001[music] Hey, >> [cheering] >> Let's rise for the pledge, please. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nationy andice for all. Thank you. Item 1B, approval of agenda. Items for discussion. >> I move that the agenda for the December 15th, 2025 regular meeting be approved. >> Support. >> Okay. Motion by Mrs. Shaw, supported by Mr. Campbell. Approval of agenda and items for discussion. Is there any discussion on the items on the motion? Yep. Um, I'd like to uh add I move to add a close session to consider disciplining the superintendent in accordance with MCL 15.268 section 8A sorry 81A >> second. >> Okay. So it's a item an item to add or motion to add an item for discipline of the superintendent >> and and if I didn't say
002the close session piece of that, I would like to amend that. >> Okay, go on. >> So I move to add a close session to consider disciplining the superintendent in accordance with MCL 15.268 section 81A. >> Okay. Okay. Motion to add a close session item to uh to discuss discipline of the superintendent. Mr. Goalleski, do you still support that with the amendment made? Thank you. >> Right. That's Mr. Keller supported by Mr. [clears throat] Goleski. Any discussion on the motion to amend the agenda? >> Is there a reason why you chose not to communicate that you'd be adding this to the agenda to all board members? I had conversations with most all board members, >> correct? But not all board members. This is the first I'm hearing of this. >> Yep. Everybody that reached out.
003>> And why did you choose not to let me know? >> Again, I had conversations with those who inquired. >> Any further discussion? I don't think you have to let everyone know, do you? If you're bringing it up and we're doing a vote on it, >> you don't have to, but I've made it clear in the past that I'm not going to get I don't want to be surprised at the board table and have something to talk about and discuss that I'm not prepared for. Mr. Keller and I have talked about this many times. >> Well, it is a close session, so you don't have to talk about it in public. >> Point taken. Um, obviously Mr. Mr. Hughes has a standing request with us to to have any discussion regarding his uh job performance
004in close session. So it it is obviously appropriate for you to make it make the motion to move to close session um in accordance with that. Is there any further discussion on the motion? Okay. Hearing none. Motion to add a close session item to discuss the discipline of the superintendent. >> Mr. Goggleski. Yes, >> Mr. Campbell. >> No, >> Mrs. Shaw. >> No, >> Mr. Keller. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes, >> Miss Custodio. >> No, >> I'm a No. Motion does not carry. >> Back to the original motion on the table. Approval of agenda items for discussion. Is there any further discussion on this? >> I'd like to add a discussion. I move to add a discussion item on the district communication regarding the 51 building incident. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion to
005add discussion item regarding communication. Say that again. Communication with respect to communication. >> Yeah. Um, communication regarding the 51 building incident >> regarding the 51 building incident. Okay. And that was motion by Mr. Keller supported by that was Goggleski. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Okay. Any discussion on the motion to add a discussion item? You know, I think normally um we would try to get these added to the agenda, you know, at least 5 days out. That's kind of been our practice. I think, however, this this issue kind of happened more recent and so I think our normal procedure didn't allow for um for an an advanced um agenda addition. So, fortunately, that's why we're trying to add today. Um, I think there was a lot of concern in the communicate in the community around
006some district communications that went out and and while I can appreciate that it is a complicated issue that involves lots of different factors, I I do have concern that, you know, not addressing it or discussing it that, you know, we're going to risk losing public trust. I think, you know, there were some letters that went out. it potentially gave some incorrect impressions on situations and I I don't want the community to get the the perception that things were being swept under the rug. So again, I'd like to I'd like to have a discussion on on that uh incident. >> So Mr. Keller, just to clarify then the the purpose of the discussion or the endgame here is is what exactly? to communicate to the community. I'd like to have either Superintendent Hughes or I guess
007if you're volunteering to have that lead that discussion, that's fine. But I think we there's a lot of people in the community that have concerns about what happened and the timing of letters and differences in letters. And I think again we we owe them an explanation. And I also think too that we need to set some parameters for communication. What requires communication to the board? What requires communication to all of us? What doesn't? When it should take place and so on. So I really think that those things need to be established. >> So Mr. Gooleski, that sounds like policy. Well, we're not we're not setting policy tonight, but I think we should talk about it openly and talk about some of the ways that we might want to work toward initiating a policy for that.
008Um this is definitely uh uh a very serious issue and some of us have received many communications from parents and again to to get into this. The whole issue here is not necessarily what had happened and when it happened. It's the communication of it and the shooting of ourselves in the foot with not having guidelines, at least guidelines for communicating what and when they should be communicated. >> Um, if I can jump in. >> Um, I was I was a little surprised that it wasn't added to the agenda. Um, you know, the the uh I think parents started sending us letters last Monday. It was obviously picked up by the news and mainstream media and social media on Tuesday and we got our agenda on Thursday. So, I did email President Coleman pretty much immediately
009when I saw the agenda saying, you know, is why is this not an agenda item? Are we planning on having a discussion? So, um I I think it deserves some discussion about um I I agree with Mr. Gooleski the um I'm not interested in in talking about the personnel matter itself, but it was the two and a half weeks afterwards and what what parents have the right to know and what they don't have the right to know and and what really constitutes a timely manner. And so I think it's fair that we have that conversation. >> Okay. Any further comments or discussion? >> All right. So the motion on the table is to add a discussion item to our agenda regarding the communication regarding the 51 building incident. >> Mr. Gooleski? >> Yes. >> Mr.
