001Sorry. Okay, everybody ready? Okay. >> Evening everyone. We're going to call this meeting at 7:02 p.m. Can we please read our mission statement? Our mission is to inspire and empower our students to reach their full potential through opportunities and experiences in a safe, diverse, and collaborative environment. Uh, Miss Lumis, do you mind doing the pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Sorry, I hit the table. All right, roll call, please. >> Uh, Trusty Anderson, >> present. >> Trusty Baltowski, present. Trusty Dyro, Trusty Sterlin, >> present, >> Trusty Stanovvic, Trusty Wall, Trusty Wless >> present. >> We have a quorum. Uh, Trustee Wall, Trustee Stanvvic, and Trustee Darov did let me know they
002would not be able to attend today. All right, first item up. Be it so resolved that the board of education accepts the March 18th, 2026 agenda as presented. A board member may request an item be moved from the consent agenda to superintendent's recommendations. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Trusty Baltowski. >> Supported by Trusty Windless. Any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Baltowski, yes. Trustee Windless, >> yes. >> Trusty Sterling, >> yes. Motion carries. All right. Item up, superintendent reports. >> Oh, public comments. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Public comment on agenda items. Do we have any public comments on agenda items? All right. On to superintendent reports. Mr. Klein. >> Very good. Thank you. We have three items this evening. The first one is
003we have an all state wrestler in our midst. So, Levi, I'm going to have you come up if you would please to the podium. And could I have the coaches and the athletic director come up as well? Levi, yes, we're going to make you give a speech. No. So, so um we'll start off by u reading just a little certificate that we have. So, I talked to Levi before he left to go to the state meeting. Um he happened to be here that evening. We had a board meeting. And as you may know, I used to coach wrestling. Wrestling is one of the hardest sports that there is. Primarily because in football, if someone makes a mistake or jumps off sides, it's someone else's mistake. You're still functioning as a team. But in wrestling, it's
004it's you. It's the student. It's the individual. It's the athlete that has to put in the work, put in the time to ensure if he's in that situation that he doesn't make a mistake and that that he achieves in the match or the tournament. The other piece is we would send kids to the wrestling to the state wrestling meet. It's a huge deal. Way back in the day, some of these guys remember, they used to split it up. They used to do AB in one gym and CD in another gym. That's way back. Um, now they do it at Ford Field, but it's a huge deal. We've had wrestlers that have walked down, should have been all state, hands down, talentwise, but they walk in that arena and they look at the at the stands
005and they realize they're at the state meet and they go out and they lose two matches. I'm sure that happened this year. Kids that should have placed do not. It is very difficult to earn all state honors. And I know on behalf of this board, Levi, we're so very proud of your coaches and your support that you have. So, I'm going to read this. Levi Foster, recognition of your outstanding achievement and dedication in wrestling during placement in the Michigan High School Athletic Association state meet while earning all state recognition. Your hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence are commendable and make your school and your community proud. Congratulations on this remarkable accomplishment. Very nice. Congratulations. >> Great job. Some little swag. and Brian, if you want to introduce and then we're gonna have you speak.
006So, step over here. >> All right. Well, first of all, I just want to say thank you. Um, it's always great. I always get excited when I have a chance to come up here and brag about my student athletes and coaches. So, like I said, thanks again for being here. Um, what's great about Levi is not only he's a tremendous wrestler, but he's even a better person, better student athlete. Love having Levi around and I I'm even more thrilled that he's just a sophomore. So, um, big credit goes to these coaches behind me, too. So, I'm going to bring them up right now. They'll talk a little bit more about Levi and his season. Um, but we got Coach Tyler, Coach Bert, we got Coach Dylan, and Coach Foster here tonight. So, I'm going to
007have you guys come on up. All right. Yes. I'm head coach Tyler Elkins. Thank you guys so much for this. I know Levi appreciate it's really important um I think for the community to do this type of stuff. You know, I grew up in D7 and and this is this is a very exciting thing. And you know, I know Levi's parents, it's already been sort of said is Levi is a a great kid and we don't like to say that you deserve anything in the wrestling room. You go out and earn it. And Levi definitely earned this today. So, we're really really proud of him. Want to thank you guys. Want to um thank everybody. Levi had a great season. 45 wins. Were you undefeated until the state meet? >> One loss until the state
008meet. Uh 22 pins. just an exceptional year, exceptional kid. Um, and we're really proud of him and and uh, yeah, I can't wait to hear what he has to say. >> Just a couple of things. >> I'm just appreciative for my coaches, especially my father. He's put me in wrestling ever since I was a little boy, like four years old. Love my dad. thankful toward these coaches to put me in the position that I was. And yeah, thank you. get a picture of everybody. So, all the coaches do. >> That's nice. >> Out of place here. >> All right. Congratulations. >> And Mr. Mlette brought up a good point. This is a second time he's a state qualifier, state placer. So, >> all right. Exciting. Exciting. >> And I know Levi's got to get back
009in the wrestling room. So, got to get back to work. >> Yeah, I like it. >> Thanks, guys. >> Thank you. Good job. The second item is we have a new addition to the Pulk family. So, I'll introduce uh Dr. Pork Teller. She's going to come up and introduce our newest addition. Good evening. I'm Dr. Porcheller, principal of Pulk Elementary School, and we are so thankful that we have a brand new addition to our Pulk family. Her name is Lily, >> and she is the sweetest dog. She's uh doing really well with training. And her host is Miss Victoria Gargasololis. Thank you for everything that you've done, Miss Gargasololis. I this is a huge commitment and you've done so well with Lily. Uh would you like to talk a little bit about um how Lily's
