001Heat. Heat. N. I am feel. You are the You are free. Feel free. Fire. It rain. You are you Heat. Heat. ring. It feel You are found. Rain it rain. ring. You You found me. Dpping ring ring. You are free. I got Let me feel me. You're You are feeling me. Feel like You are Heat. Heat. N. I got a feeling. meeting of the Nelson County Board of Education to order on May 12th, 2026 at 5:30. Please join our board as we recite the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Good evening everyone. Our mission work and life ready students. So this evening um on May 12th
002we are um our goals for this evening are to establish a tenative budget for the fiscal year 2027 review facility progress and learning from our parents and the no teams. Um guest comments um I did not check to see if there was any will you just verify if there's anybody else that All right. And we had one online which is um Shelby Kn. She is not here this evening. All right. So, moving on. Um we have our consent agenda. The board received that well in advance. Um, do you guys have any areas of concern or any areas of questioning or any areas of discussion? I am glad to see that we did receive the AED grant that was brought before us um a month or two ago. So, I know that that was to update
003um AED devices across the campuses. So, that's a a good thing for our district. >> All right. If nothing else, we need a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Make a motion. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. Motion passes. And moving on, we have Mr. Martin. All right. So, this item relates to tenative budget. So, uh, the past several months we've had lots of budget budgeting discussions. Uh, so this would be for fiscal year 27, which as a reminder starts July one. Um, obviously as you think about budgeting, much of uh the much of that is wrapped up in staffing and personnel, and that's really been the focus of the conversation we've had for
004the past several months. Uh, everything from u salary schedule to um working with principles to prepare staffing for our building. So really, this continues to be the narrative that we're talking about around budgeting, creating a balanced budget, continuing to plan for the future. It resonates with people as we thinking about being highly effective with our programs, but also being efficient with our resources. Um really in all the years that I've been involved in this process, uh these items continue to resonate in terms of like what are we prioritizing as we work and and use our resources. We number one, we want to continue to invest in people, continue to bring in high-quality people, create compensation opportunities and benefit packages that keeps those people involved and invested in our communities while also knowing that being as
005operationally as efficient as possible. Um, everything from our facilities to transportation and all of those things in between. And then continuing to be creative with the various grants that that we've explored that provide additional revenue for us to use. So, these are really the big things that we want to continue to prioritize. Uh, from a timeline process is just kind of a a good reminder of where this process goes. Keep in mind that school budgeting is a bit backwards process. You kind of establish your priorities and identify many of your expenditures and then you really clarify and bring in your revenue. There's still many things about the budget and really we're we're working to get to a uh final working budget. This is kind of the one that's really utilized in the fiscal year. So
006all these processes kind of lead up to that, but we establish our priorities, identify uh expenditures such as staffing. We've we've done that in April. Um and then some of the revenue discussions come after the fact. So, you know, we still don't we still are unclear at this time what our property assessments look like. We we anticipate getting that in August. And then really your final official money, they generate projections, but the final seek payment that you get from the state's really not clarified till March of next year. So, this is just kind of where we are in the process today. We're looking at tenative budget. The things that really stand out are a the budget's relatively stable yeartoear and that not a lot of things shift. Uh the green here really is again your
007uh staffing costs. And this just kind of breaks it down by, you know, where are is the money going? Uh or where do we plan on the money to be going? And you can just kind of see the operational versus personnel breakdown. Um but again, these values are relatively stable yeartoear. I've been talking about uh you know, where were we in the physical year for this year? So July 1 in 2026, what will our fund balance look like? We've been tracking this general fund balance. We will continue to track it. Uh and I I've been projecting that basically we plan on being flat, meaning that revenues match expenditures. There is some margin of error error that I've added in that says we could finish in the green or we could finish a bit in the
008negative, but somewhere there we'll be relatively balanced uh come July 1, 2026. as we plan this tentative budget for next year. That is obviously the goal for July 2027. Um just a couple things to again to help contextualize. We've spent a lot of time looking at salary and how we've increased those over the last several years. I've made an attempt to u quantify as we think about, you know, this 19 to 22% increase among certified staff since 2019. like what is that financial commitment to payroll? This is a rough estimate of that. So over that course of time, uh this percent increase is roughly around $6 million additional commitment to people that we've made. Um and I would say that's probably on the conservative end. >> Mr. Martin, does that include the um what we've
009called the benefits to staff? >> So it's honestly it's difficult to quantify all of those things. That's why I'm saying this is really an estimate that I'd say is more on the conservative end because you do have staffing benefits that are additional cost to the district that I would say is not included in this because this amount really is kind of money in their paycheck per se, right? >> So, for example, the um paid maternity leave um the additional the rank change programs that we sponsored that's in addition to this >> it would be above and beyond that metric. Yes. really as we continue to prepare for balanced budget over the next several years. I come back to this as we think about again a window of raise opportunity that we can commit to. There's
010a lot of unknown forces at play. One that I just want to I've already mentioned these the last several months. The bourbon barrel tax is one we want to continue to study. My intentions again are to partner with the state and other local school districts that are deeply impacted by this. Um the the adjustments could start as early as fiscal year 27 is what I would be anticipating. So this this budget that we're talking about the bourbon barrel money that we get and receive for that my early estimates indicate that that could be $400,000 less $400,000 less than what we've gotten this past year. Again that's an early estimate. And I'm very uh you know still in the infancy of that kind of study process and plan on to continue to discuss this and kind
