001Good evening. Hello, hello. >> [laughter] >> We're going to call our meeting to order. Um, I know last board meeting of this school year, woo woo. So >> Wow, is Um, yes, sir. Yeah, yeah. All right, Mr. Parker, we'll start with you, as always. Um, so we've got recognition tonight, a little different than um, I don't I don't know that we've done a recognition quite like this one before, but um, Mike Cottle is a deputy with Scott County Sheriff's Office and he's served as the school resource officer at Eastern Elementary for three years. And if I was if I was any kind of superintendent, I would have prepped it with the picture of him holding his lunch pail the first day of school from a couple years back. I've used that in some other presentations.
002Um but before coming back to Eastern, he retired as a lieutenant over the detective bureau after a 23-year career with the Scott County Sheriff's Office. And yes, I did say coming back to Eastern. Cottle attended Eastern as a student and is a proud member of the Scott County High School class of 1994. Um, do we have another Greg, are you 94, too? Okay, I wasn't sure. Oh, okay. So, there we go. What'd you say, Renee? I 94. Well, I I'm a bunch of babies, aren't they, Wendy? I I believe >> 90, 90. Greg was an Eastern Elementary student as well. So, so he, you know, um I I don't know if he would say that that that Mike was uh, you know, the the the bully on the playground or the one saving us from
003the bullies, but he he was he's probably one of the two. Um, anyway, Mr. Caudill has he's Officer Caudill has dedicated his life and career in service to our community and brought this dedication to Eastern when he became their beloved SRO. Uh, this year Deputy Caudill was also named the School Resource Officer of the Year for our region and honor bestowed by the Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers. To say that students love SRO Caudill is an understatement. He builds relationships, keeps students safe, and serves Eastern with care and consistency. In his spare time, he even created a Junior Deputies after-school club going above and beyond expectation. I will say um, I oftentimes talk about Officer Caudill as going above and beyond expectation because um, there are the requirements that come with the job and
004then there are things that, you know, he I don't know if he did this year, but I believe he still did. He used to deliver notes in the afternoon, just doing things that really are nowhere in the job description of SRO, but again, leans into that relationship building component. Um, for his support of Eastern, his dedication to excellence, and his recent award as SRO of the year, tonight we congratulate School Resource Officer Mike Caudill. WOOHOO! >> [applause] >> THANK YOU. >> I DON'T [laughter] HAVE A LUNCH PAIL PICTURE, TOO. MY WIFE has one every year. >> [laughter] >> I do a different lunch pail every year, and that's my original. That's pretty cool. Congratulations. [applause] Then, okay. Number four, agenda approval. So moved. >> Second. All in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number five,
005public comment. Daisy Webber. Oh, she's not here. Wait. Oh. She signed up, but left? Oh, okay. I got you. I got you. Okay, all is good. All right, thank you. Mike Davis. Mike, you get uh 10 minutes tonight since you're all alone. I'm teasing. >> [laughter] >> I don't need TO I DON'T HAVE A SPEECH OR NOTHING. SINCE everybody knows what I want >> [laughter] >> What do we want? >> [laughter] >> So Oh, okay. She can go. She can go after you. That's okay. It's okay. It's okay. So, 3 minutes. That's fine. >> [laughter] >> I I THAT'S NO PROBLEM. THAT'S NO PROBLEM. UM WHATEVER YOU PUT UP THERE, I don't care. Um I just wanted to come to you tonight. I like I said, I didn't prepare a speech. I didn't write anything
006fancy. Uh I didn't prepare a five, three, or two, just just depending on what would happen. I just wanted to say first of all, I thank you all for everything that you all have done for us over the years of me serving with SEA. Uh I've been in this district since 2013 in several capacities. I've been involved with SCA since 2021. Uh, I'm very thankful to came to Scott County as a teacher. And I'm I've been very blessed. Uh, I have a son who graduated from here. Like I said, I have a grandson who's in preschool. Uh, and I can I can sing a ton of praises in all the schools I've been in. They we have great leaders. We have amazing teachers. We have amazing faculty. Uh, from you know, everybody that I interact
007with are are just amazing people. And I I've I've find as now that I'm the central district's president and I'm out in all these other school systems at times, you know, it's very good to come home and see what we have and what how special it is, you know. Uh, I've had a lot of talks with Wendy. You know, we see in the news what's going on just down the road and you know, we we're very I'm very thankful for us to I want to talk about being good stewards of the taxpayers' money. You know, that's important because I don't you know, I don't ever want to have to be involved with that, you know. And uh, >> [clears throat] >> you know, but I I have I've discussed with all of you over the
008course of time. And I know that uh, there's a salary schedule in there and I know that the tentative budget doesn't have to be done till May the 30th. So, I'm going to implore you again to look at the fact that our most vulnerable people, our classified people, I believe you know, I believe it's important that you give them a a dollar amount raise as opposed to percentage raise. I still think that's important. At the time where our economy is not where it should be. Uh, you know, I [snorts] have to go to the same places to shop. You know, we all go to Kroger or Aldi's or Walmart or we get our gases at the same place, you know. But uh, quite frankly, I make a whole lot more money than they do. And
009I don't have to make those decisions about whether or not I'm going to pay the electric bill or buy deli meat or generic or whatever. I get to do with that whatever I want. You know, uh I don't work a 4-hour, 6-hour shift. I don't have to worry about whether or not I'm going to be able to pay my insurance for health. Uh I feel very blessed about my job and uh some of them don't have that opportunity and I know they love working here and I know they love working for our kids and I know every year and we'll hear it again this August about how important or how wonderful our janitors are for what they've done to our buildings, how beautiful they've made them over the summer so that whenever we all walk
010into them, they're awesome. Uh we'll talk about how the only hot meal that some of our children receive is because of our cooks. We'll talk about how awesome the secretaries make sure that everything's running in our schools, how our bus drivers are the first ones and the last ones to see our kids and all those are all true, you know, and and we all believe that when we say that. But I just really believe in all fairness that if you was to, you know, there's a whole lot of things you can say and there's a whole lot of things you can do and, you know, psychologically and whatever else you want to call it, I mean, I I just believe a dollar amount goes a lot different when you're talking to a classified staff as
011opposed to percentage raise and it's not that I don't appreciate anything y'all do because I do. I very much so do. We've been very blessed and I thank you all for that. I told Mr. Parker in our meeting today, you know, ever since he's been the superintendent, we've gotten some sort of raise and several things other than just the raise since he's been there. I'm appreciative of the maternity leave, the fact that we've got SROs in every school school that we have. You know, I'm very appreciative of what we've done. But I implore you as from the heart that stated I said it and it's just me that if you while you finish the budget, if you can look at it differently, and think about those classified staff. I think it'd be very important to
012you know, to look at that that as a as as as opposed to a percentage raises a dollar amount, if you could. I thank you for everything and I appreciate all that you all do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU. DAISY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND COME ON UP? OKAY. HI, how are you? I'm great. How are you? Good. I want to go ahead and let you know just kind of how we do this with when you want to come and speak to the board. You're more than welcome to talk to us about your concerns and and things you want to share with us. However, we won't be talking back and forth with you, so I just want to make that perfectly clear so there's no misconceptions. You do have 5
