001If we can all say our mission together, 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. Mr. wall. Will you lead us in the pledge of allegiance, please? Yes. Thank you. Roll call, please. Trusty Anderson. Trusty Bowski, present. Trusty Dyra. Trusty Sterling, present. Trusty Stavanovic, Trusty Wall, present. Trusty Winless present. Thank you. We have a quorum. Moving on to the adoption of the agenda. Be it so resolved that the board of education accepts the June 11th, 2025 agenda as presented. A board member may request an item be moved from the consent agenda to superintendent recommendations. May I have a motion? So moved. Thank you. Moved by Trusty Wall. Supported by Trustee Wless. Questions or comments? Roll call, please. Trusty
002Anderson, yes. Trusty Sterlin, yes. Trusty Steanovic, yes. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Winless, yes. Trusty Belttowski, yes. Motion carries. Moving on, public comment on agenda items. Do we have public comment on agenda items only at this time? Seeing none, we will move on to superintendence reports. Mr. Klein Hands. Thank you. So, just a couple of things to report. First, a congratulation goes out to Scott for completing the voluntary human resource specialist certification through the Michigan Association of School Boards. Um, this is to So, a lot of work went into doing this. So, Scott, congratulations. He did this on his own. It's a voluntary program. If he wants to continue, he has to take additional coursework and additional uh classes in this program. But um again on his own did this work. We really appreciate it. Thank
003you and congratulations. Thank you. And then the next thing on the superintendent report, I just wanted to do a project update. Um it's going to be a busy Monday. Next Monday once um all of our students are done and staff is done. Um they'll start moving in. We have four major projects. the HVAC at Pulk and the HVAC project at Part D. Those will officially begin. Now, we know that from reporting that they've done some pull ahead work on these particular projects. So, a lot of that's been done. If you recall with the Bedford HVAC, there was a big um issue with DTE in terms of of um not all of their fault in terms of getting the deeds and the property and getting all of those pieces taken care of. that's been well taken
004care of with this. So, we're hoping no major uh snafuss, but uh we're looking forward to those projects rolling. It won't be as intense as when we did the UNI event projects. When we did the UNIT projects, they had to pull all of those old univvents out and put the new ones here. When they hook up the HVAC, they the units are already on the roofs. They run the chases down the side into the new units and hook them up. So that should go a lot smoother. So that's good. Yeah. And then of course the big one this summer is the Bedford site project. Uh that includes drop off from Annapolis, the new parking lot with a drop off loop in the back off Eaton, the new playground, um the and equipment, the new fitness
005area, basketball court, uh shaded outdoor classroom area, um and the board finalized. Thank you guys for the lighting and then the upgrade from the pour and play to the playground turf. That's all set. Um so that'll be a huge project. Um we're hoping that that goes well. They're planning on starting that on Monday. Uh the party playground refresh was just approved by the board. That's a new playground equipment um for that playground area, new basketball area. And um as you guys recall the turf under the existing playscape is in um rough shape. So that gets replaced along with new turf for the underneath the new equipment. Um when I presented that there were two little playscapes and meeting with the building. Um the decision was made to go to one playscape a little bit for
006a little bit older students. And so um working with our little Tikes folks we got some options. We sent that to the to the building. They made a decision. Um so we moved forward with that and that actually saved a couple of thousand dollars on the project. So that um was good, but um I I sent pictures and the new piece is going to look awesome. It really does. So uh excited for that. Um also includes um new shaded areas and benches. Uh new fencing to fence that back part. And then we're going to relocate the large rocks that's in the garden. uh out and create kind of a a nice uh area under the trees that are um kind of right next to the the uh maintenance building where the basketball court's going to
007be. So, it should turn out really nice. So, it'll be very busy uh summer. Uh one of the issues that we had uh last year was um I I wanted to make sure that prior to the start of the projects that were done last summer was to have um periodic construction meetings. And so, uh, we made sure those are already set up moving through the summer for both projects, the HVAC and the, uh, the Bedford site. So, I'm I'm hoping that that will help, uh, things go smoother and it gives us an opportunity if there are any issues or anything that thing that we need to address that we're on it right at that time. So, it's going to get busy here in a little bit. First of all, though, we've got to get uh,
008you know, everybody taken care of. the end of the year. Such a special time for staff and students. A lot of events. I know I've been putting pictures in my uh Friday reports for you guys to kind of get a sense of all of the neat things that that really has been happening in the district. We have one today. Today we had the the Madison preschool graduation and those little ones came up and it it was just a real real cool event. So, it's a fun time of year. So, we'll get everything wrapped up. Uh get everyone on their way for their summer break and then we'll start construction season. Great. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions? Moving on. Certified staff resignation exhibit one in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board
