001No problem. No, I got It is Thursday, September 18th, 2025 at 6 o'clock, and I'd like to call this regular board meeting to order. Can I please get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Please join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I need a motion to approve the agenda. So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes.
002>> Now, I need a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting held on August 21st, 2025. >> Second, >> 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 special board meeting held on September 11th, 2025. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. And now I'd like to hand the microphone over to Josh Kaufman. >> It's our favorite part. >> It's my favorite, too. if I'm being honest. Uh really appreciate the opportunity to again this year celebrate uh
003the arts in the district. I'm going to invite our fine uh arts celebrated distinguished students recognized students uh this month from Milford High School to please come on up. We also have principal Mezer's here uh and Damon Tucker who's our department chair for uh the art visual art department at the high school. We have some really incredible work from um our student artists this year and it's always a challenge when we do the first month because if you think about it, we're like six weeks in. Um so when you look behind me and you see this artwork these students are producing, it's it's really pretty darn incredible. Um and I think we have just about everybody here. We might be missing one, but uh as I call your name, I've got a pin for you.
004This is the custom pin that only our uh featured artists get. Uh and we'll recognize your work. So first I'm going to recognize Nate Samples. Nate has the uh duck photography on the end. Come on up, Nate. >> We've got Elijah Messer who has the landscape photo uh right here. Elijah, >> great job. >> Delaney Glenn, who you will most frequently see on the sidelines of Milford athletic events. Delaney's got the lacrosse photo right here. Congratulations. >> Karina Cohen, I don't think made it tonight. Uh, she's got the abstract dining diner photo right here. No, that's the art. The abstract drawing right there. >> We've got Logan Halin who has the other abstract right here. Logan, congratulations. Well done. Well done. Got Jack Kramer who has the graphic design Spider-Man right here. Jack, congratulations. Well
005done. got Savannah Jacobs who has the shark sculpture right here in front of us. >> Uh, and Savannah was not able to make it tonight. And then I've got Khloe Call uh, who has the graphic design for Little Shop of Porsches. Great job. >> And I'm going to ask Chloe to sit here for a minute. I'm going to put her on the spot a little bit before she gets a chance to to shake some hands. So, Steve, if you would advance the next slide. Um, actually, would you go ahead one more? We've got six the musical coming up. And, uh, Chloe Khloe's one of our fine arts department interns this year. I'm gonna embarrass you a little bit. It's fine. Um, and you talk about multi-talented. So, Khloe's being recognized tonight as a feature featured
006artist. I don't pick those. The art department does, but honestly, incredible art as recognized by her teachers. Chloe designed the the poster for six the musical. So, that is all her original artwork. And Khloe is one of the six in six October 17th and 18th. Tickets are on sale now. So, I just wanted to kind of celebrate and highlight uh how well-rounded Khloe is as a as an artist in so many ways. So, congratulations. Yep. Yep. Want to shake some hands and then I'll talk about some other art things. But what doesn't she do is Right. Right. Um pretty pretty exceptional. Um so, as I mentioned, Six is coming up. Get your tickets early. It's going to be really incredible. If you are unfamiliar with Six, um it is essentially the story of Henry VII's
007six ex-wives all trying to tell the story about why Henry VII loved them the most. Um and it is a combination of kind of a Broadway show and a rock concert. It's going to be incredible. For the first time ever, we have a rotating stage. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be just awesome. Steve, if you would go back one, that would be great. Uh yesterday, we had uh Anthony Tchek King, who is one of the greatest choir directors in the world. I mean, honestly, Google his name and you'll see the groups that he uh comes that he's connected with. Bochase 8, uh the Honda and Heland and Hayden uh choir. Um absolutely incredible talent. He was passing through town and Mrs. Shot, our choir director, through some mutual connections reached out and
008said, "Hey, would you come to Milford High School?" And he did last spring and he enjoyed working with our students so much he came back yesterday to work with them again. So, that's a really, really cool thing. Steve, if you'll jump ahead, too. Also want to invite the community to a really special event next Friday night in Eagle Stadium. We're kicking off our celebration of a hundred years of Milford band. Uh it's open to the community. We're also really really pushing. We want as many alumni to come back and be a part of that as possible. So if you know any Milford band alumni, please please come back. If you are a Milford band alumni, uh our band boosters are going to provide dinner and it'll be a preview of uh the cutting edge the
009show this year which is based on the music from Sweeney Todd. And then finally, I know we've talked about this uh before uh but it's worth repeat bears repeating. Uh last week, Brandon Ditken was recognized as one of 30 educators in the entire country, one of only 15 outside of the Nashville area as a CMA Foundation National Music Teacher of Excellence. Um so, a few photos from the night. Uh they had a red carpet. Brandon was able to walk. Um we got to sit at a table with Ryan and Rory, upcoming uh BMG recording artist, and they were just incredible. Um, it was really, you know, a lot of organizations, I had a chance to talk to the president of the CMA Foundation and she said, 'How was the event? And I said, a lot
010of organizations will say they appreciate teachers, right? And and we appreciate those things, don't get me wrong. Well, they'll give, you know, here's a few free tickets to a Red's game or here's 10% off discount when you shop. Um, the CMA Foundation made those 30 teachers feel like they were Hollywood celebrities from the moment they arrived in Nashville until the moment they left. Um, it was an all expenses paid experience. Uh Brandon got to stay at the Omni Hotel. They had dinner out. They had all the They absolutely treated them like rock stars, as they should. Uh but it was really neat to see. So um we are so fortunate. I'm so proud of Brandon and so thrilled to work alongside him and have him work with our band students. Um to have one of
01115 outside the Nashville area music teachers of excellence is really pretty darn incredible. So just wanted to recognize that again. Thank you as always for opportunities to celebrate the arts. >> Thank you so much. And now we have a special announcement from Mr. Spicer. >> I think we're going to turn it over to Kevin Mezer for just a >> just a hot minute, I think. It's always nice to see the wonderful artwork that they do. >> Uh once again, congratulations to the students that are being uh presented tonight. The artwork is amazing, especially when they hang it in the hallways. Uh when we do the art show second semester, um you you guys have been there. They transform the cafeteria. Uh it's truly phenomenal what our our arts department is doing on a daily basis
012with kids between throwing with ceramics and and drawing and painting and sculpture. uh just being in one of those classrooms and just to to hear the the silence um of just focus and determination, especially for those that may struggle a little bit with the arts but are giving it the good old high school try um is is awesome. I love jumping in those classrooms and and getting to share those experiences with those kiddos. Um so, President Mason, members of the board, Superintendent Spiser, Mr. Acriman treasurer. Uh I was invited here tonight to give a brief update on the ongoings at Milford High School. Uh with the intention of giving a more in-depth update later on in the year once we establish more data. Um we are we still are early on. Um you know it's
