001States stands Nation God indivisible for all right Bob if you could take the rad call Palmer here Jan here Gardine here fine here hi B here Wonder Jim here Buck here as a courtesy to the members of the audience on the board of education please silence your cell phone any person wishing to address the board may speak at this time any person wishing to address the board should complete and submit a public comment form that were available at the door to the board president immediately prior to the beginning of the meeting public comment forms are available at each board meeting and presentations are limited to five minutes so um I will call you up to the microphone where's the microphone okay the microphone is over there I have these reading glaces on and I can't
002see anything okay and I'm gonna start the timer so we can get everybody up here and I found this Dandy Bell from the high school office that they use to okay so at four minutes I'm just going to do that okay and I'll stop it and then after that um I will do at five minutes okay and I I hate cutting people off I'm not the type of person I'm a good listener and I'm like so anyway um I appreciate everybody being here um another reminder is we will not make a comment back that is just not what happens at the board meeting um so we don't comment back but I'm really looking forward to um Roger will go typically we do reports from the board members we update what we've been doing where we've
003been what's going on in the district but um this time we're gonna have Roger go first so if you want to stick around for that you're more than welcome to um we have a lot of other exciting things on our agenda also if yall want to stay even longer than that so anyway um I'm G to call the first person up so when you do get to the mic if you could please state your name your address if you're not from within Granville then your affiliation all right great okay Rachel fellows hello y um I'm Rachel fellows my address is 3821 White Street um and I've been a Grandville resident for about 10 years and I have an 8-year-old currently attending GPS as a remote learner and a 13-year-old who used to attend GPS up
004until this year I pulled him from the school district to home school but I hope to have him eventually return which is why I'm here to speak in support of the diversity equity and inclusion director physician some background on my 13-year-old he is autistic and has ADHD and anxiety he is also trans and queer coming out as both in the fifth grade when he was 11 the teachers and staff at Central Elementary did the absolute best that could with my kid but in the end it wasn't enough I saw my kid turn um my child just did not feel safe at school and hadn't felt safe since the third grade and I saw him turn from an outgoing energetic and creative child to a child who was withdrawn combative and anxious even with an IEP
005weekly Counseling in meds School refusal became an issue and was to such a point that he had to do the Homebound Program leading into the school Shut Downs at the beginning of the pandemic we had high hopes for the middle school years but we soon learned that anxiety about work expectations and being on camera for Google meets was leading to the same school refusal so we are homeschooling for the time being I had a chance to watch the March 1st board meeting when you discussed the Strategic plan and I can't stop thinking about the term that was brought up psychological safety I genuinely believe that making sure that our district is sensitive to the diverse needs of the students while striving for equity and inclusivity will help make school a place where my kid feels
006respected and safe and can begin to trust the process of public schooling again and I really hope so because I do not want to teach Algebra 2 I want to leave that up to the professionals um I know that my kid isn't the only kid to feel unheard unseen and unsafe at school whether because of their race gender sexuality neurodiversity class status mental health status disability status trauma or special needs My Hope is that a diversity equity and inclusion director can help the faculty and staff of GPS help those kids and their families feel heard seen and safe by their teachers and peers in that the Dei director will help all students not just those who are marginalized in some way there are some parents who are under the impression that having a diversity equity
007and inclusion director means that the kids will be taught a new critical race Theory curriculum or that it's some nefarious agenda when pressed most of these parents can't tell you what critical race theory is or what it does and CRT doesn't isn't even a curriculum to begin with nor is it at some scary agenda in a nutshell CRT is a framework to study the ways in which racism is baked into our institutions mostly in terms of the justice system but also in other institutions as well including the education system I feel that these parents who have concerned are completing critical race Theory with shotty corporate diversity training that they've heard about within their media bubbles that supposedly teaches white people they are inherently racist and evil they are afraid that the Dei director will somehow
008segregate the students or they are afraid that their first graders will be taught about lgbtq issues within a new curriculum they think that these issues should be left up to parents they sometimes even deny that social inequalities or system systemic oppression are a problem in Granville or anywhere else however what these parents might not realize is that this is not a curriculum change and that the D director position seeks to make school safe for every everybody and that includes white cisgender heterosexual Christian students I know that you aren't hiring a mere diversity consultant for training sessions you're looking for someone to do the big job of making our school system fair and inclusive to everyone and I conclude that it is a cynical mistake to think that just because this might result in uplifting students
009from marginalized backgrounds like my kid that that necessarily means that students who fit in with the status will be pushed down instead here's what we really gain a system that strives to uplift everyone when they are all treated inclusively with fairness and thoughtfulness thank you you Rachel thank you Rachel okay Jill no Jim Jim Peter p chill I got it thank you EXC thank you Jill I am Jill P 3511 Yellowstone and I basically was gonna say everything she said so I'm gonna change it a little bit but I just feel like we definitely do need um to include all the people of our community all the people of color and not just white all the people and you know there's sexual preferences or there sexual identity um I don't understand the push back why
010we wouldn't and it's a public school so that that means that we include all of our children no matter what's happening with them and we love them through it all um thank you that makes sense um isn't there enough pressure to fit in like we all feel it too as adults in in just that extra extra help to help people the kids feel more included and comfortable in their environment just makes sense to me um let's make a difference for those Generations coming up and to be better people than we are and accepting each it doesn't mean that you need to agree with decisions or things that people are doing but we can still love each each other and we can still get along and not like when when our kids are losing friends because
011of their political affiliation that's not okay they're kids they have enough pressures as it is um I'm going wait up here [Music] sorry I have a high schooler who feels it and sees it and sees the racism within the school the language and the words and the clothing that kids wear is super offensive not all kids obviously but even if you're just taking a kid down one notch because they see a shirt that tells them that they're not okay or they're the color of their skin is not accepted here it just breaks my heart it breaks my heart for these kids they have too much going on already and then to to pile all this on top of them and make them feel like Outsiders it's not okay and I think to have this Dei
012position filled is amazing and I think it can help the help stop it at an even younger level just to get that you know training and it's not somebody off the street who has a political opinion it's somebody who understands the problem here and can help us fix it from the ground up and I really appreciate that that's all thank you Joe all right Solomon Peter hi Sal hi I'm Solomon pet 3511 yellow Drive um I'm a freshman at the Grandville high school here and I'm going to start with actually a story from May 17th today as after I finished my third hour I head to lunch and I usually go to my friends I sit down we'll talk have some food you know normal stuff to lunch uh today I had my seat taken
013and this proceed to fill up the table as I walked by to go find a new seat one of the kids at this table proceed to tell me that it is now a St only table and I had to find a new seat I proceeded to leave and go on with my day but this huran is things that commonly happen throughout the Grandville high school and I think this is really something that needs to be dealt with so this could working with somebody to help fix this type of thing uh walking through the Halls you can hear words the N word Epler uh commonly used regularly um when you just don't fit in completely with the rest of the kids you can end up discriminated against and completely just like torn apart things that happen
014you'll get told to stop being you and if we can deal with this it's something that needs to be done I have friends who don't understand what's up with them and what's happening and why they're being torn apart by other students and while these other kids are just trying to fit in even if that's all that's happening they're just trying to be with everyone else that's what they think they need to be doing it's what they've been doing for years what what's been happening here for years um even with people who can help with students our counselors lots of teachers um we need something to step in and try and help with this problem uh like just the racism homophobia Etc going on throughout the school there'll just be shirts that will completely just like
015disregard somebody and really if you state your opinion to them they will completely just stop talking to you I've been blocked by people people stop talking to me for me being me or having my opinion lots of people just tell you not to be you and we need to help with that that's really all I have to say thank you Lake Missour move forward know I had dental work done today and uh I'm I'm a little bit worried about the slurring happening here so I'm going to go with h ask you for forgiveness a little bit here um my name is Blake nerk I'm the president of the the Grandville Education Association uh i' would like to read my statement if I may good evening board members and administration I have the honor of sharing
016with you the results of the Granville education association's efforts in acknowledging and supporting our District's work in the area of diversity equity and inclusion as you know our district has formed a Dei committee and is in the process of hiring a Dei director in an effort to address our everchanging student staff community and and Community demographics and our increased awareness of and support for underrepresented communities the GAA is joining in your efforts the purpose of this resolution is to highlight the importance of assuring all students and staff that they are seen heard and accepted in our community our association believes that these statements are an integral part of building up our community and establishing a core set of values which will serve as support for and encouragement of our District's work in the area of
017diversity equity and inclusion a close reading of our statement shows acceptance not exclusion encouragement not indictment recognition not repudiation we are your partners in building the stronger more Equitable school district and Community we also support the hiring of the Dei director for our students and staff by this action Granville will be joining other districts in our area and the state in leading by example the addition of a Dei director will not be at the expense of other programming or initiatives it is in fact a critical enhancement of our efforts to be a district that provides the highest quality education for all students and will serve as an invaluable resource for our teachers and staff the GAA believes it is important to apply these same standards to our own Association our members formed a committee and
018some of them are here tonight I'd like to acknowledge them um Kristen Baker maybe you can just raise your hand or wave Henry Stalin Katie VRA I thought I saw Katie uh Nicole Cass Amy mabin and Ally Jensen we set forth a uh draft uh we to uh create a draft uh of a set of resolutions to acknowledge these efforts we presented the draft to our members for input revised and edited based on those recommendations followed by member wide vote which was overwhelmingly passed with the GAA membership I have supplied a copy of the resolutions for your you and encourage our board to adopt similar resolutions in the future thank you for your commitment to our schools to our staff to our students and our community your leadership and supporting uh of excuse me in
019support of building a more diverse Equitable and inclusive district is greatly appreciated the GAA is excited to work together on this very important District goal thank you very much BL Paul pivan my name is Paul 4071 L work um I was had some stuff written out but um I think I'm just GNA kind of wing it up here um I graduated from Granville my family my whole siblings who graduated from Granville my wife one of my sons already has my daughter's about to um I have three little ones that are coming up in the system um some of the stuff that that is concerning to me um with this uh Dei director position is um where where it's going to go for our kids what are my kids going to see what are my kids
020going to learn um what what's the next step in this um um my one of my cousins just for instance he came out of the closet and I love him to death he's great I've told my kids that I don't agree with his decision and um if if your friends are friends they're going to accept you any way you are but what scares me the most is what's going to be taught and seen at school um we see it every day we see it in the media we see it on commercials we see it on TV um it is everywhere out there and uh it's scary to me it's scary to me to see the direction that this world's turned to um and I'm especially scared for my kids I think one of the problems
021that we have is our kids are growing up too fast we're not cheating them as children they're they're learning stuff that they're not supposed to be learning too quick and life and uh it's not good for them I mean and and the kids can be easily molded in One Direction or the other and uh it's it's scary to me everything that I see going on and I'm I'm scared for not only the school but for my kids for my family and for the community and for Granville in general this is um a direction I I didn't see us going um I'm not here to to bash anybody in any of their beliefs or any of their their criteria or whatever they agree in and how they decide to live their life that is their opinion
