Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. I don't Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon. Welcome. Uh it is Tuesday, April 14th, 2026. It's 5:02 p.m. We'll go ahead and
call our meeting to order. Thank you for joining us. Dr. Stubblefield, board colleagues, good afternoon. Um, thanks for being here. To all of our staff and to all of our guests that are present, welcome and thanks for joining us today. Um, just a reminder, a bit of housekeeping. If you could make sure
your phones are silenced, um, and make sure your, um, audio is off on your laptops. Um, we would appreciate that as well. Um, if you need interpretation for tonight's meeting, we do have interpreters available um, for tonight's meeting. So, just let one of our staff members
know if you do need an interpreter today. Again, welcome. Great to see you all. Uh, we do have a full agenda today, so we're going to go ahead and jump right in. Um, and as we do at every board meeting, we'll review our board norms and protocols. We agree to respect differences of opinions in making
decisions for the district. To follow best practices in managing the superintendent and the management of the board itself. To stay on task when conducting business for the district, including while at board meetings. To never surprise a superintendent or each other when conducting official business
of the district. To read these norms at the beginning of each board meeting and at board workshops as a reminder of how to conduct our meetings. and to continually selfch check to determine if we're following our norms when conducting district business. Again, welcome. I'm glad to see you all. With
that, Miss Downing, would you please do a roll call? >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez, present. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Milin Jr. present. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Present.
>> Dr. W. Dr. W. Present. Pamela Pin Hicks, Yolanda Clark. >> All right. Thank you. Um, with that would entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> So move.
>> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion or questions? Seeing and hearing none, Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. Robert Mlin Jr. Yes.
>> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. W. >> Dr. Win. Yes. >> Great. Thank you, board. We're going to jump right in. Uh, and first on our agenda. Item two, we have recognitions and awards. Would invite Mr. Leggler to come forward as he presents our
administrator of the month. Good evening, Mr. Leggler. Good to see you. >> Okay. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Evening. I believe I was going to have a sidekick with me, but that's okay. I can do this solo this evening. Again, my name is
Andrew Leggler, HR director for early childhood and elementary education. I have the honor and privilege of being here in place of Dr. Jones this evening to announce our administrators of the month. First up, we have Brenda Tantau. She is our sped coordinator of central at
central office nominated by Tasha Anderson. Brenda demonstrates outstanding leadership, professionalism, and dedication to students and staff. Her expertise and compliance and special education provides clear guidance that
helps our team succeed. She consistently puts students first, works effectively with families, and supports colleagues with patience and care. Through her commitment to better every day, Brenda strengthens strengthens our department and fosters a collaborative student
centered environment. She is truly deserving of recognition as student as district leader of the month. Please join me in congratulating SPED coordinator Brenda Tantau. Thank you so much. >> Next up, we have our principal of the
month, Mr. Dustin Wy, principal of Lindberg Elementary School, nominated by Andrina Lopez. We'd like to nominate the principal of Lindberg Elementary for his outstanding leadership and genuine care for staff and students.
Mr. Wy supports teachers so they feel value and fosters a positive, welcoming school culture. His kindness, approachability, and commitment to student success make the school a safe, supportive place to learn and grow. Principal Wy is an exceptional leader
and truly deserving of this recognition. Please join me in congratulating Principal Dustin Wy. >> Next for assistant principal, we have assistant principal Katherine Schroeder, assistant principal of Eisenhower Middle School, nominated by
Katherine Carter. Miss Schroeder is an exceptional administrator who g who goes above and beyond for staff and students. She keeps the school running smoothly and builds strong relationships with students and families. Her leadership in supporting new curriculum implementation and her
dedication to excellence make a lasting impact. Our school is stronger because of her. Please congratulate Assistant Principal Katherine Schroeder. And last, we have assistant principal of JC Harmon High School, Margie Ramirez,
nominated by staff. Mrs. Ramirez has dedicated her career to Harmon and USD 500, showing deep pride and passion for her students. >> Mrs. Ramirez goes above and beyond, always stepping in where needed and
never giving up on any student. Her advocacy, expertise, and unwavering commitment strengthen our school every day. She leads with passion, resilience, and heart, making a lasting difference. Please join me in congratulating
Assistant Principal Margie Ramirez. >> Good evening. I am Tracy Schovin, the director of student support programs, and I am honored to take a moment to recognize the exceptional work of three of our amazing school social workers here in Kansas City, Kansas public schools. Each year, the Kansas School
Social Workers Association seeks nominees for Kansas School Social Worker of the Year. This award honors individuals who demonstrate outstanding performance across all aspects of their role, who go those who go above and beyond, who show resilience in managing complex cases, and uphold the highest
ethical standards and service to students and families. This year, KCKPS was incredibly proud to have three of the five finalists come from our district. >> So good. First, we have Emily Storenbecker from
JC Harmon High School. >> Wait, where did Andrew go? Come back up here, Andrew. >> Where'd my partner? >> Thank you, sir. Emily Storbecker from JC Harmon High School was honored for her daily commitment to ensuring students feel
seen, heard, and supported. colleagues wrote that through her involvement with the restorative justice team, she facilitates mediations that repair damaged relationships, restore dignity, and help students move forward productively after conflict. Known among staff as a well-being champion, she also
fosters morale and cultivates a culture of care and collaboration among colleagues. The importance Emily places on human relationships, it's perhaps her greatest strength. She collaborates seamlessly with school staff, community organizations, and caregivers, creating bridges instead of silos. Her
relationships are grounded in honesty, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to student well-being. At Grant Elementary, Rachel Pollock was described by her colleagues as a tireless advocate, a compassionate leader, and a cornerstone of the school
community. Next we have Rachel Pollock. This is Rachel's second time in a row, her second year in a row of being a finalist for school social worker of the year. Her nominator shared that Rachel embodies the core values of social work, integrity, empathy, and social justice.
She's a trusted, life-changing presence for our families during their most difficult moments. and she meets every student, staff member, and caregiver with compassion and unconditional positive regard. Her dedication, professionalism, and heart for this service embody the mission of social
work. She meets students, families, and staff with compassion, empathy, and unconditional positive regard. Her work is rooted in genuine care. She loves with her whole heart and pours everything she has into supporting those around her. Jennifer Kindle, also from JC Harmon
High School. Jennifer Kindle from JC Carman High School was recognized as an exceptional advocate for students navigating trauma and complex life circumstances. with her nominators writing. One of Jennifer's greatest strengths is her ability to build strong, trusting relationships
with both students and staff members. Our students feel safe, respected, and understood in her presence, while the staff viewer is a reliable collaborator and problem solver. This trust allows Jennifer to effectively facilitate mediations with students and staff. Her calm demeanor, fairness, and skillful
communication make a meaningful difference in maintaining a positive school climate. She navigates complex ethical dilemmas with grace, ensuring every student's rights are protected while fostering a collaborative environment with teachers, administrators, and staff. Her presence ensures our school is not just a place
of instruction, but is a catalyst force for working towards holistic support and high achievement. Together, these three professionals represent the very best of KCKPS. They remind us that when we invest in the social emotional well-being of our students, we create the conditions for
true learning and success. We're incredibly proud of Rachel, Jennifer, and Emily and grateful for the impact they and all of our school social workers have on our district every day. Thank you. the healthiest employer. >> Is it over? I guess I can do
like Dr. Jones. Thank you, Miss Chovin, and thank you, Mr. Leggler, for that. Um, next on our agenda is a special recognition um that the school district received. I think Dr. Stubblefield can share a little bit about that, but the
district was nominated and received an award for being one of the uh healthiest employers recently. So, we've got a great HR team and benefits team and a leadership team that works to make sure that our staff and is taken care of. So, Dr. Stubblefield, do you want to tell us
a bit more about this work? >> Most certainly will. Um and Dr. Jones is absent. Um we just wanted the board um in the community to be aware that on March 26 um Kansas City Kansas Public Schools was recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal and named u one of
the 206 healthiest employers in the greater Kansas City area and that included school districts and corporations. Um and so we just want to thank our HR team and our um health coordinator Stephanie Ferris for
providing the many activities and opportunities and education um regarding health um to our staff um so that um we were recognized for this honor. So thank you and we do there is a
plaque that we received but and we'll display it um in the HR office. So thank you. Thank you, Dr. Stolefield, and congratulations to the entire team and leadership for that. >> Yes. >> Okay, we're going to take a quick recess so we can take photos with our
administrators of the month and those folks that we've recognized today um as well. So, give us a few moments. Thank you. Heat. Heat. Come on. Heat. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.
Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. I'm see. Heat up here. Hey, hey, hey.
Heat. Heat. Thank you everyone for giving us a moment. Again, congratulations to our administrators of the month, to the social workers who were all recognized to your teams, your family, the staff at the schools. um one of my favorite portions of our board meetings when we
get to recognize our staff and students and uplift the great work that's happening in our district. So again, congratulations to all of you and your and your schools and your uh the staff as well and thanks for all the great work you do. We'll continue with our agenda next or on our agenda board. We're at item three, community comment.
Just a reminder, everyone is welcome to give comment. Please just sign up no later than noon the Monday before the board meeting with the board clerk um to make sure that you are on the agenda. Um, as you approach, uh, make sure that you state your name. Um, and then your time will start. You have three minutes.
I'll let you know when you have about 45 or 30 seconds left. Um, and then I will let you know when you were at time. Um, please complete your your thought or your sentence and then, uh, we will ask you to, um, please conclude. So, um, and just a reminder, this is a one-way communication. This is, um,
communication to the board. Please refrain from any derogatory comments about staff or students or any specific individuals. um and uh a member of the lead leadership team will follow up if there is any follow-up and then that follow-up will be reported to the board
um at a future meeting or via email as well. So, first on our agenda, I have Miss Judith Jones. She left. >> Okay. Okay. Next on our agenda, I have Miss
Erica Andrade. Sorry. >> Hi, thank you. Um, I want to start uh good good evening. My name is Eric Andrade and I'm a community member and advocate and a proud alumni of the district. I want to start by saying that I come to speak in front of you all
today from a place of hope and for the best, you know, wishing for the best for the district and our community, but with the understanding that to grow and to improve, we do have to be honest and brave sometimes. I'm here uh to speak about a comment that makes was made during the October
24th board meeting after a presentation that was delivered clearly and professionally in English by district leader and a board member responded by asking now can you say that in English while I cannot speak to the intent I can speak to the impact for many Latinos staff students and families that
movement felt dismissive othering and disrespectful. It reinforced a message that even when we show up prepared, credentialed, and speak clearly, and our presence and our voice can still be questioned. And in a district where the majority of students are Latino, that
matters. Since that moment, we have heard statements pointing to past actions and proof of commitment to our community. And while those actions may be meaningful, they do not erase the impact of what happened here. Accountability is not about labels. It's about acknowledging harm, learning from
it, and ensuring that it does not happen again. Because moments like this are not isolated, then when they go unadressed, they begin to form form patterns. And those patterns erode trust. Our students, our families, and our educators deserve more than apologies and to move on quickly. They deserve
leadership that reflects, grows, and models the respect this district claims to uphold. I urge the board to acknowledge the harm that was caused, commit to ongoing cultural awareness and accountability, and reaffirm through both words and actions that every person
in the district is valued and respected that th this should be a place where people do not have to question whether they belong. Gracias. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Andrade.
Next up, we'll would call Mr. Skyler Meyers. >> Good evening. Um, my name is Skyler Garrett Meyers. I am a longtime resident of the community, a former district principal and a parent of a KCKPS
student with a learning disability. When our community hears department updates from department leadership, the expectation should be clear. We should be presented with measurable goals and clear evidence of progress. Evidence that conditions for our students and
staff are in fact getting better every day. as the democratically elected board representing this community um and with two of you serving as state legislators as well with VP Brley Page and Dr. Wyn.
