USD253 Board Meeting 2025-06-11

001order. There are seven board members present. I'll entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. So move. Second. motion passes 70. The next item is 3A, public comments. Casey, are there any public comments this evening? We do not have any. Thank you. As a reminder, anyone wishing to provide public comment should complete the online request to submit comments form, which will need to be completed by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the day of the board meeting. Next is the consent agenda. The items listed on the consent agenda are considered by the board of education to be routine business items. 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 his or her

002request, it will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. What are the wishes of the board? I move to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second. Motion passes 70. The next item is 7A, Boys and Girls Club of South Central Kansas, 60-day notice. Um, Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Pam Stranathan's going to join um and provide some additional information. We were very disappointed that we received um notification late yesterday that they were going to give us a 60-day notice and then we talked with them this morning. Um Pamman talked with them yesterday and then we talked with them this morning and they continued to say that they were giving us a 60-day notice which really does not allow us a really good time period to be able to to um put together quality

003child care after school. Yeah. So to provide a little bit of history on this, um Megan had reached out to me um a couple of months ago referencing um to the fact that they may have to reduce because of the numbers and but at that time it was just a conversation they were trying to figure out cost. One of the things that I did share with them was that well keep this into consideration. If you reduce, you're going to have to figure out a way in which to get kids bust over to the site because since all of our schools let out at the same time, one thing I did share with them at that time that you know I would hope that we could have conversations about that um in reference and so it

004kind of got quiet, didn't hear back um their board meeting, they had talked financials. I asked for a breakdown of what it was costing per site so that I could kind of look at the budget there because I thought, okay, if there's some way that I can figure out funding, maybe we can help support it in some capacity. At that time, they gave a breakdown. So, I talked I I had conversations with uh Megan's supervisor um about the cost and you know, I'm not understanding exactly um why you would need to reduce down. Um a large part what was shared at that time was it had to do with they were offering scholarships um to um a lot of our students and families. and I was still struggling with that conversation of figuring out still

005financially why it needed to be reduced. Um, so then it was it was quiet and then Megan reached out and wanted um to have a meeting and said a couple of board members were going to be on there. So I'm thinking going into that meeting late um afternoon yesterday that it was to tell us we were for sure going to do three sites and have a discussion further. Well, it was to tell us that they were completely dropping. And so I um shared my concerns about how a year ago um I had talked specifically with them and I know they had talked here about going out for funding, looking at stuff. Dr. Harter had given some information to them in reference to some contacts. Um, I provided a letter to them and I said specifically,

006there are people in this district that have a lot of contacts with people in the community that are associated with um different grant funders and that when they start reaching out to them to please let us know and so that we can support that. Um, so their grant writer apparently did not. um the communication back to what I found out when I asked more questions um today was that if there was not a letter requested then they didn't send a letter. So um I'm I'm not so sure the pursuit of funding was done at the integrity that um I think as a district we would have liked to seen them pursue that. Um, granted, you know, a comment to us was made today was that there was um that's, you know, in hindsight there probably

007could have been more. Well, hindsight's hindsight. That's not helping our families. Um I did express yesterday um the concern about how just a year ago they had come to us wanted to raise the fees and to help support um the programs did not and and I did question how come a year ago I would assume they're not doing funding monthtomonth that if they're having to raise fees they're projecting to look out further to say a year from now we may be in trouble if we don't get such and such funding. um didn't get a response back from that when um talking to the the committee and so you know I shared the concerns I cons the concerns with this with the community with our families with this occurring at the time that it's occurring of

008trying to um get something in place. So they when we got off there they knew we were not they wanted to do a joint initially wanted us to do a joint statement out. I did not feel like that was um this is not a joint decision. This is their decision that they provided to us in a very short time frame and also they wanted a contact for the district on that uh press release that they're releasing and I felt like the anybody that were making phone calls in reference to their decision needed to go to them and not to us. So that's where we're at. um very disheartening, very upsetting um to have gotten that information from them. Thanks, Pam. Um I think a lot of us probably have questions. Um I was just wondering,

009so Boys and Girls Club of South Central Kansas serves other communities. It's not just Emporium, right? Are they seeing a reduction in services offered in other communities? So today on the conversation, um Dr. Carter asked if there was any other location that they were completely doing away with. And no, we are the only ones. In the news, if you look them up, you see in Lawrence, they did a reduction in staff, but not a a complete, you know, we're not we're not doing anything, right? And reduction in staff isn't necessarily a reduction in like programs, right? Correct. Yeah. Thank you. Um, this is really disappointing. So, help me like I just want to make sure I have my information straight. They've given us a 60-day notice um with seven years remaining in in our memorandum

010of understanding. Correct. Because we signed a 10year MU with them. Correct. And they're bailing seven years early. Correct. And remember um a year ago there when um there was talk about you know whether we were looking at some stuff with the wreck they had approached um us about theou and how we had a 10-year agreement. So how could we you know separate out of that which I think is now kind of a turn of the table. Now they're wanting to use that to leave us. So they did say also that it was on an administrative recommendation that the board made that decision um separately as part of the financial review. One of the things too was I I my question to them was why there was no opportunity for anybody from the district to talk

011to their board or to even you know have a reference to what what can we do you know and that was one thing I kept saying to them you know let's this was prior to when they brought up just reducing down was okay what can we do you know let's talk together what we can do and figure this out. So, yeah. So, as you just mentioned, the board made the decision and you may not know the answer to this, but is their board more of a Witchaw based board or to your knowledge or I don't know that. I I don't know where and that's understandable. Yeah. I don't know what how their board is based and so Okay. I don't know if anybody else has looked them up. Well, and if you remember when when

012they had the presentation, they were looking for an Emporia board member. So, they had board members from every other community they served, but did not have one for Emporia. So, um I I don't believe do not believe that they have one from Emporia. I don't think so. Other questions? Okay. And I I would just like to say I know that this was shocking news to us all today, but to reassure our families that we will be providing some form of afterchool care in the coming school year that that's something that we're working on as a district moving forward. It just might not be with Boys and Girls Club or it might be. We we'll we'll see. We'll see. Yeah. Thank you. I'm just staying up. I'm up next. I think I'm up for a while.

013This is an action item. Yes. To I think uh to move that we acknowledge that the 60-day notice has been provided to the school. It's not an agreeance to accept, just that it's been provided. I move that we acknowledge that the 60-day notice has been provided to the school district and task administration with exploring other options for afterchool care for our elementary students during the 2025 2026 school year. Second. Motion passes. 70. Next is item 7B, the purchase of two route buses. Um this is in reference to um the transportation asking for two buses. This is on the cycle and you have a copy of the bids that came in through the um off the state bids and then these are two regular route buses and you also have the um the cycle of rotation

014on there that was provided that lets you know what that looks like. So, um, this year would be the two buses that she's requesting for the rotation. I'll make a motion to approve purchasing two new buses from Midwest Transit as submitted. Second. Motion passes 70. We have We have a special guest. Corey's here for the next two. The next item is 7 C storefront for EHS boiler room. Evening. So, we talked about with that boiler project, we'd have to take the storefront out to get the old boilers out and the new boilers in. That has been taken down with a temporary wood structure put up in its place. Instead of trying to put the old structure back, that's already been taken out and put back in once. It's not in very good shape. What we'd

015like to do is put in a full-size 12-oot garage door with a walkthrough door beside it. Uh before it had two walkthrough doors, which weren't big enough to put any equipment in. So, this will allow us to use it for a garage space. Um, with the 12 foot door, we can actually park one of the snowplow trucks in there in the winter. Um, the new boilers are small enough that it actually gives us a full parking spot. Um, DH Pace is who we looked at to do that. They've given us a buy board bid of 20 or $37,000. That's for the install of the storefront and the both doors. Um the garage door will be a manually rollup door. We're not spending the money on a an electric door for something that's going to be

016used, you know, a handful of times a year hopefully. Um the walkthrough door is just a standard walkthrough door, but it's heavy duty so that we have, you know, the 10 to 15 years of expected use out of it. Any questions? Um yeah, I just have one question. Um, so not necessarily opposed to this, just out of curiosity, what would the cost be to replace with the same system that we have now? Roughly the same because what was in there now is a bunch of glass. So you have the two doors, we're at one door, so you'd have still double the cost of the doors that we're doing now. And then we'd have glass, so we would lose on our efficiency in that room. And we'd also have um extended costs on say the vehicle

