001Evening everyone. I am going to reconvene the August 19 meeting of the Lake Force Board of Education. First of the two one pledge of allegiance followed by Igian to the flag to the father stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. Item 2.3 roll call of elven Dr. Wyatt >> president. >> Mrs. Starky as vice president >> here. >> And I am James, president and chair. Good evening. And I will say that I am honored and excited to serve as board president this year. I will do my best to fill Mr. Dempsey's shoes. Um it's been a long time since I served this role and he left quite the uh legacy to fill and I'll do my best. So moving on to item 2.4
002approval agenda. Mrs. >> Make a motion we approve the agenda as presented. Second >> have a motion and properly second on the floor. Any questions on the motion? Hearing not I'll call for a vote. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries 30. >> Section 2.5 approval of the minutes. I make a motion we approve the minutes from the June 26th, July 7th, July 10th, and August 5th, 2025 meetings of the Lake Forest Board of Education. >> Second. Have a motion properly second to approve the June 26th, July 7, July 10, and August 5th board meeting. Any questions on the motion? Hearing I will call for a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. 30 no 2.6 recognition we have none 2.7 citizens participation time is set aside early each
003lake force board of education meeting for citizens participation to allow members of the public to address board members on any relevant topic. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Reading directly from board policy K public concerns and complaints. The citizens participation item on the board agenda is an opportunity for members of the community to speak publicly. Those who wish to speak public to the board must complete the information from form provided at the board meeting and submit it to the board secretary prior to the opening of the meeting. The form should clearly state the reason for addressing the board. The public should not expect discussion or responses at this board meeting. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. We have anyone do not. All right. Now we will move into the report section
004of our agenda. Item 3.1 financial report. Mr. Fel. >> Good evening. So this is going to be our June 2025 uh monthly board financial report. And so this is our opportunity to see how we ended the fiscal year uh compared to what we had budgeted across the different categories. So when we look at the revenue report overall across the board just big picture um we received 70.3 million and that's compared to about 62.5 million last year. So that's an increase of about 7.8 million. Uh that equates to about uh 12%. And so most of that of course comes on the state side that increase where we increased over 6.7 million in the amount received up there mainly due to those higher unit count numbers. Um and then about uh 1.2 million of that increase came
005from the local funds area and we actually went down about 160,000 in the federal funds area. So in terms of our overall state local federal mix of revenues uh are actually our federal actually went down this year from six to 5%. So we saw a little bit of a retreat there from the federal funds. uh and most of that was due to the title one uh with a little bit on the Perkins side as well uh because actually there was a little bit of an increase on the idea portion. So then looking at it from the discretionary funds standpoint um we did see a discretionary increase of 1.1 million over last year's uh totals. And so uh about 400,000 of that was from the state's discretionary side and a little over 650,000 was on the
006local discretionary side. And uh so that's a good portion in terms of what we see there. Um overall we collected 102% of our discretionary funds compared to 104% last year and our o all total funds was 102% which was identical to what it was the prior year. So uh any questions on the revenue report? >> Questions for Mr. Kelvin on the revenue. Okay. Moving on to the expenditure side of the report. Uh again looking big picture on the expenditure side. We we spent encumbered 63 million compared to 55 million the prior year. So that's about a 7.7 million increase, 14% higher. And uh our discretionary spend increase was about 1.3 million from the pri up 1.3 million from the prior year. So what I'm trying to say there is we we are continuing to see
007that increased spend in our local discretionary budget as we had fully anticipated. you know, we projected that out, you know, two, three years ago that we were going to have the increased spending. Um, with that 1.3 million discretionary increase spend, most of that's coming on the salary side. About 800,000 is just the pure local salaries, a little more than that. But then you've also got the the SRO's and the constables which you know now that we've um expended all of our prior safety grant funds. We're we're now uh spending you know about 120 130,000 a year just on the constables out of local funds over and above what we get from the safety grant. So even with the safety grant we still have some local spend involved there. Uh as far as the other portion
008of that uh increase in the discretionary spend that came pretty much from our indistrict high roads classroom uh an increase in curriculum and then also uh the school spend across the board was pretty much up over last year. So those were kind of three other areas that kind of made up that other uh 300,000 uh at least those were the three biggest areas I could find that made up that other 300,000 increase in discretionary spend. Um, so we did end the year with about 3% of our discretionary budget remaining compared to 3% last year. So there we are again at about 3% under spend compared to what we budgeted. Um, so that's good news. Um, as far as the non-discretionary side, we did end up with a about a net $63,000 overspend on our tuition
