Grandville Board Meeting - 3.3.2025

001e e e call me order you all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you can we do a roll call please Wonder Jim here hibore here Gardine here here benck here stephus absent Dean absent thank you uh please note as a courtesy of the members of the audience and the Board of Education please silence your cell phone public will only be able to speak during public comment if signed up all set all right fantastic all right first item approval of the agenda can I get a motion so moved support all those in favor yes yes opposed motion carries number two consent action agenda

002the board meeting minut it's going to get approval so moved support all those in favor yes yes opposed all right regular action agenda 3A the Delinquent Tax waivers for the city of Granville as recommended the Board of Education approve the waiver and consent forms for the city of City it say city of Walker to strike the 2019 in PR don't the personal property taxes do I have the wrong one okay forms for the city of Walker to strike the 2019 and prior delinquent personal property taxes from the tax rules can I get a motion so moved support yeah just to clarify this is actually the city of Granville not the city of Walker we did the city of Walker last board meeting um they had an earlier date for their delinquent approvals than in the

003city of Granville so um uh looking to for your approval to strike $1,462 190 and personal property taxes that have been uncollectible by the city of um between years 2019 and previous any discussion [Music] all right pretty normal all right do we need to make a motion to correct that or just you can just make a pencil it in yeah just she's clarified it we'll so note it in the minutes in the minutes okay all right very good you did stop and change it so fair enough all right okay good [Music] um so we had a motion approval um let's vote on it so all those in favor yes yes opposed motion carries 3B uh Parks and Recreation board recommendation recommendation is recommended that the Board of Education appoint Mr Jared parks to the Parks

004and Recreation board as a school appointee can I get a motion so moved support discussion sure so uh Kim chrisman's term as a school appointee uh is up and I met with uh Jared he was interested in the position came highly recommended uh and to just a little background he has been a part of Granville little league and what I thought was really neat is through my discussions with them when I said so what do you like to do for fun he said him and his family love to go to our parks in Granville and visit that they really spent a lot of time there um I know uh Amy and I also she's on the parks and W uh board also has some conversation and and I know she was quite supportive uh as

005am I after meeting with him so I'd like to recommend him great Rie um I hear Kim Chrisman is still hanging around parking right no he's not anymore okay any other discussion no no that's it all right um all those in favor yes opposed motion pass is uh 3C the approval of the superintendent's contract for the 2025 2026 school year is recommended that the Board of Education approve the contract extension of superintendent Roger Roger barup for the 2025 2026 school year can I get a motion some support discussion I think John sent us uh uh the amendment or uh the wording of the new contract right and something that uh Brent and I uh got a chance to sit down with Raj and talk through um moving removal of one item and extension and an

006addition of another item uh to be paid out at a point when uh Mr bar decides to step away at at the end I guess is the best way to put it right so yeah yeah so any questions or comments um thanks for what you do we're fortunate to have you and uh you do a great job at leading this this District so thanks thank you 100% thanks so you're really on the losing end of this since you're going to be with us for next 15 years but whatever you do I it's for you I'm Happ it is what it is all love being here and serving this commun fair enough okay um all those in favor yes yes opposed motion passes 3D the ghs automotive course proposal recommended that the Board of Education approve

007the the following proposal for two new courses to be offered at Granville High School automotive technology a and automo automotive technology B each course is two semesters that together prepare for the ASC maintenance and light repair uh G1 certification exam it is anticipated that both courses will be CTE eligible following approval and completion of the application process can I get a motion so move support and very excited um I know Mr lto is here I know Mr denning's here and I know uh some work went into this um and uh not sure who wants to talk on it but take her away yeah I'll introduce Ron and uh let him go because he is way more knowledgeable on this than me but um just wanted to introduce Ron Denny uh he's been teaching uh at

008high school if you remember it wasn't too long AG we were here to get the introductory Auto uh class at the high school and we found great success with that Ron's been teaching uh Small Engines whole maintenance and repair CAD about almost every one of our skill trade classes that we have there um and with the introduction of the Weller facility over there um we looked into uh creating autot Tech A and autch B and Ron's done a fantastic job of putting that out there uh we've talked through our school Improvement team our district school Improvement team um and it uh was uh accepted there so we're bringing it here um so I'm going to turn it over to Ron so we can explain what the course uh will offer as well as what opportunities

009our students are going to be able to have uh for taking this course so go ahead all right thank you thank you for having me today members of the board I appreciate it and thank you Adam for that uh introduction there so going to go over some of the things with the uh courses here and try to answer some questions before you might um be asking them yourselves and of course if there's additional questions just let me know so first off um I I do want to thank um the the board last year that approved um for the new facility I'm super super excited about that um I'm excited for the district and the students especially um and I apologize I wasn't here I wasn't able to make it that time but it is such

010a crucial part for I think the the future of the district for that um those students that it will affect right there so um as many of you are aware the entire State more than just Michigan are in just such a a dire need for service technicians it's a as close as you get to a state of emergency for as um as possible and um unfortunately not a lot of students have the opportunity to get some of this training before they leave High School um there are um uh skill centers uh kctc Career Tech in Ottawa County but um Unfortunately they only can have so many students there and do turn students away all the time um a lot of my students talk about at KCT they like I've been trying for you know a

011couple years now to get in there and they and they can't um so this will then hope uh will alleviate a lot of those um issues that are right there um so a couple of the uh classes so these two classes work together um over the course of two years um to set students up to take the um the ASC maintenance and light repair certification exam now there are a lot of different exams um that ASC offers which is the the industry standard uh but this one is a very good one uh this is what most do Target it's kind of like a if you could have like a general purpose one this is what it would be it's a good one to get them in the um in the door of places and it's

012also should be noted that um most students unless they um unless they happen to have some hours of um work someplace which is very unlikely um these are entry level tests or exams so these are good for 2 years and they do not require any hours of um of on the job training which um any non-entry level certification test requires so it gets them certified um and then they graduate and then they have those two years to get the hours that are required to get your your general um certification exam so these two courses right there I'm not going to read those but those cover everything that um those courses and what's that those exam covers what's nice about this too um they get enough in some of these that if they wanted to dig

013a Little Deeper they could start taking some of those other exams as well so this is some of the things I already talked about um this just kind of going going over uh what the courses do as far as preparing the students for the certification exam um and it's everything the curriculum um some of the different tests that we'll take throughout will mimic the actual ASC um wording just like if a lot of cours at the high school might mimic some of the uh sat questions um it's that same um type of strategies that we'll take so um some differences um as you know the board approved a couple years ago my Automotive Maintenance and Repair class that I teach so might be wondering so what is the difference we approved that what's this so

014kind of think of it as Automotive Maintenance and Repair that now U we're wrapping up the second year for that class that's kind of just where if someone is just wants to get a taste of an automobile they're may be even intimidated by it um kind of even a little scared really um that's the class for them um where they can just get that good um you know introductory knowledge whereas automotive technology courses are for those that are more career focused and it's much more rigorous of a program um so those that maybe are interested in automotive technology um that maybe don't really know a lot to begin with um yes they can just go right into this but you know would be recommended to take the automotive mainten and repair course first as going

015kind of an introductory one to kind of get them started um now this is one a lot to be determined with this but there is a lot of things that are um in Motion in the works that's not myself but um as far as the budget that is um unfortunately to be determined but um we are actively working with Weller Fair State University um Northwest Ohio um and then and other businesses that are want to um help out with their financial or in kind donations and that's what's great about this so many of these you know it's just like Weller um so many of these companies they recognize the need for um to have these trained students and so they want to help out because it helps them am out as well so a few

016questions here kind of go over so what credits or graduation requirements might meet this class we're still working on the graduation requirements um but you know they will receive two credits per class because it uh would be a block schedule so that's where they get the two credits per class and it is an entire year the certificate as we mentioned would be the ASC maintenance and light repair certification exam um um and they could take other ones as well if they wanted to Summit of Assessments so there will be two parts for Summit of Assessments um there will be some short quizzes that will mimic that certification exam I think that's key that's going to be huge because that's what they're going to be doing to get that certification right but um we're going to

