001Yeah. No. No. So I'm trying to like I if I start to [Music] and I can it's I do no I'm okay but if you start to I start to turn into colors Yeah, I just want to reach again. [Music] Exactly. I'm not me. [Music] No, I don't need that. That would be a responsibility. Not here. But that's going to be actually [Music] Um, great. Are we ready? Does it matter? No, it really doesn't. Well, then Good evening. The board of education will now call to order the public hearing on the proposed 2025 2026 military and budget. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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.
002All right, Secretary Ritch, will you please take roll call? President Wagner, we are missing member Danu. Thank you, Secretary Rristich. In the absence of member Donahghue, member Sonic Grant will serve as our treasurer for this meeting. During this public hearing, the board welcomes comments from the public relative to the proposed 2025 2026 millage rate and budget, which the board will act on later this evening during the regular meeting. All right. While seeing no further public comments on the 2025 2026 mill rate and budget, the public hearing is now closed and we will open the regular meeting. Unless there are objections, the regular meeting agenda will be approved as printed. Okay. All right. We are moving on to public comments on action items. We will now take public comments on action items that will be voted
003on this evening. I do have a green card um in regards to this. Um, Allison Up Ledger, I don't know if I said your name correctly. Um, while you're making your way to the podium, as you are recognized to speak, please move to the microphone right over here. It's right over on this side. Um, and if you could be reminded that our comments are limited to 3 minutes in duration. Members of the public are invited to share comments. However, this is not intend Well, this one right here. Sorry. Sorry. Um, members, 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 that are personally directed, abusive, or obscene. Go ahead. Hello and good evening. Um, my name
004is Allison Upleger and for the last seven years, I have been a proud member of the SAFE team. Um, working in over eight schools in that time. So, you may know me from a variety of roles around the district. um possibly presenting a student of the month award, serving on the DEI committee, chaperoning field trips, supporting school events, school events, or coaching one of the many sports over at Pierce Middle School. Whether it's referee for fifth grade basketball program on the baseball fields for elementary kickball, or encouraging students during our spellbees, I've had the pleasure of interacting with a lot of you. Unfortunately, the opportunity to have an active role in these programs for me has come to an end. Three weeks ago, I received the earthshattering news that I lost my job. I felt
005my world fall apart. Within a 20-minute meeting, my entire future became my past. I was born and raised in Waterford, nearly three decades of love and pride for a town that I no longer feel a part of. My future kids will miss out on the opportunity to go to the same schools that their mom went to. My department alone has hired 26 staff throughout the time that I've been here. Turnover and hiring has always been a challenge, but I was here to stay. The head of my former department, Ashley Gray, is the only staff that has been employed within our department as long as I have. I was informed that it was not fair to consider my position over staff that were hired a few months back. I was not given any explanation or understanding.
006As a district, we preach about the importance of building healthy relationships, but loyalty and compassion are rarely a priority. Another unfortunate truth is that I'm not in this alone. The public was told that less than 20 full-time full-time staff were laid off and that these changes would have no impact on the future of the district. I can tell you for a fact that this is not true. Librarians were cut from secondary schools. Computer gr programs were cut from middle schools. Staff were transferred to other buildings and demoted to different positions. Who's in charge of making these decisions? How are you determining the importance and impact of certain roles or staff? If seniority and performance are not being considered in these positions, what is worth considering based on their actions and decisions of Waterford, it's clear
007that you do not value your staff, students, or their families? The district stated that they plan and budget throughout the year. If these deficits are caused by COVID funding ending, why had we not planned and budgeted for these changes? If these deficits are brought on by decrease in enrollment, why do you think that families are leaving? For seven years, I fought and defended against the negative reputation that Waterford has. My heart goes out to the kids and families who will now suffer because of the district's incompetence. I know know I am not alone when I say that I have lost all trust in Waterford and each one of you. Thank you. All right. Are there any other green cards? Would anyone else like to speak on our action items? All right. We are going to
008move on. We're moving on to the consent agenda. Unless there are objections, the consent agenda will be approved as printed. All right, we are now going to move on to our information items to our graduation report with Assistant Superintendent Wolf. All right. Good evening, Board of Education. Uh, I am really excited for the chance to share with you our graduation report video, um, which captures the commencement ceremonies that were held at Oakland University's Orena on June 1st for Durant High School, Mott High School, and Ketarine High School. And so, this video was put together by Jane Tequelli, uh, who's our video productions coordinator from our school and community service department. Um, and it highlights some wonderful moments. And if you were there on that day, that special day, um, that I know you remember how
009awesome it was. So, this is a culmination of all of our students hard works over 12, 13 years. Many of those students uh, started in Waterford and have ended their high school career here in Waterford, and we're excited to see them move on to bigger and better things. So, without further ado, here's our graduation report video for our grads, class of 2025. I'm going to build some suspense. [Music] Good girl. [Music] Okay, Jane did a great job. And once again, congratulations to our students, class of 2025. [Applause] All right. Anyone have any comments? Would you like to move on? It's always a fun day. Graduation is always a fun day. It's that reminder that this is what we are all here for and it's it's it's always fun. I always enjoy seeing it. As a
010proud Corsair and a mom of two graduated Corsairs and current Corsair, it's always fun to to see kids that you've watched grow up too and your friends kids that are still here in the community on all their mini me um graduating. So, it's a it's a proud day for sure. Member Torres. Yeah, I just want to reiterate that that the graduations I mean it's my favorite day of the year. Um seeing the kids graduate every year and then um you know every year you thinking maybe I don't know a couple of these kids and you always end up getting two or three or four that you know and they come talk to you after. So, it's always an exciting thing and we make a lot of difficult decisions as you know, you know, the budget
011process right now and all the things that we're doing here at Waterford and some of the tough decisions we have to make. But, um, you know, that day is is a huge bright spot and I think really refuels all and keeping our focus on the task at hand and the decisions that we make with students. All right, we are moving on to school meal prices for 2025 2026 with assistant superintendent Elder and is Michael Williams also joining you at the table and Mr. Michael Williams. Good evening trustees. Michael William, our director of food service is put together a nice presentation for you. Good evening everybody. All right. Uh my name is Michael Williams. I am the food service uh director here for the school district of Waterford and this is a presentation on su uh
012feeding success the role of C uh and student wellness and funding. Okay. What is C? Uh C or community eligibility is a federal program, federal run program that allows uh eligible students to offer free one free lunch and one free breakfast for every student uh without collecting individual meal applications. Uh couple facts is funded through the national school lunch program NSLP and it helps eliminate the stigma around free and reduced lunches. why it matters to not only our district but all districts surround it. Equal access to nutritious meals um every student eats for free. Uh it leads to a better focus, behavior and academic performance and reduces food insecurity in our school communities. The forms um they're very important to our district. the C forms uh which are called excuse me excuse me I'm sorry
013the C forms no longer are called the free and reduced lunch forms um and because of that they no longer pertain pertain or the are the head judge or we don't use that information for um rating a student if they're free reduce or full paid um instead of that this um the CP form forms and home they're called EBFs um help u are required for the school district to collect funding right so state and federal funding allocations title one and other grant eligibility and accurate collection um funding for our schools um I've been receiving a lot of questions um and about our national and nutritional standards um as far as serving sizes is um our serving sizes are age appropriate. Um calorie and uh with the calorie and sodium limits. Um we have balanced portions