013we're about to finish our fifth week. Um you know interim reports have gone out, academics are active. Uh and I wanted to give some of the highlights of the positive things that are happening uh in our school. So, at the beginning of the year, I shared with you guys uh one of the big school culture aspects that we are trying to approach. Uh and and I I framed it in a theme and it's called proud history, bold future. We have a lot of things to offer at Milford schools and we've shown a lot of growth and we're going to continue to show a lot of growth, but we also have to embrace some of the wonderful traditions that we have had in the past. Um, when I approached this with the staff, uh, we talked
014about proud history right at our beginning staff meeting and I gave the opportunity for staff to share what proud history was to them. And we heard from a multitude, some of some of our veterans, some of our newer people. Uh, and it was really just an culminating conversation to start the the school year off in a positive way. And my approach for that was if we can have a positive school culture, our students are ultimately going to affect from that in a positive way. if we can embrace some of the wonderful things that we've done in the past for example the class of 1975 that Mr. Zepka invited to um our athletic events or some of the more recent ones um if we talk about Milford Foundation and you know our honores you know one
015person that's near and dear to my heart Mr. Wilson's getting recognized this year um as a his former math student and and teacher in the building. It's uh just an amazing experience to see him being honored and us to embrace that proud history. Uh, with that said, um, we have a parent communication goal this school year for our staff to increase parent communication so parents know exactly what's happening in classrooms and we can stay ahead of um, some of the the end of the quarter things like grades or uh, you know, if some a student's going through something, we can actually provide them support early on uh, to stay ahead of it. Uh, so each staff member this past Friday had a goal of sending two positive emails home along with our PBIS certificates, which
016I'll get to in just a minute. uh but they also were encouraged to reach out to families about grades. Let's talk about it. Let's have those conversations and and let's see what we could do to provide more for our students. Uh PBIS is one of our positive uh aspects of school. We have a tier one, tier 2, and a tier three system. Tier one is our certificates. Uh we've awarded about 314 about we'vewarded exactly 314 certificates this school year for being responsible uh respectful resilient. Uh Mrs. Gregory and Mr. Soliss uh go around on a cart, a PBIS cart that's got lights and the flight song every week uh and award uh students with trinkets, you name it, fidgets, candy. Um we have awesome swag bags uh and and mugs that they can can access
017as well. Um and I'll bring a picture to you guys uh the next time I do a little bit more in depth uh once we really build that cart to what it should be. Um it's it's pretty awesome. Tier two is check-in, checkout. This is one of our biggest systems. Check-in checkout is where we pair students with their trusted adult in the building and that adult will check in with them in the morning and check in with them before they leave. Uh that email has already been sent out and we're working on drafting potential students that could benefit from the check-in checkout system. And then finally, tier three is individualized plans uh that we can use to provide students resources. Let's say attendance has become an issue due to medical issues or or anything really,
018we can touch base with a family. we can have those conversations and we can provide the most for those students. Um, tier three is something that we needed to work on in the past fortunately. Uh, we are hitting it early on this year. Uh, so we should see some really improvements with our tier three system. Homecoming, it's coming up. It's that time of year. October 4th, saddle up is the theme. Uh, the kids did create it. Um and and our student council has been really hard at work at uh creating the the theme days, the spirit days that we're going to see in about uh a week. Uh we're going to communicate that out to students soon. Uh the parade, there's going to be some new things with the parade this year, but I can't
019give out too much information because the element of surprise has to be there. Um I think you guys are going to look forward to it and it's going to be something new and that's okay. Uh the parade will start at Malberry at 5:30, right around 5:30 as long as everything's safe and then we'll move through our normal path. That will be communicated to families next week along as social media uh so they're aware of what that path is going to be. Um big news, many of you saw it on social media. We have our new social media accounts now for the high school specifically, Instagram and Facebook. Um seniors are going to be painting their parking spaces this year. Uh so exactly there's a lot of excitement towards that. We have about 101 design approvals
020that have already been approved. Uh and our first painting day is going to happen this Sunday uh starting at 9 9:00 a.m. So we're going to see how that goes. I know the kids are excited, the students are excited about it. The high school level, you can call them kids. Yes, they are kids, but they're nearing adults. So uh I try my best to to give them that grace. Uh and then last but not least, we do have a lot of good things happening in classrooms. Um and a lot of active things which is really cool. Uh for example, biomedical engineering. Uh they did a crime scene uh interaction lab where they were up and moving kind of going through uh some of the logistics of that. And then one of the classrooms that I
021visited last week was Mrs. Shot and choir. Uh and to see just the mathematical relationship between music and and math and and that application was amazing. She was going through dialect and how different speech patterns can be applied to different songs. They had sheet music up on the board. Kids were critical thinking. And one of our district goals is critical thinking. How can we improve critical thinking for our students and ourselves because we can always grow as well. With that said, um that's my my brief update for today. I would love if you guys had any questions for me. Um if you heard anything in the community, would like clarification, I'm happy to answer it. on the PBIS how how receptive I mean obviously that's something we have been doing for a while but how
022is the reception from the parents with the additional communication from the teachers is are they you know appreciative of it engaging you know how what's that been like >> so with the communication goal from last Friday it's it's still too too soon u because those those emails and those phone calls went out so they either had a direct interaction with the teacher last Friday um or they had an email interaction u I know there's been a lot of posit positive from it because our flex spells uh have been really utilized by our teachers to get those students um to either make up work um enrichment activities or reinforcement activities. Uh so I I think it's still a little too early to tell. I'd like to see what the upcoming weeks as we near the end
023of the quarter are going to look like. In terms of PBIS, it is wellreceived. One uh thing that we would like to consider is u whether or not we make the move to class dojo. The argument uh for that is that it's a very elementary program. Class dojo is claiming that they've got a more high school-based uh opportunity for us. So, we'll pursue it, but the certificates, the tangibles have been pretty well received by our students. >> Yeah. No, I know my wife with our little one loves dojo, but yeah, I would have to I haven't looked at it from a standpoint of what it would look like from a high school perspective, but Okay. No, that's good. I just, you know, I love all the programs we have to support the kids and I