013minutes to speak or less if you want by the look on your face. >> to say I don't know if [laughter] I'll really need that. It's all fine. Um, but welcome to go right ahead. Thank you so much. And I wanted to further say thank you all for offering this and I want to reiterate what uh um Mr. Mike Davis had said that we're very grateful for all the every all the raises and everything that has happened over the past years and I wanted to I just appreciate all the work you do to further improve our schools and the lives of our students and our communities and um so um I am a kindergarten teacher at Southern Elementary. Um I've had the joy of teaching for 12 years now and seven of those years being
014in Scott County and I absolutely love it here and uh I'm so grateful to be able to raise my son and work in this district and to have him go to school with me in a couple of years. So, that'll be That'll be new. That'll be different. Uh so, um I'm not quite as elegant eloquent as Mr. Mike Davis, but um I'm speaking tonight to read it kind of reiterate and echo what he has said as well as an SCA member on behalf of our fellow hardworking staff. Um and I wanted to reiterate how helpful the specifically the classified increases would be for our very hardworking folks. Um so, as a kindergarten teacher, I work directly with our aides every day. I know every classified person in our building, and I see how hard they
015work day in and day out. And there are There and it's a sad hard fact that there are staff who after 2 weeks in the 2-week pay period, they take home $500 in their checks after taxes are taken out. And so, like like Mr. Mike Davis said, this is hard to live on. Um and we are very very blessed at every school to have folks who are super passionate about what they do. Um I know they could probably make more money down the road um at like McDonald's, but they want to do the meaningful work that is working to just enrich and better our students' lives in whatever way possible, whether they are working in the classroom, in the cafeteria, cleaning the schools, in the offices, in the mechanical rooms, everywhere. Um and I also
016wanted to speak on the dedication of my aide, my instructional assistant, Sheena Barron. Uh and of the wonderful staff at Southern who come in, they work so hard day in and day out. and Sheena, she's so hard working, so caring and so dedicated. And she supports me and she's the reason why I can do my job effectively. And so I would love to see her and every support staff um compensated with a with a dollar amount raise. Um so we I very much appreciate everything y'all do and thank you for hearing me out. Well, thank you for sharing with us today. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay. Um number six consent agenda items A through H. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number seven, construction report. Is there
017a fundraiser? Huh? Alzheimer's? No. I'm not sure if that was on the agenda. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I thought it was Tony. I thought Tony was here. Okay. Well, uh yeah, so Yeah, we can circle back. Okay. All right. Let's skip ahead to number eight. Student achievement report. Good evening. To go before Tony today. >> [laughter] >> Um all right. So today, um I just wanted to uh propose our instructional budget for the 2026-2027 school year. Um and so I have two items there. I have one uh just so you can see a comparison from last year to this year and or from this year to what's proposed for next year. And then I also have the one that I normally provide you that gives a description of each of the uh items
018that that we purchase um to support our teachers and and our student learning in the classroom. So if you want to look at the one that's comparing uh last year to this year, so the first item that you'll look at is assessments. You'll see that there are no changes proposed for next year for the assessments that we use. The only difference that you may see is Horizon. It's the same company. They've just changed names to Progress Learning, which is the platform where we do our ACT or this year SAT depending on what the state asks us to do. But it it assesses our students and as well gives them real-time data as well as lessons to promote [clears throat] their their performance on that. And so you can see a little bit of change in
019the fund balance only just because you know, things get more expensive every year. And then the next piece that you will see is instructional software. And so that's really looking at you know, not only do we assess in I-Ready, but we also provide our teachers with the teacher toolbox. One thing that we are pivoting for next year is in the past we've paid for that for kindergarten through eighth grade, but with the implementation of HQRs in the in math and reading, we've decided to scale that back to K5. We do We do have some students some teachers that use it for special education, but we worked with I-Ready and we can get specific license just for those students and teachers to have access. Um In addition, Alex is the intervention program that we use for
020high school for math. We're taking down those number of license for next year. Mystery Science is what we use for HQIR for for science instruction. Common Lit is a assessment that we use for I'm sorry, assessment and teaching for English. And so we are going to add the assessment piece to that for next year for middle school. And then you do see a shift. Um we have used Pathful for the last 2 years for our ILP compliance. Um it's not been a great program. Our teachers have given us a lot of uh feedback that they um didn't love it. So, we're going to try a different program called Schoolinks, and you can see that. So, you can see that the uh pricing for instructional software has gone down um just by a little bit from
021112,000 to 93,000. About the ILP, is that >> Uh-huh. what I still remember where the students have to put in their information? Yes. Yes. Yes. For creating sort of a uh a resume. Yes. Yes, they do an interest inventory that kind of starts to guide them to think through what careers they want. Um Stating at the risk of being too honest, is it as useless and wasteful in time as it used I'm serious. I'm not saying mandatory thing. I'm not saying >> [laughter] >> Uh no. No, you're right. I And it it's become such a compliance piece. I think the intention is good um to get students thinking, but um it's become very compliant. Um one of the things that we liked about the Schoolinks program um is yes, it will fulfill that requirement for
022us, but also it offers a lot of other services that we can utilize. Um it has a CCR suite, which um will help our counselors tracking career and um uh uh career and uh college readiness. Um in addition, some other uh um possible um positive components of the program. So, >> hear. I I just remember when it first rolled out X number of years ago, it hadn't been It wasn't there 15 minutes, and we were all going, "Geez, And it's been like that my entire career. >> Yeah, that's been what we've tried to wrestle with is trying to figure out, "Look, if we have to do this, let's make sure that it's as beneficial as possible." Yes. Yes. >> at one point we had it we had we were able to create We were with
023a program that literally did help the students so that when they graduated they could print off a resume. >> Mhm. Yes. And [snorts] and Pathful had the capability to do that. Um unfortunately the company um was in is um in Asheville, North Carolina and when the hurricane came through and the flooding um all of their infrastructure got impacted and they've just not been able to recuperate. Yeah, and so that's why we are also pivoting um to a new company. Yeah. And you said 15,000 covering D? What's Who is D? Oh, that's Driving Possibilities. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Students take this every year from Yes, it is required from 6th grade through 12th grade. It's not something they take. It's it's an individual learning plan and so it's really a plan that you put together to guide
