--------- Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Shelby County Board of Education April 21st, 2026 special called meeting. Mr. Jenkins, please call the roll. Board member McKissack. Here. Board member Garcia. Here. Board member Porter.
Board member Murphy. >> Here. Board member Love. Here. Board member Otey. Board Vice Chair Coleman. Present. Board Chair McKinney. Here. You have eight in the room. Thank you. Have a quorum. Announcement of the
meeting and the purpose. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss [music] and take action on approval of a resolution of the Shelby County Board of Education instructing the general counsel to retain outside counsel for representation regarding state takeover legislation. Only items on this agenda
will be discussed and no other business will be discussed or acted upon. Would everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance? Please remain standing for a moment of silence. Thank you. You may be seated. We are now at the point where we have public comment.
In accordance with state statute, the board shall reserve a period for public comment during business and special called meetings. Only those members of the public who submit public comment cards to the board chairman prior to the commencement of this meeting shall be permitted to address the board. [music] Public comments will proceed in the
order in which public comment cards are received. A sign-up sheet for public comment is available 30 minutes prior to each applicable meeting and will be closed at the start of the meeting. This sign-up is located at the entryway table just past the security checkpoint. Speakers
must state their name and the city where they reside if any and the subject of their comment before they are permitted to proceed. Speakers may offer objective comments about school operations and programs that concern them. Speakers are asked to address the board and not
individual board members given we make decisions as a body and to refrain from using names of personnel or names of persons connected with the school system particularly when lodging a complaint. Speakers will not be permitted to engage in gossip, make defamatory comments, or
use abusive or vulgar language. The chairman shall have the authority to terminate the remarks of any individual who is disruptive or does not adhere to board rules regarding public comment. We have one speaker.
We will give that speaker 2 minutes. I have um I'll call your name and please come up. Commissioner Erica Sugarman. Thank you so much, chair, superintendent, and colleagues. [music] Um I just want to say real quickly, I am
an educator in the classroom. I'm still in the classroom for 27 years. I've taught over 8,000 students. And let me be clear, I do not support a state takeover of Memphis Shelby County Schools. And the reason is simple. We have already tried this in Memphis and
it did not work. Tennessee's Achievement School District took over schools with a promise of improvement, but research from Vanderbilt University showed those schools performed no better than any others. While our own district-led
efforts like the iZone actually produced gains. So if this were truly about the children, we would be investing in what works, not repeating what failed. Second, let's talk about priorities. MSCS is a $1.9 billion public system and
a takeover shifts control away from local voters and into the hands of the state. At the same time, the state is expanding voucher programs over $7,000 per student sending public dollars to private schools. If the focus were truly
on children, we would be fully funding our public schools first, not redirecting resources elsewhere. And it doesn't stop there. If this were about children, we would see stronger support for families, things like food access,
mental health resources, and stability. Instead, we see decisions that leave working families struggling while resources are pulled away from the very communities that need them most. It's about the have and the have-nots. Let's
call it what it is. This is not about improving education. This is about control. Control over decisions, control over resources, control over a system that should belong to the people. Our children need stability, investment, and proven strategies, not experiments.
I truly support that we fight the state >> [music] >> as a Shelby County Commissioner as well as a teacher in the classroom. Thank you. Thank you. We will move on to the request for action. Again, this is the approval of the resolution of the Shelby County
Board of Education instructing the general counsel to take to retain outside counsel for representation regarding state takeover legislation. I will read it into the record before I make the recommended station. Whereas the Shelby County Board of
Education is the duly elected governing body of Memphis Shelby County Schools mandated under TCA section 49-2-203 to manage and control all public schools within its jurisdiction and whereas the Tennessee General Assembly adopted a
conference committee report >> [music] >> for SB 714 HB 662 establishing a statutory framework for a state imposed oversight [music] board for the Memphis Shelby County Schools granting the appointed board unprecedented authority
over the district's budget, personnel, and property for mandatory 4-year period. And whereas the board believes that the oversight framework directly conflicts with established constitutional provisions and statutory requirements. And whereas the board
finds that SB 714 HB 662 infringes upon its constitutional protections and statutory rights of the Shelby County Board of Education and the district it governs. Be it therefore resolved that the Shelby County Board of
Education directs the general counsel to immediately retain and engage outside legal counsel to properly challenge the constitutionality, legality of SB 714, HB 662, including but not limited to
focusing on the legal vulnerabilities identified in the state's policy analysis. Be it finally resolved that the general counsel shall report to the board on the progress of such initiated legal action sponsored by Natalie J. McKinney, District 2.
It is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approve the resolution of the Shelby County Board of Education instructing the general counsel to retain outside counsel for representation regarding state takeover legislation. Do I have a motion? Board member Murphy.
I move that we approve the resolution. Do I have a second? Second. I don't know how to do that one. It has been moved and uh properly unanimously seconded and that um we adopt and approve the
resolution. Do I have any discussion? Seeing no lights, Mr. Jenkins, please Oh, I have one light. Board member Love. The ASD came in Frayser uh 10 plus years ago.
And we are still trying to undo the unjust harm of the ASD. There were local leaders supervising the ASD. Let's be clear.
And I heard that um yesterday on the call the ASD in Tennessee public charter schools failed um is failing the kids. Um we have a lot of work to do.
But we are up for the task. And this law is racist. We are the largest public school system, the blackest public school system in the state of
Tennessee. Nowhere in the legislation does it say to increase academic success. They are targeting our buildings and our money. And
this board isn't going to let them do it without a fight. I am all on board for signing the resolution and add my name to it. Thank you. I have Board member Murphy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Um with the state takeover, I just wanted to add to it that this is unconstitutional. This is discrimination. And it takes away from our students' learning. Not only that, it controls the board and
our abilities to control our district. Uh this is not about our children at all as Board member Commissioner Love said. This is about money and power. And we have to call a spade a spade. And it's time that we fight back. And all of my colleagues are on board with
fighting back. So, I would like to sign the resolution to fight back. Thank you. Thank you. Board member Hewitt Garcia. What we're facing potentially happening is an erosion of democracy.
Um it is dismantling um destabilizing public education. And about a year ago I sat up here um pretty passionately and said uh that I had knowledge of a bill
that while uh Nashville wouldn't use it as a excuse, but an opportunity uh to come in and do what they they have publicly said that they wanted to do for a very long time. Um
this is more than one decision. We are past disagreement of decisions because I stand with my colleagues here. We all bear the weight the weight of the decisions we make and I want the the Nashville legislature to look at themselves right now and say
"Am I doing the right thing?" Because we have 110,000 kids, 13,000 employees who are going to bear the consequences of their decisions tomorrow. And we're ready to fight. Because this is about defending public
education. Please add my name. Thank you. All right, I see no other lights. Roll call vote. Please. Madam Chair. I'm sorry. I just turn up. Thank you. Hold on that. Board member McKissic. I
just wanted to make sure that my name is formally added to this resolution. Okay. Board member Coleman. Thank you. I would love to have my name added to the resolution. Thank you. Seeing no other lights. I hope you add my name to the resolution
resolution as well. Thank you. For real, seeing no other lights. >> [laughter] >> Thank you, Board members. Uh this is this is the work. This is how we do it together and we're going to do this well together.
We'll make this happen. Thank you. We're going to protect the district and we're going to protect our students. Thank you. They deserve it. Absolutely. Roll call vote, please. Board member McKissic. Aye. Board member Garcia. Aye. Board member Porter. Aye.
Board member Murphy. Aye. Board member Love. Aye. Board member Oteh. Aye. Board Vice Chair Coleman. Aye. Board Chair McKinney. Yes. You have eight in the affirmative. Thank you. It has been moved, seconded, and approved.
The resolution passes. If there is no further discussion or no other business, this meeting is adjourned. I never said it. I never said it. I did. Part: 2
And do you have spare parents and grandparents and foster parents and uh I would also like to know um when you said
uh group activity response um strengthening uh number two what do the parents want to do? Go in the schools more or have better access to the teachers
or welcoming environment when they go to the school? So um more more than anything welcoming environment. Just making sure that the environment uh is welcoming to where the families feel like they do belong. Um but I can get the additional I can
get the information um the specifics uh for you. Um did they give any feedback where they were not welcome? The atmosphere? No, not >> not any specifics. No, not any
specifics. Um this has been a topic uh many years since I've been on the board. We used to do um uh hey neighbor
um I can't remember it. But district staff would go out and um interview the staff members that was at the office and they would get a prize
for >> What's the welcoming the welcoming walk-throughs? >> Yeah, yeah. Do we still do that? Not that I know of. Um what was the cost of us stopping it? Uh I'm not sure.
