001I was mostly and then I went Jest could Did he um how long since fresh year? That's well and she's for She loves water though. I'm going to reach out to them. Hello. Um, yeah. I think I love it too. It's a great program. Yeah. Good evening everyone. We welcome and appreciate your presence at this meeting of the Grunit Public School's board of education. We respectfully request individuals silent cellular phones and refrain from clapping, cheering, or making audible comments during the meeting. If you wish to formally address the board, please fill out the public comment card which is located at the entrance and place the completed card in the provided basket. Tonight uh we will allow public comment cards to be submitted until the public comment portion of the agenda begins. Um I would like
002to call this meeting to order. Today is Monday, January 12th, 2026. Trusty Rodriguez, could you please call the role? Absolutely. Uh, Trusty Davis, Trusty Kill Patrick, present. Trusty Melton present. Trusty Moreno, present. Trusty Rodriguez is here. Trusty Williams, present. Trusty Williamson is hopefully on his way. Uh, PP Went and President Bck here. We have quoum. Okay. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? So moved support. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Um could everybody could I just ask everybody to put their microphone down close? I know I saw some of you do that, but I just want to make sure it's picking up our voices. Test test test. Okay. First up on our agenda is the election of our officers for this year. And to start that process we actually
003need a So you do have to have the motion. Okay. All in favor say I. I Any opposed? Motion carries. Oh, wait. We do have to take the role for that. I'm sorry. Oh, you are correct. Uh, Trusty Buck, yes. Trusty Davis, yes. Trusty Kilpatrick, yes. Trusty Melton yes. Trusty Moreno, yes. Trusty Rodriguez, yes. Trusty Wade. Yes. Trusty Williams, yes. And no, Trusty Williamson. That happens. Okay. And as the temporary chairs person, I will appoint Trustey Rodriguez to be our temporary secretary for this process. So we do have some nominations submitted for the different officer positions and first up is our president position. We have two nominations for president. We have um Trusty Rodriguez was nominated by Trusty Kill Patrick and also Trusty Wade was nominated by myself. Are there any other nominations for president?
004Okay. Trusty Rodriguez, do you accept this nomination? Gone. Trusty Wade, do you accept this nomination? Gone. Ok, the nominations for president are closed. Do I have a motion? The way I would ask for this motion is a motion for the office of president to either go to Trusty Rodriguez or to Truste Wade. And then when we take the vote, I'm going to ask that name who you would like to see in that position instead of voting yes or no. Yes. So the motion that I'm asking for is a motion for the office of president for either Trusty Rodriguez or Trusty Wade. So moved. Do I have a second? Second and Trusty Rodriguez if you could call that. Yep. Okay. Uh, excuse me. Is there discussion before we can discuss if you have things to say?
005Yeah. Okay. I would like. Okay. Um, so I know we've had a little bit of discussion about this in the past, but I would like to um specifically state um uh Trust. Can you bring your microphone a little closer? me. You closer. I ca n't. Oh, it sounds like I'm real close already. [laughs] Okay. Um, well, I just wanted to express um my full support for our raid as the ideal choice for the president position. Um, I believe leadership is not just about holding a title. It is about demonstrating behaviors that inspire trust, drive progress, and empower others. As Miss Wade embodies these qualities every single day. First and foremost, Miss Wade is an intentional communicator. She listens actively and shares information transparently and ensures that every voice is heard. This ability to connect with
006people builds trust and strengthens collaboration. She has led as VP with accountability. When challenges arise, she takes responsibilities, find solutions, and models integrity. Her action set the standard for professionalism and reliability. What truly sets her apart is the vision and strategic thinking. Miss W doesn't just focus on today. She anticipates tomorrow and she also aligns uh the team efforts with organizational goals and inspires others to see the big picture. Equally important. She empowers those around her by delegating and encouraging creativity. Miss way helps others grow and succeed. She understands that leadership is about lifting others up and not standing alone. In times of change, adaptability is key in misway excells here. She remains calm, flexible, and solution-oriented, turning challenges into opportunities for improvement. Her emotional intelligence is evident in her interaction. She leads with empathy,
