001e e e call me to order everyone can rise for pledge of allegiance I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and jce for all thank you can we get a roll call sure I will do that um wond here stephus here Gardine here danan here vanck here hbor here all thank you please note as a courtesy to 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 and I've got one form Mr Merkel or John or whoever all set thank you all right um item number one approval of the agenda can you get a motion so mov
002support all those in favor yes yes opposed motion agenda passes all right so second overview of the process as we sit here and um go through the process of selecting a new board member sure you do have a piece of paper in front of you for the suggested process um that I have here for you um so we are interviewing six candidates tonight um the candidates have been asked to arrive 10 minutes early uh a district person Dr Merkel will take them to a space until called to enter this room candidates have been told they um they are not to be here before their interview um to really talk to anybody come in sit and then after WS after they interview they're more than welcome to stay if they wish um and then we will
003interview the candidates um after the candidates have been interviewed and they will have a time and I'll be your timekeeper for you so if we start getting to um that time where we need to move on for the sake of keeping on schedule I will just say last question and then we can ask that last question go from there reason why you do that obviously some people might have two sentence answers some people might have a novel for you it just depends on that and uh as we move through okay um and then uh at the conclusion of the interviews each board member will select a Top Choice to begin the dialogue um once top choices are selected by each uh board member uh the board will determine who a roll call vote should be
004taken for um so exam I can give I mean if you had say you know three people one person and two people another person and one person picks one per another um then I would suggest we start with whoever had the three um have discussion take a roll call vote on that person if um that person gets the four votes that are required from you guys then we have our person if they do not then we move on to the next person do the same process um and go from there okay um if for some reason you don't come to a forbo majority consensus of this current board then um there are a couple things we can do one I would suggest is uh to use a tiebreaker tiebreaker I would suggest I have a
005WRA pack of cards here um we would simply open up this pack of cards the top two candidates that we have um these these cards would uh be pulled out of here and uh if they are here here then we'll have them pull a card out of here if they're not from here I would suggest um the red-haired lady over there named Heather rosowski she could draw one for one person and then one for another and do that but if we're going to do this I suggest that you agree to it before we ever get to this point that you agree we'll use this tiebreaker to break a tie between the top two candidates so that's a suggestion we could do um I would say if your top candidates you know and we don't know
006how those votes will come out how your Top Choice candidates come out but if you end up with more than two like I said I would start with who has the most votes see if you can get a for vote consensus if not move to the next person and the next person if you have no nobody a a possibility that that you could do is talk about is there anybody that we interviewed tonight that this board could get behind as their person so um that's another piece as you know we have 30 days from the time of of bar Palmer's resignation uh that date is next Wednesday uh that deadline when that deadline pass is if we haven't made a decision as a board then this goes to the ISD and the ISD can decide
007how they want to choose somebody um you have questions that are here there are 10 questions um the first six I believe are pretty essential uh to the role of a board member I would suggest each of you take a question because it's probably about six questions um that will be able to be asked and like I said if somebody's very short in their answers you may be able to ask more because you do have more there um if they're long you might not totally get to all six um so you know that's a piece we'll want to try to manage uh throughout the process for each person um I'll take 10 okay again I would suggest yeah I would suggest the first six but but you're not help the first six questions yeah yeah
008to take one of the first six but fine if you choose a different one I don't have a problem they're all good question start with Sally and we'll go this way and I'll five that work that work start there and move this way okay gotcha um do that tiebreaker yes no I I need to know that this I'm going to tell you this would be so embarrassing if it goes media will get a hold of it this district will look like a joke that we do not have our act together and the drawing of the cards to me is as Fair as it's going to get so that's my perspective I why air are dirty laundry it's an embarrassment to Roger and it's an embarrassment to this District that's my take I disagree I disagree
009um I think that it's an important enough decision that we should be able to work together and we should be able to find a person who will come together for this board I think we have a lot of we have a lot of options in front of us and if we can't figure that out then that might be something worth looking into as to why that would be embarrassment so I I don't find that this decision based on a draw of a card is a good is a good option that's my opinion I would agree with that I think that if we have to go to the ISC as much as we don't want to do that then you have objective Minds that could look at our candidates um that we have and then make
010an objective decision if need be um I I feel like we can come to a decision on a person here tonight I believe we can if we go into this objectively and look at the credentials of each person and then see how they interview with us here tonight and I think we have that ability I have more faith in that than I do in a deck of cards I I agree with the deck of cards that is what has happened in the past uh past president has been set with that as well so I think that's as Fair as you're going to get I'm okay the cards and I'm not a fan of the cards I think I agree it's an important decision that we need to come together um or make sure that it's
011done um objectively I'm hearing your split sounds like three and three so um yeah I mean if you vote on it which you could it won't pass because I'm hearing you say you don't have four um the other suggestion that like I said that you could do is just if you don't get a forers consensus from this board on a candidate you move to the next one and try to get to that point um and go from there if you're not going to do the tiebreaker so and and can you elaborate a little bit Roger about what happens what possibly can happen at the ISC level if we do have to bring it to that level it's totally up to them right they totally up to them they can do it however they want they
012uh I don't know how they would do it I mean the first thing I would do is contact Ron Gorman the superintendent the ISD let him know the situation um and between him and their board they'd have to figure out how that is I I can't really speak to that um it's it's totally up to them how they do it okay okay um do you have any other questions about the process from my perspective let's just go with the punches at the end of the interviews begin the process make it as expedient as possible okay all right then I guess we're ready you're going to start with question number one correct you bet okay so I guess we're ready for our first person is there going to be like a 20- minute time limit for
013questions or is it um we want to keep on time right now we have 20 minutes hopefully we we get through the six question and then we have time actually for even an additional one or two if we do I just didn't know if somebody had to keep time or not or we're not going to be that I'm going to watch to make sure we stay on time because I don't want us to get way behind I knew we'd start behind to begin with because I had to review the process okay so first candidate is Beth leate Rog are you going to address communication to other candidates outside of this room I did mention that okay thanks yeah hi Beth he hello brought my own water but thank you for all that but thanks for
014being here tonight we appreciate you going through this process with us and um we just have some questions that we'd like to ask you in this interview and we'll try to go around and be um as as uh brief as we can with our words so that you have more time to answer with yours all right great thank you okay so the first question that we have is tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board um thank you um Beth leet um now an 8-year resident of uh the Grandville area we move from Chicago um before that I grew up in Indiana my dad worked at Taylor University uh which is a Christian College I went to that University I earned a ba and Communications there uh went
015on to uh a Christian graduate school um where I received a master's degree in film and communication studies so um again we've I've worked in the corporate video field for about uh a little over 25 years uh which I really enjoy doing um using my communication skills um I have a Grandville graduate and a current Granville Senior so why am I interested in serving um in short I have a passion for service and a compassion for people both driven by my lifelong Christian faithful thank you all right next question what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member you I looked over that mission statement once again improving lives by producing s successful lifelong Learners so um as the board uh I'm sure I I probably should have looked at the job description
016actually but um I feel like it it is to fulfill that mission to help our schools run effectively and efficiently uh and to advocate for any and all things that help our students to succeed and to make sure that we represent really all families as we uh try to get that mission statement uh accomplished good thank you um at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints there may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you are required to uphold how will you handle this situation um as I've attended SE uh several meetings uh board meetings before I've I've seen this play out um and I I understand in most cases um you know we need to uphold a certain policy or law and otherwise we'll
017lose our our fund and obviously that's crucial to supporting all of our students um that being said it seems like there's um there's a latitude in in uh sometimes of how we apply that in our own School District while keeping to the law or the policy but also making sure it fits for our specific uh School Community Beth working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent end requires skill in communication and decisionmaking how do you see yourself working with other members of the leadership team I think that's were um some of my professional um skills and background um I was uh I guess now's the time to T tout your own uh stuff but I was on both the iabc which is the International Association of business communicators uh board I was the
018president of that in Chicago for a couple of years we got recognition for um winning uh we Rose the uh the income we balanced the budget um I led a team of fellow uh Communications professionals um and also the network of executive women uh where also I uh was on the executive board um with a a lot of high-powered uh amazing uh women and a few men um and we were recognized as chapter of the year nationally um and I hopefully played a hand in in that so um knowing how to um to listen to see both sides of the coin knowing that I don't know everything that I have something to learn from everyone that I work with uh on a team on a committee on a board um I you know learning from
019the expertise of others that I where I'm weak and maybe I'm strong where somebody else is weak so is that sufficiently that is I have so many notes yeah thank you all right thank you our district uh Focus areas are there's two of them ensuring each student reaches his or her full potential academic potential and then every student who comes through our doors feels safe has a sense of belonging and has the support systems in place to reach their full potential so the question is based on that what does every what does every student reaching their full full academic potential mean to you so it's two-part question that's the first part what does that mean okay and that second every student reaching their full academic potential right um I think wherever they're at obviously we
020need to make sure that they um make the most of what they've been given and sometimes it's a situation where they have the academics but perhaps it's a family issue or a language issue or something else that is kind of hampering their their efforts to be all that they can be um so that's where hopefully the the various different programs in our schools um whether that's an academic program whether that's ESL programs uh other ways that we can support um kids that might have diff disadvantages just from their own learning capabilities or from out side influences that um affect their ability to learn and then um how does a student know I mean how would they know that he or she belongs it's a good question um I think you know making sure that all
021of our teachers and students and from this board I want say on down but throughout our school district um making making sure that they understand that they are part of this community they may look different they may speak different they may believe different but they are all part of this family this organization this school district and we are here to support them and to make sure that they achieve and make it to their full potential Beth why should you be the person selected to fill this vacant board position sure um you know I I look at some of the other candidates some I I know better than others um and I know that um some have some education background that I don't have um I think I'm a good candidate it's up to you guys
022to decide whether I'm the best candidate for this uh position or not um but I think it's that combination of uh passion and compassion and empathy um you know my own educational background um and an understanding and a commitment to that at uh the mission statement of of Grandville Public Schools okay should we keep going since we have a little more time great a little bit more time so Beth um what are the successes within our school district and what do you see as some of the challenges well of course I have to mention the band program so proud band mom uh three-year band camp uh parent volunteer um you know I think the the successes are such uh a wide variety of of sports and and uh programs that uh get kids involved um
023but also the successes are you know the different clubs and the be nice program that we're involved in in and um I mean I I love reading the newslet the bird watching Club really okay cool you know um and those other things outside and and and being so proud that uh our seniors in their efforts raised over $60,000 and understanding in this day and age especially how far those dollars will go to impact people and I hope they are not only proud of of the fund that they had but the impact that that will have so you know again raising those um whole person um students to be in this kind of hard world so I think that's success so I'm sorry there was a Part B to that Sally no okay well um other
024yes s sorry what do you see as the challenges I see the divisiveness um which makes me sad and I think that's um I had just written a couple notes on that of of saying you know I I want every kid to be respected by another kid no matter what their background is um sexual orientation um their income level um their race their gender um and I want that to come down from from this board down you know with our teachers with our our faculty with our uh program people with our students so that we're on one page of supporting this entire community so if we can it's it's an issue I think in every school um but I'd love it to be less of an issue here thank you more one more identify a
025recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations and your personal values believes to determine how to vote on it long question yeah no um I I'm thinking of um and it can be one that you guys dealt with right okay um the the I want to say book Banning but you know the the book issue and I think that's one where um you had some people over here some people over here and everybody had different you know I want this I want this but that you guys went through and and and looked at um I mean I would want to do my dual diligence and read the books that were there but you put together a committee um
026you listen to um different viewpoints you had different people on that committee um and then a decision was made that both respected uh the people who wanted limits in in the availability of some some materials as well as not Banning or getting rid of those books so I think that was a good one to say we listened to all sides we thought about it we did our Deep dive of looking into uh those books um and made a decision together so I thought that was cool so good great thank you very much thank you appreciate you thanks be thank you that I'll I'll be in touch [Music] okay our next one is Jeff Johnston and Via Zoom so Walt has us set up um I'll ask the questions from there you'll see him up here
027and you'll get his responses okay hi Jeff hello Roger okay we're going to get started are you ready all right let's go all right I will ask the questions uh our board is here taking notes and they can see you on our big screen so uh first question Jeff tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board sure thing um I am a father of four uh three Grandville alumni and one Grandville senior and so you I've been involved with this district for uh for 12 years watching my kids grow up in it and uh seeing them get involved and find success and it's an organization that I would be proud to be part of um and to share in that success and to help you know give back
028for for what I've received a little bit more about myself um my wife and I have been married 34 years uh I'm from Flint originally but we've been for lifelong M michiganders and we've been in West Michigan for a dozen years I uh work in Communications for the state of Michigan and um I have had a 35 year career in media and communication including teaching at Central Michigan University at C school districts and uh I just think public service and and contributing to the public good is something that I eager to be a part of question two what do you see as the role of a school board member uh most importantly is you know we are the Public Public representatives and uh you know the public is not monolithic it's a uh it's a
029diverse group of of people in this community with many new points but I think we have a shared sense in our community that we want our Public School District to succeed and for our students to profit um so you know that's that's how I would uh uphold my responsibility to the public uh I I also would measure my success and and my responsibilities in the values and beliefs and Mission that our district as we represent us we are um and I think we know when I want to make our constituents proud so that's you know our students our faculty staff and administration and the community as a whole um that means taking this job seriously in in all the details and all the fine details of running a large organization uh you know it's uh
030it's not about being on soap box or or you know making speeches or or anything like that it's there's a lot of nothing BS hard work to be done that's what I think is important and and that's you know I I think it's important to trun the end of the district write down to our students that we have steady independent uh servant leadership on on the board people who can uh cut through confusion misinformation even the division divisions in our community Society question three at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints there may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you are required to uphold how will you handle this yeah that's a a great question um I know I would say when it comes
031to holding the law it's pretty clear that's that's what we do as as good citizens we have full law uh so you know that that would be my intention and my Approach is to respect the law and and carry it out uh I think we have a fiscal responsibility that comes along with that not expose the district unnecessary risk or un risk the only other thing I would say about that is how topic is um that uh you know whatever I do on this board I'm going to measure against the the values and beliefs as I've mentioned before that that we've agreed up I would certainly hope uh that there would be nothing uh that would come our way in in the form of law or dictates that would require us to uh compromise those
032values if that were to happen that would be situation I I think that that would require a lot of hard thinking from from everyone on this board about how we best support our students and our educational ini okay question four working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent requires skills and communication and decision making how do you see yourself working with other members of the leadership um well I'm not coming to this position because I have all the answers or all all the ins and outs of uh running the Grandville school district and so it's a shared responsibility we go into that you know completely understand that I expect I'm going to learn from every single member of this boort and that's my intention I want to get to know folks and and
033learn from um I've been a team player all my career all my life uh and um you know that's that's where I find the most satisfaction it's not being a rolling wolf but being part of a successful team I think I have a lot of uh skills and uh you know both in terms of knowledge and interpersonal skills that I bring to the table and I look forward to a cooperative collaborative work enironment question five our district Focus areas are a ensuring each student reaches his or her full academic potential and B every student who comes through our doors feels safe has a sense of belonging and has the support systems in place to reach their full potential what does every student reach reaching their full academic potential mean to you that's a great great
034question a great uh great thing for people to reflect on um so uh I think it touches on every area every aspect of what we do the kinds of academic programs and extracurricular programs we offer um you know at a basic level I think what we're talking about is uh we want want every person to become their best self we want to respect who they are who they're becoming uh and you know how they're maturing and learning uh as they go and and and being there as a support uh to help them stand on their own and make it in a a challenging fast moving world so you know it's making sure we uh keep the district on a uh on a healthy stable positive track so we can continue to offer kind of educational
035experience that has put Grill in the top 5% of District school districts in the United States and the second part of that question dealing with this the second Focus area how does a student know that he or she belongs um yeah next uh I want to I want to think about that for a second um because I think this is one of the most important questions facing today uh I think that there's a real crisis of mental health among young people uh I think there's a sense of alienation a sense of uh you know loneliness frankly and it's not just children it's a lot of adults too but I think it puts a special burden on School District when you're dealing with young minds and young personalities developing people to make sure that we're very
036uh proactive about uh the ways that people of all different backgrounds uh can feel included uh you know inclusion has become a buzzb uh but uh you know all it really means is we're making room for everyone at the table and I think we're all better we have everyone at the table so it's you know the having a a breath of of student organizations and clubs and activities that appe lots of different kinds of personalities and people having staff and faculty that are empathetic and compassionate you know living out those District values again to make sure that that they can be there as support I mean I've seen it with my own kids where teachers do make a difference probably every one in this room has uh has had a teacher who has made a
037difference in your Liv and you know that's the kind of District that I think brand Jeff why should you be the person selected to build this vacant Floor position uh well you know that's that's what I'm trying to answer for you tonight by giving you some uh insight into who I am for but uh I think another way to put that is uh I'm not going to pretend to be someone else so that I can so so that I can you know just simply try to get this this seed uh by any means I me I I I'm presenting you my honest self here and telling you what I believe and I believe that uh you know these are widely held values and and beliefs in our on our board and in our community and
038so you know that's why I hope that the board members voting tonight will see who I am and agree that I would be an asset this Bo and you know value for what are the successes within our school district and also what are the challenges um you again there uh there many things I expect to learn as I get deeper involved in in the school system um you know we have 16 different facilities uh I have not visited every one of them but I expect that I would visit both or all of them as Bo I get to know uh the people who are you know working uh doing the handson work that that really makes for these successes um so uh when it comes to uh I'm sorry I'm losing track of your original
039question so sure we got go back okay sure so what are the successes within our school district and what are the challenges so any yeah finish that thought I'm eager to learn from folks what they feel those successes and challenges are um you know I think one of the biggest challenges that we face right now um is also I like to see you know I hate to talk about challenges without also being able to about potential Solutions so in every Challenge and every problem there's also an opportunity uh you know we're in a challenging time in our country and uh you know a time of great change wherever you may stand politically it is a time of tremendous change um and there's no way that that doesn't filter down to running a school system uh
040and being a student in in that school system being a teacher in that school system so I think you know this is if that's the challenge you opportunity here is uh it gives us an opportunity to examine truly who we are and want to be and figure out ways in in a changing world that we can live out our mission to the best possible last question Jeff identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance Community concerns student needs state federal law staff considerations and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on an issue okay um the one that comes to mind is one that I actually spoke to the board uh about uh I was speaking in a wider sense but it it was
041related to this issue of um the now uh reverted changes to Title 9 as I understand it the proposed changes that were U leading to some controversy on the board some differences of opinion on the board have since been rolled back uh but uh when it looked like those new guidelines protecting lgbtq plus uh students were uh were were being uh considered for you know the board was was struggling with the question of whether we you know formally adop those or resist that uh those changes um I spoke in favor of us moving forward with the CH I know it's new now but but the issues are still my judgment those new guidelines align with their District values ad Mission and my personal belief that the board has to support rights of every students uh
042I felt that adopting those standards makes most sense from a legal perspective I understood it our legal council the district's legal council advised that we do that not put the district at unnecessary risk uh I was willing to speak up for that and you make that case publicly uh as as far as personal values and and how how it work you know what role my personal values play in in my responsibility as a board we all bring our personal values to the J and and that's and we should but we Al also must recognize that others in our community have different personal values and those values also have to be considered to the extent that we don't restrict other people's rights or our CL needless suffering say um and and I think we also need
043to as a board trust the leadership that we put in place uh to um you know to make the best decisions that they can on the ground and work out those difficult issues um I I think that our our district has been very successful in working those things out uh you know it's it's not always flashy or uh or within the S of the public but it it you know uh some of those things should be done quietly and privately and respectful of of you know Community Jeff we'd like to thank you for your time and your interest in this board vacancy and I will be in T all right great thank you thank everyone so we have a few minutes um we're have a schedule which is good next person will be here within
0447 to 10 minutes so we'll just take a few minutes to Exhale a little bit Jesus's writing so much hand hurts not used to that usually I just wish I brought my pen I know I was looking that too I'm like dang I love that do you want pens I can go get oh thank you thanks John didar basketball gonna give us some I had a friend that actually made this baby oh really my brother made I know is it is it plastic or is it resin or is it wood I think it's resin have so many pens I just I can't take but I get a lot of them from people they confence we IDE adver so my brother has a spring manufacturing company and he makes all the little the little springs for
045shaer pens but then he also makes it cpar caterpillar Springs Hond like all these giant they're the nice ones too the gel I ruined an entire I'm the only [Laughter] SL it's terrible because you know they have they have these little you know you have to do all [Music] 3,000 yeah we'll make sure everybody's back here I'll have connect it'll be a very get back to school and every kid needs another single day CU I lose them yeah we be careful not getting too far ahead of ourselves for sure yeah CU they're both 30 minutes we could ordering a strong hand here said tough crowd I'd have been happy with a crumble [Laughter] cookie Roger still no water usage there so we're good that's good Lou saw one of your kids at the hockey game
046oh yeah I saw AJ and I was like AJ wait D no it was like no it was your AJ and uh yeah so I you got the news that we're not working this St sorry like no that's yeah you are the news so lisis is like oh I going to have to work with little kids he be so so good though he's so good with the little they like jump all over him you know and they don't have they don't have boys a lot of times at tree house you'd be you'd be a shoe in they're playing college they want him they so that's what I said like you could do one or the other I talked with Lisa she actually said to talk to treehouses because they go back and forth so much
047but yeah yeah now that he has like I need that's cool yeah and they're just I need they play so it was fun to watch I can't wait to watch him tomorrow it's good game he because he's kepin height and they play Four softs what are your to do this text me and I'll bring you I don't know yet tree house yeah that's uh but 's EK is going to be good in a couple years been playing four sophs next week I know I know I know that's exact same question someone else said in fact at Dr V play our basketball coach like I get phone calls a lot and I'm like s we're have 10 out of 11 grandkids with us down in Florida for spring break oldest is U of freshman so she
048can't that would be fun that we going we go we have gone for decades now to this condo complex in new SM I know that's right where there's nothing higher than four or five stories not oh nice no high where's new Smur chass that's about I'd say 15 miles south of Daytona oh okay it's kind of a sleepy little village it's great it's not Mar it's right on the beach too it's also the shark by capital of the world Oh I thought that was C that oh yeah I thought that was Coco Beach no coco beach is near there because we went with friends to Coco Beach they're like oh we have a house like okay we'll go sure whatever and then they're like yeah this is the shark I'm like thanks for inviting us
