January 28, 2026 - Organizational and Regular Meeting

001Good evening and welcome to the Anchor Bay School District Board of Education meeting. Please rise for the pledge of Thank you. Mr. Ventelli, can you do the roll call, please? >> Yes. Uh, Miss Knox, >> uh, she is excused. >> Mr. Richards, >> present. Uh, >> Mr. Venetelli is here. My pen stop working. Stand by. Okay. Miss uh Dr. Brookmeer. Thank you. I guess >> say Miss Burkmire here. >> Uh Mr. Powers here. Mr. Sunnyberger here. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh next I'd like to have uh Miss Tarnaki um start with our board appreciation presentation. Hey, our fourth graders are going to join us up in the front by the blue circle. Okay. Well, good evening. Welcome board appreciation night. Um, we are excited to have some presenters to this evening to thank you for

002all of your hard work and your dedication and your countless hours um for our board. Um, this is Mrs. Tardyaki. She's one of our elementary music teachers. I know Mr. Lefiv, the principal at Lighthouse is here. And these are our fourth graders from Lighthouse Elementary. Thank you, Mrs. Stevenson. Good evening, board. Mr. Djanowski, we have two songs for you tonight. We're going to start with a song called Agents of Change. It's kind of our theme song this year for fourth grade since they're now officially the biggest kids in the elementary school. It ties in with the positivity project in our PBIS. And then we'll end with the fight song. Thank you. We are the agents of change. We are the we are solutions. You're the agent of change. to make it aes. is the change.

003We are to see it. We are the change of change. Oh yeah. That's right. We are the future. We are the We are the change. We are the We got solutions. We are the agents agents of change. We are shown together to see it. We are the shent of change on your feet. Join that party. Make it sweet. Hey, you on your feet. Join that party. Make it sweet. Hey, you on your feet. Join that party. Make it sweet. Hey, you on your feet. Join that party. Make it sweet. Change. cheer for. That's why we're in the team. Roll out for school. Give a to the house to the colors that we boast as we march on to victory absor as we march Come to victory. We're just going to wait a couple minutes. All

004right, the next item on the agenda, we're going to have the election of the chair's person prom. We're going to conduct an election for the board officers. Um, I'd like to open it up to the board if there's any recommendations we'd like to discuss. I'll make a motion to elect Dennis Richards chair prom to conduct election of board officers. >> All right, >> I'll support >> motion by Mr. Powers. So, I'd like to open it up to the board to discuss um each year we go and conduct an election for uh the board for president, vice president, treasur, and secretary. Would anyone like to make a motion? >> We have to vote to make you the chair first. >> Yeah. >> Roman Ventil. >> Uh yeah, there's uh no more discussion. Um, just real quick

005before we take the vote, just as a reminder to everybody, even though there's only five of us up here tonight, we still require four votes to pass anything. So, by, you know, we need four votes regardless of how many people are here. So, thank you. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Powers. >> Yes. >> Miss Burke Meyer? >> Yes. >> Uh, Mr. Richards? >> Yes. >> Mr. Vanitellis? Yes. Mr. Sunnyburgger. >> Yes. Motion passes. Okay. I would like to make a motion for a slate of the following candidates for this year for a board organization. Dennis Richards, president. Jill Knox, vice president. Brian Powers, treasurer. Dominic Vinditelli, secretary. I'll second that motion. Okay. Any discussion? >> Go ahead. Call the role. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Venitelli? Yes. Uh, Mr. Richards? >> Yes.

006>> Mrs. Burkemeer? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sunnyberger? >> Yes. Motion passes. All right. Do you see? Oh, thank you. All right. So, next we have the approval of the agenda. Would anyone like to make a motion to approve the agenda? >> I'll make a motion to approve the agenda. I'll support >> support. Any discussion on the agenda? >> No. All right. M. Ventil going to call the role. >> Mr. Powers. >> Yes. Mrs. Burke Meer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sunnyberger. >> Yes. >> Mr. Venetelli. Yes. Uh Mr. Richards. >> Yes. >> All right. Next for a student board representative update from Madison. Good evening. Members of the board of education and superintendent Jenowski. The district student council group met today and I have the following building updates to share with you this evening. At Great

007Oaks Elementary, the school store is open on Tuesday and Thursdays during lunch. The warming tree will be taking donations of hats, gloves, and socks. And all donations are going to Turning Point. Lighthouse Elementary is collecting donations of no so fleece blankets for the month of February. Last month, students made cards for teachers to spread cheer. Students created a kindness winter wall and the fourth grade students held a musical concert. At Macccants, the Merry Market was held on December 18th. On December 19th, there was a schoolwide popcorn day and fourth grade. All of the Macant students have are completing NWA testing at Ashley. Donuts with dudes will be held on February 11th. Students just finished NWA testing and February 24th is a family math night at Lahi. There is a movie day coming soon. Students enjoyed

008a schoolwide popcorn day earlier this month and all students have just finished NWA testing at Naldrit. The All-Star Challenge Glow Stick Walkathon was a schoolwide fundraiser will be held February 11th. Kids for Heart Challenge will take place on February 9th and proceeds from this event will benefit the American Heart Association. From middle school North, the student council is working on planning an all school dance to be held soon. The annual dodgeball tournament is scheduled to take place on February 6th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The school shop is now open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch for students to shop. The middle school cheer team have their fourth competition this Saturday at Oxford High School. At Middle School South on January 22nd, students who participated in the schoolwide fundraiser and raised $300 or more will

009be enjoying a lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Girls basketball triyouts were held and the first game will be on February 10th. Their National Junior Honor Society has held a hot sock drive for those in need. Last year, 281 pairs of socks were donated and the goal this year is to collect more than last year. At the high school, student council is hosting a charity week next week. All proceeds are going to the Down Syndrome Society. Student council will also be participating in the regional competition next week at the Mcome Intermediate School District. There will be two teams competing in a showcase. One student voice presenter and one student photo presenter. DECA left today to attend a conference in Orlando, Florida. February 18th, fourth grade students districtwide will travel to the high school for a performance

010by the wind ensemble. And on February 26th at 7 p.m., Relay for Life is once again hosting the annual AB Oscars. Thank you. So that is all I have for this evening. >> Thank you. Uh the next item we have is uh a lifesaver award. >> Yeah. So we have Amanda the paper is going to come up here and present that award. Good evening everyone. Today we are here to recognize an extraordinary act that reminds us of the very best of humanity. In a moment when time mattered and the outcome was uncertain, one person chose courage, compassion, and action. And because of that choice, a life was saved in a family, a community, and all of us are better for it. It is my honor this evening to recognize Mrs. Amanda Plague as a recipient

011of the life savings award. So Amanda, if you want to come up here and join me. So although Mrs. flag has already been recognized at Middle School South, as you can see here, and also acknowledged during a board member's points of pride. It is important that we pause as a district to honor the extraordinary actions that Amanda took on October 22nd, 2025. On that day, during a staff lunch, a colleague was visibly choking and in immediate distress. Mrs. plague quickly recognized the seriousness of the situation and without hesitation she stepped into action. With calm focus and decisive con confidence she performed the Heimlick maneuver on her colleague. Actions that directly led to saving a life. What makes this moment especially meaningful is not only the action itself but the outcome it it really created because

012of Mrs. Plague of her actions every second matter a colleague was able to recover continue their work and return home safely to the people who who that depend on them. It is a powerful reminder that a single moment of courage can really change the course of anyone's life. Beyond this extraordinary moment, and I can say I've witnessed this over the years, Mrs. Plague has consistently demonstrated leadership and dedication at Middle School South. She is a valued member of the team and a trusted role model for students, exemplifying compassion, responsibility, and care in all that she does. Mrs. Plague, thank you. Thank you for your quick thinking, your selflessness, and the life that you saved. Your actions remind us that even in ordinary moments, extraordin extraordinary impact is possible. So tonight, it is my honor to

013present to Amanda, Mrs. Amanda Plague, with the life-saving award in recognition of her heroic actions. On behalf of the district, we also like to extend our deepest gratitude. Congratulations, Amanda. Sweet. Thank you very much. I appreciate >> that. All right. Thank you. Uh the next item is is a a football student recognition. We have coach Brandon here to present that. >> Thank you. On behalf of our football program, I want to thank you for welcoming us here tonight and taking the time to recognize our all county football players. Your support as a board uh means a great deal to our student athletes, our families, and our football program as a whole. Uh we're incredibly proud of these young men, not only for their accomplishments on the field, but for their character, leadership, and work ethic

014they demonstrate every day. Having them honored by the school board is a special moment, and we truly appreciate the acknowledgement for their hard work. Thank you again for your continued support of our student athletes uh and for celebrating their achievements uh with us this evening. I'd like to uce the three all county athletes that we have here at Anchor Bay. First is Luke Hogwitz. Anchor this year's a very tough and staged middle line at 93 tackles, six nos, two force foss, three sacks, four chess breakups, and one interception. He was honorable mention all Mac red and he was honorable mention all county. Benona. Ben was a defensive end and tight end for us this year. He was a team captain. He had 42 tackles, 18 solos, 13 pressures, one quarterback hit, five tackles for loss.

