001Terry Montgomery present and Phil Vas. >> All right. Um, first item up item three on the agenda is to approve our agenda. Look for a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting. >> So move second. Second by Steve. All in favor say I. I. >> Carries. Next up we have our consent items. Is there anything any Board members wish to pull off of our consent agenda. Hearing none, I would entertain a motion for reading them for the record. >> Motion by Mike F. >> Second Terry. Terry. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Sorry. Okay. our consent items. Uh item A, approval of minutes from our January 5th meeting, approval of professional staff resignations. Uh Melanie Palumbi, >> there you go. Nice. >> Uh Parkside special education teacher. Approval of support staff
002resignations. Robert Ruger of North Side. Uh Sierra Rates of from the high school. Uh approval of support staff hiring. Gary Bowen, Northside custodian coordinator. Erin Meyer, high school custodian. Exempt staff hiring. Melissa Dixon, board of education administr administration exe executive assistant. Then we've got some more donations to approve for tonight. Uh all going to Backpack Buddies. Uh from Kurt and Terry Ellison, a $250 Thrivant card. Uh Donald and Bonnie Barker $50. Maryanne Johnson $30. Uh excellence in education fund two $500. And my dental agency on behalf of Ecal Family Dentistry $50. already had a motion and a second and approval. So, we move on. Is anybody here for the purpose of public comment, keep us moving the end tonight. We'll move on to nothing from old business on to new business. All right, we've got
003our crew here for the high school building project update. Thanks for making the trip. >> Yeah, Ron, I I wasn't at the last OAC meeting um due to meeting conflict, but Ron, I didn't know if there's anything you wanted to share to kick us off before we get the gentleman started on what they want to share. >> No, I'll just say we uh uploaded today uh Ryan's traditional reports. So on the financial side of the equation, um also Joelle had a new update uh that came out uh today. Uh has a lot of even photos in it of stuff that was done since I was on site on Tuesday for that OAC. Uh it's at the point of the project where uh things are happening pretty quickly out there as far as finishes go uh
004which really, you know, make the spaces uh come alive. And then uh we do have a presentation u a PowerPoint uh and it wasn't loading for me. So hopefully Heather can pull it up uh and Ryan, are you all right with Tony goes first? >> All right. Yeah, we just got some PowerPoint with some photos here. Uh because the drone video we tried to have it last week. Apparently those things don't work if it's so that completely fell apart on me. Um, so we're going to have to deal with photos. I just want to take the time to introduce Christian Alers, too. Christian's been on our team since when? September, October, something like that. >> Been a while. >> He's been on trailer is a part of our team and another project manager. He's been
005kind of focusing on quality review and uh and uh a lot of coordination with subcontractors on closure and stuff like that. So, you might see him at future board meeting. So, I just want to kind of get get them in front of you and just uh you know, let you be familiar with them. Um, so with that being said, I'll just kind of walk through the the building here. So, as you enter the main building here, you can see we got some red red colors on the outside of the building. If you've been keeping up with some of Joe's updates, you probably seen some of this already, but you got some red men panel on the left. Um, really a lot of metal panels kind of done. As you can see to the right side
006of that photo, um, there's some perforated metal panel. that's going to come across all those windows from the right picture, right side of the picture to the center. Uh that's just started. There was a couple quality concerns there. So, we're we hit pause a little bit to get that addressed and they'll pick back up with that here shortly. So, uh the front of the building had come along and there's there's storefront framing in there and just a little bit of plywood partitions still um as we use for access in and out. You can flip to the next photo. Here's just a closeup of basically what I just just said. some of the glass there to the right of that metal panel. That's a welcoming site for us to to see some of that go in.
007It's it's been temporary wood walls and insulation for quite a while. So, it just keeps every time it's always like, "Oh, is this thing going to be done?" You know, so it looks more finished now, which is great. And you can kind of see right in there. Now, you can't see on this photo because there's a glare, but the monumental stair right behind there is is in and placed as well in the middle of the M room. So, that's another huge thing we've had done since last time. All right, you can head to the next photo just some more closer up. You can see those black tubes there. That's where that red panel at the very far end of that photo is going to come across where all those uh tubes are above the windows.
