001ations. This here is just a quick snapshot of the governmental funds balance sheet. So you have the different types of funds, your general fund, which is your main operating fund, your special revenue funds, your debt service funds, and your capital projects funds. If you are interested in more detailed information, there is um the non- major combining statements that are towards the back of the financial statements. In addition, there are the general fund and the 2023 construction funds are the major funds of the district. So, you'll find that towards the the beginning of the statement. Here's the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance specifically for the general fund. This kind of gives a four-year look back if you will. You can see revenues uh increased from 21, 22, and 23 and then you'll
002see a decrease in 24 25. This is largely the effect of the response due to COVID. Um we've received several federal funding um throughout those first three years and then now we're starting to see that plateau and kind of level off. Expend expenditures you'll see have increased significantly over the last four years part and due to that re uh that additional revenue that was received and spent but also you'll see that the students have increased the population has increased. So, fiscal year 24 to 25, we saw an increase of 283 students, give or take some. Here's the general fund revenue by source. So, most of the sources came from state sources that could be unrestricted through your foundation allowance. In addition, you'll see restricted state sources that came through for uh operating uh specific programs.
003Next is the local sources that makes up your property taxes, things like your admissions, tuition, um any donations that was given by the public. Interdist sources. So if Clarkston provides specific services to other districts, you'll see interd district sources come through as payment for those services. And then lastly, federal sources. General fund expenditure by function. So the two main functions that we see here the instruction and supporting services generally uh the benchmark for these are you know 30 to 40% for supporting services and then anywhere between 50 and 60% for instruction. So Clarkson is falling within those ranges with the exception of instruction just slightly above that 60% range. I would argue that's a good thing as you are meeting the needs of the district um in instructional instructional capacity. Here's the general fund fund
004balance with the 5-year trend. So, as I had mentioned, you see an increase as a result of those federal monies coming in and now you're seeing it plateau and fall off. Um, while at the same time, you are servicing more students in the district. So, you are seeing a bit of a decrease in your u your fund balance here. >> Question. >> Yeah. Is there a significant carrier 22 23 to 24 25 of that also contributes to audit allowances. >> So there wasn't much in like deferred funds. What is spent or what is received typically gets spent. Um but then you can reim you can request reimbursement for more each year. So it's likely that the the allowance or the allocation for that given year was more and more was spent at that time. Um
005so it also depends on when um they budget for specific expenditures. Uh-huh. So then the second element of our audit uh the federal compliance audit or what we call the single audit. This looks specifically at the major programs of the district. We gave a clean or unmodified opinion for each major program at the district. Uh we did not find any issues with internal controls over those specific programs that we tested and in addition we provide a in relation to opinion. So the schedule of expenditures of federal awards were fairly stated in relation to the financial statements as a whole. So, you'll see once >> Yes. Um, I'm going to have to get back to you on that one. Um, the I don't know the specific answer to that question right now. Um, so I can
006give you a response or do you do you want to answer that? >> No. So, it's not submitted until uh December. No, the 1 or January. >> Typically, you have a schedule of federal award also part of the audit. It's a separate booklet. We haven't received that yet. No school district has received it yet due to the federal shutdown. You can't we can't file our federal stuff yet until there's a till the federal shutdown is complete. So, we don't have that part of our audit done yet. >> Okay. Yes, the audit was completed, but we can't um upload um to the government until shutdown's over. Hopefully soon. Um I don't know if I finish I did finish that. Okay. So then this is just a quick snapshot of the federal compliance audits that we performed.
