June 5, 2024 — Meeting Transcript

Okay, good evening. Happy June. Happy start to summer. Adequate notice has been given, and I'd like everyone to join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And Chris, would you like to read the motion to adopt the agenda?

I move that we adopt the agenda as posted. Second. Okay,

it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, motion passes. Okay. The next, um, item on the agenda is public comments. And I realized we have quite a few, um, before we get to those though, I just wanted to say a few words. Um, I want to, first of all, and I apologize for reading. I just didn't want to forget anything. I want to thank all of you here tonight. And those of you watching online in the community who have contacted us regarding a more robust cell phone policy in our schools. I do appreciate your passion around this issue and your concern for our students' mental health, which as you hopefully know has been a priority for our board and our district for many, many years, long before I even got on the board. We have also had parents contact us expressing opposition to a cell phone ban for various reasons. And I wanted to make that known as well. I want everyone in the community to know if you didn't already, that currently each of our schools does have a rule in place prohibiting cell phone use. And we also have a district policy prohibiting cell phone used as well. Those are already in existence. We do plan to discuss this at a board meeting in the fall, which may result in changing our existing policy and updating it if needed, or there may be changes to our school's rules if any principals find that they are no longer appropriate. We need first an objective and data-driven presentation from our professionals, our administration, which takes time to prepare. It's one of the reasons why we didn't want to rush to a discussion over it tonight. I have directed Dr. Patel to have her team prepare for this discussion item by including scientific data, and most importantly, research in our own school community, such as looking at discipline records around cell phone use, interviews or surveys with teachers and students to hear their experiences in our schools around cell phones in the classroom, and any other relevant information that we think might be important to this discussion. I also strongly feel that student voice on this issue is critical and our student reps don't come to this June meeting because school is out for the school year. So we don't want to have this conversation without our student rep present. I want to reiterate that I recognize this as a very important and hot topic, not just in our community but around the nation. And I want our board discussion to be thorough and thoughtful while considering all perspectives objectively. I would like to ask, since I've given my ideas of things that I would like Dr. Patel's team to present to us, I'd like to ask the rest of the board to also weigh in on any items they would like to hear in the presentation. I'm going to go around and ask everyone to tell us up to three, like their top three pieces of information that they would like for our administrative team to present to in the meeting when we have this discussion. So this will not only give everyone on the board a chance to kind of have input into the preparation of the discussion, but also gives Dr. Patel the direction she needs to have her team be prepared for this. I'm going to start with Pam. Thank you. Thank you.

Significant research and nationwide discussions are occurring around the negative effects of smartphones and social media, both from an academic as well as social and emotional perspectives. We are a district that worked tirelessly to start the Wellness Center before I came on board in order to support students rapidly increasing mental health needs. I believe that we would be remiss not to bring this growing body of research into our thinking and planning. So since I am only given three, here they are. How will our administrators, including our CO team, principals and assistant principals, and the Board of Ed be educated about the literature from both the psychology and the education literature on student learning, attention, classroom engagement, and academic performance? Number two, how will teachers at all levels be surveyed, hopefully anonymously, so that we can have data on their opinions about phones in classrooms and in schools? about their enforcement of the preexisting policies we have and what they hope could change? And three, how could central office consider and share various options for a differential application of smartphone bans or policies between the K-8 and the 9 through 12 levels? Thank you.

I'll give Jason a minute to catch his breath. Kim, I'll come back to you.

Yeah, so I mean, I think that what you laid out probably covers what we need to see. We want to make sure that all stakeholder voices are represented. You know, I think the use of social media and cell phones is probably a systemic problem that requires systemic solutions. So I think it's great that as a community we're talking about this. Parents are talking about it. We're talking about it now here at the board table. But I don't know if the answer is a one size fits all ban on devices or a renewed investment in digital literacy ethics and wellbeing. What I do want to make sure is that in any analysis we do, we're keeping the student and the profile of the graduate at the center of that. and making sure that they're prepared post-graduation for college and what that means. A lot of the research that I saw that was cited in the petition is actually research that was done on university age students, at least half the citations there. were done in university age students, which I don't think is necessarily applicable to the K through 12. You know, demographic that we're responsible for. So I want to make sure that whatever research is presented is focused on that demographic. And there's probably different recommendations for different stages of that learning continuum. So that's it. Thank you, Jason.

Thanks. I mean, I'll just add my support to this discussion. I'm glad it's finally coming up and appreciate the community's attention on it. Really, I just have one. And really, we have policies that address this already. We have school-level rules that address this already, and we aren't happy with the outcome. So I'd like a real sort of core reasoning, you know, drilling out what's actually not working, what the problem is. So why are we still facing this issue? And that, to me, leads to where the solution should go on that.

Thanks. Chris. Thank you. I'm going to read two. I'm sorry. I'm going make three brief points prior to the list of the three things that I'm going to be asking for. My first point is that my hope is that the research that we are asking for tonight will be done prior to school starting in the fall. and that the presentation you make for us in the fall will be letting us know what you found in your research and why policies did or did not change at the start of the school year. My second point is a new cell phone policy at Widown was implemented two years ago. The building policy did not require board approval. It was made by school administration because those administrators saw that there was a need among their students for a change in the policy. A CHS policy change would also not require our approval And the only reason that might get a little tricky in my thoughts is that if for some reason the CHS policy required some funding in order to make the policy change, that would require, you know, a request from us. But without funding involved, we don't have to be involved in this process at all, just like we weren't in the Wydown process. Dan Kaczewski could choose to change policy at any time. The other point I'll make is, If your team is unable to or does not complete the research in this summer, the stuff that we're proposing, that we're asking you tonight, and the building policies remain the same, that could mean that a new policy, if one is determined that we want one, would not happen until the 25-26 school year, simply because if in the fall it's determined they want to change, it would be quite difficult to make a change at semester time. And it might be then put off until the following year. So when thinking about whether to or whether you can or all of those things in terms of completion of your research, recognize the timing of when the research is completed and how that will impact potential changes that want to be made. OK, so the three things that I'm looking for. I would like data from public schools locally or nationally, either one, both. on the impact of a complete cell phone ban for two or more years. So a pouch, something where literally the student cannot access their phone the entire time they're in the building. And I want specifically data on behavior and discipline numbers, academic outcomes, social-emotional outcomes, specifically sense of belonging, and self-reported anxiety and depression. Second, I would like data of the exact same categories of the ones I mentioned with a hybrid cell phone policy. So in this case, it would be sort of like a red zone, green zone thing. And in red zones, cell phones have to be in a compartment of whatever kind. They are not permitted to be on the student or even in the student's backpack. And that is determined all by the staff. Red zones are determined. Green zones are determined by the staff. This hybrid model could be a great compromise for our parents who are really for it and really against it. And the open campus policy that we have, which a lot of our students really utilize, and it's been great, they want to be able to have their phones. And that makes perfect sense. So again, maybe there are areas of the high school where your phone cannot be on your person. It has to be XYZ place. And if you do not place it in that place, then you have immediate action, disciplinary action, if you choose not to place your phone there. It happens immediately, and they know what to expect. And then in other parts of the school, when you're passing period, your Greyhound time, could have it so I want data on schools that have done that and then I want to say that both of those data sets should be accompanied by a robust understanding of the challenges and best practices for enforcement of said policies

thank you

Gary

so I guess I mean just to start I wish I was a little better prepared to talk about this because I think it's really important. And I know that a lot of people have put a lot of time into this already. And yeah, so I look forward to a more full discussion of it. But I guess I'll just reiterate some of the things that I've mentioned on The process of making this decision, the things that I think about are how does the board evaluate research and scientific studies and articles and journals and things like that and make decisions based on that? Do we need some kind of expert to advise us on that? Having only a little bit of familiarity with the process of scientific research there. It's often hard to Draw the conclusions that are appropriate when those conclusions are being drawn by people who are not those scientists, so I Struggle with how to know how to do that in our role Collectively our role collectively So I want to know what the research is. I want to know how to evaluate it. I think that's really important. But that's what I kind of struggle with a little bit. The other thing that I would be interested in information, or I don't know that it's just a... one information dump, but we have a curriculum, we have a district, we have teachers, we have class designs and projects and things that have come into existence and grown into what they are now with devices being used by our students. So the impact on curriculum of change, I don't know where to even start with that, but I think it's important to look at and I think that goes to teachers and the surveys anonymous or focus groups or whatever, but that's part of it. So those are the two areas that I think about the most.