022um some of it I I don't see I die with um if it was one of my good friends and he said something I won't turn my back on him um I and I feel bad for some of the criticism and stuff that some of these kids do receive in school that's that's school life I mean that's been going back forever it's kids they're going to be mean at times they're going to be cool at times they're going to be friendly at times it's uh you deal with bullies you deal with some of this stuff but at the same time to have a full-time position with this going out there um I don't know I don't know what that next direction will be I I don't understand how having somebody go out there and what
023are they going to be pushing are they going to be pushing you know my kids sexual rights my kids sexual preferences I mean I feel that that's my kids that's my job as their parent and that's high with that just I'll say good night thank you thank you thank you Paul all right I need my glasses all right Judy kopka kopka Judy hi Judy [Music] hi Judy kka 5712 Stonebridge Drive what soet Society has accomplished over the past several years has been a great disservice to our children we have already been down the path of inclusion hence all Youth Sports get a participation trophy for just showing up this does not require our children to try hard in order to succeed because everyone's a winner when a child walks into the doors of any elementary
024school middle school or High School especially in Granville they have every opportunity to succeed in what they want to do academics sports music clubs theater you name it if you look at our sports teams there are students from all backgrounds represented on every team do we call that impressive we have separate clubs which allow for the expressiveness and creativity of each student is is that oppressive we are asking the school board and the administration to work with the parents of all students and I stress all because I have three children in the school district however I was not sent the survey I don't know who sent it out or who had that responsibility or who picked what class I was not part of that group or a better question is why not include all ages
025all grades and all parents and send the service out to everyone isn't it up to the parents to be more involved in what's happening at H School the parents are here to teach their children about diversity and differences about sexual preferences or transitioning or about why some people may look different or be disabled the school is for academics can you give us any reports or statistics in which positions like this was beneficial for any other school district could you see a position such as this being implemented into an inner city that's an immediate straight called to racism we just want our children to be children learning to read write and accomplish math which is not common core let them have a childhood if their parents see issues and have parents work with them a child's
026differences should not be magnified by any person within the school district a child's sexuality or sexual preference has no business being discussed or highlighted in school a child's race no matter what it is should not be identifiable to make them different that is also racism my children have been in the school district for 14 years we've never had an issue with including children of all race Creed color religion disability what have you we've had the be nice community community effort which apparently I rarely see anymore or hear anything about can you tell us why Mrs Buck I haven't seen that since my children were in elementary school and partially in the middle school we have peer-to-peer we have links we have students helping students because they are all good kids however they will have Separation
027by like that's how you find your friends that's how you have people in a group with common interest common backgrounds let the students work together to become one student body not one separated out by their differences these differences were emphasized when emphasized are called for bullying now there are anti-bullying efforts clubs even yet bullying is happened in each of the schools how many resources have been allocated in this direction yet we still have an issue my child has been bullied for the past three years normal child normal son when I asked the school for help I was immediately turned away and told to find an outside resource when I'm asking if a child wants to transition that should be between the parent and the child not brought into our school system to quote a professor
028of Economics at Brown University we need to teach our children to think not tell them what to think if you are bringing this position into our community into our school district into our schools then ask the parents if there is a need and be all inclusive if you are willing to pass this position for be into being then consider all the parents that are in front of you now our schools went in the wrong direction when you took God out you just replaced God With the Devil and the values of the devil and right now right now the devil is winning because the majority of those who approve this position are falling into the Trap of virtue signaling just to be recognized I would like quote a recent grad from 2019 I can't fathom teaching
029young kids these things I've learned enough I need to of what I need to know just by being a functioning human being in society so please teach our children about history math literature science let the parents handle the differences in the world we live in today as parents we need to grow our children into becoming functioning adults [Applause] thank you Judy uh next Amanda I'm gonna pronounce this wrong Chante K kante kante hi hi Amanda sherani I'm at 3142 Pine metal drive so I've been doing some research on the critical race Theory here for a few weeks now I've looked at both sides of this from every angle that I possibly can I applaud the simple idea of what we're trying to do with the inclusion and all of that and I see where you
030guys are coming from however there's a lot of things that I don't like using re reversed racism is not the answer in our schools once you dip your toe in this it's a quick slippery slope that you guys can go down we're talking about new books and re re erasing history and the 1619 stuff I even saw the word Marxism in this I mean guys let that word sit in for a minute Marxism if that doesn't scare you taking away advanced classes and you want that kid doing your surgery someday I don't so instead of implementing this controversial critical thinking let's think outside the box let's do something different Implement an organization in our schools that opens conversations of race and sex and gender and religion make this a youth service organizations parents can put
031their kids in this and to volunteer voluntarily use their ears and voices to to this cause learn all the differences and put that into play in their lives so this youth service organization here's what I'm thinking voluntarily they can we can offer ways for the kids to get involved by volunteering in a group of high school kids can go into the elementary school classes and let these our Littles you know ask them questions is there bullying in high school how do you handle it where do you go who do you talk to our Littles really look up to those kids and I think that they could make a difference uh D divers clubs these kids can get together and have open conversations and share their own experiences with each other and know what to do
032from there let's offer something that the kids will be blessed to be a part of and never forced an organization that helps and touches everyone but never discriminates when did having an opinion mean drawing such a hard Line in the Sand let's start a conversation let's let our kids start a conversation let let us be their the answers to their questions at home without planting these seeds of negativity let's end this critical thinking stuff and start our own in the words of my 10-year-old son so this way kids can feel free and don't feel forced he's so smart the schools may be receiving some government funds on this I'm not sure but let's just say no to that and let's say yes to letting our kids be the solution in this all right thank you
033Amanda Shannon F hi I'm shanon B 4310 delmare and my kids are in the Grandville school system as I was listening to some of these disc sessions up here I took a lot of them to heart um kids are being bullied I see it I've lived it I've dealt with it I hate it um what I wanted to start with is that I have a concern that's a phrase that we use at Spectrum Health where I work when we want to have a safe place to talk where we know there's going to be no reprisal my first concern is regarding this Dei position I I heard that there's a board that's working with it is anyone else in this side represented in that board maybe that would be a way to bring everybody together is
034to bring that board with somebody from all sides all all representation to it there's actual videos that came out on YouTube that showed teachers and how they were concerned about helicopter parents watching over their kids while they were on online school worried about them having a hard time deprogramming these kids not my words they're from the video what I would like to see is yes inclusion I would like to see diversity I would like to see happy well-rounded kids and I think that's a parents job as well as the school but the school's there to teach them their math their arithmetic math um English but the problem is if you look at cplc right now they dropped their advanced math program why there's kids that benefit from that program it's gone they were told that
035they can work work farther on their Chromebooks or on their KH Academy if they wanted extra work it's not a functional program anymore and I know my kids benefited from it I think bringing our team together on both sides there shouldn't be sides I think we're all here we want the same thing you know we want good healthy happy kids it transitions to my next problem we hear some up here talking about the bullying in the school and it's been brought up from both sides my son was bullied all the way through Elementary School I spent more time in Tanya's office than I did at work which is really scary at one point I wrote Roger barup a letter outlining everything that's happened over my son's time at school and it escalated to the point
036where he was being physically assaulted the response I got back you get farther faster going to Tanya I responded back excuse me but if you don't do something I will call the police this is assault I'm tired of my kids not being cared for and not being safe in school the be nice program is a joke like we said we haven't heard about it in a long time and if this program was designed to keep these kids safe the one that came up here and talked it failed him and it's failing our kids this Dei position we have so many kids right now being housed at hell and Devas because of their mental problems because their depression and their suicidal ideations that are brought on and exacerbated by covid and isolation this is not getting
037better and having a Dei position at this point is not going to help that this position is what $130 to $150,000 a year you can get two social workers for that who can do a lot of work our kids need somebody that can help them and this Dei position can guide the school but what is it going to do for the kids right now we need their help right now I appreciate you listening and I hope you take this to Heart thank you Sharon um Brenda Morgan clast I have a nasty cough due to allergies and I have a lot to say in a short amount of time so I recorded what I'm going to say and also then I won't get so emotional graduated from in 2014 and 15 I have a son graduating
038on Thursday and daughter graduating next year all four of them members of the national I pray for the future of our country I was disappointed to hear that the advanced math program has already been discontin at the elementary level and it makes me wonder if image has seen the same fate if I had younger children and the school were to continue to dumb it down I would certainly be pulling them from the district I truly feel every human being should be treated with dignity and respect from conception to natural natural death actually and so every student should be and deserves to be treated with dignity that being said I need to make a point do you know that gender dysphoria is a mental illness in the same family as anorexia emia both are types of
039body dysphoria last time I checked we don't tell the individual struggling with these diseases that they are right they're fat they shouldn't eat or they should Purge do we so why do we participate with mentally ill students struggling with tender dysphoria why should my child be asked for her preferred pronoun when she's not gender confused if the school fuse feels the administration teachers need to participate in this that is their choice but my child should not have to participate loving and treating with dignity does not equal agreeing with and going along I would argue it is more loving to get the student some help a Dei from a neighboring District had an infographic about how the alphabet and gender dysphoric kids have higher suicide rates that is because they need mental help it is much
040more loving to get them the help they need and find the root cause the issue so they can try to solve it and prevent them from becoming a statistic than it is to call them by a different pronoun and participate in other ways March 19th I received an email from Dr Merkel telling me about a well-being survey that was being administered to the junior class the email mentioned the word diversity when describing the survey an immediate red flag for me at the bottom if any parents actually read that far you could choose to opt your child out how is a p parent supposed to make an informed decision about whether or not a child should take a survey if you don't attach the damn survey my guess is because if the parents clicked on the
041survey and on the first eight questions there would have been an outrage Dr Merkel did not know how the survey would be administered or how my child be opted out just that she would be if I chose to opt her out so then I emailed Mr lto and he told me if my child got the survey she just didn't have to fill it out and I replied that's not the same as opting out I want her to not to receive it at all as my husband and I did read the questions after Dr Merkel provided them Upon Our request we reached out to the Kent intermediate superintendent Association head as it was the body that created the survey he replied that he was not familiar with critical race Theory and that there have been no
042discussions of it in the development of the survey how would he know that if he doesn't know what critical race theory is as the head of a superintendent organization I think he should so is he lying incompetent both in case you don't have a junior or didn't ask to see the survey I will share with you the first few questions how often do students at your school have honest conversations with each other about race how often are you encouraged to think more deeply about race related topics with other students at your school how often does your school help students speak out about racism a I'm not sure why these are necessary to learn math English or science B I don't care for my children to take their moral cues from people that think BLM riots
