001Mhm. >> Public meeting to order will start with our public tax hearing tonight. Good evening everybody. Our public tax hearing is for the 2026 tax levy school year. So we'll get the proceeds for our 2026-2027 fiscal year. This year we will be levying 18 mills for our non-homestead operating and the full seven debt mills we're allowed to levy for the state of Michigan, which totals 25 total mills for 2026. Your all property taxable value is 3,128,000,000,000. Nope, that's a billion. 3,128,213,538 and your non-PRE property taxable value, which is your personal property, so that's what your homeowners pay six mills instead of the full 18 mills on, is 627,000,000 18,248. Headlee effect on your 2026-2027 budget because you voted a 25.8457 millage back in November 2027 or That should be a 2024. My apologies, that was
002a typo. November 2024 you voted 25.8457 mills. That's well above what we can levy at 18, so that protects us from Headlee rollbacks. We had a 0.9944 rollback this year, so we've been reduced down to the 25.697 mills. That, depending on where Headley falls for the next several years, will continue to reduce. But, because we hedged well over the 18, we're protected. Debt is exempt from rollbacks, so that gets information gets sent to PFM to calculate on our behalf to to confirm what amount we need to levy to make the principal and interest payments. So, because of the Headley hedge that was voted in, your loss is zero for your non-homestead rate, so we can levy the full 18 mills. Then, truth and taxation effect. We're required to hold this public hearing by law. If
003we don't, we have to import another rollback, which is called truth and taxation. So, by holding this hearing, we're able to keep the full 18 mills. If we didn't, we'd have to reduce further by a 0.9683, which would bring us down to 17.4294. Cost of which would be just about $350,000 to the general fund. So, I think Shawn, Nancy, John, and myself are very happy that you'd make the time for this because we can put that money to good use. That That is the end of the presentation. Are there any questions? Great. Thank you. >> Mhm. >> 7:00. I will call to order the regular meeting of the Clarkson School's Board of Education. I'm striking item 1.1 on the agenda and 1.2 public tax rate, which we already had. I'm moving to 1.3, the pledge
004of allegiance. Would you please stand? I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you. Mrs. Chapel, would you please call the roll? Yes, Mrs. McGinnis. Here. Mr. Clark. Here. Mr. Steve Hayner. Here. Dr. Shawn Ryan. Here. Mrs. Love. Here. Mrs. Egan. Mr. Need. Here. President Crane. Here. Thank you. Mrs. Egan sends her regrets. She has to travel for work tonight. This meeting is a meeting of the Board of Education in public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business and is not to be considered a public community hearing. There is time for public participation during the meeting as indicated in agenda items three and nine. Item two is approval of
005the consent agenda. May I have a motion for approval as amended? I move the Board of Education approves the consent agenda as amended. Support. All those in favor, please say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item three is the citizens request to address the board. Ms. Nagy, would you mind looking or Ms. Dr. Newly, Dr. Theapolis, could you please look? No, thank you. Item four is superintendent update, Dr. Ryan. Thank you, Madam President. Good evening, community, and it's great to see a big crowd here this evening. Uh we have much to celebrate in Clarkston with the amazing staff that we have, and tonight marks one of those nights of a transition for the work put in for the individuals who've stuck it out and look to continue and hopefully spend the rest of their
006careers here in Clarkston working with our children for this community. I salute you all and I appreciate your family members and friends who were able to come here and attend to support you. As far as our school district, we're just finishing our testing cycle, tail end of it, which I'm extremely pleased because it's kind of a grinding point of the year for our students to have to go through all the testing weeks. They're coming out on the other side with the exception, I know this week that many of our high school students are working through their advanced placement exams for their second week, so I salute them and all their hard work, and I see them out and around as as they look to finish the last couple weeks of here at school. Um it's
007hard to believe we're already there. This past week, we celebrated our senior class with the senior awards, uh with millions of dollars of scholarships going out to Clarkston kids and all their achievements, whether it be academic, sports, or their works of the community and and really kind of supporting everybody as a whole. Looking forward this past week, our Board of Education with our support, Clarkston Community Schools is leading a vanguard in the construction tech and trade programs. We're working on procuring and securing our first home out in the community to remodel, to beautify our community, and then to sell and back and then continue to kind of build that. That's really back to the past. At one time, Clarkston Schools is involved in building entire neighborhoods. And we want to go back to that rich
008history because we see so much in the gifts that our students have in the trades and being able to bring really a next generation of building this country and building this town. So, I want to salute them. Along that lines, we have four students going to the national construction trade competition in Atlanta here coming up in a couple weeks, which is really exciting. And then along with that, we also want to salute Team Rush. And then as they almost made it to the final rounds of the world competition down in Houston, Texas. Want to salute Kyle Hughes. And I hope if she's not listening tonight, reach out to her. She is part of the leadership of our Team Rush program, our robotics. For those of you that don't know it by Team Rush, but not