Um I would ask our board to inquire about the 48.8 million that has been spent over the past four fiscal years on contracted sped staffing agency much of it virtual to fill vacancies. I would ask our board to clarify why
during that same time the special education studenttoteer ratio has increased by 43%. I would ask our board to acknowledge that while sped staffing shortages are in fact a national issue, that doesn't explain why our sped
teachers are leaving our district. I'm asking our board to hold our sped department accountable, not to show us or to show us, not to tell us that things are in fact getting better every day. What outcomes should our community
expect to see tonight that demonstrate real improvement? How is our board evaluating whether these this work is effective? And if those outcomes are not present, what happens next? if it's not our staff speaking publicly as they have
at this podium in 2023, 2024, and 2025 and most recently in an article in the Kansas City Star two weeks ago. If it is not our staff, if it is not the 2KU studies that validated those concerns brought to you by staff, if it is not
our HR data showing that our sped staff is leaving, if it is not our families sharing their experiences up here, if it is not our declining federal compliance, if it is not 48.8 million in spending, >> 45 seconds,
>> then what is it? We talk about equity in our district, but equity requires inclusion. Not a courtesy invite, but truly sharing space. Right now, what many of our staff and families are experiencing feels less
like inclusion and more like controlled access. To borrow from the sped department's own presentations regarding staffing the last four years, people are not our most important asset. The right people are. So I ask the board this, by what metric
are we able to see that our sped department is positioned with the right people in leadership? Thank you. >> You thank you Mr. Myers. Um again, a member of the leadership team will reach out to all individuals who have given public comment and we'll um follow up
with the board with any potential action steps or reporting out to the board. Um thank you. Next on our agenda, board would entertain a motion to recess to executive session to discuss matters of non-elected personnel in order to
protect the privacy interests of parties involved under the Kansas Open Meetings Act for for five minutes going in at 5:33. Um to include Dr. 532, I'm sorry, to include Dr. Stfield, Mr. Gohane, Dr.
Prim, uh Mr. Hansford, and is it Mr. there. >> And that's it. Motion to do so. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions? >> Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page.
>> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Wandy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Milan Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. Win
>> Yes. >> Now I'm gonna call her. >> Thank you. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Come
on. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. I'm going to keep Come on. Yeah. Keep it. Heat. Heat.
Hey, hey, hey. Keep it. Come on. Come on. Ah, heat. Come on. Hey. Hey. Ah,
heat. Good morning. delay as we were trying to deal with the technical issue. Um motion to return from open session or return to open session. >> So move back.
>> Moved. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions? All right. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr.
>> Robert Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Miss Hick. Did you hear Dawn? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. W. >> Dr. W. Yes. >> Thank you. Um, okay. We'll continue with
our agenda. Next up is our consent agenda board. Is there a motion to approve today's consent agenda? Mr. Lopez. >> Yes, Dr. W. >> Set aside D like donut, J like jump, and P like Paul. >> Okay. And I'm just going to verify
because sometimes these letters can get >> different on the printed, but >> so D is out of district travel is what I have. Okay. And then J is >> payment of student devices. And then P would be committee for
children renewal. Okay. >> Correct. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda minus items DJ and P? I will move to approve the consent agenda minus items DJ and P. Is there a second?
>> Yes, there is a second. And can I make a comment? >> Uh, yes. Uh, Miss Brley Page, >> I know we're going to be meeting Friday. Is it some way that we can see the 26 27 tentative budget because we approved a
lot of things here and just need to know how this fits with the budget so we can see what we have and we have a lot of things we need to do and if we're approving this and I'm assuming most of this money is coming out will be coming
out of next year's budget. So we or let us know what's coming out of this year and what's left for next year so we can kind of plan ahead because we're kind of we're doing it differently. I don't want to use the wrong word and at this time
it's not flowing good but we're spending a lot of money and we have a lot of things we need to do and we and the monies considering what happened in Topeka and some other things just want to make sure we have what we need for
the 26 27 academic year that's my concern >> and what I will say the items that are presented here the renewals and all of those things are budgeted for the 26 for this current year's budget. Um be unless
it says it's being incumbent and that sort of thing. These are things that money is already allocated for from the 2526 budget. >> Well, I just wanted to make sure so when we come together Friday, hopefully we can begin to look at what's available.
We know what was uh the veto override and what things we need to do and we're going to hear a report today. Just want to make sure we're doing it decent and in order. Not to say that we aren't, but just want to make sure we're clear on where these monies are coming from and
make sure we address the needs of the district. >> Yeah. Thank you, Miss Brownley. Page >> clarification, Dr. St, for what you just said. Are you saying the 2627 new contracts have already are coming out of 2526 budget?
What I what I'm saying is the items that are on here will be paid out of this year's budget unless it says that we're encumbering it and paying a for a future thing. So if you think about the cycle of the school year outside of actual
like paying employees or unique situations, we typically are paying for things the year so that we'll be able to start the school year, know what's in place and predict what is going to happen. So these items are set to come
out unless it says otherwise the 2526 the current budget >> it says new 2627 >> it we will pay for it and then it will be used in the 2627. >> So it's all coming out of >> money that's already been budgeted.
>> Yes. If I'm misspeaking on anybody's item speaking not a forever year piece but yes it is. We typically are paying for it year in advance. Thank you. Any additional questions uh on or comments on the motion?
If not, hearing none, Miss Downing, roll call, please. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pen Hicks. >> Pamela Penhicks. Yes.
>> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. W. >> Dr. Win. Yes. >> Great. Thank you. Um item D out of district travel. Dr. W. >> Right. Thank you. Um looking at the >> yes >> chart
>> and again I'm noting grant funds and I'm specifically ask a question about the Ron Clark Academy. Um could someone just explain what that is? I I don't remember seeing um that as I travel the last
couple years. Uh which grant funds and that's my question. >> Um the Ron Clark Academy, it's a middle school that offers like professional development. Um is it K8? Dr. Des is middle. I'm sorry.
>> 58. >> 58. I just wanted to get the level right. um that has been around for years that has modeled innovative um ways to engage students. We received um from one of our um partners several scholarships for our
staff to see like what high level engaging learning might look like. So between that and um the grant funds that's why you see a lot of the staff there. It was a partial um they all of most majority of the registrations were
play paid for um by one of our partners um as a gift to um our staff. >> That's where it's coming from. It um and I can send we can put some information in the end of the week about exactly what it is, but it's been around for
years. Um and they just the way school looks and how it sounds is very >> We haven't attended though, have we? We may have had individuals attend. Um maybe not in the recent years. I see Dr. Dez back there nodding saying people have attended before
>> two years ago. Remember it wasn't last year. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Do you want me to go ahead with the other ones? >> Yeah, please. Dr. Go ahead. >> Um just a question on Jay like >> June. Uh so if this is the second payment of five so what's the total
amount of of this um this item? >> Um Dr. Conrad is coming forward. >> Good evening board. Um the uh total payments uh after this one payment is $5
million. So, we would just have to add up uh the 1.7 makes it 3.4. So, it was about 8 million and change, but I I don't have the exact figure on me when we presented to you. >> It looks like in the document 8.8
million total after all of the PIP payments. >> Thank you. I just didn't notice it. >> Sure. >> And then, thank you. And then finally on the committee for children and renewal, um could you give us a little insight on this? Miss Chovin is coming forth to
share information regarding it. >> Good evening Dr. Wyn. Um great question. So the committee for children is second step. That's our early childhood through 8th grade tier one. So universal curriculum for social emotional learning. So we are required to have a universal social emotional learning
curriculum. And for middle school it is a digital license. So we renew that annually for early childhood through fifth grade. They are physical kits because they have like stuffed animals and things like that. >> Share with us the your your data.
>> So the data we are consistently um attempting to work to be collaborative with the buildings to increase that implementation. So I recognize I don't know where the data is on here to be very candid. I don't think it is on here. >> Well, it's under >> you guys have it.
>> Second. Okay. >> PDF. >> No, we're going to be you tonight. Oh, perfect. Thank you. So looking at our data, we've got um for Argentine and
Sumar because Sumar is included in that for 8th grade. They actually do not have minimal they have minimal participation in it. Um, Argentine has their sixth grade units um at 2% and then Arrowhead
has their highest completion at 8% specifically in their bullying, but their sixth grade is at 1%. Carl B. Bruce, their highest participation is sixth grade at 12% with the next 8th grade at 2%. Central has the greatest participation overall with 21% in their
eighth grade and then sixth grade at 8%. sixth grade of the units 1 through 4 and their bullying unit at 13%. And then grade seven at 13% in units 1 through 4. Gloria Willis has 7% completion in units 1 through 4 in sixth grade. And then 8th
grade in units 1 through 4 has a 3% completion rate. Eisenhower has a 12% completion rate in for sixth grade and units 1 through 4. And then Rosedale also has a 5% completion rate in units one through four for sixth grade. the
rest all have a 0% completion rate. >> So the higher numbers mean >> that they're completing those lessons in their entirety as well as doing pressing end and complete. And so one of the things that we can also do is pull down
to see that some of them are entering and progressing. Some of the teachers are progressing through the lessons but not pressing complete. which means that some of the teachers are doing the lessons but not doing that final step. >> So what is your preference
>> that they press complete so that we can see that they've completed it >> and and what reinforcement are you sharing with them to help them know that that's your preference? >> Great question. I personally am not sharing that with them that it is my
preference. I do ask that the principles and the counselors and our counselors are embedded coaches and our buildings around Second Step, we continually have them have that conversation with them. >> Okay. >> I might add that um the program is also
designed so that there are certain topics that may be pertinent to what's going on in in the classroom. So if the classroom is having a lot of problem with uh tattling or gossiping, you can pick out lessons to do that and you
wouldn't have to do an entire lesson. >> Yes. And it has one of the great things about Second Step specifically is it has things they call them advisory, which for us is FA, but they have advisory lessons that we can use for um leading classroom circles, classroom meetings,
which align to our restorative practices components. And so the teachers can go in and complete those as well, which is really, really helpful. And then for middle school specifically, they've just added tiered interventions for tier 2 and tier three. And so in the fall,
we'll be adding that training as well. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Help me understand again why all the zeros are okay. >> They're not okay. >> Okay. >> I don't want you to think that they're okay. They are not okay. >> Okay. >> Yes.
But we do have a plan to increase them. >> We do. Yeah, we're continually working on it. Yes. Thank you. >> Come back and share with us. >> Yeah, I will. Thank you, Dr. W. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Brownley Page. >> Yeah. Uh, back to Jay. When are the other payments due and will
the other monies still come out of the 26 budget? The remainder of it. >> You're talking about for the devices? >> Yes, >> they're due annually and they come out of the budget annually. So that we um entered that contract and that agreement
last year. So um they're due annually and they come out of the budget annually um to ensure that the students have the devices and we don't default on our um contract. >> Yeah, it looks like the April 15th of
every year is when the payment dates are due and they go through 2029 if I'm reading this correctly. Okay, >> 2029 is our final payment. >> Okay, >> that that helps because >> some of that to me wasn't clear. Just my
opinion, it's nice to have an answer to a question. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Brownley Page. Additional questions on any of those items? DJ or P? >> Ready? >> Sure. >> Move to approve um DJP. >> Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Any additional comments or questions? Hearing none. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yanda Clark. Yes. Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Mil Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks.
