[0:00] We'll get going though. Ready? Welcome. This is September 16th, 2026.

[0:05] This is Park School District R3 Board of Education regular meeting. It is now

[0:10] 5:23. This meeting is called to order. Please

[0:14] stand for the pledge of allegiance.

[0:18] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:23] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:30] justice for all.

[0:37] » Chris, please conduct a board roll call. >> Director Fere,

[0:40] » here. >> Director Roberts. Director Shocket.

[0:44] Director Reurski >> here. Director Whis here.

[0:50] She's so sick. Move on to approval of agenda. Board members have an agenda

[0:54] before you at this time. I'll take any comments or amendments to the current

[0:56] agenda

[1:00] with it. Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the current agenda?

[1:06] » I approve. >> I second.

[1:10] » Perfecting. >> I approved it.

[1:13] » That's okay.

[1:16] Do you want me to? >> Nope. We're good. Chris, please conduct

[1:20] a board roll call. >> Director Fere I.

[1:22] » Director Reurski. >> Hi.

[1:24] » Director Wis. >> Hi.

[1:27] » I carry the vote. Agenda is approved. Moving on to agenda item two, public

[1:30] participation. We had no one signed up to speak this evening. Moving on to

[1:34] agenda item three, spotlight of success, career and technical education. CT. TJ

[1:38] and Steven. Students, please come up.

[1:44] TJ, do you see the button on the bottom to activate it? It should be a green

[1:48] light will come on right below your speaker. There you go.

[1:51] » My name is TJ Appel. I'm the career and technical education automotive teacher

[1:56] at Essis Park High School. Um, in our automotive program, uh, basically level

[2:02] one, these kids are starting out basically with no knowledge of cars

[2:06] whatsoever. Um, we get them through the general knowledge of oil changes,

[2:10] brakes, uh, stuff they should know on their vehicle. um that I think you

[2:14] should know on your vehicle before you own a vehicle. Um moving on further,

[2:18] when I get the kids that really want to keep going down that pathway, they move

[2:23] in auto 2 and um they basically run a fullervice shop out of that class. So

[2:28] auto 2 and auto 3, they run full service shops for the district and their uh

[2:32] student families. Um last year, second semester, the kids did 185 hours of uh

[2:39] labor on vehicles. Um, average labor rate right now is around $225 an hour.

[2:45] So, my students did around $35 to $37,000 worth of work for staff and

[2:50] community members vehicles. Um, already this year, these two students in my

[2:55] sixth and seventh hour class, um, we're already at the 47hour mark this

[3:00] semester, and I think we're at the month mark right around that time. So, these

[3:05] are my most advanced students. At the end of this year, they will have their

[3:08] student level ASSE certification, and then that means they just need one more

[3:13] year of shop experience um approved, and then they can have their full-on adult

[3:18] ASE certification, which is basically your doctorate degree for working on

[3:22] cars. So, I'll let those two students speak about what they're doing in class.

[3:28] » My name is Noah Moore. Um right now in class, I'm working on my truck. I'm uh I

[3:33] just did my valve cover gaskets and I'm right now I'm working on pulling my

[3:38] turbo, fixing that. Um we just did um a wheel cylinder. We're doing a whole

[3:45] bunch of things to that. And then last year,

[3:49] the year before last, we pulled a motor out of um an Extera. That was really

[3:55] cool. That was a cool experience and it was cool to know and um just learning a

[4:00] lot about motor vehicles and something I'm really interested in.

[4:05] » And then what what year are you? Are you a senior this year?

[4:08] » Senior this year. >> Okay. So when when um your teacher said

[4:13] that you just need one more course, where would you go to finish that? Would

[4:16] So I'm thinking >> Yeah. So they could either go take it in

[4:20] college and after they have a year of classroom in college [clears throat]

[4:24] that can also be certified or right out of high school they can just go get a

[4:29] job at a shop somewhere and then that can count for one year of experience.

[4:33] You cannot take your ASSE test without having two years verified experience or

[4:37] one year classroom one year shop experience.

[4:40] » Gotcha. >> Yeah. So what I'm program counts as one

[4:43] year. >> Gotcha. What I'm planning to do is I'm

[4:45] planning to go work at a dealership down the valley somewhere and then I'll get

[4:49] one year there and then I'll be able to take my ASSE.

[4:53] » Outstanding. That's great. Thank you. >> Hi, my name's uh Matthew Hanbach. Uh I'm

[5:00] kind of done similar stuff to Noah. Mostly just working on stuff that I want

[5:05] for my vehicle. Like recently I've put on a new exhaust. I ordered a Ypipe

[5:11] recently and then before that I did a kind of a lift job. I lifted the front

[5:16] end of my truck 2 in. And besides just working on that, um I just kind of try

[5:23] to help out with my family like just any regular stuff that they need or

[5:30] like anything else teachers need cuz like sometimes TJ will just be like,

[5:34] "Matthew, do this break job." And I'm like, "Okay." And then then I get that

[5:39] done. >> It's one of those classes where like my

[5:42] sixth and seventh hour class I feel like I don't even need to show up. Like they

[5:46] just show up and they get right to work and they know what they need to do. It's

[5:49] incredible. Like it's unreal what goes on in class.

