Portage Public Schools Board of Education Committee of the Whole Work Study - April 13, 2026

001So cool. >> This meeting of the board of education starts now. Please uh stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank everybody for coming tonight and we'll get started by approving our agenda. Is there a motion, please, on page two? >> President, I move that the board of education approve the agenda as printed. >> Thank you. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of approving the agenda as presented, please say I. I. >> Opposed. Motion passes and we'll move right to the superintendent report. Johnny. >> Uh, up tonight will be Russ Gerber's uh

002with our superintendent update related to bond project. >> Good evening, Superintendent Edwards. uh kind of give you guys an update on how the woodland construction projects is going. Then we'll talk about how Amberly uh design and construction is uh is kicking off as we go through the evening. But first up is the Woodland Elementary. Uh >> might be. >> So as you can tell, this is the picture I take every time I go there. Take a picture so we can kind of get a a series of how it goes. Oops. >> Yep. Yep. >> Getting on me there. So, as you see, uh, the building's coming along nicely. They are finishing up the exterior walls of the last unit, which is unit C. So, they'll be wrapping that right around the front there of the

003building, and then we'll have most the block up, and they'll be ready for the veneer brick frontage to go around it. So, that's exciting. I'm going to kind of take you guys through the building with some pictures. You'll see a lot since the last board meeting, which was a month ago, you'll see a lot of progress as we go through. >> Okay, now it doesn't want to work for me. Oh, one or two on that one. >> So, here's the uh the one portion. This is the unit C portion that they have to fill out. Uh they got to finish the the north wall there and then the uh the west wall going back to connect to the rest of the building. And then the cinder block structure will be completely built. they can put

004the uh trusses on on and then the uh footing the uh not footing but uh uh steel uh roofing on the decking on as well as you'll see where they've done that in other parts of the building. Uh here you'll see this is the back of the building uh facing the playground area. You'll see they've already started the play the spray foam insulation. Uh once the spray foam insulation is on, they'll start coming back through with the brick veneer, and you'll really start to see the final product of the building start to come alive as they put that brick veneer on the backside. Uh here's the inside of the building, first floor. You'll see the grounds. They're starting to smooth out the ground, get the ground ready for cement work. So the flooring will be

005poured, uh and then they'll obviously the carpet and everything will go over top of that. They're starting to get smoothed out so they can get that uh that that flooring in. You'll see in this area the plumbing's already plumbed in. Some of the electrical and that stuff is starting to take shape in these areas. Uh in the far left there, you can kind of see the little green uh speck on the left side there. Well, my left, your Yeah, your left too. Um you'll see that's uh the in flooror heating, the ad heating going around the outside of the building. Uh here's second floor. You can start seeing some of the trust structure taking shape up there. Uh just a couple more pictures of the upstairs coming alive. This is where it's kind of fun.

006You see the roofing, the decking on. You can start to see the building really take shape here. They're going to once they get this all done, they'll pour another layer of cement across the entire floor to get a nice smooth surface for the carpet and everything to sit on. But they're working pretty well up there. Things are really starting to move along. You'll start to see more electrical come in, more plumbing as they start to build the interior of the building. Uh just some more outside pictures. just kind of you can start seeing the size of the windows, the shape of the building, how it's really going to look on the site. This is uh looking from one of the academic wings over to the gymnasium office area. You can kind of see the back

007of the building here. Uh really it's they've come a long way since uh winter left took its grip off us and gave us some nice favorable building conditions. They really sped up the pace and things are going smoothly. And then this is kind of the last slide for the this update on the woodland project. This is the the brick veneer. Uh they get kind of got a mockup that Tower Pinker team will look over and make sure it meets all their design specs and what the uh architects originally expected it to look like. And once they Tower Pinker give the we'll move forward and they'll start putting the brick veneer around the building. Uh is there any questions on the woodland and the progress that's taking place there? just a lot of it since we

008saw. >> Yeah, it's been it's a solid month of construction. Very happy. >> It's great. >> Hopefully we continue that and we have some favorable building conditions as we move through the summer. Get that thing all buttoned up, wrapped up so when we enter the winter, we're in a bit we don't have to worry so much about the outside elements as we did this year. Okay, as we transition over to Amberly, I'm going to ask O and Tower Pinker to come on up and join me. They're going to kind of uh go through the uh slides for Amberly Elementary. Um, one thing I want to say is we did have our community gallery walk the other day. Great participation from the community. We got the got the word out social media. We send letters out

009to the community around the building. Uh, just to get people to come out and see what the building looks like, see what see what's what's taking shape there. Um, overall the staff really really appreciate the look. They've been part of the design process all along, but they were able to actually see some of the final images, some final renderings and very positive from the staff. The kids, a lot of kids are excited about the playground. One's like, "Where's the monkey bar?" I said, "Want to know where the monkey bars was?" So, it's exciting to see. And overall, we had pretty positive support from the community. Obviously, there's some goods and some bads with everything like this, but overall, I'd say it was a pretty positive meeting overall for the uh people that showed up. So,

010I'm going to hand it over to Doug, and Doug is going to kind of drive through the uh design update and how things are sitting. >> Yep. >> Good evening. Uh good evening, Superintendent Edwards. So, I will have one team member joining me. He got caught by a train, so he'll be flying in here just a couple minutes. He's one of the main team members responsible for the exterior design that we'll show some images of and that you can see on the this is a portion of the uh boards that we had right before the gallery walk we had 29 of them in total and I think as Russ mentioned it was a it was a great turnout I think just given you when we did Woodlands gallery walk and neighborhill had not yet opened

011so I think those opening really you know heightened some interest and obviously there's some some activity that's seen on the side as well. So, I'm sure that that helped. So, just giving a a high level overview of the the design process since we last saw you in January. Oh, skip one slide. So, with all of the the bond projects, you know, these guiding principles were developed by the district. We continue to our our design team references them every project. We reference these at the beginning of every design review meeting that we have for all of the projects. And then again, similar to the Yo Central Habra Hill Woodland. We have engagement sessions with the staff. We really want to learn and understand, you know, what makes Amberly Amberly similar to those buildings. So these are

012the the design drivers that were the output of the engagement sessions that we had with those staff and that helped then inform the overall design exterior and interior and then all of the you know site opportunities. So, we're going to start outside the building. Then we'll you'll kind of revisit some some of the floor plans that we, you know, again reviewed with you back in January. You know, in January, we came with a a larger graphic that showed the whole site. There are city water wells on this site. There's an existing building that will remain while our project is in construction. So, that led to the your location of the building. We do have, you know, separate parent drop off as well as separate bus drop off helping alleviate some of the the current congestion

013that exists on the, you know, Amberly Street and other surrounding streets during drop off and pickup. This will be the the new main entry. This is kind of seen from the sidewalk between the the bus loop and the parent drop off. So, as you're approaching the building from Amberly Street, you're using similar materials to those that we had at the the previous projects. And again, just kind of blending the overall design aesthetic to that school's, you know, reaction to materials and then to the the surrounding neighborhoods as well. Uh, this is more, you know, moving to the north just a bit. This is what the view you would see if you were on the bus each morning driving into the bus loop. again, main entry. And then on the left, the two-story volume. It's a

014learning community volume. Again, similar to the learning communities in central Haver Hill and Woodland. And you know, with the the projects, we have the outdoor learning, outdoor gathering spaces. So, this is one representation of, you know, such a space at Amberly Elementary. And then this is looking at the the gym volume, the cafe again, learning studios on the right, another outdoor gathering space. And then similar with the previous projects, you're getting new playgrounds. So this is just an illustration of one of the playgrounds that will be at the new Amberly. And this is, you know, going back to high level floor plan. This has been in development again since we were here in January. Just utilizing your lessons learned as we continue to learn lessons from from central paperill getting those incorporated both into woodland

015and then also informing the the Amberly design. So this is the the first floor and this will provide that axon view just sort of a you know angled view looking down on the the first floor and you see the gym the cafe the learning communities the the main entry the the heart this you know all the projects have a heart they vary in their use and their function and where they're at within the project based on each school's culture and desires. This is the second floor plan. So again, the learning communities to the north. So that's the the two-story volume along with the gym. The orange rectangle in the kind of lower right of the image. This is the axon of the second floor. Again, just showing that, you know, kind of angled view at

016the overall floor plan. You're seeing the, you know, twotory volume of the gym and then the upper heart in this area and then again the, you know, second floor learning communities. Now we're going inside the building. This is just representation of a typical learning studio. You know, similar for any that have been within central and neighborhill. Very much emulates the setup of those learning studios. Have made some changes in terms of a teaching wall. Now it's more mobile. So we implemented that at Woodland and Amberly. So the the rooms will be much more flexible for that continued, you know, learning that the district is wanting to grow towards and outside of your learning studio is the shared learning commons. This is a, you know, representation of that. This is the heart scene from lower space.

017Anyone that's been in Haba Hill look very similar to the the setup at Habrah Hill. And then our upper heart, go back one second. Upper heart at the top of the, you know, gathering stair. See the the wall of windows. So this is the space behind there. So it's just allowing you that's an open space in Hill just creating a different you know feel and a different type of space here at Amberly >> you know representation of the the gym there are additional daylighting requirements for projects now and you know above and beyond what we did for central Haver Hill still have the cow wall glazing on the uh I think it's the east elevation but here on the you know top right of the image. >> What we wanted to do is just briefly

018uh kind of share where things are at from a budget perspective. Uh actually things are trending very well from where we actually started. So when we talk about the SD, that's the schematic design and that was just slightly over 49 million as we progressed with the drawings and things. Uh the DD budget came with it came a little bit slightly under the SD budget and now we're currently at the 50%. So we're actually in the bid phase. I believe you've already approved bid package one and uh we've got bid package two that we're bringing forward tonight and then we'll have bid package three that's going to be coming here at the end of April. So things are really trending well as far as what we're seeing to date and uh we're happy to see that.

