001Welcome to the regular board of education meeting for September 15, 2025. Let's stand and honor the pledgece 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. >> All right. Roll call. >> Robert Garcia >> here. >> Collins >> here. >> Co here. Morris. Nicholls >> here. Tim did share with the board that he would not be here tonight, hence why I'm in his seat. >> All right, student representative number four, Payton Dehorn. Welcome. >> Hi, I'm Payton De Horn. I'm here on behalf of student council. I'm going to be letting you know some things going on in the high school. So, currently high school is focusing on homecoming week, which is going to be September 29th
002to October 4th. This year the theme is fly away to Rio. And the powderpuff game this year will be on Tuesday, September 30th at the football stadium. We are hosting a pep assembly which is Friday, October 3rd. That will be in the north gym. Also on Friday, October 3rd will be our homecoming parade that will start at Holy Family at 5:00 and go through downtown Calonia. The homecoming dance is scheduled for October 4th. That will be held at Scotland Yard this year outside and that will be from 7:30 to 10:30. Um, we also working with the Be Nice club to f to plan a be nice football game that will be like neon out and be nice. So that will be on Friday, October 24th. And we're hoping to spread awareness for be nice program
003and suicide prevention. Um, the FFA had a successful fair week showing and sell selling rabbits, goats, and lambs. Mattie Lockwood participated in the 24hour 20 challenge 24 conference learning about opportunities in agriculture education. The chapter officers and members are busy planning for the annual hallogross which will be held October 16th at 6 p.m. at the CHS South Cafeteria and they would love for board members to come and show their support. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Number five, 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 directly direct all comments to the board and not staff or other participants. No person may address or question
004board members individually. The board cannot accept public comment regarding personnel issues. All personnel issues are referred to the superintendent for resolution. Remarks shall be made in a respectful and professional manner. We would like to welcome up Jennifer. Did I do that? Did I say that right? >> Yep. >> All right. >> Okay. >> Hi, my name is Jennifer Leaport. I have twins that attend Duncan Lake Middle School. My son plays middle school tennis at Duncan Lake. Last week was our very first home match and I was disappointed. Court damage was not repaired properly. Now there are multiple significantized cracks as well as weeds directly on the court. I did have a handout that has pictures. The nets at Duncan Lake are also slack doing due to the anchors pulling out of the courts. Our players
005are at risk for injury. I also visited the high school courts this past weekend and noted several damaged areas. It is not safe. Our district should provide all student athletes with the best possible facilities for learning and playing a sport. At a minimum, tennis court should be free of significant cracks and weeds as well as regulation nets. And as you can see from the photos, standards are not met. I reached out via email to our superintendent, athletic director, and principal at Duncan Lake. Mr. Abrams was quick to respond and agreed to pass on my information, and he agreed that the condition was unacceptable. He forwarded my concerns to district leaders. I received no other communication from emails sent. Middle schoolers are still practicing on these courts. We've at least moved matches to the high school,
006which has been great. I realize our district faces budget challenges. However, with the recent bond, our community with the recent bond, the community, we spent $6.5 million on a football stadium, 1.4 4 on Scotland Yard turf replacement,.3 on band storage, and over $3 million at the Calplex, which for my knowledge middle school and high school sports don't even use. The cost to fix these cracks and provide adequate nets would be minimal compared to the money already spent at other on other district sports venues. Additionally, providing a seasonal portage on near the courts would be so helpful. Kids are now passing through the parking lot, down through the hall, around the corner. They're missing half practice. I would like the board to take some action and promptly allocate some funds to replace and repair these facilities.
007At a minimum, come up with a plan to address these issues. While tennis doesn't provide a lot of re revenue for our schools, tennis is a lifelong sport. It is an inclusive sport which is played across the world. The middle school tennis, boys in the fall, girls in the spring are a gateway to the sport. It gives students an opportunity to learn a new activity. Sorry, increase encourages teamwork and discipline and it allows student allows shows students the value of hard work and fair play. I'd hope you consider this and I would be happy to discuss and be part of the plan. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, on to number six. Consent agenda be for August 13, 2025, close session minutes. August 18th, 2025, regular meeting minutes. August 18th, 2025, close session minutes.