014of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and lean proteins. Um for instance, K through five have a certain um serving size and 6 through 12 have a certain serving size. Um, and with that included, the students are always um eligible and always able to go up and get unlimited fruits and vegetables fresh every day. And if they want supers of the entree, that's an additional charge of 175. Um, and we we never ever turn away a student. So, we always make sure that they our students eat if they come up and tell us they're hungry. Um, as far as next year, um, even though we're in C for we're locked in for another two years, um, we are looking to raise our alocart pricing. Um, the reasons for that is to offset the cost of offering
015our free meals under C. Uh these changes help us continue providing quality meals to all the students and that it that runs down for food quality um for our proteins getting the best products that we can to serve our students. Um and it maintains um our programs uh sustainability and stability. These are current alart meal pricing. Uh currently, as you can see, elementary breakfastes are 175. Um we're going to look looking tore increase everything by 25 cent across the board. But as I said, we are u providing free lunch or breakfast and lunch at no cost for the next two years. Okay. most important thing is our adult meal pricing. Um, which obvious, you know, our our our staff they pay. Um, but other than that, like I said, our students eat for free. Key
016takeaways from the information C supports equality and access to um in school nutrition. Collecting C forms are cru crucial to funding and resources throughout the district. That's why it's very important that all of our our parents and our families get those um forms in EBFs. Uh nutritional standards ensure meals meet the needs of growing students and our allear pricing adjustments are necessary to manage the cost increase while main maintaining quality of our program. Uh this is very important to me. Um, and it hit home and I was glad to partner uh with a group of students from Kulie Kulie. Sorry, I'm having a brain fart. It's been a long day. Um, with our some students, some beautiful students from Kulie. Um, our district, we're in our department, we're making an effort in going green. Okay.
017And one of those efforts is um that food service has taken on is to replace our foam trays, our black foam trays with a recyclable material. Uh we've tr and since since then um I sat in front of the students in Kulie, they gave me a beautiful presentation. I understand that you guys were a part of that as well. And I sat down and I asked, "How can I help? What can we do to make this work?" Right? So, it took a little bit of patience with um the type of things we we asked to come in so we can kind of test out. It was an experiment, but we finally landed on uh a 5B paper boat. And what the students feel great about is not only did we make that change for Kulie
018directly, we since then have transitioned throughout the whole district in that. Okay. And every time I visit Kulie, which is at least once a week, and I see the students all the time, fifth graders, I let them know that they made they were important to a very big change in the school district. Um, so that their advocacy helped push the incentive forward, showing the impact of students voices and shaping our schools. And if you guys have any other questions, you know, Mr. Patricia Justine McGregor turkey I knew I knew that's why I asked you first turkey sl you want it next year come I'll get your information I'll let you know when I have the order for you a healthy version of it right turkey sl yes coming back yes no thank every Thanksgiving is
019here anyone told you they love you today no but I'll take that thank you right trusty McGregor So, um, my understanding, right, is that the families have to fill out these forms so that our district can get the funding, correct, to be able to provide these meals. Um, my understanding is that we also have those forms online. Do we have ways to make those forms accessible to individuals that might not have internet access? Because I know most of us do, but if you're low income, you probably can't afford it all the time. Correct. And that's a great question to ask. So um us in food service we've tried to make uh everything accessible to everyone right now. We are in us we're running our summer program and most of those parents do participate in our
020summer program and every day we have in every location we have those forms available to fill out with my one of my food service staff members to help them read through fill it out exactly the way it's supposed to be filled out. Um, again, those forms now are not used for funding for food service, but just as important, it's used for funding for the school district as a whole for equipment and things of that nature. So, it's just as important and we need to get everyone in. Thank you. No problem. All right, member Torres. So, with the uh those forms, um, how many is there a quot of forms that we have to have or a certain percentage? Um, percentage because it's not everybody, right? No, you just need a certain with those just like
021applications with the free and reduced. Every district, every state, it's different everywhere you go. We just say as many as possible because we need to get as much funding as possible, whether it's for the food service program or for the school district. Um, and we try to do our best. Like I said, during the summertime, we we have forms everywhere, right? During enrollment, they're online, so the parents can uh fill it out online. And then also the last day of our summer service we hold uh it'll be at Mott this this um summer and we're going to blast it all through our social media, but we're going to have like a fair type of um activities where it's going to be like a beach volleyball and things of that. I'm going to go out kick
022the grill out and barbecue. Um we're going to tie dye to make sure that all the parents that can be there are there. And again, we're going to have those EVFs there and walk them through and get them filled out. And I I just want to reiterate um you know uh how important these school lunch and breakfast programs are and that um during the pandemic we especially saw it where families um you know who couldn't you know provide uh were able to come to our drive-throughs and and get it at specific areas. I know we're open during the summer to help with that so that no kid goes hungry that they have somewhere to go to at least get the the two meals. Um, and as a parent, you know, I look at it as
023as though, you know, my kid eats uh, you know, uh, the the breakfast and the lunch just about every day, you know, and as a parent that lightens my load. Um, certain days she might want me to make her something, but it it's it's a great thing. And getting that breakfast because a lot of kids, they don't want to eat in the morning or they get a very small correct unnutritious breakfast. Then they get to school and that have that second chance, that opportunity to eat another breakfast. And um my daughter, fifth grader, she enjoys the food and it exposes her to foods that uh you know she may not eat at home. So for that I appreciate you and the work that you do. I know it's a tremendous undertaking. I I saw that
024during co and I was just amazed at the the amount of work and the efficiency and uh just the coordination that goes into serving meals in a school district. That's that's all a reflection of my staff, right? Everyone I trust. Um, since I've been here, we have risen uh raised participation almost 30%. From my first year here, and we're going to continue to do it. Um, we take student surveys. We do taste testing. We really want to know what the students want to eat so that when they come, they eat, you know. Um, and it's just been a partnership with myself and the principles of each building getting in there and really talking to the students because they're they're why we're here. So, thank you. No problem. Well, and as we all know, there is
025a direct correlation between hunger and the ability to learn. Correct. And so I kudos to your staff, to you, to the whole department because we have a phenomenal food service program here in Waterford. Also, kudos to the Culie Elementary students for advocating for change and they jumped me. Well, well, kudos to them for making sure it happened. That that's a very power powerful message that that they sent and and was heard and I think it's a great example of um our students and their voices and how important they are. All right, thank you so much. No problem. All right, we are going to move on to the summer tax collection resolution with assistant superintendent Hildebrandt. Good evening again, trustees. Uh, Waterford, we participate with the summer tax collection. What that means is we levy all
026of our nonhomestead taxes with the July 1st levy with each one of our five municipalities. In order to be in compliance with the laws, we are seeking your approval on this. Now, this is for next July, July of 2026. We're required to submit that we're doing it by January 1st. We always choose to do this with our annualized meetings in June and July to ensure that we're compliant. Um, so we'll be bringing it for action next month. What that does is just on all those non-homestead, the non- primary residents, applies the non-homestead rate to all those commercial businesses. So, it's levied fully July 1 and collectible without interest or penalties by September 15th of each year. Any questions? And just for our listening public, just to understand that there are five municipalities that our district
027serves. It's not just Waterford Township. We have Independence, White Lake, the city of Lake Angeles, and we also serve students in West Bloomfield. So, those are the five municipalities that we're referring to. All right. Thank you. All right. We are going to move on to policy updates. The board is in receipt of proposed policy updates relative to Title 9 and technology. These updates are provided by Niola, the district's policy service provider, and reviewed by Niola's legal department for statutory compliance as well as administration. The board is asked to review these proposed policies over the coming weeks and reach out with any questions. A recommendation for approval will be presented on July 17th, 2025. And so everyone sees you do have the policy updates here for you for your review. All right, no questions on that.