[5:53] » That's excellent. Ma Matthew, what are your future plans after this?

[5:56] » Uh pretty similar what Noah wants to do. I just want to get straight into the

[6:00] workforce. Probably find a dealership. just get my one year in as soon as I can

[6:05] so I could just start making the big bucks.

[6:08] » Good for you. That's excellent. Well, thanks gentlemen for making the time to

[6:13] share that and um I wish you the best as you uh wrap up this year. Keep up the

[6:18] good work. >> Thank you.

[6:20] » Oh, wait. >> I got one question.

[6:23] » Yeah.

[6:26] So the certification just for the kids to work on the electric cars, they have

[6:32] to basically get the same certification a lineman would get. Um so they get to

[6:37] see them. We talk about them and stuff like that, but hands-on I don't want it.

[6:42] Um I was our only EV certified at Subaru uh in Lmont. And there's only one

[6:48] special tool for working on an electric car and it's a 30foot insulated hook to

[6:52] pull the person away if they're getting electrocuted.

[6:55] So yeah, we we talk about electric cars and stuff like that, but we they I don't

[7:01] have them handle them or anything like that. We do a lot. Uh we talk more about

[7:04] hybrids, though. Hybrids are kind of the future. So

[7:09] » TJ, can they work on hybrids then? >> Yes, hybrids are low voltage. Um every

[7:14] kid in the class has spelt what an ignition coil is. Um it's 30,000 volts,

[7:20] but it's low amperage. So the kids get to see what that feels like. So they're

[7:24] not terrified of working on it. And so they get to experience it. I don't make

[7:28] them do it, but if they want to, they can feel what that ignition coil is. And

[7:32] basically at that point, they know like you cannot get electrocuted working on

[7:35] those types of cars. EVs, yeah, that's a different story. So

[7:40] » then for your first year when you're working on vehicles and your book work,

[7:44] how do they get certified? So they know when they go for their second year that

[7:48] the >> so first year is like 90% classroom.

[7:52] They are exclusively in the classroom learning terminology, learning all the

[7:57] different parts of the car. And then the last month of that class, all the kids

[8:00] in a one get to rebuild Subaru engines that were donated to us by Super Repair

[8:04] down in Boulder. So every kid tears down that engine completely down to every nut

[8:08] and bolt. Then they put it all back together, make sure it functions. They

[8:12] don't start them, but they make sure they they work properly and stuff like

[8:16] that. Auto 2 is kind of that big flip. It goes into like 80% in the shop, 20%

[8:21] in the classroom. So, just more hands-on work, but then uh for example, if we

[8:26] have like a break job on a car, we may have a lesson the day before to kind of

[8:30] talk about that type of break job and then the day after they'll actually get

[8:34] their hands on and do that break job so they can see like what they learned and

[8:38] tie it into hands-on learning. And then auto3, that's kind of the same thing.

[8:42] That's more so in the shop almost exclusively. And then ASSE auto tech,

[8:48] that's kind of half the semester in the shop, half the semester in the

[8:52] classroom. And that last half the semester is just prepping for that

[8:55] certification. >> Wonderful. A great skill. Much needed.

[9:00] » Thank you. >> Yeah, go for it.

[9:03] » You do electrical chargers. >> Yep.

[9:07] So, I had a student that actually just rewired 113

[9:11] wires underneath the dash of a uh our transportation manager's vehicle uh just

[9:16] to fix her turn signals. So, he literally rewired 100 I think it was 113

[9:22] is what we counted individual wires that he reoldered, soldered them all back

[9:27] together, insulated them, and verified the repair.

[9:31] » So, they can repair a car from electrical all the way.

[9:34] » Yeah. Yeah. I with this group of kids, I mean, the my sixth and seventh hour

[9:39] class, there's almost they can almost do anything. They're almost to that point.

[9:44] There's some things that are super technical that we get into a little bit,

[9:48] but it's one of those things where it's like as an auto mechanic, you use that

[9:51] knowledge maybe once a year. We kind of dive in on like the very important stuff

[9:56] they need to know.

[10:01] Well, again, thank you both for coming and sharing about that. Uh, I know we

[10:06] don't have a as big a crowd as normal, but I'm going to tell people to get on

[10:09] and check check out your work. So, keep it up.

[10:12] » I can see what we got going on. >> Thank you, guys.

[10:20] » Do we want the other student to present though?

[10:22] » Yeah, just do a picture as the whole >> Yeah, let's do that. You guys have

[10:27] » We can leave like 10 minutes. >> You guys have to leave or

[10:32] » Oh, what time is that? >> Six.

[10:35] » Okay, hold on. >> So, I'm Steve Shaw.

