[0:07] [Music]
[0:09] so
[0:30] [Music]
[7:22] the united states
[7:31] tomorrow
[7:41] [Music]
[7:45] i move the board approve the agenda as
[7:47] presented
[7:54] aj
[7:58] yes
[8:04] all right
[8:06] our next item is 3.03 public comment
[8:10] um
[8:13] people addressing the board will be
[8:14] asked to not repeat what someone before
[8:16] has said
[8:17] persons addressing the border asked to
[8:19] keep their remarks concise
[8:21] each speaker shall be limited to three
[8:23] minutes
[8:25] because of the number of people who have
[8:26] appeared wishing to make comment i will
[8:28] be monitoring the time closely
[8:30] a person or person may speak what they
[8:32] want at the meeting and i'd also like to
[8:34] be clear that due to missouri sunshine
[8:36] laws if an item is not included on the
[8:38] agenda we can't and won't discuss it
[8:40] concerns brought forward during public
[8:42] comment may be addressed by the
[8:43] superintendent or appropriate staff
[8:45] members usually within the week
[8:48] because we do have limited seating and
[8:50] there may be more individuals interested
[8:51] in addressing the board we respectfully
[8:54] request that once you've shared your
[8:55] comments please make your way to the
[8:56] lobby so that our safety and security
[8:59] team can allow another patron to enter
[9:00] the boardroom
[9:02] thank you
[9:04] and we'll start with kyle bryant
[9:12] thank you everybody for uh having us up
[9:14] here like i said my name is kyle bryant
[9:16] i have a student who is a junior swimmer
[9:18] and cellist
[9:20] last march when we left for spring break
[9:22] the only thing we had on our mind was
[9:24] survive the pandemic survive quarantine
[9:29] survive virtual schooling
[9:31] just survive literally
[9:33] the actual definition of survive is
[9:36] continue to live or exist
[9:38] especially in spite of danger
[9:40] or hardship
[9:42] we did it
[9:43] we have survived
[9:45] it's time to move on
[9:47] live life and allow our kids to thrive
[9:51] our community has come together
[9:53] and ask that you put kids first
[9:57] we don't want our kids to merely survive
[9:59] we want them to thrive means to grow vigorously to
[10:03] prosper
[10:05] to progress towards or realize a goal
[10:07] despite or because of circumstances
[10:10] the circumstances of coven 19 are as the
[10:12] media likes to
[10:14] like to
[10:15] say
[10:16] unprecedented but putting safety and
[10:19] physical health as a top priority has
[10:21] left our kids
[10:22] without without health for their social
[10:25] well-being
[10:26] their emotional well-being
[10:29] and their mental health
[10:31] you see all four of these areas make up
[10:34] the whole child
[10:36] we must not prioritize one over the
[10:38] other
[10:39] if we do
[10:40] imbalance occurs
[10:42] we see rises in
[10:44] anxiety
[10:45] depression
[10:46] drugs and alcohol use
[10:49] suicide
[10:50] and much more
[10:52] the lp graduate profile says that every
[10:55] student will thrive
[10:57] by interacting with building
[10:58] relationships
[11:00] a better
[11:01] way to do that than on the field
[11:04] engage in an environment where
[11:06] professionalism is learned
[11:09] sportsmanship is a great way to practice
[11:12] identify strengths and learn how to
[11:14] address weaknesses
[11:16] i can't think of a better way than
[11:18] sports and extracurricular activities
[11:21] create opportunities for success both on
[11:24] and off the field
[11:26] in fact four out of the five graduate
[11:28] profiles
[11:29] are practiced and met by playing sports
[11:33] to the board our community knows
[11:36] that you do put our kids first
[11:39] people move here just so that their kids
[11:41] can be part of the excellence that this
[11:43] school district offers
[11:45] now it's time to lead by allowing our kids to play
[11:49] allowing our kids to learn
[11:51] allowing our kids to thrive
[11:53] allowing our kids to
[11:55] live
[11:57] let them play
[12:01] mr bryant
[12:04] next brett horn
[12:09] thank you i uh left my speech at home so
[12:11] i'm doing it off my phone so uh bear
[12:14] with me
[12:15] thank you my name is brett horne my wife
[12:17] jenny and i reside in the kansas city
[12:19] side of the liberty school district
[12:21] we have three kids currently in high
[12:23] school but we have four kids total
[12:25] unfortunately we know the tragedy of
[12:27] losing a child way too soon
[12:30] and so trust me when i have my
[12:32] perspective it is it is thoughtful
[12:34] uh i don't want to see any child harmed
[12:39] but our three kids are currently
[12:41] involved in band football cheerleading
[12:43] so friday nights are our life
[12:46] if you can imagine i don't have time to
[12:48] go to the restroom
[12:50] but i do believe that the lessons they
[12:52] learn from these activities
[12:53] are um for some
[12:56] more important than the skills that they
[12:57] acquire in the classroom
[12:59] june 15th that's the day that the world
[13:01] reopened in liberty public schools it's
[13:03] the day that
[13:04] we began football soccer volleyball
[13:07] cross country cheer dance and band
[13:10] every single drill
[13:12] every single procedure for all of these
[13:14] sports was explained in detail
[13:17] and agreed upon and approved by the
[13:19] director of the clay county public
[13:21] health center
[13:23] as football playing parent we take the
[13:25] risk
[13:26] the american academy of pediatrics
[13:28] states ultimately the decision falls on
[13:31] parents and guardians to decide whether
[13:32] to allow their children to participate
[13:35] in sports
[13:36] as a parent of children who complete in
[13:39] who compete we understand the risk we
[13:41] understand the benefits as well
[13:43] and in today's world we understand that
[13:46] our children are going to be exposed to
[13:48] covid in the grocery store the hardware
[13:50] store in your hallways at parties family
[13:53] reunions
[13:55] and more
[13:56] in a study published for the
[13:58] 2013 american journal of sports medicine
[14:01] it concludes that the high school and
[14:03] college football have approximately 12
[14:05] fatalities annually in high school
[14:08] football
[14:09] that's before covid we know the risks
[14:13] spring won't work i'm going to breeze
[14:14] through this section the cdc indicates
[14:16] uh that it's going to be a bad winter
[14:18] uh covet will still exist in march
[14:20] unless you know something i don't this
[14:22] springs alternate season that they've
[14:24] suggested for mission it simply will not
[14:27] work and it will result in the
[14:29] cancellation of many many other sports
[14:32] suburban conference has 27 schools who
[14:34] are all committed to play fall sports
[14:37] yet last week our county health
[14:39] department made a tweet
[14:41] that has threatened the sport in in our
[14:43] particular area
[14:47] today if you don't know i'm speaking
[14:48] with a friend from the raytown school
[14:50] district and their superintendent has
[14:52] announced via email
[14:54] uh that they will be
[14:56] opting for fall
[14:57] not for spring alternate school
[15:00] much has said been said about the
[15:01] liability of the district
[15:03] and liability is our biggest concern
[15:06] i think we should shut down sports
[15:07] immediately
[15:09] we should stop all fine arts and clubs
[15:11] we should not allow teachers in our
[15:12] building
[15:13] and we should go virtual immediately
[15:16] covet is here and it's going to be here
[15:18] in march and it's here now doesn't
[15:20] matter if you're in group a or group b
[15:22] i'm almost done there's no possible way
[15:24] to maintain social distancing in the
[15:26] buildings which you operate 50 or less
[15:30] and and i would challenge you challenge
[15:32] any of you the teachers to say that they
[15:34] do it better than the coaches do because
[15:36] they know that their sport is being
[15:38] threatened being taken away
[15:41] i'm going to
[15:43] there's one one point i wanted to make
[15:45] about the recommendations that the clay
[15:46] county public health department has issued we're already in
[15:50] violation as they recommend
[15:53] that gr infection is greater indoors
[15:56] they recommend against it there's that
[15:58] key word again recommend
[16:00] i don't understand the recommendation
[16:03] if this
[16:04] infection is bad enough
[16:06] then the health department needs to take
[16:07] the decision out of this board's hands
[16:09] and move on
[16:10] please let them play thank you
[16:13] sorry it took long
[16:16] all right
[16:17] lisa
[16:18] mayer
[16:24] hi good evening i'm lisa mayer my
[16:26] husband and i have raised three children
[16:28] in the district and i'm a liberty grad
[16:30] we have a senior a freshman in a fifth
[16:32] grader on behalf of those of us here and
[16:34] every single person outside we
[16:35] appreciate your service
[16:37] we urge the board to ignore the county
[16:38] health department's soft recommendation
[16:40] the health department is making
[16:41] recommendations that by all accounts are
[16:43] not based on justifiable or quantifiable
[16:45] data it is both fair to unfair to the
[16:48] kids and unfair to deflect the burden of
[16:50] this decision to you the board my
[16:51] understanding and its
[16:53] website my understanding and its website
[16:55] the county health department does not
[16:57] specialize in children's overall health
[16:59] and wellness or education the
[17:00] department's focus is certainly not on
[17:02] school-aged children the county data
[17:04] states that there are zero deaths under
[17:05] the age of 65 years old the statistic
[17:08] alone provides a
[17:09] solid basis
[17:10] for allowing school and school
[17:12] activities to continue without
[17:14] interruption the data also shows that
[17:16] clay county has 15 times more child flu
[17:19] cases than coped these two statistics
[17:21] together make a strong case against the
[17:23] department's recommendation sports and
[17:25] activities have not been shut down for
[17:26] any other illnesses in the past also
[17:28] important to remember
[17:30] is that our teams and groups have had
[17:32] practices all summer and youth league's
[17:33] accommodated thousands of players and
[17:35] fans this summer with just a few cases
[17:37] reported between them and zero outbreaks
[17:40] as you likely know the department
[17:41] manages among other things food safety
[17:44] water sewage sanitation senior services
[17:46] flu shots free dental exams birth
[17:47] control etc in other words they are not
[17:49] infectious disease experts and they
[17:51] certainly are not experts in responding
[17:53] to pandemics with regard to education i
[17:56] urge you to consider that the real
[17:57] medical experts and child wellbeing have
[17:58] to say and partner with us to push back
[18:00] against the county's soft and lazy
[18:02] recommendation
[18:04] the american academy of pediatrics the
[18:05] cdc who john hopkins and pediatric
[18:08] psychologist all these medical experts
[18:10] state that children need to go back to
[18:11] school and that activities need to
[18:12] resume for not only the physical
[18:14] well-being of children but possibly even
[18:16] more importantly the mental health of
[18:18] school-aged children
[18:19] well-adjusted kids are struggling the
[18:21] struggle is real
[18:22] i understand that this is part of your
[18:24] duty to consider risk but if you are
[18:25] concerned about risk in my opinion the
[18:27] district will be facing an overwhelming
[18:28] amount of non-coveted issues if
[18:30] activities are canceled if activities
[18:32] are cancelled i strongly believe that
[18:33] this time of year next year we'll all be
[18:38] i just lost my place
[18:40] if activities are cancered i strongly
[18:41] believe that this time next year we'll
[18:42] all be
[18:43] i wish a cova case here there is all we
[18:45] had to worry about instead we'll be
[18:46] worrying about lower college attendance
[18:48] rate college attendance rates suicide
[18:50] depression anxiety drugs alcohol
[18:53] unwanted pregnancies lower test scores
[18:55] and numerous other problems that come
[18:56] from idle time unsupervised time and
[18:58] lack of structure
[19:00] i understand that insurance coverage and
[19:01] risk mitigation may be what is all this
[19:03] boils down to right now
[19:04] but that is really short-term view and
[19:06] we have elected you to represent our
[19:08] interests as well as the kids i noticed
[19:10] a difficult burden that has been put on
[19:11] all of you
[19:13] and on the districts to make this
[19:14] decision
[19:15] please take a stand and advocate for the
[19:17] to for the kids take the side of
[19:19] overwhelming majority in the community
[19:21] and vote to proceed with all activities
[19:22] as scheduled the kids have lost their
[19:24] spring season already seniors have
[19:27] already lost any assemblance of a
[19:28] traditional year we've taken enough away
[19:30] from them there's a mountain of data
[19:32] that shows that kids thrive in
[19:33] participating in all activities and it
[19:35] truly changes the trajectory of their
[19:37] lives
[19:38] you have the power and responsibility to
[19:39] change these kids lives for the better
[19:41] or for the worse i truly appreciate your
[19:43] time dedication
[19:45] consideration and research you've put
[19:46] into this decision
[19:48] please consider more than the county's
[19:49] statistically unsupported recommendation
[19:51] and allow us the opportunity to push
[19:53] back on the health department for a
[19:54] sound data-driven recommendation
[19:57] thank you for the opportunity
[20:02] next is landon robinson
[20:09] hello my name is landon robinson and i'm
[20:11] a senior at liberty high school i
[20:12] appreciate the opportunity to have my
[20:13] voice heard and i really hope that you
[20:15] listen to all of us speaking tonight and
[20:16] take into account our views and stories
[20:18] on how the cancellation of fall
[20:19] activities will affect us as a student
[20:20] body
[20:21] i just wanted to talk about a few
[20:23] experiences that i will miss out on if
[20:24] not only fall sports but fall activities
[20:26] are canceled
[20:27] i am a very active member of the student
[20:28] body at liberty high i have been a
[20:30] member of the football team for four
[20:31] years a member of the choir for four
[20:32] years and have been involved in various
[20:34] clubs including breakfast club student
[20:35] council fca national honor society and a
[20:38] three-year member of our nationally
[20:40] recognized chamber choir
[20:41] senior year is the year that everyone
[20:42] looks forward to throughout their life
