USD 453 Leavenworth Board of Education Meeting: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

001The special board meeting for Levvenworth USD453 special board meeting. Um the date is May 26, 2026. The time is 5:00 p.m. >> to roll call. Miss Brown >> present. >> Mr. Darling >> here. >> Miss Murphy >> here. >> Miss Price >> here. >> Miss Wells >> here. >> Miss Wilson >> here. >> And All right. For adoption of the agenda. Madam President, I amend that we add item 1.3, the pledge of allegiance, and item 2.4, unscheduled patron input. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I Okay. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I know. >> All right. Item two,

002proposal for closing the closing of David Brewer Elementary School. Dr. Adams, >> may I do we don't have an attorney present? >> Doesn't mean special. We did not have one special for the special SLwork session in the past >> cuz I do have a question on the validity of the meeting um and whether it was done legitimately. So before we move forward >> I have a question on the validity of this meeting. Um, it was requested during our last board meeting and a special request can be made at any time with as long as we give prior notice >> and I do understand that valid, >> but we had previously discussed this topic and it was closed until the fall >> and I don't want to disregard anyone that's here. >> That can change any

003>> uh family. Um, thank you Judy, Miss Price. Uh, but I do want to raise that issue and can we get that question answered from our attorney? >> Okay. But it was um it was voted on the last board meeting to have a special meeting >> and it was also voted on in a prior meeting that we would wait till the fall and we did not agree to open up the conversation. The conversation was >> we did with the vote >> the conversation was introduced by Dr. Adams, but it was not open. We didn't agree to open that that part of the conversation. I went back and reviewed the video. It's It's clearly there. The time stamp is I have it marked. >> So, my question to you, Miss Brown, is if you had this

004question prior to tonight, why did you not make sure that we were going to have an attorney present tonight if you wanted to? >> I didn't know the attorney weren't present. I thought they were present at every meeting. >> No. And to be honest, a meeting does not require a attorney to be present to make it valid. >> That's not my point. My point is, was the request to have this meeting and any open conversation about closing another school a valid conversation? And I'll pull up. >> We are not taking a vote tonight. So, discussions of it. Yes. This makes it a valid meeting. It was publicized and asked for. Yes. >> Dr. Adams also introduced that that first last week's or sorry last month's meeting would be the first notice to the public, but

005that's that's inaccurate. >> That >> I think we should just continue to move on and let Dr. Adams actually present his presentation. >> Why can't we hear from our attorney? >> So, two things I would add. One, the attorney was in the room when we discussed having this meeting. I feel confident Mrs. Bernard would have raised issue at that time. Second, if she did check in with President Overby and I so she's aware of not only the meeting but also the content. I feel confident in either one of those opportunities she would have let us know. >> But the question was not raised. It wasn't raised for public awareness. And again, you stated in that last meeting that that would be the first notice to the public, which which is inaccurate. And again, I don't

006want to disregard any person that's here to speak for, against, or you know, any any topic. I don't want to disregard anyone, including our time. I value each and every one of you, but I want to make sure we're doing the right thing in in order. >> I think the board can vote to have discussion at any time. And we're not taking action this evening. This was a prior scheduled work session. So, I guess I'm not following why this would not be a valid reason. >> And again, I'm not disregarding. I'm just trying to find my time stamp. And I I did hear your question, Karen. Um, so is it not possible to raise the issue with the attorney to see if this was a valid and legitimate meeting request? Because we had closed the

007issue. We had adjourned the meeting and then it was brought up again by Dr. Adams and >> you close an issue and open it again at any time. I don't understand why if you closed an issue what you're not allowed to revisit it. >> But we closed it till we we closed it till the fall. So we would get the results of what it was >> reopen it at any time. >> That was in February. >> Y if I may, Miss Brown, >> if I can just finish this one point. um we'd closed the issue to reopen it in the fall and we were going to wait to see what the results were of the kids move the students moving um up and down in their grade school. I realize you guys can talk all

008you want, but please tone it down. You're actually louder than those speaking into the microphones right now. Thank you. To your point, Miss Brown, there was a discussion that uh Dr. Adams did say that he would bring it back. I don't mean to speak for you, Dr. Adams, but um and you are correct to do it in the fall. Um the problem is if we wait until the fall, that puts us behind as far as planning for uh the closure and then also the application and going through the process. It just allows us more time to transition out. And so I will tell you in all the years I've been here, the board along with administration bring things forward and then it will be tabled and then we bring it forward again. There's nothing that

009it is valid to allow for this discussion to happen because you are not taking any action. You can do it again next month or three months down the road. You could reverse one of your decisions. I guess I the two concerns that I have I still want to hear from the attorney and the second point is Dr. Adams stated that the last meeting would be the first notice to the public which is inaccurate. That's that that can't be. So if you're going with that timeline and he has to give notice to the public the board we have to give notice of the public that's still not um I guess sufficient notice because we just got the word out since that meeting. I've been handing out flyers. I know you guys have been posting. I know

010it's, you know, gotten out through the schools, but I just want to make sure we're doing this in order. That's all. And again, I don't want to take away from anyone that's here to speak for, against, or or any other topics that may come up this evening. >> Yes, ma'am. So, at any time you want to call a special board meeting, the notice has to go in the paper, which we met that requirement. That is the notice. That's the only requirement legally per state statute. That's it. >> And I understand that, but that wasn't the notice. That wasn't the notice he was referring to. was referring to closing a school notice. >> No, no, that was the notice. The the notice in order to have a special board meeting is that you have to notify

011the paper, which we did that. >> Why did he state 90 days? Then he said that that was a 90-day time frame. >> I can't speak to the >> I just like to point out tonight is a twohour time limit and we board members have already wasted eight minutes of that discussing nonsense. >> I don't feel like we've wasted any time. >> Okay, perfect. This is an important topic to me. >> Well, let's um let Dr. Adams go ahead with this presentation. >> And you're refusing to hear from the attorney. Is that what you're going on record with? >> I don't think there's any >> there is no need. >> There's no requirement >> to hear from the attorney. >> So, Miss uh >> so yes, I'm going to hear from you're going to go

012ahead. >> Okay. >> All right. M if we can go to the slideshow mode, please. All right. As you know, this has really been a several months long conversation at this point. This does bring back to you a February recommendation. So, for what it is worth, the content on the slides here tonight. >> May I just interject? I'm so sorry. If we do hear from the attorney that this wasn't done legitimately, what would happen in that case? Since there's no action being taken, it's just a discussion. There really isn't. >> So, we're going to ask the attorney. >> I need that on record. I don't want to be blown off. I need an answer. >> Or we don't have to go forward with the meeting. >> You can definitely excuse yourself, Miss Brown. Let this

013continue forward. >> Why would I be excused? Why would I be excused? >> Excuse me, Miss Brown. I am happy to reach out to our attorney. >> Thank you. And specifically, >> yes, I have it on record. >> And I have two there's two questions. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. And please don't excuse me from any meeting. I I plan to >> I'm asking you to excuse yourself so that we can proceed. Not going to happen and do this. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Perfect. >> Pardon me, Dr. Adams. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Yep. I think we would be remiss if we didn't hearken back to our north star. I recognize fully this likely align with the middle column, but I'm going to tell you the decisions and

014the conversation touch all five of these focus areas. I think that the decision and the magnitude of what we're discussing has at least a touch point in each of these five. Regardless of our level of efficiency, regardless of the financial decisions, it will have an impact on teaching and learning. I'm so glad to see some of our teachers here in the crowd tonight. It will absolutely have an impact on staffing and personnel. I'm going to show you the impact it's already had. It definitely has family and community involvement. I want to say thank you to the folks that have come out here tonight from our community and without a doubt it has an impact on student engagement and support services. Just to quickly recap, this is a conversation that started in October. As you're well

015aware, we count kids in September, spec specifically in Kansas, September 20th. So, give or take within those couple days after that, you know, as a district what your next year's enrollment is going to be. Just a reminder, in Kansas, we use either the current year or the first prior fiscal year for purposes of the current finance formula. And then finally, a reminder, you are about to enter the final year of the current finance formula. So, for what it's worth, you are in at least one more year under the current formula. What I cannot tell you is where we go from here, but suffice it to say, something will be changing effective July 1st of 2027. All right. So, as we frame what we're going to discuss here tonight and then certainly on June 8th, which

016again to hearken back to the prior May board meeting, it is my recommendation that a decision be placed on the June 8th board meeting for this conversation. I don't think we should be asking, do we like this option? The reality is none of us like this. I don't think any of you when you put your name on the ballot wanted to make decisions like this. I'm guessing that's not why you signed up for the board. It's not why the folks behind me signed up to work here. None of us likes this. Rather, I would argue that what we should be asking is how do we responsibly set up this district for the future, not just one year, not just three years, rather a long-term future outlook. I will tell you this is a bifurcated problem

