[0:10] All

[0:14] right. Good evening. We are going to

[0:17] call this meeting of September 3rd, 2026

[0:20] of the Topeka Public School Board to

[0:22] order. The first item on our agenda this

[0:25] evening is a roll call.

[0:32] » Present.

[0:35] » Mrs. Schmidt,

[0:36] >> present.

[0:38] >> Dr. Schumacher.

[0:41] >> Mr. Tatum stated he will be a touch late

[0:45] so I will count him present. And Dr. Bon

[0:49] >> present.

[0:51] Thank you. All right. Next item on the

[0:54] agenda is item two, executive session.

[0:56] I'm looking for a motion.

[0:58] I move the board of education of USD501

[1:01] recess into executive session for 15

[1:04] minutes to discuss confidential

[1:05] personnel matters to protect the privacy

[1:07] of the individuals being discussed

[1:09] pursuant to the personnel exception of

[1:11] the Kansas open meetings act. The board

[1:14] will return to open session in the

[1:16] boardroom at 5:47 p.m. Superintendent

[1:19] and executive staff are invited into

[1:21] executive session

[1:24] >> and a second. Thank you, Dr. Schumacher.

[1:27] Any discussion? All right, we're ready

[1:29] for a vote. And the vote is open.

[1:45] All votes are in and the motion carries.

[1:49] >> All right, we are recess into executive

[1:51] session.

[17:15] I move the board of education of USD501

[17:18] Topeka public schools recess into

[17:20] executive session for 12 minutes to

[17:22] consult with the board's attorney on

[17:24] matters protected by the attorney client

[17:26] privilege to protect the board's

[17:27] position and potential litigation. The

[17:29] board will return to open session in the

[17:31] boardroom at 6:00 pm. The

[17:33] superintendent, executive staff, and

[17:35] board

[17:38] oh at

[17:41] will return to open session and board in

[17:43] the boardroom at 5:58 p.m. The

[17:45] superintendent, executive staff, and

[17:47] board attorney are invited into

[17:48] executive session.

[17:50] >> Second.

[17:51] >> Thank you, Dr. Schumacher. All in favor?

[17:53] >> I motion carries unanimous.

[17:58] I found it.

[18:25] Got it. Yeah, I got it. I'm sending it

[18:27] right now.

[18:29] email or email or

[18:32] you'll be able

[18:57] and

[18:58] Okay, I just sent it.

[19:15] [music]

[20:02] came through.

[20:10] That's beautiful. All

[20:26] right.

[21:25] Oh yeah.

[22:02] Why did you say every

[22:28] It's only one sign of public comment.

[22:33] public. I know

[22:35] >> one

[22:36] >> and then I know from separate I know

[22:38] separate for the other thing

[22:59] children.

[23:01] >> That's why

[23:07] I

[23:30] Actually,

[24:06] Okay.

[24:35] Yeah.

[24:43] and

[24:53] I can

[25:05] hold maybe over so I can go.

[25:10] » No, I'm working on the

[25:13] videos.

[25:17] Let's see what happens.

[25:25] » I'm not thinking

[25:48] Hello.

[26:05] Thank you,

[26:21] That would be the uh

[28:42] All right, it is 5:58. We are back from

[28:45] executive session. Next item on the

[28:47] agenda is item three, the pledge of

[28:49] allegiance.

[28:52] >> All right. And let's see, do we have any

[28:53] students? And no, we do not have

[28:55] students. We do have Kansas secure title

[28:58] for those that are listening. And they

[29:00] are here. Uh you'll learn a little bit

[29:01] later why they're here, but I'm going to

[29:03] do the pledge of allegiance with them.

[29:05] >> Start us on off.

[29:07] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[29:11] United States of America and to the

[29:14] republic for which it stands, one nation

[29:17] under God,

[29:19] >> indivisible with liberty and justice for

[29:22] all.

[29:23] >> Thank you, Kansas. Secure title friends,

[29:25] and you'll hear why they're here a

[29:26] little bit later.

[29:29] >> All right, the next item on the agenda

[29:31] is item four, adoption of the agenda.

[29:33] I'm looking for a motion.

[29:36] So moved and a second. Dr. Schumacher.

[29:40] Thank you. Any discussion?

[29:43] All right, we're ready for a vote.

[29:50] Is open.

[30:05] Dr. Brake. Do you want to vote by hand?

[30:07] Yay. Nay. Okay. Thank you.

[30:12] All votes are in and the motion carries

[30:14] unanimously.

[30:16] >> Thank you. Next item on the agenda is

[30:18] item five, public hearings. 5.1, the

[30:21] public hearing for exceeding the revenue

[30:23] neutral rate for the fiscal year 27

[30:26] budget.

[30:34] Good evening. On tonight's agenda, there

[30:36] are two public hearings which are

[30:38] required by Kansas law and school

[30:41] districts uh must abide by it. Item uh

[30:45] 5.1 is the public hearing uh on uh

[30:49] exceeding the revenue neutral rate uh

[30:52] for USD 501 for fiscal year 2027.

[30:56] Um, it requires the school board to hold

[31:00] the public hearing when exceeding the

[31:03] revenue neutral rate and USD501 has

[31:06] published the required notice and the

[31:09] public hearing on the uh USD501

[31:12] exceeding the revenue neutral rate uh is

[31:15] now open. At this time, if there are any

[31:18] members of the public who wish to

[31:20] comment uh make comments, provide

[31:23] comments to the board uh on the

[31:26] exceeding the revenue neutral rate, I

[31:28] would ask them to come forward uh and uh they can speak to the board and

[31:34] express their concerns um in the in the

[31:37] minutes allow.

[31:39] Anyone wishing to come forward?

[31:43] Okay. Uh if you will just one at a time

[31:46] uh please approach the podium, state

[31:49] your name and address uh and proceed

[31:51] with your comments.

[32:03] » Hello, I am Justin Gilbert.

[32:06] um live at 2777

[32:10] Southwest Pl Avenue in Topeka, Kansas.

[32:14] Um

[32:16] so we spoke last year and last year the

[32:21] board um raised

[32:25] taxes by roughly

[32:30] to $4.3 million. Is that right?

[32:36] This is the time to make comments and

[32:39] not necessarily question the board.

[32:41] >> Okay. Well, then I'll just then I'll

[32:43] just say so $4.3 million last year, $6.7

[32:47] million this year. You guys have a

[32:50] budget of $330 million.

[32:54] Um, with the increase this year, that's

[32:56] $6.7 million. That should put you very

[33:00] close to $350 million. That's over

[33:04] $20,000 per student. Now, inherently,

[33:08] um, when you say school funding,

[33:12] people get upset and think there's not

[33:14] enough money. However, $350 million

[33:19] means each student costs to um take to

[33:23] public school $2 about $58,000.

[33:28] So, if we're going to talk about

[33:30] housing, roughly $555

[33:35] per year per $100,000 of county

[33:38] appraised value, not purchase price,

[33:41] goes to Topeka 501 schools. Okay. If you

[33:46] raise if you put that into a rent,

[33:48] that's roughly $55 per month per rental

[33:52] property per house. It is a ton of

[33:56] money. So, does that mean school is

[34:00] public school is positive or negative?

[34:02] It doesn't mean any of that. But at the

[34:03] same time, if I'm buying a car that has

[34:07] a market value of $40,000, why would I

[34:10] spend $100,000 for it if it's just the

[34:13] intention of it is good? So, what you're

[34:16] asking the public here to do is to

[34:18] continue to pay for something at a rate

[34:20] that is far above what it should be. I

[34:23] think um as a whole I would give an

[34:26] opportunity to say that the other

[34:28] districts are fairly comparable to this.

[34:31] Shauny Heights is roughly 17,000 per

[34:33] student. Um Rash Maru, I'm not sure.

[34:36] Seaman's about $18,000 per student. 501

[34:40] last year had a special education budget

[34:44] nearing $50 million.

[34:47] And then you would divide that into the

[34:48] students. Also, if you add all these

[34:51] school districts together, you're

[34:52] spending by my estimates roughly a half

[34:56] billion dollars for public education in

[34:58] this county.

[35:00] Okay? Which is a it's not it's not even

[35:04] reasonable. And we're going to have

[35:06] three of us speak against it.

[35:09] And we know we can get a 100 people to

[35:11] be upset about a data center, which may

[35:14] help lower these taxes, which who knows

[35:17] if that's good or bad. I have no idea.

[35:19] But if you want to continue to spend

[35:22] $350 million per year,

[35:26] um

[35:27] you're going to have to figure out how

[35:29] to get that money or it's continue to

[35:31] raise the cost of living for your

[35:33] parents and your students. I'd like to

[35:36] give you one closing example that would

[35:39] be possibly be helpful, and this is a

[35:42] little bit more positive, think outside

[35:43] the box thing. Um,

[35:48] if you took the last two years, which is

[35:51] $11 million, and you figured out how to

[35:54] save that much money, and let's say you

[35:57] divided it between the students, which I

[35:59] think was 13,000 students roughly, um,

[36:02] that's like $775

[36:04] per student per year. And let's say you

[36:07] figure out a way through what everybody

[36:10] here could be good at at networking and

[36:13] doing things in the public and give that

[36:15] to the student each year. Maybe not give

[36:17] it to him, but put it into a savings

[36:19] account or mutual fund that gets 5 to

[36:22] 10% interest. By the time that person is

[36:25] 40, that product would be worth 150,

[36:30] let's say 90 on the low end to $300,000.

[36:33] and that's if they don't put another

[36:35] dime in it after they're 18.

[36:38] So, we have to figure out a way to lower

[36:42] the costs. And I know the big schools

[36:44] have been a pushover push for a while,

[36:47] but I think the funding would be a lot

[36:49] easier to control. My mom was a

[36:50] principal at a Hudson when it was open,

[36:52] and she had a staff of only 18 for that

[36:55] school, which is a total different um

[36:59] [snorts]

[37:00] total different setup from how we're

[37:02] doing school now. So this is nothing

[37:04] necessarily against 501 in particular.

[37:07] It's just the uh in general school,

[37:09] public school, public education is

[37:11] extremely high priced for what it is. I

[37:15] paid for 5 years my daughter left and

[37:19] went to speak collegiate and it was only

[37:21] $13,500

[37:22] per year which I thought was too much

[37:24] money but whatever. So and then she came

[37:27] back and graduated from Topeka West last

[37:29] year. A last comment about money. When

[37:32] she graduated,

[37:34] it was pushed very hard at Spa West that

[37:36] the students received $1.7 million in

[37:40] scholarships, which is which is good.

[37:43] However, by my math, and dig into it if

[37:46] you want, that graduating class cost the

[37:49] district

[37:51] $3.1 million to graduate that senior

[37:53] class. Just the senior class, not the

[37:55] entire TPA West. So, I move you to

[37:57] figure out a way this year,

[38:00] which should be a big test in the next

[38:02] 30 minutes, to lower that budget and not

[38:04] raise the taxes and for sure next year

[38:06] to get on that horse and lower this

[38:08] price so it's not costing your students

[38:10] and your students parents and their

[38:13] families money. Thank you.

[38:32] Good evening, Madame Chair Schmidt and

[38:34] the board members 501 district. My name

[38:36] is Katie Scarlet O'Hara Calcat. I live

[38:39] at 600 Northwest Valencia Road. Now, I

[38:42] don't currently live and vote in the 501

[38:45] school district, but my husband Jack and

[38:48] I own property here and therefore pay

[38:50] meaningful taxation without

[38:53] representation, except of course for

[38:56] tonight. So, I'm here to speak against

[38:59] increasing our taxes above the revenue

[39:02] neutral rate for tax year 2027. So,

[39:06] though I cannot vote, I am invested. I

[39:09] was born in Topeka. Dr. Bonereak, you

[39:12] signed my birth certificate. Thanks a

[39:15] lot for that. It's really good to see

[39:17] you again. [laughter] I'm also a proud

[39:21] graduate of 501 Quinton Heights just

[39:24] down the hill, Jardine Middle School. Go

[39:28] Trojans's Chapeka High 2003. I had a

[39:31] fantastic experience in 501. It helped

[39:34] me realize a dream that I had had since

[39:37] I was a 5-year-old girl of getting into

[39:40] the University of Notre Dame. 501

[39:43] prepared me for that. And I want 501 to

[39:48] help all the students here realize their

[39:51] dreams. I'm invested in the success of

[39:54] our public school students. I also was a

[39:57] public school teacher in inner city

[40:00] Baltimore and I have a master's degree

[40:02] in teaching from John's Hopkins. What I

[40:05] learned in Baltimore was that a dollar

[40:08] spent on administration and a dollar

[40:11] spent on teaching do not buy the same

[40:15] thing.

[40:17] Layers of administration absorb

[40:20] resources and honestly can slow things

[40:23] down. investment in teachers. However,

[40:26] their pay, their training, their time,

[40:28] their classroom size is the one thing

[40:32] with a real chance of moving success for

[40:36] our students. So, let's look at the

[40:38] 20-year record. I've left copies with

[40:40] the clerk. Adjusted for inflation,

[40:43] enrollment down 6%. Classroom teacher

[40:48] count down 11%.

[40:52] spending per pupil on instruction. So,

[40:54] the things that happen in the classroom

[40:57] down almost 4%. And yet, total spending

[41:01] per pupil is up 10%. And carryover cash

[41:06] is up by nearly half, $50 million.

[41:11] Fewer students, fewer teachers, less

[41:14] money in the classroom, more money in

[41:17] the bank. And the results, what is that

[41:20] getting us?

[41:21] On last year's state assessment, among

[41:23] low-income students in the district,

[41:25] which is most of our kids, only 26% of

[41:28] fourth graders are on track in reading

[41:30] and 10% of 10th grade graders are on

[41:32] track in math. 10%.

[41:37] That is what the current allocation is

[41:40] buying.

[41:42] More of the same at a higher mill rate.

[41:47] Ladies and gentlemen, that is not a

[41:49] plan.

[41:51] My own children are not in public

[41:53] schools. Some I teach at home, others

[41:55] attend career. That decision was not

[41:58] easy and it is not cheap and it was not

[42:01] made in hostility. It was a lack of

[42:04] confidence in what we are paying for. I

[42:07] pay taxes for the public schools full

[42:09] freight and then I pay for my children's

[42:11] education a second time. Believe me, I

[42:14] would like nothing better than to be won

[42:17] back by the system that I grew up in.

[42:22] That could start today if you

[42:24] acknowledge that more funding does not

[42:26] fix the problems here. have the courage

[42:30] to adopt a budget below last year's

[42:32] revenue and launch an effort to clean

[42:34] out administrative excess and invest in

[42:38] great teachers like Kristen Sigler,

[42:40] Sharon Frost, Dwayne Pomeroy, Janice

[42:42] Waldo, Steve Eubank, Brad Snyder, Debbie

[42:45] Martin. I could go on. These are the

[42:48] people who set me up for life success.

[42:51] and those and that is where you should

[42:54] be putting the many tax resources that

[42:57] are at your disposal if you want to earn

[43:00] back my trust and that of many others.

[43:04] Thank you for your time.

[43:21] Good evening, Madam Chair, members of

[43:23] the board. Uh, my name is Eric Adell. My

[43:25] address is 800 Southwest Grand Court.

[43:29] I'm a resident of the district and a

[43:30] homeowner.

[43:32] Um, I will admit I'm here tonight

[43:35] because of the sticker shock from the uh

[43:38] tax notice. Um, but I actually sat down

[43:41] and spent some time looking at what you

[43:43] all have done and I have to say um I was

[43:47] pleasantly surprised at uh the job that

[43:49] you've all done maintaining reasonable

[43:52] fiscal responsibility given uh you know

[43:55] all things considered over the past

[43:57] several years. Um but I am here tonight

[44:00] to oppose the revenue neutral rate uh

[44:02] but hopefully to do so in a

[44:04] collaborative spirit. Uh I hope these

[44:06] comments are constructive. Um, what I

[44:10] mean is that if as a taxpayer my only

[44:13] choices are accepting another major tax

[44:15] hike in 2027 and limiting revenue growth to zero, uh, I would

[44:22] choose revenue neutral. Um, so I'm here

[44:26] today to advocate for a balanced

[44:28] solution, one that fully supports

[44:30] schools while honoring our

[44:32] responsibility to local taxpayers. Uh

[44:34] you do have a bud a budget that you're

[44:36] going to consider, but the law provides

[44:38] you opportunity to make amendments to

[44:40] that budget. Um that budget asks our

[44:43] community to shoulder a $6.6 million

[44:46] increase in taxes levied for the

[44:48] district that include nearly 1 million

[44:50] more for capital outlay and 4.8 million

[44:54] more for the local option budget.

[44:57] We recognize that these costs are due to

[45:00] losses in revenue that have been used

[45:02] from other sources. um federal uh COVID

[45:05] relief funds for example and other

[45:07] sources uh from the state for example

[45:09] with the um the or the funding from the

[45:12] city for SRO officers

[45:15] um but a 28% increase in local option

[45:19] budget spending um is aggressive and at

[45:23] a time when household budgets are

[45:24] stretched to the limit may be too heavy

[45:26] of a lift. Like many of your taxpayers,

[45:29] I'm not opposed to reasonable growth.

[45:32] uh assessed valuations in the district

[45:34] grew by 4.9% this year.

[45:37] I believe tax increases should align

[45:39] with that growth rather than spiking

[45:41] local option spending. And fortunately,

[45:45] uh the district is in a strong financial

[45:47] position. According to financial

[45:50] statements, net cash investments, net

[45:52] cash and investments have grown 42%

[45:55] since 2021.

[45:57] Um

[45:58] this robust cushion gives you a unique

[46:00] opportunity. You don't have to choose

[46:02] between fully funding classrooms and

[46:04] protecting taxpayers.

[46:07] Instead of a tax hike, I would urge the

[46:09] board to cap revenue growth to match the

[46:11] growth in valuations and use a portion

[46:13] of our savings to bridge the gap.

[46:17] By utilizing these reserves, you can

[46:19] fully fund Topeka's schools while giving

[46:21] inflationweary families a muchneeded

[46:23] break on their tax bills.

[46:25] For a relatively small investment, you

[46:27] can provide a solution that hopefully

[46:29] everyone in this room can walk away

[46:30] feeling good about. Thank you.

[46:52] » Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My

[46:53] name is Alan Kegy. I live at 1501

[46:56] Southwest Pemroke Lane. I relocated here

[46:59] last summer from Southern California.

