001good evening and I'd like to welcome welcome everyone to our regular meeting of the board of education for May 22nd 2023 and at this time uh I would ask Mrs Jarvis if she would help us in the Pledge of Allegiance would you like to be roll called first oh that'd probably be a good idea sorry sorry about that yeah we'll do a roll call First Mrs Acosta here Mrs Bradford here Mrs Burton here Mrs Frank here Mrs Jarvis here Mrs Banfield says yes President Johnson yes we have a quorum did I say hello Mrs Jarvis if you would help us in the pledge I pledge allegiance 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 again I want to
002welcome everyone to our regular meeting if you want to follow along tonight with our agenda you can go out the door to my left and turn to the right and you see a table that has both the agendas and our blue slips for anyone who would like to address the board during audience communication we are going to make one adjustment to the agenda I should also say if you're watching from home you can go to our website which is Livonia Public schools.org highlight over the board Tab and you'll see meeting information if you drop down there you can see the agenda we are making one adjustment to the agenda we are going to move item 6 A and B which are appointment of our student services coordinators in the appointment of assistant principal at Churchill
003High School up to item between item 3A and 3B so it will we will take up those matters right after recognition of Our National Merit Scholars with all that said again this is our our regular meeting and we always like to tell you that some of the items that come before the board tonight at this meeting have already been discussed at two prior meetings and you will not hear the level of discussion on those items at the board table tonight because we have done that in depth at probably two other meetings we urge you to go and watch our committee of the whole meetings those are the ones where we really get into the discussions we talk about the matters any issues that we may have with an item before it comes to us for
004a vote we have generally worked those items out before it gets here so you won't hear the level of discussion as you would here one of the other things that we take very very seriously is our community with character and one of the characters under that is respect and I know people that watch television nowadays you you don't see a lot of respect between people and that's really a sad thing um but here at the board we respect each other we don't always agree with each other but we will discuss it and we respect each other's opinions and we will respect anyone who comes before the board to speak and we ask in return that you respect the board as well I think that's the the best way to teach our children how to act
005and treat one another so we hold that very very high in our list of things as I indicated I will try now and go through the agenda the way it should and not miss items we've done the pledge so we're going to go into Communications which is item 3A recognition of National Merit Scholars and at this time I'll turn it over to Mrs Jenkins good evening good evening good evening President Johnson members of the board superintendent Oak West tonight it is my pleasure to recognize a special group of students who have excelled in the National Merit Scholarship program National Merit is an academic competition for recognition and for scholarships and the program has been in place since 1955. this year we are recognizing four LPS students who have scored in the top one percent out
006of approximately 1.6 million students Nationwide on the PSAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying exam because it is May and our schedules are quite crowded these days three unfortunately three out of our four honorees were unable to join us this evening due to conflicts in their schedules however of course we will still recognize them and make sure that they receive their certificates I always like to let you know what the certificate say so that that says Livonia Public Schools certificate of recognition outstanding achievement National Merit Scholarship program and then the student's name and whether they were a finalist or a semi-finalist selected by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for outstanding academic success on the preliminary s.a.t National Merit Scholarship qualifying test dated May 22nd 2023 signed by superintendent elquist and board president Mark Jensen so we both
007distribute those to the uh the three who are unable to join us we'll make sure that they receive those um so I'm so thankful that we do have one of our honorees here with us tonight if I could please ask Melissa barbatt to join me at the podium hi Melissa hi thank you for being here so Melissa is a senior at Churchill High School where she is in the math science and computers program she is a semi in this in the National Merit she was a semi-finalist and a finalist and also a scholarship recipient in the program at Churchill Melissa is active and quiz Bowl in the group she's in the girls stem Club robotics National Honor Society and the national English Honor Society she said being a part of the MSC program at Churchill
008has opened up a lot of doors for her both socially and academically Melissa plans to attend the University of Michigan Ann Arbor go Blue to study computer science and she plans to pursue a career in software design she has been awarded with the Marie Marie Curie award for excellence in Science and Mathematics and the Grand Rapids girls robotics competition scholarship we wish you all the very best Melissa and we are so proud of your accomplishments and thank you for being here can we have a round of applause [Applause] thank you very much next we are pleased to recognize Franklin High School senior Gavin Bullock uh Gavin it was a finalist and a scholarship recipient in the National Merit Scholarship program at Franklin Garrett is um Gavin is on the varsity tennis team and serves as
009senior captain he received the National Merit Scholarship to attend the University of South Florida with all fees paid which is so cool he plans to study Applied Mathematics he plans to pursue a career as an actuary following graduation from USF Gavin said that his LPS experience has been one of great support all around congratulations Gavin and we'll make sure that you receive your certificate [Applause] next up it's my pleasure to recognize Churchill High School senior Alexandra Curley Alexander was a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program at Churchill she is involved in several programs and organizations including the math National National Honor Society the national English Honor Society my uh Americorps volunteer program and she is the co-founder of the Churchill ping pong Club she plans to attend the University of Michigan to study Earth
010and environmental science Alexandra said she loved participating in the MSC program at Churchill because it enabled her to explore different stem topics of study congratulations to Alexandra and last but not least we're pleased to recognize Jackson Pittman who is a senior at Churchill High School Jackson was a semi-finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program his extracurricular activities include playing guitar piano bass banjo and the mandolin he also enjoys composing music drawing and animation he plans to attend Wayne State University and major in music composition and his future career goal is to compose music for visual arts Jackson is uh said having a music teacher at Churchill who is a Grammy nominee having a music teacher who organized the Jazz Band to play at Cliff Bells downtown and having the University of Michigan Drumline coach as
011the Churchill Drumline coach offered him opportunities to grow his music career congratulations to Jackson and we will be keeping an eye on your future Jackson and we'll be able to say that we knew you when congratulations [Applause] that concludes my somewhat brief National Merit Scholarship presentation if you'd please join me again and congratulating all four of our honorees and I would just say that anyone who who sees this get a hold of them and have them watch this meeting just so they see their recognition I think it's important that they do I plan to send the families a link to tonight's meeting excellent yes thank you for sure one other item that I forgot to to mention we're going to take a break after item 3B the district update from the superintendent so that we
012can personally congratulate those who are being appointed and recognized this evening so thank you so that will now take us to one of the moved items and this will be 6A appointment of student services coordinator may have a motion please President Johnson Mr President Johnson Mrs Burton move to the Board of Education School District accept the nomination I'm sorry accept the recommendation of the superintendent and appoint Nicole West and Caitlin Vermeer as student services coordinators beginning August August 1st 2023. support we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Jarvis and Mrs Keach will be helping us with that this evening thank you thank you so much good evening everyone I am excited to present to you tonight two recommendations for student services coordinators the first of whom is Nicole West Nicole West is
013no stranger to special education as she has been working in Dearborn Public Schools for the last 17 years as a special education teacher and most recently coordinator she started her career as an ASD Teacher and she served in the role of coordinator in Dearborn since 2017. there she supervised autism spectrum disorder programs Early Childhood special education programs adaptive PE school psychologist 504s resource programming and I'm sure the list goes on and on and on Nicole comes to us with a Bachelor of Science in special education with an emotional impairment specialty from Eastern Michigan as well as a master of special education with a specialty in autism spectrum disorders from Oakland University and a school administrator certificate from Grand Valley her references were glowing from Dearborn I know they are so sad to lose her but
014we are so excited to welcome her to the Livonia Public Schools family as she is now a new Livonia resident and her child will be going to Hoover in the fall so we feel like she is certainly coming home to us so I wish to recommend Nicole West for one of the student services coordinator positions this evening and the second one I will bring to you this evening is Caitlin Vermeer and Caitlin has been with us since 2020 serving as an Autism Spectrum Disorder coach she has worked in special education for the last decade serving in Nashville Public Schools and Troy Public Schools as a special education teacher before coming to us she also has served as a behavior technician in Royal Oak outside of the public schools setting while she's been in Livonia she
015has managed to make wonderful relationships with teachers administrators and students alike as she has served in and out schools for the last three years with us she has a bachelor of Elementary education with a cognitive impairment a specialty from Central she has a master of behavior analysis from Ball State and she's continuing her education at Grand Valley as well so we're so excited to recommend Caitlin Vermeer this evening to you thank you Mrs Keats questions or comments from the board at this time Mrs oquist yes thank you well as you know we have an exceptional student services department we are so proud of the work that they do on behalf of our students each and every day and we have a couple of important folks from that team one Dr Stephen Taylor we brought his
016retirement to the board last month we certainly wish him well and that and the loss of his talents created one of the vacancies in as a coordinator position and then Mrs Megan sprou who you approved in the fall to become principal at Garfield Community School created the second vacancy and so that is no small feat to find folks who can fill such big shoes but we had a very able team led by Dr terrial members of our Leeds organization as well as members of cabinet who talked to quite a few administrators and candidates from across this region and we are so pleased to be bringing you both Caitlin and Nicole this evening they are coming to us with a wide variety of experiences a commitment to the children that they serve in a collaborative nature