017that has really two primary factors. The first of which is student decline, which I'm going to go over some of the history of that. And then the second of which is the increased expenses that seem to have not only found their way into the homes of several Levorians, but also right here in our district. Let's take a look at that snapshot. Since just the last 10 years, our high water mark there was 3,900 approximately. For the first time in our history, that come here, we will enter below 3,5G. That has never been done as a district. >> Okay, I'll let that soak in. Yes, ma'am. >> Agenda so that we can pull them up on a closer screen. >> Nope. Yeah, they will be on there because this is the same slide deck you're going

018to see in June. >> Easier for me to read this way. I trust you know this. You've had an increase as well as we have in all of these areas. Probably the biggest one for us is our insurance suite of services whether that be health, property casualty, work comp, etc. Some of those we have seen double digit increases in the last couple of years. And then I trust I don't need you to tell this team that the importance of maintaining a comp competitive wage environment. I think is so critical especially for recruitment and retention purposes. There's a look at what you've done in investment in the human capital over the last two fiscal years. I'm going to highlight those two fiscal years here tonight. As you can see, you gave just over a million dollars

019worth of raises last year. About 63% of that went to our certified staff. Reminder certified staff includes such counselors. Teachers is our primary category in our certified staff. Classified is everything from parents and aids to a custodial. And then you've got a smaller portion in your administrative body. And then again this year about twothirds went to our certified staff. A lower total salary package of just over 800,000. But nonetheless, you'll see there what you have invested in the good men and women working with our kids. just for this year, you needed 2.5 and change of a reduction. If you were sitting in these seats last year, you remember that number was even larger, which I'm going to take you back to here in just a minute. Okay, so let's take a look back in time.

020If you remember being here last year, around this time, we had just closed a $4 million gap. At that point we saw a reduction of 25 certified staff, 10 classified staff and six and a half administrators. I think it was around this time last year give or take that we brought to you this final number and we were able to do that largely through attrition. We did have some other what I would say one-time savings that we saw. The closure of Netty would be the best example I can give you there. But as you can imagine, some of these decisions are such that you cannot make them again because there is no way to reduce what is already down to zero. Let's look at where we're at for this fiscal year. We're already actually over,

021believe it or not, just slightly. This will allow us to now, as I call, peel back some of the decisions that we've done. So such as the freezes, we have certain positions that can maybe be under frozen. In totality though, with the four million from last year and the two and a half from this year, your total operational budget has reduced by $6.5 million. That is in just two fiscal years. For context, the operations fund, the general fund as we call it, is just over 30 million. So I'll let you do the quick math on that. in two fiscal years a true reduction of give or take 20%. All right, now let's look at really the second reason why I'm here for this recommendation that adds our buildings capacities compared to current enrollment. These are

022enrollments by the way as of 920 of the fall. Okay. So realize they may have changed slightly. As you know, single high school town by high school. Our middle school then is situated just below that. One of which campuses is now officially closed. It did have its last day of school just recently. And then as you know, three elementaryaries currently, the current capacity of Henry, Anthony, and David Brewer all hovering around that give or take 50% threshold. Each elementary is give or take 600 students. Again, I'm rounding numbers here in its total capacity. And effective next year, those would be one through five with the decision made for the intermediate center. Let's look now then at how this converges with what we know about our enrollment. So, you saw the historical perspective. We're already projected

023to be down 130 students for next year. This uses what I call the pure rollover methodology in which we just basically take every second grader and assume they will become a third grader and stay with us. So we realize fully there's some transition transient nature to our student population. And then I think it's important is we've already rolled over actually twice. We're projecting another 124 for fiscal year 28. that again using that same methodology. But what I think is probably more important to really focus on is what came from the enrollment study that was conducted and that is that we have not really found the bottom so to speak unfortunately and again I think I've given this context before but when you look at in most districts you should look at your outgoing senior class

024to your incoming kindergarters but here in Leworth there's some nuance with USC 207 so what I encourage you to look at is your outgoing eighth graders or more apples to apples with those incoming kindergarters. And right now what we're seeing is an upward or downward trend of 25 students per class. We gave out 267 diplomas on May 16th. We will give out less than that each year probably after this. You'll see the total district enrollment by what I call the grade bands. The net decline is 9%. The largest grade band seeing that reduction is our prek through sixth at 180 students, seventh and eth little less. And believe it or not, our high school is projected to dip down below, 1100, 1150 by the turn of the decade. You've seen this before, but I just

025wanted to remind there were several factors that went into the recommendation back from February. None of those have changed, but I believe it's important to hearken back to these as we re-evaluate this decision and certainly the weight of that decision. I think that several of these have equal importance. But at the end of the day, I am as I make this recommendation looking at the district as a whole. So I would say that to anybody that is hyperfocused spec specifically on David Brewer. My context, my frame if you will, is to look at what I believe is best for the entire district. So here's our current reality. We have in the grand scheme of the last two years frozen slasheliminated 70 plus positions. That is 70 less good men and women doing what I would

026argue is the same amount of work. We have obviously entered into cost containment. You've heard about reductions to building budgets that have certainly had an impact. You've heard about reductions in other operational parts of the district. And of course, as you can imagine, every conversation right now is about how to become more efficient wherever we can. But here's what I'm going to tell you. I believe if nothing changes that you are not on a sustainable path. I don't believe it is what's best for kids to start reducing either the number of sections you have, the number of courses you can offer to increase the class sizes or to otherwise reduce opportunities for them. And that is the point that you are at. It is already happening in small droves specifically at our high school with

027what I call singleton courses. We've had to evaluate whether or not we can offer them in maybe just one semester versus both. Maybe we enter into a loop system. You get the idea. Opportunities are already starting to become lost as a result of some of these efficiency exercises. My point again I want to make is I don't think of this sustainable and I think what happens is more weight gets placed on the back of the good men and women left and that wears them out which then increases your cycle if you will of people wanting to leave. And so now the recruitment and retention loophole if you will begins to pick up. So here's my recommendation. It is the same as I had in February and that is to close David Brewer with one change.

028I believe it is too late for this fiscal year. So my recommendation is for the fall or if you want to call it the spring of 2027 as its last step. So let that building have a full year and I believe the district needs a full year for purposes of planning. Couple caveats to this one. You need to have a reconsideration of redrawing boundary lines. That of course is a conversation that extends far beyond the work here tonight. But you need to be able to tell people clearly where their child will go to school. Whether that is Henry or Anthony, they need to know very clearly. I also think there is an opportunity to address a long-standing problem here with our busing that could give additional busing opportunities for more students. It is also my

029recommendation simultaneously that you begin a real and serious conversation about alternative school. I believe if we want to get serious about addressing the behavioral concerns in our district, we need to have a real conversation about what it looks like to stand up an alternative school K through 12 in this school district. If and when you have the space at David Brewer, I suggest you look at reduction of your rooftops to reduce that operational footprint. One, you're going to have a strain on capital outlay. It's already there, but the snowball will continue to build. You need to reduce the number of square feet that you have to clean and take care of, the number of square mileage or square acreage that you have to mow. You get the idea. Reduction of that operational footprint. And I

030would use the entirety of next year for purposes of the planning, organization, and communication that goes into such a heavy lift as this. Again, my recommendation to place this onto the June 8th board meeting. That is the next regularly scheduled meeting in this room. No action is slated for tonight, but I would slate or recommend slating action for as early as then. There will be no new information presented unless I am given an RFI from the seven of you. It would be the same exact slide deck that you just saw. And my final request would be any RFIs by next Wednesday just so that our team has enough time to be able to do the necessary research. I'll stand for any questions that you have tonight. >> Dr. Adams, excuse me. Going back to the

031slide on the alternative school, do you have a location you would want to consider at this time or just wait until later? >> Good, good question. I like the question a lot. You have one right now kind of staring in the face at the alternative or at the intermediate center, right? It is effectively empty other than the programs for Third Avenue School. So I'm going to say that 30 35% of the building is is being taken by that. You have operational efficiency already with food service. You have operational efficiency already with administration on site custodial. You get the idea, right? I'm not saying it's the only option. I'm just saying it is a viable option today. >> Thank you. >> Okay. I have a couple of questions. This board already voted to move the district

032office into the IC. >> That is accurate. >> And we are looking at a possibility of approximately 130 to 150 students to attend the alternative center even though we don't necessarily know exactly what qualifies the students to be put into an alternative setting. >> That was just a ballpark figure I think. >> Yep. I've used the 5% rule in the past. You remember that? Yep. >> So, about 130 to 150 students. >> Um, >> how much space would that 130 to 150 students take? Would they be able to utilize the upstairs while the district utilize the downstairs for their district office and conference spaces? >> Good questions. I don't know if I have a classroom count exactly for you, but you can use the Third Avenue program as an example. So, Dr. Marble, how many

033students do we have over there? >> Approximately 30 students. >> Okay. And using how many classrooms? >> We are currently using five learning spaces, but we'll be expanding and adding an additional three based on student needs and size. >> So, I will tell you my initial planning it was 15 classrooms. So, nearly what I expected her to say. Give or take. I think you need between 15 to 18 classrooms total. Okay. or >> 15 18 for the third avenue >> for the alternative. >> The thing to remember an alternative school to be effective, you cannot put 20 kids in a classroom. I'm just going to tell you that right now. It will not stand up and do well. So that traditional classroom that we're used to where we see 18 20 22 kids that need

