001Good evening. I call this meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, we'll do attendance. Trusty Mcdana >> here. >> Trusty Gibson >> here. >> Trusty Aldrid >> here. >> Trusty Aches >> here. >> Trusty Summers >> here. Trustee Campy >> here. And trustee Whitney >> here. >> Thank you. All right. As per board of education p pol policy bylaw 25506, the superintendent or designate will preside over the organizational meeting until a board president is elected. I will call for nominations for the office of board president. Each board member will name his or her preferred nominee via the roll call process. If any one candidate receives
002four nominations, a motion would be made to elect that member to the office. If there are not four nominations, there are uh various ways that we'll handle the vote that are listed in the agenda. So, we'll start roll call nominations for board president. Trusty Summers is not here. Trusty Aterson. Um, I'd like to nominate Mike Whitney, >> Trusty Aldrid. >> I would like to nominate Amanda McDonald. >> Trusty Kate Majiori. >> I would like to nominate Amanda McDonald. >> Trusty Whitney, >> I would like to nominate Amanda Mcdana. Trusty Mcdana. >> I'll nominate myself. Thank you. >> Trusty Gibson. >> Amanda Mcdana. >> All right. Uh, will some Do I do the motion? Does someone >> All right. I need someone to do the motion. >> Do that. >> I move to appoint Miss Amanda
003Mcdana as board president for the 2026 calendar year. >> All right. support Shane discussion. Do I do all in favor? Is that another roll call? >> Okay. >> I mean, I I'll I'll discuss. Um I just really appreciate Amanda's work this last year. Um I kind of said that uh last year when she was leading into it that I really did appreciate her from the year before and she didn't disappoint. I think she does a good job at um I mean most of us now know her work ethic and it's really second to none on the board. Um and so and the the I I do appreciate her certainly keeping us all in the in the loop on emails but also just her responses. We get a lot of emails and I do appreciate that
004as well and she leads in in that way. Um so I think she's earned it. Any other discussion? All right, roll call vote. Trusty Whitney, >> yes. >> Trusty Gibson, >> yes. >> Trusty Slimmers is Oh, Trusty Aerson, >> yes. >> Trusty Aldrid, >> yes. >> Trusty Caperoni, >> yes. >> Trusty Mcdana, >> yes. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Moving into our roll call nominations for vice president. Start with myself. I nominate Mike Whitney. Trusty Camp Journey. I nominate Mike Whitney also. >> Trusty Whitney. >> Good timing. >> Hurry up. >> I should um I nominate Mike Whitney as well. Thank you. >> Trusty Gibson. >> Mike Whitney. >> Summers is absent. Trusty Aerson. >> Mike Whitney. >> And Trusty Aldred. >> Mike Whitney. >> Thank you. I move to appoint Mike Whitney as
005the board vice president for the 2026 calendar year. Support Shane. Thank you. Discussion. >> Great job, Mike. Um, no, just say I think Mike was fantastic as a treasurer and I have no doubt he'll do great uh as a vice president. So, thank you for uh all your hard work. I would echo that. I think Mike has really shown excellence in his leadership roles and I think this transition into vice president will benefit the whole team. So, let's do a roll call vote. Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Amanda Mcdana, yes. Sarah Camperjourney, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane Gibson, >> yes. Summer's absent and Aches. >> Yes. >> Excellent. Thank you. Moving into secretary. Roll call nominations. Trustee Aes. >> Uh James Summers. >> Trustee Aldrred. >> James Summers. >> Mcdana. James
006Summers. Trusty campouroy >> James Summers >> Mike Whitney >> James Summers >> Jane Gibson >> James Summers >> moving into that motion Sarah. Thank you. >> Did you want to make the motion? I thought need to make the motion. >> Oh, uh, James Summers. >> Yep. Thanks. >> Move to appoint James Summers as the board secretary for the 2026 calendar year. >> Support by Whitney. Thank you. Any discussion? Okay, we'll call vote. Summer's absent. Annes, >> yes. >> Mike Alred, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> Okay, excellent. Lastly, our roll call vote for treasurer. Start with Shane. >> I'd like to nominate Shane Gibson. >> James absent. Who? >> Ann Aches. Um, I'd like to nominate Annne Aterson, >> Mike Alred, >>
007Shane Gibson, >> Amanda Shane Gibson, >> Sarah Beth, Campy, >> Shane Gibson, >> and Mike Whitney. >> Shane Gibson. Okay, >> I can do that. >> Thank you, Mike. >> Move to appoint Shane Gibson as the board treasurer for the 2026 calendar year. >> Support. I'll support. >> Discussion. Just like to say thank you Shane. I know you've really leaned into the finance committee this year and have shown a real dedication on the board this year. So happy to nominate you for that. Anyone else? Okay, move into roll call vote. Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane Gibson, >> yes. >> Absent. Annesson, >> yes. >> Mike Alred, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth Camperjourney, >> yes. Okay, now that that is settled, we'll move into um move into our committees. I know we've had
008a lot of interest, which is excellent this year on on various committees. So, I can kind of take your lead on this. We can either start with motions or we can have a bit of discussion first. Um, first up is is policy committee. And I don't know if anyone had strong feelings on that. I personally would like to stay on policy committee, but we do have three others that are interested. And I will say I did speak with James. He is sick. Um, but his his two that he really wanted were safety and policy. So, I'm just reiterating that to the board. We had Shane and Mike A this year on the committee. >> Yeah. Do you want to would you like to >> I I'll I'll start. I think from my time on governance
009and policy, I think uh I would actually change my direction to go to governance considering the opport you know the folks that want are interested in policy. I absolutely want to stay on safety uh if possible. >> Okay. >> All right. So, Shane, did you still want to remain on policy then? Just reiterating that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. as far as the current dynamics like that's working for everybody. Scheduling is working for I mean I'm just trying to understand. >> Okay, cool. >> Yep. Are we typically go Thursdays, the first Thursday of every month and James had indicated that he would be available to move on to that and if uh Mike you would like to venture into governance this year I think that would be that would be helpful Keith. Okay, cool.