010been doing in school? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you for having us. Uh this is Lily. We wanted to come and just express our thanks for accepting our uh don not donation but donation from Priority Health for donating Lily and all of her uh one-year services and trainings and all those things. Um we have been participating in weekly trainings um at PULK and we've been having uh Amanda a phone in from Wayne Westland. She also has a facility dog and she's been coming and working with us and showing us um you know these skills that she's going to be learning or she's been learning and and skills that she's going to be learning in using in school. So she's already came to school quite a few times. Uh I think this is
011her fourth or fifth time coming already. So she's taken a break this week. She was just recently spayed. So, uh, she's eager to get back into school and and she's, yeah, she's she's been resting and just kind of taking it easy this week. So, thank you again for, um, accepting the donation for Priority Health. She's been such a delight to have in in in schools and I just can't wait for her to come in every day and she's already making such a difference in in our school. So, yeah, thank you for accepting the donation for Lily. >> Wonderful. >> Thank you. >> Yes. And I would just add the best picture, one of the best pictures that it was in my Friday report so the board knows what I'm talking about was the first day
012and the kids got wind that she was in Lily was in your classroom. They're in the window and Lily sitting there. >> That was the first day they could kids could not wait to meet her. So they were all at Mrs. Miss Gargasololis's window before school just peeking in so they can get a glimpse of Lily. So, uh, uh, what our plans are for this coming year, if for this remainder of this year, is to have her increasingly in the school for full days. And then next year, we're going to do phase two of our training, trying to get all of our staff trained. Uh, so, and the students trained also working with Lily. So, we're excited with the next steps. Could I ask the board if we could have a picture together? >> Love
013a picture. >> Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you. The other thing, um, I had the opportunity to sit in on some of the first day presentations of Lily to the classes, and the kids were just like in awe. It was amazing. >> It was surprisingly like so quiet. They were just like staring at her. It was It was really cute. Good girl. >> Butile to my house. Oh, amazing. >> And she just like crazy. I'm like, go crazy. >> Yeah. Play and tear each other out. >> Yeah. >> Mons. >> Not really. She's so >> sweet. Very excited for her. >> Oh, I'm happy to do it. She's such a treat. Can we just have Lily? Can we have Lily at all of our meetings? >> Lily and Ruby. Get them. >> Yep. >>
014Just while pitching for it. >> Yeah. And Ruby is a sweetheart as well. You guys know Ruby. There are times where I'll go over to party just to see Ruby. And building principal excitement like what? >> And they might meet each other on Friday. Oh, >> that's cool. >> Very cool. Okay. Then the final item that I have this evening is just an update on the summer discovery program. Um, as you guys are aware, we received a significant grant. Dr. Finny wrote a grant for the summer discovery program. We got the information um last year when uh Mary Beth had indicated that um that Dearbornne was running this program. So, we did some research, found out how to apply it. We received the grant. The grant is it it initially is $700,000 to run this
015program. Now, that's based on enrollment. So, um so if you get more kids, you get a little more money. If you get less kids, you get less money, but the the money from the grant covers the the teachers, the um the instructional component of it, as well as the admin administration component of it as well. So, in front of you is a flyer. Um this is out on our web page. So, we're rolling this out. Um, it's our first year now. We're hoping that we do a good job so that um they want us back and we want them back. Um, it's funded through the United Way of Southeast Michigan and the Balmer Group. The Balmer Group's heavily involved. Uh, they do a lot of phil philanthropy throughout the area. Um, I think it's across
016the the country, but quite a big organization. If you Google summer discovery, you can click on their link and get more information about the Balmer Group. This is a nocost summer program for students entering kindergarten through 8th grade. The program is going to run from June 22nd to July 30th. It's 4 days a week and we added so it's a five-week program. We added a week so that because they the grant mandates instructional days. So, we added a week so that we could put on weeks 2, three, four, and five, I got that right. Yep. Um we could do field trips for the students. And those could be field trips away or field trips having um events and uh activities come to our schools. So, we extended it by a week from our traditional uh
017summer school program. The other thing that's unique is if you recall our title program, which we're going to continue to run at the high school level for credit recovery, um that was more of a um kind of a uh teachers identify kids that are struggling and that those kids are recommended in the program. This is totally different. This is open for all of our students. Um free breakfast, free lunch goes along with it. Working with Paul and Chartwells, they got us, it's not the meetup, greet up, it's extended school year for lunches. So, we'll get additional dollars for providing those lunches. And then when this program ends for the month of August, then we'll kick off our meetup uh greet up meetup food service for uh for students through the rest of the summer through