Okay. Thank you. And I've also asked Leo, who's not here tonight, to send me any of his thoughts as well. So I appreciate everyone's input. Hopefully that will help Dr. Patel and her team. And we will now move to public comments. I am first calling on Charles Caffrey, who would like to defer his three minutes to his wife, Genevieve, to read on his behalf. Just a reminder to everyone making public comments. And these rules were on the speaker card, so you hopefully read them. Everyone gets three minutes. There will be a timer. Sorry, it's a little intimidating, on the screen. And I'd also like to remind everyone that we do not respond to each public comment. So don't take our silence as anything negative.

Makes sense. Thank

you. Thanks.

OK, so my name is Genevieve Caffrey. I am a mother of a rising first grader and fourth grader at Captain Elementary. So a few weeks ago, I decided to organize a series of Clayton parent book clubs on The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. I was just listening to it and I was like, we got to have more discussion about this. This is huge. And so I sent out a book club sign up through the Sign Up Genius and it got filled really fast and had to add more meetups and it filled really fast. And about every single parent or teacher that I've talked to since that a few weeks ago has wanted, that's the main topic of conversation that they want to talk about with me. And so over the last few weeks, I've learned a lot. I've just asked a lot of questions and just learned a lot about what's going on. Of course, I don't have a child at the middle school or high school yet. So it's really hard for me to know. So I've just asked A lot of the stories that came from teachers and parents really surprised me, and I think it could surprise you guys too. It surprised a lot of people, and so I just started writing them down, and before I read any of those, what I've learned from what's going on, is I just want you to know how proud I am to be a captain parent. My son has autism, and he has grown and flourished at captain more than we could have ever imagined. And when I communicate these things, it is not a, we don't want to come off as we're shaming the district or we're, saying you did something wrong. All of us here, whenever we talk, we talk about our own regrets with how much screen time we've given our own kids and maybe I shouldn't have given this device. So this book and this conversation is really, as parents, we have a lot of work to do on our own and the school part is one dimension of it. And so we really hope to work together and we're really looking forward to the conversations. I know the timing is hard and weird. But we really, we have no doubt that we can work together and hear each other out. So here's what I've learned so far. I'm just going to read some of the quotes from, I'm gonna start with high school teachers and then move to high school parents and students and then middle school. And then I have some picking up the quotes as we go. Okay, so these are from high school teachers. The number one conflict between teachers and students is cell phones. When compared to other districts, we have the most relaxed policy. Teachers can't stand the cell phones or the cell phone policy. It's a mess. Teachers might tell administrators that it's not a problem in their class because that's like saying to your boss, I don't have control or I'm not doing my job. But the truth is, is that it's a big problem. Some teachers want to be strict with it, but little by little, it breaks them down and they give up the fight. Every teacher has their own mini policy in their own classroom. My teacher team decided that we would be very strict about phones for the first semester. We make the kids put their phones in a shoe organizer hung over the wall. They hate it at first. It's a big fight. But after a while, they seem to appreciate it. At second semester, we try to give them some freedom by letting them keep them in their backpacks. But sure enough, the phones sneak out. We catch them with the phones. We have disciplinary action. And then we have to go back to restricting them. Should I take my three minutes?

I was just going to say, if you want to go into your three minutes, we can start it. Over if you're okay with that. Yes,

that's perfect. Thank you. This is another teacher, another high school teacher. I had a guest speaker in my class, so I sat from the back of the room to observe, and I realized that my students were watching movies and shopping online most of the time. I cannot even count the number of times that the school day has been disrupted because of something that was posted on Instagram. I'm afraid to take away students' phones because I don't want to upset the families. I also don't want to be responsible for anyone else's phone. What if someone steals it from me or the shoe organizer on my door? Then I feel responsible. It is really hard to be a teacher who is restrictive when they have just come from a class that is not as restrictive. It's like the kids are alcoholics and were drinking in their first class, and now they're pissed that they are in your class and you took their bottle away. I was in a colleague's class observing and the kids were mainly on Amazon shopping, watching Netflix and TikTok. The cell phone thing at the high school, it's totally out of control. I'm exhausted from trying to police the phones and eventually I just give up. It creates a constant behind the scenes dynamic in the classroom. There is this other environment where students post, where a student posts something about another student on Instagram or TikTok during the school day and then that social dynamic comes into the classroom space. One of my students was having trouble focusing in all of their classes. All of his teachers were reporting erratic behavior except one teacher said that he was so well behaved in her class. I went to observe the class to see what the magic this teacher has. The student was just listening to music the entire class on his AirPods, not paying attention. Our time and energy is finite, and if we are reteaching students because there is constant distraction, it becomes another layer to discern. How much is it that you failed to understand a concept because you were distracted by your phone or because you don't really understand the concept? And then we are teaching students who are just distracted, taking away time from students who actually don't understand the concept. I don't know any teacher that would not be supportive of prohibiting phones in the district. We hate having to be the enforcers. Some say it's impossible to enforce a phone-free high school because of our open campus. I think that's ridiculous. We are supposed to be the number one school district in the state. Let's get creative people. We can do better than what is happening now. When I first started teaching, students would interact with each other in the hallways during passing periods. Now many students are staring down at their phones or having half conversations with peers, communicating that whatever their friends are saying is not as important than what is on their phone. Okay, so now I've got a few more for teachers. There's absolutely no reason that teachers should have the power to approve students to use cell phones in classes for academic purposes. The kids are given crow books, There are iPads around. That is enough. When my son was in ninth grade, he had this one teacher who made them put phones in these little shoe slots on the door. That was the policy. He said it was his best class because everyone concentrated so well. It's like, yeah, because they couldn't use their cell phones. Last year it was more wishy-washy. This year it was more clear. Cell phones are supposed to be away during class time, but obviously they're using them anyway.

Thank you. Thank you. Um... Meade Greenberg.

Thank you. Allison Price.

Hello my name is Allison Price I am a parent of two children at Captain Elementary. I am here in support of taking a look and implementing a much stronger Phone policy at school, specifically maybe using a yonder pouch where it's put away during the school day but students still have it. It's my understanding that all of the schools have landlines in each room. So in the case of an emergency, teachers can get a hold of the right people. And some of the research shows that in an emergency, you don't want 500 people in a building clogging up the airwaves, trying to call their parents. They need to be focusing on listening to their teacher or the adult in the room on where to go and how to be safe. In addition, you know, when we were younger, we didn't have access to smartphones. And if we made a mistake or we tripped and made an embarrassment of ourselves at school or someone didn't like our outfit, they couldn't Snapchat it and shame us into history to live online forever. Putting my teacher hat on for a second, I do teach early childhood but I used to teach middle school and elementary school and it is not fair with everything else that teachers and educators do now in 2024 That is so much to add to their plate to police cell phone usage. They already have the Chromebooks and laptops, and that can be enough of a distraction. Having cell phones and smartwatches is just one more thing to keep them away from learning and connecting with one another. And when we talk about the portrait of a graduate, I would say having them during this critical social, emotional, and physical brain development time This will support them in the real world if they learn how to communicate, stand up and talk to you face-to-face. We're not on Zoom right now. We're in person. And my voice is shaking a little bit because I'm a little bit nervous, but this is good for me. So, you know, on Zoom, not so scary, right? In person, very scary. Oh, thanks. Anyway, I think when we talk about the portrait of a graduate, I think this could be something that really supports them and could even really set them apart when they get older and are out in the real world, that people will be saying, wow, that individual is really engaged. They're really in tune with what things are going on. They're not constantly distracted and looking at their phone. So that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Benjamin Brockhaus.

