Farmington Public Schools October 20, 2020 Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening and welcome to the regular meeting of Board of Education tonight Tuesday October 20th. Mrs. Smith will you please do roll call this meeting is called to order. Miss Cummings? Here. Mr. Rich? Here. Mr. Mookama? Here. Miss Williams? Here. Mr. Johnson? Mr. Johnson has a work commitment tonight. I myself here and look great. Thank you. Present. Thank you. You do have a quorum. Thank you. Next item is pledge of allegiance. Tonight you'll be led by Mr. Mocamo. Please stand and join us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation. under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our next item is items from the President. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? I just want

002to say we really need everyone to mute themselves. We're hearing background noise and it's very difficult to concentrate, so please mute yourselves. Thank you. I'm recognizing. Thank you. Mr. Moccamal, I believe you raised your hand first. Yes, I move that we approve the agenda for today, October 20th, 2020, as presented. Support. Support, Mr. McMillan. Thank you. We have a motion by Mr. Mookamal to approve the agenda for tonight, approved by Mrs. Cummings. Any discussion? Seeing no discussion, Mrs. Smith, will you please do roll call vote? Mr. Mookamal? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. Ms. Cummings? Yes. Ms. Weems? Yes. I myself, yes. And Ms. Green? Ms. Green? You mouthed the word yes. Yes, yes, sorry. Jumping in and out. Motion passes. Thank you. Moving to the next item on our agenda is announcements from the president. Welcome

003to the October 20th Farmington Board of Education regular meeting. Farmington Public Schools together with our community will engage every student in a quality learning experience, empowering each student to become a thoughtful contributing citizen in a changing world. The board's priorities for 2020 and 2021 are one, fostering development of 21st century skills, two, assessing program impact on student academic achievement, Three, fostering a positive district culture and climate that incorporates equity and inclusion. Four, recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining high-quality staff that reflects diversity. And four, ensuring equitable practices. Please understand that there may be some glitches during our virtual school board meeting. We have experienced some bandwidth issues and connections being lost. If that happens, those members will rejoin the meeting. As all of our members are participating remotely, I am formally giving voting rights to all

004board members for remote voting. Public comments will be shared after discussion items. This will be the opportunity to share general comments and any specifically related to reconfirmation of the extended continuity of learning plan. If the public comment is intended to be critical or of express dissatisfaction with a particular staff member, student, or group, you are encouraged not to identify the person by name. You may request a private meeting with district representatives or utilize the complaint process found in our policy manual and administrative regulations manual, which provides for resolution at the complainant's closest point of origin. Please note that meetings of the Board of Education are conducted for the purpose of carrying out the business of the schools and therefore are not meetings of the public and the board, but board meetings held in public. Generally,

005board members and the superintendent will not respond to public comments during the board meeting. Issues may be referred to the superintendent for investigation, study, and or response. The next item on our agenda is items from the Secretary, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith, you may be on mute. I am, but I'm having some difficulty pulling up my screen to get the... Ms. Weems, can you read the... Yes, I can do that for you. Because my screens are all over the place. It looks like I'm losing... As a matter of fact, it's pulling me in and out on video. Thank you. No problem. The board has received communications regarding the return to school plans at the elementary and secondary levels, staff safety, overtime pay for teachers, and the use of high school students as teaching assistants. Communications are

006acknowledged and when appropriate, a response is provided. A list of correspondence can be found in the board packet, which is available on the FPS website. In our board packet, there were 28 comments. However, there have been a significant number more since this board packet was produced. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Rehm. Our next item on the agenda is a report from student roundtable president and I'd like to welcome tonight Akilah Mulaputi and we're excited to have you here tonight. Akilah? Good evening everyone. As Ms. Green has mentioned, my name is Akilah Mulaputi. I'm a current senior at Farmington and I'm the president for student roundtable this year. Am I echoing or is that just me? Sorry, I'm having a little bit of... You're fine, Akilah. Go ahead. Okay. Perfect. So this year, our goals were

007to talk about uplifting our community and helping return to a state of normalcy, which means connecting our students to make them feel as welcome as possible. We know that we're going to experience a lot of difficulties during this year. So our goal is just to be... as positive and help our community as much as we can. And our overall projects and discussions revolve around the idea of uplifting and making sure that everyone feels welcome and in our community because, you know, COVID-19 has changed our lives and we want to make people feel welcome and... Bring them all in, radiate some positivity in a kind of negative year, but we're going to have a positive outlook this year. Overall, we had an open discussion about returning to school, and the overall consensus was that we wanted

008to go back to school as long as it was safe, and we didn't want to have to go back for like a couple days and then return home. So we wanted to go back in the best way possible and make it more permanent solution, if that makes sense. But that's my overall update of what our last meeting was about. Thank you so much, Akilah. I love the message of uplifting, welcoming, and positivity. We look forward to all the things that our students are going to do this year on Roundtable. Thank you for your leadership. Our next item on the agenda is legislative update with Mr. Rich. Thank you. Just very quickly, as of last week, the governor signed Senate Bill 1108 into law, which allowed for many different things, according to the Open Meetings Act,

009for school boards and public bodies to hold. meetings virtually. So there can be meetings now through the end of the year. Beginning January 1st, 2021, a board may have virtual accommodations for a person who cannot attend due to military service or medical condition or may hold a virtual meeting if there is a declared state of emergency. The language requiring a doctor's note for a medical condition was removed. Finally, if a member is participating remotely from outside of Michigan, their location must be disclosed at the beginning of the meeting. Sorry, one last thing is beginning in January 1st, 2022, it only allows for military members of a board to participate remotely. but that was passed by the governor as of last week. And so I know we had some things that we're discussing in policy and

010board governance, which overlaps with that. So we'll be able to discuss that later tonight as well and what that means going forward. Thank you, Mr. Rich. the next item on the agenda is district updates and our first one is recognition of observance of principles and today is bombing leading us there you can talk i've got my um you're on mute in case you sorry about that i was having trouble getting in well we just want to recognize our principals during principals week for all that they're doing and for all the all the extra work they have done And during this pandemic, I know they are working around the clock. They are doing so much because they care about their students and staff and they want to do the best that they can. So instead of

011inviting them to another meeting, we just wanted to thank them and we will have recognition out on social media and the listserv to honor all the work that they do. So thank you. Thank you. Any comments from board members before we move on? Mr. Rich. First, I just wanted to say again for those people who are calling into the meeting, especially on your phones, especially if your area code is a 313 number. Please remember to mute. We can hear you during this time. So we are getting some feedback there. But with regards to Principal's Month or Principal's Week, thank you all so much for all that you have been doing during this time, making sure that things are running as smoothly as they can. We know... everyone wishes that they could be back doing face-to-face

012right now and it's very difficult to be a principal in this situation. So thank you so much for all you've done this school year, the end of the last school year and all the school years past and going forward. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other comments from board members? I have one. I didn't want to interrupt. I want to say thank you to each and every one of our principals from elementary all the way up to from divisions to Farmington Central, all across the board. Our principals have always done a phenomenal job and they have shown their leadership with this going on. They have been they've had their shoulders. that have expanded for teachers that need a shoulder to cry on. They have been there for parents. It's been a hard year and

013it's been a hard job for you to do. You've had to be the captains of these ships. And I appreciate all that you've done. And that's not me. But I appreciate everything that each and every one of you have done. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, I can't say thank you enough. You know, you are appreciated as well as your teachers, but you guys have held it down. And thank you. Thank you. I have a comment. Yes. Again, not to sound repetitive, but I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our principals and assistant principals. I think I know all of you. that I've gotten to know all of you during my time here on the board and I really appreciate the work that you do, the dedication, the leadership you provide,

014especially during these very challenging times. We need you and you're appreciated. So thank you very much. Dr. Herrera? thank you mrs green um yes i'd like to speak on behalf of our central office staff as well for our principals um we very well know that that our teachers may create exemplary classrooms but our our principals create exemplary schools and i know from experience there's not one person in the district that's making more decisions per day than our building administrators the number of questions they receive from staff students and parents um is is endless and we truly appreciate um the manner in which you've led let our district led your buildings through not only last spring school closure but but coming into this year as well you've been a great group to work with you've always

015every conversation i've had with you you remain positive and uh you've always focused on solving problems and continuing to help move the district forward so truly appreciate our time working with you and looking forward to the next upcoming months and continuing our work thank you thank you I also don't want to reiterate, but I also want to give a shout out to our incredible principals. I know the hours that you put in to support staff socially, emotionally, as well as educationally and our students. We're very fortunate to have you and your leadership during this very difficult time. Please know we all understand the amount of extra effort you are putting toward this and we are very, very grateful for your efforts. Thank you. Moving to the next item. Sorry, I had a comment. Mrs. Waynes,

016I'm sorry. I just saw that. Mrs. Waynes? Thank you. And, yeah, I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to acknowledge that principals have had a significantly higher number of questions and e-mails and things like that this year. And I want to acknowledge their accessibility and their willingness to, you know, partner with students and families in order to get questions answered, even where. you know we may not have answers yet so thank you for everything that you're doing thank you we'll move on to the next recognition which is hillside elementary the jan harp domain diversity and inclusion award again miss ballman will lead us in that discussion um can you come come back to me on that pm i am so sorry i have my notes in the other room So if

017I could grab the list. Yeah, we'll go ahead and do reports from board committees and then come back to that recognition. Thank you. I'm sorry. Oh, you're fine. So we'll go to the next item on the agenda, reports from board committees. The first one is Policy Board Governance Committee. Mr. Rich. Thank you. So we met as a committee on October 13th. We were able to discuss the virtual verse in person. We were planning on what was happening pending the governor's signature on Senate Bill 1108 that I talked about during the legislative update. And so that does allow for in allows for virtual meetings through the end of the year. We also discussed what's happening through public comment and how questions that are issued through public comment are being responded to, as well as what's happening

018if... If there are complaints, that is the next part. And so just making sure that everyone is followed up with and making sure that central office is responding to everyone who is issuing these public comments, need answers. And then for the complaints that there is legal opinion on public disclosure of resolution. So we were able to start to speak with Mr. Sutton, who is legal counsel from Miller Johnson. who's the public service provider, who provided us plenty of information regarding that in regards to the disclosure of public complaints about specific employees and students, anything that is issued. And so that will be, we are currently following all of the rules and making sure that we are following them to remain above board there. Next is on board operating procedures and protocols. So the committee will

019move forward with establishing these procedures. And so we are working on a. a joint effort from the work from the policy committee of last year, as well as Miller Johnson's board protocols and operating procedures guide that they have. Next is we were looking at board goals. And so we are currently working on how we are going to be planning the board's goals moving forward. That will be put through the board governance committee. However, we definitely welcome the input of all board members as is. where we see the board going in the future. And future agenda items included the procedures, goals, and the election selection of officers. And then the timing for the organizational meeting is added tonight as a discussion item. And that includes the election selection of officers. I know that there are questions,

020so I can answer them now. Mrs. Williams? You're on mute, Mrs. Williams. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, the first few questions I had were related to public comment. So is the suggestion that if and when we move to in-person meetings, which might be our next meeting, that we no longer have allowed people the opportunity to write in? People are always welcome to write in to the board. As you know, we get plenty of emails and I'm letting the public know. For public comment, we were discussing that for in-person meetings, it would be only in-person public comment. Right. And so that makes sense in the past in a pre-COVID environment, but is the expectation that if we were to return to in-person meetings where seating is limited and it may still be the recommendation to

021not. join crowds unless it's absolutely necessary that we would require people who may be under quarantine to come in if they wanted to express a public comment? So our understanding is that Senate Law 1108 requires written public comment if people want to. But we need to just double check that with our legal counsel. Okay, so I just want to be on record that if we go back, unless and until we are no longer in a COVID environment, I think it would be appropriate to allow people to communicate with us through public comment in the same ways that we do now. Okay, sorry, I am getting clarification. It does not require it, but it does allow it. So that would be something that we as a board would need to decide upon. Okay. And then it

022says here future virtual meetings that the suggestion is that you can only participate in public comment through the phone rather than the way we do it now, which is allowing people written comment. Is that what's suggested? That would be after this meeting. That is what has been the recommendation from the policy committee. Maybe we can just understand what the rationale is there. Is there a reason why we don't want to allow people to do what they're able to do now? Because at the same time as public comment is public comment, they are able to, if they want things to be written into the board, that's what they can do. But public comment is supposed to be them speaking at a board meeting. At the same, it's a little bit, if we're having board members reading

023complaints about themselves, they are having to read other people's words without their inflection, anything like that. It's a very different thing, us reading someone else's comment out loud versus them reading their own. Okay, I would just like the policy committee to... give some thought to consistency. You know, we've been allowing people to write in since March. And, you know, as long as we're still in this type of environment, I wonder, I just don't understand why we would take that away. It just seems like we're reducing the amount of feedback, in particular in this environment where we should be collecting as much feedback as possible. You know, it just seems like I recognize that people can write, but clearly they're writing in for public comment because they want their comment read at a meeting. So I

024just don't want, I'm not sure why we would take that away. The next question I had with respect to public comment was about answering questions. So, I mean, we have a policy here that our general, generally during public comment, we don't respond. If someone wants a response, that's where they would write in, you know, through email. And that would be the formal mechanism for getting a response. Is it the expectation now that All public comments will get a response now because I'm not sure that that's something that I agree with either. I'm all for, you know, getting people, you know, answers to their questions for sure. But usually the way to do that is through an email rather than public comment. We've never had a history of, you know, responding to all of the public

025comment. Dr. Herr, I'm going to. call you in on this because we were discussing this in the policy committee as to what central office would be doing to respond yes there's there's certain public comments that uh central office staff has been expected to respond to some of those public comments have been questions and some of those public comments have been complaints So I think what they were referring to are the public comments in general, how will they be handled and how will we keep track of who's followed up. So I know that was one of the things we were discussing is what is the protocol and what is the expectation on who follows up with the community member making the comment. So is it going to be the board president? Is it going to be

026the superintendent? or is the board president going to assign that to a staff person, or is it going to go through HR? So we just, the central office cabinet just wanted to have a better understanding of how the board would like to direct those questions. So I was the one that really begged that question at the policy committee meeting. In addition, I think, just to go back in terms of what Zach was talking about is, you know, there seems to be multiple. multiple points of entry for the community to interact with the board and share their thoughts or concerns. One is to email the board directly. And as you know, we receive many, many direct emails to the Board of Education. So knowing that, the discussion was, what is the basis for a public comment?

027It is for the person to attend the board meeting and make that statement in public, as Zach was saying. So the consistency would be if community members wanted to express their concerns or comments to the board in writing, they could still do so through that VPS board email address. If they wanted to make a public comment, though, their presence should be expected, I guess, as part of a public comment. We really didn't take the conversation any farther than that, other than to kind of set that basic premise. in terms of receiving communications from the community i think this is where you know this is part of a bigger board discussion now is where you'll go with your board protocols in the future and how the board will come to consensus on how we handle these

028so there can also be consistency in the future um so so again i think this is jack's just reporting out on a lot of fact finding we were doing at the policy committee meeting i'm trying to seek clarification and get a better understanding of what our legal counsel's position and recommendation was from this and then we'll have continued dialogue about it with the board as we further developed operation procedures um but but just as i guess i think tonight the purpose of this was just to get an fyi to the board on what was reviewed at the meeting um not not that any decision is going to be made or that the policy committee is actually engaged in making any recommendation as a matter of fact it was the first time they had heard It

029had a chance to digest it as well, so I'm sure there'll be additional questions. Okay, thank you. So I definitely get the public comment is made in public. The whole reason why, you know, we have new rules is because we're in a different environment. So, you know, as long as we're in a different environment, I think we need to consider, you know, how we're going to receive public comment potentially differently, right? So there will be people. I'm not, I won't say I'm one of them. I was at... know central office for the past couple of meetings that i'm not talking about me i'm talking about a significant portion of the population who are not comfortable uh coming into a public space so we're not now telling them that they're not able to uh you know

030deliver public comment anymore and i'm i'm personally i'm not comfortable with that i'm just just want to you know state that well and i and as i mentioned i think we'll it will place this on as a discussion item so we can hear from all board members and get a full perspective of the board absolutely okay Great. The next thing was with respect to questions, and I'm glad that you raised that in getting some clarification on, you know, which questions get asked. I think, you know, generally our president would advise where we think it's necessary to take, you know, questions that we're getting from public comment to the extent they're, you know, significant or voluminous. That would be where I guess the board would direct the administration or ask the administration to either add those

031to FAQs or respond. So I think, you know, that makes sense to me. In terms of complaint and reading complaints, you know, I would be interested for the policy committee to give some more thought to, you know, the protocols, if you will, for making decisions about which public comments or complaints get read out in public comment. You know, I'm struggling with that. As a board member, I don't want to be responsible for making a decision about whether someone's freedom of speech, frankly, is limited. You know, I recognize that we want to give people an opportunity to be protected and, you know, you can't make wild claims and name staff members in a way that's irresponsible. I get that. But at the same time, you know, I'm not sure how each one of us who would

032be in a position to have to read something are going to be making that decision. That's not a decision I feel like I'm comfortable making. I just wanted to mention that. And again, we will engage in these discussions with a lot more detail. So I think just for an example, you know, your comments regarding public complaints, I mean, there are employee rights and there's open meeting act legislation that we also need to consider in terms of closed session and requests for closed session. There's also consideration of board policy. In fact, they have a board policy for public complaint and are you going to encourage people to use board policy so again these are these are conversations that were held in committee and they were lengthy and in depth and they were were facilitated by legal

033counsel um i don't think i don't think zach's intention tonight was to put these out for discussion but simply to inform the board of what was covered um so i i will like i said we'll we'll bring this back as a discussion item at a later date as you develop your board operation procedures And I think we'll be more fully prepared to engage in that conversation with the full board on their concerns and insights on how we handle these in the future. Thank you. I saw Mrs. Smith had a question or comment. I serve on that committee and I too have major concerns about censoring people. As elected officials, yes, we're going to get feedback from the public but I do have concerns of a board member reading his or her comments that are made

034about them but if the public wants to share they have to be able to share in the past as a member on this board for four years I have never known for a board member to respond to a public comment. All of us are not going to be in agreement on what another board member has to say to the public with the public comment. It has been in the past that the superintendent answers all the public comments. If a board member receives emails We have been told that it is board policy and protocol that the president answers. But I, in many cases, have stepped back and not answered many. But if I am named, I will respond because I am one of seven, and I may not agree with what is being said. And the

035people deserve to hear from me. That's for emails. But public comment. with what we're going through right now. You have a lot of people that are afraid to come into a building or the building capacity. Those people may can't get out to make public comment or with the numbers spiking up. They won't be able, if we decide to go in and not be virtual, because we are asking our teachers to go in. So if we can go and be face-to-face, and I have gone into the board office twice, if those parents and community members cannot make it, we should allow them to be able to speak and give their comments. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Rich. I know this wasn't intended for discussion. I would also encourage board members to please send feedback to the

036committee for discussion or clarity or input. I want to make sure that, you know, I did send all of these questions in advance last week. Okay. Thank you. So these questions were expected? Yes, they were. And I think Mr. Rich wanted to have them in the open, and I applaud that. Got it. Thank you. Yeah, I wanted this to be part of the report, but also as we will be bringing it as a discussion item, I thought that these were good questions for all board members to hear ahead of time so that we can... be thinking about that as we move into this moving forward. And this is because we were looking at, we just had to prepare because we did not know if that law would be passed in time for our next board

037meeting. But since it has, it looks like we will, pending the board decision, we'd be staying virtual for the time being. Thank you, and I apologize. I was not aware that we wanted the questions during the report so We'll move forward and we're going to go back for a moment to item 6 on the agenda district updates And we have miss Bauman with Hillside Elementary the Jan Harp Domain Diversity and Inclusion Award. I saw Mr. Kaufman is also here Yes. So thank you very much for letting me take a little time to gather my notes. But we have a great celebration here tonight. And it's a national award, which is pretty impressive. But Hillside Elementary School was honored with the Jan Harp Domain Diversity and Inclusion Award. And this was put together by the Hillside

038Elementary School PTA and a parent, Treeman Jigdev, and PTA president at the time, Kristen Aspinelli, applied for the award. And one of the things that they wrote in their award was Hillside Elementary School has a very diverse school population that mimics our overall school population. And they have students at their school that speak more than 40 different languages, and half of the students speak English as a second language. And due to this, Hillside Elementary, in conjunction with PTA, made a conscious effort to be more culturally responsive to all of their families that attend their school. The school hosted activities and programs, including cultural game night, Lego robotics, math pentathlon, dream kings. I have to ask about that one. The fourth wall program and many, many more. So, and I want to state a part of

039their letter that they received back when they received their award. Hillside Elementary PTA clearly places the PTA mission of making every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children into the forefront, irrespective of race, condition, ethnicity, ability, gender, or culture. On special note, your uplifting program, Dream Kings, which is geared toward helping African-American men to realize their purpose, and the Fourth Wall program, which is targeted towards students with special needs, are clearly innovative, inclusive, and needed. Ensuring that your diverse community feels welcome is a reason to celebrate. And we totally agree with that. We're so proud of you. You represent us well. And we would love to expand what you have learned into all of our other schools so that we can just keep that energy going

040in our school district. So I wanted to have we have Rob Kaufman the principal of Hillside Elementary here's Elementary school here this evening and we also have Katie Russek who is the current PTA president and they might have a couple things to say Rob Yes, definitely. Thank you. And thank you for this opportunity. The Hillside PTA is just extraordinary. The work that they did and the thinking that went into this, the reflection, and it really came from a place of what was best for our students and our families. It was exciting to watch. I put an asterisk on the Dream Kings because it was literally set to launch when we went out. And so it was included in our application because we didn't know. We have it kicking off Friday. We'll be kicking it off

041Friday virtually. Right now we have 11 students in fourth and fifth grade, and we're so excited for it. So it'll be every Friday. It's a mentoring program for black males in fourth and fifth grade right now. So that one was really exciting. We also had a series of parent dialogues that were scheduled, and one hit a snow day, and it's just been a few things, but we really are. um trying to to to reach out to our families and make hillside a place um that really does uh value and and makes all all students feel like they're important at our school and it's really it's just something that that that was great for our um for us and and trimming is one that really you know launched it got us going and kristin the hard

042work they put in and just think can't thank them enough and very proud of hillside for um what this award represents and what it means to our school community. Thanks, Rob. Diane, if I can say just a couple words, I would appreciate it. Thank you so much for the honor. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of the board and those who are tuning in tonight. I want to echo everything that you already shared about the things that the PTA was doing over the last couple years under Kristen Aspinall's presidency of the PTA from 18 to 20. I just came on board in July. But between Kristen and Truman Jagdev and Courtney Chang, our PTA treasurer, I mean, they were really... you know the machine that kind of put this together but the pta isn't

043successful without a supportive administration in a school so rob thank you and to our teachers um we couldn't do it without your support truly and so i really feel blessed that we're um We have a strong PTA at a school where we can be collaborative with the leaders there. A couple other just highlights that we did in case there are other PTAs or schools listening. We, and again, Truman really took this on. We translated our PTA membership form into four different languages. The four dominant languages outside of English. Last year for the first time, we're working on that right now. That's important. That's something we'd never done before. Diane mentioned the cultural game night. For years and years, we've been doing an international night where families will come and celebrate their heritage or heritage that's

044of interest to them. I'm not Polish, but I always run a Polish table for my husband's heritage every year. Kids love serving up pierogi, so that's been a lot of fun. And I think you mentioned everything else, but really just thank you for the honor. It really, this was a huge honor. One PTA school unit across the entire country was selected. That was us. One at the state level was selected. And then I believe one at the national level. So quite an honor. Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you. Ms. Bauman, we have a couple of comments from board members. So I saw Ms. Williams first. So we'll let her say something. Yeah, I see a lot of people have comments, so I'll keep it brief. Just congratulations. This is absolutely awesome. I'm so proud

045of Hillside and the PTA. And what a great bit of news to get, you know, during this time. Really just great job. Keep up the good work. And I hope that you're sharing this at the PTA council meetings so that others can learn, you know, how to be more inclusive and share some of these great programs. Thank you guys so much. This is coming. Yes. Thank you for all the work you do. Congratulations. This is really quite an honor. It's so impressive. Thank you for the hard work. And I know that you'll continue moving forward. And I really look forward to hearing updates in the future about how the new program's going and all the events. And something that this really highlights is that partnership. right? We're seeing it and we're hearing it is that

046partnership between administration, teachers and families and the PTA. So thank you so much. Keep up that great work and for all of our schools. I know we've got great events and activities. at least during normal times. And I'm sure virtually there might be some things that can happen too, but I know we do have great support across the district for diversity and to celebrate our families and backgrounds. So I think bringing that to the PTA Council would be so helpful to really share ideas. And I'm sure there's some ideas that can be shared right back with you. So thank you for all those efforts and congratulations. Thank you. Mr. Mukumal? Thank you, Madam Chair. I am so proud of the Hillside Husky team. Congratulations on this wonderful award. What I find interesting is how, you

047know, diversity and equity and inclusion is something that we've been talking about for a while now. And here you are implementing it on your own and being recognized at the national level for it. So the work that you've done, the work that you're doing now to make all the very diverse student body and families that are a part of the Hillside community, to make them feel welcome in this way is a wonderful, wonderful thing. And I just want to... share my pride and admiration for all the work, the collaborative work, as Ms. Cummings has said, that has gone into all this. Well done. Thank you. Ms. Smith? Mr. Kaufman, what a great job. You are always one of the guys that do some things in our schools that other people outside of the district don't

048think of doing. First, I want to say happy principal's month, year, century. But I want to also say thank you for all your work. You are one of my favorite principals. You always do one of those great jobs. Hillside loves you. I drive by. Cars are always there. You would think school is always in session. Your teachers work well with you. The students are doing a great job. And your PTA, kudos, kudos, kudos. Keep doing what you do, Rob. I appreciate it. This is really great news. And great job with your PTA. Keep doing it and keep bringing those awards home. So only you, Rob Kaufman. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Have a good one. Thank you. Ms. Williams, you had something else? Yeah, I just wanted to point out, because Mrs. Cummings brought

049it up, and I just wanted to expand a bit further. There is lots of great work being done across this district. And I'm so glad that Hillside got recognized for it. Thank you, Treeman and Kristen, for applying. thank you for applying that's why you got recognized and i hope that others do the same thing so congratulations across the board but specifically to you guys for being recognized for your efforts thank you so much i just want to add two congratulations what an outstanding job um excellence abounds and a great celebration for your staff your students your families keep up the great work congratulations thank you I am going to stop for one minute and I'm going to just make a quick comment. The chat box has typically been used for board members to make sure

050that we can recognize each other. So I'm going to encourage those of you viewing the meeting tonight through WebEx to please not use the chat function. And we do ask that we can use that to clear for board comments so that I can see who needs to speak and who wants to be recognized. That's helpful. You can save comments for your public comment session or as we've indicated, you can write into the board as well. So please, I'm not trying to limit voices or anything. I'm just trying to make this a productive meeting. So appreciate that we have lots of things to say and a lot to get through this evening. Thank you. We're going to move back now to item number seven on our agenda, reports from board committees, and we're moving to finance

051facilities committee with Ms. Weems. Sure. So the finance and facilities committee met on October 14th. Myself and Mrs. Smith were in attendance. Mr. Johnson is also on that committee, but he did not attend. We discussed several things. First, we discussed the Oakland County Interlocal Agreement for CARES Act funding. The committee was provided an overview of the agreement. It provides for $1.413 million in funding. The agreement requires board approval. It is like a grant, but it will require our approval, so it is on the agenda today. I don't think that's me. There are several, you know, items related to funding for this year because it's special. We have asked for a summary and expect that to come in the next couple of meetings when the business team has enough time to pull something together for us.

