USD 453 Leavenworth Board of Education Meeting: Monday, January 16, 2024

001Good evening everybody. This is the regular meeting of USD453 that was postponed for obvious reasons from last week. I'll now call the roll call. Mrs. Murphy here. Mrs. Overby here. Mr. Price here. Mrs. Reed here. Mrs. Wells here. Mrs. Wilson is absent. Excuse absent. And Mike Carney. Stand for the pledge of allegiance. United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening. The mission of 11way public schools is to prepare every student for success in every classroom every day. Next item is schedule patron input. We have two people that write and we'll get started with you pronounce that go. Just a reminder before we get started, you you have three minutes. You probably know that you've been to most of the

002meeting and you'll get 15 second warning towards the end. I'd like everybody to make sure you either silence your cell phones or put them on airplane mode or just it's not ringing while we have the meeting on the way. Okay. Um my name is Kelsey Diego. I live in Levvenworth. I have two boys attending uh David Brewer in the district here. Um, I missed the last meeting unfortunately. So, I'm gonna kind of try and sum up a little bit over the last couple meetings. Um, I'd like to start talking about the IF policy and the material available in the school. Um, I have many concerns on the transparency and accountability um of the district and what they choose to provide. Um, I would hope the new board will have a discussion before making any changes

003uh later on. Um, I believe parents are in charge of what they include and exclude in their child's upbringing. Um when it comes to the district, I believe there's certain standards and boundaries uh that that should be withheld with that. Um I don't believe or sorry um the harms of gender exploration and sexuality being introduced at such a young age age concerns me as well as other parents. Um I don't believe I'm a close-minded person. I've had pretty open conversations with many of the uh district staff here. um if a child but I've heard members say that if a child is old enough to ask a question uh we as an educational body should have those resources available. Um specifically regarding gender and sexual preference is not the district's responsibility to do so in my

004opinion. Um providing this type of material for six-year-olds as well as middle schoolers who aren't fully developed both mentally and physically um can be damaging. Um, I believe the district has the obligation also as well of telling the parents that this type of material is available um, when the assignment was in question. I believe they had the opportunity to do that as well. Um, whether it was being taught or not. Um, lastly, I'm a little discouraged as a parent with arguments on what sexually explicit is. Um, there is a book that has been checked out since October and is currently checked out. Um, and I'd like to kind of find the educational benefit as well as it being provider provided to minors with no remorse. Um, and what the district's standard standards are and if

005there are any. Um, so if I'd like to read a little bit here of um the current book that is checked out. So, okay. Um, so this is American Psycho um at her apartment. She lies naked on her back. Her legs are spread and I'm on my knees giving her head while jerking myself off. In the time, sorry, I can't really see this time since I've started licking and sucking on her [ __ ] She's already come twice and her [ __ ] is tight and hot. 15 seconds. And I keep it spread open, fingering it with one hand, helping keeping myself hard with the other. I lift her ass up, wanting to push my tongue into her, but she doesn't want me to. And so I raise my head and reach over. Times up. But she doesn't want

006me to. Clear. Good evening. I'm Jason Sinclair. I live city and I have one daughter in the school system. Uh, I want to take a moment to thank the previous board for passing the sensible book restriction policy last month that helped safeguard our kids from exposure to adult situations that many parents do not approve of. And many are angry that this is actually up for consideration for repeal uh with the new board. I I hope that it's really considered and looked at very seriously. And again, to the the previous board, thank you. Um, several people several people have reached out to me about a lecture that was given last Thursday by an administrator. Uh, it was done in several classes and uh, so it was not like an isolated conversation. This was something that seemed

007to go through all classes that they had had. Uh, here's an example of some of what was said. And and not an AP class, but this is what was said. uh takes away this policy takes away the ability to teach AP content. Uh every text that qualifies as AP text is disqualified under this policy. Students will no longer receive AP credit. College boards will revoke certification. College professors want students who are exposed to a selection of diverse literature, which this policy purportedly will restrict. Um that's not really true. Either this administrator is ignorant of the policy and is illinformed of its content or they are purposefully mis misinforming children of uh what's going on policy and it kind of makes me wonder why we have such low grades uh low attendance problem attendance problems kids

008are not enthusiastic about going to school. Well, maybe it's because they're not being encouraged by their administrators. Uh, the same instructor in August introduced the class to the books that they'd be reading this year. And the way it was introduced was you will be reading several books by old dead white dudes. And one book that was written by a Chinese woman. And then the administrator apologized that they both selections would not be diverse enough, which kind of contradicts the diversity that is lacking because of this policy that's been implemented. Um, we, you know, we've got people that are going to tell us that we don't need these policies in place because we don't need protection from predatory behavior that is possible with these books that are in the libraries that that the kids are have

009access to. And a bit of irony, the first book that was on this reading list happened to be Ray Bradberry's Fahrenheit 15 seconds, which is a book about banning books. So, you know, kind of makes you wonder if there's a maybe an agenda here that's a foot that we're working with. And another interesting little fact, I I looked on the on the catalog today. There's no books on President Trump in our library. There's only one title missing. Thank you. Adoption of the agenda. I'd like to make a motion to adopt the agenda with a couple um items removed. I'd like item number three, the building report removed and item number eight, policy if removed. A second. Do I get a second to get microphone? Yes. Well, all in favor of the second one. Is that

010for both? Oh, for both. Oh, so those are the two items that that are being removed from the agenda that won't be discussed tonight. Oh, so weren't we supposed to do it to were those part of the consent agenda or were those on the regular agenda? They're part of the regular agenda. So, we need to do the consent agenda first before we number two. I'm on item 1.5 before we even make a motion. No, you have you have to Can I step in? Thank you. Under the current agenda, the adoption of the agenda, which includes the consent agenda, has to be voted on first. That's what that's what it was. And that's what that's what the motion was for, but item eight is not on the consent agenda. Agenda. I'm not talking that this wasn't

011about the consent agenda. If you look under section one 1.5 adoption of the agenda it's the full agenda not just the consent agenda. I just want to clarify that now to the consent agenda. Correct. Miss overb misunderstood and wants to change her vote. So to restate, I am asking to remove items three and items eight from the agenda. We need another motion. You need a second. Second. It sounds like there was a change of of Miss Overby's vote. So I would just say for clarity, start it, which Miss Wells has a second, revote, and then that will be the final vote. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor? If it's if it's 33, it does not pass. Yep. So, I'm I'm requesting some guidance here on how we can approve an agenda

012to move forward. Question. approve the agenda without the removal of certain items here. And but if it's still 33, there's not an approval going forward. You would have to I I'm really at a loss on this one. I mean, I I don't know if you can continue going forward. You have to the next one. Am I correct? That would end this board meeting. I agree. Yeah. Because you can't if you can't if you can't agree to the agenda, you can't have the rest of the meeting. Everything would be pushed to the next one. Where we at? I could hear what you're saying. The agenda the So there was a motion to amend the agenda that has failed because it's 33. If you there's a second vote just to a to accept the agenda as is

013and that vote is 33 again then there is no approval of the agenda. There has to be a majority. If the agenda is not approved you cannot proceed with the meeting. So, can there be a motion of uh approve the agenda minus the building report and then have that second and see what the vote is on this? Absolutely. You can you you can have as many votes on how to amend this however you want. But if they all end up 33 then right then we may have no meeting today. Correct. I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda minus the building report. Second all four. So I I see a confused look on our new board members face. Basically, it means now the agenda is approved minus the building report, but the if

014policy will be addressed. Correct. I understand. Okay. So, then would be I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as it's been stated for. You have a second. Second. All in favor? Six. So, are we calling article five? Is that now article three? It was it stays four. It stays the same numbers. Correct. Yes. So, we're at the resolutions. We are ready for item number five. Correct. Okay. resolutions 2324-18 23-249 officer elections and meeting dates. So just a little bit of context for you. I think it was maybe three or four years ago. I'm looking to Beth to confirm, but um the election cycle changed for board members as you're aware. You used to be elected in April. Now you're elected in November. And so with that, the statute allowed you to

015realign when you reorganize in January. For years, I don't know how long, but several years, school districts have reorganized in July. And so you have the option to reorganize in January or you can continue to do so in July. If you want to do so in July, you have to take the action here tonight. It is my recommendation that you continue to reorganize in July. that continues to align with the fiscal year as well as several of our other processes and otherwise. And so it is my recommendation that you would pass these resolutions and move forward with reorganization in July of 24. Motion. Yeah. So, Mr. President, I move the adoption of the following resolution. Whereas KSA 2019 sub72-1133 requires boards of education to elect the board president and vice president at the first meeting

016on or after the second Monday in January of each year or at a later meeting date during the calendar year if so determined by the board at the first meeting. Whereas unified school district number 453 Levworth County, Kansas must act each year on or after the second Monday in January or at a later meeting date during the calendar year to establish when it will elect its president and vice president. Be it resolved that the board of education of USD, I'm sorry, Unified School District number 453, Lemmer County, Kansas, will elect its board president and vice president at the first meeting of the board of education in July 2024. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor? 51. Okay. Second. I'm waiting for it to load. I apologize. Uh, Mr. President, I move the