017being outside versus inside where it's protected. Um the cost of a storefront is roughly the same as the cost to do the doors. So really I think we're actually saving money in the big picture to do the doors instead of the traditional storefront. Thank you. Okay, that was easy. Great question, Lillian. Uh, I move to approve the quote from DHPEC to furnish and install the storefront pack door package at the EHS boiler room as submitted. Motion passes 70. The next item is 7D, change order for EHS boiler replacement. So, as the demo has completed, uh they actually finished that up today for demoing out the old equipment. There may be some other lines that end up getting demoed out, but the majority is out for now. We found that the expansion tank um so we

018have a hot water system pumps hot water all around the building. Hot water and cold water expand and contract differently. So you have to have an expansion tank for when those pipes get too full and the boilers are full. So that expansion tank that was in there was actually original to the building. When we got everything out of the way and could really get a good look at it, it's not in very good shape. So we'd like to put in a new one that would be up to code. Um, the old one would still have to be recoded and would be expensive to do that. For $8,666 on a TIPS bid because we're adding that to the original bid. We could have a brand new tank fully certified that's actually sized optimally for the system.

019The old tank would work with the old with the new system, but it's not optimally sized. And like I say, we'd have to actually get it reertified and rebuilt, which would one slow us down and two would probably cost us roughly what a new tank would being as it's so old and everything would have to be retrofit. So we would like to just get the new tank, put it in instead of trying to reuse the old tank. So like it's over 50 years old then? 1973. Okay. So yeah. Yeah. I would say that it's worth replacing then if I can go ahead and make that motion this evening. I move to approve the change order for an increase of $8,666 for the EHS boiler replacement project as submitted. Second. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Okay.

020The next item is 7E vape detectors for Emporia High School. Okay, we have Pam Stanathan again and we also have Mr. Brent Burns, assistant uh principal of Emporia High School here to provide additional information as well. So yeah, that was his pink. So I thought it was creative. So um I had shared um a few Fridays back in reference to the vaping devices that we were piloting at the high school. We wanted to pilot those at the middle school but was not able to get those in in a timely manner. So we continued to pilot it at the high school. Um BATA is a uh company that is being used by several high schools. Um, I'm very familiar with it from prior working with them and working um with a high school that had those

021devices. Um, what the device does is it's placed inside and it detects particles. Um, part of it that we're not using right now that we we could have piloted, it also has a sound so that if there's any vandalism or stuff, it can notify people too. or if loud screaming and yelling is going on in the bathroom, it can also um so that if there would be a fight breakout or something, it would also be able to um share that with the administration. What the devices do is there's um also a camera that is mounted outside in the hallway, not in the bathroom. And what it does is it will send a notice to them um to the principles. It can go email or go text. And Brent's going to talk a little bit more

022about that on how they've um utilized that, but it notifies them and then it also tags it in the camera. So then the camera videos who's coming in and out at that time when uh the devices are going off. So um he's he'll share with you what you see in the first um year with that. you kind of see things go up because um kids are are doing things or vaping and then it's getting detected and then once they understand those private areas are no longer available then you'll start to see incidences go down. But um wanted to let Brent share because they they've been very very happy with it and he can share more about that and then we're just requesting that to go ahead and put that completely you know fill that out

023into that building and then potentially look at next year of putting a pilot at the middle school and looking at that. Um one of the things that it's nice about this is you can turn those off and on. So, for instance, when you have big events and stuff, um you don't want um the bathrooms to be from people going in and out and loud noises from events and activities with large crowds in there. So, there's the capability of doing that, too. So, all right, I'll turn it over to Brent. Let him share. Thank you. First, I was going to say I haven't seen this much pink since the Legally Lawn musical, so I was kind of waiting for everyone to get up and start singing. So, that's Um, so I wanted to say kind of

024just going to give you some background on kind of how searches when it cames to like vapes would work in the past. Um, before we even had a portable vape detector, which I'll get to in a moment, you basically had to kind of catch them red-handed or hear that there was a report um, in order to do the search. Um, you bring a student in, kind of check their bags, check their pockets. We've got a metal detector. Um, and it was very hit or miss. Um, it wasn't very easy to do. Um, last school year we ended up purchasing a portable vape detector that our SRO's or our security, so Larry or Officer ARS when we had him would be able to go into the bathrooms after, you know, a little while and they'd bring

025in their little portable vape detector and they'd kind of watch what the reading would and as the numbers go up, it was an indicator that someone had been in there vaping. Um, that helped a lot also with trying to figure that out. Once we saw that the numbers readings went up, he'd be able to come back. We'd be able to go through camera footage. You'd spend a lot of time figuring out who went in there five minutes beforehand, five minutes after, trying to figure out, was anybody in there. You'd be able to eventually narrow down which students you may want to have to do a search for, but it took a lot of time. Just that initial part could take 45 minutes. Um, just because you're trying to figure out the time before, the time

026after, going through all that footage, identifying the student, where's the student at, and then bringing them in. So, it took a lot of time. Um, and it was really kind of hit or miss because it just happened to be wherever our security happened to go into that bathroom. Um, so if they were going into the bathrooms, maybe down by the gym, you know, but someone was using it down by the science wing, you know, we'd miss that. So it was kind of really hard to do that. So when I found out we were going to pilot these uh vape detectors with Forcotta, we picked the restroom that was furthest away from the office and uh we kind of got them installed there. Uh the beauty of what this does is we do get that instant

027alert right away. It comes right through an email or a text message. It says high vape reading. Um it gives us a time. It actually connects right to a camera as well. and we can actually go open an email and it'll give me a snapshot right away of that bathroom and it'll say this is when the detector went off so that we know exactly what the time is. But it also does something else that's really neat when it comes to looking at footage. It has a motion detecting sensor on it as well. So instead of having to watch 30 minutes of footage before and after to see who was going in and out, I can actually just fast forward to each of those motion detection pieces, which speeds up the process a whole lot. So

028instead of taking say 45 minutes to identify which students were in there, we can do it in about 10. Um so a whole lot faster when it comes to getting them in. U the other reason that's important is the students like to pass them off. So if you don't get them in there quickly, they go back to class, they kind of slide at hand, give it to somebody else, and it's really kind of hard to catch. Uh we noticed we had much higher success rates with Ricata when it came to searches. Um, I would say more than half the time if we pulled someone from one of the vape detectors went off, we actually got a uh we we managed to pull a vape um from those students. Um, I compared data from this year

029and last year. Uh, this year we pulled 50 vapes. 50. Um, and of those 50 vapes, 27 were THC. So, we're talking marijuana. So, more than half the vapes that we're getting are actually drugs. Um, last year, our total number was only 34 with 23 being THC. So, we're still actually, unfortunately, I hate to say it, the vapes that we're getting are not not nicotine primarily. They're primarily THC. And with it being legal, what an hour and a half you go to Kansas City, it's a lot easier for kids to get a hold of them. So, we're trying really hard at the high school to try to get the drugs out of the building. Um, the students that we have caught over the last two years, we've only had one repeat offender. So, either they've

030figured it out and they've stopped doing it or they've gotten better at hiding it. I'd like to think that it's the first like that they're like, "Okay, we don't want to do that." Um, so I kind of agree with what uh Pam had said. You we'll probably see an uptick in how many people were getting, but the kids start talking and they're like, "Oh, there's a vape detector. There's a vape detector." And the idea is to deter them from doing it because if they know that they're in more bathrooms now, they don't feel like they have a safe place where they can go uh, you know, use these. Um, and the and the reason it's so important to get these devices out of the building is these kids don't really know what they're getting. Um,

031when you talk to the students, it's interesting when you get a student in there and they've already been busted. They become very forthcoming with where they get it because I always ask. They won't give you a name, but they'll kind of let you know how they're getting it. And what they're doing is they're using social media. There's people that'll come into Emporia because I thought maybe it was like one or two people in town that was selling them. That's not what's going on. They've showed me post where they use Snapchat and Instagram. Hey, meet me at Peter Pan Park. 40 bucks. You know, I'll get it. So, now we have kids that are walking up and and they're getting them from from complete strangers, which is really scary, you know. So, anything we can do