043were peaceful protests now the survey gets really good please indicate your level of agreement with the following gender diversity is reflected in the classroom content sexual identity diversity is reflected racial ethnic diversity is reflected people with disabilities are reflected diverse faith and religious communities are reflected why is sexual diversity needed in classroom content to teach math English science or history how often do you have classes with students that are different racial ethnic or cultural backgrounds are you planning to recruit students to address the diversity of the high school if the survey results determine that the local populace isn't diverse enough how about teachers remember that they are the secondary teachers of the children and the parents are the primary teachers it is their job to teach the subject content and leave the political commentary at
044home why does a Spanish teacher have an environmental activism in her curriculum the director of equality and inclusion is position is a hard no how about we spend the money on social workers to actually help the kids that need it no matter their race color or religion and ditch The Virtue signaling Marxist propaganda that this position will evitably work into the curriculum when the teachers have already implemented more than enough of their own if this position is hired my husband and I will be reconsidering whether our forth child will be graduating in Granville I will also push more support advocate for the recall of at least one of the board members requiring the co shot masks and testing to attend school in person and or play sports will also negatively affect our decision in case
045you have been living under a rock or not aware vaccine and Co shop manufacturers had zero liability none as employers the demand employees get the CO shot are now on the hook for a work rated injury if there is an adverse reaction is the Granville academic team boosters going to take responsibility for pushing the vaccine on the robo doogs to be able to travel is the school going to take responsibility for adverse reaction if they are even thinking about going to require the shots to Mas in the fall what about in 10 years when all our children are infertile who's going to pay for that thank you Brenda Kim bour good evening my name is kimore my address is 4473 Jacob Street and I'm here along with many others here tonight to ask that you
046consider tabling the Dei topic or at least the hiring until you do hear more of us they're right we didn't get surveys we didn't get to input this we want to support you as a board at the administration but we can tell you from our I can only speak from my personal experiences my child had some struggles he had an IEP a legal document describing what accommodations he was to have these accommodations were ignored the staff over him had not even read his file they just knew there was accommodations written he no longer trust teachers and in authority over him we talk about diversity and I absolutely agree I know that staff is trained in that topic and I think it's important but it's should come from our families you need to get the community
047involved in this male I have done research some of these critic criticisms where we don't know what we're talking about we don't know the other side of this I did research I went to Kena Hills and looked at their Dei program and I found that they published to our children to their children newsletters that said certain races are fine to make friends with each other but white children don't white children don't make race friendships I'm sorry I'm offended by that I live on a road my neighborhood is filled with we have Vietnamese we have kids from Singapore myamar we have African-American we have white we have Christian we have non-Christian and those kids grow up together and they play very well together they respect one another I I'm just really disappointed that this is our
048priority to spend our funds and I agree with the comments that have been set up here if we have1 130 to $150,000 sitting around I know our social social workers are Max to the hillt we've had conversations with them trying to get our kids help that should be where our focus is they're all trained to help with this diversity already but they wouldn't be excluding by race and I think that it's a disservice to our children to eliminate that whole 70% of the population of Granville students Let's help all of our kids we want to support you let's in my summary would be to let's focus on the social worker side of it spending some more funds in that topic and helping all of our children thank you thank you cim Grant Alexander um hello
049my name is Grant Alexander my address is 955 Jackson Street in Granville um before I start I just want to say to the student that was up here before me um it's unacceptable it's my kids doing it I want to know and that's not acceptable in any part so when [Applause] you when you hear some of the things us adults are concerned with we want to know that you are appreciated you deserve to be here just like anybody else but I am here to discuss my concerns with that position first off I applaud you with the title I mean how can anybody with a heart be against diversity inclusion and justice but over the last three years and especially over the last 12 months we've seen what these platforms these positions really stand for for
050and what they ultimately become I feel like when we speak to the board we are speaking to the Kent County Health Department where we're just asking give me the data and we fail to get it every time if there's issues within our community in our school district just show us show us that there's an issue that needs to be addressed show us the data we will support you if there is but we do believe there is checks and balances that need to take Place why are we so skeptical about this position we've seen clever ways that political agendas have hijacked issues that the community overall supports then they water it down with their own personal beliefs that is not overall supported by the community and when you are against those beliefs you are labeled a
051racist a bigot a homophobe a xenophobe and the list goes on and it used to be super hurtful to be called a racist but not anymore because the label that you put on me is not who I am I know I care about people that are different than me and you guys don't get to decide that part of the job description is to teach empathy and I find it very hypocritical because no one seems to be looking at our point of view on this imagine sending your kid to school and a teacher feels they need to correct what they consider bad parenting and they tell them that their homosexual parents are mentally ill or that their Buddhist uncle is going to hell I imagine that most you would be up in arms and probably rightfully
052so it's a very slippery slope when you let the public school system determine what is good parenting and bad parenting the majority of the people in this country I believe are really caring people and the majority of the people in this community are good parents and the policies and procedures that you're putting in place are making us feel that you think we are not give help to those that are struggling give opportun Unity to those that are in need and those that seek it but suggesting to any child that their successes and failures in life are predetermined by the color of their skin is evil you are not saving anybody by putting this position in place without first seeking a consulting position that's going to tell us we have a problem and then coming to
053us in the community and telling us what that problem is the biggest concern I have is that there is no oversight you put this position in place the reason why you have an uproar now you put this position in place it's there for decades and there's no stopping it there's no checks and balances and the moment I have an issue is when a faculty member feels that they need to correct bad parents parenting you need to protect the right for a parent to decide to raise their kids with the morals and beliefs that they see fit I'm not sure if this is a badge of honor that the board is trying to wear passing this saying look at us look what we've done look what we've passed but I promise you if you pass this
054position now without putting it to a table and having some changes to it that you will be wearing a badge of division in this community Miss but you seem like a really nice lady but I promise you if you vote for this position now and put it in place before we can actually have a real discussion on this you will be the one responsible for division in this community and you will be responsible for parents ripping their kids out of the public school system thank you thank you grant uh Jeff Johnson evening members of the school board superintendent barup tegram bille school parents and Neighbors in the community my name is Jeff Johnston my address is 4651 Treasure Trail I'm the father of two current Granville students and one graduate class of 2018 every one
055of us here tonight shares an interest in Granville public schools and its mission to improve lives by producing successful lifelong Learners our school district affirms certain beliefs including these each person is unique and we value and respect individual differences we are responsible for equipping all students with life skills we are accountable to all constituencies our graduates will have the skills to be responsible contributing citizens in a changing world before we consider that changing world let's look closer at Granville our community is about 86% white statistically more than 95% of residents identify as straight and gender conforming more than 97% are citizens 95% were born in the US more than 93% are above the federal poverty line more than 95% of those under AG 18 have no disabilities in this context what does it mean to
056support all students all constituencies it means valuing the 280 or so of granville's 5600 students who are or will become will grow to become lesbian gay bisexual or transgender it means being accountable to the 375 who live in poverty and the 280 who have a disability it means respecting the more than 1,000 who are black Hispanic asan or otherwise non-white to my neighbors here my white straight non-disabled non-p poor non-immigrant neighbors if you believe we already do a great job of supporting all students and all constituencies I respectfully ask how would you know I submit that this is a time to listen that lecture to demonstrate the rare virtue of humility along with our students we and the majority have an opportunity to learn from the diverse individuals around us rather than imagine we know
057best hiring a diversity equity and inclusion director is grounded in that humility and in a Perpetual hope that we'll do better tomorrow than today it's an acknowledgement that living up to our stated beliefs and educational Mission will require real effort it's a commitment to the principle that the majority voice is not always the best voice and must never be the only voice and this is where we align with the goal of Brad uating students to be responsible contributing citizens in a changing World an education that stifles rather than celebrates diverse voices shrinks rather than expands our students view of that world but the world is far larger and vastly more diverse than Granville Michigan and and every one of our students must be prepared to navigate it successfully to anyone undecided on hiring a the
058director of diversity equity and inclusion I think there are a few undecided people here tonight I hope I've given you food for thought but I have not presented the most compelling argument in support the strongest argument in support comes from those stepping up here in opposition people who represent overwhelming demographic majorities and insist that it's wrong to amplify minority voices they demonstrate more powerfully than I ever could the need for a diversity director who can represent champion and defend [Applause] [Music] students students who are among our most vulnerable yet valuable such a person will move Granville public schools in a positive direction toward meeting its Mission and living out its beliefs thank you [Music] thank you Jeff Adam bush my name is Adam Bush and I have three kids that attend Granville Public Schools I'd
059like to address something near and dear to my heart mask mandates now I know that the state mask mandates were lifted a bit last week especially for the vaccinated population but it's still not enough in my opinion and I'm very concerned about what next fall will be like for our in-person students I'm not here to convince you about how ridiculous or ineffective masks are for healthy asymptomatic people how harmful they are for the person wearing it for hours at a time you probably all feel strongly as I do one way or another I'm here to talk about how unnecessary and I'm wanted these masks are for our in-person students we've learned a lot in the last year we've learned that quarantining contact Trace students was quite unnecessary we've learned that asymptomatic spread is not very
060common and we've learned that children especially are very low risk for Contracting or spreading the virus believe what you want to believe about reduced oxygen and excessive CO2 when it comes to wearing a mask I personally believe it does both but you cannot argue that masss don't make breathing more difficult go try running a 5k with one on if you don't agree and you cannot argue that at least some of the air you're breathing in includes some of the air that is still chapped inside your mask from your last exhale stuffy stale air rich in CO2 buildings like this have massive air conditioners not just to control the temperature but also to pump in fresh clean air because fresh clean air is good for the body buildings like this without nice big air conditioners often
061have poor air quality which can lead to sick building syndrome which can lead to some major respiratory and neurological problems for the occupants of that building these masks are creating that same poor air quality for these students and it's right in front of their faces I wanted to focus solely on mask mandates today I didn't want to talk about vaccines but it's hard not to because they're so interwoven and I don't want to offend anyone I know at least a few people here have gotten a jab including some of my friends and I wish them all the best but the fear campaign that we've been experiencing has been very effective at scaring people into submission and that is exactly what is behind all of these insane covid restrictions and mandates and now that the vaccine
062campaign is in full swing you can't go five minutes without seeing or hearing commercial Forum get your free vags here comes with free fries free prom free donuts we give you 100 bucks all in an effort to sell this supposedly very safe and effective vaccine that will allow everyone to get back to normal thanks scratch what they fail to mention is that more more people have already died from this vaccine than from 20 years of all the other us vaccines combined or that countless others have had horrible reactions to this vaccine and I'm not just talking about a sore arm or lowgrade fever the next day but alas I'm not here to talk about how unsafe and ineffective these covid vaccines are my point is that there are plenty of people concerned about what I
063just said and will not be getting themselves or their children vaccinated and now the vaccine passports aren't just a conspiracy theory anymore I'm very concerned it's very concerning to those of us choosing not to be part of this Grand experiment so what is Granville schools plan to do next fall no masks required but for vaccinated students only get out of here you antivaxers and take your cies with you meanwhile fully vaccinated people are now allowed to go mask with in public even though they are still fully capable of Contracting and spreading the virus now don't get me wrong I don't think they should have to wear masks as long as they're healthy and asymptomatic but that applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated folks anyone unhealthy or symptomatic if they have a cough and cold Sy
