001It is 6 o' on on December 18th, 2025. I'd like to call this regular board meeting to order. >> Please do the roll call. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Please stand and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting on November 13, 2025 >> agenda? >> I'm sorry. >> That's okay. May I have a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >>
002Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now may I have an approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held on November 13th. I need a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Uh, now I need an approval of the minutes of the special board meeting on November 19th, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs.
003Mason? >> Yes. Now we need a motion to approve the minutes of the board's special meeting on November 20th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Now I need a motion to approve the minutes of the board work session from December 9th, 2025. >> We've been busy. >> So we've been busy. [laughter] Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. And finally, I need a motion to approve the minutes of the board special meeting on December 10th,
0042025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? I have one quick item. Uh as a reminder, uh let's look at the organizational meeting making this consent for all the meeting. Approving consent. So we don't have to do >> hopefully we will not have this many to approve. >> Yes. But that's it. Nothing to this specific. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. And now I would like to hand the podium to Josh Kaufman. >> Well, thank you, Mrs. Mason, and rest of the board. Uh, we've got a packed house tonight, which means we've got a lot of students to recognize. I'd like to start with inviting our featured artists from McCormack
005Elementary. If you would come on up along with Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Kroger. We've got some incredible art to recognize this week. We got a couple students that couldn't be here. First grader Violet Taylor and Logan G. It's a busy time of year. A lot of holiday happenings going on. Uh so they couldn't be with us this evening, but would like to recognize uh the remaining five students from uh McCormack Elementary. So, we're going to start with uh the printmaking pumpkin right here with fifth grader Watson Williams. Watson, congratulations. There you go. Yeah. [applause] Lots of fall art to recognize. We have a marker pumpkin patch right here from Susanna Rana. >> Congratulations. [applause] Awesome. >> We have a fall watercolor from fourth grader Beth Costello. Congratulations. [applause] There we go. Third grader Becket Lynch
006did the chalk fies right there. Congratulations, Becket. [applause] >> And we have a beautiful Veterans Day poppy right there from Mia Watts. Mia, congratulations. >> All right. Congratulations. [applause] Congratulations. >> Special thank you to Mrs. Kroger, Mr. Wilson for cultivating such a a culture of art over at McCormack. Uh moms and dads, we're going to uh in just a minute, we're going to grab your kiddos and we're going to go out and get a photo of your student artist if you want to join us for that. Um and you know, I never am going to pass up an opportunity to celebrate the arts. We got some great things happening since last time I had a chance to speak to you. Um the drama's winter production of Almost Maine, uh which is is an obscure kind
007of cute romantic comedy. um completely sold out, which is just absolutely incredible. Completely sold out. Uh and if you were there, we had a special uh effect at the end of the show where we made it snow inside the Z uh which was awesome. Our students designed and ran all of that. But uh later on this evening, you're going to uh hopefully uh approve a donation from Crossroads Church. Those snow machines to the tune of about $6,500 were donated uh for us to keep from Crossroads Church. So, we're incredibly grateful for them as a partner to our district to create that wonderful effect. Um over the last couple weeks, we have had our uh music students uh complete 11 performances in 12 days. Uh wonderful time of year to share their talents, including visiting all
008six elementary schools last week and sharing some holiday cheer with them. That was really cool for our band and choir students. Uh and then the last one is kind of a big announcement and some thank yous as well. Um I want to give a a huge thank you to the Milford Schools Foundation as well as the Milford band boosters. Uh we're really pleased to announce that we will be able to take as kind of a culminating moment for our 100red years of Milford band celebration. Uh we we're going to take our band students and they're going to have a chance to perform on a world-class stage down at Cincinnati Music Hall. And we couldn't have done it without the foundation and Milford band booster. So uh March 8th, mark your calendar. Details about tickets will
009be coming out for that. But a really special way to cap off one a century of of music in Milford schools. Really cool. So thank you. Have a wonderful wonderful holiday. [applause] Good evening, President Mason, members of the board, Superintendent Spicer, and welcome, Dr. Fiori. Uh, I'm Tom Wilson, principal at McCormack Elementary. Uh I send greetings from that wonderful staff up there to you tonight and just want to share a little bit about about what's been going on at McCormack during our first semester. Uh actually started last year about this time we always started talking about a theme and the importance of theme in an elementary and this year it was all about games being a gamecher. So each one of our grade levels decided to take a certain game and make that their theme.
010So obviously first grade we had Uno, fourth grade chose Monopoly. So Langner Lane Langner is one of our teachers. So they've taken and made their own. And of course we have Ky Land. And again, it's all about being a gamecher. One of the highlights of our day is our bingo. So uh our secretary Nancy Brooke took every picture of us and made it into a I guess an anime character. >> And she made over I think we have approximately 60 different bingo boards. Each teacher gets a bingo board. We draw a name each day and we put it up on our poster. This home room that earns bingo, they have time to come down and do like an extra 30 minutes. We purchased a lot of those larger games like Tetris and the Connect 4.
011So that's been one of the highlights of our year of being a game changer. Uh game changing starts in the classroom and I talked about this last year. One of the things that we've been doing in our K1 and two is flexible grouping during our phonics lesson. Um, early literacy is one of our target areas. So, we started that last year. I'm not going to go through all the stats, but you can kind of see where we started before with the cohorts of first and second grade. Obviously, we have a little ways to go, but very pleased about the flexible grouping. So, again, that's first and second graders moving to small groups to different teachers in that grade. Uh, it's been a big success for us and we look forward to continuing that. We also
012did added an extra 30 minutes of differentiation. So they get an extra 30 in the morning and 30 in the afternoon for a total of an hour each day as well as their 30 minute phonics block. And then greets three four three through five we're doing flexible grouping using value added and we're also doing some progress monitoring through our OST and map data as we want to again continue to be those game changers academically as well. Uh PBIS obviously very important. Um first thing everyone says is we love the hippos. Um, if you can't see it, we are hungry for positive behavior. So, it's our whole schoolwide PBIS system. Uh, students can earn what we call marbles and they bring the marbles down. We send a positive note home and then it goes up on
013our board once a quarter. Then, we draw uh a percentage of names from each grade level. They come down, we play. The first time we played Plinko, I asked all the kids sitting at the there, how many of you know what Plinko is? We had one kid that knew what it was, so a little different, but we do Plinko. You can see my friends there that won. Uh they can earn anything from a snack, a sit with a a friend, a snack, walk with tough, and then we just added a 3D printer option where they can select from a menu of items and we will print those out. So uh that's been a big thing. And then up there, the hand, we do a game changer award. We're looking for kids that are making uh
014great decisions on being game changers, I guess you would say, on the playground. And we award that once a month with a game changer award. We call them over the speaker, they come down, we write it up and put in our article. So again, the importance of being a gamecher. Uh no school and our elementaryaries without you always want a strong PTO, a strong school community, and our PTO is just that. Uh we kick off our year uh in September with our McCormick Fest. We held that on campus. It's really the first time we had planned to have it on campus. Traditionally, we've been out at the park. This year was on campus. We had a great turnout. Um we had different games. You can see actually the one picture here of the face ping.