024a student towards that whatever their post-secondary goals may be, whether it's a certain type of career, whether it's college, it's building a resume. I'm really that it it really does have good intention. It's been around gosh 20 years easily. Um but it's it's become something that is just a check box and that's not just in Scott County. It's it's across the state. Um but we're hoping to try to make it more intentional. So the state mandated but different schools may have different Different platforms. Yeah, there's not a required platform to do it on. It's just required and not provided funding to take care of that requirement. So, yes. All right, so next we will look at the HQIR instructional materials and this is where you're going to see a a shift in some of the
025programming that we are doing. Um the first piece as you can see is the Ready Classroom workbooks. Um so you can see that in the past we've had a pretty substantial grant that has paid for all of those student workbooks in the hands of our kindergarten through fifth students. That um grant is almost to depletion, so we will have to pick up the cost of those workbooks in the students' hand. And of course those are consumables, so it is a it will be a financial need moving forward if we are staying committed to students actually having the materials in the hands and it not just being digital in kindergarten through fifth grade. Um you will also see on the next line item is the magnetic reading and that's what we use for third through fifth
026and you can see that I have on there that that is not the HQIR, it's not a approved HQIR and I'll and I'll get to why. Um because to be on the approved list it has to be comprehensive. So that means it not only touches your reading as in like your phonemic awareness, your vocabulary, your comprehension, all of that component. It also includes writing and grammar, so it's a fully comprehensive. Um and so we um we've actually had really good results with it not being on the HQIR in third through fifth. Um and so we're going to continue that um and and because right now it's working and I'll kind of get into more detail about why we're going to hold on third through fifth when you see the price tags of the approved HQIRs
027for the state of Kentucky. Why are Um So if you look, so one of the things that um in the next and you see the blue box that I have around that. So one of the things that we have done as you all know we've put a lot of investment in the what we are doing with our young students in regards to learning to read through Orton-Gillingham and Heggerty. Um which is not a comprehensive because it is solely focused on phonemic awareness and phonics. And then we have supplemented the comprehension and vocabulary with a program called Ready Reading. And I have a couple of kindergarten teachers back here they can probably echo this. Our the feedback we've gotten from our kindergarten through second grade teachers is they do not love Ready Reading. And so That's
028the one that's not The one we're going away from. The one we're going away from. >> [snorts] >> So the first thing that we did is first we gave them I Ready or Curriculum Associates now has a new comprehensive K K through five technically reading program called Magnetic Literacy. So it's The Magnetic we're using in three through five but now this one is approved so it's comprehensive so it has everything. First we had some kindergarten first and second grade teachers look at Magnetic Literacy as a possible movement towards a better HQIR but one of the concerns when they looked at that is it's comprehensive so if we went towards that we would be saying goodbye to Orton Gillingham and Haggerty and our teachers love teaching that for phonics and phonemic awareness. Not to mention Go
029ahead. Go ahead. Not to mention Go ahead. But can they still use the the concept? If they I have to do a waiver to do anything that's not a an approved HQIR. Hold on. We'll get to that. Yeah. All right. Well then I was just going to say too that not to mention the fact that we've got folks that are trained in it and that you know the shift in terms of time but also there's been a pretty significant financial commitment to that. Yes. Yes, we have spent a lot of money. And I would Yes. Okay, let me finish this and then we'll kind of pause. How's that sound? Okay, yeah, [laughter] all right. Um so, one of the things though I in Orton-Gillingham is um and and you could use the concepts, but all
030the materials that we've purchased, all of the training materials, um teacher materials, like all of that we would be going at the risk risk of putting going way way side with that if we went with a comprehensive. And so, I listening to our teachers, they do not want to go away from OG and Heggerty at kindergarten and first grade. So, that being said, I took the time over Christmas break and started looking at approved HQRs that are not comprehensive. And I found one and then another one is um I think it's now approved, which is called Arts and Letters, and the other one it was called Wit & Wisdom. So, the next thing that we did is we got samples of that and got training and let our principals, our elementary principals, look at that.
031So, then based on that, then um we had a a lot several roomful of kindergarten and first grade teachers then look at Wit & Wisdom and Arts and Letters. And it was unanimous and Daisy was there. Um >> [laughter] >> it was unanimous from both our principals and our teachers that they would like to go the route of Wit & Wisdom in kindergarten and first grade because it's the balance of it's going to have they will still do OG or Orton-Gillingham and Heggerty for phonics and phonemic awareness. Arts and Letters will get that um that true art of wanting to read, right? And and you'll see on there it's a it's a hefty cost. It's around $310,000. However, $204,000 of that is physical books in the hands of kids. So, um so that way it
032that is a one-time library cost for that program. Um and so >> Is there a workbook? It's not a workbook. They have a workbook, but um it each um each unit comes with multiple books that are the library. And the big cost of this one is that every student if not every student, every two students actually so they're either sharing one book or they each have their own book. And so that is the true cost of of that program. Um it it it it teaches in themes. It's very thematic. Um and it um I mean it's it's it's a solid program. And so based on the feedback from the principals, based on the feedback from our kindergarten and first grade uh teachers, they really would like to um have the arts and letters. It is
033an HQI It is an approved KDE HQIR. It's a green It is a green-rated HQIR, which is the best. Um and so you can see that that is um is an expensive endeavor. Now, I will tell you when you look at our already data in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, our weakness is comprehension, vocabulary. Um and so um and we've been tracking that data. Um you know, we don't make changes just because we're on a whim. Um but it is showing the data is trending that we need to do something better than what we currently are in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Um and so that's that proposed change. Now, if you notice, that line above that is magnetic reading, which is not comprehensive and is not an approved HQIR. So you see
034the cost difference between the two. It's significant. Um so that also leads to the next um component. So right now our data in 3 through 5 is really strong. Um and so based on principal feedback, even I think our teachers are happy with magnetic reading right now, the non-comprehensive. So why change right now? The So what we have decided is that because our second grade teachers really liked magnetic literacy and they also felt that it would be a um a good transition from OG and Haggerty in first grade towards magnetic in third grade. So we all determined that second grade would be a perfect group to pilot to see if the investment is worth it to invest in an approved HQIR for not just second grade, but second, third, fourth, and fifth. Um and right
