##VIDEO ID:-ypkXFXyY6w## only one nomination Linda Bud for the office of treasur I declare that Linda budo is elected as Treasurer by acclamation congratulations and thank you Miss Bud chair Dr roell as this is um isn't it appropriate to have some kind of speech from each of the candidates or now elected officials well I I didn't think I'd take 45 minutes to an hour of my time to give that speech but I think in lie of uh the best interest of the board and the community here I think we'll proceed forward with that but thank you Dr Ro for that so unless one of the I would just like to thank Jerry roesha for being on the nominating committee okay Soul member I was so ready with everything and then it went so quickly I didn't uh get that done item number agenda item number five is policy 209 the code of in Code of Ethics as we um look through the agenda item number five the code of ethics this is a good time to review um the code of ethics uh set fourth here uh for the board and um I particularly wish to point out a couple things here um during my one year as chair last year and as a board member now for six starting my seventh year uh I'll take this opportunity to address some items has been brought up to me by some community members staff fellow board members and also my observations during committee meetings work sessions uh business meetings of the board um my goal is to have the highest performing board functioning board we possibly can so in the code of ethics particularly I wish to point out um items uh in agenda 2A to listen to the opinions and views of others Schoolboard members Administration staff and students and community members also as board members we support the decision of the school board even if my position concerning the issue was different on 2 B5 to work through the superintendent not over around the superintendent and E 210 present any personal criticism of employees to the superintendent and 2f2 comply with all district policies as adopted by the board also throughout the year there's always been some questions as to what what our Schoolboard procedures in practice so I'm just going to throw out a couple things here um that has always been my understanding of practice things but probably was never mentioned but um we'll go with it for with what it is here so during the meeting uh motions and amendments to to really have a high functioning crisp meeting motion and amendments to a motion must be made in proper form as per Bert's rules uh the example would be Mr chair I move to amend the motion as follows Mr chair I so move Mr chair I second the motion Etc there also uh amendments to an agenda item should be given to the chair and the superintendent as soon as possible for distribution to the entire board before the meeting uh communication uh amongst the board and uh the board in visiting schools so when visiting schools make an appointment with the building administrator include superintendent benty on the request uh request for information from cabinet and administration should be directed through superintendent benty uh the chair is the spokesperson of the board in an email sent to All board members the chair will reply on behalf of the board I do reply it's very generic I don't do reply all but I do send directly to the person who emailed the entire board unless you want to me to include you on all those just just let me know uh inquiries for information and items of items of information should be directed through the chair and the superintendent bottom line and discussion here uh the code of ethics our commitments and expectations that we as a board set for ourselves so you with that next we'll move on to agenda item number six which is the school board schedule so now uh for the viewing public Etc we will now go through a series of uh approvals here so the first one here is the school board schedule of meetings as presented on board book so is there a motion for approval of the school board excuse me School Board schedule of meetings so move thank you Miss buo and do we have a second thank you Miss Steves and discussion as was noted last year um by a couple board members normally we do not have a work session in uh July just a business meeting a regular meeting uh if a work session is warranted that that will be called uh by the chair and also upon approval of all these meetings committee assignments School assignments Etc Miss Kenny will be sending out a a calendar invite to to place on our calendars Etc so we know know when they are any uh discussion discussion quiet board tonight good okay so hearing none uh we have a motion for approval of the school board schedule of meetings all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I I opposed that motion passes moving on to item number seven committee assignments so what we will need to do with committee assignments is uh there's no sense to me there's no a sense of making a motion there's nothing really to vote on this point until we go through the um committees and uh state which board members are going to be placed on here so uh to begin the discussion here um just wanted to remind the board here as like last year uh as chair I did make some changes there'll be some changes made again this year but as polic as per policy 2113 in reading that the chair does appoint uh board members to the committees as I stated last year and I still believe this I believe uh a lot of our committees are too heavily board member numbered I think um that um we're just in in advisory capacity there everything from these committees do come as a report to the board and that so uh um again doesn't make sense for a per a group of three board members to be on a six or seven person uh Committee in in my opinion I value your time and your efforts with this so I have uh done quite uh gone through this quite thoroughly and I went through the amount of time some of these committees entail the complexity of the committees as we know some of these committees only meet uh a couple times a year or as needed so my recommendation is as follows uh the community educ and because it says we could have two I'm not necessarily going to two or three I'm not necessarily going to go by that I've gone by um what uh in reading the description of the committee and the work that goes with it so I'm going to make the following recommendations Community Education advisory Council I'm uh Cassie Steves one one board member F finance committee probably one of the more complex committees there is um at least for me to understand anyway uh I will appoint three board members i' as I said stated last year I believe that uh the chair Vice chair and Treasurer should be a part of the uh finance committee and that's what we had so I recommend uh John Bellingham Chad wolf and Linda budro the policy committee policy committee probably is the committee I've I was honored at one point that does really does the most complex work really they dig deep um really put a lot of time and effort into all this there are two board members I'm recommending and that's Linda