010Campbell? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shaw? >> No. >> Mr. Mr. Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Custodio, >> no. >> I'm a no. Motion carries. >> That item will be >> 3. 3B. >> Yes. 3B. Okay, back to the original motion on the table. Approval of the agenda items for discussion. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. Mr. Goggleski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Campbell? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shaw? >> Yes. >> Mr. Keller? >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott? >> Yes. >> Miss Custodial? >> Yes. >> And I'm a yes. Motion carries. Item 1 C, consent agenda. >> I move that the consent agenda for the December 15th, 2025 year go to meeting be approved. >> Support. >> That was Mr. Keller. Okay. Support by Mr. Campbell, support by Mr. Keller. Any discussion
011on the motion? >> Hearing none. Motion to approve the consent agenda brought forward by Mr. Campbell, supported by Mr. Keller, Mr. Mr. Goleski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Campbell. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shaw. >> Yes. >> Mr. Keller. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes. >> Miss Custodio. >> Yes. >> I'm Yes. Motion carries. >> Item 1D, superintendent report. >> Thank you. [clears throat] I did remind uh Mrs. Coleman that I'm not feeling well. So, if I get up and leave, I'm going for a reason. So, just let you all know. Um, [clears throat] let's bring up uh Daddy. We have a new hire. So, Daddy, if you bring Celeste up. Thank you. Hi. I'm excited to introduce you to um Miss Celeste Church. Um we were interviewing for a first grade position. We have a
012teacher on FMLA and um she had to really wow us for us to give up our long-term sub and she did. We're very excited about her knowledge around MTSS. She's familiar with our assessments and curriculum. She's done a lot of work in um positive behavioral supports and management. And she's a bit of an entrepreneur. Started her own tutoring business. So, she's definitely a go-getter and we're excited to have her. That's it. [snorts] Thank you so much everyone. I'm so excited to be here. [laughter] >> So ends the superintendent report. >> Thank you, Mr. Hughes. Item one E. call to the public. Um there are a couple of cards here that I'm I'm not sure whether or not you're um you're going to speak about the incident at the 51 building. I know we've got a
013um now a discussion item on the agenda to address it, but I just wanted to point out a few things or actually just make a statement ahead [clears throat] of that >> point of order. I think if there's a discussion item uh and members are uh you're addressing it in advance of the discussion item, you're denying members the right to speak on the uh issue and undermining fair debate. >> So noted, I'll refrain. With call to the public, speakers are asked to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of others who may be affected by your comments. Each speaker may be limited to three minutes. I'll hold up this yellow folder at approximately 2 and 1/2 minutes to let you know that your time is almost up. First
014up, we have Mr. Len Patila. Well, Chuck, you did it again. Another Chuck Hughes dumpster fire has landed the district in the news again and not in a good light. Did you ever meet with the news media? They said you were unavailable for comment. If so, why not? Why don't you just do the right thing and resign? Thank you for sharing your concern. If you have any further questions or issues, please feel free to follow up with Mr. Hughes following the meeting. Miss uh Michelle Walker Schaefer. >> Good evening. As you know, I'm fighting for my son's bus stop to be more reasonable for us. I do want to start with I have made prenups for all of you and anybody else in the room that would like a copy. I have copies at my
015table. It is the emails pertaining to lies and things changing and rules changing and things like that from Chuck Hughes, Matt Martino, Sue Miller, and Julie Brown. But that's not my only discussion tonight. I was told by the board, I came to the board because I thought the board could help me because Chuck couldn't help me. I was told to go back to Chuck. So I went back to Chuck Hughes or Chuck Hughes actually reached out to me after the last board meeting and offered me a bus stop at Grumlaw. I live at Faucet and Lats and I'm fighting for a bus out there and I was offered a bus stop 11 and a half miles from my house. So to me that just shows me that he is not listening, maybe concerned or even
016attempting to help me here. That just showed me that he literally just honestly the email I you can see it yourself. It makes no sense. But I'd also like to bring up that he has also offered me a breaking the rules long-term decision that if the girl on the corner that I had discussed, she's not riding the same bus as him, but when he rides her bus next year, he's going to break the rules and make sure that Matt and Sue continue to give my son a bus after the girl stops. stops riding the bus. Okay, so that doesn't make sense. Why can't I have a stop at Grumlaw? Because there is a registered student at Grumlaw. He just doesn't ride the bus. So, we have a registered student that he's going to continue to
017give me the bus stop when this girl gets her license and stops riding and my son doesn't. He gets the stop till he graduates or rid gets his license. But I can't get one over here at Granger because the fifth grader has a fifth grade teacher as a mom. So he's got a ride to school, but there's still a registered student there. So why am I unable to use that stop, but I can be offered later in life to do that at a different stop, just at a later date. So it just really doesn't make any sense that I feel like He's picking and choosing where he actually is going to try to help me versus not try to help me as I'm at the end of the the the bad season of weather coming
018up and I drive my kid to school where I'm probably going to homeschool him for two to three months just to make sure he gets to school. But snow days, I'm a baby. I won't drive in the snow. My kid's going to miss school. He's going to get behind. He has an IEP. school gets $10,000 for his IEP and I can't get him a bus to make sure he stays in school. So, they're going to collect the money. I can't switch schools. I can't get a bus. I can't drive in the snow. And I asked if I switch schools for 6 months and come back to H Heartland. Chuck made sure it was very clear in emails as well. He will not guarantee my son a spot six months from now. There's my points. If
019I asked the board last time, I thought the board was higher than Chuck. I don't know where else to go from here. I have reached out to Joe Joe Jason Wulroof our state representative. If he can't help, I guess I'll just keep climbing the ladder. But I really feel after you read these emails, it's unfair. Thank you, Mrs. Walker, for sharing your concerns. Next up is Jason Schaefer. As you can see, my wife is pretty fired up. I will pass these out. Is that okay? So, as my wife stated as well, we both been at Heartland Schools forever. I do appreciate Chuck sitting down there that one day and and taking our concern, but we were told last time there's really nowhere else to go except for Chuck. So, that's what I did as well.
020I actually sent him a personal email. That email is is here and all we're doing is just asking for basically the original stop back um which is on Granger Road. Like my wife said, it's basically a mile east of our our house, but there is not a registered student there that rides the bus, but there is one in that subdivision. It's a safe spot. Um, so I'm going to read this email December 5th. This was 10 10 days ago. And then nah, I'll give you Chuck's response on here. Chuck, I'd like to know why you could offer a bus stop at the corner of Latin and a faucet to my wife, but you can't offer it 02 miles east of the corner. The only difference I can see between the two is the bus stopped
021hitting that corner, but the other bus stop still hits that corner two miles east of the corner you offered. If it's because there's a student registered at the corner address, there's also a registered student at Granger Subdivision. But these students do not ride the bus ride the farm's bus. The same information applies for both stops. Yet, you're only willing to give her the bus at one location and not the other. This makes absolutely no sense to me. So, please explain why we're still having an issue. What is the real problem with picking our son up at Granger Sub or the corner of Mac and Faucet? It's no difference than you offer. you've already given and we're truly asking for the first original stop back. Thank you, Jason Schaefer. Here's Chuck's response. There has been none.
