3/9/23 Board Meeting

001I don't like them. Yeah. We should put her. You remember that one meeting? I guess I was up on this screen. I didn't know that. That's what Yeah. I think that's a really terrible idea and nobody should listen to that. No, she heard that. That's why I'm on a video mute so nobody can do that against my will. That's awesome. I think I was when I was Okay. All righty. Uh, welcome everybody uh this evening to our uh special meeting. Uh we'll go ahead and um call to order and then we'll do the pledge of allegiance. Okay. Sorry. Well, let's do the pledge first. Sorry, I'm getting order. I am. All right, Director Jones, you want to kick us off? All right. Now we can do the roll call. Here here. Here. So I cannot

002hear Bridget. I just uh followed my timing cue from Doug, but I cannot hear Bridget. Sorry, I'll talk louder. Okay, thank you. Well, your timing cue was was right on. We didn't know that. All righty. Um, do I have a motion to approve uh this evening's agenda? So, moved. Second. Yes, Mr. Jones. Yes, Miss Lima. Yes, Mr. Dr. Lemonson. Yes. Dr. Schulties. Yes. All right. So, first um item of business is the resolution to close East Middle School. Do I have a motion uh for this resolution? Some moved. Second. All right. Now, we can have discussion. Um you know, I'll I'll start off. I I I want to reiterate everything that we've we've had a number of meetings and I've shared, you know, my my points of view in that. So, I don't want to

003belabor those necessarily, but I guess in in summary, I you know, I'll go back to I I could I I definitely see there is a need. We need to do something quoteunquote something at the middle school level to address the issues they're having with their staffing and and being able to deliver uh programming that that you know our kids deserve. And right now they're hampered because of having um I think it's been said what a death by a thousand cuts, right? And and I get that. I' I've been there. Um and and so I'm not minimizing that. I'm not saying it doesn't exist or have my head in the sand with it. Uh but what I hear beyond that is, you know, you hear it was brought up about the staffing model needs to be

004addressed and and that's above my pay grade on how that has to look or be addressed. But but again, I'll go back to um I think we're short. I think if we vote to close East or West or whatever middle school it is at this point, we're shortsighted in terms of really looking at at all the perspectives and getting all the data and and listening to all the voices that we can in in in a reasonable amount of time. That that's okay. what is reasonable and figure that out later perhaps, but to to really vet it out and it may all come down when it's all said and done that East Middle School is the school and maybe others that need to be cut. I get that. I I think I've been clear that I

005certainly understand that could be a possibility, but I don't know that we've exhausted other possibilities too to get us where we need to be. And there may not be other possibilities. I get that, too. But I don't think we've tried to find out what those may may be. So, um, you know, I appreciate I I guess there there's a sense of urgency. I guess I just personally don't see it. Again, I don't live it, but I I I don't see it as a crisis that it's been portrayed to be at this point. Is it is it worrisome? Is it concerning? Absolutely. Um but I because that doesn't mean we necessarily have to jump from here we go again step one to step 20 when we haven't exhausted all the other steps perhaps in between. So

006um I think I've stated this a number of times before hopefully sounds coherent makes sense but that's that's kind of where I am with that. That's discussion more than a comment. Any other Yeah. Any other discussion? So, can I jump in there? Um, so I think I think we all see and I think I don't want to put words in Doug's mouth, but I think that what we all do see is that it it would be a crisis if we just kept cutting this next year and required all the middle schools to meet our current staffing models requirements givingven our declining enrollment. So I think that we all do see that particular crisis. Um but I think that part of what feels more limited is that that is a crisis, you know, of our own

007making. If we require those staffing cuts, if we paused um and tried to figure out the best path forward and didn't require those staffing cuts, then that would be a different scenario. We did get predictions from Mel today that um said that she her best prediction for right now is that we'd get 14 to 17 million new dollars for next year. So I see the potential and our ESSER money, you know, we conflate these issues a little bit when we're talking about our ESSER money. We can't we wouldn't allocate that money toward raises anyways because that money is going away in a year. And so, you know, of course, the whole budget is linked um but we we we couldn't allocate those money directly to raises. So, I see the potential for just creating some

008space for ourselves to figure out the best path forward. And part of what I would hope to see moving forward is I've been trying to contextualize how how we're using Shannon's work. And Shannon was hired I you know honestly I'm not maybe that's more of a question but I believe Shannon was hired to tell us what schools to cut. And Shannon did his job. He told us some schools to cut. But it's our job as a district to figure out how to make that work for us in the in an in a way that builds our community even though we're cutting. How do we build trust? How do we build resilience? How do we build a future that folks can look to and feel good about? Um, and so I just I would hope that

009we could take the information about what cuts could happen, the fact that cuts need to happen, and create a process that folks can buy on to, can understand, and um, we could move forward from here. But I I think we all acknowledge that we can't expect middle schools to cut all the FTE that we would need them to cut to fit our staffing model. So I I would just hope that we would just give everybody tiny bit of space to figure this out in a way that brings everybody together. I would just say that after spending the last um few months going over all of this with Dr. Hill uh and his team and Shannon, I feel like we have exhausted it. I feel like that was much of that was done before we even

010knew about it. They they've been working on this. They've been cutting. They've schools have been scaling back. They're already stressed. We've heard from so many teachers, principles, and staff in the last several weeks that, you know, they're getting to the point they can't take anymore. And I think it's irresponsible to wait until we're in crisis mode, which appears to me to be coming quickly. I don't think it's that far off into the future. I think I don't I don't believe that given the information that I've seen and heard that this would have been brought to us to look at if all of those different ideas hadn't been exhausted. And I mean, I'm well over a hundred emails just about school closures in the last two weeks, probably approaching 150 or so. and I've read every

011single one of them. I apologize I couldn't respond to every single one of them, but I read every single one of them. And, you know, we we shared those ideas and made sure if we saw something unique or something that came across as, you know, hey, we just want to make sure that that we thought about this, that somebody thought about this, that that all of these ideas have been considered. And there wasn't anything that hadn't been cons considered and hadn't been exhausted. It's unfortunate. What are those things? I'm sorry. Could you What are those things? I'm not aware of them. Well, I mean, just just the the reduction of staff, the tightening up that all of the schools have done. You know, I don't see any other way besides when you have too many

012buildings for the number of students that you have enrolled. Uh, I'm not sure. I'm not sure that there's another answer. I sure haven't seen one. And as we're approaching that inevitable cliff where we run out of the ability to average our per pupil funding, the amount of money that we get from the state. I I don't know how I don't know how you just keep spending your way out of that problem. So, and I just wanted to clarify a couple things. I these are all good points and I'm going to really butcher this mill, so tell me when I said something wrong. So, um the ESSER funding, that's a great point. It's not funding that we would use towards raises. Um but we have moved um things into ESSER funding that we're going to have

013to pull back into general fund at some point. So, a good example of that is um our our online uh staff, right? we were able to move that into ESSER because that is something that is related directly to COVID. So unless we're going to get rid of our online option for students after ESSER funds run out, um those positions have to move back into general fund. And there's a lot of other things too that we are going to have to have that discussion around about if these are things that we want to continue to offer, they are going to have to move back into general fund. And so when that ESSER funding runs out, while that can't go towards raises, um that is going to have to be pulled out of general fund. and and

014that is a general fund that um you know, as Mel's mentioned before, we we're on a five-year average, and that five-year average is running out soon, too. And so, we're going to hit a cliff with that. I think right now, she said, we're getting over $5 million more than we should from the state. And if the enrollment projections continue to decline, then that gap's going to be even more. And then to the the 14 to 17 million, I my understanding is none of that's guaranteed right now. While we know we'll probably get additional funds, um you know, we we have historically uh tried to take care of the needs we have in the district and then put the rest of that funding towards um boosting our salaries for our staff, our teachers, and everybody. And

015so um and that's how we've been able to do that 10% and 8% raise over the last uh couple years, but we're still not as competitive as we should be uh with other school districts. So, you know, that that is funding that we would try to put towards those things. And then, you know, I think the issue that I think Mill has expressed before is that while we may get some additional funding this year, we have no idea what it's going to look like the year after. And so those are just the things that we have to kind of um try to predict and look at. Um so yeah, I I totally agree with the we can't use funding for raises, but unless we're just going to cut everything that is currently funded by ESER

016when ESSER funding is gone, um then we're going to start pulling it back out of the general fund to be able to fund those things. And that's where I think the worry for the cliff is. And I I have no idea. Okay, Mel's nodding her head, so I said something, right? So, um, so again, I just to clarify that. And yeah, it'd be great if we get 14 to$17 million, but my understanding is the original the governor's budget proposal was one thing. Uh, what was put out recently was actually less than what he put out. So, between now and May or June, when they go through this whole back and forth, you know, it's hard to predict exactly what's going to be in there. And then, I guess that's a question. Do we want to