>> Pamela Pin Hicks. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. Win. >> Dr. Win. Yes. >> Thank you, board. Um, okay. Next on our agenda, item six, board, these are updates and potential approval. First, we have Sean Miller joining us from C
with Capital Strategies. Um, so would invite Shawn to the podium. Looks like he's bandage free, so he may have survived Topeka the last few weeks. Um, so or has healed up quite nicely. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Stubblefield. Uh, my name is
Sean Miller. I am the principal with Capital Strategies and I am really really glad uh that you guys did a little bit of wonky board work between me and all of the clapping and smiling and picture taking because otherwise I would have been a tremendous
disappointment. I assure you. So, uh going to run back to the beginning here. Um so I appreciate this. This is first time in a couple years I've presented to you in person. I've had to do it unfortunately remote the last few years and I always uh technology is tremendous
as uh Miss Penhicks is noting right now because she's been able to participate without being here but I much prefer to be here in person when I can and so thank you very much for having me in person today. Uh just really quickly because we do have a few new members. I just sort of wanted to tell you who I am, who we are. Uh my name is Sean
Miller. I'm the principal the managing partner at Capital Strategies. We are a bipartisan contract lobbying firm in Topeka, Kansas. Uh we do education work. We do a lot of other work as well. Um but uh just if you ever want to know who we are, you can go out, you can look at
our website. Our firm has been in existence for about 50 years. Kind of hurts me to say now. It was formed the year that I was born. Um and so I'll be having a real big birthday number here in just a month or so. But um I have been with the firm now since 2007 and have been working on education
issues for almost 20 years now. Um I sort of divided up today's presentation into sort of three buckets if you will. Talking about budget and finance, talking about property tax and its impact on schools and then talking about general education issues. And for any of you who listen to the state board today
or go back and listen to it later, uh Dr. Dr. Frank Hartwood did a great job explaining a lot of the bills including some of the ones I won't touch on tonight. There were almost 1,300 bills introduced in the bienium. And so when I was prepping this presentation last week to turn it in, of course, we had not
gone through veto session yet. So we have going to see a lot of awaiting action, awaiting action. I'll give you some updates there. But I sort of tried to pick and choose the ones that I thought were most impactful and you'd want to know if for some reason you want me to dig in the details. I have more paper here than I can probably sort through quickly. Um, but I will do our
best to to sort through them as quickly as we can. And I'm happy to ask any questions. Anything I can't answer today, I'll dig up more information and get it to staff so they can get it back to the board. Uh, the one and only thing that a legislature has to do every year is pass a budget. There's a lot of other
things we want to do maybe that we don't want to do, but the one thing that we have to do every year is pass a budget. And unlike the federal government or a few other states, we cannot deficit spend in Kansas. We can spend more than we take in, but only if we have an ending balance. You go back 10 years
ago, some folks will remember, we were in a really difficult financial situation. We had to make a lot of, frankly, pretty draconian cuts. Uh there was a year in about 2016 where we had roughly $50 in the bank at the end of the fiscal year.
We're sitting around two billion right now. Some of that is the result of one-time funds that came in from CO. Some of it is the result of us creating a rainy day fund that is harder to break into. U but we do have an ending balance right now. But I'll point out that just a couple years ago we were outspending
revenues by about 600 million a year. And so those funds don't last forever. And so you've seen that they've cut funding by about 200 million last year overall. uh they cut by almost 200 million this year by about 186 187 million compared
to last year but we are still outspending revenues by a little bit. Um just kind of give you a couple of quick numbers as we run through this. Our total budget here in the state of Kansas is just under $28 billion. That's what we call all funds. That includes a lot
of grant funds, federal funds, outside funds. Um, our state general fund budget, which is our state property taxes, our state income taxes, our sales taxes, we spend uh just a little under 11 million, sorry, 11 billion a year.
And as we look at the full uh K12 budget this year, the full K12 budget is 11.7 billion all funds and about 6.3 billion SGF. So when you hear the legislature talking about education a lot, it is because
whether you're looking at SGF dollars, that makes up about 57% of the state budget or all funds somewhere around 42%. So as legislators are looking to try to deliver property tax relief or sales tax relief or income tax relief and education has to be funded per our
constitution, it makes it very difficult to move some of those monies around. And that's part of the reason there's always a lot of emphasis on education in the education budget. Um, one of the things that I will point out and I'm really happy to see the legislature and the governor over the last handful of years
have done a fantastic job. Once again, they they have what we would call full constitutional funding within the budget. Okay, that means that the base state aid per pupil that is mandated by the Ganon decision
along with the annual CPI index has been funded for either the fourth or fifth year in a row now. I should know that off the top of my head, but I'm embarrassed to admit I don't. But but it's it's been long enough now that I forget kind of what it was. Um and our Bay State a per pupil this year is
anticipated to be about $5,782. And that's a a far cry from the 4492 that has burned into my brain pre-COVID um which is where we were sitting. The I turned this in again before the governor had acted on the budget. And so I have a little a few little notes here. U the
budget this year included uh authority to spend some reappropriation dollars for a number of individual programs like JAG K mentor teacher professional development spark wheel things like that. Uh I could try to do these as I move along. that was actually vetoed by
the governor and it was overridden by the legislature. And if you look at the veto message of the governor, she said, "I vetoed it because if you really wanted this, you should have included money in the budget to to pay for it and not said go find it somewhere else." The somewhere else in this particular case
was uh because our student population as a state has been sort of slowly decreasing. Last fall's consensus revenue estimate said when we built the budget, we expected there were going to be x number of kids and there's a few less. So there's money that we don't need to spend on the base state aid per
pupil. They used that money to fund these programs for the next year. So bad news, would have loved to have seen an additional line item in there for them to fund it. Good news is the money is going to be there. It's just probably not a sustainable year-over-year funding source. They did add six million in new
dollars to special ed. Um, that is a far cry from the 50 million that Governor Kelly requested and it's a far cry from the, depending on which numbers you look at, perhaps 200 plus million that would take to get us to the state requirement of 92% funding of excess costs. I think
this $6 million actually takes us backwards a little bit, not in total funding, but in percent of excess cost funded, we're going to be around 65%. So, if I'm wrong by 2 or 3% there, please don't harpoon me, but it's going to be around that 65% of excess costs.
And when you ask folks about why, there's a lot of reasons. Uh, part of it is it's just a lot of money. It's not required by the Ganon decision. A lot of folks will point to the feds have an aspirational goal of funding 40% of special ed. They typically fund
somewhere around 12%. So there's several different levels of government here that are probably falling a little short. Although if the the federal government was anywhere near their 40% again aspirational goal, we would be we would be fully funded. Uh there is an additional 2.7 million in for blueprint
for literacy training, 2.5 million in for safe and secure grants, about 3/4 of a million of which can be used for AEDs and CPR training. And then there were a couple of line items in here that I got going to point out. Uh cut scores and new assessments. um KSDE um financial
accountability reports and student walkouts. Two of these three were vetoed. The cut scores and new assessments. Basically, a couple of years ago, the state department of education created these assessments. They changed a few of the assessments
and then they created new cut scores. Um there are in fact tables that help you equate the new cut scores to the old cut scores. So you can see what happens in 26 would have looked like this in 24. the legislature and and we've seen a lot of people um state this believe it's
sort of a dumbing down of the test scores and so they wrote into the budget thou shalt use the old cut scores. >> State Department of Education said please don't do that because if you do it's basically going to invalidate the new tests. We won't be able to understand really how our students are
achieving or not achieving. And so the governor line item vetoed that. She also line item vetoed what I call the stupid walkout provision. That was a floor amendment added on the Senate floor. It is uh in response to sort of a national trend, but also an event in Johnson
County a few months ago where there was a student walk out, a protest over, you know, political issues. That protest moved across the street. It ended up resulting in some violence, uh some injuries to some students. And so a legislator said, "If there is a walk out
and the school doesn't hold people accountable in this particular case, you would mark them absent. Maybe they would have to go to whatever type of disciplinary action you would have. Then that school will be fined >> per day that it happened the uh the
superintendent's salary for the district for the year. So it is not 36 365ths of the superintendent's salary. If there's a one-day walk out, it would be his or her entire salary for the year. And if that walk out were to go for two days or
three days, it would be 2x or 3x of their particular um salary. So the governor line item vetoed those two margins. The senate actually sustained the veto on the cut scores and the assessments. >> So we will be moving forward with the
new cut scores. That makes I think KSD very happy. Although I don't get in the business of speaking for them because I think it will help us understand exactly what our students are doing on these scores, but they did not um sustain the veto on the student walkouts. They
overrode that. So that will be law. So you'll need to have a disciplinary u procedure in place and if you have student walkouts that meet the requirements within the budget proviso, um you're going to need to deal with that or face a a fiscal penalty. Moving
quickly into property tax. This was the issue of the year. Uh it was the issue of the year in part really of the issue of the bienium. We worked on this a lot last year as well, but it was in part um an issue because as legislators or probably even board members go doortodoor campaigning for
office, the number one thing that they hear is, "Man, I really hate property tax. It's high. It's expensive. It's paying for all these things that maybe I don't use or at least I don't think I use. And so I really wish you could get rid of property tax. Uh if you'll allow me a quick 20 second aside, I think the
reason people really hate property tax is because of the way it's paid. If you sent me a bill for my sales tax two weeks before Christmas and told me I owed however many thousand dollars in sales tax, I would really hate it. But I can kind of forget about it when I pay it a dollar here and $2 there throughout
the course of the year. Uh most of those things for most people would add up to far more than their property tax. But um that's not how we do it. And so property tax is pretty loathed within the state of Kansas. So we've been working for years on trying to figure out how to deal with property tax. We've run six or
eight different constitutional amendments on the floor over the last two years and every one of them has failed, including another attempt at about 12:30 at night uh last Friday, technically Saturday morning on the day that we gave down the session for the
year. We failed one earlier that day. We failed one that night on an emergency attempt in the House. And so there will be no constitutional amendment. So all of the things that I have on here about the constitutional amendment, we we don't need to talk about those because while I'm sure there'll be another attempt next year, they will not be on
the ballot this year. 2745. I'm also going to sort of skip through a little bit. Instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about House Bill 2043. The reason I'm going to do that is because 2745 was vetoed by the governor and they did not attempt to override the veto. What they did is they took 2745 back to the
drawing board. Uh they changed some pieces in it to make it more like the version that the House originally passed. They put it in the empty shell of what used to be an insurance bill, I think, House Bill 2043. And that is the bill that passed uh late on Friday. It
is soon to be headed to the governor's desk and then we will see what the governor chooses to do with it. But I said it's more like what the House previously did. And so I will try to explain it a little bit because there's a couple of exclusionary provisions. It applies to all local budgeting entities,
okay? Except school districts. But if you serve on a city, a county, a library board, you name it, it's going to apply to you. Um, basically what it says is if your budget or the portion of your budget that's funded from property tax
revenue increases by more than CPI or 3% whichever of those is lowest year over year, your budget is automatically subject to a protest petition and the notice that I get in the mail can be the protest petition and I can make copies of that and I can hand it out to any
registered voter within the district that I want to. Um, and I can sign the back of that and turn it in and that sort of meets my protest obligations. Okay. If the protest petition is signed by not that one piece of paper, but in total, 10% of the registered voters in
the district that it applies to that voted in the last Kansas Secretary of State's race, that is enough to invalidate your budget for the year and return your budget to the amount that you spent last year.
