of it. It is a totally different world between certain

038schools. >> Yeah. These sorts of conversations can bring up lots of emotion and political activity and lots of reasons why after Jan in January is a better time politically to be focused on these sorts of things as opposed to prior to January. >> And people who may have not been part of the conversations before will be interested in this conversation. >> It'll be real now. Yeah. So >> I think >> maybe smooth. >> So I will start preparing some history background so that when we get to decision making the board feels confident and I can um work closely with Miss SLA on what the board agendas look like. That sounds all right. >> School property reuse. Um, so this is a ways out, you know, but only about 20 months out, 18 months out. Uh,

039and so having some sort of process in place up front in order to address uh the Hinchin Spence and Emerson sites will be important. Um, once again, three things I'm thinking about are the goals with this uh process, the process itself, and then a potential timeline to to get work done on it. Uh, my initial thoughts as far as goals are, um, number one, this is a big deal, property is a big deal, and I want to make sure that whatever is discussed or is on the table is within the school board's intent. So it's within the parameters that the school board is interested in pursuing. You're the elected body of the school district. It's your property on behalf of the people to decide what to do with it. And so I want to make

040sure that whatever is considered is within the board's intent. The second one uh goal for me would be to engage with the community. There's a lot of interest in property. It impacts property values. It impacts neighborhoods. Uh city planning. So engaging with the community I think is important at some level. Um a goal of mine is to continue to be better about aligning with the city. Uh that's been, you know, when we're at our best, we do really good stuff together. And when we're not engaged with the city, it leads to dysfunction and and missed opportunity. And so to whatever extent we can, I would love for our our project to align with the city once again within the board's intent. That's number one. And then lastly, you know, if we do move on from

041the properties to receive fair value for their worth, that's important as well. >> Jim, >> yeah, I would agree 100%. Get the city involved with us and see what their intent would be or what their suggestions would be so that we consider the whole thing. >> Well, their their intention currently is we pay for their problems. So, I I'm not really excited about that. I think we do better things together than we do separately. >> If we have a city hall that works together. Yes. >> Other goals or hopeful, you know, broad outcomes of this process. I've been thinking about what's the balance between ensuring the financial return or or minimizing the ongoing costs because that was big kind of whole part of the the referendum question and then finding opportunities for community use and

042and getting continued value out of out of the buildings. And I'm not sure which of those in my mind should be the top priority at this point, but that would be fitting within Yeah. But whatever we're going to consider, I think is going to have to balance those kinds of >> options and as close to even between those two. >> Well, maybe I mean maybe one of them is much more important to us. Maybe we need to maximize the the savings or the sale or whatever it is. >> We don't know until all the facts. >> Exactly. Yeah. I >> mean, I have the history of of disposing of the um Jefferson and the Roosevelt buildings both. And in both cases, we just talked to the neighborhood and what they wanted kind of ended up

043being what happened. I don't know if it was by design or just kind of the way the pieces fell together. Um Jefferson wanted a they'd like to keep a school and they ended up with a school and um it's not a school now, but it's still a building that serves kids with special needs. And Roosevelt was really looking at housing and so and that's what that became. And so, um, I I think those neighborhoods really know, um, I I have several properties that we're looking at. I think the other thing that, and I maybe that's intentioned in somewhere is um, uh, how do we align what we're doing with our future planning? I mean, I I I don't want to be looking to get the best value out of something when we really wish we

044would have saved it. >> Um, so I think that that's an important piece. >> Um, >> and I'll just throw out one other specific thought is, um, we received a I received a lot of input, I think we all did, from Emerson. And um I remember specifically talking to one parent who really kind of helped me understand because I had some preconceived notions. Um but really the concern is you know an apartment building. I'm not suggesting that that's going to happen but how that would impact that neighborhood. I mean, and I think we need to be really thoughtful about because it's such a Hinchin is a is a is a neighborhood, but I suspect that it's so much property that's probably going to end up going to housing at some way, shape, or form if

045we don't retain it. Um, I think there's some natural, but I think I'm I'm really concerned about the Emerson property because it's right by the university and um the neighbor. I want to be really super sensitive how that affects that neighborhood because it's so close to that neighborhood. I think I live just a few blocks from Henchin and I kind of am not too worried about what's going to happen there, but I am very worried about what's going to happen at Emerson. So that's just my two cents worth. >> Speaking of the history, Joe, were you involved in the sale of those properties at all? >> Um Jefferson and Yes, both of them. >> Do you remember the process, you know, from the administrative side? It was very similar to what we did at at

046uh Lincoln where we had community forums in the LMC and had people in and talked to the neighbors and the neighborhoods and and they gave us input into what they wanted into their >> the one we had for Jefferson was at the North Side Policing Center and people could just basically talk and um the room was packed and they were the big message was we don't want to hooters. I remember that. um the the the Lincoln property was a a more >> uh designed process and kind of broke into groups and there were facilitators and it it seemed person I I attended both of those. I personally enjoyed the the one um for Jefferson better. I felt it was more um grassroots. It was it was more what was on the people's mind versus a

047design process to to get them to think certain thoughts. I I don't want to use the word contrived for for for um Lincoln, but it felt more that way than than the process we did with Jefferson. >> But it was a little scary going in a room with a lot of unhappy people. I will just say that. >> Yeah. >> So, I just had a question more procedural question. Maybe I should have asked this before from the 20-year-old asking here. We as a school board don't really have a say about the zoning of the buildings or the grounds we're selling. That's up for the city council, right? >> That's a good question. >> We have some We could ask for certain zoning, right? So, if it's a school, it becomes zoned governmental public. Yeah, there's

