001Good evening. I would like to call the March 8th board meeting to order. April. Sorry, I'm looking at maybe the wrong note here. Uh, we do have uh seven board members present. Uh, Leslie, board member Leslie Cely is joining us online. And now I would entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. >> So moved. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 70. >> And that brings us to item 3A, uh, program highlights, EHS theater department. >> Cheryl's going to introduce our, uh, program tonight. and her thespians uh come and talk about the importance of the program and all of their activities and experiences they've had and their accolades. So, Miss Ballard and students, good evening. Um, for those of you who don't know who I am, my name is
002Amanda Amanda Ballard. I'm the theater director at Emporia High School. I'm a 23-year-old veteran teacher and have spent my entire teaching career in the Emporia School District. Um, I was the theater director in 2003 to 2011 and stepped down to get my masters in 2011 in mental health counseling. However, I never lost my love for theater and for theater students. And after a 14-year hiatus, I stepped into the role two years ago when our current director stepped down to pursue other careers. I'm extremely delighted to be working in the area that I am truly passionate about and working with amazingly creative and dedicated students. And in fact, I have two with me today. So, I'm going to let them talk and tell you a little bit about our program. Hello, my name is Lexi Eubanks.
003I am a senior at the high school and I am our troops president. My main focus is designing hair and makeup for our shows, but I also do act and I plan on attending ESU in the fall to pursue a BFA in theater. Hello, my name is Maggie Anderson. I am the vice president of our troop and I have done I have done theater for four years. I am a senior and for the fall semester I plan on go also going to state university to get a bachelor's degree in speech and education speech and theater education. A piece of my heart is a show about the struggle of six veteran women who served in the Vietnam War. In the show there are three nurses, a Red Cross girl and a USO performer. The show goes
004through their experiences going into the war, their experiences while in Vietnam, and the trauma that they later had to overcome. We worked with local vets to learn more about the war and what the veterans experienced. We performed in September at EHS for two nights. We then submitted a video of our performance to Kansas Thespian Festival for the chance to perform for other thespians. We then got a message saying that we got in for the second time in school history with the highest score. We then decided to try our luck with international thespian festival and about a month ago we got a email saying that we were one of 12 schools in the nation selected to perform and this is the first time in school history and if you couldn't see our show in September we
005have a show on June 6th at 700 p.m. It is a benefit performance and it is free will donation and in the in the fall we performed Roger and Hammerstein Cinderella. Cinderella was our musical this year and saw over 100 students involved between the cast, crew, and the orchestra pits. We had sold out performances with a great audience with great audience reviews and our cast also traveled to local elementary schools and we also had a matinea for local second graders and we were able to give a Q&A and just kind of get to know them and like let them know about all the process that it took to take on a musical. So, it was a really good opportunity opportunity with the community. So, >> yes. >> Also, in the fall, we had Don't You
006Love Me, which is a show about a teen girl who gets into a relationship that seems healthy at first, but slowly turns toxic and eventually abusive. This production was meant to educate our audience about the red flags of teen dating violence and how to notice those red flags and support those who need help. We rehearsed for a month and performed in December. We then continued rehearsals for a few more weeks to perform at Kansas Thespian Festival to compete with other one acts to get the chance to place first and then to go to international thespian festival. We unfortunately did not place but we were still able to spread awareness to more teens while at festival. We then got back into rehearsals at the end of February for a week and then performed at the Granada
007Theater and raised $900 that we donated to SOS. >> Okay. And we ended this year with a very energetic show within a show. It was a comedy about a murder mystery which is so fun. I was the maid. Lexi was the little stage manager. And um with the this was the first year the rights had been out. So we were able to perform for the play that goes wrong which is a fairly new show. So we were very excited. It was the first time Emporia High School had ever performed this. And so it was very volat by audiences. And we raised over $3,000 in the minute to give it for students attending ITF which is the international thespian festival. And so yeah, >> we are currently having our senior directed one acts and we have
008three seniors directing those one acts including me and Maggie. And we auditioned about a month ago and rehearsed three times a week. Our shows performed next Friday the 17th at 700 p.m. We also have a children's one act that I am directing for our advanced theater class. We are performing Alice in Wonderland to the elementary schools on April 29th and 30th. Some facts about our troop. We were first inducted as a troop in 2004. We are troop 6688 and we have inducted around 300 students in our troops. We this year we have produced four mainstage shows and two 1Xs and we have accumulated over 100 students. Previously we have received 18 regional nominations for the jester awards and nine jester actual jester nominations. We won two different categories and were able to perform a number
009from number from League of Lawns. But this year, this is very recent. We received eight regional nominations and two jester nominations. And we find out what we get May 3rd. And we have international the international thespian festival coming up which is in Bloomington, Indiana. And last year we only took 12 students. But this year we have 12 students qualifying to take their thesi which is a solo competition where students can compete in acting, designing and singing. And this year we have a total of 27 students attending ITF. I went to ITF last year and I got to attend many workshops where I was able to learn some tips and tricks for our theater department that I could bring back for our productions. and our theater board also met every day at noon to discuss our
010upcoming theater year and it was a really great experience. This gets to be my very first year in attending. So, I'm very excited as a future theater educator. I am very excited to be able to learn more and just more tips and tricks on what I'll need in my future classroom and being able to perform a piece of my heart for our final like senior show is really special. So, I'm very excited. if wants to talk about some of the fundraising. >> Um we, as you know, um I know I don't need to take up any more time, but um we are very close to our goal. We're right on target to reach our $30,000. I received a $10,000 check today from the Hopkins Foundation. So hopefully that will be on the docket for next
011time. Um so thankful to them and everybody and all the community that has supported us. Thank you Dr. McGee and board for um donating the half of our registration fee. And this is a once in a-lifetime experience for these kids and we are very very thankful. Um it's my goal that we continue to raise the bar of excellence and achievement within the theater department that is and that we use theater as a vehicle to empower our students to explore the world in which they live and they learn. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do what I honestly love. I'm sorry they make fun of me every time because I cry all the time, but I I I absolutely love this job and I love these kids and they are so dedicated and hardworking.