009only do they have an amazing rich history of so many state champions, which they won this year, but it's really just an amazing labor of love. And we're so fortunate have Kyle and the entire team there building forward, supporting our students in the engineering fields, the STEM fields, and giving opportunities that they move on from not only Clarkston, but for the rest of their lives in engineering building a better country. Again, the common theme being here in Clarkston, we look to our students and our staff who build up kids in our community. And that is kind of a theme tonight. And to really be able to finally to say an honor to those individuals that are in the audience tonight and what you're doing every single day for the kids of Clarkston. Thank you. Thank
010you. Thank you, Dr. Ryan. That brings us to our presentation items. Our first presentation is recognition of the Clarkston High School Athletic Boosters donation. Mr. Cozen will be leading the presentation. Hi, Mr. Cozen. Thank you. >> Good evening. Thank you so much. So, I'm here on behalf of Clarkston Athletics, but more importantly, our Clarkston Athletic Boosters. I brought with me our our president Jared Luther. Jared has been our president for the Athletic Boosters for the past 3 years. I took over in 2024, and and just kind of give you an idea of what the Athletic Boosters do does for athletics. It It's supplemental things that our coaches and our athletes don't have the funds to do. And I will say in the last 3 years as Mr. Luther has been our president, he has donated
011close to $200,000 to our athletes. Some of those things like when the kids make it to state finals, he pulls supplies, hotel rooms, and and meals, you know, uniforms outside of that. Just they can Just this year alone, AED machine for the for the high school, you know, new training tables for our trainers' office, new cheer and wrestling mats. I can go on and on. Those are just those simple things that he has done for us for the last 3 years. So, he came to me in January, and he said, "I'm I'm stepping away from from being the president after after this year." His youngest daughter graduating 2024 25. She's at Indiana University. So, he's been doing this obviously a volunteer position without having a student in the high school, which is kind of a
012big deal to begin with. So, beyond the hours he has, our our membership has increased, our funds have increased, the the the amount of volunteers he has on on on game nights is is incredible. I was working there just by accident up there the other day, and I'll tell you it's not an easy thing to kind of serve hot dogs and hot chocolate and cheese and pretzels and whatever else he's got going. So, but anyway, he came to me in January and he said he's he's stepping away and he'd like to make one more big large donation for the Clarkston athletic program. He said, "What What would that look like?" You know, something that all the students could benefit from. And the first thing that jumped to mind was was obviously our weight room. So,
013when I when I look at the weight room that we we currently have, you know, it's the same one that we have since the high school was was built. I know we have been piecemealing things together. Our coaches have been kind of taking care of that, but every one of our programs use that. And I I go back and it's perfect. One of our biggest concerns obviously is is is the safety that that you see in there. There's broken equipment, you know, a lot of the storage that that's in there. So, the weight room is used during the school day for our our our students as as they take classes through there. And then outside of that, it's all of our our programs after school, all of our athletic programs that are going in there.
014Um I can't tell you how many times that you know, teams go in there and and I'll give you an example last year with baseball. You know, our weight room wasn't big enough for for the for the kids that we had. We had about 40 of them. So, they're doing taking dumbbells out in the hallway, taking medicine balls out in the hallway. Um you know, kind of see just the broken equipment on there. Um you know, if you look on there, it's got the old school cables that you typically don't see anymore in any of our weight rooms. They're just not not functional anymore. So, kind of going through this this this piece, um obviously again, 20 years of of of of use. You can kind of see the the the foot plates are on
015there. And if you walk through the the high school and the junior high, you got brand new facilities for athletics at the at the junior high with the the the turf field that they put in this inside of the stadium. Obviously, the new gym that's going on and through there. New turf at the at the high school, new gym at the high school. And it's like our weight room is just missing the missing the uh the bell on there. So, kind of what you see uh again, those are the pictures that we currently have right now. Um so again, in talking with with Jared, I said, "You know, what's your thoughts about donating a weight room?" Um so he he gave me a budget and and the budget was $200,000 that I was I was
016allowed to work with, which is a huge thing again when you think about the amount of money that the youth athletic boosters have have given in the last 3 years for him to give it a one clean shot on his way out was was amazing. So, this is what our weight room will look like currently right now. Um so you can see in there it's it's we've got 14 brand new racks. We're getting all brand brand new flooring throughout. Um and again, just just the space in there alone, cardio equipment on to the left-hand side, all those things will be branded with either a wolf or the the uh the wolf head or the C. Not quite sure yet. Um but we went through two separate companies. So, we we've bid it out through Rogers.