017do what we've done the past couple years where we try to put that towards raises and um increase salary for our teachers and our paras or do we not want to do that? And like I said the last meeting, we could still do some of that, but it changes the amount you might be able to put towards that. And again, we're constantly trying to compete with other districts and and and they we've done a really good job. Our finance department, our HR department has done a really good job over the last couple years to try to get the starting salaries up higher. I think when I first got here a few years ago, it wasn't even 40,000 for starting teachers. We've got it over 40,000 now. Um, and I know that's a priority. I believe

018that's a priority for our district to continue to do that. So, those are just things that I think we have to kind of keep in mind as we're talking about current budget and future budget is um those are just factors we've got to consider. But good points. Yeah, that's a great point and I and I definitely understand all of that. I think a lot of the arguments that we're hearing are yes in the future it's coming the crisis is you know the cliff is coming it's right now we still have the time to do the right thing and to take our time to make sure that we do the right thing and build trust and that is what I am strongly advocating for and yes I understand Esther's going to run out in another you

019know just over a year um so I I just I just really think that we need to take our time and make sure that the community is is moving forward with us. And then again, if we come to the same conclusion, great. If we don't, great. At least we have done our due diligence. I think we have the space and the time and the breathing room. And yeah, and Angela, I definitely hear what you're saying. Teachers have been saying like, we cannot keep going with all the cuts. And so what I'm proposing is that we pause on all the cuts. We just take the time, we invest, and we get this right. I just don't see how we can pause on the cuts. I mean, that just further puts us to into a very bad

020place. I mean, I think the cuts that have been made so far were necessary and they were painful and they're affecting our students. They're affecting our programming. They're affecting our staff. They've reached out uh partially as a group. We've heard from many teachers and administrative staff over especially over the last few days. Um they're asking us to move forward and to not put this off. And quite fr I I agree with them. I I just think we're to a point where it isn't just about doing something. This isn't haphazard. This isn't without a process. This isn't without a a lot of work and a lot of detail going into this. This this isn't something that just popped up and we're just going to haphazardly close school or schools. This is something that has been worked

021on, has been looked at, has been approaching for several years. This is not new. It's new to this board. It's new to a lot of our community. Um, you know, it's unfortunate, but sometimes, you know, until it gets to that point, it's difficult for people to really, you know, they're going on with their lives. Um, but when you're here, it's up to leaders to address those problems before it's a disaster. I just I think I think we're headed there. I mean, when I I've had I don't know how many hours I've spent with Melanie in the last three, four weeks. Um, but it's significant. And I in in looking at that budget and in looking at all the numbers, I think this I think we are to a point where we have to make this

022decision. I just want to address the halfhazard part. I think that that is where I feel so deeply uncomfortable here. So, you know, we learned two nights ago that um West Middle School only has 277 students from within or 73 students from within its boundaries that attend West. And so, I requested for all the middle schools, everybody within the boundaries that attend that school. And so, West has 270. East is the next smallest with 340. Um and East has the challenge program. So, East has 120ish more kids than West does. And so, you know, my question was, well, how long is it going to take for West to even get as big as East is just on a kids in the boundary area basis? And the response was, well, if I had to guess, I

023maybe about 10 years. And so, for me, you know, and I I didn't ask for a guess. I asked for like a modeled prediction. And um for me, I just feel like every number I ask for, every justification that I get, it's it does not feel like an answer that's satisfactory to me and that makes sense to me. Um it it does feel confusing to me that we would be closing a smaller school with a smaller student population over a larger geographical area because we we think that there will be growth in that area. But we also built a heck of a lot of new schools in Fruda that we thought we would need because we thought we would have a big population growth out there too. So, I'm just I'm just really nervous about

024the accuracy of the numbers that we're dealing with, especially given the the answers that I'm getting. It it does feel much more haphazard to me. So, the um and one thing I'll mention is because I didn't have the numbers while ago, but um so back to the ESSER funding because that just to make sense around the numbers. So, we currently have $6 million in ongoing salary and benefits in ESSER. That's what I mean when we have to pull that back in at some point. That's $6 million that have to be pulled back in um to general fund. And then right now we've moved $1.7 million temporarily to cover. So remember we talked about how we didn't have to make all the cuts to middle school right now. That's another 1.7 that we've um had to

025put into Esser. So just those are some numbers. I you if there's questions about um the um the future growth and things in uh in the west area versus the east area. I know I I think Shannon's on there if there's questions specifically for the from the board, but um I think he's online. I'm not sure. So So Brian, let me clarify that. So we right now have close to $7 million in salaries in ESSER funds, closer to eight. Are those positions that um we believe are needed because of COVID impacts or what is our justification there? That's so my understanding is that they were um positions that qualified under um ESSER and COVID. So we were able to move them um and to be able to utilize those funds to to cover those positions.

026The example I gave while ago was online um school and so I you know we can provide the whole list of that to the board. Um but those are positions that um yeah we we would need to be like I said unless we're going to get rid of the online program or or some of these other um programs that we would need to bring those positions back for. So um and I Mel can talk more to it if we need to but or she can send out that information to the board. Yeah, I'd love to see that information. Um, and I'd love to understand what was what positions existed prior to COVID and what positions were new. Um, if I could just add, you know, as I'm sitting here listening, um, years ago when I

027was in college, I went to a retreat. this Catholic priest, I'm not Catholic, but I went to this retreat and this priest said something like when you when you're dealing with problems and situations, if you can remove yourself from it and sit up high, I suppose, and look down, you know, kind of separate yourself from it and and and take a a viewpoint of it, it can help your perspective as you as you move, you know, as you come back down, so to speak. As I'm listening to this, I I think I don't know, Dr. Hill and Angela, I think you've by what you've said is has justified like what we're suggesting. Angela, when you brought up have you've and I know you have you've racked your brain, you've worked with Melanie, uh you've sat

028with her and and and you can't come up with h how this can work. And that's to the very point is because you can't or I couldn't doesn't mean there aren't solutions out there. And the whole idea what we're what's being suggested is that we bring other perspectives and other problem solvers and other experts to look at this and we haven't done that to to to see if we really all racked our brains not just a handful not just you or me or or somebody or Mel or somebody else. And then Dr. Dr. Hill was bringing up, you know, the the thing about the online school and how ESR dollars are going there. And I bring up the thing we haven't as a board, let alone a community, looked at what do we prioritize how

029we're spending our money or the dollars we have available. And that's not that's not true, D. Who's done that? I've done it. I You've done it last year. Okay. So So looking at those things. So who's done it? You have. Okay. Hey, and I'm not but I I guess I look beyond that's not our job, right? Our job is to to hopefully at least I view it this way that when we we prioritize where we're going to spend our money and how we're going to spend it that it that it's a at a minimum the five of us had a discussion to say, "Okay, here are the dollars we have. What do we value? Is it summer school? Is it our online staff? Whatever it may be." Um and we haven't done that. and and

030to say that um listen it's I think was brought up it was little over a month that this has snowballed into where we are today. Now you're right this has been a problem that has been built for months and maybe years before. Sure it has. Okay. But it really didn't come to the forefront until most recently. Okay. And and because of that for whatever the reason is is really irrelevant at this point. It's there. And so do we, you know, in a frenzy or a panic try to address it as opposed to sitting back be thoughtful because we do have the time. We aren't at a crisis point yet. You you're right. There is an impending issue coming up in in a couple years and and I would and and no one's suggesting that we

031take all this time and and just have our head in the sand and you know it'll work out. I I think we do have to come up with a plan, a more thorough plan, and get more voices and eyes and perspectives on this. That's the idea about the time. And in the meantime, not to have our middle schools continue to suffer, but to to sustain where they are, right, w with the funding they need to keep status quo until we can work through this more thoroughly. And again, we may come up with all all the conclusions you've come up with personally. That may be where it's all directed, but I I I think it behooves us to include other voices. I don't know if that's and I think that's what we're suggesting is taking our

032time and taking a pause. not not taking it forever, not putting our head in the sand, but let here's a problem that's really come to the forefront in the last month or so, less than that perhaps, and and let's tackle it uh in a really thoughtful way and prioritize our ex where we want to spend our money, what monies we may get, what what we don't get, and how we how are we going to do that. And I'm not saying even just the five of us or or the our finance department necessarily, but you know, we have a lot of experts in our community that this affects. It'd be great to hear those perspectives, too. So, so not that I mean this thing on. Yeah, it's on. So, not that it doesn't make sense and