015Those are actually some high school volunteers. Uh some were McCormack students, some were not. Uh came out and helped us. Um we also uh other pictures we had our MC Steam night which is our science and tech night. Uh that was in November. And then in a few in January, end of January, we'll have our literacy night which is Makoko. Everything is Mick at Mccormick. Uh as far as clubs, very important to to me to our students against that holistic idea. Uh we've always had a technology club or robotics club after school. We've ran run that for grades kindergarten through fifth grade this year. Um but probably our two biggest ones is our cooking club. Uh we started that [laughter] three years ago, four years ago. Three years ago. And the first year was kind
016of an hour session after school. They made some some different recipes. And then last year we did our first baking challenge where I had soy sauce and gummy bears. Uh we've moved way past that. This year they made their own recipes. We actually did it last Thursday. It was a wonderful event. The kids are amazing. I appreciate, you know, when we brought this idea, I think I shared last year to uh Mr. Johnson and Tina Reynolds, our nutrition director. I wasn't sure where we'd get and it has been wonderful. And I know Myra, Mrs. Powers, has had the opportunity, Mr. Spicer, to judge that and it's been great. And finally is our holiday club. Uh Mrs. Nun, our kindergarten teacher, runs that. It's a three-week session. Just the last session was today. Uh my highlight
017uh the pictures there are over at Magnolia Springs which is our neighbor. I got to see Mr. Cypel who's my former principal. He's over there. He was singing with them. When you go over there and see the impact that our kids have on whether it's the the residents or even the memory you see the people singing it is amazing. It it's it's I it's hard to describe. It just you it takes your breath away just to see the smile on their face. We we present them with ornaments and then we do crafts. So again, that holistic approach to meet very important. And again, those are just some of the folks that we spread joy to. Magnolia Springs is our neighbor. We did some stuff with the Ronald McDonald House. Milford Miami Ministries, very important to
018us. And of course, our dog tough circle tail. We've had a great relationship with them. The other thing I'll add on here that isn't here, uh, the beginning of December, we did a I do a principal's craft. I had almost 15 retired Milford educators come and help me with a craft and that says a lot to me the importance of keeping that family. Some of those were McCormack teachers, some were parents of teachers in my building that were former teachers. Uh just the importance of that >> and some were your parents. >> My parents were there of course. >> And then finally coming soon uh we have Basketball Jones. If you've not had seen Basketball Jones, very inspirational. He does a bunch of basketball tricks, but also very positive message, our book fair and our
019Makokco night. And then from McCormack to Mr. Spicer, I want to say thank you. Uh, for those of you who know, I've been a lifelong Milford person. Um, Mr. Spicer came to Milford when I was a senior in high school. I think my dad hired him at the junior high. So, I've known John a long time. Um, and you know, we talked about being a game changer. Nine years ago, I got a call on the phone from John that the job at McCormack was coming open. when I was a high school assistant principal and kind of at a crossroads. I'd been there 11 years as an assistant principal and I can still remember that call. He just said, "Hey, this may be an opportunity that you might be a good fit for you." And eight
020years later, here I am. So, on behalf of my staff, we got a little something for you. So, at McCormack, we have a tradition. Each grade level is a color. Your last color at McCormack is tiedye. So, we got Mr. Spice her tie-dye shirt as he concludes his. [applause] And then finally, on behalf of our staff to everyone, we wish everyone a happy holidays. I went over my three minutes, Mr. Aman. I apologize, but thank you. That's all right. >> Have [clears throat] a wonderful evening. >> Thank you so much for that update. That that theme is really, really fun. I can see how the kids could get into that. All right. Next, we have an a JOTC recognition. All right. Hey, thanks for having us tonight. We appreciate it. Uh for you guys that
021don't know, we have Junior ROC at Live Oaks and we're here at Milford. Also, we have 179 cadets in the core. Uh out of that 84 are on the Raider team. Our Raider team is our athletic team. They are athletes due to popular belief. Uh eighttime national champions, men and women. This year we took the long trip to Georgia that we've been prepping since August. Uh the men won first place and the women. Our co-ed team got fifth in the nation. >> Wow. Wow. So, it was a it was a really good event. Our big rivals come from Kansas, Alabama, and Florida. They were all there. Uh, it's a really intense meet because you camp. So, we're living outside in the in the elements. Our first event is a rope bridge across a really ri
022a real river, Flint River. It was 26 degrees. >> Wow. >> And that was our first event. >> There's five major events. probably uh one of the most memorable other than being in the river in 26 degrees was the mountain run. It's uh it's it's cross country up a mountain in you know boots and uh uniform. So uh the male team just totally smoked it. Um they had the fastest time ever on the mountain run. >> Wow. >> Right now we're preparing to go to fitness nationals in Daytona Beach where we're also the national champions of women. our defending champions two years in a row. >> Wow. >> Uh other stuff for you guys that don't know, we've got 42 kids on full ride scholarships to division one schools. Three of them are graduating this
023May. They're going to enter the army as lieutenants. They're all Milford kids. They go to OU. They call it Milford Milford South that EKU and we have several at Ohio State. We've had them go out to Texas Tech kind of all over the world. Probably the biggest influence on the core was when Chief Phillips came four years ago. Ever since then, we have not lost. Actually, we've been state champions for the last eight years. Um, the kids are great. They're not all here tonight because we took 45 to nationals. They're multi-talented, so they do other sports also, and they all work. So, we brought a handful here tonight. Are the commanders here? Mel team commander, come on up. Yep. All the commanders, please come up. Uh, the core is cadet driven. They kind of run