032to try to keep it out of the buildings and deter people from trying to use these will be huge. But, uh, like we we've loved them. They've been wonderful. Um, I know Larry was here earlier, but I know he could speak also about how how much it's really sped up his job. He's been allowed to do a lot more of his duties in the building with the amount of time that we've been able to save using Vicato. Right now, you guys have any questions for for me right now? I I just want to say how much I appreciate that last part that you shared there because for me this is all about protecting, not punishing. Right. Right. It's it's encouraging kids. We want them in school. We don't want to suspend them. We don't want

033to kick them out and we don't want them harming themselves with ingesting something they don't know what it is. So I Yeah, I it can seem so big brothery. Um but for me it's it's truly about protecting them and keeping them in school because I don't want them out. I want them there learning. I think we all graduating. Yes. Absolutely. I just wanted to clarify when you talk about the cameras and the c I assume the cameras are only uh I mean coming and going there, you know. So there there's no misunderstanding that they're in the restroom. There's no cameras. Correct. Well, I mean I understand that but I don't want the public to misunderstood. No, I I'm glad you clarified. Yeah. The cameras are just all the entrances, the main entrance. There's nothing inside

034the bathroom whatsoever. Um, one other thing and maybe this more it talks about we buying quantity a 33. So it I think from what you're saying that would be for in the restrooms and hallway. I mean Yeah. Yeah. The the devices the 33 are in the bathroom. All the different bathroom. Yeah. And we ended up having to buy so many because in some of the stalls that we had that are from ceiling to floor, you have to do individual ones in there. So the ones that have a gap, you can it can cover more stalls. So, um I like I I want to just tell you thank you for piloting this and um I know that this is something that we've as a school board has been have been concerned about for quite a while

035and we just want our kids to be safe and healthy and this is just one like Leslie said just one you know important step that we can do. So, thank you for for doing this for us. Yeah, anytime. Definitely. Thank you. Um I have a couple of questions. Um, so you mentioned doing a pilot at the middle school next year. Is vaping a problem that you're seeing significantly at the middle school as well? So I'm not there yet, but I've been talking to my assistant principles that I'm going to end up having. And yeah, they're they're seeing it even at the sixth grade level. They shared with me that they had I don't know what their exact numbers are. Um, I know the high schools because I put on the data entry for the state.

036So it's a little bit easier for me to pull that right away. But I know just this morning when I was talking with uh Miss Wadell, she said that she's they even have sixth graders that are getting busted with THC and more of their vapes are THC than nicotine as well. They're seeing the same trend. Okay. Thank you. Um and then kind of a two-part question. So I was wondering um well I was looking over the proposal. There's I don't see anything in here about like maintenance or replacement. if something happens to any of the devices, what's the plan for that? And so there's warranties with it. And also because it's a it's a cloudbased program, any updates are automatic. Like we don't have to pay for future updates to that. Now, if we if

037there's equipment down the road that changes, you know, in three or four years, um then they would give us a discount in reference to that equipment if we were to replace it. But um they have warranties. And then the the good thing too is that the equipment has gone down significantly from what it was just three years ago. So it's more affordable now. Um the other thing if they try to tamper with it, it will let them know that somebody is tampering with it and and tell them immediately. So Okay. Um and then my I might have just answered my own question, but the license is for three years. So, C would we expect to see this $8,500 price again in three years? Um, we could. Yes. Okay. And we only did a three-year to

038not push that out, you know, because you can do a three or a five usually and just to keep it at three to see where we're at with that in three years. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I also want to ask about we're talking about the tampering piece. Oh, that actually happened this year once. We had a tampering notice go off. We went in there, the vape had been pulled from the ceiling. um they're really sturdy. Uh we didn't have to repair it and actually Paul was able to come out with tech and they were able to reinstall and put it back up. So it's not like we had to call the company to have them come out and reinstall it. It was pretty easy for them to put back in. So we at least I

039can say from our instance, you know, as far as uh tampering goes or vandalism, they're they're pretty pretty tough. Like I mean when that one got ripped out of the ceiling, we were like, "Oh man, are we going to have to get a whole new one?" And it was a pretty just a new ceiling tile and they managed to just pop it right back up into the ceiling and there was no damage. It was working just fine. I was just going to ask about how not knowing what these really are like, but but you answered it, the tampering part, how tamperproof, if you will. Yeah, it seemed like it worked really well. Like I said, it's we get the same notification that we do if uh it's detecting a vape immediately. We get something on

040our phone, we get a notification through email and it says, "Hey, uh you know, tampering's currently happening there right now." We can send security to go right there or I can go or an administrator can go check real fast and then we can go back. back. It does the same thing on the footage. I can look at the the the motion and see who was in there and I can start narrowing it down real quick to kind of figure out what had happened. This is an action item. I move to approve purchasing vape detectors from CDW for Emporia High School as submitted. Second. Motion passes 70. Thank you. You okay, the next item is 7F, expansion of district benefit offerings. Okay. Feel like this has been my night. Um, one of the, um, things that

041as we continue to look at our insurance and look at some options and provide to, um, our staff is one of the things I talked with, um, IMA about was, uh, which they had shared with me too, was some options we offer for our retirees. If um currently our retirees when they're leaving um they can opt to take our health insurance and they can also opt to take um our um dental um not the vision. And so what came out of the conversation with IMA was looking at and and we've had some staff that are leaving that are not retiring um asking her for some options to be able to stay on our health insurance and stay um on our pool. So after talking with IMA, IMA also felt like, you know, this was a

042good idea to allow individuals because a lot of our um staff that are leaving at the five or 10 year mark are, you know, around the age of 30 and late, you know, late late 20s, I say late late 20s, um and then 30s and their 40s. So, what it's doing is it's adding um different age more age groups to our pool and giving us an opportunity to keep those individuals on our pool and um because our our retirees are over 200 individuals that are staying on there. So, it creates a a more balance with the individuals that are in the pool. So talking to them and having a conversation um Jared I talked and Dr. Harter and we were just you know going through some historical things and Kate as to you know why

043do we not offer if we offer the dental and we offer the why are we not offering the vision like is there a reason why we're not and there really was not a reason. So why not just offer a full package to our retirees and also offer it to individuals that are leaving the district and if they choose to take that and to pay for it. It would not be a cost to the district as once they leave um from the district they have to pay for it at full price out of their pocket. Um they would still have the option. you still have to offer Cobra, but there's a I think it's a two or 3% fee that is added on to that. When people go Cobra, it's the same thing. You you have

044to pay the full price. So, one of the things was trying to get an opportunity with individuals that have left the district this year and retirees to get people on there this year because we can't go back and add them. And that's the other caveat. you have to be on the insurance because Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you know, the rules to be added onto the insurance, you can't jump on there if you've never been on there or be added um if unless there's a a significant life change. So, the way the retirees read was continuing for those that are already on there. So that's what we are asking and we brought it to IBB to try to move this forward so we can we can grab this now as we start going into the

045next fiscal year with the July 1 and try to and so we would go back Melissa has the contacts for employees that were continuing and that were on it this year and offer it to them and then the retirees we would go back the ones that have opted to continue and offer the um vision to them. So, so asking for approval to go ahead and implement that and Melissa will start on that and start contacting individuals. So, the question I have is this needed to go to IBB to be able to make this change. um it came out of IBB because it's in our negotiated agreement and so that's where it was it was discussed in there and then to bring it back to the board for approval. So we're asking for approval before it

046goes through the negotiated agreement which there's policies attached to that which would come in July that we would update if the board approves it tonight. So I guess it seems like a positive thing for us but would it then being added to that agreement, we wouldn't be able to take it away unless we negotiated it out. Um, correct. So, I just to me sometimes it gets put in there, it's hard to get it out, even if we have a good reason. So, yeah, that just concerns me a little bit. You know, that didn't come up at all um during IBB. um you know we have some really vocal advocates in that group and and no one expressed any concern but that is definitely not something I'd even thought about art what you have to say

