So a lot of those gift cards have come in. So um we're just super grateful again for our community. Well, there's a ton from 500 to the gift cards to 20 grand from the mine. I mean, yes, that's crazy. There are a lot. So, also um so that's just discussion and information and now we can go to approval of the grants received. So on the approval of the grants received technically what we I am asking staff to do is when they apply for grants they need to let us know so we can put it on a board item that says so and so has applied. So, for example, when I apply for grant, it'll be on next month's board agenda that I applied and then when we receive the funding, governing board members will approve the receipt of the of the money from the grants.
Any questions or comments from the board? Okay, Madame President. Uh this question I think it's um Mr. Moore or uh Miss Richards. Is it safe I'll look at you and ask it to you. Is it safe to say that aside from uh the required minimum raise uh required by state statute by law uh that a majority of classified and certified teachers received no raise this year in Higgley? President we member Glover yet we did not do any raise for classified or with the exception of the classroom site fund increasing certified did not also get a raise. Okay. And then my second question is um if we if we put an override resolution on the ballot, is it reasonable to expect since 70 to 80% of a school district's budget is M and 70 to 80% of that goes to salary and benefits? Is it safe to assume that we would be able to then offer uh raises to classified and salary people if this override passes?
Um I saw some allegations of uh OMA uh infractions and I wanted to get maybe clarification on that. Yes, our council chimed in on it. I think Bill did. I don't know if you are aware of that, Eric. It came back that we did not violate violate the open meetings act. Okay. But if you want I don't have anything to say. Yeah. Basically was okay. All right. Yeah. You know if everybody's speaking on the same subject we have one person. Sure. And that's kind of how we did it. Okay. At the end of the day we have to conduct a meeting that happens to be an open session public meeting. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure with our council here that we do say that did we or did we not break? And if we did not, I just want to make sure we're that's what he's clarifying.
Continue to identify algebraic whatever. It's like no, this is what you need to do because continue should be like either either implied or we had we had this discussion if you remember when Mr. Sher brought that that up. if are we doing it? Are we not doing it? We we did take it off quite a bit. We changed continue to maintain. We changed continue to provide like when on on D it would instead of saying continue to offer it would just be offer ongoing highquality professional development. I thought we said provide ongoing high quality. I thought we chances to provide we keep the word continue in there and and a like I don't think the word continue is necessary any I thought maintain well I mean so the nature of goal is something that you you haven't reached it yet so just do it anyway right so but but I mean it's I don't know I mean it depends on which goal we're talking about I mean you know maybe some Some of these were, you know, well, all of them we are doing to some extent, but some of them, you know, maybe we're doing better than than others.
Rain Henriquez As I accept my diploma today, I'd like to thank my little village of people who've helped me reach this stage. First, I want to thank my mom, who has been my rock and my best friend for all my life. Thank you for all the sacrifices you've made and continue to make on my behalf, especially for gymnastics. I want to thank Nash, my mentor and counselor here at the village, who guided me patiently for four years, caring about my success, not just academically, but also as a welladjusted person. I'd like to thank my gymnastics coaches and teammates who have given me valuable life lessons off and on the mat and forged me into the well-rounded person I am today. And want to thank God for watching over me for 17 and a half years. [Applause] Zachary Herz. I want to thank all my friends and family that have supported and pushed me toward my goals.
uh age plays a key role in exposure to heavy metals and this uh led to many tests and neurology visits uh through his young life. Through careful dieting he was able to prolong the inevitable kidney failure which has led to a kidney transplant and now because of imunosuppressants and the covid along with reduced vaccination rates he has to be very careful of exposure to others. The point I hope that you take from this is that opening up neighborhoods to what seems to be benign businesses could, as in our case, result in life-changing events. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. Hi, my name is Brendan Roose. I live at 127 Field Crest Street, apartment 203, and I'm here in support of the new comprehensive plan. Before I start, I know there's been some discussion uh in these forums about what constitutes a real Ann Arborite or a real neighbor.
