HCS Board Meeting - 02/27/2025

001okay welcome everyone it's 3 o'cl uh we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance please flag United States of America the stands Nation indivisible jice for all thank you item 1B approval of agenda I move that the agenda for the February 27th 2025 special meeting be approved motion by Cindy Shaw second supported by Mr Campbell is there any discussion on the on the motion okay hearing none Mr scottt yes Mr galeski yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw yes Mr Campbell yes and I am a yes that motion passes item 1 C approval of minutes for the February 17th 2025 meeting I moved at the minutes of the February 17th 2025 regular meeting be approved motion from Mrs Shaw support supported by Mr Campbell any discussion on the minutes yeah I did have a question on the

002minutes actually so policy 1241 5611 and opin policy I noticed below some of the action there was a an a comment added to the notes it says superintendent Hughes shared that the opt out process will remain in place I I guess was just trying to understand the the distinction in including that note I'm frankly all for adding that kind of commentary but normally that's not something that we have added so I guess just trying to understand the difference in cases where we've not been able to add things like that to the notes because it wasn't explicitly an action sure I I do not have an answer for that question Mr Hughes would you like to chime in no when we did the minutes we just wanted to U make sure that it was really clear

003to the public that while the opt in was discontinued the opt out would continue if you don't want it there we can get rid of it it was just that was just the intent thank you Mr Hughes any further discussion I mean on that point I guess if um I I too am all for the opt out language I think though in that conversation that we had at the meeting it was made clear that there is no official policy correct right so right now we just have kind of an unofficial agreement uh that there is some opt out but but no uh no common ground on how that will be offered to parents or what it applies to and I can speak later today that there have been uh diversity trainings in the district just

004in the last uh 8 days which parents were not notified about and not offered an opt out so uh I guess that the way it's worded in there I I think is unclear to the public as to what our official policy is I believe what's been discussed at the board table before is that it does say opt out process not policy and that until we have the material that this would apply to we don't have an opt out form created correct Mr Hughes correct so we're we're telling uh the public that they can opt out but giving them no clear Direction on how to do so uh and not even telling them when these trainings occur so I I find some hypocrisy in having that in our minutes in that form I again I I

005would support Mr Keller in in having some real tangible policy that we could offer to parents of this community well I'm going to tell you Jeff that I disagree with you um we said that we were going to provide the trainings we put together through the work that was being done that Mr galeski and Miss Coleman also sat on that uh group with u Mr minsker and Mrs Gregory that's what we were talking about for instance there's a student survey that I've posted sent out to parents with an opt out form available if they don't want to take that so that's what we're talking about and so anytime that we have those materials ready for instance uh just yesterday I shared what we've been working on and again Mr galeski and Mrs Coleman can speak

006to that if they wish to on the work we've done with Sam and so we've also ensured the community that here's the materials as they exist today and when we do this in 2526 you'll be able to op your child out of it so that's what we've been trying to accomplish yeah I I think you're sorry I think you're specific to one piece of curriculum or training materials that you're building not to the ongoing the policy that that this board rescinded last week regarded Dei seal and CRT and there has been no policy formulated to give parents an opt out on those things those things continue to be in our curriculum in our handbook in our procedures in our schools without an opt out for parents and you're talking about an opt out for one

007single training scheduled for 12 months from now that's not what the rest of us in this room are talking about you have a different you have excuse Interruption but our definitions are different obviously so until the board can figure that out until the eao can figure that out we're in a standstill well this is this has nothing to do even with the EO this is about giving parents the rights they deserve to decide if they want their children indoctrinated with the divisive teaching materials that you're currently using that's what this is about [Applause] so M Mr Scott if I could interject um I appreciate the point that you're making um how does this how would you how are you um suggesting that we proceed with the minutes that's the motion that's on the table I

008I don't think the minutes are are honest in the way they're formulated and I think they give a false impression to this community that there are options available which they're currently are not that's right so are you going to motion to amend the minutes the motion on the table is to approve them as presented unless there's an amendment or any further discussion we will vote on the m motion that's on the table I motion to amend the minutes that's right and Mr goleski how would you like that amendment I would just like that to be stricken and um taken out of the minutes can you read the verbiage for me because I don't have it right in front of me right it's um on the second page and what I want removed is superintendent Hughes

009shared that the opt out process will remain in place okay hold on please and we can at our next meeting formulate or at least discussed the the policy that we should have in place for opt out and create it okay so I have a motion to amend the minutes Mr galeski has motion to strike quote superintendent Hughes shared that the opt out process will remain in place end quote second all right a motion by galeski second by Scott any discussion on that motion motion to amend okay we'll vote on the motion to amend the minutes by striking out the statement that I read previously Mr Scott yes Mr goleski yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw no Mr Campbell yes and I am a no that motion actually does that motion carry yes 4 two okay

010so we've amended the minutes so now the motion on the table is to pass the minutes as they are now amended is there any further discussion again this we'll we'll take a roll call vote this is approval of the minutes as amended by Mr goleski support by Scott to remember to remove superintendent Hughes shared that the opt out process will remain in place Mr Scott yes Mr goleski yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw yes Mr Campbell yes and I am a yes that motion carries moving on to item 1D call to the public I will um use this at two and a half minutes to give you a high sign we ask that everyone please be respectful thank you um and be courteous please let people have their time and please do not interrupt first

011up is Tiffany beard good afternoon is this on all right what I would like to make clear this afternoon is that this is not an emergency meeting um at all this is just smok and mirrors uh this what you're voting on is not an emergency H nor will it accomplish what has been advertised by Mr Hughes this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors it's a move that is designed to appear like actions being taken when in reality no real change is going to occur what parents need to understand is there are two different Dei groups existing in Heartland schools one is headed by staff the other has board members involved so part of me wonders if getting rid of this committee is to get Mr board member Glen galeski off of this committee so

012he's not involved in these training programs anymore um pausing this committee allows the staff L committee to continue Dei actions without board or public monitoring it the real issue here is that the doj doj contract remains in place superintendent Hughes along with four board members have repeatedly said adhering to this contract is necessary otherwise we will be in legal trouble yet now that Dei is not supposed to be taught any longer at risk of losing Federal funding we are pausing one committee but not truly removing the curriculum from our district why is it suddenly no longer a fear of legal trouble this is nothing more than a stall hoping it will quiet parents down like myself however it it will result in a loss of federal funding and most likely a lawsuit because this District

013failed to act upon the presidential executive order it is this if this truly is a move to follow the federal guidelines I challenge superintendent Hughes and this board to immediately dissolve the doj contract and eliminate all Dei committees and curriculum effective today then and only then will We Believe this meeting was not intended to be a disingenous distraction from the parents who fight this curriculum parents are done being ignored and we're done being lied to so end this now thank [Applause] [Music] you Anthony McKenna I'll keep my comments very brief uh I think that we should get rid of the acronyms I think that uh we should not say Dei we should say diversity equity and inclusion if you guys are against it say it mean it Own It Aon McKenna I think you guys

014are all very well aware that diversity Equity inclusion is more than just the words it's embedded in respect reason responsibility just getting rid of the Dei acronym fine I don't see how our curriculum is teaching students Dei they're teaching them to be good human beings to respect others be responsible and have reason and that includes being inclusive it there's no way around it I applaud the board for taking action to bring this forward and try and follow the executive orders as much as I disagree with them trying to follow them so that we don't lose Federal fundings because that is very important but I would I also did a search on our website and the word diversity equity and inclusion only comes up for the board committee this the only words I could find granted

015it was a very quick search take that out fine but our kids will con somebody else mentioned earlier about seal seel is not Dei s it is social emotional learning it means it is how our teachers will educate our students their students on classroom behavior management if the teachers can't have classroom behavior management they they can't teach English they can't teach math they are just going to be managing behaviors kindergarten is all about social emotional learning figuring out how to be in a classroom with others be with people that are different than you because even if our skin colors aren't different different we are different we work differently but in the real world you have to learn to work with everyone thank you Connie [Applause] Robinson good afternoon since 2021 there have been three incidents