024the show with our supervision. So, Mr. Weiss, this is his fourth year. He commanded the male team. And he's also the colonel of the whole battalion. So, everything that goes right, he gets credit for, and everything that goes wrong, he gets credit for. All right. Miss Sanders, she's a battalion S3. She's the training officer in charge of academics for the core. This is also her uh fourth year. She just got accepted to University of Tennessee. >> Wow. >> So on top of her four [applause] >> Oh, I'm sorry. And he's going to Emery Riddle to be a pilot. [applause] >> We have two kids there from last year from Milford. So that's going to become another Milford location down in Emery Riddle in Daytona Beach. >> Something about the beach. It kind of draws on
025that way. Uh then Miss Robinson, she commanded the co-ed team. This is what your second year, right? We had her brother. So it's a kind of a family affair. If you look within the core, it's a big family affair. Where's my three sisters back there? >> The cap carts. All right. They got to compete at nationals together, which is really cool. >> Wow. >> U our our parents are outstanding. We have them come in at 4:30 in the morning to bring the kids because our meets are all mostly in Kentucky. Um so we kind of do a lot of traveling. So let me miss anything. I think that's it. We last week we had uh the congressman Taylor came by presented the national trophies and we had the MVPs for each team. Is the MVPs
026here? Most valuable players come on up here. >> Two of the three. [applause] >> And if you'll notice, we have eighth graders on the national team. >> Wow. >> Because we started at the eighth grade this year and that's going super because we don't care what grade you're in. It's about your performance. Uh, also everybody here, if I'm not mistaken, is AB honorable, but we are we are hard on the graves. [applause] We we have a saying D means don't go. >> So, and they all follow that because we actually enforce it. So, education is number one. If you would please give the Raiders an applause. [applause] Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Congratulations to all of you. This is always such an impressive program and we wish you the best of luck in
027your next competition. >> Thanks. >> Now, we'd like to recognize the high school cross country team. Good evening. Thank you for having us here. Uh my name is Joe Dumont and I am a high school teacher as well as I have the privilege of coaching the boys high school cross country team. We have two of our members uh who are coming up now. Uh so we're here to recognize Henry Newman uh an 11th grader and Chase Vincent, a 10th grader. Uh they both qualified for the division one state meet um in Ohio this past season. Um, you want to give [applause] congratulations. So, while their while their athletic accomplishments are very impressive, I do want to take a minute and uh just put it in context that not only are they exceptional athletes, uh, but
028they're both carrying straight A averages in AP intensive courses. Um, so they really embody the student athlete and they are just very good men um who bring a lot to Milford. And so when I think about like that portrait of an eagle and those things that we're really attempting uh to do with our four years with these students, uh these two guys are excellent examples. So it's a privilege to coach them and thank you for taking time to recognize them. [applause] >> Uh yes, thank you uh also for having us here. Uh Matt Jordan. I have the privilege of coaching uh these young ladies here. Uh before I talk specifically about them and have them come around, I just want to uh emphasize that although these girls are here, um we have uh many members
029of our team uh that are not here and we focus a lot on our team about uh the iceberg and uh what you see here is the top of the iceberg, the part of the iceberg that has been risen above the water there. But there is a lot of the iceberg that's not here that you don't see that helps to raise this entire group up here. So although they are not here with us tonight, they are very vital to our success as well. So um girls, I'll I'll call I'll say your name and then if you want to go ahead and go around and then I have a few things to say about you. So first, uh we have Skyler Spurl, uh junior, [applause] Marin Barnett, sophomore, Nora Lindley, freshman, [applause] Laney Patch, senior, L.
030Campbell, junior. Anna Jordan, sophomore, [applause] Katie Reman, junior, and Lauren Johnson, junior. [applause] So, these girls were um all the members of our state team this year. Some of their accomplishments uh this year, uh they finished the season with a record of 128 wins and only six losses. Uh they won their second straight ECC uh title this year. Uh they won our first uh regional title in program history. Um it was also the first regional title for any sport in Milford since 2004. Um and they finished fifth place in the state this year. Uh they were seventh last year. Uh so moved up a couple of spots uh this year to that fifth place. Uh highest spot in uh school history. Um, and they were also the uh top school uh in the city of
031Cincinnati. Um, and then at the end of the year, we always look and see kind of where does everybody uh rank in the all time. Uh, girls cross country has been around since the early 80s here at Milford. Um, and on our team this year, we now have L, who is the number one uh, ranked girls cross country runner of all time. Uh, Marin, who is number three, Katie is number six, Lauren is number seven, and Skyler comes in at number 11. So, uh, these girls have done some very amazing [applause] things. [applause] So, again, thank you, uh, for having us out, uh, to recognize these girls. Uh, we enjoyed being here last year, we enjoy being here this year, and we hope to see you again next year as we have a lot of
032underassmen who, uh, have more goals to accomplish. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Now we're moving on to public commentary. Do we have any for this first portion? >> We we do not. >> Okay. >> All right. Moving on. We have a very special mission moments tonight. And I'm going to let Jeff Johnson um come to the podium and talk about it. >> Actually, Jeff um had to go to New Orleans to take care of some family >> matters. So, I'm going to step in for Jeff. Uh, I am actually going to call Jud Phillips to the podium. Uh, Jud is uh good to see >> with Peterman and uh he's he certainly takes care of us. Um, tonight's mission moment really speaks to u the relationship that we have
033with Peterman, but also the relationship we have with Miami Township and also the city of Milford uh and their first responders. Um, so we all know that there was a tragedy here uh locally on Valley Forge and um we got a call, Jeff got a call from Steve Kelly, the Miami Township administrator, you know, asking for our assistance uh and if if Jeb Jud could help out and so immediately the answer was yes. So I'm going to turn it over to Jud to kind of give us a brief of of what happened and what you all did for us in this community. >> Thanks, John. Um, thank you for inviting us and being here at the meeting tonight. So, it's an honor. Uh, my name is Jud Phillips. I am the GM for Milford Transportation.
