001started calling over at 7:00. Can you please read our mission statement? Our mission is toire the power of students to reach their full potential opportunities and experiences. to the flag of the United States of America to the republic. Welcome everyone. Nice to see some more smiling faces here today. Thanks for coming. >> Present. It so resolved that the board of education accept the March 4th, 2026 agenda as presented. A board member request an item begen to superintendent recommendation. And I have a motion by motion. Public comment on agenda. Agenda items don't need to be public comment. No public comment. Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you. So, we have three items this evening. We are getting a little feedback. So, as we get into the presentation, we're going to try to make this work for the
002budget stuff, but it is my honor to introduce Mike from the cruising. And Mike, how do you say your last name? I know I'm messing it up. The farm. Okay. So, Michael, welcome. Could you have your crew come on up and stand up and do introductions? And I'm go on with uh the information that you're going to present. I think you have an exciting event coming up that they would like to speak to everyone about. So, So, we're here today. Um, one second, Maria. Oh, there we go. >> Okay. Go ahead. So, um, I'm one of the co-founders of the Cru. Um, it started as kind of a fun little thing because back in the day when we all went to these schools and to the Napapolis and met all of our friends before social
003media, that was our way of uh contacting people and finding out what party was or sporting event or whatever. So anyway, um we got a bunch of people together and then what happened um I decided like hey let's try to do something for the community. So we started giving back to the community. This is our fifth year now. I hear the back. Um >> yeah. Okay. >> So um this year we want to try to donate to the athletic department in memory of Andywywami which from Annapolis teacher there. So, I want to get your permission for that. Yep. The event's going to be June 13th. So, we get sponsors, we sell t-shirts, cookies, um so forth, and we raise money to help give back. last year we did with you guys in the um the
004band class. Um our first year we didn't get to raise any money. We just, you know, had a group of people that met and it turned out to be good. So we decided, hey, let's do it again next year and see if we can start raising money for the community. The first year, second year was for Annapolis robotics class. Um and we helped out D7 the prior year and last year was the high Unless you really want to do it again. Yeah, we appreciate it. I joked around when they redid it. I'm like, they redid it for us? >> Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Well, I have to say a few of us here used a cruise cab back in the day a long time ago. I just I appreciate you guys doing this. Anyone
005can come. I do have a convertible Jaguar. And so, so if you all don't know, Jimmy here, he owns 342 and he does host the Napaloosa >> and which was last weekend. So, thank you for hosting that and letting them use the venue and then he comes here. So, appreciate that so much. >> Thank you. Thank you guys. Just a second. Okay. >> I know. I'm sorry. Sorry, but thank you guys. You hear that? >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Yep. >> You guys are good to go. Yep. Okay. So, very good. Uh, Dr. Getser, can you hear me? >> Yes. So, um, the next two items are together in in the superintendent report, the 202526 amended budget and the short-term loan. Uh, before we turn this over to you, I'd like to, uh, make a
006few comments. Okay. So, um, this is in regards to the 2526 budget. We are experiencing major budget issues with this year's budget that have impacted the 2526 school year and will impact the 2627 school year. Um, however, for this year's budget, we're not anticipating making any changes. So, uh, a lot of the information that you hear will be about this year's budget. We have our programs running. They're running well and effective. So, we're going to keep those in place at this time. The results, there are a number of issues that impact this budget and we're working to address them. Um, one of them is during ESR years, the state directed school districts across all over the state to use the federal funds to expand staffing and supporting support students. We did that. We responsibly added
007staff and programs to meet students needs. The f the federal ESSER funds are now expiring. Additionally, the state foundation allowance increase for this last year was offset by increased retirement costs that were passed on to the district. Combine that with a lower projected student count, significantly lower than what we projected. All of these factors have had a negative impact on both this year's budget and next year's budget. School districts are funded to on a per pupil basis. So when there's a decline in enrollment, it not only impacts the general fund, but it also impacts grant funds. So over the past several weeks, district leadership has been engaged in intensive budget work to review current realities and projections. As a result, we are presenting an amended budget this evening. And that's what Dr. Gets will go
008over for this school year. Planning for next year has already begun with the goal of ensuring that we are making the best decisions to educate all of our students. Steps have already been taken. We uh made a move to open up our schools of choice to unlimited. We've capped that in the past. So, we've opened that up. Lord already moved on that for all grades K through 12. What we found was the enrollment process is a hindrance and we wanted to break that barrier for our families. So, we're going to have all kinds of of folks there to help out. We have some board members that have already volunteered, which I do appreciate. We'll have technology there. We'll have um it will let parents know what they need to bring to enroll a student. enrollment,
009keeping an eye on what the state is doing. As you know, the governor released her budget um and now they're waiting for the house and the senate to release their budgets and the three of them come together and they decide on the school a bud budget and we're hoping that it happens before it happened last year. called period. So, um so we'll be keeping an eye on that. We want to um grow the district and move forward. We have a lot of great things that are going on here at 7 and we want to showcase those and really uh focus on the students that are here. How can we meet their needs so that they can grow and prosper and new students and new families coming in best? We are going to make the best
010decisions for the districts, for the district, for the students. So, any questions about that before I turn it over to Dr. Getser? Okay, Maria, go ahead. Mark. >> Yes. Yes. >> Okay. So, we started um our we had our 2526 original budget. We had originally projected 43,16,557. At our midyear amendment, we are anticipating that our revenue is going to be 38,890,574. If you look at where the major drop was, it was in our state revenue, majority of that coming from the change in our pupil enrollment for the year was quite unexpected that we had such a large decline. Page three outlines a little bit more in detail the revenue line items that you can anticipate where you see the changes coming in and um if you have any specific questions I will take those probably
011at the end that might make things smoother for the way we're presenting tonight. So we had a originally projected a balanced budget. We had $8,19,776 in fund equity. Our revenue is coming in estimated at 38,890. Our expenditures at 45,105. And so our revenue in total is about 4 million less than we anticipated. Our expenditures are about 2 million higher just talking in big numbers. And so that's creating a $6.2 2 million variance between our revenues and expenditures. And so we are anticipating that our fund equity will end up at 1,919,000 1,919,211. So on the bottom of page three is the only place where you'll see the fund equity um presented in this presentation because it is a balance sheet item and we are mostly speaking about um revenues and expenditures. So on to page four.