008September 10th, 2025, committee of the whole minutes. September 10, 2025, closed season minutes. August 2025, fables. September 2025 personnel reports. >> I move that the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second. Thank you. Let's call for the vote. >> Barbara Garcia. >> Yes. >> Collins. >> Yes. Nicholls. >> Yes. Thank you. Passed number seven, superintendent report. >> All right. I'd like to begin by inviting Dr. Diaz uh up and she's going to give a brief update on uh standardized testing results from last spring. >> Good evening. Um, as uh, Superintendent Wheel Dryer shared, I'd like to uh, present just a little bit on our standardized assessment data from the spring. And, um, we definitely are focused more on growth. And so, thus the title of our presentation here. So, a little
009context for those who may not be familiar with standardized testing and kind of how that works. Um, we recognize that all day, every day, students are being assessed subjectively, just through teacher observation as well as objectively through assessments that have certain standards and expectations aligned to them. Uh, we use some of our assessment tools for benchmarking purposes to see where students start and grow throughout the year. So, we do trianual testing there, fall, winter, spring. Um, some of our assessments are norm referenced. So, we're comparing our students to other students of the same age and grade level. While we also have criterion referenced assessments that compare our students to a specific set of criteria. Um, often we look to proficiency, how many students are meeting that standard that's been set, but we really need to
010think carefully about also looking at growth. So if a student is starting significantly below grade level and they've grown half that distance, that's really fantastic. Even though they're not yet proficient, we want to make sure we're also recognizing the value of growth. Scores are reported by the state, as you are probably aware, um, MSTEP, PSAT, SAT on an annual basis. These scores are used to provide what's called an index score for all schools uh which look at both proficiency and growth. Those are pieces of that total score. Um graduation rate is also taken into consideration. English learner progress, school quality, and student success is a broad category that carries just one score, but includes attendance, access to art, music, physical education, media specialist, advanced coursework at the secondary level, and post-secary enrollment. In other words,
011where do our students go after they finish with us? And then finally, assessment participation. There's a requirement for 95% of our students to be assessed. We can't pick and choose who takes the exam. Uh we want to make sure all of our students are being counted and um and that we're looking at how to ensure they're all being successful. So the first test we're going to look at today is the MSTEP or the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress. And this is an assessment that takes place in grades 3 through 8 and then also 11th. um ELA or English language arts and mathematics is um given at some of the grade levels. Science and social studies is given at other grade levels and a couple of lucky grade levels get to do all four. Um
012and so for each of these uh assessments at each grade level uh students are categorized into four categories including um advanced proficient, proficient, partially proficient and not yet proficient. So advanced and proficient are considered at grade level and then um the partially proficient or not proficient are those students that have not yet met grade level standards. So this is a three-year uh representation of our MSTEP reading scores. Remember that um in each band of three colors, those are three different groups of students. So those are third graders from 2223 then third graders from 23 24 and third graders from 2425. Also remember that the test changes every year. So we have some questions that are included as pilot questions for future tests. We have some questions that u may be dropped or deleted in a
013future uh version of the assessment. And if after the assessment takes place, the um powers that be uh above all of us here at the school district level determine that a question perhaps was worded poorly, um they can choose to remove that question from the from the assessment. So, uh we have pretty stable scores across our cohorts. Um, if you're looking to see how our student groups are doing from year to year, you would look at starting at third grade, the yellow band, that group of students is represented by the light purple band in fourth grade and then the dark purple band in fifth grade. So those are your cohort groups. So the same group of students taking the exam over time. Looking at our scores here in Calonia compared to the state, what we
014really want to look at is not only again proficiency, but are we growing? Are we growing at the same rate as the rest of the students in the state of Michigan? Um are we moving in the right direction? Are we broadening the difference between our student performance and that of the average at the state level? So the first two bands are Calonia scores for 23 24 and 2425. The second band of purple and gold is the Michigan average student proficiency level. And then in the blue band that is the difference in terms of the state score and Calonia score. So in 2324 we were 25 points higher than the state average. In 2425 we were 36 percentage points above had 36% higher proficiency rates than the state. So that data can show you that we