033I understand what everybody's saying, but my frustration is the five of us have sat in meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting and we were issue brought a problem. We sat there, we discussed it. We talked about it and then we said this is this is this is a must. This has to happen. This has to happen. And then principles came to us and said this has to happen. Do we want I said this 10 million times. Do we want to close schools? No. Do we value our children's education? Yes. Do we want to make sure they get education? Yes, but we're at a point where something has to happen. Principles have called us and said something has to happen and but where we I mean if we wait and then we come

034out next year and it's 10 times worse, then we're cutting more jobs and letting more people go and that's not fair to anybody. And I'm just I mean I'm just ask I'm trying to figure out everybody wants us to wait and take time and do you know I understand that but how much time do you think we need if it doesn't work because then we're taking more time. Let's we'll see if it works next year. Let's see if it works after next. Let's see if it works. We can't. We're at a point where it it sucks that it hap it started in 2019. We didn't address it in 2019. Now we're in 2023 and we have to address it. And we all knew that. Do any of us want to do it? No. But we

035have to I and I agree, Director Jones. Um, we all had meetings last spring, probably around this same time, with the previous superintendent, um, and with Melanie to go over the staffing model. And at that time, it was presented to the board where we had to make a decision with the cuts at that point. and the board during those meetings and then when the budget was brought to us last year, we said we will go ahead and fund what we could to those gaps in the FTE shortages. That was the decision that this board made last year. So we so we've been in these meetings since this time last year or even earlier. And then in October, November, this board was asked for us to each have the two two in one meetings, just so

036there's obviously not three board members at a meeting at a time to sit down and assess the situation coming up. So that when we got to this point, the board could obviously be having these conversations. At that point, this board gave permission to Dr. Hill with Shannon to go ahead and start getting that information. We and we all knew that that information was going to be a proposed either for the 23 school year and potentially what the options would be if it was a closure for the 24 school year. So, I knew well before Christmas that we had, you know, given the district permission to start the process with Mr. Bingham who's done all of our other dem demography work and I've gone back and looked at his predictions and they have been pretty close

037to every prediction that has come through save one where he actually thought we were going to get more kids um than we actually did. So, um, you know, he tends to be pretty conservative. And so, that year after COVID, everybody thought we were going to get more kids back and then we actually didn't. And so, that was the only prediction where he was actually, you know, somewhat off. But pretty much between him and Mel, they have figured out those numbers and then Melanie takes those numbers from the demographer every year and we work through the budget and that's how we end up figuring out our budget. And it's unfortunate that our state funds education last. That's why we do not get our information until June when the legislative session is done and the governor, you

038know, then decides what we're going to do. And so I mean obviously you know call your legislature and see if we can get funded first so then we know what we're dealing with um rather than at the end. So, I just um I I also am concerned that we're discounting the experts that we have in the room and the experts that we have in our district in everything that we have done this year from charter schools um to other decisions that we've had to make. Um, even when it comes to the strategic plan, we we have had amazing staff that have, you know, from senior leadership on down come and present their expert advice and their expertise to us when it comes to that. And some of those have been recommendations, recommendations for the charter

039schools, um, which they go out and do the work. You know, Dan goes and talks to the DAC committee and gets feedback and brings that information back. That's what Dr. Hill did. Dr. Hill went with Shannon's information with senior leadership with our site directors. Those site directors talked to our principles and we they've had these conversations. So, I say all of this because there's been a process and there's been a process by experts and I agree there's probably people in our community that could give some other recommendations and shed some light on some other things. But I'm I'm not going to discount what our staff and our district has done with all this work and and what we have relied on what Shannon has done for over 18 years. And so I just um we've

040tked Dr. Hill to find those leaders. He's hired a good team. They've done a ton of work. And um I sat down and chatted again with Melanie for over an hour the other day on the staffing model. Our staffing model, while things can be tweaked, will actually work better for our schools once we have more of our FTE in our buildings. So I think you know when you work in a staffing model, any staffing model is not going to work great if you don't have the FTE you need in the buildings. So going back to the drawing board and saying we need to re-eval re-evaluate a whole staffing model as an option, we don't because it doesn't matter what the model is is if you if you don't have the kids in buildings and then

041the people in the buildings that we tie, you know, that money to with those children. Just have too much building for the enrollment and that we're going to have into the future. there's not enough children. and the concerns I have based off of information um that we've received from going out and talking to building principles, talking to teachers, um listening to everybody, you know, from the schools that are on the the closure list to the schools that would be receiving to all the other schools, you know, getting all of that information because those principles are the ones that have to make the cuts or determine what FTE they're putting in their building. Are they putting a PE teacher in? Are they putting an interventionist in? I mean, that is the reality for them of where

042um they get to use and spend that money for the people they need in their buildings. And right now the concern with the way that some of our class sizes are balancing out or or rather not balancing out is when you have 30 kids in a classroom. Every teacher I've talked to says the challenge that learning that happens in a 24 room classroom to a 30kid classroom is a real challenge. And we I cannot put my head on my pillow at night knowing that if we are shorting kids for another year by having these larger classroom sizes, especially after COVID, if I know that we have options right now that would remedy getting classroom sizes balanced and it would get more programs and funding into schools. And that would help those kids, that would help

043those teachers, that would help those principles, that would help those buildings. It we cannot just say that we we pause on, you know, FTE cuts because that money comes from somewhere else. So then that money, those SSRE dollars, which we won't use to pay staff, will then come from cutting, we might have to cut summer school. And I don't know that this board needs to decide what those things are. That's what's going to come from our team of experts. They're the ones that are going to come and say this is where we get the results that we've actually had a good, you know, results from summer school this year or we're having good results from tutoring or we have this. They're the ones that, you know, Melanie does a really good job of kind of

044telling us where things are and then obviously in conjunction with our academic team of the things that are working and where we're getting results to get these kids caught back up. So I I respectfully disagree on on your assessment of it because I I don't think that taking I mean we this next year is is is really the year where we get to take this and move forward with it because if you wait for the next year then then it is too late. Thi this is the time for us to do it when it's not when it's not a panic because next year doing it there's there is no there's no buffer to adjust and then then you have to make hasty more um irrational decisions because now you're in a real pinch and so

045I mean just like everybody right now in our own personal lives because of the economy. Everybody is taking a step back and having to figure out how they're going to maneuver their budgets and what things they're cancelling and what they're doing. If they wait till I mean, if they wait till they get in a real pinch, then it's really really hard and you don't have a plan. Right now, we have we we have the time to do this and and actually have a buffer and provide better programming and services for our children and AB. Yeah, absolutely. and security for our teachers. I mean, the the also the cost of waiting now with the the the climate of where everything is at with our staff is I don't think that going an entire year is going

046to be helpful. Many principles have already said from from buildings all across the district that their staff is asking for letters of recommendation. I we will we will get to the point where we can't displace staff. We will actually be have to do a reduction in force and and that's that's way more concerning. Um thank you. I wanted to say a couple things. So one um just in direct response. So principles themselves, the middle school principles themselves are the ones who came together and said that our staffing model is broken and we must fix it. Um, so that's not like me saying that. That's just me relaying what they have said and yes, they absolutely begged us to do something because they but what that is is they need to be protected from more cuts.

047Um, but I want to say that um, a couple things. One that to have classrooms of 24 students, they can't actually have any extra um, staffing if they have classes of 24 students. can't they can't afford extra staff until they have 29.5 students in a classroom. So, yeah, I think that we all would love classrooms that small, but that's not that's not how our staffing model actually works. Um, but I just want to say that um yes, we did have experts. We got expert opinions. Typically, all of our expert opinions are filtered through senior leadership. And the job of senior leadership is to bring in those recommendations and then we weave those recommendations into the community and into just this our broader perspective. And again, it was Shannon's job to recommend what schools to close,

048but then it's our job to take those recommendations and find a way to create success. And that's what we have not yet done. we're we're just cutting and we're not helping our community exist within the reality of our cuts. And then the last thing I want to say is that there are standard best practices here. There are many documents about how to do this and we have not done what yes we have had an expert give us an opinion of what schools to cut. Um, and yes, people could find different things in there to nitpick, including me. But the bigger point is that there to say that there has been a process. There are standard best practices for states and school districts who have embarked on this for years and they have come up with

049ways to create the most success in these very complicated times. And that is what I want to get us to. Right. I think that we have to keep in mind, yes, we have to create success for our teachers and our students, but we also have to create success in the community. And that is what we have not yet done. And I really would love to take the time to try to do that. So I and I appreciate that. I I just want to um Thank you. Um, I just want to point out uh um for the staffing model. So the the term broken um I think the term was flawed, but regardless um I that I think it's a I don't want to um um misinterpret um that the the comment around st the staffing