047yeah um I hadn't thought about that as also because if we were to you know not want to do this that would be a negotiable takeaway so you know if we're taking something away would we have to give something its place um financially like it seems like a benefit and when I first heard about it I thought this Sounds great. But then also um it can also hurt us too if if there's some really high usage that comes out of um some of the the former employees and I hadn't thought of that previously. Well, I wonder if we could do this but not put it in negotiate agreement. Um well, so it so thinking this through since it's a board policy um the board could approve it and then it could go through policy and

048could still be in play. Um I I don't know why you couldn't I mean we could get some um attorney guidance on that just and ask to make sure but you know because board policy always isn't in negotiated agreement. it backs up negotiated agreement. But so I I would be happy with whatever the legal advice would be, but I guess I would heir on not codifying in IBB or that negotiated agreement and maybe still offer it and and test it and then maybe we could later on, but that might be something that could be negotiated. Sure. Yeah. And I'm in agreement with that. I don't think we should bind our hands to it, but I do think it may be a financial benefit to us to do it. So, are you thinking approve it and

049then we'll bring it back for policy and then also hear what the attorney says about the IBB? So, we're kind of separating it a little bit where it's looked at as approved. We'll put it in a policy, which the board does, and then IBB will be discussed separately with them on whether it's placed in. Is that what I think? I would prefer to get the legal guidance first before we were to pass it. Yeah, but was there isn't there a deadline? Yeah, we're trying to get it on the July 1st when we hit that cycle because if we don't if we don't approve it then we're it's too late for those people to that just left or retired stay on. Right. When are we a separate When are we approving the negotiated agreement? where you

050have to are we gonna have to have a special meeting for that because I just wonder if we No, it would be the the 9th, right, Kate? On the calendar? So So we wouldn't have a special meeting for that? I was just wondering if we if we talked about it. I thought maybe having a special meeting if we needed to. So we could always push it off a little. I suppose we could have a special meeting for this if we so desire. I I wonder if another option could be that if the attorney says that it can go in policy and not in negotiated agreement, approve it on that, but then if it is not able to go in um in policy and it would need to go into negotiated agreement, bring it back to

051the board that yeah, we would and then and then that well and then if you would approve that where it would be in policy and that would be the only way it would be approved, not negotiated agreement and then if it was if it needed to go to negotiated agreement, bring it back to the board to decide what you want to do. That's fine either way. I think we just need to anticipate a special meeting is what I'm hearing. Okay. And I was thinking what what would be an option to Yeah. to be able to move forward if the attorney just says, "Yep, we can do that in in policy." But but if you want to do a special meeting, that's fine, too. What do we want? Well, I think we would have to if

052the board if the attorney said it couldn't go through policy but could had to go through negotiated agreement, we would have to have a special meeting because by the like the last week of June. I don't know. I guess I thought we could say um approval contingent upon um approval from legal advice and then is that I mean are you okay with that? But just into policy I mean I think art's point is really important. Yeah. So, do you want to make that motion? Sure. Let me just see what I can come up here with. So, I move to approve the change to allow retiring and resigning staff to maintain health, dental, and vision benefits benefits after separation. Uh, contingent upon approval from district legal counsel to add this to district policy. Thanks. Did I

053cover it? Yeah. It's like nobody talked to Casey right now. She's trying to type second. And so I can just No, you're So if legal counsel says no, that doesn't work. with doing just policy. Where are we at at that point then? Then you get to see me again later this month. That's fine. For a very short meeting. Yes. Okay. Please double check that wording and make sure it's correct. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. The next item is 8A board reports. Is there a report from the tech college? Yes, we met on Monday. Uh it was a nice meeting. It was our first meeting in like I don't know nine months, 10 months with seven board members. We filled our seventh position with Adrienne Burus from Michelin. Uh she will serve the

054board well. She asked great questions. We're really excited to have her. Um we got a department highlight from Ryan Brooks in the marketing department. Um Tech College is working really hard on promoting themselves and increasing enrollment. And uh we also got a sunset report on our strategic plan and then um looking forward to the new strategic plan. And it was also my last meeting as board chair. Okay. And then is there a report from the rec commission? Yeah. All I'll say with the rec commission is that um we've had a new executive director for a while. She's doing really well. I met with her recently just one-on-one to check in kind of a coffee and convo with the ERC. Um, and there's been some discussions with the city about a joint task force, and that

055really is probably the big rec center update, but I'll save that for later because it is an agenda item um later on in this meeting. Thank you. Okay, item 8B is the recognition of retiring district leaders. And I think Jamie is going to read something, but then we're going to take some pictures, too. So, be prepared for that. Um, we would like to invite Dr. Allison Anderson Harter, Mrs. Judy Stanley, and Mr. Jared Gifin to come forward. In appreciation of their commitment to engage, empower, and inspire generations of students in our community, the Emporia Public Schools Board of Education would like to recognize Dr. Allison Anderson Harter, Mrs. Judy Stanley, and Mr. Jared Gifin for their impressive and lengthy service to our school district and to our community. We wish you happiness, new adventures and

056relaxation in the coming years. [Applause] We would also like to take this time to acknowledge all of the pink in the room and get a quick photo. So, if everyone would come forward that's wearing pink tonight and jump in the photo. like a toe stretch. You have short legs. tell us what to do next. Okay. So, we have one more thing that we're going to do on our recognition um that was inspired by Dr. Harter. Each of the board members is going to share one of their highlights from the past fourish years probably. Um I don't know if there's someone that wants to start. Yeah. Well, um, it was exactly Oh, no. Oh, no. There she goes. Grant has been waiting for this. Um, three years ago was my first summer um on the board

057and I was new to everything and we we went through a very rough situation with the William Allen White thing. And in the moment it was a very tough thing for all of us to go through the community and all of us to go through um just in terms of kind of not knowing um what the best thing to do was or knowing what the best thing to do was and not wanting to do that. Um so we ended up um you know compromising and kind of working together and and uh going through into the trenches and and figuring out how to deal with that. And again, it it wasn't uh fun, but it gave me a good idea of what it's like to work together and just figure things out. And you you uh

058survived that. And we can now I look at what William Allen White has become and it's part of our legacy. So, um again, in the moment, I know that that you're like, "Oh, no, that was terrible memory." You know, but it it it ended up as a positive thing. I teach my students about um when you interview about behavioral question, tell us about a time when you turned a negative into a positive, you know, and you're supposed to be able to to answer that and that's what we did. We we turned a really tough situation together, working together into something that turned out really positive and I'm thankful for that. So many I know so many things. Um, so Allison and I have been together for so long um, from our Walnut days and there's

059so many good things like um, our efforts on the performance-based budgeting committee to advocate for Walnut and all the schools in this district. Uh, the remodeling of the um, notorious sunshine bathroom at Walnut that was not not sunshiny. um the comfort and uh guidance you gave me after the New Town, Connecticut shooting when I had a first grader. You you consoled me and helped me feel that I knew my kids were safe at Walnut. Um so many good things. And then I'm also super proud of our $15 an hour minimum and working with you to make that happen. Um that was a huge thing for our district and a catalyst in the community. So, I really appreciate all so many things, but we've been together a long time. Well, like Leslie, um we've been together

060a long time, right back to the very beginning. Uh you know, I've had two superintendent now, and I will tell you, uh hands down, you're my favorite. Um you know, you're going to be the bar that I measure other superintendent to. Um and you know, I was rooting for you. I went to bat for you when you applied. And the thing that always stood out to me about you was how you sort of muscled your way into that interview. Like you kind of you you did you know you were like we didn't really advertise. It was a very tumultuous time. And so you know um you kind of unprompted you put your application your email in. You said I've got an interest. I've got a passion. And you said I'm I'm ready to make myself

061known. And uh you did and you did a good job and I'm proud of you and I'll always believe in you. So, there are the rules and then I'm going to say what I want. So, I have to say what my favorite memory is. And that might involve a lip sync rap battle at Walnut Elementary. And I was really looking for the video so everyone here could see you doing a rap battle like when my kids were like in third and fifth grade possibly. And I'm like, "Wow, I love a person who gets in the theme of things." And you did. I mean, look at us tonight. So, um, what I appreciate most about you is that you are a shining example of what it means to be a woman in leadership and you are

