[Call to Order: Board President]
          [Quorum Roll Call]
          [00:00:15]
          THANK YOU, MISS. HERE. THANK YOU, MRS. PERRY. I BELIEVE MRS. PERRY IS ABSENT THIS EVENING, MR. SEWELL. HERE, MISS STRAUSS. HERE, DIANE. ALVAREZ. PRESENT. THANK YOU. VICE PRESIDENT. HAHN. 
          PRESENT. PRESIDENT BOYNTON HERE. SUPERINTENDENT PAULSON. HERE. THANK YOU. THIS COMPLETES THE ROLL CALL. THANK YOU. THE FOLLOWING PROCESS WILL BE USED THIS AFTERNOON. BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF WILL MUTE YOUR DEVICE UNTIL CALLED UPON. BOARD MEMBERS, PLEASE HOLD ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATION. FOLLOWING THE PRESENTATION, I WILL CALL ON EACH BOARD MEMBER FOR COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF MEMBERS SHOULD 
          [Adoption of Agenda]
RESTATE THEIR NAME BEFORE SPEAKING. SINCE WE ARE IN A VIRTUAL FASHION. BOARD MEMBERS, YOU HAVE THE AGENDA BEFORE YOU. DO I HAVE A MOTION IN THE SECOND? PLEASE TO ADOPT THE AGENDA? THIS IS DIANE. I MOVED TO ADOPT THE AGENDA. THANK YOU, MISS ALVAREZ, IS THERE A SECOND? THIS IS TERRY I SECOND. THANK YOU. THERE'S BEEN A MOTION AND A SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? PLEASE SAY YES. YES. YES. YES, YES. THANK YOU. IF THERE ARE ANY OPPOSED, PLEASE SAY NO. THANK YOU. THE 
          [A. Decision on Board of Education's Proposed FY2026 Budget, Ms. Deborah Judd, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services]
AGENDA PASSES. WE HAVE ONE ITEM FOR THIS AFTERNOON, WHICH IS ITEM A FINAL DECISION ON THE 2026 BUDGET. I'D LIKE TO WELCOME MISS DEBORAH JUDD, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR BUSINESS SERVICES. WELCOME. AND PLEASE INTRODUCE ANYONE THAT YOU MAY HAVE THERE WITH YOU. OKAY. CAN YOU HEAR ME? OKAY. WE SURE CAN. WELCOME. GREAT. THANK YOU. YES, THIS IS DEBORAH JUDD, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT. SUPERINTENDENT FOR BUSINESS SERVICES. ERIC CLARK, OUR DIRECTOR OF BUDGET, IS JOINING US THIS EVENING. AND ALSO JOSH STANGER AND JUSTIN HEDRICK. OUR BUDGET ANALYSTS ARE HERE. SO WE ARE HAPPY TO BE HERE. AND WE WILL MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PRESENTATION. AND. 
          DOCTOR POINTON, IF YOU IN AT THE END, IF YOU WOULD DO WHAT WE DID LAST YEAR AND TAKE A VOTE ON THE RESTRICTED AND FOOD AND NUTRITION FIRST, THEN WE CAN MOVE TO CAPITAL THEN OPERATING, IF THAT'S OKAY WITH YOU. ABSOLUTELY. AND LET THE RECORD REFLECT. WE HAD A NEW BOARD MEMBER JUST JOINED DENISE PERRY. SURE WILL. THANK YOU. CONTINUE. OKAY, SO THIS IS THE BOARD OF EDUCATION'S BUDGET FOR FY 26. WE DO HAVE A FEW MODIFICATIONS THAT WE WILL WALK THROUGH. I WILL GO VERY BRIEFLY THROUGH THE PRESENTATION AND REALLY JUST HIGHLIGHT THE CHANGES THAT WE'VE MADE. SO ANYTHING THAT THE BOARD APPROVED BACK IN FEBRUARY AND IS STILL THE SAME, I WILL VERY BRIEFLY GO THROUGH THAT. AND THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP WITH QUESTIONS AT THE END. THE OPERATING BUDGET IS $670 MILLION. IT'S A 2.6% CHANGE. OUR RESTRICTED BUDGET IS $51.3 MILLION. ABOUT 14% CHANGE. OUR FOOD AND NUTRITION BUDGET IS 23.3 MILLION 6.1% CHANGE. DEBT SERVICE IS NOT A SEPARATELY APPROVED BUDGET, SO WE WILL MOVE PAST THAT. CAPITAL BUDGET $67.6 MILLION 16.3% CHANGE. AND THEN AGAIN, OUR PENSION IS NOT SEPARATELY APPROVED BUDGET AND WE WILL MOVE PAST THAT. OUR SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET, THE LOCAL CHANGE IS $26.2 MILLION. THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE AND COUNTY COUNCIL, REFLECTING AN 8.2% CHANGE OVERALL IN OUR LOCAL REVENUE. MARYLAND STATE REVENUE IS A $10.7 MILLION CHANGE, 3.6% NO CHANGE PROJECTED FOR FEDERAL OR OTHER INCOME. AND WE ARE PROPOSING TO USE $20.2 MILLION LESS IN FUND BALANCE THAN WE DID IN FY 25. SO FUND BALANCE USAGE FOR FY 26 WOULD BE 10 MILLION. WHICH BRINGS US TO THE $670 MILLION. BEAR WITH ME. I'M 
          [00:05:13]
TRYING TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES HERE. THERE WE GO. THIS IS A SUMMARY OF EACH OF THE AREAS WITH THE CHANGES IN. THE MAJOR AREAS OF OUR BUDGET. YOU CAN SEE THE SALARY AND WAGE PACKAGE, THE REDUCTION OF FTE AND THE ADDITIONS IN THOSE ITEMS WILL GO THROUGH THOSE DETAILS IN THE NEXT FEW PAGES. THE ESTIMATED WAGE PACKAGE THERE IS REFLECTIVE OF NO CHANGE. YOU CAN SEE THE CHANGE COLUMN IN THE CENTER OF THE COLUMNS ON THE RIGHT. THE REDUCTION OF STAFFING SYSTEM WIDE $1.3 MILLION FOR A TOTAL REDUCTION OF 160 POSITIONS. THE INITIAL PROPOSED BUDGET HAD A DIFFERENT NUMBER FOR FTE AND COSTS, AND WHEN WE RECONCILED AT THE END, THAT IS WHERE WE ENDED UP WITH 160 ACTUAL POSITIONS AND THE $16.6 MILLION IN REDUCTIONS. THERE WAS A CHANGE IN CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT FOR THE PRE-K EXPANSION GRANT, GOING FROM NINE POSITIONS TO TEN POSITIONS. TOTAL CHANGE. THERE IS $93,000, NO CHANGE IN FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS. THERE ARE SOME CHANGES ON. LET ME. THERE WE GO. IN THE FIXED CHARGES SECTION. 
          THERE ARE SEVERAL ADJUSTMENTS IN THOSE COLUMNS. THOSE ARE REALLY ESTIMATE CORRECTIONS. IF YOU REMEMBER WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE BUDGET BACK IN JANUARY, ALL OF THESE NUMBERS WE USE ESTIMATES FOR THE YEAR. SO AS THE YEAR PROGRESSES PROGRESSES WE HAVE MORE HARD CONCRETE DATA. 
          SO THAT SHOWS A INCREASE OF $585,000 TO BRING THAT TOTAL REQUEST TO $13.7 MILLION. ON THIS LAST SHEET, WE HAVE ONE CHANGE FOR CONTRACTED BUS INCREASE. INITIALLY, WE HAD PROPOSED $1 MILLION INCREASE THAT REALLY WAS RELATED TO ANTICIPATED FUEL COSTS AND CHANGES WITHIN OUR CONTRACT. WE ALSO INCREASED THE TRANSPORTATION BUDGET THIS YEAR, FY 25, AND WE ARE EXPECTING A SURPLUS IN THAT AREA. SO WE'RE MOVING THAT MILLION DOLLARS INTO NONPUBLIC PLACEMENT AS A PROPOSAL TODAY SO THAT WE CAN ATTEMPT TO PLACE ADDITIONAL FUNDS IN NONPUBLIC. IF YOU RECALL, WHEN WE DID THE THIRD QUARTER PROJECTIONS, WE WERE ABOUT $4 MILLION SHORT FOR THE YEAR, AND WE ENDED UP DOING CATEGORY TRANSFERS AND APPROPRIATING REVENUE IN ORDER TO SHORE UP THAT ACCOUNT. SO THIS WILL GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE MONEY FOR THIS YEAR. ALTHOUGH FOR FY 26, I STILL ANTICIPATE BEING SHORT IN THIS PARTICULAR CATEGORY. SO THAT BRINGS OUR TOTAL RECONCILIATION TO 140 POSITIONS AT A TOTAL OF $16.7 MILLION. THAT'S THE INCREASE DOLLARS AND DECREASED POSITIONS. IS THAT THE END OR YOU HAVE MORE SLIDES? I'M STILL TRYING TO MOVE. THERE WE GO. SORRY, THIS IS NOT ADVANCING AS QUICKLY AS IT NORMALLY DOES OKAY. THIS SLIDE SHOWS BASE BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS. THERE IS NO COST. THERE ARE NO FTE ADJUSTMENTS. SO IT'S JUST MOVING THINGS BETWEEN LINE ITEMS WITHIN OUR BUDGET. SO WE RECOGNIZED A NEED IN A PARTICULAR LINE ITEM. AND WE'RE MOVING THE FUNDS TO THAT. SO THERE'S ACTUALLY NO CHANGE OVERALL TO THE BUDGET. OUR POSITION SUMMARY AT THE TOP AND TOTAL UNRESTRICTED POSITIONS, YOU SEE THE REDUCTION OF 140 POSITIONS. AND IN OUR RESTRICTED POSITIONS, IT'S A TOTAL OF 19.3 INCREASE. AND THAT LEAVES US WITH A GRAND TOTAL REDUCTION IN FTE OF ONE 20.7. A RESTRICTED BUDGET. WE ARE NOT MAKING ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGE FROM WHAT WAS APPROVED PREVIOUSLY. SO THE TOTAL FY 26 BUDGET IS PROPOSED TO BE $51.3 
          [00:10:08]
MILLION. FOOD AND NUTRITION. WE ARE NOT PROPOSING ANY CHANGES TO THAT BUDGET. TOTAL BUDGET IS $23.3 MILLION. AND THEN OUR CAPITAL BUDGET. WE'VE INCLUDED THE STATE APPROVED AND THE LOCAL APPROVED AMOUNTS ON THESE SHEETS. THE TOTAL APPROVED FOR THE STATE ELIGIBLE PROJECTS IS $59.3 MILLION. AND THEN THE ITEMS ON THIS CHART ARE THE ONES THAT HAD LOCAL APPROVAL. THEY WERE NOT STATE PROJECTS. SO THESE ARE THE LOCAL ONLY APPROVED PROJECTS TOTALING $50.9 MILLION. AND THAT TOTAL CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND IS 67.6 MILLION. SO WITH THE CHANGES NOTED IN THE SLIDES, WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION REVIEW AND APPROVE THE BUDGETS AS FOLLOWS. THE UNRESTRICTED FUND $670,012,163. THE RESTRICTED FUND $51,326,050. THE FOOD AND NUTRITION FUND, $23,320,000. AND THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND. $67,591,474. AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION. I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU, DOCTOR POINTON. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, MISS JUDD. SO BASED ON SOME QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS I'VE RECEIVED FROM BOARD MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS, I'D LIKE TO START WITH THE EASY STUFF FIRST, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT RESTRICTED FUND, A FOOD SERVICE FUND OR CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND. SO I'D LIKE TO LUMP ALL OF THESE TOGETHER AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON TO UNRESTRICTED FUND, WHERE I KNOW THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT SOME OF THE EDUCATOR POSITIONS AND THE CLASSROOM SIZE. SO AT THIS TIME, IF ANY BOARD MEMBERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS ON EITHER THE RESTRICTED FUND, THE FOOD SERVICE FUND OR THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND, PLEASE UNMUTE YOURSELF OR RAISE YOUR HAND. 