017with their colleagues which we know will fit right in with our wonderful team in student services so we couldn't be more thrilled to bring the recommendation to you this evening thank you Mrs Holquist other questions or comments seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Burton for the appointment of student services coordinators Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Burton yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs bonerfield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries congratulations [Applause] would you uh like to say a few words there you go thank you I just wanted to thank the board superintendent uh gen terial as well as everybody else on the interview committee who believed in me um like uh Miss Keats had said I'm coming from Dearborn I
018had spent my whole career over there and so it's a little bit Bittersweet but I moved to Livonia in Halloween weekend and I've already got things rolling I got my library card right away my Rec membership right away and so being able to now be part of the Livonia Public Schools I think that's really the full package for me to be able to give back to my own Community is very important and now that my own children are going to be coming to the district as well it just makes me very thankful for this opportunity so thank you everybody thank you thank you so first I want to say thank you to the board um superintendent oakless and Dr terrial for your time just not just tonight but over the whole interview process as well
019um and I would also like to I'm very grateful for the other student services coordinators who have been like mentors to me throughout my three years in Livonia Public Schools so I am very excited to work with all of you with um the other administrators families and most importantly the students here at Livonia so thank you very much we are thrilled to have you okay that takes us now to item 6B appointment of assistant principal at Churchill High School may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs bonifield move that the board of Point Todd Columbo as assistant principal at Churchill High School beginning August to 2023. support we have a motion by Mrs Battlefield supported by Mrs Frank and this is going to be Mr obate it is thank you very much good evening everybody
020I have the distinct privilege of reintroducing our own time combat for a brand new role here in uh I'm not a new world to us a new world to him uh here in LPS as assistant principal at Churchill High School so as you all uh know Todd joining us in 2021 as a coordinator of student services he has been the lead for uh secondary resource programs and local centers um in our our six secondary building we're on the secondary buildings that house local centers and of course the resource programs he has been impressive from from day one with his knowledge with his confidence with his Charisma you you anyone you run into in this District who spent some time working with Todd whether it was uh being in a meeting with him or or strategizing
021for for student needs or what have you um we'll we'll tell you how enjoyable that that has been and what what a genuine person he is he shows up here every day for kids he's here for kids he's here for his colleagues he's here for LPS every day without fail he's unwaveringly positive and um and really has been a very valued member of that of that tight-knit student services team so I know they're bummed to see him to see him leave their their group but you know he filled in for the goal Hunter for a little while over there at Churchill and uh you know charging Asian got in his blood a little bit he got to spend some time with kids on a daily basis and of course he was uh when he joined
022us from White Lake had been an assistant principal prior so um you know just remembering what that uh what that felt like to be in the mix with our kiddos on a daily basis um you know kind of kind of gave a whole new uh a whole new outlook whole new energy and he just had to take it and so we just think he's really uniquely suited to fill that role now with his extensive especially background both here and in Prior districts and uh and and he's now you know the Churchill team which is dynamic in itself has had some some flux with some movement and they are whole again with Todd joining them and they're going to do great things so we're very excited for Todd we're very excited for Churchill and uh congratulations
023happy to recommend type combat as assistant principal Churchill High School thank you for that uh Mr Abate uh any questions or comments from the board I'm assuming that Mrs Oak West has a few things to say Mrs Frank Mrs Frank welcome to charger Nation um my my son is a freshman at Churchill and so we've just gotten to as a family got into no charger nation and just the amazing staff there and so I know that you know that but um it is a fantastic school and I know they are thrilled to have you to complete their team so welcome we're really happy to have you thank you Mr training we are indeed uh as you might recall a couple of years ago we were thrilled to bring Mr kombach to your attention and recommendation
024for appointment as part of our student services team and felt very fortunate to have someone of his character someone of his expertise and some someone who is again unwaveringly committed to the students he serves and we believe that the experience that he's had here with us these past couple of years as well as the the short time at Churchill has shown him to be the absolutely um right person at the right time in this position so we are very excited about this appointment but I want to take a moment to acknowledge all of the administrators who are here this evening we have members of our student services team members of our Churchill team we have our leads President we have a wonderful Mrs Roberts our amazing secretary at Churchill if all the folks here to
025support our administrative candidates would please stand up and be recognized thank you we are grateful and I think that is one of the things uh sometimes when we talk to our administrative candidates as they're coming in and meeting with us and we're meeting in the final round one of the things I always want to spend time talking about is our administrative leadership team um and it can sound a bit intimidating when we say we're 70 strong across the district especially if folks are coming from a smaller District but this is what it means it means having your colleagues next to you during challenging times having your colleagues next to you to celebrate you having your colleagues next you to be a thought partner it is one of the things that makes LPS so special so
026thanks for being here tonight and Todd we're we're thrilled to bring you back on board in this in this new capacity thank you Mrs Holquist any other questions or comments the only comment that I would make is uh seems like every time we send somebody over for a couple of months they end up they end up staying we have to be a little careful in the future congratulations you again you're gonna love it over there okay we have a motion by Mrs Butterfield supported by Mrs Frank to approve the appointment of assistant principal at Churchill High School Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs bannerfield says yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Jervis yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Burton yes President Johnson yes the motion carries thank you and congratulations thank
027you Mr come back oh absolutely well thank you very much a lot of kind words that I wasn't really prepared to hear tonight but thank you Tony and everybody else but first I want to thank the board um Livonia to me was kind of presented to me many years ago by other friends and colleagues that work here as a place that you have to work this is a Destination type District this is a place that has great culture and great people and being here now for two years that is absolutely true it is 100 truth and it's thanks to the board because it starts at the top and that that kind of feel and that culture always trickles down to other leadership trickles down to the teachers and the staff and everybody that we have
028supporting our kids on a daily basis so thank you for that thank you for superintendent Oak West for believing in me um with this slide over to Churchill High School to round out the amazing team that's already there very Dynamic very much student centered and when I spent the six weeks there as just filling in um you know I learned really quickly that all of us are kind of cut from The Same Cloth in regards to our beliefs about students and how we support students and what we do on a daily basis so uh feels really good to go join that team yeah it's also very bittersweet because I'm leaving team that is phenomenal so and also congratulations to you ladies to join such a well-established awesome team led by Dr Terry all um I
029do have to thank Dr Terry all from the bottom of my heart for all the support she's put so much interest and dedication into me in the last two years to bring me on board you know to learn uh the world of special education from Oakland County to Wayne County is a little bit different so a lot of times we have a lot of meetings together and a lot of just support that I will always be grateful for and that information will not go to waste because at Churchill High School as we know has a lot of programs that support students with student with uh special needs so I look forward to being a shoulder partner with the team the coordinating team that will be there on a daily basis and kind of working in
030conjunction with them one quick story about Dr Terry off that I have to share that I will never ever ever forget is I after the Churchill stent I went and met with her and I said Dr T I said I really enjoyed my time there and I think I want to throw my hat in the ring for applying for the Churchill position and she didn't say anything for about five seconds it felt like five years but what the first thing she said and I will always remember this is she goes Tad you will always be a member of our student services team and that is true like I said we're all one team like you said uh superintendental Quest we have a lot of people administrators that work together that support everybody um without further
031Ado uh last person I'd like to thank is my wife who is here tonight she is a nurse in Livonia as well so we both get out of bed every single day to kind of support people in the city that we love so it wasn't for her I don't know if I could take the step and do a uh you know commit to a job like this with all the night events and all the different things going on we have a four-year-old and a nine-year-old at home so she's the glue that holds us all together so I said this two years ago it kind of ended with a statement I'm going to end with it again thank you guys thank you all and cabinet for allowing me to continue to do work that's worth doing
032thank you thank you okay we'll move now to item 3B our district update from the superintendent and I'll turn it over to Mrs oakrist thanks so much President Johnson and I will invite you to turn your attention to one of the screens in the room we'll share some great updates from across Livonia Public Schools so we always start with wonderful opportunities to see our kids learn and grow and we see some of our sweet kindergarten faces here and they look like almost first graders don't they um this is the best part so we see our kindergartners begin to transition and when you're in the classroom it is a different world from where they were in September and so our kindergarten teachers work miracles and so they are ready to head to first grade very soon
033uh we had uh we had a tough talking Zoo highlighted at Roosevelt and we see some of our kiddos here sharing information and as folks came up to them they were able to share information about the zoo animal that they had researched and here we have some of our Churchill High School students so those might look familiar to some of our faces in the crowd from Mrs King's Advanced chem class is they conducted experiments and this was a great opportunity for our students and our visually impaired program to really have an opportunity to use their skills in a real life way at Detroit Metro Airport and a wonderful job I was so sorry I um I had another commitment and missed it last Friday but the Western Wayne Skill Center their spring craft show um
