 Hi, good evening, welcome to the November RTCC board meeting. I would like to call this meeting to order. Do we have any guests with us this evening? We do. We are hoping to make board members tonight. OK. So perhaps we could have Jessica, Anna, and help me here. Chris, introduce yourself. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Van Derren. I am the representative from the Paine Mountain School District. You just. And Chris? Yeah, I'm Chris Riley. I'm the representative from the White River Unit 5 District. And Anna. Yes, hi, Anna Adams. I'm the representative from the White River Valley Supervisory Union Chief Executive Officer there. Thank you all. So are we going to do an official vote to welcome Eric to the board or do we need to? Well, we have that later in the agenda. So I think we can probably move forward and then we'll go through with the vote at that time. All right, I am going to turn the floor over to Felicia to talk about staffing, program, and facilities updates. Sure. So with three new board members here today, you probably didn't hear my spiel at the last meeting. But we did a lot of facilities work over the summer to RTCC, which included an expansion of the electrical program room, the development and sort of revision of a room to house our new dental program, and also a revision and modifications to the existing digital film room to house our new digital filmmaking and media arts program. So we're working on facilities to bring them up to date. And right now we have a couple of projects on the works. We are looking at lighting in our diversified agriculture classroom and shop. And we are also still working on the dental facilities to make two dental rooms. We have all of our equipment primarily here. And now it's just a matter of getting things hooked up so the kids can use them. So that's pretty exciting. In terms of staffing, we did have a resignation this week that I just want to make the board aware of. Jim Pointeuster, our English teacher, English humanities and US history teacher, resigned. So we are seeking a replacement for his position at this moment. And other than that, we are still seeking paraeducators to be housed in our academic center to work with students, not only on academics, but also program material. And those positions have been difficult to fill. Those have been advertised for some time now. And so we're hopeful we've got a couple of applicants that we'll be looking at in interviewing this week. That's about it for that category. Are there any questions from the board for Felicia? Anybody online? OK, if you want to move on to recruitment enrollment in any country. Sure. So we are right in the thick of our new recruitment timeline right now. For those of you that are new, recruitment used to happen for the Tech Center in March. And so we haven't really lived this new timeline until this year. Last year, we modified it slightly to kind of push recruitment closer to January. This year, it starts in really October with Genjals and our student ambassadors and our culinary arts students going out to the partner schools. They talk a little bit about RTCC, tell them about the programs that we have, kind of on a general level. And this coming week, we have kids coming in the building to explore three programs. So they'll be making rotations in programs of their choices and learning a bit more details about the programs. And that culminates next Monday evening with parents of prospective students and current students who wish to continue with the second year and students coming in and talking to program instructors, again, seeing the facility, seeing the programs. And we will provide assistance with the applications. So it's kind of in the thick of it. The applications are now due December 15, which is light years ahead of where it used to be. And I think the thinking behind this is multiple levels. Number one, it provides us an opportunity to see which programs aren't filling and to recruit more heavily for those in the spring. It also provides us the ability to hold a carrot for these kiddos who are currently in your schools. And may need that little extra motivation to say, I need to do a really good job this year because my application has been provisionally approved. And I don't want to mess that up. So I think for all of us, it's going to work really well to have this timeline where it is. The third piece of the puzzle is it allows us to understand which programs we may need to close and to make those decisions before contracts come out. So all in all, it's a better timeline for the whole system, I think. So once the kids come for their visits next week and the parents come on Monday the 15th, at that point, what will happen is the counselors of your schools will all put in their paperwork. And at that point, then the teachers, the program instructors will have met the students. They'll make their recommendations as to whether or not they are a good fit for their program. And we will go through the application approval process. And that is generally Genduls and myself that will go through all of the applications to make that determination. The system that we have in place now is nice because it looks at a lot of different factors and kind of calculates a score based on different factors. So it takes some sort of subjectivity out of it and it becomes much more clear who really is a fit for what program. Kids, I think, will be notified. I want to say February 50. I don't have that date in front of me, but I think that's when we send out the approval letters or the acceptance letters. Any questions on recruitment and enrollment? I have seen your outreach efforts online and I've heard it on the radio. So just so you know, you are being heard and being seen. So that's great. And I think this is going to stay right with you, Felicia, as we move to professional development focus. Sure. So I think one of the things that feels really