001Is everyone set? 707. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Right on to our five principles of cruiser PLC. Good evening. I get the pleasure of doing the five principles. Number one, we focus on learning. Number two, we collaborate. Number three, we take responsibility. Number four, we ask what are the results? Number five, we decide what to do next. Thank you so much. Roll call, please. Mr. Kushner here. Mrs. Dber here. Mr. Bar and Miss here. Right. Madam Vice President, um, can you review the blue statement and board numbers, please? Yes sir. We believe all cruisers are valuable. We will unconditionally serve, support, and inspire. Therefore,
002every cruiser will maximize their unique purpose, potential, and power to produce the results they want. Board norms. As leaders of the district, we will always strive to one, support the mission and vision of the district. Two, be prepared, informed, and ready for meetings. Three, respect one another as elected representatives of the community. be open-minded and recognize one another's strengths, the value of diverse perspectives, and mutual commitment to the mission and vision of the district. Number four, allow members to complete their thoughts and statements before others comment. Allow members to be heard and listen to all perspectives with an open mind. Five, stay focused on the task at hand and respectfully redirect each other when needed. Six, maintain confidentiality and communicate per board policies. Ensure trust and transparency in all dealings. And seven, after vote discuss,
003leave meetings united as one voice no matter the outcome. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. On to the agenda. Approval. Make it a motion to approve the agenda. So move. Second. Mrs. Gray as first. Mrs. Dber second. Any discussion? Hearing none. On to roll call, please. Mrs. Walsh. I Mrs. Gray. Hi, Mr. Ber. I stutter. I mess. Motion passes. On to public participation. Um, I have a uh something to read here real quick. All meetings of the board and board appointed committees are open to the public. For the board of education to fulfill its obligation to complete the approved agenda effectively and efficiently, a maximum of 30 minutes of public participation may be permitted at each regular board of education meeting. Each person addressing the board of education shall give his or her name, address,
004phone number, organization represented, and pertinent background information. If several people wish to speak, each person is allotted three minutes until the total time of 30 minutes is used. During that period, no person may speak twice until all who desire to speak have had the opportunity to do so. Persons desiring more time should submit the request in writing to the board of education office or email public comment cruisers.org 7 days prior to the scheduled meeting. The period of public participation may be extended by a majority vote of the board members present and voting. Please remember that law prohibits discussion of specific employees or their job performance at a public meeting. State law does allow for discussions by board members regarding employees and executive sessions of the board. Uh we have one public participant um Mrs. Elizabeth
005Singox. Do you mind coming to the podium? My name's Elizabeth Sim and I live at 4452 Dryot Road, Grove, Ohio. Um 43125. I am opposed to this body voting to approve the contracts that are listed on this agenda, specifically the transportation or bus services contract and the special education autism contract. Because the amounts needed to fund these contracts is so great, approval by the board should not be happening at a special meeting and instead should be voted on at a regular meeting only. Um, second, there is no study to the approval of either of these contracts has that has been released to the public that I am aware of or was able to find online. Um, this is a total lack of transparency by this body and the district administration. I urge this group to
006move only to move any vote on these contracts until the next regular meeting and when um uh studies to support approval of either or both is available to the public. Thank you. On to um E. Superintendent. The superintendent recommends Gilport Medicine Schools Board of Education approve the following certificated personnel items as outlined on the attachment. So move second. Have Mr. Kushner is first. Mrs. Dberger is second. Any discussion hearing? None. On to roll call please. Mrs. W. I. Mrs. Gray. Hi. Mr. Bower. Hi. Stberger. Hi. Mr. Gerson. Hi. Motion passes. Superintendent recommends Broport Madison schools board of education approve the following non-certificated personnel items as outlined on the attachment move. Second. Mrs. Dberger as first, Mrs. Gray as second. Any discussion? Hearing none. On to roll call, please. Mrs. Walsh. Hi. M. Gray. Hi. Mr.