009of education accepts the following certified staff resignation. Katie Bennett be ne speech language pathologist districtwide. Effective date August 22nd, 2025. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Sterlin. Support. Supported by Trusty Wall. Questions or comments. Um, Miss Windless. Um, do you know why the resignation date isn't like the last day of school or is there work to be done over the summer? It says August 22nd. I believe that has to do with the pay cycle. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yes. Yep. So, there's still work to be done over summer. Okay. Yep. And uh Katie is um is uh landed a new job walking distance from her house. Okay. And she has little ones. So I I know the I know Katie. I worked with her husband. Uh they're both great people. Katie's a
010wonderful educator. Unfortunately, um because she got this position right next to her house, she's leaving us. Makes sense. Thank you. Anybody else? Roll call, please. Trusty Sterling. Yes. Trusty Stavanovic. Yes. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Winless, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Bowski, yes. Motion carries. Letter B, second reading and adoption of proposed, revised, and reissued board policies, exhibit two in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the second reading and adoption of proposed, revised, and reissued NEOLA board policies as presented. Bylaw 0155 committees bylaw presiding officer P5330 use of medication P8500 food services. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Wall. Support. Supported by Trusty Cerini. Questions or comments? Mr. Kleinhand? Yep. Very quickly, the um Leslie pointed out the our last meeting when we did the first
011reading, the director of it was dining services and we made that change. So, good catch on that. I was going to say thank you for making that change. Yep. Director of food service. So, we got that right. That's the only change from the first reading to here. Thank you. Roll call, please. Trusty Sterling? Yes. Trusty Steanovic? Yes. Trusty Wall? Yes. Trusty Wless? Yes. Trusty Anderson? Yes. Trusty Bowski? Yes. Motion carries. Letter C, instructional days and clock hours. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves 180 days, 1,098 clock hours as the minimum time for pupil instruction for the 2025 2026 school year. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Wall. Support. Supported by Trusty Windless. Questions or comments? Mr. Wall. Same as last year's. Yes. Thank you. Yep. Anybody else?
012Roll call, please. Trusty Stavanovic, yes. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Windless, yes. Trusty Anderson. Trusty Sterlin? Yes. Trusty Battowski? Yes. Motion carries. Letter D. Food service management company. Exhibit three in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education moves to renew the contract with Compass Group USA Chartwell's division to provide services for the 2025 2026 school year beginning July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026. This is year two of a 4-year proposal and includes a 3% increase in management fees. Monies will be derived from the food service account. May I have a motion? So move moved by Trusty Sterling. Support by Trusty Windless. Questions or comments. Trusty Sterling. Um and we talked about this before and we kind of I think we got one last year, but a survey of um you know
013what the kids like, if the teachers like the food, and I think last year we got it from Chartwells, but I'd almost like to see something more from us and not Chartwells. and so we can control the narrative because I really would like to hear the kids like the food and you know all that fun. May I address the one thing? Um I when I did talk to the um senior person down his name was Troy. When I was down in Atlanta um we were talking about how the students there was the different words that we had where they put them all in and we got to see that and we were talking and I did say to him I said one of the ones that was on there was sushi and he and he
014laughed and he said that that sushi is a big one all across the country. However, it does not um translate well into uh transportation and cafeteria services. So, but I agree. But I was saying that we had done that. So, it was a good one. So, just a quick overview about the financials of this. So, um the interesting thing when they do the financials for the school district, it's like our budget's estimate. And so they are estimating that um the revenues will will exceed the expenditures to the tune of 214,000. And so I asked about that because of all of our budget areas that's one of them that I mean we have a spend down plan right where we really don't need to put money in uh fund equity. So I talked to uh Antella
015Shock. She's the uh account manager and she said the reason for that is we receive about 100 it's $144,000 because Chartwells buys in such bulk they get rebates from the companies that especially in their paper products and so they get these rebates and then they divvy those out amongst their customers. So um now in talking to Paul he's got he's got a plan for that. We found that out today. Um he may be looking at a our our food service vehicle that we transport food in is quite old. So we may look at that and we'll have to definitely update our spend down plan with these dollars. So and this is just an estimate. It goes based on how many breakfast how many lunches they sell through the year. But but uh that's actually good