Now, I believe we're still sorting out the details that you have some wiggle room and maybe not moving exactly back to the budget you had last year. You can move some of those monies around to fund immediate priorities. U but you basically are set back to last year's budgetary number. Now, I mentioned
there's exclusions and the biggest one is it does not apply to school districts. The second uh the others are all things that were in the house version originally. It would not apply to new territory. So, if a city annexed a new portion of a city and they brought in revenue from a piece that was not
previously in their district, they don't have to count that. If there is new construction within your district, you don't have to count that as revenue towards last year's. If you have bond payments, which a lot of schools you probably heard about in the news were really concerned under the old versions. Bond payments, temp notes, things like
that. You didn't have to count those either. So, there are some carveouts to try to make it more flexible. Uh, this did pass. It is headed to the governor's desk. I do not know what she will do with it. Uh I was pretty comfortable if you'd asked me last week to say that I
think she will veto 2745 and she did. That was a pretty low bar. It wasn't like any kind of real oracle uh situation there. But with 2043 particularly in an election year, I'll I'll have to tell you I really don't know what she'll do. Uh cities do not like it. I have heard others depending
on what their flow looks like say we don't love it but we can probably make it to work make it work and so I assume she'll be taking a lot of comments over the next little bit. Um I did put two issues right down here at the bottom really quickly that I want to touch on just because they seem to be coming up more and more and we may see them in future years particularly if
constitutional amendments um are still part of it and they are bills that would exempt senior ret senior owned residences from all school property tax. So the 20 mills that we think and that would be the way these were introduced
anybody 60 years of age and older in a state like Kansas that has a pretty significant aging population >> that could potentially be a lot of money that no longer flows into the state to fund schools. So uh keep that in mind knowing that our entire school funding
formula expires next June 30th at 115959. And you'll see why I hope that I included that on there. I'm going to run through some of these really really quickly and I tried to break them up into uh sort of constituencies within K12 and then I've I noticed over the
weekend that I cut and pasted from one place and I didn't delete them in another place and this is why the younger staff members in my office don't let a Gen Xer use technology very much. So there's not as many on here as I'm going to talk about uh i.e. the next slide is going to be shorter. But uh handful of big bills that were passed
this year that are going to impact us. Obviously the first one is 22.99. That's the cell phone ban. So, we're going to have to develop a district policy to make sure that we can um that we can meet that. And that basically prevents uh cell phones, smartwatches, anything that's going to be able to get that from being on a student's person. It has to
be inaccessible um off the students person for the entirety of the school day. The few exceptions to and from school, obviously, they're not there yet. If you are traveling to go to uh an education related activity that is off-campus,
let's say you're going to KCKCC to take some classes, you can have it back for for traveling for that. Um Senate Bill 244, the CCR on that touches schools. The issue was not about schools, but we will have to look into it and there's still a lot of confusion and how this is going to be implemented. This started
off as a gender marker driver's license bill. So, think a transgendered individual who uh maybe was born a male, has transitioned to female, has female on their driver's license. They wanted to make that illegal. They did make that illegal at the last minute. They also
added a lot of items about restrictions on bathrooms and locker rooms, and this is where schools come into play. So, individuals can no longer go into a locker room or a bathroom unless it meets their gender assignment at birth.
There are carveouts for teachers um student uh excuse me for for coaches and athletic staff. It's a little wiggly and gray around the edges if you ask me about um who else can be in the locker room when that happens if I have a student that's injured and I'm an athletic trainer and I need to go in to
treat them. Do I need to clear the locker room of everyone else first? Probably depends upon the state of nudity and how we define state of nudity. So, um, the legal team probably at every school district in the state and the AG's office is going to have a lot of work to do on that one. Senate
Bill 387 I put on here, uh, because last week I was afraid it might come up again and it did not, but this would have been one that would have required pretty significant verification of income for at risk students. as it came out of the House committee, it would have required you to collect a 1040 um for the family
of every student in your um community that was seeking at risk funding or free or reduced lunch. That bill did not pass. Um that would have been a logistical nightmare quite frankly. Uh CCR 2164 is no longer the CCR on 2164.
And if you'll give me a momentary aside, this is why I will tell you um that I am amazed that Dr. win and Representative Brownley Page are still in such a good mood. And it also explains why I'm losing so much of my hair because this started off as a food dyes bill.
>> So school could no longer purchase foods that had certain dyes in it. Red dye number I don't know them. I'm sorry. 40, yellow dye number seven, sort of things like that. It started off as Senate Bill 390 and Senate A. It went to the House A committee where it got paired with a
pesticides labeling bill. That bill passed the House. The Senate refused to take it up. So it ended up in a conference committee amongst the a committee for the Senate and the House. Those two were paired back together with an agurism bill that came to the floor.
The House failed that bill because it no longer included the pesticides bill. They stripped it out and they wanted pesticides. So that whole thing failed. The Senate and House a committee declared they were not going to meet on it anymore. But there were individuals who wanted the food dyes bill. That food
dies bill now moved to the House and Senate Education Committee where it was paired with a recess bill. >> That conference committee and a physical fitness test. That conference committee report came back to the floor where the House again failed it because they said,
"Senate, you want food dyes. We want pesticides. You don't get what you want unless we get what we want." And they failed it and sent it back to committee again. At that point, the House and the Education Conference Committee had sat down and said, "Okay, we can read the writing on the wall. No food dies." Uh,
but they paired recess with physical fitness. And that is now in House Bill 2763 that is headed to the governor's office. So, um, interesting uh, bedmates. Sometimes we we end up in some interesting places. Things get combined,
things get broken up. And so at the end of the day, we now have recess in House Bill 2763. That requires at least 30 minutes of recess for everybody K through five. And that requires a what we would have known when I was a kid as the presidential physical fitness test.
>> Yes. >> To be conducted once a year by every student, first grade through 12th grade, unless they have some type of health reason that says that they can no longer do that. Um the other bills that we're looking at here, the community eligibility provision that has been
signed into law uh by the governor. It says if you have uh buildings within your school district that are going to meet the community eligibility provision for free or reduced um lunch, you can rely on that. And we actually amended the bill a little further that says you
can rely on data provided by KSTE to determine whether you meet that threshold. you don't have to go out and survey the community building by building to determine that. Um, at the very end, uh, House Bill 2412, which is the communism, socialism, fascism
curriculum. We now have to teach that in schools. And we also have a civics test um, that has been added to that as well. So, that civics test has to be passed as a prerequisite for graduation. It has to be take taken by ninth graders. They
have to pass that but with uh 70% vote or better and that test may only be offered in English. So keep a note that can only be offered in English. If a student fails that test with less than 70% they can continue to
retake it but there is uh you can only have 25% of the questions that were on that student's previous test on the next test. It's basically modeled after the pool of questions used for US citizenship test. It's a 120 question pool. So, if you begin to do the math on
only 25%, eventually you theoretically could run out of questions there if a student fails at a number of time. Um, then I'm going to jump ahead a little bit because I've been talking for a long time. I apologize. Uh, Dr. W knows I can do that sometimes. But, um, the vouchers is one of the things I wanted to talk
about today as well. 2468 was passed. It was vetoed and the House did not attempt to override that. they would have opt that would have opted us into the federal uh low-income scholarship tax credits. It would have also expanded the cap on the state tax credits by 50%.
The House did not take up the override on that. What they did instead is paired a new uh only the federal optin into Senate Bill 361 that was passed. Um it was overridden. The governor's veto was overridden and that will go into law
now. Uh, that's an interesting one because there's been a lot of confusion about what it does or doesn't do and I cannot stand here in good faith and tell you what it does or doesn't do because the US Department of Education has not issued the final rules and regs on it. If you read the fact sheet, it talks
about scholarship granting organizations for K12 public schools, private schools. Um, but 90% as I understand it of the funds used or donated to a scholarship granting organization have to be given out for scholarships. And I'm unaware of
a lot of public schools in Kansas that require scholarships or tuition. And so um I am however of the opinion that uh really smart tax attorneys and really smart lawyers can find a way to work their way into almost any of these programs. And so since the federal
program says public schools are eligible, um I hope that the schools in the state of Kansas, the public schools in the CA state of Kansas get really creative about whether scholarships can be granted for our CTE type courses or technical training or you know advanced placement classes, some of those kinds
of things. So um more to come on that issue, I think uh school activities and safety. Uh, House Bill 2534 is a sort of a drug um, nlloxxone, fentanyl education. It's also requires some active shooters drills. Um, and it
changes the student cohort achievement goals, some of those at the request of KCK because we are part of the at risk um, pilot program. So, this is kind of what we get at the end of session. sometimes just four or five bills of which we might like one and hate three
or four and then we ask our representatives to vote on this and that way no matter which way they vote we can be mad at them, right? We can say why did you vote for these three we don't like and you're like yeah but there's the one we really really like or vice versa. So uh senators and representatives are often in a very
untenable situation as we look at these packages of bills that come late. Um 366 prevents cell phone drive uh cell phone use while in school zones. So if you're texting and driving or calling, don't do it at all, but please don't do it in a school zone or now you'll get a $60
ticket. And then Senate Bill 382 could be an interesting one. Um it actually allows students who are parts of nonacredited private schools to participate in activities for accredited private schools. creates sort of an interesting scenario of maybe I couldn't make grades in one place and so I moved
to a nonacredited and then I still play for an accredited private school. Um I'm still I've been in Kansas for 20 plus years, but in Texas we have totally separate divisions for private schools and publics and this one's still hard for me to wrap my heads around the publics and the privates playing each
other. Um and then I told you earlier I wasn't allowed to use cut and paste. The the other bills that are all there were supposed to be in this place, not the other place. and I've already sort of talked about them. So, um I will talk about a couple of key things that we're looking forward to this year and and we already have a date now, but uh the K12
education funding task force is going to meet all summer. They are required to present their first report on what the new school funding formula should look like next January, January 11th. And the first two meetings of this interim have
now been set for next Monday and Tuesday in Topeka. So April 20th and 21st that committee will meet and then obviously this is an election year. Um so every house member is up for reelection this year should they choose to go back
again. The statewide offices are all up for election this year as are the oddnumbered state board of education members. So 1 137 and nine. Um we're going to have some very interesting races this year. I kind of lose count. Uh, I could probably ask everybody in this room, please raise your hand if
you're running for governor, and 80% would raise their hand. At least that's what it feels like. We have almost double digit Republicans that are running and five or six at least Democrats that are running. So, there's going to be a very crowded field as we head into the August primary this year. So, I'm happy to take any questions that
you have here. Probably have also exceeded my lifetime. So, if you just want me to sit down, I also understand that. But, um, very happy to be here today. really enjoy uh wearing the KCKPS badge in the building and um uh really enjoy working with your team. So, you
guys have got a unique experience and you have two uh elected representatives on your board that can do a really good job of carrying your water um and making your point up there. So, you're very lucky about that. >> Great. I think Thank you, Sean.
>> You're right. You were kind of a downer. >> And I did. I apologize. I forgot one bill. I kind of ran over it. There is one bill that I usually get asked about here and it is sort of the the public assistance bill um particularly as it applies to instate tuition for um
students who have completed K12 education but are not lawful aliens. That bill was passed. It was vetoed. They did not attempt an override of that. So if you have a student or you know a student that's in that position, they will continue to have instate tuition for at least the next year. >> Great. Thank you. you know, we
appreciate you you being here in person and giving us an update and always keeping us informed. So, thank you for the work that you and your team do. Board would open up for any questions or discussion. Dr. Win, Miss Brownley Page, um, anything you would like to add from your perspectives as well or any question? >> I just think you see you in person. >> Thank you. Appreciate.