024just want to make sure that the community is appreciative of that, understand that, engaging with it as we know it's going to take everybody involved to see good progress. So >> and that's why we're trying to do the phone calls home with PBIS so it it's full circle. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. >> Well, I told you yesterday, Kevin, all the good news I'm hearing from high school staff and students about the start of the year. Uh, everybody is just so happy with the positivity and the new ideas and they just said it just feels really light and positive. So, I just want to share that with you again and the rest of the board members. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Um, how is uh the drive no busing the driving the as a
025parent I will say this past week was the best so far as far as pickup afternoon pickups going. It seems like it's getting evened out. >> Yes. Um there's wait. I recognize that. Uh there's weight with no transportation. Let's we can acknowledge it. Um it is getting better, especially with dismissal. Arrival has been smooth majority of our our mornings unless there's a wreck on Wolfpen. uh dismissal. We tried different variations of loops and realized that that did not work and we just need to trust the plans that were put into place in regards to the traffic flow when the building of the middle school came to fruition. Uh and that seems to be working. We've been getting people off of campus within 15 to 20 minutes at dismissal. Um students have been you utilizing the
026sidewalks, which was a big push at the beginning of the year. They they tried to take last year's path up Eagle's Way. That's not safe. So, we were able to redirect them to to use the sidewalks and the crosswalks. Uh, so it is getting better. Um, arrive arrival in the morning. Um, you know, we we do have a lot of students that are that are outside uh waiting for the the building to open. That'll be something I likely have to consider in the upcoming months. I don't know what that looks like yet, but um it is on our our communication plan with our admin team. So, >> yeah, let us know if there's any way we can support you from a board aspect on that. If you come up with a plan or something, we
027understand that, you know, the busing is a challenge. So, if there's things that we need to consider, just let us know. >> Absolutely. And we we do our after school study hall for about an hour and that's been wellreceived. We've had upwards of 100. We've had as low as 20. So, it's it's all dependent on what the parents need and the families need. >> Great. Well, thank you so much for the update. >> Yeah. Thank you guys very much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> All right. I do have one special announcement. Um it is from the Milford First United Methodist Church. So I'm just going to read this uh message. Uh Fuel for Flight is new um sponsored by the United Methodist Church. It's created to step into the gap that's been left
028from Feed Our Flock, which was a vital um partner in our community. Uh and they provided weekend food bags for students in need across the Milford School District beginning this school year. Child-friendly, shelf stable food bags each weekend. um will cover all nine of our schools um so that no no student has to return on Monday learn uh hungry and and they're ready for learning. Uh while the congregation has pledged to underwrite half of the $80,000 that's an annual cost, we believe this is a common uh uh issue and they're inviting partners across Milford to join in sustaining the effort. So with the help of volunteers including Milford High School students um they are hoping that others can come and help and support ensure that every child in our district has the nourishment they need.
029So once again, uh, Milford First United Methodist Church, >> if people want to donate, will Parker be able to send something out? >> They can go down to right now, they're hoping to get their own page going, but they right now they can click, they can go to the church and scroll down under giving opportunities and one of them says fuel for flight. >> Okay. >> You know, it's a lot of moving pieces to take on at first. So, they're they're figuring it out. But I know we all appreciate them stepping up to do this. >> Yeah, it's really exciting and I feel like it's so important that they're filling that hole that Feed Our Flock had taken care of. It's It's so generous and it really speaks a lot to our community. >> All
030right. Do we have any public commentary? >> We do not. Not on this round. >> Okay. All right. We will move on to board of education business. And I would like to start us with the mission moment. For this month's mission moment, we are honored to recognize Christian Korggan. He is the educational aid at the middle school. Christian embodies the essence of an exceptional support staff member. Calm, caring, and an integral part of the Milford Middle School community. His positive demeanor creates an environment where all students feel safe, supported, and valued. Beyond his primary primary responsibilities, Christian constantly goes above and beyond offering help to any student in need. His ability to deescalate challenging situations with patience and empathy. Sorry, particularly with students facing emotional hurdles is truly remarkable. Whether working one-on-one, retaching concepts during
031talent time, or coaching cross country and basketball, Christian's dedication shines. His leadership extends beyond the classroom and athletics fields as he fosters teamwork, perseverance, and confidence in his students, often forming lasting mentor relationships. Christian is also an incredible team player, always ready to support his colleagues and contribute to a positive school culture. His collaborative spirit, unwavering patience, and genuine compassion makes him beloved by both students and staff. Whether stepping in to assist fellow aids, uplifting the classroom atmosphere, or supporting extracurricular programs, Christian's impact is farreaching and deeply felt. He exemplifies the spirit of a caring educator who selflessly puts others first and strives to make a meaningful difference every day. And I just wanted to say that for this mission moment, Misty Gets actually wrote this um because she nominated Christian for an OMLA Southwest
032Regional Award, which we're hoping that he gets because he is very much deserving of it. >> Oh, that's amazing. That's my two teachers from the middle school that nominated. >> That's so great. >> It's funny. >> Oh, great. So he won that award. >> Well, thank you so much for that update. That's amazing. All right. Um, we are moving on to the treasurer's reports. Does Michael have an update before we start that? >> Well, this uh committee meeting was cut a little short because we had our special meeting uh last week to uh approve the contract for the consultant for our superintendent search. So, most of the half hour was to go through our four-year forecast, which is what we'll go over here in a minute. Right, Doug? >> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, I
033won't steal any of Doug's thunder on the four-year forecast. I will say that we are still working our way through the um state performance audit. And the next step on that is for them to schedule a meeting with us to review. And we expect to have this um wrapped up in October as as planned. It could get extended. Uh we don't see any reason why it should. They are um our entire staff has been fully available for them. I think they're finished with the meetings with our staff and they're just working on building out the report now. So, um so yeah, we should possibly have that next month, but um we're working our way through that. And I also got a comment from the community um about our special meetings. And just so people understand,
