001that Board of Education meeting. If you all could please stand for a moment of silence, and then we'll say the pledge. The pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So, our first agenda item will be um the adoption of our agenda. We would review that and um see if we have any additions. Need to add um under after public comments uh resolution of the Board of Education um County, Kentucky, authorizing and approving the issuance of general obligation bonds series 2026 in a principal amount not to exceed 17 million subject to a decrease in amount determined to be in the best interest of the board. The bonds pursuant to
002KRS 66.011 through 66.191 and 160.160. The proceeds of which are to be used for public school projects authorized in the establishment of certain funds to provide for the collection to the extent required of the proceeds of a direct annual tax on all taxable property within the school district in addition to all other taxes authorizing execution of the bonds and the dis- disbursement of the proceeds therefore, authorizing the investment of funds pursuant to KRS 66.480, providing for delegation by the Board of Education of authority to the secretary of the board to to determine certain matters relating to the bonds, and authorizing such other documents, agreements, and certificates necessary or required for the issuance of the bonds. I'll make that motion. I'll make the motion to add that to the agenda. Have a second? I'll second. Seconded
003by Ms. Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. Thank you. Any other discussion? Motion passes 5 to 0 to add that to our agenda. Are there any other comments about the agenda or any other additions? Do I have a motion to adopt the agenda as it revised? I'll make that motion. Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. >> Seconded by Mr. Dorsey. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 5 to 0. Okay. Any other discussions on the agenda? Okay. Our next agenda item will be our public school recognitions, Mrs. Crosby. Yes, so we're always excited to start our Board of Education meetings with the greatness recognitions, which honor staff, students, and community members who display competencies of our Portrait of a Floyd County Learner. And it's always an awesome way to start the
004meetings, and we're going to start out with Mr. Sword. Thank you, Shannon. Um I am honored tonight to be able to present this award uh to a student uh that we know very well in our building and who is an excellent all-around uh human being beyond this achievement. Um so, I'm I am uh thrilled to be able to do this. Um I'm just before I read this, I want to I want to make sure that I that I get this correct in what this young man accomplished. Uh Raylan Anderson qualified in in in target pistol shooting uh for the Junior Olympics. Um he was able to get first place in the U15 division, and this is a national, you know, Junior Olympic competition. It was conducted in Colorado. Um the top division is U21, so
005he's competing against adults. Um there's roughly 80 or 90 competitors. 75. And his all-around uh rank was 13th amongst these adults as well. So, I want to make sure I pointed that out clearly. Uh and and to say this, while while the world does see a trophy or in this case a medal, uh we truly do see a resilient learner. Uh to be a resilient learner means more than just getting back up after a fall. It means maintaining absolute focus uh when the pressure is at its highest. Raylan Anderson has mastered the art of composure and persistence, qualities that allow him to adapt to pressure and stay focused on a goal. Uh these are the same traits that drive academic excellence and personal growth. Uh by winning first place in this Junior Olympics U15 air
006pistol division, Raylan has proven that he possesses these critical traits. He embodies the very spirit of our district's mission. So, uh while we see your successes, we know and your parents know and your family knows that there were many probably setbacks and failures and lonely hours out there competing um and becoming what Well, you haven't become anything yet. Oh, you're on your way to getting even better. So, uh please uh welcome me in honoring Raylan Anderson. >> [applause] >> I'm ready. I'm ready, ready. Congratulations, Raylan. >> All right. You're going to probably hear from me a lot more than you want to tonight. And I'm up again. Um I had the pleasure of going on my third DC trip with our eighth grade students with RDC this year. Um It is it is extremely fun.
007It's extremely stressful. It's all the things all at once. As you can imagine taking about 120 eighth graders to the nation's capital and dragging them around the streets. When you agree to be a chaperone on the DC trip, you are agreeing to be a leader. You're taking on the immense responsibility of monitoring, caring, and protecting 120 of our community's kids. Empowered leaders exhibit such qualities as adaptability, effective communication, resiliency, and a collaborative mindset. When we had two students this year that became in need of emergency medical care, um there were several people that that stepped up, but these three people in particular really stepped up to meet the needs of our students. Um going above and beyond the responsibility to care for our kids and doing so they displayed the characteristics of empowered leaders, displaying
008[clears throat] adaptability, resilience, and above all love for our students, which is something that I think that we have in spades at RDC and I and I don't think that that that's common everywhere, but this district in general we care for our kids, we love our kids. Um these three people were specifically referenced by a parent uh who called me um after the trip and praised them profusely and was just extremely impressed um and grateful for how his child was taken care of. Uh he expressed admiration and gratitude for how they cared for his daughter. Uh and and I do want to explicitly point out Lexi Harris who stayed with this child in George Washington University Hospital till 3:00 in the morning um because they were extremely ill. Um it wasn't an injury or anything
009like that. It was it was an illness. Um these RDC teachers exemplify the very best of our school community and set a standard for care and leadership. Uh so, Lexi Harris, PLEASE STEP FORWARD. >> [applause] [applause] >> MR. SCHWARTZ, CAN YOU SAY THEIR NAMES AGAIN? YES. With all this clapping and we couldn't hear the names. Lexi Harris, Tony Mann, and Jamie Martin. Uh I would actually also like to point out while we're here and we're all together that this is Tony Mann's last DC trip. He's been doing it for 154 years. >> [laughter] >> AND that's why it runs like clockwork, but uh they can all tell you Paperwork city. Yeah. So, and he's he's done a great job. He's passionate about this trip and it's a trip that is really a blessing for our
010kids. And this year in particular, it's a much longer story than the one I just told. Um we were the the Museum of American History was being evacuated for no known reason to us. Uh students were falling on escalators um and everything was happening at once and everyone was supposed uh really focused only on our kids and I I just I can't imagine how hard you guys worked. So, here you go. Comes from great leadership. GREAT LEADERSHIP. >> [applause] [applause] >> FOURTH GRADE STAFF. OKAY. JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY. NO, I'LL STAND IN THE BACK. All right. Here we go. 3 2 1 Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING. THERE'S AN OLD SAYING THAT SMOOTH seas do not make skilled sailors. The teachers just recognized our
011tremendous example of resiliency and empowered leadership, true skilled sailors in choppy water. While we are here to celebrate them, we would be remiss if we didn't recognize the person who acted as the lighthouse during those moments of weather on the water. Mr. Tom Schwartz is the epitome of the committed collaborator competency. As we know, being a collaborator isn't just about working well with others when things are easy. It's about taking in the concerns of others before taking action, keeping a focus on student experience with personal exhaustion or adversity setting, and being the person everyone knows they can lean on when pressure is the highest. While Mr. Schwartz's easy is commendable, we see the same spirit in him every single day at school. As assistant principal, he's committed to collaboration through bridging the gap between administration,
012faculty, and families. He doesn't lead from behind his desk. He leads from the halls, meeting rooms, athletic fields, and the cafeteria. Mr. Schwartz, thank you for your resilience, partnership, and for being the anchor that keeps us grounded. We are a better, stronger team because you are a PART OF IT. >> [applause] [applause] [clears throat] [applause] >> UM SIMILAR TO MR. SCHWARTZ, UM AT THE HIGH school we have had a young lady who has had some outstanding accomplishments. Um and although we we love everything that happens in our building and we advocate for that, um having well-rounded people is really important as too. So, Markel Mattingly continues to demonstrate excellence in leadership beyond the classroom through her achievements in competitive gymnastics at Excel Gymnastics in Richmond, Kentucky. Competing in Region 5 with roots from Ohio, Kentucky,
013Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, Markel recently earned first place on floor in level 10 for her age group at the 2026 Regional Championships, which is an impressive accomplishment that reflects her discipline, resilience, and commitment to her craft. Her success has advanced her to the All-Star level where she will represent her region on the floor exercise at the USA Gymnastics National competition in Oklahoma this May. Through her dedication and performance, Markel is not only excelling athletically, but also serving as an empowered leader and role model in her community, demonstrating the impact of hard work, perseverance, and goal setting for others to follow. So, this goes to Markel. >> [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> All right. So, um it's my honor [clears throat] tonight to honor one of our teachers. Um I'm not going to say who his name
014is yet, but um he displays the competency reflective innovator. I want to make sure I said that cuz I said it last time and I forgot. Um through his commitment to creative thinking, continuous reflection, and student-centered instruction. In his classroom, he consistently challenges traditional approaches to teaching by designing engaging lessons that encourage collaboration, critical thinking, and active participation. Mr. Logan Holland regularly reflects on his practice and adapts his strategies to better meet the needs of all students. I don't know if you've ever seen the TED Talk Rita Pierson, every kid deserves a champion. That's Logan Holland. Um Mr. Holland is a true champion for every single student in his classroom. He works intentionally to remove barriers to learning, differentiate instruction, and build strong relationships that help students feel supported and confident in their abilities. His
015willingness to try new approaches, refine them based on student needs, and share innovative ideas with colleagues demonstrates a mindset of a reflective innovator who goes above and beyond to create meaningful learning experiences. So, it's my honor to PRESENT THIS TO >> [applause] [applause] >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> [applause] >> FOLLOW UP FROM THE LAST ONE, OR NOT. YOU ARE. I am? Walked in uh and good evening, by the way. I walked in and sat down next to uh Mr. Schmied, and he said, "What are you doing here?" And uh he said, "Did you get nominated?" And I said, "Oh, no, sir. I nominated you." Mr. Schmied uh is RCHS band director, uh bar coordinator, empowered leader, consistently demonstrates the ability to innovate uh by fostering a classroom environment in his classroom and amongst his colleagues. Mr. Schmied
016is the motor, if you will, of our Clark County band program. He's kind of bridging that gap between Baker and GRC. Uh Mr. Schmied leads our monthly meetings, coordinates events, uh spearheads curriculum alignment, advocates and promotes the band program across the district, and just generally maintains the pulse of the program as we progress through the school year. Beyond that, Mr. Schmied leads the bar program at RDC, serves on the leads board in Clark County leadership positions, as well. More than just leading, Mr. Schmied inspires others to adopt the same mindset of proactive problem-solving and consistency. Through his combination of innovation, vision, and mentorship, Clark County band program the future of Clark County band program is strong. Thank you and for everything you do, Mr. Calvin Schmied. I WANT TO >> [applause] [clears throat] [applause] >>
017BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT UH ITEM OF BUSINESS, um I have invited uh kind of to recognize to the community one of our newest members, uh Mr. Gus, and our partnership with the Winchester Police Department. So, uh Captain and Chief, if you could come up and kind of introduce our new partner, who we've unfortunately utilized already IN THIS MEETING. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU, MR. ALLEN, FOR THE INVITATION TONIGHT. WE'RE proud to bring Gus to you. Um when I became the chief a little over a year ago, Captain Charles came to me and said, "I want another therapy dog." And he worked really, really hard on this project. He did a lot of research. He got a grant for $10,500. He came to you all and he asked for another 6,000. And he
018uh let me use local drug forfeiture money to finish off the remainder to buy a $23,000 dog. Gus trained for 8 months. Uh Captain Charles traveled up to Ultimate K9, just north of Indianapolis, and he uh scoped out the facility. They picked out a dog, and that was Gus, and he worked well, trained for 8 months, and came to the PD on March 8th, I think. So, March 10th, something like that. And then they trained Captain Charles, myself, two of our dispatchers, and one of your own, thanks to you all, Lauren Charles, as his handlers. Uh he he lives with Captain Charles and Lauren, and he has been to every school, I think, at this point, multiple times, probably. Uh he was in GRC yesterday. Um he's been fantastic. We couldn't be hap- We couldn't
019be more pleased with him. And you all are as much of this partnership as anybody else. So, uh just wanted to come and say thank you, introduce him to you, and as always, let us know if we can use him somewhere. Want to add anything? Captain Charles, please. No, I think I just want to appreciate the partnership. Obviously, um when we lost Aiden, it was rough, and we saw that how valuable he was, and being able to add one so quickly back a year later is uh awesome. Gets me out of the office, uh which I really appreciate. And obviously, unfortunately, we uh we do need these uh type of tools more often than I wish we did, but just in a day-to-day use, being able to go to schools, I've already um been to
