001You >> ready friends? >> All right. Good. [Music] >> Right. The board of education meeting is called to order. Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. Allegian to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Music] >> All right, Secretary Rristich, will you please take roll call? >> President Wagner, all members are present. >> All right, we're going to move on to the approval of the agenda. Unless there are objections, the agenda will be approved as printed. We good? All right. We are now going to move on to public comment on action items only. Is there anyone here that would like to speak on an action item? All right, we are going to move on
002to the consent agenda. Unless there are objections, the consent agenda will be approved as presented. Everyone good? All right. And now we are going to move on to information items with our superintendent, Mr. Martin for the back to school video and Miss Sarah Davis. >> Yes, thank you. Uh, it's been a great start back to the school year. Started a little cooler, now it's a little bit warmer, but uh, typical of what Michigan weather does. It toys around with us. So, hopefully everybody's enjoying the the last bit of warm weather. Uh Sarah, Miss Davis is here to um kick us off with a back to school video uh as she's done in the past. Go ahead. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat.
003Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Thank you, Miss Davis. Uh just want to say it's it's again been a good start. Uh seeing the elementary students hop out on those new playgrounds was awesome. And then there were a couple photos of our student leaders at the high school link leaders and then our web leaders at middle school. Having those student leaders help with the incoming group to get them where they go. Um I've been in the buildings a little bit here the last couple weeks. Everybody's settled in a little bit. So it's been a great start. So thank you so much. >> All right. It's always a fun video to see that and the graduation video. Yeah. two of my favorites. Excuse me, I'm losing my voice, so just bear with me. We are now going
004to move on to Superintendent Hilda Brandt for our playgrounds at Donison Hills and Bumont. Good evening, trustees. In your package, you'll see an information item related to some playground needs for Bowmont and Donaldson Hills. Bowmont and Donaldson Hills were both renovated with new playgrounds in the summer of 2024. Each of those sites have mounty hills that are just not conducive to grass growing. And they're great fun for the kids, but it's a lot of dirt, sand, and mud. And at Bowmont, there's actually a built-in hillside slide. That slide originally from the bonded monies last summer was 5,100 and or I'm sorry $5,17. And there's some safety issues. The kids are digging in underneath that slide under underneath it. They're exposing some of the bars underneath. It's a safety issue from for them. And so we're
005looking at solutions to address this problem. We believe it's in the best interest to remove those mounds, level it out, and at Bumont replace it with a full walk up slide. That walk up slide would be consortium priced at about $11,000. And the site work to level it down and to plant seed that could grow up and over this season is $26,500 for both sites inclusive. So all in we're talking about $37,000 of a need, but it addresses what I consider to be a safety issue and a cleanliness issue as well. When it's muddy, the kids are tracking the mud into the buildings. So I believe it is something that we should address and I wanted to bring this to your attention. In the package, you'll see a picture of the Bumont slide and you
006can see where the kids have dug hole like they dig out little sand holes which makes it pitted. It just will not grow grass. [Applause] >> Any questions? >> Member Patricia, >> how can you play king of the hill if you don't have a hill? You know, Rob, I I I know it's such fun, but I you know, I do want them to be safe. >> The fun police. Some of it they just >> You told me last time, I'm no fun. >> I I keep saying that. I really thought you were, but all these things you're taking all the fun out of. >> I know. Uh when they put the hills over at Stansku a few years ago, I thought it was just part of they left a pile of dirt there because they
007hadn't finished and it ended up being one of the things kids like to do. Run up and down the hill. >> Mhm. >> It and it's not a real big hill. Yes, they're going to fall, but you're going to fall when you're running around. The little bit of dirt. Again, to me, it isn't as big of a concern. I like the hills. Uh you know, when the kids are digging under there, someone tell them no. Again, I I the concept I was mindboggling, but I I like the hills. I like running up and down them. I like I didn't have a hill when I was over there to the elementary schools and it we had them big like 10 foot slides. If you fell off, you would break an arm or a leg or something.
008Uh and the these look so much safer at kids today. I don't know how they survive, but >> I like heels. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Member Donahue. Uh Karen, you were saying that that these were the new playgrounds as of last year. >> Correct. >> So when something like this happens, um obviously, you know, the whole design was by an architect. >> Okay. >> That probably hasn't been on a playground in 30 plus years. So um when they designed this is there any responsibility back on them or Bart and Malow for when they come up with asinine designs? Um so and andor um are they even are they even pulled back in to talk about what works and what doesn't work because this is going to end up being an expense to us
009after we've just spent quite a large amount in redoing these playgrounds. And so that's the irritation that I have is through no fault of our own >> through our staff or anything like that, we're now having to spend extra money because of a design flaw on their part. >> So I I hear you on that, Pat, and I agree. And um I have we have had many discussion about this. The specifications did not get into when with the design what type of dirt or product should build that up. So that's part of the issue and that if we go in there and we remove that to put in something that is more acceptable for that type of growth then that carries a cost as well. So we've looked at that. We looked at okay could
010we put the engineer wood fiber over the top of it in some regard it would blow all around right >> um it offered up the synthetic turf field to put on there. That's cost prohibited. Um, we did get the pricing for that. So, it is a design issue. It doesn't preclude me from continuing to push on that to look for some relief to the district. Right now, what I'm looking for is to not have to put caution tape around this new piece of equipment, which is what we've had to do, and actually have a slide for the kids at Donaldson Hills. >> Yeah, we've got we've got to get it fixed. We got to get it fixed for the kids. But it just it's it's irritating that >> we've had multiple issues throughout this bond
011with architectural designs and and we still end up having to pay for the fixes on it. >> I concur and um we will continue to have further conversations because there's some other items there's a running list. >> Okay. >> I I do have one question too because it doesn't say the funding source. So I assume we can't use bond dollars to cover this. >> It will come from the bond dollars. It's actually on some of the contingency that was remaining. >> Okay. >> However, I felt that I needed to be transparent with everyone that this was a need and this was a cost and while there was still money that was available from the prior allocation for those playgrounds, I wanted to be transparent on what's happening here and the cost associated with it. >>
012Okay. Thank you. >> Member Torres. >> Yeah. Um, so this is it's a safety issue then is that the kids so they're falling into these little dirt holes. >> They they'll trip into the pivots. I'm not aware of any student being currently hurt. The biggest concern that was raised to me was with Donaldson Hill was with the bars in the wire of the um slide underneath that they were digging out underneath that and then they were exposing themselves to be injured. those underignments in the posts that go down into the ground were never intended to be uncovered and so they they're not necessarily safe for our young ones to be around. >> So the picture that I'm looking at here that this isn't Donaldson though, right? >> Correct. >> That's Bulma. Okay. So then this