Coyle, do you have any questions for Mrs. L? My question to you is if they were turned down for building 11 homes there and there was a problem with the water, why now can they build 25 town homes and there's going to be no problem with the water? Um, I I don't know if they were turned down for 11. They were not turned down. uh they have a pending application and then they withdrew it because they've pursued the application for the builder's remedy instead, but they were never turned down. There was never any ruling. Okay. So, what in turn happens to me when my property is flooded because of you're saying that you know the storm water regulations and have you personally walked the property? I have not personally walked the property. Has anyone on the board personally walked the property? No, no one's walked.
Okay. So, this one is an approval of grants received. So, this action, this is action. Oh, that's action. Yes. I'll move to approve um the grants received. I'll second it. discussion. Maver. Yes. Mrs. Yes. Mr. McGin. Yes. Mrs. Allen. Yes. Mr. Yes. [Music] It was a little crazy. Okay. Well, that was a long little session, [Music] huh? New business. Sell those old Chromebooks to the eighth grade students. want to give us some color on that, sir? Well, we have we have some hand. [Music] So, the the district is uh is in possession of some older Lenovo N23s that um that are end of life and some uh HPG5s. And end of life means that they're no longer receiving um service and security updates from Google. Um these these devices can't be in circulation anymore. Um, and the thought uh the thought is to offer them for sale to eighth grade students before they leave the district um if if they're interested.
Yeah, Mr. Glover, that would certainly change our financial picture in regards to our Mino budget and would certainly potentially allow that flexibility to bring back raises. Thank you, President Wade. Um, I'd like to say that as a newly elected board member, I take my role in representing our community and and steward the taxpayers funds very seriously. While I understand the importance of considering an override, I find myself needing more clarity before I can confidently support placing it on the ballot. The district has recently approved salary increases and currently holds carryover funds that could potentially be allocated strategically. At the same time, I recognize the ongoing concerns about financial oversight and long-term planning with our in our financial department. As someone who values fiscal responsibility, I want to ensure that any decision we make reflects strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars and clearly communicates to our community that we are both responsible and grateful for their continued support.
We did not. We did not. We did not. Okay. Because I think some of the complaints were going to the attorney general's office and stuff like that. And I just want to make sure that we did everything that we were supposed to. Yeah. I don't I can't pay that fine. So It's not too bad. All right. Any other old business? New business. Okay. If not, we do have a reason to go into close session and it is for the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees, specific individual. Could I have a motion to go into close session for reasons just read? So, second moved by Alex, second by Bill.
Um, but if that was the case, so here's my recommendation. Let's take a look at the the draft when it comes out. You'll have another whack at this on the third. If there's areas that you want in a word, Smith something, let's Why don't you sketch it for for the final draft for the final print? Right. Yeah. We'll send it out and then take a look at everything. You'll have two hours on two. It's just continuous. So in like even looking at so repetitive and so redundant and it's not necessary. It's like an extra word before before your objective and your goal. But well what we'll do is Claudia will send out next week everything that you already approved that the hard work has been done. Yeah. that she'll send it out and she'll say I want that she wants feedback within a week and then get all the feedback and then she'll send it out again with the feedback that you receive.
I also want to thank my school teachers and coaches. Next year, I plan to take a gap year to go play junior hockey before deciding on a college. Alyssa Hill, I want to thank my parents for guiding me my whole life in the right direction. I wouldn't be graduating without them. I want to show my best friend a big appreciation for being there for me through every step in high school. My biggest thank you I want to say is to my little brother for sticking by my side when I had no one and always bringing me back up to where I needed to be to keep going on. I will be continuing my journey in Wyoming going to cosmetology school. Katie Hobman, I want to give a huge thank you to all the staff here at the village for standing by my side throughout all these years and becoming my second family.
So, I'd like it on the record that I am currently wearing Birkenstocks with socks and I just got back from a birding trip. So, I think I have very strong Ann Arbor bonafides. I know there's been a lot of um I think people have been misled about what the purpose of new density is. It's not always that the new buildings themselves are going to be deeply affordable. it's that it will help improve affordability of the existing buildings around them. I'd like to consider a counterfactual, a world where maybe Ann Arbor never approved any of the highrises that exist currently downtown, but the university continued to still grow at the same rate that it has. In that case, the students wouldn't just live outside of Ann Arbor. They'd be in these single family neighborhoods that a lot of these people are worried about protecting. Those students would have sprawled all over the place.