020the high school multiple times. I feel like that's one of the biggest benefits I've seen is the high school kids that would not normally talk to me will go up and speak They have to talk to me cuz I'm on the leash. Um he goes he goes with my wife to a stroke once a week. Uh she's been incorporating him into therapy and things like that there at stroke, as well. So, he uh he's been to every school, minus, I think, the Childress Academy. Other than that, he's been to every school. And we'd love to have him. Just be my one thing is to tell them to reach out. He's a little high energy, though, so >> [laughter] >> He's only 10 months old, and he is such a If my kids were this well-behaved,
021I would have hurt myself this entire time. He uh he has a very strict protocol. He has When he's wearing that vest, he knows he's working, and it's not playtime. Uh he's very well-behaved, as you can see. He's got a list of about 30 commands that we all had to learn to be able to tell him what to do. We could We couldn't be more pleased with how he's turned out. My wife has about 10 minutes speech she wants to give. >> No, I DO NOT. >> [laughter] >> HE SAYS HE LIKES TO GET OUT OF THE OFFICE, BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE. 11:00 to 1:00 is nap time for Gus, and Steve doesn't know that. >> [laughter] >> I just want to let you know we don't we don't take a nap. Freedom. Thank you
022ALL VERY MUCH. >> [applause] >> UM I NEED TO BACK UP TO the under the adoption of the agenda. I did not um do the agenda item [clears throat] to consider approval of minutes from our special board meeting on April 21st, 2026. I'll make that motion. Motion by Mr. Feiser. Second. Second by Mrs. Rowland. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 5 to 0. Any other conversation or discussion about that? Okay. All right. Our next agenda item uh will be public comments. Do we have any public comments? Yes. Okay. Um I'll call it Mrs. Jayda Brady to talk about property taxes. Good evening. Um I'm back again to talk about property and property taxes. First, I'd like to start by saying that I respect the work that each of you do. Educating
023our children and planning for the future of this community is no small responsibility. And just like you, my office plays a role in that future through the valuation of property that ultimately helps fund these services. Now, tonight I am asking, once again, that you take a careful and thoughtful approach as you set the bread budget, and specifically to strongly consider adopting the compensating tax rate for this year. Now, over the past several years, we have seen significant increases in property values across Clark County. These increases are not theoretical, they are very real, and they are showing up in the assessment notices for our residents. I want to share a story to put a face with those numbers. Now, recently, a couple came into my office. They've actually been in there twice, and they've attended one
024of my public meetings. They're incredibly concerned about their property value. They've owned their home for over 30 years. They take pride in it. They care for it. And they have built their life there. They have since retired, and would like to live out their days in their home, as well. But today, that house sits in an area that has become highly desirable. Around them, new construction houses have been going up at the tune of $850,000 and above. And while they haven't changed anything about their home, the market around them has changed drastically. They told me that based on the current situation, it'll take at least one and a half of their joint monthly Social Security checks to cover just their property taxes. That is not a number on a spreadsheet, that is a real burden
025on real Clark people. Now, I will always take responsibility for the assessment side of that equation. My office works hard to ensure that values are fair and reasonable, but I'm also bound by the Kentucky Constitution to assess property at 100% of fair cash value. This is not optional, this is my duty. What is in control is in the tax rate. That is why I'm asking, respectfully, but firmly, to take a long, hard look at the rate this year, and make every effort to adopt only the compensating tax rate. This is not about reducing funding blindly, it's about recognizing that when assessments rise significantly, maintaining or increasing the tax rate only compounds the problem on the residents. I also want to extend an invitation to you all. Just like I asked you all last month, my
026open inspection period is coming up. It's been moved back a week. It'll be May 11th through May 26th. It includes both Saturdays in that time period. I'll be holding open inspection meetings in the PVA office. I'd encourage you guys to come and sit in, listen, and hear directly from the people of this county. Hear their concerns, their questions, and the realities when it comes to property values and taxes. Now, it's one thing to review numbers on a budget, it's another thing to hear the stories behind them. We all serve the same community. We all want what's best for Clark County. I've done my part to ensure assessments are fair and under the law. Now, I'm asking for you to do yours by protecting the people behind those assessments, and taking only the compensating tax rate
027for 2026. Thank you for your time today, and as always, go Clark. Thank you. Thank you, Jayda. Thank you. Okay. Our next agenda item um is our uh student Oh, yes, that was the only. Sorry. Only public comment. Our student learning and instructional services, and I'll call Mrs. Kelly Fiffe up. Good evening. Similar to our last board meeting, two of our schools will have the opportunity to present a brief overview of their work over the past year. As part of our administrators ongoing leadership development that is centered on identifying each school's core priorities and big rocks, they will highlight their areas of focus, notable achievement, and opportunities for continued growth. Tonight, both GRC and RD Steele will present, but we will start with GRC and I will turn it over to them. So, before they
028speak, we need to back up. Um I list not going off of my computer. We need to talk about the the other ones. Yes. The one we added. The one we added, yes. Sorry. Sorry, guys. And I have to pull up my Okay, so this is We It's called it our Mr. R.J. Palmer. Thank you, Mr. Palmer, for coming in. Thank you. And we're going to consider the approval of adopting a resolution for issuance of bonds. All right, as in the past, it's pretty straightforward. This is your all's action in order to authorize us to issue the bonds on your behalf for the projects that you plan on undertaking this spring and later this summer. Um at about 15.9 million dollars. Um just for your information, that will leave you the school district with about
02915.3 million of available capacity should you have additional need or have an emergency situation. These will be 20-year bonds estimated to be issued at about 4.3%. Um so, after your action, we have submitted the information to Bond Oversight. We have a call on Monday with Mr. Howard um and finance officer for the ratings call to confirm the credit rating for the school district and then we'll be ready to sell bonds sometime hopefully in June. Okay. Does anyone have have any questions or comments for Mr. Palmer? I don't have any questions. Well, it's all this process, but Mr. Dorsey, did you have any questions? No, I'm good. Okay. All right. So, do >> a motion to approve adopting resolution before the assistant superintendent and board of education board of authority for issuance of bonds. Okay. Motion
030by Mr. Kaiser. Second. Second by Mrs. Rowland. All those in favor, say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 5 to 0. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Palmer. >> Mr. Palmer. Good. So, I apologize, Mr. Arms and your team. You all are welcome to come up now. And Mr. Howard said you guys were asking to kick off on that, so I would have done that. We did go play down there today. Uh thank you, guys. It's a pleasure to always speak before the board of education, especially tonight because uh we had a quick moment to speak about all the wonderful things uh that we've been able to do at GRC this year. So, with me, I have assistant principal uh Ms. Diana Klein, Dr. Chelsea Holloway, and Ms. Emily Cook. And so, they're distributing some information. We
031can talk a little bit about that um as we go throughout the entire uh presentation. But, when we began this work uh really back in July uh as I assumed the office of principal of GRC, we really wanted to try to focus on three key components or three big rocks. Uh and obviously with that being said, we we decided that we were going to focus on the areas of instruction, culture, as well as student supports. And so, uh if you guys look through the presentation as well, uh our vision itself really has not changed. All students college and career ready. And the mission to create a safe learning environment where excellence is rooted in skills, knowledge, self-expression, and then personal responsibility. So, as we go through each of these three components, Got it? Uh big
032rock number one was to improve overall tier one uh instruction. And so, we kind of broke that down into several uh portions as well. Uh continue with PLC protocol. That's been very beneficial for our staff. It's been one thing that's been consistent throughout the year. Uh Ms. Klein, she does a fantastic job with that as far as keeping everyone apprised of of what to expect. We're very fortunate that at the time we went into the the entire process where we were able to have uh class-specific or content-specific planning periods so we could work vertically uh within our uh departments through those PLCs. So, we've done a lot of great work there. Uh implement a school-wide uh I'm sorry, intervention plan. And then solidify our GRC way uh through varying routines. And so, some of the
033things we did uh streamline those PLC meetings for more efficient communication while increasing focus on uh curriculum alignment, pacing, and common assessments. Uh establish a structured advisory model, which is something that we really wanted to try to do uh this year to provide the additional supports for our kids. You know, we understand that there might be some gaps, but we are working diligently to try to close those uh to try to catch everybody up when they do so we can show out as well uh on state assessments. Uh we utilize school wings through our counseling center um which has been fantastic. They take advantage of that. They've been able to communicate with them as far as uh college applications and processes and opportunities, all kinds of different things. And then of course, we went through
034and tried to strengthen overall classroom expectations, uh improve overall consistency on what an ideal lesson looks like, streamline behavioral systems through our matrix, and then enhance staff communication. So, that's something we really wanted to try to be intentional uh on as well. So, I think I have spoken before uh in which whenever I was talking with each individual certified staff member, two things in particular they talked about was culture and communication. So, we've been very intentional on a lot of those things. So, big rock two, uh improve the overall culture. So, we kind of talked about that just a little bit. Uh we tried to increase staff engagement extracurricular events. Uh I know in the fall, fall big time and it's great weather, it's football. Uh so, we've done a lot of uh staff outings
035there. I see Ms. Woods. I think Ms. Woods is there. She was my partner. I think we ate many a dinner there on Friday nights. Uh food truck Fridays. We do a really good job with that. Get the not saying this, but we got a great cafeteria. I was going to say it is awesome. And chicken wings and everything there are fantastic, too. Uh but just something extra that we bring in. Uh secret Santa gift card drawings throughout the course of the year. Uh we also did three PBIS events. So, uh there's got to be a fine line, fine balance. Uh we need to go and reward those students for all for the great things that we look to see and then that they display on a daily basis. And then we also set a
036retention goal for at least 75% uh or 80% at the start of the year. I know there's been a lot of attrition over the past few years. We really wanted to make sure that we kept those people, we grew our own, and we molded them to the way that we see fit that needs to be at GRC. And we're confident it's going to be over 90% for the year. So, that's been a lot of work going into that. Uh overall staff seem to really enjoy coming out uh fellowshipping together. Uh upbeat surveys, that's one of the things you all have in your hand as well as the impact surveys. Um there's a lot of growth. There is a ton of growth on there uh and you can see. So, the the one upbeat survey that
037you all do have uh is in comparison for all the other schools in Clark County. I'll get to that in a second. The other is year-to-year uh with GRC. And there's been significant growth that we've had. Double-digit growth in every single area. The same way as with the impact uh survey. School safety and order we went from uh 55% to 70. Satisfaction of purpose went from 73 to 84. So, we're all in it for the same reason and that's our north star as Mr. Howard refers to. And that's our kids. So, it's been great. And then lastly, Okay. Increase supports for stakeholders, okay? Uh grade level teams, that's something else that we did and I think Ms. Cook's going to speak on that later uh with our BAR program. I had a great familiarity with
038that coming from Johnson County. And we were fortunate to have four APs and four counselors. So, one thing that I wanted to do is set up subteams within the team. So, each grade has a specific point of contact as far as a counselor as well as an AP. Just that way we can have intentional eyes on a more narrow or focused as opposed to the broad scale of things there, too. Uh implemented weekly MTSS meetings. Dr. Holloway, I know her and Ms. Allison Nelson, they do a fantastic job uh there each week. Uh use early warning to uh tools to identify uh creative supports for each student. Again, communication staff. I know Mr. Rowland, he does uh a daily game plan. So, every morning they'll come in and they'll have up sub coverages and things