007Bower. Hi. Mr. Dberger. Hi. Mr. K. I motion passes. The superintendent recommends that the Gport Madison schools board of education approve the special education contract with sole. Second. Have Mrs. Gray is first. Mrs. Dber second any discussion hearing? None. On to roll call, please. Mrs. Walsh. Hi. Mrs. Gray. Hi. Mr. Bower. Hi. Mrs. Dberger. Hi. Mr. K. I motion passes. The superintendent recommends Gilport Madison schools board of education approve the bus addendum as outlined in the contract extension addendum file. Second and Mrs. Gray is first, Mrs. Dberger has second. Any discussion? Yeah, I would like to say I appreciate the work of the treasurer and uh the explanation that he provided and uh I think the the services we're getting are good. Um it appears the value of this contract is good. Um the couple
008of exceptions that I take are the two-year extension versus the one-year extension. Also, as I requested, I think we should have had a transportation committee uh to review and better understand uh what was before us. And also um we we received communication marked confidential. This was not a bid process. I think perhaps um the contract of this size should be bid, but if we're simply renewing a contract um without any competitive bidding on at a loss to have um communication about such an an item would be confidential. So I have some concerns about our transparency with this. as well. I would just like to thank um the treasurer and the superintendent for meeting with me to go over this contract in detail. I appreciate them taking the time going through it. Same. I would like
009to thank the uh superintendent, treasurer, and M. um for um going through the contract and answering some questions that I had based off of some um comments and things from the community as well as working um with legal counsel on both sides with our uh current contractor um and um our staff. So, thank you. Um I would like to say that I also believe that maybe This should just be a oneyear contract um extension, not a two-year contract extension. I think we owe to our constituents um to have a committee to look at things a little deeper. I had asked for some documents. One of them was a TC documents and I did not receive those and I guess we don't have those. That's a concern to me is um the Ohio Department of Education
010told me we're required to have those. So I think we need to form a committee. Um and uh I would move that we change this contract to be a one-year contract instead of a two-year extension. Did you make a motion to move? Okay. I make a motion. I move that we change the contract to be a one-year contract in L of the two-year contract. Is there a second? Second. You have any additional things to share? Is your your reasoning for the outside of the you want just so I understand you would like to have what else different? You know, we met with the contract was available the last board meeting. You said something else. I just wanted to make sure I had it in my notes. Kathy, was there something else that you wanted as
011a reason for the one year versus the two years? Yeah, I think I would like us to have a committee to go over everything, do a data analysis on what it would cost to what the changes would be, how we would handle comp. Um, we have a survey from the um, I guess I want the rationale for why we don't want to bring transportation in house. What are the specific reasons for not bringing transportation services in house? Um, have we explored the cost and benefits of bringing transportation in house versus continuing an outsourced provider? I would also um, the quality and service concerns, you know, How does quality of service compare between the outsourced transportation site and what the potential in-house services would be? Is there a difference in time, safety uh records, responsiveness to
012issues? What measures do we have in place to ensure that outsource services provider meets our standards for reliability, safety and student care? Um how do we monitor and evaluate performance? Um do we see those reports and those performance evaluation? Why is there no T um to uh C reports? Uh would be another concern. Um have we what feedback have we received from parents and staff and community? Have we done a survey to see how what their thoughts are on bringing it inhouse as opposed to keeping it as an outsourced services? Uh how they're uh have we done a survey at all to see what their satisfaction is? Um those are just a few. I would say that a lot of these questions have been addressed. Um, my fear is the way they were addressed. Um,
013it's great to meet with the treasurer and I appreciate the input and the diligence they did, but what is missing when individual board members meet um like this is the the insights the public would ga would gather had those reviews been done in public. So, I'm just reiterate reiterating um that issue where I'm concerned. I do think there's a lot of good in the contract. I just wish we would have flushed it out more in public forum than we did. I know in our discussions um that I had um the topic was brought up and went into great detail of the reasons why we would not want to bring busing in house and um I concur with their results that they determined. I think the why and how were well discussed. I think some of
014the financial details and and benefits to the taxpayers um based on what they can see here and what we've discussed I don't think there's a lot of visibility to that. Thank you. Any other discussion? I'm curious why we're adding to um lease the facility to the contractor as how we have it now. Why is that change in there? What's the rationale behind that change? Section 22 facilities the third paragraph shall be amended to now read the district. Right? Because during negotiations, we was talking about different things during negotiations with CVS and then we came to just a dollar amount off the base cost plus um a reduction in field trips from over $19 an hour to $75 an hour so more schools can go on field trips. And so in instead of getting the contract
015and doing all kinds of addendums, we we said that two things make it easier for everybody to understand. And so that's why we did the dollar lease. Um, so this contract is going to save from the current year 350 around $350,000 from the current year contract to next year because the the base cost is frozen and there's $250,000 excuse me reduction in the cost plus another $100,000 in in cost for um field trips and other athletic event events and stuff that right now cost us $109 an hour. This contract is 75. the sitting fee goes from 68 69 down to 40 and then the next year it's only 1.75% increase. So leasing the facility impact that's that was the question was there's no the contract the contract we will lease the facility the question was
016about that that's not going to impact why did we add that is what the question was why did that was in the contract before so when we negotiated we just want to keep it in there for a dollar and that's all so there's nothing so there's no change there's no change right there's no change just a dollar so there's Well, it says it shall be amended to now read $1. Before we were talking about all kinds of stuff of 3,000 bucks a month, 5,000 bucks a month, and then when we came around just the base cost of 250,000 decrease from this year, and the field trips being reduced by $100,000. That's why we just put it down to a dollar. And just to reiterate what Adam's saying, in some of the earlier versions, there was
017a series of different credits and and and costs and leases and and things like that. And through our discussion, uh, Mr. Thomas brought up if we're trying to identify a dollar amount, let's just make it clean and simple and take it off the top rather than through a series of credits which makes accounting difficult and things like that. So, uh that's why the the lease because it is a lease, it has to have I think it has to have at least a dollar assigned to it because it's a lease, but also um the the savings were clarified and simpler for both sides and do it now. And just so I understand, and this is what I'm thinking has happened, is you came to the table negotiating these various items that were on this list, and
018when it came down to the final decision, section 22 stay the same. Yes. That's why not everything's on here. It's just an agenda. Yes. And all five of you guys, I mean, I met with Kathy, John, I met with Liy. Like, you bring it in house and it's going to cost a lot per year. I mean close to $800,000 to a million dollars per year to bring it in house. So that's why this contract is very agitation for the taxpayers into the community not to bring it in house. And addition and it also as far as the cost um with the hourly rate or if we were to bring it in house would we from what I recall when we met we wouldn't be able to match that either as far as the hourly rate.
019Correct. It's all up in the air now. This contract is simple. It's a two-year contract and again CBS for no base cost for us. They're you know and then a 1.75 the next year though. So and that's savings is a or compared to what it would have been um bringing it in house that the cost could have been that was on the low end. Yeah. 800,000 per year for the two years on low. So it could be over a million. Um there was a question about T2 reporting. Teresa, would you mind coming up and addressing that microphone? The T2C T2C. The T2C is basically what Community Bus provides to us for all of their expenses. We take that and put that into our T2 report. So, the 2T report and the T2C report are identical.