035now, I mean, I'll continue to do a waiver for magnetic reading in 3 through 5 3 through 5 because we're getting results with it. The risk that we run is does Curriculum Associates go away from it now that they have an approved HQIR? So right now we're getting results. It is going to be in place for next year. So we'll continue moving forward and if the data continues to show that that our students are performing with that non-approved HQIR in 3 through 5, then I don't see the need to make that huge investment because you can see it's moves from $10,000 per grade level to an approved HQIR and you'll see there for second grade of around $45,000 per grade level. So significant increases when you move to that HQIR on the approved list. But
036is that kind of like you did with K? We do and that's why we don't want to go fully in right now with magnetic literacy and all the way through five. Let's try it with a grade level first. Can our second grade teachers are saying they don't want to do ready reading anymore. It's very clear. Um and so let's try it with second grade and let's watch the data and see if we get what we pay for and then um and then we can re-look at third through fifth grade literacy. >> what we're seeing though too is that the market's reflecting a premium on KD approved HQI. So Yeah, because they know it's Yeah, it's a rocket. Yeah, it's it's a >> That's what's frustrating me and that's That's my question. Talk to me like
037I'm stupid cuz I'm kind of feeling it. Is HQIR, is that I mean, is that what you and I would have called a textbook? And the accompanying materials? >> Yes, only on a on a a special approved list. And I will say that that this is not just a Kentucky thing. When you go to other states, it's it This is a trend across the nation. I know in Texas they call them HQIMs. But basically, these companies >> any of the talk about Mississippi and all of the data and all the Well, yeah, Tex- Texas drove Mississippi changed changed the model. Texas drove the textbook world for decades because they were buying the lot the bulk of the textbooks. So, if they wanted it to be conservative or if they want to make sure there's a
038whole chapter on the Alamo, then they can. >> And I had to teach it too cuz that's what was in my textbook. Yep. But you know, I walk into a classroom 20 years ago and they hand me this textbook, American Pageant, you're teaching AP US History, here's your textbook and here's your accompanying materials, go. Mhm. Nobody ever gave me an HQIR. Yep. >> in my room and I had to look up the material and figure out how to teach >> Yep. the Civil War or Lincoln the Fascination or the Alamo. Yep. So, if I looked it up online and found this great activity to use to teach my students about a unit in history. And my freshman what the hell did KBE care and why were they getting involved? Well, I think some of so
039back in when we started so when we started teaching, I think all of us who are teachers, we had textbooks. Which are or okay. >> Not everybody did. Okay, When I first started. When I first started now Cuz that that's another piece to this is the world that you know now we're trying to make sure we're setting up folks to have something when they walk in the door whereas when I walked in the door I had nothing. >> Yeah. And I had to figure out I had to backwards plan everything I did. Well, I taught I taught special education at the I started in the elementary world and for reading and math and science and social studies we had a textbook, right? Um and so what has happened is I think that those of us
040who had that and I remember teaching and I my first few year well, my first year especially I followed that like it was my Bible because I didn't know what I was doing. They could give me the standards but I couldn't and then as I became experienced, I knew what worked within that textbook and I knew what didn't and you supplement and you pull and all of those things. Well, we have we've shifted to now you have teachers who are young teachers who are graduating from college some graduating without a degree in education and what it has shifted to is then we say here are the standards figure it out. So what has happened and and I know that my team can speak for this four years ago we could go into a classroom and
041if it's a not not a seasoned teacher who knows the standards, who is able to pull all those resources, who maybe started like us with a textbook in front of them who have done it well to brand new teachers who are trying to do the same thing without that knowledge. And we have been in classrooms where we have seen teachers thinking that they're doing what's best because they're pulling from Teachers Pay Teachers or whatever and they're not teaching grade to the grade level standard. Because I don't know. I mean the we we weren't trained to analyze standards and figure out what meets that standard. And so I think we're on this pendulum swing back to the need for this especially with you know, you have a lot of this with the science of reading. And
042um and and we've realized that there is a there's an equity issue. If I am in Wendy's classroom, if my child's in Wendy's classroom who has been teaching for 25 years or I'm in Stephanie's classroom who has been teaching for two maybe who maybe even didn't graduate with an education degree and is going through an option six there's an equity issue between the child that's in Wendy's classroom and the child that's in my classroom. And and >> that's been the case. Right. >> That's always been the case. But with an HQIR at least everyone has the same base. But I want to chime in on the HQIR cuz what it it's a little bit more than just a textbook. I mean it really you don't have to think about how to teach it. It really
043tells you how. Where when we had textbooks as teachers it was just like here, go. You just got the material. And then as you said we were spending hours finding materials. Yeah. I can say this is our second year using the HQIR. I was in a different school so I've been in two different schools teaching the same HQIR, the same grade level and my kids who are 70% Hispanic are rocking it. Mhm. And I feel that it's because I have high quality materials. >> be my question to you. That's what it is. It It's a high qua- Well, you know, I'm good. I'm going to say that I'm not. >> [laughter] >> If you get me, you get the best, but but I know that last year I was still good, but I couldn't get
044I couldn't reach that that student that was low or I couldn't reach the the um the student that had a different language barrier. Well, you know, we Well, I I won't go there cuz it's different district, but I had to dig in and learn how to use that HQIR. Once I learned how to use it, my child that could not read at the beginning of the year is reading. I had a 127% increase on i-Ready. Yeah. Do you feel though in any way that your autonomy as an educational professional Autonomy is baloney. Autonomy is baloney cuz when you walk into that classroom, you close the door, you can do what you want to. People kill me with that autonomy stuff. As long as you are working and you doing. Right. Yeah. If you are an
045educational professional and you You going to do what you got to do. Right. Yeah. I want to I will say this and and I think that um the art of teaching art the art of teaching is by giving someone material and how you are able to present that and con- convey that to your children to learn. That's the art. And what we've shifted away from is instead of saying you don't have to worry about finding all stuff. I don't want you planning your spending your entire planning period searching for something to teach. We want you to spend time digging in to how to take that material >> and motivating and motivating get kids connected and get them hooked and and and and all of that component. And so, I think that's what is the value
046of an HQR, but also like one of the cuz the first, you know, we've navigated this with our teachers. The first year you are to teach it with fidelity. Right? Because you don't know what does work and what doesn't. Yes. Yeah, if you follow the implementation protocol, the first year you do it with fidelity. Right? And you'll see that kind of mimic in all of this. You and you've seen it over the last few years. We do a pilot. Let's try Let's figure it out. Let's do it. And then on the other side of that pilot, then we will put the investment because then your teachers have taught it. So, for example, our middle school teachers, this is the first year they've done Illustrative Mathematics with fidelity. And you'll see in this they've done it