049well one year we actually did see two great whites about probably 200 yards off the beach and we found out that they were at that because the local folks told us that they um have trackers on them and they a lot of the locals have the app that they can track I think one name was Penny and the other I can't remember the long not Penny wise inredible because you saw from way far away it was amazing oh man forget it I don't need that kind of drama in my life but that's what they do though the locals track where they are so that they not better hope you got AJ and I SW last it's like you can't see they shut down um give her a few minutes and whenever whenever she's ready sometimes
050I fall asleep on their couch so Mary's here we'll give her a few minutes to settle in and instead of just jumping right in here I told Scott bring her in when she's ready [Music] Roger I talked to Charlie and Josh tonight the game and just told him what a great job they did the other day Charli came up to me yesterday was at the game like we're not far away oh yeah I did sounds like you did well which is unreal it's going to be March some people just can't be I just felt so bad for that little girl it's just got to be Terri you guys doing that's happening just cuz my son is stilling long story but Bic team and ended up with are you still think no no no we're going
051go apolog to our ad her behavior that's where I wanted to go this year both to go to Tigers game to Disney because he doesn't remember deal so you're doing both yeah the Disney one were just came they have like a Monday night best they could so 7 to midnight or something like that so it's like half price of okay whats like but I'm like they're aware let them handle it don't you might be needed for something else something else Happ I just got him and started kind of walk making my way slowly yelling and screaming I told we seat in sh and there's like a limited of bought for them and six weeks ago or something Aon see me the next I'm sure he does there was some excitement I'm like yeah I'm just
052going there's nothing worse than that I've seen that a coach I've seen people do that what you super kind of impressed because it was bigger felt bigger than youing training way interesting I assume I looked at the Tigers one and and played a little bit better that particular away from parking is right there but they said that they have one of the Tigers you remember J stadium so I don't know how new J stadi is cu I remember there being the Tampa Stadium you to see it out in to that so here's story for it so that's kind of the vocation of was it to the next I actually to see if there's any other we have like things to do for first three days not after that so we I was looking at other
053places other spring training games Tampa has basically two Yankees actually St Pete there's yeah all right official here yeah here thanks so much for taking the time to not only reply but be here tonight for our interviews we really appreciate your time we have a number of questions that we're going to ask you and we're going to keep our words short so that you can take the time that you'd like to use to answer those okay okay all right done so I get to start and the first question is we'd like you to tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board sure um so many of you might know but if you don't um so I'm I'm a lifelong Bulldog myself K through 12 um grew up in
054the district um grew up in Standale going to Cummings and moved mid school year in fifth grade over to the other side of the river um and I went to West Elementary so um have have a unique experience just by kind of experiencing different sides of the district um I'm a mom of two now uh six and four they're young um my son Williams in kindergarten he was an early kindergarten last year and before that went to the Early Learning Center and have we've had nothing but great experiences with with all of those different places for him he is an IEP as well so navigating that we've been it's been so nice to have so much support with the school so um other than that I just love to contribute to our community um as
055a person and with my business um I obviously have a lot to that I feel like I I owed a you know my my life for growing up in this area um I definitely believe in lifelong learning and you know so I'm interested in this just to serve a role in the next 15 years or so that I'm going to be around raising my kids um and I think just with my my history and my skills um to do with you know owning a business but also working for Downtown Development Authority in Grand Rapids and the downtown market for a decade being on the admin side of board management um I appreciate what the that the admin role entails and understand board Dynamics and what it takes to kind of cooperate and work together to
056get things done for the betterment of the community so those are some of the reasons why I'm interested in serving um so I'll leave it there I think thank you all right next question what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member well the role of a Schoolboard member is to you know hire and review superintendence um to determine some of the the curriculum for the district as well as be fiscally responsible make good financial decisions for the district outside of those m main priorities I believe building strong Community ties is important um and being you know building relationships and representing Granville schools in a professional way led by Integrity um and just being you know having the best interest of the of the schools and the and the students specifically at heart
057so other than the formal duties I think it's important to also you know you know visit the schools be be there see what's going on in those schools so um but not micromanage so that's what how I would approach this right thank you okay um at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints uh there may be difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law uh that you are required to uphold how will you handle this I I am a person that can separate my personal beliefs from a situation or a decision um I believe myself to have really good critical thinking skills um I surround myself with people of all different backgrounds and um I I actually enjoy that so as far as being able to separate those things
058I'm confident I'm able to do that um I have seen you know with my time working for the downtown and Community organizations I've seen you know I've seen a lot just you know I I pretty much could have a PhD in in watching a board operate and making the important decisions so as far as that goes I'm not concerned I wouldn't be able to look at the whole situation research get the knowledge I need to make a sound decision and taking my personal opinions and beliefs out of it and also being lawful I mean I think that's important too so following the law the policy whatever the issue might be I think it's um I'm a data driven person so I would probably start with diving deep into some you know diving deep into the
059issue whatever it might be thank you okay my turn um working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent requires skills in communication and decision-making how do you see yourself working with other members of the leadership team yeah uh I'm I I'm a collaborative person I enjoy meeting people talking with people working through problems with people um as part of this process I've reached out to all of you just out of respect and just you know I've had some great conversations so I think um that would be something I'd continue to do um I don't I don't like silos um I kind of actually believe even over communicating if you will I I feel like communication is usually the root of every problem if you think about it um so I see myself definitely
060being collaborative open to hearing others points of view um and you know behaving professionally I've you know I feel proud of the career I've had I have a background in human resources of before I'm doing what I'm doing now um and you know so as far as being able to understand and policy and how to work with people you know I've done a lot of that in my role leadership roles in Human Resources like Jason you know um it takes a lot of skills being in the HR World um and now even now you know building my business you know being very plugged in to the community and meeting new people I meet new people almost every week in what I do so I you know as far as being able to be collaborative and
061work as a team and be efficient I get stuff done I I that's why I I you know I I like to move fast and get and just get things done so as far as that goes I think um there'd be no issue there I work hard I get it done and I and like to collaborate with others that are involved than all right Mary my turn um so our district Focus areas are and there's two of them ensuring each student reaches his or her full academic potential and every student comes who comes through our doors feels safe has a sense of belonging and has a support systems in place to reach their full potential so it's a two-part question what does every student reaching their full academic potential mean to you I mean so
062students like all people are so different and they operate different and they they have different backgrounds I think each student reaching their potential it's what that means for them what their interests are where their skills are and I think it's important that as a school district and as Educators we kind of meet kids where they are um and give them the tools they need to figure out what's going to make them successful in their academic career but also after they leave Granville um so whether that's you know some a child that interested you know in our robotics program which is amazing um or sports or Deca which when I was in school was business Professionals of America um I think all of those things are valid and I think each child also learns differently and
063I think that's something to consider as well so um that's what I think academic success looks like I also you know granville's always been known for academic standards and like Excellence um that was a great point of Pride at least when I attended that it was like you know Granville was like the place and I think it's still the place I think we're still a destination District which is something to be proud of um and I just would want to make make sure we maintain that um and you know in the Ever Changing landscape and technology in the world you know it's year to year that could look different as well so um so yeah that's kind of what how I look at it um I don't know there's like a one answer for academic
064Excellence I think that could look different um depending on the standards and the student so you sort of answered it but then the second part of the question is how does a student know that he or she belongs what do you think that piece of it is so I don't know if it's necessarily like we we can we can tell students all day you you know that you know you belong but do they do they feel like they belong cuz that's two different things I to be honest never really felt like I belonged um and for and we've all probably felt like that I think we can I also think it's important that we help kids navigate the like the world posts Granville um and give them tools for like perseverance and grit because once
065you leave the school walls you know a lot of that could go away so I am all for a welcoming environment I do think it's you I feel like we've all been there where you feel it or you don't and so I would be more interested in you know are students feeling that way or are we just saying that they do but they don't feel that so I think there's a difference there and um of course of course I would want everyone to feel like they belong cuz I have definitely been in the seat where you know you don't feel like that and I I don't I it it makes my heart hurt for kids that don't feel like that all right there uh why should you be the person selected to fill this vacant
066board position yeah so um so I mentioned at the beginning you know I've you know I've I've grew up here I I think it's Unique I I think that I also think there's a lot of moms with young kids right now that I talk to with my involvement in the PTC and otherwise in Granville that would really like to see someone like them on this board um that is are going through similar things and the future you know between now and I I really feel like we're on at the beginning of you know with AI and obviously we all know social media um with my business being in social media and digital Communications and um I'm heavily involved in staying up to date with AI issues I just I feel like we need to think
067about now but we also need to think about the future and and what this board member can bring to this board and I feel like I bring something that's not currently represented on this board and I think that's important um um and I also think I mean bottom line is um you know clearly everyone here knows I've uh campaign for this position so if you've been in that seat you know how much work it is hours long days months money um so I clearly um put in the work and not that to say that that's the reason I should get this at all but I do think that whoever is placing Le um you know I would hope that they put the effort in and I definitely would put the effort in and to learn
068everything I need to learn to Be an Effective board member um and no one whenever I do anything it's never halfway so uh I think I could be a great asset to this community um I think I could offer a lot I think also it speaks a lot that a person that attended this school SCH district is now sitting here saying I want to serve this school district um in 20 years from now I would want kids that are in school now to be wanting to serve on this board I think that's important so um I I have a lot to offer uh education experience um I think I'm a kind-hearted person um and I think that I I really care about kids um I have two I have one that is you know um
069a bit you know William has his challenges and I understand that and I think that's important to have someone that understands those things so those are some of the reasons and uh I think that's about it I'm going to keep going because we have a little more time so what are the successes within our school district that you see and the challenges that you see so some of the successes is um like I kind of alluded to I mean granville's a sought after place for families and I don't think I think that sounds like oh yeah of course it is but there's places where it's not like that so I think the fact that people still want to move here and send their kids here they want to move and send their kids to our
070school I think that says a lot and it says even a lot that you know I want us I want to send my kids to this school district and I'm raising my kids here so I think that's wonderful I think other successes are um I mentioned before the robotics program that's an amazing like national uh just a program that Grandville can really say wow like it's impressive leading the way in that field um Doug's doing great work um I've spoken with him you know I haven't been involved as much because of my kids being so young but I could definitely see my William being wanting to do that but I know Doug's been great and we've had great conversations he's supportive of me um I other great things the strength and conditioning program at the
071high school um all the different programs we offer the the AP courses um the awards that our elementary schools middle school high school has won over the years so there's many successes and there's many um things to be proud of for you know Grandville Public Schools some challenges I think like a lot of districts in the country I I don't think we're I think we're you know I don't think we're exempt from the challenges that any school district probably experiences um I mean 5 years ago we all went through a worldwide pandemic which seems like a long time ago but re in reality um you know there's still things that have resulted out of that that we need to make sure that we make sure the students are like caught up or getting caught up
072um and we need to make sure that where they need to be for the level and age they are um like I said I appreciate data so I think we need to continue to focus on being able to teach the kids the things they need to know to be successful in life um and to launch them into the world successfully so I think a CH so to sum it up a challenge would just be you know the the regular challenges of when you have a diverse set of students in your District making sure we keep up the academic and the instruction is is is at a high level um and that we're giving students options to whatever those options are whatever they're they find they're interested in that we support that um so they can
