001Good evening. >> Hi there. >> Welcome, Tammy. >> Thank you. >> Welcome back. I guess you were here last night, too. >> I was. I appreciated that and appreciated having the questions ahead of time. Um, I have never had that before for an interview. In fact, I have not had an interview in probably 20 years. So, this is a little unnerving for me. I will be honest. Um, >> that's okay. >> When I first found out about >> Can I Can I first I just want to get just want to kick this off just a little bit get started in in the questions because we're we have a limited time frame here. >> So, um, congratulations for being selected to the finalists. >> We will be making a decision tonight on who we choose. Do
002you have any questions about the process? It was a lot to see last night, but outside of that or even last night, if you have any questions. >> Um, I do not. >> Okay. >> At this time. >> All right. Great. Well, we're going to have six questions. We're going to start with Trustee Con and then work our way through the board and then I'll end up with a a follow-up question as question number six. And feel free to ask that the questions we read there are long. Um, even though you might have had a little bit of a preview on on them last night, um, we we got these after the board meeting in writing, so they they may be slightly off a little bit, but nonetheless, um, please feel free to ask. >>
003Okay. >> Trusty Co. >> Hi, Tammy. How are you? >> Good. How are you? >> Good. Um, I know you had some things that you wanted to say and the good news is is at the very end you're going to have an opportunity to kind of um, do that. So, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that because it sounded like you had some stuff on your mind. So, that's great. Good. >> Um, okay. With that, I get the first question of the night. So, um, and it's kind of a two-part question, so I'm going to kind of read it and, um, just make sure you have a good understanding of it. Um, why are you interested in serving on the Calonia Board of Education? hand. What is your understanding of the board's
004primary responsibilities in contrast to the responsibilities of district administration and staff? My primary reason for wanting to serve as a board member is I am very passionate about education in general. Um I personally am an educator in a neighboring district. I have been uh teaching for 23 years, grades one through four, with most of my education time spent teaching third grade, my favorite. Um I just don't I don't think that there's anything that is more important in the life of a child than a good education. Um it levels the playing field. It gives them a good start. They can go anywhere if they have a good education. Um, I am passionate about providing that to our students here in Calonia. Um, and I feel that my experience teaching in the classroom will be something that
005I can bring to the board to further diversify the background knowledge and experiences that you can we can draw from um and make some meaningful contributions. Um the role of a board member versus an administrator. Um a board member is respon not responsible for the day-to-day administration um and governing or day-to-day operations of the school. Uh board members are responsible for um admit not administer but policym and governance but strategic oversight and so that would be the um district strategic plan and um reviewing that and I know that that was reviewed and revised I believe October 2024. Um, so that's one of the roles of a board member. Um, listening to the community, um, the community's interests, the community's concerns. Um, being thoughtful, um, respectful of that, even if you don't agree. Um, also representing
006and being there, listening to the staff, the teachers, that's onethird of the rep, the the um, stakeholders that you're representing. um making consensus decisions as a board and knowing that it is a board. It you are there to represent and focus on students and the student success um at all times. um approving budgets, ensuring financial accountability. Um I know that you're the last stamp of approval for hiring in the district and um again just maintaining excuse me the best interest of Calonia at all times. >> Thank you. >> All right, this is a long one. I will read it twice. >> Okay. When making decisions as a board member, you need to consider many factors. Identify a recent board issue that you felt strongly about and describe how you would prioritize the following factors and
007why. Student learning, parental input, staff considerations, community concerns, state and federal law, as well as your own values and beliefs. >> Okay. So, a recent board issue that has come up. Um, well, I thought it was interesting. I kind of want to turn around, make sure yesterday there was a a concern that was brought up about um protect young eyes and the um impact of student access to technology. Um, I am aware of that. We've actually had them in our own district um present and speak to our students. Um I understand the concern and it is a valid concern. Um it's a tough one because technology is an ever evolving thing and it's coming more and more with AI is another concern especially at the high school or middle school level even. Um, am I
008I think you have to hear the concerns of the community and again serve your purpose as a board member. What is in the best what is in the best interest of our students? Um, what concerns do you see in the classrooms from our teachers? Um, are these valid concerns or are they concerns that are maybe coming from sources that are not, you know, bounded? Um, and I have no idea, but um, how valid and how intrusive is this as a concern and what are some options that should be considered in response? Is there a second part that I did not respond to? >> I'll reread it. I've done it. >> Yeah, that was a big one. >> When making decisions as a board member, you need to consider many factors. Identify a recent board issue
009that you strongly felt strongly about and describe how you would prioritize the following factors and why. Student learning, internal input, staff considerations, community concerns, state and federal law, as well as your own values and beliefs. Yeah, I I guess that I did cover um the you accept the parent concerns, the community concerns, you you speak to the staff. How big of a concern? How how often do you see is this a frequent flying a frequent concern? Um is it a rampant or very seldom? Are there other things that we can put in place um to limit this concern? Um, and our tech department. Um, I know that there's I've I've contacted our tech department when I have students that access content that they're not supposed to and they whitewash the it they limit the controls.