013picture I'm looking at a bunch of holes in the dirt here and then there's like a mound. Um so it's unsafe cuz they're coming up and down and they're tracking mud when it rains. Um, but you said that putting in any kind of like mulch was cost prohibited. >> So the the mulch the the sand the material that's theirs right now will not grow. We've tried to seed it. It doesn't take. >> And so we would have to remove that, put in some type of top soil or something that would allow growth. >> No, but for like a mulch like a wood chips or like >> they would blow around because of the the angle of it. Like we have our engineered wood fiber. >> That is >> What about gravel or something? Uh don't
014we use that? >> Well, we've eliminated using pravel at the playgrounds for safety. So, we use engineered wood fiber. Now, >> what is what's that all around here that I'm looking at? >> That's the engineered wood fiber. >> Engineered wood fiber. So, it's not heavy enough to hold. >> No, it would blow around with with the wind and as they run up and down the hill, it'll it's not going to like compact down. We've had many conversations. >> Yeah. I I feel like um like Donnie was saying, maybe, you know, is there something that, you know, we can go back to the engineer on some kind of like there's some insurance or something that kicks in for them that they could help compensate us? It's a lot of money for it seems like in something
015that should have been saw. We're hiring experts to engineer these, not us. You know, we're not experts by any means. We're just trying to solve a problem here. But yeah, I feel like we there's some kind of remedy we could pursue with that. But I get it. Safety issue does look dangerous. >> And like from a legal perspective, I can certainly bring it up with our legal counsel to say we want to venture into a conversation. There's a couple other items um that are also on the radar to have discussions about. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah, I would just echo uh my colleagueu's concern about Barton Malo. I mean, I just don't understand what the heck we would pay these guys for if we just continually have to go back and um
016pay them some more. Um um so this this photo here is of Bulmont. Um >> correct. >> What is is the same issue at Donaldson Hills. >> Donelsson Hills is just a sandy hill that nothing will grow on it. And so the kiddos are doing the same thing over there where they're digging holes into it and but nothing will grow upon it. So, it's just think of it like a sand dune. It's just sand blowing around. >> So, when we say nothing uh grows on it, who has led that effort to try to have something grow on it? >> Sid Tippet has tried to get the growth, our own operations and grounds team, we've tried many things over the last year to get something to take there. It just will not take. We've had the
017soil composition looked at to see was it an issue related to the contractor that brought in the materials and so we we have really looked into this pretty deeply. >> Would you say is it is French and Associates also part of the design of that playground? Is this kind of a combination between French and Barton Mallow? Yes. >> For responsibility on the design. >> Okay. Okay. So, we took responsibility to buy the playground equipment through consortium bids, but the site work and the design, the design was by French and Associates as our architects and then the oversight of the construction and the site work was by Barton Mallo. >> Okay. Have you spoken to Dan Jerome about it? Okay. I assume you had, but >> and are they offering up any solutions on their end
018other than >> They have not. >> Okay. That's also my assumption. All right. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Member McGregor, >> I just wanted to confirm what I heard was correct um on one of these items. So, you said that the money was already going to be going towards playgrounds, so we're not taking it away from something else. >> Correct. >> From the bond money. Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions? All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. We are going to move on with Assistant Superintendent Hildebrandt to the transportation hoist. Good evening again, trustees. So, at our transportation department, we have two workable bays for mechanic work. One is taller than the other. The tallest one is next to our newly redesigned bus wash system. The original inground hoist
019was put into operation in 1999. So, it is beyond its life. It has formally it is fully out of commission now. It has not worked for six weeks. So we're looking at replacement options and we have different options to consider. One would be we go for the same style that we have another inground hoist. We could go for mobile column lifts. We could go for um surface mounted lifts or a parallelogram of scissor lifts. I've been working with mechanics and having conversations with them. We have two different vendors that we're looking at that are both consortium priced. No matter what we choose, the current existing inground bay, the pit needs to be cleaned out. There's 20 in of fluid that is in the bottom of it from all the years of use. So, we know
020that that needs to be cleaned up, decommissioned, and taken care of. So, we are getting prices put together to look at what our best option is along with communication with the mechanics to help drive the decision. But I wanted to bring to your attention this will be coming at the next meeting for action with a formal recommendation and pricing on it which we're gathering currently >> and the source funding source would be the 2020 bond for this as well. >> Yes. And it was a bonded planned project. >> Okay. We just didn't expect it to fully break down >> prior to replacing it. >> Okay. Thank you. Do we have any questions? Member McGregor. >> So fluid. Is this an environmental thing? Is this hydraulic fluid? >> So what have been the fluids from all
021the work that they've done over the last 25 years on the buses. So, a lot of it is going to be oil and different things that as they're working on it, as that hoist put it up up to where they can work on it and they're clearing, all that fluid is is going down into the pit. >> And do we have an environmental cleanup plan? >> That we were we're having drawings put together saying how do we environmentally provide safety and decommission this? And like I said, no matter what we choose, we need to address what's there and remedy this. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Do we have any other questions? >> Member Donahghue. >> So, from my understanding, is that I'm just trying to get a a better visualization of
022this. Is that a pit that the mechanics would work in on the vehicles or is this literally Is this the pit specialty made just for those fluids to go into? >> So, it's a pit where the lift mechanicals lift up out of the ground. >> Okay. >> And then as they work on it, the fluids and the other contaminants is what I'll refer to them as will will fall down into that. >> Okay? that really was, you know, back when this was put into action really was the system of this is what you should use. Well, now we have all these other options. You have mobile lifts. You have, you know, the other components that you can use. >> Okay. I was just making sure that the pit was designed for that and they weren't
023they were not supposed to be using like a 5 gallon down there and working in it. They're not they're not standing in 20 in. >> Okay. That's how I was just like I just wanted to make sure there wasn't >> like your oil change place. >> Okay. Gotcha. All right. Do we have any other questions? All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. We are going to move on now to our legislative update with Superintendent Martin. >> Thank you so much. Uh I wish I had some great news to share, but I do have some news to share. Um and want to be able to uh openly articulate um kind of where things are at. Uh so the last couple days I was at the Michigan Association for Superintendent and Administrators conference uh collaborating
024with fellow superintendent, MDE officials uh and other district administrators from across across the state. Uh the overwhelming topic of conversation was the the state budget um and school aid funds specifically. So, my hope is to provide some context uh update where things currently are and then again an opportunity for our community to continue to advocate for Waterford and all of our students. So, just for context, uh our state budget uh or the district budget is required by law to have be done by June 30th for you guys to take action and approve it. Uh the state budget has the same exact uh expectations. Um this year they're 80 days past due. they they do not have a state budget. Um, frankly, our legislation, all of them have failed to do their job. They were elected.
