001Good evening. I'd like to call the April 22nd, 2026 regular board meeting to order. We have seven board members present. I would entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. That brings us to item 3A program highlight, Timmerman Elementary. Yep, we have our friends from Timmerman with uh Miss Kerzen tonight. Thank you. My name is Hayden Trujillo and I have Riley Hendryx here with me as well as Miss Lori Kerzen. Today we are joined by some members, five members, of our 21-member student council. This is our fourth year of having a council at Timmerman. Our goal is to jump-start our intermediate students to prepare them for leadership roles in their future. Today our student council is excited to highlight
002the amazing things happening at Timmerman Elementary. We have had a busy year filled with leadership, learning, and a lot of school spirit. We want to give you a look into our school culture from the traditions we value to the ways we connect with our families and the Emporia community. At Timmerman we believe in building connections across all grade levels. One of our favorite traditions is our cross-age buddy classrooms where older students mentor younger ones. We also love our annual events like the egg drop and the famous Cans and Museum. Whether we're caroling cheering on the first graders Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or celebrating at our CKH monthly assemblies, there's always something to look forward to. We know our school is great because of our hard-working staff. So it's nice to see efforts being made to
003keep our morale high. This year support has included kindness cards, sneaky Santa, and sunshine bags for when a colleague is going through a tough time. Leadership starts early at our school. Our student council stays busy managing community projects and teaching character education lessons in primary classrooms. We even had a pie in the face reward this year to celebrate our school's contributions to the KVOE food drive which was a huge hit with everyone. You'll also see Timmerman students serving as greeters every morning and hear them saying the good morning daily announcements. Supporting Emporia is a big part of being a Timmerman Bulldog. We've participated in the KVOE food drive, neighborhood caroling, and the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. We also focus on giving back through the Red Cross blood drive and the Kansas Heart Challenge.
004Plus, we love our High Five Fridays when athletes from EHS and ESU come to visit us. We love opening our doors to our families. In October we hosted our grandparent and special guest day with math games and ice cream treats. Our Bulldog Gala in January featured a silent auction and student writing displays. And we are looking forward to our Nacho Average Afternoon this Friday to celebrate different cultures. We hope you enjoy this look into our school year. Being a part of Timmerman means being a part of a family that cares about our community and each other. Thank you for your time and for supporting our school. Does the board have any questions for us? Thank you for that great presentation. Uh one question I have is what's your favorite event that you do? Um I
005like field day. I like going outside and playing all the games. My favorite is probably the pie in the face event. Well, one of my favorite activities that we do at school is probably the KVOE food drive. And as you noticed and as you could hear this evening, we have quite the leadership within our building um to help welcome new families to our school. Um also just with all the community events, just really that true home and home feeling. And again, we thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Okay. Uh that's going to bring us to item 3B, public comments. Casey, do we have any public comments? Okay. We do not have any public comments tonight. Thank you. Uh that's going to bring us to the consent agenda. The items listed on the consent
006agenda are those that for which the board has received information in advance and have been thoroughly reviewed. Approval of the items may be made by a single motion, second, and majority vote with no separate discussion of any item listed. Should a member of the board desire to discuss any item at their request, it will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. I move to approve the consent agenda. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes, 7-0. It's going to bring us to item 6A, board reports. The Tech College Board of Trustees met on last Monday, April 13th. We got a program highlight from the business technology program and they really did a good job of telling us how successful successful their two-for-two program is where students complete two years
007at the Tech College and then are able to complete their additional two years to earn a four-year degree at like gosh, Pitt State, ESU, K-State. Um we're always working to expand that. So that was a nice highlight. Talked about the budget again, which is always, you know, a tough thing to talk about especially with the Tech Colleges I think I might have mentioned last month losing their excellent CTE funding from the state. So that's a significant I think it's like 1.6 million for just our Tech College alone. Yep. Hello, the Emporia Recreation Commission met this past Monday at 5:30 and just we did our regular business but just some information that might be worth knowing. We had a very generous gift from a community business fairly generous gift a very large amount of money. It
008was just kind of spontaneously donated us. We were able to actually buy some maintenance related equipment with it actually so it was really kind of a cool to see that come together. There's some discussions with the city about the Jones Aquatic Center and keeping it open a little bit longer than we normally do. So I think we're probably going to end up going that route. So that way we're not in a position where we have these really hot days and empty pool you know, kind of of course it's Kansas weather contingent. So you know, we never know if it's going to be winter or actual summer then. Um We were looking at phone and internet if we wanted to go with a different provider. There was some discussion with the city about facility use committee.
009I think kind of some of the things we worked on here and just making sure that's uniform. And then our next regular meeting is going to be the 18th of May at 5:30 p.m. Oh and there was one other thing I wanted to bring up. Our adult program director gave a really good and informative presentation about all the adult related activities. Think of it like adult field trips and stuff. You don't just have to be a retiree for it but a lot of older Emporians take advantage of it. Things like trips to Kansas City's to a winery or a sports game or a broad or a play at the Kauffman or something. I think there was even discussion about an upcoming trip to see a baseball team called the Savannah Bananas. I think I've seen
010some some clips of them on TikTok and then I heard that there and I was like, "Whoa, I want to go to Savannah Bananas." So just let people know that those activities are there. There's some really neat stuff for the community and especially for our retirees. Earlier this month I had the privilege to attend NSBA, National School Board Association conference. Interestingly enough, a lot of the common themes that we've seen in other places state both statewide or also national including declining enrollment and it's happening in a lot of places. There were talk about right sizing or things being done with in schools. So there in some oftentimes how we can repurpose the assets that we have as we have fewer students but yet we have buildings and programs that we want to make sure we
011continue. Another thing was AI and that came up in a couple different presentations but working smarter with artificial intelligence. You know, sometimes we hear only the negative things which obviously we got to be very careful about and the ethical concerns that go with that but then how it's also being used very positively in many cases. One of the quotes from that present one of the presentations was we are responsible not the tool and so how we use it is important and making sure that we keep on top of that. Another area was talking about that had the theme of meeting students where they are. For most of the children who are underperforming it has less to do with their ability and more to do with their environment. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
012Um Another comment was learn to meet them where they are. That means caring about what they care about and making being able to make that connection. Um And the also one of the phrases there was that talent is equally dis- distributed but access may not be and so I think that's something to make sure we keep in keep track of there. Um Another phrase they used was the right seed can be planted in the wrong soil and obviously it's not going to bear fruit if that might be the case. Um and having high expectations can rewrite the narrative for underserved students. So important. What do we expect from them as well as how do we connect them? What do we provide for them? Um That also went into content versus connection, information versus people. Um