007resolve. Okay, I'd like to cast a vote for Vice President W Davis. Jo, Patrick, Trusty Rodriguez, Jos Milton J Rodriguez, Jos Moreno, Jos Rodriguez, I vote for myself. Jy W voted for me. Jy Williams, vice president, those who are in favor, does anyone propose? The plan is to be back here by 7 pm. I know. I was like the three of us queen. Minute to dry. Not bad. Isk both of them she knows that I love you This isn't true. thinkous did you or anything like Ok. Okay. I have dinner smells on my hand. the thing I mean with all the technology to like heads I don't Richard what are you saying about the earbuds Yeah. I think better than the onions on my dish and kind of experiment I fail my family will do
008it. cheese and I know I notice But we try not to like these days. Yeah.Yeah. In fact, I know that you know and he is relaunching mindset meals. I just ordered my meals for him today. You of the test. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So good. No, this is for the pilot. It's for next week's launch. Well, I'm a week behind you. I'm going to bring that up. What did you get? Did you get the jerkest? They're good. told him I was good care of you know we didn't know what I could especially if we're not healthy if we still working. I think having even real president of how many minutes and I didn't even see you down director voice I thought you got into accident or something. I was my little flow like somebody just
009don't look So I'm like taking everything and it's all like one and I'm like I car so you think I'm like but it's like one time I need to actually get How look we have I mean we have yeah she's got a mask on to but she's also Thank you. I'm done. I have to turn it off. J bishes our office. Yep. And doing it again. See how hard it is to do it on one thing though? Okay. Okay, I think we're ready to begin. I would like to break the recess and we took a recess because we had a tie and then I asked J Rodriguez to call the vote again. This is for the president. There are two people, Rodriguez and VP W. Trusty Wit. And when I say your name, please tell
010me who you're voting for. Very good. Trusty Bucha, BP W trusty Davis Trusty Wade Trusty Kil Patrick Trusty Rodríguez Trusty Milton Trust Rodríguez Trusty Moreno TR Rodríguez Rodríguez I'm going to vote for me. Very well, then Rodriguez wins that vote. Very well, President Rodriguez, are you okay with me continuing until we finish? Okay, then I'll continue with the rest of our vice president, treasurer, and secretary. So, moving on to the vice president, we have two nominations. Trusty Rodriguez nominated himself, I nominated him, and VP W was nominated by Trusty Kill Patrick. So I need President Wir and I have support for that. I support it, and if you could pass along the list. Trustri Bucheek, yes. Trusty Davis, yes. Trusty Kilpatrick, yes. Trusty Melton, yes. Just Moreno, yes, Rodríguez, yes. Trust Wade, yes. Trust Williams,
011yes, Trusty Williamson, yes. And the motion passes. And moving on to secretary, we had two nominations for Trustic Patrick to be our secretary, her and me. And you can put me there. I can receive support. Support. And you can pass the list for this vote. Trusty Wick. Yes. Trusty Davis. Yes. Trustat Milton. Trust Moreno. Rodríguez VP. William. Trusty Williamson. Yes. And the excitement passes. For treasurer. We had a nomination made by trusty Patrick for trusty Moreno to serve as treasurer. I have support for that. They should have received something for me too. A nomination for me. Oh, yes, sorry. Miss Williams also nominated her. He also nominated Trusty Moreno, I support him. Trusty BK, yes, Trusty Davis. Trust Patrick, Sron, yes, Trusty Moreno, Sir Rodriguez, yes W, yes, Trusty Williams, yes, Trusty Williamson, yes. And
012it happens. Congratulations to President Rodriguez, Vice President W, our Secretary, Miss Kill Patrick, and Treasurer Trusty Moreno. And now we're going to change our positions. exchange positions. Very well, thank you all for that now in society and it is very important specifically for children of high school age and I wanted to share it because it is inspiring and when I see my classmates it inspires me to be a better member of my community. And when is the 29th? The day is January 29th during the day and at night during the day. Thank you so much. Now we're going to move on to the reports from the committee heads. First, regarding facilities, I will share with you the information that the adhw committee has been compiling regarding the matrix, the evaluation of the candidates in the
013RFPs, and then the current RFPs. That should be in your box for them to go over and check. So I wanted to share regarding the time. They gave me that question and I wanted to make sure we were doing the process in the first buildings. We want to see when we're going to turn around and have a process and a full schedule so we know where we're going to go. Now we're going to go through the first two and see how the presentation to the community went, how that went, and the presentation to the board. To make sure we have a process in place, we'll give a timeline so it's not too fast, but not too slow, so we can move forward with the additional eight properties. Thanks to Trusty Williams. Are there any discussions
