GRPS Board Meeting Nov 10, 2025 Spanish

001that the companies care about the city and by the people who live here. And also I have two children who attend the Grand Rapids public schools and listen to the news about the The teachers' negotiation has caused much concern. Well, to begin with, 17 months without having reached an agreement in an environment of This nature is simply unacceptable. Not only these teachers They have to do all the work during the day at schools and then They have to complete that second shift of the that we are all fully aware, but they also have to lead to I completed the negotiation work. I I myself have been involved in many contracts and that's a lot of work. that these teachers are investing. So that's the first thing. I think that part of the reason why this

002has It is so prolonged that there are no people with decision-making power seated in the table. They are dealing specifically with lawyers. I believe the call for a Open negotiation is a great idea and I absolutely believe there has to be responsible at the table because they need to be able to look each other in the face and say, "This This is what we face, this is what that we think and these are the types of uh commitments we can make to to reach an agreement." And I think it has echoed throughout, there isn't much There's more I can say, but I think it has been echoed through the comments here and through the comments of the students that all of you They have the power, right? A a very special type of person to

003do of the public school system, their issue. I know you are not here alone because they love rules of order Robert's. I'm sure those people It exists, but it's not what I see in this living room tonight, right? So there are, uh, you know, one is Get into this kind of work to help to people and they have an opportunity to gold to help so many people in the city ​​of Grand Rapids and is my sincere I hope that all of you Take advantage of it, and that's all I have. So thank you. Ky Turin, who will be followed by Ryan Schenberg. Uh, Kilin Turin taught at the school Montessori High School of Grand Rapids. I love Grand's public schools Rapids, but I need your help. Of As a child, teaching was my dream. Teach

004It remains my dream. I always hoped to be lucky enough to be able to teach in this district. And even better, I was so lucky. that I teach at the only public school Montessori secondary school in the state of Michigan. Uh, I've dreamed about this and I'm still dreaming about it with being able to continue doing so. Daily When I get up, I give myself completely to this work, these students, my school, my classmates and this district. I love Grand's public schools Rapids, but I'm exhausted. This The district has taken from me and continues to follow me taking away a lot from me. Here they are I'm only presenting some of the things. In First, safety and communication. On October 15, a charger, ammunition for a uh for a gun were brought into my building

005school. Although I am still very grateful that nothing happened and that no weapons were introduced into the school, I'm extremely disappointed by the lack of that communication took place. Since October 15th, as an educator in I haven't received any building GPRS communication. Let's pause to consider this situation. Never me They reported that this hadn't even happened past. November 5th, three weeks then, several media outlets They shared this story. That's how I found out. To this day I have not I have received absolutely nothing about it. I repeat, I am an educator in that building. The ammunition was found precisely in my building. Parents, students, and many Other people have asked me about This situation, and the truth is that no I have answers to give you, beyond to recommend that they follow the news. Two,

006one contract. For more than 120 days, educators and GRPS, including myself, We have been working without a contract. In any other public district, a A situation like this would be completely unacceptable. GRPS has decided to extend these negotiations for more than 18 months and be aware, 14 of those months were before the even if the contract expires. Eh, Carcela eh three, the money. GRPS choose to continue paying the lowest wage to teachers and educators throughout the Kent county. By staying in GRPS, in workplace for another district in In this county, I will lose about $350,000 in my life. That's a house. That's my own house that I could afford if only I would move to a different district. A American dream. It's that simple. However, we chose to pay our Superintendent: Over $300,000 per year

007without extra benefits, while I and many other teachers in this district We earn less than $50,000 a year. That is about six times more. Four peace. Each Each year I am asked to take on more and do more and to be in an increasingly chaotic environment for nothing without compensation. Thank you. HE Time's up. Ryan Schenberg. Already Jefferson Richway continued. Hey, Ryan. Jefferson Richway and then Justin Walcott. Good night. U. Doora Roby, board school. Um, my name is Jefferson Richway. I am the program director Cure Violence in the urban league of western Michigan. Um, I'm here to Thank you all for allowing us have access to GRPS students. Um, we just finished our flagship football, where 750 students aged 6 to 13 and their family members attended five events flag football with us culminating with

008a Super Bowl. their Super Bowl in Houseman Field. Furthermore, GRPS granted access right here in Ottawa Hills, eh? our Cure Violence staff, at 20 of the students in the situation of risk that you have. And it Great, eight of them I'm quite safe along with the teachers and the staff, but also the things that our Cure Violence staff It does conflict resolution, huh mediation techniques, along with activities involving changing regulations, where Eight of those 20 were in the honor roll in this last qualification. That said, I'm very excited to continue working with all of you, identifying educational needs of the students and promoting changes positive aspects of the rules of coexistence, both at school and at home to they. Thank you, Justin Walcot. OK. That concludes our public comment session tonight. Pause. Now we move

009on to the comments from the superintendent. Good evening once again. While We're going in, there's always a Just a moment, a moment to give thanks and to show gratitude. And to reflect on my comments, I want to make sure that people Understand that there are people everywhere. our district that they are doing many things where sometimes they He acknowledges it very publicly and at other times They do things without recognition. And so I don't want anyone to leave saying, "She didn't mention this one or the This group." And that's why I really try to reflect on the work of those hidden heroes, because I believe that It is also very important to the work which takes place in our district. AND So these are some things for the which we are very grateful for in

010our operations team. Two weeks ago we had a case in a school where the heating broke down around this same time late, and so after working a day They all came to school because of the night to make sure they could to restart the boiler that classes could continue. AND This is done when part of your leadership is absent due to medical problems, wanting to ensure that the school would continue to operate and that things would happen behind the scenes. One can approach it after working hours In the middle of the night I think it's very important. As everyone knows, we are experimenting a government shutdown and there are families in our community that are in crisis and our advisors and our hhm the staff of the new chain of highly mobile homeless, the sensitivity,

011care, and love that They are providing for many families to make sure that they connect resources or They make an extra effort so that the children can remain in school. I think that's extremely important and to make sure if there are gaps They try to help close those gaps for families and they do discreetly. And most importantly, They do this to allow people Maintain your dignity, because I believe that That is also extremely important. The last group I want to highlight and This is one that really moved me. heart as a father, as an educator. We had a medical situation a couple of weeks ago in one of our primary schools with one of our elementary school students where It was a medical crisis and I have to recognize the elementary school staff Palmer, the

012nurse, the director, because what could have been a a true crisis, they acted immediate to ensure that this young man could receive medical attention. that I needed it so much. And then he has a a very long battle for which he is happening right now. That staff, that The school community continues to make contact and connecting with that family to make sure your needs be satisfied and those are some of the things that people do every day days, not for praise. They do it because it's the appropriate work that must be done and I consider it extremely important to highlight this. And for our Board of directors, I want all of you know that once our little one find yourself in better health, We will invite him, as well as the staff Palmer to attend

013a future meeting of the board, but we wanted to give it to her opportunity for your body to recover full. And again my recognition and congratulations and many Thanks to each and every one of them. And finally, I want to remind you that Tomorrow is Veterans Day and We have many people who have served in our armed forces and They do many different things to to keep us all safe. And also to many people who have sacrificed and have given their lives or their families have sacrificed. And also remember to our veterans and just to tell them Thank you for your service, because there are a lot of work and things they do every day for which they are not always recognized. And with this I conclude my comments on the night. Thank you. Okay,

014now we move on to the comments of the members of the board. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Fide Williamson. Yes, thanks. Uh, I want to thank the Mr. Marl, because of something he said in his comment, which is that everyone really We just need to work together on this. Uh, and I want to give thanks Thanks to everyone who has worked on the provisional agreements that have been achieved. I think that represents a major step towards a full contract. And if the point I always reach is the The only conflict we have is because we all We're on the same team and we all We work towards this, but the only The conflict we really have is between our aspirations and reality material. And I think that's often where it is. where disagreement comes into

015play, is find out how to build bridges between They, because they rarely agree. So who know, as we approach the end of year and there is a lot of uncertainty with the federal government and many of our families in need, as usual at this time of year and the direction that We are giving to this district, and, what It will take into account where we can recognize what our aspiration is and what are we all really about? agreement to achieve. and how can we take the material reality we have and join them. And I know it's not easy, but I hope they recognize that I and all my colleagues on the board, we are striving to achieve it. So Thank you very much, Commissioner Fideyi. Killpatrick. Yes, quickly. Uh, thank you, Mrs. Van. Dijke, for

016always talking about the initiative invests in my children. I I personally support that initiative, so that if they don't see Erika after this meeting to sign their petition, they can sign mine or meet me in any part of the community. They can Contact me on Facebook. Uh, and I think that I want to state for the record that I I would very much like to see a resolution of Council support for that initiative. Okay, Commissioner Melton. Yes, I just want to acknowledge that this month It's Native Heritage Month American too, and we have a team small but powerful in GPRS that It really works throughout our city. to support students who are They identify as Native Americans and me I love the work they do. Memory Having seen that, huh to one of them in

017a supermarket. She He didn't know I was there. saw a boy on the other side of the hall and ran to hug the student. And that kind of such genuine personal attention from you Identity is a beautiful thing to see. Hey, I would also like to support our board eh in a resolution on the I work to invest in my children, who are is being carried out from now until next November. And then something else What I want to encourage you all to do is... They have the folder So they have the master plan for you current physical facilities. Okay, I I thought so, but I've been dedicating a lot of time lately, huh? review. It's just a brief summary of some of the projects we will be addressing today. We have César Chávez and

018Dickinson. Both will be in the phase two that we will promote this summer. Uh, the Kent Hills primary, uh, the new Northeast Elementary School, uh the school eh the central auditorium of innovation, Otaga High School, UM and uh the one from Alger, uh which is currently secondary school, and then the replacement of the fuel tank and upgrades the elevators. So those are the projects that we will be addressing on the day today. It's the first two, Chávez and Dickinson, they are, uh, quite what I I would call it simple. uh let's go to finish phase two. Uh, summer Last time we did phase one, this is the last phase, phase two. And eh for eh Chávez we have, uh, controls of air conditioning that we are updating. Hey, let's put down more carpets. No We

019finished all the carpeting work last summer. Let's finish that this summer and then we'll do some improvements to the children's playground. Hey, and something similar for Dickinson Urolas and additional carpets. And that will be done. with with with that building. UM U Kent Hills UM. In fact, we already received the offers for this project and will present to the Finance Department at the next finance meeting. One the the cost worked out in our favor, so We have good news about that. Last summer we completed the parking lot repaving. OR, We're going to finish the rest this summer of the project that will include improvements in the lightning. As you can see, a U interior finishes, or renovations of the bathrooms and U, also improvements in the playground. New primary school. I am pleased to inform

020you that we have begun the construction. Earth has been moved. Hey, We are starting to do the work preliminary for the foundation and the service connections. And uh the completion, as you can see, the We have planned for June 2027. So so please stay tuned for that. We will give you updates as we Let's move on, but it's quite exciting. Uh, renovation of the central auditorium of innovation. I would say that it has been probably our problem a little. Uh, we, uh, still have, uh resistance of the suppliers in the delivery from part of the team, so It continues, unfortunately, to cause some delays. Oh, thank you, guys. We are receiving some heaters uh uh for you, so it Thank you. Uh, that's only here Inside, this one and this one down below, right? Okay.