016news that our food service um is doing well in that arena. Anybody else? Roll call, please. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Winless, yes. Trusty Anderson. Trusty Sterlin, yes. Trusty Stavanovic, yes. Trusty Belttowski, yes. Motion carries. Letter E. Mha membership exhibit four in your packet. Be it so resolved that de the Dearborn Heights Virtual Academy, OW Best Middle School and Annapapolis High School in Dearborn Heights School District number 7, City of Dearborn Heights, County of Wayne, state of Michigan are hereby a enrolled as members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Incorporated, a nonprofit association, and B are further enrolled to participate in the approved interchool athletic activities sponsored by said association. ation. The board of education hereby delegates to the superintendent or his or her designate the responsibility for the supervision and control of said activities
017and hereby accepts the constitution and bylaws of set association and adopts as its own the rules, regulations and interpretations as minimum standards as published in the current handbook as the governing code under which the said school shall conduct its program of intercolastic athletics and agrees to primary enforcement of said rules, regulations, interpretations, and qualifications. In addition, it is hereby agreed that the school excuse me, In addition, it is hereby agreed that schools which host or participate in the association's meets and tournaments shall follow and enforce all tournament policies, procedures, and schedules. This authorization shall be effective from August 1st, 2025 and shall remain effective until July 31st, 2026, during which authorization may not be revoked. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Sterlin. Support. Supported by Trusty Wall. Questions or comments? Seeing
018none, roll call, please. Trusty Willis, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Sterlin, yes. Trusty Stavanovic, yes. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Basi. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Letter F. Cooperative education program agreement exhibit five in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the cooperative education program agreement between the Wayne Westland Community Schools and Dearborn Heights number seven school district as required by the state and according to the present accounting procedures and practices as presented. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Cerini. Support. Support by Trusty Wall. questions or comments? Uh, Trusty Wless. Yeah. Um, somewhere in there there's a mention of the decision to suspend or terminate a student from the program being solely up to the administrator at Wayne Westland according to their student code of conduct. I
019was wondering if I could have a copy of their student code of conduct so that I know what the differences are between ours and theirs. That was it. Good point. And yes, I was just going to add these are for students in the welding, firefighting, and nursing. And I believe we had four students that um were that showed interest in this program, and it's at the Ford Career Tech Center. And Leslie will work on getting a copy of that. Anybody else? Roll call, please. Trustee Anderson. Yes. Trustee Sting. Yes. Trustee Stanovic. Yes. Trusty Wall. Yes. Trusty Willings. Yes. Trusty Bowski. Yes. Motion carries. Letter G. Meal tray delivery cart purchase exhibit six in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the purchase of six meal tray delivery carts for the
020purpose of breakfast in the classrooms BIC breakfast cart procedure program. The total cost for the project is $15,246 and the monies will be derived from the cafeteria fund as part of the spend down plan. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Sterlin. Support. Supported by Trusty Anderson, questions, comments? Trusty Wless. I just wanted to know what is C the C sheet. What does that stand for? Like the acronyms. Um, I don't have that right in front of me. Um, you mean BIC? I'm sorry. The C of C check off sheet is referenced multiple times, but I don't know what that is. So, um, so let me I I'll just go to the beginning. Maybe I can explain this. So, um, that we're going to restructure the way that we serve breakfast in
021our elementary. Currently, the students come in and the teachers deliver the um breakfast to the kids and then they check off on a check off sheet. So, and then those get turned into the office and then they come back here to our food service department. Well, as a result of the audit, um we're going to streamline that process because um what what the state is looking for is that, for example, if you have 10 students that come in and choose to take a breakfast, then you need to mark off 10 and let's say 15 were delivered, then five need to go back. And so we're going to streamline that process after from because of the recommendation from the audit with the state of Michigan that that we need to do that. So I think they're