010It's just a lockdown on their Chromebook. They're not able to access um anything other than boom, whatever I've said they can access. So, there's all sorts of different ways that you can go with that. And I apologize. I don't know that it was a board concern. I just know that it was brought up as a concern last evening. >> Okay. >> What qualities, experiences, or unique perspectives would you bring to this role, and how do you believe they would support the board's work and the district's mission? Well, I have again the 23 years of teaching experience. Um, I have served in my district on BISET, which is an acronym for building school improvement team. So, I'm used to working across uh team and that panel is in my building, it's a third through fifth grade
011at Apple View. So, there's a grade level representative, Ampy staff, which is our specials, art, music, physical education, um, music, they're all represented at BISED as well. And then we have ELLL um special education all represented building administrators and we collaboratively discuss building concerns, building um changes that are coming up and um all of our thoughts and our lenses are represented because we all do see things a bit differently at different even different grade levels in different ages of our students. and we discuss them and come to conclusions. So, BISED is a really good way that I think comparatively um I could bring that experience. I've also served as our grade level team um in Sparta because we all are one building. All third grade for the district is in one building. That's eight and
012nine sections of third grade. So I have eight to nine different third grade colleagues that I collaborate with um plus a special education teacher for that grade level. So we have nine to 10 teammates that I collaborate with and decision making happens amongst us as well. That could be for curriculum making decisions. That's looking over data. Um where's our strengths? Where's our weaknesses? What can we do? um how do we adjust to accommodate for this? Um so I think those are some some of the ways that some of the things that I can bring. >> Can I just ask a follow-up question? You is it you said BICET? >> Yeah, Bisset was B SIT. >> Okay. >> Building school improvement team. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah, I know there's so many acronyms in education.
013I'm We have that too in school. So >> PBIS is it? Yeah. >> What do you see as the biggest challenges facing public education today? And which of those would you identify as top priorities for Calonia Community Schools to address? What changes would you like to see in the district? And how would you envision your role in that change? There's um not a shortage of challenges unfortunately. Um teacher shortages uh we um we see that coming down the pipe. There's less and less uh enrolling in um college courses or college programs for teaching. Um there's sub shortages as a result. Declining enrollment. Um of course funding issues. They're they're never funding as much as we would like. uh uh the integration of technology and artificial intelligence or AI, the safety of that um mental health
014issues for students and uh such our awareness of social emotional learning or social emotional wellness has become part of our learning environment. um increasing student behaviors is just um something that has been ever increasing. Um and I think the top one is school safety. Um school safety is a big one and it's a scary one. Um um all of those have required additional supports too. Um, we have positive behaviors and supports that resulted in interventionists for behaviors. We have additional school social workers. We have uh school resource officers. And you know, the there's just so much that schools are supposed to supply and the budget just never quite supplies what they should. Um, for Calonia, I um I would love to see a smaller class size, especially for the elementary level. I will be honest
015and say I was a big proponent for that in my own district. Um, my building principal said, "You know what? If you want that, I want you to come to the table with all of what the reasons why. What is that going to get? what are we going to get from that? And we I did um I collaborated with my grade level. Um there's just a wealth of reasons. Um the biggest one being those relationships with our students. You know, teachers pour their hearts into what they do every day. And when you have we have had 28 students in those primary grade levels, you just don't get to know those kids and spend that time with them that you want to because you can't when you have 28 kids. Um, and I would love to
016see what our our district did go to. The last four years I've been very fortunate and blessed that um our administration and our board agreed we've been down to 19 and 20 students and it has made a big difference. Um and it's shown in our scores um we've had among es especially in our NWA scores I I have to qualify um we've had among the best scores that we've ever had. um and the relationships with our kids I think has definitely had the impact. So especially in this day and age I think that's a big importance. So all right our next question is what would it mean to you to serve the entire Calonia community as a board trustee? How would you balance your individual convictions, parent and community perspectives, and the board's obligation to
017operate lawfully and transparently under Michigan law? Well, that's always a challenge and it's a challenge in my current position as well. Um, you just have to discuss things. Um, lay out different options. Um, discuss the options. what are the pros and cons and how would these different options um if you look at them through the lens of the board policy and what's best for students what option is the best. >> Could you repeat the question one more time? >> Absolutely. >> Sorry, my nerves again. I will just Yeah, >> they're long. It's all good. I got you. >> What does it mean to you to serve the entire Calonia community as a board trustee? How would you balance your individual convictions, parent and community perspectives, and the board's obligation to operate lawfully and transparently under
018Michigan law? Yeah, I think that at all times you just have to keep the focus on student. You can't be swayed by a small group and their concern. Um, I mean, you can you can listen to it, but you cannot allow yourself to be um swayed to the point where you, how do I say this? It cannot make your, you cannot allow that to change you as a person. Um, I think that you have to look always at what is best for students, putting aside your own individual beliefs. And that's a you just have to do that. Um, I think I'm I'm kind of used to doing that. Um, it just comes with the job. uh representing the whole district. I haven't been at the high school for a while. That will be a new