025Uh, we need to have a state budget. Um, and that does not exist. The typical state budgeting process, um, for those of you that have followed along, typically late winter, early spring, the governor will release kind of a a preliminary budget and then the Senate and House sometime thereafter will release theirs. Um, they get into their different conferences. Um, and typically sometime in June, we have a good idea of kind of where things are. Uh, this past year, uh, the governor released her budget on February 5th. The Senate released their budget on May 14th, and the House did not release their budget until August 26th. And their budget wasn't actually a complete budget. It had portions of the school a fund and left out some other pieces. So, while each proposed school aid fund differs,
026um I just want to give kind of an overview here. The governor's budget called for an increase $392 per pupil. Um keeping categorical mostly the same. Uh the Senate called called for a $400 increase per pupil. Again, keeping categorical close to the same. Uh the House is is the budget that was a little bit different. They're taking a different philosophy. a $417 increase to the per pupil and then bundling all those categoricals into another fund to sit on top of it. Um, and they will say it's $12,000 per pupil. Um, again, significantly different than how things have been funded previously. Uh, we don't know exactly how uh all of those nuances are going to impact us because we don't we don't exactly know how it's going to be. They've just had some conversations. So, while
027we set our budget for the 202526 school year 80 days ago, we we legitimately are going blind. We we are unsure of what funding is going to look like for us um this upcoming school year. Um the general consensus is uh all three uh the governor, the senate, and the house um saw increases. So most likely there will be uh last year's would be kind of the bottom line, but there probably will be some increases, but without knowing exactly what that impact is, um it's leaving districts in a a precarious uh position. Um, I met with Brenda Carter uh last Friday and uh spoke with some legis some lobbyists uh who work in in Lancing. And while everybody remains hopeful that a state shutdown uh will be averted, um the other conversation they are having
028is prepare for there to be a government shutdown. Um there has not been a sitdown between um uh Matt Hall and Winnie Brinks yet. um the the leader of the house and the senate um which is concerning for everybody. Um so our first school aid uh dispersement comes to us October 22nd uh if there is a state shutdown absolutely um and we miss a a payment that's absolutely going to impact us uh impact our students. Uh we are pretty confident between local revenue and our fund balance that we would be able to uh continue business as usual for some time. Um but we do not have that amount of of resources um to go super hall uh super far. Sorry. Uh what I have learned is there's two individuals that we need and I need
029your help in beginning to discourse with and I already said their names. Matt Hall and Winnie Brinks. Um my understanding is those two, the leader of the house, leader of the Senate, have not even sat down to have a conversation. Um those are the two that are the lynch pin in this whole piece. Um we have over the last few weeks uh Miss Davis uh has helped uh with us communicate advocacy. Um and I appreciate our community uh coming alongside us. Um, I am calling for them to con for us to continue to contact our four representatives, um, Brenda Scott, uh, Jeremy Moss, Jim Runstead, and Mike Harris. Um, as well as Matt Hall and Winnie Brinks, uh, as we were doing and as as much as you can can possibly do, uh, while Matt
030Hall and Winnie Brinks may be getting pointed at, uh, frankly, everybody is an elected official. They all have a responsibility in this and they all need to be held to task. Uh our we need a budget. Our students need a budget and we need a school aid fund that doesn't take money from the school aid fund and give it to roads. Um does not take school aid fund money and give it to higher education. There is plenty of money in the school aid fund for them to be able to say, "Hey, we want to fund students for what they deserve." Uh the state of Michigan is 44th in terms of academic performance. Uh I'm calling on the legislators number one to get to the table and and find us a budget and number two resource
031us appropriately. Um so my hopes my hope was coming here I would have some positive news to share. Um I guess it is positive in terms of hey here's here's where we need your help in terms of advocacy and the people to contact. So thank you. Any questions? Member Torres. >> Um on the the House um version of the budget you indicated uh was there what happened with the categoricals there? I know that's a big piece for him. >> Yeah. So, right. >> So, yeah. So, they basic took um Trusty Touris. They took all the categoricals and bundled in them into let's call it $2,000. um and their response is generally, hey, we want districts to determine how they're going to spend that $2,000. That's super problematic, right? Because you're going to be having districts
032choose. Is it transportation? Uh is it breakfast and lunch for some districts? Is it at risk students? Is it special education? Is it English language learners? Um is it staff and contracts? Um, and our our most at risk students, our subgroups who research would tell you when there's a a wide range of research that there's additional funding necessary for them. They're positioning districts where they're going to have to choose one over the other, which is uh absolutely unfair. Absolutely unfair. And I will say this, um, having a philosophical change to bring all the categoricals together in one, I think, uh, could, uh, be beneficial. Um, doing that on August 26th, which is 57 days past when a budget was supposed to be due and not not meeting with the, uh, the Senate and the governor
033before then, um, I think is is really unfair. Really unfair. And I'll use unfair as my word there. >> Yeah. And and I agree that um it's all of our elected uh legislators right now. Every one of them >> who should be held accountable for it because um you know these conversations need to be happening. They need to be talking to the school districts as you're talking with legislators and the categoricals in a district like Waterford are important. >> Yes. >> You know, and we need those >> and so it's it's not a one-sizefits-all. um situation with with districts. I was mentioning earlier in our conversation uh you you mentioned the rankings of where state of Michigan sits as far as education, you know, and there was some chatter I saw on social media about
034um about all of this in the state budget and people talking about cutting programs and you know being more efficient with dollars and then posting stuff about where um school districts are in Oakland County and Waterford fell a little bit above the state average, but on the lower end of of Oakland County. >> But when you but but if you look at that, if if you look at at at where those rankings are, you look at who's at the top. It's the higher socioeconomic communities, which anybody who's looking at that, you can tell that it goes to show that education isn't just in the classroom. It's about resources and it's about social economics the families have and the the the monies that the parents have to do the extras with the kids and the time
035uh and and all those kinds of things. So you have to have things like those categoricals for a Waterford where we can try to get back up and and and get back to the level playing field against the communities where the socioeconomics are higher. You can't compare us to a Bloomfield Hills or a Rochester. We're two completely different communities. But then you pour that on the teachers and you say it's the teachers, it's the administrators, it's the school boards, it's the school districts when it's it's it's not that the learning doesn't stop when the bell rings, right? It happens at home, too, right? It happens with the parents getting their kids up and getting them to school. All those kinds of pieces. But, um, thank you for all that that information. So, um, we're we're
036with you on the advocacy and we'll keep asking parents to do that. >> Member McGregor, >> um, I just wanted to clarify for people listening as we're I think you could probably infer this from what was said, but I think it's an important point the idea of categoricals. I don't know if everybody completely understands that these are protected classes of funding. So, for example, the ones that you talked about, right? So, special education, right? we need to give money so that kids can have special education in addition to what a normal normal isn't the right word our average student gets because it costs more to help those students. So when you take away those categories you lose the protected funding. So I just want to make sure that everybody understands that. Thank you. And it's