062a true role model for the next generation of girls and women in our community. Um, one of the things that I find most impressive about you is that you're at your best when you're finding a creative solution to a problem. Um, I love that you advocated for the creation of the childcare classroom. I love that. Um, what Leslie said, you you know, fought for the $15 minimum wage. You're always doing what you can to take care of our community, not just our school community, but our entire community. So, thank you. Okay, Jamie kind of stole what I was thinking about saying. Um, so something that I think that you and I actually talked about briefly a few years ago, um, but was that I had never experienced a female superintendent before, um, in my teaching

063career, in my own education. And it meant a lot to me as an educator and as a woman to, um, to see what it looked like. We were at a at I think at the conference in Witchah and there was the session on why are there so many female teachers and so few women in school leadership. Um, and I left that thinking how lucky we are to work with you. Um, and there's more that I would say, but I will save for another day. Um, but in short, my moment that I did want to share was something that went back to when I first ran for school board that it was very important to me that we improved our graduation rates. And um, it matters a lot to me that that's something that we've done

064um, over the past few years. And I'm really proud of that. and that is um in part to all of us as a team but to you as a leader. Well, there's a lot of things but piggybacking on what Ellison talked about. So something outside our district but you have taken leadership in the state of Kansas with women superintendent and I don't know if you called it focus groups or group or okay superend but women super okay so but just leading that and I know when I would go to state conferences and so forth many people knew of you through your leadership in that so um what a fine example you've been to them as well was obviously to us. The other thing when you took the helm of our district, we had had a

065bond issue that started I think in November of 2019 and we were a couple years into that building project that went on for almost five and a half, six years now. Um, but you've shown a lot of leadership because anytime you're doing construction, there's always I say hiccups but challenges, decisions to be made and leadership to be sought and you've done a great job with that. and we've finally to this point as a district with facilities and we have a lot of good facilities that we're all very proud of. So, thank you on that. Who wants to be last on this thing? Um the things that come to mind is is kind of like what Grant said is the the complexity of your job becomes enormous when you add in the bond. And you know,

066I was thinking the other day, you can be a superintendent and dodge that bullet of having to go through a bond issue. And uh I I felt like ours took a a really long time. I don't know if that's normal, but um you know, and and then the other thing is the specific thing is I felt like Jones is is kind of a really crowning achievement and I feel like just continuing to grow that and and make it what it is today is is really shines your on your leadership skills. So, thank you. Well, thank you all. That was very unexpected. So, thank you. Thank you. [Applause] The next item is 8C, NSBA national connection fee for 2025 2026. So we originally had this on the consent agenda, but we wanted to talk about it.

067So we pulled it off during agenda review um for art to possibly add a little bit more information, some insight from KSB. Yeah. So there's been a lot of change going on with NSBA. Um I think more than half the states have withdrawn from the National School Board Association. Um with the creation of another uh national association, I don't think either entity is doing really well. Um but the lack of membership leads to lack of resources which leads to lack of services that they're able to provide. So, um, in my discussion with other board members in different districts, I think the prevailing thought is that we not renew our membership with NSBA. Now, that's just what I'm hearing. Um, just because there's the lack of the services that we're we're used to getting from that

068from this um payment. Um, and that that really just puts the onus on us and our state association to advocate for Kansas public education. So maybe we can take these dollars and do that. Um, that's one of the things I'm really disappointed in is the NSBA, especially most recently, had focused on advocating for public education um, in DC and getting in front of the most important people who are policy makers to really um, give support to public education. So, um, while we may not be paying this, we still need to take that up as a district and as a state to advocate for public education. So, I would agree with with you, Art. Um I I feel like Kansas Association of School Boards as uh probably our best guide on what we need to do

069at both the state and federal level. And um at a time when money just continues to be tighter and tighter, I think we could put these dollars to use somewhere else. So if I can ask this question, I assume from what I think I've had with other conversations at conference, but we could still utilize their services or conferences or whatever it might be uh as non-members rate versus paying this. Is that correct? That's correct. Yeah. Um there was I think it's a slightly higher uh registration fee, but um yeah, we we could definitely still participate if there was an ongoing national conference. I'm I'm okay with us not paying these fees. I agree. I would I mean KASB is where it's at, right? That's that's what we're advocating for is is what we can do.

070Um think globally, start locally right here in Amporia in Kansas. So, I move to not approve that work the annual fees for the National School Boards Association uh connection program for 2526 as submitted. Second Motion passes 70. Okay. Next item is 8 D update to board representation to committeesboards for 2025. We appreciate Dr. Ryan Cargula serving on the Emporia Recreation Commission for two terms. um his term ends at the end of June and so looking for someone to replace him, Mr. Nathan Fischer, Emporia High School principal, um expressed interest and talked about the responsibilities and he's very interested in being able to fill that role if board approves. Well, first I want to say thank you Dr. Cargula for that two years. That's a big commitment or four four years. eight years, eight two fouryear

071terms. I can do math. I promise. Uh I'll blame it on the emotion from earlier this evening. So, thank you first of all for your service. Um and I will move to approve the updated annual appointment seeing Mr. Dayan Fischer as the replacement on the Emporia Recreation Commission board is submitted. I second. Motion passes. 70. Okay. Okay. The next item is 8E board policy update first reading. Dr. Erica Mickelson, the director of teaching and learning is here to present on the AI policy. Yeah. First, I want to say thank you to the AI policy committee. Art was on that committee with us and uh Dr. Cargill and I were the ones that led that and we had four meetings throughout this uh year. We really started um mid year and then ran uh really up

072till April. And each night, each time we met, uh was a little bit of learning and a little bit of training. Uh and then uh we really dug into what does the policy need to have? Uh what the recommendations were from KASB and what are other districts doing particularly in the state of Kansas. There are other districts in around the nation that are doing some things, but we really wanted to um see what like districts were doing. We are actually on the forefront of this with the AI piece and so that's exciting. Uh knowing that though we will make updates as needed. Um that periodic yearly look at this will be really important as AI changes it seems like daily. But as you look at this we have the purpose. We also um wanted to

073add in some definitions because generative AI is different than just kind of normal AI that you would think of. uh when you think of generative AI, it's really chat, GPT, Gemini, those types of things. And we wanted to make sure we're not only having guidelines for uh students, but we're also having that staff look um so anywhere from our teachers to our administrative assistants and how can we really utilize that to support all staff and students in the district. Uh we also uh wanted to keep in mind that uh we're going to have to have training. So professional development is included in that. I am working on that alongside um I will be working with that alongside Mrs. H um who is coming in um as the director of teaching and learning for me um

074here in the next month and really making sure that the training and professional development is determined and then uh is given to the staff at the beginning of the year. Uh we will also uh do training as needed um as the year goes on and that will be for students and staff. Um I'm trying to think. We will continue to provide um all those with the updates and then um if students I know one of the things if students violate the the this acceptable use that would go to um the disciplinary action. So what would be in the student in the student handbook for that tech violation? That's where we would look at kind of what that recommendation would be for discipline. Are there questions? I don't know. All right. You have anything to add

075as a member? I would just say our students are already using uh generative AI, you know, how do I, you know, summarize this paper or what's the meaning of this poetry or something like that. So, I think this is important that we acknowledge it, that we train our staff and our teachers and and inform our students how it can best be used and some of the things that can go wrong when you use it. And and really um I don't want to discourage the use of it. I just want to be able to educate students and use it in a way that you can cite the use of it and and take advantage of the technology. Um, I have one question pertaining to the violations section, but it also goes back to the handbook from

076a while ago. Um, I don't know that what is in I'm just looking at the high school handbook um is necessarily in line with the violation section on this policy. Okay. Um, and so I know this is just a first reading. So maybe for the second reading if those could just align better. And the specific part that I'm looking at is that it says that the assignments they are to get no credit for the assignment in question from the handbook at the high school. And if that is the policy that we have set forth already in the handbook or vice versa, maybe modify this in some way. Okay. To be more in alignment. Um but that was all. Anyway, you can uh monetize credit for this policy when other districts uh start copying it because

077you know you said we're at the forefront. Thank you. Okay. The next item is 8F joint task force proposal with city and county. This is also a first reading. Okay, we have um several of us that attended the meeting. Um invite Miss Pam Stranathan um to the microphone and then also Jeremy Dorsy, Miss Lillian Lingenfelter attended the uh the meeting. the uh this has been proposed primarily by the city and um they have been talking about wanting to reduce the mill levy for the county, the city and the school district. There's been some um I will just say attempts at education at the at the two meetings that u Miss Strathan and I attended. Um Mr. Dorsy, Miss Lingenfelter can also um share some information. I think Mr. Dorsey may have attended maybe a few