[20:44] as a student
[20:45] last year when coveted was just starting
[20:46] up and becoming an issue not only did
[20:48] singers miss out on many opportunities
[20:49] but so did many underclassmen
[20:51] as a member of the junior class it was
[20:52] our job to plan prom as our gift to the
[20:54] seniors when i was told that i would not
[20:55] get the opportunity to have that
[20:56] experience i was devastated our prom
[20:58] committee had already spent months of
[20:59] planning and organizing the event and
[21:01] all of it went to waste
[21:02] another opportunity i missed out on was
[21:04] participating in the district and state
[21:05] competitions for our choir as a middle
[21:07] class male i had to put myself through
[21:08] college because my parents could not
[21:10] financially support me through that
[21:11] endeavor
[21:12] the state and district competitions were
[21:13] a way for me to earn scholarships to
[21:14] help me pay my way to a greater
[21:16] education
[21:17] my next point i want to bring up is the
[21:18] topic of mental health i know for me
[21:20] personally i'm someone who thrives off
[21:22] social interaction it is a necessity for
[21:23] my survival quarantine was very rough
[21:26] for me i often find myself not wanting
[21:27] to get out of bed because there was no
[21:28] point i'm going to be honest with you i
[21:30] was depressed
[21:31] the thing that brought a little light
[21:32] back into my life was the idea that i
[21:34] would be able to go back to school and
[21:35] the normalcy of life even with all the
[21:37] precautions that we would have to take
[21:39] i was excited to get back to football
[21:40] practice choir rehearsals and just being
[21:42] able to see the random faces in the
[21:44] hallways
[21:45] our coaches and athletic department have
[21:46] done such an outstanding job of making
[21:48] sure all the correct guidelines are
[21:49] being followed not only at practice but
[21:50] outside as well
[21:52] every player on a team wears a mask into
[21:53] practice facilities during practice and
[21:55] when leaving practice we constantly
[21:57] sanitize our hands practice equipment
[21:59] and our uniforms to make sure we take
[22:00] all precautions to prevent covet
[22:02] i am proud to be a part of a school and
[22:03] community that takes into consideration
[22:04] the needs of its children and is willing
[22:06] to do whatever it takes to make sure
[22:07] they get to have a normal life
[22:09] i was also excited to use a new
[22:11] performing arts theater we just spent
[22:12] millions of dollars to build but now
[22:13] there's a chance that it's not even a
[22:14] possibility
[22:16] when i was informed that there was a
[22:17] chance that my excitement would get
[22:19] taken away again it wasn't taken easily
[22:21] i know that in for a fact there are
[22:22] students in high school that
[22:24] stay
[22:25] in high school just for participating in
[22:27] extra activities
[22:28] what will happen to those students how
[22:30] many students are we going to lose
[22:31] because going to school and
[22:32] participating in activities are their
[22:34] safe place
[22:35] my senior year was already disrupted by
[22:36] the fact that i'm not going to be able
[22:38] to see the faces of my fellow seniors on
[22:39] a daily basis but at least i have the
[22:41] chance to do what i love surrounded by
[22:42] people that love it just as much as i do
[22:45] are there risks to this virus and
[22:46] allowing us to play sure there are
[22:48] but there are risks every time i wake up
[22:49] in the morning i risk my life driving my
[22:51] car but with the right precautions taken
[22:53] i lessen the chance of injury if
[22:54] something bad would happen
[22:56] i'm thankful for the ability to do the
[22:57] things that i love and i commend all the
[22:59] people that have had to make the tough
[23:00] decisions that come along with this new
[23:01] and uncharted territory but i big of you
[23:03] let me play let me sing let me have my
[23:05] senior year thank you for your time
[23:11] and
[23:12] brady snyder
[23:19] hello my name is braden snyder and i'm a
[23:20] senior at liberty north high school and
[23:22] i'm privileged to represent my fellow
[23:23] student athletes and participants in
[23:25] school clubs and activities i'm here
[23:27] tonight to ask you to get us back to
[23:29] school and back on the field a sport is
[23:31] a sport for most
[23:33] a sport is more than a sport for most
[23:35] athletes it's who we are i've waited 12
[23:37] years for my senior year which is most
[23:39] of my life since i put my first pads on
[23:40] in pop warner football i've been to
[23:42] countless games as a kid waiting to be
[23:44] on that field
[23:45] being back on the field is
[23:47] more than football it's again it's about
[23:49] the game of life the sport i play shapes
[23:51] me builds my character connects me with
[23:53] my teammates ensures i'm academically
[23:55] and emotionally successful and perhaps
[23:57] above all it has taught me the
[23:58] importance of discipline
[24:00] we are very well disciplined as a
[24:02] football team
[24:03] this is due to a large part
[24:05] this is a large part due to our coaching
[24:07] staff school leaders and our parents
[24:10] we are following all the guidelines to
[24:12] ensure everyone is safe and that we can
[24:14] take the field this fall this
[24:15] self-discipline is powered by the strong
[24:17] desire of 160 plus football players 36
[24:20] of whom are seniors
[24:23] which equals the most which equals the most and the most
[24:28] which equals the most players on the
[24:30] team and the most seniors in school
[24:32] history
[24:33] while i recognize the difficult decision
[24:35] this group is going to have to make i
[24:36] ask that you remember the large number
[24:38] of students who may be devastated by the
[24:40] postponement of their regular season i
[24:42] am concerned about the increase of
[24:43] anxiety
[24:44] depression or worse
[24:47] thousand
[24:48] for thousands of high school students
[24:50] we'll take the role seriously too
[24:52] we remain disciplined we want to be back
[24:54] to school and we want to be back on the
[24:56] field please let us play
[24:58] thank you
[25:01] um
[25:02] we don't usually comment after this but
[25:03] i would like to say thank you
[25:05] to all of our patrons who took time to
[25:07] speak with us today
[25:08] i especially appreciate that all of you
[25:10] have remained
[25:12] respectful and have
[25:15] recognizes this is very difficult for
[25:16] all of us
[25:18] um
[25:19] regarding this issue the board does
[25:21] understand that it's an important issue
[25:22] for our family for your families for our
[25:25] entire community
[25:26] and
[25:27] as board members as parents
[25:30] we also understand that activities are
[25:32] important to all of our students
[25:35] so we are still awaiting guidance from
[25:36] several other governing bodies and
[25:38] associations and we remain in
[25:39] conversation with kansas city and clay
[25:42] county health departments with misha
[25:44] with the greater kansas city suburban
[25:46] conference and other school districts
[25:48] so that in similar classifications so we
[25:51] can determine the best way forward
[25:54] together we are committed to providing
[25:57] families in the community
[25:58] with an update as soon as we have
[26:01] news or decisions
[26:08] thank you
[26:14] all right
[26:15] is there anyone else
[26:18] are there a few more okay
[26:20] um yeah that's fine
[27:00] hmm
[27:21] um
[27:31] [Music]
[27:47] okay
[28:09] hmm
[29:23] right
[29:24] come
[29:27] a little statement first
[29:29] people addressing the board will be
[29:30] asked not to repeat what someone before
[29:32] has said persons addressing the board
[29:33] asked to keep their remarks concise and
[29:35] to the point each speaker shall be
[29:37] limited to three minutes
[29:40] a person or persons may speak only once
[29:42] at the meeting i'd like to be clear that
[29:44] due to missouri sunshine laws if an item
[29:46] is not included on the agenda we can't
[29:47] and won't discuss it concerns brought
[29:49] forward during public comment may be
[29:50] addressed by the superintendent or
[29:52] appropriate staff members usually within
[29:54] a week
[29:57] okay so first we have
[29:59] janae is that right moultrie
[30:06] hi my name is janae mulcher and i'm a
[30:08] senior volleyball player at liberty high
[30:09] school first i want to start off by
[30:11] saying thank you for allowing me to
[30:12] represent liberty high school volleyball
[30:14] and all you have done these last few
[30:15] months to keep us all safe during this
[30:16] pandemic
[30:18] sorry you can take your mask off we can
[30:20] hear you a little bit better great thank
[30:22] you i think i speak for a lot of us when
[30:24] i say right now is a very confusing time
[30:27] the pressure on adults to make the best
[30:28] decisions for their kids and their
[30:29] families is an ongoing conversation but
[30:32] not everyone talks about how kids and
[30:33] teens are dealing with it as well
[30:35] tonight we have a voice and i hope you
[30:36] truly hear us ever since i was little
[30:39] all i've ever known is sports sports has
[30:40] given me relationships that have changed
[30:42] my life the mental toughness i never
[30:44] knew i needed and skills for life that
[30:45] you don't always learn in a classroom
[30:47] before cover 19 i was a six days a week
[30:49] four to eight hours a day athlete
[30:51] constantly in the gym or at school once
[30:53] the pandemic hit i didn't realize how
[30:55] much my mental health and overall life
[30:56] would change in just a few days when my
[30:58] club volleyball season was canceled and
[31:00] we weren't able to go to nationals i
[31:01] thought it was the end of the world but
[31:02] little did i know that was just the
[31:04] beginning of bad news that was yet to
[31:05] come
[31:06] thankfully our athletic department and
[31:08] our coaches were able to do virtual
[31:09] workouts and zoom meetings to give us
[31:10] some sort of hope and stability
[31:12] for me and two of my closest friends our
[31:14] senior season has been something we've
[31:15] been looking forward to since we were
[31:17] little especially with the amazing group
[31:19] of girls we have being able to finally
[31:20] get back into the gym was probably one
[31:22] of the best feelings i've had since
[31:23] quarantine started it got me excited to
[31:25] wake up in the morning because there was
[31:27] something to look forward to
[31:28] now that we are at the start of our 2020
[31:30] season we have high hopes of going back
[31:31] to state and playing again our athletic
[31:33] department as you know has made sure
[31:35] that every guideline has been set in
[31:36] place is being followed by all teams not
[31:38] only in the gym but also when we aren't
[31:39] at practice
[31:40] please know this is not just about games
[31:42] and competition playing sports gives us
[31:44] a sense of hope because it gives us back
[31:45] our normalcy our security and our safe
[31:48] place
[31:48] this deeply influences our mental
[31:50] wellness and how we see ourselves how we
[31:52] see each other and how we cope with the
[31:53] stress of life even covid if our season
[31:56] is postponed until spring not only would
[31:57] it take away those hopes but would take
[31:59] away our motivation and our healthy way
[32:00] of coping with this pandemic
[32:02] please don't mistake our passion to play
[32:04] with not taking this pandemic seriously
[32:06] we understand all the precautions that
[32:07] need to be taken and we are all doing
[32:09] our part to protect our own families as
[32:10] well allowing us to play sports in the
[32:12] midst of covid gives us all a chance to
[32:14] learn how to live safely and wisely
[32:15] while still doing the things we enjoy in
[32:17] this new reality i know i can't make
[32:19] this decision for you but i hope you
[32:20] sincerely consider the impact of your
[32:22] decision as you represent me and every
[32:24] other student athlete in our district
[32:26] thank you again for listening thank you
[32:29] now you can put it back on
[32:34] all right next is
[32:36] natalia
[32:37] nook
[32:40] correct me if i didn't get it right
[32:44] hello my name is natalia kanoke and i'm
[32:46] a senior on the liberty sapphires to me
[32:49] sapphires is a time in the day where i
[32:50] can go do what i love with people that i
[32:52] love when i came into high school i
[32:53] didn't know who i was or what i wanted
[32:54] to be but i had sapphires and that was
[32:56] enough looking back on my time as a
[32:58] sapphire i learned so many life lessons
[33:00] and changed so much because of this
[33:01] program i found so many passions in life
[33:03] and established a strong sense of
[33:04] individuality that will help me succeed
[33:06] in college and in life outside of
[33:07] college
[33:09] speaking for all athletes our sports
[33:10] have had a crucial impact on our lives
[33:12] and we need to have our season so that
[33:13] we can fully be prepared for college and
[33:15] life not having a season takes away from
[33:17] recruitment opportunities and without
[33:18] that athletes are not getting
[33:20] scholarships that are vital and
[33:21] affording college it's not just the
[33:22] upperclassmen that suffer from this but
[33:24] underclassmen as well without a season
[33:26] they're missing out on the major growth
[33:27] that happens those first two years
[33:28] they're missing out on learning what
[33:29] veterans are missing on when they say oh
[33:31] my gosh do you remember this moment is
[33:33] moments and memories like that they're
[33:34] incredibly important to leave with our
[33:36] sports or our seasons there will be a
[33:38] lack of growth opportunity and inability
[33:40] and ability to develop some of the
[33:41] closest bonds you will have in high
[33:42] school
[33:43] legacy that is something that all
[33:44] athletes want to leave behind they want
[33:46] to be remembered by something they did
[33:47] or achieved looking back on the many
[33:49] amazing people that have gone through
[33:50] any program at liberty high school
[33:52] we have been able to leave our mark it
[33:54] is now our time we have worked so hard
[33:55] to come to the point our lives where
[33:57] every action we take has building our
[33:58] legacy as much as we want our year to
[34:00] happen we also want our legacy to remain
[34:02] as this the seniors that took every
[34:03] advantage of so little possibilities
[34:05] that's what we are doing we are making
[34:06] the best of every practice every event
[34:08] because we don't know when will be our