017adoption of the following resolution. Whereas KSA72-1138 requires board of education at the first meeting on or after second Monday in January or at a later date during that calendar year. If so, determined by the board at its first meeting to adopt a resolution to establish its regular board meeting dates, times, and location as well as the alternative date and time in any meeting. if the regular meeting falls on a Saturday or I'm sorry on a Sunday or holiday. Whereas the board of education must act each year on or after the second Monday in January before February 1st of each year or at a later meeting day during the calendar year to establish its meeting dates, times, and location. Be it resolved pursuant to KSA 2019 sub 72-1138 that the board of education of United School

018District number 453 Leworth County, Kansas at it meeting on January 16, 2024 does hereby adopt this resolution to establish the day, week of the month, time, and location for regular board education meetings and any alternate meeting dates to be held during the 2425 school year at its July 2024. for board meeting. If the established meeting dates fall on a Sunday, a legal holiday or a holiday specified by the board of education, such regular meeting will be held on the day following commencing at the same hour and location as detailed above. The board of education reserves the right to adjourn any regular meeting to another time and or date or place. Second motion second. All in favor? 6. And Beth will have the copies for us to sign at the end of the meeting. So, please

019make sure you sign those with the designated pen before you leave the evening tonight. Okay. Item six up. Thank you, Mr. Carney. And Mr. Cifford is in the back and requested um if you can pull the mic a little bit closer for a few of you. He said we're having trouble picking up the audio and just a couple of you. So, is that everybody, Brian, or do you need just certain people to pull it forward? Mr. Zack, is that any better for you, sir? All right. Are you there? So, several several updates here for you. I want to make it clear all of these are a first read. Uh so with our regular cadence, we would bring these back to you in February for a second read. Uh would invite any question tonight or throughout

020the next 30 or so days as you have questions to send them our way and we will vet them with Robert KSB or otherwise and how do you want those questions posed and where do you want them posed to? Great question. So if you can get them to me via email is my preference because then that allows me to have the paper trail to be able to send to all of you. So, and when is the deadline that you want us to have our questions to you by? Great question. So, if I'm not mistaken, we have a February 12 agenda. So, if we can cut those off by February 7, Wednesday, February 7. That work for everybody, please. And thank you. And I just want to let you know we already did uh I already

021did a preliminary review of all those policies and provided some red lines that have been incorporated already. Have you been able to review all of the policies at this time? Yes, all those that are the first read. Yes. Okay. I worked with Jake and Brenda on those. Thank you. Okay. Are you accept? Yep. Um, so book challenge level three decision. Uh, just a little bit of context before I turn it over to Mr. Potter. Uh, this was originally received I believe in late August. The level one decision was rendered at the building level. The level two decision was rendered by myself. And so then when that was appealed for level three, Mr. Potter was officially assigned as the district liaison. We're moving both myself as well as the building level decision makers. uh that review

022committee was assigned at the December board meeting. They've completed their work and Mr. Potter is here to provide a summary of the review committee's recommendations andor decisions. Mr. Potter, as Dr. Adams said, I helped to facilitate the process. I did not sit in on a committee meeting, so I can't speak to specifics of deliberations. I can share out that they were the committee was given some general parameters and provided policy if and its current existence for them to follow and refer to and other than that they were really provided no additional stipulations or guard rails other than the request to provide a written report to this board within 30 days and a request to be an extension if they needed it because we're dealing with winter break and the holidays and they met in person

023on December 15th and again on January 5th at which time they finalized their report which was provided to the board of education at this time. At that time each book was individually considered looking for strengths, weaknesses and overall purpose in the building library and after each book was discussed in the context of policy as well as previous propositions. At that time they write made recommendations for each book. Um this is the first time in at least 15 years that I've been here that we've gone through this process. So this is brand new and certainly opportunities for lessons learned and possibilities for improvement moving forward. So because of that there was no real recent template or precedent for the committee to follow. Um with that another different uh thing to call out is in this case

024the complainant um wanted the book removed not just from their child's library but from all district libraries which is why it proceeded through a one and two level of review and complaint. Um, level two on the book Rick by Alex Gino. The level two decision was to move this title from the elementary schools to the intermediate school based on level of maturity. The recommendation of the committee was to move the copies even higher, moving them to the 78 side of the middle school. In addition, they were not asked to do so, but they found additional titles by this author, which are George and Melissa, which can be considered as complimentary titles. Their recommendation to this board is that those books also be moved to the middle school by the same author. Second title was it

025feels good to be yourself by Teresa Thorne. Thong Tong again complainant asked for the title to be removed from all elementary libraries. Level two decision was for the book to be removed from the library and placed in the elementary counselor for parent and that would only be made available with parent consent and advanced communication. In this situation, the review committee asked that the book be taken out of elementary circulation entirely and the title only be available for parents only. Students would no longer have the opportunity to check that title out. Finally, the third title was I am jazz by Jessica Herth. Again, complainant asked for the title to be removed entirely from all elementary school districts or elementary schools. Level two decision was to make this title available with the elementary counselor and only available

026to students with parent consent. The review committee's recommendation is that this would no longer be accessible by students and restricted as parent only. And those were the entirety of the review committee's recommendations to the board. So I have a question. A few months ago um and it was before you uh I had made an observation that there were policies and data that would be on the correct on the agenda that was listed under executive content but not public content. So it meant the public could not preview whatever policies we were voting on and discussing prior to the meeting. And it came to a consensus that we would have those things in public preview from now on. And when we got this agenda here, this book review information was executive content. The public did not get

027an option to even get to see this. And I know that was one of the things I've gotten even from some of my biggest adversaries, a compliment of having more transparency and those things listed. Is there a reason why seeing since there was nothing private, there were no names, no things like that on there that this was maintained in executive content instead of public content. So this public could be aware. Sure. Valid question. So that was my decision. Uh one I would say and Mr. Potter alluded to it previously. Um, no prior precedent or anything that I'm aware of that states whether it will be made available or otherwise. Uh, but two is because it was an individual decision, individual u appeal, we kept that uh from the general public until the board had a

028chance to preview it. But they don't know the individual. I'm just saying it was going to be there. It's going to be out. But, you know, they would have been aware. That kind of leans into where some complain there's not enough transparency and then we shelter something in like that. It's like it's got to be a big secret till we come in. Um, and that that's just why I wanted to go ahead and express my concern. Sure. For that. I would be happy to change that procedure at the discretion of the board. I think the books should have been made available publicly so that the community at large had an opportunity to see what was being challenged. I'm not so sure about publicly like as soon as the challenge comes in and going through that.

029I'm I'm not seeing that standpoint, but I do believe the public had a right to see that this challenge was done was going to be presented to the board and they could say, "Oh, well, I see they're taking action on this." That way, if they did have public commentary, pro or con on that, they would have had that option because this was concealed in executive content only. The public did not get that right. And that is not how I feel. I can't speak for the rest of the board, but that is not how I feel we need to treat our constituents and our taxpayers and our parents. They've been asking six years that I've been on the board, but definitely since 2020 and co for more transparency and that just ended right here with this.

030So just just my expression. Thank you for your comments. Um I'm happy to adjust it. Again, we are very much learning as we go here. Uh this is my first book challenge under policy if and so uh very much making decisions based upon my interpretation of the policy. uh but happy to adjust our procedures as you see fit. As as as the board when we talked about this uh we pretty much said everything needed to be put into public content unless it had to do with executive and privacy matters and this did not constitute executive or private matters to do with staffing or student issues. So that that was our impression unless the board itself wants to change their mind about that now is that we wanted those things for the public to see. Thank

031you. I would like those things for the public to see. As somebody who was sitting a couple years on the other side, there were a lot of times when the public is confused in what the we're talking about. Thank you. Yep. Happy to adjust. Thank you. So, this book is one of the challenge books. It feels good to be yourself. Clearly written or attracted to, I would say, kindergarten and above. This is Ruthie. The first page, the only words, so obviously targeted towards younger reading. She's a transgender girl. That means when she was born, everyone thought she was a boy until she grew a little older. Old enough to tell everyone that she's actually a girl. Girl is Ruthie's gender identity. This is Ruthie's brother, Xavier. Xavier is a cisgender boy. That means when Xavier

032was born, everyone thought he was a boy. And as he grew older, it turned out everyone was right. He is a boy. Boy is Xavier's gender identity. There are so many different ways to be a boy or a girl. Too many to fit in a book. But not everyone feels like either a boy or a girl. Non-binary is a helpful word that can describe a kid who doesn't feel exactly like a boy or a girl. And I'll stop here on this page. This is Ruthie's friend, Alex. Alex is both a boy and a girl. So, the reason that I didn't vote, I'll just restate for clarity, to pass the IF policy like we did last month sooner in the year was because complete garbage like that shouldn't even be in the high school. It's total