019Um and then for bid package three just from a standpoint that's the structural steel that is currently is out to bid right now. So again very positive of what we're seeing with things. Hopefully nothing changes with the whole thing that's had it happening out to the east of us. So, but any questions on the budget and then from a construction schedule standpoint? Uh we're planning on uh there's some activity that's going on there right now with some tree removal and we'll start getting started with the demolition with Amberly here this uh summer once the students leave and then really get into the heart of things this summer and then the turnover for that is in August of 2028. I believe that's our last questions. >> Just want just clarity around demolition this summer. I think

020Russ shared just just to be clear, the building is standing in operation, but there is a portion of the building that needs to come offline. >> Yes. So the five northern classrooms uh to give that buffer between the construction zone and create layown zone and be able to get the traffic around the building while they build it. We'll be taking the five northern classrooms offline this summer, taking them off the building, recreating the side of that building so they can operate school for the next two years in the building while we continue to build behind the building. Um, is there any questions over there? I really want to thank OK Tarpfield International for all the work they've done on this project, the design work, the planning work and everything. Uh, they it's it's a lot

021to build a building, design a building. So, the design is done. >> Tom, your Yeah, mostly done. Tom, your turn to finish up the uh to start the next phase and get this thing built for us. >> So, and is there any questions we can answer for you guys? >> Can you just provide a quick review of the challenges that building the school on that site presented? >> Yeah, I I mean, actually, there's there's several things that have challenged. I mean, there's a lot of site constrictions from that perspective of where that building can go. Uh there's a couple of wells, city wells that out there that really constricted uh what we could do and I will say that the district really was very proactive and tried to approach the city and talk through that

022scenarios of what they could do, what they couldn't do and uh this was a result of based on where we're going at today is what is part of those discussions. But there was a lot of conversations on the backside of trying to figure out how to do this and based on where we could place the building. So besides the constraints of the wells, you also have the constraints of the size of Amberly. Amberly is about a 600 kid building. Uh we would we have no place currently to put 600 kids if we were to remove the building, relocate the students for two years while we built in the existing spot. So that really drove the conversation of where the building's placed on the property. I will say our civil engineers, they did a great job

023of looking at the height of the building, how high that building had to be so we had proper flow with everything and not go into the woods as far as we too far. Obviously, we had to go into the woods uh to place the building there, but the goal was least intrusive as possible. And we really pushed on that. We really said, "Okay, how far can we keep it to the south instead of going to the north?" And you know, we really were talking, okay, if we move it a foot, we go further in, so let's not move that extra foot. It really was kind of a push and give with us and the civils to make sure the building's going to function properly, and we're able to keep as much trees as we could.

024Uh, one thing we did install, which isn't typical, is we installed what I call a tree fence, which goes through the woods and keeps the contractors from disturbing any more of the forest that's that's already there. And if I would add from a construction standpoint, uh I talk about the demolition of the building, those five classrooms, that was kind of critical in the decision to try to keep that as far away as we could, but yet be able to allow the construction activities going on there. And that's why, you know, collectively we made that decision to do that. So, >> and where are those classrooms going to go? >> Uh we're do we're recon reallocating different spaces throughout the building of Amberly. uh spaces that were primarily used for like before and after school care.

025Uh we're repurposing those spaces and they're going to operate like our other buildings where before and after school care takes place in the cafeteria and the gymnasium. They have their own room at Amberly for a while. We're taking that room back over and they're going to operate like the rest of our buildings in the district between the cafeteria and the gym. >> Okay, great. >> So then it's just a kind of a shuffle. We're moving some of our uh uh interventionist to different spaces. Currently, some of the interventions are in full-size classrooms. They don't need to be in full-size classrooms. So, we're kind of shuffling people around the building to make it work. >> The staff been notified who's moving and and what? >> Yes, that those conversations have all happened a few months ago

026and they are all underwear. They're all actually starting to plan their how they're going to pack, how they're going to we're working with them packing. We're working through our logistics of what we're going to do, who where uh so everything gets moved properly. And we also studied some traffic patterns. So we believe where the building is currently place will improve our current traffic patterns. A number of our sites have different challenges related to drop off and pickup. And Amberly is similar as as other elementary schools. Um the school built 66 years ago was built right on the road. That's not uncommon 60 years ago. Also, the number of families transporting kids to school 66 years ago versus today has changed dramatically. >> Uh and with that being said, uh schools are now giving longer drop

027off loops uh to their schools to help with that traffic flow as well. So, another element of this is trying to help cars get off of the street, get further onto the school property so we can have a better pickup and drop off experience for our families and students as well. >> Any other questions, comments? >> Just comment. I really appreciated the gallery walk. Um, and I appreciated seeing not just what was there, but how you listened to people, um, how you listened to staff, you know, and students and what their needs were and then what you did as a result. Thank you very much. >> So, what we're going to do, we'll leave the boards around the room up for when you guys are done tonight. We also have some samples in the back

028if you want to see any of the colors choices for interior and exterior. We'll have those as well. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move to our comments and communications section. Are there any folks who'd like to address the board? >> Yes, we have. And uh secretary, I'll now read our guidelines for public comment, please. >> Public comment at board meetings. Board of education meetings are held for the purpose of conducting the business of the school district. The board recognizes the importance of letting the public express themselves on district matters and welcome community input at our board meetings. To permit fair and orderly public expression, please conform to these guidelines when addressing the board. Attendees must register their intention to speak during the public participation portion of the meeting by completing the speaker registration form

029at the beginning of the meeting. Each speaker must provide their name, state whether they reside within the district boundaries, and specify the topic of their remarks. Individuals may not register others to speak. Speakers will be recognized by the presiding officer and may not be called on in the order in which they have signed up to speak. Limit comments to three minutes. Direct all comments to the board and not to staff or other participants. Speakers may not yield any of their speaking time to others. Provide a written copy of your comments and supporting documentation to the board secretary if available. Present your comments in a respectful and courteous manner to model the behavior expected of portage students. Refrain from mentioning any student or individual by name. Contact the superintendent directly regarding personnel matters. The board has

030a legal obligation to protect the due process rights of students and employees. Typically, concerns raised by speakers during public comment are best addressed through the established chain of command. Board policy delegates resolution of operational concerns to the superintendent for further action. >> Thank you, Terry. Welcome our first speaker tonight, Cat Frank, president of uh the PEA. Welcome, Cat. >> Thank you. >> Forgive me, my souvenir from spring break is a cold. Um, good evening trustees and superintendent Edwards. I'd like to share a few highlights and positive updates from our wonderful staff to students. Amber Dixon at Northern High continues to do excellent work in her economics classes utilizing the nationally recognized EverFi platform to teach personal finance. She regularly shares scholarship opportunities with students. And this past semester, two of her students applied for an

031EverFi scholarship and were each awarded $1,000 to support their educational expenses. Congratulations to Amber and her students. Our Portage Northern Engineering Wood technology program has had another strong year under the guidance of Jeff Wikiper. Students have completed a wide range of meaningful real world projects benefiting both our schools and the broader community, including building items for local organizations, producing school signage and awards, and contributing to portage parks and early childhood programs. Notably, two students will receive Kesa outstanding achievement award scholarships as well. These experiences continue to build valuable technical skills while fostering collaboration, problem solving, and community connection. Thanks to Jeff for organizing all of these opportunities for our kids. I also want to recognize the staff's exceptional teamwork during the unexpected technical issues with wind testing for juniors at our high schools on April

0329th. Thanks to their flexibility, especially the leadership of first year testing coordinator Corey Downey at Portage Northern, first year testing coordinator Dr. Courtney Ballier at Porter Central, and soon to be retired coordinator Jason Frick at Port Central. It was an impressive effort and greatly appreciated by all. Lastly, I'd like to encourage everyone to attend our IB Educators of Distinction Awards ceremonies. IB diploma candidates choose two educators to honor in front of their friends and families. For Central High, that is 3 PM on May 3rd. And at Northern High, that is May 13th at 7 p.m. Thanks. >> Thanks, Cat. Hope you feel better soon. Our next speaker is Ethan Wy. Welcome, Ethan. >> Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. Um, my name is Ethan Winter. Um along with my wife Sarah and

033her daughter Lydia, I live at 2833 Tatterol. Uh the southern edge of my property uh butts up to the northern edge of Amberly. Uh in short, I'm your neighbor and I unfortunately I have to come express my dismay and disappointment with board and how the school plans and transparency or lack thereof are now impacting us. Um, just to run down a timeline of events as I understand it, um, the additional millillage was approved in November of 2025. Nothing as far as public information about the plans and the proposal was shared until April 7th when the walkthrough occurred. The walkthrough was not participatory. It was advisory that this was happening. And it was only then that we learned that the school was going to remove or this board rather was going to remove a substantial portion

034of the woods. Um, as some folks on the board are already aware of, those woods contain threatened species, including bats. Part of the reason that the extreme demolition going on right now and the clear cutting of the woods, is to bypass the spirit of the law in protecting those bats because that would kick in on April the 15th. I'm very concerned about our engagement with the community and how we addressed the community in planning this, communicating how the proposal was going to impact our neighbors and being frankly good stewards of the property in question. I did not know until April 7th, and I consider myself very engaged and a huge supporter of public schools. I come from a family of public school educators that the easement issues with the well were impacting more than 40