010Well, then I'll go ahead and put a motion out. I move to appoint Amanda Mcdana and Shane Gibson and James Summers to the board of education policy committee support. Sarah Beth. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right, there's our policy committee. >> Yes. >> It has a roll call. >> Yes. Roll call vote. Yes. >> Sarah Beth. >> Yes. >> Mike Whitney. >> Yes. >> Shane. >> Yes. >> An. >> Yes. >> Mike Aldred. >> Amanda. Yes. >> Okay. Next is our finance committee. Again, we had a few extra who were interested. Um, I will just say that I think it's important that our treasurer is on the finance committee. So, those are those are my thoughts. And I know Mike, this has also kind of been your baby for the last three years. So,
011>> yeah, I would I would appreciate the opportunity to stay on it. I think from a continuity standpoint, it makes sense. Um, but uh but yeah, I mean certainly I'll let the board decide, but I would I would appreciate the opportunity to stay. >> Okay. And then we also have Ann and Sarah Beth who are interested in the finance committee. >> I've really enjoyed serving on it. I would I would love to continue and have that continuity. Um I know we have some projects ahead. I'd like to stay involved. So, yeah, I've enjoyed being able to serve on on that committee. >> Okay. >> Sarah Beth, any input? >> Well, I've been keeping track of the accounts payable for quite a few years. Um, so part of me wants to be on it just so
012I can understand the finances better, but I also don't I also feel I'm okay on the governance and I really want to stay on the district safety. Um, governance is helping me understand a little more of how we operate because I've never been in the government box. So, um, so I'm okay if somebody else wants to stay on the finance committee instead of changing. >> Okay. >> Yeah. If anybody would like to make a motion, >> move to appoint Shane Gibson, Mike Whitney, and Ann Aerson to the board of education finance committee. >> Support Mike Alred. Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, move into a roll call. Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> Absent. Ann, >> yes. >> Mike Alred, >> yes. >> Okay. And
013there's our finance. Next committee is governance committee. >> Sarah Beth, thank you for your input. I understand you would like to stay. >> Yes. >> Ann, is that something that you are still interested in? >> Uh, yeah, I would I would definitely be interested to stay. Um, I feel my skill set is is more helpful toward governance than it would be on district safety. So, in in terms of numbers and how many folks want to be involved, I I'd love to stay, but I I understand if other folks want to get involved. Okay. I won't speak for James, but I will say that in my conversation with him, he had expressed a stronger interest in policy than governance. And in light of uh Mike Aldrid's desire to move to that committee, I will recuse myself
014from that one Shane and Mike Whitney assuming. No. Okay, perfect. All right, I will go ahead and move to appoint an Aerson, Sarah Beth Camper, Journey, and Mike Aldred to the board of education governance committee support. Shane, thank you. Further discussion. All right, into a vote. Mike Aldred, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. Shane, >> yes. >> Ann, >> yes. >> Okay. And next we have our district safety committee. I know there is a lot of interest on on this one for this year in particular. So Mike, I know you said you wanted to stay on that. >> Absolutely. emphatic um that I would desire to stay on this, the input, the knowledge, those conversations, the awareness, and just my flatout desire to be on the safety
015committee. Um I ask for your vote. >> Okay. And then our other member this year is Sarah B. >> Um I would like to stay on it. Um part of it is part of it for me is my social part. I I now get to talk to the police and the fire and all the other parts of our district that don't necessarily a part of the board, so to speak. And um I just I I really enjoyed being on the committee. I hopefully part of it is also just I I can't do the other two that we have because of my schedule. So, it fits great into my schedule with my life, so to speak. >> Okay, >> Mike and Shane. >> I've I've served on the safety committee before. I'm certainly open to it.
016I It is It is a uh definitely an interest of mine, but I'm I'm open either way, honestly. >> Okay. >> Uh I don't I don't have to be on there. Just Yeah. Um, being that I'm on the other two committees and on the parent safety committee as well, I figure I can leave the spot for somebody else to have a voice. >> Okay. Thank you for that. Um, I was the third member of that committee this year and I I know James had expressed a strong interest in in getting back into that committee and I do feel that all of our our members who have served on that community do a really good job of keeping us aware and updated. And so I would be willing to um take myself off of that one
017for this year and and have James step in. Yes, please. >> Move to appoint Mike Aldrid, Sarah Beth Campoui, and James Summers to the district safety committee. >> Support Mike. Thank you. Further discussion. Okay. To our roll call. Ann, >> yes. >> Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. Mike Whitney. >> Yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> James is absent. Okay. Next, we have our budget review and there wasn't a lot of interest in this one this year. Uh Shane had served as our previous delegate. Does anybody have an interest in in that one? I would like to suggest that it is someone from our finance committee. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I'd be willing. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And then how about a delegate in case Shane cannot attend? >> I
018can be as backup. >> Okay, >> it's fine. >> Great. >> Then I move to appoint Shane Gibson as a delegate and Mike Whitney as an alternate to the Oakland schools budget review. Support Mike. Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, roll call. Ann, >> yes. >> Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> Okay, thank you Shane and Mike. Next, we have our OCSBA government relations committee. Ann had previously served in that role. I had put my name and interest. um just in case. I'm happy if Ann, if you would like to continue that if that's something you're interested in. >> Sure. Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Um I'm happy to be the alternate in that. Anybody would like to make that motion?
019>> Sure. >> Thanks. Move to appoint Anneserson as delegate and Amanda Mcdana as the alternate to the OCSBA government relations committee. >> Support Shane. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right. Roll call. Shane, >> yes. >> Ann, >> yes. >> Mike Aldren, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. All right. Thank you all for your willingness to serve on various committees and provide input. It has been very valuable this year and I have no doubt that the next year will be the same. Now some housekeeping items like to roll into some motions here. >> I can take one. Thank you. uh move that move that all general fund and debt retirement checks for the 2026 calendar year be listed and approved by the board. They will be signed
020by using the signature plate engraved with the names Tanya Milligan and treasurer Mike Whitney. >> No, >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry. Have it. Sorry. Shane Gibson. Sorry. >> Support Mike Aldra. Thank you. Any discussion? Roll call vote. Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Asha, >> yes. >> An >> yes. >> Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Okay, next one. Uh, I move that all payroll, internal accounting, and school lunch checks be signed for the 2026 calendar year by using the plate engraved with the names Tanya Milligan and Treasurer Shane Gibson. Support. Mike Aldrid. Thank you. Discussion. Roll call vote. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> An >> yes. >> Mike Aldred, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Next motion.
021>> Sure. Move that the board president will be allowed to sign checks in place of the board treasurer only when and if needed. >> Support Shane. Thank you. Discussion. We'll call vote. Amanda, yes. Sarah Beth, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> An >> yes. >> Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Okay, moving into item five. Uh, I'm sure you've all seen the meetings uh, schedule proposed for next year. Important to note that we switched it up a bit and have two meetings in December and one in November as opposed to the other way around. I think that would have been pretty beneficial this year as it turned out. Um, other than that, it's it's pretty standard. So, move to approve the board of education 2026 2027 meeting schedule as presented.