015are increasing the growth. We're increasing that um distinction and growing at a higher rate than the state overall. These are the same types of information, but for math again, third through 7th grade, third graders through 7th graders, and then looking at those different bands across the grades when you want to look at cohort data and then again the comparison between Calonia, the state of Michigan and then the difference in terms of our growth Great. So although we are certainly extremely proud of the work that we do and we have some very strong scores and we see some good growth, we also recognize that between that 81 and 100 are 19% of our student population who are not yet proficient. So, we want to remember that not only do we take pride in the work that
016we're doing, but recognize that we still have room to grow um for all students to get to that level. >> If I could interject just a second to it, as we talked about last Wednesday, I do think it's important to point out that uh these levels at which uh students are determined to be proficient, that changes also for each test. And so, um obviously the third grade test is different from the fifth grade test just in its content. And then as the state assessment people go through they they set a line at which they say this is where it's proficient. And so that can change between them and that's why you see different levels for like back where you follow our kids through third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade. It looks like they're different. They're
017all over the place. That's because each test has different levels at which they consider uh the students proficient. >> Thank you. So, shifting then into PSAT and SAT. These are assessments given at grades 8 through 10 and then at 11. Um, you probably are familiar with the SAT as a an assessment that lots of colleges use for admissions. PSAT is that preAT or practice SAT um that we start uh giving our students at grade 8. Again, um each grade level has a different cut score. So scores can range anywhere from 1440 to 1520. And 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, ELA, and math, they all have different cut scores. Roughly benchmarking is set about 75% of the total score, but each of those cut scores is slightly different. So looking at our PSAT reading scores
018for 8 n 10 again you're looking at our groups of eighth graders over time and those cohorts would be the yellow band in eighth the purple light purple in 9th dark purple in 10th. And again looking at our scores compared to the state average and then the differential between our our growth and the state average growth. shifting to PSAT math and then compared to the state average and then again the difference in the growth. So, as we look ahead each year after we receive those scores back and they're released to the public, then we have an opportunity to look back and see what we've been doing and where we want to continue to focus our efforts as we move forward. So, we are continuing to focus on building relationships with every student. We know that
019if you don't have a relationship with the students in your classrooms and your schools, you are not going to have the most effective learning environments. Uh we are also continuing our work with professional learning communities across all grades focusing on essential standards and um effective reteing. So one of the big pieces of that PLC work is really digging into what do we want to make sure students walk out the door with at each grade level and how do we best circle back to retach when we have missed some of those students um and getting that content solidly in their repertoire. So tied to that, we are strengthening our foundational instruction this year, really focusing on implementing universal design for learning strategies. So those are like building additional on-ramps to the curriculum from the front end.
020So, as teachers are building their lessons, they're thinking very intentionally about each student that's in their room and how do I make as many opportunities for students to access the curriculum as I can because if I make those on-ramps to begin with, then I don't have to do the same amount of reteing. So, we're doing a big focus on that this year. We're going to continue our intervention support at young fives through grade four as well as our learning labs that we have implemented both at craft and the high school this past year and continuing also at grades seven 8 as they've been working with this intervention system for quite a while and um we've seen some good results in that regard. And finally, just taking enough time to stop and reflect on the work
021that we're doing, digging into the assessment data, and then adjusting what might need to be adjusted in order to ensure stronger learning outcomes for all of our students. What questions might you have? >> Thanks for providing. So that that's great great information. Do you do we have these um statistics versus like comparable districts instead of the just the state? >> We do and I will be providing those to you next month. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> I I just want to make more of a comment. I don't know if it's a question or not, but obviously every state sets their own parameters and proficiencies and has their own testing. And then you see reports out of there how, and I haven't researched this necessarily, that, you know, Michigan might rank 40 out of 50.