03550% of the buildable land on the plot. Once that occurred, the public needed to be re-engaged. According to the bylaws of this board, we cannot allow or cause material deviations from the original plan as portrayed to the community. I'll be frank. I think this board failed to portray the plans to the community in a timely manner that allowed and took into account public input of those very neighbors who surrounded Amberly. We were excited up until recently here to send our daughter to Amberly. She would walk through the woods, go to school. I'm not sure if that will happen now because we're not sure if we're going to move or not. school will be extremely close to our property with a two-story building overlooking our backyard impacting sunlight and a wide number of wildlife who inhabit

036those woods. This community green space means a lot to our neighborhood. I'm concerned as to when the board became aware of the easement issues and the change to the buildable land on the property, how that was communicated to the community, and how the input of the community is reflected in the plans here. I can't help but notice as I read through the what we heard, there's no comments from the neighborhood. We canvased very quickly after we had the demolition crews in there taking out trees and destroying the wildlife habitat of a threatened species. Who else and what they had heard. We had received one survey and throughout the course since 2025, we had made numerous calls to try and obtain plans. There's one blog post from January, I assume around this time, no published plans

037of this. In fact, they're still his proposals. Why are trees being removed? This is not a done deal. I have to ask the board. What is going on? Where is the transparency? This is not what a good neighbor does. This is not how we expect our children to behave. The board must be above reproach. The school district is not a business. Due diligence is of the utmost importance. If we are going to make decisions based on a timeline for funding, we need to be frank about why we're doing what we're doing. And to be honest, if we're going to run the district like a business, we're not we're not doing the right thing. It's not a business. Our job here is to be good stewards and provide a quality future for our children as well

038as provide a place of learning. that the community itself can benefit from. In this case, I agree we need a new school. Do I agree with how this has been determined, where the location is? No, because there's been no input from the direct local community to Amberly. I know I am not the only one who has this opinion. A number of my neighbors who are impacted share this. In fact, one of them shared with us that the flyer that they got for the community walkthrough, if you will, uh came on spring break while they were gone. By the time that they got their mail, trees were coming out. Now, I don't know about you, but if I lived on a lake and that lake were suddenly drained behind my house, I would be a little

039upset. So, I hope the board can appreciate where I'm coming from here and why I'm feeling that this is definitely coming, frankly, out of left field. So, I'm curious how we were engaged as a community beyond these meetings. what specific efforts were made between when we became aware of the easement issue and when the walkthrough occurred. If the answer is no public comment was taken into account or we cannot give an answer as to, you know, why we're moving forward here, I urge you to reject Tower Binkster's bid for the second phase. We have not done our due diligence. I'll be honest. I mean, how do we quantify these things? Was there discussion around, you know, possibly terminating the lease for the wells? The wells reside on public school land and the city doesn't want

040to frankly make any sort of, you know, concessions for this. Did we make sure we went over everything and decide this is the right place for the school? Perhaps we do need to build it in place. Either way, the community was totally unaware that they were going to be losing a significant green space. That includes a disc golf course, an outdoor classroom, um bikers that go through the woods. I mean, you name it, the community, we use this place. Threequarters of it's gone. I you can I encourage you all to drive by Amberly and see the destruction that was wrought today. My confidence in this board and my confidence in the school district has been utterly shattered. I urge you, I urge you all to do your due diligence and do right by your constituents

041by ensuring that we are following not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. If we are tearing down trees to try and get around protections for threatened species, it is a very quick hop step and a jump away from what other sort of ethical shortcuts were willing to take in order to get this construction project done. I would much rather we wait. I'd rather my child have an outdated school than have to wonder how this happened. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ethan. Our next speaker is Is it Micah? Is that correct? >> Thank you, >> Micah Winter. >> Appreciate it. >> Well done. >> Winter. >> I own property in Portage. I reside in Kalazoo. I wouldn't be nearly as eloquent. Um but uh not much to add. I reiterate

042that. I uh just want to point out a couple things. The lack of transparency. There a couple things I look at timelinewise. Right. So I want to know how and when exactly community input was gathered and taken. So you talked about the gallery walk and very proud of that. So that is an output measurement and feedback session. Right. Right. I want to know where the inputs came in from the community. Not from the board, from the community, right? When did that happen? How did that take place? How is that documented, captured, and how has that been also shown to the community? The other thing I look at here too is timing, right? So, if we're going to stand on ceremony and say the gallery walk somehow meets those needs, took place on the 7th. Trees

043were raised on the 13th. So I want to understand as well if I foyer records, right? Were those contractors not engaged until after that gallery walk or was that a done deal? Right? Is that window dressing? Is that what that really was? Right? Here's a gallery walk, but we already have all of this contracted. We're pulling the trigger. Right? What type of disingenuous representation of the community is that? So, you know, as I look at this, there's a lot more digging that I want to do. I want to understand also the environmental impact assessment that took place, right? What did we do with due diligence? What did you do as due diligence before tearing things down? And then what does it mean to restore that? Right? We look at this and say, "Oops, we really

044screwed up. How do we go back with that?" Once again, I can't do it. I can't add much more to what he added. Um, but I will say I also call on you to reject the uh the second phase. I don't think anything here has been done with uh a manner that can uh with confidence going forward. Appreciate your time. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments, Micah. Our last speaker tonight is Sarah Winter. >> Well done. Hi everyone. Uh, this is my first time, so please excuse my nerves. My name is Sarah Everett, Sarah Winter. Um, I'm Ethan's wife. Um, and I am a resident in Portage. Um, and as Ethan stated, this is our backyard that was uprooted suddenly today. um on a proposal. Um I did canvas as much of the

045neighborhood as I could. Um when Ethan said that he saw that there was a board meeting tonight um and we would be attending or he would be attending, I immediately went to as many neighbors as I possibly could to get their opinion and their feels and let them know about this meeting tonight. Several of them have shown up. This took all of us by a shock, by a shock. Um, the last thing I received in the mail was two years ago. That would be something that, oh, they might be taking woods out. Something might be happening in your backyard. We've been going back and forth on it as to whether or not that would mean that we would continue to live in this neighborhood or move. Ever since, it's just been that out there topic.

046Um, we received a flyer in the mail. Not a letter, not a letter, not a communication, but a flyer that I received, but my neighbors across the street did not receive because they're not immediately bordering where this is taking place. It's not going to immediately affect them. So, that's my opinion as to why maybe there was such a small turnout when everybody showed up to see these proposal plans because it wasn't a great turnout, no offense, but it was pretty small when we have such a huge neighborhood that utilizes that area. Um, I did not hear positive feedback at the proposal. Um, so that being said, and there's another neighbor here as well who didn't get a flyer, and even though she lives on part of this bordered area, which makes me think maybe the

047flyers were only put in the people's mailboxes on Tatterol, that would be most affected. But I would love to see any postage or record that could tell me that I'm wrong there. Um, but that was the next we heard was that flyer. And so immediately we were there. We're like, "All right, we're going to show up on Tuesday. We're going to be there." So we showed up. We asked questions. Um this gentleman did answer some questions for my husband. Um but we got a lot of not shores. And when we asked directly whether um you know there was going to be like a tree replanting of some sort, we didn't get much of a committ. Um no commitment there. Um so that was Tuesday evening. Wednesday. And we're still under the the impression that this

048is a proposal as all of these plans indicate down at the very bottom. At least I hope the ones that you've got here say that because the ones I have photographs of do. Um so that leaves us Wednesday, Thursday, Friday for my husband and I to consider what our next steps are. Who do we contact? What do we do? How do we stop this? because we know that there's endangered species, endangered the bats for one. And that's what I've got here for you. Um, and there's red tailed hawks and possibly cooper hawks, which I can't confirm because I don't know cooper hawks, but one of my neighbors does and says that we have cooper hawks there as well. These are hard to come by. Um, among the many other species and the butterfly garden, that

049was something that got taken out as well. No more butterfly garden. So, all the butterflies that have been taught that they can take this route. So, so sorry. So, I'm going to plant one in my yard, but it's going to take a little while for them to find it. So, I guess what I'm saying is that that gave us three days to do anything when we thought that this was a proposal, not a done deal, and all of a sudden, here comes Monday and chainsaws and trees are being pushed down. I mean, twothirds of the trees back there are gone. I have photographs of what the demolition plans are because I went and spoke with the foreman and several others and they were happy to show me the the plans, show me what's going on.