037also worth pointing out too with our state and and because we do need to pressure our legislators because ultimately they control our funding and this state has been incredibly supportive of public education. We have made sure not to pass vouchers. We have supported and pushed our legislators to do the categoricals because they are not part of proposal A. The categoricals came out of understanding that we were not financing or funding our students in an equitable fashion. And that's the point here as member Torres was trying as he was stating it has to be equitable. And that was the whole point of proposal A. Unfortunately, proposal A when the financial crash happened didn't really work anymore and we kind of fell into this situation that we're in. So the categoricals are not promised to us, which
038is why it's kind of become a game with the legislature to potentially take those away. They can't be taken away. We know that all of our students have varying needs and we need that money. And the fact the other thing is is I think that everyone is forgetting kids should not be partisan. Our students are nonpart like this should not be a political battle. Our kids should not be pawns in a political battle. All of our kids deserve the right to an education. They all deserve the right to have the same opportunities. It needs to be equitable and it needs to be fair. So, I don't know why my mic keeps going out. My voice came back, but my mic keeps going out. So, we do really, really need help. And it was very inspiring
039to see. I mean, Representative Carter reached out to our district because of our community pushing. So, that is huge. like it is so inspiring to know that our community is standing behind us cuz that's another thing this community has always stood behind our schools. So we we appreciate the help but we have to remember too they everyone was throwing money at us during CO and suddenly it's it's like we're no longer important anymore. And the sad thing is is in the state of Michigan we are fifth for recovery in education in the nation. So that funding is critical to our success and to our student success. Member Estitch, >> Superintendent Martin, can you tell our parents and stakeholders watching what um what the implications would be if we start to miss payments and we do
040have to dip into the general fund. Uh so I mean if you want to play it all the way out, worst case scenario, we have to close schools. Um and programs we would have to start making some decisions on. Uh I I don't want to get there. Um thankfully Waterford is in a pretty healthy position. Um not every district is. Uh so when I was um at the conference, there were some that were uh what happens if November we have to start closing doors. Um my fear uh is that until things like that happen um we aren't going to see movement. Uh and that scares me because we're using children um in a partisan uh game. Uh and yeah, so at the end of the day, depending on how far it's stretched out, right, uh
041at some point we would run out of money. Um and that would impact that would impact programming, that would impact transportation, that would impact uh us being able to open schools and even in the long term. So, um, it takes districts years to build up or monitor their general fund for sure. Um, I mean, I know we have some colleagues here who, um, were in the pretty dark times when our general fund was a couple million dollars. Um, and which puts you also on the brink of a state of the state coming in and taking a look at the book. So, even shutting doors, the long-term recovery itself, I mean, that Yeah, we're talking >> years. Yep. Years. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much for that. I'll tell you what. >> Any other comments or
042questions? >> Under depressed. >> I know. I know. >> I was feeling pretty good before I got here. I know. >> Happy people and fun people. No problem. That >> sucks. >> I know. >> It's it's um it's certainly a position that I cannot remember us ever being to this degree. And it's it's unprecedented. And it's >> it's it's hard to find the positive, but I I do have faith in this community and at least getting behind us and helping us push. >> In 2019, it was the governor versus the Senate in the House, right? It was Democrat versus Republican, but that was much different, right? Um we haven't had House versus Senate in a long time. And again, my fear is Winnie and Matt aren't even talking. Uh, and it seems like one side
043isn't even interested in having discourse. Um, but I don't want to get into politics. Just we need advocacy. We need our four legislators held accountable. We need um Matt and Winnie held accountable as well. >> Agreed. Thank you. And thank you for your advocacy, too. It is greatly appreciated. >> All right, we're going to move on to new business. Maybe it will be a little bit more uplifting. Um, so president's recommendations. And I still I can't figure out why this mic is cutting in and out. So I'm going to use Mike. I'll use Mike's mic. Recommendation 11-25-26 relative to revised board of education meeting schedule. It is recommended that the board of education approve the following revisions to the 2025 2026 schedule for the regular meetings and committee of the whole meetings. Regular meetings are
044held at 6:30 p.m. at the Waterford Township Hall Auditorium, 5200 Civic Center Drive on Waterford, Michigan, unless posted otherwise. Committee the whole meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. at the Kursman Administration Services Prairie Campus, 501 North Cast Lake Road, Waterford, Michigan, unless posted otherwise. December 4th, 2025, move to a regular meeting. December 18th, 2025, cancelled. April 2nd, 2026 cancelled. I so move. >> All right, the motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? I would like to point out that the April 2nd is being cancelled because it's spring break. So, just so everyone is aware of that. All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All right. The motion carries. 70 recommendation 12-25-26 relative to certification of delegates MASB delegate assembly. It is recommended that the board
045of education certify Elizabeth McGregor and Kim Sonicrant as MASB delegates representing the Waterford School District of Educ Waterford School District Board of Education at the delegate assembly. I so move. >> All right. The motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? >> So, are they both out? >> Member or member Patricia, would you like to go first? >> We don't have any members more experience. New people, >> newbies. >> Or maybe that's the reason >> they are both attending the conference in October. That is why they are the delegates. We if we were all attending, we could all be delegates. >> Okay. Member Torres. >> Uh I was just going to say, so they're both going to go to the conference, the machine association school boards. Okay. Yes. >> Yeah. And
046it it's a good conference and they'll they'll get a lot out of it. And I think it's good that two of the newer board members are going cuz there's a lot of information, a lot of workshops, a lot of networking, a lot of opportunities. Um there's even vendors there that you can meet with, you know, give you all kinds of trinkets and stuff. But um it's really good because it it gives you like that overview of all the latest innovations of what's happening in the school district. Everything is is is as much as you know board policies and procedures you know to uh moving on to talking about current legislative issues which are so important right now. So I would just say that when you guys come back if something you guys can give us
047a report uh back to everybody >> and just so that we can know a little bit what you learn to help share with us. >> All right. All those in favor please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 70. All right, we are now going to move on to public comment. We will now take public comment on non-action items. As you are recognized to speak, please move to the microphone at the podium to address the board and state your full name and address for the record. Please be reminded that comments are limited to 3 minutes in duration. Members of the public are invited to share comments. However, this is not intended to be a time for questions and answers. Lastly, participants may speak only once on the same topic and are asked to avoid statements
048that are personally directed, abusive, or obscene. All right, Miss Lori Tunic, could you please move your way to the podium? Good evening, board members, administration, and community. Tonight, I'm not coming to chastise you as I have in the past. Tonight, I come um before you with some urgency. Our schools cannot continue to operate under the cloud of financial uncertainty which has led to no success or contracts for the employees of Waterford. The state legislature still has not finalized the school aid budget that and that delay puts every district including Waterford at risk. Without a budget, we cannot plan responsibly. We cannot stabilize staffing, ensure payroll can be met, and we cannot guarantee that doors remain open for students. That is why on September Tuesday um uh September 24th there will be a lobbying day in