047in the first year I I gave them money for to make colored prints, like print in color if they needed it. Right? So, then they've taught it. And now they've come back to us and they've said, "Okay, we need this in support and we need we've got to figure some stuff out." And so, then proposing to up that budget because they've done it. Now they know like one of the things that with we'll just say IM for example is that they are like, "We've got to have something with more practice." So, on the 20th they're coming in looking at three different options of different programs to supplement because now they know. They've taught it. They've figured that out. And I think it's the same with with, you know, and and you know, we've got teachers
048in the room. The first year you do it and then you figure it out and then you're able to pull in. But if next year I have a brand new teacher coming, they need to do it with fidelity for that first year. But here here's another benefit that I think sometimes I have seen is our teachers that don't maybe need to lean on HQ quite as heavily. They're still helping them because the teachers that need it aren't leaning on them as much for all those things. I want to say this really because this is such a I want to add to that point, Billy. I had a teacher and that was doing the HQ implementation this year and they were not happy about it because they were good, amazing teacher, right? Like they like they'd
049been able to figure all that out. And so we get through we're probably in about March and she said to me I didn't know I was in a rut until I did this. You need to change it up. >> And and right and and and so I think that just speaks about volumes. I mean, you know, that you you make pivots and I think what's what's getting me I'm trying to compare that to like the tech days of the textbooks. >> Sure. I guess the state KDE approved textbooks too. I guess, yeah. It's time to choose the new math textbooks. >> Yep, right. And and I'm sure they probably gave a list, yeah. In the back of my mind, I'm just wondering why KDE gets to approve And there's a and it's not like they
050just say, "Oh, that's the one." Like it's a it's a very intense process for a a a a instructional resource to get on that list. It's not like oh, willy-nilly. Like they have a lot of that they have to prove. Well, I mean, HQ are required by legislation so >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Sure. I completely understand. But I mean, as a teacher that's using it and been teaching for 29 years I'm happy. I I have to stay up lesson planning. I can make cute slides. I get I get that it's Well, and also I do want to say our teachers are still a a part of helping make these decisions. Like like this K through 2 only has come about because of feedback from our K through 2 teachers that have been saying we
051don't like Ready Reading. And that's the part that I've really [clears throat] appreciated with the way that >> do. I appreciate that. Yeah. the way that Stephanie and her team has has provided this is what you know, we're we're looking at data, but we're also looking at um valuing input from our folks. And the guess is that they're actually dealing with getting getting Yeah. I really like the consistency. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. And so that moves into the next piece of uh so we've been you know, we've done a lot about reading and math over the last few years. So we've started to look at science and social studies. So it blocked in red, you can see that last year this for this school year we've done a pilot. I have TCM on here,
052but we ended up going with Savvas um for our pilot and because I will say this also came about because fifth grade social studies teachers um were saying we need something, right? And so we tried Savvas um and everybody hated it. So that's why you do a pilot. So then um so we brought in all um representative from each school for fifth from fifth grade social studies and um we looked at two different programs and they they had the opportunity to really dig in, to teach a lesson or unit. And we tried two, we tried um TCI or History Alive, which Billy and I both taught when we were in elementary school, yep. Um and then we also tried a new one that that's called um Inquiry Journeys. And um it was also excellent um
053but based on we gave them time to try it and then they sent me their feedback after spring break, and it was unanimous that they wanted to go with the TCI or History Alive. Yeah. But also yes, but also one of the things that we realized, especially in conversa- having those conversations with our teachers, is the fifth grade social studies assessment doesn't just assess fifth grade standards. You're going to have questions on there from the um from lower grade levels. So, you'll see that we have Social Studies Weekly, which is like a periodical. Um it's uh and and I've let some of our um um teachers in K through 4 look at that. I think they're all really excited. The tie next year is that they do science or social studies. Um they have that
054fit in their schedule, and they need to spend at least, you know, 35-40 minutes. And so, that Social Studies Weekly is just really making sure that we have some type of material in kindergarten through fourth grade before they get to fifth grade. So, we're really excited about it. Our fifth grade teachers really love uh History Alive. Um and so, we're excited to to to implement that for next year. Um you will also see Schools PLP, which is our platform for um for Scolab, for um PHC, SCAP, for credit recovery. It's our online um product. You'll see I've highlighted it in blue because we're still in negotiations because they've upped the price thanks to their AI uh additions. So, I'm still in negotiation with them cuz I wasn't very happy that they upped their price that
055much. So, anyway, so uh give me time to work my magic. I'll get it I'll get it down further. Um we always give money for instructional materials just for the principal discretion at Great Crossing, Scott County, and ECS. Um and we allow them to make the decisions that they want just because there are so many different things taught at the high school level. Um Open SciEd, you can see that's going to be our um science um HQIR for fourth through fourth grade and then um sixth through 11th. This year we piloted it. It's The actual materi- The actual teaching of it is free. >> [laughter] >> Um so um Kelly Beckett and Deborah Reed have really worked with our teachers. Um there is a lot of the units have consumables and non-consumables and teacher manuals.
056So making sure that we budget now that we're going to go full implementation for them to cuz especially with non-consume or I'm sorry, consumables um you know, we don't Sometimes teachers are really they just go and pay for those out of their own pocket and so try to make sure we are budgeting so that they are not spending money out of their own pockets on that. Um I am you I heard me mention um that we piloted it last year and you can see I've budgeted We've not decided what we want to do. There's been some talk about getting classroom sets of the workbooks. There are some different vendors that they want to look at, but we're doing that on the 20th. So I've budgeted 50,000 um to give those teachers the teacher manuals and
057the supports that they need um to teach that. Um and then we have a Sound Sensible pilot uh which is um it's a um MTSS. It's part of our tier three um intervention system um that we are going to pilot. Um so you can see it is a definite um increase but you also see that I've noted that um you know, just over 200,000 of that is one-time uh consumables. And then you look down professional learning I really just put that on there. That That doesn't come out of our general fund budget. I pay for it out of title two. But I want you to see that yes, we're providing these, but they all come with professional development cuz as Wendy said, we want our teachers to have time to really dive into these and
058and have that professional support um professional learning support uh to teach it. So, the overall um cost would be for instructionals is $1,367,597.03. So, roughly that's $137 per student for instructional materials for Scott County students. Um so, yeah. Then also like moving forward, Billy and I have had this conversation, you know, really we've tried to layer in when we provide these HQIRs, so it's not just all a one big hit at a time. I think the only thing really left to navigate after this year is, of course, pending what happens with 3rd through 5th with literacy. And then also we have not started navigating social studies for secondary. So, that's something now that we have Kelly Beckett, who is a social studies teacher at heart. And she's going to start navigating that with our secondary