Hello, I'm Benjamin Brockhouse. I'm 11 years old and I just finished fifth grade at Merrimack Elementary School. I'll be starting at Whitehall Middle School in the fall. I believe that kids should not have phones in school during school hours because kids play video games in class. I think Quachin schools are great because they teach us lots of things and it's not worth missing out on that learning. I hope Quachin School Board makes good rules about phones so that students like me can have a good education. Thank you.

Thank you Benjamin. Susan Brockhouse.

Hi my name is Susan Brockhouse. First of all thank you again for your service to the district. As you probably know in my day job I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and I co-lead the FBI St. Louis school safety initiative for the entire eastern half of Missouri. since 2021. We focus in our conferences for school administrators on topics such as the dangers of cyberbullying, sextortion and other online risks to minors. However, here tonight I'm speaking in a personal capacity as a parent. My husband and I have three students, Benjamin, a rising third and first grader at Merrimack as well. I and several other parents came to speak to you 18 months ago at a November 2022 board meeting. to request the same thing that parents tonight are asking for, that the school district would create a policy that prohibits the use of personal phones during school hours from the start to the end of the school day. In the past 18 months, the board has taken no action on this issue. The school district continues to lack a cohesive enforceable district-wide policy on personal cell phone use. The current individual policies at each school are not adequate because when phones are even within physical reach of students, they will reach for them just as we do as adults. The main objections we heard in November 2022 from the board were that one, the scientific data on the topic was lacking or unavailable to the board and two, that it was not in the board's jurisdiction to handle this issue. Regarding objection one, we sent a lengthy packet of data in February 2023 and studies to every member of the school board, every assistant superintendent and school principal. Regarding number two, that it was not in the school board's purview, policing policy should not be the individual jobs of principals. A district policy ensures that every single teacher or principal is accountable to the same policy. There seems to be some concern by the board about how this will affect current students at the high school and how those parents feel. But primarily, we're honestly not making this policy primarily for the current high school students. It's for the future kids, for the next generation of high school students. And these current elementary and middle school students and their families and parents that are here have the benefit of additional years of information that the current high school student and parents didn't have, which shows the tremendous amount of distraction that comes from having these phones in our classrooms. I want to note that Clayton's new phone policy should clearly have an exception for students with special needs who need the technology of phones to learn or to regulate their health. In conclusion, Clayton prides itself on being a top St. Louis public school, but when it comes to this issue, we're not. We are lagging behind because we lack a clear district policy that prioritizes learning over phones. We are quickly being surpassed by our neighboring public and many private schools on this issue. Now is the time, this spring and summer, to be a leader on this issue. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Kelly Karanjeff.

Good evening. My name is Kelly Karanjeoff. And I'm the parent of a rising 9th and 12th grader at Clayton High School. I'm an alum and I'm an educational researcher doing research with students and faculty in the higher ed space. And I'm really excited by the prospect of the board taking up the issue of a phone-free school day and encouraged by the movement among so many community members in support of this issue. What an opportunity to innovate and lead in the way that we are known for. With over 500 people signing the petition and more coming on board each day, it's clear many families are grappling with and concerned about the impacts of pervasive phone use on the development of our kids. I know many like me are compelled by the mounting evidence about the negative ways phones in schools distract from students' academic performance and social and emotional wellbeing. And I know many like see the challenges the mere presence of phones present to kids' relationships with each other their educators their communities and of course close to home their families. I know many like me want to be part of a district that demonstrate what it means to be a leader making tough choices and taking action when it's the right thing to do. I can think of no better choice than this one when realizing the district's strategic plan of developing learners in head and heart. I'm hopeful the board sees the promise and potential of a district wide policy It takes the pressure off our educators to make individual daily calls on their own about enforcing what is currently a nebulous approach to this issue. And I'm hopeful the district's leadership will see the value of collaborating with parents students experts and educators in finding a solution that better positions our learners to thrive while enrolled in our schools and once they graduate. And I really want to underscore the engagement of students. Clayton students are creative, smart, and caring. No doubt educating them about why the district is taking this action and involving them in the solution will increase buy-in and secure the success of this important decision. Thank you for your consideration and thank you for your volunteer service in wrestling with these tough challenges and making the hard choices that make Clayton a model district. Thank you.

Thank you. Anna Ives. Did I pronounce that right? I'm sorry. Okay.

Thank you to all of you for everything that you do for our community. My name is Anna Ives. I'm the parent of a sixth grader and an eighth grader at Y down. And I'm an architect here with small business in Clayton. And I've taught architecture at Wash U and undergraduate and graduate level. We moved to Clayton for our oldest child to attend kindergarten in the Clayton District, and the known quality and progressive nature of the public schools here was the single most important factor in our decision. My husband and I both attended public schools, and to us, attending a public school is essentially the singular common civic act that remains in our society. This is where we learned to work with others who grew up in households of all kinds and and where we learn to work and learn and be inspired alongside a collective of humanity. We know from our own adult experiences, I was just sitting back there getting text messages from my daughter and not listening, that it's easier to check our phone than to deal with the situation at present that we maybe wish to avoid. When we're in our phone worlds, we're not in the real world, and we learn from every human interaction that we have. At school for 13 years, we have a chance to instill a sense of civil community in our kids. Beyond high school, we begin to self-select through colleges, careers, and beyond. The data illustrating the negative impact technology has on our children and on all of us is staggering and indisputable. Just yesterday, I received another email from the counselor at Wydown about an anxiety group for girls. Learning to focus and absorb our present experience is a skill that the schools should be teaching, just like learning to use a planner. Post-millennial students and young professionals who've grown up without a before technology truly need help in building the skill to concentrate on this task. And removing the foam from a place of work is essential to this. My experience with my own kids, my students, and our young colleagues at our office is that upon implementation of a phone free space, there's nothing but gratitude for that respite. It's unfathomable. that in a district that presents itself as invested in the whole child as ours, that our policies would be lagging behind peer schools. And in the context of staggering research and concern feedback from parents, students, and especially teachers who are already overloaded with the mental health outfall of COVID and these technologies, allowing phones in classrooms undermines their ability to reach our students. and instead they're spending time policing device use or feeling frustrated by an inability to control the device use. We just need a simple, enforceable policy that keeps phones out of the classroom and the social spaces in our schools. Phones are here to stay. What a gift it would be if our graduates left high school knowing how to harness the best of what that technology has to offer while protecting the best abilities of their minds.

Thank you. Elizabeth McAnufo. ELIZABETH MCANUFO-

I am here submitting an opinion against the total cell phone ban in school. I honestly had no idea that teachers are struggling with this issue. It's unfortunate to hear that students are looking at their phones during class but it seems like this is an opportunity for parents to correct those behaviors without a draconian measures that would punish all. If we look at the profile of a graduate, this is a great opportunity for our students to practice self-actualization. Having a phone is part of life now and our students will have to navigate their phones, constant communication and increasing technology during college and their working life. This is the perfect time for them to practice good habits in a safe space with teacher and parent support. It seems really strange to me that our children at age 18 could leave campus, and I do support the open campus policy, but can't have their phones with them during the day. Just a few short months after leaving CHS, our children will be living independent lives. They need to learn these self-regulating skills before adulthood. For practical purposes, my child at the high school has ample free time during his free periods. We often communicate about logistics. If they're going off campus, they can use their phones to pay for lunch or text their friends to meet up. I know I had all kinds of worries before kids and phones were a reality in our house. In general, I'm working on not letting my fears and anxieties lead my parenting. In this case, they were so far unfounded. Mostly my kids use their phones to connect with friends, play games, and listen to music. We continue to have conversations about appropriate use and how not to be distracted when trying to focus. I recognize this is wildly different than the way we grow up and sometimes it's hard for me to wrap my head around it. But I do see good stuff in my kids having their phones. Jonah's used his phone during class for part of school work and created some really cool pieces at White Island for digital art. He frequently uses a calculator on his phone which saves us hundreds of dollars for having to buy a special one. And he also uses his phone after school to study with his friends for class. I do agree that some specific policies like students not having their phones during lunch to encourage socializing and perhaps not allowing them on buses on field trips would be helpful. But if my child in particular is being disruptive during class with their phone, I would hope that a teacher would reach out to me so I could correct that behavior at home. And finally, I encourage you to seek a broad range of opinions on this topic and others that come from a group of parents. I think many parents aren't even aware that they can come and address the school board or communicate directly with administrators And many probably don't even know that this conversation is happening right now. And finally, I just wanted to thank you guys. My kids had a great year at CAPS and Y down and at CHS. So thank you for your time and to the teachers as well.