022Support Mike. Thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Next, we'll need a motion for our legal council this year. Shane, thank you. All right. Move to appoint Trune Law Firm, PC, McNeel and Associates, PC, Collins and Blaha PC, Taft Statinius and Hollister LLP, Clark Hill PLC, Miller Campfield, Leupre GPM LLP and Barnum LLP as legal council for Oxford Community Schools for the 2025 2026 school year as presented. >> Support. I'll support. Any discussion? All right, we'll call vote. Mike Aldrid, >> yes. >> Amanda, yes. Sarah Bath, >> yes. >> Mike Whitney, >> yes. >> Shane, >> yes. >> Ann, >> yes. >> Excellent. Item seven, changes to the board agenda. I do have one. I would like to remove close session for this evening. I know I've
023touched base with all of you. Um, considering uh, you know, Tanya is under the weather and we are missing a board member, we are going to postpone that to our second meeting in January. So, I'll make a motion to be uh, move to remove close session from this evening's agenda. Can I get support, Shane? Thank you. Any discussion? Okay. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Excellent. Item eight, our scheduled public comment. We have one this evening. Marissa Prince, whenever you're ready. Oh, uh, you know, I don't foresee an issue, but technically Mike Whitney, you would be our secretary >> for the evening. >> Set a timer on my phone. You have it. This >> Yeah, you just do it on the phone. >> Okay. Since the um school shooting four years ago,
024I've worked to really understand the district's safety policies and procedures and practices in the schools that my children attend. I've watched as policies have been rewritten and attended policy meetings, given feedback on policies, including the bullying policy, which was updated um in July of 2024. Tonight, we will see bullying data presented for the first half of the year. I've had concerns that I've communicated since this summer about bullying and the investigation criteria that's used, including concerns about the district reporting zero instances of bullying to the state for all of last school year across all buildings. And I've had meetings with some of you to try to understand that. um especially because our student survey data shows that students feel they're experiencing bullying and the numbers are even higher among federally protected classes of students. So
025what I think might be happening is I think we may be applying decision-making criteria when investigating bullying cases beyond what the Michigan state law calls for. So on the presentation tonight, we reference OAS, which from my investigation is like a more of a researchbased prevention and education model in concepts such as a power imbalance or repetition might be useful for designing prevention efforts, but they're not a part of Michigan state law and they're not required elements under the board policy either. Michigan state legislature a decade ago when they created the Matt Epling safe school law deliberately did not include these elements because they recognized that serious harm can occur to students from a single incident and between students of similar status. Um, I looked at the numbers submitted from districts nearby Rochester last year, 67
026instances of bullying and Clarkston 44 that they addressed. I'm issuing a call to action to the board in your legally responsible role in a governance role to drill down and understand what's happening here because it's reminiscent of the same issues we saw during the investigation process of the shooting where we saw policies in place that just weren't really rolled out and we saw some confusion around the implementation of policies. To me, bullying is just as serious as threat assessment. I want our school community to really wrap our arms around this issue to understand what's happening. That includes student voices, parent voices, and staff voices. And we won't achieve the safety culture that we need in our buildings, particularly at the secondary level, the middle school and high school. And that all of us want that
027culture of safety of where students feel safe until we really address the bullying issue and how students are feeling. And that starts with adherence to state statutes. Thank you. Thank you, Marissa. All right. Item nine, our consent agenda. We have the minutes, bills payable, and HR updates. Uh, you know what? I'm sorry, Justin. I had sent it, but I didn't look to follow up. Did you change the December 19th meeting minutes to reflect accurately the adjournment time? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Is that on board book? The printed copy is incorrect. >> No, I don't think I was wrong. So, on the December 19th meeting, it it shows that the meeting adjourned at 11:20 p.m. It was supposed to be A.M. >> Yeah. The the special meeting. >> Mhm. December 19th. While he's adjusting that,
028were there any discussion items on the rest of the consent agenda? Good. Okay. Thank you. All right. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Support Shane. Thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Item 10, our superintendent report, starting with Dr. Milligan. >> All right. Good evening everybody. First of all, I want to thank the board for your support and moving the closed session. I really appreciate your flexibility. Um to start uh my update again, I want to ground us in our vision, mission, and core values. Um, unfortunately I was unable to attend ADT team today, but they continue to ground their work in the strategic plan and today they use the data dashboard to have a mid-year reflection and from what I understand have some great
029conversation around that. So I appreciate their efforts. Uh, tonight's highlights, I'm going to share some information about the upcoming portrait of a graduate community sessions. Um, I have quite a few school and department highlights and then Dr. Willman will share her midyear safety update. So on January 28th, we have two sessions, community sessions to get input on the uh revised portrait of a graduate uh from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. or 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. We're also going to hold our community of a whole here at OES on the 27th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. and we that'll be another opportunity for community members to come and give input into the portrait of a graduate. So as indicated there the portrait of a graduate um this is shared description. So what we all want uh in
030the skills, knowledge and qualities for our students when they leave our school district. We are essentially guaranteeing that all graduates of Oxford Community Schools will have these qualities. So that's why it's so important that we have community voice. We've reached out to our um community businesses um because our hope is that they will employ our students currently and in the future. Um so it's a great opportunity to have that voice and give that input. So what should a graduate from our schools be prepared to do and be academically, socially, and as a citizen? So if me community members um staff are all welcome to join uh on the 28th from 1 to 3 or 5:30 to 7:30 as well as at the next uh committee of the whole on the 27th from 6:00 to 7.
