Oct 17, 2024 School Board

AND UM, VICE PRESIDENT MARTIN IS ABSENT TONIGHT.

HE'S ACTUALLY ATTENDING THE NATIONAL SCHOOL START TIME CONFERENCE, SO WISHING HIM WELL.

CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THE REPORT.

ALRIGHT, WE'LL

[B. Minutes]

NOW MOVE TO B ONE.

MEETING MINUTES, APPROVAL OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2024 REGULAR BOARD MEETING.

THE SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2024 SPECIAL BOARD MEETING AND THE SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2024 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AS PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL.

IS THERE A MOTION IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. RUSS.

IS THERE A SECOND? IT'S BEEN SECONDED BY MS. SOLE.

UH, COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD AT THIS TIME? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE WILL TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.

SEEING NONE, WE'LL RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.

OKAY, WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A VOTE.

PLEASE VOTE ROLL.

MADAM PRESIDENT, CAN WE DO A ROLL CALL? YES, WE WILL HAVE A ROLL CALL VOTE.

DISTRICT THREE PRESIDENT POWELL LEWIS.

DISTRICT SEVEN, MR. GOD DAY.

DISTRICT EIGHT, MS. SOLE? YES.

MOTION CARRIES.

WILL NOW MOVE FORWARD INTO ALPHABET C INFORMATION ONLY.

[C. Information Only]

UH, THERE'S A MONTHLY FINANCIAL, UH, REPORT THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR VIEWING ON BOARD DOCS.

UM, PERSONNEL CHANGES ARE AVAILABLE, UH, FOR YOUR VIEWING ON BOARD DOCS.

THE NEXT IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A PUBLIC MEETING THAT I MUST SHARE WITH YOU.

THIS IS A NOTICE.

THIS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT AT ITS MEETING TO BE HELD ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2024 AT 5:00 PM AT ITS REGULAR MEETING PLACE, THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE 10 50 SOUTH FOSTER DRIVE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF THE, THE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE.

STATE OF LOUISIANA.

PLANS TO CONSIDER ADOPTING A RESOLUTION, ORDERING AND CALLING AN ELECTION TO BE HELD IN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONE OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA TO AUTHORIZE THE RENEWAL OF A VALOREM TAXES THEREIN.

OKAY, WE WILL NOW PROCEED FORWARD.

[D.1. Update from Superintendent]

ALPHABET D WE'RE RECEIVING AS INFORMATION UPDATES FROM OUR SUPERINTENDENT, MR. COLE.

GOOD AFTERNOON MADAM PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD MEMBERS IN THE AUDIENCE.

AS ALWAYS, I WANT TO THANK STAFF FOR BEING HERE, UH, WITH US THIS EVENING, EVEN THOUGH I KNOW YOU HAVE TO BE HERE.

WE STILL THANK YOU, UH, FOR BEING HERE WITH US.

UH, AT THIS TIME, WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT A FEW THINGS THAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, AS WE HAVE RECOGNIZED, UH, THE PRINCIPAL AT MAYFAIR LAB, THE STAFF, THE STUDENTS, AND ALL OF THE FACULTY THERE FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND EARNING A NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON AWARD, WE WERE THERE WITH THEM TO CELEBRATE, UH, TWO WEEKS AGO ON FRIDAY.

AN OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM, AND WE'LL BE SPENDING SOME TIME WITH THEM IN DC UH, WHEN THEY RECEIVED THE ACTUAL AWARD.

[00:10:01]

OCTOBER 10TH WAS WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY.

I'D LIKE TO THANK OUR DISTRICT'S MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS FOR ALL THEY DO TO REMIND EVERYONE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIORITIZING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH.

UH, LET ME SAY THIS.

I GO, UH, AND SEE MY THERAPIST, UH, EVERY WEEK.

AND, UH, SINCE TAKING THIS JOB, I'VE GONE TO SEE MY THERAPIST TWICE A WEEK.

UH, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU, UH, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, TAKE CARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH, AND SIT DOWN AND TALK TO SOMEONE.

AND THERE IS A STIGMA, AND IT'S NOT JUST IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, BUT IT'S IN MANY COMMUNITIES THAT IF YOU, UH, NEED MENTAL THERAPY, SUPPORT COUNSELING, THAT THERE PERHAPS IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU.

WELL, I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THERE MAY BE, BUT THE ONLY WAY TO IDENTIFY WHAT IS WRONG IS IF YOU GO AND TALK TO SOMEONE AND GET THE HELP, UH, YOU NEED.

UH, I HAVE LEARNED THROUGH MY THERAPIST.

I'VE BEEN CRAZY A LONG TIME.

AND, UH, WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS ADDRESSING SOME OF THE ISSUES WE HAVE AND IT'S VERY, VERY, UH, POSITIVE.

UH, THIS WEEK IS DIGITAL CITIZENS WEEK.

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE WEEK AND USE THE LINKS TO CHECK OUT THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT ARE POSTED THERE FOR YOU.

ALSO, AS YOU CAN SEE THE BEAUTIFUL RED RIBBONS, WE ARE RECOGNIZING RED RIBBON MONTH WITH ALL OF OUR ICARE EMPLOYEES AND STAFF.

PLEASE STAND TO BE RECOGNIZED AT THIS TIME.

WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WORK YOU DO, MS. BRADFORD AND YOUR TEAM, UH, FOR BEING IN OUR SCHOOLS.

UH, THEY MOVE AROUND THE DISTRICT OFTENTIMES WHEN THERE IS TRAGEDY, UH, THEY MOVE AROUND THE DISTRICT OFTENTIMES WHEN WE NEED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO OUR STUDENTS AND STAFF AROUND CRITICAL ISSUES.

AND THEN OFTENTIMES THEY MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE JUST TO BE OF SUPPORT FOR ALL OF US, UH, WHO WORK IN THE DISTRICT.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, EVERY DAY FOR WHAT YOU DO.

MS. RAS, YOU SHOULD HAVE STOOD TOO 'CAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE FIRST MET WHEN YOU WORKED WITH ICARE.

SO DEFINITELY ONCE WORKING IN ICARE AS A COUNSELOR, MR. SHAMBLIN ALWAYS A MEMBER OF THE ICARE TEAM.

SO WE THANK YOU.

THANK ALL OF YOU SO MUCH FOR WHAT YOU DO.

UH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD, IF YOU LOOK AT YOUR SEAT, YOU WILL SEE AN UPDATED A HUNDRED DAY PLAN BASED ON THE FIRST 50 DAYS OF THE JOB.

THIS IS DAY 49 FOR ME.

SO I DO WANT TO TALK ABOUT A FEW OF THE THINGS WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO COMMENT, ACCOMPLISH THROUGHOUT THE FIRST 50 DAYS.

THE IDEA WAS TO CONTINUOUSLY ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY.

UH, AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT, UH, BY ATTENDING 20 SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, UH, VISITING 60 OF THE 88 SCHOOLS IN OUR PORTFOLIO, AND THEN WORKING EXTREMELY HARD TO ENSURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO DO THE THINGS WE KNOW WE NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE DISTRICT.

I'M EXTREMELY PROUD AND I'M EXCITED AND I'M OVERWHELMED BY WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN OUR SCHOOLS FROM OUR TEACHERS AND STAFF SUPPORT STAFF.

UH, EVERY SCHOOL I HAVE VISITED, I'VE TRIED TO MAKE IT A POINT NOT ONLY TO VISIT WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM, VISIT WITH TEACHERS, VISIT WITH STUDENTS, VISIT WITH PARAPROFESSIONALS, BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT VISIT WITH THE CUSTODIANS ON THE CAMPUS, VISIT WITH THE CAFETERIA.

AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY, MY, MY VISITS ARE ALWAYS TO TAKE PICTURE WITH THE CAFETERIA STAFF, UH, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES WHO TAKE CARE OF ALL OF THE, UH, BABIES IN THE BUILDING, THE STUDENTS IN THE BUILDING, THE FACULTY AND STAFF.

AND IT TAKES A TOTAL TEAM EFFORT IN ORDER TO EDUCATE AND OPERATE A THRIVING INSTITUTION THAT WE CALL A SCHOOL.

AND SO THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS, UH, WHO DO THIS WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY.

WE HAVE CONVENED SEVERAL ADVISORY GROUPS, ONE WITH STUDENTS, ONE WITH PARENTS, ONE WITH TEACHERS AND ONE WITH SCHOOL LEADERS TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CRITICAL NEEDS WE HAVE HERE IN THE DISTRICT.

ONE OF THE THINGS I HOPE WE CAN CONTINUOUSLY DO IS BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT OUR CHALLENGES.

WE HAVE CHALLENGES WITHIN THE DISTRICT BECAUSE IF WE HAD NO CHALLENGES, EVERY STUDENT WOULD BE MAKING ALL A'S THERE'D BE NO ISSUES AND EVERYONE, UH, WOULD BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING HE OR SHE CHOOSES TO DO.

WHAT WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS THOUGH, IS ENSURING THAT WE PROVIDE THE RIGHT TYPE OF SUPPORTS FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS SO THEY CAN, UH, MAKE POSITIVE CHOICES.

UH, THERE HAVE BEEN 35 DOCUMENTED ENGAGEMENTS WITH DISTRICT COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND OFFICIAL INCLUSIVE OF THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE TEACHERS UNIONS, UH, THE CHARTER MANAGEMENT GROUPS, AND ALL OF THE STAKEHOLDERS WHO HAVE INTEREST IN, UH, DOING AND SUPPORTING THE WORK, UH, THAT WE ARE DOING IN OUR SCHOOLS.

UH, AND OUR BRIDGE PROCESS.

THE BRIDGE PROCESSES IS SIMPLY LOOKING TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THOSE OF OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE GETTING IT, UH, AT GRADE LEVEL AND THOSE OF OUR STUDENTS WHO NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS TO LEARN AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL.

AND WHAT WE'VE CONDUCTED NOW IS A SERIES OF DATA REVIEWS WITH OUR SCHOOLS, STARTING WITH, UH, THOSE WHO ARE IN HIGH NEED.

AND WE CALL THOSE SCHOOLS OUR A US SCHOOLS.

SO THERE IS A DATA-DRIVEN PROGRESS MONITORING THAT IS HAPPENING AT ALL SCHOOL SITES IN VARIOUS FORMS, INCLUSIVE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRACKING THE SUPPORT PLANS.

UH, STAFF HAS COMPLETED THE LDOE OCTOBER DATA AND REPORTING SUBMISSIONS.

OUR CITY SUITES MIGRATIONS, UH, MR. GODDE ARE ONGOING AND STAFF IS WORKING TO IMPROVE

[00:15:01]

THE FINANCIAL EFFICIENCIES AND TRANSITIONS.

AND WHILE WE STILL ARE, ARE RUNNING INTO A FEW CHALLENGES, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THOSE CHALLENGES DAILY, UH, WITH DAILY UPDATES ON HOW WE ARE DOING.

STAFF HAS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP, UH, STREAMLINE RESPONSES AND PROTOCOLS, PROTOCOLS INCLUSIVE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND CRISIS IMPLEMENTATION DURING THAT HURRICANE FRANCINA SUPPORTING THE SWIFT RETURN TO IN-PERSON SCHOOL, UH, SHORTLY THEREAFTER.

AND THEN RESTORE, RESTORE TRUST, UH, FROM THE COMMUNITY, WHICH IS A CHALLENGE AT TIMES, UH, BECAUSE WE'VE HAD SOME CHALLENGING TIMES IN THE CITY.

UH, BUT WE HAVE TO WORK IN AN ORGANIZED FASHION.

I HAVE SAID THIS TIME AND TIME AGAIN, UH, LEADERSHIP MATTERS AND HOW WE CONDUCT OURSELVES AND WHAT WE DO, UH, ON THIS BODY, UH, AND HOW WE MODEL THE BEHAVIOR WE SEEK TO SEE, UH, IN OUR SCHOOLS AND HOW WHAT WE EXPECT FROM OUR STAFF IS IMPORTANT.

AND SO, UH, CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ALL SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAMS IN THE AREA OF HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING STRUCTURES, REBRANDING AND RESTRUCTURING OUR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN REALLY EXCITING.

UH, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH MANY OF OUR COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS.

UH, BRACK AND BRAD HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN ASSISTING US IN CARRYING OUT SOME OF THE INITIATIVES WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT.

AND THEN WE'VE REQUESTED AND SECURE ADDITIONAL SUPPORT, UH, FROM LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

UH, I AND MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM WERE ABLE, UH, TO GO VISIT WITH SUPERINTENDENT BRUMLEY AND HIS TEAM AND TALK ABOUT WAYS, UH, THEY CAN BETTER SUPPORT US IN SOME OF THE AREAS OF NEED.

WE NEED AGGRESSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OUR TEACHERS, AND WE ALSO NEED AGGRESSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OUR SCHOOL LEADERS.

SO WE CAN CREATE A PIPELINE OF LEADERS WHO ARE READY TO STEP UP WHEN SOME TRANSITION TO, UH, EARLY RETIREMENT.

AND THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE HELPING OUR TEACHERS WHO ARE NOT CERTIFIED GET CERTIFIED.

AND THEN ONCE A TEACHER IS CERTIFIED, WE NEED TO ASK THEM TO COME HERE AND BE CELEBRATED FOR THAT SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN THEIR LIVES.

BECOMING A CERTIFIED TEACHER IS A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE CREDENTIALED, PREPARED AND READY TO WORK WITH STUDENTS IN ANY CAPACITY.

AND SO WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE ALL OF OUR TEACHERS WHO ARE WORKING OUR SYSTEM, WHO ARE NOT CERTIFIED TO WORK TOWARDS THAT PROCESS.

AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT, THOSE WHO ARE NOT CERTIFIED, WE SINCERELY APPRECIATE, UH, THE WORK YOU DO EVERY SINGLE DAY WITH OUR STUDENTS AND DO NOT TAKE IT LIGHTLY.

UH, THIS IS NOT EASY WORK WE DO, AND IT'S NOT EASY BEING A TEACHER, BUT WE THANK YOU, UH, FOR TAKING THE CHALLENGE AND DOING THE WORK EACH AND EVERY DAY.

UH, OUR FOCUS AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WILL BE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, UH, HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, AND THEN THE OPTIMIZATION AND RIGHT SIZING OF OUR PROGRAMS AND SCHOOLS, WHICH IS GOING TO LOOK, UH, DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT SPACES AND PLACES.

I'M EXCITED.

UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND, WE HAD AN EXTREMELY DELIGHTFUL BOARD RETREAT ON OCTOBER 5TH.

EXTREMELY EXCITING.

UH, IT WAS A LOT OF MUSIC, A LOT OF SINGING, A LOT OF DANCING.

IT WAS A GOOD TIME.

AND I'M JUST SIMPLY SAYING THAT FOR THOSE WHO WEREN'T ABLE TO BE THERE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, IF YOU WEREN'T THERE, YOU DIDN'T HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

UH, WE HAD A REALLY GOOD TIME.

AND THEN TWO OF THE TOPICS WE TALKED ABOUT, A IS A STRATEGIC PLAN, UH, MAKING THE ADJUSTMENTS TO ENSURE THAT ALL NINE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD HAVE SOME STAKE INTO HOW WE ARE GOING TO PROCEED.

AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE BEGINNING DISCUSSIONS OF THE OPTIMIZATION AND A SCHOOL ALIGNMENT PROCESS WE ARE LOOKING TO COMPLETE AS WE GO FORWARD IN OUR PROGRESS.

NOW WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WANT TO TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE, FIRST AND FOREMOST I WANT TO THANK OUR SHERIFF S TRO AND MEMBERS OF THE EAST PALM PARISH SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, AND THOSE WHO HAVE OFFERED THEMSELVES A SERVICE TO BE OUR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS.

THEY HELP US EVERY DAY.

THEY MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE.

THEY'RE EXTREMELY SUPPORTIVE, AND WE THANK THEM, UH, FOR THE WORK THEY DO EVERY DAY, THE MEMBERS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR GOING INTO OUR SCHOOLS.

AS I WALK INTO BUILDINGS EVERY DAY, I SEE THEM ENGAGING WITH OUR STUDENTS IN A POSITIVE WAY AND MAKING SURE THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND OUR STUDENTS IS ONE THAT IS POSITIVE.

BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE'VE HAD TREMENDOUS SUPPORT FROM BRPD.

AND SO I WANT TO THANK, UH, THE, UH, THE CHAIR, NO, EXCUSE ME, THE CHIEF FOR ALLOWING HIS OFFICERS TO OFFER THEMSELVES TO BE SERVICE TO OUR SCHOOLS AS WELL.

THE MORE ADULTS, THE MORE MEMBERS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, THE MORE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY WHO ARE KEEPING THEIR EYES OPEN, WHO ARE COMMUNICATING, WHO ARE WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN ENSURE THAT WE ARE BEING PROACTIVE AND WORKING TO KEEP OUR STUDENTS SAFE.

UH, SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD EVERY MONTH GOING FORWARD, WE ARE GOING TO PICK ONE SCHOOL FROM EACH DISTRICT TO HIGHLIGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS AT OUR BOARD MEETINGS.

UH, WE HAVE TO BE REMINDED THAT THE WORK AND THE JOB AT OUR BOARD MEETING IS TO FOCUS ON STUDENT OUTCOMES.

AND SO WE WANT TO BRING A SCHOOL TO HIGHLIGHT FROM EACH DISTRICT.

AND SO WE'RE GONNA START WITH DISTRICT ONE.

AND TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION, UH, FROM MSDA, WHO IS THE PRINCIPAL AT TWIN

[00:20:01]

OAKS ELEMENTARY.

LET'S GIVE HER A ROUND OF APPLAUSE AS SHE COMES.

SOMEBODY GOTTA GET EXCITED ABOUT LEARNING.

AND SO WE'RE GONNA ASK MSDA TO COME.

I HAVE VISITED WITH HER, SHE'S DOING, UH, SOME PHENOMENAL WORKSHEET, IS A DATA GURU.

AND SO WE ARE JUST EXCITED AND DELIGHTED THAT SHE'S HERE TO TALK ABOUT TWIN OAKS ELEMENTARY.

MS. JANDA, WELL THANK YOU FOR THAT INTRODUCTION.

I HOPE I LIVE UP TO IT.

SO I DON'T NORMALLY DANCE ON TV, SO, UH, I'M NOT GONNA QUIT MY DAY JOB, SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT.

SO, UM, GREEDY IS FROM TWIN OAKS ELEMENTARY.

I AM TERRY JOHN, THE PROUD PRINCIPAL OF TWIN OAKS.

AND WE HAVE GROWN AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO GROW.

SO SOME OF OUR HIGHLIGHTS FOR TWIN OAKS INCLUDE OUR DIBELS RESULTS.

SO TWIN OAKS IS A COMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL.

WE ARE NOT MAGNET.

WE HAVE JUST RECENTLY BECOME A SEED GRANT SCHOOL WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO BECOME A PILLAR IN THE COMMUNITY AND MAKE SURE THAT OUR STUDENTS ARE LEAVING TWIN OAKS READY TO HIT JUNIOR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL ON LEVEL.

AND SO US BEING TOP 10 IN THE DISTRICT, THE SCHOOLS THAT ARE ABOVE US ARE A LOT OF MAGNET SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLS OF CHOICE.

AND SO WE ARE VERY PROUD THAT AS A COMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL, THAT WE ARE NUMBER 10 IN DIBELS.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE SLIDE, OUR STUDENTS, TWIN OAKS DATA IS IN THE RED.

AND OUR STUDENTS ARE OUTPERFORMING DISTRICT AND STATE IN MANY CATEGORIES.

SO WE BELIEVE IN BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.

IF WE DO NOT HAVE OUR K THROUGH TWO STUDENTS READY, THEN ONCE THEY HIT THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE, ONCE THEY MOVE FROM PHONICS TO BEING ABLE TO READ INDEPENDENTLY, IT'S NOT GONNA WORK.

SO WE ARE BUILDING OUR PROGRAM BY STARTING FROM THE GROUND UP AND ENSURING GREAT EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION FOR ALL FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.

AND DID I SKIP ASIDE? OKAY.

SO HERE WE ARE WITH SEED GRANT.

SO WE ARE ONE YEAR INTO SEED GRANT, AND ONE THING THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS BRING THE COMMUNITY IN.

AND WE HAVE HAD MANY VENDORS AND PARTNERS COME IN.

WE'VE INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF PARTICIPATION WITH PARENTS COMING OFF OF POST COVID.

IT WAS VERY HARD TO GET PEOPLE BACK IN.