011of clarify how might that impact our budget next year and the years beyond. But it's just kind of an early estimate to to let you know the implications of that. Uh and really again the point of that is to make sure that we're ahead of it so that we can make adjustments uh and then make sure we're financially stable. So any questions related to budget. >> As far as the projections, my is my understanding um correct in that we don't always know what that will be until we have tax bills released in the fall. The timing of um >> as far as >> some of the revenues that are coming in the locally generated, >> right? So, there's still a lot of things that are unknown. I think, you know, we're we're Jessica and I
012are really using revenue projections as we kind of look at the trends. Uh that's really what we'll use to map out the tenative budget. Um but yeah, we don't know those things today. >> How about the seek funding? How's that going to increase as we lose tax? You heard anything from our politicians? >> So I would anticipate our seek to be relatively stable and that what we're getting this year would be about the same amount. There could be uh I think there is some you know this $400,000 that I'm talking about potentially losing. I think the state will kick in part of that perhaps uh but not enough to cover the full difference is kind of my early indications. >> Are do we have sufficient funding um available through contingency fund or others to compensate
013for that $400,000 shortfall if that were to happen? >> Well, we're pl Yes. So, we do we do have that, but then also part of the budgeting process is to plan for that and to obviously make adjustments to make sure that you're balanced and not necessarily having to dip into contingency. >> Thank you. I'm glad to know through our conversations here and both and and outside of this that our district is doing a tremendous job of staying on top of fund balances because we don't want to be in the situation we're hearing that other districts are falling into. >> Right. >> Thank you for your efforts and Miss Rogers. And just uh just to reiterate, I think what we talked about last month, we've been fortunate in Nelson County to have property values uh steadily
014climbing as well as increased investments along with the bourbon uh boom. Um but we know that that's um that that curve is turning. At least it's stabilizing. So that's why we've taken a cautious approach in planning uh in staffing and in salary increases. because it's hard for us to predict the next year or two. >> So tonight you'd be approving the tenative budget. >> All right. Any further discussion? >> All right. With that, we need a motion to approve the fiscal 2027 tenative budget as presented. >> I'll make the motion. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll second it. Either way, >> all in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> All right. Again, Mr. >> So, yes, this is uh just the annual approval process for really the contract with our
015auditors. Uh Patrick and Associates is who we've been working with over the last several years. We have a strong partnership with that team. Uh really this is just a contractual agreement. Talks about kind of the process and timelines. Um there obviously is a fee associated with that. It's relatively the similar as what it's been in previous years. Uh our recommendation is to continue to work with Patrick and Associates for that process. All right. You guys have any discussion? >> Any questions? >> With that we need approve a recommend recommended motion to approve fiscal year 2026 audit contract with Patrick and Associates. >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. So, moving on to facility
016updates. >> Facilities. So, I'll give us a kind of a broad overview of all the current projects and then Stephen's going to give us a little bit of a preview around the phase one Nelson County High uh discussion and where it currently lies. So, um I guess we were here three or four weeks ago, you know, similar discussions. The uh bus garage, I think, is we're officially in there and and Devin and his team are obviously there working. Uh to say it's 100% complete is not an accurate statement. Uh there are a number of kind of finishing touches they're continuing to tend to. Uh obviously you have movein elements of you know just making sure everything is working properly. Devon and his team are engaged in that discussion and kind of documenting that you know
017this needs to be adjusted or that needs to be adjusted and we're working with the construction team on making sure that that occurs. Um but we're in a good spot with with that facility. uh upcenter really the the big push is the uh schedule to keep us on time to completion on July 10th. Um Kodell Construction has really provided some additional resources to ensure that that occurs, but obviously it's working directly with the subs to make sure they have the people power to accomplish those goals. Um really there's work throughout the building, painting, uh concrete work, more electrical work. They did one major item is uh getting permanent power to the facility. Uh that is either happened today or or over the next day or so. They'll officially have that hooked up. Um there's some
018floor work that's occurring. There's some humidity issues there and so by having permanent power and closing the space in will protect with the humid humidity to allow the floor work to occur. Um but that schedule's being closely monitored. As far as Thomas Nelson, again, mostly earth work. I think the major action item really is prep work for footers will be occurring um really soon. New Haven continuing to move towards this 90% construction documents. uh that milestone that needs to occur and then really it's um any final review of the documents to move those to 100% completion is the next steps with New Haven for Nelson County High. Uh mostly I'll discuss kind of the softball process. The in April you guys authorized us to go out to bid for softball. We did have a a
019bidding process. The bids came in over budget. Uh so today we're really we'll have a recommendation to you guys to reject two of the bid packages uh to authorize us then for a rebidding process. We'll go back through that and then in June hopefully have uh bids that really align more with budget and uh the budgets really construction managers are recommending that hey this is about where the number should be. So right now we're not there and really it's really looking at the scope of the job and looking at each line item to kind of make sure that you know this is what we projected how's that coming in do we need to make any adjustments to scope to make sure we're fitting in closer to budget. So that's the softball update. Um any questions
020over any of these items before we get to phase one county high. So is the implication of that that what I heard that the construction managers set an estimated price reigns for what should should what it should cost to do the softball field and the bids have come over substant have come in substantially over that amount. >> So I mean construction managers are in in this work all the time and they're working with subs and so they should have a really good estimate of you know this is the item that we're looking to bid. It should be about this much. So they should understand the market really well and based on those metrics and based on where they feel like it should come in at it came in o over that. I think part of