031There we go. We have some really great highlights. I appreciate our school leaders sharing those with me. Um so these are some highlights from Clear Lake. Uh, Clear Lake students learned about Dia delos reos meos in Spanish class exploring the cultural traditions celebrated on January 6th in many Spanish-speaking countries. They sampled Rasca de Reyes and learned about customs such as finding the hidden figure in the bread and children leaving their shoes out to receive small gifts. Also at Clear Lake, um they celebrated their positive behaviors and gathered as a whole school one last time for 2025 with a Christmas singalong. And the Clear Lake super singers performed and the teachers put on a skit for the school. So I have no doubt that was very entertaining. Um, in addition, 78 students have been recognized so
032far this school year as a PBIS golden ticket winner for being very principled and caring while there is a guest teacher in the classroom. Guest teachers at Clear Lake are incorporated into the school's positive behavior recognition recognition system and are the only staff able to pass out golden tickets which earn a ticket to the book vending machine. And if you haven't had a chance to see that vending machine, it's super cool and the kids love it. All right, at Crossroads, lots of great things at Crossroads. Um started off with a visit uh from the Oxford uh Wildcat Pack. Uh Hope and Al. Um Mrs. Malberg, our district lead handler, brought the facility dogs for a visit, and these pictures speak volumes. The kids absolutely loved it. We also recognized our PBIS students of the month
033for December and had a great staff Christmas party at the Legacy Center G's Pizza at DA. Just before the holiday break, the Wildcats made an appearance at the DA staff skit and sing along. Even though the office had a near lifeside Mr. Boyd Elf. I'm sad I missed that. Um, our student leadership team voted Mrs. Allen's Hanukkah themed door as their favorite. A student was heard mentioning that they love this door because they also celebrate Hanukkah. At OES, lots of great things going on at OES. Um, all OES staff participated in ongoing professional learning with Oakland schools, focusing on assetbased language. Uh, we are committed to recognizing and building on every student's strengths and they're proud to be a learning community. Mrs. Alef, third grade uh, teacher and Miss Mrs. Miss Hannah Oes English language
034learner teacher demonstrated outstanding co-eing at OES. Through strong collaboration, they provide support to all students. This is Mrs. Hannah's leading. This is Mrs. Hannah leading an engaging social studies lesson about Japan and Mrs. Alf's classroom. I skipped one. Sorry about that. I believe I skipped a slide. I might have got them mixed up. Did I read about the Christmas? Did I switch them? I'm a little out of it this evening. I apologize. So, these were the classrooms. That was the learning and that was the classroom >> I was speaking about. So, I apologize. I think I flipped the slides. Now, we'll go back to this one. All right. We had a magical weekend before break at Oxford Elementary. Um, from our schoolwide singalong to classroom parties where students dressed up as snowmen, holiday spirit was
035everywhere. Spirit week brought the fun. Miss Murphy became Miss Claus. Staff transformed into reindeer and students spread cheer as festive elves. At our OES extended day program, it was bursting with creativity and leadership. Student leaders with a passion for the arts organized and presented frozen for their peers. For months, they practiced lines, gathered props, and created costumes to bring the magic of life on stage. And finally, the third picture there, OES kicked off the new year with our reteing PBIS expectations assembly. Student council took the lead, sharing key essential agreements with their peers. Proud to see student leaders making a difference at OES. The struggle is real. All right, Lakeville. A very special thank you to our PTO for organizing our Detroit Lions assembly at Lakeville last month. Uh Rory, the Detroit Lions mascot, brought
036great energy and helped our students learn the key characteristics of being amazing leaders for life. Just before the holiday break, the Grinch made a surprise appearance at Lakeville in an attempt to disrupt our holiday singalong and staff skit. In the end, the tables were turned and he embraced the true spirit of the holiday season. And the third picture there, students from MS welcomed Lakeville students by playing holiday music as they arrived at school. At OHS, we have the upcoming talent show on January 28th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. Um, I think this was the one that got snowed out last year, so let's keep our fingers crossed. Our kids are so very talented. Um, so if you're interested in seeing their amazing talent, that would be a great event to attend. Um, and congratulations to
037our Oxford wrestling team winning the Oakland County Tournament Championship. The program claimed its third county title in five years when they won it over the holiday break. So, congratulations. And of course, we have our OS Christmas card. I don't know who all received that, but I'm always entertained by their shenanigans, including their amazing outfits. So, um, that definitely brings the holiday cheer at Bridges High School. um you had a uh visit, the Bridges High School visit to OCC. They took a field trip. Um and we also uh want to welcome uh Letha back, our uh principal. Uh and I also want to thank Mr. Edwards for covering for the last few weeks when she was out. So, thank you for that. And now we have Dr. Willleman with our safety updates. Uh, real quick, I
038have a question if I can. Um, the portrait of a graduate on January 28th, are either one of those sessions going to be available online, like to be streamed? >> They're um, they're in person, so we don't have an online version, but we have sent out surveys for to get uh, community members to give input as well. >> All right. Um, good evening. Um, I'm going to be here. I don't have a little clicker and mine's in my bag. So, I >> You want this one? >> I can stay here. It's okay though. But thank you. I I'm good not touching things you've touched. I like you, but I think everybody enjoys when I'm at work. >> Thanks for that. >> I just want you to get healthy, too. So, there's that. Um, so today
039I'm bringing midyear data um on threat assessment, suicide risk assessment, and bullying, as well as some information on gaggle reachout. And so, as a reminder for everyone, we got to see this delightful one-pager for most of the first semester of school. And it really was that anchor chart like we talked about um to really dig into all of the complex systems that we have in place here to address both physical and psychological safety that is still up on the school safety and security web page for anyone who may need it. And then additionally, we do have a lot of mental health support in place. And this one pager can also be found on our website. Um, so as we're getting into things like threat assessment, suicide risk assessment, and bullying, we want to be able
040to make sure that everyone can access any of our resources that we have available as well. And so our suicide risk assessments, this is completed by a multid-disciplinary team. It is led by our mental health department. There's two mental school-based mental health professionals with at least a master's degree who are part of that team along with a school administrator and an SRO whether it is a screener or a full assessment that is our multidisciplinary team. Now, if a student has an IEP, a 504, receives L services or anything additional, um we may always include more people, but our basic team is our two mental health, school-based mental health professionals with at least a master's, a school administrator, and our school resource officer. And so, um there's a couple of links there. We have our board
041policy for suicide prevention, our administrative guideline, as well as information on the Columbia suicide severity rating scale, which is the model that we use for our suicide risk assessments. And so our data for this part of the year, um, we have had 57 screeners, uh, 26 full suicide risk assessments for a total of 83. Um, this is the number is higher than last year. most of them being screeners and that's attributed to a lot of self-reporting of our students. We talked about that last year. Um, a lot of that number continues to rise because we not only have students that are self-reporting, we also have students hearing their friends say something. And as I meet with my teams and we talk to each other, I always equate it to I had a dog that would
042hear something and she'd tilt her head. And that's kind of what we what we think of. If it's something that tilt makes you tilt your head, report it. Um and so we are seeing an uptick in screeners which is comparable with what's happening across the country. Um we we could have a long long conversation about mental health in this country. Um but what's important to see here because of the number of screeners that we're doing that means people are reaching out for help whether it's themselves or they're reaching out on behalf of their friends. And so I think that's just such a great thing that we have kids, staff, anyone feeling that they're comfortable to be able to report that. Um for threat assessments, um we also have a multid-disciplinary team. Um this is led