049Lancing. MEA is attempting to get retired members and members who reside in the Lancing area to attend this lobbying day for one clear message. Get the budget done. This is not about politics. It's about ensuring your students have the resources they need and your employees have the stability they deserve. I urge this board to join us at the capital on September 24th. Show Lancing that Waterford stands with the schools across Michigan demanding action. And while we lobby directly, we must also speak directly to leadership. House Republican leader Matt Hall and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks need to get to the table, resolve their differences, and pass a school budget. Now, I'm asking that every person here and those watching online call and email, inundate them. Let them know that delaying the decision is unacceptable. And
050when the education of Michigan's children hangs in the balance, our message is simple. Schools must remain open, stable, and fully funded. The time for delay has passed. The time for action is now. Thank you. >> Thank you. I know this is not a time for questions and answers, but do you have a time frame that you could share with us just so we have that, too? Thank you. So, the plans are actually in the works right now. There's going to be two shifts. There's going to be a morning shift and an afternoon shift. And I promise I will email the board as soon as I have the uh solidified times. >> Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right, we're going to move on now to McKenzie Actton. Hello. Hello. Hello. My Is that on?
051Okay, sorry. I'll try this again. Hello. My name is Mackenzie Ogden and this is my fifth year in the district. I currently teach at Mott, teaching US history, government, and street law. I'm also one of the link crew coordinators and one of the freshman class sponsors. I was also the class of 2025 sponsor last year and was responsible for putting on powderpuff and prom. I love my job. I love my students and I love the Waterford staff. I have never met a staff who works harder or cares more about our students than the Waterford staff. I think of staff members like Danielle Torper, Mott's leadership teacher, who spends countless hours after school working to put together student events, the events that make students excited to come to school. She also does an amazing job shaping
052students into competent, reliable, and responsible leaders every year. I think of Alex Sakovski, one of our ESL teachers at Mott, who diligently works to ensure that our newcomer students feel welcome in our building and are getting the supports they need in order to succeed. I think of Christy Ward, the backbone of our honors and AP social studies program at Mott, who in her 26th year of teaching has taken on a new prep with government and is doing a much better job than me. I think of our TC, Lucy Miles, who even with the cuts made to special ed teachers, has done her best to make sure all of our special education students are able to succeed. I think about our counselors who had to deal with a cut and are down to three now in
053our building and have case loads averaging about 325 students per counselor. but never let their students see the extra stress that has been added to their plates. These are just a few of the amazing staff members I work with at Mott. The staff at Mott is truly like a family and I am so fortunate that I get to call these people my colleagues. I see every day how dedicated they are to their job and to our students and I just wish everyone else saw this too. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, Miss Heather Wickman. Hello, my name is Heather Wickman. I am a 26-year veteran educator in this district. I wanted to respond to a question that board member McGregor asked um at the last cow meeting. How will the district prevent teacher burnout?
054That question is vital. But I must be clear, we are not on the brink of burnout. We are already burnt out. Over the past several years, the district has continuously added to our workload. In 2020, when the world was already overwhelming, our plates were full. And instead of easing the burden, the district gave us bigger plates. That year, elementary teachers received a new math curriculum, but due due to circumstances, we did not get proper professional development on it. The very next year, the district introduced HMH, a comprehensive program with many different components. Again because of the state of the world we did not get the professional development that we needed. We eventually did but we still have not gotten the professional development that we need for writing and we are on year five of this
055program. Then came project um based learning. A few of us were trained but many left more confused than before when before we started. We were expected to provide brief training bursts to peers and integrate complex pre PBL projects into our daily schedule with minimal support. The next year we were expected to implement several projects that didn't align with our curriculum and thankfully that did not happen. In 2024, upper elementary teachers were given a new social studies curriculum with no prior communication, just a pacing guide and materials sent to our classroom. Once again, we had no professional development in this program and our plates grew heavier. Also, in 2024, elementary teachers were told that we were required to complete the intensive letters training. If we refused, we were told that we would be pulled from our
056classrooms and had to provide sub plans. No one considered that many of us were already overwhelmed. This training demands two years of our time and the stipend offered does not compensate for the time taken away from our families. That same year, K2 teachers received a new science curriculum. In May, during MSTEP testing, we were pulled from our classrooms for training on a second new social studies curriculum that would begin this year. Once again, the district is helping by giving us another bigger plate. Now, in this current year, we juggle letters, a new social studies curriculum, an updated ELA curriculum with updated systems to use, and a news seal curriculum. On top of that, we were told at the last cow meeting that now we have to complete surveys for every student. But don't worry, it'll
057only take 1 to three minutes of your time per student. But who is responsible for those interventions? It sounds like we are. We barely have time to teach the required curriculum as it is. And don't forget, we are now tasked with making phone calls for every student who misses five days of school. Please don't get us wrong. The curriculum was needed. However, it takes teachers three to four years to learn a new curriculum and countless hours of our own time studying and learning this curriculum to be able to teach it effectively to our students. As a 26-year veteran, my plate is overflowing. I am overwhelmed. I am overworked. This is simply too much. Imagine how our new teachers are feeling. They are overwhelmed. Your teachers in this district are overworked. We are exhausted. We feel
058undervalued, unappreciated, and unsupported with behaviors. We face verbal and physical abuse from students and parents and little is being done to support us with these. Our mental health is suffering. It's time to stop adding to our plates and start removing unnecessary burdens. And I do welcome each and every one of you if you would like to see what elementary teachers are going through. I welcome you into my classroom at any time at Havland Elementary. You are more than welcome to come in and see what we face on a daily basis. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Heather Cypinani. I'm not sure if you anyone heard me say Heather. Cypinary. I didn't know if I said it correctly. That's why I was like, where are you? Like, someone help me out here. >> Okay. Thank
059you. It's >> Thank you. Sorry that I didn't say it correctly. >> It's a nice Irish name. >> I like it. >> Esteemed members of the board, Mr. Martin, colleagues, friends, and fellow bargaining group members. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. My name is Heather Sepineri, and I am honored to be in my 30th year as a teacher in Waterford, currently teaching fourth grade at Havland. Throughout my career, I've experienced incredible highs and challenging lows. But I must express that the past several months have been particularly difficult. The pressure and stress placed on teachers to do more and be more is leading to an alarming level of burnout. The recent turnover among educators is heartbreaking and I can confidently say that morale is at its lowest point in the three decades I've
060been here. On opening day, we were reminded that we are a team working together to ensure bright futures for our students. However, I question whether we are truly functioning as a team when micromanagement from higher administration seems to undermine our professional judgment. When did you lose faith in the dedicate dedicated educators you hired who strive to implement best practices in their classrooms? This year, the curriculum challenges have made it nearly impossible to meet instructional minutes for upper elementary students. The chaotic special schedule along with mandated recesses and various announcements eats into our precious teaching time. How can we possibly fit everything in when our plates are already overflowing? Additionally, we are facing new challenges. The recent roll out of a new version of HMH for K5 instruction has left many of us struggling to adapt.