017have some uh handson labw um kind of thinking now we'll have a a couple days of classroom a flex day in a couple days of lab work um where they'll be getting their hands dirty um so that's what it'll kind of look like and then it will culminate with a mock exam at the end and we'll do that after the first um class as well not just um at the end of the second one just so that going into the second class they can uh be prepared for that as well will this increase the school insurance now I believe this is a Heather question but um in the past I've been told that it um would not increase the school Insurance correct um and as you know but it's worth noting that um the classroom

018in lab uh for lab based learning will be the new facility on Kena um I don't know if I can really say how many times I'm excited about this uh facility and program uh so vehicle used for this class so the okay so this the district does have one vehicle that was donated that we use right now my Automotive Maintenance repair class but speaking with uh we have scottt Weller and then uh some of the others there um what they generally do um instead of donating a vehicle because then um you know if it's over 10,000 I know that requires board approval everything like that and what do you do when it's done so they have a program set up where they give you the district three four vehicles whatever you need then after a

019certain amount of time they take them back and they give you new ones they just kind of rotate out they're like on loan um so it's a really good program and we can set up where if we want to have different types of vehicles um whether it be a truck a van um some uh Imports some domestic whatever we want to go with we can get that set up through them and they can definitely help us out potential safety issues this is just no different than any of our tech classes really that um you know we talk about it beforehand we talk about it more so um within each unit within each activity that we do um like I said it's same with my Automotive Maintenance repair class my engine technology class um the wood

020shop class um of course safety is the top priority and discussed throughout and it'll be no different um student transportation um the district will be providing Transportation um to the new facility and back to the high school um and due to some uh parking constraints it will be um highly discouraged for students to drive over there from what I understand too who would be eligible to take this class um right now it's U Been discussed to Target 11th and 12th grade students and of course that could change in the future but um you know students that are in need of any accommodations will also be encouraged to take the class if they would like um no prerequisite and as I mentioned prior if they um really feel like they know nothing but they really want

021to enter this career field then they'd be encouraged to take the Automotive Maintenance and Repair class um get a really good base Foundation of knowledge before taking this class any questions you might think of that myself or anyone else can answer for you I've got a few um how many students currently are now taking the auto in maintenance repair we have four sections throughout the uh course of the year um with about 25 to 28 students in each section how many do you think is going to go into this no that's a really good question that we've talked about because um some of it kind of depends on kctc as well but you know um what were the number that we were we're looking at it and right now we currently have right around 30ish

022in the auto program at kctc um and the hope would be like the teacher Academy program that we run we can have those kids stay here back from kctc and take the so this is compatible with or how comparable is this to kctcs program so y so setting up there a good question um setting up the curriculum for the class it's mirroring both kctc and Career Tech line as far as what they cover um so there would be really no misc content there and um kctc from they're aware of this um I've talked to some of the uh teachers out there and um they're excited about it because honestly they know they know that need in the industry and um they know that they have to turn students away all the time so they don't

023want these students to miss out on it so it's because from what I understand it's not going to hurt their enrollment numbers right as a matter of um in partnership with them the goal one of their goals is to have more Regional type programming and programming within District have all the time on the bus right and this lines up well and I think we'll find kids who you know like Ron said go gosh I'd like to go but the travel and the what I'm going to miss back at you know the other opportunities at school this will alleviate that so uh very excited about it I think it's also worth noting to those like 30 students that Adam mentioned um that doesn't also count those that have been turned away right and I'm not sure

024how no I get it um so for both the A and the B right M you've got the G1 certification so when they're done with the first year do they take the G1 and there's different segments of the G1 that they would take I mean they can they can take whenever they want but it's going to be um encouraged to wait until you take the two classes um just because it's in their absolute best interest these exams are tough they're really tough um so they're going to need both classes in their entirety and so if that's the case when you've got this preparing that's where you're going to do some refresher m in a yes yep that's why I'm going to take those uh practice exams is there anything tied to diesel technology dies not

025currently um that's kind of its own kind of big task but that's what I mean we'd love to do that eventually right yeah it is it absolutely is right next door are some amazing buses sort of where I'm going too and that's part of the plan we hope eventually to expand that out yes okay Ron do you have like um an Exit Plan let's say for example the student goes through the first year of this program and you are finding that that's not a good fit for that student and you have a number of students who want in how are you going to balance some of that and in terms of trying to ease that student out if it's not working out for him or her and uh get other students in that might be

026a better fit yeah well I think that that's um something where um it's something I could have a discussion with you know Adam and the coun counselors and everything and ultimately up to them right but um definitely want to do whatever we can to help out the student whether it's the student that's having trouble or the student that um wants to get into the program we would have a discussion like any class like whether it's any other class and you know why are there struggles see if we can figure that out you know as other students look in there there's other opportunities to grow sections and things like that to make opportunities that we be um so we look at those if you think the popularity because I can see where this could become a

027very popular program to pursue by a lot of students do you think you might um reconsider prerequisites if if if that possibly yeah because it also brings up where um it's kind of tough because you you kind of want to it's a combination you want to ease the students into the curriculum um without making it too difficult right away but you also have to prepare them for that test and that exam is really tough you know so it that's just you know that's where why I come in right where I'm going to have to really um do what I can to help out those those students and to make sure they are ready for that exam no matter where they might happen to fall um you know as far as you know they might be

028someone who might struggle in a lot of classes or not but um as we all know there's a lot of students who maybe they struggle in um some of your um standard classes but this stuff they just kind of really Thrive yeah is there a cost to the exam and does the district pick it up there is a cost and as far as who's picking it up I I don't know if that's been decided yet but it's been talked as if um the the students would but there are some other dollars I know that it's been talked about to try and alleviate that if if sorry there are some CTE likely available for that okay and we have our Student Assistance fund as well through the senior Survivor piece that we always help students out

029who are not able to do that so if there's a student who does a great job and wants to take that test can't afford it we take care of that no problem and I'm working on um getting my te specific certification there um so that will help with some State funds too so very that's what's also works how does this feed into grcc's more extended ASC program yeah so I mean they can get additional you know more training to help them with the with that that next certification test um so you know if they want they could go right into industry they could do a combination of the two um they could also go up to Ferris and get a lot more education uh more in depth so um there's just a lot of options

030for them with okay cool thank you very much so a couple a couple items here for you right um you mentioned you know equipment do you still have some equipment needs that you're looking for right and is that something that's published anywhere and give you an example right and the company I work for we actually own uh Miller Welding and Miller Welding has got some really cool equipment for learning which is like a um I don't know what you want to call it right but it's got a screen in front of you you put the welder embling on you can learn how to weld yep right you without actually having digital exactly right you know great yeah it's pretty cool right so if there's equipment out there that you need you know how do we

031get that published to see if anyone's got those connections so that's some internal discussions we've been having already and there's I know there's still a lot to decide because there's other things that haven't been decided like if I'm teaching there what about my existing classes do those tools go over but don't we need there so some of that we're we meet with uh the Weller Foundation I think in another week and a half or so again update there and they have a lot of connections um we'll we'll work with people um and different local people if they're interested in helping us out I mean I could see somebody ex example sponsoring the tool crib and and other various machines if they donate as an example uh you know a a piece for that you know

032we can have their a name plate or something on there donated by you know and we've got a handful of local dealerships that I know are always I mean you got Sarah right next door right and they're very philanthropic with u their you know they getting scholarships or even doing a scholarship that sort so I think there's plenty of opportunities out there and I think the periphery of companies as well right one of my one of my struggles a few years back when I worked with the Ionia state prison um working on their your know work release programs was everybody that was taking classes there they were trying to get them to come to the factory and work second or third shift they'd be like why would I do that when I can go to

033Bell Tire and make 20 bucks an hour and have a normal life on first shift right so I mean I guess my point being is right it's you know like if you can get them through the class even if they don't pass the test they're still can get into a decent start yeah you know like I said at a Bell Tire or something like that so I'm sure there's opportunities to do externships in the summer or internships in the summer for some of our students I mean I think there's a lot of cool things that can come with where it is I I think we just got to get it started and see where it grows and I think that I mean like we've seen with some of our other foring robotics would be an