034you know, the board cannot make uh decisions on contracts or anything for that matter without all of us being together to make a decision. So when we schedule special meetings, it is to help keep the district and the board moving forward at a at a fast pace versus versus um waiting every month for our regular board meetings. So um that information is always available on the website. It's always sent out and if anybody ever has any questions about the special meeting or what's going to be discussed or the output, one, it is on the website, but two, we're always happy to um take emails and answer questions about that as well. And um with that, we'll turn it over to Doug. >> If I can say one more thing about the performance audit, just so
035everyone knows, they have not given us any recommendations yet. I know that in the previous performance audit they had already given us recommendations but that's because we were in fiscal caution so things had to keep moving forward. So um just want to make sure that's that's out there. >> Yeah, good point. And even on this one the you know it's just can't be discussed until it's finished. So correct. Correct. They haven't given us anything and then we also don't have the liberty to just uh discuss it. So we have to wait until it's finished. So with that, um, can I get a motion to approve the board reports? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. And I will turn it over to Doug. >> All right. Madame President, members of the board, Mr. Kaufman
036was excited. This is my turn to be excited. So the first report you see here is our cash reconciliation. What this is is this is an opportunity to make sure that our operating account, our bank account matches the state software. And if you scroll down, Steve, you can see right in here, this is what we want to find out is if the fund balance, which is in the state software, matches our operating account, which it does. And then payroll matches as well. So that's obviously good. And then the next slide. Okay. Then this is our investment report. Now what's great about Red Tree is they do an incredible job of walking us through every investment. They make sure that this district does not lose money and I truly respect that. I know that I handpicked
037them for the last district that I attended or excuse me worked and I can say that Mr. Esby did the same thing here and I appreciate that. Um what you can see here is this is what we've earned for the month of August and then which we're only two months into the fiscal year and we've already generated around $600,000 uh year to date. So that's very good. Uh moving forward, what you're seeing right here is interest rates are starting to go down. So what that means is our investments obviously uh the revenue that we're generating will start to go down, but that's okay. the two lines that we're going to focus in the future. Scroll up just a little bit, Steve. There's general funds right here. That's obviously what gets uh put into the general
038fund, what we earn right there. And our fifth third, which is our operating account. And then the next slide. Now, this obviously is my favorite slide because this is a snapshot of the five-year forecast. So, this is the five-year forecast. Now, please remember this is from last May. The board has not approved the current 5-year forecast. So, what we're doing is comparing this right here, monthto date or excuse me, year to date uh for two months to May of last year. But if you slide down just a just a little bit, you'll see keep going as far as over under right now we're $12 million positive. So, that's awesome. That's great. That means we're moving in the right direction. And then the next slide. Now we get some pictures, which everyone likes pictures. >> New
039colors. >> I know. We finally are figuring it out. Um, we we have a problem and we need these art students back in here because as we find out that at least in the treasures department, our weakest link is art. So, graphic design. But what we are finding out is when you look at our state revenue, it has or excuse me, local revenue that has gone up. And then you'll see our state revenue is down a little bit from last year, but it is up slightly from two years ago. So we're looking at fiscal year 24, 25, 26. And then as far as all other revenue, yes, there's a big jump right there, but to be honest, that's because we received our property tax settlement. And then the next slide is our expenditures. So you
040will see that salary and benefits are down. So they're up slightly from 24, but they're down from last year. So that's good. Uh purchase services, purchase services are up from last year, but they're also down from the previous year. Now, please remember here that we changed state software from one application to another application. So things were not necessarily paid at the beginning of last fiscal year. So that's why the jump looks so high right there. But as you can see from two years ago, it is down. And then all other expenses, excuse me, expenditures are up slightly from last year but down from the previous year. Most of that is because we are paying things ahead right now. Uh different things that the board approved last year for curriculum and some computers, some software, and
041I would say the bad thing is our property casualty liability insurance went up, but I think it's going up for everyone. So there we go. And then the next slide is okay. So we discussed or I should say we had to discuss because part of the house bill 96 the bianium budget is we now have to track our administrative expenditures. At the end of fiscal year 25 we ended the year at 12.91%. So right now we're looking at 18.2. 23% but please remember that's only two months into the fiscal year. If you look at the two previous years you'll see that it's around 16%. So we're on track. What's important is that we have to monitor this each month and six months into the fiscal year we'll have a really good idea of do we
042need to do something to to meet or be compliant with House Bill 96. And then the next slide, this is something a little new that I thought I'd show everyone. What this is is this is showing our five-year forecast again from May and it's if you slide up just a little bit, it's showing right there. So, if you go back to that SM1 report, the one I like, you'll see the same number showing that we have a negative spend or excuse me, negative negative, excuse me, negative spending u deficit spending. And but what this is doing is the computer analysis is projecting taking all our revenue and expenditures for the year taking it out 12 months that we should end the year around 1,200 or excuse me $712,000. >> So I think this will be
043a great uh a great document to to keep reviewing and we'll see how it looks after each quarter. So and that's it. Any questions? You might get into this in the five-year forecast or might not be discussed yet. I've heard a lot of talk of health care prices going up, insurance. Do we have any insight into that? How concerned are you about those like significant jumps? >> It is. Um, you are That's true. We're not going to talk about it tonight. >> Okay. Um, and I'm sure the performance auditors will bring it up, but we are looking into a company to help us with that. And it's it's called EMS. And what they're going to do is talk to every employee inside the district and see what they can do to help them uh individually
044as a family. And then ultimately that helps us as a district because we don't see our premiums jumping up. So it is something that our consortium, we belong to a health health insurance consortium and it's something that every district inside the consortium is doing. So >> okay. >> All right. Um can I get a roll call? >> Yes, you can. Soon as I can find it. Here we go. Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Uh, now I need a motion to approve contracts for approval. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason?