021Uh, but we're making progress with that. project and we are aiming to end of January so that it is completely finished and start to Use this space Otagua. Now, Can you see how cold it is right now? I checked with my team and the The problem we're having is that We lost communication with the controls, uh, so we can't control the units at this time and That will be fixed next summer When we do the renovation of this, uh eh auditorium. Now, the Otagwa thing could What I had written was a little confusing over there. He says the design is complete. 95% complete, but the tender will be launched on the 12th November. But I just spoke with Dale told me that was wrong, that We will put it out to tender tomorrow, the day

02211. Uh, so let me clarify that. a bit. We saw an opportunity to group several projects in Otagua, which we would provide some savings. Well, although We have completed 100% of the works of south wing and the auditorium, we still have work to do in the pool because We would like to include the renewal of the The pool that's on the list and also some works on the sports fields. So those are the projects in the that we are still working and the we will publish them as tender packages different. That's why the disagreement with 95% and then the bidding. Uh-huh. So we'll put Alger out to tender. in January. We are working right now in cost estimates and things Thus, ensuring that we reconcile everything work necessary for us to be within the budget

023and the construction, obviously from the 26th to the 27th June. And please let me know if you have questions. I know that sometimes I go a little fast, but we have many projects. I have a question. Exact. Well, I see we have two parks. new children's items. Are they going to be adjacent to the playground already existing one, the one in the city? Or it will be in a completely different area, in the Mike Peg, Paranoid States. It will be other side of the building. On the other side. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So, the two playgrounds, one will be e for preschool students and that We're going to locate it on the southeast side of building, which will be adjacent to where The preschool classrooms will be there. And uh the another playground that will

024be for children From 5 to 12 years old, uh, will be on the side, uh on the west side, northwest side of building, more or less where, uh, I think that There are tennis courts. Good. Uh, and That was a decision because we understand that there is already a neighborhood playground existing right there, but we have very little control over that, so we wanted to do something we could monitor for our students and our students. Yes, no, it seems to me brilliant. Yes, I saw it and thought, how nice, me I love it, I'm glad to know more. Thank you, Mr. Smart. I have one too. question, but going back to Ottawa and it's More specifically tonight, the temperature we feel up here. Is a problem we are experiencing throughout the building. I just want

025to make sure that our students don't be so cold tomorrow. Eh eh Fortunately not. This building has different areas. Eh and eh Unfortunately, we lost tonight. communication for this. So We'll have a technician here tomorrow for to fix it and put it back on online. So we hope to be able to give them A little relief, huh, before... The meeting ended. So we are We are looking for those heaters and bringing them safely. Thank you. Good ask. Thank you. Eh eh, Mr. Smart, we just want to clarify because you said something about the next one summer. Could you clarify your statements? Because I believe that what is He understood that the problem with the Heating will be addressed next summer. But you're saying that Someone's coming tomorrow to fix it. this space. Yes, yes, yes,

026yes, yes. Tomorrow In the morning we, because they have has been sending messages to me, to me, to My team, trying, trying I will fix this and apologize to everyone. you here. This just happened and uh We need a technician here, but no It affects the rest of the building. No, there isn't. different areas in the building and not It is affecting those areas. Uh, if occurs in any of those areas, We immediately sent our staff to address that during the day. So no, next summer I'll I was referring to the renovation work, uh, which we will actually begin, because the surislada house. We're going to start the work there in this That same winter, uh, at the beginning of spring. Ah, fuel tanks, eh, Finally, we removed them from the ground. HE that this

027has been happening for a while a while. U, it was a concern in regarding our insurance coverage. Um, but uh, we managed to remove them with success. Uh, we have temporary tanks Instead, they have been in for several months It is working and it is functioning. AND We are waiting for news of the new ones tank suppliers on when will be available for updating our timeline, but we trust in which will be completed no later than Spring 2026. OK. The improvements of the elevators. Let me tell you, this is going to be a somewhat logistical challenge complicated. So we have 26 elevators in 19 buildings. How amazing. Uh, normally We try to do all the work we can in summer, but it will be impossible complete it. So we understand that Part of this work

028will have to be done during the school year. Okay, then we'll work very hard close with the academic team, with the contractors to ensure we carry out carry out all the necessary coordination which is required, because we understand that We must facilitate access to our staff and students. So in In that sense we will be creative. Hey, perhaps we may even have to relocate some of the functions if necessary necessary and we will try to do as many projects as we can in the summer, but It simply won't be possible to do them all. And to clarify, this is a state mandate, this is compliance of state code and we have no choice, but we must have it done in the next, I think, 2 years. Yes, yes. I just wanted to know, you said

029that It could not be done during the summer months when there is no classes. What is the reason? Uh, the number of elevators that We have to install, uh, there will be, uh, uh delivery times for some products and it will simply be too much for him Use a single contractor. Uh, so we could end up having to, uh select several contractors to that they help us with that date limit. There are just too many of them. Okay, thank you. Yes, some will be easy, but Others will perhaps take three or four months to complete them. OK thanks. OK. Now, these are the ones that are approach. Uh, this will be, you know, design and programming. Uh, still We are working, obviously, on the Montessori program. We are analyzing different options, uh, for uh present.

030A shadow project for the dog kennels. uh we'll take it out Tender in January. uh we are uh finalizing the documents construction, uh the projects of audience. We're just starting to Check the schedule, and a little bit. After that we will begin the documentation. Uh, the swimming pool projects of districts are a little more advanced than which I anticipated. Hey our consultants have done an excellent job I work to thoroughly investigate the current conditions of the swimming pools and reconcile them with the requirements state regulations that we must comply with, because Much of this was driven by the need to ensure that all be completely compliant and safe. Well, so they're making progress, so I may have more on this in future posts. We'll give you more presentations. information. And what I would say, using

031a baseball analogy in the infield, which will be later, we will begin to uh study at Union High School and Harrison. Those would be projects significant too, but uh not the We have started, although we have them in the ready to develop the program and launch requests for proposals. Uh, the last two, uh, just this, very, very brief. We have received some proposals for educational specifications and We have made a recommendation for hire uh MGT Consultants and We hope to begin that work after the board's approval in Sometime in January, to start. That, uh, that job. And the last thing that I have is the future of properties vacancies. That's the job we're doing. doing with JL and just wanted to that they have been scheduled to do a presentation at the work session December

03215th. U, so they will be u there to give them more details and have a dialogue with you. So, uh, with This concludes my presentation. If they have If you have any questions, I'll do my best. Thank you for responding to them. Go ahead, Mr. Wilson. Oh, thank you. Uh, two questions. This is not It has to do with the issuance of bonds, but the fuel tanks... they recalled. I know we're in the process to install the electrical system for electric buses. Are there any Anything new on this? From what I understand, there was a slight delay in the delivery of the endowments and other similar funds and the What they're really trying to do is transfer a larger portion of those 800 million dollars to the school aid fund. So that means less money

033for the primary and secondary schools. And it What we see in this budget is that the 60% of university funding It comes from the General Fund and now the 40% of the School Aid Fund. To the Talking to legislators, this is not what the public voted in 1994 for the proposal A. And in total since the year 2000 there was a loan that was repaid, but since the 2011 actually more than 11 billion dollars have been transferred from the K12 schools to fund colleges community centers and universities. That represents more than $7,600 per student. If we hadn't done That, that would be the money we would have available. This is a topic that I don't think enough of our citizens They understand. I know that one of the candidates The governor has raised this issue

034in his campaign, so perhaps this will come up in the campaign for governor a little further. So the biggest problems. Now, we pay 850 million annually of a dollar a year to our universities from the K-12 School Aid Fund, the 100% state support for schools community. We went from 461,000,000 to last year to 493 this year. More than 11,000,000,000 diverted since 2011. Adjusted for inflation, the Michigan State University has just Publish here in September via your U, innovative collaboration of educational policy, EPICU, a report on state support for education KA1. It's an excellent report, I have it right here. And what it indicates is that a inflation-adjusted level, the State support for K1 education in Michigan last year, fiscal year 25, it was the same as in 1998, 27 years old. So when we listen

035to the educators who work with children each that day, they feel truly called to this work. They want to help the children, but increasingly educators They have serious difficulties getting to end of the month. And this report shows that inflation, we can barely keep up rate of inflation due to lack state support for K-1 education 12 to schools across the state. AND Thus, the State University of Michigan says it's a huge problem. That's why we're ranked 44th in the country regarding the starting salary of teachers. Uh, and I spoke with the legislators about I did this and managed to get some legislators They admitted, yes, we haven't been keeping up to date with inflation and people are being as if crushed in its budgets family members, in their budgets school districts, just for the inflationary

036pressures and income state tax revenues, revenues from sales taxes. The sales taxes are really important for the Aid Fund School. 73% of all revenue from sales taxes, according to the Constitution, they must go to the Aid Fund School. U. And the State has just eliminate sales tax on gasoline, So we lose about 700 million. income guaranteed by the Constitution. The legislators They said, "Will we compensate them?" Well, Now we have the entire budget for I want to see how they do it and just review it. That a little. The tax on the original sales in Michigan in 1963 were of 4%. And the Constitution says that the 60% of that 4% should go to the aid fund school, a constitutional mandate. Then, in 1994, we amended the Constitution for fiscal year 95 under proposal A

037and we add 2%. Now We have a sales tax of 6%, but it's bifurcated because 100% of that 2% goes to the school aid fund. I have consulted with professors of mathematics, 73.33% of the tax revenues on sales go to the school fund according to the Constitution. Lawmakers cannot play that. That's in the Constitution. Lawmakers cannot change the Constitution just like that. If They ask where the other 40% goes, that's another presentation. But at least 15% goes to revenue share local to our cities, counties, municipalities. So here it is important information about gasoline. Let's assume that gasoline prices are a slightly higher for this example. 3.50 The gallon is what we pay in the pump. The wholesale price of that It would be 2.79 per gallon. And besides that There are three different forms of

038taxes. There is a federal tax on gasoline. per gallon of 18.4 cents. That's in the federal statute. 18.4entos. It's not a percentage, but... cents per gallon and then we have a tax state gasoline price is 31 and here it is where things can get a little confusing. We have a state tax on sales of 6%. That 6% applies to the wholesale price, federal gasoline tax and also the gasoline sales tax. So that yields approximately 21 cents per gallon in this example, but That fluctuates depending on what the total price as a percentage. Which What they did was eliminate that 6%. And on January 1st, when this comes in In force, the consumer will not notice a big difference because they are increasing the state tax on gasoline in 20 cents per gallon. It goes over

03931 cents 51 cents. And all that money from state tax on gasoline goes to transport fund. The aid fund Schoolchildren don't receive that. And so what What you can see here is that 6% of gasoline tax last year It generated 928,000,000. 73% of that is due to the Constitution to go to the school aid fund. HE They're getting rid of it. Instead, They are increasing the tax on gasoline at 20 cents per gallon, out of 31 at 51 cents, generating 11 billion of dollars and allocating them to the roads. The General Fund the year The past gave 600 million to the roads of dollars of tax revenue on the income of individuals. That's not it. is all the tax revenue on the rent, but that's what he did from the General Fund to the roads.