[34:09] last this legacy and mindset that we're
[34:11] building every day will help us as
[34:13] adults because we know how to adapt and
[34:14] see the best in every situation
[34:16] the sapphires want all actions to be
[34:18] regarding the health and safety of our
[34:19] wonderful community but we also want the
[34:21] voices and concerns of high schools to
[34:22] be heard class of 2021 wants this year
[34:24] to happen because we need every
[34:26] opportunity as the grades have had
[34:28] before us it's not just us that we want
[34:30] this for though we want the juniors to
[34:31] experience the craziness of being a
[34:32] junior we want the sophomores to have
[34:34] their growth year and we want our
[34:35] freshmen to learn the incredible high
[34:36] school life that the rest of us know
[34:38] every student athlete wants this year to
[34:40] happen no matter what it looks like we
[34:42] just want the opportunity to build
[34:43] memories that will make us smile when we
[34:44] look back on our teenage years those
[34:46] moments that bond teammates into friends
[34:48] and friends into family because family
[34:50] is what holds us up and keeps us going
[34:51] every day it's not just football cross
[34:53] country softballs or even sapphires it's
[34:55] one family lps needs to come together as
[34:57] one family we need liberty to lead out
[34:59] in the metro area and we need to know
[35:02] and show what liberty can be a family
[35:04] and we can be united together
[35:08] thank you natalia
[35:13] thank you to both of you for speaking
[35:15] today
[35:16] um
[35:17] i'm just going to read again what i said
[35:19] to the other group
[35:20] not all of it but they're um
[35:23] this issue the board is still um
[35:26] considering it and we're awaiting
[35:28] guidance from several other governing
[35:29] bodies
[35:31] we're remaining in conversation with
[35:33] various health departments with misha
[35:35] with greater kansas city suburban
[35:36] conference and other neighboring school
[35:38] districts so that we can determine the
[35:40] best path forward together
[35:43] make sure that you have competition
[35:45] um we're committed to providing families
[35:47] in the community with an update when any
[35:49] new information is received or when
[35:51] decisions are made thank you to both of
[35:52] you for speaking and for remaining
[35:54] respectful we appreciate that
[35:58] thank you all for your time thank you
[36:06] okay
[36:06] all right
[36:10] very
[36:10] much um i think that brings us to 4.01
[36:14] the consent agenda can you read that
[36:16] consent
[36:17] agenda yeah can you read the statement
[36:19] my computer timed out
[36:21] our adopted rules of parliamentary
[36:22] procedure robert's rules provide for a
[36:25] consent agenda listing several items for
[36:26] approval of the board by a single motion
[36:29] documentation concerning his items have
[36:31] been provided to all board members and
[36:32] the public in advance to assure an
[36:34] extensive and thorough review items may
[36:36] be removed from the consent agenda at
[36:38] the request of any board member
[36:48] i'm sorry i moved the board approved
[36:49] consent agenda items 4.01 through 4.0
[36:55] second
[36:58] [Music]
[37:02] good job
[37:12] yes
[37:23] brings us to
[37:28] the computer
[37:32] i'm scrolling down
[37:40] 5.01 okay that brings us to 5.01 uh so
[37:44] the first of our reports from the
[37:46] administration uh first off is
[37:47] innovation and learning it looks like dr
[37:49] westfall is approaching to give an
[37:51] update as she's doing that i want to
[37:53] thank her and dr moore and the entire
[37:56] department for their leadership
[37:58] always more importantly these last
[38:00] several
[38:01] weeks and days
[38:03] and everything that they're doing to
[38:04] welcome new teachers to the district as
[38:06] well as uh welcoming staff back as they
[38:09] get back together lots of excitement in
[38:12] schools it's always good to reconnect
[38:13] with people so i appreciate dr moore and
[38:16] dr westfall both for their leadership as
[38:18] we get back enrolling and ready for the
[38:20] new year so dr westfall thank you dr
[38:22] tucker and thank you to everyone i just
[38:24] want to submit our board report um to
[38:27] you today for the details that are
[38:28] happening in our department we're trying
[38:30] to give you a little bit more specific
[38:32] information from every one of the
[38:33] directors that reports to us and so we
[38:35] hope that you'll be able to see those
[38:37] details that it's kind of a different
[38:39] report for us so we wanted to offer that
[38:41] to you but dr tucker really outlined for
[38:44] us
[38:45] the information that we just wanted to
[38:46] chat about today and those are the top
[38:49] three things that we've been dealing
[38:50] with in the last since we saw you last
[38:53] the first thing is we were excited to
[38:55] welcome back last wednesday our new
[38:58] teachers to the district we ran that
[39:00] program in partnership as we always do
[39:02] with human resources
[39:05] and we welcomed 49 teachers in the new
[39:07] teacher institute so that's not
[39:08] necessarily how many we've only hired
[39:10] but it's certainly how many we trained
[39:12] last week they started on wednesday with
[39:15] three full day schedules that included
[39:18] learning just around all things liberty
[39:20] and so it was really fun to see their
[39:23] excitement to really talk through what
[39:25] our new
[39:26] paradigm looks like in instruction
[39:29] working with um with the innovation and
[39:31] learning coaches i don't know if you
[39:32] know that they constantly work on
[39:34] designing that and and leading the
[39:36] learning so a huge shout out to the
[39:37] innovation and learning coaches team but
[39:39] we also wanted to let you know that we
[39:41] had some guest speakers as we do um dr
[39:44] tucker and voglar usually open the the
[39:47] new teacher institute for us with
[39:49] welcomes to our teachers and then this
[39:50] year we were super happy that mrs graham
[39:53] and mr bartlow were able to come and
[39:54] visit means a lot to our new teachers to
[39:56] see that
[39:58] we spent a lot of time just so you know
[39:59] working on that whole idea of online
[40:01] learning with our new staff we recognize
[40:03] that that's going to be a necessity so
[40:04] we did dedicate some significant time to
[40:07] that
[40:08] we also had a special shout out for um
[40:11] our two teacher unions liberty um
[40:13] both nea and msta were able to come and
[40:16] share with our staff
[40:18] they share lunch with them and then have
[40:20] a chance to talk with them about that
[40:21] and then of course our very favorite is
[40:23] liberty foundation where they always
[40:24] promise
[40:25] new teacher grants for uh our new staff
[40:28] so again i just wanted to let you know a
[40:31] huge shout out for our innovation and
[40:32] learning coaches
[40:35] next thing is as dr tucker mentioned we
[40:37] started yesterday with all staff back so
[40:39] this is something we've been preparing
[40:41] for all summer
[40:42] and
[40:43] it was pretty excited to see everyone
[40:45] else's excitement and coming back and working together the principals have
[40:50] been working just endlessly to try to
[40:53] make sure that the buildings are
[40:55] prepared spent a lot of time and
[40:57] yesterday today and the rest of this
[40:59] week just preparing our staff for what
[41:02] that new expectations are for social
[41:04] distancing and mask wearing and all the
[41:06] guidelines that are around
[41:09] returning to learn
[41:10] the buildings have been
[41:13] revamping their master schedules as you
[41:14] can imagine we've had to make some
[41:16] adjustments in staffing due to the
[41:18] ability for us to manage
[41:20] both the liberty virtual school and the
[41:22] face-to-face instruction so um dr kelly
[41:26] slurry has been a huge he spends
[41:28] typically three months working on that
[41:30] um in the spring and he has worked on
[41:32] that now for two weeks
[41:34] and trying to turn that around for us so
[41:36] he's still working on it making great
[41:38] progress and then
[41:41] we've just been
[41:42] fielding a lot of questions about our
[41:44] new schedule so that face-to-face
[41:46] learning for elementary school five days
[41:47] a week and making sure that everyone's
[41:49] aware of how that works and then our
[41:51] alternating schedule for secondary so
[41:53] that's a little bit new with virtual
[41:55] wednesdays
[41:56] so just making sure that everyone's
[41:57] clear what that looks like and answering
[41:59] our parents questions and settling any
[42:01] kind of angst that might come around
[42:02] that change
[42:04] and then last but not least last week we
[42:06] started um
[42:08] monday with the design week for our new
[42:10] liberty virtual school so that kicked
[42:12] off with um we're sitting right now
[42:14] actually about about 118 staff members
[42:18] um serving the virtual school not all of
[42:20] them are full-time we're sharing some of
[42:21] them face-to-face and virtual and so
[42:24] we'll be working with them getting the
[42:26] two schedules so we have i think at the
[42:28] last count we were about 24
[42:31] 50 i think at virtual students so if you
[42:34] just think about that for a minute we
[42:36] have a virtual school that's
[42:38] kind of
[42:38] as big as many school districts in the
[42:41] state of missouri and we put that
[42:42] together this summer and have staffed it
[42:45] and have been training and the teachers
[42:46] are working really hard at designing
[42:48] that learning doing a fabulous job i've
[42:50] looked at quite a bit of their content
[42:52] it's pretty impressive and so um just a
[42:55] shout out to that crew that stepped up
[42:57] volunteered or the building said we need
[42:59] your help and they came forward for us
[43:00] to help us
[43:01] so anyway
[43:02] we're working on scheduling students
[43:04] right now so that's happening i think dr
[43:06] soleri was able to schedule elementary
[43:08] students or is getting ready to this
[43:10] week so we'll find out and be able to
[43:12] release school you know student
[43:14] assignments around the same time as we
[43:16] do our face-to-face assignments that's
[43:18] our goal
[43:19] so anyway that's all for
[43:21] innovation and learning if you have any
[43:22] questions
[43:24] i do just have a comment about the
[43:25] virtual school in particular sure um
[43:28] i don't know how many of you have had
[43:30] conversations with jeanette but i've had
[43:31] multiple conversations with her in the
[43:33] last week because i've had individual
[43:35] parents say this is the schedule that my
[43:37] specific child needs
[43:39] and that's been a challenge and every
[43:41] time i send it to jeanette she says all
[43:43] right we're going to figure it out and
[43:44] she's been figuring it out for
[43:45] individual kids
[43:48] thank you
[43:51] all of us down yeah thank you for all
[43:53] your hard work
[43:54] could you please explain
[43:57] how we're assigning kids to virtual
[43:59] teachers i think there's some confusion
[44:01] on
[44:02] how that's being done sure
[44:04] so um it's it's a little bit different
[44:06] elementary and secondary so elementary
[44:08] first
[44:09] we have anywhere from
[44:11] four five to about six or seven grade
[44:15] level teachers k5 pre-k five so two at
[44:17] pre-k
[44:18] and um we are really working hard to try
[44:21] to keep cohorts of students together so
[44:24] if we can and make the numbers work with
[44:26] the teachers the first thing we do is
[44:28] for example if a teacher is from let's
[44:30] say lillian schumacher then the teacher
[44:34] that's the lillian schumacher teacher
[44:35] gets all of the students from lillian
[44:37] schumacher so that they have an instant
[44:38] connection in case we have any return to
[44:41] the building and then after that we're
[44:42] trying to cohort in
[44:44] to make sure that the numbers match
[44:45] keeping our numbers even amongst all the
[44:47] teachers but then also not going over
[44:50] our max capacity that we've tried to
[44:52] keep under 40. so we've done a really
[44:54] good job with that
[44:56] i think we're going to be able to make
[44:57] that goal but then some of the schools
[45:00] had larger capacities and so we did have
[45:03] to split them but we split them only
[45:04] like between two schools so for example
[45:07] if um franklin had 26 students we might
[45:11] have had to put 13 with one teacher and
[45:13] 13 with another but if their teacher was
[45:15] one of the teachers they got them
[45:17] right so that happened at a grade level
[45:19] uh i think fourth grade had two teachers
[45:21] from lewis and clark so we split the
[45:23] lewis and clark kids between the two of
[45:25] them and then we added classes in so
[45:27] that's the elementary side of it with
[45:29] the middle school and high school we are
[45:32] we recruited teachers we kind of called
[45:34] it
[45:35] to be fair it's kind of equal sacrifice
[45:37] we said everybody has this many students
[45:39] coming so we need you to support that
[45:41] with the number of teachers that's
[45:42] equitable to the number of students that
[45:44] you have in virtual school they all were
[45:47] great every single one of the middle
[45:48] schools and high schools was really good
[45:50] about providing
[45:52] staff for us to to meet that goal we're
[45:54] still working on that we're still trying
[45:55] to figure out the numbers because in
[45:57] secondary it really is about scheduling
[46:01] and so it's really interesting to figure
[46:03] out some students it's easy for the core
[46:05] that's a little bit simpler to figure
[46:06] out the math science social studies and
[46:08] english but it's a little more difficult
[46:10] when it comes to electives and so we're
[46:12] still working through those kinds of
[46:14] numbers but what we're doing is
[46:16] assigning so going back to if we have
[46:19] three
[46:20] english teachers one is from one one is
[46:23] from each middle school
[46:24] and then we're putting all the students
[46:26] in those so it's not one school with a
[46:28] tremendous number of students but it's
[46:30] equal distribution amongst the teachers
[46:32] that are assigned there
[46:34] so that's how elementor that's how
[46:35] middle school and high school are being
[46:37] handled based on schedules we're still
[46:39] trying to figure out some of the very
[46:41] specific
[46:42] classes that are unique if we can find
[46:45] those at the at the high school where we
[46:47] can get a period for a virtual teacher