014or questions? for Trusty Williams. Okay , so let's talk to the superintendent and listen to her report . Hello everyone and happy new year. If I haven't told you individually, I'm happy to be back. Welcome to 2026. Uh, our first item is Board Appreciation Month. When they entered the lobby, there were some cupcakes for our audience and community members who wanted to try them, and for the board members we have some cupcakes back there by the piano for you. We also have a resolution that I want to read and share the other activities we're going to do this month in honor of the board's appreciation. The government, Governor George Whitmer, has said that January 2026 will be Board Recognition Month in Michigan, and as you, they participate as elected representatives in the education of the
015Grand Rapids schools community, and as members of the Grand Rapids School Board, they are always trying to have equity, progress, and innovation. They have a commitment to growth and try to improve things with the approval and implementation of Imagine GRPS, with the plan of the committees, and many more intentional efforts. And because the individual members of the educational board have different and varied backgrounds, many different perspectives and training come to their service. Each member has a passion for education and for giving students a meaningful voice regarding the important elements in this. Your participation has strengthened the work of the board. So, congratulations to our board members and to the audience. Please give them a round of applause. Thank you for your service as elected officials. It is definitely a journey and you have been doing
016it for a while, you realize that it really is a journey, it is an adventure. Julie is going to bring the joint usage agreement together. We have a clean copy and also a copy that has the red stripes. And so that you can see where we stand on that, and if you have any comments you'd like to give us before it's finalized, we can do that today. Okay. I'm going to give you 2 more minutes to review it and then we'll review it together. And if you have any questions, Ah. One more minute and then I'll give you a chance for questions and comments. Ready? Very good. I just want to mention a couple of points based on the information we've collected over the past few months. Our board's request has been to receive clarity
017on some of the things that remain somewhat ambiguous or have been left open to interpretation. What we are trying to do is obtain a history of how long this agreement has been in place. And if we look at page 3, on page three or four, it explains what the responsibilities of the city and district are for those shared spaces. Then, when we charge for some kind of party, it typically absorbs its own cost. Now, these are some of the properties that we share with the city. What we're saying is that we don't want to buy your water treatment building. For example, this only applies when this property is being considered for sale. The other thing we wanted to make sure we could clarify for you is Roby's work on this point. I think I love
018seeing how far this document is going. Regarding the property, I'm looking at page two. These are some of the properties that will be used in this agreement when we were doing a title search. Any other questions? Very well, thank you very much, Dr. Roby. I'm going to send a copy to the city. When will we be able to? Can you read the comments section for us? Could you read the comments section for us, please? If there is going to be a portion, this will accommodate both agenda items and non- agenda items. And I think it will be approximately 3 minutes for the individuals who have completely finished all the comments, that provides us. everything we need for proper monitoring. We ask that you please refrain from making any abusive comments about board members, and if
019you have a complaint regarding any of this, please use the appropriate channels to make such comments. They will be invited to speak to the board one at a time. Before you begin your comments, please state your name clearly. The secretary, myself, and others will also make sure that everything has been done on time. You will ask them to please finish their comments when their time is up. We remind you that we cannot respond to you, but we are interested in what you have to say. We greatly value your opinion and thank you for sharing it with us. Thank you very much, Secretary Patrick. First we have Frederic Brown and then Marta Johnson. Go ahead, come up to the podium for public comments. Ah. Hello good evening. My name is Federica Brown. I have five children.