045>> Yes. >> Now I need a motion to approve the vendors for approval. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Looks like we're getting caught up on all the vendors, right? Smaller list. >> Yes. >> Okay, that's all I have to say. >> 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. >> Second. Any discussion? Uh from me just thanks as always to our athletic boosters and um we have some donations coming in from the MBA and of course Eric Zumio and then we have several individuals who gave us um many different musical instruments. Uh so thank you to all of you because we
046always appreciate donations. >> Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? Yes. Now I need a motion to approve the appropriations. >> Second. >> Doug, can you just tell us? >> I sure can. Okay. Each year we are required by law to start the year which is in July. So within 30 days we have to ask you to pass the temporary appropriation so that we can spend money in order to conduct business. within 90 days of the fiscal year you have to create the budgetary appropriations and then by the end of the year you amend these appropriations. So these are the limits of which we can spend money according to to your approval. >>
047Great. Any questions? 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 five-year forecast. So moved. >> Second, >> Mr. Acriman. >> All right, here we go. This is exciting. Now, this is exciting. All right, so before we really dive into the five-year forecast, if we could go one slide up, Steve. All right, so we're going to go back in time. Now, when I say back in time, we're only going back to May. So, it's not that long ago. And this was the May submission of the five-year forecast, which is the second one for the year. So you could say it's the amended forecast. You could say
048that it's the second submission. But what I want to point out is no levies. So you see up in here, no levy talk down here. Very positive positive cash fund balance, which is great. Unfortunately, we still are deficit spending. So I know I say it a lot. We need to make sure we rightsize. We need to make sure that we control our deficit spending. We need to be fiscally responsible. It's also important to remember that we're trying to fit our spending in it to a 2013 level budget. >> Yes. >> Well, they moved it up to 221 or 2021 now. So, >> I know. I just think it's always important to remind people that we haven't passed an operating bud since >> Oh, I'm I'm sorry. Yes. >> So, it's important to understand that yes,
049we were far over deficit spending and now we're reeling that back in. Um, and it's important to know that that the dollar amount greatly legs against inflation. So, this is a uh phenomenal job from our uh administration. >> Well, let me make it even better for you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. So, you'll see that we're deficit spending by approximately $12 million right in here. Almost 13 million. You'll see that our ending fund balance is around 12 million. If you go to the next slide, here's our September of fiscal year 26. I also want to point out because of House Bill 96, and I know Mr. Wilson stated it earlier, it's now the four-year forecast, but please remember this right here. It's you're seeing it right now, but you will not see it
050in the future until people get used to it. it will be shown and then the state of Ohio will get rid of this template and you will only see four years worth of forecasts. So you'll see previous years and then the four years. What I want to point out again, no levy talk through here. Ending fund balance all positive. Yes, we're still deficit spending. But let me spin this a little bit. When I showed you fiscal year 29 in May a few months ago, we were looking at almost -13 million. Now we're looking at -6.5 million. And our fund balance was 12 million. Now it's 14.5 million. Let me spin this just a little bit more. If you go back one year to the November forecast for fiscal year 25, one year ago, we were
051looking at deficit spending of 15.5 million and we were looking at an ending fund balance of6.5 million. >> That's a $20 million swing in a year by trying to be fiscally responsible. Yes, it's hard work. Yes, there's a lot to it. Yes, everybody out there hates me because they're afraid I'm going to say no at everything they ask me, but I think everyone in this district is doing a great job and I applaud you and thank you for your help. So, >> and it's important to note because we had this question come up recently is that district finances tail, you know, so any cuts that you make around a lot of things we were announcing last year around uh purchase services, around administration, around, you know, busing, any of these sort of things, it greatly
052trails what you can determine of what was the savings and how can that be added in um to the savings moving forward. So, um I know I or we get this question often of making some cuts and changes and then it takes a while for things to to show up and and this is kind of an example of that. Obviously, there's a lot more things Doug's done over the last year than than just the um cuts that we made, but it's it's you know, one of those nuances of uh of school districts. it it's just important to watch every account code and to constantly review your expenditures, not just look at it periodically. You never know when and and it's not just to say no. It's it's just so that you can say, "Hey, wait
053a minute. There might be a better way to actually spend this money or maybe there's a more creative way to get what we need." So >> yeah, >> and that's what I think is important. So if you go to the next slide, we'll kind of dive into the meat of this. This is a simplistic u opportunity to show that here's our revenue for the year. Here's our expenditures. Yes, we're looking at deficit spending of 1.9 and the bar graph shows that it would take our fund balance from 30 million to 28 million. Obviously, we want to do something about this. So the alarms are going off. It means what can we do right now, this minute? to to reduce that. And then if you look at the next slide, so here's a couple nice pie
054charts, it shows our current revenue and our current expenditures. What you see here in the blue shaded area is our local revenue. And then you'll see our state revenue. And then on the right side, our expenditures, you'll see that the blue shaded area, that's our salaries, that's our benefits, and there's our purchase services. And then the next slide. So what this is doing is the last slide showed current revenue, current expenditures. This is taking what we're projecting for the future. And you can see that you still have majority of the revenue coming from local sources. And then the state is around 37%. And then the next slide. Now this shows our expenditures. So you can see that salary and benefits encompasses 78% of our total expenditures. That's a big deal. And then purchase services is
055another 17%. So that eats up most of what we're spending right there. So when we start targeting things, you target from the smaller areas first because you control them. Obviously, we're here to educate kids. So this is not something we dive into it right away, but it is obviously on the radar. And then the next slide. All right. So here's our cash on hand. Now, this is an important slide. We have a 90-day cash reserve policy. So, you can see all the way through fiscal year 28, we're doing a good job. Yes, we're close right there. That means by by fiscal year 29, the alarms are going off. But because like Mr. Wilson said, money compounds over time, you start working on it now to take care of this problem here. And then the next
056slide. All right. So, here's our enrollment. The first glance at this, you're like, "Oh my goodness, what did we do wrong?" We didn't do anything wrong. We peaked in fiscal year 22. We peaked before the fair school funding plan started. The fair school funding plan took away all our resident students that currently leave us and are open enrolled in other school districts or attend charter schools. Resident students used to be counted as part of our ADM right in here. We lost those students. We took a big hit. Then you throw in vouchers for non-pubs, which is your parochial schools. All of a sudden, you take another hit. Now, yes, enrollment looks like it's down. Yes, it starts to level off, which is good. Yes, we have to think of this as like customers. How do
057we get them back in the door? And we will. The positive side of this, what you don't see is these resident students were outsourced. So, we still had to pay for them even though we got credit for them. When the fair school funding plan started, these school districts got paid directly. So, we do not have to pay for them. So, what you see, what doesn't look as good here does look good as far as purchase services because those expenditures went down. And then the next slide, we're going to end on something positive, which this whole five-year forecast is positive if I'm not saying that correctly. If you look right here, this is our state revenue. excuse me, our residential property taxes. So, when you look right here, of the 35% that we receive in our
058residential property taxes, it only costs the district $85 per student to educate that child. I think that says a lot right there. I think we're getting a lot for our money. So, awesome. >> Any questions? All right. >> I think you're doing an awesome job, Doug. Thank you. >> A pleasure. >> All right. Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now, we have a middle school update. >> While Jeff walks up, um, the middle school update is kind of short. Working through the punch list of items that are still left. As you can see, we're starting to You'll see the green uh starting to come up. Um and then Jeff is at the
059microphone, so I'm let him do it. >> Um as Mr. Spiser said, it's not a huge update. Um certainly not sexy updates. We're doing a punch list. Um getting things cleaned up. Um we did since the last board meeting got our east parking lot um is open. Uh they're working on the new tennis court parking lot. um that they're putting in. Um still trying to get some information out of the county um as far as the road widening and um traffic light. They're they're they're stuck on utility relocation. So they don't we we don't have a whole lot of information on what that looks like because they're waiting on some of the utility relocations. But um things are looking good. Um, I spend most of my days over at the middle school, um, dealing with
060some of the contractors, making sure teachers and administrators don't have any issues. Um, we did have a health department reinspection today and everything went great. So, things are looking good. Um, sometimes I get frustrated that things aren't getting checked off the list as fast as they should, but um, I talk to Todd pretty much on a daily basis. Is there anything that's impacting students education? And Todd's like, "No, no, we're good." You know, again, we still have some things to to finish up, but nothing that hasn't been finished up yet is impacting, you know, anything that teachers need to do in the classroom. So, uh, we're getting close. Um, we talked, um, we've talked pretty much every week for the last month or so, our goal is to have this project closed out closed out
061by the end of the calendar year. So, we're we're we're that's our goal and that's what we're working towards and um I I think we're going to get there. So, we're working on it's a lot of it's the backend closeout information um that we're working with OFCC and Conger to to get taken care of, getting on and manuals, getting owner trainings, obviously, like I said, finishing punch list. So, um we're getting there. >> What does that close out process look like, Jeff? like uh just when the punch list is done. I mean, if it was to go past the end of the year, they're still going to finish stuff up. What What is a What is a close out like to make sure >> close out a lot of paperwork to be honest with you.