052We also discussed air purifiers. The committee was provided an update on the purchases of those air purifiers. It was brought up before that. you know as we don't have the uh higher grade hepa filters um we asked whether there was an opportunity to look into getting air purification uh units not only for the you know quote sick rooms but for all the classrooms and uh we now understand that that is something that the district is looking into which i'm very very happy about so thank you uh to um of mrs venable for Considering that feedback, there is a plan to, you know, move towards getting air purifiers for all of the classrooms. The approximate cost is $270,000. That is a great use of that CARES funding. And just so that everyone knows that CARES funding

053can only be used for, you know, COVID-related matters and specifically also for items that are not, that were not part of the budget. So it can't be used like as a revenue replacement type of thing. um you know these are kind of unique uh areas where as a result of covet we have to address cleanliness more we have to address ppe those are the kinds of things with those funding that that funding should be used for uh we also discussed um custodians we've given gbrs update um the team met with the custodial group to discuss ways to attract additional staff there is still a shortage but that gap is closing Currently, openings still exist on the PM shift. The decision was made to increase the wage. And the approximate cost associated with that is $85,000

054for the remainder of 2021 school year and approximately $100,000 for the full year. The team is meeting with GRBS to review performance metrics to date, and I expect that the team will also be collecting, I hope will be collecting feedback along the way to make sure that we're staying on top of cleanliness. We also talked about the 2020 bond. We met to review the budget and I'm sorry, the team met to review the budget and perform walkthroughs to confirm the scope across the buildings. The committee members, we asked for a project list with cost estimates for each of the buildings and we requested that equity remain at the forefront of decision-making. In our last bid, or bond there was a fair amount of discussion from the community around which buildings get what and that sort

055of thing so we want to make sure that we are conscious of that going forward And so that's what the committee asked. The committee was also presented with a secondary return to in-person instruction, which was also presented to the Academic Excellence Committee. And I thought that that was great to provide our committee with that information as well. This might be, you know, such a large area that we start, you know, thinking about those types of matters more as a committee of the whole, or at least getting each of the committees. the same level of base level information so that we can come prepared at the board meeting with all of us having the same level of information. So many of us got our questions answered there. And that ends my report. Thank you, Mrs. Williams.

056Moving to Academic Excellence Strategic Planning Communications Committee, Ms. Cummings. Thank you. The Academic Excellence Committee met last week on October 14th. Unfortunately, I had a scheduling conflict, so I did join the meeting late. So thank you to Trustee Mukumal, who agreed to chair for me. And Ms. Green was also at the meeting. So there was an update on the secondary return to in-person instruction planning, which we're going to hear about this evening under action items. The committee was able to provide some feedback on that plan. And then also we talked about future agenda items. We would like to see standards-based grading, but also an update on special education and preschool in-person instruction at the committee level. But we did suggest that an update on standards-based grading be brought to the board, hopefully in... By December

057so we have a December 15th meeting and hopefully we would have it on the agenda by then And that is all Thank you moving to the next item on our agenda discussion items Board of Education organizational meeting mr. Rich Thank you. So there are a couple things that we wanted to discuss as a board. Essentially, we would do it as a committee as of a whole, but at the same time, we thought it would be best to do this as a discussion item first so that we could take action on it at the next meeting with where this is. Mainly, this is for the selection of board officers. Sorry about that. We've been discussing this for the past year or so now about when the organizational meeting or when the selection of officers happens. And

058it used to happen at the end of the school year and right after. board members were elected in May, June-ish. But now that elections happen for board members in November and they are seated in January, we believe that it is... important that board members are able to select the officers that will lead the board that they are on. And so that when they come in in January, there should be an election of officers to occur then. And so the policy committee wanted to bring this forward as a discussion item so action can be taken at the next meeting. But I also wanted to hear other board members' comments on this. Any other board comments? Mrs. Cummings. So as my term is ending, I will give my two cents just from having been through numerous cycles

059of officer elections. A benefit to having it in June is that there's consistency generally. Speaking generally, there's consistency through the school year, and that gives the new president. coming in in June, July, the summer months to kind of come up to speed and learn the position and then be ready to move forward full steam once school starts. So just a couple thoughts from me on that. I understand the reasoning of having it in January after elections. But again, that's midway through the school year and it can, in my opinion, cause disruptions. And I think we have seen that. So at the moment, those are just a few of my thoughts and I'll continue to consider this issue. But again, it's... You know, another benefit, actually, now that I think about it, another benefit is it

060gives new board members at least six months once they take their seat in January. It gives them about six months to really kind of get their sea legs under them, so to speak, because as we all know, there's a very large, steep learning curve for board members. There's a lot to learn, especially those first six months. So it gives them an opportunity to really. learn the lay of the land so to speak and um i think we that they'd be more prepared to vote uh in a june july time frame so thank you other comments from board members mrs williams I tend to agree with Mrs. Cummings when we had this discussion as a policy committee last year. You know, I voiced the same similar concerns and my thoughts haven't really changed there. I think

061to ask new board members as one of their first actions to select officers is putting them in a really precarious position to me, to just be frank, especially. If there are more dynamics that the new board members are not fully aware of, I just don't think it's fair to them. I also think that there is a steep learning curve. Personally, I learned a tremendous amount in my first year. And I think there is a lot of benefit in showing up as a new board member and doing a bit of listening first. I also think that, you know, to ask new board members to participate in a lot of the organization and planning and so forth and so on when there's been little to zero training in those first couple of meetings, I think could be

062problematic. And I think it has been. So that's where I sit. Thanks for the opportunity to bring it to discussion, though, as a whole. Thank you. Any other comments from board members? Mr. Rich? Just one thing I want to bring up is we could have three new board members coming into January. That's a complete shift of a board dynamic. At that, we also looking forward and looking at other elected bodies. The whole body chooses their leadership. You see it at the city level with them choosing their mayor pro tems. You see it at the state level with choosing their leaders and floor leaders, Speaker of the House, things like that. I am definitely of the opinion that our elected officials, if we are electing them, to represent us that they should have the ability to

063choose their leadership uh moving forward and shouldn't be uh set with who was chosen for them thank you any other board comments before we move forward okay thank you for that discussion and um i'm sure we'll be hearing a few more things before our next meeting regarding that moving to the next item is public comments ms buckley do you want to start with calling people that want to do their own comments and then we're going to have mr rich miss williams are going to share comments and call in other board members if we need last january we had 73 comments okay the first one would be jen delata let me see if she's i'm here can you hear me yes um yeah jennifer deletta i am a 21 year teacher of vermicom high school This

064letter is signed by 120 staff from both North Farmington and Farmington High Schools. So please imagine that this letter is being read 120 times tonight by 120 different staff members. We speak as faculty to express our grave concern pertaining to a return to in-person learning. In a recent letter to staff, Assistant Superintendent Kathy Smith asserted, please know our staff, students, and family are what make Farmington Public Schools. We see you, we hear you, and we value you. However, we are writing today because we feel disempowered, unseen, unheard, and undervalued. We vehemently agree that bringing students and staff back into buildings at this time is logistically flawed, unsupported by science, and dangerous for all. As we planned for the school year over the summer, it became abundantly clear that we needed a virtual option for families

065who might choose to keep students remote regardless of an in-person option. In August, the district took the VLP option off the table for families who had chosen it because too many families wanted it. it would have been impossible to staff. Because no VLP exists for families, a return to in-person would force teachers to teach in-person and remote students simultaneously. This model would be worse for students and staff than a completely virtual classroom because staff would need to be tending to the needs of two groups at once. The reality of the situation would be teachers sitting at a computer in their classrooms, masked, teaching through an online platform, while some students sit at desks in their rooms on computers. Students will have little to no interaction with each other. Group work would be prohibitive. Teachers would

066have no choice but to deliver lecture-style lessons via computer screen. Parents, students, and teachers want to return to creative, collaborative, rich learning environments, but a return to in-person cannot provide that at this time. Teaching virtually is not ideal, but having to teach virtually and in-person at the same time would grossly compromise the quality of teaching and learning that could occur. Not only would this provide a poorer model of education than students are getting now, but it would also potentially cause social-emotional harm to the students forced to stay home who can see fellow classmates in a classroom they are prohibited from joining. When the district removed the VLP option for families, it closed the door to the possibility of a functional return to in-person learning before the semester break. Currently, a third option is being considered,

067featuring a remote learning schedule with opportunities for in-person intervention. In-person intervention would require students and teachers to risk safety unnecessarily by being in close proximity to one another. While virtual teaching provides many challenges, meeting one-on-one with students is not one of them. Teachers can more effectively instruct students one-on-one in a virtual setting where both parties can view material that is all housed electronically currently. This option attempts to meet a need that, for the most part, does not exist at the secondary level. I respectfully request that you allow Kimmy Dukes to speak next because she is going to read the second half of this letter so that we are minding the three-minute limit. Is that possible? Okay, Kimmy? Yes, Kimmy? Okay. Moreover, logistically there is no way to implement COVID safety protocols at the secondary level.

068Since students have six classes, splitting students into two groups, reducing class capacities in all classes is an impossibility. In preparation for a possible return to school, class rosters split students into two groups. Across the board, there are classes that have 21 students in one group and seven in the other, for example. At this point in the semester, classes cannot be changed. We cannot cross our fingers and hope the numbers will just work out because so many families will choose to stay home. Additionally, we do not have enough teaching spaces for students and teachers to observe COVID safety precautions. Many teachers have schedules that require up to five different teaching spaces. We cannot ensure the safety of students and staff because we lack the space to do so. As of the last board meeting, we had

06915 open full-time custodial positions and many part-time positions to fill. If we do not have a fully staffed custodial department, we have no business opening schools in the middle of a pandemic. Furthermore, a recent survey conducted by the FEA stated that 190 teachers are considering taking a leave if we return face-to-face. 68 members indicated they would consider retirement in lieu of a face-to-face return. Even if a small percentage of these teachers follow through with these considerations, we will have a staffing crisis. Not only will we be scrambling to cover these positions, we will also face classrooms that need coverage when inevitably students and teachers have to quarantine due to sickness or possible exposure. Neighboring districts who have attempted to return to in-person learning have faced these challenges, and many classrooms are currently without teachers. Perhaps

070most importantly, science does not support a return to in-person learning. The district shared the criteria for phased and returned to learning plans September 18th. That criteria included less than 4% positive testing rate, 30 to 35 COVID-19 cases per million, and an infection rate of 1.0 or less. The current data, as of today, indicates the following. 4.5% positive testing rate. 129 COVID-19 cases per million and an infection rate of 1.19. Since October 2nd, cases have steadily climbed in Oakland County from 78.7 new cases to 161.7 cases today. Oakland County has averaged 162 new cases per day over the last week. Cases in Oakland County are growing at an unsustainable rate. Oakland County's status is currently at high risk of an outbreak. Is the district no longer standing behind these metrics? Are we prioritizing the convenience of

071few over the safety of all? We have stated we have served students while caring for sick family members while battling mental illness while fighting COVID-19 ourselves. We have served students from sick children's bedsides, from the chemo chair, from classrooms with insufficient wi-fi. We prioritize the education of our students over our families and ourselves. Currently there is a local kindergartner in the ICU battling COVID. Andy Smith has shared the sentiment that the death of one student is one student too many. We share that sentiment and add one staff member is one staff member too many. We hope that you are as committed to the safety and well-being of staff and students as we are to serving our community. Thank you. Lynn Gibbons. Hi, thank you for hearing our public comments. And for finally getting around to

072listening to the community about in-person learning, I wish that all of the things that you're currently considering had been considered back in July and August when teachers' voices could have been heard and their concerns could have been implemented. At this point, we are currently over six weeks into the school year. And as a former teacher and as any teacher probably on this panel would tell you, we are just now getting the momentum that we need in order for these things to be successful. I am the mom of two secondary students. I have a sixth grade student and a ninth grade student. My students are typically AB students. They work really, really hard to build, to have their assignments in on time and to build rapport with their teachers. Unfortunately, that has not happened this year

073and it's reflected in their grades, either through missing assignments and all the teachers that we've dealt with have been amazing. My concerns at this point to implement the plans that you're talking about and the ones that are currently being implemented for K-5 mean that all of the momentum that the teachers have done is disrespectful to the learning that they have put in to learn Canvas and is also going to kind of derail learning. Primarily, my largest concern is that teachers will be leaving the district either through retirement, resigning, or taking a leave of absence. You are going to see it at the K-5 level. You are going to vote on something tonight at the secondary level. And you have no idea the number of teachers that this is going to be. You haven't seen the

074numbers yet. You don't have the data. And at this point, too, I want you to wait to take a vote on this plan tonight so that you can see how many of our K-5 teachers actually do not support this in-person learning and the effect that it is going to have not just on their in-person students, but on their remote students as well. Because all of these teachers have 20-plus students. And so it's going to affect a massive amount of our district. And that is my main concern is please, please, please. I implore you hold off, listen to the lifeblood of this district, get their feedback and be respectful of their circumstances as well. That's it. Michelle Bushy. I don't see her name as a participant. Michelle Bushy. Okay. Paul Sandy. Can you hear me? Hi,

075my name is Paul Sandy and I'm a Farmington Hills resident and I'm also a teacher in the Pontiac School District. And I'm one of the co-founders of the MyCorp statewide union caucus, the largest union caucus in the state of Michigan. I'm here, quite frankly, just on behalf of the teachers and staff in Farmington Hills. And that's it. I just for me, there's the science that Jennifer and Kimmy were reading. It's just common sense, period. My family, I have an uncle who's who's a health insurance executive out in Washington, D.C., and he he actually couldn't believe that any school would consider going back right now. And this was somebody who in January was telling me to go to Costco and stock up on toilet paper and paper towels. We need to listen to the scientists and

076the experts. On Monday, there were 2,909 new cases of COVID. There has been an 80% increase in hospitalizations this week. There were 27 new school outbreaks listed on Monday. There are 93 ongoing school outbreaks, and COVID outbreaks have risen 25% in one week. I'm going to say what other teachers can't say here because I'm in a different district. But if you are considering sending back children and staff in this environment, risking lives, you should be truly ashamed of yourselves. And I'm serious because as many of you probably have, I have known people who have died of this disease, including a staff member at my school in Pontiac, Mr. Garcia, who was a well-liked ESL after-school tutor. One out of every 1,506 residents of America who is alive in March is dead of this disease. And

077one out of 1,000 African Americans who is alive in March is dead of this disease. And I'll end with a quote by a teacher friend of mine at our district in Pontiac. They're wanting us to go back, too. I don't know where this is coming from. The data doesn't support it. She said, I'm at a bar waiting for dinner. Part of me wants to get the disease now so when the kids come back, either I have immunity or I'm dead. I yield the rest of my time. Vote no for your souls. Thank you. James Demko? James Demko? Is James Demko here? Maria LaGrasso? Hello. Are you able to hear me? Yes. Hi, my name is Maria LaGrasso. I'm a mom that lives in the Hazel Park School District. I'm also a teacher for Detroit Public

078Schools, and I help lead the Michigan Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, which Paul spoke to a moment ago. You know, Paul and I and other members go to board meetings around the state almost every single night advocating for different teachers, advocating for our members. And I have to be honest, this is one of the best board meetings I actually have ever seen. This is one of the first times I've thought, wow, maybe I should move. to Farmington Hills or, you know, out of here because this really is a district that I would want to consider bringing my family to. You know, listening, hearing about Fourth Wall, which is an excellent, amazing program. And then everything you're doing as far as culturally responsive teaching for English language learners is just so excellent. I have my master's degree

079in English language learning. So the first thing I want to talk about, right, is, you know, you're talking about Open Meetings Act and things like that, things that we're well-versed on. You know, I think you think about the students that are able to take advantage of those programs that you have, English language learners and your students with any type of disability, and know that those people do grow up to be adults. And having as many accessible ways, you know, to participate in the meetings as possible is just the... I think the best way to be able to engage as much of your community as possible. So I really urge you to keep on having as many ways to participate as possible, even if it's difficult for you. You know, but I will also echo Paul's

080sentiments. You guys have a lot of scared teachers. And I was actually surprised, too, to look on your website and see that you have almost no teaching openings. That is. absolutely almost unheard of in the state of Michigan right now that shows that you guys really retain your teachers I saw I heard that that was part of your plan as well the more that you bring back especially as the cases just just pile on in the state the more teachers are going to leave they're gonna go to other professions they're gonna go to other districts Dearborn just walked back there in-person learning Detroit is still not in-person learning You know, I know that there are a lot of districts that are, but you, and to not have a virtual academy is really a disservice. So

081I urge you to vote no tonight on bringing, you know, your secondary back. I think we all know too that, that teens are going to, you know, the closer to adulthood, the more likely they're able, you know, to spread to each other and to their families and as college kids come home. So, you know, I really. I hope you really think long and hard. I'm not one to always say to be ashamed of yourselves, but once one student or teacher gets sick, that's the moment, and you'll know that your choice made that happen. Thank you. Mr. DeJonke? Hello. Can everybody see me or hear me? Good evening. In addressing the board over the years, I've always spoken to you either as a parent or a teacher in the district. Tonight I address you for the

082first time as the president of the Farmington Education Association. When I started in Farmington, I heard about the three pillars, the association leaders, district administrators, and the board representing the community collaborating together. When I see the plan you voted on in your last meeting, and I see the plans you're voting on tonight, I do not see collaboration between three pillars. I see a top-down structure that includes input from a select few administrators and then eventually feedback from others. Input and feedback have been used interchangeably to describe teacher voice. They do not mean the same thing. If you wanted input on baking a cake, you'd ask me to help bake it. If you wanted feedback on a cake, you'd ask me to take a bite of the cake and tell me what I thought. That's what's

083happening with these return to school plans. You're baking them and asking your teachers to taste it. And then teachers don't even have faith that their feedback will lead to any changes. As a result, I cannot endorse either of the plans you're presented tonight. The AB hybrid option that requires teachers to instruct groups simultaneously live and online is an extremely poor instructional model. It also has unresolved health issues. The second option, remote with supports, is too incomplete to consider voting on. I know the presentation will include data from teachers. I want to preface this by saying only half of our secondary teachers took the survey. Many chose not to take it because they felt the data would be used to endorse one plan over another when teachers may find that both are unacceptable with the plans.

084But by and large, the majority find it unacceptable due to reasons of safety or educational efficacy. Additionally, there are concerns that the health indicators for student return are not being met. Since you approved the elementary return plan, our stats are going in the wrong direction. What does this mean? Will elementary return be pushed back? Will we see elementary students switch teachers to facilitate the hybrid only to see them going remote? So here I am once again asking the Board of Education to say no on a plan and engage teachers and administrators together to start the extensive planning necessary for a successful second semester return. A return that will provide options for safety and educational efficacy and honor parent and student needs for in-person or remote learning. Now, putting my parent hat back on. My children

085deserve better than the plan that's being presented, and they deserve a second semester virtual opening option with FPS teachers, not just ingenuity and not just teachers streaming simultaneously under a mask. Your teachers are ready, willing, and able to roll up their sleeves and get this work done. Let's return to a time where we can collaborate together, include our parents, and come up with models that honor the different family preferences and concerns while meeting the safety and educational concerns of all. Lastly, please do not confuse teacher concerns over safety and educational efficacy as a lack of dedication on the part of your staff. We are the most dedicated teachers you will ever find. Thank you. Robert Gaines. Can you see me? Can you see me now? Yes. Good evening and how are you all? I am

086Robert Gaines III and I am the very proud president of your support professionals who... has been back in the buildings pretty much since July with our secretaries. They were pretty much the frontline workers of the COVID that we had for the district as far as handing out computer resources, electronics, and technology to welcoming parents to the district and to the new schools. And you have parents that are back face-to-face with special needs who is also a part of your support staff. not including the media aides and career coordinators, but these are people who have been in the buildings, who have had firsthand knowledge, and who share many things. And the biggest concern of any plan of going back face-to-face is safety. The safety of the return, not just the safety of returning, but allowing everyone

087to be able to follow the rules. If I go shopping for a car at your lot, I don't have to purchase it. If I go shopping for a new television at Best Buy, I don't have to buy it. Just because somebody makes a proposal to return to school doesn't mean you have to vote yes. That's the point. You all are smart enough on the board to make the decision for yourselves on if we really should be returning. It is your decision. It is your choice. It is our lives as well as the students in which we service. Those who you were elected to protect and uphold all the value of all their lives. And I thank you for voting the correct way on tonight before you vote because I am certain that you will make

088that choice. Have an amazing weekend. Thank you. Okay, that is it for the virtual public comment. However, there are... three um people who said they wanted to speak in person but aren't here and their public comments are in the form do you want me to read them just to clarify miss buckley are you saying they're in the google form that we have to read correct but they were they asked to speak them and they aren't here Nope. If they're in the form, then one of the board members will read them. I think that covers it. Okay. Well, then I'll just let you know it's James Demko, Tracy Mastenbrook, and Michelle Bushy. Okay. Great. Thank you for letting us know they're in the form already. So we will have covered everybody. I apologize for the interruption.