018the month of August. So, pretty pretty excited about that. The grant structure stipulates the days and times, but they give the districts the ability to provide the programming. So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to focus on academics in the morning. We're going to provide lit lab for grades K through three. That lit lab instruction. Um we already use that in our district. We've um we have that. So that works out well. That's for grades K through three. And then we're going to use the projectbased learning curriculum for grades four through 8. And the reason what what um summer discovery folks didn't want us to do is they didn't want us to continue to do the same thing because we were ready to roll on with I Ready and they wanted us to
019focus more on uh curriculums that were interactive projectbased um we think lit lab and this um project based learning will certainly do that. Um we'll also pro provide and this is the key part of the Balmer group and um the whole grant is in the afternoons you do enrichment. So in the afternoons you do activities and I think I mentioned that Dr. Finny went and met with the elementary students about some of the things that they would like to do and then you guide the courses based on that whether it's dance uh sports arts and crafts. Um the idea is that it's a fun kind of afternoon activity for the students and then you also incorporate the field trips into activities that they may be interested in. So pretty excited about that. Um we also
020are offering because some of our parents were thinking might not be able to pick up their student until 5:00 and as you know currently we do offer at our elementarymentaries some after school latch key. So we're going to continue that but there is a cost for that. It's not in the grant. It's going to be uh from four to five latch key cost is $4 per day per student. So that's what we provide. It's not part of this grant. So I just want to make sure everybody's aware of that. Leslie, you have a question. >> I just want to know if there'll be before. >> So right now we um we haven't planned on the before care because >> Well, that's something I think we can look at. So uh Dr. Porteller's here. She's been
021heavily involved. um uh because it we breakfast starts at 8. So yeah, but um we can look into that. We didn't put it into this plan. Um but we we for sure put in the afternoon just to give parents we we don't want there to be barriers for parents to not send their kids. >> So are we picking up I'm sorry. >> So are we picking the cost up for the $4 kid or that's the parents? >> That's the parents. Yeah, that's what they do now. Yep. Yep. Um we're also I said we're I indicated we're uh providing the half day 9 through 12 at the high school this summer for um credit recovery. That's something that we've done for the high school students. That's paid for uh with our title one dollars, our title
022one grant. So then I talked about the meetup eatup. So pretty excited about this. Um the the next step in this process. So we had a a meeting today. there's a um kind of a coach that we're working with from um this organization and she's kind of guiding us and giving us suggestions, but she's not she's really leaving it on us to develop our unique program that best meets the needs for our students in the community. So, we we're working to get signups. We sent this home to all the families via email. Um this is on our website. So you can click on our website and there's a enroll click on it. There's information that uh parents have to fill out to get their um get their child signed up for the program. And as
023of today we had 64 signups. So the goal is about 350. So we got a ways to go but we just sent it out. So um we're really hoping that this program takes off. I think it's a great opportunity for our students. Um it's a great opportunity for our families. Um so I I'm just really hoping that um this program is fun for the kids and it's educational and it meets the needs for our community. Questions? >> Yes. >> So does that mean meet up to eat up won't happen in June or July? >> Correct. That'll be in August. >> Okay. So what are we going to do for the kids experiencing food insecurity that are not enrolled into the summer discovery? >> So um I will talk to Paul about that because the the
024reason why we wanted to separate it because the meetup eatup um is kind is kind of open and this is more of an extended like it's really an extension of the school year with the school kids. So but I will talk to Scott about that. we talked about. I was just trying to make sure that we had opportunities for students through the whole summer. But that's a very good point. I will check into that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? And then um one other thing I would like to add is for students in this program, they have to be a D7 student. So they have to be enrolled in D7. So, um, if folks are interested in, you know, beingcome becoming part of the D7 family, then we're conducting, and that's the
025other flyer that you have, and I'll talk about this um, in my points of pride, but the um, you know, we have open enrollment for schools of choice May 15th, and that will correspond with the May 19th enrollment fair. So if people are interested, they can come to the enrollment fair, get enrolled, we can sign them up for the summer discovery program. But um but we when we made parameters on the program, we um wanted to make sure that our D7 families um are served with this program. So that's why it's D7 um students that are part of our school district. >> Okay. the 18th. Monday is the 18th. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Yes. >> Oh, >> I get what you're saying. But Monday is the 18th. >> Yeah. So, the enrollment affair is on
026Tuesday, May 19th. >> Yeah. I'm sorry. Did I say the wrong date? >> No, it says wrong. >> It says that on the flyer. I didn't know if you had these printed >> Oh, yeah. We just made copies for your So, we'll get that changed. Good catch. Yeah, they might have already changed it. They had a meeting today from two to we had two meetings. Discovery program meeting and then uh the enrollment meeting and so um they we we'll get that fixed get it updated. So it's on the 19th. Thank you for catching that. So pretty excited. I think this will be a cool program. I hope we do well with it so that we um you know that we get our grant renewed and continue to offer the summer program for our families. Okay.
