Birmingham Public Schools Board of Education General Meeting 12 20 22

001[Music] thank you [Music] in partnership with parents and the community Birmingham Public Schools will provide educational Excellence that empowers students to cultivate their individual Brilliance and positively impact their world foreign thank you welcome everybody today is Tuesday December 20th and this is our regular board meeting for the month of December I would like to say happy holidays to everybody who is currently celebrating has already celebrated or is about to celebrate a holiday um we are going to jump right in and get started Joan can we have roll call good evening present here here presents here thank you okay and with that we're going to get started right away with our recognitions oh Lord good evening I would like to call principal pazamaska up to the podium as well as West Maple librarian Kerry Betts we

002have a very important announcement s and I'll turn it over to love her Jason pezamowska thank you High Board of Education how are you all hello hello welcome so it is my privilege to make this announcement for the wonderful Carrie betz our librarian I was Maple library and Carrie betz has accepted the nomination to be the next president-elect for the Michigan Association for media and education Miss betz currently works as an elementary library facilitator for Birmingham public schools and our school library at West Maple Elementary Kerry will continue in these positions as she goes through the Michigan Association for media and educational leadership program serving as the president-elect in 2023 president in 2024 an immediate past president in 2025. she recently represented the state at the American Library Association conference in Washington D.C where she

003joined a team of Michigan Librarians to present Michigan's model School library program congratulations to Kerry thank you good evening so just for a little bit of clarification I will start with the Michigan Association for media and education is now the Michigan Association of school librarians because we didn't want to explain what our name was anymore um I want to start by saying good evening and thank you to the Birmingham school board for recognizing me this evening beginning in January of 2023 I will enter a three-year leadership role with the Michigan Association of school librarians nasal this organization serves school librarians and school library workers by organizing a professional learning community that provides a form for sharing of Library ideas best practice and curriculum we host an annual conference providing three days of professional learning a

004spring workshop and summer Institute on Library topics we also curate the myself and books list um which is a list of diverse books by authors who have lived the experience that they write about we encourage experts in our field to share Education and Leadership conferences in Michigan and nationally to share the work that we do to ensure that our K-12 students are not only capable of searching for resources and reading those resources but that they are able to be critical readers Discerning truth in an age of misinformation and an age where there's a 24 7 feed I began serving with maisel seven years ago because of my concern with the reduction of school libraries staffed with school or certified Librarians across the state of Michigan currently less than 50 percent of K-12 students across the

005state have access to a school library managed and curated by a certified librarian I have served with maisel on the general board as parliamentarian on the executive board as the vice president of continuing education and as the chair of the summer Institute in my role as president-elect I will chair the annual conference committee this year for 2023 and represent maisel at the American Library Association conferences and the American Association of school libraries conference in 2024 I will move to the position of President and lead the organization as we Implement our new strategic plan and continue to represent maisel at the Ala and aasl events finally in 2025 I will serve as past president by representing maisel at the international Society for technology and education conference to conclude I just want to thank the BPS School

006Board the PPS Central leadership team and Jason pezamowska my principal and the teachers that I work with for allowing and encouraging me to pursue this role in order to more broadly support the K-12 students in Michigan for access to information within their school environments how and when they need it most thank you thank you congratulations [Applause] I don't know okay thank you congratulations and just as a reminder West Maple also was a model School library last year for the state of Michigan so doing excellent things over there um our next reaction recognition actually is not here tonight um for the sea home covenant house project we will recognize uh Elizabeth Roth on January 17th at that board meeting okay okay thank you so our next recognition is actually also a resolution and at this time

007I'm going to turn it over to you president hulkemer okay but I can stay here right yes you can okay um so obviously tonight we are recognizing our two outgoing board trustees and um they have both served six years and I have resolutions to honor both of them and um so I am going to read the resolution and allow board members to comment as well so they serve six years so we'll give them you know two minutes now um okay I am starting with resolution 38. resolution of appreciation for Kim Whitman Birmingham Board of Education 2017 through 2022. whereas Kim Whitman has demonstrated thoughtful competent and caring service to the community students parents staff and educators of Birmingham public schools from January 2017 until December 2022 and whereas Kim Whitman has honorably served as trustee

008treasurer secretary vice president and president while serving on the board and whereas Kim Whitman has attended and led numerous regular board meetings study sessions special meetings committee meetings including the audit Finance Bond and agenda planning committees and served on many other special and ad hoc committees and served as president three times during some of the most difficult years that school boards have experienced whereas Kim Whitman has played an integral role in The District as an active parent and volunteer working with the Beverly PTA Berkshire PTA Beverly principal search and PTA Council prior to her service on the board and whereas Kim Whitman worked diligently as a member in liaison to the PTA Council Birmingham Education Foundation athletic advisory committee and with her unique knowledge of Human Resources has led two superintendent searches including the most

009recent search for our sitting superintendent Dr ambika Roberson whereas Kim Whitman is the proud parent of one Birmingham public schools graduate and one Groves Junior and participated actively in her children's academic and athletic activities and finally therefore be it resolved that the BPS board of education is sincerely grateful to Kim Whitman for the breadth of her contributions to the education of our students her unwavering focus on the needs of our BPS students as reflected in our curriculum budgets data and policies has been invaluable she and her contributions will be missed so trustees first can I get a motion to approve resolution 38. I move that we approve resolution 38 as submitted hi second okay thank you so obviously I just wrote a very long um resolution that highlights all of the many achievements that Kim

010um gave us and really worked very hard to make sure that and I truly mean this during some extremely difficult times this board functioned as it should kept us all on the straight and narrow sometimes I think having far too many phone calls with either you know in my case sometimes people crying and she um did it all with Grace and dignity I also would like to point out that having served as president three times she has been a shining example to me um as to how to be a good leader in terms of making sure that the president listens more talks less I know it's hard for me sometimes I'm still working on it but um votes last and really in addition to serving the public serves the other trustees as well and I

011commend her for being able to portray that um like I said with the grace that she truly did and um I also consider her to be a very good friend and I will miss her dearly thank you so you're not getting rid of me though I know you have one because yeah yeah okay so anybody else I have something to say but I'm going to address that to Kim and Adrian so I'm skipping ahead a bit but um and of course they know me well enough to know that I had to write this all down so I'm just going to read it not luck um Kim and Adrian I want to thank you for everything you've done for Birmingham Public Schools our community teachers students and families you made a difference and I'm confident and

012impact that will not be forgotten your selfish contributions have paved the way for our future and for that I'm grateful leadership matters and for six years you led Birmingham public schools with conviction Integrity purpose and respect your commitment of ensuring educational Excellence inspiring all Learners to possibly impact their world has not gone unnoticed thank you for contributing hundreds of hours each year leading BPS crafting policies hiring top-notch administrators listening to staff and student concerns and then recognizing outstanding programs you are now free of an endless string of meetings and school functions to attend reams of reports agendas proposals and other information patient to read and study and host in a host of difficult decisions to make your efforts embody the spirit of what it truly means to really be the change you wish to see

013in the world thank you so much for your self as an ongoing volunteer leadership it has been my privilege to serve with you your service has set the bar for educational excellence and has left a lasting positive mark on our community it is with your grace courage and heart that made our district a better place thank you I'll go next I'll save Adrian's for when it's her term so you know I agree with everything that's already been said but what I'll say as a newcomer to the board um when Kim was already here I think maybe serving as president then I always appreciated you taking my call um my questions when I wanted to vent you were always just so grateful and professional and what I really appreciated most about you was you were always

014fair and objective you can trust that whenever Kim made a decision she tried to consider both sides and you always made sure we always had a voice um so that's what I most appreciated about you is if you saw that I was quiet she'd say okay Nicole what would you like to say what are you thinking and so I appreciate you being seen by you and as everyone said going through the pandemic was a tough time for all of us and if I had to pick anybody else to do it again with it would be Kim so thank you wait thank you I would like to go next um I am I'm definitely then it was fun here so when I first came in obviously was the pandemic and I came by Zoom wasn't that

015fun right um but anyway that was interesting times and like trustee make any said that I would there was nobody else I can imagine leading us through the pandemic besides Kim um she was definitely a person who even though was virtually I felt that was welcome I was welcomed and I was included um and then when we came back it was very special as well and to lead us through finding the new superintendent that was a great process to lead us through and and I would use a word especially like I said because I'm new she was very patient you know making sure that I understand what and and how things are and now that it's two years in I I definitely understand a lot more and part of a big part of it is

016because of her and thank you Kim God bless you thank you thank you I'm going to wait until you read Adrian's resolution because I have something included for both of them okay weaved together you guys are too sweet thank you okay and um I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you um I think that um the Common Thread through all the comments is that you are courageous and um and that's something that that not only do I admire as a school board trustee but I value as a resident of this district and as a mom who wants to model courage and strength for my kids and um and so I I can't thank you enough for channeling that courage in ways that are so productive and practical as someone who is incredibly prone

017to um talking all the time uh your ability to listen actively um and incorporate Lessons Learned immediately and be um courageous while being evidence driven is just unlike unlike any leadership I've ever um had the benefit of experiencing and learning this closely from and so I'm going to take that with me as a parent um as a professional and um and do my best to to channel that in in all aspects of life um I think for the betterment of the the people around me well thank you thank you and I appreciate it thank you okay then trustees can we then you don't want to say something about your yeah something about yourself okay so no we need to approve resolution 38. so trustees all in favor of passing resolution 38. say I I thank