034I know I always leave there with so many wonderful things um but I just want to congratulate Mrs Brown the whole team over there and all of our creative students do you see some tote bags that were for sale and I assume it was a wonderful a wonderful event you always have some of our Riley kiddos so chess has made a Resurgence if you did not know it really has with young people young adults and so we have some kiddos here learning in the classroom as well as after school in their chess club and this is one of a handful of schools that have begun chess clubs and become very popular once again and here we have Stevenson's Alan Justice class so they recently had their mock trial you see the prosecution on the left
035in the middle we have the young man who is our judge and on the right our defense team so these are great a real life type of opportunities for these classes and a really high interest activity in which our students participate and we have some of our Western Wayne Skill Center students they um were there shopping at the craft show on Friday and we see some very happy faces with some pretty cool purchases and I know some of you were able to attend the Matsuri Festival each spring they host this at niji ero it's a traditional Japanese festival and always tons of family participation and a great day for our students to participate in this in this special tradition each spring Jackson held its first 5k run I'm gonna say that's ambitious when you think
036about Early Childhood kiddos right they have a lot of energy but 5K is as a ways to go so it was really cool to have more than 50 families participating in this fun run in a wide variety of other activities so good for all of those families who are out there getting some exercise and lots of spring Sports success so we had many many successful athletes who are going to be moving on to States um we had the regional Trek meet hosted by Stevenson this year so we have Franklin's 4x4 team here um congratulations they were named all conference and we have Sprinter Dominic lemon a four-time all-conference sprinter so we don't have pics of all of our kiddos but we will get them in a compilation for the end of the year but we
037lots of spring Sports success the past few weeks we had Stevenson's girls tennis we're named City Champs and both on Livonia United lacrosse boys and girls teams are the klaa east division champs so congratulations to all of them and continue to have success with a relatively new program but we're thrilled to see them moving forward and here you see our very happy Franklin JV and varsity baseball teams division champs so long record of success coming out of the Patriots so happy to see that and wonderful our United Bocce team um has had an absolute blast a beautiful day here and I believe they have a big event this week is that right yes tomorrow okay it that is like a big tournament is that a big tournament okay a big tournament um tomorrow so good
038luck to our LPS unified Bocce team how cool is that I know where it will be where is it it's at United Wholesale Mortgage right in Pontiac yes wow okay all right so you know that we have five schools that started Elementary robotics teams this year and some of you were able to see the Buchanan team on display last week at the um spring at the steam steam event last week so we had our brand new competition robotics teams in their first competition this past weekend at Riverside Elementary in Dearborn Heights um so there were 28 teams there and they were able to rock and roll all day long with their robots and so we'll see some slides here from our students who were pictured and we have our five schools our Buchanan Cleveland Hoover
039nijiro and Webster so they're in the first Lego league is their league so it's FLL and their first competition was this past weekend so congratulations to all of them and you see I think the middle picture is uh are some of our students as well from Buchanan and they had their um their robots on display when we were there last week so congratulations to all of them and pretty cool in their first year to already be in a competition and participating with with really strong numbers lots of thank yous coming coming your way so we had staff Appreciation Week at each of our schools and I just have to say our ptas do an amazing job so you'll see some highlights here from across the district and many of those are thanks to the amazing
040ptas and all of the donations that have been given from the community so you know we absolutely adore our staff they are the best and so it was great to see them celebrated throughout the month of May and we also I think this is a great thing as we know our officials are becoming few and far between so a great opportunity for our student athletes and our coaches to show their gratitude to our game officials and um so important and to thank them for their service so I want to thank our athletic administrators who helped coordinate this and to make sure that our students are taking time to say thank you to these officials who give their time so our kiddos can participate so important that we are all respectful to our officials during games
041and competitions congratulations coming your way we had two of our wonderful members of the transportation team Ross Robert you'll see on the left he's one of our mechanics and Nikki wolf is one of our drivers they were both honored with the Wayne County excellence and transportation award and I believe we had 14 members of the transportation department who were nominated and these are nominations made by their peers and so they are nominated by their peers and then they are selected and there's an event held in Wayne County for all of those who are awardees and being honored so wonderful to see both Ross and Nikki receive this special honor and they are both tremendous contributors to our transportation department with lots of signing days so here you see Eric Hobson who's going to be playing
042basketball at Indiana Tech so congratulations to him so again we've seen a number of different signing days at each of our three high schools and many thanks to our ads and everyone involved in putting those together to highlight our student athletes and we had you've seen this familiar face Mackenzie saroki she was one of 12 finalists Statewide for high school female athlete of the year so the Detroit Athletic Club always hosts a large event there were six females six six males and she was one of the DAC athlete of the Year finalists and as you know she is headed to Tennessee uh to start her swimming career and hopefully make it to the Olympics so congratulations to Mackenzie some more pictures from Churchill's Signing Day so we there were 12 athletes up on the stage
043who will be competing at the Collegiate level um that is no easy task it is hard enough to do in high school to manage with their Scholastic Pursuits but to do that at the next level is a pretty big deal so we had a number of our students celebrated recently for their accomplishments Stevenson always celebrates uh their day their college day or next plans ahead and so they held recently held that at Stevenson and then oftentimes staff members who part who had gone to that school or are proud Alum will take pictures together so you see some some of our state universities represented there with lots of excited students ready to head off in the fall and the star awards are going strong I'm sure you've seen them on social media so as you know
044Mrs Jarvis is the president of our LPS Education Foundation and the star awards have just been flowing and it's it's a great way for parents for colleagues for students to recognize our hard-working staff from across the district you see a few of them here and I believe it's um primarily Mrs elastic who heads out to take photos but I think Mrs grammatico and Mrs bearinghouse have also been helping to deliver these special surprises and it's also a fundraiser for our foundation so definitely a win-win and congratulations to all who have been acknowledged we had uh coach V achieved his 100th win as coach of our Lady Chargers softball team that's a pretty big deal so great to see that and to celebrate him and we had a vocational award from Theresa Lila she was one
045of our students in the advanced graphic design class and she was highlighted from Franklin High School and the Rotary Club as you know both the am rotary and the noontime rotary are both phenomenal are are both phenomenal supporters of our students and so they regularly select students from the Livonia Career Technical Center to highlight and we had the pleasure of Hosting Teresa and her parents a couple of weeks ago uh Mr Francis and I have been on the road we have been on the 30-year award circuit um so we've had we've highlighted a number of different staff I think we have 15 or 17 total so we've been heading out and celebrating members of of our of our LPS staff who have been with us for 30 years and they receive um a very nice
046award and a pin and it's been fun to go out and share these uh with their classes and the students are always pretty excited to to see their teachers recognize or any staff members recognize in this way so we were at Franklin Jackson [Music] um Garfield Stevenson I think we have some on the next page we had four at Johnson last week if you can believe it we were here yes we were here with Mrs Boca we can go on to the next slide there we go I think we had uh four last Friday over at Johnson Upper Elementary so lots of familiar faces and lots of connections um throughout throughout the district and look at Mr Evan Jenkins on the stage um he was uh he had he earned a 10-minute solo with the
047Detroit youth Symphony um and he wowed everyone in attendance um so he is very thankful to his current and former Orchestra teachers Mr Quackenbush and Mrs sear Hall they both came to support him as did many members of his proud family so it was wonderful and I'm certain many many days and hours of hard work went into that 10-minute solo experience so congratulations to Evan who would be crossing the stage at uh the USA Hockey Arena soon as a graduate from Franklin and we have some recognition of our Churchill unified peers so we have many students who serve as peers in the unified Athletic program they were recently honored at the Wayne County Pac award night and it was wonderful to hear about their contributions and I believe they were nominated by Kara Clark is
048that right Dr T yes yes and so she was able to highlight them and here's a picture of our very deserving kiddos again recognized by the Wayne County parent advisory Council and it was a great week last week with um many special honors nights and graduations so the Franklin transition program had their graduate graduation and spent time celebrating each of our students in this wonderful program and also sharing some special observations and comments by peers which which was very touching we had Churchill honors night many many students on stage recognized by The Churchill admin team and I will tell you from each of our schools I'm not sure when our when our kiddos sleep because they are involved in so many things and we have one of our wonderful Churchill students here this evening who
049was also recognized so you'll see some photos from Churchill and a great evening at Franklin and of course at Stevenson so many many of our seniors being recognized each school I was sharing with the administrators has their own unique way of doing things but each night was so special so thank you to each and every person who contributes toward putting together the program putting getting the students ready on stage and getting everything organized it is no small feat to pull off nights like this but it is not only really special to our students who are recognized but for their parents as well so great to celebrate our kids we had a night of Reflections there's Mrs Bradford perusing the uh the art and Mrs Jarvis was our MC so the theme was uh show your