015He was also our tight end in our goal line package. He was a great blocker. Ben was awarded the Tower Pride Awarded by his teammates of the coaching staff. He was first team all Matt Red and second team all president. Lastly, I have Michael Orlando. Michael was a wide receiver for us this year. He was one of our captains. He was also a kick returner and a punt returner. He had 52 receptions, 948 yards for an 18.2 yard average, and six touchdowns. He also had 16 kickoff returns for 386 yards, which a 24.5 yard average. He was team MVP voted by his teammates and the coaching staff. He was first team all Mac red and second team all county. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Gotcha. I guess All right, the next item I've been hearing

016a lot about is the ELA program presentation. Okay. >> Okay. Good evening. Um, I'm Heidi Stevenson, director of elementary ed, and I'm just here tonight to give a short presentation on our ELA curriculum. Um, and I believe it's going to be later on in the agenda under new business. So, this will just give an oversight on the work that has been put into this recommendation and decision. Um so just a little bit about the history um and where this literacy initiative has stemmed from. Um really at the state level um with the dyslexia legislation um we were able to apply for a grant that awarded our district over $500,000. So between the state and the county and our district really focusing on the elementary uh literacy initiatives to improve um resources for our educators. So

017back in um in last year in the years prior to this when uh Kathy Elias was here and also working with Dr. Lindsay, we already began to make some of those shifts in our instructional practices. Um, we added our UFly, which is a systematic approach to teaching phonics called UFly. And we added the professional development with Dr. Lindsay. Um, and so that kind of goes back to show you the history of just kind of how we are make helping to make this decision. And there you go. And then this just helps to provide more of a timeline of what I was just referring to. But back in 23, we began competencybased education. And uh last year we had our first year at the elementary level where we had implemented our CBE math and then the

018practices in UFly um in grades kindergarten through 2 grade which we saw some really positive um student growth and results with that program. Then as we move forward and the work really began um in July. So this has been um from July through really December of looking at the curriculum review and the process that was taken. So the process was really made up of a committee of uh teachers in kindergarten through fifth grade as well coaches and administrators. So, um, the recommendation tonight with the ELA program is on the approved grant list. So, it already went through an extensive um, system of just getting on that list where we looked at three out of 10 programs, narrowed that down to two, and then that committee really wanted to put it in front of kids. they

019wanted, the teachers really wanted to work with both programs to see which one would really help um fit and align more with our um with our programs. So again, kind of going looking at this timeline, we're um looking at adding the professional development and adding this program um into the start for the fall of 2026. So ongoing will help to build consistency. We haven't had new reading resources in a really long time. This will also help to just have additional uh student growth and achievement in the area of literacy. So the recommendation then for adoption would be a program called imagine learning. Um and with approval the materials will be ordered in trimester 2 with professional development. The roll out would be um in May teachers will have their materials and then again for the

020start for training in August with full implementation um in 2026. Um and again with this program adoption we also know that there is no silver bullet program. It really goes down to really teacher um knowledge and and um and their growth as well. But these will also give the resources that teachers need. So we can move that some of the key highlights in imagine learning. It aligns with the science of reading. Um it also helps it also it coincides with our CBE initiatives. Um, it makes for a smooth swap for adding or keeping our UFly program and handwriting without tears. Standards were aligned for each grade level. And really the um also part of the feedback was given that the website was was much um just the ease of the website was easier for teachers

021to to use and utilize. Um and then a couple other key points was just the rigor and the student engagement was high. Um within Imagine Learning, it also provided MTSS and also an ELLL support program within the Imagine Learning. And last but not least, like to thank these teachers. They worked extremely hard at putting in a lot of extra hours into planning um the curriculum, using the new materials, you know, again, putting it in front of students um giving their feedback, their observation. So, it was really a collective um really collective um result of a lot of hard work by these teachers and I just wanted to also recognize them as well. So, with that being said, thank you for your support. Um, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thank you. >>

022At this time, >> questions. All right. Next item is going to be a bond presentation. >> Okay. And this this will be actually the next items are combined. Normally I would present kind of the the bond and the bids, but because this is such a large phase, this is really the largest phase of the bond. We're kind of turning the corner here. So ask the bond team. So we have Brad Colts from Barton Mallow. We also have support from Craig Wester from French and Associates and Corey and Todd are also here as well in case there's any questions. But Brad is going to walk through the different um bids where we're at and before we ask for approval later this evening on the next phase. I'm going to bring Miss Taki back with the choir.

023Brief couple minutes. All right. So, good evening board. As Phil mentioned, my name is Brad Coltz with Bart Melo. We're the construction managers on the bond program. Um, so I'm going to walk through the um the the award presentation here today. Uh going to start off with giving a brief highle overview of each of the uh the three buildings um which were a part of this uh bid project here. Uh the first would be um Ashley Elementary. Uh the second would be Nulit Elementary. And then the third would be Middle School South. So um again, real exciting uh news to share with you, good news to share. Um as Phil mentioned, this was a very important bid pro uh bid project as a part of the bond program. Uh and we experienced some real good

024results. So excited to share that with you here tonight. Um so this is Ashley Elementary as I mentioned. I'll go through a high level overview of each of the three buildings. Um depicted on the screen the red shaded areas are going to be uh proposed building additions. Uh so on the right hand side of the screen that'll be an um an eight classroom addition. uh the middle red area um along the front of the building, that'll be a media center edition u by the main entrance. And then the blue shaded area um that'll be what we call heavy heavy renovation area. Um that'll be a classroom enlargement uh space, real similar to what we did last summer at Middle School North. So currently that blue area houses 12 classrooms. Um, and then that'll be when

025we're all said and done turned into eight classrooms, uh, four on each side of the corridor there. Um, and then everything in between that's not shaded, there'll still be work done in in those spaces as well. Um, architectural, mechanical, and electrical renovations. Um, and then at each of the three buildings, we also did a we had a third party roof survey done. And so any re-roofing that needs to take place at any of these three buildings would be a part of this project as well. And then there's the the parking lots will get resurfaced and and other items um on the exterior of the building um as a part of this project award. Um so if we go to the next slide, Tim, this is a rendering of um what the front of the building

026will look like um now that this media center addition will be um popped out by the main entrance. Um and so the main entrance will be on this screen just to the right of where that curved media center uh will be along the front of the building. Um, and this will give the building a nice fresh clean look. Um, and a new and improved feel to the building overall. Uh, same concept over at Nulit. Um, two red editions there shown. Uh, the one in the front of the building um will be another media center edition um, kind of by the gym and then a four classroom edition um, out back behind the building. Uh and then each one of the two blue areas will be uh classroom enlargements um heavy renovations as well. Uh those

027um currently house six classrooms each and then when we're done with the project there'll be four classrooms each uh within the same building footprint. And then same thing the rest of the building um will receive some architectural, mechanical, electrical improvements. Uh the roofing here and parking lot um upgrades as well. Uh so this will be um this addition is a this is a rendering of the addition which will be um kind of pllopped in between the existing parking lot and where the gym is. And so this will give uh similar to Ashley a nice fresh look to the front of the building uh reestablishing the main entrance and um you know just you know a good a nice fresh feel to the building. Um the third building will be Middle School South. Um no additions

028on this building. Um but there will be extensive interior renovations. Uh we met over the past year with uh the district administration and and the building uh staff um to come up with, you know, what this building reconfiguration looks like to to meet the programming needs of the building now that it's a a 78 building. Um so while there's no additions um the if you want to go to the next slide there's a rendering of the the new um main office which will be relocated to the very front of the building um and the the building facade will be uh upgraded here as well. So this building will will get a fresh look. The maintenance the main entrance will be reestablished and then the parking lots here and the roof here will be a part

029of the project uh as well. Uh so that's the that's a high level scope overview of what's included in this project. Um a little insight to the the bid strategy and participation that we had. Uh we did a couple of things to really maximize um the bidder participation giving us the best chance to to have as many biders as possible which ultimately saves the district money. Um, so in addition to working with Corey and her team to post this project on, uh, the the local paper, the state website, uh, we also use our our online um, bidding software, uh, which is a a screenshot of the summary you see on the screen. Um, I know it's hard to see, but I'll run through, um, what the numbers mean and and what the story that that

030tells, uh, here in the next couple minutes. So, uh, we broke this bid out into 21 different categories. And, you know, that's just our professional expertise and and knowing the market and how these contractors want to see this this project broken out. Um, and so we really put a lot of thought into how to break this project out. And we came up with these 21 categories um that you see up on the screen. Um, across the 21 categories, we ended up reaching out to over 6,200 companies. um in southeast Michigan and and in the Midwest um based on the the geographic location of the district. Um and then we had the ability to see who actually viewed the bid documents which was around 800 um of the companies that we sent it out to. And

031then we ended up getting 90 bids across the 21 categories. Um and so you see the 4.2 um shown on the screen there. Um that's the average number of biders per category which we were really pleased with. I mean that's a great turnout um and and which really drove the price of this project down and then so that 4.2 um is a great number and then also the combined with that um no single bid categories across the 21. So um really pleased with how this this bidder part bidder participation turned out um across the board. Shifting over to the bid strategy um we if you want to go back we're still on that previous slide for a second. um the previous uh or shifting over the strategy uh we did advertise this as one large

032project um and and but we did have it broken down between the three buildings within each category and we did that for a couple of reasons. Um the first being to attract both largecale contractors and smaller scale contractors. Um, so with as Phil mentioned, there's a a large dollar value placed associated with this project, um, which would attract a certain clientele of of contractors that could handle that workload. But breaking the buildings down, um, individually still allowed for smaller contractors with less capacity to bid, maybe one or two of the buildings if that's what they chose to do. And we did see some of that throughout the throughout the bidder participation pool. Um, and another reason that that we broke it down like that is it gave us the ability to award individual categories um

033within individual buildings within each category. Um, which ultimately if you compare how we presented the award recommendation to you tonight versus if we just took the lowest combined total bu uh lowest combined bid of all three buildings within each category. Um, you know, we ended up saving close to half a half million dollars by doing it this way. Um, and so the award wreck, uh, that's in front of you, included in your packet, is broken down by each of the 21 categories and each of the three buildings. Um, and we included the lowest complete bidder within each of each one of those instances. Now, there were some low bids, apparent low bids at bid opening that, um, as we went through an extensive post interview process, we established they had incomplete bids for one reason

034or another. And you know, we simply just moved on to the next bidder when that instance occurred. Um, and so everything in front of you is the lowest complete bidder within each category. Um, if you want to go to the next slide. And so we will show uh in a couple slides we'll show an overview of the financial analysis chart um that we put together. But since we were considerably under budget um on this project, we worked with the district admin team and the design team to identify some additional scope um to be added to the project as well as correct a few of the things that we identified as issues throughout that extensive post interview process. So, a high level overview um here again um of some of the things that we um are

035budgeting to to add to the project would be an additional parking lot expansion bus loop at Ashley Elementary. Um two additional classrooms um at both Ashley and Nulit. Um adding fire suppression to the entire building at uh Middle School South. Um that would really um unlock some potential within that building. um if that building is fully sprinkled that it would adhere to a different set of building codes. Um and so that would you know really be a good thing for the building. Um could potentially do some you know collaboration spaces similar to what we did at the high school and the pathways um if we were to do that. And then some additional mechanical work at all three buildings. Um and then the contingency associated with with all that additional work um shown above. Um