040they say, "Oh, Hey, we're going to build them schools complete and they're going to give us those 600 millions." So I don't know if your The definition of being compensated is that you $80 million is missing, but that That's what's happening here, and it's not guaranteed by the Constitution. They could Change that with a stroke of the pen tomorrow with simple majorities in the House of Representatives Representatives and the Senate and the governor enacting that law if there is any budget setbacks in somewhere else. They could cut those 600 million. And yes, corporations and companies paid taxes on the rent. They had a plan where they paid for that to the Economic Development Fund for to attract the Googles and Amazons of the world to Michigan and give them extensions prosecutors. There was a $500

041million plan dollars that have been eliminated and in their Where are they allocating those 500,000? to the roads. And then cannabis wholesale level is being recorded at 24%. But there is a lawsuit about it. right now. That's a different presentation, huh? Whether that will come into effect or not, but it is a source of income of 420,000 that they hope to allocate to the roads. What is the overall impact of this? change? We lose our guaranteed income by the Constitution and 80,000,000 with this plan. And I just want to point out that the plan The roads in general are a bit unstable. What happens if some parts What are they failing at? they might try to take more funds from the aid budget school at that time or cut back 600,000,000 that they claim compensates

042us full. We have to be very Pay attention to that. The conclusion is, and of new, I'm considering a district average school age across the state. Each district needs to make its own calculations regarding this, but it's about a net increase in revenue not restricted to around 2-5%. or there are increases in income restricted such as 31a funds for students at risk and the DL and things similar, but inflation The last 12 months it was 2.9%. All could we guess which one it will be? inflation for the remaining 8 months of This school year, our fiscal year such as school districts. But the most of that will be absorbed that's why. And then all this is supported by a school aid fund weaker, a school aid fund of which more money than ever before is

043being diverted from K12 schools and a loss of tax revenue about sales dedicated to that should to nurture that school aid fund. So looking ahead to the cycle budget year 2627, this begins in two months, in January. The state will estimate the amount of income you believe that It will have for fiscal year 27, which is Our school year 2627. It's a year very important election and what What we usually see in election years is that Lawmakers like to put makeup on the budget. We'll make everything visible Okay, and then right after the elections, we have already seen that this It happens earlier. If the numbers don't add up Not entirely fine, they say, we're going to have to recover some of those dollars. So We've been paying attention to that for years. electoral. Um,

044will they use more funds from school aid to support more items not related to basic education in the budget? Just so you know, Each month we receive a report of income of how much income came into the state coffers, because the tax on sales, the tax on the income, all of that is collected all the time. In other words, if you have income Return two, your income taxes are transferred to the state treasury every two weeks, so they have them all those income statistics. And it We have it for September, we haven't done it yet. We have it for October. In September the The School Aid Fund had about 19 $,000000 more than originally estimated for your September income. That The estimate was made in May. The Fund The overall figure was 200,000 below what

045it should have been. that they calculated. So the general fund It was in the red in September. Now, could things improve here in October? We don't know, but our concern The school aid fund is a Healthier fund, all legislators They admit it and are looking to use those dollars. from the school aid fund pushing the general fund costs to the fund school aid and it will cost the State more retirement to school districts so that the State can release more of your money. That's something they've been doing doing this several times during the last budget cycle. So We need everyone's voice to advocate by strong public schools from K to 12. We know the big difference that makes. brand. Grand Rapids has been a benchmark in our state in that respect. His The team does

046an amazing job every day after a day or supporting one of our vibrant communities in Michigan. So that we wanted to give this vision general so that everyone would understand that is in this document of 513 pages. Happy to answer any questions. I know it was probably a bit longer, eh, But it takes time to summarize what They did with all of that. Mm, I appreciate it very much the way you broke it down. I had the privilege of listening to one your presentation a few weeks ago and I just wanted the rest of our The board would hear it, as well as the public, because you explain it in a way that I I was able to understand, so I appreciate it. There is Any questions? A question. Uh, thanks for being here for

047this presentation. It's great to see them again. A then in that net increase of 247 average of 2.5% They didn't take into account the possible loss of funds 31 aaa. Correct? Is correct. I didn't do it. And then, uh, me I would like to explain to everyone who... They're here, right? That's what you could Tell us a little more about that possibility, You know? eh loss of rights to which You alluded to it, didn't you? If we are going to accept that the 31st receive those funds. Clear. So under the Constitution of the The United States, under the 6th and 7th Amendments every citizen and as the Supreme Court has interpreted, the organizations and Entities sometimes also have the right legal advice so that I can uh seek legal advice professional and uh have uh

048the right to eh to remain silent during the course of an investigation. So, if the police came and ask a group of employees to the employees testified They often do in those cases, but not They are obliged to do so. But under the section 31 aa you would lose the ability to decide for yourself what to do when Regarding that, you would have to lose The privilege, that's what the law says. that the school districts would resign to that privilege. So, the question What privileges? The privilege of confidentiality between lawyer and client would be one of them, a privilege for which you are not obligated to reveal information in the investigation of a matter. Uh, if a employee was accused of some kind of bad behavior, doesn't have to give testimony about that. That is

049their right. constitutional. If public schools Grand Rapids took the funds under the 31st, exactly as this is read, They would renounce their privilege. Now Okay, the problem we face is, What does this mean? The privilege It includes government immunity, but We don't have clear answers to that. question, but yes we have huge needs in all our schools here in Michigan for security school and mental health support the students. Uh, and it's a necessity. important. So that's the problem that we have and in which we are working with legislators now same. And as you know, legislators don't They are the ones who interpret What they have written are the courts those who have to interpret that. So that one of the things I know some schools are considering asking the courts that say, "Is this... This

050is constitutional under the Constitution Federal?" So, of course. Aid. Yes. Yes. Thank you for the clarification. OK. Yeah, absolutely. Any other questions? Yes, I wanted to ask one last question. Um, where can I find that report? msep? You, Mr. Rodriguez, may stay with my copy, but it's available. If you go to the MSU Epic page. Yeah Just search for it on Google, it's the September 2025 report from them. It is titled Financing the Future of Michigan. Three decades of finance schoolchildren and the political questions about in front of. It's an excellent document. Well, it sounds like a light read. I love it. Yeah, You read my mind. OK. Well Thank you so much, Dan. Yes, thanks. Thank you. Thanks, Dan. Thank you. Of agreement? Moving on to another point, we have our academic representatives, to

051whom we should welcome from new, by the way. Any of Do you two have any comments? would you like to share this evening? Please, forward. Hello. Uh, I just wanted to say that Union High School is going to have a blood donation campaign on the 20th November and we partnered with the Ver City company, so if they want Donations can go to Ver City, that's BE SIT and should be able to enter the postal code 49504 or put the location of the high school union and then they will be able to see the appointments available. So, uh, it's for a good one cause and we would love for you to come to donate on November 20th. Thank you. Do you have anything tonight? Stephanie? Oh, right. Hello, my name is Stephanie. I'm from the school

052Grand Public Museum Preparatory School Rapids. Our school is organizing a food collection campaign and clothes with the Aya for young people without home. So anyone who wants to Donations are welcome. It is in the Jefferson's 54. Thank you. Many thank you. Okay, now we'll move on to public commentary from students and I just saw Mrs. Anderson go upstairs the stairs. I suppose it's Checking if there are any other comments of students. M, we will stick with 3 minutes for our comment student and based on the number of cards I have received so far. So I'd like to call Oh, Wait, I'll look. Yes, please interpret it. Sorry. Good. Hello everyone. For your knowledge, each period of Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 minutes, unless the president of the board indicates otherwise. Please to

053the individuals who fill in by I completed the front of the card comments to indicate the topics that they wish to address. Uh, this helps the administration to provide answers appropriate follow-up. If he is an academic, Please fill out the gold card. The completed cards must to be delivered to the designated mailbox. We ask the speakers to refrain from speaking. of making abusive statements or disrespectful to the members of the Board, employees, volunteers or contractors. If you have a complaint about a specific member of the Board, employee, volunteer or contractor, use the appropriate process described in the Board's policy, 9450. The speakers will be invited to address to the meeting one by one. Before To begin your comment, please say clearly her full name for the official records. I will monitor the weather marked by

054this beautiful stopwatch Here, U, ensuring that each speaker is adhere to the assigned time limit of 3 minutes today. They will be asked to Please conclude your comments promptly when their time has expired. Members From the board, please do not respond during the comments period public. or all the concerns They will send the appropriate personnel. We value Your contribution and thank you for sharing Join us tonight. Okay, I'd like to invite you in. Victoria Kim in the lead, followed by Colet Growly and finally Ayan Chucla. Good evening, my name is Victoria Kim, a ninth-grade student, recently arrival at Grand public schools Rapids. I am here today to share how teachers and programs extracurricular activities such as public speaking and debate They help students like me to thrive. I'm also here to ask their support in

055financing these opportunities in all schools secondary GRPS. Although my family and I moved to Grand Rapids just this August, the teachers at the school made my The transition out here was really smooth. Thanks to its warmth and its great breath, I've started to feel like in I have a house in this community and I'm very excited to grow so much academically as personally here. My teacher GRPS's favorite is srai, my teacher physical education, because she teaches absolutely everything it has at its students. She motivates us to overcome our limits, always reminding us that effort matters more than perfection. It not only makes me a better athlete, but it makes me a better person. I think the Students need teachers qualified people who encourage them to learn, to improve and become the best version of themselves.

056This opportunity is not only available in the classrooms or in gym classes, but also in the activities extracurricular activities where students They can explore their interests. And that's why We asked GRPS to fund extracurricular activities not mandatory in all schools secondary GRPS. As a proud member of the team of GRPS public speaking and debate, I assure you that we will get the most out of these funds to continue learning and representing our school with pride. We ask that you support our team with $0,000 in financing. We appreciate your support and for having taken the time to hear. [applause] Thank you. Next we will have Colet Croley and then Chucla. Hi, I'm Colet Crowly and I'm in second year at GRPS. uh intelligent, passionate, noisy, dedicated, and even eats paper to prove his point. Although Maybe

057you thought I was describing myself without the food paper, I was actually describing My favorite teacher, Mr. Nick. My old favorite teacher, that is, after he left GRPS to earn more in a suburban district. History of USA, Part two is a difficult subject. teaching a group of novices disinterested and addicted to the screens, but it taught us to love the history as much as he. Each performance was a new door. to knowledge. Every sentence he said It was a key that unlocked understanding. He would climb on chairs and tables to explain how military tactics influenced in World War II and even He led an investigation in the style of A murder mystery about the war Cold. Each captivating event and each The fascinating conference turned me on in a much more informed student with the

058ability to connect the past with the present and to illuminate the world that It surrounds me. Students like me deserve teachers like Mr. Nick in our classrooms, teachers who help us grow and to become intelligent students, passionate, with voice and dedicated. We need opportunities to perfecting these qualities also outside of school in activities extracurricular activities. I wouldn't be speaking here without the education from my talented teachers and the confidence that public speaking gave me and the debate. Our team is here and We are ready to pilot the financing of activities non-sports extracurricular activities in this district. Please provide 14000 in funds for the public speaking team and GRPS debate. Thank you. [applause] Ah, GRPS student. Maybe I Remember Julio, that crazy kid who He was talking about the nationals and the coffee and that somehow

059managed to stay in third place. Yes, I'm back to being a student. first year, a few months older and I hope than a few months wiser. Finally, and Today I would like to return to the very beginning of this roller coaster. Being a first-rate American Generation has never been easy. Language different, different food, color of different skin. It made me quiet, shy She barely spoke, because that's the tacit expectation of people like me. Let's move on to seventh grade, my first year at GRPS and my first year in public speaking and debate. As time passed time and with everyone's help in the team, I found my voice. Through This program inspired me speeches, for the debates and for the exchange of ideas among so many people that, even though they are competitors, They worked together

060to share their perspectives, their beliefs and their experiences. It is this same dialogue that that shapes who we are as GRPS students, the next generations of thinkers, innovators and agents of change. Now, the skills that this program gave me They led me to lead my own Dream Dresses initiative. We reuse Old and used Indian clothing here in the United States United to send it to children disadvantaged in India. I manage the headquarters from Michigan, from this organization led by high school students and in the last two months we have collected 70 pounds of clothing social media campaigns and we have returned to the same culture where my history in GRPS and in public speaking and debate began. But none of this would have been possible without the valuable help of Miss Bran OS, an extraordinary