[47:01] So, all my five adult kids are still out

[47:03] there and my grandkids since I'm out

[47:05] there a lot, but I wanted a small

[47:08] Midwestern town to retire in. And I

[47:11] picked Topeka. I chose to live here. So,

[47:15] I don't know all the politics and I

[47:16] could care less about the politics. I

[47:18] care about our children's education,

[47:20] bottom line. And all of us as parents

[47:23] should brag about our kids. I will brag

[47:25] about my kids just for a second here.

[47:30] They all were homeschooled

[47:33] through 9th or 10th grade and then they

[47:36] went into the uh local high school in

[47:38] Southern California. We lived in a town

[47:40] called Rancho Cukamonga.

[47:43] And now they all either have a master's,

[47:46] a PhD or a JD. They're well educated.

[47:50] And I'm thinking, you know, there's a

[47:51] lot of well- educated people here.

[47:54] So, I'm thinking, why can't we find a

[47:57] solution that would make the public

[47:59] employees, the unions, and the residents

[48:02] happy? The district has a lot of

[48:05] resources financially as I'm hearing. I

[48:07] didn't know any of this information. I

[48:08] again, I don't know. I'm doing a little

[48:10] research. I'm getting to the bottom of

[48:12] some of these things and the way the the

[48:13] methodology of property taxes, that's

[48:15] broken. But that's another story that

[48:17] I'm researching on.

[48:20] Um, but the bottom line is you have

[48:23] valuable real estate and some of it's

[48:25] very underutilized from what I

[48:26] understand. Again, I'm at 37,000 foot

[48:29] level. I'm not digging down into

[48:31] individual schools and things like that.

[48:32] I know what they've done in I have a son

[48:34] who's a high school math teacher, got a

[48:36] masters in mathematics and um IT

[48:39] technology in the classroom and I know

[48:41] what his particular district does. They

[48:43] have some empty schools next to empty

[48:45] schools and they're coming up with all

[48:47] kinds of creative solutions

[48:50] to make everybody happy. We have three at least three entities. You know,

[48:54] we have there has to be some kind of a

[48:55] compromise is all I'm saying. Um,

[49:00] and with that I I I I think I'll just

[49:02] end. I'm I'm learning the community. I'm

[49:04] getting to know people here. I like

[49:06] living in Topeka. I don't think I can

[49:10] get any of my kids to move here, but at

[49:11] least dad's trying, right? Um, so with

[49:16] that, I want to thank everybody.

[49:18] Time's very valuable and um I appreciate

[49:21] everybody listening.

[49:26] » One hour to speak.

[49:30] » Going once, going twice.

[49:35] I officially close this public hearing

[49:38] on uh exceeding the revenue neutral rate

[49:42] for fiscal year 2027.

[49:44] Uh the the board will act on the revenue

[49:49] neutral rate later in the meeting uh at

[49:52] board agenda item 23.2.

[49:56] Having closed the revenue neutral rate

[49:59] hearing, I now open the hearing uh on

[50:04] the USD501

[50:06] uh budget uh for fiscal year 2027.

[50:12] The law requires the board of education

[50:14] to publish notice of the budget hearing

[50:16] prior to adopting the district's 2027

[50:20] fiscal year budget. Uh the statutory

[50:22] 10-day notice uh publication occurred on

[50:26] August 24th, 2026.

[50:29] Public hearing is now open and anyone

[50:32] wishing to make comments uh on the

[50:36] USD501's

[50:38] uh 2027 uh school district budget may

[50:41] now come forward.

[50:44] Anybody wanting to make comments?

[50:49] Going once. going twice.

[50:55] Seeing no one interested in making a

[50:58] comment, I officially close this public

[51:01] hearing uh on the USD501

[51:05] uh 2027 budget. Uh the board will

[51:08] consider action on the D district's

[51:11] budget later on uh under agenda item

[51:14] 23.4.

[51:17] Thank you all for your attention.

[51:22] All right, the next item on our agenda

[51:25] is item seven, school highlights.

[51:32] At this time, those individuals that

[51:34] were starting us off with the pledge,

[51:36] they will all come up. This long line of

[51:38] secure, we invite them to come up at

[51:41] this time. Every year we have the

[51:42] opportunity to uh celebrate the

[51:45] beginning of the school year and Kansas

[51:47] Secure Title had an amazing idea.

[51:50] They'll share a little bit about that,

[51:51] but as a result of their idea, you can't

[51:53] see it through with the cameras, but we

[51:55] have some of the backpacks and supplies,

[51:57] but they um uh collected backpacks and

[52:00] supplies um in a manner that it ensured

[52:04] every student that needed supplies or a

[52:06] backpack received them. So, our uh

[52:09] acknowledgement is this certificate that

[52:11] says Topeka Public Schools District

[52:13] recognizes Kansas Secure Title for your

[52:16] outstanding support and contribution to

[52:18] TPS school and students. Thank you so

[52:20] much for your

[52:22] >> Thank you.

[52:24] >> And we uh will turn it over to them to

[52:26] talk a little bit about the collection,

[52:28] what they did, how much they collected,

[52:30] but let's uh give them a warm thank you

[52:32] for their uh generosity.

[52:40] Good evening and thank you for having

[52:42] us. Um I first would like to introduce

[52:46] uh myself, Marcy Lindsay and Lori Ni

[52:49] House um with Kansas Secured Title and I

[52:52] will announce these other wonderful

[52:54] special guests in just a moment. Um I

[52:57] would like to first thank um Dr.

[53:00] Anderson and Dr. gray for um making sure

[53:04] that all of the students in 501 have the

[53:08] supplies that they need. Um this year is

[53:12] our seventh year for the school drive

[53:14] and we came together and collected 2447

[53:20] school items for the students. Um

[53:25] when I look at that number um I think

[53:28] about all the students

[53:30] walking into their school for their

[53:32] first day and having sorry

[53:37] um having the confidence being prepared

[53:40] and being able to learn without having

[53:44] to worry about not having the supplies

[53:46] that they need. Um, and it's also the

[53:48] parents that don't have to come up with

[53:52] those extra funds um, and be able for

[53:55] their children to learn and grow and um,

[53:58] be successful. Um, we're incredibly

[54:01] grateful to the real estate brokerages

[54:04] and lenders who supported the drive year

[54:06] after year. Um, it's become a team

[54:09] effort and we couldn't do it without

[54:11] them. Um each year we have a contest um

[54:15] between brokerages um and the brokerage

[54:18] with the f the most items um wins a g

[54:21] great little reward. Um this year we

[54:23] also um invited our mortgage lender

[54:26] teams um to join in that contest um

[54:30] which was a fun neat thing that we were

[54:33] doing. Um so I wanted to say let you

[54:37] know of all the brokerages that joined

[54:40] us this year. Colb Banker American Home,

[54:43] Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Stone

[54:45] and Story Real Estate Group, Genesis

[54:47] Realtors, Open Door Realy, Investor

[54:50] Credit Union, Community National Bank,

[54:53] Flat Branch Mortgage, and Fairway

[54:55] Mortgage.

[54:57] Um, so I'd like to give them a little

[54:58] round of applause, please.

[55:05] And then um this year it was very

[55:08] excited to um have the winners of those

[55:10] contests here today. Um, so Melanie

[55:14] Gordon with Stone and Story,

[55:18] Monica Glenn with Cobalt Maker American

[55:21] Home,

[55:24] Molly Meyer with Genesis Realy,

[55:28] and with uh our mortgage lenders this

[55:30] year, this is Terry Wright with Invista

[55:33] Credit Union.

[55:37] Um let me tell you [laughter]

[55:40] um

[55:42] these people most I will say um 90% of

[55:46] the supplies um that were received um

[55:50] were because of these fantastic people

[55:52] here. Um they headed up the um the

[55:57] contest. They made sure um getting money

[55:59] from people, making sure that those

[56:01] things happened and so the 501 community

[56:04] could um be able to have their supplies.

[56:08] Um I end um

[56:13] my favorite part of this whole program

[56:16] um was be able when the transportation

[56:18] department came to pick up the bus um

[56:22] and they were able to see it entirely

[56:25] filled. Um, and then that little phone

[56:27] call I got um from Dr. Gray um that he

[56:32] was just ecstatic um when they dropped

[56:34] it off. Um it's it's those things that

[56:37] just kind of make it all worth it. Um I

[56:40] want to thank you again for inviting us

[56:43] here and please give these lovely people

[56:46] another round of applause for helping.

[56:53] board may well have questions for you.

[56:56] >> Do we have questions and comments for

[56:58] our amazing team up there? Miss Bolley,

[57:05] » it just touched my heart to see your

[57:08] heart so touched and realizing the

[57:10] struggle for some of our students that

[57:13] can show up on the first day when

[57:15] everybody's emptying out their new

[57:17] supplies and they don't have any. and

[57:19] just

[57:21] your heart just really touched me. They

[57:24] said this year with inflation that it

[57:26] costs about $300 for a student to buy

[57:29] supplies and now I have three students I

[57:32] need to buy supplies for. You guys have

[57:35] just, you know, created such a huge

[57:40] ability for families to be able to spend

[57:43] that money in probably really more

[57:45] important areas than the supplies. And I

[57:48] just really want to thank all of you for

[57:50] being

[57:51] so touched by the need and reaching out

[57:55] and and making sure those kids showed up

[57:58] with those brand new crayons and those

[58:00] brand new markers. [laughter] We all

[58:03] remember those days when you got all of

[58:05] your stuff out and put in your desk and

[58:07] you created that gift for so many

[58:10] students this year in 501 and we just

[58:13] really really appreciate your dedication

[58:16] to the need of students in the Topeka

[58:19] area. Thank you so much.

[58:22] >> Thank you Sue. We appreciate you.

[58:25] >> Any other comments?

[58:28] All right.

[58:29] It is hard to follow that. I would I I I

[58:33] want to echo a lot of what Miss Bullley

[58:35] said um in another life. I was a

[58:37] communities and school site coordinator

[58:39] um at Ross Elementary and we do have a

[58:43] lot of our kids in our district that do

[58:45] have a great need and on the heels of a

[58:47] conversation, you know, where we're

[58:49] talking about tax increases and families

[58:53] feel that, you know, there's less money

[58:55] to have to stretch further and that is a

[58:58] huge um burden off of families knowing

[59:03] that that is there to help them And it

[59:06] is a big deal for kids as being the

[59:10] person in the room that the the kids

[59:12] would the principles would walk them up

[59:13] to me first thing and we'd let them pick

[59:15] out bags and and fill them up with

[59:17] everything they needed so that when they

[59:19] walked into the classroom they were like

[59:20] every other kid. And you know when

[59:23] you're that age that that's just what

[59:24] you want to be. You want to be like

[59:26] everybody else. And so your guys's hard

[59:28] work ensured that that happened for a

[59:30] lot of families. So thank you so so very

[59:33] much.

[59:34] >> Thank thank you. Thank these fantastic

[59:36] people.

[59:42] » Hang on for about five minutes. They're

[59:44] going to want to take a photo with the

[59:45] group if that's okay. So, thank you

[59:48] again.

[59:48] >> Thank you very much.

[59:54] » We also want to acknowledge Dylan.

[59:56] They're not here tonight. Uh but we will

[59:58] be delivering them their certificate. Uh

[1:00:00] they gave gift cards. Uh they had a new

[1:00:03] uh renovation. at the Dillan's on Gage.

[1:00:06] Uh and in that new renovation at the uh

[1:00:09] time of their event, they also gave food

[1:00:12] gift cards uh worth $150 for about two

[1:00:15] or three of those cards and then a a

[1:00:17] final card that was a $500 card, which

[1:00:20] we'll break that into smaller ones. Uh

[1:00:22] it's already allowed for us to deliver

[1:00:25] uh resources to individuals uh in need.

[1:00:28] Uh individuals planning um memorial

[1:00:30] services unexpectedly at this time of

[1:00:32] the year. and and just to help in some

[1:00:35] very unique ways. So, we just thank

[1:00:37] Dillan's for that and we will be

[1:00:39] delivering their certificate as well. Uh

[1:00:42] at this time, additionally, and I

[1:00:44] believe Dr. Gray, we have a proclamation

[1:00:46] this evening. Am I the proclamation is

[1:00:49] not this evening. I know you all looked

[1:00:51] at each other. I think that's seeing if

[1:00:53] you we're all listening. So, not a

[1:00:55] proclamation. I saw it in here. I

[1:00:57] believe those are all of our highlights

[1:00:58] unless Dr. Gray, did I miss anything

[1:01:00] else? All right. And then we'd love to

[1:01:02] take uh just a brief break to uh have an

[1:01:05] opportunity to have a picture with

[1:01:06] Kansas Secure Title. We'll be right

[1:01:09] back.

[1:01:32] I'm Teresa's husband.

[1:01:35] Nice.

[1:01:37] Are you Lori?

[1:01:39] >> I am.

[1:02:04] » Do you have everything?

[1:02:14] Thank you guys.

[1:02:17] >> I will do that.

[1:02:20] >> You're welcome.

[1:02:25] [laughter]

[1:02:55] All right. The next item we have on our

[1:02:57] agenda is public communications. I just

[1:03:00] wanted to clarify.

[1:03:02] Um Katie Scarlet, you had signed up to

[1:03:06] speak on public uh during public

[1:03:08] comment, but was it really revenue

[1:03:09] neutral?

[1:03:10] >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure. So the

[1:03:13] next item on our agenda then will be

[1:03:15] item nine, disposition of business by

[1:03:17] consent. And I am looking for a motion.

[1:03:21] I move the board approve the items of

[1:03:23] business by consent as presented and

[1:03:25] authorize the board president or

[1:03:27] superintendent to sign the special

[1:03:29] project and purchasing contracts for and

[1:03:31] on behalf of the board.

[1:03:33] Thank you. And a second, Dr. Bonere.

[1:03:36] Thank you. Any discussion?

[1:03:40] All right, seeing none, we're ready for

[1:03:42] a vote.

[1:03:54] All votes are in and the motion carries

[1:03:56] unanimously.

[1:03:59] >> All right. Next item on the agenda is

[1:04:01] item 21, superintendent report.

[1:04:04] >> All right. This evening, uh, we really

[1:04:06] are reserving much of our time for the,

[1:04:08] uh, TIFF conversation, facilities

[1:04:11] conversation, and all the other things

[1:04:12] that you need to get to, but we did talk

[1:04:15] about the Sherm Conference, the Society

[1:04:18] for Human Resource Management. We're

[1:04:20] going to pull up very briefly uh, a

[1:04:22] PowerPoint and Mr. will share a little

[1:04:24] bit about what Sherm is and later in the

[1:04:26] presentation, he has a bit to share

[1:04:28] about what he brought back. Miss Wallace

[1:04:30] does the same. Mr. Dick is not here

[1:04:32] because uh the Trojans and the Scots are

[1:04:36] uh both in um competition this evening.

[1:04:39] So uh but as we think about being

[1:04:42] custodians of culture, we're going to go

[1:04:44] to the very next slide. And at the Sherm

[1:04:47] conference, they had Simon's neck and

[1:04:49] Maxwell and HR professionals, uh

[1:04:52] business professionals, CEOs, a variety

[1:04:54] of individuals, but the focus was on

[1:04:57] building uh a culture of trust. Uh and

[1:05:01] with that trust and accountability, uh

[1:05:04] we want to remind our board of the goals

[1:05:06] that you set forth as those top three

[1:05:09] goals. So we went with those three goals

[1:05:11] in mind. Uh the individuals that uh

[1:05:14] attended included a representative from

[1:05:16] communications, that would be Dr. Gray,

[1:05:18] someone from teaching and learning,

[1:05:20] which was Miss Wallace, uh an individual

[1:05:22] from the school level to really

[1:05:24] represent uh buildings and uh we visited

[1:05:26] a school district as well and schools

[1:05:28] there. and then of course finance and

[1:05:30] operations and then a focus on district

[1:05:32] outcomes. Uh with those board goals

[1:05:35] being academic, mental health and

[1:05:37] assessment and demographics. The very

[1:05:39] next slide um that um we want to talk

[1:05:42] about are some of the changes after the

[1:05:44] conference. With those changes, I'll

[1:05:47] leave it to the individuals to talk a

[1:05:49] little bit about uh their areas,

[1:05:51] respective areas, but servant leadership

[1:05:53] and building trust uh led to a

[1:05:56] leadership retreat um this year. And

[1:05:58] that leadership retreat was also

[1:05:59] followed by a retreat with all of our

[1:06:02] administrators. In that leadership

[1:06:04] retreat, Mr. uh Tatum attended that. Uh

[1:06:07] we really focused on uh some of the data

[1:06:10] that we have around our school district.

[1:06:13] As a reminder, this year we have

[1:06:14] approximately 80% of our student

[1:06:18] families uh that are coming to us that

[1:06:21] uh could qualify for atrisisk services.

[1:06:24] And so that takes a lot of services to

[1:06:26] support students um social workers and

[1:06:28] counselors, teachers, and a variety of

[1:06:31] other services. So we're going to turn

[1:06:32] to that very next slide as we think

[1:06:34] about uh being custodians of culture and

[1:06:37] how to create a culture, a safe culture

[1:06:40] that provides the many wraparound

[1:06:42] services. Dr. Greg, I'll turn it over to

[1:06:44] you.

[1:06:45] >> Thank you so much, Dr. Anderson. Uh

[1:06:47] >> yes

[1:06:53] » again thank you so much Dr. Anderson

[1:06:55] first of all uh board of education I

[1:06:57] really enjoyed uh having an opportunity

[1:06:59] to go to the sherm conference uh much of

[1:07:02] the conference it was focused on AI but

[1:07:05] uh even as we uh speak tonight uh we all

[1:07:08] know that uh our theme here in Typical

[1:07:10] public schools is student first uh but

[1:07:13] also uh as we present tonight uh one of

[1:07:15] the things that uh one of the speakers

[1:07:17] and multiple speakers uh focused on was

[1:07:19] putting people first uh there's a quote

[1:07:21] here by Opel Winfrey here it says the

[1:07:23] chief people officer officers in these

[1:07:25] companies are the ones who actually get

[1:07:27] to determine what the human experience

[1:07:29] is going to be like. So, one of the

[1:07:32] things that they focused on in the

[1:07:33] conference, they talked about as we

[1:07:34] think about the future of our work and

[1:07:37] especially as we go into uh the the

[1:07:40] future of AI, one of the things that we

[1:07:42] cannot lose sight of is human resources.