007So total federal expenditures were 4.3 million for fiscal year 25. There were two type A programs identified. So that is there were 750,000 or more of expenditures for each of these programs. So the two identified were the special education cluster or idea and the child nutrition cluster. The major program that we tested was the idea. Uh that makes up 46% of the total federal expenditures during the year. Um so any given year we have to test 40% or more. Um so that made up enough we were able to just do the one and no audit findings were reported. So, as I had mentioned, um the education stabilization fund, emergency connectivity funds, those are both COVID related funding. Um those were major programs last year. They were not this year. So, you're seeing again um that
008level off. And then lastly is the letter to the board of education. This is required communication to governance. So, it's not a result of any issues or regularities that we found during the audit. um if there were issues or if there were changes to the planned scope of the audit, um if we had any disagreements or difficulties encountered during the audit, um that would be provided in that letter. You will find it's very boilerplate language because we did not have any issues. And then lastly, we provide a little bit of information on that ending fund balance for the general fund. It made up approximately 22% of the 2526 budgeted expenditures. Um we generally suggest around 10 to 15%. Um, so you're above that range, giving you a good buffer um, going into next year or
009into the current year. And then lastly, that tells us that there's stable operating funds and there will be no need for short-term borrowings to meet cash flow needs. Are there any other questions? Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions from anyone in the audience? Comments? Any more questions from the board? Okay, thank you very much. I will call the public hearing to close. 654. We'll take a short recess and then we'll get to our regular meeting. Thank you. clock. We'll call the order to call to order the meeting of the Clarkston Board of Education. If you could all please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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
010for all. >> Thank you. Mrs. Mlan, can you please call the role? >> Yes. >> Mrs. McInness, >> here. >> Mrs. Egan, >> here. >> Mr. Clark, >> here. >> Mr. Hyer, >> here. Mrs. Love >> here. Mr. Ne >> here. >> Mrs. Crane >> here. Thank you, Mrs. Mlan. Item 1.3 is the reading of the public statement. 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 a time for public participation during the meeting as indicated in agenda items three and nine. Item two is approval of the consent agenda. May I have a motion, please? >> I move the board of education approves the consent agenda as presented. >> Support. Motion
011made and supported. As an item on agenda requires a roll call vote. Mrs. Mlan, may I please have a roll call vote? >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Mrs. Love, >> yes. >> Mr. Ne, >> yes. >> Mrs. Egan, >> yes. Mrs. McInness, >> yes. >> Mr. Hyer, >> yes. >> Mrs. Crate, >> yes. Thank you. >> Item three is citizens request to address the board. Item three is the first opportunity for citizens to address the board. You are given two opportunities to address the board. Under this item, item 3.1, you can request to address the board about any topic that is on tonight's agenda. Under item nine, you are welcome to address the board on any topic. When making comments, please state your name and address. Direct your comments here to the board president.
012Each person may speak for up to two minutes. Per established procedures, the board will not respond to questions or interact with the speaker during public comment, although we may refer the matter to the appropriate person in the district for further followup. Is there Mrs. Rogers? Would you mind going and looking to see if anyone has signed up for me, please? I didn't want to disturb Nory. >> Okay, thank you. Item four is our superintendent update. I will turn it over to Dr. Ryan. >> Thank you. Good evening, community. Uh first and foremost, nice to see a nice crowd this fine uh winter evening as it feels here in Clarison. Transition happens so briskly, so quickly, and we're now at the end of fall and onto winter. Uh but lots of things to warm our hearts
013with. First of all, uh this past weekend and a half ago, uh the Clarkson High School marching band played at Ford Field and within their flight, uh in their grouping within the state of Michigan, achieved seventh place under a really, really competitive night. Um I was there to be able to cheer them on directly. They did an amazing job. And I just want to say thank you to all the parents and to our staff, the support of those students and for those students who literally played their hearts out uh that evening. So my hats off to the marching band and uh we look forward to their continued success and congratulations to all. Also to our varsity football team this past weekend who played Graham Blank in in the second round of the playoffs and were