039like that. But we we we try to give um our teachers uh a lot of notice as to what to expect, what each day is going to look like. I can remember my time in the classroom as a teacher uh as well as an AP, one thing that I didn't really like is kind of being blindsided or caught off guard. So, if we know when uh what to expect each and every single day, then it makes things a little bit easier so we can prepare and acclimate and accommodate uh accordingly. And so, in in doing that, we've been very very transparent in all things that we try to do. Uh with that, PD plan based on teacher needs, that's something that has been fantastic. I know Ms. Vivian, she has worked very, very hard uh
040with her staff here, too. And I've signed a ton of those, so it's getting done, but it's very, very good because it provides them the opportunities that they need in particular to ensure that they provide the best quality education that they can. And then intervention resources uh for our students. So, some of those things, again, better clarity, tier two supports, and place for those students, uh quality relevance professional development. I had a 19% increase. And the students are able to participate in new groups. So, with that, new groups, new opportunities. And that's what we want to do is to continue to grow. So, try to circle back to what I said. The comparison data that you had from year to year with GRC uh from year past to present, I am ecstatic and over the
041moon, but also in comparison to what we have in Clark County. One, that's a testament to all the great things that's going on. You know, see how much we've grown and still need to close that gap with some of the other schools, that's actually very inspiring because I know that work can be done. So, I'm looking forward to embracing the process, growing together as we grow greatness each and every single day in our students of Clark County. And as Mr. Howard says, go cards. >> [applause] >> Okay, I'd like to ask a question about this compa- I it's a little confusing. >> Sure. Um Like it cuz they're the numbers are so similar and if it's compared >> Okay, so the one is just GRC specific. The other one is GRC to the rest of
042the district. And so, what you'll see there is the numbers are going to be the same for the high school. But still yet, there's areas of growth that way we can try to be on the exact same level as the other schools. So, we're chasing greatness each and every single day and we're going to get there. It says one says um fall 2024 and then spring 2026. Yes, so fall 2024 >> numbers. Okay, so overall collectively, those numbers are going to be the same cuz it's our numbers that were given in 2026. The comparison data was when the survey was taken in 2024. So, what shows you the growth from 2024 to 2026. And I can come up there, I can show you if you need me to. The the other thing that I that
043really caught my eye that I I'm wondering about is um the autonomy, appreciation, and work-life balance seem to be low. And we've done a lot of work like to give them opportunities, but what wonder why is there any Have you all talked about ways to help them with work-life balance? Cuz that's very important to me. >> Yeah, so I'll be honest with you. One of the very One of the very first things I did is if they're like me, I know sometimes you have to do it, but I hate meetings after school. So, anything that we've ever done has always been ran through PLCs. And that actually occurs during the actual school day. And unless there is something that is imminent or urgent that needs to be disseminated by myself or anybody that's staff and
044anybody else on the staff, we don't do anything after school. We try to keep everything from 7:45 to 3:20. Now, I'll say this, too. Um as with anything that is anonymous, there may be some things that are are answered one way or another just because of the protection of anonymity, right? However, if you go and you talk to anybody that's walking down that hallway, they will sit there and tell you that they're very, very grateful for the autonomy that they have in the classroom. Nobody's standing over the top of them telling them how to do their job because at the end of the day, the only person that knows those kids better better than anyone is that classroom teacher that sees them every single day. They have the opportunity to build the relationships, understand what
045makes each one of those students tick, what motivates them, and how to best reach them. And and just a little bit down the agenda, we've actually invited a guest to talk about um this particular survey to kind of explain it in more detail. >> Oh, oh, fantastic. >> Um so, that way hopefully that will clarify any kind of There's a lot of data, so if they don't overwhelm And I'll say it is, so that bringing the data is probably my idea cuz that's something you can't refute. There's so many great positive things that's in there and it needs to be shared. Uh and also give me an opportunity to brag on the wonderful people that we have working for us at GRC. >> Absolutely. Yeah, I was there today to do something and it was
046it's very welcoming. You had Miss Mrs. Harper was you know, subbing at the front desk and just yeah. She's been She's been great. Yeah, just all that. But yeah, the kids, you know, everybody seemed it's very um I mean, I'll say this, it's very quiet. It's generally just it was like quiet today. And I was there at noon. >> Yeah, well, I mean, there there's probably multiple uh reasons for that. But I think that we've made tremendous strides throughout the course of the year. Students are finally kind of figuring out the overall expectation of what that standard is that we have. And and you know, we don't just say it, I mean, we try to weave it into everything we do every day. Right. Yeah. Wonderful. And your presentation was great. Thank you. Does anyone
047else have any questions for Mr. Howard? Okay, thank you. >> All right, thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> WELL, IT'S OUR TURN TO TALK ABOUT HOW wonderful RBC is. Uh we'll start our off talking about our purpose and our vision and mission statements both in the self-development, not only in academics, but in being decent human beings and illustrators of our Clark County portrait of a learner. Uh just this year, we rejuvenated our behavior anchors to more closely align with our big rocks. So, we have respect, which is related to character development, responsibility, related to engagement, and representing our school, which is related to our connectivity rock. So, we'll go into each of those. Our first big rock was engagement, and the three items listed below that just show you kind of what framed that
048for us. So, what we thought engagement needed to look like and what we needed to improve on. So, academics through generating intrinsic motivation in our students, the cultivation of productive learning communities among adults, and an increase in cooperative learning across content. So, those were kind of our anchors within a rock. So, some things that we did, walk-throughs and formative feedback were pivotal for this and a ton of sharing. So, we shared things like data in PLCs, instructional successes, and things that we needed to improve on and also leadership and decision-making within our school. What results did we get? Well, they look pretty good. Uh we had a 10% decrease in novice in reading from August to March. And a 9% increase in proficient and distinguished on our I-Ready assessments. In December, so when kids took
049this in the wintertime, I-Ready predicted that if students achieved their annual typical growth, we would have 48% of students scoring proficient and distinguished on KSA at the end of the year. Um when students take the same test in the spring, that'll give us that predictor. Um but in March, they do give you a projection if students show no additional growth. So, when our kids took that in March, uh according to I-Ready, in reading, if they showed no additional growth, we would have 49% of our students proficient or distinguished on KSA. So, our students actually outperformed the forecast that we were given in December, which was really encouraging. And there's had a ton of learning going on since, so I'm really excited to see how that shakes out in the fall. Um as far as math
050goes, we had a 6% decrease in novice in math from August to March and a 13% increase in proficient and distinguished in math, which is really something. And if we look at the same projection, in March, I-Ready predicted that if students showed no additional growth after they took that test, we would have 42% of our students proficient or distinguished on KSA in math. So, they were just three points shy three percentage points shy of outperforming the forecast there as well. So, for us, that's really encouraging and it shows us that the actions that we're doing are impacting our kids in positive ways and we're getting really tremendous results from that. So. Mr. Tom Schwartz, assistant principal. I'm back. I told you I'd come back. Our second uh big rock and area of focus is character
051development. Um we do this specifically uh by attempting to increase empathy among students, improve social interactions um beyond the screen as most of our kids' social interaction these days, unfortunately, is in front of a screen. Um we do this uh with weekly Well, let me start with this. We we have a program in our school that if you've heard us talk, you've heard us talk about it. It's called the BAR program. It stands for building assets and reducing risks. It covers a lot more areas than character development, but it really specifically targets intentionally character development. And it does this with weekly activities called I times. Um I times are designed to foster relationships, uh facilitate Teachers facilitate weekly lessons focused on helping students learn and practice essential skills. Uh these I times lessons uh are
052a pillar of the BAR program and they've they've really impacted um how we teach character development. And without character I I really think that as as we drive towards normalizing and really implementing our portion of a learner, uh so much of it depends upon character development and teaching the whole child. These I times do a great job of fostering that. We also do this with We we touch on interpersonal skills through the implementation of cooperative learning strategies. Many of these strategies are not just to teach content. They're also to get to help students learn how to communicate. They even intentionally focus on things like greetings and praise and things of that nature. And we've really seen that impact our hallways. The results, we have seen a disparity among 7th and 8th grade behavior that has
053that has happened over the last 2 years, which it it directly follows the implementation of of the BAR timeline. Um We often talk about the three D's in behavior in middle school: defiance, disruptions, and disrespect. Um disrespect has not been identified as a frequent behavior in months in our building. We we go over monthly our behavior data with our teachers and with our ISAP teacher. And we have seen a very specific reduction um in disrespect. And I I think that may sound trivial, but it's a big deal when you're talking about trying to advance character development and empathy and communication and relationships amongst middle school age kids, which is ultimately the foundation of what you're going to do to help them move through middle school, which involves a lot of difficult things and occasionally bullying
054and things of that and learning how to have relationships. Um We've seen a decrease in accusations and bullying school wide. I I I believe as a result of implementing this character development stuff. Next, and I think this pairs well with character development. Our our third big rock is connectivity. We're looking We're aiming here at increased student perceived connectedness to the school, increased peer relationships through participation participation again in I times, decrease decrease gaps in connectedness based on demographics. What do we do? Again, our I times lessons really focus on interpersonal skills. They focus on empathy and lack of better way to put it, sometimes really just getting to know their peers and also their teachers, which I think is important to point out. Um intentional positive outreach to students through postcards, parentsquare interactions. We literally
055have a teacher who makes makes postcards and and gives out kind of positive affirmation to students and also uses parentsquare. Every student in our building this year has had a birthday card mailed to them. A simple gesture, but I think an important one. And also we have started announcing birthdays during morning announcements, calling them down to the office, giving them a birthday treat in an effort to again to feel connected, to feel part of what we're doing there, not just you know, place they get dropped off for 7 and 1/2 hours a day and go home. Um intervention structures, we have great programs like BAM and GLOW, which focus on um personal and character development for young men and women. We have new opportunities created in in the clubs we offer. We have everything kickball
056club to a debate team. We have a new class here in the last few years that's really jumped. It's called media makers. It's a great precursor to what we have at the high school. And it's allowed students to get involved with each other and really establish a leadership role in connecting and communicating with their peers and with their teachers and with their principals. Um so the results we have on the right, students have have the top pie chart are students that have identified a trusted adult in our building. This was done some time ago and will be done again. I would expect that those numbers would increase. Um and then the second one is students that are participating in extracurricular activities. And I think that is a very good result and it's also a result
057I think we expect to increase and would like to increase. So last but certainly not least, we'll talk about our portrait of a learner reflection. I think several of you visited us last year when we had our showcase in the evening where students were selected to present their projects and learning to visitors in the gym, all related to a competency. And this was a wonderful event, but it didn't encompass all students. So this year we were challenged to think of a way where all students were able to participate and share their learning experiences connected to the portrait. So we decided this year to try something a little different and do something during the day where we invited special guests to come in and see learning live. We offered classrooms the autonomy to showcase their students'
