001like to call to order of the Calonia June 16 regular board meeting. Everyone rise for the pledge of please 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. Would you please call Garcia here? Rando [clears throat] here. Collins here. Here. Con here. Morris here. Jen is uh she mentioned earlier to me today that she's not going to be able to make it. So, she is not here. Okay, we'll move on to public comment. The board is uh excited to hear all of your comments. [clears throat] Oh, I'm I'm terribly sorry. Item number four, public budgeting hearing 2024 25 budget amendment A. Okay. So, is this on? Okay. Um, tonight we are going to be looking at
002both of our June final budget amendments. So the last budget to end the fiscal year as well as looking [clears throat] at our proposed [snorts] budget to start next fiscal year which is part of our public hearing. So first looking at final budget amendments. Um so looking to end the year just over 72 million in revenues 72.2 million in expense. So a shortfall of just over 200,000 that would put us at 11.8 8 million fund balance or 16.4% of fund balance. So, we did go through this at committee um last week. I wanted to highlight um a few areas though tonight, just the larger variances. I know this is hard to see for all of you on the screens, but this will also be linked um on our website after [clears throat] tonight's meeting, so
003it might be easier to see. The first column on the left of this spreadsheet looks at our final audited year from last fiscal year. Then the very next column um is grayed out. That's the adopted budget to start this fiscal year. Then the second grade column from the left is our August amended budget. Third grade column right there in the middle is our December amended budget and that's the current budget that we've been working from. Then tonight we're looking at the fourth grade column um highlighted there in yellow for our June final budget amendment. And then that last column on the right we'll also talk about tonight is our proposed budget for next year. So kind of that second from the right grade column you'll see the revenues there and I'm going to talk about
004some of the larger variances. So between the local revenue and state revenue that's offsetting for our foundation allowance lower on the taxable um revenues versus the state reimbursement. And then the other area on the revenue side was in the area of transfers. So the largest amount of that just over a million is in the special ed act 18 millillage [clears throat] that we received through the Kent ISD. And so they had a couple extra supplemental payments that we didn't know about as of the December amended budget. So adjusting for that as well as um an increase in expected Medicaid revenue. So overall um revenues are expected to go up um 1.3 [clears throat] million from [snorts] December. And then on the expense side, a few of the larger variance areas are around um support instruction
005which is under support services the second line down and that was a decrease of just over 750,000 and the bulk of that was around professional development decrease in costs for that as well as some car carryover of grant funds specifically with 23G and 31A that we're planning to then expend next year instead. Then the other area is athletics and athletics had an increase of just over 140,000. And in that line item, we're just seeing increased costs and fees and officials. So that's aligning to end the year where where we are expecting to end for that. Um, and [clears throat] then the final area I wanted to make a note of is under transfers out. You'll see there's a line item um for 1.1 million. And that's where each year as part of our fund balance
006goal and transfer to the public improvement fund. We're estimating of wanting to transfer anywhere between a half a percent up to 5% of our general fund budget to go into our public improvement fund um for deferred maintenance items, things that our bonds don't cover. I know we have bonds going, but believe it or not, the bonds don't cover all of our projects. For instance, one of the projects we're currently working on is renovating the old administration office space. Um so we're looking this year to actually pull one point or expend 1.4 million out of that fund. So this is to keep that fund replenished for purposes like that. [clears throat] Um and so we did not transfer last year. So this year looking to transfer it's 1.5% which would be the 1.1 million. Um last
007year we did not make a transfer due to er funds ending and kind of the uncertainties there and trying to really reduce our budget down. So we chose not to transfer last year. So this is [snorts] catchup. So those are kind of the larger differences between December amended and our June amended. And then before I jump into our proposed budget for next year, are there any questions for this fiscal year? Okay. So then looking at our proposed budget now for next year, I know we talked about it briefly in March. What we're bringing to you tonight um is similar to what we brought in March and I'll talk about a few of the differences. Um [clears throat] we are still looking at using um the governor's proposed budget at this point. Um we're also looking
008at flat enrollment. So with the governor's proposed increase, so she is suggesting a 392 per pupil um increase to the foundation and that would be a 1.9 million um increase. However, there's a lot of other things going on in her budget and the other one of the other main line items is a Miper's reimbursement um that we would no longer receive next year. So, that is a decrease of 1.8 million. So, other things are also going on in there, but the net impact for us [clears throat] with that proposal is 188 per student, which would be 2% increase on the expenditure side. So the assumptions here, we are including contractual steps and percentage increases for all of our support staff groups and then we are including steps for those contracts that are ending and those
009include our teachers, administrators and transportation, but it does not include any kind of increase on the salary scale at this point for those groups yet. Then on the insurance side, it is does have a net 5% increase. Um, and it's based on what employees selected in January. Um, so this is where I know we've talked about there's legislation pending um that would do a kind of one-time adjustment to the cap. So that is still out there. It's still unknown. So right now we have a net 5% increase budgeted in, but not sure what that looks like. And then with 0% increase budgeted in for ancillary benefits. We don't expect those to to go up for next year. So then some things that are in addition to what we talked about back in March. So we
010have potential, and I say this very lightly because I think already we're seeing that we're going to have to add one of these back, but potential savings of three teaching positions through retirements, but it depends on enrollment. And so it depends too on if we're going to have to add back any sections. So we thought we were going to see three savings. um we're already seeing the need. Potentially we'll have to add one back and as we get closer to the start of the school year that also may change um based on the need. We then also reduced two administrative positions and then we added a half-time resource room teacher point4 um of a multilingual teacher 1.0 of a school social worker and then three part-time resource um pair professionals. So all those things are