012This is our expenditures. We are ant we were anticipating 43 million. I'll I'll move up to the graph here so you can see um where we spend most of our money on which is obviously instruction and instructional support as it should be. We were anticipating our expenditures would be 43,16,557. I have them coming in at 45,105617. And these are this schedule is broken down by how or where we spend our money like in what areas instruction instructional support. So you can see those changes. Page five, let's move on. Are the same expenditures, the same 45 million, the same 43 million previously. And you can see where um in what object codes we're expecting these increases at. So this is where our $2 million is coming in. Um and again, we spend the majority of our
013money on salaries and benefits because we are dealing with people. Page six and seven is a breakdown from a comparison of the original budget to the amended budget based on function and object codes. So you can see where um our increases are based on where we spend them. I guess we could start at the top here. Um so the function code here for instance 111 is elementary and we're spending 5,544719 on salaries for instance. So you can see our total cost by function and object code. Let's go down to the bottom. And we are roughly um spending 49.2% of our budget on salaries, 31.4% on benefits. And so that is 80.6% of our entire budget on salary and benefits if we're using expenditures. and 75.7% of our budget if we are comparing our fund balance
014to revenue or our salary and benefits to revenue. The remaining pages in the budget book are just all the functions that we're using and what they mean just in case you had any questions about what those might be. So, I know this has been a um a strange way to present this information to as I am unavailable to be on site with you this evening, but I just wanted to pause and see if I could entertain any questions. >> Below can you hear me? >> Can you hear me? >> I can. Thank you. >> I am I am wondering >> um >> why Why? >> We were down 150 students approximately at $10,000 per student roughly$1.5 million. >> Where did the rest of the money where is it shortfall am? >> Nope. So also as
015part of our projected budget for 2526 we anticipated a 50 student increase in uh enrollment. So not only did we lose 140 students, we also did not re or have the 50 students enroll that we had projected in our projected budget. So even though our pupil count is down 140 from year one year to the next, from a budgetary perspective, it's approaching 200 FTE. So hopefully that answers your question. >> Okay. But that's still short. almost seven. >> So, let's go take a look at >> So, let's take a look at page three. This outlines it a little bit more. Um, we also anticipated that our So, if if you recall, Superintendent Klein Han said that the state budget was resolved late in the year. It I think it went into September because there um
016the state's fiscal year starts October 1. When we were going through the budget planning process with the governor's budget, the house and the senate, they were all talking about a at risk increase to our section 31A money. We budgeted for a 30% increase in our atrisisk money and actually our 31a money was actually cut when the budget was finally resolved. So that has thrown a lot of school districts for a loop because there was no mention of a reduction in 31A through the whole budget planning process at the state level. So that is the majority of the difference. >> Okay. So I'm seeing that that's $1.3 million. So a and special ed uh key if you want to see it looks like those took a hit of a million dollars each and that's also from
017the state. Correct. >> The first three numbers are related to um the pupil count. So those three numbers make up our pupil count and this 31A is our um at risk funding. >> Okay. And then down under federal and state grants, Perkins grant, title grant, and higha. Um it looks like those were all reduced too. >> Yes, we actually did not receive as much money in those grants as we had originally anticipated. >> Okay. Are those grants based on student account? >> Uh they are. Yes. Yeah, I had a question on page six, line 231, board of education. >> Um, it was 168, but now it was amended budget to 230,000. >> Yes. >> Can you explain why there was a big jump there? So um the if you recall in 2526 the district faced
018some legal challenges from a particular parent related to us or a group of parents from what I understand I wasn't really well informed about or in on the no nor should I be about those kinds of um issues related to special education. We did not anticipate that our legal fees were going to be that high as they were in 2520 in the the original budget to the amended budget. But the majority of the increases in function 231 are related to tracking our legal fees to date and having to increase those. And we also had about $10,000 in our board member training account and we looks like we're going to need about an additional$10,000 to finish out the year. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Are you mulling it over? There's not another line item for
019rental. >> I'm trying to find all legals. >> Yes, >> it's in this number here. This 230,890 that's legal auditing, all of your professional development, any purchase service is falling under this in this $230,890. >> Thank you. Thank you. And you said you said an additional 10,000 nominated. Yes. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Anyone else questions? >> Anyone? Are you guys good? >> Oh, hold on. We discuss that. I'm good. Can you tell? Okay. Go ahead. Um Maria, do you want to discuss the loan? >> Oh, sure. Okay. So, we're moving on to the next agenda item. So, I will stop my share because we won't need um this any longer. So, uh the next thing is, as you can imagine, the district is experiencing cash flow shortfalls to make it summer to make
020sure that we are able to meet our obligations and um when we track where our cash is from here to the end of the year, we are in need of a short-term cash flow borrowing to make it into the state aid note program which starts on August 20th of the year and it goes to August 20th. So, every August 20th, we can jump into the state aid note borrowing program and borrow from the state at a better interest rate because other schools that are interested in a cash flow borrowing will come together and um help drive the interest rate down, but we we don't have enough cash to make it to August 20th. And so, we need a midyear borrowing. We will, if the board approves this, we can put the um note out on