050voice and so we had just we were wowed by our students whether it was artwork or music uh dance composite composition uh writing absolutely fantastic so lots of opportunities to celebrate our lptsa Reflections Council participants and a few last reminders to mark your calendar the golf outing we are almost sold out so there are a few more spots the first uh golf outing first time they were holding a golf outing it'll be Sunday July 23rd If you would like to join the foundation for this wonderful fundraiser and remember High School graduations are around the corner Thursday the first is Franklin Friday the 2nd Stevenson and Churchill at noon on Sunday the fourth we are certainly looking forward to that one of the best events of the year so thanks so much President Johnson lots happening
051in May but we are thrilled to share that with you thank you Mrs oakwist and at this time as promised we are going to take a short five to ten minute recess to recognize our honorees tonight and we will be back shortly thank you foreign thank you and welcome back we are now concluded with our slight recess and my computer just jumped on me give me two seconds there we go we move on with our agenda at this time and we will move to item 3C written Communications I do not have any written Communications are there any written Communications seeing none we'll move on to 3D response to Prior audience communication there are no response to audience prior audience Communications we'll move on to 3E our audience Communications portion this is the time of our
052meeting when the board listens to the community anyone who wants to address the board can do so I would point out at this time that the board has three primary roles within the district one is to set policy for the district another is to hire and evaluate our superintendent and the third is to align our funding priorities to the district's goals if you're coming before the board tonight to speak and your issue relates to one of those three areas you can expect a response from the board everything else is what we call day-to-day operations and if your issue is related to a day-to-day operation then you will receive a response from our Administration we a lot allow three minutes per speaker and Mrs Bradford will have her timer you will hear a tone at the
053end of three minutes we would expect at that time out of respect to the other speakers that you wrap up your comments at that point and then we can move on to the next speaker with that I have three blue slips tonight and the first that I have is Drew buari good evening just damn there you go thank you good evening good evening Board of Education superintendent Opus my name is Drew Bawadi and I am the current senior senior class president at Stevenson High School for the class of 2023. I wanted to take a few minutes and talk to the board about the LPS industrial arts program first let me say I have taken over 14 Industrial arts classes since middle school those classes truly have changed my life before middle school I had no
054clue how to use different saws different pieces of equipment I had no clue how to use basic hand tools measure or read a ruler that all changed after Holmes Middle School when I had my great teacher Mr Huff who taught me so much and I actually still keep in touch with him with him today so I learned so much from him that he inspired me to build my own Workshop in my basement and that is still one of my favorite hobbies today if I never took that class I would never be involved with the hobby that I am taking I enjoyed that class so much I ended up taking it again in eighth grade after eighth grade Mr Huff inspired me like I said to build my own shop in my basement uh where I
055do a lot of woodworking projects when I had my free time when I started at Stevenson High School I took a wood shop class again first semester I built up a great relationship with the teacher Mr Brighton and I have spent hours and hours in the wood shop and the auto shop cleaning and organizing and bettering the program over the last four years I was doing this throughout high school and I kept taking more and more industrial arts classes I took Auto auto repair Woods Advanced Woods drafting small engines and I've been independent studies for most of those each class I took I learned more and more different skills I learned how to build an engine and diagnose issues I learned about different car parts and basic car repairs I learned how to hand draw
056floor plans I also learned how to become an analytical thinker that being said there's something that I have been noticing this program is underutilized and underappreciated I have noticed the downwards Trend throughout each School throughout each school year of the industrial arts program the four amazing industrial Arts teachers are spread too thin in my opinion now I'm seeing this program slowly fade away and I don't want it to die out I believe that if LPS enhances this program good things will come I believe that there are really important skills to be learned to and that are exposed to when they're middle in high school these classes are Stepping Stones I believe for the Livonia career and Tech Center and um those these classes give students ideas if they would like to go to the career
057center it is also great to see it would also be great to see more students take these courses I understand enrollment is not the same as as it's been in the past and that there are more state requirements that being said even with the times changing and Technology changing these skills will always be needed in modern society after telling you my benefits from being part of this program my last six years in Livonia Public Schools my question for you the board where do you see this program in five years from now where do you see this program long term and most importantly what is the direction the school district is taking the industrial arts program I would love to go more in depth with this conversation because this conversation is not is will take a
058while uh so that being said I want to say thank you so much for the time I greatly appreciate it and I look forward to continuing this conversation and I look I look forward to continuing uh talking with the board and I do have pictures in here of my shop in my basement so if I can leave that thank you is that okay sure thank you thank you next I have Colleen badgerow good evening still on it is okay you said my name is Colleen Badger I want to start by thanking President Johnson for your email today um that I seem to responds to my comments that the last board meeting I attended in support of diversity equity and inclusion work in the district um upon learning last week that the decision was made to
059not fill the Dei facilitator vacancy I was initially pretty disappointed but after processing I became flooded with curiosity and questions and a desire to learn more about how the plan to move forward with this vital work by diffusing responsibility through the mtss staff and elevating the PTA Dei committee could work so I reached out to many individuals that I've worked alongside including other parents PTA leaders teachers from the engagement and Equity committee Dei professionals and education and LPS District leaders to ask questions and learn more about their perspectives and their concerns and find their recommendations for the best path to move forward to meet the needs of all our students um without having all the answers to these questions but again it's not sinking many perspectives I'll say that the concept of weaving diversity and
060Equity inclusion work into the wraparound approach that is inherent in mtss work as you put it in your email makes good sense um and having a dedicated leader to guide the growth and direction of the work is required when I say dedicated I don't mean motivated or committed I mean with the sole Focus exclusively allocated to or intended for a particular service or purpose this is not work that can be simply added to an educator or an administrator's extremely full workload it requires Focus significant relational skills time resources ongoing learning and daily active engagement to be done well um that being said um I also wanted to respond to or ask some questions in response to the part of your email or said you've been appraised of the equity work throughout the district um and
061I'm just curious about these things and I'm asking from an in to provide a Dei informed framework for further discussion that may take place among the board or District leadership um I'm curious which stakeholders have been consulted was it the small relatively homogeneous group of District leaders overseeing the work or were various teachers and staff involved in the committee also asked about their experiences either those that have stayed engaged or those that initially signed on and have disengaged to find out why were the PTA leaders consulted to get feedback about their experience of serving on the committee what worked and didn't work or maybe parents or students who've experienced harm due to perceived bias or discrimination were professionals with Dei credentials within the district or in surrounding districts interviewed to determine their perspectives and recommendations
062for example Lisa Kaiser served in the Dei facilitator role and moved on to Wayne Risa was she given an exit interview to determine um her gain Insight from her vast institutional knowledge or has her her new office been sought out for the free supports that they offer and these in education in these realms and finally were there people with any marginalized or underrepresented identities in the room to offer diverse perspectives about diversity equity and inclusion this is a fundamental question because like I said the last time you don't know what you don't know so it's important to have representation of various people who are impacted by the work given their identity as an outsider okay you're you're three minutes okay thank you I just always I'll wrap up by saying I hope that the board
063and the superintendent and all the key decision makers continue to look deeper into this get broad perspectives and make this a priority in the budget hiring and policy decisions in the upcoming school year thank you the last blue slip I have is for Brittany Johnson foreign first I'd like to say thank you for allowing me time to express my feelings and concerns I am Brittany Johnson a parent a very proud parent of a second year grader here within the LPS District I'm here tonight to also voice my concerns on the importance around the topic of having a designated leader for our Dei District initiatives I believe that the Dei District initiative should remain an initiative with designated leadership to assure that the mission is achieved moving the responsibility to a PTA and Dei committee as
064well as our Educators and administrative staff will be wonderful in terms of the diversity diversifying the Outlook but for subject of as importance as this there's leadership that is necessary and key in order to continue to see our initiatives move in the right direction as a busy mom wife full-time employee mother of two volunteer within our school coach Mentor I couldn't imagine having such important topics that will shape Our Youth of the future falling on my plate allowing for it to fall through the cracks as a Dei Ambassador myself within the company that I work with I first hand see the importance of structural leadership in these programs I strongly believe that having someone who has a sole Focus to see the advancement of our Dei mission is imperative the higher education recruitment Consortium shares
065my sentiment as well acknowledging that the importance of making Dei a priority for every member of every school staff is imperative that off there is often a need that needs to be achieved with professional development continued learning and specific strategic leadership Nancy abersold founder of the higher education recruitment Consortium said there is a knowledge Gap that needs to be filled by educating the Educators about barriers to inclusion the goal in addressing these issues through education dialogue and sharing experiences is a is to create work a learning environment that are safe respectful Equitable and welcoming to all I do believe that if that is achievable within LPS with a designated leader for our Dei program along with our PTA Dei committee volunteers thank you for your time this evening thank you I have no other blue