011also then included in this proposed budget. So then big picture for that proposed budget looking at 71.5 million in revenue, 71.9 million in expense which would be just over a $400,000 shortfall and then that would end at 11.4% fund balance or 15.9% of expenditures. There is one note. So on that budget comparison document, so what we talked about at committee, [laughter] the bottom line item for fund balance, I had [clears throat] included our current fund balance instead of the estimated June amended fund balance. So I made that correction. So just make a note that's different than what was presented at committee. So by using um the actual estimated June fund balance then puts us at 15.9% whereas before it was just over 16%. So I made that adjustment. So anyway that was a little bit
012different. Um so are there any questions on next year's proposed budget? I guess not. Okay. Thank you. do appreciate your your time and effort as we're [clears throat] trying to budget with three different budget proposals, choosing one, and uh also we're trying to tighten our our gap between now here here in audit. So, we're [clears throat] uh trying to make sure we're doing all we can to make sure our numbers are properly disclosed and the budget is as tight as it can be. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So now we can move on to 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 statement to three minutes. Participants shall direct all comments to the board
013and not staff or other participants. No person may address or question board members individually. The board cannot accept public comment regarding personnel issues. All personnel issues will be directed to the superintendent. Remarks are to be made respectfully and professionally. We have a problem with that here. So, first on our list is James Ernest. [clears throat] I have two points and a conclusion. Point one, [clears throat] human geography is a vital topic in today's world. Failure to understand how physical geography affects human economic and political life and vice versa means losing in international commerce or in international politics. And these days all business and all politics are international. Global competition is fierce. Other nations are educating their children. Do we want to educate ours or hold them back? I have read the Failen's trashing of the
014textbook. They say they never even heard of the subject before, but they give their opinion anyway, which boils down to scholars who are competent to write textbooks on this subject do not support their personal views on their pet topics. Yet, it seems members of this board were swayed by them. Why? Our board president's statement, apparently under their influence, that offering the AP course would be pointless because our students can't find countries on a map, disrespects our students and teachers and shows misunderstanding of how learning works here and elsewhere. Our teachers are competent to teach this AP course. Our director of instruction has a doctorate in education. We have stellar students. And yet our schoolboard president ignores our teachers advice and listens instead to residents of another school district who have no competence, only strong opinions.
015Why do we think this board exists to put a doctrinal choke chain on teachers and students? Or to make sure students don't become more educated than ourselves or aren't exposed to viewpoints we don't share or understand? Or do we fear our own beliefs are so implausible that mere exposure to competing views will cause our kids to give them up and so we must reject this course for collegebound students. That's not doing the work of school board trustees. It's stating that you don't trust our educators. You think you know more than they about stuff they have studied and you have not. It's lack of self-awareness and humility. It's betrayal of the public's trust. More briefly, point two. Emails obtained under FOYA show that our board president has been conspiring for months to [clears throat] invite the
016Colman law firm into this district. It seems he told some but not all of you. He has not been transparent with us about these dealings. This district does not need the expensive services of political activist lawyers with a record of stirring up litigation that profits themselves and sucks money from the public. Why has he been scheming with them behind our backs? again, serious betrayal of public trust. My suggestion, our board president should resign and spare us the distraction of formal proceedings that may be needed to determine whether he should be removed. Thank you for your attention and thank you for your comment. Next is Jason Sadu. Get that. Yeah. Hello. Good evening. Uh Jason Su was on the board for a while, so most of you know me, if not all of you. Uh years
017ago when I was the IT director for the Chicago Bears, uh I would walk past a plaque every day on my way into my office. And and the plaque was just three words all on their own line. Faith, family, football. It was something the owners of the bear viewed as kind of a creed that uh these words were listed in a priority and it was expected that family would take priority over football and faith comes before all. I think about this a lot, right? And I think it's important for any group, any person to understand priorities to [snorts] be successful. [clears throat] And as it relates to the school board, I kind of view the priorities as five words on a plaque, right? We have students, staff, parents, the school community, and other some of
018the board who ran on the promise of parental rights may have parents at the top. We can have that discussion at a different time. I think we can all agree that top three priorities should be students, staff, and parents in some sort of an order. It's why it was disheartening to hear that the AP course was rejected based on the basis of some feedback from a couple that doesn't even live in our community kind of at the bottom of that priority list. The assertion that we don't have geography class and that our students can't identify these places on a map is ridiculous. While you may not offer a class titled geography uh is taught in parts of many social studies classes, I know this because I spent countless hours at the kitchen table with my
019kids with a blank map, filling out the country names and coloring them and adding demographics [clears throat] and climate and other information about them. All you've accomplished in this is eroding the trust between teachers and the board. You cannot simply say, "I trust teachers 100%." when your actions prove you do not. In just a few minutes of discussion, you er waste weeks of time narrowing down a dozen choices to three, reviewing and diving deep into the choices and soliciting real world feedback on its effectiveness. Your actions told these teachers you do not trust their recommendation. Your actions told these teachers you do not trust their ability to navigate difficult topics. [clears throat] Your actions told them your collective zero years of educational experience outweighs their cumulative decades of experience. Based on the past couple of
020meetings at the suggestion of one of the trustees, it sounds the board will now choose the curriculum and text to recommend to the superintendent and staff. This is in direct violations of policies 2220 and 2510. 2220 says in part, the superintendent shall recommend to the board such courses of study as are deemed to be in the interest of students. in 2510 states, "The superintendent shall be responsible for the selection and recommendation of textbooks for board consideration. The board continues to spend time and effort on topics that should be near no-brainers. Politicizing a textbook adoption to reject an AP course. Planning a course of action that would hit the board against his own policy. Time and money spent trying to force through a mass policy that would have violated laws 5 years ago. Time spent trying