013and the speaker talked about how schools don't have a content issue so much as they have more of a connection issue. Um and kind of an interesting, you know, are we connecting with our students and their families? Um and then kind of boiled down to that school boards are do fulfill a vital role for local governance. School boards are the last common ground in our democracy and you know, we sometimes forget that we're we're the closest to the people that we serve unlike a lot of other government entities at state and regional levels and so forth. So it was a great conference. Always a lot of good content and I think it's always kind of you realize that the challenges that we're facing are not uncommon but all across the area in the country. So
014I appreciate going. The wellness committee just completed a meeting about an hour ago. Um It has been very well received this year. About 300 staff and faculty participated which is about the same number as the last couple of years and we hope to find [clears throat] ways to continue to grow that participation. The program deadline for this year to turn in all of the points is April 30th which is I believe a week from tomorrow. That will allow plenty of time for incentives and prizes to be passed out prior to the end of the school year. Uh started looking at uh perhaps next year and things that can make the program better and make the program grow. Back to school convocation, you know, is such a busy time with everyone trying to think, "Okay, do
015I need to be in my classroom? Do I have lesson plans? Do I you know, there's so much information that um we plan to have information available on that day but would really like to do the hard launch for the program at say five or 10 minutes in each building during that first PTLD on Friday, September 4th and that would give the new faculty time to kind of adjust and be ready to jump in into the program. Um Great program. Deals with emotional, physical well-being, building relationships with peers. A very worthwhile program and people really seem to appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Uh that's going to bring us to item 6B, resolution to close Logan Avenue Elementary School. Yeah, we've had we've had our our public hearing and this is the actual follow-up to that
016and the vote that we have been uh sharing as far as schedule go and how this would would would occur with regard to the decision. Um I won't go I I did include the presentation that was given uh during the public hearing. I did not plan on going through it again this evening. We included the resolution that's required um in order to close the school if that's what you choose to do. Also proof of publication um in the paper. So all the legal requirements up to this point have been met. And again, just as a reminder, Um, discussing closing Logan Avenue Elementary School due to a variety of factors, primarily declining enrollment in in the school, uh, low enrollment in the school, declining enrollment across the district which has had a which has had a
017a big impact on our our finances. And so, we're trying to become more efficient so that we can be fiscally, uh, stable moving into the future. Um, and then again, just to remind everyone that we've identified uh, where students are going to go uh, if the school is closed, those north of South Avenue would go to William Allen White, those south of South Avenue go to Riverside, and that we would plan to, uh, provide transportation as needed, uh, as an option for students to those two schools. Um, I feel like I'm leaving one thing out, but yeah, I you know, we have all the information and um, our recommendation is based on our declining enrollment and trying to impact as few students as possible and to uh, get our sales uh, our expenditures aligned with
018our revenues that, uh, you that we would close Logan Avenue Elementary School not but not until 2027-2028. So, the resolution says at at the close of the 2026-2027 school year. And again, that is to ensure that we twofold, have opportunity to celebrate the school and folks that that have gone there and made it special, and then two, to have plenty of opportunity to uh, do transitional activities with students and families so that they feel as comfortable as we can possibly get them in moving to their new schools. Any questions, comments? I I just will say that none of this has been easy or pleasant for anyone. Um, I you know, was part of the cost containment committee and uh, it was very clear from the beginning that that was what the group was recommending. Um,
019I appreciate the work that all those people put in there. Uh, no, but no matter what we vote tonight, it is not a reflection of what is happening in that building. No one doubts the relationships that are being built, the community they're serving. It's it's a wonderful place, and none of this feels good. Um, but we were all voted in here to do really hard things. We've done it during COVID, and I sure got way more hate mail about that than anything related to this. Um, but just none of this has been easy, but none of it has ever been about a lack of anything good happening at Logan Avenue. I wanted to Well, thank you, Leslie, for sharing that because it's it's definitely how I feel as well. Um, about a month ago, uh,
020I received an email from a staff member at Logan, and she said, "You need to come to our school. You need to walk in the doors, and you need to see how special this building is." And so, we did. I know I did with Barb. I know a few other board members went another week, and it's so clear to see the love and the passion and the excitement that goes into that building. Like, I saw it, and I just want to acknowledge that it is a real what what how amazing that school has been, and it's definitely because they've had a great leader, but it's because they've had great staff, great teachers, and great families as well, and I I recognize that as well. This is such a hard decision. Um, and and I also
021sat on the cost containment committee, and there's just no way to save this much money without having to make a really hard decision like the one that we have to make tonight. And, you know, Emporia's hurting. You know, when we got the news about Michelin laying off another 100 individual employees, man, we need some we need some good news in this community. So, I I hate that the decision, however it goes tonight, is just going to continue to add some of the the stress and difficult times in our community. So, I just need everyone to know that this is a really hard decision for me, and I'm sure for all of us up here. Thanks, Jamie. Uh, as the third board member that was on the cost containment committee, I'll share a few of my
022thoughts. Um, but first I want to say that one of my favorite, um, activities that we get to do as board members is on the first day of school, we get to go around to all of the buildings and greet the students as they come in. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Logan, um, and that was so fun to be there for their first day of school. All the buildings are great on the first day, um, but I do remember having a really great time at Logan and just seeing how excited everyone was to return to school there, um, and how great all of the families were that were walking up, and the the staff were so excited to see everybody, and I would echo what Leslie and Jamie have
023said is that this is not about anyone or any particular building, but rather a an unfortunate circumstance that we are finding ourselves in. Um, and what I would would like to take the time what's really been like weighing on me over the last few weeks and months and as we've gone through cost containment is that although it feels like it right now, Emporia is unfortunately not alone in the situation that we are facing. Uh, I know that I spend a lot of time reading about education and what's happening in other places, and it's important to me to just bring up some things that I think we all know, um, but for those who may be listening at home or are are just now kind of invested in this conversation is that over the last year,
024the the 2025 school year, 187 school districts in Kansas faced declining enrollment. So, when we talk about low enrollment numbers, it's not low enrollment numbers at Logan. It's a challenge that we're facing across the state. Um, and Dr. McGeehee, please correct me if I'm wrong, um, that we're spending over $5 million to cover special education funding from what the state is not doing, um, and I I think that there is a a very real conversation to be had there about what our budget could look like if the state were fully funding special education. Um, and that the other piece of this is that schools are reflective of the communities that they serve. On the positive side of that, that is why I love are the neighborhoods that our schools serve, and I think that's something