Moore and Cassie Steves keeping the same as last year facilities committee uh reviews and provides recommendations I'm asking uh recommending Chad wolf and Linda Moore on facilities committee uh Equity committee the uh creating inclusive School Community whatever Candace canuteson I'm recommending and Jerry roash show two board members the district advisory committee uh ensures active participation of teachers parents support staff community members and planning improving instruction and curriculum three board three board members I am placing on this would I'm recommending for this are Linda budo Jerry robish Show and Cassie Steve same as last year our other committee Insurance committee um two board members this takes U Got Mr Wolf and I have gone through a lot of training on this and it takes a while to learn this Etc but I'm I'm appointing uh John Billingham and Chad wolf on the insurance committee negotiations uh meets are is called in maybe one to two times a year um and I'll keep the same three as last year uh John Billingham Linda budro and Chad Wolf the wellness committee and and reflecting on this I was on the wellness committee I think when I first came on to the board and it was one of the more enjoyable committees I think I've been on it was a very enjoyable committee to be on and for uh keeping staff uh healthy and positive so with that I'm going to have one board member and that's Candace kutson the superintendent evaluation committee uh meets to be determined once again we we'll do the the superintendent goals Etc uh in May June again uh in the same three that were on last year John Bellingham Jerry robish Show and Linda budro uh the Falcon enrichment education program feep um I remember is our discussion last year that's am Tuesday Morning committee uh meet in person here um it's a great committee full of fun Etc and um I would like to continue that so I'll place myself on that uh particular committee Alexander park um part that committee discusses what is going on in the park so everyone's aware of the big events with within the districts I'd like to point Linda Moore to that one the ice arena um oper discusses operations and issues within the ice arena um I will take that one unless anyone else would care for that particular one ice arena there and the soccer committee um couple times a year uh Chad Wolf the Minnesota State High School league I will I will continue John Bellingham will continue to be the representative to the Minnesota State High School league board representative to the Minnesota State High School league the schools for equity and education um like uh Jerry robish Show to be part of that has been a part of that for quite a while and I know with Dr Bergie is the executive director begin that was that and then the Canon Valley special education Cooperative being monthly in the fourth Tuesday there um keeping at the same as Jerry robish Show and Linda Moore as the alternative alternate so with those are my recommendations um with that I'll entertain a motion uh to approve the committee assignments thank you Mr Wolf do we have a second second thank you any discussion Mr chair I just want to ask a for clarification certainly um yes so these uh these committees are open to the public correct because I've had questions about that so yes okay I know the policy and finance there open yes because they're they're a public meeting yes so I just want to be clarified the ones that are run by Fabo public schools are open to the public there are some on here that are run by the county or or a group of different schools I don't know for sure if those ones are open to the public as well yeah that Canon Valley special at probably isn't no Canon Valley special at is oh it is yes I don't know about the Alexander park and I don't know about the the hockey arena okay those are the only two I don't know about okay thank you any other discussion um Mr chair just one other question has a a district advisory committee ever met um I could not tell you because I I think that's an important committee so because it does and I do appreciate the fact that uh you describe um you know what uh what this all entails and one of the things is it entails teachers parents and support staff students and community members so I think that's an important committee that they should probably meet at least a couple times a year maybe so even though I'm not on that thank you it was September that you met that the district advisory committee met okay very good any further discussion discussion okay all in favor of the motion to approve the committee assignment signified by saying I I opposed motion passes School assignments agenda item number eight so I also went through and went went through the schools and noted who had um what board member had school as a representative being a representative from the board to those schools so uh I'm going to propose the following and then we can uh then have a motion in a second if you're okay with that so Jefferson for board member for 2025 Cassie Steves Lincoln Linda budro Roosevelt Chad wolf verbal Middle School Jerry robish Show veral High School Candace cansen ALC area Learning Center Linda Moore and McKinley Early Childhood Center and ab John Billingham so thoughts on those there aren't any thoughts I'll entertain a motion for approval of the uh School assignments un moved give the motion to miss Steves and a second to Mr Wolf oh I'm sorry Dr R thank you uh discussion Mr chair just a a point of clarification of what is the role of that responsibility that members are assigned in theol and I'll try and clarify with uh Mr benty as well but for my vision and board members chime in is that that's your designated school you can you should go visit it once in a while meet meet with the administrators walk around see with the administrators see what is happening within the class rooms with what our teachers are doing uh if those schools are having special events note that if you can attend Etc U anything anybody else wants to add that I don't think it's a deep Ju Just Just for a board member to say that's my school or I represent that school and here's what's happening and go from there Mr chairman I I think members could board memb members could ask for a email uh of activities just maybe a list of activities that are happening uh that's always helpful to have but I'm what I'm hearing you say is we should make an appointment with the principal and let superintendent byy know when we go great just to reiterate that that's cor good okay Mr chair um just to clarify this doesn't preclude us from going into another school or talking to a principal there about something we may have come up but once again work through superintendent benty and Leadership of that building if we're going to do that correct exactly right it does not just exclude or isolate us just to the one building no board members are open to all buildings within the thing again just make sure that you let them know you're coming and meet with the administrator Etc is they have appointments and they're