Uh but I can definitely look into it. Um Superintendent Rod Richmond, would you be interested in bringing that back when you do the data and um Uh great great question, board member
Love. Um yes, I would be interested in it. Uh as early as yesterday, I had an interesting conversation. I hope she's listening. If not, I hope someone tells her. But I met with Ms. Collins
uh from the Hickory Hill community and she and I had a really uh great conversation about what we could do uh to improve schools [music] to make uh our schools more welcoming uh and engaging. >> [music]
>> I think board member Porter asked her to uh reach out to me. She scheduled some time. Uh she and I met for over hour and a half uh and talked about ways to do that. Uh I would be more than happy to do it because one of the things I want to do is to [music]
invite people from the community uh into our schools. I want parents and community at large to know that they are welcome uh and that their voices uh are heard and encouraged uh as uh Dr. Stevenson knows uh I want to really
launch us having a site-based decision-making council in all of our schools where parents truly have voice uh and input as it relates to how we govern uh our schools because we know we need our parents and communities to be
engaged so that we don't have to do or feel like we have to do this work alone and in isolation. So, I would be more than happy to do it. Uh while you've also asked me to speak, I want to thank Dr. Stevenson and her team for Saturday. Uh anyone who had an opportunity to
attend our parents summit uh we had hundreds of parents and students and staff out engaging in meaningful uh dialogue and work on behalf of our students and our schools. So, I want to thank her for that. And I do want to tell you that I'm open uh to anything
that improves uh our service uh to the community and gives parents in our community more voice. Thank you. Let me um Chair McKinnon. Thank you. Um that was a excellent event and that
caused me to think about something. Um how are we There were a lot of resources that were available. So, how how are we ensuring that that is something that is made available um in a way that parents can access it very easily. They don't
have to come to a summit, but they can go on to the website um and they can click on those partners and get the information that they need and access to the resources. And so, Chair, I I wish and Superintendent, I wish I can take
all the credit it truly was uh a team effort by all of our departments coming together. And so, I think that's a great idea where uh we could have maybe a landing page where [music] uh families could go on and get those resources. Uh we do have uh something
smaller um on the FACE website [music] um but we can, you know, look into expanding and increasing it and I know [music] that um during the times that um Stacy Davis, I don't know if she's she's not here just yet, but >> [music] >> um I do know that she has uh events
where she has those some of those similar um external supports uh at her meetings when she meet with those families [music] that may have issues with attendance. So, but yeah, we can definitely look in and increasing and making sure we get that information on the website and maybe even next year uh
look into host maybe mini um resource centers throughout um our regional uh offices. >> Yeah, I appreciate that because information is key and access to that information I think that we just can do a better job to ensure that we are letting our our families and
and students know where to get these resources cuz we have a lot of partners. Yeah, and and right in line with that on yesterday uh Mr. Langston, Ms. Stewart and I, we had the opportunity to do a walk-through over at Treadwell with Mayor Harris uh
and some other dignitaries [music] and we showed them our parent uh resource room and they were truly amazed at all that we do for parents when it comes to providing uh our food pantries and
allowing uh having clothes clothes as well [music] as food and opportunities for parents to be able to wash clothes, all of the wrap-around supports that we provide as a school district. When um Mayor Harris and the other dignitaries
saw it, they were just amazed at all the things that we're doing to support our parents. So, >> [music] >> I agree, we do need to have a landing page so parents uh will know how easily to tap into the resources if not at schools uh at the central office uh
level. Um Vice Chair Coleman. Thank you. Um Director Stevenson, if a parent wants to become involved, what do they do to become a uh parent ambassador? Is there a process or
Number one, you you you got to be ready to uh advocate for our school district and love our school district. That's number one. Um we also opened it up this year. If you are a charter parent, we don't turn around charter parents as well. If they want to be a part of it, they can as
well. Um they have to have uh a student within Memphis Shelby County Schools. Um yeah, and that's it. So, they apply through their school or So, we actually put out uh we start recruiting at the in the middle of July.
And so, we do put that information out using our communications team. And so, from there, we keep the applications open >> [music] >> um for uh at least two weeks and from there um we select those parent ambassadors. It would be nice if we had one from
every school. That was why I was asking that question. I agree. Thank you. >> You're welcome. I also attended the parent summit uh this weekend and how many children do we get uh
registered there? I'm not sure, but we can probably [music] get that number to you. I know registration they were non-stop registering students. So, And the final question
what is the prescription for unruly parents? Um I know when my kids were in school, I asked a lot of questions and probably got on plenty of people's nerves.
And what do you do for them? Are they excluded or taken under your wing or a uh employee's wing and explain the process to [music] them? So, I can't speak for um a principal and what goes
on in their schools, but what I do recommend and and when I do speak to some of the principals, sometimes those parents are just uh reaching out for attention. And so, my recommendation is to have them to volunteer within the schools. Come and and and you know,
maybe work in the offices or a general office uh volunteer. Um hall monitor. >> [music] >> We always need cafeteria monitors. And so, uh my recommendation is always, you know, just give them something to do. Give them something to do. And often times, you know, that kind of calms them
down cuz they just they just want to be often times they just want to be seen and heard and feel and felt as if they are welcome. Um, any more questions? I have one last question. I saw here parent ambassador solutions and they number two was offering small group
mental health support. Was that for parents [music] or was that what they were talking about they wanted for their children? >> children. Did they explore possibly one of the connections with having a potentially disruptive parent that that might be
something we can pull them into as well? >> That as well as we discussed that, you know, currently we do have the seven mindsets initiative that is happening within our schools. [music] So, we did explain that, you know, we do have that resource in our schools and
that support for our students now. >> I just wanted to just us to think not today, tomorrow, but just think expansively about families having access to small groups mental health supports. I'm done. Thank you. If there aren't any more questions,
[music] this committee meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Chair Love, we're going to move into policy governance and legislative committee. That is myself and Chair Love.
Calling this meeting to order. First item up is 2.01, a resolution of the Shelby County Board of Education authorizing amendments to this policy manual aligning with recommendations of CliftonLarsonAllen.
Chair Love. You're sponsoring this one. Would you like Um, Mr. Jenkins, read the resolution. Whereas the Shelby County Board of Education Board is a legislative body that plays a crucial role in the
governance and management of Memphis Shelby County Schools, hereafter referred to as the district, [music] and whereas CliftonLarsonAllen LLP CLA reviewed the district's policy manual and found the existing framework to be fundamentally solid, and whereas to
further strengthen these policies and enhance institutional accountability, CLA recommended shifting the primary responsibility from the general office of the superintendent to the specific functional departments tasked with day-to-day execution and including the
last review date directly on each policy document. Be it therefore resolved that the board authorizes the general counsel, the designee, to make the following administrative revisions to the policy manual without further board action. Assign the primary responsibility for each policy within
the manual to the relevant senior leader where applicable. Update the formatting of all policy documents to include a clearly visible last review date. Be it further resolved that the board additionally authorizes the general counsel, designee, to make
editorial non-substantive corrections to policies, misspellings, punctuation marks, grammar corrections, formatting, hyperlinks, and contact information. On this day, April 21st, 2026, sponsored by Stephanie
Love, District 3. Um, I will now turn it over to the superintendent and Maria Stewart to explain it. I have one question from board member Hewitt Garcia before you start.
Yes. Thank you. I am glad that we are um, taking the recommendations to get things remediated in line with the recommendations of CLA. My question is around the primary responsibility from the general office of the superintendent to specific functional departments. Is
that typical across school boards? Is this a or a if we looked at other Tennessee school boards, is this also how they designate decisions in their policy? >> I'll I'll allow
Miss Green or Miss Stewart to weigh in and then I'll come back and give my final thoughts. Miss Green. Good evening, um, superintendent, board members. Um, just in general, um, it is done differently in different school districts. Some school districts uh,
designate the individual department, some designate persons. [music] Um, our district in the past has done it both ways, uh, where we designate the superintendent's office in general. Uh, sometimes it's a little bit difficult because you have changes in persons,
[music] changes in departments, and changes in organizational structure. Um, but based on the recommendations of CLA, we're prepared to move forward with moving it to the functional uh, department to make it easier uh, as well as streamlining it for
accountability. So, uh, excellent question, board member Garcia. Uh, the team and I did have uh, some conversation about this uh, earlier. Uh, and what we did was we somewhat landed on a compromise where we'll always going
to be a shared responsibility as relates to policy and the superintendent and how we framed it was uh, senior leader. Uh, and when we say senior leader, we're really looking at two uh, houses. Uh, your business
operation uh, side of the house as well as your academic side of the house. And the reason we say the two separate houses is because you could have a deputy superintendent in the organization that could be the deputy superintendent of uh, academics and or
operations or you could have a chief structure like we have where you have a chief academic officer and a chief of business operations and or you could have an an academic uh, setup where you have an assistant
superintendent of business operation and an assistant superintendent of uh, academics. And so, what we just said is just uh, senior leader. And those senior leaders would be responsible for uh, their side of the house and ensuring the
people on their side of the house are familiar with policy and the policies are uh, updated uh, as as need be. It certainly makes sense from a I mean, the bottleneck of decisions, right? Uh, of things needing to move quickly from
an internal controls or policy perspective. I guess uh, we should take the recommendation. I guess what's on my mind is that the board manages the superintendent and [music] it feels like it is removing the powers of uh, the board to potentially enforce
some policies. So, I'd want us to make sure that if there are uh, primary responsibilities that should stay with the superintendent that we we keep those uh, and be thoughtful about where some of the recommendations are coming from and that they are rooted in best practices across the state. And
and and also know that we have not had an opportunity to respond to some of these recommendations. So, that's just some of my caution right now. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Board member McKissic.
Uh, thank you. You saw the question on my face. Um, so I just want to make sure I'm clear on this. So, these policies now when you say that it the department heads will take responsibility for those. And I see that the general counsel is
responsible for making edits as they come up, misspellings, and things of that that nature. But as far as the substantive nature of it, it rests with the department heads, but not the general counsel or the superintendent. So, you can't Can you provide clarity for me?
I'll I'll defer to general counsel, but again, when we spoke of it earlier, uh, I did lift that I didn't want [music] it to be for a department head, which is why uh, I'm offering the compromise,
which would still be the superintendent, and we framed it as the senior leader, but it would essentially be the leader of that division. And so, you have departments and you have divisions. There's a division of business
operations that's overseen by a chief of business operations. That means within that division, you have facilities, you have maintenance, you have contracts, you have procurement. On the academic side, you have a division. Underneath
that division, you have departments. And so, what I'm saying is the senior leader of that division will oversee that versus the department head. And would the superintendent then have ultimate sign off on that?
>> Okay. And and we went back and forth with should it be the superintendent and his designee and or the superintendent and a senior leader. So, we went back and forth and and again, this is great conversation, but I'll defer to uh
General Counsel Bailey, so he can also add additional context. Sure. Thank you, Superintendent Richmond, and thank you, Board Member McKissic. So, the the spirit of the resolution really is to be able to authorize the policy uh office to begin going through all of our
policies and assessing where they the responsibility for each policy might need to be assigned to a more specified individual than just the Superintendent or the General Counsel. So, we wouldn't have to bring them back policy by policy as we went through this. So, if you look at it, says if applicable. That's not to say that every policy will be
reassigned. It's um uh relevant uh senior leader where applicable. So, this just allows the policy office to start going through to make sure if there is a more specified individual or department to execute the policies, right? To make sure that
day-to-day operationally they're being executed, that it that person is actually specified in the responsible party section of the policy. Just so, we're not bringing it back policy by policy, one at a time. Thank you for that clarity, and I do understand that. Just want to make sure that
senior senior utmost senior leadership grand poobah senior leadership um lies with Superintendent and/or General Counsel and ultimately the board. So, >> And there will be several that will remain the the Superintendent will be the responsible party, the General Counsel will be the responsible party, but there
are some with again, that are more um specialized areas or day-to-day operations stuff that it'll it'll be a responsible party that's responsible for making sure that the day-to-day execution is okay. Thank you. Any more questions?