Thank you. PJ McDaniel.

Well, thank you all for all of your service. My name is PJ McDaniel. I've got three boys, a rising third, rising fifth grader at Glen Ridge, and a rising seventh grader at Y-Down. We're currently up. No cell phone house. We signed the no cell phone goal by freshman year, so I thought I would share a little bit different perspective than what I've heard here so far, a lot of data-driven. I grew up in the private schools my whole life, and my wife and I chose to send our kids to public school here really for the curriculum, the teachers, and the community. It's been a home run. It's been great. I do talk to my peers that have sent their kids to private school, and I listen to the feedback that they have with their strict no cell phone policy. And the feedback from those parents has been clearly in favor of a no cell phone policy, and sitting here listening to just the conversations from the teachers and from the kids, I can see why it's so important. So I'm just here to tell you that we want to not fall behind when other private schools are allowing the no cell phone policy. It's really important that we don't fall behind and we really lead. So thank you again for all the time. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Andrew Choquette.

Andrew Choquette, I don't have to lean over too much here. Thank you very much for the time and we appreciate your service to the community. My name is Andrew Choquette. I'm a parent of three students in the Clayton School District and the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at WashU. I'm also one representative of a group of now more than 530 community members who have signed and submitted a petition to the board calling for a more robust and enforced district wide policy to eliminate phone use in Clayton classrooms. This is part of a larger effort to address the well-documented negative effects on students using phones during learning hours. The need to more adequately address the issue is rapidly gaining traction across Clayton High School, middle school, and elementary school parents. As support mounts from these active members of the community, we ask this board to properly address the issue. We see schools across the country effectively executing phone restrictions during class, including peer schools in our own area like the St. Louis Public Schools, SLU High, Ladue, MICDS, and all are having positive feedback with students, parents, and teachers. If Clayton is striving for educational excellence, why are the other local schools that are quite frankly alternative choices for Clayton families leading the effort while Clayton lags behind in creating desired outcomes? For example, Clayton High's current policy says use of electronic devices such as cell phones is prohibited during instructional time. And White Down Middle School's policy says electronic devices may not be used by students during the school day unless instructed by a teacher. Yet we've collected and documented many examples from parents that phones are frequently being used across the district for non-educational purposes during class hours. And we've collected feedback from teachers that they are overwhelmed trying to police phones in the classroom, which inhibits their ability to teach and the students' ability to focus. Are these just policies for policy's sake? Or are we as a district actually examining whether we are effectively reducing distraction in the classroom so that students can focus on learning and teachers can focus on teaching? This board's own strategic plan specifically identifies accountability as one of its core values and provides that the district will take responsibility for outcomes. This district's current policy has not created their intended outcomes. We respectfully ask the board to re-examine the effectiveness of the district school phone policies and take action. Policies do not lead to outcomes without enforcement. The time is now to be accountable and implement a more practical district-wide policy that helps our students focus on learning. And all the evidence indicates that we will not regret a decision to do so. We encourage you to take up the conversation with a mindset for actual changes for the next school year. And per protocol, we have corresponded with Dr. Patel and look forward to our formal engagement with her and the board to address such an important issue. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Okay. Christina, how do I say your last name? Yes. I was going to say

Buczek.

Buczek,

yes. I have some remarks prepared, but everybody has said so many wonderful things already. There's a movie called Erin Brockovich. Can you please nod if you've seen the movie? Okay, there's a scene in the movie where Erin Brockovich is talking to the woman, the mother, whose daughter has this horrible problem because of the contamination. And she's sitting there and the mom's saying, well, but no, it's okay. The doctor said that it was fine and it's not the water, it's not the And then the mom, like you can see, she rushes to the pool and she's like, get out of the water, get out of water, right? Like if our child was in the street, we would get them out of the street. We would save them. We would protect them. That is our job. I'm a teacher. I have taught for 20 years. I'm a parent. I have three children. My oldest is 21. So he came of age during this social media stuff. And we largely stayed out of it. We're not a family that posts on Facebook. I'll post comments on occasion, but their photos aren't on there. It's my job to protect my children. They should not just have their photos splashed all over the place by whomever choose to take their photo. I also agree with the mother who said it's our job as parents to help make sure that our children understand what's expected from our home. But not everyone has that kind of relationship with their parents, or not every parent is able to be as vigilant and be physically present to monitor their child's cell phone usage. Foolishly, once I said to my oldest child when he was a sophomore, I said, why don't you post on Snapchat? Does anyone want to hang out? I'm trying to hang out. And he did. I thought that was a good way, right? Cast a white net. Someone will reply. You'll be hanging out with friends in a half an hour. No one replied. It was the worst night. It was one of the worst nights of his high school because he was crushed, crushed because he got no response. Social media can be just as damaging when it doesn't make a connection to someone else. My child is still alive. My teenager is still alive. He is now 21. He is still alive. But other people's children aren't because maybe their child said something online and they couldn't manage the ramifications of that damaging effect. It is also my understanding that during COVID, when it was a health risk, we heeded the warnings and we all went home and it was virtual school and we made do and we did the best we could to try to make sure our kids got what they needed. This is not COVID, but this is a health risk. It's a very significant health problem. Clayton has always been like the prominent district. You have amazing teachers, amazing staff. They have amazing technology in the classrooms already. That's enough. Let's let the teachers do their job. Let's protect our kids from this. It doesn't need to be there. All the good things are already there. Thank you.

Thank you. And lastly, Christy Pickrell.

microphone and sit because i get nervous yep

it's okay

get comfortable um okay um so my name is christy pickerel um i am the mother of four kids three are in the clean system and one will be there eventually um i my day job is a mom i'm also an emergency medicine physician here at in st louis So while smartphones have undoubtedly revolutionized the way we communicate and access information, their presence within the school environment presents numerous challenges that cannot be overlooked. Talking about the detrimental impact on learning process, research has consistently shown that the mere presence, if it's not even out, knowing it's in the bag, hearing or listening, it can impair cognitive functioning and academic performance. The constant temptation to check notifications, browse social media, or play games distracts students from fully engaging with their lessons and impedes their ability to absorb and retain information. There's been a lot of talk about data. This is the stuff we know now. Data, you know, the research we have, if we wait five years or two more years, we're already behind them. We have to use what we know now. Asking for... You know, the research from, you know, two-year studies, that might not exist. It takes time to get those retrospective studies. So I think what we're faced with now is using the information we have. You know, smartphones don't just pull students away from schoolwork. They pull them from human connection. And if you have any doubts on this, on my small sample survey of asking middle schoolers on our block or high schoolers, what happens at lunchtime, they say it's within reach. It's on the table, sometimes in the back. And then it will always distract at some point from conversation. These little moments and these free breaks are the ding. This fractures the human connection due to time constraints during this board meeting. This like clock is really, you know, but I won't, I regret, I won't be able to dive into the social, emotional, mental, and safety concerns of smartphone use. I could talk about this topic forever seeing some of the firsthand things from being an EM doc here. What I did do is I did print out for you guys a bunch of data, including the Surgeon General's recommendations on smartphones, social media that are most updated, and some articles, which are from, like, some of them are from The Post and Atlantic. You know, take what you want, but there's definitely references in all of it just to take, and you can, you know, at your convenience to share. You know, I just must close in stating that the case for banning smartphones in schools is clear and compelling. The data we have right now. By doing so, we are prioritizing the well-being and academic success of our students. We're fostering a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. In a safeguard at minimum, at least during the school days, we can keep our kids safe from the myriad of risks posed by unchecked smartphone use. It is time to take a stand and reclaim our schools as spaces dedicated to learning, growth, and human connections.