014victorious. Um they're going to be carrying this Friday against Detroit Catholic Central uh here at 7 PM as they continue on the road towards the state finals. We're really proud of them as they've continued to kind of march down through the season and continue to improve and uh we really really expect some really exciting uh community get together. It's it's always wonderful and any night where you can have 7 to 10,000 of our community kind of show up and and make some noise for Clarkston. So really really exciting. Also this evening, I'm pleased to share with you that we have some amazing project boards that are around the room. Uh these were created by educator extraordinaire at the high school, Jessica Cleland's IB class at Clarkson High School. Uh students interviewed various community members and
015business owners regarding quote unquote life in Clarkston. So they were able to capture some really big ideas and really kind of share some flavor of our community. Feel free at some point or in the middle of the meeting if you want to be able to peruse and take a look at those. Uh we're really proud and the students did an excellent job. So we thank them. And also this evening, I'm excited to hear from Clarkson Junior High School teacher Alli Dennis and some of our students about the Pack Press, the junior high school's newspaper class. They've published an amazing online version and their experiences with the Humans of Clarkston edition. Uh we really want to welcome everybody and it really kind of captures it so professionally well done. and our communications department was like very
016much in awe at the level of and caliber of the students in terms of what they were putting together. So obviously great things happening inside and outside the Clarkston classrooms and uh we're excited as we progress into the heart of the school year. So thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Ryan. Which brings us to item five is our presentation items and item 5.1 is that presentation on the Clarkson Junior High School pack press. I will turn it over to Miss Dennis, please. Thank you. >> All right. Hello. Thanks for having us tonight. I'm here with some of my students if they want to introduce themselves. >> I'm Conser Rose Delasy. >> I'm McKenna Glover. >> I'm Paisley Coleman. Do I just switch it with this? >> Yes. >> All right. So this is our um
017lovely staff writer team and we have 18 staff writers. We have one editor and chief which is Caitlyn Pearllin and we consist of the CJHS newspaper and we call ourselves the Pack Press and this is a new class that we just started at the junior high school this year and we've already seen a lot of success with the stories that they're writing and the people that they're able to interview. So, if you guys are able to talk through maybe one of your favorite articles that you've written so far, but we write a variety of pieces. We do news, arts and entertainment, sports, features, and opinion. And this is just a little screenshot of what our site looks like at the moment. Um, so we have it divided up into different different modes of writing that
018they're able to do. and we are we have pictures and then we have the staff profile section. But maybe you guys can talk a little bit about one of your favorite articles besides the humans of clerks. Um, one of my articles that I'm the most proud of is my article about the powderpuff game. Um, I really enjoyed writing it and I have a couple friends that were on the team for juniors and seniors and it was a really fun experience for me to be there at the game and I like writing and it's it's a passion of mine to write and I just love being able to write about things that I'm passionate about and that's like my friends and I love being with my friends and I'm able to write about them and share
019them with everyone else that reads articles. Um, one of my favorite articles was the one that I wrote about internet safety and how important it is to understand like how careful you have to be on the internet and the risks of being like kind of ignorant while using the internet. And um I just want more people to be aware of the dangers of the internet. And our school also has a lot of posters and things like that just to be aware of internet safety. Um, my favorite article that I probably wrote was about um, Mr. Richie who is like the Easter Seals worker at our school. It was really fun like getting to realize why he does his job and like also sharing like his like what he does and that people can go to
020him if they need help in it. Like the Easter Seals Mor like got a hold of it which was really like cool and they posted it on all of their socials which was really nice. >> Yeah. And they put it in their newsletter a couple weeks. Um and then recently we just finished up Humans of Clarkston. So, I had my students go walk downtown to different businesses in downtown and try to see people, although it was during first hour or during second hour, which is when our classes and first hour, so there weren't that many residents out at 7:30 in the morning. But luckily, we had some people who we were able to speak to inside of Poncho and then a couple people in the park is um that they were able to interview as