020I have three that are here at the moment, two in Shamary and one in C Frust. I would like to talk about a few things tonight. First of all, I want to say that I wish there were more parents here , especially to elevate the work of our children and the good work that is being done, as well as their aspirations for the future. Sometimes we spend a lot of time talking about our differences and don't necessarily talk about the things we have in common. This brings me to make public comments tonight. There is too much division in our district. We're not a district, but it feels like we're our own charter system. We have a division of children who are one color or another. And although there are many schools, different cultures and different
021characteristics, the situation of parents and different students in RPS. the situation of the parents and the different students in RPS. I also want to thank the board for the contract. Last time we were standing, we were celebrating. Definitely something we can all celebrate together. We need much more income for teachers, for students, for schools, so that we can take two positive steps and two moves forward. Something that was mentioned a lot was the need for more transparency. And this raises the question of what these open negotiations are. If everyone has visibility, especially the students, because we know that this is about their schools and this is their reality. The second thing I would like to ask the board to consider is the different cycles. In this way we can see and have the opportunity to
022create a community where parents, teachers, and students all feel they can continue to build trust and many more common areas. Please consider being open to these negotiations and contracts. This way we can know when we can start bringing the community in, how we can start creating progress, and we can all feel much better about these contracts and the way we're going to be advocating for the students. Thank you. Alright, that concludes the public comment portion of our meeting. And we also have here the calendar for future meetings. We have the schedule here for the meetings through December 14. Do you have any questions or comments before we submit it for approval? If I am concerned about the possibility of staff coming in, I wanted to clarify that on Mondays we have staff meetings and on
023the second day we have PLC, which is the second time period after school. This is correct. Those three Mondays are currently being located or used by the staff. I'm looking at my calendar for a moment. The reason I mention this is because of the possibility that teachers may be able to join our meetings. At some point we were doing first and third year, but it also coincided with many of the holidays. I believe that's the reason why we decided we were going to use the third one. I don't know if it would be possible if we could make these meetings a little shorter so that staff could attend. I don't know if the third Monday is better. than the first one. This is like a discussion. What time did you say you were leaving this
024meeting? Depends. I think it's an hour after they finish their meetings. Thank you, Miss Andersen. Another thing we can say is that this is created under different policies or rules, and that would have to change. Any further discussion on this point? We have it here on Mondays too, but we also have it on a Tuesday date. Maybe we'll have to change that. May 11 instead of May 12. It's just a correction. What do we believe? The second one is the best. I hear that we need to change policies in a different way. Yes, I think that before we get to that point, that topic, we need to look at our policy and see what it indicates and whether other people feel comfortable with it. And I know that much of this about fixing those PLCs
025is not in the ones they carry, it has no place on the second Monday. If I wait until the end of the month to pay my bills, I'm in trouble. So, we need to keep that in mind when we're thinking about the district's business. Of course there are many ways people can engage with us and share their thoughts, but the district business, thoughts, but the district business, to wait for us until the third. It's the first one . Hello everyone. It's the first one . Hello everyone on YouTube. Uh, so I think that's another channel through which people can participate in those meetings. So, I feel comfortable moving this forward today. If there's no further discussion, I'd like to put it to a vote. Trust Williamson. I would just like to make a change so
026that we can switch from May 12th to May 11th. Yes, we will make that change. So, we're voting on the May 11th version. Yes, it will be May 11th. So, there is support for... there is a motion to support... the regular board schedule. Ah, except for the correction on Monday, May 1st. Yes, I support it. Very good. Everyone in favor. Someone's there and they're passing by. So, schools do decide when they will have their PLCs and vote as a school. So each school can have a PLC on a different day of the week. They, I'm not referring to one place or another, but if you change it, you might have a conflict with some school. How advanced are they? They typically do it at the beginning of the school year, and I'm looking this way
027at my team. It's true? Yes. Okay, very good. And next we have vacant buildings, future RFP use, and the matrix. This is something that was sent to our board emails on January 7th and 8th, and I hope you were able to review them. I am going to refer to Trusty Williams, the director of the ADHH facilities committee. Any feedback before we approve it? Nothing. Very good. Just wanted to thank my colleagues for organizing this before we started our participation meetings. Thanks to that committee because I know they worked very closely on our winter break for everyone and I appreciate their commitment to the production of this thing. It is something that is very sensitive to time. So, we're going to vote on it now. Everyone who is in favor of approving the future use of
028the vacant buildings and the RFP Matrix, do I support it? Yes, I support it. Everyone in favor? Someone has put it and the motion passes and now we have our ah consent agenda grouping 13.1 to 17.0. Any questions, comments, or discussions about these points? I have a motion to support the consent agenda. If support shifts and those in favor are on the side, there is someone opposed. That happens. We have an exciting way to get involved, to participate. We also have an elementary meeting of Alexander Community Meetings this Wednesday, January 14th. This is going to happen, one participation will take place at 12 pm and another at 6 pm. so that we can receive as much participation as possible and the next day change the purpose of these buildings with Jal and we hope to