058work with the portrait however they would like. I was working for me, but really cool to see what all they had to show. It was so good to see a variety of projects and how they made this come to life. And we've taken that experience and combined it with learning about what other schools are doing with demonstrations of learning as we're going to visit those buildings. And we are so excited to plan for next year's events. So Mr. Howard used the analogy of looking in the rearview mirror. We look back a little bit, we're looking forward. We've kind of used our side mirrors as we're going to visit different places to try to come up with an even better way to showcase our students in a capacity where they're demonstrating their learning. They're owning it
059and they're presenting things to us, which is super exciting to think about. So when we get that all set up for next year, we'll be sure to send you guys invites and you can see it. Do you all have any questions for us? What do you do about birthdays in the summer? How do you recognize them? Well, we're working on planning for that. We don't We haven't This was the first year that we sent out the birthday cards. And we've gotten some real good feedback from that. So I don't know. I don't know how we can keep going in the summer, you know. I'm just you know, I I I don't have a birthday in the summer. I'm just thinking though they'd probably feel kind of left June, July birthdays are like, well Well, it's
060funny you say that. Just today we had a media maker doing our morning announcements. They're like, "My birthday's in June." And I was like, "Oh, look at you." But it you know, they notice that. >> [laughter] >> They notice that and they want to be recognized too. So thanks for bringing that up. >> Just thinking of the 8th graders that will be moving on to the high school maybe. We still got their address. We can figure out how to mail it to them actually. And a huge shout out to Paul's on the River for giving our kids those birthday certificates. You wouldn't believe how many kids come up to the office to get them. And they're like, "What's this?" And I'm like, "Oh man, this is a good place to eat. Let me tell you
061about it." And they're so excited to try it. So big shout out to them. Our kids are really enjoying that. Do you know the number the percent number of decrease in the bullying accusations? I wish I would have put a figure on there, but I can find that for you and send that to you for sure. We were discussing today that we we through a district initiative we have come up with a new way to kind of track and document bullying with bullying forms. Even from last year where I can tell you pretty confident our number last year was somewhere around 8 to 10. I think this year we've counted four. I mean, which is a significant decrease in the in those forms, which is which is a an interaction or an incident that has
062kind of graduated to that repetitive bullying situation. >> I just feel like that age group is the most prone at that. >> Yes. Yeah. The work we've done with our bullying prevention and TSS group has really been valuable. So our teachers are using common language and the all the it's almost like a road map for kids. Like they're using that language to teach them. Like, "Okay, you brought this to us. Let's go through this together." And so it it's really reducing the amount of times we hear the word from our kids just because we're explicitly teaching how to figure that out, which is nice. It's going to exist, unfortunately, but we do feel like this year particularly we've got a lot of things in place that are good to prevent it. And I'd say we
063could probably count on one hand like the substantiated cases where we needed to do something drastic. >> This is This is anecdotal, but I think that there's been an increase in the use of the bullying prevention line, which I'll be honest, sometimes middle schoolers get on there and just put some ridiculous things out there and have fun. But sometimes you get on there and it just it just introduces you to a situation that you didn't know was going on and you don't even need specific, you know, names about everybody. It can just help you intervene. And a lot of times in situations like that, just letting the kids know that we know, that we're aware, and that we're watching it goes a long way. Yeah. So the big shout out to Miss Thomas, she's joined
064us for a lot of those meetings. And I know this Miss Hall was on there previously. So this is where it's important that the board's involved and can see specifically how we're attacking and providing resources, tools, and a common language for our administrators and our teachers and our kids. Appreciate it. Thank you all. Thank you all. >> [applause] >> OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM WILL BE DISCUSSION and consider approval of renewing the BAR programming for 6th through 12th grade. And Miss Kelly will represent here. Yes. Tonight you all have had a preview of the BAR program as both RDC and GRC has presented their overall views and goals for the year. They have both touched on how the BAR program has impacted both of their schools. Currently, Barr resides at RDC for both 7th and 8th
065grade and then also at GRC for 9th grade. Tonight, the agenda item is a discussion of the Barr program, the benefits, and how it's impacted our students and then consider approval approval of renewing the Barr program for those three grades mentioned and possibly expanding into 6th grade. So, at this time, I will turn it over to two of our Barr coordinators, Ms. Cook and Mr. All right. So, I'm Ms. Cook. I am an assistant principal at the high school, but I also serve as the Barr coordinator for the high school. And really all that means is that I facilitate the program and the model that we implement with the 9th graders. And then this is Mr. Schmig. Yes, I'm Alex Schmig, band director at RDC and the Barr coordinator at RDC. Perfect. So, the Barr
066model works and what we have seen is it takes these two pillars of data and relationships and then basically uses that to attack the child from, you know, every every side. And whenever I say attack, I just mean, you know, encompass and provide support on all different sides. So, we've talked a little bit tonight about, you know, we we do I times, which are weekly character development lessons that they get. You know, it's not a it's not a special time. They get it from their teachers in real life you know, classroom setting. So, it's not them going to the auditorium and all doing one big lesson. You know, their teachers, their math, science, social studies teachers are delivering these character development lessons and they're embedded in all of their instruction, which which develops relationships. And
067and then we we do something called block meetings. Block meetings are where we intentionally cohort kids and we and we talk about kids weekly. We make intervention plans. We we tier kids based on levels. But we do that like Ms. Cook said, we do that for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade here in the district. This is something that Mr. Schmig made, so I'm going to let him speak to that. >> Yeah, I'm going to use my phone for a minute if that's okay with everybody. So, I just wanted you all to take a look at how we feel like building assets, reducing risks really aligns with our struggle learner. So, whole student focus, which you heard Mr. Schwartz say earlier. So, students they don't check their lives at the door and we as teachers know
068that. And um we want to see we just want to meet all of our students' academic and non-academic needs to ensure they are ready and able to learn. And so, those measures are through those team meetings that Ms. Cook just talked about. We do meet 7th and 8th grade every other week. We sit down with the core teachers and we discuss we usually come up with a list of students whether we want to discuss based on social emotional needs, behavioral needs, academic needs, or no need at all. And we just want to say, you know what, so-and-so has done really great this week. We call that level zero. Students at our school when they're level zero, it looks like he gets an alley and an accolade. We give them an alley and a little card.
069Follow us on Facebook, you'll see some pictures of those. And I believe I've handed out a couple myself. It's fun. And we feel like that connects to resilient learner because we are creating an atmosphere where where students do feel safe and they feel connected to us and they are more likely to learn and listen to us. The I times that you've just heard about, they do foster those relationships. The teachers are just are actual facilitators of those. They don't just sit by and say, "Here's the lesson, kids. Do it." We actually participate in it with them. And so, that makes us that relationship with teacher to student build as well. And so, those I times teach building community, setting goals, just self-discovery, communication, things like that. So, through I times we are building effective communicators
070and engaged citizens. And I would say committed collaborators as well, but I was trying to keep the slide all pretty, so I didn't put that one up there. And family engagement, we recognize families as active partners in their in our students' education and by leveraging student strengths, we empower students and families to create their own success. And so, we do that through our school-wide communication, positive communication to families. We do talk about that a lot in small blocks like, "What have you said? When was the last time you sent something home positive about this student?" We do really do something that I've learned early on in my career that I got from a mentor of mine is we you can't make a withdrawal until you make a deposit. And so, we think a lot about
071making deposits into our students. And that again, that makes community collaborators and engaged citizens. So, when we decided district-wide that we were going to to go into the Barr model and utilize that in our schools, you you essentially I hate to say purchase, but you purchase a 3-year implementation. And and through that, we got a coach for both the middle and the high school. We have weekly coaching sessions and she actually visits us and does site visits three times a year. She's coming tomorrow and Thursday. So, she'll be in district then. But you also get all access to the member portal. So, you get access to your spreadsheets and you get access to your tracking tools and all of your I time curriculum. And then it's it's a 3-year process where you get two 2
072days worth of training every school year as well. So, in addition to the weekly coaching, our teachers actually were able to get 12 hours of professional development every summer related to the Barr model, but also some specific things that that the Barr model tries to to target. So, through our 3-year implementation, you can just kind of see through here how we implemented that. We started small. We started with teaming at the 7th and 9th grade level. We we focused on um just a small block framework where we talk about kids within our small teams of of teachers. And then we all implemented I time volume one. There's three different volumes for the secondary level. So, we just all went with volume one. We expanded that into the second year. We did incorporate the 8th grade
073at this level. So, so now every single grade level was teamed. We were we were kind of divvying up who did which volume of the curriculum. And then this year, our third year of implementation, we were able to establish community connect, which is a a deeper meeting. It's another meeting where you sit and you talk about the students. But these are students who need more like tier three interventions. So, they need things that cannot happen just in the classroom. They need things that might need a service center. They might need a nurse involved. They might need an SRO involved. Things of that nature. So, you meet as a larger team and you work collaboratively with students in that way. So, that's kind of how we've implemented through the three years. And like I said, there's
074been a lot of professional development that's come along. Me and Mr. Schmig have both had the opportunity to attend the national Barr conference. So, it's been really great to to learn from people all over the country how they are implementing it and what is working for them. Last year, Mr. Schmig and Ms. Smith got to present at the conference. This year, me and Mr. Schmig and Mr. Schwartz got to present at the conference. Just wait. This year specifically, we talked about how we're using this to help our transition from middle to high school and just the impacts that that has made over time. So, that's kind of what implementation has looked like. The rest of our presentation, I guess you can go to the next slide. Sorry. Yeah, sure. And I want to backtrack for
075a second to you don't have to move the slide, but on I times, I wanted to it's important to note that those lessons are aligned to our Kentucky standards. Our counselors are our our middle school counselors are very excited about that. And I just I think it's important to note that Barr really did their work and their research to make sure what they're giving us is a is a good product for kids and legally in the state. Okay. So, every student know is you've already seen those two little graphs that Mr. Schwartz shared. And so, what we did at the beginning of the year just inspired by Barr was a student questionnaire that was just asking all sorts of questions like, "Do you feel you have a trusted adult in the building? Do you feel
076like are you involved in anything?" That was another big one on there. "What do you see yourself doing after high school? What are some things that you're worried about being in a new school or a new school year?" Just things trying to get to know the students a little quicker. And so, we did that once in the beginning of the year about October, maybe late September. We did it again in December. And then we actually just did it a couple of weeks ago for the third time. I didn't have time to get this new one up. So, what you're seeing is the results from Decembers. So, we have since December, we've had 73% of students feel like they belong here. And 61% of students that are involved with something after school. So, I don't know
077it might be higher now. I don't know cuz I haven't looked, but it's I think we're in a good place with that. I do like this and I plan on doing it again next year. Okay. The rest of what we kind of have to present, I'm not going to sit here and go through every single number on this spreadsheet. You guys have it. I know you've been able to review it obviously, but we have been doing Barr now for 3 years. So, I think it's important to just take a look at trends that we're seeing and some big areas of concern. You know, we want to talk about attendance, we want to talk about behavior, and then failure rates. So, at GRC, we we have had some growth in attendance with our 9th grade students.