[10:41] Uh, longtime teched teacher. Jackson. >> My name is Jackson Gold. I've um taken

[10:49] multiple of the CTE classes here at the high school. I really enjoy the classes

[10:54] because they um with Mr. Shaw because they teach a lot of different individual

[10:59] introductions to different parts um like civil engineering or like residential

[11:04] wiring or programming or welding. Just a lot of getting an introduction and then

[11:10] giving the resources if that's something you're interested in to continue working

[11:14] on your own. just to be able to get a lot a little bit of a lot of different

[11:18] topics so you can see what you're interested, what you might want to

[11:21] progress your knowledge on in the future. So, I've been really enjoying

[11:24] learning many different things. And even if you don't want to pro progress as a

[11:28] professional career, a lot of jobs like the um residential wiring could just be

[11:34] helpful just owning a home in the future.

[11:40] » So, I wanted Jackson go first. It's about students more but I'm happy to

[11:43] give the overview but you have question Jackson could come back and answer more

[11:48] questions if I can give you the overview right now.

[11:51] » So just to give you a little background um CTE is more than just what we so

[11:57] that's career and technical education that's everything from business

[12:00] education to agriculture education technology education health sciences.

[12:06] So it gets a little convoluted. They call us, we're just a part of CTE. We're

[12:11] technology education. Used to be called industrial arts. So now it's engineering

[12:17] and everything. So I do the other part where I teach engineering classes,

[12:22] uh, which can include everything from precision measurement, drafting and

[12:26] design, computerated drafting and design, the 3D printing, all of that.

[12:30] Um, so like Jackson said, I try to approach engineering as try to cover a

[12:35] little bit of everything. I can do a little bit of civil engineering, a

[12:37] little bit of electrical, a little bit of mechanical, manufacturing, design.

[12:42] So, I also work with the construction trades program.

[12:46] So, what's kind of neat, and I've got pictures up there, too. But what's

[12:49] innovative about we're doing in Estus on construction side is we're team teaching

[12:54] geometry and the technology education, the

[12:58] construction facet. So, it's a give and a take, but I really think that's where

[13:02] education should go in secondary level. everything needs to be more relevant and

[13:06] applied rather than theoretical like the universities have trained us. So, uh

[13:12] that's kind of interesting, but that's growing. And then I teach the welding,

[13:16] fabrication, manufacturing as well. So, that's pretty a lot of hats to wear. And

[13:23] um but that's what we're trying to do there. And I mean, I don't want to

[13:28] ramble on, but if you guys have questions for us, Jackson's been

[13:31] involved and you can see some of his photos. So, Jackson, you want to talk

[13:35] about that one? What's that photo about? >> So, I was working on a a project with

[13:42] the um observatory at the high school, and it was to build a radio telescope um

[13:48] for the observatory. And what you see I'm working on there is

[13:52] the antenna that goes onto the um the radio telescope to receive signals.

[13:59] » So, where did that canister come from, though? Um, I designed it on the

[14:04] computer and we 3D printed it. >> It's all custom and that's really what

[14:08] we want to get to. And there he's soldering and you want to have the goal.

[14:12] I always approach education like you need to have a project. You don't study

[14:16] tools just for the sake of studying tools which I believe we get wrong a lot

[14:20] in the core. Why are you doing that? Well, I'll just use the math later.

[14:23] That's a poor reason. You need to have a project and application so you see where

[14:27] the math and the tools and everything. They wouldn't just study wrenches. The

[14:32] wrenches they'll learn as they get the project. That's the point. And I think

[14:35] that's where I like to go with education. And that's where I try to

[14:39] where Jackson and I align really well. I like to give him an objective and get

[14:42] out of his way. I don't want me to hold them up and they I love to watch

[14:47] students pass my skills up and that's really what we want. I mean, it's like

[14:50] what Mr. Appel does with the automotive kids. So, we have that together. But so

[14:55] he's done a lot of things and uh what you do in the residential he really

[14:59] caught on to the residential wiring because I do a lot I do a lot in the

[15:02] trades but so he we can really differentiate. It's really nice. You got

[15:07] kids who are lower functioning and but I got a Jackson. What did you do with

[15:10] wiring last year? um with our wiring unit. There were some um pictures that

[15:15] were shown of it, but we had these um be like in a sense pieces of walls that we

[15:20] would um like install outlets or install like light fixtures and we would learn

[15:25] all the different wiring. And throughout the unit, we would have different

[15:29] projects we would work on with the wiring, which would get more and more

[15:33] complicated as we learn more. And it's just to kind of simulate actually

[15:37] working on a house. But what Jackson's not saying, I'm a little proud of him.