034On Friday, December 5th, you were all probably watching your TV and in the evening and seeing the events unfold with that tragic event on Valley Forge. Uh shortly um after we were just about finishing up with work, I received a call from Jeff Johnson asking, you know, kind of describing what was happening and and I was just in awe for a second. Uh he goes, "Can you get some drivers? Can you rally some people together? Uh our responders are going to need buses. They need shuttling. uh they need to, you know, have um you know, transportation down to the site where this is happening because responders were coming from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, I believe. >> Um it was it was just an amazing thing all these people coming together. But uh I ran outside. We
035were just wrapping up for the day. I I walked outside to our parking lot trying to find, you know, our drivers. The first group I came to, I told them, "We have an emergency. I need help." and their response was, "Where do you need us and we'll be there." It's just amazing the the people that work in transportation, transporting your children, making sure that they're safe day in and day out, and also protecting the community and serving the community. Um, I want to introduce the drivers who were there that evening. Um, Teresa Schneider, um, Sandy Coyle, uh, Sarah Sarah Dodson, Liz, >> yeah, thank you. And Susie Lowe, um, [applause] uh, funny story. Well, not funny, but Sue or I'm sorry, Susie Lowe has a she lives there down in Valley Forge. >> She opened
036up her house to the responders, let them in, used the restroom, made coffee, had cookies for them. We had a bus running running [clears throat] uh for I think we were there for six hours. Is that correct? >> About six seven hours. >> About seven hours keeping the uh anyone who was cold that evening warm that that night. So, um, the Miami Township Fire Department, they they were there. Um, >> I got on the bus. >> You're on the bus, too. >> It was cold that night. >> It was cold. >> Very cold. >> So, we thank you for everything that you do in the community as well. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you all very much. >> Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much for your service to the community. [laughter] >> All
037right. Um, now we're moving on. If you [snorts] don't know, um, our superintendent will be this will be his last meeting, his last official board meeting before he goes into retirement. And I'd like to take a moment to recognize Superintendent John Spicer as he prepares to conclude his time with Milford schools. I think Michael is going to start us off. >> Oh yeah. So, so um I know Emily will have more to say after this, but I just wanted to make a brief statement um on behalf of myself for for John. So, um you know, one of the best measures of a leader is leaving the organization strong enough to thrive, you know, after they depart. So, you've truly set our next superintendent up for success. Uh you helped navigate our district through challenging few
038years, managing the complexities of COVID, facing the realities of failed levies and handling difficult conversations around cuts and staffing. Yet under your leadership, we still achieved a four and a half star rating on the Ohio report card. Our recent voluntary state performance audits signaled that while we have some things to work on, which we've already started, we are we are a strong district that stands out in the state in many ways. Finally, you can always tell when an educator truly loves their job and the kids they serve. And for me, that is most evident in the mental health program you championed. It is recognized statewide and has been vital for our students coming out of the pandemic. Right. And the last thing I'll say before I turn to Emily is the one thing with John
039is I always knew that all of our kids were uh treated evenly and fairly and well taken care of under John's leadership. And for that, I really appreciate that, John. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And I'd like to echo some of those things that Michael said. Throughout his tenure, John has demonstrated a deep passion for public education in a sincere commitment to our students. He helped guide the district through several significant changes. As uh Michael already mentioned, COVID um and several changes in board leadership. He throughout all of this always worked to maintain continuity and stability. John has been a strong advocate at the state level, particularly around funding and legislative policy, ensuring that Milford's voice was heard in critical conversations. He also championed student well-being, encouraging thoughtful dialogue around mental health and responsible technology
040use. In our committee meetings, John often reminded us to center decisions around what's best for kids, a guiding principle that will we will continue to carry forward. We are grateful for his years of service and wish him the very best in his retirement and whatever lies ahead. And with that, I'd like to hand the mic over to Jen Schaefer, who has a few words to say. >> Hi, John. >> Jennifer. Um, so when I began trying to put into words the past five and a half years that John and I have worked together, I'd struggled to find the right starting point. Uh, I joined Milford in July of 2020, just before John became superintendent on August 1st of 2020, just before we reopened schools after CO. From the beginning, John and I were thrown into
041the biggest school reopening anyone has ever seen. We didn't have time to breathe or casually adjust to our new roles. The first six months are a blur. Eagle Online was started from scratch. We were quarantining and counting cases every day. But through it all, John remained strong with his calm and confident leadership. About after about six months, we were finally able to breathe and create a routine. And here's what I've learned about John in the past five years. 50% of the people are going to be unhappy about decisions we make. There's no way around that. All you can do is decide what is best for children. And that is what John lives by every day. It's how he leads every day. We've had numerous debates about choices and decisions for the district and it always
042comes back to what is best for kids. That's always at the forefront of his mind. He is a true student centered leader. Another thing I've learned is that John is extremely passionate about his beliefs and a lot of those times he and I don't agree. But we never let it get in the way of our working relationship or our friendship. My favorite thing is when we have a spirited debate and then immediately move on to talking about our kids or or our families. Families. John is a strong family man. He's got three adult sons doing amazing things. His wife an is here, a business owner and one of the greatest people I've ever met. I'm so happy he will get the opportunity to spend more time with his family and traveling to amazing wonderful places.
043Whenever someone needed time to spend with a sick family member or someone someone was struggling, his response was always whatever you need. He's a true supporter of the work family life balance. I'm lucky to have spent the last five years working with John and the team at Milford. Our office is a better place because of John and this district is a better place because of John. I am so proud to call him my boss, but also one of my most treasured friends. I'm going to miss you immensely, but I'm so happy for your next chapter. [applause] We we we had that spirited debate this week and I called her. I was on my way to another building. I said, "Jet, I I think I got a little intense on that one." And she's like, "Oh,
044no. It's good. We're good. It's just what we do." So, um, thank you. I I have some things to say if that's okay. It's a little long. >> Um >> I'm not here today without the unwavering support of my wife an uh of 29 years of marriage, 29 years of loving me unconditionally, 29 years of teaching me about believing, 29 years of still believing and knowing that I'm a kid at heart and 29 years of understanding the weight that all educators carry. I love her more than any of you could ever imagine and has sacrificed so much for me to be an educator. What I didn't realize and that all of these principles realize is that there was a time when I was a high school principal that Anne felt like a single parent raising
045three boys. And I wish I could make that up to you an to Charlie, Jack, and Will. The very first teacher our boys had was Anne. Anne taught them about unconditional love. Always be kind, generosity, empathy, the importance, the importance of reading, and that hard work pays off. She feeds our spirit every day with her beautiful smile and positive energy. There are many lessons that Anne has taught us. Life is better in Birkenstocks while driving your Jeep with the top down. She reminds us uh what Simon and Garfuncle once said, "Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile." However, one of the most important lessons Anne taught our boys was small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events, but great minds discuss ideas. She was always pushing us to think beyond possibilities. I've met