078There are obviously some months that drop off. I don't want to I don't want to say that we've seen nothing but positive trends. But the thing that I really want to hit on is our chronic absenteeism with our 9th grade students. So, chronic absenteeism is is a way to kind of track trends outside of just average daily attendance. So, our chronic absenteeism for ninth grade students has increased by almost 3% uh since the [snorts] '22-'23 school year. Um which is which is really awesome and puts the ninth grade at a lower rate than the rest of the the district as well. So, um that's something that I'm really proud of as as we look at that. Yeah, and this is RDC's. So, you can see they are pretty um attendance has been pretty much the
079same. It's kind of stays in in in a little bubble there for attendance. Does dip down as you get closer to winter break. Dips down as you close to spring break. Um but over the 3 years that we have Dunbar, that it's it's stayed pretty consistent. Um what I did not get to put on there though is that um that chronic absenteeism and that is down to uh just hit 1% for like the last month of So, kids are coming to school. And chronic absenteeism as you know is it's uh 10 or 10 or more unexcused absences. So, we're seeing less of that from our students. So, I think that is a positive we've seen. Um if you know me at all, you know that I'm not known as being a lenient principal in the
080building or um >> [laughter] >> or the one to let kids get by with things. Um I'm loud. I I have a reputation. But um I'm really proud of of the behavior data. When we look at behavior data, my my first year in administration, I mean, these are like outrageous numbers for the first semester. Now, we had a lot of additional changes that year. Um we had a brand new administration. You know, there were a lot of things uh playing playing into those numbers. Um but as we implemented the BAR model um and as our teachers began building better relationships with students, more intentional relationships with students, um you know, some of these numbers are cutting as much as in half over time. Um you know, 80 80 from the first year in August to
08113. And those are the number of incidents. Those aren't necessarily the number of students. Um so, I think if if I had thought the foresight to put that on here, I think that the number of students would have been even more impressive. But um And then if you want to go to the next one, just over time, we've seen a a huge decrease in cell phone violations, skipping, uh disrespect, defiance, and disruption. Um at the ninth grade level, we focus on the three D's as well um because they're not a lot different than the eighth grade level. So, um seeing decreases in those is really good. We have seen an increase with our tardy to class um referrals and that has happened specifically this year. Um but I think that that's attributed to the fact
082that we have a better system for tracking tardies to class. Um in the in the past few years, we really relied on individual teachers to keep up with that. Um you know, and hey, when this kid gets to three tardies, write a referral. So, we have all that running through our attendance office now. So, it's just a lot easier to track and make sure we're being consistent and accurate um with every student. So, I think that that attributes to the increase in that. Yeah. So, here's here's RDC's. And I'm just going to read you some of my takeaways as you take a look at that. So, um we've seen an overall decrease for eighth grade from '24 to '25. And I like to look at that cuz that's the same group of students. So, those
083students in seventh grade, you know, they had BAR in seventh grade. They had those I times through seventh grade. And that through that next year, the numbers come down overall just a little bit. Um I do believe a lot that like high expectations and accountability earlier in the year has led to a decrease. And we do see some outliers here and there. Um but those outliers are usually close to breaks. Um and the Yeah, you can go back to that for a second. Uh another thing to point out that I would like Ms. Smith just said, I wish we had also put in there the number of students, but we were just trying to keep it short and succinct. Um you know, if you look at a month like March 2025 in seventh grade, you're
084like, "Oh my gosh, what happened that month?" But that was actually like that was only 30 students. So, it looks like a lot of resolutions, but you're seeing a high number of incidents done by a fewer number of students. And like Mr. Smith pointed out, we are seeing a lot less just uh uh the disrespect, the defiance, and the disorderly conduct. So, the three D's as we call them are starting to come down. Um I think And then the last thing we want to talk about is our failure rates and what those look like um over time. So, if you want to go to the next one. Um these are failure rates for GRC over the last 3 years and these are not GRC as a whole. These are the freshman class of GRC. Um
085so, over time, we've had fewer students failing that first quarter. So, um when we started the BAR program, we were at, you know, 7.58% [cough] failing. Um and now we've we've kind of averaged out at that the range of four. And whenever I give you a percentage here, I'm talking about credits attempted versus credits earned. So, out of the 100% of credits that were owned earned, quarter one this year, only 4.8% of those were failures. Um which is a lot better than 7.something. Um quarter two, of course, this is the quarter that leads right into Christmas break. Kids start getting tired. They're like, "Oh, we're almost halfway through the year." Um we've cut that in half over the last 3 years. Um and then you can see quarter three as well. So, we've had some
086major decreases from year one to year two and then we've kept a pretty consistent rate going um into year three. So, I think um I think you see a lot of change from year one to year two, but a lot of consistency as we've continued to implement that. Yeah, pretty similar for us as well. You see there is a pretty significant drop from year one to year two. And then we do kind of stay consistent. You'll see though there was a big kind of jump here the last two quarters for eighth grade especially. And uh just my interpretation of that is that, you know, the expectation changes from seventh grade to eighth grade. And so, our students we as those students move up, what we need to figure out is just how to help our
087students reach that expectation in one. And that's a discussion that we'll have uh as a staff. That's all I got. Um so, as far as next steps go, and this is what Ms. Smith and kind of alluded to, you know, we we've shared a lot about the program and I think over the past 3 years, we've had a lot of discussion about what the program does. Um as far as seventh, eighth, and ninth grade goes, we are through with our 3-year implementation phase. So, um our coach has informed us, you know, once you're a BAR school, you're always a BAR school. You have the portal login and you have all of those things. But what you don't have is the intentional support through a coach or intentional support through professional development for your staff. Um
088and that is where a Thrive contract would come into play. Um so, I I have shared this with you guys. You all obviously have it. Um but I think as we move forward, I think the conversation needs to be um is a Thrive contract something that that we as a district would like to do and is that something that the board would support? And then if so, uh you know, what tier um what tier would be best uh to support the needs of our of our district. So, all the different tiers, you you can kind of see what is offered. Um our BAR coach, to be honest, feels because we have maintained so well through our implementation phase, our boat our BAR coach has really um kind of honed in on tier two. Um but
089we're open obviously to to anything. We just me and Mr. Smith and I'm sure everybody in the room Yeah. Um I just wanted to just uh to speak a little bit more on the coach and what they do cuz I'm sure that's a question you might be thinking. So, that coach is a person um that we talk with on the phone right now is every week we have a phone call. She's a Zoom call with this person and we go over data without kids' names. Just here's the numbers, here's what's going on this month. And uh they're able to just It's somebody that we can bounce ideas off of. This person is usually um like in one case, our first coach is a retired principal and a retired teacher. And so, he has taught in
090a lot of different places, administered in a lot of different places. And he was just a good person to bounce things off of. Like I we have this Like here's my idea. And it was it was so helpful. And the coach this year was the same way. So, that I I I think that's worth us holding on to because it's just nice to hear other perspectives. And it's it gives us a lot to hear those. Um yeah, that's all. All All I was saying is that I think everybody who's been involved with the BAR program, whether that be me or, you know, Mr. Arms, Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith, um I think we've seen great improvements um through our students, not only academically, but behaviorally. And you know, they're they're wanting to be at school. They're
091feeling connected to school. Our staff is invested in the program. Um so, I I personally just think it it would be a great investment um for our district moving forward um however we might see fit for that. Do you have any questions? Um so, I mean, do you feel like by continuing all of the coaching and all of that, that we'll even reduce those numbers, you know, the failure rates, you know, from 4.8? Do Do you foresee as we continue to grow with that for those numbers? I know you said it was the maintenance for the last 3 years. You know, we had great drops and then it's kind of maintained. Do we see those numbers even getting smaller? I I'm hopeful to say that. I hate to say that yes, they're going to. Obviously,
092I I can't you know, see the future. But I do think um I think I am being a lot more intentional with being involved in in the grading process. And I don't mean telling teachers what they have to give students on assignments, but just being in the room and being thoughtful with okay, well this kid's failing, well he missed 5 days of school. So, what have we done? Almost, you know, putting not putting blame on teachers, but how can I support them in understanding the progression of, you know, is he failing because he has missing work or is he failing because he doesn't understand? And those are two very different things. Um so, just helping to navigate those conversations. And that's something that me and Mr. Schmink have talked about is with me being in
093an administrator role as well, I feel more comfortable having those conversations with my staff, whereas Mr. Schmink doesn't always feel that way because he's still a colleague. Um and so, you see the you see the drastic change in my failure rate and his aren't as low, but I think it's because of the different dynamic of being able to have conversations like that with our staff. Yeah, but um I've got some thoughts and uh Mr. Knight and Mr. Schmink and I kind of we talked through with some ideas that I don't really feel comfortable sharing yet cuz they're kind of but I think we've got some ideas that will help use that data to drive some changes down the road. Okay. It would be my recommendation that that we that you go to approve us continuing
094our work with BAR. Um I think we're leaning towards tier two, but I just need to make sure again I get a uh approval of of us to do work with them and it will be the the second question you should ask where the money come from. We're going to build it in our budget. We've already had conversations with Miss Ellis. Um so, we'd be doing general fund. I thought I heard something about for sixth graders. Did you say that? So, Miss Fithian and I are still working on on that part. Yes. We do we have in the past the last 3 years have been able to utilize some grant funding for this and we we still have some grant funds left to go into the next year to support the tier two um and
095then also go into sixth grade for that as well. So, very little would have to come out of general fund um but we would Do you think starting them earlier and they stay in the program or or how early? >> I'll go I'll mention that this actually does go all the way down to elementary school. And so, there are districts that we talked to when we're at the conference that we do include this K nine. They kind of keep it at nine right now. Uh and I think the earlier the better because you are teaching these uh helping with these younger students get acquainted with school and these families that are just now getting their their 5-year-olds to go to the building. They're they know they're in a place they can trust. And that's what
096this is all about is creating that connection and that that trust with everybody. So, yeah, I think the younger the better. Thank you. Um So, do we need to make a motion or something like that? Yeah, consider motion to be considered approval of doing the BAR program uh sixth through the ninth grade. Okay. It needs to change from sixth through 12th. >> [cough] >> It it'll be only through the ninth. Okay. So, I'll make a motion. Second. Tier two, yeah. All right. Go ahead, man. No, yeah, go ahead. I was just I'm saying tier two through six sixth through ninth. Is that what Yes. Okay. Yeah, got you. So, are you making the motion? I'll yeah, I'll make the motion to approve the uh the usage of the BAR program at through from sixth through
097ninth, you know, as as the recommendation followed. Okay, so we have a motion by Mr. Dorsey. I'll second. And second by Mr. Kaiser. Does anyone have any conversation or discussion? I just want to say that I remember when we implemented this and it's really great to see the I can't believe it's been 3 years. It's been one, but to see the data to show how what it has done and the hard work you all have put into it. So, um I'm I'm really impressed with all that. So, um so, all those in favor say I for that motion. I. I. I. Motion passes four to zero. I think we need to excuse Miss Browning. Yes. Okay. Got to go. Do the kid duty on soccer. Yes. All right. Is everybody good? Should we keep it
098going? We good to keep going? Okay. Um our next um oh, that motion is approved five to zero. Our next agenda item is consider approval of 3-year renewal of Samsara contract, Mr. Snell. Yeah, Samsara is the uh probably most important program we have in the transportation department. It's our GPS link to the parent app for routing software. Um it tells our mechanics all the fault codes that's going on with the engine, oil level, fuel pressure, so all that type thing. Um it helps him determine when a code comes up or a warning light comes up whether we need to shut the bus down or whether we can keep on driving. Um it just reduces our down time. It also gives warnings to the drivers for speeding, no seat belt. Um if they pick up their
099phone, it'll pop up tell them put the phone down. If they're speeding, it'll tell them slow down. Uh the only thing I wish it could do is put my voice on there. >> [laughter] >> You'd like to be able to read it to them. I would like just like to see the reaction to my voice up there. That'd be great. Uh but it gives us stop arms. We know if a parent calls in saying you didn't stop at our stop today or what time did the bus stop, we can pull up to the exact time that the stop arm was deployed. It'll tell us exactly where they're at. We can look in live if we need to uh which is rare, but if we need to look in live, we can. Nice. And it also
100provides our forward-facing camera and uh rear-facing inside camera. I think it's much needed this to continue So, it's a 3-year contract? Yes. Yeah, it comes out of my budget. That's where the money comes from. >> [snorts] >> And I think it it is broken out like invoices. It's like three invoices or four invoices. Or I don't know, it might be five cuz that's big math going on there. Over 36 months. Yeah. Okay. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve the 3-year renewal Samsara software. Okay. I'll second that one. All right. I have a motion by Mr. Kaiser and a second by Mrs. Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. I. Motion passes four to zero. Any other discussion? Okay. Move on to the next agenda item um by
101Mr. Snell is consider approval of contract with Fayette County Public Schools for third-party examiner services CDL testing. Yeah, the third-party examiners are who once we're done with our training, that's where we go. We send our drivers to them to do the actual driving part of the CDL test. Uh there's only certain third-party examiners in the state. Fayette County is the closest one to us. Uh we [clears throat] can send them we send them to Fayette County and he's up in Morehead. Um Fayette County requires a contract for us to enter into. Um it used to be the state would pay for it and reimburse the third-party examiners. They're no longer doing that. Uh so, that's going to come out of our budget now. So, is this for a new CDL driver or is this old
102or new? Yeah, brand new CDL drivers. And this is more specific for school bus, not just just >> It isn't just school bus. All right. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr. Kaiser. And I'll Go ahead, Mrs. Thomas. I'll second it. Second by Mrs. Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Okay, any other discussion? Motion passes four to zero. I'm now going to call up Mr. Brandon Watkins to um discuss uh the next agenda item consider approval of lease for additional child care space at BCTC Winchester campus. So, we've got an opportunity to continue growing greatness. Um our nest at uh Ball Road has been a huge hit, huge success. It's been one of the biggest recruitment retention um strategies that we've been able to employ and
103have success with. BCTC uh opened the door for a collaboration with them to be able to lease uh the some of the space there um in their building in uh on Rolling Meadows. They have three classrooms down there that used to be a child care center uh and an office and this as you are presented with the lease for that. Are we ready to fill it up? We can, yes, sir. Good deal. It's a really nice space. It's it's kind of up underneath near like the students that the [clears throat] are coming around. It's kind of its own space and um just it's set really [clears throat] well down there. So. Is it on the campus or across the road from what the quad or It's [cough and clears throat] on the 2020 side, which
104was the original building, not the Amazon building. And it's around the backside on the bottom, has its own entrance, its own playground, and its own kind of everything right there. It's really nice. Sounds good. I'll I a motion to approve the lease. Do we know how much? Yeah. >> [clears throat] >> was a little over $2,700 a month for the lease, but we won't we'll be able it that it will pay for itself based on uh the rates that folks pay for uh child care. >> Child care. So, it doesn't cost us any additional. >> [cough] >> So, this is something where staff leaves their kids. Mhm. And um they get a reduced rate or anything? They do. They get a much reduced rate. Dr. Barris has done several wage studies across comparing us to
105the folks and we're we we stack up really really well. Uh cuz they do it for about $20 a day. Um and we feed them. Uh and we open up when school's closed. This will be open all year, too. This will be open all year. We we just maxed out the capacity. Uh we've expanded our >> staying open then. We've got a waiting list. We've got I don't know, 70 babies coming. She Okay, 18 babies coming. Uh in the fall. Um and we can also then not have to just prioritize our teaching staff. We can open it up a little bit more to our classified staff and folks. Um so, we expect to uh do very very well. This is a good opportunity for us. Any other questions? Thanks. I make a motion to approve
106the lease for additional child care space at BCTC Winchester campus. I'll second. I'll second. Yeah. All right. Thank you, baby. Thank you, baby. I'll second. I'll have Mr. Keiser second since he spoke up first. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Any other discussion? All right. We'll move on to our next agenda item, which is consider approval of construction bids for the practice field turf as part of the miscellaneous renovations of at RDC BG number 26-108. Mr. Brian Buckner with Ross Tarrant. And Mr. Music. Mr. Music. Mr. Music. How are you guys? Good. So, I'll get it started here. So, when we were here last, you guys approved the construction drawings for the practice field over at GRC. Uh Brown put those to us upon approval. We put
107them out to bid. We opened bids on that last Thursday over here. Uh we had three bidders. We had one bidder that was uh significantly lower than the other two, but all three bidders were very capable of doing the work. All three do very good work. Uh so, we were very pleased with the bid results. Uh BSEO Sports Fields bid, they were the highest bid. Their bid came in at $1,130,723.06. Uh followed by the Motz Group uh which was our second place bidder. Their bid was a million dollars $3,000 and $44. And then Rising Sun Developing uh which we have currently under contract over here for our renovations at RDC uh came in as low bidder at $869,000 $690. Um so, good bid results, good contractors. Uh Rising Sun is more than capable of doing
108the work. They intend on using Sprinturf. Uh Sprinturf should have no problem meeting the the specification for the turf. Uh there's a very tight spec on the Sprinturf, so it's apples to apples. So, you're not really trading anything for the for the $163,000 difference between the first place and second place bidder. So, >> [snorts] >> we're very pleased. Uh it would be Codell's recommendation tonight to probably move to definitely move forward uh with Rising Sun. If you guys decide that you want to move forward with it at all, I think you'd be in good hands. Uh we have no reservations about them. Uh they do good work. We have no reason to believe they couldn't perform the work. We've done many many fields with those with those guys personally and with very good results. So.