019thing for me. Um I enjoyed that immensely. My own son was um a wrestler and a football player at the high school level. My husband was the wrestling coach there for 16 years. And um it was a wonderful experience that we enjoyed immensely. And um we want that for many, my husband especially wants that for many other families to enjoy that experience of having your child um excel in athletics and we also have a child that excelled in academics. Um you see both sides of it and we've lived both sides of that and we now have little ones at the elementary level. So I like to think that I can embrace all parts of it because I have experienced all parts of it. >> Great. Um first of all I got to apologize for jumping
020on your star but we're under not just a time constraint wouldn't be fair to all the candidates and how we conduct the interview. So, but now is the time for you to share with us a little more about yourself that you maybe haven't already shared or more in detail. So, uh feel free to use your your time in that way. >> You know, it was probably more my nerves and than anything. Um I just wanted to extend my appreciation for having the opportunity to interview. Um, it's always kind of been um to work and serve in another district other than the district that I live in has been um something that I've struggled with a bit. There's pluses and minuses. Um, but I love to think that this would be my way to give back
021to my own community. Um, again, my passion I think speaks for itself. Um, having multi-generations. Um, my sister and her her kids, my nieces and nephews all have graduated from here and um, yeah, I just definitely have a passion for it. I do want to clarify when I sto when I spoke yesterday um I said that we came into the district in 2009 and my daughter graduated in 2008 which might have caused some confusion but it is accurate. Um, my sister and brother-in-law lived in Calonia first and we were so enthralled by what they told us about Calonia that we opted in by school of choice initially. And so from 2005 to 2009, we were school of choice and then came into the district 2009 and have been here since then. But our kids started
022in 2005, just to clarify. So, thank you. >> Anyway, I appreciate everything that you do for the district. I know that it is not an easy job. Um, uh, the criticisms and whatnot. Um, but thank you and thank you for the opportunity to interview. >> Yeah. Thank you very much for uh coming and we will be making a decision tonight and we will get back to you tonight. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, David. >> Thank you. My husband's waiting for me in the car. I would not allow him to come in. >> Thanks. Sometimes that's a good idea. taking it easy on everyone. >> Hi, >> how you doing? >> Welcome. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations on being selected to be a finalist in this decision to appoint a trustee. >>
023Thank you. And uh do you have any questions about the the process that we went through to get here? >> Nope. >> Okay. We'll be uh asking you six questions. Um we're going to start with uh Trusty Con, work our way through the board and then I'll have a closing question for you and we are on a limited time schedule of 25 minutes. So we'll turn it over to Trusty Comb. >> Hi May. How are you? >> Good. How are you? >> Good. Um, the first question is, it's kind of a two-part question. Um, why are you interested in serving on the Calonia Board of Education? And what is your understanding of the board's primary responsibilities in contrast to the responsibilities of district administration and staff? >> Yeah. Well, thanks for having me. So, I
024thought I knew I was coming here today and then I was leaving uh my house and my kids said, "Make sure that if you get appointed that we have recess all day long." So, made me rethink things a little bit. Uh but yeah, I'm here just uh I'm really heavily involved in the community and so um when I saw this opportunity come up to serve back on the board, um it's to be honest not a position I thought I'd be um going after again. But I just think with the year and a half that's left on the term, having somebody with some relevant experience that can help out, keep things moving forward, it seems like the district and and you all are doing fantastic job. So, I would say keeping that going. We have an
025amazing district. Um, and I think getting that out there to folks, too, to make sure they understand how great the district is, all the good things that are happening. Um, you know, and just taking care of the students, staff, uh, make sure the parents are involved. They're all big positive things that we can continue to do for the community. Um, in terms of what our role is, uh, oversight, um, you know, working on governance and then obviously evaluating superintendent, um, is really the role that I've seen of the board. Um, and then in terms of the difference between that and then working with the administration, you know, we hired the superintendent to do his job, then we expect him to do that job. So oversight's important, the trust and verify, but at the same time,
026just staying out of the weeds when it comes to the day-to-day uh, business is important. [Music] All right, I will read this one twice if you need me to. Okay. >> All right. It's been a long one. >> Okay. >> When making decisions as a board member, you need to consider many factors. Identify a recent board issue that you felt strongly about and describe how you would prioritize the following factors and why. student learning, parental input, staff considerations, community concerns, state and federal law, as well as your own values and beliefs. So, unfortunately, I went through a time where we had a lot of issues uh when I served 20 2016 to it 22. Uh so, we had a superintendent hiring. We had COVID bond uh passing. So, we had enough going on during that
027period of time. Um, I would say the main thing, I guess, to answer your question is gathering all the information is is super important. Having those discussions with the other board members, getting feedback. Um, being open-minded when you're going in. There's a lot of things I think as you all know, um, you know, especially like President Morris who's been around for a while, uh, in the seat, there's always two sides to every discussion. That's one of the things you learn pretty quick is that you might hear one thing, but you know that there's a lot of other things on the other side. So things aren't always black and white like you'd hope for. So I guess in a particular instance, oh boy, there's so many to choose from. But I would say probably the you
028know co was the hardest, right? That was there's no doubt that that was unbelievably difficult time um because we had anything from state changing the rules to the Kent County changing the rules to um it was every day we didn't know what was going on um and then adding in our personal beliefs um you know we were trying to get I think most of us were trying to get kids back as soon as possible um that being said we had um restrictions on that piece as well and we had to worry about the children's safety but also think about the parents And we had parents literally on one side that would say, you know, whatever you do, don't bring them back. And then on the other side, they said, "Whatever you do, bring them back."