[46:49] then we're talking to those individuals
[46:51] trying to get them to to take that class
[46:53] so that we can provide the students so
[46:55] kind of like what mrs graham said is
[46:57] we're doing our very best to meet the
[46:59] needs of our families
[47:01] we did have a unique situation for
[47:02] example a family asked us for a pandemic
[47:04] pod
[47:05] where they're going to group all their
[47:06] children together and can we
[47:08] have a learning manager so mr bartlow
[47:11] like what you asked for so we're trying
[47:12] to do that too so we're trying a variety
[47:15] of things to make sure that not only
[47:16] does it not over overwhelm our staff but
[47:19] also meets the needs of our families so
[47:21] just trying to balance that between so i
[47:23] on behalf of innovation and learning
[47:25] really it's all of our teachers all of
[47:27] our coaches
[47:29] without question all of our principles
[47:31] have been just right up front trying to
[47:33] problem solve along with us and so
[47:36] it's definitely a learning event we are
[47:37] all learning
[47:38] for sure
[47:39] and i have noticed that there are some
[47:42] superstar teachers who have decided to
[47:44] do virtual learning so that's yeah we
[47:47] have superstar teachers across the
[47:48] district but it certainly doesn't mean
[47:51] that the virtual school is going to be
[47:52] any less quality or any less prepared
[47:54] for an area that's so new we just ask
[47:56] them to be patient and learn together
[47:58] and they are all there so
[48:00] super proud of them yeah
[48:03] other questions of dr westfall
[48:06] dr moore
[48:09] thank you thank you
[48:11] next up then is 5.02
[48:13] equity report dr dixon seahorn
[48:16] as she is coming she also had the
[48:18] opportunity to connect with our new
[48:20] teacher
[48:21] institute and welcome our faculty to
[48:24] liberty public schools i won't ruin it
[48:25] for you like i ruined it for dr westfall
[48:28] so we'll turn it over to you dr dixon i
[48:30] can always leave it with you and then we
[48:31] can just drop the mic
[48:34] okay so um thank you again for the
[48:37] opportunity to just share some updates
[48:40] with you on this evening
[48:42] i wanted to just highlight just a couple
[48:44] of things and
[48:45] want to be short and sweet in the
[48:47] interest of time
[48:48] we have a cultural competency work group
[48:51] that's aligned with the strategic plan
[48:54] and so that team we're still continuing
[48:56] to work on our
[48:58] educators online resource hub
[49:01] resources on cultural competence
[49:03] unconscious bias cultural relevance
[49:05] we're uh reviewing all of the resources
[49:08] that we've kind of curated within this
[49:11] draft site and so our goal is that by
[49:14] the first week of school that that
[49:16] website will go live for teachers so
[49:18] that as we're rolling out professional
[49:20] learning experiences for them um as
[49:23] we're having conversations at the the
[49:24] building level with leadership teams
[49:27] that they have a place to go to secure
[49:30] some resources to really kind of grow on
[49:33] their own at their own pace so actively
[49:35] working on that
[49:36] as well as our
[49:38] knee network for educator effectiveness
[49:41] that piece connected to our evaluation
[49:44] process we're currently also we have
[49:46] some members on our team that are
[49:47] reviewing the instructional videos for
[49:50] school leaders so they'll know what to
[49:52] look for under that new standard that
[49:54] we've identified for our district 6.2
[49:57] that is around communications with
[49:59] students that are sensitive to their
[50:01] culture their gender their intellect
[50:03] physical differences and so on and so
[50:05] forth so we're reviewing those videos at
[50:07] this time uh we have someone on the team
[50:10] that has exceptional rapport with the
[50:12] knee folks so if there's something that
[50:14] we're needing more of as a better
[50:16] quality example they're willing to work
[50:19] with us and possibly developing
[50:20] something so we're excited about that
[50:22] and of course we'll be partnering with
[50:24] innovation and learning with respect to
[50:26] dr moore and school leadership and and
[50:28] having those deeper conversations with
[50:30] our our school leaders
[50:32] i also wanted to highlight the fact dr
[50:34] tucker did allude to this that i did
[50:36] have the opportunity
[50:38] to connect with those approximately 50
[50:41] new lps staff members
[50:44] in the form of our session on the three
[50:48] c's of equity in the school and
[50:50] classroom context and so that session is
[50:53] aligned with state standards desi has a
[50:56] requirement for all new staff members
[50:58] around diversity in the classroom and so
[51:01] we rolled out that conversation and it
[51:03] was interesting how we were able to do
[51:05] it even in a social distancing way
[51:08] we actually had some really good
[51:10] dialogue that came out of that session
[51:13] on that day and so the three c's again
[51:15] center around cultural competence that's
[51:17] about just the knowledge the skills the
[51:19] dispositions that we want our educators
[51:21] to have in classrooms working with
[51:22] diverse learners the cultural relevance
[51:25] part is about the planning that they
[51:27] would do to fold a student's culture
[51:30] their experience their background as
[51:32] much as possible into the academic
[51:34] content and then the cultural
[51:35] responsiveness is really about the
[51:37] strategies that we use in a classroom
[51:40] setting to be more responsive to our
[51:42] students and families wherever they come
[51:45] from so that was exciting and then
[51:49] the i think the other really exciting
[51:51] thing for me was to be able to
[51:53] facilitate a live session with our
[51:55] innovation and learning coaches around
[51:58] cultural competency and beyond so these
[52:01] are these are kind of sister
[52:03] professional learning experiences so
[52:05] while the one was for our those folks
[52:07] that are new to us here in lps the other
[52:10] was recorded with innovation and
[52:12] learning coaches and it will roll out
[52:14] tomorrow to all schools as another layer
[52:18] of professional learning around
[52:20] diversity equity inclusion so in that
[52:23] session we covered the six dimensions of
[52:26] the cultural competency continuum and
[52:30] it was an exciting time with those ilcs
[52:33] and so it's been edited and formatted
[52:36] within a 60-minute time frame and so
[52:39] that will be again another layer of pd
[52:41] uh early pd for our staff in addition to
[52:44] that other safe schools requirement for
[52:46] everyone across the system this pd is
[52:49] just unique to our educators so
[52:51] certificated staff and then also
[52:53] paraprofessionals and others that
[52:54] support learning in classrooms every day
[52:57] so that's all i wanted to share is
[52:58] highlights are there any questions
[53:00] comments or concerns
[53:04] any questions for dr dickson
[53:08] thank you all right thank you so much
[53:11] next is 5.03 and miss cindy sullivan
[53:21] good evening we have one donation to
[53:24] recognize tonight and that is a donation
[53:26] from temple engineering inc
[53:29] of 100 cases of half gallon size hand
[53:32] sanitizer with pump worth seven thousand
[53:35] dollars
[53:36] we can use that we're greatly
[53:38] appreciative of their donation and would
[53:40] like to thank them for that a couple
[53:42] other things i'd like to highlight from
[53:44] my report for you tonight something
[53:46] different you saw in the financials
[53:48] tonight was the annual secretary of the
[53:50] board report
[53:51] and this is the required financial
[53:54] statement that districts
[53:56] all public school districts and charter
[53:58] districts are required to file with deci
[54:01] it's due by august 15th of every year
[54:04] and that
[54:05] takes the financial information for the
[54:07] year and slices and dices it in many
[54:09] ways so it's a very good report to look
[54:11] at
[54:12] if you didn't get to chance to look at
[54:14] it very closely while you were reviewing
[54:16] the finances this month i encourage you
[54:18] to have a look at that and holler if you
[54:20] have any questions about that it's a
[54:22] good picture of what we did this past
[54:25] year
[54:26] i would also like to remind you that the
[54:29] audit and finance committee will try to
[54:31] have an in-person meeting in september
[54:34] we have been reviewing financial
[54:35] statements
[54:37] just on their own and submitting
[54:39] questions but we do have a meeting
[54:41] scheduled for september 14th
[54:43] and we are going to meet with the
[54:44] auditor on that night as well in a
[54:46] closed session so i am looking forward
[54:48] to getting back together with them in
[54:51] person
[54:52] as far as we know now that's what our
[54:55] plan is
[54:56] i also wanted to report to you that
[54:59] at the end of the year we were a little
[55:02] concerned about our collection rate of
[55:03] personal property taxes being a little
[55:05] bit lower than we were accustomed to
[55:08] i'm happy to report that our delinquent
[55:10] tax collection rate is skyrocketing
[55:13] through the first two months of the year
[55:15] we are about three times higher this
[55:19] time this year than last year and we
[55:22] have already collected almost half of
[55:24] what we collected last year overall
[55:27] in delinquent taxes
[55:30] while that
[55:31] is not necessarily good for our county
[55:33] it is good for the district that people
[55:35] perhaps paid late
[55:37] and that we will see an uptick in our
[55:39] collection percentage overall i'm hoping
[55:41] that that is good news and bodes well
[55:44] for the things to come in the next few
[55:45] months so i wanted to share that with
[55:48] you and also on the state front the
[55:51] state revenue collections also remain
[55:53] strong
[55:54] so
[55:55] more to come on that as we continue to
[55:58] get updates around our state payment but
[56:00] those are both
[56:02] pieces of good news for you tonight
[56:04] that's all i wanted to highlight in my
[56:06] report unless you have any other
[56:07] questions for me tonight
[56:11] i appreciate financial good news
[56:19] thank you cindy thank you
[56:21] next up then 5.04 mr anderson
[56:27] thank you
[56:29] just a few things to report out tonight
[56:30] in addition to the
[56:32] two reports uh included and uploaded um
[56:35] so first uh just a really quick update
[56:37] on our planning uh for fall for uh
[56:41] september for the back to school
[56:43] i just want to call out a few people and
[56:45] specifically as we're all working
[56:47] through the details now and have been
[56:48] ever since we've kind of landed the plan
[56:50] and the approach there's been a whole
[56:52] lot of work just on the operations and
[56:54] facility side but our teams and our
[56:56] directors are working so closely with
[56:58] three individuals principals uh uh right
[57:00] now and just wanted to
[57:02] thank them that that's rosemary camp is
[57:04] kind of handling the secondary level uh
[57:06] high school level scott cars at the
[57:08] middle level and then chris gabriel's
[57:09] handling the elementary level and
[57:11] they're serving as kind of a point
[57:13] person for all of their principles and
[57:15] has been just
[57:16] exceptionally helpful to us and the
[57:18] contact point for all of our directors
[57:20] as we're working through all the details
[57:21] related for to everything from
[57:23] transportation to nutrition services the
[57:25] kids own facilities maintenance
[57:27] custodial
[57:28] all those folks and so just really
[57:29] appreciate their work and of course with
[57:31] dr moore and dr westfall
[57:33] working with us as well so i just want
[57:35] to kind of point that out and then last
[57:37] just quickly on construction just met
[57:39] today with the team so i have some
[57:40] pretty fresh updates
[57:42] the performing arts center we did get a
[57:44] temporary certificate of occupancy last
[57:46] week which was great so that allowed
[57:48] folks are in that space right now
[57:50] teachers
[57:51] getting acclimated everything but the
[57:54] theater in the stage so that's still
[57:56] kind of set aside for right now
[57:58] but but so we're able to kind of get
[58:00] into that space the theater itself and
[58:02] the stage
[58:03] we're expecting seats
[58:05] uh probably about this time next week
[58:07] and then that will take him about a week
[58:08] two weeks to kind of get that all set in
[58:10] place and then to fine-tune the space
[58:12] with all the sound
[58:13] and acoustics to make sure it was it's
[58:15] ready for occupancy so we expect that by
[58:18] mid-september to turn that space over as
[58:19] well so all that is going very well
[58:22] on budget as projected so we're feeling
[58:25] pretty good about that
[58:26] the media center uh that's part of kind
[58:29] of the roof removal they're laying
[58:31] carpet in that space right now and that
[58:33] area will be ready for the start of
[58:35] school so they need that space and they
[58:37] will be using that space
[58:39] uh the atrium kind of the main atrium
[58:41] area they're going to start here in the coming weeks and start to kind of
[58:46] recapture some of that space because
[58:47] it's an important point of important
[58:49] conduit
[58:50] from one side of the building to the
[58:51] other so we'll be opening that up
[58:53] gradually uh and that will be complete
[58:55] by october one
[58:57] and the scaffolding will come down in
[58:58] phases uh and and be able to recapture
[59:01] that space and then the 800s wing
[59:04] we
[59:04] a group of us toured this last week the
[59:07] 800s all the space including the pack
[59:09] and the 800s is coming along great
[59:11] you're starting to really kind of see
[59:12] what it's going to look like
[59:14] and that again is still on track for
[59:16] thanksgiving
[59:17] last thing i point out is we've been
[59:19] having some conversations and around
[59:21] finding a time to to bring the board and
[59:23] maybe some of the folks that were very
[59:25] involved in the campaign uh to tour that
[59:27] space working with aaron money we'll
[59:29] probably find a time here in the next
[59:31] week or two and we'll let you know and
[59:33] get you over there and kind of get you
[59:34] in and to look at the space and
[59:35] especially the theater space so some
[59:37] more to come on that
[59:38] um with that i'd be happy to take any
[59:40] questions
[59:42] you said all the atrium work will be
[59:43] done october 1.