062It's working through. So, there there's a software program called OakCI that OFCC uses. Um we've got to close out the the >> Conger needs to close out the subcontracts. Um obviously there's final payment. there's retainage that needs to be paid out. We need to get O andM manuals from and I've got a lot of them already. They've kind of pre-sent them to me. Um particularly on the MEP items. Um so we've got that information. Um obviously like I said, punch list, but at the at the end of the day, a lot of it is kind of closing out contracts >> um and and getting final payment made and and a lot of it's just paperwork that goes through Oaks with OFCC. Gotcha. Okay, >> sounds good. >> Just so people are well aware, when the
063project was 50% completed, we had to take 100% of the retainage and put it into a special account. So, they actually Conger does not receive the money until Jeff's finished closing. Right. >> I I will tell you, so we did the the fourpack in 2001 and two, if I'm not mistaken, 2002 and three, I'm not right around there. I started here in November of 2009 and about six months into my tenure working for Milford School District, we closed out the fourack. So it it can be ch and and I wasn't here when we built those schools. I know I you know I've heard some stories but you know to to close out a project four months after moving into the building um is a challenge. >> Yeah. >> And and I'm hopeful that we'll get
064there. If we don't, we're going to get close. But but um you know getting that project closed out and moved on and everybody moves on you know it it really is a big deal that you see on the back end not so much you know it's great to have the ribbon cutting and the kids are in the building and it's fantastic but there's still a lot of stuff that needs to be done to to truly close out the project. >> Yeah. Yeah. Those details are very important. Um I know from software installations and stuff punch lists can keep getting things added to them and things like that. So that's why I asked the question of how how it's going and what what it takes to close it out to make sure because it is important
065for everybody to stay dedicated to wrapping it up even after the ribbon cutting is done. >> I mean I I'll give you an example. We've got Conger did it on their own. Um they put sod in front of that in in the the front of the middle school at a cost of about $30,000. >> Wow. That's great. Um we have gone through I mean there's still more to come. Obviously the field that's going in right now is still needs to get hydro seated but um the back side of the building the west side of the building um around Eagle's way we we've hydro seated that in recent days for three weeks and will probably occur for another two weeks. We've got two laborers who I mean we've got some sprinklers that are set up there
066on timers, but we've got a couple laborers out there literally watering that sod and that hydro seeding so that we can try to get grass to grow as best we can because none of that is is sprinkled. >> Yeah. >> So, you know, trying to get that grass to grow and and you guys look at the weather isn't raining in like 10 weeks, you know, more than a day or two. Um, and there's not a whole lot, you know, maybe a little bit next week, but um, trying to get that seated. It's a lot of square footage to try to water, but and and Congress's not charging us for that. >> Yeah. Talk about the saying watching grass grow, right? Yeah. >> That's part of, you know, kind of the the the loose ends and
067everything trying to get it finished up and done right so that, you know, we're not spending thousands of thousands of dollars. I mean, we're going to have to re, don't get me wrong, we're going to have to overseed that in the spring. We're probably going to do it again next, you know, fall with 26, you know, to make sure we get a good stand of grass growing, but >> we don't, that grass is not sprinkled. We don't have an irrigation system out there, and anybody's tried to grow grass in their yard, if you don't sprink, if you don't get water on it, it's not going to grow. So, um, they've been, you know, again, moving sprinklers and literally just standing out there with a hose trying to get keep water on it so that that
068we're not that money's not like, you know, good money after bad, if you will, um, to to try to keep grass growing. So, it's just a small example of, you know, trying to close out things, get things finished up and done the right way. >> Yeah. No, everybody's dedication to that project and finishing up has been been really nice to see. And no more Mount Milford. >> Nope. >> I think I stood here two years ago and said it's just top soil. It's going to go away. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jeff. >> And now we're moving on to policy. >> Yes. Uh we do have uh some policy second reading asking for your approval one through four. >> Uh do we need to take action on this? Yes. >> Okay. Uh,
069can I get a motion to approve the policies? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Now, moving on to academic calendar. >> Yes. Uh, item number three, President Mason, members of the board, asking for your approval of the 2627 academic calendar. Can I get a motion to approve the academic calendar? >> So moved. Second. >> Any discussion? >> We looked at this last time, so this is just voting on it. >> I know Parker's put a lot of work into it, and I I trust his work is is good. >> Y, please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >>
070Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Uh now moving on to human resources business and I realize that we always do consent agenda which is um we are voting on a lot of different things. Um so I put together a little summary of what we talked about in personnel um just so you can understand uh how we come to the decisions and how we talk about things in the committee. Uh this month the district is making a few staffing adjustments and process improvements as we move into the new year. A revised evaluation framework for administrators will launch this semester, providing clearer expectations and growth opportunities. This update grew out of district-wide work to ensure that appraisal tools are meaningful and effective. By moving towards a standardized rubric rather
071than relying on narrative or verbal feedback, administrators will have a clearer picture of expectations and the district will be able to compare progress from year to year in a consistent way. We would also like to welcome Justin Sadler as interim principal of Milford Junior High School for the 2526 school year. Justin, who previously served as teacher on assignment at McCormick Elementary, will provide leadership continuity in this one-year role. While the district continues to assess long-term needs, several teachers are advancing on the salary schedule as they complete additional coursework with many reaching the M's plus 50 level, which is the highest level of professional advancement in our district. It's a point of pride for our district to have so many highly educated and committed professionals in our classrooms. At the central office, we are excited to
072once again have a receptionist after several months without one. This transition also allows us to begin important cross trainining and add new responsibilities to better serve families and staff across payroll registration and front office needs. We will also be approving several supplementals for the year as well as volunteers to support our band, basketball, and football programs. As always, the district continues to explore cost savings and carefully review staffing data to ensure that we remain right-sized and sustainable for the future. And with that, um, I would like to have a motion to approve items G1 through five. >> So moved. Second. >> Any discussion? >> I would just say I worked with Mr. Sadler in the past and I know he's going to do a great job at the middle school. He was at his first
