Welcome to the Jordan School District Board of Education meeting. Today is Tuesday, May 26th, and we are happy to have with us present today all members of the Jordan Board of Education, as well as our our superintendent, associate superintendent, business administrator, and board attorney. Um, we're going to jump right in tonight. Board members, I'd like to rearrange the agenda a little. We have um lighthouse here with us tonight and but they have other obligations this evening. So are you comfortable if we begin with item 1D? Perfect. All right. Let's move then to a discussion on potential bond for filled houses and we will turn it to Mr. Larson. >> Uh thank you President George. With us tonight is Christy Leak with Lighthouse and she's here to present the results or um what they've learned from the focus groups that were held earlier this month. So I'll turn the time to her and then I've got some follow-up items that I can either do immediately after uh Christy is done or I can do them later in the evening too. However you wish. >> I think we should just stick on the topic until we're done with it. So thank you for being here. Oh, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Uh to to remind you, the the focus groups are a followup from the survey that we conducted with the general public. And so, uh the survey um was a way for us to gather statistically valid data and the focus groups are a way for us to explore why people think the way they do. And so that is the purpose for the focus groups. >> We conducted a total of three focus groups. These were held on May 6th and they were held at the offices of Lighthouse Research in Riverton, Utah. We had a total of 27 participants attend and these all uh consisted of adults living in the district boundaries and adults likely to vote in the November 2026 election. Uh we had a fairly even split of male and female respondents. Uh we had the majority of participants were homeowners as opposed to renters. and we had uh participing of residents of various cities within the district and of various ages. We asked respondents, we pattered um the discussion guide for the focus group largely after the survey um just for parallel structure. Um we we asked participants if they have children in the district and if so what athletic or extracurricular activities their children participate in. Uh we found that about a half of our participants uh have children in the desk in the district. The other half do not. Uh of those that do have children in the district uh most frequently they said that their children are involved in teen sports and athletics and those consist of things like soccer, baseball, volleyball um things like that. uh followed by music and performing arts, things like uh dance, clogging, choir, uh theater, uh outdoor fitness and recreation. We had a large segment that were uh involved in those kinds of things. That includes like uh maybe things that aren't uh sponsored by the school. They may be also uh rock climbing, skateboarding, pickle ball, golf, and biking. And then there were a few that had students in specialized programs, uh, specifically civil air patrol or things like clubs like Magic the Gathering clubs, things like that. Uh, to start off, we asked participants if they feel that Jordan School District has adequate space and facilities for accommodating student athletics and extracurriculars. Um keep in mind as we go throughout this presentation uh that this is a very small sample but it is reflective of what we saw in the survey. Um we see that uh 13 participants uh no let's see 16 participants said that the district probably or definitely does have enough uh space and facilities for athletics and extracurriculars. Five said probably not. Nobody said definitely not. and we have six that said they don't know. Uh keep in mind uh keep that in the back of your mind that there are there's a a portion of the population that just doesn't know uh what the district faces or what challenges they have. I'm going to jump around a little bit. Let's start with um some of the quotes that we'll will have are going to be representative of the data that we see. This is very uh textheavy and quote heavy. So bear with me as I go through it. Uh the five participants that said uh the district probably does not have adequate space and facilities. One said um when describing why they think that one said for swimming there are very few pools and there aren't enough pools. Every swim team has to share. They're there at 5:00 in the morning or 4 in the afternoon and it's all over the place. However, um we saw that participants were much more likely to say why they feel like the district does have adequate space and facilities. One participant said, "I don't see there being an issue." Another said, "For mainstream sports, there's plenty." Another said, "I hear a lot about what they've got going on." One said, "Whenever they talk about activities they have going on, it's never in a negative way, like they're being limited." And one more said, "The clubs I see have adequate yearround space." So for the majority of the participants, they see that the district is functioning well with the space and facilities that they have. We then uh provided participants with the same description of the fieldhouse bond that we provided to survey respondents. Uh and to just recap, we let them know that this is what it entailed. To meet the growing demand for athlet for athletic and extracurricular space, the Jordan School District is considering a bond initiative to fund the construction of new field houses at each of its six high schools, including Bingham, Copper Hills, Haramman, Mountain Ridge, Riverton, and West Jordan. This proposal would help by reducing expenses for school groups who currently rely on external venues for practices and training. The bond proposal would be for approximately $120 million or $20 million for each school. The field houses would be approximately $35,000 35,000 square ft, similar to those found in other districts along the Wasatch front. If this bond passes for the average household with a home valued at 615,000, it would result in a tax increase of approximately $98 per year or $8.16 a month paid over the course of 16 years. When asked if they would support this bond initiative, we see that uh 18 participants said that they probably or definitely would while nine said that they probably or definitely would not. Again, this is just a small sample size, but it is reflective of the trends that we saw in the survey. We followed that up by uh asking regardless of where you stand uh if you're opposed or supportive of the bond, what are the potential benefits of the bond? And we found that we narrow these down to four main categories. Uh number one, it would address space and capacity issues. Number two, it would improve scheduling and convenience for number three, it would expand student opportunities. And number four, it would support student well-being. I'd just like to go through each of these and highlight some of the benefits that they found in each of these categories. uh number one that it would address space and capacity issues specifically by reducing overcrowding reducing competition for limited space. It would create dedicated spaces rather than constantly moving students around. It could reduce the need to share facilities. It would ease pressure on heavily used existing facilities and it could address growth in student participation. Uh when it comes to improving scheduling and convenience, uh participants said that it would do this by reducing the need for late night and early mornings. Uh it could create more predictable schedules, especially uh for those students without phones. I know that was a concern for some of the younger uh student the parents of some of the younger students. It could improve convenience for families and could reduce excessive travel for activities. Uh when we talk about uh possibility of expanding student opportunities, they said this could be done by creating more opportunities for students part to participate. Uh expanding activities beyond the traditional mainstream sports ex um it could support clubs and extracurriculars and intramural programs uh specifically for those that um maybe don't want to play or or aren't able to play on school sponsored teams. uh it could have the potential for specialty programs and it could provide opportunities uh that currently aren't available within the district. When it comes to supporting student well-being, um participants said that it the field houses could keep students active, help them be engaged, give them a place to belong, and help students avoid negative behaviors and uh support focus on academic success. So those are the main benefits that participants recognized for the fieldhouse. We also asked on the flip side uh what are the potential drawbacks of the bond and most frequently uh participants mentioned these four things. Uh number one they don't see many of them don't see a real need for the build houses. Number two increased taxes and that was a huge one we learned also in the survey. Number three, the potential financial burden on families. And number four, the fact that uh there's a perception that this could benefit just a small per portion of the student population. Uh let me share some of these quotes that participants gave uh about each one of these when they said there's no real need. One participant said the facilities the district has might be sufficient. Another said, "My kids never come home and complain about not having space." Another said,"I haven't heard kids say they're lacking in opportunities." Uh, when it comes to increased taxes, one participant said, "We just paid for a bond. We shouldn't have to pay again." Another said, "Every time there's an election, there's a new bond for something for Jordan School District." And one more said, "How much is it going to raise our property tax?" Um, multiple participants were concerned about the financial burdens on families within the district. One said, "For someone on a fixed income, that could be huge." Another said, "Think of people on social security." One said, "Some people are just barely making it." Another said, "Not everybody can absorb another increase." And one more said, "That could be difficult for the elderly." Um, the perception that this the fieldous could benefit only a small population of students. One participant said, "The only people the fieldhouse is going to benefit are the kids that are already super athletic." Another said, "Not all kids are into sports." One more said, "I don't think it's going to be so inclusive." So, those were the concerns that participants most frequently saw with the bond. We found that overwhelmingly participants said that they need more information in order to make a decision about the bond. And furthermore, they said they expect full transparency from the district. Um, I asked participants what questions they needed specifically to be answered in order for them to make a decision to support the or oppose the bond. And most frequently, participants said that they need information about these things. Number one, they need to know that there's proof of need that really is a need and not just a want. Uh, number two, they want to know the overall cost and tax implications. Number three, um this came up organically, but we were prepared to ask it if in case it didn't. Um but they want to know about the long-term maintenance and operating costs. They want to know details and logistics about the facility. They want to know specifically who can access and use the facility. Um these are the categories for the questions that they came up with. Um, specific questions under each of these can be found in the full report. To determine what would be motivators in encouraging um residents to support the bond, we asked how important each of the following um potential benefits of filled houses would be to them personally. Um, and what we found is that when we asked them to rate on a 1 to seven scale, one being not at all important to them and seven very important, we found that the one with the highest average mean rating was this one. It ensures all students, including those with disabilities, have equal access to safe facilities. And the one uh with the second highest average was it creates a community space for events, fitness, and activities for all ages. When we asked participants to say, "Okay, of all of these potential benefits, what is the most important benefit to you personally?" We see that um nearly one half of participants said that the benefit supports student focus, behavior, and academic success through expanded PE and other programs was um mentioned most important. Um I want to uh just so that we can understand where there where participants were um agreeing or disagreeing with these statements, I want to go through some of these potential benefits and talk about what they liked and what they didn't. Uh just because we talked about each one of these individually. Uh first we'll talk about the the potential benefit that it would support student focus, behavior, and academic success through expanded PE and other programs. Um, in general, participants really, really liked this concept, but some failed to see how the field houses could yield such results. Um, those that said that they agree with this sentiment said, "I agree completely with it. I think exercise helps kids focus better." Another said, "I'm a big believer in motion creates emotion. If they're moving around, they're going to focus more in other classes." One participant said, "I like to have academic success part of it if it helps the kids learn." Um, I'm all for that. And another said, it keeps kids away from video games. It keeps academic success in mind. Expanded PE. That's all very important stuff. However, we have those that um though this is important, they're they, as I mentioned, failed to see how field houses could accomplish this. One participant said, "I'm in favor of that, I just don't think that field houses are going to do that." Another said,"I supportive of these goals, but I don't know that a fieldhouse is necessary." One said,"I just don't know without having some more specifics how they're going to achieve this goal." One participant said, "My kid couldn't care less about PE and that's not going to be a benefit to him." And one more said, "I think the only people that this fieldhouse is really going to benefit are the kids that are already super athletic." That was a sentiment that you're going to see over and over in this that um there's a concern that the field houses will not be all-incclusive. Please stop me if you have any questions. Uh the next potential benefit we discussed was the fact that it could provide year-round space for athletics, performing arts, clubs, special education, and other programs. Uh participants in general found this statement to be compelling and they like the idea of allowing all types of students to use the fieldhouse and not just athletes for mainstream sports. Specifically, one participant said, "That's what we want. We want it all inclusive performing arts, clubs, special education, and other programs." Uh when it comes to the potential benefit of reducing scheduling conflicts and late night practices by easing gym and outdoor field congestion, this was a potential benefit that resonated, as you can imagine, specifically with parents within the district that have children that have dealt with trying to get them places and sharing spaces and having weird times of practice. Um, one participant said, "With my kids, we weren't eating till 9:00 at night and they had to be back up at 6:00 in the morning." Another said, "If it reduces some of those late nights, that would be good." One said they always scheduled the oldest kids the latest at night. You've got them going to bed at midnight and up at school to be up at 6:00 to be to school on time. One said they don't have a set space, especially with cheer, that they can practice and do the things they need to do. One said they're just always moving kids around because there are so many kids doing athletics. and another said sometimes we have to move because the track team is in the auditorium. So these are those uh those parents that recognize this because they specifically have seen the need there. When it comes to the potential benefit um of creating a community space for events, fitness, and activity for all ages, most participants really liked the idea of um the community being able to access uh the fieldhouse. Um one participant said, "I really like the idea that the community can use it." Another said, "If we're asking the whole community to pay for this, then we should make it a space that the whole community can get some benefit out of." One participant said opening it to the community could help with the ongoing maintenance costs and another said by having so many of them including the rec centers you start making it so there's less of a load on the entire system. However, uh others disagreed that maybe this isn't a priority. Um one participant said, "Isn't that what community centers are for?" Another said, "Is this already a need that is being met with rec centers?" One said, "I don't necessarily agree with it being open to the whole community. I think it should be limited to schools. One participant said, when you bring in a community, you also have to consider liability and insurance. And one more said, I don't know if the revenue we bring in from the community would offset the cost of maintenance and expenses. So again, they see both. We have both sides of that coin when it comes to the potential benefit of attracting stronger coaches and keeping students in the district. Um, participants again were mixed in their reaction. Um, let's look at some of the comments that people said that they're for this. One participant said, "What we don't think of all the time is the kids going to other schools to play or moving because they have better facilities and better opportunities." Another said, "It could bring in strong coaches that would help keep the retention of the kids we have now and make them want to stay where they're at and not wander everywhere else." One said, "If we had good coaches, students could get into better colleges or get recruited so they have more opportunities in higher education." And one more said, "It makes it more exclusive. Certain kids can swim on a higher level and have better coaches." However, um, multiple others felt like this should not be the goal. One said, "That's not something that's important." Another said, "I don't care about that." One said, "I just don't care about sports." One said, 'I don't know why the focus would be on helping keep students in the district that are just focused on having a strong coach. One participant said to me, it's not about the coaches, it's about the students. And one more said, I think kids are going to come and go from the district no matter what. When it comes to the potential benefit of ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, have equal access to safe facilities, uh participants really liked this thought. Um, one said, "Everybody's important. Every student in that school is important." Another said, "It's not just the super cool school kids or the super athletic kids, but the kids who just need a human person that can be there and help them to be happy or better." Um, however, uh, other participants questioned if this is a need that is already being met met in the district. One said, "I think that they have access to those things now." and another said, "I do not necessarily think that bringing a fieldhouse is going to provide that." Um, and lastly, we have the potential benefit that a wear and tear on existing gyms and facilities, lowering long-term mainten maintenance costs. Some agreed with that sentiment. One said, "By having so many of them, including the rec centers, you make it so there's less of a load on the entire system." We saw that quote before. And another said, "We can rotate around and have the grass be a little bit better for the people that use it." Um, however, there were multiple other participants who just did not feel that this argument had merit. One said, "That's saving a little money, but spending a lot more." Uh, another said, "When I hear this one, I hear political talking points uh to try to pass this initiative." And one more said, "You're just going to run down both of them, and you're going to have to maintain both of them." Excuse me. Um once we had discussed all of the potential benefits to field houses, um I I wanted to to gauge where their heads were at and if they would be more supportive of the bond or less supportive of the bond after um discussing those. And um surprisingly they were less supportive of the bond after discussing those potential benefits. Um and the reason my my belief is that the reason for that is because more discussion yielded more questions and as we saw at the beginning of the presentation they need answers to these questions in order to know if they can support or oppose the bond. Um participants who said they are likely to oppose the bond um said that they need number one more information. Number two uh they questioned if there is a real need for the bond and number three they just simply oppose another tax increase. Uh however participants who said they are likely to support the bond said that they consider the bond an investment in students and they felt like the tax implications wouldn't be that significant to them personally. Uh that concludes our presentation of the focus group research. Uh I we it was I I feel like it was helpful and informative to learn why um they responded the way that they did in the survey. Hopefully you will too. But is there do you have any questions about the focus group research in particular? >> I have a question. Um, I was there, all three of them, and um, that last wrap-up that you gave, it seemed to me that there was some outliers that persuaded everyone negative. Can you speak on that? Because the first group actually was more positive, I think, if you were to divide those groups out. So, what power does in these focus groups does one loud voice do to persuade others? >> So, great question. Uh the the one drawback to focus groups is that we do have what we call group think where if somebody starts talking um and they start explaining their thoughts, somebody else sees their insight and jumps on the bandwagon with them. We try to discourage this by using a handout and you saw that we did that in the discussion group where I ask to capture their responses before we start talking. That way I get their initial gut reactions before any group think uh potential group think could go on. Um, my other thought is when we look at these focus groups, you're right. Um, some have a tendency to be more positive while others have a tendency to be more negative. Um, I will have clients come in and want to do only one focus group of something. And I always say that is a very bad idea because you never know what you're going to get and you don't want to make decisions based on one group alone. For that reason, we recommend at minimum two um preferably three focus groups so that we can compare the focus groups across the board and see what the general consensus is saying across all three focus groups. Does that answer your question? >> Thank you. >> Uh I will say also um group think is likely to happen in focus groups. I think group think is also likely to happen outside of focus groups. So, if you have um uh maybe louder voices either opposing or supporting the bond outside in the public as we as they discuss approaching the ballot. Um that's similar to what you'll see in a focus group. >> However, in the public, we can um clear up some of the misconceptions. Absolutely. I wanted to jump through the mirror a few times, but >> true. Thank you for not combat those thoughts from the get-go. >> Any other questions? Doesn't look like there's more questions. Thank you so much for being here. It was really insightful to be able to be a fly on the wall during those sessions. So, we appreciate you. >> Of course. Thank you for having me. >> All right, let's turn it over to Mr. Larson for some additional information. >> Yes. So, as requested by the board, I I worked with Zans's public finance to uh have them begin the process reviewing the numbers. They have a specific process they go through. Uh attached to board book is a calendar of events uh as well as their analysis on what the numbers would show as well as a sample ballot. Um the sample ballot is just that, a sample ballot and the numbers are still in draft form because a lot of this would have to be determined with information we receive in June. Um given that though, let's see there are so I wanted to start with a sample ballot and just point out um the ballot for a bond requires a couple of different disclosures in it. One of them is how much the taxes would go up solely based on the ballot initiative. The second one is how much it would go up net of existing bonds that are paid off. And so there's two different numbers there that you'll see. Uh they they had indicated that uh the two numbers would be $74 one penny and $712 uh for those two different methods. If you recall, my original estimate was $98 and that was done last summer there. So, Zans's made three different unique assumptions that I did not make and so I just wanted you to know about those so that you can uh understand the difference. First of all, they assumed that there would be two separate bond issues that we would break it up into two different groupings. I assumed one. They also assumed new growth. In other words, they took where our property taxes are today, the amount of assessed valuation in the district, and then they said, "Well, but we think it's going to grow this much over the next several years." And so they put in growth factors on taxable property. I did not do that. I just took existing taxable property. >> Can I ask what you mean by they assumed we break it into two initiatives? uh two bond issues. Okay, >> so thank you for stopping me there. So the bond would be a authorization to go out to the market and sell bonds, but it doesn't indicate how many times you would go out to the market to sell the bonds. The more frequent you go out, you can lessen the tax impact because you're splitting up the the timing of how when these bond issuances come on. So I had assumed one bond issuance, they assumed two to split it up a bit. >> Does that help? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So two was the new growth just the increase in assessed valuations and uh potential um taxable property. And then the third assumption they made was something um that we did in 2017 when we issued 2016 when the last bond election was held. But that was uh they took the amount of the bond and they reduced the principal balance by an assumed um premium 2% principal premium that that would be issued on it. So what they're doing here is trading the amount of principal outstanding for a higher interest rate. And with a higher interest rate, you can sell the bonds at a premium and still get the total amount of money you want, but have it less outstanding, but your interest rates higher. So perhaps a quick example that I hope helps explain this would be good. If if someone were going to buy a home for 750,000 and and home mortgages, you don't get to do this, but that's the example most people understand. Um, if you go to the lender and say, "Well, instead of loaning me $750,000, what if the the debt I'm in is say 650,000 instead? So, I'm going to lower it by 100,000, but you can charge me a higher interest rate. So, instead of the standard rate, go ahead and bump that up a few percentage points, and I'll just pay you more. And then that that difference in the going rate, market rate of the interest, and how much we're going to make the notes for, you're going to pay that 100,000 back to me because it's um essentially prepaid interest. So they're going to upfront interest to us that then we then pay to them over the life of the bonds. So that is the third difference that Zans did in their analysis to bring that dollar down. I do believe all three of their assumptions are reasonable. I and I think they're fine, but they are different. And so I wanted to go through those with you. Um, I also wanted to note that those three assumptions and their calculations will have to be redone because we don't have the average home value. We get that next month. We don't have the assessed value, we get that next month. So, these numbers are still very much draft as well. And based on the assumptions, you know, they could shift as well. Uh where I think we're headed next would be I need two board meetings where uh the legal documents can be reviewed to officially declare we're we're going to do a bond election. One of those meetings, if you look at the calendar of events, um would be they had pencileled in Tuesday, August 4th, and then doing a um a business meeting on Tuesday, August 18th. They don't have to be those days. They can be other days. I do know we have in July the um board retreat day. That could potentially be one of these two. But that second day would be that vote to say, okay, here's this is the legal document. We are now moving forward with this. And then that puts in motion all these other events that uh follow that. So if you want to set those two days today, we can do that. If you want to think about that and come back to it, that is also fine. Any questions for me? Right. Thank you. Um board members, I think the first question is are do we have a majority who are interested in moving forward with putting this as a bond initiative? a motion. >> Uh, >> or you just want to take a vote? >> Can we take a motion at this point or do we have to wait until after we've had community feed? >> No, I I think however the board would like to to do that is fine. I think a motion could be direction to staff to continue moving forward if that's what you're looking for. >> U, I this legal document will have to happen though. I this vote wouldn't be able to trump that later one if that makes sense. >> Dr. Gapri, >> if I may, tonight you can vote that for us to move forward and then there are two required meetings with public input. So every vote to move forward doesn't mean that you can't change your mind later, but it just means more effort is invested on the part of Zans's and Jordan district moving toward it. So that's that's all. But it doesn't preclude you from changing course. It just says keep going down this path, but then we'll meet all of the requirements when we have the legal document and the two more required meetings between now and the deadline in August. >> I move that. >> President George, I move that we direct staff to move forward with the legal document in preparation for a bond election for field houses. I'll second. >> We have a motion by Mr. Dunford, second by Miss Wood that we direct staff to move forward with preparing documents for a bond election for field houses. Did I gather that all? Okay. Is there discussion to that motion? >> I had a concern I wanted to share. Um, as I as I've looked back over this issue, it the way that I remember it, correct me if I'm wrong, we had a high school coach come to us saying that he didn't have enough space for his wrestling team. Maybe maybe a month later, we had uh it was a high school principal that came and spoke in our meeting and said some of his students or some of his PE classes were happening in the hallways or the common spaces because there wasn't enough room to accommodate um the students physical education needs. So both of those situations spoke to the spoke to the case that we don't have enough space in our high schools to accommodate the physical activity needs. And then if you if you look at the population of or the student body, the number of students in the district, I think we're at the top or close to the top of where we've ever been. Is that accurate? 55ish thousand. >> Overall enroll >> overall enrollment. >> Overall enrollment. Um >> it's been going up for years and now it's kind of plateaued, right? >> Yeah. Plateaued, gone down a little bit. Yes. >> And the demographic data that we have indicates that a slow decline now. >> And so if this if we're trying to solve a problem with $120 million, that's a problem just at that very top space requirements. 55,000 students. We have this space issue. But over the next five years, that might drop to 50,000. and over the next 10 years it might drop to 45,000. My my concern is is that we're we're solving a temporary problem for 120 million and ongoing 1.2 million or $2 million to to keep them maintained, but it's just a temporary problem. That's my concern is that we're we're jumping to that as a solution, but in 5 years we might not need that space. Maybe we'll have plenty of space for physical education needs. >> Can I speak to that? >> I don't think the space has anything to do with the number of students that we have. The space has to do with the number of activities we've increased, especially in recent year. Lacrosse was a huge toll because we would rent fields and we got mostly elementary schools. That was a huge toll to take boys and girls lacrosse and not just the varsity team but a JV. Um we brought in volleyball which is forced people out of the gym. Um we have people running down the halls which can cause lots of injuries and other things. Um cheer has now sanctioned. It wasn't sanctioned before. they used to do a lot more of their cheer away from the school. Uh, girls golf and um and then our clubs are huge. You know, rugby, I mean, they they're starting to be more and more rugby teams. Girls rugby has just started. I know that pickle ball, field hockey, um, girls wrestling is another one. So, it doesn't have to do so much with the amount of people. it has that we're offering more extracurricular activities, teams, and that's what's hurting us. And that's why kids are at the school at 5:30 in the morning and at the school till 10 or 11:00 at night. And that's where we get complaints from neighbors cuz they just don't have space to operate all these teams. So I as I see it, we've got to limit the amount of activities we offer or we offer more space. >> I apologize that this came late, but board members, there is a link for the Handra app in your emails. If you would like to join, then we can kind of keep track of who has questions. Um I have a couple of questions that came to mind both as I was sitting in the focus groups and again as we were reminded the some of the positives that we heard were um people liked the idea that we would have a reduction in late night and early morning practices. Um my question is is that actually the case? If we are taking existing field space and placing a covered practice area on it, do we net the same space? So I don't >> in winter we do. No, in in spring and summer we might, but not in winter. We can't use those fields in the winter. >> Do are we not able to use the fields during the winter? Or do we like tell them they can't go out or are we just saying on the days there has been a storm we can't use those fields? Scott, can you answer that? Do we say don't use the fields in the winter? >> We don't have a rule specific that says schools can't use fields during the winter time. I think it's I think it's dayto-day specific on the weather like like it would be at an elementary with you know no recess day for example. The weather is so bad, we're not going to allow people to practice. But have we had teams go out in the winter in PE? Yeah, it happens. >> Thank you. Okay, my next question was >> my hand was up. >> Oh, sorry about that. I was continuing my comment, but I'll stop. >> You do your comment, but I wanted to address that one if you would. Can I just give you one scenario? The whole reason boys volleyball went after sanctioning is because they couldn't get gym space because we wouldn't rent gym space to a club during those spring uh times because if the fields got bad, they were forced inside the ground inside. So with them now being sanctioned, they're all battling for that space and now we can't traditionally can't stop volleyball and and so the pro that's just one example of where one activity you sanctioned volleyball has now caused this bottleneck especially in the springtime and I think you can find others but anyway sorry I just wanted to address that before you moved on. >> That's great. Um, if it's okay, I'll just hurry and finish asking my little list. So, one thing that it seemed like the community liked was the idea that this could increase opportunities to participate. Does it increase opportunities to participate or do we net the same number of kids on sports teams? >> Is your question specifically for sports teams or any kind of participation? I guess I'm open to any kind of participation. >> So, are we answering or are we >> I think there's a very real possibility that the band will go out and use the fieldhouse to practice in the middle of the winter that the you know the cheerleaders will go out. So, it's not just sports, it's people who are looking to go outside, especially in winter when they typically can't now have a place that they can do so. And given the fact that winter seems to last forever here in Utah, that is a significant chore. >> So I let me rephrase my question then. What I'm saying is along with field houses, are we looking to increase the number of offerings for sports that we currently offer? >> I think we could only offer more things if we also get more coaches. I think because we'd need if we wanted to add a ninth grade team, we'd need coaches for that, right? If we wanted, you know, more inter mural type leagues, we'd need coaches for that. And so if we have space, but do we have faculty? Nikki, are you talking about like UHSAA sanctioned things or like what do you mean by what the board is intending with this decision to expand like oh now we're going to have pickle ball or now we're going to also have rock climbing or whatever the the things that we heard in the focus groups I was like I don't know if it's actually giving the benefits that their feedback was telling us it would give. So it maybe it's just food for thought. I'll just give one more and that is they seemed interested in creating a community space, but when I look at how busy our high schools are, my question is, is it going to be available to the community or are we going to use it for our own needs primarily? So I don't I keep looking on this side of the room. So you can say no, I think we will or won't. But >> I I raised my hand, but I'm trying to be >> procedural about it. >> Those were my questions. So I'll stop now. >> Should I go ahead? >> Yes, please. >> When you when you ask about expanding opportunities, I think that takes a couple of different forms. You're right. We are not creating space, but we are creating more indoor space. So certain kinds of activities are able become more accessible and one of the things we've heard is for example I think it was girls wrestling specifically where but wrestling generally where they're pushed into a space that is not conducive then they have to reduce the number of participants on the team because the space where they are practicing indoors is not large enough to allow for more team members to be part of it. So that doesn't mean that there are more sports available or even more activities, but more students can participate on that team because otherwise safety wise, you say, "Well, we're in two classrooms where we tore out the middle class, the middle wall, but there are still posts in the middle and so we can only have so many boys or girls wrestling in this space. So we're going to limit the team." Whereas normally, I mean, Scott Thomas will tell you, as long as you keep showing up as a wrestler, they'll let you they'll let you wrestle. Um, Scott was not in that category. He was an accomplished wrestler. But but but that but that's the that's the concept is that because the space, the indoor space is large enough, you're able to accommodate more students on that existing team. So, it's not an additional team, it's more people on that team. The other is that if you have usable space on the tail end of some sports when it's getting to where the weather prevents practice during the winter or on the early spring practices then um that's where the restrictions are in May if the weather's good. we we don't have a net increase, but the weather is volatile and that's that's where the fieldhouse comes into play, so to speak. Um, there's also a possibility, and I don't want to make this sound like it an inevitability, but there is the possibility that with additional inside space, there would be a chance to uh expand to have a ninth grade team or or or a third team. I shouldn't call it a ninth grade team. So there's varsity, junior varsity, and then a sophomore team because there's more practice space in those early weeks. But when you start in February, you may not be interested in having a third team within a particular sport because there's already not enough space during that critical time. So there are peaks, there are times where that indoor space is needed more. So in terms of expansion, the board has been very supportive and has been the first to say there's a new sport. We want to make that available. But how many participants are there on that team and is there a JV and is there a sophomore team? All that can be impacted by the fieldhouse. Not to mention classes. Ballroom dance has been mentioned because if you move someone out to the fieldhouse now that opens up a gym for ballroom dance to be in a larger space and more participants can be a part of that as well. So those are some examples of why a fieldhouse would result in more opportunities. >> Thank you Miss Dean. I think it would be helpful to have sample usage scenarios to know exactly who would be using the space and when. And um anyway, I'm just very curious about how the space would be used if high school um staff have given thought to exactly who would get to use the filled house and how it would be used because I've heard a lot of different possible uses, but I would like something maybe a little more concrete about how it would actually look in real life. >> Hey, Dr. Godfrey. >> Sorry. Can I respond to that as well? So, you're are you talking about what will the actual usage look like in terms of school versus community use? >> No. as far as um football team versus unified sports versus um cross country versus baseball, you know, like just who gets to use it when because I mean we've heard performing arts and band and all the different athletics and I'm just interested in how the scheduling would work and who would take priority as far as the filled house space. >> Can I address that question and your question about community as well? I I I want to be cautious about overemphasizing that the this would be a resource for the community. The community is the next group that it would be available to after we take care of all school needs. So there would be some availability, but that would only be after if we follow our current rental guidelines, it would only be after we'd met all school needs. And school needs vary from school to school because some some programs are big, some at certain schools, some programs are nearly non-existent at other schools depending. So, I think if if field houses were approved by the public and put in place, we would have a meeting with all of those who schedule buildings to talk about how to do that in a in a way that's equitable and that reflects the board's intent to make sure that performing arts, unified sports, and that no sport kind of squeezes everybody else out. That's something that we've that we strive for with the change to artificial turf. Artificial turf within the stadium changed changed it from the football field to the stadium so that others can use it. There always, you know, from time to time there are issues that have to be addressed where a group doesn't feel they've had the access that they ought to have. But we would be very intentional about setting that up initially. Not making it the same at every school, but talking about the priority of making sure everyone has access and that um that it's something that benefits all groups, not just athletics and not just certain groups. I don't know if I've answered your question because I don't know what it would look like, but I know we'd be intentional about setting it up >> and and I'm just curious about what a possible fieldhouse use scenario would look like and not one that somebody would have to stick with because they had placed this plan, but I am very interested in what the scenario would look like. who would be there from 6:00 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. until this time and who would be there from this time each day of the week. And and I I understand it's a complicated thing and >> and school administration strives for equity, you know, among all the different groups. I I just am curious what that would look like in a real a real life type of scenario. So maybe pick a high school and say, "Let's pretend you've got one. You're doing the schedule for next year. What does that look like?" I see enough nodding heads that it looks like that is something that would be helpful to >> just call up a school that has one and show how it was scheduled. >> That's what I was about to say. >> How often is it in use and how often does it sit idle? I think that would answer her question. That would not answer my question because it's not just about in use or idle. It's about which groups specifically have the fieldhouse scheduled for them. That is that is at the root of >> that's our control. You're asking us to con >> I don't I don't have any control over scheduling a field house. >> They do. Um, I think so. I was able to visit, sorry I'm jumping the gun, but I was able to visit uh Ala High School's fieldhouse and they have it scheduled out a year in advance. So, we could ask them what does this month look like and tell hopefully I'm assuming it would show, you know, this group's here at this time and this group's here at this time and this group is this one. Would that help you visualize it how like a fieldhouse is currently being used if it had that time stamp? Football's here at this time. Baseball's here at this time. Is that what you're looking for? >> Um, yes. And I I'm As long as it is the way that Jordan would be >> Yeah. >> looking to do the filled house. >> Okay. Can I >> I mean it because I I don't know me. It's possible. It it would be helpful to see exactly how a a high school is scheduling its fieldhouse um its facilities like that because um it could give a big picture a a good idea of how the space is truly being used. Um anyway, I I I'm also interested in the vision of our school administrators, their vision for what it would look like, what the use would look like. And and also I think it provides a a small layer of maybe accountability to look at, oh, this is what the vision was, but now this is what is actually happening. How does it fit with what the original vision was? And right now, I feel like the the vision is somewhat nebulous with, oh, we would want all these different groups to be able to use this space, and that's what we're thinking. But I would like to see how it would really could possibly work, a real life type of scenario that is not what people would be held to, but just >> Yeah. to help you visualize what the impact would be, which I think would mean >> not only talking about the fieldhouse use, >> but also >> how does that change the use for the for the building elsewhere? So, because the fieldhouse schedule is the looks like this, what how does that change the gym schedule? How does that change certain classroom schedules? What would coaches do differently in terms of tryyouts? So that's um we can work on that and I I think information from other districts would be one piece of the puzzle but another piece would be what would we what do we conceptualize that use looking like I mean not taking away from anyone else but I don't think anyone does unified quite to the extent that we do and so that's a big factor Um, so yeah, that I I I think that's that's something that we can certainly put together that makes sense. It might not be to the detail of we'll have to balance how much >> I mean it doesn't it doesn't have to be two, you know, 15minute increments or anything. >> I I I get the concept. But let's let's let's try to solidify what it would look like in a particular school and what what the impact would be. Okay. Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Robinson. >> Well, probably remember all my questions, so I'll make a comment on that last one. So, it struck me during the focus groups that they said that we have track teams using the auditorium to run in. They also mentioned that cheerleading we're doing it in the halls in the common areas and we have lots of sports teams that run our hall which are high waxed and very slippery. And so again like you were mentioning I think the impact of the school there's a trickle down effect that would help it quite a bit. In terms of President George's comment about um will other teams um be be uh brought on because of this. It's not our control. That's up to the Utah High School Activities Association when they sanction a sport. Now, we as a board, as I understand, unless they've changed the bylaws, can prevent a sport that is sanctioned being offered in our district. So, a good example of that is Davis County School Board voted against lacrosse being implemented in their early years. And so, we could say, "Hey, rugy's coming on, but we don't want it." And so, we could, as a board, if I'm if I'm not mistaken, can can make that stand. I don't even know that we've ever had that discussion because we've always had this idea that we want to sponsor and bring in as many um activities and and things to help kids as we possibly can. Another issue that I wanted to bring up is Dr. Godfrey brought up that the late winter, early spring would be a high usage, but I just wanted to bring a bigger focus that summer is even more important to me. I used to live right next to Bingham High School and more than once uh every summer day would their band would wake me up as they're playing their instruments pretty loud um in the community at very early hours and they do that because it gets so hot for them to be out there and our football does the same thing. You know, a lot of our sport starts pretty early in the summer and having an indoor facility would help in the heat as much as in in the sun. And then last um and winter and the last thing that I wanted to talk about is community impact. Um we have many of our teams that are using the county wreck facilities because ours are full. And so just that alone, bringing them back into our schools where they can practice would free up um the community centers for the community to actually use them. um you know from using the gym to running to even renting their field space inside. Um that would help a lot. And again, we could do what we do with our outside field. We do have camps and clinics and we bring in those young kids all on a regular basis to use our our our stadium fields. And so again, those are just some answers to the conversations we've had just the last couple minutes. Hey. Um, Miss Barrow, sorry I accidentally clicked you on, but you're fine. Um, so I I feel personally that I don't know. I'm not quite ready to put this out for a bond. I've been doing a lot of um research on my own. Um, I have visited two different field houses in canyons, um, asking the questions about how they're used during the day, um, as well as scheduling. And I feel like what we're trying to sell, uh, for a lot of these uses for a fieldhouse may not be realistic. Um, what I found talking to admin uh at these other high schools is that it it doesn't keep kids uh coming early or staying late. They still have it scheduled from 5:30 a.m. till 11:00 p.m. And if we're putting it on existing field space, like was mentioned before, we're not really are we gaining anything. It's not like we added land somewhere. um unless it's a certain width or depth, it may not be very beneficial to a football team having like a full lineup and being able to practice or being beneficial to a marching band practicing out uh in a fieldhouse. They need it to be a certain dimensions for it to be beneficial. Um if it doesn't have an upstairs with like extra classrooms for potential dance floors, it won't really fix some of our crowding issues that are within the school building. Um, and they did mention that it is rented to the community, but o mostly on weekends and that the district handles that, but the schools do get priority. Um, they schedule everything out and then the district handles where there are spaces where they could potentially rent it out to the community. Um, I just feel like there's a lot of missing information. Um, I feel like we need need to educate ourselves better on how this will be used until before we can educate the public on how it's going to be used realistically. Um, but that's just kind of how I'm feeling things I've researched. >> Mr. Barnett, >> thank you. Another another concern I've had as we've been talking here is a really broad range of activities we've discussed we want to support in a fieldhouse. um from you know fine arts to clubs to a variety of different sports in a 35,000 square foot area and something also that Miss Barrow just mentioned or a marching band or a football team or baseball, lacrosse, any of these field type sports, there's a a certain amount of space they need to effectively practice. And if they if if a football team needs x amount of space or it's not much use to them and that ends up being 80% of the space, then then how do you accommodate the the sports and the activities that need like a hardcourt, you know, like boys volleyball? You can't you can play volleyball on the grass. I've done it and it's really fun. But to to practice boys volleyball, to to do wrestling matches, to do dance, you need a you need a hardcourt surface. So, I'm I'm wondering, you know, as we're just talking here, it sounds great to say, yeah, let's let's accommodate all these different activities, but I don't know if you can if you can do that effectively on 35,000 square feet. So, I guess I'm kind of in the same boat. I'd like to get more information and make sure that all of these desires that we have can actually be can actually come to fruition. >> It's wood. >> Thanks. I I um have a lot of questions that uh I would love time to get answers to both from a practical sense of scheduling. Um, one of the senses that I got from the focus groups was that they want more information and they wanted specific and transparent. I don't even have those answers to give them right now. So, my question for the board members for administration is what are the downsides of waiting till next year for a ballot and taking more time to get answers? I'm interested in knowing the downsides aside from students having to wait perhaps a year longer. >> I think feel free to answer if you have an answer to >> Well, my hands up for that very answer. Miss Woods always uh one step ahead of me. Um, I've been a part of two bonds with the district. Both before I got on the board, but my social media account was born out of a bond. One was super rushed and had a lot to it and we didn't have a lot of answers. The second one was very organized. We even formed a group out there called um Jordan District, Friends of Jordan District or something. I was on that one. Uh I remember going to Mike Kane's house and talking about and this was separate from the district and we had focus groups where we looked at building um cost and ulitization and how can we reduce cost of building. So we did a lot of work to get that second one to pass. Um, I'm super excited to see that over 50% of the public seems to be um, in agreement to this and I think it can go much higher if we do the right steps to inform them. More importantly, there's a lot of