109Do you think the reason they're cheaper is cuz they're doing the other job already or I think that probably helped. Um they've already got guys on site. Um also, they have a pretty good relationship with their turf uh with their turf manufacturer, Sprinturf. They do a ton of stuff with them, so they can There's a sometimes get preferred pricing. Uh they do so much quantity with them. So, I don't know if that helped or not. I think that probably played into it. I think it does. Um I think it makes a big difference. They did a very good job for Yeah. We as an office, uh we've done we've had more work done by Sprinturf kind of across the board um than any of the other manufacturers. So, we're we're very familiar with them. Our
110the specifications that they write for it are are tight. Um so, we feel again, we feel very comfortable with this. And just in terms of tracking, so you all are aware estimate that we had delivered to you all that was part of that of looking ahead uh was $850,000. So, this $19,000 high higher uh than the estimate And I would have made a couple of calls to other districts that have used that company. Got very good What is the turf we've got now? What's the turf of the turf we've got now? On our GRC That was installed by SCG Years and years and years ago. And BSEO bid as well. So, they they were one of the bidders as you can see there. I'm good with it. Okay. I make a motion to approve construction
111bids for practice field turf as part of the miscellaneous renovations of Robert D. Campbell BG number 26-108. And For Rising Sun. Does that need to be added in there? Okay. All right. I have a motion by Mr. Keiser. I'll second. Seconded by Mr. Dorsey. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Any other discussion? Motion passes 4 to 0. Um the next is the revised We're approving the BG1 form for the miscellaneous renovations at RDC BG26-108. Yes, so this is just an update to the BG1 form we're we're kind of because of the multiple kind of phases of work here, we're treating the BG1 almost as like a living form. So, we're kind of updating that as things bid and we get real numbers in. So, we don't need to go through all the
112numbers there. What you would need to know is that we only added in the construction bid cost from Rising Sun's number to the total construction Um that updated the CM fees and updated the architecture and engineering fees the AE fees for that. So, um it crossed the $3 million threshold, so those come down just a little bit. So, you'll notice actually a decrease in the AE fee portion. Um it but an increase in the in increase in the CM fees based on having the actual durations being added in and everything. So, um again, we will come back after [clears throat] the RDC field bids um as well as any kind of future athletic work um and we'll kind of add that on here. So, again, we're just kind of doing this as we go along.
113When is the field bid at RDC? So, right now we are we're aiming to get documents out at the end of May for the field. So, today we're going to we're going to approve um the design development documents for the field. Uh next month we will be coming back to approve the construction documents for the field. Um and then we will be sending that out. So, this agenda item is approval of um BG1 form for the miscellaneous [cough and clears throat] renovations. So, do I have a a motion? I'll make that motion. Motion by Mr. Keiser. Do I have a second? I'll second. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Any other discussion? Okay. Our last agenda item for this is consider approval of the design development documents
114for the football field renovation at RDC BG26 108. So, we we sent these over to you all. This is what we would consider being a design development set. design development set. Um we've moved past that this point to into construction documents on this. Um but we've got out of the set so far, we've got four sheets. The first one is just a you know, erosion and erosion sedimentation control plan. So, we can skip to the next um sheet. This is the demolition plan. So, in here really, you know, things kind of keep in mind with the conditions over at RDC, we're going to be taking out that first row of parking on the rear of RDC. Um that will be demolished as part of this project as well as the the concrete wall that goes
115in front of the bleachers currently. And that's going to allow us to widen out the turf installation, um meet the meet the requirements for the soccer field size we intend to put in. Um the other thing to know right now that we're currently dealing with is there's two large uh 36-in diameter storm lines that run right almost down the middle of this field. We also have a sanitary line that's on the north side of the field. It's a WKU line that runs this way. Um all three of those lines are not in great condition. And so, what we're working with right now, I know Branden has been in contact with WKU. Um Buchanan has already scoped and cameraed um of those lines. So, we have, you know camera footage of those. If you were when
116you get really bored, you can watch pipe camera footage. But, there is some separation occurring at some of the joints on those storm lines. And it is a court like a uh steel >> it steel or built up? Is it steel? It is. It's It's currently steel for the for the third the 236-in lines. And you can see them down in here where they they they line up at the headwall. Uh you can look down there and you can see the conditions there. Um the sanitary line W M U feels that they can they can slip line that. So, they're intending to do that and kind of leave that as it is. Uh the two water lines or the storm lines rather are going to be more of an issue. So, we're still kind of
117working through exactly what's going to happen there. Very likely um our recommendation would be to go ahead and replace those as part of this. Um we tried to capture some of that cost just to be aware of that ahead of time when we did some of the forecasting for the cost estimates. We added that in there at the time. So, we'll get a better sense of what that's going to look like when it's going back in there. But, um all you need to know is that those are going to be replaced. We can set those in a way that's a little bit more favorable for the drainage system for the new turf field that will be going over it. Um and I think there's going to be some conversations between you all and the city
118uh because at the end of the day that's a benefit to the city. This is This is taking storm line water from that from that neighborhood and just there off the property. So, anyhow, uh just kind of wanted to walk you through that really quickly. But, this is just the demolition plan. Uh next page. So, this is what the field as this is starting to kind of shape up now that we have the survey information. So, what you'll notice is that where we've taken that back row of parking off of the off of parking C, we will have the retaining wall um that comes out and then terminates at the angle here. There's a possibility that we will need to turn this 90° here just slightly to the just to kind of compensate for some
119of the grading issues that we'll have there on the corner. Uh but, otherwise it it won't have to extend much further than that. You said something about concrete on the bleachers. The Yeah, so there's a strip existing there's a strip of concrete right here that goes from the uh the field house location across. We're taking that out and we're going to turf that area. >> On the field. On where we put those mats on here. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, we're going to just go ahead and remove that. That way we can run the turf almost right up to the edge of the bleachers. So, we'll install the the curb there the termination curb for it. But, um yeah, so this is uh it has the similar logos and branding that you would see over at
120GRC. So, we've got um that sort of layout again. It's a 60-yd soccer field as well. So, that allows you all to compete or have post competitions for regional and uh I believe actually the the first and second round of state now they've adjusted that uh for AHSAA. So, I think that's all that's all good. We will be doing because of the grade uh differential here, they will be adding a chain link fence that will wrap around there that will act as a a guardrail and just keep people from trying to go over that uh retaining wall area as well. How How will the retaining wall sit above the parking lot? Like a curb or I think the highest that we have it right now is is somewhere in the neighborhood between 6 and 9
121ft at at the head's highest point. And then it kind of tapers off on both ends. I'm saying from the parking area, is it going to be like curbs sticking above there or is it going to be >> Oh, sorry. Yes, we're going to be installing a new curb. So, there'll be a curb on top of the wall. Yes, that's right. Yes, this this line right here is where the curb's being installed um to kind of terminate the the parking area. And then the retaining wall this retaining wall will be behind that with the with a fence on top. Okay. So, I I really think that's it as far as this goes. We have another sheet that's just details. So, I'm not going to address it. Well, Do you have any more I just make
122sure that the details on the last page It's got GRC down there. So, it should be R and C right. Yes, it's R and C. Okay, that's right. We just use that as a template just so so we can go ahead and do the R and R and C field dimensions accurate. I think this is exciting myself. >> [laughter] >> I'm ready for it. And we have Mrs. Smith the principal in the room. Do you have any any thoughts? I'll let you know what Mr. Paul said. We're excited. >> [laughter] >> And again next month we'll have we'll have a full set of plans um that'll be very close to ready to go out out for to to go down. So, we can walk through that in more detail if you want to talk. This
123This field has is the same field that's been there like since the creation of GRC, right? I mean, surely. 70s. The 70s. Okay. Yeah, so lots of good >> 78. Good. Uh 87 88? 87 88? Somewhere around that. It was thinking. I think that's what I'm looking at. When I come back next month we'll also have the engineering drawings too. So, we will have some electrical work. Um we're adding in plumbing work. So, we're adding in um some water lines for uh drinking fountain access, water access speaking um on the kind of play north end of the field. Um some electrical outlet boxes. So, there's going to be electrical utilities run under this. And we will also be doing some adjustments to the lighting currently. So, the way that the lighting currently sits, the the
124three that are on that north side will have to shift out uh to accommodate the field side. So, right now the the game plan is that we're going to reuse the actual light poles, relocate those. But, the lighting systems themselves the actual lights will have to be replaced and we switch over to LED. And we'll do that to all six. So, that way it's consistent you get consistent lighting. Um and they may need to do some re-aiming to the field when they do that. Are those poles in the ground or are they sitting on concrete here or I believe they're on concrete piers right now. I can confirm with Mike but They are. >> [clears throat] >> All right. So, I have a motion to approve the design developmental document development documents for the football
125field renovation at RDC. I'll make that motion. I have a motion by Mrs. Thomas. I'll second Seconded by Mr. Keiser. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Any other discussion? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Thank you all. And Mr. Music for coming in. Thank you guys. Our next um agenda item is acknowledgement of monthly financial activity and by Mrs. Ellis. So, good news. We are tracking ahead 1% on our receipts from this time last year. We are 2% ahead on our expenses which with inflation that is expected. Um taxes, we are doing really well on. Um so, shout out to the sheriff. We are 103% of our property tax on our budget. So, he is at 99% collection on his tax roll of what he is to collect. But, we
126conservatively budget against that tax roll. So, we have collected 103% of property. Um franchise we're at 78, motor 60. But, if you look at what we've already brought in for this month which will be reported to you next month, motor is at 83, franchise is at 82, and property is still at the 103. So, we are on very good track to meet all of those budgets. Fantastic numbers there. Any questions on monthly financials? Questions? Okay. Um our next agenda item is to authorize payment of salaries and accounts payable. I'll make a motion to off Oh, yeah. I'll make a motion to authorize the payment of salaries and accounts payable. Mr. Dorsey can second. >> I'll second. Yeah. Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Okay. And our um
127next agenda item is consider approval of updated SBDM staffing allocations for the 2026-2027 school Um the councils have to receive those by May 1st. The only change is the Chromebook allocation. We sat down and talked to Mr. Cason in regards to technology. We are at a good spot with our Chromebook one-to-one match at this point. So, we have reduced everybody but GRC because those get handled a little bit more by the high school students. But, the rest of them we kind of decreased the amount that the board would contribute for that match. And so, that is what has changed in these um allocations. So, hopefully you have a chance to review that. But, otherwise everything is the same. Have any questions for Mrs. Ellis on the staffing allocations? No. I'll make a motion to to
128approve the SBDM staffing allocations for 2026-2027 school year. I've got a motion by Mr. Keiser. I'll second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Any other discussion? We'll move on to the next agenda item which is consider approval of BG5 for 19157 demo of arrow coding building. So, this is going to be the same for all three and then they have to be approved separate. But, this is housekeeping for our backpack construction system that just do these closing documents. So, this is closing out um these projects within the backpack system. We just have to do the paperwork for it. How old are they? So, the front year 19 is the the calendar year 2019. Um that's So, it is a process, paperwork process system of getting all of these
129different So, BG5 is the final financial document of what did you spend and um expended versus revenue. >> we never see these again. Correct. So, BG5 is the final document to close it out. >> [laughter] >> Get rid of it. It's done. So, this is the final on this project. Tie it up with the post. No monies, just Yeah, so there's no No residuals. It's straight expenditure, straight monies in on this. There's nothing left over. It's just Now, we need to make a motion for each one. >> Yes, you all have to make a motion for each one. I'll make a motion to approve of the BG5 for 19 dash 157 demo air coding building. And I'll second that motion. Okay, got a motion by Mr. Kaiser, a second by Ms. Thomas. All those in
130favor say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. The second is approval of BG5 for thermal imaged security cameras. I'll make a motion again. Motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. I'll second. Okay, I'll second by Ms. Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. And the uh next one is approval of revised BG1 and BG5 for 22226 Shear HVAC renovation. So, this one has a revised BG1 instead of just the BG5 because it has had interest put into the project as it has gone. So, I've had to establish a new revised BG1 to put the new revenue sources on. It originally was based out of ESSER funding, and we went over the amount of ESSER funding that we could use for it. And so, we've had
131to put a little bit of capital funding in on it as well. So, it's got interest and capital funding added on to it. So, that's the revised BG1 establishing new funding sources is essentially to meet what we had to spend on the Shear HVAC project overall. So, that's what the two documents are for. Rather just deal with closing it out. >> Close it out. It's done. So, these two documents will get approved and signed off on and we will file them and we got this project. I'll make a motion to approve that. Okay, motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. Second by Mr. Dorsey. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. Any other discussion? Okay. Move on to the next agenda item, which is consider approval of fiscal year