021the contributing factors is it is a smaller job as you think about subcontracting work that's a standalone piece. The the bid window that we offered was also rather short just trying to meet board timelines. We think by having more time to uh open the bidding process up, we may get more biders, get a lower number, uh get us really our goal is to have a great product at a good price. Obviously, >> I appreciate that. >> So, we feel like it's not healthy to accept the current ones. >> Thank you. >> Do you want to um reject those bids currently or you want to go through phase one? how you want to >> would be your choice. Really the um the timeline even by rejecting and and bringing different bids in at June, we still
022feel like we can meet the timeline that we need to meet to have the field ready for spring of 2027. Um so that's our goal. >> Let's go ahead and take care of that and then we can move on to Stephen. Um, so we will need a recommended motion to reject the Nelson County High School softball bid packages one and two and approve rebidding for the bid packages one and two. >> I'll make the motion. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right, Stephen, you want to discuss? >> Thank you. Um, so, uh, just wanted to go over kind of where we've been, where we're going. Um, remind you the schedule that we're working on. You all have
023already approved schematic design for the high school phase one design. Uh, so we're into design development at this point. Uh, and we're looking to deliver that in July so that we can have um, biddable construction documents to you in October. Um, Alex has already gone over the softball value engineering. Basically, we do have to modify the bid packages slightly in order to put it out for rebid so that it's a fair rebid and everybody's not building bidding the exact same thing. So, we're going to be uh looking at where there are opportunities to find savings, what kind of scenarios we can uh we can offer. And um so there'll be some materials changes and uh and we'll be talking to the individual biders about any ideas they have about what we could do a little
024differently. So um we're trying to get as much value out of that process as we can and we are to an extent obligated to change the scope before we just put it out for bid. So um what I want to talk about a little today is the uh modifications that have been made to phase one. Um, so this is this is a a three-dimensional view of kind of where we are right now. Um, I'll just point out kind of what some of the what you've seen before. This is the front entrance coming into a large student life hub that will sort of be the center of activity for the for this part of the school. Um, and then all of the uh different discipline areas are uh grouped around central spaces of their own. Um,
025AG is here in the middle. Art is here. What's that? >> Oh, >> got it. Um, and so agg and the arts programs are sort of uh in the middle between the two alumni garden or the alumni garden and the student courtyard. Um, and then the um special ed and FMD back over in the uh in the northwest corner. And then there's a cafeteria extension. So that's just sort of where we had been already. Um we've had a whole series of detailed meetings with staff of the school uh with Miss Sigolski. A lot of that was um reinforcement of things that we had already worked into the plan, but there were some changes that were uh proposed uh up in the uh special ed area. We did do some revisions to the uh diverse learning
026area. Um it reduced in some in square footage some. Um we also did some revisions of spaces around the school to make um allow for more open and flexible use of um of spaces we had been assigning to either resource or administration or or other things. Trying to make more opportunities available in more spaces spread around the school so that they're not so functionally fixed, I guess, uh is what I'd say about that. And then um by doing that over here along main hall um we are shifting some classrooms into the uh back part of the existing auditorium here um so that we can get so we can leverage renovation which we can do at a lesser cost than some of the new construction. Uh so we're trying to find opportunities like that. Uh a
027lot of what we're doing in design development, we've engaged the engineers more, the structural engineers, the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers. Um we're talking to them about where we can uh find economies and basically be put more of an eye on how are we going to get the square footage for the bud budget that we've uh that we've targeted. So that's those are the big changes that have come out of our detailed meetings with staff. Um and we are um deep into uh all of the engineering associated with uh with these spaces. Um we can just a reminder of kind of what we're using as design principles. Uh flexible and evolving use is one of the uh priorities that had been identified at the beginning of the project. Safety and transparency and then elevating a
028kind of modern and coherent identity for the the overall school. Um and that will be kind of building over both phases of the work. Um the primary thing we wanted to talk about today though is the overall campus plan. A big part of doing this phase one uh and what growing into phase two is that um we're trying to get a more of a campus feeling more almost a collegiate integrated campus feeling. Um the campus the opportunities uh afforded by moving the bus maintenance facility and moving the softball facility are that we can start to link your facilities uh a lot in in a lot more integrated way so that pedestrians moving around campus uh can feel like they're uh part of one thing and one identity across the campus. So that's what Travis is
029here to talk about. Our uh our site development consultant, both civil engineering and landscape architecture, is a firm called Karmen. Uh they do both civil and landscape within the same company. Um and we've been working with Travis on taking what we learned from the master planning facility a couple of years ago. Uh working the uh phase one changes into that and then kind of how that evolves into this new overall campus plan. So that I'll let you go from there. Thanks, Stephen. I'm not as articulate as Stephen, so I'm going to be using notes and trying not to read directly from them, but um appreciate you having us. Um we're uh I'm excited to be here and share kind of um give you an update of where we're at. We've, as Stephen said, we've been
030working closely um with the school and Studio Kramer and Mr. Bradley um um on uh on this plan and uh we put a lot of work into it. So um feels like a good opportunity to be here and and talk to you at this stage and show you the progress that we've made. So um to start I'd like to this is the what we're calling the overall campus plan. Um and just to orient you >> have to stand in front of the camera point of the screen. There we go. So this is the this this white block here is representing the um new uh proposed building footprint. Um you got the up center to the west of that and Bloomfield Road running down here along the south. Um so I you can't really see it,