busy and our teachers are teaching and things a lot of things going on there so M Mr chair uh I'd like to reiterate what Chad said I think it's important that Schoolboard members you know even though you have one school I think you need to probably visit each of the schools at some point and talk to the administrator and the principal I think that's a good idea and I I kind of like to do that at least once a year and so very good CH also if I ask a question for clarification we are there as individuals we are not there representing all board members and if there's an issue that comes up we're not there to solve that issue we are there as a community member to serve board exactly great Point excellent point Dr Ro yes any further discussion okay uh we have a motion and a second for the school assignments uh any further discussion all in favor of that motion signified by saying I I opposed motion passes agenda item number nine School Board salaries uh recommendation is to uh consider the approval of Schoolboard salary set at $275 per month for directors and $300 per month for board chairperson uh motion for recommendation of Schoolboard salaries I so move than you Dr Mo we have a second I'll second jck and second I'll second and discussion Dr Ro Mr chair I'm going to vote against this as I have every year that I've served on the school board I think that uh elected to the school board or any organization is a public service we don't do it for compensation uh I think if there I would ask if there are people who will accept this uh salary that they consider abetta which is a scholarship program or feep to really consider V in your salary for that purpose that I think reflects well on this board but I will vote against it because I don't feel that we should be compensated for public service thank you Dr oel further discussion last call for discussion we have a motion for approval of the school board salaries all in favor the motion signify by saying I I opposed no motion passes 61 agenda item number 10 consider approval of business office annual resolutions 25-13 through 25-19 for fiscal year 25 so for transparency board members and members of the public we are approving seven resolutions that are annual uh annual resolutions for the fiscal year 2025 and they are designation of depositories designation of official publication authorization of use of fimile signatures payment of claims between board meetings Petty cast resol resolution uh investment resolution and appointing responsible contract Authority so i' have a motion for consider approval of business office annual resolutions 2513 through 2519 thank you Miss budo and do we have a second I'm I'm sorry okay one of us motion by Miss Steve second by Miss budro and discussion discussion let's call for discussion this is a roll call item so miss Steves if you would do a roll call please hi hi hi hiam hi thank you agenda item number 11 consider approval of resolution 25 5-21 designating local educational agency Lea representative so could I have a motion for approval of resolution 25-21 please so moved thank you Dr Robo and a second second thank you Miss budro so resolution 25 uh 21 details are that it says whereas Julie Hull director of teaching and learning is is designated at the local Education Agency representative for fairwell public schools for 2025 discussion discussion discussion Miss Steves this is a resolution so roll call again please hi hi hi I thank you agenda item number 12 consider approval of resol resolution 25-20 designating Jamie benty as identified official Authority for the Minnesota Department of Education secure websites do I have a motion for approval of resolution 20-25 move thank you m buo do we have a second I'll second thank you Mr Wolf and any discussion again I think it's pretty self-explanatory it's uh designating superintendent benty as the official Authority for the M Minnesota Department of Education secure website forther discussion discussion Miss Steves this is a resolution so once again a roll call please hi cace hi hi hi hi hi thank you agenda item number 13 consider naming the board's legal counsel and authorize contacts so we are asking for consider naming rat Wick rosnick and Maloney PA as the board's legal counsel for 2025 and authorized the school board chairperson superintendent and superintendent designes to contact the school district attorney for consultation and information so thank you Miss Steves do we have a second second thank you Miss bu and discussion discussion uh Mr chair Mr Wolf I feel like we talk about this every year certainly I know we have a a new school board member um typically if a board member or the district needs to reach out obviously the district would reach out on their own but if if there's something that the board um would need to contact or seek legal advice from our designated attorney that would go through you uh as board chair that is correct correct yes y stated further discussion discussion hearing no further discussion this is not a resolution so all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes agenda item number 14 since we are uh in the organizational meeting here we have included two uh unfinished business agenda items uh there is a time for public comment so we have two people who have signed up for public comment here so first one here if uh excuse me Janet Molen if you'd like to come forward Mr W pardon me Mr w both you whatever you got it go ahead my name is Jan Molen I just wanted to review some of the budget numbers and put them into a historical context for the new board the revised um budget has a taxpayer funding $90 million and some change and um depending on how you calculate student um number of students whether you're using an average or an actual number that comes out to about 26300 26,36 per student or 29,6 se3 if you're using an actual enrollment number um kind of a moving Target there that and anyway to put that in a a context that is almost two times as much as just eight years ago when the taxpayers ponied up 60 m714 for 387 students so enrollment is down what almost 20% and um the cost is significantly higher per capita income in Rice County is has has changed much in those in that time so the demand on the taxpayer is significant um and uh I'd also like to look at that in a con in in relationship to the educational outcome which in that same eight year period according to the Minnesota Department of Education is down 46% I have these numbers all broken down if you want to see that um and I'd like to just suggest that um that we don't add any more uh non-teaching staff I reviewed these um grants which add multiple non-teaching staff um so you're expanding your footprint your educational outcome is in the your average is 20 . 