020They're the exact same things. Um, and Terry will be able to provide that for you. But I don't I can't click in my system and get their T2 report to T2C report if that makes sense. We only have the T2 report. We only have the T2 report. They would they would put in the T2C report if that makes sense. So that's what we have. I was aware that they filled out the T2C and that helped us do our T2 report. Correct. So I we can I can I can get all of that. I'll get that. But they're supposed to give to the district by July and I assume that they've been doing that. So So I have the T2C for this year, but to previous years I don't have access to that. That was handled
021by Mr. Reed. So aren't they part of our record retention? I I wouldn't know where that information would be. That information was handled by Mr. Reed. So yes, I'm assuming it's on the hard drive somewhere. But this year when Mr. Reed not here was the first year that I was responsible for that. So, well, see, those are the kind of things that I think we need to be looking at when we're making these types of decisions, not having all the concern. You've never been questioned by the Ohio Department of Education about our report. And is that included in the state? Yes, it is included explains the base cost and the T2 report. Um, you don't have to worry about the T2C being different from the T2 report because well, you can go the OD looks
022at that and get correct. Yes. It would it would be very it would be flagged if it was different. And so so far since you've been here, we've not had any issues correct with that. Correct. We've not had we're not out of compliance. Correct. Not as Miss Free stated when she came here. We are in compliance with the Ohio Department of Education. We are not out of compliance in any form or fashion with the Ohio Department of Education. Well, I don't think anybody suggested that. The reports have numbers on them that are, you know, part of the data analysis you would do when you're making important decisions. Thank you. Any other questions, discussions? Thank you. We need to vote on um her. Yep. So, we're vote right now. Right now, we're voting on Kathy motion
023to have this go to to a one-year contract and not a two-year contract. So, that's what we're voting on now. Kathy first and John second. I'll do roll call now. Mrs. Walsh, I. Mrs. Gray, no. Mr. Bower, no. Mrs. Dber, no. And Mr. Ken, no. All right. Motion fails. On to the um original motion by It was uh first by it was motioned by Mrs. Gray, seconded by Mrs. Dberger. Correct. Perfect. Okay. Um Mrs. Walsh. No. Mrs. Gray. Hi. Mr. Bower. Hi. Mrs. Dberger. Hi. And Mr. Kersner. Abstain. Motion passes. On to item five. Uh, the superintendent recommends Gport Madison Schools Board of Education approve the autism contract with new story as outlined. So move second. Have Mrs. Gray as first, Mrs. Delberger as second. Any discussion? Uh, if if I could can I have
024Mrs. to come up and just give us I mean you've seen obviously the language of the contract that's attached but have her give an overview about what this is and uh what it would mean for us. Good evening and I'm not sure how much prior knowledge you have of this um project that has been in the works prior to even my arrival um but this is a great opportunity for our community and for our kids. Um, so what we're looking at with contract, we have students who already placed outside of the district. Um, there's a big disconnect when our students leave us. Um, they're not part of our community, but they're still our students. Being able to bring them back, um, with the same expertise in services that they're getting, but having them closer to,
025you know, our schools that we could eventually scaffold that support so that we could, my vision would hopefully be to integrate them back into public schools if and when they're ready. Um, you know, these are students we're and talking about students with autism and if you know the latest statistics it's one in 31 um you know students are diagnosed with autism that is such an increase in the prevalence and it's it's hitting everyone you know across the United States but especially the school system um the needs are greater I think the the training and expertise that it takes for this kind of population is very different um and it's a it's a struggle um so this opportunity to collaborate with news story we like I said we already have students their programs. They have different
026programs in Ohio, Pennsylvania. They have been um one of the uh forefront runners as far as autism and they have even expanded into other behavior elements as far as trauma, mental health, services. So, they're really staying ahead of um you know, the needs that we're seeing here. But the problem is that our students have to be transported so far. Um you know, they're they're closer to Dublin is where one of their locations that we're talking story, but we have other locations around Franklin County. Um, that is a burden for our kids to be transported that long at special transportation. Um, and this actually, even though it may seem like it's it's an expense, it's actually a savings to the district by bringing this in house and we're not jeopardizing the services that the students are
027getting. Um, which is really the main thing. So, I'm really excited about the opportunity. I think it's very much in need in this area and for our our community and for our students. Um, so I think the expertise that New Story brings to to run this program and operate it. I think that's going to really um make a big impact for for our students. Adam, could I ask you a question, Mr. Treasure? Sure. Do you have the transportation savings on that um or approximately with us not transporting the students out of the district if we're doing a collaboration with this story that you could share? Just transportation or to you can give me transportation and to please. I know the total like right now as you can see the contract we just signed today for
028solant which is new story is 89,000 a year for one kid not including transportation this contract we're going to sign now once we get up and running it's going to happen right away is only 58,000 same services per student per student okay so do the math that's not count transportation was just the services not the transportation so right and we have of course if you go back we have some of these kids more this third or fourth contract this high and there's another contract higher a couple contracts even higher than that so bringing these kids in house number one is best for the kids it keeps them close to home keeps them in the district boundaries they're not having long bus rides but then the second thing is is it saves the taxpayers in the
029community money again and in this contract you'll see there's 36 spots we we don't fill all 36 spots but that gives us also to go to neighboring school districts which I'm not going to name them but we had discussions with a couple of them who would also like bring their kids here instead of having their kids transported an hour away and there would be savings for us there too or actually we would be like a consortium and and we would I would we would bring in excess money for the for the district and stuff like that. So this is a great thing and why we can do this is because we have the building. Nobody has the buildings. We have a building over at 4500 and and last year I think you guys saw Mike