059teachers, cuz again, you know, we really want their feedback and their input and because, you know, they're the ones that are teaching it every day. And so, making sure that they help us make that decision. So. Stephanie, um when you're talking about a one-time library cost, what does that really mean? So, for especially arts and letters, one of the things especially in K-2, the students, it's more than just reading from a student workbook. It's those actual physical books. So, when you're saying that, does that go to that individual school? Is it just as a whole part? How does that work? >> we price it per teacher. Okay. And per classroom. And then how often do we need to update that? Do we know at this point? Um and I'll [clears throat] be honest with you
060in looking at the libraries that come with them, a lot of them are just great books that have been long-standing since I was a child. And so, um, you know, until we change the HQRs, the curriculum, that that library stays. Okay. And the good news is is that regardless of if we did change, it's still good classroom library. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And this, of course, will include our new school as well. Yes. Right? That's already included in this particular list. Well, no, I haven't priced for Oxford because Oxford wasn't going to be open. Okay. So. All right. I I I I I Originally, whenever I was cuz we start working on this and, I mean, we've been working through Christmas break on this, which you can tell you can ask Paul Krueger whenever um I
061might have had some sticker shock whenever I got the quotes over Christmas break for um what the approved HQRs cost. Um, but but I will say one of the other things, especially in kindergarten through fifth grade, we we we could save a lot of money by only making this digital. But we have been we have been committed since I started um here that our the the importance of having the materials in the hands of our students. The a lot of this cost is consumable student workbooks. And so, for all of our elementary students to get a new workbook every year is is is a costly endeavor, but um I think now the research is starting to catch up that it's important that kids just aren't on screens. Um, and so so, yeah, there there's a
062cost to that, but I I know in my professional opinion that having the uh physical materials in the hands of our of our young learners is very important. Do you see the copy pri- uh uh toner and copy and all that, has it gone down pricing because you have these HQRs and materials? You know, I would probably need to look at that at the school level other than giving them I mean, they're the ones that are really They would know. housing that cost. Yeah. Yeah, like I used to. Yeah. Yeah, and that would be something that wouldn't come out of your budget. >> It wouldn't come out of my budget. School's budget. But I will tell you this, I feel like if it was, trust me, our principals would be telling me because they always
063tell me when things cost money because they normally want me to pay for it. >> Right, of course. >> [laughter] >> Um but yeah, so I've not heard that, but but anyway, so it's a great investment to have high-quality materials in the hands of our teachers and our students. >> One of the things um you know first early on early on, I felt like I was um feeling it a little bit from some of our folks that um they felt like there was a lot of change all at once. And again, you'll remember, Leader in Me was one of those things that it came a year before I really wanted it to come because of the price, you know, the significant cost savings we could get with it. But really since the beginning, we stuck
064to what we said from the beginning was important. We haven't deviated from that. And the really the only deviation we've had over the years is with regard to instructional resources. And and that's the part of the approach was in in the sense of the cost that comes with it. Part of it was in the fact that you know, we didn't even have guidance in some areas for there weren't any resources to go after. Um and part of it is in trying to just be cognizant of not trying to put too much on teachers at once. Again, I agree with you. I think that having the resources available for them to lean on is important. But at the same time, changing every single thing in 1 year is a lot to It was very stressful. My
065hope is that our our staff would be able to say, "Yeah, everything he's saying that's spot on. We we we've stuck to the same things we've said we were going to do for years." And really outside of instructional resources, that's probably about the only thing that that they would feel like changes from year to year to year. Yep. Yep. Well, I just want to add this and I can say it as a teacher and as a school board member, people need to make sure they're using these million dollar resources. Agreed. And and our principals are really good and they've they they in their learning walks and our learning walks, we are we are monitoring that that's being utilized and that we're seeing that. And I'll be honest, our teachers have been amazing about, you know,
066if I go in to Scott County High School or Great Crossing High School or Royal Spring math classrooms, I see I am. And and and they've been really great about trusting that that process. And so and like Billy said, making sure like K and two, their only change this year other than the periodicals for social studies is just that reading. And so trying not to overwhelm people by changing it all at once. So. >> you and your and your team for giving the professional learning because a lot of times people don't like the materials because they don't know how to use them. >> Right. Right. Right. And once they do Yeah. Game changer. We using the million dollars. Yes. Well, we thank you all for investing in it. So. Thank you. Thank you for bringing
067this to the table for us. Yes, thank you. Good discussion. >> [applause] [laughter] >> We're not clapping this bunch of people today. We're just Um Do you mind if I was just going to I had forgotten >> ahead. I had on for construction report I had forgotten. After right after our last meeting, Tony had mentioned that he had he's got multiple, you know, this is a little bit outside the norm for our meeting schedule. Normally we're later and where we've moved it up, he had mentioned I totally forgot that he had mentioned about not being able to make it because he had another school board. And again, we're in a little bit of a different space and it's just been two weeks. Um and I'll talk a little bit about Tony here in a minute.
068Um because I've got some some brags to give some people when I get there, but anyway. Sorry. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Number nine, approve to create one section one section 7B district-wide 40 Academy teaching position. Move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 10, approve to create the following positions 10A through 10C. Move to approve. Second. Sorry. All in favor? I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Number 11, review approved district-wide readiness coach job description. Move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 12, approve the 2026-2027 salary schedule. Move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 13, approve district wellness plan. So move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Those opposed? Motion
069carries. Number 14, approve 2026-2027 cooperative membership agreement KEDC. So move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 15, approve section six carryover allocations to fiscal year 2027. Move to approve. Second. All in favor? I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 15, approve section six carryover allocation to fiscal year 2027. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 16, approve the 2026-2027 tentative budget. Move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 17, approve fiscal year 2026 committed funds. Move to approve. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 18, approve surplus items as submitted. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 19, approve current bills.