Let the record state [music] Tawana um Board Member Tawana Murphy is present and accounted for. Any more questions? No. I I don't see any more. Yeah. All right. We'll move on to item 2.02,
which is a Council of the Great City Schools Workshop Rescheduling. Board members, if you recall, our initial um training was January, and then we had ice snow megeddon, and we had to leave early, and
we then tried to reschedule for April this month, but that became a little um unwieldy. And so, now um had a meeting with a planning meeting with Council for Great City Schools team, and they are suggesting
um the first 2 weeks in June. One of those, and so I wanted to um let you all know that, and again, it would be uh 2 days. And wanted to I know that some people it's it's the beginning of the summer.
Uh so, while students are not I know some of us have children, and while they're not in school, they are doing stuff, and I recognize that, and also um people may be traveling. So, we will be polling um and so, if anybody had any thoughts
whether you want to do that a Friday Saturday or do it in the middle of the week, let me just let me know. I've I've heard I've heard both. So, um anybody uh I I see um Board Member Amber Amber Huey-Garcia.
I've just taken into consideration that first week of June many summer camps have not started and not done but uh I'd say a weekday. Also, if it is will it be a public meeting? Yes, there >> Okay. I I I think it is a little more
accessible on a weekday for the public to to join or observe if they'd like. >> All right. So, weekday and um I'll go ahead and and poll for the second week in June. All right.
All right. Then that was quick and done. Next item is um 2.03 NSBA Conference Report. Chair Love. Um I presented this item to Natalie and
myself. Um um we are going on a whole lot of conferences. And the public deserves to know uh what we learn and how we will use it
in our day-to-day operations. So, I'll go first. Um Tawana went and Chair um Board Member Tawana Murphy went and um Chair Natalie McKinney went.
Um two minutes left. I learned that in my second workshop the Superintendent and the um associations the
uh the associations they did a joint release statement about the group um collaboration of the teachers and their salaries and
their benefits. So, that it would not be adversary to one person or another. And I presented that to the Superintendent last week. Um they have a great relationship
now that it is unison. Um before then, the cu um the association was sending out a press release. And then the Superintendent was. And they desired the plan to send it out
collectively. Uh the principal uh the Superintendent and the president association signed it. And that brought the teachers and the principals together. That's what I learned.
Thank you. Do you want to go ahead? All right. Um So, I went to several workshops, but the ones that I have been going to on a regular basis are the student voice workshops when we go there. And um I'm particularly
interested in that bringing those issues back on how other districts have incorporated student voice into the work that they do, particularly around setting goals, um even to the point of having very robust um processes for appointing student board members, which
is something that I'm excited about that um I'm looking forward to seeing in this policy. So, there was um um thinking about how do we how do they how do we look at this from and make sure that it is created to make an authentic
make it authentic, equitable, and sustainable. What I really really enjoyed is that it was a Minnetonka School District, and they had one of the students, and they took in one of the students who's part of that um process and also part of the student
advisory committee, talked about how they co-created the process to even get to the um being a student board member. So, um that I I I I I enjoyed, and I think it's something that we need to think about how are we going to create
our process to ensure that we have a fair and equitable process for ensuring that our student, if we determine that we're going to have a student board member, we have we do that in a um democratic way. An equitable way. They also looked at it in a different way. Instead of having actual school
board members, they had a school advisory committee that met with at um the school board uh before every meeting. So, that they could give their input around what was on the agenda, and they did sort of like board work sessions first, and then they [music] would they
would come, and the board members would be able to incorporate some of that that information that they received. So, I really I really think that we have an opportunity here um to do something very creative, co-created by the students, and um that
will definitely infuse in an equitable and sustainable way student voice as we move through this work. Um and the other one was I just want to say this is um it was about um student the
relationship between school board and the Superintendent. Um believe it or not, there are other districts who had some pretty rocky relationships with their Superintendent. There was one that left um the one that I won't name the school board, but they um had a a school
board um a Superintendent leave, and then they had a um $25 million audit that that So, I don't know what happened to that Superintendent. Uh so, um but at any rate, they ended up doing the same kind of work, governance, using
the same governance training model, student outcome focused. Um and so, I I think where I want to say to the board members, I think we are moving down the right path with the work that we're doing and with our governance training being student outcome focused. So, I just want to say thank you, and
that we are moving in the right direction. Board Member Tawana. Thank you. Um One I took several classes, but one of the classes that stood out to me was breaking down barriers to mental health support and access. And
taking that class, I I realized that some of uh the districts have small clinics inside the schools and they have um authorization forms that they're the students can fill out when they have mental health issues that the parents
can fill out and send the children to the mental health clinic inside of the school that gives them give them the ability to assess the child, give the child the medication that they need and also have the parents sign off on them if they need medication at that time.
They also have section groups where the the kids that's dealing with mental issues can meet once a month and they get to talk about their issues and they get to hash them out and whatever they're going through at that point then they get to help them with it and guide them through
their issues. Even the ones that have trouble child and trouble children in their classrooms. They have the ability to assess them or take them out of the classroom and give them something else to do. But it is in all of their schools in their district
so they have small clinics inside the schools to help children with disabilities and children with mental health. So that was one of the classes that I took and I suggest that we do that too. We don't have it yet. We have it in some areas of our district but because this is a large district then we
can't break it down the way some of the small districts have and I think that this will be a good addition to us to have that in all of our schools when we're dealing with children with mental health issues. So that is one of the ones that I did focus more on was that one and the
second one was policies. Abiding by policies, rules and regulations. Sometime we decide that we don't want to follow the policies at times that we have to go by the policies because we can't violate policies. Even if it means that we have to have a
disagreement about a policy, we still have to come back to that policy, look at the policy, analyze the policy and then move forward. So I am suggesting that all of us as board members and we do follow policy for the most part of it but I think that following a policy more
it will benefit us and so that's lot of stuff I did take out of the class. Um thank you for that. We are now going on to board member credit. Thank you.
We are at 2.04 board professional development board association discussion. Board members, I believe you all received the email with this spreadsheet and you also have the spreadsheet. Um I asked the board office to put this
together because we need to understand what the associations are out there for us to do this kind of work we just talked about to get our professional development. And so you have several organizations that are out there that are available for us
to to get governance training. TSBA CASB NSBA CUBE Council of the Great City Schools and then I think for the first time we did NABS C which I appreciate board member McKissic for bringing that
to our attention. We don't have I'm not going to take the time to go through all of this. I what I wanted to do is to give it in front of everyone and make sure that you had an opportunity to look at this because part of what this is is it's you see the conference dates but you also see the
cost of the conferences. There's a membership and then there's non-membership. And I think someone is going to have to help educate me and I think board member McKissic but the difference between I know there was something that happened that we pulled away. Could you explain that to all of
us so that we can be clear cuz I'm going to tell you right now I'm not clear. Sure, no problem Chair McKissic. So um as Chair McKissic mentioned this is required and mandatory by the state of Tennessee that we have maintained certain
um hours and credits of of getting our certification as board members. The one that uh we have consistently been a member of in the past up until the last three four years ago was CUBE, the Council of Urban Boards of Education. I
recommend that we do become official members again. Um They are a part of the umbrella of NSBA, the National School Board Association and so when there were some transition and when CASB was created at one point NSBA said um
because we were under a different national organization that that would preclude us from participating in CUBE. They have since changed and amended their policies to invite us back to be a member of CUBE. The reason why CUBE is important, it is the only organization
in the education space for board members that's specifically targeting large urban school district. There is no organization that does it to the degree and level of concentration that CUBE does. So that's what that matters because other organizations like CASB um
you know, it's it's a great organization but they focus on not only you know, more so suburban and rural and generally smaller school districts. We're one of the largest urban school districts in the country and there are unique needs that they tailor to for board members
and the issues that we have to address. I have a quick follow-up question cuz it's it's coming next. When we look at the boardsmanship program and what they what TSBA will count towards those, [music] they don't allow us to use CUBE or NSBA
just CASB. So is there a way that you know, you you know, somebody we do we know somebody on the board that can help us with >> [laughter] >> with that? Uh Chair, it's definitely something that I can look into with TSBA leadership on how because we are unique in that space
for the state of Tennessee. That's why we need to be a part of CUBE because TSBA we are the largest and the majority of the state is very rural and small district. Thank you. >> [music] >> Were there Michelle, you forgot to mention we won two awards in CUBE.
That's right. We actually won two awards and we need to get back on that that track but for the Council of Urban Boards of Education as National School Board of the Year and that last happened I think in 2021 I believe. So the pandemic they actually
didn't have it for a little bit of that so but yes. Award-winning board for lots of things and I think it's interesting just to point out that really in other outside of Memphis in other states highly regarded in lots of respects what
Memphis Shelby County Schools is doing and they model after what this district is doing. And so for example and I'll move on just the digital divide that this school district accomplished getting laptops in the hands of every single student. We
beat the city of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools. They did not do what we accomplished as a school district when the pandemic was raging and it normally takes many years to you know, decrease the digital divide and we did it in a matter of one summer where amazing staff literally you know,
just gathered devices from all across the country. So there's a lot of great and good that's happening. Greatness is growing here at MSCS. Thank you. Board member Hewitt Garcia. Thank you. I think for me I would want to know beyond conferences are there
other benefits associated that are offsetting costs that we would otherwise have to put in our budget. So for me I don't see it explicitly besides you know, the I know in the fall conference for TSBA for example that you know, we decide on our legislative agenda that's really
important. But I also value you know, the memos we get when you know, house bills are moving or there's new guidance and I and I think for that that fee and their conference fees are I think are exceptionally reasonable. Um and I think there's that community. I
think the NSBA given this conversation um and looking at the dates, you know, we face a lot of weather in January and there's also several there are three other sort of advocacy conferences and then the spring conference is very close to CASB that maybe we consider
not budgeting for that this year and and focusing on our um that time into the the governance training through the Council of Great City Schools because we are part-time here. So I want to make sure that um that we are all
that we all have the opportunity to learn together um and that just make some decisions up front so we can set a budget around it. But I'd of based on this conversation I think that would be um something I'd support and those are very
high conference fees. You're talking about another $10,000 plus travel so um but if we have other major benefits that are not described here that would be beneficial for me. Okay. Thanks. Noted. I will ask that we
get a benefits of membership membership benefits column here. Um and it may be a lot so maybe what we'll do is put the link for board members to explore what the membership benefits are. I would also be fine with
mentioning benefits we have utilized as well. Or expensive benefits that or benefits that would be expensive to procure as non-members. Okay. Keep it high level. All right. Um that will that will have to do a little more
and get this and get that done. So I want to say thank you to the board office for putting this together again and thank you board members for taking time to to think about this. But please look at it. You have it in the email. Take a look at it as we're doing
our budget and exploring our budget. This it will be um, helpful to um, look at this with a um, an eye towards what will best suit us um, in this time of of our governance training and growth,
recognizing that we will be we will have um, at least two new board members on on the board as well. Um, and so how do we ensure that we are remaining um, in our governance mode and we're keeping the training going and and I'm growing,
[music] professionally growing all of us as we do this work. So, um, board members, we're going through the budget now. I think you'll see at some point, I think you're going to see our budget, the board's budget. So, you'll take a
look at that and then you can when you take a look at that, you can keep this in mind um, and what um, I believe board member Hewitt Garcia was saying in terms of what what makes sense for us to do um, as a board. Are there any other questions?