031but you can see it uh labeled phase one limits. What we're really going to focus on today is is kind of this dashed line that kind of indicates um about where the the boundary is for the phase one site uh and building improvements. Um, so it kind of wraps along this back roadway here and then cuts right through the middle of the building out to the front that captures this uh new drop off area and uh parking lots here with the quad and grove which is uh indicating the uh pedestrian spaces which I I'll get to um in just a minute. But um so before I get into kind of the details of the the phase one improvements, I wanted to kind of take a step back really quick and uh you know just talk
032about um traffic flow and circulation because that's really that really helped shape the layout um of this overall plan. Um, like I said, we worked closely with the school to kind of um to better understand how the site currently functions um and how circulation patterns will change once the middle school moves over into uh into this facility or to this building. Um, so we we we studied how different users um would would all move um through the uh through the site safely um and uh efficiently and that helped to establish the locations of some of these driveways and parking lots that you're seeing here. Um using the existing entrances off Bloomfield. This entrance over here by the tennis courts is where that signalized entrance is. Um that's kind of where the middle school traffic would
033be. We kind of as we were looking at this, the plan kind of naturally separates between where it makes sense for middle school users to enter the campus and where it makes sense for high school users to enter the campus. So middle we kind of envision middle school users would enter the campus here and kind of loop around and and to the middle school drop off entry zone um and then exit. And similarly on the high school side would would enter off of the western entrance um and come in and and and have direct access to both the student parking and staff parking on this side of the of the campus. Um and also access to the the uh high school entry. Um, so like I said before, we have we're showing a new kind
034of drop off area right in the front entry of the school and a smaller visitor parking lot to access that main uh public school entry. Um, so separately from that we have buses, right? So this is kind of where the buses are housed. So, it makes sense for them to enter the site off of the Wildcat uh lane entrance, looping along the uh or entering along that kind of back service drive along the back of the building to a new uh bus queuing uh lot over on the middle school side of the project. But again, that's kind of outside of our limits of this phase one development, right? We're going to focus for this phase one. We're really talking about everything between the upcenter and the new building. So, these two parking lots and this
035uh pedestrian zone in here as well as the the front entry drop off. So a major talking about phase one and even future phases, a major goal for us was in terms of the site design is to is to create a more cohesive campus um environment and kind of strengthen the uh the connection between the facilities um by prioritizing really prioritizing the pedestrian experience. Um, we've intentionally minimized conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians uh by splitting these uh parking lots apart, these major parking areas apart um and creating kind of a simple or central quad area uh with minimal conflicts between pedestrians and and vehicles. um so that the uh the primary views are green space in that area, not expansive parking lots and asphalt. Um so again a big focus for us is thinking about
036how students and staff are um move through the campus um safely, comfortably uh between the buildings and the parking areas and all these outdoor areas um while also creating spaces for the students and staff for gathering and interaction and just simply being outside. Um so the idea is within this kind of centralized corridor um that connects the main entry to the school building to the up center and then beyond. That's kind of uh this area where um you know we could introduce the idea is to establish a series of kind of outdoor hubs or nodes um where um we can support these activities of gathering and interaction. Um, and as we move further into design development, we're um we'll kind of get kind of zoom into some of these spaces and really get um into
037the weeds in terms of materials and um site furnishings and paving patterns and that sort of thing. We just haven't quite gotten to that point yet. Um uh the other thing I guess I should mention on this plan is you'll note you'll see all the green dots on there. So those are those are trees obviously and um we think providing shade is is important obviously um for comfort and comfort and usability uh but also um you know the trees help reinforce that idea of the campus feel um and help soften the the overall environment by introducing more green space. Um, Stephen, is there anything else before I switch to courtyards that I haven't pointed out yet that maybe we need to talk about? Okay. So, I'm going to move on to courtyard spaces. So, there's
038two interior courtyards within the building. Um uh the southern courtyard near the main entrance is envisioned as the alumni courtyard uh while the northern courtyard will will serve as the primary student courtyard. And we approached we approached each of these uh spaces a little differently based on how they're going to be used. Um and those ideas were again shaped through the conversations we've had with the school stakeholders. So for the alumni, this is showing the alumni courtyard. Um, we imagined a more formal structured space and the layout features kind of a symmetrical oval with a um a central lawn area with seating opportunities around and the potential for markers or displays kind of celebrating um the alumni achievements or school history. Um and there there's also opportunity here for public art or sculptures in the
039space. Um but In addition to be that kind of frontf face welcoming um courtyard, the space would also uh support outdoor learning and presentations which we're kind of showing in this area. Um and since it's located adjacent to the 2D art room or art classroom, um we could even envision students kind of pulling out their easels and sitting down and um you know using the courtyard extension of of their classroom environment. So this is um you know with both of these courtyards I guess more broadly I should say the um our goal is to create similar to how we're we're showing on the on in the uh corridor um on the outside that where students genuinely feel comfortable um spending time in them. So the student courtyard is a little different than the alumni courtyard
040in the sense that it's it's a little bit more informal. Um it has a little bit more flexible character. The layout is a little more abstract. Um and it's it includes a little bit more programming elements designed to support the sort of the day-to-day um student activity. So, one of the major I I just wanted to highlight a few of the of the elements in this courtyard um that I think are pretty interesting. Um one of the major features is the outdoor dining area um which is shown here on the plan and then here in the rendered perspective and that's sort of an extension of the um the cafeteria space. So it would it would have you know some sort of seating whether it be dining tables and chairs or picnic picnic tables um to