066slips and I don't see any other individuals in the audience so we will move on with our agenda that takes us to item four our consent agenda are there any items on the consent agenda that any board member would like to have removed seeing none may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Frank moved that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approved the following consent agenda items as recommended by the superintendent 5A minutes of the regular meeting of May 1st 2023 5B mhsaa membership resolution for 2023-2024. support we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by Mrs Bradford I thought that was coming off the agenda that's what my note from Laura said so maybe we need to remove the mhsaa from that motion exactly were they pulling off the
067mhsaa because they didn't have the resolution so my note from Laura said it was coming off the agenda so she redid the agenda or are we still having the NHS um okay we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by I forget Mrs Bradford uh Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs Frank yes yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs bonerfield says yes President Johnson yes the motion carries that takes us now to item six C 40-year resolution may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Bradford move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public School school district accept the following proposed resolution of appreciation for 41 years of service with the district for the following employee Catherine custard support we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported
068by Mrs Jarvis and we're hearing from Mrs Keats or is it worth do you want the resolution read by Mrs Bradford to read the recipe yeah go ahead and read the resolution first okay 40-year resolution Catherine custard whereas the board of education is desirous of recognizing loyal and long-standing service to the Livonia Public School school district and whereas it has come to the attention of the board that Catherine custard completed 41 years of full-time employment in the Livonia Public Schools on August 31st 2022 and whereas in an era where many and varied employment opportunities often result in numerous work assignments it is rare to encounter employees who have remained loyal to employers for over 40 years and whereas it is a testament to both the quality of the work environment in the Livonia Public Schools
069school district and the steadfastness and dedication of its Workforce that Catherine is attained a 41-year record of employment with the school district and whereas she has given of her talents time and efforts in fulfilling her many and varied responsibilities as an adult helper in the Whitman Child Care Center a primary caregiver at Jackson center and a paraprofessional at Grant Elementary Cass Elementary Buchanan Elementary and Coolidge Elementary now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby expresses appreciation and gratitude to Catherine custard for her sincere and dedicated service to the Livonia Public Schools and extends its best wishes to Catherine on reaching this milestone in her professional career thank you Mrs Bradford you're welcome any now we'll go to Mrs Keats yes good evening I'm thrilled to be able to bring Katie Custer's resolution
070for 40 years of service to LPS that cannot be understated to say the least I had the pleasure of working with Katie for just a short time at Grant so I can say I know her work ethic personally she adored the students that she worked with she was adored by the people whom she worked with she was a leader when the grant Center came from Buchanan for I think I worked with her for one maybe two years there people looked to her to lead guide she was always calm cool collected with those kiddos and treated them as if they were own so to see that she has been with us for 40 years at first I said really I couldn't believe it when I saw it just to know her I was kind of in
071disbelief but we are just so thankful for her service and congratulations on a wonderful career and I hope there's more years to come for Katie thank you Mrs Keats any other questions or comments uh Mrs oakquist thank you President Johnson and while Katie was not able to be here this evening we will be certain to deliver her beautiful Crystal Bowl as you know as our custom um as a thank you and a just a small sign of appreciation from Livonia Public Schools to our amazing staff who earned this special Milestone so we're looking forward to that opportunity thank you Mr Douglas any other questions or comments it's it's just amazing particularly in our day and time now for someone to stay with an employer for that long if you do look at any of the
072research they're talking people going into the job market now may change jobs anywhere between 10 and 15 times over their career so this is really an amazing Milestone and congratulations yes give her a round of round [Applause] okay we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mr Mrs Jarvis to adopt the 40-year resolution Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Butterfield says yes President Johnson yes and motion carries thank you and again congratulations that'll take us to item six D teachers for approval may have a motion please press Acosta move that the project accept the recommendation of the superintendent and offer employment for the 22-2022-23 school year to the teachers listed on the attached document support we
073have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis and Mr Abate yes thank you so the staff members are presenting this evening are have been selected to fill our needs in special education specifically on our ASD programs they are well qualified affiliate positions they've been fully vetted through our interview process we are confident they will perform at a high level and represent Livonia Public Schools in a manner that is consistent with our shared vision and Collective commitments these positions have also been included in our 2022-2023 budget we're pleased to be recommending these talented professionals to join our LPS family and with your approval we're excited to have them working with our students thank you Mr Abate any questions or comments from the board Mrs Jarvis no President John yes Mrs Burton and I assume
074this is to fill a mid-year vacancy is that correct uh yes yes it is okay because it is for this current school year right okay thank you any other questions or comments seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs bonifield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item six e teacher for tenure may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Jarvis move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public sept the recommendation of the superintendent and acknowledge that 10-year status has been granted to the following teacher effective on the respective date Jill mullville September 2nd 2022 support we
075have a motion by Mrs Jarvis supported by Mrs Bradford and this is Mrs Keats hello again our teacher for tenure on this agenda has successfully completed the district's requirements for probationary teachers including years of service evaluations overall performance and documentation of student growth we have carefully reviewed all supporting materials along with the recommendation of our building Administration and have verified that she should be granted tenure status with Livonia Public Schools we wish to offer our congratulations for reaching this Milestone and look forward to continued success with LPS thank you Mrs Keats questions or comments from the board congratulations absolutely we have a motion by Mrs Jarvis supported by Mrs Bradford to approve the teacher for tenure and Mrs Bountiful would you take the role Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Burton
076yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs bonifield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item 6f leaves of absence may you have a motion please it's Frank move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District accept the recommendation of the superintendent and approve the request requests for leave of absence as listed below Jamie elwin 2023-24 school year Sarah Ray 2023-24 school year Stacy Rosner 2023-24 school year support we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by Mrs Burton and Mr Abate are you guys had a tag team today I just you know switch it back and forth keep it interesting so our leaves of absence in your documentation these folks have requested leave according to their collective bargaining agreements and we simply ask you to please
077approve those leaves as presented thank you Mr Abate any questions or comments from the board seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by Mrs Burton to approve the leaves of absence does Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Frank yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Jervis yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs bonnerfield says yes President Johnson yes the motion carries thank you that takes us to item 6G resignations this does not require a motion and it is for board information which then takes us to item 6h retirements may I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Burton move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District adopt the attached resolutions of appreciation for services rendered by Amal ayash Denise debias Kimberly Fortner Lisa hissam Betty Kirk
078James Murphy Sharon Scott Janet stack Kelly tadio Mary Patricia Wright and Elaine Yee support we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Acosta and Mrs Keats yes tonight we honor and congratulate 11 members of our LPS family who are retiring from their positions with Livonia Public Schools at the conclusion of the school year as these staff members leave the district they take with them a combined total of 288 years of experience on behalf of the administration I would like to thank our retirees for their dedicated years of service that they have provided the students of LPS and we asked the board to please adopt the attached resolutions of appreciation thank you Mrs Keats any questions or comments from the board Mrs Burton yeah and it's such a Bittersweet resolution to pass inevitably there
079are some folks that we know professionally on this list whenever it's presented to us and some as the case is now personally we just wish the folks who are on this this document uh well in their next chapter and thank you so very much for serving this not only the students but the families and co-workers of Livonia Public Schools you will be truly missed thank you Mrs Burton another I will Echo that um again it is that time of year where we have a few more names uh than is um is common but uh we are absolutely thrilled for these folks to take uh the next step in their life's journey and we are so grateful you'll see um anywhere from 15 to 20 years to you know up to 37 years as you talked
080about President Johnson that longevity that commitment and dedication to our students in our district for so many years is something of which we are so grateful and so proud so as we've seen many of these folks over the course of the past several weeks I know they are feeling too some of that that mixed emotion of um being proud for a really strong career but also ready to take that next step and enjoy life's journey so we wish them well thank you Mrs Oak West any other questions or comments seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Acosta to accept the resolutions for retirements and Mrs Bountiful would you take the role please Mrs Burton yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs bonerfield says
