001[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat up here. The time is now 5 o'clock. I would like to call the um board organizational meeting to order. Um we are at the Jerry Roi district facility. Um it is Thursday, April 10th. Um and it is 5:00 as I stated. Board members present are um Mr. Kenyon, Miss Schmidt, um Mr. Senion, myself, and um Mr. Todd, I believe, is on the phone. That's correct. Okay. Um, so we'll go ahead and move on to item 1.2, the pledge of allegiance. Miss Schmidt, if you could lead us, please. Okay, we'll go ahead and move on to item 1.3, approval of election of board president. Madam, vice president, I'd like to
002make a motion to approve Michael Todd as the new board president beginning April 10th, 2025. Second. So, there's a motion and a second. Um, we'll go ahead and open it up for discussion. Uh, Mr. Todd, we'll start with you. I'd be honored to serve in the position. Okay. Mr. Kenyon. No discussion. Okay. Miss Schmidt. Uh, excuse me. Um, I cannot support Mr. Todd as president um for multiple reasons. As a dulyeleed member of the board, it's my responsibility to listen to the voices of those who elected me and they have loudly and clearly stated that they do not want Mr. Todd as a board member. Point of order. This is a discussion. This is a discussion. this on our agenda. It says action. It does not say discussion. All of them say action because we're
003going to take action. So, we have a discussion before every agenda item and we are allowed to have discussion. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, so they've loudly and clearly stated that they do not want Mr. Todd as a board member, let alone in a leadership position on the board. the financial issues we're currently trying to rid the district of began under his leadership. Returning him to a position of leadership and then thinking he will then fix it um is ridiculous and somewhat insulting to everyone who's been spending their time working on this problem. His appointment to the board was out of our hands, but what we do after will show our stakeholders if we listen to them or not. It will show the teachers who have spoken out that we are listening and we
004hear them. It will show the voters who came out in November and did not support Mr. Todd in the election that we still believe elections and their voices matter even if others have ignored them. Thank you, Mrs. Tenion. No discussion. Okay. I have some concerns as well um with the nomination of Mr. Todd. Um throughout his tenure, he's crossed many ethical and polit uh policy boundaries frequently as the board president. He participated in HR meetings. He negotiated a stipen for a teacher that was well above anything the district or the board had ever approved and did not follow the standard that is typical. Mr. Todd also tried to influence the way the discipline was managed by the district, which is obviously interfering with the day-to-day operations of the district. According to the policy CBA, only
005the superintendent supervises staff. Only the superintendent manages the day-to-day operations. These are just three examples of many that occurred while he was president that demonstrate his interference with the daily operation of the district and his lack of respect for the board's policy and understanding a board member's role. Not only did he interfere with the day-to-day business of the district, but he didn't he did not honor his responsibility as a board member by maintaining fiscal responsibility and adhering to open meeting laws. 10 of the 15 open meeting law potential violations sent from the attorney general's office were during Mr. Todd's time as board president. Those violations show a pattern of behavior and a lack of respect for open meeting law. As the board president, he allowed the district to overspend $2.5 million of reserves in fiscal
006year 24. In planning for fiscal year 25, he didn't call for any special budget meetings in order to reduce the budget from previous years. Nor did he implement any checks for district administration to prevent the district from once again dipping into our very limited reserves. As a result of the lack of planning for necessary reductions in fiscal year 25, as I have ensured that the district do for fiscal year 26, the district once again overspent in fiscal year 25. In his tenure, he did not have budget transparency. Therefore, the board was allowed to make poor decisions by approving new positions, approve new contracts to be signed, purchases to be made without ensuring that we had the budget capacity. He lost by 14 percentage points in the elections. Clearly, stakeholders do not want him representing them.