025that makes Emporia schools really special is that each of our buildings are really unique because they're a reflection of the neighborhoods that they're in. But what that also means is like what Jamie said is we're facing difficult times as a community, our school district can be a reflection of that as well and the challenges that we're we are facing, and that's not to pass off responsibility that we as a board have because we are elected to make hard decisions, but our district does not exist in a vacuum, and we have to to deal with the cards that we are dealt as a whole community. Um, and so, the other thing I would say is that I think a lot of the conversation has been that if if only there was less transfers out of the
026Logan neighborhood, that that would have solved the problem. But the reality is is that our district, if you imagine as one large bank account, reconfiguring transfers would not have made there be more money in that account, um, or or more students here, and I think that that's something that we really have to think about moving forward. But I would also like to extend a thank you to the teachers in Logan and for all the hard work that you have done. Thank you all for the comments that you made, and I really would like to thank the cost containment team, members of the board, and all the staff who have participated in in this hard work, and as y'all know, a lot of it happened before I arrived on the scene. Um, I I sincerely hope
027that if Logan is closed, we do actually save the $1.4 million that it's estimated that, uh, we are to save, and that that money doesn't get gobbled up elsewhere. Um, I've had a couple of people contact me just out of the blue from Lawrence this week saying things like, "You know, we closed a school, uh, they moved other technologies into it, and now we're being asked for several million dollars to turn it back into a school." So, we're going to have to if if we do take this route, we're going to have to be extremely proactive and careful, um, of the steps that we take. I just want to echo what's been said. Um, anytime you go through something like this, it's painful as we've all experienced. Um, but I think we also have to
028um, you know, give a lot of respect to the cost containment team and the staff. Um, and yeah, it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction. I mean, the recommendation it was after several months of study and continued um, looking at various situations, and um, as has been said, it is no reflection on the quality of the school. We're we've all been very proud of what takes place there, and I think you can see that whenever you're in the doors of that building that there's a lot of good things happening there. So, uh, we wish we could change it, but I don't know, we haven't found the magic wand yet quite to do that. So, um, but I do appreciate all the effort that's went in to get us to this point to look at it and and
029deal with this situation as it is. So, I >> [clears throat] >> don't want to say I echo everything you all said, but I think you all spoke very eloquently about everything. And Barb in particular, I think it's on us as the board and the governance body to make sure that, you know, if we're doing this, that just like you said, we're actually saving those expenses and they're not creeping up somewhere else cuz it's very easy for that to happen without noticing it. Kind of like a frog boiling in in water. Um you know, Lillian talked about being at Logan for a day in which you greet the students as they come in on the first day of school. I think that was actually where I was last time we did that was Logan and
030I remember um pulling up cuz I don't have children so I don't get to go to the schools quite as much as some of my other members do and just the atmosphere that was there. They had like little things in the ground like decorations. They were like bubbles spinning up, you know, the principal was there with his giant mug of coffee. And all of the teachers were so happy and ecstatic and I just remember thinking about all the schools I went to as a kid and I was a military brat. My dad was lieutenant colonel when he left the army. So I went to a lot of schools. I can't remember one where the first day of school was ever made to feel comfortable like that cuz I definitely think when I was five or
031six I was that kid who was melting down and holding the car on the way into the building and we really didn't have a lot of that that day because it really made the kids feel comfortable to be there. I wish I had had something like that growing up. Um I want to thank the crisis containment team, all the people who sent us letters and correspondence, the good and the bad. Um and also thank all of the the community members who came and actually gave public comment to the meeting. You know, one of the things I've learned on the board now especially having come in with Leslie right before COVID and a bunch of other stuff is that generally speaking we don't have public comment in public governing bodies. When we get public comment it's
032because something's happened that's made people angry, made them animated or it's what I call a hot topic, right? A hot button social cultural issue. So you know, it's actually nice when when the community comes in here and tells us their thoughts cuz we have a form for them to do that and it's not typically taken advantage of. And so I really was very thankful that people took their time out of the day to come and let us know what they thought. Um at the same time I feel like I should apologize to them because I am going to vote to close Logan Avenue. I feel like the alternative for us especially after the news with what happened with Michelin is that you either you keep spending like you're spending, you don't change your expenses. No
033household would do that though, right? Or you run a deficit. Um and then you go further in the hole and we just kick the can down the road to another board. I mean it's impossible to look at our population decline and our economic decline and not realize that this is fiscally needed and I think the only other option for us is we cut more programs which means we end up cutting more staff which means we fire more people in a community where a lot of people have already gotten fired. Um there was one gentleman, I think a staff member at Logan, I think he was a speech pathologist maybe, who came and spoke during the first meeting with public comment and talked about how you know take my job if you have to. Leave these
034kids there and I can't do that. I don't you know, we've already constrained our budget and some people may, hopefully, may not um lose their jobs and I'm not going to vote for more of that. Um I you know, I will also say that you know, during the previous meeting I gave the city and county leadership some heat. Um still stand by that but I will say that um city manager Trey Cocking reached out to me. We had lunch after that and he just wanted to talk to me and educate me about the positive things the city is doing, right? That sort of work you don't see a governing body do but is happening. And I do have faith that our community leaders are trying, right? Um same with the county commission. I spoke to
035one of the commissioners during a groundbreaking a few weeks ago and I know that they're trying but as a community this really needs to be the number one focus for our economic leaders because I feel like we have put all our eggs in one basket for years and we've had different boards and county commissions kick things down the road and that's part of why we got here. Some of it we couldn't control. Some of what some of it we could. Um you know, I've been here a long time like Leslie and I'd say this is probably the hardest thing that we've had to deal with in almost two terms on here and so I just want everyone who's a part of the Logan community to know that we do we do love and value you
036and I'm sorry this is happening to you. And I I do want to say one more thing. It was my COVID PTSD speaking. I never received hate mail regarding Logan. Every email I received was heartfelt and respectful and pretty much begging us to not do this. So I'm sorry that I misspoke. I move to approve resolution 2026-7 to close Logan Avenue Elementary School effective for the 2027-28 school year as recommended. And I will remorsefully second it. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 6 to 1. Thank you. That brings us to item 7A supporting new teachers instructional coaching. I think uh Yep. That's okay. Obviously Dr. Houg is coming up with with the group to help present this item. Um we were not excited when we saw the order for
037the agenda this evening. Um but I'm actually as I think about it this is the perfect segue to talk about what is happening within USD 253. The instructional coaches, I have a whole plethora of them behind me who are going to share with you great things that are happening across all of our schools. We've heard wonderful things about what's happening at Logan Elementary as well as Timmerman at the beginning. Last year you heard in April an introduction to what the coaches do. It was at that time that the decision was made to move to have one at each building. So this they're going to talk more about the impact of it. There is a lot of them. They know they're on a time crunch. We're not going to try really hard to stick within the
