--------- Sorry, Todd. I forgot to look at you to tell you turn on the camera. Good thing you're with us. Um, welcome to our ISD board of education meeting. Uh, we are calling this meeting to order. I am um
super excited to see so many friendly faces in the room this evening. Um, especially um Doris Negard's um Pathway to Teaching 2 class that is here with us this evening. We have, I think, four high school students from Truman. Can you
guys wave to us? There's technically a fifth in the room, but we won't call you out, Eden. Okay. Um, but uh I'm so glad that you guys have taken the chance to kind of come out. We know you guys have busy schedules and just be entertained
by um our board governing and how exciting this is tonight. We'll do our best to kind of keep it short and quick. Um the first item of of business is to approve the itch and agenda. I will entertain a motion.
>> So moved. >> A second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed say nay. >> The motion carries. Um the we don't have any requests for district
citizens to speak this evening. So, we're going to move um on to consent agenda. Um I will entertain a motion for that. >> I'll move approval of the consent agenda. >> Second, Dr. Grant. All right. Thank you.
Want to make sure this is working. Uh we have bills totaling 12,427,51812. Uh this is up uh a little bit from last year. This year we did have the bill for the election. We had planning for potential bond projects uh that needed
to be uh completed. Uh we did purchase a tractor, a couple of plows and a mower. So those are the reasons for that increase. And we also have approval to let bids for replacement of windows at three trails elementary school. The windows are original to the building and
some of them are even plexiglass. This would be contingent on the bond passing. However, we want to go ahead and get bid so that we can be prepared for that. So, that's what I have for consent agenda. >> Can you um kind of give us an idea of
what the timeline is for the bond? >> Um we would be looking at an April vote. >> Any other questions? question really quickly. For the plow and mower purchase, are we replacing
used equipment versus just bringing this needed items? >> Dr. Sha, >> good question. It is replacement. They've got some really old ones that are been hanging off for the last three or four years and this will replace those. >> Okay. All those in favor say I.
>> I. Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. Up next, we have the superintendent's report. Dr. Graham. >> All right. Thank you very much. Last week was a very eventful week, and we just want to say thank you to our community for getting out and voting, and we're grateful that we're ready to
move forward. We had our APR results as well. The Independent School District was achieved 80.5% on its APR this year. were up from 80% last year, marking three consecutive years of growth under the state's current model. This progress
highlights the dedication of our staff, hardworking students, and the support of our families. District leaders were worth emphasizing that APR is not a finish line, but it's a roadmap for ongoing improvement. And um we just say
thank you to our community for supporting this, and we're looking forward to continued success. and our this past professional development day, buildings dug into their individual building APR data to identify strengths as well as areas that they are going to
target for growth. So, we've got some good work going on there and we will have a presentation at the district level at our uh December board meeting for the board regarding our APR. So, Dr. Boight will be working on that to share with everyone. and second quarter is
well underway and it is hard to believe that the holiday season is almost upon us and we will be coming to the close of the first semester. I cannot believe it. Um we are also exploring a board management software system platform to automate and simplify tasks, facilitate
paperless meetings, planning, document management and communication. So we're looking at that. And then our MP6 culture and climate survey closed on November 7th and it was opened to everyone for completion uh family or
parents, students, staff on October 16th. We're excited to get those results. We should have them in December and our goal will be to pass that information along to the board and community in January or February depending upon the timeline that we we receive that information. Um and then
looking at our enrollment numbers, um we are down just a bit compared to last year, about 161 students. And just some highlights as to maybe why there's a lot more information out there, but some things that stuck out. Um we did have an
increase of about 35 kiddos transferring to homeschool uh compared to last year. And then overall our kindergarten numbers had decreased by about 58 kiddos. So just a smaller group of kindergarteners coming in and um our newcomer numbers are down
just a bit. However, our new to the country um kiddos are down just a bit. However, our EEL numbers are up. So need to dig into that a little bit more as well. So those are some potential as to why. >> What was the number? You said that it was down just a little bit, but what was
>> I didn't have the number. I didn't have it. Good question. It was 758. >> Which number? Kinder. Oh, kindergarten. >> The the total um enrollment number. >> Oh, total enrollment. I thought you were talking
161. >> That's what we're down. That was our But you don't have the total. >> Oh, our total number. Yes, you do. 13,376. And >> does that include prek? >> No, that is K12. >> K12. Good question.
>> Do you think the recent legislation on homeschooling participation in school district um activities might have a possible effect on the 35 increase in homeschooling? That is a great question. I actually had that conversation with uh
high school principles uh today and we really haven't seen a lot of participation in activities or athletics. I think we started out with four kiddos that were wanting to participate and that's across all three high schools comprehensive high schools and I know one did not continue on so
that we would have ended up with three. So good question on that. >> So last year Dr. did we have any if you have these numbers uh did we have a a noticeable decrease in kindergarten
attendance >> or enrollment? Sorry >> enrollment it looked pretty consistent. Um, however, I'd have to go back and look. I just compared the two. I didn't compare last year to previous years. >> Would you say that it's not alarming, but something to keep an eye on? >> Always continuing to watch that. >> Okay.
>> I mean, I will say it's 2025, which is 5 years after 2020. So, I imagine that there was a bit of an enrollment increase with the 5-year-old, >> but which might come back down. Um, I had a question on um, just follow up from the election.