022So, we're comparing oursel to Michigan because that's obviously that's the standard because we're a a county and a school in Michigan. like have we ever have we ever looked at other states and what they're doing and and those that might rank higher than the state of Michigan to see if there's any implementation strategies that we can do at our school. Just again, so at the state level, I can't speak to that, but Durk, you may be able to. What I can say is that exactly what you said initially, every state uses a different assessment with different standards, different cut scores. And so to compare our scores on the MSTEP, for example, with the scores on another assessment in another state, there's not an ability to compare there to get any useful data. Now, PSAT scores,
023SAT scores, those are across all states. So, that would be something that you could dig into deeper across state lines and see where there might be similar districts that are performing significantly better than than we are. >> Yeah. And that's something that I think Michigan does do. And and then another thing that is out there is uh this used to be called the MEA before it was called the Amstead. Uh and then there is something called the NATE which is the national assessment of educational progress. And uh so various districts in all 50 states are selected to have like a class or two uh that participates in the NATE. And um so our number doesn't come up all the time, but that's where they get some of these statistics uh where they're comparing states against
024states and that's on a national sort of MSTEP style test. Um, so the difficulty with that is that doesn't look at every school. They don't test every student across the nation on the same test. So it's to give a more broad impression. And then that's very much dependent on what's what schools are being selected, what particular grades or classrooms are being selected. So there's some of that, but >> yeah, be nice to in some ways to have more comparative data, but then we're testing kids more. Interestingly, we were selected to participate in the NATE this year. So, we do have three schools that will be participating in the the NATE this year. >> Yeah. It's three of our schools, though. So, it's not even all of our schools. >> Exactly. >> Isn't there also an
025opportunity for that though with the I Ready scores? >> Yes. To compare students nationally, right? because that's a national database like a national curriculum that people can choose to use and so or schools can choose to use and so we can compare like nationally with the I Ready tests that only um up till >> is that right >> correct are being given as well. Yeah. And I was actually going to ask a question kind of about curriculum based things as well because I was uh trying to remind myself going back and reading some of my notes about when we implemented I already in particular like in the different grade levels and was curious if you had thoughts on that about when it was implemented if we're seeing progress there. I was kind of noticing you
026know with one cohort of of kiddos in elementary school some dropping off and I I agree that the grade bands they do tend to perform similarly. I see that. But um it's just interesting, right? Like what what's happening with some of that in particular around math. So I was curious if you had ideas about like sticking to this curriculum or if or if we should be thinking um about that differently. >> So just based on my experience here, I believe we adopted I Ready five years ago. I think that's right. And um I think the continuity that we've seen across the schools has been really positive. So, I'd have to really dig into the longitudinal data back from before I ready to now to be able to really give you a solid answer on whether
027or not that has made a change in terms of just anecdotal feedback from teachers, principles is that yes, they believe that that has made a really big difference to have that cohesive curriculum aligned all the way across K8 um young fives to eight. So I would have to dig in further to give you more specifics around that. >> Sure. >> Good. Thanks. >> Everyone, >> thank you. >> All right. Uh then a couple other things um on my list here. Uh first of all, uh on the list here, it says the former Dutton Elementary. Obviously, with the opening of our brand new Dutton Elementary, uh we now have the previous Dutton Elementary that uh the board is going to need to take a look at what to do with it. And I just wanted to
028uh inform you that we have uh had a discussion outreach from the Kent ISD. This is in its very preliminary stages, but the Kent ISD is considering uh opening a second tech center. Um the demand for tech center programming is uh super high, much higher than what their current capacities uh can handle and their uh current property up on the east belt line is uh tapped out. They really can't put any more uh facilities there. And so they are looking for uh another location and uh more here toward the south side. And so they uh kind of came up that as we have this um piece of property on 68th Street um they have begun asking about that. So uh we will continue to um look into that more and pursue that and um it
029would be certainly a very advantageous thing for our students. Our transportation would uh benefit greatly. We wouldn't be uh off quite so far. And so, uh, we'll continue to pursue that. Um, and I had a meeting last Friday. Um, I'm on the subcommittee looking at, uh, career teched, uh, options for students across the county. So, uh, we did discuss, uh, that there, that discussion is going to continue. So, just wanted to bring the board up to speed on that and, um, we will be looking at that over the next um, short term here. And then the final thing I just wanted to mention tonight is the state budget situation. Getting a lot of questions about that. And um first of all, we don't know a ton about uh where things exactly stand because the negotiations