034example of that right like once you start those things and then there's opportunities to yeah absolutely that was one of my questions for um you were talking about internships and externships and um do you foresee some of these also some of the local businesses working specifically with students for hours for work and then they can have pay and while they're in high school and all this stuff kind of just I just think about how much you're setting up these students for Success it's yeah so so we have started uh the work-based learning conversation with the ISD specifically at Pathways High School um to learn about what that looks like from a from a standpoint and um you know there's a lot more flexibility over at Pathways and certain like that and then when we get

035that built up and things like that you know you need someone overseeing the work-based learning opportunity because it is ensive of going out there and building at the job sites and making sure those things are so we want to start small build out and then bring that to the high school but there this class like this and some of our other classes that we'll talk about here in the counseling thing create those opportunities for those business and relationships where we can get out there and have our students take some of those you get back to those work based learning opportunities you know we used to call like Co-op and things like that right um but there's a lot of intricacies with that work based learning that we're learning from the ISD right now and from

036some of our other local districts around us so um we're going to start small and then see where we go from there it's exciting really is that was my other question was that first maintenance and repair class will always be at the high school and then the other two A and B will be at the at Weller correct yes yeah okay what I did want to know is where's the class that identifies that sound right one of you should say that we we hope to have through Community yet several classes you know like talked before how to change your oil how to change your tire um basic car stuff and so on and eventually we'll build up to that as well but that's true though it's like you know if they a service technician working

037at a place that you you're going to have a customer that's going to describe it and they're going to make that sound you know I'm good at that totally partner with like little Grand good stuff nice job great job thank you thank you very much all right thanks okay so we are going to just looking to see if there's a dollar value or anything on this one there is not um all those in favor yes yes yes opposed all right motion passes congratulations good luck look forward to hearing updates on it exciting stuff um 3E second reading uh of the second reading approval of revised board policies is recommended the Board of Education uh approve the revised trun board policies as presented during the past two meetings can I get a motion so moved support

038Jen I know we uh we discussed them last time um I don't know what additional insights questions any of those things that you might have about uh those blanket policies that we have now where we separate out back to to the 2020 regs for Title 9 ironically uh just before the meeting started trun sent me the new esta um policy so I'll need to bring that back for a couple of readings because since we last met that has changed a bit um but again they they got that turned around you know within a week and we weren't often getting that with the other service provider that we had so uh any questions that you might have I do Joe um so I have an ask it's for me and for this gentleman as well yeah

039going forward can you just give me a printed copy sure it's easier for me I I'm taking notes I got you I'm an old school guy make markup um on 31:15 yeah I noticed in the first paragraph right near the end and I know they got rid of and moved a lot of things there's an extra comma in there okay after orientation on 3115 are we just removing that cuz everything was a strike through let me look I could have swore everything was a strike through on that yeah changed it to intentionally left blank yeah yeah yep so that one ends up getting in changed to intentionally left blank because it moves out of that space and into a different part of the policy standard 3118 okay so we're just going to keep it for

040record correct for the most part okay yep it'll it'll show up in the um in the table of contents as intentionally left blank but it's a placeholder all right so now this is why I've got to go off memory which okay I'm old but 5202 at the end of the first paragraph um is determined to kind of confuse me can you read that last paragraph or that first paragraph for me real quick so that I can remember what that is determined to is referring to that's a great question Bob because I don't know where I must have pulled something out of there let me get back to you on that I didn't see that looks like a short a shortened sentence where I may have clipped something out or it's just not consistent because it

041doesn't make sense is determined to complaints alleged correct yep it just like yeah thank you mhm I had no other edits or questions start curiosity what is the what are they recommending with the SDA any changes I mean I didn't read what they put out recently I I know I mean I think I what I would recommend is what like if we to adopt what we have so that when they when we go back with the edit that all the strikethroughs and all of that stuff that they're going to share with us fit even though what we're what we're passing is essentially a document that needs to be edited immediately so right I know our our legal representation our legal representation has told us that the 32 hours or I'm sorry the 72 hours um

042can be used in your overall vacation policy right those hours can be used to count towards that 72 if you give them the same flexibility where I know there's been a lot of freaking out about it's an additional 72 hours that's added it's not yeah no you're you're absolutely right and and the 72 hours is the maximum yes so for anyone who works less than a 40-hour work week it's 1 hour per every 30 hours worked um up to whatever that may look like for you in a in a year and that can be a combination of person leave sick leave it really boils down to what reason are they giving you to being off so they can use vacation they can use the other pieces what we give under sick leave is already in

043excess of a 1 to 30 ratio um so our intent is to hold to sick leave on that 1 to30 ratio for their use and if we get to an abuse point we'll address it at that point um but really the abuse doesn't happen until you get beyond that that 1 to 30 ratio for a year how do they calculate the total hours worked again I'm sorry inside pool here but how do they get to the total hours of work during a year for a teacher they they as I understand it they simply count from January 1 until December 30 the actual like the number of hours that you work and so if you work two we have some employees that only work two hours a week yeah so they'll take those and they would

044multiply that out but then on the school side of it it's different because we don't work every week of the school year if you're an hourly employee so like on our side of it we award that um as an average for a week so if they work two hours in a day and two hours in a week excuse me their average is like4 hours so that's what they receive in sick leave so they're four months down the road five months down the road before they get a full day of leave for two hours so you're doing a cruel versus a front loading we're doing it as a cruel instead of a front loading and you're basing that on 280 hours for a full-time teacher or is that okay just y curious all right good all

045right and once I get an answer on that 5202 I'll shoot that to all of you um and let you know what that what that hanging word is thanks Bob for finding it no worries thanks CH all right any other comments or questions thanks John all those approved all those all those in favor yes yes all those opposed motion passes all right thank you on to 4A uh go ahead and if it's okay with you I am going to flip-flop for a and for B uh the reports because I know some of our high school people have some things happening so you're up let's take our away for career in college readiness all right um I have uh three of our four high school counselors uh Miss Britney steamland kza and Miss Tracy Bloom here

046um and I asked them to come and share what uh the high school's been doing with prer college rightness um I've been very U pleased and happy and excited about what the work our counseling team has been doing for our students um to help bring forth career opportunities bring forth um information and opportunities for them to uh explore career Fields um whether that be if there's a college path or if it's on the job training right after high school um so they've done just a fantastic job over these last couple years especially coming out of uh the 2020 21 school year um challenge them a little bit to say what what we can do to re revamp what we're doing and they've they've answered that call and I think it's a great opportunity to see

047what we've been doing at graville high school um to uh allow our students to to figure out what what's out there so they can go into those career Fields so I'm going to turn it over to them I'll uh I'll drive the the presentation for them so they can okay that all right can do I this is all new to me so hi Tracy Bloom um I'm gonna first talk about navian so navian is a tool that all students use for selfis Discovery and for um career exploration um navian is such a cool tool students can log on they can take all of these different assessments that personally I think is a lot of fun to do um where they really get to learn and dive deep about themselves um there's some tools and assessments

048that they can take where they can um take what they're just naturally good at um and then things that they're interested in and then it will come up with a whole list of different careers that students might want to look more into um what's cool about that is once they get this huge list then they can literally Click on each of those different careers that is recommended um based off of how they took the assessment and they can learn more about that job right like what kind of training do I need After High School do I need to go to college or is it job training um and then they can even figure out how much money could I make and if I live in Illinois I might make more money than if I live

049in Michigan so um it's really neat and fun um uh tool that students can use so you can see all that stuff up there the self-discovery the career exploration like I said military um they can create goals they can work on resumés and do different surveys um there's another really cool piece that I want to hit on here which I skipped over was was the college match um so there's this like college super match search that students can use um where they can go in and they can they can really hone in on like really detailed stuff like this is my GPA I want to go to a big school I want to live in Montana and I want to study this and it will come up with all of these colleges that they can