028We're going to keep moving on. We are going to move on to the hockey cooperative agreement with assistant superintendent Wolf. Okay. So, Ketarine High School, Mott High School, and Bloomfield Hills High School, um, and West Bloomfield Hills High School are requesting a cooperative agreement for ice hockey, uh, beginning next school year, 2526. Uh, previously, Waterford Ketarine, Waterford Mott, and West Bloomfield had had a longstanding cooperative agreement. Um, and at one point in the past as well that included Wall Lake Central, I believe. Um, moving into the 2526 school year next year, um, three school districts and now four high schools, which will also include Bloomfield Hills, um, and West Bloomfield as well, uh, are requesting a cooperative agreement due to low participation numbers from each of these three schools. Uh, and so this is something
029that we've done, uh, either annually or bianually based on any changes of those teams. Um, and we're here to uh make that request in hopes for it to be approved in July at the next board meeting. Do you have any questions? Any questions? All right. Thank you so much. I feel like we're doing revolving seats like So, we're now moving on to the water filling station purchase with assistant superintendent Hildebrand and Mr. Sid Tippet. Hello. So, uh I'm here today because we are requesting 30 bottle filling stations that will be used throughout the school district. Um this is uh to come into compliance with the Clean Drinking Water Act. Um that is uh supposed to be uh finished by summer next summer of 26. the we have we were awarded a grant of $168,000. So
030that will pay for these 30 drink fountain stations uh plus um uh the install we will figure out later. And then we've also purchased some other items within that grant. Um this is part of this uh project. Uh one of the stipulations is that for every 100 occupants within a school, we have to have one bottle filling station. So, uh, luckily we've already have a lot in a lot of the schools. We're going to go ahead and get them all straightened out and these 30 are going to go towards, um, coming into compliance. All right. Great. Are there any questions? Member Patricia, I realize this is a grant. This is going to cover both the the filling station, which is almost two grand each, and the labor to put it in, even though we don't
031know how much the labor is. No, this is just this is just for the actual 30 uh drinking fountain stations. Um when I applied for the grant it was for specifically these 30 so and then uh the rest of the money will go towards uh the inst the insulation but we don't have a price on that. No. Is there a filter that goes in these like in my refrigerator that has to be Yep. re-uped every however you use it. Absolutely. So there's an incurring cost that Yes. It's a grant. We get them for free. It's going to cost us down the road. Absolutely. Uh in Waterford we have very very good water. You don't use a city water type u Detroit water comes out of the ground goes our pumping stations is filtered monitored and
032is very healthy last year maybe it's been five years I don't know but we just had all of our drinking fountains tested that was a requirement I think that was because of the clean water act uh to make sure that we have safe water and safe drinking fountain they're not leadlined or however but it just it's one of these things it's free it's free but it's going to cost us and it's going to process forever because if we're going to replace filters, if it's going to work, if it's going to block things that aren't actually there, they still get full of whatever and you have to it's just another cost. True. And it's a cost to put them in. Uh we've been putting them in and during all of our renovations, we've added the the
033bottle filler things. Uh, and again, I don't know if it's just a people are afraid to drink out of a drinking fountain type thing, but it just it's it's somebody giving us money, which they don't have, which we can't afford to keep up with, but it seems like such a great deal. Why aren't we doing it? I just I don't care for I don't like the the concept and the ongoing cost, and there's nothing wrong with my drinking problems right now. So, that's why I have issues with it. That's just me. Do you have a question? Member Stitch, Mr. Tipp, you say the grant was for 168,000. Yes. So, this 58 um will come out of that. The installation will also come out of the um the grant. Well, yes, sir. Um so, can I
034just get some clarification because on the bid it's uh it says quote valid until 7:31 2022. Then right underneath it, it says due to tariffs and economic uncertainty, Allied cannot guarantee materials pricing. I'm getting that for all of my quotes. No matter it's a rooftop units or drinking fountain stations, that's just it's there. I did talk to them about it. They said, of course, they don't feel like this is going to change. So, it's quote it's quote valid unless something happens. Got it. Yes. Got it. Um, can you tell me a little bit, Mr. What um what stand? So, this is to bring us into compliance with the Clean Drinking Water Access Act. What do these filters do that bring us into compliance? So in essence, I'm asking what do they filter out? Yeah. So
035the main component is lead. So it's lead and copper. Um that is the main two things the filters that we have. They will go ahead and filter those. Um by the time summer of 2026, what will have to happen is all drinking sources uh for students will have to be filtered. So um anything that is not we'll have to have a sign that says this is you know not a drinking source and everything else needs to be filtered at that point. Also we'll have yearly testing that has to be involved with this replacement of filters um and everything. So and then of course we have a a plan that goes with it. Um but that's that's it's a big undertaking. There's a lot going on. You're absolutely right in the fact that we've already been
036installing these bottle filling stations. M's pretty much taken care of over because of this last one last uh renovation. So that was a big help and uh we're just continuing to go forward. So to come into compliance with this to Patricia's point there there will be an increased uh cost of materials compliance and testing. Absolutely. And it's the state is we have to do this to be in compliance of the state. If we didn't if we chose not to do it, we would be in trouble because this will become law as of 2026. Yes. All right. Great. Any other Oh, give everybody member Torres. Um, how long does a station last? Like what's the life on it of an actual bottle filling station or the filter? Uh, bottle filling station. Uh, I don't I don't
037really know. I to be honest with you, I'm not really sure, but I know we have we have quite a few that last a long time. There's not much to them, you know, and we have a lot of different parts, too, that we can go ahead and we have people that can repair them. So, there's a lot of lo longevity with them. Yeah, I believe so. just having the parts and the maintenance and those kinds of things. Um and then um you said that uh are we replacing old ones or is we're just compliant with having one in each school. So we have to have um like I said one bottle filling station for every 100 occupants. So take Donaldson will need five, right? Um so we have to have those installed. the other drinking
038fountains I can you can still have uh non-bottle filling drinking fountains but they have to be filtered right so there's that's just another component of this right so we can go ahead and eliminate some we can add some but this bottle filling stations because for the bottle filling stations to be compliant they have to have a bottle filler a bubbler a count and then also a um uh let you know the filter status and if it doesn't have that it doesn't comply And then um the grant um where is that coming from? What was who who was the grant source? It's from the state. Oh, it is the state of Michigan. Okay. And then um so we're using 58,000 of the 168,000. But we can't use any of that money for installation. No, we can