050model. So the staffing model, okay, you want to fix it, you want to do different things to it. that that will not in my opinion again it will not solve this problem. So I don't want to I don't want to give a false hope to people thinking that well if we took a a step back and we we completely redid our staffing model that will actually um somehow fix the issue we're having with inc declining enrollment and not having as much um funding. when I've talked to principles, and I'm not going to try to represent every principal, but a lot of the concerns that have been brought about the staffing model in the past is like, well, my school is um a high needs campus, and so I would like additional um help and support

051through that. So, they're they're looking at something that's not as necessarily an equal staffing model, but more equitable. So, those are things that yeah, we can actually have those conversations and try to address those things. I just don't want to uh give off the sense that this idea that if we're going to address the staffing model that's somehow going to fix the funding gaps and the issues that we're having at the schools with declining enrollment other other or unless we're going to start putting millions and millions more into staffing the buildings which is what we are currently doing. We are using unfunded we're we're funding unfunded positions by not having that funding there. So, and I don't I'm looking at Mel because I don't I don't know if that's how the model works that they

052have to wait till they get to 29. I'm not sure. But, um, and again, maybe that's just more conversation we need to have around the model itself, but I don't know that that's a solution to the problem. And I so I just don't I want to make sure that we don't think that, well, if we push pause and we just address it through the staffing model, that's going to fix it. I I don't believe that's the case. Can we make tweaks to it? Sure. Um, can we do some things to try to uh have that funding be more equitable? Sure. But I don't think that that's going to actually fix the problem in the end. And so I just want to make sure that that that is stated. Um but I I hear what the

053I I understand that the principles put that in the letter and that's something that we need to look at. Well, and that's that's what I was stating was because they had put that in the letter. I went and verified with Melanie about that model and and there's twe there's tweaks we could do to the model, but I I agree Dr. Hill, we're we we don't need to overhaul the model. But Melanie, is is our model only work at 29 kids? No. No. Okay. Thank you for confirming that. So, all right. Is there any further discussion? Just comment. I as I'm listening again, I I I think essentially what we have here is a just basically a fundamental difference of opinion on how we go about solving a problem. And you know, Andrea, I I appreciate

054your comments about not being able to put your head on the pillow at night. Um, you know, just perspective and and take this as insulting, but I want to be clear. You know, I started teaching in 19 or what 184 1980, right? Jimmy Carter was president. So that gives you some point of reference. 10 years as a teacher, 23 years as a PR principal on this. I I get it. I've been there. I've I've been I've through my career faced many budget cuts and many things we had to adapt at our school and our staff to to make things work. So I, you know, I certainly understand sort of suggest that maybe I'm indifferent or I don't care. Just I I get it. Um, and this has been troubling to all of us, and I

055appreciate that. I know it has. I I think what we're really talking about here is different approaches of how to solve a problem. I think the one approach we're suggesting is time, deliberation, pausing, you know, getting it right. And then there's another one, we have to act and and move ahead. and uh I yeah and and I just think they're totally different approaches and different ways of going about it and the approach that's been suggested by Carrie and I particularly is is we we may we may come to the same conclusion but we we can help bring people along when when we say people have been brought along it's I don't think that's totally true when we've had so many staff teachers administrators who have been caught off guard by all this in the last

056month and I don't think anybody can deny that has happened um which which indicates there there were there were some gaps and steps to bring people along. I don't think intentional things just happen. And so there's just a to that end I just want to sure a little bit is you know I can't imagine that you know all of our schools I think do great work and we've got amazing people that care so much and put so much of their heart and soul into what they do that I really can't imagine that even with more time and and you know as I've spoken to principles. Anyway, um in the last month, what I've heard over and over was this is not a surprise. We've been talking about this for years. we've just been waiting for

057the the day that it happens. but because of their passion and skill at what they do and the teams that they've brought together and the incredible um progress that they're making and have made across the district. I can't imagine that given any infinite amount of time any school would go, "Yeah, it's ours is the right one and it should be us." And listen, I don't think it's lost on any of us that what we're hearing loud and clear is something has to be done. I think we all get that. I think our staff gets it. We have to do something. And so the question is, is that something done in my opinion easily and maybe blundering into things or is it being more thoughtful and deliberate and and so that's what I'm saying. We're really

058looking at two fundamental different approaches to this and that's that's where we are. And and I'm not saying that. It's just we recognize if that's where it is, that's where we are. And I just want to be really careful that um you may think that moving now is hasty. Sure. But others others don't. And so I I And the vice versa and Right. I mean, so I I I don't want there to just be this definitive line because I do agree with you that I think there's um there's just some different ways around how we think we need to get there. That's right. Right. And so, um and is any one way going to be perfect? No. No. I mean, there there's there'll be pros and cons to both. So, Sure. And that's that's what

059I'm getting. And you just stated, but I'm just I just want I just I just want to be very clear because on some previous votes it's been you know um based off of decisions. I think there's just been some misunderstandings that um you know if it if you don't vote the way one board member likes then then it that's the way it is. So, I just want to make sure that we're we're kind of saying that we're we're just fundamentally seeing different approaches and ways to this. So, okay. Any other discussion? All right, then we'll go ahead and call the vote for the resolution to close me East Middle School. Okay. Mrs. Heights? Yes. Mr. Jones? Yes. Miss Lima? Yes, Mr. Levenson. No, Dr. Schulties. No, please. No clapping while we're voting, please. Did we

060hear carries? She said, "Okay." No. All right. We are now next on the agenda for a resolution to address the secondary grade configuration in the Fruda area. So this one is just giving the district um the direction to be able to move forward with uh kind of that I guess our trifecta right that we're or do you want to try to Yeah. So there I think we you know Shannon talked about the multiple um kind of layers to this one. So we um it involves uh boundary change work. Um it involves um um basically trying to make room in in those buildings. Um if we're going to combine a sixth through eight and if we're going to take nth grade over to the high school. I sent out a um a u board response or

061board notification earlier from uh principal mcclaskkey who had some ideas as well on um if nth grade comes over to to Fra Monument High School. So, this has really just given us um direction to go and normalize the grades in the Fra area and that's going to take a lot of work to do that, but we we need direction to be able to say we're that's essentially that we're all agree in agreement that we need to make that a 68 and a 912 in that area and and we can go do what we need to do to make that happen. Right. Did we do the motion? Okay. Do we have Sorry. So, thank you for teeing that up. Okay. Do I have a motion to for a resolution to address the secondary grade configuration in

062Fruda? So moved. All right. Now discussion when we do that because I think it's a great idea. Right. That's kind of what we're getting at. Let's look ahead. Let's is is there prior to that taking place because I don't want to see I wouldn't want to see happen what's we're currently going through is all that works done and then we come back and question the validity or the perspectives prior to that happening. Can it be outlined to the board? Here's here's how we're doing it. Who's going to be involved in doing it? um you know why what you know just who's going to be I know Shannon's going to be involved I get that but are are there uh would this who else would be involved with this besides Shannon and have an outline so

063the board can look it over and okay this makes sense and so then you can go off and do the task as opposed to going off and doing the task coming back and then it's like well why'd you do that we didn't you know you see where I'm getting at is trying to be pro proactive Yeah. So, there's um problems. So, there's still information that I need um from and I know Clint and um and Jen and other folks on our our team have been going out and um looking at those spaces and trying to run the numbers. So, um and there are steps to this because you do have to pull students out of that attendant zone to make it work in the end. And so, that's why um we talked about the necessity

064to do some boundary changes uh and some of that work. So yeah, I mean it's going to be our team going out and doing that work. Um, and we can bring it back to the board and say this is what we've kind of figured out through that. This is for boundaries. Well, it's boundaries and where are we going to actually? So, so would this be like when we did whenever it was I can't remember, you know, the the Broadway scenic winggate and the Appleton thing we did a while back will be sort of like that where we we did some virtual that was a time we were doing more virtual people could jump in and and be part of a discussion and ask questions. Is is that what we're I need to talk to Shannon

065about what exactly that would need to look like? I you know the hard part with this one is that I I don't know that there's really an option um in that area if we don't change boundaries. So yeah. Right. So I'm saying in the in the past that was a discussion about trying to um change boundaries and if we um if we were going to change these boundaries to be able to move kids in this other school that can help that other school. This is I I feel like we're kind of in a place with this one that um we can go out and talk to the community and tell them what's going to happen, but I don't know that we're going to necessarily be asking for No. And I'm not I I guess what