048public semi-public, but we could we could actually be a school in several different how it depends how we want to ask that to be reszoned, but we could there's several that will be allowed for school use. Yes. >> Since I feel as if it might be unfair for me to say this is even though my knowledge is very unlimited, but I kind of remember kind of alluding to your apartment count there. Remember about you know we have a declining enrollment. we see that apartment complexes don't really produce that much future students for us in comparison to single family homes. I mean, I don't think it's really our authority to say that it could be turned into single family homes or I also think that community might want something else to have these kinds of buildings

049here. But I don't really think that's really a schoolboard question more than is a city kind of question there. >> If if we sell the properties, I think you're exactly right. Yeah. I mean that it leaves our entirely. And in terms of building single family housing, like people just aren't doing it right right now, right? >> Profile in comparison to other Yeah. larger conglomerates, especially >> thinking thinking about the Hinchin property, the size of it, where it situates, and and like what how the roads lead up to it could very easily be developed into another part of the neighborhood. Right. I know where there's 42 acres previously used for commercial property sitting there with nothing being developed on it still. uh if it was going to be turned into single family houses, I feel like

050it probably would have started already and that those are huge projects. So yeah, I it's it's we could talk about it, but I think you're right. It's not ultimately something we get to decide at at that level. Ohio. >> Yeah. Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that through. It's just something I thought of consideration of, you know, we kind of have to sell these properties ourselves here. >> But well, what kind of control do we have? >> Well, yeah. Yeah, I mean and I as I recall again if memory serves sale was not kind of immediately on people's minds especially because of the flexibility I think you alluded to just now if we're still looking at you know beyond 2050 right we still have full middle school buildings to think really

051somebody mentioned >> if only Jim had been there to to bring that up several times so yeah I mean I think I think we need to be care careful about considering selling too too quickly absolely Absolutely. And and a significant amount of input would have to inform that. Um but so yeah, aligning with the district's needs and a and a really good long-term plan, I think, is the wiser option from my >> Definitely agree. >> That was my concern as well. Letting go of property when we know how how much trouble it was to find property that was located, you know, it's just not here. So if we are thinking about middle school >> out in the future >> single family homes lacrosse generally is not interested you can only have so many single. So

052their decision I serve on the mayor's and neighborhood revitalization for the last 15 years and about 12 13 years ago they said hey listen we can't expand out >> right >> individual housing is not going to make it we need to go up and that's why you see all the apartment buildings going up single family dwellings holy cats you go out to home and every time you drive by there's another 80 acre farm sold to build houses >> a lot of that's just because lacrosse us as a city is kind of in a valley as the bluffs or the rivers can't really expand so much. >> Yeah. >> Um in terms of process, um I chatted with uh Brian Fakuda. He's a longtime resident of the school district, worked for the city, the county, um

053health system, Boys and Girls Club. He's with a a firm that does planning now. And so I was just he's somebody I serve on a couple committees with and appreciate his perspective. Um sat down with him just to kind of understand like what are some of the things that you would want to go through in order to um understand the best outcomes for these properties. It's a big deal. This is like forever sorts of decisions about property that probably won't be regained. Um the first thing that uh he and his associate suggested was in a market analysis like just finding out what the property is worth, what uses are, you know, what the situation is, scan the the field, kind of just understand what the needs are in areas so that the school board kind

054of walks into it eyes wide open. The second thing was a condition assessment. We already pretty much have that uh in working with our um architects and our engineers, but just making sure we've refined that so we understand the condition of those buildings. Once again, that helps with market values and assessments and uses in the future. Uh and then the third thing was key stakeholder engagement starting with the board. So understanding what the board's parameters are before you start talking to anyone else. If the board is saying we're not selling this, well then that limits the future uses pretty dramatically. Whereas if they say we're selling this one but not this one, now it opens up things to to additional considerations. And then any other key stakeholders, city planning, maybe you know key folks in

055the community who think about things on a on a larger scale. um community engagement following that whether that's open houses or roundts or surveys it all kind of depends on what comes out of that key stakeholder engagement piece um and then developing a plan with options for each site. Um that was uh their recommendation. Uh this is an area where we're not city planners, we're educational experts. And given the importance and gravity of these sorts of decisions, I would prefer to hire somebody who's an expert to help us work through the process. um you know these are million-dollar sites and if you compound that over a hundred 150 years it's you know billions of dollars of value that's essentially locked up in these these places. So, um, in terms of timeline, once again, uh, probably

056a year-long process. If we were to engage in all of these pieces, board's discretion, of course, with, uh, the sale of property, um, probably starting in January, running through December, it would put us in a position next year, um, to be having conversations the following January about what to do. Do you have any sense of what a market analysis costs on multiple large properties? >> Um, my guess is that this whole process I asked for a ballpark, you know, somewhere probably between 30 and $60,000 to do the whole thing, you know, and if there was follow-on requirements to help dispense of the property or, you know, all that other stuff, you know, there'd be additional costs. Um, do you know >> Dan just so he knows it says low battery. Just want to make sure