54% proficient that's down from 44.6% proficient just eight years ago so it's it's to add more responsibilities or more people that are not addressing the teachers need I I think you know it's your decisions but that that doesn't fix your budget issue or your educational outcome issue um okay that's all I got we're drowning anyway and I do have um I do have some nice graphs for you that show over uh uh National Data over uh 20e period is up about 132% increase in non-teaching staff to uh students and the local Minesota data is up 183% I think to an increase in students of only 2% in Minnesota and um I think that should be taken into consideration when you are asking the taxpayer for more money thank you for your time thank you Miss mine our next public comment is Leah Inman good evening and welcome you um so good evening I'm I'm Leah Inman I'm a mom of three two of whom attend Roosevelt Elementary Roosevelt's actually our neighborhood school I walk to pick my kids up at school today uh this past summer I was on the reorganization committee that explored school buildings and options here in town and I've written to the board before on this topic um and I thank you very much those of you who um took the time to respond to me I do have strong concerns about reorganizing our students away from the elementary school with the strongest MCA scores in parent approval ratings here in our city um but I won't belabor that point I know you've heard this from me in my letters before um I am here tonight though I found it really important to come for just a few suggestions um first virtually the entire Comm committee agreed the alc needs a new building and I think this should be its own vote separate from the reorganization if it's really not feasible the sectionof part of the high school as the alc which I know would come with its own complications I'm a teacher myself just not in the district um then yes let's vote and let's move the alc to McKinley and work on that part um but I think the elementary and early childhood discussion can and should be separate from the vote about McKinley's future um there have been multiple staff that I've talked to who've said it might be possible given our empty classrooms to house early childhood in our existing buildings with the majority of functions at Roosevelt and I think it's something that we need to continue investigating um in our decision because the McKinley decision obviously needs to Made made tonight because of construction timelines um the next suggestion really is more General but it's transparency so I'm a transplant of fibo I moved here in 2008 for this lovely nine-month internship at a really cute nature center and I decided to stay and I really love faribo um we love the city we love the amenities for a city our size we have so many awesome things going on but I constantly hear negative comments all the time about schools and they say you're a teacher your husband's a teacher why would you enroll your kids in phabo and we've been really really happy our kids have done well they've thrived in at Roosevelt it's been great um when I do drill down to people and ask them about it their most common complaint is the board and they feel like the board's not honest with them and this is not an indictment on any specific board member because this is a longtime complaint I have heard for 15 or 16 years um the main things that I would like to see speaking for mine is just a public a acknowledgement that this decision is really tough this is a really hard decision no matter which way you swing about reorganizing about building use um I think no one wants to close a school or you know move kids out of a school um but is that true for the board is that true for the district level staff um and also just about finances from being on the committee this summer and all the data given to us I think that this is primarily a financial decision of reorganizing to have more um opportunity and more space and shift around money but it's not clear uh I asked multiple times but don't understand why we cut teachers but we haven't cut admin we haven't cut District level staff um we've raised class sizes we've cut music and artback but it's not clear if there's other Cuts being made people need to hear about it I'm sorry I know I only have would you wrap it up please um I have so much to say I didn't think I wrote it that long um I have a bunch of suggestions in here but it's things like why are we still gonna have an early childhood director and a principal if Roosevelt becomes an Early Childhood Center when you're going from 18 sections down to nine sections why would you keep a principal why could you not reconfigure that um and also just there's a lot of rumors going around in town tons of rumors about why this is happening what's happening why we're continuing to do this I think the biggest challenge for most families in town is just that everything is unknown we know where we're at right now we know what schools we're at but there's so many things unknown and I as a very regular volunteer in the schools don't have any of the information so I know that the average family doesn't um I also say thank you Miss zman Mr Wolf we'd love to see you at a PTO meeting perfect I just got assigned to that school so I don't know what time they are but as soon as somebody tells me Wednesday at 4: I have basketball practice so if you want to resched them for 7 in the morning I'll gladly be there but I coach basketball November let's move on here so let him thank you we move on to item 15 The Unfinished Business uh 15a is consider approval of the reorganization plan option D so let's go a a little bit of History here and um what has happened on November 12th of 2024 a motion was made and seconded uh was made by Miss Buro seconded by Mr Wolf for approval of uh reorganization plan option D in in that discussion a motion was made by Mr Wolf to postpone this uh option D the re organization plan option D decision uh until uh agenda item until today January 6th uh meeting uh that that is where we're at as per Robert's Rules uh Robert's Rules 1417 State when the appointed time has been has been reached for a postponed question to be taken up and as soon as no other business of higher uh priority interferes the chair States the question as pending therefore no further motion is normally needed to bring the question before the board so I will state that uh reorganization plan option D is pending and we were at the discussion stage and that's where we will pick up from there so um once again we have a motion in a second and discussion on this item Mr chairman what how would you like to proceed I mean at this point can we just reiterate a little bit of how we got here and where we are or would you rather just take a vote we're discussing the motion to approve uh reorganization plan option D so whatever you wish to uh comment on the motion to approve option D if if it's okay with the board I'd like to just review a little bit of of that option uh I I want to say that first of all declining enrollment fiscal constraints increased mandates concerns for academics are challenges most school districts are experiencing right now restructuring and consolidating buildings is being discussed both to the East and the west of fable smaller communities they're considering the closure of entire schools