001our first first special presentation for the evening is a video that highlights the final smarts meeting of the 21-22 school year on May 11th this talented group of students came together for one final time and throughout the meeting the foundation of the District student voice group was reinforced students should be involved should plan should Advocate should transform and evaluate each school was asked to make a presentation and share with their peers three positive accomplishment accomplishments or initiatives that their team led during the school year and one wish something that they would like to see happen and plan to make happen during the next school year the video we are about to watch gives an overview of the day's activities and the positive interaction between our students thank you [Music] go away [Applause] [Music] and planning
002is already underway for our first meeting of the 22-23 school year with our students from smarts our next presentation will highlight our retirees and I know we do have one retiree maybe more in the audience with us tonight so if you are a retiree and want to call your name if you could come forward and walk the Horseshoe and thank or Shake everyone's hand uh Stephen Poston a miscellaneous laborer who's retiring from Grove Patterson Academy with 20 years and eight months of service Barbara hurch paraprofessional she was at mctag with 26 years and nine months of service [Applause] Karen Bowman Administrative Assistant she's retiring from Grove Patterson Academy with 27 years and six months of service Ann Haynes a bus aide she's retiring with 28 years and two months of service Joyce Francine Lewis math
003teacher she's retiring with 32 years and Noreen schner a bus driver she's retiring with 33 years and nine months of service to Toledo public schools that totals 169 years and four months of service we wish everybody well [Applause] picture with you with you is that okay yes you know you know everybody foreign thank you I think that brings us to community section three Community comments um do did we resolve our community comments we are we do not have any committee comments on section four organizational input and I see that Mr Ramirez is here do you want to tell us how many years that you've been coming to board meetings 20 years every board meeting for 20 years we're happy to have you in your role as president of tech thank you thank you very much
004I just wanna say congratulations for another let's say successful year getting everything that we've gone through and in summer time so we are happy to take a break a lot of things have changed recently over what you've been seeing on TV and the Supreme Court and some changes as a union President we are worried about rights that are happening not only just as to employees but to Citizens Community members females everybody that are watching and we need to band together and support and make sure that voting matters collections matter in order to stand up for what we believe in and we are going to do that and my wife was out there standing up for what she does I appreciate everybody that's here thank you thank you I don't see anyone from Tipsy or ask
005me so we are ready for um the comments by the board for baskets yeah I just I just have a few comments um one of them is about the smarts video Ms Barnes and myself made it to the event that they had um it looked like they were having fun they did a lot of serious work uh in the morning they talk about a lot of important issues I think one of the biggest issues is how they feel how safe you know the great safety that they feel how they have a desire to be safe um in all ways not just physically but mentally emotionally um they really talk about a lot of uh issues and they talk about it in one of the more intelligent ways probably one of the most intelligent ways um
006when you look around the country are students sometimes exhibit a little bit more common sense uh when you're talking so that was very gratifying to see and when they showed us at the faith Committee of the video Ms Barnes and I thought that the whole board should see them it looks like they're having fun it's a a fun kind of video but they did do a lot of work uh the other thing is is that um again our faith committee was two and a half three hours long uh one of the things that we talked about was the hubs I think I want to highlight is how important the hubs are we talk about a lot of things but I think that was one of the big things that we they garnered a lot of
007discussion um the other thing that I want to talk about a little bit is um I see John Foley our former superintendent in attendance and I just want to give a shout out to John John was here when I first started on the board and he doesn't know it but I go around telling everybody what a mentor he was to me at those times and those were some pretty tough times um and uh John was just a wonderful person so I just want to let everybody everybody know how much I appreciate John Fuller thank you [Applause] thank you madam president um a couple things again I was also going to point out John Foley he was a superintendent when my daughter was in school and I was a parent du jour right um so thank
008you John for being here tonight we certainly appreciate it one of the ones that encouraged me to run for school board um I would also like to comment about the smarts I think that they have come a long way and I'm really excited uh that this board initiative is taken off and it's empowering student voice and that's truly what our district should be about uh I would like to again congratulate our retirees uh thank you for your service my goodness um you know we couldn't do what we do without you so thank you very much uh to the staff students and our families I hope this summer you refresh and rejuvenate and get ready for the next school year we've had a lot of work to do thanks good evening to everyone as we celebrate