073go off and have a really good solid base to live their life um much like I feel I have had so I would want that for students now and moving into the future so um yeah one more question sure all right last one identify a recent Schoolboard decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance Community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations and your personal values and beliefs to determine how you would vote on the issue it's a long one but yeah um okay so first and foremost we kind of talked you know discussed or I discussed this to you before um I think it all always starts with you know policy and law so I think that will help guide a lot of that I mean we all
074were here recently you know there was a with the 2020 version of Title 9 and you know there was a lot surrounding that ultimately we have to follow the law um so the community had their feedback on that issue and the issue she was put to rest based on that so um which I support so I think you know I I think it's important that the community has the opportunity to share their opinions and voice I I don't I don't think I think that's I think it's honestly great that so many people care so much to want to share how they feel about our schools and then you know so I mean that was one issue I again you know my personal beliefs my personal beliefs aren't what I'm bringing to this table I'm bringing
075again critical thinking um dissemination of policy law looking at a lot of different things so it's hard to really pick one thing and say you know it's hard to answer that um but I can just tell you that's how I would approach any issue that would come before this board as a board all right thank you yeah that's thank you for your time I will be in touch [Music] okay we're in the same boat we that person should be here within the next 5 to seven minutes so we got a little bit of break a little bit of time okay rides they all listen to you so far yeah must have been pretty sternly worded message yeah I don't know about that Roger he's scar come on I think so come on didn't you guys
076do in Arizon oh okay got if I if it was my choice this year that's where we would have gone got it got it wor next year that's what I would like to go back to do is go more Grand Canyon and places in Southern stuff we we made one trip to the Grand Canyon like on a winter break and then we made another trip on spring break to the five parks in Utah nice oh yeah nice I think you did that well no we did um well I guess it's well get so squirly in there right was Bry and z Oh my God uh no we didn't do arches so we what we did we did U we were started in Vegas and then we went to Bry same we did uh Bryce and
077Zion or Zion Bryce whatever one which way right and then back um down to like or the B and then like Grand Canyon and then back up you know Dam and stuff like that did you hike down to to the bottom of what which one no you kidding me you just did the outer rim you know we did the outer rim right um we did we did Ang oh my God you uh let's say if you ever do you hike down the kbob trail and you hike back up the Bri Ang because the KOB is steep in the bright Angel's less steep but a little bit longer have you have you done Angel's Landing well that's you you go on to that on the way back up on right Angel Trail Angel's Landing yeah in
078Zion no oh no sorry I'm there's a there's a see I go down I would go down you know I just need a mule to bring it back up that's what actually you know what going down is it's hard toes and you got to make sure your toenails are clipped way back and your knees are in healthy shape yeah we went down and we stayed at Phantom Ranch for two nights which was magical that was so cool yeah and uh there's all these little so there's a bright angel Creek that feeds down from the north rim through there comes down to the Colorado River and so it has all these little Dy and you go exploring in there that's cool watch videos of people that Whitewater ra through the Grand Canyon oh wow and they
079have the different camping spots along the way that looks awesome but there's like seems like there's years waits to get to get on those yeah it's pretty restricted right c number yeah yeah especially the camping for we were supposed to go whitewater rafting like some like around Georgia it wasn't like as massive as that but then Arthur went to a wrestling practice and somebody stepped on his or landed on his foot and cracked his foot like so sad yeah we uh we did white water rafting and it was very minimal rapid but it was in the the smoking that was fun that was a lot of fun we always said you know we got to do that again sometime somewhere with a little little harder gra but I mean yeah that was that was a
080lot of fun I feel like I'm not in shape to do any of that stuff right now well I'm trying to remember what we did at can we did a hike there the Angel's Landing is supposedly like one of the most dangerous Ang Landing ision yeah that's one of the most dangerous ones we didn't go all the way to Once once the chain started we we stopped AJ and I started to go but then there was people coming down you go the chains and I was like we're done we're just going to we don't need to do this my youngest did that my youngest went up there um by himself I mean cuz he's a freaking mountain goat anyway so but uh the rest of us we got up to that point right we're like
081all right this is a good place stop right where the chain start there's so many people there but he was just he shot ups that thing so fast and you know he was way ahead of us but those switchbacks right at the end there I'm just like oh my God that almost killed me holy cow I don't I can't remember what they said the incline wasn't the Switchback but it's tough I mean you do like you go all that way you get to that top and all got these switchbacks and it's like you do two or three and you I got to stop you do two or three more I got to stop I think that's at like 5 or 6,000 foot elevation yeah it goes it's it's up there but I'm so glad you
082know we did we started in the morning and I didn't even think about that um and but by by afternoon man that sun is beating especially right on that start area where you're going up the side it's it's crazy but you know I you have so much respect for people from all over the glob right I mean there's so many people from like you know like India or Afghanistan or some place like that they're just wearing sandals I know and I'm like you know I thought okay I'm not in the greatest shape ever right these people didn't look like they were even in the shape but they're still just walking and was like what is wrong with me right I could have special shoes on they got sand walk there one of our return hikes
083back up from Phantom Ranch at the bot Canyon we encountered these two Japanese women they had these teeny tiny little sandals and then they had their suitcase on rollers like we are covered in pink DS because the D very we like grubbed out totally yeah yeah but daughter and her then new husband went out on their honeymoon out there to um I can't remember which park it was but they actually repelled down into wow you know the cave areas I still want to do uh what is that the river um there in Z that you can go hike down or you can go down we didn't do it was like a burton River or something like that something like that it's got a crazy KN um but there's this River and yeah we didn't do
084that either cuz we went it was too cold it was too cold or the time of year you you still have going back to the people it can get really dangerous yeah it was still like the snow melt was coming off yeah so the raid too well say that that the hotel that there in the park there was people they they gave them like these wet suits and that and they were heading down there like gosh good luck guys I can't remember is that called The Narrows is it that's what Manny and Mike did okay yeah the Narrows yeah so um I was think I I get that in the wave which is down in Arizona right on the Indian Havasu yes yes exactly are yes exactly um anyway but uh yeah there's just there's
085just so much to see there is Yeah country has so many incredible places to visit it's really cool and I still love y I've have not oh Capon did you see incredible it's unbelievable I remember you remember driving there um that's when we flew into like San Francisco Oakland and just kind of drove the co and came over anyway but um you come in and you start to see like some things right you know off the road oh we're going to pull over and take a picture hey there's a um a waterfall that looks like 3 miles away that's really cool right you take a picture of it okay you go through another oh okay look oh things are really cool right and then also you come into the emity B and it's just like
086boom it's everything is right there and you're like oh my gosh this makes all that stuff that I thought was so cool about a mile back just pale in comparison it's gorgeous it's just one of the things I would ever suggest if you is go to the Grand Canyon with the astrology societ oh really they have they have telescopes this like from here to that wall yeah like and then they have the coolest laser pointers we've ever seen like it literally they can Circle they can Circle Stars I mean it's just amazing and we went there when the kids were little and yeah we thought we lost my dad but I mean that's story but no it was amazing like oh I want to go back through all those guys are there this is the
087coolest thing What's um in yane so it's El capan what's the other one is it on the other side Dome or something yeah half okay so El capan right and I can't remember the name of that movie but there's a guy that like speed climbs it have you ever seen that it's on like Disney Network this guy yeah heed he speed climbs it right but the reason I tell you the story like he's done it in like 4 hours or 3 hours right but I tell you the story because you go there and you're like looking at this thing it's this huge massive you know structure and you're like hey what's that dot there right and you get out your look at it it's someone camping on the side because they've only made it halfway
088and they got to stop and so they camped it and it's like okay this dude's making it in three four hour and there other people that are doing yes he does it on te too I can't and he's got some type of physical condition too where his cortisone levels don't like Spike so he doesn't get nervous so that allows him to do it himself yeah yeah they measured it on I say cor I don't know chemical is but but there's something about him that he doesn't like his heart he doesn't get like you know what I got a secret if you ever hide an elevation again I I that you could Trail to 147 in no I mean it's a DI right so the oygen flow through I didn't I didn't use that we used
089the C Jackie hello right R Jackie thanks so much for being here we appreciate the fact that you took took the time to apply for this and that you're here tonight for our interview um we have a series of questions that we're going to ask you and we'll take turns doing that we're just going to try to keep our words as few as possible so that you can take the time that you need okay so I'm going to start and the first question is please tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board sure uh my name is Jackie Pullman as you all know I have two children in the district so obviously being a parent that's the first reason I want to serve on the board um my
090son Max is a senior at the high school and he's involved in everything from Varsity soccer to being a national arm Society member being one of the exec board members he's involved in so many clubs I can't even keep them all straight uh my daughter Claire is a sixth grader at Oaktown and she's involved with the image program The Amazing Shake she plays in the band I actually just had to leave Battle of the books practice night to uh come here so I had to kind of pivot gears to make arrangements to be here so they're both really involved Learners and we've really appreciated the depth of things that Granville offers for them to be involved in um when I'm not dealing with them I am a self-employed digital marketing consultant and I know a
091couple of the other finalists are also kind of in the marketing and Communications realm uh what I do that's a little different is I focus more on the technical side and the technology that populates a lot of the things that we're using in our businesses every day uh for example I've got a client that's at the home show right now now and I just helped him set it up so that when he talks to him at the home show he can get their contact information it gets filled into a database then from there it automates a series where he gets added to an email list and they start getting emails from him so that's a real simple example I do things that are a lot more complicated than that but I think that technology piece
092is something that would be a unique perspective that I could bring to the board as we're using more AI we're using more digital tools since you know we were in the pandemic and we all had to do things on Zoom that we weren't used to and pivoting fast um one other perspective that I think is a unique thing that I bring to the board is that I'm a single parent and I did some research before I came in here tonight and I saw that about 10% of Grandville is also single parents and so 15% is each board member so having someone that would represent the board as a single parent I think would bring a really unique perspective thank you all right I have the next question what do you see as the role of
093a Schoolboard M um according to the Michigan Association of school boards there are three main components to being a Schoolboard Member One Is to set the budget for the district one is to set the curriculum and the third is the hiring and firing of the superintendent which we have Roger to think all right thank you sorry just trying to keep up I talk fast I hear that a lot um at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints there may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you're required to uphold how would you handle this uh one of the things that we talked about this was actually a big topic of conversation in my church Community as we you know we're all very polarized we have
094lots of opposing viewpoints is that more than one thing can be true at one time and I think this is a really great example of that what I personally believe may not necessarily be right for children may not be right for Michigan may not be right for Granville may not even be right for different parts of Granville one of the things I love about living here is that we are so large geographically and my kids went to Cummings and I live over here by the high school so I did kind of an intrisic transfer for a lot of reasons but even seeing the changes in philosophies and just some of the interactions I have with Cummings parents versus parents from other schools there is a difference so I think it's really important as a board
095member to recognize just how many different perspectives and how many different places people are coming from and using that to guide the interaction to make the decisions that are right not just for us but for all of Granville and our students and our staff that's me um working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent requir skills in communication and decision- making how do you see yourself working with other members on the leadership team well as I said I'm in the communications field so this is something I do all the time all day every day uh one unique thing about me is I spent the last year working as a marketing manager for two political candidates in Ottawa County and those two candidates and I did not always agree on everything they both really
096tried to have a diverse array of viewpoints on their staff so we'd have people that were on the very conservative end of things and people on the very liberal end of things and often s that candidate was looking for a response that would be in the middle similarly it was a very kind of bipartisan election season so you'd have people that were on the left that were really angry about something that they said and then youd also have people on the right that were angry so we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what's the best answer for in that case Ottawa Kind but what's the thing that makes the most sense for the most people and does the most good and I see that as a perspective and an experience that would