021to hire a shyer as legal representation, including the current board president sending documents from the district's attorneys to the Coleman legal legal group. Documents that are attorney client privilege. All of this effort, yet the teachers contract remains unsettled. As I understand it, negotiations have barely scratched the surface. All of this effort, and we are eating into our fund balance year after year. I implore the board, do what is best for the students and staff, not what is politically favorable. Keep politics out of school. Our staff deserves better and our students deserve better. Thank you, Mr. Sadu. Next, we have Erica Moleholland. Thank you for [clears throat] good evening members of the board. First, I want to express my appreciation to the board for fostering an inclusive environment where public comment is respected as we saw
022last month when Jeff was allowed to fully share his concerns. That openness matters deeply, especially when trust and transparency are at stake. Tonight, I'm here as a mother of two students in Calonia schools and as a concerned me community member. I'm disappointed by the direction some members of this board appear to be taking. One that prioritizes personal opinions and political ideology over evidence, professional expertise, and the well-being of our students. Let me be clear. Our children's education cannot be dictated by vibes or politics. That is not how a responsible board should operate. You were not elected to implement personal agendas or ignore the professional recommendations made by the very educators this district employs and entrusts with our kids every day. When a board ignores expert input from licensed, trained educators in favor of loud but
023misinformed descent from people who don't even live in this district, let alone have kids attending our schools, it undermines the entire purpose of representative governance in public education. Speaking of credibility, when someone begins their recommendation by admitting they've never even heard of the subject they're addressing, that should immediately inform how much weight their opinion carries. To quote them directly, they are not an unbiased source nor experts at anything. Ironically, these two reviewers only describe themselves perfectly. Contrast that with the guidance given by experienced teachers, many of whom have devoted years to this district. They are not strangers. They are our neighbors, mentors, and partners in our children's development. The teachers are credible and qualified. And the preemptive banning of masks, all I hear is ignorance, privilege, and politics. Stability and routines are vital for our
024children. Masks, as affirmed by a recent Michigan State University study, are a small but effective way to keep kids in classrooms and protect public health. This is not controversial. It's responsible. Masks and public health are not political. Why is this board so determined to make it that way? This isn't about political wins. This is about keeping our children healthy in school and on a path to academic and social growth. And speaking of responsibility, the notion of replacing a law firm we reportedly haven't used in years with a law firm known across the state for politicized causes and inefficiency, one that drains taxpayer dollars and has proven ineffectual elsewhere is alarming. Why are we trying to create solutions to problems we don't even have? If we haven't even used one law for many years, why are
025we even looking to replace them? And then there's the hypocrisy. Some members of this board advocate against opportunities that would reduce college debt, like AP classes our students can earn college credit for, even while benefiting themselves from federal loan forgiveness programs. If loan forgiveness is good enough for members of this board and their businesses, why would we deny our students a chance to lessen their own future debt? You were elected to listen to professionals reflect your community and protect our students. Not to pursue personal grievances or play political games by calling up an emotional and rhetoricfilled old neighbor that doesn't even live in this district anymore nor has children attending our schools. When licensed educators come to you with a vetted professional recommendations, your role is not to override them. It is to support them.
026This includes their union negotiations. I fully expect the board to leave their own personal politics and unfounded opinions in the garbage where they belong. You can also trash your ignorant opinions regarding what our students are or are not capable of since a couple of you seem to enjoy running your mouths about things you are completely clueless on. Our teachers deserve our full support and I expect every single one of you to give it to them. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Mo Holland. [clears throat] On to Jill Thompson. Hello, my name is Jill Thompson and I want to begin by saying thank you for your service to our Calonia school community. [clears throat] I'm here today with a request for the board. Research has shown that in the last two decades, mental health has declined and
027anxiety is on the rise in adolescence. While many factors have contributed to this fact, the one component that stands above the rest is the advent of the smartphone in 2012. We could discuss this topic for hours, but because I have three minutes, I will cut to the chase. I'm here to request that the board of education would put a bell-to-bell phoneree policy in place in all of the buildings throughout the CCS district. While this may sound like a big request, we are seeing a growing number of school districts, states, and countries who are doing this very thing. Just over a month ago, the New York governor signed a bill into law that will prohibit students from using smartphones at any time during the school hours of the school day. Every student in the state of
028New York has been given the gift of distraction-free learning. I'm so thankful for the policies that many of our schools [clears throat] have in place already. For instance, Duncan Lake Middle School currently has a bell-to-bell phone free environment for the duration of the school day. This means that eighth graders who are incoming freshmen are accustomed to not using their cell phones throughout the school day. Last August, CHS took a step forward by implementing the policy of no cell phone use during instruction time. I appreciate the steps that have been made, but I would like to implore the board that more needs to be done. While employers are looking for individuals with durable skills, some high schools, including CHS, are enabling students to withdraw at every opportunity by doomcrolling shorts instead of engaging in conversation. A
029device-free day would offer these positive outcomes. Students would develop and hone their social skills with peers and adults through conversation, eye contact, and laughter. Students would cultivate deeper relationships and empathy, broadening their circles to include those who might otherwise withdraw into the virtual world of their device. Students would have clear minds that are ready to learn instead of sifting and sorting through the distraction of notifications, which bombard the average teen every 1 to 5 minutes. says the anxious generation on page 126. Board members, I'm here to request that we join Forest Hills, Thornapple, Kellogg, South Christian, and countless others who have said no more to the trend of individuals being held captive by their smartphone screens. I'm here to request that the CCS Board of Education will implement a bell-to-bell phone free policy at every
030level, kindergarten through 12th grade, for the upcoming school year and beyond. The mental, emotional, and educational health and well-being of our students depends on it. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Thompson. [clears throat] Okay, now moving on to the consent agenda. Item A, May 30, 13, 2025 closed meeting minutes. May 19, 2025 regular meeting minutes. June 11, 2025 committee of the whole minutes. June 11, 2025 close session minutes, May 2025 payables, and [clears throat] June 2025 personnel report. Is there a motion? I move that the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor of the consent agenda. I'm sorry. Garcia, yes. Randall, yes. Collins, yes. Eich, yes. Con, yes. Morris, yes. Consent agenda passes. Number seven, superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. Morris. Uh,