061With only a half day of training, we are more focused on preparing for meet and greet than on mastering a new curriculum. We have been introduced to a new new social studies curriculum with limited training, yet we are expected to teach it effectively. The science curriculum still feels inappropriate for our elementary students, adding to our frustrations. and a new SEAL program where we are expected to incorporate 20 minutes of SEAL each day, but the curriculum is constantly changing. We were told to keep our computers on our laps to deliver these lessons effectively or even have students teach them. Meanwhile, we are instructed to keep morning meeting and separate, adding to our already overwhelming instructional load. We arrive early, stay late, take work home, sacrificing precious time with our family and friends. This has become the
062norm, an unspoken expectation that we will continue to give our all at the expense of our personal well-being. You count on our dedication knowing we won't let our students and families down, but this comes at a significant cost to our physical and mental health. We deserve better. We need a sensible plan for instructional minutes that aligns with best practices, allowing for essential breaks and activities like recess and drills. A calendar that mirrors those of neighboring districts, providing reasonable breaks and a fair end to the school year. A contract that ensures fair compensation for all staff considering cost of living adjustments. Affordable health care that provides adequate coverage for all. Safe and clean classrooms and buildings and sufficient support staff to help both students and teachers thrive. Leaders of the Waterford School District, we are at
063a breaking point. Instead of fostering an environment where we can teach authentically and effectively, we are pressured to deliver a curriculum that does not serve our staff, students, or families well. This is not teamwork. It is a call to action for us to do better. If we truly want a bright future for our students, we must address these issues together. In closing, I urge you to reconsider the current approach. Trust in the expertise of your teachers, provide us with the necessary training and support, and allow us the autonomy to teach effectively. Together, we can foster an environment with both where both educators and students thrive. Thank you. >> Thank you, Kayla Schumacher. >> Did I pronounce your name properly? >> I think so. I didn't hear you. >> Okay. Well, we're gonna go with yes.
064>> Yes. >> Okay, that works. >> Good evening. My name is Kayla Schumacher and I am a speech and language pathologist within the district. I have spent the last two years working within the ASD program and CI programs at Mason and the CI program at MA. This year I'm excited to be working at KMS. Waterford staff, teachers, ancillary paras, bus drivers, lunch staff, etc. of are often the only stability and consistency our students have. They come to school each day knowing their trusted adults will be there for them. However, it's hard to give our all and be there for our students who need us each day when we as staff are facing such uncertainty with not having a current contract and not knowing whether or not our positions are safe. All of us in this
065room and across the district wear multiple hats each day. We perform our specific jobs and duties and so much more. We do what needs to be done to not only support students but also fellow staff members. We put out fires that always seem to come out of nowhere. And many of us find ourselves working at home because the day gets busy, but tracking logs, Medicaid, IEPs, lesson plans, reports still need to get done. Like many others in this room, I am here because I choose to be. Why? For our students. I urge you to keep students and staff at the forefront of every decision you make, as every decision made will have an impact. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, we're going to move on to Marge Dressella. Like I knew I was looking
066for the hat. I could not figure out where you were sitting, Marge. You probably didn't notice because I was sitting quietly. Okay. Um, on a little different turn than many of the people who are very very actively speaking here tonight. Um, my name is Marge Dancella. I'm 6570 West Failia. My address is West Bloomfield, but I'm very proudly part of the Waterford School District and have been for a long, long time. Also, it's been so long. I have a son who has sons at Schoolcraft. Um, this only comes from a proud Grammy who kind of looks at this and says, "I know our schools need to be doing something about the pollution caused by the concrete crushing that is just behind Ketaring High School. Uh, my kids live real close to there and I really
067really want to see something done." Conversation from the township are are necessary. We need to understand that this has got to stop. When they're told to stop, when they're told to to cease and desist or prove that they they are qualified for eagle approval and it doesn't exist. It doesn't change anything. It makes me very very sad. I come here in support of education, but I also come here in support of breathing of this community. And that was my position for coming tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. We are going to now move on to our board of education reports. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, Mary, I didn't have your green card. >> That's okay. We are not moving on to board of education reports yet. All right. Thank you. Good evening. My
068name is Mary Crate. I live at 3655 Mariner. I am a proud Waterford graduate. All four of my children graduated from Waterford schools and I now have grandchildren in the Waterford School District um at Schoolcraft and at Pierce this year. I'm here tonight to talk about my staff concerns as I sat through trails this week and last week, which is nobody is going to argue. It's amazing stuff. But we had one hour of PLC time to try to fast forward through everything that there was this week and last week. And it came to me that we can't keep adding more and more to teachers plates. In the last two weeks of school, I've tried to do IDIS, NWA, Lexia placement, Amamira assessments, and there's a problem with all of this. The kids have to be
069in school. And in case you're not aware, we have a massive attendance problem in this school district. And I'm going to tell every one of you, it's impacting our test scores. Last year, when I was a Title One reading interventionist, I had kids that were missing 35 and 40 days. And you know what? I'm really good at my job, but if they're not there, I can't help them. Now, it's falling on the teachers. Oh, just one more thing, elementary teachers. When the kids miss 5 days in your class, go ahead and call home. because now we're going to upset parents when teachers start calling them. Then I get a call from a high school teacher who says, "Mary, I'm confused. How did this become my job and my colleagues job? Because now we have to
070call parents after three phone calls, after three absences." So I had a teacher who said, "I figured it out. I teach six hours a day in a high school and I already after 13 days of school have 37 kids who have missed three or more days of class. I need to call their parents. Now I got to call their parents. I have to go into my star and document it. Then I got to email the principal and the counselor to let them know that. But wait, you're the parent. This would be me because my daughter went through a hard time in nth grade. So I'll just say, "Hey, Mrs. Crate, this is Mrs. Miss Ogden calling from Waterford Mott and your child has missed three days in my class." Hi Mrs. Crate. This is Miss