009the end of another year I was excited for the graduation season and to see the love of the graduates their family and their friends and it's as exciting as that was uh Mrs Mrs barkwig said it best that the work still continues and so as we prepare for another school year I think we need to be aware and prepared for all of the challenges that are coming against us from a political privileged state and it's our desire to really make sure that all Injustice is turned around and so we're excited and we are prepared to work thank you thank you madam president Okay so really is on my heart to say to the board staff and students and parents Guardians and everyone in this room is mental health uh we talk about self-care if that's
010a bad for you great if it's that Netflix thing great because I I know we have a lot of challenging news but my daughter my 21 year old daughter today reminded me of one of my favorite songs is by Pat Benatar invincible um and she reminded me that we will not stop fighting and I want you to know that together we are stronger than hate bigotry homophobia transphobia white supremacy and they are scared of that so remember that they are afraid of us um being with the smarts team like Mr basket said definitely give me hope that our future is bright they were asking not for peace of Friday they were asking for mental health how to actually feed families and our schools how to make sure that every student had a peer mentor uh
011it was actually being embedded into the supreme Supreme Court believe it or not um but they give me hope so I know I'm personally struggling uh with a lot but seeing my daughter seeing the youth um seeing mom's a mass action in the room still fighting that that gives me hope that we are invincible thank you thank you I would like to Echo congratulations our graduates it's it's our why as I say when we get to preside over two or three or sometimes four graduations by the time we split them all up because there are so many we follow Dr Duran around who goes to every single one of them uh it's always a very impressive Sprint for a couple of weeks to get through those so it's our why and there's nothing that um
012that feeds me more than shaking every one of those graduates hands as they cross the stage of course the smart to our version of student voice I really just want to thank everyone for um for keeping that movement alive and Dr Durant for taking us seriously when the board said hey we're going to have student voice and we're going to start with them taking over the Diaz and go from there so it was um well received and obviously continues to grow our retirees we always love it when someone shows up to see us when they retire and I actually remember walking around the Horseshoe myself when I retired from TPS and way back in 2009 and I'm not gonna lie that was the first board meeting I'd ever been to it and it was when
013I retired in here here so I couldn't stay away and let from having 30 years of uh being with the district to uh now on my ninth year on school board so I I get my education fixed as it continues um the new new appointments I think we have a couple of people in the room that are so excited about their next jobs so um we'll be voting on new appointments uh for the new school year and thank you for stopping in and while we do that I'm uh it's great to see the passion and the forward um enthusiasm for the next school year it's hard to come up with that when you barely finish the school year and you're and you're wondering you know starting to count the weeks of your vacation already as
014we approach July but then to get excited about your next assignment is always um always very refreshing um mom's demanding action moms and dads demanding action I you know really I think as Barnes said seeing you in the room and especially when you know you're in your seat your sea of red shirts it really does um bolster our own resolve I um I'm struggling with this constant assault on public education and this assault on basic human dignity that has been dished out to us um and it's hard to it's hard to you know keep on plugging away so I certainly um appreciate that you're doing it and um the tireless colleagues of mine that you know work so hard as advocates in the community um you know kind of helps it kind of helps to
015look around and see that as hard as as it is right now um I think we're in very difficult times and and I appreciate your all all being here any further comments to the board members I think that brings us to section six the consent agenda I'm going to read through it agenda item 601 through 6 27 are the consent agenda items board members May request to pull an item from the consent and move to the discussion section of the agenda if I as I pull it out if it's necessary item 6.01 through 6.04 are the human resources staff development and training committee items that is chaired by me and co-chaired by Mr Randall Parker item 6.05 36.16 are the finance and business operations committee items that is chaired by Mr Bob Vasquez and co-chaired
016by Mrs Chris barwig item 6.17 the technology Improvement in process committee does not have any action items this month that is chaired by me and co-chaired by Mr Juan Vasquez item 6.18 and 6.19 I come to you from the board curriculum instruction and academic excellence uh committee chaired and co-chaired by myself and Mrs Chris Barwick the item 6.20 and 6.21 come from the policy committee that is cheered by Ms Gina Barnes and co-chair by Mr Von Vasquez item 6.22 and 6.23 are from the Arts athletic and Student Activities Committee chaired by Mrs varwig and co-chaired by Mr Parker item 6.24 and 6.25 a family and Community engagement committee is cheered by Mr Pop Vazquez and co-chair departments item 6.26 and 6.27 are approval of board minutes may I have a motion for so I'm sorry
017one more thing section seven of the agenda consists consists of reports in minutes and do not require any board action I do need a motion uh to approve the consent agenda so second it's been moved and seconded Mr Captain is called the role yes Parker yes Mrs barway yes Mr Vasquez yes Miss Barnes yes okay so as I stumbled around and mentioned section seven is reports in minutes from our committee meetings for information and uh reference it's a good time to mention that each of these committees meet at least once a month but most of them meet once a month each of us have two three or four committees so we're in committee meetings throughout the month to prepare for this month's agenda and you will see all the work from those individual board committee