03810 minutes. Um but we really do want you to know what is happening because they have an impact with every single student within our district. So I'm turning it over cuz they do the work. Good evening. Um I'd like to take a moment to connect some names to some faces first of all. So first I'm going to introduce our elementary coaches. So we have Lauren Ayers. She is at Village. Erica Fianu at Walnut. My name is Megan Powers and I'm at Riverside. We have Jessica Callison William Allen White. Hayden Trujillo at Timmerman and Emily Joplin is at senior night tonight. So and she's at Logan Avenue. At the middle school we have Madison Kraus. Tara Drennan. Stephanie Loganbill. Sorry I'm saying it probably right and wrong. Uh Caitlin Dust. And then our special education coaches
039are Marnie Downing. Tom Ross. Brooke Boutier. Boutillier. Boutillier. I knew I was going to do it. All right. Like Paula said tonight we're going to talk to you a little bit about of our impact in the classroom. So instructional coaches have a direct impact on the instructional practices in the classroom which then correlates and affects the student learning. So we're just going to give you a quick overview of some of the things that we do tonight. I have my cards totally prepared for tonight and I wasn't expecting I didn't think about the vote right before me talking. >> [laughter] >> It's okay and I I appreciate everything you guys said. It made me super emotional and so I'm going to let Tara speak for me cuz I'm not sure that I can speak clearly but
040thank you for everything you guys I will speak on behalf of the elementary coaches and the secondary coaches on my slide if we can take it to There we go. Um and I can talk about the similarities and differences having been a coach both at elementary and secondary and there was actually a time where Lauren and I coached together at the district level and went out to many schools. So um I can talk to you a little bit about the similarities and differences when it comes to coaching first and second year teachers. And that is what our slide is about. Um With first year teachers and you heard a little bit of this last year when we presented. So this slide will be a little bit repetitive from last year but we have our first
041year teachers get four full days of training with us. Um With the elementary does theirs I think by grade level and secondary we just do sometimes the high school middle school does them together. I think next year we're going to do them separately. Um our topics that are similar are with first year teachers are always around classroom management, engagement strategies and lesson planning. Those are the similarities in what we do both at the elementary and secondary level with coaching. Our new teachers to the district to the district but not to teaching can participate if they want to. Sometimes they choose to because our initiatives have been different than where they were at. So they will choose to come to some of those and they are invited. Um with the mentoring new teachers we So teachers
042are assigned if they're on their initial license they are assigned a mentor teacher um to mentor them but often times our teachers come to us on a different alternative path to their career and then when they don't have initial license then it is our job to mentor those teachers and sometimes they can be on that alternative license for multiple years. And so we will mentor them as a first year teacher until they hit that initial license point and then they will have a classroom teacher that mentors them. As well as um mentees and mentors will both come to us for help within their process of mentoring whether it's the mentee or the mentor. Um They do first year teachers have the chance to observe in at at least two teachers classrooms and often times it's
043more than that but they get at least two chances to observe two teachers. And then we as ICs go in and observe and give feedback to teachers if they're a first year teacher it's at least twice a month. And if they're a second year teacher they will get two full days of training with us versus the four and the topics are usually both at secondary and elementary more driven towards what they need at that point. Um mentors that's the same the mentoring process is the same like I said sometimes they have to be mentored for multiple years if they're on different licensure. Um we also they get the chance to observe one teacher a year and get feedback with the coach. Often times like at the middle school this year we were able to get
044them into more than that. And then we observe them at least once a month. The difference is really between what the elementary coaches do versus the secondary coaches is in the area of topics. Um at the at the secondary level where we do a lot more with like avid and SIOP and and things like that even though SIOP is is across both we still do um more with avid than they do. And a lot of the stuff that's listed there that elementary does like with the data and um curriculum guides and such we still do that at the secondary level but it's more on a team level. Um and also we encourage our teachers to record themselves like mentor teachers to record themselves so their mentees can watch instead of trying to find coverage to
045make sure everybody gets covered to go watch somebody. So that's pretty much new teacher training in a nutshell. Yeah for for the elementary area it it's a lot more of kind of looking at that difference of whole group instruction versus intervention and small group instruction and part of that data analysis collection is is looking at what the data is telling us so that we know what's driving our instruction especially during that intervention time and it is it is not easy to step in and understand how to how to do that and so that's something that we added for the teachers based on feedback this year too. And so with that we give a lot of professional development to our staff and so K12 we integrated SIOP it was a district initiative a couple of years
046ago before I was a part of the district but the last two years we've taken time to retrain our staff in that sheltered instruction observation protocol. And so going forward that training will be divided into shorter sessions that instructional coaches will give to these new teachers in that new teacher training. Uh we also are adopting the SIOP components into our district lesson plan model that coaches will work with new staff to ensure that they understand how to use that within their classrooms. Where it's a little different in the secondary level we really dive into avid that is the advancement via individual determination. That's for seventh through 12th grade students we are looking at integrating it into elementary schools in the future but teachers get skills that they need to succeed in rigorous classes college and
047careers they help to teach students how to be prepared for that build strong academic habits and we hope with that PD that we give it provides the teachers with tools that can help them make instruction more effective and more consistent throughout our seventh through 12th grade. Cornell notes is kind of an example that we start teaching them in sixth grade that they use all throughout the rest of high school and it just helps provide that ongoing professional development for staff. Thank you for letting me come up here. Um special education special education supports early career teachers we long term subs and other staff stepping into complex roles. You can see the whole list of ways the state allows uh people to special education. Our work complements the support these guys do. We're not replacing them
048we kind of work alongside they have a lot of stuff that starts off our teachers we work more on some of the special ed specific type topics. A lot of time they're building level or general stuff. These guys always go in and meet with our new teachers as well. Um We're focused on IEP implementation progress monitoring behavior supports compliance and the connection with IEP writers for some of our teachers that aren't ready because of their license to start writing IEPs. We're kind of that bridge to help with that what's going on in the classroom to what they need to write compliant IEPs. Together that support helps staff manage day to day challenges obviously in the special ed setting lots of different learners going on at the same time sometimes also behavior needs as well. Um
049We help them build confidence and grow more independent over time eventually even some of the veteran teachers still reach out but a lot of time by third fourth year they've answered a lot of those questions now on their own and that's our hope they don't need to come to us for every single thing but those special situations we're still a lot of come support. Uh it also helps strengthen retention. Special ed teachers are hard to find so we want to keep them having have a good experience. And they're more likely to stay they feel supported so that's one of the other reasons why we're a district support that we come in to provide for them. I'm much taller than this. I guess you're not. Speak for yourself. Okay. >> [laughter] >> We'll lower it again.