important to me is for the tech center to sort of define what our identity is. I think that over the years, it's gotten a little muddled. I think that for some, the school's identity is to assist with at-risk students. I think for some, the identity is career education. But I think what we have to do is we really need to take a look solidly at our vision and our mission statement. And so on the next two in-service days, in November, the plan is for us to be working on that work under the leadership of one of our new members, who is Gary Clark. He's done this work before. And so he is excited about it. He says that something he's really passionate about. And so I think it'll be really healthy for us to kind of develop team and really have a clear idea of what our mission and vision is and to make that really clear to the students what that mission and vision is. Kids should know what your vision is and what your mission is. And right now, I don't think there's a person in the building that knows what our statement is. So it's time for a revision and to really look it up. Any questions on that piece? All right, we're moving right along here. So Felicia, I'm going to have you and see if Lane has any comments from your reports, either. Yeah, if you want to start, Felicia, then you can go to Lane. Sure. You know, I think you'll see in your packet that we sent out a newsletter to our community around what we've been up to. Kids are earning industry-recognized credentials right now. The whole school has been doing basic life-saving training. That's something that every student in our center learns. But we're also getting into the curriculum. You can see that things are starting to really happen, which is exciting. The first month, month and a half, is a lot of safety. And it's a lot of how do we work safely in our content area. And now we're moving more into the content, which is exciting. Everything from making apple cider and diversified egg to making some videos and film. Pre-Tech is looking at building a tiny house. So lots of really cool things that are going on. And feel free to read through that newsletter. I'm not going to tell you all of those things. I guess other than that, I did talk about recruitment. And I think one of our focuses kind of ties into professional development. But I think it's kind of a bigger, broader issue is strengthening and supporting our program advisory committees and really understanding the purpose of those committees. At this point, it has kind of seemed to me that it's been a bit of a weak area in the sense that the purpose wasn't really clear. And the purpose of those advisory committees is to advise our program instructors on their curriculum, on the industry standards, what are the needs out there, what's the job market like. And to really prepare that program instructor to develop the right curriculum and the right strategies for the kids that are industry specific. So we are seeking members to join our program advisory committees to strengthen that. So that's one thing that we're also looking at as a faculty and outward into our community. And I guess the last thing, as Ashley alluded to, you've probably heard me on the radio, and you're going to hear me probably a little bit more. We are really looking this year, and we started last year, at how we do our outreach. A lot of technical centers around Vermont have an outreach coordinator. We do not have that position. And Jen Jolls is amazing in a million and one ways, but it is too much to expect her to do all of the outreach that needs to happen to support what we do at the center. So we have partnered with Vermont Radio Group for their digital department. And you might hear kiddos say they saw an ad on YouTube or TikTok. So our advertisements are going out there. They're also managing our Facebook page. We've been working with Froggy and Frank FM, and they are going to be doing student recognition each quarter, as we do our recognition. So we're going to have little radio ads or spots out there with the kids being announced. And for doing that, we got a couple of freebies, which was the information that you are hearing on the radio right now around the recruitment days. So I think those strategies have really played out nicely and are working well. And for you new board members, last year, we started our year with 108 students. And this year, I think at this point, do we have 159? 157. 157. So I think it's been a little fluid these last week or two. But that's about 50 more kids than we had last year. So pretty good stuff. And I think a lot of that's really due to outreach. And I think a piece of it is due to the fact that these kids coming out of this pandemic or through this pandemic really are looking for hands-on education. So it's multifaceted. But I'd like to think the outreach is working. I think that's all I've got on that one. Lane, do you have anything you want to add about 3.4 more financials? I think, well, financials are good. And I don't know if you want to talk about budget a little bit. Two of us could use this. It's pretty easy to talk about. But I think primarily just things to be commended is that there is a strong vision and folks are moving in a positive direction, which is awesome. And so that's something to be commended for. There's been a tremendous amount of work in terms of changing programs that police have led and that things are invested in. And it's having a real pain after those two kids. So I think that's wonderful. Yeah, and I think one thing to just mention to the board is that with 158 students and one administrator, not to say my job is overwhelming, but it kind of can be. And there's not a lot of time to do some of that mission and vision work when I'm sort of entrenched in the day to day. So we're hoping to get the support to potentially add a 50% assistant director to assist with some of the student discipline and possibly some of the supervision