009lines there. The tuition salaries and then the tuition payments special schools. When I take the two into account, you had a a 95,000 balance left in the one line there and 158,000 overspend on the payments to the special schools. And so even though we um we consider that an overspend, we did collect considerably more in terms of the tuition revenue. So that kind of made up for the the cost difference there. And then we finished the year with 6% off all funds budget remaining compared to 7% last year. So um I will be the next board meeting I will be presenting the financial position report. So that's how we concluded the year in terms of our district reserve. Um and then I'll also be presenting the FY 2026 preliminary budget. So those will be coming
010up at the next meeting. So any questions on the uh the June board? >> Questions on the expenditure part or any other questions on the budget? Thank you, sir. Item 3.2, Superintendent Dr. Loots. Good evening, everybody. Excited to give the board and community the first official award for the 202526 school year. And as always, I'd like to start with a few things to celebrate. First, I want to recognize and congratulate a few of our administrators who've been elevated to new positions this year. Uh Dr. Brandy Cooper is our new human resources director. Dr. Sarah Huber is now officially taking over as a new principal at South Elementary School. Uh she's joined by new assistant principal Don Dick who's not with us tonight. Um and then of course our newest advancement is our WT Chipman principal
011Reggie Milner in the back there. Congratulations Mr. Milner. Congratulations to all our newest leaders. We can't wait to see the great things you all will do. Next we had our newest Spartan staff members report this week. Tuesday they met with their mentors. Wednesday, they had a chance to meet with administration and the Lake Forest Education Association. And today, new staff spent time with the curriculum and assessment team. We want to send thanks and congratulations to all the staff who helped make the transition effective for our new staff and tell our newest team members how happy we are they chose Lake Forest. We feel they will quickly see this is the best decision they've ever made. want to send kudos and thanks out to our custodial staff who've been working tirelessly this summer and are still
012working to get our buildings ship shape for school. Uh we still have some work to do, but I'm confident the doors will be open on time and the buildings will look fantastic. Some of the big projects they've completed include painting at WT Chipman and Central, new flooring at Chipman and North, some added parking at East, upgrades at Lake Forest that include new HVAC for the gym, new tile in the pool area, and a refinished gym floor. So, thanks to all those hardworking Spartans led by Mr. Star, who's here tonight. As always, our tech team has been hard at work this summer. This year they've been presented with a new twist as they've been managing the transition to a new uh student information system. Uh this year, as many many of us know, we're going to
013be using Infinite Campus for all of our student records, transportation, data tracking, and numerous other automated tasks. You can imagine this has been a major job transitioning all the data from eSchool. Uh and our folks have encountered many hurdles along the way. Giant thanks to Mr. Loveven and the tech team. He's here with us tonight. Mrs. Anita Bulichek, Mr. Dick and the CIA team and especially Miss Danielle Briette and Mr. Weller who is working probably still working on transportation right at this moment. >> Uh we ask for patience during the transition, but I can assure you the community uh I can assure the community we will get to full functionality and we hope the remainder of this transition will be full will be virtually invisible. If anyone's wondering, this is a statewide initiative and all
01419 districts are pretty much going through the same thing right now. A lot of calendar updates this time of year. This coming Monday, the remainder of our teachers report start gearing up for our students. Then on August 25th, uh the rest of the staff report for the year. Our meet and greet events are on August 27th. And then the transition day for grades kindergarten, four, six, and nine take place on Thursday, August 28th. There's no school August 29th. or Monday, September 1st for Labor Day. And uh then all students will report for their first official day of school, September 2nd. And we are super excited for that. As always, you can find all this information on our website or if you're like me and you want to speak with a real person, just give your
015students school or the central business office a call and we'll help you out. It's all I have this evening. Yield the floor back to President Brow and the board for any questions or discussion. And Dr. Lucas, any questions for Dr. Lucas? All right. Thank you, sir. [clears throat] Moving into item number section five and finished business 5. Board of policy second reading decision action. >> Make a motion we approve resolution 5.1 and uh we modify discussion. Second. Have >> a motion properly seconded on the floor. Take a look at this point. Policy did come back. Believe we made some changes to the honorable section for grades two to five I believe. And then also I believe since uh changes to these grades six to eight as well including the line about um any grade below