Thank you. As I said before, everyone spoke. We don't respond to public comment here at the meeting. We will respond to each of you. I did not get that email. We did not get that email. Who was it sent to? Yeah, come speak. I didn't get it, but sorry. Thank you for speaking up.

My name's Tara Ramachandra. I'm the parent of a rising second and fourth grader. And thank you again for your time and all the comments of my fellow parents. I am going to continue reading a few quotes from the list compiled through Genevieve Caffrey. And I wanted to give voice to the teachers, because I think we've heard plenty from parents and from students as well. So these are quotes from middle school teachers. I don't want to tell admin or the board that I think phones are a problem, because then they'll think I'm not in control of my kids or not doing my job. When kids used to have to go to the bathroom, They would make a crisscross signal with their fingers, and I would just give them a thumbs up. There was no interruption to my train of thought or the lesson. Now that I know there are so many cell phones in their bags, when they ask to go to the bathroom, I ask to see their cell phone so they don't sneak it into the bathroom. It's disruptive to my train of thoughts and the lesson. I wish I didn't have to worry about cell phones being around at all. I wish there were more severe consequences for phones being out. Most teachers just say, hey, put it away over and over. I wish there was a culture where if a cell phone was out, it was more of an anomaly. When the intruder scare happened around two years ago at the middle school, it was really scary because we all have designated spots to go. All my students arrived except one. Later, security cameras showed my missing student walking around on her phone in the hallway where she wasn't supposed to be. She called her parents and her parents told her to run out of the building, so she did. It was so, so scary that we didn't know where she was. If it was a real intruder, she may have gotten hurt because she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. Or she could have gotten someone else hurt who may have gone back in looking. When one of my students was struggling with their phone, I carefully suggested to the parents that they could have their child leave their phone at home. I like these parents. They're so nice and normal. But they told me, we know it's hard, but tech is the future, and it's here to stay. So we need to teach them to be responsible digital citizens. First of all, they're 11 and 12 years old. Their brains are not fully developed yet. So it's like saying, alcohol and marijuana are going to be in their lives. They're here to stay, so we should just let them experiment with them now when they're young so they know how to deal with it in the future. No, that's insane. There are some things we just need to say no to. I've been given no curriculum or real support on how exactly to teach middle schoolers to be responsible digital citizens. Even if I did, I have a ton of other curriculum to teach. I'm not sure when I would teach this. I'm also one adult in a class of 20 kids. It's impossible for me to individually scaffold in the way they each need scaffolding to actually practice what we'd be teaching. I wish parents would not give their middle schoolers phones at all. Even if they don't interact with the phones in schools, they walk outside and immediately look at their phones. It's sad to see a group of middle schoolers walking home together with their necks down looking

Thank you. Jeff, do we have speaker cards still out? Like blank ones? I just want to make sure I get your contact information. So if there's a card, if you could fill it out or write it down on something. Thank you so much. Just because we didn't get your email. Thank you everybody for your comments. We will respond. Oh, is there someone else? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Come on up. I don't know why we didn't receive all of them. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Arthur and we have three kids in Clayton School District, one going to high school now, middle school, two elementary school kids. many things you heard from previous people, and we hosted a high school student from Barcelona two years ago, and she attended Clayton High School. And she shared with us many things, what's going on with the cell phones here at the high school. And she compared this to her school in Barcelona, which was also a very good school that she attended. And without any details, they're not many great things going with the cell phones here. And compare over there, when they come to school, they have lockers. Phone goes to the locker until the end of the day, just at some point. But they don't have use of phones during the school time. And I mean, I guess over there it's normal. And from the country I came from, it was normal as well. And I'm not sure even why is it so difficult to even force this policy, but I guess looks like it is difficult. So that's why we have this conversation here. I mean, logically and each one of us here knows that out of the good discipline just coming great things, you know, nothing bad coming out of the good disciplined. So I, In our personal family, we have a policy that high school only getting the cell phone. And the only reason why she's getting the cell phone because I don't want her to be felt out with other students in high school that you don't have a phone. And maybe somebody going to be offended that, oh, my kid need to have a phone to pay for things, to do things. But for those things, we can use some other methods of payments or communication or whatever. One good thing I heard that is should be like simple solution how to store the phones in the school. So it's simple, it's not complicated or we need to now build the whole, I don't know, facility for it. We can just simply create like, you know, cell phone corner with like many like little cubbies that, you know, you come to school, drop the phone in, you're leaving the school, get it out, go do what you need to do. But we just need to maybe establish some community that will handle this and can create it very simple without going too difficult. So thank you for your time. I really also appreciate all your great work. Thank you.

Thank you. And I want to make sure I get your contact information as well. Oh, Dr. Weins has in the back. Thank you. So we will follow up by email. Thank you everyone for taking time to come here and share your thoughts with us. I think everything that we all have heard, Dr. Patel has heard between you and the board suggesting things that we wanna hear has definitely given us a lot to think about so I appreciate it. We are gonna move on now to superintendent communications.

Thank you, thank you everyone again for attending. Appreciate it. I'll pause for a moment. You

don't want to stay for the rest of the riveting board meeting? No, can I

do that?

Okay, Superintendent Communications, Dr.

Patel. Great, thank you everyone. Okay, so it is hard to believe that the school year's over and this is the last board meeting of the year. So the past couple of weeks we've spent a lot of time just celebrating our students because it's the end of the year. We've had lots of fifth grade promotion, with lots of Kleenex, because I actually attended the one at Glenridge, and it was just hearing the teachers talk about their students and how much they've succeeded this summer, or throughout the year, and now they're going off to middle school. And just to hear the stories, it was incredible. I mean, it truly is like you need some Kleenex for those days. And then we had the eighth grade promotion, so thank you for all the board members that attended that. I thought a good tradition in that is when The middle school principal, Dr. Jordan, hands the class off to the high school principal. It's just kind of nice to see that. And then, of course, we had graduation. I do want to thank all the individuals that emailed us after graduation to just give us positive feedback about this year's graduation and how they really appreciated the focus on the students and how it flowed really well. So we got several comments on that. So thank you to all those parents. Now that we're heading into summer, doesn't mean that we stop learning. So we have our Summer Academy starting. So we have our Elementary Summer Academy, Wydown Summer Academy, and Clayton's Summer Academy already started. The high school one started Monday. Elementary one started today. And they're at Glenridge and at the high school. And overall this year... we've seen an increase of 11 percent in summer academies and really the majority of that is at the high school with about i think a little over 20 increase in enrollment at the high school and that's really due to the virtual classes So personal finance health and government. So a lot of students are starting to enroll in those courses and that's a good thing. So we have that happening. And then also one of the things growing up is actually I didn't put that up there. Hold on, I wanted to share one. Oh yeah, one of the items that we actually have is just the fact that we're not only just learning with our students, our adults are learning. So this summer we offer summer institutes and if you can just look on the slide there, We have 65 institutes, like classes being offered for adult learners, 687 registrations. Compare that to last summer where we had 41 institutes and 467 sign up. So our staff is engaged in learning throughout the summer. Curriculum writing, we have 56 projects with 176 writers, and that doesn't include all of the individuals that lead all the curriculum writing, like our coordinators who work so hard. And some of the new courses I thought was interesting for the board to know and the community that they're going to be writing this summer, the medical detectives, sports broadcasting, and the other two listed up there. So those are new courses that we're going to be writing over the summer. But I really want to commend the staff for still continuing to learn throughout the summer and coming here for that. And then we have the long-range facilities plan. So that is up and running. Over the past couple of weeks, they went to every school. They did the building tours with the principal. John Brazeal attended, went with them. I think Jim Brunel went to a couple of them as well. But they did all the building tours. And then they are now just reviewing all the existing data that we already have. So that includes all of our tier one audit, HVAC, the old master plan that we had. And then they're going to do over the summer a lot of exterior, like looking at the athletic fields, the playgrounds, lighting, pavements, and all that. then at the same time we're really focused on creating our steering committees and subcommittees so as of this morning i think we've got it all mapped out all the meetings at all the buildings including the community forums and we just confirmed today with paragon that those work and now we'll communicate that out to the buildings get it on the calendar so we don't have any conflicts hopefully try to avoid that um and then get going on those. And then on September 4th board meeting, Paragon will come back again and just give us an update on everything that happened in regards to the long-range planning this summer, just to give everyone a progress update on that and where we're headed with all that work. So that'll be coming up in September. And then finally, I just wanna close by thanking everybody. Incredible school year and yes we have challenges and yes we have adversity but I really wanna thank all of our incredible students, our parents, our staff and each one of you who volunteer your time here. We really couldn't do it without the support of that. I'm lucky. I always say that because I get to witness the incredible, incredible things that happen every single day in the buildings. And I'm honored to get to see that. And I always have a quote in one of the admin conference rooms and it's been there, I think, for a year and it's like not erased yet. So I really appreciate that. But it says, if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. And I really believe that love is tied to your personal purpose. And so for us, I think our purpose is clear. It's our students and where we want them to go. So I think in times of challenges or adversity, you have to stick to your core and your purpose. And we get through everything. So I really want to thank everybody for an amazing year. And let's have an awesome summer and continue to work hard. Thank you.