          OKAY, I WILL ACCEPT THE MOTION AND A SECOND FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO APPROVE THE FISCAL YEAR 2026 BUDGET FOR THE RESTRICTED FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $51,326,050, THE FOOD SERVICE FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $23,320,000, AND THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $67,591,474. THIS IS WADE, AND I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THESE THREE BUDGETS. THANK YOU, MR. SOUL. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. THANK YOU, DOCTOR MUELLER. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES YES YES YES OKAY I HEARD QUORUM. IF THERE ARE ANY OPPOSED, PLEASE SAY NO. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THOSE THREE ITEMS PASS. SO AT THIS TIME WE'LL REDIRECT OUR ATTENTION TO THE UNRESTRICTED FUND. YOU KNOW THAT THAT MIGHT MAKE SENSE TO PULL UP THAT THAT MASTER SLIDE AGAIN. SO AT THIS POINT I WILL OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THE REGARDING THE UNRESTRICTED FUND. I GUESS I'LL START OUT WITH THE FIRST ONE. CAN YOU JUST CLARIFY? BECAUSE WE TALKED ABOUT WE PROJECTED 160. I THINK IN THE LATEST COMMUNICATION I SAW 140. 
          SO WHAT WAS THE WHERE DO WE ESTIMATE WHERE THAT RECONCILIATION WILL LAND IS THE 140. SO THE 140 IS THE TOTAL. THAT INCLUDES THE REDUCTIONS AND REORGANIZATION THAT OCCURRED. 
          THOSE ARE THE RESULT OF THAT WAS 160 POSITIONS. BUT THEN WE HAVE TEN SAFETY AND SECURITY LIAISONS THAT WE ARE ADDING TO THE BUDGET, AND TEN PRE-K STAFF THAT WE ARE ADDING TO THE BUDGET. SO THE NET IS THE 140. SO THE DOLLAR AMOUNTS AND THE FTE CHANGE SLIGHTLY ON THE SYSTEMWIDE REDUCTIONS, REALLY, BECAUSE WHEN WE CREATED THE BUDGET, WE DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY WHICH POSITIONS WOULD BE MOVING. SO IT WAS REALLY AN ESTIMATE. AND THEN ONCE WE HAD THE TEACHING VACANCIES, THOSE WERE TIED TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE AND WE HAD SAVINGS RELATED TO THOSE 
          [00:15:04]
SPECIFIC PEOPLE, WHICH IS HOW WE ENDED UP AT THE 16.6 MILLION. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. AND I'LL TAKE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD IN THE ORDER THE HANDS HAVE BEEN RAISED. SO, MISS ALVAREZ. OKAY. THE OVERALL WE HAVE AN OVERALL 140 OUT OF THOSE 140 POSITIONS. HOW MANY ARE TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM? 123. THANK YOU. SEVEN OTHER POSITIONS AT 123 OKAY. ALL RIGHT. LET ME CLARIFY. LET ME CLARIFY. SO OF THE REDUCTIONS, THERE WERE 160 REDUCTIONS, 123 OF THE 160 ARE TEACHING POSITIONS. SO IT'S ABOUT A 70% TEACHERS OR CLASSROOM NON CLASSROOM TEACHERS. AND THEN NON CLASSROOM IS ABOUT 30% OF THAT REDUCTION. OKAY. WE'LL MOVE ON. IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS WE CAN COME BACK TO YOU DOCTOR MUELLER. OUT OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THAT THE WORKFORCE REDUCTION. WERE THERE ANY TEACHERS THAT WANTED TO STAY EMPLOYED THAT WE LOST? NO THANK YOU. VICE PRESIDENT HAHN. THIS TIME, I'M SORRY I WAS HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MY. NO WORRIES. SO MY CONCERNS ARE THIS ANY TEACHER CUTS THAT WE MAKE, IT CAUSES THESE CLASS SIZES TO INCREASE. 
          IT INCREASES THE TEACHER STRESS AND THE WORKLOAD THAT WE HAVE ON OUR TEACHERS. I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE NICE TO HAVE THAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT CUTTING INSTEAD OF CUTTING OUR TEACHERS BECAUSE WE CAN FUNCTION AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM WITHOUT MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS, WE CAN FUNCTION AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM WITHOUT TRAVEL EXPENSES. WE CAN FUNCTION AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM WITHOUT HALFORD. GLENN, IS IT NICE TO HAVE THOSE THINGS? ABSOLUTELY. BUT WE NEED TO LOOK AT CUTTING THOSE THINGS BEFORE WE LOOK AT CUTTING OUR TEACHERS. SO I DON'T BELIEVE THAT. I BELIEVE, AND I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO MAKE A MOTION RIGHT NOW THAT WE USE $10 MILLION OF OUR FUND BALANCE TO COVER 100 POSITIONS FOR OUR TEACHERS SPECIFICALLY, SO THAT WE CAN SAVE 100 TEACHING POSITIONS AT THIS POINT, BECAUSE I FEEL IT IS LIKE WE CAN'T FUNCTION AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM WITHOUT TEACHERS. AND IN 2020, WE MADE HUGE CUTS TO OUR BUDGET THEN, AND THOSE POSITIONS HAVE STILL NEVER BEEN FILLED. LIKE FOR INSTANCE, NORTH HARFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL. I KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, THEY HAD 14 TEACHERS. ONE OF THEM PASSED AWAY AND THAT POSITION WAS NEVER FILLED. ONE OF THEM RETIRED, AND THAT POSITION WAS NEVER FILLED. SO THEY HAVE TWO GYM TEACHERS THAT HAVE 55 KIDS IN EACH CLASS. SO IN ADDITION TO THOSE CUTS, I KNOW NORTH HARFORD HIGH SCHOOL AT THAT POINT, BECAUSE MY KIDS WERE GOING THERE, THERE WERE TEN CUTS THAT WERE MADE. THOSE POSITIONS WERE NEVER CUT. SO IN ADDITION TO THOSE TEN, WE'RE NOW ADDING FOUR. SO NOW WE'RE ASKING SCHOOLS TO FUNCTION WITH 14 PEOPLE LESS THAN THEY HAD IN 2020. WHILE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SENDING KIDS TO HARFORD GLEN FOR THREE DAYS, IS IT NICE TO DO THOSE THINGS? ABSOLUTELY. IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE ABLE TO DO THOSE THINGS. BUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, DO YOU WANT 33 KIDS IN A CLASS OR IN A FIRST GRADE CLASS? DO YOU WANT 33 STUDENTS OR WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE YOUR KIDS HAVE SMALLER CLASS SIZES AND CUT HARFORD GLEN SO I, I CANNOT YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE TIMES I'VE ASKED FOR DIFFERENT THINGS AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE LIKE I'VE GOTTEN THE INFORMATION THAT I'VE ASKED FOR, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT BESIDES CUTTING OUR TEACHERS. SO I THAT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S MY TAKE ON THE, THE WHOLE THING. SO THANK YOU, MISS HORN, JUST SO THAT WE HAVE SOME JUST SO WE HAVE SOME ORDER TO THE MEETING, I WILL SAY THERE THERE IS A MOTION ON THE TABLE. WE I THAT WILL BE THE FIRST MOTION, WHICH WOULD BE AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED WHICH THE BOARD WOULD VOTE ON ANY AMENDMENTS SEPARATELY. I WOULD KINDLY ASK FOR IF THERE IS A SECOND ON THAT MOTION, TO PLEASE HOLD OFF UNTIL ALL BOARD MEMBERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, AND THEN WHEN ALL BOARD MEMBERS ARE DONE WITH THEIR COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS, WE WILL THEN SEEK MOTIONS FOR AMENDMENTS, RECOGNIZING THAT YOUR MOTION WILL BE FIRST, BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST ONE THAT WAS LAID, MISS COKER. ALRIGHTY. I ALSO AM CONCERNED WITH CLASS SIZES, AND I THINK IT'S NOT ONLY AN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ISSUE, BUT A TEACHER STRESS ISSUE. AND I APPLAUD THE EFFORTS OF FOLKS TO STRATEGICALLY PLACE THE PLANNED CUTS THAT THEY THAT THEY DID 
          [00:20:07]
PROPOSE, AND HOLDING BACK SOME POSITIONS TO FILL THE GREATEST NEEDS, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT OUR STUDENT POPULATION IS GOING TO BE. BUT BY INCREASING THE CLASS SIZE CAPS, I DON'T NECESSARILY THINK THAT THAT WAS A GOOD THING. IN TOTAL, SOME ONE OF THEM WENT UP BY SIX. SO WE ALREADY KNOW THAT TEACHERS ARE STRAINED AND TEACHERS ARE LEAVING THEIR PROFESSION BECAUSE OF BEHAVIOR AND DISRUPTION AND SHEER OVERWHELMING STRESS. SO THE INCREASED CLASS SIZES REALLY CAN LEAD US TO A TRAIN WRECK. AND I REALLY THINK THAT'S MORE OF A TRAIN WRECK, FOR EXAMPLE, THAN USING PART OF THE FUND BALANCE. IF THAT'S OUR ONLY OPTION TO FUND MORE TEACHERS, OUR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IS NOT WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE, ESPECIALLY GRADES ONE AND TWO. FROM WHAT I COULD SEE ESPECIALLY WE'RE USING LOSING A LOT OF TEACHING POSITIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAD 125 STUDENTS AND FIVE TEACHERS, NOW YOU ONLY HAVE FOUR THAT CLASS SIZES IN ALL FOUR CLASSES IN THAT ONE SCHOOL ARE GOING TO BE 30 OR MORE, AND IT'S JUST UNTENABLE FOR THE TEACHERS. ESPECIALLY THE SCHOOL ADMIN DOESN'T HAVE ANY MORE BANDWIDTH THAN THEY HAVE RIGHT NOW OF DEALING WITH ALL THOSE BEHAVIORAL ISSUES. SO IF ACADEMIC SUCCESS IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, OUR TEACHERS MUST ALSO BE OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. 