039we can we can we can use that? Yes. And because of the tariffs and everything going on and the prices going on, I'm just trying to get these as as soon as possible. Okay. So we can use some of that leftover. Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Are there any member McGregor? Um, for these filters, and I don't see it specified in here, and I may have missed it. Um, are we looking at something like reverse osmosis or standard standalone? I'm thinking about like the electrical, if you get into reverse osmosis, it's going to be a bigger tear up. Um, are are these some like when you get into electrical, it also gets into more complicated things? Sure. I mean, you're going to have to have it. you are going to have to have electricity, right,
040to go ahead and have because it needs to be uh cooled. So, that certainly plays a part. But, I mean, it is a filter that's, you know, a high quality commercial filter that's going to filter out lead and copper. Um, but it is still just pretty much like a standard one you would have in your refrigerator. Thank you. All right. Any other questions? All right. Let's thank you so much. Thank you for the information. We're going to move on to our middle city's risk management trustee appointment with Assistant Superintendent Hillbrandt. Good evening again, trustees. Middle cities is our risk pool insurance and with the retirement of Mr. Beaver, we have to name a new trustee, an alternate. And so I'm putting forth in front of you to name the assistant superintendent of business and operations
041my position as the primary trustee, the director of operations and maintenance, Mr. certificate as the alternate and then I would also be the risk coordinator for the district and we're listing these now by the names of the positions rather than the people. So I'm just bringing this forth to you. We then have a voice within the pool. Um it's just a standard thing we need to do because Jim decided to retire. Are there any questions? Member Patricia because you're listing it by the position. Nobody's leaving, are they? No. Okay. No, it's just so like, oh, put it there because and actually Middle Cities actually suggested that. I like that. All right. Great. Thank you so much. All right, we are moving on to new business with Treasurer Sonocrant who is standing in for member Donahghue.
042Go ahead. Superintendent recommendation 62-24-25 summer tax collection fees 2025 2026. It is recommended that the board approve the 2025 2026 summer tax collection fees as presented. I so move. Support. Support. All right. The motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? Member Patrushia. Waterford charges us the least because they have the most probably they don't have to. Would that be or they're just nice to us? They're charging us 258 where White Lake charges us 5.40. Only $3 more per Can you explain that? Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. Sorry I don't yell. Um so Waterford that pricing had been locked in for a few years. This is the last year of that pricing. I anticipate that we're going to see that kick up a little bit. We know postage is going up,
043things of along those lines. In totality for the district, we're paying just about $96,000 to have those taxes levied in July. And that's the it's the most, but they were charging us the least out of correct. The per parcel is the least parcel. So, but it is subject to each municipality. I can't see into the future. I my gut would tell me that with the cost for supplies and postage that more likely than not, we'll see an increase next year. something that's going to be going up. Just another additional type thing. Question on it. What was Thank you. You're welcome. All right. Are there any other questions? All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carry 6. Member Sonic. Superintendent Recommendation 63-20. Nope. This is this the right one. I'm
044sorry. Bear with me. I feel like I just read that. Nope. No, that's the right one. Perfect. Resolution for adoption by the board of education of the Waterford School District final budget 2024 2025. resolved that this resolution shall be the general appropriations Waterford School District for fiscal year 2024 2025. A resolution to make appropriations and to provide for the expenditure of the appropriations and provide for the disposition of all income received by Waterford School District. Be it further resolved that the revised total revenues of 100 28 million 71,819 and unappropriated fund balance of 16,71829 for appropriations and the general fund of the Waterford School District for fiscal year 2024 2025. This is an increase of 7,466,324 from the original 202425 budget. The increase is revenue is mainly due to an increase in revenues from the
045state of Michigan. Be it further resolved that $130,800,475 is hereby appropriated in the general fund. Be it further resolved that 11,299,96 is hereby appropriated in the school service fund. Be it further resolved that 8,22,994 is hereby being appropriated in the special education center program fund. Be it further resolved that 24,294,740 is hereby appropriated in the depth retirement fund. The appropriation details of this information item are available to the public upon request. I so move support support. The motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? Member member Patricia. uh in our final budget on the first p because our pages here we had a fund balance at July 1st when we started out July 1st we had 16.7 million in our fund balance and we are going to be ending with just
046a little under 14 million correct in this one. So we spent money we didn't have we spent money from our savings account. Okay. So I mean but it isn't like we're we had some more money here and there. It it flows in. It flows out. Uh Joan used to be good at these questions. You would understand them. But I just like the big numbers. I had a you know a savings account of 17 million. Now I have one of 14. Correct. And that is you know part of the structural deficit that we've discussed. Yes. And it just it's one of them things where it didn't just evaporate. It come from somewhere. Correct. To to to survive for this budget to get through. Correct. And another question. Again, I was kind of hoping the place would
047be full tonight because again, this is our our budget. This is the one of the biggest things that we do in the in the school year is our budget. Um I understand if you go online, my wife would say, "Well, people are complaining about this. People are complaining. Where did this go? Where'd that go?" I don't know. They're not here. So, I'm just disappointed in that. That's all. Any other questions or comments? Member Wristitch. Yeah. Miss Hilderbr, I did want to um thank you for your work here because uh one year ago when we were sitting at this table approving our preliminary budget for um proposed budget for 2425, we were in a very different situation um than we were budgeting for adding a million dollars to the uh about a million dollars to the
048general fund. Um so I can't imagine your surprise and you came in earlier this year and found um that the pendulum had shifted couple million bucks to the bad. Um uh so I appreciate um your forthrightness and um your ability to bring that information as soon as you stepped into it um to the board um so that we could have conversations. And again, this this uh over the last month and a half to know that we've gone from adding a million dollars to having to use money from our savings account um is like a punch in the gut. And I know we have a lot of folks here who are going to speak to that. Um I did too want to thank you because uh at our last meeting you outlined some really impressive um