061teacher of history in GPRS. She was the one who me He encouraged me and guided me through all of this. progress, highlighting the role It is essential that teachers qualified and worthy performed in the formation of our lives, the GRPS students. And that's it. That's precisely what I want to emphasize tonight. None of us, those who We are in this room, debaters who advocate for funding, teachers who They advocate for fair contracts or any another person who didn't have anything better. What to do on a Monday night, We work in isolation. Although we are here with different requests and agendas, we continue to be an interconnected community of people who learn, grow, and support each other mutually. Our goals, Efforts and successes are collective. So In conclusion, please note that our request for $14,000 for

062Financing is not just money, but a opportunity to grow as parents, students, teachers, coaches, speakers and the entire GRPS community. Thank you. [applause] OK. I have that John Straus followed by Enkechi. Ah, enchi, enkechi. Enquechi so wasas wasasi. Excuse me, I'm so sorry for that. I really appreciate the pronunciation that has been given to us here. And then Caesar plus Ari Rome Ramirez, Gabriela Gomez Maldonado and Karina Rodríguez. Hello, my name is John Straus and I am student at the Aviation Academy West Michigan. I'm here tonight to deliver these postcards on behalf of of educators throughout our district. Each one shares a message about what every child deserves, written Because of the people who see us, we They teach and support us every day. As We students feel the importance of these words. When the

063teachers They say, "Every child deserves safety," They refer to classrooms where we can focus on learning instead of worry. When they say, "Every child "He deserves a chance," they mean. that we all need teachers certificates that understand how help us grow. And when they say, "Every child deserves to be valued," she said. They refer to schools that will listen to us, to our voices, our needs and our dreams. These postcards are more than just paper. Are reminders that behind each student there is a teacher who deeply concerned about our future. We ask you, as our school board, which also Listen to that message, keep taking decisions that reflect what each child She truly deserves equity, respect, and opportunity to prosper. Thanks for Listen to me, but I really hope so. Listen. Please support the people

064who make our education. [applause] Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is pronounce in Kechinere Ocuah and I am student here with Salt, Association of Students for leadership and transformation. Students like me deserve stability, care and educators certificates in every classroom, every day. Go I'd like to read some questions and I'd like to that the audience participate by raising a green card for himself and a card red for no. So the first The question is, do you think every student deserves a certified teacher on time complete in his classroom all [music] the day? Ah, thank you. Uh, the second question is, Does every student at your school have currently a certified teacher full-time? It's not a question. deceptive. The third question is, Are you aware that substitutes unqualified and uncertified [music] are illegally filling vacancies in

065the classroom? Um, the question is, having too many Substitutes harm learning student? And the last question is, the Students learn best when they have educators who are consistent with experience and do they really know them? Thank you. [applause] Hello, my name is César Mazariego Ramirez and I am a student in Salt. Believe that our educators and teachers are the backbone of our schools, but many struggle to stay due to low wages. I'm going to read some questions and I'll I would like the entire audience to participate raising green cards for himself and red ones for no. My first question, do you believe that Paying teachers little contributes to high number of vacancies? Thank you so much. Hey, have you or someone you know? abandoned GRPS due to low wages or job burnout. Thank you so

066much. GRPS employees, did they It is proving difficult to maintain the rate of inflation with your salary current? Thank you so much. Who Do you think teachers' salaries They should keep up to date with the inflation and the rising cost of living? Thank you. Do you think it's fair that the educators may qualify for public assistance due to its low wages? Thank you. If the teachers cannot That, and the reason why I mention it It's because, uh, well, without meaning to be Corny, Einstein talks about defining the problem, and that's actually 90% of it job. Define the problem. 10% is the solution and when this was described, There are so many great components to it and the problem was really defined as capacity within the buildings or You know how full ours are buildings. And

067I would venture to say that in By 2025 our problem might not be completely defined, which I believe It could be bigger than that. She wrote it in 2022. And it really... I would love to explore that work with you about how this could be part of it how we reorganized budgets and We reimagined the staff and doing things How to collaborate on flag football and salmon eggs that we talked about before. So all those things can This will happen if we have a problem. defined that tells us what the solutions we are looking for. So just I would encourage you to read that because we will have Some conversations coming soon. There is many important components in this that we can incorporate into our work today, and hopefully define the problem a little better

068more broadly so that the solution also lace. Trustee Moreno. I want to highlight first one of Our educators, Mrs. Noemi Tobar, who won a legacy award on weekend for his 32nd birthday service in the district. And the truth is that I always value it a lot, whether in the comments or in the celebrations when we have our partners. So it was a It was a real pleasure to listen to Mr. Ridway talk about the work that is carried out in collaboration with our district. Well, you know what? We're seeing that during the last 10 or even 11 months our families are being affected in new and terrible ways. And now more than ever we need to keep going cultivating deeper relationships with other institutions, with new partners and really think differently as we had done

069before. Me too, You know? I am also a supporter, a Captain of Justice of Investing My Kids and would also support a resolution to that. Know? We saw in the presentation DAN's previous report that we lost 80 million as a state, and that number will continue If we keep increasing, we're going to keep losing. So we need to find different ways to get more money for our schools and our district. AND I think that's one way in which We can all do something very easy. Hey support and you know how to get some signatures. And I hope we continue to have that. that conversation and so I hope in Our next session together, you know? Let's work towards that. Of course. Fide Commissioner Rodriguez, Thank you for staying with us. all. It's cold and my

070hands hurt and I'm sure you feel the same way. They are in pain. Uh, but two things. One thing I really liked the presentation that Dan Bim gave us today. I think it was very enlightening in many aspects and I think most of my colleagues from the Together, you know, we're familiar with it with some of those things, but I think It really brought to light many of the problems of educational funding. And you know, we just had a little one online forum to talk about the improvement levy. And something I said in That forum was, you know? Because people He says, "Oh, well, you know." And if I don't You know, and if I don't think people are using money the right way. But I said, "The answer is never less money for our

071children, TRUE? You may have a problem with How people spend it, you can have a problem with priorities, but the The answer is never to withdraw funds educational to our children, to our communities. And then let's approve it and Let's find out the details later. TRUE? And so I am also a great e defender and supporter of investing my children. I think that while you know, we deal with all these problems with salary our teachers and we deal with everyone These problems with, you know, as he said Dan, taking inflation into account, we are receiving money equivalent to 1998 for our educational resources and for our students. And that's it. Simply unacceptable, right? So that we are going to see those additional ways to generate more income for our schools and for public education. AND

072I would also love to support one... resolution, and I hope this is something that this board can do, but I think They know, we have to be creative with our money because there is an attack on the public education, right? That's how it is simple. And so we have to be the first. line of defense and say that our Children matter and deserve more. Thousand thank you, Councilor Wade, Peppy Wade. Hello, Thank you all for staying. us tonight. I want to start, uh Congratulating the basketball team sixth grade of the University Preparatory Academy for its first match and their first victory last Wednesday. My nephew is in the team, so I have to mention them. I want to promote the Investing initiative Michigan Kidsen, which is uh and really I want to support our community

073and encourage them to investigate, to learn more about her and what the support. I want to highlight the work of cura violence and the important work that are being carried out in our schools and I also want to acknowledge and thank to the staff here in Otaga for their dedication to working with the community to generate a positive impact on the students at his school. I think firmly that all our directors and the schools have the capacity and the autonomy to decide how a how collaborate and partner effectively with the community. So, I value and I I'm very proud to learn more about the collaborations that Otagwa has here and all the work that is being done performing. Uh uh I visited the festival of mosaic cinema in one of the celebrations and I found

074myself with a school bus full of students from Otaga who came to Learn more about Uine, the industry cinematic. They were able to meet some Really cool guys who worked in They worked on the film Wicked, They had a guy who worked on TV series of anime and were very excited about that. So I was glad to find myself with the staff there who had so many uplifting things to say about what It's happening in Ottawa. Uh, and then I went to fundraising for the I watched the movie Mosaic and learned that the university preparation is associated with Mosaic, eh, after school and They came and spoke with some students at his school too, and uh director Kenata Hill Hall, she She spoke at the event and, well, I adore her. Anyway, she spoke too

075about being intentional in how GRPS is very intentional in how we partner with the community to impact the students and how they are being intentional about how they allow his students not allow, but how They present themselves to their students in a the way that most affects them when providing opportunities for their students They see people who look like them, who do extraordinary things, who perhaps they don't live in your city, but rather They bring in people from outside and expose them to... so many different opportunities that there are in the world. So it was a week Excellent for me, having met GRPS members in the community. So Yes, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Good contribution. Ah, Councilor Williams. Good evening everyone. Thank you for your attendance. We appreciate your feedback from

076the public. I want to express my most Sincere thanks to each person who went to vote for the tax intended for improvements. It's a very difficult task. important and we need all the get the community involved. And that The tax not only had an impact on Grand Rapids, but throughout the county of Kent. So thank you to everyone who They came out and supported that. And finally, Thanks to everyone who brought food Tonight for the food bank here in Otaga. And if they missed the opportunity, don't hesitate to upload your baskets in their cars and bring them directly to the school to drop them off. Our students would appreciate it. a lot, since they carry out activities extracurricular activities and they don't always have the time or money to go home to eat or buy

077food. So if They could make those donations, it They would be extremely grateful. Thank you. With this we conclude the comments of the members of the board. I have no further comments. Therefore, this meeting is adjourned. Thousand thank you. To this about 200,000,000, about 150 per student, would reach each district and then the districts They would negotiate how to distribute those funds. according to the rules established by law state school aid. It's a little strange, though, because the money that is coming into this fund called section 27L of the Law State School Aid comes from close section 27K. Last year we had the 27K section, the which was designed to help the people who teach and who have debts of student loans and was designed to help them take on part of that student debt

078burden. So The 27K was a big money fund. AND There's something strange about this. 96% of the teachers who applied to 27K a refund for your loans student applications were denied. So only 4% of applicants at the level were they granted some kind of state relief in this area. Therefore, We have a large amount of money without spend. And what this section 27L establishes in The School Aid Act is that the State budget director must close the 27K. What is not clear is What happens to due process for those individuals who have appealed the denial of your loan repayment student. So that process must to be completed and then the 27K will be liquidated under this law. The director of The state budget needs what They call it reversing. They need reverse the 27K funds

079to fill the 27L money fund. So We say that 203,000,000 is what we believe that will be in that fund, but really We won't know until the 27K is out closed. So the Department of Michigan's education system also needs to provide some additional details to regard. So this is something I know that educators are waiting for eagerness, but there are certain actions in the state School Aid law that the State budget director must take the first step in this regard. Also We have a new section in the Law of State School Aid, section 164K, which establishes penalties if the districts They don't comply with certain things. One of the Things we learned from talking with The legislators on this section are that this was originally going to be much more more extensive. There were several

080provisions different and in the end it ended with only five different arrangements. So School districts must ensure that school meals meet the nutritional standards. I don't think so that we have no worries in that sense. Originally there was a requirement that established that the school districts L were required to make that The families will complete the form federal for free lunches or to reduced price, because it was discovered that That goes against the law. federal, no one can be forced to complete a government form on that topic. So that's one point unimportant. Uh, there's another aspect Here we must ensure that no one the student is paid an incentive in cash for attending school on the day from the count. I am convinced that Lawmakers still don't understand how The counting period works, but That's