          AND WE HAVE TO KEEP, YOU KNOW, HIRING TEACHERS AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO KEEP THAT PIPELINE GOING NEXT YEAR. I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT THIS YEAR, EFFICIENCIES AND OPERATIONS, LOOKING AT PROGRAMS, LOOKING AT STRUCTURE, MORE OTHER THINGS, AS MISS HAHN SAID, THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT TO STREAMLINE AND NOT JUST ALWAYS ASSUME THAT IT HAS TO BE ALL THE TEACHERS CUTS OVER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MISS COKER. SO I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE THE ADMINISTRATION SOME TIME TO RESPOND TO CLASSROOM SIZE. BUT, MISS STRAUSS, IS YOUR QUESTION ALONG THE SAME LINES, OR IS IT A DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT SUBJECT? BOTH HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. ONE IS ALONG THE SAME LINES. ONE IS DIFFERENT. ALL RIGHT. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND THEN WE'LL TURN IT OVER. MY FIRST WAS GOING TO BE OF THE 123 TEACHING POSITIONS THAT ARE BEING CUT. 
          HOW MANY ARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. AND THE SECOND IS I'D LIKE TO JUST SEE OUR FUND BALANCE. JUST A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE'RE AT. THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL POSITIONS TOTAL 63. AND DO WE HAVE A SLIDE WITH THE FUND BALANCE. NO, I DIDN'T PREPARE A. OKAY. CAN CAN YOU CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THAT. AND MR. SAUL, WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD WHILE THEY'RE LOOKING THOSE NUMBERS UP? I CAN TELL YOU THAT IF THE FUND BALANCE PROJECTION AS OF MARCH 31ST THROUGH JUNE 30TH WAS JUST UNDER $20 MILLION, WE WERE AT 19.8 OF UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE. AND THAT WAS WITH THE TEN ALREADY TAKEN OUT, CORRECT? YES. OKAY. THANK YOU, MR. SAUL. HI. SO JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE LOGISTICS OF THIS. SO LET'S SAY WE WERE TO PUT MONEY INTO THE BUDGET TO HIRE 100 TEACHERS. 
          WOULD WE BE ABLE TO FIND 100 TEACHERS? AND THIS IS A QUESTION FOR MR. RICHARDSON. NOW THAT IT'S JUNE 16TH, WOULD WE BE ABLE TO FIND 100 CERTIFICATED TEACHERS BETWEEN NOW AND WHEN THEY WOULD NEED TO REALLY START, YOU KNOW, PLANNING TO COME, COME AND WORK FOR US FOR THE FALL? THAT'S A FAIR QUESTION, MR. SEWELL. TO BE VERY HONEST WITH WHERE WE ARE IN THE BUDGET WITH THE PROPOSED CUTS. CERTAINLY WE HAVE NOT BEEN HOT AND HEAVY OUT ON THE RECRUITMENT TRAIL AT LEAST THE LAST TWO MONTHS, KNOWING WHERE WE WERE FISCALLY. CERTAINLY IT IS STILL A TEACHER SHORTAGE. YOU KNOW, WE RIGHT NOW WE WELL, NOT RIGHT NOW, BUT FOR THE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, WE HAVE BEEN CONTINUING TO TRY TO RECRUIT, TO FILL A NUMBER OF OUR SPECIAL ED VACANCIES. BUT BEYOND THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST BEEN SOME ISOLATED POSITIONS. SO I DON'T HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL IN FRONT OF ME. BUT WHAT I CAN SAY, IF WE WERE TO ADD 100 POSITIONS AT THIS POINT IN TIME AND WHERE WE ARE IN THE FISCAL CALENDAR BEING IN JUNE, I WOULD SAY IT WOULD BE AN EXTREME CHALLENGE FOR US TO GO OUT AND HIRE THAT MANY LICENSED PROFESSIONALS AT THIS POINT IN TIME. THAT'S ABOUT 
          [00:25:02]
THE BEST I CAN GIVE YOU RIGHT NOW. I REALLY I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND THEN REALLY, A FOLLOW UP TO THAT IS, YOU KNOW, SO IF WE WERE TO USE ADDITIONAL FUND BALANCE TO. 
          KEEP. TO HIRE 100 MORE POSITIONS, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY DEPLETING OUR FUND BALANCE DOWN TO PROBABLY LESS THAN $10 MILLION NEXT YEAR, WE WOULD BE IN THE SAME SITUATION. NO DOUBT. 
          WE'VE ALREADY PROJECTED THAT NEXT YEAR WE'RE GOING TO HAVE NEED AN INCREASE OF ROUGHLY FIVE OR SO PERCENT FROM THE COUNTY IN ORDER TO FUND, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE DO CURRENTLY AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM. 
          AND THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF MAKING SOME CUTS THIS YEAR SO THAT WE COULD GET TO THE RIGHT SIZE SO THAT WE WOULDN'T NEED TO DO THESE DRASTIC CUTS AGAIN. SO IS THAT FAIR TO SAY THAT IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO KEEP THOSE HUNDRED POSITIONS NEXT YEAR? I GUESS THAT MIGHT BE FOR DEB, BASED ON WHAT WE'RE HEARING WITH FUNDING OVERALL, STATE AND LOCAL, I WOULD SAY YES. I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE ARE LOOKING AT THIS AS A MULTI-YEAR PROCESS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO ADDRESS. AND IF FUNDING IS A CHALLENGE NEXT YEAR, NOT ONLY WOULD THE POSITIONS THAT WE RESTORED BE AT RISK, YOU WOULD HAVE JUST HIRED THEM, AND THEN THEY WOULD BE ON THE LIST TO BE CUT. WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE TO LOOK DEEPER. SO WE DEFINITELY WOULDN'T HAVE THE FUND BALANCE REMAINING TO PROTECT ALL OF THEM AND ADDITIONAL CUTS. SO I'VE GOT A FEW MORE HANDS UP, BUT LET ME JUST INJECT HERE FOR A MOMENT AND THEN WE'LL GO BACK, I THINK, TO MISS ALVAREZ, CAN YOU PULL UP JUST SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE HERE, THE CLASSROOM NUMBERS THAT YOU HAD SENT OUT TO THE BOARD EARLIER WITH WHAT THE PROJECTED CHANGES WOULD BE BY GRADE AND FARMS. DO YOU HAVE THAT HANDY? THAT WE SENT EARLIER TO THE BOARD? YEAH. IF NOT, I'LL SEE IF I CAN FIND IT. WHEN WAS THAT SENT? WE HAVEN'T SENT ANYTHING RECENTLY. OH. I'M SORRY, DO YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION? I RECEIVED IT FROM SOMEONE I DON'T REMEMBER, BUT DOES ANYONE HAVE THAT? DOCTOR, THIS IS DIANA. ARE YOU SEEING SOME DISCUSSIONS THAT WE HAD IN SMALL GROUP? I BELIEVE SO THERE WAS. I'M SORRY. THERE WAS SOMETHING, SOME DOCUMENT THAT I SAW AT SOME POINT WHICH OUTLINED WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, WHICH HAD BOTH CURRENT AND PROJECTED CHANGES BY CLASSROOM SIZE. I KNOW WE RECEIVED SOMETHING BY SCHOOL THAT SHOWED US BY SCHOOL WHAT POSITIONS WERE BEING THE NUMBER THAT WOULD BE REDUCED. SO THOSE POSITIONS ARE UPDATED. WHO'S WHO SHARING THIS IS THIS I DID THAT. HOLD ON. SO THIS WAS INFORMATION THAT WAS SHARED IN OUR SMALL GROUP. YEAH THAT'S IT THIS YEAR. YES THAT'S WHAT I SAW. SO IS THIS IS THIS INFORMATION IS STILL ACCURATE BASED ON THE PROJECTIONS THAT WE HAVE NOW. I THINK THIS IS WHAT THE BOARD WAS REALLY LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE BY GRADE THAT WERE GOING UP SIGNIFICANTLY. SO THOSE ARE YES THOSE THAT IS THE ACCURATE CLASS SIZE BREAKDOWN FOR THIS UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR. OKAY. AND JUST TO BE CLEAR WITH WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. SO I BELIEVE THIS WAS DESCRIBED SORT OF NOT AS A CAP BUT A TARGET. IS THAT RIGHT? YES. OKAY. OKAY. SO I KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, MY SON'S CLASS, WHICH IS FIFTH GRADE, THERE ARE SEVERAL STUDENTS OVER 30. SO BUT IT'S AN AVERAGE, WHICH MEANS THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE THERE'S A CLASSROOM WITH FEWER THAN 30. RIGHT. SO I THINK THE REAL CONCERN FROM SPEAKING WITH MANY OF THE BOARD MEMBERS WAS THE K THROUGH REALLY THE K THROUGH THREE, WHERE WE'RE SEEING THE MOST WE'RE SEEING THE LARGEST INCREASES. AS I PUT IN AN EMAIL TO THE BOARD AS WELL, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW AND WE CAN'T BANK ON THIS, BUT AT LEAST AS OF RIGHT NOW, KINDERGARTEN ENROLLMENT WAS AS AT LEAST AS OF LAST WEEK WAS BEHIND WHERE IT TYPICALLY WAS. AND SO IF THAT TREND WERE TO CONTINUE, THAT THERE MAY BE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE SOME KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS AND SORT OF REDISTRIBUTE THEM TO 
          [00:30:04]
OTHER CLASSES, YOU KNOW, ONE THROUGH THREE. BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THAT WOULD REALLY SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE IT. MAYBE YOU GO FROM A PLUS SIX TO A PLUS FIVE OR A, YOU KNOW, A PLUS FIVE TO A PLUS FOUR. BUT I'D LIKE TO GIVE THE ADMINISTRATION SOME TIME TO RESPOND TO THIS. WITH THE BOARD'S CONCERNS IN HAND, AND THEN ALSO TO HEAR FROM DOCTOR MACK AND DOCTOR PAULSON ABOUT WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS TO ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ON CLASSROOM SIZES THIS LARGE. THIS IS DIANE MACK. I CAN GET US STARTED IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT THESE NUMBERS. THESE ARE THE PROJECTED TARGETS FOR THIS UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR. CURRENTLY, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DO WANT TO SHARE IS THAT WE ONLY HAVE ONE, TWO, THREE. WE HAVE FIVE CLASSES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT ARE AT THE TARGETS. MANY OF OUR CLASSES THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT ARE NOT AT THE CAPS OR AT THE TARGETS, AND WE REVIEW THE DATA AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK AND ARE AND HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO RESTORE CLASS, RESTORE TEACHERS TO THOSE PLACES WHERE WE SEE THAT OUR CLASS SIZE IS LARGE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DOES IMPACT OUR CLASS SIZE IN SOME AREAS IS OUR BOUNDARY EXCEPTIONS. AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE CLOSELY AND MAKING THOSE DECISIONS JUST BASED UPON INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL NEEDS. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO ONE ONE OTHER THING I WOULD ADD JUST FOR HISTORICAL CONTEXT IS IF WE LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF TEACHING POSITIONS, I THINK WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO WHERE WE WERE IN 2020 WHEN WE MADE ALL THE CUTS. BUT THE ANECDOTE THAT. MISS HAHN SHARED IS ACCURATE BECAUSE IN 2021 AND 2019, WHEN WE MADE THOSE CUTS, NORTH HARTFORD MIDDLE AND NORTH HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL WERE THE MOST OVERSTAFFED SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTY BECAUSE PRIOR TO THAT, WE HADN'T BEEN USING ANY FORMULAS FOR. STAFFING. SO WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE RATIOS THAT WE USED FOR STAFFING, NORTH HARTFORD MIDDLE WAS THE MOST OVERSTAFFED SCHOOL IN THE DISTRICT, AND EDGEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL WAS THE MOST UNDERSTAFFED SCHOOL IN THE DISTRICT. SO IN ADDITION. SO WHEN WE DID THE CUTS, THEN WE KIND OF AVERAGED THINGS OUT BASED ON CLASS SIZE. BUT YOU KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH CLASS SIZES NOW. WE KNOW IT'S NOT IDEAL. WE'VE SAID THAT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS, BUT THESE CLASS SIZES AREN'T GOING TO BE THESE AREN'T UNPRECEDENTED BECAUSE, I MEAN, WE'RE BASICALLY WE HAVE FEWER STUDENTS THAN WE DID IN 2020. NOT A LOT. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOWN BY, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN A FEW HUNDRED AND A THOUSAND STUDENTS. AND I BELIEVE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FTE IS GOING TO KIND OF TAKE US TO WHERE WE WERE CONSISTENTLY. IS THAT IDEAL? NO. BUT AS MISS JUDD SAID, YOU KNOW, WE'RE EXPECTING STATE FUNDING TO NOT BE TO NOT GROW AS QUICKLY. DESPITE WHAT THE BLUEPRINT SAYS. WE SEE THAT THE STATE, YOU KNOW, REVENUE ISSUES, WE KNOW THE COUNTY REVENUE CAN ONLY SUSTAIN US FOR SO LONG WITHOUT HELP FOR THE STATE. AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, PROPOSED CUTS AND A VARIETY OF FEDERAL FUNDING AREAS, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY, SOME OF THOSE AREAS ARE PLACES THAT WE'VE ALREADY CUT THIS YEAR. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, FEDERAL FUNDS, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS NO MONEY PUT IN TITLE TWO, TITLE FOUR. AND THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE PROVIDE SUPPORTS, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE COACHES THAT WE'VE CUT AND, YOU KNOW, SUMMER SCHOOL AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE WERE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, STRUGGLING TO FUND AT ALL. AND SO WE POTENTIALLY SEE, YOU KNOW, FEWER FUNDS AND SOME OF THOSE PLACES TO SUPPORT TEACHERS. AND THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE BUDGET, WE KNOW THAT THERE'S A TRADE OFF. I MEAN, BECAUSE WITH THE TEACHER SHORTAGE, WE'VE HIRED SO MANY MORE TEACHERS AND LESS CERTIFIED TEACHERS THAT WE DO NEED THE SUPPORTS FOR THEM. BUT, YOU KNOW, IN THE END, WE ENDED UP REMOVING MORE THAN HALF OF OUR COACHES BECAUSE WE WANTED TO LEAVE THE CLASSROOM POSITIONS IN PLACE. SO OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A LOT OF DETAILS CONTRIBUTING TO WHERE WE ARE. THIS WAS A PROPOSAL WE MADE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE CARE VERY MUCH, OBVIOUSLY, ABOUT THE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND ALL THE THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CLASSROOMS. BUT THESE CUTS AREN'T SO DRAMATIC. I MEAN, THESE ARE NUMBERS WE'VE SEEN BEFORE. WE CAN HOPE OVER TIME THAT WE CAN SORT OF SLOWLY CHIP AWAY AT BRINGING CLASS SIZES BACK DOWN A LITTLE BIT. BUT THIS IS STILL I MEAN, I WOULD STILL STAND BY THE RECOMMENDATION AS IT'S ON THE TABLE JUST FROM, YOU KNOW, AN EXPERIENCE AND A RECOMMENDATION OF WHAT WE NEED TO DO IN THE DISTRICT. SO JUST LEAVE THAT OUT THERE. THANK YOU. DOCTOR PAULSON, YOU MENTIONED BLUEPRINT. SO THE I THINK IT IS 
          [00:35:04]
TEN PRE-K EDUCATORS THAT WE'RE BRINGING ON WITH THE GRANT AFTER THIS YEAR THAT WOULD ALSO HAVE TO ROLL INTO NEXT YEAR'S OPERATING BUDGET. IS THAT RIGHT? YES. BUT THAT'S WHEN THE YOU KNOW, THE FUNDING IS A YEAR BEHIND. THAT'S WHY THEY DO THE GRANT THE WAY THEY DO. SO THEY DO THE GRANT ON THE FIRST YEAR BEFORE THE FUNDING CATCHES UP. SO THAT WOULD THAT WOULD NEUTRAL OUT. THAT WOULD YEAH, THAT WOULD THAT FLATTEN OUT. YOU KNOW, YOU HOPE IT ALL ENDS UP THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO. BUT THAT WOULD THAT'S ESSENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT GETS COVERED BY THE ENROLLMENT. OKAY. THANK YOU I DO HAVE SOME COMMENTS BUT I'LL GO LAST. MISS ALVAREZ, YOU WERE NEXT. GEORGE. YES. THANKS, DOCTOR. POINT. YEAH, I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. AND THESE ARE STAFFING QUESTIONS FOR BEN ONE. THE FIRST ONE IS HOW MANY STAFF DO WE HAVE THAT ARE NOT IN TEACHING POSITIONS THAT ARE TEACHERS AND COULD BE FILL FILL POSITIONS FOR TEACHING SHORTAGES TO USE TO GET OUR CAPS AND THE IN THE CLASSROOM DOWN. I DON'T KNOW IF I ARTICULATED THAT CORRECTLY BUT DO WE HAVE TEACHERS IN POSITIONS THAT ARE NOT IN THE CLASSROOM THAT COULD BE USED TO REDUCE OUR TEACHING, OUR OUR, THE, THE CLASS SIZE? YEAH, I THINK I CAN I CAN ANSWER THAT, MISS ALVAREZ. YOU KNOW, WE THIS HAS BEEN A SEVERAL WEEK PROCESS. AND CERTAINLY IT'S REALLY BEEN BASED ON WHEN VACANCIES OCCUR AND WHATNOT. AND SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, IN SHORT, WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT ROUGHLY 40 INDIVIDUALS THAT STILL ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM HR AS TO WHERE THEIR ASSIGNMENT IS. BUT WHEN I LOOK AT THAT 40, WE ACTUALLY LOOKED AT IT THIS MORNING, ROUGHLY ABOUT 25 TO 28 OF THOSE FOLKS. WE DO WE DO HAVE A PRELIMINARY SPOT FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS. IT'S BUT IT IS LIKE PUTTING A BIG JIGSAW PUZZLE TOGETHER. SO ROUGHLY OUT OF THAT 40, ABOUT 28, WE DO WE HAVE A SPOT COMING. AND THEN REALLY IT'S JUST BETWEEN ABOUT 10 TO 13 RIGHT NOW WHERE WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR A FEW OTHER DOMINOES TO FALL. SO THAT NUMBER REALLY OVER THE LAST MONTH AND A HALF, TWO MONTHS HAS HAS DROPPED DRASTICALLY. BUT LIKE I SAID, WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT 40 AS OF TODAY, WITH ABOUT 28 OF THOSE HOPEFULLY IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, KNOWING WHERE THOSE SPOTS ARE. AND JUST FOR CLARITY, IF SO, IS THAT SORRY? GO AHEAD. I'M SORRY. 
          SO THAT SO WE HAD WE HAVE 123 TEACHER POSITIONS. CORRECT. I THINK THAT'S WHAT DEBORAH SAID. 
          YEAH. THAT'S CORRECT. AND IS THAT WE HAVE 123. I'M TRYING TO GET THE NUMBERS STRAIGHT AND I, I, I'M DRIVING AT THE SAME TIME. ANYWAY. LET'S SEE. WE HAVE THOSE 40 POSITIONS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BEN. ARE THEY INCLUDED IN THAT NUMBER. I DON'T I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. DEBORAH. AND MY BUDGET TEAM WITH THOSE 40 THAT ARE, THAT WERE DISPLACED AS PART OF THE CUTS, WOULD THEY BE PART OF THAT? 123 I ASSUME SO, YES. YES, BEN. THAT'S CORRECT. THEY ARE. 
          THEY'RE JUST WE KNOW THEIR SPOTS FOR THEM WITHIN THE SYSTEM AND YOU JUST HAVE NOT PLACED THEM THERE. SO, MISS ALVAREZ, WE HAVE POSITIONS THAT ARE OPEN AND WE HAVE PREVIOUS POSITIONS THAT WERE REDUCED PART OF THE 123. AND THOSE PEOPLE JUST HAVEN'T BEEN OFFICIALLY PLACED IN A CLASSROOM FOR NEXT YEAR. YEAH. AND AS I PUT IN MY EMAIL, I THINK WE'RE WE'RE PRETTY CONFIDENT THAT WELL, HOPEFUL THAT ALL BUT PRETTY CONFIDENT THAT MOST WILL BE PLACED. BUT AS I PUT IN THE EMAIL, IF THERE WERE ANY, YOU KNOW, NON-PERFECT 1 TO 1 MATCHES, THERE WAS ENOUGH WIGGLE ROOM IN THE OPERATING BUDGET TO SUSTAIN THAT THOSE SMALL NUMBER OF POSITIONS FOR ANOTHER YEAR UNTIL YOU UNTIL YOU CAN SORT OF MATCH IT UP AS AN EXACT AGGREGATE NUMBER THROUGH ATTRITION, EITHER THROUGHOUT THE YEAR OR NEXT FISCAL YEAR. RIGHT. AND DOCTOR POINT, THAT NUMBER AS OF TODAY IS 13. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO WE HAVE WE HAVE 13 I GUESS MY I GUESS MY QUESTION AND MY WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT IS HAVE WE MAXIMIZED TAKING STAFF THAT'S BEEN THAT HAVE BEEN MOVED OUT OF THE CLASSROOM TO, TO ACCOUNT FOR THE LOSS IN OUR EXTERNAL HIRING, AVAILABILITY OF TEACHERS AND 
          [00:40:14]
UTILIZE PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE IN OUR STAFF ALREADY THAT COULD FULFILL THOSE POSITIONS. FOR THESE, FOR THESE ASSIGNMENTS. BECAUSE AS, AS MR. SAUL BROUGHT UP THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE WERE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER TO TRY TO REDUCE THE CLASS SIZES. HIS POINT, I BELIEVE, WAS THAT WE WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO HIRE PEOPLE BECAUSE THERE'S NOT ANYBODY AVAILABLE. SO HAVE WE MAXIMIZED IN OUR REORGANIZATION AND OUR STRUCTURE TO TAKE PEOPLE IN POSITIONS THAT ARE, THAT ARE IN, NOT IN THE CLASSROOM AND MOVE THEM BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM? I CAN ANSWER THAT. SO A LARGE PART OF OUR INITIAL PROPOSAL DID EXACTLY THAT. YOU KNOW, MANY OF THE LIKE I SAID, WE'VE CUT MORE THAN HALF OF OUR COACHES. WE'VE CUT SPECIALISTS IN A NUMBER OF AREAS. WE'VE CUT A NUMBER OF OTHER POSITIONS THAT WERE TEACHER CERTIFIED PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T DIRECTLY TEACHING STUDENTS. MANY OF THE CUTS WE DID, THOSE PEOPLE, THE POSITIONS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. THEY'RE RETURNING TO THE CLASSROOM. WE HAVE A BARE BONES GROUP LEFT THAT ARE STILL THERE. AND AS I SAID EARLIER, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL IN THE ROLE OF SUPPORTING TEACHERS, OF HELPING TEACHERS BE SUCCESSFUL. AND I WOULD IF WE WERE TO TAKE THAT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO ZERO, IT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY DISASTROUS FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AND TRYING TO RUN A DISTRICT AND KEEP OUR KEEP OUR STAFF MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THEY NEED SOME SUPPORT. SO WE'VE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALREADY TAKEN OUT A HUGE PERCENTAGE OF OUR PEOPLE WHO DO THAT ROLE. BUT I WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT ADVISE REDUCING THOSE POSITIONS ANY FURTHER. 