027>> Thank you. >> Yep. All right, first item up, summer camp program registration. Exhibit number one in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the Dearborn Heights School District number seven summer camp program which runs from June 22nd through August 21st, 2026. Registration begins on Thursday, May 1st, 2026 at Madison Elementary School from 8:30 a.m. until 300 p.m. I have a motion. >> So moved. Moved by Trustee Belttowski. >> Supported by Trustee Anderson. Questions, comments. Roll call, please. >> I have a question. >> Oh, sorry. >> That's okay. >> We got two people with question. Okay, go for it. >> So, I'm just wondering how um the summer discovery program is for children entering kindergarten or is it for current kindergarten students? >> It's um so they use the word
028rising. So that's for >> Yeah, it's >> um new kindergarten, incoming kindergarten students through current fifth grade students >> or current eth grade. Yes, >> current eighth grade students. Okay. Um so I'm just wondering how the summer discovery program and the D7 summer camp program at Madison. Okay. One, registration begins on 30, May 1st. The registration is from 8:30 to 3, correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. And what are the hours of summer camp at Madison? Did we say that in there? >> See if we've got that in here. >> I don't think it did. >> Yes, it does. Okay, never mind. It says till 5:00. So, I'm just wondering, is there a way is there a way to get students from Madison to Pulk if they need to get dropped off at 7 a.m. there?
029>> So, one of the things in the grant is we can pay for transportation. So, I think if we have unique situations like that. >> Okay. But my other question is is if we're charging $4 per day per child, so it's $16 a week for that hour. I'm just trying to figure out the hourly rate of >> of the summer camp and how the summer discovery program is going to affect the bottom line of the summer camp at Madison. >> Yeah. Um, so this camp fills up pretty quickly. So, um, I >> But are parents who sign up for summer camp aware? >> I think >> that they will be able to do the summer discovery program from June 22nd to July 30th at no cost to them. >> Yeah. So, that's a good point.
030I just want to make sure that the families understand that there is a >> summer discovery program that is going until July 30th that is of no cost to them that is going to be um educational and enriching and project-based learning and like the summer discovery program is is an excellent program and I'm not saying that summer camp at Madison is not. What I'm saying is for families who are struggling and whose students may be struggling, the summer discovery program is >> might be a better way for them to go. >> A better way for them to go. So I'm just >> y trying to put both of them together. Yeah, I understand where you're coming from. So we'll have to make sure that that's clear that we do have different opportunities for different >>
031because the summer camp program also um >> is for three year olds >> to what? How to 12? >> 12. Yep. >> Okay. Which is sixth grade. Okay. >> Mainly the little ones go to that. You've seen them out there. >> Right. Right. Okay. >> Who lives near Madison? I've seen him out in the front part of Madison playing. So, um, but we'll make sure that it's clear that we have we're offering two separate programs. >> Okay. >> I think she touched on my question, which was the bottom line. Does it affect us financially since we're already in a crisis to have a free program competing with the paid program? >> Right. >> Yeah. So, I know that uh for this program, the staffing much like we're doing with the discovery program is based on
032the number of students. >> Okay. >> So, the cost cover. Yep. And the same thing with the the uh summer discovery is for example the the the grant is for 700,000 if we get 400 kids. If we get a 100 then the grant is greatly reduced but we don't need all the staffing. So the 400 is two teachers at each grade level and two sites and you know and all the support that we need for that. If we only have a hundred kids, then then it the program is shrunk so that it meets the financial uh obligations of the grant. >> So So there's no minimum for the summary discovery program that we have to hit. >> Um nope. >> Okay. >> Nope. I mean if if we got 10 kids that would have signed
033up, I probably would have said no. But um I mean we're tracking 60 I think it's 64. Yeah. 64 65 67. So, I'm really hoping that um once we get our folks in place and we start like we've got the packs just uh they arrive in Claudia's office, the uh information pack. So, you'll be seeing signs that go up, posters in the hallway, information um spread throughout and they'll be sending information out on dojo. So, we're just kind of getting started with this. So, I really hope that it gains momentum and that we can fill up the 400 seats that we have for the program. >> Yeah, I'd be worried that the Madison program is going to take away from Discovery. >> It could. >> No, I feel like the program is going to take
034away from that. >> Well, yeah, either one. Yeah, it could. They could. That's why I was worried like I was wondering if we make a profit off the summer program or if it's just >> a program that we offer. >> It's a uh I think >> like break even. Yeah, break even is cost neutral. Yeah. Y >> makes sense. >> Everybody good? >> Okay. Uh roll call, please. >> Trusty Valtauski, yes. Trustee >> Wless. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Sterlin, >> yes. Motion carries. Right. Item B, Board of Education regular meeting reschedule exhibit number two. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the rescheduling of the regular meeting from April 1st, 2026 to April 8th, 2026, 7 p.m. at OW Best Middle School and rescheduling of the regular
035meeting from April 15th, 2026 to April 22nd, 2026, 7 p.m. at OW Best Middle School. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Trusty Beltowski. >> Supported by Trusty Windless. >> Uh, any questions or comments? Uh, roll call, please. >> Trusty Winless, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, yes. >> Trusty Baltowski, yes. Trusty Sterlin, >> yes. Motion carries. Sorry, sorry. Go ahead. All right. Item C, donation approval. Exhibit number three. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the donation of $3,500 raised at the Anapalooa 26 event for Annapolis High School Music Department as presented. May I have a motion? >> So moved. Moved by Trusty Beltski. >> Support for by Trusty Wness. Questions or comments rolloff. Oh, go ahead. Yes. >> Great job and thank you. >> Yes. Thank you.