018you all right Joan that passed 7-0 am I allowed to vote for myself Joan [Laughter] Okay so sorry Adrian now we have resolution 39 resolution of appreciation for Adrian young Birmingham Board of Education 2017 to 2 20 22. I move to consider resolution 39 forward of in favor of Adrian young second thank you okay I'll read it now um whereas Adrian young has demonstrated thoughtful competent and caring service to the community students parents and staff and educators of Birmingham public schools from January 2017 until December 2022 and whereas Adrian young has honorably served as trustee and secretary while serving on the board and whereas Adrian young has attended numerous regular board meetings study sessions special meetings and committee meetings including governance policy and Senior Services and whereas Adrian young has worked diligently as a member

019in liaison to the Friends Group Birmingham youth assistance and scholar and with her unique love of policy and governance served as legislative representative and chair of the board's ad hoc policy committee her intense knowledge and ability to digest and retain difficult policy and legislative information has been outstanding and was an invaluable asset to this board during the last several years and whereas Adrian young has played an integral role in The District while serving as a board of education trustee prior to any of her children starting kindergarten and more recently as an active parent and volunteer at Greenfield Elementary and we'll continue to do so as her younger children matriculate into the district whereas Adrian young in addition to her board service was also recognized among Oakland County's latest class of 40 under 40. people making

020a difference in our community therefore be it resolved that the BPS board of education is sincerely grateful to Adrian young for the breadth of her contributions to the education of our students her unwavering focus on the needs of our BPS students as reflected in our curriculum budgets data and policy has been invaluable she and her contributions will be greatly missed so once again that was the facts now I get to say something about Adrian as a person and what I want to say mostly about Adrian is that I have admired Adrian's intellectual capabilities since before I came on the board and I admired them even more as I sat on this board because even in times where Adrian and I did not agree on an outcome I could never ever fault her logic and the

021way that she honestly very very carefully considered every decision we made she did it by looking at data reminding all of us that we need to look at the data and really analyze it and she as I've also already said in the resolution honestly has embraced governance and policy unlike any other board member um thanks to Adrian we have a new policy manual we sat through three-hour meetings together and that was just not one three-hour meeting just a year long yeah and I think it was her favorite time on the board pretty sure anyway um again I would just like to say also that um I have served on a lot of boards and you don't always make friends when you serve on boards and despite the fact that there's a small age difference between

022Adrian and me very small um I I am honored that she considers me a friend and I will miss her dearly as well so thank you Adrian okay I would like to take the opportunity to say a few words and I'm really going to address not just my two colleagues and friends but but the community because I was elected I had the honor and privilege of serving for six years with these two Dynamic women and it was I thought you know coming being a teacher and being a mom and you know doing all the things I did that I knew things and serving on the board showed me that I had a lot more to learn and serving alongside these two Dynamic ladies was a whole nother education and so what I'd like to say

023is I'd like I'd like to inform the community of BPS of the outstanding public service and dedication both trustees Kim Whitman and Adrian Young have demonstrated throughout these six years Adrian I'm going to start with you you have elevated the standard of board intelligence your work ethic integrity and background have clearly been present every time you voted on a resolution or even heard a report or made a comment you always dug deep into issues you pushed back when you didn't agree and you did so with proof in research and presenting data and facts along with those skills he also demonstrated the most important one of all and that is heart Whenever there was an issue where we could have inserted heart into a decision or an opinion you gave yours in a time of turmoil

024you carried the voice of students who were marginalized you gave students the right to hold their heads High you insured Equitable opportunities for all you gave them no matter what gender ethnicity socioeconomic background or religious belief you gave them the right to self-respect this combination of unwavering Integrity your work ethic and your heart is exactly what anyone would want in a public service in a public servant lastly working as much and as closely as we have these past six years we forged a friendship that goes far beyond being a colleague I remember early on as you brought your five-month-old son Jacob to an event or two and how I quickly fell in love with him and then you and Jeff didn't stop there you did your part and you gave the district two more future

025Birmingham students right you have made your children proud Adrian indeed you have you have served all of our children well and made us proud I will miss you terribly thank you from my heart to you Kim I am at a loss for words to explain to let everybody know what you did for this District I have seen board presidents and board trustees come and go for 37 years I have seen superintendents come and go for 37 years and I'm telling you that working alongside you was a privilege people will never know the depth of your sacrifices you served as president on the board for three consecutive years and let me remind the community they were three of the hardest years with the most challenging conditions this district and this board has ever been through in

026the history of our community and board you courageously brought us out of the pandemic of the pandemonium of the pandemic you endured hate mail threats in your life your well-being you forged onward with the sole priority of doing what was best for children ladies and gentlemen of our community I am a witness that Kim Whitman LED with Integrity thoughtfulness selflessness and much more in fact I looked up the words I looked up the the meaning of a successful leader and this is what I found knowing oneself and knowing what you don't know communication leadership always starts with communication knowing your people a good leader knows his or her community better than anyone else their strengths their weaknesses what makes them tick what motivates them a good leader uses diplomacy and empowers others a good leader

027seeks out feedback good leader is empathetic a good leader stays authentic presenting oneself as constant and consistent a good leader is a role model and one that is fully present without a doubt Kim you have exhibited these leadership qualities and more I don't know if this community realizes how you successfully championed our district through one crisis after another after another putting in countless hours and days of demanding Relentless work and you did so with Grace with dignity integrity and the true well-being for all I was terribly worried as her vice president to step into the role as president because I knew I couldn't fill her shoes but the one thing that gave me calm was knowing that Kim would be by my side these past years working and growing with Kim proved to be the

028best experience to develop a true and tried friendship and Sisterhood we worked through parenting our children together sharing experiences and providing each other with advice Sophie and Jack I want to thank you for Lending us your mother she is your role model and your champion you too were the measures she used for making decisions in the best interest of all of our students Kim I respect you beyond the parameters of respect and I love you to the moon and back I will miss you on this board more than you know and I personally look forward to the next chapter of our Sisterhood thank you sorry can I move on emotional after six years in what we've been through so I apologize okay but I would like to talk about Adrian if I may yes you

029may 16. I was like who is this Adrian neon I don't like her like she's got quite the political platform and I'm like I don't know who I'm running against I'm like this parent from Beverly but I have to say the six years so lucky or not we won the six year term um had to say as an accountant versus a lawyer I've got to say Adrian um has held me to her highest standard and I am continually enthralled when you speak where your perspective comes from that she had three children during this whole six years I got a new puppy dog that's about all I can say um and I have to say that Adrian has continued to hold this board to a higher level of acceptance standards and just questioning what if and

030to that I will be internally grateful to the woman that when I looked at the ballot I'm like who is this person I do I love when you speak I'll go next I agree with Kim um everyone who's witnessed Adrian in action knows she is not afraid to speak her mind but we are always on the route it's like a gift when she does I agree I have always appreciated your intellect and your wit um she's always quick on her feet and behind the scenes you know we're sending text messages and she'll send a text that'll just have us all die and laughing so I've always appreciated that Adrian and you always speak so eloquently about tough conversations and you always say something that I wish I said but maybe was afraid to say but

031you had the courage to do it and then at the end I'm like yes thank you for saying that um as mentioned being the voice for some of the marginalized students and always making sure that we put them first the other thing I would say is I've admired um your commitment at every committee that you've served on you always did it with um with tenacity and I want to say also it's I'm always in awe that you did it with children and a demanding job and this is not an easy role to take on and you made it look so seamless your contributions are going to be missed because you always added Great Value to all of our discussions so thank you thank you I wanted to just take a minute again because of my

032being new it's and being started at the covet it was very difficult to know any trustee let alone the two who are leaving uh but Adrian at the time that I got to know you I was a pleasure to serve with you and to listen to all the feedback you give us and uh and you know your legal hat was also always appreciative you know we all I hate to say this it's almost like we had a free legal advice so thank you please don't bill us no I'm just kidding and um so that was really up you know humongous asset that you brought and then to to be uh with young children and and a mother and and still do all of this for the community it shows great dedication and uh we are

033a good example for um somebody else who might be interested in running I think that you have a lot to be proud of and I'm sure there's going to be a lot of younger uh girls were growing up and they would look at you as a good example so thank you this was your Sunrise not your Sunset right thank you all right um trustees can I get a vote on resolution 39 appreciation for Adrian young all in favor aye okay and now I know Dr Roberson sorry you had to wait a really long time it's okay um I just I want to thank trustee Whitman and trustee young for serving our community I had the pleasure of watching you both navigate one of the most challenging times in school history and I had the honor

034and privilege to work closely with you for this last year and a half trustee Whitman thank you you were the president of the Borah when I was chosen for this position and I appreciate your assistance and support as I transferred into this new role you have always been well prepared and asked very thoughtful questions about the work of our district in addition your ability to provide an even tempered steady leadership throughout our your time on the board was truly outstanding you Shepherd our community for three years as War President through difficult times with strength and Grace we will miss the stability positive attitude smile and Poise that you brought to the board trustee Young thank you you are a fierce advocate for all children but have given a voice to those historically marginalized you have

035always made sure to ask questions that probe make us think and ultimately help us to be better your ability to cross-examine our CLT team is unmatched yet you've always pushed in a way that allowed us to do our best work for students and we are grateful most importantly you have always walked your own path even if it differs from others your fortitude did not go unnoticed again thank both of you for allowing me the opportunity to serve the Birmingham Community and I am proud to have worked with both of you and I consider our community blessed by your service thank you thank you [Applause] foreign [Applause] Zach's taking the picture excellent foreign [Laughter] [Applause] all right thank you and now we are going to go ahead and move um I don't think we need a