AND NOW WE'RE HAVING PARTNERSHIPS AND DAYS WHERE WE ARE HAVING VENDORS COME IN.

WE MAY CALL ON SOME OF YOU SOMETIME SO THAT YOU CAN COME IN AND SHARE WITH THE KIDS.

AND BY THE END OF THE YEAR, WE ARE GONNA HAVE OUR CHILDREN BE THE PRESENTERS ABOUT CAREER PATHS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM.

BUT SEED GRANT IS MAKING FIELD TRIPS POSSIBLE.

IT'S MAKING HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES POSSIBLE, AND WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY.

NEXT SLIDE.

SO HOW DID WE IMPROVE? SO FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, AND IT MAY BE A A SLIDE NOT ON HERE, A SLIDE THAT WE SKIPPED.

WHEN I FIRST TOOK, TOOK OVER TWIN OAKS ELEMENTARY, THIS IS MY FOURTH YEAR.

WE WERE AT A 58.3.

AND THIS YEAR I AM ANTICIPATING WE ARE GONNA BE AROUND A 78.

SO WE HAVE GROWN.

WE DID THIS BY FIRST STARTING WITH THE LITTLE THINGS COMING IN AS A NEW PRINCIPAL, I DID NOT WANNA OVERTURN A LOT OF THINGS.

I WANTED TO RESPECT THE PROCESS AND THE TEACHERS WHO WERE THERE WHO WERE DOING THE HARD WORK.

AND SO WE STARTED WITH SMALL CHANGES, LOOKING AT HOW DO WE JUST GET STUDENTS WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM, ACROSS THE CONTENT IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.

AND JUST THAT ONE CHANGE LED US FROM A D TO A C AND THEN WE JUST KEPT MOVING FROM THERE LOOKING AT THE WRITING PROCESS.

AND THEN OUR NEW FOCUS IS GONNA BE ON READING COMPREHENSION SO THAT WE CAN INCREASE READING COMPREHENSION SO THAT WE ARE MATCHING OUR COMMUNICATION STYLE.

AND AGAIN, LOOKING AT FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS FOR THE LITTLES, WE ALREADY HAVE A CURRICULUM.

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CURRICULUM? TRUSTING OUR, UM, COACHES THAT WERE IN THE BUILDING AT THE TIME TO GIVE JOB EMBEDDED PD SO THAT THE TEACHERS CAN REALLY FOCUS IN ON WHAT THE STUDENT'S NEEDS ARE.

AND SMALL GROUPS IS WHERE, WHERE IT'S HAPPENING.

AND THEN POSSIBLY ONE MORE SLIDE.

NEXT SLIDE.

THERE WE GO.

AND THIS IS, THIS HAS BEEN OUR JOURNEY.

SO THIS IS WHERE I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

SO WE'VE INCREASED PRETTY MUCH EVERY YEAR THAT WE'VE BEEN THERE.

AND WE PLAN TO KEEP ON CLIMBING.

IT'S NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE HARD WORK OF THE TEACHERS, WITHOUT STUDENTS COMING EVERY DAY, WITHOUT DEDICATION, WITHOUT GROWING PROFESSIONALLY GROWING PAINS AS FAR AS WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? HOW DO I REACH MY STUDENTS? SO I'M VERY PROUD OF THE STAFF.

I'M VERY PROUD OF WHAT WE BRING AS FAR AS AN EDUC EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY TO TWIN OAKS.

AND I INVITE YOU TO COME VISIT US AT ANY TIME.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. JOHN.

KEEP UP THAT SOME WORK.

UH, WHEN I SAT AND SPOKE WITH MS. JOHNNA FOR A LONG TIME, SHE SAID SHE'S MORE THAN WILLING TO WORK WITH YOUNG PRINCIPALS TO SHARE WITH THEM SOME OF THE STRATEGIES SHE IMPLEMENTED AT TWIN OAKS.

AND THAT IS WHAT WE NEED FROM OUR LEADERS TO WORK WITH OTHER LEADERS TO ENSURE, UH, THAT WE ARE SHARING BEST PRACTICES AND IDEAS TO HELP IMPROVE OUR

[00:25:01]

SCHOOLS.

AND SO, UH, NEXT MONTH WE'LL BE GO WITH DISTRICT TWO AND WE'LL IDENTIFY SCHOOL.

HUH? YOU HAPPY? OKAY.

WE'LL IDENTIFY A SCHOOL, UH, UH, TO, TO HIGHLIGHT.

AND IN ADDITION TO THAT NEXT MONTH, WE'RE GOING TO, I HAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION ABOUT OUR A US SCHOOLS.

UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANNA DO IS MAKE SURE WE KEEP THE BOARD INFORMED ON WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR A US SCHOOLS, WHAT ARE IS OUR PLAN TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE DEFICIENCIES IN OUR A US SCHOOLS AND WHERE WE ARE IN TERMS OF OUR PROGRESS MONITORING OF THOSE SCHOOLS.

AND SO, UH, WE'LL HAVE A PRESENTATION FOR YOU, UH, NEXT MONTH.

UH, WITH THAT BEING SAID, AGAIN, AS ALWAYS, I WANT TO THANK, UH, THE BOARD FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE A SUPERINTENDENT.

I WANNA THANK STAFF, UH, FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH YOU, UH, AS WE CONTINUE TO DO THIS MONTH.

AND THEN WE WILL AS WE CONTINUE TO DO THIS WORK.

AND WE WILL BE BACK AGAIN, UH, FOR THE COMMITTEE AT A WHOLE, WITH ANOTHER PRESENTATION FROM ONE OF OUR OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS.

AND LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, LET ME SAY THIS.

IF WE DON'T GO IN OUR SCHOOLS TO SEE THE WONDERFUL THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING, UH, WITH OUR STUDENTS, WITH OUR TEACHERS, WITH OUR FACULTY AND STAFF, WE CAN'T EXPECT ANYONE OUTSIDE OF OUR SCHOOLS, UH, TO CHAMPION THE GOODNESS THAT IS, UH, EAST PARENTS PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.

AND LET ME SAY, THERE IS FAR, FAR, FAR MORE GOOD HAPPENING IN OUR CLASSROOMS THAN THERE IS NEGATIVE.

AND SO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHICH WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON, AND WE ARE GONNA CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE WHILE ALWAYS ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES AND BUILDING ON THE DEFICIENCIES.

WE KNOW THEY EXIST.

BUT IF WE TALK ABOUT THAT, THEN THE NARRATIVE BECOMES THAT'S ALL WE HAVE GOING ON IN OUR SCHOOLS.

SO LET'S HIGHLIGHT THE GOOD, ADDRESS THE NEEDS, WORK ON THE DEFICIENCIES, AND GET BETTER EVERY DAY.

UH, WITH THAT, THAT IS MY REPORT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING.

WELL THE NEXT THAT WE HAVE IS, UH, MY UPDATE.

AND CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN TO TWIN OAKS ON YOUR, UH, GROWTH.

ALRIGHT,

[D.2. Update from Board President]

AND ACTUALLY I HAVE LENDED MY UPDATES TO MY COLLEAGUES, UH, FOR OUR BOOK STUDY.

SO, OF COURSE, UH, FOR THE LAST FULL BOARD MEETING, WE HEARD FROM, UH, VICE PRESIDENT MARTIN, AND WE ALSO HEARD FROM MR. BALLOU.

THIS TIME WE WILL HEAR FROM SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LANIS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SOLE ON CHAPTERS FIVE THROUGH EIGHT OF GREAT ON THEIR BEHALF, WHILE WHY SCHOOL BOARDS FAIL AND HOW YOURS CAN BECOME EFFECTIVE.

AND I THINK THEY DIVIDED UP THEIR WORK.

SO WHO STARTS FIRST? OKAY.

ALRIGHT, MR. LANIS.

HELLO, CLASS , WELCOME TO MR. LANDIS' NEIGHBORHOOD.

UH, BUT BEFORE I GO, I DON'T WANT PEOPLE AT HOME TO THINK I'M JUST CRAZY BECAUSE I DO HAVE ON A PINK SLIP.

UNFORTUNATELY, I DIDN'T HAVE TO HAVE TIME TO RUN HOME AND PUT ON PINK BECAUSE WE ARE, UH, SHOWING, UH, SUPPORT FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.

SO I RAN INTO APRIL'S OFFICE AND SHE HELPED ME OUT.

SO APRIL AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU .

AND WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET AWAY FROM THE THINGS THAT ADULTS ALWAYS WANT TO TALK ABOUT? WHEN ARE WE GOING TO ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THE STUDENTS AND LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY, FOLLOW THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS TILL WE CAN GET TO A NEW LEVEL OF SUCCESS INSIDE OF A STUDENT'S OUTCOME FOCUSED MINDSET? THE BOARD WOULD HAVE SAID, YOUR EVALUATION WILL ALWAYS BE BASED ON WHETHER THE STUDENTS LEARN AND READ AT, AT, UH, AGE APPROPRIATE LEVELS.

AND THANK YOU.

ALRIGHT, THIS WEEK I'LL BE COVERING CHAPTERS FIVE AND SIX.

FIVE, UH, CHAPTER, CHAPTER FIVE IS OUTLINED AS WHAT IS OUR WHY? AND THE FIRST THING THAT IT HIGHLIGHTS IS SOMETHING THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT, SOMETHING WE TALK ABOUT ON THIS BOARD QUITE A BIT.

AND I'M SURE YOU ALL TALK ABOUT IT AT HOME AND PROBABLY AT, UH, WHILE YOU AT WORK.

ADULT INPUTS ARE STUDENT OUTCOMES.

WHY DO WE DO THE WORK? SO I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT SOMETHING 'CAUSE TONIGHT'S GONNA BE MORE OF A LECTURE FOR ME, UH, THAN A, UH, THAN AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT I READ.

IT SAYS A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER NOTICED THAT A MIDDLE SCHOOL READING THAT MIDDLE SCHOOL READING LEVELS WERE LOW.

THE SCHOOL BOARD MET WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT ABOUT THIS MATTER, AND ONE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS INTRODUCED A LITERACY CURRICULUM THAT HE HAD LEARNED ABOUT AT A CONFERENCE.

THIS CURRICULUM IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF ALL SCHOOL SYSTEMS LIKE OURS.

THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER EXPLAINED THIS CAN HELP US ADDRESS OUR LOW LITERACY RATES, WE SHOULD IMPLEMENT IT.

THE SUPERINTENDENT WASN'T THRILLED BY THE IDEA AND EXPLAINED THAT THEY HAD ALREADY DONE A LOT AROUND THE ISSUE OF LITERACY.

IF THEY ADOPTED THIS NEW CURRICULUM, THEY WOULD HAVE TO REMOVE ALL THE OTHER ITEMS FROM THE CURRENT LIST OF RESPONSIBILITIES AND ITEMS TIED TO THE ANNUAL BONUS.

THE NEXT SECTION SPEAKS ON WHAT'S MISSING FROM THIS STORY AS WELL.

INTENDED AS EVERYONE WAS, THIS SCHOOL BOARD APPROACHED THIS SITUATION WITH AN ADULT INPUTS FOCUSED MINDSET RATHER THAN A STUDENT OUTCOMES MINDSET.

AND THEY ARE NOT ALONE.

MANY GENERATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED IN THE ADULTS INPUTS FOCUSED MINDSETS.

NOW, THE REASON WHY I CHOSE TO HIGHLIGHT THIS PARTICULAR SECTION IS BECAUSE WE TALK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME AT THE BOARD.

HOW OFTEN ARE WHEN WE ARE GOING TO ACTUALLY START TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S BEST FOR KIDS? WHEN ARE WE GONNA TALK ABOUT STUDENT BASED OUTCOMES?

[00:30:01]

THIS TELLS ME WE HAVE TO BELIEVE AND TRUST IN THE PERSON WHO WE HIRE TO DO THE JOB, WHICH IS OUR SUPERINTENDENT, RATHER THAN LISTENING TO ALL THE VOICES OUTSIDE OF OUR DAAS AND OUTSIDE OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.

THE NEXT SECTION IN SECTION FIVE SAYS, WHY DO SCHOOL SYSTEMS EXIST? SCHOOL SYSTEMS EXIST FOR ONE REASON AND ONE REASON ONLY TO IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES.

THIS IS THE ONLY REASON THAT SCHOOL SYSTEMS EXIST.

IT WENT ON TO ELABORATE, AND I'LL SAY THIS 'CAUSE I WANT TO ADD EMPHASIS TO WHAT IT WHAT IT WAS EXACTLY EXPLAINED.

SCHOOL SYSTEMS DO NOT EXIST TO HAVE GREAT BUILDINGS, TO HAVE HAPPY PARENTS, HAVE BALANCED BUDGETS, HAVE SATISFIED TEACHERS, PROVIDE STUDENT LUNCHES, PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT IN THE COUNTY, CITY, OR ANYTHING ELSE.

THOSE ARE ALL MEANS AND INCREDIBLE, INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE MEANS.

BUT NONE OF THEM ARE THE ENDS.

NONE OF THESE ARE THE WHY.

WE HAVE A SCHOOL SYSTEM.

THEY ARE ALL INPUTS, NOT OUTCOMES.

NONE OF THOSE ARE THE MEASURES OF WHAT STUDENTS KNOW OR OR WHAT THEY'LL BE ABLE TO DO.

AGAIN, WE OFTENTIMES FIND OURSELVES IN SITUATIONS WHERE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ITEMS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH STUDENT OUTCOMES.

HOW IS THIS GONNA HELP THE STUDENT GROW? HOW DOES THIS HELP THE STUDENT FOCUS INSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM? HOW DOES THIS GET THE STUDENT BACK ON TRACK? HOW DO WE HELP THIS STUDENT TO GO FROM BEING TWO GRADE LEVELS BEHIND TO BEING TWO GRADE LEVELS ABOVE THE NEEDLE? AND AN ENDING? WHY DO SCHOOL BOARD, WHY DO SCHOOL BOARDS EXIST? IN CHAPTER FIVE, THIS IDEA THAT SCHOOL BOARDS EXIST TO CREATE CONDITIONS FOR IMPROVED STUDENT OUTCOMES BY REPRESENTING THE VISION AND VALUES OF THE COMMUNITY IS THE, IS IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH A GREAT IDEA OF A POPULAR THINKING ABOUT BOARDS.

EFFECTIVE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PLACE THE HIGHEST PREMIUM ON WHAT THE OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS ARE IMPROVING RATHER THAN ON WHAT ADULTS ARE DOING OR HOW THE MONEY IS BEING SPENT, WHICH PERSONS ARE BEING HIRED, WHICH COLORS ARE SELECTED, WHICH VENDORS ARE SELECTED.

IT'S CALLED THE DUE DILIGENCE IN MINDSET SAYING SCHOOL BOARD, SCHOOL BOARDS SHOULD JUST FOCUS ON POLICY, BUT THEN NEVER ACTUALLY SETTING GOALS ABOUT STUDENT PERFORMANCE OR MONITORING THEM.

POLICIES THAT AREN'T MONITORED AREN'T ACTUALLY PRIORITIES.

NOW WE TALK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME, AND I'M GONNA GO OVER TO MY GOOD FRIEND, MR. COACH 'CAUSE WE TALK ABOUT THIS QUITE A BIT.

WHETHER WE ARE INSIDE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE OR WHETHER WE ARE JUST HAVING CASUAL CONVERSATION.

HOW DO YOU MONITOR STUDENT SUCCESS? ALL OF THE OTHER STUFF IS JUST FINE, BUT HOW DO YOU MONITOR STUDENT SUCCESS? AND BY THE WAY, HE DOESN'T HAVE THE, THE, THE TITLE COACH ON HIS NAME FOR NO REASON.

HE ACTUALLY COACHED FOOTBALL.

BUT ONE DAY COACH CAME INSIDE OF THIS DIET AND HE SAID, FOOTBALL AND SPORTS ARE GREAT.

THEY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WHAT YOU LEARN INSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THAT FIELD.

IF YOU'RE NOT LEARNING, YOU'RE NOT PROGRESSING.

THAT SPEAKS DIRECTLY TO WHAT I JUST READ COACH, AND I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I POINT THAT OUT TO YOU.

REPRESENTING COMMUNITIES WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF CHAPTER SIX.

HONORING THE COMMUNITY WAS A TOPIC THAT CAME UP THROUGHOUT THE BOOK AS A MEMBER OF A GOVERNING BOARD IN THIS STORY, WHAT WAS MY ROLE TO REPRESENT THE VALUES OF MY COMMUNITY, NOT TO TRY TO ADDRESS EACH COMMUNITY ISSUE.

NOW, IF YOU ARE A BOARD MEMBER ON THIS DIET RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE ISSUES THAT HAVE NOTHING THAT PERTAIN TO.

HOW DO WE ADDRESS THE MOVEMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE? I HEAR IT QUITE A BIT.

ANYTHING FROM A STOP SIGN INSIDE OF A NEIGHBORHOOD, SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T EVEN DEAL WITH.

UH, HOW DO WE GET SOMEBODY FROM POINT A TO POINT B? DEALING WITH TRANSPORTATION, AS WE SAID BEFORE, THAT IS A HIGH PRIORITY, BUT DOES IT LEAD TO STUDENT OUTCOMES? ANOTHER ONE THAT WAS POINTED OUT WAS TO LISTEN FOR AND ADDRESS THE UNDERLINING VALUE OF THE ISSUES BEING PRESENTED.

NEARLY EVERY PERSON WHO APPROACHES A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER WILL HAVE A DIFFERENT STOP SIGN ISSUE, SO TO SPEAK.

IT IS NOT A SCHOOL BOARD

[00:35:01]

MEMBER'S JOB TO GIVE EVERYONE A THE STOP SIGN THEY'RE DEMANDING.

IT IS A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO LISTEN TO THE ISSUE AND ASK QUESTIONS THAT EXPOSE THE UNDERLYING VALUE WHICH THEY CAN PURSUE.

IN OUR WORK, WE OFFER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS THREE BROAD STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT THEIR MINDSET SHIFT AWAY FROM REPRESENTING THEMSELVES AND REPRESENTING INDIVIDUALS.

IN ORDER TO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF MOVING TOWARDS A MINDSET FOCUSED ON REPRESENTING THE COMMUNITY.

ONE BOARD MEMBERS SHOULD LISTEN FOR AND, AND CODIFY THE VISION AND VALUES OF THE COMMUNITY, WRITING THEM DOWN IN A WAY THAT CLARIFIES WHAT HAS TO BE PROTECTED.

TWO, IN THE NEIGHBOR, I'M SORRY, BOARD MEMBERS CAN PROTECT THE, CAN PROTECT COMMUNITY VALUES BY DEFENDING THE BEHAVIORS ARE UNACCEPTABLE BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE IN VIOLATION OF A VALUE RATHER THAN TRYING TO PRESCRIBE ONE NARROW ITEM TO THE SCHOOL BOARD, TO THE TO THE SCHOOL'S.

ADMINISTRATORS MUST DO WHAT THE, WHAT THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS MUST DO.

SPELL OUT THE BEHAVIORS, SPELLING OUT WHAT BEHAVIORS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE, IS MORE EFFECTIVE.

AND THE NEIGHBORHOODS SAFETY EXAMPLE, CODIFYING VALUES OF THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF WHAT IS UNACCEPTABLE WILL LEAD TO WHAT TO COME UP WITH.

WILL LEAD LEAD US TO COME UP WITH TWO IMPORTANT, UH, ISSUES.

CLEAR GUIDELINES DO NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO BE UNSAFE AND DO NOT ALLOW UNSAFE CONDITIONS ON THIS BLOCK.

WHAT THIS IS SIMPLY SAYING IS WE HAVE TO SIMPLIFY WHAT OUR ACTS IS.

WE SAID WE OFTENTIMES OVERCOMPLICATE THESE ISSUES, THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING DISCUSSED BECAUSE AGAIN, WE ALLOW ADULT BASED MINDSETS TO, TO TAKE OVER OUR FOCUS AWAY FROM OUR STUDENTS.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WHEN A, WHEN A KID ENTERS THE BUILDING? ONE, THEY GOT THEIR SAFE.

TWO, THEY'RE ACTUALLY LEARNING THREE, THAT WE GOT THEM BACK HOME TO THEIR PARENTS IN A SAFE MANNER.

THAT'S WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, ONE OF THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS WAS STAY FOCUSED ON THE VALUES, NOT THE ISSUES.

STAY FOCUSED ON THE WHOLE COMMUNITY AND NOT JUST A FEW MEMBERS.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE'RE GONNA ALWAYS HAVE HARD CHOICES AND HARD DECISIONS ARE GONNA COME UP.