017We did it through VSN. Um so, we have two separate bills that are coming in and and and again, that that $200,000 that Jared and the and the boosters had had donated, we came in short of that. Um you know, we we did exactly what we wanted to do. So, this is exactly what's going to look like. Again, as you see it, we're not taking any of the walls down, any of the ceiling down. We're taking exactly what you see. So, this is what our vision would be. Again, with brand new flooring, racks on the sides with all the weights. Uh you can see that the the bands. So, all the equipment you see, and again, when you talk about being able to function inside of a weight room, this would be ideal setting for
018us. So, now we can have the 40 team base player and 40 players on the baseball team come in and we're not having to go out in the hallway cuz there's no room. So, it opens up that entire middle. We're getting rid of all that those those old cables. Um all these new machines you see on the on the right and left side do have the cable pull down. So, we're not getting rid of the cables. We're simply adding it to a new technology that they have. All the weights again stationed on the on the side of the of the of each of those racks. Those racks are navy and blue. They're branded the same way. They'll have the wolf head or the the C on there. Um, you know, and and and BSN and
019and uh like I said is really doing a good job. So, again, replacing the old equipment, safety features, the safety bars, the locks, the loads, the the the hooks, you know, etc. That was what exactly what a uh one rack would look like and we've got 14 of those coming in. Thank you, Thank you. >> Does anybody have any questions? Uh Mr. Luther, could you please stand up so we could give you a hands. WE REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE [applause] ALL YOU'VE DONE. I JUST WANTED TO MENTION >> [applause] >> Thank you. Very much appreciate it. Item 5.2 is our teacher tenure recognition, Mr. Lucido. Good evening. Um, tonight we will be recognizing a number of exceptional Clarkston educators who this school year have achieved tenure. Um, so I am going to call the recipients up
020and Mrs. Brown is going to give them a letter and then I ask that you just line up and face the crowd and then when everyone's up there we will do the tenure oath. It's Brooke. Brooke Boyer, Clarkston Elementary. >> [applause] >> Emily Chapman, Pine Knob Elementary. >> [applause] >> Katherine Finneran, Sashabaw Middle School. >> [applause] >> Melissa Fitterer, Andersonville Elementary. >> [applause] >> Pamela Haynes, Pine Knob Elementary. >> [applause] >> Brandy Hamilton, Andersonville Elementary. >> [applause] >> Emma Modock, Pine Knob Elementary. >> [applause] >> Grace Nicholson, CLARKSTON HIGH SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> JAMIE PLUMB, RENAISSANCE HIGH SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> Jessica Reisner, Pine Knob Elementary. >> [applause] >> Teresa Thompson, North Sashabaw Elementary. >> [applause] >> And Laura Van Natta, Clarkston High School. >> [applause] >> GUYS, NOW AT THIS TIME I'D LIKE YOU
021TO TURN AROUND AND FACE the board and uh President Crane will do the oath. >> public education with trust and responsibility that requires of professional educators the highest ideals and quality service. The Michigan State Board of Education has adopted the following code of ethics to articulate the ethical standards to which professional educators are expected to adhere in their job performance. Service toward common good. The professional educator's primary goal is to support the growth and development of all learners for the purpose of creating and sustaining an informed citizenry in a democratic society. Mutual respect. Professional educators respect the inherent dignity and worth of each individual. Equity. Professional educators advocate the practice of equity. The professional educator advocates for equal access to educational opportunities for each individual. Diversity. Professional educators promote cross-cultural awareness by honoring and valuing
022individual differences and supporting the strengths of all individuals to ensure that instruction reflects the realities and diversity of the world. And truth and honesty. Professional educators uphold personal and professional integrity and behave in a trustworthy manner. They adhere to acceptable social practices, current state law, state and national student assessment guidelines, and exercise sound professional judgment. I am asking our teachers to reaffirm their commitment to the oath of office of teacher. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the state of Michigan and the Constitution of the state of Michigan and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of teacher according to the best
023of my ability. Thank you very, very much. EVERYONE PLEASE STAND. >> [applause] >> EXCELLENT. THANK YOU GUYS. WE'D LIKE TO GET some group pictures. Um if you guys could >> Mr. Licito, can we please do our first action item first? >> Sure. Thank you. Uh our very first action item is approval of tenure. Can I have motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approves the granting of tenure to these teachers as presented. Support. All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? Tenure is granted. >> [applause] >> We'd like to take a short recess now so we can do some pictures and then if anybody would like to leave, they're more than welcome. You don't have to. >> No, we're not. >> 6.2 yet. All right, we'll call the meeting
024back to order. Thank you. Uh item 6.2 is approval of personnel changes. Can I have a motion, please? I move the Board of Education approve the personnel changes as listed on the attached sheet as presented. Support. Motion's made and supported. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.3 is approval of the employment of the non-affiliated employment agreement. May I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approves the non-affiliated employment agreement as presented. Support. Motion made and supported. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.4.1 is approval of the curriculum for ninth grade US history and geography. May I have a motion, please? I'll get Does anybody want to remove it?