033garbage. It's has one goal and that's to make sure it can confuse children or further confuse a child who is already questioning life or their identity, etc. And so what frustrates me about this challenge result is that um I'm you know interested to see what goes on in a counselor's office apparently but it gives the impression that if a student has questions they will be further misled by the time they get to the counselor's office. And I would also offer up to the board to please explain to me how it works if you do not identify let's just go this way. If you identify as the last character as a boy and a girl, how does that work? The book goes on further to explain that you might be a boy one day, a girl

034the next, etc. So, can you explain to me how you would have a family unit that was stable and raising children? I mean, if I decide to be a boy tomorrow, that's going to turn my child's word world upside down. Any stability that may have been in my household is not going to be there anymore. I am Jess had an interesting page as well. Every page is interesting. So this is just for some context so people can understand. For as long as I can remember, my favorite color has been pink. My second favorite color is silver. And my third favorite color is green. Here are some of my other favorite things. Dancing, singing, back flips, back flips, etc. Favorite best friends. Sorry, my best friends are Samantha and Casey. We always have fun together. However,

035I'm not exactly, but I'm not exactly like Samantha and Casey. I have a girl brain, but a boy body. This is called transgender. I was born this way. When I was very little, mom would say, "You're such a good boy." I would say, "No, mama, good girl." So now we have a child telling their parent their sex. That's interesting. And so it begins to play out how a male is wanting to be a girl in the way that he dresses and such things like that. And eventually they allow him through the coaxing of a physician to be able to play in girls sports even though he is a male. So again a book written for children. Brick is the third one. I am on page 71. I have not finished reading this book, but so

036far have come across how since the child um is confused is going to check out the local LGBTQ plus club for direction. That's all I have to say right now. Motion accept works. So technically you do not need a motion to accept it. Uh you just need to be prepared if and when this individual decides to appeal the decision. The next level is coming to you. You could take action tonight, not accept the report and just move straight forward with board action, but I would encourage you to let the process play out as is written. Thank you, Mr. Potter. Thank you, J. Thank you. Item eight. So, I would just like to say the reason that I asked to have this item removed is if we cons if we are going to consider changing this

037policy knowing that Mrs. Wilson was not going to be here tonight. That is the reason that I asked to have it removed for the full board to be here to have consideration for the policy going forward. My reason for leaving it on here is because even if Mrs. Wilson was here, I would have had it listed rather an action item as a first read because we do have two board members that are new who had not had the option of a first read to go through it just because they may have sat on that other side for several board meetings or one or two, they would have needed the option of doing the first read. Um, so then that way tonight we could sit here and do it as a first read and if there

038needed to be any public commentary based on that or if anybody wanted to go ahead and vote on it, uh, we could still vote on it. Do we need to make a motion to change it to a first read or just take if if um, yeah, you would need a motion to do it as a first read because it's listed as an action item. Um, go ahead. I heard you. I heard you, Rob. I heard you. I I I don't think because it's although it's an action item, you don't have to have a motion. I think you convert it to a first read. I don't think you have to necessarily vote on it to be a first read. I think you can label it as a first read knowing that you're going to review it

039next next board meeting. So, if we vote on it though, because that's still an option of it. Um, [Music] and it goes like the original vote on the agenda and it's 33. It stands as it is. It stays. Yeah. The the motion fails. It would stand as is and then it would be somebody else bringing it back up again the next month or the next month. Correct. Any any of you have the right to bring it back up every as often as you like. Mhm. So Judy, I was wondering since my understanding through Dr. Adams is that you wanted these changes, could you justify for us why? Sure. It feels good to be yourself. Should be first grade reading. Well, first off, I'm not looking at specific books. This is about picking books about appropriateness.

040Appropriateness was the word that kept being used. Excuse me. Inappropriateness actually is not in the policy as written. So that's where I went back and said that we're going to have the appropriate staff members you to ensure appropriateness of the content. We hire professionals to go through these books and do these things, right? They're the ones. I get that prior selections, prior processes, whatever. So if we're looking at appropriateness, let's put it back to our professionals, our staff to be those appropriate members to go through and figure out what is appropriate. So, you will not answer whether you believe this book is appropriate for first grade. I'm not saying that right now at all. No, because I'm not I'm not doing that right now. The policy is just to clarify is is the policy about

041picking appropriate books. Okay. So, let's make it appropriate. So, how do we make it say it's appropriate books? Well, by saying ensure appropriateness by content, which negates a lot of the other stuff in there that kind of some of it would take out a fair amount of our books, but also going back and and enumerating what standards, if you will, would say these books are appropriate. So, by going out and just saying, okay, we're going to look at these books, but go back and actually say, what are those professionally prepared, excuse me, professionally prepared tools? So, going back and saying, okay, use the American Library Association tools. They've got things. Use title wave. Use the AP reading list. Use those things that already exist in our processes. But those are handbooks. Yeah, those things you

042just listed would say that this book is appropriate for first grade. The ALA would say, and I get it, but that's not it's not just a one time. They just don't do it one place either. They're going to look at multiple places. And if they go through and all right, this is not appropriate for our first graders. Great. Then don't put it out available for first graders. make it only available for whatever grade is deemed appropriate when they buy the book. So, I guess I'm struggling between how what you're saying now is different from What we had in November didn't have those additions and I think what we had before didn't say anything about appropriateness. So, that's our issue. What is appropriate? So, you're saying that I'm just saying use the word what is appropriate

043and put it on our professionals, those people that we hire. Yeah. To determine that. So, you think they bought a book that they thought was not appropriate for first grade? I am not saying that at all because that was bought under a different policy, different whatever. Yeah. But I mean, people, staff, professionals that you're that you're speaking of bought all three of these books and they decided that they were appropriate for first grade. And so what I'm struggling to understand is how what you propose identifies for them that it is not appropriate for first grade or second grade or third grade or fourth grade. They're not going to look at just Can I add to that too because I don't understand how if we're talking about what are appropriate standards. Um the action item here

044was to remove those guidelines and just go back to general deciding what's because I think some of these guidelines sanction bigotry and when you talk about gender identity just me saying I'm a woman that's my gender identity. How many books out there talk about being man being a woman doesn't they don't go into any of the other stuff you've just negated so much of our ability to of what we can use for appropriate literature. So instead of going by some kind of politically motivated, you know, buzzwords, whatever, just go by what is the general, what is appropriate. Do I think appropriateness is a gender identity book okay for kindergarten or first grade? I don't know because I don't know the book in question. And I'm not looking at any specific books. I'm just talking about

045policy. So who the policy exists? Who decides appropriate though? Who's Well, didn't we list pornography as one of them? And clearly the book American Psycho that was just read to us read like a penthouse form plus some uh which would be labeled pornography uh in literature. So it would not be appropriate to it. And that's one of the point of the guidelines. If I may finish one of my points of the guidelines you say would we have professionals? You're absolutely right. We do have professionals and they even have guidelines. So, because I suspected this was going to be happening, I went ahead and went through beyond just our policies, but go with our student handbooks and our professionals handbooks. And we explicitly state they cannot have uh slurs, cuss words. Um, I know a child

046that got dresscoded because they were wearing a religious t-shirt that with a manora on it that said, "Jews do it for eight nights." and told, "Oh, you can't put you can't wear that because that infers sexual." It doesn't infer sexual. So, you've got it on one end where our dress code is so far extreme that you're going to disenfranchise a religious group and accuse it of being sexual, but then you want to open the door of not being able to say, "We have the right to say there is no pornography." So we're not wasting our taxpayers money to buy a bunch of books so they can turn around and get challenged every time we turn around. I mean that is a ridiculous expense for the monies that we have. So that's a a reason there.

047If you turn around we also have um policies besides the dress code. It was mentioned in here that in some cultures, public displays of affection are deemed inappropriate in those cultures. Well, it's inappropriate in our handbook. It says you will not have PDA. And I know some educators have gone literally ballistic because a young man kissed a girl on the forehead, bered, harassed, and humiliated her in front of the classroom. This might have been between 2008 2011, but it still happened. So, it goes to say, you've got this set of standards here, and you're going to walk that line of strictness to where they could even be expelled if they kept doing it, but you don't want to set standards for what their education material or entertainment material is in the library. I'm not saying

048that we're not setting standards. I'm saying that we go by what's available as professional standards. those things and realize that these things are flagged and they'll say this is why it's being banned other places for whatever reason and that should be caused for us to look at it in depth like well do we need that book and I get that the board but that's there the board said here and felt that it was appropriate to add those little things to give them some extra guidelines so that we would be assured that they were doing that before the purchase of the books. If we go back to the original one like you're proposing here, then all those safeguards are completely gone and taxpayer money could very well be wasted. I don't think they're all gone because

049like I said, those books do have their tags, their information for things that they should be aware of. Just like in the movies, it says be aware of adult content, language, whatever. Those sources do the same thing. Well, those tags did not work for that purchase and that was not our policy. So, those were purchased prior to I get that. But again, you're you're saying that the staff we have that that bought these books either did not understand what appropriate was or they were buying things that they knew were inappropriate. I don't think that was the case at all because there was something there that said it was appropriate. But our policies also evolve and change. I get that. And so do their ratings and so do all the other issues with what's here. But