[15:42] Some of the other kids, it's it's inundating for one teacher. I say,

[15:45] Jackson, you're so cool. So now you have kids teaching other kids. That's next

[15:50] level learning, you know, where they had just really and he does a phenomenal

[15:54] job. So we try to do that. Um, one little piece too that we're trying to do

[15:58] is we're trying to get um so in in CTE you have career and technical student

[16:03] organizations like agriculture education is the

[16:06] classroom portion. And then you have FFA which is the youth organization like Boy

[16:12] Scouts, Girl Scouts. So for Teched, we have Skills USA. So Mr. Appell and I

[16:17] have a goal for that. We'd like to really get that chapter going. We have

[16:20] some leadership capabilities with officers and things like that. So we'll

[16:25] see. We we've taken students to contests and competing like you saw Cole

[16:30] finished. We were that close to going to nationals. We won at regionals and third

[16:35] in state. So anyway, those are the things we're ever really recruiting like

[16:39] Jackson to be our vice president, Amy Schwarz to be our president. So that's

[16:42] where the skills are. So just saw a little note there too for success. We're

[16:47] trying to build work a lot with the community uh with the grants and

[16:50] everything. Got a brand new band saw working with Rotary. They come in and

[16:54] anyway, we do a lot of cool stuff. We can talk all day, but it's really

[16:58] exciting. We really appreciate the support. I I just I've been at several

[17:02] different districts in 37 years, both technical, post-secary and secondary.

[17:07] And so Estus, you guys really do a great job supporting us. So I just really want

[17:12] to appreciate say appreciate that. >> Keep it up. Thank you.

[17:15] » Yeah. Well, thank you both for again investing time and energy and coming and

[17:19] sharing and uh we're excited to see even more projects and yeah, appreciate what

[17:24] you do and the the application is the key. So thank you.

[17:27] » Yep. Thank you. Uh, do you have them solving problem?

[17:32] Because I I'm at I've worked construction, so there's a lot of things

[17:35] that you know you've learned, but you do you teach them how to or do you just

[17:40] have them a project and let them figure out how to do it?

[17:45] » Well, that's a good question. >> So, that's my area of expertise, too. I

[17:50] used to build homes. I had my own contracting business, too, as well as

[17:52] teaching. Um but um that's the give and the take as we do this because there's

[17:57] only two of us. So they're finding that balance between post-secary which he

[18:01] really has a vocational program and what I'm doing is exploratory more so I mean

[18:06] so we have to find that balance not right or wrong and pathways are coming

[18:10] but to answer your question so we do geometry construction class you give a

[18:16] little bit on both arenas you're [clears throat] not going to have time

[18:19] to do the intense geometry and conversely

[18:23] normally my construction program we have a capstone project where we pre-sell a

[18:27] shed we bring the customer in, bring the vendor in, the kids see the whole

[18:30] process. We build a$8 to $10,000 building. So, it's not like we failed

[18:35] your math test. You don't walk away from this. It's got to be done. It's really

[18:38] cool. You know, I talk about real world learning.

[18:43] So, I don't know if we'll be able to get there in a geometry construction format.

[18:49] You almost need a construction two and three like much like what Mr. Appel

[18:54] does. He has the ability to do auto 1 2 3 4. But me being only one, it's hard to

[18:59] get to those higherend capstone projects, which you would like to trying

[19:03] to figure that out. So, I hope I answered your question. So, but we are

[19:08] doing we're doing the wiring and the mock walls and everything, but we've

[19:10] added two new classes, too, which we're kind of excited about. We brought the

[19:13] eighth grade in. We have intro to teched for eighth and ninth graders. Do a

[19:16] little bit of everything. They love it. And then we have basic home and auto

[19:20] care, which Mr. Pel's going to be teaching. That's a life skill class.

[19:24] about a quarter of how to take care of basics of your car, how to finance it,

[19:27] maintain it, and on the home side, too. So, I've taught those classes, Mr. Pel,

[19:32] and I will get that going, and we're hoping that just takes off. So,

[19:37] » thank you for the time. >> Thank you. Well done.

[19:42] » Okay. Thank you. >> Does the student proof this, Chris? Is

[19:46] that what it is? Yeah, cuz I didn't I know how to get

[19:53] » trying to help you all out. >> Oh, no worries.

[20:41] Moving on to agenda item four, discussion items. Agenda item 41,

[20:44] superintendent report. Superintendent Grebs.

[20:49] All right. Well, thank you very much. I'm going to start with the facilities

[20:52] update. Uh the high school um has, as you heard, we needed to install cameras

[20:58] per CHASSA rules in the event we host playoffs. Those are up and running and I

[21:02] think the community has taken advantage of watching some games online. The

[21:07] elementary school uh we are much closer to solving the HVAC issues especially in

[21:13] the office. Yes, thank you for your patience. Uh Miss Miller, um it turned

[21:18] out to be a um programming issue is the latest culprit. So hopefully that's

[21:22] taken care of. And then again continued maintenance um projects, painting and

[21:28] fixing things. Uh, I want to give a special shout out. Brian Lund, Matt

[21:32] Bird, and Nate Harger. Um, they have been working to restripe our parking

[21:37] lots uh on campus. And on Labor Day, the three of them came in and not only

[21:42] repainted some lines, but they reoriented the lines behind the middle

[21:46] school and gained nine parking places. So, uh, it's just another example of

[21:52] people chipping in um, and using their resources and ideas for the betterment.

[21:57] Um, safety, security-wise, uh, we made some upgrades on the top field fence.