036so this is the if you if remember back to the start of the presentation the red areas are the additions. The green would be um depicting two additional classrooms kind of endcapping the two um classroom additions at each Ashley and Nulit. Um and then that kind of all summarizes to this last slide uh of the financial analysis here. Um, so our construction budget pulled directly from the bond application was uh about $43.3 million. Um, and then with every dollar um allocated to construction within the bond app, we have budgeted 10 cents for contingency. Um, so our contingency budget would be just simply 10% of the 43 there. Um, so that 4.3 if you combine those, our total project budget was $47 million. um our construction awards, so the the 21 bid categories and the three

037buildings uh within each one totals about $31.5 million. Uh the 10% contingency of the 31 would be uh 3.1. And then the items we just talked about in the previous two slides, um those are, you know, still being designed. They haven't been officially priced out yet, but working with our pre-construction team and our estimating department, you know, protecting some budgeted dollars uh for those items to be brought to you at a later date for future awards um of 9.7. So, if you add those three together, you get 44. Um and comparing that against the 47, um we would still, even with all the things we talked about today and the additional projects, um would be able to to save roughly, you know, 3.1 U million dollars to um add to our accumulative bid savings that

038we've been bringing to you um throughout the entire um bond so far. Um so just to clarify and to reiterate uh today's award recommendation um in your packet would be for the 31513 um 460 and then the the contingency would be the 10% budget of that award and then the 9.7 is is protecting some budgeted dollars for um future awards once those get officially issued and priced out. You know we would bring those to you at a later date. Um, right now we're kind of targeting that March, April time frame to bring those awards to you. Um, but we wanted to protect those dollars as a part of the the total project. And so that's that's all I had for you today. If there's any questions, um, the last slide, Tim, um, be happy to

039answer them. >> Yeah. I just, um, you skipped over the most important part, which was the lockers at Middle School South. They're going to be wider, right? Yes. >> And they're going to be the locations are going to be reconfigured so that they're easier to get in and out of from a traffic standpoint and they're also physically bigger. So we get a lot of complaints about the lockers at Middle School South. Just want to make sure that the public is aware that that's being addressed in this phase of work. Correct. >> Correct. >> Yep. >> So you mentioned a little bit about the subcontractor selection process. Uh lowest bidder, someone who fits within the scope and has a decent track record. Can you briefly describe a little bit more about uh what you go through

040to determine which is the best subcontractor to select for this project? >> Uh yeah, so we start with the lowest bidder um within each category and we you know we run through the project um you know review the scope with them, review the drawings um not only our construction team but um the architect is involved as well, make sure they had everything included. Um and then if the lowest bidder has a complete bid then that's our you know we have no reason to to go to the next bidder. um and these on these set of projects. So unless there's a problem or if there's a if they have an incomplete bid for whatever reason um would be would we not recommend award to the lowest bidder at opening. >> What are some other disqualifying red

041flags besides not having a complete bid spec? >> Um I mean that would pretty much be it. I mean we do look at their safety record. We do look at some other things. We you know we talk about manpower, previous experience within our um within our group. Um our company knows this market real well. So we know kind of what these contractors are um able to do. So um >> and I know we had one that did wasn't bonded or insured. So we >> correct. Yes. So it's there are some minimum requirements that are you know they'll be able to provide a bond insurance things like that. >> Have there been any subcontractors that have applied that have a past history of failure to complete a project for any other not just with your company

042but any other construction company? >> Uh not a part of this award. No. None have been on this project. >> Okay. Um, with regards to the activities are taking place, I'm seeing masonry, uh, steel erection, epoxy flooring. Um, what are kind of some safety measures that are put in place while these projects are taking place, protect the workers, but also the community? >> Yeah, so we have a we have a full-time safety represent rep in our group that that visit visits and monitors the site regularly. Um, you know, we'll get site visits from OSHA. Um, and you know, there's a safety standard, you know, all the workers on the site. Um there's PPE requirements that they need to follow. Um and then just maintaining a clean site. Um you know there's adhering to all the

043OSHA standards that um are standard throughout the industry. >> Are you saying there's uh we have three different sites here? Uh NDR Ashley Middle School South. Correct. >> There's one safety rep for all three sites. We'll have a project superintendent that is dedicated to each site, but then we'll have an additional safety representation um that will come and visit each site um and be a resource to each one of those individual project superintendents. But there will be a a dedicated person to each one each individual site on a day-to-day basis. >> Right. And the superintendent has a number of different jobs in addition to safety. Can I ask how many uh workers would we expect on these job sites? Uh it depends on the the time of year and what activities are going on, but

044you know, anywhere from um on the low end, you know, there could be only five or 10, but there could be, you know, when masonry and steel are going on, there could be over a hundred per site. Uh it just kind of depends on what activities are going on and um with the time of the phase of the project. >> Okay. I I have a fair amount of concern with one safety person being shared between three three sites, one superintendent with u trying to overwatch a hundred workers. If that's just one site, maybe there's three different sites or maybe that's a hundred people in aggregate. That to me seems a little insufficient. Um, so I'd ask that if something comes up, if there's any concern, obviously slow is smooth, smooth is fast. We want to

045get the job done. We want to get the job done safely. That's the primary concern. I think it's it's um certainly a stain on a number of different factors. Reputation is one factor certainly, but if, god forbid, we had a fatality on site, that school would never have the same feel for the community as it would have prior to. So, I think, you know, I appreciate the work that you're doing. I think you guys are are very organized. I think it's a very sophisticated process, but uh please keep that in mind as the project moves forward. Just, you know, something to look at. It's it's one of those things that even if you put an additional uh individual or two, you know, it's and nothing happens, then great. It's a good investment. Absolutely. Yeah, we

046take safety very seriously and we have a very good track record of safety within the industry. So, there's precautions that we take daily to to make sure that stuff doesn't happen. Thank you. >> I do have a few questions. Um, can we go back to the Ashley slide? Actually, the exterior picture. One more. Go back to the There was a slide where you guys had a picture of what the There you go. Yep. One. One more. Tim, go. The outside picture. Yeah. Is that to spec? Is that color to spec? We'll bring in a design professional. Okay. >> Good evening everyone. Uh so on the the left side of that uh piece the the brick is to try to match some of the existing brick on the building where the right side is a panel

047that we can get some certain colors um for that panel. So we're going to try and complement the colors of the brick and some of the existing metal panel that's on the building. So that might not be the exact color. Yeah, we'll try because I don't know if you remember there's the metal panel that goes around the top and some of the areas. So, we're trying to match both of those as much as possible. >> All right. So, that's going to be like metal paneling. Is that the >> Okay. Yeah. All right. >> All right. Yeah. I just it just caught my attention. You know, me person was you know, a lot of our buildings look, you know, nice brick and >> Right. And a lot of the buildings have the dark bronze metal panel.

048We're trying to get a little bit away from the dark bronze, but we still want to complement those colors because there will still be some of those bronze panels on the buildings. >> Okay. I just want to make sure we weren't getting the teal from the aquatic center. So, >> that was kind of my next question was, so what is the reasoning that we wouldn't try to match the brick on the other piece? >> We just wanted to to update the give it a a kind of updated fresh look. um as as Brad said, you know, give it a fresh new look, kind of modern modernizing um using the metal panels. >> So, my only unsolicited two cents is when I drive by the aquatic center or even part of middle school south and I

049see like tiles on the outside, I cringe at like how that was probably in style or modern at one point. And I just I'm fearful of doing anything too trendy in the moment that we're going to cringe at in 20 years. Um we're stuck with it. Um that's just my two cents because when I see the aquatic center, that's all I think about every time I look at it. Um >> no, and we've had those discussions, too. I know. And the tough part is we're just trying we're trying there are the metal panels, so we're trying to how do we kind of bring that together with the brick and and all of that as well. Um, and the same thing with with South. We've talked about the tile. Um, the the we're not going to

050replace the tile right now. That's on either side, but the the goal is in the middle where those windows are, and you have the the the tiles there. So, that we would enlarge those windows and then get rid of the tile and make that um cover up that fluted white brick that's out there. >> All right. And then the other question I had too, um, with Middle School South, you showed an image. Um, are we only going to be using one main entrance? Are we still going to have that second entrance, you know, at the gym? We're just modernizing the front of the building. >> We're going to modernize the whole front of the building, but the main entrance to the building will be shifted to the west, I guess, is the closest way I

051could explain it. That that west wing that sticks out closest to the drive will be the new entrance. and the where the existing entrance is now kind of tucked back in. That'll be more of a secondary entrance. The doors aren't going away, but it's just a secondary entrance. >> It's kind of the goal of all of these and and you'll see especially with NDR probably more so than here where the offices were recessed and they didn't have view of everything. So, the goal is to use this area because now they could see both parking lots and it lines up with um the sidewalk that splits the two. So then there'll also be larger windows that they have. And so then now they can actually see out because right now with the it's see the where

052it's indented. Um yeah right there he's hitting with the thing that is where the office is. Well they don't have a good sight line of everything. And so now we could like with all the buildings. Same thing with NDR. If you go go to Nlder Tim. So then if you look it's we're trying to take all of the public areas that were internal push them to the front and then also because the office right now is like dead center in the in the building and so they can't see anything and people like what was it three years ago we added a little awning just so people could find the main entrance and now this would push that out and then again they would have another parking lot um addition onto this that will wrap around

053the current parking uh which is right where the R is and then it'll go around so then they'll be able to see anybody who's coming up to the building. >> All right. And then last question, Mr. Venitelli already touched upon it a little bit. Um I know this is one of the biggest phases of the bond that we're working on. Um when when we're working with many different uh contractors and in this case it's a it's a low bid contractor. Can you kind of just walk me through the process if if there is work that um isn't done well? you know, what the process is, how we go about making sure, you know, you know, the inspection process and and, you know, the followup on, you know, how we go about, you know, is it

054the same vendor that we use or contract that we would use to to fix the, you know, if something was to go wrong versus do we go out to the next bidder, you know, to make the corrections on that. Could you just maybe just walk us through that? >> Yeah, sure. So all the work will be inspected by you know uh individual building inspector mechanical electrical inspector state fire marshall as well as our site superintendent responsible for that project will be monitoring the work daily. Um I can think back to a specific example last year at middle school north with the the playground. um the concrete that was installed was not up to to standard and so our you know our site superintendent caught it the day that it was being poured and had it