050I think the bigger thing too is that when we look at what's in there for books, okay, if you want to go back and put some of those things in there, maybe they need to be rewarded. I get it. But I don't want to sanction bigotry on the behalf of the district. I don't believe in that. I don't think that we as board members need to be in the approval process for getting the books for like when it says prioritization for options required. If you put us in the approval process for the books, then you just negated any ability for anyone to challenge a book because we already said we approved it. We're the final say in this district for what gets approved for books. Well, we had this policy that you want to reverse

051back to in place when the Fire Force series was bought and we already know what happened with that. So, and th those books clearly come with warnings that they are explicit, sexually explicit. And I don't know who all checked them out either. I can't say, but I know that there are lots of things in here, but it was that it was purchased to begin with. And that's what we're trying to safeguard against. And that's what my then we can add that those pieces in. That's fine. But I think I don't want to overstep it to go to the extreme of negating books that we use for literature for whatever reason. But I think it also needs to be that the district staff, our professionals, it's on them to screen. It's on them to approve, not

052for the not for the district board. And that's where I made clarifications, too. And then if you're going to challenge materials, they need to be within the district because as it's currently written, you could live anywhere anywhere and challenge a book in our district. So I think we need to clarify that. I added changes to the district committee, the committee itself that we went back and used the selection criteria that we did when we sat down to do the book reviewing the policy review. I added that and I changed it to seven members because when you have a board or any group that's six or six members, it could totally deadlock and an even number is not a great plan for any kind of community or any kind of committee. So, I added an additional

053committee, excuse me, community member to the committee. Um, can I speak to that? Um I have some text changes proposals. Um one I want to talk about because you talk about the professional organizations that um our librarians or our district staff is using to u make their appropriate choices. um the word unbiased in uh selection criteria media center materials. Um I propose that word be deleted um because all of these organizations especially the American Library Association is not an unbiased professional organization. Um there's at least three states um Missouri and let's see Missouri, Montana, and Texas who have disassociated with the American Library Association over their political agenda. Their president is an open Marxist who has called on librarians repeatedly to be activists. Here's a nice quote from her. Emily Drabinsky is her name. We

054need to make trouble, good trouble, the kind of trouble that matters, the kind of trouble I became a librarian to get into, and we need to make it together. I don't know how that's an unbiased professional source. Um, there is an another organization called the World Library Association that um is a professional organization of librarians. And let's see, they say uh librarians to curate valuable reading materials for children and maintain public space that promotes information literacy and political neutrality. So, as the text here, um, I would propose that the word unbiased be stricken and at the very least if those other ones are going to be listed because all of them have a political agenda as far as I can tell, especially the American Library Association, but add the World Library Association. So at least

055in the interest of diversity of opinion um that organization could be consulted as well um because they may have different recommendations. Most likely they will but I think that's our argument to make this a first read. Um I have a couple other suggestions if we can. Sure. I'm just saying but if you're going to make suggestions then that basically makes this a first read. Yep. Okay. Um, so what this was going to be about was whether we went back and voted to do what Mrs. Price had and basically go back to what it was before it was voted on previously. Basically puts it back to the original policy before everything in the red was added to a right which is I would not be in favor of that. Um well that that's that's what they

056want the first read on to to pretty much eradicate everything that was put in previously with all the safeguards. Hey a if we do do it as a first read though just to clarify this as a first read anybody can propose revisions in order for the next board meeting to propose. So Mrs. over. If you have additional revisions that you want as a first read, you technically could have two different versions presented by two different people to vote on by the whole board at the next meeting. Or we could vote on it this go into a gridlock at 33 and then turn around and they can turn around and start deleting what they wanted to try and, you know, remove what they tried to pull, add what they want. I I'm not going to speak

057to any of that. I don't know. I'm not going to pretend that I know what the vote's going to be, but I'm just going based on what it was with the agenda. If the vote is a 33, it would not pass. Whatever is presented in front, the current policy would stand. And if anybody wants to present at the next boarding board meeting, they would pres uh contact district leadership in order to present that on the next agenda. However, once revisions, whether it's Mrs. Overby or whether it's Mrs. Price or Mrs. Wells, So, we're not discussing my proposals right now. I would do that. You can just I'm saying you're making the argument that this becomes a first read, not a vote because you want to make changes. So, it should be a first read. Correct.

058Chang. You can still discuss your Sure. changes today, but then they will be also, I assume, discussed again during the ne at next board meeting if you decide to do a first read on the proposed changes that that you're making. Okay. Would you have changed anything that was in their original that they have readed and written out that was um in the red? That's Yeah, that's that's basically what this vote is to remove everything that was in the red. Well, the one thing that I would say about that um this policy to me seems a little flawed, a lot flawed. Um, and let me make sure I I'm precise when I say this. Um, I think, um, the prioritization process, um, all of that with the board that could be streamlined because that looks like

059it it could be a time suck with all of those layers of approval. And, um, so I would make that change. that could be streamlined a little and um maybe the high school criteria could be clarified a little bit if there's a concern that um that some of the books the classics would not be I I don't understand that but perhaps that could be clarified a little bit. Um, as far as text changes specific, if you go to the um the review committee section, um, I would propose that the makeup of the review committee be changed from one district leadership team member, media specialists, two subject area specialists, and three community members to one district leadership team member, a media specialist, or a subject area specialist because I'm guessing this is going to be a

060li library library materials or curriculum materials. So either or and five community members or or in the alternative if you couldn't find five three and the reason is if a challenge um goes all the way to a review committee appointment. We already know what the district said. We already know what the complaintant said. It hasn't been resolved. is going all the way up to this is the last level. Okay. So in the interest of fairness because there is a wide range of attitudes and opinions within the broader community. I don't think that review committee should be stacked in favor of the district because it's kind of a foregone conclusion if you put that 43. the district's already said what what they what their position is and the complainant is not satisfied with that. So, we're

061at an impass. So, I don't think that's fair to um to stack that committee in favor of the district. I would put add more community members, put them in the majority because you don't know. You don't know. There's a there's a very wide range of opinions on these things. The other change I would make on um on text is uh on selection criteria for review committee community members. It says must be a legal guardian a parent or legal guardian of students currently enrolled in USD 453. And I propose that be change to must reside in USD 453. I understand why you'd want to limit it because you don't want any um anybody coming into your district and challenging your books and and and you know um some activist group orers and so you want to

062I understand you want to limit it but I know this from recently campaigning there are a lot of parents who don't want to do the who don't want to take the lead on some of these challenges because they're afraid for their student. You open it up to the community. Um, you have grandparents, you have other taxpayers, you have uh community members that may have the time to pursue that may not feel that um that they're afraid they're going to cause problems for their student and um and they're paying for this, you know, so they they're part of the community. So, I I would open that up to not just being a parent of a current student. just realized that we went when we were talking about amendments last month was like able to use the

063committee um setup that we used when we did the original if policy committee review and that's just mirroring that. So I'll just let you know where that came from. It wasn't just somewhere out of the out of the blue. It was from prior standing committee but I mean I but I would like to see that change. Sure. I'm just saying that was yeah where just where it came from. So what's going to be the easiest thing? go ahead and put it forward for a first read and try and rewrite the whole thing again. Um readding some of the red, deleting some of the black or vote to um put the vote forward to approve it the way it is. See where that vote stands and then move forward from there. See if it gets reapplied

064onto the agenda next month. She wants to make changes. so that others can make comments. I don't know what Mrs. Wilson want to discuss. Right. Right. No, I know she's she talked to me. She's hurt. So, I would just say we take this as a first read and then inputs from everybody by deal. Well, I just I listened to quite a bit here and there's a lot of things we could talk about all night, but the one thing I I don't like and I wrote back to you when you brought this up about the five committeemen. You you use that term stack. We're not we're not stacking to do anything out of the ordinary and it's not being I mean you like I said if you want five community member then you're stacking it with

065community members who have but that's the unknown though the stated their position because we're at this I know but we're paying people to do what they do and if if if if this has really happened what what class was that in these would be library books this no but who was teaching teaching it. Anybody teaching it? The teachers have access to the Okay, they got access to it. But were they teaching the kids that? No. How do you know that? Well, tell me who we can't do that now. The point is it is you either think it should be taught because any single book that's in the library should be open to the teachers and should be classroom acceptable. If it's not classroom acceptable, it shouldn't be in the library. It's that simple. Okay. That's

066your opinion. I mean, what what do you think? Well, I've I've said this before. You know, people that don't experience things like having gay kids or kids that are transgender have no clue and it exists and they're not evil. They're not creeps or whatever. Mr. Carney, I will say right here and right now, I do not whatsoever at all appreciate you making assumptions about other people or their family members. Please do not. I'm talking about my family member. Well, I'm talking about mine. Well, okay. Please do not act like the only reason someone could possibly be against complete garbage like this is because they haven't had the same life experiences as other people. No, that's not what I'm saying. Let's Let's move on. So, are we taking this as the first read? Yeah. Okay. Next

067item. Where are we at? Nine. Yes. So number nine represents a current conflict uh for five members and so we wanted to get in front of this due to scheduling. So we need to look at an official change for the April board of education meeting date originally scheduled for sorry I had it up. How about April 8th? And I believe we have listed five potential dates. And so for the sake of efficiency, we wanted to reach consensus and get that officially changed and then let Beth do what she needs to do on her end for publication and otherwise. I have no conflicts with any of the proposed dates. Okay. I have no conflicts. Any of the dates aren't good for me. I don't know. You might have a conflict. You want me to throw a

068date out and we say, "Yay, May is what? April 11th." Okay. So, yeah, I guess I should clarif I would prefer us to try and maintain our Mondays. Okay. What What date would you like? Yep. I guess I should clarify. If we go at the 15th, it would have a conflict. I think Mrs. Batson's willing to rearrange. I'm looking for her confirmation, but we would have a conflict with a couple of you. District site council, right? District site council. So, as long as you're willing to rearrange and Mrs. Batson's willing to rearrange, I'll let her work on the site council and we would take the 15th for the board meeting. Does that make sense, Karen? Judy, I'm looking at you, too. Mrs. Batson, are you okay with that? Okay. So, I would propose the 15th.