036five minute recess meeting over keep moving no um our trustees are there any additions income we're good no then completion or additions and deletions no okay then we will go ahead and let Dr Roberson do her superintendent's report okay but for our superintendents to report if I can just have this strategic plan we're going to do a strategic Plan update um if you recall of course you approve the Strategic plan on September 20th and what we promised is that we would continue to give quarterly updates to show our progress on the Strategic plan and also to hold us accountable to the work that the community has asked of us um I am going to go through the Strategic plan but the work of the Strategic plan is really the work of our staff and so

037at times as I'm going through the Strategic plan I will turn it over to the um respective CLT members um and surely everyone's here so that if to answer any questions that you may have so again quarterly updates um every year in September December March and June we will give these updates and also we wanted to share today this is just a snapshot of the things that we have either implemented or are are highly developed we're in process and we're working through it but this is not Encompass all of the work that we are doing but wanted to give a snapshot of where we are so under student achievement um one of our aims is to strengthen core academic instruction and increase proficiency and at this time I'm going to ask April Imperial to just

038give an update on where we are in the math pilot process will officially run oh thank you our math pilot will officially run through February 3rd Although our students will retain in the be in the materials until the end of the school year we have finalized our survey questions which are going to be going out to our students our teachers our parents we've also finalized our focus group dates and our focus group probes which we will be engaging with this um uh same constituents we're planning for our curriculum Review Committee to reconvene for three days to analyze the data uh discuss the two pilot materials and make a selection uh beginning on March 6 and we hope to bring the selection to the board in April thank you as far as sing and eliminating disparities

039between students one of the things that you are aware of is that we implemented a one-to-one technology program for middle school and high school and that is just to make sure that all of our students have the access necessary to technology so they can participate fully as well I'm going to again April if you would talk about the mtss framework and where we are in phase one I think I got it all right so uh we are very excited to be implementing an mtss framework so previously our district has operated a mtss framework school by school mtss is a framework that looks at students across the Continuum so those students that are on grade levels below grade level uh and above grade level and looks at what are the unique needs of those students and

040how do we serve those needs so our mtss framework looks at both our most needy students who need support as well as our students who might need enrichment and advanced coursework and so we're beginning with uh K5 and so we've had our we have drafted our initial district-wide framework we have looked at our beginning of the year data identified our students that were in need of support in grades K5 we have written the student support plans for those students and they have been underway so those students are getting uh various supports throughout our schools um our schools are working on establishing teacher teams which are really focused on core instruction which we call tier one and then each school is establishing a school mtss team and that's jobs primary primary focus is to look at

041our most needy students those students that need the most support or those students that might need the most advanced work and to talk about those students and and make decisions as to whether or not we're meeting their needs and update their plans appropriately so we'll be revisiting all the student support plans at mid-year after our assessment window closes on February 3rd and then we have a phased approach to our mtss plan so we're beginning with K5 literacy support we'll be moving to Advanced work K5 literacy and then we'll be bringing Middle School on and then math until at the end of our five year plan and we will have a K-12 system that looks at literacy and math supports for all students and just for the viewership mtss stands for multi-tier systems of support I

042was just going to ask you to find that for the community yep thank you additionally we we are part of student achievement is also increasing College and Career Readiness and so um we're giving want to give an update about the CTE which is Career Tech education course review uh so I have to give a lot of credit to Caitlin Phillips who's the curriculum coordinator on my team and Amy Bowman who is the department head for district department head for CTE career Readiness uh they're doing a lot of work with the CTE teachers uh they have begun an analysis of our CTE courses with a clear focus on modernizing those CTE courses both in the instructional materials as well as the resources that the students are engaging with and in the internships or the career-focused work

043that they might be doing as a part of our CTE programming so that review has started they have also updated all of their course descriptions to ensure that they accurately depict what's happening in the courses as a part of the course catalog we convened our first future educator advisory committee and that committee came together to discuss the possibility of adding a CTE program for future Educators and they voted unanimously to begin the work to add that program on the 23rd for the 23-24 school year starting at Groves and the application to the state was submitted on November 22nd so our CTE teachers will continue that work throughout this school year and next school year to revamp and and look forward to seeing new instructional materials coming your way as a part of our curriculum process

044also part of College and Career Readiness one of our goals was to make sure that our students at the adult trans physician program are improving their work Readiness skills Laura Mahler is our ill today but what I can share about this is that we are they we are piloting a community-based skills assessment that comes from Autism Speaks and it is a research-based assessment and we're probably piloting it because we want to make sure that it gives us the right information around work Readiness skills for both our cognitively impaired and our students who have a diagnosis of or in the ASD program and so they are getting information there again if this is the right assessment they'll use it as a baseline so that they know what skills they need to work on with their students

045in the area of culture of unity and well-being we have a number of things we wanted to create a district-wide system to encourage social and emotional wellness and one of the things that we are working on is the Better Together campaign so Better Together encompasses a couple of different strategies we actually have really focused on aligning our school Improvement planning so that we are really setting our goals to meet the needs of all Learners and we are revisiting those School Improvement plans and adjusting them along the way as we get new and updated data which is key to helping all children feel prepared to learn which is under this goal we have aligned the work of our character education our diversity equity and inclusion and our social emotional learning into a Better Together steering committee

046that committee also has subcommittees that are working on our student-led messaging campaigns so right now our student-led messaging campaign is focused on community and Community focuses on our character education principle number nine which is students see themselves playing a role in The Wider community and it also focuses on our social emotional learning standard of responsible decision making specifically reflecting having our students reflect on one's role in promoting personal family and Community well-being and so our students are actively working within their buildings to to learn about what these things mean and to grow their community and to get the message out to their Community an example was a a excellent example from Lincoln Street they came together to talk about what community means to them they developed a bulletin board around how each student at Lincoln

047Street brings to their community and then they had a a gathering together with the students so it was excellent also a part of our Better Together campaign is our therapy dog program so we have went from one to nine therapy dogs partially through our Rotary Club friends and also through Oakland schools Grant so we now have all our uh only one dog is in the building but the other eight are puppies and they are in training um and then we also have started doing um micro professional development with um uh our schools and our classrooms focused on social emotional learning aligned with our community campaign partnership for students who may have emotional distress and the need Dr Lunenburg foreign good evening yes we're very proud of our partnership with Easter Seals and and we do

048have it face to face at both of our high schools right now gross High School City Home high school and this is a therapeutic model for more intensive mental health interventions that we have not been able to supply in the past in addition to that all of our schools now have access to referrals to Easter Seals and we we begin the process of hopefully implementing Easter Seals and more of our schools in the future so we're excited about the days ahead with Easter Seals and as you know to really cultivate a system for wellness there is the emotional side but there's also the physical safety so just really pleased with with our where we are with safety although it never ends as you're aware back in in September we had facilitate our first town hall

049regarding safety where we introduced our our safety director Aaron morandini and and really began to uh share out our plan for how we've addressed our safety audit from last spring we continue to work through that we have a safety director in in place and and we will have our second Town Hall in January and that will have a focus on Alice and we will also Implement our our local law enforcement in in that town hall C home High School in late January and because this next one in terms of community Wellness because we service students from 0 to 26 if you recall um and Laura Mahler has been up here and she's talked about the early on program with with children who are pre-age you know before kindergarten what in working with her Department what

050they notice is that there are parents who had trouble with breastfeeding with their children with their child and so we are working with resources in the community to help parents to be able to um to navigate the challenges of breastfeeding and so we have that as part of our community Wellness because in really to have a [Music] to really support our students we have to support them even before they enter our K-5 support the mothers yes support the mothers the next part of cultural unity and well-being is creating Equitable access to extra extracurricular resources and opportunities and this is also a collaboration with Laura Mahler and Dr lindenberg this is a work in progress but we work diligently on this as you're aware 10 to 15 percent of our students in in Birmingham public schools

051have special needs are on a 504 plan or have a student health plan we also know that students who participate in extracurricular activities have a better chance to graduate have a better chance of of being well at school so we've strategically uh worked with our special education department to develop plans we're not there yet and our athletic directors to make sure that that we have all the supports in place for our special needs students to participate in extracurricular activities after school we have a unified teams already we've made it in emphasis but but we've had some gaps there that we're working through and uh look forward to sharing that more in the future we have a draft plan that we've reviewed at our athletic advisory meeting last on December the 8th and we will continue

052to work through that until we get to a good resolution thank you and as well one of the aims was increasing authentic engagement with students staff parents families community and alumni and one of the things under here is implementing the coffee and conversation that I've been doing each month either morning or in the evening in different places throughout the community our last one in December was at the Krieger House in Franklin and so we will continue to do those throughout the year just to have an opportunity for anyone to have some engagement in terms of world-class Talent um attaining and re attracting retaining talented and diverse staff we have finalized teacher negotiations of the wage reopener for this year which um Mr nor Forest will talk about um later in the agenda as well we

053want to provide high quality professional learning we've instilled a professional development survey and also there is a math podcast that is hosted by Sarah seabor and Dr Amber Davis where they they engaged the different teachers throughout our BPS community and get them very excited about math it's called the common denominator for the math people in the audience and then we also have a map power Squad I don't know if you want to talk about the math power Squad sure one of the ways that we believe in providing high quality professional development is to empower our teacher leaders within the district to both develop and facilitate that some of the professional learning and so as a part of our focus on mathematics uh gearing up for a potential new curriculum next year we've had a focus