022Thank you, Mr. Schaefer, for sharing your concerns. Don't know what else I can say. Miss Betty Cho. Good evening. My name is Betty Cho and I come before you tonight wearing a few different hats. I've been a H Heartland parent for the past 12 years and was hired as a teacher in this district in 2015. I had the privilege of teaching both full-time and part-time until this year when I made the difficult decision to step away from the classroom completely because I could no longer commit the time necessary to provide the level of excellence our students deserve. The very best part of my job was never curriculum or content, but the relationships with students, colleagues, and families. I understood very clearly that as a H Heartland teacher, I represented this district at all times, both
023in and out of the classroom. That sense of pride and responsibility will never leave me. I'm also the parent of three Hartland students. My son is a graduate and currently excelling at the University of Michigan and I have two daughters who are students at the high school. Each of my children has succeeded not by accident, but because of the relationships built with teachers and staff who care enough to truly know them. Tonight, my purpose is simple, and that's gratitude. Thank you to our teachers and administrators who give their all day in and day out for our students. I am grateful to Miss Gregory and for the many conversations we've had over the years. Even when we've disagreed, Miss Gregory has consistently demonstrated professionalism, genuine care, and respect. I am grateful to Mr. Hughes who sat
024with me in this very room 11 years ago as we discussed my concerns about enrolling my youngest child in kindergarten early and for the many conversations, some also ending in disagreement, that we've had since then. My daughter is grateful as well as she feels genuinely heard by Mr. Mr. Hughes during his meetings with the high school student advisory committee. Thank you, Miss Coleman, for your leadership of the high school pack. Thank you, Miss Shaw, for your countless contributions to the H Heartland community. There are too many to name individually, but your positive impact is felt. Mr. Campbell, thank you for taking so much time to listen to parent concerns with no other agenda than to help make H Heartland an even better place to be. Miss Custodio, thank you for always putting students and teachers
025first, for keeping the focus where it belongs on our kids, and for being a role model who exemplifies what is right about this community. To the remaining board members, while I have not personally volunteered directly with you, I am grateful that during your terms, you've investigated every possible scenario in which Hartland might be doing something wrong. Each time, finding that Hartland does in fact operate with transparency, integrity, and truth. This district is not perfect, but no district is. There is a reason that H Heartland students thrive in athletics, academics, arts, and beyond, and it starts with relationships. Attacking fellow board members, administrators, or community community members who disagree with you, whether directly or through others, runs counter to everything Hartland stands for. Reason, respect, and responsibility. They're not just words on that wall, but they
026are a way of life. And I thank each of you for remembering that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cho. So ends call to the public. Item 2 A, 2026 27 high school and legacy HVA curriculum guides. >> I move that the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent and the assistant superintendent of curriculum approves the 26 202627 high school and legacy HVA curriculum guides as presented. >> Second. >> Motion by Mrs. Shaw, supported by Miss Custodio. Any discussion on the motion? What happened in building reports? >> Oh, it wasn't on the agenda. I guess we >> should be one F. >> What's that? >> It's one F. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I don't have it on my detailed agenda, which is what I follow >> with all the motions on it. So,
027it's not on the detailed agenda. >> My apologies. [clears throat] We've got this motion on the table. Let's um let's take that because it's on the table and then we can backtrack. Any discussion on the motion to approve the high school curriculum guides? I'd just like to say thank you to James and Nicole and their teams for putting it together um for all the changes. You made it easy to review and easy to understand. Um I hope that if you guys had any questions that you reached out to them. Um but it seemed um fairly clear and concise for me in my review. All right, hearing no further discussion. Again, the motion on the table brought forward by Mrs. Shaw, supported by Miss Custodio, 2026 27 high school and legacy HVA curriculum guides. >> Mr.
028Gogleski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Campbell? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shaw? >> Yes. >> Mr. Keller? >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott? >> Yes. >> Miss Custodial? Yes, >> I'm a yes. Motion carries. Item two. Oh, we'll go back. >> So, item 1 F was not on the detailed agenda. My apologies for missing that building reports. Mr. Goleski, would you like to start? >> I would. Thank you so much because I was getting nervous because I've got a lot to report. I had a wonderful visit today over at farms and spoke with uh Mrs. Briski and Mr. Urick and lot of good things going on. In fact, so much I'm going to be pretty quick about this uh uh in terms of some of the highlights. Um the farms community recently collected cereal boxes for adopt a
029family. They gathered over 540 boxes. That's great. um a two-day hat fundraiser held in December, the community contributed another 14 $413 to further support adopt a family. So, there's a really good effort at that school to uh reach out to the community. Um Emma Stolman had the fifth and sixth graders have a vocal concert and under the direction of Amy Tennis, the fifth and sixth graders are going to have a band concert tomorrow and one in January. On December 17th, um, everyone here should get hungry for wings because on Wednesday, December 17th, Buffalo Buffalo Wild Wings is having a band fundraiser and 20% of the total bill will be donated back to farms, back to the farms ban program. And again, thank you to Buffalo Wild Wings. and we are blessed with a lot of
030uh community businesses that really do contribute quite a bit. Um the PTO um for the uh annual turkey trot and successful holiday shop is now going to uh provide the teachers with lunch on Friday. So that that ought to be good. I had a chance to visit the STEM lab and unfortunately my timing was off and I didn't get to see it in action and didn't see Mr. Anderson, but it's an impressive place. So, if you ever get a chance to uh go to the school, bop your head in there. It's really great. And one thing I found out that farms has, and I had no idea that this actually took place, there is a gentleman, a retiree, who donates his own time, Mr. Aaron Croft. He's a volunteer who comes in once or twice
031a week to coach some foosball tournaments in the cafeteria during lunchtime. I met the guy and it was just incredible. We he he he just beams about doing it and he it's totally a volunteer thing and and the kids love it and he uh he gets kids to talk and communicate and get off their electronic devices and it's really wonderful and congratulations to him. I mean that's that's very impressive. Um the last thing I want to touch on robotics this is a big big thing that uh touches my heart. We had a report from Jennifer uh Solarius who was the H Heartland Robotics FTC administrator that uh a few students kind of shined over the weekend. Jack Gray and Lucas Reed Pero of the 5290 Steel Eagles were in Moskegan and the Steel Eagles were
032an innovate award finalist. their robot shine this year with a unique swerve drivetrain. The only one in the tournament. I don't know what a swerve drivetrain is, but I want one. I really do. Good job, guys. James Naylor of 5957 Sonic Eagles was in Grand Blank. Um, he earned enough advancement points to solidify a ticket to a premier event which will be held in the summer of 2026. This is the first time a H Heartland team has earned a special spot in the premier event. Way to go, Sonic Eagles. And lastly, Jackson Good and Alan Shearer of the 15104 Static Eagles were in Moskegan. They earned second place overall and wowed the judges to earn first place think award. Great job, Jackson and Ellen. Really good. The team brings home one of nine advancements to
033the first championships in Houston, Texas in April. That is really big and that's very near and dear to my heart because the first Hartland Lego League team met in my basement. So, I'm glad to hear how that program has just ballooned and expanded throughout the district. Good job. With that, I'm done. >> Thank you, Mr. Goleski. Mr. Campbell, >> my apologies. No report this month. >> Right. Thank you, Mrs. Shaw. >> Um, well, my report really is centered around um adopt a family. So, not only did farms do an amazing job collecting cereal, um, but we had pallets and pallets and pallets of food delivered to this building last Thursday from all of our buildings that collected syrup and pancake mix and peanut butter and jelly. Um, I don't have the count of the cans
034at the high school, but it was in the thousands. um lots of hat days and I'm proud to say that you know I think we've raised a couple thousand dollars from hat day. Um this year the Optimus Club is supporting 89 families and about 300 children and that could not happen without the support of the extra work that our teachers and administrators and parents put in and u Mrs. Gregory and Mr. Hughes and many teachers and lots of volunteers um will make sure that those 300 children have a great Christmas this year. So, thanks to everybody that had a hand in it or a donation um or you know, put in time to make it happen. Um it's awesome that we can make sure that our everyone, you know, gets to have an enjoyable holiday.