030uh continue in Lancing and um the deadline for uh state budget is September 30th. Uh in many years they obviously tried to get us that budget by June 30th, but that didn't happen this year. And now uh we are pushing three months past that time. So the question is what happens uh if there is not a budget in place on September 30th and I guess the answer to that is it depends. Uh there could be a variety of things that are done. There could be a continuation of essential services. Um there could be some sort of stop gap. There's could be a continuation of spending at the levels it was this year. We just don't know. And it's um until we see more about that, we can't respond to that. Uh school districts receive a
031huge portion of our funding from the state. And um so that comes to us in the form of state aid payments which come on the 20th of each month. So uh we do not get one here in the month of September. The state only gives it to us in 11 payments. Uh they the last month of their fiscal year, they don't do that. So they can kind of clean up their books. And uh so the first one we would be receiving would be October 20th under the new budget plan. Now I just we don't know even if they were to pass a budget say on September 30th. We're not 100% sure if that first payment would roll to us on October 20th because typically from the moment that the legislature passes a budget, it then
032has to go to the governor for her signature. And um most years there's a sort of 1 to two week process there where they review uh the entire budget before the governor signs it because you know she's seeing this what the final product was um and has to review it herself. So that puts you to midocctober and then between midocctober and October 20th when a payment would come out. Then the state bureaucracy has to put those payments together and figure out how much needs to go to each district, all those sorts of things based on all the different pieces that are in the budget. So it is highly unclear uh what that actually would end up looking like. So uh we are we continue to be in kind of a wait and see mode here.
033I just want to assure uh all concerned though that um this is part of why the district carries a fund balance so that we are able uh to respond in situations that may come along like this and so uh we would be just fine for the moment um until the state would end up distributing that money. Uh and then on a larger scale we don't know what that budget either is going to look like, what components are going to be part of it. There are a whole lot of pressures on the state budget right now and um a lot of pressures on the part of the state budget we get paid through which is called the school aid fund. And there have been um over the last several years times when more and more costs
034that used to be in the other half of the budget have been pushed into the school aid fund. And um there's I think a high level of concern that that might happen again. And what that ends up doing is pulling money that could be going toward our schools away from them. And so um we are advocating actively um for um our schools and for us to receive uh the the dollars that were intended when voters passed proposal A uh back in the 90s. And so we will continue uh to push that and we'll keep you updated as we go. But that's what we know sort of at this point. Any questions on that that I can answer? Okay, then on to eight action items. Calonia Transportation Association contract ratification. >> I move that the board
035approve the contract with the Calonia Transportation Association or CTA through July 31, 2027. >> Second. So just before you vote, um just that this contract was ratified by our transportation uh unit and so um the board ratification here would put that contract into effect. >> Collins. >> Oh, Collins. >> Yes. >> Cons. >> Yes. >> Random. >> Yes. >> Robert Garcia, >> yes. >> Nicholls, >> yes. All right, that that passed. Uh, nine discussion items anticipated board consideration for the October 15, 2025 meeting a 2024 25 audit report. >> So, at next month's meeting, we'll be looking to review during the committee. Um, we'll have presenters from our audit firm, Gabrien Associates, to come and share the audit findings and report with you from fiscal year 2025, the year we just completed. And then we'll
036do a presentation at the regular board meeting in October. >> Any questions? >> Thank you. Uh, B, security camera server replacement. Good evening. We are currently soliciting bids to replace two of our camera servers that uh store the footage from our uh security cameras throughout the district. Uh this is a planned replacement. Uh these servers have met their lifespan and no longer get updates for the cameras uh that run on those servers. Um, we also will need to do this. Uh, these servers don't quite handle the um clarity and resolution that our newest cameras uh provide. So, that will also improve the performance on the cameras that are attached to these servers. Uh this will be a um motion to you next week or next month rather uh to approve the purchase of these and
037this will be paid for out of the 31A safety grant money. >> Questions? >> Any questions? >> All right. Thank you. >> See other items? >> No other items. No other. >> All right, we will go to 10 board comments. >> John, you did a great job for your first meeting. Just wanted to make sure that you uh are encouraged by that. So, thank you for uh leading us tonight. >> Motion to replace Tim. >> All right. Number 11, adjournment. Move >> to adjourn. I'll second vote. >> All in favor? >> I >> Thank you, >> Roger. >> No. Oh yeah.