[0:00] Buddy,

[0:06] there's not a pen in here.

[0:08] >> Oh, do you need a pen? I left my other

[0:10] one in there and I have one in my

[0:17] bag. So, clean it up later.

[0:21] Do I need it?

[14:23] Good. Welcome everyone. We are ready and

[14:27] excited to start this meeting. Um I

[14:30] guess I didn't gave the gavvel there. Uh

[14:33] we're going to have a reverence by Julie

[14:35] Taylor, our board member, and then a

[14:36] flag salute um pledge of allegiance by

[14:39] Heidi Joe West. And then we will turn

[14:41] some time over to Jamie Kent for uh our

[14:45] public information officer for some

[14:47] recognitions.

[14:52] Our father in heaven, we are grateful

[14:53] for this blessing and opportunity we

[14:56] have to live in this country and for the

[14:57] freedoms that we enjoy. We're so

[14:59] grateful for this past weekend of

[15:02] celebrating the 250th anniversary of the

[15:06] founding and recognize the great men and

[15:09] women who

[15:11] sacrificed so much and gave so much so

[15:13] we can have the freedoms that we enjoy

[15:14] today. We're grateful for the time and

[15:17] energy that the students and parents and

[15:20] teachers and staff and administrators

[15:22] put in in our district to help students

[15:25] progress and reach their goals and to

[15:28] contribute to this great society that we

[15:30] have.

[15:32] We are grateful for

[15:34] the opportunities we have to learn and

[15:36] grow. We're thankful for the guidance

[15:39] that we can receive and the opportunity

[15:41] to collaborate and to learn from each

[15:43] other and from others. We pray that we

[15:45] can listen and learn and pray that we

[15:47] can have clear minds and recognize the

[15:50] good things that are happening and also

[15:52] the areas in which we can um do better

[15:56] and be better to help serve those

[15:58] students and stakeholders in our

[16:00] community. We pray that thy spirit will

[16:02] be here this night and we say these

[16:04] things in the name of Jesus Christ.

[16:05] Amen.

[16:08] » Um please stand and join me.

[16:12] I aliance to the flag of the United

[16:15] States of America and to the republic

[16:18] for which it stands. One nation under

[16:21] God, indivisible, with liberty and

[16:25] justice for all.

[16:39] Okay, this is Sarah Pace and she just

[16:43] recently achieved a very distinguished

[16:46] honor. So, she um was chosen as the top

[16:50] s Sterling scholar for the KSL Desert

[16:53] News um sterling scholar and she was for

[16:57] science. Um, so some people may not have

[17:00] a background as to how this works, but

[17:02] each school selects so many and then

[17:04] they go and they compete against other

[17:06] students in the state and there's

[17:07] multiple competitions and she went all

[17:10] the way up to the top and she won um the

[17:12] top general Sterling Scholar and so this

[17:15] is a very high achieving award. Um it's

[17:18] pretty awesome. So we wanted to

[17:20] celebrate that. And also in the meantime

[17:23] while this was going on, she went to the

[17:24] Richie Science Fair and she won well she

[17:28] was able to go to the science and

[17:30] engineering fair um which is of that's

[17:34] like another level onto that one. Um and

[17:37] this is a very um it's the largest

[17:40] international preol science competition

[17:43] and so she got to go compete there. Um,

[17:46] we also interviewed her in one of our

[17:48] videos where we talked to some of our

[17:49] seniors and they told us what they

[17:52] wanted to do after graduation. And so,

[17:54] I'm going to kind of put her on the

[17:55] spot. She has she's been very involved

[17:58] in her high school. Um, she was on

[18:00] magicals. Um, she did some drama,

[18:04] theater. Um, she's a great public

[18:06] speaker. So, I'm going to have her tell

[18:08] you what her plans are. Um, because in

[18:11] the video I was just impressed with what

[18:13] she said. So,

[18:15] Um, so I actually starting in this

[18:19] summer I have been offered an internship

[18:22] at Utah State University. I'm currently

[18:24] working with a professor in the plant

[18:26] soils and climate department helping him

[18:28] with some of his research that he's

[18:29] doing. Um, and in the fall I will start

[18:32] as a student at USU. I will be studying

[18:34] two majors in plant science research and

[18:37] as well as in physics. And I hope to

[18:40] pursue graduate studies in the field of

[18:42] plant science research. And my end goal

[18:44] really is I want to work with NASA to

[18:46] study astrobotney which is the study of

[18:49] how plants grow in space. So eventually

[18:52] I hope to work with research on the

[18:54] International Space Station with plants

[18:56] as well as hopefully one day putting

[18:58] plants on Mars. And so that's kind of my

[19:00] end goal. Um and I just wanted to

[19:02] mention about the Sterling Scholar

[19:03] thing. So there's 14 different

[19:06] categories that they have and there

[19:07] things like science, family and consumer

[19:10] sciences. There's like dance for one and

[19:12] math and they take the winners from each

[19:14] of these categories and they send just

[19:17] their portfolios to a set of judges and

[19:19] judge them all against each other and

[19:20] choose one winner who they feel could

[19:22] have succeeded in a lot of areas. And

[19:25] that's the award that I was able to win

[19:27] for the Wasatch Front region of Utah.