016of racial harassment countywide the incident in Harland was posted by the accuser and it went viral which began the spiral of involvement by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights the formation of hartland's Dei committee and investigation by the doj as we all know the former board agreed last fall to sign on for another two years of doj oversight by partnering with the Great Lakes equity center Oran G this organization promotes critical race Theory under the guise of Dei seal and casil all of which adhere to Marxist ideology if you've been on that website Quil website it's not hard to find I quote from gle's website for those who are white this gle's website who we are partnering with for those who are white non-disabled Christian non lgbtqia plus englishon speaking us-born and otherwise privileged Educators

017Scholars we urge you to focus your work on dismantling the racism and ableism and other oppressions you engage to maintain the system of trauma for our youth of color in intersectionally marginalized youth alongside your community of white Educators now call me crazy but that sounds like racism to me so here we are all from a viral post by a Heartland student claiming harassment but but here's the funny thing in January 21 two months before the Heartland incident even occurred Elance superintendent Dr Hubert recruited consultant Horatio Sanz a renowned expert Sanchez provided training for superintendents across the district the topic was implicit bias training which is the foundation on which Dei seal and quel rest Sanchez disciple of critical race Theory Guru ibram kendi came back again on September 2nd and October 11th for more implicit

018bias training so again here we are all this community turmoil taxpayer money in indoctrination of our kids based on three harassment accusations since 2021 and yet rather than dismantle Dei immediately as directed by the president of the United States it appears you've decided to put a temporary stop on it the tide has changed and it's pathetic how you are clinging to the hope of reinstating Dei or maintaining Dei presidential executive orders are constitutional and after the clown shows of moving through the courts is over the Supreme Court will vindicate the president at that point continuation of Dei will result in a loss of federal funding the public outrage will be deafening people have opened their eyes it's [Applause] over Frank Krauss it's been quite a few years since the Dei committee was was formed deliberately

019at a level that did not require exposure you could not attend a Dei meeting because it was a subcommittee now it's gone full course the whole world is aware of what's going on on Dei and we have a executive order that is not the slightest bit what how does it put in this uh uh proposed resolution uh vague uh and confusing um I think that this uh when we get to this Dei committee resolution that that should be removed and that the board should fully accept that there is a very clear executive order that says what is to be done I agree with the a couple of ladies here that said we risk uh uh taking away of funds um and uh I think that would be a horrible thing for Heartland uh and if

020you want to walk directly into the into the Maelstrom then you'll continue on that course or you'll comply with the order thank [Applause] you Kimberly Thompson hi I want to thank you for your time that you took to have uh been here to hear me today my name is Kim Thompson and I have two little girls at Village Elementary we recently had a diversity assembly that parents had not been made aware of neither of the option op in or opt out was available and it never had been relayed to the parents about the assembly a child was observed holding an Islamic flag and a head wrap the flag translates to there is no God but Allah Allah and Muhammad in writing I am unsure how this message was intended but this school system is on

021a TR a trajectory rate to lose 2.5 million in funding and go against federal guidelines I strongly suggest reconsideration in the current Birds Direction the schools districts has always referenced the three Rs reason respect responsibility I would encourage you to consider this in your decision-making process is this a good reason is this a responsible decision for the community and school thank you for your [Applause] time Holly Naylor good afternoon um I am here speaking as an individual a district resident and a taxpayer and a parent of current Heartland students I want to say that I appreciate the measured and reasonable approach the district and board are taking on this issue there's been some conversations about you know or comments the definitions of Dei right we don't need a definition everybody knows what it is or

022the definition of perhaps Equity related or illegal discrimination and preferences so I'd like to give everybody a few examples of potential unintended consequences of not having an actual clear precise definition of what these things mean so for example does illegal discrimination and preferences apply to any program that is focused on intended for limited to a specific gender if so I guess our girls on the run program and Watchdogs will have to go because both of those are focused on a specific gender does Equity related mean any Equity program where we are trying to provide all of our students with equal opportunities in this District because I'll tell you there are families and students in this community who don't have enough food kids can't think they can't learn if they're hungry food programs are Equity programs

023they are leveling the playing field for all students so if we are not allowed to have any Equity programs are we going to close our food pantry also does the i in Dei which means inclusion right we have a very very clearly focused on inclusion program in this District it's called Uh the unified Athletics program where General Ed and specialed students participate together in sports programs this program is literally the definition of inclusion it is an inclusion program so if this board decides that they are cancel ing all programs that could possibly related to Dei we're canceling the unified Athletics program I don't think anybody in this room wants that I I could be wrong I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt that they haven't considered potential unintended consequences like these and

024hope that you will understand that your specific definition of Dei is not a legal definition of Dei and in order to protect students such as on the unified team uh we need to be more informed on what we're referring to thank you Gwen Bliss thank you for allowing this open Forum um I have a background in kr8 special education though I didn't choose to pursue that career when I had my kids I have worked for over 20 years with children with special needs in club settings um and later as a director that trained other leaders it is normal practice to require background checks and training in child safety for anyone working with children when I heard of the Dei initiative from concerned parents for a number of years I felt I needed to speak up

025anyone in who intentionally exposes a minor to sexually explicit or violent content while demonizing or usurping the authority of the parents is grooming behavior of a predator it is illegal Harland could be sued current threats of the federal government aside anyone with training in child development should know children aged 7 to 12 go through a normal healthy period where boys have cooties and girls are yucky and prefer to play with Children of the same sex anyone who counsels a child this age that the reason they feel this way is because they are trans or homosexual causes confusion and anxiety because most kids grow out of this stage usually by the age of 14 education about normal bodily changes of puberty including emotional swings reassures children that they are normal and reduces anxiety I support the

026discontinuation of Dei aside from teaching when it comes to racial matters that it is not the color of one's skin but the content of one's character as I was taught many years ago by my excellent teachers and because I want to see kids grow up happy and healthy all kids not just certain groups thank you for hearing us [Applause] out I have a card here that says Jeff Scott I assume it's not you it's me I don't you heard how hard it is for me to speak uninterrupted from this desk in our earlier conversation so I need to ask you to hold on just a second because I'm I'm not familiar of whether or not this is if it's legal to do it's fine but he need to go to the podium get just three

027minutes awesome thank you for clarifying two days after our last meeting where the Board of Education rescinded the policy to give parents the right to expressly consent to diversity training in our schools Village Elementary hosted the diversity circus to supposedly teach the three art however I believe the actual product of this performative assembly was inappro appropriate misuse of cultural stereotypes that goes against everything the three Rs represent in photos shared with me what appear to be six seven and 8-year-old children are asked to stand in front of the entire School wearing stereotypical headwear from foreign countries and waving that country's flag a boy in an extra- llarge somero waves the Mexican flag a boy in a Kenyan tribal headdress ra waves the Kenyon flag and certainly most disturbing as has already been said tonight a

028young girl is made to wear a Mach hijab waving the flag of Saudi Arabia which Bears a giant sword and reads there is no God but Allah Muhammad is the only messenger of Allah according to Muslim Scholars wearing a mo hijab is equivalent to mocking the Believers themselves equivalent to mocking Allah directly the Giant somero stereotype marginalizes the Spanish-speaking communities and undermines all of the efforts of Hartland schools to Foster an environment of respect how can we in good conscious do this to innocent children all while being under the investigation of the doj for racial and cultural insensitivity at the highest levels of our district the argument from the district is well no parents complained as you heard tonight there's a reason for that the parents were not even informed about this assembly the the

029district does not consider the diversity circus to have anything to do with Dei despite several other districts in the area openly citing that the diversity circus is a major component of their Dei initiatives furthermore these children cannot consent to the activities they took part in they cannot consent to be to be made to wear a giant sombrero and wave a flag or to be made to wear a a ma hijab and and wave a flag of a foreign religion or Nation can you imagine if we walked into this room tonight and Mr Hughes was wearing Saudi Arabian dress and waving the Saudi flag and then told us he was doing it in some sort of effort to spread kindness and express the America as a Melting Pot that would not be tolerated but for some