036>> Did you go to that? Did you make it this year? >> Anybody say usually you go? Okay. >> All right. Um, roll call, please. >> Trusty Windless. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Baltowski, yes. Trusty Sterling, >> yes. Motion carries. On to unfinished business. Do we have any unfinished business? Okay, new business. Anyone with any new business? No. All right. District points of pride. Mr. Klein hands. >> Very good. Thank you. So, um, you have the flyer in front of you that we'll get updated. Um, so the D7 enrollment fair is Tuesday, May 19th from 4 to 8 at the high school. The goal of the event is to break down barriers to enrollment in D7. This is due to all the mandates that state uh does place on our parents
037to get um students signed up. We want to partner with our families and assist them assist them with the enrollment process. As I indicated, uh Dr. Porteller who's here, she's chairing that committee for us doing a fabulous job. They're making gains. It should be a good event. And if the idea is that um families come to this event, if they're school choice, new to the district, um kindergarten families, they come to the event. The goal is when they walk out, they have everything completed for enrollment. So that that is the goal. Now, if they're school of choice, we still do our background check. So, it could be a day or so um because we reach out to the previous district to get that information. Um, but that's the goal to shorten and and take down
038the barriers of getting our kids in. So, I just want to say thank you to Dr. Porchellar for her work on organizing that committee and it should be a a good event. And I know that we've have some board members that have uh signed up for volunteering. So, um so that will be helpful as well. At Madison, they're having uh fun reading month for the preschoolers with many activities happening and they're getting ready for the Easter egg hunt. At Bedford, they've got Kenneth Creel, an author and illustrator, will be visiting the classrooms next Monday. On Tuesday of next week, they'll be doing their March family fun night, and that's from 4:30 to 6 at Bedford Elementary. Lots of activities for student students and families. At Pulk, reading month is special at Pulk. Um Mr. Mrs.
039Browse fifth grade students created and published their own children's books had the opportunity to read the books to the kindergarteners and the kindergarteners and young five teachers Miss Friendo, Miss Shu Shukert and Miss Osborne working with the kids to create video advertising their upcoming kindergarten roundup event which is on 4:16 at 6 p.m. The video is wonderful. So get that on our web page so we can see it. a party middle of a busy and fun reading month. They had a um author in, and I do apologize if I messed the name up, Maria Dismoody, hopefully I got that right, visited last Wednesday, and the fourth grade classes had another successful wax museum focusing on Black History Month. At OW Best, Miss Anderson's eighth grade life skills class walked over to party. They teamed up
040with the party first graders for reading. Everyone had a great time together. DTE visited and presented our eighth graders and taught them about energy and conservation. Uh they were able to take home an awesome energy kit and spring sports including baseball, softball, track, and the new addition of soccer are beginning this month. Soccer is a club sport starting out for this year. It's not a full um sport. club it. But that's great that we're offering and get started, especially to build on our high schools uh both men's and women's soccer team at the high school. Uh Senator Santana came to talk uh to the students about being a center. If you recall, um her aid came to one of our meetings and asked if she could have the opportunity. So, in my Friday report, you'll
041see some pictures. I had the opportunity to sit through that presentation. Very inspiring. She is uh she's amazing. Um she talks about her background and I mean it was there were times where she was talking where I'm I mean I'm like getting goose pimples. She is just where the work that she does and you should have seen the look on the students eyes when she said I chair the Senate Appropriations Committee for the Department of uh Health and Human Services. and she started talking about the not millions but billions of dollars that that's under that committee and her leadership's watch to um I say divy out but to fund all of the programs that the state of Michigan offers. I mean it was amazing when she she was talking about that kids are looking at
042that it's even hard to comprehend but she just did a wonderful job. So um I'm thankful for Mr. Mlette. gave him the information from our board meeting that night and he reached out and got her to come in and um it just was a really neat presentation. Um the student council and their sponsors put in a ton of work and hours for spirit week. The hallways look great. Kids dressed as teachers, teachers dressed as kids, seeing the kids uh light up showing their teachers or dressed up. Um the was priceless. Um I also in my Friday report, you'll see pictures of the hallways that I took of of all of the the grades. They really did a nice job. So at ath at at the athletic arena when you saw uh Mr. Buchanan, he was
043out assisting today. So you'll see he had layer upon layer upon layer, but spring sports have started. These conditions are tough for the kids. I asked um Mary Beth if her daughter had how many sweatshirts on cuz it it's brutal out there now. It is supposed to warm up. So hopefully that will help for our spring sports athletes. in the curriculum. Last week, uh, last week in March, we celebrated March's reading month. Um, this is from Dr. Finny. Had an absolute plure of bringing a little extra fun to the first grade classrooms at Bedford by dressing up as Cat in the Hat in a special appearance as Thing One, two. So, students were all smiles as she read the books. Um, just it was a wonderful thing. I also have pictures of my um newsletter