029Uh, and that was tough because you had to balance out your own personal uh beliefs along with what was best for the district and the kids. And so, I think as a board, we did the best we could do. Tried to bring the kids back as soon as we could when we were able to do that. Uh, was still staying in the framework of what we were able to do uh legally. So, um, that was a difficult one, but it took a lot of talking, a lot of, uh, feedback and dialogue, I think, between us and the and the staff and legal counsel at that time, too, to try to work through that issue. >> What qualities, experiences, or unique perspectives would you bring to this role, and how do you believe they would support
030the board's work and district's mission? So I think you know starting off I would say having the experience in professional life and finance um I kind of have a a background in that area to help uh walk through that piece and I know with the K12 budget not being passed that's a big deal very hard to operate a organization um that's what $60 million or so now um without any guidelines on what this is going to look like it's very difficult um so that I think is bringing that to the table obviously the board experience is is still relevant. Feels like it's been a long time since I've been on the board, but it's reality it's only been, you know, a few years. So, um I think that's a big thing is just being able
031to hit the ground running and knowing I was on the finance committee, the bond committee. Um I helped with the co-chairing for the uh I think Friends of Calonia to help get the last bond passed. Um, right now I'm the president of the CYSA, so the Calone Sports Association that we thankfully to you all utilized the Calplex and that's touched thousands of families. So that's been awesome. Soon as I got off the board here, I went over there to do that. Uh, so um that's been that's been really rewarding though. It's been awesome. And then now I just got on the planning commission um at the township. So I get to get another side of things as well. I know those two cross paths quite a bit. So, open lines of communication there as I
032know they want to continue to improve the relationship and work forward uh towards collaborative effort there. So, I think that that can be a positive as well. Um, but I think the big thing for me is with a year and a half, it's one of the main reasons I I ran into was to try to, you know, I'm going to have to get up to speed on what's going on. There's issues that certainly have came up over the last, you know, two and a half years. But that being said, I think you get acclimated fairly quickly and uh try to help be a part of the board. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing public education today? And which of those would you identify as the top priority for Calonia Community Schools to
033address? What changes would you like to see in the district? And how do you envision your role in that change? >> Well, I think the one facing us probably now uh is definitely the uh K12 budget. just making sure that we have uh some clear indication of what's going on in terms of the finances because that has such a trickle down effect when it comes to staffing, when it comes to negotiations, uh when it comes to getting security uh along the property. Um all of these things are touched by whether or not we know if we have the funding to to do the things we need to do. And I think that puts the the district in a very difficult spot uh to be able to operate. And I'm sure you've done the best that
034you can do. uh try to do things conservatively. Um but I think it's keeping the keeping the school district in a fiscally sound position uh while also making sure that our staff uh feel rewarded for their work and they're um happy with you know where they're at. I think we have some amazing people here. So making sure that we continue to attract top talent, retain them is very important. Um and then you know one issue that's always there and always on everybody's mind and it's it's a very difficult one is uh security making sure our kids are safe um both on the physical side and obviously the mental side of things as well but the the kids security obviously is of utmost important importance to us uh keeping our academic standards high and achievement high
035um you know what I would change I don't I don't know that there's anything that I would sit here and specifically be able to say this is something that I would want to see differently and this is how I would do it. I would just say that if we use the guiding principles, you know, our mission statement of making sure that the student achievement is at the for forefront and we're work worried about kids and we're trying to do the best for them, then, you know, we can continue to work forward to take those steps. I think we're in a lucky spot as a district where we're doing a lot of things the right way and so we can continue to enhance that and improve. That's what we should always be striving for is to
036lead the pack uh and not just be content with where we're sitting right now. >> All right. So, our next question is, uh, what would it mean to you to serve the entire Calonia community as a board trustee? How would you balance your individual convictions, parent and community perspectives, and the board's obligation to operate lawfully and transparently under Michigan law? Well, luckily, well, I went through this. Uh, so, you know, I I think the thing is it's a balancing act, right? As long as, again, as long as you're sticking with what you're supposed to do, that's best for the the community and the the kids. At the end of the day, one of the things I learned, I got good advice going into the board. Um, I continue to believe this. I'm sure in my
037role as CYSA president, um, and I'm sure as things happen at the the, um, township level, too, you're not going to make everybody happy. And so, you got to deal with that fact. Um it's it's you know in the beginning maybe not as easy. You start to figure out that if you follow through on your convictions and what you believe in and you have all the relevant information, you're just trying to make the best decisions possible for uh the district and for the community. So, you know, I try the best I can to put my personal beliefs, you know, to the side, but of course they're always going to be there to help guide you in in the journey and the decision-m process. And you know, with that being said, I think that's another important
038piece is there's going to be times where we're not 70 as a board. Um, and that's fine. It's just respecting everybody's opinions, hearing them out, seeing if you change your mind if you go into open-minded, and if not, you can agree to disagree and it doesn't have to be contentious. Um, so I think it's just weighing all those things, listening to folks, but also know understanding that like I said earlier, there's two sides to every story. And so taking it with a balanced approach instead of just calling right away and being upset that something's happened in a certain way, you want to get get all the relevant information to make your decisions. Yeah. >> Okay. The uh final question is what else would you like to tell us about yourself that you haven't already maybe