066I'm asking I hate to keep using the P word that before somebody or whoever undertakes this this uh initiative that that as a board we have a sense okay here are the people doing this work and here's what they're going to do that we have an out like a syllabus kind of thing. We're going to see what people are going to do before they get going. So if the board has questions before they get started, that can be all front end loaded as opposed to muddling through it at the end when there there may be some problems. Yeah, we Yeah, that makes sense. So again, we it'll be our folks um and we'll go out and we've already started some of that work um and so we can bring updates back to the board and

067then yeah, if you have specific questions about it um we'd be happy to answer them, but I just there's still there's still some information we're trying to get together on that. I think if we know we're we know the direction that we're heading in, what the ultimate goal is with our fruit of schools with our fruit of schools. Um I I would be comfortable with regular board updates, letting us know kind of where they are, what they're finding. Um and then we can give that direction publicly at that time. Yeah, this is really just looking I I feel like it's kind of a um it's the board saying we're in agreement that we want to normalize grades in the FRA area and so go out and and make that happen basically. Right. So, so what

068that means so that we're clear is that there is a school consolidation process in that because we you're trying to move we're we're trying to put kids 6 through 8 in one building and then 9th through 12th and so just as long as our community understands that there there we are trying to put two schools into one and so there is somewhat of a semblance of a consolidation that's going to happen in that process. So I just and and yeah, I think what we're doing now is just tasking the team to make sure that all those three pieces that we need to put together between getting the freshman or the ninth graders over to you know Fra Monument and then getting the six through eight whether that's in the 89 building figuring out the transportation

069traffic flow there just because you have the high school that t their team will figure out all those pieces and parts and Andrea that's that's a great point and that that's what suggesting before we even get updates is maybe onepage outline that here's what we're going to be looking at. You know, this is the end goal in mind to do the things you just mentioned, Andrea, and and here are the things at least we're going to be looking at transportation boundaries, where kids are going to go, those kinds of things. And it it just so we bring everybody along, not just just us, but it sounds like we're on the same page on Yeah. So, I think if the if Dr. Hill and his team just kind of want to I guess reoutline what Shannon

070said that we need to do for those three pieces and then you guys can kind of Yeah. You just talking about right now? Well, no, don't do it now. No, we're just saying No, I mean outline what needs to be done. Yeah. No, what we're I think as a board what we per what Mr. Levenson is asking is just kind of at a later board meeting you we'll just outline what those three pieces were again as what we are moving forward in the fruit area. Yeah, we don't need to do that now. I I remember what Shannon mentioned as the things we need to do and then just a continual reminder that that's what we're doing out there. All right. So, what's the resolution that we're doing right now? The resolution right now is that

071we're giving them the permission to move forward with doing all of that because because that one is those three pieces have to kind of all have to line up at the same time. Um that one that one would then start for the 24 school year. So they would start doing that this year. And so some of that would be some boundary changes that Mr. Bingham would then go and talk to those communities. Um and there there's several things that are wrapped up into that piece of it. and we have it lined out in our resolution that's here. Any other discussion? Dr. Schulties, have anything? No. No. Okay. All right. We'll go ahead and call the vote. Okay. Mrs. Heis, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Lima, yes. Mr. Levenson, yes. Dr. Schulties, yes. All right. Um,

072so we have open some board discussion. Okay. Can I jump in? I just I I'm I really want us now to focus like I I I had hoped that that conversation about East would shift immediately to like what are we doing to support those students? What are we doing to support those teachers? Like what are we doing? What is our So I think we failed here in supporting them upfront. like why like we need to have a robust discussion about how we are going to make sure that we do everything we can to work forward from here. So like I know I know HR is going to go to East. What day is that going to happen on kind of Brian? Can you walk us through what is going to happen and how we're going

073to work to do good here? Yeah. And I'm actually gonna ask um Jen maybe to come up here too to share a little bit um because I know they were having another long meeting today um with our instructional leadership team to kind of walk through a lot of the work that they've already started a while back. And if there's anybody else you need to bring up, Jen, um so um I mean starting immediately uh if the well the decision has been made. Um we uh will obviously send out information to um to staff and to families um to kind of let them know what we know at this point. Um we've um set up a um I know people are going to have a lot of questions and so our goal is to not bombard

074the school building with all those questions um because they're not going to have all the answers themselves. And so um I know Cali and our communications team has worked on um a a place for that stuff to be funneled um so that we can try to respond to it uh as a district. And so that'll be in the information that we send out as well. Um I know beginning tomorrow um with anticipation of this we um have teams going out to the school um to not only support students um but also support staff within that building and and not only just tomorrow but but uh next week as well. Um and then there's other information again that we'll send out um to families on. Uh I know there's going to be questions around what happens

075with the challenge program. And so we've um been having those discussions that's involved um uh our uh head of um the GT program in the district that's involved um Miss Slay at the school and and other individuals as well as talking about um the location that would be best for that program and how do we support it? Um if are we going to offer transportation uh for those students who are already in currently in the program? So those are things that we've all been having discussions around uh with Clint. Um and so we'll get that information out as well and and we've talked about um having a um sort of a parent meeting to be able to walk them through that as well. Um so there's a lot of pieces um and I and I

076Jen, you can chime in on on other things that I'm missing out on, but um but the the immediate um need that we want to take care of is making sure that we have folks at the campus tomorrow that can um support staff and students. um because we know this is there's going to be a lot of emotions around this and um and we're not naive to that and so we want to make sure that we have folks there that can help um support them. We know that we may have staff that need that support and so we'll have um additional subs in the building and other um centralized staff that will be there to try to uh help them if they need support there as well. I know some of our own team I'm

077I'll be there in the afternoon um to try to help as well. So I'm going to stop rambling to see what else did I leave off. Nothing. I just want to we'll we'll add to if there's anything I just want to try to emphasize to the board and to our community. We knew that this might be um a decision that was going to happen this evening. And so it was really important that we all came together as a leadership team to actually we knew we were going to have to provide support tomorrow regardless of what happened tonight. So there are many people, staff, students, and um the community as a whole that have been that are are going through some hard emotional um moments right now and we did not want to minimize that regardless

078of what happened this evening. So, we did come together today to ensure that we had a plan regardless and that we had um supports put in place for tomorrow. Knowing what the decision is now, much of everything that Dr. Hill said, it was ensuring that we have um we're able to deploy and make sure that we have the supports there for our staff and our students and our community. Yes, we will ensure that um Nikki will make sure that we have all the information that they need, what they're ready to to receive and to talk about. One of the things I'm going to ask Ari to talk about, it was really important. We have gone I've had the opportunity to talk to all of our our principles and I think the biggest thing that they

079said is they don't want things they're feeling like this is being done to their staff and so they really wanted have to have that opportunity to talk about what they needed and what they want to re not knowing what it would the decision what would be so how can we do it with them so I say that we're going to provide these supports but when they're ready or when they want to talk about certain things whether it be with HR that will be ready and able to to deploy even more at their request. I know that AR is starting there tomorrow. REI has spent each one of our site directors has spent um is a lot of time with their principles and their staff on how the principal has wanted to move forward with their

080staff. So Ari, I don't know if you want to share any more about what the plan is for tomorrow knowing what we know now. Yeah, we can. Am I on? Um, yeah, as Jen and Dr. Hill have said, I mean, so one of the things we're doing, I mean, as directors, I mean, we are constantly meeting with our principles, talking with them. I know with East, you know, asked the principal to designate a group of teachers and, you know, we're going to we meet weekly and really the question is is what can I do for you, right? And this is what we've talked about that that may happen. And so, what can we do for you? Is it helping? Is it not? you know, District 51 sadly, but in a good way, we have a

081great crisis response because we unfortunately have had a lot of crisis. And so, we're basing our tomorrow off that same model, just maybe not with, you know, death or suicide involved. But the idea is that, yeah, I mean, our our East Middle School staff is going to be in crisis tomorrow. So, we have in the morning, we'll meet, give an opportunity for teachers to come in, talk about it, just what's going on. Our typical response to is we'll have um sort of a message that all of our teachers will read to the kids. Um throughout the day, we'll have some robing subs for our adults in case they need some time, they need to come talk or they just need some space. We will have um substitutes ready for that. For our students, we'll have

082our counseling team and our mental health support ready. And kind of the same thing, you know, we've learned um over time, but really we try and keep our environment as stable as we can, right? moving forward, but giving the opportunity for everyone in the building if they need it to have that time. So, we'll have adults, our um as I mentioned, our counselors and mental health team there as well, just waiting and we will when I go there tomorrow, we'll just sort of work out what the system looks like, but typically when a student needs it, we allow them. We contact the office, let them know they're coming down so we're ready for them. Um, so we'll have those things in place as well. Um, and really, you know, so that's really for tomorrow. And