All right, I will move on to the next item, which is 2.05, which is um, real quick, board membership program. Board members, we do a whole lot. Um, and there is no reason why we should
not uh, be recognized for all the good hard work that we are doing and have done over the past year. So, I am I believe we have to have this turned in, your credits turned in by August. Is that right? I believe it's August.
Okay. I would like to um, encourage each and every one of you to look through these list of things that you will get board membership credits for. And I believe we received our transcripts as well. So, check your transcript from TSBA to make sure that
it's correct. And add anything else. I believe that the board office is there to help us track our credits. So, please get that into them so that we can turn this in together and um, for August and and get
um, you know, our due. Um, cuz I will tell you this that there are people out there that I know I've I've talked to who said this you're the board is doing some good work. So, we need to we need to um, we need to
toot our own horn. And we need to let people know that the work is happening. And it's happening well. And you can see that as evidence by look at our students. Look at them grow and look at them
growing. So, thank you board members. Thank you superintendent. I'm I'm Are there any questions around this? Okay. Next item is 2.06, board self-evaluation, TSBA and board policy. Board member Love.
Um, board self-evaluation. Who is doing that? I'm sorry. Yeah. Mhm. It's not in there. We had a discussion. You want me to start off with? Yeah. So, board member
Love and I um, have been looking at both the TSBA and thinking about um, board self-evaluation. Everyone is evaluated in the district from the superintendent it down to teachers and you know, frankly, students when they have to do the TCAP. And one of the things that's a
best practice and that's also supported by TSBA, that's one of the ways that we can you get your board membership credit is that you do a self-evaluation. That is just a board member self-evaluation, but this is an opportunity for us to think about how do
we um, evaluate ourselves as a board. Um, I will say this, I do recall when I was um, here in the district several years ago, there was a board self-evaluation policy. It did not make it um, across the board in the merger,
but it's something I think it's worth that we do. If we're going to do all of this work, um, we need to think about how do we track our our work and how do we continuously improve. So, we wanted to put on the table for board members to
think about us doing two things, ensuring it's part of the board membership credit for um, board membership credits that each of us do a self- individual self-evaluation and secondly, thinking about asking the
policy department to work with us to to build out a board self-evaluation policy. So, are there any questions around that? Board member Hewitt Garcia. I would just recommend as uh, aligning
it to the Council Great City Schools um, you know, progress for governance training as well. Um, that is just making it aligned um, and so it's it's very concrete uh, what it looks like to
internalize and execute on the the governance skills and and acquire the knowledge needed to improve. So, thanks. Board member McCathern. Thank you, chair. I would also recommend that we look at TSBA, our own Tennessee School
Board Association, and what they are recommending cuz they're seeing what's happening across the state. And so, I want to make sure we're aligned uh, because we seem to be um, pointed out a little differently sometimes in this state. And so, I want
to make sure that we're on par and being judged at the same level in which other school districts across the state and certainly within our municipal school district. Um, it's something I can to like how when we were um, our grading system, which much was much more harsh
toward our students when other grades were, you know, an A was, you know, we had a high level. And so, and it was just making it more challenging for our students and this the bar wasn't the same for our suburban students. So, I want to make sure that when we do this that it's on par with what our suburban
school districts and other school districts across the state are experiencing. I had a conversation with General Counsel Bailey yesterday. And I'm not going to tell y'all what I discussed with him. But I went back and
looked at the policies and the evaluations and I was wrong. Um, so we all have a lot to do. I am the oldest one on the board and I
violated um, I did I did what was the superintendent's job. Just to state it that So, we all have a lot of work to do and I am um, going forward with the
recommendations that uh, my two board members got. All right, so what I think I hear board members is that we are going to um, there's a recommendation that we work with the policy office to um, build to
develop a board self-evaluation policy. Okay. All right. I don't see any other lights. I think the last thing we have is 2.07, annual artificial intelligence policy compliance report. Um, General Counsel.
Or is that Ms. Stewart? Or Ms. Green? Good evening, everyone again. The last item um, with this item, the district is required to submit a board approved AI compliance report to the state annually um, no later than July the 1st of each
year. And with this report um, uh, it includes the policy adoption and review around AI and an enforcement plan for the coming year. Uh, within that enforcement plan, [music] there's a communication piece, an education piece,
a monitoring and uh, detection piece, which includes reporting as well as uh, disciplinary procedures piece. Uh, for the policy adoption and review, uh, the board maintains two policies around uh, artificial intelligence, policy 6031,
which is the student uh, acceptable use and internet safety, as well as policy 4015, which is the employee and authorized user acceptable use. Uh, these comply with the um, with the state law around uh, AI and both policies were
adopted in 20 uh, in June of 2024. Uh, they've been in effect since the 2024-25 school year and they were reviewed as well as affirmed during the biennial policy uh, manual review process, which was affirmed by the board
uh, of March of 2025. So, the policy review review portion is in place. Uh, the with the enforcement piece, the policy outlines a communication uh, strategy and plan, which uh, requires that the policies are publicly available
on the district's website. They're available through student as well as employee handbooks um as well as other school and district communication channels. Uh students and parents uh have to sign off on the acceptable use for uh for students as well as employees uh must
sign off and other authorizers must sign off on the acceptable use for employees. Uh with the education piece, uh students receive annual age-appropriate digital citizenship instruction based on the policy and staff receive training on
acceptable use um uh for complying with the policy updates. Uh with the monitoring and detection piece, uh the district will continue to implement technology protection measures to minimize cybersecurity risk and restrict access to inappropriate harmful content.
And AI detection tools uh may be utilized when feasible to identify issues such as plagiarism or things like that. Um reporting concerns, concerns and complaints uh related to the policy violation will be reviewed by the superintendent or designee. And finally,
the disciplinary procedures are in place in the policy. Um all violations will be addressed in accordance with policy for students um for example, the student code of conduct as well as for employees, any employee disciplinary measures. And a
a consistent process for investigation, a notification, and appeals will be followed regarding the um enforcement plan for AI compliance. [music] So, those are the items that will be uh uh will be reported to the state once approved by this board.
Are there any questions? I don't see any questions for you. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, board members, that is the conclusion of the policy legislation and governance committee and I now we are now adjourned. Next up is the audit budget and finance
committee. Chair Huer Garcia. Yes, thank you. Well, call to order the audit budget finance committee meeting. Um is there anything to add to the agenda? Any comments before we start? I thought that was part of the
It was No, I thought that was meant for our conferences. He's out there. It's under the I forget. All right. Item 2.01 forensic audit update. Nathan, I asked for just to have a high-level overview. Um
we're we see updates daily, so I want to make sure that the public is is getting frequent updates and that the board is also clear on where we're at. So, I'm going to ask uh Superintendent Richmond [music] to share with us an update.
Thank you, board member Garcia. Uh good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board, and valued colleagues. Ms. Jordan, if you would, would you please forward the presentation uh to Ms. Timberlake, please.
Ms. Timberlake, if you would, load the presentation. Board members, what I'm going to do is to present a high-level overview of the CLA interim forensic audit summary today. Uh this presentation provides an early view of observations identified to date,
key financial and operational areas requiring attention, and the immediate next steps before us. While this remains an interim report, we welcome the opportunity to review the information carefully, strengthen systems where needed, and continue the
improvement work already underway across our district. Uh we also recognize that this process is an important opportunity to reinforce public trust through transparency, accountability, and measurable actions. Our focus remains clear,
operational excellence, responsible stewardship of resources, and ensuring every decision supports the success of students, schools, and families. The CLA interim forensic audit summary, next slide.
The purpose of this briefing, board members, per the resolution established a collaborative audit remediation and operational excellence plan, this presentation provides the requested written high-level summary of the
interim audit findings and outlines immediate next steps. And we put here audit findings, but really these are observations as well as recommendations. So, first, to support item number one of the resolution,
to provide preliminary observations and prepares for priority issues identifications. Next slide. Important context for board members, an interim audit is rarely shared
externally and is typically used internally so management can review and respond. Management has not yet had an opportunity to formally respond to the interim audit.