021well. But basically, I basic off of Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York and he goes around New York City and he interviews residents and he makes people feel like they're not just a number and that they have a story worth telling no matter who they are at any age. And so I wanted my students to be able to experience interviewing people outside of the school setting. They're doing an amazing job interviewing teachers, students within our high school, our junior high school. Um, but I wanted them to be able to branch out. so they can tell you a little bit about who they interviewed. >> Um, someone I interviewed was Barb Rush. She created Scamp. Um, and I think it was really interesting to hear her perspective on why she created it and her goals of
022creating the organization. And it was interesting to hear her story and how she came to the idea of Scamp. So me and McKenna both interviewed our deputy clerk and the >> it was the um clerk of for voting. >> Yeah, they um they are in charge of like organizing the voting and you talk to them if you need to discuss like taxes or something with your house. And I thought it was really important that we let everyone know that these two wonderful women are in our community and they're always here to help us and they're just like right by Depot Park and they were really sweet and I really liked getting to know them. >> Yeah, they were very um welcoming and it was just overall a good like vibe and just energy that we
023got. All right. So, they conducted those interviews and then they also took photos of each of those residents and then they turned those interviews into mini feature stories that are published on our school news site right now under feature stories. And then we're going to start taking those photos and interviews and kind of humans of New York style. We'll be printing that off with the QR codes to the articles and they'll be doing a display at the Clarkson Independence Library. So, that will be up shortly as well. So, pretty pretty exciting stuff and we'll be doing that again with second semester class too in the springtime and hopefully it'll be a little warmer this time when we go downtown. Um, and then lastly, uh, we would encourage anybody in this room and anyone else reading
024our pack press to add some comments onto the articles that you find enjoyable or you have questions about or you encourage them to keep writing in this type of mode, whether that's opinion or feature stories. Um, this was just from a resident we we saw that he said, "A wonderful and well-written piece. Thank you for sharing this story. Keep up the great work." So, I think that's really important that they know that people are reading. Um, of course, there's classmates are reading it, but I think it's really amazing to see other community members engaging with it as well. >> I don't know if you have any questions for us, but >> does anyone on the board have any questions or comments, Mrs. Egan? >> So, online we just go to packpress.com. Is that it? >>
025Yeah, it's cjhsnewpaper.com. >> Okay. Yep. Which is right there. Is there anybody else? >> I think you guys are doing a really good job. It's It's impressive. >> Thank you. Uh do you guys actually have any kind of like eblast when is it an addition or are you guys just putting articles out on the website? Is it >> um we publish on a weekly basis? Okay. So students are constantly updating different types of articles and our next like we just finished the Humans of Clarkson edition and then they just finished their choice articles and then they're working on a second article right now but we've already published uh over 115 articles. So >> just this semester already. >> Yes. >> That's wonderful. How many staff are you said? 18. Wow. Congratulations. Um girls, thank you
026guys so much for coming. I don't know if you all meant to do it, but the fact that you're all wearing pink is kind of the solidarity. I love it. >> Wasn't planned, but we love it. Yeah, it kind of matches. >> It just worked. So, >> President, >> yes. >> Let me make a comment, >> Mrs. McInness. >> Um, I wanted to make just a comment that I think visually speaking, your your page looks beautiful. It's very balanced. I love the color. I love your header. Um, the center article, the essence of Clarkson right now, I think, is very, the picture itself is very captivating. it really like draws you in and wants you to peruse even more. So, I think your placement of your articles and your pictures is really well done and
027I hope that um and then the true giver right below it. Again, I think it's just a great human visual that's drawing people in on your page. So, I say great work to it and and hope that maybe um you're considering being a journalist as you continue through your high school education here and u move forward. So, great job. >> Yeah, thank you. Um I've always loved Humans of New York. I follow it religiously. I don't know if you guys have had a chance to see when they did the the twoe Grand Central Station and Lyn Manuel Miranda played on the grand piano at the last day. It was quite moving to watch. But um I love that you guys are doing a little bit of that here in Clarkston. So, thank you very much
028for coming. Um I think I had asked Dr. Ryan to start bringing students back into the our board meetings and I feel like you knocked it out of the park with the the board. Mrs. Mlan, thank you and having you guys here. I very much appreciate you spending some of your Monday evening with us. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Okay. Item 5.2 is a construction update. Mr. Goodman, >> good evening. We have uh representatives from A and GMBB tonight. Uh just a reintroduction. This is Tom. No, this is Where's Tom? This is Mitch Daer with GMBB. Joe Britain with O. Danielle Esner with O and Tom is back there. So Tom's just gonna um evaluate. So, we're going to give a little walk through a presentation with Mitch, talk about