057we don't lose Jeff. >> Um, do go ahead Owen. >> Um, as part of that, do do you know did you ask or was it offered uh whether any kind of environmental assessment >> would be part of that process? >> Uh, we didn't discuss that. That certainly we could do so if we got to that point. that would almost be >> it could be a part of it or it might be follow on, you know, once there's some decisions made. >> Yeah. I I mean I know what the point of any actual building or or remodeling or changes or things like an environmental assess impact assessment could be really valuable. I didn't know if there is such a thing as an environmental impact assessment that addresses like the what if question for a whole section

058of a neighborhood or >> Yep. They they would absolutely do that. Like when we were considering the train property, we had an environmental >> assessment done, you know, perspective, >> water runoff and things like that, I imag. >> Yeah. For what we were anticipating doing, like is it possible to do this thing here? So that would be once we have some more narrower options if the board was saying, all right, we want to change this property into early childhood and there's kids are going to be outside more frequently. You know, is what would the environmental assessment say about the likelihood of that? would probably be a very quick one. But if the board was saying, uh, let's say we want to tear down Spence and we want to put in a soccer field and a

059baseball field, probably have to just kind of scan the area for what drainage would look like, parking, water retention, etc. >> Did you have something you wanted to add? >> Yeah, I may not be the most creative person here. uh if the school district were to retain the properties, what would be some options that we would be able to pursue with that rather than selling? Like what would go on the land or what would we do with it? >> Probably like athletic fields or like um it's been mentioned a time or two that both of our middle schools are approaching 100 years old and something has to be done and so um possibly for that. So I um and I I think Dr. Garcia has said what's been said many times around this table is

060finding big pieces of property for a school building in our city is a challenge and so um getting rid of it um we need to think long and hard before we say goodbye to some property in some ideal locations which is my personal reason why I'm super excited about the Hogan site because I always was worried the city was just going to close that building and be done and I'm like that's just the perfect neighborhood to keep a school in. So, I'm delighted with that. Jeeoff, do you have anything you want to add to this conversation? We have It's I know it's hard for you to join in. >> Yeah. Thanks, Deb. Um, no. I I would just say that I would be very hesitant to get rid of property. Um, I think there's a

061creative use for every one of those and we have lots of needs >> as a district. Um, so I think it'd be the the fun part of at least the part that I will find fun about this whole thing is brainstorming with uh with with you with with you as a group as well as the community to try and come up with some great uses and figure out how to get the community behind some of those uses. Um, you know, Owen asked the question, you've said multiple things, right? middle schools, um athletic fields, performing arts centers, all the things that the district could use um in various capacities. Um some of those are going to require some selling and getting some community backing and finding maybe some private donors, but um I think every one

062of those properties we have has use um from early childhood education all the way to some cool things like performing arts centers and athletic fields as well as new schools. Well, hard pressed for me to vote to get rid of any of those those properties. How about that? So, just want to set that out early. >> I I might just suggest contacting Jason Gilman. He was a pre previous city planner and uh I think in my time as far as the committee I serve on, I've gone through four uh city planners and he is absolutely the most brilliant. I mean, his his mindset is something else. >> I believe he's managing the River Point project now. Yeah. >> So, where's the money for this? Like, is would this come out of the referendum money or

063is there money in like I I know it's not a lot of money, but it could pay for a good part of a TA. So, I want to make sure I'm I understand what we're where this comes from. >> Yeah. Well, we are well into the budgeting process. We would reallocate some budget in order to make it work. Um, it's something that happens every year. Needs come up mid-budget as they all do, and then we make some adjustments elsewhere, lower something here, have something there. >> So, Patty shared with us the deficit situation we're already looking at. We're not just tacking 30,000 on more because it's >> Nope. It would fall within the budget that we're approving. So, we would >> we figure it out a lot. So, this would just be another element of

064that. This is not a significant expense given our total budget, but to Miss Sukla's point, every dollar matters and we want to be judicious with our investments. Uh, and you know, I could even see having a a staged contract where we get through a certain point and if the school board's intent is to retain all the property, well, that dramatically changes the process, right? And then that might look entirely different from there, you know? So, other. Yeah. >> Yeah. I'm very glad I kind of changed my mind or kind of learned more about some of the things we could do with the property. We learned another quick question I kind of had is so the timeline is we're starting more so looking into this into January. If we were to develop any property anymore, would

065that mean um like what would be the timeline for that here? Since we're, as Trevor said, we're taking on debt this year, would we have to go into a referendum, let's say, like five years in the future when we can look into some of these development here, like what's the big picture? >> You mean if we had like a specific like this building is going to turn into X? >> Yeah. Like let's say if the board were to decide we're going to do this with this land right here, we make that decision with the community right there. What would the timeline of development look like like that? What would you be leaving to the next project? >> Yeah. So, you know, if we had a process, whatever that looks like, from January to December to

066understand what the use of this property would be in the future. So, that would put us at um December of 26. Then, let's say that we made a decision in January of 27, that would give us until September to start the preliminary execution of whatever that was. So, if it involved the sale of a property for some reason, uh that would give us seven months to figure out what that looks like, you know, we would have to move out of a building and do all the other things, you know, and that won't happen until September. So, it might be, you know, six months after that that a building or a property would go up for sale if that was on the the docket. Um, if it's repurposing in some way, well, that would give us

067seven months, you know, eight months to plan for what that repurposing looks like. It might not be ready on September 1st, uh, but it might be six months from then or a year from then to repurpose that facility. If it's a building we don't see any use for anymore and we want to put athletic fields there that would give us a year to demo it and start planning for the athletic fields. Say if it's a remodeling and repurposing to some you know daycare setting or something then it would involve um you know six eight months of preparation for that finding contractors putting out bids so that on the first day possible we would be renovating that and have it up and ready as soon as possible. And so by starting the community engagement, the board