097really benefit me on the board too as I'm looking I mean it's not hard to find common ground with people and that's something I would definitely try to do whether it's you know we're talking about the Lions we're talking about our kids' ages and their activities like you can always find something to agree with and get along with people on and you if you start with that and you build that trust then you can build a relationship from there thanks so my question is uh it's a two-parter but I'm going to give you the intro to it it's a little different our our district Focus areas and there's two of them ensuring each student reaches his or her full academic potential and every student come who comes through our doors feels safe has a sense
098of belonging and has the support systems in place to reach their full potential so the first part of the question is what does every student reaching their full academic potential mean to you I think there's multiple answers to that I think there's one kind of boring in bread and butter answer which is test scores graduation numbers all those kind of Statistics that say yes we had you know our spring map scores went out by this much our reading scores declined our or went up or down our math scores went up or down but more importantly I think and being a self-employed person and leaving the corporate world it's really helped me showcase to my kids that success isn't necessarily being the president of a company it's do I have the kind of life that makes
099me feel happy inside and I think we one of the things that I think is kind of a challenging point for Granville is we are so College Prep focused still and I think we have room to grow in the area of being there for those kids who may not necessarily be on that College Prep path like how can we guide them into a way where they feel successful where they have purpose where they have passion even if it doesn't mean the traditional four-year after college path after graduation so I think getting them to success is figuring out what that is for each and every individual student and then what was the second part that was a lot well you sort of answered it but you probably can um uh give more detail on it how
100does a student know that he or she belongs while she's at school I'm not sure if that's a question that can be answered for every student every day and I'll give you an example my son and he's probably going to cringe if he hears that my son has a great group of friends like he's constantly you know texting people going out with people going and doing things but he's had some moments where he's come to me and he said Mom I feel really alone and we you know he feels safe enough to tell me that and talk to me about that but I think everyone goes through life feeling like they don't belong at one point and having the empathy of knowing that everyone does go through that is what makes it makes people like
101him feel safe to come to someone and say I feel really alone right now can you help me and ask for that help so I think the the best way we can do that is to provide the space and you know maybe it's being there for that one student who doesn't have anyone to talk to and say you look like you need someone can you can I help you what what's going on and you know sometimes it just takes as little as that as reaching out and giving someone a safe space to let themselves be heard that makes all a difference in the world and making people feel like they belong Jacqueline why should you be the person selected to fill this vacant board position I think I bring the the three unique perspectives that
102I talked about earlier first of all the technology piece um I do a lot of work with ai ai is going to be taking over a lot of the things that our educators are doing and that our students are going to want to do there's also the issues of cyber safety and cyber bullying I'm on social media all day long I'm seeing the trends I'm seeing what's coming I'm seeing what people are working on in the social media space uh secondly I have the experience of working in the public sector with those two political campaigns that I talked about I've worked across the aisle with people that I may disagree with and trying to find consensus with other people uh third as I mentioned I'm a single parent and that's a perspective that's not currently
103represented on this board and I I'll throw in a fourth one because I just thought of it I have children that have both gone through the entire process of going through Granville and I also have one that's just kind of beginning their path and is still in that intermediate stage so I think I know we've got some board members that have high school students but I really think it's important to bring in that younger perspective those younger students to kind of see what they're going through and have that empathy and learning of what is kind of making them tick too okay next one is what are the successes within our school district and what are the challenges oh the successes I mean there are so many geez I I'll just point out one I love
104love love the amazing shake and that's such a unique program it it's it's the thing that I tell people about when they say why should my kids go to Granville which is something that I do in public spaces every day because I I love this community and I love evangelizing about this community but that program especially because number one it allows children who may not be the academic learner to have a space where they can succeed I also loved and I Vol I volunteered at at both years in a row because I think it's it's such a cool thing it's really great to let the business owners in our community see what our students are doing feel that sense of belonging in the community and also one of the things I loved about it was
105there were some kids that like I didn't want I don't want to do this I don't feel comfortable and that was okay too it was just it's a really great experience for everyone to kind of find where they can be successful at uh the biggest challenges I I'll say the tech piece again I'll keep hitting that like the the cyber bullying people posting things not just kids but we've seen it with adults too especially in races like this one uh I think the the politization of public education is really a challenge for us I I know I've talked to some people who used to be board members and theyd say we'd maybe have one person in the audience who was watching what was going on like most board meetings are supposed to be boring these
106haven't been boring for five I would like them to be more boring I would like there to be less things that don't necessarily need to be involved at the Schoolboard level get back to the three things we talked about budgets the superintendent and the curriculum that's that's it everything else can be outside or on Facebook or wherever else you want to be all right last question identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance Community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations and your personal values and beliefs to determine how you would vote this actually happened to me after the last meeting um I was approached by the mother of the student who was bullied at the school and she was asking me what I thought
107of the situation and whether or not they should release the video and I had a really hard time because it was right around the same time that but I found out I was a finalist for this position in fact so the first thing I did was to figure out does this person actually want action or do they just want to be heard and it took me a lot of lot of rounds of probing questions to be like what have you done so far who have you talked to who have you spoken with to get to that point and then I realized that she was actually looking for Action that has not been made yet so after I'm done being a finalist I would really like to know what action has been taking place but I
108also want you know as I kind of thought about it from the perspective of what I would do as a schoool board member we also have to look at the responsibility of this board to keep our reputation intact and what would releasing that video do to our reputation versus the accountability that it would provide is there one right answer or the other I don't know there's a lot of things that need to be weighed and I don't pretend to know that I have all the information and that's the other part of it too is I think as board members we have to be comfortable saying I don't know that offand but I'll find out and get back to in this situation I don't know what the right answer is I would really like to know
109because I care very deeply about that Family their cumming's parents like myself their sons are friends of my son but that's an issue where I would like the board you know that's a recent decision that I would like the board to weigh in on and I may or may not disagree with that because I don't have all the information all right thank you great is that it wonderful thank you so much for the time I really appreciate it thanks Jackie thanks Jackie okay so about 10 minutes 12 you want to go to Arizona I think that's what we're going to do is May you fly in my my P's all plan out I should look on my phone but um it like fly in one SP make our way Fly Don't tucs pretty much maybe
110it's flying to Tucson Phoenix maybe like there seems a lot to do a lot of I will Zion right and then doing Bryce and then doing you know that that war that was pretty tough after a while so but I think I don't think Arizona is as tough as some of those steep elevation climbing elevation that you get those big like that's what I want to that's why I want to put Arizona just because I think my parents like they buried where they went after my dad retired and my dad my dad likes Arizona the best and my mom likes North Carolina the best so they kind of gr North Carolina more but I'd like to go see what it's like Sedona s are amazing too yeah I've just I've spent a lot of time
111out there because my mom and dad had a had one of they one of those uh Park unit communities that sounds like trailer park but it's like you go in there crazy two golf inside this community they had 24 Pi this is back in the like the early 2000s they're Bing it already yeah and they had restaurants and multiple things three pickle B no wonder you're so good at pickle ball you've been at it since the 2000s seriously it's fun like the Phoenix for work okay several times it's just allive just hot go to the airport go to a warehouse go to hotel go to Warehouse back and forth and then fly home but that's all I spent time in Arizona like flag stop friend of ours John don't remember yeah yeah when he graduated
112high school he just went like didn't go to college and went on and worked at Flag Staff what did he the stuff there for like a year or two and then he came back after that thought that was awesome black Stu is kind of like pine trees and Mountain it's beautiful all the time which which one was he was he John is the oldest boy but yeah was there cuz Okay so he's the oldest boy but John and then Amy one of so Amy okay so Amy I think was my mom Cy yeah so Cathy and my mom worked together they were both Nur down in butor and then they worked together doing um teaching down at the well for a while they were doing like um kctc stuff down at the they had rented
113some of the rooms down at um the market downtown so they actually were teaching classes to like uh medical assistant classes her Kathy so Kath so your house is kind of backed up through the woods long that's a ways to get to eth Avenue come on now that's a long ways I don't yeah I don't think of likeing coming off like next Drive kind of a Bo right joh John chips AG or up there H wake up there [Music] usually for games and stuff I was nauseous last night like I don't even know cuz uh um what's your I just felt so Jerry and then the game ended and I was just so I couldn't decide whether it was like tonight last night if I hadly he's still doing that yeah well today I end
114but her dad is my wife is working terrible hard she down in Florida so I got a call early this morning can you watch it does throw things oh it does I had to do today but oh well yeah I just think about how lucky my son is because we had no one us at all my parents live we first had the boys up until Walter was five they lived like 3 hours away like that I couldn't drive them down there because Walter was not that didn't go very well we didn't even we didn't have Babys we were so poor right we had but you don't have like Jerry made decision he's super lucky and then people who have both sets of oh my gosh so it's one in the corner I could remember one
115right oh yeah yeah I I was telling my wife just had invite in the mail have grandparents yesterday for am do I have to pick up their dog every other day she divor the dog one of your grandchildren I used to I don't anymore you got bumped up I don't because she's a she's a golden so they need people she's a nurse too they're so loving but see that she was my baby but now I didn't get a chance to watch my grandson like Le like Vicky or Kay's Kay's par and when he was a baby sleeping over there the dog would never be my grandson yeah so wherever he went that's and then my grandson would just lay on him and watch TV and stuff but um does poppy is a diva she is
116she is in competition that drives me nuts did you ever have that memory that I had my grandparents had a dog it was a doxin it would it would protect us to no end and US lay all over a cat the same no we had uh just laid on we had a German Shepherd that bit me once and ours do that but none of my I only knew one grandpar well my other ones were deceased by the time I was B so but oh yeah it's [Music] I had is so fun [Music] also you don't think it's I think it's going to be a had a terrible had a general my wife is faite a dou no matter what I'm doing I'll give them they all yell at me I yell that all the time
117why are you am cuz I'm his grandfather oh yeah you get to give him back I get yelled at all the time every day he's around us last week we had him six days I got to see him for six days you help they on no they just needed either she was working joh a bre yeah and my my old granddaughter just be able to do you know I had to I had down really oh my gosh good for just start driving but yeah now she went to K Hills right yeah it's so nice to be able to help with you know it's it's cool my they're lucky my son can't believe the kind of person I am he's like you never like that with me I go well yeah I was just just that
118when you started growing up need more I said he will too so big into like the c kid stuff oh my gosh he just got the biggest kick out of so I I don't know what it means I know Grandma John whatever that means I don't I looking it up I can't find it Jack I will find this out it's great grandma John Grand all right we're inney oh yeah not about me but I've heard just my grand he doesn't want to do that yet so he watches the same thing over and over again challeng he do all oh he more like but yeah Kay Kay she's trying to R so have you ever seen this an IP I think smart that's yeah so it's flying whenever is near yeah it's sool you you want
119to go not I see so he'll look at me like okay you going to do videos and I'm like no I'm not doing that but she'll do funny videos with a is it a free app or you looks pretty cool yeah it is I always just search like what's yeah yeah I think you know she still did a decent amount of that but then she just uses this to start placing it out and then you can look at it on the map you know figuring out where you want to go um they had radio so much to now there's such a variet thing I'll well when we went to from Vegas to we stopped at that I can't remember red Ro I don't know if it's Red Rock but it's I thought it was it's
120like a color sunet but it's you can even find like what do you call it theic but you the Indians paint the decreas minutes we'll get started and then the last you know we'll keep doing that if the last one gets here early same the last one that person okay next is oh yeah I'm sorry it is Amy yep two more so we'll do this one they some Cowboy wasling or rustling up his cows along this big G and out he's got it fig out got it that's right climb up the That's OCD well noted hey I see somebody took the water yes one person did okay just one that's okay I know she was like speed talking she's fast I know I was like wow very thorough but very fast I wonder if she