050look into um so it's just a really awesome tool um and then students are able to work on their navian um while they are in seminar and in seminar our students are supposed to be working on their educational development plan so it all ties together so Naviance is that piece and that tool that they use um where they would then work on those development plans like hey this is what I learned about myself this career looks really interesting now what do I do with that information um so as counselors we can work with students about different classes that they can take um in high school but you guys can play around on this as well I don't want to mess anything up but if you click on thank you I am like Bob and I

051prefer everything paper and pencil yes even though I should know this stuff um but this is so cool so you guys can kind of play around on this if you would like but um if you can you go back up so we have it broken down really well um so every semester a freshman is working on stage one um and then during second semester they'll be working on stage two but you can see that in that stage one piece they're doing that self-discovery and then stage two they're already starting to dig into like career um ideas and planning because we want them to start young so then we can you know build build the plan from there moving forward so um that's kind of how that's like our Universal approach that all students will be

052working on and have access to so thank you for helping me with this you're welcome and uh I will step aside I think that's it y okay um so our biggest events that we host every year are Career Fairs we have one in the fall for our seniors usually around October um this is more of a career expiration for them we do have um some companies that come in and might have jobs available for them after high school um so it can be kind of like a job fair as well they just really learn how to network with employers and ask important questions um typically we have between like 30 to 40 employers um we have GRC see there every year in their job training program typically for our seniors we have a voter registration

053booth for 18 and up and they can register to vote there and then we always have um some military branches who can make it and usually cosmetology so there's a lot of different opportunities for students to just get in get involved and meet people within our community um and are able to think about what they want to do after high school we do have a lot of seniors when we meet with them individually that are like Yep this is what I want to do this is my career path and then they can talk to someone in the industry uh but there are a lot of students who still just don't have any idea what they want to do so having this opportunity in the fall for them while they're starting to think about what I

054want to do after high school point me in the right direction let's use our EDP and navian so we really are able to get them out and exposed to what our community has to offer and then we have one in April for our sophomores again just more of career exploration for them kctc is usually there we have some college reps um so some local College reps there and then military and more skilled trades so it's kind of a broad uh career fair for everybody to come in um listed there are some of our employers just a few of them and we are always looking for more so if you are interested please reach out to me um and then we can get that scheduled if you would like to attend one of the cool things

055about the senior fair is um you know sometimes seniors don't realize how all of that fits together and I was walking down to the student this fall and they were like well I don't know Mr L I'm going into marketing so I don't really think anyone's going to be there for marketing and I started laughing I said oh come with me cuz everybody here has a marketing department and so you know we walked around and and showed you know it was great for that student to realize like oh wow they didn't even think about the vast opportunities that marketing probably has and the different ways that marketing could do it so it really was a cool opportunity and it's been a great um thing for our students one of our programs that we have offered

056from last year and this year so every school in Kent County has a career Readiness consultant um at the KD and ours is Aaron Tarkington and she's amazing so she wanted to Pilot this program last year women in manufacturing um so last year we had about 15 students sign up um with Amway they came in to our school about five times throughout the school year we would meet during seminar this was open to all grade levels and there were a lot of different um like positions from Amway so they could talk about what they wanted to do how they got to where they were how they moved up um so like you can see engineering packaging they really talked about how they started maybe as a technician and mooved their way up um and we

057did start out we also did the networking breakfast at in Michigan which is the women's networking and leadership group and we're going to take some ladies there in a couple weeks again uh another really great way for them to you know get involved in the community and meet some new people um this year we open it up to everybody it wasn't just women but we wanted to kind of showcase what there is to offer in manufacturing um they might have preconceived ideas and it's really cool to get them out and exposed to everything and we have a little clip from last year from school News Network challenging you we're going to do kind of a mock packaging process we got to make our own products especially the pumping part it was so fun we went

058pretty fast we are pumping our liquid into the bottles tightening them putting our sticker on them so we can take them home for later it was really fun and we made eight bottles per minute so as you can see they had a blast and that's how we usually end this whole year project so we're doing things throughout the year in seminar and then we end with the field trip taking everybody to Amway and getting on the floor and seeing what it's like to you know produce a product and get it out on shelves and and whatnot so it's really cool we are very fortunate all right and because that program was so successful um Aon turkington again our representative uh from the IC piloted this program this summer she said Hey what if we do

059another program for students where we actually um work with Oaks our Oak who's building while and we teach students about um careers in construction so this has been a huge hit we offered this to all of our students and we had about 20 students currently involved again this is a five-part series um this this current school year we're in about our fourth round of of meetings so far but you guys this has been incredible and it's so cool that we're working with a construction site here in Granville um so Jacob or sorry Jake and Megan are project man managers at Oak and they've been coming in and teaching our students hey here's how you re luant this is how you make a bid for a project um this is how much a project might cost

060figure it out and sell it to me so it's been awesome as you can see you guys we got to tour the uh the site back in early October and it was just a slab of concrete and we were going to go back in early spring and see I'm hoping much more um but our students have been really really enjoying this and what has been really cool is one of our current seniors is actually been offered an internship with Oak um for the summer because of this program so really really great uh we're hoping to continue these things maybe offer even more expand it more it's really low um like our students have to don't have to give up much time to be a part of this but the gains are huge that's what we've

061learned so um a really cool program you guys I will let you know when we're visiting again uh it's always fun to wear a hard hat I will say um all right and then this is actually great that Mr Denny was here to talk about this we wanted to touch a little bit about our Career and Technical education programs that we have or are starting um again since Co it's been important for us to just bring opportunities more to the high school especially more Hands-On experiences for students and programs that will leave our students uh with certifications college credits um at minimum just the ability to say hey I've done this at the high school level and give them a step ahead of other being candidates So currently this year we are offering a teacher

062Academy which is a regional kctc program at our high school we have students who are um I will say teaching but they're able to go to elementary schools uh every other day and work alongside current Grandville teachers which is outstanding again Mr Denning just spoke about our Auto Tech program that will hopefully be starting next year um and we have been offering an EMT program at the high school now for quite some time where our students at the end of the year can be certified to go work on ambulances and I know a lot of our students who are pursuing uh health careers like this because they can get paid to work um as an EMT while in medical school or Etc so um our business teachers are currently being CTE certified so that we

063can in the future offer college credits for most of our business classes right now we do have some articulation agreements with some colleges we're hop hoping to make that a wider scale um uh option for students and then I feel like this isn't really well known but we have a really outstanding Aeronautics program at our high school for students interested in aviation um they have the choice of pursuing flying drones um or if they want to become like a natural pilot this prepares them for the careers in those both of those fields and then finally obviously we offer kctc to as many students as we possibly can there's limited space so um for the students who do get accepted into kctc we're so thrilled for them that also offers opportunities that most students aren't able

064to pursue um but again more Regional programs would be great at the local level and then I know I'm talking lot um we I just wanted to touch briefly on our college readiness that we do for all students uh every single one of our seniors has a meeting with a councelor in the fall and that's really just to help them set up a plan for the year ahead help them navigate the process of of college applications um we've offered application workshops during seminar which were well attended and well received we have a financial aid night that's offered to all families and we have a College Planning night also offered to families um um every fall we get probably 15 to 20 schools that come in and meet we meet with students and we always say

065to students to take advantage of this it gives them a little bit of a um well it gives them an introduction to the rep who represents the college for Grandville so it's like a good networking system too uh we're back to giving college tours postco so in the past we've gone to Michigan State Notre Dame U ofm um drcc drcc thank you yep um hoping to continue that because there's something about being on a campus uh and then we offer quite a lot of college credits uh we have 18 I'm sorry 15 AP classes and our dual enrollment program is thriving so a dual enrollment essentially allows students to take college classes mostly through GRCC but really any Michigan school so um oh also in October we celebrate college application month so we try to

066do a little bit of activity here and there really celebrate the fact that um college applications are probably we do at the end of the month so we try to make that fun uh but that's just a a quick maybe not quick but an overview of what we've been doing at the high school level hoping just to continue and expand so thanks you guys for having us you know what I'm just going to say the body language of you three is so relaxed and just you're just having a conversation well we've been nervous we usually listen all day long don't show it you know it can be intimidating when you're talking to people behind a desk you know but you were so relaxed at for my I teachers do all day thank you for that