          THANK YOU, DOCTOR WATSON. COULD WE GET COULD WE GET THOSE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, OF HOW THE RESTRUCTURE WAS, YOU KNOW. WELL, I GUESS LET ME JUST MOVE ON TO MY SECOND QUESTION. SO MY SECOND QUESTION IS WHAT WHAT ARE THE WE DURING COVID WE WERE GIVEN A LOT OF GRANT MONEY. THERE WERE A LOT OF POSITIONS THAT WERE THAT WERE CREATED TO HELP SUPPORT GETTING THE KIDS BACK UP TO SPEED. SO HOW MANY OF THOSE POSITIONS HAVE BEEN RETAINED IN OUR IN OUR STRUCTURE IN THIS BUDGET? SO HOW MANY POSITIONS WERE CREATED FROM COVID THAT WE'RE STILL MAINTAINING? AS WE SAID EARLY ON? WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE POSITIONS THAT WE PURCHASED WITH COVID FUNDS, I THINK 93% OF THEM WERE STUDENT FACING POSITIONS. SO WE KNEW THAT WE HAD GROWN THE OVERALL. ESSENTIALLY THE NUMBER OF TEACHERS. AND SO THAT WAS A LOT OF THE TEACHER ADDITIONS WE DID IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, WHICH SO WE'VE SAID THAT THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS AND TEACHERS HAS RECOVERED FROM WHAT WE DID IN 2019. IT WAS BECAUSE OF THAT. SO WE HAD A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF OTHER POSITIONS THAT WE CREATED, AND SOME OF THOSE WERE CUT IN THIS ROUND OF CUTS ALSO. SO THAT PRETTY MUCH IS A YOU KNOW, IT'S A IT'S NOT A FACTOR IN THIS WHOLE CONVERSATION. YOU KNOW, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO SUSTAIN, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS AGO WE ASKED FOR, I BELIEVE, $9 MILLION WORTH OF TEACHING POSITIONS. AND WE WEREN'T FUNDED FOR THOSE. AND WE FLOATED THAT WITH FUND BALANCE FOR A YEAR. BUT NOW WE'RE AT THE PLACE WHERE WE'RE DECIDING, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH FUND BALANCE TO USE THIS YEAR, HOW MUCH TO USE NEXT YEAR. AND AGAIN, WE BROUGHT A RECOMMENDATION BASED ON ALL THESE FACTORS. AND I ABSOLUTELY STAND BEHIND THAT RECOMMENDATION. THANK YOU. MAYBE CAN I GET SOME CLARIFICATION FROM MELISSA BECAUSE I THINK SHE'S BEEN TRACKING THIS LONGER THAN I HAVE. SHE MADE A STATEMENT THAT WE CUT TEACHERS BACK IN 2019. SO I GUESS I'M I'M I'M TRYING TO RECONCILE, YOU KNOW, THE HOW, WHERE, WHERE WE WERE WITH TEACHERS AND WHERE WE ARE WITH TEACHERS. NOW, MISS, MISS HAHN ACTUALLY HAS HER HAND UP. SHE'S NEXT IN THE QUEUE. SO WE'LL JUST MOVE ON TO HER AND YOU CAN ANSWER THAT AS WELL. MISS ON. OKAY. SO BASICALLY THERE AND I WAS LOOKING FOR THE CHART. I COULD NOT FIND THE CHART ANYWHERE OF POSITIONS THAT WERE ACTUALLY CUT IN 2019, BUT IT WAS A HUGE NUMBER. I BELIEVE IT WAS WELL OVER 100 POSITIONS IN 2019 THAT WERE CUT AS WELL. 
          AND THOSE WERE TEACHER POSITIONS. SO FOR INSTANCE, LIKE I SAID, NORTH HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL, THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE CUT 14 POSITIONS AND NORTH HARTFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL WAS 
          [00:45:05]
SUPPOSED TO BE CUT TEN. I THINK THE ACTUAL CUTS THAT THEY RECEIVED WAS TEN, AND I BELIEVE FOUR, BUT THAT WAS ACROSS THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, CUTS THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, THOSE POSITIONS. THEY THEY STILL HAVE NOT BEEN REPLACED. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE STILL TWO GYM TEACHER POSITIONS AT NORTH HARTFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL THAT WERE NEVER FILLED. THOSE POSITIONS WERE CUT LIKE WHEN WE CUT FUNDING, THOSE POSITIONS WERE ACTUALLY CUT. SO WHEN THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY'RE SAYING THEY'RE CUTTING A POSITION AND PEOPLE ARE BEING MOVED, YES, PEOPLE ARE BEING MOVED, BUT THOSE POSITIONS ARE STILL VACANT POSITION. THAT WAS ONCE AT THE SCHOOL. SO THEY HAD 14 MORE TEACHERS AT NORTH HARTFORD. AND THESE PROPOSED CUTS TOOK THEM DOWN TO TEN LESS TEACHERS THAN THEY HAD ORIGINALLY IN THE SCHOOL. SO THOSE POSITIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN FILLED BECAUSE THOSE POSITIONS WERE CUT. SO AGAIN, AT NORTH HARTFORD MIDDLE, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WERE FOUR TEACHERS, ONE PASSED AWAY AND ONE RETIRED. THOSE POSITIONS WERE CUT. SO NOW THERE IS NO POSITIONS. THERE'S NO OTHER ADDITIONAL POSITIONS TO FILL. THERE'S TWO THERE'S 55 STUDENTS IN EACH ONE OF THOSE CLASSES. THAT'S ASTRONOMICAL. THAT PUTS SO MUCH MORE STRESS ON THESE TEACHERS THAN YOU KNOW IT. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE, DIANE? DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? SO I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY. I BELIEVE IT WAS OVER 100 POSITIONS THAT WERE ACTUALLY CUT. THE TEACHERS, THEY THEY DID NOT LOSE THEIR THEY DID NOT LOSE THEIR JOB. THEY WERE SHIFTED TO OTHER SCHOOLS, JUST LIKE WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW. AND THEY DID NOT LOSE THEIR JOB. THEY WERE SHIFTED THROUGH ATTRITION. BUT THOSE POSITIONS AT THE SCHOOL WERE CUT. SO THAT WAS THE POINT OF WHAT I EXPLAINED BEFORE. WE HAVE RESTORED THE MAJORITY OF THE POSITIONS TO HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BUT BECAUSE AT THE TIME NORTH HARFORD WAS OVERSTAFFED AND THEIR AND THEIR ENROLLMENT HASN'T GROWN AT A FASTER RATE, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS A FAIRLY SIMILAR NUMBER OF POSITIONS AS IT DID FIVE YEARS AGO. BUT YOU'RE RIGHT. NORTH HARFORD HASN'T RECOVERED THE SAME NUMBER OF POSITIONS BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE YEAR WE REBALANCE THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS IN A GIVEN SCHOOL BASED ON THE ENROLLMENT THERE, BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN GROWTH FASTER IN OTHER PLACES THAN NORTH HARFORD. YES. NORTH HARFORD STILL HAS FEWER POSITIONS THAN IT DID IN 2019, BUT OTHER SCHOOLS HAVE MORE POSITIONS THAN THEY DID AT THAT TIME. AND SO ACROSS THE DISTRICT IT'S AVERAGED OUT. BUT YOUR YOUR YOUR OBSERVATION ABOUT NORTH HARFORD ARE CORRECT. BUT THEY DON'T PAINT THE PICTURE FOR THE, YOU KNOW, 55 SCHOOLS IN HARFORD COUNTY. OKAY. MISS HAHN ANYTHING ELSE. OTHERWISE I HAVE A COUPLE COMMENTS. YES. SO MY QUESTION IS OF THE 123 TEACHER POSITIONS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED TO BE CUT, HOW MANY OF THOSE ACTUAL POSITIONS WOULD WE NEED IF WE DECIDED TO? DO YOU KNOW, THE 100 TEACHERS OR THE $10 MILLION FROM OUR FUND BALANCE? BECAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE MANY TEACHERS THAT ARE STILL WAITING TO HEAR WHERE THEY'RE GOING, AND THEY'VE NOT BEEN NOTIFIED WHERE THEY'RE BEING MOVED TO, AND EVERYTHING'S KIND OF UP IN THE AIR FOR THEM. AND I KNOW THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL TEACHERS THAT IF THEY GET MOVED SOMEWHERE AND IT'S A LOT FARTHER, IF IT'S OUT OF THE AREA THAT THEY WANT TO BE IN, IF IT'S NOT THE, YOU KNOW, THE VICINITY THAT THEY'RE WILLING TO LEAVE HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SO NOT ONLY ARE WE GOING TO LOSE THOSE 123 TEACHERS, BUT WE'RE THEN GOING TO LOSE OTHER TEACHERS THAT ARE BEING DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOME SCHOOLS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE BEEN THERE FOR A LONG TIME OR THEY'VE, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHILDREN AT THOSE SCHOOLS AND WITH THE TEACHERS AND THE ADMINISTRATION, AND THEY DON'T WANT TO LEAVE THOSE SCHOOLS. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY AND THE ABILITY TO DO THAT. BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TEACHER, YOU KNOW, MORALE AND SATISFACTION AS A JOB. AND WE'RE TAKING EVERYTHING OUT OF BEING A TEACHER. THOSE THINGS THAT MAKE IT POSITIVE AND MAKE IT, YOU KNOW, WORTHWHILE. WE'RE TAKING THOSE AWAY BY DOING THIS. AND I AGAIN, HOW MANY OF THOSE 123 TEACHER POSITIONS WOULD WE ACTUALLY NEED TO HIRE IN? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? WHAT I'M ASKING, I THINK IT DOES. AND MR. RICHARDSON, IF YOU CAN CLARIFY FOR ME, IF I MISSTATE THIS, THOSE 123 POSITIONS THAT ARE CUT, THOSE POSITIONS ARE GONE. WE DO NOT HAVE PEOPLE FOR THOSE POSITIONS. SO WE WOULD NEED TO HIRE THOSE POSITIONS BACK. BUT WE ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE STILL KIND OF UP IN THE AIR 
          [00:50:05]
WAITING TO HEAR. SO HOW MANY PEOPLE, HOW MANY OF THOSE POSITIONS? I'M TRYING TO I THINK THAT I THINK THE, THE POSITIONS THAT THOSE 40 ARE GOING TO ARE VACANT. THEY'VE NOT BEEN PLACED INTO THOSE VACANCIES YET. WE DON'T HAVE A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE PEOPLE THAT JUST DON'T HAVE A PLACE TO GO, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. I GET THAT. BUT YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO HIRE SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE TO FILL THOSE VACANT POSITIONS, CORRECT? RIGHT. SO THE POINT IS THAT BY ALLOWING THESE 123 TEACHER POSITIONS TO BE CUT, WE'RE THEN INCREASING THE CLASS SIZES. WE'RE THEN INCREASING OR WE'RE DECREASING THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE BECAUSE THEN WE'RE INCREASING TEACHER STRESS AND INCREASING WORKLOAD AND ALL OF THE ABOVE. SO THE POINT WOULD BE HOW MANY OF THOSE ACTUAL POSITIONS WOULD WE NEED TO HIRE SOMEONE FOR? BECAUSE ALL OF THE TEACHERS THAT WE'RE MOVING TO FILL OTHER POSITIONS, HOW MANY OF THOSE HAVE ACTUALLY HAVE HAS THAT ALREADY OCCURRED? THAT'S MY THAT'S MY QUESTION, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE ARE MANY TEACHERS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN NOTIFIED WHERE THEY'RE GOING AT THIS POINT, AND WE'RE ALREADY AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND THINGS ARE STILL UP IN THE AIR FOR MANY TEACHERS THAT I KNOW OF. 