008So, here's some of the admin space. So, we've got some protection over top of the transaction tops there uh to the left, but uh basically that's the the check-in space right inside the admin. So, really, we're pretty close on on this area. Throw some flooring in and and clean up some stuff and swing a couple doors and we're pretty much done with that area. Uh to the right's just another space there um with some countertops and case work and ceilings in and lights are on and you walk into the rooms and the lights turn on just like they're supposed to when you're occupying. So until we're getting getting to the point where we're getting done some areas like really the west side of the building is I mean if we really had to focus on
009getting that done I mean a couple weeks we'd be ready to almost hand that over. Um we got some light fixtures in the hallways that came last week. We were able to finish some ceiling tile. We got to floor the hallways and then really it's just clean up. Do some punchless stuff and you know we're ready to start punching with the architect. never had a project before where an architect is pushing back on starting punch lists so early. So, we are actually talking about maybe starting some punch list in some areas since we're pretty far along, but you kind of look now from like, you know, May 1st. That's still a long long ways away. So, we're pumping the brakes a little bit, which is a good sign on some of those areas. But, uh,
010we want to kind of at least get through one area, just kind of get get one under our belts and and, uh, and keep moving forward, make sure we understand the standard. All right, moving to the next slide. Um, yeah, so this is back in the, um, CTE area. Just shows that we have to the left there, um, some overhead doors that have are gone. And if you've been around the site for quite a while, you know that those openings have been temporary plastic or wood for the longest time. Um, so it's a welcome site to see some some overhead doors go in. Um, to the right's kind of just the um I don't exactly know the name of this, but basically where all the computers are in the techad department for when they're doing
011CAD drawings and different kind of things in the tech department on the computer. So that's kind of a work room you see to the right there. >> And then in metals and uh I don't know if I the tops weren't in there, but the metal and autos I know all the metal uh cabinets are in. And they actually were doing the butcher block tips in the in the metals area or in the wood area the other day. So >> yeah, >> that's just a view down one of the the hallways. See the you know the picture of the right goes into >> see the the starting to get the black accent stripe too in the ceiling tile there. >> Yeah. of the part of the design is that that white ceiling is about two inches
012or three inches lower than the the black ceiling tile that's on the lefth hand side of that photo that photo and just kind of gives a little more accents. It's not as punctual here as when you walk in there feels like a nice touch in the space for sure. It's not just all white, you know. So, looks great. Um, we're ready for some toilet partitions. So, all the toilets are in. We're ready for water heaters and hot water, too. We're kind of getting to the point we fire that thing up. But got to do some clean up and really partitions and ceiling. And this face is pretty much wrapped up. So to the left, you just have another another hallway getting close to dropping the rest of the ceiling tile there. Uh here's the metal.
013So this is a kind of welcoming site, the smoke heaters that are next to the the welding booths. So right in front of you there, there's that uh the two CM walls that kind of come out. Uh there's two welding stations within that one box. So you can see every every one of those arms that comes down is for a welding station. So there's there's four of them in the right hand side of the photo. There's 16 of them overall in that space. Um so a lot of the dust collection system and HVAC that's more point of use stuff for whether it be you know what you see in front of you here or like the the saws in the woods. All that stuff's really starting to go in now and start to get pinpoint
014locations on where that stuff comes down to service the equipment. So, it's really come along as well. >> I don't know if articulating is the right word, but all those uh duct work that comes down for the welders are movable so you can >> position them to as as needed. >> Um here's a couple photos from the auditorium. So, really this is our last space. So, we're going to be right up to to the end on on this, but some of the good things that you you can see here is it's all black. So, we're we're done with painting uh most of it. Um we need to get all that high painting done with big lifts, kind of the the background painting, I'll call it, which is the black. Right now, what we're focusing on,
015you can barely see it in some of these photos, but some steel studs. So, we're doing some steel stud framing on those pieces that look like this on on the ceiling. Those are clouds. Uh, as you can see, the track going down on those. Um, but really we're working on getting that that framing done so we can do the drywall walls and and clouds in that space. Then that'll be painted next and we'll just work our way down. Another exciting piece of this is uh mainstage equipment is starting to do a lot of the auditorium equipment install. So, you know, that was kind of a nerve-wracking thing for us just a couple months ago, honestly. and see them here and installing is is a breath of fresh air. Uh for sure because we're nervous on
016some some elements that needed to be relooked at by the design team. Uh but it's all all in good shape now or tracking towards the end. What you see right there is just a ramp that goes over the the orchestra pit. Um gym flooring. This is probably the biggest and most flashy thing since last time we were here. We might have been starting to put flooring down or >> in the process. >> Yeah. So like you know this this is kind of what what it looks like now and it's just really exciting to see that space really >> see the other half of it wasn't even first coated yet so far. >> All right next one just picture of the commons. The the nice thing now is if you go in there today it's a
017lot cleaner than what it was. The drywall finishes are done on almost all surfaces. It's pretty much ready for a little bit more conduit for lighting and things like that through throughout the area. Otherwise, it's it's paint and we're out of there. So, um I mean there are some we might be we're going to be adding some window treatments along those tall glass wall tall glass walls to the right there. So, we're going to be procuring those window treatments. What's that? >> And the lamboo to the left. That's right. >> Yeah. When is the lamboo going in? >> Last, I would say after the paint. >> Do you want to explain what lamboo is for the >> Y? So lamboo is it's a manufactured wood product. It it actually is made of bamboo, I guess.