[1:07:45] We know that in any school district,

[1:07:47] roughly about 80% of a budget is spent

[1:07:49] on human capital. So again it said that

[1:07:52] technology can make us faster. Data can

[1:07:55] help us make better decision. AI can

[1:07:57] make us more efficient. But none of this

[1:08:00] can uh none of this can replace the

[1:08:02] human experience because people still

[1:08:04] want to know do I matter? Um is my work

[1:08:07] valued? Does someone see what I'm what I

[1:08:10] bring to organization? And do I have an

[1:08:12] opportunity to grow? So again that was

[1:08:15] uh part of the focus as we uh were at

[1:08:18] the conference. But even as they went on

[1:08:20] when they talked about people being

[1:08:21] first, they said putting people first

[1:08:23] means creating a culture where people

[1:08:25] feel seen, heard, valued, supported and

[1:08:28] challenged to become better. Because

[1:08:30] when we invest in our people, our people

[1:08:32] are better positioned to invest in our

[1:08:34] students. So the question that they left

[1:08:36] us with was uh it says in today's

[1:08:39] leaders uh we should not just focus on

[1:08:42] the question how do we get the work done

[1:08:44] but the question which is a better

[1:08:46] question is what kind of experiences are

[1:08:48] we creating for the people that are

[1:08:50] actually doing the work. So with that um

[1:08:52] communication again we were very

[1:08:55] fortunate to be able to go to this

[1:08:56] conference. We did bring back some

[1:08:57] things. One of the things that you may

[1:08:59] have seen, I think some of you were at

[1:09:01] the new uh teacher orientation, uh we

[1:09:04] had um this thing called wall IO where

[1:09:07] people were able to take photos and

[1:09:08] capture in real time and be able to just

[1:09:11] celebrate the many things that were

[1:09:12] going on within that space. Uh also is

[1:09:15] that uh convocation uh people were able

[1:09:17] to come in, they were able to take

[1:09:19] photos and we were able to just uh rally

[1:09:21] around our staff and the great things

[1:09:23] that they're doing. Also, as you entered

[1:09:25] Bernett, you saw the Bernett wall of

[1:09:27] photos here where you were able to come

[1:09:29] in and see uh the various photos and

[1:09:32] identify who is actually on our staff.

[1:09:34] So, again, that's helpful. Um and then

[1:09:37] one other thing that I want to mention

[1:09:39] is that um that uh also at Bernett, one

[1:09:42] of the things that we do is that we

[1:09:44] ensure that new staff receive a proper

[1:09:46] orientation. So, whenever someone is new

[1:09:48] to new to uh Bernett, um we take the

[1:09:51] time to give them a tour of the

[1:09:52] building. again you got the wall that

[1:09:54] allows them to see who is actually in uh

[1:09:57] Bernett and again just sit down and just

[1:09:59] tell them you know about Topeka public

[1:10:01] schools. So again those were just some

[1:10:03] of the many things that uh we took from

[1:10:06] um our conference. Thank you.

[1:10:08] >> Dr. Gray focused on AI for the purpose

[1:10:10] of all of the folks from technology and

[1:10:13] uh data demographics the classrooms um

[1:10:17] as we have our own way of protecting our

[1:10:20] young people who are using AI. So he

[1:10:21] went to a lot of AI in addition to

[1:10:24] marketing communications. Um as your

[1:10:26] reminder, parent square has launched and

[1:10:29] next week will be our uh workshops and

[1:10:32] so that's also a piece from the

[1:10:34] conference when we talk about how do you

[1:10:35] help people navigate something and so

[1:10:38] they will be giving uh workshops

[1:10:40] throughout next week and throughout this

[1:10:42] month. Uh really tailoring the

[1:10:44] experience when you're using technology.

[1:10:46] Even the fact we picked parent square

[1:10:48] had a lot to do with thinking about how

[1:10:51] do we how do we serve people well in a

[1:10:53] way that provides transparency, builds

[1:10:56] trust, and creates a very um uh special

[1:11:00] experience uh for our families and

[1:11:02] students. Uh Miss Wallace, I will turn

[1:11:04] it over to you.

[1:11:05] >> Yes, thank you. So, one of the things we

[1:11:08] did when we were there was to visit a

[1:11:10] high school, a CTE high school. And I

[1:11:13] think one of the things that um struck

[1:11:14] us most about culture was that um when

[1:11:17] you walked in that building it told

[1:11:19] their story. So one of the things that

[1:11:22] we've brought back is how do we tell our

[1:11:25] story in Topeka public schools and how

[1:11:27] does each school tell their story when

[1:11:29] you walk in their building. So that's

[1:11:31] one of the things that we're working

[1:11:33] towards. Um also one was about that

[1:11:36] human capital piece and how we improve

[1:11:39] performance and accountability and how

[1:11:42] we focus and um create higher

[1:11:45] productivity and teamwork and

[1:11:46] collaboration. And so following that we

[1:11:50] had our principal retreat. It was

[1:11:52] actually a leadership retreat because we

[1:11:55] had a hundred leaders from our district,

[1:11:58] 80 um building leaders and then 20 uh

[1:12:02] leaders from the district office all

[1:12:04] participated in crucial conversations

[1:12:06] training um which really is about how we

[1:12:10] communicate with our staff to ensure

[1:12:13] accountability and efficiency and

[1:12:15] improve our leadership. Um and then to

[1:12:19] go along with that, our schools as our

[1:12:22] next uh focus for accreditation is on

[1:12:25] feedback which is connected and related

[1:12:27] to those crucial conversations and how

[1:12:29] staff are giving feedback or how our

[1:12:32] leaders are giving feedback to their

[1:12:34] staff and in turn we will shift and move

[1:12:37] to how uh teachers are giving feedback

[1:12:39] to students and their families. Um and

[1:12:42] so we we've done a lot of uh also cross

[1:12:47] department meetings. Um so finance and

[1:12:51] uh teaching and learning. We had some

[1:12:53] meetings and had worked out some um

[1:12:55] maybe hiccups that we've had around

[1:12:57] travel and different things in the past.

[1:12:59] And so really looking at how we um

[1:13:02] collaborate not just within our own

[1:13:05] departments but among our departments.

[1:13:10] central office norms. Uh you'll see

[1:13:12] posters around this building. Um we then

[1:13:15] held a central office retreat. So

[1:13:18] everyone in central office from all the

[1:13:20] departments came together at Quinton

[1:13:22] Heights and uh focused on um

[1:13:26] conversations within their own

[1:13:28] departments and then across departments

[1:13:30] uh to really identify the norms that we

[1:13:33] need to spend more time on in terms of

[1:13:36] working seamlessly uh in support of

[1:13:38] schools and students. So accountability

[1:13:40] the one that's highlighted and show

[1:13:42] respect to everyone. those are the areas

[1:13:45] they would like to have as our focus

[1:13:48] amongst all the norms. And when you

[1:13:50] wonder what does accountability mean to

[1:13:52] the folks that were in that space, uh

[1:13:54] the bulleted list below uh describes

[1:13:57] like the first one, honest, candid, and

[1:14:00] caring conversations um in in other

[1:14:02] areas. And so when you walked in today,

[1:14:05] you would have seen um uh a little u QR

[1:14:08] code that says, "What was your

[1:14:10] experience in this building like?"

[1:14:12] That's one of those examples of how do

[1:14:14] we um show respect to everyone and get

[1:14:17] feedback from other people. So the

[1:14:19] entire central office has been engaged

[1:14:21] in a way that we haven't done in the

[1:14:22] past. Even the cross departmental

[1:14:24] conversation between finance and

[1:14:26] teaching and learning that's a new

[1:14:28] piece. Um, the telling our story piece

[1:14:30] has been helpful in sharing how our

[1:14:33] decline in chronic absenteeism, how our

[1:14:36] MAP scores have increased, the awards

[1:14:38] that we received from the state, finding

[1:14:40] ways to tell that story um so that

[1:14:42] people know uh what those gains are as

[1:14:45] well as what the uh new things are that

[1:14:47] we're doing in Topeka. And we'll turn it

[1:14:49] over to Mr. Nerd. [clears throat]

[1:14:52] >> All right, see Simon Senkick up there.

[1:14:56] He was one of our keynote speakers and

[1:14:59] wonderful presentation from him. If

[1:15:01] you're not familiar with him or his

[1:15:02] books, really worth a read. U so getting

[1:15:05] to hear directly from him was really a

[1:15:07] highlight of the trip. Um Sherm or the

[1:15:10] Society for Human Resources Management

[1:15:12] is an organization that I have been

[1:15:15] attending events for on and off over the

[1:15:17] last 15 years uh before uh even stepping

[1:15:21] into my first role in education

[1:15:24] leadership. Um I attended events for um

[1:15:28] operations,

[1:15:30] payroll and human resources management

[1:15:32] before that. Um I hold a certification,

[1:15:35] the senior certified professional uh

[1:15:38] certification with Sherm which is their

[1:15:40] highest certification and attending the

[1:15:42] trip for me personally I was able to

[1:15:44] with a very busy schedule attending as

[1:15:46] much as I could uh contribute 34

[1:15:49] professional development points to my

[1:15:51] renewal um that I have to do every 3

[1:15:53] years. So that was really valuable for

[1:15:54] me personally. Um and though although

[1:15:57] SHERM is commonly viewed as a human

[1:16:00] resources conference, the 2026 program

[1:16:03] addressed many of the most significant

[1:16:05] challenges facing school districts. Uh

[1:16:08] facilities, finance, information

[1:16:10] technology, nutritional services are all

[1:16:13] workforce intensive functions uh whose

[1:16:16] effectiveness depends on strong

[1:16:18] supervision, employee accountability,

[1:16:21] succession planning, cross functional

[1:16:23] coordination, legal compliance,

[1:16:26] technology, and organizational culture.

[1:16:29] Uh Sherm 26 provided concentrated

[1:16:32] professional development in those areas

[1:16:34] that you really can't get anywhere else.

[1:16:36] um that many sessions in that quick of

[1:16:38] succession. So uh including uh frontline

[1:16:42] manager development, performance

[1:16:44] management, uh workplace investigations,

[1:16:47] safety and threat readiness, AI and

[1:16:49] cyber security worried about there were

[1:16:51] a lot of sessions on that topic. Uh

[1:16:55] workplace analytics, benefits and excuse

[1:16:58] me, benefits cost management was a

[1:17:00] really big one. Um I know that's

[1:17:01] something that we are getting hit with

[1:17:03] hard benefits increases. Um, and that

[1:17:06] was uh something I learned is it's not

[1:17:08] just affecting Kansas. It's not just

[1:17:10] affecting school districts. It's a

[1:17:11] nationwide issue, but there are groups

[1:17:14] that are working on ways to combat those

[1:17:17] uh with different u just tactics that we

[1:17:20] can use um and employ. So came back with

[1:17:23] some ideas around that. [clears throat]

[1:17:25] Uh so for operations leadership, the

[1:17:27] value was not limited to just HR

[1:17:30] procedures. Uh it really was gaining

[1:17:32] practical approaches for improving

[1:17:34] service delivery, reducing

[1:17:36] organizational and legal risk,

[1:17:39] strengthening leadership capacity, and

[1:17:42] connecting workforce decisions to

[1:17:44] financial and board priorities. So

[1:17:46] appreciate the opportunity to attend.

[1:17:49] >> It really concludes our presentation.

[1:17:51] That QR code takes you to our um mental

[1:17:53] health website, which we're adding

[1:17:55] pieces to from things that we gained

[1:17:56] from the SHM conference, that QR code.

[1:17:59] Um, but an investment in the well-being

[1:18:01] of others is an investment in the

[1:18:03] well-being um for others. And that's

[1:18:06] really what we left that with. How do we

[1:18:08] invest in people in a way that allows

[1:18:12] for us to continue to have um positive

[1:18:15] outcomes and um and for them to know

[1:18:19] that uh when they're selecting a

[1:18:21] district uh our retention our

[1:18:23] recruitment but our retention rates

[1:18:25] continue to increase as a result of the

[1:18:28] services that we provide not only our

[1:18:30] students but our staff. We're going to

[1:18:32] conclude with that, but open this up if

[1:18:34] the board has any burning questions um

[1:18:37] for us regarding Sherm. Uh again, we

[1:18:40] know you have other items on here, but

[1:18:42] we wanted to make sure that you got a

[1:18:45] feel of of our entire experience. Any

[1:18:47] questions for us?

[1:18:49] >> Any questions for the leadership team

[1:18:50] that attended SHERM?

[1:18:54] » Thank you.

[1:18:56] All right. Then moving on, we will move

[1:18:58] to agenda item 22, which is discussion

[1:19:01] items. The first of two items is 22.1

[1:19:05] tax incremental financing and the effect

[1:19:08] on the district's financials.

[1:19:16] » Good evening, board. Uh I'm going to

[1:19:19] have Mr. Buucy join me as well. Uh this

[1:19:22] topic has been of particular to the

[1:19:24] board for some time. Since I've been

[1:19:25] with district, it's been conversation

[1:19:26] about how's it affecting the district's

[1:19:28] budget. What does the notification

[1:19:30] process look like when the city or

[1:19:32] county is proposing one of these uh

[1:19:35] types of financing or uh rebates in

[1:19:39] property tax for a developer? And

[1:19:43] ultimately, what should the board's

[1:19:44] position be or what are your options

[1:19:46] available to the board when those come

[1:19:49] across the desk? Uh so Mr. Buucy in

[1:19:52] conversation with him, he's addressed

[1:19:54] this before with the finance committee.

[1:19:56] So there is a handout on the table up

[1:19:58] there for you. Just says tax increment

[1:20:00] financing right at the top. If you want

[1:20:02] to find that one and follow along with

[1:20:03] him, he'll discuss that. Uh this is the

[1:20:06] same handout that was uh again discussed

[1:20:08] with the finance committee it looks like

[1:20:10] back in January. Um so he's got a few

[1:20:14] points on there. And then I learned that

[1:20:16] Mr. Buucy is also uh when he was in his

[1:20:19] graduate program did a a full study and

[1:20:23] paper on tax increment financing

[1:20:25] districts. So he knows this topic really

[1:20:28] well and will help walk us through um

[1:20:30] these items. Thank you, Mr. Pusy.

[1:20:34] >> Yeah, thank you. Um had a professor

[1:20:36] that's was trying to help me pick a

[1:20:38] topic and she said, "Why don't you write

[1:20:39] about TIFFs?" And I said, "I don't know

[1:20:40] what a TIFF is." And she said, "You

[1:20:41] will."

[1:20:43] And I do. Um, no. I'm here. Um, we can walk through anything. I can

[1:20:48] explain the basics of a TIFF. You tell

[1:20:50] me uh where you'd like to go with this.

[1:20:53] is your discussion topic. So, I'm happy I'm happy to explain it at a

[1:20:58] high level. Um,

[1:21:00] >> okay. So, um, tiffs and and as we talk

[1:21:05] about um um abated or rebaited property

[1:21:09] taxes, so these are taxes that are

[1:21:11] levied by the district. they show up in

[1:21:13] our budget um but we do not collect

[1:21:15] them. They are diverted to um economic

[1:21:18] development projects. Right? So um I

[1:21:21] know we've talked about TIFFs a lot but

[1:21:22] I do want to make it clear that TIFFs is

[1:21:24] just one component. Um and they make it

[1:21:26] really simple. So there's TIFFs, IRBs,

[1:21:29] NAS, EDXs, there there's uh industrial

[1:21:32] revenue bonds, those are IRBs. Um

[1:21:35] there's neighborhood revitalization act

[1:21:37] rebates.

[1:21:38] >> Excuse me, Mr. Buucy. Would you be able

[1:21:40] to put words to those acronyms?

[1:21:42] >> Yeah, that's what I'm doing. I I was

[1:21:44] being sarcastic. I'm sorry. Like, um,

[1:21:46] there they don't make it they don't make

[1:21:48] it easy. They're Yeah. So, so tax

[1:21:50] increment financing is your tiffs. Um,

[1:21:53] there's IRBs, Industrial Revenue Bonds,

[1:21:56] uh, neighborhood revitalization act

[1:21:58] rebates, and then there's just economic

[1:22:00] development exemptions. They call those

[1:22:02] EDXs. These all make up um the the

[1:22:06] amount that is either abated or rebated

[1:22:08] that we do not receive. Um I've got a

[1:22:11] figure here from our last audit. Um that

[1:22:13] amount was in excess of $1.4 million. So

[1:22:16] it's not you know it's not a small sunk

[1:22:18] chunk of change. Um but because your

[1:22:20] topic here was tiffs directly. So, um, a

[1:22:24] tiff in in the most basic form, we all

[1:22:26] know that that, um, property taxes are

[1:22:29] going up, you know, about 3% every year,

[1:22:32] right, on average. Um, what a tiff does

[1:22:34] is they go into a blighted area. Um, and

[1:22:37] they say, you know, but they they

[1:22:39] there's the the but for test. So, uh, or

[1:22:43] but not. So, but not if if we don't

[1:22:45] enact this tiff, then we're not going to

[1:22:47] be able to rebuild this blighted area.

[1:22:49] Okay. So they take the property taxes

[1:22:52] and they freeze them for the purpose of

[1:22:54] calculating property tax. So even though

[1:22:57] we know in the real world as they're

[1:22:59] developing these properties, it's still

[1:23:01] going up, right? Even if they didn't

[1:23:02] develop it, um normal property appraisal

[1:23:04] values are going to go up, they take

[1:23:06] that they take that sliver off the top

[1:23:09] from where that staircase is climbing

[1:23:10] and that's what's used to fund the the

[1:23:13] debt that they that they take out for

[1:23:15] the project. So they are funding it with

[1:23:17] the excess property taxes. We still

[1:23:19] receive property taxes on that frozen

[1:23:22] value, but it does it does lock that in

[1:23:26] and we do not get the the incremental,

[1:23:29] you know, because they're they're incrementally financing this um

[1:23:33] with with with tax dollars that would

[1:23:35] normally go to places like us. And and

[1:23:38] you know, if you look at your property

[1:23:39] tax statement, you've got the the MTAA,

[1:23:42] um you've got Shaunie County, the state

[1:23:44] of Kansas, you know, anybody that that's

[1:23:45] got a levy out there is is um going to

[1:23:48] see the same thing. We just happen to

[1:23:50] have a lot of um we've [clears throat]

[1:23:53] got a lot of properties. Um I know our Neighborhood Revitalization Act

[1:23:58] properties, there's 167 um parcels that

[1:24:01] make up that. So, anytime um one of

[1:24:03] those is handed out um that's just less dollars that make it into our

[1:24:08] schools um I know we've talked openly.

[1:24:11] It is unfortunate that that we have to

[1:24:14] show that in our mill levy. Um I know

[1:24:16] we've discussed that it it seems as

[1:24:18] though and you know we've discussed you

[1:24:20] know the legislative aspect. I know Mr.