There was a question on our website that stated, "Does this mean ISD is going to maintain a 4-day school week for 10 years?" And the response is, "No, this means that our board of education is in control of deciding the district's calendar." Um, so I just wanted to
clarify how that ballot language means that we could switch back at any point. Um because my understanding is that we are on a 4 day for 10 years now. >> Okay. So we will actually have that conversation with legal in close
session. Thank you. >> Any other question or discussion? >> Oh yes. uh can you share what board management software that you're looking at or that's being looked at some names of those? >> So the ones that we've looked at right now uh Assembly was one that we took a
look at and then Miss Smith was there there were two more that you were looking at or one more. >> Okay. >> Oh yes. >> Cool. Thank you. And I just want to state that I'm very excited about this. I know I've been an advocate for it for a long time. So,
yay. >> Yeah, it's something that we've all been moving forward uh moving towards and I'm excited about the possibilities. Um the So, it looks like we're ready to move on to new business. Um the first
item under new business is the under superintendent report. No, sorry. It's okay. Um, looks like my um, new business, approval of the independent school district legislative
priority position platform for the 2026 uh, year. Entertain a motion to >> make that motion. Second >> discussion. >> I wanted to um make a motion to amend
the legislative platform. I had two changes I wanted to request and if I get a second, I will speak to those. Um the first one is on number one. It would remove the phrase operate a 4-day school
week and replace it with evaluate a 4 day school week. And the second one is on item number two where it talks about the constitution. We just add the word Missouri before constitution similar to number three says Missouri constitution
just to be completely clear on that. >> Thank you. >> Second. Um so the reason why I wanted to change the first one of from operate to uh to evaluate is I feel like that after this
vote I think it's very important for us to u monitor the 4-day school week and um to look for ways to make that as as good as possible. So that's why I'm saying instead of operate to change it to evaluate. And then again on the second one just to make sure that it's
clear which constitution we're referring to. And I would I appreciate the evaluate included in that as well as we're moving into well we as we are in our third year of implementation continuing to look at that data analyze it to see how we can grow and to select feedback from the
community as well as for parents and staff and I agree with that as well. Um, I would like to amend the motion to also include um making districts a plural possessive
um because it's not just about us, it's about all school districts. And then we later on use the there. So I think that that is just a little grammatical error. So if we could just switch that. Um line one, support the local school districts authority. Um and I think we
could probably lose the too. So I guess I would amend my amendment. support local school district's apostrophe authority to operate or to evaluate a 4-day school week, prepare their their school calendar, and establish the beginning of the school year that is in the best interest of
student, staff, and community. And I guess I would need a second to amend. >> Second. Um, I think that we probably could uh just vote on as long as we have a unanimous and we could vote on it all together. If we don't have a unanimous,
we'll break them out into two. Is that okay? Okay. All those in favor of the amendment um amendments as stated to um the legislative priority positions say I.
>> I. Those opposed say nay. Okay, motion carries with and then um Dr. Grant, I guess I should have given you the opportunity to be able to speak on this topic. Do you have anything you want to add? >> No, I just I as reviewing this as well as the cooperating school districts of
greater Kansas City, I feel like the legislative platform that this board is looking at is a nice combination of everything where we look at our local issues that we believe in and are are passionate about as well as the greater the greater commitment within the community in the area. So, I appreciate
that. >> Okay. Can we discuss further? I just wanted to clarify the meaning of one. Um, let me figure out which one I was looking at. Um, so it was number five.
And I just want to make sure I understand what we're saying. um when we say support local school district's authority to make decisions about matters such as open enrollment um because that is a topic that comes up
every year. Um are we trying to say that like we would still have a decision if that should pass? just I interpreted the fact that that's what you all are advocating for with the legislation in relation to being able to
decide on your own for open enrollment versus state legislature mandating that. >> Okay. >> I would just agree as well because when we when we put that in there I would agree as well. >> She doesn't disagree. >> No, I would agree as well. When we added
that one, what we were trying to do was to list some maybe not every item, but some of the things that we think is very important to have local control. >> Sure. >> And I just wanted to clarify kind of for our students in in the crowd tonight. Um
the purpose of legislative priorities for the school district is to give all of us when we talk to our legislators, senators and representatives kind of just the stance the things that independence believes in and that we would like to fight for. Um
and most of ours are in support of. We as a board have taken a stance to support items rather than um be against things. that seems to go over more positively with our legislators. So that's the purpose of this document.
Just a little FYI. >> Yeah. Gives us direction for our advocacy. >> Thank you, Jill, for for doing that, for saying that. Any other discussion? All those in favor of the We voted on the amendment. Yeah. Yeah.
So, we're going to go ahead and vote on this document with the amendments. Okay. Um so all those in favor of the um legislative priority positions including the amendments as stated before um say I.
>> I. And those opposed say nay. >> Motion carries. Next item of business is the approval of the board of election education election guidelines and procedures for the April 7th 2026
election. I move that we approve those guidelines and procedures. Second, Dr. Graham. Yes, there will be an election on a in April and so um it is necessary for the board of education
to approve the election procedures and guidelines prior to the opening of candidate filing for election. And so there were a few updates from MSBA included in the document as well as clarifying dates in
any discussion hearing none. Um all those in favor say I. I. >> I. Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. Next item is accept accept quote from Central States bus sale for the purchase of one 77
passenger propane powered school bus. Entertain the motion. >> I make the motion. >> Second. >> Dr. Stout. >> Yes, Dr. Stout. >> It's me. Good evening. Seems like we were just talking about buses last school board meeting. We
actually were. >> So the board meeting last uh last month ended and literally I think it was two days later Daryl's called me and says, "You won't believe this. We've got another wonderful grant opportunity." So with that, I come to you this evening. Um this one's a little bit different in
the fact that it's through Missouri Department of Natural Resources Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. So that's Darra. It's easier for me to say that. Um, so our ask is to um, uh, that the board would be gracious enough to allow us to purchase one more. The specs are
identical. Unfortunately, I think we put in originally into your packet, it said six because it was exactly what we've had from last month, and that's my mistake. I apologize, but actually we're asking for one this evening. Uh, the cost will be $183,440. Um, we'll get reimbured $61,639.
So, the bus will actually cost us $121,81. So, I think I've mentioned this and I'll end with this. Uh, this takes us to 59 and we're working towards our 70% goal, which roughly is about times propane.