041accommodate outdoor dining and then potentially some shade trees to provide some some shade while eating. Um the we're also showing some some raised garden beds um that could be potentially used by the a department um whether it be herbs or perennials or uh vegetables or however they would decide to use those those planted areas. But it would be a learning opportunity there. Um, and then finally, I think the last thing I wanted to show or highlight was this um this area here, which is just outside of the 3D art room. Um, and what we're showing there is kind of these different hiding heights of what we're calling art pedestals where student may um, it may be a good a good opportunity to come out and present or have an outdoor classroom or even just as
042a display throughout the year for students to come out and put their sculptures or pottery out here and so the rest of the school kind of knows what they're doing and what they're uh, involved with at the time. So, those are just a few of the the things I wanted to point out about this car about this courtyard. Um, again, as we get into DD, we'll start to get really, uh, down in the weeds on some of these materials, um, furnishings and things, but that's kind of the the higher level overview of of the phase one site design improvements. >> It looks really nice. I love that it that it does. It feels like it's going to be a campus style and not just three separate buildings that it's really being connected. Um, and I
043like that they're doing these that you're working with these interior courtyards. So, there's a element of safety when the kids are out in those spaces and the students are protected with with the surrounding buildings. It looks really nice. >> I love all the grain in those spaces, too. So, I think um sometimes things can feel very clinical in schools with so much concrete and um tile and whatnot. So, I'm glad to see that incorporated into the design. I hope it will be more welcoming for our students and staff. >> Thank you. >> And the outdoor eating space. I don't know who doesn't want that. We would all benefit from that. So, yeah, it looks it looks really nice. I'm excited. >> Thank you. Any other questions or Stephen or me? >> Thank you so much
044for being here and presenting. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Stephen. >> All right, moving on. We are parents in the know with Super Bradley. This really is a U Laura Arnold conversation that I'll contribute slightly to. Um, but we uh we started parents in the know in um October, November of 2025 and that led into a new uh more focused parents in the know in January and now here we are four months later and we just wanted to update. I think this is really a two-part conversation. It's a big conversation, but today we're really looking at the initial conversation around graduation requirements and kind of like where that led the team >> and you have two parents that are in. >> Yes. And we have some other parents that would have been here tonight, but
045they're taking part in a fusion celebration and different um activities going on across the district. So, like Mr. Bradley said, "I've had the privilege since January of connecting with eight of our parents." And really that's a diverse representation of our elementary, middle, and high school parents. So these parents have had students at different stages or currently have students in um elementary, middle, or high school. And in our conversation when we started meeting in January, we basically identified three outcomes or three things that we wanted to look at throughout our conversation. And so we started talking about work and life ready graduation requirements knowing that the board of education determines our graduation requirements for our high school students. Also spent time recommending possible college and career pathway opportunities uh just due from personal experiences of our
046parents and students um that were engaged in that conversation. And then we spent some time talking about the need for college and career advising and what that could look like across six through grades 6 through 12. So we really started with this first question around how do graduation requirements impact a school system? And as we got into this conversation, we quickly realized it's really more about what is needed within our organization to ensure that when students graduate high school, they're ready for work and life and they're ready to thrive in um those environments. And through that initial conversation of our first night, it was very quick uh to point out that when you look at Kentucky minimum high school graduation requirements, and that's what uh this picture is at the bottom of this slide, our
047minimum graduation requirements basically say students have to have 22 um credits in English, math, science, and some electives. And our parents quickly pointed out that those are valuable experiences and knowledge, but our students need more. They need to be able to demonstrate transferable skills that they can take with them throughout life. So that led into a deeper conversation. If we want to go above and beyond the minimum requirements, what does that look like for our students? So then we quickly got into the conversation of possible program majors and minors for student that allow students to grow, develop and demonstrate those transferable skills based on areas of interest or career focused areas that they would like to explore deeper which then led us into an exploratory conversation of a graduate profile. So, you've heard several districts
048across our state. You'll see it on social media. You'll hear those conversations around profiles that we would want for graduates and really thinking about what does a work and life ready profile look like as we think about bringing our students into our 612 experiences. And we have two parents with us tonight, Bernie and Emily, who are kind of coming from different perspectives. So Bernie already has a graduate that I believe is in the Marines. Is that right? Um I think just went through boot camp and is well on his way. And then a student I believe in high school. And then Emily, your kiddos are at different grade levels. Where are they? >> Okay. So, one of our conversations as we got into our second or third meeting is we were thinking about experiences for
049students, we also recognized that there has to be indepth college and career advising so that students and families are ready to make that next choice wherever that student is in that 6 through 12 journey or whether they're ready to move on from high school because feedback from parents and our school counselors because while we've been meeting with parents, Mr. Bradley's also been meeting with school counselors has been the desire for students to have a strong work and life ready plan that they can articulate and speak to as they're ready to walk across that stage at graduation and they have confidence in where they're going to go next. And through that thinking about that work in life and ready plan, our parents were very vocal on needs and things that they would like to see um