025>> I'm scrolling. Okay. I got to get Yeah. The clicking's not working. [clears throat] >> to We need to talk to Mark. It's not working. They're not on 6.4. The Are we doing one at a time or are we doing all of these? The BEA has all of them combined into one motion. Do you want one motion or four? Um one. One motion is fine with me unless anyone would like to motion to remove one. I move the Board of Education approves the curriculum and resource proposals for ninth grade US history and geography, world language heritage, AP business career technical education, secondary English language arts novel Long Way Down for a total amount of $76,556 as presented. Support. Who said support? Uh Miranda? Mr. Need. Oh. Uh are there any questions or discussion? Okay. Um
026>> Oh, sorry. Repons? Uh Mr. Hart, could you just could you just repeat the title of the book? That Long Way Down. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Jason Reynolds. Fabulous book if you haven't read it yet. Okay. Um, I was just going to ask could we have Mrs. Mahoney give us an overview of what we're approving for public to know? Yes. Mrs. Mahoney, would you mind? I know this has all gone through TLC. We'd love to have a quick overview, please. Thank you, Mrs. Absolutely. Uh, last year we did approve the 8th grade US history. So, this is a continuation going into 9th grade. Um, so this is for US history and geography. Brian Pierce, subject area coordinator, led this charge and we teachers engaged in um, I believe three resources and they did um, they
027ended um, the given one outlined. Um, they're pretty excited to continue that um, I think pairing of 8th and 9th grade at the junior high. World language heritage C. This is for our native speakers and it's a rotation. Um, A and B also went through TLC and so this would be the third year that um, our students can participate in a curriculum. And so again, it's on a rotation basis. Uh, this is for grades 9 through 12. Secondary ELA, this is a whole class novel, Long Way Down. Um, we did uh, offer many books that TLC could engage in reading. And uh, really gave a nice presentation on a current, I think a read, Jason Reynolds, um, very, you know, popular author and um, I think it tapped into high interest of our students and
028um, and high engagement. So, there was much feedback by teachers as well as students. Um, really enjoyed it and and the work of um, you know, ELA through that book. So, um, those are the three. We um did offer also that was approved by TLC AP Business. This is funded by CTE, so it's no charge to the curriculum budget. Um but again, advancing courses um is always something I desire, and this will come out of um the business department. So, again, just another opportunity for high-level rigor through uh College Board. Thank you, Mrs. Mahoney. Does anyone have any questions or discussion? Yes, Rep Ponce. Um I simply would like to take a moment to thank you for implementing this new ninth-grade secondary novel because I especially like that future generations will not have to read
029Ayn Rand's Anthem. Um I think that this class this book is going to be much more enjoyable for the students because generally speaking that book did not have very strong reception, so I appreciate your rather I appreciate the change that is being made. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Rep Ponce. Any other questions or discussion? Okay. Uh all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Mahoney. Item 6.5 is approval of the tax rate. May I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approves the 2026 tax rate request as presented. Support. Is there any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carried. Item 6.6 is approval of the bus installment purchase agreement. May
030I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approves the bus installment purchase agreement as presented. Support. Are Are questions or discussion on this? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. It's a roll call. Roll call. Oh, sorry. This is a roll call vote. Thank you. Uh, Mrs. Chapel, would you please take call the roll. Mrs. Janeski? Yes. Mr. Clark? Yes. Mr. Higher? Yes. Dr. Ryan? No vote. Apologize. Uh, Mrs. Love? Yes. Mrs. Egan? And Mr. Need? Yes. President Crane? Yes. Motion carries. Item 6.7 is approval of the 2022 bond projects for the new Clarkson Junior High School. May I have a motion, please? Approval of the change order. I move that the Board of Education approve the construction change order for quality air systems in the amount of $130,602
031as presented. >> [clears throat] >> Support. Are there any questions or discussion on this? Mr. Goodman is in the audience. Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.8 is approval of the security technology for the Clarkson Junior High School 2022 bond project. May I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approve the contracts noted in the attached schedule for the amount of $672,584.77 including a 10% construction contingency of $67,258 and include an allowance of $15,000 for the PA system licensing for a total of $754,842.77 as presented. Support. Okay, motion made and supported. Are there any questions or discussion on this? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.9 is approval of the Clarkston school
032zone signage improvements. May I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approve the contract for J. Rank Electric as noted in the attached schedule uh for the amount of $163 $163,500 and include a 5% construction contingency of $8,175 for a total of $171,675 as presented. Support. Motion made and supported. Are there any questions or discussion on this? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.11 is the motion to support or motion to disapprove the Oakland Schools 2026-27 budget. May I have a motion for one of those, please? Let's do 6.10. Did I? I did. We'll come back to it. I'll come back to it. Yeah, let's do 6.11 first. Thank you. I move that we support the Oakland Schools 2026-27 budget as
033presented. Support. Motion has been made and supported. Are there any questions or discussion? This is yes. Roll call vote. Can you please call the roll, Mrs. Chappell? Mrs. McGuinness? Yes. Mr. Clark? Yes. Mr. Higher? Yes. Mrs. Love? Um yes. I don't have Elizabeth Egan. No. Um Mr. Neid? Yes. President Crane. Yes. Motion carries. Item 6.10 is approval of the purchase for the bus garage furniture. May I have a motion, please? I move that the Board of Education approve the furniture purchase to ISG or ISCG in the amount of $62,418.71 as presented. Support. Motion made and supported. Are there any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item seven are there a report items. Item 7.1 is our monthly financial report. Ms. Nag. Good evening.
034Our monthly expense report for February and March. Uh two pays in February. Uh pay 15 was uh $3,957,119. Pay should say 16, my apologies. $3,919,677. Uh CoreBridge mandatory 403 B payouts, uh $1,015. February Edge of Staff payments, $426,542. February uh UAL, which is the unfunded actuarial liability we're required to pay to ORS, $923,289. Uh various ACH payments, and then our bills payable for the month of February, all totaling $10,555,555,440. And then March. Uh first pay in March, 4 million 692 267. Second pay in March, uh 4 million 321 324. Corebridge mandatory 403b payment payouts, 1,703. March EduStaff payments, 5 180,995. March UAAL payment, 923 288 uh 65. Then again, uh multiple ACH payments and bills payable for the month, all totaling 17,244 160. Thank you, Ms. Nagy. Are there any questions or comments? Right. Okay.