018Uh but it looks like laminated wood and it comes from China. So basically what you see to the left of that photo, there's those little black clips down below the railing and then black clips up above like where the joists come. It's essentially like a 2x 12 by 20 foot long that runs vertical there. They're like vertical fins on every one of those. So it'll kind of break that whole plane up a lot. Um, but yeah, it's a 2 by 12 by 20 standing on its end going from the bottom clip to the top clip. All right. Um, there for a couple months it seemed like every day you walked outside there was another building that popped out of the ground. Yeah. So, this is one of them, the baseball and softball concessions. Um, we
019had some of the steel set and everything ready to go, but then uh we panelized this. So, it was a really quick pretty much the wall panels were made in the shop and set in place in the day. So, move on to the next one. Um, the greenhouse framing is in since pulled off just do a little bit of coordination where the the vestibial meets into it. We've got that all hashed out now and they should be coming back soon to finish that up. Of course, the baseball field since we had a little bit of the snow melt it see some of this is getting close to ready. Um really winter came quickly for us back in November and shut everything down real quick which we knew we were working on borrow time but we're
020ready to pick back up right where we left off and and get this thing done by June. ticket booth. Um, some fence posts, baseball concessions. This is from the bleachers looking back up at the concessions press box area. So, those those higher windows are where the uh the press and the coaches and things will be sitting to looking overlooking the field. And the bottom right is where you go up to those windows for concession stand. Clearary building um installed their two buildings. The maintenance building and then the next one's a sports storage. Maintenance building has a slab concrete slab in it. The sports storage does not yet. Figured there's no point in doing that just yet. Wait until nicer weather. So, so a lot of photos. Any questions on any of that? Few other things
021that are kind of coming up would be, you know, epoxy flooring is going in, uh, which is nice to see some other trades coming on site. I miss guys, any other highlights to add? Grinding the floors in the kitchen. >> Yep. Paint. >> Yeah, lots of paint going on. >> Other questions from you all? Does the ceiling in that commons area get painted? >> Yes. >> All right. Well, we're 77% build for the project. That's pretty crazy that we're uh >> we're already there. Um doing great on owner contingency. Um we did have a change order come through. combination of things since we last met. Uh but the majority of it is uh the in turf and fields for varsity baseball and softball. Um fortunate enough to have an awesome community donation for the lion
022share of that. We also added a monument sign down there in addition to the monument sign that's kind of on the northwest of the property. Um this will be the kind of the far west of the property. Um so we'll have two monument signs. Um, one of the things >> actually that one is for the uh >> skiing. >> Yeah. >> Oh, did I say the wrong one? >> Yeah. >> East. So, say it's east. >> Um, the Jim, you had a a question. I know that um a conversation about construction contingency and when conversations would be had about when that might transfer. Some of it might transfer over. that is kind of pending with us to have a conversation um to get together and kind of hash through those through those details. So um
023probably by the next board meeting we should have an update. >> Yeah, I have a draft that I've kind of went over with my boss. I just want to sit down and get in front of Ryan before we kind of make it public. But uh yeah, there's a decent amount that's going to be coming back which is good news. We will return. >> Yeah. So, we we'll work through that and hopefully by the next board meeting we'll have that update for you to answer your questions on that. Um but yeah, for owner contingency, we're still in a really great spot. So, um a lot of conversations about what we can do in the project before we finish um to continue to add back some of um early alternates that we had talked about or things
024that have come up during construction that we've learned would be um some nice to haves um that weren't previously planned for. Um there's things uh we talked about that got mentioned about adding uh window treatments to the windows in the commons that those upper windows um being able to when the sun's beating in there to drop some shades um things along that kind of nature um that we've been talking about. So, as we talk through construction contingency coming back, remaining owner contingency, and then obviously all the the great funds donated from the community, um what our total pool will be, and then u make some decisions moving forward on that. Um over on the budget, we're tracking really well. Um probably the biggest changes you'll see through here as we went through and did an
025effort um the district and our team um re reallocating some funds from different buckets that some we found as we started procuring owner direct items the the bucket was too large and so we pulled some money out and put it into the categories that needed more funding. Um no net gain on project cost, no use of owner contingency in that. It was just a a shuffling around. So, if you look into the adjusted to actuals line, you can see some of these dollar amounts have changed because we realized either we needed more funds or not or didn't need as many funds um with that in that line. So, um that happened and trying to think when if there was any other major changes that we've had since we met last time. Um, I think I
026think that's the lion share of it is is just the moving around of those funds and um and that one change order that I mentioned a minute ago. And so that's that's kind of where we're at. Um things are going really well on site. Um targeting still the and tell me if I'm wrong, still the end of April for the building >> and then in is it end of June for the site? June 18th. >> Oh, 18th. Okay. Mid June for the site um to have that all buttoned up. And uh one of the other background things we've been working on is the the branding component in the building and um the district has been uh heavy into that process. I' I'd say we're approaching the end of that effort. Um it's been a long
027one, but a really good one. Um, I think it will probably be the topic of conversation when the public gets in there for the first time. It's probably the things that they're going to notice first other than just like the size of the building. Um, so really proud of that effort and really proud of the team um what they've been able to do and I I really think it will be um incredibly meaningful that uh effort. So that's been really good. um furniture. Had a great walkthrough with the furniture team a couple weeks ago and really strategizing kind of the game plan of how furniture is coming in and um how they're getting into the site, where they're staging, how it's being moved, all the critical things when you when you buy a school's worth
028of new furniture. So, it's been going really really well. And then you'll also see there's been quite a few purchases on the owner direct side for procurement. We're getting smart panels and TVs and um just all of the the things that we need, the parts and smarts that go into the building um have started being procured and showing up and and really transforming, you know, what was a square into a classroom, right? And so it's been it's been really great. >> I think got a list of about seven or nine things on my desk today that I'm hoping to get knocked out in the next couple of weeks. uh you know, we're pretty close to finalizing uh the kils and and the greenhouse like tables and and hanging baskets uh racks and stuff like that.