046so many great people over the last 32 years. I arrived in Milford in 1994. I was hired by Dave Gman and Earl Wilson. and I am forever grateful for the opportunity they gave me. Earl Wilson still inspires me today. At Milford Junior High, I learned the value of family. One of those family members was Mike Safranco. Mike taught me a lot about life. Dela Morris also took me under her wing and coached me up as a young teacher. Daryl Edwards encouraged me to become an administrator and ingrained in me that you wear a suit and a tie every day. Although this is the first time I've worn a bow tie all year except for the past two days, there are cast of characters at Milford Junior High School, too many to mention that helped me
047along my educational journey, and I thank all of them for that. But one of the most the best compliments I received is from somebody sitting in this room that said, "I find the best in people when others can't." And I've lived my life believing that people want to do well. My hope is that we will pause, listen, and assume positive intent before we judge. When we do that, we create space for growth, understanding, and real connection. I've always believed deeply in public education. It is one of the greatest equalizers we have, and it is worth fighting for. I've spent a portion of my career advocating in Columbus because the decisions made there matter. They matter here, in our classrooms, in our hallways, and in the lives of students. Our our teachers hold immense power and
048their voices matter. And I encourage every educator to use their voice to call our representative. Call Representative Jean Schmidt. Call Senator Terry Johnson and share your story. Advocate. Advocate for our students and schools and what they need. Change happens when people speak up and you have a powerful voice. I've also learned that we cannot take care of students unless we take care of ourselves. Mental health matters for our kids and for the adults who serve them every day. When you take care of yourself, you're better able to give students the very best of who you are. Some of the work I'm most proud of centers around serving every student with dignity and care. Our Special Olympic athletes, there's a Cappy's fundraiser in January for Special Olympics. There's a plug. uh the addition with the addition
049of our mental health interventionist, the support of reset aids, uh the comfort and connection provided by our circle tail facility dogs. We've got one here. Uh these efforts remind us that schools are about more than academics. They are about belonging. Almost done. [snorts] When I started here as the superintendent, I certainly wasn't expecting my first weeks to begin with what was likely the biggest challenge we had ever faced, and that was the CO 19 pandemic. It tested us in ways that no one could have predicted. Eagle Online was built out of necessity, perseverance, and teamwork. We got through it together. Most importantly, we got through that together, and we learned a lot together that year, and we learned that we are capable, what we are capable of when we all come together and support one
050another. I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity that has been afforded to me, for the people who have shaped me along the way, many of them here today, and for the educators I've had the privilege to shape or impact in return. I've built lasting friendships with colleagues who share the same heart for students, and I've also watched many of those friends step into leadership roles beyond Milford. Every time that happens, it fills me with joy because it reminds me that this district, that my time here has been about lifting others, developing leaders, and creating opportunities that extend far beyond any one person. What a long, strange trip it's been, Tom. This is great. Uh, thank you for allowing me to be a part of the Milford story. Uh, it's truly been an honor. Um, congratulations to
051Dr. Fiori. Um, you are going to be amazing. and you're going to take this district to the next level. I see you've got two colleagues who walked in and that that's what it's all about. I did the same thing when one of uh my colleagues was hired as a superintendent and guess what? They're here tonight, too. Um so, you're going to do great. This community is a wonderful place. Um that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. [applause] >> [applause] >> And with that, um, I'd like to talk a little bit about our next superintendent, Dr. Bobby Fury. Um, from the very beginning of our search for a new superintendent, the board was clear that this process needed to reflect more than just our perspective. We wanted to hear from our students, staff, families,
052and community, and we did. What has been especially powerful is how consistent that feedback on Dr. Fiori was. From our staff and district leaders, we heard words like genuine, relatable, knowledgeable, engaging, and a leader people want to work with. Many shared how impressed they were by Dr. Fior's real life examples, her humor, and most importantly, her emphasis on listening and follow-through. Several said simply, "I could absolutely see myself working with her." From our community members, we heard how Dr. Fior came across as well spoken, emotionally intelligent, transparent, and trustworthy. People appreciated her willingness to own mistakes, her respect for Milford's traditions, and her clear commitment to mental health and relationships. And from our students, we heard that Dr. Fiori felt real, kind, approachable, and experienced, someone easy to talk to with ideas she had already
053successfully put into practice. They noticed her background in special education and her creativity and they felt seen. As a board, we felt that Dr. Fiori is a leader who can grow our teams, build trust, and continue to bring our district into the future. This decision reflects not only the board's vision, but the shared vision of our Milford community. Dr. Fiori brings more than 20 years of experience across roles as a school psychologist, principal, district leader, and educator, and she brings a strong student centered commitment that aligns deeply with who we are and where we want to go. Dr. Fiori, we are truly excited to welcome you to Milford. We look forward to partnering with you, supporting you, and working alongside you as we continue doing what's best for kids. Welcome to Milford. >> [applause] >>
054And with that, um, I am seeking for a motion to approve the contract [snorts] for Dr. Bobby Fury. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. And with that, we would love to have you come and speak at the podium. >> [applause] >> Thank you very much. Um, I am so honored to be selected to lead this great district. To the board members, thank you for this extraordinary opportunity and for your trust. I recognize the responsibility you've given me and I don't take it lightly. to the community and staff. Thank you for welcoming me. I'm so excited uh to be a part of the positive
055things in Milford. As I begin this journey, I'm going to spend a lot of time listening and learning. So, that's going to start with um the staff and their incredible expertise and their institutional knowledge. So I do plan to spend a lot of time learning and talking and um so I can learn about the strengths, the challenges and most importantly the students. Um I am committed to honesty and transparency and I believe that trust comes with uh consistent transparent conversations and that's exactly what I plan to do. So thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm so excited to be here and I can't wait for January to start so I can be in the buildings and get to know the staff and start this important journey. Thank you. >> Thank you. Welcome. [applause] Um
056we will have a little bit of a gap between um when Dr. Fiory is starting and when um and and we will need to have an interim superintendent in place. So I need a motion to approve TJ Glasser as the interim superintendent. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um I just wanted to say a couple words about TJ. Um I know that most of you know him as our um director of human resources. The board selected TJ from within our organization because he consistently has demonstrated a calm, level-headed approach and strong leadership in very complex situations. We're very confident in his ability to pro provide steady continuity during this short interim period and we're grateful for his willingness to step into this role. So, thank you TJ for your leadership and service to Wolfford. Um,
057[applause] do we have any other discussion? >> No. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Now, we have some contracts to approval. Uh, for approval. I need a motion to approve the following contracts. >> Uh, you skipped, I think, a page. I think you missed a page. Yeah, you're on the >> organizational board meeting. >> Oh my gosh. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay, so now I need a motion to set the organizational board meeting for January 5th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? This is where we will um set up all of our committee meetings um for the rest of the year and
058all of our dates for our regular meetings. Okay, please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> All right. Now, I need a motion to appoint Emily Chestnut as president prom for the organizational board meeting on January 5th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. Now, we're moving on to treasur reports. And I think Michael has a short update for us. >> I do. Let's see. All right. So, Doug will go over obviously all the details as he always does, but some other things