039brought up? What else you want to add? Well, I guess the only thing I would say is I have uh three kids um at the house. They're all in the school, so I've got anywhere from now a third grader to a little terror that's going to start uh the young five. So, good luck to whoever her teacher is. Uh but she's awesome. But I think it's just that right. I'm super passionate about Calonia, the the kids, the community. Um excited for this opportunity to just be able to be a part of the board and help out any way I can. And um you know I think being able to continue in these other roles as well. Um I had to make sure with the wife that she was uh she's a huge supporter and she's
040awesome too. Um but you know there's more of a lift on her with the kids obviously taking care of the family. So she was very supportive of this. Um I think we're both anyway we can give back to the community that's what we want to do. >> Great. We will be making a decision tonight. So, someone will get back to you and uh we appreciate your time and your interest and certainly your best service. Thank you. >> Thanks for consideration. >> Y >> thanks. Okay. Well, that's the conclusion of item six. Now, on to item seven, which is discussion items, board consideration 72925, deliberation of selected selection of appointee. So, now's the time for us to talk about the six candidates. um share our thoughts. Um again, this is a term of one one and
041a half years essentially starts Friday. No pressure. So, uh we have we talked about how we were going to do the evaluation as informally taking notes. So, I will just open it up to thoughts on uh I don't necessarily want to start with one candidate, go down the list. I'd rather just open it up to what you heard and uh kick it off with whoever's interested in first speaking. >> Sorry, needed something to coat my throat. That did help. I did have a couple of things that I wanted to share though just as I was thinking about this and preparing for this um over the course of the past month and even just um after we had our discussion last night and and thinking about things more today. I guess one of the things that
042I was thinking about is um just exactly what you said, Tim Kim, is that we have um a year and a half with whoever is going to come into this role. And there are some things that they are going to have to be able to um come in and be either willing to hit the ground running or um already have some experience that they can draw on. And so one of the things that just I was thinking about if I were to be prioritizing the I think seven different um selection criteria that we discussed as a as a team yesterday. Um, I think that experience matters in this case when we think about having somebody who can like who knows what's expected of a board, who knows what's expected of this board, who knows um,
043you know, has some background in knowing um, the the role that we play in terms of financial oversight, evaluating the superintendent, um, providing some direction to our administrative team um, in contract negotiations, etc. somebody who's familiar with that. I think that that matters right now because realistically we are headed into all of those things in a matter of months and um and it's only a year and a half term. So there's not a lot of time to really get up to speed and I think those of us um who are on the board who have all been new board members at one point recognize the amount of time that it really does take to get up to speed. So that's something I've been thinking about and I just wanted to share first. The second thing
044that I was thinking about is also just that commitment to serving students and putting students at the forefront and I think we did hear a lot of that tonight. um which I think is really really positive but um there's a lot that gets thrown at us. There's a lot of information that we have to take in and so to me somebody who is willing to take in all of that information and at the end of the day is keeping students in the forefront of their decision-m I think is something that's really important to me. So I just wanted to share that before we discuss candidates just that's kind of been my framework as I listened today like those are things that I was listening for. So, um, wanted to share that first. >> I just
045wanted to say I was impressed with the candidates today. It was nice to have a good, you know, you you hope you look at the paper, right, and you're like, gosh, you're kind of just trying to figure out who it might be. But, I was I was happy with um the interviews for all of them today. So, I just wanted to say that that hats off because that's a hard quick pressure. You know, you only had a a couple weeks to apply and then next thing you know, you're in here. So anyways, I just wanted to mention hats off to the candidates today. So >> yeah, I agree. I agree with that too. If you look at the the experience levels and backgrounds, we we have a wide variety, right? So we certainly have a
046board as have done a good job of of selecting people from the community that have a wide variety of skills and backgrounds. So I guess we got to get down to what's important to us um in the year and a half term. I agree. I think I think anyone with experience uh in board governance, public education, board governance, I'll say is a plus. >> I think um a board member that has served in the community is is another plus. and one that is in the recent past is even a better plus because you kind of have a flavor for where where you left off isn't as far off as with one candidate versus another. That said, um I think any one of these candidates could do the role. I I think given the the time
047frame that we have, having somebody with that hit the ground running is seems to with me is like at the top of the top of the um chart to to say who are we going to going to pick. Um you look at knowledge and education district needs. I think some candidates have more than that than others. Um I think they all have decision- making and and good judgment skills. Again, the government and collaboration uh I think all of them could do that job. Um there are different personalities, right? So we have to say is is one personality a fit versus another. Um that all matters and fit I think is the word I'm looking for. um no matter who it is with or without experience, aren't they a fit to working relationship with each other
048outside of uh the public saying so? So that's my my two cents. I would agree with uh you both of the experience aspect. Um, I think we're, you know, we'd be smart with the knowledge of education. I've seen a lot of that tonight. Governments, collaboration, um, public engagement. I think we've seen that with a few candidates, if not all of them tonight. So, I was really impressed, too, with every candidate. I learned something. I mean obviously some had more knowledge about the the school board governance than others. Like some like me I had an idea when I started but now that I've been in it six months I've obviously learned a lot. So I have to agree like I think we need to hit the board running like ground board the ground running. Um because