018meeting agendas and minutes that go into what eventually becomes our consent agenda each month uh Section 8 is our discussion section we do have a few items there one is 8.01 the administrative section uh from our HR committee I need a motion to approve item 8.01 second moved and seconded Mr get who's called the roll Miss Gerkin yes Mr Parker yes Miss Warwick yes Mr Vazquez yes Miss Barnes yes foreign oh sure since that administrative section was um pulled out into uh the discussion we might as well take a second to recognize the people that are here that were in that section right help us out yep come introduce yourself tell us principal and Hawkins Elementary School Academy thank you and we haven't somebody else thank you yes by looking at that section of the
019agenda you'll be able to see um go ahead yep thank you anyone else from that section we have lots of uh lots of new appointments a lot of folks moving around in our administrative ranks so it's going to be a nice uh an interesting and fresh year for us and in all in many of our schools foreign [Music] but yeah [Music] foreign dude [Music] foreign thank you everyone hi next in our discussion section is item 8.02 which is a resolution in opposition to house bill 99. uh Ms Barnes has agreed to read that resolution for us a resolution in opposition to House Bill 99 and prohibiting School Personnel from possessing firearms on TPS property or at TPS events whereas House Bill 99 which was signed into law on June 13 constitutes a dangerous expansion of
020the presence of gun in Ohio schools by reducing the current firearm training requirements for school Personnel from 700 hours to only 24 hours compared to 100 180 hours teacher must invest to renew their teacher license and whereas I'm a student I'm sorry Army school pretty much Army School Personnel creates the risk that students will come into possession and Firearms I'm sorry possession of firearms in schools and increase the risk of school shootings and whereas the Toledo police department and Toledo police school school school resource officers and campus protection officers are in the best position to respond promptly and effectively when needed at any of the buildings within the district and whereas the Fraternal Order of Police testified House Bill I'm sorry testified against House Bill 99 stating that the training centers were inadequate to prepare
021School staff to use deadly force and whereas the Ohio Federation of teachers in the Ohio Education Association together represent over a hundred and forty one thousand Ohio Educators oppose the bill and whereas school districts such as TPS have worked for years to keep guns out of schools while the Ohio legislator and now Governor dewine seeks to put more guns in school and whereas the board and administration have taken action to implement additional measures to keep students and staff safe in TPS schools and we will continue to make the safety of TPS students and staff the top priority of the district some measures taken by TPS are creation and implementation of Crisis management plan upgrading security system parenting accountability meetings and coordination uh media and coordination with emergency responders and law enforcement Communications with family regarding
022expectations of students trainings of staff and students in the presence of SRS and cpos where appropriate and whereas how Bill 99 gives local school the words the description to allow School Personnel to be armed and whereas TPS policy jhm student safety affirms that safety of the students is of concern to all teachers and other staff members and special attention must be paid to maintaining a safe School environment and whereas CP TPS board policy jfcj weapons in the schools affirms that board commitments to providing the students of the district within educational environment that is free of danger of firearms knives and other weapons and we're at cps4 policy GBM weapons Personnel policy prohibit staff and prohibited staff members from possessing story making or using a weapon including a concealed weapon in the school safety zone and
023any setting that is under the control and supervisions of the board for the purpose of school activities approved and authorized by the board now there before it resolved by the Board of Education of Toledo cities to school district that's Section 1 the board of education does not authorize School Employees to carry firearms within the school district and consists with board policy GBM jhf and jfcj the only individuals authorized to carry a firearm within Toledo Public Schools are Toledo plus Police Department officers certain field Public School officers and other law enforcement Personnel the treasurer is authorized to deliver or cost to be delivered a certified copy of this resolution to committee leaders so the member of Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio State Senate into the office of Governor Mike dewine this resolution shall be in
024full force and effective from an immediate actor in adoption and shall receive any prior resolutions or action Act of this board which may be inconsistent with the provision of this resolution section 4 is here if I found and determined that all four more actions of this war concerning and relating to the passage of this resolution we're taken in an open meeting of the board and that all deliberations of this board and in any other of his committees that results in such formal action wherein meetings open to the public in compliance with all legal requirements including section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code everything so moved exactly it's been moved and seconded discussion uh less guns not more my comments are strictly um this is another form of divisive Concepts created by out of control State