[19:30] And so it hasn't been accomplished by

[19:32] anyone in the Boxelder School District

[19:34] before. And so that was one of the Yeah,

[19:36] THAT'S THE HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT.

[19:45] SHE HAS TAKEN advantage of a lot of

[19:47] opportunities that she's had in school

[19:48] and she's really prepared herself and

[19:50] she's got a great future ahead of her.

[19:53] Um, what we'll have you do is go and

[19:55] shake all their hands and then we'll

[19:56] have you stand in front and we'll get

[19:58] >> Can I ask one question first?

[19:59] >> Yes.

[20:00] >> Is like after since you won that the

[20:02] Wasatch one, does it go on or is that

[20:04] the end of this?

[20:06] >> That's just kind of the end of it. They

[20:07] have four regions in Utah and so they're

[20:10] like these students have competed enough

[20:12] there's we're not going to pit them

[20:13] against each other but in our region

[20:15] there was I believe 1,400 Sterling

[20:18] scholars that competed so yeah

[20:21] >> amazing

[20:22] >> so like every high school sentence like

[20:25] 10 or 12

[20:25] >> 14 one in each

[20:27] >> they have somebody in every category

[20:29] sometimes they don't have people apply

[20:31] in some other categories so

[20:33] >> it's a lot of students

[20:35] >> she went really are.

[20:37] >> Yeah.

[20:37] >> Okay.

[20:38] >> Thank you, Mom and Dad.

[20:39] >> Yes.

[20:40] >> So exciting. Congratulations.

[20:44] >> Just thanks for being here.

[20:45] >> Well done. Congrats. That's so amazing.

[20:47] >> Most amazing. The shoes were like the

[20:49] least.

[20:57] » Yeah. Push those back. And

[21:03] it's fine. I'm going to let us have you

[21:04] stand right up.

[21:06] left.

[21:07] >> I know.

[21:07] >> Yeah, I know.

[21:10] » All right. Okay. One, two, three.

[21:15] >> Okay. Awesome.

[21:16] >> Thank you, Sarah.

[21:18] >> Sorry.

[21:28] I am truly in awe. Well done. You're

[21:32] welcome to stay as long as you would

[21:34] like or you are welcome to leave as soon

[21:36] as you would like. It's totally up to

[21:39] you. All right, we are going to move on

[21:41] to um e the approval of our agenda. I

[21:46] move to approve the agenda for tonight.

[21:48] >> I'll second.

[21:50] >> We have a motion and a second.

[21:53] >> Second.

[21:54] >> Oh, Brian, I thought you said you do we

[21:57] have a motion.

[21:58] >> Sorry. Yes, we have a motion and a

[21:59] second. So, um, let's move all those in

[22:03] favor say I.

[22:04] >> I.

[22:05] >> Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. Uh, we are

[22:08] to our public comment portion of the

[22:10] meeting. Um, the floor is open at this

[22:13] time for any residents of Boxelder

[22:15] County or staff members to address the

[22:16] board of education on items pertaining

[22:19] to education and the operation of the

[22:21] school district. Participants will be

[22:23] given the opportunity to address the

[22:25] board in the order which they have

[22:27] signed up. Patrons must state their name

[22:29] prior to making comments. Individual

[22:31] comments during this segment of the

[22:33] meeting are restricted to a maximum of

[22:35] three minutes. Um handouts may be used

[22:37] and distributed and if they are each

[22:40] member of the board um and district

[22:42] staff should receive a copy of that

[22:44] handout. Um the board will not take

[22:46] final action or have discussion on items

[22:48] presented during public comment unless

[22:50] the item is already on the meeting

[22:52] agenda. If additional studies needed to

[22:54] respond adequate adequately to the

[22:56] questions or comments, the resident may

[22:58] receive a written response. The written

[23:00] response may be read publicly at the

[23:02] next regular meeting of the board. Due

[23:05] to the rights of privacy of employees of

[23:07] the district, the board of education

[23:09] will not allow public comments on

[23:11] specific employee appointments,

[23:13] employment, or performance at this time.

[23:16] Questions and complaints or charges

[23:17] against particular employees are to be

[23:19] referred to the superintendent for

[23:20] action consistent with the law and or

[23:22] district policy.

[23:24] And Mr. Sthalt,

[23:31] » before we get started, I'm just

[23:32] wondering is this important?

[23:37] » I don't know if this is on.

[23:39] >> It's not if that's sitting on top.

[23:41] >> Okay. So, but you're still going to be

[23:44] recorded and you have a get decent

[23:47] enough voice to project. So,

[23:49] >> okay,

[23:49] >> I think you'll be fine.