050Um I just wanted to say that the mentoring and the Jim Knight coaching cycles this past fall Hayden and I and Stephanie and Emily got to attend a training and it was the Jim Knight coaching training and it was really impactful for us. Um we have a lot that we want to talk about moving forward into next school year but Jim Knight really focuses on that partnership with teachers. He sets four main categories that we should focus on and that's analyzing current reality with our teachers of where they're currently at in their classrooms. Setting goals is a big part of instructional coaching for us exploring effective teaching strategies with them and helping them through that potentially modeling if they ask us to and then providing that ongoing support that we continue to do you know
051twice a month for our new teachers our first year teachers and once a month for our second year teachers. So this coaching model that Jim Knight proposes it really helps teachers rethink the improvement cycle and it's that idea of the continuous supported cycle where it's deep and meaningful and they are able to get something out of it. Yeah so instructional coaches who use the impact cycle understand that their main task within that cycle is to help teachers achieve their goals. Teachers because they make the important decisions about what happens in their classrooms see the impact cycle as a process designed to help them achieve their goals for their students. So in short deep instructional coaching uses the impact cycle. The impact cycle outlines a process that coaches can use to help teachers. And lastly the
052impact cycle positions teachers both new and veteran as the ultimate decision makers in a process that leads to powerful improvements in student learning and well being. We're excited to dig more into it. Um we have spent a lot of time talking about the curriculum and the resources at the elementary level and making sure that we are aligning that K5 not just within our own buildings but K5 across the district with all six buildings. So the state was kind enough to create performance level descriptors for us this year for three through five and that shows exactly where a kid should be to get a three or a four on the state assessment. So that has really helped align our resources and our curriculum three five. K2 we decided as a district to create those ourselves just
053so we could get on the same page of like I said across the district where a kid should be by the end of the school year on each standard being taught. The next thing we talked about is data analysis they talked about that a little bit we do a lot of that at the elementary level reflection like Lauren had said about small groups small groups is a huge part of the element of us in that sense three through five gives us a great reflection on each individual standard where a kiddo will fall so we've started to really implement those this year three through five and that's given us great data. This summer with the curriculum guides we shop that they just go to these one curriculum guides and all they need is there. Similarly at
054the secondary level we've been also working on performance level descriptors. They have updated them back in May of 2025 and we are really focusing on math and ELA. So Caitlin Mr. Fischer Dr. Cardella and I started meeting with math and ELA departments back in January so about four months ago to start looking into our standards and how we are teaching our standards at what level are we teaching our students what level are we assessing our students and so that work has been ongoing pretty much every single PLT day we dedicate at least an hour or so working with those departments. We've dug into the data Um, we've had math and ELA give shared Kite mini assessments. And so looking at that data, we can see currently where our students are. Um, it'll tell us if
055they are answering at a level 1 2 3 or 4 and that can help to tailor what they are doing in their classes. And so we are facilitating those conversations with those departments. Um, our next steps would be continuing that work looking into PLDs and building curriculum guides during summer curriculum camp. So I was um, absent due to illness on the day this was created. So I'm surprised they did not give me all the slides, but I did get a job and I think it's a fun one. So um, a survey was sent out to teachers about how what the impact of instructional coaches are for them and I'm just going to read a couple. This is from an uh, middle school teacher. She's a veteran teacher. Instructional coaches are such an important sports support
056system in our schools. Not only do they support and guide new teachers, but they also provide integral support for experienced staff with ever-changing research and expectations and student needs. They are the bridge to of communication between administration, district and educational staff. Um, this is from an EHS first year teacher. They have had such an amazing impact on me. I have had most reflective discussions with them and I love how they push me to constantly be improving my teaching practices. And then from an elementary teacher, not sure if it's um, experienced first year um, because they didn't have that information on that one, but this one you can tell. My coach was my lifeline during my first year of teaching. Their mentorship turned my biggest challenges into learning moments and I still rely on their wisdom
057today. I truly value their perspective. They are the gold standard for what a supportive colleague should be. And I did my first year teaching in Texas and I just wish that I would have had that support. I had a mentor and that was it. So when I look at my job, what would I wanted? So, thank you for your time. Questions? I I will just add that as the mother of a first year teacher, um, I I talked to her before I came here tonight and even today she almost every day tells me something about the instructional coaches at Emporia High School and what a supportive environment it's been all year long. So, great job. I just I wanted to uh, just say thank you for this presentation because I feel like it's the best
058presentation and the most information I've received about how important the role of an instructional coach is. Um, but I I have a curious question for one brave person. Um, and that is I know many of you and you are amazing teachers and so I imagine that you're amazing instructional coaches. So I just want to like know like maybe from one or two people like what prompted you to want to take on this this next role cuz it has a lot of responsibility as does teaching. But I would love to know sort of what prompted someone to make the the career change. Addison Crouch. Uh, I just transitioned from being an ELA teacher at the middle school level to an instructional coach and I got my master's in instructional specialist because I don't know that I
059want to do the admin side of things and I felt like this was the next best way that I've had several student teachers and everybody told me how supportive I was and how great it was to have that from ESU and then I also was a team lead and they just felt very supported. So I was like, I want to do this all the time. I just love helping find the questions that they have, helping them feel supported, give them the resources that they need. And so I feel like that's why I made that transition and I'm very lucky to be in this position. So, that's just my just my Hi. This is also my first year as an instructional coach and gosh guys, I just have a passion for >> [clears throat] >> helping
060and advocating for teachers. I also really love data and technology. Um, it's my thing. And so the fact that I get to devote more of my time to that, that's in turn going to help teachers maybe take things off their plate, ease their process cuz I mean goodness gracious, the decisions they have to make every day. We we've seen the number Of course we've seen the meme on Facebook. And so I just wanted to be a part of bringing that down a little bit. So, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. That's going to bring us to item 7B structured literacy. Good evening, board members. Um, as you might recall by July 1st of 2028, certain veteran uh, Kansas teachers have to have a seal of literacy on their license. That's for elementary and any ELA teachers.
061Um, to help the Emporia educators do this, three of our amazing instructional coaches um, completed their letters uh, training, their personal letters training and scored so high that they were able to then uh, go into the training of trainers. Uh, so they agreed when I asked them to complete the intense training to become the certified trainers for the district and they have graciously taken on the task of training staff members wishing to take their letters training as one of the components or one of the ways to get their seal of literacy added to their licensure. Um, they'll be providing information um, and taking you through this process. Uh, we're going to kind of just dabble in it uh, about each month so that they can present information to you because this process is really big.