in one of those small communities that those districts serves fortunately in farbo the option before this board offers us much more again I want to thank the committee those who participate participated on it as well as the architects of The Proposal who did a lot of research Mr benty thank you and others I know there's many many others but um the primary of objections of the Plan D before us was to optimize our educational outcomes improve our operational efficiencies provide cost Effectiveness and savings with attention to First addressing the current facilities we have and their limitations and the program limitations that we have ensuring a smooth transition for students across all grade levels aligning resour resources to support student needs and success and the efficiencies that we will gain this is some of it is taken from the research but also from speaking with people at various sites speaking with teachers telling um us about the challenges they face so the first one I'm mentioning is centralizing the prek and kindergarten programming ensures the district broader access access to specialized Early Learning services such as OT PT speech social worker literacy coaching and our faces folks that will no longer have to spend time traveling to several sites each day but have a home at one site that was a big component I've heard that multiple times secondly merging our prek and K staff will align our teaching strategies and peer support through professional collaboration sharing of resources equipment curriculum and staff which was not possible before both of these changes I believe will influence the quality and effectiveness of our early learning programs um I just I wanted to just stop there for a moment because I I have quite a few letters I'm sure all of you do but some of them express some very important things one person this is from Rosevelt a teacher from Roosevelt if Early childwood Childhood was all together we could create new opportunities for our students utilize space more effectively and have group activities between classrooms be able to collaborate with other teachers that teach the same class as us which we are currently not able to to do between so many buildings with the EC program growing as much it is as it is we should take this as an opportunity to continue expanding our classes and programs I have many letters like that you all receive them and I went to McKinley and I spoke with a lot of the folks there and saw what they were referring to so I think it's important for us to do our research too um I also want to mention that another efficiency our Al staff will gain an upgraded centrally located environment that now includes a kitchen a gym an art room which they've never had and sufficient outdoor space all of which will provide many new opportunities for our students that's a big thing these dovetail with many of our goals our district and our board goals consolidating one through five at two schools well I know it is a challenge it will be a challenge to move students and move teachers but I think we have the strength and the wisdom and the just the attitude to do it if you so wish to um it allows for the continuation of crossgrade learning interactions this is something that's really important at Roosevelt having the older kids work with the younger kids you can still do that grades one through five it's it would be wonderful it encourages sharing effective teaching techniques and it has a more focused staff development with this combination as well as the sharing of activities and resources I have a couple more points bear with me and thank you for listening restructuring provides room for increased enrollment at all grade levels and removes the existing waiting list for our K and K it this plan also re reduces overall District operational costs our Capital expenses our maintenance costs our equipment and supplies provides sufficient savings for our current budget and as well as future budgets these are reasons that are very concrete and very clear and to me I find find it very important that the board take action on rest restructuring and proposal D and I thank you for letting me share my reasons thank you Miss budo further discussion Mr chair Dr Moore uh yes I have my little list here too um I think you know this really C centers around uh needing to move the alc to McKinley we need to do that and I I believe that that we we absolutely have to to do that um but it also centers around cutting the dollars in the budget and and I guess my concern is uh how is this move affecting achievement um you know we've asked for research and I think I've heard it was like six of one half a dozen of the other well I think we need more than that um this should be really based our decision should really be based on solid research um and I actually got this sent to me from a constituent and I appreciate that but I was also looking at some literature and this was from a review um it said did you know that with this was and I have the the study right here for the uh review uh literature uh studies demonstrate that prek and K when you combine them don't benefit prek there's really no benefit to the prek andk settings uh for example um uh students they don't gain skills as fast they don't learn as if they were as fast as if they were in a more traditional uh setting um and another uh research finding that they found out in this review was that K uh kindergarten students in the prek and K setting they demonstrate a one to two month lag in math and reading compared to the students uh in the primary and elementary schools in that setting um and then last lastly too uh the more Transitions and this is from building to building the more transitions a student makes from building to building is related to decreased achievement and it's also related to more negative behaviors and less positive student teacher relations and with all of that with this research I'm really very hesitant about this uh if this you know with this with what I have just read why are you know I'm having a problem why are we so set on disrupting Roosevelt Elementary teachers uh I will say prek is not mandatory so why such an emphasis on this uh the Early Childhood uh I think we need to be concentrating on K through 12 students and making sure each of these students uh graduate in a in a timely matter it may take maybe maybe be more than one year like five years or something but we really need to be concentrating on that and so much not so much on Early Childhood uh I think we have the three elementaries I think we could absorb some of the prek and the k um another thing is my with Roosevelt is my is the safety concerns uh we've got prek on I think the kindergarten on the second floor what happens if there's a lockdown what happens if there's an active shooter or something those kids those little kindergarten kids got to come down those stairs really fast into the first level if they would have to do that and I also that bridge across the um you know with Roosevelt I can see the little ones climbing on