029Uh we're we are done with what we needed for uh like our move and our new any additional equipment for the weight room, but that was early on and so we just need to see if that price is still held and finalize that now that we're getting closer. um things such as you know sideline chairs in the gym and you know some of those small things like that that just you know some of them you know about and some you don't know about and uh and so uh the getting them all to fit in and and get that finalized and um appreciate again Heather's help on that uh she's she does a lot of that to help me get that moving and done as far as the actual ordering of it and coordinating the delivery.
030Any questions? Just a general question I guess for anybody is the electrical and all the wire poles for technology and everything well on track. >> Yes, they haven't started building the the data closets unless they have in the last week. I'm not sure, but they're about ready to start building all the data closets. A lot of the wires already pulled to the data closet. The fiber is already there. Fiber from TDS is in. So, it's ready to to jump off here. Most of the wires all pulled. It's just a matter of doing all the terminations, which you know, it's a guy sitting in the closet for a couple weeks just terminating all the wires. So, um, or getting to be about that point. >> That's always a fun point when they not only get them
031punched, but then to have them properly labeled is >> nice. Question for probably more for you, Ron. Um, and I don't know that you have an answer right now, but as I'm doing kind of quick Matt talking about what's left in contingencies, which we'll have to deal with. Um, obviously we spent the full referendum fund amount. Um, but then once you start reducing based on on stuff coming back, it's less potentially less than the referendum plus the the bond interest. Is there a risk that we have to return some of that interest because that has to be spent, right? that can't be used for other purposes. >> Yeah. So, I mean, there's a couple things in there. There's probably um you know, we'll have a final update on what the quote net interest dollars are.
032Uh I'm hopeful that might even go up a little bit. With that said, part of that interest, if you gain too much interest, actually has to go back to the IRS. So, you reach a point where Yep. It's great we're making more interest dollars, uh because that means you're maximizing um the value you're getting from from the referendum dollars. However, the IRS says you can't be making more than than what the cost of the borrowing was. And so, some of that has to go back to IRS. Um, we're I think you're saying is okay, obviously at the end we have like the sale of the the the existing high school and stuff that are built into the equation as well. And yeah, so we're looking at right now that we have, you know, more proceeds
033than than what we have budgeted. uh it's pretty close but a little bit more and it does have to be spent in the project right or you know and so with some of the contingencies that are out there that's where some of the early decisions as to things that either weren't in the project or things that were an alternate uh that we didn't select can be can be evaluated by the board. Some of them, you know, I I'll use the we made fun of the lamboo a little bit ago with a name like that. Who won? But yeah, I think those were supposed to be, you know, redwood or something, you know, you know, wood at one point in time. Then we're like, well, could you just could you get pine and stain it or
034something and and it ended up being bamboo, right? And so that ship has sailed, right? But there are things, you know, we we we put in the bases for lights on the baseball softball field, but we we don't have lights on the baseball softball fields. Uh and then there's smaller things throughout the project like that. Uh that we'll all have a chance to evaluate and say, does this make sense? Is that what we want to do? And to be honest, that's something we've been able to do with each project. That's partly why we continued to go with CG Smith for the new high school is because, you know, with both of our small projects at Parkside and North Side, they were on time and under budget and it allowed us to make some of those
035decisions at the back end. And so that's a little bit of what Tony and uh Ryan were talking about is we need to a get confident on what those contingency dollars are going to be. But then b even with that said some of these individual line items are going to you know vacasillate a little above a little below and typically they come in more below than above and we we make up a little ground even beyond that. And so, uh, yeah, there's always that opportunity at the end to go, okay, what what do we need in there? And and some of it might be, you know, areas where, you know, we're over, you know, we we had to up our our our furniture budget, but it might be that, you know, because we were pretty
036lean on that at the start. It might be as we walk through once the building is nearly complete and go, "Oh, yeah, we probably really should have did this, but we didn't at the time because we didn't think we had the dollars to do it." And so >> what's the timing on >> typically? Yeah. I mean, you you want to try and get it in before the it opens. Although Ryan can probably tell you, I'm thinking like when you guys did Nina, you guys were were still doing some of that process because they were the same thing. They had to cut a lot out of that budget. And then for about four or five months after you guys were done, you were able to add some stuff back in. >> Yeah. it it's uh you
037know the things that are in the building as in like integral to the building obviously that's we're running out of time for that type of thing the things that are extra um lights to the baseball softball just the obvious things that we have some time um to do that before um Ron knows better than I do but before funds have to be ported and returned or whatever they have to be done we have a little bit of window after have to get there to procure and install some of those things so if indeed the dollar and the lights make the cut. You know, it's something we could do this summer, right? And when the weather makes sense and we have time to procure and design. So, you know, we have a basically a fiveyear window.