049I'm I'm young when I say not age, but like I'm young in this position and so I'm kind of in learning mode still. Um and then I would look at I'm looking at everybody else and I mean Sean, you're with me. The other, you know, a couple of you have had a few years and then you got Tim who's got the most. But it would be nice to have someone who's had much more experience, has done the superintendent evaluation, has done all that. So I would definitely put that as a high priority myself as well. So >> any other thoughts? We're going to need a motion on somebody before we leave here tonight. Well, given that it I mean I don't know unless um Jennifer or Sean you have dissenting opinions on that but I
050mean do we want to try to narrow down our discussion to the candidates with experience then on a previous board whether ours or other I mean realistically there are three candidates that have prior school board experience right >> well I guess that's the question are we all comfortable with evaluating the three with experience for the year and a half term that it's going to be served or are there others? There would be three in this case. Are there others that we would want to consider? Just get your feedback on that and then we can start narrowing it down. I would like to I would like to narrow it down to definitely schoolboard experience if we can do that. I mean there's other are we are we doing schoolboard experience or are we doing just board
051experience in general? >> I think we're looking for a candidate that could hit the ground running. >> School board experience. Okay. >> And there there was only three. So who we had? We had was it Bernie was one of them. Um Kyle was another one. >> Jim Crowley. >> And Jim Crowley. >> Just a question on that topic. Um just in K's background she does have a master of education and administrative leadership. And I don't know if you would consider that to even though she hasn't been on the Calonia Board of Education to be very valuable as far as hitting the ground running compared to somebody who's been I'm not saying I'm I'm just asking the question if we think that that would be relevant experience because we did not identify um just for like
052application criteria. We didn't state that they had to have any prior board experience. So I just want to ask that question. No, I mean we're at the point where anyone is is is considerable in this case. So, um I think experience is part of the criteria, but it wasn't wasn't part of when we're searching for candidates. We're not saying that board experience is the number one criteria, but when you look at the candidates now that we're at decision time, you have to ask yourself who is who's the most capable person to jump in for this 18 months. >> So, just to narrow it down further, I if we're going to narrow it to people with schoolboard experience, I would prefer to narrow it to people with like Calonia schoolboard experience specifically. I think that they
053do have a significant advantage um having served in this district if that's you know the idea that we want them to hit the ground running. So I would put that for consideration maybe to narrow it to people with Calonia schoolboard experience. That's um >> I don't have anything against that but um he has been in the district in another role too. So yes, not board experience but um pretty important role in the school district supporting teachers and education and all of that too. So >> who are you referring to? >> Jim. >> Yeah, I agree. I mean, although I don't disagree with what you're saying, um, and at the same time, I think that, uh, Jim spoke incredibly clearly, um, about the role of a school board member and the role of superintendent, how they
054interact with the administration. And I thought even though he doesn't have experience in this district I true um his experience was sign I mean significant the way he spoke about it I thought was very um appropriate and and accurate to the expectations that we would have um and though not working with our board I did definitely think that had a clear understanding of where we're at in terms of some of the things that are coming up for us in terms of um budgeting and in terms of uh contract negotiations that sort of thing. So definitely ahead of pulse I would say. Um and I agree with what you said about Car's experience. I think that it is significant and her educational experience is is noteworthy too. Um I appreciate what she said about you know
055being a quick learner. So I thought that that was also true. >> You know my only my only um hold back because Carrie is was pretty impressive. number one, like she was fun. >> Like could totally tell she'd like bring a bunch of jazz to the board, right? Like >> um so I enjoyed the interview with her. Um >> and just kind of going back to the what we originally said which was board experience school specifically school board and as well I think she would be like a really good school board um member. It's the time I mean how much time do we have to bring her up to speed? So, you know, the other thing is some of these um whoever you know we decide on tonight is going to have a year and
056a half and they're going to be able to show how they contribute, what their passion is, um you know, what their education is, how they're able to um interact with us, and then at that point they can decide whether they want to run or not. And then, of course, then at that point, the community elects that person. So, um, again, going back to we probably need to get someone who is hitting the ground running. I I kind of going to probably put my what is it called? Knife in the I don't know, whatever. Whatever the analogy is, I'm going to put that in there. Whatever that is. Yeah. Um, and anyway, I'm going to kind of hold to I think you should stick with that. So for what it's worth, so for me it would
057come down to the three. It would come down to either Jim, uh Bernie, or Kyle. Um so for me at this point, I probably would not consider Carrie at this point. John, about you. Do you how do you feel about naring that down to the three with board experience? >> Yeah, I agree. I think that's a smart move. Um, I could go either way with Jim. Um, not having experience here, Calonian, but have the experience. That makes sense. Yeah, I'm I'm good narrowing it down to those three, too. >> John, I think you two okay with that? >> Yep. >> So, now maybe we can evaluate candidate on candidate with Jim Collie and Fernie Nago and Kyle. Let me start with Jim. I think uh I'll I'll say this is his is you know with
058MSB or MASB classes um there's some good there's some okay but surely he's dedicated to learning um he's page and a half of what probably different courses his 300 level. He's almost the senior. So, um, and he he has board experience in Allenale, which is an interesting district over the years. Uh, president of the CF, definitely a guy dedicated to education, clearly. Uh, he's passionate about it. Um his profession too takes him to all all different levels of education very much intellectually uh solid. Um, so I I think there there's a I get the feeling there's a little bit of nervousness with him and I but we're all nervous when you're put in front of seven people and you're vying for essentially a volunteer position that requires a lot of work. Um, he did raise