[1:24:22] Edwards is here but um it just doesn't

[1:24:25] seem fair in that aspect. you know, it'd

[1:24:27] be nice if these places had to show, you

[1:24:29] know, even if it was a half a mill or

[1:24:30] something, whatever it's truly going to

[1:24:31] take to fund their districts. So, that's

[1:24:35] really what a tiff is at the base. And

[1:24:37] then, you know, they're using this the

[1:24:39] these funds as they grow. They're taking

[1:24:41] that that they're skimming the top

[1:24:43] basically and they're going to they're

[1:24:44] going to rebuild the area and it's going

[1:24:46] to be done within 10 years, right? Then

[1:24:48] it's done. No, that that uh

[1:24:50] unfortunately doesn't happen. and they often come back and we'll just keep

[1:24:54] extending those um and that seems to be

[1:24:57] less of a hurdle to to cross too. So I

[1:25:00] think a lot of those and then they

[1:25:01] really they do drag out for a while. So

[1:25:04] I will leave it with you all for

[1:25:07] questions

[1:25:08] >> and madame president in light of uh any

[1:25:11] comments this evening uh that were made

[1:25:13] prior to Mr. Buucy uh if there's

[1:25:15] anything that you may want him to

[1:25:16] elaborate on after as you all have this

[1:25:18] conversation related to budget and what

[1:25:21] reality is in typical public schools for

[1:25:23] the purpose of education. Uh I'll turn

[1:25:26] that back over to you if you uh direct

[1:25:28] him to do that even as it relates to

[1:25:29] TIFF or the budget related matters.

[1:25:32] Okay. Um, you know, I remember when the

[1:25:35] first time one of these landed on our

[1:25:37] agenda and Sue was very passionate about

[1:25:40] it and, you know, I just kind of

[1:25:42] understood a sliver of what it was about

[1:25:45] and then I landed a role in the clerk's

[1:25:47] office and these things come across my

[1:25:49] desk all the time sitting at the county

[1:25:51] and um, you really start as we have to

[1:25:56] um, handle those applications and look

[1:25:58] at that every day. Then I'm looking at

[1:26:01] it with a different lens. Um I'll use an

[1:26:04] example of um some properties that went

[1:26:08] to the tax sale recently. Um they were

[1:26:11] purchased 52 lots were purchased by a

[1:26:14] developer in town. This is not our

[1:26:16] school district, but I did call their

[1:26:18] board president and say, "Hey, I don't

[1:26:20] know if you're paying attention, but um

[1:26:22] the 52 properties are houses that they

[1:26:25] want to build $350,000

[1:26:27] plus homes on, and they want to be

[1:26:31] granted an exemption for 20 years, I

[1:26:34] believe." So, I called that district

[1:26:37] that would be affected and said, "Hey,

[1:26:39] this is something you guys need to be

[1:26:41] looking at." I know when I first sat on

[1:26:43] the board, we had one and then as we

[1:26:46] started getting others, Sue and some

[1:26:48] others started what what's our process

[1:26:50] for this? You know, because the the

[1:26:52] thing is we have the ability to pull a

[1:26:54] veto card and say, "Nope, we're not

[1:26:57] going to do it because it impacts our

[1:26:59] budget too much." A lot of times on

[1:27:01] vacant properties, there's not a lot of

[1:27:02] impact. But in that example that I just

[1:27:05] gave, $350,000 homes at the rate of

[1:27:08] inflation over 20 years, that's a lot of

[1:27:12] money that that school district is going

[1:27:13] to lose out on. Yeah. They will not get

[1:27:16] for 20 years if you know. So I I I just

[1:27:20] called that board president said, you

[1:27:22] know, we're trying to create kind of a

[1:27:24] process that when we get these that our

[1:27:26] leadership team will look through and

[1:27:27] present them and make recommendations.

[1:27:29] So I don't know if you guys have that or

[1:27:31] not. and they they weren't aware of

[1:27:32] anything yet. So, that's kind of where

[1:27:35] this conversation started. Um Sue had

[1:27:38] more knowledge than I did and you know,

[1:27:40] I've gained more in the last few years

[1:27:43] and but but you brought it up again and

[1:27:45] said, "Hey, you know, it's something we

[1:27:47] need to talk about. We were really

[1:27:48] trying to kind of identify a process. We

[1:27:50] know that when we get them, they're

[1:27:52] immediately shared out to us by our

[1:27:54] board clerk." And so I think we're just

[1:27:56] kind of trying to figure out what do we

[1:27:58] want our process to be going forward.

[1:28:01] And I know that there were some

[1:28:02] conversations we originally had uh with

[1:28:05] Mr. Edwards um when LR was still here.

[1:28:07] He was involved in those. I think Chief

[1:28:09] Cochran was in there trying to get the

[1:28:11] city and maybe some of those people who

[1:28:14] are encouraging these applications to

[1:28:16] involve us earlier on because here's the

[1:28:19] thing, the developers are still going to

[1:28:21] develop. Just because we pull the veto

[1:28:24] card does it that just means we're not

[1:28:26] going to let them do it that way. Yeah.

[1:28:28] And I mean there are opportunities for

[1:28:30] them to make arrangements and say hey

[1:28:33] we'll pay this in lie of taxes for this

[1:28:35] many years or we'll pay this percentage.

[1:28:38] And so I think we've really just been

[1:28:40] trying to create a process so that when

[1:28:42] one of those comes in that we feel like

[1:28:44] might negatively affect our district

[1:28:47] that we can walk through those steps.

[1:28:49] And so that that's kind of the long and

[1:28:52] short of how we got here and got this

[1:28:54] back on the agenda. Um is because we had

[1:28:57] some of those initial conversations and

[1:28:58] then Miss Bullley's just like, "Hey, I

[1:29:00] want to bubble this back up because we

[1:29:02] met a few times and then it it feels

[1:29:04] like it kind of died down a little bit."

[1:29:06] So Miss Bolie, do you have any more you

[1:29:08] want to add? I'm wondering how far have

[1:29:11] we uh gotten to sit on any of the early

[1:29:16] panels with the city.

[1:29:20] >> So, a little history on that. So,

[1:29:22] shortly after I began with the district,

[1:29:24] I met with the city manager and mayor on

[1:29:28] this topic. Um that kind of kicked off

[1:29:30] some further discussion. Um since that

[1:29:33] time, we had another Zoom meeting that

[1:29:35] included, I believe, two board members

[1:29:37] on that. uh maybe three, okay, with uh

[1:29:40] the deputy city manager and some of the

[1:29:44] economic development department staff.

[1:29:46] Uh so it took us a little bit of time to

[1:29:49] learn more about their process. What we

[1:29:51] learned is that it it's a very long one

[1:29:55] and it's also that they're getting hit

[1:29:57] with requests just constantly now. So

[1:30:00] once this kind of got started, um then

[1:30:02] you get to where every developer that

[1:30:04] comes wants their share, right? because

[1:30:07] they're seeing so many others approved.

[1:30:09] Uh what we've been able to uh they took

[1:30:13] us through a very long flowchart. I

[1:30:15] won't show you that today, but I can

[1:30:17] certainly send it out to you of what the

[1:30:19] process looks like from the initial

[1:30:20] application through to approval by the

[1:30:23] other taxing entities like us. Uh which

[1:30:26] is pretty far towards the end of that

[1:30:28] process. What we've asked them is please

[1:30:31] include us earlier on so that we know

[1:30:34] that it's coming so that we can have

[1:30:35] some input into

[1:30:38] whether or not this is something that we

[1:30:40] would our board would approve. It's not

[1:30:42] my decision. It is the seven of you um

[1:30:45] and better understand what the effect is

[1:30:48] on our financials. So, the truth is that

[1:30:50] with some of these districts, we

[1:30:51] benefit. We may benefit by having more

[1:30:55] families and therefore more students uh

[1:30:57] come in and increase enrollment. And

[1:30:59] we're funded primarily based on

[1:31:01] enrollment.

[1:31:03] In some cases, these will hurt our

[1:31:06] finances because they don't increase

[1:31:08] enrollment and would lower property tax

[1:31:10] collection. So, you really have to look

[1:31:12] at the unique circumstances of the

[1:31:14] individual item that's coming before us.

[1:31:17] Um what they committed to after that

[1:31:20] last meeting that we had with the large

[1:31:22] group was that they were going to create

[1:31:24] a spot for us early on in their very

[1:31:27] long flowchart where they sent notice to

[1:31:30] us as ones hit that step. Now,

[1:31:32] [clears throat] I know that they told us

[1:31:35] at that time that there were a few that

[1:31:37] were already beyond that step that were

[1:31:39] in the hopper they referred to um that I

[1:31:43] believe are the ones that we've seen

[1:31:44] come through just most recently now. Um,

[1:31:47] so I did not expect to get that early

[1:31:50] notice necessarily on those because they

[1:31:52] told us that they were already past that

[1:31:54] review stage, but I do expect that

[1:31:57] they'll make good on that commitment

[1:31:58] going forward that new applications that

[1:32:00] they get will be um discussed with us in

[1:32:04] advance um sent to us by the economic

[1:32:07] development director from the city

[1:32:08] first. Um so I'm trusting that that's

[1:32:11] happening. Now I cannot verify that

[1:32:13] there's not one that's missed that step

[1:32:15] right now. We're going to find out if we

[1:32:17] get another one that wasn't already in

[1:32:19] the hopper. Right. So,

[1:32:20] >> quick question. Do you know is that

[1:32:23] notification before I would assume it's

[1:32:25] after they send it to the state to get

[1:32:27] approval?

[1:32:28] >> I'm not clear on that, but I can find

[1:32:30] out.

[1:32:30] >> Okay. Yeah, I asked you to share the

[1:32:32] flowchart with me and via email, but um

[1:32:35] cuz that that developer Well, we won't

[1:32:37] get notification on that one because

[1:32:38] that's not our district. So, I was just

[1:32:40] trying to figure I'm trying to think of

[1:32:42] what I've seen on my desk. I don't think

[1:32:44] I've seen anything that affects us up

[1:32:47] and coming yet because I just kind of

[1:32:48] want to make sure they loop us in.

[1:32:50] >> Yeah, I I do get the gist after several

[1:32:54] of those conversations that it's just

[1:32:55] become kind of common business practice.

[1:32:58] It just sort of slipped people's minds

[1:33:00] that there is an effect downstream on

[1:33:03] these other taxing entities and their

[1:33:06] response was I believe um very um open

[1:33:10] to being more collaborative about it. So

[1:33:14] um ultimately the law allows them to go

[1:33:18] through this process and for them to

[1:33:19] approve it. They don't have to include

[1:33:21] us but we also or the board does have

[1:33:25] the ability to veto. So that's um that

[1:33:28] collaboration is implied because of

[1:33:31] that.

[1:33:34] So,

[1:33:36] since I've gotten concerned about the

[1:33:38] TIFF, we've gone through two city

[1:33:41] managers,

[1:33:42] two city planners.

[1:33:45] And so we really need to have an

[1:33:48] absolute seat at that, as far as I'm

[1:33:52] concerned, a seat at that decision

[1:33:54] making because leadership changes so

[1:33:57] much and we just get buried again and

[1:34:00] then they start moving forward again

[1:34:02] without any of our knowledge.

[1:34:06] And so I really think that somehow we

[1:34:09] need to say we want a seat or we're

[1:34:12] going to start veto v vetoing these

[1:34:16] because it's affecting our budget so

[1:34:18] much. I mean, we're talking about t uh

[1:34:23] property t taxes to keep us moving

[1:34:26] forward when we are losing money like

[1:34:29] crazy to these developers that

[1:34:34] I'm sure can afford to do it without our

[1:34:36] tiffs.

[1:34:38] I just think we really need to press the

[1:34:40] city and say we want to be a part of

[1:34:43] this

[1:34:45] an official seat at the table because it

[1:34:49] changes so much. Leadership changes so

[1:34:51] much we get cast aside again and we are

[1:34:55] at a point where there are so many in

[1:34:58] the city of Topeka and more coming all

[1:35:00] the time whether they're approved or

[1:35:03] not. We need to have a seat there

[1:35:05] because they are affecting our district

[1:35:09] more so than the county for sure.

[1:35:12] They're affecting our district strongly.

[1:35:15] I just think we really need to be

[1:35:17] pressing forward with them to do that.

[1:35:21] Remember

[1:35:24] when the neighborhood revitalization

[1:35:28] financed the Meninger clock tower to a

[1:35:30] half a million dollars and it came out

[1:35:32] of our budget,

[1:35:34] but we didn't get a chance to deny or

[1:35:37] anything. So a seat at the table does it

[1:35:40] really mean anything? I just we don't

[1:35:44] seem to get a say. money is allocated to

[1:35:47] us, gets credited to us, but it doesn't

[1:35:50] get distributed.

[1:35:52] That ain't right.

[1:35:56] » We don't mean to be leaning so hard on

[1:35:58] you. We just [laughter]

[1:36:00] >> No, I there's no way. just we just need

[1:36:02] to have a seat at the table or in my

[1:36:05] opinion we just start ve vetoing these

[1:36:09] until we get their attention

[1:36:11] and that's not going to create really

[1:36:14] good relationships with our city but if

[1:36:17] they don't take us seriously and give us

[1:36:19] an opportunity to say why is this going

[1:36:21] to benefit us we're going to move

[1:36:24] forward with it with you but if it's not

[1:36:27] going to benefit us we got to start

[1:36:30] drawing the line as far as I'm

[1:36:32] concerned.

[1:36:32] >> And I think that's what you know the the

[1:36:34] idea of getting the group together and

[1:36:37] discussing and outlining what we want

[1:36:39] that process to look like because we

[1:36:41] know that we only have 30 days once

[1:36:44] we're issued that. And with so many of

[1:36:46] us being new, you know, in the last term

[1:36:48] or two, we we weren't really familiar

[1:36:51] with what that process was. And so, you

[1:36:54] know, like I said, now um the clerk does

[1:36:56] email those out right away and then

[1:36:59] notice is placed on the next board

[1:37:00] agenda. I think we do have to be

[1:37:03] strategic though about what we choose to

[1:37:06] red card and what we don't because we do

[1:37:09] need to have a collaborative working

[1:37:11] relationship with these groups.

[1:37:14] >> But they need to have it with us as

[1:37:15] well.

[1:37:16] >> Correct. Correct. But we'll lead by

[1:37:17] example, right? and um

[1:37:21] this process of of reaching out to them

[1:37:24] with an olive branch and saying, "Hey,

[1:37:26] we think you're kind of for forgetting

[1:37:27] us down here." Um you know, there will

[1:37:30] be some that just don't affect us.

[1:37:32] Property that's vacant that's not going

[1:37:33] to bring, you know, that's that's not

[1:37:35] going to be anything. But like the the

[1:37:37] watert

[1:37:38] um the multifamily housing there um

[1:37:40] right down the street from Williams,

[1:37:44] um you know, that's bringing a lot of

[1:37:45] families to our district. And so so

[1:37:48] we've got to look and see and and this

[1:37:51] is just the first steps of that.

[1:37:53] Correct. Mr. Buucy.

[1:37:56] >> Yeah.

[1:37:57] >> Mr. Tatum,

[1:37:58] >> this was your Oh, I'm so sorry.

[1:38:00] >> Please finish. M

[1:38:02] >> this was your

[1:38:05] study in school. What are your

[1:38:07] suggestions that we should do?

[1:38:09] All I can say is that I didn't find any

[1:38:12] correlation with um with tiff districts

[1:38:16] and um the end results which was to

[1:38:19] ultimately you know increase taxity for

[1:38:22] everyone. But um it's hard to hold

[1:38:24] everything else steady because in in the

[1:38:26] real world that doesn't happen. You know

[1:38:28] they they might um revitalize a district

[1:38:31] and then yes uh property taxes do go up

[1:38:35] in that area but then it's all because

[1:38:36] they move from the next street over. I

[1:38:38] mean, that happens, too. So, um, but I I

[1:38:42] mean, I'm happy to Yeah, we're happy to to uh sit in on anything that we can.

[1:38:47] I know we all went to the the group of

[1:38:49] us went to the Jedo meeting. Um, and I

[1:38:51] think that was good um for them to see

[1:38:53] our faces. And so,

[1:38:56] >> so I uh I think Mrs. Boly is absolutely

[1:39:02] spot on when she expresses the concern

[1:39:05] about um leadership turning over at the

[1:39:09] city at the city level. Um

[1:39:13] what we don't what what we want to do is ensure that there's some sort of a

[1:39:18] continuity that when

[1:39:21] people are leaving the processes are

[1:39:23] already in place so that whoever

[1:39:26] stepping into those roles realizes oh we

[1:39:29] have a responsibility to reach out to

[1:39:31] USD501 and let them know because this

[1:39:33] could potentially impact them. Um, I'm

[1:39:36] just thinking about ways of of how we

[1:39:39] can help to to facilitate that process.

[1:39:43] And I think one of the ways, one of the the strongest connections, we've

[1:39:48] already started doing it in in in the

[1:39:49] meeting that Mr. Isert is is referring

[1:39:52] to in which there were several of us

[1:39:53] that met with um the uh uh deputy city

[1:39:57] manager and the economic development

[1:40:00] director. Um, I think those kinds of

[1:40:03] relationship building effort,

[1:40:05] particularly with other elected

[1:40:07] officials on the city council, and I I

[1:40:09] have a good relationship with the the

[1:40:11] mayor and the the city manager also, but

[1:40:14] I I think um one of the ways th this is

[1:40:18] a new process. It feels like this is

[1:40:20] fairly new. We're trying to wrap our

[1:40:22] arms around what's the best way that we

[1:40:24] can kind of navigate through this and create some solid uh uh expectations

[1:40:30] and parameters um not just for for us

[1:40:33] but for them in how this should occur.

[1:40:36] Um I think I think one of the ways that we might be able to make some

[1:40:41] forward progress here is through um

[1:40:44] relationship building with with the

[1:40:46] other elected officials at the city

[1:40:48] level. Um, that's just my my suggestion

[1:40:52] that just comes to mind right away, but

[1:40:55] I think it's it's something that the

[1:40:56] seven of us really should should think

[1:40:58] about,

[1:41:01] you know, and you know, the other thing

[1:41:02] that we always talk about here are is

[1:41:04] the data to show that what we're doing

[1:41:06] is is effective, right? And so pressing

[1:41:08] beyond making sure that we work on

[1:41:10] relationships, asking these tiffs, I

[1:41:13] imagine we're told will help us in XYZ,

[1:41:17] right? here's what we we're we're hoping

[1:41:19] to get out of it, but what is the data

[1:41:21] that go uh is there to be able to sort

[1:41:23] of demonstrate the effectiveness of some

[1:41:25] of these tools? And so asking for that,

[1:41:27] I think, would be another great way to

[1:41:28] be able to help us lend some data to to

[1:41:31] decisions that we're making as we

[1:41:32] consider some of these these in the

[1:41:34] future.