067appreciate it I'd like to also say that five of those six CTE classes um are inhouse which allows students to come to Zero Hour to do things like jazz and early swim and they also allow them to be on campus for sports and clubs and what right like you want kids to be in high school and have that High School experience and um you know I had one of my one of my children did do kctc and then like you're gone for so much of it because it's so far so this is a huge gift just for that actual keeping students getting to be students I just had a parent at conferences last week say does my kid go to kctc or do they opt to stay in school and do like the assemblies and

068the socializing and I said it's a really tough decision and I get the choice that has to be made so yeah you're you nailed it it's beautiful it's awesome so thank you a wide and very rich yeah set of choices yeah and just getting better yeah we great kids that can do a lot of these things so going awesome thank you very much everybody appreciate [Applause] it all right then Oaktown intermediate presentation yes so uh not a present they've been here a couple times recently so but just wanted to give you an update for them regarding the amazing shake that took place this past Friday um was held at Oaks toown as you know uh Brian Stacy Ellen and their incredible team you know just did a phenomenal job with the virtual and inperson learning

069for our students um they were able to actively engage our students who are working from home and in the building while balancing the competition of amazing Shake uh I know several of you were there appreciate you uh helping out with with that I took a group of superintendent and uh some of their staffs from several schools around uh to show them and they were just amazed by what was happening and the experiences that uh kids were getting so very excited about that um you know we have three separate task is some of you know the gauntlet um work the room and circle of Doom and uh those things are all very uh engaging and just fun to observe um and from there the students were voted into a top 40 were tasked with a fishbowl

070group interview and debate uh sessions then it was further reduced and the finalist worked through onetoone interviews uh the the winner was a young lady from Pontiac Notre Dame uh and then uh Valentina killingham Oaktown sixth grader placed fourth in the region our local sponsors have committed to sending the top three to Atlanta and now we're working to try to raise $2,000 to send Valentina as well um for a job well done so if there's anybody out there that wants to donate to that I know they're working on trying to raise those funds to send her to Atlanta to the national competition sounds like we're a quarter of the way there as of today awesome so Stacy B reach out to St Stacy contact Stacy but kudos to uh Stacy and Brian I mean they

071they spend a lot of time coordinating that was a once in a a long time thing to have it here because it gets you know other people host that um as the years go on but it was great to uh be able to be the ambassadors if you will of this uh great activity and uh it was a a wonderful day so so well-run and such a great example of young people leading the way they Their Manners their ability to interact with other adults that they've never seen before in their whole lives was astounding it was really truly wonderful it was really fun too because the DECA students were helping yeah and the DECA students came up and said I think they're doing better than we are and they're like fifth graders and you have

072these Juniors and seniors in high school going whoa these kids are really good you know and so we're building up this whole new set of remarkable remarkable kids that's for sure it's fun to watch the adults watch the kids it really is and just the amazement uh the facial expressions you can see from the adult as they're watching and Amazed by what the students do how they interact how they carry on conversations how they use critical thinking all those things so really exciting so yeah it does take dedication to prepare and go for that I think you know the story that she shared with us is Valentina was made aware six days before that she was going to be doing it cuz someone had dropped out or something like that so she had six days

073to prepare and and still was able to prepare place for it and that Daniela the young woman that that one I mean she was she was phenomenal she was phenomenal Amy and I take a little offense to be put in the the circle of Doom but but that's okay was we'll come up with a better name for it that's true we got to come up with a better name they're all fun good any other items then no thank you uh then we'll move on to public comment um is written in the board of or is written in the board bylaw 0673 67.3 public participation at board meetings uh you will have five minutes um Sally miss van is going to be uh tracking that for us and she'll give you a warning at 1 minute

074uh so first up we have Jacqueline Pullman and on Deck is Carol [Music] Bronson good evening I don't normally uh read for my phone but I want to make sure I get everything in in time so bear with me as this is written already um I want to thank the board for the opportunity to speak last week as one of your finalists for the board vacancy and it was an honor to be chosen as a finalist and I appreciate giv the opportunity and one of the points that I emphasized was the ability to find agreement with those that share different perspectives and that's what I want to talk about tonight and I agree with half of the board that Mary Gunther is a strong candidate uh she is a business owner a mother of young

075children in the community a product of a Granville family that's been here for Generations and a subject matter expert in Communications and social media and I can say those things confidently because I too am a business owner a mother of young children in the community a product of a family that's been in Granville for generations and a subject matter expert in Communications and social media and as someone who's observed Mary's work from a similar organization I can attest that she really excels in what she does and so given our similarities one might consider why she was chosen as a top candidate and I was not and Bob you stated that part of the reason was Mary's values and that's certainly important however I want to point out that none of the people that voted for

076Mary reached out to me to learn about mine and in fact Bob you didn't recall that we worked together for a year and a half at Wolverine worldwide and in fact my desk was next to years for a time and this experience was listed on my resume which kind of raised the question if you even looked at it so since you don't know my values let me share some of them like Mary I strive to be kind I engage in thoughtful conversations with people across the political spectrum and I want to give back to the Granville community in fact these are values that I think probably everyone in this room shares so if Mir and I do have similar qualifications and values why was she chosen over me and again you admitted it was subjective

077and you put that she ran before as a strong reason and that's your prerogative but what I do take issue with is it was a waste of a time and resources to get to that point you wasted the time of the other 18 community members who submitted applications thinking they had a fair shot you wasted the time of me and the other finalists who prepared and interviewed you wasted the time of the three other board members who did carefully review each applicant you wasted the time of the community members who attend it expecting a fair process and you wasted the time of District leadership who facilitated the interviews this vacancy became a popularity contest and elected officials you're entrusted with fiscal responsibility and I'm disappointed with how this was handled I also want to extend

078a peace offering to Mary and say on the record I greatly appreciate your willingness to serve and your passion for Granville I hope you won't be discouraged because our community needs dedicated people like you with diverse sets of qualifications values and voices and I'm honestly sorry for how you and other candidates have been treated in this process no one deserves that finally I believe that there is still a more crucial need for our students than what Mary or myself can provide mental health support Amy Campbell and Kate auster bring expertise in that area and I certainly hope this is not their only opportunity to serve on this board thank you for your time thank you uh Carol Bronson and Jeff Johnston on Deck good evening I watched the video of the last board meeting where

079six candidates were interviewed for the open position on the board I'm disappointed that a candidate wasn't selected although three individuals were voted on three board members refused to consider anyone other than their talk pick at the previous board meeting Mr Wonder Jam stated that if a candidate wasn't selected it would go to the kisd to decide and that it would be embarrassing for our district if he was serious he and the three ston wallers could have the other two ston wallers could have chosen another candidate that could be voted on uh the other three on the board did pick a second person to to vote on I feel that these board members refuse to even consider any of the other 18 applicants I don't even think they looked at any other applications or resumés it's

080extremely disrespectful to the community members who applied to not even consider their qualifications and give them a chance Mr Wonder Jem even admitted to obstructing the process plus their top pick was rejected at The Ballot Box by approximately 2,000 votes the public has spoken we don't want her on our school board she is a member of moms for Liberty the book banners who also don't support our lgbtq plus students according to the school board code of ethics I believe Mr Wonder Jem and his silent Partners violated the following ethic a board member will not use the board position for actual or perceived personal political gain they are obstructing for political gain in my opinion and a school board member should avoid an actual or perceived conflict of interest in addition Mr Wonder Jem showed that

081he is a bully and was disrespectful to the other board members especially the females on the board we have anti-bullying Pro policies in our schools and this should apply to our school board as well his behavior is beneath the Dignity of his position if it doesn't change I respectfully ask him to resign or face an Ethics complaint and possible censure thank you up next Jeff Johnston on Deck kayy Janson good evening members of the board Grandville parents friends and Neighbors First I want to give a hat tip to Bob for his uh copy editing I I've been a copy editor for years so I appreciate the way you flypc the uh documents um as many of you know certainly all of you know I interviewed for the current open board seat and that process gave