So, thank you for your consideration. >> Any questions, discussion? >> It's great that we have an opportunity to get another one. I appreciate you're doing that, even though it was kind of cumbersome, I'm sure, to do one and then do another one. But, thank you for doing that. Um just a quick question. There's
about nine pages of um very detailed, you know, codes and everything. Can you just talk about the personnel that we use that review those to make sure that we have everything in place that we need to? question. Those two guys do a tremendous job and
they work very closely with several states folks that go through line every basically takes care of those buses. It's a good size bus. It comes very efficient. It's quiet time and so we're
here to support them. >> Are they also the lucky people that get to write the grants? >> No, actually we've got a group that's a great question. We work with a group that kind of does that for us. So we kind of overlook that. I mean we we we
look at it and we provide input but we get people >> so like a third party or >> um this might be off topic but on topic can you guys clarify for us who's a better bus driver Dr. Grant or Dr.
Stout? >> I'm gonna have to leave that to Mr. >> You can please be at the bario that day. So, I'm I'm going to take the >> I will say Mr. Pettim is a great teacher.
>> Did you put her in your favorite bus? >> We did do We did the propane buses, didn't we? Yeah. >> Yeah, >> we did the bus rodeo. >> We had to parallel park a bus. >> I can do that. >> I want to see that. >> I would love to try.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. Um all those in favor um say I. I. >> Those opposed say nay. The motion carries. >> Next item is the approval to adopt the local plan for compliance and assurance
statements part B section 613 of IA. I'll entertain a motion. Second. >> Yes. So this is a plan um we utilize and adopt the state plan for compliance as
we've done in the past years. This remains exactly the same except for two minor updates um under private agencies. They added adjacent states um agencies within our state of Missouri um don't have room and because there is a great
need and so they've opened that up to adjacent states. So the that terminology was added and then in the section related to young child with a developmental delay or YCD um that used to be through age six is now through age
seven. So those are the two changes there. Otherwise everything else is the same. Any discussion all those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. Next item is the approval of
the board of education manual. >> I move to approve the changes to the board of education manual. >> Um Dr. Grant or Dr. Dr. >> We'll be happy to. Thank you. Excuse me. Um so just to to go back a little bit, I
was looking at my notes a couple of days ago. So we as a board of education, we talked about the board manual in September and then that led us to a work session before the board of education meeting in October and now here we are in November. So uh some communication I
know has gone out to all the board members. I do have one other slight change. I'll let Denise say she doesn't mind talking to that. Um I'll hand to you and then I'm going to introduce Meline. She's here. She's our attorney with EGS and she does a lot of tremendous work and supporting all of us. So, she's happy to answer any
questions and I'll turn it over to her. >> Yeah, as um Dr. Stout mentioned, um there was uh one change made today on G uh 325B and I know you mentioned director fears that you might want to speak to that
change. Um and I'm happy to answer any questions about that or any other changes. Uh this is the one um where I wanted to see some reference to the mileage rate to make sure that um board members knew where to look for that rate. Um I understand that that's not
legally required, but that you were fine with putting that in there. So basically all it says is that um mileage rate for reimbursement is available in the employee handbook. >> That's correct. Uh, is there any are there any other questions or discussion?
>> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. >> Thank you for your time. >> Yes, you're welcome. >> Um, and then that appears to be our last new business. So we'll I'll entertain a
motion to adjurnn to close session. >> I move I move to adjourn to close session pursuant to Missouri state statute for personnel issues 610.021 sub paragraph 3 legal matters 610.021 sub paragraph 1 real estate 610.021 sub
paragraph 2 and students 610.021 sub paragraph 6 roll second. Oh, second. Sorry. >> Yes. >> Yes.
Yes, >> Bridgetger. No. Part: 2
We're going to call this work session to order. And uh Cammy, what do we need to do to do we need to take role? >> Approve the agenda. Okay. So, I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> I move that we approve the agenda for
the work session. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. Um, first item of business um, this evening is to have a presentation by
MSBA um, regarding our superintendent search. >> What? >> There's some feedback from >> Oh, Todd, they're hearing some feedback. >> Yeah,
>> I'll just yell. Okay. >> Well, good evening. We're excited to be with you this evening and to share the information from our survey and our community forum work. I hope you all are doing well. I apologize for not getting the boot memo. I'm wearing my boots tonight, but I will look at that in the
future and make sure I'm dressed appropriately for you guys. Um, we are excited about sharing this information. I think you're going to um find a lot of it very valuable. I hope a lot of it is very affirming to you also as we go through this process. And so what we have given you is a hard copy of the
survey and forum results so that you can have that on your own and Trent and I will be walking through a PowerPoint with you just and it actually mirrors pretty much what's in the report and so as you go through we can have that conversation. So we do want to share with you um just everything that we have
done since our last meeting here. And so the big one is of course we did run the survey. We're going to share that with you here in just a second of those results of what that looked like. Uh and we had our community forums and so we have listed here your union. So we did meet with both the NEA and MSTA. We
appreciated their feedback. Uh we also met a group that's not on here is the chamber. We met with a chamber group that was on here also. Uh directors, your administrative level at the district level uh at the um at the principal level. We met with the principal assistant principles also. And
then we had great meetings with your students. Uh they were very informative as to what we had and so I think you're going to enjoy that. Uh we did have at the community forums that evening at the two schools while you guys are busy with the board meeting. We were having those. I would say we had disappointing turnout. I will just be very frank with
you on that one. Um and I just call that an opportunity for improvement. And so the one of the things that I would would do in the future would be particularly with your ESL group in the future, I would probably reach out to those teachers that have that direct connections and so they can invite the
families to come in because I think that would be a big piece and they would have that trust and would want to come in. We had some but not very many for that one. So I just want to be very honest with you about that. Uh really our goals tonight are the same goals that we had when we met with your
different stakeholder groups. And really it's just to share uh just some of the key search information that we have so far. Uh kind of gain a better understanding of the feedback of the stakeholder surveys. And the reason these are so important to us is that this will actually drive how we create
and put together the screening questions and also your final interview questions. I think that'll be a key piece particularly with a close search because we want to be as transparent, excuse me, as we can with the with the public about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and reflect that back to them. And so
that'll be important. Uh we're not getting any more diverse feedback. We're going to share that with you and share the top priorities. And so we did want to share with you about the survey participation. Make sure I hit this. As at your request, we did uh survey your students and obviously it was during a
lunchtime or a home room. So we have a lot of student participation here which was great. And so we're going to share with you how we split that out too. So that it's interesting how little it it did not skew any of the data which is actually kind of interesting. Uh you can
see your teacher participation 422 uh 530 of your parents guardian or current students also drivers others however they name themselves on there and so I think that's a good representation the students obviously because it was held during that time is
is why there's more. So what we want to share with you is really we started out with on the survey the first question is what are the strengths and so where you see all this is what came to the top for everybody.