073sporting function yesterday. He did a really good job holding up the wall. >> All right. Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now, moving on to curriculum and instruction business. Emily has an update for us. Um, we have not as many items to work on. Um, we have a couple curriculum pay for um, home instruction for IEP compliance, some CPR courses, and some district technology input. We also talked about Ohio Health Bill 96, which was the budget bill, right, which had a thousand other things in it. One of which included how to update GPA, how GPA are calculated specifically for C tags, which are career tech assurances guidance courses taken through
074career tech for us. Mostly that's live oaks. I'm sure we have some students maybe that go to grant or some others. So we updated our grading policy to reflect um reflect this. Essentially kids who are taking anything with a CTA, it ends up being like an honors course. I get a little bit of a bump. Um we have two international students that will be reviewed and we'll be voting on shortly. Um and then Emma Walker um talked to us about an option for PowerHub which is um another tool that we'll be able to use along with power schools. Um what I really appreciate about uh Emma and her work is that she really critically looks at these things. They came and said you need three years and she said whoa it's new. We need have
075let's do one year and let's think about this and see if it really offers everything they say. So, um, just these are some of the conversations we have in committees. I know there's, um, not a great time for public to always attend, but I want to make sure you know what we're talking about. So, we'll look at that contract, um, that one-year contract, and she just told me before the meeting that she talked to them and got $4,000 knocked off that contract. >> Wonderful. >> Yeah. And I'll say on PowerHub that I sat through the demo on that. So, it's really nice integrated with P school. Um, I know Emma is going to work on how that's rolled out, which it won't be rolled out immediately as they're waiting on some things to get ironed
076out and some change management work like and things like that to help train the community and the staff on who will be using it. But it is another step to um push our communication plan forward to be more streamlined, more safe, secure, better to monitor um moving forward. So really appreciate um Emma and everybody else working on that. so so quickly and bring it to us so we can uh continue to have great communication systems. >> Uh and with that, I would like to have a motion to approve curriculum pay. >> 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 our
077foreign exchange students. >> So move second. >> Any discussion? >> Mongolia. >> Yeah, that's exciting. Um, please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Now moving on to business operations and we have an easement approval. Can I get a motion to approve the easement uh with Duke Energy? >> Second. >> Can you tell us about this, Jeff? >> Um we've done a number of these over the last couple of years. Um um Miss Powers mentioned Mount Milford. Well, there's a there's some telephone polls that weren't able to be moved until Mount Milford was moved. So, this is an update with some of the new poles that need to be moved from Duke Energy. So,
078that's the easement for the relocation of a handful of telephone poles. >> Any questions? >> No. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Uh, we have some students to deem transportation impractical. Um, can I get a motion to deem the transportation impractical for the following students? >> Second. Any questions? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. I now need a motion to approve the amended purchase agreement. >> Second. >> So, we brought this to you last month. Um and and there was an oversight. Um that preschool property that we're
079selling to Miami Township is actually two parcels and we only had one parcel listed on the on the purchase agreement last month. So we're asking you to bring it back and and reapprove the the amended purchase agreement. >> Okay. Are there any questions or discussion? >> No other changes. just adding the the second parcel and we're working with Miami Township to hopefully within the next week actually have a closing. >> Awesome. >> But we needed to get the purchase agreement updated. >> Yeah. I just wanted to clarify as we know not everybody's going to look and compare the two. So, no, I'm good. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> And
080uh you said we have some public participation. >> We do. We have one. >> Okay. Um I would just like to read this ahead of time. For public involvement at board meetings, in order to fulfill its obligation to complete the planned agenda in an effective and efficient fashion, a maximum of 30 minutes of public participation will be permitted at the beginning of each meeting. The first public participation is limited to items on the agenda for the current meeting. Continued public participation will be scheduled after the business portion of the meeting as needed. The second public participation is open to all matters and will be for a maximum of 30 minutes. Individuals will be permitted three minutes to present to the board of education. Complaints against a school employee are not permitted in public session until
081the defined lines of communication have been met. Each person addressing the board will give his her name and address. The public participation may be extended by a vote of the majority of the board. Go ahead, Carrie. You're up. Hi, my name is Cara Zerley, 5756 Mount Vernon Drive. Last week, we were notified that the board did not renew the contract for for Milford baseball coach Oaf Shaw. We were all disappointed. Now, my son and a couple of players are running workouts as they have been left without a coach. The season starts in five months. Not one player that I'm I've spoken to wanted Shaw gone. This is unfair to the boys and the program. The non-renewal of contract was unjustified. The board took into account one family's complaints of Shaw and from there concluded that
082he is unfit to be the coach, citing reasons for team drama and a poor team culture. Here's a summary of events quickly. Three involved parties were spoken to. Of Shaw, athletic director Erin Zupka, and Milford athletic booster president Chris Ham to gain understanding. Senior Avery Falner quit the team mid-season last year due to playing time. The Falner family shared pictures of athletes at a party with alcohol. The pictures were taken in winter and were shared in late spring prior to the baseball tournament. One baseball player was suspended from games. We feel that the Fulner were trying to sabotage the baseball tournament. An anonymous source told the board that OSU was using baseball money and equipment that was not authorized by the Milford Athletic Boosters Board. OSF was also accused of accepting bribes from fivestar baseball
083club families in return for Milford varsity playing time. We feel the anonymous source again was the Faulner family and the five-star family was most likely us as our son Quinn was playing the position that Avery wanted. An investigation was opened in May and the Milford Athletic Boosters cleared OSF of using unauthorized money. The board member that um one of the board members that voted on this was Michael Wilson. Ironically, m Mr. Wilson is the stepfather of Avery Faulner's longtime girlfriend. The evening that we were notified of Shaw's departure, Dustin Faulner, a Avery's father, was at the baseball field taking pictures of our dugouts and the baseball equipment. Avery is now in college, and the Faulner have no involvement with baseball, so he really shouldn't have been there. The board didn't interview any baseball players or