030when he did epic there was an autism wing, a JRTC wing that's still getting you guys saw all that already. But this is just the first stage. So this is as of right now this is no money going out. This is just a contract for them. But once we you know can start working on that and and get it get it ready for the kids when they come here that's the savings that this that this community is going to see. I I have to give Mr. call your kudos because he said he didn't answer that like the treasurer because he said the most important thing is this is good for our kids and then later after we said not only is it good for our kids and not only you know we uh they not
031have to be transported clear across the city and have those stressors and things like that then he got to the fact that there's financial savings to the district. So we think we're actually really about this uh on the southeast side of Columbus. There is not much available to do this. New story has been a good partner for us with us and you see the potential uh savings and and putting things to use and having our kids here and not transporting them all over. We we think this is a phenomenal opportunity that's going to be good for our kids and families and honestly have a positive financial impact for the district as well. I would just like to comment that I know since I've been on the board for the longest that we've used what it
032used to be and um they had such high reputation and the parents in the community have really appreciated us having that service. So I'm thrilled that we'll be able to bring these kids and let them be close to home, be close to their peers. It's it's going to be a great experience for them. I just appreciate everybody's hard work on bringing this together. Same here. And I'm trying to bring up real quick. My computer's actually here. But anyways, um I know that it's 60 bucks. I think Buckeye Dust is $60 each way per student. Um $80 each way per student. The other one's 40 that one's 30. So you consider that per that's per student per day each way. So think of the transportation cost again trying to bring it up but yeah I mean
033that could be tens of thousands or more also like this is a again best with students but also attached to Mr. And I don't know the answer to this and um I'm sure there's busing that we use. Do we have to use outside companies for certain students like Tristar or other things like that which potentially it really depends on the student need. There may still be some cases that students will need special transportation but um ultimately depending on the needs of the student we could but what I'm saying we're currently transporting it's just not all yellow buses doing it. Sometimes we have to have outsourced service which is an individual student, it could be very expensive since they're not on the bus routes. It's not usually an option to have that be something that we
034can transport that contract for each of the students. Um, and sometimes you can't put them together even if they're going to the same location. So, it gets very expensive when you're looking at transportation cost alone, let alone just contract. So, will we be servicing students outside of the district through 4500 with this? I think we'll have the option to. Yes. But our students will obviously take And how is that how does that financial work? Sorry, my computer is hacking weird when I minimize the board. So I um when we talked to no story there was a consortium in Pennsylvania that a school district did this and like the guy said the treasurer said and the person said you want to be the person housing the consortium because we have the buildings but what they do
035is um again so let's say let's say um a neighbor school district has the same contract that we just signed of $89,000 to new story but we're getting charged 58. So that kid then would come here we'd be charged 58 and then we could charge that school district to negotiate be 70 $75,000. So we would get the majority of savings. That's what Richard also would save. And again, that would be better for those kids also because it' be closer than driving wherever they're going now. I mean, that's the whole thing about is it best for the kids, especially with kids with autism and and they're in, you know, all their long and then there's a big disconnect with the districts and being able to monitor students progress. Like we're always welcome, but it makes it
036harder to get to Dublin, you know, see our kids. I think I vision would be to get all of our kids back here if if that's possible. Um, and being able to partner with New, you know, whether that's a half day option or whatever that would look like and have that support whether they're pushing into the classroom and they're modeling that there's a lot of opportunity to work this seems external right now, but I think you know even internally um providing more support to get our kids back in position because you're going to have influx kids coming back, kids going and that's just the nature of you know, the scientists that we're working with, but there's a lot of potential there and this is very innovative and I think it's a great thing for again
037my my computer don't know I can help but um so I pulled it up pulled the email up on my phone because um Jimmy and Jamie and her office did a great job like transportation costs um just for three kids at at uh going to New right now the total cost as of just a 414 this year is u $8,000 that's just three kids going to That's as estimate cost as of 414 and that's just the transportation cost. That's just just transportation cost. Now again we would have some cost but then again could we do some okay you know some of our some but it'd be greatly reduced. So per our T report to transport um special needs students inside our own district cost us $1,211 a year. So if you do 60 times $170
038days, it comes out to be 2700 um 27,200 to transport a student outside of the district. So just to give you some perspective of the cost savings and transportation. So how do we avoid the conflict of this almost and I'm not against this at all. I'm just trying to understand um it's almost like hey we have open enrollment for special kids, right? Versus So in this case you have open enrollment every other case we don't. How do how do we avoid that? And actually I wanted to uh address that topic. Um so as as Mr. Angelini said as Mrs. Angel said autism numbers are exploding and our initial focus is to try to bring back the students that are already assigned out bring them in house but we also realize that those numbers are going
039to grow. The the seats that are available we we would never not serve one of our kids and have a student from our district come in. But if we have seats available and uh it's servicing and would actually provide a helpful return on investment for the district. That's why we're suggesting because we're building some capacity realizing that the numbers would grow. We could allow those open seats to be used until such time that we need them for our students rather than just have partially filled rooms. Right. And I got that where I'm coming at that. I'm coming at that from the angle of um Okay, let's take the exact same household, right? So, here's my not autistic child. They can't go to Groport. Here's my autistic child, they can't. It seems like we're creating a