081yes President Johnson yes the motion curious thank you very much and again congratulations to all our retirees that takes us now to item seven which is our business matters and 7A is contingency for robotics in lctc renovation 2021 Bond may I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Battlefield moved at the Board of Education District approved the recommendation from the owner's representative plant Moran cressa to approve additional contingency for the Robotics and lctc renovation project in the amount of 213 thousand dollars support we have a motion by Mrs Battlefield supported by Mrs Jarvis and we'll hear from Mr Francis good evening good evening President Johnson this uh recommendation for board approval of 213 thousand dollars which would be a contingency dollars towards the lctc and Robotics 2021 Bond program is being requested out of abundance
082of caution and proactively knowing that going into the summer which we will be finishing up that project and starting the school year a week earlier we want to ensure that there are no slowdowns or shutdowns based upon any unforeseen issues that may cost dollars to to fix and complete and knowing that the board in July doesn't really have too much with regard to regular meetings so I bring this recommendation to bump our original contingency on this project from seven percent to nine percent which is as mentioned a total of 213 thousand dollars again in a proactive manner which just requires your approval before we could spend any dollars thank you Mr Francis questions or comments from the board Mrs Burton Mr Francis just for the benefit of the public because we did discuss this at
083length in both our study session and our committee at the whole uh these are contingency dollars uh to be used in case they are needed uh and this the normal uh bumping this from seven to nine percent still keeps that contingency percentage within the normal range that we the seven percent was on the lower end when we first began this work but bumping it to nine is still within the normal range of the seven to ten that we typically put in for contingency is that correct that's all very accurate this is a contingency is always something that is the just in case just like when a homeowner is going to do a home renovation project they should always set aside a little bit more in case they open up that wall and find that surprise
084this is the same thing the purpose of the approval of these dollars are not to go out and spend them uh just when because we would want to we would only spend them if we had to to keep the project moving forward okay and any unused dollars would go back into our contention agency fund for our bond work that is returned each year at the end when we wrap up each phase we do return that money back to the bot okay and if I remember correctly that was or somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars last year at the end of the year from phase one the summer 2022 this is 2023 yes December 2022 um yes we returned just under but just about a million dollars thank you Mrs Burton other questions or
085comments seeing none we have motion by Mrs bonifield supported by uh Mrs Jarvis to approve the contingency of Robotics and lctc Renovations 2021 Bond Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs bonefield yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Acosta yes uh President Johnson yes the motion carries thank you that takes us to item 7B parking lot maintenance may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Bradford move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approve Titan pavement Waterford Michigan for parking lot maintenance and the total amount of forty two thousand sixty three dollars which includes contingency support we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs Burton and once again we'll hear from Mr Francis thank you this is a a
086recommendation for funds for regular asphalt parking lot maintenance this would fill in cracks where where they are a little bit larger and coding over and getting paint re-striping lines on parking lots the 12 buildings that will be touched are Buchanan cast Coolidge Cooper Garfield Grant Hayes Hoover Randolph Roosevelt Johnson and Jackson this will all be standard asphalt maintenance work and the work will be completed through the summer and maybe even a little bit into the fall depending on it takes but we want to have those ready for school to start in late August thank you Mr Francis questions or comments from the board Mr Francis just for the benefit of the public this is coming out of the general fund correct yes it's the general fund thank you that's a budgetary information would be from
087the general fund and it's not sinking fund because it's not a general type of Maintenance it's not an allowable expense under the sinking fund great thank you you're welcome all right so we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs Burton to approve the parking lot maintenance Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Bradford and Mrs Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs bannerfield says yes president Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item seven C appointment of auditor for 2022-2023 May I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Acosta move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools appoint the firm of plant Moran to audit and prepare the financial statements for Livonia Public Schools for
088the 2022-2023 school year support we have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis and we'll hear from Mrs Smith good evening thank you President Johnson and thank you to for the opportunity spend time with you both at our study session and the committee the whole meeting last week going over the services that will be provided with provided by plant Marianne as you know they're an independent external auditor we are required to hire an external auditor they come in and test our internal controls they make sure that the funds that we're receiving are spent in the way that they are intended to be spent they confirm that we're following the law and how we're spending those funds they also confirm that we're following our board policies and internal administrative procedures around purchasing and then
089they also help us with the preparation of the financial statements so for this service their estimated fee for the 22-23 financial statements is 52 950 plus fifteen hundred dollars for the Implement implementation of gazbe 96 which is related to subscription-based Information Technology agreements thank you Mr Smith questions or comments from the board Mrs Burton um a number of years ago it was suggested that we look at another firm just to get a variety of opinions that firm came back with the same ultimate opinion of high quality of Livonia Public Schools finance department and how we're handling all of our financial transactions I am very comfortable staying with plant Moran they have provided terrific service they've also provided I know a lot of backup Mrs Smith for you and your department and any questions board members
090may have but they're they have been a terrific uh source of information for us I know they also provide some professional development for school board members and finance department personnel such as yourself but they they do such a terrific job for not only Livonia Public Schools but throughout the state of Michigan for school districts that I am very comfortable using them and I'm glad that we are continuing to do so thank you Mrs Burton other questions or comments seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis to approve the appointment of auditor for 2022-2023 Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs bannerfield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you very much
091that takes us to item 7D Wayne reset 2023 2024 general fund operating budget may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Bradford move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools adopt the resolution related to the general fund operating budget for the 2023-2024 school year for the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency Risa support we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs bonifield and once again we'll turn to Mrs Smith thank you President Johnson and again opportunity to go over the Wayne resell budget both at our study session and our committee meeting during that time we did have some questions that we asked of Risa they were able to provide answers for us we were to have we were able to have a dialogue you know one thing that we had
092discussed and we're happy to see in this proposed budget is those one-time payments to help reimburse non-reimbursed special ed Transportation costs in our general fund as well as some special education program costs and our general fund that are currently on reimbursed so Wayne reset has included that in the proposed budget so based on our dialogue both of the study session and the committee meeting it's my understanding that the board's intent is to support the general fund budget by Wayne Risa so a vote of approving this resolution will complete that resolution as followed and submit that to Wayne Risa on the board's behalf thank you Mr Smith questions or comments from the board seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs bonifield to approve the Wayne reset 2023-24 general fund operating budget
093Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs Bradford yes this is Battlefield says yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Burton yes this is Frank yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item 7e Garfield Greenhouse change order may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Burton move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approve additional funds for the Garfield Greenhouse project in the amount of 16 16 548 support we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Jarvis and we'll hear from Mr Francis on this one yes thank you I want to first start by thanking the board for uh allowing us to get this onto the agenda this evening because it is a time sensitive item and it actually was
094new to us as a change order towards a I'll call it a long-running project that we've been working on in the district it was that partnership between healthy Livonia and Livonia Public Schools to erect a greenhouse at Garfield Community School and that is um we are starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel I just a real quick recap for the board members uh you're all familiar with this project and the board approved it actually officially um for the greenhouse portion to grow Span in April of 2021 so we've been about 26 25 months in from that time so what we have here is an increase in the cost of the labor to install the greenhouse in the amount of 16 540 having run into some headwinds in the project that were
095no fault of gross ban they were at the ready to do the installation over the past couple of years but having some difficulties with site work and some other issues it took a very long time we as you recall we lost a contractor who was supposed to start that that site work over at Garfield Greenhouse project so long story short is over those many many months and which actually spanded more than two years we are now ready the first week of June we have gross band scheduled to come in and begin that that uh installation of the greenhouse that we purchased from them therefore uh we I did not want to have another month-long delay on this project so again I I really appreciate you indulging and putting this on tonight's agenda that that increase
096of 16 540 is the request I'm asking for the board to extend on the purchase order that we have with them and that is an increase based upon just the past two plus years of inflation labor costs wages etc for the company to install the the project I thought I should say the greenhouse for this project thank you Mr Francis this is this is being funded as a uh additional information act 18 that is the funding that from uh Wayne recess special education center programming that was always originally part of it so this is just be coming from the same fund thank you Mr Francis uh questions or comments Mrs Burton a couple of questions um do we know when the greenhouse would be completed then will it be ready basically will it be ready