021the open market and banks will bid on it. It would be shortterm. We are hoping to close by the end of March. We will pay that off on August 20th with our state a state aid borrowing and jump into the state aid note state aid loan program. >> Anyone have any questions? And did you say April and August? >> August. I'm sorry. Did I say April? I meant August. August 20th. >> Starts with an A. >> We're going to put out the note banks bid on by the end of March. >> We hope to close by the end of March. Yes. If the board will approve the resolution this evening. >> Anyone else questions? Okay. >> We're good. >> Okay, Maria, thank you so much. >> Appreciate it. Yep. >> Bye. Thanks. >> And thank
022you, Michael, in the background for helping with all the technology. Best contractor therapy effective March 9th, 2026. I have a motion by trusty supported byust. >> Questions or comments? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Wall. Yes. Windless. >> Yes. >> Anderson. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item B, 2025 2026 budget amendment. Exhibit number B in your packet. So resolve that the board of education accepts the 20 256 amended budget as presented. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by trustee wall. Supported by trusty windlessness. Questions, comments? I have a comment. If this is not the right time, I can the budget we conferences came up. So in the budget um obviously um there's going to be a shortfold because of the conferences that we we are planning on attending or attending. So there's
023a few of us because of the issues going on. We've we're forgoing those conferences. Um myself windless I think few of us going to be going to the national conference because we haven't booked rooms. We haven't done anything. So, we're gonna not not going to attend those. Trust you all. >> No, I was going to say I think that would go under my business. >> Oh, sorry. Yeah. Okay. I'm going shut it down. Thank you. All right. We'll do that. Okay. Uh, roll call, please. >> Trusty Dro, >> yes. >> Trusty, >> yes. W >> Anderson, yes. >> Below, yes. Trusty, >> yes. Motion carries. Item C, short-term loan. Exhibit number C. Be it so resolved that the board of education accepts the following resolution to approve a short-term loan of 7 million through August
02420th, 2026 for operation purposes as presented. May have a motion. >> So moved. >> Moved by Trustee Wall. >> Support by Trusty Stanovic. Questions, comments? Roll call, please. >> Trusty Stanovic. >> Yes. Yes. >> Andersonusty. Yes. Trusty. >> Yes. Trusty. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item D. Second reading and adoption propos proposed revised and reissued board policies. Exhibit number two. Be it so resolved that the board of education accept second reading and adoption of the proposed new revised and reissued NEOA board policies and bylaws 4,000 updates policy 4120 employment of support staff number 4120.01 antiism 4120.04 Employment of substitutes 4213 student supervision and welfare 4217 weapons. Other updates policy 1613 student supervision and welfare 3120 employment of professional staff 3213 student supervision and welfare 3217 weapons. We have a motion. >> So moved by trusty trusty
025witness. Questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Trusty, >> yes. >> Trusty Wall, >> yes. >> Trusty Windless, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Belowski, yes. Trusty Gyro, >> yes. >> Sterling, >> yes. Motion carries. Unfinish. Unfinished business. Do we have any unfinished business? Okay. New business. Do we have new business? >> All right. This point Mr. So this is a little lengthy so I do apologize. Um so just on a district-wide of course I spoke a little bit about this. All the planning is ongoing for the enrollment fair. Um again it's May 19th. Also we're spending um some really good committee work talking about the summer discovery program. That's the grant that we received. So, there's all the planning of the locations of the rooms we're going to use, where we're
026going to use, coordinating that with the uh food program, um as well as uh the curriculum and all of those types of things. So, um some of the information has already started to go out, but you'll see more information on both those events um that will be posted and sent out to our families. So, been busy planning those things, but we have a lot of wonderful volunteers that have been working to put um all these programs together for um for our district at Madison. They've received boxes for each preschooler that have books, pencils, play-doh, and workbooks. Uh they received them from the Dearbornne Heights Li library organization. So, we certainly thank those folks. Um Bedford U we're celebrating, we celebrated kindness and Black History Month. Bedford hosted a family black history gallery walk and a
027scavenger hunt kindness month was so much fun and they finished with the assembly um from the Pistons. So that was kind of a reward that they had. I don't know what the Pistons mascot is. I was there when Rory was there. I missed this one. Hoops. Is that what it is? Hoops. So um and I did attend the gallery. The students did a and the teacher did a wonderful job um on that as well. So at Pulk Elementary, Poke celebrated Black History Month. Um they did something every day. Students researched the lives and accomplishments of note not noteworthy historical figures and Poke celebrated their achievements in their daily announcements. U Pulk held the superu assembly where students participated in kindness, character building and trust building activities. I think you guys saw pictures of that. It
028was a kind of a gooey event, right? So they had the green goo going on but it was really a cool assembly. Uh Poke is celebrating reading month in March with Scholastic Bookf Fair, parent night on March 26th from 5:00 to 6:30 and daily reading activities. They're getting ready for the roundup which I already announced is April 16th at 6:00. At Partard D celebrated Black History Month every day students research the lives and I I spoke of that about African famous a African-Americans. So they did that work there as well. Quotes and facts were in their daily announcements. Bulletin board student works were also on display and I did get a chance to see some of that work. It was It was really cool. Our fourth graders also did a night at the Wax Museum