069that keeps with your Monday cadence simply one week later and then site council members be on the lookout for the appro or the amended date there. Beth, what else do you need? Do we need an actual vote or just consensus? I'd like to propose that we move April's meeting date from April the 8th to Monday, April the 15th. Second, sir. No, you're fine. Got it. Wells Price, we need a vote. Yes, we need a vote on Okay, we got a vote on that. All in favor? Geez. 6. We got our calendar right. All right, the next one I'll be honest, I've been looking forward to for a while. So, if you would focus your eyes in front of you. I know the crowd can't see it, but you'll be able to see it shortly when

070we update the back wall. You should have a strategic plan focus area. It's going to continue to be in front of you for all board meetings. This is the work of Mr. Bodensteiner and crew and I will say they have exceeded my expectations. Um, but this effectively becomes our dashboard moving forward. So item 10 would continue to be a regular item on each and every board agenda. So, uh, I'm looking for Mr. Potter to confirm, but he and I are going to kind of go back and forth tonight. Uh we're certainly learning as we go here with this being brand new, but the intent is really twofold. One, tell you what has been updated each month. In some cases, these are semianual, some cases, they are annual, some cases, they are quarterly, etc. You get

071the point. And then two, we're not going to focus on every one of them, but rather pull out one to kind of dive into and then obviously allow uh time for questions andor uh discussion. So Mr. Potter, I'll turn it over to you. So for our visual learners, I want to continue to familiarize how to navigate on the web to get to this information. There's the main website, usd453.org. You're going to hover over about our district and then find mission, vision, and strategic plan. That's your landing page. This, if clicked, is going to launch the full approved PDF document. And what we're talking about is the ongoing more fluid dashboard. From there, you'll see each of the five areas of focus. And you have a couple of ways you can navigate right here for any

072area of interest as well as the sidebar to your left. And for planning purposes, this would be the tenative report out is this next PDF. It shows by month some of these are standing when data is data is readily available whether that be by quarterly or annually or a couple of times a year and note that this is subject to change. So if for some reason ACT results are a week or two late they would come to the next month. So as you're kind of previewing what the month ahead is you could at some point if you have an area of interest and know that it's not going to be available till February you check back for updates at that point in time. In red is going to be a call out for board report

073and that might be in a Friday review or it could be in this setting where you get more of a substantive update. And we're going to highlight for this as was what is prescheduled student average daily attendance. And you see from the strategic plan specific focus it's student engagement. So you've got a couple of different ways to get there. I'm going to go with the largest font possible student engagement support services. There is all the action steps replicated from that PDF document and you see a number of different reports. So you can spend as much time as you like in any of these areas. And specifically I would say what Ryan Bowdensteiner and James Perry have done is to try to make this information as quickly navigable as possible because if you spend any time

074at all on the state department of education site and look for Levworth there like lots of different clicks and it can be overwhelming. um specifically they're trying the goal is to limit the number of slides here to one or two or three. So it's a very broad highlight level situation and without getting into the weeds on this specifically because it's a feature I'm going to invite Mrs. Batson to join me and she can help to talk through what this specific report is telling you and how it compares to an update from the last time we did this. So the first thing I want to kind of point out is your average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism are two different measures. Okay? So they will look very different. Our average daily attendance, you'll see we're averaging

075right at about 88% of daily attendance in any given building. Of course, some days we're way over um 88% and some days we're way under 88%, but on average that's where we are. When you break that down as a district K12, you will see that we have about 35% of our students have attendance 95 to 100% of the time. So those students at this point have been here 95% of the days or higher. We have in yellow um the the 90 to 95% we have about 26% of our students who are reaching that. And then beyond that red, that's lower than 90%. Those are students that we would consider by the state definition chronically absent. Remember, chronically absent means a student is absent for anything other than a school event. So don't think about it

076when JOTC goes to nationals or basketball players are in the playoff or something like that and they're missing school. That's coded as a school activity. But when a student is sick, obviously we need them to stay home, right? Um that counts as an absence. When a student is um an out of school suspension, that would count against chronic absenteeism. When a student is taking a family vacation, it counts as chronically absent. Any uh piece of that counts as an absence. Once you get over the 10% rule, you fall into that red category. And then down across the bottom, you see that uh broken down by grade level. Each of our administrators once a month get a dashboard that goes very in depth with their building specific chronically absence in ADA, average daily attendance. Um data

077broken down by subgroups, broken down by grades, broken down by grade level, uh classroom, all of that. So I'm open to any questions about our ADA data today. I think it's important on any graph that we have on our site that we have the date that that data was captured. Okay. And we'll try to James Perry's amazing at that. As you can see, it's on there. This was as of December 21st. So, we'll try to continue that. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions for Jake or I? Again, this is going to be on the agenda each month. The other thing I'm going to draw your attention to is on the agenda, and it should be both executive content as well as public content is we're going to try to put the strategic

078plan focus area or areas on the agenda that we believe that links to. Does that make sense? So, you'll continue to see that. some cases it's not going to apply or in some cases it may be one or two. Uh but we're going to continue to try to keep that at the forefront uh of our board agendas and our work here. Uh as well as with our district cabinet and then in the back here shortly Mr. Potter's team will have those updated for you as well. So looking forward to where we go from here. Yep. Thank you for that. Mr. morning. Can I say one more thing about the strategic plan on the online tools that we've got? So, when somebody from the community like myself, I our website, even though we've made great strides,

079it's still not the easiest to find exactly what you're looking for. If somebody is trying to find something specific and they are unable to find it, what is the best resource for them to be able to do? They do they call? Do they ask for somebody to say, "Hey, I'm looking for this information and I can't find it. Where do I find it?" I'd say three things. One, there's a search bar on the website. You can type in your specific item. Secondly, there's the chatbot that usually pops up on the bottom right. You can try that. And thirdly, the general contact us email goes to me directly. Okay? And I answer it seven days a week. Okay? And if somebody is finding that none of those things are working for them, what is their next

080steps out of being online? The third would be me. and I would hope that I would direct them accordingly. Okay. Anything else on Tim? Thank you for those questions. All right. I have a couple topics here for you tonight. Okay. The first of which is probably timely as it relates to our inclement weather. So, we thought we'd use tonight as an opportunity to just review those procedures uh for purposes of recommunicating uh because I'm guessing we're not at the end of this winter weather season. So, uh just a couple things. First of which is if and when school is canled, notification will be posted to our website, the district Facebook, Twitter, sorry, it's now referred to as X, my apologies, still getting that. as well as our auto dialer and email system and our local

081news media reports. Uh to be clear, if and when we are open as scheduled, we do not make a notification or announcement. So we don't say, "Hey, we're going to have school tomorrow." If there is not a notification, assume we have school. Uh, and for for purposes of everybody's planning, if I make a decision the night before, it will be made by 9:00 p.m. That way, we capture those that have maybe an earlier bedtime or otherwise. If we make a morning of or day of decision, it will be made by 5:00 a.m. So, in the case of last week, I think we made those both before 9:00. Uh, but if there's no weather and it moves in, say, late or early, I should say, in the morning, we would make that by five o'clock a.m.