031a couple of things for you tonight. First of all, um, just an update uh that at our committee meeting there had been discussion requests for some information uh, regarding Chartwells and food service. And so that arrived this afternoon and um, Mr. Breeze will present some information later when we get to uh that action item unless you'd like it earlier, but uh she will present some information when we get down to that uh point uh in the agenda. We didn't have time to get that out to you today. She was on a training about our financial program until just [clears throat] a short time ago. Uh secondly, just uh big congratulations to our drivers uh who competed in the bus rodeo uh recently and came home as champs that and just uh fantastic job of them
032and they brought back home uh the championship. So that's terrific. Uh next up, we have had some discussion about the first day of school and as we've continued uh to look into that first day of school, uh we will be setting the first day as Monday, August the 25th. Uh earlier we had been talking about the 18th and uh as we've continued to consult with other school districts around us and look at our own situation on Monday, August the 25th uh made more sense. That is only one week before Labor Day this year because Labor Day is as early as it can possibly be. So uh we felt uh and in conversation with other districts too uh there are many going in that direction. So that's the direction we think we need to go. An
033aside note to that is with our uh construction projects uh this summer in two of our elementary schools that'll give u all of us a little bit more time uh our staff, our um facility staff and all a little bit more time to prepare things uh going into the new school year. So I wanted to inform you of that. And then finally, I wanted to give you a little bit more of an update on the state budget just to uh provide you some context as you uh come in now to consider these budget things that uh Mr. Rees laid out. And so popping up there on the screen is a little bit of an update. Uh this is by no means exhaustive. Uh it's very very detailed stuff obviously, but I just want to kind
034of give a high level and uh we talked about a few things uh last Wednesday, but got a little bit more information here uh tonight. So, to pull out my glasses to see if it's on. There we go. All right. So, uh, from the big picture, um, [clears throat] in May, the revenue estimating conference, uh, which is a thing that the state does a couple times a year, takes a look at how state revenues are coming in, so they know how much money they would have to spend moving forward. They projected an increase in the school aid fund for next year of 2.1%. So that's an important number to keep in mind that the state is projecting its revenues are going up 2% essentially uh for the funds that would be used to support K12
035education. Okay, so that's the first part of the big picture. Secondly, while we are required to take action tonight so that we have a budget in place by uh June 30, uh the state is on a different fiscal year and they're off from us by 3 months and so their budget is not required to be in place until September 30 and that has always over the last couple of decades put us in a odd spot in schools as we are trying to predict and hope that we can figure out where the state might be going with their uh budget. um they have tried at the state legislature to impose a deadline on themselves saying that even though they don't need it by September 30, they're going to try and live by the same deadline that
036we have. And as you can tell tonight, we're taking action on this. Um they have tried to say they'll do it by June 30, but that is looking very doubtful, I would say, at this point in time. miracles can happen, but uh that's, you know, essentially two weeks uh from tonight. And uh as you'll see here in a minute, I'm not certain that that's going to take place. Um so the school aid fund, the SAF, that's the school aid fund supporting K12 education. That budget was released uh last Wednesday morning and uh we of course met Wednesday uh evening. that that budget was passed within minutes uh out of the appropriation committee and then was passed by the full house later on Wednesday and uh but that was only one half of the budgets that
037the state um looks at. The other half is everything else and that's called the general fund budget and so that includes uh roads and um a whole host of the other functions of government uh prisons and state police and all those sorts of things. So, um, the Senate, which is controlled by the Democrats, the House is controlled by the Republicans. Um, they have asked that before they move forward on the school aid fund budget that they also be able to see the House's proposal on the other half of the state budget, the general fund. Well, that has not been introduced yet to this point. So, um, here we sit in a sort of a stalemate moment. A big part of what's going on here is that roads are a big focus in this year's budget
038in particular and moving forward. And so in the total state budget um which uh on the general fund side, oh boy, I should have looked at the number exactly before I started into this, but it's like in the 16 billion range. um they are looking to find an $3 billion of new ability to spend on roads and um that as you can tell would be a huge lift when you're talking about uh you know not 20% but near 20% of a budget. Um so that is uh causing a lot of constrnation in Lancing as various different proposals are put forward on how to deal with this issue. Um voters may remember that we did pass authority back a few years ago as a state to borrow uh funds to help uh fund our roads. Uh
039something I think called the Rebuild Michigan program. and uh we are at the end of that bonding authorization. And so uh as they begin to look at how to handle this moving forward, they're not going to have those bond funds to uh upkeep and maintain roads. So that is all swirling around together here in uh what's going on within the state budget. And um the big question is when will negotiations start? As I said, the Senate would like to see the general fund budget before they even start talking about the school aid fund budget. We have June 30 looming and then after that the um the legislature is uh typically on a July recess. So um we are it's not looking positive for us to have information here anytime soon, especially with the this level
040of discussion that needs to happen. Of course, negotiators will continue to work through that July recess, the select folks who work on the conference committee, but um they need a budget to work from. So, just to give a little bit of update on the House budget since we've talked least about that and then I want to give just a quick comparison of where the different things are at. House budget takes a very different approach. uh the Republicans in the House versus the Democrats in the Senate and the governor's uh office uh have quite different approaches to this year's budget for the schools. So the House proposal um kind of follows when it comes to the base per pupil amount, the foundation allowance. They kind of follow the same line of thinking that uh the other