[23:52] >> The amount of misinformation dealt out

[23:54] by the school board at the last meeting

[23:57] is astounding. One statement from your f

[24:00] February 25th, 2026 working session

[24:03] stood out to me. During that meeting,

[24:04] this board acknowledged that it had lost

[24:07] the public's trust. And yet, despite

[24:09] this and overwhelming evidence to the

[24:10] contrary, this board continues to act as

[24:13] though the public supports your

[24:14] decisions. The facts tell a different

[24:16] story. Last month, you argued that the

[24:19] no vote in the 2024 bond election wasn't

[24:22] representative because not everyone

[24:24] voted down the ballot. But the numbers

[24:26] tell a different story. Nearly 70% of

[24:28] those who voted on the board on the bond

[24:31] rejected it. Even when compared to all

[24:33] ballots cast in the election, the

[24:35] opposition still represented well over

[24:37] 60% of registered voters, not just those

[24:41] who voted. When divided evenly across

[24:43] the school board districts, more people

[24:46] voted against the bond than voted for

[24:48] each of you. Then came the 37% t

[24:52] property tax increase. Hundreds of

[24:54] residents spoke against it and more than

[24:56] 7,000 citizens signed a petition so the

[24:59] public, not just this board, could

[25:01] decide the issue. Yet, you dismissed

[25:04] that effort by being as being

[25:06] insufficient evidence of public opinion.

[25:09] Let's review the evidence. More than 60%

[25:12] of registered voters voted against the

[25:14] bond. Hundreds publicly opposed the tax

[25:17] increase and more than 7,000 citizens

[25:20] signed a petition requesting a public

[25:22] vote. Rather than letting the voters

[25:24] decide, the board chose a more expensive

[25:26] lease purchase agreement. Now, even

[25:29] though the financing doesn't require the

[25:32] full 37% tax increase, the tenative

[25:35] budget keeps the entire increase in

[25:37] place while also reducing the capital

[25:40] fund instead of proposing tax relief or

[25:42] saving up.

[25:44] If this spending is truly unavoidable, I

[25:47] have to wonder what this budget would

[25:49] look like had citizens not gathered

[25:51] enough signatures to force a vote on the

[25:53] lease revenue bond. One school board

[25:55] member expressed that she felt extorted.

[25:58] That is exactly how the public felt

[26:00] after voting no on the bond. If you do

[26:02] not do what we want you to do, the

[26:04] outcome will be worse. And to those who

[26:07] question whether 7,000 signatures were

[26:09] meaningful, I'd like to offer a

[26:11] challenge. I invite this board to gather

[26:13] signatures from 20% of registered voters

[26:16] in just 30 days in the middle of the

[26:18] winter and during the holiday season. I

[26:21] highly doubt you could garner such

[26:23] support. Finally, the board approved

[26:25] spending approximately $500,000 to

[26:28] install artificial turf on a softball

[26:31] field. We've been told it will save

[26:33] money, but the math doesn't seem to

[26:35] support that claim. If the expected

[26:37] maintenance savings are about 20,000 per

[26:39] year, it would take roughly 25 years to

[26:42] recover the cost. Yet, artificial turf

[26:44] used for athletics is typically expected

[26:46] to last only 10 to 12 years before

[26:49] replacement. In other words, the field

[26:51] would likely need to be replaced two

[26:53] times before taxpayers break even. You

[26:56] acknowledge the public's trust has been

[26:58] lost. Trust is rebuilt by following the

[27:00] evidence, exercising fiscal discipline,

[27:02] and allowing the people, not

[27:04] assumptions, to guide major financial

[27:06] decisions. I hope this board chooses that path in the future, but I'm

[27:10] not holding my breath.

[27:14] >> All right. Thank you. Moving on um to

[27:17] action items. So that is G1.

[27:21] Um the approval of the sex education

[27:24] committee. Mr. WY.

[27:39] I just have to speak loud, right,

[27:40] Robert?

[27:41] >> Yeah. Good. You're just not going to be

[27:44] amplified in the room. She'll be fine.

[27:46] That's cuz I got a good loud voice. Um,

[27:49] so, uh, I I'm Ben Wy. I'm uh over sexed

[27:54] here in our sex ed curriculum here in

[27:56] our district. Um every year by state

[27:59] statute, I need to come before the board

[28:02] and um ask uh that you approve

[28:07] um a sex education curriculum material

[28:10] review committee. Um and you guys, you

[28:13] can see that on your screens. We

[28:15] actually have a district policy policy

[28:17] 4105. Um and in that in section G it

[28:21] talks about um that our school board

[28:24] needs to approve a committee and the the

[28:28] components of this committee are

[28:29] parents, health care professionals,

[28:31] school health educators and

[28:32] administrators. Um and the purpose of

[28:35] this committee is to meet to determine

[28:38] any new u potentially new curriculum

[28:41] that someone might have. Um I can give

[28:44] you an example. Last year, even though

[28:45] we had this committee, the committee

[28:47] never saw or reviewed any new material

[28:51] because ne none was ever brought before

[28:54] um us as a committee to be taught. Um

[28:57] our our educators teach what has been

[28:59] approved by the state and there were no

[29:01] other um additional um attempts I guess

[29:06] or uh requests to add any curriculum. Um

[29:10] and and so um it is that is what I'm

[29:15] I guess requesting is a motion to

[29:18] approve this committee. Um you can see

[29:21] the list there. Um um and all of our

[29:25] either whether they're parents or their

[29:26] administrators or healthcare

[29:28] professionals. Um these are all all

[29:31] almost exactly the same committee that

[29:32] we had last year. Several of I shouldn't

[29:35] say several, a few of the committee

[29:36] members either got new assignments, aka

[29:40] our superintendent was on the committee.