and evaluation with the idea that that can free us up to continue moving forward. Because I don't want to lose the momentum that we've got. And I'm nervous that that could happen very easily if I lose sight of what we're trying to do and don't have the time to do it. And I think that's a critical piece, especially as we're going through COVID. We'll talk a little bit about this in the general board meeting is that in the situations where you have one individual that's in charge, she needs to be able to take a sick day. She needs to be able to take time off and with the student numbers that are going up, being able to have a second body that's in there who can take over and allow her to do that at the times that it's required and that is important. I think we're all very attuned at this point in time to just have exhausting the last couple of years again and just trying to make sure that we're taking care of ourselves that we need to. So I support wholeheartedly, especially with the numbers in there, that position. And then there were the two others there. So we have the para and also the math future. The para and the math future. Both of them are partially in Perkins and so. Yeah, so Perkins allows you to keep a position in there for X number of years and they've kind of given us some grace, we'll say, with the new Perkins Five grant. But next year, the portion of the para position that's in the academic center that's in Perkins and the portion of the math position that's in Perkins needs to come out and be put in the budget. So that's an addition. I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head. It's not astronomically big, but I think it adds up to maybe 30 grants or a little more than that, maybe 40. And then we, at the same time, are being held accountable for our progress on proficiency in science, which at this point, we do not have science instruction other than what's embedded in the programs. So we're looking at adding a 50% science position to support all of our students getting science instruction. Right now, our Randolph Union has provided the Randolph Union students with some science instruction at RTCC, but it's inequitable to continue to do that. We need to make sure that all students are getting the same access to that. So that would start next year, and again, that's paid for through Perkins. So I'm not sure that there'll be a, I think it's almost totally paid through Perkins, but there may be a little bit that we have to put in the budget. And that's a good thing. That kind of plays into the board's ends a little bit. We've talked about the fact that the Vermont Science Assessment, the students take it to 11th grade. And so we have a lot of students from RUHS that attend the Tech Center. And the problem is that if they're not getting that science instruction, they missed a full year of science instruction and they're called upon to take that for one science assessment. And so Felicia, the group there has been working with Katie and Lisa just to try to find a solution on that. And so this is a very long solution. We've got, so it's, we get commendable. So a lot of good work out there. Any other comments from you, Lane, or on the finances? Yeah, finances in terms of talking, checking in with Robin today. Things are actually in really, really good shape right now. And we'll talk a little bit on the OSSD side when we get to the OSSD. And I think for those of you that are new to the board, just to, you may very likely be aware, but technical education is paid for by a six semester average as far as the state contribution. So with enrollments that had dipped for some time, we're still kind of working our way out of that hole. So we may feel a little pinch when it comes to tuition for I would say probably two years, maybe not. It might be more like one year. And then it should level off and we should be able to be self-sustaining which will be really great. And you may be in a lot better, a lot better than you think because the previous couple of years we had staff that didn't have high enrollments. So I think you're gonna be in a really good shape. I think so too. So that's good. That's all great news. Fantastic. Yes. Are there any questions from the board either here or online before we go on to the consent agenda? Okay. So if I could get a vote, one vote to include the September 2nd minutes and the approval of the new members for the RTCC Regional Advisory Board. It makes a motion that we accept the minutes from the September 2nd, 2011 board meeting and approve new members to the RTCC Regional Advisory Board. I'll second. Do I ask for questions or do I? Are there any questions on that motion? Okay, then we'll vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. Welcome to the past. Thank you. Welcome to the board. That's great. We'll see you in February. So perfect. Any other items, Felicia or Elaine? At this point, I don't think so. You know, I think we'll have a lot more information at our next meeting about how enrollment has gone for the 2022, 23 year. Hopefully we'll have a bit more budget enlightenment for you as we work through that process. So stay tuned. Great. All right. Well, I don't think we need an executive session. So I think we're all set. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody that's online. What's happening? I don't know. It's fine, let's do it. You don't go so hard. Yeah. You gotta go slow to go fast, right? That's what I was told this week. It's a tough one though. When you've got all this energy, you wanna do it. Especially when momentum's working in favor. Just a quick question. It wasn't unanimous though, but the eyes still... It wasn't unanimous. Oh, it wasn't unanimous? Yeah. I thought I saw somebody. Well, I think they were there to lead. Oh, okay. Okay. Should you have after moved to adjourn? Do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. Thank you. Second? Second. Second. I knew I could.