049and really important budgeting procedures um that you'll be initiating over the next well during your time here which is um multi-year forecasting um excited to be able to think more than one year in advance right um that we'll have more info and more updates for the board more regular updates and particularly paying close attention to the accounts that will be brought front of the board. Um we know too that we'll be taking action on revised budgets as we go forward, which uh you know helps to make sure that when we do need to make adjustments that the board takes action on those um on those adjustments. and two, making sure that we um are engaging in that auditing process earlier so that um again we're we're meeting our compliance obligations because at the end of
050last year we we had again talk about surprises, we had a perfect audit, so a perfect audit. Um one year ago we were adding a million dollars to the general fund and suddenly things have changed. So, I wanted to thank you for your work and bringing that to the board and for uh these preventative steps that you're putting into place for us. You're welcome. All right. Are there any other questions? All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries. 6. Treasurer Sonocrat. She will never ever agree to do this again when I ask her to. There is a lot to read tonight. Superintendent recommendation 64-24-25 millig rates 2025 2026. It is recommended that the board of education certify the tax levy to the charter townships of Waterford, Independence, White Lake, West Bloomfield,
051and the city of Lake Angeles for the 2025 2026 school district tax collection as presented. I so move support. All right, the motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. And again, superintendence recommendation 65-24-25 resolution for adoption by the board of education of Waterford School District original budget 2025 2026. resolved that this resolution shall be the general appropriations Waterford School District for fiscal year 2025 2026. A resolution to make appropriations and to provide for the expenditure of the appropriations and to provide for the disposition of all income received by the Waterford School District. The property tax rate will be 17.67 6749 Mills on non-homestead property. The proceeds will be used to pay the general fund operating
052expenses. Be it further resolved that $122,447,62 is hereby appropriated in the general fund. Be it further resolved that 10,884,189 is hereby appropriated in the school service fund. Be it further resolved that 8,837757 is hereby appropriated in the special education center program fund. Be it further resolve that 23,916,944 is hereby appropriated in the debt retirement fund. The appropriation details of this information item are available to the public upon request. I so move support support. All right, the motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comment comments or questions? Member McGregor. So, one of the things more for the audience um because I think this is important is that this is not going to be a final budget. This is our original. At the moment, the state has two different versions of the budget in the
053House and a single version in the Senate. They have not come to an agreement yet. That will not occur until October 1st, I believe, is the request. Well, there that's actually what we'll be talking about that in the resolution because it's they have until October 1st. Yeah. But it is it is currently and and we'll we'll speak to that more when we get to the resolution that we're going to be proposing to um to adopt tonight in regards to the budget. But this is our original budget and and and to your point and and to our listening audience, we have to by state law approve a balanced budget by June 30th. And as most people who know in the audience if they've come, we often do do revised budgets through the year when we do
054get our funding. We don't have our funding right now, but they do have until October. The hope is they will not wait until October to let us know what our funding is. So, yes, that yes, that's and we and we're going to go we we will be speaking in more detail about the House bill because it's a problem. All right, member Patricia, government politicians got to love them. um our local sources. So, we get basically $19 million locally and closer to $90 million from the state. So, a lot of people don't realize how much more come from the state and how much we rely on them to get us some money. So, when it is or isn't here, it gets more confusing, a lot of more guessing. And again, you have done a wonderful job.
055I absolutely appreciate you. Thank you. I'm still going to be hard on you. Uh but there's people are, you know, in the community, they're going, "Hey, we pay your for your school district. You you do you know either locally through taxes or by sales taxes when they changed that back in 94 under proposal A. Yeah, it's a long long time ago. Uh but there just so much to it. It's a moving target. It's a moving thing that I can't comprehend named Joan. So no, that's all I had is Miss Joan. All right. Any other comments or questions? Just want to also make a comment. Um, and as a member Patricia said, there's other sources outside of the state. Majority does come, but we also have federal dollars as well. Um, and advocacy needs to be
056put forth on that as well. But as we were stating earlier, uh, the state allocation of dollars, we don't know where it's going to be. We're waiting for the legislators in Lancing to tell us where it's at. But when we look at the the federal end, um you know, it's it's not looking good as far as title two funding, uh ELELLL, the English uh language learners funding, um funding for DEI programs, um teacher pipeline programs. So, there's a lot of advocacy that needs to be done uh at the federal level um by people in this community, by these board members, and also uh at the state level so that we can get our kids in a place that they need to be uh in order to succeed. Thank you. All right. All those in favor,
057please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. We are going to give member Socran a break and move over to Secretary Rristage. Superintendent's recommendation 662425 administrative appointment. It is recommended that the board of education approve the following administrative appointment. Mr. Christopher Cooper, principal, location, Donaldson Hills Elementary, 100% administrator contract, effective date, July 28th, 2025. And I so move support. All right, we're going to we will kick it over to Lisa once we do our vote. So, I think we need to uh do our vote very quickly. All right, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. and we are going to move it over to our interim superintendent Eldridge so she can introduce our new principal. Good evening. We are very fortunate to have with us Mr. Christopher Cooper
058who comes to us from Wald Lake as a teacher of many years and he went through three very intense rounds of interviews and um definitely showed us that he is more than capable and will do a fantastic job for our students, families, and staff at Donaldelsson Elementary. And I'm going to ask Mr. Cooper to go up to the podium if he would and just share a little bit with us. So, we can welcome. Well, thank you, Mrs. Eldridge, and thank you, board, for believing in me. I've been a teacher in the Wald Lake Community School District for over 30 years, and I'm looking forward to serving the Waterford community in that way as well. I'm looking forward to serving our students, our staff, and our community. And I'm really looking forward to proudly wearing my
059water. Yes. along with my Donaldson dragons dragons lanyard and um serving the Waterford School District for many years. So, thank you for trusting in me and believing in me and I'm looking forward to working with you. All right, welcome. All right, welcome. Welcome. He's going to be old when he retires. 30 years. Well, leg 30 years. Wow. keeps you young. Yes, it keeps you young. Well, welcome to our district. We're very excited to have you here and I know the families over at Donaldson Hills will also be very grateful and are excited to have you in our district as well. All right, we are going to move on and move back over to Treasurer Sonic for our next item. Making sure I have the right one. Okay. Superintendent recommendation 67-24-25 GSRP lead teacher wage scale.