038U now obviously because of some of the intricacies of the IRS rebate rule, we'd like to close it sooner than that. But if you look at the full five-year window, that goes back to u when we had our first borrowing on the ban, which would have been December of 2022. So we would have through most of 2027 to to finalize out all of our expenditures. Um so that gives us some time, you know, uh to to finalize things if we find that we do have some additional dollars available >> to you guys. I mean, a little too early to say congratulations, but you're talking about returning both construction and owner contingency already and confirming that April deadline. That means you're pretty confident we're coming in on time and under budget. So, um, well done. >>
039Yeah, thank you. It's, uh, can't say enough about the team, CJ Schmidt, um, get a great job done very efficiently and so that's been that's been really great. So, um I I'll report back once we get the punch list, but um but for now, it's uh things are things are going great. It's just been it's been a pleasure to work on the project and um boy, I can't say that about every project. And so, uh and this has been a good one. And the team has been great. And the the craftsmanship and the workmanship of everything has been really good. And and it's not because it's not been without issues, right? Every project, especially this scale, has issues that come up. The best part is the resolution of those issues that are intelligent and quick
040and no ego and all of the things that can make those type of things difficult have just been a breeze. And so, um, yeah, the team's been great. >> Other questions for the team? Appreciate it, guys. >> Thank you. Good to see everybody. >> Thanks, guys. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to 8B. We've got an action item to approve our uh open enrollment recommendations for the 26 27th school year. Turn over to Joe. And >> yeah, this is this used to be mine for years. Now it belongs to Amy as she's in the interim director of people services role. Um, this is something that we're required to do annually. It's pretty straightforward. It's a part of state statute, but I'll let Amy talk a little bit about what we got here. >>
041So, as Joe said, um, this is part of state statute is that in every J every January, school boards have to come together and determine the number of placements that are available for both regular education and special education um, students. And so, here we are, it's January. Um so on behalf of the administration we are recommending that for regular education students for open enrollment that we have no caps. We will accept any and all. Um that's the recommendation. And then for special education students our recommendation um is the following. Um it's labeled each building. Um these numbers are very similar to what Joe has proposed the last few years. Um just a a few pieces of information with this that we are our case loads are much higher than the numbers that are on this
042paper. Um we are continuing to to grow. Um we have a lot of students that have moved in in the last couple of months um which have proven a challenge which also makes it even um I think more important to recognize how important it is that we have these caps in place to protect um protect our own Monroe students our staff um the availability with resources um just it's become very difficult so I think it's important that we protect that so that would be our the administration's recommendation is that these numbers are our limits for special education. >> Joe, did you want to add anything? Probably forgot something. >> Nope. Nope. You did a great job. Yep. So, all the limits are are listed. When you look through it, it probably doesn't necessarily mean a
043lot to you, but for us, it helps us understand the teachers and the uh the programs that are uh associated with those numbers. And as Amy said, you know, we have an obligation to serve all the students that live in the school district of Monroe. um sometimes our resources are stretched due to uh the number of folks that move into our community to access these resources. So, we're proud of that work, but um we would strongly recommend that the board approve the special ed limits as presented and then no limit for the regular ed open enrollment. >> Are you comfortable resources are adequate for the special ed numbers? >> Loaded question. Um, we're making do with what we have. I think the reality is there are times Amy can tell you there will be a
044family that moves in with four kids all with IEPs. Some have come from a special specialized school that require one-on-one or um have some pretty intense needs. And the reality is we don't have an additional pot of money laying around in Ron's office. So, we make it work with the staff we have. And to the credit of our our teachers, our support staff, our principles, um sometimes they have to take a deep breath, but then they dig in and they figure it out. So, we're making it work. Um but there are days when that's a challenge. >> So, these numbers compared to last year, are they a little less or are they about the same because of >> the same? >> Okay. So, we're making do with less people with the same amount of kids
045possibly needing to be served. >> Yep. And again, these numbers reflect uh the open enrollment limits imposed for special ed education programs. They don't reflect the actual numbers in those programs. Yep. >> But yes, we have made cuts in special ed over the years and um the the number of kids in our programs continue to go up. >> Thank you. >> Can you clarify this? I mean, so these numbers that we're looking at that's additional. So these numbers or that's the total our kids and open world kids. >> Go ahead, Amy. >> Neither. Um so these are just we're saying that we're not able to serve for example like more than eight kids um at North Side and they're crosscategorical >> total whether it's resident or non-resident. >> No. >> So let's go with the