So the first thing that came out and um I don't know if I'm supposed to say congratulations or what on your on the recent passage of your next 10 years. Uh but I think that settles some questions for your community. I think that's always good. So the 4-day school week came out as a strength. always happy to
see caring and dedicated teachers and staff. Such an important piece. Academic growth, innovation, and career readiness is a strength for you. So, it goes back to youries, the work you're doing with your interns and all those type of pieces. Student support and inclusion. And then operations, stability,
finances, and facilities. That was a big piece when we talked with just your students. And we pull up just the student data. And you'll see the ones that are highlighted in yellow. Those are what were different from the rest of the group. So their number one was the four-day school week. Now keep in mind
we were surveying secondary students, not elementary. So different perspectives here. But their pathways program, they think that's a real strength for you. They really like it. Extra uh extra opportunities that they have whether it's sports, music, theater, clubs, whatever. They consider
that to be a strength and they considered the inclusivity and the diversity a strength. And that's that came from the student side. As with anything uh I also call these opportunities for improvement that we have or challenges that we have and so
these are pretty common challenges and I think in today's world with communication we talked about that a little bit before there's an expectation that everybody gets their information right now and sometimes we can't do that and also just how we communicate and make sure that it's clear districtwide.
So uh communication transparency uh uh, staff support, retention, and working conditions came up. And so, we'll dive into that a little bit. Excuse me. Academic rigor and resources. And then student behavior, accountability, and discipline. That is better, but we saw a lot of that coming
out of CO. And so, part of that is just socialization. Excuse me. >> And then tech, transportation. And I'm going to turn over to him before I show. I didn't expect you to get emotional tonight. >> It's okay.
>> The last bullet on there was uh transportation and technology support. And when we dug into transportation a little bit, it was, you know, not providing transportation with kids that live a little bit further away from school and and the challenge to getting to school. >> Right. Right. technology support as we
dug into that was maybe not kind of the just in time support with teachers that are trying to do new or innovative things in some of the classrooms in particular. Again, we'll dive a little bit deeper into that uh as well. Uh when we broke out the students on the survey, again, we highlighted in yellow
some of the unique things that they mentioned on the survey. The secondary students, the top bullet there was pretty consistent there with discipline and strict policies. uh even though they said that slightly different student conduct in school culture was a bit of a challenge. Uh some kids actually
self-described bullying situations um uh just situations of maybe inconsistent discipline or maybe lack of high expectations in some cases as well. But you know in a roundabout way it was it was a little bit encouraging to see how honest your kids were on some of these areas as as well to be to be
honest with you. And then getting into some of the uniqueness here, academic and mental health pressures. A lot of their secondary kids talked about that, whether it's cell phones or just some of the social pressures that they feel as secondary students. Communication was consistent on on, you know, all from
staff and parents and others, but wanting more student voice was also something that the students brought up in their own voice. Uh, wanting more say at the building level. And then I had to put on here even though I struggled a little bit because I see this on a lot of surveys, but school lunch wanting
more options and perhaps what they would consider better uh school lunch was also brought up. So not done one of these surveys where there's no challenges. Um but hopefully there's nothing on there that's a a complete surprise uh either.
When we put that all together on the survey specifically, we had folks rank and we asked them to pick their top three priorities both personally for the next superintendent and professionally related to the national standards. And I'm sharing with you now a list of those
combined personal and professional traits. Um, and so you can see here, uh, you know, the top thing is somebody approachable and accessible that people want in your next superintendent. Over half the people said that was a top priority. And this was students included. Uh somebody that will bring
out success, empower, delegate, support other people, specifically administrative team um came up. Somebody who's a strong instructional leader and will lead that not just for teachers but for your administrative team as well. Uh you can read the percentage there. Not a
surprise recruiting and retaining quality staff members. You saw that come out as a challenge. was not surprised to see this as a top desired qualification on here as well. Uh building school and community relations was 30% of people that called that a top priority. Um
which was also interesting. We met with the chamber certainly. >> Yeah. For them promoting a a community of care and support for students. This is around the wellness and just the inclusivity we talked about before that the students really want and a lot of them feel like they they have also uh
that openness to staff and community input. This was a big one. I actually wondered if this one wouldn't be a little bit higher after the focus groups uh because you'll see that came out uh pretty loud and clear which is no different uh is different but on here was collaborative leadership. I put
those together a little bit as well. And then lastly um and we just picked the top ones. There's a natural cut off between I think number 11. But uh managing your district finances, you're in a great financial spot right now, but with uh things changing in the state and at the local level, somebody who stays
on and understands the finances for the district to keep you in a strong financial spot was certainly a top priority. Going to pause there and let you digest that list just for a moment and then we'll dig into focus groups. any questions to this point? We're going
to dive into the focus groups next focus groups. >> And before we start with the uh focus groups that we're going to be talking about, I want to talk to you just a little bit about the process we used so you understand how we got the feedback because you'll see some of this in action here as we're doing it. So all
those desired traits, we pick the top six and literally put them on large poster boards around. And then on each one of those, we would ask them, what is the evidence? How would we know that somebody is accessessible and welcoming? What would be the evidence that we would know that that's the characters that
we're looking for? How could they demonstrate that to us? How would they know that they are looking and and supporting and developing their teachers? How would we know that? And so instead of getting the loudest voice in the room, uh, we used Post-it notes and everyone put their ideas on their
post-it notes, then put it on the large paper. And then we took their ideas and they went up and they went up and put together what went together and what was the most important to them. And that's what you're getting ready to see as they do that. And so these pictures are from those focus groups that we had. And so
it really was a great process. And I can't compliment them enough. Seriously, whatever group we dealt with, they do come with a different viewpoint, but it's interesting how it all fed together, and I think you'll see that in just a second here. So, Tren's going to talk you through the focus group process. And that's the sticky notes
that you're seeing here. I want to explain to you what you were seeing on these pictures here. >> Yeah. And just one thing to clarify on that, we actually had the groups, we put that same desired qualification up with those bullet list of 10. And we asked them to prioritize the top two before
they started identifying what would be the six indicators or the look fors. So you're going to see a slide in a couple minutes on when when we ask them to prioritize the top two priorities. You're going to see a list of those top priorities even more more focused. Okay.