022referencing that form. So the form needs to match the breakfast. So if there's 15, if there's 10 that we're giving out, we got to have 10, we got to have it checked off and those five got to come back. So I believe that's what they're referencing, but I'll double check for sure. Thank you. Anybody else? Nope. Okay. Roll call, please. Trusty Sterling? Yes. Trusty Steanovic? Yes. Trusty Wall? Yes. Trusty Winless? Yes. Trusty Anderson? Yes. Trusty Batski? Yes. Motion carries. Letter H. MSB membership exhibit seven in your packet. Be it so resolved that the board of education approves the Michigan Association of School Board membership renewal for the 202526 school year in the amount of $5,748. Monies will be derived from the general fund. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Windless, supported
023by Trusty Wall. Questions or comments? I would just like to add um this is worth it just for the training. The cost is uh $5,74. If they were just providing the training that we get, it would be worth it. But this also allows us to get a significant reduction on our setseg um insurance because we're in this risk pool. And I believe that uh we were credited for our set seg to the tune of about $33,000. So we do get money back from us being a member a part of the MASB, but the training alone is worth every penny. So anybody else? Roll call, please. Trusty Sterlin, yes. Trusty Stavanovic, yes. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Wless, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Bowski, yes. Motion carries. Letter I. Non-renewal of certified staff contracts, exhibit 8. Be
024it so resolved that the board of education accepts the following non-renewal of certified staff contracts as follows. Lindseay Cox, special ed social worker, party. Effective date June 30th, 2025. Dr. Teresa Williams, special education teacher consultant for the elementary schools. Effective date June 30th, 2025. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Trusty Sterlin. Support. Supported by trustee windless. questions or comments? Yes. Yeah. So, um we want to thank these two individuals. Um they um this is based on these moves are based on case loads through the special education department um based on you know all the rules and the regulations of staffing. And so these two have served us very well and we um thank them. U Mr. Armstrong has met with both of these individuals and um and so we wish them well
025in their next endeavor. Miss Trusty Winless Mark, are you saying that there are going to be a reduced amount of special education students in the elementary schools and that's why we need to reduce these two positions? No, this is because of case loads. So it's the number of students that qualify that need these services and we can So is that being reduced? Uh, no. We can cover. So, so like if you have um what's a good way to explain it? If you have so teacher consult out with you speaking. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. For a teacher consultant, excuse me. Yeah. Okay. So for a teacher consultant, that's a person that helps out writing IEPs, uh, managing case load responsibilities, and we found that with Julia Cppel, who was the existing TC, and then with the
026overlap of Dr. Williams, were able to consolidate that responsibility and still do it efficiently. uh and with the social worker at par we are reducing that position in order to get social work case loads in line with average state case loads for special ed. So the the case loads for social work in the special ed department have been lower than average. So we're looking to consolidate. Okay. So by doing this we'll be closer to the state recommendation. Yes. Okay. That's the reason for doing this. Okay. Roll call, please. Trusty Stabanovic. Yes. Trusty Wall. Yes. Trusty Wless. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. Trusty Dyra. I mean, she's not here. Trusty Cini. Yes. Trusty Batausski. No. Motion carries. Moving on to unfinished business. Do we have any unfinished business to come before the board? Seeing none, new business.
027Seeing none, district points of pride, Mr. Clim Hands. You bet. So, a big thank you goes out to our staff and our students for making the 2425 school year a year of growth, academic growth, and accomplishment. Um, and again, thanks to the board members for participating in graduation, and the AHS staff thought it was a wonderful event this year. We want to thank all the parents for the support of our schools as well. And then um a little um kind of a neat it's not little but um this is huge actually. I don't know why I use the word little but we received the Michigan Heart Safe Award and this is pretty significant. So I'm going to read the email from uh the folks from the Michigan Heart Safe Schools. It says and this is
028to Cheryl Howard. has been working on this with our school nurses and it says, "We are thrilled to welcome Dearborn Heights District 7 to the My Heart Safe Schools community. We truly appreciate the dedication and hard work you and your team put forth to earn this recognition. Congratulations on a welldeserved achievement." Then it goes on to say, "Since the inception of the My Heart Safe Schools Award program in 2013, 994 schools in addition to this year's 202 newly awarded schools have received the award. This year we have 417 schools in the state that applied. 399 received the award. Some of these were renewals as the award is granted for three years. Only one other full district applied for the reward in its entirely entirety receiving the award other than Dearborn Heights School District 7. Currently,