that they say it hasn't happened yet it may not but these are the major safety concerns and especially I'm really concerned if there's a lockdown or if something if there's an active shooter in the building that really bothers me with those little kids having to come down those steps fast um finally bear with me thank you uh from the budget aspects too uh from my understanding like I said Early Childhood is not mandatory and it's free now because of various grants from what I understand but what happens when the grant runs out I could be wrong in that but uh what happens how can we fund this if it's not mandatory and we're in money you know in a money crunch why don't we concentrate on the kindergarten you know the kindergarten through grade 12 like I said I don't think this would be a uh with Early Childhood so many PE children coming in when it's not mandatory I I really don't think from a budget standpoint this is sustainable um and as as somewh as I think was um Miss Molen mentioned you know we've got we've got so much topheavy and with with teachers we need to really concentrate on the teachers any the teachers um but I guess from the just to summarize from the achievement level I don't think we've seen the research on that and I think we really should uh and it is a major disruption I think for some of the teachers in Roosevelt and I think also in last but certainly not least I summarize the safety concerns so I am against this proposal but as I say we do need to Su something with um ALC thank you Miss Steves so just like to kind of address a couple of points um you know as I've mentioned many times before and the only one on this current board that this decision would actively affect um I'd like to specifically address more your comments about Early Education firsthand I've seen uh the differences between my children my oldest and my middle daughter um their education my oldest son didn't didn't attend preschool um struggled to read struggled to read in third grade of course you throw Co in there um my first grader is is reading chapter books um of course my son caught up um I directly directly attribute this to Early Education um specifically fairwell Public Schools preschool programming um you know I I think I've I've been fairly outspoken on my thoughts um you know I I respect everyone in this board and I respect um your opinions M um we talk you you've mentioned a lot about collaboration um you know i' really love to see some some collaboration between the alc and high school I I truly truly believe that um we have a a an asset with South Central College right across the parking lot um to really help all of our students um 9 through 12 whether they're Traditional High School student or an ALC student um really succeed and succeed in our community using that as um a collaborative tool um I do have some some concerns about safety I've again you know my kids put their snow pants in Boots and I can barely get them down two steps um above all else um no matter what decision reflecting on you know our earlier discussion on our code of ethics is I'll support um whatever the the majority of the board decides I know where my decision is um but again as the entirety of the board makes a decision I will be voting against this however advocating if the decision Falls the other way um for as streamlined of a process as possible not just for our teachers not just for our staff but for our families thank you Miss Steves Dr roell thank you um Mr chair um over the several months that we've had discourse on this um reorganization plan I've expressed my concerns over and over again my concerns have not changed I am not convinced educ inally that this is in the best interest of all of our students K12 3 K12 um I do have some concerns about um what we're doing to the family construct that we have in our district uh with preschool and F fifth grade sixth grade um on up the through the lines so um I just uh and I also believe that the alc does have a right to an appropriate educational facility there's absolutely no doubt about that but so do our kindergarten students have a right to an appropriate educational facility and putting kindergarten kids in the second floor of Roosevelt is not the same kind of a classroom environment that they're going to get at Jefferson or they would get at um some other building or even the current kindergarten classrooms at Roosevelt so we're kind of weighing one group against the other unfortunately uh I also am very concerned that we take a look at reorganization from an economic standpoint absolutely that has to be one of the factors but more importantly the critical factor that we need to take a look at is what does it mean for students in our educational facil programs and so from that standpoint I have not been convinced and I've given this a lot of thought over the last several weeks again again uh since this came up for discussion and we've had this discourse over and over again um I have not been convinced this is in the best interest of all students in our district this proposed educational restructuring plan M Miss Canon do you have anything add at this point uh yeah thank you uh and I greatly appreciate um all school board members thoughts and I appreciate uh uh Miss Inman as well in in her thoughts and all the letters that we've seen from parents staff um everybody I I I do want to address a couple things um it was intimated that we weren't open and honest transparent feedback and maybe I wrote that down wrong I I feel over the last I don't know when did that start April May um when we started this process for a second time um I think the big difference this go around versus go around was actually having a committee of community members and anybody else that wanted to volunteer not just superintendent benty and um District leadership or District staff and so um now granted I'm a bit biased sitting on this side but I feel like every meeting that we've asked for anything we've gotten it I feel we've had an opportunity to ask every question that we wanted to multitude of times we've gotten several Pages back I believe that it was actually read here at the meeting um that I was maybe gone in October and the one in September where we went through question by question answer by answer that you were able to identify and so um you know I apologize if the community or people in the community feel that way uh I I feel vastly different on that and I've spoken to many um members of that reorganization committee from the community as well that that feel it was very open and honest and transparent so if I'm missing something I apologize on that I I can certainly say that I believe on behalf of the board I won't speak on behalf of the board I'll speak on behalf of myself who is on the board we tried to make that as open and honest and transparent as possible and and I do believe that we did a good job um Miss Moore you talk about more transitions I don't believe there's any more transitions if this does pass um for students we have a pre uh early childhood prek and