[1:41:37] Yeah, I think that was one of the things

[1:41:39] we talked about when we first met. you

[1:41:42] know, if there was a way that we could

[1:41:44] identify or create a formula that says,

[1:41:46] you know, if it's if it's not going to

[1:41:47] negatively impact us, if it, you know,

[1:41:49] falls below this line, then, you know,

[1:41:52] we can be given that information from

[1:41:54] the leadership team as they evaluate

[1:41:56] these as they come through and that'll

[1:41:58] help inform our decision. And then in

[1:42:01] turn, they can say, oh, you know, this

[1:42:03] is might be how this impact. And then

[1:42:06] that would be maybe a bigger or larger

[1:42:08] conversation that we have at a meeting

[1:42:10] so that we know and decide you know to

[1:42:13] take action or not take action.

[1:42:15] >> Is that a conversation that would

[1:42:19] be had initially in finance committee do

[1:42:23] you think or is there another committee?

[1:42:25] Well the the the setting up the

[1:42:28] guidelines might be policy maybe I don't

[1:42:30] know

[1:42:31] >> I you know I don't know this this is

[1:42:32] nothing we've had in place. We're just

[1:42:35] trying to put some structure, some

[1:42:37] framework around it so as we get them

[1:42:39] that we have kind of a process to

[1:42:40] follow.

[1:42:42] >> And and and I'll I'll jump in if I may.

[1:42:45] I know we did talk about doing that in

[1:42:47] finance, Miss Bullley being passionate

[1:42:49] about it, but um she's she's rolled to

[1:42:51] some different committees. So um um you

[1:42:54] know that that presented a challenge as

[1:42:56] well. So [snorts]

[1:42:58] um we're happy to take it up in finance.

[1:43:00] Uh

[1:43:01] >> yeah, it's it's definitely something

[1:43:02] that we had planned the next time we get

[1:43:04] one from that early stage. Then we get

[1:43:07] to go through the whole process start to

[1:43:09] finish one time. Then we get to see what

[1:43:12] do we really want to improve from that.

[1:43:14] Once we've had the chance to have input

[1:43:16] earlier, what else do we need um to have

[1:43:18] some effect on earlier? Um so that once

[1:43:21] we get that first one, I really would

[1:43:22] like to work really closely with the

[1:43:24] finance committee on that process um and

[1:43:27] see how that goes. get board feedback on

[1:43:30] that at that point. Maybe that's the

[1:43:32] first one that you really feel strongly

[1:43:34] is not right for us and we want to

[1:43:37] challenge that. It might be, it might

[1:43:38] not, but at least we we will make sure

[1:43:41] that we're handling that differently. U

[1:43:43] Miss Bowley, thank you so much for your

[1:43:45] passion on this issue and don't worry

[1:43:46] about um you know, putting this on me.

[1:43:49] We're happy to do this on the board's

[1:43:51] behalf. Uh we know that you're not uh

[1:43:54] putting in um every day here like we

[1:43:56] are. We're happy to take this on. Um,

[1:43:58] but to your points about the the

[1:44:01] turnover of the city and staying on top

[1:44:03] of that, we are watching that very

[1:44:05] closely as well. Um, you may have heard

[1:44:09] or may not in the news that uh, Mr.

[1:44:12] Copley Braxton Copley, deputy city

[1:44:14] manager, announced his retirement

[1:44:16] yesterday. So, that was the first

[1:44:18] thought when I saw that in my mind that

[1:44:20] he was one that I was working closely

[1:44:22] with on this issue. So, um, Leah

[1:44:25] Bowling, um, is the, uh,

[1:44:29] economic development manager or director

[1:44:32] for the city. She is the second person

[1:44:34] that we were working really closely

[1:44:35] with. So, at least I know that I've

[1:44:37] still got her um, who was really taking

[1:44:39] the lead on that and making sure where

[1:44:41] we fit in that flowchart. So, I don't

[1:44:43] think we've got a disruption at this

[1:44:45] point, but just know that we are really

[1:44:46] staying on top of that for you.

[1:44:48] >> So, ma'am,

[1:44:49] >> and we're getting more than just the 30

[1:44:51] days, correct? you are talking about

[1:44:53] we're getting in there earlier. They're

[1:44:56] planning on getting us in there earlier

[1:44:58] on the decision making.

[1:44:59] >> Right. The 30 days is what we're allowed

[1:45:02] by law just once they send it to us to

[1:45:05] respond and say no, we we don't we would

[1:45:08] like to veto. Um, so that is completely

[1:45:11] separate from what we're asking for

[1:45:13] because in this long process of

[1:45:15] approvals and studies and all of the

[1:45:17] work that goes into deciding if even the

[1:45:19] city or the county wants to do this. Um,

[1:45:22] we'd like to know before all of that

[1:45:24] work happens so that we can say, "Hold

[1:45:26] up, we're not comfortable. Maybe don't

[1:45:28] waste all the time on that." Um, or

[1:45:30] let's have some more discussion before

[1:45:32] we proceed. Uh, and that's what we've

[1:45:34] gotten commitment on.

[1:45:36] >> So, Madam President, we take it to the

[1:45:38] finance committee. it sounds like as our

[1:45:39] next step and then you all always report

[1:45:42] out. Finance committee comes back to the

[1:45:44] board. You may report out that this is

[1:45:47] something that you want to vote against

[1:45:49] and then at least for now that's the

[1:45:51] beginning of our process and you've

[1:45:52] already set up the process with the

[1:45:54] clerk sending you those as they come in.

[1:45:57] We're we're excited about this new

[1:45:59] opportunity to uh bring voice to this.

[1:46:04] >> So go ahead.

[1:46:05] >> I'm sorry. I I just to clarify, Mr.

[1:46:08] prisoner, you're you're telling us that

[1:46:10] the 30-day countdown does not begin

[1:46:13] until they notify us. Correct? It's not

[1:46:16] 30 days from when the city finds out or when the city receives

[1:46:21] >> you're you're we're sent notification

[1:46:23] from the city. So, when it's gone

[1:46:25] through all its steps, one of the last

[1:46:28] things they do is notify the all the

[1:46:31] county, the affected school district.

[1:46:33] And once you are served that once that date on there that 30-day

[1:46:38] begins

[1:46:38] >> and that and part of the reason we want

[1:46:40] to get our arms around the process is

[1:46:42] because we only meet every two weeks.

[1:46:44] >> Yeah, that's right.

[1:46:45] >> So depending on the timing of that by

[1:46:48] Mr. Narder working to get us aware of

[1:46:50] these earlier on, we can we can begin

[1:46:54] looking to see how that might affect us

[1:46:57] so we don't get served a notice and have

[1:46:59] to figure out within a short period of

[1:47:01] time. We're we're we're trying to get

[1:47:03] involved, you know, earlier earlier down

[1:47:06] there.

[1:47:07] >> We did Thank you.

[1:47:08] >> We did have some extensive discussion

[1:47:09] about that timeline as well because that

[1:47:12] 30 days starts when they sign the form

[1:47:14] and stamp it to go off to the mail, but

[1:47:16] if it sits on somebody's desk for a few

[1:47:18] days,

[1:47:19] >> and that's and that's been the case at

[1:47:20] the county. There have been times um but

[1:47:23] I've had some conversations with our

[1:47:25] counselor about whether that really cuz

[1:47:28] we've been served notices at the county

[1:47:30] after the 30-day expiration technically

[1:47:33] would have expired and um I was told by

[1:47:36] our county counselor no that's not the

[1:47:37] case they have to actually so we might

[1:47:40] want to clarify that Miss Whiteitman

[1:47:41] that might be a note for you to take.

[1:47:43] >> Okay

[1:47:44] >> Dr.

[1:47:45] I'm just wondering if the IC is the

[1:47:48] opportunity, maybe not necessarily to

[1:47:52] push the city, but it is a most month

[1:47:56] meeting that we are able to sit on that

[1:47:59] has some sort of city representation and

[1:48:02] knowing that there's an agenda, that

[1:48:05] kind of stuff. But just as a way for us

[1:48:06] to let them know, hey, this is something

[1:48:09] that we want to continue to be involved

[1:48:11] with with no matter who's sitting in

[1:48:15] that spot.

[1:48:16] >> All the taxing authorities are there,

[1:48:18] that at least those that are represented

[1:48:20] are there. And I believe the chair this

[1:48:21] year is the mayor. So that certainly be

[1:48:23] a space in which to share that we'd like

[1:48:25] to see this as an agenda topic on behalf

[1:48:27] of everyone at the ICC.

[1:48:29] >> And it's just a standing meeting that we

[1:48:32] have a seat at. And so if we're not

[1:48:34] seeing the movement that we want, we can

[1:48:37] bring it back, you know, a couple months

[1:48:39] later and say, "Hey, we still are paying

[1:48:41] attention to this."

[1:48:43] >> That's a great idea.

[1:48:45] All right. Any other questions on this

[1:48:47] item?

[1:48:49] Dr. for Bon. This is Tiff Ch tangential

[1:48:53] here, but considering all the budget

[1:48:56] conversation tonight, I wondered if you

[1:48:58] could speak

[1:48:59] um to sort of the unique budget

[1:49:02] challenges that 501

[1:49:05] faces, encounters um as compared to

[1:49:09] surrounding districts. I'm thinking

[1:49:10] about our tax base, property values, um,

[1:49:15] stateowned buildings, things like that our surrounding districts maybe,

[1:49:20] uh, don't have to factor in. And then

[1:49:22] also, you touched on this earlier that

[1:49:25] there's sort of the projected revenue,

[1:49:27] but that we do not see all of that

[1:49:29] money. And so I would I would like for

[1:49:31] you to maybe explain some of that as

[1:49:33] well, if you don't mind.

[1:49:34] >> Sure. Sure. Happy to. Yeah, we got some interesting challenges for sure as

[1:49:38] compared to surrounding districts. You

[1:49:40] know, um there's there's many times

[1:49:43] we're going to conference with other

[1:49:44] Kansas school districts and they're

[1:49:46] talking about all the new residential

[1:49:47] neighborhoods being built. Um not not a

[1:49:50] whole lot of places, you know, that we

[1:49:51] can build residential neighborhoods here

[1:49:53] in our district. Um we own, you know,

[1:49:55] just by the fact of being such a big

[1:49:57] district, we own a lot of the land and

[1:49:59] the the buildings in this district and

[1:50:01] we're not we're not getting any property

[1:50:02] tax revenue from that. Um and then

[1:50:05] related to your question, yeah, um so

[1:50:08] with these with these uh um economic

[1:50:11] development abated and rebaited uh

[1:50:14] property tax, so so those are um those

[1:50:17] are assessed and they're just not

[1:50:19] collected. So those will show up in our budget as you know as like we're

[1:50:25] assessing them and which we are, but

[1:50:27] it's just sent it's diverted somewhere

[1:50:29] else. So it's really baked into our

[1:50:31] budget. Um, and that's where I was

[1:50:33] talking about it's really unfortunate

[1:50:35] for transparency uh because we really

[1:50:37] carry the burden of of like the that

[1:50:40] money's coming to us and it's really

[1:50:42] not. But no, we we are um we are trying

[1:50:45] to you know be as lean as we can um to you know combat things like this.

[1:50:57] » Sure.

[1:50:59] Sure. Yep. Yep. and and and I and

[1:51:03] I appreciate that, Dr. Anderson. I would

[1:51:04] be remiss if I didn't thank the the

[1:51:06] taxpayers that came in here. Um that

[1:51:09] that's one of the great things about our

[1:51:10] government, and I'm glad that we have

[1:51:12] taxpayers um to keep us in line. Um but yes, and and I know there was there

[1:51:18] was some um talks around um the amount

[1:51:21] of the budget. Now, now there is

[1:51:23] transfers that are built in there, too.

[1:51:24] So, we back those out. That's um that's

[1:51:27] just the format of the the state budget.

[1:51:30] So there's there's quite a little bit

[1:51:32] that's that's built in in transfers. Um

[1:51:35] and there was there was some mention

[1:51:36] about cash balance um and and the

[1:51:39] increase in cash balance. And that's

[1:51:41] intentional and it's not to it's not to

[1:51:44] hoard cash. Any any starting cash

[1:51:46] balance we have in a fund. Um what what

[1:51:48] we're doing, you know, in in a fund that

[1:51:50] levies taxes, we're uh you know, at a

[1:51:53] high level, we're basically saying

[1:51:54] here's here's the amount we need to

[1:51:56] function. Here's what we've we've

[1:51:58] started with. what do we need to get to

[1:52:00] that number? So, any starting cash that

[1:52:02] we have will will actually help us to

[1:52:04] lower those mill rates, but we're also

[1:52:07] um you know, we're we're self-funding

[1:52:08] with uh workers compensation. We're

[1:52:11] self-unding with our dental. Um and that

[1:52:13] is in an effort to to lower costs um for

[1:52:17] taxpayers. You know, we're um there

[1:52:20] there's been um several folks from from

[1:52:23] the community and and fellow staff

[1:52:25] members inquire about, you know, our

[1:52:27] health insurance reserve. Well, we're we would really like to go

[1:52:30] self-funded. Um, that's the way we feel

[1:52:32] that we're going to have to go to be

[1:52:34] able to combat these rise in healthcare

[1:52:37] uh premiums. So, in order to do that, we

[1:52:40] have to have you know, we have to have

[1:52:42] some reserves and and that $50 million

[1:52:45] is brought up a lot. Um, but but you

[1:52:48] know, the the $50 million is made up of

[1:52:51] things that we can't spend on operating

[1:52:53] expenses. You know, we've got our bond

[1:52:55] uh principal and interest. Um and and we

[1:52:58] need we need to be able to operate,

[1:52:59] right? We we unfortunately to to operate

[1:53:02] the district have to spend about a

[1:53:04] million dollars every working day. Um

[1:53:06] so, you know, you think if you were if

[1:53:08] you were starting a business, you know,

[1:53:10] and you think you had 50 50 days worth

[1:53:12] of of operating reserves, that'd be

[1:53:14] pretty scary. Um but that's that's the

[1:53:17] lean budget um that we work on and and

[1:53:19] we we take that very seriously.

[1:53:22] And I'll just one more comment on that

[1:53:25] because I' I've had the opportunity to

[1:53:26] answer this question about the the

[1:53:29] last year's budget document showing an

[1:53:32] ending balance $52 million.

[1:53:35] Um other things that are included in

[1:53:37] that besides the health insurance

[1:53:38] reserve that we talked about also

[1:53:40] property and casualty liability

[1:53:42] insurance reserves. So we have 62

[1:53:45] buildings that were responsible for in

[1:53:46] the district. That's 62 roofs with 62

[1:53:50] $250,000

[1:53:52] deductibles for wind and hail damage.

[1:53:55] And we've had a pretty stormy year this

[1:53:57] year. Thankfully, we've been lucky and

[1:54:00] not needed to replace any. But we had a

[1:54:02] year, I believe it was 2010 or 2011,

[1:54:04] where we had to replace 22 in one year.

[1:54:07] So, you have to have an amount that is

[1:54:10] held to the side for that. Um, capital

[1:54:13] outlay expenses, uh, you do keep a

[1:54:16] balance in there because you need to

[1:54:19] slowly save up before you make a big

[1:54:22] purchase. Buildings and capital

[1:54:24] improvements cost a lot these days. So,

[1:54:26] you do build that up and then you have

[1:54:28] one large expense that takes it down.

[1:54:31] Um, so there there are just things in

[1:54:34] that balance that we can't immediately

[1:54:37] put towards other needs. The only thing

[1:54:40] in that 52 million that could really be

[1:54:42] considered as open for any use is our

[1:54:47] contingency reserve fund. A separate

[1:54:49] special reserve fund that is really just

[1:54:51] for the rainy day. The when something

[1:54:54] happens unexpected, that's what we've

[1:54:56] got as really our last line of defense.

[1:55:00] That is about $4 million in it. Now, out

[1:55:03] of a 260 or so million dollar budget per

[1:55:06] year with those transfers taken out, um

[1:55:09] that's about a million dollars a day

[1:55:11] that goes through the business office.

[1:55:14] So, your contingency reserve has 4 days

[1:55:17] then of true reserve. If our state

[1:55:20] funding or something was cut off, that's

[1:55:23] not excessive. Um in fact, it's below

[1:55:25] the percentage that the state would

[1:55:27] really encourage us to have. Um, so

[1:55:30] building that is important and um, I

[1:55:33] think it's just, you know, the public is right to ask questions about the

[1:55:37] balance. Um, other groups are right to

[1:55:39] ask questions about the balance and we

[1:55:41] just have to do the best that we can to

[1:55:42] educate about what um, what those funds

[1:55:45] are there for, what their intended

[1:55:47] purpose is, and what we're limited on

[1:55:49] what we can do with them. And I think

[1:55:52] that highlights um your team coming

[1:55:54] quarterly and talking about where we are

[1:55:57] with the budget just in um in a step to

[1:56:00] being more transparent and having that

[1:56:03] conversation throughout the year and not

[1:56:05] just one time a year when we're talking

[1:56:07] about budgets or RNR hearings. um and

[1:56:10] just to to make it more of a

[1:56:11] conversation and and bring it out in the

[1:56:13] open to discuss those things so that

[1:56:16] people are aware and maybe don't have to

[1:56:18] ask as many questions because they've

[1:56:20] heard the conversations. Mr. Moz, did

[1:56:23] you have

[1:56:23] >> a comment and a question? So the comment

[1:56:25] is just to sort of reiterate what you

[1:56:28] talk about. You know, family budgets,

[1:56:29] we're often told that we want to have

[1:56:31] between three and six months worth of

[1:56:34] expenses just in case anything happens,

[1:56:35] right? And and what you're saying is

[1:56:37] that our school budgets the way it's set

[1:56:39] up and stretched out there that we have

[1:56:40] four days. Is that [clears throat]

[1:56:44] >> that isn't an analogy way to look at our funding. So that's uh you

[1:56:50] know the million dollars a day analogy

[1:56:52] is is one that um I know Mr. Minky has

[1:56:55] shared with you for years before um I

[1:56:57] joined the district. I thought it was

[1:56:58] really effective the first time I heard

[1:57:00] it. Um it's a good way for the public to

[1:57:02] understand. Um really you're stretching

[1:57:05] about 260 270 million um in the the true

[1:57:09] budget over that 260 working days or a

[1:57:12] full year. Um so it is a it is an easy

[1:57:16] way to look at it. Um 4 days sounds

[1:57:19] alarming but uh keep in mind that we do

[1:57:22] have the revenues that we get on a very

[1:57:25] regular schedule. We get our state aid

[1:57:27] monthly

[1:57:29] every month like clockwork those the

[1:57:31] first couple days of the month. Um so

[1:57:35] there's no reason to believe that we

[1:57:37] should be alarmed. um those of you who

[1:57:39] were around school districts or school

[1:57:42] finance in 2016 through 2018ish

[1:57:47] uh where every July or every June we

[1:57:50] were worried about are we going to be

[1:57:51] open July 1 or not uh because of things

[1:57:54] going on at the capital um that was a

[1:57:57] much different concern that's when KSD

[1:58:00] began u giving us guidelines of really

[1:58:03] trying to get that contingency reserve

[1:58:05] up more so hope that helps

[1:58:08] Thank you. And you know the question I

[1:58:10] had Mr. Buusy was that you know we

[1:58:12] talked about uh the constraints on our

[1:58:15] budgets and and our ability to be able

[1:58:17] to raise funds necessary. Um we talked

[1:58:19] about how we're not really growing. You

[1:58:21] know one I'm born and raised here. So

[1:58:23] one place I have seen that has grown is

[1:58:26] Waker right I remember when it used to

[1:58:27] be Kmart and Food Fles and Hyperart

[1:58:30] right back back then and it's grown a

[1:58:32] lot since then. Um, but that district as

[1:58:35] vibrant as it is, you know, anytime my

[1:58:37] daughter needs a dress, we go out to to

[1:58:38] the mall or the stores there or my my

[1:58:41] kids need shoes or or I need something

[1:58:43] for the office, we go out to Waker. But

[1:58:46] am I wrong that vibrant district doesn't

[1:58:49] fall within our boundaries of 501?