046first one listed there. It says Ableink cross categorical program one. There's it says six there. The reality is we have probably eight or nine kids in that program right now. But in order for a family that's trying to open enroll their child with an IEP into that program based on their needs, we would need to have uh less than six in order for them to be accepted as an open enrolled student. >> The reality is all of our numbers are above what's listed here. And that's intentional because if we if we start accepting more uh students with IEPs through open enrollment it's going to make our jobs next to impossible. Now for particular programs sometimes it does dip down for example speech language and in those cases we do accept but we need to follow
047the the caps as established by the board each January. >> We are currently serving >> at a higher rate than all of these numbers in our school. So our open enrollment opportunity for special education right now is >> zero. >> Correct. >> Should this change internally though, these would be our caps. >> The reality is is both of them I think mentioned is uh when those families actually move into our district uh you know we obviously go above these numbers because we have to serve those children. So that's how we end up with most of our numbers always being higher than these caps, but on occasion they do dip below. Good question. Any other questions for administration before we take action? >> Quick question. If we have students move in, Amy, that take us over
048our cap and we have open enrolled students, we still keep them here because they were already enrolled before that happened. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, in rare circumstances, um, you can have some conversations with the family about denying their open enrollment in. >> So, you can revisit that. >> It's really hard, you know, if you've invested with the families and the students, but yeah, if they're open enrolled, you do have that >> ability to be able to do that. that >> no other questions. I would uh look for a motion to approve the school district open enrollment recommendations for the 2026 27 school year. >> So moved. >> Second by Terry, second by Phil. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Okay, moving on. We've got a discussion uh and action
049item to approve the uh north side interim principal's resignation. Turn to >> Yeah. So, I pulled this out of the consent agenda items because it's a unique situation and worthy of of some conversation with the board. Um there's a couple ways this could have been handled and I should probably start with the reason why this is necessary is because um there's a couple things at play here. Number one is that it's an interim position but more importantly we have a budget reduction plan that's currently in place and uh how that will be handled is going to be dependent on the outcome of the referendum. Um, in order for us to be fully prepared as a district and respond and potentially go down to 10 administrators as identified in that plan, um, we needed to take
050some steps to potentially make that reduction. And so, in talking with Nicole, um, who's here tonight, um, we explored a couple of different options and Nicole opted to uh, volunteer and provide this resignation for the interim uh, principal position at North Side. So, with that said, I do want to make it clear. The first thing is Nicole's doing an outstanding job as the principal at Northside. Melissa's here who works with her and she's nodding her head. Yep, she's she's doing a great job. So, this is in no way, shape, or form performance related. This is really about Nicole being a team player and stepping up and saying, "I understand what's going on with this process." Um the other part of this is that we do need to make sure that again we have um the
051district protected and positioned so that if we do not pass the referendum, we have a a 10 uh person administrator team that allows us to move forward. I will say um this resignation is clear that it allows Nicole to go back to her uh special education teacher role if necessary. So Nicole is still part of the family. She's not leaving. Right, Nicole, you're with us. Um, but I also want to make it clear that, you know, should the referendum pass and we're able to maintain an 11 person um administrator team, Nicole very much has a strong strong interest in uh uh resuming that position and how that would be handled is something we would talk about once we get to that point. But I just wanted to make it clear that Nicole is doing an
052outstanding job. Um we really appreciate her efforts. We appreciate her willingness to um submit this uh voluntary resignation of the interim position. Uh knowing that she's um maintaining her rights to go back to the teacher job, but also making it very clear that should that position still be there in the future, she wants it. We're going to be happy to answer questions because this I mean we've got some unique stuff going on right now. The timing of this with administrator contracts and just want to make sure that everyone understands exactly what we're doing and why we're doing it. >> Questions for you, Joe, but I just want to commend you for your professionalism and your bravery in this situation. It's super unique and as as a parent of a North Side student, um I've seen
053personally how you communicate with the families and and the students and it's been a wonderful transition from Amy in in the principal role to you. So, thank you very much for for doing this and making this unique, painful situation as easy as possible. >> Yeah. Oh, go ahead. >> I was just going to say thank you for being selfless and being a team player. I always knew you were. So, thank you. >> I appreciate you all making those comments because this wasn't easy for our team. Certainly wasn't easy for Nicole and and yep, she's a pro and um get it and understand why it's necessary, but that doesn't always make it easy to go through the process. And so, um got some work to do between now and April 7th, but uh this is part