081a different presentation. And then There's also something strange here for the student surveys. Now, according to the 164K, We need to announce in advance to families when an institution The education department will conduct a survey student and offer parents the opportunity for their children not participate in it and then they must publish those results later. This is an area that needs the Department's guidance Michigan State Education. He Michigan Department of Education no He was the one who proposed this. This was developed by the legislators, of made by a particular legislator, and He incorporated it into the school aid law state. So what we don't know is a variety of questions. The teachers They are always asking questions to their students. The great masters do constant formative assessment and They want to know, did what I

082did make sense? today? Is this a survey? Uh, I have some comments that I would like you to give me you would give about yesterday's activity. Is Is this a survey? I would say no. But the rules here in 164K are not clear. What is clear is that if If we fail to comply, we will lose 5% of our founding assignment. He Michigan Department of Education will be the entity in charge of doing to comply with and monitor this. So it What we have asked the MD is to give us guidance in this area to respond Some of these questions are not clear in the school aid law state. And then we also need show that we are using resumes evidence-based literacy in our early primary level. Of New, this conflicts with or creates friction

083with the dyslexia law. that He passed last year. And friction is that school districts have up to school year 2728 to use curricula based on evidence. But this says that if not We are using the curriculum based on evidence, we need to inform the public and families now and later say what we are doing about it. So there is friction between these two parts, the state school aid law and that dyslexia law. And also, the Michigan Department of Education has not yet published its final list of evidence-based curricula in the literacy area. Not really. We can accomplish it now. Retirement, as I mentioned, the system school employee retirement Michigan's public sector is the asset in the largest cash that our state. That's more than 90 billion. dollars. And all employees are obliged to contribute. All

084the school districts in their capacity as employers are required to perform contributions and the state of Michigan also contributes its share. This is an asset with which the State of some the way it manipulates or adjusts each year in the budget. And generally the trend What we observe is that either the employers or the employees have to pay more and the The state contributes a little less each year. They eliminated a budget item of 100 million of dollars that they call compensation for costs. Just saying this about things in the retirement law and its section 147 of the budget. I think they do. confusing so that people can't follow the thread. I had to analyze it in various ways, but a compensation MPC costs is essentially a call coupon for the districts students pay less

085to the system retirement and the State assumes a little further. Well, the state eliminated that coupon. so the school districts will pay Plus, another $100 million across the board the state and the state will be able to contribute less to that. Why less? for the State? Because they want to use that money for other things in the state budget. The normal cost of the pension, which is what the districts Schoolchildren pay, in addition to their salary and the salaries of each school employee, Uh, that's its normal assessed cost. That has increased by 1.72 percentage points. Uh, I'm not a math teacher, But that's... you know, more than 5% of that cost increases if you look at it passing by of 9.15% of all salaries at 10.87%. We also have something called OPEB. OP is an

086IRS term that means other post-employment benefits. Which Basically, it's that people who They were fortunate enough to work in Michigan's public schools before They have the September 5, 2012 date ability to have a program of dental and eye care subsidized when they retire. Hey It was September 5th to contribute to the payment of your expenses medical attention at the time of your retirement. But the people in this u first category that receives a post-employment benefits, those costs usual ones are increasing substantial or are more than tripling. So it depends on how many people have a school district in each of these categories. And for make retirement a little more complicated, there are seven generations different from a retirement system where the school employees are located. So they're really our office of administration and our departments

087payroll. those who have to wear a record all these things because there is different costs for the employer and the employee depending on the generation of the retirement system in which you are. So this is one that is increasing considerably. And then We have a new detour that is entering below the 27L. As You'll recall, 27L is the same section as budget that is providing a one-time additional compensation to the educators, but they are also providing 147,000 to help offset the costs in a one-time way. So it gets difficult again. follow all the bouncing balls. No I have listed all the elements of the Section 147, just some of the changes here, but there's still... I'll just give you one small idea of ​​the order of magnitude. About 20 years ago, approximately the 90% of

088the money a district received A local school in Michigan was coming into shape of foundational allocation, so they were unrestricted income that the school district could use for meet the needs of their staff and their students. Today that is less than 70%. So, where did we go? The the biggest part of that change, that oscillation 20% was allocated to this area, the retirement. Retirement is By monopolizing those costs, the revenues available that could be allocated to the schools. So the net impact varies from district by district, because the districts have a different census of its employees who belong to these seven distinct categories of the system retirement. Therefore, the amount The actual amount will vary for each district. Hey, chason That's approximately $195 per student. additional cost. It's an estimate and not I have the

089specific data for the schools public statements from Grand Rapids regarding this matter, But this would be for a typical district. So, if we analyze the impact budgetary, the legislators do not They want to talk about this. They want to talk about that main figure of the increase in basic allowance, the $442 that have been added to the districts schoolchildren, but they don't talk about the money that They are taking things away from the districts schoolchildren. That change in normal costs, those The increases are about 120 per student for a typical school district. It will vary for each school district. And that elimination of cost compensation From MPers, those 100 million are about $5 per student. So the net increase of unrestricted dollars that arrive Michigan's school districts are of about 2.5%. It varies. I have

090had business managers arguing with me in other places and saying, "Hey, to Our district is only 1.5%." Han calculated the numbers for their entire census of employees in the different categories, but it is not the 4.6% of which The legislators want to talk, because What they don't talk about is that they have increased our retirement costs in the schools so that the State can contribute less state funding to pension system in this regard. So the school aid fund is already there I mentioned, this is mentioned in our Michigan Constitution. Our Constitution, the current one we use Now, it was established in 1963 and speaks from a school aid fund to support to the K schools of Michigan. And that's it. what we have been doing since 1963. Uh, we've adjusted the scheme of financing. Every

091year we have a new one state school assistance law, but What we see now is that 100% of state support for schools community funds come from the aid fund school. That wasn't the case even in 2009. That money, 100% came from General State Fund. So now The School Aid Fund is assuming a cost from the general fund. It's as if You could get your neighbor to pay the mortgage for you or the payment of your car. You don't have to pay it anymore, but Now they have the additional burden. The School Aid Fund only paid by K to 12 schools until 2010. Then we started to cover the costs of community colleges. Now We have 100% state support for community colleges and public universities. We have 13 public universities in the state. HE They finance

092it with two funds, the Fund General and school aid. I usually be exclusively the general fund and We can see it in this graph that We have it here. This graph shows us Uh, a little, well, actually it's this flat. 1995 was the first fiscal year of proposal A and proposal A not It was a constitutional change. for redesign how we fund schools and the universities. It was a change constitutional to remake how We fund K-12 schools and so From 1995 to 2009 we only used the School Aid Fund to finance Schools K-12. In 2009, the fall The budget for the year was 2009. fiscal year 2010. It was the last year Governor Granh's budget Holm and Bob Emerson was the director of budget. I remember talking to I asked him personally, "Why?" We are

093paying 200 million dollars from the school aid fund for the community colleges?" That was fair after the great recession hit in 2008 and the general fund had no enough money. Then he said, "We need to borrow 200 millions of dollars from the relief fund school. It's a very healthy fund and it you can see that the following year They returned that money and it was reduced to zero. Then Governor Snyder arrived And he said, "That's an interesting idea. No only readjusted school funding in $470 less per student in the allocation basic, but it also took 400,000 from the School Aid Fund to support community colleges and universities and Since then we've been on a roll. The The red line in this graph shows the year's budget difference last year compared to this year. We added

094others $400,000,000 in higher education costs that are being covered by the Fund K12 School Aid. The reason why the budget was delayed so much The discussion was between the Senate and the House, Republicans and Democrats on how long should that red line be? Originally, the members of the House They wanted to transfer the 1.8 billion remaining costs of higher education to the School Aid Fund. Instead, e And this shows that the universities, our three Universities are funded by both the General Fund uh 1.8 billion dollars a year past fiscal, as by the Fund of School Aid 461 million dollars. Welcome to the Board meeting Public School Education Grand Rapids. Today is Monday the 10th November 2025. We welcome you and thank you for your presence at this meeting. We request respectfully to the attendees who

095silence your mobile phones and refrain from applauding or doing audible comments during the meeting. If you wish to address the Board, please fill out a card of public comments that are They are found at the entrance and deposit the card completed in the basket provided. Tonight I'm going to order that all the comment cards from the public be delivered just before we move on to our action points. So please them We ask that you have them ready. It is the item number 10 on our agenda scheduled. Just before we board the action points, our secretary The board will collect them in that precise moment. And we'll have 3 minutes for the audience comments. Unless If we receive 20 cards or more, it could finding myself in the need to reduce that time. and we have

096a timer visible here right now, so Please pay attention to that as well. Very good. I would like to ask the Faith Commissioner Rodriguez, please come in list. Commissioner Williamson here. Commissioner Davis is absent. Kill Patrick here. Commissioner Melto, present. Cindico Moreno, present. The radio commissioner and Williams present. It's the Wit. President Buchek. Here I am. Have the quorum. I would like to propose or request a motion to amend the agenda and move only the public comment from our students right after our academic representatives have the opportunity to present their information. So right after the Number five on the agenda, I would like that our students with cards Public comments will speak. TO get started quickly. A motion and has been seconded there. Thank you so much. Everyone who is in favor of this proposal.

097Ah, yes. Ah, Are there any objections? OK. The The motion has been approved. So, could that someone propose the approval of the amended agenda? Support. In favor. Say yes. Yeah. OK. Any objections? OK. The motion is approved. The first point in our agenda is the presentation of the school aid budget. Good evening everyone. Happy Monday and Now I would like to invite Mr. Dan Bim, who is one of the defenders of the education in western Michigan, for come forward. He will make us one presentation related to aid school, the state budget. Welcome, Mr. BIM. Dr. Bim, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here tonight. Uh, I appreciate the opportunity to come and talk about, uh, the budget for fiscal year 2026 Although it's still 2025. Uh, the legislature at the state and

098federal levels The new fiscal year begins, the first October. So even though this the budget may have been slightly delayed, Well, better late than never. And what What I want to do tonight is break down the state budget. uh, analyzing it from a macro perspective at the level of State. I don't have an analysis detailed district by district, but yes I can present you with the key points of This 513-page document. I brought it right here. It's a double-sided one for save trees and it looks like a letter from about 10 points, so I'll try summarize it as best as possible. A bit about the advocates of education western Michigan. So we represent to the constituent school districts in the Kent, Musegon and Otagua ISDs, about 45 school districts there, including public schools Grand Rapids,

099our most big. And it is an honor for me to be here. with you tonight. Uh, we advocate in Lancing, uh, a little bit in Washington DC, but mainly in Lancing because of the public education. All educators in our schools, as well as the families and students. Upon reviewing this year's budget, some things. Uh, it was a late budget, As everyone knows, about 3 months of delay. It was an extremely difficult process closed this year. What I mean is That's why there are currently 147 elected members of the legislature, 110 in the House and 37 senators who were, We have a vacant seat in the Senate, But of those 147 legislators, in In reality, there were about six legislators those who prepared this budget state for this year. The other 141 members didn't really know

100what There was in the state budget up to a few hours before voting and They voted at 1 a.m. and at 3 a.m. the morning here last month. Hey, So it was a closed process where people from outside the field who work with children every day they couldn't come and say, "We see that you're thinking in this idea on this page or on this idea on that page." Could we offer Any opinions? None of that provided in this budget. Uh, like that that the product is not the best we could have devised. In fact, there are some errors in the budget and the legislators have acknowledged that, given that now the budget is at visible to all. And one of the things that What we observe is that once again it is used money from

