June 5, 2024

Machine-generated transcript — may contain errors.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you Thank you 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. Oh, wait. Sorry.

That's okay. I move that we adopt the agenda as posted. Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded.

All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Okay. Motion passes. Okay, the next item on the agenda is public comments, and I realize we have quite a few. Before we get to those, though, I just wanted to say a few words.

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 use 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, most importantly, 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 is 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 us 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 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 pre-existing 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.

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 well-being. 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 Thank you.

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 it really, we have policies that address this already.

We have school Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. 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 Y-Down 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 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 make is if your team is unable to or does not complete the research in this summer the stuff that we proposing that we asking you tonight then in the building policies remain the same that could mean that a new policy if one is determined that we want one would not be a policy Thank you That's the timing of when the research is completed and how that will impact potential changes that want to be made.

Okay, 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, you know, are really for it and really against it because, you know, and the open campus policy that we have, which, you know, 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 in other parts of the school, when you're passing period, your greyhound time, you 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? Thank you.

That's 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 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 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, you know, 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. 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.

Okay, 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. Spervantage of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. Thank you.

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, us 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 going to 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 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 want to be responsible for anyone else 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 like the kids are alcoholics and were drinking in their first class and now they pissed that they are in your class and you took their bottle away I was in a colleague class observing and the kids were mainly on Amazon shopping watching Nutfix and TikTok The cell phone thing at the high school it totally out of control I 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 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 Chromebooks, 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. Mead Greenberg. Good evening.

My name is Meade Greenberg. I am a parent in the district. I'm also a former student a million years ago and a former teacher of elementary and middle school students. I would just want to say with regards to all the talk about the data that we're searching for, I think that is so wonderful to, obviously we have to make decisions based on research.

I also think that it's not irresponsible to just ignore or to just take into account our gut feeling on the issue because I think we probably all can understand that it is a depressing sight to see young people staring at their phones, not interacting with each other. I think that there's a lot of research that probably supports what all of us collectively think, whether that's one thing or another, but I think we all also instinctively feel sad about some of the things that our kids are having to deal with that was not part of our adolescence and growing up. I would just like to say, so that was just based on what you all were saying. I know that there is a tremendous amount of work that the school board administrators and teachers do to craft curriculum, determine alignment, and to help students develop healthy social and emotional skills.

The fact that all of this hard work can be, and in many students' cases, likely is being derailed by the phones in our schools is disheartening. And frankly, I do believe it should be one of the top priorities for this school board going forward. I think the strategic plan is a beautiful document and vision, and I think it would be a shame for all of that work to kind of be only partially achieved or seen through because our students are on phones during school day. And their mental capacity is being taken away because they're thinking about social media or whatever somebody's posting.

None of us can disagree that phones are distracting, even adults. We feel that compulsion when we hear phones buzzing in our pocket or in our purse. And I think it's important to recognize that we're talking about children. And they obviously don't even have the self-regulation that we do, which is not a lot.

I think probably all of us agree that there's some sort of addiction that's happening with us and our phones. So I think it is up to us and to the school board and to the administrators in the building to be the adults in the room and to decide what is correct policy for the students while they are in school. I also, as I was driving here, I saw the signs, you know, don't provide alcohol to youth and underage kids And I think that that a great policy and you know we should be talking about that I think that probably in years to come we will be looking at cell phones and smartphones and social media as as damaging to the social emotional wellness of our kids as alcohol can be to them physically So I think that Clayton is a district that can be at the forefront of this and recognizing that we need to protect our kids and that we do need to prepare them, but they don't need alcohol underage. They don't need social media underage to be ready for the real world.

So thank you so much for your time. 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 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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.

Thank you. Thank you. Benjamin Brockhaus. Thank you, everyone.

On that learning. I hope Clayton School Board makes good rules about phones so that students like me can have a good education. Thank you. Thank you, Benjamin.

Susan Brockhaus. Hi, my name is Susan Brockhaus. 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 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 students Thank you Superintendent 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, this was not 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. Thank you, Madam Chair. 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 Karanjaf.

Good evening. My name is Kelly Karanjaf 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 well-being. And I know many like me 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 that 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 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 in the 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 learn to work with others and who grow up in households of all kinds 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 a 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 school should be teaching, just like learning to use a planner. Postmillennial students and young professionals who've grown up without a before technology truly need help in building the skill to concentrate on a 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. I am here submitting an opinion against a 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 schoolwork 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 why don't 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 in Wydown and at CHS, so thank you for your time and to the teachers as well. Thank you.

P.J. McDaniel. P.J. McDaniel.

Well, thank you all for all of your service. My name is P.J. 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 a 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. I'm trying not 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 Schochet. 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 be more, 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 the 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, LADU, 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 Y down middle schools policy says electronic devices may not be used by students during the school day unless instructed by a teacher Yet we collected and documented many examples from parents that phones are frequently being used across the district for non 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 student's ability to focus. Are these just policies for policy's sake?