1322026-2027 salary tables. Okay, so these are the salary tables rolled over from current year to next year with only changes to the certified scale of 1% and then the SRO scale, we have done a wage study on our SRO um and we were woefully behind, and so we have raised our SRO scale to match our surrounding area to be competitive in that cuz we are losing a lot of our officers to surrounding counties because um not being competitive in that. So, that is the only changes other than just rolling the scales forward from where they sit right now. There's any questions you all may have or discussions you want to talk about. I think that we want to mention that we have we're going to go on a vote on this tonight, but we want
133some more numbers on um raises for classified what they could look like for those, for instance, numbers to us for those um for classified staff to see what we can do. Absolutely. Um see what kind of monies we're looking at putting in the budgets um for that. So, this has got the step raises in it plus 1%. >> Plus 1%. that we vote on tonight. Yeah. And then if we vote on more raises, they'll still get the 1% plus whatever else we got. So, all the salary tables have a 1% step raise built into them. So, when we redid our scales, we built in a 1% step raise. So, everybody gets a 1% increase annually with the step raise. But we went ahead with SEEK increasing the SEEK fund. fund is going up 1%. So,
134we built that into our certified teaching scale. We went ahead and added the scale 1%. So, that's what's being presented to you tonight. But then we will come back in May with our budget so that you can see how the budget stands as itself, and then we will give you options for classified staff based on what the budget itself looks like. And the fact that we can amend this table we're voting on Oh, so this So, this is not set in stone. No, we can bring these back. Yeah. No, that's fine. Yeah. They're not set in stone until we start July 1. Okay. Cuz we need to see the budget like that. This just allows us to get and go ahead and post some things so that as we're in hiring season, people have an
135idea of what we're going to offer for next year. Okay. With the possibility of it getting better, but getting information out there. Be as Be as many options as you want us to do, we'll bring back to you and if even if it's looking at some other options for teaching staff, we can bring that back to you. Okay. See if Ben has any questions. Ben, did you have any questions? No, no. I got you. I'm good. I'm up to date. I reviewed it and kind of checked it. I knew that we already had the 1% built in, so I you know, I'm I'm happy that we they want everybody else wants to bring it back and just kind of see what we can do. I think that's just That's only fair. You know, if we
136can, that's great. So. Okay. All right. Do I have a motion to approve the FY26-27 salary tables? I'll make the motion. Okay, motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 4 to 0. All right, thank you, Ms. Owens. Our next agenda item is acknowledgement of Upbeat presentation by Dr. Featherstone and Justine Martinez. I'm going to come up and give you the formal introduction. A few years ago, I think we all sat down together to really put together comprehensive retention and recruitment packages for staff cuz at that point, our turnover rate was 67%. So, one of the things that we did was we wanted to have an anonymous reporting system where staff could give true feedback, and then that company could provide us with the data for improving.
137So, we went with a company named Upbeat Incorporated, and Dr. Featherstone represent is representing Upbeat for us. And just a little bit of the things that she does, she's a national leader in employee engagement and organizational culture. She helps organizations turn employee feedback into actionable actionable strategies that drive retention, improve morale, and build stronger, more effective teams. And I feel like tonight's kind of going to showcase of that with what we're doing and things that people have come up and shared. So, she's going to kind of give you a little bit more insight to all all the schools in the district and share some really fun and exciting Please welcome Dr. Featherstone. I hope you can hear me. I recently had thyroid surgery, so it's not coming back as quickly as I thought, not to
138my husband's dismissal, but Good evening. My name is uh Ginger Featherstone. Um Madam Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Howard, thank you for having us tonight. Um I don't know if I thank you. Um I'm not going to spend an inordinate amount of time. I know you probably have a lot more still on the agenda. This is kind of the things that I'm going to be covering with you. I will take questions and answers at the end if you have any. We're not going to actually go into the platform if that's something that Superintendent Howard would like to do at some point in time, we'd be happy to do that with you as well. So. A little bit about what we do. So, ultimately, this is based on research. So, you start with teacher retention
139research, which is what all of the survey is built on. And so, we use this expertly designed platform, which all of your schools are using. Um I personally, former high school principal, former deputy superintendent, I love it. Um it has so many features that allows them to dig into data. I had a boss previously that used to say, "What gets measured is what gets done." So, when you're looking at the data, you're setting your action plans, and I love this district. Big rocks. So, that's really powerful. Um the next step in this is we have leadership coaches. That's me. So, I work with the principals, and we look at their data, and we come up with what are you doing? What would we do differently? And what are the action plans moving forward? So, that
140when we come back again, we're going to look at the data and say, "Did it work? If not, why? [music] Or what do we need to do differently? Or Oh my gosh, that data's amazing." You saw some fabulous data tonight. Um and then from there, you're going to be looking at this. This is just a little bit of data from JCPS, which is Jefferson County. Um they started with a pilot, which was their AIS schools, and they ended up going district-wide, which they are now at 94% teacher retention. So, this is the coaching cycle, very similar to a school improvement learning cycle. This is the very similar. We start with the survey, then we do a data analysis. So, the data gets aggregated, and um all of the questions that are in there have different
141weightings. So, that's how we get the engagement score. Um we analyze that, then we have a dialogue. That's me having conversations with um the program manager, which is Justine. She couldn't be here tonight. We meet with district leadership. We go over the data as a district and we talk about any of the schools that they want to look into that data as well. I provide support. I'm there if they ever need me. I'm here by email. We tonight I got to meet some of them cuz we've been doing these little screen faces, so it's kind of fun to meet everybody. And then they implement their action plans. The thing that's been fabulous here is that Superintendent Howard made it clear that what we do I always believe it's got to be aligned with your school
142improvement process, but also as well it's aligned with our big rocks. How do they align? And so it's not adding to the plate, it's how do we continue to move it. Um I know you probably can't see this or maybe you can widen it on your screens. Um these are the different categories and the power of what these categories can do. So it's not in a silo. So these questions don't exist alone, but for example, satisfaction and purpose, belonging and well-being. If you improve in those categories by 10%, you've moved your engagement score 5.5 What that means is it's also aligned with your student achievement. So when you're moving that engagement score, you are improving your state testing, which is really fabulous. So this kind of gives you a line. So along the bottom what
143you can see is the aggregate engagement score. So as I improve my engagement score, so does my percent of students scoring. And this is data based on our most recent research and looking at state math scores. This year again, this shows three different school districts and where they're at. As you can see, they're all in different places on the map right now, but what you can see is where they started in the far left and where they're at now. They've all improved in their engagement, which also impacts teacher retention, which ultimately is what we're focusing on here, but it also impacted their student achievement scores. So really powerful data. So what have we done with Clark? It's been a great relationship so far. We started in the spring of 2024 and I think Dr. Hall,
144I think you were looking at that like all these different numbers you're going on and what's happening. So we've done three surveys so far. So we started in spring of 24, then they did it in fall of 24 and then we just did a survey in spring of 2026. And they're very strategic about when they're doing it and why they're doing it because I know you do the impact survey as well. So you want to make sure that you're getting that bang for your buck. This speaks volumes of the commitment of the school district and the board. You started the very first round in 2024, 80% participation rate. And this is all about teacher and your classified staff voice. This is their voice in the saying this is what we need to work on or
145this is what is you're doing well. You went up to 88% the fall of 2024 and I will say this last round, 96% participation rate. That's powerful. Shout out to your teachers for making this happen. And again, I I think Dr. Parrish is right. It's it's an anonymous survey. They know it's anonymous. I couldn't tell you they're. So it's really speaks volumes. This is our ultimate goal, teacher retention. So these are the key two questions that exist in the survey. First, I can see myself teaching at my school for at least the next year. That's improved Um that's improved to 96% and then I would recommend working at my school, which I think is a really really powerful statement. When I say to people, I want you to come work with me at my school,
146that improved from 88 to 95%. Powerful. This is a culture here where people want to work, they want to stay. So we talk about your areas of strength and this data talks about what is the area strength for Clark County. And I want to share that the engagement score is an 81. That's really powerful. That is an aggregate score, so all the questions have different weightings, so that is not a percent. All of the other questions, those are percentages. So what you'll see on that very first slide that I had all of those skinny lines with all of the the numbers on it, satisfaction and purpose, belonging and well-being were two of the highest indicators for improving retention and impacting student achievement. If the kids know they belong, they know they're known, they feel valued,
147it makes a difference. So these are some data points. 97% of your teachers agreed that they find a sense of purpose in the work that they do. 92% agreed that they feel like they belong at their school. Culture. The culture sings here. Collaboration, 92% of your teachers agreed teachers at their school help each other improve. What I would like to share with you that's not on here it because I know the district has put a lot of time, energy and and effort into professional development. It's the next one that's not going to fit on this slide, but I will tell you professional development was 87% positive. One of the key things that you can do with this data is you can compare it to the global cluster. Our global cluster right now, we're in the
148middle of all of our our spring surveys. There's 35,000 teachers that have completed it. Your scores are 11% higher than all of the school the teachers in the schools in that database right now for professional development. So that's a shout out to your junior your academic team, fabulous things. There's question five, the professional development or organized by my district helps me improve my teaching. That's one of the things I love too. This talks about what the district's doing and then the principals have one too. What is it I'm doing that's helping them? That's an 82% positive, but it's 15% more higher than your global cluster. Speaks volumes of what's happening here. Okay. Areas of opportunity, I you know I like to call these these are opportunities of growth and it's a great opportunity. Um work-life
149balance is at 79%. 79% of the teachers agreed the workload. I heard you speak of that earlier and how do we we do that? Time is greatest gift. Um appreciation, 83% feel appreciated. They are recognized publicly. I've never seen as much positive public recognition tonight. That was fabulous and shout out to George Rogers Clark for upbeat data too cuz you got to you know sometimes it's hard when you see your data and you kind of take a deep breath, but look at the growth that they've had. It's been amazing. Um school safety and order, what's really powerful in this like one of the questions is do I feel safe at my school? They do. But there's two other questions in this that talk about is the behavior consistently enforced across my peers? And are the
150behaviors consistently enforced by the school? Um so that gives schools an opportunity to look into that data as well. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. Um so what I want you to see here is is that every category is an improvement. Um 1% is an improvement. Every time that you improve 1%, you're 1% better than you were last time. So I always celebrate every moment that we take a step up or if we're really high, that we're maintaining it cuz it's important to maintain that as well. So every one of these categories has continued to improve. I'm relieved to see the work-life balance is going up. It's on way up. >> Yeah, that's really fantastic. That makes me feel so much better than the >> [laughter] >> So any Okay, remember so that this data
151is the the accumulation of all of your schools. Right. So you know you're going to have some outliers sometimes that kind of impact that data and that's one of the things that the district looks at. They're going to go into the heat maps and it's valuable to the principals can actually dig into the data as well and look just like maybe at a grade level group. Maybe there's an area. Maybe my science teachers need more PD. It just depends on the school. And here this highlights that. So work-life balance, 66% to 72% positive. School safety and order actually has gone up to 87% positive. So what does a principal consult look like? It really is if they're brand new, teaching them how to use the platform. If they're not, they come to me or they
152look at this or this time they were all in. They already had looked at it. Okay, so where I was just talk about what we did well. Um we're going to talk about the strengths. We're going to talk about areas that they want to work on. I'm going to share some of the ones I think or even they've been big rocks that the superintendent has says I want to make sure that we're really focusing on that. So I will share those as well. Our communication is just between us. It's not something I actually have a communication afterwards with district because I want that relationship and the trust that we're having a a good conversation. Bottom line, we create goals and they have an action plan. So this is some of the data and the feedback
153that they give and I again, it's just a pleasure to work with your principals. They're very engaging. They take their data seriously and I know it's important to them to do what's right for every child in their care and so ultimately that's what we're here for. Questions? That I might answer for you. I just I So this is drill down data for specifically George Rogers Yes. Cuz it just I want to make sure I understood what they gave me cuz it the numbers are so similar. It just doesn't Like the numbers are the same and then there's like different on the other end and that's So this first one here is they're comparing themselves to the last survey data, which was in fall of 2024. Okay. one, they are comparing themselves to the district. Okay.