035Thank you very much. Item 7.2 is an update from our student representative, Jay Ponts. As is always the case, a lot has been happening in the Clarkston Community Schools lately. In the previous superintendent update, Dr. Ryan mentioned that the Clarkston High School Drama Club would be putting on their performance of Whistle Stop, which is their which is this year's spring spring play, and as per usual, they all their performances were all incredible. And that was not the only event that took place in the Performing Arts Center of Clarkston High School recently. Two Wednesdays ago was the induction for the new and returning members of the National Honor Society, and many scholarships, NHS scholarships, were awarded on that day. And just this past Thursday was the senior awards ceremony where where as Dr. Ryan noted, even
036more scholarships were offered. Meanwhile, still at CHS, we the newspaper is which we the newspaper for CHS, which was recently revived after an extended hiatus, is going to release is going to release their final issue this next Friday, the Friday that's to say Friday the 22nd. And in that issue, there will be a poem written one line at a time by 12 CHS students. And overall, this week is also the final week of school for seniors at CHS with the last day being Thursday where the senior walk will take place. And that brings us to my situation. This will be my final update as a student representative as I am one of those seniors who will be leaving CHS on Thursday. Therefore, I believe it is fitting to do a retrospective to perhaps look at
037everything that has taken place this year. So, starting back way back in October Not really way back. Starting in October the IB English students at CHS came to this very board office to present their poster boards on what they believe the soul of Clarkston is. And coincidentally, it was that project that made me attuned to the existence of the newspaper because at that same meeting it was announced that that Clarkston Junior High School had also resurrected their long dormant newspaper. Speaking of Clarkston Junior High School, as Dr. Ryan noted earlier, the construction tech program is making a lot of progress. The recent the board recently approved the purchase of a house they can use to continue to gain even more hands-on construction experience than they already gain. And as for the entire district, at our
038last workshop, this was this past Monday, I believe. We made major progress toward determining our core values, and later today, we'll have a discussion about what actual values you want to implement. And one value that was talked about extensively at that workshop was that of continuous improvement. Now, regardless of whether or not that ends up becoming one of the CCS core values, it is nevertheless a very accurate description of the trajectory that this district has been taking over the past several years, and within this year. Finally, since I am the outgoing student representative, I would like to take a moment to address next year's student representatives. My colleague here, Mr. McNaughton, will be replacing me, and a newly appointed junior will replace him. So, this was the first ever year that this student representative program
039has existed, and we, to put it simply, got a lot done. I And I hope that you two representatives will continue to serve the student body with honor, and will always take the interests of the student body into consideration in everything that you do. And also, to follow the example that we have set through our work this year. I hope that you two will understand your places as representatives of the students. To speak for them, you must acknowledge yourself as one of them, as I have sought to do this year. Overall, it has been a privilege to dedicate this year of my life to the service of the students of Park Community Schools. May our district prosper for many years to come, long after I have departed. Thank you. Thank you, Rep Ponce. We very
040much appreciate all that you've done this year. It's been It's been very interesting to try and start this, and I know that we've kind of tried to feel our way through it, and you've you've added a lot, which we very much appreciate it. Um I know Mr. McNaughton will do a fabulous job as our senior rep. Um we thank you for being our very first senior rep. We appreciate it very much. >> for having me. Um item 7.3 is the Spring Institute conference report. Last weekend, I spent one night in Lansing and went to the MASB Spring Institute, which was five classes. I took three classes on Friday and two classes on Saturday. I was lucky enough to actually take two classes that our own Mrs. Kelly Allen Ladd, which was very interesting. I didn't
041know she was going to do it. I was sitting in the audience and then she came in to lead. Um I took a capital planning for your district, advanced community relations, media relations, um advanced leadership, and then managing a construction project. So, um I thank the district again for the opportunity to continue learning to be the best board member that I can be. Um item eight are discussion items. Item 8.1 is a discussion item about the Oakland Schools school board's election. Um I do have some notes I wanted to read to the board before we have this discussion. Um so as of today and the filing deadline has passed, there is only one person who is running for the Oakland Schools Board of Education. It is retired Troy uh uh Gary Hoff. Um the deadline
042was 4:00 p.m. on May 1st, so there's one person running for the one spot. Uh between May 11th and May 29th, we still have to officially or he has to still be officially elected. So, between May 11th, today, and May 29th, we have to hold two meetings to discuss and pass a resolution that we support or don't support Gary. Um the resolutions have to be received at by May 29th. On June 1st, which is our graduation night, someone from our district will show up to cast the district's ballot at Oakland schools. So, uh is there any discussion about the Oakland schools election or Mr. Hoff? I don't know if I'm saying it right. It's Gary, I know, but is it Hoff? Hoff? Hoff? >> [clears throat] >> Yes, Ms. McGuinness. >> who is not running