070So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Number 20, Superintendent report. Um so under again, it's just been a couple weeks, so not not quite as much to to talk about, but Stamping Ground had their gateway presentations. I walked in the door and the first one I had was a kid who had a he had an IRA and he had a business license, like a legit Georgetown-Scott County Revenue Commission business license. Yes, it was it was impressive. I want to So anyway, I'll put that under strategic leadership because that little gentleman I'm going to probably try and find a way to pull him into to some things we've got kind of in the hopper moving forward, but they did a phenomenal job. And really that those gateway presentations again,
071just for the audience are ways for students to demonstrate how they are able to demonstrate the profile of a learner through their through their learning and their experiences. Um, I also I shared this with um with Ms. Duncan, but I'll I'll share it with you all today as well. Um what kept coming up, I kept hearing about these freaking quesadillas. Kids were cooking quesadillas all over the place, and that was what they leaned on as how they were demonstrating that they were a learner. And I was like, are they all in one class? And was this like a cookie-cutter kind of thing where the teacher just said, "I'm going to do this so that they can say that this helped them be a learner" or something. So I So I asked some questions. No. In
072fact, what they did is 4-H came in, and 4-H um the kids asked the part of the way that they worked out that they were like, "We're going to be here. What are some things that you would like to do?" They wanted to sew, they wanted to cook. And does anybody in here know what the third thing was? There were three things. Sew, cook, and I can't remember the third thing. Anyway, so because of the cooking aspect they cooked quesadillas. Um, my youngest daughter cooks quesadillas all throughout the entire summer. So I I just was kind of blown away, but I guess for a lot of kids in fifth grade, they're you know, they're not they're not thinking about that. But what was awesome is what got 4-H in Stamping Ground Elementary was the teacher-to-teacher
073grants that the the teachers in the in that building had an opportunity for. And I just I just thought that was just It was a neat little connection. And I just wanted to make sure that uh that Susan knew that. I wanted to let let you all know that, too. Again, like we talked about today with instructional resources, like we talked about with everything. We try to be really precise and strategic with everything that we're doing. And I just I don't know. I just thought that was really happy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was cool. >> Do all fifth graders across the district do the Gateway presentation? Yeah. And Same. I saw them doing it there, so I was wondering if this was site one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, does Did Did they Does Gateway presentations
074replace their passion projects there? Do you know? No. Okay, they're still doing that? Okay. Okay, okay. Cuz cuz they And and again, that's the thing is every Yeah, every school was at different places when we started this, so um it's I don't know. We've got some schools that are a little further along with this than others, but yeah, I when I walked in and I looked around at the people that were with me and I was like I was like, is this are all of them like this? One little gentleman and they were all pretty good, but he his his probably I'd have to say takes the cake, but it's good stuff. Um so um also uh was able to participate in the Amazing Shake. I do that every year, but I usually do that
075every year at Lemons Mill. I will do that at Lemons Mill next week, um but Creekside is participating and this was their first year doing the Amazing Shake. And so they did a phenomenal job. Uh Principal Patterson and and her bunch, they they did great. They had people from Lemons Mill there to help give feedback and participate. Um it was it was a really really great event. I'm glad to see all of our all of our schools really focusing in on those things, those soft skills for kids. Um under cultural leadership, we had our employee awards program. And uh the last time I saw Ms. Weber, she she was being so passionate. They had a tattoo What was it? Tattoo day? Tattoo a teacher fundraiser at school and so she showed up tatted out. She
076had neck tats and tats I mean it was That's right. It was >> [laughter] >> So So I mean and they were pretty good. They were so good I was making sure that they weren't like [laughter] real. I was just When you came in today, I was like, were any of those Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Well, so anyway, we we had an opportunity to honor um uh a bunch of our our teachers and employees and it it was a great program. Um you know, that's something that uh Renee has headed up for us and and does a phenomenal job with and um just just a chance to We try to be careful not to go too long. We want to honor everybody's time, but we want to make it make it a worthwhile event where
077everybody can really truly um feel how much we appreciate what they do for us. Um skipping down to managerial leadership, I didn't have anything to do with the summer feed planning or but I I know it's an important topic and it's one that we will be making sure we get the word out there for everybody and I just commend uh the director Christie Collins for all the work that her and her team have done and thank you to Stephanie Emmons for the help there. Um helping to um make sure that we've got that bridging that gap between our our operational and our instructional team where everybody's on board. Um big plans, really excited about the direction that it's going and I just look for it to grow year in and year out. So, yes. Uh
078and then collaborative leadership. So, the Southern Tomcat >> And I missed it. Well, you No, you you haven't missed anything. Is the the event is the 24th? Is it 26th? Okay. So, May 26th. Um what's the time? Okay. Okay. So, >> [clears throat] >> now that we've now that we are in a good spot, we can talk about this publicly. >> [laughter] >> Um So so, we you know, we we were we were in preparation, we wanted to make sure we were able to find it very easily and it was not in disrepair and all the things. So, uh I think it was last week um we we dug for it and um we dug in the place that we thought it should be and some places where some people that were on site when
079we did the addition in 2000 3 to 6-ish, that range, were on site. Uh we we un covered covered all kinds of different pictures and plans and um and we we didn't find it the first time around. We then implemented um technology. You know, we we we pulled in some ground ground penetrating radar. Um we we went I mean outside of tearing up concrete, we went pretty hard at this. Um so today today we were we were kind of at our at the end with it. Now, this is where I wanted to to pull Tony into this. Again, we've got a number of people that were part of this. Now, I tried to put the blame on Greg and Heath because they were here when 2005 that renovation took place. So, I said, "Look, y'all
080were here, so I'm blaming you all if we can't find it." But in truth, they were out there helping us uh to recover it. One piece of data that really helped us was with in talking through this and going through plans with Tony. And again, this is this is not work Tony was paid for. This is just me reaching out saying, "Tony, I'm we're in a bad spot." And Tony Tony said, "Well, take a look at this." And he pulled up a plan. And one factor we hadn't considered was you wouldn't think it by looking at it, but the they added another 18 in to 24 in of soil on top of the previous grade. Yeah. Okay. >> So So you had to dig So what happened was we had been in the right spot
081the whole time. We just didn't dig deep enough cuz the pictures we we saw pictures of it having been unearthed. And when it had been unearthed, it looked like 3 to 4 ft maybe deep. But in reality, it was more like 6 and 1/2 to the top of it. So >> So they want to bury it like a dead person. So so we we So we did we we found it. So congratulations to everyone involved. Renee had a humongous part of this. Greg had a humongous part in this. Heath had a humongous part in this. Again, Tony had a humongous part in this. Um we were pulling in Principal Keegan had a humongous part in this. We were pulling in And for me, I started pulling all kinds of people just for fun cuz I
082thought this would be you know cuz I was like we're going to find it. But then we just started you know widening our net. Is there anybody I missed that I really need to Well, I mean we could go the concrete company that made the vault Yeah. the museum yeah Scott Takes a village. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I suggested to Renee that they just give some shovels to fifth graders and give them some extra credit. Yeah. HI JOSH. >> [laughter] >> HE'S LIKE NO. THAT'S SO EXCITING. YES. And I also learned that not everyone in the world knows what a 30 for 30 is. So ESPN does a 30 for 30. They do these little documentaries about about certain issues and relating to sports. And so cuz I kept saying the whole time along I was
