Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

Review & Safety Tips:

• Discord is usually used by students to chat while playing video games with someone. In 2020, Discord was rebranded with the tagline, “Your place to talk,” and 70% of users are using the platform for non-gaming purposes
• There is a concern about predators using Discord. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation in 2021 described how Discord can and has been used to groom youth. They cite numerous examples of youth being taken advantage of through this platform, such as sexual exploitation, abuse, and sharing nonconsensual pornography. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation also named Discord among their “Dirty dozen 2021:” a list of platforms failing to address sexual abuse online.
• There are parental controls and articles on how to set them up.

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

Review & Safety Tips:

• Instagram tries to control inappropriate content, but it is an enormous task. Instagram has a reporting function and ways for inappropriate content to be identified and removed, but as with anything, people find ways around the controls.
• If youth have not been exposed to sexualized content, drugs, and mental health topics, there is a high probability for them to be exposed after they create an Instagram profile.
• There is a high level of sexual content available as well. You should be prepared for your kids to see this content as it’s easy to stumble upon and kids. If you choose to let your child(ren) use Instagram, talk to them about not posting sexual or provocative content. Teach them that self-esteem is based upon the content of their character, not the appearance of their body. 
• Be aware of “Finstas” (Fake Instagram Accounts) as well. Youth will sometimes have a well-curated appropriate account that you know of but will also make a Finsta account that you will not be aware of. More questionable behaviors tend to occur on this Finsta account.
• Do not use full names as usernames.
• Set the account to Private and only accept followers of people they know in person. Remove any unknown followers that they currently have.
• Turn off location services and do not respond to Direct Messages from people they don’t know.

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

Review & Safety Tips:

• There is a high potential for them to be exposed to sexualized content, mental health and substance use topics  after they create a Snapchat account.
• There are “Publisher Stories” about sex available. You should be prepared for your kids to see these as it’s easy to stumble upon.
• Adult Snapchat accounts can be accessed through a purchase. You can also search WatchMyFeed and find accounts that will, for a fee, allow you access to sexually explicit Snapchat accounts. The fees are monthly and some are available for purchase for a year. Fees range from $14-$60 a month and around $99 for a year’s access.
• Be aware of multiple accounts as well. Youth will sometimes have a well-curated appropriate account that you know of, but will also have other accounts where questionable behaviors will occur.
• If your youth has a snapchat you  should have an account as well. You should “friend” each other on Snapchat to assist in monitoring behaviors.
• Do not use full names as usernames.

• Set the account to Private and only accept followers of people they know in person. Remove any unknown followers that they currently have.

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

Review & Safety Tips:

• Tellonym is an app where you can create an account to see what your friends are talking about and let them answer your questions. Tellonym is an app that allows for anonymous messaging on IOS and Android.  Check out Askfm, Sendit and YikYak.
• With anything anonymous, there is a possibility for a wide range of inappropriate posts, comments, threats, cyberbullying and sexualized content/questions/themes.
• Fairly new, you should do more research on this before letting your student use it.

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store 

Review & Safety Tips:

• Main concerns are for younger youth using Tik Tok and what they will be exposed to and how easy it is to find inappropriate content.
• Do not use full names as usernames.
• Set the account to private and set up privacy settings and who can see/download content.
• Do not post personal information such as drivers’ licenses, school IDs, state IDs, phone numbers, birth certificates, school schedules, and/or other identifying information.
• Turn off your location services
• Be aware that videos can be easily saved from TikTok. 
• Even though an account is private, privacy isn’t guaranteed. Once a post is shared it is totally out of the user’s hands.
• Where kids are online, predators are online. Predators especially would be attracted to apps that young people use and apps that parents are not well-versed with. TikTok has many young users posting borderline inappropriate content. There is also direct private messaging on TikTok. This could make this app very desirable for a predator. Be aware of who your children are talking to online.

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

• VSCO is a photography editing and sharing app. Users cannot make their accounts private, but there are no notifications or comments. Users can see who is following them and who reshares or favorites their posts, but followers, likes, etc. are not public.
• VSCO’s default setting is to share location services. Users must go in and turn off the location services manually.
• The platform is an easy place for youth to share the drug related or sexualized photos they would not post on other platforms. However, nudity is prohibited on VSCO. There are no privacy settings so all profiles are public, making it an easy platform for a youth to make a mistake by sharing too much personal information.
• Check out information about “becoming VSCO famous” and “VSCO Girls”

Age Rating*: Rated 12+ by the App store

• Wink is an app where you can easily connect with anyone in the world and add them on Snapchat.
• Many accounts on WINK were fake accounts and were trying to connect users with their paid premium services platform where they would sell nude pictures/videos. Most middle school students would not realize these are fake accounts.. 
• Hoop is a very similar app and functions just about the same as Wink.

