March 9, 2026, P 12, Board of Education Meeting

001Come on. Good evening everyone and welcome to the Dearb One Public School regular board meeting. It's uh March 9th and the time right now is 7:04. So we'll call the meeting to order. Roll call. >> Roll call. Ali K. Bazzy >> here. >> Patrick Damrosio here. >> Adel Mosup >> here. >> Mary Petro >> here. >> Nazre >> here. >> Amarzar not present. President Ojami >> here. >> Next item. >> Pledge of allegiance to the flag. Yeah, introduce introduce them. >> Good evening. >> It's a >> Thank you for welcoming our Mustangs today. We've got in fifth grade, Mahi Farhhat, Musin Farhhat in fourth grade, Mayar Wise in third grade, and Marwa Ela from fifth grade. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it

002stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Great job, Mustangs. >> Great job. Nicely done. >> Thank you. Do you want me to go a picture or anything? >> Would you like to? >> No, I just that's okay. Next item. Intramim superintendent update. >> Good evening everybody. We have a lot of updates today. We will begin tonight with a moment of silence. However, a preschool house student with pre-existing medical conditions passed away suddenly while at home a couple weeks ago. The family was notified and is okay with us sharing the information with everybody tonight. We will now take a moment of silence. Thank you. I'd also like to talk about global conflict and how it's affecting our students and staff at this moment. As we have all visited schools this

003last week, we've all spoken to parents and staff who have shared with us their stories, concerns, and fears for friends and family who are in harm's way in the Middle East. Unfortunately, these feelings and emotions are not new to Dearbornne. We have felt it deeply and recently with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. These international events profoundly affect our community, our staff, and the students in our classrooms. Of course, we all want an end to violence and wars that harm innocent civilians. Our immediate priority, however, is the well-being of our students. All of us in Dearborn Public Schools are committed to keeping our schools focused on instruction and maintaining routines that provide a stable, safe, and welcoming environment for everyone. We recognize that our schools do not exist in a vacuum as we are part

004of the larger Dearborn community. Our schools are always ready to provide the emotional support students need. I want to thank our dedicated staff, including our incredible team of social workers, psychologists, and counselors, as well as our PAR professionals, teachers, and principles, who ensure our students thrive both academically and emotionally. For our staff, we know you too feel the stress and emotional impact that this conflict has brought to our community. Please take care of yourselves. We want to remind you there are free resources available that are there to support and help in managing these very real feelings and emotions. We have um I'm moving on to agenda items. >> Yes, we have a few retirements. We have Dana Anderson Wagant. Wagant >> Wagant with 27 years of service. We have Denise Flannry with 31 and oneird

005years of service. We have Joanne Harris, everybody with 30 years of service. We have Khadijah Kosh with 21 years of service. We have David Mustinin with almost 27 years of service. We have Karen Rustm with 28 years of service. And finally, we have Tom Wall with 11 years of service. Thank you all for your service and dedication to Dearborn Schools. I will speak a little bit more regarding Joanne, David, and Tom later on. Congratulations to Tom Wall and his team for receiving the 2025 2026 meritorious budget award. Again, this is the eighth time Tom and his team have received this ASBO award for budget transparency. All of which were awarded during his time in Dearbornne. Congratulations Tom and team. March is National Social Worker Month. Thank you to our social workers. The National Social Worker

006Month theme for 2026 is uplift, defend, transform. And on the board's behalf and myself, I'd like to thank all of our dedicates dedicated school social workers who truly uplift, defend, and transform every day. Next up is a short presentation that with um plant manoran reel point. Um I'd like to welcome Paul Wills up. As Paul is um approaching the podium, I'd like to share a little a little bit of background. The district is leveraging its long-term partnership with Plant Maran Realpoint to provide professional oversight for its upcoming infrastructure program. Building on the strategic foundation laid during the 2019 bond assessment as the nerv central nervous system of the project. This owner's agent will manage financial guardianship, schedule enforcement, and quality assurance. This move ensures that complex technical data from architects and contractors is translated into

007clear executive summaries allowing the board and superintendent to maintain highle control without being overwhelmed by daily construction minutia. Welcome Paul. >> Thank you to uh superintendent sor presidenti and board members. Um real quick uh for those that may not know uh so plant man we've been around for 100 years. Um, for the last 25 years, we've actually been providing capital oversight for some of the largest projects here in Southeast Michigan, including Henry Ford Community, uh, Henry Ford Hospitals, $3 billion program, Little Caesars Arena, District Detroit, uh, Huntington Place, and actually we're on the second phase of Detroit Public Schools Community District. Uh, we did the first 500 million now. They're in the 700 million throw. So, we really appreciate the opportunity to be here uh, and continue the partnership uh, with Dearborn Public Schools. Um,

008as Superintendent Sw mentioned, um, you know, again, you've got to taken a look at in January some of the, uh, options of facilities. Um, our job is really to take a lot of the foundations and the building blocks and come back in the April board meeting and say, here's some financial considerations. Um, potentially partnering with the city. Um, here's the number of series, here's the total dollar amounts, but more importantly, here's some of the options for the 37 buildings you have in the 3.2 million square feet. So, again, nothing's been determined. Uh this is really a listening and learning through April. Uh one of the things we consider is based on the input from the board. Um come back in the May time frame and get some additional community forum. Uh I know you had

009some from Byron and Fisk which was some great information. But as you really start to take the four options really honing into maybe two options or maybe there's option 1 A 1B uh and consider link facility but more importantly the what the why. I think that's what the community is going to want to know. That's what as board members you're going to want to know. Um, so May is really understanding what are those preferences. Uh, you have some high priority schools right off the bat. You've got nine to 10 schools that would kind of be in that second phase, but uh, as you know from previous bonds in the early 2000s, you have some schools that are also, you know, nearing 20 years old. So how does that kind of fit into the overall plan?

010So that would be our goal in April to kind of present u options to the board, get that community input in May, come back in June, present those and really fine-tune it. So by July or early August, you consider potentially placing the ballot uh language uh for that bond in that November time frame. So um that's uh what we've been able to do for about 38 districts uh across the state of Michigan. And again, just really honored to be here tonight to help uh continue to partner with Dearborn Schools. And I'll turn it back to Superintendent Sar and President Ojami, the board for any questions. >> Any questions before I ask mine? So I I think for a lot of us and and for me the biggest thing is to understand the role of Plant

011and Moran versus Quinn Evan versus the other vendors. Um and I think we're doing kind of a reset where you're taking the lead plan Moran and managing it from a project management from from that aspect. Um and I think that's the question that you know trying to figure out. Um, is there I know in the documentation that you brought us there's multiple phases. >> Correct. >> Uh, if you could talk a little bit about that. >> Sure. I think the uh the role of an owner's rep, especially when you start getting into 500 million, billion dollar, 1.5 billion. If you look at medical systems, they have a facilities team and a finance team, but their core function is healing patients. Um, as a school district, you have some great experts here that can take on

012a 50 hundred, you know, $200 million bond program. uh when you take a look at a large capital program, let's say over a 15 20 year period, one of the things that I think plant offers is that consistency over time, we know elected officials changed over those years. Uh we know that superintendents may change, CFOs may change. So again, we always look at it as a total program. Um you've got some great architects locally, regionally, nationally, um that you've worked with in the past. You've got some great construction managers. When you take a look at a a bond program, probably 70% is construction related and the other 30% is going to be owner related costs. So soft um technology, furniture, buses, um really understanding that true capture. So again, if we're fortunate enough, whatever that

013dollar amount is, we're going to be able to report that on a monthly basis. Um not just the construction spend or design spend, but what is that totality of program that the community would really want to see and I think as board members you'd want to see. Um, so I I'd say it is kind of a reset, but again, you're looking at a potentially a very large capital program um over a series of years. Um, if this was 100 million, five years, you probably work with your architect and your teams and your CM and get it done. Um, here you could be building potentially new facilities while renovating facilities, swing spaces. A lot of that's move management. Uh, so again, that's our role is really an extension of financing facilities. Um, we're actually paid out

014of the bond funds, not of operation, not out of operational funds, but allows your team to really focus on educating kids. And, um, I think our track over the last 30 years working with some very large districts similar to Dearbornne can kind of be that that trans that transparency. I think that consistency you'd want to look at for long-term capital spend. So, appreciate the question. >> I'm looking and see if anybody trustee Maz. >> Thank you, President Ojami. Um, thank you, Paul, for present presenting today and giving us also um an overview of what potentially that we could ask the voters uh for support as far as the infrastructure. I want to ask you about your experience with other major schools that are similar to our size. Um, if you can share some numbers and

015what they did, did they bring new facilities? did they update um with the capital improvement projects that they did? >> No, it's a great question. Actually, my very first uh K12 client was Detroit public schools. They passed a $ 1.5 billion program in 1994. So, this is right after proposal changed um some of the requirements and taxable opportunities. Um so, with that one, they actually went from 173 buildings down to about 125 buildings, but they rightsized their district with those funds. We were fortunate enough to work with Robert Bob on the $500 million program in 2008. Um they actually ended up building 18 new schools. Um a lot of them were K8s or K6s. They kind of looked at maybe recruiting their academics. They kept some K5s and neighborhoods, but it was really a transformational

016type project. Most recently, um Detroit public school community district used their err funds to create a $700 million um bucket. So that's part of that 1.2 billion. So, the 500 million of bonds, another 700 million investor funds. Um, more most recently is actually Grand Rapids public schools. Um, about a half a billion dollars of programs. Um, again, they're taking a look at their population. They used to be at about 19,000 students. They're now about 16,000. So, um, that's one of our clients that looks at bonds of becoming more efficient, more operationally, and most importantly, providing 21st century learning space is the wow factor. A lot of their schools were built in the 50s, 60s. Um I know some of yours were built in the 20s. Um so again, how does that plan really come into

017play? Um from that perspective, Lancing Schools is another client of ours. Um they're looking at creating some K6s and K8s as part of their $125 million bond and most recently Flint uh schools. Uh they're actually building a new high school um to really combine. So I think that we can offer a lot of those um options or alternatives. So I think right now we're building 18 new schools kind of across southeast Michigan. Um, if you've actually toured Leavonia schools, you can see what it takes to really transform a school into some wow factors. So, um, again, we have no preconceived notion if it's a new building, renovation, K5, K8. Um, our job is actually provide education to you as board members can make educated decisions. That's really what it comes down to is, you know,

018what are some of the peer districts doing, not just here in Southeast Michigan, but maybe across the state. Um, you know, we understand cost of construction. We're the program managers on the school finance research where we assess 500 districts around the state about 3,000 facilities. So we have a pretty good idea and again I think you've done a great job with your architects and construction managers like understand the facilities. Now, how do you wrap it all together? And that's part of our engagement as an owners rep program manager to really create a plan that's flexible. I think provides consistent funding so you can start planning five 10 years down the road. And again, really understand you what are those options of a new versus a renovation versus uh you know major additions and things of

019that nature. >> Trusty Bazy, >> um could you touch a little I know we had we had talked briefly about um kind of the labor and construction landscape, you know, um you know, other districts are are doing what they're doing um plus what's going on in the labor market as it relates to to to this for what what schools need. Could you touch a little bit about that? >> Absolutely. So, um one of the things that if you took a look at about $2.5 billion worth of bonds were passed in November. Um so, you look at some large districts. So, Novi passed a $425 million bond issue. That's one of our clients. Um, South Line about 340 million. So then you also have the Wald Wald Lakes, the Plymouths, um, you know, Warren Consolidated Schools,

020Leavonia schools. So you actually want to be able to provide some of those ideas of planning well in advance. So what used to take place in January or February for bidding, we're now recommending they bid it probably back in the fall. That gives you longer lead times to the the job site quicker. Um, what's interesting is corporate America has actually slowed down. So, people are not really rushing to get back to the office as much as you may seem. So, some of those large construction managers that do hospitals, that do corporate, um, they're actually looking at getting into the educational market. Um, we're community colleges and universities where they've been spending their monies. Um, so again, I think for the next five years, um, we are kind of predicting a little bit of slowdown. So,

021we actually track what's on the architect's drawings boards right now, kind of what's the next 12 to 24 months look like. And I think, you know, you'd be in a very good position to do some work fairly quickly. Um, we could get into conversations about taking a template type facility or, you know, design build or pre-cast. We're not there yet. Um, really this is more about how can you get a good financial plan. Um, I think in any bond of this size, you're going to have multiple series, but I think the quicker uh that you can plan, let's say, for years three and five and get ahead of that plan. You bid it out early, you lock in those those works. Um, I mean, Southeast Michigan's still very strong labor force. Um, but at the

022end of the day, it's how do you proactively bid it? And that's one of the things, you know, if the bond did pass, we'd want to talk about with the board is how fast we award contracts and and do some of the early bid packages to speed up construction. Anyone else? Thank you, Paul. And and just for um you know, community transparency, I think there's two phases to it. One is the the planning, uh which is a fixed cost, you know. >> Yeah, actually a great point. So, um all our contracts, we like to come into a fixed fee agreement. Um it's also month-to-month. So, I don't want people to think this is some 15 or 20 year contract. If you don't think we're adding value, just thank you, Clamp Moran, and we we go

023on our way. Um, knock on wood. We've been very fortunate. Um, Warren Consalia schools, we've been with them since 20 2000, 2001. As I mentioned, Detroit public schools been with them since, you know, almost 2000, 2001. Um, we have to add value to the projects. I mean, that's the whole purpose of hiring an owners rep is to provide that transparency, that independency, but a positive return on investment. So, you're correct. It's a phase one. If the bond doesn't pass that, you know, that's the end of the contract. Um and again, um if you took a look at some other districts around Southeast Michigan, um you know, we've got a very, um competitive proposed fee if if if fortunate that it passes and we're involved, but it is right. It's it's a month-to-month contract. So, I

024appreciate you bringing that up. So, full transparency. >> It's multiple phases. Phase one is the planning and then if the bond passes there's a separate type of um um fees and cost which is a percentage which uh I got to commend our team for again a a great rate don't renegotiate um in comparison to Detroit and Ann Arbor. So just so people would know you the goal is to get the bond passed and if it does pass then it's a different type of agreement with planner Moran to to to move forward. >> I think most important on that piece right there um you know we've always looked at it as a fixed fee because we don't you shouldn't get paid more or less depending what you spend. So helping negotiate the architects and contractors to

025also become a fixed fee um percentage um conversion is is one of the things we definitely recommend for the board. And again, um, I've been working with the district since 2014 on a variety of consignments assignments. So, appreciate again the partnership and consideration this evening. So, thank you. >> Right. I don't see any other questions. So, thank you so much. >> Appreciate you, Paul. >> Thank you. >> I have a lot more to share. >> Okay. Uh we are in the almost the middle of March's reading month and I'm looking forward to partnering with Trustee Bazzy and Trustee Soap. You've gotten your copies of the books you've practiced. All right. We're going to be um in many elementary rooms across the district. Looking forward to that. And I think it would be a good time

026to show a video that Trustee Bazi made. Sorry. I mean everybody needs to see this. um you took it upon yourself to make a video to encourage our students to read during March's reading month. So, let everybody see it today. >> Hi, I'm Ali Kazy, Dearbone Public Schools trustee. You know, there are some places that feel like pure magic, and one of them is Henry Ford Centennial Library. Let's go inside and pick out a book. Whether you want to travel to a far-off galaxy or learn how to build something incredible, all you have to do is pick up a book and turn a page. >> Hey, Abby. >> Hey, how's it going? >> Good. How are you? >> Good. >> I already have a book for me. >> Yeah, of course. >> If I built

027a school. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate how much you help all the kids find all those books. >> Thank you. >> Bye. >> March is reading month is here. And for this month, I've chosen the book, If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen. It's a great book about a young boy who imagines what his future school could look like. Everything from field trips to Mars to holograms to a zoo. Everything that he thinks he needs to make school fun and a great place to learn. I'll be visiting classrooms all month long reading this story to our students. And I want to hear what they have to say about what they think a future school could look like. But hey, you don't got to take my word for it. During April's board

028meeting, you'll hear from them. We'll be sharing stories and pictures of what our students think the future of Dearborn schools could look like. >> Thank you for doing that. Very nice. >> That's going to be a second career apparently. >> It's the kick at the end. You know, that's what got me to want to show it today. Um I also want to thank do uh trustee Soap for joining the early learning coalition. Um you showed a lot of you've been showing a lot of interest in early learning development and thank you for joining that coalition. So glad to have you on board there. >> Thank you. >> Um I was going to show the ELC video of our discover and play event, but I think I'll save it for next time because I have a

029lot to get to today. Um, I want to congratulate our city of Durham police chief, Issa Shaheen, who was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Automobile Theft Prevention Authority Board of Directors. Congratulations to Chief Shaheen. Earlier today, Trustee Bazzy joined Senator Mcmorro, Representatives Alabas and Burns, Blue Hands United, as well as Dearborn and Dearborn Heights officials and law enforcement, and shared progress they are making and to show their support for the passage of Michigan House Bills 4517,4518, better known as the Rowan Act, and Senate Bill 456. If passed, the Rowan act will support vulnerable adults if they are missing by implementing an an alert system. President Aljah and trustee Mosep were in attendance as well. Uh for the trustees who uh were asking regarding myar last month, we have been able to respond to all

030of the questions that were asked at the last board meeting. I will add to this week's board briefs as I am still finalizing some additional information. I'd like to take some time right now to speak on Joanne Harris. She's not here with us today, but I'm sure she's watching. Um, after 30 years, we'll, you know, it's okay to spend about five or six minutes talking about her, right? Only not only today, but moving forward. Joanne was hired on May 13, 1996. Joanne is typically sitting where Katherine is sitting today and she's she's with us at all the board meetings. She keeps the meetings organized and running smoothly. She prepares agendas, writes meeting minutes, and countless other tasks to make these meetings and many others run smoothly. Joannne's work behind the scenes has always been and

031still is greatly appreciated. Joanne has been keeping central office administrators and the superintendent organized and on track for decades. First in human resources for 20 years and for the last 10 years as the administrative assistant to the superintendent. She was awarded outstanding HR support staff of the year in 2016 by MASPA. During her time in the superintendent's office, Joanne has worked with dozens of board trustees and administrators. She has organized hundreds of meetings for the board, ensured a smooth and seamless operation in the superintendent's office, and no matter the issue, handles every situation with professionalism and respect. More importantly, Joanne's love for everything Halloween is always a boost for spirit staff. Always leading the team with incredible enthusiasm and unbelievable costumes, she is the Halloween queen. And that enthusiasm spreads to all the other holidays

032and events we celebrate. Whether it's a fun story, an encouraging thought, or maybe just a fun new word like pilonone, J Joanne is a treasure. She will be deeply missed by all of us in the superintendent's office and throughout the district. An all-around amazing employee. We really are going to miss her. Thank you for all your service, Joanne. And this was written by your entire team here in room 6 and beyond. Congratulations. I do want to say something on Joanne because me and her were emailing till like 610 6:15 and uh even though she's not here, she's so responsive and she's doing a lot of things for us even though she's not here. So, as the board, the trustees, we really appreciate her. She's does an amazing job and um never gets frustrated, never gets

033upset, never feel makes us feel like we're bothering her. So, we really do appreciate her and I I'm sure the rest of the trustees feel the same way. Trustee Petoff. Well, if we're going to add in our few thoughts really quickly, uh I've known Joanne for decades having uh been here at we're going to see a change in landscape here at the Administrative Services Center, finally known as Tenike to those of us who've been around long enough. Um and Joanne was a part of that um companion piece to um a a faithful servant to all of us who needed help and looked for um answers. She was always a go-to person. Um I know she was a great support when she moved into the superintendent's office as well. And I actually knew Joanne before she

034ever met her husband Kevin, who was at the time the um president of the DFT. And I know he's anxiously awaiting her um retirement more so than probably anybody else. So um I I wish her all the best of luck in her next future endeavors. Trusty. I >> I just also want to thank Joanne so much. I mean, last year we had so many things happenings and she was so patient uh with all of the changes that we've had and um definitely somebody who is has high sense of humor and um uh is very diligent. So, thank you. Thank you for your service. We everybody will have chances to celebrate Joanne and David and Tom before the end of the school year. So stay tuned for for all of that information. >> I do I

035do want to say something for David. You got three more years to hit the 30 mark. >> Thanks President Aljahi. I've been trying. It's your turn. David >> David Mustinin who's actually been in Dearbornne as a pioneer at Dearborn High School and then attended Henry Ford was it community college back then? Okay. >> Uh and officially hired in the district on July 1st, 2000. A few things about David. He has successfully passed five ballot proposals. He's managed multiple crisis communication situations, including those that received local, state, and national media attention, supported the communication needs of principles, allowing them to focus on their students while he took care of the back end of things. He worked directly with six different superintendent, supporting their communication efforts. He's received a distinguished service award from the PTA council and

036awards from NSP and MSBO. Don't ask me what those stand for. Something with communications. Okay. Um he has transitioned the entire communications office to its current configuration, keeping up with our everchanging needs in the district. And of course, probably the biggest and best accomplishment, being known as a snow day guy. Although I beg to differ, David. Um cuz I'm the I'm the snow queen now. So although you created that, but I digress. Um David, thank you for all your support. I mean, the list shows what big shoes there are to be filled in the historical context that is leaving with you that we need to hold on to somehow because we can't move forward without knowing where we've been. and what's happened in the past and the lessons there to become better in the future.

037So I'm going to start the congratulations and thank you here and this was on behalf of the entire exec team. All of these accolades were written by them as well. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, David, you were our entertainment master and we always looked to you to give us a a a spot. Um, but more importantly, you were our original AI. You were our speech writer when we uh were lacking for words in a variety of situations. You were our chat GPT. you were everything that is now unfortunately um coming un under attack as as old school and but I appreciate all the uh work you did to put um words to our voices and um you will be truly missed as somebody who we could always uh appreciate uh a spot in the light.

038Thank you. I I I do want to say um we're losing a lot of wealth and knowledge. You know, there's a lot of people uh who are leaving. Um David definitely has that knowledge and his demeanor. I guess he's a communication guy. So, the way he articulate himself is uh very impressive. We really are going to miss you. Uh and we appreciate you. >> Anybody else? Trusty Bazzy, >> I just want to say, you know, David, before I joined the board, you know, we worked together a bit and and now um AI can't replace the man like like David. Um it's not just, you know, when we look at how we want to communicate and what goes out there, it's the thought that goes into it and the considerations. You know, I've had conversations with

039you even today, and you've given me considerations about, well, consider this and think about this, and you give us different points of view, your point of view, other points of view for us to make considerations as we make decisions and communicate. And um it's it's such a valuable thing. Um and I want to thank you so much for all of that. >> Thank you. Anything else? Okay. You want to tell people about t the dates? >> Anybody wants? >> Oh, if anybody Okay. So, it's I think the sun has set for some. If anybody wants to break their fast, um we have water and dates over there. So, feel free to help yourself. Um for anybody that's observing and fasting today. >> Thank you to Trusty Bazzy. So, I had to remind him to share

040with uh to to announce that thank you for bringing that. >> I have one last update. Boy, you're hearing my voice a lot today. Uh Tom Tom has been with us since 2016. Tom has won, like I mentioned earlier today, the meritorious budget award eight straight years. He has always prioritized students and provided strong support, particularly our special populations. He maintained a healthy fund balance throughout his years in service and was actively involved in the community. Additionally, he played a key role in our current lunch options, including the decision to make the entire menu halal. You know, when it comes to Joanne and David and Tom, I think what we um how do I say this best? Any crisis that has been averted is probably because of one of them three or a combination. And

041we don't know it because it never happened. So, I I think that's how I'll say it. So, thank you, Tom. Thank you, David. Thank you, Joanne. And congratulations. >> Yeah. And I very quickly about I wanted to wait to talk about all three of them because it's the same for all three. I don't know if everybody knows this, but when really talented people like these three get into the world of education, they're they're not doing it for the paycheck, okay? They're doing it because they believe in public education and what we're trying to achieve and bettering our communities. any I I mean I knowing the three of them, any one of them probably could have been in the private sector, maybe doing a little bit better than what they're doing in the public sector in

042their bank account, but they're here because they believe in the um mission of public education and they believe in the city of Dearbornne and that is something that we should really give them all of our gratitude toward. So again, thank you David, thank you Tom and thank you Joanne. God bless you. When I first met Tom, he was being interviewed to be appointed as a school board member when we had an opening. >> And when he explained what his job was and he was a CFO for Brownstown, I think at the time um but that he lived in Dearbornne and that he was very much vested in the community as he had children in the schools. Um, we told him, well, we we didn't give him the appointment position, but we said, come back when

043we need to hire somebody a as a CFO. And dog gone, if it wasn't very shortly after that, that that opening came and Tom showed back up and we hired him. We knew him from that interview process that he was going to be a great fit for our school community. And no doubt with the record he has um presented for all these years of these balanced budgets and these great awards and accolades, it really shows what happens when um we recognized talent, but we knew where to really put him and use him to his best. So Tom, we I don't know how good a trustee you would have been, but you're a phenomenal CFO. >> Anybody else? >> Yeah, Tom is an amazing person. Very um responsive, knows his stuff. I know as a new

044board member last year, I asked a lot of questions. I still do. And he was so patient with me and um sharing their information, helping me understand. a good teacher. Um, so we appreciate you. We're going to miss you. We're going to miss all of you. Thank you so much. >> So, um, I'll keep it brief. I just I will echo those sentiments. Um, congratulations to Tom, um, Dave and Joanne on your retirements. Um, I will be making valiant efforts to keep all of you over the next couple months. Um but otherwise congratulations and just thank you so much as a new trustee who's been here for um several months now. You know, you've helped make my time transitioning in and catching up to speed um so easy and seamless. Um again, thank you for

045your patience. Thank you for your generosity um for your wisdom, knowledge, not just for me, but for everybody. Um it's clear what an impact you've made on our students, our community, our district. Um so thank you on behalf of everybody. That's the end of my >> That's the end of yours >> other >> I I wanted to there's an item that um talking to uh Trusty Petoff that we want to move as a discussion um I want to tackle it right now if this is the right time which is the the the presentation for the budget to go under special reports so to give Tom some preparation time because I do agree with Mary that it needs to go before our action items. If everyone is okay with that, >> do we need to do

046a motion? >> We need to do a motion to uh >> to move it. >> Uh so who moved? >> I'll move. >> Okay. >> Uh the motion to move uh the discussion item >> to be special report. >> Yeah. To special reports. >> Okay. I'll second. >> All right. So, we have a move and a support. Uh roll call. Ali K. Bassy. >> Yes. >> Patrick Drosio, yes. Ad Mosep, >> yes. >> Mary Patrick, >> yes. >> Naz, >> yes. >> Amar, >> yes. >> President Ojami, >> yes. Now, we did say um we were going to take a recess break. I know the the there's a lot of people here, but we needed a few minutes for the trustees that are fast and to break their fast. Uh >> anybody else? So, >>

047I I'll move that we take a 10-minute recess. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Second. All in favor? >> I >> No objection. I'll break her fast. So, we're back in session 8:00. >> So, next item. >> The next item is a recognition, acknowledgements, and commendations. Good evening. My name is Ahmed Zara >> and my name is Mar Kuruma and we'll be reading your commendations tonight. U so first off with the district Commendations to elementary district instructional coaches Joanna Assad and Malle Dish for facilitating six days of intensive professional development dedicated to the science of reading and the components of effective literacy instruction. Through their skillful facilitation, they have built the capacity of elementary classroom teachers and had a positive impact on tier 1 and tier 2 classroom instruction. Commendations to the more than two dozen

048staff who volunteered their time on Saturday, February 7th to assist with the Discover and Play Family Fest. Their dedication was evident in the thoughtfully prepared materials and activities that engaged our youngest our youngest learners and their families in building essential foundational skills including social emotional learning, early reading, early math, and music. This event would not have been a success without their commitment to our community. Staff volunteers include Christina Miserroll, David Minonin, Eric Shiff Shigfrey, Blash Burnside, Nicole Bush, Miriam Barakat, Siam Sala, Emma Abdullah, Inoyan, Dal, Khalil, Pedwa, Fawaz, Maya, Rabba, Rababa, Sonia Zay, Rana Hassan, Julie Bass, Samia Salah, Macy Long, and Diane Gro, Tracy Wright, Michelle Rosson, Annette McMohan, Mcmahin, Savannah Thompson, Miriam Alowi, BB Diaz Hall, Candy K. Meof, Rebecca Bedwy, Angelica Reese, and Nora Neon Neman. Commendations to the staff who stepped

049up to help when a burst water pipe caused extensive flooding at Edel Ford High School. Engineers John Tobin and Ron Arbanowski and custodian Kathy Duffy were the first to respond. Ron was able to shut off the water to the entire building to prevent further damage. Mr. Tobin came in on a vacation day to coordinate with Serpro. He and Mr. Arbinoski took turns covering a 24-hour shift. Miss Duffy inspected all areas of the building to find the affected areas. Dan Azoparti, district plumber, fixed the pro broken pipe and had the building's water up and running within an hour of the leak's discovery. District electricians Anthony N. Tonelli and Jason Wedle provided power to serve pro for the largest for the large industrial fans on site. Lisa Book helped coordinate the busing situation in a very short

050time frame. Principal Reema Hassan for her quick response and for helping notify parents and staff. Mark Andrews and Matt Osiniski Ozinski for their quick actions in coordinating with with ServePro in district trades to quickly correct the situation and for keeping everybody updated. Accommodations to the staff members who stepped up and led sessions on March 3 on March 3rd, professional development day. The morning sessions were facilitated by 44 teachers and staff from our elementary schools and central office. The teacher-led professional learning sessions offered training in language arts, math, social studies, science, special education, instructional strategies, and technology. The district is fortunate to have such an engaged such engaged teacher leadership during these essential professional learning opportunities. Hello, my name is Ma Kuma and I'll be giving commendations for our high schools. Commendations to the Forson High

051School wrestling team for capturing their fourth consecutive MHSAA district championship. Their team is coached by Hamza Morak. Similarly, commendations to the Dearborn High School wrestling team for winning their district championship. Commendations as well to three wrestlers who qualified to compete at state championships. Hadti Ms. Rani was regional champion in the 215 lb class. Ryan Fitch and Ibraham Dru were regional finalists in the 113 lb and 165 lb competitions respectively. Their team is coached by Dr. Hassenberry. Commendations tot wrestlers who did well at the down river league wrestling tournament. Sophomore Hassan Noada is the Down River League champion in the 126 pound weight class and senior Ham Salem placed second place in the 132 weight class. Commendations to Edel Ford High athlete Fiona Kane. She took second place at the indoor state track and field meet

052with the school record long jump of 18 five and a half breaking her old school record. Accommodations to Forton High School interrat club and their adviser Iman Nora. The students thoughtfully purchased air tags for all of the student centerbased students with cognitive disabilities at stu at Stout Middle School. This meaningful gesture provides an added layer of safety and peace of mind for families and staff at an event that a student becomes lost. Beyond the practical benefit, this action demonstrates the very best of what student service organizations can represent. high school students identifying a need and taking initiative to support some of the most vulnerable members of our stu school community. Accommodations to Ford High School students who performed at the MSBOA district band and orchestra festival. 15 went above and beyond their class expectations to

053perform at this event. Six students earned top ratings and will be going on to compete for state competitions on March 22nd 21st. The state qualifies. The state qualifiers include Gabe Atard Zah al Mafar, Marcus Madullah, Victor Bel, sorry if I butcher their name. Uh Ryan Heckla, and Violet De. Commendations to Essel Ford's High School's Key Club, which was recognized with several awards at the annual conference. The the honors include third place for major emphasis award, third place for partners and service award and recognition with a 100 minutes award and an early bird award. Student Amelana Cabrera received a first place outstanding president award and is now the lieutenant governor of division 12 of key club. Also, Edel graduate and former Kclaw President Mia Lordes Morabido has been elected as the Michigan District Secretary for Circle

054K International. There are 102 key clubs in Michigan. Accommodations to Dearborn High School students who assisted with the elementary professional development sessions held at the school on March 3rd. The students came out of school on their day off to assist. Volunteers include Ramsey Kaid, Morad Sal, Eva Hammud, Jason Anderson, Miam Alisader, Eliana Rita, and V Guen. >> Thank you so much, Ahmed Ma. >> Uh, the next is the state champion bowling team recognition. I need everybody to help me applaud our state bowling champs in Dearbornne. They're here today. Congratulations. This year, the Dearborn High Bowling Program was united with Fortson High School, and we had 25 student athletes participate in total with seven from Fortson. The program consisted of varsity boys, two JV boys teams, and a varsity girls team. The following student athletes were

055members of that varsity championship team, all from Dearborn High. Before I say them, David is how would you like me to do this with because we got you really nice certificates as well? >> I can see the names. Yes. And you because I have them written here. Is that good? Thank you. Congratulations, guys. It's amazing. Okay. Help me celebrate Alexander Corona. Derek Mincy, Derek Mincy, Elijah Lamb, Nathan Wood, Christian Lamb, Aziah Lamb, Jack Tifi, and Coach Paul Mark Khan, did I get everybody? >> Yes. >> No. >> Please. There's a lady coach. >> Assistant, what's your name? >> Liliana. >> Thank you. Assistant coach Liliana Bronson. >> Ad Holly, would you like to approach the podium? Sure. >> Members of the board, madame superintendent, um citizens of Dearbornne Public Schools, we want to thank you

056for your support. Um our bowling team, uh this year finished last place in our league. So, we went from last place to state champions, which is a heck of an accomplishment. >> All right. >> And I'm very proud of each and every one of them. Not only are they excellent bowlers, they're great students, and they represent Dearbornne with a lot of pride. So, >> thank you guys. is I appreciate everything you've done for me and for Dearborn High. Thank you. We'll have you fill in here and we'll get members can fill in behind. I know guys. We got double duty. >> Thank you. >> Great job. Congratulations. Huh? >> She photo next item. >> Our next item is employee recognition. Good evening. If Zayan's here, can you join us, please? Zanabel Sadi, >> there she

057is. >> Hi. >> How are you? >> All right. So, um, this right here is Zanab Sadi. She's a teacher at Howard Elementary. It's her second year with Dearborn Schools. She's nominated for creating a welcoming and supportive classroom where students are truly motivated to learn. Her hard work, dedication, and passion for teaching make a positive impact every day. As a Howard parent, I have firsthand knowledge of how blessed we are to have Zanab with us. Zanab, do you want to say a few words? >> Good evening. I am Zana Baladi. I just wanted to say thank you so much to Dearbone Public Schools and a huge shout out and thank you goes to my Howard community, my family for all their support, for all the staff, students and families. Thank you so much for nominating

058me and supporting me. Thank you. Thank you. >> And for those of you who already have the pleasure of knowing Dr. Rola Bazzy Gates always has a smile on her face. um she was not she's a special ed coordinator. This is her 28th year with Dearborn Schools. So we've had 28 years of Rela's smile and her blessings and her warm heart. She's nominated for her dedication to supporting educators and the warm positive energy she brings to the district. I didn't even read that before I said my comments. Thank you. >> Good evening uh everyone. Thank you so much for all the staff who nominated me. I'm grateful and honored to be standing here before you. Thank you for all your hard work. Honestly, as board members, I'm very um you know, honored to be here

059and I will continue to lead with love, empathy, and respect. So, thank you so much for everything you do to our family and the deer community. We appreciate you. >> Thank you so much. Our third employee of the month is a non-instructional employee who wasn't able to join us today. Her name is Megan Cook. Megan is the engineer at the Henry Ford Early College. It's her 10th year with Dearborn Schools and she's nominated for her incredible hard work in getting the new Early College building ready for the school year. her flexibility and constant willingness to help the staff made a huge difference during during such a massive transition. So, thank you to Megan. We are thankful that we have you as part of our team. Have a good evening. >> Go ahead. I just I'm

060so happy that we're that we're still obviously attracting great talent into the district, but um that we are able to hold on. For those people who don't know, Dr. Rola is like a uh fixture in our schools and it's hard to understand Dearborn schools without seeing her uh always being a part. You're not retiring, are you? Is there like another retirement? Okay, good. All right, good. So, so we're so lucky to have you and obviously to have all all the talent that we have in our school. So, thank you, Dr. All right. Next item. >> Next item is acknowledgement of donations and then after that. >> Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Just wanted to say congratulations to Joan, David, and Tom and all the teachers, staff, instructional and non-instructional in the district. Lots

061of celebrations tonight. Um I'm going to read the uh donations. We have 10 tonight. The first one is a donation of 1,200. Uh it has been donated uh or offered to Whitmore Elementary by the Dearborn Education Foundation to be used for US skate books. A donation of $180 has been offered to Salina Elementary by the Dearborn Ad Foundation to be used for chalkboards. A donation of 1,1500 has been offered to Axel Ford High School by the Dearborn Ad Foundation to be used for the drama club. A donation of $600 has been offered to Miller Elementary by the Dearborn Education Foundation to be used for music equipment. A donation of 1,100 has been offered to Howard Elementary School by the Dearborn Ad Foundation to be used for alternative seating. A donation of $1,000 has been offered

062to Salina Elementary by the AD Foundation to be used for owl club gear. A donation of $75,000 has been offered to Dearborn public schools by the Dearborn Education Foundation in partnership with CMS Energy to be used for the Salina Green School Yards and a donation of 2500 has been offered to Salina Elementary by Dr. Jill Shok and Kh Dr. Jill and Ken Choco to be used for the Salina Green Schoolyards. A donation of $1,000 has been offered to Whitmore BS Elementary by Freddy the Pizza Man uh Freddy Bellow to be used for sensory room materials. A grant of 3,200 has been offered to Salina Elementary School by the University of Michigan Dearborn to be used for the shore program that will uh designate a student to lead action research at Salina Elementary as part of

063grant funded awards through green schoolyards. Thank you to all the donors. >> Thank you. >> Um sorry to jump in. I uh I believe we got a lot of blue cards submitted tonight and for the sake of time um I recommend that we push up citizen participation next if that's okay. >> Uh >> you'd have to make a >> well yeah if someone would like to motion or agree >> I'll support I I'll motion it myself. >> Okay. >> I'll move to move it up to to >> next on the agenda. >> So we have uh someone that moved and support it. So um all in favor say I. >> I. >> Uh any objection hearing? None. Motion is approved. Um so we could go ahead with the blue cards. >> Uh you want to

064read the citizen participation part? >> Yeah. But we're supposed to read them at the end. Okay. Great. proceeds are you want to read the citizen participation? >> Okay. The next item is citizen participation. Citizens wishing to address the board on agenda and non-aggenda items for action who are signed in by 7:10 p.m. or 10 minutes after the meeting starts by submitting a blue card to the board secretary may speak at this time. The board may not be in a position to respond to non-aggenda items. Therefore, speakers should not anticipate an immediate response to their comments or questions. For the benefit of all concern, do not mention the names of students or school district employees. Please keep your comments as brief as possible. There is a three Tim 3 minute time limit on comments to the

065board. Let me just get my clock ready. Brian, first first Yeah. Yeah. First speaker is Adnan Mi. I just want to begin by recognizing my uh school community. They're here with me today. Thank you for coming. Uh good evening, President uh Aljahi, board of education trustees and interim superintendent, Mrs. RER. I want to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to the incredible community. I'm deeply humbled by the petition that gathered over 147 signatures in support of my leadership as principal. Th those signatures reflect the voices of teachers, parents, staff, former students, and our families who are deeply who care deeply about our school. I also want to specifically thank the parents, students, teachers, and community members who are here tonight at this board meeting showing their support for my leadership as a principal. Moreover, thank

066you to my daughter Sarah Mugni who whose initiative helped organize and lead this petition effort. I have the privilege of serving this district for 29 years. 29 years >> as a teacher at Salena Elementary, Woodworth Middle School and assistant principal at Woodworth, McCulla Ununas, Henry Ford Elementary, also a principal at Henry Ford Elementary and the last seven years, McDonald Elementary. Sorry you're being emotional. I never thought I'll stand in front of you trying to defend my position. It has been an honor to serve this community and I'm looking forward to continuing to serve the students, staff, families of McDonald Elementary. I'm I'm proud of the work we have done together. I'm deeply grateful for the support shown by the parents, staff, former students, and community members. I remain committed to McDonald Elementary School, its students

067and its fam and and our families, and will continue to dedicate myself fully to the growth, success, and well-being of every child entrusted in our care. Together, we will continue to build a school community where every child can thrive, succeed, and feel supported. In conclusion, in the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most beneficial, the most compassionate. Indeed, Allah commands you to render trust to whom they are do. And when you judge, when you judge people or between people, judge with justice. and thank you for your time. I do have May I approach I do have some documentation. Can I approach? >> Yes, sure. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for coming. Uh our next speaker is SNIV. Is it okay if they pass out? Um, my file is Thank you. >> Good

068evening, school board trustees and interim superintendent Shore. I am here today as a concerned citizen, a 2022 DHS DCMS alumni in support of my father, a district administrator. I remember the day my father was hired as an elementary school principal in 2010. His excitement filled the house. Although I was nearing the age of six at the time, I understood that his uncontained passion for this position was special. It was not something everyone possessed. It's something that my father used as his superpower. It was his opportunity to help more children make a different and make a difference at a larger scale. Despite not being a formal student in his respective school building, I can still attest to his impact and involvement as a principal. Elementary school age myself, I attended curriculum nights, literacy night, STEM night,

069math nights, and others. And I got to interact with staff and students and immerse myself within the rich academic culture my dad supported and contributed to cultivating. To date, as a college graduate of the University of Michigan Dearborn, an incoming medical student at Michigan State, I still have individuals who recount the impact he has made in their lives. Whether it be PTA parents from over a decade ago who tell me how accommodating he was, substitute teachers who from the first encounter looked forward to the next time they came to his building. educators who he hired decades ago, grateful for his mentorship, and even past students who have gained admission to prestigious graduate schools that still acknowledge his contribution being one of the most major to their academic accolades. My father is so dedicated to his

070position that he has taken two days off in the past 25 years. One to drive me to visit my medical school and the second to take care of his ill mother. I have witnessed the environment at his school while volunteering in his building at different times throughout the school day. In early mornings, he is the warm, familiar face that greets you while directing traffic. And at the end of the day, he makes sure that students cross safely on their way home. He consistently comes into work and effectively carries out the roles and responsibilities of his position to the highest caliber. My father is also a heavily involved parent. He has never missed a single one of my school events. from open house when I was in kindergarten to celebrating my recent college graduation and the

071ceremonies that came with it. In light of recent events, I began a petition on Tuesday, February 17th to garner support. In less than 24 hours, we gain we surpassed 500 signatures. To date, we have a total of 147 signatures from colleagues of my father, both retired and current district employees such as teachers, par profofessionals, administrators, lunch staff, and more. parents, concerned community members, family, friends, and current and past students that have also been outspoken on the petition platform itself and on social media. As I stand before you today, I'm surrounded by a subset of an overwhelming majority of voices in support of my father. And if he isn't so ineffective, why is this room filled with love? I trust that the board of education will make the right decision. Keeping my father in the building

072where he belongs to continue to impact and plant seeds of hope in the students and families he crosses paths with. >> Sorry brother. Thank you so much. >> Could you remind right now? >> Yeah, I'll just reminder I'll remind quickly every speaker you have three minutes. So if you want to time yourself just so that you know when to wrap up. Um our next speaker is Lema Amira. >> And how about this chair? I'll just wave my hand when you have like 15 seconds. >> I like that. >> Okay. >> Good. Oh no. Afternoon. Good evening. Good evening. Okay. My name is Lama Amir and I am a parent in Dearborn public schools. Yeah. >> Sorry about this. >> It's okay. >> Uh, can you keep me to the end, please? Go ahead. >> Oh.

073>> Uh, okay. I guess that'll be up to you, chair if you want to if you want to let her come back. Yeah. Okay. Uh, our next speaker is uh, Malak Azab. Did I say your last name right? >> Okay, GREAT. >> Good evening. My name is Malaka Kazab. I'm a 2021 graduate of Henry Ford Early College and an alumni of Dearborn Public Schools. I'm also the older sister of two students currently enrolled at McDonald Elementary. I stand before you today as both a former beneficiary of this district's educational system and as a family member whose siblings remain within it. Dr. Adnan Mugni has devoted more than 30 years or close to 30 years of professional service to Dearborn public schools. That span of service represents accumulated institutional knowledge, developed professional judgment, and a sustained

074contribution to this district's academic framework. When a recommendation as consequential as termination is advanced, it warrants a standard of review that is thorough, proportionate, and demonstrabably fair. Decisions of this magnitude are not merely personnel actions. They are governance decisions. They reflect how an institution exercises discretion, evaluates service, and applies its principles. How this board responds will not be forgotten. It will become part of this district's institutional memory. This decision will inevitably signal to educators, families, and students how sustained professional service is weighed when difficult determinations are made. The method by which this board evaluates this recommendation matters just as much as the outcome itself. As someone shaped by this district and as someone who entrusts it with my younger brothers, I respectfully urge this board to ensure that its determination reflects deliberate reflects careful deliberation,

075principal judgment, and an appreciation of the full scope of professional contribution at issue. Institutions are defined not only by their policies, but by how judiciously they apply them. Thank you. Uh our next speaker is Rena Busussy. Good evening everyone. As a mom of fourth and a fifth grade student at McDonald Elementary School, we would like to express our appreciation for the leadership and dedication demonstrated by our school principal through his integrity and fairness for students. He has created a positive and supportive environment that encourage learning respect and success. His commitment to both student and families reflect a deep sense of responsibility. The impact of his leadership is clearly seen in the progress, confidence and well-being of the students under his guidance. As a parent, we truly value and appreciate his continued effort and the positive

076difference he brings to our school and community. And thank you for your time. Our next speaker is Hussein Barry. >> President Jia Trustees. Good evening, Superintendent Roar. Good evening. And by no means any of my comments reflect on the great job that you're doing this past few months, and I appreciate that. Uh, with that being said, this is not my first time at this podium. I was reminded earlier uh by somebody that's been around here for 30 years that I actually came to this podium uh 30 years ago. Uh, and I always speak on behalf of when students or employees are dealt with with injustice. Uh, for the longest time as a board member, I was told to stay in your lane. Let the administration on the district run the district. That's great advice until

077dot dot dot section 8546 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which falls under the US Department of Education, which requires states to have laws or policies that prohibit K through2 employers from aiding and emedding school employees from protecting their own when students are abused. Part of the act is you cannot get into an agreement. I've had some time since I've gone off the board. So, I'm doing been doing some homework. Not trying to compete with Ahmed and the Mr. Soba. But part of this act also says you cannot get into an agreement with an employee after you do an investigation and find some wrongdoings like sexual abuse. Uh this act has been known now throughout the country as don't pass the trash. The state of Michigan has always been ahead of the country on

078this topic with the Child Protection Law, aka Act 238 of 1975, summarizing mandatory reporting of sexual abuse and alleged alleged sexual abuse to the state with consequences which include jail time. I want to go on the record as saying I have I am very confident that our former superintendent or his design followed the law under my tenure as a board member. And if you need that in writing, I'll email it to you. I want to go on the record of saying that. Uh a long time ago, I met this young lady. She shared with me that she had an alcoholic as a father. He would go get drunk every night and a couple times a week. He would come into her bedroom and jump in bed with her. She dealt with a lot of trauma,

079a lot of heal healing. She forgave him. She never forgave his mom. The mom was supposed to protect her. With that being said, yes, stay in your lane, but you're the oversight committee. Do not assume that others will do all the right thing all the time. For a long time, good administrators and good teachers have been dealt with by being bullied out of this district. Why do you say that? Uh, everybody loves Dr. Mni, including myself. I'm not here I'm not here to tell you how much I love him. I'm here to show you the receipts. For 5 years, this man was highly effective all the way to 2019. Highly effective. As soon as 2019, there was a teacher that was told she couldn't do sharetime with another teacher. Uh, he doesn't know what happened

080to him, but he got hit by a truck. That teacher, we know her as Bigma. She gave me permission to say her name. I won't say her name, but couple of us know her as the big mouth. Because of her big mouth, she didn't stay in the building she wanted to. This man took a uh took an uh took her on board. She was highly effective and since that day, his life has been turned upside down. Thank you for your time. >> Would you like to go back to the previous speaker? Is that okay with you? if she went. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Uh back to previous speaker before, Miss Lema. >> Okay. Good evening. My name is Rama and I am a parent in Dearborn public schools. Sorry. Okay. I'm I am here today.

081I am here today in behalf of parents who care about the leadership and stability of this schools for over for over three decades. Dr. Adnan Mi has served students and families in this district with con I'm sorry. >> It's okay. >> Sorry. >> It's okay. Can my daughter be? >> Uh, sure. You have like two minutes left >> if it's okay with the chair. >> Yes. Yes. Okay. >> Yes. Um, I apologize on behalf of my mother. Sometimes speeches can be a little bit nerve-wracking, so I'll be speaking on behalf of her. Um, good evening. My name is Lema and I'm a parent in Dearborn Public Schools. I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of many parents who care deeply about the leadership and stability over schools. For close to three decades, Dr. Dr. Adnan

082Mugni has served students and families across this district with dedication and consistency. His his leadership has impacted multiple students and generations of students, multiple schools and generations of students. That kind of longevity is not accidental. It reflects commitment, resilience, and deep care for this community. As parents, what matters most to us is stability, integrity, and leadership that puts students first. Many families have experienced Dr. Mugni as someone who listens, who shows up, and who works tirelessly for the well-being of his students and staff. When a long-erving educator faces termination, it affects more than just one individual. It affects school culture, staff morale, and the trust families place in the district. Our schools are the heart of our community, and decisions made here echo far beyond a single contract. We ask that the district carefully reconsider

083this recommendation. We ask that his decades of service, experience, and positive contributions be weighed thoughtfully and fairly. Our children deserve experienced leaders. Our children deserve stability. Our schools deserve stability. And our community deserves transparency and fairness in decisions that affect those who have given so much to it. Thank you for your time and for your consideration. Uh and Mr. Chair, we have two yellow cards. Yellow cards are when uh somebody writes out their comments, but they don't want to come up. they would be um summarized by me. There's a couple times where names are said here, so I'll just replace it with the role of uh of the person name so that we're not naming names. This one is from uh Fata Hashim. Her comment says, "The principal McDonald is very supportive and helpful to

084all of his staff members. The principal always has open door policy for all his staff members. I was and have great respect to the principal of McDonald. The second yellow card is from Hanan Hussein and she writes, "The principal McDonald is a good principal to all student and staff. He is very supportive and helpful all the time. Thank you." AND UH that's all the cards that we have today. >> Okay. >> Well, I want to thank everyone that shared their comments and feedback and we heard you. Um we appreciate your perspective and uh we thank you so much. We can't comment any more than that because of uh you know limitations but thank you so much for attending and joining us. Um I'm looking for my colleague see if they have anything to say. If

085not then >> I mean I I just want to say I'm very um uh obviously you know it's part of our job to listen to uh the community and we answer to you at the end of the day. So, I just want to thank you all for coming out and I can speak for myself and I probably speak for everyone else when I say any decision we make going forward and all decisions we made of course have taken community response into uh account and uh this will be no different. But I really want to thank everyone especially the young people and everybody for being civically engaged, civically involved, coming out, making your opinions known and um and and taking uh uh uh initiative to to be active in the community. So I appreciate that very

086much. >> So next item >> next. Okay. I believe now we're back to uh the >> union leadership. Approvement of the minute. >> No approval. >> Oh, sorry. Yes. Thank you, Trusty Pelichoff. Approval of minutes. Uh approval of minutes of the following Dearborn Board of Education meetings. Regular P12 meeting February 9th, 2026. Board report 25-103. I'm looking for someone to make any necessary corrections and move approval of these minutes. >> So move support. >> Moved by Drosio, supported by Patov. Um any corrections to the minutes or changes? All right. Hearing none, may we attach an anonymous roll call to this motion? >> Yes. >> All right. Motion's approved. >> Next item. >> The next item is union leadership commentary. This section of the board of education meeting is being added to further enhance the already

087strong commitment and longtime partnership between district administration and all bargaining units. Both instructional and non-instructional union members serve on a wide variety of standing and ad hoc committees that drive the work and decision on a wide variety. sorry, drive the work and decision-making in the Dearborn public schools. In addition, administration meets monthly with the leadership team of all unions as well as a group meeting with union presidents. These meetings are not required, but are an extension of the collaborative partnership that has long existed in the Dearborn public schools. This section will further enhance the commitment to valuing all suggestion, views, and opinions brought forth by all staff members in the district. And I see according to our agenda we have one union representative here today and that is from the Dearborn Federation of Teachers, Mr.

088Joseph Sickinator. Did I say that right? >> Oh, okay. >> Can we get the mic? >> No. No. Let them turn the mic on so that recording can hear you too. >> David, can we get the mic? >> David. Oh, is it on? Okay. Okay. Sick. All right. >> Uh, good evening everybody. How y'all doing tonight? >> Good. How are you? >> Um, so I was asked to speak instead of Kathy because she's out uh for personal reasons. Um, but we wanted to talk about communication uh within the district. So, uh, while it's often said that trust is the key to any relationship, what goes unsaid is that trust is built on communication. Communication isn't just words. It's also posturing, tone, and other other subtle intangibles. But what communicates most strongly above all else is

089action and what actions you take. Uh communicating doesn't build a found a strong foundation if it's not open or honest to at least a point of matching what's already known. For example, when Woodworth closed last week, the reason given was for building issues. Staff had reported a false smell of gas, rotten eggs, and then told to evacuate. Rumors then spread of a carbon monoxide leak, which is odorless. members had wordly messaged union leadership asking for guidance. Questions such as, "What was I exposed to? Should I be worried? What actually was going on? If carbon monoxide is odorless, why was I smelling rotten egg smell and gas?" Uh, and then I'm having x, y, and z symptoms. I'm feeling lightheaded. I have a headache. yada yada yada. Should I go to the doctor? And these are

090questions that like union leadership is not really equipped to handle because they go outside our knowledge base and expertise. and we're not building engineers and we're not doctors and we don't really know the full story, right? And um we like to uh think that uh these questions would have been answered, right? So consider um how the situation would have been different if instead an email had gone out that explained. We think there was a gas leak at the school causing a stench. There may have been carbon monoxide around the boiler, but it most likely didn't reach the rooms. Based on testing, we evacuated from an abundance of caution. We expect school to be reopened in a couple days when repairs are done. Right? Then provide some more additional information that kind of lets people know

091you actually don't have anything to worry about. Everything's fine. We may not know the exact reasons. You know, that's understandable. But instead, they haven't heard anything as of today. And it's been over a week almost since that happened. Okay. Clearly outlining what is known, what is not known, and what could or should be done about it removes uncertainty and helps build trust between the district, the staff, and the community. Even if a couple staff members may have visited the doctor just to be sure everything's fine, that's okay. Even if updates have to get mailed out later, kind of just updating people on what's going on so that they're better informed, that's also an okay thing to do. What I think is not okay to do though is that we have to like think about like

092what happens when um like you aren't updating people, you aren't providing them with clear information. Then rumors start to spread. it starts to get very negative and people start to get like kind of almost conspiracy-minded, right? And I'm not saying that that happened necessarily in this case or that members were like flying off the handle unnecessarily, but that's the kind of situation that you start to create when you don't actually provide what seems like clear and open communication. Um, consider what is lost when we don't openly communicate, when we allow rumors and uncertainty to fester. It damages the trust relationship between the staff and the district. Um, so as I said, as of today, people still haven't been informed. Nobody knows the specifics. I don't know the specifics. So like that little scenario I just

093made up is based off of what I've heard, but that could just be again rumor. We don't know. Um, and so it's incredibly frustrating for me to come up here and actually tell you things and and actually not even know what I'm talking about partially. It's very frustrating. You know what I mean? But it could be so easy to solve that problem. Um, another example I'd like to highlight is with the superintendent search survey and meeting notifications. We appreciate the opportunity to engage in the process and we think that the intent the good intent of the of the superintendent and the board and everyone was there to kind of involve everyone in the process. Um however for these superintendent sessions uh there was kind of poor attendance in participation and what we noticed is that

094neither the meetings nor the surveys were well advertised. For example, I went back and searched and there was like basically a single email that went out. Uh when we do events in the union, we have a couple different strategies to generate interest, including sending out more than a couple emails kind of spaced out over time so that people get like essentially reminders that things are coming up. Uh we often have colorful flyers attached. We create Google calendar events and invite people uh that way so that it shows up on their calendar. Uh we post flyers in the mail rooms. We fly our mail people's boxes. We directly ask people in onetoone conversations, oh, are you going? Are you going to show up? So there are strategies to communicate that are more and obviously I don't

095expect the district to approach every single of the what is it 15 13- 1500 teachers in the you know and say like individually like will you come to this meeting but like the idea is that there are resources right um and part of getting uh people interested and excited and showing up and doing things is communicating well and making it known that their input is truly wanted uh and part of doing that is thinking of more ways to kind of involve people rather than just a single email that comes out. Um, we appreciate transparency and open communication that we get from various levels in the district. Uh, and we get a lot of it. We really do. I'm not trying to make this seem like this is an all-encompassing problem here. Um, uh, but we

096also want to ask that the same communication we know the district is capable of also happens at the building level. Um, as the search for a new superintendent continues and the bond issue looms in the near future, we hope to see better examples of communication from the district, bolstered by a genuine desire to deepen trust and relationship between the school's community and staff. The union is happy to assist in getting our people to turn out to these types of events. Please remember to reach out to us in the future. That's it. >> Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Um, next item. >> Okay, now we're on action items. Is that correct? >> Uh, I think so. Right. >> Oh, special reports. Sorry, it said none, but then we're putting Sorry. Sorry, Tom. >>

097You're not retired yet. Um, >> special reports, which we moved up. It is going to be >> uh first budget amendment for 2025 2026 from Mr. Thomas Wall. Good evening, President Ojami, Superintendent Store, members of the board. Um, as part of our normal process, we do budget amendments twice a year. Um, we're a little later than this year a little bit just because we didn't have the state aid approved until October. So, we're getting information back a little longer. So, but we're here today to give a quick update. And I am going to also have Miss Emberico come up. She's going to do part of the presentation on the grants. So the first one is showing our agenda here and I apologize in advance. Some of these dates are wrong. The everything should say 2526

098or 2627. I adjusted on mine but Joanne must have made a copy and put it here so it didn't get updated but I apologize for that. But we're going through our process. Um right now we're on the March 9th date where it basically says we're getting our budget amendment. At this point, we have most of our information on the state aid. Uh we have our student account approved by the state and we also have our compensation all our staffing in place. So that's why it usually happens around the February March time frame. So just kind of give you the overall that we will do another budget amendment at the end of the year for our second amendment and also adopt next year's budget at that time. But you'll see there's a quite a few meetings

099and events happening before that. Um, next month you have the pleasure of seeing me again up here, which is more of a pleasure for me to explain why what happening with the budget because next month we'll talk about next year's budget and our first assumptions from what we know. And unfortunately, you'll see me again in May as we have our public hearing on the budget. So, every board meeting from here to the end of the year, uh, we'll be talking about budget. So, as a pictorial, just to kind of make sure you understand where all the money comes from because we're a large district of roughly over $400 million and we have restrictions in how we can spend money and where it comes from. So, you'll notice that on your agendas all the time when

100there's an action, we always put where that funding source is coming from because unfortunately some people feel that why are we buying this? Well, it might be through a grant that has restrictions and that's how we have decided to use the grant. But the most restricted is on the right and as we go to the left it becomes more unrestricted. No, one some of the screens changed but some didn't. So I'll leave that up to David to figure out why a couple of the TVs didn't change on that screen slide. Uh the next one has to deal with the student count. Oh, just a little delay. Uh we are actually up this year. Uh Mr. Mure and his office in student services does a very good job. He was within one student of prediction of

101this year's student count. That is just amazing with all the variables that go in. So we are slightly up this year. So roughly about a 75% increase from their previous year. Uh looking at where all the numbers come from, uh we have what we call the combining statement. Um we have over a 100,000 accounts that we actually do as part of the state aid process. We are required by the state to have all these individual accounts by building, by function, by object. So we have surpassed the 100,000 account numbers this year due to some additional changes they keep doing. And so we can't obviously provide all the detail on that, but we have combined the account numbers like for like kind. And you'll see on here we have it broken down the revenue by local.

102Inner district is like the ISD and other school districts, the state money, federal money, and transfers. And we are required by the budget adoption when you'll see at the actual resolution you're adopting is broken down by these types of numbers. Expenditures have a little more uh variability of showing where they come from by object. But you can see that overall the general fund the first amendment is showing a slight surplus of 188,000. That's the first column. And the special revenue um is slightly down. We are actually transferring some money out of community ed budget because that's where all the rentals come from to help our building and site issues. And we have our debt fund. Uh normally would not see a debt fund balance of roughly about 15 million in our fund balance, but we're

103paying off the cubes cube the interest free or interest free bonds that we did back in 2010. We're finally paying that off and we've been dropping money in that every year as a scing fund to actually pay it off next year. Uh just looking at some of the pie charts from change, you can see that um not much has changed. Our state aid has actually gone down a little bit overall. Um but you'll see that our our federal money is a little larger and that's because of the grant section. We have more federal grants than we had in the year before. Um I can go into a lot more detail but one of the things that for school funding we get a per pupil allocation that's our foundation allowance based on number of students our

104tax base actually went up 9.5%. But unfortunately that does not mean we get more money that means the state pays us less. So there's the state t the local taxes and the state aid that combined our for our foundation allowance. If one goes up the other one goes down. So there really is not seen any additional money. So that was planned because our tax base went up so high this year. On the expenditure side, um you're looking at the amendment of roughly 476 million. Um you'll see some of that numbers are higher because of the federal programs. You'll also see that our transfers are a little higher than what we originally budgeted and that's because any really surplus money this year we're moving to the building of sight fund to address bond issue or not

105bond issue infrastructure issues that we can do if depending on where we go long term. I know I'm going quick but so feel free to stop me if I have you have any questions. Looking at the general fund in Pacific, uh we're looking at again the general fund revenues are 74% comes from the state. So depending on what the state does legislatively really drives how we get revenue for it, but as I said earlier, our property taxes went up. So that means our proportionate state aid went down. Uh and so that's kind of giving you a quick pictorial of what we've changed. Looking on the expenditure side, same thing. roughly uh 58 or 59.7% is instructional and that's money in the classroom. So that is always a priority for us to make sure that we're

106focusing as much money as we can in the classroom. The red portion is support. So that's all the staff around it. That's your principles, secretaries, social workers, counselors. You can see a majority of our money is in instruction and support. But you also see that an increase in operating transfers. Again, with our current status of our buildings, we need to set aside as much money as we can internally to make sure that if a building issue arises that we can have funding to address it. >> Sorry, Tom. Everybody at So, everybody at Tenike is in the red section, too. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Yeah, because the only thing in the blue section is actually in the classroom. Yep. >> And Tom, the operating transfers, where's that coming from? >> Uh, that's this is all

107general fund money. So this comes out of our foundation allowance, you know, our local taxes that we raise, any miscellaneous revenue like cell tower revenue, any fees that we do. So all that is from our general fund. The only exception for the transfer to the building site fund was that roughly a little amount that we did from the adult ed community ed fund because every three or four years that money gets high enough that we transfer some of the money over there to help address those issues. Uh just showing some of the differences and this is looking at numbers that affect compensation. Um our recent contract this year was based upon the foundation allowance increase. So that's on there. And also we knew some things weren't going to happen like enrollment stabilization. We actually went

108up this year and the state gives us money if you actually went down to help offset that loss of students. And the last five are up there are retirement system. Uh the state gives us money for retirement. It isn't the same every year. It goes up and down. I think it's more of a balancing budget in my opinion from the state to balance their budget of what money they have access. They'll give us a little money in a certain section or not. But that has as you can see also went down over over the years. Looking at our student count again, we talked about it. That's uh 104.19 is what we had budgeted and we ended up at 144.29 from actual change. And we do have some more information this year for 27L. It's a

109new categorical that had to be negotiated. So you'll see here shortly through a letter of agreement from our unions of how we're spending that $2.8 million. >> The the the foundation allowance uh the decrease from the budget to is it because of the number of students or just the fund that we received? >> It's the funding decided on by the legislators. They both had their plans back in May when we were working on it and we approved it in June, but as you're aware of, they didn't actually approve it until October. And so now there really isn't much to do about that. They gave us no notice. They came up and met in a couple days, decided a whole different funding structure. So looking at other things, you'll see the compensation here. Um the numbers

110have moved around with it, but they're all within the same range. So our budget to actual is good on compensation. Um some money went from benefits into salary. So but overall the number is the same and on other expenses. I didn't want to detail with the 100,000 accounts but basically what we budgeted and what the first amendment shows shows roughly only about a half a million difference which is good for a $400 million budget. Uh some of the other things on there we lost a couple of grants. We'll go into that more later. And we have transfers as I stated earlier increased due to our need for funding of future capital projects. Um athletic trainers was something new last year. We had a contracted service. Now we're hiring them ourselves. And unfortunately maintenance infrastructure costs

111increasing. You know we're you're seeing some of the issues that we talked to the building committee of gym walls that can't close that are impacting instruction. So we have to address those. Was the was the putting athletic trainers on the payroll a big like how >> uh our contract was for a h 100,000 for you know the three now I think their total cost is about a h 100,000 each so we only had them for part of the year this year so that remaining balance will show up in next year's budget so it basically tripled >> so if you if you work that out over a year it tripled goes from 100,000 to about 300,000 >> correct >> okay >> but again it's important to us it's a major impact for parents to make sure

112that there's someone on site that can handle injuries quickly. So, that's something that a lot of school districts have done because the hospitals are getting out of that arena. >> Yeah, I brought it up not because I think it's a lot of money. I brought it up so that everyone knows that we we invested in this. >> Correct. Correct. >> And you heard some comments on the year about this very issue and we have moved in that direction. >> Yes. >> And I'm going to turn it over to Lauren to go over through some of the grant information. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um so with this slide I just wanted to show you some of what we expected um when the state budget was late in October as opposed to what our current reality

113is. So on the federal level the message was really simplification and decentralization. So disbanding dismantling decreasing the size of the department of education and the impact that would have. So, one of the things they were proposing to do was to take about 18 major K through2 programs and that included things like um title 2 and four um a lot of at risk funding things for um funding for homeless students, things like that and turning that into one grouped state block grant. So, in February they met, they decided they would not do that. They did leave the title funding um really at the levels that it was seeing before. Um but they have really decreased the size of the department. So the staffing and and support levels, none of that is there. And so we're still

114really not sure what that's going to look like as we go on. But uh it is causing even further delays at times. Uh they were proposing to do the same thing with IDA funds. Uh, and then like I said, just kind of decreasing other things like preschool and special education or sorry, adult education. So now what we're seeing, like I said, um, it's really just what's going to happen with support. So, in response, Governor Whitmer came out with her initial proposal also in February, and um she's really touting trying to do a um $250 increase in the P pupil for pupil foundation allowance. That would put us at 103 statewide. Uh she's looking to do special education increases at the state level to compensate for the stagnation on the federal level of IDA funding and

115proposing free meals for all. Now that one in particular does not really affect us because we are schoolwide title one. So we already have that. However, even if um well, and I I will say so in 2526 uh statewide the pupil per pupil foundation did go up by to 442 and that felt like it might be great but with the funding cliff of uh esser funds and and any of the co funds ending that really is not enough to account for um in addition to the state budget to to account for things like higher incomes, higher costs of living, inflation, all of that. Um she's proposing another 250, which is not even close to the 442. And so, while it looks like it's an increase, it's something that we still have to very much keep

116an eye on. and what that means for our district um with still some uncertainty and I think Tom mentioned so this is the governor's kind of first look in her um push for marketing her her agenda and in May at the uh revenue conference we will see what happens with uh not just the governor but um legislature and all of that and that's when we hope to have a new look at what next year's budget might really be. So, we're still in a waiting period, but the caution, I think, is to just keep in mind that, you know, our number one needs are still safety and in infrastructure in the district. And we really have to protect the general fund in order to let it serve its purpose. So, grants can take care of what

117they do, but to to um let the general fund do what it needs to do, we just still need to show some caution. I think, excuse me. So, oh, okay, there's the slide. It is a delay. Um, overall you can see that we continue to go up in grant funding. That was also an unknown at first. Uh, one of the slides I did not put up there shows um, our largest grouping right now is in business services and that includes uh, food service, transportation, at risk 31A, a lot of those really big chunks. Our next biggest chunk would be special education and uh, English learners and then some other groups from there. This slide will give you that information in a little bit different way. So it'll show you the number of grants that we

118have in each category and the amounts that they total to. So as I mentioned before, oh sorry, as I mentioned before, the ESRE fund expenditures ended uh September 30th, 2024. The debt fund millage is at 1.22 mills and so that can is going to slowly continue to drop over the next nine years. Uh we do have grants and contin continuing to rise. 31A was a notable one. We did opt in for those funds. I think we've talked about that at former meetings. Uh and we now have $7 million as opposed to last year we would have been allotted two. That's a huge relief because we did have other cuts um in HR funding and other mental health funds. So that's a nice um cushion for now. Excuse me. Um, we also got a stronger connections

119grant for mental health. We are working with access still for the 21st century tutoring and they also just got a a small bump increase which was great. And we talked about the 27L compensation for staff that's being negotiated right now with a building and site fund out of builtup reserves. The big question, like we said, what's next? So, we're really hoping for a bond. um passing. And um one of the other challenges that we can face in uh food service can be when holidays fall during the uh the school year. Um that can decrease our revenue and also have to maintain our wages. So it's just something that um we'll continue to try to plan for um as that cycles through the years. So, new grants, we have um I want to say almost 2

120million in 35mm literacy achievement. So, they'll be doing a uh pilot program this year and hoping to implement that over the next five years. We like I said saw some uh large cuts in IDA section 107. Another part of the block grant would have been civic educa education, some of the things that fell into adult ed. And uh 31 and mental health that was like a 50% cut. Uh we have grants that just naturally came to the end of their cycle and those are listed here as well. Excuse me. Really, that's it for grants unless you have questions. Um just to kind of give you a an overview and a picture. Thank you. So, the general fund, even though it is balanced, um we're concerned about going forward because there's a lot of things that

121are going to be changing. Um under fringe benefits right now, there is a hard cap in place that we participate since we had to make that decision years ago. Um and so they're talking about moving to an 8020 match and they get away from the hard cap. That could be a couple of million dollar swing for us on what we have to pay for benefits. So, that's out there. We have statutory regulations. Um there's new air quality. There's elevator laws. There's um water shed issues. There's a lot of things going on out there that the legislators are implementing and that we have to with our older buildings have to address. Um liability costs. We're always worried about the mesters rate and where it's going to go. um as people retire and like myself that are

122higher end and new people are coming in the lower end, the money we pay for retirement is going to put a pressure onto the system. That's always a an issue. Um insurance cost uh I'm sure you hear every day about tornadoes, hurricanes, fires. So our liability costs are going up. Um a very legitious society, so our legal fees is something we always have to be cognizant of. Um student counts. um student counts. The state is looking at a 10,000 student decrease every year and so that will trickle down and you'll see continuously see school districts scaling down and adjusting staff. So that's something we have to be worried about. And our infrastructure demands obviously that is nothing new that we know we have to address somehow. So there's going to be a lot more pressures

123on the general fund and unless we try to we have to kind of plan going forward to have that reserve. So obviously our fund balance underneath this budget amendment is at 33 million. We have to be very careful how we use that and make it you know judicial and well thoughtout decisions going forward on some of our costs going forward. So we'll have more of a conversation that when we look at our first look next month and how that's looking and what's that going to be an impact to our budget. >> And that's the budget update. >> Any any questions? Trusty Maz. >> Thank you, Tom, and thank you, Lauren, everybody at the business office. Uh, I believe if you can go back to slide 10. Um, as far as the onetime revenue for 27

124L. >> So, you said that's strictly for staff compensation. Does that include all of the staff? So, DFT, >> it's negotiated. So, that's one the only there's not much requirement on that except that it has to be negotiated. So HR department does a good job working with them kind of get through that process and a letter of agreement will be done of how to spend that money. So she'll have to work with each group through that process. Okay. And then if you go to slide 13, just showing the incredible work of the grant department of >> my my just worry is how can we maintain this, >> right? Because every grant has their own requirements, their own accounting, their own budgeting. >> Um, luckily we have a lot of experienced people in this district that

125that 139 is spread out among many individuals. Um, and that's if you remember two years ago, we saw that this direction that was going and the district had the foresight of hiring a grants director that really helped us out because otherwise we'd be overwhelmed. >> Yeah. >> You know, she is full-time on those grants and spends a lot of time in the office meeting with people, talking to the state because a lot of times it's interpretation what the grants can be used for. And we've added a lot of grants outside of the K12, you know, with the federal government, with our legislators of special projects. So, we're working very hard to bring in that extra money to help offset our costs. >> That that's a great job. I'd say that's incredible. >> But it just

126shows a trend because the state has gotten away from that foundation allowance and moving more towards all these individual categories. trust. >> And I and I think to your point because it is impressive the difference, but there's also probably a lot of competition now because of the way the funding formulas have shifted. Um, everybody is out there trying to compete for these dollars and it's going to probably get tougher and tougher um as people are finding that that's their only avenue of um new revenue uh as other revenue disappears. So I think um a we were very smart to hire somebody when we did uh because it it is going to require a lot of um added effort in order to maintain what we have. Otherwise, we will no longer have a lot of the

127extras, what people don't necessarily consider extras, but that we we couldn't afford to um provide for our school community without this additional uh resource available. >> And there's a rule in place where if you pay it out of the general fund, you can't just move it out of the general fund into a grant. you can't, you know, undercut that process. So, it always has to be someone that you're not already paying in the general fund, right? However, some of the grants that go away, like the HA went away, we're able to take that amount of money and not cut staff and just move them to a new grant. >> So, it's a constant jigsaw puzzle. We even had a conversation with MDE today trying to push the envelope in a certain area saying that, you

128know, you're you're causing us to do a lot of steps and hoops to go through and we're trying not to impact kids because anytime a kid has to have a transition like a class time reduction type grant that if you have 28 in a classroom and you can knock it down to 14 or 15 each, it's better for the kid. You know, unfortunately MD says, "Well, you have to show the pain before you show the gain." So, but again, that's where we're trying to see if we can push the envelope. We weren't successful. So, but you know, it does mean we keep trying though because we're trying to do how to maximize our money as much as possible and using the jigsaw grants is very difficult and a lot of time and planning, but we're

129trying to do as much as efficiency as we can. >> I do have a question and uh thank you Trusty Ma for bringing that up. That was the first thing that came to mind is the 177. Um, our budget is I saw 473 million. So, we're we're kind of up I think 20 million. Uh, which is a great thing. Um, but a question on the grants. If you're spending it per student, um, and you say the classrooms have 27 28 kids, which we have teachers who complain to us that they have too many kids in the classroom. Are you limited in how you spend uh these federal resources to add more teachers? And for me, if that's the case, that's that's that's the challenge. If you speak to, you know, obviously we have a union

130contract, we abide by that, you know, and and if not, we're we deal with the union issues and discuss and what's the best best option for those students. Um sometimes a teacher says, "I'd rather have that many," you know. So, it's really up to a conversation that happens, but just again trying to deal with it with grants. A lot of the grants are very specific on what you can use it for. It's not open-ended like our general fund. We have cart blanch of how we spend it, but with grants is very specific and you have to send it in for approval and that either gets denied or accepted. Um, title one is a big grant that, you know, Michelle Daly and her office does a great job trying to work with a consultant to get

131creative and do things and she's successful a lot of times too in doing that, but it's a very latigious process that you have to go through and unfortunately it's not always legislative isn't always clear on their intent, but MD interprets it and that's what we have to live by. So, it's hard to plan ahead until the grant might be given in June or July. It's interpreted and it comes out in October. We've already started our school year. So, it's very hard to plan ahead, especially as you see all these grants keep changing. Some are coming off, some are coming on. It's a difficult time to really plan advance. And we even talked to MD today. The sooner you let us know, the better we can plan for the start of the school year, but they

132have to take their time to interpret what the legislators are saying. >> So, so going back to the question, would you answer it? So, really for these type of grants, because they're specific, a lot of times you're limited to adding resources, >> right? support and you're not able to add teachers. I've been to classrooms where they have 27 28 and it's really difficult um seeing the teachers manage and not having the help in the classroom and you could see kids getting distracted. you could see. Um, that's the challenge with with grants is you can't you're limited to what you're doing and I'm going to say it. It's going to sound bad, but sometimes we might have too much support, but we need more teachers. >> That's just my opinion. >> Okay. >> Thank you. president

133just one point and obviously it's not a question but I know we have been very successful at getting even private dollars from like the Palmer group for the summer program >> are and sometimes you know there are grants from uh organizations like NSBA and uh professional organizations that will bring many many grants and those might be small but there's a lot of work that needs to be done in in order to apply for those grants. Are we looking also at the private sector to seeing what can what possible partnerships especially even the ones that are locally that we can apply for? >> Actually, yes. Um we are talking with Ford uh to hopefully get a transformational grant for Michael Berry Center and the uh the the auto the new auto lab. Um, so we're waiting

134to hear from them now. We're absolutely seeking everywhere we can. >> Sure. >> Yeah. >> And just to show how quickly you can go, we were notified a week before and they wanted it by that Friday. >> And so we had to get, you know, people from Michael Barry together, you know, us together and kind of come up with a plan within three days. >> Yeah. >> And make it look professional and submit it to four so they could they and they said, "Well, can you give us two options?" So, we had to take the plan again and break it down how a lesser option so at least we can get some money out of it. But that's the life we live in, you know, and if we hear about it, we jump on it.

135Doesn't matter if it's even $150 library grant for a single teacher. We're in there. We're going to get it done and get it by and submit it in time. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? No other questions. Thank you both so much. Great presentation. >> Next item. Uh, next item is our action items. Are there any agenda items on this agenda which board members or the interim superintendent we should discuss and vote on separately? If there are, we will exclude these from the motion below. So, I would like to call for a single motion to approve all of the action items in this agenda with the exception of any items that will be excluded from this motion by board member request. So, I'm looking for a motion to move that action items, what do

136we have? 12 today. >> 12. Yes. >> 12 action items. I'm looking for a motion that action items numbered 1 through 12 be approved as recommended in this agenda unless there's any exceptions. >> So, move. >> Support. >> Moved and supported by uh Dumbrazio and uh Petoff. Are there any questions? >> I do not have any questions. So, >> okay. There's no questions on roll calls. >> You want to do a roll call? Okay. >> Trusty Bazzy, >> yes. >> Trusty Dejio, >> yes. >> Trusty Mos, >> yes. >> Trusty Pelichkov, >> yes. >> Trusty Sub, >> yes. >> Trusty Zaher, yes. President Aljah, >> yes. The summary of those items is number one, approval of warrants per board report25-104. Number two, approval of an award to 123.net LLC. Number three, approval of an award

137to Scitec Incorporated. Number four, approval of an award to Amplify Education for per board report 25-105. Numbers 5 through eight, approval of non-instructional and instructional personnel items for P12. Number nine, approval of financial statement. Number 10, approval of an award of contract to Plant Moran Real Point per board report 25-11. Number 11, approval of the resolution for the first budget revisions for 2025 2026 per board report 25-112. And number 12, approval of donations. >> Next item is we did that one. Next item is board of education business and acknowledgement of correspondence. >> No correspondent except the emails that the board receives and we're all copied on it. So nothing else. board member committee and organization reports. >> If I could uh ask um Miss Davis to come up and uh one of the thing we

138were looking for is an update on the HFC uh presidential search specifically the interview. So there's some updates and challenges and I I'll Good evening to uh the trustees to uh madam superintendent. I both recognize and respect that this is a P12 meeting. So I will do my best to keep my comments brief and not discuss an extreme amount of HFC business. Uh, I'll save any long-term reports for the upcoming meeting on Monday. Forgive my voice. I do want to give you a quick update to the um to the timeline. As most of you are aware, we are in the uh penultimate phase which is basically the final phase where our finalist have been uh invited to come to the campus. What that looks like is a full day of uh interactions with the campus

139community. That is, as I'm sure most of you can imagine, um kind of a herculean task because it requires the coordination of all of our internal constituents, but also we have to keep in mind that uh our five finalists are uh currently working and that means that we have to juggle their schedules as well. So, one of the main things that I want to ask for tonight is an approval for a um a shift in what we originally approved as the timeline. What we talked about uh several weeks ago was that finalist interviews would take place on campus the week of March 23rd uh with a possible extension to the week of March 30th. Five of all five of our candidates, our finalists were unavailable for two of those dates the week of March 23rd.

140That means that we needed to push more into the week of March 30th. What I'm asking for is uh an approval for the dates of March 25th and 26 and then an approval for the dates of March 30th, March 31st, and April 1st. I'll send all of this to you in an email um or send it through uh Chair uh Eljami through an email. That means that we will do a th a Wednesday and Thursday of the week of the 23rd and then we'll do a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the week of the 30th. What questions may I answer for you about that before I move on? >> So really, and I'll let Trusty uh Zar speak. So, it sounds like it's still within the two week time frame. >> We're still within the approved

141two-eek time frame. However, I do want to be very very clear that instead of starting on um the 23rd and 24th as we originally planned because all five candidates, finalists, excuse me, were unavailable that Monday and Tuesday, we do have to move into the next week. Okay, >> trustees are >> uh couple questions. These things will be from 9:00 to 5 like during the workday >> sort of. So I do have a um that was actually my second point. I do have a draft schedule that I'll give to all of you tonight. It is basically nine it's about 9 to9 to be really honest with you. It's a really long day. A lot of colleges and universities do it over two days. We're trying to squeeze everything we can in into one day. So, it's

142going to start early in the morning around 8 or 9:00 a.m. and then it'll end that evening somewhere around 8 or 900 p.m. >> And the the public interviews in the evening of the >> So, the only things that are not Well, you know what? Actually, let me do this first. So, because I'm talking, but I'm not showing you what I'm talking about. >> Thank you. You are receiving a uh format and timing of interviews. I do want to be very clear, this is still in draft form. We are almost finished. Um, but the uh the constituents will basically remain the same. The times may change a little bit. Make sure everybody has that. Okay. So, uh, to answer your question, we're going to start in the morning around 8:30ish with, uh, an overall arrival,

143welcome orientation. We'll end with a, uh, trustees dinner in the evening. The only things that are pretty much non-negotiable on here are the three things you see in the evening, which would be the community town hall, the uh, board of trustees interview, and the board of trustees dinner. We're very cognizant of the fact that uh the community members work, board members work, and we wanted to make certain that your events were in the evening to accommodate your schedules as well. >> So, what do you mean non-negotiable? You mean those are the things that we definitely have to be at? Those last three things. >> What I mean by non-negotiable are those are the things that need to be at the end of the day for your convenience for you to be able to attend. >>

144Um non-negotiable is the interview >> for accommodation. >> Yeah. for without a doubt the interview itself is is non-negotiable. Without a doubt and that is of course a um >> that is a public interview. >> If you don't want to come to dinner, you don't have to come to dinner. >> We'd like you to come to dinner, but you don't have to. >> But I'm not going to Yeah. Um but I mean in terms of of course we want the community town hall to be closer to the after late afternoon or evening and of course again the the interview from the uh trustees themselves which would be all of you. We want uh closer to the evening. We want to end the day on a high note which would be a dinner uh with you

145and the uh the finalist. Uh almost everything during the day can be a little bit more flexible. Um you'll notice that this is an extremely tight schedule. As a matter of fact, it's so tight um I don't even have room built in for actual breaks. So some of this is going to have to change in terms of timing. Uh whereas we have an hour for some things it may need to be 45 minutes. I've already cut out at least three things. There will not be a uh uh presentation from the candidates. There will not be a campus tour. Um, we've cut a few things here in order to try to squeeze as much in as possible for the constituents of the campus by uh but also keeping in mind that at this point with a

14612-hour day um you know your finalists are going to be exhausted by the time they get to you in an interview. So I want to respect that as well. So, for the most part, this will uh this will not change too much except for maybe some of the time frames. There is um there's a possibility. Well, no, I there really isn't room for anything else. I was going to say there may be possibility to do something else, but we really just don't have we don't have the time. What questions may I answer for you? I see uh Trusty >> Zip and then Trusty Z. Yeah. Is it possible if you can build um kind of a break after the town hall meeting? I I'd say they've had a full day for them to interview us

147right after the town hall meeting would be a stretch. >> So I'd say maybe >> I can put in maybe a 30 minute break there. That would at least that would move you down to 6:00 which would move everything else down. Okay. >> I can look at that. No problem. That's actually perfect. Especially if you're working >> Yeah. >> and you're driving to, you know, Yeah. Um, trustes there are >> um I just want to let everybody know so my little personal, but my sister's getting married in California on the 29th. So I would prefer that we I was not planning to come back till like the 1st because I thought we'd be done by that week. So, um, but I definitely won't be here on the 30th cuz you lose a day when you

148fly from California to Michigan. So, just so every just so everyone knows, I have a family. I I can't miss that, unfortunately, on the 29th. So, uh, I the 30th is I definitely won't be here on the 30th. I'd like to not also be here on the 31st, you know, spend an extra day with my family out there, but if I have to come back on the to be here on the 31st, I guess I could take a red eye on the evening of the 30th, but I definitely won't be here on the 30th. >> And I do want to say that um we had planned to be concluding by the 30th uh but literally just this afternoon we were able to confirm uh the availability of all five finalists. >> No, I I totally

149understand. >> Yeah. Is there anybody on the 30th that's confirmed for >> all all candidates have been confirmed for all five days? >> No, what I mean is there anybody scheduled for the 30th? >> Yes. >> Um is there anything that could be done to uh >> to shift again >> to shift the 30th for trustes are >> okay I can try. >> The best I can do is is is make a phone call and try I can try. >> Yeah. And one other thing I'm going to say, um, Tracy is doing an amazing job and and this is not an easy coordination because you saw the list and you saw >> it's not just the candidate, it's also the >> all these groups, >> faculty, it's so many other things. So, it's it's it's

150been that's been the challenge. Um, it's not all the candidate, it's all to do with the candidate. But if you could because we really would want all the trustees um they're available. >> Yeah. I mean I would have let you guys I unless I miss something in the email. Is this the first time we're hearing about this stuff might go into the next week? Right. It's the first time we're kind of talking about weion alerted alerted everybody um last week. >> Well, okay. Well, it would have been the same answer. Originally, we thought we would be ending on the 30th, but we did discuss that at the last board meeting that go into the next week. >> Yeah. So, I'm >> I can do my best to move I can to be here on the

15130th. That's all. >> Okay. If at all possible, would it be helpful because this will be um televised and recorded. While you may not have specific interaction with this individual, you will still be able to hear their um interview from the board >> in order to help you. >> I mean, if it has to if if >> if all else fails. >> Sure. Although I we don't have a um a a track record or a great track record of broadcasting things live at HFC. I know they do here, but we don't broadcast live usually from HFC. So, if we can figure out how to do that, then I guess that's a possible like last solution if it has to be, but normally we don't broadcast live from HFC. I'm sure they have the capability, but

152for some reason it doesn't happen. >> Well, it will be recorded if not so you could watch the >> No, I think uh he he wants to view it live and if if we set up Zoom. So, when we say the recording, the YouTube, you're absolutely right. It's not. We still don't have the last meeting up and um but if we do a Zoom >> uh >> Well, no. I'm sure they can figure out a way to >> No, no, no. I'm saying no. Zoom capabilities we've done with the last interview. >> Yeah. >> Um so, if that's the option, then you would be able to join by Zoom. >> Well, he's not allowed to join and participate by Zoom. That could >> I >> He could view the meeting but not participate. >> Yeah.

153Right. He could >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, obviously obviously I'd prefer to be at all at all them in person. So, if there's a way to make that happen, if if that's not >> I'm sure that there's a way to talk with the with the technical staff at uh because these things are going to be recorded anyway, right? >> So, um I'm sure they could I still don't know why we don't live broadcast our meetings at HFC, but I'm sure they could find a way to live broadcast it just like they do here. And that's not on you, but I'm sure they're >> No, but I can ask. Yeah, I'm sure that's possible. >> Okay. >> I don't know about live. >> That way I don't have to go on Zoom. I can just

154get on the YouTube channel. >> Yeah, I hear you. Uh trust you. >> Yeah, I remember I mean we set up April 10th as our kind of >> end goal date. So after those interviews, after the first >> then we meet again to deliberate and choose the the president. Correct. Correct. Do we have that date set up? >> We do not. So, since this has been pushed out, um the finalists were announced on the 5th, there's a 30-day window that you have to wait, which means that our next available date to actually select or announce the president would be Saturday the 4th. Um anytime in between any of that after the final interviews you we can certainly set up either a special meeting to deliberate you can wait till the next April meeting whenever you

155choose you can do that >> I think and I think that's what trustes are going to say um you could choose but you can't announce is that >> no what I was going to say was I mean we're going to take more than the 30 fits anyway no but what we've what we established I in our last meeting is that that 30-day thing doesn't actually apply to community colleges. So, it's kind of irrelevant for our heard two things. I just want to be safe. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're going to we're going to end up taking more than 30 days from the time they were announced anyway. But, um just so everybody knows, legally that doesn't apply to us in any case, but we're going to end up taking more than 30 days anyway.

156Whatever happens, at least as of right now, we're still on track for the April 10th extension, but I think we probably should reserve >> the grace if that needs to be extended. >> No, we gave ourselves the timeline is as a a project which is a 10th. I think once we, you know, my personal opinion, once we identify and confirm all the dates, we could as a board pick the final date to to deliberate. Um because right now there's a low moving target. Not that much, but there's a low moving target. And whether we do at the end of the week, whether we do it, it's a it's something that we could agree on. >> And that has to be done in public as well. That the the um >> the announcement, the deliberation, >>

157the deliberation. >> Correct. >> But I mean once once you um confirm everything, then we as a we could choose it. it. I mean, we could choose now, but it would be tentative. >> Correct. >> No, I'd rather >> I'd rather wait. Me person. >> Okay. So, I will do my best to see if I can't switch the person on the 30th and shift those dates. Um if so, that means um of your approval to extend to at least April 2nd, >> right? >> So, that would be Thursday and then Tuesday th Wednesday, Thursday. >> Okay. I I would give oursel so even though we um we want to say April 2nd which is a Thursday I want to give oursel till the end of the week just as a little buffer uh which is

158the third which is not >> oh you're talking about interview no we're talking about switching the 30th interview >> yeah but I mean if anything shifts >> Oh yeah we still I'm sorry I actually forgot about something on the second there is an event facilities has already confirmed an event in the building so I I I'm not sure if I can do that or not. The date of the second. >> Okay. Then maybe the third. >> Yeah. The third is a Friday and I think that's Good Friday. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Probably not going to work. >> Oh, it's Good Friday. >> Yeah. >> Uh you said the second the building. >> Yeah. So again, >> can we host it elsewhere like at the welcome center? Maybe >> the So we may have

159to move. If I remember correctly, the email said that there is a community event uh on the 2nd either in the afternoon or evening. I think it's from 5 to something. So, what that may look like then if we have to move that date is uh shifting those last two or three events or sessions to another location. It may mean that. >> Okay. So, so you're going to let us know, but um right now we have a tenative even though it's Good Friday the 3rd. We'll just say till the end of the week just for um do we need to do a motion on this? I'm trying lessons learned based on last meetings. >> No, we don't. We don't need to. >> No, we don't. >> And I think there was sufficient discussion to >>

160I I just want to make sure I want to make sure to >> this was a good discussion. All right. So, um, anything else >> and everybody not in agreement? >> Yes. >> Speak now or forever hold your peace. >> As long as there's public deliberation. Sure. >> So, the next two things that will happen um actually three things need to happen. I will um confirm with the finalist once we find out if we can move that one date from the 30th. If that date cannot be moved for that person, are you okay with keeping that date? understanding that trustees are uh may not be available for that day will not be available. I think what he said too and and he could answer that if there's a live stream would that be acceptable in

161a in a situation like that. >> Again, as a last if that's the way last resort. Yeah, sure. I mean, look, I think we should probably find a way to live stream all the interviews anyway. I mean, we want the public, everyone in the public to be watching these interviews. >> Agreed. >> So, if there's a hopefully there's a way we can find a way to live stream all all the interviews before I'm sure there's enough time to find a way to live stream all the interviews before then. Um, but if if that's the only option, yeah, of course, I'll sit down and I'll watch it wherever I am. >> Okay. Okay. Uh, after that, uh, I we will do two things. We'll send out a, um, uh, an email to all of the finalists

162confirming these dates. Usually, we send a really long email that gives them a lot of information, what they can expect, kind of an outline of the day. Um, uh, things like travel arrangements, all of that have to be done. Those will be included in the emails. We will also uh uh meet I'm meeting with this is uh the college is actually on spring break so most of our internal constituents particularly the faculty are out but what we will also do is finalize this schedule. Again the timing may change a little bit but for the most part the constituents will remain the same. The uh the other thing that needs to happen between now and then, and I'd like to have this done asynchronously, but definitely in time for uh our board meeting hopefully next week,

163is the uh questions, your interview questions will need to be created and compiled uh and agreed upon. Those questions need to be consistent for every single candidate. Um we typically do not do follow-up questions. We could do uh clarifying questions, but the issue with a follow-up question is that you run the risk of asking something very different that you may not ask of every single candidate, and you want to lessen bias. So, I believe in the past what the college has done is allowed each trustee to ask a question. Is that correct? Okay. Um, so we're looking at about seven questions each, remembering that we only have about an hour. So, if that gives the uh finalist about two or three minutes to answer each question and then end with um maybe a final statement,

164that's going to be about a good hour or so. So, we'd like to have that done relatively soon. What we can do is send uh maybe do a SharePoint site and send some sample questions. The recommendation is that we typically use the profile and any of those major categories that are in the profile are the ones that we would be focusing on. So we would be submitting a question to the SharePoint site. >> We can develop some and then you can choose or rewrite or reword. Okay. We can start that process for you. >> And then you stick with that question. >> You're going to Yes. That will be the same question you ask >> each and every and everybody asked that question. We we didn't we each had our question assigned to us basically.

165So, similar to the semi-finals, a standard question, but you're going to put some question in there. >> Yeah, we can we can do some starters and then you can take a look at them and decide if you want to I see decide if you want to um make some changes or edits or add something else in. Trusty Bosy, >> does Academic Search have a bank of questions? Maybe I'm mixing up the super. >> I I sent the old questions that we used in the last searches um as well for sample questions as well. But yeah, um >> we have quite firm also has so there's there's a variety. So, so if we could ask academic search to trusty Bazzy if they had questions. Um, same thing with what mayor trusty Patikov said, uh, at least

166we would have a flavor a good flavor of questions in the shareepoints to select from. And also in terms of process at this point there are there's probably within the next few days or so there's going to come a point when this will transition from academic search almost exclusively to our internal team. So they will be doing some of their final communications with the finalist um over the course of the next couple of days and then we'll pick up uh the communication moving forward. After that I said there were three different things. The final thing after that would be uh for them to create or for them to give you the results of any final background checks or any concerns that may have come out of that. Um and that would be prior to your

167deliberations. During these events, we are also going to do QR codes for community sentiment and you will receive a uh composite of that information as well from each of those sessions that um we'll ask a few basic questions. What did you like? What did you dislike? What other questions do you want to add or would you want to ask this this person? Uh, and then of course the final thing would be to negotiate your contract. What questions may I answer on process? >> Um, yeah, I was going to ask you about the background check. You said it comes before deliberation. Did I hear you? >> The preference is that it should. Now, it depends to sometimes background checks, particularly those that are out of state, may take a little longer, but our preference is for

168you to have those in hand. If there are any flags, if there are no flags, then you won't there, you know, there's nothing for you to necessarily receive. >> Okay. >> Go ahead. >> On the back, I mean, I don't want to take up too much time. We can discuss more of this on Monday if you want. I mean, I I have I have questions that can be answered Monday, don't >> Yeah. And and we could I agree with Trustes. I think the main thing is to really agree on the timeline >> the timeline >> and then we could uh debate or question whatever we want uh next. Any any questions for uh Miss Davis? >> If not, I think this is good. Thank you so much. Um >> you're very welcome. >> Thanks for

169waiting. >> You're welcome. I will see you all on Monday. >> Thank you. >> See you. Take care. >> Um >> okay. Next. >> Well, we're still on committee. still on the board member committee and organization reports. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead, trustee. >> Well, I'll I'll let because yours should be quick because you can say what they said. >> What what Tom said, we had a uh finance committee uh meeting today and Tom did Tom Lauren did a wonderful job going over everything they went over with us and I have nothing to add. >> Okay. And then we had a building and site meeting which was a little bit different. Um, for those of you who weren't on the board in 2021, um, we originally had a interlocal agreement between the, um, Dearborn Police

170Department and the school district in order to allow for them to have access to our um, cameras on school property in the event of an emergency where they needed to have uh, eyes on um any issue that may be occurring at the moment. Um at that time we there was an opportunity in a way and we signed this agreement uh with them um for them to gain access of the camera feed in an emergency uh temporarily. Since then that um option has disappeared. we no longer had the ability to support them um gaining access to our our cameras. The police department um showed up today. They have since um signed a an agreement for a platform called Fus camera system and um it's a broader access to camera systems throughout the community. Uh currently UVM

171Dearborn has signed on to um having this platform um accessible to their camera systems on their campus. We would need this was just an introductory discussion um that Chief Shaheen um brought to us today. It needs some more exploration for the full board and um to understand. It would come with a price tag, not a significant price tag considering the benefits it could potentially um provide us, but we either are going to need a presentation for the FO board um where it can be discussed again or a study session, one or the other option, whichever um the board prefers in order to flesh out um this capability and do we want to sign an agreement with the police department um to further enhance any um emergency systems that we can share. So that was one

172of our um discussions. Uh we also talked about there's a cell tower um that the contract is um ending on. It's a Ford camp campus. We have three cell towers. This one is the one closest to Rotunda. Um it's no longer being used by the um company at this time. They don't have any clients apparently who are are accessing it. So, we decided we would not no longer um agree to um contract with them and they are going to be given um at the board's um behest um the ability to dismantle this particular cell phone tower if the board is comfortable with moving that direction of we're it's no longer in use right now and we're not getting any money out of it anymore because of that. So, it might as well be taken down.

173We um construction updates were um Dearborn High School um that during spring break they're going to be uh putting in new um electrical feed to the um school building which will also when it's completed um by August um provide the ability if we get a bond passing or money from out of the sky um to support an uh air conditioning ing HVAC uh system as well. Um and they've been having problems with their electrical um supply for a while now. The Early College West Elevator is expected to be completed by May 18th so that um full occupancy can be provided for at the Henry Ford College campus site. um they right now cannot use the elevator to provide food directly in the kitchen that's in the second floor and they've been satelliting in the food.

174So once that gets uh the okay from the inspectors and is functional then we will be done at the early college um campus with all the renovations. Fortson FNG Hall is currently having um construction beginning on March 27th for HVAC improvements. That's basically the wrestling wing that had renovations done, but they now need to um put in new um filtration and and uh cooling system into that building into that room. Um the Michael Berry Career Center as I talked um was completed and there will be an open house for March 24th for the skilled trades classroom. But they also um are preparing to show everybody what the next um addition would be with the auto tech lab as well. McCulla Ununice is having a gym wall divider problem and during spring break they will be

175working on repairing that. We all got an invitation to the Salina campus uh green playgrounds that are going on. They're into phase two and uh they should finish it um this spring and the stout pool um has a ventilation um that has been um repaired and that's completed. And the only other thing is you will be seeing in April more than likely the state has um added a a new um requirement that um for elevator uh monitoring. So, we are going to have to contract with a business that will take care of um this state requirement in the future. And that's the end of the uh building and site. >> Yeah. Uh we only got four minutes. So, could we extend the meeting by 15 minutes? >> I'll move to extend the meeting by 15

176minutes. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> Any objection? No objection. Motion's approved. Thank you, Pat. Um continue. Any uh any other committee updates and trusty maz? >> So for the superintendent search, uh the application is up has been up uh for a while. Uh Mr. Larry from MLI uh connected today and will connect even more tomorrow as far as when the trustees will be able to get access to all of the applications. Uh he did mention that the application is up throughout the state and nationally and applications are being submitted uh to him and to Sheila and they're making also contacts as part of their recruitment uh process. Um we do have the date of April 9th as as far as the first day where we will be uh meeting to

177u kind of look at the candidates and also uh selection to select which candidates we would like to interview and then uh the first round interviews will happen in the uh week of April 14 to 16. April 14th to 16th. >> So, we're gonna have to kind of keep track of what's happening at the college date. >> Hopefully by the college. It'll be done by >> by then. So, >> I want to say Joanne did a good job. I don't know about the rest of you. I've received all these dates onto my calendar already. >> So, it was nice that she sent those out. And >> who did? >> Joanne did. Yeah. Already. >> Yeah. No, she did. But to trust Petlo, we just got to make sure >> the moving dates at the college

178>> are also accounted for. >> Yeah. They're kind of >> getting close, >> but we'll get them all done so then we'll be free. >> Um, anything else? Trusty Was it? >> That's it. >> All right. Thank you so much. Great job. Um, next item or is there any more um >> committees? I don't see any. If not, we'll go to the next item. >> Next item is board member interim superintendent commentary. Trusty Mis and Trusty Bazzy. >> Uh well, first is I shared with all of you today a letter uh that we want to based on our former conversations about uh virtual schools and the sub standard uh education that they provide that we want to urge legislators to regulate those accelerated online programs. And uh thank you Trusty Petska for your edits. And

179if there are any other edits, I would welcome them. Would like to send it as soon as possible. Uh I've talked to Representative Farhhat about that too that for to expect uh correspondents. We want to send it to all of our uh represented legislators and we hope to see some action from them on this front. Um, another uh item is seems like every school now is holding an FTAR dinner. Used to be in the past, maybe one school or two and I've been invited to a few and they've been just wholesome amazing students um and PTAs uh and parents and staff working together to making sure that they have an inclusive environment for all the students. I attended the special education PTA uh which was great with uh trustees so and trusty Bazzy um and

180uh forens and then I have William Ford uh coming up and um I' I've seen many of you at the March reading month so I'll try to get to some schools uh this week and um one thing that I believe you know we mentioned uh the international events affecting our students and here we go again. Um it's very unfortunate to what's happening overseas. Obviously we have very little control or to no control over what happens. But what we can do is create um a a calming environment for our students, our staff, especially the ones who have relatives affected uh by uh this tragedy. And um also uh this month we are uh celebrating women's history month. So, um, to all of the women who are in our schools, uh, serving at every level from the

181superintendent to Trusty Petleskov to everybody else. Um, thank you. Um, you mentor us, you advocate for us, you give us totally different experiences than what men see. And to our u young girls, we see you. We believe in you and we're committed to building systems um where your potential is never limited um by anything. I hope that this month in our classroom that we um feature women authors and and women who have demonstrated leadership roles in our community in our classroom. So uh these young women will see themselves also being represented. So, uh, once again, happy, um, women's history month and, um, again, um, thank you to Miss Jafer and to Miss Joan Harris as well for their, uh, help. Um, that's all I had. >> Thank you. Was it yours? So, it doesn't matter.

182Um I just really quickly want to acknowledge I didn't get a chance to speak on this earlier u when we were mentioning uh retirement. Um I wanted to acknowledge and congratulate u a staff member my former teacher Miss uh Dana Anderson Want um I can call her Dana now. Um who congratulations on your retirement. I'll reach out to her personally but I just wanted to shout her out because uh she was my teacher in 9th grade when I was 14 years old. Um, so not only did she teach me how to crack an egg in in home, I don't know what they call it these days, but um she was also my student council um our class teacher um at a time where we couldn't find a class teacher and student council was um struggling

183to kind of get moving um she stepped up to the plate and really helped um guide and serve us and she really enabled me as at 14 years old to to grow and learn and become a leader. So I really appreciate her. Um I'm so happy for her and congratulations for um successful career. >> Thank you Trusty Bazy. >> Um you know I want to echo um Trusty Mos about you know we've gotten invited to a lot of dinners. Um try to make as many as we can but I also want to say you know thank you to you and to trust so for coming to the special education of dinner at Ford at the beginning of the month. Um I think one thing that was special about that of thought dinner was we had

184volunteers including trusty so and some of his friends. Um they took a lot of the kids into the gym and spent time with them and it allowed the families to be able to sit and enjoy a meal um that would maybe they wouldn't be able to uh typically because they're watching their kids and they want to make sure everybody feels comfortable. It's a very comfortable environment, comfortable environment for those kids um being around people like that. So again, thank you Trusty so thank you trustee was for for for attending and participating. Um March is reading month. I didn't expect that video earlier. Thank you. >> Thank you Lamese. Um but I think you know in my household and I know that we emphasize it here in the school district how important reading is. picking up

185a real book, sitting down, reading, putting the screen down. Um um I think allows kids to, you know, do some of that slower thinking, you know, really focusing in on what's being said and what's going on there. Uh but I do want to add, you know, if we still have families that are watching right now, it's almost 10. I'll try to wrap it up. Um however you can read to your kids during this time, especially if you have elementary kids, it's important. If English is not your primary language, read to them in your primary language. That is what is important is sitting down, spending that time, having them learn from you, having them spend that time from you. Have them read to you. English isn't your first language. Have them read to you, spending that

186time together doing that reading, I think, is really, really important. And I know we emphasize it in March, but all year round it's really, really important. Um, and one last thing, I know, um, interim superintendent sore had mentioned this today. We were at a press conference in support of uh the Rowan Act and bill 456. Um I know we have been talking about this since January. Um these bills if passed would expand the wireless alert system so that we can protect our students, we can protect children, we protect adults that are vulnerable. Um it would allow our uh law enforcement to be able to issue wireless alerts. Each minute counts when those things happen. Um, and so time is of the essence right now trying to put pressure on making sure we can get these

187things passed as soon as possible. So I have shared a resolution with uh with the board. Um, and if you guys could look at that um, if we need to make some updates, we can, but it's basically in support of these bills and urging the legislature and the governor to pass these bills and make them into law. Um, I think we're still working on timing according to our bylaws if it's something we can bring up next week or at the next meeting about when we can approve it. Um, but I do think it would be something that protects our students, protects our vulnerable populations. So, thank you. >> Right. Any other comments? All right. Uh, any comments from your end? Uh, >> I spoke enough. >> All right. Thank you. Um, next item. >> Next

188item is request for information andor future agenda items. >> Um, Mayor Trusty Petoff. Oh, I I've uh began this conversation and um we've had a second meeting for the expect respect um steering committee uh recently and I suggested to them that it would be a good idea to do a presentation um for the full board so that you understand the initiatives that we have been discussing and we hope to um include the city in because we think this is a citywide initiative, not just a school district initiative that everyone should be on board with participating. Unfortunately, the city person we had originally um invited to participate, Ali Abazid, got a new job. He's now directing the health department for now. we understood why he didn't show up to our meeting because he uh texted us

189that day and said, "Uh, I I've kind of left the city of Dearbornne." So, that being said, we do I I anticipate that possibly the city relations committee can um introduce this topic as well after we do as a steering committee a presentation to the full board so you kind of understand what it is. were attempting to expand on from our our normal um uh one day uh a year event that we have been ho hosting for the last couple of years that kind of got away from the the bigger picture. So, I think um and I don't know. Yeah, Mike Mike is here. Um we we'll need a little bit of time to prepare a presentation, but we would like to be on a future agenda. >> Okay. >> Has Ali been replaced yet?

190>> You know what? I ha I haven't asked. I have a uh DFNA meeting next week, so I can find out. >> Okay. Um anything else? >> No. >> Uh Trusty Mazip. Yeah, director Abaza I believe is now at the city of Detroit, >> right? >> Yeah. Uh I've know we received an anonymous email about the waiverss for AP fees. >> Mhm. >> And the email uh suggests that we used to offer it and not offer it anymore. or so if you can get more information as far as the facts of what's happening with those fees and if if there's an opportunity for waving fees for lowincome students. >> We've looked into that. Let me just >> you don't have to bring it to >> your knowledge and I know Diana Shaheen did some work

191on that. >> Thank you. >> Um and we didn't reply to the email because it was anonymous but I'll share something with you short soon. >> Thank you. >> You got it. and and it wasn't just anonymous from an anonymous email site. So, it's really hard to >> reply >> respond to because >> but I mean it's worth exploring to see what's >> definitely and we shared it and um >> Mr. through uh actually looked at it and um >> so so we didn't ignore it but just you know if somebody doesn't want to tell us where they're coming from and and they're not saying anonymous from Gmail it's anonymous from an anonymous >> I understand but fair >> they raise a fair point I'd like to know why >> no but the only reason

192I respond because you asked me did we respond to it gave you the reason why >> um any anything else Um, could we get a tally of how many tickets we've issued now that bus patrol is live? >> Um, we are actually meeting with them tomorrow and I know that Tom had requested that information more recently. Did they respond yet? >> Okay. So, we we're meeting with them tomorrow. We'll follow up. >> I think tickets and if we issued, right? >> Tickets issues for bus patrol people running in front. Um, and if we're already starting to see some behavioral changes, I don't think in this time frame, but >> Yeah. Um, I want to go back to what Trustee Mos said about AP fees. We've we've also been exploring AP prep options for students beyond

193the school day. So, um, we're really looking and that was a different parent uh, um, request as well. Um, and really working hard to build consistency and opportunity across our high schools. >> And just one last thing, I know >> one last thing we got five minutes. Go ahead. Um, we had a city relations meeting in January. I remember the city was talking about let's have these more regularly. If we did them quarterly, that would be April. So, I don't know if we want to work on trying to schedule something there. >> Who's the chair for that? >> Trusty Deario. >> What's that? >> City relations meeting. >> Yes. >> Something in April. >> Um, I have to get with Joanne. >> Okay. >> She'll coordinate it. >> Would you like me to work on

194that? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> You got it. >> Last year was really bad because we didn't schedule one. We didn't schedule uh for the whole year. >> We only had one last year. >> Yeah, they asked for quarterly. So, April would be the next time. >> So, that wasn't what normally happens, just in a fine. >> Anything else? Because we got to give a trustees or to read the rest of the items. >> Future meeting dates. Monday, March 16th, 2026, HFC policy meeting, 6 p.m. at the Administrative Services and Conference Center in the cabinet conference room. Monday, March 16th as well. HFC board of trustees meeting 7 p.m. at the Administrative Services and Conference Center in the Rosenol boardroom and Dearborn Board of Education regular P12 meeting March 9th 26. March 9th. Sorry.

195Why is that? Oh, sorry. That's Sorry. Sorry. That was a heading. Just those two meetings. >> I was going to say, were you going to meet again? >> I'm sorry. I was reading the heading of uh Yeah, >> just those two meetings. >> We're done. All right. If there's no other business, meeting is adjourned. >> All right. >> Thank you.