068engagement work now, it puts us in a position to be as ready as possible the day the buildings aren't used in their current purpose uh and make that next step moving forward. Could still be another year after that before something happen. And frankly, depending on the board's decision, might just sit vacant for three years. That's a possibility, too. I That happens sometimes. >> It Yeah, theory. Theory it could happen. As long as you don't have another Kmart situation. I >> I mean Lincoln is an example where we've had it sit vacant for two years now, right? It's like we did the best we possibly could. We were as aggressive as we could and repurposing it and things happen. Just like at Kmart, things happen. The market changes, financing changes, interest rates change, and you know,

069things happen. >> Molly, I don't want to put you on the spot. Did you say child care? >> Yes, it's childare, not daycare. >> Oh, sorry. I keep making that mistake. Thank you for the correction. >> Thinking about >> that's my stepmom is in regulations. >> Two different things >> at this point. >> The the referendum for this the the new buildings as well as the north side. Is that a 30-year payoff or a 20-year payoff? >> Uh the loan that we took out in last March 20 years. So the north side buildings will be paid off around 3031 3032 >> 2033. >> That's only >> just around the corner. >> Yeah. I mean it is truly like as we think about >> well by the time we make decisions and we think about how

070we're going to use buildings and um it's an ideal time for us to think about >> a referendum for what our next plan. I know that goes into our next piece of long range planning, but I just wanted to get that in my head. Some of the timing for the failed referendum was around that that we were going to cycle off debt. So the impact to taxpayers would have been really low. It would have felt really low because it wouldn't have changed their rate. But thinking about putting things forward when debt cycles off I think is a smart thing to do. >> Yeah. Both our middle schools were built in 1939. So >> if we were to have building if if we if we had a goal that our buildings were less than 100 years

071old, >> it would require a referendum every six and a half years. We're looking at 150 years old, >> which is things just don't hold up that long. >> If you do two schools in one referendum, then it's only every 12 or 13. >> Very true. Very true. On average, you know. So I I think that I I've been thinking about that in a school district our size. It puts things in perspective like it's not like we're going to do this once and we're good forever. It's really that's what hopefully when we get to long-range facility planning we start talking about like this is an ongoing persistent need that we will always have until the state changes how building construction is funded. Those will always be local assets that will always require referendum. And so

072there will always be a need to go to referendum to improve facilities just >> until the inevitable heat death of the planet. >> Exactly. Um terms of process pursuing things there. We have a little bit of time. You know, I anticipated kicking things off in January. I can seek some ranges of costs if we want to engage with a third party and some options maybe in there for what elements to approach. Um can I can I ask just so in in the meantime while we're looking for the longer range solutions on each each of the affected properties um I think the last thing anybody wants in in the community is just a bunch of vacant buildings. So, and so like we did with Lincoln, I imagine we'll be like actively >> putting it to community

073use, opening it up for >> as much as possible while totally while maintaining as low overhead. >> Always a need for gym space. Our cafeterias can be used as, you know, community centers, um, voting, any number of ways we can use our existing buildings. If even if they're lightly used, they can still be maintained and made valuable to the community. Certainly. ready to move on. >> Ready to move on to long range. >> All right. Thank you all. I'll bring back more uh in an upcoming meeting. All right. And then lastly is uh long range uh facility planning. Um there's a document that was put together in January 24, long-range facility plan 2050. Um if you read through it, you'll see we've already done a lot of things in here uh simply by virtue of

074the referendum and some other decisions that we've made along the way. And so that's awesome. Um we've already moved forward on that. Um some of the goals I've thought about in long range facility planning are facilities that facilitate learning. Uh welcoming environment for kids and staff. Uh we want to be the school district of choice. We want people to choose our buildings um reflective of future needs. A long range uh facility plan should be and adaptable for the future. Um I've been thinking again about process here for this. Um the first thing that um I'm looking for, you know, just to make sure it's updated as we take this next iteration of long range facility planning is an assessment of our current building conditions. I know Joe has been working on that with Bray for

075a while now, kind of like a grading system of various systems. And so that might be helpful for the board to have. you know, we have this impression that, you know, Logan and Longfellow are old and need to be top of the list, but an empirical assessment might show something different or it might confirm our priors and will help us make that decision even more firmly. Um, identifying needs, you know, what does that current assessment look like compared to our goals? So, if we have goals for, you know, like the best middle schools, but our assessment says they're the worst, then that would, you know, identify a need there. um developing a range of solutions and then evaluating and testing those solutions with the board and the community. So once we know what we want,

076then we can develop solutions and then figure out if they meet the board's needs or the the community's needs if it requires uh referenda. And so uh interested in board goals and process that you want to see with this. Uh and then certainly uh we can get into the weeds about what uh to do as well. uh for me personally like I want to guidance so that we can uh tackle this problem in a in a thoughtful way. >> Uh is there anybody that you know and should be around the state around the nation or something that there's three districts that are very innovative as far as this whole process they're going through the same things we're going through but what direction do they go into for what reason? I just I just feel like