064SYM stay home that's what we've done for the last year that is what has helped control the spread of any illness that has that has occurred not these masks common sense and common courtesy go a long ways before covid kids were sent to school sick all the time with lowgrade fevers and cold symptoms and they shared with all their classmates people are much more conscious about all of this now and it's more acceptable and technically possible to stay home and attend school virtually if they don't feel well school board members we are all on the same team but you are not appointed by the state you you were elected by us to represent us to manage this school district to the best of your ability we expect you to make smart choices you sound judgment
065and always do what's right for our kids and that may occasionally mean going against ridiculous and overbearing State mandates and guidelines I'm not alone in this thinking many parents in this room also do not want masks on their kids at school at the very least you made them you need to make them optional but if you know already that isn't going to happen please let me know so that I can start making other arrangements for this fall I personally know of multiple families who are already playing to homeschool or switch to private school next year simply due to the mass bandid that they suspect will still be in place for their unvaccinated kids I've heard it said your hands are tied you have to follow the state mandates but board members you need to push
066back you need to be fight for us and our kids you need to do the right thing a lot of people in this room need you to do the right thing for our kids thanks for listening thank you Adam and Kendra copc there we go hi I'm Kendra copek I am a parent of two kids in this District I have two boys one is a fourth grader and one as a first grader I also been a teacher for the district and a GAA member for 15 years I am here to speak in complete support of the new position of director of diversity equity and inclusion [Applause] frankly frankly I don't understand why anyone would not support a position that helps us strive to be more accepting of diverse populations be inclusive of all students as
067well as make sure our education of young people is Equitable as a teacher it is my job to make sure that first all of my students are safe and next that all of my students are fully supported in all aspects of their education there are times when some of these supports can be inadvertently overlooked as humans we all need to strive to learn more and to be held accountable throughout my 15 years of teaching for Granville Public Schools sorry this is very picky um I have had the opportunity to teach with so many different so many students with so many differences students with two months students with just one parent students who have had a parent pass students of many different racial and cultural backgrounds students who were fostered students of adoption and students with
068different religious beliefs and through all of this I teach sometimes I get stuck and I'm not sure how to approach sticky subjects with these differences and so I look outward for h i look outward for help to try to solve them with the director of diversity equity and inclusion I could utilize this person as a resource for those times that I'm just not sure how to proceed guessing and just figuring it out isn't good enough when it comes to educating our young people and guiding them through this tough stuff if we know better we do better we are purposeful in our academic curriculum and we need to be purposeful in these often delicate topics too this is a position that will enhance our district and the community at large all students of diverse backgrounds culturals
069C cultures sexual orientations religions and family compositions need to feel accepted and included we are a public school system it is our job to educate everyone as adults we don't get to decide if students feel uncomfortable misunderstood or unaccepted we instead need to validate their feelings and then work to try to support them a director of Dei could help to make sure that these students are heard as well as feel accepted and supported being a mom it is my job to make sure that my own boy boys are safe and feel included my husband is biracial my two boys are also multi-racial I don't get to say how any of my three boys feel when it comes to their race I often think about if I was the person not being included because of the
070color of my skin or academic ability or if my children ever felt that way and it tears me up I know that there will come a time when it will happen possibly at school and I want to know that our school system is up for it even being a part of a multi-racial family I still have much to learn I know that I have my own unconscious bias as many of us do whether we realize it or not the director of diversity equity and inclusion Position will directly support our continued work as GAA as Educators and really just as humans to help make our world a little more accepting of all people especially as we are cultivating our children our future to head out into a very diverse World our district has a long way
071to go our community has a long way to go and our nation has a long way to go when it comes to race equity and inclusion it can start here in our school district in our community with this new director position one last thing on another note I would like to personally thank the District administration and the board for following the Kent County Health Department stance on masking in all my years of teaching I have never had so few students in all my years of teaching I have never had so few students absent from being sick masks work and let's be respectful quiet and our students are amazing at wearing them contrary to popular belief the students don't complain about them and they wear them appropriate she gets more the students don't complain about them
072and they wear them appropriately and how would you like that okay wrap it up thank you cra I I'm trying okay um and it's working to keep our kids safe so thank you and thank you for the work you do on behalf of our students thank you [Music] CA all right if everyone could um just give folks a chance to speak uh Ashley zer hi Ashley hi my name is Ashley zider I live at 3754 sakuro drive I'll be honest I'm a recovering plator pacifist I've spent a large amount of my life trying to avoid confrontation you see I don't like when people are at odds when relationships appear to be or are broken I especially have a hard time when people's anger or disregard are directed at me deep down I like being liked
073I like being respected and taken seriously living in a space of neutrality have saved me from the heartache of having to be less than to anyone but like I previously mentioned I'm recovering I'm here today to speak up to share my thoughts and beliefs regardless of the amount of people in the room that I might be in disord with because of it I understand that some or many are here to show disapproval or anger over some decisions that have been made or may be made by the board and district and while I don't understand or support their disapproval or anger I see it I acknowledge it I simply ask for the same acknowledgement for me and those who make Think Like Me My Hope Is that in speaking tonight I invite people in instead of
074calling them out despite my own anger I myself am a product of this community I was raised in this town and school district and I have made my home here with my family and friends both of my kids are Granville students and in full transparency I'm also a teacher in the district I am truly proud to be a Grandville Bulldog I grew up proud of our past our history and traditions we are a district with strong academics and Athletics respected throughout West Michigan but what felt most special about Granville growing up was this palpable sense of community a kinship of sorts to each other people in Granville seem to love the people of granbo however as I've grown older and perhaps a bit wiser in the ways of the world I question whether that feeling
075of kinship I felt was born out of true Community or if it was nothing more than a privileged result of our similarities and sameness are we a community that loves all of our members or are we a community that is stratified in its love and acceptance I am proud to know that our little Community has attracted and birthed a more diverse population than we've ever known politically racially and culturally people seek out our community seek out our school district people want to be a part of what we have going on here I'm proud that we are seeking ways as a district to include everyone to teach everyone to love everyone in a way that says we will grow and change because of what you offer not just will tolerate you being here and that's really
076all I wanted to speak on this evening love I know there may be community members that disagree with me that things can't be as black and white simple as choosing love and Community but I think it could be if that's what we choose I love the kids of this community that show up through my door at school and through my door at home I want the best for all of them I don't think you'd meet many teachers who wouldn't agree with me we don't do what we do because it's easy or because it makes us rich or because it makes us popular or respected we do it because we love kids we love seeing them grow into themselves into their ways of being in the world we see it as a privilege to walk this
077walk with our kids every day they show us consistent ly what it means to try something new take risks and build new ways of thinking and being they are Grandville to me every single one of them so when some in the community voice their concerns over hiring a diversity Equity an inclusion director for the district by saying things like we don't have a race problem here or they're going to fill our kids heads with critical race Theory or next thing you know will have to let anybody into any bathroom they want to me these things sound fearful when someone says we don't have a race problem here I hear someone who is afraid to acknowledge that we might have to confront some difficult truths about our community and its homogeneous nature for Generations when someone
078says they're going to fill our kids heads with CRT I hear someone who is afraid to admit that all of us and I do mean all of us live our everyday existence as a result of racial systems that none of us could control until this moment when someone says next thing you know will have to let anybody into any bathroom they want I hear someone who is afraid to acknowledge someone else's identity as anything other than predatory and disgusting the fear of difference is real but what if we allowed our love of our community and more importantly the people in it all of the people in it to be stronger than our fear I'm here to speak in support of the new Dei position and my faith in the work of the district and its
079staff to strive towards inclusion towards love love and faith these are two practices I've always considered Staples of our community that is what I'm humbly asking of our community and board as we as a district move forward in continuing the work of educating each and every child that comes through our doors thank you thank you Ashley jackeline pman good evening my name is Jacqueline Pullman I'm the mother of two students in the district an eighth grader named Max and a coming second grader named Claire I first want to express my gratitude to the entire board and the Granville staff for your grace and composure during what has been a truly unique and challenging school year is that something we can all agree on hopefully like I'm guessing a lot of you here I grew up
080and went to a little school system down the road called Jenison in the 1990s and my primary and secondary education and also my post-secondary education 99.9% of my peers were of my same identity as white heterosexual Christian makeup I had no friends that I identified as anything but amazingly it took me till my mid-30s that I made a friend who didn't look like me and I remember going to her birthday party and being the only person there who wasn't black and it made me extremely uncomfortable and then I realized that that is what this friend of mine feels like every single day because she was the only black friend in our group of friends now as a parent thankfully things are a little differently half my children's friends are of a different racial ethnic or
081gender makeup than what they are my partner has a child that identifies as non-binary I am pleased to see them growing up with better experiences than what I had but I know that Granville still has a long ways to go it's because of their future that I want to express support for grle hiring a Dei director for our students while those opposing this position will argue that this should be taught in home I don't necessarily argue with that but as a single mom and as someone who has kids with parents that are not there for whatever reason they may be gone they may be working they may be deceased they may be divorced and only have one parent we simply do not often have the resources to give our children the education that they deserve
082in this endeavor I would rather rather my children get this education from school than risk them not getting it at all and furthermore as someone who has close family members that have passed away from Co I also want to express my gratitude to the Grano staff and board for continuing to require masks of all students this school year I believe that the policies and recommendations put in place by our school system are the right approach and I'm proud to be a mom in a district with leadership that strives to provide an inclusive safe and projective learning environment for our kids thank you thank you Jacqueline Amy Bailey hello my name is Amy Bailey and I will be reading my comments tonight to remain respectful of time those who know me know that I'm a chatter
083so you're welcome um I also printed copies for the board I believe I can provide those is my understanding I have two students attending Granville public schools in fifth and seventh grade I am not only a parent in this community I'm also a clinical therapist and a child welfare social worker of 20 years it is with all of these roles that I share my public comments this evening I fully support the hiring of a Dei director in the Grandville public school district for many reasons and I'm here to request that the school board moves forward with this with tenacity in filling this role my reasons for this support are as follows first and foremost I want every child in this city to feel valued and seen when they enter into any school building in Granville
084having a person in the district whose primary focus is on this will allow no child to become invisible I want our school buildings to be safe spaces for each child where they can grow learn and be valued members of our community second from a clinical standpoint all children in the district will benefit from an intentional exposure to diversity within the schools there is a significant amount of research supporting positive emotional and Social Development for children who experience diversity within their learning spaces specifically one can find clinical studies simply by utilizing Google searches so I will not go into depth citing those tonight in an effort to respect everyone's time and intellect I will share however that research indicates that these developmental benefits come from things such as having diversity in curriculum teachers and staff diversity