060It is recommended that the board approve the adjustment of the GSRP lead teacher wage scale for the 20 2526 school year funded by the GSRP grant allocation. I so move support. All right, the motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? And I would like to point out as member Sonocrat did when she was reading it that this is grant funded. So this is not um money that's coming out of our general fund. This is grant funded through the GSRP program through the state of Michigan. All right. All those in favor please signify by raising your hand. And the motion carry 6. And we are going to stay with member Sonicrant for our next item. Superintendent recommendation 68-24-25. Is it OKMA? OkMA OKA. I OKMA IIA budget. Sorry about that. That's
061okay. It is recommended that the board of education approve the IA OKMA campus 202526 budget. I so move. Support. support. All right, the motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? All right, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. And we are going to give member Sanrant another break and move over to Secretary Restitch. Okay. Superintendent's recommendation 692425, New Gateways Lease Amendment. It is recommended that the board of education approve the proposed lease agreement with New Gateways and authorize the assistant superintendent of business and operations to sign on the board's behalf. I so move support. All right. Does anyone have any comments or questions in regards to the lease? Member Patricia? Uh I think this was done very well. I I like the outcome. U it's a we
062have a building that we're concerned about the m maintaining it the cost. Uh you know, do we I don't want to say kick to the curb someone that needs it. Uh but we were able to work out a an agreement where they can pick up some more of the cost where it isn't taxing us. uh and they still get to run their programs. So, I think it's a win-win for the community. Uh that they're a very valuable source of our community. They they do wonderful things and they don't have to leave. So, I'm glad we were able to work something out uh with our new people and making everything everything work. It just I feel better about it. Member Rristitch. Again, Miss Hbran, I wanted to thank you because this was again um one of
063those unexpected surprises that you stumbled into how this agreement was actually costing us money um a substantial amount of money. So, I appreciate again the speed with which you brought this forth to the board. Um and to Jeremy um one of our council who I think did a fant just a fantastic job of explaining the parameters of this agreement um uh and getting us something that to me Patricia's point is is mutually beneficial and much much better than the original agreement. Thank you. All right. All those in favor please raise your hand. Signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. We are going to stay with Secretary Rristitch. Superintendent recommendation 70 24-25. Resolution opposing the use of public funds for private educational institutions in the fiscal year 2026 House Budget. Oppose opposing the use of
064public funds for private educational institutions in the fiscal year 2026 House budget. Whereas Michigan's constitution prohibits public funds from supporting private K through2 education and whereas the fiscal year 2526 House budget would provide 40.8 million in direct per pupil payments to private K12 schools for operational use. And whereas the same proposal includes 170.6 $6 million in scholarships for students attending private universities, marking a significant expansion of state support for private education. And whereas these allocations threaten to undermine funding equity, accountability, and the constitutional integrity of Michigan's school aid fund. Therefore, be it resolved that the Waterford Board of Education strongly opposes the inclusion of any direct or indirect public funding for private educational institutions in the fiscal year 2526 school aid and higher education budgets. Be it further resolve that the board urges the legislature
065and governor to finalize a constitutionally sound school aid budget that protects public education resources for all Michigan students. And I so move support All right. So, this is one of the things that we touched on earlier, and you're going to have to bear with me for a minute because there's a lot of information that we need to make sure that our listening public is aware of. This is House Bill 4577. This is the House. This is what they voted on as their budget for this year. This is what they are proposing. This is their school aid budget for the 2025 2026 school year. Now, the Senate does have their version and the House and the Senate will have to come together, come to a consensus, come to an agreement, and that's the budget that will
066end up on the governor's desk. There's a lot of things in this that would be detrimental not only to Waterford, but to our entire public education system here in the state of Michigan. What is happening is not unique to Waterford. This is going to create a funding deficit that will be hard to fix for decades. And I think people need to be aware of what is happening in the legislature. It is important that we advocate and we get angry because this is not this is not good for our students. The main reason everyone is here is for our students and we need to make sure that we are providing an education for all. And I'm not just going to read to you things that came from an email or that we don't understand as board
067members. Prior to being on this board, I advocated at a state level as a parent. I created the public advocacy group for funding. So this is stuff that I'm very familiar with and I'm very upset about because we worked really hard prior to co especially after having the school finance research collaborative and that information came out in 2018 and showed and proved that Michigan was underfunding our public education students by significant amounts. Currently, right now, the state of Michigan is the 28th in education funding, but we are in the bottom 10 for funding of our most vulnerable populations. We are in the bottom 10 in the nation. That is not okay. We have been fighting and advocating for public funding for years. The research finance collaborative was a great way for us to show in
068theory proposal A was great, but nobody factored in what was going to happen when the financial crash happened. And that really put a glaring light on how that wasn't going to work anymore. So, in the House bill, they're going to create a new per pupil amount by eliminating essential categorical funding, which is one of the things that did point out in the school research. um the finance collaborative, we found out that we needed to make sure that we were categorically funding kids because you couldn't just put everyone in the same pot that there were many factors that go into educating a child and those factors cost money. So, one of the things that they're proposing is that they will eliminate categorical funding for at risk, CTE, mental health, rural transportation, English language learners, safety and
069security, universal meals, which we just saw Mr. Williams give us a very important presentation and how important our meals are to our kids. We know that students that are hungry, it greatly impacts their ability to learn. They're also proposing taking out the the funding for literacy education and more. Special education is also included. Not only are they proposing to put it all into one pot, but as it was spoke to in the resolution, they will be giving money to charter and private schools. Might I remind everybody that they can charge tuition. We cannot. They also are proposing if we don't follow their specific requirements or they see it as a perceived slight that they will penalize us with our funding and take up to 20% of what they're going to give us. So last year
070also instead of increasing our per our per people pup people foundation allowance which is the base allowance that we get for our funding the state proposed an increase and then suddenly they took it away because what they did instead was they gave us a rebate a reduction of our mipers which gave us a one-time influx of money which was great but we started raising red flags at that point because it was one-time money. We cannot do our budgets year-toear on one-time money. We have to have it be recurring. The the increase in the foundation per pupil allowance would have been recurring. This influx was not recurring. So, they then promised that they would codify it into law and that we would continue to get this one-time money for the mipers that they have decided to