if this passes that would go Early Childhood through K I don't believe there's any additional transitions for students okay you tell me how all right right now we have what uh K well for two schools we have K through grade five correct right but the ma uh all three schools we have no K through five School currently we have three elementary schools two of them are prek through fifth grade and one of them is kindergarten through fifth grade well where the extra transition would come in would be to the we have the K or prek and K after those students get done they would have to make another so that's assuming those students are only at those two elementary school buildings if for any student that today attends McKinley there will be no additional transitions no but if but for well that's only for was we've got pre okay prek and K for Jefferson and Roosevelt already correct and Lincoln doesn't have one classroom help me with that correct for prek and kindergarten right the pre prek at Roosevelt and prek at Jefferson right we have a lot of students at McKinley so what I'm trying to get at is the transitions for any of those students at McKinley that will not change um the number of transitions that is correct thank you but it would change for the kindergarten though at because right now we have prek but if a prek at Jefferson and Roosevelt correct right all right so for those students if if they those students it would correct I I will agree with you on that however I believe the majority of pre prek and early childhood students are all at the majority not all the majority are at McKinley today yes yes correct okay thank you 246 um you know we've we we've heard several times Miss Mo you asked intimated maybe I don't want to put words in your mouth that research doesn't show Early Childhood um has maybe the results or or that the data is not out there uh superintendent benty I'm no educator and I will never Proclaim to be but I believe from the all the statistics and sations with superintendent ceser and yourself and um former curriculum directors over my 10 years of being on the school board I believe that actually the greatest return on investment is actually the dollar spent on Early Childhood am I wrong on that the so the research that I looked up and this was about two years ago the greatest Financial return on investment was every dollar spent at prek saved you $13 um by the time that student graduated okay so I don't know if that's the greatest amount or not but that's in line with what I've been told over my 10 years on the school board I'm not a a research person so I don't know um it was brought up that we still have room with prek and K at all elementary schools I believe during our Q&A opportunities to submit questions to you back in September October August time frame I believe you said that is not feasible am I correct or am I missing something so this was brought up in September October and in early November I sat down with the administrators at Roosevelt Lincoln and Jefferson to look at what would that those sites look like if they all three had uh Early Childhood through fifth grade with our current programming it would not fit okay thank you um I do want to let me let me let me let me clear that up it would fit at Roosevelt it would not fit at Jefferson or at Lincoln okay thank you um and I and I know there's um conversations of where is the research and I fully fully understand that um but I also believe that like last year if we don't do something here um and we talk about taxpayer money and and all this type of stuff um and I fully agree with those conversations we have an opportunity to save approximately $700,000 it won't be exactly that number but if we have to make another $700,000 in cut um we're going to increase class sizes Andor reduce programming I don't know what else takes place there and to me that's a negative effect on results um but once again I I very well could be wrong and I respect other opinions I do want to thank everybody um once again that served on that that uh reor committee that met five six seven times whatever that was spent hours uh did School visits um I know a handful of you uh were there at every single meeting and so really a big thank you to all of those volunteers I want to thank the the parents and the staff that have sent feedback through email made phone calls personal U visits all that type of stuff a big thank you there and uh I I do want to acknowledge Miss inman's um comments without a doubt this is a really tough decision I mean change is difficult um I don't think there's a person that is going to support this that says yay let's go change Rosevelt for changing Roosevelt T that's not me I can't speak for other people um I do support that the leadership of our district and I do support what um the committee came up with and I do support that the scoring Matrix when I wasn't here I support what the entire board came up with and so I I do want to acknowledge without a doubt this is a difficult decision as all of our decisions are when we make major changes and or budget cuts so thank you Mr chair I guess I'm left CH go ahead or do you want to go no go ahead I just want to ask clarification Mr W if you said $700,000 in budget cuts how much is that attributable to declining enrollment so some of it is is declining enrollment that we have forecasted if you remember last year when we talked about the budget reductions that we we would be looking at we faced $2.9 Million last year and we said we would be coming into about another $600,000 that's still the number that we're going with um some of that is based off the off of declining enrollment so if we did nothing we would still be making budget cuts because of declining enrollment yes that is correct thank you Dr roell okay I'll finalize this um discussion two years I believe it was two years ago that we asked uh Mr benty to do a study which would uh make sure our buildings in our district is as efficient as possible and we came back with uh he came back with a proposal and that was voted down and the concern was we did not involve the community we did not involve the teaching staff we did not involve U all any anyone anyone and everyone and so we again directed him to look at efficiencies and come up with a plan and that Comm he did as Mr Wolf said thank you to all those who participated in that and um worked on that for quite a long time and came up with with this proposal I'm and it's going to be difficult with here but I'm proud of this board because you can see the passion here of for kids either way and we know it's going to affect not just kids our students but our our parents and our community and our staff this is a big big decision and it's as I said before it probably it will change the way that uh in where instruction is delivered and maybe how it's delivered Etc um I've often been told just because you're retired teacher you shouldn't bring up the old days but in the old days if you remember and I will because at one point remember we were so full that the sixth grade