[1:58:52] >> That's that's correct.

[1:58:53] >> Okay. All right. That's unfortunate, but

[1:58:55] >> just another constraint, another thing

[1:58:57] that that adds to that.

[1:58:59] >> Yeah. and the higher you're paying a

[1:59:00] higher higher sales tax and and we and

[1:59:02] we operate on a on a lower mill rate

[1:59:05] than any other district in the county.

[1:59:06] So,

[1:59:09] >> I was wondering if uh Mr. Edwards could

[1:59:12] come to the podium.

[1:59:23] » He's regretting showing up.

[1:59:28] Yes.

[1:59:29] >> So, one other

[1:59:32] thought that I have in removing us from

[1:59:35] this tiff situation or some of the

[1:59:38] others is through the legislate the

[1:59:41] legislative process of exempting us from

[1:59:45] such things. Is that a possibility?

[1:59:49] >> Well, I think anything is possibility.

[1:59:52] Um,

[1:59:52] >> particularly now, right?

[1:59:55] I think there's different approaches you

[1:59:57] could take. You could uh you could have

[2:00:00] every governmental entity be allowed to

[2:00:05] remove themselves from the TIFF where

[2:00:08] you don't kill a TIFF. Essentially,

[2:00:10] you're just removing your you from it.

[2:00:13] Um, while I was sitting back here, I was

[2:00:15] thinking, um, have any of you ever been

[2:00:17] contacted by developers?

[2:00:21] Says something

[2:00:23] says that they they don't really see you

[2:00:25] as an obstacle,

[2:00:26] >> right?

[2:00:28] >> Um, couple things. If if if there are

[2:00:32] changes, I think you will start seeing

[2:00:36] people at your door, which isn't bad. Um

[2:00:39] but right now even with the threat of a

[2:00:44] veto I don't think most of them

[2:00:46] understand that most developers don't

[2:00:48] understand it. Uh or otherwise they

[2:00:51] would be they would be visiting with

[2:00:53] you.

[2:00:55] So direct answer I think there's several approaches you

[2:01:00] could take um to just blanketly or to

[2:01:04] have a blanket policy saying schools uh

[2:01:08] are out from underneath tiffs

[2:01:11] altogether.

[2:01:12] Um

[2:01:15] I think it would be tough getting

[2:01:16] through the legislature.

[2:01:21] » Thank you. I just wondered, you know, to

[2:01:24] be able to look at all options, what we should be looking at

[2:01:29] to help help our budget. What I think

[2:01:33] has already been described, you've got

[2:01:34] some people's uh attention at the city

[2:01:38] level, which is is the first step that

[2:01:41] really needs to be taken. Um, it would

[2:01:44] be good if they would also let

[2:01:46] developers know that that you do have a whole card

[2:01:53] But you can't really

[2:01:56] uh the city would have to do that.

[2:02:01] >> Thank you.

[2:02:02] >> Yes.

[2:02:08] All right. From that topic, we're going

[2:02:10] to roll right into the light topic of

[2:02:13] the facility study.

[2:02:17] » And I believe at this time you all are

[2:02:19] going to be talking about priorities.

[2:02:20] So, Mr. Ishner, we'll give just a minute

[2:02:22] of uh kind of an update about facility

[2:02:24] studies and really turn it over to you

[2:02:26] for your discussion of what you'd like

[2:02:28] to discuss. So,

[2:02:29] >> all right, that is tonight's goal. Um,

[2:02:32] in front of you, there are some more

[2:02:33] handouts. There should be four pages.

[2:02:35] Um, starting with uh the first page that

[2:02:38] I'm going to be looking at is the short

[2:02:39] list of 10. Uh these are drafts right

[2:02:42] now. So please uh there will be changes

[2:02:45] to these. But the short list of 10 is a

[2:02:48] consolidation of the survey results from

[2:02:51] board members that uh we sent out asking

[2:02:53] you for your short list of three to five

[2:02:56] priorities. Um so we have ranked those

[2:02:58] based on the number of times that

[2:03:00] different members u mentioned them. So

[2:03:03] the first one being a lot of items kind

[2:03:05] of bundled together. uh urgent deferred

[2:03:08] maintenance and core building systems.

[2:03:10] So that's things like roofs, HVAC. Oh,

[2:03:13] thank you Mr. Heinick for pulling it up

[2:03:14] there. Uh plumbing, electrical, those

[2:03:17] types of vital um items. Those are very

[2:03:20] well represented in the dashboard and

[2:03:21] the facility study that we looked at at

[2:03:24] the last meeting. Um so we know that

[2:03:26] those are mustdos and I think the

[2:03:29] board's comments uh in their submissions

[2:03:31] represent that as well. Um item number

[2:03:34] two, Robinson Middle School. three

[2:03:36] members mentioned that the overall

[2:03:37] condition but then also the dedicated

[2:03:39] gym that we know is an issue. Uh and

[2:03:42] then three was educational adequacy. So

[2:03:45] that score uh that's available in the

[2:03:47] dashboard for each building which really

[2:03:49] looks at the usefulness of the space uh

[2:03:52] for students in a modern classroom 2026.

[2:03:56] How do we rank? Um so there were some

[2:03:59] buildings better than others in that.

[2:04:01] is something that came up

[2:04:02] consistently um in at least half of the

[2:04:05] six responses that I've received so far

[2:04:07] and we'll continue to update that as we

[2:04:09] get more. Um also in your packet there

[2:04:12] uh three more pages. These are just a

[2:04:15] look at again a draft of some of the

[2:04:17] information that we've gotten from the

[2:04:18] three levels of our school buildings

[2:04:20] that we sent these out to. So elementary

[2:04:22] and early childhood, middle schools, and

[2:04:25] then high schools. Those are available

[2:04:26] for your review. We're not going to go

[2:04:28] through all of those tonight. Once we

[2:04:30] have kind of gotten through this intro,

[2:04:32] we really just want to hear um some

[2:04:34] board discussion about your priorities,

[2:04:37] give us some direction on where you

[2:04:39] would like us to um continue to work

[2:04:42] forward as we go through this process.

[2:04:45] Um from the facility study, now we're

[2:04:47] getting the board's input. Then we move

[2:04:49] on to other stakeholders and really

[2:04:50] starting to build a facilities master

[2:04:52] plan of where we're going over the next

[2:04:54] 10 years. So with that, I'll turn it

[2:04:56] back over to President Schmidt.

[2:04:58] >> All right. Who would like to start some

[2:05:00] input?

[2:05:03] » Dr. Bombre,

[2:05:04] >> is this an appropriate time to bring up

[2:05:06] Bolt?

[2:05:10] » For 15 years, people have contributed

[2:05:13] and there's over a quarter million

[2:05:15] dollars.

[2:05:17] >> It's on

[2:05:17] >> and it's on. I'm just not near it.

[2:05:20] There's over for 15 years there's been

[2:05:24] input into

[2:05:27] a

[2:05:29] an effective way to build a little

[2:05:31] theater. Originally they wanted a bond

[2:05:34] issue to put a theater on the east end

[2:05:38] of Topeka High, but because it's a

[2:05:40] National Historical Society building,

[2:05:44] it can't be done. There is a space

[2:05:47] inside

[2:05:49] and again there's a quarter of a million

[2:05:50] dollars already donated but to make a

[2:05:54] good

[2:05:56] something to be proud of facility it's

[2:06:00] the estimate is more like 560 million

[2:06:05] 560,000 I'm sorry now

[2:06:10] there yeah

[2:06:13] I could have swallowed that but there is

[2:06:16] a foundation that is willing to provide

[2:06:20] the remaining quarter of a million if

[2:06:23] we'll provide 10% of that quarter of a

[2:06:26] million.

[2:06:28] 501 has not contributed

[2:06:31] to this process yet and they would like

[2:06:34] to see

[2:06:36] that we have an interest

[2:06:40] to proceed with it so that the money

[2:06:43] they have provided is actually used

[2:06:48] and brought to fruition.

[2:06:50] There's you've got a handout. There's

[2:06:53] all sort there's dozens of uses for this

[2:06:55] little theater.

[2:06:58] Uh the auditorium

[2:07:01] is used a lot but sometimes

[2:07:06] people have to go to outside buildings

[2:07:10] and resources for practice or even

[2:07:14] presentation

[2:07:16] uh to do their production.

[2:07:21] So you've got that handout. But, you

[2:07:24] know, for dimes on the dollar, you know,

[2:07:27] if we 26,000

[2:07:30] to get a quarter of a million isn't a

[2:07:34] bad deal.

[2:07:35] And to provide a facility

[2:07:39] that

[2:07:40] most high schools to peek a high size

[2:07:43] have at least two or even three of these

[2:07:46] facilities.

[2:07:49] Uh the actors can't even don't even have

[2:07:51] a dressing room at Topeka High

[2:07:55] and

[2:07:57] some productions take place in the

[2:07:59] library and it takes

[2:08:02] custodians days to prepare the library

[2:08:06] for these productions

[2:08:09] and

[2:08:11] the auditorium at Topeka High is large

[2:08:14] and to Get

[2:08:18] a song approved or paid for in a huge

[2:08:22] facility is much more expensive than in

[2:08:27] a smaller 100 to 200 capacity

[2:08:31] stadium or facility.

[2:08:34] So there's places things can be saved

[2:08:38] and extreme conveniences.

[2:08:41] Uh there's listed in there that you know

[2:08:43] the students wind up

[2:08:46] you know changing in not so private

[2:08:50] places for their costumes.

[2:08:53] It really it has been an issue, but the

[2:08:58] Dawson Foundation

[2:09:00] is willing to

[2:09:03] provide this remaining quarter of a

[2:09:06] million if we'll show some input.

[2:09:11] >> If I may, Madame President, u Mr. Nerd

[2:09:14] and M. Dr. Bombre, you all met yesterday

[2:09:16] and upon getting that amazing

[2:09:18] information uh that you helped

[2:09:20] facilitate, uh the district does believe

[2:09:24] that if someone is willing to donate all

[2:09:26] the dollars for something of what you've

[2:09:28] described with a 10% uh um support from

[2:09:32] the district, that is uh certainly

[2:09:35] feasible and uh agreeable and and works

[2:09:38] within the realm. And we believe that

[2:09:41] the remaining funds they're donating is

[2:09:43] uh tremendous, the 90% to allow for

[2:09:46] something like that. So, you all have

[2:09:47] had that conversation. I just want to

[2:09:49] make sure the board knows that and uh

[2:09:51] they're excited about taking the next

[2:09:52] step unless the board in this discussion

[2:09:55] uh would prefer that we not do that.

[2:09:58] >> Has there been any work on the blackbox

[2:10:01] theater to this point?

[2:10:04] >> They clean junk out.

[2:10:06] >> They have done some work on clearing out

[2:10:08] the space. Uh we also received some

[2:10:10] money from the Bolt uh group already. Uh

[2:10:14] before I started with the district,

[2:10:15] there were plans done by an architect um

[2:10:18] and an estimate prepared of the various

[2:10:21] lighting systems, sound systems, all the

[2:10:23] work that would need to be done to put

[2:10:24] costs together. Um that did have um some

[2:10:27] expense. I think around 7,000 or so so

[2:10:30] far has been spent of those funds.

[2:10:31] Otherwise, the rest is available. Um, so

[2:10:34] far we were just at about 40% of the

[2:10:36] total project cost that had been

[2:10:38] fundraised. So, we just weren't close

[2:10:40] enough to where we could start

[2:10:42] construction without fear of getting

[2:10:44] halfway through the project

[2:10:46] >> and not collect the rest. Uh, but this

[2:10:48] is amazing news that a group may be uh

[2:10:51] stepping up with that remaining funding.

[2:10:53] I have already reached [clears throat]

[2:10:54] out today via email to set up some

[2:10:56] meetings to discuss what that looks

[2:10:57] like, get something in writing that we

[2:11:00] can move forward with. We'd love to hit

[2:11:02] the ground running with this as soon as

[2:11:04] they're ready.

[2:11:06] >> I was talking with my former thespian uh

[2:11:11] while he was away at college and my

[2:11:14] daughters in the underassman play which

[2:11:17] is generally a smaller and they have it

[2:11:19] in one of the classrooms. They have a

[2:11:21] little stage in the theater classroom.

[2:11:24] And my college student mentioned he said

[2:11:28] well unless they have the little theater

[2:11:30] done

[2:11:32] and I didn't say anything but I was like

[2:11:34] is there is there a process that started

[2:11:36] that I don't know about or so that's

[2:11:38] where I was confused on the process. I I

[2:11:42] will say I think it's a a great thing

[2:11:44] for Topeka High. I do think Dr. Bone

[2:11:46] break. Most high schools that have two

[2:11:48] or three of these are not on the

[2:11:50] National Historic Register of places.

[2:11:53] And as a parent of a thespian who was in

[2:11:56] a lot of productions, I never heard

[2:11:58] about them complaining about dressing

[2:12:01] rooms or that kind of stuff. So, I I do

[2:12:03] question some of the issues, but I do

[2:12:05] think it's still um a great uh tool for

[2:12:09] them. And I do think Mrs. Burr and Mr.

[2:12:12] Jensen are doing great things and

[2:12:15] there's great things happening at Tobago

[2:12:16] West and Highland Park doing some of

[2:12:18] their productions um uh in theater.

[2:12:22] We're always very excited with theaters

[2:12:23] in our school month and so I think it's

[2:12:26] something that we're very excited about.

[2:12:28] Um but but I was a little bit confused

[2:12:30] from my 18-year-old.

[2:12:38] All right. Other input or feelings you

[2:12:42] guys have about the facilities

[2:12:44] information

[2:12:45] you've received, Mr. Minos?

[2:12:49] >> You know, I thought about, you know,

[2:12:51] what I listed and some of mines are are

[2:12:53] on that that short list, right? But as I

[2:12:55] look at some of the the input from from

[2:12:58] staff and I think about what do I hear

[2:13:01] most often as as issues and I I think

[2:13:04] some of these I think resonate more um

[2:13:07] for instance on on the the Dustin Dick

[2:13:10] and his his list. We often hear about

[2:13:13] the number one issue that he's he's

[2:13:15] listed. So there are some things I think

[2:13:17] that uh I didn't list and I didn't think

[2:13:19] about but I think if we think about what

[2:13:23] comes up what are issues that we the

[2:13:24] most need addressing some of these

[2:13:26] things I think are there's a lot of good

[2:13:28] information here for us to take into and

[2:13:30] build into what what we we what we think

[2:13:33] might need addressing. So

[2:13:36] >> I agree and when um Dr. Anderson shared

[2:13:39] that those lists from those different

[2:13:41] groups existed and we asked her to share

[2:13:43] them out. I said, "Wouldn't it be

[2:13:44] interesting if we could put all those

[2:13:45] people that put information down on that

[2:13:47] list, give them some monopoly money and

[2:13:50] tell them to figure out amongst

[2:13:52] themselves, collaboratively work

[2:13:53] together to figure out, you know, what

[2:13:56] they would fund first." So, I think

[2:13:58] there's something to be said for what

[2:14:00] Mr. Moz brings up. I don't I don't know

[2:14:02] if we're the best lenses to be making

[2:14:04] these decisions. And while we have

[2:14:06] passions about certain things and we do

[2:14:09] hear certain things from groups that we meet often with or or in our

[2:14:14] districts or you know that we spend time

[2:14:17] with um I know I I will kind of defer to

[2:14:21] you guys. I mean you're the expert. Um

[2:14:24] that that's kind of my two cents. I you

[2:14:26] know I'm very passionate about uh

[2:14:28] Highland Park High School and I've

[2:14:31] listened to parent upon parent say they

[2:14:33] want to have that stadium but that's a set of parents looking at one

[2:14:38] school and it is our responsibility to

[2:14:41] list look at how many 60 how many

[2:14:44] facilities did you say we have

[2:14:46] >> 62 total buildings

[2:14:47] >> okay 62 62 buildings we you know we have

[2:14:51] to look at 62 buildings and there's a

[2:14:54] lot of work that needs to be done to

[2:14:56] balance impact versus dollar versus

[2:15:00] making sure the rooms are where they

[2:15:03] need to be to provide education versus

[2:15:06] making sure they're warm, safe, and dry.

[2:15:08] Um, so I I'll only speak for myself why

[2:15:12] I do have passions about certain things.

[2:15:14] I I don't know that my lens is the best

[2:15:17] lens to use to make this decision. Um,

[2:15:20] Miss Miss Bowley,

[2:15:22] >> one of the things that came out in this

[2:15:24] study is that we have some buildings

[2:15:27] that aren't in

[2:15:31] the best

[2:15:33] aren't I see I can't remember how the

[2:15:35] facility plan had it, but are not

[2:15:39] adequate for student learning.

[2:15:42] Uh, Randolph Elementary was one of those

[2:15:46] um that comes to mind in my area.

[2:15:50] To me, I think we should be looking as

[2:15:53] we look at this facility is also with

[2:15:56] equity

[2:15:58] for our students are is every student

[2:16:02] receiving an equitable education

[2:16:05] in whatever building they're in.