016a 10% disqualified student questions from the board I'm just trying no questions I'll call for a vote all those in favor say I opposed extensions motion carries 30 >> right 6.1 board policies First reading and make a motion we approve the following policies as modified during discussion. >> Actually is a first reading. This is just a >> but I think we're just doing first reading for for policies. Correct. >> We're doing one reading. >> Yeah. Just one. >> You're right. You are right. >> That's why we second a motion properly segment and the floor. Any questions on that motion? Everybody into these policies should be quite policy board policy BA school board operational goals. Any questions or comments on board policy BA? >> No. >> Board policy BAA, evaluation of school board self-evaluation. >> Is
017there a professional? Yes, Mr. St. >> I mean, is this meant to be something formal we do? I mean, I think we informally evaluate ourselves and often comment on how well we work as a board and as individual board members, but like is this something formal? >> That's a great question. In my 11 years, we've never actually done anything in terms of an outside consultant >> or any other um formal evaluation process. >> I personally would not be opposed to it. Yeah, >> I don't know where we would even turn to, >> you know, I don't know if that's something through DSBA or >> there's not an official document of self evaluation. We could seek one from other states, but not within >> I mean I would I don't know if there is a way
018to have an outside consult come in and observe a couple board meetings. Um I don't know but I I wouldn't again I wouldn't be opposed to something like that. So, um, when we do have the forward warming, that's something we can discuss and and consider. Um, >> any questions on BAA, >> board policy, BBA, board member authority and responsibilities? Any questions on BBAA? >> I had just one because my thoughts were the actual lead in line to the numbered uh section there. It says actual duties of an individual board member may be enumerated as follows too colon. My suggestion is to change that after member and just say include the following >> actual duties of an individual board member include the following >> because I I just I don't like may I agree with all
019seven things and I think we should be stronger than any other questions on BBAA polic board membership-election appointment any questions on BBB for policy BBB board member oath of office BB VB. >> It's an extremely difficult one to say. >> Thank goodness we hand a copy out as we go through this because it's tough to read on that board policy BCA. School schoolboard member ethics. School board member ethics. Any questions on BCA? Again, for me, the third lead in the third line that leads into the numbered lines, it says an effective board member agrees to. I wouldn't mind seeing that just change the board members agree to it. >> All right. Excuse me. Poor board policy BCD, board member conflict of interest. Any questions on BCD? Questions or comments? >> Bill policy BDA, board organizational
020meeting. Any questions or comments on BDA? Policy BB, board officers. Any questions or comments on BDB? >> Board policy BDC. Appointed board officials. Any questions on BDC >> board policy BDD board- superintendent relationship any questions on BDD >> board policies BDE board committees any questions or comments on BDE >> board policy BDG school attorney any questions on BDG >> some board policy BDH board consultants/staff assistance any questions or comments on BDH board policy BE school board meetings questions or comments on be >> I just had one the second paragraph which is one sentence um if we can take that sentence and add it as the last line in the third paragraph. >> So it would read, "Executive sessions will be convened only for the purpose of discussion. No final action will be taken during executive
021sessions. Executive sessions will be conducted in accordance with Delaware code at all times to enter into executive session." >> There you go. Yes, sir. So three paragraph policy there. >> Yep. Any other questions or comments on be >> board policy? BE DF voting method at board meetings. Any questions on BE DF >> board policy BE DI media services at board meetings. Any questions or comments on BEI? >> No. >> Board policy DEDK. Reporting board meeting business. Any questions on BE DK? Board policy BF, school board work sessions and retreats. Any questions or comments on the BF? >> Questions or comments on board policy BGA policy development system? Any questions or comments on BGA? The only question I initially had was with the September 20, excuse me, the creating of the um our policy manual is
022the September 12 September 2012 revised edition of the NPN. I went back to it, looked it up, and it is still the September 27. Okay. September 2012 revised edition. They have not revised it. So, we're good to >> policy BGC policy revision and review. Any questions or comments on the BGC? >> No. >> Board policy BHC. Board communications with staff. Any questions or comments on BHC? Board policy BIA, new board member orientation. Any questions or comments on BIA? Board policy BIB board member development opportunities. Any questions on BIB board policy B board member compensation and expenses you may be wondering what is the compensation I can tell you it's zero board policy B any question or comments on B? No questions or comments. Chocolate snow gallery. I'll take that. Board policy BKA for our last