[29:42] He is no longer on that committee. Um AJ

[29:46] Gilmore, who will be sitting in that

[29:47] chair in the future, is now on the

[29:49] committee. That's just one example uh of a change. Um

[29:55] are there any questions by the board?

[29:58] >> When was the last time the committee

[30:00] met? Um I cannot speak to that because I

[30:04] only uh received this opportunity last

[30:07] year and we did not meet at all last

[30:08] year. Uh I before that

[30:11] >> it was a year uh ago spring when we did

[30:15] maturation

[30:16] >> uh approval. So that was the last time

[30:19] we had something come before us.

[30:21] >> Thank you.

[30:23] >> Great question.

[30:27] » Okay. Do we have a motion? I move that

[30:29] we approve the following members to

[30:30] serve on the 2026 2027 Boxelder School

[30:33] District sex education curriculum

[30:35] materials review committee per the

[30:37] guidelines of district policy 4105.

[30:42] » I second that.

[30:44] >> All right, we have a motion and a

[30:45] second. Any discussion to the motion?

[30:49] >> All right, all those in favor say I.

[30:51] >> I.

[30:52] >> Any opposed?

[30:53] >> That motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Wy.

[30:56] I'll just stay up here because I'm

[30:58] substituting for Mega Bush now. Um, she

[31:01] would do a much better job than I'm

[31:02] going to do, but she has other response.

[31:05] I believe I'm ne she's next on the

[31:07] agenda.

[31:08] >> Yes. H1, we're moving on to information

[31:10] items.

[31:12] >> Yes. Um, so, uh, you'll see the

[31:14] difference between someone who likes

[31:16] color and someone who doesn't like color

[31:18] really quickly in these presentations.

[31:20] Mine was black and white. I don't see

[31:22] orange and red very well. Um so um so

[31:27] these are some of our our data um Megan

[31:30] Bushnell has pulled um you can see in

[31:33] her first slide um those are the the

[31:36] district data that is that we have in

[31:38] educators handbook um also known as EH

[31:41] uh commonly known as EH. You can see

[31:43] that our minor offenses are down and so

[31:45] are our office referrals. Um, and some

[31:48] of that will be explained in in just a

[31:51] few slides. Um, four slides I think to

[31:53] be specific. Um, even though there were

[31:56] 5,000 off office referrals, ne next

[32:00] slide. Um, only 3% of those actually

[32:03] were classified as bullying and

[32:05] harassment. And that's out of the office

[32:07] referrals. If you look at the full

[32:09] 12,000 from minor and office referrals,

[32:13] bullying and harassment represents 1.2%.

[32:16] 2% of all the referrals but to our admin

[32:19] in 2025 which or in 2020 202526

[32:24] year which is down from the previous

[32:26] year which was 3.4%.

[32:29] >> An office referral could be for

[32:32] anything.

[32:33] >> That's correct. It's usually a I would

[32:36] say an aggravated, but it's an elevated

[32:39] referral. Um because there can be minor

[32:42] offenses that teachers deal with in

[32:43] their classroom multiple times before it

[32:46] elevates to an office referral. But yes,

[32:48] an office referral can be for anything,

[32:50] not just like harassment, harassment and

[32:53] both. Absolutely. Great question. Um

[32:57] Megan uh dove into the data and she

[32:59] broke down those incidences that were in

[33:01] educator educator handbook. Um and there

[33:04] you can see those are the breakouts for

[33:07] all the different harassments and

[33:08] bullying and they are all broken out

[33:10] that way so that administrators

[33:14] um can label the harassment properly if

[33:17] that makes sense. And that there there

[33:18] is a huge reason for that. Not just to

[33:21] make sure we identify it and properly

[33:23] take care of it, but the state um also

[33:26] on several reports that Megan fills out

[33:28] needs to know these exact numbers. Um

[33:31] and is a b on a basis of so that's

[33:36] what that means. Um the next slide Megan

[33:39] broke out by school. So you could

[33:41] actually see if you'll hover over the

[33:43] well you can see on the bar graph but if

[33:46] you Oh you can't. Never mind. On my p on

[33:49] my computer, when you hover over those

[33:50] cool little bars, you could actually

[33:52] it'll tell you the exact percentage. Um,

[33:55] you can see that there are

[33:58] elementarymentaries are doing a really

[33:59] good job of staying low. Um, and in the

[34:02] next slide I I will kind of go into

[34:05] depth as to why that is. Perfect. So,

[34:07] the next steps for student services um

[34:10] that Megan wants to focus on um and I'll

[34:12] point out number two. Um she's done well

[34:15] first she's done a really good job of

[34:16] training staff and admin to accurately

[34:20] report what is harassment and what is

[34:22] bullying. Um and and that is very

[34:25] important that we can identify it so

[34:28] then we can take care of it properly. Um

[34:30] two, elementary schools really do have a

[34:34] tier one um

[34:38] component for

[34:41] um dealing with bullying and harassment.