089Can you please direct me to how I might make a comment? I am sorry for the interruption. Ms. Buckley, do you want to address how public comments were received? There was a link on our website since Friday for you to register to speak your public comment. Okay, so I'm not able to make comment right now then, correct? I don't want to interrupt further. I'm sorry, is there a possibility of writing an email to the board that we could receive? Of course, thank you very much. Mr. Rich, you can go. I'm not sure who that was. But I'm wondering if there's time at the end, if they could be included at the end as well. So I'm not sure. Can you identify me? I'm Alicia Schoaf. I'm a teacher at Warner. I'm Alicia Schoaf. Ms. Green,

090am I still timing? Yes. Yes. Well, no, I'm sorry. Not with our board members. No, I know that. I know not with the board members, but I'm wondering if the teacher that just spoke, am I timing her now? No, not yet. What I'm going to ask is, Mrs. Schoaf, if you can hold on through public comments, let's see where we're at and if that's possible, you know, and see if we can get you in. Is that possible that you can hold on? Of course. Anybody have an opinion here? We would like to hear now and then Mr. Rich can go on with the other questions. Okay. Okay. Anybody have anything different then? We're good? Okay, let's go ahead and do your public comment and Mrs. Smith will do your frame of time and then we'll

091move forward. respectfully i appreciate all of the board's efforts i appreciate all of our our faculty and all of our parents for everything that they have gone through for everything that they're that we're working with as a teacher um i personally uh feel that the best course is to wait until january 25th this is because i don't want any more interruption in our kids and the continuity that I'm trying to provide for our students. I feel like as a teacher, we are just now getting into a groove where kids know that they can access me at different times. They have the 8 to 9 a.m. period where they can meet with me. They meet with me after school. We have open office hours for a significant portion of the time on Friday. And kids have

092really gotten into a good rhythm and a good groove. I don't want to interrupt yet now. I also am worried that if we come back to school and then have to shut down again, as we're seeing in other school districts, just this off again, on again kind of thing. I am worried about the continuity of instruction as well as the quality of instruction our students will receive. So I know that our leaders, our instructional leaders already have things in place. They're already looking for a January 25th start. And I worry that if we rush this. and try to come to school before then. I worry that the kids and especially my middle schoolers where for them structure is everything. I worry about, like I said, their ability to adapt in that kind of environment. If

093we were to come back, we're talking about a matter of weeks. So I don't see why we can't take this extra time, put in place all kinds of security precautions that will benefit us, benefit our students, as well as get more professional development that will help us to be better and more effective teachers within this kind of environment. You're talking about, especially for Spanish, which is what I teach, uh the challenge of trying to do groupings uh on multiple levels so groupings within uh my students that would be at home streaming in the classroom and then for the a and b groups so i i am worried about the continuity of instruction um within that environment um and i guess that would be my major concern additionally just echoing safety concerns for our families and

094our students and of course for our staff thank you so much for your time and i apologize again for the interruption thank you no thank you for your comments um we have a request from kristen to speak as well i'm going to ask for a last call there was a time on public comments so we could coordinate that but i see there's a request from kristen and last call for public comments and then we will go to the reading of the public comments kristen Thank you for allowing me to speak. I am a first year teacher here at Farmington High School and I just agree with Alicia in saying that going back now would just confuse our students, especially our freshmen who are just getting the swing of things. I think going back at second

095semester when we change classes and start brand new would be the best opportunity for our students. You know, especially with coming back with the possibility of coming back at the end of November and then we're going to be off in three weeks for Christmas break and then come back. It's, you know, it's too much of a safety concern to bring everybody in, then send them back out, bring them back in after visiting and going on vacations and things like that. But the biggest concern is, you know, we have structure with our students now. And to bring them in and change their schedules and change their days would be too much on them right now. Their stress is not enough as it is that I don't think that this is a good idea. I think we

096should wait until second semester and everybody can start fresh, brand new. Thank you for your time. Thank you. I believe, Mrs. Weems, you're going to begin with the reading of the comments. Is that correct? Sure, I can do that. Thank you. Okay, I will get started. The first one comes from Sean Reisdorf. I'd like to begin with a statement on your website. Farmington Public Schools, together with our community, will engage every student in a quality experience, empowering each student to become a thoughtful, contributing citizen in a changing world. Please note your words, not mine. Engage every student in a quality experience. While no one could predict how long this pandemic would will last, when... You ended school last year's teachers were using Google Meets and grades didn't matter. Then over the summer, without any warning

097or training, you switched to Canvas and threw together a plan that mandated attendance and grades in accordance with state regulations. Now, just as the students are getting used to the new normal, you want to change again. Please read your mission statement, community and students. That's a 50-50 combination. I've yet to hear any talk or discussion as what the students want and or how this will impact them. I encourage you to reject any face-to-face plans in the middle of a semester and or until the pandemic is over and to ensure our students are empowered, but hearing that they want, but hearing what they want. The next comment is from Erin Helmick. I would like to express my dissatisfaction with the learning at a distance plan with supplemental activities for secondary grade levels. Why are other districts

098around us able to formulate a plan for in-person instruction mid-semester, even with a hybrid structure in FPS can't? My child is struggling with remote learning. I see her failing. falling behind in school and her self-esteem is declining too. She is not meant to learn through a screen. She needs to return to in-person learning, even if it's starting with the A-B plan. In reviewing the learning at a distance plan with supplemental activities, I have many concerns. How do you think this will work logistically for parents, especially for those parents that have children in other school buildings? What about working parents? How will they get their child to school in the middle of the day? for up to one hour and 45 minute period of time. How will these children eat lunch if their last period ends

099at 1225 p.m. and they start in-person activities at 1 p.m.? These children need nutrition to excel in their educational activities, and they also need a brain break. Expecting them to be engaged in remote learning four days a week now, four days a week, yet now with only a five minute break between classes after starting a screen for an hour and a half. Please give parents the option for in-person instruction and ability to decide what's right for their own child. The AB plan allows my child to consistently receive some in-person instruction during her classes and logistically is better planned than the alternative to allow working parents and parents with other children in the district to get their child to school for the desired in-person instruction. Thank you. The next comment comes from Stephanie Hirsch. I would

100like to begin by thanking each of you for taking this job and decision so seriously. You're in such a tough spot as there is no pleasing everyone, and I can completely respect the reality of your position. I am reaching out as both a parent and a teacher in FPS. I think the half-day schedule for elementary is a reasonable plan. I believe wearing masks for half days and the cleaning protocols, if followed, as we are being told, can be very effective. From a parent's perspective, I want my daughter to return to kindergarten when it is safe to do so. She needs to be around other children, and being online is difficult for her. All of that said, I am begging you to reconsider the start date of the children returning to school. I'm completely terrified for

101everyone in our district if we return to school November 9th. Numbers are changing drastically. We're having totals of over 1,000 new cases every day. Hospital numbers are rising. More people are dying, and more children are becoming sick. Chief Medical Executive Dr. Jonai Aldrin. has been quoted in several news articles saying a recent surge in COVID-19 cases is likely evidence of a second wave. A kindergarten student in Troy is in the ICU with COVID. According to CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the rise in cases is not a good sign as you're entering into colder weather and is advising Americans to consider canceling family gatherings for Thanksgiving. To top all of this off, the governor has had some of her powers stripped by a partisan Supreme Court. People say that the schools are failing our students.

102Schools aren't failing our students. Our community is. Teachers have been working endless hours since March 13th, attacked by members of the community, accused by board members of not being as dedicated as teachers in private schools, put on a pay freeze when districts around us managed to give steps, and yet here we are, still willing to do the best we can for our students. I understand the struggles trying to balance working and having a child in kindergarten, nonetheless doing remote learning. The stress of figuring out If it is better for my child's mental well-being to be in school or to risk her being exposed to COVID has kept me up more nights than I can count. The only thing failing our students in schools right now is the unrealistic expectations and pressures during a time that

103we could never have predicted. Are other districts doing things differently? Sure. Did those districts plan differently and therefore are in a better position to do, are in a position to do so? Absolutely. Our teachers are upset about this as parents, 100%. That doesn't mean it is safe to send everyone back. As a parent and teacher, one of the most important lessons I teach children is about doing what's right and not giving in to peer pressure. Just because everyone around you may be doing something doesn't mean it's okay for you. I believe children learn best in school. I believe the mental health of our students is incredibly important, but at what cost? I believe we should be going back to school when it is safe. Please do not send us back November 9th. We should back

104a month, wait until December, see what happens with the numbers. We should only be talking about the health and lives of our children and our staff, not pleasing people, and I beg you to please reconsider the state. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. The next comment is from Stacy Shidberg. I apologize if I'm mispronouncing Shildberg. I'm a 21-year-old veteran science teacher in this district with a 15-year prior experience as a healthcare professional. While we are all suffering with COVID fatigue, heading back into the building during an airborne global pandemic is unconscionable. It simply cannot be done safely until the virus is controlled, and that is the bottom line. While remote learning is not ideal, I know my colleagues are working tirelessly to deliver quality learning experiences. I would argue that my

105students are learning in a safe environment, and that is something that should be this district's priority. Next is Cheryl Thal. None of us were prepared for the pandemic that is currently still ongoing. I followed all of the proposed plans and discussions and know that none of this is easy and nothing will satisfy everyone. My opinion is that the plans currently under discussion to rush students back into classrooms are causing nothing but disruption and distraction. We should be using this time to think through all contingencies so that at the semester change, families can make a clear choice and be confident that their choice will remain in place through the entire semester. The five weeks remaining in the semester occur during holidays when we can expect that many people will gather inside homes, regardless of public health

106advisories, that this will increase the spread of COVID. Adding exposure on buses and classrooms, making students and parents adjust to new routines and new teachers in the middle of the semester just to gain one in-person class meeting per week for secondary is of next to no benefit compared to the outrageous increase in risk to the community that it will cause. Please drop these haphazard, half-baked plans and focus on supporting current instruction and making thorough, sustainable plans for the next semester in the time remaining before it starts. Thank you for your time and attention. Mitchell Gagnon. My name is Mitchell Gagnon and I am a student at Farmington High School. I'm writing to ask you to start doing what is best for students. Over the past five months, my parents have shared with me one proposed

107plan after another, yet I have not seen any action. I need to go to school. I cannot wait any longer. I am a straight-A student and with virtual learning, I have two C's and a D. My grade point average and high school transcripts are suffering. This is not just... This does not just affect my current life, but my future scholarship opportunities and college acceptance. I'm not the only student struggling with my grades. I have dozens of friends that are in the same boat. My honors math teacher sent an email to his students this week stating one-third of his honors students are failing. Do you think your current plan is effective if a third of honors students are failing classes? No one is talking about where the district is failing the students. No one is talking

108about grades. Only having a virtual option does not provide an equitable education for all students. Every student needs a choice to return to school, even if that's even if I'm sorry, if that is what's best for them. I see family and friends and other school districts return part time or even full time. And here I sit on the computer not learning anything with almost failing grades. I see my sister already returned to school. in FPS and my brother is going back to person to in-person two weeks from now. Why can't I go back? I always thought the school board and teachers were on my side preparing me for the rest of my life. Right now, they're setting me up to fail at the expense of my future. Please vote to return students to in-person learning

109as soon as possible. My future depends on it. Next is Susan Bertoni. I invite board members who vote on returning face-to-face. to come to schools when they open and spend at least two complete class periods with a single classroom for at least two days per week. If they are not willing to do this for health or safety concerns, I ask them to reconsider their stance on face-to-face learning. Next is Huda Hassani. I feel as though online is better for teachers and students alike. A lot of students agree that online has been far more productive than in school. We save time going to and from school and to and from classes. We're actually able to get work done during lunch. Besides, if we go to school, what positive will drastically change? The learning may be a

110little better, even if that happens, which it probably won't. You guys will be introducing so much more negative for little positive. We will get exposed to COVID and not to mention cases are rising. For what? In two weeks when our school starts to get COVID cases, we will be back to square one anyways. So why not continue with the great progress we made adjusting to learning? Our teachers are doing a great job. In fact, I feel as though the learning is easier now. Our principal and counselors are doing even better now more than ever helping us with our mental health. Other than pressure, there is no reason to change what we currently... have for high school. Also, please don't consider elementary school and high school the same. They are so different in terms of pros

111and cons. Also, what is the reason to start school at 745 to make us more sleep deprived? Is it so that we can go to school for help later in the day? That makes zero sense. Ask the teachers even when it is so accessible like online office hours. No one really shows. Mr. Rich, can you pick up until Ms. Williams is able to join back? Sure. Let's see. I'm just making sure I'm trying to find exactly where in that comment. I'm going to start a little bit before Miss Williams cut out. I'm not sure where that happened. So is it so that we can go to school for help later in the day? That makes zero sense. Ask the teachers. Even when it is so accessible, like online office hours, no one really shows up.

112What makes you think that if it's even harder to get there, many more people will show up? It seems like you are just trying to appease people and not think about what that means for students and teachers. My final message, if you care about teachers and students, please consider keeping school exactly the way it is. Maybe add office hours on Friday if you really want. Next is Sarah Hamoud. How will going back to school be more beneficial than continuing what we are doing now? Does the district really believe that returning to a germ-infested building with hundreds of children is the right choice to be making during a global pandemic? Is the district actually going to consider our comments, or are they going to decide on what they believe is necessary with no outside influence? Next

113is from Rachel Karpiuk. I'm reaching out to you today to voice my concern with the current half-day solution for in-person instruction. I have three children in the district, an 8th grader, a 2nd grader, and a new kindergartner, with all three attending FSA. We have lived in the district for seven years and have been very happy with the education my first two children have received. With that being said, I do not feel my kindergartner is benefiting with all the remote learning. The teachers are doing the best they can with the current situation, but it is necessary for the kids to get back to full-day, face-to-face instruction. FSA is a unique school because it is a K-8 and we do not have any busing. Drop off and pick up is solely left up to the parents, who

114by the way also work full time. The current half day schedule is given for grades K-5 and 6-12 are not in sync with each other. I could potentially be driving up to the school four times in one day to pick up and drop off between the three kids. Me and my husband, me and husband both work full time. I cannot do my job from home, leaving the driving responsibility to my husband all while trying to work. Because of this, our school needs a different plan than the rest of the district. One that will fit our school, school's families needs as well as our children's. Half day instruction is not enough. Can you honestly say you can go to work for two and a half hours a day and be productive? Then how can you expect

115school children as young as five to be just as productive in learning all new material and concepts? I understand other options rather than four half days, two and a half hours a day. Is it possible to split each class up into two cohorts with group A attending three days? three days full days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, one week while group B goes two full days, Tuesday, Thursday, and then rotating after each week with group A, Tuesday, Thursday, attending two days and group B attending three days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This feels like a more consistent and doable plan, especially for working parents in and out of the home. I am saddened to hear many have chosen to pull their children out of the district and have them attend elsewhere, ultimately having our district's children lose money towards

116higher quality education, but I completely understand the frustration with the board. When you decide as a board how to have our children return to school, please do not put FSA out of the same return plan, as the District A One Blanket solution will not help our children. and achieving their academic success. Thank you for reading my family's concerns. Sincerely, Jerry, Rachel, Alex, Olivia, and William Karpiuk. Next is from Sachin and Jessica Govinden. As parents, we want our children to look forward to learning in a structured and consistent environment. While we appreciate the effort to increase the student-teacher interaction time from the dismal amount of time they are getting today, the two and a half hours for four days, in our opinion, is insufficient and needs to increase. We recognize the challenge in getting the time

117increased, but hope that this challenge can be solved in order to benefit the academics of the students. Next is from Steven Deeb. I understand the desire to have elementary students and special education students in person, but I do not see a real advantage for high school and see students and parents that try in person to be unsatisfied due to the fact that teacher must teach both to a home learners and in-person learners at the same time. And some students will never come to school. How is this better than staying remote for the secondary population? Next is from Amanda Jacobs. My name is Amanda Jacobs and I'm a resource room teacher in the district. I would again like to address the board about the return to learning plan that was passed a few weeks ago for

118elementary students and staff. I am greatly discouraged that it was passed without really looking into all the safety protocols staff and students would have to take on a daily basis and risk staff and students. Sorry. On a daily basis, and the risk staff and students are taking by returning by November 9th with cold and flu season well on its way. The case numbers in Michigan are rising at a rapid rate again. Last time numbers were like this, the state was shut down and we were fully remote. I feel like these numbers should be taken into consideration again when looking at virtual versus in-person. The past two weeks, I was in the building for NWEA testing, not by personal choice, but because I work with students whose EIP legally requires testing accommodations, which I, as their

119caseload manager, had to provide. What I saw while I was in the building shocked me and does not follow what was presented to the board as far as safety and cleaning protocols. The garbage in my room had not been emptied in two or more days. My tables were not wiped down as well, which leads me to believe that my room has not been disinfected. While I was in the building, I observed Y-Care students who were not maintaining social distancing, students without masks, and Y-Care staff without proper PPE as well. If safety and cleaning protocols are already not being followed now with minimal people in the buildings, how can you guarantee that they will be followed when we return in person? Also, the fact that there is a shortage of custodial staff in the district does

120not make me feel safe about the cleaning protocols that may or may not be taking place during the day or at night. I've said it before, but I'm pregnant due at the end of November. How am I supposed to keep myself safe when cleaning protocols are not being followed? Also, what chemicals are being used to clean and clean? in between a.m. and p.m. sessions. I believe there is a lot that has still not been fully thought out and planned in regards to returning in person, including the safety of our staff and students. I understand we are losing students to surrounding schools, but what is more important to you as a board? What is more important to you as a board? Losing enrollment or the possibility of losing the life of a staff member or student

121or someone in the student's family because we want to move too quickly to in-person learning? Surrounding districts have had positive COVID cases and have had to shut down classrooms or schools or have already gone back to virtual learning. For me, this is back and forth is not good for our students' mental health. We as a district are always pushing for the social, emotional well-being of our students. How is pushing to be in person too quickly good for these students? Students will have to potentially change teachers and adjust new schedules who knows how many times. This doesn't seem like a good idea for their mental health. I've made great relationships with my students during this time of virtual learning. We talk about everything in their lives as well as to get academics done. I know it's

122a long shot, but I really think the board should reconsider our return to learning plan and be very transparent with staff and the community about safety and cleaning protocols. Thank you for your time. Is Ms. Williams back? Yes. All right, go ahead. I am back. Thank you. Maybe I'll keep the video off. That seems to work. Or am I at Ms. Malooly? Yes. Okay, thank you. Considering that in Michigan, current new coronavirus case counts are back up to April numbers, averaging between 1,500 and 2,000 daily new cases, and considering that these cases have been contact traced back to in-person college and school since mid-August, in addition to small family and friend gatherings, our family is strongly against returning to in-person school at the secondary level any time before the previously proposed January 25th return date.

123We disagree with the November 30th in-person return date and strongly advise the school board to assess the viability of a January 25th date in light of two-week data gathered after the Thanksgiving and December holidays. Follow the science and do the right and sensible thing to protect our teachers. Next is Lauren O'Neill. My name is Lauren O'Neill, and I'm a Spanish teacher at North Farmington High School and Farmington STEAM Academy. I am writing to you tonight to urge you to consider the following points when making decisions in regards to a return to school. First, it is important to understand what a face-to-face situation will look like in the A-B hybrid model that is proposed from a teacher's perspective. Currently, I teach all students in my class from my home, and despite some challenges, we are finally

124figuring out how to make this work. Students are able to give them my full attention during class. If we were to return to this proposed model, the quality of my teaching will decrease, acknowledging my A group students in the classroom, but also my B group students that are tuning in online, plus the C group that is virtual 100% of the time. Essentially, I will sit at my desk away from my students due to distancing concerns, and I will not be able to move around so that I can also monitor my online students on the computer. I have serious concerns that our buildings are not equipped with the technology, recording devices, high quality microphones and cameras, fast Wi-Fi, number of available student devices to make this work with any degree of fluidity. On top of everything,

125I will be wearing a mask while I teach my students. I teach Spanish, so it is really important for my students to see my face, not only to read emotional cues, but for the simple act of seeing my mouth move and speak so that they can work on their pronunciation and communication. This is not an issue with everyone virtual, but if we go back face-to-face, you'll have students learn. a teacher that has her mouth covered as they try to hear and practice the word. If anyone walks into my room, they will see a teacher sitting at a desk essentially doing from home, except now students are now physically in the room, and we are all putting our health at risk for zero notable benefit. I consider myself a great teacher, and I truly take pride

126in what I do, but this model will be a detriment to the quality of my teaching. I have about 100 more logistical questions that are regularly answered with I don't know or I have no idea. FPS students deserve so much better and a hasty rush to a model without sound justification and few answers as to how it is better than what we are currently doing is irresponsible. More importantly, a return to any face-to-face model must be supported by scientific data. On 10-15-2020, Michigan reported 2,000 new cases. of COVID-19 and Oakland County has been reporting 100 plus new cases for the past several days. We are trending in the wrong direction and more and more cases are appearing in educational institutions all across the state. I work with colleagues that have I'm sorry, a work with

127colleagues that have underlying health conditions or care for someone that does. Our students may be medically fragile or live with family members at high risk. How many cases do we need in our schools and our communities for us to take this seriously and admit that any plan that is not supported by sound data is okay? How many people will have to die to make us wake up and realize that we could have done better and we had the power to stop it? This desire for normalcy in a pandemic is reckless and lacks empathy for fellow human beings. We all want things to be normal. But what we want and what reality is are two very different things. People are resilient. We can bounce back from tough times. The 215,000-plus people who have died in our

128country so far will never bounce back. They'll never breathe another breath of fresh air or laugh or cry or kiss and hug their loved ones. So let's be honest about what it means to be considering a face-to-face return when the numbers do not indicate it is safe. It's purely based on community pressure and political motives that have little to do with science or safety. It is born out of the desire for normalcy. Trust me, I want to be back in school, too. If I could snap my fingers and have life return to the way it was prior to March, I would. I miss my classroom and the kids and my colleagues. But the fact is that it's not safe yet, and the only way we will know it is safe is when the numbers and

129science say it is. Any other reason for returning should be secondary to health and safety. Every one of you on this board is in a difficult position of balancing community desires, educational practices, politics, and science. And believe me, I understand that. I urge you to consider what I have said and make courageous decisions that keep the safety of our community at the forefront. Just moving down. I'm going to have to make this a little smaller so I can see the bottom of the screen. Oh, that was it. Okay. The next comment is from Lauren Westerby. I always tell my kids I'd never ask you to do anything I would not do myself. In the spirit of equity, a value that FPS has held in high esteem, every board meeting henceforth should be conducted in a

130face-to-face environment. Those that voted to return to this environment should be required to attend in person, while those who did not can elect to participate virtually. Additionally, meetings should be open to the public to attend either in person or online based on their personal preferences. Mrs. Green can act in the role of the teacher and can moderate in-person participants and virtual participants while also managing in-person public comments and virtual comments. Perhaps this will give a small glimpse into what teachers will be balancing if and when they return to a hybrid model. Additionally, It would fortify your position on return to learn if you yourselves are modeling the behaviors that you're asking our community members, teachers, and children to do. Kyle of Tremblay. Will the return to school plan be reconsidered for K-5 to match the

131rest of the reopening plan? Half days are very challenging for families with both working parents. Time will have to be taken off to pick up or drop off students, which might not even be possible depending on schedules. Plus, only two and a half hours of trying to teach kids of this young age will be a challenge for the teachers due to so little time. Michelle Laramie. My name is Michelle Laramie. I am a science and math teacher at Power Middle School. I am asking the board to please review the latest COVID-19 numbers in the state. As of 10-19, there were 2,900 plus new cases in a span of two days in Michigan. I'm concerned for the safety of students and staff returning to secondary buildings with close proximity for passing time in hallways, restrooms, and

132buses. The numbers of COVID-19 COVID-19 are not currently lowering in Michigan with more opportunities for people to socialize and go about their normal life at movie theaters, restaurants, et cetera. Therefore, I don't believe there should be a push to get kids back into the secondary buildings. I am also concerned with the idea of teachers teaching to students online simultaneously when students are in the classroom. Are parents aware that the district wants teachers to sit at their computer to teach their children when they are live in person in the classroom in order to give equitable time to the kids that are remote or virtual? There will be less interaction in the classroom than there is remotely. There is not best practice for learning. The students will have more teacher time if we stay in a remote

133setting. The plan to have a group of students in the building one day a week is not going to benefit the students any more than the learning method we currently have. The secondary students are acclimated to learning remotely and have been doing a great job. Again, I don't think there should be a push to get secondary kids back into the buildings when the remote setting is actually working. Nomi Joyrich. I want to express my concern about returning to in-person school. Cases in Michigan are rising. Having two teens myself, it's pretty clear that it will be impossible to expect our secondary students to comply with mask wearing and social distancing. This problem is made worse now that the governor's orders have been overruled. In full disclosure, even though we live very close to North, my daughter

134attends West Bloomfield High as a student of choice. Of course, she is sad about missing homecoming and not seeing her friends on a daily basis. However, she is also deeply relieved that West Bloomfield High School is completely virtual. I applaud West Bloomfield for their approach. The fact that we are actively considering... Returning kids to school when we know safe tells me that we made the right decision to send our kids out of district. And yet, even though my child is safe in a district that I know is following best practices and staying safe, the dangerous move to send Farmington secondary school students back in person still impacts me and my family. I am terrified that our schools will become super spreaders in our community. And I'm sure that I am not the only one who

135has a family member who is immunocompromised. If the board makes the decision to risk all of our health in this way, I will be actively recruiting my neighbors to send their children to West Bloomfield's excellent virtual program. I'm waiting to cast my ballot until I see who stands up for children's safety. Thank you. The next comment is from Kelly Thomas. Now that we know that COVID-19 virus is airborne, what measures has the district taken to make sure the ventilation is working at recommended levels in each classroom occupied space? I see many things about cleaning surfaces important, but not much related to changes in the ventilation procedures. I would like to see a response from the district. Next is Tracy Scott. This is a plea to the community to remember to vote for school boards this

136November. While I appreciate Richard Mukumal's attempts to serve, the FPS board needs new leadership. For the past year, this board has achieved very little. While COVID-19 has been a huge issue, I'm disappointed that the board has not been more proactive with COVID-19. The return to school plan and learning for students, communications with the public, student data, and overall district accountability. Mr. Mukumal immediately created discord upon joining, appeared to have misled the board by failing to mention his close personal relationship and 3,000 contribution to Mrs. Green's campaign and his blind following of both Ms. Green and the superintendent is highly concerning. I'm not looking for contingent relationships with the superintendent, but I am looking for the board and its leadership to challenge and hold the district accountable, and we have not seen that in Mr. Mukumal.