012So, thank you so much for supporting them. We look forward to many more trips to ITF. Um, we have a lot of special things planned for next year. So, thank you for being in support of us and these kids and everything that they do. So, thank you very much. >> Hold on just a second. Leslie has a >> Go ahead, Leslie. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just sorry I couldn't be there in person, but don't forget their second Saturday breakfast fundraiser at the American Legion this Saturday. >> Anybody can come and it's like $7 and a great a great way for them to raise money. >> I totally forgot. Um yes, we have a we have several fundraisers coming up. The American Legion Breakfast, thank you Leslie for reminding me. This Saturday, 7:30 to
01310:30. We also have a benefit performance June 6th. We also have a 627 event on April 19th. Um, I will be flying to Indiana for a tech meeting that day, but um, please come and support those kids and all the fundraising that they're doing. They're working, they're hustling, they're busting their rears to try to get the money. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. Uh, and and we're all very impressed with the amazing work that this cast puts on every time. >> Uh, the next item is item 3B, public comments. Casey, do we have any public comments? >> We do not. Okay. And moving to the consent agenda. Items listed on the consent agenda are those for which the board has received information in advance and have been thoroughly reviewed. Approval of the items
014may 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 the request that will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately? >> I move support of the consent agenda. >> Second. >> All right. It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes 70. >> Thank you. That brings us to item 6A, carpet project at EHS and EMS. >> All right, looks like Josh and Corey are going to come up and uh share some information and answer any questions you might have about this uh next phase of carpeting. >> Good evening. Okay. So, three years in the making. Uh, first year 2024, we did the hallways at the high school and middle
015school. Last year, we did most of the classrooms at the high school and middle school and the high school auditorium carpet. So this year that leaves us with approximately 20 classrooms in the library at the high school along with some miscellaneous closets and offices that weren't cleared out last year and approximately two classrooms in the library at the middle school as well as switching uh Mr. Mets's shop class from carpet to tile. Uh it's almost impossible to get wood shavings out of the carpet. So instead of putting new carpet in, we're looking at do doing tile there. be easier to clean for everybody. Um, to do it all, we're looking at the same company that we use the last two years. They're also the same company that we had do the bond at the high
016school and middle school. So, they're very familiar. We've also managed to secure the same crew, so they're very familiar with our buildings, familiar with our work. So, we've got high expectations that it'll be done efficiently and correctly, which they've done good the last two years. The contracts we looked at were through the Omnia cooperative. Uh that's outlined on the quotes. The Omnia did change. They used to go through the manufacturer. They now go through the installer, which is more in line with other cooperatives how they do business. Um still same protections and everything, just a different um contract. So these say country carpet. If you looked at last year's, it was like the uh I think it's engineered flooring or something like that. So, that's the only difference. If you see the differences there, it's
017the same manufacturer. It's the same installer. It's just different way the contracts are laid out to who they go to. For the high school, we're looking at $170,432.82. And that does include um the difference. Last year, if you recall, we came to you with a number and we came back to change that number to adjust. So, those adjustments were made last year. This year, this is to finish it up. We also will be using approximately $88,000 worth of inventory that we have on hand. So, that takes care of getting rid of that and not having to worry about it getting messed up or losing the value in the glue or anything. and the the middle school came to $51,579.96. So that's what I've got. If you have questions, be happy to answer those. >> What
018questions do we have? >> Okay. >> You might clarify how the district's paying for uh all this carpeting, where the money comes from. This is getting paid for out of the capital outlay fund. Um there are some projects that we have lined out in future years with capital outlay. Um but this is one that we wanted to get accomplished this summer for sure. >> There are no questions. I would entertain a motion. >> I I just have a quick question. Um, do we anticipate um um or do you sort of have a schedule of um like the capital outlay projects for the summer as we just think about that budget? >> We now I have Cy help a bit with this, but there are we have projects that'll be done in house. We don't have
019any significantly large projects. This is probably the largest project. >> This is by far the largest >> that we'll have for the summer. We are working on HBAC, but we're working with some companies to get that organized for this by the summer after. So the big projects, this will be the only one we have this summer. >> That's what I wanted to know. Thank you. >> Yeah, we've kind of u put that HVAC I mean we're dealing with HVAC as it comes, right? But um we're really at a point where it's millions of dollars that need to be spent across the district on HVAC uh upgrades, replacement. I mean equipment ages out, right? And we've got some schools that have a lot of original equipment that were from 19, 20 years ago. Um, but we
020want to make sure that if we're going to spend that significant amount of money that we we have an expert on board that helps us to uh determine exactly how it's best to utilize how we get the mo most bang for our buck and then structure that out and have them um assist with kind of project managing that as it goes. So, it's in a little bit of a delay, but certainly being worked on all the time. >> Uh, there are a couple projects that are smaller compared to this are significantly smaller. Most of them are continuations from last summer that we didn't get to because like the boilers took too long to finish the garage doors. We already brought that to you, but we'll bring bring you back a an updated number because that
021was a year ago. So, there are some things, but they're nowhere near this scope. They're all significantly smaller than this. >> I had a question um on the Omnia Partners Cooperative. Is that through KSB or is that something is that a separate >> It's its own entity. It's like uh TIPS or Green Bush. >> Okay. >> Would be their competitors. Um they all just do things a little bit differently. Um >> but it's it's its own entity. >> Okay. But and we've used them >> Yeah. We used them for the carpet the last two years and we've used them for multiple other projects. >> Sure. Okay. >> Um I would like to make a motion to approve the replacement of the remaining carpet at Emporia Middle School and Emporia High School as submitted. I'll second
022that. >> Okay, it's been moved and second. Any further comment hearing? None. Please cast your vote. >> All right. Thank you. >> Motion passes 70. >> Thank you. That's going to bring us to item 6B, updated school resource officer agreement with the Emporia Police Department. >> Yeah. And if you'll recall earlier in the year, we um approved a version of our SRO agreement and um now Emporia Police Department's had their opportunity to uh kind of review uh what we put together and have some good good suggestions to clean it up to be sure that it works well for both entities. Dr. Mickelson's here to share those changes. Yeah, I'll go through some of them. Uh, and Captain, uh, Ray Mattis is here as well, just in case we have any questions for him. Um, so
023on on that first area, um, really on the scope and service of staffing, uh, since this officer will truly be an an Emporia Police Department officer, uh, we wanted to make sure that that the chief of police has that determination, final determination. uh I will be involved in that piece as well um as the district representative. Uh but as far as that final determination, that will be on the the chief of police. Um as we move over to number five, um the example here talked about a school fight. And if there's an altercation, any physical altercation, the SRO would need to be involved in that. And so we wanted to clean up that example of being a verbal altercation and not specifying that it wasn't going to be a something physical. So that was the
024example there. Uh then down on number six, we talked about the body worn cameras and making sure that if there is an enforcement that an SRO has to be a part of there, they would need to start recording that event. And so if it's not something that the SRO would have to put, you know, be enforcing um that his or his or her responsibilities, then no video would happen. But if they are to, then a video would start and and have that recording. Now, with that though, they would have to abide by all the laws and things to to get gain access to that video. Um but as far as recording, um they'll make sure that they follow their practices and protocols for that. Uh we did uh start uh having that conversation and we