Patel. Great, thank you everyone. Okay, so it is hard to believe that the school year's over and this is the last board meeting of the year. So the past couple of weeks we've spent a lot of time just celebrating our students because it's the end of the year. We've had lots of fifth grade promotion, with lots of Kleenex, because I actually attended the one at Glenridge, and it was just hearing the teachers talk about their students and how much they've succeeded this summer, or throughout the year, and now they're going off to middle school. And just to hear the stories, it was incredible. I mean, it truly is like you need some Kleenex for those days. And then we had the eighth grade promotion, so thank you for all the board members that attended that. I thought a good tradition in that is when The middle school principal, Dr. Jordan, hands the class off to the high school principal. It's just kind of nice to see that. And then, of course, we had graduation. I do want to thank all the individuals that emailed us after graduation to just give us positive feedback about this year's graduation and how they really appreciated the focus on the students and how it flowed really well. So we got several comments on that. So thank you to all those parents. Now that we're heading into summer, doesn't mean that we stop learning. So we have our Summer Academy starting. So we have our Elementary Summer Academy, Wydown Summer Academy, and Clayton's Summer Academy already started. The high school one started Monday. Elementary one started today. And they're at Glenridge and at the high school. And overall this year... we've seen an increase of 11 percent in summer academies and really the majority of that is at the high school with about i think a little over 20 increase in enrollment at the high school and that's really due to the virtual classes So personal finance health and government. So a lot of students are starting to enroll in those courses and that's a good thing. So we have that happening. And then also one of the things growing up is actually I didn't put that up there. Hold on, I wanted to share one. Oh yeah, one of the items that we actually have is just the fact that we're not only just learning with our students, our adults are learning. So this summer we offer summer institutes and if you can just look on the slide there, We have 65 institutes, like classes being offered for adult learners, 687 registrations. Compare that to last summer where we had 41 institutes and 467 sign up. So our staff is engaged in learning throughout the summer. Curriculum writing, we have 56 projects with 176 writers, and that doesn't include all of the individuals that lead all the curriculum writing, like our coordinators who work so hard. And some of the new courses I thought was interesting for the board to know and the community that they're going to be writing this summer, the medical detectives, sports broadcasting, and the other two listed up there. So those are new courses that we're going to be writing over the summer. But I really want to commend the staff for still continuing to learn throughout the summer and coming here for that. And then we have the long-range facilities plan. So that is up and running. Over the past couple of weeks, they went to every school. They did the building tours with the principal. John Brazil attended, went with them. I think Jim Brunel went to a couple of them as well. But they did all the building tours. And then they are now just reviewing all the existing data that we already have. So that includes all of our tier one audit, HVAC, the old master plan that we had. And then they're going to do over the summer a lot of exterior, like looking at the athletic fields, the playgrounds, lighting, pavements, and all that. then at the same time we're really focused on creating our steering committees and subcommittees so as of this morning i think we've got it all mapped out all the meetings at all the buildings including the community forums and we just confirmed today with paragon that those work and now we'll communicate that out to the buildings get it on the calendar so we don't have any conflicts hopefully try to avoid that um and then get going on those. And then on September 4th board meeting, Paragon will come back again and just give us an update on everything that happened in regards to the long-range planning this summer, just to give everyone a progress update on that and where we're headed with all that work. So that'll be coming up in September. And then finally, I just wanna close by thanking everybody. Incredible school year and yes we have challenges and yes we have adversity but I really wanna thank all of our incredible students, our parents, our staff and each one of you who volunteer your time here. We really couldn't do it without the support of that. I'm lucky. I always say that because I get to witness the incredible, incredible things that happen every single day in the buildings. And I'm honored to get to see that. And I always have a quote in one of the admin conference rooms and it's been there, I think, for a year and it's like not erased yet. So I really appreciate that. But it says, if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. And I really believe that love is tied to your personal purpose. And so for us, I think our purpose is clear. It's our students and where we want them to go. So I think in times of challenges or adversity, you have to stick to your core and your purpose. And we get through everything. So I really want to thank everybody for an amazing year. And let's have an awesome summer and continue to work hard. Thank you.

Thank you for an awesome school year. We appreciate all you do, Nisha. If it weren't for you, right, the awesomeness would not be occurring. So thank you. Let's see. Action item 4.01, John, the proposed 2024-2025 budget.

Good evening everyone. Tonight we're presenting the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. It's similar to the preliminary budget I presented three weeks ago. There have been some number refinements. We boosted a little bit of revenue due to understanding exactly what the Vick revenue would be and we had some minor adjustments in some of the expenditures but I would none of them were material changes. The budget is balanced And we're pleased that it was balanced easily this year. We're still in a a trend from the last tax increase that were able to balance our budgets without a lot of difficulty I think it includes all the initiatives that the buildings and departments need So we're pleased with that Our budgeting process is year-round, and you've seen this slide before, so I won't cover it again. But these are some of the steps we go through during the year. These are the highlights of this year. We've balanced the budget. We think we've reasonably estimated all the revenues and expenditures. Our debt is in a good position to be paid off in five years. Our capital projects have been programmed. There are no what I would call major construction items. We're not borrowing any money to build any major ground up kind of projects. We are doing some renovations and other minor work at the buildings. We like to connect our budget to the strategic plan, and we have examples here of how we connect to each of the three goals. Goal one, a place for everyone, and we have a variety of things that help students be safe, students and staff. Goal two, as we grow as learners, we're connecting to our curriculum and other educational growth opportunities. And then finally, goal three and head of heart, we're supporting the well-being of our staff and students. I put this slide in here to let you know that our budgets are intended to be student centered and that our building principals are encouraged to use these resources to drive student achievement. The budget itself document is about 40 pages long, and there's about seven different views that carve the numbers up in different ways to help us all gain an understanding of what those numbers are. So if you have any questions about those at any time, we'd be happy to review those with you. Overall, our revenue will be about $77.3 million this coming year. Historically, that is from a budget perspective down a little bit from last year. In years where there is reassessment, we typically surge a little bit. So that was this past year. For next year, it's not a reassessment year. We typically fall back a small amount. Our expenditures are proposed at $76.4 million. This is the view that shows salaries, benefits, services and supplies along with capital and debt payments. Same information sliced differently shows instruction support non-instruction along with the debt requirements we have for this year. Here's a historical comparison showing how we're growing. Our growth this next year is proposed at about 1.4 percent. Our fund balances for next year will grow slightly. They could grow further as we go through the year and hopefully we've been conservative with our revenue projections and bring our expenditures under budget. We fully expect to meet these numbers. This is a historical 25-year comparison of our fund balances, the blue being total fund balance, the orange being that portion of the fund balance which is our operational budget. In closing, our financial health remains strong. We continue to have a AAA bond rating. And I'll be happy to take any questions or comments.