[34:44] Um she would like to improve that and

[34:46] continue to um improve not not just

[34:50] improve that that make it more

[34:53] holistic. Um we are going to start a

[34:55] what's called mascot. Um and our

[34:58] elementary counselors are going to help

[35:00] um bring that online. Um that way um

[35:05] those incidences that are happening in

[35:06] elementary have a more holistic um

[35:10] approach to dealing with the harassment

[35:12] rather than just a penalty or a

[35:14] punishment if that makes sense. Um

[35:16] >> mascot skills. Ma mascot is an acronym

[35:20] and and I and I'm sure one of you is

[35:23] going to ask what that stands for and

[35:25] that's where I'm going to be like uh

[35:26] this is where Megan would be much better

[35:28] at this presentation than me. Um but I

[35:31] will uh make sure that she gets that

[35:34] information out to you so that you are

[35:35] all in the know. Um it is a program that

[35:38] we have purchased.

[35:39] >> Is her dad okay?

[35:40] >> Um you ready? Oh, wait. Nope. Sorry,

[35:43] Megan. Uh, I know this because uh me and

[35:46] Megan share a secretary. Um, she has

[35:48] already started scheduling her

[35:51] administrative visits with all of her

[35:53] elementary schools. Um, she tries to hit

[35:56] all of them three if not four times if

[35:58] her schedule allows. And that's just for

[36:00] observations. That has nothing to do

[36:02] with an actual uh referral or or an

[36:05] issue or a safe school um finding. um th

[36:08] those are um appointments or visits that

[36:11] she has so that she can visit with

[36:13] counselors and admin just looking at

[36:16] educator handbook data um and so that

[36:18] she can have uh an open conversation and

[36:21] try and improve things. Um, number four,

[36:25] um, me and her are working because I'm

[36:27] over secondary counselors. Um, we do not

[36:30] currently have, uh, the tier one, um,

[36:35] component like elementary have in our

[36:37] secondary schools. Um, there are some

[36:39] bright shiny moments. As far as a

[36:41] complete and total tier one, we are

[36:43] working towards that with seven

[36:45] mindsets. Um, and that is a focus of our

[36:49] uh, counselor training this this coming

[36:51] August. and finally work to implement a

[36:54] contact consultant plan um if that's

[36:56] possible in the in the coming year.

[36:58] We've got some pretty lofty goals. So,

[37:00] we'll see if we get get that far. Um

[37:03] that is our report. That's Megan's

[37:06] report. Any questions?

[37:11] » I do.

[37:12] >> I have a question in the graph part and

[37:15] I don't really

[37:15] >> Yes. Go ahead. Back to the graph. Yep.

[37:17] >> In the graph.

[37:19] >> Yes. It seems very interesting. I mean,

[37:23] I'm just curious with Boxeller Middle

[37:24] School and B River Middle School,

[37:26] there's a huge difference there. Is that

[37:29] because they report it differently? I

[37:31] can't imagine it being that much

[37:33] different.

[37:34] >> Um, that's a great question. Um, there

[37:37] are, having been in schools in the

[37:40] trenches, you'd be surprised how there

[37:41] are es and flows. um one one year, same

[37:45] admin, same teachers, you could have a

[37:48] class move in and at the start of the

[37:50] year you'll have a massive amount of

[37:52] vapes, which are office referrals. Um

[37:54] and yet you can have the very next year

[37:57] there's hardly any vapes. Um and so

[38:00] there's there I I wish there was rhyme

[38:02] and reason to say, "Oh, there's yeah,

[38:04] there's a reason why there's more in

[38:05] that school than that." But there's it's

[38:08] just a difference in student body. Um

[38:11] the admin have been trained to report

[38:13] the what the issue is a accurately. So

[38:17] those numbers are

[38:19] truly accurate.

[38:21] >> So

[38:22] >> well you have three or 400 more kids at

[38:25] Boxelder Middle School.

[38:27] >> Yes. Is

[38:27] >> that right?

[38:28] >> Yeah.

[38:29] >> Schools.

[38:30] >> I mean that doesn't the ratio is still

[38:33] not the same for that many more kids but

[38:36] it does account for some of it maybe.

[38:38] >> Yeah.

[38:39] Interesting.

[38:44] » Any other questions for Ben?

[38:48] >> All right. Thank you so much. We

[38:50] appreciate you stepping in for Megan. We love Megan and hope everything is

[38:53] well and thanks for Thank you.

[38:58] >> We're We are going to move to H2, our

[39:00] monthly financial report from our

[39:03] business administrator.

[39:06] » Thank you. Um

[39:09] this time of year is uh kind of the the

[39:11] doldrums of my office. A lot of

[39:13] compliance what's going on. We're

[39:15] updating the budgets that were passed

[39:18] last board meeting into our financial

[39:20] system. A significant amount of work. We

[39:22] have about 25,000 different accounting

[39:24] lines. You ask why so many accounting

[39:27] lines? Well, that's because we have so

[39:30] many account combinations required by

[39:32] the state board.