[59:45] that is what they're telling me by
[59:46] october one that everything will be
[59:48] peeled off and finished up and paint and
[59:50] painted and ready for occupancy
[59:54] i had a big thing no leaks no leaks by
[59:56] the way sorry for the all the hand
[59:59] sanitizers outside the classrooms
[1:00:01] teachers are very grateful yeah the team jason bright and his crew
[1:00:07] have
[1:00:08] been on top of that and ordering um
[1:00:11] procuring all the necessary materials
[1:00:13] and ppe so yeah i feel pretty good about
[1:00:15] that so isn't that isn't the goal to be
[1:00:18] at a hand sanitizer station and be able
[1:00:20] to see two more that that's still a goal
[1:00:22] we've not done the full tour but um
[1:00:24] that they know that's the goal
[1:00:31] and projects are visible like a lot of
[1:00:32] these you're talking about what i like
[1:00:34] to just go in and
[1:00:36] walk through it make sure i help people
[1:00:38] you know
[1:00:40] whatever what are the opportunities
[1:00:42] because i know with
[1:00:44] covet and everything it's an effort that
[1:00:45] needs to be is there any opportunity for
[1:00:47] us to walk through and check things out
[1:00:49] or
[1:00:50] you mean
[1:00:51] in lieu of or in addition to them more
[1:00:53] organized tour is that what you're
[1:00:54] asking i don't know if i heard you
[1:00:55] organized your win well
[1:00:58] yeah we're looking at maybe next week or
[1:00:59] the week after uh and met with aaron
[1:01:02] money and his team that we would don't
[1:01:04] get old
[1:01:05] i missed i just missed that okay yeah that's what i'm looking for okay
[1:01:10] yeah tour's coming and we had it we had
[1:01:12] an opportunity several of us from the
[1:01:13] dac went over late friday
[1:01:16] and um eac as was mentioned
[1:01:19] um with the exception of the auditorium
[1:01:21] that additional space is ready to go
[1:01:23] furniture's moving in so it's pretty
[1:01:25] amazing
[1:01:26] to see it we also got a chance to see
[1:01:28] the 800s
[1:01:30] that that is gutted and open and you
[1:01:33] kind of get a sense of what that's going
[1:01:34] to look like the little theater is trans
[1:01:37] is being transformed
[1:01:39] that'll take a little while longer but i
[1:01:41] appreciate steve for setting that up and
[1:01:42] look forward to taking the board through
[1:01:44] that as well
[1:01:46] what is the 800 going to be used for so
[1:01:48] that it used to be the fine arts wing
[1:01:50] right so all the fine arts space is
[1:01:52] moving and so right now i don't know
[1:01:53] we're formerly doesn't have a name yet
[1:01:56] uh but it's going to be similar to that new space up at liberty north eagle
[1:02:00] point it's going to be the the with the
[1:02:02] capturing off of the little theater uh
[1:02:05] that's been flattened out so it's a flat
[1:02:06] space now so it'll be like a big black
[1:02:08] box theater and then there's two
[1:02:10] openings that will push out into the
[1:02:12] 800s wing where it opens right up so
[1:02:14] there's a real great opportunity to have
[1:02:16] large group gatherings in there
[1:02:18] and then there will be a lot of other um
[1:02:20] like smaller offices and several
[1:02:22] classroom spaces as well
[1:02:25] sort of more flexible learning kind of
[1:02:26] yes
[1:02:31] anything else for mr anderson
[1:02:34] okay
[1:02:35] keep an eye out for an invite as far as
[1:02:37] facility tour so we'll be sure and send
[1:02:39] that your way next up then we have 5.05
[1:02:42] dr vogeler with the hr report
[1:02:45] [Music]
[1:02:47] thank you very much for an opportunity
[1:02:49] to share the report on behalf of uh
[1:02:51] human resources department to kind of
[1:02:53] get used to the height of this uh shield
[1:02:55] here
[1:02:57] we have several items in there i won't
[1:02:58] go through all of them but uh a
[1:03:00] strategic plan update in terms of action
[1:03:02] plans 14 15 and 16 are in there
[1:03:05] also i wanted to draw out some of the
[1:03:07] work of our compliance officer dr duane
[1:03:10] smith
[1:03:11] he is
[1:03:12] putting together some training for our leaders two of them have happened on
[1:03:16] august 11th this is a selective
[1:03:17] enforcement avoidance training and child
[1:03:19] fine in the area of covet harassment
[1:03:21] bullying
[1:03:22] these trainings took place live via zoom
[1:03:25] and were recorded and will be made
[1:03:27] available through safe schools for our
[1:03:29] administrators uh selective enforcement
[1:03:31] avoidance is really targeted around uh
[1:03:33] you know the fact that we're heading
[1:03:34] into a political season and and there's
[1:03:37] unconscious bias just naturally
[1:03:40] when
[1:03:42] people hear things that they necessarily
[1:03:44] agree with they might turn a blind eye
[1:03:45] and if they hear something they don't
[1:03:46] agree with they might feel like they
[1:03:47] need to enforce a policy and we don't
[1:03:49] want that we want consistent enforcement
[1:03:52] of our policies across the board
[1:03:53] regardless of the viewpoint and so that
[1:03:55] was the focus of that training
[1:03:57] and the other trainings there that are
[1:03:59] listed i'm very pleased with dr smith
[1:04:01] and the work that he's doing as a
[1:04:02] compliance officer it's more than just
[1:04:04] enforcement of policies but looking at
[1:04:06] where all the gaps are in the
[1:04:07] organization and then
[1:04:09] making strategic recommendations to
[1:04:10] close those gaps a fine job he does on
[1:04:13] behalf of the school system the other
[1:04:15] thing i want to draw out of there is
[1:04:16] with regard to our health risk
[1:04:17] assessments and the the point
[1:04:19] accumulation that we have every year for
[1:04:22] folks to qualify for the premium
[1:04:24] differential waiver that we have this is
[1:04:26] the 600
[1:04:27] cost sharing of health insurance
[1:04:29] unless people choose to voluntarily
[1:04:31] participate in in some goals that we
[1:04:33] have some wellness goals that are set uh
[1:04:35] last couple of updates uh that that i
[1:04:37] gave because of the covet disruption we
[1:04:40] saw pretty low participation rates
[1:04:42] rebecca fisher our wellness coordinator
[1:04:45] has
[1:04:45] done a yeoman's job of really chasing
[1:04:48] down and helping assist employees to
[1:04:51] make sure that this kind of gap of silence that
[1:04:54] can be created when we're not face to
[1:04:55] face doesn't result in a higher number
[1:04:58] than usual of people having to cost
[1:05:00] share when it could be avoided through
[1:05:01] uh through just our our usual trend of
[1:05:04] voluntary uh participation in our health
[1:05:06] and wellness initiatives so we're right
[1:05:08] now at 85.36 percent participation this
[1:05:11] time last year we're at 87.2 percent so
[1:05:14] statistically it's very equivalent
[1:05:16] talked with her she's very pleased with
[1:05:17] that that path and progress and feels
[1:05:20] very good that we'll be on pace by the
[1:05:21] time the health and wellness year concludes
[1:05:25] i also wanted to draw out that team
[1:05:26] liberty is planning on meeting september
[1:05:28] 3rd i've mentioned that before the major
[1:05:30] topic of that
[1:05:32] team liberty meeting
[1:05:33] is going to be our health insurance
[1:05:34] renewal so our health insurance
[1:05:36] brokerage firm holmes murphy will be on
[1:05:38] hand to present our insurance
[1:05:40] utilization they'll also prepare a
[1:05:42] report to present to you
[1:05:44] at the board meeting in september as
[1:05:46] well that same insurance utilization so
[1:05:48] you get a chance to consider a first
[1:05:50] read recommendation from dr tucker on
[1:05:52] our health insurance renewal so that's
[1:05:54] slated to happen september 3rd
[1:05:56] with team liberty meeting virtually
[1:05:58] through zoom so it'll be a virtual
[1:05:59] meeting on that day
[1:06:02] staffing update as dr westfall uh
[1:06:05] already uh talked about uh 48 uh
[1:06:07] teachers were involved in that she did a
[1:06:09] phenomenal job her and her team dr moore
[1:06:11] all the innovations and learning coach a
[1:06:13] phenomenal job
[1:06:14] but i do want to point out that in the
[1:06:16] in that rank of 48 a couple statistics
[1:06:18] that mean a lot to me one is that 11 of
[1:06:21] those teachers did their student
[1:06:22] teaching here so these were people that sought out while they were in
[1:06:26] college
[1:06:27] to want to do their student teaching
[1:06:29] with liberty public schools we had about
[1:06:31] 35 or so student teachers over the
[1:06:33] course of the year and of those 11 of
[1:06:35] them were retained for employment so
[1:06:36] very excited about that statistic and
[1:06:38] the one that i'm most excited about is
[1:06:39] that nine of those 48
[1:06:42] are homegrown graduates of liberty
[1:06:44] public schools who've decided to come
[1:06:45] back and launch their career
[1:06:47] with us right here in lps
[1:06:51] final thing i want to draw out of the
[1:06:52] report is with regard to the network for
[1:06:54] educator effectiveness every year we do
[1:06:56] bring
[1:06:57] an updated manual to you i want to thank
[1:07:00] dr moore publicly her work
[1:07:02] in partnership with building principals
[1:07:04] building leaders and the innovations and
[1:07:06] learning team
[1:07:07] really went above and beyond this year
[1:07:09] because we had to tackle a way
[1:07:11] to
[1:07:12] provide look fors
[1:07:15] that could be examined virtually so
[1:07:17] helping our administrators know how to
[1:07:20] engage their staff virtually and still
[1:07:22] provide meaningful feedback around our
[1:07:23] indicators is an important part of that
[1:07:25] process so
[1:07:26] she's been working diligently to revise
[1:07:28] the handbook to accomplish that there's
[1:07:30] some hyperlinks in that uh section of
[1:07:32] the report as well that identifies the
[1:07:35] two district indicators as uh dr dickson
[1:07:38] seahorn mentioned indicator 6.2 is now a
[1:07:40] district initiative uh priority
[1:07:42] indicator for all classrooms and that's
[1:07:44] that communications with students are
[1:07:46] sensitive to cultural gender
[1:07:47] intellectual and physical differences
[1:07:50] that will be evaluated across the system
[1:07:53] and then indicator 7.4 is the other one
[1:07:55] that's a district-wide indicator this
[1:07:56] year and that's to monitor the effect of
[1:07:58] instruction on individual and class
[1:08:01] learning
[1:08:02] those are the district ones and then in
[1:08:04] there is also hyperlink the building
[1:08:05] indicators every building will select
[1:08:07] two above and beyond those two
[1:08:09] district-wide indicators and those are
[1:08:10] all listed there they're listed in that
[1:08:12] document by number so if you want to
[1:08:14] actually see the wording of those
[1:08:16] indicators
[1:08:17] just click on the handbook
[1:08:19] and scroll down i think it's page 16.