[22:02] Uh, I noticed a small gap, uh, when I first got here, asked Eric to look into

[22:07] it, and not only did he take care of the gate issue, but there was some fence

[22:11] that was shorter than we wanted. And so, it's been replaced with 6T fencing. On

[22:17] the finance uh, departments, our preliminary assessed values are down

[22:22] from uh, last year. Larur County is down 3.4% 4% and Boulder 1.4. So, it will be

[22:29] a reduction in what we bring in, especially on paper. Mr. Lund has

[22:34] assured me that counties have until December 10th to rectify any

[22:39] assessments. So, there is a possibility uh the hits won't be as big, but as of

[22:45] right now, we are predicted to lose around quarter of a million with that

[22:50] revenue. Family and community engagement. had a

[22:54] chance to go to my first elementary books for breakfast. As a former

[22:58] elementary principal, I can say I was very impressed. We had 111 adults check

[23:03] in and out. I noticed uh with some it was some couples, but others a mom and

[23:10] her mom came, so a kid got to read with mom and grandma. Uh it was just a great

[23:14] event um to have that big of a group. And then those that chose got to stay

[23:18] and listen to the presentation by Mrs. Miller and Dr. Santos along with their

[23:24] PSCO um organization. So, it was a great way to get people involved. Uh in focus

[23:31] areas as far as um assessments, we've got all of our fall benchmarks done and

[23:37] so teachers had a chance to work with admin this last Monday in their first um

[23:41] you know, professional development day. Set some good goals for progress. when

[23:46] it comes to um our state report that accreditation number is out and at the

[23:52] next works uh session I'm going to give board members a chance to see some more

[23:57] in-depth graphs and and how we did comparing our our own Bobcats from one

[24:02] year to another in the area of wellness um which is part

[24:07] of our strategic plan. We've currently got a staff wellness challenge going on

[24:12] where staff log their minutes. Um, as someone who is kind of competitive, I've

[24:18] stepped up my game. I, uh, have gone from about 40 45 minutes up to over an

[24:23] hour every day. So, um, I appreciate the health committee offering that

[24:28] challenge. And then under our real world applications, high school freshmen had a

[24:33] chance to do a climbing trip with KMAC. um middle school as a publications class

[24:40] this year. They invited me as the new guy to come in and be interviewed for

[24:44] their newspaper project. So, that was a fun real world thing. And then again, at

[24:49] the elementary, fourth grade's already been to the Rocky Mount National Park

[24:53] and I think third grade is uh heading next week maybe. So, again, it's been a

[24:58] great start. Any questions about my report?

[25:06] No, thank you very much. >> Okay,

[25:09] » moving on to agenda item 42, administrative report. Miss Miller,

[25:12] you're up.

[25:19] Strange I don't have to. Sonia and I aren't going to argue about the height

[25:23] of this. I get it all to myself today. [laughter]

[25:28] Um, I just wanted to start out with some celebrations. The first I want to

[25:32] continue sharing with you our Golden Globe award getting passed from staff to

[25:35] staff. Emily Jurgens presented it to Maggie Horack a couple weeks ago for her

[25:41] her perseverance and collaboration and support for our multilingual learners.

[25:45] We're still celebrating that last year our 20 students who exited our ELD

[25:50] program and looking forward to having those same numbers again this year. And

[25:54] then on Monday, it's not in my report, but on Monday, she passed it on to Katie

[25:58] Rue Gabber, who um is has come back to our community and kindergartener is just

[26:03] doing an outstanding job with our smallest bobcat. So, um another shout

[26:09] out to our PSCO for just an incredible our fourth annual fall barbecue. Really

[26:15] well attended. We had to reschedule it because of rain and we had it. We loved

[26:20] having it on Friday night 5 to 7 and then families went down to the football

[26:24] game afterward. And so we plan to continue I've already gotten great

[26:28] feedback about that. Plan to continue that uh in future years. And just a huge

[26:33] shout out to all of our volunteers from our um student council and their parents

[26:37] and our PSO who came out to really support the success of the of the

[26:41] barbecue. And then also just a huge kudos to our staff who are our our club

[26:47] sponsors. We are really lucky to have great club offerings for our students.

[26:52] Everything from gamers club to Bobcat Beats to the garden club to robotics.

[26:58] And it's all of our teachers who give their time and energy after school to do

[27:03] that. And we're just so grateful for the commitment they make and their

[27:06] creativity they bring to our students. And this year we have our highest club

[27:11] attendance rates we've ever had. So it's very exciting. um upcoming events. If

[27:17] you'd like to join us at Books and Breakfast, October 2nd is our October

[27:20] Books and Breakfast. And our special guest is Officer Paul. He likes to come

[27:24] in the fall and talk about school safety and the parents role and how we can talk

[27:29] to young kids about about school safety in ways that help them. His mantra is be

[27:34] prepared, not be I'm I'm prepared, not scared. And he does a great job of

[27:40] helping us have those conversations, really difficult conversations together.