121reads the same way two minute warning two minute [Music] warning yeah you know make motion have to you know might use that this one was we a tie so we won't be using oh but this would be what we would use to make an official okay do done good if do many got I share Joy so my husband's up at our Cottage thinking that we were going to have to have a set to replaced oh and we don't oh good that's it's just a little route oh my gosh hi hi welcome yeah Amy thanks so much for being here tonight we appreciate you going through this um application process and now being here for the interview we have a number of uh questions that we'll be asking you here this evening and we'll try to
122do this little talking so you can use the time as you'd like to to answer okay and I get to start so Amy the first question is tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board yeah um so I have been interested in schools and education since I was in high school uh I started out being a teachers Aid in a classroom for kids with more significant disabilities down in Baran County um I was at a gra Valley student I thought I wanted to be a teacher but it wasn't the fit I disc covered the field of school psychology um it worked really well I was interested I ended up doing my doctoral work in school psychology um came back to Grand Valley because they happened to have a
123position that was perfect um so I have been invested in education um particularly how we support kids who have learning challenges um for probably the past 30 years um so right now I'm currently a professor at Grand Valley um I am in the graduate program in school psychology um so I spend a lot of time training future School psychologists um I also uh work with our state board um which is just the Michigan Association of school psychologists um what we do is we advocate for kids we advocate for our profession so I've been able to do some really exciting things working on legislation working on developing an apprenticeship program for some of our rural districts that don't have access to school psychologists um so I'm really passionate about public schools I saw that this came
124open and I thought that it would be a good fit and something that I would be excited to do thank you all right next question what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member well the school board I think is an interesting role because you are elected um or in this case you know appointed or voted in but really there's a couple of Parts one um you need to develop policies and approve policies that are in line with state and federal laws um I think that's incredibly important because you don't want to put the district at risk for lawsuits for potential problems so one you have to understand federal state laws make sure your policies are aligned um you also need to make sure that your district is making good Personnel hiring decisions
125I think hiring a superintendent is an incredibly important job and when that comes up it takes some time and it's a very you have to be very careful and considerate about that position um and also I think the school board in a more informal way is a good way to get um just the pulse of the community that the school district serves um every Community has a wide range of individuals living in it and I think on the school board hopefully those voices represent all of the different people that are on kind of living in that Community good thank you um at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints uh there may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you're required to uphold how will
126you handle this yeah that's a great question um so one I feel very strongly that you do have to follow federal and state law um you know it's taxpayers money that goes to cover attorney's fees for lawsuit so I do think it's your responsibility that even if you disagree with a law or you disagree with a position um you really have to do kind of follow through with that um the other thing um with that like what how do you handle that um I tend to um in my role as on the board for the Michigan Association um I've been in several situations when we have had very differing views on legislation on statements um on various things that the board work so in my leadership role one of the things I really tried to
127do was listen calmly to all parties and make sure that any decisions that were being made reflected what the board wanted as a whole as opposed to my personal position great thank you okay working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent requires skills in communication and decision making how do you see yourself working with other members of the leadership team yeah I believe in very open and transparent discussions um I am one where I would really I really appreciate when people are very straightforward and honest about their opinions I think it's absolutely okay that people have different opinions um and different you know ideas around what they think should work I think that actually creates a very very healthy board um I've done work like that in the past um one of the
128things that we've worked a lot on was the dyslexia legislation that was recently passed um so I sort of as a leader in the organization I worked with several parent groups who were really needing more intervention services for their kids in schools um so I worked with them um and we tried to figure out something that would work to meet those famili familyes needs at the same time um we worked really closely with our Michigan Association of superintendents their Association leaders also with the school boards with sort of the ISD leaders because they had a p you know had to understand well how is this actually going to work um so it was really I was able to serve sort of as that person in the middle to say how where can we come up
129with a legisl legislative package where everybody would be happy with it um our district Focus areas um there's two of them ensuring each student reaches his or her full academic potential and every student who comes through our doors feels safe has a sense of belonging and has has the support systems in place to reach their full potential so it's two-part question based on that what does every student reaching their full academic potential mean to you that's a really good question um so I feel very I believe very strongly in effective evidence-based instruction for all of our students I think students reaching their full academic potential is that the district is able to deliver an instru instructional package whether that's reading math science social studies art physical education where we know we're doing everything we can
130to get that kid to where they need to be um it doesn't mean that we have to design a system where every kid goes to college um it also means we Design Systems for kids who want to pursue the trades uh my younger brother uh did a trades program a Building Trades program in high school um and went right into the trades and uh he is doing very well right now probably better than me who has a lot of college education um so I think that's important um I think that you know really working to figure out that evidence-based instruction and how do we ensure that our teachers have what they need to deliver that in terms of feeling safe and welcome in schools um I think you know it's really tough when you are
131in a very large District um kids you know I I think my middle daughter is actually at Oaktown right now and so she went from a tiny little Elementary to oh my gosh there's 400 kids here and how do you make sure that kids feel safe and comfortable and respected one of the things that I like is that the adults in the building all develop personal relationships with kids um you know she doesn't know all of the adults but she definitely has staff that she feels comfortable with that she knows that are looking out for her so I think what's important about helping kids feel safe and comfortable in schools it's one making sure that our teachers our staff our bus drivers are able to make kids feel comfortable and safe um also I I'm
132a big believer in structure in schools um I think predictability in structure is something that benefits all kids um you know I know exactly what happens when my kids go into school the visitors check-in system um you know that is aligned with what we know is safe um for school districts and so I think it's looking at all of those together so you've partially answered this but maybe you want to provide more detail so the second part of the question is how does a student know that he or she belongs that's a really good question and that's hard how do you know a little bit Yeah so I I would say how do you know you belong um I think it's when a student can go to school and feel comfortable um and feel safe
133it's not you know not every day is going to be a good day for kids um having two girls at the you know Middle School ages um I know there's lots of days that are a little bit rougher and that's okay um but it's knowing that if I go to school right if something happens it's that feeling they have sort of going to school um and for me as a parent um it's that feeling of knowing my kids are safe and not having to worry about their safety about their education in schools um and if I do have a worry I can always talk to a teacher uh next question why should you be the person selected to fill this vacant board position so I when I looked at this position I realized that there's
134not much left in the term and there's also a lot of information that you have to know and understand to be a board member um understanding simply board you know Schoolboard bylaws understanding Robert's Rules of Order um I have a pretty good working understanding of how a board functions um so I felt like I could step into this role pretty quickly and get up to speed on the requirements um the other thing that I feel I can bring to this board is because I one I do have kids in elementary school um and I also have um quite a bit just through my training of background knowledge on curriculum and instruction um one of the things that I have heard people talk about are you know well what about test scores how are our test
135scores what do they look like and I think that's really important but I think my perspective on curriculum and instruction and what works for all kids can add maybe a little bit of a different voice um or just something new to the board great the next one is what are the successes within our school district and what are the challeng Alles that you see um so some successes um one thing that and this is is something that I have noticed is I think you have done a really nice job with prioritizing certain Personnel hiring um so for example your dis uh you employ two board certified Behavior analysts or bcbas to help teachers and help kids with autism um that is something that not all districts do um but I think it was very smart
136in helping both teachers who are in special education but also our general education teachers um I think your personnel decisions have been smart they've made this District a positive place to work um if teachers are not happy in their position um this you know no matter what curriculum you have right it's going to be rough um and I think it's really clear that the teachers and staff are happy and feel supported and I think that's a great success um I also think one of the uh things that have gone real that has gone really well is your implementation of multi-tiered systems of Support over time um you do a lot to support kids very early on who present challenges in Reading um and that is a game Cher for a lot of those families and
137so I think that's actually quite successful um one of the challenges I think right now is the idea that you know there are so many different needs that kids have um we're having kids coming in um not only with academic challenges with some social behavior challenges some Mental Health challeng Alles um and I think sometimes what can happen is you're trying to do so many different things that it's really hard to you know St pause and say wait a minute what are we doing and is it actually working um and so I think that's a challenge when you have a larger District when you have all these things happening to be able to systematically evaluate um practices and policies and whether or not the are working in the district all right last question it's a
138long question but I'll read it identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance Community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue yeah so one I do think you know I generally hold the The Firm belief that state and federal law tends to Trump personal beliefs um and you know not everybody is happy about certain changes in laws but it is I believe your responsibility as a board member to make sure that the school is in good standing with state and federal law um a recent decision from the board I'm trying to think of something um well I mean I think one example um because I know there's a variety of perspec
139Ives was the revisions with Title 9 um so there was a whole slew of revisions and I think it made it really difficult for districts to know what to do because it's here's this so you have to do this but now we're taking it away um but what I did notice was the board right and though not everybody agreed I do think the board said okay we will approve this package under this current law but when that changed because that group of revisions was rescinded right the board then adopted sort of which were basically the older Stander or the older title n law from 2020 I believe um I think the board was able to switch and say okay this is sort of where uh we have to go now and I think it's important
140that both sort of even though they were different the board was able to say we have to follow sort of state and federal law and we were able to make that change all right that was the last question that was it all right well thank you thank you for your time I appreciate it I'll be in [Music] touch so for the next one as soon as that person gets here and has a chance to breathe and is good to go when we get started so if that's early it's early is this and I Jason hasn't eaten you have my you have that gum if you want but we're on the last one that's amaz okay are you guys going early and going to Sho I think we're going to go get yeah I think I
141can't remember so you know the we're going to meet you I don't know if you remember the Fitzpatrick family yeah so we're gonna um he's going to be there and Joanna the willough want to go watch the game so we're all going to have lunch and then go to the game and to go watch watch theot hockey people hang out at shg before they go from experiences when they played at fairs Josh and I you know Josh went the fair so that's favorite place in B Rapids but what it was funny cuz we I took him hockey once not knowing you know like one of my first times that you're were up there and I and he's like you want to go to Sho yeah let's go we got time so we walk in WoW
142awesome so Alles sitting there eating was like I just remember being in such a tall building going long like we got on the buses right out here he watching it's such a great team my parents too much just what need it was so nice because like I was of the science department so it was so easy to do all [Music] right the only thing that I my my grandson who's there he went from fourth grade to Oak sound two to three uh recess times a day to like eat lunch for 10 15 minutes and they go outside like for and he does not like yeah that's been a hard yeah I can see that cuz I recessing sixth grade was a big deal was big deal a lot of kickball yeah I think especially to
143be sexist but I think especially for boys right yes yeah they gotot Jack man the jackpot jackpot I owe that one the football catch C says the yeah yeah okay got it y y y sometimes coming in just being mud like play football or something yeah it's like why did I do that I just I remember soaking wet covered in mud so c y y like what I get to sit here for another couple hours y oh my good okay uh five minutes [Laughter] [Music] starts on Saturday the hockey game up Bob's G to go over because our Cottage is just a little bit north west of there and I'm going to go up there oh nice where do they play I saw they pop up that it was a Paris but TR city city
144let me see thought that's what the email said from Charlie I made the final four I went down to just say Detroit whatever that was a few years back watched him I think they play DC stens Central game is at one on one thanks thereus travor City Central yep okay they play wonder if they play them already I know they goth and play yeah they do that trip right yeah but that one well I'm trying to think that they they've gone to Northern Michigan they've gone all the way to like Bara before like oh really few years back somebody that we knew was on the team and they went all the way to with the pans like Andrew pman I don't name sounds right yeah he played baseball okay hockey he was on the baseball