154The whole district. >> Okay. They can they can actually then go and compare themselves to the global high school cluster to see how they stand among amongst other high schools. >> Okay. And the back is what like these colors, that's what the the That's what I call the heat map. And the value of the heat map is you can actually go in and you can filter. So, I might want to filter by like one of the things that when I'm just talking retention, I talk about first and second year teachers or I might be talking about first, second year, third third year teachers. What am I doing at my school for my new teacher mentoring program? Is it working? And I can look at their data, just theirs, and it'll show me. Green shows you
155that they're at 80% or higher. Um yellow is is 70 to 80, and then below that is in red. So, those are areas that you know you might need to look at. So, it's a really quick visual. But, you can actually sort and do all kinds of filtering in there. I just really appreciate seeing it and knowing what the principal was saying and what they how they're making decisions and to understand data. I like to understand data, so that get it. >> Me, too. But, yeah, this is fantastic. I Yeah, I really enjoy I I appreciate you coming tonight and explaining it all to us. >> Yes. Do you want to have any questions? Nope. It's a lot and we appreciate you waiting for so long. It's a pleasure. I don't know where to go
156back to the hotel. Um I just want to say thank you so much for your partnership and your your faith in us and we really do enjoy working with your district. Yes, thank you. How many how long have you been working with us? Is it Um I've been since the first survey. The 2024? Okay, cuz I I remember doing it, it's just it's been a minute, so. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. Really great data tool. And if you need anything else, let me know. Thank you all so much. Okay. Um our next agenda item is consider approval of Campbellsville University student teacher MOA by Dr. Parrish. So, this is just an update to our MOA, so we can continue providing support and services to Campbellsville student teachers. Cool. I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr.
157Kaiser. I'll second. All those in favor, say I. I. I. Mr. Dorsey, are you there? Okay. I'll abstain. We'll we'll do three to zero for that one. Okay. Anyone have any other questions? Okay. Our next agenda item is consider approval of job description for director. So, kind of like we did last year when we condensed all the multitude of teachers and principals and directors, this is kind of just following the same suit. It's just in generic directors. He texted us to say his phone had died. Oh, okay. Okay. >> Phone died. Okay. All right. Yeah, if you guys have been working so hard on these jobs, so. All right. Do we have a have a motion to pass or to approve this job description for director? I'll make that motion. I'll second. Second by Mr.
158Kaiser. Is this just any director? So, basically, if you look at all the job descriptions, there's a couple in there that always say other duties as assigned. So, literally, a director could have any duty assigned to them. That's what we all try to cross-train within departments as well. So, it's kind of like a teacher. Like we had all of the high school, middle school, elementary school teachers. Well, teachers basically knew the same thing, but the duties that they don't do the same, they're specifically assigned by their supervisor and designate. So, we're kind of aligning the rest of our job descriptions to be the same, but you'll notice that it's kind of a last and next bullet in every job description and other duties as assigned. Do you have any other questions? No, I just wanted
159Okay. Just to check if it works. Make sure. Okay, so all those in favor, say I. I. I. Okay, motion passes three to zero. Our next agenda item is um job description for instructional assistant four. So, this is one of those fun ones where we are trying so many new initiatives and if I had the time of day to get out and share all the work-life balance stuff we're doing, people would probably know more of them um specifically, but you know how we created the daycare and the aftercare? Well, as we're doing these things, we're learning along the way and one of the things we were learning is is that a lot of our full-time staff during the day could actually work some of these positions in the afternoon. So, some of our staff that
160only have 7-hour contracts could pick up shifts for us. Kind of like other districts are doing that with bus drivers. Yeah. We learned to do that this year with um the preschool cuz they dismiss so much earlier. So, they're out at 1:00 and since we do have the majority of our students coming from preschool in the aftercare, we were supplementing with staff. So, instead of having to put Mrs. Ellison her team through the payroll woes of trying to do an IA2 plus an aftercare employee, we're combining it. Okay. So, this will be only employees that work as an IA and an aftercare employee. Oh. So, it's like dual function in one. Okay. So, they don't they don't get overtime or whatever. They potentially could, yes, if they hit that 40-hour mark, but we're going to
161be strategic about how we schedule. That's fantastic. It's a great idea. Absolutely. Yeah. We're we are that district. We are one of two that even do We are. I mean, we're one of two districts, the state tells us all the time, that does hourly accruals. So, we're we are learning and blazing trails. I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. All those in favor, say I. I. I. You good, Paula? Well, I guess. So, so do you have questions? I want you to Well, I just I don't know. Do they leave and come back or they just go on to the position? I'm just trying to see how this works. Depending on who's scheduled, yes, they would just stay at the preschool because as soon as we dismiss, they go into aftercare. And
162is this their choice? Yes, they get to decide. Yes. Okay, then I mean, you know, unfortunately, No. you're going to do these six hours and you're going to do this hour here. No. They would be contracted positions just like anybody else would apply for. Cuz essentially, like end of the school day and preschool day, then they go into aftercare. So, if they might be an instructional assistant from 7:00 to 1:00 and then they step into this next position. So, essentially, they would apply to have this job. So, that's completely their choice. It's it's they can make their own pay schedule and work themselves, just present it. I mean, it's like having two part-time jobs, right? Basically. It's like working at Lowe's at night and then Walmart during the day. The only the only difference is
163it cleans it up in our own financial house, so we're not trying to Clocking in, clocking out, clocking in. And clocking out two different It's a convenience thing for them. So, okay, so they don't have to clock in and clock out. They would. So, right now, they're clocking in as an IA2 and then clocking out as an IA2. And then they're clocking in as an aftercare employee and then they're clocking out as an aftercare. And so, Mrs. Ellison and her team are trying to run dual payrolls for one person. So, we're just trying to >> will clean this up then and they would just clock in one time and Right. Okay. I just wanted to Okay, uh And so, you're good? All right. No, and I appreciate you asking your questions. We want to just
164have to give them a heads. >> Make sure we understand, so. Um okay, so that motion passes three to zero and Dr. Parrish has one more. Um consider approval of job description for district clinical nurse. Again, doing something new. So, right now, you can see in the HR budget that we spend a lot of money on doing physicals and onboarding employees. So, this is one of those things that we actually learned from another district in western Kentucky that they house their own district clinical nurse that um holds a certification as an APRN or a PA even. Um we're looking more of like the district clinical nurse side for an APRN that could do all of our physicals for us in-house. So, even Medicaid billing that potentially could hopefully pay for itself in the long run.
165Seeing students, seeing staff, meeting fitness of duty that we have to outsource right now. So, a lot of things kind of bringing it in-house. Can you bill insurances, also? Can you bill insurance? Absolutely. So, you could Correct. Our long-term vision would be this position would fund itself and actually bring in revenue to the district. >> What about like sports physicals? Would we be able to offer that to our students? >> Yes, they >> Not saying they had to do it. They go there on their own doctor, but She has This person that we're thinking of has lots of experience in providing physical services, yes. And if that's something we could do at a reduced rate to help kids that might not be able to do that. Yeah, I'll make a second on that. Do you
166have any questions, Ms. Thomas? No, I'm I'm okay. Okay. Do I have a motion to approve? I'll make that motion. Motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. All those in favor, say I. I. Motion passes three to zero. Thank you, Dr. Parrish. Thank you. All right, Mr. Howard, you are on deck. Sure. Uh just a couple um updates for May. Let me clearly This week will be May, so take a big deep breath around that. Um so, we're gearing up really for a couple things. Just a reminder, uh the last day for students is May 21st and that is a Thursday. Um and then we will have uh graduation on the 22nd at 7:00 p.m. We're also planning a district-wide uh field day for our elementary students. This will all four elementary schools third and fourth
167graders. Uh and we went yes we went last We did this last year for the first time in maybe 30 years. Um they all go to the GRC stadium and we have field day like old school with competition between schools, ribbons. Uh they broke out cheering scores sections. Um they were third fourth they're intense. Uh and the staff and principals were even more intense. Uh we had elementary principals trying to take apart frozen shirts. Uh we will not do that again. Did [laughter and clears throat] you say frozen shirts? Uh yes. Uh it's more difficult than what we planned. Um and I'll leave that at that. Um but this is a another great example of us connecting uh even between elementary schools. Parents are able to come that day. We'll put out information on how
168they actually get their own personal yellow bus chariot ride from their school over to the uh stadium. So that helps out with parking and doesn't overwhelm that uh the George Rogers Clark Stadium. But that is tentatively planned again weather permitting uh for Friday the 15th. So that is very exciting. And again last year we had a lot of parents um you know participating and sitting and watching their kids field day just like uh some of us old-timers used to do back in the day. Um the other there's a big push as KSA uh testing will start actually this Friday. Um it'll continue through next week. It's third grade uh through 11th grade with the exception of freshman. We don't we we give the freshman some bar time to uh acclimate to high school before we
169start testing them. And again I just want to point out you know state testing does not define us. It does not define our kids. It is one test on one day. However, what does define us is what we believe to be even more important which is our portrait of a Clark County learner. And part of that is showing up, having pride in your work, being an empowered leader, a resilient learner, an engaged citizen, representing this community. And so I encourage our students and staff. This is our opportunity to show out. While we uh talk about growing greatness, this is our opportunity to live it. Um so just uh be be cognizant it's a big week for us next week. Make sure you get plenty of rest and um again I'm excited because I see the
170data that we're presenting deposits grow and and again I I know our students have got some of the greatest in the country and we'll be able to celebrate some things coming back off next year. But um that's kind of my my updates. Um do you have any questions? We're we're coming down to a the end of the wonderful school year. Anyone have any questions for Mr. Howard? Thank you, Mr. Howard. >> Well, accepting lots of prayer for graduation night. I'll leave it at that. The new route. I'll let you see for yourself on that day. So We will we will make it. We will be there for you. >> We breathing deep. >> [laughter] >> Our next um agenda item is our consent agenda items. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda
171items? I'll make that motion. Motion by Mr. Kaiser. I'll second. Seconded by Miss Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion passes 3 to 0. And our next agenda item is adjourn to closed session for KRS 61.810 1B deliberations on the future acquisition or sale of real property by public agency but only when public liciting would be likely to affect the value of a specific piece of property to be acquired for public use or sold by a public agency. We are now in closed session at 8:18 p.m.