041parts of government did. So the governor proposed a 4.1% increase, the Senate proposed a 4.2% 2% increase and now the house has proposed a 4.3% increase. Um which all move that number up significantly from the 9608 per pupil where we were uh this year and last. Um on the other hand uh as you'll recall right at the beginning of this I said that our revenues for the uh school aid fund are only projected to be up 2% this year. So, the idea that you can raise uh the per pupil allowance by 4.3%. When you're only getting 2% of new revenue, that's a little bit of an imbalance there. So, where do these dollars come from otherwise? Um in the House budget proposal, there's a removal of $1.2 billion in support for the Mipers program. That's
042the state retirement system. And so, many of those costs uh would be returning back to districts. Uh the House budget proposal also um uses $1 billion out of the state reserve funds. So that's the set aside funds that they have for rainy days and all. And that would leave only a little over $200 million left uh in all of those reserve funds. Many of them would be liquidated. Um the house proposes a new additional um very healthy number of 1975 per pupil. Um to do that they roll up a number of the different categorical grants. So the grants for this that and the other thing. A total of 37 were shown on the one chart where they rolled those all up into uh this new thing which would provide some of the money here to
043provide this 1975 uh per student. So that I want to add though and as we talked about on Wednesday is not included in the foundation allowance. it doesn't raise the foundation allowance up to essentially 12,000 a student. That's still set at the 10,000 mark. So, this would be a one-time one-year uh guarantee year of 1975 per pupil. And the question becomes, what happens a year from now and moving forward, that represents 1.5 billion in new spending all by itself. Um they do maintain at risk funding uh for some of our students needing additional supports. that's maintained at current levels. But among the uh categories that are rolled up are free breakfast and lunch, mental health and safety grant, the transportation categor categorical and as I said many more, a total of 37 of them. Some
044are smaller, some are larger. U there is also in the house budget a very large increase in university support uh coming out of the school aid fund. So this goes back to the big picture. uh universities um traditionally are a general fund supported thing, the other half of the state budget. Okay. And so school aid fund is for K12 education. And uh in recent years um there has been a beginning of a move to move community colleges and universities into the K12 student aid fund, student aid fund, school aid fund, sorry. And so that has been something that the K12 community has been um trying to fight back against for many many years. We believe that these funds uh under the constitution were designated and designed to be for K12 education and um we are
045not able to charge tuition. We don't have these other sources of uh income like uh higher education does. Uh but nonetheless uh that has been happening now for uh over a decade and gradually that increased to the point where now all of community colleges are funded from the school aid fund and um a portion of universities this would see a major increase in that university support. I will say that all three budgets included that as we'll see in a chart in just a second but um the house budget proposal is far and away the biggest. So here's a quick chart and um I apologize for the smallalness and uh should probably make it bold but um here you can see where they are on some of the these things. This is by no means again
046exhaustive. This is just a very very high level thing but the the purpose of showing you this is just to emphasize how far apart the different proposals are right and the fact that it's probably going to take a little bit to bring into some sort of resolution on these issues. So there you see the foundational line at the top 4.1 4.2 4.3 MIPR support both the governor and the senate also reduced uh support for mipers. Uh you can see though that the house uh reduction was much much uh larger. Uh the additional onetime per pupil payment as mentioned was only in the house um proposal but uh when it comes to categorical grants the governor and senate maintain many of the historical and long longer and shorter term categorical grants where the house rolled up
047many of those into that one [clears throat] time per people payment. Uh when it comes to the reserve funds as I mentioned on the far right the house uh pulled in this proposal $1 billion out of the reserves. uh the governor had a deposit into them in her budget and the senate also had a smaller uh deposit into those uh funds. And then uh just to show you the university spending all three again increased university spending governors was up uh 19% uh up $89 million to over $550 million coming out of K12. um in the Senate version was even more up 30% uh for up another 140 up to 602. Uh and then you see the House's increase um up an additional 1.47 billion from where it is this year to a total of 1.936
048billion. That's a 419% increase. So why is that? Uh essentially this is part of the overall plan to free up uh funding on the general fund side. The other side if you transfer one almost $1.5 billion in university costs into the school aid fund you free up $1.5 billion to put toward road funding. And uh so that's part of where this is coming from from a big picture standpoint. So I don't envy state legislators. they have a big challenge here on their hands. Um, and they're trying to come up with different plans on how to get there. Uh, however, we in our uh world, we have to uh look at the funds that we have and the funds that we're going to have. And uh depending on how this all shakes out has a major
049impact on not just this year for us. uh this year if you look on the things and as you heard from Miss Dere there a short time ago our overall net impact of uh in the governor's proposal for uh schools is an increase of 2%. um which is about if you think back that's about what the additional revenues are, right? So that kind of falls in line. The question would be if we end up with a a proposal that incorporates some of these things from the house side which was built uh there's this big chunk of 1975 per pupil this one year. Then what is going to happen in the future? And uh when you take a school a fund and you pull that much additional revenue out of it uh for K12 and give
050it to universities, that creates a hole. And uh while it's phrased in the House budget as a one-time additional uh transfer, uh that's what they said 13 years ago or whatever it was the first time this happened. And here we sit today with essentially a billion dollars a year coming into this year. right now, the year that we're just finishing, uh, with a billion dollars going over to community colleges and universities. So, um, yeah, that's a that's a challenge for us. So, just wanted to provide that little bit of extra context for you in some of the things that we're facing. And um so when we are looking at this year's budget um we think it's a budget that uh represents a good program for our students and that is fiscally sound moving forward and
051um but it of course comes with some trepidation on our part because we don't know where this is all going to land uh at this point in time. Any questions? Okay, great. Thank you Durk for the great report. Now we're going to move on to action items. We have a number of them, but we should pro we will probably be moving fairly quickly through these. We spoke about almost all of these in great detail on Wednesday in the committee of a whole um 4hour meeting or somewhere close to that. So we'll start off with action item 8A final budget amendment resolution. I move that the board adopt the proposed 2024 2025 budget amendment resolution. Second. I second. Any questions? Discussion. [clears throat] Okay. Trustee, please call the role. Collins? Yes. [clears throat] Yes. Con? Yes.