007The voters spoke very clearly in the election. And while we cannot control the appointment by the county superintendent, we can control the election of the board. and I do not believe it is appropriate for him to serve in leadership after losing an election by such a substantial margin. On January 13th, Mr. Serioni, you emphasize the importance that the board stay in their lane and do not involve themselves in the daily operations of the district. Yet, this is exactly what m Mr. Todd did. If you believe that, why are you supporting him as the board president at the March 24th, Mr. Kenyon, you stated that the board needs to be at the 100,000 foot level and that we need to rely on the district administration for their recommendations. And you went even on to point out
008that candidates have withdrawn their names for jobs due to what you describe as board micromanaging and that it's destructive to a district. You stated you agree. So again, why are you supporting Mr. Todd as president if you if you support that statement? He did the exact opposite while he was president. Now, let's hear from our staff in the climate survey. These are just a few of the things I pulled about Mr. Todd. I feel the governing board has greatly changed my mind and enjoyment of working for this district. It is concerning that board members are getting involved in the daily operations of the school district and that this behavior is encouraged and enabled by Dr. Monroe. The board members are completely out of their lane and roles as governing board members. The job of the
009school board is to trust and oversee the superintendent that they hired. The governing board president needs to stop running the district. Mr. Todd's overreach in the daily operations of the district, as well as contributing to a declining work environment and culture that is con currently present in the district, was included in a recent resignation letter sent to the board. During his Mr. Todd's previous tenure as a school board member and board president, I suffered from verbal attacks and mistreatment on numerous occasions. This inappropriate behavior occurred during public board meetings. It also occurred during daily operations of the dis the school and the district. This behavior was observed by district administration and other board members and was not addressed or corrected. For these reasons, I will not be supporting Mr. Todd as board president. There's no
010further discussion. We'll go ahead and take a vote. Mr. Kenyon. Oh, sorry, Mr. Todd. I Mr. Kenyon I Miss Schmidt nay Mr. Senion I I'm also a nay and I'd like to explain my vote. I do not support Michael Todd as the president for all the reasons mentioned previously and I believe his presidency will have a significant negative impact on the district. Mr. Todd was defeated by 14 percentage points in the most recent election and it's incredibly inappropriate for him to serve on this board, let alone as a president of this board. as the stakeholders undeniably did not elect him to serve. To the employees of this district, I am sorry that once again two other board members have prioritized their agenda above a majority opinion of stakeholders and staff. I want you to know
011that I will continue to be your voice on this board. Point of order. I am explaining my vote. Thank you. Are speaking to teachers. If any time Mr. Todd, inappropriate comment. Excuse me. We'll go ahead into a recess at 509. You do not have that authority. I'm now the president of the board and I will determine if there's a recess. We will move on to item one. I am going to continue my statement. If at any time Mr. Todd makes an inappropriate comment, makes you feel uncomfortable, or it's involved in the day-to-day operations of the district, I encourage you to send me an email. I will bring your concerns to the public. I expect Dr. Monroe to protect the employees of this district. It is his responsibility to create a safe working environment. On this
012board, our voices are equal and I will continue to ask the difficult questions and push for transparency as all stakeholders are entitled to that. Our staff deserves to work in an environment where they feel supported and valued, not undermined and demeaned as they did, Mr. when Mr. Todd served as president of the board. Your time is up. I will ask it to mute your microphone. Your time is up. I promise that I will continue to work hard to elevate those voices whose feel silence and afraid and advocate for decisions and policies that are student centered, the true reason we're here. To mute my move on item 1.4, approval of election of the board vice president. Uh uh President Todd, I believe you take it from here on 1.4. That's correct. That's what I called for
013one. I technically take it as soon as the vote is done in 1.3. Uh we are now moving to 1.4. The approval of election of board vice president. Mr. President, motion to approve Chris Kenyon as a new board vice president beginning April 10, 2025. I'll second the motion. Any discussion? I would ask the audience to please refrain from commenting. This is a public meeting of the board and there shall be no interruption from the audience. Thank you. We'll start with discussion. Mr. King, President Todd, you want to repeat that? I just ask the audience to refrain from comment on any of this. This is a board meeting. It is not appropriate. There is no public comment in this meeting. Uh we do have that in general meetings. That's when they're allowed to comment. But I've
014now moved to discussion. We have a motion and a second. Ask Mr. Kenyon if he has any any discussion. No, I'd be honored to serve as vice president. Mr. No comment. Mr. R. No comment. Mr. Sansion. No comment. Hearing none. We'll call for the vote. Miss Zimmerman. Nay. Mr. Senion. Hi. Miss Schmidt. Nay, Mr. Kenyon. I I'm also an I will show that approved three yes, two no to have Mr. Chris Kenyon be the board vice president. That moves us to item 2.1 which is the board organizational meeting. The meeting is adjourned. President Todd, you adjourned the meeting, right? That is correct. Okay. Thank you. [Music]