097for the Falls opening of school I I'm I'm I'm a bit gun shy to ever say that this will be 100 yes I have a caveat that the the plan would be yes except for um potentially any type of of hang up and I just bring it up with DTE because they're very busy and they can become behind so we do have some some power needs over there but as far as this portion of it yes because they're going to come start in the first week of June should be erected at that point the site work all we have left of site work is a little bit of concrete to do some sidewalks that's not a big deal the installation of this shouldn't be a big deal if the board does in fact approve this
098additional amount so I just want to throw the caveat on is I can't control what DTE does with their scheduling okay but it looks good assuming that they're but that goes smoothly yes a big assumption but we're getting smoothly getting excited it's it's uh it's going to be well worth it it's it's just going to be a great item for the the young adults over at the Garfield program and the community okay thank you very much thank you Mr Burton any other questions or comments Mr Francis I have one or two we've had the the greenhouse itself for a period of time have we not yes so there's three things generally speaking that we we procured from Grossman one the actual Greenhouse obviously in parts and in pieces they ship that out right away we
099took um possession of it and it's been stored in the district's Warehouse we also purchased the engineering plans for it and then the installation slash labor to put it together okay great thank you anything else seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Jarvis to approve the Garfield Greenhouse change order Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Burton Bert yes Mrs Jervis yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Battlefield says yes President Johnson yes the motion carries thank you and thank you Mr Francis for for bringing that uh to us no no thank you for working with me I know we were on the phone and emailing Mrs Burton Mr President Johnson uh on Friday and I appreciate you guys kind of jumping in and
100and talking with me that now moves us to item eight our instruction matters in item 8A is adoption of high school psychology textbooks may I have a motion please move to the board of education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approved the purchase of psychology in your life fourth edition digital access and class sets of physical textbooks from Norton High School for the introduction to psychology course for a cost of thirty seven thousand three hundred and fifteen dollars and twenty cents which includes shipping and handling support we have a motion by Mrs bonifield supported by Mrs Frank and we will hear from Mrs O'Brien good evening good evening President Johnson I am happy to share with you the textbook recommendation from a committee of high school teachers who have been working on this since
1012019. they had a pause obviously as many of us did during covid and got back to work at looking at nine different psychology textbooks landing on psychology in your life last year during the 22 21-22 school year but the publisher informed them that they would be updating and having the newest addition in the school year of 2023 so after waiting as long as they had waited they felt it was important to get the newest addition they shared this with students 75 percent of students found that they enjoyed the real life examples in the book and the conversations that they had with the starters in this Publisher's book so it was their number one choice of our students we are purchasing class sets of textbook books plus a building set of um the student study guide
102and then six years of the digital license These funds will come out of our secondary textbook funds which have been supported by the Wayne County enhancement millage thank you very much Mrs O'Brien questions or comments from the board Mrs Burton uh uh for those who may not catch a whole lot of our textbook adaptions but am I assuming that this is the same as it has been for many uh adaptions over the many years which is as much as we're going toward a digital world uh it is not any less expensive to purchase digital only copies typically or we what what I've been finding over the last several years is we purchased the digital copies they'll give us the physical books for free we'll purchase the physical books they'll give us the digital copies for
103free so there's not there's not a cost savings to going doing away with a physical copy of the book correct they package them together okay so that's we we get the whole we get the book and the license okay so whichever one you like whichever one works best for a student or a teacher we've got them both and and we don't have a cost savings to separate them out thank you you are welcome thank you Mrs Burton are there questions or comments I just want to thank the committee for the insight to wait when they heard that there was going to be a revision and not jumped the gun and wait for the latest uh revision it would be very easy to that knee-jerk reaction is to take what's available at the time but knowing
104that there was going to be an updated version I think is very prudent to wait and get the the latest that we could so absolutely this was a patient group of teachers they've been working at it a while they decided to wait a little bit longer to get the newest yeah being in the three years three and a half years that they worked on it that you know that that knee jerk to to get what's there at the time and you just want to get that sure your your uh your work over with at that point so uh we appreciate the committee waiting me too all right we have a motion by Mrs Butterfield supported by Mrs Frank to approve the adoption of high school psychology textbooks Mrs bonifield would you take the role please
105Mrs bonifield says yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Jervis yes President Johnson yes that motion carries uh thank you again to the committee that takes us to item eight B grades three and four World study professional development may I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Frank move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approved the purchase of digital teacher resources and professional development vouchers for 100 teachers to attend a 30-hour training on um on Orton Gillingham morphology our newly adopted word study curriculum for third and fourth graders for a total cost of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars support stereo we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by Mrs Bradford and once again we'll hear from Mrs O'Brien thank you
106President Johnson Orton Gillingham has been a company that we have been working with since 2020 probably before that they have a phonics and word study curriculum we started training our kindergarten through second grade teachers in their phonics and phonemic awareness program starting with a grant that Dr Terrell and Dr Dodge got and then we provided the rest of the teachers with General funds that training it gives teachers the access to the teacher materials and to the platform so over this last year we've had teachers piloting their morphology which is the next step in word study and we would like to utilize that as our word study program for thirds and third and fourth grade therefore those teachers need those vouchers so they can go through the training and have access to those materials These funds
107will be coming from our general funds because it's professional development thank you Mrs O'Brien questions comments from the board seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Frank supported by Mrs Bradford to approve the grades three and four World study professional development Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Frank yes Miss Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Butterfield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries that takes us now to item eight C purchase of lctc furniture and computers for graphics design digital imaging classroom may I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Jarvis move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School District approve the purchase of items from the Apple Store for Education institution and interior environments to update the lctc
108graphics design digital imaging classroom the upgrade will include desks chairs iMac desktop computers iPad Air tablets iPad accessories Apple charging cart and Apple Care Plus for schools for a total cost of one hundred ten thousand seven hundred eighty one dollars two cents support we have motion by Mrs Jarvis supported by Mrs Acosta and we will hear tonight you look I changed seats you change seats we will hear from Mr E2 good evening good evening President Johnson thank you very much the Arts and Humanities career pathway of the Livonia Career Technical Center is excited of the opportunity to update and upgrade the digital imaging classroom where courses in graphic design and digital imaging digital illustration occur so we're looking to implement some new desks new chairs a whole set of new 24-inch computers for our students
109as well as tablets and teacher tablets and computer as well it comes with a three-year Apple Care Plus Technology support for all this system and we're recommending and asking the board for that approval this evening for approximately 110 781 dollars thank you Mr E2 questions or comments from the board Mrs Burton oh is that for vocational education only it is it's tied to Career Technical education it's the 61a added cost and Grant funds for that can be used for direct student learning which incorporates everything within this recommendation okay thank you Mrs Battlefield Mr E2 I understand that the kids are working on Old drafting tables now is that correct currently they are that's why it's time for an updated and upgrade within that classroom it's not really suitable for what I mean we may do
110but it's really not suitable for what they're doing now correct we're excited for the opportunity to take desks and equipment and chairs and put them in pods or in fours or twos the higher top desks are mobile and can move around so absolutely it's more opportunity for project-based Learning and team-based learning for those students the learning environment has certainly changed since we were yes it has thank you thank you Mrs Battlefield other questions or comments seeing none we have a motion by Mrs Jarvis supported by Mrs Acosta to approve the purchase of lctc furniture and computers for graphics design digital imaging classroom Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please Mrs Jarvis yes bird yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs bonefield says yes President Johnson yes the motion carries thank you Mr Ito thank you that
111takes us to item 8D expulsion of one secondary student may I have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Bradford move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public School school district District expel one Middle School student for violations of the Livonia Public Schools Board of Education policies support we have a motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs bonifield and Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs Frank yes Mrs Jervis yes President Johnson yes promotion carries thank you that takes us now to item nine our hearing from board members and item a is second reading of board policy IDF interscholastic activities in athletics in removal of board policy idfa interscholastic Athletics you may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Acosta move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public Schools School
112District accept the recommendation of the policy committee and adopt board policy language for the attached document for board policy IDF interscholastic activities and Athletics and the removal of board policy idfa interscholastic Athletics support we have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis and is this going to be Mr E2 I'm back at it yeah this is a board policy that we've discussed several times did the first reading it's an opportunity to combine board policy IDF and board policy idfa therefore removing board policy idfa and then we made some minor language updates to the new board policy IDF of instructional program inters classic activities and Athletics and if you'd like I can do a second reading for you please board policy IDF instructional program interscholastic activities and Athletics reads as follows the Board of