Management responses will be shared at the conclusion of the audit fieldwork. As you all know, earlier we talked to you all about the three types of audits that take place within Memphis Shelby County Schools or have taken place. And
normally, after the audit fieldwork is completed, management can offer a response to that fieldwork. And lastly, current informational information reflects observations and recommendations at this stage. I repeat,
current information reflects observations and recommendations at this stage, no audit findings have been represented at this stage of the audit. Next slide. Background information, the Tennessee
Comptroller of the Treasury engaged CLA to conduct a forensic audit of Memphis Shelby County Schools during the summer of 2025 with work ongoing as of March 12th, 2026. The interim report was prepared at the
request of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury in connection with the review of the financial practices, governance, and operations of Memphis Shelby County Schools. CLA delivered a comprehensive report
issued in three separate volumes. Those three separate volumes were internal controls and IT, cybersecurity risk and assessment, and as you all know, the IT cybersecurity risk and assessment was redacted. Uh as early as
today, uh Mr. Bailey and I met with CLA and they're going to share a copy of the IT cybersecurity risk assessment with him personally because the rest of that uh was redacted because
they didn't want to share it openly. Also, forensic audit, and then lastly, MCS Whitehaven Herbert STEM Center. Next slide. The interim summary identified transactions requiring further review
across potential waste, abuse, and policy non-compliance categories. Totally flagged transactions, 2.8 million or exactly $2,875,432.78. The categories, potential waste or abuse
identified, $1,145,909.97. Potential policy non-compliance, $1,729,522.81. Next slide. Key critical observations and recommendations, procurement and vendor management
concerns, there was 1.15 million in concerns, the preliminary audit report, there was six contracts and payroll actions classified as potential waste or abuse. Lapses included bypassing procurement
controls, insufficient documentation, duplicate invoices, unauthorized authority concentration, advance payment, unsupported expenses, excessive payment, and lastly, duplicate
payroll. On the side of policy non-compliance concerns, there was 1.73 million, the preliminary audit report cited multiple transaction types lacked required approval, missing documentation,
P-cards, ACH, bank statements, travel, payroll, non-evidence of fraud. I repeat, non-evidence of fraud at this point. Significant gaps in internal controls and oversight. Next slide.
Operational compliance risk. The resolution outlines clear timelines to ensure timely review and prioritization and response. So, there was also operational and compliance risk associated with I-9 compliance.
40% of the sampled employees missing I-9 forms. Insecure and disorganized storage practices. Uh in some context uh and I have pictures of it. Is that we did have an area where uh
there were some curtains and behind the curtains were a stack of I-9s. Uh we have since moved those stack of I-9s and moved those to a secured place. However, what I'd like to point out is this entire building
is secure. For you to basically enter into all of our procurement offices financial offices HR offices security offices, superintendent's offices every
office has uh card access. The only way you can enter into any of those offices is to have card access. So, even though those I-9s were behind a curtain
anyone who's in that space is an employee who has to have card access into those areas. Potential federal penalty exposure. Next. Record retention, inability to
produce key records. Delays due to fragmented data platforms. Loss of institutional knowledge due to leadership turnover, poor documentation. Uh and weak internal controls. In regards to record retention,
inability to produce key records. What I also want to go on the record as saying is that uh I want to thank our staff for operating with the utmost of integrity and confidentiality.
I say that because we've asked every employee who has been interviewed if and when they're interviewed to not leave that interview and to discuss what was asked for or requested in those interviews.
It would have been easy for employees to leave that interview or leave those interviews and then come to their supervisor or come to me or someone and say, "Hey, they're asking for certain records." When we've asked employees to operate with confidentiality, you don't want
them doing that because we as a district have not wanted to do anything that would compromise the forensic investigation. This is a forensic investigation. There's There are things that even sharing this high-level summary
I do not want to share publicly because this is an ongoing investigation. And I'm going to go back to the context. The context is very rarely, if ever is a forensic audit
shared as an interim report. An interim forensic audit is very rarely shared externally. You may share it internally so that the institution
can respond formally and give context or provide documents. At this point some of these instances we have not been able or allowed to do that formally.
Formally. So, I want to point that out. Next slide. Additional observations and recommendations. This is in reference to our internal audit department. They said lacks risk-based methods.
It needs formal governance and better organizational structure is needed. Uh some context and there's additional context that we can offer around that, but some context is that office uh
was for lack of a better word reconstituted. Uh that office and the central functions of some of those employees were changed during the summer of 20 24.
Two of the top individuals in that office left that office when it was reconstituted and one of those individuals have since uh returned and we're also in the
process of building that office back out uh and helping uh that office to do what's needed in order for it to have the formal governance >> [music] >> to move forward. IT, cybersecurity, strong governance
needed, better process documentation and greater consistencies are needed. As I shared earlier, uh much of that uh was redacted. So, we're in the process of receiving that information from CLA.
The Whitehaven STEM Center, no formal agreement for the $9.9 million project. Board members, as you all know um my administrative team came in on the back end. Uh Mr. Bailey and I along with the rest
of the team, one of the first things we did was brought before the board uh under policy 2019 uh an MOU to accept the donation. We brought that before the board. The one thing we could not go back and do is
to create an MOU that would predate us. Also, the 800 and $85,000 in unspent funds outside of the district's control. Uh general counsel and I are working on an MOU
uh with the white with Whitehaven STEM Inc. uh to uh get an accounting of those funds. We have an accounting of those funds, but we're working on an MOU because many of those funds are restricted.
Uh and with restricted funds the donors made those donations with those dollars being uh earmarked for specific purposes. So, the team and I are working on an MOU so that those funds, if and
when those funds are needed if and when those funds are needed uh we can live up to uh what those funds were intended to based on them being restricted. Transparency and documentation concerns. Again, what I also want to communicate
is this was the first of its kind of a public private relationship partnership. This was the first of its kind. And so
everything in hindsight may not have gone the way uh that it should have gone. Again, this administration uh is trying to do what's necessary in order for us to be in compliance with some of those things that predate us. But
anytime you're doing something for the first time uh mistakes may have been made. We're wanting to correct those mistakes. As you all know, we entered into an MOU uh with XAI and I'd like to think that
the way we handled that particular partnership and MOU was probably the way this one uh should have been handled so that that the district is protected as well as there's transparency and documentation.
Next slide. In line with the board resolution the board and superintendent must jointly identify three to five priority audit issues for focus within 30 days of the summary. So, what the next steps should be are to
identify priority issues determine root causes begin corrective action planning and to continue remaining uh to continue the remaining uh resolution items. Next slide.
Again, in summary the financial dashboard, potential waste and abuse. Contracts, $1,112,750 uh dollars. Payroll, $33,159.97. Subtotal, $1,145,909.97. Potential non-compliance.
P-cards, check requests, $1,078,419.91. ACHC, $383,908.55. Bank statements, $182,876.30. Travel, $70,552.25. Payroll, $13,765.80. Subtotal, $1,729,522.81.
And I'd like to say out of that 100 $1,729,522.81, [music] 1.3 million of it was for the Y. Uh and we have found the PO associated with [music] the Y. Grand total
$2,875,432.78. Next slide. Board members, what I'd like to talk to you all about is we have put in place internal controls, operational modernization, and excellence plan steering committee. As we've talked about coming out of the audit, as you
all know, we have a dashboard. That dashboard will be regularly updated. We also have a landing page for you to go and look at the recommendations and observations from the audit and what we have done to date. But, I want to point out the
pillars and the leads. Operational stabilization and oversight is myself and Mr. Hannah. I've been intimately involved with the audit from the onset. Uh The lead for pillar two, procurement and
contracts, is Ms. Laquitta Braxton and Mr. Perry. Uh for HR and documentation and payroll is Ms. Oliver and Mr. Langston. For digital transformation and system integration, Mr. Langston.
For program optimization and operational efficiency, Ms. Freeney. For independent compliance and co-sourcing, Mr. Langston. And for the compliance calendar, Mr. William White. But, we also have a few other members that are
part of the steering committee. I want to recognize Ms. Rachel Addison because we know professional development is going to be extremely important as we roll out this plan. So, Ms. Addison is also part of the team. Ms. Maria Stewart
is part of the team due to some of the policies and governance associated. We also have Mr. William Fulton who's our director of auditing. And last but not least, I want to point out Ms. Monica Jordan. I want to thank
Ms. Jordan publicly. Ms. Jordan has been the point person with CLA and she has somewhat served as our project manager for ensuring that we're in lockstep with everything we need to do in regards to the audit. Uh
All of the things that need to be shared, all of the communication. You all know that I try to keep you all abreast of. So, I want to publicly thank Ms. Jordan for really really being a great point person and project manager.
Really almost a second job for the team. And I again, I want to thank the team. Not one team member has complained about having to do their full-time job along with assisting with the audit. So, I want to thank the team
as well. Next slide. In closing, this interim summary provides an early view of areas requiring attention. The district remains committed to transparency, accountability, and strengthening systems that support student and
responsible stewardship of public resource. And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out our general counsel, Mr. Bailey, is also part of the team. This concludes my presentation. Thank you. Okay, we'll go with board member Love.
Board member McKinney and then board member Murphy. Um Good presentation, but I would like a print copy of this presentation. Yes, ma'am. Apologies. We'll we'll get
you all when we come back from for work session. I'll ask Mr. Hannah. Mr. Hannah, if you would have all the board members a copy of the presentation. Yes, we'll we'll have it uploaded. My question is looking at the audit,
what recommendations do you have for employees to get them acclimated to the policies and the new business of the board? Yeah, again, thank you. We've started on many of these things. Having internal
controls in place is one of the most important as well as adherence to policy, particularly our procurement policies. Adherence to policy and internal controls would be the top
two. But, I also want to point out we are working on the implementation plan for operational modernization our operational modernization plan. We're working on that so that we can start to
roll that out. Because again, this is an interim audit. I'm reporting today in line with the resolution and for me to provide a high-level summary to the board members.
But, we're working with staff at central office as well as at the school level around following policy and ensuring internal controls are in place. Next question. Um the news briefing said
that you and your staff were unable to cooperate with the audit firm. Is that correct? Great question, board member Love. Our team has been extremely
cooperative. I had an opportunity to speak with CLA, which is why I gave the context earlier. So, here's the context for that. In some
departments, there may be people being interviewed [music] who you would call Me as a superintendent, I'm what you would call a tier one employee. Cabinet is tier two.
Below cabinet are tier three employees. Below tier three are tier four and five employees. When you start talking about the audit, in some instances, you have tier three and four employees who are being
interviewed and who are being asked to provide certain documents and information. With the high turnover in our district, those employees may not be able to provide that information, particularly in a timely manner. But, as I said
earlier, this is a forensic investigation. We've asked employees to not discuss things that are being asked for or requested. I am not even asking employees. I want
people to understand this. When Mr. Langston goes in his interview, I'm not asking him to come back and report to me on what he was asked and interviewed about. When Ms. Stewart is being interviewed,
I'm not asking Ms. Stewart to come back and to report to me. This is an investigation. When an investigation is going on, people should operate with integrity and confidentiality. And so, that is the context as it
relates to certain things not being delivered in a timely manner. Now, there are some employees where documents have been requested and they have exhausted their resources
in trying to be compliant. So, what I've also had to tell employees is if and when you cannot provide something, just admit you're unable to provide it. But, our employees are
trying to be responsive. Our employees are trying to be cooperative and our employees are trying to do everything that they're being asked for by the auditors in relationship to this ongoing forensic
investigation. Last question. The comptroller said um the district does a audit of his self every year through Watkins and U World.