137The next comment is from Jackie Kellert. I'm the parent of two children in secondary programs in FPS. I have two very different learners. My younger son is doing the self-guided VLP without needing a lot of help or encouragement. My oldest child is on an IEP and struggles daily with attention and motivation. He spends 9 to 2.30 in front of a screen in general and honors high school classes, trying to learn with all the distractions of the computer right in front of him. He finishes class and then has to spend additional spent several hours relearning the information he couldn't attend to in order to get his homework done. We do a lot of school work on the weekends. My husband and I also work and my job cannot be performed at home. I can't imagine how

138others homes with kids on IEPs function. We are educated parents with semi-flexible work schedules and we are still struggling. It makes a huge difference for my son to be in a classroom with someone making sure he is staying on task and understanding what is being taught. I 100% agree with the hybrid plan, masks, distancing, and anything else we can do to make school safer, but please consider the kids that struggle to learn in the best of conditions. These kids need to start going to school on Fridays ASAP to get help with asynchronous learning and receive services that are challenging to do on a computer. I ask that you also consider, based on availability, to allow these kids to have an option to go to school both Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, Friday. IEPs are supposed to

139make learning equitable and it is so far from equitable right now. In conclusion, please vote for parents to have the option to send their kids back to school as safely as possible, but also consider how you help special education students that are full-time gen ed without access to live help. The next one is from Joe Guar. As the board votes on when to bring students and teachers back for in-person instruction, I hope you will listen to the experiences of a teacher who has been face-to-face since mid-August. First, I think we equate in-person learning with normalcy, and that's definitely not the case this academic year. Nothing about this year is normal. Even when something goes well during a typical class, I feel like my lessons aren't as effective as they have been in the past because

140our new safety precautions impact everything from lesson pacing to how I interact with my students. I know many students have struggled socially with remote learning and some folks hope a return to in-person school will help those students connect with others. Normal social interactions are few and far between right now. It's tough to gauge the emotions of others from behind a mask. It's tough to chat with your friends knowing that in the back of your mind, it might not be a safe thing to do so. It's tough to exist in a building where the primary thing driving our decisions right now is not building community or great pedagogy, but attempting to keep the pandemic out of our hallways and classrooms. Even my best students struggle to navigate and manage their partially in-person, partially online workload. Consistently

141has been thrown out of the window with new students joining the quarantine list every day and thus learning remotely for two weeks and others coming back from quarantine having to catch up on things they missed. The impact on teachers has been staggering. The district I work in, on average, lost more than one teacher per week to resignations or early retirement. Those openings are remaining unfilled for weeks at a time, creating serious inconsistencies for our students during an already turbulent time. Those of us who remain are in heightened state of anxiety due to all the additional responsibilities and, yes, risks that come with in-person instruction this year. I get to the end of my work week completely drained, both physically and mentally. This takes a toll not only on my health and well-being, but on my

142family as well. The decision you make tonight will impact not only your staff and students, but their families and the Farmington community as a whole. I understand that remote learning is not ideal, and for many families, it's not an equitable solution, but it is currently the safest solution and the solution that will have the least negative impact long-term. Thank you for your time and attention. I am now on line 25 with Ellen Weiland-Harkenreiter, and I'm going to ask Ms. Ritz if you can... Thank you. Thanks. Sorry about that, but I'm hearing there's some trouble hearing you. Okay. With Ellen Willand Harkenreiter, my comment or rather question is, why are we even considering a return to face-to-face instruction when the district published four areas of specific health and safety criteria and none of them are being

143met? What was the purpose of establishing these criteria to keep families, staff, and the community safe when they are being ignored at this critical juncture? Next is from Jamie Hogard. I hope you send the middle and high school students back at the same time as the elementary. I do not understand why there is a delay. We are all aware of the importance of socialization, especially in the middle school years when students are finding their sense of self and establishing their peer groups. I would like you to reconsider not only sending them back, but also sending them at the same time as elementary. Once again, I applaud the district's choice to give families virtual options. I think that is a very conscientious decision. Let's keep making decisions in that light. Next is Claudia Doughty. I'm ready

144to express my thoughts on our return to work plan. My hope is for a January 25th return with students at the secondary level. I feel the students and teachers need this consistency. There's been so much inconsistency since school began. We have accepted the challenge of a new learning management system and have done our best to make it work for our students. We have systems and routines working remotely from home that are finally there for many of us. working consistently. The students and teachers are in a routine that is working. My attendance is usually 100% daily, and with this schedule from home, I'm able to spend time after school each day working with students who need a little extra assistance. The COVID numbers are very high, and by allowing us to continue teaching remotely from home,

145we can reduce everyone's exposure to COVID while at the same time continuing the consistency that is working for our students. Please allow us to finish this semester strong and productive by leaving the present plan in place. Thank you for listening. Next is from Antoinette Arkenberg. I am very concerned about the return to school plan changing to November 30th and feel that we should continue with the plan to return it in person on January 25th. My students are in. are in a routine that is working and successful. I have almost 100% attendance daily. They are used to their routine and look forward to class. Students are eager to join my class and many arrive early. They are used to the consistency and schedule we have provided them. It is working and they are learning in this

146environment. My students are participating in completing assignments. Students have been enjoying success and progressing in their math skills. With this schedule, I'm able to provide daily assistance to students online after school. I do not think it will be possible if we return to school buildings remotely or in person due to the change in routine and time schedules. My technology at home works so well that I can teach successfully from home and explain concepts clearly using my personal iPad as a hover cam. I am not sure the technology available in our classrooms will work as well in order for me to teach it successfully. Teachers have not been told which piece of equipment we will use as a camera and our desktops do not have cameras. We asked if we will be provided with an external

147camera in order to live stream our classes and we have not been given any answers. If I am sitting at my desk at least six feet away from students, I will not be able to use my whiteboards and students at home will not see the information. Those who are sitting too far from the board will not be able to move closer. Many teachers have been very successful in adapting their home environment to teach remotely at home. Everything works every day. I am very worried that this will not be the case if we return to school without solving these technology challenges. I also am not sure that parents are fully aware with what their child's day will look like when they return to school due to social distancing and not being able to share materials, manipulatives,

148etc. All the work will still be done on the computer and students will be using their own notebooks to record information. Students in classrooms will not be able to engage in small group activities or discussion. This will still all be done online. The only thing that changes is the location. Students will be sitting at desks in rows six feet apart from their peers and teachers not socializing, not hanging out in the commons area, and not eating lunch together. I feel that parents and students should know what to expect if we return to school on November 30th. Thank you for listening to my concerns. Next is from Christine Kish. As a special ed paraeducator, I have many concerns. One, our special education classrooms are too small to be safe. The desk tables are too close together

149to be six feet apart. Two, how will the rooms be cleaned and sanitized if there are children in them when it is supposed to take 20 minutes for sanitizer to set? There is no available space for them to go during the 11.30, 12.30 lunchtime while rooms are being cleaned. Three, prior to the pandemic, the rooms were not being cleaned sufficiently. Now that the rooms will have to be cleaned twice as much, we will need more cleaning staff. Has the extra staffing been put into place for districts? Districts are supposed to have school nurses with state funds. How much time will each elementary receive from the nursing staff? Five, how safe are the chemicals to use and breathe? The staff has to use to wipe down things in classrooms. Next is from Laura Clark. I watched

150the town hall last night. If I understand correctly, the administration is proposing two options. One, AB day hybrid where my daughter returns to in-person learning two days a week and receives 45 valuable minutes more instruction for a class each week. She also returns to a more normal routine, improves her mental health with human interaction. Option two, stay remote learning with supplemental seems to be designed to simply stay remote. This option to deliver the same instruction hours starting and finishing earlier while jamming in. Four and a half hours of instruction with a total of 10 minutes between for the sake of one hour and 45 minutes of daily in-person intervention time. How does this intervention time work? Is it groups and students seeing a teacher? How does a student qualify for intervention time? Does a student

151have to be failing to qualify as was discussed? I see no advantages to the supplemental proposal. And in fact, since students are just adapting to the current plan, a new plan with no real chance for higher quality instruction. more instruction hours, or any in-person learning seems to have only a benefit to and for teachers, not students. Therefore, I believe this option should be rejected. Further to change now to a supplemental plan with no real student benefit for what ends up being six weeks seems like a waste of adapting time for students. I'm adapting time for students and teachers. Finally, for me as a parent, none of these options seem like enough when compared to the districts and private schools doing so much more. There's a big question for me. If we stay exactly as we

152are until 125-21, would the district guarantee 100% in-person for those families that want it? If so, that is what I would choose. That option is most likely to ensure at least half of my daughter's junior year could be saved as the new normal of the most of the world. has already adopted. It is very difficult to respond in a survey. What would you choose without knowing the semester two plan? Next is from David York. There is only one purpose for assessment to measure the level of student learning achieved from classroom instruction. 21st century Farmington school boards have attacked, dismissed, and ignored state assessment results. And it is not surprising why. What Farmington students know and are capable of doing has been in a tailspin since 2005. While FPS receives the top 2.3% in funding and

153community support in the state, student learning has dropped from above national, state, and county averages to far below average. 26 years ago, if FPS had a building... whose classroom instruction was designed and delivered following a national K-12 model of effective classroom instruction. Student learning consistently measured in the top 90% of the state. Assessment was used to improve classroom instruction. FPS boards dismissed this success in a tax dismantle that closed the school. FPS primary schools now produce student learning in the bottom 25% of the state. The Educational Trust Midwest 2014 annual report identified that Michigan student learning was 46th in the nation. one of only six states with a negative 10-year trend in student learning. This board ignored that report. The Trust's 2018 report verified the only response was continued decline. To this day, our board

154is still digging the hole deeper. This board and former curriculum head have pursued a singular distorted focus on race, black versus white. State assessments results are reported for all students in 10 subgroups. There are achievement gaps between each group. Whites are not the best performing group and blacks are not the worst performing group. A quality-based process contrasts the best and worst groups to identify areas of improvement and then... further contrast the other groups to the best group to identify unique differences to be remedied. With tunnel vision to the board and former curriculum department head claimed racism as the primary issue, contrary to the assessment data. Nationally, decades of effective instruction for all students starts with, there is no excuse for failure. Lessons are not finished until success is achieved. Reworking failed lessons increases brain activity.

155by 600%. That is the pathway to learning. Your board advances students by age, not learning. Failure is expected, accepted, and rewarded. In August, the board adopted an unnamed proclamation promoted by Black Lives Matter and the anti-racism movement committed to indoctrination of socialism and communism. They demand equal outcomes regardless of behavior or learning. Board policies and practices are to be determined by skin color. We witnessed this with a white administrator giving a negative assessment to a black student. Instant dismissal of the administrator was demanded. The board president and superintendent were attacked for not instantly complying. Due process sided with the administrator. In July, the board focused on the dismissal of a teacher on skin color. The board lamented the breaking of a zero-tolerance board policy, and two board members voted against their own policy due to

156the skin color of the offender. Who are the real racists? Our new superintendent needs seven new board members. Next is Lainey Shapiro. Although I support a return to face-to-face learning, I would... Sorry. Would you like Mrs. Cummings to take a turn here and then come back to you? Sure, why not? All right, Mrs. Cummings, and we'll give you a break, and then when you're ready, let us know. All right. All right. The next public comment is from Lainey Shapiro. Although I support a return to face-to-face learning in a hybrid form, if that cannot be done safely at this time, and with the support of the teachers and staff, I strongly recommend maintaining the remote plan as is until the end of this semester. It's working well enough for now, and changing the remote plan to

157the new option will be detrimental to the students' learning as they will be forced to get up almost two hours earlier and work nonstop for five straight hours. After months of starting at 9 a.m., moving to a 7.45 a.m. start time will be a disaster for a lot of these teenagers. So if we are staying remote, just keep it as is and spend your time and energy figuring out a sound plan for second semester. Next is Michael Shapiro. At this point, I feel that it would be prudent to maintain the current system of remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Some of the disadvantages of the newly proposed remote learning with supplemental include, one, a much earlier start time. Many students will find it challenging to drastically alter their home sleep routine to get

158up for... glasses, I assume he means classes, two hours earlier. Two, an excessively long class time block, 7.45 to 12.30. Apparently with minimal break time, this may tax even the most attentive student's ability to remain focused and engaged. Three, difficulty getting to and from school in the middle of the day for supplemental or enrichment activities. Next is from Paige Terza. I'm currently a student at North Farmington High School and now is not the time to send kids back to school. Even if it is hybrid, the COVID learning plan should be extended. Students and teachers have just gotten used to the online learning and majority, if not all of my classmates, attend the meets. Teachers may be uncomfortable to teach in the classroom considering the strength of their... immune systems or their immune deficiencies and not

159just teachers students too lastly covet cases have been on the rise we may be entering a second wave and cases are bound to increase with all the holidays approaching and schools shouldn't become a contributing factor to rising cases when learning is perfectly capable continue virtually Overall, the COVID learning plan needs to be extended for everyone's safety and to keep the virus at bay. Just because the other districts are doing hybrid learning, that doesn't make it the right option. Next is from Mr. Allen. I am really disappointed to see Terry Johnson make ridiculous statements both within and outside of our community. Our community will be so much better off when he is off the board. When is this man going to be censored? Other boards have done that for milder offenses. This man blames the governor

160for terrorist acts, calls Black Lives Matter, peaceful protesters, terrorists. Next is from Corey Joyrich. According to Bridge Magazine's online coronavirus tracker, the positive test rate for coronavirus tests, which has been at roughly 3% for over three months, has slowly inched up, indicating wider spread of coronavirus and increased numbers of cases are being reported across much of the state. From west and southwest Michigan to the Upper Peninsula and increasingly in the most populous part of the state, Metro Detroit. Among 110 recently confirmed outbreaks statewide, there were 25 new outbreaks at long-term care facilities like nursing homes, 11 at social gatherings, 10 in office settings, and 25 at education facilities. In short, nearly 25% of new confirmed outbreaks were in schools. To even consider returning students to in-person instruction now, just as the rate of COVID-19 infection

161is returning to dangerous new highs, is to willfully expose our children to outright risk of life. Doing so would be a complete and utter roll of the dice, a game of chance. Farmington Hills families are statistically destined to lose. This is no time for guesswork. Please maintain online instruction only. Next is from Wendy Arnold. I am asking no pleading with the school board to not reopen the secondary school program for face-to-face learning on November 30th. Originally, the plan was January 25th. What has changed? Why this push? And with only two to three weeks before winter break, I am... sorely disappointed in the decisions that this board continues to make. By pushing through the decision tonight, you are showing complete neglect and indifference for anyone's well-being. And the fact that as a board, you are not

162willing to meet in person because you could, yet you are sending kids back into buildings proves it. Next is from Laura Nemeth. I have three children in the district. Two of them are secondary students. I am ready to express my dissatisfaction with the latest secondary option of learning at a distance with supplemental activities. This is not what parents have asked for. Parents have asked for choices. Many parents have asked for a face-to-face option and many have asked to keep. a remote option. No one ever asked to please keep the remote learning experience but make the children wake up earlier, skip their lunch break, and have the afternoon off to relax. I'm blessed with having students who don't necessarily need intervention. However, they still need the benefits of an in-person educational experience. I believe we can

163all agree that both the current remote model and the proposed hybrid model are not ideal. However, I feel that they are both far better options than this latest secondary proposal to stay remote with supplemental activities. I beg you not to vote for this option. Next is from Robert Dumas about Two times more teens are infected than younger children, according to the CDC, since schools have started to reopen across the country. COVID cases are rising daily in Michigan. Why not wait until the next semester to revisit this? Potentially, the numbers could be down and we may even have a vaccine. This puts more pressure than needed to an already stressful situation. Why not wait until the numbers start to decline again? There is an expected nationwide spike soon. This puts more pressure than needed to an...

164already stressful situation and puts our children in harm's way. The January 25th return seems to be the most logical approach. Thanks. Next is from Terry Rayburn. Keep students and staff safe. Education is not a priority when lives are being put in jeopardy. I cannot even believe with the current COVID stats that the district is even considering this. I'm so disappointed at the lack of tough decisions being made for the better of our community. I was wrong to think that the district and board had my family's best interests and safety in mind. Next is from Kenneth Witte. I believe going back to school in a hybrid manner would have a poor effect for both students in school and at home. From the way I have been told, students would have to be six feet apart and

165couldn't really interact. Everyone would bring their laptops and just sit at the desk as the teacher tries to balance online with in-person. It would just be the same online and at home. I don't see any benefit to go back hybrid. If anything, it would hinder students' ability to learn and teachers to teach. Respectfully, Kenneth Witte, student at FHS. Next is from Ruth Peek. Careful consideration to a student's day at home on the computer needs to occur. This schedule doesn't provide for passing time. For teachers or students to best prepare, take a bathroom break, or get a five-minute rest for their eyes. No one can sit for this amount of time continuously. Whereas research shows that virtual learners need more frequent and longer breaks, this plan eliminates them altogether. I am hopeful this is an oversight

166and will be corrected. The current schedule allows for breaks that serve both students and teachers well during long screen time inherent in virtual learning. While maintaining the integrity of a traditional school day, the new schedule appears to squeeze in four half days of virtual instruction with no breaks or lunch with one day of asynchronous work. This will result in far less instruction and seat time. than the current schedule. With this proposed change in schedule, students and their teachers will not be able to authentically and consistently maintain and have high-level, high-quality engagement. Additionally, at-risk secondary students struggling with virtual learning will be increasingly frustrated and even more disengaged with the change in schedule starting earlier in the morning. What is the rationale for starting early and are those reasons best for students? While making decisions to

167remain safe and at home until January 25th, please consider decisions that do not further create barriers to teaching and learning. Thank you for your consideration. Next is from Jill Gagnon. As the committee makes recommendations to you this evening, please ask questions about the students. Please remember that as a board, you were elected to do what is in the best interest of students. In the town hall presentation last night, every slide had to do with teachers. Every concern had to do with who didn't want to teach and what staff doesn't like and doesn't want to do. Why don't I hear any concerns about students' grades? How are the students' academic achievements faring in the virtual model? I can tell you that my straight A student is currently almost failing two honors classes. Our goal as supporting

168parents has turned from succeed to do you. do your best and now whatever we need to do to make sure you pass. If this educational model is not working for a straight A student, how are the rest of the students doing? At the high school level, these grades affect scholarship opportunities, college acceptance, SAT scores, and the rest of their lives. My students honors math teacher sent an email to students this week expressing his disgust that one-third of his students were failing. This particular teacher has five sections of honors math, so approximately 175 students total. The failing one-third is more than 58 students, and this is only one teacher. The enrichment and intervention option proposed to you does not give any further support to 99% of students. The presentation mentioned only about 10 students per teacher

169would be able to actually receive the intervention on Fridays. Going back to the honors math, how do you decide which 10 students of the 58 failing students get to receive intervention? The only thing the enrichment and intervention plan changes for most students is the time of the morning school starts. This is not an equitable plan. The parents that want their children to stay virtual have always had the option to do so. The students that thrive in a virtual environment have been given the opportunity to do so. The students that need to be in school to learn and succeed now need the option to do so. Be equitable in your decision-making. Vote to return students to a hybrid plan on November 30th. The next comment is from Beverly Pahalko. As a follow-up to my letter in

170August, I am writing to you today to express my concerns for an early return to face-to-face instruction in November rather than accepting the district administration's proposal to wait until the end of the semester in January 2021. I am an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 25 years of experience in hospital epidemiology and disaster preparedness in Southeast Michigan and a resident of Farmington Hills for 36 years. As you can well imagine, I have been following the pandemic closely over the past seven months, providing guidance through my professional capacity as a professor of epidemiology and to the broader community. As we are entering the fall and soon to be winter season in Michigan, it is clear from an epidemiological perspective that the next six to 12 weeks are likely to be particularly challenging with regard to a community

171spread of COVID-19. Discussion about pandemic fatigue and increasing compliancy for mitigation strategies in small group and family settings raises particular concern as cold weather and the holiday season approaches. As you may already be aware, overall cases, percent positive cases and hospitalizations are increasing significantly across the country. So too are the cases and hospitalizations in Michigan. Here are some MDHHS updates on where we stand in Michigan as of October 20, 2020. I've included the respective links to this data. Michigan's seven-day moving average for daily cases was 1,620 on Monday, the highest since early April. The state's fatality rate is 4.8%, and she gives a link to click on Detroit. New COVID-19 cases and deaths have increased in the last month in Michigan. Testing has remained steady with an average of more than 30,000 per day with

172the positive rate just over 4% for the last week. Hospitalizations have increased steadily for the last four weeks with an increase in hospitalized patients not admitted to the ICU or on a ventilator as well as a slight uptick in critical care admissions and ventilator use. Again, the reference is to click on Detroit.com. While parts of Oakland County have been relatively stable in recent weeks, the anticipated second wave appears to be on course, and it is essential to be mindful of the fact that the virus knows no geographic boundaries. We must all remain vigilant in the coming weeks and months as more activities and gatherings move indoors in the cold weather. Indoor environments also present issues with regard to air quality and varies widely from one building to another. As I stated above, I think there's

173a little more here. As I stated above, The next six to 12 weeks could see a significant increase in the spread of COVID-19. In light of these recent trends, I strongly encourage the board to consider all of these factors and delay the return to face-to-face instruction until there's more encouraging data to support such a decision. Thank you for your attention and consideration of my concerns. Mrs. Cummings, would you like Mr. Mookamal to read 45 through 50? Sure. Okay, and then Mr. Richup will take over after 50. Okay, I don't have the numbers listed, so I, the last one I'll read is Brian Sharplin. Is that right? No, you're now at Julie W. I know, but I'll read from Julie to Brian. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Mr. McCormick. Yes. Okay. So, Julie Walkers, thank you

174to the board and district for doing what you've been doing and continue to do to keep our community safe and moving forward. After listening to last night's town hall, I'm fully on board with continuing learning at a distance with the option of adding in some in-person opportunities. I feel all of us have the same goal of getting our kids back to school. I appreciate and value our teachers and don't think it's fair to ask them to teach face-to-face as well as virtually. This seems so unreasonable and the kids and staff will suffer more. Plus, the proposed date of return of 1130 opens up more concern with families potentially celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with returning college students and other family who have been exposed. Sending students and staff back after Thanksgiving is adding additional risk of

175exposure to all who choose to return on 1130, just to return home again for winter break. I want more than anything for my two children to return to school, especially my one child who is struggling with the virtual environment. But the health and safety of our community is far more important than returning for just two half days just to appease the people pushing for face-to-face no matter what. I'm asking the board to please carefully think of the upcoming holidays and added potential risk to the already climbing numbers plus the unreasonable ask of teacher to teach both virtual and in person. Please vote to continue learning at a distance until at least January with the added option of some in-person opportunities. Thank you all again for your hard work and dedication. Next is from Denise Steele.