029uh where students researched historical figures in correlation with Black History Month. Party is celebrating reading month in March with a Scholastic Bookf Fair, family reading night. Theirs is on March 12th from 5:30 to 7:00. Daily reading activities and a green eggs and ham breakfast on March 4th. I hope I get an invite. So, we'll see. >> This morning, >> well, that was I didn't get an invite. >> Wow. Maybe I should take that as a sign. The correction on the um wax museum is actually tomorrow. >> Oh, it's tomorrow. Okay. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Tomorrow night. >> In their kindergarten roundup. Obviously, they're planning for that. At OW Best, um they celebrated their academic honor roll awards last week. The students that earned silver, gold, and principles list were honored. Today, they had their
030staff and student basketball game. It's always a fun-filled awesome event. And shout out and kudos to uh Chad Kelb for always planning it. And I didn't see any ambulances over here. So I'm hoping all the staff survived. Um lastly, students um that met both I Ready goals and are are going to have so those students that met their I Ready goals are going to have hot chocolate bar and donuts on Friday. Um and they'll be uh they'll they will be able to add and create fancy hot chocolate drinks with their extras. And that's the I Ready program that this board of education approved. And so they're using it quite effectively here with work students are doing at the high school. Mrs. Fein organized our first semester star student celebration. Students received certificates and a small
031reward to recognize their hard work. Dr. JMA, I hope I'm saying that correctly, has been closely tracking student attendance and celebrating improvements with certificates and prizes. I was in that classroom today and she showed me she has uh money that they kids can earn and and stuff that they can do with that. That's why I thought it was kind of kind of neat. Mrs. Stagger and her leadership students hosted a mentor lunch. Um ordered pizza and created a great experience for everyone involved. Dr. Prince, Mr. uh Cubitz, and Mr. Robinson took groups of students to Ferris State University for a college tour, giving them a chance to explore. Miss Potter, the new art teacher, is blown away by the artistic talent at Annapolis. so many students push themselves and go above and beyond the requirements
032to express their creativity. It's such a joy to see. Uh February 13th, they had three young ladies, and if I mess up these names, I apologize. Senior Natalie uh Ferman, clarinet, junior Lexus Jesy, double bass, and junior Ella Wills, trumpet, represented Annapolis High School for the Wayne State University Honor Band. That is quite quite cool. in athletics winter sports winding down. Uh right now this evening they're hosting the girls our girls are playing basketball. So we wish them the best of luck. We're hosting that event. Um congratulations. We had a re uh regional wrestling champion Levi Foster and individual team states were last week in wrestling. This weekend is the individual states at uh Ford Field. So if you've ever been there, it is absolutely amazing. I'll digress. I coached wrestling forever. We'd get up
033in the winter, we'd go to a tournament, it' be dark. We'd be inside a dark gym all day. Well, no light. The tournament would end. We always had good wrestlers, so we were always there till the end to the finals, and we drive home in the dark, right? So, one of the things about Ford Field, as you guys know, it's it's light shines in. So, it's a different setting for um for this event, but it is epic. All the best wrestlers are in the state there. And to be a regional champ coming out, the way it works is they flip the region. So if you're a regional champ, you're number one. You wrestle the person that took fourth in another region. Now, some regions are tougher than others. So there are certainly upsets, but to
034be a regional champion does kind of set you up to um to to do well in that tournament. So it's quite an honor. I was never good enough to get there. So congratulations to him to get there. And it's it's amazing. I've coached co coached a lot of kids that have made it to the state meet and it is quite an accomplishment. So, and congratulations to all the winner athletes for proudly representing D7. So, I did get a lot of comments about our teams as they go out and about middle school and high school and how they're they just conduct themselves very appropriately and I just really appreciate that. So virtual program is piling an intervention plan to assist students who are struggling and not on track and are l uh lacking basic skills that
035may prevent the students from completing coursework and who are struggling behaviorally that interferes with their academics. So they're piloting that program. We'll see how that goes. hopefully well. Um, in the curriculum area, get ready for the grand opening of the D7 Family Connection Lounge through the Michigan Family Miniant. We're transforming our board office lobby into a warm, welcoming space for families. Updates include fresh paint, comfortable new seating, a coffee bar, a dedicated children's area. as it is the first point of contact for many of our new families. We're committed to ensure ensuring that every family, new and returning, has a positive and inviting experience. And this is from Dr. Finny. She wrote a grant to get this money. And I think she partnered with some other people here. Um, but it it should be good.
036And if I see Mr. Armstrong at the coffee bar, I'll shoe him away. Let him know. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, Scott. So, uh, technology. So, this is interesting. Shaheen uh, put this. Our district website has become a hightraic global destination engaging users cuz he monitors this stuff. 48 countries including Peru Peru, Estonia, Singal. Impressively, US-based audience has a 54% engagement rate, emphasizing that visitors aren't just clicking, but they're looking at D7. So, I just thought that that was interesting. In our EL program, our EL teachers are rocking it across the district. This is from Nearman with the WEDA alternative um access for ELLL testing. Um kudos to all of those. So many of our EL students take the WEDA and so they're working on that. Scott, do you have anything from special?