025landed on being able to use the National Association of School Resource Officers um called NASRO for uh that program. And so we've already I've already actually started looking into that. And we do have training as long as we can um pinpoint a a person for this role. Uh that will be a training and the training itself uh will include um me as well as a part of the district representation of that. Um, so I'll be included in that piece. And then, um, that also on number eight, we could lift some of that out and put the the National Association for School Resource Officer information in there because they will get certified in all of those trainings that they that group provides. Number nine talks about scheduling and availability. And we had a a fairly lengthy
026conversation just about if the SRO is unavailable, let's say for um a family leave or you know medical emergencies, that that type of thing, we wouldn't necessarily have a backup that would be SRO fully trained. And so making sure that there was information in here that we would have someone there, but it may not be serving in that SRO responsibility. So they could make sure they have somebody there at arrival and dismissal. But as far as doing those SRO types of responsibilities, we may have to rely more on our security guards for those types of things. Um but just in having that language in there just in case uh we have that now hopefully we don't have to worry about any of that. Um but just having that in there um for that instance. Trying
027to think. So the next page they EPD will provide that soft uniform. So they wanted to put that in there as well. And then as far as grants, just making sure that we work on those and we initiate those at the district level. They will work alongside us and support us in that. The police department will, but as far as seeking those out, really making sure that we have that responsibility and then um see how we can make that that work if we are able to find any of those uh grants. And then the last piece, that annual report, uh the SRO will be in charge of that report itself, not the police department. So, making sure that it's not on Chief Owens for him to to provide that information. It's really on that that
028SRO that's involved in that. As far as the appendix section goes, uh the very first piece, appendix B, uh there is some information just that a school representative may be present um for the interviews because there there might be a situation where um it is a it is a vital piece that something has to happen fairly quickly. And so just making sure that just in case there's a situation that happens um that we have that May May language there. Then on um C um they have the the EPD has their own guidelines for use of force that they need to to abide by. I put the link in there and that link is is will be an active link that takes you directly to their guideline um their their uh use of force guidelines. Um
029but really making sure that they are following their chain of command and and their policies and procedures. Um and then if there were an issue with that then obviously there would be disciplinary action with the EPD but then also we would have our own could have our own disciplinary action um as a an employee with us as well. >> Um Erica this is one area that I just had maybe a technical um um request. Um, it says that the agreement may be updated by EPD as as needed or the >> the link. Could we also just include language and that they will inform us when they do if they do update it just because I'd hate for us to be operating on what we see here, but in a year they could make a change
030and we might not be aware of it. So, >> yep. Thank you. >> Okay. And then the last update there is on just this specific information again about the body warn cameras. So just making sure it's in both places. >> Any other questions or anything I can clarify? I'd had a concern, but you've already addressed it, but what happens when the designated SRO is gone? you've got the section in there and how that would be handled because obviously they're not something they're not going to be there every day for various reasons. So, but you you've taken care of it. >> Okay. Good. Good. >> I have a question about I'm just not that familiar with police protocol and that sort of thing. So, I'm wondering what the soft uniform actually looks like and what equipment
031will be carried by the SRO. Right. Can you come up here? >> That's okay. Hey, I'm one tick away from hearing aids, so I understand. Um, a soft uniform is just generally is a uh black polo with cargo pants and boots. And then they'll wear their duty belt. They'll have their bullet resistant vest underneath their polo. So, we don't wear the outer vest or anything like that. It would just be everything be concealable, but just a polo and pocket pants. >> So, will they be carrying their Glock and what? >> Yeah, they'll carry their full duty belt. >> What What I guess what's included in the full duty belt? >> A full duty belt consists of their firearm, extra ammunition, handcuffs, uh a taser, either a baton and pepper spray, or a combination. We have
032to carry two of the three baton, pepper spray, or taser. So, it's up to those the officer individually what of those three they want to carry. >> Thank you. That that clarifies. I was reading through um the policy that that you all follow and I I was a little I got a little confused when I got to that point. >> Not a problem. They have to all be trained on all that stuff and certified to pass certain trainings before they can carry anything. >> Anything else? I the only comment I would have is that uh we've been working with uh Larry Clay and Willie Turner for years and their former police officers. So while this is a change for us, I I I I'm more comfortable now that oh, as I think about this and
033and process this change, I just think about the experience we've had with those two former officers and that's been a great experience for us and we've appreciated having their experience as law enforcement officers and that relationship. So I'm I'm hopeful that this is going to be the same thing that's going to be a a good collaboration between the Emporia Police Department and the Emporia public schools. So >> it's already started as one. So hopefully it'll continue. >> Yeah. >> One question I have, you know, as we consider um passing this tonight, I did offer technical change. So do we need to take that back to EPD to see if they agree to it? >> Sorry. Yep. >> I could almost guarantee you that won't be a problem to have that minor adjustment. We do make
034policy adjustments as times change. So, if we make a policy adjustment that's related to this, we'll be happy to inform you. >> Great. Thank you. I will make a motion that the board of education approve the proposed revisions and updates to the school resource officer agreement between Emporia public schools and the Emporia Police Department along with the um amended change that any updates to the use of force policy um that the EPD be required to notify USD 253 so that we're aware of those changes. Second. >> Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. motion passes 70. >> Right. Thank you very much. Uh that's going to move us to item 7A, winter 2026, fast bridge data dive. >> And Dr. Carula is going to come up and u process a little bit
035of data with you and hopefully you have a little bit of fun with it. >> Yeah. So, um we're going to focus we're going to focus in on the fourth grade tonight a little bit. Sorry. I'm going to run through a the data protocol with you kind of like what we do with our with our principles and what they did with their staff. So, um if you pull up that fourth grade sheet, that's kind of where we want to start. So now we're going to look at fourth grade A math and A reading and also the CBM. So what kind of data this is? This is essentially a math and a reading major skills in math and reading. Um in math it may measure things like geometry, algebra, number sense, probability, stats, geometry. Um in
036in a reading it'll cover things like phonics, PA, fluency, comprehension, things like that. And the CBM basically what that does is that is a test that students will read to and the teacher listens and then it scores how well they do on PA phonics and comprehension. So that's our data tonight that we're looking at. It's it's broken up on these charts by um by risk level. You'll see um high risk and you'll see some risk, low risk and PR is what we call postsecary ready. That's the highest level. Um so when we look at this data also last time we met you asked for a couple of additional subgroups. So we added free and reduced and we added chronic asmtism students. That data for chronic asmtism students as of winter 25. That would include students