[27:44] And then our fall conferences are coming up so soon [laughter] and so October 5th

[27:50] through 7th. I'm really hoping that we'll get all of our parents out to

[27:53] attend. And academic in academic achievement and growth like Dave shared,

[27:58] we finished up all of our beginning of the year benchmarks except kindergarten

[28:02] because they have a longer benchmark window in beginning of the year. They

[28:05] have 60 days. So they'll be benchmarking the end of this month. Um but some

[28:09] highlights that I just was excited to share with you. You know, traditionally

[28:13] we've seen really high second grade MAP scores and then they go down a little

[28:17] bit when they start third grade and we did not see that trend this year. We

[28:21] they stayed high and our third grade scores only 9% of that grade is below

[28:28] the 20th percentile which is the smallest in the well below benchmark

[28:32] we've ever had. And they have 49% of the grade above the 60th percentile. So just

[28:38] a big shift in achievement coming up from our primary students. And this is

[28:42] also the first year when we look at achievement, every grade level is above

[28:47] the 44th percentile. And so a bigger shift in our achievement percentiles.

[28:53] Our PLC's have been really digging in on Monday and in their PLC's each week. Uh

[28:58] looking at what are the strengths and assets their student their new students

[29:01] are bringing in and what are some of the challenges that they can really work on

[29:05] in their instruction this fall semester. and setting goals, creating plans for

[29:10] individual students and groups of students, and they've been doing just

[29:13] great work planning for out their instruction based on based on their new

[29:17] students. So, it's been great to see. Um, our collective goals in the

[29:22] elementary school are going to continue to be around our English language

[29:26] learners and ELA and getting our achievement and growth up for both ELA

[29:31] across the board, second year of our new curriculum, and our English language

[29:36] learners. and we're excited to continue to see that growth. Um, one of our

[29:41] strategic plan action steps this year that's really important to us is our

[29:45] programming for our high uh potential learners and our gifted and talented

[29:49] learners. Uh, last month, Rachel Graham came to our leadership team meeting to

[29:54] really talk about specific plans for our students who are scoring in those bands

[29:58] uh, and making plans and commitments as PLC's for over the next month. and we're

[30:03] coming back together and working on those. Along those same lines, we've

[30:07] also working, you know, the middle school um has their gifted acceleration

[30:12] program in math. And so we've been working with her of looking at what are

[30:16] options for doing math acceleration in the elementary school to make sure we're

[30:20] meeting all of our learners needs. And so our team has really been coming up

[30:23] with ideas. We're going to pilot some things this fall, look at data, get

[30:28] stakeholder feedback, and figure out what would be best to align so that we

[30:32] can have a math acceleration plan that's more aligned and consistent

[30:37] elementary, middle, high. Um, you know, we have more accelerated options with

[30:42] flooding in the elementary school, but we don't have a a system systematic plan

[30:47] for acceleration in math right now. So, I'm I personally am very excited about

[30:52] the work and the impact that this is going to have on our students.

[30:56] Um, and then on our September 14th PD day, we also got back together with our

[31:01] Otis representatives. I know that Dave shared out we started working with Otis

[31:06] this year with they worked with Bridges and they turned Yeah. they turned our

[31:10] assessments online and then it has an online portal for viewing student

[31:15] scores, how they're progressing on each standard. And so everyone you did an

[31:20] assessment before uh our September 14th PD day and then we were able to work

[31:25] with them on what does it look like to analyze the data in the programming how

[31:30] can it help us how can it uh be more sustainable for teachers having the

[31:34] digital grade book and so that was a really great training that we had on

[31:37] Monday and then in real world learning we've started our national park field

[31:42] trips kickoff this week and excited for those to continue and then next week uh

[31:47] we begin our annual partnership with the Estus Valley Parks and Recck District.

[31:51] And so our our water safety classes this year we've reversed and we're doing our

[31:56] older kids to younger kids first so that our younger kids have more time to get

[32:00] roars, behaviors, all those things. Um and so everyone's pretty excited about

[32:06] that schedule uh for our water safety classes starting next week. And then in

[32:10] the area of wellness, our MTSS team is already off and running. We did not

[32:15] waste any time. their first mission. Um, Dr. Santos is leading MTSS this year and

[32:21] you know, our first goal was getting our youngest students speech screenings that

[32:26] might need it. And we know the impact that early intervention can have on

[32:29] speech and our youngest kids and our youngest readers and the way that that

[32:33] can impact their phonics and reading instruction. So, they're working on

[32:36] getting all of our new students who need speech screenings being screened within

[32:41] 30 days and being able to make plans for those students and their families very

[32:45] quickly. And so just huge shout out to the team and Sundy Peach and our new SLP

[32:49] Nikki Shad for their hard work and making that happen for our students. And

[32:54] then lastly, I wanted to shout out Lisa Mechum and Stacy Schoenburgger. Uh they

[32:58] rocked uh vision and hearing screening the past two days. They they you know,

[33:03] we were apprehensive because we like to get them done during the meet and greet

[33:06] appointments and we didn't want it to take from instruction, but man, they had

[33:10] classes in and out in 15 minutes and did such a great job. And so just a huge

[33:16] shout out to them for that. >> Yeah.