059the time limit. Uh, said he'd leave it at wherever he would leave it. he might decide to run, he might not. Uh he did say if he didn't get chosen, he would be uh happy with going back to the CF, which uh meets on the same night the board plans to meet. Um let's see. If we're speaking about him in particular, I would just add one of the couple things that impressed me. Um, I really appreciated the things he said at the end. You know, I don't have an agenda. I just have a desire to help and contribute. Like, I see a need and I think I can fill it, you know, like felt like he could ease the transition, make it a smooth transition. I appreciate somebody who kind of sees the opportunity for
060exactly what it is. Like, hey, you guys do need someone kind of quick and somebody who can jump in and I see that need and I can fill it. I do feel like Kyle said that, too. I have to say I was also highly impressed by somebody who went through and looked at our policies and said, um, hey, I see this and this is really cool. Like, great. I like that you guys have this here and here's a way I think you could improve it to really like hold our staff and our students and our our staff to a higher standard. That was impressive to me. That to me shows someone who is willing to do the homework. So, I thought that was great. >> I agree. Some of my notes were and I I
061actually wrote the policy 2131 down because I'm like, maybe we need to revisit that, right? So, um, obviously took took into consideration what he pointed out. That's good. >> Um, I wrote down very logical. >> Like my description of him was gosh, he's very logical, right? Um, and you could tell he had an even keel type of personality where um it didn't seem like things that could really, you know, rile him up or anything like that. Um but I liked his answers and I thought um he was very um he's very strategic and you could tell he knows right how to govern or school board. So but that was my I guess very logical was my like that's what he is. So anyways what that's worth? >> Any thoughts on Mr. Crowley? I Yeah, I
062would agree with him being very logical. Um, no, >> he's Yeah, 14 15 years of experience. >> Yeah, >> I I did like that he greeted each of us with a handshake and >> um he was the only one that did that which said something >> about him stepping forward to meet the board. Um, so yeah, >> he did mention that kind of stuck out with me about listening listening to the people, listening to, you know, whoever has an issue. >> No, so the only I'm not saying this is a drawback or a bad thing, but I just I was if I was to mention anything, you know, he's been in the district for a few years. I think he's in four fourish years. I thought I thought and I probably should thought he was
063in the district for like four years. Um, so you know being a board of in you know Allenale for example it the culture could be different. I have not researched Allenale to know you know what their culture is. I don't know what their AP courses are. like I don't know any of that stuff. And whether that matters or not, but I would I guess I would go back to if we're going to do the, you know, hit the ground running, it would be nice to have someone who knows how Calon operates, knows the community inside and out, has been here quite a while, and has the um has a pulse, I guess, on the community um because they've been here long enough to to know how we do things, right? So from that perspective, I
064think he's at a little bit of a disadvantage um from that angle. So >> y any more thoughts on Jim, >> I think you all have covered it quite well. I'm looking at all three and not, you know, sometimes I tease you guys about being political and saying nice things about both sides, but I mean, I think we're in good shape with all three of them. So, how we pick one? I I don't know. >> I'm going to hold my comment at this time. >> So, we've talked about I think we've all contributed to the conversation on Jim. Shall we move on to uh Mr. Bernie Nagel? [Applause] I'll start by saying he he's he's an icon. He's very warm and jolly. Um I don't know anyone that doesn't like Bernie Nagel. Uh he's been
065through the board. Um, you can tell just by his demeanor and how he speaks about his experience, his love for the community and his passion for kids. I mean, taking 20 kids to London is a lofty responsibility. Um, his background working for FedEx and he's a farmer. I think we just hit the extremes of diversity when it comes to employment. Um taught apparently in a district or worked with students in the district as an employee. Um fig I see him as a problem solver. He's figuring things out, figuring out transportation, figuring out um ministering to kids and the high school students. Um he's truly a servant leader in my opinion. Um, and I think he would be very good at listening to the community knowing that decisions that he makes may not make everyone happy,
066but he did say he'd walk out here saying, "Yeah, we I didn't maybe I didn't vote for it, but I'm still at peace with where we're at as a board." And that's a good thing. >> I agree. That was the thing that really stuck out to me about him as well. Um I I think he definitely has good perspective um about what's important to the community. He clearly has close ties to many community members um and could definitely speak to that. But one of the things I appreciated the most was you know recognizing that the um discussion can happen at the board table or at the committee table etc. and then at the end of the day we have to walk out of here and represent the decision that the board has made. And so
067I thought that certainly spoke to somebody who has had a lot of experience. I think the only drawback is that his experience on this particular board was a while ago. So it's, you know, didn't serve with any of the current members, so it doesn't have, you know, overlapping, you know, personal relationships. Um, and I'm sure there are I don't know how the board operated 21 years ago. I wasn't here, right? So like, but but that's kind of the point, right? Is that like even though there is relevant experience, that experience was a long time ago. So how relevant does it is relevant. I'm not saying it's not, but I'm sure there are things that are different now. So, um, if I had a, you know, again, it's not a drawback necessarily. It's just, I'm sure
068it's different. >> Um, I like that he has time, but that seems like there's something that we don't some of us, you know, all working full-time, right? And and our families and everything. I mean, from that perspective, I'm like, yeah, he could probably, you know, probably look into some more things and that kind of thing. So, I liked I like that part about it. Um, I have I have the notes I have on him. I don't know if you guys just kind of ever just do notes where like these are the things that kind of stick out, but I put love his passion for community. Love that he served. And kind of back to your point, like we do have to go back 20 years and think we were we were and are a leading
069school and and and what matter was the board back then and the um you know the foresight and what they were striving to do back then that made Calonia a place that people did want to come to for education. And then what's kind of nice is during that phase, you know, we got a great name and we got a great reputation and then now here we are 20 years later with still a great rep, you know, a great reputation and we still want to continue, you know, the excellence of that. So I agree he's especially electronics and AI and all that. He's probably like I have no idea what's going on. I'm speaking for him and I don't know if that's true but like there's probably some irrelevance in there but um at the same