071reverse. Without the Mipsers, that would reduce the money that is our money. The schools, the public schools in in Michigan, $700 million is what they would reduce and take from our districts. They're also diverting, as we spoke in the resolution, more than 1 billion to higher education. That equates to $1,500 per student. $1,500 per student is what they are going to take from our kids to push over to higher education. Mind you, higher education, yes, they are struggling, but they too can charge tuition. We cannot. It also diverts $1.9 billion to the balance of the state's general fund. They want to take $1.9 million out of the school aid fund to balance their own budget in their general fund. That's a problem. There are two budgets in the state of Michigan, just two. There is
072a school aid fund and there is a general fund. The general fund funds everything else in the state. The school aid fund is ours. That is our money for our public education system. So, this proposed budget would set Michigan schools back decades. It doesn't address the unique needs of all of our kids. It doesn't address the unique needs from districts all the way up north to districts on, you know, in the middle, suburban, urban, rural, whatever. It doesn't It doesn't We need to be aware of what the legislaturator is doing. This was never, this is not to be politicized. This is nonpartisan. When it comes to our kids, things should never be political. This is about what's doing right for our students. We need to start stepping up and advocating and recognizing that the legislature
073isn't making decisions in the best interest of our kids. It is getting increasingly harder and more expensive to educate children. There are more and more things that are being thrown at schools and our families and this shouldn't be a barrier. It's really sad that we have been in such the middle to the bottom of funding. It's not where we should be. The other thing that I also find very interesting is it was during COVID suddenly there was this realization by both the federal and the state government exactly how much schools do and how important they are. So they influxed us with a ton of funding. They gave us the funding that we should have had all along. Our district alone got over $16.3 million. We spent that money in the ways it needed to be
074spent. We invested in our curriculum. We invested in our staff. We did the things that we were supposed to do. It was tiebarred, but we followed the rules and we spent it. Suddenly, CO is over. They took the funding. So, I find it very interesting that they recognize how underfunded we were, the supports our students needed, and now suddenly they don't. And they are proposing to do things that would be even more detrimental to our kids. who by the way the state of Michigan not just our district and this is not inclusive of our this is the state of Michigan bottom five for recovery from the pandemic learning loss. So I hope you all get involved and advocate because that's what we need to do for our kids and for our community and for all
075the kids across the state of Michigan. I hope that you're angry because we should be angry. This isn't right. It's not fair. It's not where our money should be going. It's not where our taxpayer dollars should be going. We should not be funding private education. That's that's not People have a choice. Public tax dollars should not be funding private institutions. So, I hope that you all get involved in helping us advocate. Reach out to your legislature, not just your members in the House. The Senate needs to hear this as well because as they're negotiating between their two versions of this budget, there will be concessions. And we want to make sure that there are as little concessions as possible. And when this does get to the governor's desk, it needs to be a budget that
076has our students best interest at heart. So, thank you for bearing with me on that. I just feel like that's a lot of information that I don't think people understand what's happening. And I think it's really, really important that you need to understand the facts of what's happening and get involved and ask those questions and advocate and make your voices be heard because it takes a village, right? It takes a village for change. and I felt like we were moving towards that change prior to CO and then all of a sudden it stopped. So, thank you. Any other comments or questions, Member McGregor? Um, one thing more specific um to this resolution that I think is important for individuals to understand as well is that if our state if our state decides to go forward
077with funding private education, those educational institutions do not have to accept all students and that's a problem. Um, public education is open to everybody. Everybody is entitled to a good education. that's very important um for our country and for our kids. But um if we if we go forward with this as a state, this is very problematic. We're giving money to institutions that don't have any oversight. There is no public board, no public requirements the same way that a public educational system has. Um so I just want to put that out there because I think there are people who are like, well, I would love my kid to go to a private school. However, your kid is not guaranteed to get into that private school. Um, and this is especially problematic for students with special
078needs. Um, if you you are not supposed to be um treated differently and being accepted to a school because of a disability, but it is very well known and if you look at the statistics that students with disabilities don't get into private schools the same way. They don't get the same level of education and we need to protect all students. So, thank you. All right. Are there any other comments or questions? Member Torres? Um, I appreciate your your words. Um, and, uh, that, um, Member Wagner, Chair Wagner, um, the, uh, the collaborative study, you know, she hit the nail right on the head on all her points. And the the collaborative study, so you're all aware, was back in about 2018. They the there was this this organization that put forth this study that said,
079"This is what it costs to educate a child in the state of Michigan." And this is what school districts are being funded, what we're being funded in the state. And it was very eye opening because it showed how below the mark we were in the state of Michigan. And then from that, as uh President Wagner stated that we started to see once we got into COVID how important schools were and then the funding started to come in and it started they started to meet us where we needed to be met. But in the past two years, I would say we've started to see that draw back more. So that is where we need the advocacy. We need people to go and to push. And I know it's hard and people think, well, you know, nothing
080changes. It does. It does. You know, we've been to Lancing, several of us here on this board numerous times, spoken to the legislature, um, spoke to individual legislators and told them our stories because they're not on the front lines. They don't see. We love teachers to come. We love administrators to come. Uh, we love school personnel to come. It is very important for them to get an eye of of where what is happening in the school districts because they don't see that. they're not part of the day-to-day the categorical as well. That is a very uh important piece because that allows school districts to receive funding in particular areas where we're more vulnerable. When we look at a Waterford school district, we have a lot of early ling uh early English language learners. Um we
081have the atrisisk uh population as well. So, as a Waterford School District needs those categorical goals in those areas more than other districts, per se. Um, as uh board member McGregor stated, the charter and and the privates, they they don't have to take your kids, you know, they they can not take the kid the kids. So, here in the school district in Waterford, we educate all children. We meet them where they're at. Um, so for them to be able to take our public education dollars, you know, it's it makes it very difficult and puts us in a very difficult situation. The one-time funding uh that we got last year, now bringing it back to the per pupil increase, that is important. and that changed because I think they thought they did a good thing last
082year, but we pushed back as school districts and school boards um and told Lancing that that that was not the right way to go and they flipped it back over because of that advocacy and that push. Uh we still have a lot of of ground to make up postcoid the effects. Um, I know as as a parent that I I see and as a school board member out there as well, we're doing a lot right to try to get kids back on track, but and and blame who you will, but at the end of the day, we are where we are. And there are a lot of kids that need to get up to par and and to make up ground for where they were pre- pandemic. So, um, we got to advocate, we got
083to push. Um, and I can tell you as a trustee and many of us here as trustees, you entrust us to make the right decisions. They may not always look like the best decisions, but I can tell you that we do a lot of work in between to to make these decisions and to try to hit the nail on the head as best as we can. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? I will add that the research finance collaborative that was the study that was released in 2018. They also released an update in 2021. And so their website is still up if you're interested in reading it. I've read the whole study. It's not that bad to get through, but also read the update because they are consistently and continually doing work to make