043by your campus principal or other administrator on that campus, a school-based mental health professional with at least a masters, and a school resource officer. Similar to when we have our suicide risk assessments, if the student has an IEP, 504, receives L services, etc., more people will be part of the team. Um, but our basic team is a school-based mental health professional with at least a master's, a school resource officer, and a school administrator. And you can find a lot of information on that through our board policy. And there are a couple of AGs associated with threat assessment and concerning signs and warning behaviors. Um, but the one that's linked here specifically speaks to the process of threat assessment intervention. And then we use the national threat assessment center model. A lot of people can confuse
044the idea of BTAM or behavior threat assessment management with NTAC or C the other CAStag is another model. Behavior threat assessment management is kind of the big umbrella where NTAC is the model that we're using. So what we're using for our behavior threat assessment management is the national threat assessment center model also known as the secret service model. And then we do have um I am a trainer through a grant that the Michigan State Police Office of School Safety um earned a few years ago. And then additionally myself and Melissa Cre who is one of our school psychologists. We are master trainers through the Department of Homeland Security, a certification that approximately 439 people in the entire country hold. And there are six of us in Oakland County that hold that certification. And so from
045this data, we've had a total of 78 screeners. We had nine full threat assessments and a total of 87. Um the screeners have again gone up a little bit but it is our culture of see something say something um and wanting people to report. We have again a lot of students overhearing something teachers overhearing parents have been great contacting their schools about anything that they overhear. We've had bus drivers overhear things. It really has become that please report it. um similar to suicide risk assessment, something that makes you tilt your head or have heard like your hair stand up on your neck, you want to report that. Um and those are all screened similar to our suicide risk assessment with a multid-disciplinary team. Um and um the FO have pretty much remained consistent, but as
046we know from the guidepost report, immediately following um no the the tragedy, we were doing 300% more threat assessments than school districts of our size and makeup. And so that's why we developed that screening process the way that we have is because we do encourage see something, say something and we let our multiddisciplinary team be able to um work through that process. And no matter if it's a screener or a full whether it's a threat assessment or a suicide risk assessment, it's not an a toz idea. So, a student could have a screener and still have code of conduct tied to it or a mental health referral or check-ins or secondary searches just as if it was a full. Um, so limiting a screener or a full that doesn't limit what the team's processes can
047be. Um, and as was put on the bottom of both charts, we do ask about access to weapons. um in both our our screeners and our full. Yes, the parents and the students and the screener and then our SR our school resource officers are able to check the lean system in full and so we're able to inquire about that no matter what it is in suicide risk assessments we do broaden that term to be dangerous instrumentalities to include lethal weapons because as we know a student that may have suicidal ideiations may not be specifically referencing a lethal weapon. Um, and so just being able to cover everything that we could possibly think of with that. And so getting into bullying prevention question, we have Yes. >> for the threat assessments, maybe I missed it, but
048from our total number on that, do we understand where we lie or where we are in regards to the national average on this? You mentioned it on the suicide. I just wanted to kind of the same same bar on this one >> because we still cast a very wide net. we have and that's why the screening process is so well developed here. It is a lot more reporting than other districts. As far as full assessments, we're still a little higher. Um but because we have the teams that we have and the training, our staff across the district are they're able to spot some things that some school districts who are still because our state the state law doesn't go into place to require threat assessment teams until next school year. um they're still in that
049learning process where we've we have all of those processes already developed at this point. And so it's a little different to compare us to even school districts in our area because of the work we've done to develop our systems and processes. So the board policy for bullying prevention is linked here. We also have an administrative guideline and Justin has very nicely um uploaded our checklist in it's listed as a form. Um so you're able to see that that's taken directly from our administrative guideline and put into a checklist form because it helps anytime we can have checklists to be able to give reminders for the pieces that we need to do. Um there are a couple of different things that we do partake in as far as bullying prevention PBIS um which positive behavior intervention
050support and then the second step bullying prevention lessons is at the elementary level and the oasis is at the secondary level. And so questions that come up and we we had a a public comment tonight about that. So really being able to talk about what does bullying mean? And when we look at the Michigan code on that, which is MCL 3801310B, um it refers to written, verbal, or physical actions or electronic communications that substantially inter and I'm paraphrasing so that we're not sitting here. You can read the full law. Um it it substantially interfering with educational opportunities. if it creates reasonable fear of harm with emotional or emotional distress, detrimental effect on pupil's physical or mental health, a substantial disruption um to the orderly functioning of schools um and the difference between what we see
051here with the oasis definition which also just so everyone's aware aligns with what the United States Department of Health and Human Services stopbullying.gov Michigan.gov gov under resources with okay to say the CDC and the federal department of education all align with OES's bullying definition and the difference here is the mi what's written in the Michigan law is it's really ensuring that schools have a mechanism to respond that they have a starting point um and it really then is on to the schools to develop those policies that are going to hone in on what other reputable organizations such as the US department of health and human services stopbullying.gov, Michigan.gov, the CDC, and the federal department of education align with what their definition of bullying is. And what we see a lot is people who report that
052there's bullying, but it really is an interpersonal conflict. Um, students will come home and say, "This happened." And then we work really hard to get the whole story. So, it could be an issue of I didn't get the turn on my swing. I got moved out of the way during a football game and if any of you have ever seen football at recess, it's it's pretty big. It's I'm secondary person and even I know football at recess at elementary can get very aggressive. And so part of what we do with this and looking at these definition this definition of bullying is really wanting to then look at the holistic point the part of it. We're not looking at one piece of data with this in our investigation model. we have included multiple other areas so
053that we're not just focusing on one thing. It also asks questions about threat and suicide um risk assessments if those need to be done, if there's any form of harassment um because it could be something else. And so part of our investigative processes is to be able to not just look at one event. one event, one significant event could be something, but we want to do a full investigation to be able to look at what is truly happening because at the end of the day, we're all here to support our students and we want to do a thorough enough investigation because a bullying investigation could warrant a suicide risk assessment or a suicide risk assessment could warrant a bullying investigation. So, being able to look at all of that is is an important component of
054any of our investigations. And so looking at how our process compares to what the law has along with what our policy, it does meet the requirements of the law as well as our policy and our AG. It was built from those things and we continue to look at that whether it be through our campus safety teams and our monthly meetings. Our um mental health subcommittee also looks at it. We look at at it as a cabinet level as well. Um, and then that data is reviewed with our our staff so that it's not a oneanddone. Um, and we do the best that we can. And like we've seen with a great response in reporting things for threat assessment and suicide risk assessment, the better that we can get reports, the better that we can help.