055ripped out immediately the next day which eventually needed to be reppoured underneath that play structure on the playground. So um our site superintendents do a great job. they they con or they um they uh catch all the a lot of things um the day that they're being installed and and things get redone um you know more often than you think um thanks to our site superintendent supervising daily. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. Um, next next item is going to be hearing from the public. Uh, those who wish to address the board on agenda items must complete a brief request stating their name, address, and the subject of their comments. Uh, remarks about specific employees should be directed to them personally and not included in the public

056forum. Administration will follow up with the concerns within 48 of 48 hours of the board meeting. Uh, right now I only have one request uh by Mr. Thomas Braun. All right. Uh, well, hello. Uh, my name is Tom Braun and I am one of the finalists for the open board position. I thought it might be a good idea just to come up and just uh first of all thank the the board for giving me the opportunity and and selecting me as finalist, but also, you know, maybe give you a little friendly reminder on why I think it might be best for you to select me as the school board member that you have to appoint. Um, you know, in my interview, like I I told you guys, um, I've I've said as the uh band

057booster president for the last nine years. Um, and in doing that, you know, we did a lot of good work. Um, got to build a relationship with Mr. Danowski and other administrators and and get and act uh advocate for the students, right, and for for the program and and do what was right for the kids. And sometimes that wasn't an easy thing to do. And sometimes it was a really really fun position to hold. Um, in doing that we did we I mean I was responsible and helped the band directors take you know over 200 kids to New York and Disney World and uh we came back with everyone we left with. So uh just want to throw that out there. Some other things in the community though um you know I've been an active

058member of this community. Uh Anker Bay like I said is is the place where I went to school. Um, it's a place where I met my wife and you know, I send my kids. Two of my three kids have graduated from here. Um, I, uh, you know, community stuff. We started a, I started a community jazz band four years ago, um, just to get people out and and given an opportunity to play for the public. Um, some of the requirements are that you have to already be graduated from high school and it just kind of gives gives the community somewhere to do that thing that they love that often times they can't. Um, in my professional life, I owned two automotive repair shops. Uh, I opened I bought took over the first one in 2014

059and I opened a second one from an open building in 2021. Um, both of them were doing very well. um they're both franchise businesses and then inside of that I've recently been elected as a franchise advisory council member and I sit as a secretary on that board as well. Um so just wanted to kind of throw that out there. Um again, thank you for your consideration and uh you know vote for me. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving down the agenda. Uh the next uh item on the agenda is the the consent agenda. This is going to include the approval of minutes from the December 10th uh regular schoolboard meeting, uh the personnel report, the financial report, and the bills payable from December of 2025. >> Yeah, I don't have any of that. >>

060Yeah. No, ju >> just basically items of on the consent agenda if the board wants to pull them off. Otherwise, they're a recurring nature. So, >> yeah, if someone wants to make a motion to pull it off separate, you can do that, but right now we'll vote on as a whole. >> All right. Would anyone like to make a motion to um approve the consent agenda? I'll make a motion. I'll support. All right. So, we have a motion and a support. Any discussion? >> I had two questions on the personnel report. Um, one item I noticed was I'm assuming more of like an added duty for someone for to be middle school athletic event supervisor. Um, I guess I was under the impression that our assistant ads were covering the middle schools. Um, I mean

061in addition to the principles and >> yeah, this this is kind of part of I know we had this discussion before. um with Mr. Latona that we have so many events that go on especially running two of the sports at at South. So then we wanted to provide an ability for people if when we do have events especially this winter as we've rescheduled a ton of events that we have a lot going on. So then if we need if it goes beyond the scope of what the administrators have then we can have people who can step in and then um teachers who can step in and supervise those events as well. Okay. Um, my other question was I noticed um I think it's kind of future dated that we'll have like three bus driver resignations

062in the upcoming weeks. Um, was that coincidence or >> No, they they've told us that they were, you know, looking to retire and one of them actually is our head trainer. So, we've been well aware of that coming up and actually they're hanging on some of them in order to to kind of help bring the next people up um and make sure that they're trained so that as we go forward. So, those were just they're they put their time in and they're looking to um do other things. >> Okay. Yeah. I mean, those are just reading the names without, you know, sharing people's personal business, but just uh big losses for us. So, I just was wondering I think for me too, um, just to kind of piggyback Mr. Burke Meyer's comments to around the

063athletic piece of it, um, you know, I think that, you know, I think we talked about this before too, going from a, you know, uh, a part-time, you know, uh, athletic director 20 hours, you know, then we went to full-time, then we hired an assistant athletic director, so now we're at 80 hours. Now we're hiring or, you know, attempt to help at the at middle school south. I mean, I just want to make sure that we're allocating equal and proper time. You know, like when I was voting on an assistant athletic director, I was envisioning, you know, growing up, you know, growing our um our middle school and elementary school um athletic summer programs and things like that. So, I just want to make sure that, you know, that we're um sharing enough time throughout

064the school district, but also uh and and you know, not having all of our resources at the high school. you know, I know that that they have to attend different, you know, athletic games at night time and and things like that, but I just want to make sure that we're they're they're tracking, you know, what's going on with them as well, too. >> Yeah, we do. It It's the It's harder to get people for some of the high school events because they go later, so it's easier to get teachers who'd like to step up because the middle school events and earlier. And so, that's what we we found is that we have people who are willing, we're more willing to take those on. So they get slightly above the hourly rate that we give for

065people who who keep score and so on in order to kind of just monitor whether it's it could be a boys basketball game or a football game or something. But um just because the the administrators as they have shared are they're they're trying to balance between the different events that they have and their own kids actually um events and all that. So, it just gives the ability to cover that because we do have um like our assistant AD and our AD that we could have up to four different events going on at the high school. And so, between that and high school administrators, they could be there and then um I mean they they're at the middle school games as well as often as possible. It's just we have events that could be going on

066five nights a week, >> right? And I'm actually glad you actually just mentioned the basketball game, too, cuz I also am recognizing that at some of our varsity games that were were um the announcer, you know, at one game the announcer kind of left midway. So, I'm sure that you know, they had an event they had to go to. Then another game I went to, we didn't have any announcers. are we working on whether it's I'm not even sure if we can um hire students to do it or or to you know DJ it or you know um but is there some you know plan in place to to look to have an >> unfortunately those are probably rescheduled games and I couldn't make those and so typically I would announce those and so then

067it would be like oh we have something else going on and so there's a conflict but yes we try and as much as possible if we can reschedule them in advance to try and be there >> right maybe the assistant superintendent can step in on some days out. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Comments? No. All right. We have a motion. I believe I have a second one to the role. That's right. Uh, Mr. Powers. >> Yes. Mrs. Burkemire? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richards? >> Yes. >> Mr. Venitali? Yes. Mr. Sunnyberger? >> Yes. Motion passes. All right. Thank you. Next, we're going to move on to new business. Uh, the first item we're we're going to the board is going to have a discussion regarding candidates. Um, this is not going to be a

068um this is an open conversation. One thing I also like to recommend too, if if the board wants to consider narrowing it down from four candidates to two, we could also talk about that as well. But this is just a time for us to kind of discuss the uh the four candidates that are that have applied for the um school board open position. So, this is a time to kind of open it up and just uh >> for clarity sake, this is not a vote at this motion at this point in time. We're just open the floor to have an open discussion about >> That is correct. Yes, this is only open for discussion. >> Okay. >> Are you just going around? >> Sure. Yes, Mr. Burke, I'll start with you. >> I didn't mean

069this was not my idea, but sure, I'll go first. Um um I I want to thank um again all the all the individuals that came out last week to our our marathon of interviews. Um but also um you know Mr. Brawn, Mr. Covert, Mr. Wentworth, Mr. Romano. Um I think for me um in narrowing things down um I can just say, you know, I I'm looking for community involvement, which certainly you all have. Um, and that's that's important for me. Um, and it probably is to no surprise to anybody up here that I for me I want to look for people that are willing to have the harder conversations. Um, you know, when things are not always pleasant or peachy um because I mean that's that's also part of the job. And so um I

070think me looking forward I am looking for people who I have you know seen demonstrate that or um you know kind of put that forward um through through their interview. So I guess um that's kind of where I'll leave my comments. >> Fair enough. >> Would we like to also talk we go around first too but would we would we prefer to narrow it down to two candidates after we discuss or do I'm just kind of throwing it out there. I think let's just hear everyone out first. >> Okay. Yeah. All right. Miss Venelli. >> Yeah. I I kind of uh echo the statements uh that Mrs. Burke Meyer um mentioned. Community service is huge. You know, I don't want someone who's just going to be on the board because it's something that's there to

071fill their time. And I think all the candidates who've uh put themselves forward have uh a a lot of uh community service that kind of fits in place there. Um I have no problem saying who I I'd support. I think I'm leaning more towards, you know, uh Mr. Wentworth and and Mr. Braun. Um and and that's not a testament against uh the other two candidates. I I really look at, you know, feed the bay program. Um that that to me that's been fairly consistent and the numbers that have been generated with that is um I I think very uh uh commendable and also appreciate uh Mr. Braun and his activities with regards to the uh school band. Um there there's a lot of factors that kind of come into play of who's going to be

072a good board member. And I think really it it boils down to me. It's like how much do you uh truly care about um you know this the district and not saying the other candidates don't care. That's not at all what I'm trying to put forward. I think that the matter is you don't have to be you know a doctorate in any sort of specific field of education or any sort of study. It's just a matter of like can you put your effort and mindset towards this goal? can you ration out through ideas and and figure out what would be the best uh decision for the district as a whole instead of deciding what might feel good in the moment or what might benefit a certain uh perspective. And so that's kind of where my

073thoughts lie at this point in time and open to hearing what the other board members think. >> All right. Thank you. Yeah. So I mean we all all four candidates are incredibly qualified and quality candidates. You know, Dennis, you you and I were kind of joking around earlier at dinner that we we kind of can't screw it up at this point because we've got it down to to four really good candidates. And that's, you know, part joking, but part not joking. I I think we have we have four really outstanding candidates. And and no matter who we pick, um I think we can say we we did our job. Um, I I spent a lot of time uh since we met last week going through the profiles and the interviews from from those four, just