062Um, and I think that as the year progresses you're going to find out that uh, the science of reading is really hard. It's very involved and because of these ladies uh, experience and expertise, our teachers uh, can strengthen their abilities which then in turn uh, help our students succeed. So I would like to introduce Erica Fiano, the Walnut instructional coach, Jessica Callison, the William Allen White instructional coach, and Megan Powers, the uh, Riverside instructional coach. Okay, a little bit about my my uh, background. I was first and second grade in the classroom, so this is my jam. So, um, I get really excited about this stuff. So, letters stands for language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling. So a little bit about what letters is, it's it's a professional development. It's not like a
063program, it's not something that goes straight into the teachers' hands. It talks about scientifically based best practices um, for instructional routines, activities and approaches. We go through the relationships among language, reading and writing. We talk about the components of comprehensive integrated language and literacy instruction for different uh, given grades, ages and ability levels. We also discuss reliable assessments and theoretic- theoretical models for interpreting individual differences in student achievement. We talk about how to deliver effective instruction through educator modeling and how to directly apply the letters principles and practices to the classroom. So again, we don't give them assessments and say here is what to use. We talk about what is uh, best assessments and some different examples of that. So, um, if you come to one of our trainings, you'll hear us say multiple times
064over and over again, teachers teach students, programs do not. Resources do not. It's the teachers who are making those decisions in the classroom based on their students. So this just gives teachers the background and knowledge they need to make the best instructional decisions for their students. I also taught kindergarten, so this is also my jam. Um, but the one thing I will say is that um, the stuff that we are learning through letters is just extremely important. Um, we weren't really taught this kind of stuff when we were were going through college. So every time when we take a training, we're like, "Ha, we wish we would have known that." Um, so that's just a little background about letters and how important it is. Um, currently we have in our first cohort, we have 24
065participants. Um, and what that looks like is they have individual work that they complete. They have two manuals that they work through. They have some online components and then they come to us um, for like six-hour trainings um, once every like two to three months to get in person, ask their questions, get more in depth, um, get some ideas on how to directly translate what they're learning straight into the classroom. The other way that we are directly impacting um, our staff is what we've learned. We are directly taking that back to our um, buildings and implementing that into our professional developments as well. It's also being implemented next year into our new teacher trainings. So it's not just the participants in our cohorts that are receiving this information, but it really is um, a wide
066range of our staff. Um, and a little bit about the science of reading. So speaking is natural. We are meant to speak as humans. Reading and write writing is not. So it's very um, complex. There's a lot of wiring in your brain that has to fire exactly right to make it work. Um, so a lot of letters is learning how that wiring is configured and the best way to teach um, so the wires are connected for um, our kiddos. So, if you think about how long the alphabetic system has been around, it's only about 5,000 years, which really isn't a long time when we think about how long the human race has been around. So, that just goes to show that the wires in our brain to read aren't natural. They have to be created,
067they have to be taught, those kinds of things. Just speaking to how hard reading can be, 21% of our population is illiterate. Um and so again, that's just another sign that goes to how hard reading is. The wires don't automatically connect in the brain. So, that has to be implicitly taught. There's two parts of the science of reading, and that's word recognition, fluency, those kinds of things, and language comprehension. You have to have both to be able to have reading comprehension. And at sometimes, the word recognition kind of gets put by the wayside with the phonics and that kind of stuff once we get to third grade. But it just is really important and letters is teaching us that the foundation really needs to be solid and really needs to be there and needs to
068be worked on so that a kiddo can read. Just as Jessica stated, our brain is not high hardwired to read. It's not natural for us. So, I'm just going to take you through a little bit of the process of what happens in our brains when we are reading. So, the first thing that happens So, you'll notice that this diagram right here is the left hemisphere of our brain. That's where the majority of things are happening. There is some crossover, but we're just going to focus on the left side tonight. So, the first thing that happens is our eyes take in the information. We see a letter or a grapheme on a page. We recognize what that looks like. That goes straight back here to our occipital lobe. That's where that information is stored. So, then
069the next thing we have to do is we have to connect that grapheme to a sound or a phoneme. And that happens up here in the frontal lobe. So, think about the back of the occipital lobe and the frontal lobe. Those two areas are very far away from each other when you think about the the anatomy of the brain. So, we have to find a way to connect those. Um which is what we do when we are teaching students to read. We're finding a way to bridge that gap. We're making a bridge for them. So, the spelling When we're talking about spelling, we're talking about taking a sound and matching a letter or a grapheme. When we're talking about reading, we're talking about letter to sound, right? So, to connect those, we have what's called
070a phoneme analysis area. You can see that in the red. Um and that's in your angular gyrus to be able to connect those. And that's exactly where we're working as we're teaching students to read and wiring their right? Because reading isn't just about connecting letters to sounds. The reason for reading is to think about or to understand what it is that we are reading. And that happens right there kind of in the middle at the bottom in the language comprehension hub. Um and then we also have that little orange area towards the the bottom that's called the visual word focus area. So, this is where we house words that we know by sight. So, this is not to be confused with what we kind of sometimes called sight words, like those high-frequency words. These are
071true words that students know by sight. They see them, they know them, they don't have to go through the process of connecting. Um it could be something like their name, right? They see it, they know it. So, instead of having to bounce back and forth to determine the word, they just look at it and know. And the more words that we get in here, the more accurate and automatic they are with reading, which frees up the space to think about what they're reading. So, that's why sometimes we think it's a comprehension issue. It's not a comprehension issue. It's more of the basic skills thing. >> [clears throat] >> So, my 19 years of classroom was third, fourth, and fifth, so this was not my jam, but it quickly became my jam, and it should have
072been my jam. When you know better, you do better. So, with our awesome technology we have these days, we can look at brain scans of students reading, and we can see the parts of the brain that light up when they are reading. So, the picture at the top, the scan at the top, is an average reader. Um they have less activity in the phonological processor because they've already achieved automaticity with letters. They know it, they don't have to think about it. I know what that letter is, and I know what the sounds are that are connected to that letter, and I can blend those together. Um and then that's also why there's more activity in the temporal gyrus as well, where the sounds and symbols are connected. They already know it. It's It's good. It's
073automatic. The bottom scan is of a struggling reader. They have more activity in the phonological processor because they are not automatic with connecting letters and sounds, and so that student is working hard to decode every single word. If anyone has read with a student who's learning to read, and they have to sound out every single word, it's very laborious and um not fun. So, there is more activity on the right hemisphere of this unmediated reader or struggling reader because they are compensating, trying to figure out ways to compensate comp compensate for things that they don't know. They're trying strategies, and they they don't work. Okay? And so this last one is my favorite. So, these two brain scans are at different times, but of the same 8-year-old student. Um the top scan is before remediation,