176I realize that there isn't a solution that will make everyone happy, but we are all at a disadvantage because the district was not more proactive in developing its plans. It would be nice if the district were more transparent in saying this. The only reason I can stomach some of what this district is putting out is because I recognize that Mrs. Cummings is on the Academic Excellence Committee, and I trust her decision-making. She will be sorely missed. I want to thank Ms. Cummings for her service these past few years. I also want to thank Ms. Weems who is always responsive to questions from my family even if she doesn't have all the answers. This is in stark contrast to the responses I get from Ms. Green who either doesn't respond at all or gives me one

177or two sentences canned responses which are not helpful at all. This is the complete opposite of leadership. If you can't respond fully with honesty and fidelity you should step down. I sincerely look forward to November when we can rid ourselves of at least two board members. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Mucamal are taking up space right now that should be occupied by someone better suited. Next is from Linda Larson. I believe in science and in using facts to make informed decisions. The following is taken from the October 19th issue of Michigan Bridge magazine in an article discussing COVID cases in Michigan schools. Quote, according to a report released Monday, there are now 435 cases among students and staff, a 25% increase in one week. The number of students with an outbreak rose from 68 to 84

178in a week. COVID-19 continues to spread through Michigan classrooms with outbreaks in 84 Michigan school buildings in 31 counties as of October 15. End quote. As a citizen of Farmington Hills, I urge you to look at the facts. Keep our kids and community safe. Thank you. Next is from Teresa Gallivan. There is a global pandemic we are experiencing. Let's be very clear about that. Sending our students and teachers back to school for face-to-face instruction at this time is dangerous. The district defined criteria for a safer term has not yet been met. In fact, as of yesterday, only one of the four criteria were met. It boggles my mind that this board, elected to make the tough decisions, recently voted to send our youngest learners back to school on November 9th, and tonight will be asked

179to vote on a plan for secondary students to return. Please remember you are charged with, above all, the safety of our students and community. You do not have to put forth a motion to approve any of these plans. You could motion to approve a return only when the district-determined criteria is met. At this moment, numbers of COVID cases are not decreasing. In fact, they are increasing. By continuing to send students and teachers back into the physical classrooms, COVID cases will rise, people will get sick, and people will die. Please do not allow our blood to be on your hands. Next is from Brian Sharpland. Why is the board not meeting in person? Restrictions on theater venues have been eased, and I see no reason why you are not meeting in one of our auditoriums. Leaders

180do and have others follow. This board seems to want teachers and students to do and they will follow. If it is safe enough for students and teachers to return to in-person learning, then it is safe enough for the board to meet in a public venue. Maybe you should try speaking to some of your constituents virtually and some in front of you. Maybe you should try to manage both these groups to ensure that they're getting the most from your meeting. Maybe you should then be responsible to clean all the chairs that were used in the auditorium. Maybe you should have to conduct your entire meeting in a mask. If you are unable or unwilling to conduct business in these conditions, then you are unreasonable in asking teachers and students to. Leaders lead by example. Maybe it's

181time for you to step up and lead. Mr. Rich. Thank you. Next is from Jamie Weaver. I'm writing to you mostly in support of the proposal for learning at a distance with supplemental activities, taking into account the current rising COVID-19 numbers across the state of Michigan, concerns over how teachers can effectively teach in person and remote students simultaneously. This plan seems to be the wisest course of action in the current climate. Just today, Washtenaw County issued a stay-at-home order for U of M students. At the middle and high school levels, continuity is extremely important. These circumstances are far from... for my deal, so we must serve our students safely in the best, most consistent manner available. I am pleased that the district is working to add in supplemental activities as the colder months will prove

182more challenging for many. However, I disagree with the time change for classes to begin each day, as many families have already established a good daily schedule that works the best for our individual households. I hope you will consider that when determining your vote, but most of all, trust our teachers. Thank you. Next is from Jeff Kowalewski. My name is Jeff Kowalewski, and I am currently teaching health and physical education at North Farmington High School. This is my 32nd year of proudly teaching for FPS in regards to face-to-face learning this semester. I urge the board to make a reasonable decision to wait at least until the second semester. I share the same thoughts and emotions as most teachers I know about the Pros and cons of remaining online versus returning to the classroom. None of us

183like the choice in front of us. If you look at it as a risk-reward decision, I do believe the decision comes out as remain online. With our current plan of face-to-face in November, the rewards I once saw have dwindled to very few. There are a number of students that would definitely benefit academically and emotionally by being in the school building. However, not to the degree we wish with this model. From my perspective and personal teaching situation, here are the risks I see in returning as proposed. A great number of students will suffer emotionally as they live out the reality of possible COVID-19 infection of themselves, friends, staff, and families. Regardless of my desire, my instruction will follow the same basic format as it currently does as I juggle the needs of students in front of

184me and online. In fact, I believe it will be less effective. The time I currently spend focused on students and learning will be given to the physical care of my teaching space, juggling technology issues and reorganizing student interactions and learning groups. My classroom is small, maxing out... out at 10 to 12 students if health guidelines are followed. My health classes are 30 or more will, of 30 or more will divide in half if lucky, but some periods will have 20 or more attending. As our COVID-19 cases climb through the fall, I will be forced to choose between returning with my students or keeping my wife, who suffers a serious underlying condition, safe. This will not be even be close. With five to six weeks left in the semester, my students will be forced to transition

185to a new teacher. The time that could be focused on developing an effective return for the second semester will instead be spent on this plan. As much as I desire to be with my students, I know that the risks are too great at this time. Educationally, right now, I believe what is best for my students is consistency. The question we must decide tonight is what challenges are we willing to take on in order to protect the lives of those we love? There is room for creativity and alternatives to this current plan. If one member of our community was to die due to COVID-19 infection traced back to school, we would have to live with the knowledge that it was preventable. Next is from Sunday Taylor. I'm urging you to prioritize health, safety, and lives of

186our students, staff, teachers, and community members by rejecting both current proposals and continuing with the currently approved learning at a distance plan, while directing the superintendent and district to provide more training for teachers and staff on Canvas and remote teaching, problem solving, the current plans, concerns, and shortfalls. and simultaneously planning for a safe return after the first semester and when COVID-19 numbers have fallen below the previously agreed upon targets. Next is from Teresa Stevens. I am very concerned about the plan to come back to school, even in a hybrid structure. The fact of the matter is that we are moving into a second wave of the virus that very well may prove to be devastating. According to the diagnostic tests by result and county page on the state of Michigan coronavirus website, the positivity rate

187of the week of October 10th through 16th was 4.39%. This exceeds the metric of 4% that the district put forward as a goal for returning to school. Returning to any form of face-to-face learning at this time is irresponsible and could likely have dire consequences. If one of your nearest and dearest were to lose their life or suffer long-term damage as a result of a school outbreak, what do you feel if the benefits of in-person instruction outweighed the risks? The fact of the matter is that it is going to happen to someone. Someone will not be okay. A teacher in Montcalm has already died as a result of a COVID outbreak at her school. She leaves behind a family full of people who loved her. She is not okay. They are not okay. This outcome is

188what you will need to prepare yourself to live with if you vote to reopen for any sort of in-person learning at this time. Full-time face-to-face instruction is unthinkable right now due to the health risks and the inability to social distance with such a model. Hybrid instruction is a compromise but ultimately provides very little benefit. Instruction would look very similar to how it looks right now. The only difference would be that there would be students sitting at a computer in the room with me, receiving essentially the same instruction that they would from their homes. We would be increasing risk for very little reward. Each life has been lost. that has been lost to this virus represents not just a number, but someone's personal tragedy. We are in a position to decide whether you will act to

189prevent more loss of life, or if you will simply hope for the best and consider any future illnesses and deaths as collateral damage, a necessary evil so that people can be more comfortable and feel like things are a little more normal. During a pandemic, discomfort is normal. Ignoring the fact that we can feel better is dangerous. Comfort should not outweigh human lives. The fact that online learning may be difficult for some students is unfortunate and my heart aches for them, but they are adapting and will continue to learn. Our students have already demonstrated remarkable resilience. Most of my students are doing well and continuing to learn in spite of the obstacles. As with any school year, a few of my students are struggling, but the things will eventually be normal again and they will catch

190up. Dead people can't catch up. People with long-term damage from the virus will be dealing with it for a lifetime. These are bigger issues than our current struggles with online learning because they are irreparable. Please consider this when you make your decision. Thank you. Next is from Brenda Goldsloan. I'm ready to express my concern regarding the decision that is being contemplated to return to face-to-face learning. Since 1995, I have been employed in this district as a vocal music slash choir teacher, and there has never been such a compelling issue as the one that stands before all of us today. I can certainly appreciate the fact that every family has a preference of how they would like their child or children to receive education. However, During this particular period with the COVID cases on the rise

191in Michigan, along with the inevitable emission of invisible aerosols and spores into the air, with or without a mask, as students sick, I implore you to consider continuing with the remote learning process for the safety of our children, our staff, and our community. Next is from Mickey Hill. I know you're all in a difficult position, not just tonight, but over the past several months. This evening, you are being presented with two plans to consider for the secondary schools in our district. I implore you to consider a no vote for both plans. Our children have endured so much change and uncertainty during these times. They are in a routine and figuring out the technology. I am seeing growth and confidence in both my daughters. It's not perfect. They are learning and growing and gaining skills that

192they wouldn't have. Otherwise, not only has research shown that a later start time is best for this age group, changing the schedule under team now, now and changing it again in January does not make any sense. Maintaining the current schedule allows the district to focus all of its efforts on its return to school plan for next semester, which should have been happening this entire time and could have been happening this entire time if the superintendent and his team had been doing it since August. Both of my daughters have met with teachers outside of their classroom time. on Fridays and after school when they needed additional help. Teachers are available and helpful to those who are struggling. They just have to ask. I have observed FPS teachers continuing to go above and beyond to help their

193students. Neither of these plans are fair to them either. They have been tasked with learning new technology platforms and new ways to teach. Now they are getting comfortable with your changing it and changing it again in January. Another reason to stay the course and focus on next semester. As a parent of two children who are receiving a wonderful education from very dedicated teachers in this district since they were in kindergarten and as a graduate of FPS myself, learned from very dedicated teachers, I am very sad and worried thinking about all the teachers who will quit taking a leave of absence or retire if they are forced to return without a well-thought-out plan that takes their input into consideration that leaves their children in a much worse scenario. Please do the right thing, stay the course,

194and put your efforts into next semester. Next is from Sherry Franklin. Over the years, as teachers, we have been asked to do a number of things that go above and beyond what we signed up for. We are teachers that have studied for many years and continue to do so to get the degrees needed to teach children about the subjects that we are most passionate about. We've been asked to be a parent and teach our students about morals, ethics, and character. We've been asked to be social workers and teach them about suicide, bullying, and safety. We've been asked to be police officers and teach them about violence and how to protect themselves during school shootings. Now we are being asked to be healthcare workers and teach them how to wear a mask and protect themselves. We

195are told that we need to adapt and adjust to new normal. The line needs to be drawn when the new normal puts the safety of ourselves and our loved ones at risk. You have been given two plans to consider. We propose that you go back to the table and look at a third option, one that keeps both staff and students safe. One question that comes up frequently is, if it is safe to be back face-to-face, then why isn't the Board of Education meetings being held in person? You say we are all in this together, but are we really? Sherry Franklin, Mafara Siddiqui, Teresa Gallivan, Molly O'Hara, and Pam Brooks. Next is from Caitlin Mihalko. We understand that the board is trying to make the best decision they can for our community, and we do not

196envy the position you are in. The district survey shows that approximately 55% of parents want their children back in school and 45% want to continue with virtual learning. Two of the plans before you tonight would make a little more than half the parents happy by trying to bring students back to the buildings before January 25th, but at what cost? Numbers are rising within our county and across the state. It is just not safe. In the secondary setting, it is impossible to have social distancing during passing times, let alone most classrooms. If you're expecting teachers to clean their rooms during passing time and prepare the room for the next class and take care of personal business, then who is watching the students to make sure they are walking to their next class six feet apart from

197each other with their masks on? One of the plans you are considering tonight is having teachers teach face-to-face and remote at the same time. With this plan, teachers will be sitting at our desks, covered in a mask and shield behind a large plexiglass barrier, monitoring online and face-to-face students. Teachers and districts that are currently doing this are saying loud and clear that it is a failure for staff and students. The reality is that students are not getting the socialization they think will happen. They're not getting the quality, pedagogy, and instruction they're entitled to. Now there is a second plan to bring small groups of kids in each day for interventions, reinforcements, and enrichments in the afternoon. This plan would completely change the virtual schedule that teachers, family, students, and students have finally settled into and

198throw everything back into chaos as everyone adapts to a new schedule. On Fridays, instead of prep time and meeting time that we have had, would have groups rotate through classrooms. If kids are going through their... schedule on Fridays, if not possible for some classes to have less than 10 and others to have way more. Neither of these early return plans address coverage for teachers when they need to quarantine or, heaven forbid, test positive. Who will teach their classes? Who will cover their classes for two weeks when they have to quarantine? We have no plans for this. What about the teachers who will have to take medical leave or plan to retire early? The union survey indicates that 38% of teachers plan to take a leave and 13% of teachers plan to retire if an early

199return is voted on. Numbers continue to rise within our community. Parents don't just work in Farmington Hills. Students do not always stay with or visit family just in Farmington Hills. Numbers are rising in our county and state. Professionals in public health, epidemiologists are warning that we are at the beginning of a second wave. We understand that it is the board's job to make the tough decision and that you are trying to make a portion of our community happy, but at what cost? Why are we not focusing our attention not to make a strong plan for our return to next semester rather than these plans that will only be in effect for a handful of weeks before winter break and the three weeks after? It feels as if the Board of Education is voting on how

200to send students and staff into knowingly unsafe situations. Best, Beth Iatro, Lena Miles-Larusso, Caitlin Mihalko, East Middle School Fine Arts Teachers. Next is from Salon Maluli. I'm a freshman at North Farmington High School. I'm writing to you because I think we should keep the 9 a.m. start time for classes for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year. Several studies show that a start time of 8.30 a.m. or later yields better grades and health benefit for teen students. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8.30 a.m. or later to give students the opportunity to get the amount of sleep they need, but most American adolescents start school too early. And they link a CDC article. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers aged 13 to 18 should

201regularly sleep 8 to 10 hours per day for good health. Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, not engaged in daily physical activity, suffer from symptoms of depression, engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs, and perform poorly in school. During puberty, adolescents become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning as a result of shifts in biological rhythms. These biological changes are often combined with poor sleep habits, including irregular bedtimes and the presence of electronics in the bedroom. During the school week, school start times are the main reason students wake up, and they do. may wake up when they do. Three, the combination of late bedtimes and early school start times results in most adolescents not getting enough

202sleep. Another CDC article is linked. If we were to change the start time for a class at 7.45 a.m., I think there may be a drop in attendance due to the schedule being disrupted for many middle schools and high school students. If you want us to learn to the best of our ability, then I would recommend keeping the current 9 a.m. start time. So as a student, I implore you to keep the 9 a.m. start time for online classes. Thank you. Next is from Sarah Vellies. I was unsure how virtual learning would go for my children. They both have IEPs, and I was concerned that sitting in front of a screen without peer interaction would not be a beneficial environment for them. However, our children's teachers, Mrs. Oli and Mrs. Laramie at FSA, have been

203absolutely outstanding. My children have thrived in this environment, and we are electing to keep them virtual because it has been such a positive experience so far. As the board is busy arguing with one another and calling one another names, our teachers are putting forth incredible effort to ensure that the children's needs are being met without getting caught up in the drama of the situation. Their focus is not to debate with one another or share their personal view on the situation. Their focus is purely on putting forth as much effort as possible to educate our children. I know they are working well beyond their scheduled hours and virtual schooling is a lot more work to face than face-to-face. I hope the board is allowing teachers to have input in any decisions that are made regarding virtual

204versus hybrid schooling going forward. They truly are our greatest asset and the board's greatest source of information. I fear that we will lose wonderful educators if they are not involved in the decision-making process and their needs are not considered. Mr. Moccamal, do you mind taking over a little bit more? Not at all. The next comment is from B. Rose. What is board's plan to collect feedback from the community in the future? How are you developing an understanding of the needs of stakeholders before and as you put plans together? How will you address public comment over the next few months? It feels like the board is not really interested in collecting feedback. Why can't we submit public comments earlier like we were able to before? I might not be able to submit on a workday before

2055 p.m. Why was this changed? I never heard an answer on this. The president needs to answer this question. I know she did not attend the last few meetings. I expect an answer upon return, but we've got no answers. Next is from Ronald DeMarco. Just quickly, I know we don't normally respond to public comment, but I did want to respond to this one because it is an inaccurate statement. We don't have We did post the public comment link four days ago consistent with the notice of the meeting. So I just wanted to make sure that that was correctly stated. There was an issue several meetings ago, but that is not an issue that we had for this meeting. So everyone had the opportunity to make public comment at the same time that the public notice

206was given. So I just wanted to make that clarification. Perhaps this person didn't know it because of what happened a couple of weeks ago. which you know mrs green can address at a later time the next is from ronald demarco i will attempt as best i can to be brief i understand the pressure you're getting from parents get kids back in school however this push has caused unneeded frustration and confusion in the community since the beginning of the school year the confusion is born of the ever-changing approaches and their communication outward as the central office has been tasked with coming up with plans to accommodate this mid-semester demand and for and what for it seems as though this is wasted effort effort that could be focused on what needs to be implemented come january and

207a return to school track and a dedicated vlp i am worried that asking teachers to teach virtually and in person simultaneously benefits no one i know that some kids need the face-to-face time and i'm sympathetic to their needs while some are willing to take whatever they can they can get to have their kids return to school, doing it disruptively during mid-semester for a total of five weeks seems counterproductive. I strongly encourage you to stay the course and focus your energies on a stronger, solid plan for January with a clearly defined and staffed VLP and an option for those that want to return safely. Please stop toying with the idea of returning before the semester ends. Asking a teacher to stretch even further to accommodate those at home and those in the classroom simultaneously lessens the

208effectiveness of the teachers for everyone. These plans are bad in that regard. Please vote no on both proposals. Stay the course. Next is from Onisia Martin. I am concerned with the district's return to school plan. Since the board's approval for elementary to return, we have learned that the plan was more of a stream of guided ideals in which individual administrators would be responsible for ironing out the details of how things would look in each building. The stress that this plan has put on administrators, teachers, staff and families is unhealthy and unfair. We understand that there are constantly moving pieces. However, what we have been given and expected to work through is atrocious. As educators, student growth carries the utmost importance, but moving hastily without significant details being ironed out will not get us there. I

209do not feel that our plan is in the best interest of any stakeholders and would appreciate something more than the administrators of the building will make decisions. How are we presenting plans where administrators are responsible but the district as a whole is not? I ask that the board please revisit the plans that have been offered and request more details. I sincerely believe that there are more comprehensive options that we can offer to our community if we are willing to look outside of what West Bloomfield is providing. Thank you for your time. Next is from Dustin Minow. I'm writing to the board to ask you to reconsider your decision to send children back into the classroom. As was predictable, the number of cases in the county and state have started to spiking as cold weather begins

210to creep in and other less careful school districts attempt face-to-face instruction. Your own metrics have all headed in the wrong direction for the last two weeks. All but one of your four metrics is in the red. As the weather gets colder, there's every reason they will only get worse. On a related note, the only metric you provide that is green, percentage of positive tests, is highly suspect. I would like to know from what source 3.6% positivity rate was reported. According to the state's coronavirus site, and it's listed. The positivity rate was 3.94% on October 16th, and the previous seven days were over 4%, except one which was 3.8%, the average of which should put it in the red. I am concerned that whoever is reporting the snapshot to you is making a mistake or worse.

211Perhaps someone could inform us on the source of that information. Being that three, maybe four of your COVID metrics are all in the red, I cannot see how anyone can justify planning on a return to instruction. I realize that you may be under tremendous pressure for some parents to go back before the safe, but as we follow the trend lines, we can tell that it is not the correct decision. Ten years from now, we will look back at these decisions and wonder why decisions were made the way they were. Let Farmington School District be looked at as one that made decisions by rational metrics and not by political pressure. Thank you for your continued leadership. Next is from Julie Poisson. Thank you for updating the frequently asked questions and sending out a list sir. I

212do have a few concerns that either were not addressed or came up as I read the new information. In hybrid, busing students would be served a cold lunch. How will work? The current lunches made by the district are meant to be reheated. In a hybrid situation, buses are not available for students to go home until 1 p.m. But in the supplemental, buses are available to pick up the kids and have them to school by 1 o'clock. Why are buses available for supplemental but not for hybrid? And again, if school ends at 12.20, how will a student in the supplemental model eat, walk to the bus stop, and be transported to school by 1 p.m.? I did see one question in the FAQ in regard to STEAM Academy. Please remember that most parents in the district

213with an elementary middle school child are in the same boat as STEAM. They will require multiple drop-offs and pickups. Any consideration made for STEAM should also be extended to the rest of the district. At this point, none of the models are great, including waiting to return until January. I can't even advocate for one over the other because they are all a mess. Here's what I do want. Accountability. I'd like to know, why didn't the district have a plan for a return to school in August? Why didn't they have a K-5 plan so kids didn't need new teachers? Where were the parent and teacher groups for input? And finally, where was it ever told to the community and staff that 1-25 would be the start date? I keep hearing that the district had that planned but

214if they did they didn't seem to tell anyone. And the next is from Whitney Tyner. As the health education instructional leader for Farmington Public Schools I would like to address the social emotional health and needs of our students. Your health educators take into account the social emotional health of our students as well as their academic progress on a daily basis. Even though virtual learning for any K-12 student isn't ideal, it's most important for students of any age to adhere to daily routines and consistency. I urge the board to support keeping our staff and students remote until second semester. It concerns me a great deal that we adults believe that kids can seamlessly and fluidly jump from model to model and rationalize it with rolling closures, as if this instability and inconsistent routine is a normal

215way of living for teenagers. By sending students back face-to-face in any capacity until COVID-19 positive cases are steadily declining instead of steadily rising as they currently are, we set our students up for the most agonizing social-emotional rollercoaster yet. What sense of security will students have if they don't know what their following day will look like due to increased cases in the district? How will our students with high anxiety cope? The National Scientific Council states that, quote, children thrive in stable and nurturing environments where they have a routine and know what to expect. Although some change in children's lives is normal and anticipated, sudden and dramatic disruptions can be extremely stressful and affect children's feeling of security, end quote. One of the most effective ways to nurture the social-emotional health of our young people, especially in

216times of crisis, is to offer as much stability and consistency as possible. Imposing the possibility of rolling closures throughout the rest of the school year by placing staff and students back in the classroom is not only detrimental to the mental health of many, but also dangerous. This is a disruption to the learning that is currently taking place virtually and will likely fuel the likelihood of Oakland County's rapid increase in COVID-positive testing rate. While we anticipate some of the darkest days ahead over the next six to 12 weeks, it will likely prove to be some of the most challenging during the pandemic. Community spread is inevitable, especially as Mother Nature hands over the baton to old man winter. And I believe, are there any others that I need to read? There are three that Ms. Williams

217is going to read, Mr. Mookama. Okay. Sure. The first one is from Michelle Bushy. And she says the enrichment plan is very vague and doesn't provide all students with an equal opportunity to have assistance and in-person learning. Please do not vote for that plan. Please vote for the hybrid plan. It's the only plan that provides families an opportunity to choose what educational plan they're most comfortable with and equal opportunity for all students. Every surrounding district is offering some form of in-person learning. FPS should be too. Next is Tracy Mastenbrook. I have huge health and safety concerns for students and staff. Face-to-face learning without proper ventilation and individual barriers around each desk, students and teachers alike, is going to lead to more outbreaks. Can someone define what proper ventilation will look like specifically? Unless we open

218all of the windows, there will not be proper ventilation. When my daughters return to learning face-to-face in Livonia Public Schools, It coincided with state numbers on the rise higher daily rates than in spring. My family is now in quarantine waiting for a COVID-19 test result as my youngest daughter has six out of the seven symptoms listed on the form at St. Joe Hospital. I don't want my coworkers to retire leaving classrooms open and not able to be filled due to teacher shortages all over the nation because they are fearful to return. Students sitting in classrooms on computers is a different location than home, but they are doing the same lesson. It does not make sense and it only provides a place for kids to be monitored, but it does not keep them safe from COVID-19.

