The Ponca City Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 17 at 6 pm.

Anna Roland called the meeting to order.

Superintendent Adam Leaming shared his report with the Board.

Leaming provided a staffing update which shared several of the open positions as of 3:15 pm on Monday, July 17. Those open positions include the following: - 2nd grade teacher at Lincoln - Business Information Tech at the high school - US history teacher - Head high school girls wrestling coach - Counselors of all levels - Special Education teachers - Science teacher at the high school - Athletic trainer - Bus drivers - Evening custodians - Teacher assistants for both general and special education Additionally, Leaming shared an update on registration.

As of the meeting held on Monday night, these are the numbers of students registered

at each site: Washington PreK - 119 Garfield - 69 Liberty - 63 Lincoln - 103 Roosevelt - 66 Trout - 104 Union - 104 Woodlands - 151 West Middle School - 195 East Middle School - 171 Po-Hi - 545 Virtual - 21 Finally, Leaming shared that he will be undergoing training on July 25 and July 26, this training includes basic school finance and speaking with department heads, Board/superintendent relations, and board meeting laws. He will also be attending the McRel New Administrator Evaluation training in Oklahoma City on July 31. Oklahoma Statute requires this training.

The Board voted to approve the consent agenda which included items such as the minutes of the previous meeting, and special budget hearing, contracts under $10,000, and surplus resolution.

The Board then moved onto action items, and voted to table items pertaining to fundraiser requests for a special board meeting, as several schools have not turned them in yet.

The Board then voted to approve the following items: - Adopting a school hours policy for the 2023-2024 school year. By adopting this policy, the district has the option to calculate the school year based on hours rather than days.

- An agreement with Explorica Tavel for an educational trip to Boston, New York City, and Washington D.C., a seven day trip that will commence on July 15, 2024. Board approval allows sponsors to facilitate fundraising opportunities for the travel participants based on the level of need/desire for fundraising as expressed by participants and/or their parents. No district funds will be spend.

- Appointing an Internal Activities Review Committee for Activity Absences for the 2023-2024 school year. Accreditation standards state the maximum number of absences for activities which removes any student from the classroom shall be ten for any one class period of each school year. There are exclusions for state and national levels of school-sponsored contests. The committee will be responsible for reviewing and recommending any deviation from the activities policy to the local Board of Education.

- Changes to Board policy deemed necessary due to personnel changes.

- Meal price increases for 2023-2024 school year. The USDA sets the Free and Reduced pricing/reimbursement for meals served to students who qualify. Each individual school district has control over the full price amount charged for breakfast and lunch meals. The USDA provides a tool to determine if a school district should increase pricing. The tool considers cost of goods, prevailing wage, and location, as well as other factors. The tool suggests the district increase their pricing to reach the national average. The prices have been increased by 25¢ to the following: Elementary lunch - $3 Elementary breakfast - $2 East and West lunch - $3 East and West breakfast $2.25 Senior High lunch - $3.25 Senior High breakfast $2.25 - Engagement of Steptoe and Johnson PLLC to represent the Ponca City School District. This is regarding Independent School District #52 of Oklahoma County v. Walters, Case No. CV-20161965, and Independent School District #71 of Kay County v. State of Oklahoma ex rel. State Department of Education, Case No. CJ-2016-4826. This is an ongoing legal matter that the district has been engaged in with a number of other school districts across the state. This goes back to 2004 to 2014, where it was discovered the citizens of the Ponca City School District were overpaying on local ad valorem taxes, and the state was dispersing that to other districts. The new agreement is required as the attorney representing the districts, including Ponca City, has shifted into a new firm.

The Board then approved the following contracts and agreements: - Hiring several specified individuals as adjunct teachers. Not all these adjuncts have degrees, and Oklahoma law states that districts can hire teachers without degrees. However, the Ponca City School District requires that their adjuncts must be actively pursuing their degrees and prove that they are making progress on said degrees. Many are also graduating with degrees in December.

- An agreement with Anderson Flooring Inc. for VoAg improvements. Anderson Flooring will provide materials and labor to install cabinets, countertop, trim, paint, and perform floor prep for the VoAg improvements project. The total cost is $16,900.

- An agreement with Baumert, Cummings, and Hiatt for attorney services. Total cost is estimated to be no more than $10,000.

- Agreement with CDW-G for GoGuardian Software. This software allows teachers to monitor student activity while online. A live timeline shows what each student is working on, complete with aggregate history reports, and timely intervention opportunities. The cost is for 3,000 one-year licenses. The total cost is $27,600 from Bond 33.

- Agreement with Cross Petroleum Products to provide propane for PCPS. Estimated cost is $17,500.

- Agreement with Daktronics, Inc. for a control system for the Robson Fieldhouse. Daktronics will provide and install a control system for the video display system at Robson Fieldhouse. This agreement includes training on the system, power, and control system drawings, and a five-year warranty for parts. Total cost is $14,035 and will come from building funds.

- Agreement with Hiland Dairy Foods to provide beverages for the 2023-2024 school year including milk, chocolate milk, orange juice, apple juice, and Red Diamond tea. The agreement is $225,000.

- Agreement with J&B Mechanical LLC to provide repairs for child nutrition equipment, namely, refrigeration and freezer units as needed. Estimated cost is $15,000.

- Memorandum of Understanding between Ponca City Schools and Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) for the Dropout Recovery (SHARE) program. PCPS will pay 75% per pupil amount of ADM received by the district for state aid. This will be based on the number of students served.

- Quote from Rick Scott Construction Inc. for repairs at Trout Elementary for doors and flooring. Total cost is $17,904, and will come from building funds.

- An agreement with Solution Tree for professional development for East Middle School staff. The days of training will be Sept. 18 and Oct. 19, 2023, and Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, 2024. This will be funded by a School Improvement Grant, pending approval, and the cost will be $26,000.

The Board then voted to convene into executive session.