025Legislature and governor's office at the end of the day lighting fire with fire produces a greater fire um I was just wishing with listen I wish people would just sit back and listen to teachers listen to our students especially those and I hate to say Urban but that's what they're using so I'm going to go ahead and say Urban District to the students who have to live in high gun violence areas every day and know they have lost friends because of misfiring of guns I wish people would just listen I just want to say no thank you we are not interested in Army teachers Mr Gay can you call the Rope Mrs gherkin yes Mr Parker yes Miss Harwood yes Mr Vazquez yes Miss Barnes oh yes nice one [Applause] just in case anybody wondered
026where we stood on this thank you all right here yeah that's good [Applause] [Laughter] um [Music] I know thank you Kelly because good stuff's still coming okay we have another resolution which is item 8.03 a resolution to join litigation opposing vouchers I'm going to read that resolution a resolution to Joint litigation opposing vouchers in Ohio education whereas the dedication of funds from the Toledo City School District TPS by the Ohio Department of Education and payment of those funds to private schools via the various scholarship voucher programs diminishes the amount of funding and the levels of educational opportunity for the education of students who attend TPS and whereas the dedication the deduction of voucher funds from TPS further reduces the funding available to support the additional needs of all students particularly those with exceptional needs students
027with disabilities English language Learners and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and whereas the deduction of voucher funds from TPS can result in the involuntary transfer of District local tax revenue approved by the voters of the district for the support of the district's operating expenses to private religious schools for the support of those schools programs in violation of the rights of the district taxpayers and whereas the deduction of voucher funds from TPS increases Reliance on local tax revenue to maintain School operations in violation of the Ohio Constitution and clear directives of the Ohio Supreme Court now therefore be it resolved by the Board of Education of the Toledo City School District back section 1 the board fines and determines that the deduction of outer funds from TPS is harmful to the district and its students taxpayers
028voters and staff section 2 the Board of Education authorizes and directs tps's joinder of the Ohio Coalition for equity and adequacy of school funding Coalition and directs the TPS Treasurer to pay Coalition dues on or after July 1st 2022 in the sum of two dollars per District pupil according to the enrollment listed on the most recent report card with use allocated by the Coalition as followed number one 50 cents per pupil shall be initially allocated to the payment of Coalition operating expenses and 1.50 per pupil shall be allocated to the support of the coalition's efforts in opposition to the deduction of voucher funds from TPS and other school districts Section 3 this resolution shall be in full force and effect from and immediately after its adoption and shall supersede any prior resolution or activist board
029which may be inconsistent with the provisions of this resolution and section 4 it is hereby found and determined that all formal actions of this board concerning and relating to the passage of this resolution were taken in an open meeting of this board and that all deliberations of this board and of any of its committees that resulted in such formal action where meetings open to the public in compliance with all legal requirements including Section 1 to 1.22 of the Ohio Revised Code I would like to request a motion to approve three some moved second it's been moved and seconded discussion thank you American president um the only thing I'm going to say is is that uh I support the premise of the lawsuit and I am against the voucher legislation and I want to make that
030very clear because what I'm going to end up doing is voting no on this resolution but I'm not voting no and I want to make it very clear not quoting no because I don't support the intent of the lawsuit because I do the reason I'm voting now is that I believe that the existing structure does not guarantee the sustainability for the length of time that I think it's going to take to win a lawsuit like this I have been involved with other board litigation and I've learned from that that it takes a number of years I think that went on six seven years it takes a lot of grit takes a lot of determination to follow through with this kind of litigation uh I think this litigation will be the same it's going to take
031it's going to take a while it's going to take a number of years I hope I'm wrong because I want I want to succeed um so for that reason I hope I'm wrong uh in the past we structured uh ours with only the involvement of three or four or five other uh districts but this involves the entire state uh the litigation right now structured so that there's an annual contribution of the districts that joined so what that means is that each year each district cannot interrupt I think that limits the resources that are going to be needed to follow through with with this litigation um any the like I said the determination of any District can fluctuate therefore the resources will fluctuate from year to year um the second reason is is that this effort
032is generally led by smaller districts which means uh according to the formula less resources uh when the rest of the urban join in the resources will grow up and I hope they do number three as of now GPS was not a member of the steering committee and therefore not part of the governance and not over have an oversight of the spending of our money uh number four as we have found in other instances the legislative the legis Slaters can change the law we can win this legislation but as they tried in the past they or go write different legislation that'll sidestep whatever the findings are in this in this uh litigation um and lastly if the litigation is successful all districts will benefit from it uh it would be nice if all districts would uh