083then we do have, like I said, a lot of people ready to deploy and just be be there whatever that need looks like. Um, East, as Jen had mentioned, you know, they've sadly been in crisis and some of the balance is having lots of adults walking around and not and so they've requested not to have lots of adults walking around. So, we're ready. We'll be there. We'll have our teams ready. Um, and then come next week, same thing. I mean, we'll do it again, right? and we're we're going to do it again and just be there ready for them and then continually ask them what do you need from us? How can we move forward? What can we do to support you? And that's really our plan and process. So, so meeting their needs um

084first and foremost tomorrow, then looking at next week as well. Um but then when we need to come back to talk about what's next, how are we ensuring that um our students, what does that transition look like from East to um the new schools? There are some steps that need to take place when it comes to boundaries and ensuring that those boundaries are um defined, identified. we have to go through the county and ensure that the county because we can't do anything with our own system, our synergy system um until the county has made those changes and those boundary changes. Then it rolls over into our system. So then our um we'll be notifying all of the staff. Here are the new boundaries. These addresses will go to West. These addresses would go to Bcliffe.

085Um, we of course would offer uh another we're not going to call it school of choice, but another opportunity because not only do we have students that um are leaving from east, but there we have students that have choiced into East and so they will need to go through another process to determine where would they would do where do they want to choice to next? Um we're not going to call that school a choice. We will call it something else. And then what are the activities? This is um this is an end of of of a moment and and time and the in our lives of our students and our staffs and our families. And what does an ending like this look like? And how do we ensure that we have some closure and we

086have opportunities to to look at what a new beginning will also look like? And so working with East and working with our receiving schools so that we can move through this transition um and it is as smooth as possible but allowing for and providing support any emotion that is coming through. This is going to be emotional and hard and we want to make sure that everybody has that opportunity to to experience it to live through it and be able to move through it to help identify what what's next. Is there a way like with the receiving schools where you know it doesn't necessarily have to be let's say a complete ending to East but there's sort of a a spirit of that that continues to live on you know melding maybe I don't know I'm

087thinking like a mascot or just something where you know it still lives on you know somewhere else that just kind of helps with that transition. I don't know that's been mentioned by a few principles that had some ideas of trying to help welcome students in. I don't are have those kind of conversations or things been kind of talked about or thought about? Yeah. Um yeah, actually we have. So sitting down with the principal of East um you know we've again we've had lots and lots of conversations of what if what if um and that's been part of our conversation and actually it's um from Paul um who's actually been through this and as he talked about those kind of things we talked about a culture jar or you know his examples what they did and

088we talked about that as well and you know we haven't talked about it with staff because we you know we don't want to overdo it but at least as the leader we are brainstorming possibilities and so the premise with that is that yeah, you take a bit of East culture, you put it in a jar, you know, the things that you want to take with you that other people can see and those great things at East that you're now going to spread to the rest of the district, you know, and we have talked about um just our caliber, we've mentioned it before, of teachers, right? And just the messaging that, you know, you know, it may not be here, but you are an excellent teacher and now you get to spread your knowledge and your

089great systems and structures and the great things you're doing to other other uh cultures as well. So yeah, I mean, we've talked about that kind of stuff and we'll, like I said, we'll try to we'll push out things as quickly as we can for information. There's just, as Jen mentioned, there's there's things that have to happen before something else can happen. So, like for hiring because we we've said, we want to um take care of our folks and try to help them uh find positions. We can't um finalize staffing numbers at the other middle schools at all the middle schools if we're going to do just yet. that if we're going to do this other we're not calling it SOC but another window of a shortened window of time for those families so that because

090that might mean um students go to another middle school then we have to make some adjustments so there's going to be a little bit of time um to have those things kind of play out so that we can then get um the numbers the FTE and the numbers uh staffing numbers for the schools so that we can then post positions and start um helping folks um with those those open positions. So we like I said we're going to push out stuff as quickly as we can. I just want to reiterate that the school building is not going to have all the answers to that. And so, as much as we can not um bombard them with those questions, we'll have information in the stuff that we send out for where we can those questions can

091be directed so that we can try and help at the central level. I I think that communication piece like Dr. Hill just said because there there are um kind of look like it as locks. We have to go through this to go through this to get through this. And I know that um our students and our families are going to have anxiety about where am I going, where am I starting, where is my where is my school? Our teachers are going to be um worrying and wondering and having anxiety of where where do I go from here? Where is my job? You know, that people, place, and those rituals and routines, they're they're they're being wiped out right now. So we have to acknowledge that and then once we know where those boundaries are, once

092we know we get through school of choice. Um once we know where our students are going to go, where our programs are going to go, then we will have that opportunity to ensure that each building is then staffed and all of our um positions are posted. But I think the biggest thing is that we're going to have to really do very well at communicating the timeline of what what has to happen when so that that understanding and they know what's next is coming up. I would just love to um get sort of constant updates because we're going to be also of course getting asked a lot of questions just so that we can answer intelligently what it is that you're doing, what has been done and what what you're working on now. Just give it

093if we can just get a regular update I think would be helpful for all that could probably come via Dr. Hill like a board notification of just kind of um maybe, you know, every few days if there's a lot going on or kind of once a week of just uh where things are at because a lot of times people will email the board and then we can know which like where to point them, you know, in the direction to make sure they're getting their um questions answered or whatever they need. So great. Thank you guys for sharing. I'm sorry. Did I miss what day is Nikki going to go out there with HR to talk to all the teachers? We're planning on um the 16th. I think it's our inservice day that we'll go out

094in the morning. Okay. And is that Sorry, I just want to make I just want to make sure everybody knows exactly what to expect. So, thank you for clarifying. Does that also mean that Nikki is going with HR on that day? She's nodding yes. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. I think that's good. Okay. All right. Other discussions? Yeah, we're still open for discussions. Board, open board discussion. So, um, is your microphone on? Yes. Okay. For everyone. Um, so the elephant in the room. So where where are we with the next question as far as elementary? Because again a couple nights ago we talked from the meeting last week they all blend together that at that point there there seemed to be in in a lot of people's perception there was a consensus of some

095steps we were going to take and then last couple nights ago it looked like we were backtracking on some of that from the previous meeting. So, are we are we setting up a discussion thing on that again or are we what are we doing with that? Well, or have we discussed what are we doing with that? Yeah. Well, um, so we we've all received a lot of information over the last, you know, several days, new information from, uh, the community D51 staff and so I personally need more time to digest that information and go through it. Um, obviously we do have to make a decision on the elementary schools. Um, you know, I I think when we had our workshop, um, we were flushing out a bunch of different ideas, um, that that could be

096possibilities, you know, and now, um, I I'm reconsidering some of the options that were were spoken about because I think there's just in light of new information, it's just an understanding of what some of those ramifications could be. So, um, yeah. So, I would just like to take some more time personally, I don't know where the rest of the board is, but to take that information and really go through and digest it and then I know Angela's out of town, so we were kind of thinking like in a week from today. And I think also just kind of spread like pacing these out for the community to digest. It's a lot. You know, we've had a middle school, we've had a grade reconfiguration, there's boundary changes, and then there's elementary schools. And so it I

097think a you know there's been a lot of conversation and even that night we we went through a lot of information and so I think just to be clear it's good to just I think pace this out. Obviously the district needs a decision soon. Um so I feel like in a week's time I can digest that information and talk to any more uh district staff if I have any other questions. I don't know how everybody else feels about that, but we've gotten a lot more information since last time. Can I can I ask what is that information? What are you referring to? Just emails and feedback and then going out to schools and talking to district staff. So, I just would like to take a little more time with the information that we've received um

098to go and you know, we we got the principal letters from the elementary, so I would like to actually go talk to all the principles. So I just kind of get a better feeling, you know, just around the letter and and you know, from the individual principles and what's kind of going and impacting their buildings. So I just want to I'd like to talk with them. So So can I just clarification because and you mentioned there there there's a point Melanie I think someone mentioned it there you know no decision is a decision at some point. or is there a I have to assume there's a deadline that HR and other folks need to know if if we're going if if if we're going on the path of which we talked about a couple meetings