043again? Eller? Um I don't know it's George. George. George. Okay. Yes. Um I know Gary as I as as many of us who have been around for a while. Um he's definitely dedicated to doing great things for kids. Um I think he um will very much like working for Oakland schools and advocating for all of county students as he has done very well in Troy. Um And I definitely can support Gary's nomination. Mhm. I feel the same. I've Yeah, I've been He's been around. I've been around. He shows up at advocacy. He shows up. I mean, it's unfortunate that there's nobody else running against him. Um and I so I can't there's no one to compare him to, but in light of no one to compare him to, I do want to assure the communities
044that he is a strong advocate for students and he has done a very good job and had a long tenure in Troy schools as a board trustee. So, he definitely has the training. He has I'm sure high levels of certification and I'm sure he can compliment the job just as he did in Troy. I would agree with that. Anybody else? All right. Thank you. Uh discussion item 8.2 is the a discussion to start the 2026-27 budgets. Is Meg. I mean Thank you. Uh we sent a final draft if you will of the board affordability monitor in the latest we can review and then included it in your board packet of the moves we'd like to make for 26-27 to put in place some efficiencies and um work on eliminating the deficit we're currently incurring this
045year from becoming greater and in fact attempting to roll it back so we can get back to having a zero-based budget if possible in the next 2 to 3 years. If the board is comfortable with those recommendations that came from uh the four of us, uh just looking for some approval so that I can put those numbers into firm place for the budget amendment um the initial budget for 26-27. Thank you. Can we have an overview of the adjustments that have been made? It was included in the board packet, I do know that. >> It's on page 307. Yep. I was able to find that page. It's a little hard to scroll through it. I yeah. [clears throat] It's okay. We're Um I I I think you uh Dr. Ryan and Ms. Navy have implemented
046what we talked about and I think this makes a lot of sense. I'd like to see our deficit this year decreasing um by just under a million and a half for next year. Um and I mean this is a planned deficit. You know, we were we were fortunate enough to be able to have money in the bank and to spend that money in the bank requires us to run a deficit. So, it's this right to plan um and I think we want to balance the budget as we get to that 15% number, but we want to do that over a period of years and I think this plan does that and I think we're being very careful and measured in how we implement these items and as always we'll certainly expect to uh you know,
047this is the plan and as we implement the plan we want to know did we hit what we wanted to hit and are the numbers what they should be. And so, I think as a board we look forward to uh uh working through that as we go. So, thank you for the hard work and and the effort putting into this and being your first budget especially. Um I know that's extra work and so, I think this is a great spot to be at right now and look forward to seeing the draft budget and ultimately the final approval in June. I know Mrs. McGinnis, one of the other adjustments I believe was when we approved uh the school of choice numbers was different than the first one that they had brought to us. Um The revenue
048numbers. The revenue numbers, yeah. So. >> Originally we looked at just as a straight differential based on the increased numbers as a change plan. I had Kirsten kind of make it more holistic working working with Mr. Lucito kind of capture what the true difference in actual and budgeting would be. And the only other variance to me that's worth mentioning is the piece that we put off for 12 months our implementation for the um world language um technology. Um because of the great increase in the amount of positive buoyancy added in by the open enrollment piece that was approved by the board, it kind of more than outweighed for that portion of it. So, all truth be told and everything else was uh reflected in the conversations we had earlier with the board of education and
049and their desires for uh everything from state funding recommendations to as we wait for the final numbers to come through, And else seems pretty static. And as we move into June, I guess in in my conversation with legislators, we're hopefully going to have numbers sooner than later by the Michigan legislature and governor. Does anybody else have any questions? Comments? Mr. Need. The increase in specialized open enrollment, what was that based on? That's based on the projections we have for the number of students that we're going to be able to add in based on having the general open enrollment and then being able to um enlighten those individuals to other opportunities beyond just the ones associated with the straight-up open enrollment. Got it. Thank you. >> It's our thought based on the requirements that we're going
050to capture a large number of those. So, we were very conservative, but we wanted to put a number to it being this the first year. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. No, otherwise I I agree with Mr. Ayers' comments. I think this is a good excellent excellent approach. Yes, I'd like to reiterate that all of that. I feel like this is the first time since I've been on the board I've really I've been able to wrap my head around it and I've been able to I've really enjoyed working with you and um I feel like you've done a great job and we're this is looking good. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Item >> [clears throat] >> 8.3 is a discussion about our core values. Uh sorry, this did not make it into the packet.