085in visual cues Etc of note these are some of the precise areas which would focus would be the focus of the Dei director role according to the job post in regards to curriculum in particular I have heard some concern raised by people in the community and this evening over particular curriculums that may be utilized and would just note that adding this Dei role would not automatically change any curriculum for our children humbly I would also highlight that if we as parents read each piece of the curriculum that our children are currently learning it is likely that there are already many things within the content that we do not agree with or that are not in line with our personally held beliefs and values Common Core am I right which brings me to my third Point
086third one of my primary hopes for my children's education in Granville Public Schools is that they're able to become strong critical thinkers as adults I do not agree with every belief or value system of every person that has or will teach my children I do not agree with many of the beliefs of beliefs of others in this room nor of course will they believe agree with mine I may not agree with the beliefs of the specific spefic Dei director that's hired however what I am confident in is that my children will benefit either way from this role being fully funded and filled by the district because it is through engaging with diverse thoughts and ideas that one enters into deep learning about one's own values I want this for my children lastly having exposure to
087a variety of beliefs values cultures races and dialogues will offer an opportunity for my children and yours to engage in conversations that will allow them to better navigate a variety of situations in their future college and professional Endeavors though Granville is small the world is wide and I pray their education here I pray their education here gives them a foundation to move comfortably throughout the world with diverse individuals that they will encounter to do so I believe that having staff that are specifically dedicated to diversity equity and inclusion within branville Academia is imperative for the well-being of our children and community and though it's not at the end I would ask as a social worker I would happily give up my space in the school district as a social worker to a Dei director thank
088you thank you Amy Ryan zervan okay all right well that concludes all the papers that I have and again I want to thank everyone for um the comments and um obviously we're uh you know a district that does appreciate everybody's input and comments everybody is valued in this district and um each and every one of us is valued too we all had children that went to the school and still live in the school district and people that mov back to put their kids in the in the district so again thank you and um I know that Roger is going to go first in our reports agenda so thank you Roger okay do we need to approve the agenda first we're passing why don't we do that quickly oh yeah sound good just that just that
089we are going to approve the agenda okay so support thank you thank you all in favor yes excellent reports thank you Roger okay thank you first of all i' just like to say thank you so much for the comments thank you for being here um I truly respect what each and every one of you has to say whether I agree disagree doesn't matter we're all here for the same reason we're here for our kids we want what's best for our kids uh you know one thing I want to apologize for in this world of covid has thrown us for a loop without question we've had to deal with things we've never had to deal with and I can tell you it's it's uh you know our our teachers our staff have done just amazing job
090our parents have done just an incredible job and probably most importantly our kids our kids have done such a fabulous job so if we can all just really give everybody a hand because I tell you it's been a journey I am one more than anything I want to take this dog on thing and throw it in garbage and I can't wait till the time tell you uh and we will and we will it'll it'll be coming up so uh I want to apologize because in this world of covid you know this presentation should have happened a while ago and it did not happen and I'm going to take full responsibility for that because we've been talking about this for about three years and I want to give you a low background I want to I
091know it's kind of backwards um everybody is assuming what they think this is but you really don't know you really don't know what we're trying to do and I want to try to shed some light on that I want to make sure that people understand want to make sure that people have a voice in what we're doing so I want to uh want to go ahead and uh give you some uh some information on this so starting out my purpose provide you an understanding of the work that's part of Gro public schools and diversity Equity inclusion how did we get to today how did we get to this point want to provide some data hear people saying you know show us the data show you show us what you have I'm going to show you
092some data that drives the work including what our kids think I'm going to show you some samples and as much as uh some of the samples I celebrate some of them are punched to the gut and we've got to do something about them Define what diversity Equity inclusion means in Grille Public Schools diversity equity and inclusion mean a lot a lot of things to a lot of different people uh just listening here today there's so many thought processes on what those are and and where somebody might head with that so I want to Define what we as Granville public schools have determined our diversity equity and inclusion Define our role or Vision as a school system in the world in which we live crazy world that it is um but you know we need to
093have a vision for where we're going with our kids our kids need us more than ever all of our kids need us more than ever and of course want to define the role of the director position what it is and what it isn't I heard a lot tonight about what people think it might be I want to make sure you understand from from our point of view what is it really what are we trying to accomplish and also what are we not willing to try I want to share this with you because this is the voice of Granville Public Schools this is our community as a whole this is our uh you know we did a survey you may recall last fall and some of the things on there talked about our values talked about
094our beliefs and talked about when kids leave us what do we want them to have what do we want them to possess this was given separate three separate surveys a separate one for parents one for our students and one for our staff and these are the things and by the way this is the first look of this uh that we've actually shown out here the board has done a significant amount of work with it um you know we we uh gathered the data analyzed the data had a lot of discussion around it but I want to point out some pieces on here one of the values diversity recognizing and valuing diversity in all people another value Equity giving every student the support they need when they need it notice every student when you look at
095beliefs in the value of inclusion of all individuals and when kids leave us and Lord I'm experiencing this right now with my kid my kid graduated from college he's about two years out just moved to uh the Cleveland area culturally competent citizens who understand and respect diverse populations I got to believe when you look at these four things there isn't anything that's mentioned in those four things that a person in this room doesn't believe in doesn't agree with in regards of what we want for our kids I know as a fact our whole community our parents our kids and our staff had these same similarities when they took the survey so knowing that and I'm going to talk more about these in a in a little bit about Granville and detail but this is what
096we talk about with diversity Equity inclusion and one of those things being culturally competent citizens it doesn't say you have to agree with what people believe it just says that you are aware that you are accepting that you are honoring or valuing people but you don't have to agree just like we don't agree in this room heard some statistics earlier a few more for you we have over 5600 kids I call them Scholars sometimes I'm trying to call them Scholars more because students don't sound like the word student doesn't sound like uh it sounds like a kid's going to be something a scholar is you know we know all kids are Scholars there's something right now and so I'm going to work hard at that one that's one of my things over 30 languages uh
097when I got here six years ago we were in the low 20s in free and reduced lunch we're now 35% you can see some of the makeup 4.3 African-American 3.3 Asian Pacific Islander 12.3 Hispanic Latin X 6.3 multi-race 73.8% white so where have we been as I mentioned we've been on this journey covid got in the way I just want to talk a little bit about that it all started uh summer of 201819 school year we went we were looking at our academic data and we noticed some gaps in achievement some significant gaps in achievement and those were presented at our district school Improvement team which is made up of Staff of of teachers administrators support staff parents Etc uh and then in the fall of 2019 um you know as we looked at that
098we said we we've got to do something we've got to look at this and we've gota we've got to figure some things out how do we take a look at our students with disabilities our students in poverty and our students in color and the gaps we're seeing and how do we address those gaps meric Foster we had a um ongoing Ed learning together discussions we looked at our data analyzed our data we talked about um various strategies tools and so on why did we start with our administrative team well if you can't lead people if you can't lead a building or you can't expect your principles to understand some of those things some of those gaps in what to do then it's going to be hard to move forward so we started there and then
099uh we did an update for uh the board and then covid hit and then in the fall 2020 we one of our goals that we had established when meeting with Eric was implementation of a diversity Equity inclusion committee had students on it parents and staff and we've been meeting this year on an average of once uh once a month and then in the spring 2021 we had the posting of the Dei director job now I will admit wasn't great timing horrible timing right um it it it needed more dialogue it needed more to happen and I I don't want to make excuses I just know that you know we were turned upside down we should have had more dialogue should have had more discussions uh with it um but now here we are and we
100are having more discussion in the spring of 2021 as mentioned we had a student well-being survey from Kisa that's the superintendent Association at Kent County to gather some data and look at student voice and it was regarding coming out of this covid experience we've been in we really were interested to see where kids were at there were significant um events that had happen in our world as well and we just wanted to really Target where where are kids uh with a variety of things so you saw many topics that were there so that's a little background um when you look at our demographic achievement data as mentioned earlier by someone we take great pride we're a high performing District I I mean you know every year we're looked at as one of the top districts
101in our state we are looked at as a top District in the nation I always get these offers on emails for plaques and all this good stuff um for our district there's just so many accolades that we have you do a fabulous job you parents you do a fabulous job with our kids teachers you do an incredible job with our kids we know that our kids have a great work ethic we know that our kids know the importance of right and wrong the importance of a good education and it shows um we have proven that we're here academically for kids but yes we do have to be here socially emotionally for kids to say that we can only focus on academics when we know if a kid walks through our doors and they don't feel
102valued they don't feel like they belong that their academic performance is going to significantly drop we have to address those things and and most would say we have to address those first so as I mentioned our data shows opportunity gaps between our students demonstrating our high expectations and we'll never never give into those High you know we will not lower those high expectations and our students in poverty our students with disabilities and students of color and if we're truly about high levels of learning for every student we have to answer why we have to try to find out why I'm going show you a little bit of of data and this was that first data that we looked at if you look uh I used a couple samples mstep grades three through S uh English
103language arts you can see 2014 15 1819 we know everything else after that's been messed up with with covid and and so on as far as as that assessment goes but if you take a look at that lowincome Stu SW students with disabilities African-American students elll you you can see there are some gaps there and those do cause concern you look at sat grade 11 in math again very similar gaps now it's it' be very easy for me to stand up here and say well you know but everyone else shows the same gaps that's not good enough for us that's not good enough enough for our kids and it's not good enough for Granville so we have to look if we're about high levels of learning for all we cannot just sit by and say
104that that's okay want to talk a little bit more about the student engagement survey why does that matter engage students two and a half times more likely to say that they do well in school and four and a half times more likely to be hopeful about the future so if we can get kids engaged if we can get them interested in what's going on and we we can get them uh involved not only in the academic side of things but the activities that we have we know the chances are they're going to be quite successful diversity Equity inclusion we must prepare our students to succeed in an increasingly diverse World less than half the children this is a brooking's research under 15 in the US are white today think of about that half of children
105under 50 in the US are white today we do not want to wait to have our kids figure out how they get along with people how they understand other kids and then social emotional learning we all know the impact Co has had on that we know social emotional learning builds characteristics values and mindsets I'm going to show you some data I'm going to show you some of the student well-being data some of it I'm just showing you to give you a little feel for what our kids are telling us part of it as I mentioned uh is is definitely worth celebrating and then I'm going to show you a few pieces that I believe we need to be concerned about and with a position like this we need to really look at doing something with