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 reexamine the effectiveness of the district's 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. I mean, I know it's kind of 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. Thank you.

And we largely stayed out of it. We're not a family that posts on Facebook. I'll post comments on occasion, but there are photos on there. It's my job to protect my children.

They should not just have their photos splashed all over the place by whomever chooses to take their photo. So 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 goes, 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. So, 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. Can I take the microphone and sit kids Three are in the Clayton system and one will be there eventually My day job is a mom. I'm also an emergency medicine physician here 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, seeing, or reading, 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. To use now, asking for, you know, the research from two, 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, students don't just pull students away from schoolwork. They pull 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, at lunchtime, they always have a phone within reach. It's on the table, sometimes on the bed, and then it will always distract at some point from conversation. These little moments and these free breaks, this fractures the human connection. Due to time constraints during this board meeting, this clock is really, you know, whoo.

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. Thank you. 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. And to 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 connection. Thank you.

As I said before, everyone spoke. We don't respond to public comment here at the meeting. You will, 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 for all the comments of my fellow parents. I am going to continue reading a few quotes from the list compiled through Genevieve Caffrey. And And I wanted to give voice to teachers, since 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 thought 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? Could you, 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 Kotec, and we have three kids in Clayton School District, one going to high school now, middle school, two elementary school kids. And we, 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 and 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, there are 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, you know, like 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. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried.

So, you know, 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 the other students in high school that she don't have a phone. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. You know cell phone corner with like many like little cubbies that you know you come to school drop the phone in you information as well Oh Dr Wienb has it in the back thank you So I leave the microphone on the page and then I will get back to him Any word you want to say from that panel Because the panel has I would say that this person has a good sense of what we talking about and what we discussing about but once you know more about this first you got to understand what we talking about So this talk it about the best way to build a community by getting it to work I want to try and address both First and foremost, it's about building a community, what we're doing here.

We're trying to start a community, because this is how we start. And if we're not doing that, then we don't want our community to get the best answers. Thank you. I think that all is heard between you and the board suggesting things that we want to hear.

It's definitely given us a lot to think about, so I appreciate it. We are going to 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, Okay, so it is hard to believe that the school year is 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 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% 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. Spervantage of the year, 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. Pursuit and And the other two listed up there So those are new courses that we 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, you know, Tier 1 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.

And 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, 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, you know, like 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 want to close by thanking everybody. Incredible school year. And yes, we have challenges.

And yes, we have adversity. But I really want to 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, I 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. 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. Spervantage of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. Spervantage, Proprietary, and 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, in 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. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. 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%. 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. On 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?

Jason? 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 it aligns with the budget that we're seeing. Spervantage of 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 fact that we're still expecting to maintain or grow the fund balance over that, it's impressive. 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 is, 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 what's not for the purpose of this meeting. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. 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 in the very few occasions we see those large variances that I might ask the 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. 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? Mm-hmm.

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. Anyone opposed? Okay, motion passes.

Thank you, John. Thank you. Okay, 4.02, tuition support. Do you want to read the motion, Chris?

I move that the Board of Education approve the tuition support structure as presented. Okay. Second. I just wanted to make sure.

No. Does anyone have any questions or comments on this for Tony or Dr. Bernisha? Okay.

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, you know, market value districts. I think as, you know, 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, you know, 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, you know, 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 through 5 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 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, you know, 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, et cetera. So I'm feeling very good about the way things will gradually become, you know, 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, like, 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. 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 did, 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. Spervantage, and then Cameron presented them to the group, the 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, 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 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 for 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 Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried.

Superintendent, Board of Education, Proposition O, levy, agenda, motion carried. 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 as a director.

And you can imagine that's not an easy choice. 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. So 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. Superexpensive Board of Education Proposition O levy agenda motion carried And that been challenging It impacted both work work and this work both Thank you Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Suggestions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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. I can imagine professionally how difficult that is for you. Just so the public is aware, just as a matter of policy and business, I think, and you said you're not going anywhere soon, but I think you have to submit it in writing.

And then when we receive that at our next meeting, which won't be until August at this point, which is fine, I think we 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. 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 you're really, 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. Thank you. I mean, more than, 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. We never turned that in.

So there's a slot open for anyone who's interested. You know, 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.

So thank you. Really, you guys don't have to say anything. I'm going to have to. I want to.

What was I thinking? No. It's, yeah. I'm very going to brief.

I just want to say thank you for all the things that you 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 will 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. Yeah. Not to start any rumors or anything. How did you know?

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 think that's... 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.