froming Washington and McKinley were both bust out to nurse strand because there were two open rooms I was one of those teachers the I'll use the word uproar or concern from parents sixth grade parents at McKinley and Washington was you're going to put my child on a bus for a half hour out to Nur Strand and bus him back a half hour yes we are we did it and I a lot of my former students and what we did was we took the half of the sixth grade class from Washington McKinley and put them in my class and the other half to Fran HBL and at the end of the year there wasn't a single parent from either one of those schools say that was the best thing that ever happened once again we met more kids and our peers from sixth grade from Nur strand McKinley and Washington really developed a cohort there I've been involved in some of those changes and also the sixth grade coming to middle school there was an uproar there as well I had elementary teachers telling me sixth grade doesn't belong in an elementary school they know too much they're too mature we went to middle school then we were the on the low end of the the young end of all that but they adapted and parents adapted and of course the concern was my child's going to get lost looking at one of my former students here here it's a big place where but our teaming all this we were right in the hallway we were all there again I don't know hardly a single uh parent or student that can't say they did not have a good experience at fairbell Middle School you put your heart and soul to it so this board is is going to have a very is having a very difficult uh decision to make and I think I truly believe that as Mr Wolf said we've been very transparent all questions could been asked we've taken our time at one point I told Mr benty we will have a decision by September guess my calendar isn't very good is it Mr benty but again to come to January just to make sure we've done a thorough job we we've turned over every Rock every question I certainly hope in any decision you make you cannot have I don't believe you cannot have every little detail laid out exactly as you want so with that it's it's an interesting concept are we not servicing students on the east side H school on the east side well as I stated from FAL Transportation anywhere from 75 to 85% of the students at Rosevelt are busted in or have the opportunity to be bust in we know that with the closure of Barfield and McKinley that the concept of neighborhood schools was gone in those areas as well either went to Jefferson Roosevelt some went out to nurse strand when they were part of us so so it is indeed a a difficult decision again thank you to all that were were part of this whatever but the bottom line is we now need to make a decision we've delayed this we've I believe done our due diligence whatever so at this time I'm going to call for a vote and I'm going to ask for a roll call vote so the motion is has been been presented as approval of reorganization plan option D as presented so miss Steves if you would do a roll call please Linda I and hi nay nay no Chad wol I I thank you and again a very heartfelt thank you to fellow board members to staff who worked on this and to the public who worked on this as well 15b uh consider authorizing McKinley remodel bids so could I have a motion for the authorizing of McKinley model bids please so move thank you Mr Wolf and do we have a second second thank you Miss budro uh in this motion the McKinley remodel will consist of a remodeled classroom for science and art all bathrooms will be remodeled and brought up to code the kitchen will be remodeled and brought uh back up to code in order to serve uh food to hot food to those students uh discussion discussion discussion he none all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I I opposed motion passes 70 we move on to before we get to item 16 uh adjournment I have just a couple of announcements here uh first of all in recognizing our new board members I'd also like to recognize our student board members so what I'm going to ask you to do let see we have a new one as well I ask you to do is grab the microphone and introduce yourself and what grade you're in and just some general things about yourself so hello my name is Issa Ali I am currently a junior so I'm in 11th grade and I am very happy to be on the school board I've been thinking about us in sophomore year and uh that's pretty much it I mean I been in fball since first grade I've really enjoyed it from whether I will I've been to all three elementary schools the middle school and as of right now the high school for three years going on three years and I just wanted to say that you guys are doing a great job and keep it going thank you welcome and Miss jilan yes okay my name is Jillian here I am a senior I've been on the school board since sophomore year three years now um and I love it I love being a part of it if you know me you know I want to go into politics so this is fun for me um and yeah what Issa said you guys are doing a great job keep it up very good thank you welcome also uh for board members uh I want to would like for you to watch watch for an email uh from M Kenny as she's going I'm going to be asking her to uh send out a survey of possible dates and times for Retreats yes that was plural Retreats anywhere anytime within the next uh two to three months four months uh my vision my purpose here I believe we have uh some vision statements and vision to go over to review our strategic plan is I believe in our seventh year probably needs to be reviewed and hopefully with our discussion things in those Retreats we can get get down to our main objective and that is student achievement and how we can help our student achieve at the highest level here in fbal public schools so be on the watch for uh that email from Miss Kenny Mr chair Mr Wolf will uh last year we engaged with stter stter uh yes stter education studor education will they be involved in these I believe we we waited until the new board was seated uh to start this so will they be involved with these Retreats and planning I think that the plan will be for the board to decide what it is it's looking to accomplish first um and then I will work with stter they do work on strategic uh plans they do work on mission statements if that's the way the board chooses to go um and they they will work on goal setting as well so um but they want uh they want to make sure that they have as much information coming in uh so that they can prepare for that thank you thank you excellent and then just a reminder our next meeting uh regular meeting is January 27th I don't have in front of me any committees happening this week but just as a reminder for that uh board members thank you for a very efficient and U timely meeting here so at this time I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so move thank you Mr Wolf and we have a second thank you Miss budro discussion discussion discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose motion passes we are adjourned thank you all