037>> I do. I have two points of pride for special education. Uh first regards cross categorical rooms. As you may recall, we uh are in the process of opening one at the middle school to serve the needs of some of our children with uh the most significant needs. And uh we are now going to be opening two sections at the elementary level, but we're doing it in a costneutral manner. So, we're going to we've looked at the case loads, we've looked at certifications, and we're going to be uh uh moving some numbers around in order to get the right people in the right places to support those children with high hours and high needs. So, that's the first thing. Uh the second thing, uh Mark brought this to my attention. Uh the superintendent from Crestwood,
038correct? Reached out to Mark and said that unfortunately they have to discontinue their ECP program. Westwood. Westwood. Westwood. Okay. So, Westwood has to discontinue their early childhood program for special education students and asked us if uh we'd be willing to take those students and we said absolutely with open arms. And uh we spoke to Avery Shelton who's our ECP teacher and she's very excited about increasing our enrollment there. And that's the program at Madison. So there are some steps that uh when school districts um share special education programming, there's some steps, legal steps that have to happen. And so the superintendent um Mr. Styles is working on that to get all that paperwork done. Um, and so yeah, it is quite exciting that he's reaching out and we'll have more kids in that program. So,
039okay. So, that's uh points. Thank you, Scott. And I was just kidding about the coffee bar. Um, >> I do drink a lot of coffee. >> He does drink a lot of No, I'm just kidding. Um, so just I'm very proud of all the good things that are happening in the the district. You know, we're dealing with these budget issues. We're going to make plans that will make sure that we have the kids first in our decisions and try to do the best we can to um increase enrollment, keep an eye on what's going on in Lancing. That's proves to be difficult at times, but we will do that and make the best decisions for the district moving forward. So, okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Other business, right? Okay. Uh, the winter
040MESB conference. Did you want it? >> I didn't bring it. >> You did. You bring I I brought some notes from when I took it so I can give mine or we can do it. You want to do it next time? Just shoot for it next time. We all do it together like Okay. If you guys don't mind, we're going to talk about the the Masb conference and the advocacy on the next uh at the next meeting. Susan, if you don't mind. Sorry. Okay. Thank you guys for that. Okay. And then board committee update. Um, building site, no updates. No updates. Uh, policy committee. Uh, >> March 20th. Thank you. At 1 p.m. at 1 p.m. at the board office. So, we do have that. >> No finance committee up. You going to finance committee?
041Okay. March 20th. Sorry. Policy committee. And then Derek has an update for finance. >> Susan, do you have one? So, this will go this will go fairly fast because this is relating to everything that we already did. So, we had a finance meeting on February 24th at the school board office 7 p.m. Present was myself, Trusty Sterling, Mr. Kleinhands, Mr. Armstrong, and Dr. Guestinger. uh Trusty Dyroof was not able to be there. Uh we had no old business to bring about at that time, but with the new business um I'm just going to do it in in a nutshell here. Basically was we were talking about the 2526 budget. We were also talking about the uh potential changes that might need to be done, not as in what specific changes, but that Mr. Kleinhands um
042has a lot of work that he's gonna you know need to do. Um and uh the other part was about borrowing from the state of Michigan. We have to do that temporary loan until we can do the uh state aid loan which is in August. And uh but basically um as Dr. Ger did say though, we would only have one loan though. We're not going to have like two separate loans. when we get the other loan that would pay off the other loan and that loan goes for a year and then if we do need to borrow again that new year loan would take care of the balance of the old loan and that we've been in this situation before um where we've had we had to borrow and we slowly got away from it
043um and we were in the I call it the black because we had no red ink in that situation so um but uh so it's just we I know there's be a lot of work. So, one of the things we did talk about um it was uh having uh more frequent meetings and uh so we're anticipating like maybe monthly meetings so that way we can bring something up to the board each month and u so uh we did have a tenative date uh for um the finance meeting for >> March 24. >> There we go. I thought I got cut off. Oh yeah, March 24th, 2027. So that's still a whiles away. But uh I did too. Actually, everybody did. Um but um Trusty Drive won't be able to make that. So I'm going to
044put get out for a new date cuz I want us all to be there. >> Yep. >> So make sure that Oh, no. Definitely. So um so um all the um committee members, you'll get an email from me and I'm just going to say, "Hey, this is the month. What days?" and then I'll try to put it together. So, and uh that's all we have. We were we were there till 9:05 p.m. though, so it was it was a fairly long meeting. So, any questions? >> Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. Now, for the other business that I was bringing up earlier. So, because of the you know budget issues and that we had conference tentatively we were going to in April a few a few of us. So, we've decided, a few of us, that
045h we haven't registered for um rooms and flights that we're we're going to put a hold on that and we're not going to go um just because of everything that's going on in the budget, you know, we're going to hold off on that. Mark has mentioned going forward, and maybe you don't want me to mention this. No, go ahead. We're going to have a you know, we're not going to possibly each person is going to be designated a certain amount that they can use going forward. Here's your allotted amount. Use it however you want to or we have put a moratorum to people going to conferences and that till we write the ship. Just talk. So, just know that that's coming. I know some have asked, can I go to this next year? And it's