082me the opportunity to reflect on our school district what makes it special what makes it successful what makes it outstanding and what it will take to keep us on this trajectory I keep coming back to the Strategic plan and the mission values and beliefs that are intended to guide us all parents community members students employees administrators and board members many of these values and beliefs seem to me to speak to the Divide on this board and the ways that we might begin to to heal respect adhering to the principles of honesty reliability account accountability and transparency compassion sharing concern for the well-being of others and their environment through acts of caring generosity kindness and service diversity recognizing and valuing diversity in all people humility owning wrongdoing and restoring relationships it giving every student the support

083they need when they need it communication engaging and clear open dialogue learning adapting to challenges and opportunities and taking intellectual risks grit persisting in aspirations and persevering in the face of obstacles providing safe positive Innovative and engaging learning environments for all Bulldogs and the value of inclusion of all individuals I'm sure we we're all aware that the big bugaboos d e and I are right there diversity equity and inclusion they're all spelled out there and that's for good reason because they're not scary or radical they're just simple Common Sense terms for the way groups of people ought to work together for Mutual benefit basic skill set diversity we're not all the same nor should we be nor should we try to be nor should we fear or exclude people who are not like ourselves or

084try to force them into molds or deny them the right to be their authentic selves Equity we don't all start from the same place in life getting a fair shake and giving a fair Shake means understanding that the playing field is not level and providing people the same opportunities for Success inclusion this is simple playground level stuff don't leave people out welcome Outsiders make room on the field at the table and let's touch on the learning value to it's not only a value but the point of our mission statement on the wall there producing successful lifelong learners but I think we'd better include ourselves in that not just our students the world is not only changing fast but accelerating our children are building a world and culture different from ours as adults just as we

085created a world different from that of our parents if we're not willing to learn about and from the changes happening around us then what we offer our children and our students will be irrelevant these Grand Bill excuse me this these Grandville Bulldog values all of them should set the bar for participation in our school district it's not too much to ask of our students our community our board members one minute because of a majority on this board could not agree on a candidate who I believe did affirm these values and beliefs I understand that the Kent Intermediate School District will now decide who among the 19 candidates or the six semi-finalists or the two finalists will join our board and I hope they'll Choose Wisely but even more so I hope that this board and

086the Grandville Community will remember that we already have a pretty good guide on how to behave and how to treat each other and how to treat those around us it's right there on the wall thank you thank you next up Kaylee Jansen on on Deck Lorie Cotto sorry that's going to be hard to follow I'm kind of a meet people where they're at kind of person um I would like to address a harassment accusation made towards me during the February 17th school board meeting the weekend preceding the February 17th meeting signs were placed around Granville these signs consisted of the following a sign showing a post that Mary of her own bition interacted with in 2023 a sign explaining the responsibilities of her school board a sign about Bob Wonder jum and Joe stephus allegedly

087leaving town and a fourth sign explaining that Mary is anti-lgbt anti- Dei anti-crt and anti-cl Mary did not address these claims made on these signs during her February 17th public comment I want our community to ask itself why didn't Mary use her public comment time to refute the claims made on those signs on Friday I was able to find and document some of these signs by eastn Central Elementary Mary has not sent me a defamation letter Mary has not sent a cop to my house so I think it's fair to assume that Mary knows that these ACC ations will not hold up in court there is nothing Centrist about running as an Ottawa impact in moms for Liberty supported candidate these two organizations are supported by a network that will undoubtedly go down in history

088as a wave of Christian fascism Granville parents for Education a group administered by Sarah Ashby uh someone who worked on Mary's campaign is formerly standup Granville stand up Granville is associated with standup Michigan a group started by a man who rallied with three percenters militias and white supremacists during Co if you do not if you do not endorse the beliefs exposed by these groups why would you want to be associated with them Joe isn't here but Bob and Joe you knew about the arbent views expressed in Granville parents for Education when you endorsed Mary and you refused to compromise with your fellow board members because you are solely focused on achieving that 4-3 ratio that will allow you to bully every non-Christian non-white and non-heterosexual person in this community I want you to know that

089come hell or high water I will be here to document your behavior I refuse as someone who isn't completely white as someone who isn't completely straight and as someone who isn't completely able-bodied to stand back and watch the people watch people like you damage the community responsible for majority of my education as for the rest of you on this board I understand that many of you are in a really tough spot I am sorry that you're forced to deal with all of this um but I am also moved by your dedication to our community um the Trump Administration recently set up a phone line for the purpose of harassing our schools I don't know anyone on Kent ISD but I fully intend to reach out to them and explain some of my concerns that may

090not be on the Forefront of their minds um their decision could hamper our District's ability to retain and compete for high quality teachers their decision will undoubtedly have a long- lasting effect on the ability on the ability of our teachers to feel safe teaching in our schools and their decision might drive many families to avoid our district in favor of communities that are more affordable and more accepting thank you thank you Lori Cotto on deck and McCarthy first I just want to say that's my child and I couldn't be more proud of her right now before I introduce myself I would like to express my gratitude to Sally vanet Jason hore and Amy Gardine for conducting yourselves as professionals and for your unwavering Devotion to the district my name is Lori Cado I live in

091the district I have sat on Kent count or Kent County Head Starts board and also served as president to the parent advisory board for Head Start I am the proud mother of six adult kids and Anna to 12 grandchildren four of my adult kids have graduated from GPS and two from Wyoming I currently have four grandkids in this District including or I'm sorry in this District including my dad three generations of my family have attend to GPS if I went with Bob standards I'd be a shoe in for a seat I'd like to address a few issues that I see as a prior public servant we have several groups trying to interfere and disrupt our board and District the first is moms for Liberty they love to ban books harass staff spread misinformation go after

092anything lgbtq and they try to control our C Curriculum by filling our public comment sessions with their members I'm sure there are a few here tonight a more recent example should be Stephanie Boon who's destroying L district and casting them or costing them taxpayer money she is a moms for Liberty sponsored witch they are attempting this all over the state the second group is called Ottawa impact and they are a Christian nationalism group in cas whereare they're very big disruptors in Ottawa County people got so tired of them that last fall they replaced five on the board one named Lynn Johnson's had the audacity to apply for the vacant seat on our board after getting pulled into a lawsuit over a freedom of information request the third group Grandville parents for education is ran by

093Sarah Jean ashb which is unfortunate because they share like-minded views with the other two groups I was once in this group until I realized I do not share these views or values the topics were appalling they mocked children wearing tails and ears post anything that is anti-lgbtq they ridiculed a photo of a substitute teacher that they assumed was trans and the admin of that group posted that photo for ridicule purposes when did we start villainizing children for self-expression in their growing phases please tell me how this has become the norm by the way this group endorsed both Bob and Mary as candidates and sah Jean was part of those campaigns the reason why I mention these groups is because they are trying to fill the vacant seat to push their fases agendas with the help

094of Bob wjob I've heard them refer to him as their board member now refresh your memories about what happened on February 26 we all know that that wound up in a tie we know why it wound up in a tie it was no surprise that Bob Joe and brentt voted the way they did they are prior prioritizing securing a majority over the security of our kids you know what's embarrassing Bob you trying to install someone that the public already said no to your failure to commit wholeheartedly to our district putting your beliefs and loyalty ahead of our district I actively listen to interviews with objectivity and there were at least three more qualified than Mary one being Amy Campell one being Beth luget and Jacqueline pman that being said Amy Campbell is the most qualified

095her background in mental health MTS mtts knowledge and writing legislation would be an asset to GPS we deserve the best school board members should respect their constituents as a whole so keep political biases and personal agendas out of our district if you can't please exit your position thank you sorry not sorry thank you Ann McCarthy up next Keith bomb Gunner on Deck good evening thank you for having me um I have some prepared comments but for since Mr lto is here I do want to acknowledge some of the teachers at Granville high school so I have three students at the high school two like I don't have to even pay attention to like they're doing so well my other child does not put doing well in school or some days even attending school high on