034that number needs to be haved if not more in order to be effective in an alternative setting. So, you're going to use more space per child. >> And how many classrooms do we have upstairs? >> Oh gosh, I don't have that number, Kyle. While he's looking that up, um, how many empty classrooms >> do we have after adding fifth grade back into the elementary school, >> leaving it currently as >> Sure. Yep. I'll have Amy work on that for you. Maybe you have the stars, map, whatever. Right. >> My question is, >> one second. Can someone be recording the questions that way if we can't answer tonight? Kathy, please. Thank you. >> Assuming that we create the alternative school plan, how effectively do you think we're going to be able to hire the staff that's

035necessary to make that program run efficiently? >> I love this question. This is to my educators in the room. Not every educator is made to be an alternative centered educator. >> Okay. And I say that with all due respect. >> Okay. >> So these are sometimes unicorn educators. And I mean that with all due respect. >> You're saying we need 15 of them. >> Yep. >> So you may have to stand this up over a period of a couple years. >> You may not be able to go live at every single grade band all at once. You with me? You may only be able to do elementary as an example because that's what you can appropriately staff and that's what you're ready to stand up at that time. >> And then what kind of lure

036do we need separate? Is there separate lure for an alternative school setting than a traditional classroom setting? >> Yep. So we were probably going to allow K6s any K9s that were still out there. Correct. Okay. So you got the elementary what I call generalist. Any K9's out there? FK9s. Those are the old ones. Then K6 allows you to have it >> more seasoned. Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> What was that? >> 15 upstairs. >> Upstairs. >> I have a question on um the building that we're currently in right now for our board of education. and we voted to shut both of the buildings down, the um board of education and the child nutrition building. How quickly could we do that so that we can get them on the market and get financial benefits

037from these buildings instead of continuing to be cost costing us running utilities and all that when we have another building? Is that something that can be done in the summer before our school buildings open and we can get adjusted with that before we move on with another project that our board office has to handle? >> Yep. Couple things. One, I don't know if we could do it over the summer this quickly. Um, two, I'm not convinced that there is unanimous consensus among the board. In fact, I think some of you maybe wanted to revisit that decision. And three is we were never given a timeline on that. So, I was hopeful to maybe revisit that conversation either tonight or at the June meeting, but it is my understanding is we we maybe are ready to

038walk that back in some regard. >> Well, I'd be interested to know about the age of the boiler in this building because I'm going to say it's pretty close to the >> I don't know if I know the age of the boiler, but we could certainly get that for you. Do we want to move to scheduled patient input and then circle back around for our discussion? >> I still have a few more questions first before we do that. >> I'm just waiting some answers for a moment. So go ahead and ask your question. >> Um, one of my questions was um, with Lawson, originally we had Lawson on the diaphragm. Is there a reason why it's not considered this time? um as the fact that I think I've had a lot of input for kindergarten

039to go back to the elementary schools versus shutting down an elementary school. And then the second part to that question is would there be a way to have this as a voting right for people instead of a board right? Like could we get it on a ballot instead of we have to do that? >> Yep. So I'm going to tell you I'm not aware of a a I'm gonna say a public decision that exists for this type of a closure. The public's decision was to elect the seven of you to be at this dis to make those decisions. >> Right. >> Only public decision I'm aware of is bond issue and protest protest petition. >> And is that something we could ask our attorney as well? >> Sure. I'm happy to ask the attorney. >>

040Thank you. >> Okay. So to the first question, it was my recommendation to be very clear to NYX the Lawson recommendation from that initial set. I think we started that maybe in January. If you recall, it was one of the eight or 10 broader options. Okay, here is my why. One, you invested heavily in early childhood in this district beginning with the latest bond issue. two that building is specifically designed for our earliest learners. So it doesn't conform easily as say the elementaryaries do. And three is we have had feedback that says we do want to keep lawsuit. So you probably have that conflicting feedback that there has been some that have want that are advocates for law. So I would say that is not necessarily a unanimous opinion. I think that we as a

041district with our declining enrollment need to look at in the future as enrollment continues to decline having to move prek back as well as all of the other adjustments that we're doing. I I'm fearful that are they can that our district is going to continue to decline in such a fashion that it's going to warrant that in the future as well. >> Sure. >> And then won't be full anyways. Go ahead. >> We can come back to more RFIs. Again, I wasn't going to try to answer every one of them from the podium tonight, but if I can get as many of them tonight, that allows our team more time to start looking into the age of the boiler and anything else. >> Sound good? >> I was just going to suggest we go on

042to our um next agenda item because after that we come back to discussion again. So >> my only other question real quick is can we get it back can we get Lawson back on the topic instead of just removing it completely while we're working on the >> I would say if it's the consensus of the board. Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Moving on to our uh scheduled patron input. >> All right. We are pleased you have joined us tonight to celebrate student and staff achievement. Here information I'll skip that. You're here to talk. We set a time um it's it's scheduled board meetings here from the public. Comments should be directed toward board policies with procedures or administrators carry out those policies as opposed to individual complaints to to investigate and resolve. Please understand that while

043board members will listen to and carefully consider all your comments, board members will not immediately respond to questions either verbally or through gestures. For example, raising hands in response to questions. Nor will they engage in the dialogue of answer and response during the patron input time this evening. This is not an appropriate time or place for patrons to make comments of personal nature about any district employee or student by name. Persons making comments which violate privacy acts of district employees or students will be asked to terminate the remarks. If speakers have concerns specific to an individual student or staff member, please make an appointment with the superintendent. These concerns will be documented and shared with the board. Each patron is reminded they have three minutes to speak and will be given notice 15 seconds when

044sec 15 seconds remain. If a group is in attendance with the same interest, we ask that a spokesperson be appointed to deliver the group's message. As a unified board committed to desired outcomes for our school community, we ask that comments not be directed at individual board member, but rather addressed to the board as a whole. Thank you for taking time to to discuss district business and policies with the board. >> Our first speaker is Miss Daffany Atwell. Um, good evening everyone. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Uh, my name is Daffhne Atwell and I am the parent of four children in this district. Um, this coming year my boys will be a senior, a sophomore, a sixth grader, and a third grader. And all of them have um attended David Brewer. And

045because of the agenda tonight, this is tailored to David Brewer. However, I think it applies to every school in this district. So, if you would keep that in mind. Um, the topic of closing any school, let alone our school, is emotional, painful, and deeply personal. I love our school and the teachers and the staff and all of the wonderful things that make David Brewer special and unique. It's home and we have many treasured relationships and memories that have been made there. But as a parent, I understand that life is not fair. The reality of the situation that we're in is that somebody is going to lose. There's no perfect situation where everybody walks away happy. Um, and I know how much time and thought and care have gone on into this proposal. Um, and I

046trust this recommendation represents the lesser of all of the evils before us. If maintaining under utiliz excuse me if maintaining underutilized buildings means program cuts, fewer jobs, limited resources or reduce support for students, then we are protecting buildings at the expense of our children. Ultimately, the purpose of this district is not to preserve buildings. It is to educate and support our students. Um, one of my boys is at his baseball banquet tonight and he heard about this meeting and he looked me in the eye and he said, "Mom, you need to go. You need to tell them the truth. No award is more important than telling the truth." And the truth is this hurts. And it should hurt. But sometimes we need to set aside our emotions and pride and allow logic to guide our

047response. I believe it is possible to honor what David Brewer has meant to so many families while still recognizing that closing it may be the most financially responsible way forward. Um I ask the board to continue to lead with transparency and empathy for the families, students and staff who will be affected. At the end of the day, David Brewer is more than a building. It is the people inside it. The teachers who have poured into our children, the staff who have made them feel safe, and the community that taught them they matter. Those things are not confined to four walls. The spirit of David Brewer lives in the relationships, values, and the sense of belonging our children will carry with them wherever they go. Thank you for your time and your service to our students.