[39:34] So process updating those budgets. Uh

[39:37] we're also in the process of closing out

[39:38] the fiscal year. So we this time of year

[39:40] we're working on um posting payroll for

[39:44] two the last two pay periods of the

[39:46] year. So for the district office staff

[39:50] we are paid on a fiscal year. Whereas

[39:54] for teachers their contracts run from

[39:56] the August 15th thereabouts through the

[40:00] end of July. So, but they're paid on a

[40:02] on they work out 9 months, but they're

[40:05] paid on a 12-month contract. So, that

[40:07] last pay period, the last check they

[40:09] received actually belongs in the prior

[40:11] fiscal year. So, we're working on

[40:13] accounting for all these expenses. In

[40:16] addition, making sure all of our uh our

[40:18] debts, our charges for services that we

[40:21] incur are put in fiscal year.

[40:24] Additionally, we have to report our

[40:26] budgets passed by the board uh by this

[40:30] Friday to the state board of education.

[40:32] There's a lot of work that goes into

[40:34] preparing to begin a new fiscal year.

[40:36] So, there's not much new in this fiscal

[40:39] financial report here other than to say

[40:41] that we're on target for budgets. This

[40:43] report does not reflect the budget

[40:45] updates that the board passed last month

[40:48] because of the time it takes to get them

[40:49] inputed and reconciled and uh prepare

[40:52] these reports. So,

[40:54] Next month we should have a better

[40:57] snapshot of the completeness of where we

[41:00] stand financially.

[41:02] As we go as you if there's any lines you

[41:04] have questions on I can answer those but

[41:06] there's nothing really of significance

[41:08] here to report. Um in August about

[41:12] August 17th our audit starts. So

[41:14] Squiring Company will be here in the

[41:16] office for about a week. They will be

[41:18] going through our our financial

[41:19] statements, our records, requesting

[41:22] samples for invoices and other

[41:24] compliance requirements. Uh this year

[41:26] the special education program will

[41:28] receive what we call a single audit.

[41:31] That means that the department of

[41:32] education has set forth requirements for

[41:35] that program and federally and the

[41:38] auditor will be reviewing that program

[41:40] to make sure we fulfilled our compliance

[41:42] requirements both fiscally and

[41:44] programmatically. Last year, title one

[41:47] was selected for that audit and they

[41:49] went through and sampled a few different

[41:51] program requirements. One of which is

[41:53] are we do we are we transferring

[41:55] students appropriately between title one

[41:57] schools or out of title one schools. We

[41:59] have evidence that we're doing that. We

[42:01] do the same kind of work here. Select

[42:03] programmatic requirements, sample them

[42:05] and determine if we're compliant or not.

[42:06] Last year we were compliant with our

[42:08] title one program. I suspect we'll be

[42:11] compliant as well with our special ed

[42:13] program. I have no indications of any

[42:15] non-compliance that have been brought to

[42:17] my attention. So, we'll be working that

[42:19] process starting in August. It's going

[42:22] to go through October 1 is when we have

[42:25] to have the financial report submitted

[42:28] to USB. Then the auditors will work on

[42:31] preparing any audit findings

[42:33] programmatically for the single audit

[42:35] act and that is due by November 30th. So

[42:39] in December, we'll have a complete

[42:41] snapsh snapshot, excuse me, of all our

[42:45] activities both programmatically and

[42:48] fiscally to report to the board in

[42:50] December. So this is just kind of a a

[42:53] holding period till we can gather all

[42:54] the information, have it properly

[42:56] accounted for and summarize and report

[42:58] format.

[43:00] Do we have any questions?

[43:05] Okay, thank you.

[43:07] >> Thank you.

[43:09] Moving to H3, our board committee

[43:11] reports. Does anyone have anything to

[43:13] report from your committee assignments

[43:15] that you have?

[43:18] >> Um, we had the uh Boys and Girls Club uh

[43:23] fundraiser and dinner and they asked me

[43:26] to express their gratitude for the

[43:28] district supplying off um items for that

[43:30] fundraiser. They held it at their new

[43:32] facility here on their campus. It was

[43:34] great. It was very well attended and so

[43:37] just appreciate the work that they do

[43:39] and their partnership with us as a

[43:41] district.

[43:44] » Any others? I heard that it was a huge

[43:47] success from some people that went. So,

[43:49] thank you for

[43:50] >> Yeah, it it it really was and um it was

[43:53] nice to have it in that new facility. I

[43:55] think that um that that new campus is

[43:57] going to work out well.

[43:58] >> Good. Good. So, glad to hear that. Any

[44:02] other reports from committees?

[44:05] All right, we will move to H

[44:09] >> four. Thank you. Employee appreciation.

[44:12] And Heidi Joe's going to talk to us

[44:14] about that.

[44:15] >> Okay. I just wanted to explain this a

[44:17] little bit so that you would have a

[44:18] context. Um in lie of the monthly ESP

[44:22] and teacher of the month recognitions, I

[44:24] just thought it would be nice to put on

[44:26] here some of our um high achieving

[44:28] teachers as far as student academic

[44:30] achievement on the state assessments.