054on math professional learning for the entire district and we have an 18 member of PD Power Squad that on Friday the 9th facilitated professional learning across the district district for grades K-8 teachers got to choose three sessions from a menu of options to go to throughout the afternoon and uh I will say it was a big hit we had over 92 percent of the Educators that completed the survey say that the professional learning was relevant and that they were very or extremely likely to apply it to their practice so we're very proud of those Educators and all of the hard work they put in to both planning and facilitating we can we plan to continue expanding our teachers role in our own professional learning and then the last area of our four areas is responsible

055stewardship and one of our aims is to bully Market the district to increase student enrollment so one of the things that we have done this school year is increased our press releases and positive stories and storytelling also increasing our footprint for social media so I we have reinvigorated our LinkedIn page on social media as well as really implementing intentional promotion for the Strategic plan the last time I was here I shared some of the actual documents that we have for the Strategic plan and we've been sharing those with our with community members as well you also notice to implement that we've implemented a refresh to the e-news so it has a different format different font rotating messages from Central leadership team members as well and we are in the process of read designing our website

056and so there's more to to come on that but one of the things that was really intentional and I have to give kudos to Zach Riley Kelly and also our new Communications manager Cortez Strickland who's in the audience is that they um they identified a company to redo our website that primarily works with private schools and and really having conversation about how private schools Market through their website and how we might utilize some of those strategies to help Market our district since that is our our major competition foreign and then lastly our aim was to increase Financial accountability with a focus on the Strategic plan this year we amended the budget early usually the amended the budget is amended mid-year and then at the end of the year in June but this time we mended

057the budget after the count day one of the things that that allows us to do is to keep a pulse on where enrollment is as a reminder our enrollment was um we did pretty well in terms of only losing 25 students which is really great and especially because we live in a state with declining enrollment so that means we got a lot of students back in other grade levels um but this having that early amended budget allows us to keep a track of what we projected in June if that held true or not um and one in this case it was a positive story for us but we will continue to keep an eye on that um in case things are different than our projections and then lastly we implemented processes over this past year

058bringing Dr gestinger in that helped us to receive the highest audit opinion which is an unmodified audit also oh generated diverse revenue streams so one of the things we've done is advertise the junior kindergarten program we are hoping that that allows us to um one help with our student achievement because it allows us students to have access to Early Learning in the way that parents feel like they need for their child but also it allows us to increase Revenue by having students not leave our district to go take to go participate in a young five's program elsewhere and we know that that has occurred even this year [Applause] so that's in a nutshell um our update are there any questions can I put a little plug in for junior kindergarten yeah they're interested in learning

059more about Junior kindergarten attend your home schools Kindergarten Roundup which are posted on our website we'll be uh talking to everybody about Junior kindergarten at that time and you know I also want to say that through the years we used to have programs called developmental kindergarten which we it's now kind of um maybe smartly and progressively transitioned into this junior kindergarten and there was such a a need for it that that is why we're bringing it back and there's also a lot of data and research that shows when kids begin in preschool and kindergarten they are much more likely to continue in the public schools where they started thank you okay thank you Dr Roberson and then I have one more thing for my superintendent's report and that is resolution 40. yeah and we did

060discuss the international academy tentative agreement at our last study session [Music] we are asking for approval from this body for the International Academy tentative agreement okay so trustees if you recall there is a stipend that teachers at the international academy receive every year this lengthy letter of understanding that is in here the only part that has really been amended is appendix a and so that is what we are voting on I move to consider resolution just so you know there are some other minor tweaks but they have more to do with um you know actual curriculum this is the the appendix a is the compensation piece yes okay I'm sorry okay so trustees can I get a motion I move to consider resolution 40 to amend International Academy letter of understanding forward second okay any

061further questions for Dr Roberson regarding well deserved okay okay good trustees all in favor of approving resolution 40. raise your hand I thank you okay motion thank you that ends my report thank you thank you thank you all right um at this time do we have any board comments and requests yeah can somebody turn temperature up it's freezing sorry I don't know how to do that but it's regulated okay I don't have any other comments except I want to wish everybody Happy Holidays thank you okay oh word comments yes I'm sorry wait oh what we were just deciding who's going to go first we both have we both have four times okay more eloquent so Madam president if I may I need tissue it has been my honor and privilege to serve our students and

062Community for the last six years as a Birmingham School Board trustee the environment has certainly changed from when I was sworn in in 2017. so much so and I can't even believe I'm going to say this but I am relieved that my son only has one more year in this District as soon as politics infiltrated our local non-port partisan School Board it was no longer about our kids or having each student achieve their highest success it's now about political puppets with their agenda from the parties that funded them and it's also the question of which side of the aisle do you sit on or do you wear red or blue and this divisive behavior is poison to this board to the union the community and most importantly to our kids and so now in a

063more higher note as this chapter closes I am an awe and Beyond humbled as to the intellectual creative and hard-working individuals that I have worked side by side with as peers colleagues community members and some that I will always call friends and lastly I look at our captain steering the ship I am beyond confident that Dr Roberson and her brilliant driven team will continue to advocate for each and every one of our children and continue to move this District forward and to me Kim Whitman this is what it's all about thank you and goodbye [Applause] thank you okay um yeah thank you um for your honesty and um for your um important comments I just wanted to share with the community a little bit about what what brought me to the board and and what

064I'm leaving with um in March of 2016 I was newly-ish married and hugely pregnant and working full-time and also recreationally attending school board meetings district for just under two years and really wanted to give back to my new home and honestly I really missed schools and kids before law school I earned my Master's in special education and taught Middle School in law school I worked with unaccompanied minors in the law school Clinic and I started serving this community as a volunteer with bya Birmingham youth assistance it was with love compassion and admiration for kids and for teachers that led me to run and ultimately made my campaign successful so to be clear I never did this to be famous on YouTube as everyone shared while I've served this community I've also built my own family

065and that came with obstacles because this these meetings were my first experience of the district and while I was raising my kids I found myself at times very worried that the world my kids could experience and learn from in this District was shrinking foreign but I leave my term reassured that this is where Jacob Thaddeus and Ruthie my beautiful children belong that Assurance is due to my experience with the teachers the staff the courageous students and above all the leadership and vision of Dr Roberson I also leave this term with a stronger sense of self the power of my words and my privilege and to that I owe gratitude to my community and my fellow trustees Who challenged me publicly and privately and modeled leadership and listening for all that I've gained during this term

066I like so many others have experienced loss in May I lost my grandfather and constantly turned to this quote that brought me some peace so I'll share it with the community today your absence runs through me like thread through a needle everything I do is stitched with your color despite the absence of the title School Board trustee everything I do will be shaped by what I learned who I met and who I've become as a school board trustee I am Bolder I am braver I'm a better advocate and I'm a mother who will hopefully have a bit more gratitude in the chaos at home on Tuesday nights thank you all so much for this opportunity to serp you all right thank you thank you Kim thank you Adrian we will miss you guys sitting at

067this table um okay and other trustees anybody else bored comments okay I'm gonna go ahead and move to the public comments section of our meeting and I will read our public comment policy because the Birmingham Board of Education values public meetings not just meetings in public we welcome public comment on school issues most comments can be concisely stated in three minutes and the board respectfully asks the comments remain focused on the topic or issue and not on specific personnel we welcome your comments but cannot discuss nor debate items not on the agenda when asked to discuss non-agenda items we share facts but not but we do not get engage in discussion we need to follow laws regarding public notice on issues and be aware that other community members may have interest in the topic but

068without proper notice may not be present to contribute and with that being said I will call the first person Haley Sherman hello my name is Haley Sherman and I am a sophomore here at Groves High School I will be sharing my viewpoint on the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman alexie now let's start off weird um raise your hand if you don't know what masturbation is notice how nobody is raising their hand so why are we even considering Banning a book about racism poverty and biased point of views just because it mentions masturbation something we all know about on less than a half of a page the Diary of a Part-Time Indian follows a Native American boy named Junior as he struggles with poverty on his reservation what have I learned from

069this I learned about Native Americans in their history why their reservations get bad reputations and how hard it is to leave poverty once you're stuck in its cycle I learned by reading through the mind of a person I can never be I will never know what it's like to live on a reservation I will never know what it's like to be bullied just because of where I come from living in Birmingham I grew up comfortable but because of this book I've read about what poverty does to parents and to the community being thankful to get a damp wrinkled five dollar bill for Christmas this is a point of view not many people here can experience and I think it's silly to remove a book that covers all these important topics I just mentioned if we

070ban this book because it makes a couple people uncomfortable when would we stop thank you for listening to me speak thank you next I have a Augustine Le girl just correct me when I say it thank you my name is Augustine and I'm in 10th grade at Groves High School as I realized that a group of parents want to ban this book I would like to talk about the book The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian and why I believe it's important to continue it in the curriculum this book follows the story of a teen living on an Indian reservation and the struggles that he faces in switching to a majorly white school it teaches how he overcomes racism and portrays the importance of family and community in life in class me and many

071other students discussed how this book showed us the struggles that people still face in reservations and the importance of this inclusion in the curriculum while reading this book we get a new perspective into what some people's lives are like in real life as students and as people it's crucial to hear a diverse range of stories and to have empathy and relate to others having books like this is truly important in the school's curriculum thank you thank you thank you next I have Megan lagroup hi my name is Megan lagroux and my husband and I have three students in the district a seventh grader at Berkshire and 10th and 12th graders at Groves I am also speaking in support of the book the absolute true Diary of a Part-Time Indian and its place in our high