[1:08:22] there's a hyperlink there that takes you
[1:08:24] to all of the indicators rather than
[1:08:26] housing that in the manual itself you
[1:08:28] have an opportunity to just hyperlink
[1:08:30] then over
[1:08:32] and it is page 16 toward the bottom all
[1:08:34] classroom
[1:08:35] indicators are outlined you click on
[1:08:36] that hyperlink and that will show you
[1:08:38] everyone you can cross-reference that to
[1:08:40] the building selected indicators as well
[1:08:43] there's more to the board report i'll be
[1:08:44] glad to answer any questions that you
[1:08:46] have regarding that but those are the
[1:08:48] items i wanted to draw out of the report
[1:08:50] this evening i'll take any questions if
[1:08:51] you have them
[1:08:54] just with regards to enrollment and may
[1:08:57] not be directed directly to you dr
[1:08:59] vogler
[1:09:00] i know north kansas city saw a
[1:09:02] significant increase in their
[1:09:04] students opting for virtual i don't know
[1:09:05] if we've seen more people coming into
[1:09:07] virtual versus
[1:09:08] wanting to be in person what's that
[1:09:10] trend kind of looking like if we
[1:09:11] continue
[1:09:13] dr tucker so we continue to monitor that
[1:09:15] daily and so there is a little bit of
[1:09:17] fluctuation back and forth we're still
[1:09:20] pretty much hovering around that 80 to
[1:09:22] 20. as you look at other buildings
[1:09:24] our high end is still you know 27 28
[1:09:28] you know that low end 12 to 13 i don't
[1:09:31] know if dr moore dr westfall you want to
[1:09:33] speak to that as well
[1:10:00] frightening me
[1:10:04] they're both working that would be crazy
[1:10:06] so um yes we're monitoring every day and
[1:10:08] what we have is
[1:10:09] an idea of what would happen kind of
[1:10:11] like that do you remember we talked
[1:10:13] about the green red and yellow so
[1:10:15] right now we're really tight on the
[1:10:17] elementary face to face because that's
[1:10:19] the super critical turn point
[1:10:21] and um i would tell you that if you were
[1:10:23] going to look at which side we're
[1:10:25] flexing on the most it's probably on the
[1:10:27] virtual side taking in more students
[1:10:30] there and we're able to navigate that a
[1:10:32] little bit easier but it does it's a lot
[1:10:35] i mean it puts a lot of pressure on our
[1:10:36] teachers
[1:10:38] so we but we do check that every single
[1:10:41] day
[1:10:43] thank you
[1:10:45] other questions for dr voglar
[1:10:48] or others
[1:10:50] okay thank you thanks dr vogel
[1:10:53] uh last administration report then would
[1:10:55] be a report from me a couple of
[1:10:57] additions that i wanted to share with
[1:10:59] you i want to lead with
[1:11:00] congratulations
[1:11:02] you may or may not have seen this as of
[1:11:04] yesterday the department of elementary
[1:11:06] and secondary education
[1:11:08] issued a news release
[1:11:09] and it's that time of year in which the
[1:11:11] missouri teacher of the year
[1:11:13] semi-finalists are announced
[1:11:15] and so this is for the 2021 missouri
[1:11:17] teacher of the year semi-finalists and
[1:11:20] um as you may or may not know the
[1:11:22] selection process begins with
[1:11:24] the announcement of 34 regional teachers
[1:11:27] of the year
[1:11:28] and then it is winnowed down to the
[1:11:30] semifinalists and then eventually on to
[1:11:32] the finalists
[1:11:34] who will be reported out later but the
[1:11:36] 15 regional teachers of the year include
[1:11:39] one of our very own from liberty public
[1:11:40] schools and that is summer kelly
[1:11:43] from liberty academy so we wanted to
[1:11:45] recognize her in that respect and share
[1:11:47] that information with you
[1:11:49] in addition in addition to that
[1:11:50] announcement uh we're in the midst of
[1:11:53] beginning this week our building level
[1:11:55] meetings with schools and departments
[1:11:56] across the district we started that
[1:11:58] yesterday
[1:12:00] between yesterday and today we've had
[1:12:02] nine already and what we've shared with
[1:12:04] them is really a little bit different
[1:12:06] approach this year to convocation
[1:12:08] still keeping with some of those
[1:12:10] components
[1:12:11] but not necessarily gathering together
[1:12:14] to preserve social distancing
[1:12:16] in light of covet 19. so what we're
[1:12:18] doing face to face is welcoming them
[1:12:21] sharing some thoughts with them um on
[1:12:23] behalf of myself but then also
[1:12:25] transitioning to welcoming new teachers
[1:12:27] uh for each location as well as honoring
[1:12:30] them with their years of service plaques
[1:12:32] we still wanted to be able to do that
[1:12:34] face to face a couple things that i've
[1:12:36] shared with them in reflecting on where
[1:12:39] we've come from since spring break back
[1:12:41] in march to where we're at and then also
[1:12:44] to where we're moving the first thing i
[1:12:46] shared is that really i think there's
[1:12:48] value in pausing and reflecting on
[1:12:51] everything that we've accomplished over
[1:12:52] the course of the last five to six
[1:12:54] months
[1:12:55] thanking our staff our teachers our
[1:12:57] parents and our community our students
[1:13:00] for everything that they've been through
[1:13:01] but then also to remind them that if
[1:13:04] we're not careful
[1:13:05] we move on to the next issue the next
[1:13:07] challenge the next problem and we fail
[1:13:10] to look back in that rear view mirror
[1:13:12] and acknowledge the things that we've
[1:13:14] accomplished so what we were worried
[1:13:16] about back in march in april and may
[1:13:19] was incredibly challenging at that time
[1:13:21] we could not have done it without the
[1:13:22] help of everyone in our community but
[1:13:25] then we also then pivot to how we
[1:13:27] navigate the challenges and the problems
[1:13:29] the issues that are going to come before
[1:13:31] us so as i share that idea and that
[1:13:34] thought i left them with a couple of
[1:13:35] areas it really lands on two hands that
[1:13:38] first piece is how do we ready ourselves
[1:13:41] for everything that we're getting ready
[1:13:42] to walk through when there still remains
[1:13:44] a lot of unknowns we probably have more
[1:13:47] questions ahead of us than answers we've
[1:13:49] provided and i think the way that we do
[1:13:51] that and teachers are great about this
[1:13:54] they make the best plans they possibly
[1:13:55] can but at the same time they adapt they
[1:13:58] adjust they tailor their approach to
[1:14:00] every single student they tailor their
[1:14:02] approach
[1:14:04] to every family because every family's
[1:14:06] needs are unique and so i think they're
[1:14:08] incredibly equipped to continue to move
[1:14:10] forward albeit it's in a time of a
[1:14:13] continuing pandemic
[1:14:15] significant challenges no shortages of
[1:14:17] opinions or perspectives
[1:14:19] so if readiness sits on this hand the
[1:14:22] other way that we navigate that is in
[1:14:24] and around care
[1:14:25] or patience grace empathy
[1:14:29] and so as we think about that it's not
[1:14:30] only us modeling it for our classrooms
[1:14:32] and our teachers and our our families
[1:14:35] whether they're face to face or whether
[1:14:36] they're virtual but it's also
[1:14:38] recognizing that everybody enters into
[1:14:40] this conversation into the new school
[1:14:42] year from a different place
[1:14:43] from different set of circumstances or
[1:14:45] challenges or successes and highlights
[1:14:49] and celebrations that they've
[1:14:50] experienced over the last
[1:14:52] several months
[1:14:53] so it's readiness on one hand it's care
[1:14:55] for one another on the other hand and i
[1:14:57] think what we've seen over the last
[1:14:58] couple of days as we have tough issues
[1:15:01] to tackle our community approaching it
[1:15:03] in the right way
[1:15:05] approaching it with a certain amount of
[1:15:07] dignity or grace patience certainly but
[1:15:10] as i shared lots of varying opinions and
[1:15:12] we'll continue to move through that and
[1:15:14] navigate that together so we've enjoyed
[1:15:16] getting back into buildings seeing our
[1:15:18] staff connecting with one another but
[1:15:20] then rolling up their sleeves and
[1:15:22] getting ready for the start of the new
[1:15:23] year we were at manor hill earlier this
[1:15:25] afternoon and i was talking with valerie
[1:15:27] utecht
[1:15:28] and she just shared kind of on the side
[1:15:30] before we welcomed teachers she said you
[1:15:32] know
[1:15:33] a lot of these teachers just a couple
[1:15:35] days ago we've had to approach and say
[1:15:37] hey would you mind teaching this section
[1:15:39] would you mind moving to this grade
[1:15:41] level and we're seeing that time and
[1:15:43] time again and albeit it is stretching
[1:15:45] us
[1:15:46] it's stretching our administration and
[1:15:48] our staff
[1:15:49] it's also being met with yeah i can do
[1:15:51] that i can adjust i can shift i can
[1:15:54] pivot and so we certainly could not be
[1:15:56] where we're at today
[1:15:58] without our staff our students our family and
[1:16:01] their support
[1:16:02] a couple of additional items
[1:16:05] we have the opportunity over the last
[1:16:06] couple of weeks since we last met for
[1:16:08] our study session in august to
[1:16:10] participate in a couple of diversity
[1:16:12] equity inclusion
[1:16:14] opportunities one was with suburban
[1:16:16] balance since i appreciate dr dixon c
[1:16:19] for working with me partnering with me
[1:16:21] to be part of a panel or a symposium
[1:16:24] across the metro area
[1:16:26] it was facilitated virtually and had a
[1:16:28] great conversation i think we've made a
[1:16:30] connection
[1:16:31] with suburban balance to possibly
[1:16:33] partner as well as with other districts
[1:16:35] that are working closely with them in
[1:16:37] the future
[1:16:38] another dei opportunity was a
[1:16:40] presentation that i had the opportunity
[1:16:42] to share on a saturday morning
[1:16:44] virtually and that was a new teacher
[1:16:46] mentoring
[1:16:47] session
[1:16:48] on the topic of diversity equity
[1:16:50] inclusion in the arts
[1:16:52] and that was through the missouri music
[1:16:53] educators association so enjoyed the
[1:16:56] opportunity to connect with about 50 or
[1:16:58] 60
[1:16:59] from their association as well as
[1:17:01] welcome new fine arts teachers into the
[1:17:03] profession particularly around the topic
[1:17:05] of diversity equity and inclusion in
[1:17:07] their space
[1:17:09] over the last several days we've had two
[1:17:11] opportunities to connect with u.s
[1:17:13] congressional delegates representative
[1:17:15] emmanuel cleaver as well as
[1:17:18] representative sam graves
[1:17:20] appreciate them connecting with school
[1:17:22] district leaders superintendents
[1:17:23] administrators just to get a sense of
[1:17:26] the issues that we're navigating that
[1:17:28] we're working through and also to hear
[1:17:30] from them from a federal level
[1:17:32] as far as the the areas that they're
[1:17:34] processing as it relates to schools a
[1:17:37] couple of key takeaways
[1:17:38] one of which is the usda and continuing
[1:17:41] to provide nutrition support for
[1:17:42] families in need
[1:17:44] we saw a significant demand and access
[1:17:47] back in the fourth quarter during the
[1:17:48] course of the how we ended last school
[1:17:51] year that then just continued over the
[1:17:53] course of this year and will evolve into
[1:17:56] this coming school year and so we
[1:17:58] appreciate their continued support of
[1:18:00] food nutrition programs within our
[1:18:02] schools
[1:18:03] another area is in and around federal
[1:18:05] dollars tied to relief or stimulus
[1:18:08] whether it's the cares act or other
[1:18:10] proposals that are coming through that
[1:18:12] might impact schools we're watching and
[1:18:14] monitoring if the congress is able to
[1:18:17] get the next wave of funding uh through
[1:18:20] that then could be utilized by schools
[1:18:21] to navigate covet 19. we're hearing a
[1:18:24] little bit more flexibility and leeway
[1:18:26] potentially at the local level and how
[1:18:28] those funds are used but we'll continue
[1:18:31] to watch that pretty closely as they try
[1:18:32] to get
[1:18:34] a package across the finish line so stay
[1:18:36] tuned on that
[1:18:37] the last thing that i would share is
[1:18:39] both congressman cleaver as well as
[1:18:41] congressman
[1:18:42] graves are working to try to incorporate
[1:18:46] additional liability protections into
[1:18:49] four school districts as we continue to