052Brandal? Yes. Barbara Garcia S. Morris. Yes. Final budget amendment resolution passes. 7B. School loan revolving fund resolution. I move that the board adopt the resolution to participate in the Michigan School Loan Revolving Fund. Second. Discussion. Katie, please call the RO. Pone. Yes. Brandal, yes. Garcia, yes. Collins, yes. Eich, yes. Morris, yes. School loan fund revolving fund resolution passes. Budget adoption resolution 2025 2026 school year. I move that the board adopt the proposed 2025 2026 budget resolution. Second. I second. Is there discussion? Please call the role. Eich, yes. Collins, yes. Randall, yes. Con, yes. Trevor Garcia, yes. Morris, yes. Option resolution passes. Item 8 D, K County enhancement millage resolution. I move that the board adopt the resolution to request the Kent Intermediate [clears throat] School District to submit a regional enhancement property tax millage proposal
053for.9 mil for 10 years 2027 to inclusive to the voters at a special election to be held in each of the constituent districts located within the Kent Intermediate School District on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Five. Is there a second? [clears throat] Second. Any discussion? Uh just to add uh that this is a renewal of uh the existing um enhancement mill. And uh Mr. Ree, that number that this supported our uh district this year is how much? 1.6 million. So, uh, that's a really important revenue source for us, obviously, and, uh, if this were not to pass, we'd be looking at how to cut, uh, that sort of a number out in the future. So, any further discussion? Please call the RO. River Garcia, yes. Collins, yes. Yes. Con, yes. Brando, yes. Morris. Yes. [clears throat]
054That county enhancement mill resolution is confirmed. Item 8E 202526 food service contract. Is there a motion? I move that the board accept the competitive bid of Chartwells as the district's food service provider for the 2025 2026 school year. Second. and discussion. I'd like to ask Sarah to bring her information to the board. Yes. So, um it is attached. Now, if you look in your [snorts] board report, um I added the like claims the meals count numbers. So, in that, and I want to just talk through what that looks like and where the numbers are coming from. So, when you pull up the document, um the meal counts in the first column, column B, those are the RFP meal counts, and that's strictly guided by um MDE in the state of Michigan. And the counts that
055they tell you to put in for your RFP are the October counts. So, these are counts from October of 2023. So, that's what the RFP was based on. And so the RFP document that we were looking at that had their cost um associated with that was all based on these count numbers. Then the next column, column D, those that's what our actual meal counts came in as. And these counts are coming from um our meal magic system that records um all of the sales that go through. So that's where the numbers came from. So column D were the actual meals um counts that were served both for breakfast and lunch for that fiscal year fiscal year 2024. Then column F that is the actual meals that were claimed and served this year for the fiscal
056year 2025 that we're finishing. So those numbers you can see reflected here. So while the bid document um specified that they it would be like a 3.2 2 million cost to us. It actually isn't a 3.2 million cost because we're a fixed rate contract. And so we actually only pay out based on the meals that were submitted and and claimed. And so that ended up being 2.5 million and then the revenue we're receiving this year was about 2.9 million. Um, so it that also doesn't account for other expenditures we had within food service. So I know that we have an excess fund balance plan and working [clears throat] to spend those funds down um with extra expenditures. So this those numbers were only based on contract with Chartwells and meals claimed. So then the column
057H that's the number of meals that they're projecting for next fiscal year 2026. [clears throat] I have a question. So, the projected meals, there's no negative impact to us if we go over the projected meals. No. Okay. No, because um like I said, we have a fixed rate contract. So what that means is regardless of the number of meals, if it's lower than what they're saying here, then what they bill us is lower. If it's higher than what they say here, then the meals that we built, it's higher. But then we'll also be getting the revenue to offset because I know like one of the concerns people had is running out of food. So I want to make sure that we're prepared in that sense. Yes. [clears throat] And of course, Chartwells as a provider
058makes their money off of selling meals. So, it's to their advantage also to sell more meals, right? So, we had a a rate for lunch and a rate for breakfast. And what we were looking for, I think, was the actual participation from 2024 to 25 this past school year. And that's where you could compare then from column D to column F. Correct. [snorts] I have a quick question. Um, so we have we're thinking we're going to have um a level enrollment, right? We had a large graduating. Yeah, that's what we're projecting right now in our student count numbers is a level enrollment. Um, we have some work to do to get there. um but that's what we projected over the last few years. So, uh that also is inclusive of our shared time programming and
059so we're um looking that will hopefully help bring us to that level mark. The only reason why projected is going up. So, I just wanted to make sure I don't know just from a projection perspective. I'm just going to start um commenting on um food service in general. We kind of talked a little bit about the the Wednesday meeting. I have I do have some concerns about Chartwell just from um individuals who have have come to our board meetings and um whether it's the treatment of individuals or running out of the food or um kids not liking the food or not getting enough food, they're hungry still, you know, lots of comments. Some great comments, too. um have had some good comments on the selection more healthy kids are looking for more um healthy I