050as a student is going through their middle and high school journey. And I think Bernie's going to speak uh a little bit to those needs around college and career advising. And there's a summary on the screen uh some just big points that came out of some of our recordings of our conversations. I'm gonna give Bernie a second to speak to that. >> Hello. Thank you for letting us be here. Um I too had to make notes. So, so, so I am going to have to reference my notes, but uh we talked a lot about college and career readiness and and strengthening um family needs and student needs. Um but stronger students and families need a stronger understanding of the educational pathways and the workforce opportunities and the long-term benefits of that. Um college and career
051advising should begin as early as fifth grade. Um, and then consistent mentorship. And we talked a lot about mentorship, um, and having that person that they can go to, um, who's going to travel with them throughout their their student life, um, per se, and not having to jump ship from this mentor to this mentor to this mentor and this mentor, um, and having that one person that they can identify with, um, have questions to, and and talk to and and help lead them along their path. Um, and then we also talked about students benefit from a clear program of study um, that connects their coursework to their career goals. Um, and understanding that, you know, if if I'm going to choose like a medical path and then I want to jump ship from that after
052maybe one year in that there's there's a pathway for that student to jump ship and go to some other pathway because, you know, medical is not for everybody or or engineering is not for everybody or teaching is not for everybody, but they may want to dabble in it and then and then maybe jump ship from that and go to another pathway. and having those areas defined and understand how they can do that easily. Um stu they also have um strategic course selection should start in the sixth grade to better prepare students for future opportunities and then family engagement. Um I talked a lot about that when I met with Laura and the group. Um just having more more decent conversations with families and the parents and getting them involved as as often as they can.
053And you know, I was on the site base for a while and and it's very strange to me how uninvolved some families are and trying to get those families involved and and then and include them in the conversations. Um and then early planning helps students make informed decisions about college, career, and workforce readiness. And then the school should create a structured advising system that supports students at every transition point. We discussed that. Um, and then career exposure, you know, um, exposing these students to to career opportunities and having them be able to go for site visits and see things. Um, and I think that's a lot about what we talked about as well. Um, and then building building awareness early increases student confidence and preparedness and post-secary success. So, that's that's in a gist about
054what we talked about when it came to u the needs for college and career advising and student transitions. Any questions? So, one of our conversations during uh the deeper conversation around college and career advising was our current reality in our middle and high schools. At both of our high schools, we have two counselors. And what you see in a lot of your traditional comprehensive high schools, a counselor is really owning about 300 to 350 kids. Sometimes it can even be more. And while that's happening, parents are seeking more of this genuine, in-depth, personalized conversation that you're hearing Bernie speak to. And that's a huge lift to ask a counselor to connect to 300 to 350 students plus do other responsibilities they have to do through that day. So it really led into if we really
055want to create strong college and career advising structures, how do counselors have the opportunity to connect with a smaller cohort of students? So that led us back to really thinking about college and career majors which uh parents were very vocal in the need for that career exploration and alignment to the academic content that they're learning and the knowledge they're demonstrating. and how do you take these college and career major opportunities in these large groups of students we have in our high school and connect that to smaller cohorts of around 150 to 200 students. So that led us to think about moving from random, you got ninth grades, you got 11th grade, that's who you're advising to more strategic advising and counselors being connected to specific programs and college and career majors. So conversations with students
056can become more personalized. So for example, tonight Fusion, our STEM, our math and science academy, STEM Academy at OKH was having a celebration. So there would be a counselor connected to that group of students to get more personalized in their learning and what those um students and parents need. And then that would support thinking about those kids interested in the STEM field. How are they having experiences that are connected to their work and life ready plan that are going to get them ready to go into work or get them ready to go into postsecary? And one of our family members or parents that was most vocal about speaking about personalization for their students was Emily. Because of having three uh children, she can speak to um how all of our students are very different. So,
057I'm going to let Emily talk a little bit about her perspective around the personalization and smaller cohort sizes for our students. >> All right. Thank you. Um, so I, as we mentioned, I'm a parent of three kids and one of the things I learned very early being a mother is they are all very different. Um, they're all very very bright. I have twin boys and that that was kind of the first uh shock. I'm a engineer sciencebased person. So, you know, you always want to lay out your test plan here and you know, I've got two twins and I realize they're not alike at all. Um, and how I have to interact with them and what they need. Um, just to tell you a little bit about him. Uh, Camden, he tends to soak up
058information. He loves to memorize things. He's going to watch and read and he's going to just pull in that information and it comes out in such surprising ways. He's kind of my more traditional student. He does really well um in the classroom. He listens to what the teacher is saying. He can apply what they're doing and he just, you know, smooth sailing. His brother Dylan is very different. He is going to challenge the teacher because it has to make sense to him. He has to understand what he's being taught. How does that going to apply to the big picture of my life? How does this fit into what I mean? He wants the hands-on learning experiences. He wants to be able to have some agency and some choice in what he's doing and putting that
059together. Um, and then I have my daughter Elise. She's my first grader and she is all about people and collaboration. And so she's going to want those connections with people and how do they um influence and she's going to start seeing how people work together and uh influence together. So, as we're talking about these pathways and I realized, you know, going through elementary school and realizing, you know, one sizefit classroom doesn't fit all my kids. There's times when one of them is thriving. There's times when others um are thriving, you know, and it's not it's goes in waves. And so, the ability for a program to be able to adapt and fit with what their goals are, um what they their learning styles are will help them really reach their uh potential. Um, and so