037up to about March 1st. So that data isn't quite the same as what you're seeing for the for winter of uh 26 I'm sorry winter 25 because that would be the whole year that year of the chronic S&P students. So you can kind of see that's what the data tells us and what we can do with it. Now when we start getting into the data a little bit looking for patterns um typically what we would do is we would look at those percentages. So when you look at that the top chart on a math you'll see that 19 that 19 represents the that 19% of those students who tested in fourth grade are scoring have a percentile that puts them in the high-risisk category. So what we want to see there is we would want
038to see from winter of 25 to to winter of 26. We'd like to see a drop there which means we're doing better and in that case we do see a drop which is what we want to look at. So we tend to so we tend to go through and look at that data across. So if you go through and do do some of that work, you can also see it happens again under Hispanic students where you see it going from 25 to 19, which is good. Then also you'll see another place we look too is is PR. I'm sorry, under low risk. Under Hispanic students, you'll see that 41 that 29. So when we get down to low risk and PR, we want to see we want to see an increase. So in the winter
03925, they were at 29%. And in uh winter of 20 sorry um oh sorry winter of 25 there were 29 winter of 26 there were 41. So we increased in that area. So those are some of the patterns that we look at as we analyze this data. There's a lot of that. There's actually eight times through this chart where that where that occurs which is really good. So we're starting to see a lot of good growth through that. Um some things that I want to point out to you that kind of links up what we talked about last time. If you remember we talked about our SC implementation and what work we're doing with that. So if you look at the and that is one subgroup that that helps with is the e subgroup English
040language learners and you can see in that subgroup that um we look at the high-risisk in 25 they were 42 and in winter 26 they went to 32. So they decreased that subgroup by 10% which is good. And then if you look at the low risk you'll see they go from 21 to 35. So you're seeing some growth there and one reason for that growth could be our implication of SCP across the district. So the Hispanic subgroup we talked about that a little bit. You're seeing some good growth there. and the chronic asmmptism students. Um you'll see there that they've kind of when we look at winter 25 versus winter 26 you'll see there's a big difference there and and as we get in I mean it's hard right now because we go to the
041winter we have the sicknesses happening and things like this a lot of a lot of kids are absent because they're sick. So our chronic absenteeism rates tend to increase through the winter but then as the spring comes on they attend school more. So by the time they get the end of school they may not be chronically absent any longer. So once we get to the end of school, we'll redo that. And I'm anticipating those drop, but you're gonna but you'll see there that there's quite a difference from winter of 25 to winter of 26. Um so then also student disabilities, you'll see that they're our highest need group and they're one of the pieces that as we think about our our work we're doing with with centers alignment and Kansas MTSS, those are included in
042those conversations to try to make sure that our students have access to the core and they're getting good quality instruction. So if you go down to to a reading, you're going to see the same kind of patterns there. Um you're like if you look at um the all students under low risk, you'll see we increased that from 21 to 22, which is good. And then if you look over at the white students, you'll see there that in for low risk, we were at 21 and we went up to 23. So we are seeing some good growth there. And that's that growth we're looking for. And we're looking for some increases in low risk and PR. And we're looking for decreases in high risk and some risk. And if you look at those in terms of
043a reading, we had we had that six times in these charts too. So we have some good growth there as well. And some things to point out there was um like with a math students students with disability is a area we need to focus on. And then um chronically asism is very similar. So same pattern we're seeing in in a math we're seeing in a reading. And then our EL performance um you'll see that we dropped a little bit in some risk. We improved some risk. So again, that goes back to our SOP imitation and what we're doing with that. And then our Hispanic students um showed some increase in low risk as well. Then our last one we're going to look at would be our CBM and that measures um that's where the teacher
044listens to the students read. So you'll see there that in this one if you and and this one is primarily a K5 test that we give our kids and when we think about those improvements, we're seeing 11 of those in this. So, we're seeing some good improvement in our CBM from winner to winner. 11 times we have growth. And some key takeaways there. I really want to point out the EL population. If you look at our English language learners and high risk in winter 25, there were 53 and we dropped that to 38. So, that's a pattern that we're seeing in our data, not only at fourth grade, but across the district. We're seeing some good growth in with our EL students, the supports they're getting. Um again chronic asmtism you'll see there what's happening
045with them another pattern the kids who are chronically absent don't tend to score as well as students who come to school and then our Hispanic students are also showing some growth as well so then that's kind of some patterns and some beliefs you know we talked about our beliefs we believe that we need to work on our core and have a strong core in our data and that's what what we're doing we talk about our actions we remember our case action plan that we talked about with standards alignment So we need to we need to strengthen our core and make sure our standards are aligned. So those are some things. Um if you look at our kind of our next steps here, our next steps would be to implement our um keys to action plan
046and make sure that our standards alignment is working, our summer curriculum work. We're also doing some work with Kansas MTSS and math to improve our core instruction. and we're going to be doing some of that next year throughout work days for administrators and PLT days for teachers and staff. So, we're excited about that. And then looking a little forward and more data analysis, which is a good thing. We can spend time talking about data. We're going to we'll the next time you see data, we'll we'll do some looking at our our cohort data. So, the data that you looked at tonight was just fourth grade, which means we're looking at our program and how effective our programs are and are we seeing some change in our programs? Are students getting better? neessarily scoring better at
047that grade level. Um, when we start looking at cohort data, we'll start looking at our groups of kids improving as a whole from grade to grade to grade. And that will be kind of our next set of data we'll start looking at down the road. So, that's kind of an overview of of what we do and some of our data. Um, there's a lot of good things in our data. We're seeing some good growth. I I was fortunate I got to go to the high school last Friday and spend some time with Mr. Fisher in the L and math departments and the conversations that our teachers are having around the standards and the performance level descriptors and what the standards mean, the expectations for the standards and learning about those things and the impact that
048we're seeing from our um standards alignment and our keys of plan. I think we're going to we're going to see some good benefit of that as we move into this time next year. Um and we're seeing the same thing that I I met with Mr. Kirk and talk to him a little bit about what he's saying and the conversations that the teachers are having around the PLLDS, those are performal descriptors and standards and looking at the mini tests and analyzing what they're saying, what they're meaning, and talking about them. Um, we're seeing some good um some good conversation. We have a lot of good momentum. Our teachers are doing a great job embracing them. At first they're pushed back a little bit, but I think as they dig into them and see the benefits of
049that work, um I think we have some good momentum moving into this summer to make some good changes in next year. So that's really all I have in terms of data and our next steps. Um I'll entertain any questions you might have or any thoughts. Appreciate you letting me share some. >> Yeah, thank you. Um I'm I'm excited to see the improvements that we are attributing to the changes that we're making. um still with we're struggling with those chronically absent students. So, can you tell me about what strategies that we're using to you know because I I feel like I hear this and I know it's kind of a national issue but um you know what what are some things that we're doing to try to combat that. >> So, I think there's there's two