029the projects that we're intending to do next summer, and then give you a little um progress update on the junior high, and then A is here to kind of give a little more detail in the U project update of the junior high as far as the construction side of it. So, feel free to ask any questions as we walk through this. All right. Well, thank you, Wes. Uh, thank you to the board for some time this evening to present to you. And, uh, we'll get right into it. So, first up on the project list is updates to the transportation building. Um, so that floor plan on the top slide is the existing floor plan for your reference of of the current layout. Um we all toured that together um back last spring or early in
030the summer I believe and we all got to experience kind of some of the challenges they have at that building where you know visitors have to come in through the garage which isn't the most safe or secure way. Um the staff lounge spaces are split apart so there's no place where all those drivers and staff members can gather together and it's just not a very functional layout for that very essential group of people here for the district. So, um, down on the next page, um, you can see the updated and proposed layout that we're getting ready to hand over to A for bidding purposes, uh, in the coming month or so, and it's a a much more effective layout for what they're going to be doing. So, now there's an entry directly into the office
031space from the exterior through a secure vestibule. Um, there is conferencing space, there's adequate bathroom facilities for the drivers, and a much larger gathering and lounge space at the the rear of the office area kind of highlighted in yellow for all those drivers with direct access out to um the bus parking lot. So much more functional layout. Office has much better visibility and access to the front of who's coming and going. And I think it'll be a kind of a a great improvement from where they are right now. Um, last component of the the work here is um there's also going to be a new bus lift added in the garage um as well to replace some of the aging infrastructure there that's not functioning quite well. Here's a little bit different view of that
032layout to give you a kind of a 3D visual of what those spaces look like. Again, kind of in the the top corner is that large staff and driver lounge. And then down at the the bottom corner, the front is the the more office spaces where you come in and where visitors will be coming in. Then we have a few interior views to give you a sense of what the the space will feel like. This view is uh standing in the hallway kind of looking in towards the office space. This is where drive drivers will walk through every day as they come in to pick up their mail and their things down in those mailboxes down at the end on their way to their lounge. some interior views of the office space for the the
033transportation garage staff and then some views of that driver space at the end of the building. Again, space for them to eat, have their lunch, have their training sessions and space for them to gather. And then here's one last view of that that space as well. Right. Any questions on transportation before we move on to the next project? All right. So, that takes us on to the high school. We have a number of things going on over actually two summers. So, the the scope you're going to see is is enough and and O can speak to this as well um that the work will be going on over two summers. So about the summer of 26 and the summer of 27 to complete all this work. Um so um in broad strokes um we can
034see there's some site work happening. The areas highlighted in blue are areas that are getting repaved. So those are parking lots that are getting replaced. And then the tennis courts are also getting replaced with new uh post-tension tennis courts that should be very durable um long term for them. On the building itself, there's a few colors highlighted as well. The items in orange and light orange are roof replacements that will be ongoing. And then the items highlighted in green are the mechanical, we call them penthouse units that sit on the roof. And they house all of the air handling equipment, boilers, that sort of thing that serve large portions of the school. And those are all getting swapped over the next two years as well. Um those existing units um have been on there since
035the start of or since the building was constructed. Um running into some issues maintaining them. Um some issues with long-term maintenance with the technologies that were in those. And it's just time to to swap those out and and get new ones in there as well. And you should see some some efficiency and and reduce maintenance requirements with that equipment change. Right. And then the last element of the scope at the high school um is a facade replacement or a partial facade. Um we call the material ephus and it's kind of a stucco type material that has insulation behind it. Uh the image on the left you can see of your existing building some of the damage. That's pretty typical of what's happening in in many areas of the the facade of the building where it's