055And so we just continue to encourage no matter what um mechanism you want to use whether it's our anonymous reporting form that we have okay to say um trusted adults principles emails um our emails are we are all available to be contacted. So if you are not comfortable contacting a certain person um please feel free to reach out because we will be able to address the things that we are made aware of. And so when we look at this, we have had one instance of bullying this year that was found to be at the high school. We've had a total of five investigations at this point this year. And then the last piece to share is gaggle reach out. This is a repeat from what was presented um this summer and I've given a couple
056of data points on this so far this year, but it really is just that additional layer. Um, we have we've made some transitions on our PM gaggle teams with administrators and myself and the sheriff's office being able to take on the overnight pieces of it. But this is again, I'm not a mental health professional and so being able to have that available to our students at any time has been great. Um, and sometimes, as you'll see on the next slide, they just need somebody else to talk to. We all do. Sometimes it's just nice to have someone outside of our lives to be able to check in on us. Um because it's nice to have that neutral person. It's great to be able to have your best friend and your spouse and whoever else, but
057sometimes you just want someone else to be part of it. And so it really gives kids a chance to connect and have that personal communication with someone that's not necessarily connected or living in their situation. Um, and we have a personal what we've seen what here is an example of a personalized QR code for our district and one of the posters. I know they've been shared out in newsletters. They've been posted around schools. I know it's in Class Link as well, so students are able to access it. They don't have to walk up to a poster in the hallway and scan the QR code and hope their phone doesn't get taken away. They can access it directly from Class Link. Um, so we're looking at various ways so that our students are able to get
058the help that they need. And so we get reports from this. This is a small snippet. There are more that engage in conversations, but majority of those are they just wanted to check out the system. They wanted to see what happened. So I didn't include this data. The data that you see here is actual conversations that our students and actually a couple of staff have had um with the the mental health professionals that are available 247 through gaggle reachout. And some of those were just general just feeling uneasy um just wanted to talk and um friendship issues, dating issues, grades, stress, anxiety, all typical ch children and teenager behaviors. um anytime that there would be anything serious whether it be a student or an adult that report that that information would be provided to us
059um which would then activate a threat assessment suicide risk assessment as appropriate. Um they would also let us know if there was any sort of CPS referral that was made due to that or if the authorities were called for any reason so that we would be able to partner on that. But it's not I don't get to know like what all the friendship issues are. But anything that reaches that level of threshold that could be part of a suicide assessment, threat assessment, CPS or law enforcement involvement, they will notify us for that. And that is my presentation. So questions. >> I have another one >> and I may end up pulling Christine up here depending on the question. >> Yeah. So, uh, we go back and just kind of looking at the the investigation data
060for the bullying. >> Yes. >> Um, >> I'm hesitant to ask on a national average because this is I mean, this is hard to even talk about. I mean, bullying is not great and any of the other investigations or assessments aren't great either, but it feels like this is low. Do we have a sense of where we are on this bullying data investigations? And and yes, I respect and thank you for all of the precursor information that you've done and the layout of of education and and all of that, but when it comes down to this data here, this would be great if it's 100% factual, but it seems low. Where do we fall on the national average and any other in input when it comes to this total number? So, it'd be difficult to
061say that there is a comparison because I don't have access to internal documents that other districts use as far as their reporting. Um, I can definitely speak with the county group that I run to see what their processes are um because we've been working on that with our threat assessment and suicide risk assessment. But at this time, it would be very difficult to be able to say just because I know what our process is. I know how we got there. I can't say yes or no to theirs. Um, and I know there's been discrepancies. What we're seeing, especially Christine and I, as we go through the anonymous reporting form, we're seeing more interpersonal conflict than anything. Um, which we still want people to report. So, report everything that you think may be something so we
062can investigate it. What we've also seen, um, and I've been part of this with a principal and I reviewing a situation, we started a bullying investigation because we we suspected it. And it's kind of that going back to the like tilt your head, hairs raise on your neck. Um, the principal and I opted to open an investigation because we wanted to know more information. So, I don't have a great answer for you because we're not using uniform tools. So, it's easier when we're talking about threat assessment or suicide risk assessment because there are multiple districts that are using the ENTAC model. There are multiple districts and different entities even using the Colombia model, but everyone's not using a consistent bullying investigation tool or even using the exact same processes that we do. So, it's just
063difficult to answer, >> right? And I respect absolutely that our processes I think with with our experience may be more um robust than others. Uh I I guess my follow on question would be with the numbers we have from the threat assessment numbers being what they are uh and the suicide numbers being what they are. Is there a correlation that could be found or realized between those two assessments which would then correlate to bullying? right? Is one synonymous with another? And I say that only to say it feels like the bullying number is low. And I don't want it to be high. I'm not trying to get to that. But with respect to the nature of of today's world and all of the social economic impacts, but I think more social than anything, my fear
064is we're missing something only because we yes, we have all the robust mechanisms to track it, measure it, and of course, we're attentive to it. Um, I'm just wondering with the higher numbers on the other two assessments investigations, do we missing something on tying in the bully to the rest of them? I'm just wondering if there is an avenue to look into that and if you know just another step on tracking it and okay to say and other things that you can correlate a different number and if this is the number, good on everyone. But I just wanted to ask >> I will say on okay to say I have received over my three years here zero okay to say calls referencing bullying in any way shape or form and more I would say majority
065of them are about self harm than anything but none of the okay to says have referenced bullying in any fashion and we it's in it's posted everywhere it's in my email signature um and I have missed one phone call from okay to say the entire time I've been here because I was actually presenting at a board meeting and Mr. Barless picked up the call for me. Um so that's we will definitely keep talking to our administration with it but it really is so important for kids parents to report it. Um and and that seems to me something that's interesting given how many students are self-reporting or friends are reporting. Um, if survey is showing what it's showing, which it is, and we have so many kids that are willing to report, if their friends are
066expressing suicidal ideiation or any sort of concerning or threatening behavior, why is this not getting reported at the same level? And I think that's just something Christine and I continue to work on. We continue to work with administrators. we do outside of my monthly meetings that I do, I have check-ins with administrators, high school, middle school, we seem to have like at least one additional meeting every month to just talk about things. So, it's it's definitely a topic of conversation. Um it is trying to figure out what that disconnect is because we have so many kids and adults comfortable reporting threat assessment and suicide risk assessment but not reporting bullying which would be my at this point my biggest concern because I can't I can say how I feel about certain things and I'm we're
067on the same page with that because it does makes me tilt my head a little bit too on this but we can only do with what's being reported to us. Uh, I have a question regarding the bullying data as well. Um, I I can't help but feel that five investigations is incredibly low. Um, in order for something to qualify as bullying for the one incident that it looks like you guys recorded as bullying, uh, does that require discipline in order for that to fall into that category? No. >> So, what categorizes the one bullying versus the four that weren't? >> Given that there's only one instance of bullying, I wouldn't be able to speak to that in a public setting because it could possibly give away student information. >> Okay. So, I guess I'll go