071Torper calling from Waterford Mott and your child has missed three days of class. Hi Mrs. Crate, this is Mr. Humphrey's calling. Your daughter has missed three days in my class. No kidding. You don't think I already know that? If I could have gotten her to school without telling me she was going to kill herself, I would have had her there. But now the teachers have to harass me about it. That is not their job. That's why we had a truency officer. That's right. That went away with the budget cut. So now you're going to put that on top of the teachers. Their planning time should be used to plan for their kids, not making phone calls, harassing parents, because then guess what? I guarantee you where those phone calls are going to go. Parents aren't
072going to call me. They're going to call all of you. They're going to start emailing you. Why am I getting seven phone calls because my kid missed class? We have to figure out what is a teacher's responsibility. What are we going to go to the wall for? My number one thing should be we're here to educate the kids, but they need to be in school. That's got to be somebody else's job. Unless you want to give me a van because I'll go to their house and I'll pick them up. I will knock on their front door. If you want to give me a buzz, I will go. Mr. Cooper that I work for at Donaldson Hills, he'll go with me. We'll go pick them up. But if they're not at school, we can't educate them.
073We can't help them with the social emotional issues. And I'm talking hundreds of absences already. Pull it, get that data, and find out how many days in just this is now the fourth week of school. How many of our kids have missed two days of school, three days of school, four days of school? I have kids I couldn't finish testing this week because they haven't been there one time where I was at the school. So now I had to hand it off to somebody else to finish tomorrow. We've got to get the kids to school or none of this is going to matter. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we are going to move on to our board of education reports. Are there any board of education reports this evening? >> Member Sonic. >> Uh
074we had the youth assistance board meeting last night and I'm happy to say that they surpassed their goal with the shoes that they were collecting like by a thousand I think thousand pair and they're still collecting them. So if you have them we'll take them. Um, also, um, they we have they have some events coming up and I'm sorry, I need to look at my notes. >> That's okay. >> Are you sure? >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Are there any other member McGregor? >> Um, yes. Thank you. Um, so at the government relations committee for Oakland County Schools, uh, this is a couple weeks ago, so we're a little further ahead than when this came out. Um, I must believe that you're going to talk about our new superintendent as a
075school. Maybe uh, for the state. >> Oh, yeah. >> Okay. I just want to make sure. >> I guess >> I don't I don't want to say his name wrong. >> Yeah. Yeah. One MO. >> MO. Uh, Dr. Mallea is going to be our new superintendent of schools for the state of Michigan. We also um have a lot of things going on in um the legislature both in the Senate and the House. Um but there are a few very few things that have actually gone through. Um and um one of those is um I think most people know the need of this um but there is some legislation that indirectly affects schools about deep fakes um and explicit content in those deep fakes that has now been passed into legislation. Um, and I think that
076this will really help protect our students in some ways. Um, this just went through. We also some there were also some things that actually were knocked down, which is unusual in the legislature. That sounds a little odd. Um, usually things do usually things get put on hold. They don't just get stopped. Um, and one of those was the cell phone bills for how that would be treated in schools. So, I just there's a lot more than that, but um, those are the ones that have actually gone through the process, I will say. But there's a lot going on and um, if anybody has questions, let me know. But also, there's a lot out there. So, keep an eye on these things because they will affect our classrooms. Thanks. >> All right. Thank you, member Torres.
077Um uh I got an email actually the Bellsite issue was brought up and I got an email because I previously filed a complaint on the bell site development that um looks like the uh the Michigan Department of Environmental uh environment and Great Lakes and Energy Air Quality Division received a request to install uh another um non- metallic mineral crusher uh at at the site. um and they have approved the permit with changes. So, I just want to put that on the radar um in light of what was brought up in public comment that um maybe it might right now might be a good time for the school district to maybe revise and resend the letter to the township that we previously sent um just expressing our concern with uh the Bellsite development issue um as
078we did uh previously. I believe it was last fall. Um did want to talk about uh Pierce Middle School and the middle schools uh in the curriculum night we just had this past week. I was able to attend um my daughters uh and it's uh it's great and eye opening to be in those uh the school and in the classrooms um you know and see the other parents and not necessarily with the students. So, I I really appreciate and welcome the invite that was uh given to us to be able to actually go and and sit in the classrooms uh with the teachers, but um to just see the teachers and the passion that they have for these kids, to see them show off their classrooms and how they've decorated it and made it, you
079know, so awesome. and to really just take the time to explain to parents, you know, what they're like and what their processes are, you know, and how they're going to educate their kid and what's important to them. And it really get gives you an opportunity to get to know your teachers on a on a um on a more uh you know, on a more intimate level. Um, you know, my daughter's a little different this year because she's going she's entering sixth grade. And so this is her first time having multiple teachers. Um, not just having the one in elementary school or maybe just the two or three, but not just having the the one major. So now having various. So it's it's it's good. And a lot's changed since my my older daughter, who's 16
080years, my 16 year difference my wife and I had between our two daughters. Um, the world's a lot different. Middle school is a lot different than it was when my daughter entered middle school in 20 my oldest in 2009. But it it's a it's a great opportunity that we afford parents here in the Waterford school district and um you know it was very encouraging and inspiring to be there. Um and then um that uh was mentioned about the some of the bills and the cell phone bill. I know there's a lot of controversy behind it and a lot of people scratched their head about why would we continue to allow kids to have the cell phones in the schools, but there there was a lot surrounding that um that that uh that sat not good