074trying to figure out, okay, how do you how do you separate one from from that pack of four? Um, and and I I had to finally remind myself that, you know, whether whether any of them want to run for a long-term seat, that that that's up to them. our our job here is to find somebody to occupy a seat for 11 months and get us through the rest of this year uh with a full board of seven. So, when I when I kind of refocused on more of a short-term perspective uh in terms of a candidate being able to hit the ground running uh as much as one can um I I just kind of settled around Ryan Covert as being just just a notch um in that direction and and that's not a knock

075on on any any other candidate. I will absolutely and enthusiastically support whoever this board puts forward. Um but but when I looked at Mr. Covert's background, you know, twice elected um official in the city of New Baltimore. Uh you know, he's very familiar with being on a on a board that runs a public body and and governing uh on a public board. There's a there's a lot of crossover and similarities between a school board and a city council. I would imagine almost anything we do, there's there's some sort of version of that uh on a city council. So, he's very familiar with that. and then he'd be very, you know, already wellversed in things like uh open meetings act, closed session confidentiality, and all the all the procedural things that come along with being a

076school board member. So, if you're asking me for one, that that would be my one. But again, I think we have four outstanding candidates, and um I'm looking forward to seeing what direction we go. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Sunnyburgger. It was heartening to see such a big turnout um of people who want to support their community. Um I wish everybody good luck and I'm look forward to seeing a new face on the board. >> All right. Thank you. I'll kind of echo everyone's comments already. Um you know, Mr. Powers and I were at the uh board appreciation dinner tonight and he is correct. We did kind of talk about it. We also were kind of laughing too because, you know, when uh this all started, we didn't think one or two people would

077show up. So, it's great to see, you know, how many candidates did show up. I want to thank you, you know, everyone that that uh came out and um you know, took time to apply and things like that. And yeah, it's a to me it's a one, you know, very difficult decision to make. We have four great candidates. You know, to Mr. P's point, we really can't mess this one up. I do look forward to, you know, who that who the next representative is. Um to Mr. Vinatelli's point, I do look, you know, um you'll look to see what they do outside and around the school district and how involved they are um you know, within the district. Um so I guess from a a board perspective, would we like to try to narrow it

078down to two candidates or do we want to open up the floor or I'm sorry, close out from this discussion and we can open up the next uh line item that may go to an appointment of a board member trustee. Since we're all just open forum discussing, I think the probably the easiest way to go about this um and I'm open to any other ideas, but perhaps if we all went around and said our top two and then saw whoever got the most out of those, that would make the motion the easiest. Okay. >> My thought with that specifically is, and I believe from open meetings act, if we put forward a motion and does not get four votes, uh then that motion fails, which case it might be the most likely that the last

079person to be nominated would get the seat by default. And so I want to give us a chance to give the candidate that we all most like instead of the one that's nominated the last from everybody else. All right. Is anyone I'm open to inter. >> I don't have any idea what you just said at the end there about the last candidate by like I don't that I'm not familiar with any of that. So whatever. Can you just a restate it and b let us know where you're getting this information from because >> that's go ahead. >> Yeah. We've had motions in the past uh that did not get uh four votes and it had a plurality but did not have four votes and so the motion failed. And so let's say for example, you

080know, I'm not going to use anyone's name. We vote for I put forward candidate A and that person gets three votes. Uh then that motion fails. We can't nominate that person again. So we go to candidate B. Same thing happens. Candidate C, same thing happens. Candidate D, let's say for example, might be the least preferable out of all the board members as to why that person was nominated last. However, that person by default would then have to get to position because we can't put forward, my understanding, we can't put forward another motion that we've already put forward and not pass. >> Yeah, technically. Okay, you're you're right on a lot of that, but we we are not required to do this tonight. It is advantageous of us to do it tonight and we we should

081do everything we can to do it tonight. We do have statutoily some time left to do one more special meeting if we absolutely needed to >> uh before it gets shipped off to the MISD for them to do the job that we didn't do if that happens. But um that's I'll just add that I I'll also add to I'd very much like to do this tonight. >> Yeah. >> It's why we're here, right? So from that discussion, would you want to do two candidates? >> I don't I'm just speaking for me. I I'm It was difficult enough to get from four to one. I don't think we need to go from from four to two to two. Like I just Let's Let's just We We ran for these seats to make difficult decisions. They're not

082always comfortable. Uh they don't always come without criticism. We're up here for a reason. let's make the tough decisions and and make the best decision and then we move forward. That's my opinion. >> I would agree with that, you know, and um because I understand what Dominic is saying. Um, but I think that's kind of what happens when you vote and if the candidate that you prefer is, you know, not the the first motion, um, but you it's a, you know, maybe your second choice candidate that and, you know, I think, you know, you can live with and you can, you know, it would probably be advantageous to to consider, you know, consider going along in some to some degree if you can tolerate that um because so that you don't end up in Mr.

083Vendetti's situation. Um I don't think going personally I don't think going around the board would be a great I mean last last meeting not all participated in that. So it's it's more putting fewer people on the spot. So um I just think we should just move forward and make a motion. I'm okay with that. >> All right. All right. >> Are we open? >> So, all right. So, next item, appointment of board member trustee. >> I'll make a motion um to nominate uh Mr. for Ryan Covert uh for the position of board trustee um for the school board for the temporary position for the remainder of 2026. >> I'll second. We have a motion by Miss Burkemeer, second by Mr. Powers. Any discussion? Any more discussion? >> Yeah, I don't have anything. I kind of

084went through my reasons already, so I don't I don't have anything to add beyond that. >> I mean, for myself, you know, I I didn't lay out names when we first time we went around, but um Mr. Covert is one that while um personally I only sort of met you as you interviewed with us last week. Um but I am aware of his participation in New Baltimore. Um I've been able to witness that. Um, and I think, uh, he's demonstrated to me that he'd be a good advocate. Um, whatever, you know, whatever side of a position that he's on. Um, I think I've seen that in the community. Um, and I, for me, he's somebody who is not afraid to, um, speak up when he feels he needs to. Um, and I've seen that demonstrated.

085And, you know, even even at times when it's uncomfortable. So, um, that's why I would make that motion. >> All right, Mr. Sunnyberg, any comments? >> Ready to go. >> All right, Mr. Powers. >> Good. Mr. Ventelli, good. All right, go ahead. Call the RO. Okay. Uh, Mr. Burkemeer, >> yes. >> Mr. Powers, yes. Mr. Venitali is a no. Uh, Mr. Sunnyberger, >> yes. >> Mr. Richards. Yes. Okay. Motion passes. Congratulations, Mr. Colbert. Congratulations, Mr. Culbert. I'm not supposed to say I'm sorry. Not sure. I'm not sure if I should say Sher will get with you get some forms. I don't know if I should congratulate you or say I'm sorry, but there you have it. All right. Uh, moving on to the next um line item. will be a reauthorization motion. I'm not really

086sure what this Thank you. Yeah. I hear this whole thing. >> Yeah. Am I right? All right. Uh reauthorization motion. The rationale on an annual basis the board needs to reauthorize various roles for administration in order to maintain continuity of operations that the board of education will approve. The Camera 53rd the Michigan liquid asset fund. The BNY of New York US Bank is hereby designated as the authorized depository for district funds. The signature authorization recommendation for signatures on financial matters is as follows. Payroll checks superintendent and assistant superintendent. Accounts payable all funds superintendent and assistant superintendent. that Robin Randazzo, Director of Business Services, is hereby designated as the electronic transfer officer, also known as the ETO, to perform those functions and responsibilities otherwise described by board policy or applicable by law. That Todd Wthbun, assistant

087superintendent, hereby designated as the administrator to assume responsibilities of acquiring, awarding, and rejecting formal and bond construction bids as required by law. that Raman Reman Raymon Raymond thank you Raymon is hereby designated as auditor of the board that Todd Wthbun assistant superintendent is hereby designated as HIPPA compliance office that Laura Gonzalez director of human resources is hereby designated as FOYA coordinator that Amanda Depe director of security is hereby designated as school safety liaison that Baker Tilly Municipal Adviserss LLC is hereby designated as financial adviser to the board that Trun Miller Johnson and Serest to represent the district as legal counsel that all resolution and parts of resolutions in so far as they conflict with provisions of the resolution B and the same are hereby rescended. That is the recommended the recommended action is that the

088board of education approve this. Would anyone like to make a motion on the reauthorization motion? >> I'll make a motion to accept as written. >> I'll support. >> Motion by Mr. Sunnyburgger. Supported by Miss Burke. Any discussion? >> No one wants me to read that again. All right. Go ahead and call the RO, please. Uh, Mr. Sunnyberg. >> Yes. >> M. Burkmire. >> Yes. >> Mr. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Richards. Yes. Mr. Venitali. Yes. Motion passes. All right. The next line item is the establishment of regular meeting dates. Uh the board was sent out some some dates um I believe for the 2526 calendar year. Thank you. Um at each at each uh organizational meeting is required by the board policy to establish regular meeting dates for the board of education. The calendar set

089forth maintains the monthly regular meetings on Wednesdays. Meetings start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise specified. The meeting dates include February 25th, March 25th, April 22nd, May 27th, June 24th at 6:30, and there's also a budget hearing at 7 I'm sorry, 6:30 for the budget, 7:00 regular. August 12th, yeah, we have a 6 p.m. superintendent midterm review, a 7 p.m. regular meeting. September 30th, October 25th, we have a 6 p.m. superintendent evaluation with a 7 p.m. regular meeting. November 11th, we have a super at 6 p.m. we have a superintendent evaluation with a 7 pm regular meeting. December 9th, then we roll into 2027. On January 27th, we have an organizational meeting. It's recommended action is that the board of education approve the establishment of regular meeting dates. Would anyone like to make that motion? >>

090I'll make a motion to accept the establishment of the regular meetings as listed. Right. I'll second. All right. Motion by Mr. Sunnyburgger, second by Mr. Powers. Any discussion? >> Yeah, I'm flipping through my calendar. Um, October 25th is a Sunday. >> Oh, second rescended The 21st or the 28th would be a Wednesday. That only caught my eye because that's my son's birthday. Happy birthday school. One of them. >> So October 25th is a Sunday. believe the fourth Wednesday of that month would be the 28th of October. Is there a conflict, Mr. Jenowski? >> Yeah, I'm just looking at the MP conf. >> Yeah, I'm just looking at the schoolboard conference. It looks like it's October 14th or the 18th. So, it's it's outside of that. >> So, um I guess in that case, Mr. Sunnyburgger,