035And um they will also take home boxes of food thanks to all of the food drives. So, I just want to acknowledge everybody that's had a a piece of that and including all of our buildings. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Keller. >> All right. So, this week at uh Lakes is spirit week. I think that's pretty consistent amongst some of the other buildings. So, hope hopefully the kids can participate in that. Um just want to highlight a couple of needs that were expressed um for the STEM lab. They're looking for some boxes and cardboard tubes. Not It's very specific though, not the Amazon boxes because they're a little too thick to cut. So, you got to do the uh the cracker boxes, cookie boxes, things a little easier for the kids to cut. Um in
036the art supply category, we need some styrofoam egg cartons and newspaper. So, if anybody's got those items, please uh be kind enough to donate them. And then of course probably needs no reminder, but obviously Friday is the last day before Christmas break, holiday break. Um, also want to point out there is a a fundraiser at Chipotle this Thursday. So if you um if you order from Chipotle on the 18th and I think there's a a specific code you have to mention and you can uh have some of those proceeds get donated to the the Lakes team. So, hope hopefully you'll help out with that. Um, community ed building. There's uh the current trash to treasure sale which is raising money for um the folks at Legacy High School. Um, want to give a quick shout
037out to Stephanie Darish for helping set up everything uh coordinate all the donations for that program. So, thank you to Stephanie for that. And then also wanted to note that the H Heartland Gymnastics Academy uh they competed at um the gym on the Grand. It's a gymnastics meet I think in Grand Rapids if I'm not mistaken. And so we had quite a bit of success there. The the silver team got third place. Platinum team took second place. Uh level three got second place. Level four team got second place. Level six got first place. Level seven got first place. Level eight got took home third. And then there was also nine gymnasts that were in level seven and eight that qualified for event finals. So it was a big honor for those kids. So again, congratulations
038to everybody that [laughter] uh participated and you know as well to the uh the coaches that helped make that happen. So ends my report. >> Thank you Mr. Keller and Mr. Scott. >> So, since uh our last meeting was not well attended, I'll rehash what I said at that meeting and um that was about Or Creeks um host the reaching higher program and uh it's an amazing program. We have uh some folks in the room have participated. We have a mentor and there at least one mentor in the room. Um and it's a fantastic program and the message that Reaching Higher wants to get out is they're looking for more schools. So, you know, we have folks in the room who know educators in other districts, administrators in other districts. Spread the word, make a
039phone call, send an email, tell them how great the program is, and let's try to help more students um be exposed to uh to great opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Scott. Miss Custodio. >> Yeah. So, um, Village PTO had a successful Santa shop and then they just had an amazing craft show where, um, they had a lot of people from the community come in. It was extremely successful. So, hats off to the PTO for all their hard work. >> Awesome. Thank you. Um, I haven't been able to connect with with Mr. uh, Fitzgerald because we were going to meet on the snow day, but we're going to meet later this week. Um, but I know that, um, with respect to adopt a family, um, I know the school, of course, as all the
040schools in the district are assigned specific food items to bring in, but what's cool is that some of the sports teams also get in on it. So, um I know the basketball teams, um each of them, the the boys teams, I don't know if the girls teams did too, um but I know the boys teams, the freshman JV and varsity teams each adopted a family, which was cool because then the boys they raised the money by shooting free throws and then they they got to go with the help of an assortment of parents. Um they got to go to Target and actually shop for the families. So, um, kind of cool, you know, full circle experience getting them to, you know, contribute and know what it's like to be able to help out and, uh,
041and all that. So, that was a very cool experience. Um, I know that, um, finals, that's the big thing for for all of our high school students. Um, it's, uh, it's big deal. Lots of studying. Coco and Cram I think was rescheduled for our freshmen. Um, it was today and then, um, because that was going to be on the snow day as well. But um lots of studying going on and hopefully some successful finals this week. Um that's all I have for my report. Now back to our regularly scheduled agenda. Item 2B is where we left off. Bus purchase 2020 bond. I move that the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent and the director of operations approves the bus purchase as presented. support. >> Okay. Motion by Mrs. Shaw, supported by Mr.
042Campbell. Bus purchase. Any discussion on the motion. All right. Thank you to Rachel and to Matt for answering any questions and providing the information for us in advance. Hearing no further discussion. >> Just real quick so those in the room have an idea what we're on. It's um total of uh five buses 161 five a piece for a total of 807469 just so everybody knows what the vote is. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Hearing no further discussion. Okay. and motion for bus purchase 2020 bond brought forward by Mrs. Shaw supported by Mr. Campbell. Mr. Gooleski, >> yes. >> Mr. Campbell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shaw, >> yes. >> Mr. Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Custodio, >> yes. >> I'm Yes. Motion carries. Moving on to item 2C, electric purchase amendment.
043I move that the board of education upon the recommendation of the chief financial officer and consultant executive energy services authorizes the superintendent or chief financial officer to amend our current contract with CM CMS Energy for the purchase of electric supply at a price not to exceed. kilowatts an hour. >> Support. >> Okay. Okay. Motion by Mr. Campbell, supported by Mrs. Shaw. Any discussion on the motion? Actually, Mr. Hughes, would you or Rachel like to just kind of provide a little context here? >> I'll let Rachel. >> I have the voice, so I'll I'll I'll take this one for you. Um, yeah. So, this was uh um you know, unfortunately, we just found out about this Friday late afternoon and didn't get the information um on the actual pricing until Tuesday. Um but our current uh
044energy purchase agreement um which doesn't start until June of 2026, um the request came to um bump that price because of two factors. Um well mainly the trigger was the legislation changed that required now 50% of suppliers I'm sorry suppliers must comply with 50 that 50% of energy be um derived from renewable sources. When we originally signed our agreement uh it provided for only 25% to come from renewable sources. And so, um, CMS has the opportunity to expand their solar capacity, um, and still take advantage of the investment tax credit from the federal government, which is going away in June of 2026. So, they must break ground on this project prior to then in order to take advantage of this um, of this investment tax credit. And therefore the cost to them to build this
045additional uh uh solar array um will be cheaper if it if we move on it now and they have the capacity to do that now. So that's that's the um uh the the purpose of the request for the amendment um you know when you when you look at the cost and the price increase um it's looking like about 20 uh additional $28,000 per year. Um, but again, that's taking that risk off the table of what could happen down the road if we say, "No, we're not going to sign this agreement." But then things could happen down the road where they still have to build that additional solar capacity and they could pass that cost on to us at at a much higher cost. Um, we've had quite a bit of conversation. I feel like this
046has consumed my life for the last week. Um, we've had quite a bit of conversation with our consultant. I met with Greg on Friday. We three of us um well four of us, Greg, myself and uh two of our consultants um hashed out some uh further questions today. Um and so that is the recommendation at this time is to um approve this price increase now uh to kind of ward off any major price adjustment down the road. >> Thank you for that. Greg, do you have anything to add? Yeah, I wanted to say thanks to Rachel because I know she spent a lot of time on it obviously with her and I having conversations plus with the consultant and you know to try to get the rest of the information for the board. Um you
047know initially I had some reservations or some concerns just because it kind of felt like it was a them coming in last minute sort of taking advantage of a what I would call a legal loophole, right? that, as Rachel touched on, takes the renewable rate from 25, sorry, from what is currently at 15 to to go up to 50%, the statute already said 25, so it was going to increase the amount of renewable energy that um the suppliers needed to utilize. Um and and I think we also talked about potentially down the road looking at how can we as a district reduce our energy demand so that you know we could find some offsets and there's maybe some potential opportunities as well with selling some of the the credits because again the law currently states
048that it's needs to be at least 15. If we're already at 25, then there's some potential credits that possibly could be monetized to help offset some of those additional costs. So overall, you know, at the end of the day, I think it's still maybe it was a great deal. Today, it's still a very good deal. So overall, I think I'm still in favor of, as Rachel mentioned, sort of locking in long-term stability and, you know, not having to uh potentially pay double or triple rates down the road. We we can't predict what what um brilliance may come from lancing. So I think for what we know today, we it be prudent to to take the deal. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Keller. Any further discussion? >> Yeah. Um, Rachel, I give you credit for going