082So, there's kind of this window, if you will, uh, in which we're not going to communicate. Uh, we don't want to try to be sending a message at 1:00 in the morning. So, families haven't heard by 5:15, you got school. That is accurate. Yep. Uh, if and when school starts as scheduled, we don't dismiss early. I have a firm belief that if we've gotten you safely to school, the the worst thing we could do is try to send you home early. And so parents and guardians are always welcome to check your child out of school. Uh if you believe that sending them home early uh is the plan. Uh but as far as the district, we will not send students home early. On days when school is closed for sew and row conditions, we will

083also cancel that day's practices and events. Uh there will be sometimes a rare exception to that, but generally speaking, if it is unsafe to put students on the road or buses on the road here in Lenworth, I also believe it's unsafe to put them on I7 to head to for a basketball game. Uh if and when school is closed for windchill like you saw today, uh we will be looking specifically at a threshold of -15 degrees. That aligns with the National Weather Service and what I call the 30 minute threshold. The idea being uh that anybody that's out there walking, waiting at a bus stop, etc. may be exposed up to 30 minutes. And so negative 15 degrees is the general threshold there. This obviously aligns with the um increased risk of hypothermia. And again,

084uh is due to the large number of students that we have walking andor waiting at bus stops. And then again, if school is closed due to windchill, uh there is a potential and I want to emphasize that the school events could proceed as scheduled because the argument of the unsafe road is now out. And so I'm I am more comfortable putting students on a warm bus heading to Topeka than I would be if the road was slick. Does that make sense? I would stand for any questions on that before I move to the second. Great. All right. This is to alert everybody in this room and watching online. Uh so I'm gonna take a a chapter from the Levore Lancer Chamber of Commerce. So thank you to them for their inspiration here. But we will

085be starting a series of monthly school community coffees at our office this spring. And so we're hopeful that this represents an opportunity to share information, engage with community members, and as you all know, uh receive input from you all regarding uh schoolboard, district topics, building specific topics, or otherwise. So uh we're going to do three for the spring semester. They're all going to be from 7 to 8 o'clock a.m. uh because we want to be cognizant of people's work schedules and otherwise. So the first one on your calendar, if you want, is Wednesday, February the 21st. followed by March 27th and then April 24th. So you'll see a monthly cadence there. I'm looking to Mr. Potter for confirmation. We'll make that well known on social media and otherwise. But again, we welcome anybody uh in

086this room or listening on one. Uh Mr. Potter, do we have a specified location? Yeah, right here for the first one. Okay. So, we're going to start here. Uh, and then I will tell you, just to give you a preview, I'm going to be looking for community partners that are willing to host us because I would like to go out to those places again in so far that they're able to accommodate that request. Uh, but I think it'd be good to meet at some of the other places, but to get started, we're going to do it right here at the district office. Thank you. Third topic is on special education. So, here very recently on Friday, January the 5th, our assistant director of special education, Dr. Rebecca Barbal, I think she's in the back there.

087Uh, and I had the opportunity to provide testimony about our district's challenges and opportunities to the legislaturator's special education task force. I was very proud of Dr. Barvel for the testimony that she provides and her advocacy for those students. Additionally, I want to let you know that we're also collaborating with a number of other districts throughout the state to distribute information as part of the did you know series. And so you can find it by searching the hashtag dyk Kansas kids and showing on the screen right. Yep, there it is. As an example of what you can expect, it's intended to be black and white factual report out to help inquiring minds better understand the functions of our district uh in a visual by the numbers representation. So again, this is a collaborative effort with

088other districts. I want to say thank you to the PR team as well for their help uh with the tools that I certainly don't have the skill set for. Uh and again, just a shout out to Dr. Varville for her engagement in that regard. Questions there? All right, moving right along. Uh probably the bigger topic for the evening and I anticipate one where we'll have some questions is with regard to a four day school week uh and some research we have going on there. So earlier this evening from 4:00 to 5:'lock we had a staff update uh otherwise known as our town hall uh that previewed several of these for staff and so we wanted to share the same here uh with those in the room and watching online. Uh so a committee has been

089formed to determine if a 4-day school week is a viable and realistic option for USD 453 for either next year or the 2526 school year. So, I want to say thank you in advance to Amy Sloan because leading a committee like this is a lot of work, I will tell you. Uh, and I appreciate her willingness and ability to lead that. Uh, but it's going to be our goal to provide you with an update of the committee's input to the board scheduled this March. Uh, the committee has met twice so far and continues to meet in a weekly cadence. So, you might be asking, why would the district pursue or consider a 4-day week? And that's a valid question. Um I will tell you that number one above all else is the recruitment and retention

090of staff. As of today we have 67 vacancies. Uh as of today, yeah, 67 vacancies certified and classified uh in a staff of approximately 600. It is designed to attract teachers but also attract students. I'm sure you remember that on July one of 2024, open enrollment or I'm sorry, non-resident enrollment policies become active for all 286 school districts. It's also got uh the ability to increase collaboration and planning for our teachers, allow for a consistent and equitable PLC time, reduce absences for students and staff, and I believe if done correctly, it can improve the school culture. So, I want to let you know this is one of many ways that we're attempting to address our staffing vacancies and strengthen the future recruiting efforts. I have called this or referenced this as the everything but the

091kitchen sink. And so, again, we don't have any formal recommendations at this point because we're very much in an exploratory phase. Uh, but I want to let you know that that is definitely out there and being actively pursued, investigated, researched, etc. So, let me pause there for questions on 4 day week. We have already as a district approved the 2425 school calendar. Yep, that's correct. You're talking about changing what has already been approved potentially. Yes. So, great question. Uh, probably the number one question I've had is how would this impact students and families, right? Um, so to that end, I have kind of created a non-negotiable with Mrs. loan uh that whatever day off from school uh would still have an option for students to attend if parents wanted them to. What we don't want

092to do is create uh this massive inconvenience at the last minute. Uh in addition to I fully understand the concerns parents would have uh with students not having a place safe place to go one day a week. So uh to be clear students would still have a place to go five days a week. So what would that look like? That is a very good question that I cannot answer tonight. Not because it's shrouded in mystery, but because we're still very much in an exploratory phase. And then I do have a question kind of along those lines just of the what if basket. Yep. So let's say it's Friday. Friday night's football night. I mean, how does that affect when all the other schools aren't doing on Friday night, but then you're still asking staff and

093everybody else to get the kids to the game to whatnot? There's games throughout the week. Yep. basketball season, things like that. So, would they then not be playing in particular sports because they happen to be off on Wednesdays now? Um, great question. So, day of the week is definitely, I would say, at the top of our whatifs. Uh, but I will tell you that we're going to minimize andor eliminate any of those concerns because we do not want to take away from student activities or opportunities, right? Because other school calendars when they set up their games, they're on a full schedule calendar. And the only reason why, and I understand it about the retention and recruitment, but I was also on the board when we went to full full year education with Lawson. Sure. And

094I had a lot of questions and concerns about that. Um, I wasn't 100% in on it because I just didn't feel like it was really going to work because I know the strains that it is on a family. if you got this kid here, this kid here, this one's out, this one's in, that it could created a lot of conflicts. And I just, you know, what's the uh day of the week that you have most absence? Most absences. That's a good question. I'm going to look at HR for that because I don't know. Mondays. Yep. And then followed by Friday. Yep. The weekend days. Yep. Typically the book ends. see would the day be longer? I mean, how do you get all the instruction hours? Yep. So, that's a that's a question I can't answer.

095So, in the state of Kansas, you can elect to go with days or hours. We, as long as um that I've ever known have selected to go with hours, so it's 1,116. Those are counted by minutes. And so, if you eliminate days, Mrs. Overby, what you have to do is add minutes typically, right? And so in our case, we would be looking to add anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes potentially depending on the number of days. So I appreciate the questions. Um I don't want to encourage those to stop, but I don't want to also try to answer things that are not fully vetted yet. So my request for all of you is as you have questions, please send those to us because as this committee's work starts to refine and get more clear, we'll

096be able to answer those as well as take into consideration maybe things that the committee hasn't thought of. So these are all great thoughts. follow. The only questions I had over the weekend from teaching staff regarding this was if we already have trouble with attendance and we now are going to potentially give them fewer days to even attempt to attend, would this further hurt our attendance? And so that's why I was interested in in the question of if it's Monday, which probably matches workforce as well, then uh you know, maybe it won't. Yeah. So, are there any other districts that are doing this that we're looking at specifically or working with? Yep. So, I would say in Kansas, we may be the largest that I've heard of entertaining this u as well as the first

097that I'm aware of in Northeast. This traditionally has made its way through smaller districts. Um the data I had this is as of last year to be clear because they haven't updated this was there was approximately 40 districts already that had decided in some cases they didn't do this recently some of them had done it number of years ago right uh you likely remember the 2008 financial crisis and otherwise some districts did it from a financial reason and just never shifted back and so as of today I believe we would be the largest district that I'm aware of I think you probably recall about a year ago at this time uh Independence Missouri announced that they were going to go. I think they were one of the larger districts in Missouri at that time. So,

098needless to say, we'll be I think it would be more complicated with a larger district. There's more moving parts. There is make a change like that. There is definitely more moving parts in a larger district. Yes. You know, I could see where that would work in a smaller. Yep. See, that would be something I would like to see vetted, too. When you were talking about how a district did it because of the finances of how that affects us, pros, cons, savings versus maybe costing us more. Sure. I I would like to see that kind of financial analysis. Okay, good question. Uh and and I appreciate that. I just I want to make it very clear the reason we are doing it is not due to financial concerns. Many thanks to Beth and her team for