036starting to to fall apart and delaminate. So part of the project will be to replace all of that material with metal panels instead. And those metal panels should be much more durable and long-lasting than what we've gotten out of the Ephus to date. And so the the rendered images on this slide and the next few slides are just giving you a sense of what the building will look like after the Ephus is replaced. Um we're sticking with very similar colors to what it is now. So, there won't be a very dramatic change when you're driving by, but hopefully a lot of those cracked and, you know, peeling and and damaged panels will obviously all be replaced and gone. >> Madam President, I have a question, please. >> Yes, Mr. McInness. >> Is the E if
037it's being removed completely? Is there water damage behind it or are you putting the the new finish over the top of it? >> It is getting removed completely. So any problems with the material itself will be handled when it's gone. And then the the new system going in its place is a new insulated metal panel system to to maintain the building envelope. >> Do you know if there's any water damage behind any areas? Have you seen any visible trace of it? >> We've only seen visible water damage in one or two spots in the building and that's planned to be addressed with the project. >> Okay. And the reason I ask is that Ephus being that it's styrofoam behind it does provide adequate uh insulation. So you're saying that the new metal is also going
038to be an insulated metal. >> Correct. It's an insulated metal panel to replace the insulation that's getting removed when we take the system off the building. >> Thanks. And here's just a few more views of the front of the building. And there is some of this material around some of the classroom windows as well. That kind of T-shape um at all the classroom windows. So that is getting replaced as part of the project too. Great. Any questions on all that? At the high school is a is a fair amount of work for all of that and um it's just not feasible to get it done while students are in the building. So we're breaking it up over the two summers to get it done. All right, last up in the presentation are just updates to
039the junior high. Obviously, we we celebrated opening of phase one at the, you know, earlier this fall and um everyone's getting to use that gym space. Um but now we're moving into the next phases of construction. So, up on the screen is just a reminder of the overall site plan we're working towards and what we'll see at the end of the project for reference. And then I believe on the next slide is just the overall building plan as well. again for reference if we have any questions on that. >> And then these next are reminder of how the phasing of the project is working. So this phase one sheet showed in the dotted line kind of the area of the gym construction which has now been completed. And so if we go to step two
040or phase two, you can now see that gym shown in gray and the the old athletic spaces have been demolished. in that area highlighted by the dotted line is what's under construction currently. So that's the academic spaces of the the new junior high, the main office and entry um and some of the support spaces like the media center. You will see that on the next slide of kind of what that completed condition will look like when phase two is done. So, when phase two is complete, the area in the dark blue, that allows us to move on to phase three, which will be the cafeteria area. And so, we'll we'll take down the classroom wing, the existing classroom wing once that's no longer needed and students have moved into the new classroom wing and start
041work on that um that cafeteria zone as well as on the career tech building. And then the final step will be um renovation or replacement I should say of the fine arts areas just north or plan north of the auditorium. So that dotted area in above the yellow Joe or anyone else want to speak to some of the details of how the project is going at this point. So, as Mitch said, phase one was turned over in the fall, and that allowed uh our phase 2 area to really kick off after demo of the old gymnasium. So, at this point, foundations are on track to be wrapped up this week into next week. Um, they're demobilizing right now, making room for the seal contractor to start coming in. So, as you drive by the site
042over the next couple weeks, you'll see a lot of joist and deck getting delivered. That's going to be for the aux gym and the weight room to start, which is the part right next to the existing gym. Um, those are the walls, if you drive by the site now that are up, the angled wall, and that is the interior side of the main street corridor as well. So masons are going to continue working on that angled wall and then start kind of framing the outside of the building, working their way around to the connecting corridor and then back to the learning stair area of the site in the rear entrance. Um steel contractor will be out next week, start setting a lot of loose steel, getting things in place columnwise so the mason can continue