091would you be willing to amend your motion to reflect the October 25th date to now be October 28th? >> Sure. >> And then Mr. Powers. >> All right. Slight modification. Go ahead. And any other discussion? >> Any discussion with the amended motion? >> All right. Then call the role. >> Okay. Uh Mr. Mr. Sunnyberger. >> Yes. >> Mr. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Richards, >> yes. >> Mr. Vendatelli, yes. Uh, Miss Burke, Mayor, >> yes. >> Motion passes. All right. Next item is New course approval. The rationale is it is recommended that the board approve new courses introduced at the recent curriculum committee meeting. These courses were thoroughly reviewed by the committee and align with the district goals, state standards, and student needs. Approval will enable the district to broaden academic opportunities, enhance instructional programs,

092and better prepare students for future college, career, and life life success. It is recommended the board approve the alternate credit request as presented in reviewing during the recent curriculum committee meeting. These requests have been carefully evaluated to ensure alignment with the district policies, graduation requirements, instructional standards. Approval will allow eligible students to receive appropriate credit for demonstrated learning and maintain progress toward graduation. It is recommended that the board of education approve the new course as presented to the curriculum committee. And if you like, I can also read the new course request. >> Yes, please. It is recommended that the board approve the new courses introduced at the recent curriculum committee meeting. These courses were thoroughly reviewed by the committee and align with the district goals, state standards, and student needs. Approval enable the district to

093broaden academic opportunities, enhance instructional programs, and better prepare students for future college career and life success. These courses are AP business with personal finance, forensic science, basic basics of evidence, forensic science, history of modern warfare, civil war, history of modern warfare world war I sculpture 2, Spanish for medical professionals and welding 2. Alternate credit request is recommended that the board approve the alternate credit request presented and reviewed during the curriculum committee meeting. These requests have carefully been evaluated to ensure alignment with district policies, graduation requirements, and instructional standards. Approval will allow eligible students to receive appropriate credit for demonstrated learning and maintain progress towards graduation. It's also notating that construction trades 34 is math related for 1.5 credits, marketing is math related for 1.5 credits, and participation in athletic season is physical education for half

094credit. Would anyone like to make that motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve the new courses as outlined. >> I'll support All right. Motion by Mr. Sunnyburgger, supported by Miss Burkemeer. Any discussion? >> I do have a couple of questions. I guess the first is remark participation in athletic season being a half credit. I uh fully support I think that's a very good use of uh the ability. I mean, frankly, if you're taking a season in football, you're going to learn a lot about athletics and uh human fitness. So, I think that's a a solid move. curious to know a little bit more about Spanish for medical professionals as opposed to Spanish uh in the traditional sense. I guess how would that um how was that course designed? >> Uh good evening board. Um

095the Spanish for medical uh professionals is after students already have Spanish one and two. So, it's to help us fill out our career pathways and to give uh additional electives for our students uh who want to uh learn more in a specific uh content area. And we also have staff that are collaborating uh to put that course together for our students again to help us build out our career pathways and add Spanish into the health and human services pathway. So, it's after Spanish one into as prerequisite. >> Thank you. Any other? All right. >> Then call the roll. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Sunnyberger, >> yes. Miss uh, Miss Burke Meyer, >> yes. >> Uh, Mr. Richards, >> yes. Mr. Benelli, yes. Mr. Powers, >> yes. Uh, motion passes. All right. Next slide item is going

096to be the adoption of ELA curriculum. Uh the rationale is the literature program recommendation for Anchor Bay school district to adopt is imagine learning for kindergarten through fifth grade for the 2026 2027 school year. The program is on the MDE approved literacy list and aligns with science and reading. Imagine Learning is evidence-based and standard standards aligned curriculum. With board approval, the material will be covered by the MDE 35M grant and will provide just over $500,000 worth of literacy resources for teachers and students. Is recommended that the board of education adopt the ELA elementary curriculum as presented. >> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second. All right. Motion by Miss Burkmeer, second by Mr. Sunnyburgger. Any discussion? Um I was on the curriculum committee when uh Miss Stevenson uh presented this to us last week. Um

097I could just add that we did ask um and there is an option, you know, moving forward if we to to extend this program as well into our sixth grade. Um so if it's if it's liked uh well-liked and want you know we want to continue and um change the sixth grade curriculum um there it is available um as well to kind of extend and keep going um but other than that it sounds like it was um highly liked by by our staff um that reviewed it so and aligns with all of the state standards and All right. Anyone else? All right. Can call the roll. Mrs. Burkmeer? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sunnyberger? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richards? >> Yes. >> Mr. Vento? Yes. Mr. Powers? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Right. Next item is

098a couple field trips. a field trip to um the first one is a field trip for a ski and snowboard club. Uh the ski and snowboard club will travel to Bonnet Mountain. Thank you, Mr. Gandandy here. Boing Mountain >> for two overnight trips uh February 14th to the 16th, 2026 with eight students and two chaperones and also on February 27th through March 1st with 18 students and two chaperones. Uh, it is recommended that the board of education approve the ski and snowboard overnight field trips. >> Anyone like to make that motion? >> I will make the motion. >> I'll second. >> All right. Motion by Miss Burkemeer and second by Mr. Sunnyberger. Any discussion? I have a question unless do any of the motion makers have anything? Okay. Um before Dominic asks about chaperones, I'll

099uh so the first one there's there's two trips for the ski club. Is that okay? So the first one it looks like it happens over mid winter break and there won't be any any days of school uh missed. The second one happens February 27th through March 1st. And if I remember uh looking at the calendar correctly, they'll they'll miss one day of school for that trip. Have we made any attempt given the fact that um we're unlikely to make it out of January without you know we're already at five and we're probably going have we made any attempt to try to consolidate these down into one trip over mid- winter break to reduce lost classroom time? I mean, it's the most ironic thing ever that we're in snow day hell and then we're going to

100have students miss a day of school to go be out in the snow. And I'm not blaming them. They're This is not their fault. I'm just trying to mitigate the the loss, the learning loss. >> No, no, not for these because they're they try and have a couple trips per year. Um, but the students are responsible for maintaining their work. They also have to maintain the grades and everything if they should they go. >> I'm looking at a calendar. Excuse me. I'm looking at a calendar. February 27th is a Friday and they're leaving at 5:00 p.m. and March 1st is a Sunday and they're returning at 6 p.m. Okay. If I uh misread that, I stand corrected. I thought that it said that they were leaving um uh on Friday earlier in the day and

101that they would not be in school. So if uh if I did not analyze that correctly, uh I thank Mr. Sunonnyburgger for pointing that out and apologize for wasting everybody's time there for the last two minutes. All right, any other discussion? You may want to hold that comment for the next one. All right, any other discussion? Can call the RO, please. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Burkmeer, >> yes. >> Mr. Sunnyberger, >> yes. >> Mr. Venitelli is a yes. Mr. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Richards, yes. Motion passes. All right. The next is a field trip for theater in forensics. Uh, the spring festival is at Machina Island at the Grand Hotel season tournament. They will be taking 10 students. May 14th through May 17, 2026. Anker Bay has has been attending this tournament for 29

102years and they are excited to attend this year. It is recommended that the board of education approve the spring festival and Machina Island the Maya Island trip May 14th through the 20 sorry May 14th through the 17th 2026. >> I will make a motion. >> I'll second. >> All right. Motion by Miss Burkemeer, second by Mr. Powers. Any discussion? Does eligibility apply in this situation? >> Yeah, that's Yes. >> What's the last day of school for seniors? Do you know rough? I mean, adding the 10 snow days we're have coming. >> That's That's a good question. I believe it's the 22nd, >> May 22nd for seniors. All right. And that's with no more snow days. >> Yes. Well, we are not moving graduation, so that will stay at the same date. So, the seniors will

103just have the benefit of that. Okay. Okay. So, we have a motion on the table. Any other discussion? >> No. Call the RO. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Miss Burkmeer, >> yes. >> Mr. Powers, >> yes. Mr. Senberger, >> yes. >> Mr. Richards, >> yes. Mr. Venitali is a yes. Motion passes. All right. The next item is award recommendation. It is recommended that the board approve the construction awards for Ashley Elementary and Middle School Salt in the amount of 44,440,479,000. It is recommended that the board of education approve the construction awards for Ashley Elementary Middle School South in the amount of 44,440,479,000. >> I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. >> Okay. I was going to say and and just to clarify that this is just so that we can go forward with those other additional

104projects that we will bring that that nine the last future awards and potential projects will come back to the board. Again, we just want to make sure that like we we're okay to continue with with those projects as well. That's a sprinkler system for all of South and so on. >> I did have uh one quick question I wrote down but I actually forgot to ask. Um in the additional projects it mentioned additional mechanical work for all buildings. Uh can we touch on a little bit what is that mechanical work and why do we need it? >> So basically as we expand systems and so on. So we know like with let's just say the uh um this sprinkler system. So there's things that we we're going to have to do in order to make

105sure that we have the proper water flow and things like that as they come in. And so we don't know exactly what that is, but they're going to that will all be ascertained and then we'll bring that back once we kind of have all of that down in in those different things. It's just as we add that we know it's going to impact other areas. >> So it's it's sort of like a insurance account. So we know that we're going to need this. We just have money set aside for when we do need it. >> Yes. Gotcha. Was there a start date that they're estimating for this? >> The the start date for the rest of the projects are pretty much as soon as we they can have access and the weather permits basically. >>

106So not soon. >> Five more snow days coming. All right. Any other discussion? Since who made the motion and who was it second by? Uh, that motion was made by Mr. Powers and seconded by myself. Okay. All right. Could I call the role, please? Yep. Uh, Mr. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Venitelli is a yes. Um, Mr. Sunnyberger, >> yes. >> Mr. Richards, >> yes. Miss Burkmire, >> yes. >> Motion passes. All right. Thank you very much. The next item is going to be a volunteer appeal. As part of our recent policy update, we institute an appeal process for those parents who wish to volunteer or accompany student volunteer or accompany students on field trips. Current practice is to hold parents to the same restrictions. The state places on district employees. The appeal process will