077sometimes we try to invent the world right here in lacrosse instead of saying, "Hey, listen. They really have a good idea in wherever we're bringing some expert things." Again, I'm going to brag up the guy Jason Gilman. I mean, he was always so good at that. I mean, as soon as we thought we're going in this direction, he'd say, "Yeah, but if you look at Austin, Texas, or Phoenix, Arizona, or and then he'd say, "This is what they're doing." or many why is Minneapolis, Minnesota one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Why is that? One of the things is they put in all kinds of public transit. And when they put in public transit, they made sure it was always going by highrises. And if you build a high-rise in Minneapolis, you now

078have to have it on a public transit type thing. Now, those are all excellent, but we in lacrosse, I don't think you're on the table. place that would have wouldn't have thought of that. Uh so you bring in somebody that hey I've studied 86 country or cities and Minneapolis has got the cats meow. >> Yeah certainly uh once again you know planning experts certainly an opportunity to to learn more from those who do it regularly. >> I I just have to say I've been appreciating the kind of the conversation here this evening. you were just kind of throwing out ideas. I'll just say, and I've already told this uh to Dr. Engel, if we can get every building to be my age or newer, I'll just retire from the board. You can just be done

079with me. If we could just achieve that somehow. So, if you want to get rid of me, that's a good way to do it. Um something has to be done about the middle schools. And I think looking at the um these are just my thoughts. Um, and we can just go around the table, but um, there were a lot of things we didn't love about the facility advisory committee, but one of the things that was discussed there at one of the sessions was about the specialized areas in middle schools and high schools, the >> labs, >> the labs, and I'm going to use industrial arts. There's a new language for that. um through tech, >> music areas. There's there's very specialized areas in our schools um that need updating. And um and as I think

080about it, so we've got two high schools and two middle schools. How can we address our needs for our middle schools, update those specialized areas so that we can be competitive in our high schools? and could could we share those spaces with the middle schools in some way to instead of building four of those, we'd only have to build or update two of those. That's just a thought that keeps going back in my mind. The other thought that I have is, and again this is um maybe going back to the last uh area that we had talking about the property reuse. As as our downtown changes, I worry about our poly kids being in that building and is one of the buildings that's going offline a better place for them. I is something I I

081think about long range as I think about our facilities. So, those are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Um, and >> probably has also got limited capacity, right? >> If if you if you said, Deb, what would you do? I would put them in Emerson and I'd probably move administration there, too, so they could be halfway between the north side and the south side. I again, I don't know if there's capacity in that building. I that's just thoughts that I have off the top of my head. I don't know if Joe Joel's face doesn't look like he likes that idea, but that's just um some thoughts that I have. And you know, putting the poly kids next to university isn't a bad idea. >> But those are just some thoughts that I

082just have of things. Again, I >> I'm no expert in any of these. These are just some generalized thoughts. And I don't know what else anybody has to add about long range planning. And oh, I'll also go back. We can look at Phoenix and Minneapolis and all these other areas. Um, but at the end of the day, we are very unique community. We've got, as was mentioned earlier, the river and the bluff. We're a long skinny community. And so what works in some of these other communities doesn't always work for us here because we're just geographically different. And >> but you can take an idea. >> Yes, you can take I Yes. Yes. There's nothing wrong with that. But >> so >> make it fit. >> Other thoughts? Long range. >> Yeah. Go ahead. One

083thing um I think is worth kind of coming back to mind now that that Jim had raised long ago during the referendum question was the possibility of reconfiguring the the grades. Um and it's something that might be if not necessitated strongly recommended by the changes in our demographics. Um, and if we are considering, you know, having a a junior and senior high combined, you know, a 7 through 12 or 6 through 12, there are different ways that that it's been done. That kind of planning takes, I think, a significant amount of forethought and but should be part of the conversation. >> Thank you. I'm trying to look about this of mind if I had this naturally predisposed in my mind that we'd be focusing on the middle schools next while also maintaining that we're keeping

084our long-term I'm going to say temperance long-term balance of make sure we're being keeping up with our old buildings while also kind of innovating the buildings that we do have here. Um, I mean, not only we looking again at like the hybrid middle school, high school, which a lot of school districts in our area have as well, but I mean, I'm al trying to think of extra. I had a thought and it just kind of evaporated my mind here because I'm realizing it's not working. But >> wait until you get old. No, it's it's it's interesting to look around at like surrounding districts and things, but I think right >> to Jim's point too like we're we're also significantly different. >> Exactly what I was thinking within our sees, you know, like >> it's >>

085like we've like has been said, you know, there there's a reason construction is happening in Holman in all these places because they just they have different sets of affordances and constraints than than we're working on there. So I I'm all for taking ideas but yeah needing to be >> right >> in terms of like long-term facilities. We can only really maintain what we have. We can't expand like their districts as well, >> right? So what exactly can we be innovative with the land that we do have? At a large thinking about that like I think about like not right away might make sure we're kind of being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers too. But I mean what if we do want to have those middle schools or change one of them into a performing arts

086center? >> Um I sorry >> go ahead. Um, one of the things that I came to my mind is we have all these high school teams and show choirs and whatnot that are combining and they're always like, "Oh, where are we going to go? What if we transformed one of those schools into a place, a gathering place for those activities that are combined between the schools? I I definitely think that lacrosse is short of athletic facilities, no activity centers, >> you know, where kids can go and get involved in any number of different activities. Um, you go to some communities and you walk into and you say, "Holy kids, what do you do here?" Well, there's basketball down there. There's a music lesson going here. I mean, it's unbelievable all the options they have. And