059we talked about in committee this month were our ongoing discussion around kindergarten tuition. And um we engaged in a detailed review of the kindergarten tuition um that we adjusted earlier this year to support fiscal sustainability. So we raised as everybody knows we had to raise our kindergarten tuition earlier in the year and we have been looking at that as we said we would on an ongoing basis. Um some of the things that we're paying attention to when it comes to um all day kindergarten is the state funding outlook. So this review is critical because the state's fair school funding plan is set to evolve in two years. Um projections suggest that Milford moves off the state funding guarantee. Uh our future revenue will be tied more directly to enrollment growth. Therefore, we are evaluating how
060tuition costs impact our ability to attract and retain families entering the district. Uh we also look at tuition or all day kindergarten as access and early literacy. So beyond the financials of all day kindergarten, we're discussing the dynamic between free halfday and paid full day kindergarten. Our data suggests that financial barriers to full day instruction can impact early literacy, require requiring the district to provide increased academic intervention in first grade and beyond. We are exploring ways to maximize access to full day programming to set students up for success early rather than playing catchup later. So, the path forward on this is we'll be working closely with the new superintendent to review this data and chart a path that balances our immediate budget health with the long-term benefits of enrollment growth and accessible early education. So,
061no decision on that tonight or anything yet, but it's just something we've been talking very deeply about is ways to uh look to increase enrollment and also make sure that kids have full access to all day kindergarten. Um, let's see. The other part is Doug will go over this, but we're seeing strong returns on our cash management strategies. Year to date, the district has generated approximately 1.2 million in investment income. This is non- tax revenue that helps support our general fund. Uh Doug will talk about our cash flow timing. So, you'll see the report shows expenditures outpacing revenues for this specific month. And this is standard for school districts in Ohio. We receive property tax revenue and two large paychecks per year. Between those dispersement, we operate on cash reserves. Um, and then our administrative
062cost cap. So, we continue to operate efficiently. The committee reviewed our administrative cost compared to operating expenditures. We remain well below the state mandated 15% cap, which is in House Bill 96, ensuring the vast majority of our funding goes into the classroom and not administration. The last piece is we did discuss um around policy that the board is moving forward with an upgrade to our OSBA policy software. This new platform will make district policies more accessible to the public including features for language translation, ADA accessibility, and better search functions. That I'll turn it over to you. >> Okay. Uh first, can I get a motion to approve the board reports? So moved. >> Second. >> All right, Doug. >> All right, Madame President, members of the board, thank you for this opportunity to present to
063you a snapshot of the district finances through November of fiscal year 26. So you'll see in our first slide, this is our bank reconciliation. This is very important because it shows that we are balanced. And if you just scroll up just a little bit, oh, I'm sorry. There you go. that we are balanced between our operating account and the state software which is right there and then in payroll and then in our next slide which is what Mr. Wilson was discussing this is our investment report and you can see what we've generated monthtodate which is around 184,000 and yearto date 1.2 2 million. So we are doing very well there. Now this is a incredible report. This is by the SM1 report. Now this is a snapshot of the 5-year forecast and what you see
064right here is fiscal year 26. Then you'll see what we've done yearto date or excuse me monthto date and then year to date. The most important line is right here 6.010. And you can see over and under. I don't know if you can make that a little bit larger, Steve, but you'll see that uh we were pro uh forecasting a negative 1.9 million negative fund or excuse me uh deficit spending, but so far year to date, we're looking at positive 5.6. So, we're doing everything we need to do to remain fiscally responsible. And then if you look at the next slide here, we've got some graphs. So this is our uh revenue outlook. And you can see fiscal year 24 25 26 how we've gone up um as far as our local revenue. And then
065you've got our state revenue, which we've gone up from 24 to 25, remained even into 26. And then all other revenue is is way up. And then our next slide shows our expenditures where you can see salary and benefits have uh gone up uh mostly in benefits between 25 and 26. So that's something that the um performance audit suggests that we review and that's something we are doing and we'll be able to show you that uh in the upcoming months. And then you'll see that in our um purchase services you'll see that that is down between 24 into 25 and remain constant into 26. And then you'll see that all other expenditures is down from 24 to 25 and up slightly into 26. And then the next slide is what Mr. Wilson was discussing earlier.
066This is our um you'll see that we're sitting at 14.75 as far as our uh administrative cost and according to House Bill 96 you have to stay below 15%. So we are doing very well right there. So any questions? Okay, please call the RO. Please call the role. Just got to find myself. Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Now, I need a motion to approve the contracts listed below. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a motion to approve the vendors listed below. >>
067So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a motion to approve the donations listed below. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? I will just say the snowblowers from Crossroads Church were used at the middle school choir concerts also and it was a big crowdleaser. >> There's a great video of it on social media as well. >> You can see it. >> Um, we seem to have a lot of donations this month and we really appreciate any donation that we get and thank you to every single person on here who donated. >> What is the SOS program, Doug? Source of strength. >>
068Source of strength. Thank you. Used to be hope squad >> and I see some picking up lunch bot. I mean the lunch fees anonymous lunch fees. I mean that's so so kind. So yeah. Really appreciate all the people on this list. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Now I need a motion to approve the modified tax budget. >> So move. Second. >> Uh Doug, this is something new, correct? >> It is. The modified tax budget in Claremont County is new. It's been done in Hamilton County for years. And this is basically taking your 5-year forecast and formatting it from a fiscal year for us, which would be July 1st through
069June 30th into a calendar year. And this is what helps the county auditor set our tax rates. >> Good. Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Um, now we have an update on the performance audit. >> Okay. Uh, we discussed last month that we're going to come back every month and we're going to briefly talk about, uh, the recommendations from the state auditor. Uh before we can get really ind depth, we need some more data, but we still want to make sure it's not only on our mind, but your mind. So, uh we're going to start off with Mr. Glass Meer, and he's got a brief, uh brief discussion on
070some human resource issues. >> Good evening. Uh, I just wanted to spend a couple minutes tonight unpacking the recommendations that the otter made related to human resources and talking about uh the next steps we're going to make to address those recommendations. >> Oh, there we go. >> All right. Uh, so as a reminder, the auditor uh compared us to five districts that were similar to us. uh that is Beaver Creek, Forest Hills, Oak Hills, Jackson Local, and Springboro. So, they looked at their spending, their staffing levels, and compared ours to that um and made recommendations based on that for areas that we might have been above the average of our peers. So, when you look at staffing, um the auditor said when you compare to our peers, we had more positions in certain areas. And
071we'll talk about why that is. Um, and we'll kind of go through what some of those mean because, you know, obviously we all know what a general education teacher is and our teacher. Uh, we need to spend some time talking about what other professional staff are, what social workers are and and those things. So, I just wanted to talk about that um for just a minute. So based on based on the auditor's recommendation, um we had one more teacher mentor than our peer districts and 12 other positions that were classified as other educational staff. So we had a total of 13 of those positions. The auditor recommended that we reduce nine of those to be in line with our peers. So when we say other educational staff, other professional staff, those are our teacher on