046like we're kind of holding kind of in a holding pattern right now till we get this right away. So does that make sense? Does that sound good everybody? I know some of you guys have flights and all that. So I mean >> no I I don't have a flight or hotel. So I would be willing to as long as we get the refund back for the registration. Are we getting the registration re fully refunded? >> I'll try. >> Yeah, we should. It's a month out. We should be able to. >> Okay. And I would just say in the future, make sure that you contact everybody that had planned on going so we're all on the same page. >> Yeah, it would just kind of came up. So, yeah. >> Okay. >> Agree with Yes. Agree
047with you. I I didn't ask because I thought from my understanding from previous conversations, you guys had already had them booked. So, that's why I was like, you guys go, you had booked. >> Is this for >> the San Antonio trip? >> Okay. Because I made my hotel reservation. So, I'll >> But you haven't booked your flight yet? No, but I need So I don't Yeah, >> you can cancel your hotel reservation still >> if you if you choose to. >> Yeah. >> No, I just I just needed to know because I wasn't aware. >> Yeah. No, no, that's on me because my understanding was you both already had it >> already booked. That's from the conversations that I thought you had your hotels and flights already done. Yeah. So, that's on me. I would
048have I should have I should have anyway, so I apologize. >> Okay, no problem. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh yes. Um, if there are going to be budget cuts in the in into the 26 uh 27 budget, I do think that it would um be in our best interest to um put a moratorum on our conferences at least you can um for the out of state um if there's travel involved I can see if you want to go to conference in Lancing there's virtual ones that they offer. there's other ways that we can get our learning until we get the budget under um >> under wraps, you know, and get a better handle on where we are financially. That would be my suggestion. >> Okay. So, I'll Susan, if you can check registration, see what
049we can do, see what we can get back, and then go from there and then see if you're able to get reimbursed for the hotel >> or just cancel without a fee. >> Yeah. see if there's before you can. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> And I'd just like to add that's just my suggestion and I think that that should be something that the board should ponder and then we would have to agree on that >> for the incoming budget because it would lower our amount, >> right? >> So, which is, you know, helpful. >> Definitely. >> Okay. And again, I apologize you guys for that for that. >> Um, anyone else anything about that? Okay. Any other business anybody wants to bring up? Okay. All right. On to public comment number two. Come on up. State
050your name and affiliation. And please um do not reference if you can people's names derogatory. Whatot? >> I said that wrong. >> Go ahead. >> Jennifer Fein High School English teacher. Um, I'm here with many questions. Uh, the budget issue has us all a bit shook. We didn't know what was going on. So, I do want to I was wondering when that will be available for us to see as teachers, as the district, like when will that information that was presented tonight be available? I don't know if you can tell me that yet, but we're we we would like to see it and and figure out what's going on. Um, we are curious what our current fund balance is. We are very curious about what programs are going to be impacted by this financial dilemma
051that we found ourselves in um as a staff member who went through the freeze and for many years didn't get a raise, but we many of us took the freeze in order to dig the district out and this really feels like something that could head in that direction. I hope that it doesn't. Um, I'm very concerned about that though. And not necessarily just for me, but for the like the younger teachers that are in that if you want to maintain a good staff, you need to make sure that you can pay them. And we're a little concerned about how this might impact payment for salaries. What's going to happen in that direction? Um, we are wondering about, and when I say we, I'm talking for a variety of teachers here. I'm kind of representing a
052group. um wondering about what programs we have in the district that maybe aren't being audited or maybe haven't been audited appropriately. Um are we talking about staffing being cut in other areas other than just the schools? Like where where has the money gone? I know that you anticipated a lot more money coming in than you got, which is I always thought you were supposed to lowball that stuff, so I don't know what happened there. Um what else do I have? Oh, and if there's a fund issue again with the um staffing and things like that, when I know it's like 60 days before the end of the school year, but um layoffs of teaching staff, when will that be something that we'll hear about? Um I mean, we'd like to be informed. We'd like to
053be in the know. We'd like to kind of have an idea what's heading toward us. Um again, a lot of young teachers here in the district that if we want to have them stay, we got to make sure that it's worth their while. And I know that other districts are suffering too. And I really appreciate the board pulling back and saying that you're not going to do things in order to help um reduce where wherever we can reduce. I don't know if there's any other ways that we can deal with this funding issue. I don't know how things went from so high to so low. It's very confusing. So yeah, I just I would we would like to see all that information because it was real hard to see up on the screen and she
054talked really fast. So, it was really hard for us to keep track. I wrote as many notes as we could. We got lots of notes over there. Um, so yeah. Is there anything I'm missing? I think that we're just very concerned. I mean, we the older teachers remember the 10 years or so. I don't know how many years. 11 years that we didn't get a a raise, that we stayed at our step and we did it to help the district. I don't know that everybody wants to go through that again. And so we're we're very concerned. So I don't know when that information can be shared, but we would love to know. >> Thank you. And all your questions are on there that you >> um Yeah, it's kind of a hot mess, >> okay?
055>> But it's all on there. I was writing a lot of information really fast trying to get it all out of my out of my head. Um thank you very much for hearing me. I appreciate you. I know this is a tough time and we we want the district I mean a lot of us stayed here because we know that this is where we're supposed to be. We love D7. 25 years. I've been here 25 years. I could have gone anywhere and I stayed here because it's where I was supposed to be and I don't want to leave if I don't have to. And I want our district to pull through. We got a lot of great kids here. We got a lot of great things. I'd like to see us survive. >> Thank you.
056Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else for a public comment? Anyone else? Okay, seeing none. Kudos. >> There's a lot of them. So, >> all right, Mr. Styro, would you like to go >> um to Karen Kaz, sorry, school counselor from Marcy Joby. Kudos to Miss Kenaz for and I apologize if I just slaughtered your name for all the preparation and planning of Betford's kindness month from from fun dress up days to fun acts of kindness throughout the building. It has been a spectacular month. Thank you for arranging for the Detroit Piston Pistons organization's visit to our school on Tuesday, February 24th. What a way to shoot for kindness. Thank you for making kindness month so much fun. To Miss Elizabeth Ort Ortine from Marcy Joby. Kudos to Miss Elizabeth Ortwine for all the
057preparation and planning of Bedford's Black History Gallery Walk. Our family night was held on Thursday, February 26th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Everything from helping create beautiful artwork with students, creating a fun scavenger hunt for kids to go on while at the gallery walk to donating her own personal time to hanging up the mat masterpieces. She always goes above and beyond. Thanks again for your dedication to D7 young fives and kindergarten te kindergarten teachers Danielle Osborne, Katie Schukert, Andrea Friendo, Dena Gara, Krie Sanders, Deanna Balheim, Karen Creel, Andrea Kurden, >> Kerdonowitz, >> Kdonowitz, and Tess Reynolds from Claudia Porteller, Marcy Joey and Don Leinsky. Many thanks to the Kindergarten Roundup team for preparing an amazing plan for Kindergarten Roundup this year. Kindergarten Roundup is designed to foster a homeschool connection with incoming kindergarten families. This
058year, kindergarten roundup is scheduled at Bedford Party and Poke elementary schools on April 16th at 6 p.m. The team not only prepared information for parents who attend, but also developed a marketing video in in informative website slideshow and other homeschool supports. Parents will receive information about enrollment, meet the teachers, and tour the classrooms kindergarten roundup. Thank you so much for your enduring commitment to giving our incoming kindergarteners a great start in school. And last, Alexis Wolf from Ryan Statfeld, helping to make the 2526 Annapolis boys swim season a big success. Thank you. This is to Will Clemens from Ariel Brown setting up our gym and cafeteria for our parent teacher conferences. It was organized and work out worked out very well. Thank you again. This is to Miss Leblanc and Miss Le Fave from the
059Poke family. Thank you for Poke Developing Reading Month activities and events. Miss Lefra Lefra and excuse me if I missed it. um and Leblanc worked together to develop a non-stop reading month extravaganza with a theme titled who would win for Poke's reading month. It is supported by a series of reading activities and books designed to stimulate student interest and engagement. Every day there is a special reading event. Some highlights are the library book fair, magic of reading assembly and the family reading night. Family reading night is scheduled for March 26 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Thank you so much, Miss Leave and Miss Leblanc for our for your commitment to making Reading Month an amazing time of the year where everyone wins. To Miss Emily Caleb, >> Calb and Miss Briana Bilovic. >> B I
060L K O V I C. >> Yeah. um from Marcy Jopi. Kudos to Miss Emily Kayla >> Kelp and Miss Briana Boic for all the preparation and planning of Bedford's March's reading month. Our theme is superhero family night. Our family night will be held on Tuesday, March 24th from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Everything from superhero bingo to creating your own cape are just a few of our spectacular events. Miss Cal and Miss Vakovic are just some of the reasons that Bedford is truly the best. Thanks again for making reading so much fun. to Pat Antinosian from Carrie Herd. Thank you so much, Pat, for all that you do. When there is a need, you are there immediately and respond with thought and care. You are amazing and I truly appreciate you. This is to Victoria
061Gargulus, Kristen Dues, and Allison Lef Fever from the Pulk family dated February 23rd 2, 2026. For heartfelt appreciation goes to Victoria, Kristen, Allison, and Lily for helping turn the dream of having a school dog at Pulk Elementary School into a reality. Their dedication to thoughtful planning, preparation, and training has been truly outstanding. Because of their commitment, Lily has successfully joined our Pulk family as our new school dog, bringing comfort, connection, and support to our students each day. We are deeply grateful for the time, care, and passion each of you has invested in this initiative. And a very special thank you to Lily for becoming such an important part of our Pulk family. To Megan Sears from Jennifer Fean dated March 2nd for always supporting the students and your peers. You are truly meant to be
062a teacher and I am proud to call your colle call you colleague and friends. I am inspired by you on the daily. Thanks for being awesome to Daniel Osborne, David Uriel, and Pulk PBIS team from the Pulk family dated February 23rd for all your hard work on PBIS initiatives this year. Your efforts have truly made a difference at Pulk. From the informative and fun-filled daily announcements, student of the month assemblies, and PBIS reward events to the February Olympic attendance challenge, skate parties, and Culver's night out. Pulk is a great place to be because of you. Thank you for your generosity, dedication, and commitment to serving the students at Pulk Elementary School. >> Can I just add about Lily? >> One of the best pictures that I had and I put it I think I put
063it in my newsletter and I think you guys have seen it was the the word was out that Lily was coming that day. So Lily's in a classroom looking out the window and the kids are waving outside from the playground in it just it was really a cool cool picture. >> All right to Kelly Potter from Jennifer Feynan dated March 2nd 2026. We are so happy that you have come to Annapolis. The artwork you are doing with our students is outstanding and it brings a smile every time I check the showcase. You are an amazing teacher and I am personally very excited to see the direction you take our art program. The next one is to Miss Valerie Christopherson, math coach from Claigga Portella, Marcy Joy and Donna dated February 23rd, 2026. Kudos to Miss