145team but they had they went all the way to michig all the way yeah and I'm trying to remember yeah the team they played this last year up in Northern I want to say it was like a Junior's team or something I don't think it was a team yeah um but remember seeing the name like I kind of wish wish questions that you know giving a score to her if if you are um matched up a little bit more with some questions that we ask some of these don't you know conducive to using that as Valu tool I just just taking notes on I wasn't other I did give like I made my own little rric from their know historical nonfiction stuff I just what he does he tells that was in Chicago at the
146same time that all the major architects of the world were brought into within a very amount time the Chicago world this was all that's but when they my kids would read nonstop whenever they had a minute they would read and then they don't read nearly as much as they used to look at their phones was talking with the younger one about that the other hello he didn't he couldn't deny it hi Kate Kate Hi Kate no that's okay then you just stay right there thanks so much for going through this whole process with us of applying and now coming for this interview this evening we have a number of questions that we're going to ask you and we'll take turns doing that but we're going to try to give you as much time as you
147need to answer them as as in the way that you would want to okay and I get to start so the first question is tell us about you and why you are interested in serving on the school board um so I'm Kate Oster I am a Sentry Park parent to a third grader who is um loving her time there and we are loving the district and are so thankful for the supports that are here um I am a public school graduate myself I grew up in the Chicago area so K12 really before K12 um my mom was a teacher and so I grew up in the classroom so this is definitely part of um my heart is that public education piece um professionally I am a teacher by trade um and now a behavior specialist
148for the Ottawa ISD and so being able to bring some of that knowledge to this group as well um is something that I think I can offer um and some of those problem solving pieces that come with it and just really thinking about more than just our academics but how do we really Encompass the whole child um because we have such a unique group of Learners that are coming to us at this time that to be able to support them um as a whole child is really important to me all right thank you the next question what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member someone to support the staff um we have fantastic teachers here and they have fantastic knowledge and expertise that they're bringing and as that school board member being
149able to come and say yes this sounds like you're really on a great track ask some questions and then be that validation to say you are doing really great work and how can we continue to support you in what you're doing all right I at times you you may be caught between legitimately opposing viewpoints um there may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you were required to uphold how will you handle this the law it will be where that line has to be um and as much as we can try to put our own lens on that but at the same time at the end of the day um we do need to follow what the law is asking us to do in the spirit of
150it um with some questions to ensure that we fully understand what we're agreeing Tok you working effectively with other school board members and the superintendent requires skills in communication and decision making how do you see yourself working with other members of the leadership team I love to collaborate um I love to be able to pause and listen to different viewpoints and then as a team sit down and pull that information together to think about how do we come to the best outcome for our kids and I love that the Strategic plan and the mission is right on the wall because that should be what guides that teamwork along the way our district Focus areas are and there's two of them ensuring each student reaches his or her full academic mic potential and every student who
151comes through our doors feels safe has a sense of belonging and has the support systems in place to reach their full potential so it's two-part question that's just the intro okay what does every student reaching their full academic potential mean to you thank you when you think of the wide range of Learners and those and the different what we might perceive as their potential really thinking about what are the goals of those students and how do we help them plan to get to reach those goals and so whether that is a College Bound goal or if that is thinking about a career bound goal or if that goal looks like I want to serve my community and X Y or Z way how do we ensure that we are providing instruction that allows them to
152do that so the second part um how does a student know that he or she belongs you are asking my favorite question um I feel like belonging is um something that I have been really working towards as a professional thinking about how do we create that culture of belonging for our students um and as a parent um of a neuros sparkly sometimes we like to refer to her child thinking about how do we create that culture where everyone feels like they are able to come into a room um and have something to give to the community I think part of that belonging is having something to share out with others but then also how are we accepted for who we are um within that belonging and then as adults as we are supporting and and
153building that Community how are we modeling that for our students and intentionally building in opportunities for them to be welcomed and included um and have those opportunities to get back okay why should you be the person selected to fill the vacant board position that's a really great question I come to the here hoping to join you all um knowing that I have some of that professional background knowledge that I'm able to share um with you all in terms of school and already dipping my toes into what are those legal aspects of what we as a school district are obligated to to provide for students um I come with that parent perspective of having a younger child I have the uh pleasure and opportunity to sit on the building implementation team for the pis at um
154Sentry Park and so being really intimately involved um with that and watching how the building staff um is growing and supporting their students yeah just some unique perspectives um that as a parent of a younger child um I might be able to to share knowing that many of you have older children um who have either been through completely through or um are still making their way through but more on that secondary end okay the next question is what are the successes that you see within our school district and the challenges successes um I do love seeing the inclusion we got the opportunity to attend Victory Day in the fall um it was really nice to see the community wrapping around um some some Learners who might not always have that opportunity to enjoy that type
155of opportunity um and you see all of the great things coming out of the music and the drama uh you hear about the sports and then thinking about the academics we chose Granville um purposely 12 years ago when we bought our house um knowing that this was a district that was growing strong academic learners but also growing good people um and that is something that we really value about the district challenges I think as a culture right now we have Growing Pains um just around lots of cultural pieces and thinking about how do we continue to grow good learners um and good humans um who are able to disagree uh respectfully with one another and really think about how do we problem solve together um and I don't think that's necessarily a unique to Granville
156um and it's definitely a unique challenge that we'll have together all right last question it's a long one but the last one identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would B bance Community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations and your personal values and beliefs to determine how you would vote on the issue thinking about things some I guess I don't have a very specific one but it might be a little bit further back than your thinking um I am a strong proponent that we should consider how to grow the social emotional learning of all of our students and thinking about how do we best prepare them and what how do we do that and what does that curriculum look like and how do we support
157teachers in doing that um and I know that as a as a board there are some very different feelings around some of those um terms and what that looks like and so how how to balance that and to think about the law it's a lot of listening um and I don't think I'm answering your question will you ask that again all right I'll read it again identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance Community concerns student needs state and federal law staff considerations your personal values and beliefs on how to determine how you would vote it would be gathering that Community voice I think is the biggest piece around um understanding how the spectrum of individuals feel um and not just one or two voices but really
158looking at that Continuum of how we as a community want our Learners to grow and what direction we want them to go in um and if it does not align with my personal belief but that is fitting what the community as a whole is indicating um then I'm okay going that way we're a public school um and we do need to follow the law and ensure that that that's what we're doing and I have that right then as a parent when we come home to have some different conversations around what that might look like um but I do think as a public school district we do have a right um to ensure that all of those voices are heard and validated does that answer that for you yeah thank you okay thank you I'll Kate
159I'll be in touch okay okay thank you so much thank you [Music] okay so that concludes um our interviews uh do you want to take a few minutes are you good what's the PSE here do you need a few minutes or not just maybe one or two not a lot I don't gu I just want to compile stuff okay let me know when you're ready and we'll get started ready was [Music] quick for for [Music] everybody good okay so just to um reiterate that part of the process each board member will select a Top Choice to begin the dialogue once top choices are selected the board will determine who a roll call vote should be taken for if four votes are secured that person will be our new member if the person does not secure
160four votes from this board then we move on to another candidate at that time if no one secures the needed four votes then um we'll have to determine where to go from there okay anybody got that okay so um why don't we start with Sally okay um I felt based on vetting her um uh her resume and then listening and it was to me crystal clear her understanding of what a board does and what it faces in terms of the overall structure of how School financing works legislation and everything that Amy Campell is my Top Choice okay Joe um well I believe Mary Gunther answered questions better than any of the other candidates she provides a different expertise than anyone else that was here she campaigned in the past she's reached out to me as
161a board member to ask my thoughts about her on the board and none of the other ones have she has young children uh in the district and you know she indicated that she's willing to campaign um you know again to ensure 15 to 20 years as a school board member so um there go there okay a um I too feel like um I'm kind of I'm really impressed with everything Amy knows it almost feels like she would be able to walk in do whatever the Board needs she's been on several boards um you know 17 years in this profession for her um being able to work I'm very impressed with the legislative aspect of everything going on um I think that she yeah I mean just everything I wrote down was amazing um when it
162comes to let me see public um Barry Public Schools understands the state with um yeah I mean she she's straight I just love all of this all of her straightforward talks with people on legislation she's worked across the board on dyslexia um on all these things she's has uh if you look at her resume oh she's won grants for you know you know $967,000 and you know like $2 million grants and uh she has Publications and I I'm just very impressed with her over overall ability to lead boards she was a girl scout troop leader that's kind of fun um but yeah there's a lot of stuff on here that I'm extremely impressed with with Amy so y BR uh I would say Mary gun I appreciated how she answered the questions she's run for
163the board previously and um that's why Bob Mary Gunther um I think she brings a skill set that is missing on the board which a good board has A diversity of skill sets uh I think she's a collaborator she's been on many boards she is um she has got her own company that is growing dramatically with social media which you know um at some point we're probably going to have curriculum in social media to a very higher degree because our kids are learning at such a fast pace and the technology is there um and Ai and you know I'm she ran for the board and there may be other board members that discredit that as a qualifier but it takes a lot to put yourself out there and you know you to know it especially
164with regard to being under a microscope whether the opinions are valid or invalid and she has been harassed just for applying again which has any other applicant that we know of had that experience I'm going to say tell me if there has cuz I haven't seen it I haven't heard it um I think she presented herself in an incredible way today others did as well I'm not going to deny that but Mary by far um I'm going to say she's at top of the class of the applicant that we have in front of us Jason yeah um my top choice I mean I think we've got first off just thank everybody for a playing right I think you know it takes a lot right to do this and come here and um um go through
165the interview process it's not easy when you're interviewing um and uh I think it you know it really really is great to see this amount of enthusiasm thir field forward so all that aside um kind of torn uh my top uh candidate is Amy Campbell um I think when you look at in my view where our kids I'm going to say the greatest threat the biggest struggle they have is in the area of bullying is in the area of um you know uh you know when we we look at you know all the challenges they have facing them right I mean they struggle I mean um I I appreciate Jackie's words right I mean talking about her son where she said Hey listen my um son's involved in a lot of things got a great
166group of friends y y y but he still uh is feels aome and I think having someone uh with the experience in in school psychology specifically right can help us um as a board make sure as we're looking at different groups and approving different things um that we're taking that into consideration um and making sure that the um that mental health aspect of our kids is is Paranormal so um so my top choice of D okay so as we tally these as I'm sure you can tell you have two top candidates at this point both with three first place uh votes um and where we go from here is now in your court I facilitated facilitated to this point um as we' mentioned before there you know we can have further dialogue um you have
167two people tied so if you're going to vote I would suggest that maybe we do something that's uh uh you know who decides who's going first um in in voting um and see if we get to that person and uh we'll we could proceed from there but I'm just going to let you talk and see where you want to go I guess I would like to know what process did all of us use in order to come up with any kind of value whether it's points or whatnot something that's more objective in making your determination I'll tell you my process I took the form that Roger gave us at our last meeting and I went through every single one of our candidates that we were given and I gave them a point value based on
168the rubric so to speak a very informal one that we were given and I listed those people in that order I did that independently I think Roger you have seen all the scores my my my list was different than I'm sure anybody else's and I think I don't know if that's true of everybody else I have not seen the votes but that's how I approached it with as objectively as I possibly can and then tonight as the interviewees went through and answered theirs I gave them another point value again based on the rubric that you gave us and then I took the two scores and I averaged them because I feel that that is as fair and as objective as a way that I can approach that as possible and and that has how I