033join but that's as I said that's not the case I want to end with I hope that this location is successful however as it is I don't feel confident that this is the best way to spend the taxpayers money until the shortcomings that I have mentioned are addressed the best way to address this issue is to go to the policy and vote for legislators that will support public schools and stop dismantling the public school system and will hold the school systems equally responsible and hold all school systems accountable the same because that's not happening right now and I hope that the litigation that is finally successful will bring back transparency to the taxpayers and the voters so again I want to make it clear I hope you're successful I just right now just don't think
034spending the money really uh and it's tax credit money just just just really uh I'm just not really confident that uh uh it's a good investment the way things are structured thank you so first I would like to thank Mr Vazquez for his comments I think it's always good to hear um diverse perspectives and different lenses um and I I take what you say and absorb that um I will say that I look at this litigation as much as I don't want any litigation as a protection of taxpayer dollars and when I say that vouchers currently um when a student goes to or utilizes a voucher to a private school there's truly not an accountability piece for those tax payer dollars that are spent and in public schools you can see where we spend every
035penny and I think that's really important so I'm going to be voting yes for this litigation mostly to protect the tax 90 percent of students in the state of Ohio attend public schools that's where the dollars should go I am absolutely a hundred percent for school choice I think that's important component to have I absolutely do I actually believe that public schools offer the best choice and this state should invest in public education if you want to send your child to a private school pay for it just like any other choice we have police and fire that we pay with cashmere dollars we are in the same position no one can go out and hire professional security with your taxpayer dollars for your individual house it's the same message for public education if you want
036that Private Security pay for it taxpayer dollars are for the common good for the general public we want our children to be educated and unfortunately with this voucher um obsessed legislature I see additional attacks on public Ed and they're going to want to open up taxpayer wallets to pay for private funding um this litigation to me is the only clear way for us to try and put a stop to it I agree with you voting a hundred percent uh every day all day I will vote for those that advocate for public education um but until I see that happen this litigation may make the legislators hold their breath for a moment and I hope that's the case I actually think going on the offense is a good thing I'm tired of playing defense with these
037guys completely tired of it they're completely out of control their device and Concepts adding guns to schools the list goes on vouchers in my opinion are just part of that process the attack on public ad as a whole so with that said I will be pushing for this uh legislative piece of litigation I also uh take your comments on the services because I do think that if we approve this tonight that TPS will have a seat at that steering table and um if there are issues that we all feel certainly voice those concerns I know just from connecting with school board members across the state of Ohio that many of those districts are looking to see that TPS is going to pass this tonight and we'll join in as well that's all thank you thank
038you Mr Vasquez thank you so much for your first perspective of this um absolutely appreciate uh the honesty that came from that and I will also be voting yes because I'm in agreeance with Mrs Barwick about it being about protection um I really feel like at any moment Rod Sterling is going to walk in and tell us we're in the Twilight Zone I really feel it's so much that happens like back to back to back and at the end of the day we can't continue laying down we've got to be on the offense and I am a product of public education so at the end of the day I'm always going to fight for public education in every aspect my children are products of public education and so we again have these political entitled people
039by any means necessary that will try to destroy and put an attack on public education so I'm definitely going to uh well yes on this because I believe that this litigation will help us really be that light to take a stand against all of this thank you thank you madam president Mr Vazquez our respect your comment because you're so young and wise um but I want to take a moment because this is bigger than this resolution you have Senators tweeting about yay something passed okay let's go to Brown versus Board of Education that's that's the goal um and I feel like sometimes because of things are scary things can get expensive they're bigger than that they have more power than us that we wait and I don't think we can wait any longer um we
040know other things are coming down the pipeline and they have already started um they are literally attacking our students with policies and trying to now force them selves on our young female students athlete students because of their transphobia this is what we're dealing with and I feel we can no longer stand by they may be bigger they may have more money but they're not more powerful than us and I I am hopeful that not only us but districts in Ohio start to step up to protect our students and our employees like we should thank you um vouchers hurt Ohio that's the uh the tagline and that's the name of the Coalition they have a website I'll just heard Ohio and it's pretty pretty good if anyone wants to take a look at it I think