I'll just open it up. Does anyone have questions or comments? Oh, yeah. Sorry, Chris, read the motion first. Second. Okay, now does

anyone have a question or comment?

I don't have a comment. I just appreciate, John, you and your team's hard work in putting this together. I know it takes a while. And this is the second year that this board has seen the budget presented in such a way that aligns with the strategic plan. And I think being able to make those calls is really helpful to understand sort of where we're making investments for our community. So I appreciate that work, too. That's it.

Anyone else? Kim? Yep. I just want to echo that sentiment. I'm glad to see that the district, you know, finances look very healthy. The 1.2% increase in revenue is right in line with the 1.4% or decrease in revenues in line with the, you know, in line with the increase in expenses and vice versa. And the, you know the fact that we're still expecting to maintain or grow the fund balance over that's pretty, it's impressive. You know this Because we're several years now past Prop E and Prop C. So great job. Oh, the only other thing I would add is you and I were having a conversation about materiality. And you mentioned the word materiality. So just as part of our kind of collective former treasurer, current treasurer effort to educate the rest of the board and the community on what do we consider a materiality threshold. Can you kind of comment on what you consider materiality in the budget? And then maybe, Jason, you can shed a little light on what we talk about as far as when you review the budget kind of on a monthly basis, what you look for as a treasurer.

Materiality for me in this budget is around $500,000. So below that, it's still a large number, but we don't treat it necessarily as material as we would above it.

I guess I'll respond to that. So the question was, Kim and I were talking earlier this week about what's worth sort of double-clicking into and, you know, what's not for the purpose of this meeting. And we sort of thought any time that there's a big swing of, you know, six figures or more, so a little less than what you're talking about, whatever, that we might call it out and ask a question about what is this specifically just so that the community can hear the answer. Or if there's a variance of maybe 10 double digits or more, if you're looking at the fund disbursements. So that's sort of how I'll look at it. If someone wants to set different thresholds, we can talk about it offline. But that's generally how I'm going to look at it when we look at the financial reporting.

From that standpoint, we don't have a lot of swing. That's right. And that's the other context I was going to

add is that in my experience as treasurer and looking at the budget over these years, there are very few instances where we see that, which is an indication that. As you guys are seeing the summary here, that the building principles and the way that the budget is being put together is pretty accurately a reflection of what the actual expenditures result in. So it's only when we, you know, when I, when in the very few occasions we see those large variances that I might ask a question. And often it's a case of, well, last year we budgeted it here, but this year we put it here so it made more sense. And that's why you see the year-over-year variance. In 90% of the cases, I think that was the answer, so.

True. There is more specificity in this when it comes to salaries. We clumped a lot of them together last year, like all the high school was clumped together. This year, the business office, I mean the business department, the CTE, the other facts, all those are separated out now. So there is more detail in that.

Thank you. That all makes sense as far as the thresholds, Jason, that you're going to pay attention to and that even are material for us to pay attention to. So thanks. And thanks again, John, for making the presentation very easily understood by me and all of us, I should say. Did you want to say something,

Pam? There was a slide that had a whole bunch of one-point percents, and then one of them, I think it was last year, was 8%. I think I understand what that's from, but I'm wondering if you could just put that out there for all those people watching and listening.

This

one? I believe I know what that's

from. The primary driver of that 8% was salary growth last year as we sought to keep pace with inflation with teacher salaries and other support staff salaries.

Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments? Okay, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye, anyone opposed? Okay, motion passes. Thank you, John. Thank you. Okay, 4.02, tuition support. Do you wanna read the motion, Chris?

tuition support structure as presented.

I just want to tell Dr. Arnold that I appreciate that we, on behalf of the teachers I should say, I appreciate that we looked at this and have them up to now competing with market value districts. I think as Dr. Patel showed us earlier, just from our own summer institutes, there's clearly interest for our teachers to do advanced learning on their own and I'm happy to now know that they will be reimbursed at the rate that all of our market districts are. So thank you for the work to do that. Anyone else have any questions or comments?

I'll just reiterate what you said. This is such an important thing that we're doing for our teachers, and it's going to have multiple years of benefits for our students and our teachers. So thank you so much for catching this and for making sure that we're where we need to be in order to support our leaders being learners, right?

Yeah. Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye, anyone opposed? No, okay, motion passes. Okay, consent agenda items 5.02 through 5.11. Chris, could you read the motion?

I move to approve consent agenda items 5 .02 through 5 .11. Second.

Any questions or comments on consent agenda? Okay, all those in favor, aye?

Aye.

Aye, anyone opposed? Okay, no, motion passes. Okay, moving to 6.01, board committees. Chris, I believe you had a governing, SSD governing council meeting? I did.

The SSD as a district is undergoing a lot of budgetary challenges at the moment. There was a special meeting called among the governing council to really try to understand what has happened in the past, why they're in the challenging place that they are. Once that working group got together and made a lot of effort, the last meeting was very hopeful. Dr. Macklin was wonderful along with his team in helping to really reassure the governing council that they have what they know, they have a lot of great plans in place for making sure their budget gets back on track. And sort of, he kept saying, riding the ship. I was very impressed with all of the ways that they had already discovered that they could change and reallocate, et cetera, et cetera, so I'm feeling very good about the way things will gradually become more sustainable and secure in terms of their budget. So other than that, the PAC Ed, the SSD PAC Ed was there and gave us a wonderful report about What's going on in terms of the SSD PAC, which actually has several double-digit numbers of parents coming, and that's huge, and it doesn't even happen in our district. So that's really wonderful that they're seeing that. The more involvement that we can have with our parents who have kids within the SSD, the better off the outcomes will be for these students. So I'm happy to hear that PAC is doing such an amazing job of getting parents involved as well.

Thank you. Pam, did you have an equity meeting?

We did. And this is my first time doing one of these reports, so bear with me and help me, Cameron, if I miss something. So I think that there were three main pieces to, three main parts of the Equity and Inclusion Committee meeting. One was to review the walkthroughs. They saw 180 classrooms in six buildings all in the month of April. looking at what he called a snap in time of high-level data. They had come up with a questionnaire of things that the people on the committee were looking for when they walked into these classrooms, and they just rated it, are they present or not, in these 20 minutes that were here. And then Cameron presented them to the group beautiful charts and we kind of divided up into groups and discussed them and came up with any questions we had about how he could I don't know edit that or change that for next year and so we had that discussion he then spoke about number two the there is a retreat for the whole committee on June 26th which I will not be a part of and then number three was the building equity report he had created building equity reports so the group divided up into the different buildings at each table and I believe the data came from panorama is that correct All of that, and the teachers sat in their buildings and discussed it and asked questions, and I thought it was beautiful. And I'm excited to be a part of this committee.

Good job, Pam. That's a good first report. Jason and Kim, I don't think you had any meetings, right? I didn't have any meetings either, but before I call on Gary, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Pride Month. And... I know, speaking of equity and inclusion, I'm really proud of the way that our district is inclusive of the LGBTQIA community, especially including the gender-neutral bathrooms that we have built in the last few years, among many other clubs and organizations and support from our teachers and staff. So I just wanted to acknowledge that for our entire community. And then I will turn it over to Gary. Oh, sorry. Can I say something? Yeah, you can say something.