050So, I have that those photos on my phone if anybody wants to see them. I'll remind you that those giggles back there, that's who the woods were stolen from today. She doesn't get to grow up in the woods like I did with my brother. Um, I do want to make one more point besides not being completely blindsided by all of this. Um, doesn't it seem like cheating when in 2 days we're not allowed to cut any woods down back there? None. Because we know there's protected protected bats. We know in two days. So, we pushed it through today and I even the foreman told me, "Yeah, we we're pushing it through because we can't do any more on Wednesday. We know that there's protected species there." >> Shame. >> So, I remember voting for you,

051Mr. Snyder, and I hope that you make me proud. I appreciate all of your time. >> Thank you, Sarah. Okay, we'll move on to comments by board trustees, please. >> None for me tonight, Randy. I may have comments on our action items. No. >> Anyone? just looking forward to the IB celebrations and all the things that come with our graduates. Um, achievement, honors, awards, all those kinds of things are always really rewarding because that's the business we're in is educating our students for the future. And so, um, looking forward to attending those. I thank board members for their comments on MASB. Thank you very much. Want to remind everybody we have a policy committee meeting on the 24th to follow up on those items from our last retreat. And finally, graduation assignments will be coming

052out this week. And if you ask to speak, I think you're going to have the opportunity. So, thank you very much. Okay, moving on to our consent agenda on page five. We have two items there tonight. Both of them are minutes. Uh first one is the March 9th, 2026 policy governance retreat and regular business meeting. The second item is the April 8, 2026 special meeting and close session minutes. Are there any exceptions to the consent agenda as presented? Very good. Hearing none, the consent agenda is approved and we'll move to assurance of district district performance. We have a monitoring report 1.3. Johnny. >> All right. Uh thank you, President Vanage. Members of the board of education, I want to uh give an overview of monitoring for ends policy 1.3. Uh 1.3 uh as it reads

053on page 16 is about students with social mo social emotional learning competencies. There are five areas that are addressed within that skills and self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making to build resilience to navigate life. Below that is an interpretation that I've moved forward in those uh five areas. Uh more importantly, as a district, uh we've looked at some of the things related uh to our Michigan Department of Education. this concept of castle which is collaborative for academic, social and emotional learning competencies. Uh this is for student development. We looked at those five areas uh what the board has and and crosswalk those with seven areas when under castle. Top of page 18, it talks about identifying and prioritizing learning outcomes. Identifying essential questions, developing key cap vocabulary questions and sentence stems.

054Developing a sample performance task for performative formative assessments. de developing a learning program that identifies beginning skills through advanced skills, identifying connections to content area strategies, crosswalking competencies with student experience surveys. As we continue to unpack these, understanding that I consider these to be life skills. If you think about these five areas, these are areas that carry you further in life, just not in school. On page 19 of this report, uh, is a snippet. Oh, I'm going too fast. Uh, pages 19 and 20 is an overview of some examples we do u at the elementary level, middle school level, and even the high school level. At times, we've broken up some of these areas and smaller segment. For example, under self-management, there's an area specifically for grades 9 and 10, a different area for grades

05511 and 12. If you move under self-awareness, we have some elements specific to lower L or K2 and some areas related to upper L, grades through five. All of which again I consider to be great in terms of life skills. We give what we call the student experience survey uh through stutter. We do that every spring. We do it for employees. We do those for parents or guardians or caretakers. We also do this for student. And there are four areas within the student experience. I'm sorry, five areas within the student experience. I want to lift up really quick on page uh 21. Last year in 2025, we surveyed 4,823 students. Um, from that, um, they were asked about, uh, setting their learning goals and tracking progress, uh, a skill score of 3.62, uh, which is

056pretty comparable to the previous two years. Uh my learning is important at school 4.31 again up over 2024 but somewhat in line. Uh I feel safe at school which is huge. And when we think about safety that's not just physical safety that includes what we call psychological safety uh 4.04 and then my teachers challenged me to think which is also critical 4.05 05. Currently, right now, students are in the midst of student experience surveys. What's new this year by law is survey questions for students must be posted on the district's website. on the district's website are all of the questions that we give to our students. But for the sake of time, we wanted to lift up four of those areas related to their experience and not all of them in its entirety. Also, we

057just want to commend our curriculum department and our teachers because uh this area around 1.3 is not just purely around academics only. It's about educating the whole child, giving them skills that they'll carry forward in life as they become a future employee or employer or entrepreneur in some case. Uh I believe that my report uh the organization has met expectations and I'll be happy to answer any questions about monitoring report 1.3. Um just a comment but um stuff in here is hard to measure. >> Correct. >> So we we've documented what we're doing. Um what we can measure is the student experience survey. And the good the good news there is that all of those indicators are going up. Um don't quite know what's behind that but um probably good things are behind that and

058some of it might just be it's it's continuing kind of recovery from the pandemic still. Um but it's also says good things about what's going on here. So um appreciate seeing those scores and appreciate the work from uh you and the team. >> Great. Thank you. >> I was also going to comment on it being difficult to measure. So I'm glad you brought that up though. Um the items that you mentioned here from the student experience survey, would you say that those are indicative of the overall um overall are things going up? What did you say? >> You know, for this report, I didn't do a item by item analysis of all. I think it's 20 questions. Don't quote me on that. It's on the website, though. Uh, so I did not do an item

059by item analysis. Um, a couple things that I look at. One is do we have some measure of strong participation in the results? And while 2024 was a good high water mark, uh, our 2025 numbers is on top of 2023. If the number was substantially smaller in terms of participation and the results were up, I would be more alarmed >> because it would be a smaller sample size. But, you know, 4,823 students is still more than half of our students and we exclude the lower, you know, the little littles. Uh, so that's a strong number for us. Uh so I don't want to come out and say oh yeah every area is up but I will say based on the areas that we've particularly identified I feel confident in the progress that has been made

060thus far. >> Excellent. Um this is so difficult to measure and yet when we look at countries whose scores are extremely high compared to the US over and over I read that they're focusing as much or more on bringing joy >> to the learning experience and on uh well Finland says just make m just teaching them to be good people >> and that just highlights how important this is in general uh to know that that really improves academics. It improves so many areas uh for the student. Um that bringing the joy to students is so important and that's where you get the feeling safe. That's where you get those other items at school. And so thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Excellent report. I think we ought to approve it. There's a

061motion, please, on page 15. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education accept as presented the monitoring report on 1.3NS as a reasonable interpretation and evidence of compliance with policy. >> Thank you, Jerry. Is there a second? Thank you. All those in favor of approving mod 1.3, please say I. >> I opposed. Uh the modu report is approved and we'll move to our next item on our agenda, a required action item. Um resolution authorizing the 220 2026 school building and site refunding bonds and Paula Johnson is going to help us with that. >> Good evening trustees and superintendent Edward. Included in your board packet was a resolution um so that we could move forward with the fourth series from the 2021 road related to uh construction and continuing improvements throughout the district. The

062amount of the fourth series will be 72,345,000, but we have the option um now because our 2016 bonds are 10 years old for a potential refunding at the same time that we're going to be doing this bond issue. So, the resolution that is included in your packet um has a total of 158,845,000, which includes $86,500 of that 2016 bond um balance. So, we could potentially refinance up to that amount. Um we won't know until day of sale. Um we're going to we do this to save money on the the interest payments that we are paying um related to the bond. So I can report back to the board once everything is done. But once the resolution is approved tonight, we will move forward um with the ratings call with standard and pores and go through

063the process have a pricing around May 19th. We'll receive bond proceeds in June. Um we're using the the same bond council with Miller Campfield as we've always used. We're using Baker Tilly U as our financial advisors and um along with um DEF and because the issuance is going could potentially be so large it's larger than a normal amount that I would bring to your um attention for approval. We will have two um under co-manager underwriters. We're going to be using um we use Stiffel, excuse me, and Huntington Bank as co-managers. So, that's what's going to happen over the next couple of months and um we'll be able to continue with the projects. Any questions? >> So, Paula, so looking forward, this is not the last one of these that we're going to have to do,

064or is it the last one? It's >> the last one related to the 2021 vote. >> Okay. we will bring forward at a future date um the first sale related to the 2025 vote. >> Okay. We have not we haven't started we haven't started on that bucket of fund yet. Okay. >> And it's good that we'll have a chance to potentially refinance and save some interest. >> That'll be a goal. >> Good. Good. Anything else? Proponent. Okay. There's a motion to uh approve this resolution on page 23, please. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education approve the resolution authorizing 2026 school building and site and refunding bonds as presented. >> Thank you, sir. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, sir. All those in favor of approving the resolution authorizing

065the 2026 school building and site and refunding bonds, please say I. >> I. Opposed. The motion passes. And we'll now move to our action items on page 42. And our first one is new administrator appointments. Brad's going to help us with this one. >> Good evening, trustees. Superintendent Edwards. Good to be up here tonight. I am here to recommend that the board approve the hiring of two administrators for Portage Schools. Uh first is Mr. Tim Knox. Tim is being recommended as a new athletic director here at Portage Central High School. So since uh 2012, Mr. Knox has worked for the University of Illinois, most recently as the associate director of athletics, facilities, and capital projects. Um prior roles at Illinois include being director of football operations and assistant director of athletics for football. Uh Mr.