040disparity for Yeah. Yeah. So, it technically would be open enrollment. So, since New is essentially operating this, that's a contract. Um, so it's it's not going to be an open enrollment situation. It's it's going to be like if they were going to that location because they're a provider, right? They're enrolling with with so like so like a neighboring district that that means their kids are just coming here right so it's no open enrollment they're not our kids if they come here new story will still be run the program and everything because the contract will be with new story not with growport it's just that the leasing that the collaboration between new story and us is how the correct it's essentially the location of new story is going to be added to so you be you
041you turn you you graduate where do you graduate from whatever district. Yes. Whatever district you would be enrolled in, that would still be your the district. So you're not So if you're coming from Pickerington for this, you're graduating from Pickerington, not correct. Correct. Awesome. Thank you so much. Any other questions? And you said that so many have total. So just to be clear with this population, so odds is broad, right? Like that's reason why it's a spectrum. So there can only be a max of six students with autism in a classroom. So obviously simple math with that um and the reason for that this specific location and provider we are talking about the media students as far as autism whether that's nonverbal behavior all the related services this just isn't any student with autism that
042can go there. going to be a very specific criteria um because we don't want that to open the floodgates of who this can serve. This is still focusing on that specific population that we are already sending there. We are literally just changing the location from where new story is and adding that here to grow. So those same students that are attending there now are essentially just able to do that in Groport. But the clientele and our focus is still going to be to that that media population of students because we want to keep our students in our district and in our and integrated and and obviously adhering to the special ed laws and ensuring faith and least restrictive environment and that's always our goal. So, but that's not every student. There are students that need
043more support and that's what new story offers some of our kids. Yeah, I do have I do have questions not just for you. said something about solely, right? So is also new story or sorry different contract that's different. Sorry. So Solent is what we applied. It's a contract we approved today. That's $89,000. This contract we have tonight is for I'll let you talk about that. Just want to make clear on that. And then how many students do we currently have in it? These these are students that are not being autistic students who are not in the classroom in the least restrictive environment. These are students that are not able to be in the least restrictive environment would be outside of the classroom. Is that what you're saying? The least restrictive environment would be the general
044education class. the typical Pierce, right? Because these students that are going to be in this building are not able to be in that would not be their least restrictive environment. They need to be in a separate facility. It would be their least restrictive environment because that's what they but it wouldn't be essentially what is classified. It would be their least restrict. And how many students do we currently have that are in need of that type of least? I can get you an exact number. We have several students who are out. You don't know the exact number? Well, because right now we're focusing on new story contract specifically and those students that we want. What was it for this past school year? This school year right now. And I don't want to misquote and speak. I
045mean there there are students that are out for autism. We have more than just new story providers. Um so I'd have to look at I mean I have a spreadsheet but um we have other providers as well that serve our students with autism. Um and we have other students who go out for behavior issues. So that would have to be all I don't know that number. So do you have a ballpark number? I mean we're here to discuss this today. It seems like that kind of implementation we should have. I would say estimate. Okay. Um let's say estimate 25 to 30. Okay. Um and during this discussion I've been hearing a lot of can be should be might be these should be definite. So, I have a little bit of concerns about that. Um, so
046basically though, this is like we're outsourcing our labor. Is that correct? No, it's what it currently is, but it's essentially the same exact service that it's not the same exact because we're going to be providing the facility. They're going to be coming to our district. Providing the building, the location, the service is the same. We have the contract already. So, it's going to be the same. the same provider. They're going to be coming into our district instead and be providing a service for us and we're going to be paying them for labor services. Is that correct? So, they're coming to us, but we're already paying for this to be external. The same thing except the benefit is that it's coming here. It's not the same because we're going to be in our facility as opposed
047to their facility. Is that correct? It's the same services. It's a different location. The same teaching services. Right. So they're basically how how will this um affect our current staff? Do we we're not wanting to hire staff to provide the service ourselves? I don't think to start a program like this that would be beneficial. Um the expertise that new story offers I think to get this started and started correctly and based on the needs of these students I don't think our staff are equipped to handle that. The reviews that I saw from the one story a new story though were that there um were concerns about their staffing, the staffing shortages, management issue, high turnover rates, burnout. How will those turnovers affect our students? I don't think that's just a new story. I think that's
048special education education in general. I don't stories in any different situation than any other district. We all struggle to get staffing. So, and we haven't had we've had conversations with them. I don't think staffing has ever come up as an issue. We've been working on this. They're well aware of um what's needed. So, I I don't anticipate that being a concern, especially with this not being started right away. Who who's going to supervise and evaluate the outsourced staff that we're going to be using? Are they going to be doing their own evaluations? Yes. What happens if uh the performance is unsatisfactory just like any other location that we have for our providers? Then we bring students back find a different place. I mean we have the ability to say we want this staff member no
049longer here. It's not our staff. No, we're not in charge of hiring staff. That's not up to us. This is like any provider we currently use. We don't like it then bring back and choose a different how how will we measure success and how We've been measuring success with the outcomes from news stories. New story specifically means new story specifically. Yeah. Special design instruction services that they get all specialized students um are issued progress reports every nine weeks just like we do for any other specialized student. We continue to monitor that conversations address concerns. It looks the same as any other provider. Okay. We talked to the union. They do they want to have their own staff in here or have we discussed that with the union and has there been a um uh survey