AND I CAN TELL YOU NOW, AND I WANNA PREFERENCE THIS, WHY WE ARE IN THE INSTANCE OF THIS PARTICULAR BOOK, BECAUSE WE TALK ABOUT REPRESENTING OUR COMMUNITY.

WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT REALIGNING OUR SCHOOLS, IT'S GONNA BE A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION.

IT'S GONNA BE A TOUGH CONVERSATION, BUT IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT THAT WE MOVE THE NEEDLE FOR KIDS THAT WE HELP TO REALIGN OUR TEACHERS BACK INSIDE OF CLASSROOMS WHERE WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE THEM.

WE CAN ACTUALLY STAFF UP RATHER THAN STAFFING DOWN.

AND WE REBUILD AND REESTABLISH OUR SYSTEM FOR WHAT IT SHOULD BE.

ONE THAT REPRESENTS EVERY SINGLE COMMUNITY MEMBER ACROSS EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH AND MADAM PRESIDENT.

THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT.

WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. LANDIS FOR GIVING US ALL THOSE DIFFERENT DETAILS.

WE APPRECIATE IT AND I KNOW THAT THAT'S A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW, MS. SOLE, BUT YOU HAVE A FLOOR.

OH, I'VE GOT IT PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. LANDIS.

THAT WAS A GREAT INTRO TO CHAPTER SEVEN AND EIGHT.

UM, SO SEVEN AND EIGHT GO FROM WHY THE SCHOOL BOARDS AREN'T INEFFECTIVE.

AND, UM, BOARD MEMBER LANDIS' WAS ABOUT, NOW WE HAVE THESE NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND THEN MY, I MEAN THESE NEW BOARD INITIATIVES AND THEN MINE IS CLARIFYING THOSE PRIORITIES AND THEY LINED UP PERFECT ACTUALLY WITH OUR BOARD RETREAT, WHICH WAS SO PERFECT.

UM, I, I'VE REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK.

I'VE READ IT, UM, COVER TO COVER TWICE NOW AND HAVE, UM, REALLY LEARNED A LOT FROM IT.

CHAPTER SEVEN IS DISCUSSING ABOUT WHY SCHOOL BOARDS STRUGGLE, UM, DUE TO THE LACK OF STUDENT OUTCOMES.

INSTEAD OF CONCENTRATING ON IMPROVING STUDENT PERFORMANCE, THEY GET BOGGED DOWN IN OPERATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES.

WHICH KIND OF WAS LINED UP WITH, UM, CHAPTER SIX THAT, UM, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ALANIS WAS TALKING ABOUT.

IS THAT WHEN THE SCHOOL BOARD LOSES FOCUS, WHEN WE GET CAUGHT UP IN THE WEEDS OF THINGS AND NOT THE GOALS, UM, THEN WE ARE NOT LEADING WELL, UM, AND EXPECTING OTHERS TO FOLLOW.

WELL THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT EFFECTIVE BOARDS MUST REORIENT THEIR GOALS AROUND MEASURABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES AND HOLD THEMSELVES ACCOUNTABLE TO THESE OBJECTIVES.

THE SHIFT REQUIRES A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNANCE AND THE MANAGEMENT, RIGHT? SO THE BOARD'S GOAL IS TO GOVERN AND THE SUPERINTENDENT'S ROLE IS TO MANAGE.

AND I FEEL LIKE WE ARE IN SUCH A GOOD PLACE TO DO THIS WELL.

UM, EVEN I WAS, I I WANTED TO STAND UP AND APPLAUD SUPERINTENDENT, UM, COLE FOR JUST SETTING THE TONE FOR THE MEETING AND REMINDING US LIKE THERE IS A LOT OF REALLY GOOD THINGS GOING ON AND WHEN WE LOSE THAT FOCUS, UM, THAT STUDENTS ARE

[00:40:01]

ARE DOING GREAT THINGS, THAT OUR STAFF IS DOING GREAT THINGS, UM, WE CAN GET CAUGHT IN THE WEEDS OF, OF THINGS THAT AREN'T AS IMPORTANT FOR US.

CHAPTER EIGHT BUILDS ON THIS BY EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.

UM, HE TALKS IN THIS CHAPTER ABOUT HOW TO SET GOALS AND ACTUALLY IT LINED UP PERFECTLY WITH THE SPEAKER THAT WE HAD AT THE BOARD RETREAT.

UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WEREN'T ABLE TO TUNE IN, SUPERINTENDENT COLE BROUGHT IN A SPEAKER THAT WAS ACTUALLY BORN AND RAISED AND ATTENDED EBR SCHOOLS.

AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK SAID ALMOST THE EXACT SAME THING.

I WANTED TO BE LIKE, DID SHE READ THIS BOOK? 'CAUSE SHE UM, ACTUALLY DOESN'T EVEN DO SCHOOL BOARD WORK.

SHE TELL ME, UM, SUPERINTENDENT COLE, WHERE DOES SHE WORK? TELL ME, TELL ME THAT ABOUT HER AGAIN.

SHE WAS, UH, ADMINISTRATOR AT F-A-A-F-A-A, YES.

SO SHE CAME IN AND WAS TALKING TO US ABOUT, UM, HOW THEY REALIGNED AIRPORTS AND HAD THEM WORK EFFICIENTLY.

AND SHE TALKED TO US ABOUT SETTING GOALS AND HE USED ALMOST THE EXACT SAME WORDS IN THE BOOK TO TALK ABOUT HAVING SHORT TERM GOALS THAT HAVE A, HAVE A DEADLINE OF ABOUT THREE MONTHS AND THEN MOVING ON FROM THAT WITH LONGER TERM GOALS.

AND SO IT WAS JUST A REALLY GREAT, UM, REMINDER TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO MOVING FORWARD IN THE FUTURE.

UM, AND SO IT WAS, IT WAS JUST A REALLY GREAT, A REALLY GREAT CHAPTER.

UM, IT SAID THIS EFFECTIVE BOARDS ENSURE THEIR MEETINGS AND DECISION MAKING PROCESSES ALIGN WITH THEIR PRIMARY GOAL, WHICH IS STUDENT SUCCESS.

AND SO I THINK WHEN WE STAY FOCUSED ON THAT, OUR MEETINGS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE, WE'RE ABLE TO LOVE OUR COMMUNITY, WELL LOVE OUR STUDENTS WELL.

UM, AND THAT WAS THE POINT OF SEVEN AND EIGHT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, YOU ALL, I BELIEVE THEY GET AN A PLUS FOR THIS AND UM, A PLUS PLUS LOOK, YOU CHECK IT.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING.

UH, YOU ALL, ONCE AGAIN, I WANNA SAY, PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR THIS.

I KNOW THAT THIS TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF TIME OUT OF OUR MEETINGS, BUT THE GOAL IS THAT THIS WILL LEAD TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY.

AND SO I KNOW THAT, LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE COULD HAVE READ THE ENTIRE BOOK BEFORE OUR RETREAT AND HAD A COMPLETE, UH, SUMMATION OF THE BOOK AT THAT TIME.

NUMBER ONE, WE ALL HAVE LIVES OUTSIDE OF OUR BOARD.

UH, NUMBER TWO, I WANTED US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THE DETAILS OF OUR BOOK STUDY WITH OUR COMMUNITIES AS WELL.

AND WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE MORE OF AN AUDIENCE AT OUR MEETINGS THAN WE DO AT OUR LONG RETREATS.

SO WITH THAT IN MIND, THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I WANTED TO GIVE THIS TIME, UH, FOR US TO BE ABLE TO SHARE IN OUR BOOK STUDY.

SO FOR OUR NOVEMBER MEETING, WE WILL HEAR FROM MS. STEWART AND WE WILL HEAR FROM MR. GODDE AND THAT WILL BE CHAPTERS NINE THROUGH, UH, 12, I BELIEVE.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH.

SO THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT AND WE WILL CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD.

OKAY, NEXT WE HAVE REPORTS FROM BOARD APPOINTEES TO COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES.

ANY, UH, REPORTS FROM ANY OF OUR BOARD APPOINTEES? OKAY.

ALL RIGHT.

SCENE NONE.

WE WILL CONTINUE.

WE ARE NOW TO THE CONSENT

[F. Consent Agenda]

AGENDA, MS. STEWART.

THANK YOU SO KINDLY.

UM, F CONSENT AGENDA NUMBER ONE, CONSENT VOTE.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE TO BE APPROVED AS PART OF THE CONSENT AGENDA AND ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE AND WILL BE ENACTED WITH ONE MOTION.

THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF ITEMS UNLESS A BOARD MEMBER, SO REQUESTS IN WHICH EVENT THE ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSIDERED AS AN ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA FOR A SEPARATE VOTE PROCEEDING THE LAST ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA.

OKAY? CAN, CAN I INTERRUPT YOU FOR A MOMENT? SURE.

I FORGOT TO MAKE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

MM-HMM, .

SO IF THERE ARE ANY WHO WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON ANY ITEMS, IF YOU WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU RECEIVE A, A GET A COMMENT CARD.

UH, MADAM SECRETARY THAT'S IN THE LOBBY.

CORRECT? OKAY.

SO IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT TIME, TAKE THIS TIME WHILE SHE READS THE CONSENT AGENDA TO FILL OUT YOUR COMMENT CARD, FEEL FREE TO DO SO, MS. STEWART.

THE AMOUNT OF $13,396 TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO FOUR TEACHERS FOR SCHOOL SITE PROJECTS.

NUMBER TWO, STIPEND CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LDOE CERTIFICATED AND SUPPORT STAFF STIPENDS FOR THE 20 24 20 25 FISCAL YEAR STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT.

OPERATIONAL.

EXCELLENT MS. LOPEZ.

NUMBER THREE, GRANTS CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING GRANTS AND RELATED MATTERS.

A 20 24 20 25 ART AND EDUCATION SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,000 FOR ART SUPPLIES FOR PARK ELEMENTARY B 20 24, 20 25.

DEBORAH ROCHELLE TEACHER GRANT IN

[00:45:01]

CADF TEACHER GRANT AND THE AMOUNT OF $29,894 TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO SEVEN SCHOOLS FOR SITE PROJECTS.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, MS. NAVO AND MS. KOWSKI D 20 24 25, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

C-C-A-P-B THREE GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $808,000 34 TO SUSTAIN ENROLLMENT FOR CURRENT STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE INFANTS TO 3-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, MS. BARNES AND MS. WARREN.

MS. 2024.

2025 HIGH DOSAGE TUTORING GRANT AND APPROVAL OF THE BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,080,565 TO PROVIDE HIGH DOSAGE TUTORING FOR STUDENTS GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DR.

BETH LEE, MS. LOPEZ, MS. EDWARDS.

NUMBER FOUR, GRANTS PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, GRANTS AND RELATED MATTERS.

A MELROSE ELEMENTARY IN THE AMOUNT OF $192,500 B SCOTLANDVILLE HIGH IN THE AMOUNT OF $452,827 C LIBERTY HIGH IN THE AMOUNT OF $328,000 D GLEN OAKS HIGH IN THE AMOUNT OF $626,411 E PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF 116,919 73 CENTS F BATON ROUGE HIGH BATON ROUGE MAGNET HIGH IN THE AMOUNT OF 596,877 33 CENTS TO FUND ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECTS.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.

MS. MR. MORALES FIVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE FOLLOWING, A STUDY BILL IN THE AMOUNT UP TO $1.7 MILLION TO PROVIDE HIGH DOSAGE TUTORING SERVICE IN READING AND MATH AND AUTHORIZE A SUPERINTENDENT TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE CONTRACTS WITH ADDITIONAL STATE APPROVED VENDORS.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE HIGH DOSAGE TUTORING GRANT MS. EDWARDS, MS. BETH LEE, MS. LOPEZ B BU LIFE READY LITERACY IN THE AMOUNT OF 344,712 50 CENTS TO PROVIDE LITERACY AND CAREER AND COLLEGE COLLEGE READINESS STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE MSAP GRANT FOSTERING DIVERSE SCHOOLS GRANT AND MAGNET MS. WOMACK, MS. PORTER C LEXIA LEARNING SYSTEMS LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $525,979 AND 50 CENTS TO PROVIDE READING INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS FUNDING SOURCE TITLE ONE, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DR.

ABERNATHY DYER, MS. EDWARDS, DR.

BETH LEE, MS. LOPEZ D LEXIE LEARNING SYSTEMS LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $93,005 TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR TEACHERS TO IMPROVE LITERACY AND LANGUAGE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING SOURCE CLSD, DR.

ABERNATHY DYER, MS. EDWARDS, DR.

BETHANY, MS. LOPEZ E PROX PROXIMITY LEARNING TO PROVIDE VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES SIX THROUGH 12.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FUND MS. HALL SWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT SERVICES, I'M SORRY, F SWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT SERVICES INCORPORATED AS THE THIRD PARTY CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM AND TO AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL COUNSEL AND THE SUPERINTENDENT TO NEGOTIATE AN EXECUTED CONTRACT STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, FUNDING SOURCE WORKERS' COMPENSATION RISK MANAGEMENT, MR. DAVIS, MR. SHAMBLIN NUMBER SIX, RESOLUTION SPECIAL COUNSEL.

CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION REGARDING THE RETENTION OF PHELPS DUNBAR LLP AS SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND RELATED MATTERS MR. SHAMBLIN.

NUMBER SEVEN, AMENDED POLICY BCB CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO ADOPT AMENDED POLICY BCB BOARD MEETING RULES OF PROCEDURE MR. SHAMBLIN.

NUMBER EIGHT, LITIGATION CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATION FROM GWEN SHAMBLIN, GENERAL COUNSEL EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD IN THE MATTER OF WONG TWO VERSUS EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD ETAL DOCKET NUMBER SEVEN THREE 1-854-SECTION 23 PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.

MR. SHAMBLIN, THIS IS THE END OF THE CONSENT AGENDA IS SO MOVE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

IS ARE THERE ANY WHO WOULD LIKE TO PULL ANY ITEMS? OKAY.

NO ITEMS DESIRED TO BE PULLED AT THIS TIME.

BY MS. STEWART AND SECONDED BY MR. BALLOU THAT WE ACCEPT THE CONSENT AGENDA COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD AT THIS TIME.

UH, SO IT HAS BEEN MOVED

[00:50:01]

SEEING NO COMMENTS, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.

UH, THE FIRST WE HAVE IS MS. URSULA PARKERSON.

GOOD EVENING.

UM, I'M URSULA PARKERSON.

AS YOU HEARD, UM, UH, FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, THE TEACHERS AND THIS COMMUNITY HAVE FELT IGNORED AND PUSHED ASIDE.

AND JUST AS YOU ALL FINALLY SEEM TO HAVE GIVEN US A REASON TO HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE LISTENING TO US, YOU GUYS WANNA CUT US OFF.

THE ONLY TIME WE EVER GET A CHANCE TO REALLY BE HEARD IS WHEN WE CAN SPEAK HERE AT BOARD MEETINGS.

AND DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE ALL KNOW THAT WE ARE LARGELY IGNORED WHEN WE SPEAK HERE, WE AT LEAST HAVE A GENUINE OPPORTUNITY TO PUBLICLY EXPRESS OUR POINT OF VIEW ON TOPICS THAT IMPACT ALL OF US, OUR CHILDREN, OUR STUDENTS, OUR COMMUNITY AND OURSELVES.

TEACHERS ARE HERE TO SERVE STUDENTS AND WE'RE CONSTANTLY TOLD THAT WE SHOULDN'T BE MAKING DECISIONS BASED ON WHETHER OR NOT IT BENEFITS US AS TEACHERS, BUT WHETHER OR NOT IT BENEFITS THE STUDENTS THAT WE SERVE IN THIS SITUATION, I'D LIKE YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE HERE TO SERVE STUDENTS, TEACHERS IN THE COMMUNITY, NOT TO SERVE YOURSELVES AND MAKE DECISIONS THAT MAKE YOUR JOB EASIER OR FASTER.

YOUR DECISIONS SHOULD BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE YOU WORK FOR, NOT YOUR DESIRE TO GO HOME EARLY.

UM, AND PLEASE DON'T USE THE TERM STUDENTS IN VAIN BECAUSE IT'S ALSO WHAT YOU WANT IS NOT, THIS AMENDMENT IS NOT SERVING STUDENTS.

IT DOESN'T SERVE STUDENTS TO APPROVE CONTRACTS IN HASTE WITHOUT GETTING THE OPINION OF THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY HAVE TO LIVE THOSE CONTRACTS.

I DO HAVE A SUGGESTION ON HOW TO SAVE SOME TIME AT MEETINGS BECAUSE FROM WHAT I SEE WHEN I'M HERE, YOU GUYS SEEM TO TAKE MORE LIBERTY WITH THE TIME YOU'RE ALLOTTED THAN ANYONE ELSE.

WE ALL LIKE TO SAY HERE THAT WE NEED TO STAY ON TOPIC WHEN WE SPEAK, BUT I HAVE HAD TO HEAR SOME OF YOU ON YOUR OWN PERSONAL RANTS AND RAVES ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT A TOPIC, UM, OR LIFE IN GENERAL, WHICH GOES WELL BEYOND YOUR FIVE MINUTES OF SPEAKING TIME.

ADDITIONALLY, I SUGGEST THAT WE MIGHT NOT NEED TO HEAR FROM THE BOARD TWICE, MAYBE JUST ONCE.

MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE CAN CUT.

UM, A REPORTER ONCE TRIED TO SHAME TAYLOR SWIFT BY SAYING THAT SHE CONTINUED TO, IF SHE CONTINUED TO SING ABOUT THE MEN SHE DATES AND NO ONE WAS GONNA WANNA DATE HER ANYMORE.

AND SHE SAID, WELL, IF THEY DON'T WANNA LOOK BAD, THEN PERHAPS THEY SHOULDN'T DO BAD THINGS.

AND MY POINT IS, IF YOU DON'T WANNA HEAR US COMPLAINING OR COMMENTING ON YOUR BAD DECISIONS, THEN MAYBE STOP MAKING BAD DECISIONS.

'CAUSE MOST OF US WOULDN'T BE HERE TONIGHT IF IT WASN'T FOR THIS TOPIC.

UM, TO ME THIS AMENDED FEELS LIKE A LITTLE REMINDER THAT YOU GUYS DON'T WANNA HEAR US AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER OUR POSITION.

INSTEAD, YOU WANNA PUSH YOUR OWN AGENDA AND HAVE PUBLIC EFFECTIVELY SILENCED.

I'M DISAPPOINTED IN ALL OF YOU AND PERHAPS WE SHOULD RE-LISTEN TO MR. LANDIS' SUMMATION OF HIS CHAPTERS WHERE IT SAID WE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO THE TEACHERS AND THE STUDENTS.

A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

THANK YOU MS. MATTHEWS.

WE'VE ALL SEEN WHAT STARTED AS A CHAIN LETTER LIKE WAY BACK IN THE DAY AND IS NOW A MEME.

I THINK THIS BOARD HAS DECIDED THAT BEING A MOM IS TOO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY AND YOU WANNA BE THE DAD INSTEAD.

YEAH, IT'S A LOT TO KEEP UP WITH THE BUDGET, THE CONTRACTS, THE, YOU KNOW, GOING AND APPROVING THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT.

THOSE THINGS, IT'S A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY TO BE A MOM.

YOU KNOW HOW THE MOM GOES AND SETS THE, THE COFFEE MAKER AND DOES ALL THE THINGS AND DOES THE LAUNDRY AND DAD'S JUST GOES AND GETS IN THE BED AND HAS THE FUN WITH THE KIDS.

Y'ALL WANNA JUST DEAL WITH THE KIDS.

THE KIDS ARE FUN.

ASK ANY TEACHER IN HERE.

THE KIDS ARE THE BEST PART OF THE JOB.

GUESS WHAT? THAT'S NOT WHAT TEACHING IS.

THAT'S NOT WHAT RUNNING A SCHOOL SYSTEM IS.

THAT'S NOT THE JOB YOU SIGNED UP FOR.

YOU DON'T JUST GET TO DO THE FUN PART.

IF WE COULD GO IN OUR CLASSROOMS EVERY DAY AND SHUT THE DOOR AND JUST TEACH NONE OF US, NONE OF US WOULD HAVE STRESS.

THE KIDS ARE AMAZING.

THE KIDS ARE WHY WE KEEP GOING.

THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE HERE.