072assignments. So each of our elementary principles who are back there in the back of the room have a TOA um that helps them on a daily basis. They help with discipline, they help with scheduling, they help with um coverage, they help with leading different initiatives in the building and do a phenomenal job supporting our elementary principles. Also in that lane are our English language learner teachers who help support those students who need additional assistance as they learn English. Um our gifted staff was classified under this and um our our academic support coaches. Earlier Mr. Wilson talked about the flex grouping that he was doing with his teachers. Well, our academic coaches help with that and they help their teachers unpack the data um and make recommendations for grouping and supporting students with that work. we
073may classify our positions a little bit differently than our peers and that's what we just wanted to talk about. Um, additionally, last school year we employed eight social workers. That is five more than our peers. Um, so the auditor recommended that we reduce five social workers. Now those are our mental health interventionists. Each building has a dedicated MHI that supports the mental health and well-being needs of students and staff alike. Um, Milford made the decision under John's leadership to hire those and to have those inhouse. Other districts choose to contract those out. The last district I was at had those positions, but they were contracted through an ESC. So, we're still they were still spending the money. It was just contracted, so it didn't look like a staff. But either way, I think we can
074all agree that our students need that mental health support. Um, and our MHIS at Milford do a phenomenal phenomenal job meeting the needs of our students and it is a phenomenal program. It truly is a leader among the state. Um, when you look at that, additionally, another recommendation they made was related to um our school nurses. So, we employ uh nine people who are classified as nurses. The auditors recommended that we reduce this by one and a half. Each of our elementary schools has a registered nurse or a health aid in it to meet the needs of our students. Additionally, the middle school and the high school each have two health aids because of the large size of their books. When you look at our population, I think we can all argue it is important
075to have a nurse in every single elementary school. And when you're talking about a building of 1500 kids or 2,000 kids, you probably need two people to meet those needs. Um they also said our library staff was high when compared to our peers. So when this was done and keep in mind all these numbers are based on last year the district employed nine staff who are classified as librarians or library staff. We currently have six. So there is one media specialist at the high school. There is one media aid at the middle school and then our elementaryaries split four. So we've already seen a reduction in those compared to last year. Um, we also, unlike a lot of our peers, employ a school psychologist intern. So, school psyches um are required to do a year-long
076internship before they get their license. And in many cases, that internship is paid. The state actually provides us a grant that covers about half the cost of their salary. So, we get an incredible deal um and have the opportunity to provide an additional support for our staff and students that we may not be able to get for them normally. Also, um having a school psych intern helps set up an employment pipeline. School psyches are one of the hardest areas to find teachers or to find um employees. Um so, it lets us get them in early, get them trained to our ways, and then if we do have an opening, we it's a more seamless transition onto our staff. So, what are our next steps? Well, the audit was based on last school year's staffing numbers.
077Over the summer, the district did make cuts through attrition. there were positions last year that ended up not being filled when people resigned or retired. So, we are still um examining the financial impact and the impact that that had on the education of our students. And that's something that we're going to continue to do. So, as our staff uh retires or resigns, we're going to look and say, you know, is this do we need this position based on the enrollment of our students? Do we need this position based on the needs of our students? And that is what is ultimately going to drive our decision as we make those decisions to bring to hire a position or to choose to not hire a position um and reduce that position through attrition. I plan on sitting
078down um and hopefully with Dr. Fiori all of our principles in January and February to talk about staffing for next year. Lisa Hair has done a great job of pulling our projections um for enrollment and what their grades are going to look like next year. So, we'll sit down and talk about um their staffing needs for next year and look at, you know, we've already had eight teachers um submit their intent to retire at the end of the school year. So, we'll be looking at those positions with the principles um to say, are these positions that we need to fill based on our enrollment and based on the needs of our students. Um we will plan on coming back in the months coming forward to talk about um the cuts that were already made through
079attrition over last summer and the impact that that has had on our staffing level and our student need. and then we'll talk about our plans going forward. That's all I've got. Thanks. >> Thank you. I would I Oh, sorry. [applause] >> Give TJ a round of applause. >> I would just add I'm in the buildings a lot and teachers regularly talk about the benefits of the reset aids and the teachers on assignments. They regularly say, "I can teach my class now and somebody else can handle the the disruptive things." and they're just actually doing what they are there to do. So, um they are very much valued. >> I think too um something that's really important when you have an audit done like this, uh there are many like check steps along the way and
080we all sit in on those meetings and they go over the data with us. Um one thing that they made very clear to us is that what they presented to us are recommendations to be in line with our peers. Um so they're looking at it specifically from a data um driven point and they even said to us in our exit conference that you need to do what is best for your school and community. This is to show you the numbers but it doesn't mean like you have to pull 1.5 people from this category or 2.5 people from this category. These are just suggestions. They said you need to look at your entire body. what your goals are, what you're looking to do in your district, what level of service you want to give to your
081students, and then analyze from there. So, I think that's what um TJ was just talking about how we need to really sit down with this data. We need to look at what we've already done. We need to look at how many students we have and what their needs are and make some decisions from there um before we It's not like a prescription. So, I I thought that was really important when they told us that. >> I w I wanted to point out the TOAS. I believe this is something John even brought to us when we started it a couple years ago. A lot of our peer districts have those as principal assistant principles. So, um that is a cost savings to us. We appreciate the work there. It also has been a great pipeline which
082now that we've had it for a few years, we see when we have positions open, we already have staff that we're training. Um, and I I think John might have even mentioned Yeah. Right there. Some of them in the back room. Um, one of the good signs of leadership is when your people grow and have new opportunities and so we're able to do that with our with our staff here. So, I just love that TOA role and it's not an applesto apples. Um, you know, a lot of our peer districts are paying assistant super sensitive principles for those roles. So, that's my >> Yeah, I think it's great presentation TJ. I think the idea of what we're trying to do over the next couple of months is, you know, you have a performance audit. It's
083it's long, it's in depth, there's a lot of information in there. Um, a lot of it is hard to understand if you don't understand the roles and the coding and what these different positions do or the explanation of that some people do them as assistant principles and we do them as TOAS or whatever it might be. So, the idea is that over the next few months, you're able to take that performance out as as a community member or as a staff and take that and then look at the sections marry it to the to the uh presentations that we're going to do in these and then hopefully be able to come out of that with an out your your opinion or your thoughts after it's been broken down that way. So, I thought that was
084a fantastic start of doing that. >> Yep, definitely. All right, moving on. We have a middle school update, Mr. Spicer. >> All right. Uh sorry about that. Middle school update. Uh nothing really new from from last month. Just a continuation of our punch list. Jeff is working with Conger uh and OFCC Paul Modolinsky and we'll continue to do that and hoping as Jeff said we will close this out hopefully by end of January, maybe February that that would be very optimistic. >> Um but we're we're close. >> Y this might be a Jeff question and not not a you question, but there was construction materials at the end of what uh Eagle's Way. Does that mean the stop lights getting any closer? [laughter] >> So those random random piles. Yeah, it pie in the sky.