060know that they are but parents are for sure but um so there's some really good things that Chartwell has done and there's some things that I think they need to work on um just from the feedback that we got from the I think it was over 600 surveys um from the kids in the in the district. Um, so I know that as a board I know that, you know, we're not I don't my opinion is we're not looking to make any moves like right now. Um, we're we kind of at this [clears throat] point my understanding is that we can't make any um moves at this point because of having if we're going to go out to bid um there's a process that has to be done and we're not even at that point to
061even be at be be able to do that. Um, so I just want to make sure that am I am I on the right page with everything that I said as far as timing and all that? Like we have to make a decision correct today. I I believe we we should. Okay. Okay. I just want to make sure before we did any voting that that was kind of put out there. So Okay. I think [snorts] the alternative would be rough at best and would put another important thing on a plate already sort of full, right? Okay. So, um I have an additional comment. Um, I know that we had a public comment um from a food service employee and it was upsetting and I hope that the intention to chartwells from both the board from
062last week's meeting and from administration that interacts with them is that the issues that they had interacting with managing their staff is something that is taken care of because I was shocked and I was disturbed by some of the accusations that were made at that public comment. Um, and I had the opportunity to speak to some food service employees last week. And I was additionally shocked to hear that at least a few schoolboard members had been receiving complaints of things that were concerning in regards to the food service program. And I hope that if there's kind of like a disconnect between where they're supposed to be reporting to, if it's Chartwells or if it's one of our own administration, I think that it's very very important just as much as we value our teachers. I
063know technically food service employees are not our employees. Um, but they I'm they stay from company to company and a lot of them are parents or retirees who had kids in our district. And I think that we really focus on and maintain good relationships and grow trust with them. And for example, with that one public commenter, I know she was injured on the job. And I hope that either Chartwells or the school district, but if there was an injury on the job that someone who is not her own family is feeling the impact of that and taking care of her because I know that I expect that people within our school district on our property are taken care of and respected. [snorts] Thank you. Any further discussion? questions. Okay, Katie, please call the role. Collins,
064yes. Eich, yes. Con, yes. Brandal, that's right. River Garcia, yes. Morris, yes. food service contract has been affirmed. [snorts] Now uh item F8F Neola policy revisions we uh did not get much time to dive into this ahead of time. So um I don't know how we want to go through this. We're going to go through a motion and have discussion. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think uh as we talked about this is a u it requires two readings. So um you know if the board is comfortable advancing the first reading here then we'll come back next month uh for additional discussion and other things that [clears throat] uh may need to happen with if any. [clears throat] So, we we're kind of relying on us as board members to take a look at this as a
065first reading over the weekend. And if we're we're good with this being the first reading, then I will entertain a motion. I move that the board conduct a first reading of the following board policies. 0131.1 bylaws and policies. 2340 field trip and other district sponsored trips. 5320 immunization Use of medications 5330.01 01 Epinephrine Auto Injectors Personnel Files Food Services Wellness 8660 Transportation for Field Trips to Delete. Second discussion. Any discussion? Okay, please call the RO. Garcia, [clears throat] yes. Eich, yes. Collins, yes. Brandal, yes. Con, yes. Morris, yes. The first reading of the Neola policies has been affirmed. 8G stadium water line relocation pack. I move that the board approve Rockford Construction to contract with Fiser Idmma Excavating for the relocation of the water line at the Ralph E. Myers Stadium at a cost of
066$140,000 contingent on successful execution of a legal agreement by June 19, 2025 [laughter] between Calonia Community Schools and Calonia Township detailing each party's responsibilities and obligations regarding this project. Second discussion, questions. We pushed the June 19th date because I think they're meeting on Wednesday. Correct. Um so um we are considering this approval tonight. The township board has it on their agenda for Wednesday the 18th. So at that point uh we will know if they've approved it. Uh they will be we are the holders of the contract. So with the uh construction firm based on all of the work being done at the stadium. So um we will be that's the our part in the package and then uh they are approving the agreement on their side detailing the cost side. We would each be sharing
067the cost 5050 is what the agreement would say. [clears throat] Has there been any conversation with any the the township manager since Yes. Okay. [laughter] Lots of it. So, yeah, we have been working um through on this and um so yeah, they've continue they want like to see more detailed um costs on the other costs that are connected with it. Um and so we're providing that to them as well. Um so yeah, it's been a long road. We've been working on this since November, right? It has been that long, hasn't it? Okay. And as the board will recall, we passed a motion very similar to this last month, but uh the township did not we didn't have the conclusion of that legal agreement in the time frame that that particular motion specified. So, we're back.
068Okay. Is time for the vote, Katie? Con? Yes. Brando, yes. Garcia, yes. Collins, yes. Asich, yes. Morris, yes. Stadium waterline relocation package is approved. 8H MHSA resolution. I move that the board adopt the resolution to participate in the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion, questions? This is pretty routine. Each year we decide whether we're going to align with the MHSA or look at other alternatives. And uh as long as I've been on the board, we've maintained this, so it's pretty standard. Katie, please. Rando, yes. Con, yes. Robert Garcia, yes. Eich, yes. Collins, yes. Morris, Morris votes yes. Resolution passed. Item 8, I base ACE representative. I move that the board of education improve approve the nomination of Charles Scheler and as Mina Hamzagic as the CCS PACE representatives for
069a three-year term beginning August 2025 through July 2028. Second. Any discussion or questions? Miss please call the role. Eich, yes. Collins, yes. Rando, yes. Com Garcia, yes. Morris, yes. A representative is approved. On to item nine, a 202526 school student handbook. Still, yep. Am I okay from here or there? whatever going up is probably better. Good evening. Um, as we discussed last week at committee of the whole, um, each year we do an annual review of our student handbook, which also is disseminated to all of our families. We look through the handbook to ensure that any changes and policies that have come through during the year are updated in our handbook. We also worked with our nurses this year to update some language in the health section of the um handbook. All of the changes
070are in green font, green print, so you can easily take a look through and note where those changes have occurred. And if you have any questions, please let me know. [clears throat] Questions. Thank you. And nine other. Do we have any other? [clears throat and cough] Nope. At this time, we have no other items for next month's agenda other than the second reading. The policies would go to that. Great. Are there any board member comments? I have a comment. Um, I've kind of been mulling this over for the past few months and I feel like it is something important um that we should go over. So, over the past fiveish years, I've come to these meetings again and again, not out of convenience, but out of a deep concern. It's my responsibility and all of
071ours as elected officials to not just be in attendance, but to pay attention and to do homework regarding the issues to be discussed. I've read statements. I've presented facts. And I've offered reason. And I've watched frequently again and again as those contributions are met with blank stairs, silence, or outright disregard. That is not leadership. That is cowardice. When a board member falsely claims that our students don't need AP human geography because they can't identify countries on a map. He's not making [clears throat] an educational point. He is slandering the very students that this district is supposed to serve. That statement wasn't just wrong, it was a lie and a harmful one. It paints our students as incapable. It lowers expectations for them and it gives them cover for withholding opportunity from kids who deserve better.
072But the issue is deeper than just one comment. Over and over again, this board, driven by the same members, has pushed forward policies designed to ignore public health mandates despite legal opinions warning against it. despite dozens of community members speaking out despite every clear sign that is harmful, misguided, and unwanted. And yet, here we are, four months in this year, still debating something that we thought we put to rest years ago. Because what's really happening here isn't about community input. It's about selective hearing. This member ignores the many voices that disagree with him. whole crowds of parents, teachers, lawyers, public commenters, and in chooses instead to latch on to the only the voices that echo his own. He doesn't represent this district. He represents an echo chamber. And still, he sits here and acts like
073he's speaking for everyone, and he isn't. He's speaking only for the people he chooses to listen to. This board has become a stage where disagreement is treated as disrespect and public concern is treated as noise. And yes, it is enraging, but not because my feelings are hurt, but because this process has been hijacked by someone who doesn't understand what representation means. You don't have to acknowledge me. You frequently haven't. But your silence is loud. And your refusal to listen is empowered fear. I will not be silent to spare anyone's feelings. And I refuse to let this district sink under the weight of ego. If you choose to ignore me, just know I will continue speaking but louder. Any other comments? Hi. Hi everyone. Um I was really excited to see Dutton Elementary moving forward. Um
074what a great group of people who uh teachers and staff. It it looked from the pictures it looked like they had boxes and boxes and boxes that were shipped over. And I know um my understanding is the last day last week of school it was you know difficult to to try and do that. So hats off to everybody who helped. Um I'm sure that was a huge undertaking and sorry I missed the um the what uh the tour last week. I'm so bummed I completely spaced on that. But um was good to see those pictures. Um, other things I wanted to just um mention also was there's just a couple of things that have been on my mind in general um that I'd like to obviously we'll bring up maybe a different month, but I
075just want you guys start mulling over a couple of things that um I've been thinking about interim, you know, how we used to have that as a um as an option. And then again, I don't know the how those how that plays with the school and logistics and all that. So, but again, just kind of wanted to bring that up as a I thought that was really valuable to a lot of our students. And I know we're talking a lot about trades and trying to get uh that part of um you know, the future of students kind of covered within Calonia. And again, thoughts are, would it be great if we could have, you know, a mechanic um for the week teach kids how to [clears throat] do oil changes and tire changes and things
076like that just as an as a potential interim. Um, so any I'm just brainstorming right now, but at least wanted to kind of get you guys maybe thinking [clears throat] about um potentially maybe bringing something like that back. Um, and then [clears throat] already talked to Britney about this when we first talked. Um the other thing that's been really heavily on my mind is the whole validictorian saludiatoran um firm believer in um with athletics, the Olympics and those kinds of things. Um you know we have a first, second, third place. We have a gold, silver and a and a bronze, right? And I think it's just as important to um make sure that the kids who are putting a ton of time and energy into academics um also get appreciated in that similar way. I
077love the top 10. I think that um I want to I want to consider it not being like a um an an or but maybe an and where we have both. So, these are just things that I've been kind of mowing around since I got on the board and I just wanted to kind of mention if we can start kind of thinking about that, we can bring it up at a different meeting, but that's kind of where I was going. So, thank you. I I'll say it was pretty exciting to see Dutton, the new Dutton come together. The playgrounds coming together. Uh being inside, the classrooms are getting finished up. Uh, I think if we do another tour here maybe in September possibly, uh, we'll have an open house before September. We'll be in there
078on the 25th. Yeah. So, um, congratulations to the the staff. You're moving into a great new facility to the students. Great new facility and we're very proud of it. Any other board comments? Item 11. Is there a motion for adjournment? So moved. I second. Please call the roll key. [cough and clears throat] I don't [snorts] think we do. Roll. Yeah, we can just voice. [laughter] All in favor say I. I. Post. You're journ.