113Education recognizes the need for extracurricular and interscholastic activities and Athletics and encourages student participation the board further recognizes that participating in these activities Athletics carries with it the responsibility of good behavior in and out of school and being in good academic standing failure on the part of any student to meet this responsibility is cause for suspension or removal from participation a program of interscholastic Athletics she'll be encouraged as an integral part of the total program of physical education the interscholastic Athletics program is designed for those students who have a particular interest ability and the desire to invest the time and energy required to participate in the Livonia Public Schools Athletic program the board shall review and approve by resolution the school district's participation and membership in the Michigan High School Athletic Association mhsaa in conjunction
114with this review the board delegates to the superintendent or designee the responsibility for adherence to mhsa's Constitution and bylaws as well as the supervision of mhsaa related activities in accordance with the code of conduct in the school's student handbook all interscholastic activities and Athletics shall be conducted in accordance with law thank you for the reading Mr E2 do we have questions or comments from the board no I know that you put in a lot of time on this we had discussions over the last couple of months to fine-tune the language so we appreciate all the work that was put in I appreciate the discussion thank you uh we have a motion by Mrs Acosta supported by Mrs Jarvis to adopt the second reading of the board policy IDF interscholastic activities and Athletics in removal of
115board policy idfa interscholastic Athletics and Mrs benefit would you take the role please Mrs Nicole Bradford yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs bonerfield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries that takes us now to item nine B second reading a board policy IFD library media centers in classroom libraries may have a motion please President Johnson this Mrs Battlefield moved at the board endation of the policy committee and adopt board policy language per the attached document for board policy IFD library media centers and classroom libraries support we have a motion by Mrs bonifield supported by Mrs Bradford and Mrs O'Brien is going to do this one thank you you are welcome President Johnson um yes this is the second reading of this board policy so we've talked about it in study session Committee of the whole
116and at one other board meeting um this takes the the board policy IFD and updates it and adds that classroom libraries fall under the same guidance as our media center selection would you like me to read it please the Livonia Public School School District establishes library media centers to provide and promote the intellectual cultural social and ethical development of students and to provide resources which extend and deepen the experiences encompassed in the curriculum library media center materials are determined through a process based on the American libraries Association guidance for selection of books and other materials of learning which contribute to the growth of individual students selection for classroom libraries follows the same guidance criteria thank you Mrs O'Brien are there any questions or comments from the board is Frank thank you I appreciate Mrs O'Brien
117all you and your staff's um work on this I think it was a thoughtful approach you really dove into many of our policies and re and re-examined them what what is the best for the students what is best for our our community and so I really appreciate that I think one of the things that you brought out in our study session was really important just said parents we we encourage you um in our study session we reviewed to review with the students what your child is reading if you have an objective to something that comes home please send it back with the student and so I think that it's it's important that we say as a board that we still believe in a parent's right to choose what's what books the students are reading but
118we as a district need to provide a wide variety of books for different families that have different beliefs and so I think it's really important in the work that you guys did to ensure that this is um meaningful to everybody in the district so thank you thank you Mrs Frank um the media specialist and Mr Casada did a lot of the heavy lifting on this and then we as a group have looked at this and the administrative procedures so thank you for sharing that any other questions or comments from the board seeing none we have a motion by Mrs bonifield supported by Mrs Bradford to approve the second reading of board policy IFD and adopt the policy library media centers and classroom libraries Mrs Bonneville would you take the role please Mr yes Mrs Burton
119yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Jarvis yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item 9C Wayne Reese aboard election designation of Representative may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Burton move move the Nate board member Liz Jarvis as an electoral representative and board member member Crystal Frank as an alternate electoral representative for the June 5th 2023 Wayne Reesa Board of Education election and select Mary Blackman and Danielle fundenberg as the candidates for whom the vote should be cast support we have a motion by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Frank and okay we don't need any discussion on this we have talked about this we have selected uh Mrs Jarvis has graciously agreed to be our representative Mrs Frank our alternate and uh to vote for the two candidates that
120we had before us so if there's no other discussion um we have a motion to uh let's see adopt the resolution for the Wayne Wayne Reesa Board election and the designation of our Representatives by Mrs Burton supported by Mrs Frank Mrs bonifield would you take the role please Mrs Burton yes Mrs Frank yeah Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs Bradford yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs bonerfield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you that takes us to item nine D approval for board member to take masb classes I may have a motion please President Johnson Mrs Bradford move that the Board of Education of the Livonia Public School school district approved that board trustee Crystal Frank take masb classes for a total cost of approximately 396 dollars support we have a motion by Mrs Bradford
121supported by Mrs Acosta in are you going to speak to this Mrs oakrist thank you President Johnson as you know we are very supportive of our board members continuing their professional growth and education as well as per board policy bbbc it does require prior approval for any expenditures of this nature so Mrs Frank will be taking these classes for a total cost of 396 dollars and we would support the approval of this recommendation thank you Mrs oakquist questions comments from the board once again this is just another indication of the dedication of this board to continue to educate itself and improve itself and Mrs Frank was appointed recently she's jumping back right back into class so uh we appreciate it very much thank you we have motion by Mrs Bradford supported by Mrs Acosta to
122approve board member to take masb classes Mrs Battlefield would you take the role please yes Mrs Acosta yes Mrs Burton yes Mrs Frank yes Mrs Jarvis yes Mrs bonifield says yes President Johnson yes that motion carries thank you and thank you again Mrs Frank that takes us to item nine e hearing from board members and have as it has been customary I will now open up the floor to any board member who would like to um say anything to the public crickets tonight uh I will say that we are quickly approaching our graduations there's a lot going on in the district um I'm just hoping that our graduating seniors will be careful in this upcoming graduation season prom um there's a like I said there's a lot of things going on please please be very
123careful with whatever you choose to do uh also I want to take the opportunity to thank our cabinet our administrators our staff and all employees of this District that do such great things day in and day out for our community and especially our kiddos thank you so much for taking such good care of our kids Mrs Frank thank you I also wanted to just Echo so many things we're covered tonight and this is um superintendent Oak West review but it has been our privilege I think as a board to be in the schools we are so much we're in the school so much more at the end of the year when there's so many celebrations and it just to see all of what's going on in our district throughout many buildings many of us have
124been into several buildings that we're not typically in and so it's just been an honor to see all the hard work and all of the things that are being done in the district and so it's just been a really fun time to celebrate the hard work and the dedication of so many of our staff members and the hard work of the kids so congratulations to everybody it's been a fun time for us to see what's going on thank you Mr Frank Mrs oakwist um I just wanted to just make a quick mention um on Friday and we had a long time member of our school staff family pass away Mr Don Harris he was a longtime educator hired in 1964. a long time teacher in general in special education and was a principal for many
125many years at Jefferson and Harrison and Webster and then retired from Johnson Elementary so he lived a wonderful life a wonderful human being and I wanted to wish his wife of I believe 64 years Margie and his children including his daughter Jody who was a long time teacher of ours as well wish them our best and let them know that our hearts are with them his services are this week and we will continue to keep them in our hearts and in our prayers thank you Mrs oldquist I also wanted to thank the the staff at Cooper for inviting me to come over on Wednesday and participate in their career day I will be there all morning speaking with the sixth graders about what what it's like to be an attorney to be a board member
126I'm really looking forward to it like you said Mr Frank this is this is the time of year that we get into the into the schools I did it last year it was a ball uh and I'm really looking forward to it again this Wednesday so thank you to the Cooper staff for asking me over Mrs Acosta I knew that would start bringing things up I know um I just wanted to thank uh The Churchill staff for inviting us to participate in their um financial literacy fair it was phenomenal um it was just so exciting to see how well executed it was and all the volunteers that were there and just I hope to see this hint hint um not just at Churchill but an offering you know I know it's a partnership that happens
127with the credit union but it was fantastic and I think the Churchill staff for including us um in this project trying to get over there but unfortunately I was not able to make it so okay if there are Mrs Jarvis why don't we just go down the line um earlier tonight we mentioned that our elementary robotics teams our first Lego League teams were competing this past weekend and they represented our district very well we had five teams compete I believe three of them came home with bling so they won some awards there and one of them actually did place in third place out of the entire competition I don't have details on which team got which Awards so I'll hopefully I'll be able to bring that next month but I'm so proud of These Guys
128these are some of the most enthusiastic hits I had the opportunity to see them at Buchanan at their steam night and I have to tell you they knocked my socks off what a great group of kids what the whole evening was fabulous but we have some interesting young people that we can look forward to watching over the next several years outstanding thank you anything else all right so we have come to the end of our agenda it was a full agenda some very nice things on our agenda tonight and since we is there any other business become before the board tonight if not then we will say good evening thank you