One other thing I want to note on this. Yes, you see the chart paper there. Um but also when we met with the unions, we did all of those via Zoom. So that's a picture. If you're wondering why there's a Zoom picture up there, it was to give representation of the teacher unions that we met with via Zoom.
Okay, so this is that slide that I mentioned when we when I put chart paper all up all over the office and went through this, you can see now from the list of 10 when we went a little deeper with the focus groups, the the the desired qualifications that they surfaced and prioritized from that list
from the groups we met with. So you can see here 11 of those groups had that on their chart paper as a top priority as effectively managing district resources where on the survey that was I believe number 10. Okay. So it was more of a priority in some of those groups that we met with. Does that make sense? Okay. Uh
second there was that approachable and accessible uh welcoming. That was number one on the survey and it came up in number two when we organized all the focus group feedback. Okay. And you can see that list uh right behind that was that collaborative leadership that was
the top priority from the survey as well. Uh recruiting and retention and and right on down the line. Not that any of these are not important they all are. Superintendent needs to meet all the standards but we're trying to get some clarity around some of the top priorities.
>> Question. Yes sir. So for demonstrates collaborative leadership was that like specified for district staff only or community? >> It was both. >> Okay. So that makes sense to me now to see how that weighed so heavily and we
kind of dropped some points down at the bottom because one could see those being similar or one of the same in some ways. >> Right. I agree with you and because of that I'll pay you later. I'm going to jump to that slide next and I think it's on page I can't remember in here but we broke these out specifically in your
report so you can see Anthony I think this will provide you some guidance because some of the evidence that people listed were community- based or staff-based or administrator based so we tried to identify and summarize what are the expectations and what is what would success look like in those top
priorities and so this is the one just because he brought up collaborative leadership style this is the majority of the feedback at least the themes that came out of the collective feedback about what that superintendent could or should do to demonstrate collaborative leadership. Okay, you can see on that
list and these aren't in a particular order, but simply just recognizing and encouraging feedback and asking for it. Um being open to staff and using multiple channels to get feedback, not maybe just a listening session or just a survey, but multiple avenues to get that feedback.
um building trust, you know, through decision-m and making sure that when things are shared, it's factual and things like that, people brought up in in their own words. Um staff not having any retaliation or perceived retaliation of uh um fear of just retaliation in
general. Um promoting teamwork with the administrative team or staff or anything that they're facilitating. And then I thought it was insightful a group I can't remember what group brought up managing change. You know lots of change in a district hopefully not just change but progress
and and the superintendent really being the face of change often and managing it effectively. So collaborative uh specific but this was some of the top evidence that that people would expect. And then we'll go deeper in some of these others as well.
>> Okay. So when we broke these down kind of top top down just to get back to process here. We talked about managing finances. This was the evidence. Um obviously passing audits and keeping the district in a a strong financial condition was a top priority.
Forecasting and strategic planning for the district so you don't get in a spot where finances are an issue. Forecasting as much as possible. Uh maintaining competitive salaries was huge. She was big on the survey as well, but also brought up in focus uh groups. Um
providing avenues and flexibility, continue to innovate. You have some great programs now, technology and pathway programs, but continuing to look for ideas and opportunities for uh innovation. And then in other interesting, you know, political and legislative knowledge. You guys are a
large district with a large voice in the state. having your superintendent continue to to advocate for your district but also public education in your state and then a good faith effort working with your unions. They all said that and want to continue to maintain relationships with the unions so that
things can continue to improve both with culture and retention in particular. >> Sure. >> So I think I'll try not to choke here. thought when they talked about approachable and accessible because that did come up at the top as one of the big pieces. And so it's as much really as
talking about just visibility. So it really was around greeting staff and students in the building. Uh being out and about and seeing what's going on, making it a routine to be visible in the building. And frankly, from the superintendent's job, that's hard to do unless you schedule it. Make it a plan. You have to make it a priority as you
want to do that. Recognizing employee efforts came up a lot. And so really that came down to putting together a systemic and repeatable process for staff recognition. Uh all staff, classified staff, certified staff, everyone that's working for you. But what does that look like? U and what is
that um going to happen? And then finding methods to get voice from underrepresented parents and families. I think you guys have even visited with that a little bit. And that actually came from the students also of having a student advisory board for your superintendent. those type of thoughts of getting those voices out there,
asking them for that feedback in multiple meth methods and languages because you do have so many languages. So what are different ways to get information back and not just be a one way to have that going? And then this last one really, as you can tell, came from our chamber group engaging in the
community with the local business, the chamber of commerce and the community activities. So really that approachable, accessible. Are you out there? Are you attending games? Are you going to things? Do people do they know who you are? And do your students know who you are? Do your customers know who you are?
So those are the biggest that we had on that one. >> Uh hiring entertaining staff was also a top priority that came up, you know, in the top five on both the survey and the focus groups. And so you can see some of the evidence that was mentioned uh by the focus groups in particular about
salary and benefits, which you'd probably expect to see. Um, but other things like hiring early or as early as possible and you can anticipate dates so you can get the best candidates before maybe they're snatched up by another district. Um, hire and and retain and and provide professional development to
your administrative team so they can continue to enhance their skills and grow together. Uh, provide training for developing new leaders, kind of grow your own in a lot of uh, ways. Uh, this was a little bit of a surprise, but providing training for classified staff
as well. And I know there's some efforts in the district to to do that and then create a positive culture where people actually maybe not just with salary benefits but the culture is good enough that they don't want to stay or if things were equal they would choose independence.