048>> Thank you. Okay, next up we have Miss Christine Barnell. >> Good evening all and thank you to all board members present as well as the superintendent for bringing information to all of us. Um, based on information I received from at least one board member that there's approximately about three million shortage in sped funding that has been pulled from general education funding. I foresee given what I saw on teacher appreciation week from the US Department of Education that continuing to be an issue for both state and federal funding. So, this is just an open reminder that um we all should be involved in speaking up for our students. Now, past that obviously being a November issue, in my perfect world, yes, David Brewer would not be on the chopping block and instead or Lawson would

049thinking just in the sense of commercial development for its place, fourth and fifth street, just having more viable options for what that could turn into for the community as a whole as well. But I also have some side thoughts I wanted to bring up um regarding particularly preK and K. Um, I feel it might be beneficial to have those return to the elementary buildings even if David Brewer ends up being closed because as we all know that enrollment is going down. But also I feel like having fourth and fifth graders being mentors to prek and K helping teach with math skills, reading skills that could actually create an intervention based program where students are involved and enrolled in that work and not just teachers and giving them that voice and choice. I know that this

050district is uh proposing and looking into visible learning, that idea of student driven learning and I feel by putting preK and K back together with older students, you would have an easier opportunity of that. That idea that you can have those older students becoming mentors while also improving their own skills because if you can teach it, you'll know it. So, I feel like that would provide a benefit with data. I've seen that at work even at the middle school level seeing growth of two to three grade levels in students gaps of learning when they have student support in addition to teacher support from people that they respect particularly older mentors. Um, so I just wanted to bring up that idea that I am indeed on the side of pre-K and K going back for that

051reason. Not so much as the idea of I I get the idea of the the specialness that can come from having a separate space for them, but as was brought up, the long-term viability of that. Most districts are closing their early childhood centers, and that is unfortunate. But I want us to think of possible ideas to bring up in future meetings, whether it be committee. I'm happy to be a part of that. I'm a good note taker. Hi. Um, but to to be able to think about those ideas of how our older students can be more involved with our younger students and make those connections so we can help address those issues and gaps. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have Miss Chelsea Min. Good evening. My name

052is Chelsea and I am the parent of two students in this district. One of them being at David Brewer Elementary. I'm not here to argue that difficult financial decisions don't need to be made and nobody in this community is pretending money is not a problem. Families are struggling financially. Staff are struggling financially. Districts everywhere are facing difficult budget realities. The issue is not that difficult decisions need to happen. The issue is how these decisions are being handled. Just three months ago, this board approved a major restructuring plan. Before those changes have even had the chance to take effect, we're already being asked to consider another major restructuring decision. So, I have to ask, what has changed so dramatically in the last few months that another major restructuring vote is being accelerated from October to June?

053And why the urgency now when the superintendent pushing for it will be leaving in the district in five weeks? These decision decisions affect children, families, teachers, and entire neighborhoods for years to come. They deserve thoughtful planning, transparency, communication, and genuine community engagement. Before discussing the closure of another school, this board should first ask why so many talented educators and staff members no longer see a future here. Schools do not succeed because of buildings. They succeed because of people. They succeed because of the teachers, administrators, pair professionals, support staff, and every single person who shows up each day to support the students in these buildings. When those people keep walking away, it's not bad luck, and it's definitely not a coincidence. It's a warning sign. And it deserves just as much attention, if not more, as

054any budgets sitting in front of everyone this evening. Since communication has been a recurring theme throughout these discussions, I want to address that directly. At the last meeting, Alyssa suggested board members meet residents where they are to answer questions and provide information or just listen to community concerns because it is unrealistic to expect every parent to be able to attend these meetings. There were several responses to her suggestion, but Danielle stated that's what phones and emails are for. I sent several emails to or I sent an email to everyone on the board on February 2nd before the last vote, and I only received a response from three of you. Phones and emails only work when there is actual communication happening on both ends. Nobody expects this board to magically solve financial problems overnight. But this

055community does expect leadership that is transparent, responsive, and willing to slow down long enough to evaluate the consequences of decisions before rushing us into the next one where we, the community, will take on the majority of the impact. The students, staff, and families of this district deserve better than the confusion and instability that we've experienced up to this point. Thank you. Thank you. >> Next we have Mr. Adam. Good evening. Thank you for letting me speak tonight. Before you vote on closing another school, I want to urge the district to make one important step. Commission an independent performance audit. We already complete a f audit financial audit every year, but that only tells us whether dollars were spent correctly. A performance audit tells us whether they are spent effectively. According to Kansas open go open

056gov USD453 spends $21,418 per student in all funds. Uh on post they spend $16,571. Baser Lynwood spends 15,559. We are not underfund funded. We are right in line with other school districts in our area. But when you look deeper into how districts spend their money, our pl our our patterns are not similar at all. Lancer Lancing Baser Bonner Springs increase classroom in instruction far more than we did. Lancing's instructional spending grew 112%. Bonners has grown 122%. Baser's about 895 and ours 61 61%. At the same time, our staff support spending has urged to 180% more. That's double lancings and uh about double basers as well. So while nearby districts increase in structural spending, we increase overhead. That imbalance is exactly the kind of issue a performance audit will solve. And here's the real concern. Our

057results still don't match our investment. We continue to score below state average in English, language arts, and math. Districts like I have mentioned before which spend similar or even less consistently post higher proficiency rates. Even ones which spend significantly less per student. The problem clearly isn't how much we spend. It's how effectively we spend. Meanwhile, our classrooms are overcrowded. Teachers are stretched thin and class sizes in some grades are far beyond what allows for individualized educations. Family sees it. Teachers feel it and students live it every day. Which brings us to the conse to the to the brings us to the consequences of closing a school. If we close a building now and enrollment does increase, which it can. What happens then? We'll have rising student numbers but fewer classrooms. Reopening or replacing a closed

058school is extremely difficult. We need to know what's working, what isn't before making any rever irreversible decisions. That, as Mr. Darling states, is just kicking a can down the road. >> Thank you. Next we have >> Thank you, sir. You good on the time? All right. Um, I'm Sharon Miller. I am a Levorth High School educator. This is the end of my 24th year and I will have a freshman at the high school in the fall. Um, first I want to recognize the difficult situation that the board in the district is in. No one likes the option uh that have to be considered but it doesn't negate the fact that difficult decisions have to be made. The district budget must at the minimum operate um efficiently and hopefully with enough reserves to address issues that

059might come up. It's imperative also that we maintain high standards for learning and that we retain excellent educators, administrators, and support staff. Tremendous cuts have already been made to the budget, including the absorption of 40 positions across the district. These cuts impact building budgets to fund supplies, fund field trips, support curriculum, and more. Absorption of these positions have created increased workload and decreased support. Burnout is high and people are continuing to keep their options for work elsewhere open. There are few places left to close future budget gaps. 80% of the budget is personnel. Continuing to cut staff positions will result in significantly increased class sizes, loss of elective programs, and less support for students and teachers. Real consideration must be given to building realignment, perhaps closure of certain enrollment centers. The district cannot sustain the

060absorption of more positions and continue to provide the level of support that our students deserve. Future budgets all across the state are going to continue to suffer until canons go to Topeka and demand that the legislature fully fund sped and come up with a fair and adequate funding for public schools. There it is. That is not a luxury that we have time to wait for. So we need to do something quickly and in order to survive the next few years we need to reimagine not only the modes of operation in the district including transportation, building alignment, enrollment, we have to do if we keep doing what we've done we're going to keep getting the same results and that's not an option any longer. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next is Kayla Martin. My

061name is Kayla Martin. I want to thank you for your time. Um, I apologize. Some of my things, uh, it seems like some of the, um, agenda has been reverted, uh, such as the vacant building. So, it does, um, show that, but, I apologize. I know that's not the case possibly. Um I'm here because I strongly oppose the proposal of closing one of our elementary schools, especially when we have not considered an alternative school. Our community has just recently experienced the closure of our intermediate school. We have not witnessed the result behaviorally of this decision and it will take more than a year, I assume, for that to show. There are two buildings that have not been sold yet, meaning the district has not fully or properly evaluated the financial in properly evaluated the financial

062impact of selling these two buildings before shutting down another school or doing something with these buildings. Before the district even considers closing an elementary school, our community deserves to see the result of the previous decisions. We shouldn't continue reducing educational opportunities for our children while own sold district properties remain vacant. Elementary schools are not just buildings. They are the foundation of every child's educational experience. It's where they first learn confidence, friendship, and belonging. When schools become more crowded with a larger amount of students, those things become harder to occur and protect. One of the biggest concerns I have is the likely increase in behavioral issues and bullying. Students who once felt safe and comfortable can begin to be overlooked. If we are honest, that is already occurring in our schools. Teachers and staff inev inevitably

063will not be able to provide the same individualized attention and help. Schools with a larger amount of students often experience more discipline problems, pure conflict, and more bullying. Don't we have enough of that? This is already a larger issue in our school district than anyone wants to admit. Is the budget really wor worth worth worsening the very reason many parents are home home online schooling or switching them to Lancing? We have children suffering within our school district currently due to the lack of focus and enforcement of policies or lack of policies altogether. I asked the school board to focus on selling the two vacant buildings first or to look at what they're going to do with them including an alternative school. I also ask if it's considered to close another school that the board explain

064to our community how this is helping our students specifically with bullying and behavioral issu issues. Thank you for your time. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to item 2.3 for member discussion. Um I can go ahead and open this. Um why is this um up for a vote in June? But why I will take responsibility for some of that. Um in February we made some decisions that uh solve our budget problem for the next year. However, the same problems are there. Everything comes back the following year and there was some appetite u after the February decision to get this back on the agenda as soon as possible. Um, I was in favor of doing changing the vote to June. Um, because we are in a period of a lot of change

065with our uh, outgoing superintendent. We have an interim superintendent and we're going to be hiring a new superintendent. Uh part of our job as a board is to provide clear guidance and a target of where we're going. Uh that's something that this board has not been very good at. Um in my opinion um me included because uh most of our guidance comes in the form of feedback and nine times out of 10 that feedback is you're not doing it right. Um, here we have an opportunity to rip the band-aid off, make a really hard decision, and clearly communicate our intent so that we've got a solid plan going forward for the next year. Um also I see this as at at its core as difficult as it is it is being financially responsible. We have

066a responsibility to be financially responsible. We have board members I was one of them who campaigned on fiscal responsibility. We must live within our means. We have board members, me included, who have voted for revenue neutral budgets. And I guess I would question, are we serious or are those just talking to me? And lastly, the bottom line for me, as difficult as this this is, and we've been talking about this for the better part of a year, and believe me, I mean, it's it'll make your head spin. Um, I mean, I thought about it and thought about it and prayed about it and thought about it, but the bottom line is how is continuing to operate free elementary school that we neither have the student numbers nor the tax base to support fiscally responsible. And

067if we decide to continue to operate three elementary schools in our current and developing financial situation, what is the opportunity cost? What are we willing to give up? Because we are not in a position that we can have the choices that we want. We are in a position where everything is a trade-off. So, if we continue to operate three elementary schools without the student numbers or the tax base to support that, what are we going to give up? Because we've already started with staff. We've got staff stretched to the limit competitive compensation. That doesn't seem like a good idea to me because who's going to want to work here? Course offering. We would have to offer less course offering. Uh are we going to forgo building maintenance program, van, choir, sports, CTE? What is it?