YOU DON'T GET TO JUST DEAL WITH THE FUN PART, YOU GUYS, EVERYTHING, ALL OF THOSE LITTLE THINGS AFFECT, HAVE AN EFFECT ON BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE ARE THE ONLY TWO THAT MATTER AND YOU ARE CUTTING OUR VOICES OUT, THE STUDENTS AND THE TEACHERS BECAUSE IT'S THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS THAT COME AND MAKE THE PUBLIC COMMENTS.

WE DON'T HAVE A CHAIR UP HERE.

AND YOU KNOW, SOMEONE RECENTLY TOLD ME THAT I RETALIATE WHEN I DON'T GET MY WAY.

NO.

I'M SIMPLY

[00:55:01]

HOWEVER, THIS SEEMS TO BE A PREEMPTIVE RETALIATION SHUT Y'ALL'S MOUTHS 'CAUSE WE DON'T WANNA HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

IT'S FUNNY, YOU GUYS WANT PUBLIC COMMENT WHEN IT BENEFITS YOU AND THERE ARE SEVERAL PEOPLE HERE WHO HAVE BENEFITED FROM PUBLIC COMMENT.

BUT NOW THAT YOU HAVE WHAT YOU WANT, SCHOOL CLOSURES ARE COMING, YOU DON'T WANNA HEAR US ABOUT THAT.

LET'S SILENCE THE COMMUNITY BEFORE WE START CLOSING SCHOOLS NOT REALIGN.

CLOSING SCHOOLS HAVING TO SPEAK WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE MOTION WILL BE IS A HUGE DISSERVICE.

IT WILL MAKE THE COMMENTS LONGER BECAUSE NOW I'M GONNA HAVE TO SPEAK ON BOTH SIDES.

SO I CAN'T COME UP HERE AND BE CONCISE NOW I'M GONNA HAVE TO BE LIKE THE PEOPLE THAT YOU DON'T LIKE AND TALK ABOUT EVERY SINGLE PART OF IT AND USE MY ENTIRE THREE MINUTES ALSO DUE TO HAVING TO DO THAT.

UM, OH, OH, ALSO YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THE CONSENT AGENDA ANYMORE.

THAT WAS A PART OF THAT SAME LAW.

SO THAT TAKES TIME OFF.

SO YOU GET TO SAVE TIME WITH THAT.

YOU CAN ALSO LEARN HOW TO CONTROL THE MEETING SO THAT PEOPLE DON'T GET OFF TOPIC.

UM, AND WE DON'T NEED TO HEAR THE TRAVEL LOG AND THE CALL LOG ANYMORE.

THAT CAN SAVE TIME AS WELL.

OKAY, THAT'S MY TIME.

THANK YOU MS. YVONNE.

BORIS.

I AM THE INTERVENTION INTERVENTIONIST AT SHERWOOD MIDDLE.

I ACTUALLY TEACH FIVE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS AND SO I AM CONSTANTLY TOLD, TOLD, ADAPT, ADJUST, BE FLEXIBLE, BE CALM, BE CARING, TAKE A DEEP BREATH.

NEVER IS ANY OF MY DAYS THE SAME.

IT'S ALWAYS DIFFERENT WHEN I'M DEALING WITH KIDS ACCOMMODATION MODIFICATIONS.

SO AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS WE GIVE OUR OBJECTIVES WHAT YOU REQUEST, ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS, AND THEN WE'RE ASKED TO GIVE THE DIRECTIONS TO THE KIDS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING.

THEN WE GIVE THEM EXAMPLES, WE EXPLAIN WHAT WE'RE DOING.

THEN WE ASK IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS.

SO THE KIDS ASK THE QUESTIONS, WE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.

THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ALLOWING US TO DO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE THINGS.

WELL THEN SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS.

SOMEONE THROWS UP THE ELECTRICITY GOES OUT, BEHAVIOR PROBLEM, THE INTERNET GOES OUT OR A LATE STUDENT COMES IN OR A CHILD HAS A MELTDOWN.

WE ARE TOLD TO ADJUST, ADAPT, BE FLEXIBLE, DEEP BREATH AND BE CALM.

BUT AT THIS TIME WHEN WE COME BACK INTO THE ROOM, THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

ARE YOU ARE TELLING US BECAUSE YOU NOW CHANGED.

IF THEY NOW SAY, MS. PURIS, MS. PURIS, WHAT DO WE DO? THE ELECTRICITY'S OUT.

I'M NOT ALLOWED TO RESPOND TO THEM BECAUSE YOU'VE CHANGED OUR WHOLE PLAN OF WHAT WE'RE DOING AS PARENTS, AS TEACHERS AND AS KIDS.

WE WANT TO HAVE THE RESPECT AND THE ABILITY TO ADJUST, ADAPT, AND BE FLEXIBLE TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

SO IF YOU ARE GIVING US A DIFFERENT CHANCE OF CHANGING IT UP, WE SHOULD THEN ALSO BE ABLE TO COMMENT ON THAT.

AND WHAT I'M ALSO UNDERSTANDING, AND I COULD BE WRONG AND I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO CORRECT ME IF NEED BE, IF YOU HAVE, LIKE I SAID, I TEACH FIVE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS.

SO ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SAY, DID YOU ALREADY ASK YOUR QUESTIONS IN MATH BECAUSE YOU CAN'T NOW ASK IT IN SCIENCE.

SO OF WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING IS WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHAT WE'RE COMMENTING ON BEFORE IT COMES UP.

AND THAT'S MY QUESTION.

UM, BECAUSE I JUST FEEL LIKE, LIKE YOU WANT US TO TREAT THE CHILDREN LIKE WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO TREAT US WITH RESPECT, BE CALM, TAKE A DEEP BREATH, BE FLEXIBLE AND ADJUSTABLE.

I MEAN, AND ALSO LET US KNOW THAT YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT WE'RE SAYING.

THAT LANDIS AS YOUR FIRST SPEAKING TIME.

THANK YOU MS. KISSEL.

HELLO.

I'M SPEAKING TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.

I WOULD ASK FOR ONE OF YOU TO PLEASE PULL IT AND MINORLY CHANGE IT.

I'M NOT NECESSARILY OPPOSED TO ONE COMMENT PER ITEM ON THE AGENDA.

UM, BUT THE PLACEMENT OF OUR COMMENT ON THE AGENDA SHOULD COME RIGHT BEFORE THE VOTE, NOT RIGHT AFTER YOU'VE READ THE INITIAL ITEM.

UM, I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF WATCHING OUR JANUARY 23RD MEETING FROM THIS YEAR WHERE WE APPOINTED ADAM SMITH.

UM, YOU PUT ON, APPOINT HIM AND DO THE CONTRACT, RIGHT? EVERYONE SHOWED UP BECAUSE CHARLES HAD WRITTEN HIS ARTICLE THAT HIS CONTRACT SAID HE WASN'T ALLOWED TO RUN FOR SUPERINTENDENT IF YOU WANTED TO.

SO EVERYONE CAME TO COMMENT ON

[01:00:01]

INITIALLY AFTER THE ITEM WAS READ, YOU SAID, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO CHANGE IT SO HE CAN RUN FOR SUPERINTENDENT IF HE WANTS TO, WHICH WAS GREAT.

WE LOVED THAT AND YOU GUYS ACCEPTED THAT.

SO THEN WHEN WE GOT TO PUBLIC COMMENT, YOU DIDN'T HAVE EVERYONE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE ONE LITTLE LINE ABOUT HIM NOT GETTING TO APPLY.

YOU GOT A BUNCH OF THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS TELLING YOU THAT WE LOVED ADAM SMITH AND THAT WENT ON FOR AN HOUR.

SO YES, WE'RE SPEAKING TOO LONG PROBABLY, BUT YOU GOT COMMENTS ON TOPIC BECAUSE THE MOTION WAS ALLOWED TO BE MADE CHANGING THE LINE THAT EVERYONE WAS ANGRY ABOUT BEFORE THE PUBLIC COMMENT.

YOU'RE GOING TO GET A LOT OF OFF TOPIC ANGRY COMMENTS IF YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CHANGE IN SMALL WAYS, THE WORDING THAT YOU GET FOR THESE ITEMS. BECAUSE WHEN THE ITEMS ARE PUT ONLINE, THAT'S ALL WE'VE GOT TO COMMENT ON.

YOU'RE GONNA GET VERY OFF TOPIC ONES, GUYS, LIKE THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WANNA FIX BEFORE YOU HAVE PROBLEMS FURTHER DOWN THE LINE WITH SCHOOL ISSUES.

UM, YEAH, KEEP US ON TOPIC.

LEAH, I'M GONNA FINISH YOUR HEAD AT THIS MEETING, I PROMISE.

UM, AND PLEASE SHIFT THIS TO A THING.

UM, AND THANK YOU FOR LISTENING ACTIVELY.

UM, AND IF YOU DO PASS THIS, YOU BETTER BE LISTENING, ACTING THE WHOLE TIME, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE TEXTING OR ONLINE SHOPPING, I WILL YELL AT YOU.

UM, I FEEL LIKE THE PUBLIC IS BEING KIND OF, UM, PUNISHED FOR THE LONG AMOUNT OF THE, THE TIME OF THE BOARD MEETINGS, WHICH IS KIND OF A REFLECTION OF, OF YOU GUYS.

UM, THE BOARD IS TELLING PEOPLE THAT THEY WILL, THAT WE WILL HAVE TWO OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK ON ITEMS. BUT THAT, AND THE REST OF THE LINES YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN EARLIER THIS MONTH ARE A MANIFESTO.

MISTRUTHS, UH, PEOPLE SPOKE AT THE COW AND TONIGHT IT WAS PULLING TEETH, I HEARD, TO EVEN ATTEMPT TO GET THIS ITEM PULLED FROM THE CONSENT.

SO WE, THE PEOPLE WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TWICE IN A MONTH.

UH, MEMBERS AT THIS BOARD USE THE PUBLIC WHEN THEY NEED THEM.

AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED WHAT YOU NEED, UM, AND ARE ABOUT TO TAKE ON SCHOOL CLOSURES, YOU, YOU WANT TO SHUT US UP, UM, WHICH IS CONVENIENT AND SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT.

SO THAT'S ALL.

THANK YOU, MR. ROBINSON.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.

I, OH, APRIL STEPPED AWAY.

I, UM, I STAND HERE PUZZLED.

YOU KNOW, I COULD, I, I HEARD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LAINA SPEAK ABOUT TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNITY INPUT IN THE CHAPTER YOU READ, HE READ IT WITH PASSION.

WE OBVIOUSLY KNOW THAT HE BELIEVES IN THAT.

AND I WOULD ASK THIS BOARD NOT TO REMOVE THIS LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY THAT WE HAVE AS A COMMUNITY TO THE BOARD WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU ALL.

I HEARD PRESIDENT POWELL LEWIS SAY, I WANT TO READ THESE CHAPTERS WITH BEFORE THE COMMUNITY SO THEY CAN KNOW THAT WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER AND WE CAN HAVE A LEVEL OF INPUT.

IF YOU GUYS CAN SIT THERE AND READ THESE CHAPTERS AND WE LISTEN TO THE OVERVIEW, YOU GUYS SHOULD BE ABLE TO SIT THERE AND LISTEN TO WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION.

BECAUSE SOMETIMES WHEN WE GET UP HERE AND WE SPEAK AND WE ONLY HAVE THREE MINUTES, AND YOU GUYS, WE SPEAK TO THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MOTION THAT WE BELIEVE THAT IS COMING FROM THE AGENDA ITEM.

BUT IF SOMEONE GOES FAR LEFT AND COMPLETELY MAKES A, UH, MAKES A SUBSTITUTE MOTION THAT COMPLETELY CHANGES THE SUBSTANCE OF THE ORIGINAL ITEM, GUESS WHAT? OUR VOICES IS NOT CENSORED.

IT'S MUTED.

SO I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

I HAVE A PROBLEM BECAUSE I FEEL THAT YOU GUYS, AS A BOARD OR WHOMEVER IS STRATEGICALLY WORKING TO MUTE OUR VOICES AS WE HAVE SO MANY PERTINENT ISSUES THAT HAS TO COME BEFORE THIS BOARD VERY SOON, SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION AND ALSO REAPPORTIONMENT.

SO LET ME PAINT YOU THIS PICTURE.

WE HAVE A BOARD THAT DOES NOT REFLECT THE GENETIC MAKEUP OF

[01:05:01]

OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.

YOU DON'T REPRESENT OUR POPULATION, NOT LEGALLY.

AND SO, NOT ONLY WILL A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE ME NOT BE PROPERLY REPRESENTED ON THIS BOARD, BUT NOW OUR VOICES ARE ALSO BEING MUTED.

WHEN IT'S TIME FOR US TO HAVE INPUT ON, ON SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

AND ALL OF YOU GUYS SHOULD HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

YOU SHOULD HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT FOR NO OTHER REASON THAT SO MANY OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT.

MY GRANDFATHER USED TO SAY, IF YOU'RE GOING NEVER DO WRONG.

BUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO WRONG, AT LEAST DO WRONG THE RIGHT WAY.

IF Y'ALL ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AS A BOARD, DO IT THE RIGHT.

THAT'S A RIGHT WAY TO DO WRONG.

DON'T JUST SHUT US UP.

DON'T KEEP WHIPPING US WITH YOUR WHIPS.

AT LEAST LET US COME TO THE PODIUM AND EXPRESS OURSELVES.

AT LEAST LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD SO THAT WE CAN KNOW THAT WE PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE.

AND YOU GUYS JUST IGNORED WHAT WE HAD TO SAY, BUT AT LEAST YOU DIDN'T SHUT US UP.

AT LEAST YOU GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.

EVERY TUB HAS TO LAY ON ITS OWN BOTTOM.

THINK FOR YOURSELF.

DO THE RIGHT THING.

DO NOT SHUT US OUT.

DO NOT MUTE OUR VOICES.

GEORGE SETTLEMENT WAS NEGOTIATED.

THANK YOU, MS. NIMAN.

GOOD EVENING.

UM, I'VE TESTIFIED BEFORE COMMITTEES AT THE STATE CAPITOL TESTIFIED FOR THIS BEFORE THIS BOARD, COUNTLESS TIMES AND BEFORE THE METRO COUNCIL.

THE METRO COUNCIL HAS THE WORST PROCEDURES FOR MEANINGFUL PUBLIC INPUT.

AND THOSE ARE THE ONES YOU APPEAR POISED TO ADOPT GRANTING MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE BOARD MEMBERS HAVE DISCUSSED OR COMMENTED ON AN AGENDA ITEM IS CLEARLY DESIGNED TO PROHIBIT MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC.

I UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES Y'ALL HAVE TO LISTEN TO SOME INAPPROPRIATE AND MEAN-SPIRITED REMARKS.

SOMETIMES MEETINGS RUN LONG, BUT WHEN THINGS GET A LITTLE UGLY, THAT'S EVIDENCE THAT THE REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN UNDERMINED.

THE SOLUTION ISN'T TO FURTHER UNDERMINE IT BY TAKING ADDITIONAL MEASURE MEASURES TO SUPPRESS STAKEHOLDERS ABILITY TO PROVIDE INPUT AT PUBLIC MEETINGS.

THE SOLUTION IS TO RESTORE THE INTEGRITY TO THEIR REPRESENTATIVE, DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TO ADDRESS THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM.

THIS BOARD WAS ELECTED UNDER A MAP THAT IS UNDENIABLY IN VIOLATION OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT OF THE US CONSTITUTION.

THE PEOPLE THAT SHOWED UP THIS PAST SUMMER IN DROVES AT SEVERAL CONTENTIOUS MEETINGS, PLEADING WITH YOU TO LISTEN TO THEM GETTING INCREASINGLY ANGRY AS FIVE OF YOU DOUBLED DOWN AND REFUSED TO BUDGE IN SPITE OF THE ILLEGAL MAP, IN SPITE OF THE OVERWHELMING CALLS FROM A CROSS SECTION OF THE COMMUNITY, THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WE DIDN'T NEED TO BE TOLD THAT Y'ALL WERE ELECTED UNDER A MAP THAT DOESN'T FAIRLY AND EQUITABLY REPRESENT THE COMMUNITY.

FIVE OF YOU SHOWED THEM THAT RUBBED OUR FACES IN IT MEETING AFTER MEETING AFTER MEETING.

AND YOUR RESPONSE ISN'T TO FIRST ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE, THE ILLEGAL MAP.

YOU CHOOSE TO FURTHER SUPPRESS PUBLIC INPUT.

SUPERINTENDENT COLE, YOU SIT IN THAT SEAT ONLY BECAUSE OF THOSE VOICES FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, WHICH CREATED THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ALLOWED THE SEAS TO PART AND FOR YOU INSTEAD OF ADAM SMITH TO ASCEND TO THAT SEAT.

AND HOW DO YOU REWARD MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC? YOU RECOMMEND RULES TO FURTHER CONSTRAIN OUR ABILITY TO BE HEARD.

NOW, SUPERINTENDENT COLE, I SHARED WITH YOU THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS LIKELY THE SEAS PARTED SO YOU COULD GARNER THAT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION BECAUSE THE WEALTHY ELITE WANTED YOU OFF THE METRO COUNCIL BEFORE THE ST.

AND I'VE BEEN IN FRONT OF THE MITCHELL COUNCIL ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WE PROBABLY DISAGREE MORE OFTEN THAN WE AGREE, BUT I WAS WILLING TO GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT BECAUSE OF ADAM SMITH'S ENDORSEMENT.

I'M NOT CONCERNED SO MUCH ABOUT YOUR LEGACY AS I AM ABOUT ADAM SMITH'S AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, AND AS AN ADAM AVID ADAM SMITH SUPPORTER.

THIS PROPOSED RULE CHANGE IS A KNIFE IN THE BACK.

PLEASE RECONSIDER AND PULL IT.

OR BOARD MEMBERS PLEASE VOTE.

NO.

THANK YOU, MR. STEWART.

RIGHT? GOOD EVENING.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

PARTICULARLY PARTIC YOU LA AS, UH, ADVANCED ENCOURAGED, PROPOSED FROM THE AFRICAN AMERICANS THAT ARE SITTING ON THIS BODY COACH, YOU ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA AND HOW YOU PARTICIPATED IN IT.

WELL, HOW ABOUT THIS N***A, GO SIT DOWN.

[01:10:01]

MR. STEWART, UH, UH, UH, UH, MA'AM, THAT, THAT IS WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.

MR. STEWART? YES, MA'AM.

MR. DORSEY, GOOD EVENING BOARD.

BUT, BUT, BUT HOW CAN Y'ALL EVEN CONSIDER EIGHT TO ZERO TALKING ABOUT STIFLING THE IDEAS OF THE PUBLIC THAT PAYS FOR THIS INSTITUTION? WAS I ACTING A FOOL? SUPERINTENDENT COLE, AS YOU TOLD ME, I COME AND YOU COME DOWN HERE ACTING A FOOL IN FRONT OF THESE WHITE FOLK.

WAS I ACTING A FOOL WHEN I WAS PROMOTING YOU SITTING IN THAT $285,000? AND HOLD ON MY BROTHER.

WE GONNA BE BROTHER IN MY MIND, WE GONNA BE BROTHERS TILL THE END.

BUT I JUST BRING IT REAL.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THE REAL DEAL.

THEY WANT THE FAKE.

AND, YOU KNOW, STEPPING, YOU KNOW, FETCH AND ALL THAT OLD KIND OF FOOLISH, DON'T, DON'T MAKE MASTER MAD.

HOW CAN Y'ALL DO THIS? PLEASE ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

UH, WHAT REALLY ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE PAPER, INSTEAD OF IF I WERE IN YOUR SEAT ABOVE THE FOLD FOR MY FIRST BIG ITEM, AGENDA WOULD BE SUPERINTENDENT STEWART.

UH, COMPRISES A PLAN, PRODUCES A PLAN TO TURN AROUND ALL OF THE UNDERPERFORMING SCHOOLS THAT COACH LEWIS SITS HERE AND SPEWS OUT LIKE, GOOD MORNING.

HOW ARE YOU GOT F AND D SCHOOLS COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK? WE USED TO HAVE A HUNDRED SCHOOLS, A HUNDRED THOUSAND SCHOOL SYSTEMS STUDENTS, RATHER.

NOW WE GOT LESS THAN 30.

WE HAVE, WE DON'T EVEN HAVE 40,000 STUDENTS.

AND BELIEVE ME, PEOPLE ARE COUNTING.

I KNOW PEOPLE THAT ARE WAITING IN THE WINGS.