[1:18:51] navigate this knowing knowing that there
[1:18:52] are legal ramifications and so we
[1:18:55] appreciate their openness and their willingness to connect with school
[1:18:58] districts
[1:19:00] the last thing that i wanted to share
[1:19:02] was just kind of a follow-up to what we
[1:19:04] heard this evening from public comment
[1:19:06] and really just to reinforce what kim
[1:19:08] marie was sharing earlier
[1:19:10] is that in and around the missouri state
[1:19:12] high school activities association
[1:19:14] announcement last week and press release
[1:19:16] regarding options for school districts
[1:19:19] navigating fall seasons pivoting to the
[1:19:22] spring
[1:19:22] just to reinforce what kim marie shared
[1:19:24] is continuing to work closely with
[1:19:26] missouri state high school activities
[1:19:28] association as well as the greater
[1:19:30] kansas city suburban conference both
[1:19:33] clay county public health center as well
[1:19:34] as the kansas city missouri health
[1:19:36] department
[1:19:37] knowing that things continue to be
[1:19:39] incredibly fluid we learned that early
[1:19:41] in march
[1:19:42] and at one point we're hoping that
[1:19:44] things would somewhat settle down and we
[1:19:46] could work our plans but you all have
[1:19:48] lived it we've lived it together and
[1:19:50] that as soon as you make a plan
[1:19:51] something derails that or a certain
[1:19:53] circumstance evolves or changes um so
[1:19:56] we'll continue to work closely on
[1:19:58] navigating this as we start the school
[1:20:00] year as we begin the fall
[1:20:02] and then communicate we remain committed
[1:20:04] to communicating with our families and
[1:20:06] our staff students any changes that
[1:20:08] might be forthcoming so that concludes
[1:20:11] my report unless there are questions
[1:20:12] from the board
[1:20:16] i did notice on your report you you
[1:20:18] mentioned strategic planning coming up
[1:20:20] in the next
[1:20:21] over the next month or two
[1:20:24] um
[1:20:25] and while to some extent that seems like
[1:20:27] a distant
[1:20:28] topic it may actually be super relevant
[1:20:30] in
[1:20:31] you know current time needing to
[1:20:32] prioritize is there stuff that you need
[1:20:34] from
[1:20:35] us
[1:20:36] as
[1:20:37] you re-cue that up i think what we've
[1:20:39] talked about going back a little bit
[1:20:41] with kind of being more flexible and
[1:20:43] agile and we started this six years ago
[1:20:45] in bringing a revision to the board
[1:20:49] wanting to continue in that mind's
[1:20:51] mindset
[1:20:52] where we're at as a strategic leadership
[1:20:54] team is really walking through those
[1:20:56] plans and revisiting are those the right
[1:20:59] plans do we need to reprioritize what
[1:21:01] have we accomplished that then we can
[1:21:03] shift off the plate but then what are
[1:21:05] some of those things that perhaps we had
[1:21:07] as placeholders to either bring forward
[1:21:10] or completely new
[1:21:12] plans or focus areas given everything
[1:21:14] we've just experienced over the last
[1:21:16] five months
[1:21:17] the other piece there is really
[1:21:19] connecting our strategic plan to our
[1:21:21] school improvement plans and so
[1:21:23] appreciate the innovation and learning
[1:21:25] department having those conversations
[1:21:26] with principals as well as their
[1:21:28] building leadership teams
[1:21:30] so to answer your question i think it
[1:21:32] would be
[1:21:33] to be able to react and solicit your
[1:21:36] feedback once we're able to bring a
[1:21:38] revision or an update to the strategic
[1:21:40] plan forward
[1:21:41] but then at the same time
[1:21:43] relay for the board the connection from
[1:21:45] the strategic level all the way down to
[1:21:47] the school level and then a companion
[1:21:49] piece that we'll follow will be
[1:21:51] departmental plans as we think about
[1:21:53] operations and more importantly for the
[1:21:55] board program evaluation
[1:21:58] we've talked about that for some time
[1:22:00] had a little bit of a curve ball thrown
[1:22:01] at us in march
[1:22:03] but wanting to get back to that
[1:22:04] conversation and how we move move
[1:22:06] forward and thinking about program
[1:22:07] evaluation differently
[1:22:09] the other thing as i'm talking and
[1:22:11] thinking at the same time would be our
[1:22:13] metrics
[1:22:15] so we typically bring forward in the
[1:22:16] month of october november our scorecard
[1:22:19] that looks completely different now
[1:22:22] because some of those data points are
[1:22:23] missing particularly as it relates to
[1:22:26] assessments at the end of the year and
[1:22:28] waivers that we have received
[1:22:30] even then though we've been talking
[1:22:31] about those uncommon measures
[1:22:33] that bring forward real world learning
[1:22:35] opportunities those social emotional
[1:22:37] metrics from panorama and other surveys
[1:22:40] that we may do
[1:22:41] and then lastly what are those academic
[1:22:43] metrics
[1:22:44] so we have a couple of holes that we
[1:22:46] will want to shore up
[1:22:48] but then that will be another piece we
[1:22:49] want to bring before the board
[1:22:53] more to come on
[1:22:57] uh just one comment so uh i did catch
[1:22:59] the suburban balance uh just to see what
[1:23:01] it was all about and i really appreciate
[1:23:03] both yourself dr dixon seahorn
[1:23:07] thoughtful strategic
[1:23:08] very empathetic answers
[1:23:11] some of the others may not have been as
[1:23:13] much and so
[1:23:14] thank you for uh representing us well
[1:23:18] we could not see who our viewership was
[1:23:20] so we didn't know if we had one on the line with us or thousands there
[1:23:24] were a couple of hundreds
[1:23:26] at the height i feel better about that
[1:23:29] thank you for watching that
[1:23:34] all right that moves us on to new
[1:23:36] business 6.01 contracts and purchases we
[1:23:39] do have several items under contracts
[1:23:41] and purchases really two sets
[1:23:43] a couple items that we're going to ask
[1:23:45] you to approve on first read
[1:23:47] and then a couple of additional items
[1:23:49] for review so i wanted to ask mr
[1:23:51] anderson
[1:23:52] if he could give us an update on those
[1:23:55] contracts and purchases
[1:24:04] thank you um
[1:24:06] so i'm going to skip the first item just
[1:24:08] for now um and and hit a few other the
[1:24:11] that are listed here uh first one i'm
[1:24:13] going to address is the bus purchase uh
[1:24:16] and so there was a potential uh
[1:24:18] companion piece of this and that would
[1:24:20] have been a lease arrangement at least
[1:24:21] purchase arrangement with commerce bank
[1:24:24] we're going to need another month to
[1:24:25] kind of pull that together
[1:24:27] but feel very
[1:24:28] positive about that
[1:24:30] but this is to really kind of replenish
[1:24:32] the fleet
[1:24:33] and we are going to be purchasing 10
[1:24:35] propane fuel tanks uh
[1:24:37] fuel buses conventionals the larger
[1:24:39] buses
[1:24:41] spent a lot of time reviewing the
[1:24:43] different options including the
[1:24:45] compressed natural gas
[1:24:47] diesel of course and really the more
[1:24:49] time we spent in this option the more we
[1:24:51] were drawn to it and it really has a lot
[1:24:53] of benefit i listed some of that out
[1:24:55] here so so basically purchasing 10 new
[1:24:57] buses from central states bus sales uh
[1:25:00] and again next month we'll have a lease
[1:25:01] purchase arrangement this will allow
[1:25:03] them to begin the production of the
[1:25:04] buses
[1:25:05] uh which will get put them into our
[1:25:07] possession a little bit later in this
[1:25:08] calendar year
[1:25:10] um the second item um we also have a
[1:25:14] contract uh up and this is to be
[1:25:16] approved on first read
[1:25:18] um this is with alc it's a renewal
[1:25:20] agreement with them and they provide
[1:25:22] um alternative uh transportation
[1:25:24] services for uh it's curb to curb
[1:25:26] service for our out of district and
[1:25:28] special needs students we've we've been
[1:25:29] in a contract relationship with them for several years
[1:25:33] we're pleased we put out an rfp uh and they submitted a formal proposal
[1:25:38] that
[1:25:39] we actually
[1:25:40] they came down in their rates which will
[1:25:42] benefit from that pretty significantly
[1:25:44] you may have noticed there was a a
[1:25:46] second companion piece to this uh with a
[1:25:49] group called assist assisted
[1:25:50] transportation services
[1:25:53] they were going to basically work in the
[1:25:54] same space
[1:25:56] but we could use them kind of
[1:25:57] strategically
[1:25:59] and that was pulled just earlier today
[1:26:01] that contract we have a few cleanup
[1:26:03] items uh with with legal right now
[1:26:06] anticipate that as well we'll be in
[1:26:07] front of you next month um but those two
[1:26:10] pieces
[1:26:11] tend to go together
[1:26:13] um
[1:26:14] one item for review so this will come
[1:26:16] back next month this is not to be acted
[1:26:18] on tonight this is just the introduction
[1:26:20] of a new agreement with transio
[1:26:23] this is innovation and learning
[1:26:26] and this is a subscription for college
[1:26:27] and career readiness tools for students
[1:26:30] and then last is is often the case these
[1:26:33] days uh per policy djf-1
[1:26:37] uh some emergency purchases uh these are
[1:26:39] really just again in preparation
[1:26:41] uh for the start of school and a lot of
[1:26:44] those purchases are listed out there
[1:26:46] below so a few action items and i'm
[1:26:48] going to hand it to cindy to talk about
[1:26:50] the first one
[1:26:53] the first item that we want to bring to
[1:26:55] you to approve on first read tonight is
[1:26:58] a memo of understanding with the city of
[1:26:59] liberty we learned that they might have
[1:27:02] some excess cares fund money that they
[1:27:05] were not going to be able to spend so we
[1:27:07] reached out to them
[1:27:09] and provided them information about some
[1:27:11] needs that we had so they agreed to
[1:27:14] give us 175 000
[1:27:17] of their funds that they were not going
[1:27:19] to spend
[1:27:20] um to go toward the purchase of student
[1:27:23] desks
[1:27:24] and we would like that approved on first
[1:27:26] read tonight and thank them for their
[1:27:27] generosity and sharing their funds with
[1:27:29] us
[1:27:33] you want a motion just get that one on
[1:27:37] um do we can we include them all in one
[1:27:38] motion or do they need to be separate
[1:27:42] or they went off
[1:27:43] i was just going to
[1:27:44] i move the board approve the memo the
[1:27:46] memorandum of understanding for
[1:27:48] disbursement of karazhan's coronavirus
[1:27:49] release funds from the city of liberty
[1:27:52] to the district
[1:27:54] that work
[1:27:58] i guess there was one there and i missed
[1:27:59] it
[1:28:03] oh okay
[1:28:26] yes david yes
[1:28:39] what did you say
[1:28:45] the bus purchase
[1:28:48] that will be for purchases
[1:28:52] so i'm if the board approved the listed
[1:28:54] agreements and purchases
[1:29:00] second
[1:29:03] steve are these the first propane buses
[1:29:05] we have
[1:29:06] yeah
[1:29:08] okay we all have to pivot sometimes
[1:29:11] don't we sandra
[1:29:26] yes
[1:29:37] all right that moves us on to 6.02 the
[1:29:39] 20 20 21
[1:29:42] tax rate
[1:29:44] yeah as cindy is coming to the podium i
[1:29:46] appreciate all of her work over the last
[1:29:48] several months and that this process
[1:29:50] really starts early in the spring
[1:29:52] and getting the best information from
[1:29:54] county and then waiting for even better
[1:29:57] and better and better information
[1:29:59] leading up to the month of august so
[1:30:01] working closely with the county but then
[1:30:03] also working with state auditor's office
[1:30:05] to ensure that the pro forma is ready to
[1:30:07] bring forward this evening so we'll turn
[1:30:09] it over to ms sullivan thank you dr
[1:30:11] tucker a couple things i want to
[1:30:12] highlight about the tax rate
[1:30:15] hearing and the process we go through to
[1:30:17] set the tax rate state law requires that
[1:30:19] the board of education set the tax rate
[1:30:21] by august 31st of each school year the
[1:30:24] recommended levy is based upon the last
[1:30:26] certified assessed valuation from the
[1:30:28] county clerk and has been reviewed by
[1:30:31] the state auditor's office
[1:30:33] the 2020 assessed valuation represents a
[1:30:36] net increase of
[1:30:37] 2.3447 percent when compared with the
[1:30:40] assessed valuation of august 2019.