066Knox's ties to this community started when he was here. Started as a grad assistant at Western Michigan University and then moved his way up through the Western Michigan ranks as well, ending as director of football operations there before moving with the then coach to the University of Illinois. He and his wife Danielle are anxious to get back to this area. So, they loved living here and they're anxious to become members of the community. They have four children who will be here. And uh one of his main questions to me is okay do I have to live in the central district or if I live anywhere my kids can come with me to school they can certainly come with you to school. So I know they're already working through that. So uh the second administrator to

067hire is Miss Jennifer Meisterhim very personal one for me. She's being recommended as the director of human resources when I am done in 77 days. So honestly I'm not counting the days. I'm counting the board meetings. I have four after this one. So um Miss Meisterhim has worked for the Portage public schools since 2009. So starting as an HR generalist and then she was promoted in 2021 to be the HR manager. Uh prior to joining Portage she was worked for in research and development as well as Intercal LLC. So she graduated from Western Michigan University holds her certified professional from the Society of Human Resource Management and is a graduate of Porter Central High School. So I know uh your HR will be in wonderful hands with Jennifer and um I am also still a

068phone call away. She's made sure that I will answer her call. I'm telling our principles I may answer theirs if they call me. So first question will be have you talked to Jennifer if they do call me. So uh with that I would ask the board approve. Jennifer is here this evening. I did not want to make Tim drive a 5-hour round trip to come to a board meeting. He did that three times through our interview process, including at least one where he drove here, interviewed, and turned around and drove immediately back. So, uh I know Terry's made that drive numerous times as a as an align on himself. So, uh we did not make him come up here, but I know you're upon your approval, we will certainly let him know. Thank you. >>

069Questions for Brad? >> Well, Brad, I think they're two outstanding candidates. I can't speak to Tim personally, but I certainly can speak to Jennifer. She has certainly helped my family out on a number of occasions. We appreciate it very much. So, uh, thank you and congratulations. >> Um, there's a motion, please, on, uh, page 42 to hire these fine people. >> Mr. President, I make a motion that the board of education approve the appointment of the following administrators for the Portage public schools for the 202627 school year. Tim Knox as the athletic director for Portage Central High School and Jennifer Meister as the director of human resources for Portage Public Schools. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of the new administrator appointments, please say I. >> I. Opposed. Uh

070the motion passes and the new administrators are going to be in place. Thank you. Our next action item is the teacher and staff appreciation week proclamation on page 44. Is there a motion, please? >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education approve the teacher and staff appreciation week proclamation as presented. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Is there a volunteer to read the proclamation this year? I'm willing to. >> Very good. You're a teacher. It seems appropriate. >> That's why I volunteered. >> Yeah. Good. >> Fellow teacher, you are appreciated. >> Teacher and staff appreciation week proclamation. Whereas a strong and effective system of pre free public education for all children is essential to the success of our democracy at the national, state, and local levels. And

071whereas a high quality public school system contributes to strength and the vitality of the community. And whereas the vision of public schools, we are inspired to be an exceptional community grounded in fostering strengths, growths, and lifelong learning. Every student, every future guides its mission. And whereas the dedication of Portage Public Schools teachers and staff in inspiring students to achieve success academically, artistically, socially, and athletically is vital to realizing this vision. And whereas educators and staff consistently go above and beyond in service to students, making a meaningful and lasting impact on their lives. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of Portage Public Schools hereby proclaims May 4th through 8th, 2026 as Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week in the Portage Public School District and encourages all members of the community to recognize and

072thank educators for their ongoing commitment and contributions. Adopted this 13th day of April, 2026 by the Portage Public Schools Board of Education. Thank you, Kimberly. Are there any comments? >> We appreciate you. >> Hey. Hey. >> Do hard work. It is seen. We hear it. We see it. I acknowledge it. We acknowledge it. It's more than most people realize. Um what teachers do. Uh they don't go home and be done. Uh there is a statement that I hear so often that well teachers have the summer off. Teachers don't have the summer off. You're doing extra education. You're doing planning. You're spending your weekends planning. You're spending your evenings planning. You don't leave work at work like say an engineering job. Um you know there's so many jobs where you leave and you're done. And teachers

073do not do that. they just keep going and they do that while including their families in it or while spending time doing extra stuff while their families are doing other things. And I would say that teachers deserve this appreciation not just during this week when we highlight it but all year round. >> Thank you Kimberly Randy. I I would add that you can make the argument that this is the most important community institution that we have >> and these good people show up every day and make it all happen and we are grateful >> for sure. >> In my opinion, every day ought to be teacher appreciation day. >> Yes. >> We can't do that though. >> No. No. >> Okay. Then all those in favor of approving the teacher and staff appreciation week proclamation,

074please say I. >> I. I >> opposed. Uh the um uh resolution passes. Thank you. Uh our next action item number three is revisions to end polic ends policy 1.3. And this is an outgrowth of what we discussed at our last uh retreat to change the language of that policy from uh its current form to students will exhibit behaviors that are mentally and physically beneficial to themselves and others. Um our existing policy language is um limited to social emotional learning makes no um provision for mental health and uh or physical health as well and uh as you recall we u discussed this at our last retreat and this is the language we agreed to. Is there any comments questions? Okay then there's a motion on page 46 man. I move that the board of education

075approve the resisions revisions to ends policy 1.3 as presented. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Thank you. All those in favor of approving the revised ends policy for 1.3, please say I. >> I opposed. A motion passes. The new policy will be in place for next year's monitoring report. Okay. We have another action item, the Amberly Bond Project, concrete footings and foundations contract. Russ, >> good evening. Morgan, Superintendent Edwards. Uh, so we talked earlier during bid pack one as we broke uh the bid pack for Amberly up into four bid paths big packs much that we did the same way for elementary uh in in terms of to get the packages out sooner and secure better pricing while to get more contractors interested in the job just with timing and whatnot. Uh for

076this bid pack we had great turnout. We had over eight contractors bid on it. Uh the prices were pretty competitive. They were pretty close bidding which is a good sign. It means people low bid didn't miss work and we have to go back and fix that. When you see the prices come in like that it's a good thing. So this is for the uh concrete for the uh concrete. So that's your footings foundation and fly work for Amberly Elementary. Uh we're recommending that we approve it for choice concrete construction in an amount of $417,770. Uh proceeds from the 2026 bond fund. It's the four series in the 2021 vote. That's what we're recommending moving forward today. >> Any questions for Russ? >> I have nothing on the technical aspects of the proposal, but we need

077to stop and talk uh because we had some people step to this podium and encourage us to vote no on this. So, we have we need to pause and talk about this. Johnny, I've got to look at you. Um need your input. Some things were said at that podium that indicate that um we need to vote no on this. Need you to weigh in that after hearing those comments that that this this is still placed before us and it is your recommendation that we proceed and and if you can if you can fill in some gaps. Um, but I just I think it's important that we pause and just reflect on what's been said. And I have more things to say, but I wanted you to weigh in too. >> Great. Um, Amberly is the

078fourth school in this series. I'm so I'm bagging up a little bit. Meaning that we've done Central L, we've done Habra Hill, Woodland is approximately 50% complete, and now we have this portion with Amberly. the process that we use under my leadership as assistant superintendent of operations carry forward from the first two buildings in central and habill which we were designing simultaneously. We learned lessons move those forward into Woodland and then subsequently took those same lessons learned and pulled them into Amberly. Okay. As we look at the Amberly site and what we have there, we have a school that educates no more than 600 students. That's there. We have Wales with the city. Those are 99-year lease agreements which started 60ome years ago before all of us were at the table. The ability to modify

079that lease, close down whales is totally beyond our control. What we worked with the city on was trying to back up the area in some way so we can get a nice drive into the site. And so with some working and some negotiation and looking at the several iterations we gave the city, they agreed that our proposal to get parents safely on and off the property they agreed with. Okay. This northern portion of the bond or I'm sorry of the site related to the woods required a great deal of studying and work with several individuals not just us because honestly some of the work on the construction side is not our expertise. We are educators. So, as we work that, how do we keep or maintain our students inside of the building? If not, we

080have to figure out where to place them, which we don't have at the moment. And we're looking at the betterment of the entire project. We felt it would be best to keep the Amberly students inside of the school at the same time. So, students stay. Wales have restrictions. is there's a radius in which we can't touch based on the square footage of the school. If it was only singlestory, that actual footprint would be much larger. And had we did a singlestory school, there would be potentially additional woods taken out. So, we wanted to carry forward all of the design elements in the first three schools, take into consideration our restrictions, and make the best decision possible for the district. Understanding that even when we designed Central L, Habra Hill, and Woodland, we didn't get 100%

081consensus that everything in the design was right. But we tried our best to look at our guiding principles and make the best decision for the district. So while I understand that this could be disruptive to some neighbors or community members, I understand that I also understand the other challenges that we came into place. So with that being said, I'm confident that we're headed in the right direction with our with our bond project. I'm confident in the process we've used to get bids from contractors as well and we've stayed the course of everything we've done in the first three schools and every community has something different that we have to address and this is one of the areas we had to address here. Um, in our first three schools, or let me back up. In our

082first two schools, they stayed on site with the schools being built in their backyard. We had to disrupt both schools playgrounds, move them over because we know playgrounds are important in elementary. That's an adjustment or change we had to make. In Woodland's case, we had to remove the entire school and put them at the old Haver Hill. and we're rolling with two schools on site. So what I'm saying is in terms of us doing everything we can to keep the students first with education moving forward, we sometimes have to make these tough decisions and recommendations. And I feel I feel comfortable that since we've used the same process throughout all the all of our schools, you can always say things could be better or differently. And anything we learn from this, we'll move those forward.