050I think there's two ways of looking at this. one like elementaryaries the chronic asmtism really depends because the parents you have to get them to school secondary level kids to get themselves to school um really working um to make school meaningful to students um the high school level doing a lot with CTE and things like that getting them into the into some things that will engage them like the like the tech college things like that will help um we need to have more conversation about this and what we need to do about our attendance I've been watching a little I think our attendance is going to be a little better this year. We've improved slowly over the years. I think this year it will be a little better when we share that with you. But
051that's definitely a conversation we need to continue to have. >> Might be good in the future to have Patricia come and talk a little bit about some of the things that she's doing now that she's taken that role and working on truency and and attendance issues. >> Okay, I'll write that down. What other questions or comments any? Okay, thank you very much. >> Thank you for letting me present appreciate it. >> That's going to bring us to item 7B, approval of class size capacity to guide transfer requests. >> Dr. Hog is going to come up and uh share some information. And this is an annual requirement uh that the the board has to uh set our set our uh capacities across the district. So she will share with you a little bit about how we
052reached the numbers that we've reached. >> Thank you. It was a little bit of an adventure to get this report prepared being in the middle of cost containment and going through this. So Dr. Mickelson, I have to give a huge shout out to you for the staffing side of this. Um, the document that was shared with you is based off of the cost containment numbers. Thank you, Casey. So, when we look at this, the number of sections that are allocated for each of the sites are based off of the reductions that were approved within cost containment. The requirement is that this is presented to you and then posted to the website by May 1st. So, there are things in here that aren't completely done yet. Um, it's still kind of moving pieces, all of that.
053You'll notice one of them has 22 open spots. Of course, Dr. Mickelson is going to work with Miss Leads. They're going to continue to arrange this until it's appropriately adjusted so that the student sections do meet the student enrollment. The biggest thing I think to emphasize is that if there is an internal transfer, that May 20th date is really important. If you live in Emporia and are enrolled in Emporia and you want your students to go to a different dis or a different school, May 20th is the date for in essence priority transfers. And if you don't do it by that date, then you're bumped to after out of district. So late July and that just really does affect the potential of getting the school that you would like to knowing that there are decisions
054that you're going to be making in the future as well. um we will have to really look at William Ellen White and Riverside and what those transfers look like to those sites so that a year from now depending on decisions that are made of course um we're not in a position where we need more there where we're not prepared for that. So um being really cautious, being really careful and intentional with what decisions are made this year so that we are planning for 26 27 but also for 2728. Um that's elementary for middle school. How we did this? We looked at science sections and again it's this moment in time. We currently Mr. Burns has 12 sections of science for se sixth and seventh grade. He only has 10 available for eighth grade right now
055based on staffing. So if that stays, that's what it stays. But if again staffing adjusts, it's going to eb and flow a little bit with that. So at this moment in time, we do not have out of district transfer space available within our middle school. Okay. High school. Um was able to meet with Mr. And very similar with the high school, we based it off of English class because once you get to science and as biology, there's too many choices. Same with math. Whereas English is the one that's consistent um that students will be enrolled in. There is space available at our high school. But one thing that he really wanted to emphasize was this is our core classes. So when it comes to electives, it is not saying that 65 freshmen are going to
056be able to enroll and get every elective class that they want. they will there will be electives available but it just it's not going to be every class available for every student who does enroll. So that's the big thing there and those dates again May 20th for in district and that notification will hopefully or will be out by May 30th and then out of districts will start then in June with notification going before we go on the Fourth of July holiday. So lots of moving pieces. The district administrators right now at the building level are going through and verifying good standing for students who are already transfers in our district to make sure that they are able to maintain the place that they already have within our schools. So, lots going on behind behind the
057screen. But that's what I have. Any questions? Anything I can answer? >> I have a question. Um, so when a student does transfer And I think I'm right here, but once they're in that school, they're they can stay there for like an elementary school, they can stay there for the remainder of their elementary years >> as long as they maintain good standing and that is 90% attendance that they're attending and as well as no expulsion suspensions, no significant behaviors. Okay. >> So, yes, as long as they're in good standing, yep, they are able to maintain their space. >> Okay. >> Thank you for clarifying that. I've I've excuse me I've heard you say a couple of times at this moment and so I'm really perplexed by that because I understand like the situation we're in
058but we are also ask being asked to like pass this at this moment so I think maybe I'm a little confused like we're passing it but it could change so should we really pass it but we have to pass it >> and so can't this just be our numbers regardless of what happens? Um no because it can't be our numbers. Um we are required to pass it so that it could be posted to the website by May 1st. And the reason why I say at this moment is the student number evens have fluctuated since I prepared this board report. And so I I it's changing. It's continuing to evolve as we go. I don't know if Mr. Burns is going to stick with two eighth grade science teachers just because right now that's where the
059resignations have fallen. I can't get into the staffing side of this. I can only talk about the enrollment and the number side of it. And I know that's kind of gray, but that's Yeah. >> Another another like there's an example an example here would be Logan Logan Avenue's >> um fifth grade. >> There are two sections this year. Mhm. >> If if there were only 22 students there next year rather than take 22 transfer students, it could be it could be the right choice to do to take take one of those fifth grade teachers and put them somewhere where they're needed elsewhere in the school district to teach fifth grade, third grade, whatever it might be. And so it's hard to, you know, we may still have some movement of staff which then would change
060capacities. We have one section there. there aren't 22 spots available. So I think we have to say we have to say you know as you know as of our numbers staffing and students that we know on April 8th this is our recommendation. >> Yes. And also I just wonder why can't we put zero? Because if we have if we have an anticipated enrollment of 22, why say it could potentially be 44 if we want to have flexibility? Because we could just say zero and have um our total student capacity for transfer be 22 also. Like it's kind of our document. So don't we have flexibility to put in here what works for us given >> I think we would have the rationale to if we were questioned about why you put zero there by the
061state or whomever we would have good rationale for why we did it. Yeah, I think that's my point. Like, can't we just do that and and prepare for so that way we don't get this big influx of going to Logan, you know? I mean, so I guess I'm just I'm a little confused why, you know, we're going to approve this and it could change when I feel like we I feel like with this document just based on how we've worked on it in the previous years, they're kind of our numbers and we have to report them. So, we have some flexibility unless I'm mistaken from previous years. >> Yeah. The other thing that I would want to make sure and point out is that we we would we would literally like anywhere it says Riverside
062has has room for transfers, we would likely not accept any transfers to Riverside or any transfers to William Ellen White if the board were to vote on April 22nd that we're going to be closing Logan Avenue in 2728 because we wouldn't want to approve a bunch of transfers to the two schools where these students may be redistributed and then not have room for all the planning that we've done to ensure that we do have room for those students to land um in appropriately sized classrooms. >> Would it not be possible to create like two scenarios of this document? one that we could and like have them sort of like I don't know the correct parliamentary procedure table them tentatively approve them until the 22nd and there's two options that are ready to go that day.