107allow each parent to speak about their appeal for five minutes and then the board will vote on the appeal. Tonight we have one appeal and it is recommended that the board of education either approve or not approve the volunteer appeal. And do we have the parent here? A you like to come to the podium sir. How you doing? So, I don't know how this this works. >> Yeah. If you want to just explain kind of you can right from there, you can just explain kind of your rationale as to what your why you are looking to appeal. >> Um, I used to be a police officer. I got charged with a crime five years ago. I'm a sworn police officer now. And due to you guys' background, I can't volunteer at my child's school due

108to that. And I'm going be a full-time firefighter and a paramedic in August. So, it wasn't an it was the thing you found out I was doing to my job. So, it wasn't like I'm just going out there beating people up. It was a high-risisk inmate. I have him right here if you guys want to pass it around to see who I was dealing with every day. It was a local jail I work at and that's what happened in 2021. At Monday was 5 years, but I'm back into law enforcement now and went from there. It wasn't egregious enough to where the state said, "Hey, you can't be in law enforcement no more." So, hey, I got to start working again. So, if you want, I could just pass this around to see what I

109deal with every day. Sure. the individual is still incarcerated till 2040. So it's not like somebody stole a candy bar from store. I'm a licensed police officer, so I'll be armed at pretty much all times. So, that's another level of safety for individuals in my presence or whatever. At that time, I refused to be a victim and going forward, I refused to be a victim or anybody else to be a victim in my presence. I took an oath and that's what I was doing. Unfortunately, something happened with that. If the board would like more detail, I would prefer to talk about it in a closed meeting. And that's it. Okay. I I I don't believe we're allowed to um discuss this in a close session. Okay, that's fine. Apologize. Yeah, no problem. All right. Would

110anyone like to make a motion to either approve or not approve the volunteer volunteer appeal? I'll make a motion to approve the volunteer appeal. Okay. We have a motion to approve. Move for a second. I'll second. >> All right. So, we have a motion to approve by Mr. Powers and second by Mr. Venitilli. >> Okay. So, a couple clarifying questions because uh this is something I want to navigate sort of like a little tight rope in terms of what we morally should and eth I suppose legally can talk about. Um Mr. Jenowski, can we discuss what uh the parent a distributed to us a moment ago? >> No, because it's there's privacy rights for that individual. >> Okay. Um would we be able to ask questions about a specific incident in Par's past? >> Yeah,

111absolutely. Um, so I guess the biggest question that's lingering for me is uh regarding the incident that took place if it was within the capacities of your official duties. Um, why were you charged? >> Um, I violated policy to protect myself. >> I'm sorry. >> I violated a policy to protect myself. I refused to be a victim. So I went it was a cuffing issue. I didn't cuff him. So that's what happened. and we end up fighting and I got terminated because a policy issue a violation >> and uh instead of cuffing him uh I guess that cuffing the >> individual the person >> the inmate yeah >> is an obstruction I guess that would have made your job more difficult is that what you're saying >> yes yeah idea >> okay >> but it

112was a policy because he was a high level inmate he was a high level he was going to prison he's still locked up until 2040 >> right >> and was highly assaultive He salted me and several of my colleagues before. He broke officer's orbital bone. He h carjacked people. He was a menace in the city. I'm not going to say the city or whatever it was or where I work, but that's what happened. So, I'm uh I love to hear board comments. Like I said, this is one of those difficult things for us to talk about because >> there's there's nowhere I guess I'm speaking for me personally. There's there's no way for me to be able to determine all the facts of the case of what transpired. >> I'm going based off your word

113and and we have to though I'd love to admit you and because I think we need to support law enforcement. Absolutely. What you're describing, you know, makes sense and I'll leave it at that. um we have to I I personally take a responsibility in terms of the district as a whole and so I favoring more towards if in the case of any sort of potential situation in the future and and that's sort of where I'm leaning at this point. Um but I'm open to any of the board members if they're so inclined to ask questions or make comments at this time. >> I'll just add I mean I you guys know I'm typically a hard no vote on on every one of these. the the reason why I'm breaking from my tradition on this one

114is because of his current employment status. And I just feel that if uh a local municipality says that he's safe enough to go to work every day and put his life on the line to keep his community safe, who am I to say that you can't go on a field trip with your daughter? Um so that it's as simple as that for me. All right. Any other discussion? >> Just to clarify, and you don't have to name the location, um, but you, so you are working in law enforcement as a police officer, right? >> Yeah. Fully sworn police officer. I'll be fully licensed firefighter and EMT in August. >> Okay. >> So, I'll be doing all three at my current position. I'll be certified in all three. Public safety. >> All right. Any others? All

115right, Mr. Ventelli, you going to call the role? >> Yes. Mr. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Venitelli? >> Yes. Uh, Mr. Sunnyberger? >> No. >> Mr. Richards? >> Yes. >> Miss Burke Meyer? >> Yes. >> Okay. Motion passes. Congratulations. All right. Thank you. >> Did I talk to you guys privately after individually? not even on record or >> you could if you find me after the meeting I'm happy to talk to you. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Okay, next item on the list. >> Board comments and points of pride and I'll start Mr. Sunnyburgger. I prepared a statement that I'd like to um read at this time. Last week, we interviewed over a dozen candidates for the open board seat. One of the questions we asked was intended to get at something very specific about

116board service. And here was that question. As a board member, how would you handle a situation where your personal beliefs differ from existing law, board policy, or the decision of the majority of the board? We ask that question because we are looking for reasonable people who can put the district above personal opinion, who understand that individual views do not override the law, policy or board decisions, and who can disagree without turning that disagreement into constant conflict. That standard matters, and it matters because it applies to all of us, not just to future appointees. Last week, I stated my position on the hiring process once at the beginning of the meeting. I understood that my view was not shared by the majority of the board and I was comfortable with that. I did not attempt to

117change anyone's mind and I did not make a motion. I continued to participate in the process and carry out my duties as a board member. What followed was repeated push back directed at me, including assertions that my rationale was factually incorrect. When that happened, I limited my responses to correcting the record about the legal options available to the board. I did not press an agenda beyond that. When the time came to put forward a slate of four candidates, I politely declined. I respected the process and accepted that I was in the minority. Despite that, at the end of the meeting, I was subjected to a comment that, in my view, crossed from disagreement into a personal passive aggressive attack. I followed the very principles embodied in question number five. I sat with my disscent. I

118respected the authority of the board and I continued to do my job. What I did not receive in return was the same courtesy. If we expect future board members to disagree professionally, accept outcomes gracefully, and put the institution above personal feelings, then this board has an obligation to model that behavior consistently, including towards members whose views differ from the majority. That is the standard we set and it should apply to all of us. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Powers. Yeah. Uh, first I'd like to, uh, congratulate the, uh, the football players that were before us tonight. They, um, you know, senior football players this year have been through a lot the last two years. And, um, they didn't ask for any of it. They didn't deserve any of it. And the fact that uh

119those three young men were able to just kind of persevere and um succeed uh through all that says a lot about their work ethic and their character, not just as uh student athletes, but as young men. and uh just incredibly proud of what they accomplished this year and and you know again as a district we apologize for um the miscommunication on the awards ceremony but um the benefit of is it of it is we got to see that here before us today. Uh, I also wanted just to personally thank one of the players um parents, Miss Latona, who brought that issue to our attention and was incredibly reasonable in her um willingness to give us the opportunity to do everything we could uh to make it right. Um, second, I'd like to congratulate uh Mr.

120Covert um on his appointment tonight. This was a very very very difficult uh decision to make and it um for me it was just one of those things where no matter no matter what we did I I was going to be feeling like I let people down. Uh you know Tom Braun good luck finding a guy who cares more about Anchor Bay than Tom. Uh when I when I ran for this seat I didn't know anything about our band program because neither one of my kids have been in the band program. But I knew that if if you want to be a board member at Ankor Bay, you better know some things about the band program. And I reached out to Tom um said, "Hey man, I'm running for school board. Could I could I

121have some of your time to learn more about the band?" Tom was incredibly gracious um with his time and uh supportive of me when I ran. And uh um that's that's why this is tough, right? Because I feel like I let Tom down. But uh Len, same thing. When Len ran in 202 uh 2022, um got to meet him, got to know him. I supported him. Um when when I ran in 2024, he returned the favor. Feel like I let Laren down. The remarks I made last week, I stand by them and I'll I'll have no problem making them again. It is incredibly frustrating for those of us who participate in these difficult moments and put ourselves out there and feel like we're personally letting people down um because you can only pick one. You

122can't pick three, you can't pick four, you can only pick one. It's incredibly frustrating um to be willing to have the tough conversations, put your name to it, um be willing to take the criticism and the blowback, and then have to sit here and watch people not participate and and sit on the sideline and let their colleagues take it all. Um so, you can call it what you want. Um I wasn't moved by that speech and uh I apologize for nothing. Um, uh, beyond that, uh, everybody have a great night. Thank you, >> Santilly. >> Yes. Um, so I guess first I'd like to mention something that was brought to our attention to the board update. Someone at work today actually mentioned this to me prior. Um, the MHSA apparently is going to allow districts

123to pay high school athletes. Um, I have a lot of thoughts about this. Uh I think uh school athletics is a methods and means to teach kids discipline, uh responsibility, work ethic, and um that's a number of other things, none of which is who can pay you the most. Um I think this is an atrocious use of sports uh and athletics. Um and and I will commit to not paying a single dime, not one single red scent towards paying a student athlete to come to our school district to play sports in any way, shape, and form. I think uh any school district that does uh should be ashamed of themselves. This is not the NFL draft. This is high school athletics. Let these kids learn primarily and if they want to pursue athletics in college,

124let them go that route for themselves. Um and on top of that, I'd like to thank all those who showed up today and and uh shared their support, all the individuals who put themselves forward to apply for the vacant position uh as trustee on the board as well as you mentioned this last uh last week, but Mr. Green, I appreciate the years of service that you had to this board as your role as president, your various roles as um trustee and and all the, you know, committees that you're a part of. I think um you know, we make a lot of hard decisions up there and it's it's not easy to uh take a lot of time when an otherwise very strained schedule to be part of this. So, thank you for that. Um and