101the School Aid Fund, which in accordance with our Constitution of 1963 was established to support the Schools from K to 12. Money is used from This school aid fund for finance other initiatives not related to education KA12 within the state budget. And this It is a matter that every citizen should be concerned about. to be fully conscious. And one more thing What happens is that the system retirement for school staff public is something that all Public schools are required to to be part of it. But what we see in this budget is that the costs that the local districts must pay have increased and as a result the cost that The state of Michigan pays has diminished. That's one way those costs are shifted from the state level to at the local level, and this

102has truly been a growing trend and is often hidden for most people. The majority People don't understand the complexities of the retirement system of public school employees, but The conclusion is that more and more of Those costs are being borne by local school districts, as well as well as by the members themselves of staff. So if we look at the increases of funding year after year eh of the year This has obviously led to the allocation. fundamental that is income not restricted, eh, that reaches the districts school supplies represent a 4.6% increase, $442 per student, certainly Thank you. Special education, Likewise, an increase of 4.6%. Still We are not fully funded in special education by the government federal and its original promise, so It remains a mandate with funds insufficient in Michigan. Uh, in the

103section 31A or our budget for risks, yes, we did see a welcome increase of 25% in that area. Even if those are Restricted funds, this is an increase very useful. We are not there yet We should be there for our students who are at greater risk for that they achieve academic success in our schools. So far We can use 30% of these funds for the reduction of the size of primary school level classes. And for our students who learn English We saw a 25% increase in this area. So, necessary increases in areas that we call it a financing model weighted student. And definitely As a State, we want to move forward increasingly more towards that model to represent the investments that children require that come to us with a set diverse needs and those needs

104involve different costs associated with them. Continuing, the federal funding. Uh, this is a title prize and many other things to come to the state and putting it all together is a an increase of approximately 9.3%. Not everything comes from degree programs and a little about the federal budget. Right now we are dealing with a stagnation at the federal level, but it that they are resolving in the area discretionary federal spending and that It includes all the programs that we They arrive in the K12 education that I am Seeing what they're working on here This is now the level of spending for the year Fiscal 27. So education has a delay of approximately one year in that. So these dollars haven't been restricted to flow towards us federal level during this shutdown because were agreed in

105the budget of previous year. The Great Start program Readiness is our premier program childhood in the state of Michigan. That It also sees an increase of 4%, 4.6%, but we did see the elimination of one top category in that first-rate program childhood. section 32P. And when they hear These sections, such as 31 and 32P, are only the different chapters in this long U documents that are in numerical order. So that section 32P is a program that has successful, about 20 million dollars statewide for the education of families with children small ones. I used this program, my wife and I, when our eldest son I was 2 years old. It's the Bright program Beginnings. The parents unite and They learn everything necessary to raise a young man. CTE, we saw an increase here and This really

106targets areas of state of Michigan that do not have active CTE programs, they call them CTE deserts. And then mental health and school safety. This is the section 31A. Here we saw a substantial increase. Are about 200 million dollars that They will reach the districts per student. Oh, there's another $107 million which will be in the form of competitive grants, But as you know, this also implies ask the districts to renounce rights under the Constitution. And that's it. something we are working on with the legislature right now and saying this It doesn't seem entirely correct that the people on the education boards, to the individual employees, are asked waive rights under the Constitution in exchange for very high funds necessary. So this is something that It is actively under discussion in Lancing right now also

107on this topic in particular. Continuing with the changes year-on-year, adult education, a major program suffered a cutback 20% random. When we asked Why the cut in this area is only They said they needed money to other budget items. So Again, when you put six people in a room to decide on spending statewide education, uh, these These are sometimes the answers you get. Virtual education. This is for a a class that meets in person, but There may be occasions when that in-person class needs to meet or temporarily virtually for to be able to recount that as a day of instruction. The state superintendent He said we had been here too many days and recommended switching to 7 days, reducing this approximately half. Instead, We're now at zero. This is a problem because many schools Secondary schools

108use virtual education. This It is in section 21 F. On days when the Students must take exams such as the SAT, where other students who don't They take the exam, they could meet in a virtual session and do exploration racing or other things on that day specific. Now we have to redo it the calendars because the school year is already over It has begun, and again this is a example of the type of legislation that we see it in the state school aid law when there is no connection with the people who works in the fields. Well, there were several points maintained in the budget statewide without increase or decrease. I want to point these things out. We are grateful that they remain, but the Inflation is a problem in all these areas. So inflation

109in a certain mode cannibalizes some of these things to a certain extent as We are making progress in all these areas. important. If we look at the We know how important literacy is. is. We know how hard they work our teachers all the time to that our youngest students master this very important skill. Uh, the literacy trainers have maintained at the same level of financing that we had seen previously. M, the time of additional instruction. This was removed. So these are areas where The teachers will identify the students who simply don't. They need to learn to read; they're behind in it. its milestones. They need more time in the task and this additional instruction may be useful. That was removed in this budget. Literacy training It is a pre-package training course. 10 million are maintained

110for teachers dollar and literacy support These are aid programs for the districts to cover curriculum costs if they seek update or change your materials literacy. Last year we had 7 million dollars and it has only gone down a little in This budget. The collaboration of West Michigan teachers are our Cultivate your own talent program attract more and more people who are connected to schools, but that perhaps they don't have a teaching qualification to help them with that. Last year This program was supported by West teachers' collaboration Michigan with a direct allocation of 7 millions of dollars. This year, we and the three other programs Grow your own in the state of Michigan we have been invited to apply for a grant competitive of 70,000,000 and we are Seeking 5,000,000 for collaboration of teachers from West

111Michigan. All What I would point out about this is that again This is where a mistake occurred. These These are funds that should cover several years. because those who are in these programs They need several years to complete their title and this makes the funding stop a year earlier than need. And the legislators have already said that we made a mistake in that, so we are now seeing if we can amend this, or if we can, so to say it, to pay tuition for advanced with the universities that we are working on, mainly Great Valley, here for collaboration of teachers from western Michigan. Supplementary compensation for educators. We know that our Educators work incredibly hard and we want pay them more money. They do a job incredible throughout the state. This is a new compensation

112that was agreed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. These are funds that are given for a single once, so it's not continuous money. Of agreement? As students, as we already You know, I'm going to read some questions and I want them to raise a green card for yes and a red card for no. Starting with question one, Would opening negotiations provide transparency and would it accelerate the agreement? Opening negotiations would build trust in the district. Cand, Do you trust that the district is looking out for the student and staff well-being during these negotiations? Ah, what do you think hiring and Retaining qualified educators could help families return to GPRS that recently disappeared? GRPS employees, have you ever Considered leaving GRPS because of their salary? And finally, do you think the executives They should

113have received increases from 8 to 13, while educators were offered a? Finally, let's talk about urgency and the action that our students They need it now. Do the same thing again. Do you think not? act now in the face of the shortage Teachers will harm our students in the long term? They want to see this board take bold steps to solve the staffing crisis in our schools. If the board continues to delay action, Do you think the students will be the ones who Will they pay the price? I agree. It I'm paying right now. One last one ask. If they want this meeting school take immediate action invest more in students and Educators, hold up your green card now. Thank you for making our voice heard. We're counting on you. [applause] OK. With that we

114conclude the Student comments for today. So we'll continue with the report on the GRPS Foundation. I would like to invite Miss Stephanie Andrews and Mr. Larry Johnson. Go ahead, please. Just in time for the turkey. Good evening, President Bushac, Dr. Roby and other members of the board. I don't think Stephanie Andrews I need an introduction. She is the president of our foundation of Grand Rapids public schools and is Here to talk. It's hard to believe that We are just 17 days away from the race of turkey. So we'll talk a little bit about that. and then I will give the floor to Stephanie. Good evening, thank you for inviting us. I'm excited to present the 33rd annual Turkey Throot race. Uh, just to share, the first race Turkey Thro took place in 1896 in Buffalo,

115New York. And here we are today and we are the fifth largest K in the western Michigan. And we're excited to share the Introducing our jersey. He Color is always the most eye-catching thing, so that this year our t-shirts are garnets. Okay, they're nice. brilliant. I like that color. We always choose a new color each year And this hadn't been done before, so We're excited about that. We have a Great team that organized this. We have doubled our size in this career in the last 5 years and I just Check the statistics and here they are the numbers. Last year we had 6400 participants and we are on our way to exceed that number. In fact, we have more of the 200 participants we had at this same time last year. Ah, We have 3,200

116people registered today. We have raised over $90,000 in sponsorship and we already have more than $90,000 in race registration fees. Those funds are also very necessary. in order to help the students athletes to practice sports here in the district. That is the reason why This career was created and has been raising funds for them since so. Blue Cross Blue Shield returns as the main sponsor for the eleventh year and the MCU is ours sponsor of the mini-trot for the fourth consecutive year. Uh, we want to share that the route is back. Uh, we're receiving a lot calls, but we're going to operate by Division. will be operational. The The city of Grand Rapids gave us the green light Okay, and the construction will be complete. We hope this week's snow doesn't will prevent this from

117going forward, but this has been the favorite route of the fans regarding our tour, so we are very excited to run down the street Division and we have a starting line and from the finish line right in front of the Bangán de la Sand. Uh, I just wanted to share. Everyone has to come and move your feet before eat this Thanksgiving Day. AND if you are one of our best Winners by age category, you will go home with a pumpkin pie. Thank you. Oh, there are questions. I have a ask. So, you said that every year The shirts have different colors. So, uh, what has been the most popular color? crazy or the most interesting one we've ever had What have you had in these 33 years? Well, I think that It's pink. I don't

118know if there has been a color crazy, I mean, they've all been collector's items. In other words, people He asks all the time, huh, we've tried go through the entire mid-range of colors And we're already running out of colors, So I don't know if there has been a color wild. Ah, for years, I imagine. Yes, maybe we'll have to make one of rainbows or something, yes, but we've made of Everything from fuchsia roses to greens neon. Last year was golden, so Yeah. Uh-huh. Know? I was a runner cross-country and participated in many racing. And my wife can tell you that, My former classmates told you they can say. The only thing that excited me They were the t-shirts. More than the race For the 5 km, more than a medal, I wanted the shirt. And

119so, uh, I have a A bunch of t-shirts, you know? Of those times. So I appreciate one good shirt. I like these from this year. Yes, it's great to see people from our community walking with them and It's more fun to travel and find them. in another state. I see them all the time. Yes, the Turky Dr. shirts. Yes. And To remember, all students They run for free in this race. And each One of you will receive a t-shirt, including our interns. The We will have for you in the next meeting, because they are being printed tonight. How good! And just two more things to highlight about the foundation. Uh, since I've switched to a a kind of quarterly calendar, We had over 100 applications from mini-subs for teachers and principals and we will be

120making those decisions or in next week or so and granting those subsidies. We have seen a large increase in U applications, some basic needs, some These projects are really interesting, anything from a salmon in the classroom, some quail, uh some very building materials interesting for students have great experiences. us I'm very excited to fund that, as well as overnight camping experiences, excursions and civic programs. AND Finally, I wanted to share that the results of our survey that we send to our community, as well as to our educators, donors and alumni sponsors of the foundation for help us with the planning strategic. The results are in. We're tabulating those and looking strategies to really help to finance what we see, uh for To finance it in the future, right? Uh, we don't we will deviate from

121our priorities because we know that if we abandon the funds, we abandoned what we have state funding during the last 30 years, there will be no replacement money for that to happen. But also We want to listen very carefully to where our community, our educators and Our funders believe they want Let those funds go. And so some of the things we see as a priority that are emerging are the literacy, tutoring, some basic needs, the cell and Finally, Steam. So we are looking forward to seeing how they develop while we do our planning strategic for the foundation, of agreement? And so remember that you must Move your feet before you eat. Before that you eat. Thank you. Thank you. Us We took a picture with Tom Pavo. Tom the turkey you say. OK. Thank you

122so much thanks for your report. Wow. Long live Tom. Could we take a picture? photo? It's all done. This that you see here. But we were given homework, so We'll be working on it this weekend and we will send an email to President Buchec so that she could forward to the rest of the members of the together with our reflections. Have some details about what they I would like to send the packages for the requests for proposals and so that different people know what they are our offers. So we will Our task this week, we will review Okay, we'll look at the language and then we'll do that. any kind of suggestions. I'll tell you We'll send it, then you send it to the board directive so that everyone has it sooner of his presentation.