>> Thank you. >> Any questions? Okay. I don't know that I could pass that test with the 70% and so um, yeah, that's Thanks, Sean. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> All right, we'll continue on with our
agenda. Next up, board, we have Mr. Jud Jud Knap from the UG with us this uh evening. If you recall, he had come to a previous board meeting to give us an update on the um NRA um presentation that he shared with the board at that time uh in November. Um the board uh
approved the NRA rebate program. There are some changes that were made um and so Mr. Uh, NAP is here to give us an update on those proposed changes. Um, answer any questions from the board and then board we would um, we are asking for potential approval of the program
with those changes. >> Good evening. >> Thank you. Uh, I'm Jud Nav, work for economic development for the Unified Government. I'm here to get the NNA program renewed. Uh, like you said, I came here in November. I got approval from this board. Uh I took that approval
to our the UG and they said uh they thought that reducing the incentive by half was too much fawn on the residential side. So it was 95% in the old plan. We reduced it what I proposed
to you was 50% rebate. Uh they commissioners thought a 75% rebate would be better. So, they changed the uh they changed the percentages on me and that's why I'm back here today because they changed the program and I have to get
approval for you for that uh additional rebate. I'm also joined tonight by Greg and Monica from Widec and I believe Monica has some comments for >> Thank you. Good evening, Monica. Good to
see you. Thanks for joining us. >> Thank you. Are you okay with me making some comments? >> Sure. Okay, perfect. Um, I know it was Jud's time, so I didn't want to step on toes over overstepping. So, good evening. My name is Monica Breedy. I'm the vice president of business and workforce solutions for Wot Economic
Development Council. So, thank you for letting me speak today and thank you for um representing the students and families here at Kansas City, Kansas um public schools. So, I'm here to express the support of renewing the neighborhood revitalization act area incentive with the KCK public school district
specifically for small to medium-sized commercial, industrial, and residential investments. This incentive is intentionally modest and disciplined. It applies to projects with construction values that are capped at $10 million. We're not talking about the great big projects that are happening here in W
County. It's a low lowrisk program that helps our smaller to midsize projects be feasible. In many cases, this may be the only may be the only construction or expansion they may do. So, having a program like this that is easy to utilize makes positive impact.
On the commercial industrial side, the proposed NRA provides critical support for the small to midsize businesses that make up much of the school district um of district 500's economic base. For many locallyowned companies, this incentive incentive is the determining factor in whether they choose to expand
here or to not expand at all. Businesses such as Central Solutions, Barton Solvents, CSTK, Owens, Corning, Wholesale Batteries, and Delta Innovative Services have relied on this tool in the past years to reinvest locally and retain and grow jobs. These are the same companies that have hosted
career pathway student tours and contributed to the district in many other meaningful ways in addition to paying the property taxes. So, new investment benefits everyone even during the incentive period. The school district continues to receive increased property taxes plus the full existing
base taxes, revenue that simply would not exist without the project. After 10 years, the district receives 100% of the improved valuation permanently. The real comparison is not full taxes versus reduced t reduced taxes, but reduced t
taxes versus no project at all. So the incentive is tied to whoever is paying the property taxes and the only way to qualify is to make enough investment to raise the property's value by at least 15%. That requirement ensures real measurable reinvestment. These
investments bring new dollars to the community either by rehabilitating deteriorated homes or creating new housing options for families who want to live in the KCK school district. And in both cases, the result is better maintained property that strengthens neighborhood stability. and that's
specifically um to the residential NRA. Some have raised concerns that the reinvestment can lead to raising rising nearby values and I would argue that the outcomes protect homeowners equity, reduces blight and expands the long-term tax base for the school district in
closing and renewing the neighbor NRA program encourages responsible incremental growth without overs subsidizing development or exposing the district to long-term revenue loss. that is balanced balanced tool that strengthens the neighborhoods, supports local employers and ultimately benefits
uh the schools for decades to come. So I thank you for your time and I also don't think that I would pass the test by 70%. >> Thank you. Board would open up for any questions. I know the PowerPoint is attached to the agenda. Any questions from board members?
>> Discussion. If not, is there a motion? >> Well, I have a question. >> Yes, Dr. W. So if one of our constituents interested in applying, where do they come to make application? >> The application is online at the Unifi government website. The appraisers's office runs it. So they just go to the
appraisers's office and they can get it. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Wyn. Additional questions? Not. Is there a motion uh to appro approve the NRA rebate program as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Open for questions
or discussion. Hearing none. Miss Downing. >> Yolanda Brownley Page. >> No. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. No. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr.
>> Robert Milin Jr. No. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. No. >> Dr. Wyn. >> Uh Dr. W. Yes. >> And Pamela Pinhicks.
>> Yes. >> Motion fails. >> Thank you. >> We will move to the next agenda item. It's recommended the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education approve the recommended purchase of the seven
passenger school buses and in the amount of $665,000. >> So move second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions or discussion? >> A question?
>> Yes, Dr. Wyn. Um, moving forward, this is part of a larger purchasing program. Is that correct? >> Yes. Is Mr. Martin or Mr. one of them or
both of them are coming forward? Then they can answer give you more detail. >> Okay. Uh it is my name is Henry Hake. I'm the director for the transportation department. Um so we're looking towards
the future to make sure that we don't have instances where we're going to have 60 buses expire at the same time. So specifically in 2030, we've got 45 buses that expire at the same time. um due to
uh CNG tanks expire before the buses actually expire by Kansas standards. So you have 25 years for a bus and these tanks expire at 20 years. In order to replace all the tanks, it's going to cost half the price of a new bus. So we have to go through and replace
them before we get to there. Otherwise, we won't have enough buses to pick up the kids. >> Okay. So, do you have you given us and I apologize for asking this. Have you given us the
your your long range plan other than um just what you said and the cost of used buses or new buses? Have you presented to us a more of a a for lack of better word a strategic plan?
>> Yes. So, one of the things that you'll see, especially as we're moving into budget planning, you'll actually see where we do have money allocated that we have within the transportation budget that we do have a plan put in place for year after year, >> but you haven't given that to that. You
haven't given that >> but we can get that plan. Can we have it created? We can get that to the board clerk to get that to the board before the end of this week. >> Okay. >> Yes. left here. >> That's what I'm saying. I need to
>> Where am I looking? >> Um under C the second tab. >> Okay. Okay. Thanks. I was on the other one. All right. >> Yes. >> Thank you. I thanks for the help. >> Thank you, Dr. P. Um and you know with the with the
unexpected rise in diesel is it is it wise for us to still look at diesel? >> Yes. Uh so the ones that expire are going to be CNG. Right now we are servicing two different fuel sources. So
the specifically on the CNG fueling system that we have right now the pump is pretty much the compressor is on its last leg. in order to replace that that's going to be I'm sorry. So
>> all right, I'll let you >> diesel the best way to >> So when you come in, so to answer your question that what you asked, should is it wise with the cost of diesel fuel continuing to go up? >> Yes. When you look at commercial vehicles, diesel is still the preferred
engine of choice when it comes to vehicles that we're going to be purchasing going forward. Because even when you look at vehicles that do offer alternative fuel sources, when it comes to propane, CNG, even when it comes to electric vehicles, the cost of those
vehicles are twice the cost of when you compare it to a diesel engine. And then when you look at gasoline engines out there, it's not that many gasoline engines OEMs out there available that are making that large of a vehicle for
us to look at purchasing those type of vehicles for our bus fleet. >> So does that mean ultimately you will phase out all non-diesel? >> Yes, we will phase out all of the compressed natural gas buses.
>> Okay. And because we can only commit to one year, you're just we're just really looking at >> back to the what are we just looking at then? What what are you asking for today? So for the ash for today is for the seven vehicles and then there's a
chance that we may come back to the board because we are applying for a grant through KDHE where they do have a grant opportunity out there available where you can apply for additional five buses where they will pay for up to 75%
of that cost which equals up to $110,000 per bus. So that application does not go in and is not um submitted until miday. We'll be notified of that information sometime in June. But right now at the
current time we have to go ahead and get a bus order in to go ahead and start the process because one when it comes to purchasing a brand new bus it takes 14 to 16 months turnaround before we even had that bus back in our possession. So
when it comes to purchasing the used, that gives us opportunity to get replacement buses right now immediately to have available for the upcoming school year and then anticipation of those new buses hopefully arriving sometime next summer to have those ready
for the start of the 2728 school year. >> Okay. And tell me again what's the total ask tonight? So the total asked for tonight is 665,000. >> Okay. >> Which is for seven buses in total. >> Four new, three used. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> You're welcome. >> Additional questions. >> I have a question. So Mr. Mley, >> so Mr. Miguel, so that the seven the four new and the three >> U's. >> That would give us the quota per student and per cap and all that. What we need that'll get us that'll keep us stable,
be in the stable position. >> Yes. So, one of the things that we're looking at is and was submitted in there, we're we're looking to purchase the used buses as our 71 passengers and new we're looking to purchase >> a strictly just our specialized buses.
So, our buses with integrated seats, >> AC wheelchair accessibility, that's what we're looking to purchase for our new uh when it comes to what's submitted in front of you today. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Other questions?
If not, there's a motion and a second on the floor. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> No. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Milin Jr. Yes.
>> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> No. >> She said no. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. Win. >> Dr. W. now. >> And Mr. Lopez, >> yes,
>> I'm voting no cuz I'd really like to see when we get together Friday. I'm not saying we don't need this, but I want to see the whole budget and begin to look at some things and make sure cuz we're going to have to do some serious cutting
and we do need this. And I would I would have loved for him to add it. The time it takes to get the buses and all that. This is good. We need them. But I still want to see the budget and to make sure, you know, if we're going to include
this, then we got to look at what else are we going to cut cuz they're going to have to be some cuts. We keep adding like we just run into a money tree. >> Thank you, Miss Brownley Paige. Um motion carried. Thank you.
>> Next on our agenda board item D. It's recommended the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education approve the recommended low bid for the turf replacement at Washington High School in the amount of $572,110. >> So moved. >> Moved. Is there a second?
>> A second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions on this item? Seeing and hearing none, Miss Downing >> on the Brownley page. >> Again, we need it
and I just want to make sure that we have the funds to do everything else and we look at the whole budget. I'm saying no for now. I know we're going to get it, but just to make sure we're covering everything. >> Yanda Clark. >> Yanda Clark. Yes.
>> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. Robert Milin Jr. >> Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. W. >> And I'm sorry, before I vote, is this
already in the budget? >> All of these items again are in the 2526 budget. >> Okay. >> Although they will be for future or next year. It's in the current budget. >> It's in the current budget now. Okay. Which we've already approved. of which
you've already approved and the monies are >> last year. >> Last year. Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. Mr. Lopez, hearing that. I didn't know it was already in again. I'll say yes. >> Okay.
Motion carries. Thank you, board. Next item, board is item E. Um, this is a refresh um for the Apple MacBooks um with a couple of tweaks. Um and I will hand it to Dr. Stubblefield to share a bit of background. >> So just as some context as you all are
talking about savings and figuring out where we can do things differently or have things to look differently. This recommendation in which we are adjusting it just based off of some feedback that we received from um staff and
principles. Um this recommendation is to purchase um the Apple Neos. A couple of things to note. The NEOS didn't come out until March. And so that's why you're seeing it on this board agenda. Um
instead of saying all um staff and students, we're recommending for the students devices in grade 3 through 12 because K through two would still have MacBooks that we have the authority to purchase the um student devices
and um enter into that agreement. that will yield a savings of um it's less than $2 million because we're separating staff to on board staff and to get some feedback. Um so we'll delay that if it's a year out or if that's not the
direction we go, you still can garner um over a million dollars or so and a one-time savings. And then ongoing in the budget um the technology budget it would be I'm guesstimating around like 200 to $300,000.