049through this because utilities can be more volatile than crypto and commodities and who knows where it's going to go. So, uh, thanks for taking the time on that. Appreciate it. >> And [snorts] also just thank you for keeping the board updated over the last week or two. Um, because uh, as as the committee knows, we don't get the agenda till Thursday. sometimes late Thursday and so it's hard to try and get all the questions answered and understand you know something like this in a short period of time. So I thank Rachel for reaching out in advance giving us a heads up so that when it got in front of us we kind of knew what we were looking at. So thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion? >> All right. Motion on the
050table. Electric purchase purchase amendment brought forward by Mr. Campbell supported by Mrs. Shaw. Mr. Goggleski, >> yes. >> Mr. Campbell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shaw, >> yes. >> Mr. Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Custodio, >> yes. >> I'm a yes. Motion carries. Item 2D, HFSA contract extension. >> I move that the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent and the chief financial officer approves the H Heartland Food Service Association contract extension as presented. support >> motion by Miss Custodio, supported by Mr. Keller. Any discussion on the HFSA contract extension? >> I do want to tell the board that, you know, we work really hard to make sure that we're in touch with our um employees on a regular basis, make sure we're treating them fairly. And this is
051just another instance where um our team has some concerns. we able to sit down with them and I want to thank Rachel and Lisa Archie for really spearheading to make sure that we captured what it is it was going to help them with some anxiety they had and we were able to get to this point. So I don't know Rachel if you want to say anything. >> Um no I think you pretty much covered it. this this um you know like like Chuck had mentioned it it um you know there was a lot of concern with having to face a mid-year uh pay cut um because of the uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the um free meal program. Um so this this extension uh addresses that um off payment off-schedule payment um rolls that into
052the salary schedule so that we don't have to face that um uncertainty going forward and also gives them a bump and an extension. Um additionally our our current salary schedule was not in compliance with the minimum wage law uh for next February. Uh so this this takes care of both both concerns. um at the same time. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> And um just to just to say too um the food service workers rarely do we ever talk about them or kind of give them maybe the credit they're due. They're kind of unsung heroes. So um they're the ones that feed our kids. So important stuff. >> Good point. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right. HFSA contract extension brought forward by Miss Custodio. Supported by Mr. Keller. Mr. Goleski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Campbell?
053>> Yes. >> Mrs. Shaw? >> Yes. >> Mr. Keller? >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott? >> Yes. >> Miss Custodio? >> Yes. >> I'm a yes. Motion carries. >> Okay. Item 3A, Foya fees for discussion. Um, this was a followup uh request from Mr. Scott. Uh following our last meeting, um subsequent to the last meeting, um uh Mr. Hughes uh met with our uh districts, the district's attorney to discuss the FOYA fee, the rates that we have. Um Mr. Hughes provided um some information to the board about that discussion and about the rationale behind each of those rates. And it was determined that we would then reduce the rate for the uh the copy services the copying um which was a huge point of contention uh a huge point of discussion I should say in the
054previous meeting um that rate has been reduced I don't know the exact number um right now in front of me but I know that it is now equal to the lowest salary the lowest paid secretary the lowest that lowest rank So um in the district um so what I had asked Renee to provide to um to the board was a list of all the FOYA requests that have come in in the last calendar year so that we would have some type of context um to be able to um feed the discussion here. Um out of those FOYA requests, four of them have been fully processed and paid. Um, and those four, uh, we also included the FOYA, um, the fee itemization sheets for those four that have been processed. Um, again, I just wanted to
055give provide some context so that you could, um, have a feel for what the the charges were, what it looked like, how how the the difference in that rate may be affected. Um, one item or one part of Mr. Scott's request when he asked to add this to the agenda was to discuss a potential uh, refund. um to those people who had um who had already paid. So that's why I wanted to provide that information for you as well. Um I think that's all I wanted to cover. Mr. Scott, did you want to >> Yeah, I I'll kind of give you my two cents on why I wanted to add this. You know, after last meeting, anyone who's here or watched it, the board heard a foyer appeal. Um I I was the appellant, so
056I can speak firsthand on it. I was quoted um just shy of $5,000 for some parent perception survey data. And I did um highlight the fact that the hourly rate for making copies was 56 or $58. Um but that's not the only rate that was out of line. The rate for locating and retrieving documents was over $85. I think $86. redacting $56. And so, you know, my concern is that the the district is not acting in good faith in issuing some of these uh FOYA itemization forms and certainly not acting in the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law is transparency. Um there was one uh item, one foyer request from last year for emails related documents related to uh the closed dooror DOJ meeting that this body held on August 19th. I
057believe it was August 19th. I was the requester on that as well prior to being on the board. Uh obviously close session meeting notes are are not foyable but I just put a FOYA in for any documents that were used to present at that meeting emails to prepare for the meeting. So, um, I I was presented with a FOYA fee estimate that said it would take our IT director compensation nearly $200,000 a year, $125 to search for emails for one meeting. That is not a good faith estimate. that is not um in the spirit of transparency. Those types of estimates are are generated to discourage and dissuade members of the public from having access to public information. We are a public school district funded by public tax dollars. Um, a a parent reached out to
058me um and and shared a foyer estimate from a few years ago. They were they asked for Amazon history, Amazon payment history and we're quoted 84 hours to pull the districts. And now anybody, it's literally you click the time frame and the account and you can download it into Excel. Um, it's it's no different for most people at home than than for commercial. 84 hours to pull an Amazon history. Now, by law, the district has to publish a check register every month or every every annually. We we see the check register here every month, but it gets annually published to the um district website. That's a transparency law in Michigan. But you can, you know, purchase thousands of items on Amazon or on a credit card and then just publish that you made a credit
059card payment or you made a published a payment to Amazon and then those financials are are concealed from public scrutiny. So when a parent asks to see the Amazon purchase history and is told you have to pay for 84 hours of someone's time to pull that data, that again that's not in the spirit of the law. That's not a good faith estimate. So that is is my concern when it comes to the quantity the number of hours that are that are being quoted. Again, I believe to dissuade these requests to um to prevent people from um putting in requests or even uh following through. As President Coleman said, uh last year in the last year, we had about 25 requests and only about four were filled because some of them are, you know, $500, $200,
060$300. You know, >> Mr. Scott, I'm sorry. just to clarify that many of them were filled, but only four were paid for. Some of those were fulfilled without payment. >> Fair enough. Um $700, $4,000. And I I've talked to a lot of parents who and community members who just have have submitted foyas over the years and um got these really high bills and and and now they just don't even want to ask for information which is which is sad. Um, so when we look at the rates that other other entities are charging around the state, I did a quick search online just for any any municipality, school district that published their rates because a lot of districts put out their rates very transparently, very clearly. So when you get your FOY estimate, there's no where
061did you get your number from? um Novi their highest um computer related technology related hourly rate $2846. Ours was85 something we'll call it $85. Uh East Grand Rapids they charge $35.66 an hour for everything. They just have this is our rate. This is what we charge. Um, I used Grand Rapids Public Schools last week. Again, their administrative assistant price, which was for making copies, $182. Their uh it $4329. So, half of what we charge. And so, it just, and I'm not cherry-picking these. I literally went to find anything I could on transparent FOYA rates. Now the way the law is written is that um the district should be charging the lowest rate of the rate of the um lowest rate of the employee capable of performing the duty. And so what we've heard at this
062table and what people have been told is that only our IT director is capable of searching emails. Now, we have um what seven or eight full-time IT personnel plus a couple part-time. We have one, two, three, four, five network administrators who are apparently none of them capable of doing email searches even though Google management and we use Google as our platform is cited under their um job description. So, we have five network administrators, none of whom are capable of searching emails. And it what we've been told at this table before is well, it's only the person I'm going to allow to search emails. The law doesn't say you charge the rate of whoever you will allow to do the work. It it's the person capable. I guarantee we have we have a fantastic IT team.