029see you there. I also want to say thank you to everyone who supported me in this position as president. I am very excited to begin the work in 2026 as community president because the job of educating our children takes all of us. As we start the new year, I want to invite our community partners who are watching this online or later. And to the leaders throughout the great world, we ask that you join us in uplifting our students in any way possible; they have high aspirations. We need to work and remain responsible. I also recognize that although our opinions may differ, at the end of the day we all want what's best for our students. Number two, I want to have difficult conversations. This work is complex, and sometimes we are thanked, sometimes we disagree
030with ourselves or with the community, but we must not be distracted from this path. If we focus on the students, it will be an easier job. And I want nothing more than to lead with humility and curiosity. We have some very bright minds on this board and I want to acknowledge their experience and their work. We cannot do them alone; these are my commitments to you. I'm going to send you an email to talk to you one by one. So, wait to see that email and I hope we have a very good 2026. Now we move on to the superintendent's comments. Good night again . I want to make sure people know about the budget. This has to do with public comments, with our budget cycle. This year we're doing things a little differently and
031there will be information on Budget 101 for our community. It is important for people to understand how city budgets work. There's a conference taking place on Friday for the state, and until the state releases its preliminary budget, you can't really start making the budget until I understand that we want people to have timely information. But one of the things about school budgets is that it's iterative. Once you've made a budget, you need to do more cycles to see where the changes will occur. What we did here, what we want to make sure we do this next cycle, is to make sure that people understand how the budget is done. As President Rodriguez said, it's very complicated, and school budgets are more difficult than other types because you have state and federal money, and there are
032many different threads that make you do different things. So, this is coming in the future. I remind you that Mr. Rodriguez said regarding our expo, it is a perfect time for students and families transitioning from elementary to middle school, from middle school to higher education, to get to know the schools, meet the staff, perhaps take a tour of the schools, and bring your student with you, because it is important as parents that you are making a very important decision with that student so that the student can see what that school has to do with their academic experience. Those are my comments tonight. Thank you, Dr. Roby. Now we're going to talk and get comments from the board. Secretary K. Patrick. First trustck. It's harder to hear here. I'm sorry. Trustible check. No, I have no
033comments tonight. Trusty Davis, I have no comment. Secretary Kill Patrick, no, just grateful to be here. Thank you. I am happy to be able to vote today on the issue of leadership. It's a different way of doing things as leaders. And I just wanted to mention that I am , I believe that everyone is thinking about leadership and my vote is not against anyone, but thinking about what future we feel we have. I'm really excited about the leadership and the possibility of voting. Trust Moreno, no, I just wanted to mention some of the things we saw before the holidays. Much gratitude to the families. This was truly a wonderful moment to be out there. And I feel like we were all there, almost taking up all the space of the vein. It was a really
034great night and I just wanted to mention our students who are here giving it their all and how great it is to have that ability, right? And once again, thanks to our staff for making it possible for our meetings to be published again. How wonderful to be able to see this at the beginning of 2026. I feel like this year is going to be magical and I'm so happy to be able to do this by your side this year. Thanks, BP. The peace quebendo game was wonderful. What a joy to see our teams there, given the opportunity. I remember playing there last year and I remember telling someone that this was my first time, but no, I had already been there. Thank you, Kim. Just mentioning this made me feel really good, and seeing your
035[something] made me feel very appreciated. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who came, and it's great that we now have our live communication. Jos Williams, I want to thank everyone who has come. Thank you so much for being part of this meeting. I also want to say very congratulations to everyone. I am really excited about intentional communication. I want to thank the district, everyone, for giving us the opportunity to have these live meetings. It's something we've been asking for, something we wanted to see how it could be done, and I think the leadership we've had is wonderful for accessibility and for people in the community—staff, students, families—so they can see the work we're doing. I'm very excited because I believe this year is going to bring us great things. The work we did last year
036and the work we're going to be doing this year is also very good. There are so many changes happening in our community. Thank you all, and I truly appreciate you all very much. Very well thank you. Next up is the closed session. This is the last item on our agenda. We're not going to have any other points to discuss after that. We are now going into a closed session. The board will hold a closed session to hear some complaints against an employee. This. First, I would like to request a motion. I want to clarify that if we do make a decision, we will then have to vote on this, and it will be a one-by- one vote. Check David. VP Wyams and Tressy Williamson. Okay, then let's go to closed session. Yeah. Oops. I know.
037I thought we were just There are cupcakes too. Don't forget the cupcakes. Yes. Okay. Okay. Perfect. Thank you.