125with that, I'll uh pass it along. >> All right, Miss Burky. Um, I will just echo uh first congratulations to Mr. Covert. Um, but also Mr. Brun, Mr. Wentworth, and Mr. Romano. Um, as you may or may not be aware um without putting others on the spot, myself, Mr. Richards, and Miss Knox would potentially have to rerun for the board um in the fall. And and then Mr. covert your you know your seat would um be up for the remainder of the term um as well. So I mean there are still plenty of opportunities for people very qualified people like yourselves to continue to run um if you're still willing to put up with us. Um so I I appreciate everybody's time and interest as well. Um speaking to what Mr. Power said, you know,

126um, in that sense, um, I was actually very impressed last week. You know, at first as a board, we thought we weren't going to, you know, will we even get one or two applicants, you know, at all, let alone 17. And then it was, okay, you know, how are we going to get through this and decipher through 17 different people? And then it made it worse because after sitting through and listening through 15 out of 17, it was like everybody from my opin I mean everybody was very genuine and offered a you know everybody offered a little bit different perspective from their own personal experience but you know opportunity um support of the community, support of the school district um you know life from from people who just moved here that really want to be

127involved to lifelong members of the community who went here themselves. So, um it was just really motivating to see that we have, you know, that many people lined up um that would be interested. So, I I hope we see that um interest, you know, come election time as well and get, you know, some good candidates as well. Um because I I don't believe everybody plans to rerun necessarily. So, um also want to thank the uh Lighthouse fourth graders that sang for us. Um although there were only nine, they did a very good job. Um and Miss Tarnaki as well. I really love um that we and we've seen it before where you know our our younger students learn the fight song. Um, I can say something. I didn't go to Anchor Bay schools myself. Um,

128but literally never knew what my fight song was even through high school. So, um, I really enjoy that our elementary schoolers are learning it early on. Um, congratulations to the football team or players, I'm sorry, and, um, our teacher, Miss Pleague. So, I also had the opportunity because our last board meeting in December was a little bit earlier in the month. Um, so since that meeting, I attended the middle school choir concerts. Um, they were held at the high school and then I actually happened to go to a cheer competition as well. Um, both were really nice to see. Um, you know, just our students in general are always well behaved. um and and really do us proud across the board whether even aside from however they perform in athletics, but you know they they

129do a good job representing Ankor Bay. Um and then and the choir concerts also um were very well organized and appreciated. Um and that is all I have. Thank you. I'm trying to keep this quick sweet. Uh, Anchor Bay Career Pathways openhouse in skilled trades that was scheduled for Thursday, January 29th has been postponed. Once a new date is set, it will be announced. The Anker Bay Hosta Club is hosting a collection drive fundraiser for clothing, shoes, purses, and accessories, and jewelry on Saturday, February 28th, and Sunday, March 1st from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the high school. All cap and gown orders for students must be placed by January 31st. The Anker Bay Aquatic Center is still hiring lifeguards. If you're interested, please apply online. I'd like to thank the Anker Bay Tires

130baseball team for hosting the baseball camp. They had just over 60 little leaguers participate at the camp. Uh, as we had as we saw tonight, I'd like to recognize Amanda Plake. Amanda Plake from the middle school south. We saw tonight just an incredible story. Thank you for what you did. Congratulations to Middle School North captain of the month Lorie Boziac. Lori brings an incredible amount of positive energy and encouragement to Middle School North each and every day. She's constantly cheering on students and staff, creating an atmosphere where everyone feels supported and valued. I'd like to recognize this week's Middle School South staff spotlight, Jillian Taylor, Amanda Piper, Derek Wagner, and Brandon Lozone. Congratulations and thank you for everything you do for the kids and making Middle School South amazing. The senior scholarship basketball game is

131Tuesday, March 3rd. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the game starts at 7:00. Sounds like this is going to be a big event this year. I'd like to thank the Anchor Bay band boosters for putting on a great tastefest. Thank you for everyone that volunteered and thank you for the food vendors for making a successful event. I'd also like to congratulate the football players that were here tonight. Just incredible stories. Great to hear their stats that they did. Um, the Anker Bay High School Baseball is hosting a transition to high school preparation meeting for current seventh and eighth grade players and their families who are interested in playing high school baseball at the middle school Salt Media Center on February 4th at 6:30 p.m. Uh, this month I have two points of pride. Um, the

132first one, I'd like to thank everyone that took their time to interviewed for the open school board position. Um, I'd echo the other uh board members. You know, it was very difficult decision. Um, and secondly, I I as most of you know, January is school board appreciation month. So, I'd like to thank everyone on the board for everything that they've done, their dedication and passion and everything they can do for the board each and every time, each every day. So, thank you. And that's all I have. And moving on to the leg legislative update. For the first time in about six months, we actually have legislation that was passed that impacts schools and I believe it was signed today. They finally are catching up that there is a cell phone ban for schools during instructional

133time. So there will be some tweaks that we have to do. So that is passed. However, even though it's we're not out of January, very well this could be the only legislation that's passed other than the budget. Um because you'll see in short order um they had the consensus revenue estimating conference a week ago. Um the governor will release her budget on February 11th. The state of the states February 25th. Then the House and the Senate should follow. Then pretty much up until July 1st. We're expecting to have a budget by July 1st. You will have um just the all the oxygen is going to be taken up by the budget at the state. Um the consensus revenue estimating was exactly what we expected that the school aid fund is up, the general fund is

134down. They need to kind of cover the gap between that. Everybody's expecting that they're going to just take the funds out of the school aid fund and move that over to the general fund. Um so that's kind of where that is at. And then likely right around July 1st, it might be a little bit later than that, they will go on recess and then probably only have five sessions. the rest of the year because everything is up for election and they'll be campaigning the rest of the year. So, you might only get I think it's I think there's like 12 kind of parts of the budget they have to pass and then that one bill and that could be it for the year. So, that's the update. >> Do you see have you seen the

135uh uh cell phone ban? Is there any similarities? >> Yeah, it it's very much during instructional time and all of that. there are just a few tweaks we'll have to do that you need to spell out a policy um which we have because we follow the 504 kind of guidelines um there's just certain things we're waiting just to get kind of um >> advice from our policy um council and then they'll kind of give us that and then we'll we'll make adjustments based off of that but it's it's surprisingly similar to what we have in place. All right, Steve, that is the end of the meeting. >> Oh, yeah. >> Oh, sorry. Board committee updates. Um, >> we had finance. >> Yeah, finance. Yeah, tonight. Uh, I can talk a little about finance. We pretty

136much went over We went over tonight for finance. Um, Mr. Powers and I building, we had a building, uh, meeting as well. Um, Mr. Power is going to talk about a couple um, uh, couple walkarounds, I guess we could call it, too. Right. Um, off the list that I had >> Dennis, without respect, I have no idea what you're talking about. >> At the building committee meeting, you and I talked about a list that I received and and I mentioned to you if you wanted. So, I was going to walk around some of the U buildings that had construction. >> Oh, bet. >> Yes. Yes. All right. All right. No curveball. >> All right. Um I'm not sure um policy met also. >> Not not last one. >> All right. >> Curriculum. We basically just

137went over the courses that um were shared. Um and then we had asked to rem second trimester. Um because last year we had approved a plethora of courses to move to the trimester schedule. So, we wanted to kind of touch base back as we had mentioned last year to kind of go through and see like how are those courses doing? Um, how are they measuring progress? You know, kind of get a portfolio from each of those. Um, and kind of go just kind of make sure things are, you know, running smoothly and appropriately. Um, other than that, you know, the the new courses um are exciting. And then we we kind of had a discussion regarding the Spanish for medical professionals. I could speak to that myself. I'm currently in that situation. Um seeing a

138Spanishonly speaking patient, it's very surprising the amount of random vocabulary words you can pull out in the moment. Um but unfortunately none were anatomy. So that did not help me. Um but so I that's very interesting to me. Um I think that could be very helpful for for the medical uh career students um whether they realize it or yet not or not. Um and then um and then you know we had a discussion around um allowing athletic season participation for gym credit. Um you know that's not as Mr. McDonald shared with us, you know, that's not something like brand new. Um, it's just not something Ankor Bay has been offering. Um, so that kind of puts us on par. But also, we were kind of just questioning in the committee, how do we, you know,

139how do we ensure because not all of our coaches are staff, you know, teachers um, in the district. So, how do we ensure for example with certain some sports that students are not signing up or for a sport that um is much more individual in nature like for example um not to throw under the bus but track and field um and that they're actually showing up for practice and participating um you know just to have a process in place to make sure >> for for many sports that's probably not an issue. Um but there are some sports that um accept all players and then would you know potentially we could have students fall through the cracks of um making sure there's compliance. So just kind of coming up with a way to to make sure

140that we're doing our due diligence there. But that was it. >> Real quick question too if I could. Um, was there any discussion that there was a belief that would increase the um the student interest I guess in any of the athletic or any of the athletics? >> I don't think that came up. No. Um, you know, but that was kind of the point of um that other conversation of saying, you know, if if you were trying to bypass having to take a gym credit, you know, um >> you know, could you sign up for something and but then not really show up? Um possibly um to that point, you know, we did have a discussion as well. Um Mr. McDonald was going to look into. We weren't, you know, sure if it was doable,

141but but also about, you know, cuz some of these things are trying to alleviate pressure on the students and how many credits they have to to achieve in high school to do things like, you know, taking algebra in eighth grade and things to kind of free up their schedule to take more elective classes or things um that interest them. And one of the questions was whether uh we could do that with the fizzed credit. Um and you know assuming there's probably not a ton of difference between an eighth and a ninth grade fizzed um you know requirements. It's just a matter of the eighth grade class making sure that they're covering the state standards for high school credit. They probably are. That was our discussion. Um it's just not been formalized. So, just looking into

142that to see if that's one more class we could bump down, you know, to open up student schedules for the high school. >> Good stuff. >> All right. You have the adjournment. >> Yeah. Motion is >> Okay. All right. And would any like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting? Make the motion. >> I'll make the motion. Motion by Mr. Denatilly. I'll second. >> All right. Motion second by Mr. Sunny Greger. >> Martin, guys, I'm looking right at you. What's happening? >> Talk to me. Are we in trouble? >> Yeah. >> Go ahead and call the roll. >> Uh, >> yeah. Mr. Venotelli, yes. Mr. Sunnyburgger. >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Richards? >> Yes. Miss Burkmeer, Mr. Powers. Yes. Motion passes. Good night, everybody.