085It's going to be April before we see the traffic light across the street here. Um, you might see the the base happening. We got to get some widening this way. Of course, you can see it on Wolf Pen as well. This traffic light, it'll be it'll be late April before we get it. >> Us carpoolers are eager for it. >> I think a lot of folks are. We've been 10 plus years. We've been waiting for it. >> At least. Yeah, >> I will say it was great using the middle school for our um for our review with the superintendent being able to have some community members in there who hadn't even seen the space yet. We had some folks come over from uh Forest Hills tills that got to see our space and they were
086walking around kind of in awe of the space. So, uh the middle school really um shine that night and it's perfect opportunity to use the learning stairs and everything else. So, it's a really a great building. >> Y >> All right. Um, we need a motion to approve the Beacon Orthopedics and Sports Medicine amendment to the agreement. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> I know you told us about this last month, not John, but just in case people didn't see that. >> Yeah, this extends the uh the option for five years at 100,000 a year um from Beacon as well as three uh athletic trainers as well. >> Yeah. >> Please call the role. Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, yes.
087>> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Uh, I need a motion to approve all of the following policies. There are 40 of them. This is a normal thing. Um, sometimes we get all kinds of legal mandates uh to change our policy language, and that's what most of these are. >> So, moved. >> Second. And that new system that Michael mentioned earlier from right did you mention it from from OSBA. Uh they have a something that will help us streamline this. It's not going to be 27 attachments every time we do this. It'll be a little bit more integrated system. So that will be nice. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Uh now I need
088a motion to approve the gymnastics participants. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? This uh this is unique um in that we don't have an official gymnastics team, but sometimes we will have athletes in the district who want to participate under our banner. So uh we are approving these athletes, but it's um it's not a cost to us. Uh and hopefully they do well, one in middle school and one in high school. Might be kind of neat to have some Milford athletes recognized. Yes, definitely. >> All right, please call the role. >> Mrs. Wills, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. All right. Now, we are moving on to human resources business. And I do have a personnel update.
089So, in personnel, um, we're continuing to refine our personnel practices to better support our staff while planning, uh, responsibly for the future. Work is underway to strengthen our onboarding and exit processes, including improvements to surveys and feedback tools to ensure we are learning from employee experiences and using that information to inform future decisions. We're also continuing conversations about EMS, which is our um enrollment management services with a focus on long-term sustainability and assure ensuring our benefits remain competitive and financially responsible. So, this work includes reviewing enrollment trends, plan designs, and options used by comparable districts. Any potential changes would be considered well in advance and communicated clearly to our staff. This month, we also recognize the retirements of both Christy Jones and Cindy Anthony, and we thank them for their service to the district. And
090then finally, um, we have a couple supplemental assignments and volunteer positions on the agenda tonight which will be approved to support our student programs. So, um, I need a motion to approve the administrator personnel approvals. I'm sorry. You know what? This is a consent agenda. So I will need an a motion to approve items G1 through G4. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Uh, now moving on to curriculum and instruction. And I think Emily has an update for us. >> I do. Uh so we spend a significant amount of time in CNI talking about cyber security and um a component of House
091Bill 96 which was a budget bill we've heard uh had some requirements for cyber security programs. A lot of that stuff we were already working on and by we I mean Emma um was already working on but one of the quotes when we were reviewing all of the work she's doing is um cyber security is not just an IT role. It involves everyone. And so I think that's an important thing as we're looking and as we're growing. Um and then another thing that we talked about, Hamilton County ESC is um holding an AI workshop called Promptathon and we we have a team going. Yes. Yes. So we have a team going and part of that team in can include students 7 through 12. So if there are any students, it will take place on Wednesday,
092January 26. So you'll get out of school for a day. I'm assuming a an approved absence. um to go participate in the workshop and the promptathon. Um I think it's gonna be a really neat activity and I think AI is absolutely an area that we need to lean into and empower our students to learn because that's um wow it's grown fast. So um and then Michael also mentioned already our conversation about full day can earn as we continue to look at what that looks like for our students. >> Great. I need a motion to approve curriculum pay for this month. >> So moved. >> Second. Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >>
093Yes. >> Moving on to business operations. I need a motion to approve transportation and practical for the following students. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. Uh, do we have any public participation for the second part? >> We do not. >> All right. Um, then I need a motion to withdraw to executive session for the purpose of conference with the public's public body's attorney concerning pending or imminent court action. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. Um and before we adjourn, um do
094we have any discussion that we would like to have? >> Yeah, because we won't be coming back. We won't be doing anything. >> We will not be coming back to vote on anything. >> Um the only thing I had So, you know, we we talked about Bobby earlier. I had a a little bit of a statement put together here, but it kind of rounds out the ending here a little bit. So, you know, I do want to express my full enthusiasm and support for the appointment of of Bobby, our new superintendent. And for me, this this marks a major milestone in what has been a year of strategic team building. We've seen the immediate impact of bringing in TJ for HR and Doug as our treasurer as well as the strength from promoting within with
095Misty taking lead on curriculum. We've also seen incredible leadership through the restructuring of our principles at the high school and the new middle school. Those teams are doing fantastic job growing our students and staff even while navigating a year of uh of changes, you know, administrative changes and things like that. On top of that, Parker is really hitting his stride, growing our communications channels and giving the community a fun, intimate look into the day-to-day life of our schools. Adding Bobby to this group is going to amplify all that work, you know. And then as part of the work that we did uh for the student superintendent review, I also wanted to thank the Hamilton County ESC for guiding the process that we went through and specifically community and staff and students who gave their time
096and thoughts. As I said to the students in the room I was in, you know, the feedback uh wasn't just for today's decision. It's going to be our guide as we work with Bobby and build our strategic plan moving forward. And I'm confident we're building exactly the right team to move Milford forward. That's what I have. >> All right. Um, also our next meeting will be our organizational meeting. Just a reminder, it will be here uh January 5th at 5:00 pm. And that's where we will decide our board meetings for the year as well as our committee meetings. And with that, we're moving into executive session.