So that was some of the effort uh efforts around hiring and retaining staff. We talked about collaborative leadership and if I summarize all that because I'm talking a lot tonight. Um we tried to just summarize in maybe a short list about okay let's put all this
together for the board. you know, they hired us to help synthesize this a little bit what we're looking for. And Janette talked about um us taking this feedback with your guidance in helping draft questions, but also help screening candidates looking for these things that
the community, the board, stakeholders say they need right now. So when we put all that together, we tried to make a succinct slide here to say this could be is getting closer to identifying in a nutshell the ideal candidate for independence. And I'll give you a chance
to read that. But strategic, compassionate, and visionary leader that combines the financial management with innovation develops and empowers staff to reach their full potential, whatever role they
they have in the district. lead with transparency, collaboration, and that approachability piece. That was a top priority. And then build a safe, inclusive, and future focused school that reflects your community values.
Hopefully that we've we've taken a first draft at starting to pull together what an ideal can candidate looks like. And it's our job to go recruit as many options as possible. Yeah. Then last but not least, I will just mention right now as of today, hope
this is okay to say we have four candidates submitted and we have four in progress. So that's the update on candidates today. We have lots more conversations. Anticipate we'll have a very strong pool yet. Made a lot of connections at the conference and polls.
Some of your great some of your some of your candidates are working on recommendations right now. conversations with families, delaying conversations until Thanksgiving. Um, but you will you will have a strong candidate pool. Before I sl breeze over this slide, this
is the advice that came out of the survey as well. Lots of great advice, the school lunch advice, the transport. Oh, people gave advice. There's no doubt about that. We just grabbed a snapshot of this. Love the quote up in the top corner there. But what I want you to know more than the few quotes that are
on this screen is that we actually take the advice from the survey, all of it. We save it and put it off to the side. And when you hire your next superintendent, we will make sure they get that document with all that advice. And we hope they take 15 minutes, read through it, and it's an advantage to get
off to a good start. I want you to know we we have kind of scraped all that advice for later. Let's pause there. Let's um get your feedback and questions around the survey and the focus group information we shared with you tonight.
>> Can you share with us um in the other superintendent searches that you have done? What kind of percentage do you typically see between um student number of students and number of people participating? I see that we were like around a little over 2,000 with a school
district of like 14,000. How does that compare? percentage-wise to what you typically see. >> Yeah, I would say you had everybody usually wants more feedback to be honest with you. That is a norm. You had more student feedback because you gave students time to complete it. So, we saw
more student feedback on your survey than others. Um I would say the staff, parents, others pretty consistent. Um I would say if anything, like Janette said, we were probably a little more disappointed in the focus group feedback. Um, but with that being said,
even if you had 100 more people there, I feel like a lot of the feedback we would have got would have been fairly consistent. >> Brings up another question. I saw that there were 22 school board members. So, I'm a little bit curious where 22 school board members. >> You know what? I thought that was
amazing. Uh, frankly, so I have a feeling that when students take the survey or when adults take the survey and they're asked who they are, >> we don't get to verify who they are. They get to tell us. It's anonymous. So, they get to tell us who they are. So, congratulations.
>> All right. >> I noticed that, too. >> Actually, from the other surveys in the other districts that that I've done, actually, you had some of the highest feedback numbers on surveys. It's really hard to get numbers on surveys right now. And it wasn't from lack of trying
or communication from your team. Trust me, they did a yman's at work on this. for the student focus group. How were those students selected? >> The principles actually selected them and and sent them to us. So we had the
Van Horn, we had all we had all three of the groups there. Um great feedback for them. So but they came from the building leaders. Can you tell me what the average number of applicants you see based on the school district size of 14,000? Like
you're talking about eight right now, probably going to go up. What would be the average number that we would probably expect to see based on your past experience? We can both talk about this because I think I think the pool has changed a little bit honestly over the past few
years. Um, in the years following COVID, lots of turnover in the state of Missouri, we had over 150 new superintendents. I mean, it was a ridiculous number. And so, you're seeing those numbers kind of change just a little bit as you're coming through. You're also seeing a change, frankly, in the superintendency itself. Uh, very
young superintendent. We have a lot of very, very, very young superintendents in the state of Missouri right now. And so, that's just an important piece of this as you do that. you know, we have what the average has been for all of our districts as we do this. I do I think you're going to end up someplace for I'm
I'm going to predict someplace between 16 and 24. I'm going to predict that um to see where they are just because I know the people I've talked to or the phone calls I've taken. Uh it's just a matter of do they complete that application. There's one thing to start your application, it's a matter of do they complete it. Um I just want to make
sure we're getting you high quality candidates is my is the goal that Trent and I are both working on on that one. Do you have a specific number you want to provide there, J? >> I think somebody asked me this last time or we addressed it and I wrote it down and I just remember that. So, just to
give you the the the pools are changing and I I can tell you our focus is on the quality. Maybe not the number, but the more options the better. Last year at Columbia we had 32 applicants. Last year at St. Joe's we had 28 Webster Groves 29
right city 24 Hannibal 18 I looked those up just to anticipate that question last time so that's some hard data to give you an idea where where your candidate pool could be >> do do any of those districts have roughly 14,000 students
>> yeah would be larger um some of the others I'm not exactly sure but >> those would be the closest comparables I could give you in pool 29 >> and those are smaller. >> They were also on a similar timeline which plays into it as well. If it was a
later higher, I I would anticipate those numbers go down. the Liberty Superintendent retirement. >> Uh you will actually finish before they will. Your timeline finishes in mid January. Theirs will not finish, I don't
think, until the end of February is where it's going to to be. Um and I and again, as we talked before, two different school districts, two you're looking for two different things. You really are. And and so will there be competition? Will there be overlap on some of that? I would assume there would
be. Yes. And in full transparency, we pitched to them today. So I don't know we'll be leading that search or not. So just full transparency. Other thoughts? Does it line up to what you thought you were going to see? uh any surprises I guess would be the
question that what I might ask. >> I think my surprise was the difference in the surveys, you know, kind of the rankings and then what the focus groups ranked as most important. >> That was surprising. >> I I agree with it. I think it's always
interesting when you do these surveys. I always like to do what's your what do you think is important? And when people put what they think important, everything is important. When you ask them what's most important, then they they will flip. uh almost every time. I know we always did that in our strategic planning processes. What's important?