070token he was pioneer and I think we need to give him a little bit of credit for the the pioneer part of this right of what makes Kony what it is today. So that's >> I would just like to I mean I agree with what you're saying. I also think that you know he demonstrated that he is still very relevant in identifying like our number one issue as being finances and budget and funding and you know that our number one priority is really our people and paying our teachers and you know obviously that's a topic we're going to spend a lot more time talking about today. Um but identifying that the teachers who have the heart for their students and have the passion for teaching is really the priority and that we can help those
071people get the certifications they need to be qualified. But I really respected that. And then in addition talking about preparing students for college that when they leave Calonia, what we want is a student who's ready for a job, ready for entrance into college, even if um you know, whatever their choice is that they're going to be prepared for that. And then I think this is the same thing that everyone kind of wrote down, but my chicken scratch notes just said Bernie is a 70 board walking out the door. He will not be a descending vote in the community. And I just wrote in parentheses board unity. And I think that that, you know, if we kind of read through our rubric, that is something that we did stress. And, you know, many of our questions
072were surrounding how will you balance the community's needs, student learning, parent objectives, your own personal opinions. We've kind of phrased that question several different ways. And, you know, without seeing the exact questions, I think that he really answered that well. I did really kick around and kept looking at that 20 years 20 years on the board. That's it's a long time, but it had been a while ago. So, I kind of thought the same thing you did a little bit, Britney. But, uh I you know, Bernie's definitely got passion for his community and for for kids. Um I he's lived that. So, Yes, experience precedes himself for sure. >> Sean, any thoughts on you all talk first so you can cover all the stuff. I don't have to repeat. Yeah, I think he's great. And
073he I mean, if I can add one thing, just more of a just you get this kind of peaceful presence. You know, there's something calm about him, which is good for any really situation or group you're part of. Um, which could help us all out, I'm sure. >> He's got some wisdom. He feels you. You feel it when you talk to him, right? This is a guy that has been through it and has some wisdom and is able to offer some of that >> sense of confidence. I think he he would bring for sure. The um I'll say what I did one thing I didn't mention I liked about him was he says I'm retired so I can do what I want. And I found it admirable that with all that and the shot of
074driving into bad acts. He still is interested in serving the community in this capacity. And that's very admirable for a gentleman at his age with all the options and retirement uh living in retirement still um or many people would want to be on a beach somewhere beach house uh yet he's still here in Calonia and he wants to serve us. So um I respect the man immensely. I know when I came onto the board in 201 January 1st, 2013, we had a $40 million budget. We're at well over 80 now. Um doubling. So a lot lot more to handle. I think there might be a little bit of a culture shock for them to come in and say we spend what on what and there's that's a long time. I mean, even if I started
075came in for this and I wasn't on the board, it'd be shocking. Um, so there's a lot of work ahead of us uh that we have and um we're, you know, here trying to make the right decision. Uh, and I I just think Ernie uh has a lot of the qualities, but my only concern is is that still an obstacle to bring him up to speed, you know, cuz he's going to have a lot of questions cuz back in the day it was this and 20 25 26 and into 20 into 26 it's it's a whole different ball game. So there would be a bit of a learning curve for him still. Yeah. >> So, any more discussion on Bernie? >> Okay. Let's move on to K Clement. Um, I served I'll just start saying
076I I served with him. He actually ran against me at the same time I was running again. So, we're bit competitive. We both won. Um, and uh, the thing I liked about Kyle is when when he came on, he he was generally interested in meeting and knowing the people on the board. And those of you that have not served with him, um he's he's very uh he is also a calming force to the to the board and you know he's had to talk me out of some choice words and past and calm me down. Um so I I respect him for that. I think he would be a unifying factor to this group with the experience um the latest of the three experience to the board. Um I don't think he would run again, which
077is is totally fine by me. Um but I think he's he's solid and and I love his connections to the planning commission. Now, that's that's big. I mean, we've had issues, right? We're working through them. Seems like we're working through a lot of them. He could be a liaison and we could put some of that on him to um you know, bring it bring it to the surface a little quicker than than than it may have been without him. Um he's big leader in Calplex. uh he's really taken that forward and he's not letting us forget our commitment um to that that project. He too is uh very community oriented kids in the district. Um yeah, so we have three very good candidates in this case. Um I like Kyle because he's he's the the
078latest to the to the board. Um, my only question to him if he was here is, "Hey, Kyle, do you have enough time to do this?" Because despite everything that we've got going on, we still want you to participate and there's things you need to learn. You need to do the role. Um, just like you said, the superintendent's got to do his job. He's got to do his, too. So, um, that's my only question. Uh, but, uh, I think I know the answer to that. But I don't know what's else wants to share more about Kyle. >> I would kind of echo what you've said about Kyle um in terms of his recent board experience being very valuable and him just being like a very diplomatic and calm presence on the board. Um we had
079several candidates mention like well I'm not one of those people who's you know here at the meetings very often. But I was that parent. I was at all of the meetings before I was on the board. And so I didn't serve with Kyle, but did get to watch him serve on the board and appreciated his comments. But honestly, mostly once he um was off the board and I was on, he spent a considerable amount of time texting me and letting me know, you know, what I needed to learn and where I could get that information. And just the fact that when he was done, he didn't drop it and walk away like he was done. He did continue to communicate. Um I I think with John too when we were new board members and and
080just giving advice and support and um I felt like that was very admirable. So I appreciate the experience but also just knowing that he does have a heart for the board even if he's not on it. >> I would just say that um he was very concise in all his answers. Um you can tell he knows