219I also have concerns about good instructional practice related to teaching three different groups at once, A group in person, B group virtual, plus full-time virtual students. This will not allow us to address questions in a professional or timely manner in real time. When some are in person, some are virtual, it is difficult to maintain best practice with students who are already anxious about getting their answers quickly in a classroom. The stress levels of students and teachers will be so much higher that will lend itself to immune systems having a difficult time fighting off infection, viral or bacterial. It will lead to days missed by students and teachers without proper guest teacher numbers too. The brain does not operate at optimal levels when it is under stress, fear and or anxiety. I have concerns about mid-semester

220switch and benefits of waiting until new semester begins. Students have been learning a lot of new technology and have tried to submit assignments in a timely fashion. Students will have a fresh start with a new semester if we begin at the beginning of second semester. Concerns that students who are physically present in the building will be risking their health for the same experience as those at home. Teaching science, it is difficult to break down the lab and materials for one class to the next, especially when moving from one grade level to the next. If we are monitoring the halls, cleaning desks, and getting lab and materials set up for the next group, there doesn't seem to be enough time to do this and still cover the required material. Simultaneous teaching simply is a nightmare and

221doesn't work, such as labs, projects, group work, and assessment. And the last one is from James Demko. I'm a teacher at North Farmington High School. Seeing survey data showing 46% of parents plan to remain remote should the board adopt a face-to-face hybrid return before second semester and having students divided into two cohorts. My question is, what is gained over our current full remote model by a return this semester when my instruction will need to be directed at the approximately two-thirds of students who will be remote any given day? That ends public comment. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Moving to the next item on the agenda. Ms. Green. Yes. May I say something, please? I know this is totally out of the ordinary, but with COVID and everything, it's nothing normal anyway. With all due respect

222to Dr. Herrera and his colleagues. and his cabinet. I've sat here and I'm sorry to the general public that I am not reading, but I have two small dogs that bark at the wind. So to Dr. Herrera and his cabinet, I have listened to our teachers. They are Farmington's finest. I listen with a heavy heart. Most of these teachers I have known since I've been here the 22 years. It hurts me to hear that either your cabinet had not paid attention to teachers' concerns or teachers were afraid to share their concerns or this board has not been given total honesty. Either way, all of the above is not good. We have heard from practically every teacher from elementary all the way up to high school. Point of order. Can I finish, Ms. Cummings? Ms. Smith,

223I... I recognize... It's an item. I know, but what I want to say is... Again, Mrs. Smith, I have to recognize this chair point of order. A point of order is called. Mrs. Cummings, please state your point of order. So there's no motion from the board, but there... there is an action item coming up and Ms. Smith, I understand that you want to share your comments and that they relate to public comment, but there is a, it's coming up. Let me check the agenda. I think it's maybe our next item. Right, but where I'm going with this, I don't want this team, this cabinet to put all of this out And it would be a waste of time. for us to hear their proposal and it may not pass. We have heard from the teachers

224and I get what you're saying and I respect your decision and I wasn't trying to cut you off by no means. I was trying to say something before the dogs bark. I get what you're saying, but what I'm saying is, is there any way we could table this and do this at another time? That was all I was trying to say and I'm sorry to cut you off, Ms. Cummings. Mrs. Smith, just so you know, that would be an appropriate um possible option when we get to that discussion item when we're in that action item that could be a proposal gotcha about that so thank you hold on to that till we get to that point all right so we're going to go ahead and move to action items and the first item on the

225agenda for action items is acceptance of the plant moran final audit report is there a motion by the board i'd like to make a motion Is that Mrs. Williams? Sorry, you're there. Thank you. Okay. Mrs. Williams. Thank you. I move that the Board of Education accept the district's... Oh, I'm sorry. This is the wrong one. I think that was the right one. That was correct. Thank you. I move that the Board of Education accept the district's comprehensive annual financial report dated June 30, 2020, and the accompanying report to the Board and federal awards supplemental information. Support. Thank you. We have a motion by Mrs. May, supported by Mrs. Cummings, that the Board of Education accept the district's comprehensive annual financial report dated June 30, 2020, and the accompanying report to the Board and federal award

226supplemental information. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, Mrs. Smith, will you please do roll call vote? Okay. I'm trying to keep the dogs quiet. Ms. Cummings? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. Ms. Weems? Yes. Mr. Mukama? Yes. I myself, yes. Ms. Green? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. The next item is the Oakland County CARES Act Distribution Agreement. Is there a motion by the board? Mrs. Weems? I move that the Board of Education approve the Oakland County CARES Act Distribution Agreement as presented. support we have a motion by mrs williams supported by mr mcmull to move that the board of education approved the oakland county cares act distribution agreement as presented is there any discussion in our discussion mrs smith will you please do roll call vote um mr mcmull yes mr rich yes miss cummings yes

227miss wean Yes. Ms. Green? Ms. Green? Sorry, trying to hit that on mute. Yes. And myself, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Moving to the next one, the closed session minutes. Is there a motion? Mr. Rich? Thank you. I move the Board of Education approve the October 6, 2020 closed session minutes as presented. Support. Was that Mrs. Smith? yes thank you we have a motion by mr rich supported by mrs smith that the board of education approved the october 6 2020 closed session minutes as presented is there any discussion seeing no discussion mrs smith please do roll call vote mr rich yes miss weems yes ms cummings yes yes miss green Yes. Yes. I myself, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. The next item at this time, I'd like to ask Dr. Herrera to introduce Dr. Goodrum

228for a presentation before we entertain a motion from the board related to the secondary return to in-person instruction. Thank you, President Green. To begin the conversation tonight, I think it would be good to clarify a couple things. possibly even going back to late August when we found ourselves in a position where we're going to have to make this decision. So first I'd like to remind our school community that the administration did provide the Board of Education with a return to learning plan prior to the start of school, as with an option to go remote. The board made the decision to go remote to start school off and directed the administration that we would remain in remote learning until October 30th. It's now October 20th, and the administration is back in front of the board again,

229proposing options to the board. The options to the board tonight are three. The first option was an A-B schedule. You know, we heard clearly from our parents, and Dr. Gridrum will once again share this information with the board. I know the board has seen this information in committee, but we'll share parent survey results as well as teacher survey results. So again, this will be the board's second or third time doing parent results and teacher survey results. So it should not come to a shock to the board what position our parents are in and what position our teachers have taken on this. In addition, I would like to also speak on behalf of Dr. Goodrum. Dr. Goodrum recently sent a survey out to receive additional feedback on the return plans to give teachers one last opportunity

230to comment on that. Unfortunately she received very low turnout in responses so we had little feedback from the teachers on her second try. I also remind the Board of Education that I was the one that contacted our FAA UNISERV director and president at the time, David Workman, and asked them to survey their staff. I believe that the union surveying the staff would give more accurate results than administration trying to survey the staff. So the survey results that you'll see tonight presented in Dr. Goodrum's presentation came based on my request to the union to survey their staff and provide feedback to the Board of Education on returning to school in general. So now we're on October 20th now. We've listened to our parents who wanted a return plan, some form of face-to-face. We've listened to our

231teachers who a vast majority have requested to stay remote and not return to school. So where did that leave the administration? We have an A and B hybrid schedule for you to consider tonight as one option. We also have the remote schedule. The Board of Education can stay remote until 125. We can keep things just as they are. That is within the board's decision-making authority tonight. However, in between there, we also heard clearly from the Board of Education that we have students struggling. We have students that school is more than just academics, and they need to be connected to their school. So the administration went back and thought through this, and our principals, led by Dr. Goodrum, and work groups came up with yet a third option for the board to consider tonight. And that

232is staying remote for those students who choose to stay remote and then bringing back students who had a need or were at risk or were seeing barriers to being able to be successful in school. So there's actually three scenarios for our boards of education to consider tonight. So quite frankly, I would be surprised if a board member said that they weren't aware of where our parents' positions were on return to school. I would be even more surprised if a Board of Education member said that they weren't aware of where our staff were on returning to school. The administration has been very transparent on both those surveys and providing that feedback to our Board of Education and our school community. So tonight, I guess I just wanted to remind the board that until October 30th, you

233directed us to remain remote. We are now to the position where we can make another decision. You made a decision K-5 a couple weeks ago. Now you have to make a decision at the secondary. We acknowledge much different conditions bringing secondary back than K-5. So we wanted to give the board and school community more time to digest it. We want to give Dr. Goodrum more time to seek out opportunities and what those scenarios would look like. So now we're here and it's decision-making time. But again, the board has three options tonight. One is the AB hybrid schedule. The second is return to learning with enrichments or intervention services for some students that may need them or continuing to stay remote. So I'll turn it over to Dr. Goodrum to once again take the board through

234the information that we've been sharing with you and the school community. Dr. Goodrum. Thank you, Dr. Herrera. And I am going to share my screen. And I'm going to move my windows so that I can see what's going on. If you can give me a thumbs up to let me know that you see the presentation. Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate it. Okay. So just I'm going to piggyback just slightly off of Dr. Herrera's comments. When we first came to the board in September 22nd to discuss return to learn for secondary, that initial recommendation was January 25th, 2021. We were specifically asked to look at some other options, and that is what we did. And every single presentation that has provided to this board in board meeting, as well as in committee, as Dr.

235Herrera has said, has included very clear information about where the teachers stand and where the parents stand within this structure. There has been no new information this evening. So again, our guiding principles as we looked to... create any return to learn plan for any of our students have always been on two major bullets, instructional integrity and teacher efficacy, as well as the capacity of this system to mitigate risk. Understanding that within our state and within our county, there have been recent changes. in the metrics that we have been analyzing, which will be discussed a little later, that is completely understandable. But these have been and continue to be our guiding principles. And again, for instructional integrity, that is a big piece of the plans that you are going to be asked to consider this evening.

236So just a note, because this has been something that has come up continuously. Again, these slides have always been here. Grade 6 through 12 because some people ask how come middle school has to be lumped with high school So I just want to be very clear in this middle school and high school Students share teachers and middle school students are allowed to take high school classes With that said it is impossible to have two different schedules for those groups to allow for teachers to Go between buildings if we are in person and also to allow students to be able to make all of their classes whether they be in the middle school or the high school setting so i just want to be very clear about that particularly to our community because we've received many

237questions about that so back in the beginning When we were initially asked after recommending 125-2021 to look at some additional models, the administrative planning team, which consisted of every single secondary administrator and myself, created six models. And then we narrowed them down to three before presenting to teachers because we didn't want it to be too overwhelming. Things have been very overwhelming for everyone at this time. So we narrowed down the choices to three. Each secondary team then had a meeting with the instructional leaders at their school and asked them to provide feedback on the three models for face-to-face instruction beginning 1130. That was determined the soonest date that we could possibly come back because we knew that the proposed date for elementary was November 9th. And we wanted to give some time to have a

238true phase in to allow elementary to come in, have some time to learn from the actual elementary in person. process understanding that elementary and secondary are so very different reminding you all that we have over 1500 students at farmington high school you know for instance it's just a very different situation based on the input from staff an a b day model was selected to develop further for board consideration and again we took that from staff input and at that time as today The primary reason that this model was selected was the safety. We were looking at, remember, in a secondary setting, students, there's no way to cohort them in classes, meaning they can't stay in the same class every day. I mean, yeah, they can't stay in the same class all day because secondary students

239have six different classes and they're typically with six different groups of students. And so based on the feedback from teachers at that time, we selected this plan because it reduced student transitions and staff cleaning expectations. Once that selection was made, we continued to gather feedback from teachers in staff and department meetings and through formal and informal surveys. So even before we sent our most recent survey out, principals sent out requests for teachers to give feedback and ask for some information, which, again, you have seen, but I will show you again this evening. Input from staff was very clear that they had a primary concern in the AB day model. When that was given to them as the model, they had a very clear concern about the responsibility of teaching both virtually and face-to-face simultaneously. Any

240model that has students returning for classes before January 25th, 2021 will require teachers to teach face-to-face and virtually simultaneously. That is because we cannot change classes mid-semester for students at the secondary level. We are in a credit situation. We have course selection. There is no way to do that. Every single high school that is back. that did not choose to come back in person initially is doing this model, face-to-face and remote simultaneously. And we have sought feedback from those schools, and we have heard, as the teachers have so eloquently stated during their comments. We have not heard that it's impossible. We have not heard that it's impossible. But we have heard things that made us question the instructional integrity that that model provides. Parents were surveyed and parent comments were also categorized and analyzed. Considering

241the parent concerns and the teacher concerns, the secondary administrative planning team, which is, again, every secondary administrator in this district, met with their staff and had some brainstorming sessions to try to look at ways that we could meet their concerns and the student concerns and the parent concerns. And this evening, you heard from students as well as parents. Based on teacher input with attention to parent comments, the Secondary Administrator Planning Team developed an additional model for the Board of Education to consider. The additional model keeps Learning at a Distance in place until January 25, 2021, but includes in-person intervention, enrichment, and socialization opportunities in the afternoons and all day Friday. The secondary administrators presented the new option to their staff during a staff meeting and sent a survey to staff about model preference, which you

242will see a little later. So, I'm sorry, as you know, this is a long presentation. Our first, again, the first model that we presented was the AB-Day model. All right, in the AB-Day hybrid structure, students are split into two groups, A and B. With Group 1A having periods 1 through 3 in person on Monday, 4 through 6 in person on Tuesday. Everyone has 1 through 6 remotely on Wednesday to allow for a deep cleaning period. And then 1 through 3 remotely Thursday, 4 through 6 remotely Friday. Group B is the opposite. I'm going to show you what it looks like next. We've heard several comments about the 7.45 start time, and I understand that. And we actually, all of the educators do know that a later start time is better brain research for students of

243this age group. However, 7.45 has always been our start time for our secondary students. So what we're saying with this schedule is looking at taking them back to their traditional start time. It's not a new start time. This is their traditional start time. But this is what that block model looks like and it's similar to what they're doing now except that but it starts earlier so again and it said draft subject to change because We'll be very honest and transparent. The secondary administrative planning team is spending about two hours a day on this, three to four days a week, trying to come up with some viable plans that will meet the needs of everyone, understanding that there is no plan that we could create that is going to make everyone happy. But we also wanted

244to leave some flexibility in to provide you with a structure, but we weren't locked into the timeframes. We weren't locked into the timeframes because we wanted to have the opportunity once the selection was made to be able to honor a model, but to change the schedule slightly if necessary to try to meet those research-based needs of our students as far as being able to start later if that was a possibility. So again, we have them in person, 90-minute blocks for their classes, which is what they are doing now. One, two, and three on Monday. 4, 5, and 6 on Tuesday. All 6 on Wednesday. It was very important that we have this remote day to allow for, again, hospital grade cleaning that happens between cohorts. Excuse me, between groups. And then Thursday, they're remote 1,

2452, 3, 4, 5, 6. B is just, excuse me, B is, this is B. It's just the opposite. They're remote Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and in person on Thursday and Friday. Again, in summary. When we look at instructional integrity for this they have two in-person learning days either Monday Tuesday or Thursday and Friday All six hours will be covered each week for three hours and 45 minutes They will be have the opportunity for small group and full group instruction And the three remote days with in-person off days for everyone on Wednesday The challenge is that with that schedule that was created, it doesn't allow for a great deal of interventions during the instructional day. So teachers have office hours and students can contact them or they can contact teachers, but there's not a great deal

246of formal, say, interventions in place. When we looked at teacher efficacy, we do believe that remote and the in-person instruction, we do believe that the teachers will be able to focus on new learning and reinforcement of previous learning. We also believe that they will be able to benefit from collaborative planning time, which will include some additional training. We're really looking for our students to, not our students, but our teachers to be able to increase their... Their digital agility, which is their ability to pivot and change different things in our new technological world. But again, the primary challenge to teacher efficacy, their belief in what they can do, is that idea of teaching face-to-face, virtually and simultaneously. And as we know, it is happening. It can happen. But we have a question about whether it should

247be what happens. So our systems to mitigate risk, again, we have the same kind of systems in place, K-12, as far as adaptive classroom routines, the breakfast and lunch activities. And the SAC lunches, to my knowledge, and I don't know if Ms. Davis is still on and she can answer that. And again, I started in person with the students at Visions Unlimited on September 8th. We were in person then. And we were utilizing the SAC lunch system. they were not lunches that could be uh they weren't uh designed to be warmed up you know there were things that you could take and eat out out the sack just i just heard some that is one of the comments um and again using our wonderful victory electrostatic machines and our clorox 360 machines which we're super

248excited about however uh there is a challenge in ensuring proper cleaning between classes as you've heard with the time um when you look at This is not even, yeah, this is highly recommended that teachers clean the chairs, or not that teachers clean the chairs, but that the desks be cleaned between each group of students that comes into a classroom. I'm sorry, I went the wrong way. Again, we acknowledge we originally, and again, someone asked when did that happen? It happened on September 22nd. We originally gave a start date of January 25, 2021 for secondary phase-in. We received feedback from board members and other community members to consider a sooner phase-in for secondary. I want to pause here for a moment to say that, again, we heard all the teachers tonight, and we always knew that

249that was a concern, but we also hear the concerns of our parents who are saying that remote is not working for their students, that their students are not being successful. And it may be a small percentage, but we were tasked with trying to address as many concerns as we could as we created these plans. So the parents were sent a survey and provided with only the AB day option. In that survey, we received over 3,000 responses, which was almost 70% of our total population of secondary students. The data was refined because we had some duplicates, but at the end of the day, after our data was refined, we still found that 54%, approximately 54% of our parents were looking to move to in-person instruction, and about 46% of our parents were looking to remain full

250remote. Would like to show you what this looks like building to building again. Some schools like East were almost 50-50 You know Farmington Central, you know has a smaller population, but this is who responded when you look at Farmington High School Which is our largest school 548 students, you know five hundred representative of 548 students Said that they wanted to move to in-person instruction. So even if we cohort or not, it's sorry I keep using the word cohort even if we group into A and B, that is over 270 students. Yes, about 270 students in the building each day that we have students in the building. That is a lot of students to monitor for social distancing. And again, I think STEAM was the only building we had where we had less students interested in

251coming back in person than we had doing remote. And again, I just want to be very clear with you that this... representation of steam is only the six through eight students in steam the elementary work students parents were polled in in the elementary poll of course so 3 327 survey respondents 2,422 also sent in additional comments, which we found to be very helpful. And again, those comments were categorized and analyzed to see, you know, what needed to be addressed. What do we need to do to make our plan better? We wanted to provide you with a sample of some of the comments that we received under each category. And when I say a sample, I mean these are direct quotes from the comments section from those surveys. So under transmission. And you've heard, you have

252almost heard all of these this evening. This virus isn't under control. And I'm not sure why face-to-face is being considered at all. Academic concerns. I think you should consider going back sooner. My children are struggling with online instruction and I hear from many other parents that theirs are as well. Quality of the return plan. We need to make sure the freshmen and new to the district students are not forgotten and get some type of in-building orientation. Some of these students haven't stepped foot in their school. They already have a lot of anxieties. We should ease some of their fears beforehand. The need for normalcy. Just that this moves forward in a timely manner. The virtual system isn't going well for many, many reasons. Other districts have been able to go back in person. There is

253no reason we can't do the same. Family schedule. Concurrent family scheduling. Students from the same family unit should be scheduled to attend in person on the same days and times, assuming that a hybrid or half-day schedule will be adopted. And then finally, we did have a number of parents who indicated they didn't have concerns at all, like they had the ability to put not applicable. These aren't those parents. These are parents who actually made comments to say that they weren't concerned. You all are smart enough to know what to think about. This isn't my area of expertise. So I'm going to refer to the FEA survey, which I did not put the data specifically in this presentation because the survey that the FEA actually did surveyed all staff from all four of their bargaining units,

254and I had no way to disaggregate that data into which bargaining units, so to say what the teachers felt versus... ESP versus our transportation and so on and so forth. But I... Dr. Bivron, sorry to interrupt you, but I would just like to remind the board that the FDA sent the board the results of their survey. So they have that in their possession. Okay, so you do have that. But again, that's all staff, not just teachers. That's why the data is not in here, because it is relevant. But it did indicate that over 70% of all staff in the district from those four bargaining units did not feel safe returning to school, regardless of if there were students present or not. But when we surveyed the staff, when the teachers, when the administrators talked to

255their staff and asked them to give input, and when we surveyed them formally and had feedback on various Google forms and the official survey, we heard questions about instructional integrity. How is this any better than remote learning? I would love to see my students face-to-face, but since we are essentially still teaching half of them remotely, I do not understand how this is any different from a fully remote model. I am totally okay with going into the buildings. I just really do not understand how this is a better model for student learning. Doing face-to-face instruction at the same time as managing remote instruction is unfair and unrealistic. It will not be a meaningful experience for anyone. Safety. Why are we doing this? Cases are going up. People are getting sick. Kids are getting sick. We need

256to be limiting exposure, not increasing it. I am very concerned with our safety, including having to be in the buildings without students. Just FYI, those caps are a direct quote. We didn't make anything capitalized or change the way that anything was presented. Just FYI. We need a lot more information about cleaning procedures. It cannot be left up to me to clean my classroom, and one custodian cannot clean bathrooms and common spaces as regularly as required. And again, technology network. Will the internet work all the time? It cannot go down ever. Not ever. Sorry. Will we be provided with cameras for our desktops? The Chromebooks on the school's internet may not be enough. So, secondary teachers were presented with both the AB day model and the learning at a distance with supplemental activities. The survey closed

257on the 17th, so this is recent data. We did receive 169 responses. Although teacher feedback continues to overwhelmingly support staying in our current model without an in-person options until 125-2021, the survey showed that the teachers who completed the survey When just given these two choices, not given the choice to do 125-2021, we already knew that that was their interest. But we said if you had to choose between the A-B day model and the learning at a distance with supplemental activities model, which would you prefer? So, again, we had 169 respond, 83.4% prefer the learning at a distance with supplemental activities, and 16.6% prefer remote, excuse me, would say the A-B day model. This puts us in a very precarious situation. How do we balance instructional integrity, safety, and parent concerns? When we looked at the

258data, there were parents who felt like their students needed interventions, but there were also parents whose students were doing fine remotely, but still wanted either some social-emotional connection or some socialization activities. We know that the teachers want to feel safe and effective as they deliver content during this time. So that is how we got to the learning at a distance with supplemental activity structure. Well, I'll talk about that in a moment. All classes, all your regular classes are remote. So they have their 1-3 Monday, 4-6 Tuesday, 1-3 Wednesday, 4-6 Thursday. And then Friday is asynchronous for most with some options for interventions and enrichment for other students. And again, students will have the opportunity to come in for in-person interventions and enrichments during the afternoons, Monday through Thursday. Of course, as in all of our

259plans and in our Return to Learn district plan, we have committed to allowing parents to stay remotely all year long if that is what they decide is in the best interest of their families. So now we're looking at the learning at a distance with supplemental activities with, again, our guiding principle elements, instructional integrity, teacher efficacy, and systems to mitigate risk. So yes, they have four remote instruction days, Monday through Thursday, three periods a day, small group and full group instruction, and teachers are only teaching classes remotely. But we allow for in-person supplemental activities Monday through Thursday. Friday is for targeted interventions during class periods. The challenges are students will not return for face-to-face instruction for classes until January 25, 2021. Again, teachers and students, as this has been said multiple times this evening, teachers and

260students are familiar with the current learning at a distance plan. We still have collaborative planning time for teachers, which also allows for additional training and problem solving sharing with the asynchronous time on Friday. The challenges are still working with teacher teams and individual schools to ensure that the unique needs of their schools and students are met within the intervention and enrichment schedule. The same exact systems to mitigate risk, except the challenge now is ensuring proper cleaning between classes on Friday, which would require teachers to clean after six groups of students, presumably, or possibly, not presumably. So when we looked at what type of activities could we provide in the afternoons four days a week? Some of the opportunities we looked at were very intervention specific like instructional instructional student time Excuse me instructional support time,

261but we also looked at providing additional opportunities for our IB and AP students We felt like there was an opportunity for students to tutor students in a socially distanced way through peer tutoring. We listened to students talk about their need to have some hands-on labs for their classes and some interest in that for certain classes. And so we thought that maybe we could offer some certain labs. We wanted to leave space for social-emotional learning, where right now students have been invited to some listening circles. We would like to expand that. We talked about doing some technology training, understanding that we still have students who need some support as they try to navigate our new virtual world. Again, trying to be as inclusive as possible, we did talk about bringing clubs in during this time, giving

262students some opportunity to socialize with their friends in the structure of a club setting. And then last but not least, we did think this could be an opportunity to bring in not only students who have transitioned, say, from fifth to sixth grade and are now in a middle school or from eighth to ninth grade and are now in a high school, but also just students who are new to our schools, period, and giving them, you know, some orientation activities in their actual buildings. Other things that we discussed that impact the ability of students to be around each other is the fact that middle school sports are currently being discussed as an option. So I discussed with John Menear where we were right now. I don't know. The last time I talked to John last week,

263or Mr. Menear last week. Winter One had not been canceled. Only fall had been canceled. So I'm not sure if Winter One has been canceled. But even if it was canceled, we're talking about the league that we exist in. We talked about the possibility of having Winter One sports, but having them in a Farmington-only league, which is we talked about just in the wellness committee, which Mr. Minear is also on. When we have played against other school districts, they have not been as strict to their adherence. of that mask wearing policy as we have been in our district. Friday, students who are in academic trouble or interested in enrichment activities will be able to come to all their classes in 45-minute blocks. In class periods where they are not experiencing difficulty, they will have other

264options for enrichment and SEL activities. This will be done through student sign-up and teacher referral. So yes, under this model, you may not be able to come to school in the afternoon four times a week and also Friday. that may not be possible. We're trying to give as many students the opportunity to come in in a safe manner, reducing the number of students that each teacher is with, reducing the number of students that are being seen at each time. So you might be having trouble with your algebra class and come in one Friday and there might be another group the next Friday. Again, we have to be able to minimize the number of students. who are coming into our buildings and note that uh we do we will have because this was asked multiple times

265we will have transportation available for those afternoon um activities as well as those friday activities so now what we hear and what we have heard over and over again there are challenges there are challenges and opportunities for all stakeholders in both models So this is looking at them together, learning at a distance with supplemental activities and the AB day hybrid schedule. So the opportunities for learning at a distance makes no changes to the classes or schedules, even though the timing may change, but the whole one, two, three, four, five, six, it makes no changes to those mid-semester. We will have the ability to group classes so teachers will not be required to teach face-to-face and virtually simultaneously. as of January 25th, 2021, which again is our next semester. We will have an ability to take

266the time to create a new schedule based on the needs and interests of students and families and also teachers. And we will be able to provide interventions and socialization opportunities in the afternoons. The challenge is, of course, this model does delay the potential for students to engage fully in in-person instruction. Again, when we're looking at the A-B day model, the opportunity is students will be able to return to their classes in person. Another opportunity is students will receive direct synchronous instruction five days a week. The challenges are teachers will have to provide face-to-face instruction and virtual instruction simultaneously. Face-to-face instruction may look very similar to virtual instruction. The current schedule has multiple teachers sharing classrooms. Remote learning students may not have the same level of teacher attention. And of course, we've talked about there are

267different models. It doesn't have to be with that teaching face-to-face and virtual just to be transparent. It doesn't have to be me sitting in front of a classroom. I'm in front of my computer behind my plexiglass and my teachers, my students sitting. at their desk with their computers, you know, people can, you can broadcast, we could purchase new equipment and film these students for these, you know, six weeks basically, but still the teacher has to monitor the chat, you know, so we talked about teachers walking around the classroom with their laptops just because that chat has to be monitored and those other students have to be engaged. So we did talk about what are some different ways that this could look like. The opportunities. Students continue to learn independence and advocacy skills. And as someone

268noted earlier, very early on in public comment, and these are their 21st century skills. You know, as far as their independence, their ability to advocate, and again, and yes, this is my favorite word now, but their digital agility. Like they're learning some new skills. all right we still will have interventions through our multi-tiered systems of support um and there will still be collaborative planning time for teachers in either plan this is cleaning and disinfecting The cleaning and disinfecting, again, you guys have been hearing about this since September. We have the same kinds of things in place, well, the exact same things in place as elementary. The difference is if we look at the A-B day hybrid, again, the teachers will have to spray down student desks, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday between classes.