123Well, that's the work that we had analyzed in relationship with JL and then we received a brief update on our bonus and that will be discussed later today Also, so I won't go into too much detail. details and how we ran out of time It was very brief, but we'll receive that. Update today and then we'll discuss it A C eh there is an opportunity to rename the new elementary school of northeast and so the deadline for The presentations will be on the 19th. December and then they will go through that process of narrowing down the options and arriving some names that might bring before this board so that the Let's consider. Then, finally, we talked about the secure access and that's going very well Good, and now we're moving forward with the implementation of

124key entry in the educational space already initiated and That's how we stand on the issue of the secure entrances. OK? Do you have any questions? What have we discussed? Them I now appreciate the report from superintendent. Good night. And now I'm going to invite the Mr. Alex Smart to come closer. He is our CEO of facilities and operations and we will present a quarterly report specifically related to projects that have been carried out carried out this year, as well as what is planned for 2026. Mr. Smart. Good evening everyone. Dr. Robie, President Buchec, distinguished eh board members It has been a It's been a while since I last saw them. It's a pleasure to see them. Uh, so today, uh I would like to focus, obviously, on the projects we have ahead of us and

125in some of the ones we are taking to Cape right now. Hey, and try to give them an overview of Uh, where are we? Uh, like You can see it here and they can just keep going, you know, introducing themselves and letting business take over take your place. I'm looking forward to the future arrives and we work with the board directive. I know, uh, as you know, the last 18 The past few months have been quite challenging. Without When working together, one with the Grea, I firmly believe there is much more. What do we gain if we work together? We are divided. However, sometimes The division highlights some of those things that need to be pointed out and that perhaps they are not so obvious in the surface, but you begin to understand more thoroughly

126examine the infrastructure of how Things work and what you need to be changed. So I want to thank you for your time tonight and 3 minutes was the perfect amount of time. Take care of yourself. Erika Van Dijk. Next Julie Neathlin. Hello, Dr. Roby and members of the board. My name is Erika and I'm on the team Urban Core's educational justice Collective. We continue to show our solidarity with the educators who are asking for better pay. We know about working conditions The teachers' learning activities are the ones that are most relevant to them. of the students. I am here today to to talk again about the initiative Electoral invest in my children. The electoral initiatives are a way so that ordinary people say, "That's right how we want our community. We don't have to wait

127for our elected officials resolve. We can get more money for our K-12 public schools throughout the state if we work together. Electoral initiatives require signatures of registered voters of Michigan, many signatures. This It requires between 600,000 and 700,000 signatures to mid-February so that it is in the ballot next November and GRPS I should really want her to be in the ticket. We can raise more than 1,000 millions of dollars more for the public schools throughout Michigan, including GPRS, adding a surcharge 5% tax on annual income greater than $500,000 for individuals or million dollars for couples. That surcharge will affect less than 2% of Michigan residents and the funds will support vocational education and technically, they will reduce the size of the classes and the hiring and retention of teachers like the ones here at GRPS.

128It is worth noting, because of how it is written law, that these specific funds not They can be moved from the aid fund state school for other uses, as we heard happened in the budget most recent state. It is an amendment constitutional, so it allows it. There is specific things in which one can wear. I want to thank those who have already are involved, especially to those who are collecting signatures, that have advocated for the petition since stage and who have helped to organize the Collection of signatures in GGRPS schools and events. Start looking for t-shirts of ordinary people, everyday power. We'll be around. We hope to be very present in the turkey campaign especially approaching. There is a a couple of other ways they can help. U, please consider approving a resolution of support

129from the Board for The U, for the request. We share a Example language before and I'll finish them to send to your emails new, just before the start of this meeting. The school boards of Abondale, Vendon Harbour, East Llaning, as well as the State Board of Education Michigan schools have done so. Detroit public schools will vote on it tomorrow. It would be truly significant. that a district as large as GRPS is uniera eh se uniera a ellos. AND Finally, if they haven't already, Please consider going through my seat. end of this meeting to sign the a request that extends to everyone in the audience as well. Um, I really think that together we can achieve this, but They know very well that they can count on their public support. visible, it will make a big

130difference in our community. So really I just encourage them, whatever form it may take. that this is seen as a meeting, as Individuals, please consider a support the petition. Thank you. Thank you so much. Introducing Julie Netling and Caitlyn Holmwood continues. Hi, I'm Julie Nitlin. Hey, According to their statistics, they lost 5%. from their educators last year. AND although 5% is a lot for me, considering that it is a workforce Big, many are questioning that number because they have seen so many people leaving seems more like it. So I remembered We not only lose people to other districts, but also We are relocating staff to fill positions. For example, the art teacher no longer It's there, but it's still in the district, only in another school. Um, the question I have About 5%, is that

1315% of the positions? in the budget or 5% of the positions What do we really have? Because the sister I think a few years ago that actually no We budget to cover all the vacancies. Well, anyway I want to leave very That's clear why that figure isn't higher. My moment had already passed, but the People have gone to sleep or have gone to bed their children. Uh, many people are point of leaving this district, but They still hold onto hope because they are beginning to see his union, his families, their community and their students. And uh you for change, therefore, no We can leave now. This is our opportunity to improve things for future students, education and educators. But when the contract is signed and the The dust settles, perhaps it's time to make some

132difficult decisions. We do not attend these meetings of the a meeting to make us rich. Most of People are not dedicated to education to get rich. Uh, the problem is that we want more for our children and for this district. I'm not here for myself workplace safety. I want to always be alert. knowing that there are better ones teachers who want my job. I want that for my students, I want this for you. That's it, that's my The union is not asking for standards of Lower performance, they're not asking for it longer lunch breaks, They're actually trying to do their own more competitive positions. All This is about improving our district. Thank you, Caitlyn Holmwood and then Rebecca Beltrán. Hello, board members, my name is Caitlyn Holmwood and I am a teacher of special education

133in school Buschanan primary school. Uh, during my last public comment I spoke with this board about the problems that our department faces special education and asked that it be conduct an audit and that They will send communications to all the tutors of students with IEPs, informing them whether or not their child has a special education teacher certified, as well as suppliers of licensed services, as It indicates in its CIEP, and it seems that it has an audit was carried out. And, according to this audit, GRPS is considered and quoted with full staff and found that, I quote again, the services are being provided as planned established in the IEP of each student. Talking with colleagues mine, just before this meeting of the board, and as a representative of special education for our board As an

134executive, I receive many inquiries. HE with absolute certainty that this is not the case. We have proof that we don't count with the full staff, that the Students are not receiving what they It is established in your IEP and I understand that These must be difficult facts to face, But those are the facts as they are. We see right now, those of us who are in the land every day in these buildings. Hey, There were other problems with the information. reported in this audit as well and me It generated curiosity about the validity and the transparency of this internal audit. I'm very glad it was done And yes, I feel that the concerns. The fact that it has I appreciate it, but there has been a tendency to try to please and not me It

135matters how we look right now. Me The students I know matter. personally, in whom I am personally involved. If I see that Whether future results occur or not They happen right in front of me, it's very difficult to see and I think many teachers would be I agree with you on that. Uh, the report He also found other problems deep and critical of our ability to recruit and retain special education staff. So I don't know if you are all aware, But starting next year, the MDE is demanding that all teachers substitutes and education positions special must be registered in degree programs in education. Hey, According to the audit, we are on the 25th. the 125 special education teachers They are substitutes at the moment. That It currently represents 20%. So, what will they do next?

136year when they can't find substitutes for 20% of positions special education that they cannot afford? Because I'm sure the answer It's not that we expect people appear out of nowhere from the low at the price of being the worst paid in the district or in the county. So I really hope we do something about it. financial level that attracts people to our district. We, like Yulie He just said before me, we want competitive remuneration. We want to always stay alert, but primarily we want our students are attended to. Thank you, Rebeca Beltrán. And next, Bitsy Howard. Rebecca is not here. I'm Bitsy Howard. Unis Lagron. After Eunice, it will be the turn of Hether Palo. Eunice is already there descending. Good evening, I am a pause. Good night, Dr. Ruby, and all members of the

137board of directors. Eunice, can you Lower the microphone a little more? by favor. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Ruby, and everyone. the members of the board of directors. My His name is Eulenon. I am a mother, a grandmother and a proud volunteer here at the Borton Elementary School We have been present at these meetings uh meeting after meeting time and time again. We have We have asked, we have begged, we have expressed our deepest concerns, our frustration, our needs, our pleas And our best wishes to all of you. Look the amount of things that are happening in our community and in our nation. How will they be able to survive and to get ahead, the teachers and their families with such incredibly high salaries low? More and more teachers are abandoning our school district because

138complete. Do you care? That's really what's happening with our valued teachers? It seems that everything else is much more Important, but once again, when and how will teachers receive their pay rise? No, it's not happening saying absolutely nothing about the teachers and their salaries. Is the district even considering a salary increase? The teachers They need to know exactly what it is. that is really happening. They already have More than expected. Increase the Teachers deserve a good salary. Is what should be done. Thank you so much, Heather Palo. And next we will have to Stephen Assassin. Oh, hello Heer Palo, director of MEA Unicerp. I had something planned, but I'm going to improvise. They had an extensive presentation on school aid, the which I appreciate. I also appreciate the 3 minutes, I mean that, but I'm

139watching a topic throughout the night and That's transparency. So the The presentation was impeccable. I am agreement. Everything he said was excellent. He also said that he didn't have individual district information. Thank you. He was giving information state school aid budget. We've given them to you, and they probably already have them. specific information about the profit I'm serious, Grand public schools Rapids receive from the state budget this year. It's a net profit. Consider those MIPs or changes. Consider all those compensations. Take in The removal of 147G is taken into account. practically replaced by the 27L or L4. Take all of that into consideration. It represents a net profit of almost ,000. This is indisputable. Transparency once again. This, Let's talk about this report financial statement prepared in May by an external firm, School and Municipal

140Advisory Services. Again, I did not disagree with Nothing that Mr. Sulvi said the day when the report what it was It was evident in their report that they have a spending priority problem. Yeah They continue spending as they are spending and prioritizing the things that are prioritizing, you will be absorbed by the State. They will lose their quality educators. It's something that will pass. You have to make decisions about how to spend and the decisions you are making They don't prioritize your students and educators in your school district. That That should be your number one priority. We heard Kaitlyn talk about transparency and education staff special. The last time I looked at the There were 67 certified positions available. vacancies. That was probably the Last week, there were probably more. The 95% retention rate was