083like when we find this thing I was like I'm going to start I started videoing and taking pictures cuz I was like I'm going to do a 30 for 30 on this because the finding of the time capsule Yeah, but Kind of like what Geraldo Rivera did that? >> Yes. Decades ago when he had the he found the Yeah. That That wasn't the direction I was taking it. And and it wasn't it was nothing in there. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. And this huge huge drop time special live. They were going to bust into this vault. Yeah. 2 hours and they busted into the vault and there was And nothing. Well, and so that was that was our we were worried. We were like okay, well, what if we don't find it? Then what do we
084do? So we are very thankful we didn't have to go down that discussion rabbit hole. So again, I had that had to go under collaborative leadership because again volume of people, conversations, just all the things um Yeah, and it and it's something like I thought, I will say this, too. I thought let's not let's not work on it during the school day because people be nosing around. Well, no, it's actually it was worse cuz I went out there last night with the tape measure and was measuring some things off and I talked to half of half of half of the town because everybody like, hey, what's going on? And and then it was it was good though cuz there was interest around it. I thought that was pretty cool. But but yeah, so I I
085just again a number of people, I mean, we talked to people from Alliance. I mean, we we talked to people from from all over and everybody we've got people to call back now, it sounds like that were like, I can't help you, but please call back cuz I want to know what you find. So So will there be another one for the next 10 years? Well, this was a 50-year time capsule. Oh, 50 years. This was this was buried in this was buried in 1976 and then we had an addition renovation to Southern that happened around 20 years ago, which is why it was kind of unearthed to make sure it was still there and and then I don't I don't know if they moved it, if they didn't move it, but at any rate
086it it is where it you know, it was where it was and we we thankfully have found it, have secured it, have have it in a secure location to protect until we have an opportunity to make sure everything appears to be good, but it'll be a great event. We're really excited that the that we weren't going to have a wedding without the bride. So [clears throat] exciting times there. And then the last thing I did want to say, you know, congratulations to I think I think Frank's worked this out to where this is his last one, too. So Paul and Frank Paul and Frank, THEIR [applause and cheering] LAST BOARD MEETING. YEAH. YEAH. YEAH. >> [laughter] >> UH AND WITH THAT, I WILL SAY THAT concludes my superintendent's report. All right. >> Very good. Thank
087you. Thank you. All right, number 21, board comments. Becky, we'll start with you. Okay, well, I don't want to steal Eleanor's thunder because we did an event together that we both really enjoyed and she may want to say a little bit about it, too, but recently we went over to Eleanor Crossing and we have done this in previous years and it's always just an honor to do it and very impressive. You just leave feeling so good about our students and their futures, but it's the health the health group there of students, juniors, and they are doing mock interviews with people from the community and we were either They wouldn't let Eleanor and me be together. They separated us, but Oh, no. Anyway, but it was nice to meet some new people and there were either
088two or three of us who were interviewing from different aspects in the community who'd done interviewing in the past and the students would come in anywhere from three or four of them and they would present themselves, they would present a personal statement, [cough] they had a resume that we took a look at and evaluated. And then they talked about we asked them questions that we might ask in a real interview and they responded and I think that was such a valuable experience for them. I would love to have had something like that. And overall, they were very prepared, very impressive. The only thing that I seemed to say over and over, not to all of them, but to many of them was resume looks good, but make sure you have some things on it other
089than just what you're doing academically. They would put their work um experiences there, which are valuable, but they they need to get involved at least in a few um volunteer things in the community or school clubs. I know from being on a a committee that is evaluates students. Oh, that was the other thing I'd say. Um for scholarships, that when you send when you submit students for um scholarship, they are really looking for those extra things that the students are putting themselves out there to do. And that's a nice segue to um yet again, our Eleanor and Wendy and I are in PEO, Professional Education Organization, and it is an international, because Canada is included, um organization that um is in every state, and at we have a chapter here in Georgetown, and the main
090mission of it is to give scholarships to women to help them further their education. And there are about five different categories, but the one that um I've been involved in is a STAR Scholarship, where a senior girl who is planning to go to college um can apply for the scholarship. It also involves our interviewing her and writing it up from our end, her writing it up from her end, and teacher input, and all of that. And for the third year in a row, we have another scholarship winner, Evelyn Hoover, who outstanding young woman at Scott County High School, will be the recipient of the award this year. So, we're very um proud of that. Um I'm so glad I'm not going to miss the time capsule, cuz as a kid, every I lived across the
091street, and I'd walk across and we would be looking at that stone and thinking, "Okay, one day it's going to happen, so I cannot miss it." Uh next week, I will be going to George Wythe Middle School to celebrate Mr. Stowe, Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Perkins, so I can't wait for that. And then I look forward to the graduation, cuz it's what we do, why we do what we do. All right, thank you, Susan. Uh thrilled to have uh 144 teacher-to-teacher grant applications this year. So, a lot of exciting uh educational professionals with exciting ideas, and I can't wait to see and hear all that they have uh planned. Uh looking forward to Amazing Shake next week. I will be there. See you. Uh and that you're so right. I just My mother taught at
092Southern, I went to Southern, and that little marker sat in that front lawn of that school, and I can remember just being fascinated by what was in there. So, I yeah, I cannot wait to have it open. And I I feel the same as you about the GMS guys. Uh we went to school with them, and I still can remember at the end of my seventh grade year the last day of school racing down the hall to be the first one to get into Mr. Stowe's office to ask if I could do the books for the basketball team the next year. >> [laughter] >> So, I got to go to all the eighth grade boys' basketball games, seventh grade boys' [laughter] basketball games, and ride the bus with them. So, I could keep stats for
093the coaches, and I just thought that was the yeah, coolest thing in the whole world. Uh I was a big old nerd, but I loved it. So, I appreciate them and remember them like it was yesterday. Yeah, cool. Yeah, it's good times. And um graduation's coming, and it is the main thing. So. Uh hope all of our little birds fly away safely and keep themselves together for the next 2 weeks so that they can. >> [laughter] >> Please. Eleanor. Uh Wendy and I were uh did the same program gateway presentation. And it's just nice to be with like Wendy. I don't get to Wendy, Wendy. >> Oh, okay. I thought Wendy. I thought >> [laughter] >> You thought you were there. You were there, too, when Uh but it was very [snorts] interesting. I too
094was very impressed with the fifth grade student get up there. I I just picture myself years ago that being a fifth grader and getting up I I don't think gosh >> [laughter] >> I don't think I could have done it. But a special one and I'm sure Wendy or I had to leave, but there was a little girl that is a foster child and he had said was not going to do it. So then we learned that was going to do it and did. Just very good job. But she's in a situation that really wants to go home, but she knows better for herself to stay in the foster situation. Isn't that right, Wendy? Okay. But I was very impressed with that. Um and I went to um playground. Oh, Elkhorn Crossing, as Becky said,
095and interviewed uh our our next year. They wonderful. They were wonderful. Their eye contact and uh they were just so assured of themselves that I was very impressed with that. And I also next week will be at the Amazing Shake. There's another school that I I can't remember. >> [laughter] >> Anyway, you see I write it down, but I have just been so impressed. I just love going into schools seeing how things are working and I can't wait. So, thank you. All All thank you. Back to the agenda. Number 22, move to close session pursuant to KRS 61.8101F. So moved. Revolve of I've got Josh sitting here. I'm going to finish reading it. Revolve of expulsions, review of expulsions in pursuant to KRS 6181011C discussing pending litigation. Can I have a move? >> So moved.
096Second. Any discussion? All in favor, I. Those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Josh is going to get us blankets. Who wants