That is sent to the comptroller's office in Nashville. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am. That is correct. To the comptroller's office in Nashville.
And he has to sign off on the audit. I don't know if he personally signs off on the audit. >> Somebody in his office. Yes, ma'am. That is correct. And have we ever had a audit that defined
uh such malfeasance or fraud or whatever Nashville is saying. At this point, I want to reiterate
that this is an interim audit. There's no fraud that has been found. These are observations and recommendations. And at this point, they have only said there's potential abuse and waste.
We still have not responded uh to the interim audit because fieldwork is still going on. Thank you. Thank you. Um I believe I'm next. I want to make sure, Dr. Richmond, can
you go back to that slide where you break it down on the um the dollar amounts for fraud, waste, and abuse, and then the dollar amounts for policy and non-compliance? I think it's Yeah, that's that's fine. That one's fine.
So, I want to be clear as well. I I I spent some time going through the audit and wanting to understand the full extent of this $2.8 million. Just may And when you say um
that $1.7 million I think you just told us now that 1.3 of that we actually found a um PO, which was one of the issues when I read in the the audit that they we were unable to locate it, but since then we have. So, that brings it down to about 400,000,
correct? Yes, but even the 1.3 only 600 roughly 600 and 74,000 have been spent. And again, the context is our own internal control
was cited in the report when it was mentioned via observation and recommendation that at the time the assistant superintendent of business operations said that if a PO
was not produced, there would be a letter of non-compliance issued. That is what you call an internal control to ensure a PO was issued on this particular contract.
But mind you, the board had approved this contract. And I want to discuss this one cuz this is just I I don't want to discuss all of them, but I'll discuss this one because I think this is an easy one to really point out the fact that and I want to say if my memory serves me
correct, another contextual uh thing to point out is that may have been the first year that we moved um school-age child care and before and after care in-house. Uh
traditionally, we had done most of our uh ELOP, uh extended learning opportunities program, before and after care, we had done it in-house ourselves. Uh but again, the board had approved the 1.3 million.
Uh and then there needed to be a PO. Uh Mr. Langston and the team have since found the PO, but I want to say the person who had the PO was not interviewed. The person who is over this program and
would have the PO was not interviewed. And that individual could have produced the PO. So, therein go therein lies the issue with issuing a public interim report because
we subsequently found what they had initially observed. Is that what you're telling me? So, with that said though, I want to be clear cuz the way that I read the audit was that these the 1.7 million was about
non-compliance. It wasn't about inappropriately using public dollars. It was simply about not following processes. So, and I think I also read in the audit
that they stated that in fact that these dollars were for legitimate district expenses. They could they could establish that. It was just we didn't follow policy. Correct.
So, in essence, over three period time uh three period timetable that they're looking at, what may amount to potential waste or abuse. And again, potential cuz we're not done yet. This is interim. It's maybe $1.1 million
over a three-year period. Right? I don't want to be too cavalier. I'm not No, I >> We we're [music] 25% through the for- forensic audit. Okay? Which
means there's still additional uh contracts that possibly need to be reviewed. But what I do want to point out is 25% of the way through in regards to the particular non-compliance of this
particular contract that I'm lifting, which accounted for uh you're good with math, Mr. uh Langston, 1.3 million of 1.7 million is what at least what 70 or 80% of
what the non-compliance was based on 25% of the findings. I absolutely don't want you to be cavalier, and neither neither am I. But I as you said, I want us to put this in context. We are a $2 billion entity, and I want to say to [music]
the um staff here that to have this No waste is ever good at all. No No potential waste or abuse is ever good at all. But to have these preliminary observations
look like this, I think there's actually some good internal controls going on. I think there's some good use of the funds because the other thing that I want to make sure that we raise up to the public is that our students are progressing and have been doing that
over the last 5 years. They are learning. They are doing well. So, there's there's there that money that we get, the public dollars that we get every year is going
to the place that it needs to go, and that is to our students. So, I wanted to I wanted to raise that as well because I think it's time for us to put things in context. That's my I'm done. I guess I'm next. Um
And and from from the slides, you said we have no formal agreement with the 9.9 uh million dollar project, correct? It was for the STEM building. We do have uh we did formalize it at the end by
implementing policy 2019 and accepting the building as a donation. If I were to go back in time, Mhm. we should have on the front end have had an MOU Mhm. with all of the
parties. It's difficult to go back now because it predates us to do an MOU for the entire construction of the building. But as far as what the board and I are responsible for at this juncture,
we followed policy 20 19 regarding uh donations, and the building was donated to us. That's the 9.9 million project, okay? When I mentioned the 885,000,
we are now working on an MOU with Mr. Myers and the Whitehaven STEM Inc. so that we will know how exactly that $885,000
is going to be spent. Um I sent the board notice of that on yesterday. Now, the next question. Uh the STEM building is owned by Mr. Myers at this time, correct? The STEM building is owned by us. We
have the deed. Uh when we had the formal ribbon cutting, keys were exchanged, and I want to say less than a month after that, uh Ms. Stewart helped me, we received the deed of the property. The STEM building is
our building. Now, now I I was there when that happened, but for some reason it is still saying that Mr. Myers owned that building, and and none nobody none of the staff members can get in that building at this time. Staff has chosen not to move into the
building. So, what I've directed our staff to do is our staff has gone over, our staff has met with school leadership. We have done and again, I've sent the board information regarding this. We've gotten
a punch list of what all the school needs in addition for them to be able to move into the building. And what I've shared with the board, as well as the administration and staff, is we will work on procuring and providing
everything needed in order for students to move into that building. They may not be able to move into it this year because I think the building needs wiring for an intercom and some additional things. So, we are shooting for
uh the fall when students return to school. I'm hoping over the next couple of months I can bring you all a list of everything needed and needing to be procured. I'll bring it before this board, we'll vote on it, and it can be in that school when students return in
the fall of 2026. So so this $800,000 of unspent funds outside of the You said it's outside of district's control. Will some of that money be used to um furnish the STEM building? We're still
trying to look at how those monies what they were earmarked for. That's in schools and in the district you have restricted and unrestricted funds. What has been explained to me by Mr. Miles, and again, our attorneys through
general counsel is working with Mr. Miles because it's my understanding that some of the funds were earmarked and are restricted because the donors wanted them to go to specific things. So when you donate your money
Mhm. Some people donated their money and they said this These monies, these funds are specifically for this. And if they're not used in this way we do not want the funds spent or we may want our funds back. Okay.
Cuz that's where the disconnect is cuz they want to know you know how they need to spend this money and when will the STEM building be open to the students? And is there any insurance on this building? Yes, the building is insured with us because it's our building.
Okay, that's and that's another disconnect cuz from what we're what we're hearing and seeing part of media is that and in part of audit is that it doesn't belong to us at this time. We What I'll do is Ms. Stewart, if you'd be so kind we will scan the documents
and information needed for the board to see and also if we need to it on the landing page, we can share the deed of ownership along with I mean, I would think anyone would know any property, anything that's on our
property is insured >> be ours. by by us. Some Some of these things that people are saying in the public is misinformation. And there's sometimes there's no way for you to
change people being uninformed and misinformed. Okay, so if we can make that public, I would appreciate that. >> Yes, ma'am. I have no further questions. Thank you. >> Board member Williams, Board member Williams, do you have a question? Yes. I have a My concern is that
that is it it's owned. My my church I solicited the $20,000 from them to give to the STEM building. I gave 1,000 myself. And now they are being told that it is not. So they they they will not see the money, will not
get the money so because the people in Whitehaven raised $100,000. They got 10 20,000 from the uh Elvis Presley Foundation, they got 20,000 from my church, they got 1,000 from me. They raised that money. So surely it is somewhere in the in the
system to be used for the purpose of the STEM building. Yes, sir. Great great question, Board member Williams. Board member Williams, what I'll point out is some of the funds went towards the building. Mhm. The funds we're discussing now are the 885,000
in funds that were restricted. Those funds were for specific things. Your money from you and possibly your church were toward the building. >> Yes. We now have a building. The funds we're talking about now are
the 885,000 of unspent funds, and many of much of those funds were restricted because they were earmarked for specific things. If they weren't for specific things we'll be talking about how much of those funds can go toward furniture
and things to accentuate the building. So you're saying that the money that we gave from the Whitehaven Foundation about was $100,000 was earmarked for just that facility? The majority of the funds were earmarked
for the facility. So then can it be used for that at this time? Can they take that money now and start spending it for that facility? The facility has already been >> I mean for the what it's going to take to furnish it, to do those things. >> We're trying to see now, that's what I'm
pointing out. We're trying to see now out of the 850,000 which of those funds were restricted and which can be used for furniture and other things. But until we meet with the foundation and construct and draft the
MOU, we won't know. So we're working on that now. Thank you. So if there's a something something nefarious occurs, those folk who gave money in the sense of what they the purpose that they wanted it to go for, they were told I'm hopeful that it will go for that purpose. >> Yes, sir. That's what we're trying to do
now. Thank you. Are there any other lights? Okay. I'm We do We do have our work session at 5:30 so I want to move us along. Um we'll continue to talk about the audit. This will continue to This is This is an ongoing
um priority. So thank you. >> I do have one question. You We are at the point where we need to identify the three to five priorities within 30 days. Is that correct? Not today, but at some point unless the
board wants to give the team and I if you unless you want us to move forward with doing that, and then we share with the board and the board can agree >> [music] >> to accept that or not. But I want it to be in line with the resolution which said it would it would occur between 30
and 45 days. I'm thinking that we need to keep moving. So I'm not sure how the board wants to do this. If we want to have another session just for that to to flesh out the with the three to five priorities should be together or would you want to take some recommendations
from administration and then have that discussion. I think given the amount of time that general counsel and the team and superintendent have spent with the audit, I would I would like recommendations and also knowing that things have already been remediated. So
um bring us something for our discussion. Thank you. Item 2.02, April 16th budget board retreat follow-up. I'm going to turn it over to Chief Lingstead. The Uh okay. Board members, so this is a
recap of our um budget retreat. Some of these slides you've seen before, but since we're in the general public, I'll go through them again. Um but fairly quickly. I understand we got to get to a 5:30 um work session. So first we looked at
board priorities. Uh We've since had the first three priorities for the past few years and we've added priority four. So I'll point out priority four, which is strengthening operational excellence, transparency, and financial accountability across the
district by investing in modern systems, strong internal controls, and effective governance to ensure resources are managed responsibly and serve the of student success. So Board members, a theme you'll see throughout this budget is we're aligning every
penny we spend to these four priorities. Um this is our budget engagement. Um we've engaged every stakeholder that's in this county around the budget. We've had over 8,000 participants including teachers, students, staff, as well as
community members to give us feedback on the budget. Um and here is everything that we've seen the engagements that we've done. Next, this is what we've heard with the um from the students, employees, parents, and Board members. Students say they want quality nutrition, they want mental
health supports, they want CCTE. Employees, um they want teacher pay and retention. Employees also double down on CCTE, ACT prep, literacy supports, um facility improvements including playgrounds and gyms. Then we get to parents. They've
said they want classroom support staff for teachers, academic enrichment opportunities, and a common theme that you'll see is facility improvements. And then Board members, you've outlined um that you want to us to continue investing in the five A's, um to look at exceptional children
supports, and then of course enrollment and [music] attendance, which is the engine that drives um the revenue that comes into the district. Looking at a budget overview, um when you look at our proposed general fund revenue um we have $1.3 million that
comes into the city. We're on year 11 of the settlement from the city of Memphis. We have about $1.4 million um as it relates to our general fund and federal funds. Um we have other local funds of about $19 million, Shelby County funds, which makes up the education
um fund, as well as um mixed drinks tax, as well as property taxes make up $512 million, and then state funds make up um 774 $7.7 million um in general fund revenue.