096his daily to-do list so I was not looking forward to those conferences but every single teacher acknowledged him as a human being gave me a path forward with him and I was just blown away so kudos to the teachers at Granville high school for seeing the humanity of my child all right so members of the board um one more comment and I'm sure I won't be the last I want to begin by expressing my disappointment and disgust at the behavior witnessed during last week's interviews particularly the actions of Mr Bob Wonder gem the open admission of deliberately obstructing qualified candidates in favor of an individual who was rejected by voters Just 4 months ago is at its best undemocratic furthermore Mr wondergem your descending condescending treatment of your fellow female board members your insistence on

097mansplaining your justification for obstruction is not only reprehensible but should be grounds for a formal reprimand under the board's anti bullying and harassment policies in fact I would go one step further and say the district should explore the formal process of recalling you for failing to fulfill your role it's 2025 Mr Wonder Jam not the 1950s these women are your equals whether you want to accept it or not it's equally disheartening that the trio of Bob wondergem Joe stepes and Brent Dean continue to act against the best interests of the district Mr Stephy consistently votes in lack step with M Mr wondergem except of course the one time that he voted against renewing or against sending a critical millage renewal to the ballot that decision could have cost the district millions of dollars severely hampering

098many of the wonderful programs we hear about our at our um board meetings Mr Brent Dean appeared very visibly uncomfortable last week as he listened to all of that's going on had no no comments to share yet he continues to align his votes with Bob and Joe and does not seem to have the courage to stand up for what is right and then Mr Wonderman Mr wondergem a man who lacks empathy professionalism and heart he does not contribute meaningfully to board reports unless you're talking about politics which has no place at a board meeting your primary purpose on this board has become grandstanding and obstructing proceedings your failures go beyond simple incompetence you belittle women you're openly hostiled towards students and you treat the lgbtq plus community members with outright contempt it's not just poor

099leadership it is a fundamental failure of character you have shown time and again that you're not only unfit for your role but really a true a truly unkind person whose presence on this board is harmful to the district and the community so in short these three need to either fulfill their duties in support of the district or or step aside lastly I would like to take a moment to recognize the resilience in the professionalism of board members Sally vanck and Amy Gardine the way Mr wondergem has treated you is appalling and yet you have maintained your composure and called out hypocrisy and double standards when necessary I commend you for your courage Jason thank you for your leadership your measured responses and your experience and Roger we extend the same gratitude to you your professionalism

100patience and guidance in navigating this board's challenges have been invaluable and I want to thank Mr Cameron zakowski for helping me put these thoughts together and present them to you tonight thank you for your time thank you up next Keith bom Gartner on Deck Pete hibore first thank you to the board and the community for taking public comments uh this evening I'm a resident of the district and a parent of a student uh I'm standing here today because I like many others watch the board's evaluation and debate of candidates uh on the 27th uh I'm really embarrassed by the lack of objectivity lack of critical thinking and disregard for the voters of this community exhibited by some members of the board uh in November of last year I and many other others did our due

101diligence in evaluating the candidates that were on the ballot I did not vote for Mary Gunther it's okay if you did why didn't I she got an endorsement from Ottawa impact I don't support their their policies the candidates that they tend to stand up uh I think that they're aggressive restrictive and they take a blunt force approach to things that require um a little bit more consideration uh in any case on with further research into Mrs Gunther's online presence um they reinforc rein forced the personal viewpoints that that Ottawa impact endorsed her for um those views are her right however candidates that accept the organization's blessings and represent themselves in similar ways as those policies they have to wear the consequences of those words actions and affiliations at The Ballot Box uh the plurality of

102Voters in this District agreed with the assess with uh that same assessment in November uh Mary Gunther lost the election by approximately 2500 votes that's more than 33 % of the total votes that she received it was not a close vote um she didn't just show an interest in serving by running for that office she ran on a platform of policies the voters rejected she did not become more qualified for the role in the 3 months since that election so I'll say this another way losing an election is not a rubber stamp for the next unelected opening members of this board that have a narrow set of criteria for qualifications really need to take a look in the mirror um Miss Mr D's rationale for selecting Mrs Gunther was limited to basically one sentence I

103like the way she answered questions and she ran in the past end quote Mr Wonder Jam seemed to think that running in the past and suffering harassment were the most important criteria um there was no mention of resumés applicable professional experience or head-to-head qualifications with the other top candidate um or any other candidate that was offered as a possible solution and while I obviously reject outright harassment of any candidate for for any elected position especially in their day-to-day life um the rationale for her selection was paper thin rationale um and and half the board followed a um a rejection of compromise that other other board members offered to evaluate other candidates than their preferred candidate um so that that's irresponsible Behavior at best and naked nepotism at worst the open board seat should not be

104reduced to the equivalent of a participation trophy um so I'll the board and whoever ultimately fills that vacancy that you're elected officials um for those of you with terms that are ending in 2026 voters are listening um and some of you do not have the support of this voter thank you thank you Pete hbor and Matt Bogle onck hello members of the board my name is Pete hibore son of Jason hibore uh I'm a senior at Granville High School I uh I've participated in the band I've been team captain of a tennis team I've ran theater shows National Honor Society Club president and founder of the uh Grandville Historical Society at uh the high school and uh yeah so um I'd like to speak just on a quick note um so we are like hosting

105a freedom writer on March 25th um he's coming to the high school and I'd like to extend an invitation to all of you guys to uh come because I feel like it's pretty important um so in this recent election I was able to vote as a result of being 18 I'm here tonight not as a captain of the tennis team or president of the Historical Society but just as a product of the Granville school system I spent the last 13 years of my life here one of the most essential functions of the school system is teaching you how to be a positive member of society my upbringing in the school system has taught me a plethora about this crucial Topic in school I learned that being a good person required me to be cooperative to

106be able to see others opinions and to compromise I've always enjoyed and always will enjoy working with others because when working becomes when you embody those values it becomes a great quality of life last Thursday I was able to attend the meeting uh concerning the recent vacancy in the school board I expected the meeting to run smoothly and rather mundanely but to my great horror it was a nightmare uh I mean where I start blame obstructionism pettiness clear unwillingness to compromise it was just a a disaster there's there no other way to put it um this Bard is meant to represent the values of the Granville School District they're right behind you and I I I lambasted the apparent blindness that we displayed on Thursday night it it was it was shameful if every voter

107watched that meeting I feel like some of your own self perceptions would be solely mistaken and I mean really watch that meeting as an amateur historian I enjoy reading about the past however professional historians like to analyze the past and u i aspire to be one of those so I'd uh I just have a couple questions um why was Trent Taylor not in that Final Cut uh contrary to many of your presuppositions I didn't meet Trent through the um U through my father instead I met him through a band alumni event I talked to him he came off as well spoken as witty with a interesting perspective on politics and just general aspects of Life later he invited me to his election party and I was able to pick his brains a bit more about

108just politics in general he lambasted the division in government split up along party lines and he he didn't really approve and very seemed very frustrated at deadlock in Michigan federal even local governance it's one thing to preach ideals to the masses it's another to embody them Trent has raised three kids all of them have become outstanding members of the Grandville Community i' see no reason for him not to make this cut other than blant pettin clear unwillingness to see any other Viewpoint in a vowed obstructionism I only ask tonight that you reconsider and reflect upon your behavior during this critical process as you embody you embody the values you sore to uphold when you pen your mission statement together respect compassion humility and equity and that's taken all from the website again you guys are

109role models of this community how are we expect how we you expect our children to grow up as productive members of society when you set or six people cannot decide on who would be best okay this it's ridiculous I mean how would you expect your children to be better than you are that's that's the goal of raising kids right this is this is such an Unbecoming way to act as a school board as elective Representatives one minute you should all feel ashamed thank you I look forward to see you on the 25th Mr Matt vogle and Wendy Taylor on Deck you guys are going to like my comments because I don't have any prepared and it's going to be really short but uh you guys have all filled me up today I I just love