083Another example would be now that we're at Angling Road, we've proposed doing a new parcel for that site. But what's our opportunity to meet with the entire neighborhood to get their permission to potentially see a site? We saw it as a parcel that was double the size of the current one. Uh we thought the price was within reason. So even though I'm not in the road Russ is doing now, um we're trying to check every box possible along the way. Uh OAK has been in this business for a number of years. Tower of Pinkster as well. Plant Moran is advising us as well. And um I don't know where else we could build Amberly site. We want to keep it on their uh in their neighborhoods. I don't see a way to build a school

084without touching one tree. I just don't I don't see a way to do that. Okay. Math sometimes get in the way. that percentage of buildable site with the school being there gets pretty small. Therefore, we have to remove some trees. >> But I'll be happy to answer any any other questions related to the process. Well, I I appreciate that and I want to I want to say to the folks who spoke to us, um, three years ago, we have this woods in our backyard and three years ago, a neighbor who lives on the opposite side of the woods basically sold a parcel and took every tree down uh on the parcel that they own and somebody built a house there. Uh, and it broke our heart. When you see trees cleared, it breaks your heart

085and I want to acknowledge that. I'm going to support this and I'm going to strongly support it because I think it's the best solution for the community and I want to build on what you said. You had a really difficult task and trying to site that school on that property. You had the wellfields which looks like all buildable land and it's it's not correct. >> You have the existing school and you have the woods. And I recall a number of conversations of we need to protect as much of the woods as possible. And what you delivered was you delivered a solution that went into the woods a bit and it went into the current building a bit. So we've got to decommission five classrooms for the next two or two and a half years and

086make do in that building. So, I want to acknowledge Oh, and the other thing we could have done is we could have moved those kids to the old Haver Hill, but we would have had to wait until the Woodland people were out and then moved the Haver Hill, moved the Amberly kids over there for another two years, which would have pushed the whole project back two more years. And it would have been two more years of operating two schools in the Haverill neighborhood. and the neighbor the Haver Hill neighborhood deserves kudos because that's the price they've borne in this project is they've had that extra pressure on their neighborhood. So I just I just want to acknowledge that this is about balancing things and well and and the one thing that we were not going

087to do is move the Amberly school out of the Amberly neighborhood. >> I mean that would have been a solution too. Well, that's what I was just gonna say. >> When we when we started talking about this elementary bond project, what five years ago or more, we took a pulse on the community. What do you want? >> You didn't. >> What do you Oh, yes. We had community meetings. We brought people in to talk at tables. We had presentations. We had things up on the boards at both the high schools. And the overwhelming sentiment of the community was we want five schools to be replaced on the properties that they exist now. That was that was loud and clear from people. So there was input and we have that. Not to mention that your thing

088about Haver Hill, Amberly students are like 200 too many to fit into the Haver Hill building. So that's not even an option. >> Well, I I mean um we knock doors in. >> Yes. >> The number one feedback that we got knocking doors is when you going to get Amberly done, >> right? >> And and get it done. >> So I just I just want to acknowledge this. Um I mean, but I also want to say when my neighbors cut the trees down on that lot, it broke our hearts. So I totally get that. But I I just I'm going to vote yes on this. I think this is the best solution for the community and it I think it did the best job of balancing the needs um and balancing the impact on all

089potentially impacted parties and and I do appreciate people coming and speaking and causing this this discussion. >> If I may um >> No, you may not. Here, I'll remove myself. >> Address April 15th. The date with that, the bats. You can take me out. I'm gone. >> Good luck. >> The point was the lack of engagement. >> Johnny, you were in construction before you took this seven months ago. I was going to say that as someone who appreciates woods and my background myself that I can imagine how heart-wrenching it must be to wake up to the zones or be doing things and hear things cutting down without knowing it's coming. I can understand and and I feel that. Um I would love to know if we if you have it in front of you, I

090don't know if you do. um what other communication we had done in the past with any other construction things with neighbors because I I'm not as familiar with that. I do remember the and I think it was like seven years ago that there were we were talking about schools and then it got taped with co but I remember the community meetings and I was pretty hot in one of those community meetings talking to y'all at that point in time. So um I I know we did some outreach then I'm just not sure as far if you could just get it to get later if you don't have it here what we've done. I don't have the specifications in front of me. What I can do, what I can say is um we treated this process

091similar to the first three schools. Um the element that's a challenge with all of this is building one school that meets the vast majority of our needs. So as Tom showed in the earlier side, there are several phases to the design. There's this conceptual design, schematic design, design development, and the like. And literally all of our schools are what we call a kit of parts, which means it starts with some basic principles that we want to share for parody. But at each level that we're working through the design and figuring out the position, we are not in a position to literally stop and say, "Let's go to the community and get an okay." because if that being the case, it would be more than double our timeline if we stopped at every portion. And we

092did not do that in the first three schools either. But on the front end, we did send out an open invitation to families to come to our um I forgot what we called it, but it was in the spring. >> We invited all to come. One parents, anyone could come to that particular piece. And then we also asked the principal to help us with what we call the design advisory team which we also did for all of the previous three schools. And that was open to teachers. They could potentially have a student rep, parent and or community rep because we wanted to design the building taking all of those lenses in place. and also as the use the board has seen in the past, we also engage students in the design process of what they

093want to see in their future school. So I want to say that our process is pretty strong and not to compare us to other districts. Uh we do a lot of engagement that other districts don't necessarily do, but we think there's value in the engagement. But we're not asking people to design the school. We're asking people to tell us what makes their new school special and we work to interpret their language and put that in the design concepts. >> Would you mind real quick? One of the things that um was brought up was environmental impact and this might be a joint conversation. And I know that I've heard pieces of that and maybe putting it together in a single picture might be a good idea. Um, I've come to learn that life has to be

094a balance between things that we would be really awesome and things that we don't necessarily like to do, things that are really awesome. And we have to balance out and weigh um weigh things. and that means that we don't always get everything 100% what we would like as much as I would absolutely love to. Um could you just kind of encapsulate or summarize some of the things between the two of you that have been done to um minimize make the impact to the environment smaller than it might have been otherwise. I you know again I'm I'm going to defer that to Russ. I >> I figured you might >> only because he's in the dayto-day more than I am on this end and he keep me apprised it's going but >> yeah and I know

095that you've mentioned it in pieces but maybe putting it together as a picture would help. >> So with the environmental impact we have one thing we have to worry about is the city wells >> and that's one of the first things we we are working with. We uh work with the city. Uh we got an environmental expert in involved and we're going to be doing, as you'll see in here, I got a proposal to do some uh soil testing on site just to make sure we know what soil we're working with on site. Uh because we want to know if we have to bring any soil offsite and because we're going to have to bring soil on site to bring it up to grade so we have good rain flow. So we have envir environmental

096experts coming in to give us the their expert opinion on the soil. Uh things like that. We do a sampling of what we're building on to make sure it's compactable uh and the building won't sink or adjust or anything like that. The bat uh that's been brought up tonight is one thing that we uh we we uh researched and found out that we do have to worry about migration patterns of bats and that pattern has not started yet, but it is coming up and that's what the deadline is. So, we wanted to have the police make sure those trees were removed off the site before they started their migration pattern. Uh so that's why they were cut when they were cut is to avoid that environmental issue of cutting trees down during their migration. We're

097ahead of their migration right now. Want to be clear that um not all trees are being removed, >> right? >> Okay. I don't want I don't want the message to be that we cleared out the entire property. That is not true. As Russ articulated in his update, we've created some version of a construction line to protect the woods, particularly those woods, obviously the butt up against the back of our our neighbors and our community members. From a construction standpoint, it's easier to not have any trees there. And we've protected those trees as much as we can to build this school. Even if you go to the Haver Hill site, we protected two large trees of all the work we did there. We took two beautiful trees and there were three of them total, but it

098was one that we had to remove, but we we built a protection around those trees and those two trees are still standing. Um there will be a little version of some replanting of trees. I canow allow you to talk more about that because you're you you have more details, but I want to be clear that we are not removing all trees from that site. That's not true. That's not accurate. We're definitely adding more treats. Uh one of the parts about building a building, if you guys drive by Woodland, you'll see there's a lot of stuff that goes into building a building. There's block, there's steel work. All that place has to have a home on the site during construction. You can't just be bringing in semis the day they need the stuff and lift it

099off the semis and put it right on the school. You have to be able to stage it on site. And so some of that drives where things are. That's kind of what drove having to remove some of the building is to be able to get the building away from the woods a little, still have a path to be in construction and still have ability to put block where we need to put block so the brick layers can lay the bricks. Um like Johnny said, we there was a lot of effort in looking at what woods we were able to save. And I know some people don't think it's enough. Some people think it's appropriate. It's a hard it's a hard line to to follow depending on honestly if it's in your backyard or not. And

100I understand the woods behind my house was tore out Christmas Eve. They clear cut 40 acres in one day because there was one street and they said, "We're putting in houses." You know, I'm like, I knew when I bought the house, I told my wife, "That's not going to be there much longer. They're building houses like crazy in this area, so we'll enjoy it while we have it, but we know it's going to go away. And they clearcuted it. I looked at the designs later and said, "You guys had the opportunity to keep this section of woods here, but you guys to it's easier to take, it's easier to build when everything is gone. You got a bare plot of land. You can put anything where you want. You don't have to work around trees."