169came up with my the person that I chose and I would guess I'd like to know outside of the subjective things that keep being brought up about various people what how is it that you're giving a point and value to the to these two candidates I think um an individual board member's assessment is based on um their experiences in life and um past experience on this board so I think that's completely subjective exactly but isn't there a way to aren't we I mean when I'm a teacher in a classroom I might have a really big problem with a kid who's going up to do a project but you know what I've got to put that aside I've got to evaluate that what that child does as fairly as I possibly can objectively that is what
170we're called to do is to be as objective as we possibly can in this decision I already gave you my qualifiers for how I came to my decision and I I didn't hear a lot of objective comments there B I have didn't that that's fine this is how I came to my decision okay thank you if we had decided as a board to do a point system we never did and we probably never would have come to a decision this is a subjective decision and I'm still going to hold to the number one qualifier from my perspective is Mary put herself out there and if you're going to put a qualifier in there that's got to be very high then where did you put Trent Taylor is not one of the but think why is
171that even a consideration in this discussion that is [Music] invalid that's your perspective it is not invalid to I'm glad you allow me to have my perspective I have never said you can't I'm just asking Trent is irrelevant in this discussion I think it's relevant because it was part of the criteria you laid out in the last meeting and if we're if you know so I think what Sally's asking is just for some consistency and understanding how is it ranked over time right was it was it part of the criteria in that ranking and then then not and then it is again or not so I think that's where the validity of the question comes from because then it becomes is okay it just goes right back to being subjective and not objective because if
172you're saying objectively this person ran for the school board so they should get extra points and should be at the top of the list but then when you have the entire list which you which you again introduced it for that part partion of the decision- making process it it didn't match up so I think that's where again you may think that is objective in your decision-making process but it's really subjective because it really depends upon what your feelings are the person because it really doesn't be that top criteria as you just stated it let me let me restate what how this whole situation came to be and I believe believe it was Sally we were going to go for the top few she wanted all 19 we agreed on all 19 that's how that occurred
173that wasn't me I agreed to that situation nobody I think the criteria you laid out is what is what we're talking about because it's one of the criteria already did but Trent is not in in the top six if he had been in the top six maybe I I would have given that extra credit but Trent is not in the top six so why can't you move forward and why are you stuck in the past this is a process that has to progress It's So Perfect question so I think one of I think from my perspective to your point about hey Ran for the board right and I think the public has spoken right in the last election resoundingly right about whether that person belongs in board I I I would say for her hey
174more power to you run again and ask I don't think we should be subverting what the public just decided four months ago I think we should look for new fresh ideas because the public said no to that that point of view already so that's that's where I come that's my view point on that I'm being completely subjective with that with that argument right now the votes subjective yeah how do you know because she had over 7,000 votes and that lost you're counting that lost by 2,000 votes you know what congratulations to you both okay but do not discount someone who has who has the gumption the fortitude to put themselves out there in this environment and said I want to help this community she did it and we don't discard that and if you ask
175Mary she will tell you that I said that to her face so then what's the issue that admire that but it does not that in itself does not make a person qualified or more qualified than other people to serve on the board and what we need to look at Bob here is we need to look at the qualifications of what this person can bring and do for the board and for this District you have a person in Amy campal who understands the the importance of hiring people who know how to make a difference across the board with our students she understands that already she knows what to look for she can be a great advisory person in that regard I have experience the benefits of having someone highly qualified to address kids who need to
176have inclusion or special um accommodations made and if you don't have that in your class CLS is a huge detriment she understands those things already that is a great asset just so you know I have said to Mary I appreciate the fact that she tried this but you know what so did Trent so did you know Bob persy when he was one of the 19 too he not only ran he won and he served on this board if that's a Criterion which you said back at that point he should have just s come and sat in this chair then see so that's that to me does not make sense that that would be your biggest Criterion for placing someone on the school board it is I'm I'm telling you it you were looking for a
177point system I didn't do a point system I was looking for values that matter and that I believe are needed on this board that is my selection criteria and you know I'm sorry if you can't can't accept that but as an individual board member I have the right to I have the right to come to that criteria and that decision okay all I did was ask and you answered there they [Music] go so as a it okay I'm going to say if there is if if we're stuck then I'm going to say call the question and we need a formal vote we did not do a formal we did a straw vote I would like a formal vote on the candidates that the top candidates we have selected and I was just going there is
178there any other discussion I mean before yeah that's what I was going to ask um I do want to say one thing so um I actually as a board member um you know I know that we have some attitudes where um we believe that we are the bosses but I don't think we are the bosses I think that we are servants I think that we are we have a servants heart this is why we got elected because I I'm not in charge they are in charge all right and so I agree with Jason on the fact that they already voted but I also with my own desire to have very very open and honest discussions have spoken with every single person I I didn't wait for them to come to me I went to them
179I had never once talked to Amy Campbell I had never once talked to Kate poer I had I had never had coffee with Mary I had all of that I've had conversations with Jackie I've had conversations with Beth and Jeff now some of those are easier because Beth's in my Bible study and Jackie I knew from the election and all of those other things but the thing is is that to say that that's the only person that came to you I was interested in finding out more about every single person I didn't have my mind made up because I didn't know these people because the truth is when I did that first 19 I too had a very individual vote which I'm not sure happened across the board and when I did it I went
180with what you had asked us to do if someone ran for a position give them some extra points and I did that and your candidate got into this top six so one of the things I want you to think is that you are saying that you have certain rules for the people that you want in but you will not honor that for the other people that you don't want in and when you say top of the class when you say things like she's the top of the class and I look at Amy Campbell who has 30 years of interest in education 17 as a professor she has her PhD she is is amazing she's done all kinds of Publications and she's done all kinds of discussions and she's worked with across the aisle with two
181different very differ differing political parties that to me is the top of the class this is some high quality person I'm not saying Mary's not I'm saying Mary is Young I'm saying that Amy has had a lot of experience she can come onto this board and know Robert's Rules of Order she just said that she can come on to this board and she can know multi-tiered systems of support she can come on here and she can say oh look I can understand that some of the some of the problems that we have in the district are that we have so many needs and she is addressing them I am asking that you look at the person who is literally the most qualified to be on this board not because she got harassed because we have
182had people harassed Trent was harassed cam was harassed Sally was harassed Jason was harassed that's not a reason to put someone on a board I am super sorry that happened to her and we talked about it I said that should not happen especially in your neighborhood I 100% agree with that but what I am seeing is some kind of very subjective not objective look at what our talents are and what we can accomplish just in this last year and 10 months of this service so my opinion is going to stay with Amy yours is probably going to stay with Mary's but the thing is is that I want you to be honest about why you're making those decisions because you're not applying the same level of reasoning across the board you're not let me help
183justify your there's a semi accusation in there so let me let me explain it to you sitting there and putting an application in is the safe Zone it is it is typically the safe Zone running a campaign is not and I'm looking at the top six candidates and it is a significant factor the other thing is the skill set she brings to sit in the seventh chair that I believe she has do not you're going to take this in the wrong way and I don't want you to we have some great Educators in this District that are in leadership roles why do we keep adding why not go into the market instead of finding another educator to sit on this board and find someone out in the market that can help guide this board with
184the things that are going on is it construction is it marketing is it technology Mary has many of those things would you like my answer to that I don't need your answer to it it's retoric you didn't you you're judging me for my response at least I'm honest if you have ever known me I'm honest the smirking is okay it never hurts my feelings okay anyone else call the roll okay so we have we have two candidates with the identical amount so to determine who goes first um we're going to do a simple flip of a coin sure okay and we'll identify who's heads and whose tails and they fall so shall they make I don't have a coin so uh I used up my allowance for the week so does anybody have a coin
185Grandma probably okay he got a and so explain so what's happening here Roger I mean so obviously we have a heads and a tails and they have Heather flip it if it lands on heads then we do a roll call for Mary first if it lands on Tails then call for fair enough fair enough okay Tails Tails it is Tails so we'll do a roll call for Amy First's quarter this your so that's the Aldi quarter um so we have a motion here so it is recommended uh that the Granville Board of Education fill the vacancy left by B Barb Palmer's resignation by appointing uh who was first Amy Campbell Amy Campbell the position until the election of a candidate for the position in the fall of 2026 can I get so moved support um
186and support was who right okay so this is a vote for Amy MH yeah okay so ready yep okay um Dehan no vanc yes wonders no Gardine yes stepis no h yes okay 3 three so that motion fails it is recommended uh that the board of gr board the grantable Board of Education fill the vacancy left by B Barb Palmer's resignation by appointing Mary Gunther to the position until the election of candidate for the position in the fall of 2026 can I get a motion so moov support okay so moved by stus supported by Wonder job okay roll call vote here we go um dead yes vanc no wonder gem yes Gardine no stus yes hbor no okay um didn't get four so that motion fails so looking at options I would say we look
187at the rest of the candidates um is there anybody on here that somebody wants to bring up as somebody that they think this board as a whole could get [Applause] behind personally I think when you look at the qualifications again um I think Kate Oster is someone that could certainly do the job as well I think again she's someone that can step in pretty quickly um and we have a much quicker ramp up to the position um so I would suggest Kate ooster I don't know how the rest of the board has discussion or feelings about that thought I think her qualifications are extremely high um she has has a ton of experience dealing with um the various very down and dirty challenges that we face in a district in terms of dealing with our
188subgroups and I think that she would be also be an asset I agree I think that um she's had a lot of very great honors um teacher of the year special education Awards um I do like that um she has done stuff outside with uh lra through the CRC that's a that's a great nonprofit that talks a lot about our different maybe even some of our own students um intervention working all the way throughout Ottawa uh County and schools Publications yeah um I like this she went to Hope like hope anyone else I would okay recommend you okay it is recommended that the Grandville Board of Education fill the vacancy left by Barb Palmer's resignation by appointing Kate booster to the position until the election of a candidate for the position in the fall of
1892026 can I get a motion so moved support motion by gerine supported back by Van okay roll call vote Dean no van yes Wonder J no Gardine yes stus no hore yes okay three votes uh motion fails all right anyone else on your list of six can I ask um I don't know if I me if this is even an appropriate question to ask but is there anyone left that either of you any of you three are going to vote Yes for or is this an obstructionist kind of it's obstructionist but no all right you know what cuz what did I say before that you kind of snickered at I'm very honest with what I say [Music] Okay so we're at a St mate okay um you didn't agree to a tiebreaker so we obviously
190won't do that um you have until Wednesday of next week to fill this position um and if we don't fill it by the end of the day on Wednesday then I will contact the ISD and let them know where we're at okay and it'll be in their hands sorry Roger and we don't know how they will whatever method they decide to it's completely out of our hands on it my hunches the I you know I don't know I know other places around the state have had it I don't know if RISD has um but if they haven't I guess they'll figure it out so if that should be the thing that happened so all right so now we'll go into public comment um we one more thing yeah please one more thing please it's it's
191interesting that you're asking us for more candidates and wanting to reconsider yet you won't even consider a tiebreaker so I'd like you to reflect on that this should have been a real simple push but you didn't want to go there reflect down that please don't point at me please all right public comment we we have one person signed up and that is uh Lyn [Music] Jansen I guess just want to say that I'm really disappointed with this process tonight um I believe that there are three board members maybe we would say that they are on the right there did the right thing at the last board meeting when we had an opportunity to push through with M Mrs gardan's absence um I don't think the same courtesy would have been showed to us but uh
192several members of this board have said that it's time for the divisiveness to be over with but what you showed the community tonight is that you enjoy the divisiveness so thank you all right that brings the board to an end the next next board meeting of the Granville Board of Education will be Monday March 3rd 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Grandville administration building we are joury [Music]