099that. Right. But when we keep talking taxes and increasing taxes on our constituents every year, it would behoove us to be able to have an argument as how this is going to save us money. And then if it doesn't save us money and it costs us money, then they're potentially looking at another tax increase and that won't fly very well. Yep. Sorry, I misunderstood. I'm following now. Thank you. Uhuh. Thank you, Dr. Adams. When does this work like the next? So they meet weekly because I am pushing them probably faster than they want to go and I do apologize but I am seeing and hearing and feeling the dire need. So again 600 employees were down 67. We're trying to run on 90% of staff. Right. So I'm guessing that Mrs. Sloan likely wanted to

100go slower but they are meeting every week with the potential I want to emphasize that word potential of going live next year. If we did not go live next year, I think the 25 26 is definitely a possibility. You may be ask why am I pushing this so hard? I don't see our 67 number going down. My concern is how long before we eclipse the 100 level vacancy. So that is the reason why I'm asking them to go at light speed. So Amy, I'm looking at you. Wednesdays is when you meet. Is that accurate? We alternate Wednesdays and Thursdays evening. So that way attendance and we have a representative from all schools as well as a member from teaching and learning, a building administrator and then Mrs. Max. Thank you. Great questions. Thank you for

101that. Please don't let them stop here. Send them my way and I will get them to Amy. I think she's already got an FAQ uh document going and then I've asked her to make regular updates to the board available as well. So look from that from Mr. Potter. All right, I promise I'm almost done. All right, so February 12th, that's your next board meeting. It's just a friendly reminder that we committed to doing one per semester out of this site to get you into the building. So you'll be at the intermediate center and you're going to get two building reports because the one that you didn't get tonight. So you'll get one from the IC for obvious reasons and then the David Brewer report that was done or moved from last from last week to

102tonight. And finally, it is January as you're well aware, but what you may not be well aware of is that January also is board member recognition month. So I want to welcome our newest board members. Mrs. Overby, thank you. Mrs. Wilson cannot be here tonight, but thank you for here as well. But truly, thank you to all seven of you for your willingness to serve in this capacity of an elected board of education and serve this great community. I think it's important to acknowledge the time that you invest on a multi-year basis, and you do it all for a salary of zero dollars. So, yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Garnney, that may come as a surprise to you. Yeah, your check is in the mail, as they say. Uh but on behalf of the district staff

103as well as myself, I just want to say thank you uh for all that you do and for your service uh to our to our committee community. Thank you. That's all I have. Mr. Cr, regarding the February 12th meeting, where do we park? Where do we enter? Where do we gather? Oh gosh, you're asking technical questions that um I'm not prepared to answer tonight, but Mr. Potter, can we make sure that the board gets all those questions answered, please? And not just us, but the community as well. Good questions. We'll work with Mr. Kesler to make sure that that's a plan that works for him and we'll get that out to you guys and the comm community as well. Amy, how much time do we need for negotiations? Uh, 10 minutes, please. Do you want

104a bio? What do we just want? We got three seconds. Yeah, don't take one. Everybody probably needs a little break, don't they? Mr. President, I may go into executive session to discuss negotiations pursuant to the exception for employer employee negotiations under the Kansas Open Meetings Act and that we return to open session in this room in 15 minutes. So, let's just say 7:45. The board would like to invite Dr. Adams, Amy Sloan, and Beth Maddox, and Robert Kinga into the meeting. Second. All in favor? Well, I thought you were just taking a drink. 6. And just a reminder, leave your phone's out here. Mr. President, I move to go into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel pursuant to the exception under the Kansas Open Meetings Act in order to protect the privacy interests of the

105individuals to be discussed and that we return to open session in this room in 10 minutes at 7:516. The board would like to invite Dr. Amy Sloan and Robert Hulo. I'm sorry. It needs to say Dr. Add second. A motion and a second. All in favor 6. Excuse us. We got a motion and a second to approve. All in favor? Okay. Meeting dates. Would you like for me? Yeah, you take care of me. All right. Here is a brief preview of upcoming dates of importance here in the district. We'll start with the end of January. So January 31st will be a half day of school, half day of PD. Moving on to the month of February, again that board meeting will be at 6 o'clock PM at the Warren campus. We'll get details on where

106to park, enter, etc. in front of that. And Monday, February 19th will be no school in honor of President's Day. Moving along to the month of March, your March board meeting will be off of our regular cadence due to spring break. So, it'll be the first Monday, Monday, March 4th. Again, 6 o'clock p.m. But just wanted to alert you ahead of time, it will not be March 11th. It will be earlier that month. March 5th then is the end of third quarter. And March 6th represents a work day and parent teacher conferences in the PM with no school as well as March 7th being no school. That then leads straight into spring break, which is March 11th through the 15th. And finally rounding out the month month of March is a nonworking holiday on Friday

107March 29th. Uh next time unscheduled patron input we have here Mr. Zack. You want to come up first? Thank you, Mr. President. Danny Zach and local taxpayer uh local residents for 70 71 years. and my I went through le schools my kids and my grandkids not my great grandkids but I'm here this this all this information I'm going to speak to you tonight is coming off the KSDE building report card so you go to the Kansas Department of Education website and you go to building report card then you click on performance level so it has a district and every building in our school district so Levvenworth means a lot to me and my family. It always has. So according to the website, there's 368 kids. So that's why I'm here. So will the building report

108card. So this is the levels three and four are supposed to be proficient. So in our district for all the schools, we have 12.23% 23% that are in levels three and four and you can go to the website and get this information. The state is 31.29% and that's in math. Then we can go to English language arts and three and third and fourth level for the district is 20.61%. 61% of our students. The state level is of all school districts of the 280 school six school districts is 33.17%. Then we go to science and we do the same thing for the district and it's 22.42% 42% of the kids at our schools versus the state is 31.13%. And it also is even broken down to each building in our district. And again, you go to

109the KSD website, you click on building report card and performance level reports. And you can all do this. This is public. So, LHS at math levels three and four is 18.15%. English language arts is 26.48% and science is 30.33. Uh looks like I won't have time to go through all the school districts, but you can go again yourself. And these this is a concern of mine. So, and I I've been blessed to be able to go through the school and it was very enjoyable there. There is a lot of good going in our school, but and it was nice the way I got to go through because they didn't know I was coming and we just went into the schools. It was very nice and they let me go wherever I wanted to go. So,

110thank you, Ellen Bridges. Richard or Okay. Hello. I'm Alan Bridges. I'm uh blessed to have five children that graduated here in Lemoreorth School District. Um, I have some very serious issues that has occurred here recently that's been going on for quite some time. Kids doing uh some things they shouldn't be doing at schools such as uh snorting candy or other things. It could be uh fights that are happening in ISS. Um, these are I have videos of these that I'm going to be sharing at some point with the correct people. But, uh, the biggest issues I'm having now, like I said, my five kids are grown and, uh, graduating and gone. Now I have grandchildren that I'm worried that we're going to have to come up with some other solution as far as homeschooling or

111something else because I am I'm disgusted of the things that I'm I'm seeing. And uh this is uh a part that I you know I'm not used to doing. So you know it's uh it's very very tough for me um having grandchildren and everything going you know that I'm having to look going into the high schools and right now it's uh pretty scary to me. Um these issues are like you know the fights in ISS the you know these are fights that are happening on where's the teachers there's no teachers in these videos that I'm having and it's uh it's troublesome to me and I uh I spoke to one other person in the high school and it didn't seem to be that big of an issue but um it's it's clearly very it's a

112very uh Um it's it's just disturbing to me. Um like I said, these these are videos and all. Um they're uh uh like I said, this is very tough for me because I'm not I didn't prepare anything for tonight. This is my first time speaking on this and having grandchildren that are coming into this that I'm going to be trying to get them to graduate. I just can't see them uh graduating at at this level with the with the things that are going on in these schools. Um and it doesn't seem to be anybody's, you know, it seems like it's oh, it's just another day. You know, you're just another person that's complained about this or that. And it's like I said, it's very troublesome. You know, we we pay taxes and you know, just

113like anybody else. But some of these things that are being exposed, you know, there's video there's there's kids students already with the other students making IDs just 15 seconds. Um and uh there's a huge list. I I'll definitely be able to come better prepared on the next on the next setting. I'd like to address that, but as of now, I'd like to, you know, let you all know that there's some issues that need to be addressed. Thank you. Is it Jenny? Jenny W. Jenny, is that right? Oh, no. Sorry. Good evening. Um, thank you for letting me speak to you this evening. Um, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Frederick Douglas, Tony Morrison, Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway. These are just some of the authors whose works would not be allowed in our high schools under the current wording of

114the IF policy. Um, as it was amended last meeting. Um, I have concerns about this as a parent and as a teacher of over 25 years, 11 of which have been in this district. Um, transparency does exist. uh when a book is taught, parents are notified. They have the option to opt out of any book um that is taught in a classroom. I received those letters as a parent. Um and the ultimate authority is apparent. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. Um having said that, non-fiction such as Frederick Douglas's narratives uh would be excluded under this policy. And um I have a problem when history uh starts to be excluded under current policies. Um it it seems apparent to me this policy is intended to target children. Um our non-binary students, our students with non-binary

115parents and their allies. So why why read? That question I think is important. We're asked our why. I have a why. Um I argue we read to learn about the world around us. I argue that we read to um expose ourselves to ideas, those we agree with and those that we don't. That is the essence of a democracy. And I feel like that is extremely important. We read for perspective. Um we read about the wrongdoing of the past, so we do not repeat it. Um even if it's not in our student code of conduct, we should read about it. Um it's important. Um there is no such thing as political neutrality. it does not exist. We all have biases and um it's laughable to think that we don't. However, um when we have words in

116our policy like appropriate and implied, these are judgment words. Um that those are not neutral words and teachers are on the front line of deciding what is appropriate, what is neutral. If it is the intent of this policy to target a group of students, then specify that. If not, um, then I would argue that I would advise that you trust the professionals who have been doing this very long time uh, with multiple degrees um, to do their jobs and do them well. If we're not doing our our jobs well, then that should also 15 seconds. Um I encourage you to um create a policy that is not open for interpretation uh by teachers to implement the policies of this district. Thank you. Thank you. and gets us to board member comments. We'll start with Mrs.