068Because the numbers are the numbers. The there there has to be there is a trade-off here. And so that's the question for me. And nobody wants to do this. It's very emotional. It's very painful. And like Dr. Adam said, nobody ran to be on the school board to have to make decisions like this. That said, we are sitting in this seat. And part of leadership is making those hard decisions knowing that sometimes it hurt and sometimes it hurts people you care about the most. But going forward, the big picture, I feel like we need to make the decisions and stop revisiting the same conversations because this has been the same conversation with the same information for the better part of the year and that's that's my and we can discuss. All right. I would still

069like to um have the answer for how many vacant frames are going are in the elementary schools once the fifth grade moves into them once they move in. >> Yeah. Because we're getting the numbers without the movement of what we're supposed to be moving in the fall. Fifth grade goes into the elementary school. >> How many rooms are then left unfulfilled? I heard like six right now because there is no fifth grade in there. Are there like six rooms not being used in each elementary school? >> So we shared these maps with you um back in February. Happy to share them. >> Well, happy to share them with you again. I can go building by building um at the elementaryaries. Uh this information was provided by the building administration at David Brewer. They identified 2,

0704, six, seven rooms that could be utilized. At Anthony, they identified six, seven, eight, nine, 10 rooms that could be reclaimed. And at Henry, they identified 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 rooms that could be identified. Now, please know these are not empty rooms. These are rooms where they're reshuffling people. It's kind of like if you have a a house and my daughter moved out and my two other daughters took her room. They re they basically have claimed that extra room is theirs. So, um they're they're all in there even though it's still supposed to be a guest room. They're utilizing it all the time. So those maps I'm happy to share again, but that was identified uh that they could reclaim and move people. So >> this is based on current enrollment, but then

071the buildings now not moving fifth grade in the numbers change when fifth grade is. >> This is where they identified the room so that fifth grade could move in. Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So they'll still have this many. >> No, they Well, they are now moving. Yes, they've all moved. So, >> it's minus three per building. >> Yep. And then however they move people around. >> Yes. >> All right. So, so the reason why I'm asking this, seven goes to four, the 10 goes to six, the 11 goes to seven. Um, while we're talking about doing a whole building to put the kids in for an alternative, you actually technically have space where you could put one of the school psychologists in the building. They could have a room for behavioral issues and then

072you could actually have inschool alternatives with those students in their home schools instead of sending them off to a whole another building out of their neighborhood. Just a thought. >> Um, I can't speak to that. >> No, I'm just saying it's just a thought. You have this space. You could actually have alternative built into your own building. >> Um, we've never done that before. I've never seen that model uh in my time here or tenure. Um, the spaces that we identified and I thankfully I have Jamie here too. We identified those and and there that doesn't mean there that they want to give up all those spaces because now we're limiting this space that everybody has. Does that make sense? So like Jamie has recovery in a room. That was one of the rooms that

073we identified. She still needs a recovery room, but she just identified spaces that could be utilized if that makes sense. >> What's a recovery room? a room that is uh utilized for students that may become u unregulated or um they need a break. Um behavior sometimes is the reason for that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> To address Miss Murphy. So you mentioned the alternative being in each one of the buildings. So we did that. We started that um we did that last year with school within a school. We had a classroom in every one of our buildings that was staffed with a a teacher and a pair professional and an RBT um to be able to support that and then students would be able to be put into that program. Once again, goal being

074that we remediate the skills that they're missing and then get them back into their classrooms. Um we started that last year. We then due to staffing concerns, we did shrink that down to Anthony was kind of the home base for that this year. So any Anthony student that needed it could go into that. um se section and then any students at David Brewer or Henry that needed that level of support, we would transport them free of cost to the parents to that location. Um just once again trying to keep them in a general education setting. And we did close that program at the end of this school year. Once again to the due to the staffing constraints, we could not staff it safely and securely um to be able to support the needs. We also

075found that within those settings because those are such a highly unique um and specialized program, those students do need to typically be away from their peers for a period of time just so that we can really hone in on those skills. We have a lot of different um techniques and things like that that we use um that cannot be done in a general education building um just because they can be more disruptive to an entire flow of a building. So the idea would be that that was not successful. So we remove that for this next school year. May May I just in May may I miss Elise? >> Just I don't mean any disrespect on this at all that you tried this for a year >> and said you couldn't stop it. Now we want

076to do a full building when we don't know if we could stop it. >> That's a huge concern right there. It's like let's burn the bridge and then >> figure it out later. And that's kind of like what was happening with that 4 day week. It's like go ahead and vote for a 4 day week. We'll figure it out later. I'm not really good on figuring out things later. I'm better at strategic planning and knowing exactly where your focus is and what exactly could be done, who do, what, when, where, how. >> Sure. I think the one thing that's different that I can speak to is that we have had success with Third Avenue. We've had that open since 2017. It has been a top-notch program. The number of students that have went back to

077their genet buildings and been successful is extremely high. We've had at one point up to 70% of our kids trans are transitioning back to their home buildings. We have a fairly high graduation rate out of that program. It is essentially an alternative school. It's just geared for students with special needs, not general education students. And so the intent behind an alternative school, we know that that model works. They're away from their gened peers for a period of time. Once again, the goal is to get them back to their general education setting and or out in the community so they can be successful when they do leave us. Um, that programming could be expanded to an alternative setting. Um, once again, I think if we were to take Third Avenue and pop it into all of

078our general education buildings, it would not have the success rate it has away from their peers. >> So, we will admit this is completely different than behavioral. Um, is there some kind of magical funding formula for behavioral fund that >> special? So, third avenue is special education specifically for behavior. So the alter so that comes out of your special ed pot. Your alternative school funding would be out of your general education pot. So there is no that I am aware of, Dr. Adams, correct me if I'm wrong, there's not a special pot of behavior, general education money that comes out of the general fund. >> So it's still just a regular school that's focused on just behavior. >> Correct. >> It's not going to help with funding or anything else. still been a struggle maybe

079finding people to do it like you did this last year >> potentially. You your your your advantages will be for the staffing piece of it is it would be advertised as an alternative school position. You have people out there that want to work in that setting. The staff that are at Third Avenue now want to be there. There are people that want that kind of setting. That's those are my favorite populations to work with, but it's not for everybody. And so there would be people that would be seeking those out whereas we didn't search for school within a school in that type of a mentality. So there would be that piece of it. My suggestion would be though is potentially looking at if that is something that the board does move forward with is opening

080an alternative school would be perhaps maybe not doing K through 12 all at once, maybe stagger it in, look at middle school, high school first and then stagger in looking at elementary once we get it rolling because I can tell you at Third Avenue when you add one or two new kids at a time that can upset the apple cart until everybody gets um adjusted. And so I can only imagine what it would feel like and especially we opened Third Avenue with 30 kids and that was a lot all at once. I can only imagine what opening the door for 130 all at once walking through would would be like. So I would suggest starting smaller and then knowing that the goal is to get more. >> And I got a question on Third Avenue.