THEY'RE, UH, SITTING IN THE BUSH LIKE A LION, UH, TARGETING A, AN INJURED GAZELLE TO TAKE OVER THIS SYSTEM.

THEY WANTED TO CHARTER OUT TO BE HILT.

AND THE AUDACITY OF YOU TO TALK ABOUT SILENCING OUR, UH, INPUT, REALLY, THAT IS COWARDICE AT A MINIMUM.

THANK YOU, MR. STEWART.

ELIMINATING PO HOLD, ELIMINATING PUBLIC COMMENT FOR MOTIONS, LIMITS THE VOICE FROM THE COMMUNITY TO ONLY BE ABLE TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS. OFTENTIMES, WE KNOW THAT SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS CAN DRASTICALLY CHANGE THE INTENT OF A POLICY MUCH DIFFERENT FROM HOW IT'S INITIALLY PLANNED TO GO.

TO ELIMINATE PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THESE CIRCUMSTANCES IS GRAVELY CONCERNING AND OPENS THE DOOR FOR MORE LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ON PARENTS, TEACHERS, STUDENTS, CONSTITUENTS, AND STAKEHOLDERS HAVING A VOICE IN OUR DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.

WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO RECONSIDER MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS ACTION.

THERE ARE MORE OPPORTUNITIES AND IDEAS WE WE COULD EXPLORE TO MAKE OUR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS MORE EFFICIENT FOR THE SAKE OF TIME, THAT DOESN'T LIMIT THE VOICES OF EVERYONE DRASTICALLY.

DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY THE DECISIONS OF THIS DULY ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD IN SOLIDARITY, STEP OF LOUISIANA BATON ROUGE PARA UNION.

THANK YOU, MR. DORSEY.

MS. JOHNSON VALENCIA JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS.

UM, THIS MOTION TO CHANGE THE POLICY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

UM, IF THIS IS TRULY ABOUT MINIMIZING THE TIME THAT IS SPENT AT BOARD MEETINGS, LET'S JUST MINIMIZE THE TIME AND NOT RESTRICT PEOPLE FROM COMMENTING ON SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS.

LET'S, INSTEAD OF GIVING THEM ADDITIONAL THREE MINUTES, LET'S GIVE THEM ONE OR TWO, BUT AT LEAST THEY HAVE THE RIGHT, UH, TO COMMENT AND MAKE THEIR, UH, BELIEFS KNOWN TO THE BOARD.

BECAUSE YOU, YOU NEED PUBLIC INPUT.

THAT'S WHAT Y'ALL SCRIBE ON.

AND FROM LANDIS'S PRESENTATION, UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT Y'ALL HARPED ON.

SO IF IT'S REALLY ABOUT LIMITING THE TIME THAT WE SPEND IN BOARD MEETINGS, LET'S LIMIT THE TIME.

BUT IF IT'S ABOUT SOLACE IN PEOPLE, THEN WE NEED TO RETHINK WHAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IS.

THANK YOU, MS. MCMILLAN.

[01:15:06]

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.

MY NAME IS TANYA MCMILLAN.

I HAVE A SON HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEMS. UM, IF YOU GUYS NOTICE, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN I COME TO THE MIC ALL THE TIME WHEN I COME TO THE MIC, I NEVER HAVE ANYTHING WRITTEN.

'CAUSE WHEN I COME HERE, I SPEAK FROM MY HEART AND I TELL YOU GUYS EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING AND I TRY TO STAY ON TOPIC.

AND I TRY TO FIND THINGS THAT ARE ON THE AGENDA SO THAT I CAN SPEAK AND TELL YOU GUYS AND STAGE REMAIN TO THE TOPIC.

BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT.

AND I WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME DOWN HERE IF I COULD JUST GET REPLIES TO SOME EMAILS.

IF I COULD JUST GET SOME COMMUNICATION IN SOME KIND OF WAY, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME DOWN HERE AND DO THAT.

SO THIS SEEMS TO BE LIKE THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO ACTUALLY GET MY VOICE HEARD.

AND ON THE RECORD, IF I CAN'T DO THIS, WHAT ELSE CAN I DO? WHEN I ASK FOR 30 MINUTES, I DON'T GET A REPLY.

YOU KNOW, IF I CAN'T COME UP HERE AND TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT THE GLASS ON THE PLAYGROUND AT MY SON'S SCHOOL, THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC RECORD OF IT.

'CAUSE Y'ALL DON'T REPLY TO THOSE EMAILS.

WHEN DELANES DID THE INTERVIEW THE OTHER MONTH, THE LAST MONTH, IT SAID WE HAD 11 GUNS FOUND IN OUR SCHOOLS.

IF HE DIDN'T SAY THAT AT THIS MEETING, THERE WOULD BE NO PUBLIC RECORD OF IT.

WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE SAID THAT THERE WERE, UM, UH, METAL DETECTORS THAT WEREN'T PLUGGED UP.

THERE'S NO PROB THERE, THERE WOULD BE NO PUBLIC RECORD OF THOSE THINGS IF THEY WERE NOT SET AT THESE BOARD MEETINGS.

HAS ANYONE ADDRESSED THAT? THAT WE FOUND NINE GUNS AT SCHOOLS? AND WE HAVE METAL DETECTORS THAT ARE NOT PLUGGED UP.

AS RECENTLY AS LAST WEEK, I TALKED TO AN EMPLOYEE AT CAPITOL HIGH SCHOOL THAT WAS LOOKING AT TWO UNPLUGGED METAL DETECTORS.

SO IF A CHILD GETS SHOT, IS THAT A LIABILITY OF THE SCHOOL BOARD? I GOTTA SAY THIS RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW? 'CAUSE IF I SEND IT IN AN EMAIL, IT WON'T GET READ OR IT WON'T GET REPLIED TO.

SO YOU GUYS HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THAT WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE.

HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHAT WE WANT YOU TO SAY IF YOU DON'T COMMUNICATE WITH US? CAN WE HAVE A TOWN HALL BEFORE EVERY MEETING TO DISCUSS IT WITH OUR REPS SO THAT YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT TO SAY OR WHAT WE THINK? OTHERWISE? HOW ARE YOU REPRESENTING US? AND IF YOU LIMIT OUR VOICES, THAT'S INSULTING.

THAT'S INSULTING TO EVERYONE OF OUR ANCESTORS THAT FOUGHT FOR US TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK AND FOR OUR VOICES TO COUNT.

THAT'S INSULTING.

AND FOR THE WHITE PEOPLE THAT STOOD HAND IN HAND WITH OUR ANCESTORS AND MARCHED WITH THEM AND FOUGHT FOR US TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK AND TO VOTE, THAT'S INSULTING.

WHAT GOOD IS IT GOING TO DO TO LIMIT OUR VOICES OTHER THAN TO BREED MORE GROUNDS FOR DISTRUST AND FOR LESS TRANSPARENCY? YOU CAN'T ASK US TO TRUST YOU.

'CAUSE TRUST IS A FEELING.

I CAN TELL YOU THAT I TRUST YOU, BUT THAT'S A FEELING THAT I HAVE TO BUILD AND IT HAS TO GROW, AND IT HAS TO GROW FROM A MUTUAL RESPECT AND FROM DOING WHAT YOU SAY YOU'RE GONNA DO.

THANK YOU, MS. MCMILLAN.

DR. LEACH, DO YOU DESIRE TO SPEAK? OKAY, GOOD EVENING.

I DON'T KNOW IF I DESIRE TO SPEAK, BUT SOMEHOW HERE I AM.

I LITERALLY TOOK MYSELF OFF THE GRID OF THE SCHOOL BOARD.

I DIDN'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING.

I DIDN'T WANNA SEE ANYTHING.

I JUST KIND OF WANTED TO SIT BACK AND OBSERVE OR SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FIRST A HUNDRED DAYS.

HEAR FIRST 90 DAYS.

AND TONIGHT WAS A SHOCKER THAT LITERALLY, AND TELL ME IF I'M WRONG, THERE IS A PROPOSAL TO LIMIT OR ELIMINATE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK.

IF THAT IS ON THE AGENDA TO BE VOTED ON, THEN VOTE NOW.

SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE DON'T WANNA HEAR FROM YOU.

WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.

LEAVE.

WE'RE GONNA MAKE ALL THE DECISIONS.

WE'RE NOT GONNA LISTEN TO YOUR INPUT.

WE DON'T CARE.

AND CAN I, I'LL HOLD MY TIME UNTIL THEY FINISH SPEAKING BECAUSE I FIND IT INSULTING WHEN SOMEONE IS UP HERE TALKING AND THEN YOU HAVE SEPARATE CONVERSATIONS.

I REALLY, I FIND IT INSULTING.

IT DOESN'T MATTER.

YOU'RE AN ATTORNEY, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE ANSWER.

RIGHT? RIGHT.

SO MY POINT IS, IF THAT IS AN AGENDA ITEM TO LIMIT OR ELIMINATE THE PUBLIC FROM SPEAKING BEFORE OR AFTER YOU MAKE A DECISION, DON'T HAVE IT AS AN OPTION AT ALL.

ELIMINATE IT COMPLETELY.

DO WHAT IT IS YOU DESIRE TO DO, PLEASE WHO YOU CHOOSE TO PLEASE.

AND LET'S JUST STOP PRETENDING THAT THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC OPTION

[01:20:01]

SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENT CARDS FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK, WE HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL COMMENT CARDS, AND THEN WE HAVE SEVERAL ONLINE COMMENTS AS WELL.

UH, THE FIRST, UH, WHO DOES NOT DESIRE TO SPEAK IS MR. TREY GODFREY REPRESENTING, UH, THE BATON ROUGE AREA CHAMBER.

UH, AND HE IS IN SUPPORT OF THIS RECOMMENDATION, BUT HE DOES NOT DESIRE TO SPEAK.

MS. DONELLA WASHINGTON, UM, DOES NOT DESIRE TO SPEAK.

HOWEVER, HER COMMENT IS AS A BOARD, DO YOU WISH TO TAKE AWAY THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES, UM, YOURSELVES, UH, YOU GET TO EXPRESS YOURSELVES TO THE PUBLIC, AND THE PUBLIC SHOULD GET THE SAME CHANCE.

IF YOU CHANGE, THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS ON THE CHANGES TO AGENDA ITEMS. THANK YOU.

NEXT COMMENT BY MICHAEL STEWART.

AND, UH, IN MY VICE PRESIDENT'S ABSENCE, I HAVE ASKED MS. STEWART TO READ THE ONLINE COMMENTS.

AND THIS IS FOR F SEVEN, RIGHT? OKAY.

UM, WE HAVE FIRST COMMENT FROM WELLTON DOLE.

I BELIEVE THAT THE PROPOSED POLICY CHANGE REPRESENTS A COMMENDABLE INITIATIVE TO FACILITATE COMMUNITY MEMBERS INPUT ON THE MATTER, SUBSEQUENTLY ENABLING THE BOARD TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS THAT PRIORITIZE THE BEST INTEREST OF STUDENTS.

I AM CONFIDENT THAT THE PROPOSED POLICY CHANGE IS AN EXCELLENT INITIATIVE THAT WILL EMPOWER COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS, ALLOWING THE BOARD TO MAKE WELL-INFORMED DECISIONS THAT TRULY PRIORITIZE THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR STUDENTS.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM RACHEL RYAN.

I SUPPORT THIS POLICY CHANGE.

IT FINALLY LOOKS LIKE THE BOARD AND SUPERINTENDENT ARE TRYING TO BRING SOME DECORUM INTO THESE BOARD MEETINGS.

SOME OF US ARE HERE FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DISTRICT, NOT TMZ.

NEXT COMMENT.

TRITA WILLIAMS. HI, MY NAME IS TRINET WILLIAMS. I'M A MOTHER OF A SON WITH DISABILITIES ENROLLED IN EBR SCHOOLS.

I'M NOT IN FAVOR OF AMENDING POLICY.

BCB.

PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS HAVE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES AND INSIGHTS THAT ARE VITAL FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING.

AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS, ALLOWING PARENTS TO MAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON SUBSTITUTE MOTION PROVIDES SEVERAL IMPORTANT BENEFITS, SUCH AS ADVOCACY, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, TRANSPARENCY, TAILORED SOLUTIONS AND EMPOWERMENT.

PARENTS CAN ADVOCATE FOR THEIR CHILDREN'S SPECIFIC NEEDS AND ENSURE THAT THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD IN DECISIONS THAT AFFECT THEIR EDUCATION AND WELLBEING.

PUBLIC COMMENTS FOSTER COLLABORATION BETWEEN PARENTS AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS TO PROMOTE A COOPERATIVE ENVIRONMENT, WHICH FOCUSES ON STUDENT SUCCESS.

ENCOURAGING OPEN DIALOGUE HELPS TO ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS AND ENSURES POLICIES ARE INCLUSIVE TO ALL STUDENTS.

WE ARE STAKEHOLDERS IN EBR.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM JIM JACKSON.

THE PERSONAL ATTACKS OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD HAVE BEEN DEPLORABLE.

I MAY NOT AGREE WITH SOME OF THEIR ACTIONS, BUT THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO REPRESENT THEIR CONSTITUENTS AS BEST AS THEY SEE FIT.

THIS POLICY WILL BRING ORDER BACK TO THE MEETINGS AND PUT STUDENTS FIRST.

NEXT COMMENT FROM TOPEKA RANDALL.

I'VE WATCHED THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS DETERIORATE TO A LEVEL THAT LACKS DECORUM IN ETIQUETTE.

THIS POLICY CHANGE WILL RESTORE SOME DIGNITY THROUGH THE PROCESS AND ALLOW THE PEOPLE WE ELECTED TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND SET POLICY FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTFUL MANNER.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM YOLANDA ROBERTSON.

THE PERSONAL ATTACKS OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD HAVE BEEN DEPLORABLE.

I MAY NOT AGREE WITH SOME OF THEIR ACTIONS AS WELL, BUT THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO REPRESENT THEIR CONSTITUENTS AS BEST THEY SEE FIT.

THIS POLICY WILL BRING BACK TO THE MEETINGS THAT DECOR AND PUT STUDENTS FIRST.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM JARED DAVIS.

THE OBSERVED DECLINE IN DECOR AND ETIQUETTE DURING SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS NECESSITATES A REEVALUATION OF PO CURRENT PRACTICES.

THE PROPOSED POLICY CHANGE AIMS TO REINSTATE A DEGREE OF DIGNITY TO THE PROCEEDINGS, THEREBY ENABLING ELECTED OFFICIALS TO ENGAGE IN THE GOVERNANCE AND POLICY FORMULATION FOR ALL STUDENTS IN A MANNER THAT IS BOTH MORE PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTFUL.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM DWAYNE ROSS.

I HAVE OBSERVED A DECLINE IN THE DECOR AND ETIQUETTE IN THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

THIS POLICY WILL REINSTATE A LEVEL OF DIGNITY TO THE PROCEEDINGS, ENABLING OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES CON TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND ESTABLISH POLICIES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE EFFECTIVE AND RESPECTFUL WAY.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM SHAY TOVER.

I HAVE OBSERVED

[01:25:01]

A DECLINE IN THE CORPSMAN ETIQUETTE.

THIS POLICY CHANGE WILL REINSTATE A LEVEL OF DIGNITY TO THE PROCEEDINGS, ENABLING OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND ESTABLISHED POLICIES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE EFFECTIVE AND RESPECTFUL WAY.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM JASON JONES.

I'VE WATCHED THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS DETERIORATE TO A LEVEL THAT LACKS THE CORPSMAN ETIQUETTE.

THIS POLICY CHANGE WILL RESTORE SOME DIGNITY TO THE PROCESS AND ALLOW THE PEOPLE WE ELECTED TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND SET POLICY FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTFUL MANNER.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM HANNAH ROSO.

WHILE I UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE FOR SHORTER, MORE STREAMLINED BOARD MEETINGS, THIS IS A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED BOARD WHO SHOULD HEAR FROM CONSTITUENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS.

I'M CONCERNED THAT PUBLIC COMMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS.

SOMETIMES THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION CONTAINS ONLY A MINOR CHANGE, BUT SOMETIMES THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION IS SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE ORIGINAL MOTION.

I RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT PUBLIC COMMENT BE ALLOWED WHEN SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS INCLUDE MORE THAN SINGLE WORD OR PHRASE CHANGE, OR WHEN THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION IS DRAMATIC DEPARTURE FROM THE ORIGINAL MOTION.

I WOULD HATE TO SEE SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS USED WRONGFULLY TO SILENCE PUBLIC INPUT.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM DR. JAMES FINNEY.

A WISE MAN ONCE TOLD ME, FACTS ARE FACTS, BUT PERCEPTION IS REALITY.

WHEN THE BOARD ACCEPTS A POLICY CHANGE THAT REDUCES THE PUBLIC'S ABILITY TO WEIGH IN ON MATTERS BEFORE THE BOARD, IT'S A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

WE MIGHT DISAGREE AS TO WHETHER THIS IS A SMALL STEP OR A HUGE LEAP, BUT IT'S HARD TO ARGUE THAT LIMITING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT WILL EITHER IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY OR RAISE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

PLEASE REMOVE THE CHANGES TO SECTION SIX FROM THIS PROPOSAL BEFORE ADOPTION.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM LAURA MORRISON.

I HAVE NOTED A, I HAVE NOTED A DECREASE IN THE PROFESSIONALISM AND CONDUCT DURING THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

THIS POLICY ADJUSTMENT AIMS TO RESTORE A STANDARD OF RESPECTABILITY TO THE DISCUSSIONS, ALLOWING OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND ESTABLISH POLICIES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MANNER THAT REFLECTS PROFESSIONALISM AND RESPECT.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM CECILIA JACKSON.

I'VE WATCHED THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS DETERIORATE TO A LEVEL THAT LACKS CORPSMAN ETIQUETTE.

THIS POLICY CHANGE WILL RESTORE SOME DIGNITY THROUGH THE PROCESS AND ALLOW THE PEOPLE WE ELECTED TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND SAID POLICY FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTABLE MANNER.

LAST COMMENT IS FROM PHOEBE JACKSON.

I HAVE NOTICED A DECREASE IN THE PROFESSIONALISM AND CONDUCT DURING THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

THIS POLICY ADJUSTMENT AIMS TO RESTORE A STANDARD OF RESPECTABILITY TO DISCUSSIONS, ALLOWING OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND ESTABLISH POLICIES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MANNER THAT REFLECTS PROFESSIONALISM AND RESPECT.

AND THAT CONCLUDES THE COMMENTS.

OH, OKAY.

OH, MORE COMMENTS.

NEXT COMMENT FROM MR. RONALD JACKSON.

NEXT COMMENT IS FROM FAIRLEY COOK JACKSON.

FAIRLEY COOK JACKSON DISTRICT FIVE.

HEY, COACH.

IT WAS MY HOPE THAT THE ITEM AROUND PUBLIC COMMENT WILL BE PULLED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR A STANDALONE DISCUSSION.

BUT IF NOT, THIS IS REGARDING CONSENT.

ITEM F SEVEN.

I CAN UNDERSTAND THE BOARD'S DESIRE TO STREAMLINE MEETINGS AND DIALOGUE, BUT THIS DOES NOT SEEM LIKE THE ANSWER.

THE INABILITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK ON A SUBSTITUTE MOTION IS CONCERNING NUMEROUS TIMES.

A SUBSTITUTE MOTION VARIED GREATLY FROM THE ORIGINAL MOTION.

DURING THIS PROCESS OF MOTION, SUBSTITUTE MOTION, MULTIPLE SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENT.

THIS ALSO MEANS THAT THE PUBLIC AND THE BOARD ARE HAVING A DIALOGUE THAT RESULTS IN A HOPEFUL DESIRED OUTCOME.

I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR ONLINE COMMENTS BEING READ, BUT SEE AT LEAST TWO IN FAVOR OF THIS MOTION THAT ARE COPY AND PASTE.

ALLOW COMMENT TIME FOR SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS INSTEAD OF ONLINE CAMPAIGNS, GETTING BREATH AND SPACE.

I ALSO ENCOURAGE THE BOARD IN PUBLIC TO REFLECT ON PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTFUL COMMENTS.

I HAVE OBSERVED A DECLINE IN DECOR AND ETIQUETTE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS.

THIS POLICY CHANGE WILL REINSTATE A LEVEL OF DIGNITY TO THE PROCEEDINGS, ENABLING OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AND ESTABLISH POLICIES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A MORE EFFECTIVE AND RESPECTFUL MANNER.