078more meetings and then Miss Lingfelter was the last meeting. So for right now this is um being brought to the board for um so the input that I had from want to back up a little bit. We had our board agenda review Thursday afternoon and some concerns were expressed about how can another entity say for example that the school board is going to lower their mill levy or increase it have any influence on that. So when I reached back out to to Trey Hawking and um Christina Montgomery, the response that I had was that the the board could respond with what they would like to do as far as the wording. So really it is it is at the wishes of the board and then what other information the three of you may want to

079add to that. Yeah. So, you know, I've been in a couple of these meetings with the city um and have visited with some friends in the city um side of the sphere, and I think the way they would phrase it is that they're inviting us not so much because they want 253. And I'm not advocating for their position, just trying to explain how I understand it, that they don't necessarily want us to reduce our mill levy for what we pull in as a school district. What they've kind of imparted to me, what I've taken from it is they want us in on this because I think what their ultimate plan is, well, I shouldn't say plan. What I think their ultimate preference is is that the mill levy that we pull for the rec commission

080be reduced and offset with some sort of sales tax increase. Um, and I question whether that would actually be a tax break for people. Are you paying more in sales tax that year? Or are you paying less in property tax if it had been the other way? And even if you break even, it feels a little elucory to me. But I think that's what the city is frankly gunning for when it comes to the rec commission. I think that's why they really want us in on there. Um, you know, I'm not opposed to working together trying to find creative solutions. You know, my apprehension with this though is that uh seeing the city and county in some of those meetings is a little bit like cat and dogs. you know, are we really going to

081have enough people here to create a consensus that is actually viable for all the different partnerships? Um, is it necessary to go through this if ultimately you're really recommending one thing that interests the school board, which is reducing the mill on the rent commission and then offsetting it with a city sales tax. Um, so, you know, I'm not opposed to working on it. I just question whether or not we're really going to get something productive at the end of it. So, a little apprehensive, but um, those are my thoughts. I'm going to piggyback what you're saying. I I think one of my concerns was when listening to that is we our reduction we can't really do much with our reduction. So we're more or less sitting at the table. My concern would be is if

082there's an um a majority there that decide to want to pass a sales tax um what position that would put us in because we're not the entity that makes the decision. the city would be for passing that sales tax. And um it was brought up in that meeting that maybe it doesn't need to occur that the city should just look at that, which part of me agreed to that because it really is the city. We're not influencing that sales tax. Um, I think one of the things of um that was brought up was in reference to if they're wanting to reduce the mills or they're wanting to take over with what's going on with the um parks and wrecks in the town and the rec center, then you know that there's no I I don't

083think there's enough education that they have in reference to what that entails of what the cost and after being on the rec board as a treasurer. I've seen that and I I shared that in that meeting is that, you know, you're making these assumptions, but you don't understand what that cost potentially could be or what that's going to do to your community. And so, um, I think I think just sitting at the table and and giving input's one thing, but being at the table and a consensus is made and then it comes out of that looking like the school district agrees there should be a sales tax and there shouldn't be, you know, things should be dismantled. Uh, that made me very uncomfortable on the district's behalf. I agree with with your caution, Pam. Um

084just the title of the task force, the joint task force on mil levy reduction. I think one really sets the expectation that all of the entities are going to be exploring it. And if one entity is interested in this, then one entity, you know, they have the taxing authority to just do what they want. And so I don't even know what the result would come out out of this that would really impact the school board. um we're the taxing authority for our mil levy and knowing and so I don't want to set up that expectation or have a task force that doesn't study the budget as well as I think we do or you and your team does to you know kind of try to influence what what we what our responsibility is and one

085that we take very very seriously. I also just question the timing of this because we already know as a school board that the legislaturator's um already working to retool this um the school finance um funding formula for next year. Um we know that the legislaturator is also thinking about property tax reduction again next year because they failed to do so this year. So there's a lot of moving parts and I I just worry it's premature to for us to be involved in this when we don't know what school finance could look like in six months. I will say that when we were looking at the membership and there was discussion, there was um good discussion about how to balance the membership. So I I do want to say that as a positive that there has

086been there's been some really good discussion and I think we've walked away also with a better understanding of um how what the county and the city city do. U so this could be a first reading. Um it's really what the board would like to do. Um can if you would like some wording changes on that, we'll um make note of that and then take that back to the city or you could vote it down also, whatever. Or or other options. I I I don't know. I this this is really strange to me. Like should we be communicating and talking about things as a group? Well, sure. Um but we're rarely invited to the table. Um, but I also like the seven of us were elected. We're our own board. We have our own rules to

087follow on our own budget. And I would never want to be tied to someone telling us what we get to sit our mills at. Like that's not what we were elected to do. Um, is to listen to the all taxpayers of course, but not one group who thinks they, for lack of a better term, outrank us. Um, so no, I would need to see way more information before I ever agreed to something like this. I I guess kind of what everybody else is saying that nobody can force the school district to lower our mil levies. That's the job of the the board. Um, so is the the end goal of this a recommendation? Is that is that that's all it? It wouldn't it wouldn't have any teeth. Yes, it's the end goal of it would

088be some sort of joint recommendation that every board could choose to adopt or not. And you know, my apprehension is that I think there's just maybe enough divergent um positions in this that I question how you would ever actually get a consensus based recommendation. You know, and part of this, you know, we talk about like when we think about us, we think of our mills, but you know, the county can't do a sales tax. So telling them to lower their mills, you know, the county commissioners kind of throw a fit about that because that's not really how their budget works. They can't generate their revenue for their budget any other way, right? So, you know, I just feel like I feel like the city is gunning for one thing. It's the reccomission mills and I

089don't know that we need to make it a whole club and for that to dissolve that would have to come back to a vote. I mean that's you know but I I don't to me for which I had shared at that meeting those mills are not hurting you know those mills are flow through going to support the program which supports a lot of our kids and um it was even brought up that if it was to flow to the city and they were to do what they were they were still going to have to raise potentially to offset at the cost. So it it wouldn't be dissolve it here and move it here. It's still I mean it's still going to cost. That's where I had brought up about you know nobody in that room

090is understanding besides Amanda what that looks like for how much that budget and what that you know it's just that concept of moving it was going to help in some capacity. I don't know. I I go with Leslie. It was very there was just not enough information. I mean, it looks plus our our city commission could look really different come January. Like, who knows if that commission will even want this. I would I would not be in favor of moving forward anytime soon. Yeah, I agree with you. Like, I don't even know what changes I mean, I did suggest a title change with the task force, but beyond that, there's so much I don't even know what other changes I would make that or suggest making that would get me to vote for this. Um,

091if if if we want to take up our mill levy, we'll do it at this table. In my opinion, I I did a little research just a little about sales tax and and to me it's it's potentially more harmful for our lowincome communities, our families. And so I'm very lerary of supporting dropping the property mills and and using a sales tax because I feel like, you know, low income families are spending a lot of their budget to make monthly u obligations. And so I I really that makes me very uncomfortable. Do we take it to a vote just to see where we land the land or I mean go ahead. I mean yeah that that's an option too. I was just letting you all continue discussing. I am open to whatever motion or lack thereof.