Everything. Everything's got to be important. What's most important? What was down to number 10 becomes number one. Uh and so I think that's that's part of the challenge. But that's the importance of those focus groups is to really dig down because otherwise we would have thought this is what the answer is instead of the focus groups
and because you heard that from your students, your staff, and your community. I think that's that's a pretty good uh validation. I I also just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the summarizing and how you broke it down for us, but it very
succinctly. So, thank you for that. >> Good. >> I also think that I also think that this potentially is a tool that we can use going forward to help us with looking at things that we um we're not areas that
we need to get stronger in. and um ways that we can do better. >> We will share this with Megan of course to put on your communication and we will share this with all of your applicants also because we want to make sure that that's a good fit for them as well as for you. This is what you're looking
for. This is not your where your strengths are or where you can help and support and build and grow then we want to make sure that we're getting the right candidate here for you too. And so that's important. I had that question frankly at about four o'clock today. Uh, can you tell me what that is so I can align? So, it's good. Mr. Robertson, you
had a question. >> Question. >> Thank you. We want to be as transparent as possible at all times and frankly that's why we wanted to do this now. So that's very transparent and out there. Are there other questions? Because there's another part we do want to talk
to you guys about. If you have if you don't have any or comments or thoughts on that that you'd like to share. >> Just wanted to mention one other thing. I think especially with us um you know putting this out um so that other people can see the meeting. I think it'll be
interesting to see which candidates are savvy enough to watch and see what it is. and I will be looking for candidates that reference the these specific items. So, I think it's a a great tool for us to use in that way as well. >> Abs. Absolutely. I couldn't agree with
you more. So, one of the things we do want to to nail down with you and working with and and with President Dixon on this is making sure we have our calendar set up correctly for January and our timeline. So, we are going to um just a reminder for everyone in the
public is that the the apps will close on December the 31st. Uh this group will be meeting on January the 8th to review all the applications. And remember, you'll have the applications. We will send those to you ahead of time electronically so you can read through
those. At that meeting, we will bring you the summaries of those so that you have it in a nice place. One of the things that's on the summary, I think I mentioned this before. I'm sorry. I've been to too many board meetings lately, but one of the questions we used to be able to ask was what is their current salary. We can no longer ask that
question. It's illegal. We can ask their range is what we can do. Desired range of what we want on that one. So, just as an FYI, that's what you would see on that piece as we're doing that. So, on January 8th, we will look at all those candidates. On January 15th, we will
screen. You guys will be in person. The candidates will be on Zoom. So, this group will be meeting in person. The candidates coming on Zoom because we don't know where they're coming from. And remember, this is a screening. This is not a long one. And then January 21st will be the finalist interview. So, we
want to go we want to talk to you about a couple things. One, um, we want to verify the dates and the times. And I'm going to push you a little bit. I'm going to be very direct with you on that finalist. I really feel like you are going to suggest a time to you. I want
you to very seriously consider it uh because one of the respect for your candidates coming in and to give you time to do that. This is your most important hire and so it may require some time from you and so I just want to talk about that. So this is what we're
looking at on the schedule. So it says district tour. So that will be um either one of your assistant superintendents or your deputy superintendent giving them a tour around the district and so that they can all see that trust me there's not an applicant you're going to have
that hasn't been spending time at Independence. They're going to come and spend the weekend. They're going to come to your restaurants. They're going to come check it out. That's what they're going to do. But this is a tour that we always want to do and then the board interviews. And so this was just with three. If you have
four, we can expand it out. Part of this is it's January. We want them to see your district and your community, not be in the dark. So, we do want that to be during the daytime. And so, that's why I'm pushing hard that we would start this no later than 2:30. So, the first
board interview would be at 1:45, but we could get those tours in and still be respectful of your time and your jobs. So, we just want to have that conversation. This would be on the January 21st schedule. So, can we talk about that just a bit and see where you
guys fall on that one? And with then we'll come back and confirm the other dates. I just want to let's stay with the last date first and let's see where we are and can we commit to that or not? Can we >> Can I get a thumbs up? >> Yeah, we have it marked already on our
calendars. >> Does it start at 12:30? >> Yeah. Well, it starts at 8 a.m. till >> You had all day. So, now you got half a day back. So, it's a gift. How's that? Is that good? >> Okay, you guys are fine with that. If you decide that you want to interview four, then we may need to back that up
earlier so that you have time to do the tour and the interview. Does that make sense? Just want to be fully transparent so as we have these conversations, you're really thinking ahead of what that could look like. We're all good. Okay, let's back up and confirm these other dates so we know when the deadline
ends. I know it's December 31st and then on the 8th, no doubt about the 8th and the time that we have a lot. Cammy, what time do you have for that? Is that what everybody else has? I'm making sure we're all on the same page. Just going to back up real quick just to
clarify for everybody here. On December 31st, that application deadline that's scheduled to close at midnight, we need about 48 hours to finish pulling those applications, make sure pages aren't flipped, all that silly stuff, you know, that happens technology-wise. And then
we will provide a link, an open link to a folder for the board, and you'll be able to go through those application materials. That'll include cover letter, resume, recommendation letters. um as part of that folder the other information that you'll get phase two. So you will have roughly then from
January say 2nd through January 8th. >> Here's our challenge >> staff. >> Here's the challenge we have. It's the holidays. And so actually we are bringing in a staff member on December the I'm sorry, January the 2nd. They're
going to come in to help with the application process. That's their job to do part of that. So, it will be at probably Monday, Tuesday at the very latest that you will get those apps. So, I just want to be very upfront with you. Uh, just because it's the holidays and they are closed except for this one
employee that's coming in that's going to help us with this part. So, >> yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. >> And will that include your ranking the >> No, we will bring those with us on that date. >> Oh, on the 8th. >> Yes. We want you guys have a chance to read those through those applications
and um build that yourself and you will get that electronically when we bring that day. Thank you for asking that question. We'll bring you the rankings on that day and we'll also bring you the summaries so we can go through those together. So that will start at 5:30. So we I'm going to shoot really hard for the
fifth. That's our goal is to get them to you. If I can get them to you at the end of the day on the second, we'll do it. But I don't want to overpromise here, okay? I just want to be honest. >> And I have that down as room CO-1A. >> That would be a question for Cammy.