054of the the steps that we need to take. So, thanks again, Nicole. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Hear no other questions. A motion to accept the resignation of Nicole Seagger as Northid's interim principal as requested. Sorry if I said your name. >> I'll make the motion with regret. >> I say I'll second with regret. >> Got a motion with regret by Teresa. Second with regret from Nikki. Any discussion before we vote? Just want to echo my my gratitude for you, Nicole. Thanks for all you're doing right now. Thanks for being here tonight, too. >> That all in favor say I. >> I. Motion carries. Okay. On to approval of the renewal of administrative contracts. Turn over to Joe to tee this up. >> Yeah. So, this kind of continues this discussion because I think
055I know there's been a couple of questions and I think uh that's largely because even though this is um a process that happens annually and is pretty standard not only in our district but in districts across the state of Wisconsin which make what makes it unique is the fact that um we have a couple of interim positions uh currently on the team. Um and then we also have a reduction process that's at play uh contingent on the outcome of our um of our referendum vote in April. So just to be clear because I know we have some folks that are a little bit new to this. Um this is pretty standard uh procedure. I would say majority uh very clearly of school districts in uh the state of Wisconsin issue two-year rolling contracts. Um there
056are a few that that may choose to uh occasionally offer uh single-year contracts, but uh for the most part uh it's a pretty standard practice. And the reason for that is because um it allows districts to to create some stability. Uh certainly it allows for retention of administrators within in the district. But two years is kind of seen as that number that certainly allows uh the districts to provide some accountability as well. it's built into the state statute. Um, so it's a pretty common practice in that regard and and I can say as long as I've been in the district, which again, it's my 28th year, this is how the district has always issued and renewed administrator contracts. Um, one thing that I wanted to be clear about is, um, I just mentioned this with
057Nicole's situation. Um, we have 10 administrators that, um, are part of this role. Um, we just took care of Nicole's situation. Um, ultimately what we're talking about is an extension or an offer of employment for two more years. What we're not doing is one, locking in um any kind of salary or increased compensation. That's something that happens during uh late spring, early summer typically within this district. And the other thing is that we're not necessarily locking in specific positions. And so by that I'm I'm referencing we have Amy's position. She's in an interim position. I think there was some question as to um does this effectively lock her into that position? And and the answer is no. And there's a couple reasons for that. One is that within the the contract language, it specifically says
058that the admin district administrator has the ability to reassign administrators for any position for which they are um licensed. And the other part of it is um we're the district's working with legal counsel to make sure that for Amy's specific contract that there's language that protects the district and protects Amy with regard to the principal job at North Side, interim director of pupil services, whatever may happen from there. So, um there'll be flexibility built in there. really what you're voting on tonight is that you're offering an extension of employment for the 10 administrators listed uh for the next two years. And again, that's something that's pretty standard practice. There's a number of reasons that I could go through um but ultimately I just wanted to make it clear that um that's effectively what we're doing
059tonight. Not trying to lock in anything or suggest that um this is going to confirm positions for the interim role. So, with that, um, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you you all might have at this point for administration on this. >> Again, Amy, given the interim position, thank you for your flexibility working with the district on this. Also, not easy conversations, I'm sure. So, Great. So, I would look for a motion to approve the renewal of administrative administration contracts as presented. >> Motion by Phil. It's fine. Second by Nicole. Any discussion before we vote? Okay. All in favor say I. I. >> Nay. Motion carries. Last item of new business. We've got a referendum update. >> Yeah. So, this is something that, you know, as I talked with Jim and Teresa, we
060wanted to keep this as an agenda item going forward through April 7th. Um it doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be any formal presentation, but really it's an opportunity to one share any updates that we have and two certainly allow the board to engage in any dialogue that may be necessary at that time. Just a few things that I wanted to share at this point. Um we've uh recently uh made public the FAQ document, the frequently asked questions uh that's available on our website. Um a lot of work has gone into that document and it is a uh a living, breathing, work in progress document. So, as we hear questions that might be out and about in the community or we see online or Roger emails me and says, "What about this?" Um, we will
061take that question if we feel it's appropriate, put it in that document and provide an answer because it's our intent that we want to um provide all the information that's necessary for the board or the community to make an informed decision. So, we're excited about that. Um that uh document also includes a list of uh opportunities for the community to be engaged including our listening sessions. Um and we have a listening schedule listening session scheduled for tomorrow evening at 5:30 at uh North Side Elementary LMC. So North Side will be hosting us and we're excited about that. We put out some uh communication to the parents today to try and make sure people are aware of that. Uh we have an incredible number of community uh group presentations that are being put together, work being