068further to say that OES um I have questions regarding that there's one investigation and it was found to not be bullying. Um, I know of one personally that uh that there was a bullying allegation and then I was made aware of a second one. Um, the one that I know of personally was found to be bullying uh according to the administration from OES. Uh, yet it's not on your graph and I'm wondering why. I am not aware of that one. And all of those are supposed to be entered into raptor students safe because that's where we house that. And we also check in with our pupil accountant who controls the power school side of that. So I will be following up with that administrator and would be able to give you an answer on that
069later. >> All right. Um it's it's just a little disheartening. We had this conversation last school year about bullying reporting and here we are discussing this again and it appears we don't have factual data. So um just hoping we can work towards that at some point. >> The the data that's up here aligns with what's in power school and what's in Raptor student safe. >> Who is who enters that in? >> It is incumbent upon the principles to do that. >> Okay. Thank you. I'm wondering a bit about the discrepancy as well to to go off what Mike said. um we have this factor and I'm just I would like to better understand because for example in November we received documentations from a foyer request that showed a bullying investigation report a couple of them
070it was redacted uh but you could see at the end it asked you know what made you determine that it's bullying and in for one for example it said well only two of the three criteria were met so it's not bullying and the one that it did not meet was the the power imbalance. And so it is it says that that it that is not in Raptor at this time, but we've seen from November these bullying sheets that that do include it and it's not. So I'm just trying to really understand how much weight that particular metric has on our results. >> Well, it's part of a team decision, part of the investigative team. So I cannot speak to the makeup of every team on every campus. Um, so we would have to go through
071each case and consult with the team that conducted the bullying investigation to be able to give specific answers as to their decision-making process. >> So those two sheets because the sheets were different themselves. So is every building using a different >> No, everyone puts their bullying investigation information into Raptor student safe. >> Okay. So the sheets are outdated that we have seen. Is that what I'm understanding or are they still being used? >> The the bullying in in investigation information that we align with what's in Power School and what's here is put into Raptor Student Safe. That is the expectation. That is what's on our checklist. If someone is opting to use a different form, they are not using the correct form. And that will be addressed with administrators as I have their monthly check-in
072meetings. Okay. Okay. Uh and then I know I had put it in the the Q&A and and it was answered that um you know according to the law that this data plus the repercussions are are to be reported to the board and it was mentioned that um that would have to be requested. So, I would just like to to formally say I would request to see that information. >> Okay. I'll work with Dr. Milligan to get you that information. >> Okay. All right. I think I'm good. Anybody else? >> Okay. Well, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. Moving into item 11, our board of education matters. We have some committee updates. Finance. Mike, would you like to speak on that? >> I can do that. Um, so we had a finance
073committee meeting before uh the special meeting on the 19th of December. um the insurance discussion to get kind of moved to other uh we talked about the centerbased program. Uh the target uh completion will be in uh before the start of next school year. Um they had an all stake or they were scheduling an all stakeholders meeting. Um the ISD should approve actually today. I don't know if that was correct. And they did. >> They just did. >> And they did. >> There you go. Um, and we talked about some of the other uh items that we were um between the walkthrough and and and such and some of the maybe add-ons that we were talking about. So that would be the kind of the next step after this approval. Now um that was all
074for centerbased for the debt refunding. Uh we closed that on 1217. the savings was actually better than thought previously. So it was around 400 400k savings and so that was a good news before the the break. Um and then that also means uh this year we'll we'll focus on paying down some of the bond um as well bonded debt. Uh you see uh we have the facility standards master planning committee. Um so there's a I guess a large sampling of voices across the district. Uh it's target to have the big picture of standards uh by midsummer. Uh then goals um the goals will be stretched uh a stretch goal but reasonable. Uh and then many will come back to the finance committee and it'll kind of you know that that'll be the loop after um
075how to how to you know pay for those next steps or whatnot. Um other uh we talked about the central office and what that looks like going forward. We've had some interest but um I mean looking for we we kind of coming back with next steps as far as that is concerned. Um as far as the amount we really are trying to figure out uh we're going back to the the potential buyers. Um >> what's that? Yeah. So yeah, sorry. The old I guess it's not central office anymore. Um the previous central office. um discussing uh the co custodian contracts. So we're uh we're negotiating with the current company um and that is potentially it may go to RFP this summer if uh if we can't come to come to more of a an agreement
076there. Uh and then that was that was it from finance committee and then we went into special uh the special meeting. So I think I missed anything. >> Thank you for that. Any questions for finance? Okay. Governance. Ann, would you like to give the update for that? Sure. We met on the 9th to just wrap up working on um the upcoming board workshop. Um, so just kind of fine-tuned some of those fact patterns to work on and then um discussed a a possible millillage planning committee. Tanya, did you want to speak to that or you want me to >> Okay. Um something kind of that stemmed out of the listening tour for all the millillage feedback um just to gain more input from our community members um beyond what we're already able to capture at
077the the school the parent staff level. Um so something involving you know similar to the district safety committee kind of like district you know citizen school finance some sort of advisory committee that would be able to lend their perspective and feedback and suggestions for for ongoing feedback to get us ready for the upcoming millillage in November. So that would just be another opportunity to to reach out and get some more community involvement. >> Were you thinking like an ad hoc committee for that or formalizing a a committee within the board or could you elaborate a little bit on that? We just discussed the the possibility of making it more formal so that it was something that could be regularly scheduled similar to the the layout of the district safety committee. >> Okay. Okay. So, we
078would need interest of board members to join that and be our leaison. Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Anything else? >> I think that's about it. Okay, any other questions for governance policy? We actually reschedu well postponed because as I think I mentioned at the last one, we're getting into um a bit of heavier policies as far as the memorial policy goes. And so before really delving further into that work this past week, we decided to postpone until we knew the makeup of the committee, which it was a good thing as we had changed uh one of our members. So we did not have a policy committee, but we will have one this month. Moving into item B, our field trip approval. You had that information in your packet. Would anybody like to make that motion? Yeah,
079thanks Mike. >> Move to approve the MS field trip as presented. >> Support. >> Shane, thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Did you >> Can I go with them? >> Can you go right? >> Uh, you actually can if you want to. Um they have the uh lottery that you can get into and if you need that email I'll send that to you. >> Okay. I used to live there near there. So I'm like I would love to go back. >> Oh fine. >> I think I want to go just to embarrass my daughter thoroughly cuz just my mere presence will do that. >> Okay. >> That age. Okay. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Excellent. Item C, we had a few policies from