050done with the union staff me the membership? Miss Mrs. Walsh membership these are these are students that are already outsourced because we can't meet their needs as needs to be internally. what what this decision is about. Do we want to pay more and pay more for transportation to send kids up to Dublin to get this service or do we want to have them locally and save money for the district? All of the other things are the same. It's just our location and we're going to be able to Adam's done ROI to pay for the classes with the money that we're saving and then it will be basically after it's paid off continued savings for us. So this this isn't replacing any internal teachers. This isn't replacing anything that we're doing. This is a contracted service
051that we're able to provide locally and save the district money. All the other things as far as evaluation and rating and things like that would be the same as we were if we're paying 80 plus thousand and paying to ship them up to Dublin or another location to do that. Excuse me. Um Mr. Superintendent. So I see they have a no compete where we won't try to hire their people away. Um you don't have any concerns about the vice versa of that like them enticing of our employees away, right? We don't I don't see that. Do you see any competition there that you would be worried about? I I can't answer that. I I don't off the top of my head I would say no, but I would ask I would not anticipate that. It's
052such an area of expertise with additional training beyond what our staff have. I don't see that. Thank you. So, and you know, when we talk about this project, I really don't feel like I have enough information and I don't feel like we went out to the public. We have policies for facilities development and facilities planning and this has never really been part of the discussion. We don't have hard numbers in front of us and I just don't And and then you're talking about bringing children in from another district and that's another concern. We have responsibilities to the children in our district that are performing at a low rate and I don't know why we would be going out. But it doesn't make sense to me. Well, we wouldn't just assign students from our district to
053this if that's not their least restrictive environment. The other thing is if the board is concerned about outside students coming in to fill open seats, there would be a financial benefit to us. We don't have to do that. We could let there be open seats and and not do not get the financial benefit of doing that. I don't think any other discussion I think this should be a first read and I'm just really think we need more data for this. I do have just a quick question or a discuss or yeah question. Um the purpose of the contract today will be forced to prepare for next school year. Correct. And delaying that would that cause yeah delay wouldn't be able to start. So we looking at existing contracts we have over the years that would
05489k at the 89,000 per student versus the 50 and then we could look at it whenever we did it would be for the next school year not for the current the school year that's coming correct I just want to make sure I had that okay thank you any other discussion is there a reason we didn't follow our policies on facilities development and planning on this issue What what policy violation are you referring to? Facilities F. I think it's FA and F. I would have I think you know what those policies are. Sorry, I have to get it up. I mean, have we had community input? Have we had any surveys? Have we had um input from our staffs? Why do we need to go always go out for surveys? Um FA states. Why not? Why?
055Why do you're everything that you bring up, you say, "Have we surveyed them? Have we surveyed them? Have we surveyed them?" It's like, "We don't even know what we're doing right now. We don't even know if our parents are happy with the service they've received." If we had a survey, they'd say, "Yeah, we're happy or they're not happy or whatever." I mean, that's I'm just providing oversight, Lou. That's all that's what I was put here to do, and I'm asking the questions that I feel like I should be asking so I can provide oversight. And as superintendent, it's it's my responsibility to make recommendations that I think are in the best interest of the district and the students of the district. And it's always up to the board to state with your vote whether you
056think that's the right choice or not. And I brought up FA. FA states that educational programs influenced by the environment. The development of a quality education program district facilities that help to implement should be complimentary. It is the board's goal to provide the facilities needed for the students in the district to provide the kind of facilities that best support and economy education program and develop a long-range planning and evaluation program. The board recognizes that capital funds are limited and that it must establish programs in order to make the best use of the school building funds whenever possible. The culture as well as education needs of the community are considered. Architects employed to the board are expected to plan for specific design and economics. That's all FA says. Period. Which policy was that? FA. Thank you.
057Building program is trying to provide adequate facilities and conduct to conduct educational programs for all students residing in the district. Since I've been here, we've spent money on primary one on a bus garage and now on this. But we didn't put walls into buildings that we could have done. So, we weren't looking at them students at those schools. Instead, you want to keep pushing things that you feel are more important than they are. And that's a problem. Is is that is that referred to me? You you said you. Who's the you? Everybody. Everybody who has participated in primary one in the bus garage and now another building facility with a lot of money spent, millions of dollars and not addressing the other issue that has been right in our face for many years. I I
058think there was a facility committee that studied that and made a recommendation which is why we have a bond issue on the ballot in May to work on facilities. So if I could speak if it's okay um just a couple of things I definitely hear on points and thank you Dr. Angelini for your insight and Mr. Superintendent uh deputy superintendent and treasurer for putting this together. Um one I know that we have seen the increase of autism. I do know that And I can't see what meeting this is September 11th, 2024. We did have um from August an innovation and a cabab building presentation that talked about the buildout of that where we had also went out for a grant and use those services and we start speaking about the 4500 building in the bus
059garage. That was all a part of our ESER funding. So we could then move that from here which was already a plan. And then what we used for uh primary one, we also had several several dollars in grant funding. I don't know the actual figure. So I will yield to our treasurer for that just so that there's some clarity and context. But this is not the first time we've heard about the buildout and about the autism school because I remember that meeting and how we were all excited. I think we had some teachers here that were excited about that opportunity. Um even as yourself bringing in our students back to our district as you mentioned. So, this has been discussed about the options um that we could and I found it in our board docs.