[2:16:09] And so those few buildings that we had

[2:16:11] that were labeled I think are some that

[2:16:14] we should be creating a long-term plan

[2:16:18] around for sure. How do we bring that

[2:16:21] equity to those students that are the

[2:16:24] same in our other buildings? And of

[2:16:27] course the safety I think we you know

[2:16:30] that very number one are urgent. We need

[2:16:34] to be moving forward on um what creates

[2:16:38] our buildings to be safe and warm and

[2:16:41] cool and um a roof. To me,

[2:16:48] roofing is the most important because if

[2:16:50] the roof is bad or roof, whichever you

[2:16:53] want to choose in Kansas, if it's bad,

[2:16:56] the whole building starts going bad. And

[2:16:59] so those are just really high on my

[2:17:01] list. But I'm just really thinking

[2:17:03] equity. And I hear from students all the

[2:17:07] time and I know because I've been in a

[2:17:09] lot of these restrooms. They're not

[2:17:11] great.

[2:17:13] And so is there a safety issue there? Is

[2:17:17] there a privacy issue there? Is there a

[2:17:20] cleanliness issue there? I think those

[2:17:23] are some of the things that I, you know,

[2:17:25] rise to the top for me.

[2:17:27] So, I will just make the comment as we

[2:17:30] talk about restrooms, those are some of

[2:17:32] the most expensive things as you get

[2:17:34] into renovation and update, you know, in

[2:17:36] your home, they talk about kitchens and

[2:17:38] bathrooms.

[2:17:39] >> And so, I mean, I think um I don't think

[2:17:44] you're wrong, but you know, that's going

[2:17:46] to be an example of one of those things

[2:17:48] kind of like with your roof or your

[2:17:49] roof.

[2:17:50] >> Yeah.

[2:17:50] >> Um that, you know, the money might not

[2:17:52] go as far as we wish it would. you know,

[2:17:54] as we're sitting here in the theme of

[2:17:56] talking about budgets and and you know,

[2:17:59] raising.

[2:17:59] >> Yeah.

[2:18:00] >> So, just another thing to consider

[2:18:04] >> at least that lock.

[2:18:06] >> Yeah. Amen.

[2:18:07] >> Be awesome,

[2:18:07] >> Dr. Schumacher. Um, I would agree with

[2:18:11] kind of what you and Mr. Munoz had said

[2:18:13] that some of the stuff off the list, but

[2:18:15] I do appreciate calling back to Mr. Is

[2:18:18] nard when he started that we're just

[2:18:20] kind of one of the stakeholders so we

[2:18:22] aren't necessarily making the final

[2:18:25] decision right now on the facil's master

[2:18:27] plan but being able to provide our input

[2:18:30] and and I do agree you know the most of

[2:18:33] us had that kind of warm safe and dry as

[2:18:37] a priority

[2:18:39] uh which some of the input like from our

[2:18:43] middle schools some of that is warm safe

[2:18:45] and dry stuff some of the Robin and

[2:18:47] stuff I do think falls under that. I I

[2:18:50] do also think um

[2:18:54] as we have discussed previously like

[2:18:57] what does Randy Schumacher want a

[2:18:59] dedicated gym for Robinson

[2:19:02] 10 years from now or 15 you know if we

[2:19:05] look at a 10-year master plan that's not

[2:19:07] a now that's not even a five year from

[2:19:10] now but having that on the high horizon

[2:19:12] I think um so that we're not dependent

[2:19:14] on an old Central Park um community

[2:19:18] center building that does affect the

[2:19:21] security every day of our uh students at

[2:19:24] Robinson. That's that I think um

[2:19:28] deferring to the experts, but being able

[2:19:30] to share um our input. I think that's

[2:19:32] one thing that I wanted to say.

[2:19:35] >> I agree. I appreciate the opportunity to

[2:19:38] express the input. Um I think the um

[2:19:42] lists put together by the people in the

[2:19:46] buildings that are dealing with the

[2:19:47] issues in the buildings dayto-day

[2:19:50] for me I feel like that that carries a

[2:19:53] little bit more weight. So I thank you

[2:19:54] for thinking about bringing that

[2:19:56] perspective and voice in as you guys

[2:19:58] work on putting this together. Does

[2:20:01] anybody Mr. Tatum?

[2:20:03] >> So I

[2:20:05] to to that to that point Mrs. Schmidt. I

[2:20:08] think that uh when I think about

[2:20:11] these projects and and what are the

[2:20:14] priorities

[2:20:16] um and and how are we the seven of us I

[2:20:19] don't think any of us are experts um in uh these these matters

[2:20:26] um h how how do we make decisions that

[2:20:29] are going to u be the most beneficial?

[2:20:32] Uh because I think our intentions are

[2:20:34] good. I think we we need to make sure

[2:20:36] that we're actually making practical

[2:20:39] choices that are um

[2:20:43] in line with what is needed and and what

[2:20:48] uh those who are looking at us for for

[2:20:50] guidance and direction are expecting for

[2:20:52] us to do. I I would say uh Mr. Isard

[2:20:58] let us know if if if

[2:21:01] these are not good decision. If if you

[2:21:04] look at the short list you say number

[2:21:06] four I'm just pulling something out of

[2:21:07] my head. Number four is really a stupid

[2:21:11] idea. You don't want to do that. You you

[2:21:15] want to bump that one down and and and

[2:21:17] move one of these other ones up. I I

[2:21:19] think I think that would help us. Um if

[2:21:24] to to Mrs. Schmidt's point um

[2:21:28] helped to give us you as the experts

[2:21:31] some some direction and and and and

[2:21:34] guidance um and counsel on uh what what

[2:21:38] are the things that that you all believe

[2:21:41] are the the priorities from from

[2:21:44] administration's perspective.

[2:21:46] You know, one of as I look at this, I I

[2:21:50] wonder if one way to look at it is our

[2:21:52] immediate goals, what we think need

[2:21:54] attention and our sort of long-term

[2:21:56] goals, right? Some of these seem aren't

[2:21:58] going to be even done next year, right?

[2:22:00] But some of them are. So maybe we could

[2:22:02] help for the administration create a

[2:22:04] couple of based on a lot of input from everybody. Um, is it, am I correct

[2:22:10] that there are some individuals who

[2:22:11] didn't get a chance to respond or is it

[2:22:13] that everything is great in their

[2:22:15] buildings and

[2:22:16] >> they all received a chance to respond?

[2:22:18] Mrs. Sharp sent out her list,

[2:22:20] elementary, middle was from Hoffman. Mr.

[2:22:22] Dick sent out the high school, I assume,

[2:22:24] >> and that's their list that they've

[2:22:26] returned.

[2:22:27] >> Okay. So, uh, so I don't know. I I look

[2:22:30] to you all to sort of give some feedback

[2:22:33] on that's one way to start, but there I

[2:22:35] mean, what are other ways we might be

[2:22:36] able to think about this?

[2:22:43] Well, in some of those buildings,

[2:22:46] is there anything there that's keeping

[2:22:48] the kid warm, safe? That's

[2:22:50] >> right.

[2:22:51] >> You know, I think all of us have said

[2:22:54] that. So, that would reduce the list on

[2:22:56] some of those building requests.

[2:23:00] Um,

[2:23:01] >> well, I think warm, safe, and dry would

[2:23:03] bubble to the top, right? because those

[2:23:05] are those are

[2:23:06] >> that's definitely what we're I think our

[2:23:08] board is saying

[2:23:09] >> fundamental priorities and then um you

[2:23:13] know with the feedback that they've

[2:23:14] received from everybody they can kind of

[2:23:16] put together a first iteration of what

[2:23:19] they think you know that one year three

[2:23:21] year 5 year 10 year you know however

[2:23:24] incrementally they want to look at it

[2:23:26] they can um we can let them pour their

[2:23:30] expertise into that and give that back

[2:23:31] to us and then we can give them feedback

[2:23:33] based on that I I just don't want to

[2:23:35] hold them up.

[2:23:38] >> Thank you for that direction. That's

[2:23:40] helpful. Principal's meeting is in about

[2:23:41] a week or two and so we'll meet with

[2:23:43] them on this conversation on their list

[2:23:46] and Mr. Ner will follow back up with you

[2:23:49] all in regards to uh the plan that's

[2:23:52] already been laid out for us in the

[2:23:54] facility study and the other things we

[2:23:56] think we should uh tackle. So, thank

[2:23:58] you. This has been helpful.

[2:24:02] >> All right. So with that, we're going to

[2:24:03] move to action items, which is item 23

[2:24:06] on the agenda. Uh 23.1 is the approval

[2:24:09] of the district's 2026 through 2020 30,

[2:24:12] excuse me, 2031 strategic plan. And I

[2:24:16] need a motion.

[2:24:18] >> I move to approve the 2026

[2:24:21] to 2031 strategic plan as presented. And

[2:24:24] a second, Dr. Bonreg. Thank you. Any

[2:24:27] discussion on this?

[2:24:30] All right, I think we're ready for a

[2:24:31] vote.

[2:24:47] All votes are in and the motion carries

[2:24:49] unanimously.

[2:24:51] All right. The next item on our agenda

[2:24:54] is 23.2

[2:24:55] and that is to approve resolution 27-006

[2:25:00] to adopt exceeding the revenue neutral

[2:25:02] rate for fiscal year 27 budget. I

[2:25:05] believe um the clerk will be doing a

[2:25:08] roll call vote on this. Am I correct?

[2:25:10] >> Correct.

[2:25:11] >> All right. Right. So, we'll start with a

[2:25:12] motion. C

[2:25:12] >> can I ask a question of our our finance

[2:25:14] team? Yeah. You know, I wonder if

[2:25:16] someone with finance team might be able

[2:25:17] to sort of stop and and talk about as

[2:25:20] we're looking at our budget. What have

[2:25:23] we done? What have we done? Are we

[2:25:24] currently doing uh to look at look for

[2:25:27] efficiencies

[2:25:29] uh look at reducing expenditures in

[2:25:31] areas where it makes sense. Can you

[2:25:33] speak to that in terms of working to

[2:25:35] control costs?

[2:25:36] >> Sure. um every uh proposed expenditure

[2:25:40] and I call them proposed expenditures

[2:25:42] because they all are right until it goes

[2:25:44] through all the approvals. Every one of

[2:25:46] them that comes across my desk is

[2:25:47] scrutinized, you know, is this a want or

[2:25:49] is this a need? Um you know, just today

[2:25:52] um this might be just a basic example,

[2:25:54] but um ice m one of the ice makers at

[2:25:56] Topeka West went out um my director of

[2:26:00] purchasing, Mr. Jesse Wilson, he took a

[2:26:02] look at it and said, you know, this is

[2:26:03] really being underutilized. the cost to

[2:26:05] repair it. Um it it would would not

[2:26:07] really make sense based on the cost of

[2:26:09] one of these items and talked to child

[2:26:11] nutrition services. They don't use it

[2:26:13] for the kitchen anymore. Um so he just

[2:26:15] asked Mr. Buckandorf um if if there was

[2:26:18] you know any objection to go ahead and

[2:26:20] removing that and if not he was he was

[2:26:23] planning to put in a service request to

[2:26:24] have that done. Uh Mr. Buckorf said

[2:26:26] thank you for letting me know. So, uh,

[2:26:28] we appreciate that support, too, as we

[2:26:30] look, you know, everybody everybody's

[2:26:32] got to pitch in, right, when we're

[2:26:33] looking for efficiencies. Um, and and

[2:26:36] you know, and that's I mean, I'd be

[2:26:39] remiss if I if I didn't mention on the

[2:26:40] personnel side, you know, about 70% of

[2:26:42] our budget is people. Um, so we we do

[2:26:45] look when vacancies come open. Um we've

[2:26:48] got one right now in in the business

[2:26:49] office that we're we're looking at

[2:26:50] possibly eliminating a position. Um

[2:26:52] consolidating some things down um trying

[2:26:55] to be as lean as we can. Uh because you

[2:26:57] know it is really a balancing act with

[2:26:59] you've heard me say it a million times

[2:27:01] but it's a balancing act between um um

[2:27:04] doing what's right for the taxpayers and

[2:27:05] then adequately funding our schools.

[2:27:07] >> Mr. Munoz, as you may recall, I know

[2:27:10] special education is in the room and

[2:27:12] they uh have moved their consulting

[2:27:15] teachers from being at the district

[2:27:16] level to the classroom level. Uh every

[2:27:19] school uh has a very uh controlled uh

[2:27:23] class size. Um and we've uh been able to

[2:27:27] do that by adjusting uh the positions

[2:27:30] that we fill and and having consulting

[2:27:32] teachers that teach half day. As you

[2:27:35] know, just as just another example or

[2:27:37] two, uh many of our administrators, uh

[2:27:41] such as Mr. Dick, who right now is at

[2:27:43] the game, is also the athletic director,

[2:27:45] the CTE director, the principal of Tika

[2:27:47] High, and TCA. Uh and Dr. Grimes

[2:27:50] likewise is the principal of her

[2:27:53] building, JDC, uh Florence Krit. Uh she

[2:27:57] also oversees three other areas. Those

[2:28:00] are just examples of how we're

[2:28:01] stretching staff, administrative staff

[2:28:04] to cover many areas where many districts

[2:28:07] would have four or five or six

[2:28:09] administrators. Of course, in Topeka

[2:28:10] public schools, we only have two

[2:28:12] assistant superintendents. One is an

[2:28:14] assistant, one's an associate, whereas

[2:28:16] district our sizes normally have far

[2:28:18] more than that. Those are just a few

[2:28:21] examples. If there's something really burning that you want to add to

[2:28:24] that, I encourage that. But those are

[2:28:26] just ways we're um you know creating

[2:28:30] efficiencies and decreasing costs.

[2:28:36] » Miss Bolley

[2:28:38] >> and to exceed revenue neutral means we

[2:28:42] may not exceed correct

[2:28:45] >> but it gives us permission to exceed our neutral.

[2:28:49] >> No. And I know where you're going with

[2:28:50] this. So, so we always say when we're

[2:28:53] when we start the budgeting process that

[2:28:54] we we want to go through those steps

[2:28:56] because we um even if we don't end up

[2:28:59] exceeding revenue neutral, we can't go

[2:29:01] backwards. Um but with our budget, we

[2:29:04] are proposing to exceed revenue neutral.

[2:29:06] So, that would be the first step is to

[2:29:09] um adopt that by the roll call vote. Um

[2:29:12] but no, I know I know what you're what

[2:29:14] you're thinking. Yeah, we we always we

[2:29:15] always are are going to go through those steps no matter what just in case.

[2:29:20] So,

[2:29:22] one more question. Sorry. You know, you

[2:29:24] know, we're all are looking at our

[2:29:26] budgets and you know, my I have growing

[2:29:28] teenagers, so we're we're probably

[2:29:30] spending as much food as we've ever

[2:29:32] spent before just kind of with the and

[2:29:33] we're just sticker shock uh this past

[2:29:35] summer, but what are some of the uh the

[2:29:38] growing sort of costs that that we're

[2:29:40] seeing as a uh as a district that maybe

[2:29:43] might be out of our control? Right. I I

[2:29:44] can't control the prices at Dylan's

[2:29:46] bucket. What are some of the things that

[2:29:47] we're seeing?

[2:29:48] >> Okay. How long you want to stay here?

[2:29:50] No, I mean um no diesel fuel um diesel

[2:29:53] fuel has gone through the roof. Um you

[2:29:56] know getting our buses around um our

[2:29:59] utilities, so electricity, water, gas,

[2:30:02] those those have gone up and those were

[2:30:05] uh those were more of of uh more than

[2:30:08] our you know 3% inflationary projection

[2:30:10] for our budget. Um we've got our our

[2:30:14] transportation contract although it is

[2:30:16] competitive. um there's built-in

[2:30:18] increases in that and just because of

[2:30:20] the size of the contract, we've got an

[2:30:22] increase there. But but look, uh every

[2:30:25] is not revenue neutral as we all know.

[2:30:27] Um so so you know, we're we're we're

[2:30:31] still proposing, you know, and have done

[2:30:33] increases, you know, for for staff um

[2:30:36] all while trying to trying to be lean on

[2:30:38] that that 30% that's really our other

[2:30:41] operating expenditures.

[2:30:43] >> Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Great, great

[2:30:45] point. Health insurance. um about a

[2:30:47] million and a half dollars this year.

[2:30:48] That's a big one. Um and you know, I

[2:30:51] kind of talked a little bit about that,

[2:30:52] so I won't go too far into it, but you

[2:30:54] know, that's that's one of the reasons

[2:30:55] we're we're trying to really explore

[2:30:57] going self-funded.

[2:30:59] >> All right. Well, thank you very much for

[2:31:00] all of your team's work on on making

[2:31:02] sure that we're we're being uh smart

[2:31:04] about how we use these dollars and that

[2:31:07] we're we're holding ourselves to the

[2:31:10] highest standards when it comes to use

[2:31:11] of public funds. Thank you.

[2:31:14] >> All right. So I am back to looking for a

[2:31:16] motion to approve resolution 27-006

[2:31:20] to adopt exceeding the revenue neutral

[2:31:22] rate for fiscal year 27 budget.

[2:31:24] >> So moved.

[2:31:25] >> Thank you. And a second, Dr. Schumacher.

[2:31:27] Thank you. Any other discussion?

[2:31:30] >> All right, we're ready for a vote.

[2:31:33] >> All right. U Mrs. Schmidt,

[2:31:37] >> yes.

[2:31:38] >> Dr. Bon,

[2:31:39] >> yes.

[2:31:41] >> Mr. Munoz,

[2:31:43] >> yes.

[2:31:44] Mr. Tatum,

[2:31:46] >> yes.

[2:31:48] >> Mrs. Bolley,

[2:31:49] >> yes.

[2:31:51] >> Dr. Schumacher,

[2:31:52] >> yes.

[2:31:53] >> And Dr. Bone break.

[2:31:56] Thank you. The motion carries

[2:31:58] unanimously.

[2:32:00] >> All right. Next under our action items

[2:32:02] is 23.3 to approve resolution

[2:32:05] 27-007

[2:32:08] to adopt supplemental general fund lob

[2:32:10] percentage of 33.0%. 0%.

[2:32:14] So moved and I need a second. Dr.

[2:32:17] Schumacher, thank you. Any discussion?

[2:32:21] All right, we're ready for a vote

[2:32:29] and we're open.

[2:32:47] All votes are in and the motion carries

[2:32:49] unanimously.

[2:32:51] And the final item under our action

[2:32:53] items is 23.4 to approve and adopt the

[2:32:56] fiscal year 2027 budget. I need a

[2:32:59] motion.