030reason it's okay with six seven and 8-year-old students that we are in charge of protecting I have used the word forced when talking about students in these situations and received some flak for that but what else can you call it when they are not given a choice their parents are not given a choice and they are too young to consent or even understand the negative cultural stereotypes they are being asked to act out four five six seven eight-year-old students cannot consent I hope the four members of the board that rescinded the Dei opin last week now see why the policy was so necessary to protect the students of this District Milton Freedman famously said one of the greatest mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results maybe there was

031a positive intent with this program but the result is embarrassing to this district and to the administrators who allowed it occur under our [Applause] [Music] roofs Taran fry [Applause] first off whoever scheduled this at 3:00 in the afternoon is unacceptable I have to leave here at 4:00 to go get my son off the bus I took time out of my day to make sure I was here to speak up this needs to be stopped now we're talking about our children and the funding that's going to be cut the president of the United States is not playing he has made it very clear he is not going to go wrong with this Dei he's not playing he's not going to funge this school he's going to cut all expenses going to Heartland schools this is going

032to affect our kids right now our kids are seeing what's happening as high schoolers they're seeing there's been an executive order put in place by the highest ranking official in the United States and we have a school board that says we don't care that is saying we we don't care what a police officer says we don't have to follow the law what are we doing what are we doing we're teaching our kids don't follow the law have a good [Applause] day Lori is this Lori leech didn't put it on but thank you I'll get attacked by your people hi I'm here today just to let you guys know Kristen Megan Jeff Campbell I'm going to give you a chance but what you did last time was horrible and Cindy Shaw you're as disgusting as they

033all can be and you should all be held accountable for what you've done to our children and our parents putting us on lockdown lying and saying it's the law and going around and telling people trust me I have it all recorded that you're Patriots but you're different kind of Patriots there's one Patriot okay there isn't a different kind we all stand by the constit tion and this Dei is and you all know it what I teach my kid at home is that you guys teach them history math science all of this stuff is made up and what you're doing is Criminal actions it's treasonous and you think it's not going to hold it is you're all going to be held accountable for your treasonous actions and you know what's funny we're all watching now and

034what's sickening is you all cheated you went to the senior homes down there because you knew knew the person they told us that allow that well somebody knew somebody and you got in our senior home here right next to this building and you lied to them and guess what one of them were smart enough to record and what's sickening is you took advantage of our elderly you're disgusting like our governor who had done nothing but murdering to our elderly and now you're doing it towards our children it's sickening lockdowns masks poking them jabbing them up the nose cuz you said it was the law Chuck Hughes it was never the law you know what's fun you made it all lies and put us through hell for what this is our community supposed to be working

035for us and you're not and your little snaky Smiles Kristen and Cindy make me sick you guys are horrible and you are nothing but criminal towards our children and I hope all of you guys get held accountable and not our good ones we know who you guys are Jeff Glenn and not you know and Greg so I'm going to end it like this you're disgusting and I hope to God you get charges pushed against I mean put on you because you're sickening and you're wrong and this is our town and our kids remember [Applause] that Wes nakagiri uh thank thank you very much I um wanted to comment on a couple things about the Dei what what really troubles me the most is that the district did not have to enter into these agreements with

036the doj there was no violation of federal law that and you you you did nothing wrong criminally yet you signed up at the urging of Mr Hughes to do these Dei things I want to comment on uh Great Lakes equity center Great Lakes equity center is a um a hate organization on their website um they claim that you are an oppressor your children are oppressors if they're Christian if they're white if they're heterosexual if they were born in the United States they are oppressors that stuff should not be taught to our children it's just ridiculous with regards to you know your uncertainty about what you should do with regards to Dei I've heard some arguments that well we've got this agreement with the doj a contractual agreement with the doj and and that could tie

037our hands and U my suggestion is that you in your resolution don't just eliminate the Dei committee put a pause on everything Dei put a pause on everything that you're doing with regards to the contract and then seek confirmation from the Department of Justice I will share with you that I have written already the uh attorney general and asked the Attorney General to resend the contract so I I got to jump on you and your lawyers your lawyers should have thought of this long time ago so put a pause on everything DOI a Dei put a pause on that contract you're you're not going to be in violation you'll be stopping Dei that is my suggestion the last thing I want to talk about it has come to my attention through um trustees that your

038superintendent your superintendent is trying to squash his rights to speak by saying he's creating a uh a hostile work environment Mr Scott represents the citizens of this community he is our voice you have no right to try to stop his voice thank you that concludes call to the public moving on to item 2A it came in after call the public started I move to uh suspend the rules to allow the uh Community member to speak at the call to public second this was Greg uh Greg you created the policy and it says very clearly prior to the start of the call to the public there's there's a motion on the table motion there's a motion on the table to wave the the policy as it was um as it's printed on the card as it

039was previously approved to allow one more member to speak one more Community member to speak is there any discussion on the motion I'm sorry the motion was brought forward by Mr Scott and supported by Mr goaly I I'll just make a comment I think since my name was brought up the the cards were revised my original proposal to this board was that it was anytime up to the conclusion of the call to public but based on the the temperature and some of the concerns from the the board there was some I I guess changes made that resulted in prior to the start of so I just want to clarify that but I I guess as in general I'm supportive that anybody who comes here has the right to speak at any [Applause] time I think

040we have to vote on the motion yeah sorry I'm just I'm writing this down okay so is there any further discussion okay I'll try to restate uh the motion uh brought forward by Mr Scott supported by Mr goleski uh the motion is to wave the call to the public policy to allow one more person one more Community member to speak even though the card was submitted after call to the public began is that appropriate yes sure okay yeah all right hearing no more discussion Mr Scott yes Mr galeski yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw yes Mr Campbell yes and I am a yes can I have the card [Applause] please thank you Rene Christine Collins good afternoon thank you for for allowing me to speak this is uh very heavy on my heart it's very

041personal I have an adopted son who is biracial and I am a Heartland graduate I have three daughters who have graduated from Heartland and I am embarrassed to know that this is still going on I don't care what side of the table you're on on your political party it doesn't matter to me this is personal if we have an executive order to follow and you don't like it I'm sorry my son matters he's biracial he's half black he's half white but we don't care we love him and treat him with respect and I would be embarrassed to have him come to this meeting and to see some of the board members not acting respectfully to other people and our behavior I'm trying to raise a son that his Character Matters more than his skin color

042he is loved not because he's half black and he's half white he is loved because he is my son and I am embarassed for our community let's get rid of this Dei I don't care what it stands for my son knows what Martin Luther King said because I'm teaching him about the Civil Rights and how Martin Luther King would be embarrassed he would be embarrassed to know that race against me I am a white woman raising a black son it is embarrassing to have to stand up to him and say I'm sorry I'm white this is my son he's black he's white he's a human being and I love Heartland I'm a graduate of Heartland I played Sports I ran trk I played basketball we are a good community let's get rid of Dei and

043go back to reason respect responsibility without sneaking in Dei I love our school I know many of these board members and I love you I love you but please think about my son and do away with Dei please [Applause] having no other cards for call to the public we'll move on then to action items item 2A Dei committee resolution I move that the Board of Education based on the advice of council and the recommendation of the board president in lie of confusion and vague Direction in the current EOS that are being challenged in various forums throughout litigation and other means and because of possible impact of the existing extension agreement with the Department of Justice the board temporarily pauses the Dei committee functions removes any reference to it from The District's website but reserves the

044right to revisit this at a later date once there is greater Clarity after legal challenges to the EOS are completed or further guidance is provided by the [Music] doj do I have support for the motion support motion brought forward by Mrs Shaw supported by Mr Campbell is there any discussion I would like to go on the record before we start and and make sure everyone in this room understands that the way this is written it says uh by the let's see exact verbage by the recommendation of the president who scheduled this meeting and is not here to take part in it and by legal councel as of 2:40 this afternoon when I last checked my email none of us had any further information than that simple sentence we've received nothing from legal counsel and nothing

045from the president to support the resolution as written which I find extremely disturbing would you like to go ahead well you know unfortunately without president gayak I had many questions kind of similar to what Mr Scott just mentioned frankly um um trying to understand why it was worded the way it was worded it seems more complicated and and vague than it needs to be I think the executive order itself is fairly straightforward so to me we've complicated a fairly simple issue and I I didn't understand why the the legal team if that's who wrote this would would write it in this manner um I don't know if uh vice president Coleman if you have any addition insight into the the language that we were presented I do not but I bet Mr Hughes does yep