106so you heard heard a couple of those questions how fairly do students at your school will treat people from different races ethnicities or cultures you can see the scale that's here overall somewhat to you know heading towards quite is what our kids are telling us there and again remember that engagement part and remember that that part about um diversity how fairly do adults at your school treat people from different races ethnicities or cultures you can see there again um you know G from somewhat to quite again gives you big picture information when you're feeling pressured how easy is it for you to stay in control um right now that's a challenge for everybody kids adults alike I would I would agree with that it's it's a challenge you can see uh you know right around
107the somewhat range pretty much for everyone there how well do people in your school feel about you as a person again there there's there's things there somewhat um you know I think I think they feel somewhat understanding somewhat where I'm at how connected do you feel to students in your school and again here's here's some more data on that and then how respectful are teachers toward you very very proud of that I'm very proud that our kids think that our teachers are respectful says a lot and the then I I want to share some other pieces with you here these are definitely celebrations and there are many of these I'll tell you throughout uh they had an open-ended piece at the end and I I want to read some of these because they do resonate
108when you read them this is the third School gone to I feel like this is the best school I've have been to that's all I have to say that sounds like a third grader now doesn't it uh fifth grader I wish everyone could go to this school it's amazing fifth grader we have very nice school that protects people from bullying this is our chant and goes through that 11th grader I really like the school I noticed that the teachers really try their hardest and they give so much of their personal time to help us learn and understand they really are the best they love and really care for every student great staff very very proud of those and there are many of them we have a great school don't please don't ever forget that all
109right here comes the gut punch fifth grader gender equality is a huge issue racism too lots of people feel like they have to stay silent because of their gender racial or ethnic background and sexual identity they feel like they cannot let people in maybe not even their parents because of the way they're treated at school seventh grader school can be bad for people sometimes because it makes them want to commit suicide just because people at this school make them feel like they're not wanted fifth grader in my school I think that people are fair but I've been kind of teased for my beliefs and I think we as a school when we can have a talk about how to respect others race religion and beliefs I've been called homophobic because I think lgbtq is a
110poor life choice I have no hate for them I just do not believe in it and I've been teased seventh grader think our school is great many people say rude things to kids at our school but we're scared to tell I have had many many many people this year say terrible stuff to me but the teachers are great here and then another one seventh grader you could see there to read that ninth grader Grille is amazing place but there are a few things that could be better I wish we talked more about diversity in different races more I also wish we did more about combating and discouraging racism and bullying I have also had two different teachers that showed their political opinions openly even when most of what they said weren't facts and wasn't supported
111by evidence ninth grade is a minority in this school and this school being majority Caucasians just do better when it comes to racism bullying I understand that there's a pandemic but there are other things going on in that building that staff don't see and I got a couple more that I do want to share many of the students stare at me or talk about me whenever my disability shows I have have a motor verbal tick disorder and whenever I tick people will stare at me and sometimes even talk about it with their friends people avoid me and treat me differently even though I'm just a normal person ninth grader you can see that one this school needs to work on representation pretty much everyone this school needs to work on being more open-minded and stop
112with the stereotypes and update Traditions that take place in high school to make it more accepting for anyone no matter the type of person we need to make make this a place accepting to everyone and not focus on stereotypes like clicks are popular people you can read the rest there so why do I share these these aren't fun for me I'm telling you that right now they're very they're they're very uncomfortable and I hope they I hope they make you uncomfortable and matter of fact I know they do because I know your parents who love your kids very dearly and I know your board members who love our kids very dearly and teachers who love our kids very dearly so why I share these with you our kids our our kids have it they they
113understand a lot more than I think sometimes we give them credit for or we maybe we just don't realize that they're really thinking about the different things that are happening um with that so I want to talk a little bit about diversity Equity inclusion I want to Define these for you what we believe they are in Granville and I honestly I I would find it hard to believe any of you are going to disagree with these things um diversity and the in the context we have here a successful community in which individuals of different race ethnicity religious beliefs i' have to add disabilities in there because it bothers me every time I read this socioeconomic status language geographical origin gender Andor sexual orientation bring their different knowledge background EXP experience and interest for the benefit
114of the whole Community I don't say see anything in there that says indoctrinate I don't see anything in there that says change your beliefs or your values I do see in there recognizing differences respecting differences understanding differences and working to working together in a school system for the greater whole so what about Equity equity in education's providing students what they need when they need it to thrive plain and simple it and you're right somebody mentioned this earlier it's not teaching what to think you know you have your values your family has your values and the what isn't what we're trying to to change it's the how how do you go about problem solving how do you go about having um you know civil discourse with other people and then walking away and going and getting
115a pop or something how how do you do those things kids just don't learn them and I can tell you in today's day and age they're learning from us and it's not good it's not that we're slamming each other we're calling each other labels names and so on and we're getting all caught up in it and our kids are watching and it's not that is not how we want our kids to go out into the world I'm thoroughly convinced none of us want that no matter what you believe so what is inclusion this is what inclusion is to us the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed respected supported and valued to fully participate an inclusive and welcoming climate Embraces differences and offers resp effect in words
116and actions for all people I heard one of our students up here telling me that people's words and actions aren't respectful to him and he deals with it every day the comments that I painfully showed you show you that we have kids that walk through our doors every single day and they don't feel that all we're asking is can we all work together to do everything we can to make sure every single kid whether you agree with their beliefs or not can feel that inclusive education's based on the principles and acceptance of all students notice it doesn't say you have to believe what they believe again students see themselves reflected in their curriculum their physical surroundings and the broader environment in which diversity is honored and all individuals are respected and again if it doesn't
117mean you're changing your curriculum but if they can't see themselves in your curriculum then how in the world do we ever expect them to learn so let's talk about what this is this director position and what it isn't and again I'm very sorry very sorry that you didn't get this early no we have we have not hired anybody but I want you to see what this position is and what it isn't what it is is it's grounded in systems of teaching and learning it is all about teaching and learning we're here you're right we're here to help our kids we have high expectations for all kids we want every single student every student to attain high levels of learning and that means academically socially and emotionally this person would help close the opportunity achievement gaps
118evident for the subgroups that I showed you they would assist in professional learning and culturally responsive teaching now what is culturally responsive teaching I want to tell you that because I also know that there are many definitions of cultur be careful they're G to do this culturally responsive teaching thing I want you to look at what these things are and again if you disagree with them we'll have some discussion but let's have the discussion on them before we we assume that they are what they're not culturally respon responsive teaching using students cultural experiences and daily instruction 30 languages example I'm going to use imagine having a student from Bosnia come over a refugee from Bosnia and is placed in your classroom you know nothing about that student you know nothing about their culture you probably
119have a hard time communicating with their family you have you have a hard time understanding if anything that you're currently doing might be an obstacle for that student you have no idea what do you do I heard one of our teachers say you know you look for help you're you're looking for help would it wouldn't it be great to have a champion that could help you with that that could learn more about that gather resources strategies tools for your toolbox that could check with some other districts who might have Bosnian students and say hey what are you guys doing we need help and and really work together um somebody that could meet with the family somebody that could have you know really try to get a bigger picture for that teacher number two embracing native
120language in students families is assets not as a liability um there are many times I write a newsletter and I send it out and I do G it I forgot to forgot to translate it um happens all the time when you have somebody that's looking through that lens they'll be able to help all of us um ensure we are looking through that lens creating a classroom environment that represents and respects all students fair enough communicating clear high expectations for everyone I will tell you I have read Christopher ruo's uh information um and I I know um a lot of the the pieces that he talks about with critical race Theory and how critical race theory is bad and I can tell you one of the main things he says to look for is are there
121high expectations still or not there are high expectations communicating those being very clear about those is very important relationships relationships mean so much but if you don't understand say the Bosnian student you don't you don't know anything about them and you want to build a relationship you've got to have some things you can connect with so this person could help with those types of things and bridge the gap evident with populations of kids and their connection to the school environment you saw the comments looking at our systems policies and practices through inequity lens and I say this because uh Angie thornberg is our special education director and every time we talk about some kind of an initiative um to do Angie always always looks at it through the lens of a student with disabilities and
122says have you guys thought about this have you considered that we need to do that with our kids all of our kids um and ensure that that that is happening so work as a team this is the main part of work as a team to ensure every student who walks through our doors feels safe valued respected and has the appropriate environment to thrive this position does connect academics connects Mental Health social emotional and student engagement what it is not it is not a position grounded in Social or political agendas or movements I know many of you have have communicated the fact that you're scared at what this could be and what it could become I'm telling you from day one we are we are not here to focus on social or political agendas or movements
123that are out there by people and and having you know teaching our kids and getting our kids ingrained in those it is not focused on critical race Theory I'll say it again it's not focused on critical race theory if you're worried about our curriculum we have a process our curriculum has to be vetted and I say that because we have a process where many many people look at our curriculum pieces in this case probably a lot like our sex ed curriculum we would want many eyes on it we would want many parents' eyes on it uh we'd want a lot of feedback before it ever went to our district and school Improvement team who then would analyze it check it out and and if if they signed off on it would send it to this
124Board of Education who then would have to sign off on it but I'm telling you we would need we would we we have a c we we have a curriculum process and and we follow this process and I'm telling you we will follow this process on this so um also what is not is not focused on Extreme beliefs on either side of the social or political Spectrum again our role is to work as a team to ensure every student who walks through our doors feels those things that we have mentioned and it's not a reactionary decision based upon current events while important and while they do shed light on a lot of things we've been talking about diversity and equity and inclusion and this need for over three years as I had shown you before
125if there's anything that you leave my presentation with please let it be this last paragraph it is not an attempt to dishonor the core Traditional Values of Granville that make it the great place that it is but rather to ensure that every student again who walks through our doors feels valued and respected and has what they need to achieve academic social and emotional success and by the way that's not at the expense of anyone else this this is here for everyone it's here to lift everyone so that everyone who walks through those doors feels that way that is what we're called to do that paragraph there is you know when you look at kids need to come through our doors feeling like they belong and we have data that says some of our kids are
126not feeling that way and we're doing everything we can possible from this angle as you saw with the academic and the the perception data that we showed you to ensure that they are Raj yes want to interrupt real quick and I apologize but um Roger and I had a dialogue last week and I said if something came up I was going to ask him a question so based on Brenda and Brenda you've come to us twice and you're very memorable my dear so bless your heart for that so with your comment with with regard to teachers I'd like um to go back to what Roger said with is because I'm following this closely myself and number three he says creating a classroom environment that represents and respects all students so how we're going all students
127my dear so how Roger is going to monitor that in his administration that's just a focus point that I think many people will have so am I right you are right thank you and I just wanted to make sure there was no question there because yeah thank you um want to talk a little bit again about you know about this position so this person will report out to the board annually they'll be evaluated by me annually and then in year three we would determine a continuance of the position moving forward or if we needed to look at other alternatives to support all students again we'd be looking at are we closing achievement gaps are we seeing nice gains in student perceptions of their school experiences socially emotionally if you could tell me that our data
128academically with the subgroups that I mentioned and socially emotionally that and you saw that you know with that data I mean it really isn't a particular group of kids it's it's kind of you know somewhat good to to you know quite good but are we able to move that needle so so every student or almost every student there's an huge increase in when kids walk through the doors they feel like they're respected they feel like they belong they you know are we going to see that Improvement or aren't we so those are ways we would measure I want to thank you for listening we value your thoughts and concerns I appreciate everyone's time appreciate everybody's input and thank you very much if you have any questions please feel free to call me please feel free
129to call me I I didn't get very many phone calls on this and and I would be happy to talk to people very happy to talk to people that's why I'm here thank you thank you Roger very much and if folks want to keep staying we're more than welcome to we're g to do some board reports and how about if we start with Amy okay am I on here can you hear me um first of all uh I do want to thank everybody who did who did come I have this favorite quote that says distance does not separate us but silence does so I do appreciate every single voice that was uh uh that spoke tonight um being the liaison for the Parks and Recreation board it's been really fun to see uh some of
130the ideas is that we're talking about with some grant writing so we're talking about some fishing extra fishing locations pickle ball courts bike trails and we have uh we do have a three person Grant team now we did miss out on some grants that we uh had just missed but those are always annual another cool thing that the Parks and Recreation Department is doing with us is that we are U maybe going to offer we're still trying to figure out the timing but community Ed is going to partner with the Macatawa Waterway outdoor Discovery Center and our own Tom Kelly in offering a sixth through eth grade Survivor Camp so that's kind of exciting um some of the things that I saw from the school this week that were great our lacrosse clubs are doing
131wonderfully um uh we came for an orchestra concert and it was really nice to see that Brianna little has been hired to help out Brian um our track team has been doing really well our my own son got his personal record which was nice yeah I know um I love that our sixth grade now has a bunch of really cool uh plans for the teachers have been trying to really make the sixth graders move up into Middle School something special and oh the Green Team here at the high school they started planting out some really cool uh things for their Garden so they have been working every like they've come two or three different times to do volunteer hours and building up fences and painting and weeding and mulching and it's been awesome so lots
132of really good stuff Happening Here in Granville thank you yeah um first thank you to everyone who came tonight and shared their um voice um I'm GNA say thank you to you because I'm sitting here listening to how you have such a pulse on things and I know it's because not only you're aware of them but you're there every time I turn around Amy's there this is what you have for kids in multiple Sports and activities and in the Arts but I appreciate how much you know about our community and what all the the great things especially with the garden so um I also want to give a shout out to the track team and all the other sports that are coming to a close in the spring we had a lot of great things
133going on I love the culture we build around the community of Athletics here it's not just about winning but about those personal records those reaching of milestones and I love love love seeing our kids encourage the last Runner over the line that is just those are the kids that we want coming out of this community so thank you to those coaches um the community ed brochure we were given a copy of that last week um we didn't really talk about it but wow if your kids aren't involved in some of those opportunities or you as adults we have adult education opportunities there please take a look at that we have a lot of great things going on and I'm always impressed by um how we continue to grow that program and I noticed on our
134agenda tonight we have some stuff at the Early Childhood Center and I just want to say we've been talking so much about about Co and this and that how to survive the Earth just want to recognize that that building has come to fruition this year and I can't wait to see how it grows because Early Childhood is the foundation of everything that we do here making sure our students start off right and so I'm really excited if you're not aware of that building uh take a take a drive down by Fair lanes and see what what's been happening there um also want to say thank you to our music teachers who have pulled off some amazing programs this year around all the different rules and um allow those kids an opportunity to shine in what
135they've been learning and practicing and allow the parents those moments of uh Pride to see their kids growth in in the art so it's really great to see um I also want to say I I'm gonna come back to the Gratitude I have for the community coming out here tonight and speaking uh I was a social studies teacher and so my life was dedicated for almost 20 years to teaching students to be citizens of the world it wasn't just about the Academia of it I knew they could look up what the capital turkey was someday those things were important to me like being a good citizen was and part of being a good citizen is that public discourse learning when to speak up learning when to share your voice and your thoughts and your opinions
136and learning to do it um in a way that's respectful that um shows your opinion that also is a representation of our democracy and our values of peaceful compromise and so I really appreciate hearing the different thoughts here tonight and we'll take into consideration those things um but I also want to say an extreme uh debt of gratitude to Roger in his presentation tonight and owning the places where it was difficult but also giving real data behind it um I've felt these things have been in education for years and um have had the privilege of seeing behind the curtains and you know knowing the data that comes into our subgroups in this community and many communities in Michigan it's an epidemic where children are left behind but as a whole we shine as a district
137but we don't want to just shine with the majority with everybody so I really appreciate that we're looking in every corner and finding what needs to be done to help our students and I just I want to share with everyone here something that's very personal from my own household this week my son who is autistic but high functioning he's brilliant got off of a a a Google meet with one of his uh service providers here we have fantastic providers he meets with a social worker on the regular he meets with a speech therapist he was distraught and I had to turn off my work computer step away from a meeting and ask what's wrong and this giant High School child curled up in my lap and he said to me why do I have to
138work so hard to understand everyone else's minds and what they need of me why doesn't anyone ever seem to understand who I am and start there that was an amazing moment to hear from my own child it took a lot for him to make that connection but it is a good question for everyone else who has a typical brain his experiences are not my experiences I can't make him different I can't make the world different but we could all take an opportunity to stop and listen and find out how do we start where he's at instead of how to make him come to where we're at and I hope we see that opportunity in this position Barb yeah thank you for your comments both really well done and um I also want to thank the
139audience for staying well sorry as you're leaving no judg it's okay it's okay it's okay I think actually you know for coming and then you know when I don't know I just feel like you know some of the things said tonight kind of hard to to hear um but I do appreciate that it's being said so that we can hear it and that we can understand it somewhat I think sometimes it's some things aren't true what I heard today I I it's not true what's being said but I appreciate so much Roger's ability to try to put it into perspective for some of us that maybe what they heard tonight isn't what they thought it was and hopefully that they and us here can can move forward with this and in continuing the dialogue because
140I think he's Roger is right that the timing has been a little awkward even for some of us board members like how far are we and where where are we going and I know we've talked about this back in you know before Co and Al so it's it was a very helpful presentation and I hope all of you learned something that maybe you thought was what you thought but you learned it's something maybe different last thing I want to share is uh my daughter recently was um selected to be a donor match for bone marrow she was um be the match she signed up through Granville high school we were trying to find a match for one of our students and many of the classmates and students here Scholars here gave of their bone marrow
141or their blood and 10 years almost 10 years later she was asked and found to be a match and I I relate that back to Granville you know Granda might be able to save a life you know if it weren't for granville's commitment to community and to our Scholars and our parents and staff and all that we wouldn't be anywhere so keep coming we need to hear we need to talk we don't need to boo but I think we do need to keep coming back to our meetings and I've been on the board for almost well 15 years and very few people come to the board meeting so we do rely on our administrators and others to help us here sometimes if we're not out in the community ourselves or maybe not getting the full
142picture it's here that we hear it and I appreciate again all that you um contributed today for us B nothing tras uh boy um all kinds of fun stuff happening right we had the the band concerts uh coming back which was great a couple weeks ago geez how long ago was it now I can't remember it's been a little while but those uh we had those for the high school which was great we've got the junior high coming up next week I believe um unfortunately it's during the day uh so but they'll be videotaped which is gonna be cool uh so the parents can see them so a lot of tennis a lot of Lacrosse and I don't think Jacqueline's here but darn it all tonight I told Roger my middle schooler was playing Jenison
143if there's one team I'm sorry to say this there's one team I hate to lose to it's Jennison I'm an old bulldog and that's our rival and no it's so unfortunately we lost to Jennison this week but oh well right we'll get him next time um so so lots of cool stuff going on again I just I too wantan to thank uh the parents that did come and did stay uh it kind of made me reflect a little bit um I've been on the board now for about two and a half years uh but before I got on the board I came to probably 90% of the board meetings for two years before that and unless you had a kid being presented and a certificate or something like that there was no parents no one
144ever showed up it was just me and the board members for the most part um and you learn a lot you learn a lot coming to these so I'm glad to see people uh come and and listen I I wish wish more of them would have stayed around I appreciate you all up there in the chief seats that's awesome I appreciate you guys feel be here yeah there we go um I also wanted to reflect on on one thing too and you know hopefully you know people came tonight and had a little bit of an open mind I I got a call from an old friend uh last week asking uh about this exact uh situation thisa position and I know that person was coming from a different Viewpoint than what I had of the
145Dei position again because I've got four years of experience two years on the board and two years before that of seeing the data and that person asked me what is this all about right and and they had like I said a different view of what this position was than than what I had and you know we talked for about 20 minutes you know 2030 minutes and at the end of it they said you know so I get it now right you know and I'm not saying that they now fully agree with the position nor you know do I you know believe hey they have the exact same feelings I have about it but what I so appreciated was that willingness to seek to understand you know I I work in HR and that's one of
146the things we we teach our managers all the time and you know Roger and I have had even some discussions about this in the past about hey Jason stop let's seek to understand first right um and I in our climate in our community today I I find we don't do that we still want to jump on people for having a different Viewpoint than what we have as being wrong and hey there's some type of alterior motive to things and um I just encourage us all to you know hey if you don't understand something and if you have a question about it stop ask questions just seek to understand try to get more information um I think we went away from that discussion um maybe understanding each other a little bit better and and where each
147other was coming from um again like I said I'm not I don't think I had a convert at the end of it all uh but but the willingness to have the discussion I think was the most important thing and I I encourage us all to continue come to these meetings seek to understand what's going on in our schools seek to understand what the purpose of the board is and what are some of the things we're trying to do so that's all I have excellent thank you Brent all right I'll start out again thanks all the parents and teachers that came to this meeting it's great to see the passion behind uh the students at Granville so that's good to see um I wasn't on the board when we went back to school last fall but
148the I just want to recognize again the teachers and the students that went back to school we know a whole lot more now than what we did then and Granville led the way in terms of getting the kids back in the classroom where they learned the best so I really appreciate that just want to say that one more time and then also football season 2021 kicked off last night we had the uh the uh the kickoff with all the the uh all the ninth through 12th graders to talk about the upcoming year and look forward to that my wife and I are in charge of fundraising so we'll be trying to sell dog cards to all of you that's all I've got thank you excellent thank you um I was excited that I got an