062done via the radio, social media, um some newsletters and mailers that are being developed. Um a lot of work that's happening behind the scenes right now with a lot of people. Um but ultimately, again, the goal is to make sure that people have the information that they need. Um, we're going to be involved in some different community events where we're going to be out and about um and have people available to an answer questions um as needed and uh we feel really good about that effort. So, be happy to answer any questions that the board has. And I'm not sure why I'm losing my voice right now, but it's it's going fast. questions. >> Um, all right. Move on toformational items. Do we got anything for administration? >> Um, I did want to mention where
063is it? Um, we do have uh we're planning for Monroe High School scholarship meeting on Thursday, March 5th at 8:30 at the high school. Looking for one or two board members that would like to be a part of that process. It's always um a lot of fun to go through all of the uh the scholarship applications and um make selections for those kids that are getting ready to to graduate and move on in life. Um if anyone is interested, you could certainly let us know now. or if you don't know for sure and you want to email me, I'd be happy to take that information. But, um, it's getting to that time of the year when we're making plans for that. It doesn't seem right that we're talking about March already, but we're talking about
064March. >> If Tracy, do you usually >> I have always done it and but not this year obviously to seniors, but I would recommend if someone else wanted to do it. It's it's fantastic. I've done it the past eight years, seven years. Let I'll check my calendar. I would love to be there. >> All right. And and it's worth noting that it's a lot of work to put all that together. Um Aaron Bloom does an incredible job of of organizing all that. So um we basically show up, we have our packets um between Aaron and Jeremy. Um we're able to to cruise through a lot of lot of work in a very efficient manner. So that'd be great. I'll mark you two down. >> Foundation is usually there to the obviously hold our scholarship dollars
065and what the ruling on them is so they coordinate with Aaron. So it's yeah it's a good meeting. >> Awesome. Um just want to say thank you for the flexibility for folks to make the early meeting tonight. Also um did hear back from almost everybody that February 24th will work for the second meeting in February. So we're going to move the meeting from the 23rd to the 24th. I will not uh be in attendance, but that way Teresa will be here to to run the show. You won't have to deal with me for for an evening. >> Can I add one thing I forgot? >> Yeah. Uh just wanted to to mention I know we had a conversation about the Ber Education Center previously. I wanted to let you guys know that we haven't forgot
066about that. There's actually been a lot of work that's been uh been done in order to collect information. Um we anticipate that we'll be ready to re-engage that conversation at our next meeting in February. um just to give you all an update on a variety of things associated with that topic. >> And just to clarify on the 24th at the same time though, seven o'clock. >> Thanks. >> It's likely we'd have it on the 24th. Yeah. >> Yep. Got nothing else on boardsmanship. Uh board of education correspondents like we got nothing for tonight. It is in reports. >> I do have some a short statement from MEA and Mass. >> Um we just wanted to thank the administration and the board for their transparency and communication and work on the upcoming referendum. We see all
067the work you're doing and we appreciate you. >> Thanks Tom. Thank you. Um, with that we are to committee reports. Nicole, we'll start with you February 3rd. >> Finance met tonight prior to board meeting to review November and December financials. >> See about bringing the if the auditors are available for the 24th then at 7. uh curriculum will meet prior to the first meeting in February to get midyear data update. >> We got curious, did anyone know how prompt per pennies went? I know held the prom for pennies last weekend. >> I can speak to that. Um it didn't go as well as normal. Um they only sold 35 dresses. >> Cold. >> Yes. Um which is down. They're usually in the 50s or 60s. Um I don't think Junior Optimists are going to continue
068that next year, but there may be another organization that picks that up in the high school. So >> thanks D. Um only other thing I would say is uh it was really great to see board members represented at the uh Wisconsin education conference uh last week. I would say would be awesome if each of us could maybe bring like an insight or a takeaway we had from that that time to the next meeting. We can provide in committee reports. This feels like a big big investment, a lot of excitement even to have Monroe up on stage presenting on on Thursday. So, um, appreciate everybody who's able to make the time and and let's bring some kind of insights back for our next meeting. Any agenda items for future discussion? Hearing none, we got five minutes
069for Gary, Adam not in attendance. Okay, we are going to move on to adjourn. With that, I will look for a final motion. Much by Nikki, second by Terry. I've got six. Is that right? >> Yeah. >> 6 656. >> All in favor? >> Nay. Motion carries. Meeting is a journ. >> Thanks everyone. >> Nice meeting Jim. >> Got it. >> We need to have this level of motivation. I remember when >> motivation and efficiency. I want to be careful not to complain. >> Oh my goodness. >> Give it whatever word you want if we're not here. >> Rachel, >> what's that? >> Give it whatever word you want as long as we're not here till midnight. >> That's right. They just level over. >> Hey, manager of the state