[33:19] » Questions? >> I have a question.

[33:21] » Yeah. >> Um for our English language learners

[33:23] that we graduated because quite a big group.

[33:26] » How do we continue to support them, monitor them, make sure they don't need

[33:30] extra support as they continue their journey?

[33:33] » Yeah. Anytime we exit someone from ELD programming, they're in first year

[33:37] monitoring. And we our ELD teachers continue to meet with their teachers and

[33:42] monitor their progress and making sure that that was the right decision and

[33:46] that they don't need any supports and offering any supports if they are

[33:50] needed. >> Yeah.

[33:52] » And thanks for doing the math coordination acceleration. That's

[33:56] exciting news. >> It is

[33:57] » because it'll help challenge those kids that need that.

[33:59] » Yeah. So, >> Yep. Yeah. Absolutely.

[34:03] » I have a question [laughter]

[34:06] » from above. Sorry.

[34:10] Um, thank you for everything that you're

[34:13] doing. You know, we appreciate it so much and it is great all the offerings

[34:17] that we have for students in the clubs. I'm wondering about robotics.

[34:23] Previously, the amount of the number of students that could participate was

[34:27] limited. And I'm wondering if that limitation is still there. And if so,

[34:31] have we looked at how we might be able to address that so that all kids who

[34:36] want to participate in that program can? That's a great question, Brenda. Um, you

[34:42] know, we always we have to limit it based on the amount of equipment we have

[34:46] and then our supervisors. Those are that's our big limitation. Um, and I

[34:51] don't know, Paulie and Nick do such a great job. They just got started last

[34:55] week and I don't know how many if any kids weren't able to be in it, but I

[35:01] will find out for you and I can email you Brenda because that's an excellent I

[35:04] I've known in previous years, but I don't know that number right now.

[35:08] » Okay. Thank you. And it's not so much about the number as it is about, you

[35:12] know, just making sure that we're providing access to all of our students

[35:15] for things that they're excited in. And you know, I understand the equipment

[35:20] restraints and things and supervision, but um yeah, I'd like to explore how we

[35:25] can open that up to as many kids who want to participate as possible because

[35:28] I hate to see kids left out of something they're excited about.

[35:31] » Absolutely. All right.

[35:36] All right. Thank you guys.

[35:40] Miss Greenway is not able to join us tonight. She's at homecoming events. So,

[35:43] Mr. Grebs is going to do her report along a summary. That report's also

[35:47] posted for everyone's reading along with the athletic report.

[35:53] » Awesome. All right. Well, u from the secondary schools, some things that Miss

[35:58] Greenway highlighted. Obviously, this week is homecoming week, so there's a

[36:03] lot of uh enthusiasm I saw at the middle school today. Um it was uh kids dressed

[36:09] like teachers and teachers dress like kids. So, that was quite entertaining. I

[36:13] did enjoy that. Um they've hired a couple new staff members at the

[36:17] secondary level. Um so we had a special ed PAR position that's now full as well

[36:23] as uh the program the RISE program which supervises kids that um are are serving

[36:29] in school uh detention. So we're all full there. Also Brie Vega from the

[36:35] local library has been able to reschedu some things and they are excited to have

[36:39] her back at the secondary level. academic achievement and growth. Both of

[36:44] the buildings, middle and high school, uh met their expectations for growth um

[36:49] and exceeded expectations when it came to uh growth in reading and writing on

[36:54] the PSAT. So, they're they're excited about that. During the PD planning day,

[37:00] they did some vertical alignment, not just um within that building, but even K

[37:06] through 12. they were able to have uh folks like PE teachers talk about that

[37:10] continual improvement throughout the Bobcats experience. Uh I really

[37:15] appreciated that as well as the implementation of teaching Greek and

[37:19] Latin root words to improve vocabulary and I actually got those emails. So like

[37:25] from the automotive department there was a list of words and where the Greek and

[37:29] Latin roots came from to increase understanding. Thought it was fabulous

[37:34] in real world learning. Um we've had uh major 13 performed at the community mind

[37:42] concert center. Uh the chamber choir will attend a leadership seminar. A

[37:47] local um writer civil gardener came to visit an English class. So we've got

[37:52] like actual realworld use of um those skills.

[37:57] Uh when it came to um again pach program, this is a program where kids

[38:02] can learn how to become a teacher. We had another student that achieved uh

[38:07] lifeguard certification. So, a lot of realworld great opportunities. The first

[38:13] bobcat go day is actually on Friday. I think it's the only day that it's on a

[38:18] Friday instead of Wednesdays. And that is to accommodate the homecoming parade.

[38:23] So, that way it's not interrupting your typical learning because that is a big

[38:27] deal. Kids are excited about that. um sixth graders had a chance to uh or are

[38:33] planning um a public works field trip and learning about not only town hall

[38:39] but the power plants and possibly the water treatment center. Um you already

[38:45] heard from career technical ed folks uh did a marvelous job under wellness.