[1:30:44] the total assessed valuation for the
[1:30:46] liberty public school district on which
[1:30:47] current taxes are collected is one
[1:30:50] billion ninety four million eight
[1:30:52] hundred and seventy thousand eight
[1:30:54] hundred and seventy eight dollars
[1:30:56] new construction included in assessed
[1:30:58] valuation is approximately
[1:31:00] 26.6 million which is a
[1:31:03] 26.63
[1:31:05] decrease from our prior year new
[1:31:07] construction number
[1:31:08] local tax revenue represents
[1:31:11] approximately 36 percent of our overall
[1:31:14] revenue budget
[1:31:16] the 2019 tax rate was six dollars and
[1:31:20] forty five and a half cents with the
[1:31:22] operating levy set at four dollars and
[1:31:25] eighty eight point eight five cents
[1:31:27] the
[1:31:28] 2020
[1:31:30] authorized operational tax levy ceiling
[1:31:33] is set to be recommended to
[1:31:36] be set at four dollars 89 cents
[1:31:40] 89.56 as approved by the state auditor
[1:31:43] this reflects an increase of less than a
[1:31:45] penny from the prior year
[1:31:48] and also note that the 30 cent 36 cent
[1:31:51] capital projects levy is in crude
[1:31:53] included in the operational number
[1:31:56] the maximized authorized levy as
[1:31:59] approved by the voters was set at
[1:32:03] 5.35.15 cents in 2014.
[1:32:06] the district has consistently levied
[1:32:08] taxes beneath that rate since that time
[1:32:12] the
[1:32:13] 2020 debt service levy ceiling has been
[1:32:16] set by the state auditor at 1.76.87
[1:32:21] it is recommended and budgeted that the
[1:32:23] board of education voluntarily reduced
[1:32:26] this levy to one dollar fifty five point
[1:32:29] nine four cents that's a reduction of
[1:32:31] twenty point nine three cents
[1:32:34] so based upon the state auditor's office
[1:32:36] calculation of the data it's recommended
[1:32:39] that the board of education approve tax
[1:32:41] levies in the following funds
[1:32:43] fund one operating 4.53.56
[1:32:48] debt service 1.55.94
[1:32:53] and capital projects 36 cents
[1:32:57] the results in this results in a total
[1:33:00] tax levy rate for night for 2020 of six
[1:33:04] dollars 45 and a half cents
[1:33:06] maintaining the same levy rate as 2019
[1:33:10] upon this approval the tax rate will be
[1:33:13] submitted to the county clerk and to the
[1:33:15] state audit auditor for further
[1:33:17] certification
[1:33:27] continuing to maintain the same rate
[1:33:29] correct below what we can charge correct
[1:33:34] all right
[1:33:36] so i moved the board set the 2020 2021
[1:33:39] tax rate at 6.455
[1:33:42] second
[1:33:46] aj
[1:33:47] yes scott yes david yes
[1:33:56] thank you
[1:33:58] cindy
[1:33:59] all right that moves us to 6.03 board
[1:34:02] policies and procedures please say
[1:34:04] you're going to read all of it
[1:34:09] you know since you asked that
[1:34:11] i will say this in my in my previous
[1:34:13] life
[1:34:14] i would do that
[1:34:16] policy by policy by policy my my
[1:34:18] previous board was incredibly excited
[1:34:20] when it got to that time
[1:34:23] we do have a laundry list though of
[1:34:25] policies for us to look at
[1:34:27] to really kind of divide out 6.03
[1:34:31] we have one policy for adoption for
[1:34:33] first read this is something we see
[1:34:35] regularly
[1:34:36] and bring this forward for the board's
[1:34:37] consideration that is bbfa
[1:34:40] board member conflict of interest and
[1:34:42] financial disclosure
[1:34:43] the subsequent ones that follow which is
[1:34:46] the list that mr bartlow is speaking of
[1:34:48] are policies that are presented to you
[1:34:50] for review this evening um that then you
[1:34:53] will see again
[1:34:55] at a follow-up board meeting so in
[1:34:56] between now and next time we're together
[1:34:58] for our regular monthly board meeting
[1:35:01] our administration our departments will
[1:35:02] be looking at those
[1:35:04] to ensure that they align with our
[1:35:06] practices and procedures
[1:35:08] and at the same time identify those
[1:35:10] areas that are new
[1:35:12] for which we may have to justify our
[1:35:14] adjust our approaches
[1:35:16] the last segment that you have then this
[1:35:18] evening are some administrative
[1:35:19] procedures and as a reminder those are
[1:35:21] just presented as a review only um from
[1:35:24] month to month as we bring new
[1:35:26] adjustments forward from the missouri
[1:35:27] school board's association it would
[1:35:29] present that slate of items for you and
[1:35:32] your consideration to see
[1:35:40] ready for a motion
[1:35:42] i move the board adopt policy bbfa
[1:35:46] second
[1:35:50] aj yes yes
[1:36:01] okay
[1:36:02] we have no unfinished business on the
[1:36:04] agenda tonight
[1:36:06] which moves us to board of education
[1:36:08] items 8.01 legislation and advocacy
[1:36:12] angie did you have anything do you want
[1:36:14] to add there um aside from the fact that
[1:36:17] we're all registered for the msba
[1:36:19] conference because it's free
[1:36:22] and virtual and virtual
[1:36:26] and my understanding is they're going to
[1:36:27] be doing several of those
[1:36:31] sessions throughout the year
[1:36:34] delegate assembly is the 25th so when i
[1:36:36] find out
[1:36:37] if there's anything additional that you
[1:36:39] guys
[1:36:42] need to provide input for i will let you
[1:36:44] know
[1:36:47] are there any
[1:36:49] advocacy items that need to be brought
[1:36:51] forward
[1:36:52] i think we mentioned watching
[1:36:54] congressional
[1:36:56] at the federal level what's taking place
[1:36:58] there and how that transpires
[1:37:00] whether it's monies received through the
[1:37:02] cares act by way of dusty
[1:37:04] or by way of
[1:37:07] grants through the county or through
[1:37:10] city government we appreciate the city
[1:37:11] of liberty what we have noticed is that
[1:37:14] that's not consistent
[1:37:16] from county to county to county or
[1:37:18] municipality the municipality or
[1:37:20] municipality so there are some of our
[1:37:22] peer districts in our area that have not
[1:37:25] received any
[1:37:26] cares act dollars to assist with
[1:37:29] navigating covid19
[1:37:31] and so that is something that we're
[1:37:32] advocating for on behalf of every
[1:37:34] district whether you're suburban urban
[1:37:36] or rural
[1:37:37] so it's again kind of a wait and see
[1:37:39] what's happening at the at the federal
[1:37:41] level at the local level in jefferson
[1:37:43] city
[1:37:44] we have been working closely with the
[1:37:46] senate as well as the house of
[1:37:48] representatives on some communication
[1:37:50] that they pushed out to districts in and
[1:37:52] around navigating virtual options
[1:37:55] both ones that are provided by the
[1:37:57] district but then others that are
[1:37:58] provided for or accessible to families
[1:38:01] under the mopcap program that's the
[1:38:03] missouri course access program in
[1:38:06] ensuring that we're meeting parents
[1:38:07] needs for those that choose that virtual
[1:38:10] option so continuing to navigate that in
[1:38:13] regard to what comes out of the special
[1:38:14] session we'll stay close to that as well
[1:38:17] seeing if there are topics specific to
[1:38:19] public education
[1:38:21] okay there's our list of upcoming
[1:38:27] meetings
[1:38:29] and
[1:38:30] brings us to
[1:38:32] a conversation about upcoming meetings
[1:38:38] um there is a possibility that i will be
[1:38:40] out of town for the next one so if i've
[1:38:41] asked mr bartlow already to step in in
[1:38:44] the event that that
[1:38:46] happens
[1:38:47] and we do have a board meeting on
[1:38:49] election day in november
[1:38:51] and we're gonna
[1:38:53] press on with that
[1:38:56] reschedule
[1:39:10] okay moving on to board remarks you
[1:39:12] don't don't want to make anybody choose
[1:39:14] [Laughter]
[1:39:17] uh can i just say how good it is to get
[1:39:19] teachers back
[1:39:20] yes back in a flow in rhythm i think
[1:39:22] it's been great to see all the the
[1:39:24] tweets and the posts and things of that
[1:39:25] nature of everybody getting back into it
[1:39:27] and i know everybody's excited for that
[1:39:28] so
[1:39:29] happy to see that finally come to
[1:39:31] fruition
[1:39:35] i thought we had left honoring
[1:39:37] excellence out of our meeting today was
[1:39:39] not on the agenda and then i realized
[1:39:42] that
[1:39:43] the
[1:39:44] parent speakers were at public comment
[1:39:46] were fine they were very good
[1:39:49] but they were excellent but but the
[1:39:51] students
[1:39:53] wow yeah wow
[1:39:55] thoughtful leaders
[1:39:58] passionate
[1:39:59] trying to articulate um
[1:40:01] very difficult topics i
[1:40:04] glad we had honoring excellence here
[1:40:06] even though it wasn't specifically
[1:40:07] listed on the agenda i agree with that
[1:40:11] i would also just like to um
[1:40:14] thank the city of liberty for
[1:40:16] offering their
[1:40:18] agreement on the excess cares funds um
[1:40:22] when i came on the board 10 years ago 10
[1:40:24] years ago
[1:40:25] we really embarked on
[1:40:26] forming a stronger partnership with the
[1:40:28] city not because i joined it just
[1:40:30] happened that was the timing
[1:40:33] and this is the fruit of that work for
[1:40:35] the last 10 years of really working on
[1:40:37] partnership so i'd just like to say
[1:40:39] thank you to them for that
[1:40:43] i'd like to add to all the teachers who
[1:40:44] have come back thank you for your
[1:40:46] flexibility
[1:40:47] i know that this is we've asked a lot
[1:40:50] of the teachers of the administrators
[1:40:54] um
[1:40:56] they are working their way through this
[1:40:58] i know this is not easy
[1:41:00] but they are being quite flexible
[1:41:03] and that is extremely appreciated i know
[1:41:06] parents appreciate
[1:41:08] the fact that those who have chosen to
[1:41:10] have their children come back to face to
[1:41:12] face
[1:41:12] will be getting to see their friends and
[1:41:14] their teachers
[1:41:16] so it is exciting to get back
[1:41:19] albeit
[1:41:20] it's a different school year
[1:41:22] so thank you for that brings us to 9.01 do we have a
[1:41:33] motion to adjourn
[1:41:35] move the board adjourn
[1:41:37] second
[1:41:39] you beat me to it
[1:41:42] yes scott yes david yes
[1:41:51] great we are adjourned thank you all
[1:42:03] [Music]
[1:42:33] you