029there are 965 schools in the state of Michigan that have award status. There's over 8,500 public, private, and charter schools in Michigan. So, I don't know if you guys recall in one of my Friday updates, I had pictures of them of our MERT insert team doing a drill. I think it was at Pulk Elementary. So, um we had to do all of those drills and they had to be evaluated and assessed and that was part of this process. So, um just very pleased and I know that a lot of people, Cheryl, the nurses, the administration, the members of the mer team worked hard to get this. So, um, it's it's really a feather in the cap for D7. So, very proud of that. Um, and then I'll go through from the buildings. Madison students had
030a blast at their field day. Their GSRP program concluded um has concluded and then I talked about a little bit earlier about the preschool graduation. What a wonderful event um that was. At Bedford, they did their annual uh teacher swap where all the teachers visit their incoming students that they'll have in the fall. The first grade teachers visited the kindergarten classrooms and so on. The students were so excited to meet next year's teachers and ask questions what their class will be like. Uh while the teachers were moving to class, uh Principal Joby visited uh every single class and got to visit with students as well. It's a terrific way to wrap up the school year. At party, they raised over 280 boxes of cereal for summer that were donated to gleaners. They also had a
031fun event last Friday before the boxes were picked up and you can check that out on Facebook and of course recognized for the hearts safe school. They had an awesome field day. I know a lot of work went into that. It was great weather and super volunteers at Pulk Elementary. Their field day was a success even though in the morning it was raining. I was out there raining pretty good. The staff and students had so much fun playing together. Thanks to the coordinators and volunteers, they couldn't have done this without their help on that day. The fifth grade students graduate to the middle school. We wish them all the best. Uh they'll be missed by staff and students um at Pulk Elementary. And of course, they were awarded the Hearts Safe School as well, the
032whole district. Then at OW, the eighth grade formal was a beautiful event. Thank the PTO for supporting and planning the event. The students had a fantastic time. The middle school band concert was nothing short of phenomenal. If um saw the pictures, this place was packed. There was standing room only on the back. It was quite a quite a quite a quite a deal. The middle school band concerts, nothing short of phenomenal. The students showcased many talents. Mr. James runs a wonderful program. Eighth grade recognition night where all the eighth graders achievements um went very well and they'll be greatly missed as they move on. Sixth grade had an excellent time at their field trip. Revved up as did the eighth graders at their annual C Cedar Point trip. Thank you to Tina Dhoni for leading
033the trip. Also big thank you to our parents and staff chaperones on this endeavor. At the high school, I mentioned this earlier, prom, graduation, all night party, very busy, three awesome events. Uh the students were great and again I thank the board for their participation in the graduation. I thought it was a wonderful evening. In the ELELLL, the special special appreciation to our ELLL teachers who work closely with special education, general ed, and administrators to ensure students receive holistic support not just in English, but in math, science, social studies, ensuring the content learning continues while they're working to acquire language. In athletics, the spring sports have wrapped up many highlights. uh the tennis team beating Garden City for the first time in a long time. We had two allstate qualifiers, of course, the girls first
034ever that was announced at this table um win in uh soccer. We had three allconerence baseball players, three allconerence softball, uh boys golf, placed third in the league. They had a freshman that made all league and they hosted the softball districts. Um I was here for that event. It was it was really was well attended by the other schools. We hosted unfortunately we lost uh the first game. Um but the facility looked beautiful and um the athletic department, all the volunteers did a good job putting that on. Gave us an opportunity to showcase our facilities to other teams. In the virtual program, they had three flex uh students graduate and four virtual students graduate. Congratulations to the class class of 2025. We're so proud of you. I talked about the um my heart safe award
035in the operations. Um they're they're gearing up as you know it's busy in our operations department with all of the summer cleanings and this year especially because they got to work around um not only they got they have to work around summer school but also construction in Pulk and Part D as well as the construction at Bedford. So, they've got a plan to to move their way around as um you know, as we're hosting uh the summer school and doing the construction projects at Tech. They've got their first p batch of iPads. These are the the equipment you guys approved. They're they have arrived. They're fully managed and configured. They're tagged cased and ready to be distributed. Also, for the first time, they set up a practice ready account for for a kindergartener just to
036have them practice. And the the student loved it. So they put that in there that that I Ready um is a good a good tool to use. Um and in the curriculum, the I Ready testing has been completed. Data showed that 54% of students in grades K8 met their reading growth and 50% of uh met their math growth target. And then in the special education and HR, Scott, thank you, Mr. Klein. So over the last several days uh the two of us have been meeting with our retirees at the board office and uh thanking them from their years of service presenting them with a watch and uh they've been very complimentary for the number of years they've spent here very proud to have served in D7 and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to