074before any kind of intervention was done with the student, and they were assessing at the ninth percentile, which is very is low. You can see in the brain scan that um I'm sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Um there is very little activity in the temporal gyrus, which is the circle on the left hemisphere of the top scan, because the student is not automatic in recognizing and connecting their letters and sounds. The right The right hemisphere again has more activity cuz they're trying to figure out how to read with strategies that aren't working. After 2 months of explicit systematic intervention, which is what letters is. It's It's explicit. It's systematic. That student, 2 months later, did another scan, and they are now at the 37th percentile in reading. Um there is more more activity in the left
075hemisphere, especially in the temporal gyrus, where sounds and symbols are connected. They They're connecting it. They're making those connections. And they have achieved automaticity with connecting letters and sounds, and so their reading is less laborious and more fluent. Um Megan has already said this quote, but it was said all the time by our facilitator, is that um informed teach Well, programs don't teach our kids. Teachers teach our kids. And so it's having our teachers have this knowledge is going to improve our kids' ability to read and comprehend exponentially. And then there was another quote quote in our letters manual that was stressed throughout. Informed teachers are our best assurance against reading failure. While programs are very helpful tools, programs don't teach. Teachers do. So, by providing and funding our letters facilitator training, which we'll do
076our second half in June, and then we'll be fully trained, um you're enabling us to inform teachers so that they can effectively instruct students um in in the art of reading cuz it is a science. Okay, next one. So, what's next? So, we are going to be here um again. Yay. And we're going to talk about Scarborough's rope, which it discusses how things merge together. It's a visual, and it illustrates how lower-level word recognition and then high-level language comprehension eventually come together and move a beginning reader into a fluent reader. We will discuss Ehri's phases of reading development, um and it describes the progressions of how students learn to learn to read and learn to connect written letters to sounds, and students transis transition from sounding out words to recognizing them by sight. And then
077we will look at the subtypes of reading difficulties and describe the three major areas where students have difficulty and with reading and next steps for their instruction. And they were talking about the impacts. I just had a discussion with a third-year teacher, and she has not taken letters yet and is not in our cohort, but I was able to share my knowledge with her for her to see that it's not a comprehension issue, and that they're missing things in their foundation, and that's where we need to attack. And it's a third-grade teacher, and typically third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade, they really don't focus on that phonics and the phonological awareness. So, it was really good to have that knowledge and be able to help that teacher with next steps. That's really going to
078benefit the student. And now my my most scary question. What questions might you have? For any of us. I'm really excited that we're looking at the science of reading, and I know it's very very complicated and intense, and brain activity is I'm so glad you're looking at that. I guess my I have a couple of questions, actually. My first question is is this individual, small group, full group learning or teaching as far as to the students? To It depends Yeah, it can be whole group. It can be Well, some of the what letters is teaching will impact whole group and how we teach phonics whole group K2, and then some of it will be like Erica's story about third grade. that would all be pretty much done in um flex groups or small groups. And
079I know you're coming back and that's exciting. Uh Did you have any like one example of what you might have a classroom teacher do to start making a connection for a student? What kind of strategy might they use? I'll speak to that directly. I feel like at the kindergarten level, we were very at first like, here's the letter A, this says ah. Um but really the it when we go through the science of reading, it should just be sounds first. We shouldn't tie any graphemes or letters to it at all. Um and so we just talk about, you know, A says ah and we have them just repeat the sounds and get solid at the sounds before we even tie in graphemes or letters to that. Um and that's definitely a huge shift in education.
080So Can I also add that A does not say ah? It represents not saying anything. Letters don't talk, it represents it. Sorry. That's also another shift in education that teachers will say, you know, A says ah. Um but that yeah, thanks Megan. They don't talk, they represent. Another thing that I'm really quick because this was wonderful when I learned it is um fixing misconceptions or understanding. When you say the sound that um the letter R represents, it's not ur cuz you don't say ur rabbit, it's rr rabbit. So it's not ur, it's rr. And then another one that blew my mind was Y, it's not ya. It's ya, it's ee cuz you're doing yellow, yard. So that's fixing a lot of That was a lot of aha moments during that time. Go. Just just going
081off of that. So you discussed COVID earlier and we've seen a a huge increase in speech um in the way our students are making those sounds. And um part of letters teaches you where what is happening in your mouth for every sound. I was just going to say that, yeah. >> Um and so that has helped immensely. Um just sitting in classrooms hearing how things are being taught and not correcting a teacher in front of people like I did to you guys. I'm so so sorry. [laughter] Um but just having that conversation with them, um giving them those those cues and showing the videos of mouth placement, um using mirrors in the classroom for students to see, which also helps our ELL learners like immensely. So Great. I think this is really exciting. Yeah, I
082just want to say how fascinating this has been. I love learning about how people learn. Um and that when you were talking about the sounds it it made me think of a a class I took in college with Mel Storm, called language and grammars. And it was we had to memorize your tongue placement and all the different things and um I'm just so excited for how excited you are. Um because it's amazing and palpable. And I wondered, so you showed the example of like the 8-year-old who had the 12-month intensive training, probably not in our district, obviously it's from your training. But what about a seventh grader or a freshman who like their brain isn't quite as squishy as it was in third grade. So what is what does that look like for our secondary
083folks and how can they how is this something that they can do, too? So really um we actually have a secondary teacher in our training and every time I feel like one of us speaks, she's kind of like, ha, like I wish I was doing that. Um but I think that something we've overlooked at the secondary level for a while is just the idea of that these kids need the basic phonics skills. Um I feel like once they get to third grade, it's kind of like, well, it's just comprehension now. So just the idea that we can translate this K-12 and implement these strategies for our secondary teachers um to just be able to help them learn or grasp the basics still at the secondary level. So your training does show that recovery even at
084those greater those older levels can still Yeah. be impactful. It's the explicit instruction part that even K-12, yes, they can still be impacted and they can still grow. This has been such a great presentation. I'm now scared to talk because I might be pronouncing something wrong. It is. But also just congratulations on your accomplishment to be able to, you know, be a a trainer and train trainers and to train teachers. Thank you. Thank you and that's going to bring us to 7C, approval of class size capacity to guide transfer requests. Yep, Dr. Houg's going to come back up. If you'll remember a couple of weeks ago, we met but we still had some decisions on the board's plate at that time that would affect uh capacities down the road. We talked about the fact that
085if we were to close one of the schools that we wouldn't want to be filling up the schools that the students would be reassigned with new transfers and so hopefully we will we have taken care of the the concerns about that and have an option for you that that works based on the decision you made earlier today. This option one which is presented is the one that represents having Logan be a closed site which would then limit the transfers into Riverside and William Allen White. Thank you for um indulging me a few weeks ago and bringing this back tonight. Um if it's okay, I'm ready to um make a motion. I move to approve the recommendation recommended class size capacities to guide transfer requests as submitted in option one. Second. It's been moved and seconded.