I know this is board reports, but before we close also and before we go to Gary, I want to take a moment to thank Dr. Arnold and Dr. Wiens. This is their last board meeting in the school district of Clayton, and I want to wish you both tremendous luck and good wishes for your next chapter in your journey, and I really want to thank you for your dedication and commitment to all that you've done for us. It does not go unnoticed, so thank you, and best wishes to you both.

On behalf of the board, I would like to echo that. Both of you have been a pleasure to work with. Incredibly smart and cooperative and collaborative and just, like I said, just great to work with. You always give us the information that we need with a smile on your faces. And we appreciate all the time you've given to the board but the entire district of Clayton and our community. So thank you. And Gary, I think, sorry that we got cut off. You had a Parks and Rec

meeting. Let's shift back to a little less emotional topic. But yeah, we did have a Parks and Rec Commission meeting this week. It was actually a very interesting meeting. The majority of the time was spent responding to and providing feedback for the staff on the Livable Community Draft Action Plan, which is some reason a mouthful for me to say the city went through a planning and public engagement process of getting input on parks and rec facilities and different aspects of that in terms of citizen surveys and focus groups and things like that and this was the first kind of unveiling I guess of the draft action plan with goals goals metrics and and strategies about how those were going to be implemented. And it was credibly detailed. There was a lot of feedback around, can the Parks and Rec department do all of this but there's a lot of really great ideas that they talked about so we gave some feedback about how some of that could be clarified and whether things could be measured or not and things that we do all the time so that was really great and I just would encourage those things were all available the commissions on the website and stuff that information it was a lot to digest so if anybody has more interest in that that's definitely a place to go This time of year, everybody's remembering how much time they love spending in the parks and the pool and things like that. So it's great to see some of the planning behind that.

And did anyone else have any other communications?

Are we done, I guess?

I think, yeah.

All right. Well, I did ask Stacey and Dr. Patel for a few minutes to talk about kind of a personal announcement for me, I guess, which is not something that I'm at all happy about announcing, but it is important. And this may feel a little bit impersonal to be telling you all this this way. But I thought it was really important to be able to kind of explain the reasons for it and just be able to certainly talk about it or answer questions. But if you know me at all, I'm a relatively private person and don't like to have different one-off conversations and stuff like that. So I just wanted to kind of talk to you all about it at once. So to get to the point, I have made the decision that it will be best for the district if I do not complete the balance of my term. a director and you can imagine that's not an easy choice um this is a it's been one of the highlights of my entire professional and personal life to be involved in this and it will always be that um so it's it's a hard thing to ever stop doing as some of us know but i do want to explain the reason for this and talk about the tying A lot of you all know that a year or so ago, I took my law firm that I had for 10 years kind of on my own and made that a part of a larger firm here in Clayton. And I now get to sit like 30 seconds from here at the Cape Sokol office every day and drop a high schooler off or be close to meetings and things like that. And that's really great. It's been a great opportunity that I'm really thankful for. But one of the Other effects of that has meant that there have been, as you all unfortunately know, complications in terms of the firm's clients and having to recuse myself from things. And that's been challenging. It's impacted both work-work and this work both. And so that's been difficult. And we now... This is... it's such a small community. We have three people on this board who are either work for or their families work for clients of our firm and there's just going to be more situations when this comes up. So it's it's really hard to make this decision, but I do really believe that it's best to do that. It's really important to me that any decisions that we make, that the public knows, that those are not based on any kind of personal connections or business connections or even the appearance of that can be really poisonous and toxic to the public trust. And we saw that over the last year, unfortunately. And it was hard to see some of those suggestions. So I just think it's really important that people know that when we make those decisions, it doesn't have anything to do with those connections. So that's just something that's impossible to avoid sometimes in a small community, connected community. I like the fact that a lot of you have connections to my professional world, but it does make things complicated. So that's just what I've decided is the best thing to do, and that the board will be better if those potential conflicts and things aren't there anymore. So this is the decision. In terms of another reason that I wanted to talk about it tonight is just to address the timing This is not an urgent thing. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not I'm not moving There's no conflict, you know immediately right now so As some of you all know, we've gone through this before. The board has to, when there is a vacancy, start its process of filling that. So I want to be able to be just not cooperative, but just coordinated in the timing of that. It's summer. I didn't want this to disrupt things that we're doing at other times of the year. So we can work through that. There's no conflict with me today having to continue to do this, but it's also... You have you will all unfortunately have more work to do because of this and I know you'll need to get to that so I think I think that's it. I really have appreciated working with all of you I admire all of you for your time that you put into this and your commitment this district is amazing and all of you are inspiring and it's It's just been great. That's it. I'm sorry to take so much time and be so personal about this. I hate this attention, but it's a necessary thing. Thank

you. Well, Gary, I appreciate the explanation, which all makes sense. But more than that, I would like to publicly thank you for your many years of service on this board you've been on here longer than any of us and so you have such extensive historical knowledge that we all respect and value so I appreciate that you've been a very invaluable member of this board through many transitions and superintendents and all kinds of other changes so I appreciate that very much you've also been a friend to me personally and many of us and I appreciate that as well which will not end with this board so thank you for your explanation, and I'm sorry that you've been in this situation, which I know has been hard this year with your conflicts of interest. And I can imagine professionally how difficult that is for you. Just so the public is aware, just as a matter of like policy and business, I think, and you said like you're not going anywhere soon, but I think you have to submit it in writing. Right, yeah. when we receive that at our next meeting, which won't be till August at this point, which is fine. I think we like explain the process or declare the vacancy and then explain what happens. But I do remember, we've been through this before. I remember that we do need something in writing and then it's official and we'll move on from there in August. But I appreciate you offering your cooperation through the process as well. So thank you. Does anyone else want to

say something? Wow. And yes, we've been through this before, but under very different circumstances. So I mean, I just want to say, Gary, this is a perfect example of how you've always conducted yourself with the highest ethical and moral standards as a board member. And your reasons for wanting to step down make sense because of the person that you are and that compass that you use, which frankly has guided this board through difficult discussions a number of times. And I mean, you got here before me. And you're one of the reasons why I am here. So I'm very grateful. Sad to see you go, is what I would say. And thank you for all your years of service and leadership.

Thank you guys. I didn't say this so that you all would say these things. I realize there's some risk in that, but yeah.

Well, now there's more than you guys. Right, right, right, right. I'm not going to beat that. I haven't had the – you know, I've only worked with you for two years. It feels like I'm getting shorted here by another couple of years. But I appreciate your leadership on the board and the institutional knowledge that you carry and the fact that you were, like, the only person wanting to go to the Hampton Inn with me after. Right. Absolutely. So there's a slot open for anyone who's interested. And I'm happy that this is happening under circumstances that you remain a supporter of the district, and I trust and know that you're a phone call away because I'm sure I'm at least going to call you at some point. So I appreciate that.

That's absolutely true. Thank you. Really, you guys don't have to say anything. I'm going to have to. I want to. What was I thinking?

I'm very going to brief. I just want to say thank you for all the things that you've taught me as a board member. Thank you for being welcoming to me as a new board member and for really establishing that you were available to help at any time. That was really meaningful to me, so I appreciate it. I also want to say good luck in your next move. I know that this is a transition and it'll feel different for you because you've given so much of yourself. But I guess I just want to be the, you know, when one door closes, another one opens. So I just want to wish you the best of luck in all that you do going forward.

Thank you. Not to start any rumors or

anything. How did you know?

Yeah. That too. Well, thank you guys. I really do mean everything that I said and I know it's still disruptive and I'm sorry but I will be as supportive as I possibly can through that process. We'll coordinate the timing. I've thought about that endlessly as you can probably imagine but we'll make it as smooth as possible and really

I appreciate that so much. I think we all probably do and I also will probably be calling you Gary knows policy and rules and Robert's rules better than anyone.

I've forgotten more.

I'll run all my policy questions by you. Anyway, so thank you for being open to helping us through the process, and we all appreciate that. I move that the Board of Education adjourn. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay, motion passes. Meeting adjourned. Happy summer.