087so, I I don't think we should rule those things out. We're short of athletic activity. feels indoors, outdoors. >> Yeah, that's kind of what I was going to talk about. I actually just came from an orchestra concert. Apologies for being late. Um, but a lot of when you talk about why other school districts are so popular and why people are moving, I think a lot of it is the facilities and what they have access to. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've talked about how jealous I am of Hullman's weight room or their performing. Oh, it's so nice. As a powerlifter, I could never get enough of it. um or their their performing arts center and you sit there and you look at yes the resources but also the quality right because

088most students I say most aren't just going to settle for the bare minimum they're going to want to do something whether that be sports or music or they want to like specialize in interest whether that be with like the physical arts or something like that like there's so many options and I think if we wanted to remain competitive kind of opening that up and giving us access to more space to work on things like that. I like the athletic facilities because there are I've seen it before um where a very strong like talented student athlete is kind of urged by people around him to go to like a private school because you're more likely to be noticed there just because either teams don't perform well or you just don't associate our district with strong success

089and same for performing arts. is a reason that people are leaving and I don't think it's just space. >> Go ahead, James. >> Well, the other option I think is I don't know if any of the buildings we have would work out that way, but I also and somebody in the area can help me out there, but daycare centers, >> child care, >> uh whatchamacallit, uh quick trip just opened that building up >> and uh I went through it one time and I was impressed. I know I I I've seen other ones, but I think Lacrosse could use something along those lines. >> I I worry about that though, too, because I there's a big problem with child care and not and there not being enough of it, which is also confusing given that there's

090fewer babies. Uh but I wonder if the lack of a facility is what's keeping >> new groups from starting childare facility. And it's a business model. >> It's the viability of the business model. they can't pay people enough and that so that dubtales with with what my thinking around different kinds of performing arts facilities. I mean Jeff had that idea a couple years ago and I think stated it very very well at the board table um around the kinds of needs that we might have. I would hope that they would be engines for new revenues, new jobs, drawing people into the area to do the the kind of thing, not just having big open room with a track in it, but having facilitated activities and things that requires expertise. We have at W lacrosse, we

091have a whole cohort of graduates coming out who specialize in outdoor recreation, tourism, and event management. It's a great program, sport management. There are >> adaptive PE is a great program. Um, so I I would think at at best those could be really worthwhile developments. Performing arts right up there with with the athletic kind of ideas. >> I think one of the and I just glanced through here and I don't know but I as I look at the long range plan that we have, it's very clear the message here and I'm not reading it in here is we want to be competitive for enrollments. We want our facilities to help us have that competitive edge. I think that's a piece that's not in here. Jeff, again, do you have anything you'd like to add? I

092know it's hard again to jump in. >> It is. Thanks, Deb, for including me. Appreciate it. Um, no, I mean, I'm I'm supportive of everything. I think um single sites with our weird uh geographic layout um to maintain two schools for geographic purposes. You know, the the conversation of having a high school, middle school combined on a sim on the same site, there's some challenges there, right? I support it. Um there's some challenges there. Um we'd have to move some athletic facilities. we'd have to to kind of figure out what those plans would look like. But to get to that point, right, there's a lot of back work that we have to do if that's something we want to pursue. And even if it isn't, I think there's a lot of back work we need

093to do around building consensus on who we are and looking for opportunities to continue to integrate our our high schools, our middle schools, and their activities. We've got sports, performing arts, clubs, CTE, any of those things where we're really focused on um becoming one um as much as we can. And that's there's competitive things that go into it. It's it's less of a funding conversation for me. It's more of a community community building conversation. Um, so this isn't me saying we should go talk about the worst most contentious thing and and um, you know, like combine football teams tomorrow, but there's opportunities like we heard from our show choirs. Um, I watch my kids in sports. I watch the activities. We are not competitive. I watch our bands walk in parades. Um, we we don't

094look like we are one big district like we truly are in the spaces that we we should be. So, um, I've been encouraging Dr. Engle to think about this. I'm encouraging you all as as board members to think about where are their lowhanging fruits on ways that we can provide a really good experience for our our our students. Um, while also making us more competitive on whatever that is. Um, whether it's robotics or orchestra or cross country, doesn't really matter. Um, so I think that really will help us with the long-term facility planning to say, okay, we have one soccer team. How do we get the a really good facility for them and how do we get them to that facility, right? Where does that sit? Um, so I think that's where I think I

095my head starting is is what do we need and where are those opportunities? because we heard a lot of great opportunities that happened organically from our students and our and our staff uh over the last six months to a year. Um so I just want to make sure that we're kind of thinking about that because I think it could really play into what we truly need and where we might put some of these things uh within the footprints that we have. So So thank you. >> We've had a lot of conversation this end of the table. Um Meredith or Jeff or Tim, sorry. Or Molly, do you have more you want to add? >> I've already talked quite a bit. >> Yes, >> you have. For you. >> Um, I mean, I agree with all

096of it. I mean, it's it's it's finding the the few things. I mean, we talked about a lot of things, but it's focusing on the the next couple things. I I do like Jeff's point about we really need to be one. I like that a lot. Um I remember when I moved back here from Portland, I I was really excited to see the marching bands because I was in marching band, right? Uh and I was kind of disappointed at what I saw. And then, you know, other schools went by. I was like, they look put together. They look, you know, >> I mean, a lot of that has to do with numbers. I mean, >> it does. That's a huge huge part of it. I mean, it used to be Yeah. I mean, both schools