This is a look into our fixed and mandated slide. This total proposed budget that we're proposing right now is $1,692,840 $804,235. That's across all funds from fund one to our internal service fund.
Of that $1.6 billion, um one $1,141,110 $115 is fixed and mandated. That is a um short word to say that those are fixed and mandated costs, either fixed costs um related to
um buildings um being cleaned, lights being turned on, transportation, or it's mandated costs, something that um is mandated by the state. Um we have to do our special education MOE of $92 million, or it might be something that's mandated
by the federal government and or the board by board policy. So again, of the $1.6 billion, $1.1 billion here is saying that we can't do anything with them because it's a fixed and mandated cost that has to stay in the budget. The difference of those two is
$551,693,000 and $319. Those are the funds that we call other costs and the funds that we can um have a little wiggle room to decide um what's going to be in the budget. Here's a breakdown of that $551 million.
Um what I where I'll point our attention to is often time we look at central office supports. Central office supports of the what's left over of the $551 million only makes up 3% of our budget. Um
In a urban setting, when we looked it up, usually it's around 8 to 10%. We're well below that for a central office support, so um I like to point that out. Um you'll see 12% is the highest for federal grants, um and then um a couple others you will
see. Uh non-federal grants is 4%, and then we have school-based supports at 8%. Here's a look at our proposed all funds budget. As I mentioned, it's $1.6 billion. The general fund is $1.2 billion. Um as you can see, when you look at expenditures, the majority of that is
going into instruction. Instruction under the expenditure lens is directly into the classroom. That's where you have your teacher salaries, your um school supplies, and things of that nature. [music] Moving over to the capital improvement um budget, it is um proposed at
$107,539,212. It's essentially made up of three things. One, the two high schools. Um we're still holding uh budget per resolution for the Northeast Region High School as well as Fraser, which we're um continuing to build out Fraser. And then
lastly, we still have some carryover funds of the $5 million that we received from the county commission to do a few deferred maintenance projects. Then looking at our special revenue non-federal budget, it's $69,605,268. The lion's share of those funds is our
ISM grant, which is under CCTE. It makes up about $26 million of those. The other um um notables in our special revenue um non-federal grant um is our First Aid grant for uh pre-K, and then a couple other
non-federal grants like our CEED grant for our priority schools that comes directly from the state. Then moving over to our nutrition fund, it's $96,636,344. Um our nutrition fund is how we feed our kids, as well as how we get equipment and pay our staff directly
aligned um with funds that come in from the USDA. Moving over to our federal uh programs fund, it's $201,307,332. Um the lion's share of those funds come from our um consolidated application, which which makes up our Title I budget,
which is about $95 million. It's Title II, Title III, Title IV, as well as um um our consolidated grant. So that's what makes up the uh bulk of the $201 million. In our internal service funds, it's our printing fund, as well as our warehouse
funds. It makes up a little over $2.1 billion. That's how we get to our $1.6 billion um budget that we're proposing now. Chief Linkson, can we stay on that for just a second? >> Yes, ma'am. Um looking at each of these funds,
which of um where is there a maintenance of effort that uh one of the things that we talked about uh that impacted our budget the most this past year was a decrease in enrollment. Can you tell me, you know, if the trends continue, say we let's say we lose a
you know, 2,500 additional students, which of these funds would be impacted, or is there a maintenance of effort that will remain for a certain amount of time? Can you just give us a highlight of if there if the we do see that, uh what would happen to those funds?
Great question. So, the so the maintenance of effort that we have is particularly around our county funds. It'll be in place because it's not derived um um enrollment or the number of students we have. It's based on the attendance. So, the maintenance of effort is the
county Shelby County Commission sets aside about $427 million for the the county of Shelby so as the education fund. We make up about 70% 76% of that, which because we're the largest of LEAs, the
municipals make up the rest of them, and we get about $325 million from Shelby County for the education fund. Where you will see any reduction in our enrollment is coming directly from the state. Um and if you look at the general fund at the top revenues, you'll see from the
state we're seeing $673 million. When enrollment is lost, um it's a direct impact to our state budget. So, as TISA would have it, we get $700 and $75.22 per student that [music] comes
through the door. Um plus that student's direct unique learning need, a student can generate anywhere between $10,000 to sometimes in upwards of $20,000 depending on their unique learning need. So, to answer your question, if when we lose enrollment, it
would be directly related to the state. So, I think in the past you've the number that you've shared with us, the average is about $12,000. When you look at the the spread in knowing that some are higher dollars associated with unique learning,
so you're talking um tens of millions of dollars if we do see an enrollment uh drop. Okay, I just think that I know we are still in legislative session and that has that has come up as a potential um
expansion of of loss of enrollment that that they're that's happening. Um so just starting to have that conversation about what that looks like. Um Okay. One of the things that we talked about in the budget retreat is Mr. White where
um presented on vouchers. So, as of last year, there's no hold harmless provision for vouchers. So, as vouchers rise, we'll continue to look at how we lose enrollment for ESA, EFA, as well as home school as well.
That was the question I was going to ask you is um I know that the hold harmless ended last year, so we are now experiencing that right now. So, there's nothing there's no all of a sudden we'll get this big decrease this upcoming year. We already
experienced it. Yes, ma'am. So, you'll see that our revenue projection is lower than um it would normally have been in the past. That number is $673 million. It used to read about $813 million. A large portion of it is because the state
is sending money directly to charter schools, but the other portion is for a loss in in enrollment. Uh board member Left. Thank you. Um what have we heard? What are you doing about the students
and the parents and employees and board members did uh conversations around quality, nutrition, and uh supports for mental health? Yeah. I'm glad you asked.
So, so I'll start with nutrition. So, I I believe this is my second year being over nutrition. Last year what we introduced is an opportunity to bring in students to be able to taste our foods and have those items go directly on the
menu. What we've seen as a result of that is a lot less waste of food because the the those foods that the students are saying that they want to have is the foods that you're continuing to see on the menu. So, um my kids come home, they rave about the meatballs, the
wings, that are and the things that we're having at school, and it's less of a lunch that my wife has to pack, so I'm excited about that, and I can um report that out. So, um nutrition is will continue to have to improve, but uh I I feel strongly we're headed in a really
good direction. Um mental health. That is a topic that comes up each time we interview the kids. What are you doing about that? What are we doing about it? So, mental health health is a really
good one. So, you remember that this year was the first year we implemented seven mindsets, so which is an implementation year for us. This second semester we rolled it out to We started first semester we did a pilot did a number of pilot schools. This second semester we rolled it out to all
schools. So, one of the things that we're doing is continuing to invest in seven mindsets and implementing it with fidelity. Remember we also have our and we need to do a better job of advertising it. We have our um mental health clinics as
well and this is Cordova Elementary Middle School um BTW MNA answers. Thank you, Mr. Bates. Those are the things we have to continue to advertise that we have those supports where we have psychologists, social
workers on staff that can support our students as well. So, um um we implemented our RTI two RTI squared B um supports this year as well. So, we're doing doing a lot of number of MTSS supports in this budget for mental
health supports that we have to do continue to do a great job of letting students know how we can get mental health support to them. And the final question, I would be interested to know what zip codes participated in the
survey? um Because it seems like to me there are quite a few parents missing. And they have an input. We can't make them do it. But we can strongly
encourage them to do it. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I think we can That is a question for Bill White. Yes, ma'am. That's I'm going to put that on Mr. White. If if there is no other questions for now, I'll continue on.