>> Yeah, I don't know that we've actually confirmed the room. So, we need we just Cammy will let us know what she did put that on the on the schedule right now, but we just confirm it. >> Yeah. Yeah,
>> we can get the rooms to you and get those sent to you so that you have that. >> Hang on. Are we all good with the 8th or if I started 5:30? I got 5:30 to 8:30 marked on mine just because I never know how things are going to go. >> Yes. >> Okay.
And then on the 14th, I have the 15th up there. So, that's what we're checking. >> We We've gone back and forth. So, I want to make sure we're on the same page. That's why we're doing this right now. >> I had it down for the 14th. >> Yeah, I had it on the 14th, but the 15th as a snow day.
>> As the snow day backup. Okay. >> And I have it at I have the 14th, too. And I have it at 4. Is that what we all have? And then the >> 14th at 4. >> The 14th at 4. The snow day backup would be the 15th. Same time.
back up. >> Just pray for no snow. We haven't had rain. Maybe we won't have snow. Who knows? You never know in Kansas City. So the 14th and then the 15th is the backup. Correct, Cammy? We're on the same place. And then we have the 21st is
your interview date. And so we just talked about that starting in the afternoon. Then we have to move that a little earlier. We will based on your choices of who you want to interview on your finalist.
>> Well, we need to so that we can get them through the tours and things. Yes, ma'am. And then the backup date for that one is actually the next day, the 22nd, if we had to have it. Fingers crossed we don't. It's just January in Kansas City, as we
all know. I would say let's just hold the whole day if we might come in. >> I keep it held right now. >> That's what I was. >> Yeah. >> You may decide. >> Yeah. Let's let I want the board to have a little choice on that little
flexibility. We could. So, we're good. All right. Cammy, do you mind just reading through those dates again just so everybody has them? Make sure we're good. Okay. And the other thing I want to make sure we're talking about is for the public not to expect an announcement on January
the 21st or even the 22nd. That will be when the board will decide who they want to enter negotiations in with, but we'll try to get that done as quickly as we can. So, I just want to be very transparent with your public. >> How long do the negotiations usually
take? >> It kind of depends. Uh what we're going to try to do on that one, I think we shared with you earlier, we will ask them to fill out a sheet, a document of what their expectations are and it includes everything even down to what is their family's commitment to being here
in the district because we want to know, we know that's an important piece to you. Uh and so what is that going to include? And then what are those expectations? And then we have your contract that you currently have. So we know what those are offers, what you have. But if they have something different, we would go back and forth
between your attorney, frankly, and their attorney. And there is a there's a piece in there around sunshine about after you, you know, then you in a in a board meeting, public board meeting, that's when you would make your final approach. And so that's the one that counts is that big
one right there. >> We'll do our best to make sure we will do our best to make sure it goes smooth. So, would we need a special meeting then potentially because um our next scheduled board meeting after the 21st
isn't until uh the 10th of February, >> I would say. Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. Then that could be at your normal six o'clock. It wouldn't take from your from your workday. Shouldn't need to do that. How many days do you think we should
allow after the 22nd to set that meeting? >> Yeah, I would say for the next week at the latest because we want to get this wrapped up. probably need some business days because if they're doing if they're
doing work with the attorneys doing it over the weekend might be >> I would just say earlier the next week a Tuesday probably you're interviewing on a Wednesday Thursday as our backup. So by next the following Tuesday >> you guys usually meet on Tuesday. >> Yeah. Do we want to go ahead and just
block it? We can always change it if need to, but maybe block the 20 January 27th further. >> And if you guys, every board does it differently. If you need to change your calendar so it's out there for the public and do that as a as an action item in the future, you can do that, too. >> No, it's easy for me to have it there so
nothing can be put there, >> right? >> Yeah. Yes. Just like for a special board meeting. >> Yeah. And we will work with your communication department at the same time with that too. >> Will that be an open? >> It would be an open. That would be open.
>> Yes ma'am. I know it's a lot. You guys have been fortunate. You have not had to do this in quite some time. So it it is a lot. Well, we appreciate everything that you guys have done. I appreciate we'll continue with the updates. Uh we'll
probably wait and after when we get to December, I'll just send you a weekly. I'll probably send you one more before Thanksgiving just because I know it's just a slower time. They're just you're not getting we're getting some apps but not as many. But then it'll start to pick up. We'll just continue to communicate that. I hope that's working
for you. Uh just to get that that email and give you those numbers. So, any other questions? I think the other thing that we will do at the application meeting on January the 8th at that meeting, we'll also
review the questions and uh have that aligned to what you just saw in the survey report as your screeners. That's a that's the greatest place to start. We want to make sure they align just as Miss Ferris was talking about. She wants to make sure they paid attention. We're
going to make sure they pay attention. anything else that you'd like to enter? >> I think you're in a great spot. So, if nothing else, we'll turn it over to you. >> Okay. I don't have anything else on the agenda
for this evening. And so, I'm I'm glad that we were able to get through that um in a reasonable time, but we obviously fish finished up quicker than we thought we would. Um, so we're going to go ahead and adjourn until our 6:00 meeting.
Can I get a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. We're adjourned.