[38:51] They're going to make sure they're reviewing their safety plans on how to

[38:55] evacuate and head down to the event center. Um, RORS is up and going in the

[39:00] middle school and um, the the new one this year is the PI day. PI stands for

[39:07] positive interactions for educators. And so once a month Sonia's going to bring

[39:11] in PI and they're going to celebrate the the cool things that staff are doing

[39:15] while they have a little treat. So those are some of the highlights from the

[39:21] secondary schools. Any questions?

[39:26] » Brenda, do you have any questions?

[39:30] I do not. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[39:34] » You're welcome. >> When do sports?

[39:35] » I'm trying to see if Oh, here it is. Yeah. Uh in the world of sports, boys

[39:40] golf, we uh I would like to say there there are three golfers who have a

[39:46] chance to compete at the state level. The way they uh do that in high school

[39:50] golf is the states top 84 golfers qualify. Currently, um Drake Kernney is

[39:58] ranked 15th. Noah Webster 71st and Maddox uh Naji is 111th. So, got some

[40:06] golfers there. Uh Cheer obviously working hard for homecoming, getting

[40:11] ready for the big game to show off what they've been doing. Uh team is led by

[40:16] senior Macy Powell and junior Haley Downey. Cross country's been doing well.

[40:22] Um they competed in the uh Liberty Bell at Christ at Heritage Christian and um

[40:29] head to Lions for the St. Brain Invitational. That team is led by junior

[40:34] Caleb Estanol and a freshman Lena Schmidt. In

[40:39] football, uh I don't know if you got a chance to see um last Friday night's

[40:44] game was big win for him. Um, the team is led by seniors Leo Bal Baldi, East G.

[40:53] Wow, I'm gonna butcher your your name, Eastston, but uh,

[40:59] what's your best attempt there? Gabiten. Uh, Chris Lmer, Gabe Oberg, Colobby

[41:06] O'Brien, and Hadley Rasmusen. I need to learn Eastston's name because um, he had

[41:12] a heck of a game on Friday night. So, if you haven't seen them, come on out and

[41:16] cheer them on this Friday at homecoming. Volleyball. Um, they're kind of

[41:22] rebuilding because of how many seniors they had last year. Um, but they've

[41:26] they've had some good wins and they're showing improvement. So, seniors this

[41:31] year, Ava Caruso, uh, Genevie Thomas, Abby Wartley, and then they have junior

[41:38] Kylie McNau. So, I've seen seen some some good stuff from the volleyball

[41:43] team. In middle school, boys soccer is underway. Cross country football also

[41:49] doing fantastic. Um they had a a big win over Clear Creek and Haxton. And so um I

[41:56] think they take on their rival Lions is coming up. So that'll be a big one.

[42:01] Swimming and diving uh has been pretty successful as well. Volleyball earns has

[42:06] had a couple big wins and then they are going to host the Ascent Classic on

[42:11] Friday as part of homecoming. So, it's it's been a good fall. Um, I think Nolan

[42:16] has been um, you know, most pleased with how people chip in and when we've got a

[42:22] game, it takes a lot of folks and I I heard teachers announcing names at the

[42:26] soccer game. They did a much better job than me. So, uh, those names throw me

[42:31] off. But yeah, so far um, Bobcat sports are on the up and up.

[42:37] » Thank you. Any questions? Brenda? Brenda, questions?

[42:42] » No, thank you. >> All right, moving on to agenda item 43,

[42:47] board reports. I have nothing to report this week. Franco, what about you? Okay,

[42:52] Brenda, do you have anything? >> Nothing to report.

[42:55] » All right, moving on to agenda item five, consent

[42:58] agenda. There are four items on the consent agenda this evening. 51, board

[43:03] meeting minutes from August 4th, 2026 and August 19th, 2026. 52, super

[43:08] September personnel list. 53 2026 2027 District Advisory and Accountability

[43:14] Charges. 54 2026 2027 District Advisory and Accountability Committee membership.

[43:20] Are there any items a board member would like to pull from the consent agenda for

[43:24] discussion prior to approval of the consent agenda?

[43:27] No. Seeing none, is there a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda?

[43:32] » I approve theess assessment agenda. >> I second.

[43:42] We have a motion and second. Chris, please conduct a board roll call.

[43:46] » Director Fere, >> I.

[43:47] » Director Reurski, >> I.

[43:49] » Director Wis >> I.

[43:52] » The I vote. Consent agenda is approved. Moving on to agenda item six, action

[43:56] items. There are no action items this evening. Moving on to agenda item seven,

[44:02] upcoming meetings. Uh our board the next work session is October 6, 2026 at 3:30

[44:08] p.m. at the admin building. Moving on to agenda item 8, adjournment. Is there a

[44:13] board member would like to make a motion to adjurnn?

[44:15] » I have a motion to adjurnn. >> Is there a second?

[44:18] » Second. >> All right, we're adjourned, everyone.

[44:21] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[44:24] » Hope you get feeling better, Brenda. >> Thank you. And they're

Board of Education Regular Meeting - Sep 16 2026

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