046our legal council um knew that uh there was a request by the community that the Board address the issue of the DI committee specifically based on um um a writing campaign that occurred over the weekend uh contacted legal councel uh president gach asked me to make sure I did that legal council uh created this resolution because there still is some um work that has to take place between our legal council who is the Le is on with the doj the doj is waiting for direction from the attorney general and the counterparts that they work with in Washington to give us directions so at the end of the day this gets us to a point where we are in um compliance with the EO in regards to the issues on the table and and it keeps

047us in a place where we're not simply um throwing away the um telling the doj we're not listening to them under title four uh with the um the issues with that with the Civil Rights Act so the attorney felt this was the best resolution to allow us to make sure that we are doing the right thing and then put us in a position to come back at it if if Washington's direction to their uh doj Conor parts are to cancel the agreement then we're done with it and we don't have to worry about it so that's where we're at so is there a legal definition around the timing of temporarily pauses versus can't we just come out right and say we eliminate obviously you know as a board every month we meet right if there's

048an issue that we feel we need to come back on for example just last month we voted to change the op in policy to an optin so I think it to me is a little bit arduous to even put that in there and I would propose that we actually change it from temporarily to [Music] permanent my recommendation is to follow legal council's guidance I uh I would like to discuss that um I'm sorry were You' done Greg no go ahead okay I'm sorry um the uh the information that you need about the executive orders is readily available online and probably populates about a 100 Google pages when you look it up and anyone not understanding or proclaiming that they're not sure or they don't understand the executive order is either pretending or actually is in

049the truest clinical definition of the word ignorant um and I also want to cite how quickly and proactive we were with the previous administrations rewrite of Title Nine and boy we got on that bandwagon real quick we sure did we were afraid of being sued we were afraid of action being taken oh my we better do something immediately we had no problem doing that I do not understand what the problem is with this executive order and its understanding and if our legal team does not understand it perhaps maybe we need a new legal [Applause] [Music] team okay we we have the floor we have the floor up here please quiet down Mrs Shaw's asked me to address Mr giles's comment about Title 9 and how we jumped on it just so the board remembers uh

050it was uh the new title 9 regulations came out we were given the policies to proceed with abiding by that T9 and we chose not to we did nothing so when those Title 9 regulations were discontinued we were right back where we were and our policies were still in place we hadn't changed them so there there's some misinformation there Mr galeski we never adopted those Poli well uh to correct maybe this misinformation we talked about it for months and months and months and it was there and we were just so worried about what we're going to do we had how many meetings with attorneys it I I I'm sorry there there does not seem to be um any uh uh unexplainable things about the executive order I think it's very clear what they're talking about

051it's very clear what they want done and I think we should abide by it if I can make a clarification Mr Hughes the board policy was not changed regarding tile 9 but the student handbook was altered thank you in regards to bathroom usage and being able to withhold uh information from parents regarding which bath their son or daughter uses that was modified in the student handbook so if if this is amended to abolish the committee and for some reason we decide we do need the committee again we could create that pretty quickly I do believe right and as far as I think you said Mr Hughes if doj comes back to us about the agreement I don't think it's the de committee that deals with them it's the group right and it was said just

052to clarify the staff leg committee uh just to point out there are two on the board involved with that committee Mrs Coleman and Mr galeski which is great um they updated last meeting about that and and some of the great uh material that was going to be um we're going to move forward with in the TW 2526 school year um and I think that's we'll have to clarify that but that's in that opt in opt out and how to do that we'll have to clarify that moving forward but I think that um if this is abolished it can be quickly recreated if there is a need for it we see but again if the doj comes to us then it is the committee that can speak with them not necessarily has to have the existence

053of the Dei committee I also want to address some other Mis misinformation too that was put out on social media by another board member stating hch does not teach de EI to students the focus of the district is respect civility in the three Rs do not fall for the false narrative being posted on social media yet we can go back all the way to 2021 where in a curriculum newsletter we have a newsletter that has a title on it District social emotional learning and Dei Focus 2021 and and yet apparently we're not the other thing too if you go to our three Rs on our Board website right now you can do this on your phone you go to the board uh website and when you take a look at the three hours reason respect

054and responsibility which I will state on the record I think is an absolutely wonderful thing to teach students apparently the doj did not have enough faith in the board's judgment to use the word all encompassing all students that wasn't good enough for them what they told us to put in and this is this is my understanding Mr Hughes correct me if I'm wrong what they told us to put in our three policy is that based on sex based on sex including sexual orientation or transgender identity disability age height weight English-speaking status race class ethnicity religion color national origin or ancestry we are all Heartland Eagles really yeah Mr galeski once again I'll correct you on that the doj did not require us to put that in there that's what you told me no I did

055not okay we had a committee a districtwide committee at the time that was formed teachers board members everybody else we looked at barriers our our role was to look at any barriers to procedures uh uh processes procedures and practices that were barriers to students of all students learning and enjoying the everything we have to offer in the district and the first thing that our committee decided to do was to define the three Rs because they had never been totally defined and we took that language right from uh the law and regarding uh protected classes so that's why it's there well I was told differently by you and I'd like to know then if that's the case why did we use the word all three times in the respect paragraph and include all of this apparently

056all doesn't mean all all plus so if we did this to ourselves that's even worse so I have a a few conc concerns with the way this is written beyond the uh the mentions I had earlier about receiving nothing formal from the president or legal counsel regarding how this um I call it a me mey mouth resolution was was put together as my understanding it as the uh resolution is written uh it does not remove Dei from job descriptions um several of Miss Gregory's job descriptions revolve around around EI I think we should address that to remove from job descriptions uh it does not remove it from the student handbook uh I brought to Mr Hugh's attention that the uh student handbook uh and uh discipline rubic rubric contain references to Dei practices of restorative

057justice uh I was told that that was a misprint and it will be addressed I I find it hard to believe how we accidentally oops Dei into the student handbook or uh or discipline rubric and from my understanding as written this would allow our elementary schools to continue the type of assemblies that I mentioned in the call to the public with the diversity circus because the district does not uh does not consider uh the diversity circus as diversity training uh Mr Hughes said we really should have just called it the kindness circus um it sounds like it was a circus if if I found a photograph online of and and I have a seven-year-old daughter in the district if I found a photograph online of my daughter wearing a mock hijab in front of 500

058students waving a foreign flag with a with a sword on it that said Allah is the one true God after I pulled my kids out of school I would go straight to the Sheriff's Office and file a police report on the incident I believe this [Applause] is not only is it culturally insensitive demeaning and a misuse um but it it it does not represent the three Rs it is not respectful it is not respectful to the Muslim religion it is not respectful to Spanish-speaking people or Mexican uh Mexican Mexican Americans to put a child in a giant sombrero and parade him across his school then take pictures of it and post it online that is not respectful it is not responsible for us to have administrators in the buildings and in the central office that

059I'll tell you not only condone this Behavior but they they doubled down I sent an email to Mr Hughes this morning expressing my concern about this and was essentially told that I was uh I I should be looking at this as how um how it represents all Americans and somehow I'm in the wrong for seeing for seeing this practice as a as an abuse of power in the schools and I really I gave I gave Mr Hughes and Mr minsker an opportunity before I brought this to the community to stand up and admit that a mistake was made to admit that maybe somebody didn't do their homework to admit that yeah maybe somebody in that room should have stood up and said to this man no you're not dressing our students in a sombrero you're

060not giving our students a foreign flag to wave that represents a foreign religion and has a sword on and you're not going to mock their religion by wearing a a a mock hijab someone should have stood up for our students but the truth is nobody did and as you've seen tonight they will continue not to and what happened in that school is not addressed in the resolution we have before us tonight we can pass this resolution as it is and tomorrow round Elementary could put on that show and then the next day Lakes could put it on and so on and so forth this does nothing as written to stop what's going on in our schools and for the life of me I cannot understand why we have administrators so dead set on forcing this

061on students controversial materials forced upon students against the will of the public and it needs to stop [Applause] than you so go ahead Cindy thank you Kristen um I if if the board approves this resolution today we are in compliance with the executive order the district is protected our students are protected if we pass it as written the other thing I I would like to remind everyone is that in the um fall last year this board approved 7 to nothing board goals that included a Dei committee so you know we've had plenty of opportunities throughout the years to to change that or to get rid of that committee and it was just voted um to include it 7 to nothing last fall the last thing I would like to do um is I hate to

062put Mr minsker on the spot um but the the theme is is continuous regarding um race-based Dei that we are telling our students that they are superior or inferior I would is it possible you could address those concerns um I know from having students in this district for 18 years that those conversations don't happen in front of our students those those things are not said to our students we don't teach those type of things to our students I literally just mentioned dressing a student in a somero and parading them across Mr Scott I have she's got the floor does happen here wake up I I'm not even sure what to say I'm not sure what you can say either mine mines have been made up but I but I understand rum we H having the

063the definition that Mr go galeski gave last time about putting One race above another white privilege those things to my knowledge I don't know of a situation where we do that in anywhere of our curriculum that is the only definition that I've heard and I appreciate Mr galeski for giving that definition because at least it gives us something to go on um I don't know again I I don't and thus there's a specific list of what Dei is specifically on what we're supposed to do which we're going to wait to find out from the feds um what what exactly that is that's going to tell us what we can or can't do with with with all due respect you don't need a class that's called d de to teach Dei you don't need a class

064CL we don't have a class named de I exactly we don't and yet what kind of terminology is being used in the classroom no one's really going to be able to say that um the the fact that we have all of these mentions of Dei both in curriculum both in our three Rs um I I don't understand why it's there there's no need need to have it there and it should be gone and I will tell you I was originally going to vote no on this uh resolution I really was the reason for it I wanted to maintain the status quo because down the road if we do that we would get a full full investigation by the OCR and the OCR would go through things like the do and really find all and root

065out all of the mentions of Dei I uh that's very attractive to me but uh um the sooner we can get rid of anything saying Dei the better so Mr Miner uh if if this isn't in our schools would you like to go on the record on why it's okay to put a six seveny old girl in a makab give her a flag that reads there is no God but Allah Muhammad is the only messenger of Allah and parade her in front of four or 500 peers then take her photograph and post it on Facebook would you like to to go on record why that's okay I'm not going to sit here and say everything was okay with it like you you you have not given a good explanation of his whole letter and an

066email that he gave you I'm happy to read it yes we we talked about how there are things that we can talk about as a school district on some things with that I mean we're going to get an argument here back back and forth about what what is appropriate denounce denounce it it's wrong denounce it everybody in here wants you to denounce it I think we're we're going to continue to support the differences of students in our community and our school district we're going to continue to have students be represented um and see themselves in the curriculum and we will look at that like we talked about that Mr Hughes and I talked about we're going to look at that present ation and the video that was shared with you didn't have that a a

067lot of that in that video so when that's in there we will look at it and address it and possibly not have that back that that presenter back that that particular that particular presenter that we've had I had five times at Round Elementary when I was there with a different presentation this one I've never seen before and we're going to look at it so you won't denounce it you won't say it's wrong you won't say somebody messed up in that room I'm not going to contribute I'm not going to contribute with circus I'm he right now it's not a circus these are our children it these are our children what if that was your student forced to wear a hijab and wave a foreign flag I'm sorry but if I keep talking that's Someone's Child

068that's someone's child and that picture of them will remain in perpetuity I think if I can interrupt I'm sorry please clearly this is something we'll have to get answers to we will get answers to um however Mr goal ask get to your point I think for today's purpose under 2A it would be excellent I think to reach some kind of resolution so if the verbiage isn't correct under that if there is a motion to amend it and then we can get resolution to why everybody's here today understandably to get some kind of progress if the verbage isn't um desired what changes can be made what what proposals would be on there to make it more acceptable yeah as as I mentioned I would I I'll move to change the word from temporary pauses to eliminates

069can we you know sorry go ahead I was just going to say can we simplify this whole thing and get rid of this this verbiage that no one has able been able to justify where it came from I think it would start that the Board of Education we clearly need to take out on advice of councel I think the simple one is based that the Board of Education eliminates the Dei committee and related functions is there a reason we would have any of the other language again we were not able to receive the legal opinion that was referenced so we have no no rationale provided for for why this was here from the actual attorneys um the rationale is we told them what we wanted to do they said here's the resolution we would recommend

070that's that's what we got this is what you see so but help me understand because in this extension agreement and you know to to jump to the side here for a minute I think part of what the community continues to struggle with and I do personally is section three page 9 C the district will implement or require attendance at a restorative justice techniques training that's why people are in an uproar because we continue to parade that we're not doing these things yet all of the documentation that we have with the Department of Justice screams the other way and I think that's where the confusion is I'm not pointing fingers that it's that it is that way but it frankly is and I think that's that's where we as a collective group need to do better

071we can't just try to say well really we signed an agreement because we wanted the opportunity to teach the three Rs that are on that board right there that's really not what that's not what we signed up for frankly I know that's what we're we're now trying to communicate this as but that's that's really not what it was and and it seems to me that you know listen I'm all about the three Rs reason respect responsibility but when we just try to take diversity Equity inclusion scratch off the top and write three Rs on it and then anybody who disagrees with it is a bigot that is not fair that is not how we need to treat this we need to remove all of the Dei initiatives and frankly rebuild trust with this community as

072it relates to the three Rs because right now everybody in this room and everybody watching and everybody that's going to follow up on this just sees this as a little Switcheroo and it can't be that it has to be an honest uh an honest review of this District's uh actions and an honest attempt to make them right not just change the name so where I struggle with some of what you just said there Jeff is that you say remove Dei initiatives does that without a definition we've talked about a defin an actual definition of what Dei is so you're the the the three words right one of them is is inclusion well a giant example a profound example of inclusion that is going on at the high school this week is in support of our

073Unified sports teams they've had an entire Spirit Week where kids are wearing different clothes they they've got tomorrow there's an assembly for the whole student body to be part of this basketball game that's inclusion that's inclusion at its finess so if we're eliminating all Dei how do we draw that line without a definition how how do we I know I know people will say common sense but but but your version of excuse me I have the floor I have the floor let her speak thanks so I if you try to eliminate all things Dei you have to have some type of parameters something defined because one person's definition of common sense or one person's perspective of Common Sense is different than somebody else's so if you're just going to leave it to Common Sense well

074yeah of course we'd keep you know the unified stuff because that that just makes sense well but it's inclusion so how we we would need to Define that to be able to take it out completely it has to be defined but is it a government forced type of inclusion or was that organically grown within the district because we thought it was a good idea I guess you know would that be different it would be totally different there's a there's a huge difference between government mandated items and something that is a product of the district on its own under local control if that happens what why would you think that that's a Dei program no a Dei program would be something mandated by the government some kind of mandatory training some kind of mandatory rule that's

075completely unnatural inorganic never never was an inkling of thought at at the local level and all schools should be locally controlled and and that's that's what I that's the problem that I have I I don't know if we're getting Chuck maybe you can answer this are we getting any kind of government funding for that program was that program set up as a mandatory thing to do or no or did that just come about as an idea a good idea within the district it came about because the federal government under Ida uh indicated that school districts needed to be working towards um a least restrictive environment for students so most of us remember special education back when we were in school and resource rooms where most students that happen to have a disability they went to

076the resource room and I can tell you when I was here in this building when Billy said to me well what are you going to do about because I'm a sped that that really bothered me as a as a building principal and a human being because Billy had been delegated to Resource rooms that's how they used to do it so the federal government under Ida said listen you need to create least restrictive environments for students least restrictive environment is that every student should have an opportunity to experience the classroom and the quality of instruction that is be outside of a resource room specifically so this program organically grew out of that expectation of lease restrictive environment inclusive in the building inclusive in all programs whether it be CTE programs art classes whatever you might offer

077and then the program for unified built out of Special Olympics and peer-to-peer and our student General ed students working with our special ed students to include them in a least restrictive environment to also have activities for them to be involved in but it wasn't mandated by the government it certainly grew out of that process of the Mandate we have not I I've seen the same false narrative spread online that somehow Dei is going to affect like we heard today Watchdog programs or the basketball program listen I am I am a huge fan of the Watchdog program I have spoke about it from this table I have spoke about it as a parent uh how important it is to get positive male role models into the schools that has nothing to do with the EI there

078is not a single person that is honestly believ that so yes we do have to have some common sense here because the official narrative you're hearing right now is that uh the Watchdog program is Dei that the basketball program is Dei but the diversity circus is not Dei I mean Common Sense can I can I ask for clarification on that question um it we talked about Dei and social emotional learning being lumped together that I keep having them them together we've had AAL program for a long time we've dealt with that teaching kids how to regulate how to control their emotions how to learn better how to treat adults how to use the bathroom how to follow rules those are all things that we do as part of our social emotional learning that's what that's

079all about how to provide opportunities and support for all of our students when it comes to how to conduct themselves and how to how to treat others and how to do things like that and I think it's important that we can't do our teaching um and they can't learn unless they're set up to be able to learn so we've always done that school districts have always done that I had a uh a message today from somebody who graduated in 2006 um that I had and Chuck and I had at our um at the high school back in the day and she talked about how great the social emotional program was back then and her District that her kids are going in are struggling with it and want to know what we did because her experience

080was so well with it so when we talk about definitions that's what I struggle with the same thing Kristen is because we've lumped seal with Dei and I'm like are we talking about getting rid ofcl then and that's everything that we do and that's not mandated by the government that's something that we've always done to to to make sure that our environment is the right place to learn right sorry and Dei were lumped together by you in a curriculum update in 2022 so don't act like the people at this table are magically connecting the dots all the sudden but again that's the difference in the definition of what Dei is to you and to me because diversity having an inclusive environment having having all those things is part of social emotional learning it is part

081of what we teach our students and we should be teaching our students but you're Ling that into something that's bigger than that so is it your understanding then that the executive order issued by the president would include our unified basketball team I don't know what it means I've read it I have read it and and it and it talks about Dei initiatives but it doesn't say what parts of those and I can see things that you guys are talking about they parts of it that I can see we would not allow and I would be in agreement with and there's things that I'm like well we have a lot of other things that we that would would would fall under that or not fall under that so I'm not I'm not we I it's vague

082to me and until I get more guidance about what exactly we should or should not be doing it's hard for me to say well what is it as a curriculum director as somebody who's in charge of doing that and see what kids learn and what they don't on an everyday basis and and social emotional learning is such a huge huge part of teaching and every teacher and and has ever gone through um education and teaching children would tell you that the problem with seal and and this is where all of the uh suspicion comes into play seal really started out with three main components and for some reason this one group called The Castle group took over the whole concept of seal and now there's five pillars one of those pillars is social interaction that's

083the magic door that everyone is upset about no one is upset about teaching kids to be quiet in the classroom following a a straight line down the hallway that's not what parents are upset about when we get into that social component of seal that's where the the suspects suspicions I should say um come in because now we're talking about components leading into other things like Dei and CRT and the whole happy alphabet family of all of these types of programs that are designed unfortunately to maybe conflict with family values with religious values that kind of thing that's where the anger comes in that's where the suspicion comes into play and and this district has broken the trust with the parents and so you know it's really easy to sit up here and say trust me

084I'm here to help you but after you sneak this stuff in after you sneak a diversity circus into your kids Elementary School and dress people up in giant sombreros and then say trust me trust me it it goes over like a lead balloon we need to rebuild the trust with this community by starting this stuff over well I do want to come back again to the contract because effectively we're just talking about pausing a Dei committee which it's not even called out that we had to have one in the first place in this agreement absolutely but you know and if you read through this given that the map Center is not even operational I don't understand how we are would fulfill this anyways because it the they don't exist so so why I guess my

085point is why is that not part of what's in this resolution there's nothing that says we're pausing the contract so so what exact what exactly are we doing then with this resolution that that contract I assume when you say that contract that's the current extension agreement that was signed one year ago I just want to make sure I knew what you were talking about um because that I don't believe is affected by what the EO is requiring us to do I don't the the contract right now the agreement all the activities have been paused we're waiting for further input our attorney is working with the contact from the doj they're figuring out what to do next obviously everything's in flux um from the federal level all the way down so so that contract is not

086directly part of what we need to decide on today in order to hit the deadline for the EO so I think that's why that contract is not specifically mentioned in the resolution that's my take we keep hearing everything's on pause yet the diversity circus was in town last week that those two things don't add up ex well we can we can get rid of a committee that's easy enough but how that does nothing to these other things like um uh Mr Scot was mentioning the diversity circus and all that we still have a long way to go getting rid of a committee is such super level fluff it uh it does nothing to ensure that um the Dei that's mentioned by the executive order is rooted out and uh that's that's an issue for example

087too that I I just saw something about um in Leonia they have the trails system and I know we have the Trails program here we don't we don't we did in 2022 yeah no it we had it and then we changed it right we've never we have never had the Trails program we went through training we went through training 20 people from the district Mr goes could I see that curriculum newslet I know what it says in there and we and we and I'm telling you what that means we looked at it as a a resource we had multiple trainings from multiple different places and we took the best that we thought we hearted it we created our own presentation all of our lessons are not Trails lessons they're our own Heartland IED things that

088we took okay getting back to my point real quick before you go on Jeff um in Leonia there was a homework assignment given out as part of a Trails program put out by the castle group and what the homework assignment was was this big round diagram and it asked kids to rate how they fit into different categories and it was racial categories and it was just it it was everything that you could do to force a kid into thinking about racial division about ethnic division about and instead of no matter how well-intentioned it was to be it was something that was incredibly egregious to the uh families that that saw what was given out to their kids and now I I don't know what's going on as a result of that but I do know

089that they're launching a little investigation of it so I'm going to read briefly from the Harland Consolidated Schools curriculum newsletter datea January 2022 uh Mr galeski read the headline earlier District social emotional learning and Dei focus by Dave minsker assistant superintendent of curriculum there's three bullet points bullet point number two our middle school and high schools have started the implementation of the evidence-based program Trails which provides universally designed lessons to teachers for students centered around the five Castle competencies some of the lessons focus on diversity empathy and mindfulness we are excited about the future of this program the the castle competencies even though I understand what you're saying if you look at each one of those competencies I'm in favor of all five of those if you look at just that the argument that I

090got back in the day when people were arguing about castle was the people who started Castle I don't care what side of the aisle I don't care what the political affiliations are for anything that we do whether it's an author whether it's it's a program or anything that we do if it's right for Heartland kids we will use it and the castle program we use that just to guide kind of our principles of what if you look at the castle the the those um competencies and you look at those those are all approp for how we teach our social social learning I don't speak for how it C created and all those kinds of things but you just stood here and said we do not use trails and never have used Trails that's my point

091the the everybody the the principles all have it I have it in my office in a binder the lessons that we created they're not Trails lessons they're the things that are in front of kids I've had it in there I've had many board members in the last two years have come in and looked at those lessons and have seen them and I have yet other than one person telling me there's not enough white kids pictures in there then then that then I haven't had one complaint about anything that's in those lessons not one so if there is any complaint in those lessons and any of oural program and that's what our program is is those lessons if you have any issues with any of those I want to hear them and I haven't heard one

092yet than you I think you've got a motion on the table to adopt this resolution there's not been a specific Amendment resolution made that I I I I I'm going to move to uh to amend the motion to read as follow that the Board of Education disband the disband the Dei committee and subcommittee immediately furthermore that the superintendent provide a report to the board of education prior to the March 17th 2025 meeting containing a list of all Dei seal CRT or otherwise controversial materials included in District curriculum training job descriptions student handbooks would anybody like to add to that list I can tell you I won't be able to do that and I won't meet that deadline because we don't have a definition specific to what you're asking for how how how could they well

093I think otherwise controversial defines I'm open to defining de eii well it I guess going from the definition that Glenn provided earlier saying that Dei is something that's government mandated that if it's something like our unified team or the unified spirit week it's organically grown in our district but the diversity circus was not government government mandated so but you're saying that cons that's considered Dei that that goes against What Glenn defined as Dei so there's there's no there's no clear definition there's no clear path for Chuck or anybody on his team to be able to provide a list of these things if you can't Define it so let's define it using the EO and the uh letter from the US District the US Department of Education offices haven't defined it either Jeff so they defined

094it pretty well no they have not so uh we could say that the Board of Education disbanded the Dei committee and subcommittee immediately furthermore that the superintendent provide a report to the Board of Education prior to the March 17 2025 meet meeting containing a list of any materials that may be considered uh oppositional to executive orders of the president of the United States or the direction of the US Department of Education Office of civil rights letter re received by the district February 14th 2025 so I can I can just answer that right now and say I'll just give you our whole curriculum and say there you go because the word may anybody can have an issue with anything that's fine so there's a motion to amend the resolution motion was presented by Mr Scott did

095I hear support here from Mr Keller I think jumped on that um I do not have I don't I don't have that captured um particularly the the last couple lines that you just added that last time through um you give that to well I didn't write it down either yeah did we capture it no I think I think there might have to be a um we might have to rewatch the recording on this one um is there any further discussion on this amendment motion I personally don't think that it's feasible I don't think that it's executable at least not the expectation that that that I believe you have in wording it the way that you did I don't think that expectation can be met without without a a valid understood definition of of what exactly

096you're looking for because if it's government mandated as as Glenn had mentioned I I mean I'm not aware of any government mandated curriculum we just had the doj we just had the doj tell us um last year or the year before that we had to meet with the uh Midwest and plains equity center and um that's the kind of thing that uh I'm talking about where we get into those programs that are we've been told we have to enact so yeah I think I mean I think Dei can be government mandated but there's obviously certainly there's things that don't have to be government mandated that are still Dei and still exist in our schools so I think if they're if they may fall under the uh the executive orders or the letter we received from

097the US Department of Education Office of civil rights we should be able to identify those things based on what's cited in that letter if um if Mr Hughes needs to use outside legal council as part of that activity that's fine if he reports back to us that that somehow that that deadline is not attainable and we want to look at it look at extensions that's fine but I think we need to leave here today with a plan uh on how that's going to be accomplished I I think we need to take the time to get this right and not have any um anything vague in it Mr Scott I agree with you but you used words that may be or shouldn't be which I get because it's hard to say but and we hear everybody

098talking uh still and we want to get it right we just don't want to have any confusion where which which now I believe is in 14 days you're requesting he provide this to us which if he's saying that isn't realistic it may not be fair um to set that but I'd like to really narrow down nail down what this um is going to be that we're voting on and make it as concise as we can as opposed to go back on the record and figure I can offer a suggestion you guys all have access to all the curriculum documents you guys uh Mr Hughes gave it to you before everything that we teach all the state standards all the stuff is on the site that you can look at look at it make a list

099and tell me what I'm not supposed to have in front of kids well then wait a minute who who gets paid to do this well well but job I'm not getting any definition everything that we currently do I completely support so now I just heard you and and and and and Mr Hughes say well I'll just give it to you and you look at no no but but I need there's that's someone's job I need I need a well well then tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for you're saying Dei what the hell is it it's it's clearly defi do we have a copy of the letter from the office of civil rights from last week we don't have that I've got a copy of the extension agreement is anybody in the room

100have a copy of the dear colleague letter sent by the US Department of Education Office of civil rights no the the one sent last week on the 14th the one dated the 14th to remove Dei by the end of the month Sorry Miss Bren could you pull that up I I'll pull it up I don't like to use electronic devices at the board table vice president Coleman can we have a point of order here to get back to this amendment that's on the table and and vote on this amendment yes please noted um short of having short of of having that letter um I'm I'm not exactly sure what you need from the letter the definition it includes very specific definitions about what uh the US Department of Education is trying to remove from the

101schools so I think it would be very pertinent to our motion I motion that we break and allow for that to be looked up is there a second to that motion support all right oh so I'm sorry I thought you were you were going to I don't have internet access okay okay so short of that I don't think we need the break do we or someone else I I don't have access nobody can pull up the letter I'm sorry I mean this is the basis of our entire discussion what did you I think if you pass the motion that you want to use the letter as a reference then then the motion passes then I guess I got to go look at the letter but the pass it's a new Point well that that was

102my argument that that the letter clearly defines it so we we don't need to redefine what the US Department of Education has already defined as long as we reference that letter with specific language and the executive orders from the president of the United States so the motion on the table was to break to pause the proceedings so we could produce the letter and then return the discussion correct and Greg you seconded that I no you support you supported it but we think as long as we reference the letter the definition in the letter then we don't need to break is that no we're going to break to get the letter we're going to break to get the letter okay Mr is going to get the letter Glenn were you we're voting if it passes I'll

103reference the letter so if you pass that motion that that's what you want to do then the the letter is what I'll use as my guidance so doesn't really matter for for factually let's get the letter we want the letter it was brought up can we vote on that motion yes okay so the motion on the table um and I'm sorry was it Mr Scott or Mr goleski who brought forward the motion oh I did okay thank you can we talk in like a 5 minute recess correct yes something very brief so that the public knows they can stick around yes so the motion was brought forward by Mr galeski seconded by Mr Keller to um have a brief recess to produce the letter referenced from the US doe the February 14th dear colleague letter

104yes that is the letter Feb 14 okay okay any further discussion okay Mr Scott yes Mr goes yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw no Mr Campbell yes thank you being and I'm a yes motion carries we'll have a five minute recess e e e we will reconvene it's 4:52 we'll reconvene the meeting um as um Mrs galeski in the um in the audience here reminded we do have um another motion on the table currently that we should have um actually motion to postpone not to um table but to postpone um until after the recess so my apologies for not following the correct procedure um but we are now back in session we will reconvene the discussion of um there's an original proposal or an original motion with the resolution as stated on the agenda then

105Mr Scott seconded by I believe Mr Keller yes yes um motion to strike that verbiage replace it with other verbiage and then the ensuing discussion brought us to this letter because we were looking for definitions so that uh Mr Hughes and his team would be able to fulfill the request in the new newly amended verbiage for this resolution I think that gets us does that bring us back to where we left off yeah I believe so okay and so the letter I mean there's a on the page three about halfway down it says this letter provides notice of the Department's existing interpretation of federal law additional legal guidance will follow in due course so I think uh in reference to this letter and its interpretation of of federal law as we're discussing Ing and any

106future guidance that will be associated with this letter I think would be sufficient to Define Dei um I also want to add to this on page two the very top paragraph of page two um this is a very good definition here um educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon systemic and structural racism and advanced discriminatory discriminatory policies and practices proponents of these discriminatory practices have have attempted to further justify them particularly during the last four years under the banner of diversity equity and inclusion Dei smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race Consciousness into everyday training programming and discipline so essentially wherever there's an emphasis on race race Consciousness are we aware are we are we considering our privilege do we have inherent bias all of those

107things that's all part of Dei so what this amendment then that is proposed this is this paragraph is the guidance that Mr Hughes and his team are going to use for what will be prepared for the board is that that correct I think the whole document is what should be used because there's other sections of this document that uh uh are pretty explicit as well in reference to court cases for example on the bottom of page three last paragraph all educational institutions are advised to one ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law two cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions of the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends and three cease all Reliance on third-party contractors Clearing Houses or aggregators that are

108being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent Pro prohibited uses of race that could include things like materials from the castle group that could include uh materials from the the Great Lakes equity center for sure I think we need to reference this letter in the action and not pull from it so we could kind of you know I know there's a a motion and Amendment on the table but I I think the direction this is going is that we we remove the Dei committee and then ask the superintendent to provide a plan to come into compliance with this letter is that kind of the direction we see this going going I mean I I it'd be great to just say superintendent get in compliance with this letter immediately but that I think goes beyond

109the scope of of what he's you know if there's policy that has to come across the board so to give him and his team guidance compliance with this letter looks like what it it does that mean providing anything that would go against this letter to the board for us to review and approve is that that in place at curriculum that right now only is defined by what's in this letter as as Dei I see it coming back as as a plan to say okay here's the policies we need to revise to be in compliance here's the handbook items we need to revise to be in compliance here's the job descriptions we need to revise to be in compliance uh here's the the policies and protocols we need to revise to be in compliance yeah and

110then the board can take action on those so to confirm and if you could please restate your Amendment so we know exactly what we are voting on can I can I ask a question please um so what I'm hearing then from a curriculum standpoint just from my world anything that has to do with race is what I'm looking for that's the clarification I was asking for as well that's what I'm seeing in this document yes and then I have a question about history social studies about what's if if you're making the statement that any mention of race period is a violation of Dei that's not what this says race race Consciousness Consciousness yes I don't know how you do that if you're teaching about slavery you're teaching about indigenous peoples well there there's a difference

111between Consciousness and fact if we're teaching about slavery that's real that existed that was horrible if we're teaching about oh my gosh we need to give reparations that's Consciousness yeah smuggling racial stereotypes so a good example might be like taking a seven-year-old and putting a giant Sombrero on his head and giving him a Mexican flag to wave in front of his whole school I'd say something like that so again if if the amendment can please be read again so that the board knows exactly what we are voting on all right so I'll I'll slowly please so that Mrs Coleman can write it down restate the motion a little more clear now that we have this letter that the Board of Education disband the Dei committee and subcommittee immediately period furthermore that the superintendent provide a

112report to the Board of Education I mean March 17th is is a short time period but that's why I said um prior to the March 17th meeting containing a plan to bring Harland Consolidated Schools into compliance with the United States Department of Education Office for civil rights quote dear colleague quote letter sent to the district on February 14th 2025 it is also important to remember that just eliminating the word Dei committee from our thing does not put us in compliance with the executive order it doesn't that's a step one small step I think Mr Scott in your first sentence we may want to add something that something that would include and related activities which exists I think in the original motion so eliminate the DI committee and related activities okay and again I think we

113have to be careful because we're defining that as what what are related activities who's making that determination um I think that's what we have to be careful of right we've had a lot of examples of we could get eight different opinions around this table about related activities well there's something called due diligence and I think if we show that we made the best effort to do our due diligence whether or not it's still um uh Up For Debate or what have you um by making that effort we showed that we have taken a step towards meeting the requirements of the executive order or you could use the current language that and and Dei committee functions you can do what Mr Mr Mr Hughes can you that's what the land that's what the attorneys used you

114can do whatever you want and uh whatever put it on the table we'll we'll work through it I see a function though as something the committee does meets acts you know gathers material whereas you know somehow narrowing down what related activity is it's yeah right that's that's what I'm trying to say is related activities is it's too broad right we don't have as we've said for the last two hours we don't have a definition for what those things are well I think uh the diversity circus after tomorrow is pretty much a uh um that's a dead subject right there but um I think they're talking about that sort of thing so is there are there further changes that we want to make to what Mr Scott has read do we want to sub out and

115related activities to use some of the the language here the Dei committee functions what we we need to narrow down what this what this new verbiage is going to be I mean I'm supportive either way I think whether we cease activities you know we really have two different things going on in this motion one to disband the Dei committee which is the most egregious of of the violations of the dear colleague letter and then we have furthermore uh asking the superintendent for a plan related to coming in compliance so I think e i I do like having some some specifics about what we're disbanding there but even if we don't I think it's still relayed in in the compliance part of the plan to become compliant so then the motion that you read 10 five

11610 minutes ago is the one that is standing uh we're not making changes to that I the motion I read since we recessed has not been seconded I don't believe so we well I'm not sure if it's final that's why I'm asking making any further changes so again we know exactly what we are voting on you still have the original motion sitting up there correct and and an amended motion and now kind of so I don't know if we want to clear the table before we go further how the best way to move is yeah let's uh catch up and clear the table that would be good my understanding was that what you had read just recently was the same thing as what you read before so I thought we were restating the same the

117same Amendment so so we we only have two motions on the table there's the original motion and then there's the motion to amend with some clarity provided from our recess yes I agree with that okay so that that's all we have so so the the next vote that we make will be on the amendment whether or not we're going to amend the resolution is there any further discussion or any other changes that someone would like to suggest to the amendment I just need to clarify that uh when I'm creating this plan and looking at all the people pieces that I get to use common sense and if I Pro provide something to you and you say well why isn't this on there that you understand that I use common sense to say I'm not doing

118that I I would just say to air on the side of caution and if you think that you know 30 40 50% of the parents in this community may have issue with with that be presented to their children then that's the kind of thing that that should raise a red flag so that we understand what this is going to look like if this passes we will receive information from Mr Hughes as a board we will get a list a document and the the plan after that is what will the board do is the board going to bring that um look at those items and yes no yes no those items and bring that to a vote to the table or are we just asking for information from Mr Hughes I would go ahead the way

119it's the way it's spelled out is that is that Mr Hughes is is providing information to us he's providing information a plan a a list of items essentially that need to be addressed yes and perhaps a plan or at least next steps to get us to be in compliance yeah and I I am completely I am in 100% support of that and then it would be my my thought it would be the board to the decide yes we want to move forward with policy changes or yes we move forward with handbook changes or there may be some things that that the superintendent and the administrative staff are able to kind of take on on their own without us yeah the policy changes obviously that sits with the board regardless and handbook has has always been

120something that the board does this well so if there are any changes to those those would come before the board any further discussion on the amendment so the amendment the motion that's on the table is to amend the resolution first it was brought forward by Mr Scott seconded by Mr Keller could you read it one more time please that the Board of Education disband the Dei committee and sub committ committee immediately furthermore that the superintendent provide a plan to the Board of Education prior to the March 17th meeting with a plan to come into compliance with the US Department of Education Office for civil rights dear colleague letter dated February 14th 2025 okay thank you hearing no further discussion Mr Scott yes Mr goes yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw yes Mr Campbell yes and

121I am a yes motion passes I would like to say that I am extremely proud to be a member of this board right now and we've shared disagreements between us and I think we uh were able to stand above that and and do what's right for the children of this community so I personally think I know we have a final vote to make make but I'm going to personally thank each and every one of you um for for for coming together on this I I think it's a great great step forward for unifying the district so thank you to all of you so the remaining motion on the table was the original resolution which we have now amended so now this is to approve the resolution as it is now stated is everyone on board

122with that the amended not the statement the one correct the amended version of the resolution is what is on the table right now any further discussion so I I do want to read a letter that I received just prior to the to the meeting from representative Wolford who who I had to have I had a conversation with about um our meeting tonight and so I just want to read this to the board it's actually addressed to Mr Hughes and it just says superintendent Hughes it is my understanding that the Heartland Consolidated School Board of Education will soon be considering temporarily pausing a partnership related to diversity equity and inclusion that Heartland schools recently adopted alongside the US Department of Justice I would encourage Heartland schools to repeal this partnership as soon as possible the residents

123of Hartland especially those with children in your schools should be able to be perfectly certain that their Community Schools are complying with federal law because of president Trump's recent executive order prohibiting Dei policies Hartland schools should definitely cease to enforce their racial harassment training and programming agreement with the doj in addition to now constituting violations of federal law Dei programs promote preferential treatment of individuals based on their race which is definitely uh definitionally excuse me racist furthermore the direct involvement of a federal department one with no direct ties to education policy for that matter with one of our local school contradicts the notion that the locally elected School Board ought to decide how to operate and dictate the policies of the schools under their supervision Heartland schools Dei partnership is completely backwards and absurd both

124in content and in how it came to be passed in the first place as one of the state legislators elected to represent the Heartland area I believe advocating for our local community's parents and their interests in the children's ation to be among my chief responsibilities because of this I encourage the Board of Education to not only pause their Dei agreement with the doj but to permanently end this program as soon as possible can you give him my uh phone number and send them my email absolutely Mrs Coleman can when I don't get it we have a we have a resolution here to vote on yes is there any further discussion hearing none Mr Scott yes Mr galeski yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Shaw yes Mr Campbell yes and I'm yes motion carries item 3A future

125item 3A future meetings our next meeting is March 17th here in the boardroom at 6:30 p.m. we are adjourned for