086Any further comments? Um I do have So like if if if the numbers are bigger, if the actual numbers that I'm going to say natural numbers that what how do we handle that then? Like the transfers, if the transfers supersede the number of educators that we have available or Well, the I guess I think maybe I would Yeah, if if the natural numbers in that school boundaries, obviously we would not be open to additional transfers. Right? But but we obviously would still accommodate those the number of children that would naturally be in the district in that area. Yeah, I mean, potentially let's say you had a growth of 20 students you weren't expecting in fifth grade at Timmerman. Well, you'd actually have to hire a teacher. You know, so that you you have to I
087you have you have you know, if they're not transfers but they actually moved in and there they are. You know, hopefully that doesn't occur um you know, after you do a transfer but I mean, if if we can't move resident students out of their resident district. Um the if it if it's one or two students over, we can look at we can look at other other options. We can potentially provide an aid. Um They're they're just we we just have to work through each of those circumstances individually to determine what's what's the best, you know, what I For example, I've had I've had teachers in in in the past who like one of their options to get their class sizes down was to combine grade levels. And they chose to go ahead and have a
088larger, say, fourth grade than to combine with fourth and third and create a create a you know, so the teacher needs to be a part of that conversation, too. An example that will help with this and I'm done. I did have a guardian reach out today and they're moving to Emporia this fall and the question was, we're going to live in the Riverside district. Our address is there. Are we going to be forced transferred to another district or another school since you're not taking new students there? No, exactly what Dr. McGee said. If that is your address, that is your school. So yeah, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 7-0. All right. That's going to bring us to item 8A, superintendent report. Yeah, I
089tried to tried to keep it brief. I I initially had a long legislative update here but then a lot of things are still sitting on in the governor's office and so I thought, well, it probably be more accurate for me to just hold off cuz I'm not exactly sure what what some of those final uh vetoes might look like. Um but we'll definitely come back at some point and kind of recap the things that are impacting us from a legislative perspective. Um and we've done some of that throughout the legislative session. Um I I was I I went to to Topeka. They were um as a part of the the first and second year superintendents, some of the first year superintendents were invited to uh the state board meeting this past month. And uh so
090Dr. Augerbright, who's my mentor, um invited us up and uh introduced us at the state board meeting and we were there when they were when they select selected and announced the new commissioner of education. So uh replacing Dr. Watson is uh Dr. Jake Steel, who will transition into that role beginning on June 1st. Um I don't personally know a lot about Dr. Steel. I think he's done most of his work kind of behind the scenes and in analysis kind of area. So we're we're looking forward to as a group of uh leaders across the state to get to know him uh a little better but uh he he was in that director of strategy and operational alignment prior. Um so he is familiar with with with KSD and the processes and I'm sure Dr. Watson's
091training him up as best he can to be a great commissioner. Um and we certainly want to appreciate Dr. Watson and his time. He's he's been great for for public schools in Kansas during his time in that office, and we appreciate him. Uh, I got to go to Kansas Teacher of the Year Awards banquet on Sunday afternoon. Several of us went up. Um, Erica Mickelson, Dr. Mickelson was actually a part of the planning team for that event. Um, let's see, Cheryl was up there, Dr. Cargillo was there, uh, Brandy was there. Um, who am I missing? Anybody? I think And and then families, obviously, along along with uh Sarah Bays and and Alex Vasholtz, who were our secondary and elementary nominees. So, they were they were honoring all of the 41 nominees from region two,
092and two of those were ours. Um, and then very exciting during that time, uh that it it it I didn't realize It was my first time, right? So, I didn't realize how it worked. I just thought I was going up there for all the nominees to be honored. I didn't realize that they were getting it down to three elementaries and three secondaries from our region, and they called Alex's name, and she got to go across the stage again. She was a little hesitant to get out of her seat at that point. And then uh then it was down to there was only going to be one elementary and one secondary teacher representing region two, um two of only eight representing the state for the Kansas Teacher of the Year, and um Ms. Vasholtz's name was
093called again. She was very reluctant to get out of her chair then, cuz it was getting real for her, right? She has a speech to give, but we're super super excited, proud of both of these teachers. Um, and I know that they would say that they were there representing all of their colleagues in the district. We have lots of amazing teachers, and it could have been any one of a number of other folks up there um in their place, but it's Alex, and uh we're super proud of her. She is one of our elementary teachers at Walnut Elementary, and she is one of Yep, she's one of eight finalists for Kansas Teacher of the Year. Village, sorry. Why? I had Walnut in my head for some reason earlier. Yeah, she's at Village, sorry. Um, I've
094been in her classroom many times, actually, even though it doesn't sound like it tonight. Um, then finally, just a reminder um about staff recognition. We uh will be celebrating our retirees and those reaching their years of service milestones, and then we'll have some of the special awards that will include people like Alex and Sarah again. Uh ENEA will be there to uh help recognize them as a part of that event. That will be at William Lindsay Lindsay White Civic Auditorium, um April 29th, 4:45 to 6:30. Uh they tell me it'll be 4:45 to 6:30. We'll see how we do. It's a pretty long script that they handed me, and then um Lindell gets used to handing me scripts, and then I just go in and rewrite a lot of them to sound more like what
095I might say, rather than going there and read something that sounds weird to me, but um no offense to him. He just hasn't gotten to know me quite well enough yet to know exactly how I might say it and when I would say it, but uh we're excited to celebrate um our staff, and and hope that all of you can uh try to be there. And I would be remiss to not say that Alex is married to my cousin, and it is Vasholtz, not Bashelts. Sorry. Just so in case she's listening, she heard me say Vasholtz, not Bashelts. I tried it I tried it. I You know, I'm from Missouri, where the governor would always from time to time in his speech say Missouri and then Missoura later, just to satisfy everyone. So, I just
096didn't say it enough times to get it right, I guess. Okay, that's going to bring us to item 9A, executive session personnel. I move to go into executive session for 10 minutes to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interests of the individual to be discussed, and that we return to open session in this room at 7:30 p.m. Superintendent Dr. David McGehee and Human Resources Director Dr. Erica Mickelson are invited to join the session. It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes, 7-0. >> Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. That brings us to future board calendar dates. Uh Wednesday, April 29th, we will have staff recognition at William Lindsay White Auditorium. And then our Wednesday or our first board meeting in May on May 13th at 6:00 p.m.
0976:00 p.m. here at Mary Herbert Education Center. Followed by graduation on Sunday, May 17th. And I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you.