063I also don't know that much about how websites work and if waiting until the 22nd is enough time to publish by the first or not. It seems like that might that might be the best strategy to Jaime's point. >> Okay, I had to double check with Lindell quick. Yes, that would be an option. >> I think that's a great idea. just we could maybe just revisit this on April 22nd and then we'll >> have those two options like Lillian suggested. >> Sure. >> Yeah. And I don't really know that I have a problem with this one, but I I do think that it's prudent to be prepared. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? >> I still I still think there could be some question on April 22nd, you know, where that fifth
064grade teacher might land. So the numbers might still end up different than the document. >> Well, right, but right now this says that we would take transfers to Riverside and we know if if we decide to close the school, that would actually be zero ultimately. So, >> yep. >> Why wouldn't we approve that after we know what we're planning to do with with this a potential school closure? And that would give families time to make that decision before that May 30th deadline, too. >> I I have a couple of questions. Okay. >> Um, did you say that the state requires this to be published? >> It's a policy that it has to be. >> It's one of our policies. Okay. All right. Getting up to speed. >> Thank you. >> That >> is it state?
065Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay. And then the second thing, this is constantly a fluid document, correct? >> Yeah. When I went to I guess I'm sorry. I guess I just don't really understand >> the purpose behind it if it's constantly being fluid. >> Um because our enrollment changes constantly. I mean, we may have had two second graders move to a different district today. So, that number would technically be down. We may have enrollment upstairs may have enrolled three new students across the district today. So, it is always changing. Enrollment is just naturally a fluid thing that isn't going to stay the same from the moment that document was prepared until May 1st when it's required on the website >> because it's fluid now, but once we publish it, it is no longer fluid. Like
066these are this is my understanding is once we publish it, >> they're the claimed numbers. >> We are saying we could take 22 transfers to fifth grade at Logan Elementary. >> Yes. >> And just to make sure I'm following, you're We're obligated to take 22 transfers to that school. Is that what that means? >> Like we can't not grant them. Okay. >> Right. >> Once it's published. Yep. >> Right. Understood. >> Yeah. >> And I think that's my concern about potentially passing it is I don't want us to get locked in when it could be zero and you know potentially >> but we also don't have the option to just put zero everywhere and then figure out what happens. So, I mean, I I understand where everyone's coming from. I just um I imagine every
067district across the state has has u staffing shifts from here to there to try to accommodate their enrollment um over the over the course of the spring and and and summer as as you get students enrolled. Uh we can certainly t we could certainly accept the board tableabling this this evening and and coming back with uh something that you might be more comfortable with on the 22nd. >> I'm not sure I'm not sure we'll get all the way there. No, >> I think I'm less concerned about staffing shifts and more concerned that we might be closing a school and so we may be putting zeros at Riverside and William Allen White. So that's more of a known than a staffing shift which we would know on April 22nd. So create create the create a document
068that would um address either issue whether the school stays open one document if the school were subject to close in 2728 how we would approach it. >> Yeah I I would agree because I think in any given school year you could always move teachers to a different grade level or to theoretically to a different building >> no matter what. Um so I can make a motion if we're ready. Um, I move to table the recommended class size capacities to guide transfer requests until the April 22nd meeting. >> I would second that. >> Do we need a motion to table >> or no? >> We typically do. I think >> do we >> since it's an action? >> Yeah, I think arguably you move to table that you take an action. Therefore, it has to be
069on the next agenda. >> Just want to check. So, it's been moved and seconded. U Casey, do you want to hand vote? >> No. Okay. >> Coming at you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. That's going to bring us to >> Hold on just a second. Still waiting on a vote. >> Motion passes 70. >> Sorry about that. Uh that's going to bring us to item 8A, board reports. That's me, right? I think I'm the only one. Yeah, the recreation commission met on the 23rd of March. My report is not fairly big. Um it was not a particularly long meeting. We did regular business. Um we had some update from the steering committee um about how that's still kind of in flux as to what date might be picked for the actual ballot
070question. Um and then we looked at some rates for an elevator contract. was pretty riveting stuff because you know you have to pay to maintain your elevators. And then we did pass an AI usage policy which is pretty um I think much what you would expect. Keep all personal identifying information out of it and you know use it to supplement your work not to be the decision maker. Um and so that was pretty much it for us. >> I do have a quick report from the wellness committee as well. Y >> um the program for this year for our staff um the deadline is April 30th. Um the incentives will be um for the bronze and silver will be distributed this during this school year and also um the personal wellness day must be used
071during this school year as well. >> Okay, thank you very much. Um, that's going to bring us to item 8B, board policy date or board policy update, second reading. >> Dr. Mickelson will come up and uh run you through the policies. >> We don't have any changes from last time. Um, so were there any questions about any of them that were on there that I need to go over again or >> I just had a brief question. It's about the um the addition of policy BCBK, >> which is hard for me to read because I want to say Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Canada. >> Yes. Yes. >> Um um and it says, you know, unless the recording of an executive session is required by law, if a person does record it when they're
072not supposed to, that we'll move to press criminal charges against that person. Um, just kind of a, you know, friendly reminder. We don't actually decide if the charges get pressed. We can just advocate for it. It's actually going to be your prosecutor um that decides whether to do that or not >> or you're a policeman to arrest. But is there actually any I can't recall off the top of my head. It never came up when I did criminal law. Is there um a statute that would make that a crime to record an executive session for a public entity? >> That is a good question. I am not sure. Casey, do you >> I don't know for sure, but I can look into it. >> Okay. I I can look into it, too. I was just
073That kind of came up all of a sudden to me here. >> Yeah. >> But, uh, no other questions here. >> Okay. >> Um, I just had a a question. I would like to submit that we um not accept the change to BG memberships. At our last meeting, um several of us had flagged that we didn't think um that we should just limit our um membership to the Kansas Association of School Boards despite the fact that they have been really good to us. But I don't I I I think we should maintain and other educational associations. >> So, keep the current one. >> That would be my recommendation, but I don't know if we have to take that out from a separate vote or >> or how we would do that. I think we would