099ago about forming a committee and and having a a deadline date of September 1st something like that or or we're pulling the trigger for next year. So those are the two options that it seems. Am I right with that? So, I don't know that um yes, I don't know that there's I don't know there's a drop dead date for if the decision is going to be made now. The thing about the decision if it's going to be for next school year is um we can't move forward on other things until that happens. And so, um like we can't um we can't do the elementary staffing models yet. Um we can't that means we can't post positions then. um we've been holding off on posting any principal positions because we just in case. So those are

100things that if the longer that takes, it just means it delays um that work that needs to happen. And now if it was um to the question of um taking more time and in a committee um my recommendation was if that was going to be the case that we would want to bring something back no later than like a final decision no later than um sometime in September. um just because that way then the the board could process that and then hopefully make a decision earlier than October. Um so I guess it just depends on what direction we get on that. Well, that and that that's what I guess I'm asking probably not clearly enough. So is is when when do you all need a clear decision so you can go down either path with

101like right posting positions? I imagine it's yesterday or three days ago. Yeah, I was going to say for for the for those reasons. um as soon as possible. Yeah. Um just some direction on it. Like I said, if if it's going to be um timeline, extended um committee together all that work, then we need to know that so that we can u move in that direction. If it's going to be closures for next school year, um to your point, no. Great. Can I can I make a a just a point here? So, we just voted to close East. We have no idea what the ramifications of that are going to be. We have no idea what this is going to take to make this successful. I absolutely think that we have to send this to

102a group of folks who can consider all of the things that we actually need to consider in closing a school. Can we also take east as a learning opportunity, learn from it, wrap that into our next decision making, but but let ourselves work through this process, see what we need to do better, and and make sure that we get the next ones right. That is my deep request. I just I really think we need to do this right now. We have the opportunity to learn some more. I think we didn't learn from everybody else who's done this and their findings in the best practices. And I think we just we we have the opportunity. I think that we must and also the other thing is we I you know if if we're moving forward with

103this conversation I need to understand I there's a few things I need. The first one is I need to understand exactly why every single one of those 10 schools is on the list and exactly why every one of the other schools is not in detail including particularly Fruda that has two of our most underutilized elementary schools in the district at 49 and 54% when nothing else is that low. So I need to understand what's going on in Fruda. I need to understand the criteria that have been followed so far have been not applied in a methodical way. But I I think just starting from the beginning, this all needs to be laid out in so much more detail. Um if we're going to actually go down this path, um also there's a lot of errors

104in the decision-making matrices. We need to work through all of those. Um there's a lot of work that needs to be done here if we actually think that we have enough information to make an informed decision here. I think my last request is that I think this needs to be filtered through central admin. I need to understand Shannon's recommendations through our senior leadership and understand what their recommendation is for us. So then go ahead. So, and I I I need to know you say people, what people do you want on here? What I'm asking is I mean, I'm not saying you're not right. I'm not saying you're not wrong, but who do we need? We already have our site directors, which are on the ground. They're right there. We already have our central admin, our

105senior leadership that are out there. We have Dr. Hill. Who else do you want to put on the committee? I I that's what I'm trying to understand. That's a great question. So all of the best management practices list multiple categories of people including folks involved in local government. So folks who can actually help with the with the transportation issues, the actual folks that we employ through the city and the county for safe schools routes. Um the city and the county. So you know I have talked to the economic development coordinator. I've talked to our planning department. I've talked to our transportation people. all of those people who can actually help us figure these things out, who can figure out, you know, where a lot of injuries occur around schools or what the, you know, vehicle

106impacts of things are going to be. Um, so yeah, all all of the people who can actually support us in this decision-making. I think that and and again, you know, I don't know them all off of the top of my head, but there are entire manuals written about how to do this. And they detail the types of folks that you need to move forward with these decisions successfully to create success in your community and to develop a collaborative decision-making process. So, of course, you know, somebody representing teachers, somebody representing parents, um, you know, it it's just a it's a wide swath of folks. They're not huge committees. is you know in California they recommend 7-Eleven committees between seven and 11 people but people who are invested in in answering the hard questions and and they

107even recommend things like if you know you have to close schools then don't let people on the committee who are going to just say no we're not going to close schools. So there's ways around making sure that we can create success um but but really ensuring there's a multistakeholder perspective um folks trying to address the questions that you know that we are too and that some of our experts have or maybe we don't have the tools to or whatever. But I also don't think it's it's you know I I understand the spirit of the question and I appreciate it. Um, so yeah, I would I would expect that that would be a larger conversation between our senior leadership who actually puts this together, but there's plenty of guidance documents listing the various categories of folks

108that are helpful in these situations. Thank you. Yeah, if I could piggyback and Will, that was a great question and and Carrie, thanks. I thought a wonderful response and and really a couple weeks ago we kind of over many hours kind of came to that consensus that there was a need for that breath of a committee to uh add to what Shannon has done. No one wanted to throw what he did out but to to build upon that and bring in more voices so we can make you know a more informed decision. I hadn't thought about you know since we're doing east now that that there's some link things we can learn from that as well. So um and again I know we're not voting on that tonight. You made it makes sense. Yeah. And

109I and I want to be really careful that um you're making consensus. I mean, at least the way you're I'm hearing it from you is that the board came to some kind of agreement. Um, that's what I thought we did. No, we can't. We didn't vote on anything. I mean, we can we've done a lot of things. We we we can think around things and have maybe some similar ideas. And I think at the end of that evening there were several things that um that we discussed. But then I mean you even said the other night like you know sometimes you have your mind made up about something and then you get new information and that brings a new new new light to something. And so, um, while we had a robust conversation and we

110were workshopping that information, um, there's, you know, there's now been other feedback given that, you know, I I actually have a lot of concerns around a committee now versus from last week. So, I just want to be clear that but you guys, we we need to do this here. So, if you'd like to make comments, you're going to have to step out because we've got to do the work here. Um, so we I'm just saying that there was no decision, definitive decision made. Yeah. So, I get it and and and I I agree and I did say that, you know, you you think on something and more information comes, you rethink it. I was using that as a starting point when we you're right, we didn't vote on anything. We didn't do a resolution, but

111but there was a general theme that night and obviously isn't that way tonight. Um that that's that's what we we thought about and you're right, new information has come and I get that. Um what what I'm what I'm also suggesting is you know you were mentioning you have you know you want to go out and visit with all the principles and great great thing to do but a lot of the work you're thinking about doing and Carrie mentioned is exactly what again I think we we talked about a couple weeks ago about there's so many things to look at and we're time sensitive here and and and again going back to the east discussion taking that pause, doing it deliberately, bringing other voices in. Now, if we don't think that's important, then that's again a

112fundamental different way of looking at this. But I I'm I'm just suggesting I just want to know where we're at with this and how we're going to decide. Um at some point, you're right, we have to make a decision. People are hanging on on this. We can't keep keep and that's what we've heard over and over. I mean we got the the letter from the principles which was which was one thing but we've also heard from many of them in addition to that saying they need a decision now that es you know again hindsight's 2020 and and and with schools that have already been identified I think it makes it just even more difficult. I mean, people are already putting in letters of resignation. They're already trying to to make sure that they're taking care

113of their livelihood. And that's what we're hearing from principles as well. Um, sure. You know, begging for us to not make the to make the decision now versus doing it later. You know, let let me you know, I I have read the letter from the elementary principles and I would just give you something to think about at least how how I viewed it and I'm sure you don't have it in front of you, but I knew where they were coming with this and in in the very first paragraph in it says I third sentence it says you know we understand that the topic of school closures and consolidations may not be popular with all members members of the community and that this is not a decision to be made lightly or without considerable thought and

114consideration. You know, I took that to be we have to be thoughtful and take, you know, not do it lightly. And I'm not saying we are, but but it can be construed that we are if if if again we act in haste. And then later in in the next paragraph they talk about we are deeply concerned about the future impact of inaction and how it may affect students staff well-being student performance salaries curricular materials professional learning programming capital development and and you know the list could go on and this what Carrie was talking about again there's so many factors we they're they're suggesting there are there's a lot of things we have to look at with making this decision. ision which we really haven't and then what I what I gathered let me finish at

115the end like a list of please at at the end you know I was reading the the individual comments and and the theme there came that um we have to do something right I think that as as I read through these comments and and so what I really interpret this letter to me as much as anything is that something has to be done I think we all acknowledge that we've just given one option as to what can be done and you know I I wrote so so moving forward what does that mean does it mean we school does do schools have to close you know maybe they do but maybe they don't and we haven't exhausted I'll go back we have not been exhaustive in looking at this and we're more than you know there