141from the end of the school year 25th until the principle. 95% returned. You know there are resignations at each board meeting. You know it. This is about treating your Educators with respect and give them what they need. They deserve it. Transparency regarding the negotiation. So I don't know what we can do. Regarding this occasion, let's hope that we may have in the future open public negotiations so that everyone receives the same information and the same facts and that it does not stagnate in the medium with comings and goings. We have been very open, honest and transparent. Yeah They have things they want to know about Please ask us. Yes, if You have a problem with alignment in our numbers, by Please show us. We have been, As I said, we have been very transparent. on

142our end. We would expect that uh the Board should do the same. So I think transparency and priorities of eh its educators and students They should be at the top of their game. Ready right now. Thank you, Steven Asarian. And next we have a of the charging stations. So the infrastructure in terms of civil works It has already been completed. We are waiting that the charging stations arrive. AND about the fuel tank I must mention that the new tanks will be high. Oh, okay. It is advantageous because they are easier to maintain and not Do we have to worry so much about the possible soil and other contamination So. Yes, great. Thank you. And then, uh, I know You mentioned it, but while we consider facilities for Montessori and for the future, what Exact planning

143would be required in Riverside right now? What would it look like that? We're watching the program right now. comprehensive, Okay? Yes, but speaking of Riverside, You said they're looking at planning and development. What does that mean? Well We'll have Riverside because that's what we have it on the list. Ah, I see. But But we're watching the whole program now. Not only Riverside, but also we are looking for other options so that so we can present a presentation for that. Okay, thank you so much, Trustee Rodriguez. Uh, so, if you can just go back one slide and this is Aberdin. Me I was asking, are they others? projects? Oh, you already went too far. That is the second to last slide. Yes, that's it. Aberdin, right? It's Aberdin. Uh, no, Aberdin is in fact closer to

144the principle. Ah. Oh, Aberin. No, no, I don't know. I think it refers to present-day Aberdin. Yeah, Yes, that's it. Alright. Go for one more. Oh, Oh, you're talking about the... Yes, really. I'm sorry. Ah, I swear I've already experienced it. Do you see the photo? Following. The next one. Yes that's fine. Sorry, I'm confusing you. Yes, yes, It is the Aberdin of today. Okay, then I was just asking others projects. So the sets are for The new Averding, right? for the new. The requirements will be district-specific. It will not only be a guideline in each project. Okay? What does that imply? exactly? I'm not very familiar with it with the term, so if you could explain to me that it will be, it will be a The tool we can use for U is

145a guide for us when designing buildings to identify what Uquidad U we are providing to all our students. OK? Know? Let's say, for example, that the spaces flexible learning spaces collaboration, well, what do we need specifically for that? Uh, where Where should it be located? Know? How many Should classrooms be attended to for that reason? What do we need you to have? How many linear meters we need for storage for, let's say, a room art or a music room, things like that nature? So, will this be a project building by building or site by site? Or will it just be a kind of Overview? In summary, it's something general such as primary and secondary schools and secondary. OK. OK. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure. OK. Thank you very much, Mr. Smart. Thank you

146so much, and I just wanted to do a special mention to my colleague Daile Caminga. He has been key in shaping all these projects. I know it's I'm super busy, so thanks for being here. Here, Daile, I appreciate you very much. Thank you, Dale. Where is Dale? Okay, happy to see you, Mar. This is the point on the agenda where eh We will stop accepting cards from audience comments. It seems that the Mrs. Anderson has a couple more in the Dude, huh? And as she approaches, we will continue with our points of action. So first we have our shopping agenda. I have a motion to approve the purchasing agenda? The motion has been presented. Second. Uh, do you have any questions or comments? Everyone in favor. Yes. Uh, sorry. No It should have been discussed

147before the motion. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Ought I should have said something, but hey, I just had uh, and I brought that up by email electronic, uh, but I was wondering, uh, if the board member, if my colleagues from the board, they were, uh, you know, maybe Okay, maybe not. When considering the learning curriculum socio-emotional Second Step from sixth to eighth grade, is under two others special funds, subsection A, E1, eh, because I know we bought a plan of social-emotional learning studies prior to this one a few years ago. Well, and I know that both are part of the curriculum from Castle and I'm curious to know where are we in terms of progress that Have we achieved it, or do you know how we are doing? continuing with due fidelity before of making purchases

148like these in the future. And I don't know, maybe we already have I have not received that information. seen. Uh, I know I've missed some sometimes, Dr. If you could let us know if there are any updates about the CEL curriculum. Uh, regarding to the CEL curriculum, I know that's part of our calendar. I can't, no I remember when was the last time that We had an update, but it's part from our general calendar of when We have presentations. E, Mrs. Kins, I thought I had seen it. Oh, okay. It's in the back. I'll bring him here. Yes, yes, yes, thank you, from TRUE. But I also want to make sure that it wouldn't be in the again, already You know, a board of directors that you would have a automatic presentation such as, "Ah,

149yes, of course, yes, yes, yes, that's it." What was I saying, yes, in the future, You know? Just to have a sort of update before this. And again, I don't remember when on the calendar "Nor, when would that have fallen?" And the truth is, I don't know, ma'am. Akins, while you prepare for approach, I'm not sure if this is part of a payment for something that has already been done. It's not about something. Thank you, thank you for coming up here, Thank you very much. Yes. Oh, there isn't. No problem at all. And so in In reality, we have three study plans different. For primary school we use e Caring School Community and we that It was the first curriculum that we adopt. The resume you have front on the table is secondia and then

150for high school we used Wayfinder, and so what we do is the The written plan is that every 5 years one He assesses where he is and this is where we are almost to do it at the primary level, But because we... We bought two years ago, a year ago and half. We bought Caring School Community, I think, 3 years ago. Three years ago, okay? Okay, around that time. And this This is the second year using Second Step for high school and Wayfinder It's in some high schools too. for the second year. Okay, so what is it? What are we? We buy this year after year year? The one from studies? Is this what Are we acquiring today? Uh, part of Yes, that's right, the grant funds. Our consultants usually don't They like multi-year contracts

151and that It gives you a little flexibility year after year. year to evaluate whether it works or not. It We will review, but the contracts multi-year plants are practically disappearing if you look at it, at least to through the lens of a background of grant. Okay? So, this is it. the same as we had, only divided into Yes, second year for perfect. Yes, yes, This is something you've been working on. Working for a while, right? With CEL's curriculum and of course it is absolutely important. So but Yes, me too, and I don't know when your next one is. presentation on the matter. Yao, you know? I would love to hear that, and I know that We have a calendar of when you're going to to present it, so, so yes, Thank you for providing clarity.

152This good. And I can look towards tomorrow and so I can see. Yes, very kind. Thank you. Okay, we have a... Do you have anything else to... Say inside, Dr. Rob? Oh, oh, I said I'll look for it tomorrow to see. Don't know I remember it. And I usually keep it. here, but I don't have it. Hey, who am I missing? I think second. Amber scored second. Okay, we have one motion and one second. Everyone who is in favor, say yes. Is there anyone who objects? OK. The motion is approved. Uh, the agenda appendix of shopping. Is there any discussion about that? spot? Yes, I have a question. And again, it's the same. The same. I sent it by mail electronic. We have already bought the T-shirts. I really love the T-shirts, I always speak

153very highly of them they. I love the t-shirts from Turkey Trot, for real. Have we purchased in advance for the event of Turkey Throt or is this a new cost for the district? That's a good question. Don't know. We are inviting Mr. Johnson to come down here. OK? Thank you. We've always bought them. We've always bought them. Always the have bought. It comes from the profits of bank, so to speak. Ah, okay. Well, we've always bought them and that's it It comes from the profits we get from Turkey Tro. I'm only saying this because of the microphone. OK. Yes that's fine. Thank you so much. OK. I have a motion to try the denda with moved. Support. Those who are in favor, please say if there are There are any objections. The motion has been

154approved. Um, is there a motion to approve the agenda? bulk consent? Moved. Support. In favor. Tell me. Yeah. That's how it is. Does anyone object to the motion? The motion has been approved. And with this We now turn to the announcements from the president of the board of directors. Well, I just wanted to I would like to remind my esteemed colleagues that Please take a look at the policy on policies And please send me any any suggestions you may have about what they I would like to see that policy. We had previously set a deadline that A week has already passed, so If they haven't sent me anything, please Take a moment to do it in the next two days. I also want Thank you to everyone who came out to vote for the additional

155tax for the Kent ISD improvement on. Wow, it was really exciting to see that It was approved by a good margin, which is so much I needed it. We will continue to get those funds. I also want to highlight a couple of our resolutions that were in the consent agenda block because we don't mention them out loud. AND They are all important, but only I want to highlight our professionals of support on the national day of educational support professionals. Hey, As a teacher, I know that those people are very necessary in our buildings and all of us who work in education We appreciate them very much. And I also want Highlighting the resolution for the week national awareness campaign on the hunger and lack of housing. while We're dealing with... well, everything. related to Snap

156benefits and I just want to thank anyone who have brought food for the collection tonight's food too. So we'll move on to the comments on public. We'll stick to 3 minutes this time. evening. E Fide Commissioner Rodriguez, Could you read the rules to us again, please? favor? Yes ok. Again, the same old story, there are a public comments section in the agenda tonight. Oh, that's it. Incorrect, but hey, every intervention It is limited to a maximum of 3 minutes tonight. Uh, it is requested of the individuals who complete the front of the comments card and indicate the topics they wish to address. Uh, if you He is a registered scholarship recipient, please. Fill out the gold card. We ask the Speakers who refrain from doing abusive or disrespectful statements about board members, employees, volunteers or

157contractors. If you have a complaint about a board member, employee, volunteer or contractor Specifically, use the appropriate process. described in the Board's policy 9450. The speakers will address the board of one by one. Before you begin your Comment, please state clearly your full name for the official record. I will control time again. You can control it too with our new timer and ensuring that each speaker stays within their allotted time assigned. They will be asked to finish their comments promptly upon expiration of their time. The board members did not They will respond during the comment. public. All the worries will be referred to the appropriate personnel for their consideration. We value your contribution and Thank you for sharing with us tonight. OK? The first one will be Matt Marlow, followed by Erica Van Dijk. Good

158evening, my name is Matt Marlow, I am the president of the Association of Grand Rapids Education. Thank you, President Luchec, and to the distinguished members of the board of directors for this opportunity to speak in public. Tonight was a good demonstration of, let's say, what the community is understanding the situation, and its list of priorities. It's a very job The work they do at the meeting is difficult. eh te They appoint or elect you to a position, you You see, you know? immersed in that position and Suddenly you have to try to help to run a school district, a district school that is extremely large. There are so many nuances in your role that it's like where you invest your time and how Do you know where the should be? priorities, and it's quite difficult.

159manage all of that. It probably They need many years to achieve it. This is my fourth year as president of Great and just trying to understand how President looking at the infrastructure of Grea and the union. In addition to that, working with the district and understanding the school district's infrastructure public. And you know, you see things, you do things connections and different aspects of it and it is definitely a tremendous work that probably won't You receive thanks very often, But I do thank you for everything. what are you doing. Uh, it's very difficult and it's hard and it's something that makes you nervous. Uh, but then, what do you do? Hey, some of the things you could ask yourself how the question, Why, uh, why are we deciding Should we make this decision and not

160that one? EITHER, How can we do this and then not Do that? And that's complicated, But you are the board of directors and I hope they had the opportunity to settle in comfortably, to feel a little more confident in their role, of power ask for the things you need, because You are the board of directors, you are the elected officials of this organization, and that's something you have. that you find within yourself to be able to do it. If you want change If that happens, you're going to have to take that decision to do it. If you don't want a change,