081with a lot of people and I've sat into some of those forums um and as a school board trustee and a lot of it had to do with the enforcement and that if these kids who's enforcing um these cell phones and again it's falling on the teachers and uh if uh schools don't have good policy policies in place and and aren't u making sure that the enforcements aren't aren't uh being uh enacted, what's the penalty? Well, we'll withhold your funding. So, there there's a lot of things there and it wasn't very well thought through. So, I know when people say and they say think it's it's a little wild, you know, we would shoot down a bill that would say kids shouldn't have their cell phones because there there's a lot of things that were
082in that uh legislation that really wasn't thought well through. >> So, um and hopefully something better will come. Thank you. >> All right. I do have a board report, but I just want to make sure I have another Go ahead, Mike. Christ, I didn't want to make sure all of you Oh, we have to share mics. >> Share mic. >> Mike and I have to share. >> Um, really quick, um, uh, I skipped out on curriculum night and went to the Ketaring soccer game. Um, thank you, Jessica, for allowing us to go. Uh, we saw a really great game and I just want to give a big shout out to the Mod Ketering soccer uh, programs. It was a great game. High energy, fans were terrific. Tied 1-1. So, you know, for a cross town
083rivalry, I think that's a that's a pretty good result. Um, so just a big kudos to the soccer programs. Um, I also wanted to uh uh provide some information on one of Waterford's marquee events, harvest happenings over at Hesh Hathaway Farm. Um, Sunday, October 5th, 2025, rain or shine, 12 to 5:00 p.m. Um, free family fun, games and contests, make and take crafts, historic games and chores, straw maze, entertainment, buttercup the cow, wool spinning demonstrations, and historic house tours. Um, uh, free family fun, but it does cost you $5 to park. Cash only. Small bills are preferred. So, we will see everyone over there on Sunday, October 5th. That's all I got. >> All right. All right. I'll do a really quick board report. Actually, it's just a reminder to everybody if you have nothing
084going on on um Friday, October 3rd, that is Matt's homecoming. Also, Friday, October 10th is Kataring's homecoming. So, we have two big events coming up pretty soon. So, you know, they're always always fun games. And then of course we have the Matt Cuttering football game which is on Saturday October 25th. So that's always a great great community event. It was great to be at the soccer game last Tuesday at M. It was awesome. It's always fun to have both sides there together. You're cheering on kids from both teams because you know at the end of the day we are one community. So, it was it was a great event and kudos to the Waterford M dance team because they they also participated and did a phenomenal job. Um, also with that, I want to also
085remind everyone if you haven't heard because the, you know, Detroit Lions football shared this. We do have flag football. Our girls are one of six teams in Oakland counties. Matt and Ketaring both have a team. Tomorrow night, Ma is playing at Troy Athens at 400 p.m. and Ketering is playing and I can't remember the time and I can't get is it 4:00, too? Because my phone will not work inside here. So, if you haven't had a chance to go see one of the flag football team games, I highly recommend it. I know that we are planning on going and they are also having a Mcketering game on Saturday or Friday, September 26th. So, it's an amazing opportunity for our girls. another sport that they can do and it's really cool to be one of the
086only ones in Oakland County that are doing it because there is only six teams. It's Troy, Tri Athens, Matt, Ketaring, and I am blanking on who the >> Lake Gorian. Thank you. Lake Gorian. So, it's really cool to be part of that and it was really cool to open up social media and see that we have the Detroit Lions sharing that about our kids. So, if you haven't if you have a chance, check out a game, I think it will it's it's just really cool to see. Um, I think that is it for board reports. And also, again, this is our last meeting before the potential shutdown. So, advocate, advocate, advocate, advocate, advocate. I don't know how we can stress enough. We have got to get them to do their jobs. So, if you could
087please find it within you to send an email, call, do whatever you need to do, send a letter, postcard, it it would be greatly appreciated because again, our kids should not suffer. This is not a partisan issue. This is education. All of our children have a right to be educated. All right, we are now going to move into close session. By roll call vote, the board Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped you, Adam. >> You're all right. >> Totally. I was like, we need to get to close session. You were on a you were on a you were on a good roll. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you you had the working mic in front of you, so I got it. There you go. >> That's all it's all about the working mic. All right. Now, we have
088our superintendent report with Superintendent Martin. >> I have a few items. Uh congratulations to our incredible students and educators. Uh we've been recognized nationally with Lexia Literacy Luminaries alliteration there award for outstanding use of our core five reading, PowerUp literacy, and Lexia English. Uh, also just want to uh calendar events. Um, make sure you put it on there. The Waterford Together Festival, uh, Thursday, November 6, starting at 5:30, and that's going to be at the M uh, Performing Arts Center. Uh, it'll be a a celebration of the different cultures that make up the Waterford community. Uh, for those that come out, there will be cultural displays, community food trucks, language lessons, uh, neighborhood resources, live performances, um, that really are going to show the diversity of our community. If you're interested in hosting a booth,
089uh feel free to get in touch with Miss Davis. Um she's helping put that together. Uh also just a reminder too about homecoming October 3rd and October 10th and then the dance is October 4th and 11th. Uh it's a great time at the high school. Uh nothing better in the fall than being out there for high school sports really, especially when the weather is is perfect like it is. Uh lastly, I'd like to remind our families to fill out the education benefit form. Uh this form helps ensure that we continue to receive the necessary funding to support our programs. Um that can be found through the Meal Magic family portal and I know we sent uh those out. And lastly, Miss Tunic, I want to say thank you um for your support in standing together
090with us in terms of advocacy in Lancing. Um I appreciate it. Um a little bit envious that you got applause when you and I said real similar things, but I totally I totally understand it. So we're good. And that's it for me. >> All right. Now we are going to move to close session. By roll call vote, the board will move to close session in accordance with section 8A and section 8 ah and now this mic is not working right of the open meetings act. The regular meeting will be deemed adjourned at the conclusion of the close session. Secretary Rristitch, please take roll call vote. >> Member Patricia. >> Okay. >> Member son. >> Yes. >> Member Torres. >> Yes. >> Member Wagner. >> Yes. I'm a yes member. Yes. Member McGregor. >> Yes. >>
091All right. We can take a minute to Is your knees use the bathroom? Take just a couple minutes. Grab it. Are we good to go? Okay. >> Yeah. Elizabeth, if you can make it quick. So, >> yeah. Yeah. I just >> Or you can always shoot them shoot them an email, too.