063We have great smart individuals, highly trained who I guarantee are capable of performing this work and I I I would almost guarantee they can search emails for one meeting in less than 120 whatever hours. Um, so that's that's a problem. We're not transparent with our fees. We're we're we're overestimating hours obviously um not in the spirit of the of the law. So, you know, my goal tonight is to try to figure out a solution. Two years ago, uh, President Coleman's predecessor, we had these same issues at the table, and President Coleman's predecessor promised, um, a review, an audit, and that never came to fruition. One other thing we've been told is that the reason it takes 125 hours to search emails is you have to go into each individual staff person's email box and search
064and then go to the next one and search and you have to search 500 email boxes. I confirmed today or yesterday that is not true. We use something called Google Vault which is Google's compliance software and you can do global searches. you can download it into Excel or PDF um with with one search it searches everybody's email address. So this explanation that we have to search 500 different email boxes it's going to take 125 hours just is not true. So I I think the public deserves some answers. I think they deserve some transparency. I don't know where we go from here whether it's the board needing to step in on policy um but I'm interested to hear what other people think. Thank you. Any further comments, Mr. Keller, Mr. Campbell? >> Mr. Goalleski. >> So,
065do we want to maybe make this a uh policy meeting issue or the next policy meeting trying to come up with a draft of uh what legally can be charged and how it should be charged? I I would support that currently the policy I don't know that I have it with me. There's a policy in place that refers to um FOYA and how the um how the it doesn't say specifically what the procedures are, but it refers to uh public documents or something like that. I can't remember the name. Um, so that is that is a policy that we could definitely take a look at and put on the agenda for the next policy committee meeting. Um, it would be great to have a draft of something to consider um to either modify or um
066or if if there's a a proposed additional policy um we would need something to consider going into that meeting. results are our FOYA policies and procedures guidelines which you know haven't been updated since the last FOYA change FOYA law change to my understanding. So we could look at opening that up as well. I'm sorry, which a policy >> or FOYA guidelines? >> Oh, the Okay, the procedures. I thought you said the policy. >> Well, the procedures are more administrative level, right? We set the policy and Chuck and his team then establish the procedures to meet the policy. So, if we if we modify the policy, then there may be a needed change for those procedures as well. But I think one one would definitely have to happen before the other. I also wanted to ask
067Oh, no. Sorry. Go ahead. >> Go ahead. Finish your thought. >> Okay. Um, I also wanted to ask the examples that you that you brought forward, Mr. Scott, the 125 hours. Um, how was that foyer request written? Like what what exactly was requested? And I guess you don't necessarily have to read it verbatim for me. It's >> it's really brief. I'm happy to read it. Um, all right. So, this was in regards to the um the close session meeting that this board had on August 19th, 2024 to review to discuss entering into an agreement with the federal department of justice. Um, if you recall, that was, you know, the there wasn't very much transparency with with the the the parents, community members. Um, and >> I'm just curious how the how the the request was
068written. >> Copies of all records brought into or discussed at the close session on 8:19. Copies of all documents and records used in preparing the close session on 8:19. copies of email correspondence originating for board members or staff in preparation for the close session on 8:19. And so that was one meeting documents uh 125 hours that was that was just for the locating that didn't get in you know redacting and copying was going to be another week of somebody's time. >> Thank you. Um and then regarding >> in addition to the 125 hours to be clear there's another um yeah another 10 12 hours of copying. >> Thank you. And then I had a question also regarding the the other FOYA example you mentioned regarding Amazon history. Um, was that assuming and I don't know
069the answer to this if there are multiple Amazon accounts within the district or if the district has one and I don't know if your FOYA request um considered that um or if you were aware that there was more than one which might involve more searching. >> Yeah. Again, that was not my request. That was something a community member passed on to me >> when they saw this on the agenda. >> Okay. Um because again it would also depend on how the request is written as to exactly what they're looking for or how wide or deep the search would have to go. That's I was just looking for perspective there. >> I I can tell you I did review their foyer request and they actually provided example of exactly how to prepare the report. So it
070said open AWS, click on such and such, go to history dates, you know, download to Excel. That's how detailed and and that's common with um foyer requests especially um you know when I have submitted foyer requests for say like Facebook settings or something that's very common. You'll just give instructions to the FOYA coordinator of exactly how they get to that report. So there's no there's no back and forth of where am I supposed to find this report. So this foyer request gave very detailed instructions on how to pull the Amazon history three or four steps to take and they were quoted uh 80 84 hours. >> Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Is it worth reaching out to Niola just to see what they have already as a potential starting point if we go
071down a policy route? Maybe that would be a first. I mean, I imagine it says something like follow [snorts] the law, but but I'm sure there's a few things beyond that. >> Yeah, which I I think that's the basic gist of the existing policy that we have regarding public records, I think, is the name of the policy. um that yeah, basically it says whatever the law is is what we need to do and that um the superintendent will establish a pol or procedure or something to that effect. Um but yes, we can we can definitely reach out to um our Neola [clears throat] rep to see if they've if there's a a secondary policy, a more detailed policy or something else further with respect to FOYA and then I think I don't know if it's
072a Neola question, but and I know we've already gotten some guidance from legal, but I I I do tend to agree with Mr. Scott that I think there's room for improvement on some of the fees that we charge. I know from personal experience dealing with either other districts or other public entities that offer, you know, you have the opportunity to foyer. A lot of times you can call them and say, "Hey, this is what I'm asking for." And I think I've only end up paying for one FOYA of the ones I've ever submitted. So, a lot of times they're just giving it to you because, you know, you live in the district and you're asking for something and you're a taxpayer. So, I I think maybe potentially something between that and where we're at is
073maybe where we need to be. >> Yeah. And it it also stipulates in in our procedures document that if it's takes less than 15 minutes, then there's no cost. So that's why a lot of these that were on that sheet that Renee provided were, you know, provided a link to the website or whatever. Yeah, there's no cost associated with those. Um so uh our next steps then from this discussion is I will reach out to our Neil rep um to see if there is a foye policy or some type of skeleton that he can give us to work from and then from there we can put it on the agenda for our policy committee meeting uh the next one that we have coming up. >> I just want I want to say one more thing
074because I don't have the estimate in front of me. I am not positive it was 84 hours or 84 15 minute increments but in either case it was somewhere between 20 hours and 80 hours. I'm trying to look to confirm but I don't have it but I just want to make that point in case that is increments because I have it as a note not as the actual estimate. >> Thank you for clarifying. >> Is there anything further on this discussion item? Okay, moving on to item 2B, 51, building discussion. I'd like to kick it off with what I had intended to state earlier. Um I was anticipating that there would be some speakers to um some call to the public regarding this the incident that took place at the 51 building around Thanksgiving. Um
075the teacher was confronted as soon as administration was aware of the situation and she resigned immediately. The district administration treated the incident as a personnel issue and communicated following such protocol as no credible threat against the children was perceived. Subsequent to the first communication sent to the classroom parents administration did request that a Livingston County deputy review the situation and the photo. At that time, it was determined there was no criminal activity to warrant an investigation. Since then, the district has worked with their deputy to file a police report. The district also sent out a communication, a second communication to the same classroom parents. Any further investigation into this incident is now in the hands of the Livingston County Sheriff's Office. President Coleman, I believe we have a gentleman in the room who maybe didn't
076have a chance to submit his card. >> I'm sorry. >> Uh I I'm going to move that we suspend the rules to allow the gentleman to speak. >> Support we need to vote on that motion, sir. Um, >> I don't know what the call to the public policy is. Is that the one that we have to wave policy on? >> I believe it reads that you have >> prior to the commencement of call to public. >> Correct. >> But but Mr. Scott put a motion on the table to wave that policy. >> Right. I'm capturing that. So, and I supported it. >> We've done we've done it in the past. >> So, motion to wave of policy regarding call to the public >> to allow parent to speak >> to allow a community member to
077speak after call to the public. Yeah, I would propose that we just allow him to speak now. >> I agree, but I believe we have to take a vote. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, motion on the table is to wave policy regarding call to the public to allow a community member to speak after call to the public has ended. Motion was brought forth by Mr. Scott, seconded by Mr. Keller. Any discussion on the motion >> hearing? None. Mr. Goleski. >> Based on past president, yes. >> Mr. Campbell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shaw, >> yes. >> Mr. Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Custodio, >> yes. >> I'm a yes. Motion carries. All right, Mr. Community Member. >> All the same Oh, sorry. All the same guidelines still apply. You get three
078minutes and I'll be able to I'll I'll give you this at two and a half minutes. >> Um before you start, um since there is a normally a card filled out with a name, your name is >> My name is Joey Stinson. My son was one of those students in the classroom. Um, so first of all, I'm not here because of what happened in the classroom. I think I was handled well. Uh, she was terminated or or resigned as you said. That's the right call. What bugged me was for like 17 and a half days I was taking my kid to school and had no idea that an incident occurred like that. And that's what like bugs me the most. It's I understand school systems are a lot of moving parts. You can't control everybody.
079There's all these things, but I'm responsible for my child. I like went through a custody battle to get 50% custody of him. I love this thing. Like can't believe how much I could ever love something. And I feel like I'm responsible for all aspects of him. What he's influenced by is what's running. An incident occurred in the classroom concerning my child and nobody told me about it. How am I supposed to trust people? How am I supposed to trust that the school is not doing that about anything and everything? I know it's a one-off incident. I know it's an extreme incident, but at the same time, it's like, wait, wait. So instead of telling me the truth, just being like, "Yo, the teacher did something. It was inappropriate. We can't specify as what's going on.
080Do an internal investigation, but something happened. We handled it this way. When more information becomes available or we can release it to you, absolutely." But instead, you kept me in the dark for two weeks and all I find out through a letter completely contradictory to the first letter that this incident occurred and you guys basically filtered it through like a legal prism. You made it so that like it came across. Everything about that letter was worded in a way that covered your ass. You know, I didn't feel like you were looking out for I didn't feel like you were looking out for my kid at all. I mean, he's four years old. We I chose this school. I'm in Fenton. His mom's in How we had conversations. We almost went to court over these conversations.
081I believed in Harland. I was like, "Let's do it." My mom works at the middle school in Fenton, so I know everything that goes on. And it was really hard to like choose to put him here. Four months in and all a sudden we're dealing with an incident. not the teacher, the communication. I just want to know my son's safe. I want to know that the people who are watching him during the day are making correct decisions that are in his best interest. You know what I mean? I'm sure you can all relate to that as parents, as people who care about the development of children and getting them to college or their careers. You know, just again, first impression of the district is, "Oh, great. $5,000 foyer fees and you're not going to tell
082me the truth about something until you're legally prepared to." Awesome. Appreciate that. All right, that's it. Thank you. [snorts] Any further discussion, >> Mr. Keller? >> Yeah, I appreciate the some of the information that was shared. Again, I I wanted initially I, you know, if anyone's uncomfortable having this conversation, I'll remind you that, you know, we did take a vote to go into close session to talk a little bit about the incident and potential ramifications in terms of accountability, but um again, I feel like we we need to do better. And I know there's concerns that, you know, some of us are only here to find fault, which, you know, I kind of take issue with that statement. I you know I think some of some on this board you know I'll speak for myself
083you know part of being up here I I had requested that the board add things like building reports which are intended to not only highlight the good things that happen in the district but it's also to to develop relationships with you know the team that you know it doesn't necessarily sit up here but does a lot of the hard work behind the scenes and you know I think it's it's kind of unfort fortunate event that you know many in the community feel that things were being hidden from them and you know again I I think as a board we need to find ways to and I don't know that policies I don't think you can put a policy around something like this necessarily because you know every situation's different and and I I I trust
084and I appreciate that the team does the best that they think they can or they do what they think is best in the situation. and and I think for the most part that that was that's what happened. Again, I'm looking for maybe Mr. Hughes to, you know, come to the table at the next meeting perhaps with some ideas on ways that collectively we can communicate better to our community, to our staff, to the parents, sort of everybody involved >> And to the board. Thank you, Mr. Kogleski. So again, that's that's why I want to have this discussion. I don't know what what everyone else's inputs or thoughts are on it, but again, we can do better and I and I know we will. >> One of the things that I'd like to thank you, Mr.
085Keller, but I' I'd also like to bring up the fact that whenever you have an incident where you're actually losing an employee for disciplinary action, at some point the child somewhere is going to ask their parent, "What happened to Mrs. So and so what happened to Mr. So ando? Those parents in turn are going to look for answers. They may call the school. The school may not give them information and sometimes they go directly to the board and they ask us and then when we have to say, "Oh, I didn't even know that that happened." That does not look good on the district. It doesn't. And one thing that I think we need to establish are some clear parameters in terms of when the board is informed of certain things. I'm not even looking for
086full-blown details or investigations, just a heads up because when I'm contacted by members of the community and they think because I'm on the board, oh, you must have access to everything. No, of course not. And we don't have access to basic things like issues where somebody has left the school and their kids's not going to see them again. What happened? Why is this so? It brings up suspicion. It brings up divisiveness. This is something we have to work on and work on. Now, >> um I appreciate what both of you guys have said about better communication. Um the board was notified of the incident on November 25th. I think we got an email um and it was as you said just a heads up to let us know that there was an incident that took
087place. So we we were informed um >> to to [snorts] clarify in fairness that was about the extent of the notification. >> There was an incident. >> Correct. It was as Mr. Goleski said just a heads up. Um, so there um there is obviously room for some improvement. We can we can talk about that, but um it's it's not completely uh as black and white as some may lead others to believe that there there is there is information that that is shared and has been shared. Um but I do I do take your point that yes, improvement could happen. Any other comments? Anybody else want to go before I do? >> Yeah. I don't know how we draft something that uh the four corners of a document can say when notification needs to go out
088to us to the community in transparency. Um and this really got traction because it introduces two very frightening things into a school which is firearms and um implications of safety concerns to students. Um which is why I think that it's it's it's such a big thing now. So I don't know. I like Mr. Keller's idea to leave it up to Mr. Hughes, not to put you on the spot, but if you bring something to us, it's going to let the community know clearly um when they will be informed and it's also going to protect uh administration too, so they know when that's expected of them, which so I think it's fair across the board to move forward uh in the next 30 days to get something kind of locked down for what we can move
089forward with and then improve on that as we go along. And the other thing too, I I think that when you have an employee that's been dismissed, um there's questions that even I as a board member I I want to know, geez, hm, what what happened here? But something to that level, to that extent, I think is important enough for us to know um to have a heads up on. If somebody is disciplined, I want to make sure that when I'm questioned about um discipline issues, I don't need to know the details, nor would I give the details out, but I can reassure that the situation has been handled. It's been taken care of. It's been looked at. And we're we're all on the same page, not giving different answers, not not fumbling our thumbs
090and trying to be diplomatic and and and so on. I I think it's important that we have that. I honestly don't think it's going to be that hard to set some parameters. I really don't. Um you mentioned, m Mr. Campbell about things involving guns, firearms, any kind of trick tricky buzzword like that that makes a parent fear the utmost. That's the kind of thing that is worthy of of news. Um, it doesn't have to be a full-blown report. It doesn't have to be a 4-hour conversation, just a little heads up. Um, we had someone removed for saying something really not smart and be aware of it. Okay. I I don't think that's a a tall order. I don't >> I um I haven't researched the our existing policies to see but I would bet that
091there may be um something in our policies already existing that says when certain things should be at least like when the board should be notified about something and um I don't know if there if it goes into I don't know that policy would go into the level of detail um regarding like when um different items are communicated to the public from the administration, Mr. Hughes, >> it would fall under workplace safety and then there's um for each of the professional unit, right? That's 30 each of the different groups in the support unit and so on. >> Okay. Um I'd recommend then that we take a look at that policy. Um I don't know. Um, [clears throat] I suppose Mr. Keller, since you brought this forward as a discussion item, would you want to take a
092look at the policy to see if there's something that you would want to add or if there's an existing or if there's an additional policy that you would want to somehow incorporate or um, >> yeah, I'm happy to do that. Initially tried to meet with Mr. Hughes, but given his health, we were not able to connect prior to the call or to tonight's meeting. So, >> perfect. >> Happy to take a rain check when he's feeling 100%. >> Yeah, >> I' I'd be happy to work on that with you, too, if you'd like. If you'd like, >> if you don't mind, >> please. >> You know, if it's an apology the community is looking for, or at least the parents in the classroom, right? I can give an apology from the standpoint of we deal
093with situations unfortunately that come up that we've dealt with potentially in the past. We've had experience with the past. We've been doing it a long time. And the apology I guess I can make is that when we interviewed and found out what was happening, it was clear to us that it was a stupid, stupid decision to send a text message out to some friends. and it did not impact the children and it was clear that the children never even saw the picture behind them that was taken. And so I made the decision to not put that information out there. I do that and decision- making that I make every day. You know, the old adage is I'm the quarterback on the field. I'm making decisions to the best of my ability with the best intent.
094And then as we thought about it, we started hearing about people asking more questions. We decided to send the letter out to the parents of the children in the classroom. Now, people can Monday morning quarterback me all they want. And I I take it. Constructing criticism, I take it. I always have. I've always said to this board, give me guidance. If you want us to do something different, we're more than willing to do that if the board wants us to do that. That's not an issue. If there's fault with my decision-making, I apologize to the community and the parents in that classroom. At the end of the day, I do believe honestly 100% wholly that the children were never in danger. There was never a threat. It was a stupid decision made by somebody. And
095I've been asked over and over, how are you going to make sure this doesn't happen in the future? And I appreciate some people at the board tonight said that's not going to happen. Any one of you could apply for a job and we interview, we do a background check, we check references and you're a great employee and all a sudden, bam, something stupid happens. So, I'm more than willing to sit down and say, "Hey, what can we do? And in what particular situations should we notify the parents?" And also know that beyond that we also do have to and I appreciate the gentleman that spoke that you know there's sometimes you have to you have to look at the legal ramifications if it's contract um uh union employees and what their contracts say how you
096handle situations. There's a lot of factors that go into the decision- making. So, if my pass was intercepted and it was a bad decision, I take that I'll take that constructor to criticism and we'll figure it out and we'll move forward. And at this point in time, I've done the best I can to get the information out. Lon County Sheriff's Department has a report. Prosecutor, if they want to take it, they'll take it. But that's what we've done. So, if that's what you want to hear, I'm telling you sincerely, constructive criticism, that's okay. What really hinders the process in my opinion is destructive criticism. And there's a difference, right? So we always tell people don't point fingers. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody but me. The final decision was mine. I made the decision made
097the decision to follow up with the letter. I thought it was the right thing to do and and people some people were unhappy with it and I apologize for that. So I'll end Thank you, Mr. Hughes. Mr. Scott. >> Yeah. So, you know, I I put out a statement last week. I took some criticism for putting out a statement, but I'm just going to read it because I I put some time and thought into it. Uh, anyone who knows me knows that I believe transparency and parent rights are paramount to a healthy public school system. I believe that parents have the right to know what's going on in their child's classroom and school on a routine and timely basis. In my personal experience at H Heartland, and I'll look at Doy as I say this,
098in my personal experience, my children's teachers have um if an incident occurs which involves a student's safety, security, or even a violation of district policy, I believe the parents have the right to be notified immediately. No student or parent right is trumped by the rights of any school personnel, vendor, contractor, or outside party. Period. Furthermore, I believe the district that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars, taxpayer dollars on school security personnel should involve those individuals in student safety and security incidents without delay. Unfortunately, we have seen the horrendous results across the state and the country for failing to do so. I will continue to fight for transparency and parent rights in this community. Fight for each and every student, parent, and community member in H Heartland Consolidated Schools. >> Thank you, Mr. Scott. Any further
099discussion? >> Okay, moving on. Item 4 A, future meetings. uh January 12th here at 6:30. Um I'm going to take Mr. Goalleski's suggestion regarding scheduling out our um policy committee meetings and get them all on the calendar at once. So I'm going to look at our Yes, Sure. Thank you. Um I'm going to look at all of our available Mondays. It was his request and I think he was speaking on your behalf, too, Mr. Keller saying that Mondays may work best for working around travel schedules for work. So, um if there are other days of the week you would like me to consider, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to focus on Mondays and I will set that up um so that we can um have that set in stone at the next meeting, next
100regular meeting. Uh information items, anything? [clears throat] Okay. Thank you. Thank you everyone and happy holidays. Enjoy your break. Uh we are adjourned.