064Christopherson for her exceptional leadership and dedication to improving student achievement. She her commitment to strengthening math instructions has had an meaningful impact on both teachers and students. Most notably, she played a pivotal role in the elementary school math curriculum review pilot. Who gave me this? Sorry. Y'all purposely gave me the hardest one. a recommendation process conducted over a two-year period with all three elementary schools. Her expertise, collaboration, and steady leadership were instrumental to the team success throughout her extensive process. We are deeply grateful for her commitment to excellence and the positive difference she continues to make for students in D7. Okay, I apologize in advance if I last name to Miss Hazma Sabah. So, >> so English language interventionist from the Pulk family dated February 26, 2026 for her outstanding dedication to serving English language
065learners at Pulk Elementary School. She consistently goes above and beyond to ensure her students meet their academic goals and feel supported every step of the way. She generously gives her time to translate letters, attend meetings, and ensure that communication between teachers, administration, and families is clear, thorough, and meaningful. Her commitment helps families feel informed, valued, and connected to the school community. In addition to her instructional support, she works tirelessly to build strong relationships between families and the greater school community. Her compassion, professionalism, and dedication make a lasting difference in the lives of students and families. We are truly grateful for all she does. And the last one, but now to JMA from Miss Jennifer Feining, dated March 2nd, 2026. You are an amazing teacher doing incredible things for our ELELLL population and I love your
066decorations. Thank you for being open to our questions and helping us understand many things and for always having a positive attitude and smile. You are awesome. >> Kudos for taking the long paid Susan. >> Wait till you hear how long these are. to Dan Stannis from Ryan Statel February 25th, 2026 for helping to make the 2526 Annapolis boys swim season a big success. >> That's a lot. >> Honestly, I just randomly put them out. I >> I thought it was blaming you. to Noah Kubitz from Ryan Statfeld February 25th, 2026 for outstanding help to make the 2526 Annapolis boys swim season to Brian Buchanan from Ryan Staff February 25th 2026 for helping to make the 2526 Annapolis boys swim season a big success and because I felt so bad I did take one from to
067Dan Mick Ilhenny from Jennifer Feman date March 2nd 2026 for doing amazing work with our students and for striving to improve everything every day and for showing me how to use peer deck assessment. I really appreciate your I really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks Dan. >> Thank you. Okay, so I got one for Marshall Allenson. I'm sorry that's right. Um, from Jennifer Fein for March 2nd, 2026 for doing amazing work with our students and for striving to improve everything every day. You are doing things that I am constantly amazed by and you are taking great leaps to work with kids that need that special Mr. Allenson skill set. Well done, sir. You are amazing. And then I got for Pat Antinosian from Tanya Wells from February 9th, 2026. Thank you for making sure everything
068gets fixed around here. You are so hardworking and I am beyond grateful that we have you at D7. Okay. And then I have one for Ray White from Tanya Wells from February 9th, 2026. Um, thank you for being so great at your job. I'm amazed at how many things you know how to fix around here. One day you are fixing my heating, the next the drinking fountain, and today it was my door knob. Your intelligence and strong work ethic is admirable. Thank you for all you do with a s without a single complaint. Sorry. >> I have a couple to Chad. Is it Kel from Ariel Brown dated uh March 4th, 2026 for planning, coordinating, and running the staff first students basketball game. We we look forward to this event every year. It is entertaining
069and fun to watch. Thank you again for creating this event each year. To Amanda Stagger from Jennifer Fein dated March 2nd, 2026 for creating a space for our students to learn about themselves in a way not many places provide. The leadership the leadership class is amazing and newspaper gives the students a voice all their own. You are an inspiration and probably why I'm still teaching. LOL. Thanks for being my ride or die. To Mrs. Heather Welch Welch, sorry, reading coach from Claudia Porchellar, Marcy Joy, and Dan Leinsky dated February 23rd, 2026 for Mrs. Welch's outstanding dedication to improving student achievement in a reading at in reading at the elementary level. As reading coach, Mrs. Welch has played a key role in the implementation of the UFFLI reading initiative, providing training and ongoing coaching to teachers
070throughout this year and last. Her support and guiding staff through the UFli strategies has strengthened in instructional practices across elementary classrooms. Because of her leadership, our teachers feel more confident and equipped. And most importantly, our students are demonstrating stronger reading growth. We are truly grateful to Mrs. Welch's commitment to literacy and her positive impact on elementary students across the district. Awesome guys. Very nice. >> Awesome. Awesome. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you board for reading those. I appreciate it. >> And I was joking. Keep coming. >> We know who to pay off if uh just kidding. >> All right. Up next, adjournment. Be it so resolved that the board of education adjourns the meeting at 8:11 p.m. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Trusty Belttowski. It's supported by
071Trusty Windless. Roll call, please. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Beltowski, yes. Trusty Dyro, yes. >> Trusty Stanovic, >> yes. >> Trusty Wall, yes. >> Trusty Windless, yes. >> Trusty Sterlin, >> yes. Thank you everyone. Drive safely. Look at this.