We can have the exact numbers. Um once we get the adjusted quote from Apple, um what that then would do because you know we just talked about the device payments, the savings comes because we will uh sell those devices back and that's
what we would get from the um vendor that would be buying that. And then our students would have the Neos which include Apple Care. Um so if they break or those kind of things it replaces um up to two devices. So our recommendation
is we move forward and you can say what you need to say for the official recommendation is to move forward with this order for student devices g grade 3 through 12 so that we would have time to order them and swap out um their current
devices but it would yield a savings. >> So on the agenda thank you Dr. Shfield on the agenda. Um the recommended motion is um to move forward with the financing of the NEOS for all students grade 3 through 12 and for all staff. Um the
adjusted recommendation is on this proposed motion if it is the will of the board is to move forward with financing of the Apple MacBook Neos as Dr. Stubblefield just said for students uh grades 3 through 12 um but not for staff. So, we'll work with TIS to figure
out a plan for we're in the schedule um where we would do a refresh with staff as well. Um so, we would figure out just because of the changes a different plan for the staff um devices and to cause less interruption for staff um and
administrators. But the proposed recommendation is to move forward with the NEO for grade for students only grades 3 through 12. But what's the what's the total amount? >> So, because of the number um we would
have to get the exact number from um Apple, but you would have to work backwards um subtracting about 4,000 devices and we don't actually we don't have the exact number, but it would be um we can get you the number, but we it's
you know the turnaround time. So would if we were to table this until Friday, would that be a hardship? You would give you time to get the exact numbers and with the with the adjustment you have
really probably a stronger argument. >> I can definitely work with Apple to get that quote. Um I think it should come in around 13 million in and change be north of 13 million is a >> it it is and so I can work with Apple to get that quote.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. And we can table it until Friday and then just update the recommendations for student the student devices. >> Since Friday since Friday's a special meeting, you'll have to resubmit notice if you're going to add that to as an agenda item for Friday
>> since it is deals with budget as well. It does deal with budget, but I think you'll have to amend the notice. You got time, right? >> So, you need a formal table amendment. >> Yes. >> I make the motion to table this item. Um, you can call it E if you want to
know exactly until date certain Friday. >> Right. That's what I'm saying. >> And then to take action. >> It's been moved. Thank you, Dr. Win. It's been moved. Seconded by Miss Brownley Page would open for questions or discussion.
>> Will any of this money come from the 2526 budget? >> I'm just asking for clarity because I made the wrong assumption and you've helped me out a lot today. >> Yes. >> Clarity. So would some of that come from 2526?
>> The paying for all of these items are in the 2526 budget that are on the agenda. the savings once the turnaround and that you would have in the 26 27 budget like to get the money back and that sort of
thing. >> Thank you. Additional questions or discussion >> so that I'm on the same page since these have already been budgeted and Dr. W I'm I'm asking to understand why are we tableabling it then? >> So when we vote we are voting for a
correct number and not >> just for the correct number. Okay. Okay. I just want to make sure I'm on the same page with you. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Additional questions? Thank you. Hearing none, the motion is to table this item for Friday's um special board meeting.
Um with knowing that we've got to notice the renotice the meeting properly. Thank you, Miss Downing. Um >> excaration, the correct numbers will we will have Friday. So when we vote, >> that's the the ask of staff. It looks like Dr. Conrad is work going to work
with Apple. >> So if we not if we if the numbers are not this is not the true numbers. So we waiting to Friday because it's going to be the corrected numbers Friday. Thank you. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay, Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page.
>> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. Randy Lopez. >> Randy. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Joyce Lyn Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. Yes.
>> Thank you, board. >> Okay. Um, Miss Downing, let us know if you need anything for being able to renotice that meeting for Friday and to adjust the agenda. Okay. Next on board on the agenda is item F. It's recommended the Kansas
City, Kansas Board of Education approved the proposed GMP guaranteed maximum price amendment one to the AIA- A133 prime construction contract with Newkerk Novak Construction Partners for
the site development portion of the new Argentine Middle School and New Elementary School projects in the amount of 5,862,868. was so moved. >> Moved. Is there a second? Moved and seconded. Thank you. Discussion or
questions. >> Seeing and hearing none. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Yes. Wanda Brownley Page. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pen Hicks.
>> Pamela Pen Hicks. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Joyce Winster Eaggan. Yes. >> Thank you, board. Next item, board. It's recommended the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education approve the quote from McConnell and Associates in the amount of $937,000
for the complete replacement of the running track and curbs at the FL Schlaggel High School practice field. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. questions or discussion on this item. >> What's the estimated life of these upgrades?
>> Estimated life of these upgrades. I see Mr. Clemens coming to the podium. >> Good evening, Doug. >> Good evening. >> Thanks for inviting me. >> Good to see everybody. Uh the estimated
life for this is for the track down here. >> So, uh to be real honest with you, uh I don't know. I want to say we're talking 10 15 years. We'll have to maintain that rubberized surface that gets put on top. Uh but it'll it'll last a good long time. It's it's in a very poor state of
repair right now. >> Right. And when was the last time we replaced it? >> Oh, not since I've been here, which has been 12 years. And so, yeah. >> Miss Brownley Page. >> And how do the other fields look? I
mean, do we wrote do we have a list and we do this one and >> Well, this is specifically for the track >> uh >> down here and the other tracks look good. Uh I might actually Sam other tracks look good. So, this is for this track and like I said, it's a it's a
safety issue. We've get lots of complaints. Uh but all the other tracks we've have redone those except for Sumar. Uh but the other track >> the reason I asked that would correct me cuz I asked that when we had the virtual
meeting was it Eisenhower that had called >> Oh well Eisenhower yeah >> Arrowhead I believe was >> or Arrowhead I knew it was one of them. Are we looking at them to make sure that after so long you check them out and make sure
everything is up to date? >> Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Now, but you asked about Eisenhower. >> Well, I wasn't sure and forgive me. I couldn't remember. I know it's a middle school that I asked about and I thought they said it was Eisenhower, but I guess
it's Arrowhead that's having the problem. >> There's there's a field to the north side of Arrowhead that we we really need get people off of so we can let that field recover a little bit. Uh that's that's a little like a practice field on the north side. I just I just want to
make sure we remember that the Eisenhower track we don't own that. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And it was the field at Arrowhead that um and Doug thanks for for that. So yes, it was >> so they are going to check into the field. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Other questions on this item hearing none. Miss Downing >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Milin Jr. Yes.
>> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> She said yes. >> Thank you. Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. And >> thank you board. Motion carries. Uh next item. Board is item H. It's recommended that the Kansas City, Kansas Board of
Education approve the replacement of four air hand air handler units at North Central Office building A in the amount of $1,659,845 by Vasquez Commercial Contracting. >> So moved. >> I second.
>> Moved and seconded. Thank you. Any questions or discussion on this item? >> How often do they replace those? >> Doug, you went too far. question is, how often are these replaced? >> He doesn't hear you.
>> And don't say when they burn out. >> I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. >> And don't say when they burn out. >> Oh, well, no. And these we've got a we these have lasted a long time. These are original to the building. So that's circa 1974.
Well, well past expected life span. >> What's the life expectancy? >> Life expectancy on a unit like this would be 15 to 20 years. >> Okay. >> So, we went beyond that. >> Well beyond that.
>> So, will we check it better? >> Will we do a better job >> at making sure every 15 to 20 years we check the system? Well, I would say since it lasted 5, do my math for me, 54 years that we we we check it regularly.
Yeah. And maintain as best we can. They've just reached a point where it would not be prudent to attend continue to put maintenance dollars into it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Additional questions on this item hearing. None. Miss Downey.
>> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. Randy Lopez, yes. >> Robert Milin, Jr. >> Robert Milan, Jr., yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Hamela Penhicks, yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan.
>> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> Yes. >> Thank you, board. Motion carries. All right, board. We are um we'll take a brief recess after the new business items before the report. These uh items on agenda item seven are for information
purposes only. There's no expected or um requested action of the board tonight. They are here for your information to review. If there are questions um we can um take those up tonight and ask um questions, but if you would like more time to review these, please submit your
questions to Dr. Stubblefield and we will make sure that more information is shared with you or with the entire board. Um and these may or may not come back at uh the next or a future board meeting for a requested action. But for tonight, they are here strictly for information purposes. So is there are
there any questions? and we'll just go down the line on item 7 A or item 7B or item 7 C or item 7D.
>> Mr. Lopez, I got one question. Again, >> these will all fall under the 2526 year for clarity. So, these items are new business. If they come back at the next meeting within this um
calendar year, it will if it's something that's going out for bid and it comes back in the after June 30th, it will be >> on the next one. >> The next >> Okay. >> Thank you for that question. Additional questions or any other questions? Again,
board, uh if you do have questions on any of these items, please submit those to Dr. stubblefield um and we'll share any questions received with the entire board. Okay, hearing none. Um board um I know we've been going for a couple hours before we hear a report. Um we'll take a
quick 8 minute recess um just to stretch your legs um and we will reconvene at 7:09. Thank you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat.
Hey, hey, hey. Come on. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat.
Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. convene. Thank you for >> Thank you for allowing us a quick recess. So, we'll go ahead and get started again. Um
board next agenda item is item eight, board report. We will hear our third quarter update from our sped team. So um board this is again um our quarterly updates from our sped
department. Um you do have the PowerPoint in front of you or on the agenda. Um but tonight I see we have Miss Nelson. Good evening Miss Nelson. Thank you for joining us. She will be giving our uh third quarter sped update and then we will open up for questions. Good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you so much board
president Lopez to Vice President Wanda Brownley Page to our board members to our superintendent and to our community and our staff. I'm pleased to provide our third quarter special education update aligned with our 2025 through 28
action plan. This work reflects continued progress in strengthening systems, supporting our staff, and improving outcomes for students across KCKPS. As you can see, you've seen this one many times before. Our work continues to
be guided by our kids first mission and our vision of empowering all students with exceptionalities to reach their full potential in school and community. These priorities shape our decision-making and our focus on continuous improvement. Our priorities remain aligned to our
district goals, KISSA expectations, and the board's northstar priorities. This alignment helps us ensure that our work um supports the broader district initiatives and student outcomes. We're also proud to have participation in the
strategic planning with our teachers, leaders, and staff who are serving on action teams or have served in other capacities related to that planning process. Here we go. our continued focus on improving the sped experience for students, families,
and staff. This includes strengthening systems, building our relationships, and supporting staff so we can continue to get better every day. As you can see, we're focused here this quarter on the leadership team conducting site visits as we have in the
past. Um, I won't read all the numbers to you for brevity tonight. I know that you all can see them posted, but we were able to visit elementary, middle, high school, and alternative settings. These visits helped us to listen, learn, and better support schools. We also continued regular communication with
district leaders to ensure alignment, consistency, and timely support. Here you'll notice this quarter we continued opportunities for staff and family engagement through newsletters, advisory groups, roundts, and huddles.