041I counted well over 100 school districts that have already joined the litigation and yes they are the smaller school districts that went first imagine that um they so we could take that either way oh it finally affects them so now they're going to step up and we've been hurt by vouchers for a lot longer so there's a little bit of you know rub there but there's also the fact that if we're among the first few City school districts to step up then that means we're leading and not following uh so I'm I'm okay with being um only the second or third big city school district that joins this litigation and we were assured that we would be offered a seat on that steering committee so I look forward to having a board member involved at
042that table uh all along once we get once we get started one of the first I think um orders one of the first things that were heard on this resolution early on um or just recently was two organizations that were trying to be part of the opposition to it so that they could get in the middle of it and when we learned that one of those organizations um is verified to be backed by the Koch brothers that was my answer it might have been um the thing to scare us off by saying we'll never raise enough money from our school districts um and our you know friends of public education to battle the Cook Brothers but that's exactly what they expect is to continue to dismantle public education as we know it so I um
043I will be supporting joining this litigation and um we may be in it for the long haul and I I think that that's a commitment I'm willing to make I just want to nominate Mr Vazquez or Mr Parker for that we'll we'll get there and Mr Dan please call the rule Miss Gerkin yes Mr Parker yes this is our week hell yes Mr Vazquez no this Barnes yes we have another resolution it's big night for resolutions we have one more for you 8.04 and I think Mr Vazquez is going to have a lot more fun with this one than he did with the last one so we're gonna give him the floor to read it yes it's my pleasure to read this resolution it's a resolution nominating uh Chris firewig for the Ohio school boards
044association's recognition award whereas Chris virwig a board member at the Toledo Public Schools has served the district with distinction and whereas Chris farwick has served as a TPS board Committee Member on the curriculum policy osfc Finance community and public relations Athletics family and Community engagement committees she has also provided leadership during District labor negotiations and Levy campaigns and whereas Chris has held a leadership role in the TPS board regarding the legislative advocacy efforts including testimony to the state legislature on issues such as state report cards vouchers and stress commissions she extended that advocacy to the National level where she represented the Ohio school boards Association through the federal relations Network and whereas Chris has served as President and Vice President of the Toledo Board of Education and as president of the osb8 Northwest region and
045whereas Chris marwick has dedicated her time for the betterment of the students and community and whereas Chris firework has proven to be dedicated to the craft of Court governance through our commitment to service and governance skills and whereas such measures have advanced student achievement in the district and improve the governance of that District now therefore be it resolved by the Board of Education of the Toledo School District that section 1 the Board of Education of Toledo City School District nominates Chris firewick for the Ohio school boards Association recognition award section two this resolution shall be in full force and effect from and immediately after its adoption and shall supersede any prior resolution or act in this board which may be inconsistent with provisions of this resolution and section 3 it is hereby found and determined
046that all formal actions of this board relating to the passage of this resolution were taken in an open meeting of the board and that all deliberations of the board and of any of its committees that resulted in such formal action for in meetings open to the public in compliance with legal requirements including section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code so move second it's been moved and seconded discussion sounds good yeah I uh I'm just glad this is uh before us uh Chris because uh I can't think that we can have any uh better candidate to put forward to Ohio School Board Association uh the new and all of your hard work and uh you can see by the prior resolution um and what was included in this and your hard work uh including your commitment
047to uh or commitment against vouchers and all the legislative work that you've done but you've done work all across the board and I admire you so much I'm proud to be your colleague and I'm proud to uh be part of the board to nominate you for this great evening because now we I just want to say that I'm almost confident that you want to hear the same thing across this board there is no one that is more deserving of this nomination than you we want to say thank you for all that you continue to do and for really teaching us what student-centered decisions look so we really appreciate you and we thank you for just being that light and taking a stand and being that one that will not be hidden so we thank you
048again if you want to hear some of the same stuff so just be surprised every time you hear it well it's a saying you know give them roses and I when I met you and saw the fire I said I gotta change that I said even Rose is why you're still kicking butt and so this is a perfect opportunity um because I see your fire I see your love for our district for our babies for our students um because like you make me as another parent know that I picked the right District to raise my babies in when I see dedicated passionate board members who uh may have cussed more than me sometimes um when our babies are not being treated Fair and I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart because