097back when I >> You talk about that >> that wait room. I would love to have that weight room. I'll show you the closet that we received with the double the amount of kids. >> But yeah, to your point, I mean, it's I I just think it's kids. I mean, it's why we have co-op teams and we have all that stuff now. But >> because we do have a big district, it's just kind of >> Yeah. >> separate. And obviously the the community made its decision when they didn't want one school. I mean, >> so we have to kind of deal with that part of it um and try to figure out the best ways of of focusing on the things that we do need. But >> and I like the idea of more cooperative

098or collaborative spaces, but it does introduce challenges about um moving students, you know, and scheduling. It causes problems with scheduling. like I love the lacrosse community theater program here and the way that it interacts with our schools I think adds a lot of value. Um but then you know and William is involved in lacrosse community theater and has been involved in high school productions that they've done over the summer programs but then he's like there's not a theater teacher at either of the high schools. >> You know >> that's true with many of the activities across the board. I competed in theater in high school all four years. I went to a high school of 600 people and you know we were competitive with our district and that was a real place of belonging right

099to do that to hang out in that space with that theater and we just don't have that here. What we have is great but it's not that >> you know growing up in this city. I mean it's always been a division. I mean, regardless of how you saw it, it's always north side and southside. And I don't know how you conquer that. I mean, you see it at graduations. It is it's very different, but we're in the same district and we're less than 10 miles away from each other. That is what if it was anything, it be that'd be the large focus is to try to bring both schools together a little bit more. Um, I don't know. has always been that way and I don't know how you change that. >> Yeah. >> I

100don't think the cross town rivalry is in essence a bad thing. I think I think it can come out in toxic ways. Correct. >> But I I wonder if there are ways to like to harness it more as a productive force, right? to keep us together, but enjoying the opportunity to show off. I had long marching bands should have some kind of special band off during October Fest >> or march together or like that would even be >> Yeah. something like if >> Oh, sorry. >> Go ahead. I'm done. >> You know, Jim's been trying to say something and I'll go to Owen. Well, as far as going back to the dark ages, it is so much better. Before New Logan was built, I mean, then there was such a discrepancy between north side and

101southside. I mean, whether you talk about the books you use or the desks you sit in or the walls you look at, it was so totally different. Uh, and when Logan High School got their new school, it was really a big change in the student population. They had pride in that school and so on. You talk to any of the building principles that I was aware of, they said, "You just couldn't believe the difference in the student population because now they are proud of their building and so on." So, there still is the animosity between North and Southside, but you don't hear as much as a put down. At least I don't put down word. Kids used to really be put down. Oh, you're a northsider. I moved to French island and they said there's

102only one thing worse than northsider and that's a French islander. >> I remember that. >> I also think that we have successes of the schools coming together and maybe we can learn from those successes and >> speak to the people that were involved in that. >> I'm just going to throw this up. >> Acquire confluence. >> Yeah, exactly. I would love to see Central play their football games at Logan. >> It's a great facility. >> It would save on cost. You could Here's here's the biggest thing I hear and I wish Scott was here because him and I could banter back and forth. But, you know, all the facilities that are changing the football field, they have their own football field. They just got new stands, like the baseball fields, the softball fields. And Central,

103I I hear it all the time, like where's our stuff, right? Like so you're you're you're keep you're continuing to create this like division of north side southside regardless if you're trying to or not and you're trying to do the right thing which it is the right thing. I'm not saying that's the wrong thing but it it's continue it it's it's going to happen regardless because somebody's always going to be unhappy about not having the shiny new thing. Um, but I would think that that would bring a little bit of you, you know, like yes, it's your field, but it's our, you know, it's our district, it's our field, too. I don't know. It's just something to throw out there. >> How, how do you feel about that? >> Um, I mean, I would love

104to have Logan's field. I mean, it's just such high quality. Like, yes, obvious there are the very obvious logistical concerns of we can't both play on Friday. Um actually there are um with the playoffs starting which go us um with playoffs starting um we like we like both Central and Aquinus both use WS field. >> Well we play Friday. >> Logan needs to continue practicing Friday so they can play their game Saturday. Where does that leave Aquinus? So there's like the logistical issue trying to get around that. But I again I would absolutely love to play on Logan's Field. Like it's it's just so nice. It's such high quality. And I hate hate to give them credit for anything. Not actually that. I promise. I promise. I promise. >> There it is. >> I'm I'm

105saying that more to be dramatic. No, but like to to all of your points, I think I enjoy having that rivalry. I think it can be something that's more playful. I think depending on what environment you're in >> drastically changes it because if you talk to people in band, right, the the competition between the two schools is, well, one of us is just better at what we do. >> If you talk to the football team, there's like sometimes I swear there is genuine hatred and it's actually quite scary. Like I'll be sitting there and I'll be easedropping. I'm like, what? >> But that that is what it is. That's also just kind of a part of the culture of each of the activities. But I will say I have friends in show choir and show

106choir had practice um like directly before the concert tonight. And you had all of those kids crammed into our choir room because it's the only place that has like mirrors >> trying to all do coro on these little risers and it just like our show choir used to be insanely competitive and it's getting back to there now but it was like one of the best in the state for a hot minute. like they're absolutely incredible. >> Years and years and years, >> years and years like it was it was almost unfair. >> The the Mike Esser era was phenomenal. >> And then it kind of dropped off for one reason or another and we're starting to pick back up now, but we're running into size concern like there's you can only fit so many people