101So, that's why they clear cut it. We did not take that approach. We really looked at the environment and tried to keep as many trees as we could. And I would say taking off five classrooms is a big deal. >> That is >> which allowed us to preserve more trees. >> Essentially the five classrooms came off, right? Which is a disruption. Um but that preserved more of the tree line. Had we kept those five classrooms online, then that would have pushed the site for construction further north, which we were trying to um preserve. So, uh to Bose's original question, I think we we tried to check as many boxes as possible to make this um a great experience for our students. >> Yeah, I just I I really appreciate this discussion. Um, you know, some

102folks stood up, made strong statements. I got name checked. Um, and I'm going to vote against them and I want them to know why. I think I owe that. >> Any other comments, questions? >> I just want to say thanks to my fellow board members and Superintendent Edwards for having this discussion because it has helped, you know, inform me as well. um wasn't in on those early design things six, seven years ago. So, >> we have a motion, please, on page 49. >> Uh Mr. President, I move that the board of education award a contract to Choice Concrete Construction in the amount of $417,770 to construct the footings and foundation at the new Amberly Elementary. the funding for which will come from the 2026 bond fund. The fourth series from the 2021 vote. >> Thank

103you. Ber second. >> Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of approving the concrete footings and foundation contract, please say I. Opposed. Uh the motion passes. And we now move to our next item. I think uh Russ is up for the next five or six. >> Yeah, you're going to see me a little bit. >> This is the earthwork back filling of foundation change order. >> Yeah. So, this is a change order. Um during the process of going up to bid uh we we save the foundation the digging of the foundation and then the back building of the foundation is a separate uh thing. We have both the uh concrete people give us a number for it and then we have whoever won our earthwork give us a number for it and then we

104compare the two and we compared the two in this case Crips Fontaine Escavating won out by a little over $7,000. Uh, so we'd like to award them the contract, basically change order to add that to their scope of work. Uh, it was just a way for us to make sure we got the best price, best bang for our buck in this one. Uh, so we'd like to award them the contract of $120,100 uh to add excavation and backfilling of the foundation work at Amberly Elementary School. This will also come from the 2026 bond funds, the fourth series in the 2021 vote. >> Thank you. Is there any questions for Ruth? There's a motion, please, on page 52. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education authorize OAK company to issue a change order

105to Crips Fontaine Excavating in Incorporated in the amount of $120,100 to add the excavation and backfilling of the foundation work at Amberly Elementary School, funding for which will come from the 2026 bond fund, the fourth series from the 2021 vote. >> Thank you, sir. Is there a second? >> Second. Thank you. All those in favor of approving the earthwork backfilling of foundation change order, please say I. Opposed. Uh the motion passes. Our next uh item is uh number six action item, Amberly do care evaluation. >> We kind of spoke about this a little minute ago. We'd like to hire Triter to do uh put together a do care plan to uh test the soil around the site to make sure uh when we work with the city and environmental experts. They recommend that we do

106the testing because of the city wells on the property. A little different from our other sites. Our other sites don't have city wells on them. It's the first time we're working with that. So with their recommendation, we want to do this testing of the soil just so because we know we have to bring some soil in. We just want to see if we have to bring some soil out and they'll put together a do care plan for us of what we have to follow barring the results. Sure. >> So that give you this uh number is $163,473 it I do have a 15% contingency on that in case we need to add a couple more samples to the the number and this will come from the 2026 bond funds for series in the 2021 vote.

107Any questions for us? >> I just have one. Uh the results of this study won't determine whether or not we build the school. It's all about how much dirt we have to bring in. >> Yeah, it's it's it's the process in which how we build it. >> Okay. Very good. There's a motion, please, on page 55. >> Mr. President, I make a motion that the board of education approve the contract for environmental soil and groundwater testing at Amberly Elementary with Triter of Madawan, Michigan for a total of $163,473 which includes a 15% contingency. Funding will come from the 2026 bond fund for fourth series from the 2021 vote. >> Thank you, Mary Lou. There second. Thank you. All those in favor of approving the Amberly Dukeare evaluation, please say I. I. >> I. Opposed. The

108Amberly Duke Care evaluation is approved. We'll next move to action item number seven to approve the Lake Center easement request. So, uh, the city of Portage approached me. They want to do a 10 foot wide non-motorized bike path starting at Lake Center Elementary and working its way up into town here. Um it's basically this is just us giving an easement to be able to construct that and with an easement we will have obviously the construction rates and those type of things are all part of that. Um but they'll build the uh 10 foot walkway for the community to use. Uh it seems like a for me it seems like a good thing to do for the community walk down motorized path be built. Um it does uh they give an estimate it's about over $24,000

109donation may be given for the easement to the city. Um, to me it makes sense to uh be good neighbors with the city, allow them to build the walkway because our people, our students, our families, our community will benefit from it. Uh, and there's a sidewalk there anyway. So, we'll be taking out the current side, they'll be taking out the current sidewalk, not us. So, they'll take out the current sidewalk and put in this new 10ft one. And then they're responsible for maintaining. >> Any questions for Russ? >> I've much appreciated the bike and walking trails in our community. Not every community has that and being able to extend that to other areas to keep bicyclists safer. Um, one of the uh things keeping me from doing the biking that I want to do and

110have been doing is always the concern about biking alongside cars that go a little too fast and can make the bike wobble. And this keeps things a whole lot safer for everybody, especially our students. Anyone else? Well, this is just an improved livability issue and it's uh >> you know it's uh it's probably moment to be able to vote yes on something like this. >> It's a good thing. >> Yeah. >> There's a motion please on page 59. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education approve the easements identified as easement number 50, 51, and 52 as presented and authorized Russ Gerbers, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, to execute all pertinent documentation related to set easements on behalf of Portage Public Schools. >> Thank you, Kimberly. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank

111you. All those in favor of approving the Lake Center easement request, please say I. >> I oppose. The Lake Center easement request is approved. Our next uh item is a discussion item on the Central High School and Northern High School tennis court resurfacing. >> Yes, it is. Uh so um long story short, the tennis courts at Northern High School and Central High School were last resurfaced in 2017. Uh since that time, you're starting to see some cracks appear in in the resurfacing, and it's starting to get to that point where you got to take care of it, otherwise it could get worse to the point where you can't fix it anymore. So, this we went out to bid. The the district went out to bid for this project. Uh secured a number of bids. They

112were all fairly competitive. Uh we're recommending moving forward roof racket sports incorporated out of Comtock Park for the amount $89,944. This will come from the 2019 building syncing building and sight scing fund. Overall, be it'll happen this summer. It will have minimal impact on any of the camps or anything we operate. uh we'll be able to work around this. I >> think it's important to note that by maintaining this, even though it's a large sum of money, by maintaining what we have, we end up saving money overall um instead of having to completely redo the surface more often, more frequently, >> keep it playable, competitive, and you've got some liability issues you're you don't want to get into if the cracks get too big and things like that. >> A few of us on the

113board can remember when this was done before. Wow, time flies. It >> does. >> Um, Russ has requested that we move this item to action. There's an motion to do that on page 90. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education move the Central High School Northern High School tennis court resurfacing discussion item to action. >> Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of moving this item to action, please say I. Oppose. Uh the motion is moving to action and there's a motion uh there to do that. >> And Mr. President, I move that the board of education authorize a contract in the amount of $89,944 to Racket Sports Incorporated from Comtock Mark M Park Park, Michigan for the resurfacing of the tennis courts at Central High School and Northern High School.

114The funding for which will be provided through the 2019 building and sight scing fund. >> Thank you, Terry. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of approving the Central High School Northern High School tennis court resurfacing, please say I. >> I. Opposed. Uh the motion passes. Our next discussion item is to be placed doors and locks at West Middle School. >> This is my last one for today. Hopefully. Um so, uh West Middle School, uh give you guys a little bit of background. Uh West Middle School and Angling Road Elementary are the only two buildings that have a different key than the rest of the district. Um which does get some uh some issues when if there's an emergency, make sure people have the right keys to get into

115the right building. Uh you kind you no longer have like a master key for the whole district. You got to remember, okay, we're going to this building. I got to use this key versus this key. Um, we also have some old hardware and some old doors that uh the old hardware is uh will be at the time it was fine because they didn't have the ADA rules we have nowadays, but they the old hardware is not ADA compliant anymore in some of the doors. So, we want to address that as well. Um, with Amberly Angling Road Elementary, we know we're getting a whole new building, so I'm not worried about that one. But Central Middle School, that building, we we got to I want to address it and we have the opportunity to address it

116with um some of what we call our 31A safety and security funds uh can be used for this. It's been approved by the state to use those safety and security funds to address this issue. So, what we're going to do is we're going to go through the building uh replace doors that need to be replaced, put the right lock sets in them, so they all operate on the district master key. Uh so this building is up to date with all the other buildings in the district knowing that Angling Road will be followed suit. So we're re went out to bid for this project uh through OAK and Tower Pinkster helped with this one just because there's so many logistical the door what doors are where which ones are fire rate which ones are not. So

117there's a lot of logistics involved in this. Uh, so we went out to bid. HalluBilders LLC won the bid in amount of $219,77 and this would be paid for out of the 2024 2025 31A safety and security funds. >> Is there any questions for Russ? Russ has requested that we bring this item to action. Is that okay? Okay, we need a motion, please, to bring this item to action. >> Mr. Mr. President, I move that we bring the purchase of inter Oh, that's not the right thing. Doors >> replacement doors and locks at West Middle School OP6320 to action. >> Thank you. Is there a second? Please >> second. >> Thank you. All those in favor of bringing the replacement door locks, doors and locks at West Middle School to action, please say I. >>

118I. >> Thank you. All opposed? No one. Okay. Um, we need now a motion, please, to approve this. >> Mr. President, I recommend that the board of education approve uh award a contract to Hallbuilders LLC in the amount of $219,77 for the replacement of Doors and Locks at West Middle School, the funding for which will come from the 2024 2025 31A safety and security funds. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor of replacing the replacement doors and locks at West Middle School, please say I. I >> opposed. The motion passes. And uh now we have a new presenter. Ryan needs money again. >> We have a discussion of interactive flat panels for Lake Center, 12th Street in Woodland. >> Evening board, Superintendent Edwards. that tonight I recommend that