043their work and then setting joist. And our goal is by the end of the year we'll have roofing on the aux gym wait room area so we can mobilize for pouring the slab there as well as continuing on masonry walls throughout the winter so that we can get our first floor deck on and then start once the weather warms back up get some of the pores on the second floor and then keep building up from there. Um, next summer is going to be again a lot of masonry work still, a lot of steel. Um, start going into our interior pores and then the parking lot on the west side. So that's off Walden and Middle Lake that is going to be right when school gets out. That whole parking lot is going to get removed
044and the new layout is going to go in which will be optimized for the final phase of the building. But that will have multiple drop off loops. One for Middle Lake and one for Walden Road to keep all that traffic separate as well as some gates built in. So that all that work, all that underground is going in. And then on the south side of the site, we have started grading for the softball field. So if you drive that way, you'll see all that dirt over there is the softball field is pretty much degrade. Uh site contractor wanted to get that wrapped up before it froze. And then come the spring when he's waiting to do the parking lot, he's going to get back there and start working on that and try to get that
045as far along as he can before he's going to be uh doing a lot of underground for a couple weeks in the parking lot. So that is the parking lot that you can see is or no, we're on the back side. >> Yep. Yep. So yes. So, this parking lot here is where we'll wrap around the front of the building. Um, so pretty much up to the median there and back is all going to be new. Um, Walden, the entrance off Walden by the tennis courts is where our demarcation line is for the replacement. These last few slides here are just some views of what phase 2 will look like when it's completed. So, this is a view of the new main entry to the junior high. And that corner right there is looking those
046windows look into the auxiliary gym to help kind of give people a sense of perspective of where we're standing. And the previous images were of the classroom wing. And then this this final image is from the opposite side of the building um looking towards what will be the bus entry for students and kind of the back side of that classroom wing as well. Right. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions or comments? >> No. Right. >> I just think it's incredible that standing right now that there's going to be a roof over it by the end of the year. You know, it's there's nothing barely, you know, foundation. >> It's going to be incredible. >> Were some of these pictures taken today with the snow? I saw there was snow in some of those. I
047just saw I didn't know if those were >> It was last, >> was it? Okay. I wondered. Well, thank you guys for coming tonight. Thank you for always answering our questions. I know Mr. Hire and Mr. Clark are on the construction committee, but you've always and Mrs. Egan, thank you. Um, you guys have always been great about taking us on the tours and answering questions. Very much appreciate it. So, thank you. >> Thanks, gentlemen. And gentlemen, >> yeah. All right, we will move on to item six, our action items. Item 6.1 is approval of personnel changes. May I have a motion, please? I move that the board of education approves the personnel changes as listed on the attached sheets. >> Support. Are there any questions or discussion? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor say
048I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.2 is approval of an authorized signatory for district accounts. May I have a motion, please? >> I move that the board of education approves Kristen Nag or Kristen Nag as the new signatory for bank accounts and investments for the school district as presented. >> Support. Are there any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item six is approval of the Item 6.3 is approval of debt fund consolidation resolution. May I have a motion, please? >> I move that the board of education approves the debt debt fund consolidation as presented. >> Support. Are there any questions or discussion about this? Seeing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Roll call. >> Oh. >>
049Any opposed? Mrs. Mlan. May I have a roll call vote? Sorry. Thank you. >> It's okay. Mr. Hire, >> yes. >> Mrs. Egan, >> yes. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Mrs. Love, >> yes. >> Mrs. McInness, >> yes. >> Mr. Ne, >> yes. >> Mrs. Craig, >> yes. Thank you. Item 6.4 for is approval of the 202425 audit. May I have a motion, please? >> I move that the board of education approves the audit for June 30th, 2025 as presented. >> Support. >> Are there any questions or discussions about this? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.5 is approval of Miller Johnson as our policy service provider. May I have a motion, please? >> I move that the board of education approves Miller Johnson