051We just had it printed. Thank you, Mrs. Mahoney, we appreciate it. Um before we adopt this, we wanted to have at least one conversation. At our last workshop meeting, we did a brainstorming session with all of you and our student reps, which we appreciate you guys being there, and our administrators trying to capture the core values of Clarkston Community Schools. Um it's something that we all talk about quite often. Uh our core values and this is so we wanted to actually put it to paper. One of our goals this year was to do just that so that we could then also create an elevator pitch for the district. So, um we've had a couple weeks since that meeting and this is what uh we came up with out of that meeting. So, I would love
052to hear any thoughts. I know this is very quick since you're just seeing this. Um on either the meeting or what we were able to put together for you. So, I I would ask at this point tonight >> [clears throat] >> um if there's anything that you see as far as the big core value items that you think are off, that would be very helpful to know at this point. I think providing feedback on any of the bullets at any point over the next few weeks are fine, but I think we we wanted to get this in at least a working [clears throat] draft going so that the rest of the board goals in terms of how we talk about Clarkston and what our elevator pitch is needs to do their work and time is
053short. And so, I think my opinion would be that this is complete enough for that goal committee to do their work and wrap up by the end of the school year. Um and we can continue to edit and tweak this. Uh I think we at least I was standing up and told the entire group of our administrative team that we would send this out as we put this together. So, I'd like to get some feedback from that group as well before we finalize, but obviously as a board, um you know, we tried to take the discussion as best we could and turn this into you know, concrete uh concrete document that captured that discussion. And so, I hope we've done that. We can definitely get some input and some detail from this, but the big
054picture items like the um seven core values that we have listed, that's what we'd like to uh get feedback on more sooner rather than later. Yes. When we were putting this together, one and the night that we uh the night of the workshop, one of the things that I kept trying to wrap my mind around was a lot of these things are really hard to say, "Well, every single one of our employees or every single one of our teachers does this thing." And Mr. Hire kind of reminded me that it's it's not aspirational to say it, it's more like as as a teacher is coming in or staff members coming in, like if they read something that they just don't agree with, like maybe they don't belong at Clarkston. And, you know, it's So, that
055was kind of a when as we continued to put this together, I was keeping that in my mind. But, the for me, the seven core values that we came up with uh I thought really embodied that discussion. And uh just I I mean, because you guys don't have it there at the seven core values, they're students first, always. Genuine relationships. We are positive by design. Integrity always. Purpose-driven. Continuous improvement. And think critically, act on evidence. Those were the seven that we came up with that we thought embodied the really what we were doing there. Are there any thoughts or questions or discussion? I know this was quick and I will still welcome lots of discussion later. I'm sorry. Okay, so at the end of the draft, you have a legend that says that that if
056a value has a plus sign at the end, that means that it should always be exhibited without exception, and if it's plus or minus, that means it requires balance or judgment. Mhm. But, I want to ask about one of the values that has the plus sign, which is positive by design, which states that, quote, "Our optimism is not naive." So, what I want to clarify is how are we How exactly is an employee supposed to Does an employee have to exercise judgment to determine the scope or the extent of their optimism? Or is that Cuz how exactly are we going to exhibit that value without exception if there's that limitation? Mrs. Crane and I have not really messed with the pluses and minuses at this point. But typically, the legend isn't exactly 100% what we
057want it to be in that case, either. But typically, there's some non-negotiable core values where it's like, "You must exhibit this or you don't belong in our organization." And there's probably too many pluses on the sheet at this point. But we haven't gotten to that level of granularity. But the plus-minus is basically indicate like it's okay maybe if you're not as strong in that area. You know, not everybody is going to be a perfect fit for our core value template. Everybody has different strengths and and we value those strengths differently in that diversity in who is strong in the different core values comes together to make our culture what it is. But if you do not exhibit any of these, like you're probably not a fit. Right? If you didn't put students first, like you
058don't have a place in Clarkson schools. Cuz that's what we do here. I understand. And and optimism and positive by design are you know, you just It's a It's a big picture kind of thing, right? So, we don't want someone coming in negative by design. So, that's kind of in in that way. I hear what you're saying now. And when we get to that part, we will definitely take what you're saying. Thank you. Yes, Mrs. Love. Um so, I didn't see this before. >> No. It's okay. >> Okay. That's I know. I'm not loving it. I don't think the plus and minus system is necessary. Okay. I think there's too many. Too many pluses and minuses or too many core values? >> core values. I think five was a good number. What would you take
059off? I think that purpose driven and continuous improvement could be mashed into one. Um I don't love the word integrity. There was another word that we had, but I'm not remembering it right now. Mhm. But it wasn't camaraderie, but it was like Community? community or pride or something. Um Legacy. That was one I really liked. I don't know. And it looks a little AI to me um with the dashes and stuff. And some of it seems repetitive just on the first look. Um I would like it to be more personalized and less I don't I just don't love it. Yeah. >> Okay. But good job. It's a good start. I I don't want to end on this though. No, I this is a working draft and this was a discussion and we will continue >>
060Oh, and there's nothing in the first bullets about academics or Um I would like to have something to do with It doesn't have to be academic excellence, but something that has that word or the words to that. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I know that was very put you on the spot and I appreciate all of that input. Anyone else? Mrs. McGinnis? I agree with everything Mrs. Love just said. Um I don't like the looks of it. I feel it's very Cold. Cold is a very good word for it, I guess. I don't feel like it has the warmth of the kinds of conversations and the topics that we had at the the meeting. And I have I I almost threw my notes out and I still So, I still have them,