149email about the kindergarten tailgate party so I know that's happen in the fall which is always great Traditions to keep going at our school district and then I'm excited to um bring into the world um he'll be a graduate in 2039 and that is 203 my son and his wife had a baby and they live in Granville like in the backyard of Central Elementary School it's kind of just bizarre and so I'm really excited that Demetrius will have a son going to um Granville Central Elementary um and who will be part of this um great school district and everything that we're doing in it um again I just uh I took away a really nice comment I wrote it down I loved it um from Ashley zerine and that was invited in instead of calling
150out so um I appreciate everybody's comments and um wanted to you know share anyway so that is it from our comments thank you Roger for your um awesome presentation all right so let's go on to any old business no old business all right um can I have an approval of yeah I appreciate your comments if you could um maybe stick around afterwards that'd be great Rose I so yeah and I and I can tell you i' I'd be happy to talk to you about that and what we're doing we hear you please email us and I I would love to give you just the Insight that there are many of us up here who have children who have suffered deep deep mental illness myself included so much so that my son actually did not graduate
151from Granville and part of it is a lot okay I'm sorry all right consent action items can I have a so move support all in favor yes yes excellent so now we have our action items let me pull myself together here I feel like I need a tam all right first item up it is recommended the Board of Education approves the 2020 2021 performance evaluation of superintendent Roger barup and approve his contract extension through June 30224 can I have a motion excellent and I'm gonna throw it to noan so we all um were present at our last meeting and this is making this official so um I think we'll go with a roll call anybody have any discussion who was it I I have something okay so Raj six years yes is that where we're
152at six years six years um I've enjoyed I've enjoyed you our superintendent and I on the same sign um of all the superintendant I have worked with uh you're the one I admire the most so um not everything that this District does is correct not everything is on point but you try your hardest to make sure that we take care of our kids so thank you for that thank you all right all in favor do a roll call aren't we yes I was going to let's do a roll call inviting in instead of calling out let's go hiar yes clein yes Kine absolutely danan yes Palmer yes Wonder yes fck yes next item on the agenda Granville education center playground equipment it is recommended that the Board of Education thank you approve the purchase of
153playground equipment and icon shelter rubber surfacing and installation of the playground equipment distributed by pantura in the amount of $992,000 one can motion move support excellent and I'm going to throw it to Roger sure and I'm GNA throw it the other because she has a lot of background on this we're so excited about the Granville education center and as you know we uh had a base playground that is there I drove by today the grass is growing and I'm all excited uh but I think this is going to add a little more activity for the kids and so uh Heather will touch Bas on it uh good evening so um this purchase we'll do like Roger said this was um initially planned as a phase two purchase for um the playground at the GE um
154we're going to add swings um we'll add the rubber that goes around them to a hill slide which is really cool so all students um will have access to it you don't necessarily have to climb a ladder um 20 by 20 shade Pavilion um and then there are a couple of excavation things that are in there as well um that will run through actually phase four that we'll be bring back to um end of June for um the additional classroom space that we'll be building out in the gec I can I'll just kind of scroll down here I know this was all in here but I'll show you guys some of the renderings um for the design as you can see the current main structure is already in place if you've been over there as
155well as um the track around so we'll have six swings added um and then this one I believe Heather while you're doing that I've got a question just because you know it's get a little late I we want to make sure we get it right but for this particular vendor when we started doing some of the other playground equipment wasn't it from somebody on the other side of the state so pantura is the um the rep but the distribution um is the well like the distributor of the Sha of shade structure for instance is a company out of Holland that um manufactures the icon shelter okay um the actual swing set and slide structure will be from landscape structures or landscap on it was in there sorry because there's one purchase order so are we
156so it's p but we're still out of Brighton right we're still out of the other side of the state this is the same company we had talked about earlier correct correct this is the same company that did the first yep yep no I I thought so but when Howen came into play I my brain started wondering so the yeah the I guess to that point the slide and the swings are uh through Penta landscape structures but the um the icon shelter it's repped by Penta out of Brighton but it's manufactured in Holland got it thank you very much Heather the the photos didn't show is this all fenced in it is okay Y is all the installation costs and everything are negotiated through the hjac program yeah just out of curiosity total price for all
157this in your mind with under budget over budget what what's your what's your I mean how happy are you with what we're doing um we we're probably a little under budget for the plag ground piece right now okay all right good just said of curiosity you I was talking to BR about this before but the 20 X20 structure I feel small is there was there any discussion on that I mean yeah so all of the input was through um we we worked with Jennifer Harper we work with the preschool and Treehouse teachers um over there and based on the size Plus at some point there will be those trees will grow up there will be trees that have grown a little bit be more mature too so it's one of those things right y you
158always build it bigger if you can right y excellent anybody else all right roll call please all right we're on 5B so Palmer yes danan yes line yes Wonder Jim yes Gardine yes I bar yes Buck yes excellent next item this is awesome musical instrument purchase where is Bob py all right is recommended the Board of Education approve the purchase of new instruments as followed Orchestra High School from Meer music 9,718 band high school and middle school Meer music $47,000 76932 Elementary music West Music Company $827 37 with a total investment of $654,500 bond will cover 579,000 incredible can I have a motion move support support and Roger yes and I'm going to turn this one over to Heather again but before I do that I just want to say it was a great collaborative
159effort U with the great people we have working with our kids um I I see one of those people definitely a couple back there maybe um and so I'll turn things over to Heather and she can tell you about the process and what we came up with sure so as you recall this was part of um a line item in the no mber 19 bond issue um and the reason for the split funding through general fund is the amount allocated through the bond we knew that um we didn't have enough allocated there to cover it bringing you the general fund portion tonight so that I I don't have to come back but I do anticipate that that portion will come out of next year's budget um and as Roger said had a great committee um
160it consisted of Mr lto Mr Garcia Mr Bridges uh Mr pelts Mr C and uh Mrs weing um so um you'll knowe we don't have anything for the middle school right now we had a lot of discussion about that with Mrs good um and part of that has to do with the temperature change at the current middle school and um that can lead to cracking of those instruments so um we're going to hold off on that portion until probably um well if we're going to hopefully open in Fall of 23 it'll probably be that um that spring so that we're ready to go for the fall for the Middle School orchestra instruments so does anyone know what will be happening in the five6 building and music will it still be General music or will the
161sixth grade that that's one of the things that we do have on our list um I have I have a kind of a list that I bug Roger about bell times into five six and um and that's more for a curriculum discussion that we will be working on we're also going to be putting together a 56 design team and start to look at that too probably after school gets out sometime later in June is it possible we'll be introducing fifth grade music there's a lot of opportunity there uh and I you know that's part of that commit that committee that we're going to get together our current music programs having discussions and how the the flow could be and just take a look at what could be but obviously with those facilities that are currently
162there there is great opportunity to to do some really great things at even younger levels or different levels so we're very excited about that sounds exciting Heather you know I always got to have at least one right I think I have two [Laughter] all right Mr Garcia um so my question is I see multiple vendors here yes typically I'd only see one and just by chance is uh West Music Company a company that may not have been too happy with opportunity in the past or no that's not enough no is a different company okay just wondering because they sort of went away and I do want to say I forgot that U Miss Janelle Moran was also on the committee and um we we had discussion uh with her and Mr pelts and she was
163fine going with the vendor okay just you know that's the first one yep so my other question is um what was the total allotted funds that we have for this bond for music for music was 500,000 but with the way that the seven eight I get that okay so that's that wasn't my question but thanks for anticipating um no my question is you said you haven't done the middle school yet so where are these magical funds going to come from you notice I should have said musical but I just wanted to say magical so I'll can I'll answer how I was going to answer your question and that is because the seven and eight the building came in under we reallocated some of the the funds for the funds to that and and while the
164number is not here right now it includes the Middle School great I love your answer thank you very much I'm done with any questions you're safe does anyone have any other comments okay we're going to do a roll call that's all my com yes thank you bmer yes hiow yes Klein yes gine yes danan yes Buck yes okay all right next item up is our reaction here it's a recommendation and we are um deemed with the responsibility to um elect a kisd district for the district the members of the ISD board so in front of us we have three candidates that are put in front of us there another one actually yeah and and I I'll expand on this so yeah we're doing two things number one we have to designate a person to represent
165you as the board uh at the ISD on Monday June 7th at 6 PM you'll recall at our last meeting you had mentioned Mr Bob Wonder Jam as being that person and we also need to designate a backup person and you designated Mrs Christy buck as the backup person for that that night there are some candidates and we need to have a a little bit of discussion about the candidates and I'm going to be very honest with you and I've I've tried very hard to get more information I had I gave you some information on a few of them some of the the candidates did not submit any information um but I did uh gather or glean a little bit of information on them there is one position that's a six-year term and you have
166two people running for that you have Kyle clet who is a board member from calonia um I know a few of you might recall him as he I know he works at Williams in company here in town but uh Kyle is a calonia board member Matthew redig is the incumbent um you do have information on Matt redig he's been at the ISD since 2017 uh through kenell Hills who was a board member in kenell Hills from 2001 to 20 uh December 2020 um so he is there as well in the information so you need to select one of those two people um for that six-year term and then we can move on to the partial term okay Kyle um nice guy my preference is with income anyone El to a my is also with the
167incumbent I agree I agree I agree does anyone want to say anything else so we have the uh we have chose Mark Matt rather Matt R okay not his brother Mark okay and then there's a partial term and there are three people running for that partial term there's Laura featherston who I believe has some information in your packet she's a board member from Rockford she also sent us all emails and okay emails um Eric John zapc who I believe you're aware with of he's uh kenell Hills Board member um he has run for the ISD for an election in the past he visited uh I believe one of our board member excuse me board meetings um so I'm sure you some of you might recall him I did hear he's going to law school so
168I'm not sure how he's going to going to do that but um and that he may be moving so I guess we'll find out nothing he provided you information and nothing has been said that he's that he is in fact moving so I guess we just assume he's still there and then Beth milanowski is an East Grand Rapids board member um and I know she has been there for some time uh and did not provide any more information so you have a partial term candidate uh and those three are your people to choose from so um Laura would be my pick because um I guess she's she truly did reach out to us it might have been in a simple way Eric John I think has some history with us um and he would not
169be my first pick so this third person I really don't know anything about them so for me it would be Laura featherston I also noticed that Matt is from Kena Hills and so would Eric John so that would maybe help to have someone from a different District serve good point I also agree that would be the best choice for this position Amy anything down there I am down here and I agree okay how about guys on the end I'm fine with Laura yeah I agree with bar getting um representation diversity well just a different School District I just put it that way got all right so we're okay with Laura Featherstone okay okay so those are our select C so we're going to take a vote all right so did I get a motion that
170we were gonna okay I need a motion to approve support our selections so I'll make the motion excellent I move that uh it's a three-part I I move that we appoint myself as primary rep and Christy buck as the alternate for the dist district for the June 7th vote at the ISD boardroom along with uh our selection of Matt reig for the six-year term and Laura featherston for the partial term of four years support that motion thank you so nice motion do I have a sec J second is hi thank you uh we'll do a roll call why not what the heck Jim yes hi B yes danan yes Palmer yes line yes yes [ __ ] yes all right these microphones yes excellent so with that I am G to say that right here right yep
171so the next board meeting at the Granville Board of Education we hope everybody will come back who's here left with us on Monday June 21st 2021 at 7 so far it's at the admin building and the budget hearing will begin at June meeting Theon be until the 21st right [Music] okay so mark it on your calendar Bob is gonna be over at the ISD yes all right we've got it all right so meeting adjourn thank you all right