107on our stage and it can't be held at Logan because I don't have one. >> Yeah. >> So it that has to be held here. So I think I think if we want to bridge that gap, I think a good place to start is through joint competition, not sports right away necessarily. But like it's also a budgetary thing because um DECA last like FBA and DECA were talking last year about combining between the two schools just so we would have a little bit more money to stretch between just because there's not enough to go around when you keep us separate or that either chapter Central's DECA has grown significantly the last few years and I give all the credit to them but like FBA has like five or six kids at Central and so it's

108almost a waste. not to combine because you don't have the numbers to do a lot of the activities that come with it. I would say something else I'm kind of hearing here and that I think about is that like a lot of these cooperative or collaborative things work because there's a faculty member or a staff member who's willing to drive and drive and to spend hours and to coordinate with other people when they don't have the facilities access to the facilities in the space at their thing. they fix it, right? They >> find the room with mirrors and, you know, they do all that coordinating. Um, >> and that works until it doesn't, right? And we saw that with like the French program. It collapsed. We had like a super >> awesome French teacher who

109got people excited and took them overseas and leveraged our sister city stuff and people were so disappointed to hear that the French program was going away because they had such powerful memories of belonging and awesomeness to it. But the fact was that like that person wasn't there anymore >> and then then that was a lot of work to be doing all the time to make it a program that was like that. And then the numbers dwindled and then that's where we were, >> right? >> You know, that happens at other districts. So, Dr. Engel and I created a super cool project up in Trelo County um when I was a human services director and um we shared a social worker, school social worker, and then they also provided county funded services with children's waiver and

110they could meet those kids right in the school. day. It was It was such a cool thing and it has literally collapsed since we've left because we aren't the ones carrying it on. >> Um I love all these ideas. I've taken notes on everything. And so for me in helping guide the board through a process of evaluating all of this and updating our long range facility plan. Um once again, I go back to the the things I had identified an assessment of our current buildings just that you have an idea of like where they're at. the HVAC, the exterior, the foundation, the the core systems, like is it worth saving or not? That's going to be helpful in in any conversation. Um, identifying needs. I think we've done a lot of that here, but like

111refining that, honing it down, whittling it, you know, and then looking at the difference between kind of where we want to be as a school district and what our facilities are providing and then identifying the most important things to close the gap on. that point we can develop a range of solutions that the board can evaluate. You know, if middle schools need to be improved, that's that rises to the top of the list. We can provide three or four different ways to tackle that. Could be build a brand new elementary or brand new middle school, tear it down. Could be a 712 at our existing sites at the high schools. Uh it could be uh improve the buildings in place. we can get cost estimates, impacts of all that and kind of give the board

112ranges of things to look at and you can choose the path you think will meet community's needs. Um, and then evaluate and test those with the board and the community. You know, if if it's going to require a levy, probably good idea to see what the community thinks about it. The only thing we didn't talk we talked about activities, but there are a significant number of academic things that could be changed. There are many eighth graders right now that maybe are being taught algebra, but they are not being taught by a certified math person. They're certified by middle age certified middle grade middle grade person. So they they'd be they'd get so much more out of algebra if they were with let's say in a ninth grade class algebra one here and there's geometry being

113taught at Longfellow and there were like five kids in the class. So the combination of classes would save money and benefit the students. So from an academic point of view I mean I'm sure it's true in science other areas also but I'm more familiar with math. So, if it's all right with the board, I'll work with Joe to get an assessment of our current facilities. And then we can start to hone in on key needs and goals for the district. Maybe, you know, like big picture stuff. Where do we want to be? And then start to see where there's a gap between where we want to be and what our assist our facilities can provide. And then that would tell us this is the the most important thing. >> Gap analysis helpful. Would the board

114want to think about um >> one of the things we've done in the past again we talked about facilities because you need some concentrated time is perhaps like uh a Saturday from 9 until 1 and then have some lunch or something. I we I remember going through this big I probably still have that book at my house. Um it it just gives us some concentrated time earlier in the day and I I it was a relaxed conversation. We really got a lot done. I don't know if that's something I scheduling that with everybody's life I get is the ch the biggest challenge but is that something the board would want to consider? >> Um can I just make sure I understand? I I'm open to the idea of it. I think if for me personally

115with with my life and scheduling that if if I'm going to commit that additional time, I feel like that needs to be really focused on a pretty specific question, >> right? And and exploring because this this is really wide range and I and I can get behind this, right? But if we're gonna if we're going to devote that much time, um I I would really want to have a a clear kind of goal in mind, a set of parameters that we want to talk through and and at least some sense of of what's going to going to come with it. >> And and I'd like to have the notes for those things, the background material, >> the homework. Yeah. >> Yeah. days in advance of that so that you could definitely go through it underline

116thing pick out this and >> yeah that's why I think for example having the history on the past boundary changes over the over a couple of me regular meetings just in small bits helps me be more ready to act. >> Yeah. I mean if we're going to take a Saturday we've got to get we've got to be very clear what we need to get done. So I agree this that's a different conversation type of conversation we have this evening. >> Yeah. So, I'll start laying the groundwork for maybe a retreat in the nearish future, near to shortterm future. >> So, we'll get information together so the board can start acrewing subject matter expertise in this area and then we'll kind of work together to find an appropriate time to make that happen. >> Thank you

117for your time. I think this is a great conversation. I think um I hope you got what you needed. >> Absolutely. This is fantastic. Really appreciate it. some of the most conversations we've had. I agree. >> Thank you, Jeff. Have a great evening. >> Thank you too. >> Thank you. [Music]