023policy of the evening liazison school boards associations. Any questions or comments on Vay Bay? None. We do have a motion on the floor. A few changes we've made. Any additional questions or comments on this motion? Hearing none. I will call for a vote. All those in favor? I opposed extensions. Solution carries 30. >> Section 8.1 personnel report and make a motion we approve the personnel report as presented. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second on the floor to approve the personal report section 8.1. Any questions or comments on the motion. Just a notation from the chair. This is something that um you guys are not used to us doing. Um couple things with this. We are attempting to consolidate the personnel report as you know with our agenda. There are numerous sections of
024personnel um that we go through and do a lot of different motions. Um this is going to streamline our agenda. A lot of other districts have transferred into doing a personnel report. Um and we consulted with our council to make sure that what we're trying to do and what we're doing is in line with uh all approved uh rules for conducting a meeting and we're good to go with that. So that report was posted prior to the meeting. Any questions from the board on the resolution that has been motioned and second? Hearing no questions, I will call for a vote. All is in favor? I >> opposed. Extensions. Motion carries. 30. >> Section 10 on the business. I make a motion we approve resolution 10.1 school choice as presented. >> Second. >> Have a motion
025on the floor and properly second to approve resolution 2.1 school choice. Any questions on the motion? Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. Extensions. Motion carries. 30. >> Section 11, other business, field trips. I make a motion we approve resolution 11.1 through 11.3 as presented. >> Second. >> Have a motion probably second on the floor to approve resolutions 11.1 through 11.3. Other business field trips. Any questions on the motion? Hearing? None. I will call for a vote. All those in favor? I opposed abstensions. Motion carries 30 >> and section 12 other business financial report to make a motion. We approve the financial report as presented today. >> Second. >> Have a motion properly second on the floor to approve resolution 12.1 financial report. Any questions on that motion? Hearing
026none. I will call for a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. Extensions. Motion carries 30. Takes us. Thank you. This is Starkeep Dr. Wyatt. Takes us into section 14 reports, discussions, concerns. Section for excuse me, resol section 14.1 school boards association. This is start. >> Yeah, we haven't met. I have not seen a meeting schedule yet, have you? No, they did have the uh yearly gathering uh last Saturday afternoon for all of the school board members. Um and it basically highlighted who was leaving the position, how many years they had served. They were each given a plaque. Um, and they acknowledged that Lake Forest had lost our leader as a school board member and he will be honored next year. But I have not seen any schedule for either that or the legislative committee.
027>> Okay, Eva. >> Yeah. Okay. Because those will start in September like >> So the DSP meetings, DSD meetings do start up a lot earlier in the year. the legislative meeting and I believe there's one in the fall and then they really get going in the spring as they get close for the session. >> Thank you, Mrs. Dark and Dr. Dr. Light. Any questions going through this hears you just discussed it? So, I'm assuming there no are no other questions from Mrs. D. Any questions from Mrs. >> Thank you. Turn it over to 14.2 legislative committee to Dr. Wy. I think we just heard her report as well. >> We have not met. Um I did attend um the social for the schoolboard association and we won't meet I believe it's not until October or
028November our first meeting. >> All right. That brings us to 14.3. Go to the order. Any board member who wishes to discuss or bring up an item that was not on the agenda may do so at this time. >> I'm just excited for the new school year. I I you can just feel the air of energy and I'm excited to see some of the new faces in new places and and see um how we start off. >> You're here >> an excellent job tonight, Mr. >> Thank you. >> Just like just like a horse, we just jump our bice jump back on. Um so I do have one thing I wanted to mention. So, many of you probably wondering um what the status is of our fifth board member uh this evening. We did had
029um some interviews that we conducted with uh four very qualified candidates and I I appreciate the fact that we had so much interest from the public. We interviewed those candidates tonight. Um we will be making a decision and that should be a resolution item on our next agenda in two weeks and the the goal is to have that as an early agenda item. um approve that agenda item and then have them uh take the info office and then leave that side of the table and jump on this side of the table and and jump right in and then realize that they have no idea what they just got themselves into. >> And that's a pay is great. >> It's it's self-gratifying. So >> if there are no other things on good of the order, I
030would now turn to section 15 executive sessions. Is there a need from Dr. Lucas for the doors for executive session. None for me, sir. >> And I have none as well. Before we entertain the motion to adjourn, I will say that that may have set a new land speed record with that personel report. Maybe because that long person before status. >> Anyway, thank you all for coming this evening. If there are no questions, I'm going to entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So move second. >> Have a motion properly seconded on the floor to adjourn this evening leaving. Any questions or comments on that motion? Hearing none, I will call for a vote. All in favor? I opposed. Extensions. The motion carries 300. We are now ajourned. Thank you all for attending tonight and safe
031travel at home. Thank you guys.