061so I'm glad. Um I I can't say right now in comparison to my notes compared to these that I would have created two or three word values. >> Mhm. groupings. Um And I think it's too I think it's too much. Um and I feel like I would like the bullets to I don't feel like we should have to have five bullets underneath something to explain it. Um because if I'm looking at this thinking this is somewhere in here is an elevator pitch, that's basically to say I'm looking for something that's this big so that I can remember it when I'm in an elevator to say, "Oh, I'm work at Clarkston Community Schools and I'm a board trustee and you should come to Clarkston because Yeah. >> And then that statement says all of this, that
062just I don't see how I can get that out of all of this. So, I also don't want to rush this. Right. I don't want to say June 31st is here and we didn't finalize this and shame on us for not doing it. I would rather us make sure that we take the time that we need to impart what we think is the personality of this district into this document and not rush it just because of the calendar. Thank you very much. I would love to see like >> my notes for sure. Yes. Uh to Ms. McGuinness, I I was under the I wasn't under the impression that this was the elevator pitch. I I I assume it would just be like, "Hey, um I'm an employee I I I'm a trustee of the Board
063of Education of Clarkston Community Schools and our values are these things." I wasn't expecting it to be like "One of our values is students first, always. Every decision we make in classrooms I I I I I assume that the that the bullet points are not necessarily intended to be read to be read in an elevator pitch. I assume that they were more um fine-grained descriptions for internal use as opposed to that sort of application. Thank you very much. Well, yeah, I would just like to add how you view these cuz I saw them as more of a marketing tool. Like, oh, we're going to have buzzwords and something edgy and catchy so that people looking for school districts will set us apart. So, we had two goals that were kind of tied together. One was
064just defining our core values and that was going to be the bigger one. In the corporate world, it's definitely much bigger and we know this is very different than the corporate world. But, the second one and I believe it's you and Mrs. Egan are on it are to take the core values and create the elevator marketing pitch off of that. So, this isn't that so I I I don't think they're related. Like, I I think this is a good foundation to have, but like how would you describe Clarkston schools and why would you say we're you know, better than your average school district. Like, what what are those salient points? And I think having our culture defined helps in doing that, but I don't So, this is like internal. Yes. Okay. It's for hiring. It's
065kind of for, you know, for a new teacher like I said coming in and saying, you know, if they're Well, that's kind of marketing then. It is it's got pieces. Yes. But, it's more educator focused, yeah. We say we've talked for years that how we have a great culture in Clarkston schools. And we say things like we're a family. And like that doesn't actually describe what we do here. Which I think you were the one who said the cliche that night. We were talking about things that felt cliche and they were feeling and then we didn't want that. And our goal is to capture the things like relationships and putting students first, right? Like, those are the things that actually define our culture, right? And we exemplify that and we do that every day and
066it's not like we're trying to do these things. This is what we're doing and this is what makes us us in terms of what goes on here in our district. Like these are the the the rubrics by which we make decisions. Anything else? We will talk about this again. I will get this uh yes, Mr. McNaughton. Um I the rest of the structure that we're going I like the idea that these values are more defined that's not to say that the individual bullet points are the right ones, but I think I like the little bit more of the description I think that sometimes when it comes to the core values similar things when you you don't want to have pages and pages >> [snorts] >> I think you would want enough that it's very clear
067values are it I think a little bit more detail something like this for instance, I don't understand when you're hiring somebody So, are you saying like the the actual core values themselves need more or that they are very pretty defined as they are? I liked the the the structure of having having full bullet points and Yeah. what what does that mean? For further definition, but like here's the yeah, that's okay, good. I'm glad that came through. Thank you. Um so yes, I will make sure that you guys get an electronic copy of this and we will talk more about it. Do you have anything anyone else? Um just I agree with most of what Mrs. Mrs. Beginnings said. He's the one on my mind there so really actually >> Yes, I know. Thank you and
068and again, thank you that everybody came that night. I I we had a great room, a fabulous discussion. It was a really nice night to have administrators with our board and our student reps got to meet everybody. Um I appreciate that. Okay. More will come. Um seeing no citizens in the audience, >> [clears throat] >> um item 10 is information items. Our next Board of Education meeting is Monday, May 18th. We will have a workshop. We will also actually have to have an action item where we do our resolution for the Oakland Schools election. Um then we will have a workshop with our board self-evaluation. Uh that should have come in your email. The last I heard there were only two responses, so I'd like to have those in by Wednesday so that MASB can
069put those together and I will send it out before our meeting on Monday. Um then we have a closed session regarding the attorney-client communication eight under 8H. Um our Clarkston High School and Renaissance High School senior walk is Thursday, May 14th at 10:00 a.m. Um we will do we will meet, I believe, at 9:45 in the high school gym and after the high the Clarkston High School walk, in which Representative Potts will be walking, then we will go over to Renaissance and lead their senior walk. Just remember that every parking lot every parking spot in the entire campus will be taken, so plan that into your arrival. Yes. Um Clarkston Foundation Teacher of the Year reception is on Thursday, May 21st at 4:30 here. Um there will be no school on Memorial Day, Monday, May
07025th. Uh the Renaissance graduation and dinner are Thursday, May 28th starting at 5:00 at Renaissance and then we will go over it to the junior high still? To the junior high? I'm going to shall check on that. Okay. Thank you. Uh and then our Clarkston High School graduation is June 1st at 6:00. I think everyone has done that at least once, so we know the drill. And then, the last half day of school for non-seniors is Friday, June 5th. May I have a motion to adjourn, please? I move to adjourn. Support. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? We are adjourned. Do you have any items to list? Okay. Thank you.