074just move to pass it with that amendment that that revision be rejected on track changes. >> Okay. Leslie is not here and this is this is her motion to do. So you >> actually I have one question. >> I'm sorry I hopped in. Um Um I do have one question. So when I was looking at the IKB, the controversial issues policy, >> um it really kind of um shrunk shrunk it, I guess. Um you know, it seemed to be a bit more specific um there and it just sort of truncated it. And I know of course we can word smith and make something say the same thing as opposed to a long thing that says the same thing. But >> um is there anything about that that you know may have driven that that caused
075that type of revision? >> I don't I I am not exactly sure because like you said it's pretty much saying the same thing just in a different way. Um, it went from a very lengthy policy to what one sentence. I mean, it's it's not very long on there. >> I can give the reasoning from KASB if you'd like. It says, "This fall we noticed an uptick in district personnel matters springing from personal commentary by certified staff members in the classroom setting. This revision is meant to reinforce that expectation that while we can be acceptable to cease the opportunity for teachable moments through student engagement on controversial issues, it is not appropriate for teachers to use those moments to express their personal viewpoints in such a way that would be violative of board policy or state
076law on a political activity. If that helps at all. >> Yeah, it does. It just seems like there might have been something more there. Mhm. >> You know, that's it just feels like there might have been something more there because Yeah. Spider sense. >> Yep. >> Okay. This is an action item. I would entertain a motion. I move to retire board policies BCBK. I no the wrong way. >> You're fine. You can just take that part out if you want. You can just take the BG out if you want. >> Okay. I move to retire board policies BCBK, I HF, I KB, I K CA, I K D, I K D A J BCC, J C A C, J Q N G A CC and to approve the updated policies BCB K, I HF, I
077KB, I KCA, I K D, I K DA, JBCC, JCAC C JQI and GACC as submitted. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. Motion passes. 70. Nicely done, Lillian. >> Yeah, >> Leslie says, "Great job on the phone." >> That that's going to bring us to item 9A, uh, sale of Kansas Avenue building. >> Yeah, I'll take this one. Um if you'll recall uh we had a contract for Kansas Avenue and uh for the amount of $80,000 in place for a while. It was pending on a lot of contingencies with regard to other resources and funding. Um that buyer had withdrawn um the offer a couple of months ago um after not receiving funding through the last cycle of the RHID I believe it was. And so we received another
078offer late last week. Um that offer is for actually a little bit more, $85,000. Um just $1,000 of earnest money, but it's a conventional loan, pre-approved conventional loan, uh with a with a very quick turnaround on closing date. Um and Matthew Johnson is here, our uh our representative. he he could answer any questions about this particular offer, but um from an administrative standpoint, I would I would recommend us entertaining uh selling Kansas Avenue to this buyer. What questions does the board have? Matt, is there anything you would like to share? Uh that pretty much pretty much covers it. Um little little less work that I have to do. >> Yeah. I had a question. So this is a person. Um it looks like they're buying the property for personal use. Do they intend to demolish
079build a new home? I'm kind of curious if you have authority to share any of what they intend to do with the property. >> Uh the only thing that the buyer agent shared was that the buyer intends to uh utilize this uh the way that is properly zoned. uh whether that is going to be single family or multif family. >> Okay. >> Save us a lot of mowing. >> Well, I will make a motion to accept the offer from Marvott L. Dehoney to purchase the Kansas Avenue school for $85,000 as submitted. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any further comments? Okay. Hearing none, please cast your vote. >> Motion passes 70. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. That's going to bring us to item 9B, superintendent report. >> Yeah, a
080few items. Um, I don't have a super thorough legislative report, but wanted to at least reference uh kind of what's happening right now. If you don't know, I think most the folks sitting at the dis know, legislator's been on a quick break after first adjournment. They will actually return u tomorrow for a two to three day uh veto session. the governor's been busy signing bills, vetoing bills, u a flurry of activity in the governor's office. It's interesting because, you know, the the legislature has to actually forward the bills to her and then there are so many days and so if they don't get them forwarded to her by a certain point, she can veto them and then there's no chance to override. There's just all kinds of of um manipulation going on when it comes
081to to politics and Topeka. But it's not just Topeka, it's politics in general, right? um they find ways to get things done or to not get things done depending on what benefits whom. Uh so a lot of activity there. I'm not going to go into any specific bills uh this evening, but we'll continue to try to provide you more updates as that that uh veto session rumbles through. Um we have been busy trying to deal with House Bill 2299, the cell phone bill. Um, I didn't want you to think that we, you know, just because we haven't come to you with any policy suggestions that we're not working on it. Um, talked to some to a senator and a representative today who uh both said, "Yeah, we probably shouldn't have been so prescriptive in that
082bill, should we?" Uh, because uh right now the big debate is uh you know, a lot of the districts that have tried to uh eliminate cell phones uh in Kansas and in other states as well have used various pouches. is I'll just use Yonder as one of the brands of pouches that you can uh lock a cell phone in at the beginning of the day and then the student can easily run it over a magnet, you know, and get their cell phone out at the end of the day and they kind of keep track of their own pouch. Um but based on some of the language in the bill um about the electronic devices having to be, you know, locked away, securely stored and inaccessible, there's some question as to whether those pouches would be
083an acceptable solution. Uh we did get some information this week that um the administrative groups, USA Kansas, uh involved in some conversations with legislators about creating some sort of a formal agreement that would at least um we could all be rest assured that if that's the approach we take, we're not going to have the attorney general on our back for some reason, that we're not following the letter of the law. um and then um potentially come back next session and try to make it a little less prescriptive so that districts can have some leadway on how they're actually implementing. Um I would I would argue that they should go all the way back to just saying there shouldn't be cell phones in school and then let school districts determine exactly how they're going to do
084it and maybe we could even teach some personal accountability along the way rather than having to take something and lock it away. Uh but uh that's we Cheryl has been doing a great job of leading the district's efforts in evaluating various um companies solutions. Um again kind of focusing on this pouch locked away pouch piece. But you have to realize that we have some we have some situations just that maybe are unique to our district and some others like our open lunch for example. That's a part of the school day. That's a part of the belltobell school day. And so if a high school student brought a phone into the school, we locked it into the pouch. It doesn't get out. The magnets are taken away and not put back out to unlock the pouch