044of her in her outfits visiting the classroom. So very cool technology area D7 uh tech bites continues to see strong staff engagement. Um they're in month five and the series is help helping staff including me building build confidence uh with quick everyday tips. So it helped um with my snippet that I I snip pictures and put them in my Friday report. So one of the tips kind of gave me a little shortcut. So I've been using that. Um this was really really neat. So, in our e program, just want to say a shout out and congratulations to the Arab Student Union members, Mr. Sad and Miss Mrs. Jard, for hosting the Eat Alphaur dinner Monday at the cafeteria. Both uh Mr. Mlette and I were able to attend that event. It was packed and it
045was the the thing I liked best about it was it was kind of like our first big event in that auditorium. You guys supported the new lights and the new seating. It made it much better for the families than those round things, tables that we had, the round chairs. Um, it just was a wonderful event. It was very well attended. I mean, they were bringing in tables. There were that many families that were there. So, just great job by everybody involved and um just a really neat event. So, in the area of special education and HR, Scott, do you have anything to add? >> No dates this week. >> Okay. Very good. So, um I know we won't meet again until after spring break. So, I just want to wish everybody a spring break. We
046still have another full week school, but a safe um you know, and restful spring break and just very proud of the work that we're doing here. We do um you know, we're working on budget issues, but we'll we'll work our way through those. But we regardless, I mean, those are issues that we have to deal with, but we still have a lot of great things going on here at D7. So, we're going to continue to build on that. and continue to offer good programmings for our families. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you. All right. On to other business. The winter MESB conference update. Did you want to discuss yours? You want to wait till >> I brought it. >> Okay. >> I have It's too I'm looking for my notes. >> Okay. I
047think I just >> um >> Don't judge me. I attended the winter um MESB conference and I took three classes. The first one was ethics and action. Um this class was mostly interactive. It was mostly given um unethical situations and then getting like our opinion on it. Um it talked about the personal values we have, the core values we have. So, I would love to do um a study session and do the activity where we talk about the values because I don't think I know everybody's values on the board. And that was like something he said was key to keeping us all cohesive is understanding what our core values are and our personal values and being able to separate two. So, um mostly this class was you said this class was >> Yeah, I was
048going to say before you move on, I'll jump in. It was mostly Andy getting on my nerves with all his unethical board behavior. >> Yeah, this video >> videos of him just doing all type of stuff in the community that he wasn't supposed to be doing and asking our opinions on on Andy. >> Yeah. >> Well, if you want to add to to this class. >> I I will. And then like my notes I my computer had a problem. So I will type these all up for you guys to have this because I thought it was really good. I do recommend this class for people if anybody want to take the class. It was a good one. Um just things it says why do people act unethically and it's often it's a matter of perspective.
049Um ethics and values are grounded in one's culture culture upbringing and perspective. Um um help avoid ethical conflicts. Couple things were, is it le Oh, I can't even read my writing. Is it legal? Is it balanced? How does it make you feel? How how my gosh, how would it look like as a headline? What if cameras were running? What would I want how to explain it to my grandmother? Like things to keep in mind if you your thought is to do something, you know, keep those things in mind. Um then I wanted to give the four board governance standards that they gave. Standard you got that >> standard one the board of education in cooperation with the superintendent and stakeholders establishes and commits to a vision for the school district and emphasizes high expectation for
050achievements for all students and quality instruction which I think we've done. We've established like a vision and um I think we do have high expectations. So I like that. Um the second standard was the board of education governs in a manner that is dignified and worthy of trust. The third one is the board of education is accountable to the school district community. And the fourth one is the board of education holds the superintendent accountable for creating the outcomes identified in the school district plan. And then they went on to share um individual board governance standards. So for an individual board member um the individual is motivated by and focuses on what is best interest of all students. Um the individual school board member believes in the importance of actively engaging in lifelong learning which I
051think we all do here. >> Um the individual school board member understands and respects both the authority and the responsibilities of the board of education. And last the individual school board member approaches school governance with the spirit of inquiry. That's exactly what I have. But it was to her point, it was a lot of videos watching and you know like what would you do in this scenario and that scenario. So um I thought it was a really good class. Elise took it with us as well. >> I I took it before. >> Did you? Did you like it? >> But I did it virtually so I didn't have like the videos and things. It was more >> We did it virtual. >> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. No, I didn't get a lot of videos.