          MELISSA, AS I SHARED EARLIER, THIS HAS BEEN AS I SHARED EARLIER, AS OF THIS MORNING, WE HAD STILL ROUGHLY 40 PEOPLE TO PLACE. SO IT'S NOT 123 PEOPLE THAT NEED PLACED AT THIS POINT IN TIME. I HAVE ROUGHLY 40 ON OUR MAP WHERE WE NEED TO PLACE. OF THOSE 40, WE HAVE ROUGHLY 28 TO 30, WHERE I ACTUALLY DO HAVE VACANCIES. FOR THOSE PEOPLE TO GO. IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN IN A PUBLIC SETTING, BUT THE BEST I CAN EXPLAIN IS IT'S LIKE A LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE. AND THERE ARE MULTIPLE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. SO OF THOSE 40 PEOPLE, THOSE TEACHERS THAT ARE WAITING, WE DO HAVE SPOTS AT THIS AS AS OF RIGHT NOW FOR 28 OF THOSE, THE 13 REMAINING THAT I HAVE IS WHERE DOCTOR POINTON WAS SAYING, I DON'T HAVE AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT, A DIRECT CONTENT FOR CONTENT MATCH, BUT THAT CHANGES EVERY DAY. SO ONCE AGAIN, JUST WANT TO STATE THAT THERE'S ROUGHLY 40 INDIVIDUALS YET THAT ARE STILL WAITING TO HEAR THEIR PLACEMENT, WHICH WE ARE ACTIVELY AND CURRENTLY WORKING ON AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. THANK YOU, MISS. MR. RICHARDSON. 
          SORRY, MELISSA. DID YOU HAVE MORE? OTHERWISE? MISS COOPER HAS HER HAND UP. NO. THAT'S FINE. 
          I'M STILL TRYING TO THINK OF. I'LL TRY BACK IN IF I, IF I, I'M TRYING TO FORMULATE THE QUESTION IN A DIFFERENT WAY. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME, MISS COKER. OKAY, I DO TAKE THE POINT THAT ANY TEACHERS WE DO HIRE BACK THEN, IT WOULD BE TOUGHER TO KEEP THEM NEXT YEAR. HOWEVER, I THINK WE NEED TO ADDRESS THAT NEXT YEAR BY REALLY LOOKING AT THE BUDGET DIFFERENTLY. I THINK THE CLASS SIZE CAPS, IF YOU LOOK AT IF WE DID NOT CHANGE THE CLASS SIZE CAPS, THERE'S QUITE A FEW CLASSES THAT WOULD BE OVER OUR CURRENT CLASS SIZE CAPS. AND I WOULD JUST SAY THAT THE BUDGET IS A PLAN. I THINK THE POINT THAT RECRUITMENT WOULD BE DIFFICULT. I'M SORRY ABOUT THAT. 
          IT'S A CHALLENGE, BUT I KNOW YOU ALL LIKE CHALLENGES. AND LAST YEAR, WELL ROSE TO MEET THE CHALLENGE. SO IF WE HAVE TO RECRUIT WHATEVER NUMBER WE CAN AGREE ON TEACHERS TO ADD BACK IN, I THINK IT WOULD BE WELL WORTH TRYING TO DO THAT. SO IF WE DON'T PUT IT IN THE BUDGET, THEN WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO IT. BUT IF WE PUT IT IN THE BUDGET AND WE CAN TRY TO DO IT, THEN THE BUDGET IS A PLAN. AND SO I WOULD JUST VIEW IT THAT WAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MISS COKER. I'LL GIVE SOME THOUGHTS HERE. AND THEN IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE WE CAN OPEN IT UP FOR THE ANY AMENDMENTS OR A MOTION TO APPROVE. SO FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE THAT'S BEEN INVOLVED. THIS IS THE CULMINATING POINT REALLY, OF, YOU KNOW, A YEAR'S WORTH OF HARD WORK. BOTH THE BOARD, THE ADMINISTRATION, DEB, BEN, EVERYONE ALSO WHILE DOING ORACLE THE THESE ARE REALLY HARD QUESTIONS TO ANSWER. I THINK THAT ALL OF THE BOARD MEMBERS WOULD PREFER TO HAVE SMALLER CLASS SIZES. QUITE HONESTLY, I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE CLASS SIZES AS WELL. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT IT WILL HAVE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT IT WILL HAVE ON OUR EDUCATORS THAT ARE ALREADY FEELING A HUGE 
          [00:55:02]
BURDEN ON THEIR SHOULDERS, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH WIGGLE ROOM WE REALLY HAVE. I THINK WE HAVE SOME, BUT NOT A LOT. THE BOARD HAS THE CHALLENGE OF BALANCING THE SHORT TERM NEEDS, WHICH WE'RE ALL VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT, AGAINST THE LONG TERM NEEDS OF THE ORGANIZATION. AND AS THE STEWARDS OF THE ORGANIZATION, WE HAVE TO MAKE EVERY DECISION BASED NOT JUST ON THE SHORT TERM, BUT WHAT ARE THE MEDIUM AND LONG TERM IMPLICATIONS OF OUR DECISIONS. I WOULD LOVE TO KEEP ALL 160 TEACHERS. I JUST DON'T THINK IT IS REALISTIC IN TODAY'S FISCAL ENVIRONMENT. ON THE OTHER HAND, I'M TORN BECAUSE I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT CLASSROOM SIZE LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS TO TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS WILL BE THERE. SO I DO THINK I DO AGREE WITH MISS MISS COKER A BIT, THAT I DO THINK THAT THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME OTHER SPOTS IN THE ORGANIZATION WHERE WE CAN LOOK THAT MAYBE AREN'T NON-CORE, WHERE WE COULD RESTORE SOME EDUCATORS BACK, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT ANY DECISION THAT WE MAKE NOW IS GOING TO HAVE A TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT NEXT YEAR, AND THE YEAR AFTER THAT, AND THE YEAR AFTER THAT. AND I THINK THE SITUATION, UNFORTUNATELY, IS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER. I THINK THE CHALLENGES WILL GET HARDER EVERY YEAR. SO I, I APPRECIATE MISS HAHN'S PASSION AND DESIRE TO WANT TO PUT ALL OF THOSE, OR AT LEAST A HUNDRED OF THOSE 140 POSITIONS BACK. BUT I DO THINK LOOKING INTO NEXT YEAR, THAT THAT WOULD PROBABLY COME CLOSE IF NOT TO COMPLETELY BANKRUPTING US BECAUSE WE HAVE A $20 MILLION FUND BALANCE. KEEP IN MIND, WE'RE USING 10 MILLION OF THAT THIS YEAR, SO WE WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO, USE ANOTHER 10 MILLION OF THAT NEXT YEAR. AND IF WE DO 10 MILLION MORE THIS YEAR, WE'RE BASICALLY LEFT WITH NOTHING NEXT YEAR. AND AS WE'VE DISCUSSED ALL ALONG, IT'S A VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE AND A VERY DANGEROUS POSITION TO BE IN TO USE FUND BALANCE, WHICH IS MEANT FOR ONE TIME COSTS, FOR RECURRING COSTS. BUT AGAIN, VERY CONCERNED ABOUT CLASSROOM SIZE. YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAD STARTED THIS, WE HAD SORT OF MESSAGED THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE ABOUT 1 TO 2, YOU KNOW, PER PER GRADE, ONE, 1 TO 2 STUDENT INCREASE PER GRADE. AND THAT MAY BE TRUE IF YOU LOOK ACROSS ALL OF K THROUGH 12, BUT IT IT'S VERY DISPROPORTIONATE. AND IT HITS, YOU KNOW K THROUGH THREE THE HARDEST. SO IN SUMMARY I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY WHERE I, WHERE I STAND ON ALL OF THIS BEFORE WE GET TO VOTING IS I APPRECIATE MISS HAHN'S PASSION TO WANT TO DO THAT, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THAT'S A VIABLE SOLUTION FOR THE LONG RUN. I PROBABLY WOULD BE OPEN TO SOMETHING MORE MEASURED. I WOULD PROBABLY SAY, YOU KNOW, MAYBE NO MORE THAN 10% OF OUR CURRENT FUND BALANCE, WHICH I THINK MAY STRIKE A NICE BLEND BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, THE NEEDS OF TODAY WITH THE NEEDS OF TOMORROW. BUT IF SOMETHING LIKE THAT GOES FORWARD AT ANY LEVEL, THE BOARD HAS TO REMEMBER THAT THOSE ARE FURTHER CUTS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND IN THE ORGANIZATION SOMEWHERE NEXT YEAR. SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT AND THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP FOR ANYTHING FINAL BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD HERE. OKAY. IF THERE'S IF WE MAKE A MOTION. SORRY, SORRY. IF WE MAKE A MOTION OR WE'RE CONSIDERING THIS, WOULD WE WANT TO LOOK AT THE REVISED CLASS SIZE CAPS AND ADJUST THOSE. OR WE WOULD JUST SAY, OKAY, HERE'S HOW MANY TEACHERS WE WANT TO ADD BACK IN. 