081Do we have a um huge parenting presence in that program? >> We are always striving to get more parents involved. We have some parents that are huge supporters. We have some parents that are very, very involved in their children's education. Um, very involved in the process and understanding and helping support kids. We also have some families that are just absent and or they're also just kind of like we don't know what else to do with our child. Please help us. >> What do you think the the alternative parenting would be like for that school? So my suggestion would be is with parenting would be helping most of our families that have students that would be in that type of a setting, Third Avenue, they're also struggling at home. >> The kids aren't just magically okay

082in that setting. And so I would be really trying to push for parent education on how to help support kids their kiddos at home, help support kids in the community, etc. Help give them parenting skills and strategies so that they can be successful, which then would ultimately help us in um our school setting as well. if you could please go back to your comments. I think um you were saying that you didn't have enough funding for this the teachers to to stay in that program or teaching the kids in a kind of alternative school within a school. >> So it wasn't the funding as much. It's a savings for us because we're closed. We have eliminated that program this upcoming year. It's not much but the reason why we had to eliminate it was because

083of the sheer staffing. We were not able to staff it at a level of the needs for the students >> and that was based on behaviors. >> The staffing is that what you're asking? >> Correct. >> Yeah. So the amount of staff that we would need to safely support the number of students that we would have in a classroom was not able to be obtained. So we either had turno high turnover and or staff that we could not secure in the first place to get it up and and continuing on. So we would have a sub in that classroom. we would have a pair professional or general ed aid like I said an RBT but due to the the sheer turnover of those those those programs we had to close those programs multiple times throughout

084the school year just because we like two people call in there's nobody to staff it so then we would have to bring it we'd have to close that that program down so based on those patterns we did go ahead and >> RBT >> registered behavior technician >> thank you and um it's been that's been since I've been on the board because I don't remember those conversations the about the school within school closing. Yes. And that was in our board FYI. >> I can't hear. What was it? >> It was in the board FYI. That would have didn't So, we we had a program at Warren Middle School that served intermediate middle. We had to close that starting fourth quarter. >> So, there was no there's no uh conversation. Just it was closed >> due to

085not being able to staff it. Correct. >> I got I did I did read that. >> Yep. So, that's that's where those came from. If I couldn't staff >> I don't want to give the impression that we closed it at >> Yeah. No, we we made the decision to close it because we did not have the staff to support the students. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Adams. I have a question for you. Um, on the motion to put Lawson back onto the agenda, could that happen today in a special meeting or would that have to happen next meeting? the board could direct leadership >> to place that on to the June 8th regular meeting >> with a vote. >> So we're going to set the June 8th regular next Wednesday for June publishing Thursday 5

086June. >> Okay. So if I say now would that count as me wanting it back on the agenda for the next coordin for you? Yes. I think it would be a collective. Do we want collectively to see that on that agenda? Yeah, you could notice that tonight to leadership. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> I would like to note that for me. >> And just some additional comments and um reflecting back on the February meeting. Um I was prepared to vote to, you know, whichever way it would go, but I didn't ever hear a actual plan of what um it would entail to close David Brewer. that was never clear. Um, from busing and um, our special needs students, the teachers, the classrooms, getting things prepared at Henry or Anthony, wherever they would go, Judy, is

087there a reason you have your back to me? >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Price. Uh, just just curious why there hasn't been a plan presented to the public, to our parents and families. Nothing concrete. It sounds like you're going down the road. you want an alternative school. Um, someone mentioned maybe having a study. I think that's a great idea. I would totally get behind have actually having a study of what a plan would look like um to close a school. I also feel like um again, I went out to meet with the people. I came in. Thank you for providing the flyers to me um and copies of those. I took them to different churches. I took them to people on the street. I went by the laundry mat, just wherever people had

088kids with them, families, and every person I spoke with and I brought up the fact that the board is considering closing a school. People are like, "Oh, yeah, that was settled back in February." I know. I read about it. Absolutely not. I told them it's being raised again. And um people were very surprised and um I think they were saying they were trying to reach out on Thursday and Friday to get a hold of the board um to let them know their concerns or to get on the agenda to speak. They were not able to get through on the phone line. I also personally called myself um and was not able to get through. I pushed options on the phone to dial in, was not able to get through. The phone just kept ringing and

089ringing. I know it was going into the holiday. I know school's closed, but again, for me, transparency, parent engagement, family engagement. Um, we need to be all over that. And as far as raising the issue that this conversation has been going since October of last year before I was even on the board maybe true regarding the financial help of the health of the district, but the only time the actual school name was given was February and that's when all heck broke loose at the school board this this school board meeting. So, it hasn't been a long-term conversation specific to a school. And I and and I don't know how you're not seeing that as a board. I would ask you to, you know, come out, walk hand inand with me. Let's let's let's get our

090families involved. One way, you know, um I think the question was raised how to get more parents involved if there is an alternative school. You got to get out there and meet with them. And um you know, they may not know your name. They know may know you're on the board. They may know um that you have knowledge about what's going on and they may come to you. But let's let's go deeper than that. Let's find out really how we can help our families in this case. And not having a plan is not going to work. We need to be strategic in our planning and um for a number of issues. Someone whispering. I can hear you. >> I was just going to say um in responding to not having a plan. I think so.

091>> Oh, I'm I'm still finishing my comments. I just thought you were whispering about me and I wanted to know what you were saying. >> No, no, I will yield when I'm finished. Um, and I also think it's important to um because again, I I personally had to ask for the flyers. The flyers should be given out to the schools. they can hand them out if if they're willing to do so or at least to be available. So when people come um one person I showed the flyer to they were like oh it doesn't really list the meeting time or a phone number or any way to get a hold of the board other than email and I don't even know if those emails have been addressed. So there's a number of things you're doing

092right to push a certain perspective, but we need to be able to say that we're also doing things right on the other side if someone has a different perspective than closing any school or David Brewer. Thank you. Um I would just say um for not having a plan um I think there are discussions at the cabinet level and you can correct me if I'm wrong because these things things have been talked about but there are sequential decisions that need to be made and I kind of look at it I use the example like uh do you want to buy that house? Well I don't know if I want to buy that house because I don't know how those three rooms are going to be decorated. Okay, we can spend a lot of time figuring out

093how to decorate those three rooms, but first we need to make the decision to buy the house. And when we have limited staff, limited hours of the day, I don't know that we can flesh out every hypothetical, every every um possible situation. what our board what our I don't know I think what our superintendent needs what his cabinet needs what this district needs is a decision and a direction and an intent and then there are subsequent decisions after that and to that I say we made it >> well I don't I don't know how this is you know how this looks exactly and the details of this exactly And any decision that we make or don't make, if we have this analysis paralysis, you know, and we're not making a decision, that's a decision not

094to make a decision. Anything we do at this point is going to bring on more problems, more challenges, some foreseen, some unforeseen. That's just part of it. Um, so that's that's just where I'm coming from. I think we need to we need to make a decision and give some clear intent and clear guidance on what what we're doing and given our current situation and what our situation is going to look like going forward. Um, and we have to make some decisions. >> And I thought that's what we did in February and it's on record >> and that closed our gap for a year. >> And I I'm not tied to any school, but I have volunteered in each one of these schools. I've been handinhand with parents and families. I know folks who have children

095in school currently and this is just not something anyone is asking for at this time without a plan, without a strategic plan. And we're not providing that. >> And even if what I said about opportunity cost if you don't do this I don't know I hear a lot of those but what are you willing to give up what do you want to do this brown or anyone else what do you want to do because if there's something else that we can do >> um what I wanted >> you're bringing that you're bringing a lot of no I that's not good enough we need more we just but what do you propose >> I propose that we stick with the agreement and we see what happens with the students moving from the IC up and down.

096That that was the that's what we agreed to do and selling the two buildings because we've agreed to close them and we've yet to do that. So, we're not keeping our end of the deal that we've made to the community, following out the whole entire what we've said needs to be done is not being done and then we're asking for more or not even asking, we're telling them we're going to do more and that's the way it's going to be. >> So, would you rather just leave it on the table and um >> No, a building needs closed. We know that. But we're gonna we're going to be back here looking at Lawson next year because we're declining and we're not going to have enough students in that building to maintain that building later. The

097building is great. We have done a lot of work to it. So to be honest, it's worth more money than any of the other ones if we're looking at a financial part of it. But for us to do this now after we don't get what it looks like for next year's students to be in the classroom, the teachers to be in the classroom and what that engagement really really looks like and closing our other two buildings that we've already said we're going to close or revisit or whatever that looks like because it's still left on the table apparently too even though it was voted on. That is we're moving ahead of ourselves before these other things need done. The attention needs to go towards these things that we've already set to be done. They're action

098items that need to be carried out because they've already been that's what was already voted for and we're not doing that and seeing the progress from that before we move on to the next thing. Do we need to close a building? I'm sure we do. If we're declining and declining and declining, we absolutely will. But is it the elementary one of the three elementary going to be the best option versus the Lawson and the Lawson still be declining and declining and we have to wind up selling it anyways? I mean there's lots of autistic buildings that you know programs that are going in. The building is set up for that. Some of our stuff maybe we can take and put into our other elementary schools. I don't know what all that looks like because again

099that's getting ahead of you know still you know what we're doing but like there is options that do need to be evaluated. >> May I ask for some clarification? We had an audit with the survey for the population. When did that lady do the presentation? >> Was that December or January where she gave where the enrollments were >> enrollment? the enrollment projection. Yes. Yeah. If I recall, it was a special meeting in January. >> So, it was okay. I was just looking in the wrong place in January. >> Excuse me. I think it was like late January 27th. >> Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she say during her projections where all this declining is happening right now that in about five years, we were still anticipated to go back up. You don't go

100back up but you finally find the bottom of the decrease >> and then she said it would start increasing. >> That is of course like notwithstanding all the other factors but it is basically through the decade that you will continue to decline before you call we we find the floor >> right which the floor is supposed to be found between 2030 and 20 correct that is accurate >> which is four to five years from now. Yep. So it starts going up again, not in a huge amount, but then again, I've asked, we'd be looking at needing another school another five years after that. Where would we put it? What kind of bond is that going to look like? Because I'm pretty sure everybody's going to be really weary having all these bonds to vote for