037them. And then in the special ed arena, I want to give my sincere thanks to the special ed staff for the great work that they did this year with our students. Um, as I mentioned last time, we had our state report card come out. There were no state complaints or corrective actions at the time, and that's held true now through to the end of the year. So, uh, I attribute that to the hard work of, uh, all of our special ed staff. So, thank you for that. Thank you. That's all we have. Is that it? Okay. Moving on to other business. Um, there are no board committee updates and there are no upcoming board committee meetings scheduled at this time. Do we have any other other business to come? No. Okay. Moving on. We will
038move on to public comment number two. At this time, we welcome comments from the public. Please state your name and affiliation. And you have five minutes to speak. Uh, good evening everybody. Uh, Jennifer Fein. I work at Annapolis High School English teacher and I'm here to represent my colleagues at the high school and I imagine in other schools in the district. If it's all right with you, I'd like to read this letter that I'm going to leave with you guys. But if you'll just bear with me, I'll read it for you so you can understand what we're talking about. Um, we, the undersigned teaching staff at Annapolis High School, respectfully write to urge the implementation of a strict and enforceable cell phone policy to begin with the 2025 2026 school year. Over the past several
039years, we have observed a dramatic increase in the presence and use of cell phones during instructional time. Despite classroom level efforts to regulate and manage this issue, personal devices and their accuchant continue to create substantial distractions, interfere with learning, and hinder meaningful engagement between students and their teachers and peers. In addition, these items have become instrumental in contributing to behavior issues and vi violent interactions among students. As educators, we are deeply committed to fostering a focused and respectful academic environment. But this endeavor has become increasingly challenging when we must compete with screens for student attention. Numerous studies, including recent reports from the organizations such as the American Psychological Association and Common Sense Media, have documented the negative effects of excessive cell phone use on student learning, mental health, and social development. The constant access to
040messaging apps, games, and social media diverts student attention, reduces the quality of inperson interactions, and contributes to rising anxiety levels and depression. The developing brains of our students are not equipped to handle the overwhelming influence and distraction phones provide, and the addiction that results is deeply troubling. Furthermore, that access also facilitates academic dishonesty and can escalate conflicts through the rapid spread of misinformation and inappropriate content. All of this is avoidable if we act now. Nationwide, there is a movement to remove cell phones from schools. And the Michigan State Legislature recognizes the impact that cell phones are having on our classrooms and the detrimental effect these distractions are having on the quality of education our students are receiving. We strongly believe that a district level policy clear in its expectations consistently enforced and supported by administration
041would empower educators to reclaim valuable instructional time and support the social emotional well-being of our students. Such a policy would ideally remove phones during the school day, which would improve academic success and lower instances of negative behaviors. We understand that such a policy requires thoughtful planning and clear communication. We are more than willing to collaborate with district leaders, parents, and students to ensure that a new policy is fair, equitable, and effectively implemented. Ultimately, our goal is to create a learning environment that prioritizes student safety and success. A strong cell phone policy that includes headphones, earbuds, and other smart tech items would demonstrate our commitment to these priorities by providing our students with an educational environment built on integrity and what we as educators know are in the best interest of our students. Thank you for
042your leadership and for your attention to this urgent important matter. We look forward to your support and it's signed by about 29 members of the staff at Annapolis. Um because we we recognize that this is a problem everywhere. Um and I know that there's policy that already exists that gives us the ability to tell kids what to do with their phones. that the problem is that the kids don't listen and that we are fighting a battle and some teachers don't pursue getting rid of the phones as much as other teachers do and it creates inconsistency and it's just it would be so much easier and better for everybody if the phones were just gone. We used to have that policy. It used to be phones in your lockers in the morning, phones at the out