060Um there was a video and there's a couple plans that were laid out to share like the autism school, the tech and gaming room, the JRTC corner and then some partner spaces on that design that is available on board docs from our Wednesday September 11th meeting 2024 under um innovation and accountability. So, that is forward facing for the public in addition to the entire board and we all talked about that then and looked forward to you know grants and things and I I believe this is a part of that first phase with you all presenting this to us this evening. I just kind of wanted to make sure I went back and as as Miss Walsh mentioned our oversight and brought that to everyone's forefront that those plans and even a schematic is available on
061um now specific square footage is not there for the record but there is some sort of a schematic kind of breaking down what the various spaces in that building would look like if the public or those on our board would like to go back and reference that. Um so just I I'm excited about this. I think it is a great opportunity um to bring our students back and not have them go all the way to Dublin. And I do believe from what I've heard so far um from our public, not necessarily just autism, but even with our prek that we're one of the few districts that offer those services and wish we could do more. So, I'm excited to see this and hopefully we can expand this further in addition to our prek services in
062our district. So, thank you so very much and um thank you for your time. I yield back to you, Mr. President. Thank you. Any other discussion? Roll call, please. Mrs. Walsh. No. Mrs. Gray. I. Mr. Bower. Hi. Mrs. Dberger. Hi. And Mr. Kerson. I. Motion passes. On to board member comments andor special announcements and other business items. I I had a question. Um just looking for clarification. Um we were we were looking for uh independent um an independent investigation. Um we had selected a person uh and then there was update from the superintendent that we were going to see three options from Graden. Is it now? I always think of sorry. Um and so could you tell us what what happened with that process? We landed where we landed. Um there were three names given
063to us from Bricker. I I think um one of the names was the person previously selected. One of the names was a person who uh was a superintendent in Delaware County when I was also a superintendent up there. The third person uh is an an attorney. Um and uh those names were given to Mr. Bower. Actually, Mr. Mr. Bower and Adam Miller. Um I excuse myself from that process. And so Mr. Bower, if you want to take there. Absolutely. And so out of those three, uh the third one, um we wanted to make sure that there was no ties. Um so we had a true external investigation. Okay. Great. Thank you. Um, so and in regard to Adam Miller, um, I'm I'm really disturbed and concerned that he sent me a letter to my name
064addressing me in in what appeared to be trying to intimidate me by sending me registered mail and accusing me of furpa violations in a matter that we all unanimously voted on. Further, I the Ohio Department of Education, the FERA, when they got and I told them what we did and when they got done laughing, they sent me a highlighted email. And basically the standard is that that if it gets down to five to 10 students, if you with no knowledge of the incident can narrow it down to five to 10 students or more, you are good. I got this intimidating letter that because the letter H was used and an age was given that there was some concerns refer um if that was the case that should have been addressed to the entire board. But
065for him to send that to me as an individual first of all and then call it confidential. Adam Miller doesn't work for me and I don't pay him. So he doesn't have confidentiality with me. He's he's the board attorney. So I really took it personal that he came at me personally. So I just want to share that um I I we were careful. We didn't do anything wrong. You can ask the the Department of Education um using a letter for a person is very common. Um the name was honestly the age was fictitious. He also accused me of naming the school which I never did. So um I have some real concerns there. I just wanted to share that with you. Um, also I have no issues with the investigator. Don't know. I'm glad we
066I really appreciate everybody doing this. The um the descriptor of the investigation was something to the effect of investigating building administrators. And so I have uh compiled, we don't have to do anything here today, but I have I have created a motion uh to to create a scope of work for this this investigation. And I would um I would just like to make the motion that we provide this to the investigator as a draft and the investigator can do what they wish with it. Uh update it, but basically give us a little better framework of what they'll be doing. Um since we did call for an independent investigation, I'll read um I'll read my motion and appreciate your feedback, impact um consideration, etc. I move to define the scope of work of the investigation outlined
067in the GM fee agreement from attorney Corey and Marty of Marty Law Offices LLC to include the investigation of a sexual harassment complaint in the district's response within the FAR framework of student safety security and title X requirements as a draft. The title uh nine, I'm sorry, it's a title X. Title nine addresses various forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and other forms of violence, legal standards. The investigator investigation must adhere to due process protections, including the presumption of innocence, the fair the right of fair process, and the right to present evidence and witnesses. The investigation process will include an initial report. A report of sexual harassment must be filed either by the complainant or by the title X coordinator. The investigation investigator shall work to determine that this report
068was complete and accurate and submitted correctly. A notice to party both the complainant and the respondents must be notified of the investigation including the details of the allegation, their right to advisors in the process for resolving the complaint. Again, these are ideas. I'm sure that the attorney will have clarifications um and may wish to change some of these for our own protection. Gathering information. The investigator will gather evidence include statements from the complainant, respondent, and witness as well as other relevant documents and information. Interviews. The investigator will conduct interviews with all parties involved with respect to their privacy and with the involvement and cooperation of the parents and with great care to ensure the involved students are treated with care and sensitivity. Review of evidence. The investigator will review all evidence gathered including physical evidence,
069witness statements, and other relevant documents and recommend additional documentation if such documentation is not in compliance or is incomplete. Findings and determination. The investigator will make findings based on the evidence and determine whether the respondent violated the title X regulations. Decision maker. The board will review the investigator's finding and determine the appropriate course of action which may include disciplinary measures. Outcome and appeals. The outcome of the investigation will be provided to the board of education. The board reserves the right to review the investigative results and request further clarification or recommended actions. Key considerations. Confidentiality. The school district must maintain confidentiality during the investigation while also providing the necessary information to all parties. Impartiality. The investigator and school board must remain impartial and abort any bias. Due process. The investigation must adhere to due process protections