049you have led the way and you are a big inspiration um to not only me but other parents so that we can make a difference so thank you I know and this is just a nomination wait till we all come to Columbus when you get the award so you know look this is you know this is what leadership is I mean really truly leadership um comes so naturally I I'll just recall a moment when we were both on the ballot to be on the school board um for the first time both of us there were lots of other moments during that campaign season that you know maybe worth remembering someday but I just remember we were all it was something like we were all going to be on on TV so we're on this big
050Diaz it was channel 30 and they were going to talk they were talking like there's like 15 people running for school board it was really different than the last few races where no one paid attention to us at all and I just remember after hearing you answer a couple of questions that it just felt like just hearing your voice made me feel like the students of this District were in good hands so there was just right from the start without knowing you and without seeing you in action I I didn't know those years of your advocacy and your you know standing here talking to school boards that I you know but I just knew we were in good good hands and it's only years later and here you are about to be the president of
051the Ohio School Board Association so there's just no there's no denying that this is what leadership Relentless leadership and passion looks like so we're we're happy to nominate you for this and I'm sure many more opportunities to recognize you for your service uh are are in front of us because I know that you are not finished we have lots to do so if there's no and I I'm sorry for them no well number one I want to thank my colleagues because um listen at the end of the day it takes a team and without your support I couldn't do what I do um in leadership role without the administration that we have here um I would not have learned to become a better board member and they have supported me in this effort um certainly
052I always thank my family because God help them um you should see me at home um I I will say that public education has been my foundation and my lifeline throughout my life and it is an honor and a privilege to get to advocate for it and I'm so appreciative um you know my whole family is public education you know graduates and you know whether it was my daughter and now my granddaughter is you know a first grader in the district and I know her siblings are coming right on behind so I am I'm excited about this opportunity with Ohio School Board Association it is certainly a you know something that TPS should be very proud of that they have a board member leading that organization next year it hasn't been since 1974. um and
053a female to boot right so um you know the fighting spirit I all I have to do is think about our students and our babies and that gives me all the motivation I need so I thank my colleagues for recognizing that I certainly appreciate that but I will abstain from this vote because I can't just vote for myself foreign yeah yeah Mr Parker yes Epstein Mr Vasquez Miss Barnes yes you'll all be happy to know that and that completes my star now for oh hispa so I completed my aptitude test um that's not it's not easy it's not easy two hours just saying so you should all take it though right if you know I want to add that Mr Gantt in um Mr sex showed his place you need to get this resolution uh
054down to osba immediately uh so that she can join the nominations and we need to do that very quickly okay okay so I think we are at section 9 which are walk-ins we have any walk-ins our early childhood education action items Miss Barnes uh thanks to my wonderful uh fellow board member I'm going to turn it over uh he was there in my absence and I'll turn it over to Dr l ol um true and then we also have three contract amendments one for our partner East little family center one for Great Lakes Community Action and one for Lewis County family Council and those contract amendments are either for Cola tour for Cola Eastfield Family Center is for the new program we are residential and I believe I shared them the three contracts can be
055bundled for one book but the selection criteria has made its own peace I'll move 10.01 expectant parenting student program EHS selection criteria second it's been moved in second didn't he discussion I would like to um make a comment about about this it is a long time coming and we should be very proud of ourselves for going this extra length of finding a safe way for our expecting expectant and parenting or parenting youth to um they have a high quality uh Early Childhood or day care in a situation while they continue their education um I'm going to make a political comment now that says in light of some recent Supreme Court decisions um maybe we're going to need to invest a mass quan a much more much more money into these kinds of programs so we're
056gonna make sure that to the best of our ability our young people who are parenting have a safe a safe way to continue their education while their children are also in a high quality setting so I am very pleased that we are going to be able to start dominant path thank you Dr Allen for spearheading this it's really big deal it's a really big deal I always want to cheer for this and say yay because you don't know the impact and as a person who had their first child at 14 and a half years old daycare was essential for keeping me in school to graduate and I am so glad that we are given our our young parents at opportunity without the challenges that I had to go through um and we are thinking beyond
057the stigma that comes with being a I'm going to say the word teenage parents because it's not dirty it happens it's reality um and we're removing that stigma to say they're still students so I'm so happy that we are doing this um and I agree that we need to look at other ways to make sure we can help all in those situations foreign yes Miss Barnes absolutely thank you oh 20304 so move second dude any discussion Mr yeah please call the roll this is varwood I'm sorry Ms gertman yes Mr Parker yes Miss marwood yes Mr Rance is yes Miss Barnes yes it's okay Mr Gant you have big shoes to Phil okay that conversation 10 the section 11 of the agenda consists of early childhood education reports and minutes from this month's committee meetings