101a bond, 40 million. We're going to build all this to, and Karen, I hate to do this. Pull the band-aid off and make a decision. All band-aid wounds don't require an amputation and we've already committed a couple of amputations in this district right now. Um I think there's other ways to plan this around. Um I just think the timing is kind of ironic. The couple other meetings that I know are happening in the beginning of June. Um, and I I do feel like that we made the decision as a board to set here after moving the kids into their other home buildings that we would revisit this in October. And it just really seems ironic to have this big push to do it now. They'll still have time to plan. I mean, they were going

102to plan very quickly on how to do a 4 day without giving us a plan. So, I'm sure the plans could still be done. >> I mean, I >> I think the audit I think the performance audit would be very helpful, too. If we're going to do a projection audit on populations, um I know we have our finance audits, which are usually always squared away with all their disclaimers and everything, but a performance audit would be credible. I think we as a board need to really make sure that we are not taking up, staff time, dollars that can be used for things that have already been provided that are not going to continue to deplete the budget. Um, I personally after the February meeting immediately went to Dr. Adams and asked him how quickly we

103could discuss closing a building again because I feared I didn't realize it was going to be as painful as it currently is, but that this opening the wound again was going to be as painful to our community as it is. Um I never once felt like this issue was resolved. I feel like it's just been slowly bleeding and now we've gashed it open. Um, but we need to make this decision. And it's not that it has been put to rest. I don't think that there is ever an an easy decision when it comes to this. We all We all know that. And I personally think we need to close an elementary and a Lawson. Not one or the other. I think it all needs to go. Maybe not now, but we need to be looking

104forward to the future for that. We five years from now, we have no idea who's going to be having kids. My kids aren't having kids. I'm sure other people's kids aren't having kids. I do not foresee our population as a whole nationwide increasing. Definitely not in Kansas with the way that our politics are. Nobody wants to live here. So, that is all I'm going to say about that. And I've heard you make that comment often and I hope it's on the record that I have done nothing but encourage our district and encourage our community um and uh speak positively I guess into our district which is important because people do want to live here. I work in an industry where I see people moving here on a weekly and daily basis. When I was out

105campaigning I met a number of people that were very new to our community. So that's not true. And you know, maybe we're crossing different paths here and there, but it is important to recognize people are moving to Loveorth, Levvenworth County, and our community. And they like it here. They want us to have good schools. And I went to school here. I graduated here. I've said that a number of times. And the people I graduated with, all different nationalities, uh, soio economic backgrounds, and we strive to have a very good education. We challenged each other, and that's what I want to bring back to our district. You don't have to be uh a certain type of student to do well in our district. We have amazing teachers that push. They know how to teach and they're

106excellent at their jobs. We made a decision in February and I want us to stick to it. I don't want to keep making changes and and for for people to say that we are not sticking behind our decision is untrue. And people to say that we did not make a hard decision, that's not true. We made a decision as a board to do it. Some voted for, some voted against. That's okay. But that was a decision that was made and we agreed to table it until the fall. And I don't know how you're missing that. I know you were all there. You're not in some kind of haze that we're sitting here. I I was here. >> Good. Good. Thank you for saying that because you you act like >> anybody's disputing that >> open

107them up again in the fall as we agreed and I you know, pardon my tone. Um, Miss Overby, it just, you know, we had agreed to bring it up in the fall and I think we should stick to that. Again, I went out, I took the whole day off work. I get paid hourly. I took a whole day off work to meet with people face to face and find out where they're coming from and let them know. And again, I am not for against I'm not, you know, whatever the vote is, the vote is. But for people to think it was already settled in February and we're bringing it back up now and they're like, "It was settled in February." And I'm like, "Absolutely not. It's coming up again." So, it's it's not even given

108the chance for the public to understand it. And in some ways, it does feel rushed. So, why why do we need to rush this decision when we've already agreed on record in February to open it up in the fall after we have data from the schools? Mr. Darling, what do you think? I think everybody's said something except you. So, in February, the board did not exercise any profiles and courage. I uh phrase it as somebody who's been cut hours at work, has a maxed out credit card. We managed to scratch out or scrape up the minimum monthly payment on our credit card. We then did not change our spending. When we voted to close this building and food service, it wasn't with a timeline because that was going to be based upon how fast we

109could possibly get into the intermediate center. Since then, Dr. Adams made it very clear that we've still got a $1.5 million budget hole that we need to fill which can only be closed by close or filled by closing a school. Dr. Adams had the intestinal fortitude to want this settled before he left. And for that, sir, I salute you for wanting to get it done before the interim superintendent takes over and gets that settled. And I think that's fairly important to let the new superintendent Dr. Bberger start without this whole cloud over her head. Very, very important to the process. Moving support services out of an old foundry, moving this building over to David Brewer, moving food service to David Brewer is a way of reducing rooftops, cutting down the square footage that we have

110to maintain is a good step. And if the skies open up and after 2031, we actually have more people. David Brewer still there and we can find an office building for the board office. But it gives us flexibility in our budgeting that we can have money to fence Anony's school grounds which has been on their wish list for how many years? I don't know, but a whole bunch. We have the money then to actually fund an alternative school even if we started small which this district very much needs. As we looked at the uh behavior problems when the various schools reported to the board in a special study session and the bus transportation is at least doing something to what is reported to us as being a major problem with absenteeism in this district and

111that is oh mom didn't get out of bed or dad didn't get out of bed or whoever's responsible for getting them alarm didn't go off. So I didn't get to go to school on time. They're absent truent. So we need to do something. and kicking this can down the road till September just gives the staff which we've reduced by 19% or so less time six less months to do the job it is to produce plans that are concrete executable and feasible for when we move out of David Brewer we need to bite the bullet and get it done Okay, math is not mapping. >> I'm looking at our vote and I'm looking at the reduction decisions that were given to us in February where we voted. Decision two, repurpose IC, moving fifth to sixth grade,

112saving 764,000 if that vote went through. >> Yep. The next decision was the hiring freeze and then moving this in nutrition. >> This didn't save a whole lot, but it saves some. >> 1.5 million is what is on this chart. So that is >> So you're already we're saying 1.5 million still needed. You do this math here. You need $750,000. >> Closing this >> closing. I'll take We met the requirement for the 26 27th school year, not for the 27 >> 28th school year. >> Closing this building has a minimal savings. >> 11,000 I think it was or maybe I was food service. >> The 1.5 million that Mr. Darling is talking about is for the 2728 school year that I would argue you need to start planning for today >> which right now we're

113in the black. We're above we're not negative. We're not in the red. >> That is not accurate. >> No, we bud we b we're balanced budget and we're >> 2728 school year you are already at a deficit. That's not the information that you provided us. >> We're one year off. I believe what's happening is you're looking at 26 27. I'm discussing 2728. >> Yes. >> But for the year that I'm discussing, we're in the black. We have a surplus. >> That is accurate. >> Thank you. Just making sure we everybody. >> So February, while people may think we did a have a decision, I think it was the lesser of the hard decisions to make because we completely bypassed the discussion of closing an elementary. So while closing the IC was an option, that's sort

114of like option two of whatever, but we didn't really talk about the hard decision, which is why we're doing it now. And as far as bringing it back for June, it's because several board members went and asked Dr. Adams to reconsider the whole decision process. The information has not changed. The timeline has waiting until October would not be helping anyone to include our students and families. And I think the other thing to consider is that when we close a building, it is the building. It is not the students. It's not the teachers that go away. It's just the building. We have space other buildings but to be married to a building is a problem. Looking out for the students and our teachers that is our priority. >> Thank you. >> And I guess my point

115is why were we given nine 10 options then if you really only wanted to close David Brewer? >> I'm not saying it was just only close David Brewer. I'm just saying that we left the hardest option, the one we should have been looking at with the biggest issues up front and we bypassed it. >> I was asking Dr. Adams, thank you for your feedback. >> We presented to you all viable options that achieved the objective. We worked our way through the process at which point then we presented you the options that achieved the objective at the time which was 1.5 million which included either a combination of options which you ultimately chose or options in singularity >> right but we could have had just two schools presented the two elementary schools because I think that's

116what it came down to toward the end but we had multiple options so when people are saying we didn't make the tough decision we had nine options to pick from and that's the one that we picked um was to close the IC and we we all agreed well the majority agreed. So again, it's not that we're making tough decisions, we're not making them, we are. And again, there were nine options that we were given to work with. If you didn't want us to have nine options, they shouldn't have been presented. We we made them. >> As soon as that meeting, we went to option eight. And that's okay. >> It was set up to sequentially just go from option one, two, three, four, and work our way down. That did not happen. As soon as

117that meeting opened and and we went to option eight and we could have gone back up to option one. Um, I'll take some responsibility for that because I was not expecting it to go the way that it did. Our attorney did sit there and say at no point did that have to go in some kind of sequential order. >> It didn't have to. But I'm saying you say that the options were presented. They actually weren't. >> Get the file before the meeting. Thereby we could review it ourselves before we came in. Isn't that what transparency is? So the community can see those decisions, see those opportunities along with us. >> I'm just saying that Dr. never be the same. >> And my final point um at this moment um in response to Miss Price's comment