LAST COMMENT IS FROM TANJA MCMILLAN, PLEASE PULL THIS ITEM FOR DISCUSSION.

LEMME MAKE SURE THAT'S IT.

LEMME UH, THINK THAT'S IT.

THAT'S CONCLUDE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

SO THAT CONCLUDES THE PUBLIC COMMENT.

WE WILL NOW RETURN TO BOARD COMMENT AND I HAVE ENTERED INTO THE, UM, QUEUE.

UH, FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO READ THE BACK OF THE COMMENT CARD THAT WE HAVE HERE.

IT SAYS, PROCEDURES

[01:30:01]

FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS.

PERSONS WISHING TO MAKE COMMENTS AT A BOARD MEETING, SPECIAL BOARD MEETING COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING, A PUBLIC HEARING, OR REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A PUBLIC COMMENT CARD.

AFTER COMPLETING THE CARD, PLEASE GIVE IT TO A STAFF MEMBER TO ENSURE THAT THE CARD IS SUBMITTED TO THE MEETING CHAIR.

SUBMISSION OF COMMENT CARDS AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING IS ENCOURAGED.

COMMENTS ARE LIMITED TO SPECIFIC ITEMS LISTED ON THE SCHOOL BOARD AGENDA AND PROPOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.

THE MEETING CHAIR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISALLOW COMMENTS THAT ARE NOT GERMANE TO THE SPECIFIC ITEM AND RECOMMENDATION.

PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE LIMITED TO MORE THAN THREE MINUTES, UH, OR LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN THREE MINUTES PER INDIVIDUAL.

THE ORDER OF SPEAKERS MAY BE ORGANIZED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING CHAIR IN A MANNER THAT WILL FACILITATE THE ORDERLY AND EFFICIENT FLOW OF BUSINESS SPEAKERS WHO HAVE PROVIDED WRITTEN COMMENTS TO THE BOARD OR ASKED TO SUMMARIZE THEIR KEY POINTS, RATHER THAN READING THE DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY.

I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION FOR ALL OF OUR, UH, PUBLIC INFORMATION.

THE NEXT IS, I WANNA START BY SAYING THAT WE DID NOT BEFORE THIS YEAR READ ANY ONLINE COMMENTS, BUT WE STARTED THIS YEAR.

THE NEXT IS I WANNA ASK MS. ARMAN, WILL YOU SHARE WITH US MS. ARMAN OR MR. SHAMBLIN, WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR THE AGENDA BEING POSTED? THE AGENDA GOES PUBLIC ON THE TUESDAY AT NOON PRIOR TO THE REGULAR OR COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING OF THE BOARD.

SO MR. SHAMBLIN, I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU.

WILL YOU GIVE US YOUR LEGAL DEFINITION OF WHAT LOBBYING IS? I DON'T HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF ME.

UM, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S PUSHING, UM, FOR A POSITION, UM, FROM A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, A POLITICAL CANDIDATE, UM, OR PUSHING A POLITICAL CANDIDATE TO TAKE A PARTICULAR POSITION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

UM, ALSO, I WANTED TO SHARE THIS OPENLY AS WELL.

MR. SHAMBLIN.

I KNOW BEFORE WE HAD THIS MEETING, I ASKED IF WE COULD POSSIBLY, UM, GET DOCUMENTATION OF WHAT THE POLICIES WERE LIKE IN OTHER SCHOOL BOARDS AND WHAT IS THEIR PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS LIKE? UM, I KNOW THAT, THAT YOU SAID THAT THAT WOULD TAKE SOME TIME TO DISCOVER THAT.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT I PUT THE REQUEST IN JUST PRIOR TO THIS MEETING AND I'M, I'M HOPING FOR SOME FEEDBACK.

I DON'T HAVE THAT YET.

UM, AND I WILL ASK, I'LL ASK THIS OF, OF SUPERINTENDENT COLE OR MR. SHAMBLIN OR MR. SMITH EVEN.

DOES THIS ITEM HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SCHOOL CLOSURES OR REDISTRICTING? NOT FOR ME AND NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE.

UM, AND I'LL JUST SHARE THIS AS WELL, I'LL ADD FOR YOU, MR. SHAMBLIN, THAT WITH LOBBYING GENERALLY THAT MEANS THAT THE MEETINGS ARE TAKING PLACE PRIOR TO WHATEVER THE GOVERNING BOARD MEETING IS.

THAT'S A PHONE CALL, THAT'S AN EMAIL, WHATEVER TYPE OF COMMUNICATION.

AM I CORRECT? TECHNICALLY.

UM, UH, LET'S SEE.

DOES THIS ITEM, MR. SHAMBLIN, SAY THAT WE DO NOT, WE WILL NOT HAVE TO READ THE CONSENT AGENDA? NO, MA'AM.

IT DOES NOT.

IT DOES NOT SAY THAT.

CAN YOU SHARE WITH US AS WELL, WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY IN REGARDS TO PUBLIC COMMENT IN GOVERNING MEETINGS? UH, STATE LAW SPECIFICALLY REQUIRES SCHOOL BOARDS TO PROVIDE A PERIOD OF PUBLIC COMMENT ON EACH AGENDA ITEM.

SO IS THAT ON THE MOTION OR IS THAT ON THE ITEM? IT IS ON THE ITEM.

AND SO THAT MEANS THAT IF THERE'S A SUBSTITUTE MOTION, THERE IS NO PUBLIC COMMENT ON THAT BECAUSE THE COMMENT SHOULD BE ON THE ITEM.

THERE'S NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE COMMENT ON EACH INDIVIDUAL MOTION.

ONLY ON THE ITEM.

PO UH, POST-IT COMMENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, WE READ THE ONLINE COMMENTS.

SO THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING ALL OF MY QUESTIONS.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS ARE, NUMBER ONE, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR ANYBODY ELSE.

I COULD JUST SPEAK FOR MYSELF.

THESE PROCESSES I'VE BEEN VERY LENIENT WITH, WITH US THINKING ABOUT EMAILS AND THINKING ABOUT, UH,

[01:35:01]

THE OTHER IS, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR ANYBODY ELSE, BUT I READ MY EMAILS AND I REPLY TO MY EMAILS, YES YOU DO.

AND I CC 5,000 PEOPLE ON THE EMAILS TO BE ABLE TO GET YOU THE ASSISTANCE THAT YOU NEED.

IF ONLY YOU COULD SEE MR. MORALES'S HEAD BACK THERE NODDING, AND MR. SMITH TELLING ME, WE, WE KNOW SHE BACK 'CAUSE SHE READING AND SHE'S SENDING EMAILS.

I CAN'T SPEAK FOR ANYBODY ELSE, BUT THAT IS OUR ROLE.

NOW, I WILL SAY, IF I HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU DURING THE WEEK, I CAN'T PROMISE THAT I'M GONNA HAVE 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU DURING THE WEEK BECAUSE WE HAVE OTHER JOBS.

WE HAVE OTHER JOBS, Y'ALL.

BUT I CAN'T SPEAK FOR WHETHER OR NOT ANYBODY COMMUNICATES WITH YOU, BUT I DO.

AND HOPEFULLY THIS WILL ENCOURAGE MORE SUBSTANCE FEEL, LOBBYING AND CONVERSATIONS WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHEN IT COMES TO SCHOOL CLOSURES, SCHOOL ALIGNMENTS, REDISTRICTING.

YOU ALL HAVE SEEN ALREADY THAT THIS BOARD THAT SITS HERE, WE HAVE COMMUNITY MEETINGS, WE DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.

WE SCHEDULE A WHOLE PLETHORA OF CONVERSATIONS.

SO YOU CANNOT EXPECT THAT YOU WON'T HAVE THAT THIS TIME.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU.

I'M A CIVICS TEACHER AND A GOVERNMENT TEACHER, AND I BELIEVE IN EVERYBODY HAVING THEIR VOICE.

BUT IT'S OKAY FOR US TO FOLLOW THE LAW.

THANK YOU MR. LANIS.

THANK YOU MADAM PRESIDENT.

BEFORE I GO, I WANTED TO APOLOGIZE TO DR. LEACH.

UM, I WASN'T HAVING CASUAL CONVERSATION.

I WAS ACTUALLY TAKING NOTES DOWN AS EVERYONE WAS SPEAKING, AND THERE WAS A LEGAL QUESTION THAT I HAD TO GET THE ANSWER TO.

SO I REACHED OVER AND I SPOKE TO COUNSEL FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS AND I, I COULD HAVE TEXTED HIM, BUT SOME OF THE, ONE OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT AS A BOARD IS PUTTING THE CELL PHONES DOWN AND I TEXTED DURING THE MEETING, SO I JUST WANTED TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU, DR. LEACH.

I UNDERSTAND IT DOESN'T MATTER AND, BUT I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I EXPRESSED THAT TO YOU.

I WASN'T TRYING TO IGNORE YOU AT ALL.

UH, I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, HOWEVER, BEFORE I GET INTO THE MEAT OF WHAT I WANTED TO DISCUSS.

UH, AND I GUESS THIS RIGHT HERE IS FOR MR. SHALIN.

DOES THIS ITEM HALT OR PREVENT ONLINE COMMENT? NO, SIR.

SO ONLINE COMMENTS WILL STILL BE MADE, UH, OR READ INTO, UH, READ INTO ORDER THROUGHOUT, UH, REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU VOTE ON THE ITEM.

THAT'S CORRECT.

THE NEXT ITEM I WOULD, I MEAN, THE NEXT QUESTION I HAVE IS, AND CONCERNS TO THE CONSENT AGENDA.

IF AN ITEM IS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA AND THE PUBLIC HAS ALREADY SPOKEN ON IT, AND A BOARD MEMBER COMES BE, I MEAN COMES AFTER THE PUBLIC'S, UH, HAS SPOKEN, AND THEY WANT TO PULL THAT ITEM, WILL THE PUBLIC STILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK? UNDERSTANDING THAT THE ITEM IS STILL HAS TO BE SPOKEN ON.

THIS ISN'T AN ACTUAL MOTION, IT'S A ITEM.

SO LEMME SAY THAT AGAIN.

I KNOW I SAID A WHOLE LOT.

IF AN ITEM IS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, JUST LIKE WE'RE TALKING RIGHT NOW, THE PUBLIC JUST SPOKE AND LET'S SAY I WANT TO PULL THAT ITEM RIGHT NOW.

AND IF THAT ITEM IS A STANDALONE ITEM, CAN THE PUBLIC STILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON THAT ITEM AFTER A MEMBER HAS PULLED IT? YES, OF COURSE.

JUST WANTED TO ASK THAT.

SO I'M JUST ASKING THE BOARD TO PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANY, UH, ANY LANGUAGE THAT WE COME UP WITH.

FOR THE RECORD, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M GOING TO, THAT I, THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT WITH SUPERINTENDENT SHALIN WAS I SAID, SUPERINTENDENT SHALIN.

SORRY ABOUT THAT.

UH, SUPERINTENDENT COLE SCATTERBRAINED RIGHT NOW WAS, AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, THERE ARE NO RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR WORKSHOPS.

SO I HEARD THE PUBLIC'S COMMENT AROUND SCHOOL CONSOLIDATIONS, BUDGET REDISTRICTING, CHARTER DISCUSSIONS.

WHAT I WOULD ASK IS, AND WHAT I WANT TO CODIFY WITH THE HELP OF OUR BOARD IS TO BRING AN ITEM NEXT MONTH THAT SPEAKS TOWARDS IF WE HAVE THOSE TYPES OF ITEMS THAT COME BEFORE OUR BOARD.

THAT ONE, WE BRING A WORKSHOP THAT STARTS AT 5:00 PM NOT ONE THAT STARTS AT FOUR.

SO IT GIVES THE, THE, THE AUDIENCE OR OUR COMMUNITY, ENOUGH TIME TO GET TIRED OF THE BOARD MEETING.

TWO, BECAUSE THERE ARE NO RULES OF PROCEDURE, THE PUBLIC CAN SAY WHAT THEY NEED TO SAY AS LONG AS THEY SPEAK TO THE GERMANIST OF THE ITEM.

THIS IS GOING TO NOT ONLY HELP US TO, AND, AND WHAT IT DOES IS IT OFFSETS THIS ITEM TONIGHT, BUT NOT SO MUCH OFFSET IT.

BUT IT HELPS US TO STILL GET THE BUSINESS OF THE BOARD DONE, WHETHER IT'S NEW BUSINESS OR OLD BUSINESS.

BUT IT ALSO ALLOWS OUR COMMUNITY AND THE PUBLIC AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON BIG ISSUES, SUCH AS YOU SAID BEFORE, SCHOOL CONSOLIDATIONS, REDISTRICTING BUDGET, AND CHARTER DISCUSSIONS.

NOW, I'M NOT TRYING TO DO THIS ALONE.

I WANNA WORK WITH OUR BOARD.

[01:40:01]

I'VE ALREADY TALKED TO SUPER SUPERINTENDENT SU, OH SORRY, ATTORNEY SHALIN, AND THEY DID SPEAK WITH OUR DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT AS WELL AS OUR SUPERINTENDENT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS IRONCLAD THAT MAKES SENSE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

BUT I WANTED TO JUST EXPRESS THAT SO EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT YOU'RE STILL GONNA HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON HOT BUTTON ISSUES OR ISSUES THAT ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR COMMUNITY.

THANK YOU MADAM PRESIDENT.

I JUST WANT TO LET IT OUT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. LANIS.

MR. SHAMBLIN, DID YOU NEED TO SKIP THE ORDER? YEAH, YOU CAN GO AHEAD.

YOU OKAY WITH THAT? YEAH.

UH, JUST I WANTED TO JUST KIND OF, UH, ADD SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, THOSE COMMENTS.

UH, THE BOARD ACTUALLY DOES HAVE A TOOL FOR A WORKSHOP THAT ALLOWS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

IT'S CALLED A PUBLIC HEARING.

AND WE UTILIZE THOSE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

GENERALLY FOR BUDGET DISCUSSIONS.

I THINK THE LAW REQUIRES AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE OR TWO OF THOSE PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF A BUDGET.

SO THERE'S ALREADY A MECHANISM FOR A WORKSHOP TYPE APPROACH WITH PUBLIC COMMENT BUILT IN.

HOWEVER, WE CAN STILL TALK ABOUT YOUR IDEAS AND, AND EXPLORE THAT OVER THE NEXT MONTH.

SO THE ONLY REASON WHY I DIDN'T CALL IT A PUBLIC HEARING IS BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THOSE RULES AND I DID NOT WANT TO STIFLE ANYONE NOT HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK IF THE ITEM CHANGES DURING THE WORKSHOP.

'CAUSE A LOT OF TIMES IN THE WORKSHOP WE'RE VOTING ON ITEMS AS WELL.

SO THAT'S WHY I WANT TO LABEL IT AS A WORKSHOP.

BUT IF WE CAN TINKER THAT TO FIX IT, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.

UNDERSTOOD.

SO, UH, POINT OF CLARIFICATION.

DO WE VOTE ON ITEMS DURING THE WORKSHOP? WE DO NOT.

SO YEAH.

SO THEN THAT STILL ALLOWS, MM-HMM, .

AND I'VE GOT SOME THINGS IN THIS CONSENT AGENDA THAT I DON'T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH.

UM, MR. LEWIS, THANK YOU.

YOU KNOW, CHANGE IS, IS IS DIFFICULT.

CHANGE IS HARD.

PEOPLE DON'T LIKE CHANGE.

YOU KNOW, I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN THE TIME CHANGES.

I'VE WATCHED THIS SCHOOL BOARD FOR A LONG TIME, UM, WAS REALLY FIRED UP AND MOTIVATED TO RUN.

AND THEN I WANTED TO BACK AWAY FROM IT.

BUT I CHANGED MY MIND BECAUSE TO ME, IT'S ALL ABOUT CHILDREN.

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHILDREN.

AND WE HAVE LET ADULT STUFF GET IN THE WAY FROM OUT THERE AND FROM UP HERE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL BEING GUILTY OF IT.

BUT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, WHAT WE'RE ATTEMPTING TO DO IS RIGHT THE SHIP.

WRITE THE SHIP AND SPEND OUR TIME FOCUSING ON CHILDREN.

NOW, FOCUSING ON CHILDREN MAY KEEP US HERE TO 10 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.

IT MAY KEEP US HERE TO 10 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.

THERE'S NO SET TIME LIMIT FOR H FOR FOR DEALING WITH CHILDREN.

I'VE SAT UP HERE TONIGHT AND I, I, I CONFESS I'VE BEEN TEXTING TONIGHT, BUT I'VE BEEN TEXTING WITH RETIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT WHO'S HAPPENING WITH INSURANCE.

THEY'RE MY CONSTITUENTS.

I'M TRYING TO MULTITASK.

PARDON ME.

OH, I'M, I'M TRYING TO MULTITASK BECAUSE I RESPECT THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR ME TO SIT IN THIS CHAIR.

AND I TAKE THE PHONE CALLS AND I DO MY BEST TO ANSWER THE EMAILS, BUT I WORK TOO.

AND THERE'S A NEW RULE AT MY HOUSE CHANGE THAT I DON'T PARTICULARLY CARE FOR.

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT CHANGE IS? WHEN YOU GET OUT YOUR CAR AT NIGHT AND COME IN THE HOUSE, CELL PHONE IS OFF BECAUSE WORK IS OVER .

THAT'S A NEW RULE AT MY HOUSE WHEN, ON THIS CELL PHONE, I GOT NUMBERS OF PARENTS THAT I HAD THEIR KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL, 10 AND 12 YEARS AGO THAT ARE STILL CALLING ME.

SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A BIG CHANGE FOR ME TO HAVE TO TURN MY CELL PHONE OFF WHEN I PULL UP IN THE GARAGE.

'CAUSE MY WIFE DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.

AND I LIKE BEING HAPPY.

SO I TURN IT OFF BECAUSE HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON WHAT'S HAPPENING.

LET'S GIVE IT A CHANCE.

LET'S RECALIBRATE.

I THINK MR. LANDIS HAD A, A, A, A A PERFECT IDEA ABOUT WORKSHOPS.

IF, IF, IF, IF IT CAN WORK AND IT CAN HELP US MOVE THE NEEDLE FORWARD, LET'S TRY IT.

LET'S TRY IT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

THERE'S GONNA BE SOME ADJUSTMENTS MADE.

BUT IF WE ARE MAKING THOSE ADJUSTMENTS TO TURN THE FOCUS MORE TOWARDS CHILDREN, THEN IT'S A GOOD CHANGE BECAUSE I'VE GOT SOME SERIOUS, LISTEN, I'VE BEEN GOING OVER THIS CONSENT AGENDA FOR THE LAST WEEK WITH A FINE TEETH COMB,

[01:45:01]

BUT WHEN, WHEN I LOOKED AT IT AND PUT THIS ON THIS PP PIECE OF PAPER, THIS ON THIS PIECE OF PAPER, THE END RESULT FOR ME WAS WHAT'S BEST FOR CHILDREN.

TWO WEEKS AGO I WENT TOE FOR TOE WITH STUDY BILL.

NOT BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE STUDY BILL.

I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT STUDY BILL WAS DOING WAS BEST FOR CHILDREN.

AND I WORRIED MY FRIEND MS. EDWARDS, I HOPE SHE'S STILL MY FRIEND, I WORRIED MY FRIEND MS. EDWARDS, TO THE POINT THAT SHE WAS EMAILING ME AT 5:23 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING, LET'S GIVE IT, I GOT 42 SECONDS.

CALL.

LET'S, AND I'M NOT GOING TO DO WHAT WE WERE.

LET'S GIVE IT A CHANCE AND LET'S SEE IF IT WORKS.

LET'S GIVE IT A CHANCE AND SEE IF IT WORKS.

BECAUSE THE BOTTOM LINE, IF IT'S GOING TO MOVE THE NEEDLE FOR CHILDREN, I'M GOING TO TRY AND I'LL BE THE FIRST TO TELL YOU.

IF IT DOESN'T, I'LL SIT UP HERE AND WE'LL BE HERE TILL 10 O'CLOCK BECAUSE I'M GONNA FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK FOR CHILDREN, NOT FOR GROWN PEOPLE.

FOR CHILDREN.

THANK YOU MR. BALLOU.

THANK YOU MADAM PRESIDENT.

UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION FOR, UH, MR. SHALIN.

IT SEEMS THE PRIMARY CONCERN I'VE HEARD IS THAT, UH, UH, A MOTION OR A SUBSTITUTE MOTION COULD MATERIALLY CHANGE THE ITEM.