084sure that they are on the track with how we're funding. All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. And we are back to treasure srant. Superintendent recommendation 71-24-25 facility utilization study 25.01. It is recommended that the board of education approve plant moran realpoint as the management firm to complete the facility utilization study in the amount of $60,000 funded by the general fund and authorize the assistant superintendent of business and operations to sign on the board's behalf. I so move support. Support. All right. The motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Motion carries 6. Treasurer Socrants recommendation 72-24-25 Donaldson Hills easement. It is recommended that the board of education grant the water
085resource commission access to our property in order to make the necessary repair and installation as outlined. I so move support. Support. All right. The motion has been moved and supported. Are there any comments or questions? All right. All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All right. Motion carries 6. All right, we are now going to move on to public comment on non-action items. Uh we Is there anyone else out there that has a green card? I do have one green card here. Okay. U Miss Lori Tunic, if you could make your way to the podium. Please be reminded that comments are limited to three 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
086speak only once on the same topic and are asked to avoid statements that are personally directed, abusive, or obscene. Good evening, uh, board members and community members. My name is Lori Tunik and I'm the executive director of MEA servicing Waterford and I'm speaking tonight on behalf of all the MEA locals in Waterford. I want to take a moment to update you on the current status of negotiations between the associations and the district. Unfortunately, I must report that progress has be been slow and concerning. Two months ago, the teachers presented a comprehensive proposal aimed at ensuring competitive compensation, protection, protecting instructional quality, and respecting the hard work of our staff. Yesterday we finally received a close to complete counter proposal from the district but not complete. The support staff contracts are on hold and we do
087not go back to the table to these groups until July. Further, the district has made several troubling assumptions that stall negotiations before we begin a meaning meaningful discussion. your budget assumptions of no onschedu increases, no improvements to the salary schedule, no off-ch schedule payments, such assumptions made before financial negotiations have occurred do not reflect good faith bargaining, nor do they reflect what is best for students. Adding to our concerns, the district has stated at each table for two months now that it will not engage in any financial discussions until after the governor's budget has been announced. This guarantees contracts will expire. I also want to address the school calendar. While a calendar proposal was given to the teachers association a month ago, we made it clear that since the district is not willing to talk
088finances, we are not willing to talk calendar. You cannot ask our members to plan their lives around a calendar when you refuse to address the compensation and financial issues that impact those very same lives. And if the district believes it can make assumptions without pay without pay negotiations, then let me be equally clear. Teachers can also assume that we do not wish to sit through things you seemingly cannot afford. Monthly after contract hour, hour and a half long staff meetings. We do not want larger class sizes. We do not believe it's acceptable for secretaries to be made responsible for heavier workloads because positions have been cut. We do not believe it's acceptable to remove media technicians from both the middle and high schools without presenting a reasonable plan to maintain library services and quality working
089order. If the district claims it cannot afford to invest in its employees, then you certainly cannot afford luxuries like this either. Finally, the association has already presented ideas and proposals to save the district money, responsible, fair options. To date, the district has shown little interest in pursuing these ideas. Our staff deserves respect and a fair contract. You gave only some employees on schedule financial increases last year. Stop asking the employees to balance your budget on their back. You Thank you, Miss Tunly paid employer. This is why you do not retain staff. I do appreciate it. Thank you. Are there any other green cards out there? All right. We are going to move on now to our board reports. I'd like to start off with our board reports by first I'd like to recognize member Donahghue
090who is not here. He was recognized last night um by MASB for reaching the data skills specialty and communica community relations specialty. He was awarded certificate. Um and our beloved former member Joan Sutherland was also awarded level one certified board member award, level two award of merit and level three award of distinction. I also want to thank member McGregor for attending last night's award ceremony with member Donahghue. So, that was always fun when we see our members um be recognized for their their hard work that they put into being on the board. I also want to give a thank you to Mr. Darren Holly and to Miss Lisa Eldridge who both stepped in and were our interim superintendent through this past year. Um we greatly greatly appreciate your leadership and all the hard work and
091we know it wasn't easy. Um, we appreciate that you both were willing to step into that role. Um, do some of the very heavy lifting. I know the last few months have been a little little crazy, but we are greatly greatly appreciative of of you coming back, Lisa, for sure, and Darren being willing to take on two roles in the beginning of the school year. So, we are excited to welcome our new superintendent, Mr. Adam Martin, who will begin his career here on July 1st. But we will be forever grateful to you for for coming in and making sure that that those shoes were filled through this past school year. Um I also want to thank my um colleague Mr. Patruchia for participating with me on the recent reinstatement hearing. Those are some of the
092things that we as board members have to do. So I appreciate that he was part of it. And I also want to give a huge shout out to our 2025 grads. It is always a pleasure to be part of those graduation ceremonies. And as member Torres said earlier, it's a reset for us because it's one of those shining lights in our day to be able to see these kids be able to reach their goals and know that they're going out in the world to do great things. And as I said to one of our grads, go out there and and prove to the world just how amazing, you know, we are as a corsair, as a captain, or as a Viking. So, all right. Are there any other border reports? Member Stitch, just really quick,
093lots of great summer opportunities through WSD coming through in your inboxes. I saw just today, I think we had tennis camp, basketball camp. Um, make sure you're taking advantage of those. I think I've talked my sons into going to tennis camp. Um, which which I might be more uh happy about than them. Um, and again, congrats to our amazing graduates. Well done. Have a great summer, everyone. Anyone else? Any other board reports? All right, we're going to move on to superintendent report. Okay, thank you. Um, the Waterford Foundation for Public Education held its 38th annual golf outing this past Tuesday honoring M graduate Derek Fry. Proceeds from the golf outing benefit curricular and extracurricular activities here in the Waterford School District. Thank you to all the golfers and many volunteers for making today a success.
094Summer programming is well underway. We have summer of steam um which just began and we will be moving into camp WSD along with our secondary summer school programming um all throughout the summer. Hopefully your students are involved in some of the great opportunities we have. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Adam Martin, the new SE superintendent this week and a few weeks ago. He is excited, eager, and ready to start on July 1st. and I know he will do a wonderful job. Um, finally, I'd like to congratulate the staff, students, parents, and this board on a successful 24-25 school year. It had its struggles, it had its challenges, but we made it through, and I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable summer break and all the best in the next school year.
095All right, seeing no further business, this meeting is adjourned. Have a great summer, everybody. Thank you.