072school curriculum myself and my two high school students have read this book the main character Junior as others have said is a smart hilarious and relatable Storyteller you laugh out loud with him at his self depreciating and witty humor and also deeply empathize with him as he struggles with severe poverty on an Indian Reservation alcohol addiction and its impact on his family bullying races and racism as he chooses to attend a predominantly white high school and the violent and senseless deaths of several loved ones unfortunately these are Big Life impacting and realistic adversities that high schoolers in our community and the World At Large struggle with every day our specific children may not be lucky may be lucky enough to never have had to find their own ride to school because their parent was too

073drunk or didn't have the gas money to take them they may never have had to lose a loved one to gun violence incarceration or suicide or face racial slurs and bullying as an only ethnic minority in their school but other teens do and it is through Reading And discussing Junior's story that our kids can begin to empathize understand and respect others whose lives look very different from ours and who must overcome serious life challenges before they can even get to math class or basketball practice does this book contain some profanity crew jokes and very mild sexual content absolutely because it is about high schoolers these topics are realistic and appropriate for such readers our kids need to read books just like this that are funny and engaging and that give them diverse experiences and perspectives

074we need them to read books that have powerful messages about what unites us despite our differences and about the powerful bonds of family friends and community and how to preserve through life's many struggles this book does all those things I'm very glad that it is included in the current 10th grade curriculum because this is how we educate the children in our district to be empathetic problem solvers in their local and Global communities as books from diverse voices are increasingly being silenced in schools I ask you to please keep it included in ours thank you thank you next I have Bob sod PPS board thank you for your voluntary service to the BPS community this is Bob sod and I have two topics for your consideration today the first topic is resolution number 46 let Michigan

075kids learn initiative that you're going to be reviewing here in my opinion at the hands of pressure from the Michigan Association of school boards at cmasb the BPS board will be considering resolution number 46 this evening regarding the state level let Michigan kids learn initiative which garnered several hundred thousand votes State Statewide as well as past both the state house and state senate in short and again in my humble opinion the board should not touch this topic with a 10-foot Pole the resolution would never have been taken up by any local school board including this one if it were not pushed by the masb and other political action committees uh in in deference to what Kim Whitman was saying which I agree with her moreover this initiative has nothing to do with the success of

076the BPS district and as such every school board trustee should abstain from this and all other Superfluous resolutions over which the board has absolutely no authority to act there are so many things in the district with which this board should be occupying its time things over which you have absolute Authority and can make a difference I encourage each of you to repel this politically motivated resolution and get back to working on District issues over which your vote actually matters and then the last thing I have today is about um trustees Whitman and young I'd like to take this opportunity formally to thank trustee Kim Whitman and trustee Adrian young for their six years of voluntary service on the BPS Board of Education their job has required long hours hard work conflict sacrifice and difficult decisions

077and these two neighbors neighbors have navigated all of that Faithfully while at the same time raising children in the district I wish them the best of Fortune in their next Endeavors and may God bless you and God bless your families thank you um next I have Ava Brown good evening everyone I'm Amy Brown and I'm a sophomore at Groves High School I'm also here today to discuss the novel The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian I understand that there has been a growing controversy regarding the novel and whether or not it should be kept as a part of the curriculum I'm here today to voice my opinion on why I believe it should remain in their curriculum I recently finished reading the novel for my honors English class and I've been opened up to

078a lot of New Perspectives on I've never been exposed to for the first time in my time as a student here I've Dove deep into learning about the Native Americans who reside in America today I have come to understand the many misconceptions people have towards Native Americans as a whole I'm aware of the concern that some parents have regarding certain topics that are mentioned in the novel in response I would like to say that I believe the lessons the book teaches and the educational value it holds definitely outweigh the topic of concern as they are much more prevalent throughout the novel despite what many may think about the so-called controversial topic brought up in the novel many students in my class have talked about how the main characters openness about different aspects of his life

079have made his story more relatable to teens our age so thank you for your time and allow me to share my perspective as a student on this topic thank you thank you [Applause] um next I have Sophia Wilson hmm um hi my name is Sophia Wilson and I'm a sophomore at girls high school I'm also here today to address the concern about us reading the absolute true value of Part-Time Indian and how banning's Banning books can limit students learning there are many concerns coming from parents about students reading this novel um but Banning it from our curriculum will only have a bad effect I've learned a lot about how Native Americans live on the reservation and how in these areas and how living in these areas affect their lives so much alcoholism is a big

080thing on the reservation that everyone is exposed to and may not be as big may not be as big of a thing here Banning books can limit students education in several ways first it prevents children from accessing certain ideas and information that may be contained in the book in the Banned Book this can partic this can be particularly harmful if the bamboo contains valuable information that um sorry it's okay it's okay that is relevant to a children's education um or if it prevents alternative new points that would broaden a student's understanding of the world second Banning books can also limit a student's ability to critically think on their own judgments about the world by designing students access to certain ideas um it may present prevent them from developing skills and habits that are necessary for

081critical and independent thinking finally Banning books can also have a chilling effect on the intellectual freedom and exchanging of ideas it can create a climate of censorship and fear in which children may be afraid to read or discuss certain ideas or even express their own thoughts or opinions this can have an effect on intellectual development and creativity overall I think the good educational value of this novel looks greater than the few bad or inappropriate points throughout the novel thank you [Applause] okay next I have three people's name on this card Emily Rankin Anaya green Isabel Morris girls I'm just going to ask you to make sure you speak in the microphone so that we can hear clearly thank you so much can can I just ask are you guys all speaking as one or you

082each speaking for three minutes uh we're just combining it but it might go a little over okay okay hi our names are Emily Rankin I'm so Anaya green and then and Isabelle Morris we're sophomores here at groves today we're addressing the commentary on our concern from the public and parents of the school assigned reading the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian we would like to share the value of reading this book some parents or public commentary have expressed concern about one of the honors to an English assigned reading books in English in English class we read a book called The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian it has been brought to our attention that there is concern about this book being taught to some of the language being used in inappropriate stories however

083we know firsthand that there is so much more to this book than just that by reading the book and it being taught in our curriculum we believe it has a huge amount of educational value that bases on diversity and awareness of other cultures we believe that is important because Groves in the Birmingham District as a whole is based on focusing on diversity to make our district a better place and this book teaches exactly that this is why we want to enforce the idea that it is important to continue to be taught in the district I understand that there are some uncomfortable topics in the book such as death alcoholism and racism but these topics are important to acknowledge especially from a point of view from a culture most students are not familiar with in a

084YouTube video we watched in class called America is a stolen country a Native American man and woman talked about how most Americans think negative stereotypes about their ethnicity the man stated everybody knows the phrase the drunken Indian and the woman stated I feel like most Americans view us as these historic people with woven cloth and headdresses in some cases these stereotypes are true but it's not fair to generalize an entire ethnicity based on a couple of instances I believe that seeing more than one story is crucial to understand the topic this book shows another story we learned about hopes dreams friendship identity and self-esteem I think this is an amazing book that can show another side of a Native American culture I understand the concern about explicit language and injury but I believe the pros

085of reading this book Far outweigh the cons when I started reading the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian it didn't prepare me for the harsh realities of the lives of Native Americans living on the Spokane tribe reservation the only thing I really knew about Native Americans was from history class I knew that they were treated horribly the land that they lived on was colonized and thousands died from diseases I knew other things but none of the things I knew were current day facts the only things I didn't know about the current Day Native Americans is that they lived on reservations I never thought about their economic lives social lives or life on the reservation those are things I learned when I read the book when I started the reading I thought it was a

086bit weird sure it has some mild and appropriate comments throughout the book which is what I believe raised the concern of students reading it but this book taught me so much about the current lives of Native Americans I think that it is important to learn about different cultures in America especially one that has so so much historical importance and background in our country most sophomores are 15 and 16 years old the text we are reading is not going to impact our Behavior or personalities or any way in any way at these ages we are mature enough to handle explicit content and be trusted to do such you may be thinking this explicit content is not needed in the classroom but explicit content was not all this book was I think that the explicit content was

087necessary in this book to help us understand the story more it also provided entertainment that made the book more interesting to read not only that but the book was inspiring it was a Coming of Age Two that showed you that you should always follow your hopes and dreams as a member of this country and world we have to understand that people come from all types of backgrounds so we don't become oblivious and unaware it showed me the harsh like true realities of some people's lives I believe that reading the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian was important and helped me learn so much about the lives of Native Americans if I hadn't read this book I don't think I would have ever known about the lives of Native Americans now I think that everyone

088at Groves who was able to read this book learn something and that is the most important thing thank you so much for your time thank you [Applause] next I have Amy Wagner sitting in the cheap seats back there my name is Amy Wagner and I am the President of the Birmingham Education Association representing the teachers of this District on behalf of the 575 Educators in BPS we sincerely want to thank trustee young and and trustee Whitman for their years of service you have been supportive and strong through some of the most difficult times in education as trustee Whitman indicated it is unfortunate the politics infiltrated Schools starting with covid despite this we appreciate you and the work you have done for the students and staff of BPS we sincerely thank you to all the trustees

089I also want to acknowledge the tentative economic agreement recently reached between the association and the board's team which you will be asked to consider and vote on tonight we know you have had to balance the scrutiny related to the budget along with your desire to honor the hard work of your staff in a time of extreme inflation on behalf of my team Scott warro and wind Heidi Smith Ed kogel Dan drapel we want to thank you and your team for meeting us somewhere in the middle thank you thank you okay next I have Alyssa Darna Darnell Sophie and Sophia Soma so you'll have a total of six minutes okay hi I'm Sophia Soma and I'm Alyssa darnall we're both sophomore students at Groves High School and we're here addressing the school board because we want