119the board of ed approve the purchase of 66 smart RX interactive flat panels from Forte Incorporated in the amount of $372,932 for Lake Center 12th Street and Woodland Elementary School. The funds for these interactive flat panels will come from the 2025 bond fund of the third series from the 2021. So this recommendation is this specific order is to complete the outfitting of all of the classrooms at those three schools. So Lake Center 12th Street and Woodland. Previous orders were all intended for the early adopters, those that wanted to be at the forefront in the professional development for how to use the boards, how to incorporate those into their rooms, and the intent that all three of those schools will be outfitted ready to go for fall uh upcoming school year. Uh so our plan is

120to schedule out the deliveries. the boards and the carts will be delivered right directly to the schools at strategic times taking into consideration all the summer projects that we've got going whether it's summer school or cleaning or a lighting project or whatever else is happening. So we're working on that with our own facilities department and custodial staff and making sure we have a spot to put those together and for our team to construct those. We will handle that ourselves. We will we won't be paying for uh an outside party to do that. Our department will handle all of that construction uh of the of the cards and the boards and uh deploy those for the next year. So this is consistent with our with the theme that we've going been going forward at those three

121schools and decided that those are our future ready uh device and the appropriate device that we're going to put in those classrooms. Uh this is part of the REMC bid save pro process just like all of the other uh the IFPs and so it didn't require a formal bidding process. I attached the quote for you. Happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Any questions for Ryan? >> This one we need to move to action for timeliness. >> Action's always welcome. It's not necessary for this. We're looking at the first round of deliveries in early June and uh Forte has ensured that that's possible even with an early May approval. >> Okay. We'll move to discussion item number four, the light speeded mic replacement for light. >> Tonight, I also recommend that the

122board of education approved of Lightseed instructional audio systems from Lightseed Technologies in the amount of $149,240. The funds for these devices will come from the same bond fund 2025 bond fund third series from the 2021 vote. So Lake Center and Tul Street elementaryaries obviously not new construction not new buildings but they're due for classroom technology refresh and part of that classroom technology currently is an audioenhanced system. Light speeded uh the manufacturer currently of the device that we use. You might remember at Central Elementary and here in the new buildings, we did also equip those classrooms with new light speeded light mics and in the newer ones have some capabilities that they haven't had before. One example that you don't see in the recommendation is just the way technology moves. Our teachers now can have the

123ability to talk through the mic and through a Chrome extension on a Chromebook can uh automatically and instantaneously translate into another language for student with headphones on. That's one example of the advantage that we get through the newer technology. So, we're excited about those possibilities. There's also voice amplification is is the basic feature or the basic reason to have those. Uh but they do have some internal calling features that we're work working on and programming as well as as well as some emergency alerting capabilities. Uh the quote that you have uh that overall amount is for both buildings. So we'll be splitting those. It's 70 devices. It'll be split 35 each between both buildings. And it also uh represents a $100 per existing device credit. So, a total of $7,000 credit that we get for

124recycling our current uh mics that we have. Light speed is a company that takes those and then refurbishes those and distributes those to other schools uh at a discounted rate. Typically, schools that can't afford it and are able to do that. Uh same thing, MC bid uh save uh process. So, no formal bid required. Uh you have the quote attached. Any questions you might have on that as well? May I just give a quick comment? As a teacher, just use something like this, not one that does the translating. Being able to speak softly to a classroom and be heard in every corner of the classroom means that you're not raising the energy level of the classroom with the kids is a really big deal. Um, very important. the comment about being able to translate. I

125have taught classes where at least half if not more um a number of years ago, so don't know the exact twothirds of the students came into my classroom not speaking English. That is rough because you're still holding the students to the same high standards and they're trying to learn the content while still learning English. It's a lot. um being able to translate. Wow, I did not realize that that was in here. I um missed that when reading and I think that >> it wasn't in this uh >> Okay, good. >> And it's actually not uh just the light speeded mics, but they it's technology that we already use. It's the extension on the background that's doing the work, but it's an example of the capability that that these >> that is impressive and I see

126it benefiting a very large number of students. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Thank you, Ryan. Great proposals. Thank you very >> last uh discussion item for the evening is a policy update. Uh thank you again um board you have um about 10 different areas in the Neola policies. I'm not going to go through all 10 in great detail. I just want to lift up a few of them. Uh our Neiola policy uh updates uh we are considered a Neola client. The policies come to us the suggested language. I then share them with my team and have them to review it to make sure that we are accepting the recommendations that it is in line with our practices. They do some scrubbing of it and then we come back and and bring these recommendations

127to the board. Okay. Sometimes these are strongly recommended, some of them are misrecommended. want to lift up um I give you a summary on page 104 uh policy 2370 related to online blending learning. You may have heard or read some areas about this across the state of Michigan of what uh online learning should look like. As a function of that, um during testing dates, sometimes school districts would allow students to who are not testing to experience a virtual learning experience. Uh so here now is a clear cap on the number of times you can kind of do some of that stuff and we've been working to to peel that back. Uh but that is aligned with the provisions of the law. want you to understand that some of these law changes come when our school

128aid dollars are done. So Octoberish is usually when they come out. It gives districts and attorneys some times to review it and then make those recommendations or suggestions. Sometimes those policies or mandates from the state are effective next school year. Some of them are effective immediately. This is an example of one that's kind of effective immediately. I'll talk about cell phones later, which is effective next year. >> Um, want to talk about volunteers for a moment. Uh, starting on page 105 and going to 106. What this does is streamlines two different policies into one. Uh while the content remains the same, it recognizes that our volunteers are not considered employees of the school district, but rather function more of a support general district operations. And we do have volunteers from time to time. All volunteers

129have to be fingerprinted uh through our HR uh service and the like. Sometimes people are volunteering until they become a third-party coach or something like that. But all of which says that uh volunteers are not employees. And then it also ends with teaching and non-eing employees who receive supplemental contract or stipens to supervise these extracurricular activities are covered by other policies. So certainly um if you are an employee of the district and you're coaching an athletic team uh this kind of goes in a different uh level and also you'll pay whatever is negotiated from that. Um care of students with diabetes um that policy is highly recommended but not required. uh the changes related to that. While I am not a medical expert, we did have our uh individuals with our ESI department review it

130and they were comfortable with adopting this policy. A number of our students um have medical challenges situations and we want to do our best to honor that and give them their dignity uh to make sure that their medical needs are addressed. Procurement policy 6325. Uh it mandates that procurement transactions must be conducted with full and open competition, sound business judgment, and includes requirements for a contract administration system. Um as you can see earlier today in other contracts and in the past when we put our jobs out for bid for procurement purposes uh there are exceptions would be something like that comes through rims that is already competitively bid statewide. Uh we take our jobs we put them on a public facing uh website. In some cases, it even has to go in the newspaper and

131it allows people to bid on the work. Beyond what's not written in the policy though, from a practical standpoint, particularly related to construction, before any contract is awarded, we have what's called a post bid interview. In that post bid interview, that's the opportunity for us as the owner, our architects, our construction manager, or our owners rep to ask questions to spec to specifically make sure that the contractor understands what they're bidding on. In some cases, the lowest qualified bidder loses out because they either didn't understand the scope of the full project or their incomplete. So that's a little bit about that sound business judgment we try to incorporate in that and when in doubt we call Paula for permission to make sure we are handling all of our um uh business practices and uh Paula

132does a good job of making sure we dot our eyes and cross our tees. Uh the next one on page uh 107 um policy talks about protocols when students can use wireless communication during emergencies. Um, you may know that the uh legislation and the governor signed legislation around cell phone bands and the like particularly during construct during instruction. I said construction during instructional periods, but it allows students to use their cell phones during an emergency. So, this policy just kind of speaks to to what's going on from that. So students in the midst of emergency can use their cell phones. That policy by state law says that we must have something in place by next school year. This is moving in that direction. Currently right now the way we operate in our schools not exclusively

133but um primarily uh we have different procedures in place that already says you can't use your cell phone but there are some exceptions to the rule. I think we're strongest at elementary primarily because there are not as many phones there. Uh I think we're just as strong at the middle school level and the high school has been working on this area as well. Um, and uh, as you know, the pendulum swings with these things. Many, many years ago, when I started as a high school principal, the phones weren't smart. They were very expensive and they weren't in students hands. Well, now the phones are cheaper, per se. They are smarter and highly more accessible to young people. And people believe some of that is a distraction to the learning. Um the last policy just want

134to talk about specialized transportation for our students with IEPs, individualized educational program. Sometimes people perceive that if a student has an IEP, they automatically qualify for transportation. That is not the case. Every student with an IEP doesn't need transportation. Okay. But what this uh policy basically says that the IEP team should make that determination, which is true, consider all options and do it without costs. So, what I'm saying is they can't say student A needs transportation, but it's going to cost us more money to pick that student up, so therefore, we're not going to do it. Uh that's not the case. We will continue to honor uh our students who with disabilities who have specialized transportation in their IEP as required by law. So these policies that we update um while the policy is recommended

135not required, we thought it's in a good uh position to put that policy in play and it aligns with our procedures that we're already doing related to transporting our students with IEPs. Uh that's high level overview, but I want to pause and and give the board opportunity to ask questions related to the policies. If I can't answer it, hopefully someone in the team that works closer than I do can answer it as well. So I want to pause and give you an opportunity to ask questions. >> And if any come any come up in the next couple of weeks, please feel free to ask. We we would take action on this at our next meeting. So there's correct >> plenty of time. Absolutely. >> Any questions? >> Okay, then we've reached the end of our

136agenda. I need full self assessments and monitoring for evaluation. And with that, we are ajourned. Thank you. >> Thank you for the question. is coming