UM, I KNOW THAT'S A, IT'S, IT'S RARE THAT THAT HAPPENS, BUT IF IT DOES, IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS POLICY THAT WOULD PROHIBIT THE CHAIR FROM GOING BACK TO THE AUDIENCE? IF, IF, IF THEY DEEM THAT IT'S MATERIALLY CHANGED THE ITEM? WELL, THE, THE BOARD, IF, IF THE BOARD APPROVES THIS TONIGHT, THIS IS AN, THIS IS AN AMENDMENT TO A CHANGE TO THE, THE RULES OF PROCEDURE.

GENERALLY IT REQUIRES A VOTE OF THE BOARD TO SET ASIDE POLICY OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE.

SO THE CHAIR WOULD HAVE TO REQUEST THAT SOMEONE MAKE A MOTION, SET THAT ASIDE TO DO SO.

UM, IT'S NOT SOMETHING SHE COULD JUST SIMPLY DO AS CHAIR.

IT REQUIRES A VOTE OF THE BOARD.

BUT IT COULD STILL, IT COULD HAPPEN, YES.

BUT, UM, WHICH I WOULDN'T EXPECT.

LIKE I SAID, IT'S VERY RARE THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD HAPPEN.

YEAH.

AND, AND FOR, TO GO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER WITH THAT QUESTION, UH, YOU, YOU SAY CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE ITEM.

KEEP IN MIND THE BOARD IS REQUIRED TO NOTICE ITEMS TO THE PUBLIC IN ADVANCE.

AND SO A MOTION A SECOND OR AN AMENDMENT CAN CHANGE WHAT HAPPENS WITH AN ITEM.

BUT YOU GOTTA BE VERY CAREFUL WITH CHANGING THE NATURE OF THE ITEM, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEN YOU HAVE NOTICE ISSUES.

SO, UM, WE GOTTA BE CAREFUL WITH HOW WE USE THOSE WORDS AND WHAT THAT ACTUALLY MEANS.

AND MR. SHALIN, I THINK YOU'VE, OKAY.

ALRIGHT, MS. SOLE, WHEN, UM, WHEN I FIRST STARTED READING ABOUT THIS IDEA, I ACTUALLY HAD A LOT OF THE SAME THOUGHTS THAT I'VE HEARD TONIGHT AND WAS LIKE, WHOA, I'M NOT SURE THAT THIS IS THE BEST THING FOR KIDS AND FOR PEOPLE AND FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

UM, AND THEN AS I'VE REALLY BEEN PROCESSING IT AND THINKING THROUGH IT, I REALIZED HOW MUCH, FOR ME AS A BOARD MEMBER, IT IS GONNA HELP ME TO MAKE SURE THAT I AM REALLY THINKING THROUGH WHAT I WANNA SAY AND WHAT I'M THINKING.

MM-HMM.

AND WHAT I WANTED TO TELL YOU GUYS, I KNOW MANY OF YOU, WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED, UM, AND, AND SAID THIS BEFORE, HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE EMAILS AND HOW I, I APPRECIATE WHEN YOU GUYS ARE UP HERE AND THAT YOU DO BRING THINGS THAT I HAVEN'T ALWAYS THOUGHT, THOUGHT ABOUT.

UM, I THINK IT'S GONNA HELP US ALL TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE USING OUR WORDS WISELY.

ABSOLUTELY.

AND, UM, AND I'M ALSO ONE THAT READS MY EMAILS THAT WANTS TO HEAR FROM CONSTITUENTS THAT, UM, KNOWS THAT IT IS A PRIVILEGE THAT I'VE BEEN, UM, ELECTED TO THIS BOARD.

AND I KNOW THE OTHER MEMBERS FEEL THAT WAY TOO.

AND SO THIS ISN'T IN NO WAY TO STOP ANYONE FROM SHARING THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS OR OPINIONS.

IT IS MORE, UM, TO HAVE US USE OUR, OUR WORDS EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.

UM, WHICH I KNOW FOR ME, I COULD, I COULD STAND TO HAVE SOME HELP WITH THAT.

THANK YOU, MR. GODDY.

PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, POINT OF INFORMATION, CLARIFICATION.

UH, JUST A QUICK

[01:50:01]

QUESTION.

I GUESS THIS IS FOR MR. SHALIN TOO, BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE DEADLINE OR TAKE IT BACK.

WE HAVE THE, UM, POLICY THAT IT GOES LIVE ON TUESDAY AT NOON.

UH, I THINK WE SHOULD REITERATE AS A BOARD THAT OUR EXPECTATION IS THAT WHEN IT GOES LIVE ON TUESDAY AT NOON, IT HAS COMPLETE AND FULL BACKUP.

SO THAT PUBLIC CAN TAKE A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THAT AND SEE THAT.

AND IT SHOULD BE THE RARE EXCEPTION THAT ANYTHING GOES UP ON TUESDAY WITHOUT THE FULL BACKUP BEING AVAILABLE.

AND ALSO, OCCASIONALLY, I KNOW THERE ARE EMERGENCY ITEMS THAT HAVE TO GET ADDED ON, BUT THOSE SHOULD REALLY BE STRICTLY EMERGENCY ITEMS THAT IF IT DOESN'T MAKE THE AGENDA, IT DOESN'T, UH, IF IT DOESN'T MAKE THE AGENDA AT NOON, THEN UH, IT SHOULDN'T BE CONSIDERED AT THAT MEETING.

THE OTHER THING IS I THINK WE NEED TO DOUBLE DOWN ON OURSELVES TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TAKE ACTIONS AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, THAT ITEMS COME BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

I KNOW THAT'S A PERFECT WORLD AND WE'RE NOT, DON'T LIVE IN A PERFECT WORLD, BUT WE SHOULD TRY AS VERY HARD AS WE CAN BECAUSE I, LIKE MR. BALLOU SEEMS LIKE THE, THE REAL ISSUE BECAUSE WE'RE STILL ALLOWING PEOPLE TO TALK.

NO ONE'S SHUTTING DOWN ALL PUBLIC COMMENT.

THE ONLY ISSUE I'VE HEARD OF ANY REAL IMPACT IN MY MIND IS SUBSTITUTE MOTION ISSUES.

AND SHOULD SOMETHING PASS WITH THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION, IT'S GONNA STILL BE COMING UP IN THE CONSENT AGENDA AT THE REGULAR MEETING.

SO PEOPLE, THE PUBLIC WOULD STILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS IT AT THE REGULAR MEETING, UH, THROUGH THAT.

SO, UH, THIS CHANGE OF PROCEDURE ISN'T AS DRAMATIC AS I THINK IT'S SOME, SOME MIGHT THINK IT WILL BE.

AND I AGREE WITH COACH, LET'S GIVE IT A TRY AND IF IT WORKS, THAT'S ALL TO THE BETTER BECAUSE I DO THINK WE NEED TO CHANGE THE TONE AND TENOR OF OUR MEETINGS TO REFOCUS ON KIDS BECAUSE I THINK THAT A LOT OF OUR MEETINGS HAVE GOTTEN DISTRACTED INTO THE ADULT ISSUES INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THE KIDS.

SO IF THIS HELPS US DO THAT ONE THING, IT COULD DO MORE GOOD THAN ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE'VE DONE HERE IN A LONG TIME.

SO I SUPPORT IT, BUT, UH, I ALSO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO DOUBLE DOWN TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE BACKUP MATERIAL ON TUESDAY AT NOON.

AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TRY AS BEST AS WE CAN TO HAVE ALL ITEMS GO THROUGH THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

UH, MR. LEWIS PUT HIS NAME BACK IN THE QUEUE.

BOTHERING LOOK, TRYING TO MESS WITH ME AS HE SAYS.

NO, I REALLY, I REALLY WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING.

SO, SO WHAT IS IT CALLED? UH, MR. LANIS? POINT OF POINT OF PRIVILEGE.

POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.

WHICH ONE? ALL, ALL OF ROLL UP TOGETHER.

BUT YES SIR.

ON A, ON A, ON A, ON A MUCH SERIOUS NOTE, WE ARE GETTING READY TO APPROVE ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.

AND IT'S ALL FOR KIDS.

WE'VE GOT THREE CONTRACTS AND IT'S ALL ABOUT ADDRESSING A PROBLEM THAT'S RAMPANT IN THIS DISTRICT.

AND THAT'S LITERACY.

THAT'S WHY MS. EDWARDS WAS EMAILING ME AT 5:23 AM WE HAVE GOT TO MOVE THIS DISTRICT.

AND I'VE TALKED ABOUT SUBGROUPS AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

THAT'S MONEY WELL SPENT.

AND IT'S ABOUT CHILDREN.

DO I AGREE WITH ALL THREE THINGS IN THESE CONTRACTS? NO, BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT I AGREE WITH OR WHAT I JUST, IT'S ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO MOVE THE NEEDLE FOR THE CHILDREN IN THIS DISTRICT.

AND WHEN WE FIRST JOINED THIS BOARD, PEOPLE USED TO SAY, OH, YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING, YOU'RE DRINKING FROM THE FIRE HOSE ALREADY.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT.

, I THINK MS. EDWARDS HAS BEEN, AND HER TEAM'S BEEN DRINKING FROM THE FIRE HOSE FOR THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS BECAUSE I MEAN, SHE'S GETTING IT FULL BORE.

IT'S ABOUT CHILDREN.

IT'S ABOUT THREE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN I HAVE AND NINE GRANDCHILDREN WITH ONE MORE COMING.

IT'S ABOUT THEM.

'CAUSE I GUARANTEE I'LL BE DEAD AND GONE WHEN THEY FINISH.

BUT IF WE CAN DO SOMETHING IN THIS CITY TO IMPACT THEIR LIVES,

[01:55:02]

LET'S DO IT.

LET'S TRY IT.

LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR THE CHILDREN IN THIS PARISH.

AND I DON'T CARE IF THEY'RE BLACK, WHITE, HISPANIC, ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED.

IT DOESN'T, I DON'T CARE.

IT DOESN'T MATTER.

LET'S JUST TRY TO DO SOMETHING FOR CHILDREN.

IF WE DON'T WANNA DO THAT, THEN WE MIGHT AS WELL SHUT IT DOWN.

THANK YOU FOR THAT PERSONAL POINT OF PRIVILEGE AND ALL THAT OTHER STUFF.

OKAY, MR. RUSS? MS. STEWART, ANY COMMENTS? ? OKAY.

G ALPHABET, G NEW BUSINESS G ONE STUDENT EXPULSION.

UH, CONSIDERING ALL, WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A VOTE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.

[G.1. Student Expulsion]

UM, DISCUSSION, CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO APPEAL A STUDENT EXPULSION BOARD MEMBERS.

HAVE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE CASE? YES.

DO I HAVE A MOTION TO HEAR THE MATTER AT OUR NEXT REGULAR MEETING? YES.

SO, UM, WE HAVE A MOTION TO HEAR G ONE AT OUR NEXT MEETING.

IS THERE A SECOND? IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MS. ULA.

THE MATTER WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING, THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD, UH, IN NOVEMBER.

HAVE IS ITEM G TWO STUDENT EXPULSION DISCUSSION, CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO APPEAL A STUDENT EXPULSION BOARD MEMBERS.

THE NEXT WE HAVE, THE NEXT WE

[G.2. Student Expulsion]

HAVE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE CASE? YES.

THREE LITIGATION CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATION FROM GWEN SHAMBLIN, GENERAL COUNSEL, EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD IN THE MATTER OF CARLY TAMER ETAL VERSUS EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, ETAL SUIT NUMBER 7 4 0 1 6 4 SECTION 23 19TH, JDC EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.

DO I HAVE A MOTION TO HEAR THE MATTER AT OUR NEXT REGULAR MEETING? OKAY.

IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY, UH, MR. LANIS AND SECONDED BY MR. LEWIS.

UH, SO WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.

THE MATTER WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD IN NOVEMBER.

RIGHT NOW MOVING TO G

[G.3. Litigation]

IS THERE A MOTION YOU TELL THE COMMENT FIRST? NO.

OKAY, MR. THAT'S A GOOD ONE.

ALL RIGHT.

MOTION BY MR. BALLOU.

IS THERE A SECOND? SECONDED BY MR. RUSS.

COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? ALL RIGHT.

SEEING NONE, COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC AT THIS TIME TOO SOON? .

H ONE PRESENTATIONS, DATA AGGREGATION REPORT.

SEEING NONE, RETURNING TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.

ALRIGHT, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE.

[H.1. Data Aggregation Report]

THIS IS AN UPDATE ON THE DATA AGGREGATION PROJECT THROUGH LIE FROG.

MR. COLE, WE HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM LIE FROG WHO'S GONNA TAKE US THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.

GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD.

MORNING.

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK WITH YOU GUYS.

I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF UPDATE ON THE PROJECT.

WE JUST GOT STARTED THIS MONTH, SO I WANTED TO WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT WE'VE DONE AND WHERE WE'RE GOING AND, UH, WHAT WE INTEND TO ACHIEVE FOR YOU GUYS.

UH, GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO FIRST OFF, I'D

[02:00:01]

LIKE TO START BY JUST DOING A RECAP OF, OF WHAT WE'RE DOING.

SO WE ARE PUTTING TOGETHER A COMPREHENSIVE DATA PLATFORM FOR YOU GUYS THAT CAN BE USED TO KIND OF DRILL IN DEEP TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE THE DISTRICT REGARDING, UH, FACILITIES AND, UH, PERFORMANCE AND AND AND SO FORTH.

UH, AS PART OF THAT DATA SET, WE'RE ALSO PUTTING TOGETHER, UH, HISTORY.

SO IT'S NOT JUST CURRENT THIS YEAR'S DATA, BUT IT'S, WE'RE GOING TO, WE'RE ATTEMPTING TO GO BACK IN 10 YEARS IF AVAILABLE DATA AND HOLD TO A MINIMUM OF FIVE IF POSSIBLE.

SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE TREND DATA.

AND WE'RE ALSO WANTING TO SET UP SOME BENCHMARK ANALYSIS WHERE WE'RE BE, YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR SIZE BASED DISTRICTS IN THE SOUTHEAST AS WELL AS TO DIFFERENT STANDARDS, UH, REGARDING FACILITIES.

UH, THAT WAY WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE DATA, YOU CAN KIND OF HAVE THE SENSE OF, WELL, IS THIS GOOD DATA OR BAD DATA? UH, IS THIS, WHAT'S THIS TELLING US? HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU INSIGHT INTO THE DATA YOU'RE SEEING.

ON TOP OF HAVING THAT PLATFORM, WE WILL BE PRODUCING A MANUAL REPORT.

AND IN THAT MANUAL REPORT, WE WILL ALSO HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR OPTIMIZING SCHOOL FACILITIES, UH, FOR THE DISTRICT.

UH, AND THAT'LL BE ON TOP OF THAT DATA PLATFORM.

THAT DATA PLATFORM WILL BE A LIVE PLATFORM, UH, UPDATED ANNUALLY THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO USE OVER TIME.

THE MANUAL REPORT WILL BE WHAT WE'RE SEEING AT THAT SPECIFIC TIME.

NOW, WE INTEND FOR THIS TO BE TRANSPARENT.

SO NOT ONLY WILL THERE BE A A VERSION FOR THE DISTRICT, BUT THERE WILL BE A PUBLIC VERSION THAT IS OPEN ON THE WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO IN AND SEE THIS DATA AND, AND THAT WAY HOPEFULLY WE CAN OPEN THE DOOR TO HAVE GOOD DISCOURSE AND COM AND, AND BACK AND FORTH COMMUNICATION WITH WHAT THE DATA'S SEEING AND WHAT RESULTS COME FROM US LOOKING AT THAT DATA.

WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR, WE, WE'VE CONDUCTED THE INITIAL STARTUP MEETING.

AT THAT STARTUP MEETING.

WE WALKED THROUGH THE SCOPE, WE WALKED THROUGH, UH, A, A SCHEDULE, WHICH WE'LL COVER IN MORE DETAIL IN JUST A SECOND.

WE ALSO WALKED THROUGH, UH, THE DATA NEEDS, THE INITIAL DATA, UH, REQUEST, UH, ABOUT SIX PAGES, OF DATA WE WERE ASKING FOR TO GET STARTED.

WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT SIZE BASED PEERS.

UH, WE PROVIDED A TO THAT STARTUP MEETING TEAM.

WE PROVIDED SOME DETAILS ON THE DISTRICTS WE'VE IDENTIFIED THAT WERE SIZE BASED.

UH, WE INTEND TO, WE WE MARKED OFF THE ONES WE FELT WERE THE MOST, UH, LIKE BATON ROUGE AND YOU GOT TO LEARN THE MOST FROM.

BUT AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA NEED FEEDBACK FROM THE BOARD, ALSO FROM THE TEAM TO MAKE SURE WE'RE, WE'RE SELECTING THE RIGHT ONES.

UH, WE ALSO DISCUSSED, UH, THOSE NATIONAL STANDARDS WE'RE GONNA USE.

WE'RE GONNA REVIEW THOSE AS A TEAM AS WELL AND PRESENT THOSE TO THE BOARD TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE WITH WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT, WHO WE'RE GONNA BE COMPARING TO AND WHAT STANDARDS WE'RE GONNA USE FOR THE ASSESSMENT.

UH, WE ESTABLISHED A DATA SHARING FOLDER AND WE'VE ACTUALLY ALREADY STARTED RECEIVING DATA, UH, TO, TO GET, WE'VE ALSO, AS PART OF THAT, WE HAVE, UH, SET UP, UH, A PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICATING.

UH, WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING A BIMONTHLY, UH, PROJECT MEETING TO WALK THROUGH WHAT'S BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, WHERE WE'RE GOING NEXT, AND IS THERE ANY ISSUES WE'RE SEEING THAT NEED TO BE MITIGATED AND WHAT WHAT WE CAN DO TO MITIGATE THOSE ISSUES REAL TIME VERSUS THEM TURNING INTO A PROBLEM LATER ON.

UM, WE WOULD ALSO, UH, HAVE MADE THE REQUEST, UH, I BELIEVE THAT WAS MADE TO SUPERINTENDENT COLE TODAY, THAT A COUPLE LIAISONS BE APPOINTED FROM, FROM THE BOARD SO WE COULD OPENLY, UH, TALK IN DETAIL.

FOR INSTANCE, UH, THIS IS, UH, THE BEGINNING DRAFT OF THE, THE DATA TABLES.

I GOT SEVEN PAGES HERE OF VARIABLES.

UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS WITH, WITH SOME PEOPLE AND GET YOUR FEEDBACK.

YOU GUYS SHARE IT AMONGST YOURSELVES.

MAKE SURE I'M NOT, THE SOONER YOU TELL ME, HEY, SOMETHING'S MISSING, THE EASIER IT IS FOR ME TO GET IT IN HERE.

SO BEFORE WE SOLIDIFY THE, THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE PLATFORM, THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL NEEDS TO BE REVIEWED AND WE ARE ASKING FOR SOME LIAISONS

[02:05:01]

TO BE TO, TO, THAT WE CAN WORK WITH IN A DETAILED APPROACH.

UH, GOING FORWARD.

UM, WE'VE IDENTIFIED THE TENTATIVE, UH, KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS WE'RE GOING TO USE.

WE'VE ALSO TENTATIVELY IDENTIFIED THE LEVELS OF DATA OF HOW WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO VIEW THE DATA.

AGAIN, WE'D LIKE TO SHARE THAT WITH, WITH, WITH THE BOARD.

MAKE SURE IT'S WHAT YOU EXPECT.

AGAIN, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THE TIME TO DIAL THAT IN AND THERE'S, THERE, IT, IT DOESN'T ADD ANY COST RIGHT NOW, BUT WE DON'T WANNA WAIT TILL WE GET ALL THE WAY DOWN TO ACTUALLY THE FINAL PRODUCT AND HEY, WE'RE MISSING SOMETHING CRITICAL WE FEEL WE NEED.

SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT DISCOURSE AND BRING THAT FORWARD.

RIGHT NOW WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS YOU'LL BE ABLE TO START WITH THE, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OVERVIEW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.

YOU CAN THEN DIAL IN, UH, BY REGION OR ZIP CODE.

UH, AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, YOU CAN GO INTO, UM, I HAVE FEEDER PATTERN DOWN.

YOU GUYS DON'T REALLY HAVE TRADITIONAL FEEDER PATTERNS NECESSARILY, BUT WE MAY END UP TWEAKING THAT ONE.

BUT GO TO FEEDER PATTERN ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL.

AND THEN AT ALL THOSE LEVELS, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO TREND ANALYSIS TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER TIME.