269On Wednesday, the custodial team will use hospital grade. disinfected to clean the buildings. Just like in the evenings right now, they're using that hospital grade disinfectant to clean the buildings. Learning at a distance with supplemental activities, the teachers will be spraying down student desks one time, you know, Monday through Thursday if students are present in their room, which they won't be in their room every single day. But on Fridays, that again is six. five to six times because most teachers teach five different sections so in summary The recommendation is to move forward with learning at a distance with supplemental activities until 1-25-2021 with supplemental opportunities put in place starting as early as 11-16. As administrators, we discussed that we would be able to perhaps provide some of these interventions earlier than 11-30, just based on

270their nature. But it may not be the full, it will not be the full schedule as allowed. And we feel like this gives students... intervention and enrichment opportunities in person daily, allows for meaningful instruction ensuring teachers are only responsible for remote or in-learning or in-person learning during each class period. We still have the ability to mitigate health and safety risk by minimizing the number of students in the building each day. It allows for a schedule change to occur in a manner that does not impact credit, grades, and course selection. And just FYI, Edgenuity will remain an option for certain classes, which may not be available due to the number of students who select a particular class for remote learning. I think that that is the end of my presentation. Oh, well, no. We'll go through

271this again just in case there's anybody on who doesn't know. These are our process highlights in general, K-12, but very quickly. We have a daily self-screening, face coverings. Staff will take the temperature of any student exhibiting symptoms. Buildings will develop and communicate arrival and dismissal processes. Students on the bus will wear facial coverings and follow building protocols for arrival and dismissal. Students wear facial coverings in school except for when eating. Room arrangement provides for social distancing when eating. And again, we're looking at assigned seatings for all of our classrooms. Quarantine rooms are present in each building for students who show symptoms associated with COVID-19. And again, we're requiring parents to pick up their children when that happens. And in the event of a positive COVID-19 result, the Oakland County Health Department reporting process is followed.

272Any quarantining and the extent thereof is determined by the health department. Ill and quarantined students continue to receive instruction remotely. buildings collaborate within and across buildings to develop staffing plans for hybrid and fully remote models so i am going to stop sharing now we sent out a extensive faq document earlier today but i know that you all am i please tell me i stopped sharing did i stop sharing thank you um but i know that you all um have a number of questions which we are prepared to answer hopefully Thank you. I'm wondering if the board is ready to move to a motion or do we have questions before we move to a motion? Any feedback from the board? I got a couple of questions. Okay. First, I really want to commend the district. I

273know that the district's taking a lot of feedback, you know, and that is not so positive on the return to school plan, especially for six through 12 and also K through five. But what I want to acknowledge here is that there have been so many changes to the plan over the past three weeks. in response to feedback. So, you know, Dr. Goodrum, I know you only recently started working on this plan, I think in September. It came to us in September and called for a return to school for 6 through 12, January 25th. I will admit that when I saw that date, I panicked. I was not happy with a date that went that far out. I thought 11 months away from school was far too long and that that just could not be good

274for kids. We all acknowledge that that's not a good environment. I'm getting feedback. Can you guys hear me well? Okay. It might be me. I'm not muted yet. Hold on for one second. Let me try to figure this out. And I can't turn, I cannot mute myself. You're muted. Yeah. So I want to acknowledge the fact that, you know, you got that feedback and you came back with another plan, which was the hybrid plan, right? A couple weeks later. Well, actually within a week, a week later. And then you got feedback on that plan. And then you can now we're getting, you know, yet another plan in response to, you know, the feedback that you're getting. And so I what I what I really appreciate is all of the work that's being done and the

275feedback that is being incorporated. At the same time, you know, it also makes me nervous. It makes me nervous that, you know, we're constantly changing the plan because we're constantly getting feedback and giving more thought and consideration to so many different things. And it makes me pause and wonder, what else are we not considering because we don't have this time, you know? Had you been given more time, I'm sure that we could have done something even better or different. But the point here is I appreciate that you've tried to come and address all of the issues that you've heard about. My question is, is there a scenario where we can do the plan that's recommended? without changing the time. That seems kind of disruptive to students. So was there any discussion about whether we could

276maintain the same times and perhaps have these interventions before the current start time for school or after the current start time for school and or on Fridays like we do now? And I only ask that because, you know, I'm hearing from teachers and others that we've got a good rhythm here. This might seem disruptive. You know, it is what's best for kids to make this change with, you know, just a few more weeks left in this calendar year. So that's the question. And remember, you're on mute. Oh, you can't turn it back on? hover over the bottom of your screen and you should get your credit card. Yeah, and I know that's how I'm typically able to do it, but when I went to share my screen, now none of my options are available. The

277only thing that I can see is my screen, and that has never happened to me. And I consider myself to be digitally agile, so I can't figure this out. I apologize for that. But to your point, Mrs. Weems, when we looked at... And I had a conversation just with Mr. Keel today. So some of the issues that we have. with regards to changing the time to a later time had to do with transportation. Because we have the model that we have in elementary, and they are doing, say, four different routes, you know, back and forth to the elementaries, we have certain windows that they can do. So this has, I have, I have, I have talked about the possibility of this with only one person, and this is Kathy Smith. And that is because it

278has an HR perspective. And that would be, is it possible for us to, again, now we're talking about changing the work time for teachers. So, yes, if we could start at 9 without that 745, because, again, why would we have interventions at 745 when we can't have class at 745 and we know that the students who have interventions. are of that at-risk population. So I did speak to Mr. Hill about when can we get buses, when are... Sorry, I'm going to at least put this back over here so that I'm looking at the screen but not looking sideways. When can we get buses? And so it is possible for us to start classes at the same time, but that would require teachers to stay at work longer, which would not increase the number of hours

279in their workday, because we would say you start work at 8.45 instead of... 7.30, for instance, and then push it out an hour longer. I don't know that that will be popular either. But that is something I just wanted to know. Again, trying not to just understanding how we have been asked to be responsive to feedback. And I knew that that was some feedback, so I investigated. Not saying that that is something I'm recommending at all, but that would be the only way that something like that could occur. thank you i appreciate that are there other board member questions before we move to a motion okay saying that there isn't is there someone on the board um miss green i have i think i have another question before we move into motion um i actually

280have the exact same question uh mrs reams asked so thank you for asking that um i'm really concerned about consistency for students. I understand maybe some of the students may be hitting a stride, so to speak. Although I know based on comments that we're receiving, we have other students that are not hitting that stride. So I think that's the balance that I'm looking for. And changing the schedule seems disruptive. to really to all students. So is there, and I know this is something that Dr. Goodrum, you've just fairly explored, but I think my question, and maybe there's not an answer, but my question is, is it possible to to maintain some consistency, but also offer the supports and interventions that some families and students are asking for. Thank you so much. And I'm sorry for

281whoever has the responsibility now of taking me on and off mute. I'm actually quite embarrassed about this. I don't even understand what's going on. It's me, Bobby, and that's my work. I appreciate you, Kim. I apologize. I'm struggling here. So one thing that we discussed, which may not offer as a... a robust level, the same robust level as the Monday through Thursday interventions would be, would be to have Fridays be the day that we do, and only Fridays be the day that we do interventions, and still would be able to offer, you know, very, you know, robust interventions on that day, but it would reduce the number of students who would be able to participate in them since it was only one day, but... having interventions only on Friday. So keeping what we're doing and

282adding just interventions on Friday. we'll give some support to our neediest students. And if we refer back to the roadmap to a learning plan in the first place, remember that these are the populations that we were charged with bringing back and paying the closest attention to in the first place. And a lot of people have been saying the word equity and not using it correctly. Equity is not all students have an opportunity to come back. Equity is that we give every student what they need to be successful. And if that means that some students come back and some don't, then that is equity. And Bobby, for Dr. Grugan, for the equity, within our current learning at a distance schedule, aren't we, I think we do have some time locks for office hours, for remote check-ins

283for small groups of individual kids. So it's not that there's not that opportunity, it's that connection in this, changing the day for the learning at distance allows for some in-person time in the afternoon. and so i just want to make give some clarity to the board there is some available it just wouldn't be in person monday through thursday i hope that made sense well that that makes sense and and i think that's accurate that that time is built in um you know again the concern is that we're hearing from families that Although that's built in, that's just not working for whatever reason. And it's probably a different reason for different families and different students. And as far as instructional integrity, is it my understanding, and I believe you said this, Dr. Goodrum, that the recommendation

284is for the... the supplemental, or rather the learning at a distance with supplemental activities because of the belief that that will maintain the instructional integrity and provide the most educational, or rather the highest educational opportunities or quality of instruction, I should say. I know that was confusing, but... No, no, no. I understood you. And what we were looking at specifically is that expectation. And I mean, you have heard it over and over again. You've heard it from me. You've heard it from the teachers this evening. That expectation of teaching face-to-face and remote simultaneously, that is not anywhere considered best practices. But we do have... best instructional practices for online learning we do have best instructional practices for in-person learning and we know that just trying to combine the two simultaneously is not what any of

285us as um you know trained educational um professionals would it would consider best instructional practice all right that's helpful thank you i have another question yes you're on mute oh Emma, can you hear me? I just unmuted you because you were muted. Thank you. I appreciate you. You're the best. So, Dr. Herrera, I thought you said that there were three options for us. Maybe I didn't print off the right, the latest. We offered you two, and you could still remain remote. Oh, right. So no decision tonight is a decision. We'll remain remote. is there an opportunity just to clarify that that would mean that a board member could come up with a motion that would offer to remain remote in the current structure that we're currently using so that would be the third option it's

286just not in the options right i got you i got you um but there are still further opportunities to um explore something that is not as disruptive, inclusive of Dr. Goodrum, which you had already asked the HR group to consider, and or considering that Friday option as a day somebody could come in. I think Dr. Goodrum is going to respond to that. So today is October 22nd. And again, no pressure. I just want to talk to you all about what our reality is. Every moment that we don't know what our plan is and we continue to make these plans for the last six weeks of school takes us away from the time when we need to be planning for second semester. We do have some teams beginning to work on that, but we are basically

287going to have to blow our entire schedule up and re-cohort so that we can try to balance cohorts and things to the best of our ability. So we really need to know where we're going. We know for a fact, say, that if you want to... to do, if you wanted to make a motion, which again, you can move anything. You're talking about what we have provided as options. But if you decided to stay learning at a distance with interventions on Friday, someone can make that motion because we've talked about it. I know that that's a possible thing because those are elements of our current plans. So again, If you can make a decision, yes, yes, if you ask us to go back to the table, we will go back to the table. But if you

288can make a decision tonight, it would really help us as we, again, begin planning and figuring out what changes we need to make this time and also what we need to do for our second semester. Mr. Rich, I saw your hand. Give me just a minute if anyone else has a question. Mr. Mookamal? So the motion that we can choose between doesn't actually state when supplemental activities are going to happen, just to be clear. So what we're voting on, you know, of the two motions that we have in our board package, is basically 1130 go to hybrid or Stay remote until January 25th, but add supplemental opportunities into the mix. Mr. Mukamo, not to take the board into the semantics, but I think Dr. Goodrum and I would agree that we clearly hear the board

289wants to, would like to see some type of supplemental or intervention or support services for kids to whatever extent we can without going to the 7.45 a.m. schedule. So don't disrupt the current schedule, but to the extent you could provide supplemental services to the kids. please do so. We can do that without you changing the plan at all. As you know, when you approve the first plan, it allowed to bring certain students back, you know, in a transition to face-to-face, but we're very limited. So as you know, we have special education students that are already back in district. So we, to the extent we can, we could bring certain students in for these supplemental activities. um you know to the degree we could without uh interrupting the current daily schedule so really that would require

290no remote i think we hear the board loud and clear and we would we would work on trying to provide those services or we'd begin to explore what those services could be is is that fair to say dr goodrum yes i'm i'm certain this mute thing is going to happen to me soon as well so i'm not going to make fun of anybody um So again, back to the board's decision tonight, we clearly here, to the extent we could, please begin to bring and provide additional supports for certain students as soon as possible. And again, so I think that the fact that we already have the latitude to do that based on your original approval of the plan, we... If the board chooses not to move forward either of the scenarios, we can remain remote

291until 125 and bring another plan to you for the 125 start. And then we can focus more on instructional supports for these students, you know, without impacting their current daily schedule. Mr. Rich. Thank you. Sorry, that's coming. With that, and since interventions can be done under the current plan as needed, as I've already begun with students with IEPs and other necessary interventions, I move that the Board of Education approve that secondary students continue with the current learning at a distance plan until January 25, 2021. Support. Thank you. Ms. Buckley, I'll get you the wording of that motion. I've tried to capture it quick here, Mr. Rich. We have a motion to move that the Board of Education approve the secondary remains in a remote as current until January 25, 2021. Is that accurate, Mr. Rich?

292It is the approval that secondary students continue with the current learning at a distance plan until January 25th. Thank you. And supported by Mrs. Smith. So we have a motion currently on the floor that the Board of Education continue with the current learning at a distance for secondary through January 25th, 2021. Is there any discussion? Mrs. Cummings. So I think we need to be clear for our community because we have heard from students and parents that are concerned with progress in the current remote learning that's taking place. So when we talk about supports and interventions in this case, are we talking about students that are in special education, that qualify for services? And Dr. Goodrum, I believe you did touch on this, and that's not necessarily the case, but I think some families hear that

293and they think that their child won't be able to get supports, although their child might be struggling. And I know maybe all the details aren't worked out at this point, but how can we ensure that those students and families that have expressed concern can receive support? I thought I had figured out a way to press space and temporarily unmute myself and that didn't work. So sorry. What we are asking, what we have asked our teachers to do so far, because we just today, we had two secondary principals meetings. One was return to learn plans, but the other one was just our secondary principals meeting where we spent some time just looking at the student data. So when we are looking at, so we already have supports in place for students with IEPs and 504s and

294things. of that nature. So right now our primary focus initially would be to look at those students in every class who have D's and F's. So that is and that is that would be our first priority. We're looking at the number of students that we have who have D's and F's. So as far as being able to say and again As Dr. Herrera said, we can do in-person interventions and try to do some work with those students. So we're looking at student performance and having teachers analyze their data per class. And even before in the plan, it said teacher recommendation. However... We know that we also have students who are maybe we've heard about some students who are C students and are typically A students. We want to be able to provide them some support

295as well so that and looking at spaces would kind of be a student that would be a student sign up situation because again if I'm a teacher and I'm looking at my class and I'm seeing D's and S's Those, of course, are going to be my priority over a student who has the C, who may just be accustomed to getting A's. So that was our plan from the beginning and from the onset when we looked at these the idea of supplemental supplemental activities and who would get that attention and how we would ensure that that attention will begin it would be Received as well, um, you know and not just leaving it up to the students, you know parents would have the opportunity To to sign their students up as well for some of these

296opportunities Yes, I have Mr. Mookamon first and then Mrs. Williams. Yep. I'll yield to Mrs. Williams because I'm going to propose an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Mookamon. So, you know, I've been saying since the beginning I'm concerned about students who are struggling. You know, my focus has been on equity. I get all of that. But I don't want to lose students who are. who need help, who are, you know, traditionally A students who are getting B's and C's either. I mean, I want us to be focused on all students getting a year's growth. We should, you know, so I'm hopeful that we're not. reducing to you can only get or seek support if you're getting D's or F's. I know that's not what you said. I just want to make sure that it's clear that

297that's not what we're saying because, you know, I think it's just as important to make sure that our students who are used to being challenged continue to be challenged and that everybody gets to learn. You know, we talked about this last year. Dr. Guerrero's plan is, you know, personalized individual growth, you know, so I don't want us to, for lack of a better term, don't kill me for saying this, but I don't want us to teach to, you know, only students who are struggling because that's not fair to all of our learners, right? So I'm hoping that we're opening this intervention up to anyone. who might need it but yes prioritizing those who need it most but you know i don't want us to just um i don't know maybe i'm asking for the world

298here but you know it's really important to me to make sure that we're addressing the needs of all of our learners yeah i i would just like to comment on that for a minute but i i certainly appreciate where you're coming from on that mrs williams uh bringing the point up that we don't want to leave any child out, especially if they need support, because as Dr. Goodrum said, we want every child to succeed to their fullest potential. But I think that's where, on behalf of the work of the team that's put the scenario together, I want the board to understand that the second model that Dr. Goodrum presented tonight, the learning at a distance with the and supplemental services, that was the best plan we could come up with to get enough time to

299provide the level of academic interventions and supports to those students that would be meaningful. When you begin to negotiate that time away from our teachers and our students, then obviously it's going to be less effective now. So I know, and again, you know, we've had this conversation, there's always a balance to everything. So if the balance to that was is if you want to provide that level of intervention as a support or academic enrichments to students, then you would have to alter the daily schedule. And that would have to be the 7.45 start time. So we are limited to how much instructional support time we have for students now. And that will reduce the number of students we can serve. And it may narrow the focus on the students that can take advantage of that

300time. but i would but i would i would expect mrs williams that you know if there are opportunities that fit into that schedule we would provide those opportunities for any student that wanted to take advantage of it so in other words any student that's facing a barrier to their learning um that would seek out assistance i would hope we would try to accommodate them in some manner um but but we don't have the details to that but i do want the board to understand that you know negotiating time away um those additional days away is is going to impact our effectiveness in those instructional supports i mean it's that's just a reality we're going to face um but but i know we'll still be very intentional to do what we can under that model thank

301you ms smith um miss williams um i do know that um counselors have been working with students that have had some concerns and issues, even if they are A and B students or students even that are struggling. So our counselors are back in and they are also helping as well. That's it. Thank you. I also wanted to add in, I know as we look at this, it's painful to hear that students are struggling. We're also hearing that students are succeeding in the virtual format. There's not a one-size-fits-all model here, as we've all said. And I do have to say that although our district has received a lot of criticism, our central office staff has been very diligent on listening to the feedback. and coming back to the plan and using that feedback as as rapidly

302as they can to try to address all of those concerns. I also know that we've talked about the use of peer tutors. Being one of those students myself that if I got less than an A it just put me over the edge. I do worry about those kids who are used to being all A students and are now getting C's or below. So I just appeal to our teachers, no matter what our decision is tonight, that our teachers are monitoring closely. students and those connections and relationships to know which ones do need that intervention and more support in whatever way it may be. It pains me to hear that we have a large number in an honors class not doing well. As an educator myself, I know the first thing I do is look at

303what am I doing instructionally and what do I need to do differently to reach my students. This has been extremely challenging. We're in uncharted waters. We're all learning, but we need to know at the cost of our students we have to be reaching out and doing our group i appeal to parents students if you're challenged in a particular class or situation please reach out to your building administration that person if you've already reached out to your teachers please go to your administrator to get that support and then your building counselors as well this is all as we've said many times in all hands on deck situation. We want our students to have an optional learning environment and we're all dedicated to that. But I do want to recognize all the effort. Our staff has been

304working tirelessly on all aspects and I know people feel their voices haven't been heard in one way or another but trust me as a board we received numerous letters, emails. public comments we've read each and every one we receive articles it's it has been very timely and i know that our administration is right there with us so please know that we want what's best for our students definitely i i will stop and let mr mokomal jump in thank you madam chair i just wanted to get a bit of clarity because the the supplemental opportunities Is that part of this motion or do we need to add it to the motion? In my opinion, the motion or the scenario that Dr. Goodrum provided you earlier that had the earlier start schedule was not going to be

305supported by the board tonight. I believe that the board could simply just continue to remain remote as Mr. Rich made his motion and that we... the administration can bring students back for these intervention services without board approval anyway. So that was in your earlier continuation plan or learning plan that you approved this year. So based on this conversation, I think between Dr. Goodrum, Dr. Coffin, and Mrs. Hendricks, we can all hear this, and you just happen to be on my screen, but we all hear what you're saying. So I think we can work with the secondary and look. for ways to be more intentional about providing additional instructional supports to students to the extent we can in the current schedule was my point. So we will not change the schedule, but the extent that we

306can provide those additional instructional supports, we will look for ways and we will seek out opportunities to do so. Yes. Very good. Thank you, Dr. Herrera. Thank you, Mrs. Cummings. And then are there any other board comments before we move to vote? Mrs. Cummings. I appreciate the clarification, Dr. Herrera, because, and I'm not giving a direction here. I'm just kind of off the top of my head wondering, you know, are there other times during the day, especially with... classes starting at nine, maybe that eight to nine block. And I know Dr. Goodrum, I was listening to you. I know that's not an ideal time, but, you know, maybe there are other times and I'm not saying you have to do that. I just, you know, I'm hopeful that moving forward, especially when students are identified

307that might need that extra support, if there was a time. during the day that work that maybe that could be used. But of course, I know there are many factors that will have to be considered to make that happen. May I respond? I did figure out how to unmute myself, but now I can't see any videos. So hopefully you see me raising my hand. We see you. So right now, so right now we have the teachers do have office hours for the first the first thing in the morning to Mrs. Green's point, what we're working on. And it's been very difficult because we've been just trying it. We've been doing multiple things at once. But as we are looking at the data as a secondary administrative team, the thing is, how could we use that

308time better? Because students classes start at nine and teachers do have office hours. um from um i believe eight to nine and so we can use that time to provide some additional supports they would just be remote supports thank you mr richard thank you um just before we vote i just want to say once again these are extremely difficult decisions that this board does not take lightly We listen closely to the over 70 public comments we had tonight. We read all the emails that get sent to us, including articles, videos. things like that, dozens and dozens of emails that we go through every week before coming to our board meetings. We go through our board packet, we come and even as Dr. Godrim said, the presentation she gave tonight, we had ahead of time and

309we've all gone through that as well. And it's one of those things where we need to take in everything that we're hearing. And use our judgment on this where we are the ones who are elected to make these decisions and it's extremely difficult. But I'm very thankful that my colleagues and I have had the ability to talk with administration to answer our questions and to really spend our time to make the decisions that we see as right for the district. Thank you. I'm ready to vote. Thank you, Mr. Rich. I saw Mr. Mookamal raised his hand again. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. So first of all, Dr. Herrera, I would like to thank you and the team that is here today for doing exactly, preparing exactly the plans that the board asked you to prepare.