          AND ASK THE STAFF TO GIVE THEIR BEST. YEAH, I MEAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK? IT WOULD PROBABLY BE AN ESTIMATE AT THIS POINT. IT DEFINITELY WOULDN'T BE TO THE DECIMAL POINT, BECAUSE THEY WOULD NEED SOME TIME TO CALCULATE THAT OUT. BUT ERIC CLARKE HAS HAS HIS HAND UP. HE HASN'T SPOKEN YET AND SO DOES MISS BRUCE. SO WE'LL GET ANY FINAL COMMENTS HERE. AND THEN WE WILL COME BACK TO MISS HAHN'S FIRST MOTION FOR A SECOND. MR. CLARKE, GOOD EVENING. EXCUSE ME. 
          GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING THERE IN PERSON. I ACTUALLY CAME IN THIS MORNING AND WAS STRUCK WITH AN ILLNESS. I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM OR WHEN IT'S GOING TO END, BUT I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK. IT'S CALLED BUDGET ITIS. ALL RIGHT. 
          [01:00:04]
WELL, MAYBE. MAYBE IT'LL BE OVER AFTER TONIGHT THEN. WE HAVE WORKED ON THIS BUDGET. WE'VE WORKED MORE COLLABORATIVELY WITH YOU AND THE COUNTY THAN ANY OTHER BUDGET I'VE BEEN A PART OF. I'M VERY, VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE TIGHTNESS OF THIS BUDGET IN TERMS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS, FLUCTUATIONS IN ENERGY COSTS. WE ARE BUDGETED REALLY, REALLY TO THE PENNY IN MOST OF OUR CATEGORIES. THERE'S NO FLUFF IN THIS BUDGET. THERE NEVER REALLY IS. BUT WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT $670 MILLION, YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF VARIANCE. SO I WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY CAUTIOUS ABOUT ALLOCATING ANY MORE FUND BALANCE AT THIS POINT. IF WE GET TO AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER AND WE SEE THAT THE CLASS SIZES MATERIALIZE, I WOULD THEN BE IN FAVOR OF POTENTIAL OVER STAFFS TO PUT OUT FIRES IN SPECIFIC SCHOOLS. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, WE DON'T HAVE VERY MANY LOCATIONS THAT ARE OVER THE NEW CAP SIZES. I KNOW WE DON'T. I KNOW NOBODY'S HAPPY ABOUT THE NEW CAP SIZES, BUT WE REALLY ARE NOT STRESSED OUT ENOUGH IN MY MIND AT THIS POINT TO ALLOCATE FUND BALANCE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT'S HELPFUL, MISS BRUCE. I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW I WAS HERE AND I'M LISTENING. I'M FEELING AND I APOLOGIZE. I HAD A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT THAT WAS LATER THAN I THOUGHT. OKAY. OH, I THINK WE DID YOU HAVE ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR YOU'RE JUST LETTING US KNOW THAT YOU'RE HERE? JUST LETTING YOU KNOW THAT I'M HERE. GOTCHA. 
          THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, MISS KOCHER. THE CURRENT CALCULATIONS OF THE NEW CLASS CAPS HOW MUCH OF THE NEW COUNTY BUILDINGS IN VARIOUS AREAS WERE CONSIDERED IN THOSE? DO WE KNOW THE NUMBER OF UNITS AND SO FORTH? AND THINKING, YOU KNOW, WHERE POPULATION COULD GROW? HAS THAT BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR IN THESE ESTIMATES? THANK YOU. DOES SOMEBODY HAVE A TAKER ON THAT ONE? WE WORK WITH OUR PLANNING AND THINGS THAT I CAN SHARE. IS THAT IN SCHOOL COMMUNITIES WHERE WE KNEW THERE WAS NEW BUILDING, WE STAFF THEM APPROPRIATELY IN ANTICIPATION. AND SO IT MAY HAVE BROKE THE FORMULA JUST BECAUSE WE KNEW THEY HAD A UNIQUE SITUATION GOING ON. AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE CHURCH CREEK RIVERSIDE AS A FEW EXAMPLES, AND I'LL JUMP INTO IT. YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE SURPRISES EACH YEAR. AND AGAIN, OUR BUDGET TEAM WORKS VERY CLOSELY WITH DOCTOR MACK AND HER TEAM TO IDENTIFY WHERE THOSE POCKETS ARE. AND EACH YEAR, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT THESE DISCUSSIONS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE NEED TO ADD? DO WE NEED TO ADD ANOTHER CLASSROOM? YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER PHYSICAL SPACE. OBVIOUSLY WHEN THAT NEED COMES UP. BUT AT TIMES WE ADD PARAS INTO BUILDINGS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE CLASSROOM. 
          SO WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING WHERE THOSE POCKETS MAY BE AND SURPRISES THAT COME UP. AND WE WILL STAFF ACCORDINGLY AT THAT TIME. THANK YOU. I DON'T SEE ANY OTHER HANDS UP, BUT JUST TO JUST TO GO BACK TO THE COMMENT THAT ERIC CLARK MADE A SECOND AGO. SO AGAIN, JUST SO THE BOARD KNOWS. 
          SO THESE AREN'T CAPS, THEY'RE PACKAGES. BUT ERIC SAID THAT AS OF RIGHT NOW, WE'RE NOT PLANNING ON THE PROJECTIONS ARE THAT WE IN MOST CLASSROOMS WILL NOT ACTUALLY REACH THAT IS THAT IS THAT DID I SUMMARIZE THAT CORRECTLY. YES. OKAY OKAY. AND WHAT HAPPENS IF WE GO OVER IT JUST IT JUST IT GOES OVER. OR DO YOU LOOK TO SORT OF REBALANCE. AND I WOULD IMAGINE AFTER SCHOOL STARTS IF THERE'S LATE ENROLLMENT, THAT'S JUST A VERY HARD THING TO DO, RIGHT? CORRECT. DOCTOR MACK CAN SPEAK MORE CLEARLY TO THAT. BUT NO, I MEAN, WE REALLY DON'T TRY TO MOVE STUDENTS AFTER THE YEAR STARTS AND THEY KNOW THEIR TEACHER AND THEIR CLASSROOMS AND SO FORTH. YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AT OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT THOSE TEACHERS AND CLASSROOMS. SO, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE ONE CLASSROOM WITH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE TWO OVER THAT TARGET. BUT IF YOU WERE TO ADD ANOTHER TEACHER, THE CLASS SIZES WOULD GO SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER BY CHANCE. SO YOU HAVE TO BALANCE ALL OF THAT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT. AND AGAIN WEEKLY WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS BEFORE NOW 
          [01:05:01]
THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, IN ORDER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE THE NEEDS MAY BE. 
          SO LET'S, LET'S SAY TRYING TO TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT ANSWER HERE. AND. LET'S SAY, HYPOTHETICALLY, THAT THE BOARD SAID WE WANT THE TARGETS TO BE CAPS. WE'RE WE'RE UNCOMFORTABLE SORT OF WITH ANYTHING GOING ABOVE WHAT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED. WE KNOW SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WITH ENROLLMENT AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO TO BE SMART ABOUT IT, YOU, YOU WOULDN'T SORT OF HAVE A CLASSROOM RIGHT UP AGAINST THE CAP. YOU WOULD HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF WIGGLE ROOM, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, 1 OR 2 SEATS SHORT TO ALLOW FOR LATE ENROLLMENT. AND HOW MANY EDUCATORS WOULD YOU NEED FOR THIS BOARD TO APPROVE IN THE EVENT THAT IT WAS NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT WE DID NOT GO OVER THAT RECOMMENDATION, AND IT EFFECTIVELY BECAME A DE FACTO CAP. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY THAT THE IF THE ANSWER WAS YOU WOULD NEED TEN EDUCATORS, YOU KNOW, COULD THE BOARD APPROPRIATE $1 MILLION FROM THE FUND BALANCE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION TO USE ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS TO ENSURE THAT WE DIDN'T GO OVER THAT CAP SIZE IN EACH CLASS? AND THEN, IF SO, WOULD THOSE FUNDS THEN JUST ROLL OVER TO THE FOLLOWING YEAR IF THEY WEREN'T USED? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? IT DOES. THE 123 INCLUDES 11 POSITIONS THAT WE HAVE. WE KEEP ON RESERVE TO ADD BACK TO HOT POCKETS. YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT CROP UP. WE HAVE THE POSITIONS AVAILABLE THAT WE CAN ADD BACK. WE WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND CALCULATE, YOU KNOW, MORE CORRECTLY, I'D ASK FOR A RECESS TO DO THAT, TO DETERMINE EXACTLY IF WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE UNDER THE CAP IN EVERY AREA, WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE. THE ALTERNATIVE TO WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS, GIVEN THE CHALLENGES WITH HIRING. GIVEN THE CHALLENGE, WHAT WITH ERIC CLARK DISCUSSED EARLIER, WE KNOW WE WERE OVER BUDGET THIS YEAR WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION. IF INTEREST RATES DON'T COME IN AS THEY HAVE BEEN, IF WE DON'T HAVE A SURPLUS IN ANY OF OUR OTHER REVENUE AREAS, WE WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE BOARD IN FY 26 IN ORDER TO APPROPRIATE MORE FUND BALANCE FOR THE OTHER AREAS OF OUR BUDGET AND NOT STAFFING. THAT BEING SAID, THE SAME SITUATION COULD OCCUR WITH STAFFING IF WE DECIDED TO ADD POSITIONS IN THE FALL OR IN JULY. IF WE SEE SOMETHING HAPPENING, WE COULD DO THE SAME THING WE COULD AGREE TO OVER STAFF AND THEN APPROPRIATE FUND BALANCE DURING THE YEAR, SO THAT WE'RE COVERING THE COSTS OF EXACTLY WHAT WE'VE HAD TO FUND. MAKES SENSE. I WOULD SAY TWO THINGS BACK TO THAT. ONE IS I'M HOPEFUL THAT THERE'S SOME FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED THAT THAT HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATED IN THE FUND BALANCE, THAT COULD BE UNAPPROPRIATE ESSENTIALLY TO HELP COVER THAT DOWN. AND THEN AND THEN SECOND IS IF THE BOARD DOES TAKE ANY ACTION OVER AND ABOVE THE RECOMMENDATION, IT WOULD HAVE TO COME FROM ADDITIONAL CUTS NEXT YEAR, MORE THAN LIKELY. SO THE BOARD IS GOING TO HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, FACE THE MUSIC, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S THE POOL PEOPLE OR THE SPORTS PEOPLE OR WHATEVER IT LOOKS LIKE IN FOLLOWING YEARS JUST TO MAKE THE BUDGET MATCH UP, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF HANDS THAT WERE UP THERE. NOW THEY'RE DOWN. MISS ALVAREZ, I THINK YOU HAVE AN OLD HAND OR IS THAT A NEW ONE? ALL RIGHT, SO IF THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION. 