AND WE ALSO WANNA BE ABLE TO HAVE PEER COMPARISONS AND WE ALSO WANT TO HAVE STANDARDS AS THEY APPLY DEPENDING ON THE LEVEL WE'RE LOOKING AT THE DATA.

SO THAT'S, THAT'S TENTATIVELY WHERE WE'RE AT.

AGAIN, THERE'S A LOT MORE DETAIL.

IF I CAN GET THOSE LIAISONS POINTED, WE'LL HAVE THAT MEETING SET UP AND GO OVER IT, UH, TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.

NEXT SLIDE.

THE ORIGINAL SCHEDULE WAS SHOWING A, A SIX TO SEVEN MONTH, UH, SCHEDULE.

I BELIEVE WE MAY BE ABLE TO CUT THIS BY A MONTH, MONTH AND A HALF.

UH, SHORTEN, I, I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE ANXIOUS FOR IT, AND, UH, I'D LIKE TO TO PRODUCE SOMETHING VERY FAST SO THEN I CAN DIAL IT IN FOR YOU.

SO WE'VE PLANNED ON ACTUALLY CURRENTLY DOING A PULL UP OF ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF.

AND AS LONG AS THE DATA COMES IN, LIKE WE'RE SEEING, I THINK WE CAN ACHIEVE THAT.

NOW, IF THERE'S A, WE HIT A BUMP IN THE ROAD IN THAT TWO WEEK PROJECT MEETING, WE'LL, WE WILL NOTE IT.

IF WE CAN MITIGATE IT AND KEEP IT OUT, WE, WE WILL ADDRESS THAT AS WE GO.

BUT WE'RE TENTATIVELY PLANNING ON TRYING TO CUT THAT SEVEN MONTH DOWN BY A MONTH AND A HALF AND GET IT TO YOU FASTER.

NOW THERE ARE SOME NEXT STEPS AND I WANTED TO GO THROUGH THESE BECAUSE YOU'LL NOTICE IN PARENTHESES ON HERE, I HAVE BOARD REVIEW, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE I'M GONNA NEED YOUR INPUT.

UH, WHEN WE IDENTIFY AND SELECT THE COMPARISON DISTRICT PEERS, THOSE COMPARISON STANDARDS AND THESE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, I'D LIKE TO GET YOUR FEEDBACK ON THOSE TO MAKE SURE, FIRST OFF, THE PEERS, YOU, YOU FEEL AND AGREE THAT YEAH, THESE ARE GOOD PEERS FOR US, THESE ARE GOOD STANDARDS FOR US.

UH, AND YES, THE, THESE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ARE CAPTURING EVERYTHING WE'D LIKE TO SEE.

UH, WE WILL ALSO, UH, BE PULLING THAT DATA.

WE WILL HAVE TO, WE ARE GONNA BE USING A THIRD PARTY PIECE OF SOFTWARE TO, TO PUT THIS DATA IN.

AND WE, WE DID THAT BA BOTH FOR COST AND ALSO FOR FLEXIBILITY.

THERE'S A LOT YOU CAN DO WITH THE DATA ONCE WE GET IT IN THERE.

IF YOU, IF YOU, IF IT'S NOT WHAT YOU WANT WHEN WE SET IT UP, WE CAN FLEX IT PRETTY QUICKLY.

THAT WILL NEED TO BE SET UP.

UH, WE'RE DEBATING INTERNALLY WHETHER THAT'S GOING TO BE, UH, THE DISTRICT'S TEAM OR IF WE'LL DO THAT FOR YOU GUYS AND SET THAT UP.

UH, WE'RE, WE'RE GOING THROUGH THAT RIGHT NOW WITH THE TEAM.

UH, AND THEN ALSO WE'RE GOING TO BE PUTTING TOGETHER KIND OF A SPEC DOCUMENT THAT WILL LAY OUT, HERE'S, HERE'S THE DATA WE HAVE, HERE'S, HERE'S WHAT WE BELIEVE THAT WILL GET ALL THE WAY DOWN TO HERE'S THE USER INTERFACES WE THINK YOU'RE GONNA HAVE.

UM, AGAIN, YOU GUYS WILL NEED TO REVIEW THAT.

YOU'LL NEED TO GIMME FEEDBACK SO THAT I CAN DIAL THAT IN.

RIGHT NOW, WHAT WE'RE TENTATIVELY WORKING TOWARD IS A, A, A GEOGRAPHIC INFOGRAPHIC THAT YOU CAN DIAL IN.

YET AT THE SAME TIME, FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE MORE LIKE ME, KIND OF DATA THAN NERDS, WE'LL HAVE A QUICK APPROACH.

SO YOU CAN COME UP HERE AND SELECT VERY QUICKLY FROM A MENU AND, AND DIAL IN WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.

SO YOU COULD KIND OF DO AN EXPLORATIVE NATURE TO KIND OF LOOK AROUND AND SEE.

AND THEN WHEN SPECIFICALLY YOUR INTEREST, HEY, I WANNA KNOW THIS.

YOU CAN GO AND GET THERE QUICK.

SO AGAIN, THAT WILL BE DETAILED IN THAT SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT.

WE'RE TRYING TO, TO HAVE THAT SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT, UH, DONE PRIOR TO CHRISTMAS SO THAT YOU GUYS CAN REVIEW IT AND LOOK AT IT THAT WAY.

WHILE YOU GUYS HAVE A FEW WEEKS OFF FOR CHRISTMAS, MY TEAM'S STILL WORKING.

WE'LL, WE'LL BE PUTTING TOGETHER THE PLATFORM FOR YOU.

SO THAT'S

[02:10:01]

KIND OF OUR INTENTION.

UM, AGAIN, TONIGHT IS JUST THE STARTING.

WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED.

I DON'T HAVE A, A TON OF INFORMATION FOR YOU OTHER THAN, UH, THE PUSH THAT, HEY, I REALLY DON'T WANT THOSE LIAISONS 'CAUSE I NEED TO START PASSING STUFF OUT AND GETTING INPUT, UH, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

UH, DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

YES MA'AM.

IF YOU WILL, IF YOU WILL PLACE YOUR, UH, QUESTIONS IN THE QUEUE.

PLACE YOUR, PLACE, YOUR NAME THERE.

AND I'VE ENTERED THE QUEUE FIRST.

UH, I'M JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REPORT.

UM, ALSO, AS FAR AS LIAISONS ARE CONCERNED, I'M SUPER EXCITED, UH, NUMBER ONE THAT, UM, MR. RUSS AND MR. GODDE INITIATED, UH, THIS WORK.

AND I'M SUPER EXCITED TO SHARE THAT THERE WILL BE, UM, A MEDIA RELEASE COMING SOON.

UM, BUT THIS, AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THIS REPORT WILL LEAD TO A FACILITIES ALIGNMENT AD HOC COMMITTEE, WHICH IS MADE UP OF MR. GODDE, MR. RUSS, MYSELF, AND MR. LANIS.

AND SO WE WILL SERVE AS YOUR LIAISON FOR THAT.

PERFECT.

THANK YOU MR. BALLOU.

UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, SELECTING OR IDENTIFYING PEER SYSTEMS, UH, WE ARE OF MEMBERS OF THE GREAT CITY SCHOOLS.

THEY MAY BE A GOOD RESOURCE FOR IDENTIFYING PEERS FROM A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE.

I'M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.

I'VE ALREADY REACHED OUT.

THANK YOU MS. SOLE.

SO JUST TO CLARIFY WHAT, YOU'RE GONNA TRY TO PUSH IT UP TILL MARCH 30TH, BUT WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN AT BEFORE CHRISTMAS? I'M GONNA HAVE A, WHAT WE CALL A SPEC SPEC DOCUMENT.

WHERE I KIND OF LAY OUT HERE'S, HERE'S HOW THE SYSTEM'S GONNA LOOK.

IT'LL ACTUALLY HAVE GRAPHIC INTERFACES TO KIND OF SHOW YOU THE, THE LOOK, THE FEEL, THE USER, UH, FUNCTIONALITY.

WE'LL ALSO LAY OUT THE DATA TABLES.

HERE'S ALL THE DATA WE'RE GONNA HAVE INSIDE THE TABLES, BUT NO ACTUAL DATA.

WELL, WELL, I'M GONNA BE GATHERING AND ACTUALLY BUILDING THIS AS WE GO.

UH, I WON'T HAVE THE PLATFORM AT THAT POINT BECAUSE BASED OFF YOUR INPUT ON THE SPEC, I MAY HAVE TO MODIFY THE PLATFORM.

SO WE'RE NOT WAITING FOR THE SPEC TO PRODUCE THE, THE, THE, THE DATA.

WE'RE, WE'RE GRABBING DATA RIGHT NOW, CLEANING IT AND GETTING IT IN THERE.

UM, BUT AT THE SPEC, THAT'S KIND OF, UH, YOUR FIRST PL TIME TO BE ABLE TO DIAL IT IN A LITTLE BIT.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? NO.

OH, I'M TELL, I'M SORRY.

TELL ME WHAT.

SO WHEN WILL I HAVE DATA THAT I CAN SEE FROM YOUR PROJECT? I HAVE TO, CAN WE GO BACK TO THE UH, OR THEY'VE ALREADY TOOK IT DOWN, HAVEN'T THEY? WHY DON'T YOU REPHRASE IT AS ACTIONABLE DATA.

THERE YOU GO.

WE SHOULD HAVE ACTIONABLE DATA ABOUT, UM, ONCE YOU SAY THE SPEC IS GOOD, I'M GONNA NEED ABOUT SIX WEEKS TO HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TO START USING.

BUT AGAIN, EVEN THEN YOU'RE GONNA GIVE ME FEEDBACK AND I'M GONNA DIAL IT IN FOR ANOTHER FOUR WEEKS.

IS THAT, IS THAT OKAY? MORE CLEAR? AM I PRECISE? SO, SO YOU'RE WAITING NOW FOR US NOT WAITING.

IT SOUNDED LIKE THAT I AM PULLING DATA RIGHT NOW.

THE, THE DATA REQUEST, MY INITIAL DATA REQUEST IS ALREADY OUT THERE.

I HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED SOME PEERS FOR YOU, US TO DIS FOR ME TO SUBMIT TO THE, THE COMMITTEE YOU JUST DISCUSSED FOR YOU TO GO YAY OR NA ON.

YOU WERE JUST WAITING TO FIND OUT WHO WAS ON THE COMMITTEE.

THAT'S WHAT I NEEDED.

SO YOU GOT THAT.

SO NOW WE CAN LIKE, WE CAN, WE CAN, WE CAN GO.

REQUEST AND ALREADY SUBMITTED IT.

UH, AND AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S NOT, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT WAITING ON US FOR SOMETHING.

NO, NO, NO, NO.

AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY.

LIKE, THIS IS THIS, THIS IS ROUGH, BUT THIS IS A, A LAYOUT OF THE DATA TABLES.

THERE'S 15 DATA TABLES WE'VE IDENTIFIED WITH SETS OF DATA ALREADY LAID THIS OUT.

OUR DATA REQUESTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN FOR THESE ITEMS. WE'RE ALREADY STARTING TO RECEIVE THOSE.

WE'RE CLEANING THE DATA AND, AND WE ARE PUTTING IT INTO, UH, A SQL DATABASE FOR US INTERNALLY.

NOT THE FINAL PRODUCT, OF COURSE.

UH, BUT WE'RE ALREADY MOVING.

THIS IS NOT SETTING ANYWHERE.

UH, WE ALSO HAVE, UH, PUT IN PLACE, UH, THE KPIS, A LIST OF KPIS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE, THAT ARE KIND OF BASE LEVEL THAT THE STUFF THAT WAS REQUESTED IN THE RFP MM-HMM, .

BUT I DO HAVE SOME ITEMS THAT YOU DIDN'T REQUEST IN THE RFP.

BUT WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, I THINK YOU NEED TO CONSIDER.

UH, AND THAT'S AGAIN, THINGS DON'T WANNA TAKE TO THAT COMMITTEE TO MAKE SURE, YEAH, ADD THOSE OR NO, DON'T, DON'T ADD THOSE.

HERE'S WHY.

BUT I WANT TO BE ABLE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT KIND OF DISCUSSION OPENLY, UH, TO DIAL IT IN.

UH, THE OTHER THING WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE PUT TOGETHER, UH, THIS INITIAL DATA

[02:15:01]

AND LIKE I SAID, I'VE ALREADY GOT A BUNCH OF THIS STARTED TO COME BACK TO ME.

I DO HAVE TO REVIEW IT.

I DO HAVE TO CLEAN IT ALL THAT'S GONNA BE HAPPENING WHILE WE BUILD OUT THIS SPEC.

UH, SOME OF THOSE PEER, UM, CAN, CAN YOU GIMME AN EXAMPLE OF SOME THAT YOU'VE IDENTIFIED, SAY IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA? I CAN SEND YOU A LIST ACTUALLY, BECAUSE I'VE GOT OKAY.

JUST GIMME ONE OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD.

UM, SORRY.

UH, I'M, I'VE LOOKED AT SO MUCH DATA I UNDERSTAND.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

BUT WHAT I, I WILL SAY THIS ONE THING TO LOOK AT, RIGHT? WHAT WE TRY TO DO WHEN I, WHEN I GENERATED THAT LIST OF PEERS, I, AND I HA I HAVE A SPREADSHEET ALREADY.

IT HAS A TON OF DATA IN IT TOO FOR THOSE PEERS FOR YOU TO LOOK AT.

AND I'VE SUBMITTED IT ALREADY TO, UH, MR. MORALES AND, AND, AND DR.

MCCAIN AND I, THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SUBMITTING IT TO THAT COMMITTEE NOW FOR YOU GUYS TO LOOK AT.

UM, SOME, WHAT I TRY TO DO IS NOT JUST STUDENT COUNT, BUT ALSO KIND OF THE, THE, THE, UH, DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE DISTRICT AND ALSO THAT HAVE SIMILAR CHALLENGES THAT YOU GUYS HAVE.

UH, ONE THING THAT REALLY SHOWED UP VERY QUICKLY IN THE DATA IS WHEN I LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS, AND IF YOU LOOK AT NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE'S, THERE'S, YOU CAN'T MATCH FOR SCHOOLS BECAUSE SCHOOLS DISTRICTS THAT HAVE AS MANY SCHOOLS AS YOU HAVE ALMOST THREE, YOU KNOW, 30% TO 50%, UH, MORE STUDENTS.

SO WE'RE ACTUALLY USING STUDENT COUNT AND THEN THE, THE, THE DEMOGRAPHICS AND THEN THE TYPE OF THE DISTRICT, WHETHER IT'S SUBURBAN, URBAN, SO FORTH.

UH, BUT I HAVE IN THERE, IN THE, IN THE, UM, PEER COLLECTION.

I HAVE, I HAVE TONS OF STUFF.

I HAVE EXPENDITURE DATA, I HAVE REVENUE DATA, I HAVE, UH, STUDENT COUNT BY GRADES, DEMOGRAPHICS.

I HAVE EVERYTHING IN THERE FOR YOU GUYS TO BE ABLE TO PICK A GOOD MATCH.

AND I'VE EVEN SELECTED WHAT I BELIEVE IS THE, A GOOD MATCH.

BUT AGAIN, I WANT YOU GUYS TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE LIST AND MAKE THAT DECISION.

UH, FOR YOURSELVES, I WANT YOU TO QUESTION WHY, WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD MATCH? AND LET'S WALK THROUGH THAT AS HOW THAT DISCOURSE.

AND THAT WAS IT.

UM, MIKE, I MEAN, MR. UM, BLUE TOUCHED ON IT WHEN HE STARTED ASKING ABOUT THE PIERS, AND I'M SORRY, I CAN'T JUST RECALL IT.

NO, THAT'S FINE.

YOU KNOW, IF MY, IF THIS WAS STILL DARK AND NOT GRAY, I PROBABLY COULD DO IT.

I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT I HAD FOR BREAKFAST SOME DAYS.

SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

EXTENSIVE, UH, DATA TABLE SET HERE ALREADY FOR US TO START WITH.

MR. GODDE? YES, THANK YOU.

AND I ALSO JUST WANT TO REITERATE, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF DECISIONS THAT THIS BOARD NEEDS TO MAKE AROUND STRATEGIES BECAUSE JUST, JUST FOR A QUICK ONE, I CAN GIVE YOU RIGHT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.

YOU KNOW, IF YOU WOULD JUST WANNA LOOK AT TRUE EFFICIENCY AND COST, YOU MIGHT SAY A HIGH SCHOOL SHOULD HAVE 1500 KIDS, BUT GIVEN OUR PERFORMANCE AND OUR DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE NEED FOR WRAPAROUND SERVICES AND ALL OF THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, WE MAY WANT TO SAY THAT IN OUR LOWER PERFORMING SCHOOLS, WE WANT TO KEEP THOSE AROUND SEVEN 50 SO WE CAN PROVIDE MORE SERVICES RECOGNIZING THAT THAT MAY NOT BE THE MOST ECONOMICALLY EFFICIENT, BUT IT MIGHT BE THE MOST EDUCATIONALLY EFFICIENT.

SO THIS IS NOT GONNA BE A COOKIE CUTTER TYPE PROGRAM, BUT WE NEED THOSE GUARDRAILS TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE ARE, UH, IN DOING THIS.

'CAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE KIDS LEARN.

AND IF WE HAVE TO ADJUST BUDGETS AND DO THINGS TO, IF MAKE IT GREAT FOR THE KIDS, THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO.

SO I, I DON'T WANT PEOPLE GETTING THE IMPRESSION THAT THIS IS JUST GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA COME UP WITH A SET OF GUIDELINES AND THAT'S IT.

AND, AND THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING TO THAT.

WE HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THOSE OTHER FACTORS.

AND HOW DO WE BUILD THOSE INTO OUR SYSTEMS? THANK YOU.

WE, WE'VE HAD SOME DISCUSSION THAT REALLY, AGAIN, I CAN USE BENCHMARKS AND I CAN USE, UM, STANDARDS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WHAT, AND AGAIN, THIS WAS NOT IN THE RFP, BUT I THINK YOU'RE GONNA, THIS IS ONE OF THE DISCUSSIONS IS WE MAY WANT TO SET SOME GOALS AND STANDARDS FOR THE DISTRICT AND BE ABLE TO REFLECT, TO SEE, WELL, HOW ARE WE MEASURING UP TO THIS STANDARD HERE? IF THAT MAKES SENSE, TO TIE STRAIGHT TO YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN.

NOW THAT WASN'T IN THE RFP, BUT I THINK IT, IT MAKES SENSE TO PUT THAT IN.

SO THAT'S SOME OF THE DISCUSSION THAT WE NEED TO HAVE.

SOME OF THE SPEC, AGAIN, I UNDERSTOOD FROM THE RFP WHERE YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, AND I KNOW IT'S HARD TO ARTICULATE ALL THAT, RIGHT? SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, AGAIN, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SCHOOLS FOR 15 YEARS, SO I KIND OF KNOW SOME OF THIS STUFF, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND WHY.

AND THEN IF THERE'S, IF I'M MISSING SOMETHING, I WANT YOU GUYS TO PUT IT IN THERE.

UH, BUT WE ARE LOOKING AT EVERYTHING FROM STUDENT SUPPORTS PROGRAMS. I MEAN, I, I'VE, I'VE GOT A PRETTY

[02:20:01]

UH, HOPEFULLY, UH, I'VE SENT THIS TO MR. MORALES, IF HE CAN SEND IT OUT TO YOU GUYS IF YOU'D LIKE.

BUT, UM, WE'RE GETTING ALL THE WAY DOWN TO COMMUNITY DATA, UH, DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND, AND, AND, AND HISTORY OF COMMUNITIES.

UH, AND, AND REALLY TRYING TO GIVE YOU AS COMPLETE A PICTURE AS WE CAN OF THE DISTRICT AND THE COMMUNITY.

SO YOU GUYS CAN BUILD A, A SOLID PLAN.

AND DATA'S NOT WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK OR LETTING YOU MAKE A BAD DECISION.

THAT'S THE INTENT.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NO, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I APPRECIATE YOU SHARING SUCH A DETAILED REPORT.

WE WILL DEFINITELY BE COMMUNICATING WITH YOU VERY, VERY SOON.

WHENEVER YOU GUYS ARE READY TO, FOR THAT FIRST MEETING.

I'M READY.

SO YOU GUYS HAVE A GOOD ONE, BYEBYE.

UM, SUPERINTENDENT COLE, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? NO, JUST THANK YOU FOR THE, THE PRESENTATION.

I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING WORKING WITH YOU.