110seeing all this engagement and all this concern for our our school community and and even and and this body as well um Bob I came here with a negative impression of you after watching the uh the recording of the previous board meeting and your obstructionism but I was encouraged by seeing how you interacted with the speakers your fellow board members so I think my conclusion is that you're you're you're in it for the right reasons so I would just ask going forward that you remove the the political keep this an apolitical body please I mean that's what we need for our students and it's just was painfully app apparent that you were more concerned with establishing a voting block than you were with choosing the right candidate so I would just ask again that you

111keep it apolitical thank you thank you Wendy Taylor then Trent Taylor and deck [Music] hi my name is Wendy tlor and I'm here to speak tonight about some recent happenings at the board after the last meeting I was extremely disappointed by the behavior of Joe stus Bren Dean in particular B Bob Wonder J I was in the mood for some light readings I decided to look up the policies for grandville's Board of Education according to policy 2302a a board member's primary concern must be for the educational welfare of students attending the district schools nowhere in there does it state that a board me member's primary responsibility is to push a political agenda as seems to be the case with Mr Wonder jum the policy also states that board members should focus on governance not management

112taking care to distinguish the board's responsibility to focus on the district's missions values and Visions the district's values include caring respect compassion diversity and Equity the way that Mr Wonder Jim belittles berates and attempts to intimidate the female board members who have the audacity to question him does not showcase any of these values when making decisions board members are instructed to render all decisions based on an objective evaluation of available information in the last meeting Mr Wonder Jim freely admitted his decisions were subjective and based on feelings because of this several highly qualified candidates were never given the chance to interview because Mr Wonder jum Mr stus and Mr danan rank them on their subjective feelings rather than an objective evaluation finally board members are instructed to work constructively and collaboratively with other board members

113Mr stus Mr danan Mr Wonder Jim had no intentions of working constructively nor collaboratively as soon as Bob Barb Palmer stepped down they had their minds made up of who they would support for the open position and refused to even consider other options with three daughters who have graduated from Grand or will graduate soon from Granville Public Schools we've been very happy with the quality of teachers and administrations administrators in this District however I'm seriously concerned that the current high level of Education will not continue unless changes are made to our board I hope our district wakes up and starts electing qualified board members who all the conscious and accompass focused on the best interest of the district thank you thank you Trent Taylor and Bob perski on [Music] Deck good evening everyone as most

114of you know I ran for one of two open Granville board seats in 2022 I finished the election with the second most votes in Kent County of the five candidates running however when votes from the Ottawa County precincts were counted I wound up finishing third by 241 votes it's hard to lose by such a narrow margin knowing that I ran with Integrity while some other candidates did not fast forward to today along with 18 other applicants I have applied for the open seat on the Granville board in the first round three of the board members ranked me as their number one candidate however I did not make the list of six candidates chosen for interviews because the other three board members Mr Wonder gem Mr stephus and Mr danan ranked me 19th dead last In

115fairness to the people in the Granville school district and In fairness to myself I would like to read into the record exerpts from the application materials which I provided to the board I'm a graduate of Granville High School gustavis Adolphus College and the University of Michigan law school I'm a senior partner in Miller Canfield Michigan's oldest Law Firm where I've worked for the last 25 years I have served as co-leader of the firm's banking group for the last eight years I have been ranked as one of the best banking lawyers in Michigan by three different Publications every year for the past 12 years those rankings are the result of years of hard work and an ability to get along with all types of people I'm a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church where I

116serve on the finance committee and as co-leader of the Cuba mission team I'm a firm believer in the Methodist motto Open Hearts open minds and open doors I am a lifelong Bulldog my father Joe Taylor served four ter on the Granville School Board which is how he and my mother met their best friends Harry and Dorothy Weller my three older sisters and I all graduated from ghs my daughters brillan and Aaron graduated from Granville and are now students at the University of Michigan my daughter laye is a junior at Granville my wife Wendy is a former bilingual ed teacher and now works at Granville Middle School as a PA professional for multilanguage Learners Wendy and I have had children enrolled in Grandville public schools for the past 15 years if elected I would add both

117legal and financial expertise to the Granville board in my daily work as a transactional attorney I bring parties together in pursuit of a common goal closing the deal on mutually acceptable terms clients trust me to not only advocate for their position and navigate risk but to be fair and reasonable to the borrower with whom they desire a long-term relationship beyond my own expertise I have resources as resources highly specialized colleagues in other practices at the firm such as labor and employment immigration election law and Title Nine all of which are areas where school boards might need guidance in the days ahead we advise our clients against actions which might lead to litigation while I live a conservative lifestyle I don't expect others to do so I believe in the personal freedom to live one's own

118life so long as that can be done without hurting or endangering other people that said my open-mindedness has its limits first I don't tolerate bullies or cheaters second second I am very protective of my three daughters and strongly inclined to take steps necessary to protect their innocence and the innocence of other children and young adults I believe that public schools exist for all students I consider discrimination on any basis to be morally wrong it is tough to be a kid today and even tougher to be a kid who is perceived to be different these kids and all students in the district need and deserve our protection again after reviewing material which I just read to you board members Wonder Stephon danan ranked me as the worst candidate of all applicants that ranking was inconsistent with

119Mr Wonder jimp statement at the February 17 meeting that those who ran for the school board before should be given priority over those who would not run apparently he didn't follow his own advice when called out for his hypocrisy at last week's meeting he gave a nonsensical answer attacked the feem and attacked the female members of the board Mr hyber also questioned his objectivity but he left Mr hbor alone the bylaws of Granville Public Schools provide that each board member has a fiduciary duty to act in the district's best interests and that each board member will render all decisions based on an objective evaluation of available information exercising independent judgment these three board members have completely failed to abide by these bylaw provisions and have consequently breached their fiduciary duties to the district reasonable Minds

120can disagree as to whether or not I am the best candidate for this position however reasonable minds and persons who have taken an both to serve the district with objectivity cannot possibly rank me [Music] 19th Bob perski my name is Bob perski and uh for those that don't know me or don't know me well um I taught 30 years my last 23 years here in Granville my wife taught her whole career here 31 years French and English after retiring and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life I was looking for some community service to do and I was already serving on the parks and wck board and decided that it might be great to stay involved with the school district in a different way I decided to

121run for the school board served a six-year term from 2014 to 2020 and um up until now I had avoided coming to speak publicly um just out of enjoying retirement but I'm here tonight because I was one of the 19 people who threw my name in the Hat as all of you know um not so sure the audience would know that but the reason I did that was for the same reason I ran for school board eventually and that was because I've always felt that Comm Comm service is important and at a time when I know things are pretty polarized I thought that I would be a pretty perfect candidate to fill that year and a half or two years on the school board with my background as a teacher here in Granville and as

122a a former School Board member who served for six years I might also add in that six-year time I didn't put this on my application because I didn't think of it at the time but I also um I also did 60 hours worth of um Michigan school Bandon orch or sorry Michigan Association of school board um classes I took 60 hours of classes because I was serious about wanting to learn more about Schoolboard and about all the complicated issues that a school board has to look at when they make decisions so I guess I I'm here tonight just to say that I am incredibly disappointed at the way that this process played out um I find it and I want to be very delicate about the way I say this because I also watched the

123six interviews and I thought the candidates were excellent but um if we're looking at who is highly qualified I find it incredibly hard to believe that I would not have been one of those six finalists to have the opportunity to uh sit in front of you and answer questions just find that pretty remarkable so what I would ask of Roger tonight this is a bit rhetorical because I know you're not going to respond to me now but um we don't know how this is going to move forward exactly you probably know more than the community does we know that kisd will be involved um and I am standing here to ask you to have them consider all 19 applications that were um offered to you I think it's important that the kisd if they are

124charged with the decision that they see all 19 candidates they start from scratch and they have an opportunity to learn more about all 19 candidates before they uh decide who fills the seat um I would love to perform that community service one more time for for uh that two-year process so uh thank you for your time and uh yeah thank you right thank you the next regular board meeting of the Grandville Board of Education will be Monday March 17th at 7:00 p.m. at the administration building we are adjourned [Music]