These efforts support collaboration, strengthen our communication, and help guide continuous improvement. We also continued efforts to recruit, retain, and support highquality staff. This quarter, we especially are proud to recognize, as we had earlier at the
board meeting, our staff contributions to the district. These recognitions reflect the dedication of individuals and teams who go above and beyond in support of students, families, and one another. We'd also like to highlight Miss Lillian Ensley, who was recognized
as one of the top 50 Gold Book users nationally in in the United States and she is from Douglas Elementary School and one of our specialized uh classroom teachers. So, the specific learning classroom. Additionally, KCKPS continues to be
recognized along with that Goldbook honor for being one of the leading districts in in implementation and use. These accomplishments reflect the daily work of our educators, support staff, families, and community partners who often wear multiple hats to support
student success. We are grateful for their continued commitment to our students. This quarter we also highlight our professional learning which was focused on strengthening instructional practices, student supports and compliance. We continue to prioritize
practical learning opportunities for stu support staff in meeting student needs and improving outcomes. We also continue development of our special education instructional hub which you've seen before which provides accessible resources for staff and
students. Additionally, we were proud to showcase the special education instructional hub at a state conference attended by special education leaders from across the state of Kansas. The session was well attended and highlighted the collaborative work happening in KCKPS to support our
students and our staffs. Our commitment continues and remains focused on continuous improvement, collaboration, and support staff and students across KCKPS. We appreciate the work that's happening in our schools, departments, with our families, and
community partners who contribute to our students success. Thank you again for everyone with their continued support. And I'm happy to answer any questions that you may all may have. >> Thank you, Miss Nelson. Um would open up the floor for any questions on the
update. >> I do. Yes, Miss Brownley Page. Um, so I do have a couple of quick questions. Um, and I did ask these ahead of time. Um, thank you for the responses just for clarity on some of uh, the responses. So,
>> um, I'm curious if you can speak to a little bit. We saw in June of 2024 K through 12 staffing, right? we had 13 in-person sped teachers and nine
virtual. Um, two years later in April of 2026, those numbers have flipped and now we have we only have um three agency in-person teachers down from 13 and 14 virtual case managers up from nine in
2024. Can you speak to maybe some of the changes or what what what may like why why are we there? Um and I know we're using virtual to help supplement and thing, but that's quite a shift from a couple of years ago to now.
>> I'm just going to grab my computer so I make sure I have the numbers in front of me. >> Absolutely. And then I have Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. So, you were mentioning the 2024 comparison to the 2025
>> 26. Yeah. The numbers I have. >> Okay. So we had an increase in our agency virtual case managers by two from the 24 from 25 to 26 and then you were mentioning from 24 we had nine. So we
did increase those numbers. is due to either staff um expansion, either student numbers increased and so students that have moved either from middle school to high school level or elementary. Um if there is a teacher vacancy there, we do use our ESS subs as
long-term subs or we also have combination of our pair professionals who may be providing some of that sub support in the interim when we do not have our ESS subs that are contracted through our HR department. Um, we're able to use the virtual case managers to
ensure that there is continuous support and compliance being met by having someone who is a licensed teacher provide that consultation as well as meet with parents and family analyze the data that is being collected under their direction in those classrooms. And so those numbers vary just depending on
what student case loads look like, what vacancies across the district look like. Um, and we add them as needed if we are not able to find uh staff. And so HR also provides us with access to staff. We go to the fairs, they know which uh vacancies we do have available. We hope
that we always are able to fill them, but if we are not or if a teacher is on a leave and we need to have a gap closed, we also will extend that. >> Yeah. And I I totally understand we have there's a shortage of especially sped um providers, teachers, and so
supplementing with those virtual is helpful. Um it it just caught my eye that we had gone that we flipped over the last um year and a half in those numbers. >> And thank you for that question. I would like to add um good evening board. I would like to add some additional context when you look at the 2024 data
versus the current data. One thing that you want to take into consideration is that we have increased our numbers of special education students which therefore our case loads have grown. For this particular school year, um we went through a process with our
collaborations with the roundt and we were intentional about reducing the in-person case loads to make sure the elementary that K5 that we shared in the response to your board questions were were between that threshold no more than
18 and our secondary were no more than the 22. And by ensuring that our in-person teachers maintain low case loads, we did have to increase the number of virtual case managers to be able to make sure that they can maintain
that amount because our kids are still coming in and qualifying for special education. So increasing student numbers, also decreasing in the case loads for our in-person staff is what contributes to the varying difference over the past three years.
>> Thank you for that. And a quick followup on just the you mentioned the case load. So um and I I think it's great that we're looking to have a manageable case load for in-person teachers. So um K through 5 has 10 to 18 students typically um for in person, 6 through
12, 14 to 22 students typically in their case load. I am a little concerned though with the virtual case load being 60 to 74 per virtual case uh case load. Is that typical in terms of the case
load for virtual? Do we h because we we have um we want to make sure we're providing the services needed for each of those kiddos. Um is that typical for a case load for a virtual or we make how do we make sure that none are falling through the cracks um in in that space
or how how do we have inperson followup or do we? >> So the numbers vary. vets are max that we want any of our virtual case managers to have. But you have to keep in mind that virtual case managers, they don't have to do bus duty. Um they don't have to monitor in the hallways. They're
focus and their work is completely virtual. So they're working with that data consistently and in documents and files and making those contacts with parents and analyzing data. So the demands on their time is very different from that of general teachers that would be in person. Um so we try not to get
that high but we have found over time with having the virtual uh case managers which we've sort of pioneered here um by necessity that is a manageable case load for them with a full-time work schedule just like our classroom teachers would have. >> Okay, thank you. And then just one last
question, Miss Friendly Page. Um just regarding some of the data and I just want to make sure um that we're tracking. Um we will get a full report on compliance and data and um how our students are doing, how our sped students are doing. That comes every June. I know we got one last June and
typically June is when uh we'll get that fourth quarter report with all that data. Correct. um are any lessons um or any trends that you you're seeing thus far with some of our um indicators that we've been tracking over the last few
years um that would be helpful for us to know now because June's couple months away but anything that would be helpful for us to note now >> so the information that we present in June which we have for the last few years is also lag data as it relates to our indicator reports so it's not the
immediate year but it is the year prior that we have access or even um data that is appearancing from the year prior to that. Um so right now we haven't seen any specific trends except for um some improvements across um some areas. It's a little hard to predict because it's
based on either survey data that we get back from the state. But in some of the particulars that end up being part of what we call our maintenance, not maintenance of effort, it's the u yeah my brain with all of the different acronyms of sped are swimming around my head. uh the levels of determination. Um
all of those indicator reports um help us to make sure that we are meeting that level of determination. Um so I'm trying to think honestly I don't have the reports in front of me to be able to talk specifically to those trends. Um but we could provide you with some updates on that at the end of the week
if you would like to have more detail. >> I also want to bring your attention since you are um asking in advance. the state is changing their com compliance monitoring process. Um so what we have been doing and what the state has been
doing for several years because if as you recall when we present in June we showed several years of data. Um and so that will be changing next year and so we have not received the preliminary level of determination as we would
normally by this time. Um, but the state is making a change in that. So once we are able to hear from the state, if they're going to present that information as they have done in the past, we will be able to update you with more information. But all of SPE
compliance will be changing for the next school year starting July 1. >> Thank you, Dr. Lori. Thank you, Miss Nelson. Miss Brownley Page >> how knowing that we don't have enough teachers how is the state the parents
have expectation and rightfully so and we're trying to meet those expectation but we don't have enough people going into education. So, how do you how does the state help you maintain and help the
kids because you want a person not a virtual and I get what but I was just wondering how did they do it? Do they help you explain and try to figure out how do we make this work? So, so the state has made some um good
movements in the past with being able to allow more room for that alternative pathway to lensure which has been a gamecher. Um here in KCKPS we do have sort of our grow our own kind of initiative with those alternative pathways. Um one exciting piece that
we've been able to partner with Fort Hayes that initially just provided us with a high incidence lensure uh based on the state making listening to all of us across the state. Um having a wish list of what would be awesome to have would be an alternative pathway to
lenture for our low incidence classes. So those are for those students who have our more significant needs or and are in what we call center-based or self-contained kinds of classrooms um and have higher needs, more complex needs. And so now we are able to offer that as an option which is super
exciting because before we only were focused on our high incidents which we started to see some movement and growth in that area but we were completely missing a really um important population that although the incidence of that disability or that category and that
setting is much smaller these are our children that have the greatest needs and are most impacted by their disabilities. So um we do have a cohort I'll say a small cohort um but a lot of people whose hearts were leaning that direction towards low incidents now have an opportunity through our district
through the work that has happened at the state level trickled down and met in the middle. So, our partner at Fort Hayes and some others have offered some options, many of which are at low cost um to students if they are choosing to be outside the realm of what we offer in terms of the special education
reimbursement for that programming or if they are part of our sort of grow our own waiver process, they're able to do that, metriculate um successfully through and we pay for that through special education funds. So, it's an exciting way for us to be able to um grow talent within our own district and
also look at peer professional. They they one other thing that they did that was really significant was they uh reduced the requirement before in order for you to be a classified person with a bachelor's degree um to be able to go into that lensure program. You had to have one year as a pair professional in
the district. But what they found over time was you had committed adults who had worked in many different kinds of settings. Maybe they had been in a school, a different kind of school, private school. Maybe they'd worked in other capacities or worked with students. They now have reduced that requirement and eliminated it so that
it's not a barrier for someone who does have a bachelor's degree to come to our school. We interview them. We give them scenarios. We review all of their application and check with their references to see if we feel like they would be a good fit uh for our district and for our students and to be able to
make that investment confidently in them. So that was a huge gamecher at the state level. Um so they are listening. Sometimes it takes a while for the shift to happen but um I think because of the crisis that we are in in education uh generally not just special education but
across the board um there are some concessions that have been made that have not um made the quality of what students are able to receive um go down. So, and I would say too with the virtual, those virtual case managers are just case managing unless um there's a
specific case where we might have to have them work with a a a child for an instructional purpose either for data collection or to meet compliance. The majority of them are just working with the adults and pro providing direction. >> So, yeah, thank you.
>> Additional questions. Two quick follow-up questions. Um, thank you. Um, one is around um, if I if so I on the website we have and thank you for sharing the information about how you communicate and communicate in multiple languages and making sure that families
and parents know what's happening. If I were to have missed the April 9th meeting, do you all where do you all submit updates on some of the work that happened or outcomes from some of those meetings? Is KU still involved in some of those sped um advisory meetings as
well? Um and are we still tracking some of the recommendations that came from that report? >> So the sped advisory group meeting that was held on April 9th, that was a a group that was formed before the KU um
the KU study had happened. And so that group is membership. And so that information can be shared if if we if you're asking that from the board, we can put those outcomes that we put in your board question um response, we can
put that on our website. Um that won't be a a situation for us. So if you want us to do that, we can do that. But those outcomes that we shared with you in the um answering your board questions, that is the outcomes from the work we have done. And we had um one board uh member
who participates in that which is Miss uh board member Miss Yolanda Clark. Um and then we have members um that are some parents, some staff that are participants as well. Um so that is completely separate from the other roundt type of work that we have been
doing in collaboration with KU which has been ongoing. >> Yeah. And that's still ongoing right that KU collaboration. Okay. >> That is ongoing. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, if there are no other questions, thank you Dr. Lori and Miss Nelson for the information.
>> All right. Thank you so much, board. >> Okay, board. Next agenda item, agenda nine, uh, board policy. We have a policy here for third read, Mr. Gohane. >> U, this is the, uh, policy that was submitted, um, uh, dealing with
confidentiality of records in the, uh, library, public library. uh it has been up for first and second read is now on for third read. We've had no comments or suggested changes to the policies. So we would ask that it be adopted uh on third read and made part
of the the board's policies. >> Thank you, Mr. Gohane. Is there a motion to approve the KCKPL confidentiality of records policy for a third read? >> Moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions or
discussion? Hearing none. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brley Page. >> Wanda Brley Page. Yes. >> Wanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Milin Jr. Yes.