085until they're either checked out of school for some purpose or the end of the school day. So they could literally go get in their car, be in an accident or something over the launch period and not have their phone available, but it's there but locked in a pouch. Um maybe that will encourage students to just leave them in their car locked during the day so that they do have access to it and we may see lot a lot more students leaving campus you know for lunch. That wouldn't be a horrible solution for us as far as locking phones away. We just assume them not bring the phones to school at all or bring them bring them in the school. That would be the best solution for us. You know these patches are going to be
08660 to90,000 every three to five years. um if we have to provide, you know, anywhere from two to three thousand of them. Um and I don't think that this will necessarily be dealt with exactly the same way, secondary versus elementary, we're going to have to evaluate, you know, with the elementary use and and students bringing phones, uh because a lot of those students, their their families aren't even letting them have a phone yet. And so, um hopefully that would keep our cost down some, too. But we're we're trying to work through all of that and u address the letter of the law to the best we can. But um even though KSB did come out with a policy at 5:30 this evening for boards to consider um all the advice we're getting is not to
087rush to approve a policy. Let some of these conversations and dialogues settle out first um and and then work within an environment that's more known as we start to address it in policy. So you'll see more on that coming down down the pipe. Um, amateur radio on the International Space Station. Tagan, Tagan left the room. I was going to say Tagan, wasn't it cool? Because I saw him get goosebumps in the room, you know, today. Today, too. I really think probably there wasn't anybody in the room where the students are there and the adults are there and you're all anticipating uh this amateur radio connection to get to the right spot and track something traveling 20 2,500 miles per hour through space. you know, for a 10-minute period. Um, Tegan, you tell me. Did you
088get goosebumps and kind of tears well through your eyes, too, when it kind of actually connected? >> Yeah, I know. >> Yeah, it was really it was it was really, really amazing. So, we just appreciate ESU, all the students and their work. Mrs. Sloopiac. Sloopupiac. Sloop. Sloopupian. Got it. And Miss Albertson. Uh were our teachers involved? USD 251 and 252 were also involved. Um but a lot of planning. The uh the Emporia, you know, amateur radio society involved. Uh it took a lot of people, a lot of time and and and you know, there was a lot of learning leading up to today about amateur radio and about space uh in in the schools and in the classrooms as well. So really really cool thing and I thought the I thought the astronaut astronaut did
089an amazing job of of uh you know really answering the questions but answering them in a in a in a brief uh way with some humor and personal added to it uh that let as many students as possible ask as many questions as possible. So super super event. Um I don't know if you're on LinkedIn but I I post I post rarely on LinkedIn but I I had to get something out there on LinkedIn about this particular event. and I put my little video out there. So, sorry, Lindell, if I stole the thunder on the video. I know I sent it to you to put put other places, but um I thought some of the folks that know me might might like to know that I had one of the best 10 minutes of my
090year today and wanted to tell some people about it. Um, Kansas Math Master Teacher recognition, Emporia High School math teacher and 2026 Emporia. Kansas Master Teacher Kathleen Gillan was celebrated at the Kansas Master Teacher Awards banquet last week. I apologize for not being there. I was out of town um at another at another uh obligation, but seven former Emporia Public Schools master teachers joined Miss Gillan in this celebration. I won't run them all off and I won't announce the years here out loud although they're on there. Uh but I did want to me mention that our own very own board of education member Barbara Fowler uh was one of those former master teachers that was there to help celebrate. So appreciate you uh doing that. Um Emporia High School designation as an all-star high school.
091We learned about this this week too. Congratulations to Emporia High School. Uh each year the Kansas Board of Regents recognizes high schools across the state for their efforts to support students post se post high school success and uh selected schools are those that have actively guide students through college applications through their FAFSA completions and then uh celebrate career choices um hold events just just a focus on helping students uh you know get get to their post-graduate paths and careers whether it be college or some other pathway. And so Emporia High School is one of 219 uh schools receiving this award in 2026. So super proud of that. And then finally, capturing kids hearts. You know, we talked a lot about capturing kids hearts and cost containment, right? And our and our and our $118,000 contract
092with them and so on. I I am happy to say that um Miss Leads has been working with Capturing Kids Hearts. Um, we've been able to to um find an opportunity to utilize about $22,000 of our title funds, which we've used for this program in the past, and then Capturing Kids Hearts giving us a $10,500 grant, so that we'll still be able to access the Capturing Kids Hearts curriculum and resources. we just won't be doing all of the things that we did with them in the past with regard to jumping on the phone once a month or, you know, traveling and holding their hand around the schools so that they can tell us how well we're doing. Uh we feel like we've got a pretty good handle on capturing kids hearts and that we can
093make sure that that it's happening with fidelity across our district. Today's exciting news is that we were notified that we are a district national uh national showcase school district for capturing kids hearts and then all of our elementary schools and Jones Early Childhood Development Center all received campus awards for being showcase uh capturing kids hearts schools and so super super proud of them. Uh I put a little bit about capturing kids hearts there. Uh but um just making you know our our staff does a great job of engaging with kids. If you're ever if you're ever at a and I know I know you have been at a school when it when the kids are coming in the principles and teachers are doing do a great job of making sure those students feel welcome and
094and engaged. Um they're they're you know communicating with care um being passionate about the content. Uh so it's it's the whole Excel teaching model. I won't I won't try to teach you here all about capturing kids hearts. You can read about it in there, but uh anytime I go out to a school, I can see it happening in the schools. I can you you can witness us and see it. Um it's u it it's it's a it's a very it's a very good program and I'm glad that we've been found a way to continue to provide those resources. But mostly just wanted to congratulate all of our folks for really really really um implementing with Fidelity and and receiving those national showcase awards for the campus and the district. >> Thank you for that update.
095Um and again all the hard work and uh engagement with our students. Um, that's going to bring us to item 10A, future board calendar dates. Our next meeting will be April 15th, which will be next week, which will be a special board meeting here at Mary Herbert starting at 6 p.m. Uh, then we will have our regular board meeting on April 22nd. And we will have staff recognition on April 29th as well at White WLY auditorium. And I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved, seconded. >> It's been moved and seconded. Please cast your vote. >> Motion passes 70. >> Thank you very much.