070ensuring a fair and impartial process for all parties. Uh documentation. All aspects of the in investigation must be thor thoroughly documented including the steps taken the evidence gathered and the f findings timeliness. The investigation must be completed within a reasonable time frame remedies. If a violation is found, the school district will take approximate action to remedy harm caused by the sexual harassment which may include disciplinary measures, training or other restorative measures. I I would just like to submit that as a motion. Um and just just so that we have something um more than one sentence that says we'll investigate a student matter and administrators the school administrators or building administrators and also to clarify you know kind of what we're getting for our $275. Thank you. Second I have concerns that special meeting. Um, I
071understand that we had um special announcements or and or other business on the agenda. So, this is other business. I know we've made exceptions before. Um, and I am simply making this motion that we present this as a rough draft for input back from an investigator that we've already hired and we've already um we've already outlined to a point what it is we're getting. So, I think this is pretty much administrative and in function. So, this is just a first read. You're saying Say that again, please. This is just a first read. The motion doesn't That would be fine if we have for that. We're not holding up a process. The motion doesn't read as such though. So if I'm voting what this is does not read as a first read. So that was the
072question I had. When you have right at that do we have time for that Mr. Superintendent? So so Mr. Superintendent has recused himself. Okay. Absolutely. Um this week it's it's starting. investigation and then if that's the case then if we're going to provide a scope of work then I would have liked to have if that was the plan um having within 48 hours would have been great for the meeting and then if I had anything to add I could have done the same as well but so this is I I thank you for presenting and sharing this with us this evening but I would have liked to have had more time to then also have input if this is what you're asking the board to concur with right and I would I would agree with
073that I just received this letter and I'm just told this was beginning today. So, but we knew we voted on the investigator. I guess I'm just saying if that was the plan to ever do the scope, we knew that we were looking at the independent investigation a month or so ago. So, I just would like that more time. That's just like you guys. I was expecting the resolution. The only reason I brought this forward is because we didn't really get a scope. I was really surprised by the letter and it was just basically one sentence and 275 an hour and that kind of thing. So, I was really surprised by what was provided and doesn't provide much depth. So, and as to the timeline, I do believe that um they're trying uh this investigator is
074trying to have it um completed by the June board meeting so that we can have it um for discussion. Okay. So, you I just want to know that people that isn't just internal shuffling of papers that this is really investigated. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's why it took time to make sure that there was no um ties with this investigator that this is a true external investigation. Right. Okay. So again, I would just like it spelled out that there will be interviews that will be thorough, etc. So if that if um I could I know if I I would like to make a motion that this will be the first read and then when we come back in May, we can vote on the final scope that fits the case. I understand, but I mean
075I don't have I if not then I don't know if that's going to delay delay is I guess one of well well just because with the what's here it says like uh um there's a couple things that I would want to probably clearly define if we're going to go in this much detail as far as what we're requesting of them and based off the letter and I apologize if there's been something sent. I've had deaths in my family and folks sick. So, I've not checked anything else unless it was specifically brought to my attention. But it was talking about the timeliness. Um, I would have liked to have identified a time frame if that's the case. It says reasonable. What's reasonable? So, like little things like that. If we're going to be like from my
076background, if we're going to put something like this out, we should be very specific. So, that's why I was like to make a motion if someone was in second grade, it's not no big deal, that this is a first readum at least. This doesn't it votes don't go the other way. I at least want to ask for a first read so I can have time and add things to it with this just now being presented today. Can I suggest that maybe we make a motion to postpone it to the May 13th meeting and then that will give everybody an opportunity to make their notes on it and it would basically be a first read and we're and we're talking we're talking adding three weeks to the timing of the investigation potentially. Correct. So I I
077guess that would be my question is is the board okay with then if this might delay the process? I'd ra I' I'd personally much rather feel better that we know that we're getting the depth and breadth in a proper investigation than worry about uh having it done two or three weeks early. And I understand what you're saying, Latoya, but I think in an investigation, um, it's hard for I don't think it would be fair to us to try to nail them down on a even a June even a June one deadline today because, um, often times you just don't know where the where the questions and investigations will take you by way of the timeline. So, um, I I will amend my motion to my motion, excuse me, uh, to make this a first read.
078or actually not even making a motion. We'll just make this a first grade. Yeah. So, I withdraw my motion. Thank you. All right. Any other comments? Uh, special announcements or business. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Celebration of cultures next week, Tuesday night, can be a big night at the high school. I It's been all over social media, but I just throw it out there. What What time is it? Sorry. I think it's 5:30. Double check. I got it right here. Hold on. I got it right. I just had it up. And what I I can look it up. It's Is it 5:30? Okay. Thank you. And shout out 5:30 to 7:30. And shout out to our com team for doing such a great job and ensuring that um the community is aware.
079This is one of our larger events um one of our staples which a lot of people just love it. So, thank you to all those that are working hard um on this to make sure that we cate [Music] I don't know. It's not me. Mine's off. Since I won't be here for the next meeting, um I will report on the student advisor for the elementary. Thank you. Any other comments? All right. I have a motion to adjourn by Mr. Kushner, seconded by Mrs. Walsh. R2 call, please. M. Walsh. Hi. Mr. Mrs. Gray. Hi. Mr. Bower. Hi. Mrs. Dberger. Hi. Mr. No. All right. It is 8:15. We are attorney.