090to come out on how it is important for the book The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman alexie to stay in the honors English 10 curriculum we understand that parents have heard about inappropriate or sexual content in this book but it really has so much more than that this book addresses issues going on in Indian reservations such as alcohol pandemic epidemics racism suicides bullying and overall violence as it may be concerning for some parents to expose their children to some of the subject matter in this book technology and social media are just as harmful when a child has full access to a computer or phone or any type of technology which most kids these days do they are just as vulnerable to see this inappropriate behavior though some parents may be concerned

091about this book in ninth grade the whole class was required to read Romeo and Juliet if you're not familiar with this book it revolves around two teenagers who are forbidden to be with each other while the book is about love it essentially revolves around sex if newcoming high schoolers are allowed to read read about metaphorical sex why shouldn't 16 year olds be able to read one small comment on masturbation despite the fact that it is completely normal thing so why are the adults in our community trying to tell us that it isn't okay even though we read about some explicit content we did learn about something new in the book before reading this book we were clueless about what was going on and unaware of the difficulties of living on a reservation we are now

092informed about the truth of what's happening and have a new point of view Not only was this book educational but we enjoyed reading it too and with the workload and topics that we learn about it makes it much easier to learn when we just when we are reading about something we are passionate about despite the fact that there is profanity it is written from a teenage perspective and makes the reader feel more related to and in school curriculums most of the time it is unlikely to have that although we may just be teenagers we're also the future of the company country and some of us will be voting soon it is understandable to Shield some younger children from sensitive topics they may not be able to understand or comprehend yet but we are young adults

093and we should know the truth and have a choice in what we read and learn about this book opens our eyes to the obstacles people face when living on Indian reservations ultimately we think it's important for our education that we learn about real life challenges and understand what's happening in the world around us thank you for your time thank you [Applause] next I have uh Sebastian foreberg hi my name is Sebastian forberg and I am a sophomore at Groves High School I stand before you today to speak out against the Banning of books Banning books has become more popular in a country over the past few years and there has been talk of banning a book I read in my English class Banning certain books is a violation to our freedom of expression and it

094denies us the opportunity to expand our understanding of the world my first argument against Banning books is that it violates our freedom of expression censoring books is a clear violation of this right because it suppresses the ideas and opinions that books are showing these ideas and opinions could be useful for people to try and trying to formulate decisions and beliefs in addition to violating our freedom of expression Banning books also gets rid of a source that we can use to learn and grow books are a source of knowledge and provide us with New Perspectives on the world by censoring certain books we are limiting our ability to fully understand the world around us for example books that talk about sex sexuality or racism can better educate people to understand what other people are going through

095and how they can change to help the reason many books are being censored in school is because parents think their child should not be exposed to things like sexuality and racism I think these are controversial topics that should be taught in schools because they are becoming more and more prevalent in our society and skit kids should be educated on what is happening overall Banning books is not a solution to any issue or problem it is a violation of our fundamental right to freedom of expression and denies us the opportunity to learn and grow we should resist the temptation to censor books and instead embrace the diversity and ideas that they bring thank you thank you [Applause] thank you um next I have and I think I'm going to mispronounce this last name Juno is it

096sulson okay thank you hi I'm Juno salsan a sophomore at Groves High School I come here tonight to comment and discuss the suggested removal of the absolutely true Diary of an American Indian from the English curriculum as an English student currently going through the class I can say with certainty that although it's not my favorite book it's much easier and more enjoyable to read than some of the other Classics required and required in English classes across the country sure reading the Odyssey was a cool experience but was anyone actually able to understand it I had to use spark notes in order to catch a glimpse of what they were trying to say even when it was unclear and to be completely honest the recent book Bannings and challengings across the country are reminiscent of an

097orwellian nightmare does 1984 ring any bells I'm not claiming that the members of the school board are attempting to censor our books or education by any means but if you remove one book from the curriculum where do you stop what's the gauge of inappropriate material because to be honest Junior's story is not the most inappropriate thing in the Groves Library my point in speaking here tonight is that I don't think challenging this book is a good idea I'm not the biggest advocate for the absolutely true Diary of an American Indian but I'm grateful we get to read something like this something that's easy fun and relatable that's it thank you thank you [Applause] all right um next I have Enzo Marucci hello my name is Enzo Marucci and I'm a sophomore student here at gross

098it recently came to my attention that the book I was reading recently the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian is under the threat of getting banned I'm here to hopefully give a different view on the book one from a student's perspective this book about a teenager named Junior living on an Indian Reservation has lessons to teach that are incredibly important it taught me to appreciate what I have how the little things that I take for granted are unavailable for so many people this book can provide a perspective different from the one we have been given our entire lives this is incredibly important because without different perspectives to expand our view of how the world is we get stuck in a low bubble unable to see the world from any angle other than our narrow

099perspective does this book have an appropriate parts of course it does it's written as a diary from the view of a teenage boy there are bound to be inappropriate sections in it so what we are high schoolers I believe we are mature enough to not to be able to read those parts and not giggle at the explicit parts the kinds of inappropriate things in that book such as the part that talks about masturbation or part where Junior states to mod things are nothing that our us high schoolers don't hear in conversations all around us in our day-to-day if people are concerned about high schoolers being exposed to inappropriate things this book is not the main issue and when it comes to a few instances of slurs I was also appalling when I read them but

100as long as the word isn't spoken out loud and it is acknowledged that those words should never be spoke uttered out loud which is what our class has done the book is fine to read because there are important things to learn from the book things that are that overshadow the faults and that's what we're at school for right to expand our perspective of the world and to understand it better thank you for listening thank you [Applause] um okay next I have Carmen ABIA Ruchi sorry hi I'm Carmen abarucci I'm currently a sophomore at Groves and I'm going to address why Diary of a part-time the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian Carmen I'm sorry can you move the microphone closer or speak into it a little bit more just so everyone can hear you

101okay thank you this is good better better I understand why some may have um concerns but I enjoy reading this book it was relatable and also educational this book was a good reading experience because it helps you step into the shoes of a teenager in a Indian reservation and um shows you different perspectives I was educated about what it's like to live on a reservation it taught me about Native American culture and their struggles as well these type of books are important to have available to students they're important because these books engage us with relatable and interesting dialogue while educating us at the same time learning about different cultures and their struggles can help students form their own opinions on the topics and help them get a better understanding of what's going on in the

102real world learning about real world world experiences in school is really important especially since we spend most of our day at school keeping your kids from not learning about real real world issues won't help prepare them for the future thank you [Applause] okay um next I have sanuthi okay thank you for saving me hello my name isinga and I am a sophomore at Groves High School and I would also like to address the board about the attempt to ban and remove the absolute true Diary of a Part-Time Indian from the honors 10A curriculum due to it being considered controversial inappropriate or uncomfortable for parents and children as a student who has read this book and has done multiple assignments on this I believe that this book is in a very essential part of our curriculum

103and we need to ensure that this book is kept so our future students can remain educated about Native American history and all sorts of other things like that this book is such an amazing resource that we are that we have in our incredible district and I was very lucky and privileged to be able to have access to this book and I was able to learn important things I probably wouldn't have learned if I if I didn't read it reading this book in English has opened mine and other students eyes and helped and helped us rethink and find other perspectives on what reality is like for other indigenous students in America and keeping us sheltered by Banning the book won't prevent us from finding out the actual truth we did many assignments in class they gave

104us more history about the indigenous and how they are such an important part to our society it'll help us grow better as people by dissolving stereotypes about the indigenous and realizing how harmful microaggressions and such are it was also just such an amazing experience to be able to read a book from a from an indigenous author especially since we don't get many opportunities to do so Banning the book doesn't give the indigenous and students of students of color in our district the solidarity that we deserve and keeping the book will prevent other books made by authors of color and other marginalized groups from potentially being banned because parents don't want their kids to be exposed to continents in the book Banning books because parents don't agree with the certain Viewpoint creates a more xenophobic environment

105and an ignorant Society our district is known to be is known to be one of the most diverse districts in Michigan and to ban a book specifically made by a person of color doesn't put a good Mark in our district and as a student of color being in this district for over 10 years I wouldn't have even thought of Birmingham being able to considering doing something like this now I understand that there may be profanity and explicit content and such in the book which may be considered a concern but it's supposed to be written in it's supposed to be written in a way that helps make the book more approachable to teenagers and people are in my age we are mature enough to be able to read this without acting like children books are stories

106that Inspire us make us cry laugh and feel emotion which is a normal part of being a teenager they help us and most importantly it educates us a quote from the book says you have to read a book three times before you know it the first time you read it is for the story The Plot the movement from seeing the scene gives the book its momentum its Rhythm the second time you read a book you read it for its history it's not of History you read a book for the story for each of its words and this is why we need this book it's a story of love hate and change which is normal and something our youth faces and hiding it and restricting it doesn't stop it it'll only just delay it and also

107how can you ban a book for a comment that takes up less than half a page but not do anything to address the drug problem with going on throughout the Birmingham District anyhow I hope the board will ensure that the book stays in our curriculum for generations to come thank you thank you thank you okay next I have uh Nomi Elaine no Amy thank you hi my name is Noemi Lane and I would be talking about why we shouldn't be in the book The absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian the absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book that I think should be kept in the curriculum the author is in a genius which is something we don't see a lot especially when it is book that we read in school I

108think this book gave us an opportunity to students to learn about the perspective of someone from a different culture this book talks about the topics of racism and poverty which gives us a chance for us to explore today's world problems and I think that it makes this book A great experience to read the main reason why the book wants to be banned is to not expose to students to such uncomfortable and inappropriate topics but I think that this book actually shows students the real world the spokes this book shows students the life of someone that is different from us especially with the much more inappropriate things that are looked at such such as drug use or social media I think that this book is naturally just a resource even though the book uses some language

109I feel like it is just to make the book more entertaining and approachable for readers that are students I think that it is a printer for students and future students to learn about indigenous people's lives especially in an easy manner like this book we should be more aware and exposed to people that are different from us I think that it's this is a problem to taste Society today's society is that we don't open up to a lot of things that we aren't used to the fact that this book stays in their curriculum means that more and more students will learn about what I learned reading in this book more and more students will be able to learn about new things that we're not used to hearing or learning about especially for teens their age it

110is important to expand our knowledge adding on to reading this book me and other students have learned a lot from about indigenous people and reservations by doing assignment based on their lives doing these assignments taught me a lot of things such as how people live on reservations and even what they think about it these assumptions have opened my eyes on poverty and what it's like learning about the lives of indigenous people has made me realize that there are people out there experiencing such horrible things these assignments have even taught me the importance of stereotypes and how knowing about a single point of view is dangerous this is one of the most interesting units I've ever learned about if this book were to be banned from the curriculum it would mean that future students will never

111get this experience an opportunity it would mean that future students will never get to know about the problems of racism and poverty within the genius people this might also just create even more stereotypes over us not be informed about anything concerning indigenous people thank you for listening thank you [Applause] next I have Mario uh Campos lovasco good job uh hi my name is Mario campoila Vasco and I I'm a sophomore here at gross I'll be sharing my viewpoint on the true Diary of a Part-Time Indian the book would be a form of censorship that would deprive students of opportunity to read and learn from this important novel is it important for students to have access to a diverse range of ideas and perspectives and banning a book simply because of detail deals with controversial controversial

112or challenging subjects would be a disservice to students and others in the community thank you thank you okay and lastly I have Jack brunt Brunt uh hi my name is Jeff brunt I'm a sophomore here at Groves uh I'm here to share My Views about absolutely true Diary of a Part-Time Indian I'm gonna try and keep this short it's honestly an interesting book it's detailed throughout the whole thing and it kept me engaged the whole time um it may be inappropriate times um but however it does teach very important topics um it shows how to go through hardships and that you know no matter how hard you try you can you might not even obtain them in the end the book most importantly expresses or sorry my opinion shouldn't matter in the Fate for this

113book this is in your hands it is important to learn about the diverse opinions and instances in this book the if the only reason to remove this book from the curriculum is some inappropriate language and some suggestive topics that everyone in these classes knows about you should go into a school building and actually see what people are talking about in the Halls although it is not my decision this choice is important and the repercussions will affect the future of learning in the school thank you thank you all right and that does end the public comment section of our meeting um to the students who came out tonight thank you for sitting through our board meeting to express your thoughts about your books um and sanuthi and Mario it's so great to see you I hope

114you learned something from this experience all of you thank you and the future generation has spoken all right again thank you um okay moving along um trustees we have our consent agenda which includes a Personnel report the financial statements four sets of minutes so can I get a motion to consider resolution 41 consent agenda I motion to consider resolution 41 consent agenda support trustees questions regarding anything on the consent agenda okay uh all in favor of approving resolution 41. I thank you okay um next we have our Deputy superintendents report Dr lindenberg the board I'll be very brief we've had a recent athletic council meeting on December the 8th and we had five topics that we that that we discussed one was uh review we always reviewed the purpose of the council then we had

115a fall sports summer we had a great fall Sports season for for both see home grows and high participation and not just winning and losing we talked about the value of participation in sports we also uh crafted guidelines of if in the future we want to add Sports we have draft guidelines we'll bring that back up to the to athletic Council in our March meeting to discuss where we where we are with that and we would bring that back to the board uh later on if we decide that those guidelines are feasible we also mentioned earlier about the support for special needs students and participation in in our athletic programs and we because we talked about that topic as well and then we gave a brief Bond update so we meet again in March and

116we have had we have parents on our on our board we have our athletic directors and we had high participation in our last meeting thank you okay thank you um next we have two human resource resolutions to consider Dean thank you very much the first resolution for your consideration is the one we covered recently in our study session it's a resolution we brought forward because we have a concern has been raised over the last six months the Michigan office of Retirement Services which handles the state's public retirement system for schools and other public entities recently had been changing its stance and challenging some of the compensation that's reportable as Retirement earnings and that specifically it involves our board paid tax sheltered annuities 403bs that are part of the compensation package for our operational and Administrative

117Professionals our building administrators and other managers directors and Central leadership team recently some of our retirees have told us that portions of their earnings were challenged and actually removed for consideration as part of the retirement and we have spent considerable time through our payroll department having to provide documents back to ours to prove that this has always been intended by the board when this was first elected 10 or 15 years ago as part of the compensation there had been some mentions in the past of using the term fringe benefits and referred to the overall compensation package of both pay and benefits that uh these employees received so the RS is kind of was focusing on that aspect and rather than the fact that it is compensation for services rendered so we brought this resolution forward

118essentially to help confirm the board's stance that this is indeed considered remuneration for services rendered which is considered reportable income for retirement purposes with the state we've worked with our attorney Mr Schindler from Miller Johnson who has been doing a lot of work on this Statewide and he recommended this resolution that will help us help our retirees in case they are challenged on this and as he described it is helping build a case Statewide that will probably raise itself up to the ORS board to have to address and so we provide you know the full retirement that people who have contributed a whole life of service to public schools that at the end part of the retirement earnings isn't challenged when it was intended as compensation so we're just asked for your consideration on this

119resolution okay so um trustees again we did discuss this briefly um at the last study session yeah and um does anybody have any further questions I mean essentially we want to help our retirees to make sure that they are getting everything they are entitled to so future returns yes and future retirees so that is the spirit of the resolution can I get a motion oh we already have the motion sorry are we ready to vote okay trustees all in favor say aye aye aye okay thank you thank you moving on to resolution 43 the Bea tentative agreement I'm not gonna go ahead okay um the did you need to take a well I I was hoping to get a motion okay I mentioned that we need a tentative agreement resolution number 43 forward second okay

120thank you um before you is a resolution uh to address has already been brought up the economic reopener as you recall when we negotiated a contract with the Birmingham Education Association in 2021. it was for a two-year agreement the second year this year the 22-23 school year was a economic reopener we've had various discussions being mindful along of the budget concerns that we have been dealing with as a district but also looking at the the challenge of retaining and attracting quality teachers particularly with the continued labor shortages we see and with the reality that all of our surrounding districts and our competitor districts do have uh compensation increases built into their Collective bargain agreements this year and going forward so through various discussions and guidance received by the board that we have come to a

121tentative agreement with the Birmingham Education Association to be able to provide steps full steps for teachers who have still step movement meaning they are below the top step that represents about half the teachers in our district as you recall you already had concurred with giving an off schedule increase two teachers earlier this fall so the step increase will be part of that step so it'll be the remaining value of that step will be given going forward and then TOP Step teachers who also did receive that off schedule increase will just receive an additional amount of 800 dollars there will be an adjustment on the longevity pay this is specifically for teachers who are at 16 years or above of service because these teachers in situations like this have often reached TOP Step a while ago

122and have no more consistent movement other than one steps are granted so this just adjusts their longevity steps by 250 at each level and last year there was just an adjustment made to some language in the contract that of how we compensate teachers when the secondary teachers when they are asked to pick up a class on their planning hour because again of having a difficulty sometimes finding qualified endorsed teachers for particularly for our math and science areas we often have to ask teachers to split a teacher's schedule if they're on leave so a teacher who has a first hour planning will pick up that and second hour and so on but this is a changing the way teachers are compensated before they only received a percentage of the first step of their pay scale in

123their pay Lane this is just changing it to the percentage of their actual pay step to acknowledge the many years of service and experience they have and they're offering those students so that is you know encompassing this uh tentative agreement that we reached with the ba most recently and that they recently ratified okay thank you for that explanation trustees questions I have a comment okay um I just want to start by saying that as a board trustee I realize the Syrian seriousness of my fiduciary responsibility which at times becomes difficult to make decisions with competing priorities I know that our teachers are a tremendous asset to our students and keeping our students in school I also realize that the cost of living has gone up health care costs have gone up and although we are

124one of the wealthiest districts in our area our teachers are not being paid comparable to some of the surrounding districts and for those reasons tonight I will be voting in favor of this resolution thank you I appreciate that anybody else okay um if there are no further comments or questions we will go ahead and vote we should do a roll call vote on this so I will start with vice president Ras support Treasurer Joseph support secretary Whitman I abstain my vote thank you um technically if you're here you you are supposed to vote given my this is my last position here I have chose to abstain my vote thank you president hokeover okay um I will go to Lloyd trustee is losing trustee McKinney support and finally trustee young support oh not finally because there's

125me um and I am support thank you thank you very much we will be bringing forward some other changes with some of the other remaining groups next month okay great thank you all right now we are moving on once again Scott I apologize that you have waited so long but we do have two resolutions related to bond projects we've already discussed these two resolutions at our previous study session meeting and at bar meetings so twice with this so I guess there are there any questions yeah I mean trustees if you don't have if we have questions we can go ahead and ask Scott and then give him an opportunity to review the dashboard anybody have questions regarding let's start with resolution 44 can I get a motion to consider the West Maple Elementary in Derby

