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A Quick Look at What Happened at This Month's Board Meeting

Board meetings cover a lot of ground. Rather than asking our community to sort through a lengthy agenda or meeting minutes, Around the Boardroom provides a quick look at the conversations and decisions most relevant to our students, staff, and families.

Teachers Ready for a New Year

Our teachers recently came together for the annual “Close the Gap” professional development day at Southwestern High School. With approximately 130 sessions available, staff had a wide variety of opportunities to learn and prepare for the year ahead.

The feedback and energy throughout the day were extremely positive. We are grateful for the work our awesome curriculum team put into making the day successful.

A Collaboration in Preparation

Our schools also hosted major emergency management training that brought together school staff and approximately a dozen local first-responder organizations. Law enforcement, fire, and EMS agencies worked alongside our staff through a scenario-based exercise.

More importantly, this was about more than completing a training exercise. It gave the people responsible for protecting our students and staff an opportunity to practice working together, communicating, and responding before we ever need them to do so during a real emergency.

A special thank you goes to Chief Toby Young, who organized and facilitated the entire event, and all of our local first responders who participated.

Protecting Student Data

The Board also received its annual data security update from Assistant Superintendent Mike Braun and Jeff Taylor, systems engineer in our technology department.

The district uses multiple layers of protection to safeguard student and employee information, including multi-factor authentication, encryption, email filtering, malware protection, and regular reviews of user access.

Phishing continues to be one of the biggest threats to data security, which is why staff training remains an important part of our cybersecurity efforts.

A Look at District Finances

The Board approved the July financial report, with the district ending the month with an ending cash balance of approximately $34.9 million.

The Board also reviewed the district’s year-end financial position. The General Fund ended the 2025–26 school year with a balance of approximately $19.5 million, representing about 29% contingency.

The Board also approved a proposed tax rate lower than last year's, while it is still expected to generate approximately 4% more revenue due to increased property valuations.

Southwestern Project Moves Forward

The Board approved revised plans for Southwestern's athletic facility improvements. The revisions to the new fieldhouse plans add approximately 750 square feet, bringing the project to roughly 9,500 square feet, including new public restrooms and a concession area.

The revised plans have also been reviewed with the school administration and coaching staff. The board expects more detailed renderings soon for review. 

What's Next?

As we begin the 2026–27 school year, our focus remains on providing safe schools, supporting our staff, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and giving our students the best opportunities possible.

Our next Board Meeting will be on September 8, 2026.

We appreciate our community's continued support of Pulaski County Schools.