060I I was going to say, you know, that uh different children really need different opportunities to learn. And so I really look forward to this plane. I think it has a lot of options. I think that um having those abilities to connect what students are learning to real life, you know, what Dylan wants to know, how is this going to benefit me in my life? you know, this helps those students be able to make those connections. It still has the opportunities for Camden who wants the traditional learning. He wants to soak up all the information. He wants to learn the history. He wants to learn the social studies. We still have those options. Um, and the other piece of it is, as Bernie says, is students aren't going to all know what they want to
061do. For the students that's driven and they know what they want to do, the pathway is going to set them up and it's going to give them momentum for where they want to go in the future. But for the students that's still trying to figure out what they like, they like a little of this, they like a little of that. Having the flexibility in the program so that they can move and adjust will set them up better for life because one, learning earlier what you like and what you don't like is going to be a lot better than doing it after you graduate high school. And two, learning how to adapt, learning how you learn um new skills and change is also going to help students when they graduate school because life is all about
062change and adapting and learning new things. Um and so having those skills and being able to move and understand what the connection is to their life is going to be I think a game changer for many students. So in summary, I think some of our big takeaways our parents were very um vocal in students getting to a level where they can demonstrate their independence as they get ready to transition and leave. The idea that the 22 course credits aren't enough for our students and they need more opportunities and experience that comes to life through a grad profile. And then as you think about moving to six through 12 campuses, how are students grouped in smaller cohorts where counselors can really get to know those kids and support those kids and their teachers in developing and
063implementing their work and life ready plan. So Mr. Bradley, do you want to add to that question? the uh we've met with counselors for oh three or four months. Um and the the big takeaway in the first month was the we asked essentially how do you how would you define success in your role and very quickly a few of them acknowledged that when they sit down with students that they have a real plan that takes them past graduation. Um so that really became a conversation around our work and life ready plan. um and that that plan was true that they were taking clear clear and actionable steps on that plan that they had a clear support group that ensure that that plan was able to be carried out. Of course to then do that there
064was a conversation and a reality that it's very difficult to do that at the current model where it's 300 to 350 randomly grouped students whether that's alphabetical or by random house it's still random. Um so the big shift is how do we take what currently if we added up all the counselors in 6 through 12 there are 10 uh and those 10 counselors placing those out across the ecosystem and specialized programming you're able to achieve uh more through a specialized approach. This conversation is really just getting off the ground um with our team over the past two or three months, but we've learned a lot, gathered a lot of data, and are still very much in the um design phase. Next week, uh, we'll be meeting with teachers across the district to talk further about
065programs long term to gather interest, knowing that this model also demands that a 6th through 12, at least 8 through 12th grade teacher would also choose to connect as an adviser to one of these six programs. Um, as another form of specialization. Right now, if I'm a adviser as a teacher in Cardinal Crew or Car and Connect, I'm advising 15 to 20 students that may be going 15 to 20 different pathways. So, we're trying to specialize in that as well so that a teacher could opt into a program pathway as an advisor as an advising support through Caring Connect cardinal crew. So, I share all that to say really the big shift is thinking about intentionality and specialization and resources um and I think that speaks to the ultimate goal which is deeper, more substantive
066awareness um that we're hearing from families and really counselors. You know, counselors talked about they're successful when they're working with students and families on real things and being able to allocate greater resource which is time uh and intelligence to do that was the big takeaway and will continue to drive our work. We've learned a lot in this last six months of conversations. >> So essentially the current model is something along the lines of a counselor is assigned to a student based on the grade level, the alphabet, various means is determined by the school. And so essentially what we would be looking at is since we will have these sort of these combined campuses that we can take the existing counselors and just have them work with students in a different manner. So that they would
067be assigned to these career clusters. Is that correct? They then become specialized. So it creates an opportunity then for them to be have fewer students. >> That's correct. >> So what happens when they change pathways and >> so the the key there is making sure that the data set that comes with that student and family easily just is a share button away, right? So uh there's systems that we're already using through Google Drive. There's also new systems that are emerging through uh other Google tools that allow you to just share new data and that we call that program pivot. If a student has a program pivot, uh that would have to be a process that's defined that says when that occurs, here's the process that entails and obviously it's got to be more than just
068a share button, but uh some depth and substance. I think that that's one of the things that has come up is what happens when a student shifts. It's all really about data management. How do we use the information? how do we make it easily accessible to the new counselor? Um, and I think that's something that the counselors have talked quite a bit about and in their discussion as well. >> And I think too it's the idea of our classroom teachers, caring connect leaders also connecting with some of those career experts. So I like to use the example of Scott Thompson with buildup and heavy equipment. Like he knows the heavy equipment employers. he knows who's looking for apprentices, who's looking for co-ops, and thinking about if you could increase the size of his circles with