[2:33:02] I move to approve and adopt the fiscal

[2:33:04] year 2027 budget per legislative

[2:33:06] requirements. The building needs

[2:33:07] assessment and state assessment reviews

[2:33:09] were provided to the board and were

[2:33:10] considered during the budgeting process.

[2:33:13] Thank you. And a second, Mr. Tatum.

[2:33:15] Thank you. Any discussion?

[2:33:18] All right. Seeing none, we're ready for

[2:33:20] a vote.

[2:33:21] >> And the vote is open

[2:33:32] and the motion carries unanimously.

[2:33:35] >> All right, next item is 24 board member

[2:33:38] comments. We'll start with Dr. Bonereak.

[2:33:43] » None of my committees met, but what is

[2:33:46] the next step for the

[2:33:49] little theater.

[2:33:52] >> Dr. Bombre, uh Mr. is going to call you

[2:33:54] in the morning and uh he's excited at

[2:33:57] this new donor and we will take the next

[2:34:01] step in supporting what you've just uh

[2:34:03] shared is before you unless the board

[2:34:06] has any other direction given the

[2:34:09] tremendous donation. Um thank you again

[2:34:12] Dr. Mrech for your work in this regard.

[2:34:16] I have no further comments.

[2:34:20] [laughter]

[2:34:21] >> Um I I wanted to echo Mr. Buucy and just

[2:34:26] thank the uh taxpayers that came and

[2:34:29] spoke tonight. I also would be remiss if

[2:34:32] I didn't thank the team that uh our

[2:34:36] team, the finance team and everybody

[2:34:38] that puts together the budget and puts a

[2:34:41] lot of thoughtful dedication into it.

[2:34:44] Um, we did have a committee

[2:34:47] last week, I think, a technology

[2:34:50] committee. Uh, and I, um,

[2:34:54] print it out. I use Stormmont Veil's

[2:34:56] printer and paper to tell them to print

[2:34:59] out the agenda. Um, so you guys have

[2:35:02] that. Um, but I will run through really

[2:35:05] quickly. So, we talked about parent

[2:35:06] square. Um, which it seems like

[2:35:11] maybe I it'd probably be a conflict, but

[2:35:13] it seems like a lot of districts are

[2:35:15] using Parent Square now. I should have

[2:35:17] gotten stock in Parent Square after they

[2:35:20] passed that bill because I talk to kids

[2:35:22] every day from lots of different

[2:35:24] districts and they talk about parent

[2:35:26] square and I'm like, gosh dang it. Um

[2:35:30] but it is um on and we talked about um

[2:35:34] that now parents should be getting

[2:35:37] emails at least um if there's post um

[2:35:41] about their students on parent square um

[2:35:44] and they're rolling out more features.

[2:35:46] We talked a little bit about trying to

[2:35:48] do some simple um uh education for

[2:35:51] parents cuz I I was able to get the app

[2:35:54] and turn it on and there's a lot of

[2:35:56] features and maybe not all parents need

[2:35:58] all the features but just a very kind of

[2:36:01] rudimentary

[2:36:02] uh run through on that. Um

[2:36:05] there's going to be a new assessment

[2:36:08] module that replaces Mastery Connect

[2:36:10] that'll help save us money. Uh right now

[2:36:13] a lot of effort is being put forward

[2:36:15] with parent square because we do need to

[2:36:17] move forward with that as quick as we

[2:36:19] can to allow like our football teams um

[2:36:23] our band or theater uh things that there

[2:36:27] needs to be some sort of communication

[2:36:28] about practices or games or you know

[2:36:32] pizza or whatever. Um and and all that

[2:36:35] has to happen through parent square now.

[2:36:36] So, a lot of efforts are there, but uh

[2:36:39] we're still working on replacing this

[2:36:41] new module that'll integrate into

[2:36:43] Synergy or u using this module that'll

[2:36:47] integrate into Synergy that'll uh

[2:36:49] replace Mastery Connect. Um we're

[2:36:52] looking at distributing the new um

[2:36:55] devices for staff. You can see there are

[2:36:57] 1,800 staff or 1,800 devices that we p

[2:37:01] purchase that they are working on

[2:37:03] rolling out. Um, and then we talked

[2:37:06] about some of the holdup with -ate and

[2:37:09] our -ate funding. So, we replaced our

[2:37:13] um, elementary school wireless access

[2:37:15] points with -ate funding maybe like 18

[2:37:18] months ago.

[2:37:20] >> Um, and the plan was to also I don't

[2:37:23] know if you try to use Wi-Fi in

[2:37:26] middle school, it is rough. But the um

[2:37:29] so the goal is to replace the wireless

[2:37:32] access points uh for all those

[2:37:34] Chromebooks. Um but it is currently on

[2:37:37] hold and we're not sure if we're going

[2:37:39] to get that funding and so we'll have to

[2:37:41] look at maybe um other avenues while we

[2:37:45] continue to try to keep the old devices

[2:37:47] working. Um kind of the same with our um

[2:37:51] internet services for the district that

[2:37:54] was be funding that was being funding

[2:37:56] through.

[2:37:58] Um and as a um FYI, the no before

[2:38:02] training is now available. We should all

[2:38:05] have an email

[2:38:07] um from August 10th that you can

[2:38:11] complete your no before training and it

[2:38:13] is due uh by January. And that's all I

[2:38:17] have I think.

[2:38:21] Uh, Ditto, you did such a nice job.

[2:38:24] Thank you. So, I'm just down to some

[2:38:27] comments. Um, I was invited to go to the

[2:38:31] parents as teachers uh ice cream social

[2:38:36] down at Quinton Heights. And oh my

[2:38:38] goodness, the number of parents that

[2:38:41] showed up with their little ones and to

[2:38:43] get to experience

[2:38:45] children on that particular special

[2:38:48] playground that is built for parents and

[2:38:51] students to work together and swing

[2:38:54] together and just be together. It was

[2:38:57] just really a great uh experience to see

[2:39:01] that. I got to talk to a couple parents

[2:39:04] that are concerned about screen time in

[2:39:06] schools and I told them we're looking at

[2:39:08] that and creating some plans around that

[2:39:12] and and uh she was pretty adamant if we

[2:39:15] didn't get control of our screen time

[2:39:17] she wasn't going to let her child come

[2:39:18] to school. So

[2:39:21] it's a it's a passionate uh point for um

[2:39:25] many parents. Um, when I went to that, I

[2:39:28] was parking in the back parking lot of

[2:39:30] Quinton Heights and lo and behold, I

[2:39:34] came across that adult gym partnership

[2:39:38] with Blue Cross Blue Shield. There's

[2:39:41] construction down there to put that

[2:39:43] together. Isn't that what that is

[2:39:47] behind?

[2:39:48] >> Yes, ma'am. That's the fitness court.

[2:39:49] and we look forward to having a

[2:39:51] celebration here in the near future with

[2:39:52] those groups that helped contribute to

[2:39:54] that project uh to kick off the official

[2:39:58] uh opening of that. It is finished uh

[2:40:00] completed um construction. Um but with

[2:40:03] the start of school, it just wasn't the

[2:40:04] right timing to do that yet.

[2:40:06] >> So, it's right down here, right down the

[2:40:08] hill. So, it looked complicated to me.

[2:40:10] I'm sure it probably isn't, but I'll be

[2:40:13] glad for that ribbon cutting. um our

[2:40:16] Kansas Association of School Boards. Uh

[2:40:20] we met as a legislative group and we

[2:40:23] came up with items that we want our

[2:40:25] lobbyists to lobby for. There were

[2:40:28] members from all across the state of

[2:40:30] Kansas. Um once that was completed, we

[2:40:34] started our tours across Kansas. I

[2:40:37] should

[2:40:39] uh KSB started the tours. I went to our

[2:40:43] region tour. They have I don't know 10

[2:40:47] 11 tours that they go to across the

[2:40:49] state of Kansas to get more feedback on

[2:40:52] the document as a legislative group and

[2:40:56] add and tweak whatever the feedback gave

[2:40:59] to us and then that'll be approved at

[2:41:02] the uh conference in November. But it's

[2:41:05] just a really

[2:41:07] remarkable time to sit down with other

[2:41:10] districts in our Kansas that are

[2:41:13] struggling in so many ways that we don't

[2:41:15] even think about just because of their

[2:41:17] student numbers, their enrollment, their connections for internet, etc. So,

[2:41:23] it's it's uh really interesting get that

[2:41:26] broader viewpoint. And then I just want

[2:41:28] to make some comments about football and

[2:41:32] soccer in our heat. And I'm hoping that

[2:41:36] our coaches, our parents are really

[2:41:39] keeping an eye on our students in this

[2:41:41] horrible heat we're having right now.

[2:41:44] And that that strenuous uh sports that

[2:41:47] they I really like I'm hoping that we

[2:41:50] are doing a later start on our

[2:41:52] footballs. I heard that on to you that

[2:41:55] some districts are I'm hoping that we

[2:41:57] take all those precautions and keep our

[2:41:59] students safe in this really uh

[2:42:02] difficult time and weather.

[2:42:05] Just a comment and observation there.

[2:42:08] Thank you. [laughter]

[2:42:13] So, I also want to uh uh

[2:42:18] say kudos for those involved in rolling

[2:42:21] out Parent Square. Excuse

[2:42:23] [clears throat] me. I uh I I I was

[2:42:26] pleased when the district decided to to

[2:42:28] start using that feature. Um both of my

[2:42:33] kids, my 17-year-olds who were in in the

[2:42:36] Kansas City area, their school has been

[2:42:38] using it for several years. So I was

[2:42:40] already very familiar with it, very

[2:42:42] comfortable with it and um I have found

[2:42:45] that uh it is it seems to be working

[2:42:48] very smoothly for our district as well.

[2:42:52] And in fact, there's a feature on there

[2:42:53] that lets me integrate communications

[2:42:56] from 501 and for my my kids' uh uh

[2:43:00] school district, my other kids and and

[2:43:02] uh so I can get it all at one time. So,

[2:43:05] it it really is a a really good system

[2:43:09] and um very pleased that it seems to be

[2:43:12] um getting off to a great start. Uh I

[2:43:15] also want to um thank those members of

[2:43:18] the public that came to share uh their uh perspectives and and thoughts

[2:43:26] and and uh uh reactions to um the uh

[2:43:33] budgetary and the fiscal issues that we

[2:43:37] discussed uh tonight. Um, I I I in

[2:43:42] thinking about it, I I I wish I wish

[2:43:44] there was a a a

[2:43:46] more effective method that we could use

[2:43:49] to keep the public informed about a lot

[2:43:53] of the things that are occurring that

[2:43:55] drive up costs. So, so that the the

[2:43:58] public has a clear understanding as to

[2:44:01] why we are um going back and revising

[2:44:05] our budget and and making changes to our

[2:44:08] re revenue neutral rate so that they understand for all the reasons

[2:44:12] we've talked about whether it's you know

[2:44:15] physical infrastructure or the cost of

[2:44:19] diesel fuel or uh the the cost of

[2:44:23] supporting special education when the

[2:44:26] legislature

[2:44:27] does not uh all these things and more

[2:44:30] are are what go into our planning

[2:44:33] process and and and we've been taking a

[2:44:36] hard look at our budgetary issues for

[2:44:39] quite a while now. Um but I I

[2:44:43] hope that that the the the public will

[2:44:46] understand we're trying to run a a lean

[2:44:49] mean education machine. Um, and uh,

[2:44:53] sometimes that means that that we have

[2:44:55] to uh, make some tough choices. Um, and

[2:44:58] we're not happy about it. Um, I'm I'm a

[2:45:01] homeowner, too. Um, so, uh, but I what I

[2:45:06] think is important is that we're we're

[2:45:08] committed to, um, making sure that, um,

[2:45:12] the the students and and the

[2:45:14] professionals in our district are, uh,

[2:45:17] getting the things that they need in

[2:45:18] order to to do the work of of public

[2:45:21] education here at uh, Topeka Public

[2:45:23] Schools. Um, we had two I I had two

[2:45:29] meetings that I was at over the course

[2:45:32] of the past week or so. Um, so we had

[2:45:35] policy council meeting on Monday and um,

[2:45:42] uh, Mrs. Wallace joined us for that and

[2:45:45] talked to us about the the parent and

[2:45:47] family engagement policy um, that we'll

[2:45:51] see uh, occurring. um that'll come out

[2:45:54] pretty soon. Um that's a that's a policy

[2:45:58] that will kind of uh

[2:46:01] address student achievement and school

[2:46:03] success and how we can um continue to

[2:46:08] involve parents in that process and and to make sure that that their voices

[2:46:13] are being um a part of of uh of uh those

[2:46:18] processes as they move move forward. Um,

[2:46:21] also, um, since, um, Mrs. Schmidt wasn't

[2:46:26] able to attend the DCAC meeting on

[2:46:29] Tuesday, I swapped with her and and so I

[2:46:31] was I was the the board representative

[2:46:34] on Tuesday at DCAC. Dr. Anderson said

[2:46:39] they have never asked any other board

[2:46:42] member these many questions. [laughter]

[2:46:45] So, they they asked a lot of questions.

[2:46:47] They were very inquisitive about um some

[2:46:49] of the things that um uh I talked with

[2:46:53] them about um all of which we have

[2:46:56] discussed uh and and made decisions on

[2:46:59] in in the meeting tonight. But that was

[2:47:01] another venue to kind of help um a a

[2:47:05] group of of uh our constituents and

[2:47:08] members of the public understand um some

[2:47:11] of the the the things going on and and

[2:47:14] what we are um uh really kind of faced

[2:47:18] with as far as the challenges of funding

[2:47:21] in particular. Um

[2:47:24] there there was a couple of things that

[2:47:26] I thought were really important from DCAC to pass on. one was the fact

[2:47:30] that they they've kind of set they've

[2:47:32] decided what their priorities are going

[2:47:34] to be for this year. Um so we'll

[2:47:36] probably see more about that as the year

[2:47:38] goes on because they'll do they'll report back to us what they

[2:47:43] chose for the topics of their study. The

[2:47:45] first was transportation. They want to

[2:47:47] look at at transportation issues. And

[2:47:50] then they also want to look at creating

[2:47:52] a benevolence fund. And that that seems

[2:47:55] to be kind of a a safety net financially

[2:47:58] to help folks who are struggling or or

[2:48:01] are facing a unexpected crisis. And um

[2:48:05] that could be a fund that they would be

[2:48:07] able to to to use to to help people who need it. Um I think they're also

[2:48:13] looking for a vice president if I

[2:48:15] remember correctly. So hopefully they

[2:48:17] can they can find one and kind of build

[2:48:19] to the ranks. Um and um good luck to

[2:48:24] them. Looking forward to seeing what

[2:48:25] they come up with. That's all I have.

[2:48:30] Um I was also a member of the policy

[2:48:32] committee and we did talk about family

[2:48:34] engagement with Miss Wallace. Um we also

[2:48:37] have on our agenda as well bullying as

[2:48:39] well as a purchasing policy. and the

[2:48:41] bullying policy as we're reviewing this

[2:48:43] I think is really important in light of

[2:48:44] all of a lot of changes that are going

[2:48:45] on we still want to make sure uh that

[2:48:48] our students are safe and that everybody

[2:48:51] feels welcome and so I think that's

[2:48:53] something that's particularly important

[2:48:54] is to understand that the culture that

[2:48:56] we create here is still um is still

[2:48:59] focused on making sure that that uh we

[2:49:01] are engaging students and that they're

[2:49:03] prepared to be successful um in the

[2:49:06] future and purchasing policy again

[2:49:09] talking about the idea of making sure

[2:49:11] that we are efficient, that we're

[2:49:12] looking for ways to to save dollars. Uh

[2:49:15] reviewing uh we talked about it a couple

[2:49:17] of meetings ago, but we'll it'll be

[2:49:19] coming up here soon a an update on our

[2:49:21] purchasing policy to make sure that

[2:49:23] we're doing uh the best we can to take

[2:49:25] care of uh our public dollars. So, uh

[2:49:28] last thing I uh you know, I'm curious

[2:49:30] about how our cell phone uh policy has

[2:49:33] been sort of received and what are we

[2:49:34] seeing in our schools and our high

[2:49:36] schools in particular. So, it might be a

[2:49:38] great idea for us in in the future just

[2:49:40] to get a quick update from some of our

[2:49:41] high school principles to see what uh

[2:49:43] what they're seeing on the ground level.

[2:49:45] So,

[2:49:48] >> my only committee was policy and it has

[2:49:50] been covered and it's getting late. So,

[2:49:53] I would just like to say thank you to um

[2:49:56] everyone that has contributed to budget

[2:49:59] uh stuff and everyone who came to speak

[2:50:02] tonight and um have a good evening.

[2:50:06] Um, I too want to echo uh thank you to

[2:50:09] the leadership team. We had a lot of

[2:50:11] meaty topics tonight that I know

[2:50:14] required a lot of background work from

[2:50:15] you guys. So, thank you so much for

[2:50:17] putting that together. Um, we hope to

[2:50:20] have more of these conversations during

[2:50:22] board meetings just to keep these topics

[2:50:25] and everything else out in the open and

[2:50:26] being as transparent as possible with

[2:50:28] our taxpayers and how we're utilizing

[2:50:30] their tax dollars. um that I I want to

[2:50:35] echo thanking everybody for coming and

[2:50:37] speaking. I know it's very intimidating

[2:50:39] for a lot of people to come up there and

[2:50:41] stand and they worry that they don't

[2:50:43] know enough or aren't going to say the

[2:50:44] right thing. Um but I very much

[2:50:46] appreciate people giving up their

[2:50:48] personal time um to come lend a voice uh

[2:50:52] to their tax dollars and how they're

[2:50:54] being spent. And I want to thank um the

[2:50:58] district for our activity passes. Those

[2:51:01] are always exciting and um to receive

[2:51:03] and means a school year is starting and

[2:51:05] we have lots of things to attend. Thank

[2:51:07] you Keith for switching out on me on the

[2:51:09] meeting. When Dr. Gray sent me the date

[2:51:11] I was sad to say I already had a concert

[2:51:13] on the calendar so I was like so I very

[2:51:16] much appreciate um your flexibility. Uh

[2:51:19] with that I am looking to item number 25

[2:51:23] which is adjournment and I need a

[2:51:24] motion.

[2:51:25] >> I move we adjourn and a second.

[2:51:29] Dr. Dr. Bonereak, anybody want to talk

[2:51:30] about it or do we just want to vote? All

[2:51:33] right, raise your right hand.

[2:51:36] >> It's unanimous.

[2:51:37] >> We are adjourned.

9-3-2026 Board of Education

Transcript