118that you immediately went to Dr. Adams about wanting to reissue open this matter. I wasn't brought into any of those conversations. Danielle Wells is on record also saying that she went to Dr. Adams um immediately after the meeting. I wasn't brought into any of those um conversations. So, were you guys meeting behind >> conversation between him and I? >> Yeah, one one-on-one conversations don't have to be open to coma. Not every not every board member meets every time we talk to Dr. >> But we're talking about transparency and I've been totally transparent. I know I have. I'm sure you've seen me um going doortodoor talking to people. So, I'm not hiding any conversations that I'm hi uh having with folks. And again, I am not for or against a particular school, but let's make sure

119everyone's being transparent. So, you guys had these conversations with Dr. Adams. You're saying back in February, was there anyone else behind closed doors that met with him? >> I don't know. >> Have a personal >> Yes, but your your mindset is already to move another topic forward when some of us on the board may maybe were not. So, that's not very transparent. >> But you can do the same. You can have the private conf. I have gone to speak with Dr. Adams on a number of convers a number of times and the topic has been to apologize to our local public and um I I know you've you know that I brought that up from the February meeting because they didn't have the opportunity to speak. I have gone behind closed doors and spoken to

120him about it a number of times and that apology still has not gone forward. I do want to put that on the record. So what I'm saying is the person you see here behind closed doors if I talk to Dr. Adams or whoever. It's the same thing I'm saying publicly. It's the same thing I'm saying when I see somebody at the Family Dollar or the Dollar General in our community. So, what are the private conversations that you guys are having to move this this particular topic along that's so important to our community? >> I think any board member can go to the superintendent with a an idea or conversation or a question. I I don't That's not I guess I don't understand what the problem is. >> It's not a problem unless you're doing it

121behind >> that board members did in a group together or what? >> So Danielle Wells went into a meeting with Dr. Adams. She comes out. >> You go into the meeting with him privately right after that and then Judy goes in. >> I don't know what the sequence >> I'm just asking. >> You're you're on the record. You're on YouTube. You're on >> Miss Brown. These are independent asynchronous conversations. There's no clo and dagger. There's nothing nefarious happening here. Okay. >> I just want that on the record conversation. >> Nothing nefarious is happening. Ma'am, >> I want to hear it from each individual. And please don't try to shut me down. >> Miss Brown, there's no requirement to inform you that we're talking to the superintendent. >> I don't ask you to tell me when

122you're talking to the superintendent. I don't ask your calendar to the superintendent. I don't make it hidden. >> It's not hidden. It's independent talking to the superintendent. >> But this is the first time I'm hearing that you guys went by. >> It doesn't matter. >> It does matter. >> No, it doesn't meeting with the superintendent and not >> It does matter because it's a matter that had been closed until October. >> You not closed >> or the fall, pardon me. >> No. And that's my opinion. So, you can have your opinion. I can have my opinion. then that's fine. Keep it. It's your opinion. >> I don't have to. >> But there's no requirement to inform you when we are speaking to the superintendent on a one-on-one basis. >> I just want the public to

123know. >> That's fine. They don't have to know either. Nobody has to know. It is a one-on-one conversation. I could talk to him every day. Do I need to inform everyone? No. It is a discussion with Dr. Adams. Now, sometimes it might be about people. Sometimes it might be about buildings. Sometimes it might be about curriculum. whatever it is. But there's no requirement to notify anyone that I'm talking to him because I have a question. >> But these aren't just questions. It's a matter that we're up for potential vote >> and it's a closed >> the votes will be made in open session. >> Yes. And that complies with all the coma requirements, which by the way, coma requirements apply to all of us. So don't reply to people's emails to all the board members

124because that's a coma violation. Just saying. >> Who are you saying that to? I I haven't >> anybody. We've had several occasions occur. >> Good. Because I have not done that. >> I didn't say you did, but we have had several. >> But you brought it up. When I brought up a matter, so I want to go on the record. It was not me. >> But just as it is, we can bring up an item. It can be put on the agenda and then we can vote on it. And that's that's it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Mrs. Overby, to address a couple issues. First, we have pulled phone call log to this office. for Thursday, May 21st and Friday, May 22nd, I would offer to any individual that indicates their phone call was not

125answered to come see me after this meeting and we will reverse that lookup against that person's phone number. So, if any individual called this phone to this office, we will look that up after this meeting. The second to this conversation about if decisions before you should have every detail. That has never been my prerogative. I believe major board decisions should then inform the final details in planning. So to your point earlier, Mrs. Overby, we did not have every single detail known. I was not going to invest all of our team's time, effort, and energy for decisions that were not going to move forward. I don't think that is a good use of our administrative resources. The third thing, if buildings are sold, those are a one-time revenue source. And second, they go into the capital

126outlay fund. So, if this building is sold, which I do believe it could be, it would not help you operationally year-toear. One is a one-time revenue source. Two, as it goes into the capital outlay fund. The fourth point I want to make and this has percolated a lot here. We cannot raise taxes to help address this issue. In fact, you are at the statutory maximum in pretty much every fund notwithstanding capital outlay. While you could raise that to the eight mills currently allowed, it would not do anything to address this problem. And finally, this decision is for the 2728 school year to be clear. And what it does is it creates a runway of possibilities, standing up an alternative school, repealing some of the freezes or frosts for positions that you've done, addressing a longwithstanding

127transportation issue, or whatever else in a myriad of possibilities. But the reality is you will have less kids in seats in 2728 and you will likely have increased operational expenses. That is what this is about. >> Thank you. >> The one time the one-time payment wouldn't be beneficial selling the building like long-termly, but the taking the utilities that we continue to do with the building definitely would be a savings. I would agree with that statement. So if you if you did not have this building open, you would not have the cost of the utilities, the insurance coverage, etc. That is where your operational savings comes from. >> Yes. >> And that's a lot because insurance is >> and and to your point, that is why I continue to press. We need to reduce the operational

128footprint of the buildings. >> And may I ask one more question? Um, I think it's come up a couple times that if we don't do something with the budget that classes would be cut more and programs would be cut more. I'm not aware of any programs or classes that have been cut in our district. Um, based on >> based on funding since I've been on the board, but go ahead. >> Um, this coming school year, um, debate and drama will be provided, >> but that's not cutting a class. and debate and drama >> but you don't have the staff so you combine two programs which puts stress on the system puts stress on your staff >> and you're talking >> one example >> you're talking about at the high school and that's actually been in

129the works before it's been in the actually my um my own children were in those programs and it's been being uh combined a little bit over the last few years >> I go back to my question >> but I I haven't finished my question and hadn't gotten an answer. What programs have been cut? What classes have been cut? There haven't been. >> Mrs. Brown, I'm glad you brought that up because it has been my hope >> that people feel like there has not been an impact to students in classrooms. >> I didn't say that >> to date. >> I did not say that. You're not answering my question. >> Okay. >> You It's been stated over and over that classes and programs will be cut further, but there's none that even have been cut in

130the first place. >> Okay. So, I'm glad to hear that because that means that we have cut where I wanted to cut. A reduction in administration has been one of my primary focuses. We have to date not eliminated an extracurricular activity that I'm aware of. >> But why is some I've heard today that people were saying further classes and programs would be cut, but there have not been any cut. You're missing my point. It's been on record with people speaking this evening that further cuts would be made into programs and classes. Correct. >> And I have had kids in this district and I pay close attention and there haven't been any that have been cut. >> Those are predictive statements as is today. >> And they're not they're not true. >> They're not true. >>

131I'm not sure how they're untrue >> because there's not been any cut. >> Okay. What we are trying to say is that those are predictive. If decisions are not made, you would have to begin cutting programs. >> Begin. That's the difference. But I understand what you're saying. I yield. >> Okay. >> Any other discussion? >> Do I know we're running short on time, but if there's no other discussion, we'll move on to item 2.4. any unscheduled patient input. >> I was gonna ask a question real quick. >> Did that um behaviors is a big issue for our enrollment. Any of the birth issues are really would only be affecting the prek kindergarten. Right now, everybody that's leaving the schools are voting with their feet by walking into other districts or homeschooling. So again, behaviors are

132a big issue. Would you remind me what our policies are on chronic behaviors that are constantly repetitive and disrupting our classes? At what point do we make the decision or you because it doesn't come to us as a board member every time something happens with the student. who what does it take for the decision to remove a child that is causing that much disruption to be removed from our district for the remainder of that year. So you we have a progressive discipline policy >> that typically begins with inschool suspension. >> Then we'll move along that continuum sometimes to include multiple inschool suspensions depending upon the severity to out of school suspension and then ultimately recommendation for long-term hearing and expulsion. >> Okay. At any point of you being here the last three years, have you

133felt like us as a board have tied your hands from removing a behavioral shot? >> I have not felt that way. No. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. And we have zero unscheduled patron input. So we will just um move to the closing of the meeting. Made our four comments and we will go ahead and um don't I want to see.