Board of Education Business Meeting School District of Clayton June 5, 2024 Meeting Minutes

Members Present:

Ms. Stacy Siwak –President Ms. Kim Hurst –Vice President Ms. Chris Win –Secretary Mr. Jason Growe –Treasurer Mr. Gary Pierson – Director Dr. Pamela Lyss-Lerman - Director

Members Absent: Mr. Leo Human –Director

Non-Voting Attendees: Dr. Nisha Patel – Superintendent Dr. Tony Arnold – Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Robyn Wiens – Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Dr. Cameron Poole – Chief Officer of Equity, Inclusion & Accountability John Brazeal, Chief Financial Officer Heike Janis – Executive Assistant to Superintendent/Board of Education

1. Business Meeting – 7:00 p.m. Information: 1.01 Adequate Notice/Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m. Mr. Leo Human was absent due to a personal commitment.

Action: 1.02 Adoption of Agenda Adopt the agenda as posted. Motion by Chris Win, second by Kimberly Hurst. Final Resolution: Motion Carries Yes: Kimberly Hurst, Stacy Siwak, Gary Pierson, Chris Win, Pam Lyss-Lerman Not Present at Vote: Jason Growe

2. Public Comments Information: 2.01 Public Participation at Board Meetings Prior to the Public Comments, Board President, Stacy Siwak, addressed the audience and community regarding the request for discussion about cell phone use in Clayton schools. She provided information to the group about the timeliness of the request to add it to the agenda. Board members then shared their thoughts about the presentation for the fall and provided guidance to Dr. Patel, Superintendent, and the administration team what should be included in the presentation. The following parents/community members addressed the board members regarding cell phone use in schools: Charles Caffrey - Captain parent (opted to defer his speaking time to his wife, Genevieve Caffrey) Genevieve Caffrey - Captain parent Meade Greenberg - Wydown parent Allison Price - Captain parent Benjamin Brockhaus - Wydown student Susan Brockhaus - Meramec and Wydown parent Kelley Karandjeff - Wydown and CHS parent Anna Ives - Wydown parent Elizabeth Macanufo - Captain, Wydown, CHS parent PJ McDaniel - Glenridge and Wydown parent Andrew Choquette - Glenridge parent

Board of Education Meeting June 5, 2024 Page 2

Christina Buchek - Captain parent Christie Pickrell - Captain parent Tara Ramachandra - Captain parent Arthur Kotets - Meramec and Wydown parent

3. Superintendent Communications Information: 3.01 Superintendent Communications Dr. Nisha Patel provided an update regarding the district to the board members, audience, and community.

4. Action Action: 4.01 Proposed 2024-2025 Budget Approve the budget for 2023-2024, including expenditures sourced from federal grants, as presented. Motion by Chris Win, second by Stacy Siwak. Final Resolution: Motion Carries Yes: Kimberly Hurst, Stacy Siwak, Gary Pierson, Chris Win, Jason Growe, Pam Lyss-Lerman

Action: 4.02 Tuition Support That the Board of Education approve the Tuition Support structure as presented. Motion by Chris Win, second by Kimberly Hurst. Final Resolution: Motion Carries Yes: Kimberly Hurst, Stacy Siwak, Gary Pierson, Chris Win, Jason Growe, Pam Lyss-Lerman

5. Consent Agenda Action (Consent): 5.01 Consent Agenda Items 5.02 through 5.11 Resolution: Motion to approve consent agenda items 5.02 through 5.11. That the Board of Education approve the Tuition Support structure as presented. Motion by Chris Win, second by Kimberly Hurst. Final Resolution: Motion Carries Yes: Kimberly Hurst, Stacy Siwak, Gary Pierson, Chris Win, Jason Growe, Pam Lyss-Lerman

 5.02 Memorandum of Understanding with Chads Coalition  5.03 Early Childhood Curriculum  5.04 April 2024 Financial Reporting  5.05 April 2024 Disbursement Report  5.06 2023-2024 Budget Adjustments  5.07 Resolution Authorizing Disbursement of Funds  5.08 Food Service Management Agreement  5.09 Employee Benefit Consulting Services  5.10 Personnel  5.11 Approval of Minutes

Board of Education Meeting June 5, 2024 Page 3

6. Board Committees Information: 6.01 Board Committee, Community and Liaison Reports Ms. Chris Win provided an update from the SSD Governing Council meeting. Dr. Pamela Lyss-Lerman shared information about the Equity Committee meeting. Mr. Gary Pierson shared an update about the Parks & Recreation Committee meeting. Dr. Nisha Patel and Ms. Stacy Siwak thanked Dr. Tony Arnold and Dr. Robyn Wiens for their years of service to the district and wished them well in their future endeavors. Mr. Gary Pierson announced that he is not finishing his term as a board member and shared his reasons for resigning from the School District of Clayton Board of Education.

7. Adjournment Action, Procedural: 7.01 Adjournment That the Board of Education adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m. Motion by Chris Win, second by Stacy Siwak. Final Resolution: Motion Carries Yes: Kimberly Hurst, Stacy Siwak, Gary Pierson, Chris Win, Jason Growe, Pam Lyss-Lerman

______________________________________

___________________________________________ Stacy Siwak, Board President

Chris Win, Board Secretary

Date: June 5, 2024