>> Pamela Pinhicks. >> Pamela Pinhicks. >> Pamela. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> Dr. W. >> Dr. W. Yes. >> Thank you. Board motion passes. Um next board uh we will hear from our
superintendent of schools Dr. Stubblefield. >> Okay. Good evening everyone. Um I have a few announcements um just regarding a couple of things that are happening. You may have noticed when you entered district office today or central office today um we had um KCK was selected to
be the host of one of the many parade of hearts. It's inspirationist. >> Uh this launched in 2021. The parade of hearts set out to unite Kansas City through art. Central office uh was selected to display one of 100 plus
handcraft heart sculptures. The heart on displays features Miss Frizles and says the message, you are inspired someone before. You have inspired someone before and you don't even know it. This piece is a powerful reminder of the impact of
our educators and staff um have on our students and our community every every single day. Um so we appreciate them selecting us um and um love the um cheerful heart that's right outside. Um also want to take a moment to recognize
um Mark Twain. Um the Kansas City Royals and Chick-fil-A celebrated first and second grade classes for reading close to 6,000 books. It is part of the Royals readound basis program and Mark Twain was the best in the greater Kansas City area. Students were treated to goodies
and a visit uh from the Royals mascot Slugger. Um they also um won a day at the K and so they'll be participating in that um coming up. So congratulations um to our students and staff at Mark Twain for this awesome recognition. If you go
to Mark Twain, they have like soccer balls that link to represent it. And it's a really um amazing visual to see because it uh shows all of the reading that the students have been doing. Um
I um recently I received uh an award for a resilient leader. Um, I'm sharing that not to say that I got to award, but what came with that from the ERID uh group and we sent out information to staff. Um, this provides an opportunity and is
open to all K12 educators to receive a free master's degree um from American University. The link you submit the application, one person will be selected um and we will announce it at a May 12th meeting. our staff and myself does not
select it. Those who are providing the scholarships review it selected. So I please encourage anyone you know who may have been considered um that's a K12 educator in our district um um a master's the application closes at 9:00
a.m. on Monday May 4th and we'll continue to send reminder reminders for that. Um this is also a reminder that our um we encourage encourage uh our board and those um who were invited um
to come join with us for our annual power of community series celebrating u possibilities. Um the next one will take place on Tuesday, April 28th uh two 2026 from 11:30 to 1 pm here at central office. Um this um power of community
does feature black leadership and black leaders. We do have one scheduled in May that's focused on um Asian-American and Native um Americans as well. So this um we'll have three of them this year, but the next one that's coming up is Tuesday, April 28th. If you have
questions um you can reach out to Lauren Hernandez um and she can provide additional information. Um last Wednesday um our um our HR team and in collaboration with others brought the mobile manag
mammogram bus here to district office from diagnostic imaging centers. Um and we had staff to participate and that's a part of those things that that team does that helps us to be a part of the healthiest um um employers in the area.
And finally, we Oh, it's not finally, it's a lot here. One, I we want to thank the members from Alphafi Alpha fraternity for partnering with our diploma plus team to help coordinate a trip for 10 of our students to visit several historically black colleges um across four states. Um we had students
from We dot Sumar, JC Harmon, and Washington um who got the opportunity to experience that. it was close to 80 students who actually attended and for the last two to three years we've been able to uh provide that experience for
um about 10 of our students each year and I think that is it. So thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Stubblefield. Um >> oh I'm sorry it is one more. You have in front of you a book that's called Born
Equal that um was um a gift today. Um our students from WTO High School, JC Harmon, FL Slgo recently participated in the Gene Bullum legal career education program at central office. This during this experience they engaged with Mayor
they engaged with Mayor Crystal Watson, legal professionals and civic leaders to explore careers in law and government. Through this opportunity, students gain real world exposure, strengthen critical thinking and communication skills, and deepen their understanding of civic
responsibility and community impact. This experience directly supports the law and government pathway by connecting classroom learning to real world applications and preparing for preparing students for college and career. So, you have a copy of the book and you also
have a copy of the constitution and the uh students also got all of those things. um just to remind them of and they had another book um around uh that uh is centered around First Amendment and what it really means. So
>> you have a gift from that organization that partner with um our students um today. >> Thank you. Can we mail some of these to DC? Sorry. Um all right. Thank you, Dr. Stubblefield. Um so a couple of uh just
updates from me. First off, uh on behalf of the board, I do want to extend our deepest condolences to Miss Strick Strickland Eaggan and your family and also to Reverend Milin and your family for uh recent losses. And so we are praying for you and hold you dearly in
our hearts. And so um praying for you and your your entire family. So um just wanted to extend on behalf of the board um and our district and team. Um several of us had the opportunity to attend this last weekend the National
School Board Association conference uh in San Antonio. It's a great conference, great learning, uh great time to build relationships with the board members um that were present. Um so we will uh board um for the new board members um you should receive Miss Downing if you
can help me share um the report. board members have 30 days after we attend a conference to put together a brief summary of our learnings, things that we may want to bring back to the school district to potentially try or ideas or just lessons learned. Um, and then we
will discuss those at an upcoming retreat as a school board. So, Miss Downing, if you could share that. Um, it's a link. It's a pretty easy Google link that we can Google form that you can use. Um but if if board members who attended if you could um make sure you receive that and and fill that out that
would be um great. Um so thank you to all the board members who attended um great conference, great learning and great time together. So um and then I also just want to share I believe um this should be on everyone's calendar as well. The foundation has their spring
scholarship reception on April 29th and I just want to make sure that that's on folks calendars. It's from 9 to 10:30 I believe. KCKPS Foundation. It's their annual spring spring scholarship reception. So board members hope um that should be on your calendar and hope to see many of you there. Excited to be a
part of that and to see all of our scholars. Um thank you to the foundation for the work that you do to uplift our students and scholars. Um and with that I will open the floor to um the rest of the board. >> Okay. There are no good.
>> Okay. >> Well, I'm not I'll I'll say I I also um enjoyed the conference especially uh for my first time. They did have a session for firsttime attendees. So, it did talk a lot about um board policy and ready
set govern roles and responsibilities, how to run an effective meeting and engaging families through advocacy. And then um we have some famous speakers too. Deborah Norville, who's somebody I've watched on TV, and she talked about respect and the power of perspective.
And then Brandon Fleming, who talked about cultural e equaling performance and how hearts move limbs and words move minds. So that was very exciting and also just to spend some time with our board members learning together. And
then um also between our last meeting and this meeting I attended the community health fair that was students health services and streamline care coordination. So I just wanted to give a thank you to La Jasmia Bates and her team for coordinating a wellorganized
informative event. >> Thank you Miss Strickland Eaggan. Um two other things that quickly I I I forgot to mention. One, are you faster than a fifth grader? Hopefully Dr. Stubblefield is ready for that. I believe board members, you should have uh received an invitation for that. I just want to make
sure it's on your calendars um for um May 1st. It's a Friday, so hopefully that's on your calendar board. And then um also um unity in the community um on Saturday, May 9th um that uh that day. Please hold that date and you should receive information on that um for and
that will happen at Harmon and the and yes, thank you. Um so that's always a great celebration. I think over 50 vendors, um staff, lots of giveaways, food, resources for our families. Um and uh there's a a parent session as well.
Board, there is a board listening session that day. Um and there will be times we'll make sure that we have the times for for the board members um for you to be there and attend and listen if you're available. Um and we it's an opportunity for parents to come and give you give us feedback and tell us um you
know what opportunities and what challenges they might be facing and and things that we should know. So that is on the May 9th. So hopefully that's on your calendar as well. Um and then we mentioned the budget meeting this Friday that is virtual. So hopefully that's on your radar as well.
>> Okay, I think I'm done. Any other board members? >> I just want to say thank you for allowing us, Mr. president for sharing uh the NESB uh what Miss uh Eaggan was saying is very uh uh en enjoyable, very beneficial to learn, embrace and the
involvement of the community and the public and us it takes all of us. So we it gives us opportunity later on to share uh what we gathered from that to help us as we proceed forward in this next upcoming year. So thank you for the opportunity.
>> Thank you Mr. Milin. >> Mr. Lopez. >> Yes. M. >> On the first, I attended the mayor's prayer breakfast. Yes. >> With some other board members and our superintendent and that was excellent. It was inspiring. I think we need that in this day and age. I also attended the
boundary committee meeting and again that was good. We're still a work in progress. Also attended the health fair with Mrs. Bates and got to see our board member uh Strickland Singh. She
>> She's a work in progress. She did a good job. She did a good job. Oops. They had a good time and it was good to share with them. And the more people we can get involved, I think the better our schools will be. And if for those who
would like to attend the academic committee, we'll be meeting this Thursday at 4:30. And we have a good group and a good group of parents who want to do whatever they can to help our schools become better. And we all have
to get in there and work together. We're not where we should be, but we're on the right road and we just got to keep working at it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Brownley Paige. Okay, if there are no other updates, thank you, board. I know you all are always busy and out and about. Um, so
keep on keep on being out there. Thank you. Um, next would entertain a motion to recess the executive session to discuss teacher negotiations pursuant to the exception for employer employee negotiations under the Kansas Open Meetings Act for 10 minutes going in at 7:50 to include Dr. Stubblefield, Mr.
Gohane, Dr. Pagram, Mr. Hansford. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions hearing? None. Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yanda Clark. >> Yanda Clark. Yes. Randy Lopez. Randy, yes.
>> Robert Milin Jr. >> Robert Milin Jr. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. >> Pin Hicks. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr. Win. >> Thank you. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Ah, heat. Heat. Heat. Ah, heat. Heat. Heat. I got
him. Yeah, heat. Come on. Come on. I'm Hey, hey, hey. Come on. Come on. Come on.
Huh? Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Hi, Miss Downing. Can you hear me? >> Yes, I can. >> Great. Thank you. Motion to return to open session, please. Awesome. Okay. >> All right. Moved and seconded by Miss
Brownley Page. >> Miss Downing. >> I'm sorry. Who was the first? And who's >> you the first? >> Yep. >> Okay. Wanda Brownley Page. >> Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Clark. Yes.
>> Randy Lopez. >> Randy. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. >> Junior. Yes. >> Pamela Pin Hicks. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> And Dr.
>> W. >> Thank you. Uh motion to recess to executive session for consult. Is this attorney client or personnel? Personnel. Right. Okay. >> I'm sorry. Motion to recess to executive session to discuss matters of non-elected personnel in order to
protect the privacy interests of parties involved under the Kansas Open Meetings Act for 10 minutes to include Dr. Stubblefield, Mr. Gohane, Mr. Hansford. Is there a motion to do so? Uh, going in, I'm sorry, at 8:06. >> So, move
>> moved by Miss Brownley Page. Seconded by Mr. Milin, Miss Downing. >> Wanda Brownley Page. >> Wanda Brownley Page. Yes. >> Yolanda Clark. >> Clark. Yes. >> Randy Lopez. >> Randy Lopez. Yes. >> Robert Milin Jr. Robert J. Yes.
>> Pamela Pin Hicks. Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland. Yes. >> And Dr. Win. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Yeah. Heat. Come
on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat.
Come on. Come on. Yeah, heat. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on.
Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on. Heat. Heat. Come on. Come on.
Yeah. Heat. Come on. Come on. Hey, I'm Nat. What is all of this? Oh, I know what this is. >> Leave it that way.
>> All right. Uh, we're good over there. Thank you. Uh, motion to return to open session, please. >> So moved. >> I second. >> Moved and seconded. questions. Miss Downing. See who's here. Um, Yolanda Clark. >> Yolanda Clark. Yes.
>> Randy Lopez. >> Randy. Yes. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. >> Joyce Strickland Eaggan. Yes. >> Pamela Pinhicks. >> Pamela Penh. Yes. >> Okay. Uh, board, thank you for uh the meeting tonight. Staff, thank you. Um,
with that, this meeting is adjourned. Have a great night. >> Thank you. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey.