001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Calon Board of Education to order. Please join me in honoring our country with the pledge of allegiance. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Madam Secretary, please call the role. >> Barbara Garcia >> here. [snorts] Rano >> here. Clement >> here. >> Alex >> here. >> Bone here. Morris >> here. >> Nicholls >> here. >> Item 4 A. We have a National Merit commended students here today and it's going to be a very special celebration. I'll turn it over to you. >> Thank you. Uh well, it's uh always a wonderful wonderful opportunity when we get to celebrate outstanding achievement.
002And uh tonight we have uh two high school seniors here who have uh been named as National Merit Commended students and that represents less than 2% of all students across the United States. And so they are in rarified company uh with this great honor. And so uh we wanted to take a moment and just celebrate them and all their hard work and their outstanding achievement and uh just uh really thank them for all their efforts through the years. So, uh, we're going to walk around in a minute and shake your hands, but I want to introduce you while I still have the mics and then, uh, Mr. Morris and I will come around and we're going to give you a little certificate and then after that, we're going to pause just a minute and then
003bring you back up here, uh, with your parents this time so that we can get a photo in front of the cow up here uh, with you and your parents. So, with us tonight, we first have Sophia Anderson over here and we have Aiden Hoisington. So congratulations to [applause] [snorts] be directed to where we're standing. >> So let's have you both step up here with us and then uh Kelly, you're going to take >> Why don't you guys walk around to the back? You want to take a picture here first with the four of us and then we'll go up with the parents. >> All right. You two get to stay in the middle. >> Okay. >> All right. Ready? [laughter] >> Y. You're okay. You can just smile. You're You're in it. So, >>
004okay. Thanks. >> All right. Now we're going to do one at a time. Too many of one time up here. >> You guys come forward. Great. So even with the wall and I'm going to step over to the side. >> [clears throat] >> things down. Okay. Congratulations. Second. Yes. [laughter] >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Perfect. You guys split up the green. >> Do you want [laughter] it open so you can see it? Not just the stars or behind. >> There you go. It's great stuff. Us moms were proud, you know. >> Nice. >> Thank you. >> I think you intend to get together and get another shirt. >> How about that? [laughter] >> Thank you everyone. chances that's going to [clears throat] >> appreciate you both for being here. Have a great night. >> Thank
005you so much. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. [applause] >> On to item five, the student representative. Welcome. Hi, I'm Payton De Horn. I'm a representative from student council and I'm going to be telling you what some clubs are going on right now the next couple weeks. So, student council had a very successful homecoming. Over a thousand students came to Scotland Yard. Um, we honored Tom Burl as our grand marshall in the parade and we crowned Parker Lipsman and Avery Middle as our king and queen. This week we are planning Fright Night which will be held next Tuesday the 28th. that we are working with the PSTO to run this event and student council will handle the scaring in the woods and then the PSTO will hand out donuts inside the front. The be nice club is working
006on their football game which will be this Friday. Their mission is to recognize, understand, accept and take action when it comes to mental health. In the high school, we have over 50 members and they're more there's more in the middle school. And this week we're selling t-shirts that people can wear to the football game. Um NHS is working on on their induction ceremony which will be Monday, October 27th and their blood drive will be November 25th. FFA had a successful hog roast fundraiser last Thursday to raise funds. Members of the community came out to support the FFA through a live auction. They had over 30 items donated from various um local businesses. Um, students are working hard the past five weeks to raise 100 broiler chickens to be ready for the FFA broiler contest where
007they compete with other FFBA teams across the state. Today they took 56 students to compete in the contest and experience and assist in the final processing of the broilers. Final results from that should be posted in the next few weeks. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> [clears throat] >> processing. >> Okay. On to item six, public comment. The board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express their views. Please limit your statements to three minutes. Participants shall direct all comments to the board as a whole, not to staff or any participants. [clears throat] No person may address or question any board member individually. The board cannot accept public comment regarding personnel issues. All personnel issues are
008referred to the superintendent for a resolution. And as always, please keep your comments respectful and professional. No problems with that either. So, [snorts] um, on to our first one, Mr. David Martin. Thank you. My name is David Martin. I live in L, but I have a grandchild who is now in kindergarten here. So, [snorts] you're going to hear from me, too. Um, my address is um to the board. It is also to the audience. So, I may I may spin around a little bit. I I know you probably want to record this. Uh, my uh my uh talk is about a Supreme Court decision in June of 2025 in a case titled Mahmood V. Taylor. Uh I would expect the board to be very familiar with this. It is one of the more consequential rulings
009in the last decade and uh it is uh specifically uh directed uh uh with uh public schools. In brief uh oh and it is mahm o. Anyone want to research this? Everything I say is true. Um, briefly, a Virginia school district used certain textbooks in classrooms without allowing parents to opt their children out of those classes. Um, as is typical nowadays, uh, the books promoted LGBTQ lifestyles which oppose Islamic teachings. Thus, an Islamic family named Mahmood sued the school district. The school district argued that mandating these books was necessary to promote inclusivity of thought and behavior. The school stated that parents could simply, that's a quote, send students to private schools in order to opt out of such teachings. Notably, one school board member called the Islamic family white supremacists, showing just how far elitists
010will go to cling to their power. However, in ruling for the parents, the Supreme Court affirmed that the family's religious rights overrides rights of the schools. The court wrote, quote, we reject this chilling vision of the power of the state to strip away the critical rights of parents to guide the religious development of their children." Schools must now inform and allow parents to pull students from classrooms to avoid uh content that conflicts with their religious beliefs. So to you parents out there, it is now your firm right to investigate curriculum and pull student out students out of any lesson that conflict with your religious beliefs and that pertains to every single lesson every single day of the year. It is also your responsibility to monitor the Michigan Board of Education, which believe it or not,
011just two months after the Supreme Court decision, is now proposing to circumvent state law by eliminating opt out provisions for sex education classes. You can look it up. It's happening right now. So why would a state board propose a standard in direct conflict not only with state law but the US Supreme Court? Well, remember what I said about elites hanging on to power? And do you think those elites would worry whether they trample on your rights if they trample on the US Supreme Court? I think not. So parents, please stay vigilant. Demand to know what is being taught to your students. school board, please stick to education. That's your job. Don't need to get into these other territories. And believe me, I've heard good things about Calonia, uh, much better than Forest Hills, where I
012often speak. So, um, keep up the good work. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next is Sylvia Murphy. Welcome. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Good evening. My name is Sylvia Murphy and I live at the trail head, the Paul Henny trail head where the village council is uh proposing to build a 23 space parking lot. people have signed stop the lot petition which is an overwhelming opposition to this lot. That's 670 people, the majority being taxpayers and trail users. And most of them don't start walking on the trail at the trail head. They leave their homes. say on bike or foot. When I'm working out my yard and um or walking my dog on their trail, um many people stop and ask me um what what can we do to stop this parking lot?
013We don't need it. And hopefully you have all heard from many of them and they say there's plenty of parking places lots on the and there's also parking on the street. The fact is that within two commercial blocks, no businesses are losing customers because their customers can't find a place to park. Another fact, and that I hope that we can all agree on, is that no matter what you do to please people, some of them will always complain. Putting a parking lot in Maine and Kinsey will destroy the neighborhood. It would destroy the natural beauty and be a 24-hour nuisance. Right outside our back doors, car noise, people noise, lights, and the threat for children walking through a parking lot that's fenced in on both sides. The threat of home invasion, especially to those seniors
014that living in the condos and all of us that border the parking lot. [clears throat] And let's not forget the proposed parking lot is directly across the street from a bar. My final point is that many mature trees [clears throat] will be destroyed by this parking lot. And these trees serve as a filter for the fertilizer dust and the grain dust that is blown off the elevator [clears throat] every day. If these trees are removed, that dust would be much more likely to drift further into the nearby neighborhoods. Please don't allow this parking lot to be approved. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Next is Katie Grimes. >> Welcome. >> Hi there. Um, my name is Katie Grimes. Um, I have two boys in the district. One goes to Cuttle Lake, one goes
015to Craft. Um, my husband and I are 2004 graduates of Calonia. So, we want to thank you first of all for all you do. Um, we're very happy with Calonia schools. Been here almost our whole lives. Um, I'm coming with a concern that's kind of a twofold concern around busing in the district. Um, my fifth grader, it's his first year, you know, starting school earlier. He was really looking forward to riding the bus, you know, being at a bigger school, meeting new kids on the bus, and his bus time is 6:18 in the morning. Um, we have to get him up at 5:30 in the morning to get him on the bus at 6:18. It's a 57 minute bus ride for him. He, our neighborhood is the very first stop. On the way home, we
016are the very last stop. So, he has a 66-minute bus ride on the way home. Um, when I went to school, I knew that it was known that if you were the first one picked up in the morning, you were the first one dropped off in the afternoon. Um, I called the bus garage the first week of school expressing my concern. Talked to somebody, was told I would be spoken or reached back out to, didn't hear anything back. called back three weeks later to talk to somebody else. Was told I would be followed up with, didn't hear anything back. I understand that there's a shortage in bus drivers. I really do. I work in another school district as a teacher. Um so I really understand that that concern, but I really would love to see
017this addressed within Calonia, if not this year, at least for the following year. We started transporting our son in the morning and my I'm fortunate we're fortunate to have grandparents that can help in the afternoon so he can get 45 more minutes of sleep. It's a long day waking up at 5:30 in the morning and getting home at 3:45 for a 11year-old. Um, I al I also thought that when redistricting or doing homeschool districts that that was supposed to help with the long bus rides students were having, but I can't imagine that they were any longer than an hour or almost an hour and 20 minutes. So, um, again, I don't expect this to be dealt with this year, but if it could be something that is on the radar for in the future. Um,
018I think it could also help with I know other parents have decided to transport because of the long bus rides. They started out signing up for the bus and once they saw how long it was, they've started driving. So, it could cut back on the traffic at the buildings if the bus rides were were more reasonable. Then the car traffic wouldn't be as bad either as I know it is. Um, so again, um, thank you so much for all you do and I really appreciate your attention to this. >> Thank you. >> Next is Bonnie Keller. [clears throat] >> Welcome. >> Hello. >> I'm Bonnie Keller. I [clears throat] live on Alaska Avenue in Calonia and I'm here to talk about the parking, the proposed parking for the trail head. I've been coming in I
019drive in from Alaska. I don't run or walk to the trail anymore. And so I drive in any time of day, sometimes morning, sometimes afternoon, sometimes evening. I've never had a problem finding a parking place to do that trail. If if ever it's been very busy, I have gone over to the lakeside park. There's a huge parking area there and you pick up the trail there and double back. [snorts] So, I don't understand why this is being proposed. Has people complained that want to come in and go on the trail that they can't park? And if that parking lot is put there, will that be designated only for people on the trail, not for anybody else? If this is being proposed and going to be done through the parks or whatever, I think it has
020to be for the trail users. And at this point, I see no reason that we need that. And again, it takes away Calonia is a small little community. And you take those trees out there, I mean, you're just going to make an Right across is the greenery and the bar and then you're just going to have this big open parking lot. Calonia doesn't need more ugliness. We need to have it kept like it is. And unless that parking lot is only going to be used for people using that trail, I think it must be being used for something else. So, I'm totally against it. And I've talked to many people that use that trail. Nobody has a problem finding a place to park. That's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. >>
021Last one tonight is Rebecca Sauby. Sourby, I'm sorry. >> Hi, my name is Rebecca Sauerby and I'm here tonight representing the Calonia Education Association. I teach STEM at Craft Meadows Intermediate School and I am honored to share just a few snapshots of the amazing teaching and learning happening across our district. Excuse [clears throat] me. From our youngest learners to our graduating seniors and our early childhood special education [clears throat] program, Danielle Boston and Darlene Barkle recently received glowing feedback from the Kent ISD AAC coach. The coach praised their use of visual and mini schedules, modeling of communication devices, and strong teamwork among staff. So much so that she hopes to return to film their practices as examples for others. Their classrooms are a model of inclusion and early support for our youngest learners. And it's
022a wonderful reminder that the foundation for communication and learning starts early and that our youngest students are supported by an incredible team. At Kettle Lake Elementary, first grade teachers Carol Gray and Britney Rasinski helped students celebrate Fire Safety Month with a visit from the Calonia Fire Department. Two students whose dads are firefighters proudly joined the crew as classmates explored the ladder and hose trucks sprayed the fire hose and tried on gear. The day was full of excitement, learning, and appreciation for the community helpers who keep us safe. The smile said it all. Learning was truly on fire that day. At Craft Meadows, Ashley Sacket students took to took to the court for a lively basketball review game before their math test. The competition was friendly but fierce with teamwork, strategy, and plenty of cheering. It
023turned test prep into a fun, high energy experience and proof that math and movement make a winning team. Students were so engaged they barely realized they were reviewing for a test. At Duncan Lake Middle School, 8th grade ELA teachers Amy Ellen De Busher, Alicia Ginsel, and Emma Rit Smith are beginning their Holocaust research unit. After studying the Holocaust through novels and discussion, students are selecting their own topics within World War II, learning to ask meaningful questions, conduct re credible research, and use MLA citations. The project concludes with a gallery walk showcasing their work and engaging and thoughtful capstone to the unit. It's inspiring to see middle schoolers connect research, writing, and understanding so meaningfully. And at the high school, Ian Derky and the amazing CHS student council organized a fantastic spirit week filled with creativity
024and pride. From themed dressup days and assemblies to the parade, homecoming court, powderpuff game and dance, everything ran smoothly. Ian's leadership turns homecoming into more than a school event. It's a community celebration that brings everyone together. is these shared experiences that make Calonia feel like one big family. These stories are just a glimpse of the creativity, dedication, and heart our Calonia ed educators bring to the students each day. Thank you for your continued support of our teachers and for celebrating the extraordinary work happening in the classrooms across our district. Thank you. >> Thank you. On to item seven, consent agenda. September 22, 2025 special meeting minutes, October 15, 2025 committee of a whole minutes. September 25 payables and October 2025 personnel report. Is there a motion? >> I move that the board approve the consent
025agenda as presented. [clears throat] >> Second. >> Are there any questions, comments? Seeing none, please call the role. >> Garcia, >> yes. Rando, >> yes. >> Clement, >> yes. >> Collins, >> yes. >> Con, yes. Morris, >> yes. >> Nichols, >> yes. >> And item eight, superintendent report. >> All right, we've got uh quite a bit to uh chat about tonight. And uh I think we're going to start with the less fun things and then we'll go to the more fun things. And so um we have as the first action item coming a little bit uh in just a few minutes about the audit. And uh before we do that, we want to uh give you a little overview both of the audit and the budget. And Sarah and myself are going to do this
026together. And uh so let me turn on the little clicker here even though it's only a couple of pages of slides. So, um just as a general overview about the uh state budget which uh passed earlier this month, uh there were some from our perspective here at Cal School, some positives and negatives. Uh from a positive side, there were some significant increases that came along and per pupil found funding and that's what we call the foundation allowance. There was additional uh increases for at risk for special education for English learners and more. And then another thing that was continued uh it's labeled as one-time money uh but we were able to get it for another year and that's uh some transportation funding that helps to um offset the costs that we as a large district
027with a lot of uh square miles uh get as part of our assistance with providing transportation. from the negative side in this year's budget. Um the budget reduced the state support for the Miper system um by [clears throat] almost, as you can see, $660 million. And so in essence, what that means is that our district will need to be picking up uh our share of those costs. And so that is a significant change uh to the negative. And uh also in this year's school aid fund for um really unprecedentedly uh the amount of university uh funding was greatly increased uh in the school a fund and you can see there by the tune of almost $400 million more uh here into the school aid fund. It was not that long ago that there were no
028university costs. And in fact, if we go back about 10, 12, 15 years ago, there were no community college costs in there either. U the state has two major buckets of money. The general fund is one and the school aid fund is the other. And the general fund has suffered over time from um more um funding challenges where the school aid fund has been a more stable um fund. And as a result uh there has been an ongoing effort that has tried to slide things that were previously funded in the general fund including community colleges and universities over to the school aid fund. And you can see on this uh number here, more than $1.34 billion now on a $22 billion budget is uh going just for community colleges and universities. And that would be
029a really really large additional per pupil amount that we could get. So, while we're grateful for the $442 that it went up this year, uh it could go up much much more if that 1.34 billion were actually allocated as arguably was intended when proposal A passed back in the '90s uh to go to K12 schools. And u so that's another uh sort of negative. Of course, the big pressure that the state, if you uh read up on any of this budget stuff, the big pressure for the state was road funding. And all of these moves were designed to free up more money in the general fund to be able to devote devote more money to roads. And so, in essence, through these moves, uh, some school aid fund money has made it possible to, uh,
030fund roads. And, um, from our perspective, that's not what was intended within proposal A. Uh also just uh as we look to the future and uh what might be coming in just a few months as they start the next state budget cycle. It's hard to believe but the governor typically comes out with her budget proposal in February. So uh we're not far away from that and uh so they will begin this process all over again. In this year's budget, what they label resources, we would call that revenue. Um so they are counting in that uh the revenue that supports the school aid fund plus uh they tapped into a lot of reserve funds that they had available to them this time around. So they had uh 21.48 billion in resources identified this year and their
031expenditures are 22.43 billion. So you can tell just by doing the math that uh things are not quite evening out uh there. And that causes for me at least a little concern uh moving forward. And at the very bottom of this slide, I put on here what the balance sheet uh looks like. We deal with balance sheets, right? And we talk about this when it comes to audit and all these sorts of things. So uh as they began this uh year that we are now heading into for the state, it starts on October 1st. Their beginning fund balance was almost a billion dollars. And uh with the budget as it's been laid out, that uh fund balance is projected at the end of 2526 to have dropped all the way under $50 million. So that's
032moving the wrong way. And therefore, if they were to continue the same levels of funding next year, right? And if this same if the revenues don't significantly increase, you can do the math. If you're overspending your revenues by almost a billion dollars and you only have 50 million sitting there in the fund balance, what's going to happen, right? And so that's of concern. Uh that's also a relatively low fund balance to get through the entire year on and they will be doing some updates on how revenues are going uh over the course of the year. they'll do one in January and then in May and uh if tax revenues for whatever reason uh drop um they could be looking at midyear what to do about that because they can't end the year with a negative.
033So, um, the all these things are it's all fine for now, but it does cause me a little concern as we look forward to just be careful and cautious and um, keep an eye to the future. And, um, I'll find I'll close with this uh, for my portion, then we're going to have Sarah explain what that means for us more specifically. Um the road proposal that it went through this year uh ended up with about 2 billion 2 billion and change uh more for roads. The original target had been three billion. So there's pressure to have even more money going toward roads uh than what they were able to devote toward it this year. And so uh it all adds up to um some concern moving forward. So I'll leave it at that. I won't
034be more of Mr. Doom and gloom which I get accused of being. So, I'll be sunshiny here in a few minutes talking about some great things happening. But, uh, Mr. Dere will now talk about what this means for us here in Calonia. Okay. So, locally [clears throat] here, um, what I have laid out on the far left, the state budget is broken out into what we call unrestricted funds. And so unrestricted means that we can use those funds in any way we'd need to for our operating budget. Then there's a section of restricted funds. And so there's a portion of the budget that is in categoricals or in areas specific to um areas that we have to use those funds for. Um so it's really not open to be able to use for any operational
035cost. So I have it separated. And then in the middle the first set of numbers that is the state adopted budget. So it look it's looking at a per pupil amount. So the foundation allowance is the first item. We received 442 per pupil. On the far right you can see that is what we have included in our adopted budget when we came in June to start this year. Our adopted budget included some of that foundation allowance increase. [clears throat] Um but we have $50 more dollars per pupil that we can put into our budget that I did not account for. If you keep going down the list, you see two items labeled Mipers. That's the retirement. So we have Mipers section 147A1. That is actually a reduction of $73 per pupil. I was not that
036wasn't on our radar at all. So that's not included in our current budget. So that has to come off. Um then the other segiters section 147 A4 that was being talked about. So I had already included that reduction of 365 per pupil in our budget. Then there is a uh retirement cost decrease. The rates went down. We're able to save on the expense side of 1.45% and that equates to about $100 per pupil. So on the unrestrict those are all unrestricted. So on that unrestricted section on the state's approved budget um that equates to 104 per pupil and for our budget the impact is actually a decrease that we have to pull out of $23 per pupil. Then when you look at that restricted section so we have [clears throat] um increases and I didn't
037include any of this in our budget. So you can see the state and our budget is going to be the same. So at risk 31A is an increase of $24 per pupil. There is a categorical for early literacy um and that's being removed. So that's $14 per pupil reduction. And then bilingual that's going up a little bit, $2 per person. And CTE is our career tech and that's going up slightly, $7 per pupil. And then section um 51E for special education, a slight increase there. So you can see the restrict uh the restricted section is going up $32 per pupil. So that does need to be added to our budget. So net impact um the states when you look at unrestricted and restricted together is $136 um increase per pupil um or on our budget
038impact is a $9 per pupil increase. So it's not going to have a huge impact overall on our budget per se. There are two line items um at the bottom. And quick before I get to those two, there's a note in the side. So those MIPers, the two Mipsers at the top that are being reduced, the 147 A4, it has an asterisk. If you remember last year, the foundation allowance was frozen and instead our increase came in a meiper's offset. So that was the Mipers offset, but this year it's being taken away. So that was what that equate equated [clears throat] to. So the two bottom ones we are still pouring through and looking at language and what this means for us. There was an educated educator compensation categorical in section 27 L. Um it
039appears to us that this is more going to be in an in and out um of our budget and won't have a budget impact, but we'll wait and see. The estimated amount for us is 120 per pupil. So, we need some more investigation in that line item. Then there is also we've been receiving the 31A mental health and um safety categorical um that right now has an increase of $38 per pupil. However, there's some language in that that was questionable. So, whether or not we are actually going to apply for these funds, we're unsure yet. So, we have to pour through that language as well. So I I do have those at the bottom as potential whatifs. So that's >> before we move on. Let's see if there are any questions any questions about the
040state budget and >> this high level overview. Uh there are other little bits and pieces but these are the largest numbers and things that you may have heard about. Uh though I just want to return to that Miper's takeback um which was really disappointing because a year ago um was they included that in the state budget a year ago uh as Miss Dere mentioned in lie of any kind of foundation allowance uh any kind of per pupil amount increase um and then this year it gets taken away and uh if that had been added on the foundation allowance and then they were to go above that we'd be getting even more per kit but they chose to do put it this way last year and uh now that's been kind of taken away. So while
041a lot of headlines are talking about the per people increase in the foundation allowance, the real net increase when you take away those other amounts off the retirement system as you can see uh is actually uh pretty detrimental. So that was disappointing to see. >> Questions or comments at this point? I can say that being on the board for the past 12 years, the only thing that's increased is the complexity and [clears throat] keeping your eye on the ball on the shell and it's remarkable that we're able to keep track of all this and and explain it such a very intuitive way. So, I appreciate your your time and effort on that. >> All right, then. As long as she's up here, we're going to go ahead and talk about the audit. And as I
042said, the first action item just to give the overview so she didn't have to play up and down, up and down all the time. So, >> okay. So, um we uh brought the audit report to the board committee meeting last week and the audit was performed by Gabbridge and Company and Ian, our lead auditor, was here last week to present on our audit. Pleased to say that we received an unmodified opinion, which is the highest opinion you could get. So, that was great news. Um they also conducted a single audit which is on our federal programs and in that audit we had no findings um and nothing to report. So that was good news. Um but basically everyone wants to know like our operating budget general fund what does that look like at the end
043of audit. And so we ended the year with our general fund um at 14.2 million. So this chart right here shows you EO is end of year. So it looks at our revenues and expenditures of how our audit ended in the 2324 school year and how it ended in this just past 2425 school year. So revenues you can see went from 73 million down to 72 just under 72.8 million. So went down um 362,000 on the expenditures. We also reduced from 71.5 million down to 70.7 million down just over 800,000. So net impact, we increased our fund balance from last end of year um to this end of year uh 476,000. So that's good. We're going in a positive direction and some of that fund balance will be able to help pay [clears throat] for
044um contract settlements that we've had that were not included in our adopted budget. So that will be helpful. Then if you don't mind pulling up that spreadsheet, I have it linked in this presentation. It will also go up on our district website. It's hard to see on this monitor, but when you pull it up at home, if you're interested, you can zoom in and it's a little bit easier. But what this shows is our general fund different budgets. So the far left is our audited numbers from fiscal year 2324. Each of the gray line ite or columns are the budgets relating to the 2425 school year. And the far right gray is our ending um final audit. So this kind of just looks at big picture. Each of the variances looks from the budget prior
045to the next budget. So final audit, the variance on the far right is then looking at our June budget amendments to the final audit. So this will also be on our website. So if there are are there any questions related to the audit and again I'll have all this information um posted on the website within the next couple days. >> Great. [clears throat] Thank you Sarah. All right, then I've got a few other uh things just to note. It has been a uh as we move through uh the fall here, we've got a lot of outstanding things going on. So, permit me a minute just to brag about a few things going on because I think uh it's been a wonderful fall season. So, uh let's see where to begin. First of all, uh our
046equestrian uh team uh took home a state championship uh a weekend ago and so congratulations to them. Last year they were the reserve state champs. In other words, came in second and this year they moved back into the first place spot which they had been previously. So congratulations to them. Outstanding uh performance there. Um we've had had two of our teams in the fall season end up as conference champions. So our boys cross country team uh brought home the OK Green conference championship. And uh at that conference championship meet, our individual runners placed first, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 19th, and 20th. So they really dominated uh the competition there. So that was an outstanding result by them. And also our high school uh girls swim team were the conference champs uh with our new inaugural
047year in the pool. So congratulations to our high school swim team as well. uh swim program is really off and running very very well. And our uh middle school girls swim team will be starting out here very soon and there are well over 40 uh young ladies in seventh and eighth grade already signed up for a middle school swim. So um that's wonderful to see. We've never had a middle school swim team before. So great interest there. Uh, also this past weekend, uh, Cody O'Rley, who plays varsity golf, uh, she ended up, uh, qualifying for the state, uh, golf tournament in, uh, division one, and she came in 25th in the state. Um, so wonderful performance by, uh, Cody as well. Uh our marching band wrapped up its uh competitive season this past weekend and
048uh so in the past uh like 10 days. They were the champs at the uh Granville Invitational uh bringing home the top score of the day. They were uh this past weekend second place at Alma College. And in between there last Tuesday night they were brought home a first division which is the highest rating you get at the district marching band festival. So wonderful performances by our marching band. And then uh the last thing uh to mention uh we were pleased this past week to uh welcome Dr. Dela Chapman. She is the deputy superintendent at the Michigan Department of Education uh who came and uh toured uh here within the district. She uh made stops at Emmens Lake, at Duncan Lake, and at um CHS to look at our um hands-on engineering and uh STEM
049programming that's going on there. In particular, at Duncan Lake, the new brand new mirror program. Um and at CHS, there Prime program uh where students are able to do all sorts of different things with engineering and all. And uh it's great to be able to have her here. word of our uh programming reached her in Lancing and so we were pleased to show off some of that to her and she was very impressed. She said herself that she's got, you know, science robotics kind of background and so she really liked seeing all the great stuff going on. So it's been a wonderful uh last couple of weeks and very pleased with all the things going on. And that's it for my report. >> Any questions, comments for our superintendent? >> I have a quick question.
050When we win [clears throat] state championships, isn't there a sign like when you're coming into Calonia? >> Oh, we have banners in the gym and then Yeah, there is a process for getting signs on the on Yeah. on M37, but it has to go through the state uh department and >> I just know that the question team over the years has one, I think, several. to start recognizing that the community we're all we're all >> any other comments questions >> yeah I did have one question about the budget was just curious if you had a projected timeline for the first amendment given where the audit came back >> so I don't have an updated um since it was minimal changes at this point on the revenue side. I wasn't planning to do a special budget
051update and I was planning to continue with the model of doing a December. We have come in December and or January. I kind of like a little bit earlier. So looking at December, but if it is requested or wanted, we could do a budget amendment. Correct. >> The other element that will be worked into there is our student count, which is still in the process of being audited. [snorts] So um yeah, it's a little premature, but by December, we should have that information. That's all I was looking for. Sounds good. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to our other action items. Uh 9B. For those here in the community, these are items we discussed. >> Excuse me, Mr. Morris. Can I interrupt? >> You may. >> I got the evil eye from Mr. Hess
052over here and he wanted to come up and uh Okay. >> Give you a little update. I totally forgot because I didn't write it down. And that was about our sale this past weekend. So, fantastic. The district surplus sale this weekend went fantastically. I appreciate all your support. Uh board members, Mr. Morris, Mr. Brandell, Mr. Con were there for the entire time and uh customer service skills were put to the test and so were physical skills as helping to load stuff in vehicles and trailers and I truly appreciate your assistance and being there and thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It did went very well. We had a great traffic throughout the day. Um we moved a lot of stuff out so a lot of folks went home very happy. So, thank you. >> Thank
053you. I And I also want to remind the community that we are auctioning off the greenhouse. So, those of you interested in that um >> on the website till the 7th of November, if I'm correct, >> I believe. So, yes. >> Okay. All right. I'm going to try it again. Sorry. >> Item 9B, security camera replace. >> Well, we talked budget already. We got it. All right. How could I forget something like that? All right. 9A uh audit report. >> I move that the board approve the June 30, 2025 audit as conducted [clears throat] by Gabri Company. [snorts] >> Second. >> Any questions or further discussion? >> Seeing none, please call the RO. >> Clement. >> Yes. >> Collins, >> yes. >> Brando, >> yes. Yes. Nicholls, >> yes. >> Garcia, yes. >> Morris, >>
054yes. 9A passes. >> Item 9B, security camera server replacement. >> I move that the board approve [snorts] the purchase of security camera servers from Moss as presented in the amount of $16,59728. >> Sorry, that was a lot of numbers. >> Second. Any discussion [clears throat] or questions from board members? Okay, seeing none, please call the role. >> Con, yes. Brando, >> yes. >> Robert Garcia, >> yes. >> Nicholls, >> yes. >> Collins, >> yes. >> Clement, >> yes. >> Morris, >> yes. Item 9 C, Dutton furniture package. I move that the board approve the district to purchase the Dutton Elementary School furniture package as shown from DL Corporation at a total of $94,6759. >> Second. Any further discussion or questions from trustees? Seeing none, please call the role. >> Brando, >> yes. >> Con, yes.
055Nichols, yes. Arber Garcia, >> yes. Clement, >> yes. >> Collins, >> yes. >> Morris, >> yes. >> Motion carries on to 9D, loader tractor purchase. Is there a motion? I move that the board approve the purchase of a K Cabota M7060 HDC tractor in the amount of $67,974.65 as described from Wolf Kabota. >> Second second. >> Any discussion questions from the board? >> Did I ask a question? Sorry, I just wasn't able to make the beginning meeting as you guys know this week. So, um I was curious, Matt, if you could just [clears throat] speak a little bit about kind of what the Kabota would be used on in the off season when it's not doing snow salt spreading, etc. I mentioned you saw it would be used, but I was curious for what >>
056um [clears throat] we kind of went through that. We move a lot of equipment and a lot of grounds materials during [clears throat] the summer. Um, we have to actually move certain of our equipment from sight to sight. So, it's something we could just lift up a cedar or a slit cedar. It's a piece of equipment. You just use this to lift it and transport it around, which we cannot do with a lot of our other things. Um, we move a tremendous amount of of grass, of dirt, uh, the [clears throat] large rocks you see around the district, we've purchased more of them. We move, we can move those. It just goes on and on. It's it's a allaround grounds, you know, item. In addition, because of the fact that it has forks, um we
057can use it in our warehouse and we can use it when we do stuff like moving furniture out of Old Dutton. Um where we need to we can't transport our our um what's the name of the fork truck that I'm trying to think of for a warehouse. We can't transport our our our material around because that's a little propane unit. It doesn't travel. Well, this has the forks. This will travel just fine and be able to load trucks and you know so it does have purpose all year long. >> Okay, got it. And how long how often will you be driving it down to Patterson South Street? Just kidding. [laughter] >> Do we need to stop and visit? We on our It's on our way to Paris Ridge, right? >> I know it is. >>
058So, [laughter] >> and we've taken equipment out there before. So, >> I just have a quick question. Um, how long I mean what's the lifespan of uh [clears throat and snorts] >> We have had our big John Deere um we bought it used and I believe we've had our large John Deere unit for 16 years and we bought it used. Um some of our other equipment, our salt truck itself is [snorts] almost 30 years old now. Um, so yeah, we have a we have a very good track record of maintaining and taking care of our equipment here. >> And these are coming from general funds. >> Yes. >> Thanks, Sarah. Any further questions before we call the roll? Carrie, please call the role. Collins, >> yes. >> Clement, >> yes. >> Con, yes. Random, >>
059yes. >> Robert Garcia, >> yes. >> Nicholls, >> yes. Morris, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> ID passes. On to item E, Neil policy [clears throat] revisions. Second reading and adoption. This is uh something we've been reviewing and digging into over what the past three months I'm going to guess. And this is aligning our uh non-discrimination policy under food service and wellness to that of the US Department of Agriculture which would be striking with the words after [clears throat] sex including gender gender identity and sexual orientation. um that is found in two policies 8500 and 8510 and we are now um looking for a motion on whether we will adopt. Is there a motion 8? We'll do these individually. 8500 >> like two separate motions. >> I think it should be one. One is fine.
060I'm I'm okay with one less you all right of that >> right one motion >> I move that the board conduct a second reading and adopt immediately the following policies 8500 food services and 8510 wellness >> second >> any questions comments prior to the roll call seeing none Please call the role. >> Nicholls, [clears throat] >> yes. Robert Garcia, >> yes. Clement, >> yes. >> Collins, >> yes. >> Randall, >> yes. >> Con, yes. Morris, >> yes. [snorts] Motion passes. On to item 10, discussion items. These are anticipated board considerations for November. Calplex phase two. >> Bring Mr. pass back up and give a quick overview. >> Yes. Good evening again. Um part of the 2023 bond program, the district is moving forward with the completion of the phase 2 construction at Calplex. uh Rockford
061Construction, Spalding to Decker Engineering, Foresight Design, Calonia Youth Sports Association, Plant Marine, Realport, and the district um have worked uh on this design and planning for the expansion and reimagining of the facility. I am sure they left some folks out because there are a lot of people at the table participating with this. Um and it's been quite a quite a interesting design period. Um Mr. Whe especially has been very involved and extremely uh helpful. Really remarkable. It's great. I love it. So, [snorts] um an RFP for the construction of Calplex phase 2 construction was published uh back on the 29th of September. Um it's uh been out there. Uh and they are planning to open bids now on Friday morning. Uh that was going to be on Wednesday, but it's been delayed for two days
062for an addendum that just recently came out. Um, so we have no numbers to fill in to the blanks on your form there. Uh, we look forward to filling them as soon as they open bids and do some post bid followup and we will report that as soon as possible and we'll do the usual format where we lay it out uh, trade by trade. So >> is there any indication I'm sorry is there any indication on how the numbers might all out any from the bid activity the volume >> uh the bid activity looks good uh as of just the other day they were talking about nine uh earth moving companies which is high that's a high number for that and seven electricians and apparently from my understanding the addendum today was electric electrical involved
063ones so I think that that number of seven has gone Um, so there's uh there's good activity. So that's great. I think we hit this one very early in the season for next year. Uh, we're bidding here. Every year it seems to get earlier and earlier. So we're now what, 10 months ahead of of a construction schedule. So getting the getting them out and getting them early is good. >> Great. Is there a way we can get a list of contractors that did the YMCA and the list of contractors that were involved with the stadium >> by that meeting? >> Yeah, I think I think we could do that. That's Yeah, it's good. >> It was all in the obviously when we awarded the bids, those names would be in pull back in your documents,
064right? bring it together and comparative list >> provide that to >> that's part of our discussion as we go through the post bid process too is uh interviews with each of the contractors who have uh submitted usually the lowest two bids so that we go through and and ask questions dig into their bids I think Rockford Construction's history and our history with some of the vendors does absolutely make a difference in acceptance Any other question? >> Other questions for Mr. [snorts] Other items? >> Nothing at this time for next month. >> Great. Thank you. On to item 11, board comments. I just wanted to uh thank Kelly Clark for um all of the great communication that you have done um with [clears throat] the transparency in the community. We've needed that for a long time
065and I I know as a parent, as a community member, I've [clears throat] seen a a huge social presence and then just looking at the different schools and seeing what's going on has been great. Um, it's just very educational and it just gets it out there that we are a great school and I just appreciate all your hard work. I just wanted to make sure you knew that. >> Thank you. I had a long list, but uh what I did leave off was uh that Kelly has been uh given some awards by the state uh public relations association uh for all of her work. So, she got an excellence award for the newsletter, excellence award for a social media campaign, uh, excellence award for some photos, and also merit award for various marketing materials. So,
066great job. I [clears throat] >> Yes, congratulations. I I can remember being on the board and we didn't have a social media presence and I don't know what we'd do with without that at this point. Any other board members? Okay. I have an article I want to share with the board from uh the Detroit News. We talked about the uh state uh Michigan Department of Education and on Wednesday about changing uh their the way they uh run they are structuring the health sexual education and this articles regarding uh where some of this may end up going. I thought it'd be helpful to share with the board uh especially with the comment on McMood Taylor. So, >> um I too have um some material that I wanted to also give to the board as a result
067of our um committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday. Um we talked about curriculum and specifically about AP social studies. Um and at that meeting it it was it was apparent that we don't really have a checklist or a rubric or anything like that. Um that when the teachers are re reviewing the curriculum and we're looking at community standards or we're looking at you know nonbias that's in our policies um there's not really like a checklist. I we we found that out and so AI is awesome. So, I'm not going to like claim that I did this myself, but I did um kind of just go through and kind of uh search um like a sample rubric of something that we might want to consider um the teachers looking at. Um so, for example, I'll
068just kind of review a couple things, but I do want to hand it out. um just talks about the curriculum uh the contextual relevance of the material the academic quality of it um the bias minimization of that um and then supplement supplemental materials and things like that so this is like a sample so this isn't anything like I just wanted to give it to you guys as something we might want to start thinking about um because as board members we are responsible for the curriculum that our students are learning at the that the teachers are teaching. Um, and so it, you know, I take that very seriously obviously as a board member. Um, and so anyway, I just thought this might be helpful to start maybe as we're talking about these things that um, yeah,
069we might use this. Yeah. So that's it. I just wanted to kind of put that out there for you guys. >> Thank you. >> Are you suggesting that would be adopted into the policy? >> Not at all. This is like just like a more uh more of a way to start the conversation. Um we how the process would work and what that would look like of course uh would all depend on our conversations. Love to involve teachers, love to involve administrators. I think it can be very um cohesive and it could be very collaborative um if we just start talking about that because again there's not a structure behind that. we found that out with this last um curriculum request um that really didn't meet the community standards. So, I think it's something we need