069some other teachers who could become more experts in that advising and supporting those kids. It's just going to help build capacity and knowledge among our teachers on really how to help facilitate and guide kids in creating and implementing that plan. I'm also thinking towards if I have a you know a certain area of mine is arts is communications not only as a counselor or an adviser could I become familiar with all of my public and private universities I'm going to be able to make opportunities with people in departments there so that when my students start that transition you know they can get connected in exactly to go in if if that's what they're choosing to do. if it's with um into the workforce, we already see that very strongly out of the UPC center, but
070I sounds like this will bring it even more so into the um academic content areas. >> Yeah. On a personal note, I took my daughter to a college visit and ran into one of our graduates and he was speaking to all the dual credit he had received in the agriculture program that he was able to he's going to graduate a year early and luckily he had a parent who was advocating for him to help him figure all that out with. But with all the dual credit we do within this district, it's putting our kids so far ahead. because we need to improve on our intentional advising. Some of our families and kids leave us and they don't even realize how far ahead they are with that because it does get into complicated conversations and confusing
071at times >> because it makes sense if they're going to do dual credit. It really should apply to a field that they are interested in. Um because you don't want a kid just to be taking random dual credit class. I mean they can absolutely there's freedom there but it really should be intentional like and I do want to thank Emily and Bernie for coming and really being part of this parent in the no group um because this is really an opportunity for us to gain knowledge um of what we need to do better and how we need to better support students um in their in their successful work in life. We want them to be ready for that. And I think sometimes um as you know Bernie similar to me, you got one that's out
072and one that's going to be out soon. Um we're not going to get to see the benefits of this. But you being part of this world is going to set so many other families up for success and hopefully they're not going to feel lost like I have felt lost so navigating this journey. So, I'm excited to see because I see this to be such a successful way of really leading students into their education and they're going to be more excited about it if it's things that interest them. They're going to be more excited about math if math is going to be something that's going to help them in their work and in their life. They're going to be excited about agriculture if they know that it's something that they're going to benefit from in their
073future. And again, I really appreciate the time and energy because I know it takes takes time, but it also takes courage to speak up and be part of these groups and really challenge the school district on what we're doing and make us change. We have to be a competitive market and we appreciate that greatly. >> I thank you both for um taking time to come here this evening and help us understand the need and the connection back to our students. >> Thanks, guys. All right. So, um we are um going to be going into executive session. So, pursuant to KRS61.81c um I need a motion to convene in executive session to pursuant KRS61.81C1C for discussion of student discipline. >> I'll make the motion. >> All right. Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll
074second. >> All right. All in favor? I. Any oppose? You fall. feel. Hey You are Heat. Heat. N. You got to get it. You found me. You fall with me. It rain. You are I love my darling. Heat. Heat. N. Let me feel. You found me. Dpping ring. Get away. You are Hey my heart. Can't feel me. Heat. Heat. N. You fall. Dpping. Dpping ring. You count. I got a chicken ring. Heat. Heat. N. I can't feel you. You are free. Den. You feel me? You It rain. Get it. Heat. Heat. You are ringing me. It feels great. You are ringing. Make it rain. You are right. You got a I feel You are right. It rain. Get it. You falling. You are. I got a chicken ring. I got to get it. You are
075free. You fallen. It feels wrong. You are a tucker. Heat. Heat. N. Let me get it. You want You fall down. feel. Hey You are Heat. Heat. N. I love it. You found me. You falling ring ring. feel bad. You are Heat. Heat. N. I love it. Heat. Heat. I'll need a recommended motion to reconvene the regular session of the Nelson County Board of Education. I'll make a motion. Do >> I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. So, the recommended motion is for board action as a result of executive session pursuing KRS61.8101C. The recommended motion is to up to hold the discussion recommendations for enrollment in Thrive Academy for the 2627 school year as made by the expulsion review committee for student 3474.
076Do I have a motion? >> Make a motion. Do >> I have a second? >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. And is this the second one? Okay. Thank you. Um board action as a result of executive session percent KRS61.811C recommend a motion. We need for uphold the discussed recommendation of option A for the 2627 school year as made by the expulsion review committee for student 6962. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Do I have a second? >> A second. >> All right. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. So, moving on to the board calendar. Um, the only up in the air thing right now is still the June 18th 19th to be discussed. Um, it's possible we have
077a location on that, but we're going to nail that down. We'll have it by June. Um, and then the July 21st, we currently will hopefully be in the up center, but that may be shifted as well depending on where they are on the interior. >> Um, so for now, the board calendar stands. Um, real quick, do we have any celebrations? >> Celebrate the kids graduating. >> I know we got it's a perfect time of year, right? We got kindergarten, prek, seniors graduating. There is a lot going on across the district celebrating our students. Um we had level up last week at for the EPCenter for kids that are moving along in their pathways there. There were a couple kids that signed um athletic and academic um colleges. So, there are a lot of moving parts
078over the next week and a half and we just need to continue to celebrate our students and the staff that got them where they are. >> And we should probably remind people of graduation dates, times. >> Yes. So, May 22nd, um we are 5:30 Nelson County High School first and then following up at 7:30 Thomas Nelson High School. Um and I think that that's it, right? Is it right? >> And we'll be celebrating students next Tuesday that have uh received their associates degrees while in high school. That's always a exciting time. Like I said, there are a lot of great things going on across the district. So, continue to celebrate our students. Um so, do since we're not making any changes to the board calendar, we probably don't need to do anything there. >> Um
079and then so we need a motion to adjourn the regular session of the North County Board of Education. Motion. >> All right. Thank you. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. All right. All in favor? >> Any opposed? >> All right. Motion passes. Good evening, everybody.