Okay. So then you know that there's a water problem there. I don't know if there's a water problem. There's interesting topography there, but I can't necessar I wasn't there the day that the picture was taken. Um I was not there the day that photo was taken or the video was taken. Um there is, you know, interesting topography on the property. Uh but where that wa the genesis of the water that was flowing across your property, I'm not aware of. And that video was not clear enough to be able to depict where uh that level of uh or that volume of water was coming from. Well, the volume of water is coming from the rafting road woods and it shows it as we walked into it and filmed it and it actually shows a stream. Are you aware of a stream on the property? No, not necessarily.
So, we'll uh we can do that at uh device return next week with your approval. How much? Uh we said uh 10 $10 bucks. Yeah. And the way the way we came to came to that is that the only the only piece of value in those those devices is the screen. So we we looked at we we got a rough estimate of the market value of a wellused Chromebook screen and it was roughly $10. I think that's fair. I think this is a great idea. um without the um updates from Google um do they have any usefulness? We can't use well I know not for us but you know we're selling home use it if for are we selling them a $10 paper weight? Yeah. Well, no, because because they work and you know pe some people use uh end of life equipment on a regular basis.
Thank you. Over the last several months knowing that this was coming, I have had many conversations with community members and they've all had a clear message. They do not want another override. Just six months ago, the majority of our community voted no on this very issue. And here we are barely half a year later asking them once again to approve something that they already rejected. This is not just about budget override. This is an issue about fundamental um this is an issue um about a fundamental issue of trust. I have listened to community members and I understand their frustration. Many have told me that they have lost trust in the district. They do not feel heard. They do not feel respected. They do they are deeply concerned about the direction this district is heading and the decisions that the majority of this board continues to make.
Any questions or comments? If not, roll call, please. A man with secretary. Dr. Hall. Mr. Salish. Hi. Miss Venegas. Hi, Miss Wolf. I Zit Sumber says an I. Mr. Gagos. I Mr. Brown. I. We are in close session 30 minutes and we will not be taking any action thereafter. So, thank you public for joining us. Have a good rest of your evening. Take care.
So when you're coming on June 3rd, you're not looking at something for the first time. So the the key thing will be doing the work outside of the meeting based upon the feedback that we already any changes that you get. She's asking a red line though. Well, and I think the most important thing whether or not we keep continuing there or not is that there's like consistency in the nuances of whatever language we're using. Okay. Good. All right. Thank you for that. Okay. Superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. Daniels. So each year the the superintendent at the the first meeting of the year sets the the the superintendent goals and I did the same thing in the beginning of the year and and we had a variety of goals that lined up with each of the board goals. So what's been important since I've arrived is to make sure that the superintendent goals align with the board goals.
More specifically, I want to thank Flan, Tessa, Amy, Lindsay, and my family for helping me get through my hardest days. This fall, I will be attending Pikes Peak State College and studying psychology to pursue a career in therapy. Lakota Hoffman. Absolutely nothing about the last four years has been easy. When I first transferred to this school, every day looked and felt the same, weighed down by what I felt like crippling anxiety. Despite that, the teachers and staff here constantly tried to remind me I had potential. And they reignited my imag imagination and dreams in new ways. With all the support I've received here, I hope to build a career in renewable energy and help ensure a better future. Tori Hooper. I want to thank Erica, my mentor, and Webster for getting me through my four years of high school. I also want to thank my amazing friends for their endless support.
They'd be buying up and bidding up the prices of all these homes. and the neighborhoods that people are so very concerned about protecting would be much worse off and much more filled with students. And I think that one thing that this plan does really well is that it will create districts where we can build densely without impacting those single family neighborhoods as much. I know a lot of these folks at these meetings tend to talk about losing the Ann Arbor that they grew up with, but if we stay on this path of stagnation, there won't be anyone growing up in Ann Arbor at all because families just won't be able to afford it. I'm currently a renter, so obviously I want to see the price of rent come down. But the same principles apply to homes for purchase. Like most people, I aspire to be a homeowner one day, but starter homes simply do not exist in Ann Arbor because we've been so static in our vision of what a starter home looks like.