[44:33] So, the first one um has every teacher

[44:36] in the district from kindergarten

[44:38] through third grade that had more than

[44:40] 90% of their students scoring proficient

[44:43] on the Acadians benchmark at the end of

[44:45] the year. The ones with an asterisk are

[44:48] the one are the teachers that had 100%.

[44:50] So, we had quite a few teachers with

[44:52] 100% of their students on grade level.

[44:54] The second sheet is those teachers that

[44:57] had 90% of their students reached high

[45:00] pathways of progress. So that means they

[45:02] made typical above typical or well above

[45:05] typical progress for what was expected

[45:07] for the student. Again the asterisk

[45:09] means that they were at 100% um of

[45:13] typical or above for pathways of

[45:14] progress. Again that's K3. The very last

[45:17] one. Oh, and on those two, the state is

[45:19] somewhere around 70% for their

[45:21] proficiency. So that's a good 20 to 30%

[45:23] above what the state average is. Um then

[45:26] the last sheet is all teachers from

[45:29] third grade through 8th grade that had

[45:31] more than 70% of their students

[45:33] proficient on rise ELA math and science

[45:36] and there's an asterk if it was above

[45:38] 80%. And so those are really again state

[45:42] average is about 45% on rise um 42 in

[45:45] some subtests. So really good results

[45:49] and a good opportunity if you see some

[45:51] of those teachers to just commend to

[45:52] them and let them know what a great job

[45:54] they're doing and just get their names

[45:55] out there. We're probably going to try

[45:56] to have this put on our social media too

[45:59] just so

[45:59] >> absolutely

[46:00] >> Heidi Joe will you do me a favor and I

[46:02] don't know I'm I'm looking trying to see

[46:04] down the line and Julie's got it on hers

[46:06] but mine wouldn't

[46:07] >> I had to refresh and then it pulled up.

[46:10] >> Okay my browser.

[46:11] >> The reason why is because I I deleted it

[46:13] and updated it. We had the wrong name

[46:15] for one individual and I was texting.

[46:17] >> There we go. Okay.

[46:18] >> And saying, "Wait a minute, that person

[46:19] teaches kind or first grade now. They

[46:22] can't be on there." And so it was first

[46:23] name,

[46:24] >> wrong first name, right, last name. So

[46:26] we we got it updated. Just

[46:27] >> got it. Thank you so much.

[46:29] >> We will get that out on our social media

[46:30] so that those individual teachers that

[46:33] have worked so hard can hear some

[46:35] appreciation.

[46:35] >> Awesome.

[46:36] >> Just curious on some of those names like

[46:38] Trisha Day and Tiffany Roach. U they are

[46:41] a dual immersion. So, when it has their

[46:43] name, is that both classes or is it

[46:45] their specific class?

[46:46] >> Yeah. What Mr. Morris tries to do is he

[46:48] tries to put it on their Well, it could

[46:51] be their specific class, but I thought

[46:53] usually we go through and I'm not sure

[46:54] cuz we were trying to get this out

[46:55] today. We'd started on it a couple weeks

[46:57] ago and we were waiting for the data to

[46:58] be cleaned up, so he rushed it pretty

[47:00] quick. Usually what he'll do is put the

[47:02] person that teaches that subject. So

[47:04] you'll notice that Trisha Day and

[47:06] Tiffany Roach both are the English side,

[47:08] but they likely teach the math is what

[47:11] I'm guessing. So I don't know. I don't

[47:13] go to the class.

[47:14] >> Yeah.

[47:15] >> So that's what he tries to do.

[47:17] >> Okay.

[47:18] >> When you put them on social media, will

[47:19] you add their schools?

[47:21] >> Yeah. And their grade level maybe too.

[47:23] >> Okay. You I'll have him update.

[47:25] >> I think it's uh interesting that I mean

[47:27] that's a name, but that name has 20 to

[47:29] 25 kids

[47:31] >> in that group. and uh you start doing

[47:33] that math and I mean that that's an

[47:36] awesome list and it's even awesome for

[47:39] our students to have that kind of

[47:40] accomplishment. So

[47:42] >> secondary it's even more students.

[47:44] >> Thank you for bringing that to us. That

[47:46] is amazing and they should be

[47:47] recognized. So thank you so much.

[47:52] >> All right. Thank you. Moving for

[47:55] forward, we're going to letter I, our

[47:57] policy review. We do not have this is

[47:59] probably the only month of the whole

[48:01] year that we don't have first readings.

[48:02] Um but we do have

[48:05] four on second reading. So

[48:09] I will take a motion.

[48:10] >> Make a motion that we pass the policies

[48:12] on second reading.

[48:13] >> I'll second.

[48:14] >> We have a motion and a second. Any

[48:17] discussion of the motion? All those in

[48:20] favor say I.

[48:21] >> I.

[48:22] >> Any opposed?

[48:26] » Great. Moving forward to the consent

[48:27] items. Letter J.

[48:33] » I make a motion we uh pass consent

[48:35] items.

[48:38] >> I have a motion. Is there a second?

[48:40] >> I'll second that.

[48:41] >> Okay. Motion and a second. Any

[48:43] discussion?