117Reid. Thank you, Mr. Cardi. Uh, first I just want to thank everybody for all their different perspectives that they bring. Um and um I appreciate everyone sitting through my book reading earlier and I have sat here for two years and every month for the most part that has been the topic it seems like in some way or another um sexuality. And so, um, since that was not, um, what my goal topic was when I ran for this seat, I have committed to myself to talk about academics. And so, um, even though we thankfully did have someone already speak about that, I am on the Kansas State Department of Education website. And I'm just going to read one statistic and this is for um all students, all grade levels in math. Uh, let's see. For our

118district, so in 2022, level one, which is the lowest level, um, we had 57 24% of students in that level which would be the majority of our students. The state level was 34.9% 19% sorry 34.19% which is obviously quite a bit lower than 57.24%. So that shows how much worse off than the state average we were. And then uh for 2023 we actually got worse with that. We're at 58.28% 28% and the state improved to 33.13%. And that's all for me. Thank you. Oh, that's it. That's it. Oh, Mr. Or Okay, first board meeting in the books. Thank you for your patience. Um, I just want to say it's an honor and a privilege to serve on the board for the district I love. I have five children, all of them pioneers. Um, four or

119graduated and are off off doing great things and the youngest is living his best life at the high school. Um, there's a lot of great things going on in our Levmore schools. I had the um the pleasure of touring the lost and early childhood center last week and getting to know what's going on with our littles. Um, I look forward to uh uh forging relationships and getting to know um getting to know all of you in this district. Um, I've got a a meeting about special ed tomorrow. I'm looking forward to uh learning about that some more. Um, and I'll always be looking for ways to um to learn more so that I can serve um so I can serve well. Um we have some truly exceptional students and dedicated staff and we've got our

120challenges too. Um and some of those were talked about Vanessa mentioned and also Mr. Ze um those are very real real challenges um that we need to focus on. Um, and we're also blessed to have willing people willing to work to meet those challenges. And we'll certainly have our disagreements, but I don't question our community desire to do what's best for our students. Um, they are the future of our nation. So, thank you very much and stay safe and stay warm. is Murphy. I'm going through our um gift log and again it is amazing at all the donations that have gone in to help um to include some pretty hefty ones that have gone to the auto tech program to help those students be able to do great things on their own to help fix

121our cars and things like that. I want to recognize and um welcome while they're present here Mrs. is overby and I know Mrs. Wilson's not here but maybe she got to tune in. Welcome to the board. Um I hope you enjoy it. Um though there's always a little rough spot everywhere on the road sometimes. It's not always uh smooth pavement. Um there are great things that always go on in our district. Not all of us are going to share the same opinions on how things have to be done or what way to go about it. Um, but at no point is anybody trying to um disenfranchise anyone. I think they're just trying to find the best path forward so that there's maybe less focus on some things that aren't necessarily as important as math, science,

122and English. If you can't accomplish those things, uh you're not going to be able to accomplish and maneuver all the other things you find in life. uh you you have to have those and uh you won't be able to navigate everything that you may find as an adult if you can't accomplish these basic skills here. Um, so these scores sometimes are are pretty rough to have to hear and um I want us to be able to work harder on achieving that and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with staffing and 67 vacant slots and and people being overworked. So we can hope that that's also alleviated as well. If you have the spare time in your life, you're possibly retired, looking something to do to fill your days, you can go online.

123Though the website has changed somewhat, the background check has changed since it has the previous year. that was a little strange to navigate and everything, but it's not something that can't be accomplished because even I've once again um not that I could substitute because I sat here, so I can't substitute, but um you know, I completed my background check again um this year, which I have done for several years that we've been in this district. So, please feel free to go in to do that to substitute teach, volunteer in classrooms. That's something that I have noticed that has faded considerably since co in 2020. We don't have all the parental um involvement that we've had within the classrooms or volunteering, be it for kids parties or field trips or things like that. And I'd really

124like to see our families start back that again. I understand if economically you can't because it's rough out there. economics is not the same it was three four years ago and you may have more people working more jobs and and that's a whole different factor but I I'd like to see everybody starting to uh try and contribute and help with the classrooms or or show up to the parent nights and teacher um teacher meetings and things like that because they are really important conversations. Um, if you can't make those, see if you can pick up the phone or start an email conversation. That's always going to help. Um, I look forward to all the other things that we do have coming up. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of surprises. And, um, thank

125you. Sure. Mine will be short. First off, welcome to a new semester and a new year to our new board members. Missy, thanks for joining us. It's going to be a great time ahead. And to Miss Wilson, I hope you have a speedy recovery and and are feeling better as quick as you can. Um, first off, good luck to all of our drill teams that are competing this weekend in Wesville. That's a big deal and there's a lot of new folks out there and I hope they do the best they can. We'll expect lots of good things when they come back. I'm sure First bring lots and lots of hardware home. Um, basketball's kicking in. Please come out and support our Pioneers and of course come and join the pep band because they really work

126hard and they're great kids. Um, after that, the crazy weather we've had, please be safe, be well, be smart, and if you're not feeling well, don't come to school. But anyway, all the best. Go Pioneers. Um, I would also like to say I really enjoyed the day that I got to spend with you and Miss Wilson, Miss Overby. That was a great time and I look forward to continuing to work with you over the next several years. Um, I would like to also extend um heartfelt hoping that Jessica recovers quickly and is able to join us back again. Um, I want to I know we'll congratulate Maddie later on, but Madison Finch um earned quite the distinction. She was one of two students in the entire state that were selected to represent um at the

127United States Senate. And so proud of you, Maddie. Great job. You're a great kid. If you're going to go far, you'll serve in the Senate one day, I'm sure. And then, um, yeah, basketball, all the winter sports season is in effect. Catch a game if you can. Our pioneers are doing great things. Um, we have to get the kids at school. We have to want them to be at school. We have to provide quality programs outside of the classroom in order to entice them to want to be there, to want to learn, to engage, to feel accepted and involved. And um I know uh Miss Reed it seemed like you were fishing for somebody to say that they like and thought those books are appropriate and necessary. Absolutely I do. I will take your weight.

128I think they are necessary for our students to have that conversation and have that open dialogue with our families to discuss how that pertains to them if it does and if it doesn't fantastic. It doesn't matter them. Um and yes, gender identity starts questioning very very early if that is a question for them and that is not for us as board members to set policy against. That is for family values and morals that happen within families. That's all I'm going to say. [Music] I'm a little horse, but uh my wife has this thing where when I come in the house, I got to say something positive first. I can't say anything negative or I get no supper or lunch or whatever. And I think that's what our societies at these days. We focus on the

129negatives more than the positives. I mean, you look back at all the good things that have happened in this school district over as long as I've been on the board. I mean, we got to be proud of that. And we also you can't you can't just take numbers and think that's the the salvation of everything. You got to look at the communities and the support they have in their schools with the families. And we haven't had that in this community. I've been here a long time, a little longer than Danny, but those kinds of things we don't ever want to look at or talk about, but we have a graduation rate that's good with the state up there 80 90% almost. Correct. Uh we've we've had ter terrific uh outcomes with our ROC program, Miss

130Anstein's classes in DECA. uh when Mrs. uh Strager was here with her uh computer classes thing. I mean those those are the things that we don't get to focus on because it seems like it's all negative. And yes, Levorth was so proud to put big billboards up, spend some time in Levvenworth. We got a lot of prisons. And so when you look at that, and I worked in all the prison in this town, those families travel with those inmates for the majority. So that's what we're dealing with. If if everybody thinks that's easy, I invite you to get a degree in education and come teach here in this district because that's what our teachers are dealing with and we're shorthand on top of it. So, you know, let's let's try to push some positives now

131and then and maybe the kids will pick up on that, too. So that's all I got to say about that. And uh Meler