084members or family members in the investigation process. The board took the complaints of a disgruntled player and family and formed their opinion of Shaw. OSF put us all into the betterment of our baseball program and our players. and the board didn't take in any of that into account or maybe didn't even know. Both of my boys have set the bench in high school sports. We would never go to the board as parents to get a coach fired for this reason. This is part of learning and a part of life. It's a hard to watch as a parent, but parents have no rights to overstep and get someone fired due to playing time, just as the board has no right. I'm asking the board to revamp its process of invest in investigating complaints. Athletic complaints should
085not be a schoolboard issue. There should be an athletic board specially designed for this to investigate and vote during these types of sit situations. The coaches need protection. Can you please provide a plan and show us change prior to the upcoming election? I beg of you to revamp the process, stop the witch hunts, and stop the corruption. Thanks. Uh, it's important to note that there was no vote on coach OV. So, Michael Wilson did not vote on coach OV. That contract never came to us because it was not renewed. So, I did not vote on that. >> Um, I do want to say something about this. Um, I want you to know that we do take your concerns seriously and we do give consideration to feedback that we hear from all parents. Um, I recognize
086that decisions about coaches affect not only athletes but families and also the wider community. Um, as schoolboard members, we have to take concerns about our staff seriously. Um, particularly when they involve student well-being and alignment with our district policy and athletic handbooks. So you're correct that under normal circumstances coaches co coaching decisions are handled by the athletic department. In this case we did have a family bring forward a complaint that was submitted under policy KLD which is public complaints about district personnel. This policy that we have is required under Ohio Revised Code and as schoolboard members were required to follow the law. The complaint was first brought to the superintendent and then elevated to the board. And I understand that it may appear that one complaint drove this outcome, but I want to be clear
087that the nature of the concerns required careful review and couldn't be ignored. Because this involves personnel, we can't share specific details, but I can say that our decision was informed by our responsibility to ensure that students have a safe and constructive environment. At the same time, we recognize that the process of how complaints are raised and handled can be improved. Um, we're working with our new human resources director and our athletic director to strengthen the way that parent concerns are addressed so that issues are handled consistently, fairly, and at the right level from the start. Our priority remains supporting Milford student athletes with positive growth centered experiences and athletics. Sport should help our students build character, resilience, and community. And we want to continue working towards strengthening that culture across all programs. And with that,
088we go into discussion. Does anybody have anything that they would like to say? I have uh separate from that, I am wearing my Great Oaks tonight. If there are some opportunities for Great Oaks, if you need another pair of scissors to match your Milford scissors, Great Oaks, uh Laurel Oaks is having a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, October 8th. Um so if anyone wants to drive on up to Wilmington, you can get another pair of scissors, make the drive worth it. But um they're opening some new facilities there specific to alternative electric vehicles. um and they've had some really good investment um from the state and federal level to to get those programs off the grounds. And then if you really like Laurel Oaks and want to go back the next day, Thursday, October 9th is
089the Southwest OSBA conference um at five o'clock uh up there. And one thing I wanted to point out and recognize is I think we might be the only board where all five people got the aptitude award. So it's one of the awards were there. Um Harry Snyder who's the superintendent of great oaks is like am I reading this right that all five got the aptitude award and and we did. So um I think that shows our commitment to knowing the um to being engaged in OSBA and what it means to serve as a board member. So um >> and you made us >> and I made you. >> Yes. >> But it's I think it's good learning. >> You encourage >> good good learning. I encouraged everybody. But so um two opportunities to get out
090to the oaks um and to support OSBA that I wanted to invite folks. Anything else? Um I just wanted to mention that um you may have heard we are doing a superintendent search as we leave Mr. Spicer um Mr. Spicer leaves us for his retirement. Um we are partnering with the Hamilton County ESC and we have a great team including Dr. Bob Frell, Natasha Adams who was the superintendent at West Claremont, and Marlon Styles who was the superintendent at Middletown. Uh we currently have a thought exchange survey that's out there. You should have gotten an email about um by sharing your thoughts and rating the ideas of others. It's just like the other thought exchange surveys we do. You help surface the qualities and priorities that matter most to our community. And Wednesday, September 24th
091at 6 PM here at the board office, we have an in-person community engagement session at the board. Uh, one of the things that we talked about as a board was we really wanted to involve the community in this decision because um, this is a position that serves the community and we really want feedback for what makes a wonderful superintendent. So that help can help inform our decision and our search as well. Um, and then also Thursday, October 2nd at 6 PM, which um I'll be talking about soon, we'll have a special board of education meeting here at the board office. That's where we will review all that input and approve the final superintendent profile so that we can launch the position. Um, so we really value stakeholder input and we really want you to participate
092in those things. Um, as we continue through the process, we are going to have some other stakeholder input opportunities. We might have some meet the candidate nights and we want to give the opportunity the community the opportunity to engage directly with the finalists once we get to that point. Um, I wanted to say so Hamilton County ESC is who we're working with because it's a service they offer. Claremont County ESC is not quite as big. So I had seen people say, "Why are you going to Hamilton County?" And it's because that's what they offer. We partner with them on lots of stuff, right, John? And we use them for a lot. Um, sometimes Claremont ESC can give us what we need and sometimes that Hamilton is just bigger. They have more more resources. So, >>
093but I will say this, they've already informed me that they are in touch with the Claremont County ESC superintendent to make sure that he does have input. >> Okay, that's good. >> So, >> and Parker, do you still have the other survey that's still open? >> They're still open, but I didn't want to confuse our communication of them. more than welcome. >> Okay, >> great. >> All right. Well, with that, our next board special meet, our next board meeting is a special meeting. It's uh the one we just talked about. It's October 2nd, 2025. It'll be here um at 6 PM. And then our next regular board meeting is going to be October 16th right here at 6 pm. We will be going into executive session. We will not be voting on anything um coming
094out of that executive session. I need a motion to withdraw into executive session for the purposes of employment of a public employee. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes.