001We will get back in session at 6:39. Um, can I make a motion to go back into session? >> So moved. Support. >> Roll call vote. >> Ms. Ebony Mitchell. >> Present. >> Uh, this is a yes or no. >> Voting in the closed, uh, open session. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ambers. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Madam President. >> Okay. >> Yes. Yes. >> Make the people say yes. >> I thought you was doing attendance. Okay. So, um, the board is required by law to evaluate the superintendent on a yearly basis. Dr. Cox was evaluated by the board this evening on the following components: governance and board relations, community relations, staff relations, business and finance, instructional leadership, and overall
002the rating of Dr. Cox was 100%. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, at this time I need a motion to accept the superintendent's evaluation as presented. Um, can I get, um, uh, uh, sorry. >> So moved. >> Support. >> Thank you. I'm sorry. Can I have a motion? Thank you. >> All right. Weaver supported by Cox. >> Okay. And roll call vote. >> Mr. Ambers. >> Yes. >> Ms. Ebony Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Ms. Hines. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Motion passes 6-0. >> Congratulations, Dr. Claus. >> Thank you very much. >> Next, we would we'll be doing recognitions and presentations, and we have the STEM Center, Dr. Karen Dickelman. I'm sorry, Karen Dickelman. I'm sorry. Future Dr. Karen
003Dickelman. >> [laughter] >> Okay. All right. So, okay. Oh, there it is. Well, thank you for having us today. >> Thank you for having me. >> [laughter] >> Uh we were presenting on Project Possible. Um this is Let's see. Oops. Make sure I put Uh da da da da There we go. >> [laughter] >> Um the beginning of this project started I met with the principal, Jennifer Page, at uh Stottlemyer. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate STEM across the whole building for all students. Um that was one thing that we both wanted very clearly, not just for some classrooms, but for every single classroom. Um as we were kind of designing our own design challenge, uh we started talking about wants and needs for the different classrooms. And this project just took
004on a life of its own, and it's been amazing. Um Okay, I'm having trouble with the clicker here. And I'm going to let Angela go ahead and start with the project, and then we'll go from there. >> So, last school year, my STEM students worked with Stottlemyer to um devise or 3D print um iPad stands for the students, make sensory mats um for them. This year, they had a new challenge. Uh we asked what they needed. One of the things that the students um needed was Do I have Sorry. Uh this was Last year we had the 3D printing and the I the sensory masks for them. They loved it, used everything. They said they were good with that. So, this year we go ahead we went ahead and met with them again. And the
005collaboration is a big part. We meet at the STEM Center. We do that again at the beginning of the year. I took my students not the we went to STEM Center once and we went to Stahli Meyer and figure out what the needs were. And we had a whole list and looking at what we were able to do in the classroom at the time because the students also work on other projects within the class on top of working with Stahli Meyer. We found that they needed name stamps for the students cuz they're not able to write their names on their projects and they would like adaptable crayons. So, those are two areas of focus for them. We had an idea of what we were going to do. The students researched and I had different groups
006going and the students were like, "I think we have it." I'm like, "Okay, we got the supplies. Let's let's try it out." And so, we tried. One of them for the stamps was to carve out of rubber their names. That was a great idea. That was a prototype that we tried with great difficulty. We figured it wasn't that going to work. So, after going to the McCall conference in March and went to a couple Tinkercad presentations that came to mind of the students. We did a quick lesson on Tinkercad and they printed out their names and we printed out handles, we connected them with Velcro. So, that they were able to change out the names if necessary, if something broke or if for some reason the student was um no longer there or moving on,
007they could either take the stamp with them to use at their next level or they could just change out the student's names. Since last year we won the Samsung State Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. Um, but some of the students who are in my class this year working on the with Stoudemire again and will continue to working next year. >> And these were the SXI classrooms. So, they were able to participate with prototypes by giving back feedback and materials on how to >> So, this is one of our adaptive crayons. We are still working on it. Um, we thought we fixed the problem. We filled all the holes in the plastic container with hot glue thinking that we'd be able to turn it right before our, you know, um, torch run. We thought we'd fix
008it. We did not. So, we're still in the process and we'll pick up next year uh, with my STEM students trying to figure out what we can do. Um, Karen and I have just a few hours ago, think we may have solved it. Um, we'll help lead the students through it to see if it in in fact works. And a lot of students that I had this year are planning to be in my STEM class next year, hopefully. So, we'll just pick up where we left off. >> Um, also this year we had an ELA teacher from Stevenson that wanted to join the project. And so, we took her ELA classes and she tied it in with Out of Your Mind Out of My Mind, um, the novel that they did the study on. In
009her classes um, did prototypes for toys and tools. So, they had, um, rock, paper, scissors was one of them where they had the buttons and it would repeat like they had the voices, um, inside so they could press it or roll the dice off the table. Um, they had, there was quite a few, um, but they were able to tie it in because STEM is found everywhere. So, they were able to tie that in with their ELA curriculum and participate as well and they were very excited about it. And that was some of their meetings where they would go to Roosevelt McGrath, Special Olympics gave us a grant to help fund materials for all the prototypes. And that's why you know, we had the celebration with the torch run as well that we plan on
010continuing. And William D. Ford last year, the Medtronics class took um four-wheel toddler jeeps and they basically took them apart and reassembled them so that the students were able to press their button with either their shoulder or with their hand and it would make them more independent. So they programmed them and they have special seating that worked with their back support and different types of seat belts and the teachers had a remote control that also connected. So if they needed to help them turn, they could turn. And they put together nine of these for the students to have and it was phenomenal. I know that we're on a time limit. That was them testing it out at last year's celebration. Um It was very, very cool. And then I'm going to let Josh talk about
011his part this year which is amazing. >> [laughter] >> I'm Josh Rublicky. I'm the cybersecurity and ethical hacking teacher at William Ford next door. And one thing that we love to do is to reverse engineer and figure out how things work and then rebuild them in a different way that gives them more capabilities. So that's what we did. We were given this environmental control unit or electronic aid to daily living which assists people who are differently able to react to their environments. And what we did was we built basically a little control center that allows various inputs, voice input, gesture, motion, camera inputs, um uh simple switches, um and then the output is data. So, we can feed that data to switches to turn them on and or off, uh to um I mean, we
012were talking about um radio control cars maybe next year that the kids can uh can use uh different adaptive technologies um in order to uh control those things. I had one student uh Zach Werbow who was instrumental in all of this. We've gone through I [snorts] believe 14 iterations of this design so far. Um and you know, we're it's always two steps forward, one step back. So, uh hopefully by the beginning of next year we'll have something really nice to show. >> And and with these um environmental control units, basically, you plug the switch in and then you can plug in a fan. So, they press the button and it turns on the fan. Um these are not um cheap by any means and nor are they covered by insurance. So, like one of the
013cheap models that has one switch might be $350 to $400 and the more you need, like if there's four plugs, it's up to almost $1,000. And then you think about the different rooms and the things that you need to turn in. Um he was able to make one for under $70. So, um and then we started looking at the markup and costs and things like that for, you know, needs and wants and things like that. So, it was really educational. Uh then for the torch run, um that was me getting the torch. >> [laughter] >> Um the torch was made by the welding class. It was heavy. Um but they designed it and made it, welded it together, and painted it. Um and we partnered with Westland Police Department. Uh and we started at the
014STEM Center and we walked um from the STEM Center to Stadtmiller and had a picnic with pancakes at Rotary Park and the students were able to present their prototypes to everybody that was there. It was amazing. It made my heart so happy and I cannot wait to do it again next year. It was I mean the community came out. It was It was great to see all the celebrations for what these kids can do because they don't know what they can do until they're given that opportunity. So, and there's some of the pictures from the celebration. >> [laughter] >> Um that's Ben up in the corner talking with the chief. Uh but thank you for your time. I don't know if you have any questions or anything. >> Oh, yes. Um Ms. May, yeah, I
015do. I just First of all, thank you so much for the work that you all do. I um really enjoyed the STEM night that you guys had at the park and had the opportunity to have some conversation and I did talk to um Mr. Josh a little bit, but looking at the um jeeps, like where do you where are you guys getting the materials to support those projects and then how can the board be of support with those projects? >> I would love that. >> [laughter] >> Um basically, I use grant funds. I apply for different grants. I do have a little bit of general funds. Um Special Olympics gave us a thousand dollars. Um so we just kind of bit and piece I Stacy isn't here tonight. She was the one that did the
016jeeps. >> Okay. >> Oh, okay. >> Huh? Um so the jeeps we had donated from different families and facilities. >> were all donated. >> Okay. >> Electrical was all done by HVAC. So we used spare lines and wires that we had through HVAC on our furnaces. And that's how we redid that. Stacy used some of her grant money from STEM and purchased the regulators that go in those Hot Wheels to turn them on and off and use the remotes. >> Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much. >> No problem. I give the opportunity. These the kids and and everybody like taking all from everybody's strengths is what builds it and it's amazing. So. >> It is. It truly is. Thank you. And thank you. >> Yes, thank you. You're doing a wonderful job. And we have
017Dr. Weaver. >> Um my question is first of all, thank you for the great job you're doing. Um but my question is how large are we planning to grow this thing? Are we eventually thinking about a STEM center as a total school with embedded >> I don't know. I think sky's the limit. Right now I am pre-K through 12th grade. So how I work um this last year and at least the beginning of the year this year, we're always kind of adapting. Um I have Mondays and Thursdays where elementary can come visit me and I do like an hour and a half um um design challenge, something like that that goes along with the standards. The teachers have a Google form that they fill out. This is what standard I'm looking at. And then we
018either Google Meet or I give them like here's some ideas I'm thinking, you choose. Um and then I spend all day at a middle school. So Adams is Tuesday, Stevenson is Wednesday, Franklin is Friday. And then there's a sign out for me there. And the teachers can sign up hour by hour. And I can either meet with them and have a discussion on you know, they have this idea, I can help them implement it. Um I can co-teach with them. Um I don't come in and just teach. So it's a collaborative aspect, so where we're teaching together. Um and then I've been partnering with some high school teachers and starting to get in with the high school as well. Um I have the DNR that I'm partnering with a lot and um who Michigan Department
019of Health and Human Services. So I'm getting a lot of uh partnerships that way as well. So, it just kind of just keeps growing and it's great and more and more kids are wanting to participate in all these different projects and that's a great feeling. Um so, we'll see where it goes. I would I would love to to make it something that everybody has access to because that's my big thing is that is STEM is for everybody and it is everywhere. So, >> Amazing. What I was asking >> is because it seems to be a magnet >> Mhm. >> type of situation for private schools and for uh charter schools >> Mhm. >> to have these STEM centers for kids to go to. So, that was the reason for my question. >> Right. I well,
020and I try to really make sure that I'm tying everything into the standards for NGSS, science and engineering, social studies with the arc of inquiry. Like those two I mean, it's really showing how naturally it blends in. STEM blends in with all core subjects. Um so, I think as that kind of becomes more of the familiarity, um you can cover multiple standards by doing this one activity and getting them engaged. It brings the kids more engagement and buy-in. Um so, I'm always open for discussions on anything. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. I'd like to say you guys are doing such a wonderful job and this is the things that helps to make Wayne-Westland a better district. So, I'm really excited about this program. I think it's going to grow. Um does any other board members
021have any other questions? Oh, Ms. Abney-Mitchell? >> I would like to say thank you very much for all that you do. I've been over to the STEM Center and I was out when you guys was in the parking lot and just thank you and just the patience that you have to put something together cuz if it ain't put together when I look at it, I ain't got no patience. So, just thank you. We appreciate you. And thank you. And enjoy your summer. >> Thank you. It takes a village. So, it's never just me. It's uh it's every all the teachers. But, thank you. I really appreciate it. I'm sure they do, too. Thank you. Have a wonderful summer. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Now, we're on to item B, the 2025-2026 final budget presentation. Miss
022Claire. >> Okay. >> Jule, can you pull the microphone closer to you? Thank you. >> So, I have the PowerPoint behind you. And then there's also statements. So, if you want to flip around while I'm going through um the first fund I was going to discuss is the general fund, which we kind of had talked about at our um one planning like session that we had. And it it turns out it's pretty close to what I had uh on the previous budget. So, um as you remember, it it is a loss of uh 9 million. And the different reasons I have some of them here is you know, the loss of uh the 300 students. We lost some categoricals, too. They increased the per pupil, but then they took away categorical. So, it really hurt
023us. And other districts, too, are having the same uh issue. Uh we're purchasing a million dollars of curriculum in this uh year. Oh. Um It includes uh Sorry. It includes uh staffing of a million dollars extra in the transportation and two positions that we kept uh that were used to be in grants. Um this is based on current staffing and con- the contracts that we have. Um some of positions we won't be filling as people leave. And then if we are filling them, hopefully they'll be filled at a lower rate um cuz most of our staff is at the top at at the top. Okay, budget is at a a loss of $9 million. The fund balance would be just above the 15 at 16.27. Um Any questions about the general fund? >> I just
024have one question. Um I know we're having this crisis with the a gas and diesel. How's that affecting our budget with transportation? >> It's definitely affecting us. Uh it's making their expenses even higher. Um this year though, we did apply for some credits uh on our fuel. We got about $75,000 in uh credits from the state. So, that's kind of helped us offset that that uh increase. >> Thank you. >> The special >> I just I follow up question. Can you talk a little bit more about the credits? I just don't know what that is. I want to have a better understanding. >> Um >> we got credits. >> If you buy certain type of fuel, you can apply They only opened it up for three year for three years. I applied for the whole
025three in with Chad, our supervisor. We did it together. Um and we waited and waited and and we never got the money and finally we got our representative to uh check on it for us and the money came within within a week. So um I don't understand all the different types of fuel and uh >> But it's just based on the fuel. >> It's based on the fuel and it it how much you bought in those three year period and there's a there's a calculation you go through and it was about 25,000 for each year. But it's over. >> It was just the three year, got the money. >> Okay. >> And uh it maybe something will be in the future again, but right now it was only for the three years that they opened
026it up. >> Thank you. Thank you for applying for it. >> So I'm going to assume that this was for taxes paid on the fuel that we got credits back for. >> Probably. I just calculated what we paid. I assume it's part of the taxes. Because even when we get it, there's still tax on it. >> Right. >> Um the special ed fund is is always going to have a zero bottom line. Uh it's funded by the our state aid and Wayne Resa. Um the fund should always net to zero cuz any expenses that we have, they reimburse us after the state aid Wayne Resa reimburses us 100%. They actually have been giving us extra money. We just got another like $700,000 for a from them and so I told Mona she's going to have
027to start thinking of something else. And fortunately I can't put it in the general fund. But that's what the money would the last two years she used that money for that playground, the adaptive playground. So they did give us another 700,000 for that. So, we have some good things going. Um grant fund is always equal zero. Whatever grants we get, we spend them and it it it's a a zero. We do get some indirects for working the grants and spending the time on them. That helps the general fund out. But, it also allows us to do things that um we wouldn't be able to do with the general fund, provide extra uh programs and stuff. So, and we're very uh lucky. We get a lot of grants. Lot of grants. Food service, we have a
028small loss of 40,000. We were able to take 100,000 of indirects from the food service this year. Um next year, we probably will be able to take more cuz we bought uh that truck this year, that um refrigerated truck and that uh took, you know, uh some of the money. So, the food service just a small loss. Sinking fund is funded by property taxes and interest. The funds are used to repair buildings, purchase technology, and security upgrades. In the future, after August 7th uh 4th, I'm sorry. Um we hopefully can use it for buses. Which uh ours we got after the before the law changed. So, if we that passes, then um we will be able to buy buses. Nothing will change. The tax stays the same. It only lets us use it because the
029date changes on it. And now it's after the date when you can use it for that. But, we have an increase of uh 1.3 million. Right, we haven't been uh really spending all the money in here cuz it's mostly to be kept for something bad happening, and luckily we haven't had anything. The bond fund, we uh this is our new bond, 2026 bond. We got uh 19 million, almost 20 million on April 6th. We had to pay the cost of issuance, and this year we will be buying which you already approved, the Chromebooks. So, uh that's all that we did with the bonds this year. The debt, uh we have an increase in fund balance to the um debt fund, 1.2 million. Um basically, we uh get some uh we get interest on the money
030and property taxes, and it's used to pay off the debt for the bonds. So, that one's doing good. School activities fund, uh there's a small decrease in the fund balance of 148,000. Um which they just spent more than the revenue. It's just timing, really. Um they'll be back in the you know, fall doing their fundraising and stuff, so um it's still healthy fund balance. So, all all funds, you know, are okay except the general fund, and everybody is having this problem. Um this past year, um these are my best estimates at the time of preparation. They're, you know, could could be a little bit off. It's just a budget. Um another thing is the 31C. It's a grant that we're going to be we applied for, and we don't find out until uh July, which
031causes a little bit of problems because for one thing, they want you to spend 3 million of let this last year's money put aside for it, which is really crazy. Doesn't make any sense. So, if it does happen, uh we would have to rearrange some things uh in our budget and put that 3 million aside for that program for next for next year. But, this grant does allow us to supplant. It will pay uh other wages. So, it could be a great help to us over the next few years to prep our fund get that fund balance back up uh where we'd like it to be. So, but that's just a big if right now. >> Is there another slide? >> That's my last one. >> [snorts] >> Do we have any questions from the
032board members? Ms. May? >> Thank you. I don't have a question. I have a comment. So, first of all, Jewel, thank you so much for this presentation. Um one of the comments or the comment that I have, and this kind of dovetails on some of the conversation that we just had around student achievement, right? Is understanding like we have these grants, and the grants are to help support our students who are identified at risk or who are not performing at grade level, um and understanding that piece, and then also the fact that when you talk about 31C, and it is definitely a hiccup um unfortunately in in the process, right? But, the idea behind the grant and reducing class sizes, right? And so, I just wanted to lift that because we're having a conversation about
033how do we um increase our student achievement? How do we ensure that our students have the best experiences? And so, budget plays a part of that work as we're doing it. And so, I just wanted to lift that because your presentation shared a a of great information, but just helping everybody to understand all these funds and grants are um earmarked for certain things, right? And how we're using them to to definitely create better um a more improved environment for our students. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions, Dr. Weaver? >> I just um wanted to throw something out there, something I've been talking to Dr. Cost about is that there are things that we must purchase um in terms of use it money or lose it, or things that we must have, and
034then there are things that are more okay, we've got the money, so let's get it type of items. Um I would like to see this board monitor closely um the spending of the district. Again, we only know two things here, how to have so much money we can't stand it, and how to be at zero. So, I would like to stop us as much as we can from being at zero. That's just my comment. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Ms. Abney-Mitchell? >> And you, I would also like to say, you know, I sit on the finance committee with the other two board members, and I would just like to say thank you for all your efforts and the work that you do to put this budget to before us, but also to answer any
035questions that we may have. So, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you, and thank you for this budget. >> Any other questions? >> I just have one question about the food cost. When we did the contracts, was it a set cost, or does it go up to the inflation? With the food services. >> Um, the food is purchased by our the company that we have and I think that they're um they can only go up that percentage that we agreed to. So, um it it can't go up that amount. I think it was like a 4% increase and so uh that's as high as I think it can go. So. Yeah. >> Thank you. Next we have item C, the 2026-2027 proposed budget presentation, Ms. Clare. >> Okay. I kept the
036count the same as 25-26. I increased uh the amount to 250 per student as everybody is talking that that's what what it is going to be. Increased the property taxes. Um the budget again will have a million dollars of curriculum in uh 26-27 also. It We also have raises um in there. We We're going to have the sale of the two buildings which be about $800,000. We will receive 50% of the brownfield revenue. I don't know how much that is is so it's not included and I think it's not you don't get the money all at once. It's going to be uh over like it's going to be like taxed and we will be getting it over the next I don't even know how many years. So, we will be getting some money there but
037I can't quantify it at this time. So, it's not in the budget. Um we're estimating $3 million of savings in salaries by not [clears throat] filling some positions because of the 300 student loss, and also uh we we had some people retire, and when we fill those jobs, hopefully, they'll be at a lower amount. Um we uh had the workshop. We talked about the different things, and we've I've incorporated all of those savings in in this budget. Um we're going to save 160,000 on uh insurance by using SETSEG. Uh transportation, uh we're going to cut that by 500,000. Audit fees [clears throat] will be cheaper. We're going to try to keep our legal uh lower. We increased the price for our building usage because we hadn't increased it since 2012. And when we have somebody
038uh uh you know, they're on a Sunday, that's double time. And wages are not the same as they were in 2012. So, we had to do it. Uh some some people are upset, but uh it just had to be done. Uh we're decreasing supplies uh pretty much around all of the budgets. We'll have less in supplies. Um I'm trying to think what else we did. So, I'm only budgeting a small loss. We're close to break even. Um again, uh well, the fund balance would still be close, you know, to the 15, a little bit above it. And this is also not taking into account our 30th 31st uh C. So, it could be a whole different uh picture if we get that grant. And special ed is pretty much the same. It's a zero balance.
039Uh it's all going to get reimbursed by RISA. Everything that's over the state aid for those kids. Um the grant funds we don't, you know, uh kept it the same as this year because I really don't know what grants uh we're going to get next year, but it whatever they are that it the funds going to equal zero. And there'll be items that like help the general fund by giving us some indirects and stuff. Food service, I budgeted a gain and also $200,000 coming to the general [clears throat] fund for indirects. They'll have a better year. Sinking fund, we are going to I'll be doing technology and security upgrades um next year. We'll be continuing to use it for technology. Um then the the next year I think is when we start getting the uh
040furniture for the building. Um this is digital signage. This is our bond, our new bond. Um I kind of I think I just kind of screwed up. I was talking about uh sinking fund. Going to be buying those buses hopefully we get that uh approval. But the bonds we'll be buying new signage in front of all the schools, uh classroom AV, upgrade to our network. Um and the fund balance is now at uh if we spend that after we spend that 6.9 million, we'll be at 11.4. So, debt retirement's pretty much the same. The money comes in, we pay the we pay the um debt payments and the interest. And another small decrease to fund balance in the school activity fund. So, again, this is my best estimate at this time doing all the things
041that we talked about, reduce the reductions that we've talked about. Um but 31A, if depending on what goes on with 31C, we might have to put 3 million of that has to be each year has to be allocated towards class size reduction. So, all the things that are in there would have to be moved out and either not done or general fund would have to cover them. So, it'd be a lot of shuffling uh us around. So, but right now, we're just I'm just assuming we don't we're not getting it cuz that's all best information I have at this time. And that's all I have. >> Does any board members have any questions? Ms. May? Just um real a point of clarification, I I guess. So, we're we're going to vote tonight on the budget,
042the proposed budget, understanding that we still don't have a budget from the state, right? Which they're supposed to have that in place by July 1. So, um I just wanted to lift that piece, right? So, we're kind of blindly voting on this budget that you created because you had to blindly create it because we don't know. And last year when we did this again, we got jammed up because we lost the categorical, so just all those pieces and understanding that this will most definitely shift again once we get a budget from the state. >> as we you know, I'll do another amendment in the you know, as soon as we have better information like our count on November, you know, so we'll do another budget like in December. We'll have our count information. We'll know
043what the state's doing. We'll see if we categorical, we'll know if we get the 31c. And uh hopefully the world looks better to us that time. >> May I ask a follow-up question really quick? Have we Do we hear anything more about um waiting 31a and >> [sighs] >> section 41 in the general fund budget? Is that still on the table potentially, do you know? You guys know not know what I'm talking about? Or you don't know about it? You don't know about it at all? Or you haven't heard anything? >> the question. >> Okay, so there's been this the conversation around instead of 31a being a separate grant, it being weighted as a part of the general fund. So your student count is weighted. The same with section 41 for your English learner students.
044So I didn't know if we'd heard anything to say like, "Hey, they have taken that off the table." Or that's still on the table. I don't know. >> I haven't heard anything more, but it's kind of weighted anyway because cuz you get it based on how many kids, you know, how many kids you have and >> But it'll be a part of the general fund. It won't be separate. That that's been the conversation. So I didn't know if that was taken off. But don't worry about it. If you hadn't heard about it, I didn't know. >> our federal our grant fund is like when we send it up to the state of Michigan in our fed, it collapses it into the general fund. So on our books we have it as a separate fund, but
045it's still part of it. >> Got it. Okay. Thanks. >> Well, we haven't heard any more about that. I heard the beginning parts, but nothing has that I've heard has uh Yeah, they're busy trying to get a >> Yeah. >> Okay. budget there. >> I didn't know cuz you're finance, so you may have gotten a different update, you know, so that's why I asked. Okay. Cuz that'll have an impact as well. So >> Yeah. Things Things definitely could change. And probably will, for sure. >> Thank you. And thank you for your work with this one. And Mr. Cox >> Uh Julie, you in your report it shows that we have $377,000 just a little bit over that in interest income on our on our fund balance. I'm looking at that number and I'm thinking about
046the $80,000 that we don't have in interest income uh because our tax monies were not transferred to the school district for 2 years in a row by the municipality that collected them on our behalf. So uh you know, like 21% of the amount is lost to us. And so through the chair uh I want an accounting of that and I would like to know when we're going to receive those monies. >> Yes. I I sent the information to the attorney and he he's going to give it to someone who specializes in the state, you know, taxes and stuff like that to see sometime, you know, he said sometimes it's not worth you know, if you pay this much in legal to get this much, you know, so They're going to give us our their uh
047opinion. >> Well How through the chair, how how can a municipality not honor taxes that they have collected for a certain thing? I I don't understand that. I don't understand why we need an opinion, whatever, if they're That's malfeasance if they're not paying us. >> It's theft. It's conversion. >> Yes. >> It's not malfeasance. It's So, everybody knows what happened. I'm not going to mention the community cuz tonight it's not important, but one of the neighboring cities collect taxes on behalf uh or from their residents and property owners for the school district. All of the communities where the school district does business does they do this, and this money is supposed to be transferred to us. But, it wasn't for 2 years because they're enjoying the float interest on the money that they collected that
048really belongs in the school in the classroom, not in the municipality. So, now the issue is well, it's cost us $80,000, but it might be too expensive to go get it. Not for me, it's not. >> Nope. >> I don't care if it cost $160,000. We got to put a We got to stop that. I mean, I care, but you get the point. >> Yes. Any other questions? >> I have a question. What is the pattern for that payment in the previous years? >> Um in 3 24 we got regular payments like every month. Something every month. In 24 25 we got a payment at the end of the year. And all the other ones, all the other school districts got no money till the very end. So, we uh we were all, you know,
049running around. This year, it was only us. The other ones got their payments every month. And we didn't get ours until we wrote a letter. And I quoted it all these laws. And you know, we did get it pretty quick, but it it was at the end of the, you know, end of the year again. >> But it's a it's a monthly payment. >> Monthly. They're They're supposed to send it a payment every month. It's in the law that like whatever comes in, you should send it, you know, out. >> As you get it in, it should be sending it in. >> send it out each month. >> Oh. Okay. >> So, I'm sorry. Mr. President, uh are you saying that we are powerless to require them to send us what is our money? >>
050No, I'm not saying powerless. I'm saying you know, uh I mean, I can write a letter and do a calculation, you know, and see if they do it. Um whether I don't know that it would what it would take, you know, the attorney is going to tell me if it's just me writing a you know, a letter saying, "Come on, you know, you owe us this and this is the interest rate we should have been, you know, that money would have been getting." If they don't do it, then what do I do, you know, at that point? I know like the law says that it's a misdemeanor for the treasurer not to send that money. You know, it's a misdemeanor, which is like getting a speeding auto speeding ticket or something like that. So, I
051don't think that's really uh scary for somebody. So, um >> So, that's why we involve legal to see what our ramifications are. >> on >> Through the Through the chair, that's a That's a a criminal charge. I'm not I don't even care about the criminal side of this. What I'm And I know that the community that we're talking to, they're not rolling in dough. I know they're not. It's not like they just arbitrarily deciding not to send the money. They're broke, and they've been broke by old life. So, they don't have any money. Uh and I understand that, but uh I'm interested in the civil side of this. >> Yeah. >> Not the criminal side of it. I want the money back. So, how can we not get the money back? If we had an
052$80,000 truck in the parking lot and someone took it, we would just say, "Oh, well. It's going to be expensive to get it back." And And I'm not asking you for this, Jewel. I We need to know We need to have a definitive number. This is the number, so we can go from there. But But we have to go from there. We We would not be uh proper stewards of the district's monies if we don't pursue it. So, no matter what the situation is. >> Ms. May, what are our um I guess I would say our our procedures or our processes when people don't pay their bill. Like cuz if this is something that's supposed to be paid monthly, and it hasn't been paid monthly, and if it was a vendor that you know, we
053were doing business with that was supposed to pay us monthly, how would we go about getting our money? Do we follow that same process for this? >> I mean, I had sent a a a letter previously in the year. But, um it didn't result in anything. Um And then the last letter that I sent was a little bit stronger, cited the laws and stuff. And I like literally got a check driven over >> Okay. >> to us. So, >> But, is that our process? Like we So, if it's a Say it's not a municipality, it's a vendor. We send >> Yeah. >> letters? Like how do we go about pursuing getting our money? >> receivables and if they're not received within a you know, we send statements of from our system. We send statements and
054then, you know, we call all the time. Um So, it's a constant procedure. >> Mhm. >> And, you know, I could say I probably should have sent more letters throughout the year. But, I kind of after figuring out it was, you know, calling around and figured, you know, it was only us, I >> Right. And understand, I'm not asking that question to say you didn't do something right. I just wanted to know what's our process. And And so, to um Secretary Cox's point, right? If we're good stewards, then we're good stewards and and all for all of our business practices, right? And so, that's where that question came from. Not to say there's a right or a wrong or anybody did anything wrong, just understanding what our processes are. And making sure that or wanting
055to say to you we need to follow it across the board, right? So, it doesn't matter that it's a municipality or if it's a vendor. Like whatever our processes are, I would like to see us follow them across the board so that we don't get 2 years in to noticing that money isn't there or whatever the case may be. It However that came about. But, thank you. I just wanted to understand that process. Mr. Cox? >> Well, with all due respect and I and I understand uh why you would think in that vein, but our vendors are not fiduciaries for us. This municipality is. They're collecting our money on our behalf. It's not like they owe us money. They're actually collecting money from people who owe it to us, and then they're not giving it
056to us. That's That's a lot different. And what you would do in a situation where somebody was collecting money that was owed to you, but not giving it to you, you would call the police, and uh you would prosecute them, and then you would try to recover it civilly. None of those things would happen in a vendor situation. You would just eat try to get the money, and if you couldn't get it back, you would deal with a different vendor next time. But they're going to be collecting money for us again. And uh it's like we can't trust them is what's what's happening. We cannot trust them to have access to our money. So, that's a whole different thing. That's not only the 80,000 or whatever the amount is from before, but that's the future,
057too. And since their financial uh prospects aren't much better uh in the future, I we have to deal with this up to and including having someone else collect the money on our behalf that we can trust. So. >> Any other questions, Ms. Ebony? >> I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. >> Ebony Mitchell. >> Well, I don't want to go back and forth with them, but you know, just even sitting down having a conversation with them, are they having trouble collecting the money? Is the money coming to them in a timely manner? You know, and maybe it is worth getting legal in there to see what's going on. They may be having a trouble collecting money. You can't give what you don't have. But we don't know. >> Dr. Weaver? >> Yes, the amount roughly about 1.3
058million dollars a year. Did I hear I see that right? >> But we got for this payment, it was 1.6. >> Okay. All right, thank you. >> I just have one question, Ms. Claire. Um when it came to the transportation um with the -500,000, would that be not including the new buses we need or is it going to be like any particular cuts in the transportation? Cuz we had issues in the past with transportation and we don't want to have any more in the future. >> Um it won't be the buses because that's going to be in sinking fund. This is just the general fund. But I think we felt as a group is that we kind of we did throw money at the situation and it's fixed you know, it's fixed. We're not canceling
059routes, but I think we might have done a little too much. >> Okay. >> So we're pulling back a little bit and see, you know, if that happens and things start swinging you know, we're not like letting anyone go or anything like that. We're just not you know, we're hiring drivers to basically, you know, sit there >> Mhm. >> in case someone calls in. >> Right. >> Cuz we just don't want those routes canceled. So um we felt that we were all we kind of overdid a little bit that we the right fix would be half of what we did. >> Yeah, just have like some on-call people standby or something like that on certain days and then we're not spending a whole lot of money, so I get it. Thank you. Any other questions?
060>> One more. >> Ms. May? >> Just really quick, going back to the 50% of the brownfield um that you said we would receive, is that money earmarked a particular way that we can spend it or it does it just automatically go into the general fund and we can spend it how we see fit? >> General fund. >> Um I don't 100% know, but I believe that we can spend it any way we want to. >> Okay. Thank you. Is everybody's our minds clear? We're good? Okay, so we're going to move on to citizens comments agenda items only. Before we begin public participation, I would like to briefly review our board's guidelines for public comments. The board values public participation and welcomes input from members of our community. To ensure everyone has a fair opportunity
061to be heard and that the board business can be conducted efficiently and respectfully, we ask that all speakers direct their comments to the board. Speakers will be recognized by board secretary as to identify themselves before speaking. Each speaker will be limited to 3 minutes. Unused time may not be shared, transferred, or gifted to another speaker. Board members generally will not respond to questions or comments during public participation. Matters requiring follow-up will be referred to the superintendent for further review and consideration. We ask that all speakers and audience members conduct themselves respectfully and courteously. Personal attacks, disruptive behavior, and demonstrations of approval or disapproval are not permitted so that all participants may be heard and the meeting may proceed in an orderly manner. Thank you for your cooperation and for participating in tonight's meeting. And Mr.
062Secretary, do we have any um >> Madam President, we have Nicole Holland that would like to speak on the uh resignation topic. >> Thank you. >> I'm going to try to make this as quick as possible and get it out as fast as I can. So, we lost our principal. She forced resigned today, this afternoon. And when I mean forced resigned is there was not a proper investigation done. Nobody was asked questions throughout our building next door, John Glenn, nowhere. She is also the best and only CTE and principal you're going to find around here. So, I really hope you guys got a plan. Okay? And also, what she was accused of, I turned in 60 pages of evidence that everything she was accused of by the person that accused her, from his own words,
063showing it never happened. So, I'm just really upset that this was not followed through or taken care of the way it should have been. And I I have so much more to say. One of the things is supervisor employee relationships, you're all have not been here long enough to know better. We had a principal from William D married the health act teacher. I'm married to my husband, we work in the same building. We had a superintendent married to a teacher that worked for the district. In the history of Wayne-Westland Community Schools, this has never been an issue. Why it is now, I don't know. Also, the person that accused said person of doing wrong doing showed up at that person's house June 4th where police had to be called. She was harassed, she was threatened.
064There was obscene things screamed in her front yard and nothing was done about this. So, when we are moving forward in the future and like I told you guys from the beginning, right is right and wrong is wrong. I was not here because of a friendship or who is who or what is what. Right is right and wrong is wrong and you guys did not investigate this properly. 19 instructors wrote letters to your district attorney stating what happened. Stating that everything he said was a lie. Our I'm guessing one of our departments didn't follow through properly. And one of their close personal friends leaked all this information to the around. An old principal called an old principal's nephew and said, "Oh, I I heard that she no longer works for Waynesboro City School District." This
065was in March. >> 40 seconds. >> So, we have a leak in the human resource department. We have people talking when they shouldn't. Investigations not being done properly at all. So, and now we have lost a tremendous part of a CTE program you're never getting back. I don't care who you put in that position, you're never getting that back. She was on the commissioner board for our construction team. She was on budgeting. She was on everything. So, I really hope there's a better plan since you forced her to resign today. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any more citizens comments? Agenda items only. All right. Next we're at the consent agenda. We have minutes. Human resource items. Business financial items. Let's see. See. Curriculum and instruction, donations. Um, can I get a motion to approve the
066consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Any support? >> Support. >> Roll call vote. >> Cox says yes. Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Mr. Anders. >> Yes. >> Ms. Abney Mitchell. >> Yes. >> President Hines. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Let me make a comment on that. >> Yes, Mr. Cox. >> We have the Rotary Club of Westland, which donated $25,000. And we have Krupp's Poop 'n' Scoop 'n'. $10,000. Boy, that's a lot of shovel moving. Much appreciated. I just That's a big number. Those are big numbers, so much appreciated. >> Thank you very much. We have the Board of Education Committee reports. Um Student Achievement Committee, Mr. Roshan is not in. Um does anyone have the notes from that committee? Okay. We will We have the minutes
067in our packet. Okay, so would somebody from the committee like to read the minute? >> Sure. Um the meeting The Student Achievement Committee meeting was held on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. Um Mr. Roshan welcomed the committee members. And during that time, the um Student Advisory Committee applications were reviewed. We received or there were two applications received. It was a discussion that the application window would be reopened in August, um late August, early September as students um will be returning to school and the timing at this time may have been off. Um Dr. Cost and Dr. Jefferson, I'm sorry, Dr. Jefferson shared a portion of the PowerPoint that was shared at the district summit. Each committee member received a full report or PowerPoint. And there were no citizens comments. Dr. Cost thanked everyone
068for coming out. And there were some board member comments and the meeting was agenda adjourned adjourned, sorry, at 4:50 p.m. >> Thank you, Ms. May. >> Mhm. >> Next, we have the Finance and Facility Committee report, Mr. Ambros. >> Uh the Finance and Committee meeting was uh called to order on Tuesday, June 4th at 5:31 p.m. Uh we heard from uh Ms. Groves um on some curriculum purchases that'll be presented tonight. Uh the first is for purchasing uh our middle school science curric- curriculum. Uh They would like to use Savvas Elevate Science resources um for 300 and $79,600 roughly. Uh Explore Learning uh virtual lab platform for approximately 35,000. Uh there are some printing costs that go along with this uh that would be for 25,000 and then allowances for some consumable materials over over
069this uh contract uh for 75,000. Uh for a total of $515,000 charged to the general fund and this contract would expire the 20 30-31 school s- uh school year. She then went on um to talk to us about renewing curriculum for our social studies and our English language uh arts. Uh social studies uh we would continue to use PCI Social Studies Alive. Uh it would be a two-year renewal at $92,000. And 1XL ELA, another two-year renewal uh for $95,000. Uh so, [snorts] roughly these two renewals would cost the district an additional $187,500 and that would also be charged to the general fund. >> [snorts] >> We uh then heard from Mr. Beebe, who came to us with uh >> [clears throat] >> with quite a few uh IT uh renewals uh that the board uses.
070The first was uh Inform K12 online. Um this is uh basically the one-stop shop for for field trips and other items uh that the district uh uses for uh for it's in terms of scheduling. Um The total for uh the year is going to be uh $46,000 for that. Uh that would come from our general fund. Uh our Fortinet cybersecurity renewal licensing software Uh this is our a multi-layered uh protection for staff and student devices. Uh this will allow This will be uh approximately $40,000 to the general fund. We talked about Mosyle Manager licensing renewal. This is uh the remote management for our iPads and our uh Macs uh that the district owns. Uh this will allow the IT department to uh >> [snorts] >> to remotely access and monitor these these devices. Uh that's
071uh $49,500 uh charged to the general fund. Uh we're looking at licensing uh for the district phone system through Moss. Uh they currently have uh the work. Um that's going to be another $35,000. And then uh our door vegetable systems. Um if you walk up to any of our buildings, uh you have a doorbell with a camera on it and a speaker. Uh we need to uh update those. Um Right now, they are integrated into our IT system. Um this new system will have a dedicated phone line to it uh because right now, since the cyber attack that we had, a good portion of the time someone's having to leave the office to go answer the door. It's not safe for for our staff or for our students. Um The total for that is going
072to be uh just under $33,000 and this will come from our sinking fund budget. Uh then he is going to also be re- questing um a renewal uh for IncidentIQ Integrated Asset Management and Help Desk system um for another $42,000. And then Lightspeed uh alert licensing renewal. Uh This uh proactively identifies students in crisis, classroom disrup- disruptions, and inventory inefficiencies, and prioritizes district-wide support. Uh this will be uh $31,000 and charged to the general fund. We then heard from uh Ms. Claire, uh where she first talked to us about the L4029 resolution uh that is a tax levy uh that will be on the ballot. Um She then went over the final budget in the preliminary budget which she just went through with the board just a few moments ago. We reviewed the state aid
073report, the investment report, the check register. Uh there were no citizen comments and we heard from Dr. Cost and myself, Ms. Mitchell and and Ms. Mr. Cox then we adjourned at 6:45 p.m. >> Thank you, Mr. Ambers. Now we have the policy and procedure committee, Dr. Weaver. >> Thank you, Madam President. Fred Weaver, Shannon Roshan, Melody Hines were at the meeting. Uh the meeting was gavels into order at 3:34 p.m. Dr. Jefferson talked to us about proposed policy as to how uh we are to handle public complaints in this district. Um concerning uh instructional materials or books that we have in our libraries. The cell phone policy enforcement update uh we are uh continuing to try to enforce the cell phone policy which simply says that a student may not have their cell phone out
074during class instruction time unless there is some sort of uh idea some sort of that that causes them to have to. Um Committee members were given the opportunity to ask questions. Uh item four, the board travel that was discussed, is that each board member every July 1st will receive in their account $3,000 for board travel. Since we have already communicated by a motion that no no board member will be traveling outside the state uh for a 3-year period uh these monies are to be used by individual board members at MASB to uh encourage learning. If they do not use it, it does not accrue until the next year. It's they either use it or they do not. Uh we looked at policy updates from Miller Johnson. Uh there were no citizens comments. Dr. Kosh shared
075with us uh board member comments um and uh we were adjourned at 4:11 p.m. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Weaver. Now we are at review and approval of business service and finances. So we have a recommendation to approve middle school science curriculum adoption, Dr. Jefferson. >> Thank you so much. Um and I'll try to go over these as quickly as possible cuz we have a bundle of them this evening. Um the first one is a recommendation to purchase middle school science curriculum. Um as Jared Grove, executive director of middle school curriculum, presented at the June Finance Committee, we're requesting board approval for the purchase of the following resources: Savvas Explore Learning, printing costs, and an allowance for consumables for the hands-on lab portion. This is um for the 2026-27 school year and concluding at
076the end of the 2030-31 school year. Uh the total cost is $515,000 and will be funded through the general fund. I recommend that the board approve the purchase of the middle school science curriculum. >> Um Madam President, may I interrupt for a second? >> Yes, Dr. May. >> thank you, Dr. Jefferson. Um unless there is any dissent from a board member, I would like to move that we um uh collectively vote on items A through L instead of going through them serial item. We've all read, we know where we're going. And uh so, I'm making the motion that uh we approve these items with one vote. >> Do we have a second? Any discussion? >> Yeah, I'll second that. >> Any discussion? >> Well, it's as as Dr. Weaver said, uh there's nothing new here.
077And uh being in finance, we went through all of this. So, >> [snorts] >> I'm fine with it. >> Okay, so we will um take the motion to do all of these from A all the way down to L in one vote because it's finance. >> to vote on this first? >> Yes. >> I'm ready. >> So, we're going to go ahead and vote on that and then we're going to um do the roll call vote. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Cox says yes. Mr. Ambers. >> Yes. >> Uh Ms. Abney-Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Ms. President Hines. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Thank you. >> Everyone owes Dr. Weaver a Hershey bar. >> Okay, so now we're going to do a motion from A through L. >> So
078moved. >> Second. >> Support. >> Roll call vote. >> Miss Abney-Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ambers. >> Yes. >> Miss May. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> President Hines. >> Yes. Motion is passed. >> [snorts] >> Okay. Right here. Okay, so we have a review and approval of administrative services. Uh Michigan High School Athletic Association membership resolution, Mr. Toko. >> Um I'm handling this for him. >> Okay. >> Um there's no cost to the district. Um >> [clears throat] >> So I would like uh board approval to continue this membership for this next year. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Support. >> Roll call vote. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Mr. Ambers. >> Yes. >> Miss Abney-Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Miss May.
079>> Yes. >> President Hines. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Review and approval of human resource items. A 2026-27 staff recognition and appreciation days, Dr. Ophelia. >> Yes, I'll present that on his behalf. I am respectfully requesting the Board of Education's approval of the proposed employee recognition dates for the 2026-27 school year. As a part of the district's ongoing commitment to recognizing the dedication, service, and accomplishments of our employees, annual recognition dates have been scheduled through the upcoming school year. These dates are presented for board approval in accordance with the district's established practice of approving employee recognition dates on an annual basis. Thank you for your consideration. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Support. >> Any um questions or discussion? Roll call vote? >> Ms. Ebony Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Mr.
080Ambrose. >> Yes. >> Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> President Hines. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Okay. Next, we're in review and approval of Board of Education items. Um recommendation to approve Dr. Kathleen Cole, Superintendent of Wayne Westland Schools, effective July I'm sorry. >> You're missing the legal there. One above. >> Policy manual. >> Miller Johnson. >> Oh, where's it? Is it right here? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. >> have A first? >> Sorry, sorry, guys. We're just today. So, this is my first day. Thank you. So, recommendation to approve the policy administrative guideline updates as recommend recommended by legal firm under separate cover. Um do I have a motion? Um >> Do you want me to read? >> I will read it first just quickly.
081>> Okay. >> As presented by Dr. O'Philly um at the June 3rd Policy Committee meeting, the district seeks approval to update the Board Policy Manual and Administrative Regulations. I recommend the Board of Education approve the proposed updates and additions provided by Miller Johnson School Policy Services. These revisions will help ensure that the district's policies and administrative guidelines uh regulations remain current, legally compliant, and aligned with best practice in school governance and operations. >> Thank you. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Support. >> Any discussion? Roll call vote. >> Ms. May. >> Yes. >> Ms. Abney-Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ambrose. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. President Hinds. >> Yes. >> And motion passes. >> Next we have review and approval of Board of Education items. Recommendation
082to approve Dr. Catherine Cox, Superintendent of Wayne-Westland Schools effective July 1st, 2026 under separate cover. Um do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Do I have a second? >> Support. >> Any discussion? Roll call vote. >> Um Dr. Weaver. >> Yes. >> Cox is yes. Mr. Ambrose. >> Yes. >> Ms. May. >> No. >> Um Ms. Abney-Mitchell. >> No. >> And President Hinds. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Next we have citizens comments, non-agenda items, and the same rules will apply as we did before with the >> [laughter] >> agenda items. >> Madam President, we have uh Melody Harris. >> Is that Melody Harris? Eleanor wants to go first. Is that okay? >> Um yeah, Eleanor Trudeau. Sure. >> Trudeau. Sorry. It's a It's a hard name to pronounce.
083>> It's even harder when it's written as it is. >> What a wonderful year. Teachers were great, very kind, and nice. Made new friends and found new faces and saw old faces and saw nice faces. And now and new personalities and a lot of love and a lot of supplies. And thank you, Ms. Wansen, for being with me every Tuesday and running my Girl Scout troop. Thank you again. >> Wow, good job, Ellie. >> [applause] >> Wow, thank you. >> How's that for courage? >> [laughter] >> That was pretty good. And I changed some of the words and then she got mad at me earlier and was crying, but I don't know where I'm going to start. This is Let me know when I my minute start. >> Begin. >> Go ahead. >> Okay, okay.
084So, yeah, I'm kind of thrown off guard cuz I just heard the story this nice lady told and it kind of brings back, you know, emotional trauma and painful memories for me, myself, and other, you know, um people working in the Wayne-Westland School District. So, I I really feel for this woman and I don't know if there's a chance to get her back or what you can do for her, but I really uh recommend another investigation because 60 pages of proof is quite a bit. So, um that just kind of brings, you know, tears to my eyes and thank you for advocating for her, whoever it is. So, um please reconsider that. And um starting with some positives, um I had a great year of volunteering at Wildwood. Um I got to do a personal
085read in Ms. Moses' class. She went out of her way to do that for me. And I did the field day. That was a blast. Um I did the school picnic and then I had a really big huge cast, a lot bigger than this, and I still uh worked at the picnic. So, I thank uh Ms. Babyak and all the staff there for making it a pleasant experience. Um I have to go into some negatives, so please don't anybody get mad at me. So, what happened was um back when we were um interviewing for the superintendent, um us parents and different people were brought in on the 24th and 25th, we um interviewed uh superintendent candidates, we spoke with them, we were told it was going to be a couple weeks before, you know, um
086one was picked. And then all of a sudden, when I was writing my input, I found out the very next next morning that um specific um board members decided that they wanted to go against the original plan, and um you know, that was really um disheartening, and um please try to respect and stick to original decisions dates, especially when it involves parents, community, and precious time. I feel it made us look inconsistent. I feel like it made us look unprofessional to the candidates, the public. And I'm not saying we can never change our minds, that's okay, but I feel what happened was unacceptable. So, I know it was specific uh board members that decided to do that. Um please don't do that again unless, you know, you think it's really important. So, no hard feelings,
087don't get mad at me. I want to thank Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Weaver coming coming and saying hello to us tonight. Um I also want to thank Ms. Kimberly May for always and forever supporting parents, it really means a lot, and I'm sure uh the rest of you that do. And um congratulations to Mrs. Cost. This is nothing personal. Sorry about the phone, I've been trying to turn it off, and I I can't do it. That's a child that's calling me in the district. But, congratulations to you. Um I would just like to keep other things consistent, and please, a friendly reminder to get with Mr. B Sick. Um keep working on that student code of conduct book to come up with other ways to not have extreme violations used against immature elementary students. >>
088is up. >> Okay. I didn't get the rest in cuz I was trying to advocate for this principal, but thanks again to the Board of Education and everybody here. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. Next we have um our superintendent >> we have uh I don't know who if we have Jamie Kittle. >> Oh, Jamie. Okay. Jamie. >> And then we had I don't know who is who here, so Melinda >> Is there any other comments? Fill out a slip. >> Who just spoke? >> Okay. >> Hello. >> I am a teacher's assistant over at William D. Ford and I have a concern. I don't know the procedure of teachers being gone and them being allowed to come back. And I'm going to feed off a little bit of the investigation and things
089not being done or asked or addressed because I was one of those comments in that 60 pages of having something to say and I feel very uncomfortable with this teacher coming back into our building and having to deal with this teacher on a very regular basis because this teacher's wife has called me and accused me of having inappropriate um intentions with the teacher when there was none of that and so I feel threatened and I was told that this teacher is going to be allowed to come back and teach next year. And I don't know if you guys can do anything about it or do your own investigation as a school board. I don't know if you are aware of all the different things that we thought were pertinent in this investigation, but I just
090wanted to make it known that there I'm not the only one that's uncomfortable. And we want you to please not let this person back into our building because it is toxic and will be very disruptive. And I think that's all I have to say. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> That's all the sheets I have, Madam President. >> All right, thank you. So, we're going to be next to our superintendent's report and comments, Dr. Cole. >> Thank you, President Hines. Um I first want to say thank you to all of our staff for having such a successful end of the school year. And it does take a village uh from so many people getting our students across the finish line at graduation and then at fifth grade ceremonies and eighth grade ceremonies and everything
091in between. I'm just so appreciative of all the time and energy and planning that went into such a successful end of the school year. Um Jewel, thank you for all the work on our current budget as well as the proposed budget. Um this is so important to any school district and to have somebody with Jewel's expertise really, really lends credibility and gives us peace of mind as to how we move forward. So, thank you very much. Um last but not least, I'd like to thank uh school board members for your feedback on my evaluation tonight and um your faith in me for the next 3 years and I could not be more blessed to continue my time here. So, thank you one and all. >> Next, we have review and recommendations [clears throat] of the
092Board of Education, Ms. Abney-Mitchell. >> Yes, I just want to say um thank you to all of our teachers, our students for successful year and for everybody to enjoy their summer. Be safe and be happy. That's all I have. >> Ms. May? >> Thank you. I'd like to first say congratulations again to the class of 2026. All three schools did an outstanding job with the graduation ceremonies. I also appreciate all of the work of all the staff and to ensure to ensure our students had a phenomenal school experience during the 2025-2026 school year. I'd also just like to share and I shared this with Dr. Carstarphen prior to coming to the table that my vote of no on her contract is related to contract language concerns and not related to her ability to do the
093job. So, I just wanted to share that piece and I also just like to take a few minutes to wish everyone a wonderful and relaxing summer. Thank you. >> Mr. Ambrose? >> Again, I want to say congratulations to the class of 2025-2026. Um I only was able to attend two of the graduation ceremonies, unfortunately. Uh it was my daughter's my oldest daughter turned 21 on the 31st and so I had to to leave the before the W.E.B. uh graduation ceremony. Um so I could celebrate my daughter's time. Uh I thought the Wayman Elementary and John Glenn ceremonies were were well well prepared. I was really impressed with the student led at John Glenn and the the the seriousness that they took it with. And I would actually like to see that maybe going forward with
094with all our schools. Um going forward the the next few months uh as we are not going to have uh schools making presentations this district we've we've spent a lot of money on on some curricula items in the past. Uh letters uh program for one. Uh we've invested money in mathematics. And I would like to hear where we are in terms of our plans with those uh in student achievement uh where we're at and what our next steps are to be able to start improving scores. Um And with that I want to have have everyone uh wish them a happy uh summer vacation. I hope you teachers uh take the time to uh decompress, relax, enjoy being away from students for a few weeks. Uh but at the same time continue learning. Um and thank
095you for all the good that you've done this year. And and again congratulations Dr. Cost. >> Thank you. Mr. Cox. >> Tonight usually uh really represents a new beginning for this board. We have had a very difficult couple of years. Began believing that we were millions upon millions of dollars short only to find out that wasn't true. But between uh thinking that it was and finding out that it wasn't, uh we shot ourselves in the foot just about as severely as you could. Uh we took a superintendent who was doing a job that we're still seeing the fruits of the labor and just threw him out. Uh and then there was another person who took the superintendency over and also that person wasn't supported. And now we've just uh hired a new superintendent. Congratulations, Dr.
096Kost. And still it wasn't unanimous. Even though the last thing John Silveri said before he walked out of this room the day of the vote is, "If you see that the vote that the superintendent candidate that you want already has four votes, show solidarity. Show support. They're [snorts] They're already the superintendent." Show support. That wasn't done then and it wasn't done tonight. And while I totally understand everybody has the right to vote the way uh they think is best, the decision has now been decided. And it's the policy of the board that we will go together arm in arm even if we didn't like it. Uh maybe we bought all white vehicles and someone wanted them to all to be black. Well, doesn't matter. We all decided, the majority's decided, and I expect every member
097of the Board of Education to support this superintendent because supporting this superintendent is supporting our school district. And I understand if you didn't care, it wouldn't matter to you. So, I know you all care. And uh I talked to probably the most elder statesman in Westland over the last couple of weeks. And one of the things that he says, and he's connected to the school community, is people in this city want all of this to come to an end. And they want us to move together in a spirit of cooperation and address the problems of the district. Board-level issues need to be at the bottom of the list. And he's absolutely right with that. So, thank you. Congratulations, Dr. Cost, and to everybody who has contributed to this work. But, it's a new day. Thank
098you. >> Dr. Weaver? >> Yes, [clears throat] thank you, uh Madam President. Dr. Cost, I am ecstatic that you have been uh voted in as our superintendent. Uh my prayer for you is that you stay with us many years because one thing this district needs is consistency. I'll disagree with my fellow board members with