[48:46] >> All those in favor say I.

[48:48] >> I.

[48:49] >> Any opposed? Okay, that motion passes.

[48:52] We are now looking forward to or to K on

[48:57] to K. Um suggestions for future board

[49:00] meetings. I made quite a little list

[49:02] from our discussion in our work session.

[49:04] Um is there anything anyone wants to add

[49:08] to that list right now or did you add

[49:13] the naming in September? Yes. Of the new

[49:17] mountain school. Okay.

[49:18] >> Yes.

[49:20] Any others that you can think of?

[49:24] All right,

[49:26] we are we now Can I just ask?

[49:28] >> Yes, please.

[49:29] >> Uh Heidi Joe,

[49:31] >> um it does say uh an early literacy plan

[49:34] potentially for Ashley

[49:37] >> that the state repealed that with 241.

[49:39] Last year they made it just an early

[49:42] math or numeracy and then this year they

[49:44] complete.

[49:44] >> That's what I thought. Thank you.

[49:45] >> So that's something that was on there

[49:46] just because it's on their yearly but

[49:48] now they don't. Right. Okay. All right.

[49:50] >> So, good.

[49:52] >> In August, we'll probably discuss names

[49:56] in a work session.

[49:57] >> I think by August, it'll be put out to

[50:00] the community for ideas and come back

[50:03] and

[50:03] >> Okay.

[50:04] >> In September.

[50:05] >> September.

[50:06] >> Okay. That's how I understood our

[50:08] discussion to

[50:10] >> Can we bump it up? Like, is there

[50:13] >> Oh, want to

[50:15] >> Why Why are we waiting till September

[50:16] just because that's the last

[50:19] Why would we be waiting till September,

[50:20] not just do it in August?

[50:22] >> I'm fine with that's just what was

[50:24] discussed in there. But I'm totally fine

[50:26] to change it. Whatever. Is that is one

[50:29] month not enough turnaround time for you

[50:32] guys to put stuff out and receive stuff

[50:34] back?

[50:34] >> Yeah, I was going to say was that

[50:35] >> I do a little I do worry about July

[50:37] being a somewhat of a people do go out

[50:40] on out of town vacation 24th of July

[50:43] weekends. There's

[50:45] >> It feels like maybe we just need a

[50:46] little bit more. I think we certainly

[50:48] will be ready by September 1, but I

[50:51] think just having a little extra time to

[50:53] get families kind of back into um school

[50:57] mode, I think would help us.

[50:59] >> Thank you, Stephanie.

[51:01] >> I agree. I think that if we give it a

[51:03] little bit bit of time after school

[51:04] starts, people might be thinking more

[51:06] about that. Yeah.

[51:07] >> Get a little bit more response.

[51:12] » Thank you for those comments. Anything

[51:15] else?

[51:17] Um

[51:19] just uh maybe more work on our strategic

[51:22] plan. Uh maybe someformational will be

[51:25] able we you know we'll have more

[51:26] information. We can break it down into

[51:28] different stakeholders uh sub you know

[51:31] and have some additional information and

[51:33] uh the district leadership council will

[51:35] continue to work on breaking that down.

[51:38] I think that would be just anformational

[51:40] item uh at that point and maybe ongoing

[51:43] for a little bit here until we get

[51:46] things uh where we'd like them to be.

[51:48] >> I think that should be on work session

[51:49] for every month probably.

[51:51] >> Yeah.

[51:52] >> That's actually good.

[51:54] >> Okay.

[51:56] >> Any other thoughts on agenda?

[52:02] » Okay. Do we need Well, I guess it will

[52:04] come up when we we'll have to approve a

[52:07] contract for the audit

[52:10] >> next month.

[52:10] >> Oh, for the external audit of the

[52:12] district office office.

[52:14] >> Um

[52:17] >> we can take care our policies allow

[52:19] state or administratively.

[52:21] >> Okay. All right.

[52:24] Uh Neil, wasn't uh we thought maybe by

[52:26] August we would have um an internal

[52:29] auditor maybe selected or brought for

[52:32] approval maybe.

[52:33] >> So that's one of my to-do items along

[52:35] with all my other financial

[52:36] responsibilities, but I'll work to get

[52:38] ready for next month's.

[52:39] >> Thank you.

[52:43] » I make a motion that we go into close

[52:45] session for the sale or lease of real

[52:47] property.

[52:47] >> I'll second.

[52:50] >> Okay, we need a roll call vote. We have

[52:51] a motion and a second. Um, can we start

[52:53] with you, Karen?

[52:54] >> Karen Cronin, yes.

[52:56] >> Wade Wade Hyde, yes.

[52:57] >> Julie Taylor, yes.

[52:58] >> Tiffany Summers, yes.

[52:59] >> Danielle, Wright, yes.

[53:00] >> Ryan Smith, yes.

[53:02] >> Stephanie D. Phillips, yes.

[53:05] >> Thank you. We will adjourn from that

[53:07] closed session. We will not be back into

[53:09] this room for open session.

[53:14] Is it

[53:23] better?

BESD- Board Meeting - July 8, 2026

Transcript