Age Rating*: Rated 17+ by the App store

Review & Safety Tips:

• For younger kids up to 6 years old you should use the YouTube Kids app for kids up to age 5 or 6. 
• For older kids using the regular YouTube app or channel, make sure to turn on Restricted Mode. This will help catch inappropriate content and filter it out.
• You must be signed into an account to view the “Age-Restricted” content. Since there is no way to verify age, you simply click on a warning that the content “may be inappropriate for some users.”
• Be aware of various ways to access YouTube.  YouTube can be accessed through an app on a device, the web browser on a device, smart blu-ray players, smart TVs, video games, and other connected devices, such as a Nintendo Switch.
• Manage privacy settings. It can be difficult to login to YouTube without being connected to a Google account attached to your child’s identity.
• Remind your children not to post personal information, such as drivers licenses, school IDs, state IDs, etc. They should not discuss where they live, their full names, their school, or places they frequent. 
• Turn off location services when uploading videos. 
• Know your youth’s account password.
• Subscribe to your youth’s YouTube channel to monitor their content. 

Following that winter presentation and a restructuring of the district’s debt during the spring to allow borrowing to complete outstanding projects, Quandel took a deeper dive during the summer and September to fully examine each building’s needs and assess the costs of the remaining projects. During that process, Quandel discovered more issues than were reported in the 2017 KCBA report.

On Tuesday night, Quandel presented their updated findings along with bids, as well as an updated price tag of $33 million for the projects. (Note: the price tag of $33 million is excluding athletic upgrades and the HVAC work already completed at the Junior High.) “As we know, inflation has hit everyone hard–school districts are no different–and supplies, labor and materials have all substantially increased,” said Dr. Haller prior to Quandel’s presentation. “So the numbers you’re going to see tonight are going to be different than the original numbers that were presented because, at that point, that was a surface-level look at KCBA’s report and (Quandel) has now been able to do a deeper dive with their engineers to really go into our buildings and see where we are.”

Prior to Quandel’s presentation, Dr. Haller said “Sticker shock is a real thing. I just want to make sure everyone knows–our board members, our community–that this is a high-level look. It’s an estimate. Some of these numbers may go down. Hopefully they don’t go up. But just like when you’re going through a personal home project, you’re going to look at the highest level… and then as the numbers become real, you start to scale back on that project or maybe you take some things out.” But she warned, “There’s probably not too many things that we can take out of these projects because of what needs to be done to keep the buildings running, but there are things that can be downgraded.”

“All of the projects will eventually have to be done,” she emphasized. Now, she said, it’s just determining how and when they’ll be done.

Quandel broke the projects down into several categories for each building as follows (please click HERE for a larger PDF)

Key:

• HVAC/Controls Upgrades: Whole building heating and air conditioning systems, units, ventilators, air exchangers, piping/venting, thermostats
• Electrical Upgrades: Replacement of electrical panels, generators
• Plumbing Upgrades: Fixing leaks, replacing dysfunctional toilets
• Auditorium, Cafeteria & AV Upgrades: Replacing auditorium seats, flooring, stage surfaces, and audio and sound systems for concerts, plays, assemblies and performances.
• Envelope Repairs: Fixing and sealing exterior walls, windows and roofs
• Flooring Repairs: Fixing or replacing flooring, stair treads, replacing worn carpets
• Masonry Repairs: Fixing expansion joints and loose or missing bricks, reappointing concrete in between bricks for stability and security
• Storm Water Management: Ensuring water is not leaking into the building through roofs, windows or the ground
• Repurpose Room: Converting rooms for one use to another
• ADA Upgrades: Ensuring toilets, stairs, etc. all are accessible to those with physical disabilities
• Site Repairs: Repairing grading for emergency vehicles
• Interior Doors, Egress, Walls: Replacing doors, and building permanent walls to replace movable walls that are no longer functional.

While most bids came in close (or less) than the estimates that Quandel provided in February, the most notable exception was the Senior High’s estimate, which, Quandel recommended, needed approximately $10 million more of HVAC work from their initial assessment earlier this year.

This presentation is one of several that will be upcoming to flesh out the final list of projects to finalize borrowing, which was worked into the budget with no change in existing debt payment.

In an effort to manage costs, Dr. Haller and Mr. Feick will now work with Quandel to take a closer look at the project list to prioritize the work and projects. It is expected that there will be an update of the capital projects during Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, which will be on October 3rd at 6PM.

To view the administration's capital projects presentation, please click HERE.
To view Quandel's presentation, please click HERE.
A video of the committee meeting is below.