092Well obviously at the table here there's enough question about it. Um, I would either say no vote to not take a vote at all. We can take I mean, if we want to bring it up at a future date, we could, but um I don't think I not feeling the support at at least tonight for the way it's written and it it is just set as a first reading. We don't have to make a decision tonight if we feel like we want more time. the city is not bringing it up on their agenda until next week. Are there I guess I'll say this and if you think of a question later I suppose you could let Jeremy or myself know since we had been attending the meetings um or if you have another question email

093it to one of us I suppose um ahead of the second reading which would be at our July meeting. Okay. The next item is 9A, strategic plan measures. Also a first reading. Okay. Well, first of all, um you all threw me with the highlights. So, um thank you very much. I've appreciated working with all of you and I really appreciate also um just the the energy and the support to look outside of our district and outside of our state to bring in new ideas about how we can improve Emporia. So I've I very much have appreciated that um the district support team. So um they were all very excited about wanting to present and so um I am going to share this information. They are here to provide additional information um if you have if

094you have any questions. So, this originally came up during board leadership um with um Miss Langfelter and Miss Reaver and we were talking about the measures and then looking back when we had first approved those when the board first approved them back in March uh 2022, they were very ambitious and so when we look back at that um we had just approved the strategic plan, we were looking at measures and we were coming out of COVID not really still understanding that there was going to be some gaps. So, we did set some pretty high marks. Um these are the different areas on the priorities and the slides that they're on if you'll keep moving on. Uh so this is the timeline. So we originally talked the first semester and then the district support team we've

095spent a lot of time really dissecting and looking at the data that we have. We are a very um datarich district and so we have a lot of great assessment that we can look at and look at our baselines. Um so we spent a lot of time we took also to district leadership team um and really dug into that. that was a pime uh the primary discussion item for both of those meetings. So had a lot of discussion. They got input from building leadership team site councils and then came back with other suggestions and then brought this up at the March 12th board of education meeting during our quarterly report talking about updating the measures. This is the first reading with a second reading slated for um the second meeting in July. So state assessments

096the challenge and we've mentioned this is that they are um the baseline data is going to be different. So just keeping in mind that that is going to be different and so looking at that when that when the state assessment results come through but those that's our baseline and then getting input from principles about what is attainable. So we want this to be ambitious we also want it to be attainable. So that's what a good goal is is that it is ambitious and pushes us while also attainable so we can keep pushing forward. So that is our and I'm unless anyone has questions just because state assessments and then also if you'll go to the next slide fastbridge is the same thing bringorming those. So that's that those are going to be two areas that

097will have to be looked at in the future as well. But you can see the baseline data and then what the goal would be our graduation rate. Um we've been looking at that and looking at our baseline and so we've been making some nice progress with that and we want to keep that greater than or higher than 95%. 95% or higher I should say. Any questions on those areas? Okay. Uh, social emotional, we had a lot of conversation about that. Um, you know, we're very proud of our capturing kids hearts and being national showcase schools and national showcase district. So, looking at that and you'll see there were some there was some baseline data that there was just too much to include. So, you will see there is a an attachment there for CKH the

098data baseline. So the goal there is that we would like to have three or more data points above the national showcase school baseline at the midyear survey line. So that would we talked a lot about um student data, parent um teachers and just making sure that we are setting aside time and really advocating to get those surveys completed. So those are our goals for that. So we have that really positive. The other area that we talked about a lot was also looking at continuing to improve our behavior which CH does but then also what is another way of measuring that. So the one thing that we looked at we originally looked at disciplinary logs and then as we were having more discussion we found that we really need to do better calibration across preK through

099high school. So a better measure would be in school suspension or out of school suspension rates. So if you look at the next slide, you'll see that we're talking a very small number of students. So when that would be reported, we'd be really we would need to be very careful that we were not separating out by grade or or even by elementary schools because it would be very easy to choose be able to identify. If you knew the student population, you might know, well, I know who that is. We don't want that. Um, a question that came up during agenda review is that if there is a an inschool suspension, let's say in November and another one in December, would that count as two separate incidents? And it would. And really the goal of all

100of our principles, our teachers, our student support specialist counselors to keep students at school. So that is our primary goal. And if we're are looking at in school suspension or out of school suspension, it is really involving a safety issue. And then we're teaching the behaviors. So we have um we're very lucky that we have a behavior specialist and then we are also growing that so we can continue to work on that. Any questions about that? Okay. Uh climate survey. So looking at that because that can be somewhat subjective. We were looking very carefully at objective unbiased uh types of measures. So looking at increasing the percentage of how many climate surveys were completed. So we did have some climate surveys that were partially completed. This would be fully completed. So 719 individuals completed that

101in 2023 and we would like to increase that 5%. Any questions there? I have a question. Okay. How are the climate surveys distributed? Is it like in an email or parent square? So we would since we started parent square this year and we didn't have it with the cl the climate survey that would be um a way that we did that and we did that through social media. Lindell, would you like to come up and answer a little bit more? Yes, we did that through we used the the system that we had then was con constant contact. So we sent it out to all of our our students and families and all of our staff that way. And then we also did quite a bit on social media. Uh we actually had closed it down

102and we were still wanting to get some more. So, we opened it back up and we did that another round of blast of emails, uh, social media, those kinds of things as well. Uh, we also share that on our local media outlets as well, so we could get that into the community as well. Did not use Parent Square. It wasn't there, but we could definitely do that next time around and maybe have a little bit more focused approach for that. Thank you. Um, so parent engagement is very important. So when we look at our preschool through elementary, we have generally a a pretty high percentage of attendance when it comes to parent teacher conferences and a lot of that has to do with scheduling conferences as well as teachers following up with parents who aren't

103able to come or um show don't show up unexpect unexpectedly. So they are um they feel like that 95% or higher for prek through elementary is something that is ambitious and attainable. Um the same thing um on the next slide that we have two slides of baseline data and then Emporium Middle School also has a pretty good um parent engagement uh percentage and so looking at that 93% and so you'll see that they um had a little bit lower um this year but the year before they were um a little bit higher. So wanting to continue to maintain that 93% and they felt like they could continue to get that um attendance. the high school is much more difficult. Um we, you know, parents a lot of times who come to the high school conferences

104are not the ones that the teachers and the principles really want to talk to. And so we had a lot of conversation about this. We thought that powers school loginins would be a way to show parent engagement. So parents a lot of times with our high school students are expecting them to be a little bit more independent. So they're wanting to grow that with them. So a lot of times they're looking on powers school. What we would like them to do is that we would like parents um if their student is failing a class even one class we want to make sure that they are checking powers school. Uh the challenge with this you'll see that asterk there is that if they're using the app it does not track that. So this is the first

105reading. We're continuing to look at that. Um again open to ideas and it might be that pilot this one with with the high school this year and then um just come back and revisit that. Lillian, I think you had had a suggestion during agenda review about maybe another way of looking at that. So, I had during agenda review, I had just shared um that I have seen other schools as part of their CAP or advisory course class um require students to have um an adult at conferences with them. So, the students might make um a presentation or have put together something that talks about how they're doing in their classes, what their plans for the future are. Um and that it didn't necessarily have to be a parent, but could just be a trusted adult

106and then that was part of their grade for that advisory class. Um it's certainly not a perfect solution, but it might better reflect parent teacher conference attendance if those are the measures that we're using at other buildings. Also, just sitting here, I was wondering if it's possible like have we talked to anyone at P school? Is this something the app can do? Um or or what is the what do future iterations of P school app look like? We can we can look into that. Um Dr. Carela talked with Stephanie Murray quite a bit about how we could track that. So, there has been some time spent on that, but we can look at that a little bit deeper, too. Okay. Thank you. Um and speaking of parent square earlier, so utilizing multiple means. So parent

107square has been very successful. We would like to continue to increase that usage by 2%. Uh the baseline this year is 48% family usage. Um does anyone have any questions about parent square? When we've done the quarterly report, it's been amazing how many messages go out in the threads. Very very impressive. So we're very happy with parent square. um actively recruit and retain, maintain that job fill rate. So, we're really looking at the first day of the seme of each semester. So, knowing that we're going to have some um more classified staff that we may be looking at um positions that are open and occasionally we have licensed staff. So, we may have several positions for licensed staff that are open in the fall, but then we have teacher interns that were able to hire

108in um January. So that's one way of looking at that and looking at both semesters. So of course we would like 100% for licensed staff and 100% for administrative positions and then also looking at that 96% for classified staff and knowing that classified staff are on a different work agreement and so that will fluctuate a little bit more. um really our even though um we've been frustrated with some of our openings that we are still pretty happy compared to some other districts that are that have a lot of openings. Um Brent was just talking earlier um he left but he was very excited that he hired two science teachers so you all approved those tonight so he that was very exciting. Um any questions on job fill rates? Okay, moving along over to teacher turnover

109rates. So, we would like for the teacher or well, I should say licensed staff member, we'll just say teacher turnover rate each year. So, less than 14%, our baseline data last year was 12.3 and the year before that was 15.8. So, that was a little bit higher, but we want to keep that low uh turnover rate. Any questions on that? Okay. And then we had a lot of conversation about this as well. And so really the goal there is to continue to make sure that we are being as competitive as possible. We had a good conversation during IBB meetings uh this year. And so knowing that as the budget allows, we are being as competitive as possible with both our salary and our benefits. And then there's baseline data that's attached to this agenda item.