070to talk about it. We need to get everybody at the table, have different opinions, have different viewpoints, how it may negatively affect, how may positively affect. Um but at the end of the day, it needs to be talked about. We really got to get a process down. So, whether it's adopted or whatever, that's a whole another story. Let's talk through that. a process for the board, >> a process for the teachers and potential, you know, a process potentially for the board, absolutely to potentially adopt, but also for the teachers. So, in that they're bringing us um a curriculum that they recommend that there's a there's a full uh checklist of does it meet the boxes before you bring it to us. Um because if like for example if there's major bias in it don't bring
071it because it's probably I mean chance we don't want to waste their time and we you know we don't want to waste their time. It was very obvious that they put lots of hours um into the research and I don't want to do that to them again and then have have them come to us and us deny it. So I'd rather kind of have some parameters around it. That way everybody knows the expectations and it's just very plainly laid out. I think it's just it's helpful. Again, this is just a sample. Um, we can talk through what that might look like. For sure. >> Sure. I think we need to be mindful of two things. The first of which is that the policy is indeed the the piece that would need to hold any review
072that we are doing to. And so, we need to be thoughtful about if we were to add something [clears throat] to our process around that, that it would be either in policy or that it would be something that we would be adding to the procedures. And if we're adding it to the procedures, then I think that we need to be mindful as a board that we're not overstepping our role and dictating the administrative procedures of the administrative staff and the teachers. So I think we need to be mindful as we discuss this about uh exactly which steps we're taking and who they apply to. >> Yeah, I 100% agree with you. Um, and that's again why I think the people that it affects the most needs to be at that table so we can, like
073I said, talk about the positives and negatives. How does this affect, you know, everyday school? How does it affect um, yeah, is it more work for them? Like what's that going to entail? So again, it's just an idea. It's a sample. I think it's it's really to bring discussion to the table and bring the players at the table and just talk about it. So I think collaboration is key. Um there's a lot of times I think that policies or whatever are adopted and um I think it's better to have the people who it's going to affect most there to kind of talk through that and I think this is a good stepping stone. So >> it was I'll just add [clears throat] it was a little awkward in how the exchange >> was going with
074with Dr. Diaz. So, I think this is just a an offer of where we think we might be able to add some structure to what fel structured to us in how she presented what alternatives might um might be recommended. So, they're not spending staff time looking at something that the board's not going to consider. So, we felt we would just offer a little help and bring it to the table. I don't know Do you think that's what you know your thoughts on that and others that were at the meeting? Yeah, just as a result of our discussion at the um committee of the whole meeting, it felt like um I agree with what you said, a little bit unstructured and it was clear that the teachers had spent a lot of time reviewing material but
075without a lot of clear guidelines from administration on what the um evaluating factors would be like how maybe where to put the weight in their evaluation and it seemed the more that we had that discussion like it was well this is one they liked the most or it was the favorite and I think to Jessica's point she was asking the question of well why was it their favorite? Was it the way it was laid out? Was it the format? Was it the um supplemental materials? And it was a little unclear and it could have just been a miscommunication. So I think what Jessica is suggesting I don't want to it seems like is more of just a way for us to communicate with them on uh when they are recommending a material, what are the
076factors that led them to recommend that so that we can kind of understand where they were coming from and then they can kind of see where we're coming from um as well. But I think it was just meant to give like you said structure to to the conversation essentially. But I also recall in the past and I haven't been on the board that long but Tim there have been rubrics or um tools evaluation tools used in the past and rather than uh doing a new tool it may make sense to try to dig into um tools that have been used in the past and just kind of bring those out again and dust them off because I think that they already do probably exist. So, and I agree. I I would think they would. Um,
077when I specifically asked that on Wednesday night, it was said that we do not have a checklist and we do not have that. And so, that's really what got I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I thought we would have had that." And since we didn't, that's when I'm like, "Well, maybe we need to." So, um, that's really why I did it because it didn't sound like there was any kind of structure to it at all and nothing was getting dusted off at that point. So yeah, >> I think just to add to add a little context to from that meeting that one of the comments brought up by Dr. Diaz was um just that the teachers were wondering what would get approved or why would it why would it get approved. So she seemed to be
078ask I don't want to put her words in her mouth but she seemed to be asking for some guidance or some something from the board to just say how do they know if something will get approved or not approved. Um, and then you know the other thing that John brought up that I thought was a good idea too is they seem to be evaluating three curriculums or three different books to use and John had brought up well you know can we get an idea how you feel about the other two because we just saw one. So she had mentioned you know one of the ones they looked at was not usable essentially it was useless. The other one though we didn't know is it almost as good as the other one that got turned down
079or is it very subpar. So just [clears throat] asking for some kind of degrade or you know just some help to say if we if for some reason the board looks at something or whatever and doesn't agree with it is there a second choice that's reasonable to use or is it just there was no other good options just to help get some more information. >> Yeah, it feels like this is going to land somewhere in an administrative guideline somewhere. not an important policy per se, but um we just offered this as a little help to the discussion. Any other board comments? Seeing none, we'll move on to item 12. Is our motion to adjourn? [clears throat] So moved. >> All in favor indicate by saying I. I. >> Second. >> [laughter] >> Okay. All in
080favor by saying I >> I journed 710 real