126Middle School improvements I moved to support West Maple Elementary in Derby Middle School improvements I second that okay any questions specific to this resolution I believe this is um the outside area at Derby cracked Scott It's a combination of Renovations and outside things okay and then West Maple interior reservation speak Renovations correct nobody has questions no okay all in favor of resolution approving resolution 44 please raise your hand say hi okay that passes the second resolution is resolution 45 it is for the sea Home Furniture in the auxiliary gym and again we did already discuss this the bond committee reviewed it in committee and recommended that we approve it no comments no questions I moved to support resolution 45C home furniture for the auxiliary gym second all in favor hi hi okay and then Scott

127I know you have the dashboard you want to review that quickly um I didn't say quickly take all the time no no I I understand it's uh after nine here um is that available Joan on the computer is it helpful if I pull it up at all or slow anything down we're getting it up I wasn't sure what um to be on the desktop here um well we're pulling it up I'll just um just begin but I do want to say thanks to trustee Hawk um Whitman and young thank you for uh it's been a pleasure working with you these last few years I think it goes back really to the latter parts of 2019 so thank you for your guidance thank you for your support thank you for your inquiries and uh again being

128supportive of what we put forth and helping turn the community's uh vote into you know something tangible here on the campuses throughout the district so thank you thank you good luck thank you um so while we pull that up uh the last time we're up here doing the dashboard it is something we do quarterly we're up here in September um I won't uh I won't speak too much but really from a financial standpoint um we haven't added that much more to our commitments but we've completed a lot of work over the course this summer so uh roughly about 16 million dollars have been spent since we last reported in September and those financials are through really through the middle of December reconciling with the district's records through October um the big chunk of that is

129really in the construction standpoint but we've also seen expenditures in Furniture as well as technology our owner contingency even with tonight's Awards Still Remains around 2.7 2.8 million dollars projected um our upcoming work for next year we've got our work coming up at Sea home high school with with the respect to the athletic fields sorry I will also have improvements at Derby Middle School in West Maple Elementary School that we just voted on this evening thank you we'll be doing phase two of some playground equipment replacement over at Pembroke Elementary and as far as design goes we're starting discussions really on our last and final phases over at both the high schools Groves and see home those will consist of parking improvements as well as interior Renovations predominantly and also over at Birmingham Covington School

130BCS uh those work those projects will be designed starting now through next year we hope to be back in the fall with some recommendations for those projects and those projects would likely begin sometime in 2024. we have quite a bit of ongoing work still here in the district while we're wrapping up a lot of projects from the summer we do have ongoing work over at Groves with the athletic fields we just recently started the auxiliary gym the foundations are going in as we speak and that'll start coming out of the ground starting next year um see home we continue to work on the auxiliary gym there and some of the supporting activities there uh we're wrapping things up over at Berkshire we're really winding down and for those that have been over to Bingham Farms

131lately that playground's getting close too we hope to be pretty close to being done by the end of this year but probably by about the middle part of January is about when we're planning to get that certified for the kids a lot of the equipment's finally going in right now we have to get it certified by the inspectors and then kind of back our way out of the site get the fence contemporary roads down and get it kind of restored as best we can this time of the year we'll be back in the spring green it up if you will um hard to talk through but this is on the Board website and I would recommend too if we could get this transferred over to the bond page as well where we place the other

132dashboards but we did post some pictures of some of the latest and greatest um improvements uh Bingham Farms you'll see you know kind of some progress photos of the playground we posted a couple more shots from Berkshire some things we've completed since September so the pool area is now open it's really very shiny and new all the door Replacements if you'll recall those were all red those now are a nice wood looking door it's made a huge difference to that some progress shots of the gym we've got all of the stadium buildings opened up at Groves now with the teams building and Concession buildings so that's all up to speed we do have to do this in staining in the spring when the weather turns there'll be a big Falcon in the pavement as you

133approach that'll get done when the weather turns and then our ball fields over at Groves are also wrapping up with baseball softball so those are pretty much ready to go we're getting a lot of the final electricity uh hooked up that'll be on ongoing soon and again the auxiliary gym again we're getting the foundations wrapped up and starting next year you know we'll start some of the masonry work too so that'll become more visible any comments questions but thank you again for all your support um thank you for waiting thank you Scott so sorry okay thank you all okay talking about parking what is remind me again what's going on with Groves and the parking and when that accident auxiliary gym is done is there going to be a drive-through where people can come through

134because the traffic gets so backed up on 13 Mile in the mornings yeah so as you're aware that that area is tied off with the construction okay it's part of the long-term improvements when the Project's done there will be a road that continues back there um it will be a little bit different configuration as it'll kind of go around the new gym and tie back in but you know that that traffic path will be available um and then you know we are adding some additional parking in the northwest corner of that lot too and that'll be done sometime next year we're we're going to wait for the weather to turn next year and we're also kind of using that area to kind of help stage for the new aux gym and it's just kind of

135in the way a little bit right now so we want to get a little bit further along but that those pieces will start to come together next summer into the fall all right thank you okay thank you okay thank you all appreciate it okay lastly uh last agenda item we have resolution 46. this is the let Michigan kids learn resolution we have discussed this in the past um I I know that people think it's political however I would simply state that we need to protect the funding that public schools are dependent on to continue to thrive and by sitting on this board we are by extension advocates for public education so um sorry that is not political that is just my opinion that's what a board does this is part of our responsibility this should

136boost up our our um enrollment and to make sure that our kids get the quality education that we retain high quality teachers this is what we do right so that being said well and I will add it's not even just about the money I would venture to say that most people who purchase their homes to be in this community is for the public education that we provide that's right okay so we don't need to divert those resources to private schools and one more thing oh I'm sorry Luke one more thing we can compete in every way with any parochial and private school and so I am advocating that we keep the funds and our reputation for excellent education right here has this been passed by the or has this it was presented it was presented

137that's what I thought but it was never passed so in my humble opinion I was voting on it tonight no I mean in the state of Michigan yeah it was not passed so what I was what I propose is we tabled this resolution until it passes then we then we can discuss it because to me we can discuss any resolution about any issue can I speak please I mean I don't like to be interrupted thank you um and we can speak about any issue about anything that comes from possibly comes from the state of Michigan or from Oakland County for example who knows if Oakland County would want to put masks on us so let's propose a resolution for not for going against Oakland County because that's for the health of our children and we

138should say we don't want to wear masks in case Oakland County passes a pro a mask mandate again so what's the difference so in my I will abstain and if I have to leave this table to us to do so then I will do so but I rather stay Luke are are you you can put emotion on the floor to table this is that what you're doing yes I would like to present a motion to table resolution 46 until it officially passes the state of Michigan because I don't feel it's useful to discuss something that's not passed and I would say that I am not in favor of um okay well we need a second oh I'm sorry a second for Luke's Luke do you have no second okay I would like to abstain so

139do can I stay or should I leave because I don't want to vote on this for professionalism you should probably well because earlier until the end of the sure Kim Kim abstained from a boat that has repercussions on the future board right you're presently trying to abstain from about about where you're present you have all the information you're the legislative representation and what's concerning to me is is the misinformation that you've shared with the community today you've compared this to a hypothetical situation um of passing a resolution um against something that hasn't happened in Oakland County Health when I presented on this given the information from the legislative committee which you are also a co-chair on the information that I shared was that there are sufficient number of signatures to allow this to be as

140Citizens a citizen's motion so essentially if it is passed by our legislature it's non-ve towable if it's not passed it's possible to get it on the ballot on a future ballot if all the signatures are approved so this is pertinent now whereas if we wait until after it passes our resolution will have no effect because it will go to legislatures who have already voted on the matter um so so I'm concerned about your stance both as a matter of Robert's Rule of Order and as the co-chair of the legislative committee with with an understanding of where this is at and the importance of the timing of resolution 46 and passing it now so even though there was no second I I believe we should vote on this tonight and I believe that everyone present should

141be prepared to vote on this matter I agree and Luke I mean you have every right to State your case and vote no um that is the reason for it the reason I abstain because it um you've mentioned the word if at least five times in your statement I don't go by the word f and what about if the new legislator in Michigan doesn't take this up and go and it doesn't then it goes to a valid initiative right and they will have a resolution that either passes or fails from the Birmingham Public Schools board supporting it or not supporting it same as our legislature will have a resolution that either we support this or don't support this to guide their vote should they consider this un vetoable bill that's why it's important to do

142it now so you have the information necessary to vote so an abstention is inappropriate Under The Rules of Order and just given your position as the co-chair of the legislative committee I'm sorry um I humbly disagree because even if it goes to the ballot there's a chance there's a huge chance it's going to be voted down okay but so we don't even let's just talk about procedure here because there are reasons for abstaining from a vote and I I can see why you would vote no if you personally disagree with this I think that is appropriate and fine but abstaining from a vote because you don't think we should be voting on it at all and you disagree with the actual proposal is not appropriate I believe there are actually very specific reasons Within Robert's

143rules to abstain as well as the open meetings act Club provides specific reasons let's take it to a vote okay Luke do you want to say anything else before we vote on it no but I do feel that my last statement is I don't know I always get signaled out but that's fine we'll go with the flow Okay so we have a resolution 46 on the table do we have we hit a motion yes we had a motion we had a second yes yes okay all in favor of resolution 46. please raise your hand and say I I okay all Nays well I guess I don't have a choice but to say no but my original vote was to abstain so I will go along with the rule to make sure that I follow the

144rules and I'm voting now thank you okay thank you Luke okay um on that note we obviously are looking at the beginning of winter break here starting tomorrow I believe that as soon as school is over I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday a great New Year and we will have another study session on January 6th I believe and we are adorned helpful