043out at the lockers at the end of the day. So you didn't need your phones during the day. But when we changed the policy a few years ago and to be fair when we changed the policy it was a different world. So the access has changed enormously. The information that kids are accessing has changed enormously. And so now is the time for us to kind of put a kaibosh on some of that so that we can do our jobs better and have less confrontations with students and less of a struggle to get done what needs to be done in the classroom. Thank you. Thank you. Um Miss Fein, I'm glad that you did reference the policy that we do have in place um and that you reference the change. I hope that people who are
044on our policy committee were listening and um can take this back um to the table. Yes, Mr. Can make a comment, please. So, I am on the policy committee. That is something that I brought up. We are discussing it. I did get policies from another district. It was brought up when I went to Meno again um that the the state is bringing down mandates. So, we're trying to get ahead of that. So, we are aware. I'm glad that you brought that because I was curious the teachers thoughts and whatnot. I'm sure you know I've talked to a few and I know that they want them gone as well. So, I'm glad you brought this to the board, but we are working. Okay. Do you When is the policy meeting? Can teachers attend? Pardon me. When
045is the policy meeting that you're going to be discussing? Uh, we don't have one finalized yet. We are doing it in July. There is not one on the books as of this time. And yes, but we can anybody is invited to attend any policy meeting and there is time for public comment during policy meetings. No action takes place during committee meetings. Okay. I just know that some of the teachers are interested in attending some of the policy meetings because we we really want to get ahead of this for the new year and see if we can change things. Mr. Kleinance, you'll get an invitation. How will that be? That would be most excellent. I would appreciate that. Okay. I'll bring all my friends. Miss Miss Windland, I was going to say um in the past
046when I served on the policy committee when people bring stuff to us and it's like their policy that they're trying to push, we allowed them to participate as a member without voting rights, but we didn't make them wait till public comment. So, I just would respectfully ask that they be treated as equals and allowed to sit at the table and advise the policy versus only being allowed to comment during public comment. I'm all for that. I I'm not the chair. Yeah, I'm sending it back through you% with the committee chair who is not present at this point in time for I would support that decision% I agree with that like we need to be collaborative we need to work together this affects you guys immensely so why not you know have your massive in it's
047pretty bad so but I'm sure you guys are aware of that I mean it's on the news all the time so thank you for allowing me to speak you guys are doing a great job but I am glad you that you did bring it up again because it it just you know school's coming up. I mean, school's ending, but it's going to be here like that. So, for you to bring it up again, it's like, oh gosh, we're going in July like, and we need to have two reading, you know. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Do we have any other public comments at this time? Any other public comments at this time? Seeing none, we will move on to kudos. Miss Steanovic. Steanovic. I said it wrong. Mrs.
048S. No, I'm just kidding. No, as soon as I said it that way, it came out wrong. I'm sorry. Apologies. What's your m name? I'm just kidding. 63 2025. Um, for being the best nextdoor neighbor at P. Andrea made me feel welcome and helped me organize, purge, push heavy objects, guide me through the process of downsizing, and the assortment of things left in my classroom. She worked tires tirelessly for days, and best of all, did it with a smile and pleasant disposition. Thank you, Andrea. to Sean Harrison from Rose Monty for uh 63 2025 for being the best across the hall great neighbor. She has the ability to listen and not judge, allowing a person to vent and let things go. She made me feel welcome and in the right place. Thanks, Sean. Okay, this
049is to Ashley Hampton Windbush from Amy Goolan dated June 3rd, 2025. We are incredibly incredibly grateful to have Miss Windbush as a part of the Bedford Elementary team. As a dedicated behavioral interventionalist, she goes above and beyond each day to support both students and staff. Miss Windbush consistently plays a vital role in our check-in and checkout processes, ensuring that students start and end their day on a positive and structured note. Her problem solving skills and willingness to spend time one-on-one with students have made a lasting impact on their behavior, confidence, and growth. Teachers deeply appreciate her consist her constant willingness to help help out in any way needed. Whether that's stepping in during a tough moment, collaborating on student strategies, or just being an extra hand when things get busy, her support has truly made
050a difference in our school environment. We are so thankful to have Miss Windbush here at Bedford. Her dedication, heart, and teamwork make an invaluable part of our community. Thank you, Miss Thank you, Miss Windbush, for all that you do. Thank you very much. Anybody else? No. Thank you. Seeing none, we will adjourn this meeting at 7:44 p.m. May I have a motion? So moved. So moved by Trusty Sterlin. Support. Supported by Trusty Windless. Roll call, please. Trusty Wall, yes. Trusty Windless. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. Trusty Dra. Trusty Sterlin, yes. Trusty Steanovic, yes. Trusty Batski, yes. Motion carries. Thank you everybody for attending. Drive safe. Drive safe. Have a good summer.