>> [music] >> So, I'd wait uh Chairman Kenny had a question and then board member board member Murphy. Good Good evening, board members. Um I don't think we captured addresses or
zip code information. We may have captured the school. So, we'll look at that. Thank you. Chief Langston, just a question. You just mentioned it. I think you me and you spoke about it before about advertising more for mental health and
also enrollment for schools for our schools for our district with the board members and I wanted to know did you follow up on that yet? Yes, so to answer what you and I spoke about us doing a better job of advertising our mental health supports. So, what you will see in this budget is
us investing in such a thing. Um When I say follow up, I do have the wonderful Ms. Davis behind me. She's going to help support that effort in getting board members involved with our enrollment campaign. We have a meeting as early as tomorrow with our senior
leaders to talk about not only enrollment and enrollment campaign but as well as a teacher um recruitment campaign. So, we're looking at investing [music] in recruitment efforts for our students as well as our teachers. Also board member Murphy
this week we should have launched uh several nuggets around uh social emotional learning for our students on uh the MCS uh Facebook platform. On all our social
media platforms you ought to be able to go and see uh the launch of those behavior interventions and SEL support. Okay, I want to add to that because we we did we did speak about advertising on our website like you just stated, Dr. Richmond, but we also talked
about broadening it with putting it out there on all of the new stations on all of the our TV stations as well cuz a lot of people don't go to our website but they do watch TV. So, we wanted to push that out a little bit more so they will so that the community will be aware of it. It's also on YouTube. They they
don't watch that either. But they do watch they watch commercials. You'd be surprised. They watch YouTube more than TV now. Well, I'm a little lost on that one. Thank you, board member Murphy. You think you know no further questions. Go ahead. Hey, go ahead. >> [laughter] >> I want to
I want to say that I appreciate I appreciate this and I appreciate especially around the mental health and I want to I want to reinforce what we are saying, what I know that you all are hearing Dr. Richmond, what you recently heard from student congress
representatives. Mental health, what we heard at the forum. I went to the youth summit. Mental health is front and foremost in our youth's mind. They are begging for access to that. And so, I am want to say
one, thank you for the things you are doing. Two, and yet I'm going to challenge I'd like to challenge you, Dr. Richmond, you and your team to think um more broadly. You have some solutions that youth have provided and I think parents are
providing. Using that that source, that resource, to help build out something that um people will go to. If they feel like they're part of the the um co-creating of it they'll they'll do it. So, I would I
would simply just challenge you all to think broadly and innovatively about how you engage on coming up with solutions around mental health. Mercy thinks. So, when we look at our five A's and remember this is just a board members this is a high-level summary.
Next week you'll get a 600-page budget book that has a line item detail. So, when we talk about our mental health supports you'll be able to go to our student support department and see by line item exactly what we're investing in by line item for mental mental health
supports. Um but again, this is a high-level look. So, when we look at our five A's in academics we're putting in over $433 million in instruction and support. Our advanced programs particularly around our optional programs AP
programs is about $8.6 million in this budget. Have about $17.1 million for alternative ed. Building the capacity for teachers and leaders is $1.2 million. CCTE is $47.9 which makes up that ISM grant called Perkins and then the general fund budget
for CCTE. Our exceptional children is a little over $103 million. That's the $92 million plus our efforts in IDEA. We have literacy supports which is our North Star of close to $40 million
and then our multilingual learners which is in continues to increase in our district where we're investing over $34 million. When we look at attendance, our attendance liaisons we're continuing to invest in those in $4.2 million. We have chronic absenteeism and truancy
supports of $1.6 million. We have enrollment and attendant supports of $2.8 million. Family and community community support $2.3 million. And transportation is $42 million in this budget. Attitude, we talk about our mental health and
wrap-around supports. I talked about those mental health clinics. It's about $6.1 million. Safety and security is $26.4 million. I did fail to mention that one of the initiatives under the Dr. Richmond is we brought back a social emotional
learning department this year under student support. So, they're supporting with seven mindsets as well as the RTI squared B supports for mental health. So, that's about $12.1 million. Then we look at arts and athletics.
Bands and strings is about $2.2 million. Discover Memphis we still have in the budget for $2 million. Our extracurricular stipends is in the budget. We're continuing to invest in music and arts of over $17 million and
then PE over $11 million. we I'll we talked about this in the budget retreat but as I mentioned before we're keeping the deans of students for another year and having them to to support with our students with disabilities. Our graduation coach we trimmed it down to
one per every high school. So, it's 33 graduation coaches in the budget. And we had a meeting with our specialized ed assistants. We're keeping we're reducing the number budgeted from 691 to 603. Um and we're transitioning those
employees [music] from 12 to 10 months. We talked about teacher pipeline supports in the budget. We have practice support here. We talked about new teacher mentorships. It's in the budget. We had a really good conversation with our associations around teacher
mentorship as I look to the right and look for that support, Ms. Love. We are lockstep. I would ask them to stand up but they might clown me. Grow your own support pathway to certification. Um we have that
teacher permit salary schedule for tuition assistance and then Reach University that we talked about at length in the budget um retreat. Uh Reach University, I brought this to you guys to discuss in the budget retreat. Essentially, this is a way that we're going to support our
pipeline of SCAs to become teachers. For those SCAs who don't have degrees, they can enroll in Reach University. It's a two-to-four-year program. It's a little less $750 a year. and those again those SCAs who
don't have a degree, they can pay as little as $75 a month, get their degree and then have a pathway to a teacher certification. Priority bonus, we're finalizing this priority bonuses for our hard to staff areas. So, that is
exceptional children, ESL as well as our priority schools. You don't see any numbers here because we're still working with compensation to finalize these numbers, but this week is transfer period. So, we'll be advertising these priority bonuses to
try to get recruit teachers to come to our district as well as get the most effective teachers in these hard to staff areas. Chief Lynks and >> [music] >> uh board member Love had a question. Um let's just say
uh Tito Jr. missed school last year. >> Mhm. Is the district following that child for the remainder of the year? So, um in order to keep him not truant.
I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to either defer to the superintendent or Ms. Davis behind me. Quickly. Quickly. Yes, board member Love. Yes, we are. That should be the work of the truancy office, not just for Ms. Davis and her
office around attendance and discipline, but it should be the work of the truancy office as well. And one more question. Do the the attendance late people in the truancy office people
um what is the investment for getting the children back in school? Amber spoke about $12,000 per individualized individual uh children.
If we get 500 students back into school, how much would that be of our that will uh increase our budget by how much? So
>> 250. So, anywhere So, we're talking about anywhere in the neighborhood of 7 and 1/2 to 10 million dollars that that'll get us if students if we were to recruit 250 to 500 students back. Now, remember
though that we're on the lag year. So, any students that show up next year, we won't receive funding for them until the following year. So, that's why it's important that we get students even now [music] because it'll show up next year. So, but yes, somewhere in the neighborhood between 7 and 1/2 to 10 million dollars
and it's a rough estimate because literally kids can generate anywhere between 12,000 in some cases kids can generate 20 20 >> [music] >> 20 22,000 if they're economically disadvantaged, if they're in CCTE so on and so forth.
Thank you. So, the the next slide talks about um what we've invested in teacher compensation over the past few years essentially since we got TISA and this year is no different. So, we're proposing a 25.7 million dollar investment into teacher
salaries this year and I want to note that in TISA we only receive 14 million dollars for that goes extra towards teacher salaries. So, what we've done is on top of the 14 million dollars, we've added an additional 11 12 million dollars to
be able to support our teachers and what our salary schedule looks like is that the current salary schedule we've taken it and we've added 2% to every step and every lane and on average not including any bonuses teachers can make teachers
can receive about 3.9% increase next year with this 25.7 million dollar investment. This is a look at our fund balance. Currently what we're proposing in this budget is to balance it. We moved some things to fund balance because they're
one-time expenses. We know we have a textbook adoption. It's about 23 million dollars. Still need student devices. We have a we have judgments of 2.1 million dollars in case it's needed. We got wrap back services our five-year
district background check that's in here. Scorp stands for school closure opening repurpose projects. So, and receiving Hillcrest as well as Kirby middle. We have currently about a 15 million dollar investment in that. Our one-time
athletic investment is for us to support schools with transportation and uniforms. And uniforms. Um proximity learning we're looking to take it out of fund
balance. It's about 4.6 million dollars and we're holding this for this facility investments of about 35.5 million dollars cuz again what we know is that regardless of what the county commission gives us, we'll still need to have support in our facilities. If we
were to do these things in fund balance, we would still be at 19% which is about 4% over the 8 to 15% policy that we have. Our capital ads is 198 million dollars. Board members, you have that in your binder.
By it's by board member district by county commission district as well as city council district as well. A lot of it is built out of our facilities plan and what we look to as what we need to
address first. A lot of it is life safety and then we begin to tackle some of those roofing projects, HVAC so on and so forth. Chair, can I think I had a question? I'd like to go back to the fund balance estimate and the recommended fund balance investments. The one-time
athletic investment, I know that you've gotten I want to say thank you Dr. Richmond and team. Can I get clarity on that's across the board for all of the all of the teams? That's that's football, basketball
um soccer, cheerleading, all of the teams. So, this 1.6 million dollars is we had a 825,000 dollar investment. We doubled it to and now this is this can only possibly get you
your basic uniform. Now, remember some schools they want to do above and beyond and they begin to do fundraisers and like and things like this, but what we've estimated is that we've been giving Dr. Richmond 20 30,000 dollars to schools anyway. This will
give particularly those middle schools, high schools and we broke it down from a layer of in athletics the way you compete is based on your enrollment. You could be 1A all the way to 6A. This is based on the enrollment and what
classification each school is to determine if you're large, medium, or small high school or middle school, how much money you'll get based on their enrollment. So, we've done this calculation to be able to do so. I appreciate that. So, I think what happens is you provide a base for
everyone and they can collectively and decide whether they want it to increase on a top uniform. We're going to provide the the funding for them and it'll be we'll provide
a road map to the estimates of what they should do and again this should get a base level uniform for those those schools. Thank you. Is he with One more slide. Yep, last slide is So, board members, we
were scheduled to go to the county commission on tomorrow actually. Got a um call on Saturday and they asked us to come to the county commission [music] now on May 13th. It's the same time as the the mayor will present their budget.
So, to me we have two paths. If we had gone yesterday, I was proposing that we adopt our budget on May 13th. We can still adopt our budget on May 13th and give it to them or we can go present to the county commission and adopt our budget at our regular
scheduled board meeting for this month. So, we can discuss that and what that looks like, but this is what [music] this timeline gets us and that concludes my presentation. Thank you so much. Are there any lights any questions? Okay.
Okay. With no further business up I'd like to recognize one other person, Dr. Brown. I didn't recognize her earlier. She's on our steering committee and she's helping specifically with project management as we look to
redeploy some of our staff that we have for project management that we had placed in another area in another department. So, raise your hand Dr. Brown. Dr. Brown is project managing um
our audit responses. Thank you. Thank you so much with no further business between coming before the audit budget and finance committee, it is adjourned. Thank you, Chair Huerga Garcia. Board members, we have approximately
eight minutes until the board work session begins at 5:30. Thanks.