116were some terms used that that I haven't really and it's semantics to a degree but you know we we use terms like consolidation what we're talking about with those schools is not consolid as I view consolidations. Consolidation was when we built Chapa that was consolidating Coline Elementary at the time and Lincoln Park at the time into one school. So you you didn't separate schools out. They were they were total schools that moved in. That's a consolidation. You know what we're talking about is I I think our demographer mentioned we're taking them offline which seems to me kind of cold. Um but it it it's you know you're talking about closing or absorbing they're they're different mindset they're it's different and we're not talking about consolidations we're talking about closing schools and and disenfranchising I think

117these kids and families that have been there and and again that may have to be I can't say that enough I get it that may be where we go and it may be more than three schools it may be five schools when we get through a process but we don't know that yet and I I I think we owe it to our community, to these to to our staff, just about everybody that that we're very thoughtful and deliberate and exhaustive in making a final decision. And I I I don't think there's anything out there that says we we've been there yet or even close to it. So, when I look at this letter, I I I know what they were intending to say to me is please do something. I mean, right now, the only

118things that have been presented to us is consolidation. And I don't know any of these folks really, what does that mean to them? I bet you you take all those 25 principles and they'd all have a different definition about what that would mean. Okay. And and so I I think there's a lot of things just to the basic thing of what we're doing if it's closing, consolidation, going offline to u all the things they listed that needed to be looked at. So, I I think this letter to me is really an advocacy of of do do something, right? We we're we're waving a white flag out there. Um, and to be thoughtful about it and and that's how I take that letter, not not as a blank. They they want to close things, so let's

119just do it. I I think there's it's more depth than that than than we've given it credit for in the first look. So, that's my thought on that. So, I think that I think that we're actually I think we're getting way way ahead of ourselves. I understand where we're at right now. The question was or what what do we set in for the meeting for next week? Yeah. So, we get to the point where this was great. This conversation is awesome. But then when we come here next week, we sit around and we do a resolution. We say no, I'm not resolution. And we go into the reason why. Now, if that bees we give the schools more time, then we make that observation then. We're not sitting here talking about that right now. We're

120going we're inventing the wheel. I mean like you said, no, you know, we want to keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is we talked about the resolution for East Middle School and we announc now we make a resol or make a plan for meeting next week and then we sit here next week and we come out and say, "Hey, the resolution is to close blah blah blah blah." And if we say no, then we move on and say this is the option we want to do, you know, and and if there is more time, great. But I mean, we're going to sit here and argue for another three hours about something that's right. We at this point we just we at this point we need to just state um if Thursday

121works ne next week for everybody then we can come back and take the vote on on elementary schools and will we have a process about what things we may be voting on or is some one person deciding what we're voting on that night? In other words, well the resolutions get worked out with with Tammy on kind of what that wording is and so then yeah then based off We we may have multiple resolutions we could consider. In other words, one may be and I'm just throw you know that um well I don't even speculate but we we could have different resolutions. Okay. And do we get with what Tammy Brian on this? Yeah. And I would say if for for myself and our staff if the decision ends up being that we're going to um

122take more time and do a committee, I I would prefer an actual resolution saying that. and um and with some deadlines on there because you know hindsight being 2020 I think um back when we were having these discussions uh even in December into November um that probably is something that I should have asked for at that time so that there was clarity around the direction we're heading um I think people I thought people understood where we're heading and I know that that's been um discussed that people had different understandings around that. I I think I would request or I know I would request if we're going to delay and add more time, I I want a resolution that says this is what we're asking and this is when we want it brought back. And again,

123my recommendation before was if it is going to be um uh I don't want to use the term delayed, but um if we're extending the timeline and if we're um if we're going to do the committee and all that, I just don't think we can go beyond um like sometime in the fall, like a September um because of the fact of again, we're learning through all this. So if you can make that decision earlier, then it gives time for things like we we had to make a new we're not calling it SOC, we're calling it something else because we missed that window. So things that would give us enough time to um help with those transitions if it was going to happen for the year after. So yeah, so maybe it's multiple resolutions. Yeah, I'll

124get with Tammy and we can just work through her with the board. Yeah. Great. Any other discussion? Right. Oh, go ahead. Can I I I want to just share something um that I um wanted I was going to share it earlier. Yeah. Sorry. Does th next Thursday work? Yeah, that's right. Next Thursday. Uh f 5 5:30. I don't know what does Dr. Schulties, does that work for you? Yeah, I'm checking right now. Double check, too. Yeah, I'll have to check with my husband, but um but yeah, next. Yeah, we'll we'll it seems like it. I just want to make five or 30. Yeah, either. Five. Yeah. So, wait. I just want to be clear. There's a chance that we're going to be voting to close some elementary schools next week. That's what we're saying. There

125will be several resolutions. One could Yes. One could be to to abstain. One could be to but there'll be several resol several resolutions for us to vote on. Probably just two or three. Does that make sense? I mean, I hear your words. I just Sorry. Does that make sense? Yeah. I I hear your words. I just feel kind of in shock that we would like at least for the middle schools we tal you know we had like many meetings so people could start to digest it. I just feel like, yeah, I think, you know, I know that there was push back on what Doug said, but I also walked away from the meeting a couple weeks ago with the loose understanding that we were all on the same page about considering a committee. And I

126know that we still are considering a committee, but I just I just really worry about um the care with which we're approaching this and how this is going to be perceived by people. I just I just really Have you all went and met with any of the other principles? Yes. Okay. Right. Dr. Hill, did you have something? Unless there's other stuff that folks need to talk about. Um, so I just want to say I um this has not been easy for anyone. Um, I want to acknowledge that. Um, it has not been easy for this board. It's not been easy for our staff who support our schools. It's not been easy for our students, families, and staff at East Middle School in particular. Um, and it has not been easy for our community and the

127D-51 family as a whole. Um, in my 15 years in public education, I've had to make a lot of tough decisions and have been put in a lot of challenging circumstances, but this is definitely uh been one of the toughest. Um, school closures are not something that anyone ever wants to do. Uh we don't want to close schools in D-51 and we don't want to continue down the path uh we've been on over the last few years with having to cut staff at our buildings due to declining enrollment and loss of funding tied to loss of students uh student enrollment. We find ourselves in a difficult position with staff looking to us as leaders for solution. In this case, part of that solution means the closure of a school. The closure of a school that

128um has been a great place of learning in our community for so many years. the closure of a school with great staff, great students, great families, and great performance. East Middle School isn't closing because of anything they did wrong. Um, East Middle School is closing for reasons plaguing our district that are outside of their control. Um, I want to make sure that's clear. While the building at East Middle School uh is closing, the amazing work of the students and staff within that building won't end. Uh, because it's not the bricks and mortar that make a school special, it's the people within it. Um, as we move from an ending to a beginning, uh, we will work as a district to vigorously support our East Middle School students, families, and staff as they transition to new

129settings. Uh, we'll work to help our East Middle School staff find positions within our school system that allow them to continue to share their strengths and talents within a new setting, just as they just as they have for our East Middle School community for so many years. Uh, we will work to help our East Middle School students and families through the transition to a new school setting. And I know our principles and staff at the schools receiving our East Middle School students are looking forward to welcoming them and supporting them with open arms. We'll work to help support the social emotional needs that currently are and will continue to be evident for our East Middle School students, families, and staff. We will work to support the transition of the challenge program, a great program with

130a great legacy, to a new location and support our challenge program students and families with the transition by removing barriers. And we will do the necessary work to support because we are not a district of schools. We are a school district and a D-51 family. I know there are a range of emotions being expressed right now um after the decision and that is natural. Uh I know that we as a community and as a D-51 family can come out of this uh even better in the end. In many cases, one-time difficult decisions can make way for thousands of future decisions so we don't exhaust ourselves over trying to fix the same problem over and over again. This difficult decision will pave the way for a thousand future decisions that can better serve our students and

131staff. This difficult decision will allow us to better staff our middle school buildings moving forward, which in turn will allow us to better support our students and staff in the middle school buildings. That is the focus. That's the goal. Better support for our students. One of my core beliefs is that I try to put kids first in everything that I do. And we have to do better. Uh we have to better staff our schools and our programs in the middle school level if we want to better support our kids and put them first. We have to do better and we will. Um let's now move forward towards healing as a D-51 family. Let's support one another and not divide one another. Let's wrap support around our East Middle School students, staff, and families. Let's recognize

132that there will be hurt and loss and that folks need time to process and be upset. and let's ensure that on the other side of processing those emotions, the impacts of this decision are positive ones for our students and staff in the end. Um, I want to thank this board for their leadership. I want to thank the East Middle School community for all the great work that they have done, the great work that they'll continue to do as we finish out the school year and the great work that they will share with the larger D51 family in the future. Thank you. All right, do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjourn. Right. Second. Thank you everyone.