080our previous meeting we had already gone through first reading on. So with that, go ahead Shane. >> Uh move to approve policies 3410.01,5407 and 5407-f as presented. >> Support Mike. Any discussion? All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Item D. We have a FOYA appeal and you should all have seen the synopsis of this along with the associating legal opinion. Uh we would like to have conversation. If somebody wants to put a motion out first, remember to uphold the denial means that it will not be fulfilled and to reverse the denial means that it will be fulfilled as requested. >> Mike, I go move to uphold the denial of the Daniel Crojac foyer number 25-69. >> Support Sarah Beth discussion >> James Shane. >> Yeah, I looking over all the documentation
081and the legal advice and I I understand all that. I I just I hate to always be the one to feel and and to bring this the point of view, I guess, into the discussion, but I just I think there's some things within this that we could provide, but I know it's got to be very specific as to what we provide. And um I I guess I'm making my point as clear as mud, which I'm not meaning to, but um I think in this instance, I understand upholding the denial. I just I think with a little bit of a tweak of the request could I think very easily be fulfilled. Just again my personal opinion. I actually tend to agree with you on that one. Um I I can see where it would be in
082the best interest to uphold this specific appeal. But when we are talking about the substance of the appeal, I do think that there's very valuable information that even as a board member I would like to see come out of this. Um, I understand the need for, you know, protecting the safety and the personal information of of our staff, but I also see that I would like to understand myself better, where the trainings are taking place, what schools are being covered, what certifications are being provided. So, with that being said, I I feel exactly what what you're saying right now. that I would be in support of upholding the denial itself. >> Further discussion. Okay. Motion on the table. All those in favor? >> I I opposed. Motion carries. unscheduled public comment. Do we have Thank
083you. We have two this evening and we will start with Steve St. Juliana. Good evening. Um I have two items actually I want to uh discuss. Uh the first being once again uh the safety update. Um key piece of information that was left off. I've been waiting three months for this to be addressed. Uh and and maybe I've missed it. I' I've been out of the country for a bit. I tried to watch the online meetings, etc. But what about the failure? You talked about the threat assessments. What about the instance of total absolute abject failure by the school to follow through on your procedures? No mention of that whatsoever. Um, where is the OVA principle? I know several of you are aware of this. Um, but the fact to have a a midyear safety
084update and you don't talk about the major failure that is uh, you know, identical in nature to what happened four years ago, a total policy failure. Uh, I I think you really should be asking yourselves, are you doing justice to your role right now? because not a single one of you asked a question about that, brought it up for public discussion. And that is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. You cannot talk about transparency. When you keep doing this kind of actions, you're hiding. You cannot improve if you're not talking about your failures. You're educators. You're supposed to know. You learn from your failures, not from your successes. I shouldn't have to be coming in front of you and reminding you of this simple fact. Second item. First of all, I want to from a a personal perspective,
085thank you for your actions about changing insurance companies from a purely personal uh perspective. But I have to admit when I went back and I watched the video uh from the December 9th meeting, I I was quite flabbergasted by um some of the comments. Um I I I guess I just want to remind some of the members here uh there was questions raised about why you're even looking at we're looking at changing insurance companies. Um, I want to remind you that it was the insurance company through their lawyers who threatened members of the previous board who lied to the previous board about uh the investig the necessary uh delay of investigations. um the previous um insurance company who through their lawyers uh tried to intimidate teachers into not cooperating with the investigation. Um I I
086mean I could go on, but I think those should be enough for certain individuals to understand why the question was brought up about changing insurance companies. That's it. >> So sorry. Thank you, Steve. Our next speaker is Marissa. Um, all right. real quick on the um bullying the issue of the disconnect on why it's not reported. Um have you talked to a high schooler or middle schooler lately who's being bullied? They don't want you to report it. They beg you not to. Um so they'll do anything to have you not report it because it's going to make their life worse. So hopefully that helps you understand the disconnect on bullying reporting. But what helps that is when they see it get reported and handled properly and they see the bully handled and that builds trust
087um in the school community and improves the culture. And I wrote down something that one of you wrote on your interest survey um when you communicated um your desire um to be uh in a board office. It said that this person focus focus is on steady ethical governance that earns and sustains public trust especially in times of heightened disagreement. So that's important and and we find ourselves, you know, kind of in those times um pretty often in the last few years. But the kids, you know, they need to see that steady governance um in their schools as well and they noticed that and I think our administrators, they work so hard and they're trying, you know, to make these crucial decisions and judgment calls. It sounds to me like we might not have um proper
088guidance. I don't I haven't seen the checklist. It sounds like it just got uploaded. I'll look it up. But I ju I want I just want us to look at this and understand I'm asking for board involvement at this point to understand this disconnect and this discrepancy on bullying. Um and and I know we can get there. I know we can make changes and get to where we need to be so that we're comfortable with the numbers that are being um reported that they're accurate and I think it's a good idea to talk to other schools around us in the county and find out what they're doing because we know we know it's happening. Okay, we know it's happening. It's a reflection of society. Unfortunately, it's one of these things that's tossed in the school's
089laps just like, you know, the gun violence and everything else. But this these laws have been on the books for a decade and and they're they're clear to me. They're clear to me and the policy is clear to me. Um what's not clear to me are these extra criteria that we're adding in our system that I feel are diminishing the numbers. So that's what I'm asking that's what I'm asking you guys to look at. Thanks. Thank you, Marissa. All right. Item 13, we have our upcoming scheduled activities. As Tanya mentioned, we have the community of the whole. That will be our next meeting in January. We have count day coming up and of course looking ahead to mid- winter break. Item number 14, any administrative clarification? Dr. Milligan? Item 15, our final board comments. That's
090me. So I I guess in in lie of being argumentative or or causing any sort of uh further discourse here amongst board members. I agree with some of our people that have spoken today and that we do have a bullying problem in this district. Um I'm a parent of a middle school child uh and I can tell you I talk with that child every day about what happens at school and things going on with their friends and and things that are just going on in general uh at the school. And I've spoken with many different parents uh throughout the district and and they feel very strongly that there is a bullying issue. You can't go into any one of our buildings without seeing bullying posters up everywhere. Um there's a reason for that. I I
091got to imagine. So, um I for one am ready to rip the band-aid off, pull the covers back, open up the curtains. Let's let's get to the bottom of it. And let's again, like I said before, these kids can learn in an environment of fear, an environment of intimidation, and being worried every day whether they're going to be made look a fool uh amongst their classmates. So, um if need be, I'm ready to lead that charge, but I I think we owe it to our kids. >> Thank you. Any others? Actually, bullying has been a problem for well over 20 years. Uh, when we lived here on Pontiac Street, our neighbors, he went, our neighbor's grandson went to this school, OES. And it got to the point where by the time he was in middle
092school, he was walking over to Red Barn subdivision to catch a Lake Oran bus and graduate from Lake Oran because it just got worse every time, even when it got reported to the police. It just got worse because there's some things we can't control and that is the parent of the child that's bullied. So, I I do think we need to do our best to figure out how to be updated on true bullying. As Marissa was saying, a lot of the kids aren't going to report it. So, Thank you. Any others? Okay. Well, considering we are not moving into close session, it is 8:05 and this meeting is adjourned.