110Safety and security is always a top priority. And so completing 100% of all safety and security drills for all schools. Uh there was an example. So the example that's attached to the agenda item is just one school, but the actual spreadsheet has all the schools. But that was just one example. And then continuing to make sure that we can have our project atom drills um using with our sports teams, first aid and CPR, and then having AEDs in all of our buildings, which um that is a a sense of pride for our district that we have that. So, thank you again to the board for that. Any questions on that one? Okay. And then, um, we had a lot of conversation about this as well. So, how do we continue to maintain and evaluate safe

111and secure learning environments? And so, that goes back to that one to three and five-year plan for technology, maintenance, and transportation, food service, and operations. So looking at at least 90% of those identified needs, knowing that even with the best plans that we have surprises along the way, but continuing to make sure that we're addressing at least 90% of those needs. Um so then looking at instructional resources. So we've talked about that a lot, making sure that there is fidelity, that when resources are approved through the board, that those are implemented with fidelity. not only the textbooks but also the digital resources and everything else that's um approved. So looking at that electronic walkthrough so the baseline is in process the first part of that is SCOP. So that's sheltered instruction observation protocol that is

112part of our our district improvement plan. So that's why that's really important that we have that piece in there and there's been great trainings that have been happening this summer already. And then looking at that 65% walkth through looking that making sure that uh there's district approved resources such as CK second step HMH and then that notation there that the 2526 quarterly report will dedicate a section to report specifically about secondary math pro progress and use of approved resources with fidelity. So Dr. Carel has been just as an aside with that has been working on a plan and so those op opportunities for students and parents will start next Monday and then continuing to monitor to make sure that those resources are being implemented with fidelity. I have a question. Yes. Um so what do

113you mean by Okay, I see what you're saying. um 65% of the walkthroughs will reflect use of the resources, right? So, so of course we would want 100%. But then we also might have students where they're in in small groups and they might be doing some other work and so um trying to make sure that we're allowing for times for that they're doing group work or maybe they're doing projects that they're not actually having the textbook in hand. But then there's also other um ways that we are looking at that and that's where that action plan that Dr. Cartel is working on and we'll present at the July meeting the first July meeting for first reading will really focus on secondary math. So this will be all of the resources. We did talk a lot

114about what that percentage should be and knowing that we want to give people, you know, make sure that we're giving them credit that if they just use the resource and then here comes the principal with the walkthrough and they're not actually using it at the time. How do we make sure and that might be questions for the students that there's a lot of ways that making sure that they're identifying the parameters to make sure that that um that date is really consistent, right? because I know um as all teachers know that sometimes the walkthrough or the observation is just such a small snippet in in what is really a whole class or a whole day's worth of teaching. So it can be hard to to measure that in a short amount of time. Personally, I

115would like to see that percentage be higher, but I I also understand the difficulty that you all will have in measuring that as well. Sure. And Judy, do you want to add anything more? And if and if you if I've said everything, I just want to speak. Sure. See, one last time. Um Dr. Harter said it very well. It's it's that we really were having a hard time coming up with that percentage. We can adjust it up. We could adjust it back, but it's little things like we know sometimes um I don't know if you remember when Megan Powers was here and she was talking about curriculum alignment and there's a for second grade, we have to supplement when it comes to telling time. So we know that sometimes we're supplementing with a resource that

116isn't our resource. So trying to figure out what that wiggle room is. There's just a lot of components. But on the same hand, we don't want to leave so much wiggle room that um we step away from the resource because well the walkthrough is a five minute snippet of time. So it's really hard to find that balance. So we're open to ideas. It's just that's where we landed when we were working with the principles. No, you're the expert on that one. I am not an expert. Um, I just think I thinking about the conversations we have had at this table in the past about investment in resources and how we want them to be used. Um, and and that we we know that they need to be being used. Um, so we can take this

117back. So, so we're taking feedback and then I'll talk to Dr. McGee and then he'll have an opportunity to DT before that second board meeting for the second reading. Okay. Next is a is the data dashboard. So Dr. Carela uh put in these current measures and then um some of those baselines. So that is something that the board has asked for as far as having that data dashboard. So any questions? It's colorcoded. Okay. So, our next question our next steps would be if um any additional questions or feedback or if you think of something later, please let me know um that feedback will be shared with Dr. McGee and then he'll bring that back the second uh board meeting in July. I guess my other question is just from this slide is um do we

118not have data on in and out of school suspensions from the past couple of years? Yes, we Yeah, that that was on that one slide and we can pull more. Sorry, it's not on the data dashboard in the colored parts. Oh, we could add that. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. No, any other questions or observations to share? I I should have just said it back when we were talking about it, but I'll share personally. My parents didn't go to um parent teacher conferences like my last three years because they were like, "What are they going to tell me? You're a good kid." Blah blah blah. Like, so it wasn't that they didn't care. It was like, "Oh, we have other stuff to do." And I I'm sure my mom would be like, "Les, I

119can't believe you're sharing that." Um, but you know, like I just think that parents, especially like if this is your fourth kid, you're like, "Whatever. I just wish we could find a way to help people feel more uh excited to come to those because I I would want to hear my kids awesome. I don't know what was wrong with my parents. That was all. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you for sharing because that's I mean that's I think they've tried a lot of different approaches and nothing seems to quite hit the mark. So, okay, that's a first reading. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Um, and thank you to everyone for all of your hard work on that. Okay. Do you have any questions for him? Okay. The next item is 10A, executive

120session for student. I move to enter executive session for 10 minutes to discuss confidential student information pursuant to the exception relating to actions adversely or favorably affecting a student under coma. Superintendent Dr. Allison Anderson Harter and director of assessments and accountability Dr. Ryan Carella are invited to join this session. I forgot to put a return time on there. Would you mind adding that for me? Yes, I thank you. We will return to regular session at 7:51 p.m. Second. Motion passes. 70 Motion passes 6. I move to enter executive session for 10 minutes to discuss confidential student information pursuant to the exception relating to actions adversely or favorably affecting a student under coma. Superintendent Allison Anderson Harter and director of assessments and accountability Dr. Ryan Cartela are invited to join the session. We'll return to this

121room at 7, no 8:03 p.m. Second. Can we do a hand vote, please? Motion passes 6. Motion passes 70. Okay, I have a motion. Feel free to chime in if I mangle it, but I'm going to make a motion that the board of education adopt resolution 2025-3 to modify the extended term suspension as recommended by the hearing officer and instead implement the first hearing officer's decision to include the probationary plan. There you go. I'll second Yeah. Casey, you're gonna fix it. Yeah. What if I already clicked? Mo motion passes 61. Well, I I made Okay, thank you. Okay, there we go. Fixed. change your vote if you want to. I Oh, can I go Casey? Motion passes 70. I move to enter into executive session for 15 minutes for the exception for matters which would

122be deemed privilege in the attorney client relationship under the Kansas Open Meeting Act that and that we return to open session in this room at 8:20 p.m. Superintendent Dr. Alison Anderson Harter, Assistant Superintendent Business Operations Pam Stranathan, and Attorney Tammy Samoji are invited to join the board for this session. No action is anticipated. Second Motion passes. I motion to return to regular session. Second. Second. motion passes 70. Okay, the next item is 11A future board calendar dates. Our next meeting will be July, Wednesday, July 9th at 6 PM here at Mary Herbert Education Center. And then we have another meeting in July on July 23rd at 6:00 p.m. here at Mary Herbert Education Center. Wednesday, August 12th at 7:30 a.m. will be convocation and that will be held at Plum Hall at Emporia State University.

123And then um Casey is the which date is it says Wednesday August 13th and Wednesday August 12th. [Music] Sorry, it should be Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th. Perfect. Thank you. Okay. So, convocation will be Tuesday, August 12th at 7:30 a.m. and then our regular board meeting will be Wednesday, August 13th at 6 p.m. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. Motion passes