          I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. AARON. WERE YOU. WERE YOU ASKING ME? I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A HAND UP. 
          YEAH. SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A STATEMENT THAT. AND I THINK DEBORAH SAID THAT SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE A RECESS TO DO SOME CALCULATIONS. I'M A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE, YOU KNOW, APPROVING A BUDGET WHERE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT ALL OF THE STAFFING LEVELS ARE. AND ALL WE DO KNOW IS THAT WE'RE TAKING FROM TEACHER POSITIONS. AND SO I THINK I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, MELISSA AND TERRY AND, AND, AND MAYBE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS HAVE ALREADY EXPRESSED THAT WE DON'T WANT THOSE TEACHERS TO BE THE AREA THAT'S TARGETED. AND WE'RE CONCERNED. I'M CONCERNED THAT I WOULD BE APPROVING A BUDGET THAT HAS A TEACHING LEVEL THAT IS INSUFFICIENT AND IS GOING TO HURT OUR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. AND THAT'S THAT'S I JUST IT WAS A STATEMENT. IT'S NOT REALLY A QUESTION, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I DON'T FEEL REAL COMFORTABLE WITH THE BUDGET THAT 
          [01:10:04]
IS BEING PRESENTED BECAUSE OF THE STAFFING LEVELS. THANK YOU, MISS JUDD. HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE YOU IF WE TOOK A BRIEF RECESS HERE TO COME UP WITH A THE ADDITIONAL NUMBER OF EDUCATORS THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT THE TARGETS WERE CAPPED AND THEN B WHAT THE ADDITIONAL NUMBER OF EDUCATORS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REDUCE ACROSS THE BOARD BY ONE AND THEN RECRUIT REDUCE ACROSS THE BOARD BY TWO CLASSROOM SIZE. COULD YOU CRUNCH THOSE NUMBERS AND SAY A BALLPARK? OF COURSE, IN TEN MINUTES? NO, NOT IN TEN MINUTES. 11 MINUTES. YEAH. LET'S SHOOT FOR A HALF HOUR AND SEE IF WE NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME. ALL RIGHT. LET'S. THE OTHER THING THAT I WANT TO POINT OUT, DOCTOR POINTON, YOU MENTIONED UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE THAT'S ASSIGNED. I JUST WANT TO STRESS THAT IS THE ONLY CONTINGENCY WE HAVE IN OUR BUDGET FOR THINGS THAT ARE. MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN THAN OTHER EMERGENCIES. SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T HAVE CONTINGENCY LINES IN OUR BUDGET, WHICH IS VERY CONCERNING. YEAH, I WAS YEAH, I UNDERSTAND I WAS TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SPOKEN FOR THAT WE MAY NOT NEED AGAIN, BECAUSE THERE'S STILL A PRETTY HEALTHY, I THINK, WHAT, $75 MILLION RESERVE FUND BALANCE. 
          BUT ANYWAY, YEAH, THAT WE'D HAVE TO TALK SEPARATELY. THAT'S SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. SO LOOK, THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC. I'D LIKE FOR THE BOARD MEMBERS TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION. I'M INCLINED TO TAKE A 30 MINUTE RECESS AND THEN REJOIN AT 545. I WILL GET ONE THING OUT OF THE WAY. IS THERE A SECOND ON MISS HAHN'S MOTION? I WILL SECOND SO WE CAN VOTE ON IT. OKAY. MISS RILEY, PLEASE TAKE A ROLL CALL. VOTE. AND SO THE AMENDMENT WAS TO ADD $10 MILLION FROM THE FUND BALANCE TO THE OPERATING UNRESTRICTED BUDGET. I'M SORRY, IS THAT TERRY THAT SECONDED. YES. OKAY. MISS ALVAREZ. JACKSON. MISS, CAN YOU CAN YOU COME BACK TO ME HERE? OKAY, MISS BRUCE? WANT TO VOTE? NO. I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T CATCH THAT. NO. 
          OKAY. THANK YOU, MRS. KOCHER. YES, DOCTOR. MUELLER. NO, MISS. NO. MISS PERRY, NO! MR. SEWELL. 
          NO. MISS STRAUSS. YES. VICE PRESIDENT. HAHN. YES. PRESIDENT BOYNTON. I WILL ASK MISS ALVAREZ. MRS. ALVAREZ. YES. SO WE'RE AT FOUR FOR. BUT NO, THE STUDENT VOTE IS PREFERENTIAL. 
          OKAY? AND YOURS IS NO. RIGHT. OKAY, SO THEN WE ARE AT FIVE FOUR. OKAY. SO IT REGARDING THE BREAK, SHOULD FOLKS STAY CONNECTED AND CAN THEY RECONNECT IN 30 MINUTES. SO SOME MAY WANT TO CONNECT. SOME MAY WANT TO HANG ON. YES THEY CAN DO THAT OKAY OKAY.CATORS THAT ARE STILL IN MOTION TRYING TO FIND HOMES FOR NEXT YEAR. SO WE'RE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAVE 100% CLARITY ON EVERY DECISION THAT WE MAKE. SO WE JUST NEED TO DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN WITH THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE ON HAND. SO THANK YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WANT TO ADD BASED ON YOUR RESEARCH FOR THAT CATEGORY? NO, NOT AT THIS TIME. OKAY. AS I MENTIONED, I AM VERY SORRY SOMEONE IS OFF MUTE. IF WE COULD JUST MUTE THEM. I, I DO UNDERSTAND THE BOARD'S CONCERN AS BOTH A FIDUCIARY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FATHER OF A PARENT, THE PARENT OF A CHILD IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND FOR ALL OF OUR KIDS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 
          AND I REALLY THINK THAT THERE'S A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN CLASSROOM SIZE AND THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION. I'M NOT I'M I'M NOT HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE THAT WE'RE HEADED. I 
          [01:15:04]
THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE CHALLENGES FOR THIS BOARD AND THIS ADMINISTRATION TO SOLVE IN THE COMING YEARS, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO WORK ON THAT TOGETHER. BUT I'M ALSO, ON THE OTHER HAND, BALANCING THE FISCAL CONSTRAINTS THAT WE HAVE, UNDERSTANDING THAT ANYTHING THAT COMES UP OUT OF THE FUND BALANCE THAT MAY BE USED FOR NEXT YEAR COULD POTENTIALLY BE IN IS LIKELY TO BE A RECURRING COST, WHICH MEANS WE EITHER NEED TO FIND THAT MONEY AGAIN, GO BEG FOR IT FROM THE STATE OR THE COUNTY, OR FIND OTHER AREAS WITHIN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO CUT. AND I STILL DO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT ARE NON-CORE THAT COULD BE CUT. BUT IN THE 11TH HOUR HERE, I'M NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN WORKING THROUGH THAT BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY DONE QUITE A BIT OF WORK TO GET HERE. SO I PREPARED A MOTION. BUT MISS COKER, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR A COMMENT? NO, I WAS GOING TO MAKE A MOTION, BUT YOU GO AHEAD WITH YOURS. ALL RIGHT. SO BALANCING ALL OF THIS, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO AMEND THE BUDGET TO INCREASE THE UNRESTRICTED BUDGET FOR CLASSROOM SIZE REDUCTION. I MOVE THAT THE BOARD AMEND THE CURRENT BUDGET TO INCREASE THE UNRESTRICTED BUDGET BY $2.5 MILLION, CHANGING THE TOTAL FRO. 
          670,012,163 TO $672,512,163. I MOVE THAT THIS ADDITIONAL $2 MILLION BE DESIGNATED SPECIFICALLY FOR CLASSROOM EDUCATORS WITH THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING OR REDUCING CLASSROOM SIZE, AND TO BE ALLOCATED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT, WITH PRIORITIES GIVEN TO GRADES K THROUGH 12, AND WITH A FOCUS ON ENSURING THAT CLASSROOM SIZES ARE AT OR BELOW RECOMMENDED LEVELS. I'LL TAKE A SECOND. THIS IS TERRY. I'LL SECOND. SO YOU DID YOU REALLY MEAN K THROUGH 12 OR WERE YOU TRYING TO SAY, OH, I'M SORRY K THROUGH THREE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY. THANK YOU, DOCTOR MUELLER. 
          YOU'RE RIGHT. MOTION IS AMENDED FOR K THROUGH THREE WHICH HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF OUR CONVERSATION. THANK YOU MA'AM. IT WAS 2.5 MILLION CORRECT. YEAH. AND TERRY DOES YOUR SECOND STILL HOLD ON THAT. YES. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. LET'S DO A ROLL CALL. VOTE PLEASE. MISS ALVAREZ. YES, MISS BRUCE? YES, MISS COKER. YES, DOCTOR MUELLER. YES. VOTES AND VOTES. THESE ARE THE FACTS. I TOOK IT OFF SO I COULD SAY YES. OH, OKAY. SORRY, MR. SEWELL. YES. MISS STRAUSS? YES, VICE PRESIDENT HAHN. NO. PRESIDENT. BOYNTON. YES. SORRY. I WAS HOPING I COULD MAKE EVERYBODY HAPPY, BUT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, BOARD, I APPRECIATE IT. I THINK THAT THE THAT WAS AN AMENDMENT TO INCREASE BY 2.5 MILLION. SO I GUESS TO DO THIS PROPERLY, IF KIMBERLY IS ON HERE, WHAT I STILL NEED A MOTION FOR THE NEW UNRESTRICTED FUND AT THE NEW LEVEL. TECHNICALLY THAT WAS AN AMENDMENT. CORRECT. WE TYPICALLY WOULD ASK FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE BUDGET WITH THE AMENDMENT. YES. GOTCHA. SO THE AMENDMENT HAS BEEN APPROVED. SO AT THIS POINT, I'LL ACCEPT A MOTION IN A SECOND TO APPROVE THE UNRESTRICTED FUND FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026 AND THE AMOUNT OF $672,512,163. IS THIS TERRY SO MOVED? THANK YOU. IS THERE A SECOND? BE AWARE, DENISE, I SECOND THE MOTION. THANK YOU. DENISE. JUST DO A SIMPLE VOTE HERE. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES YES YES YES YES YES. THANK YOU. IF THERE ARE ANY OPPOSED, PLEASE SAY NO. NO. DOCTOR. DOCTOR, I WOULD LIKE TO ABSTAIN. THANK YOU. OKAY. LET THE RECORD REFLECT. THERE'S ONE. NO. FROM VICE PRESIDENT HAHN AND ONE ABSTENTION FROM MISS ALVAREZ. SO THE MOTION PASSES. OKAY. THANK YOU. THIS WILL CONCLUDE THE MEETING. I APPRECIATE EVE
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.