misconceptions we have out there about our our district. And I think that regardless of what we do, we need to clear up misconceptions that I heard in those focus groups. And uh we do really well with saving our money tonight. We'll make a huge huge um savings on the taxpayer, but nobody ever hears about those. They only hear about small inconsequential ones and they never really understand how good we're doing. So I I wanted to make the same kind of proposal. Let's keep this going. Let's keep moving, but let's not put it on the ballot this time. Let's put on the ballot in November of 27. Seems weird that we're talking 27, but um and let's keep working on this, forming some groups, forming some people, and seeing if this is the best thing. I with summer coming and so we really wouldn't jump on this until August. I just know how hard it is for us even to come up with like, you know, newsletter ideas or, you know, those kinds of things. Our board's very thorough in what we do. I don't I just don't think we have the I think it could still pass. I just don't think that we have the ability to do it right with this election at this late time. So, that's what I would do is I would keep going, but I would I would put it on a future a future election. >> Miss Barrow, thanks. I remembered something I forgot to mention. Um, but just on that note, I feel like if we weren't going to be educating people till August, that's when we're starting school and fall sports and planning schedules for holidays. I don't think it would be a great time and it wouldn't look like we were being fully transparent in in my opinion. But I I know that there are places in our district that need help where there are there's overcrowding and it's dangerous for sports, especially wrestling. We've heard of that one. So, if the full board does not move forward with this uh bond initiative, I I would like to be more particular and pointed in just adding additions where we need them. Like, let's expand the wrestling room this year at this school. Let's expand a band and orchestra room at this school. Let's add an auxiliary gym at this school. and just be more precise, I suppose, in where we need that help and instead of um throwing yeah like $20 million and saying everybody gets this giant room and then we have to figure out how we're using it. So >> So Dr. Robinson, was that a substitute motion that you would just add on? Yeah, I'll make a substitute motion that we continue working towards um a possible fieldhouse bond in the 2027 uh election. >> I'll second. >> Okay, we have a motion by Dr. Robinson, second by Mr. Barnett that we instruct staff to continue um taking steps forward towards a possible bond election for filled houses in the 2027 ballot. Did I say it right? >> Yeah. Can I add I mean I don't know if this needs to be in the motion, but I think an ad hoc committee from the board and a community group would be really beneficial. I I don't know if that has to be in the official motion, but I I speak to the motion and if you want as part of it, I think that would be helpful. But >> um and the creation of committees to begin preparing for that initiative. >> Okay, let's move into discussion. And if I can just quickly ask, is there anything um procedurally that would prevent us from doing it in 2027? Like you can do this any year. My understanding is yes. Um it just has to be on a general election in November. It can't be on a special election like April or >> or June. It has to be the November. if it's the smaller election like the city elections. >> Yeah. And there's debate whether that's good or bad uh if it's on a smaller election cycle versus the larger one. I've heard it both directions, but >> thank you. All right. >> Can I can I just speak to a couple of the issues that came up? One of them is the information campaign and you described well the difference between the two campaigns for our two most recent bonds. Uh the general approach that we have heard in from a national standpoint because we're always paying attention. and we don't know when we're going to need to bond is that the campaigns are more effective not just in the results but in communicating when it's a shorter time frame. So in the past we did an eight-month campaign of information and and the latest trends is that it's a more concentrated time because that just gets the message across and we go meet with lots of groups and we communicate in lots of different ways. So, I'm not I'm not trying to move the board toward a particular timeline, but even if you said, "Okay, we want it on the ballot in November 2027. When should we start the campaign?" I would still say in the fall after everyone gets back from summer is when we want to start the campaign. Uh because it's just that's that's the that's the common approach. So, I didn't want you to be surprised if in 2027 you say, "Okay, we put it off. Now, we have more time to campaign." And we said, but we still would do a more concentrated campaign. Whether your goal is transparency, a particular outcome, dispelling myths and rumors and misinformation, a concentrated timeline is generally considered to be more effective. John touched on another reason. There was a question why, what would be the disadvantage of putting this off? One is what type of election are you attaching yourself to? Is it a g is it a a presidential election? Is it a is it a midterm election or is it an election year that might have less of a turnout? And then you just have to decide is that a positive or a negative. The other is that one of the reasons that um this is a unique bond in that it's for a very specific purpose that is not related to enrollment and we don't know how soon we might need one. We don't see one on the horizon being necessary for enrollment. But the greater the distance between this bond and an enrollment bond, the better chance that there's a vote truly about this specific issue and the less chance that voting for this bond impacts the vote for an enrollment bond, for lack of a better term for it. Because if it's far enough away from that sort of increase, a lot of it can be paid down or thoughts about a bond increase have dissipated. You also heard that there were some comments that well you just bonded so why would you bond again when in fact it's been quite a few years since we last bonded. So keep keeping keeping a distance from between this bond and an enrollment bond does have advantages. There's less chance that it impacts the enrollment bond. >> What is an enrollment bond? That's a term I just made up, which means a bond to build schools to help house students. Generally, we have bonded the the failed bond 15 years ago was not only to build necessary schools that were needed for enrollment, but also to make needed improvements to existing buildings. We heard from folks that that was not as compelling an argument as we thought it might have been. So then the next time the bond was only for building buildings to accommodate enrollment and that one passed and that was was it 10 years ago? >> 2016. So 10 years ago was for those listening 10 years ago was the last time the board went out for a bond. Uh, so that one was purely we need more space for students, so this is what we're going out for. So that's what I call an enrollment bond. It's like we have enrollment that requires more buildings. To me, this is separate from that. It's a special purpose. And the farther we get away from any potential future enrollment bond or a bond to build buildings to accommodate students, the less chance there is that approving this bond impacts that. 's chances of being approved. >> Thank you. Okay, Dr. Robinson. >> Yes. So, I just wanted to answer a couple of those um things that Dr. Godfrey brought up, those great points. Um I'm not asking that we start campaigning today, but there's some questions still lingering in my mind. For instance, uh what about just putting a a spring structure or a tent over it? Like we do swimming pools and other things. Have we explored that? I know a lot of people in the public are asking, have we in um explored uh uh private um investors? And you know, I I personally can't say that we've done enough of that. Um I don't know if that's going to be very beneficial. Maybe it would. Maybe someone has 120 million sitting in their pocket ready to burn, but I at least think that that needs to be explored. I'd like to have before an election like architectural designs of it. Where's I know we've seen places where it's fitting on the field, but I don't think we've had robust discussions about that. So there's those are the kind of things that I'm finding that are going to be really hard for me to go out in the public and defend this, you know, and I'm not we don't have to defend or not defend. I really like the idea that the public has to vote on it, but I'm just not ready to answer their questions and so many things and that's why I'm asking that we do it right and and take another year. I don't know if it's going to be a better time to do it or not, but I think I'll be more prepared in another year. Mr. Deford, >> I think if their concern is transparency, we would take a lot of heat in putting it in a m municipality election. I don't think 27 is the time to do it. It's either 26 or 28 because if you put it in a non-presidential election or a non-midterm election, you're going to be accused of sliding it in when people weren't watching. And if the goal is if their concern is transparency, I don't think 27 is the time to do it. >> I just asked what your recommendation would be. >> 26. That's what my motion was. Um, if if 26 is off the table, I would say we're better off waiting till 28, which puts students two years out. >> Two years out from starting a build. Okay. Uh, Miss Wood, do we know how long it takes to build? Have we discussed that? Just trying to think time frames. It's okay if you don't know. We've never had more qualified people to answer that question. We have the room tonight. I was just checking my facts. We we think there would be a four to six month uh design uh once that was, you know, if if a bond were approved and we were given the green light and then about 12 to 14 months of construction. And and the question would be, would you be building all six at one time or could you split that up? Yeah, you could. >> Could you all split? Yeah, >> we could do both. >> Okay. Okay. >> Would those numbers be the same if you went with a pre-fabricated building? >> That that is pre-fabricated. A lot not all of it, but a large portion of those are. >> So, we're looking at two yearsish. Okay. So, I I just want to add a few a couple more comments. I appreciate everybody's point of view and the thoughts that it's provoked. I think it will never be less expensive than to build it. Now, I would also I am I'm not particularly concerned about whether or not high schools will find a way to utilize them. I think they will and they will make the most of it. Having said that, I still want to know the practical schedule. Um, also there are districts in our state who have experienced a budget shortfall this year and not just one or two. And I would hate for us to pursue this and go out for another bond or raise taxes or have a shortfall and then maintenance and just snowball this. Um, and I would appreciate just time to vet alternatives so that if we do proceed that we know and the public knows that we have tried less expensive means to meet the demand that to me is clearly there. Um, so I see both sides and even knowing that it would be the least expensive to do it sooner rather than later, I'm still inclined to want to vet things more fully before I vote to put it on a ballot. My question is on the timeline in our attachments. um on August 28th it says the board must submit an argument in favor of the bond proposition to the election officer. So one thing that I feel um that makes me feel more calm about doing this is I was hoping that we could present a neutral case. Here is the information. Voters decide. But are we required to pitch this at the positives when we do that? >> Yeah, that's my understanding is that it goes that's the board's approval and then the board is making its case for the public. Now there is a another argument against that comes as well that will that will come on but the board generally does not do that. If you do look at the sample ballot you'll see the question that they that they're being asked is about authorizing the issuance of bonds. Uh and then um we do list its purpose. Um but there's just uh that argument in favor of is an election requirement that why why should this happen? >> Although no one is going to look over your shoulder and say I don't think that was positive enough. I think you need to rewrite that. You can simply write >> we are putting this out because we want the public to be able to decide whether so >> yes positive statement but you you can certainly in other words you make a statement about why it's on the ballot. >> How fullthroated you are in support of the idea is something that you would decide as a board. But it's not that you would be compelled to write something that is that is strongly in favor. It could simply be this need has been expressed and we want the public to have the opportunity to decide whether this is a priority. Something along those lines. You don't it it it you aren't judged on how you how you write that and then someone there is a counterpoint and I don't know how they decide who writes that part. >> Yeah. an invitation is made out for the public to submit and then the election officer has to choose um a statement for and a statement against to be representative >> Mr. Thomas, >> I have a whole row of fact checkers behind me. So, here's So, about 6 months to design, two months to go out to bid, and approximately 18 months to construct for a total of about 26 months. And that's if we were doing all six. I mean, the the size of that would be let's just I mean, what 200 How many square feet is that? 35 * 6 nearly 200,000 square ft. So, so larger than a middle school. And yes, most a lot of it is prefab, but it would still take some time to do that. So, I just wanted to make that correction. >> Thank you. It's handy that we have you here. Thanks for being on the hot seat without any prep time. All right, Mr. Deford. >> As I understand it, it's in favor of the bond proposition, not necessarily the passage of the bond. We have to come out with a favorable statement as to why it's on the bond, why it the bond is being proposed. We don't have to be in favor of it passing. >> Thank you for clarifying that. Okay, I don't see any other questions, so let's go to the vote. So, a reminder, the motion is to direct staff to continue preparing for a bond for field houses that would appear on the 2027 ballot. Um, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oh, I'm not saying I. That was just a knee-jerk. Um, and any opposed? >> Nay. >> Nay. Okay, that motion carries um 5 to2 with the opposing votes going to uh Bryce Dunford and Nikki George. Hey, good conversation. Thank you. All right, let's move into >> will we come back to the committees and all that as part of that proposal? >> Do you want to iron that out now? I would prefer more favor coming back, but I just don't want to wait a year and then come back. >> So, if summer or August or something, >> okay, we'll add that to a future agenda item. Thanks for being willing to hold on that. I hate to have a room full of people waiting to give us good information and keep them waiting too long. So, let's move on to agenda item 1A, the West Jordan High School remodel guaranteed maximum price. Um, and we will turn it over to Mr. Thomas um, and Mr. Roberts. Thank you so much for being here and for your patience with our adjustment to the agenda. >> President George, thank you. So, we came to the board a couple of weeks ago and gave you a preview of what was to come regarding the West Jordan uh, high school remodel with the guaranteed maximum price. Uh, it it did come back. The pricing came back and so Mr. Roberts was able to put together a fairly comp comprehensive uh justification letter. You've probably had a chance to read through that. I know we answered several questions today and we appreciate the questions that you called with. So, we can either walk through this or we're happy to answer any questions that you that you have regarding price and um and some of the bid alternates. Board members, do you have questions you'd like him to hit on first or do you want the walk through? >> All right, let's walk through it. >> I'll turn the time over to Mr. Roberts then. >> Okay. Appreciate you guys this opportunity to discuss this with you. um as we've kind of discussed previously. So, this this bid consists of a a base bid and some alternate options that we can go ahead and select from. Um Westland, our construction team, they have they have put this project out to over 2100 subs. Those bid numbers have come back and they are it's kind of cutting out. Um, so they've been able to vet all of these bids and come back to us with a guaranteed maximum price for the work. Uh, that price is 78,727,212 and that will not take into account some of the alternates that we've designed into the project. And it does not also include the the additional fees that we have built in as well. that kind of include the architectural fees. We've got carpet, builder's risk, um special inspections and testing, and then we also had some additional funds that were used for the the parking area for the portable classrooms. Uh we've got four alternates that we've been able to to include in this in this design. Um alternate one is actually the construction of the five classroom edition. uh over roughly 9,000 square ft. Um and that that value came in at 1,494,331. That is roughly we were about $158 per square foot for that addition. Alternate two. So, this provides an update to the media center that gives us some some finishes, a little bit better flow and security. Also gives the the staff a an additional teacher workroom or media center workroom and an overflow space. And it also addresses some some ADA accessibility issues. And the cost that's associated with that alternate is $24,536. Alternate number three, uh this is some updates to the auditorium and it over and above and beyond what we've designed in there, but it will include the the construction of a catwalk. Uh this is our only high school currently that does not have a catwalk. That gives them a little bit more flexibility in being able to to work with the the lighting for any of their performances that go on in that space. Out of out of curiosity, how is access to the catwalks secured at at at the high schools? >> Um, they they vary from school to school. Uh, some of them are behind a locked door, some of them are behind a locked gate. So, it just varies on location. >> I'm up really high. >> Can I rewind? Whoops. To alternate two. So, if we were to choose not to do alternate two, would the um library be ADA accessible? >> So, we currently have ramps that go down into the as you recall, West Jordan's sunk in in that media center area. We've got ramps that go down into that space, but they are not ADA compliant. So, technically, we have a route, but it is not a code compliant route. >> Interesting. Thank you. by today's standards. >> Oh, like it's too steep or something. Gotcha. >> Um, in addition to the uh catwalk in the auditorium space, there is updated rigging as well that's included in that alternate. And then the final alternate that we've got is is an option for the resilient floor finish. So, we've got two options that we've put into the design on this with the the base being a an LVT. And this LVT we've actually installed in a number of schools, but we've had some some concerns with the the longevity of it, the the care, and then the the physical appearance. Um, LVT has gone into Bingham High School. We've put it in at the Jordan Learning Center. and we've actually installed it in a few of these newer elementary schools in the gym and cafeteria. Uh it is a 5mm product, 5 mm product and we've we've had luck with that actually sticking to the floor in these in these elementary schools and the others we've ended up doing a 2.5 mm LVT and it tends to to not adhere as well. and we're seeing some some issues with it and being able to clean it. So, the the alternate on this is a um excuse me for a second. The the product is a So, I know it's Mohawk, but it's not an LVT. >> It's it's still a a vinyl product. >> Okay. >> So, it's a a vinyl and it's going to have a lot less seams. So, it's a 36x 36 resilient flooring. Um, and the the benefit that we see with this is is it doesn't have some of the voids that the LVT has. So, those voids tend to collect quite a bit of dirt, which gives the appearance of a not clean floor. Um, obviously, we've got less less potential for failure with the the reduced joints. And then the the lifetime, the manufacturers actually told us that this is a product that will will last throughout the the remaining life of the building. Um the the base bid is a 15 to 20 year product that we'd be looking at replacing down the road within that window. Um and we see that being more than the the alternate price at that time. So, if we were to take take all four of those alternates um and including all the the additional costs that are associated with the work, the total bid for the project would be $88,858,93. >> Thank you. Let's move into questions. Dr. Robinson. Yeah. Um I guess I was expecting more to see like phase one, phase two. I don't know if you've already given that to us and I missed it or if that's going to be coming to us at another time. >> That is something we can share. We did address that at the the meeting two weeks ago, but >> that's what I said. >> You have a presentation that >> and you gave that to us in board dogs. I must have missed it. So my other question was in alternate number one, we're going to add 9,000 square feet to our most underused school and uh in a community that is declining in population. How do we justify that to the public? One one of the things that happened in this design was the the architect did a great job at looking at the the current utilization of the spaces and what could they do to provide uh better teaching stations and some collaborative you know collaboration areas. So in that redesign and reconfiguration we we touched on it a little bit a couple of weeks ago. They currently have um 90 teaching spaces or instructional spaces and what they ended up doing is through that reconfiguration and redesign losing the equivalent of five classrooms. So this five classroom addition if chosen this bid alternate would take us back to the 90 classrooms. Now I I wanted to make sure that we understood uh what what are the ramifications of that if we didn't choose it. So I got a hold of student services and and worked with Mr. best. Uh the poor guy, I've asked him the same question three times now, but uh the answer the question was if the board ever chose to um change the use of that building and maybe add add some additional students there, would the capacity be such that they could handle that without the five classroom addition? And he said in the year 2030 2031 it would be a little bit tight, but it would certainly be doable. And then after that the uh the the enrollment starts to even taper off just a little bit as well. So the the worst case scenario would be um you know if there was a if a population shift existed there we would just keep a few of the portables until we didn't need those anymore. So um >> could we add this on later? >> We could we we could certainly do that. The problem is as a st right now this is coming in because of the economy of scale with this project um it's coming in at a very very low cost per square foot. I asked the same question Mr. Robin Dr. Robinson and and it was wow, you know, I mean, do we need to do it? But when I found out what the cost per square foot was, I thought, how do we not do this? If we did it as a standalone, it would be probably three to four times more. That is its own standalone project. >> And then for the public record, um, if we were to tear down the school and rebuild a new one, a ballpark, uh, figure of what that would cost, if I'm not mistaken, like West and Highland or 300 million or is that correct? is >> yeah, we're going to say in that ballpark, >> maybe even a little bit more cuz that's been another year or so since. >> Correct. >> So, it's about 220 million savings. >> The numbers that Mr. Fton provided, was that for a 9 through 12? >> Correct. >> But we haven't made a decision to put 9th graders. >> That is correct. I just did some quick math and it looks like about $166 per square foot with what you're proposing here and we're paying like close to $450 with new construction. So >> that seems today's going rate. Yeah. >> What is new construction? I mean 350 to 450 is the range I have heard. So, and refresh my memory. I thought that in the previous presentation there was something with like the teachers office space if we didn't do does is the way that you had set this up with um teachers having like an office space separate from their classrooms. Is that affected if we choose not to do the five classroom edition? No. Okay. That Yeah, that would stay the same as it's been designed. >> There would just be a total net loss of five classrooms to to accommodate all of those changes. >> I just pulled up uh documents from the Mountain Ridge build and it was $196 a square foot when we built that brand new school. So, this is $30 a square foot cheaper than that. Dean, >> Miss Dean, sorry. >> Thank you. So, the um with alternate three, I I have heard from people from West Jordan High School um about issues with the lights. Would this make it easier to manage some of those issues? I I mean you might have heard some of these stories about lights at West Jordan High School auditorium, but >> this was brought up during the the workshops. Um and this will make it a little bit easier for them to to make operate. >> Okay. Thank you. Could you remind me, sorry I didn't raise my hand, um, how much the cost is per square foot for the entire project? Because the 166 that Miss George mentioned was just for the five classrooms. So, what what's the price for the full project? >> The full project, we're looking at about $266 a square foot. Is that with all the alternates or without? With the alternates. Okay. >> So, and did I say 266? It's 226. My apologies, but that'll be all in. I thought the problems with the lights were related to ghosts. Is that not accurate? >> Continue to try to dispel. >> Thank you. >> I app I appreciate all the alternate bids that we can take a look at these and have some flexibility with them. I like all of the alternate bids and think that there's wisdom behind all of them. So, thank you. Can I just ask uh from a financial perspective, are we able to do all of those? >> Can I speak to that >> please? >> Uh we had budgeted $80 million and the if we do no of the al none of the alternates, it's 86.4. Um if we do all of the alternates, it's 88. So the difference between what we have, you know, doing any of it and doing all of it is 2.4 million. And for a project of this scope, that seems negligible. So, we had planned on $80 million for this project. Going with the $80 million and taking out our typical reserve in our capital budget, that hit a low of $5 million in that budget. So, if we spend $80 million, not counting our reserve, our capital budget will hit $5.3 million next year. That's the lowest I've seen it. Um, that being said, we do have a reserve significant enough to build them an elementary school. That's been our goal. finance committee decided that a couple years ago that as a minimum, we wanted, you know, enough money in reserves to build an elementary school. So, since we're going to have to we're going to basically eat up the budget no matter what to do West Jordan, that means we're dipping into that reserve. And I think that's why we have a reserve. I think this is one of those situations where yes, that justifies dipping in to our reserve. So if we do all of the bid alternates and all of a sudden in two years we had to build an elementary school, we would not be able to do that with our reserves. The likelihood of that happening is pretty minimal. So, I think since we have to dip into our reserve anyway to complete the project, we might as well complete it as it's been proposed with all of the alternates. >> Just so I'm understanding correctly, the 80 set aside, so we would just have to dip in for the 8.8 >> 8.4 >> and then that would leave us at 5 something. 