052>> Oh, I like the guy we had. >> Yeah. And it was like one >> I'll have to go back and see who taught it. >> Yeah. >> Taking bribes. One of him >> spilling something that happened in the closed session. Yeah. It was just a bunch of different videos of Andy just doing >> Yeah. Yeah. But I'll type this up so you guys can have it. I thought it was really good though. It does matter who who teaches the class though, too. That makes a huge difference. >> So that's the only one I took that weekend. And I know like >> it was Kevin Kelly. >> Kevin Kelly. Yeah, he was good. The next class I took was pretty boring. It's my least favorite class that I've taken at MASB and I've taken like
053almost all of them. Um, it was about understanding the legislator and I think I'm just not a government person. I I that's terrible to say as I'm an elected official now, but like I literally can't stand governmentism like my least favorite class. Um, and that's what this class was all about with uh the American government and how it's structured and uh what the state legislature is, the department of education, the state board of education, how to lobby, what's a lobbyist. Um, it was informational to learn like all about the state school board members, I guess. Um, yeah, this was not my favorite class. But if you like government, I recommend you take it. >> Who taught that class to you? >> Um, she was a good teacher. She was funny. Um, it was Jennifer Smith.
054>> Is she the attorney? >> She is blind here. >> I think she's an attorney. >> So when I I believe I >> She was doing a lot of attorney jargon that kind of put me to sleep, too. >> Yeah. I I took that I think in May of last year in person and I didn't care for it because it felt like she was telling me a lot of her her own opinion versus teaching what the class. So that I don't like when you do that. >> No, this whole teaching. This was pure government 101 and it was >> quite interesting. I would not take that class again. >> But if you like government, like I said, it's it's a it really breaks it down. It breaks down each quadrant as she kept saying. And
055then my favorite class that I took that week was focusing on feedback. I took three classes that week. Um this one was done by Chrissy Cooper. Um, we talked about sources of feedback and I thought it was very interesting to hear a lot of the school districts talk about the town halls that they do and thought that's something that maybe we can adopt to do because they said they get a lot of their feedback from doing their town halls with the residents um especially the senior citizens in the community. So I put a star next to that. The other sources of feedbacks are surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, um public comment, one-on-one conversations, social media, email, and community advisory committees. The value of feedback. Feedback helps bridge the gap between intent and reception. It helps understand
056perspectives. It highlights areas that we require attention and improvement. And then feedback helps us by giving us accountability and transparency, informed decision- making and long-term planning, quality improvement, equity, inclusion, um conflict resolution, alignment with our local values, which I think again we need to establish those and then um public support and then measure and impact. We talked about the communistation uh communication cycle and then about like drowning out the noise. I thought this was very interesting is how to end or redirect negative feedback. So it says you will encounter negative feedback and criticism. It's crucial to remain composed and professional even if the feedback is harsh or emotional. Um ask questions to clarify specific issues the community member is raising. This demonstrates your willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue. Share relevant information or background
057context that may help address and the concerns or provide a different perspective. and then instead of dwelling on the negative, redirect the conversation to finding solutions and proposed actionable steps to address the issue. And then they went into focus groups which were a little bit more um I think planned out like it takes a lot more to plan a focus group than like a town hall. So um I think focus groups would be good too for anything new that we're trying to bring out. uh it does take a lot more planning than the town hall is what they were saying about the focus groups and not many people um when he surveyed the room not many people did uh focus groups but a lot of people did town halls and then the rest of it
058was just breaking down the difference between a town hall and the and um and online feedback and uh community advisory committees and that was it and I can forward everybody copies of the slides because that's what I my notes. >> I've taken that class, too. >> Did you like that class? >> I did like that class. >> In fact, I had taken that class before we formed our two citizens advisory committees >> when we did. >> Okay. >> Which one was that? >> That was focusing on feedback. >> Excellent. >> So, the other one is um was Elise. She went to the advocacy conference back in February. She did forward me her notes and wanted me to share them. I didn't get them in time to like being able to print them myself or get
059them to Susan. So, I'll forward you her email so you'll have her notes and then can look them over and said when she's here next time, she's happy to answer any questions or go over it. So, we can do that. So, I'll get those to you guys. All right. Up next, we have no building in sight, no finance or policy committee update for upcoming upcoming board meetings. We don't have anything scheduled yet for building in sight. Uh finance committee is meeting Tuesday, March 24th at 7 p.m. at the board of education. And then the policy committee is meeting Friday at 1 p.m. at the board of education. All right. Next up, public comment number two. Do we have any public comments? Seeing and hearing none. All right. Kudos. We got kudos. Who's got kudos? Would