310You haven't done anything that we haven't asked of you. and uh yes the plans have have changed as mrs williams has correctly pointed out but that as she said was based on feedback and as we get as the district got feedback the plans were adjusted so what i'm looking at is i'm looking at exactly what we asked for and what the feedback from the different major stakeholders is asked when i when i think about The alternative, really what we're looking at is a five-week difference in hybrid, right? It's either hybrid on November 30th or it's hybrid at the end of January. And what I've been hearing and wrestling with and thinking about is what, as a student, what am I getting for those five weeks? How much benefit am I going to get during those

311five weeks? And then I think about it from the teacher's standpoint, the staff standpoint, all of the staff, but especially the teacher in the classroom that is potentially in a situation of having to change what they're doing again for five weeks and then to change it again. And we've already asked so much from our staff. I really question the value of... what that five weeks is going to do from an instructional standpoint. And then I also am struck by a comment from Dr. Mihalka this evening in her public comment. And as she said, she is an epidemiologist with over 25 years experience and a resident. And I've seen similar comments by public health officials that the next six to 12 weeks are really going to be critical. So I have, I will be supporting this

312motion because I think that on balance, I understand that it's not going to be, that there are going to be people that are upset with it. I understand that 54% of the parents want to go back to in-person instruction as soon as possible. But I think with the understanding and assurance from the district that the district will do what it can. to provide the supports that we need to support those students that are struggling. That on balance, we have to consider the safety and security of our students and our staff. It's an assumption that we make under normal times, isn't it? When we put our kids on the school bus under a normal situation, we assume they're going to come home from school safe and not have an infectious disease. And the same for staff

313when they go to work. But here we are in a global pandemic. And so I just feel that on balance, this is going to be the best fit decision for the most number of people. And we cannot ignore the people that we charge with delivering the educational experience to our students. So we have to take into account what they think. And so I will be supporting this motion. Thank you. Mrs. Green, were you okay to move that? Mrs. Smith and then Mrs. Weems and then I think we're going to... Thank you. I'm not going to be long and I just want to get some things clarified. First and foremost, yes, we did see all of this information. We saw it, Ms. Wink and I saw it the other day in the finance and facilities. Then

314I saw it again last night. Numbers change daily. But there was no conversation. Yes, we have had conversations. And we have heard from not the majority of the staff, but a minority. And tonight we heard everything and not anything personal against Dr. Herrera, not anything personal against his staff. But at the end of the day, we did not get all of what we heard tonight. There was some conversations that were never told to us that were told. We had teachers that spoke out that have never written this board for anything. So I say, This is a good decision that we are going to make due to the fact that teachers and parents are catching on with this. Are we doing this and making the right choice? Probably. But who knows? We might do something else.

315But we have to also look at our elementary students, too. We're sending those teachers back. I understand parents want their students back in school. But we want safe buildings. I mean, we can't even keep toilet paper in the school. So, and then now we're asking teachers to clean. They're not essential workers. They are educators. So, you know, we look at what's going on. Again, nothing against you, Dr. Herrera, nothing against your staff. So, I mean, we don't have to clap and get all mad and, you know, let's not take this personal. We got a job that we got to do as a board. So I'm saying that to say I appreciate Mr. Rich bringing this forward and making that motion because I was going to make it as well. So I'm ready to vote. Thank

316you. Thank you, Mrs. Williams, and then we'll move to the vote. Thank you, Mrs. Green. So I just wanted to be clear on something. I support choice for our students and our families within the parameters of safety. I just wanted to make that clear. I think if we brainstormed, we could figure out how to bring back a limited number of people safely. We do it all over the place. I've got three children of my own. One is a senior in high school, significantly impacted. One is doing really well remotely, and one is struggling. So I've got a lot of different reference points here, but rather than consider my own personal perspectives, I need to rely on the experts, which are the folks within the district and our teachers. who are actually directly engaged with our

317learners. If you're a parent, you know full well that our teachers are rocking it. They are doing phenomenal things. They're doing a great job, and we should trust them. They've expressed some concern, not just about safety, but also with respect to quality, disruptions in learning patterns. And so we need to, I feel like I need to listen to that. I think that it would be really helpful for us to properly plan for the next semester. You know, if we're frank, if we're honest, you know, part of the reason we are where we are is because, you know, we didn't have the time or the foresight to cohort or whatever the case was. You know, if we had an opportunity to do that, perhaps, you know, some of our K-5 wouldn't. you know, be changing classrooms.

318Perhaps we wouldn't be faced with a decision where we had to choose between, you know, teachers teaching both, you know, in person and remote at the same time. I feel like hopefully we can move forward from today. really focused and concentrating on what is the best plan for our next semester for our students. And at the same time, continue to work on understanding where we could bring students in or connect them to interventions that they need because, you know, many of our students are struggling. So I can tell that that's the focus of this group. I'm happy that that's the focus of the group. I'm not happy with where we are, but I think we're moving in the right direction. So that's great. Thank you. Thank you. We have a motion on the floor by

319Mr. Rich supported by Mrs. Smith that the Board of Education approve the continuation of the current secondary distance at a learning plan until January 25th, 2021. Mrs. Smith, will you please do roll call vote? Yes. I'm sorry. Ms. Cummings? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. Ms. Weems? Yes. I myself, yes. Ms. Green? Yes. Mr. Mukumar? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Ms. Green, can I just say one more thing? Yes. Absolutely. I really want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Goodrum and Dr. Coffin and Ms. Hendrickson and everyone that's been involved in this process of planning. I know that it has been challenging and I truly appreciate and respect everyone's education and expertise. and the thought that has been put into the plans. And I really do appreciate the options that were brought to the board this evening.

320So again, just because one of the two wasn't adopted doesn't mean that your work was for nothing. I think it was very valuable. And I think that moving forward, I'm looking forward to hearing about. supplemental opportunities and interventions. And I just, I really want to extend my thanks and gratitude to everyone that's worked on this and that will work on it moving forward. And hopefully now, I know there's work to do with this term, but also the planning phase can be moved to focusing on our second term. So thank you very much. Thank you, Mrs. Cummings. I also want to add, because I know this is going to be the next question that we're going to be faced, is with the elementary returning and how does that COVID matrix be applied and how is it

321applied? And I want to assure... everyone that we will be continuing to monitor those numbers. And as our health nurse, Mrs. Larson, is dedicated to continuously communicating with the Oakland County Health Department and monitoring those numbers as they relate to ours. And there may be scenarios where we won't be able to have our students back where we want them to be. But I do want you to know that we continue to put safety at the forefront while balancing the needs of the educational. things that we owe to our students as well. So I just want you to have that out there that that is not gone by the wayside. It will be a measure we will continue to monitor as we move forward. So thank you. The next item on the agenda is the reconfirmation

322of the instructional delivery plan, extended COVID-19 learning plan. Is there a motion? Mr. Muckamal. I move that the Board of Education reconfirm the instructional delivery plan, the FPS extended COVID-19 learning plan as presented. Support. Thank you. We have a motion by Mr. Mookabal, supported by Mrs. Cummings, that the Board of Education reconfirm the instructional delivery plan, FPS extended COVID-19 learning plan as presented. Is there any discussion? This is Terry. This is Wayne. Yeah. So this means we're okay to continue with in-person for four days and that we're okay to continue with remote for six through 12. Does it also... describe in a little bit more detail what the parameters are for returns. So as it stands right now, you know, we don't have another meeting before November 9th. What is the district reviewing? in order

323to make the call and the decision on November 9th as to whether we're returning to school. So I know this is hard and we've asked this question multiple times and I know that there isn't, you know, one right answer, but if you could help me and the public as well understand, you know, if all of the factors were in the red, does that mean we're not going back? all the factors were green, that means we are. And then like, help me understand, make just some real broad guardrails, maybe. We have Dr. Coffin, I believe Mary Larson is with us tonight as well. I think Mary's probably the best person to explain the dashboard or the metrics to you in terms of what would lead to a decision to close school again. So Mary, if you're

324with us tonight, could you step into this? conversation please yeah as mary's joining sorry as mary's joining us um miss ween say um we're working on planning for a november 9th start and we are recognizing the amount of time we need to be able to make a decision if that if that has to be delayed due to the health measures so um i think you know mary and i talk every day and then some so and i know she's in constant communication so um we will be monitoring this very closely and she can talk certainly a lot more about that but we know we need about one week's um lead time to be able to make all the the changes that we have to so we're prepared to be able to start we've also been

325working with our administrators on what that would look like if we had to delay it a week or two so we have those internal systems already in place so mary if you want to talk a little bit um about more in general about the health part. About the metrics as far as the data is that what you're... Yeah. The data, and, you know, I want to assure people as I go through the schools on a daily basis, and I assure people that we are monitoring the data, and that I know, because people have texted me, and they've sent me notes and letters about the data, and do I know what the numbers look like? And I do monitor those daily. There are things on there that, you know, the percent positivity. That one is really

326looking at the number. It's more of knowing that our health care system is able to, we are adequate testing, I guess is the word for it. We have adequate testing. But the numbers per million, that has gone up significantly. And I know you've seen in the news, I'm sure everyone has, that Michigan's numbers have gone up. And we're looking at that, and you have to understand that the numbers are really being, in Michigan overall, are being driven by the UP. There's also some significant outbreaks that are going on in the west side of the state. And most recently, there was in the Lansing area that they had quite a few hot spots. So that's for the state overall. Now, as far as we go and we look at Oakland County, Oakland County, our numbers are

327going up and we are monitoring that. But right now, it's the northern part of Oakland County that seem to be driving those numbers because we're looking at our numbers here in Farmington as well as the numbers in the districts that are close around us. And their numbers have been fairly steady. We're going up. but not statistically significant. So, and if you look at Novi, who's been in school in a hybrid level, their numbers went up, but they went up originally last month, but actually this last round, their numbers have come down. So we are continuing to look at that and we will take it into account. I am a big proponent that we need to monitor the trends because you can't look at one day because you could see a big spike and sometimes the

328health department has to play catch up. So with some of their testing and their results, so you might see a spike for a day or two as they play catch up with those numbers. And then you'll see it level off again. So those are the things that we're looking for when I always say we have to wait and see what the trends look like. So that was helpful. But I still don't have a sense for, you know, as a parent who may be monitoring this and wondering, you know, is my child going to school or not? Is it correct to assume or incorrect to assume if all of these metrics were read that we'd be halted? I guess based on what you're saying, the answer is no, because you're considering not just one point in

329time, you're considering trends over periods of time. Right. And if those numbers start going up more locally in our area, that would be a discussion that we would need to have. The other thing is to assure people. who makes this call then? Is it some combination of folks? Is it the superintendent? Who ultimately makes this call as to whether this dashboard indicates that we should slow down or that we're okay? I think that would be a combination of people that we would discuss with. It would be a combination of discussing with our central office staff as well as consultation with the Oakland County Health Department. And one of the things I do think it's important to make note of is that statistically we're looking at what schools that have reopened and the number of cases

330that are being seen in those schools. And this is just, you know, seeing especially what I'm looking at from colleagues in the area. There have been outbreaks in various school communities, but very few of them have occurred. The outbreaks or the they have not contracted the virus from school, from being in school or being on the school. It's out in the community. Thank you. Mrs. Larson, I just want to clarify, and I think the county does that through the contact tracing, which is how they know where it is spread from or not from. So I just want to be real clear that that's part of the process. Yes, absolutely. Where those people were exposed, absolutely. Thank you. Any other questions or comments from board members? Yeah, what other questions or comments? one other question yeah

331so um are there opportunities throughout this plan perhaps maybe now but later after we see how things are going to adjust the k through five either for times or um anything like that i guess is part of our monthly update Each month, we have, the board is required to reconfirm the instructional approach and also to hear parent comments specifically for that. So that is something that the board is required to do. And we have it scheduled right now at the second meeting of every month for the board. As far as the times, I guess I'll say the same thing that, you know, Dr. Goodrum mentioned is, you know, there's a lot of things that go into those times, and the number one thing is the transportation piece. So what we would continue to look for

332is, though, again, this is where we would start, and if we saw opportunities where we could expand on those times, absolutely those would be considerations. Thank you. Mr. Rich? Just under the... current instructional delivery plan does that include teachers being required to be on premises even if students are not in order to provide instruction so from the from the on the elementary side of that those are things that we're looking at building by building um and it's really not it's really become a um There's certainly some staff resource side of that, but there's also space issues. So you heard a lot of concerns tonight about people who share rooms. So that does happen at the elementary, and we are working through that with each building principal and the staff there to alleviate so that there

333would not be the sharing of space. For additional clarity, so the preparedness plan we put in the summer, extended learning plan that we had to put in place as part of the recent legislation, which you are now working to confirm, outlines instructional delivery model. It doesn't outline staff expectations of whether they are in person giving that instruction in the building or their home doing that remote. That's a separate phase-in plan. That's been a work about our support. supporting transition in person for staff and for students so that is separate that is not included in the extended learning plan we have to submit this fall that the board approved okay thank you when will that uh just i just want to state then at this point just when we look at a phase-in plan um just

334how opposed I am to having teachers be required to be on site if they are not providing face-to-face instruction, which face-to-face instruction, as I've made quite clear at this point, I think is unsafe. And my opposition is quite clear for the time being. But having any teacher be required to be on the school premises and not providing face-to-face instruction I think would be ridiculous so just as a making my comment here. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay Mrs. Smith we're ready for a roll call vote and a motion at the Board of Education to confirm the instructional delivery plan. FPS extended COVID-19 learning plan as presented. The motion was by Mr. Mookamal supported by Mrs. Cummings. Mrs. Smith? Ms. Williams? Yes. Mr. Mookama? Yes. Ms. Green? Yes. Ms. Cummings? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. I myself,

335yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Moving to the next item is items from the treasurer, Mr. Rich. I think that would be me, actually. Boy, I am definitely in another world. I apologize, Mrs. Wings. That's okay. I should know that. Thank you, Mrs. Wings. No worries. Let me get there. I apologize. Oh, I've got so much paper. Okay. I move that the Board of Education approve the expenditures as outlined in the expenditure printout dated October 20, 2020, as follows. General Funds, $7,945,757. General Fund Athletics, $106,326. Nothing from the Debt Fund. Capital Projects, 2018 Bond Fund, $1,914,036. the 2020 bond fund 6084 nutrition services fund 130 531 the benefit stabilization fund 1 million 180 340 for a total of 11 million 283 thousand seventy four dollars support thank you We have a motion by Mrs. Weems and

336supported by Mrs. Cummings that the Board of Education approve the expenditures as outlined and read in the expenditure printout dated October 20, 2020. Any discussion? Again, Mrs. Weems, I apologize. I was looking directly at Mr. Weems. No worries. Thank you. Seeing no discussion, Ms. Smith, please do roll call vote. Ms. Weems? Yes. Mr. Mukumar? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. Ms. Cummings? Yes. Ms. Green? Yes. I myself, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Moving next to consent agenda, is there a motion? Mr. Mukumar? Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Board of Education produce the October 20, 2020 consent agenda as follows. a approval of minutes from october 6 special meeting closed session and october 6 uh 2020 regular meeting b uh personal items as presented and see the head start director's monthly report support we have

337a motion by mr mcmullin supported by mrs cummings to approve the consent agenda as read is there any discussion no discussion mrs smith can you please do roll call vote again Ms. Green? Yes. Or myself, yes. Ms. Williams? Yes. Mr. Mukma? Yes. Mr. Rich? Yes. And Ms. Cumming? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. The next item is reports from board representatives. Are there any reports this evening? I have one report. Mrs. Mames? Yeah, I just wanted to draw your attention to the Head Start Director's Monthly Report, which is in the consent agenda. So I don't have to read it to you. I just did want to draw your attention. The year began on September 30th with in-person learning with lower class sizes, as you might imagine, with a maximum class size of nine and a total

338of 45 students. um there's also some grant funding that was received and some rules around you know how they address cares funding so that is in the consent agenda thank you um next item on the agenda is superintendent announcements dr herrera i have no announcements for this evening thank you thank you the next item would be recommendations for future agenda items are there any recommendations for future agenda items one for me Ms. Mains? Yes. So, and I'm not sure that this has to be the next agenda, and I'm sure we'll get to it at some point, but I am very interested in seeing some data soon at some point. I know that we will get to this. We haven't been able to for a while now, but I am wondering, like, what type of, and

339I think I asked this question before, what type of data should we be looking at given this environment? I had heard of one district sort of taking a look at the number of failing grades, which we talked about a little bit today. Is there some way to sort of look at that in comparison to the same period last year, perhaps when we get into the middle of the year, when we get progress reports or something like that? I just want to get a sense for how we're going to know whether our plan is working, how we'll identify where we need to make tweaks. That's really important to me is to get some sort of cadence for how we're going to measure ourselves. We just finished, well, based on the plan, we're required to report to

340the board on our growth goals in January or February, I guess, and then at the end of the year. So that is built in as part of the plan. However, I believe we just finished our NWA fall testing, and I think we have some other local assessments that we've used. And we have been monitoring student grades at the secondary as well. So we should be able to provide the board with some level of academic progress throughout the district here in the very near future. Thank you. Thank you very much. Excellent. Okay, moving to the next item is good and welfare. Is there a good and welfare? I see Mr. Muckamal, then Mr. Rich. Thank you, Madam Chair. So one of the items that I am most pleased to receive as a board member is a

341document called Board Briefs. And I just, what I really like about it is that I get a snapshot every week of what's happening in each of the departments, and it gives me a wonderful overview of what's going on. The second, by the way, which we just launched this week, or I forget what it's called, but it's like the top five things you need to know this week, I think is terrific. But I want to come back to the board briefs because I think it's important for the community to know that even while we are working, well, we, central office staff, is working overtime on all of these different back-to-school plans. We are still moving ahead with other things in the district. And one area in particular that I wanted to draw people's attention to is

342what's happening, Dr. Goodrum, in your area of diversity, equity, and inclusion on that piece of your work. So evidently you and Dr. Herrera attended a two-day strategic partnership academy on October 15th and 16th. And there are some outcomes from the sessions that I don't want to go into. But it does appear that in January, additional administrators and teacher leaders will participate in the Strategic Partnership Academy. So hats off to you. Because this is an area where there's been a lot of starting and stopping over the years. And so I really get the sense that we're moving forward now in the area of equity and inclusion. I want to congratulate you for that. In addition, there is a contract recently signed with an organization called US2, which is doing a curriculum equity audit. And the next

343meeting is going to be scheduled, I believe, on the 29th of this month. And then that's for the meeting. And then the actual audit will start on the 9th of November. So in that audit will include focus groups interviews policy review observation and curriculum review and in addition to that You've had meetings with the district diversity clubs full chapters of that and you've also reached out to community engagement and the community equity organization, so I wanted to make it clear no clearly known to the public that You know, we are very focused, obviously, on the back-to-school plan, but we are a large and complex organization, and we are continuing to move forward with the business of the district outside of that. And I just want to highlight that as one example of all the many

344things that are going on, and I want to thank you for that. Second point I want to make is, again, is a thank you. I didn't mention anything at the time, but I will now that I want to thank our building administrators. You know, it's recognition this week. What I like to say is, you know, every day is recognition day for our building principals, as it is for all of our staff. You guys, you've done extraordinary work, and I just want to acknowledge that. people may disagree with the decision but they can't disagree with the quality of thinking that's gone on gone on with it i've seen it because i've participated on committee with it and i understand just how how thoughtful you all have been in putting all of these different plans together and

345you're continuing to work on the operations of the district that are apart from that thank you thank you mr rich Thank you. I'm going to keep this brief. You know, I'm, I am still holding the, the idea of safety and health as our highest priorities right now when making these decisions. Just this past week, we've had announcements of four teachers. having COVID as part of teachers for the Oakland County Tech Campus, for the Oakland Schools Tech Campus up in Clarkston. And they're not even teaching to students face-to-face right now. It's from interacting in person when they didn't have to be on school grounds. But they were required to be there. So we need to make these decisions and think about every single possible consequence of requiring people to be outside of their homes and in

346a place where they might contract COVID, where they might spread it to their family members. It's an extremely important task that we have, knowing people who have passed due to COVID who have survived, but who have now been hindered potentially for the rest of their life because of complications from it. This is something that we need to constantly be thinking of. So please, social distance. I know holidays are starting to come up, but please be safe, be healthy, wear your masks. And we will get through this, but we want to make sure that everyone gets through this. So thank you. Have a good night. Thank you so much. Mrs. Smith? I want to say, I want to kind of chime in and echo with what Mr. Rich is saying. Early this morning, one of my

347closest high school friends lost her daughter who would turn 30 years old tomorrow to COVID. This disease is not a joke. We cannot rush and push people back into schools. I had a scare with my own daughter. We were elected not only to serve, but to make sure we kept these teachers and these students safe. And that's all I care about. I come off hard. I come off with maybe you're not going to always like what I have to say, but I'm here for the staff and these students. Maybe switched around students and then staff. That's what I ran for. I didn't run for anything other than that, but to make sure the staff and the students of this community were well taken care of and they got the top notch education. So since we're

348on the subject of education, FAPN is working with Terry Wings and myself. And we are looking at a possibility of October 31st is an anticipated time for Super Saturdays. They're anticipating that. And information will go out through listserv and social media. The time would be 9 to 12. Again, stay safe. I don't know if your children are going out to do trick-or-treating, but wear your mask. Let's just continue to try to get a better plan, and let's see where we're going further from here. So that's it, and have a good night. Thank you. Mrs. Raines? Yes, very quickly. You know, we hear a lot about students who need support. I really hope that folks are reaching out to their teachers to get that support. I know our teachers are incredibly resourceful and also extremely helpful,

349and they want to see their students succeed. If you need additional help, there are various ways to get that. There's FAPM, which Mrs. Smith just mentioned. There's also... the students from the National Honor Society who are offering tutoring. And then I also ran across the United Way of Southeastern Michigan, who is hosting a virtual family literacy resource fair this Saturday from 10 to 12. You can register at tiny.cc forward slash United number four literacy. If you missed that and want information, just send me an email. Also wanted to mention that over the past, what has it been, I guess a couple of weeks. I think all of us have received a significant number of emails, calls, questions, and I want to acknowledge everyone's efforts to get as much addressed and answered as possible, but also

350recognizing just the sheer volume of all of that. I want to say thank you to folks. I personally hosted a couple of Zoom calls over the past couple of weeks and got to touch and talk to a good group of maybe 50 folks. a diverse group of people with different opinions respectfully engaged in a conversation i was told by a few people was much needed group therapy i was also happy to see that the district hosted a town hall yesterday which was great and provided information on what we were presenting today i realized that it was the day before the meeting but again you know things are changing so quickly I'd encourage us all to think about two-way communications going forward and how going forward we might, you know, ensure that people are heard. I

351think that's what's really needed, you know, over the course of, as we continue through this continuity of learning plan, I think it goes a long way to make sure that people feel heard. So I will talk to my colleagues about how we might do that going forward. Thanks. Yeah. I have a couple of things. I just want to thank and acknowledge Dr. Herrera and his cabinet for their extreme responsiveness at the craziest times of the night or weekends, as we as board members have had many, many questions or want to seek clarity on something that comes to our head. Dr. Coffin, thank you for responding and helping to make sure our parents get accurate information. on mrs venable as well lots of safety and cleaning concerns your responses have been very much appreciated as that's

352your expertise And then even today, I want to acknowledge Mrs. Baumann. I had a crazy question before the board meeting and just wanted to make sure I had the right information. And she was driving her car and had to pull it over to respond to my question. So I just want to thank and acknowledge all of you because I know this is a challenge. And I would be remiss if I didn't recognize Mrs. Buckley. We all throw things at her consistently. And she seems to balance and know what we need. So thank you and appreciate that. I also want to make sure that I use this as an opportunity. I sent out an email to all of the potential board candidates that are running for office. If you did not receive it, it could be

353in your spam. If you'll please check that. I want to make sure that you receive that email because there are some opportunities for you should you be elected as one of our new board members. And I want to make sure you have that information. I have heard responses from a few people, but I want to make sure everyone. has access to that information. So please check for spam if you did not receive it. Is there anything else from board members? Seeing that there is no further business and unless there's an objection, this meeting is adjourned. Have a good evening. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Good night.