5.3. >> No, that would that would eat up the 5.3. >> Oh, I see. and dip 3 million into our reserve. So, we could not we wouldn't necessarily be able to complete an elementary in an emergency. >> I see. >> Our reserve is enough to build an elementary in an emergency and we wouldn't have that full amount. >> How much is it? >> How much do we have set aside for an elementary? >> Uh roughly $40 million. >> Okay. Thank you. We did do significantly less summer projects during the time of the ring bingham rebuild. Are you assuming our current um spend limit on our summer projects? >> Our current has been reflects that >> we could reduce over the next three years what we've done. >> We could we could further reduce summer projects >> or we just dip into our reserve and then as time goes on we'll build that back up. >> Can we vote for the alternate alternate separately? Um, if we as a board had already decided to move 9th graders up to West Jordan, I would definitely be vote for all of these, but I'm apprehensive in voting for number one without that decision being made. >> I I'm okay voting for number one only because they currently have 90 classrooms. So, we could take away five or we could just keep it at the 90. So that's the way I see it. Like they're still using those classrooms. They can still use that space. And so I wouldn't want to put all of this effort into upgrading the high school just to take away some of their space. And to me, that doesn't quite feel like a great investment into this high school. just just for me as a declining population. Now, if we bring ninth graders up, then that solves that problem. And so, I don't have a problem at all. So, I would not want to vote no on the whole proposal, but if I'm forced to, then I would. Just so people would understand that if we had decided that we're going to bring nth graders up, then this school will be very at capacity and and running functionally. But with lower population, if a board decided not to do that, I wouldn't feel really good about increasing space. >> I would also feel weird leaving portables after a remodel. Be like, actually, you're going to have some portables even though we just remodeled. But >> but with projections of declining populations. >> So when I look I did I put my name on by the way. I feel guilty talking now. When I look at um 96 classrooms in comparison to what our other high schools have, that's actually quite small. We've we've got 110, 111, 111, 107, and 104 at all of our other schools. So, just putting that in perspective. Mr. Larson, >> I just wanted to mention that Mr. Dunford did a great job summarizing the financing and I'm very comfortable with all the alternates on this and where that leaves us financially. Okay, there has been a mention that we take these one by one. Was would anyone like to motion >> here or in the public meeting? >> Oh yeah, let's do it in the public meeting. Good point. Does everyone have the questions answered they need in order to vote in the public meeting? I would go back to Darl. We are not going to solve the first question, but you have to vote on this tonight. I don't know how to solve your dilemma because we will not make a decision on the other tonight, but we do have to make a decision on this tonight. So, what information do you need to solve that given the fact that we are not going to vote on the other issue? I probably can't, but I would be it would help me a lot to be supportive on the others. And I again, if if you're bringing in a whole another population, which I think is we've mentioned, then maybe I'm super comfortable, but I'm not super comfortable. If that's not a decision, which is not going to be made before. So, >> so solving the issue would be to have a motion that takes each alternate individually to vote on. >> I would like that. >> Or even one and then two, three, four. >> Try to beat me to it. >> I I'm not going to make a motion either way. So, >> just depends on whether or not you want my >> So, one of us doesn't make the motion in the business meeting. >> Oh, yeah. Some of them can, but >> make it. >> You can make it. >> I'll make a bit. I'll do it. >> Okay. Is there any other questions that you need answered prior to the business meeting? Great. Thank you so much for being here with us. We appreciate the information. Let's take one more agenda item. Um, a review of district water conservation efforts. Luckily, we have the men of the hour at the table already. Mr. Thomas, Mr. Roberts. Um, so let's go ahead and move into that discussion. >> Thank you, President George. And if it's okay, I've invited Steve uh Pier to the table. He's our director of custodial and energy services and and uh I hope that's okay. We we wanted first of all we wanted to say thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about this. We know that water use and water conservation is a very important topic every year but especially this year uh due to the low snow pack we you know we we've been aware of this and so we've been having conversations. I'll just kind of briefly summarize where we're at right now with water conservation and then let Steve and uh Ian answer any questions you have. We kind of take a three-pronged approach to this. Facility services plays a part in water conservation. Custodial and energy services does as well. And then we rely on our schools and their custodial staff to uh do their part as well. Starting back the end of March, we saw this coming. So, uh Mr. Pier was able to send out um an email the head custodians basically uh giving them our own I guess our own restrictions uh when poss and and kind of forewarning them for what was to come. Uh no daytime watering between uh 8 and or 10 and 8:00 p.m. optimal watering times limiting the frequency avoiding waste water. Um it gave some additional tips. We raised our mower heights uh to to 3 in to reduce the water needs there. Priorities giving precedence to sports and practice fields for watering. Uh decorative lawn and garden areas can be considered a lower priority. And then our our efforts with zeroscaping where we continue to go through, we've done this for at least 10 years. um some of the shrub beds around the school, some of the what we refer to when we've, you know, stupid grass around the school that we that kind of gets cowtiled down. Anyway, we've been able to go through excavate that and put uh put rock in those areas. So, we continue to do that. And then Mr. Pier sent out another one uh on May 19th at an advisory and custodial workshop. Kind of the same things uh in terms of watering schedule. One of the things that we've done typically is we we have not yet received anything official from the state. Usually the state will hand watering restrict restrictions down to the county, down to the cities, and then to us. And when they've done that in the past, we've been quick to get those out to the schools and comply with those. Uh in addition, at 38 of our schools currently, Steve, maybe 10 years, we've been putting the smart the weather track clocks in. >> Um about 10 years. So they are in all of our high schools, most of our middle schools and several elementaryaries. We have about 31 schools left to go. But what that does is is the weather kind of tracks the use of those clocks. And so if it's a rainy day uh or the humidity is high, then it goes ahead and monitors that. Is did I say that correctly and kind of controls the the water there? Um, I can't think of a day in the past month and a half that a patron, a concerned patron or a good neighbor has not called us with concerns about a broken sprinkler head or um, you know, watering and and so we've been able to send Steve and his his crew out to attend to every one of those and thank those patrons for their concerns. Um we on on facility uh services standpoint, we have a um during the summer a full-time electrician that does nothing but attend to sprinkler needs in terms of selenoids and things like that. So watering over a thousand acres of of lawn is is quite a task. And so we we take it serious, but do we have broken heads and broken valves? I mean, all the things that a person would have broken in their yard or need repair of. Um, you know, we ask our custodians after every mowing cycle to go back through and do a do a test. So, sometimes you'll see those sprinklers on during the day. More than likely, hopefully, they're just doing a test, run through their sprinklers to make sure that the uh heads haven't been broken. And then if they are, they either replace those or they put a work order in to have those replaced. So sprinklers and lawn care uh in the summer months is a big big deal. Did I miss anything gentlemen? >> Oh did good. Any any questions from the board that we can answer specifically about water conservation. It's going to it's going to continue to be a huge deal this summer and and every summer. Tell me a little bit about maybe in the past um the state has come down with water restrictions. >> Yeah. >> Does that come who does that come from and what like give me an example of what that might look like? So, a couple of years ago, some board members might remember, I believe it came out of the governor's office and then and correct me, I think it went from the governor's office to the county and then the county was able to share that with the municipalities, but I remember having water restrictions a couple of summers ago and then what we end up doing is we go out and adjust our clogs to meet those restrictions. Um, you know, custodians can override those. I mean, it's always nice to have nice nice green fields, but it's pretty obvious when someone's overwatering in a time of drought. Uh, but we're able to go out and kind of adjust those clocks uh to to certain hours, times, or days. But, uh, that's that's usually how we meet those restrictions. For example, if the county said, you know, you can only water on these days um or or two days a week, then we try to comply with that and get out and make those adjustments. I know I've I've been a little vocal on this in the past, but something comes from the governor's office. What is the legal standing of that as far as our responsibility to adhere to it? Maybe Paul knows or are are we required to do what the governor tells us to do? >> No. And I'm I'm not saying that I'm opposed to water conservation, but I I just want to understand the process, >> right? Yeah. And and when those restrictions come, I mean, I think the best the best answer is we try to comply the best we can and still maintain our fields to a certain degree of usability. For example, playfields, it it if you don't put some water on them, they just get dry. And is it okay for them to dry up? It is. But the problem is when you have 800 little roto tillers out there with their shoes on tilling up the grass then then we have bare spots and so you have to keep something on there. Um but yeah we we have we are able to identify the different areas and try to comply to the best of our ability to maintain usable fields. Miss Dean, >> um what is being done to maintain trees? Because I mean like already a lot of water and time has been put into a lot of our trees. So I'm just interested in what is if anything is being done to maintain >> Thank you. >> the trees. >> If if the trees are established, if they've been there for several years and they've established a good root system, they're they're pretty good during times of drought. Um, but if not, if they're newer trees or newer plants, then we have to give them special attention and give them a little extra water. >> And and there is there a plan to do that? There's a plan to >> there there would be the trees. >> Yes, there would be at the individual schools like if we knew of a school. I I mean the best example now would be maybe Juniper is probably our newest school. So those those would probably need some extra attention. We would encourage the them to add more water to newer planted trees. Same with um grass that's not well established. They would need to to water more often. >> I have three questions. So, first of all, um you talked about the ongoing process of installing smart controls. Are those have we been able to use government rebates? Are we paying full price for those? How is that happening? >> Um, some of them we were able to get on with where they were installed or where there the controller was actually at a reduced price. Um, what we've been kind of doing is as clocks need to be replaced, we have been replacing them one at a one at a time or in small groups. Um, just depends on on the the year. There have been a few that we've been able to take advantage of of some discounts. Um, others we've had to pay the full price. >> Okay. And sorry, I'm tagging one on to that question. So, um, what is the cost associated with that upgrade? >> You knew you knew you'd ask. You knew she'd we'd ask that. >> Yes. Have that ready for you. >> Are you calling me predictable? >> No, it's great. Um, the cost to um do all of the remaining schools would be roughly $239,000. So at at this point we haven't done them all in one big um batch. We've just done a few at a time because of that that cost. There is also a a a service cost for each that we put on. Um like this year for the ones that we have the service cost is about 10 a little over $10,000 a year just for the the service of >> the software. >> Yeah. the software that they >> and that's for the current 38 that we currently have. Correct, Steve? >> For the 38 that we currently have. >> Okay. Um then you mentioned that we are in an ongoing process of adding zeroscaping or removing stupid grass. Can you tell me how recently have we done a project like that? >> They are constantly coming through facility services. Um just quick little number from from 2021 till now. So we've just been tracking the last 5 years. We've already taken care of 56 sites and still continuing to work on more. So that may not take care of the entire site, but we are there's been 56 projects that have removed that stupid grass. >> And who how do you decide which site to do when? That one I'm not going to be able to. >> Well, I I guess it's just based on on our observations. Uh I know Dr. Robinson called me a bit ago about Foothills Elementary. There's there's this there's those triangle pieces that are in front that over time the kids just kind of trample down and it gets to the point where it's like it's just hard to save that uh grass. So, we're excavating that. But most of it's our observation or you go to a school and um the custodian isn't able to keep up on the shrub beds as well. Um, so we've just over time made those decisions and >> So you're saying I should call you when I notice what I think is stupid. >> Yeah, you should. Okay. And we'll eventually get to a pretty bold statement. >> I would just blame it on Dave. >> There you uh we decided. >> And then my last question is about the water retention basins that we are required to put in. I noticed that newer schools are getting grass in there. Is that is there an alternative to watering something that we don't really use as grass? >> Um what in a lot of those they use them for play spaces, but if you're talking about the one in front of like Analopee Canyon, that that is kind. And I remember when it was full to the brim after that that storm. Um, yeah, they couldn't put we some they can put rock in them. >> There are a handful that we've actually put under some of the hardscape. So, when you talk Juniper Elementary, you've got that that slope that transitions between the parking and the drive out on the east side of the school. We do have a retention basin there >> with the West Jordan High School project. It's built in underneath that uh that new parking area where the portables are. >> Uh, South Jordan Middle's got a little bit of the the same out in the the asphalt. So, so as we're building and designing these new schools or projects, they're typically going in the the hardscape and not back into the grass. >> Dr. Robinson, >> would you agree that building field houses would save water? >> Just wondering on that. That's kind of sarcastic, but I did >> $120 million worth maybe. Well, I did I did find out that we save about a 100 million gallons of water per turf football field. The football sides filled is what they tell me. So, I think that's pretty awesome. A few years ago, we really took a hard look at trying to conserve water. It was another drought year, which every year is a drought year in Utah, but you gave us some statistics. Is there any way at the end of this uh year you can give us maybe I know it probably up and down a little bit, but our total savings would be really good. I I know that this year's total savings will be different cuz we were already saving, >> but so maybe even a fiveyear look or 10 year look. I I don't know if you save that kind of information, but that would be a really I I just know when we did it before and we were really cautious um especially in the Herman area, we we made a significant difference and we reported a a number back to them and they were the city was very excited to see that number. So, >> we we're happy to report we saved some money this uh this winter on snow removal. >> We need that one, too. >> Was it $120 million? >> Probably not that, but but it was it was decent. Yeah. >> Miss Barrow, >> uh on the topic of the ongoing process of getting rid of stupid grass and zero escaping, um it's usually just based off observations. Can we make that more systematic or like do you think there might be a better system in I don't know custodians self-reporting or going out and visiting more just cuz I know there's a bunch of park strip grass at the school near my house and when I was at West Hills there's like that weird >> sloped area and it's mostly grass. I'm like, we're not using this super steep area and so I is there a better process maybe we could put into play? >> Can I speak to that? We actually established a budget years ago and they use up the budget every year for that. So if the board chose to increase the budget, I don't think they ever run out of ideas on where to go. So if the board wants them to do more, we can you can direct them to set aside more. Is that an accurate reflection? >> It is accurate and and I don't want to give the impression that we just throw a dart. I mean we're not just say, "Oh, there's a good but you know a lot of it is based on school request. I mean the schools will call and say, "Hey, will you come out and look at this?" And we we try to equalize things the best we can and give a little bit here and a little bit there. But no, I think that's reasonable what you're what you're asking. Wouldn't that be a fun community activity? Everyone go out and rip out the sod and the park strip. >> Yeah, >> Mr. Larson. >> Um, as we're preparing for future capital project budgets, that would be a very nice thing to add and maybe we can look at that in finance committee as well. But, uh, my question was, I'm very intrigued about the 236,000 is what it would take to finish it off. If >> if money were no object, I'm sorry to phrase it that way. If money were no object, how long would it take to finish off the rest of the schools? Oh, if if we had that, we could get the um weather track to come in and and put in their system this summer. I mean, they could they could do it within one season. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Godfrey. Sorry, I already interjected and follow the rules. No, that's >> you get to come in anytime. Most of the time we make a comment and look at you for an answer. >> No, I'm good. Thank you. >> M. Did you save on snow removal? >> That was Dave. Dave, do you remember? I think it was Mr. Barnett that had the question. Was it >> compare it to the worst year? Yeah, I want to say it was in the 250,000. Do you remember what we It was >> about what it would cost to install all the weather system. >> Yeah, that's it would it would cover that. It was that much. >> Miss Barrow, uh I wanted to follow up on the service cost you mentioned for the 38 current systems we have. Um is that an ongoing cost? Yes, that's a that's a yearly cost. Um, last year it was roughly a little over 8,000. This year it's um about 10,000 10,500. >> So it is ongoing cost >> and that's for like the program for the smart water systems and things like that. >> So that service >> Yeah. All the service >> almost like a a wireless. So it's almost like a cell phone service. So they dial into local weather stations and that >> the information as to whether they can cut back on the watering. So it it will take into account moisture, the humidity, and then wind. So it'll actually turn those sprinklers off. They're not being as effective while it's >> spring. Mhm. >> Okay. Thank Are we just paying that because it is um a commercial grade? Like I there are many that don't have a subscription fee for residential, but have we ever looked at that? >> We have um tried another service um smart rain. We tried in fact we have three schools on the smart rain service. We did have more problems with them um than we have with weather track. weather track has seem to maintain the lawns that are better. Plus, we we still have them reducing if there's been rain, that kind of stuff. So, we have tried others. Um although weather track was more expensive, we found that it was >> working better, >> working a lot better. >> So, am I correct that more smart rain and less stupid grass would really make a difference? Yeah, it'd be even it'd be even better if we used weather track instead of stupid grass. >> Thank you. >> So, when was the last time we compared those? >> Uh well, we still have the the three smart rain in because their clocks are working, but um so that comparison is still going on. Um the schools that have just a regular manual clock um most of them I believe are are the Rainbird clocks. >> Um and um those are the ones that tend to to wear out the soonest that we've been replacing. So um but those are the only two um services that we have tried since I've been been in this position. So >> thank you. >> I'm seeing no more questions. Well, one more. Okay. Um do we have to use certain systems because we have so many clocks? like is that a hindrance? Whereas I'm just one house and I use beehive. I don't know if you've heard of that one, right? But do we have to use certain systems because they're because we have so many? >> It's it's much easier to train if if we can train everybody on one system. Um, I use Beehive at my house and um, we haven't used it at any of the schools just because of of how many um, you know, sections we'd have to water. That would be concern. Some of our schools have multiple clocks even with the weather track. I think um Copper M or Mountain Ridge has like three um there, you know, and they have thousands of of heads, you know. So, um that does play a factor in it. Um the reason why we're doing it, but it it's also easier if the custodial staff, they learn from one system and then they if they move and rotate around, it's easier to train. But that doesn't mean that we couldn't investigate other possibilities. So, >> okay. I've heard um some mention that we have some cost savings that could potentially be applied to finishing out the um the weather tracking smart sprinklers. Sorry, you can tell I speak this field. Um, is is there a motion to do that or was that just idle conversation? >> That's within their budget. They can do that. >> Is that within your budget, >> Mr. Larson? >> Yes. And we will let's talk later about how we can do that. But it it does seem like that that might be a a good one-time use of some savings this right now that will yield future savings from. >> And now is a good time to do it. >> I I think we can do that within the existing budgets. We just need to >> look at them, review them, and figure that out. >> Perfect. And then board members, are you comfortable with um giving finance committee the assignment to look at the current budget that facilities has for zeroscaping remodels? Um and making sure that that is in line with current costs and the vision of the board. Okay. Finance, you willing to take that on? >> Of course. >> Thank you. All right. We are close to our business meeting. Any final questions? I'm not missing someone. I have a question. I think we're supposed to We have an agenda item we didn't discuss that we're voting on in the public meeting and I was wondering how we were going to Thanks for pointing that out. That's a concern. Um, we have like 15 minutes. Do you want to tackle another one and have no break or we can always postpone a vote? >> You can postpone a vote to June to June if you prefer. >> Could we not have discussion out there or >> Yeah. What's preventing us from having the discussion we would have here out there? I think we could have discussion. Um the trick would be having it around emotion, but we could just talk before and not have a motion. What's Robert's rules if it's not meant to be broken, right? I I don't have a preference. >> The only concern I'd have is people might come to speak about the motion tonight. So, if they did, I think we should allow whether or not we vote on or not, I think we should allow people to vote to speak on it. >> And then if we want to table it, I think it can be an option for us. Maybe discuss it, see if anyone wants to speak on it, and then make the motion to table or move forward. >> Yeah. To postpone the vote. Yeah. And the order really is before we even have a motion, we listen to the public. So >> yeah, >> we can just follow that with discussion and then make a determination there. Is everyone comfortable with that? >> Does that put staff in an awkward position? Because >> if they were to come here and present information, that's very different than staff standing in front of the public and presenting that information. And I would not want staff to be put on the spot in the public because this is a lift the board needs to make, not staff. I got that impression loud and clear that staff does not want to make this decision and if they come to the public meeting, I worry that it's going to give staff an uncomfortableness in that it looks like they're swaying a decision. Would your staff feel more comfortable if we had the discussion in study session rather than a public meeting? >> Uh, >> knowing what we've asked you to report to us, what they would stand up in front of the public saying, is that better had here or there? Since we're kind of on that agenda item, the information that we would talk about that I'm prepared to talk about is what elective social studies courses look like at the two levels and whether we can divide the course and still meet the requirement from the state. The first is just information that I think is helpful. The second isn't an answer to the question. It might sound to those who are following this like staff is trying to dodge the question, but what we don't want to do is paint the board into a corner. We want to be able to have a broad discussion. That being said, we can have that discussion out there before a vote or we can have it back in here before a vote in June. Um, it does change the tenor of the conversation a little bit to have it out there. I think you make an important point, but we're prepared to do either because we've had a lot of discussion to this point. It's not an an extensive discussion from our standpoint and the board can decide how much of this you want to decide as with any topic. You can decide how deep to go on that or or um how much you want admin the administration to ultimately decide. The board has seemed to feel passionately about this and so you can make a decision about how much you want to decide. >> Um, please >> I would I would prefer to postpone the vote until after we were able to have the discussion in a study session. >> I would agree with that, but I do think the public comment should go on tonight. >> Yep. That's fine. So, when we go out, we'll still have the public comment and then we can just make a motion to postpone a vote on that agenda item at that point. Okay, great. Let's go ahead and take a short break. We'll be back out for the business meeting at 6:30. Welcome to the Jordan School District Board of Education meeting. I love the energy in this room. It's so fun to have you with us. Um today is Tuesday, May 26, 2026 and present with us this evening are all members of the board of education. Um we'll start down here. We have our board attorney Paul Vancman. Um board member Lisa Dean, board member Suzanne Wood, Aaron Barrow, Brian Barnett, I am Nikki George, Bryce Dunford, and Daryl Robinson, as well as our superintendent Anthony Godfrey, associate superintendent Mike Anderson, and our business administrator, John Larson, as well as many people that we're excited to welcome into the room. We are going to get started this evening um by welcoming um our Riverton High School here to do our opening. So, we're going to start with a flag ceremony with Mariah Akuna um the junior class secretary and Carson Davis, the junior class president. We'll turn it over to you. >> Will the audience please rise? Color guard forward. Color guard. Post the colors. Please repeat the pledge of allegiance with me. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> The audience may be seated. >> Thank you. All right. Oh, and thank you, Adam Scott, for doing the pledge of allegiance. I apologize. Separate agenda item there. Okay. We'll now invite the Riverton student body officers for our reverence. Our dear kind heavenly father, we're so grateful that we were able to all be gathered here on such a wonderful day with all these incredible people. Heavenly Father, please bless that our hearts and minds will be open to hear such amazing things that'll be said today. And we say these things in the name Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. >> Okay, let's move into celebrating schools with Seth Christensen, the student body president at Riverton. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Seth Christensen. I'm the SPO president of Rivetton High School. I'm here representing Riverton High School's community as well as our principal, Rochelle Wait. As we've gone throughout this past school year, it has been truly amazing to see all that Riverton has accomplished. Our unofficial student government theme this year has been onward, upward, and outward. And I think that is something we have been able to accomplish this year. To carry something onward is to bring something that we have had a tradition from and continue it through to make it better throughout the year. To carry something upward is to take something that didn't work too well or worked well but made it better. And then to carry things outward is to carry things towards our students to make them feel loved and make them feel as if they are a part of the Riveton community. An example of the things that we have carried onward is our homecoming games. We have had great student sections throughout the year and in our homecoming game as long along with Cypress Credit Union Carnival, we have had a record-breaking amount of people showing up. It has truly been amazing watching what we've been able to accomplish when we have worked together throughout this year. To carry things upward, we would like to bring the example of Silver Rush. We have taken all the ideas from years past, the wonderful traditions that we have had, and we've improved upon them, and we've made them better. This year we raised over a4 million for Silver Rush, $35,000 more than we have ever raised before and it has been truly astounding. We are so grateful for the wonderful opportunity we have been able to have. Then finally, we've been able to carry things outward outward towards our students. Throughout this year, student government has collectively written a personalized letter to every single student, every single teacher, every single administrator, every single member of the faculty at Riverton High School. We have made sure that no one fell through the cracks. We have made sure that every single person at our school feels loved and knows that they are appreciated. I may be a little biased, but I say I don't know a school that does that as well as Riverton. We are so grateful to be able to be here and we are so grateful for your contributions. None of it would have been able to be possible without the wonderful school board that we have. So, thank you to Jordan School District. Truly, without your support, none of it would be possible. We wouldn't be able to have those homecoming games. We wouldn't be able to have any football games. We wouldn't even have a student section. You know, we wouldn't have a silver rush. We wouldn't even have a gym to have a silver rush in. we wouldn't have the ability to go out and serve our community. And finally, and when I say most importantly, we wouldn't have the higher ability to love the people that surround us every day if it wasn't for you, if it wasn't for your contributions. So again, we say thank you from the people of Riverton High School. Thank you for making our students feel loved. Thank you. Um, it's always the best part of every board meeting when we're able to hear about the amazing things that are happening in our schools. And I think, uh, the ability to carry that attitude of gratitude with you throughout your lives is going to serve you well. So, thank you so much for exemplifying that for all of us, for the extra effort that you put into appreciating the students in Riverton. Okay, with that, can I invite anyone who is here supporting a Riverton student to stand up? Whether you're an employee, a parent, we would love to give you a round of applause. You are clearly doing an amazing job. All right. If you are a student from Riverton High School, will you please stand up? We would love to invite each of the students to come up to the dis. We have a little pin to give you. Um, and we would also just like to shake your hands and thank and thank you for being here. So, if you'll start on that end, just go down and we'll give you each a handshake. Thank you for coming. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. >> Good work, you guys. Good job. Good job. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thank you for coming. >> Thank you for coming. >> Thank you for your service. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thank you so much. I have great students. Thank you again. And please, we are not offended. If you need to leave early, go get ready for those finals this week. Okay, we will now move into our resolutions of appreciation. Miss Dean, whereas dedicated service to Jordan School District was faithfully and effectively performed, whereas they consistently and conscientiously executed their responsibilities with integrity, honesty, and loyalty. Be it therefore resolved that the Jordan School District Board of Education and District Administration declare appreciation for the outstanding service that the that was performed in the cause of public public education and hereby express our sorrow at the death of these valued friends. Dwayne Boyd Glazier Craig B. Kelly, Daniel Max May, Angelina Miola Pageant, Thomas Steven Pearson, Ruth Anne Robbins. Thank you. Well, with the end of this school year comes a lot of reasons to celebrate a lot of hard work that has been put in around the district. And we are excited to welcome the Jordan Education Foundation to present the outstanding education support professionals um the the heartbeat of our district. So, we will invite Mr. Mike Haynes up to the microphone to present those awards. Thank you, President George and Board of Education. This is an exciting time. We love this. Anytime we get an opportunity to recognize um excellence across the district, we come out and support it. We've got many of our board members, committee, staff members here to help participate in this awards or the awards tonight. Um and we appreciate your support of the foundation and all the things that we're doing. and um we're excited to be here. Thank you. Um it is uh an honor and a privilege to get to recognize some wonderful people. So I think the 13 people we'll recognize tonight already know who they are. So, if we can get them to come up against this wall over here, um, and then we'll call in alphabetical order each one. And then if we can also have their principal, if they're with them here tonight, um, escort them through the line. And then our board members, if we can assemble um between the table and the flag and then once the recipient's name is called, please come up here by me so you can be in front of everybody when we read these great things or as I read these great things from and about you. So, as President George said, the uh the education support professional, for those who may or may not know what that is, often called ESPs, um and the heartbeat of our district, these are everybody that works for the school district that is not a licensed educator. And um there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes and outside the classroom that we we uh want to share some great stories. So, first we have Brandon Anderson, systems administrator from information systems. Now, the director of information systems is Mike Heaps. Um, this nomination was submitted by David Bowman. If Mike or David are here, if they could come up with Brandon, that'd be great. Brandon, if you can come stand right here. Brandon stands out because he combines deep technical ability with the kind of calm, steady attitude everyone hopes to find on the other end of a panicked call. You want to face this guy here. One of Brandon's biggest accomplishments this year was becoming the expert on our provisioning tool and helping transform it into a process that better serves the entire school district. He is the kind of person who sees a gap and fills it. Brandon has become an IT hero whose dedication has a real impact on learning outcomes. His work helps keep the district moving and more importantly helps keep students learning. Congratulations, Brandon. All right. And in addition to these awards, you can hold that up. Um Brandon and all the other recipients will receive $1,000 in your next check. So congratulations on that. And that $1,000 comes from donors in the community that want to recognize outstanding excellence. So $1,000 for each one of you. Congratulations. Thank you, Brandon. And if you can stand right over here and we'll form a line over here after for each one of them. All right. Next, John Hawkins. John Hawkins is the head custodian at Blackidge Elementary. Principal is David Butler. And this nomination was submitted by principal David Butler. John's dedication to the job is extraordinary. John's commitment to excellence is evident in every corner of our building. One of John's most notable achievements is ramping our sweeper team. Under his leadership, morale has soared and expectations have been raised. John's expertise is unbeatable. His background as a retired car mechanic gives him an exceptional ability to troubleshoot and repair virtually anything in our school. He never hesitates to step in and his can do spirit ensures that problems are solved before they escalate. Congratulations, John. Come on over here. Next is Tanya Hajes. Tanya is a senior buyer in our purchasing department. Her director is Kurt Prusy and uh this nomination was written by Kurt. Tanya is one of the most dedicated employees. She has to be reminded to go home on many occasions because she is trying to finish up projects or wants to get one more thing done. Tanya consistently demonstrates exceptional expertise and initiative, particularly when managing complex and evolving projects. Tanya Hajes has made significant and lasting contributions to the Jordan School District, particularly in her support of the transportation department. Her contributions have directly supported improved operations and service. Congratulations, Tanya. And you are also receiving a copy of the full nomination, just not the abbreviated version, so you'll get to read that later as well. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Tanya. Next is Deborah Miller. Deborah, fifth grade aid at Rocky Peak Virtual Academy, Virtual Elementary. Um, her principal is Ross Menlo and the nomination was submitted by Principal Menllo and Ruth Anne Ballard. Debbie is defined by her extraordinary empathy and proactive reliability. Debbie's most notable achievement is her flawless management of process monitoring for 47 fifth grade students. She has received a 100% weekly completion rate. Debbie's work has a profound impact on the broader school climate and community engagement. Through her selfless dedication, Debbie has turned her position into a pivotal leadership role that strengthens the instructional and emotional foundation of our school. Congratulations, Deborah. Evelyn Naro Naro. Naharo. >> Naharo. Okay. All right. We've got fans in the house for Evelyn. Evelyn is an in-house substitute for Ridge View Elementary. Her principal Molly Morgan and nominations submitted by Nathan Price. Evelyn excels at building strong, positive relationships with both staff and students. Her skills go beyond the classroom. Evelyn is bilingual in Spanish and has provided critical translation support in the office and during parent teacher conferences. Her perseverance and stick to itness are truly appreciated. Evelyn steps up and follows through even the tasks outside her comfort zone. Evelyn's selflessness and commitment have made a meaningful difference for both staff and students and her contributions are a vital part of our school's achievements. Congratulations, EVELYN. Sheila Rap. Yes, Sheila Rap is an administrative assistant at H Heartland Elementary. um principal there, Buddy Oliver, and nominations submitted by principal Alger. Sheila doesn't just meet expectations, she knocks them out of the park. Her dedication, compassion, and team first mindset make her an MVP at H Heartland and a true example of what it means to help our entire school community succeed. Sheila genuinely wants what is best for H Heartland and pours herself into making sure everything runs smoothly for students, staff, and families. Sheila's impact on H Heartland Elementary and our broader community is felt in the way she advocates for every student and family who walks through our doors. Congratulations, Sheila. Italiana Schumacher. Did I say Italana right? Is it Italina? Italina. Um, Italina. Is it Italina? >> Italina. Okay. I'm sorry. Should have double checked that first. She is a DIML assistant at Bluffell Elementary. Um, principal there, Stacy Moore. Uh, nomination submitted by Veronica Holio. Itilina is recognized by staff for her positive attitude, initiative, and ability to foster collaboration among teachers. Itilina consistently volunteers, excuse me, for extra duties such as coordinating cultural events and translating materials, demonstrating a deep commitment to the DLI community. She taught herself Spanish to better serve her students. Italina consistently goes above and beyond her official duties. She readily volunteers as an interpreter for non-English-speaking students and families. Italina's in initiative, linguistic expertise, and heartfelt dedication make her an invaluable asset to our school and community. Congratulations, Lena, Mandy Shaw. >> All right. Mandy is a transportation router senior. Um at the trans uh transportation department department head there is Paul Bera. Nomination written and submitted by Paul Begera. Words truly can't express what Mandy Shaw means to the Department of Transportation and the impact she has on Jordan school district students, families, and schools. Mandy's distinctive ability to evaluate and analyze special education routes in order to maximize efficiency is simply amazing. People have trust and confidence in Mandy. Mandy successfully navigates the numerous complexities incorporated with special education routing on a daily basis. She has been instrumental in exploring, analyzing, and developing the most beneficial and efficient methods for transport transporting our students. Congratulations, Mandy. I love it. That's so fun. Jolen Snellgrove. Jolyn. Jolyn is a WEDA access testing coordinator in assessment research and accountability with her department head Ben Jameson. Nomination here submitted by Ben Jameson. Jolyn Snellgrove is defined by a rare combination of unflapable patience and tireless advocacy. I like that. It is her on the ground temperament that sets her apart. In the 202526 school year, Jolin led the district to a record high 95% partic participation rate, a feat that requires meticulous organization and follow-through. Jolyn is likely the most seasoned expert in ML's state mandating testing in Utah. The impact of Jolin's work is the bedrock of the Jordan School District's ML services. Because of her rigorous oversight, our testing data is high quality, valid, and reliable, which allows our district to secure the necessary instructional and cultural support for our students to thrive. Congratulations, Julian. Rosa Tekalco. Rosa, we've had the we've been lucky enough to work with Rosa in the past. She is a community outreach liaison at Majestic Elementary, her principal, Maryanne Johansson, and a nomination submitted by principal Johansson. It is impossible to overstate what Rosa does for our school. Rosa is the unwavering support system that carries our families through their hardest challenges. When a family comes for food, she's thinking about housing, health care, and social services, too. This approach turned simple distribution into comprehensive case management. Rosa took on the role of PTA president when no one else was willing. She tripled attendance at our PTA meetings. Rosa also runs our family community center, a crucial hub offering, English, GED, and computer classes for parents. Rosa creates a welcoming environment where every student and family feels valued. Congratulations, Rosa. Stacy Ulch. All right. Stacy is a registar for JATC. Principal Sonia Burton. Submitted nominations by Stu Hudnull. Stacy possesses rare combination of technical mastery and ownership mentality. Beyond her technical work, Stacy took initiative to lead our school's social committee, organizing faculty events that have meaningfully strengthened our staff and culture. Stacy has accomplished what previously required two people and done so while managing a workload that far exceeds a typical registar scope. She has improved our day-to-day reporting accuracy, our cross district coordination, and our overall administrative reliability. Congratulations, Stacy. Next is Erica Williams. Erica is an administrative attendance assistant in the attendance office at Mountain Creek Middle School. Principal there is Glenn Varga. Nomination submitted by principal Varga. Erica genuinely cares about people and her positive energy is felt throughout Mountain Creek. Erica plays a key role in helping students and families feel comfortable. She ensures student new students have a lunch buddy and thoughtfully matches them with peers. She is creative and highly responsive to individual student needs. She builds lasting connections by taking an interest in students passions. Erica is a key part of what makes this school what it is. She is an important part of the culture at Mountain Creek and someone the staff is grateful to work with. Congratulations, Erica. Thank you. And that that is all of our ESP awards. We have one more award that is a unique and special award for our Jordan District Child Development Center. This is a award of excellence. There's a lot going on over there as um principal Christy Whiteside can attest to. Um so we are privileged to recognize Abby Ample. Abby Abby is a physical therapist at the Child Development Center. Um, again, Principal Christy Whiteside and nominations submitted by Principal Whiteside. Abby is an incredible, knowledgeable, professional, and warm provider. She consistently makes each family feel seen and empowered. She is an amazing advocate for very medically complex children and their families and helps connect them to a variety of resources and equipment. Abby is skilled at dedicated physical therapists. She is always motivating our team to grow in ways that we did not think were possible in the beginning. Abby has stepped up in countless ways to help not only with the motor team but the entire staff and the family she serves. Abby has such a caring heart and truly considers what is best for families first and foremost and also is a ter terrific support to her colleagues. Congratulations Abby. That is um great. I wish we could get summaries from every employee that we have. I think that'd all be just as great. We have some amazing employees in Jordan School District and um led by great folks um like you and or you. Not like you, just you. There's no one like you. You're the best. So, thank you for letting us take some time to recognize these incredible employees. And uh is there anything would you like to have them come forward? >> We would. Or pictures. >> Actually, if if I can ask, can we we like to wait until your arms are good and full to invite you to shake our hands just to We hear you're good at juggling. So, um if you wouldn't mind just walking through, we'd love to give you a handshake and a pin if you'd like one. And then can we gather up for a quick picture at the end? Perfect. >> Thank you again, you guys. Congratulations. Thank you. Way to go. Congratulations. You deserve it. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Way to go. Good job. >> Congratulations. >> Yeah. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Way to go. Yes. >> Way to go. Congratulations. >> Congat. Thank you so much for your service. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Awesome. Congratulations to you. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations to you. Well done. Well, Way to go. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you so much. Congratulations. >> Thanks for coming. Congratulations. Grab a photo. Everybody Let's talk. You guys are so cute. Yeah, it happens. Here we go. Keep going. Come on. You're friendly. You know each other. Ryan, come on. Keep going. I can't see you. Wow. >> I like the room. As they're walking out and we're about to start inviting our next group up, I just want to say a huge thank you to the Jordan Education Foundation. Talk about things that could not happen in our district without amazing volunteers. And we have two prime examples. are foundation members who are a volunteer board who go out into the business community and gather funds and meet the needs of students and teachers in our district. We are so grateful for you. Thank you for being here. I know you're trying to get out of here. So, should have said that first, but thank you. And speaking of people that we could not do the work of the district without, let's move into our next agenda item, which is our PTA um and reflection award winners. So, we are going to invite Jessica Navaro and Sonia Delaney up to present those awards with a huge amount of thanks to them as well. Hello. We are excited to be able to be here tonight and recognize two wonderful groups of people. So, first of all, we are going to start with uh to recognize some of our reflections participants. So these we had about 80 students from Jordan school district who um whose entries moved on to the state level to be judged there and that is a lot of competition and of those we had 16 who won awards there and so we've invited those students to be here tonight to be recognized. Um, two of those who moved on to the state level won an award of excellence at state and represented Jordan School District at the national level and one student even won an award of excellence at the national level. So, we're very excited about that. Um, but we will just call these students up and um and we'll just have them line up over here like the last group did and then they can go through and shake your hands if that's okay and we'll do the picture. So um we will start and these students um they have already received prizes and recognition from the region level and the state but we just wanted to invite them here to let them be recognized here so they're not getting another prize tonight although we do have treats outside afterward. So um these students let's see we'll start with photography we have Naisha Shriisha um and then she won an award of merit or an honorable mention I mean at the state level and then in music we had three awards of merit those students are Nia Namani Mory Cameron and Ariana Shami u merit is like second place so super close to going on to nationals And then in literature, we have an honorable mention that went to Eleanor Hatfield. If any of you are here, feel free to come up. Um, and then let's see, for for film, we had two honorable mentions. They were uh Desiree Graham and Carlos Torres. And then we did have an award of merit in film, which went to Russell Jenkins. And for let's see for dance we had two honorable mentions. They went to Elsie Peterson and Bella Bland. And then an award of merit was went to Olivia Nelson. And our excellence winners and this is also the student who won an award of excellence at the national level is Sloan Kapllet for her dance that she did. And she is like I can't remember second grade. So super cute dance that she did and it won an award of excellence at national. And then we have in 3D art. Two honorable mentions went to Kora Lemonan and Samantha Des Silva. And we also had the other award of excellence was from 3D and it went to Madison Lquist. And then last we have from 2D art an award of merit that went to Evan Telerico. So, let's give a big round of applause to these students. >> Okay. And the board would love to shake your hands as well. Or did I cut you off? >> That's what I was going to say. >> Perfect. So, if you would just walk through and then we'll meet you at the end for a photo, too. Okay. And then we're just going to do a picture where I don't >> you want up here still. >> Do you want it by the flag or in the middle? >> We'll let you make the call. Sandy, you're the you're the photographer. Do you think by the flag? >> Okay. Do any of parents here h have objections to your student being photographed? If so, we don't want them to be in it. So, is that okay if we f post this picture online? Okay. Speak now or forever hold your peace. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Thank you. I need your help with this part. Okay. Now, we have some adults that we're going to recognize. These are people um one of the programs that PTA has is um an awards program. So, we have 10 different awards. Some can be for um administrators or teachers or support staff. Some are for PTA volunteers or people who exemplify the spirit of PTA or you can um we have awards for specific programs that are run. So we have lots of different um award categories and we wanted to recognize those who received awards from region 6 PTA which is Jordan School District. So, we would like to call these people up and we do have a certificate and a little a little token of our thanks and um for all of the work that they do in Jordan District Schools. And we are going to start with the um outstanding secondary educator. We had two awards this year. One went to Marcus Dixon and the other went to Heather Tester. And Heather's also moved on to state to be judged at that level. They're here. Please come up. All right. Next we have outstanding support staff and we had also two award winners in that one. We have Bill Flint from Riverside Elementary and Margarite Christensen from Foothills Elementary. And Margarite competed at the state level also. I forgot to say that Heather Tester is from Mountain Ridge High School and Marcus Dixon's from Riverton High. Okay. Um, next we have, let's see, the outstanding volunteer award. We had four of those. Our winner who represented us um at the state level was Nicolo Pastana from Haramman High School. And then we also had Kimber Prost, Amber Nelson. Wait, Kimber from Foothills Elementary, Amber Nelson from Riverside Elementary, and Hillary Moser from Westland Elementary. Any of them are here. >> All right. Then we have um outstanding elementary educator awards. Two of those. The winner who went on to state was Cindy Eperson from Jordan Ridge Elementary. And we also had Gina from Foothills Elementary. Okay. Spirit of PTA award. We have two of those winners tonight. One from Foothills Elementary is Dana Miller. And the winner who went on to state was Danielle Goff from Fox Hollow Elementary. >> And then we have um an outstanding school administrator award from Foothills Elementary, Jamie Gandara. Okay. And then um these two awards we u we just had one from our district but then when they went and competed at the state level they also won an award at state. So that's very exciting. The first one is um from Fox Hollow Elementary and it goes to the the award was written for this person and also the Fox Hollow Elementary PTA. It's the Utah PTA engagement award for their multicultural week and event and that is Jessica Santos. she here and she was both of these people were recognized at our Utah PTA convention two weeks ago also. And then the other is the Utah PTA development award and this is from Fox Hollow Elementary for their PTA den dad program and this award goes to Eric Lindlum. All right. Thank you all for being here. I know this is such a busy time of year. So, we appreciate those of you who were able to make it. And then, yeah, if you want to shake their hands, >> we'd love to shake each of your hands as well if you guys would come on down the line. Congratulations. Way to go. Congratulations. So good. >> So good. Congratulations. Way to go. Congratulations. So happy for you. Good job. Good job. Well done. Congratulations. Thanks for that. All right. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. May is the best. All right, we are now going to move into board member recognitions. And if I can just take the privilege of starting off this time, I invited one of our amazing teachers, Mr. Mark Sanderson, who I don't see yet, but he's here. Oh, hi. Would you come forward while I um brag about you for a few minutes? Um this is one of our language arts teachers who teaches currently at West Hills Middle School. and he emailed me clear back in November about an amazing opportunity that he was going to bring to his students um in connection with the candy bomber. So, um, I just took a minute to think about some of the ways that he crossed curriculum through the course of this, and I'm sure there are many more, but here he's an English language arts teacher who is definitely perfecting his craft, giving students opportunities for persuasive arguments, debate, um, and presentations. But then he has history, debate, marketing, public relations, all of these opportunities for students to engage across the curriculum. And as the board has been spending a lot of time thinking about ways that we can fit all of the important essential elements into a school day, I think it's very appropriate to honor a teacher who is making the most of students time in his class. So, I'm going to invite you to explain what you did with the project because I know that you will do a much better job than I of >> Make sure you push the button so the green light's on. >> That line that that light, can you hear me? Yes. Uh, basically the project was all the eighth graders learned about the candy bomber in language arts. We learned about the Berlin airlift, the Berlin blockade. um back in this was back in December when we were learning about him and we had the Candy Bomber Foundation come and visit. We had uh his daughter come visit Denise. Um and then the students got to compete. I I said, "Okay, you have to come up with an idea for a chocolate bar to honor the candy bomber." So all the students had to present their ideas in class up in front of the class and then everybody voted and determined a winner and that one got to be made into a real chocolate bar by Taste Artisan Chocolate down in Provo. And through the Candy Bomber Foundation, we connected with the Gail Halverson School in Berlin and they did the project too. So they have they had a winner too. So we had ended up with two winners. And then for May 12th, which is the anniversary of the end of the Berlin blockade, we invited the German students to to come visit our school. And we had our own uh commemoration ceremony and it was really nice. We had our uh school choir and our school symphony and our ballroom dance team perform. Uh we had um James Burton, the our German console here in Utah, came and spoke. Uh Denise um Denise Williams, the daughter of the candy bomber, came and spoke. Uh the winners, the student winners both got to speak. We had the Civil Air Patrol come and do and post the colors. Uh we had a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter come and fly over and blare a siren at us. and and the students got to have uh chocolate bars attached to candy bomber parachutes that they could keep. So that's that's what we did. Thank you so much. What a great opportunity for students. Let's give them a round of applause. We appreciate you being here. And since I'm already going, I I just want to recognize a few other awesome things that have been happening across our district. Um I was able to attend Fox Hollow and Hayden Peaks both have um these leadership development teams where students have taken the opportunity to learn foundational skills for success as an adult. um things like shaking hands, making small talk, um offering compliments. There are so many things, conflict resolution, um and then they come to this what I would think was a terribly intimidating environment where they kind of get tested on their skills. And I was lucky enough to be able to marvel at how far they've come. It's really um a salute to the portrait of a graduate watching students who are really developing um those soft skills. So that was a thrill. Um I was thrilled to be able to go to the unified high school track meet. Uh so fun to see the energy as our students support one another. Um and great job Copper Hills for um for support or for hosting that event. Um the unified middle school golf event was also held and um we got to go to the new ballpark for that was very fun. Um so many good things were happening. I apologize for a long list, but the Elk Meadows Elementary put on the show Shrek. It was hilarious. The costumes were over the top and they did such a great job. Um, I also got to attend the native community in senior night which was so fun. Um, the Copper Hills High School plant cell which I don't know if um, many people are aware that our students as they make use of their green houses um, hold a spring plant sale. But I got to go and buy all of my mom's Mother's Day flowers for her yard. And it was really fun to support the students and hear their pride as they hosted me through the aisles and recommended things for me. And then um just the performance of Descendants at Kari Sue Hamilton was such a treat. Um they do such a great job in making sure that every student has an opportunity to shine and it is a delight to be there. other board members. Oh dear, excuse me. Um, I've got quite the long list, but I also was able to go to the candy drop event at West Hills Middle School, and that was such a lovely opportunity to see what the students had learned. and in order to and to celebrate uh all that they had accomplished. So it was really wonderful. Um I was able to so these are not in order of when they happened. There were lots of things that have happened and lots of things to come that are still going to happen, but I was able to attend the senior night put on by Jordan Native American program. And I just wanted to thank uh Ammy Sha and her team for putting that on. It's always such a lovely event to honor our Native American students. Um, at that event, I was able to also attend our America 250 awards that K Rudo put on, our social studies department. Um, there was a extra uh things that students could do uh pass off and accomplish and then get a little prize to celebrate America's 250th birthday. And that was a really nice evening to to honor those students. Um I was able to go to CTE awards night uh the choice awards where they honored students as well as teachers um in all of the wonderful things that are happening in career and technical education. Uh I was able to attend a few unified uh sporting events. We had Unified Middle School golf and baseball that was held at the new stadium in South Jordan. It was a really wonderful event there. And then I was able to go to the unified track event at Copper Hills High School. And that one was a lot of fun to see all of our students there. Um, and then let's see, what else did I do? We had um we we had a visit from uh the Tempenogus School District and I was able to meet up with them at Jordan Ridge Elementary as they were coming to to see our uh gifted and talented program that is there at Jordan Ridge and it was fun to um see what the students are learning and doing there in that program. I really enjoyed that visit. Um, and also just kind of a side note, uh, many of you may already be aware, but Bingham High School, uh, marching band, uh, got invited to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade that will be in Hawaii in December. And they get to perform on the ship, the USS Utah. and um they're going to be starting kind of their fundraiser and uh we'll be reaching out to the community and you can learn more about uh the ship, the USS Utah, if you go to the Bingham High School band uh page and uh learn more about their trip and how you can support them if you're interested. Um, and then I just wanted to thank PTA again for coming tonight and recognizing our students and reflections and uh the awards for volunteers as well as teachers. I was able to go to their little welcome training for new presidents next year. And so they do so much for Jordan School District and we appreciate them. And to continue on that um recognition and gratitude for the PTA organizations, I wanted to recognize all the work that went into teacher appreciation week and showing their students teachers how much they appreciate them. Um there's a lot of work that goes on into it and I I just really appreciate the community members that get involved. Um, another thing that I would like to recognize is the family engagement center certification on May 13th. there. This involves um parents and family members that are um that take English classes through the family engagement center and they were recognized for completing the course on on the 13th. And I really appreciate that we have programs where we help the families in our district become more empathetic communicators and more engaged citizens. And I believe that when families are able to communicate with their students schools that there's just better outcome for their student. and also the majestic um elementary majestic um elementary arts academy um spring suare was the 14th of May and this is such a fantastic event where I feel like the teachers set such an example of being resilient lifelong learners as they learn to play instruments along alongside their their students. And there's one teacher I know that is on their third instrument. And I think that that curiosity and interest in broadening their musical horizons is such a great example to our students. And um I think that this also helps our students become responsible teammates because as they practice and put in their best efforts at singing and and making music with instruments, they're able to contribute to the whole and it is a glorious effect. I it is wonderful to hear these students um perform and show off their talents and I I really appreciate the effort that goes into this program. Um I think it really helps our our students on their way to becoming our vision for a portrait of a graduate. I just want to quickly recognize um two groups of people. Um first the students and staff who participated at Kari Sue Hamilton School in their musical Disney the descend Disney descendants. I really enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed the experience from beginning to end um celebrating the students and staff as they performed the arts. Uh secondly, especially because they were here earlier tonight, a shout out to Riverton High School. Their girls lacrosse team won state in overtime for the first time. Um what a thrilling win. Just want to shout out to them and their coaches. >> All right, let's move on to Superintendent. >> Thank you very much. Um I would quickly highlight a couple of things. First of all, when you see the ESP awards earlier and the PTA awards, you can see the wide scope of different positions and jobs in the district. And it really takes everyone. We have different roles but the same goals and that's to provide a great education and it takes a wide range of folks to do that. So we appreciate everything that they do. The other is that um I appreciate everyone who is getting students and everyone else across the finish line. Whether that finish line is just the end of a a a year of instruction or finishing sixth grade, moving to seventh or finishing nth to go to 10th or graduation. Uh just like Portrait of a Graduate shows, um it takes everyone working from preschool all the way to post-graduation uh for many students. So I just appreciate everyone managing these last couple of weeks and making the most of that. So thank you very much. >> Thank you. All right. I've heard it called Mayhem lately, but May is the best kind of busy. It's been so fun to see a lot of students shine. We're now going to move into our public comment portion of the evening. Um, and just a little message before we get started. We enjoy hearing from our constituents. We value public public engagement and the input from our residents, students, and employees. Uh but a few reminders. The board will not take comment on personnel issues or statements regarding the character, professional competence or physical or mental health of an individual during board meetings. And um so we would just ask that if you're here to speak about an individual, we would be so grateful to hear from you, but if you would include those comments in an email so that we can respect that parameter. Um th those wishing to have comments heard by the board are asked to list the topic they intend to discuss as well as their name on the signup document or email. And a reminder that we are broadcasting this and so please keep comments age appropriate. The board does not discuss issues that are not on the meeting's agenda. The board may ask staff to follow up on issues raised or may address them at a future meeting, but just a reminder that silence by the board on an issue does not suggest support or opposition to the message that was given. Um, so at this time, we're going to begin public comment on items not listed on the agenda. Um, as always, in-person comments are heard first, followed by comments received electronically. Um both in-person and emailed comments can last a maximum of 3 minutes. Um I understand that there may be some here speaking for a group in which case we will give a six-minute allotment. Um but we would ask that you please be respectful of that time. And a reminder that when you're called to the podium, please state your name as you begin. So, let's go ahead and begin with Janet Blackmer um who is here representing a group. Would anyone here that Janet is um speaking for please stand so the board can recognize who she's speaking on behalf of? Thank you. You can go ahead and sit down and we will give her six minutes on the clock. I'm now okay. Um thank you for having me speak tonight. I appreciate this. By the way, my comments are carefully timed. Five minutes. Your neighbors east of Copper Hills High School were hopeful last summer when told that new light and sound systems would be installed on the field. We had complained for years about the old systems and facilities assured us that because we're important, the new technology would be such an improvement that quote, "We wouldn't even know the school was there." Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred. Our neighborhood has experienced ongoing and unreasonable disruption from a poorly designed sound system. When the east-facing speakers were replaced, we were told that adding speakers to face west away from us would balance and direct sound toward the stadium rather than into nearby homes. But this was never done. As a result, we've spent the past year enduring excessive amplified sound in our yards and inside our homes, even with the windows closed. We have repeatedly invited board members and administrators to visit our homes during practices and games to hear what we experience firsthand, but no one has come. At the same time, the problem has worsened because amplified music during practices for multiple sports has transformed this into near daily intrusion into our homes and yards at all hours of the day and evening and on many Saturdays every season of the year. This affects peace in our homes, outdoor enjoyment, quality of life, and even health as numerous studies confirm. I supplied you with a letter from my therapist confirming those effects personally. We have also been told that all possible adjustments have been made. Yet, no one has ever followed up with residents to determine whether those adjustments actually solved the problem. They did not. A practical and affordable solution exists. Repurpose existing speakers by installing them on the east poles facing west away from homes using remote connection technology. The speakers and labor are covered. The only expense is the ci scissor lift for installation and a few parts. And we're told that granite has a scissor lift. Maybe we can get it. Most importantly, this solution benefits everyone. Engineering studies and real world realworld installations, including the BYU stadium, demonstrate that correct speaker placement both improves sound quality inside the stadium and reduces neighborhood impact. The same would be true here. Spectators and athletes would hear more clearly. Overall volume could be reduced. Hearing would be better protected. Residents would finally receive meaningful relief. The demonstration we observed was extremely promising. Please stop claiming we're important while dismissing what we're experiencing. Each evening, you return to quiet neighborhoods while ours fills with amplified sound. The 20ft elevation difference between our homes and the speakers is unique in the district and requires special attention. The field is simply too close to our homes for this level of unregulated noise pollution. And that's what it is. This petition demonstrates, the petition I sent you demonstrates that many residents are deeply distressed. Music from the field is not relaxing or conducive to socializing. Restore the peaceful neighborhood we used to enjoy and which we deserve. Give us back our lives. My mother's 90th birthday luell in our yard where I live now on a Saturday in 2016 could never happen these days. Just last Saturday, I was abruptly awakened from a nap on my beautiful deck by unanticipated blaring music and announcer and I didn't hear that coming. A simple solution exists. Install the opposing side speakers and properly direct sound toward the field. The original speaker installation should have included speakers on both sides of the field. As with other schools, the school board acts as a bridge between the public and school administration to ensure district operations reflect local values and expectations. District policy of neighbor relations for athletic practices mandates that schools be operated in a manner that respects the surrounding community and avoids unnecessary disturbances. Is the district's approach teaching students civic responsibility and good neighbor behavior? This should not be a matter of money. It should be a matter of integrity. Therefore, we ask firmly and respectfully that you finally do what should have been done from the beginning, allocate the funds, which are going to be minimal, and complete the speaker installation properly. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll now invite Jonas Hammond. And following Jonas, is Jonas still here? Okay, we will move to Janet Sanders. Do I see Janet? Oh, yes. Here she is. And following Janet, we'll hear from Trina Christensen. So to be to be clear, I was intending to talk about social studies mostly. So, just I didn't know if we needed to wait until later in the agenda for that or if we were doing that now. So, >> um >> that is that is on the agenda. >> Yeah. >> Um >> I mean I can do my general comment now and then come back and do another one later if you would like because I have two actually. I debated which where to put them. >> Okay. Sorry. I should have read that before I invited you up. But yeah, sure. Go ahead and give your your general comment and then we'll >> Awesome. >> We'll circle back. So, my general comment, I'm Janet Sanders. I'm the um outgoing president of the Jordan Education Association, finishing my fourth year. And I just wanted to thank you all sincerely for the opportunity that it's been to work with you, for your responsiveness to me, for your listening and consideration of the opinions of teachers when they're expressed, for your kindness, um your support of our organization, and um being great to work with in negotiations and um your willingness to try and do what's best for teachers and students. And I' I've truly enjoyed it. So, I just wanted to to thank you for that. That's my general comment. >> Thank you. >> And we're leaving it in capable hands. >> You will be so missed. All right, we'll invite Trina Christensen to the mic and she'll be followed by Jessica Noir. Hello there. My name is Trina Christensen. I just wanted to come and introduce myself. I'm actually running for state school board for district 8. I'm here to watch, listen, and observe. I would love to meet you all and know how I can best help to support the parents, students, and educators of the Jordan School District. A fun fact about me, it's like I'm returning home before Jordan and Canyons became their own separate districts. I actually taught orchestra for Majestic Elementary and Bluffdale Elementary. So, it was really fun hearing them get recognized. So, again, I would love to meet you all. I will be here the rest of the evening and thank you so much. >> Thank you. All right, we'll now invite Jessica Nor to the mic and she'll be followed by Tyler Steiner. Hi, my name is Jessica Canor and I'm the parent of a second grader and a fifth grader at Southland Elementary as well as a preschooler who will hopefully one day attend Southland and participate in the Chinese dual immersion program. Um, I am here to advocate for my children, their teachers, and the Chinese dual immersion program. When my oldest child first enrolled in Chinese, I simply thought it was a wonderful opportunity to learn a second language. But after his second year in the program, I realized it had become so much more than that. Chinese is not just a skill my children are learning. It has become part of their identity, part of who they are and who they are becoming. My children are not simply learning Chinese, they are growing up in it. I was so impressed with the DLI teachers and the impact of this program that I volunteered as the PTO Chinese co-chair representative. I have been on the PTO for three years. I care deeply about supporting the teachers and helping ensure ensure the continued success of a program that has meant so much to my children and provide such an incredible opportunity for children in my community. In speaking with several teachers and families, I have heard genuine concern regarding the transfer of Mr. York. He has been an exceptional advocate for our school community and for the Chinese dual immersion program. I helped him deliver flyers to help enroll students in the program. And when asked, I gladly helped put the dragon on the fence. And I've helped him plan special activities to help our community um celebrate Chinese New Year. Mr. York has built a uniquely strong school community with a high morale and a sense of overcoming any obstacle as we succeed to together. Mr. York committed to seeing our school through the changes to the DLI model, but has since been transferred. As Southland faces these changes to the DLI model, the lower enrollment and challenges of an aging building, building many teachers and parents are feeling uncertain about the future. With this transfer, we are left with many questions that no one can answer. What will happen next year? What about the next year? And how will staffing be affected? Will staff continue juggling two grades? Will my preschooler be able to attend? Will my children be forced to go to different schools? If DI ends, will our school be forced to close? Some parents have said they don't feel confident in in enrolling their kids if the program is unstable. Removing Mr. York now makes our community feel that the board does not know how much the Chinese dual immersion program means to our community. I feel that Mr. York is essential to seeing Southland Elementary through the changes ahead and overcoming obstacles. I respectfully ask that you take these concerns to heart and reconsider transferring Mr. York. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll now hear from Tyler Steiner. And I have Andrea Roundy next, but it looks like that's a social studies related comment. Are you okay waiting to give that? Okay. Oh, perfect. Thank you. So follow followed by Tyler, we'll hear from Elizabeth Monson. >> Hi, I'm Tyler Steiner. I'm here to comment on the future and stability of the DLI program at Southland Elementary. Uh dear B members of the school board, thank you for your time tonight and for your continued dedication to our community schools. I'm speaking you to you wearing a few different hats. I'm a community member. I'm the spouse of an educator. Most importantly, I'm a parent. My family has been deeply invested in our dual language immersion program for the past 14 years. I've served on the PTO and the school community council. I even traveled to China on the um bridge program. Because of this deep history, I come to you tonight from a place of genuine care and concern. The future of the program is at risk. Uh to be completely candid, uh parent confidence is wavering. Enrollment numbers are declining. The future of DLI already feels incredibly uncertain to many of us. That is why the decision to remove Mr. York feels like such a critical blow. We are looking at a future where our children will be placed into a brand new model. Mr. York agreed to help launch this model. Now he will be no longer there to steady and support it. Navigating a major transition without the leader who built the foundation is a massive risk. As a parent, it makes us incredibly anxious about the quality and long longevity longit longevity of the program. This regularly impacts my own family. This transition hits very close to home for my family. My youngest daughter will be entering the third grade next year, so she's going to be right in the middle of these new changes. Like any parent, I just want to ensure she and her classmates have a stable, positive environment where they can truly thrive. Furthermore, I want to speak about change. This new model places an immense immensely heavy workload on our teachers. They must now learn too much, sorry, two entirely different curriculums. They must compress complex content to a much shorter time frame. Our educators are already deeply stressed. They are trying to maintain the high standard of quality education our kids deserve. Garrett has helped both staff and families navigate these changes. Losing his leadership right now feels like pulling the rug from under a team that is already stretched to its limit. I know you have incredible, incredibly difficult decisions to make. However, I ask that you consider the immense value of stability. For the sake of our teachers wellbeing and our students academic futures, please reconsider the jeopardy this decision places on our DI program. Thanks for your time. you. All right, we'll now hear from Elizabeth Monson. >> Hi, I am indeed Elizabeth Monson and I am also um gonna say a few things about hopefully retaining Mr. York as the principal at Southland. I know that board members and um school administrator or district administrators have heard ad nauseium about how terrific a principal he is. So I will um spare you that. And we've also heard a lot about um how much of a champion he is for the DLA program. And I have children in DLI as well as in not DLI. And um so I have some other concerns. Um as has been noted, Southland um is facing dwindling enrollment just because our population is aging. Um but through this process, Mr. York has truly kept the morale and joy at the school very high. And I feel like the kids don't even know that their school is getting smaller because it just feels like a good place. and he has worked really tirelessly to recruit more people to come to the school through um social media and through um advertising at preschools and helping people recognize the values that Southland has. and he has worked to maintain funding for extra programs for kids so that um despite reduced numbers we have the same quality of experience at school that um any larger school would have. Um, another concern we have is the uh the great amount of turnover we've had um in administration. Um, since I've been at the school, we've had at least one new assistant principal every year and it's been um really important to have this ability of Mr. York there. Um and as was mentioned, the DLI program is a special um strength of Mr. York's as well as addressing the decreasing enrollment. And Mr. York is really uniquely gifted at d at addressing these. And as far as we're aware, neither of these significant things are um relevant to the new school where he has been reassigned. So it seems like a waste of an excellent educator and leader. And um we as a school recognize that a request to change a decision like this that the district has already um decided is uncommon and perhaps wholly unprecedented. Um but we would encourage the board and the district administrators to consider um creative solutions in this exceptional case. Thank you. Thank you. So, while we do still have some names on the list, that concludes the um public public comment portion of the items that are not on the agenda. Um, but do we have emailed comments tonight? >> There were two dealing with uh character and competence. I forwarded to all the board members. There is one remaining for social studies. Oh, perfect. So, we will hear that moving forward. Board members, I am noting that we have three people who have been waiting through an especially long recognitions portion tonight and are here to speak about social studies. Um, are you open to switching the order a little to give them an opportunity to speak? Okay, perfect. Nobody's opposed to that. Okay. So, that would have us moving item 7F to the top, but we will go ahead um I'll introduce the item and then we'll move into public comment there. So, as our um the last legislative session, um there was a law that was passed that required that we increase a class that is currently a half credit class to a fullyear class. um and that has given us the opportunity as a district to examine social studies credits. So at this time we have a three and a half credit requirement for high school graduation. Um, if we were to leave every class the way that it is now, plus add on that additional half credit, that would increase our requirement one semester beyond the the required social studies um that you the Utah State Board of Education requires of schools. So we are now at a point where we are making decisions on whether we will um reduce what is currently a fullear class to align with USB or um how we'll move forward with that. So that's just a little review of what's been going on uh for those who may be listening. So we'll now invite public comment on this topic. So, let's go ahead and invite Janet Sanders back up to the mic. Thank you for catching that for me earlier. Same thing, three minutes, public um public appropriate comments, etc. I don't need to say that. Hi, I am, as you probably know, I am a 30-year plus uh social studies educator. I've taught every grade 7 through 12. I've taught every subject of social studies besides Utah studies. So I have a lot of experience and I have seen how the standards have changed over the years um for the different subjects. Um I want to start off though with a reminder of the survey information that I shared with you from people who chose to answer um the survey about what they would like to see and these were uh teachers within the district. Of the people who responded and there were 81 um 68.4% 4% wanted no decrease in credits and and if that was not on the table only 9% wanted to cut um world geography to a se a semester 27.6% 6% wanted to make uh world geography a se I'm sorry only 9% wanted to cut world civ to a se a semester 27% wanted to make world geography a semester and 64 uh5 wanted to cut an elective um according to a counselor at one of our large high schools only about 25% of the seniors that they work with have a full schedule of classes and I ask if that included JATC online JATC online and release time and they said yes if they have anything on their schedule that counts. So that includes work release that includes everything and 25% of seniors. I teach world government I mean yes I teach US government right now and I can tell you that I have so many students who only come to school for one or two classes and when that is the case they are so much less engaged because they've moved on. They're thinking they've moved on to the other things they're doing in their lives. Um increasing by a half a credit is not going to be a burden. Um, even a student who takes five AP classes still has three more full credits that they could fit in their schedule if they like. There is room for choice. There is plenty of room for choice. Um, if the validity of the information that, you know, I'm talking about is questioned, would it be worth it to do a study? Could we reach out to more people as a district and see what they say? I even talked to my own students. Okay, very unscientific study, but without any preface of what I would like to see or anything like that, these are my regular world I'm sorry I keep saying that regular US government and and civic students and these are high school seniors mostly some juniors. I asked them to vote which of these three options I said if the if they decide they want to cut credits which of these three options do they like best? No one voted to cut world sip. No one. Only a Can I have an extra minute, please? Please. Only a few. Only a few wanted to cut um world geography and most wanted to cut an elective. So, I think that they learned valuable skills in social studies that relate more closely to portrait of a graduate than any other subject perhaps. And that th those classes need to be protected. There's just too much. There's too much to teach. So, please don't decrease the credits. That would be my request. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. We'll now hear from Andrea Roundy and then she'll be followed by Emily Hate, who's probably wondering if I forgot about her. Sorry about that. Hi, I'm Andrea Rounddy. Um, I teach at Mountain Ridge High School as well. Um, I've taught social studies for 17 years and have taught all of the classes. Um, I currently teach AP world history and concurrent enrollment US history and next year we'll be teaching AP art history. Um, and so I think I have a unique perspective on the skills that our classes teach. And that's the that's the thing I'm the most worried about is the writing skills, the reasoning skills that take longer than a semester to develop um that our kids will be losing if they miss out on that second half of um social studies uh particularly world history. Um, Robert Austin from uh the state board of education uh the social studies um specialist once said that while STEM teaches kids how to create an atomic bomb, social studies teaches why we shouldn't. And I thought that was a really good way of putting it of understanding not just how things happen, why things happen, making those connections across time and space. Um I've also had numerous kids come back. um just had one last week who came home from her first um year at college and said that the things that she learned in social studies have prepared her better for college than any of her other classes. Um my colleague sent you um some data from our AP programs um that illustrates the success that our kids have going forward. Those that take an AP class as a sophomore or um as a junior end up doing better in most of their other classes. They learn how to write. They learn how to reason. They learn how to use data and analyze sources which is a transferable skill not just in social studies but in biology uh in any of the AP classes that require writing. Um my concern is by cutting world history uh that we will lose the advantage that we have um over other districts in our AP programs. Um we're very proud of our kids. Um, on average we perform well above the state and global average. And I'm concerned that by cutting that requirement, kids who are 15 who still need guidance um on what they're going to do in the future might make a choice of taking an easier route rather than one that will serve them best. And sometimes as the adults, we need to be the ones that guide them in those choices rather than allowing them to perhaps uh take an easier route. Um so while I don't want to jeopardize anyone's jobs, I realize that no matter what happens, uh people's jobs might be at stake. Um I do think that academics should take precedence over electives. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. We'll now hear from Emily Hate. Hi, I'm Emily Hate and I am a teacher at West Jordan High School, but I'm also a parent. I have a daughter who just finished um 10th grade and I've also had two other daughters graduate from West Jordan High School as well. And so, um, I would like to start out by saying that I appreciate the previous board that decided to keep world history as a whole year-long class, um, when so many other districts chose to cut it down. Um, I remember finding out about that when I first started teaching and thinking, how could you ever fit all that we needed to learn? Um, I second all of the comments that have made before. Um, I would like to bring up a couple of other things. Um, one of the best parts of teaching a year-long class are the relationships that you're able to develop with students, um, and that students develop with each other. Um, for example, we just barely did a project where, um, we had a debate about what was the most impactful um, event of the 20th century. And the students had to research, make a poster, and then debate back and forth. And um I don't know if you've worked with a lot of 15 16 year olds, but they feel very insecure about um talking about academic types of things in front of their peers. And so to stand up and to say, you know, World War II was more impactful than the Cold War or genocides or terrorism. And to feel confident about doing that um is something that would not have happened at the beginning of the school year. And it takes the entire year to get to that point where they trust me and they trust their peers. Um the other thing is that one of the things that we have done at West Jordan High School is that we have met together as a social studies department and we have said so from year to year what is our goal? What do we want um students at the end of their sophomore year to be able to do and then build on that their junior year and then by the time they're a senior we want them to be able to write a research paper that has these elements with it, right? And so we build on those skills and there is a difference between different types of credit. um between social studies credits versus other elective credits. Um there just is a difference in the types of skills that are learned. Um we also have the opportunity um having the counselors come into our um social studies classes and we help the students with registration every year for their next year. And so I teach five um world history classes. And so I've taught that for uh like four years now and it's been great. I love world history so much. But um here's what I'll tell you. A lot of students, they do not want to take academic electives or core type of classes as their elective. Um, that's just not what they would like to have happen. And so, um, they do, I feel like, need to, um, have that guidance where this is just what we're doing. Um, I also did do informal surveys of all of my classes, just asking them what do you guys think? And invariably they were like, "Oh, you know, how could you fit all of it in into just one into one semester?" And then I said, "Oh, but would you decide to take both of the classes, right? If you had ancient history and modern world history, would you do that?" And they were like, "No." And so that was like they were just like, "I would not do that." So anyway, thank you for your time. >> Thank you. We sure appreciate you being here. Um, you enrich our conversations. And we have one online Binley Miller. Dear Jordan District Board of Education, I'm writing you today to voice the general student opinion on the current world history credit debate. My name is Brenley Miller and I am currently a junior at Haramman High School. I know that the choices made regarding the world history credit requirement will not affect me directly, but I want the upcoming students to have the same opportunities that I had. The Utah Board of Education has required the US Gov classes across the state to now be a full year instead of only a semester. In listening to the most recent board meeting regarding this change, I noted the two possible options to account for this credit change. One option was splitting the current world history class into two separate classes, modern history and ancient history, and requiring only one of the semesterl long classes for graduation. The other option, which I believe to be the most beneficial, was to lower the elective credit requirements by.5 and keep world history the same. It is my suggestion as a student that the board endorse lowering elective requirements by.5. This is for two directly important reasons. One, students are easily able to obtain elective credits and will not obtain will not choose to take another half credit of history if it is not required to graduate. Two, a full understanding of world history, both ancient and modern, is crucial in the development of personal values and opinions. These values and opinions heavily influence things like voting decisions and how one responds to differences or conflicts. I understand that graduation rates are a huge factor to consider when debating these two decisions. In all honesty, lowering the elective credit requirement by.5 would most likely increase graduation rates. I spoke with many of my friends and classmates and asked them how they felt about this issue. Surprisingly, the majority said that they already had more elective credits than they needed to graduate. Truth be told, if you tell a student they need something to graduate, the student will do it. Most students that take home release or a study period use that time to work on assignments for online classes that they are taking to get the core credits they need. If students are not required to take both semesters of world history, they won't. In other words, cutting the world history class in half would only be detrimental to students in the long run and would also make teachers learn a new curriculum and shorten the time they have to teach these very important lessons. Social studies is constantly thrown aside in favor of other core curriculums like math and language arts. What does it mean about us as a community if we do not place equal value on individuals unique culturals cultures and knowledge of how we got where we are today and also on standardized test scores or knowledge of numbers or grammar. Our world is incredibly complex. It's made up of hundreds of unique stories. I personally find ancient history fascinating. And there are definitely some lessons I've been taught in that portion of my world history class that I don't think I could go without in my life. I'm going to guess there's at least another minute. >> Can you email that to the board? >> I will email it. >> Thank you. >> Can I make a motion, >> please? I move that we postpone a vote on um social studies graduation requirements until our next business meeting on June 9th. Second. Okay, we have a motion by Miss Dean, second by Miss Barrow that we postpone a vote on the social studies credit discussion until our next meeting. Is there discussion to that motion? >> Yeah, I would like to just say um we didn't have adequate time in our study session to discuss this before we came back. And so part of that is uh there's still some questions maybe that we need to ask before we answer this. So we're not postponing it for no reason or we want to dodge it or anything, but we do want to make a right decision. I'm thankful for everyone who's reached out to me on this topic. It's an important topic and I've really enjoyed the engagement that I I'm getting too many messages to engage with everybody, but I'm certainly thankful for the ones who have reached out. Okay, looks like we're ready for a vote. Uh, all those in favor of the motion to postpone this vote until our June meeting, please say I. >> I. >> I. And any opposed? Okay, that motion carries unanimously. Thank you to those who came to speak on that topic. All right, we are now going to circle back to um our agenda item four. Um so I'll accept a motion to approve consent agenda items. >> I move that we approve consent agenda items A, B, and C. >> A second. We have a motion by Miss Dean, a second by Miss Wood to approve consent agenda items A, B, and C. Is there discussion to that motion? Okay. Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. And any opposed? >> All right. That motion carries unanimously. And um just for the interest of those listening, those items included board minutes and the contracts of our superintendent of schools and and our business administrator. So we are able to offer two-year contracts to some of the most important people in our district and um we are thankful to have them around for at least another two years. We wish we could write it for more. So, I think that deserves a little round of applause. Couple of the best in the state. All right, let's now move on to um general business. I'll take a motion. >> I move that we accept the consent agenda items A, B, C, and D, which are expenditures, financial statements, non-compliance report, and fraud risk assessment. Second. Okay, we have a motion by Miss Dean, a second by Miss Barrow to accept the consent agenda items A through D. Is there discussion to that motion? Okay, hearing none. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> And any opposed? Right. That motion carries unanimously. Let's move on to bids. I move that we accept the bid for Bingham High School athletic uniforms and apparel discount incentive. >> Second. Okay. We have a motion by Miss Wood, second by Miss Barrow to approve the bid for Bingham High School athletic uniforms and apparel discount incentive. Is there discussion to that motion? >> I had a few questions on this one. Um, let me pull them up. So, it was mentioned in the letter something about like four years this could be this could come back again or um I can't I can't find that spot now. Um, but I was curious if this is going to be coming back to us every year or how that contract was going to work. Hi, Kurt Brucey, director of purchasing. Um, no, this is our standard contracts. We try to the ones that we want to do five five years. We make them um renewable annually. So, it' be for one year and then renew it and renew it and then maximum of five years. >> Okay, I understand. Thank you. And then um the contract comes with like a discount on apparel for students. Um I wondered if this just applies to athletic teams or like for example the debate club wants shirts. Can they get in on this? How does that work? >> Yeah. Yeah, it is for the whole school. It's designed to be for athletics. Um, it's one thing that we did several years ago that uh to kind of get a better discount. A lot of times we were doing one for the football team, one for the basketball team, you know, and they're getting quotes all the time. And so we thought of a creative way to basically capture an incentive not only uh for the apparel to kind of gain points and earn dollars type of thing by by having the whole school. And so yes, the whole school can can participate in this. Uh some of the vendors have their own store, so the parents then can get on to a website and order those types of things. Um so I know many schools, yeah, have their own apparel and a store that you know the community can go in and and get all that stuff. So everyone can participate depending upon whether they want to or not. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Can you tell me says the source of funding individual teams athletic budget? Can you describe that budget how how it functions? >> Yeah. Um John might be able to answer a little better, but my understanding is there's boosters um that um contribute to a fund and then there's parents, there's students and then there is a little bit of money that it's allocated to uh the schools through fees and through other uh fundraising. Uh, so it basically puts all into kind of a basketball boys basketball team fund or a football team fund. Correct me if I'm wrong. >> No, that is all correct. But I've most commonly seen these type of purchases through some uh fees that are on the fee schedule where the teams have uh spare packs or other uniforms that they're purchasing. But uh like Mr. Percy was mentioning there. These could also show up in other areas of the school like Miss Barrow had asked about as well, but most commonly it's going to be through these um athletic budgets that they have. >> The the vast majority of this expense is not taxpayer funded. It's fundraised by teams. >> I think that's fair to say. Yeah. I I I wouldn't say all of it, but uh I would say the vast majority of it would be fees or fundraised or student store even. >> And when you say fees, you're talking about participation fees for the groups individually. >> Yes. >> Thanks. >> Any other questions? All right. All those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I. >> And any opposed? Okay. That motion carries unanimously. Take another motion. >> I move that we accept the facility services theatrical lighting upgrade at Elkridge Middle School. >> Second. We have a motion for Miss Woods. Second by Miss Barrow that we approve the bid for theatrical lighting upgrade at Elkridge Middle School. Is there discussion to that motion? I should have clarified this beforehand, but in the summary award, uh the purpose says to upgrade the existing lighting, but in the summary letter, it says sound system will also be upgraded. So, I just wanted a little clarification on that. As you guys may recall, when we originally received the the board directive to to look at some of these projects, um, Elkridge Middle was on the the docket for getting both the the AV upgraded and the lighting. As we narrowed those down, it was determined that we were only going to look at the lighting and then ultimately it was pulled. Then we added it later on. So the the title of that did not get updated but we are looking at the audiovisisual components of this project as well. >> So it is both and then there was a mention on I believe it was the summary award where it says that they're the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. What does that mean? So that means that the the bid was complete. Kurt may correct me if I stumble on this, but um I believe both bids were complete. Um and both of them did fulfill all the obligations of the bid. So they were just the low bidder for the contract. >> Thank you. >> Other questions? All right. Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say I. I >> and any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. All right, we'll now move into our special business items. Who wants to make the first one? I move that we approve uh the recommendation for the 2026 27 negotiated agreement for licensed employees. >> I second. All right, we have a motion by Miss Wood, a second by Miss Dean to approve the 2026 27 negotiated agreement for licensed employees. Is there discussion to that motion? All right, I'll just take a minute to say thank you. the negotiating process was really we are so grateful for the input and feedback that we receive as we go through the process of negotiations. Um and I just want to take a minute to say thank you to those licensed employees that are affected by this. We recognize that you are the district and we are so grateful for your expertise and um and the effort that you put in with our students. So with that um all in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. Oh, I apologize. I should have asked for public comment. Is there public comment on this item? Oh, perfect. Thank you. Hello, I'm Devonire Howland. I'm a kindergarten teacher at Ridgeville Elementary. Um, and I'm on the negotiations team. Um, and I just want to say thank you so much for working with us and for helping um, thank and recognize our licensed employees and how hard we're all working. Um, and we're just excited and grateful um, to work with you and excited and grateful and excited to keep working with you in the future. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And thank you for being here. >> So, sorry. >> And bringing a fan club. That's amazing. All right. I apologize for that mistake. Yes. Come on down. >> And I'm Andrea Rounddy. I'm also on the negotiations team uh for the high school. Um and I just wanted to thank you guys for being so workable with us. Um, it's been a really easy process. Um, this is my second year on the negotiations team and I've really enjoyed the process and getting to kind of see uh how things work. Uh, and I appreciate you looking out for us and listening to us and allowing us to have a voice and to be able to uh represent the needs of our teachers. So, thank you for approving our uh negotiations. >> Thank you. It really is a delightful process. Okay, with that we'll now move into a vote. Um the motion is a recommendation to approve the 2627 negotiated agreement for licensed employees. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> And any opposed. Okay, that motion carries unanimously. We'll now move into a recommendation to approve the 202627 negotiated agreement for education support professionals. Is there anyone here who was hoping to make comment on this agenda item? See, I can learn. Just takes a minute. All right. Hearing none, I will take a motion. >> I'll take the motion. And I'll uh make a motion that we approve the 202627 negotiated agreement with our educational support professionals. >> I second. >> We have a motion by Dr. Robinson, a second by Miss Dean to approve the 2627 negotiated agreement for education support professionals. Is there any comment or discussion on that motion? I just wanted to thank both associations for working together with us and I think it's a solid contract on all the way around. >> Yeah, I agree. It was it's fitting that we got to recognize and celebrate a few of our education support professionals tonight. Um >> Sure. >> But I think we all recognize that they're they're definitely the ones who keep our district moving and we're grateful for that. Okay, with that, all those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I. >> And any opposed? Okay, that motion carries unanimously. >> I'd really like to make this next motion. >> I will. >> Okay. >> Are you going to break it out into multiple motions? >> I will let other people do that if they feel so inclined. >> Okay. >> Okay. I don't know any comment. >> Should there is there any comment or I like >> Thank you. >> I hear Paul said that to me speak about the West Jordan High School renovation. >> Okay. Hearing none. >> All right. Motion. I move that we approve the guaranteed maximum price provided by Westland Construction for West Jordan High School remodel project. Second. >> Okay, we have a motion by Miss Dean, a second by Miss Wood to approve the guaranteed maximum price for the West Jordan High School remodel project. Is there discussion to that motion? >> There were some alternates that were provided. Does this motion include those alternates? >> It is intended to include all those alternates be as the maximum um the guaranteed maximum price. So, >> if I can restate that motion, then um the motion is that we are recommending the approval of the guaranteed maximum price for the West Jordan High School remodel project as well as all of the bid alternate options that were provided to the board. Um, and that includes alternate one, two, three, and four. >> Yes. >> Okay, perfect. Is there discussion to that motion? >> Yeah, I'll make a discussion. Um, I asked in study session we break these out. Um, I'm having really hard time adding 9,000 square ft at a cost of $1.5 million um to our most underused school in our community that's declining population more than any others. I think the board has a plan. Um, but I don't know that we'll do it um of moving 9th graders up, making this school needing that 9,000 square feet. But without >> a firm decision on that and without breaking this out, I'll be voting against the all the alternates because that wasn't broken out. If someone else wants to break it out, they alter amended. >> If someone wants to break it out, I will second it. >> But you don't want to amend it? Okay, I'm hearing no interest in making a replacement amendment. Are you sure? Or >> if someone else wants to make one, I will second it. But if not, >> I'll I'll make an amended motion that we approve the guaranteed maximum price provided. >> Say that we eliminate option one in the vote. >> That we eliminate option one. That's the that's the alternate. >> Okay. >> And that Okay. Perfect. I'll second that. >> All right. We have a motion by Mr. Barnett, a second by Dr. Robinson, that we approve the um guaranteed maximum price for the West Jordan High School remodel project, including all alternates aside from alternate one. Is there discussion to that motion? So, just to clarify, voting no on the amended brings us back to the original motion. And then you vote on the original motion. >> And the only reason to vote for the amendment is if you want to take option one out >> and then we would vote on option one separately. Or we could >> we could Yeah, >> that that's my intention is to vote on this and then have a separate motion to vote individually on um on that first. Yeah, but I'm just saying if you intend to p if you intend to vote for option one, the best all the best course is to vote down the amended motion. >> Any other discussion? Okay. Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion of the amended motion, please say I. >> I. >> I. And any opposed, please say nay. >> Nay. >> Nay. >> Okay. That motion fails with the opposing votes going to Miss Dean, Miss Wood, Miss Barrow, Miss George, and Mr. Dunford. Did I get it right? Okay. So now we will revert back to the original motion um which is a motion to approve all of the alternates with this uh guaranteed maximum price. Is there discussion to that motion? One thing that has been brought up um by by Daryl on numerous occasions is the fact that the district is opting to renovate u an older school and how much that saves uh the taxpayer. We we talked about this a little bit and I wanted to mention it here also that building a brand new well we have a community with the high school that needs to either be replaced or renovated. It's it it's an old school and it has some needs and so as a board our options are to tear it down and build a new one that costs 300 million or so. Is that what we heard? This proposal is about 88 million. I think it's important and I wasn't sure if Daryl was going to say it again, so I wanted to make sure that it was said. >> Good to hear from more than one >> that that that that's uh a very fiscally responsible thing for a board to do. And I'm and I'm glad that we went that route. >> And I would just say that I'm going to vote no out of sequence. I think we have a a long-term plan for this school. Um I I love it. It's just the the sequence of events is what would prohibit me from voting yes right now. >> And if I can quickly comment, um for me, this voting for all of the alternates is not um hinging on a future decision where this vote for me represents a need in the community. bringing this um this high school up to the standard of our other high schools. >> It's to make it whole because the construction is a cause a loss of five classrooms. So, we're not adding five classrooms. We're replacing the five classrooms that are being eliminated in the construction, but we are adding 9,000 square feet. Okay, any more discussion? All right, hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> And any opposed? >> Nay. >> That motion carries 6 to one with the opposing vote going to Dr. Robinson. Um, board members, I think we could take item 7D and E together. I move that we approve updates to administrative policies DP 380 Postpartum Recovery Parental Leave and DP322, Family and Medical Leave Act, FML FMLA. >> Second. Right. We have a motion by Miss Dean, a second by Miss Barrow that we approve um updates to administrative policies DP 322 and administrative policy DP 380. Is there discussion to that motion? >> Oh, is there anyone here who would care to make public comment on this agenda item? I apologize. My goodness, I told you I could be taught. All right. Hearing none, discussion to the motion. All right, let's move into a vote. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. And any opposed? Those that motion carries unanimously. >> We will skip 7F and move into G. Um I am happy to introduce this one. So we agenda item 7G is a consideration of sensitive material review appeals. So the board of education is reviewing an appeal and voting on the um outcome of a sensitive book uh entitled queer. Uh this is a book that has gone through a process and been removed from schools. The appeal is that it be reinstated. Um so is there anyone here who would like to make comment on this agenda item? >> And and I think it's important to note too that it was removed for objective sensitive material as opposed to >> subjective a subjective review. Thank you. I appreciate that addition. Okay. No public comment. All right. Let's move into a motion. >> What What does the motion look like here? >> I'll make the motion. >> Okay. >> So, I would motion that we uphold the decision of the committee in the removal of the book queer from Jordan Libraries. >> I'll second. Okay, we have a motion by Miss George, a second by Mr. Barnett. Any discussion to that motion? >> I had a comment I wanted to make. I It's a kind of a prepared comment because it's a sensitive subject and I wanted to make sure I handled it properly. The book Queer by Kathy Belge and Mark Bishki contains material that I believe falls within Utah's definition of objective sensitive material under Utah code 53G103, including the standards incorporated from 765C207. Specific examples can be found on pages 49, 52, 164, 183, 184, and elsewhere throughout the text. Based on the language of the statute, I believe retaining this book on public school library shelves is inconsistent with Utah law. I also believe this issue extends beyond legality. Public education serves an important purpose in teaching core academic subjects and fostering respectful learning environments for all students. In my view, detailed instruction or depictions involving objective sensitive material are matters best addressed by parents and guardians in the home according to the values and timing they believe are appropriate for their own children. I recognize that members of our community hold sincere and differing views on this matter, including some who believe this book provides important representation or support for certain students. I respect their right to hold those views. However, after reviewing the content of the book and the applicable law, I believe it should not remain available in our school libraries. I also want to emphasize that removing this book from a public school library does not prevent individuals or families from obtaining it elsewhere if they choose. Public libraries, bookstores, and online retailers remain available avenues for access. The issue here is not whether the book may exist or be read, but whether it is appropriate for inclusion in a public school setting for minors. >> Thank you. Well said, Miss Barrow. Did you have a comment? >> I just wanted to thank Mr. Bernett for uh stating that so eloquently and preparing something ahead of time because it was very sensitive and uh I agree with what you said. So, thank you. >> You I I also appreciate um what you said and I would just add to it that as I look at Utah school instruction and sex education rule curriculum is not a require required to be comprehensive and must stress abstinence and is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. So, in addition to um the code that you've already referenced, I think that this is not in keeping with our USB guidance on sex education and is an inappropriate material for our school library. I'd just like to add I I believe the appeal was stating that there was merit, an educational merit to this book and that that was that's not the decision we're asked to make whether or not there is merit or an educational value in the book. And so I do agree that this book contains objective sensitive material. >> Thanks for that call out. um objective materials do not need to be considered on their merit. >> I just wanted to thank the legislators for giving us more clarity in recent updates to this law. I think it's helped a lot. All right. So we have um I think everyone has given comment and wanted to. All right. So, let's move into a vote. The motion on the table is to uphold the decision to remove the book queer from our libraries in Jordan School District. Um, all those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I. >> And any opposed. Okay, that motion passes unanimously. All right, let's move in now to our superintendence report. Dr. Godfrey, >> thank you for another two years. I'm really excited. I never take it for granted. I love working in this district and I love working for this board. And I mean that. The only thing I don't like about this job is calling snow days. And even this year, I didn't even have to think about it. So, I love it. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. We are thrilled to have you hopefully for far more than two years. All right, let's move into committee reports and comments by board members. >> Facilities committee meets in two days, so I don't have an update right now. >> I have a lot to say here. First off, for Jordan Education Foundation, I just wanted to um report on a couple things. The challenge run, it seemed like a success. It was super fun and there were a lot of people there and there were a lot of really great sponsors. The music was on point. Our own resident DJ did a great job. Um, so that is such a fun event and I appreciate the foundation for heading that up and finding all the sponsors. Also, I wanted to talk about something that I did not even know was a thing until I um until I became a member of the foundation board and that is the STEM scholarship banquet. And um this is and actually I know about it too because I am on this committee and it is a very fun committee. But the my 529 STEM scholarship program is where um science teachers from the middle schools nominate a student um that they think is they they shows an aptitude and a desire to pursue science. um and they receive a $500 my529 scholarship that grows until they're able to use it when they go to college for whatever um they can use it for. So, I just thought that was a great thing that the foundation does also to get donors to help these um middle school students have like give them something more to imagine for their future. So, I really appreciate that. And then also, this is not my committee, but um I did go to the language and culture services multicultural senior recognition, and I really appreciate what the LEAK, the access >> GIA, yes, the Jordan education access committee does to help students in our school district feel included and a part of something and to feel recognized for what they contribute to their um to their school communities. And it was it it was a fun fun night with a lot of really great recognitions. And now also the Salt Lake County Parks and Wreck um advisory committee. I we we meet every other month now, but um there's some really exciting things happening there. We have a new board chair and and it's Colin Dumpkey. Anyway, but I thought that it was very interesting. There is a bond coming up in the county and a third of it will go towards um deferred deferred maintenance. And actually in the county, the county wreck system, there is about $165 million worth of deferred maintenance that has been put off throughout the parks and the wreck systems. And so this bond about 36 million would go towards deferred maintenance and then another third would go towards finishing projects that have already been started things like the Bingham Creek um park you know things and and it's very interesting because the deferred maintenance a lot of that is in the older rec centers over on the east side but then the finishing projects a lot of that is over here in the south west side of the valley And maybe this is boring to everybody, but I I just think this was really interesting. And I um and then the other third will go towards new like proposed projects and most of that will be in the southwest side of the valley also. So >> is that is that bond this year? >> I think it's this year >> that would sink our bond. So that's good information for us to know. >> I had not even thought of that, but it anyway. And so, uh, pools opened Memorial Day weekend, the outdoor pools. And I I needed to put the right date on this, but there is an American 250 um, celebration that has a canstruction. Oh, I should have looked this up. I didn't write the date but it is sculptures of canned food that is happening for the American 250 celebration. Also there is um the as far as water the county is following a similar program as the school district where the they are maintaining the areas that need to be maintained for customer satisfaction you know like the playing fields where people need to be it might have already happened on the 15th oh there >> through the end of July It's it's through the end of July where you can go see the canned food sculptures >> throughout throughout the county >> throughout the county like at rec centers. So I think that's kind of fun. So anyway, those those are some of the things that are happening. And another thing that the county is doing too is they have independent watering systems for trees. I don't know if anybody remembered um when there was a huge die out of trees at Mountain View Golf Course. I know that because it's my neighborhood and I remember just thinking all these trees are dying. But now they have just independent watering systems for trees because they don't want to lose the trees at parks and they have when there have been drought situations before. And that's part of why I asked about the trees in the school district. So, and they have the smart irrigation at all the golf courses, too. So, I think I I think that might be Oh, and one more thing. On the 28th of May, that is this Thursday, anybody that is interested, at 8:00 a.m. there is a grand opening of the bridge, the Hartland Bridge. This is exciting. If you want to go see the new walkover bridge over 70 70th South by H Heartland, it's going to be amazing. So, I think I think that that is all that I have. >> I think Bridge to the Heartland is also a Bob Seager album, but I'm not sure. Oh, and I do have one more thing too that I thought was interesting. At Parks and Wreck, junior golf clinics are starting. So, if anybody is interested in getting their kids into a junior golf clinic, go to the websites and get your kids signed up. Okay, I'll take just a minute um with some reminders on the delegate and pre-delegate assembly. So, the pre-delegate assembly which is June 5th. Um all are invited. We will be having a panelist of legislators with questions. I've received one question. Thank you, Miss Barrow. to represent our our board. Um, so if you still wanted to add one, I need it like ASAP. But, uh, she had a great question. We can use that. And then just a reminder about the delegate assembly. Um, that our delegates are Miss Dean, Miss Barrow. Are you guys both still available to do that? I know it was clear back in January when you volunteered as tribute. Tell me that day again. >> Uh June 6th is the actual delegate assembly. Now I'm feeling like I need to double check myself. >> And is it canyons this time? >> If you go on the 5th, there will be a meal provided, but I could definitely message Richard and make sure that it is friendly to food choices. >> So it's at the Canyon's District Office. Uhhuh. >> Okay. >> What time is it at? >> So, the delegate assembly starts at 9, I think. I got to look that up real quick. Um, I think it's 9:00. If I'm wrong, I will correct. >> And the pre-delegate assembly is at >> the So, the Friday night, the pre-delegate assembly is at 6 >> with the panelists, right? They >> Yes. With the panelists. >> Anyone can go to that, right? And anyone, yes, anyone can go to that. Honestly, anyone can go to any of it that we just have our voting members here. So, let me I Excuse me. I have got my cough tonight. I'm sorry. I can go Saturday, June 6th, as long as I'm free at 6 p.m. to attend a my husband's high school reunion, which will be held in the Hillrest Fieldhouse. So, I get to go see that one. Oh, fun. Okay, I apologize. I just pulled up. The time is 8 to noon. So, I >> If it goes to 6:00 p.m. >> If it goes to 6:00 p.m. leave, oh boy, >> that would be horrible. >> I will be there. 9 to noon. You can count on me. >> The five-year reunion. Yes. >> Um, and the pre-delegate assembly on the 5th is at six o'clock. So, dinner is at 6. the panelist will be after that. >> Okay. So, did you say 9:00 a.m. or did it >> 9:00 a.m. >> 8:00 a.m. to noon? >> So, it's 8 a.m. >> There's a So, a delegate chicken and continental breakfast starting at 8 and then at 9:00 is when the business starts. >> Okay. So, that's when you get there for the business. >> Yeah. You can come have a Danish before if you'd like. um there the priorities that are going to be presented. There has been a real attempt made to be succinct and so we are looking at three priorities. So hopefully it won't be too much word smithing. Um and those priorities I would pull up if I could but I'll go off the cuff and Anthony can correct me are special education funding. Um, also the uh early literacy, they'd like to talk more about the legislation that passed and um specifically a focus on um K through three there. And the last one is um at risk funding. Is that right? >> That's right. So those are three simple you can even remember them even if you have a P-sized braid. So okay that's my update. Okay. Is that it? Perfect. Okay. Um then let's go ahead and talk for a minute about the board bulletin. Any suggestions for inclusion there? So these are these are ideas for things that the board takes care of the things that the board is involved in. It was interesting two weeks ago I went home after board meeting. I think we got out a little earlier than normal and my two sons and some other friends were at the house. So, they're juniors and seniors at Riverton High. And I came in, I was dressed like this, and one of the friends said, "How come you're all dressed up, Brian?" I said, "Oh, I just got back from board meeting. I'm on the school board." And his comment was, "So, did you guys ban everything tonight?" So, you know, that that's the impression that that high school juniors and seniors, boys have of what what the board does. We we ban things. Yeah. >> My my son's friends when they walk in like to call me by my first name. They get a kick out of that. >> Yeah. >> Maybe a little congratulations to graduates. >> Sure. I was going to say, are you suggesting we set them straight and tell them we're not fun killers? tell them all the ways that we have lightened policy. Okay, so I have the West Jordan remodel and a congratulations to graduates. And I mean this could be in the future, but um and it and I'm saying in the future because it could involve a board decision in the future as far as a budget decision. Um, we could talk about what the the board is um well, I'm trying to really frame this with regard to the board, but what the district is doing um with regard to um water conservation as far as like if if we come back with a budget decision where we make this um type of decision, I feel like that could be something that people would be interested in, could be a timely subject. >> We could write it so that it was focused on the what the board did because the board asked for a report and this is what was reported out and this is the way that snow removal budget is going to be used. So I think I think we could do it even if there aren't further decisions. I think we could make this about what happened in board meeting. Yeah, I think that would be great. And I think it would help inform the public about what is being done during a drought year. Yeah, I like that idea. Um, and it definitely would speak to all readers. We're all living through the driest summer on record. So, okay. Any others? Uh, can I just add one quick comment? Um, this is something that I have that seems to come up every year prior to graduations. And, um, I think just being on the same page with our procedure would be helpful for all of us as we're going to different graduation ceremonies. So frequently we are asked by especially elected officials if they can come up and award their child a diploma. So the practice of the board in the past and I'd love to run it by all of you is that we have allowed former Jordan School District board members to award a diploma just for their child. They run up, they do it, give a hug and a picture and then that they go. Um, and that it is not the responsibility of other elected officials to distribute um, diplomas at high school graduation. Are we all comfortable keeping with that tradition? So, I have a daughter who's graduating next year, and I will absolutely not be asking to hand her her diploma. Absolutely not. >> Okay. Anyone uncomfortable with that direction? It's always awkward if you feel like the only one who has to say no. So, it's helpful if you can just say, "Oh, the board discussed this." And >> so the the decision that you're asking for is allowing former board members but no one else. Is that the clarity you want or just only sitting board members? >> I think also it is your comfort level. You do not have to say yes to anybody like if you do not feel good about it, you can say we don't we don't do that here. Is is that right, >> Nikki? I don't know if I understood the question. So if if someone who is a former board member wants to award a diploma, >> you don't like them. >> But we don't like them. Well, there's nothing there. We like all our former board members. We have allowed that just for that one item. Do >> we h do we have any former board members that have kids in school still? >> Uh there it did come up this year. Yes. I am unlikely to still be on the board when my preschooler graduates high school. >> Do you want to award him with your diploma? >> That would be a shame. >> Are you announcing something >> that she's not planning on staying in for 12 years? >> But but Suzanne, do you think that you should award him with his diploma? >> I do not think I should. >> So why can't we just draw the line there? >> It doesn't mean I won't ask. Well, as long as Lisa is not answering, >> that has just been past president. That's what the board has opted to do. >> I'm good either way. >> It has never offended me to have a former board member be paid that respect. >> Would you like if you have been approached already by someone and they're going to the one I'm speaking at and I don't know who they are, please give me a heads up. Well, Anthony might have to remind me because it's someone that I didn't know. He was before my time. >> Orbin White has asked to award a diploma to his son or daughter. >> Airman, wouldn't it? >> We talked about this a long time ago. Some time ago that we forgetting to bring it up. >> We're out of time. >> I'll be there. He's been off the board for 10 years. I'll be a Heramman if it's a Herman so I can I know what Corbin looks like. >> Isn't he Riverton? >> Maybe. >> I would I'm guessing Riverton, but I don't know for sure. >> Anthony Godfrey will be at all of the graduations and he knows what he looks like, >> right? I will be there to help. I'm speaking at five of six, but I'll attend all of the comprehensive high school graduations. Not to discount the others. >> And then he needs two weeks off. That's a That's a heavy lift. Okay. >> But isn't it okay if any board members approached that they could just say, "I don't feel comfortable with that." >> Got to be consistent. >> Oh, consistency. Okay. And then what about when their grandkids graduate? >> That's the question. >> I'm just kidding. No, absolutely not. I Yeah, >> that's the question. He hasn't been on the board for 10 years. Does he have a right to award that diploma? >> I have no problem showing him that respect. >> Me neither. >> I'm indifferent either way. >> I'm totally fine with former board members. Um, but I think we should be consistent and draw the line at other elected officials >> because you never know. Me and my wife might have more children. >> I mean, we're hoping for some Jordan graduate grandb babies, Daryl. >> Well, we'll get those for sure, but I don't know if grand parents should. >> Okay. All right. It sounds like I'm hearing no major objections. Hopefully, that will just help us be consistent. Okay, having reached the end of this agenda, we will adjourn our business meeting. Um, let's take a break and then resume our study session at 9:30. Is that too long? >> We have no more study session items. >> Oh, we don't? What? I thought we have one. >> No, we we postponed it. >> Just kidding. Thank you for keeping me on my toes. Man, being the first vice is a full-time job with me. Um, in that case, we will adjourn this meeting and then move into a close session. Upon a motion, I move that we go into a closed session for character and competence of individuals, property, potential litigation, negotiations, andor security. And once that business is over, um, adjourn here at JATC South. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> Does that require a second? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> So, we have a motion by Miss Dean, a second by Mr. Barnett that we move into close session. uh we will be conducting that session here in the JETC South in the study session room and upon the end of that study session we will adjourn this meeting and we will take a roll call vote Miss Dean >> yes >> Miss Wood >> yes >> Miss Barrow >> yes >> Mr. Barnett >> yes >> Mr. Deford >> yes >> M or Dr. Robinson. >> Yes. >> And I am also a yes. That motion carries unanimously and we are moving into closed