058and are provided for your information reference no action is required so we can proceed to section 12 ECE walk-ins are there any walk-ins from early childhood there is none thank you section 13 uh superintendent comments again thanks to the board members coming out for graduation I think one Security will come to mind her name is Miracle she's a student who had a parent as well as a sibling die in a house fire during covid and she stayed on track and graduated on track so it just showed resiliency of our students again kudos for the leadership of this board uh in regard I told the kids all the time if you don't apply for a scholarship they'll never receive one the board is always putting steps forward to put nomination for individuals we would never get
059a superintendent award a treasurer's award a teacher of the year award or even a board member if we don't apply and every one of you have always thought out and I you might have came out today let's make sure we put someone through for this award uh and uh congratulations to you but far away on that and so uh excited for me to see that because when we did our bond rating that's what they looked at regard to how we were perceived by our peer group and made a huge difference in increasing our bond rating to say taxpayer dollars uh over the years so again thank you and TPS proud Mr Treasurer Pro Tem any comments no campuses here to served board members comments uh yeah I just you know I just want to say
060how difficult it was for me to vote against the joining that uh lawsuit um I hope it's successful and I mean that with everything I've got it's successful the other thing I want to do is I want to congratulate Miss Barwick and Dr Durant Wright when we see good leadership we need to share it with whatever that we can and uh was an easy one I love those I love vote for those easy ones thank you and I would like to keep it positive but unfortunately we have the state house that we have to talk about so House Bill 583 which was great it was a substitute teacher bill and it really helps public education unfortunately the House and Senate decided to add at the last minute um basically sweetheart Gales for underperforming Charter School
061sponsors and created loopholes for more vouchers so I'm just going to call them out because we see you we we see you which is why we're joining the litigation pay attention thank you remember mental health because it's going to be alone for long um they keep raging Against the Machine we are invincible that's going to be the only thing that gets us through this bull um and I'm so glad to be among a lot of good trouble makers so keep making good trouble I haven't done a letter today that um took a while to catch up with me as snail mail sometimes does it sits in our little box here at the district and uh when we're in the building it gets passed along I'm sorry I didn't see this um sooner but I'm looking
062forward to responding to this young woman uh who is a student um a student at the Toledo School for the Arts but she had been at Toledo Public School student for a long time and was praising us and talking about how much she entirely relied on Ohio's education system and she just simply asked for me for us the board to resist legislation such as and she she talks about House Bill 322 and things uh addressing divisive Concepts and then she talks about House Bill 327 and then she goes on to tell me all about why it's important that we as a board speak up against these things because it's likely people will listen to us so I'm glad she thinks that people are going to listen to us and I can't wait to give her
063the list of resolutions that we have passed to prove that we're at least trying to fight at every board meeting month in and month out against this assault on public education so I might have to have someone help me put the list together again because there's been so many so that I can uh let this young woman know that we indeed are are trying and and thank her for thinking of us as being leaders and that someone might actually listen if we if we make those uh resist those uh those assaults so that was kind of a fun letter to open even with it was late I probably have a social media meme that I've created about those hospitals yes of course you know I'd say something else too the I I get so I'm
064glad to see groups out here uh fighting for the things that are the right things to do I have to say I get so frustrated when they get down over all the things that are going on in education and in around I really wish we could have an effort where you know if we go around the district and we talk about this lawsuit we're going to be talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars I really wish we could take hundreds of thousands of dollars to mobilize the voters to vote because I really think people don't listen and I do understand the fact that you can't persuade people so you're only option is legal and and I believe in that and I and I think that that's what happens the only leads us with that option
065we because we can't persuade them we've tried uh I think we've demonstrated that we have tried the way to take care of this is the vote to write people in so I really wish there was an effort for several hundred thousand dollars to mobilize um voters to support Public Schools that's that's a dream of mine well since we're talking about that topic and I'll leave it with this uh Civics education Civics education which was actually um taken out of public schools um so I'm gonna be making that's my next big effort is civics education so get ready you guys right they keep mandating other things they're supposed to teach but they don't really want people to learn what they need to learn to have a democracy are we good I'm going to entertain a motion
066to adjourn so move second I moved in second did it's always the quickest one Miss gergen yes Mr Parker yes Ms marwood yes Mr Vazquez yes Miss Barnes yes