060you like to go first, Miss Anderson? To Shelley Ho Hopper from Don Leinsky. Shelley is the staff member that covers administrative duties when I am out of the building. While I was out for four days at a conference, Shelley encountered me many challenges situations with both with both students and staff. In each situation, Shelley communicated with me to discuss the details, reached out to the parents, spoke to students, and assigned discipline based on my decisions. Shelley did a fantastic job handling each situation with professionalism. Shelley, I appreciate all of your hard work and your willingness to step up for the staff and students at party. The second one is from Briana Krooker Madison Emory and Lord Tippo >> Taleo >> Tleppo from Don Leinsky. Briana volunteered to move to third grade this year after teaching
061first grade. She did this to fill a need and to ensure we have a strong third grade team. Briana has transitioned seamlessly and has done an excellent job with the third grade curriculum. Madison and Lure are the other part of our third grade team. They have both been very supportive and helpful with Briana's transition. They have both assisted Briana in many ways and have been great mentors to allow Briana to be successful. Briana, Madison, and Laura, we all appreciate your efforts this year to provide a great experience for our third grade students. To Samantha Rose from Danielle Osborne, dated March 4th, 2026. Thank you for everything you do each and every day in our classroom. Your hard work does not go unnoticed. The extra effort you put in, your constant positivity, and the way you
062show up for our students truly makes a difference. I'm so grateful to work alongside you. You are amazing. To Jillian Bazzy and John Boscowski from Don Leinsky dated March 9th, 2026 for Jillian and John once again had their fourth grade classes produce another excellent wax museum centered around Black History Month. The research the students produced and the presentations they gave were very well done. It was great to see another good turnout by families to support their students. Jillian and John go above and beyond with the time that this project takes. The students enjoy the project as do the families. Hopefully, this project will remain a staple of our fourth graders for years to come. Jillian and John, thank you for all you do for our students. to Anne Tass from Don Leinsky dated March 9th,
0632026. Anne is our reading interventionist and has once again created a great month of activities for March's reading month. An has developed a calendar that includes a different activity each day and she has created opportunities for students to get free books. Ann is very dedicated to providing party staff and students a fun reading themed month and she spends a lot of extra time working on the details. Our party family is thankful for her efforts and are happy to enjoy all of the fun Anne has prepared. Ann, we truly appreciate the time and effort you have put into this for all of us. To Mary McDonald from Annette Rosiki, dated March 17th. Thank you for always coming up with a fun activity for every holiday to make school more fun. To Katie Sugarert from Danielle Osborne,
064dated March 4th, 2026. Thank you for being such an amazing teaching partner. I'm so grateful for the way we collaborate, support each other, and always put our kids first. We truly make a great team. Next is to Dona Barry from Bedford Fifth Grade, dated March 18, 2026. Thank you for all your hard work and continuous support. You make our days slashweeks so much easier. We love our dedic we love your dedication to the students here at Bedford. We love you to Tanass Hedrickk from Anthony Canda dated March 13, 2026. Thank you for taking the time to help an ESL student with math. Her and I greatly appreciate you. Because of your assistance, she she is doing much better in math. And my last one to Daniel M. Ill Henny. >> Yep. >> From Anthony Canda
065dated March 13, 2026. One of the best. Thanks for being a great teacher to co-e with. Great teacher for collaboration and to help ensure success of students. Always implementing new ideas to help our classes students and I appreciate you. All right. to David, is it Yuriel? From Daniel Osborne, dated uh March 4th, 2026. Thank you for being the absolute best PBS PBIS co- coach. Working alongside you is truly amazing, and I am so grateful for the dedication, positivity, and heart you bring every day. I appreciate everything you do. We make a great team, and I'm lucky to partner with you. Note that best is in all capital letters. Andrea Friendo from Daniel Osborne dated March 4th, 2026. Thank you for being such an amazing teaching partner. I'm so grateful for the way we collaborate, support
066each other, and always put our kids first. We tr we truly make a great team. >> Shout out to Miss Brendan. All right. Okay, we're good there. All right. All right. Up to adjournment. Be it so resolved that a board of education adjourns the meeting at my gosh 7:58 p.m. >> May I have a motion? So moved. >> So moved by Trustee uh Windless. >> Supported by Trusty Beltowski. Roll call, please. >> Trusty Windless. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. >> Trusty Beltowski. Yes. Trustee Sterling. >> Yes. Motion carries. Have a good night, everyone. Safe travels. Thanks for coming. >> I'll take the enrollment fair ones back. We'll get those fixed. Thank you. Is that yours or m? No, that's yours. Sorry about that. >> You're good. >> I just wanted to catch it before you >>
067I was like, how did you know this? Do you know dates? Like, is she like one of these