050as the district's new policy server service provider. >> Support. >> Madame President, I would like to make a few comments regarding this. >> Please do. Mrs. McInness right here. um the policy as chair of the policy committee, we met several times to discuss this um consideration uh moving from our current provider uh which we've had for a long time um to two potential new providers um Miller Johnson being one and K being the second. Um, some of the pros in support of switching to Miller Johnson were a very nice new established relationship that we have with them. Um, their res their product did not require us to buy a new server and host and maintain the server. They will have a dedicated um link and they are the server host. They provided more in-depth administration
051regulations uh and student handbook uh with for initial review. We felt their presentation when it came to providing us input regarding this was far more personal and rather less um commercialized as what I felt personally of the other uh cons consideration and um the implementation process which is going to be lengthy and a little and some work where we will review every single policy is done in person where the contrary Even though Trune was less, we were going to have to host our own server and maintain the server and the policies and the student handbook. Um, again, the presentation seemed more mechanical to us. Um, and you would have to log into a virtual group to do your updates rather than sit down personto person and discuss what we think is right for Clarkston. and
052we would be discussing this with a group of people about what we thought were right for our policies. Um, and there a lot of their policy templates and tune were much more boilerplate than we felt uh, Miller Johnson could provide us. So even though Miller Johnson was going to cost us more, the benefit of not having to host and buy a new server and maintain the documentation we felt along with the established relationship was far more beneficial than the um other offer. >> Thank you very much. Are there any other questions? I just want to extend my personal thanks to the policy committee, Mrs. McInness, Mr. Clark, Mr. Ne. I think as we all know, we often put our newest board members on the policy committee as a way of learning Clarkston policies. I feel
053like you've gotten more than that this time and especially as we're going to be moving over our policies, uh, Mr. Clark. But I also want to thank you guys as the first board goal that we set this summer is now officially done with this approval. So, I really truly appreciate it. Um so uh item has been made and supported. All those in favor please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 6.6 is approval of the construction change order at Clarkson Junior High School. May I have a motion, please? I move that the board of education approves the construction change orders for Johnson and Sons excavating in the amount of $81,64 and the change order for G2 Consulting Group in the amount of $94,500 as presented. >> Support. Are there any questions or
054discussion about this? Mr. Goodman, I think is still in the audience. If there is any questions, >> seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item seven is our report items. Item 7.1 is our monthly finance report. Mrs. Rogers. Hello. Okay. So, this is the financial update. It'll get you through October 31st, 2025. Um, right now we're at budget to actual revenues of just over 17%. budget to actual expenditures at 25%. Um, as you know, our audited fund equity ended up at 28.9% um or 97 million and now our fund equity right now is at 20 million because we always have a drop right now as we're waiting for revenue to come in from the state and the federal government because they're so delayed several months from schools
055starting to get those funds. So, do we have any questions on the packet that I provided you? >> Any questions from the board? >> No, thank you, Mrs. Rogers. Thank you for all of your updates. You've kept us along the whole way, which we appreciate. So before you move on though, thinking that not only is this her last uh monthly finance update, but over her 25 year career, >> hold on, Mr. Rogers, please stay up, please. Mrs. Rogers, >> Miss Rogers has been in educational finance for 25 years. And in her 25 years, this marking her final audit as well. and to report on her variances over 25 years with respect to audits. She's had zero findings. So, she's literally had has pitched the perfect game for 25 years. And on top of it, um
056her budget variances are extremely extremely tight over the years. So much so that it goes almost without notice that our numbers are almost always exactly on in the terms of millions of dollars that come into the school district. and and that both as revenue and expenditures. Budget is just the term for for dollars being put on a page, but actually the art of being able to keep track of it because it constantly changes. There's variables that, as you saw this year, we didn't even have our financial input from the state until almost midway through our school year. You couple that with the changing variables of enrollment and all the different federal and state grants that come in and out constantly, it's it's incredibly hard to do the level that she's managed to put through her
057career. So, I know on behalf of our school board uh on our community and myself uh Miss Rogers, we just want to say thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mrs. ROGERS. >> THANKS. It's been a great opportunity for me. you will be missed. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ryan. Item 7.2 is our MASB annual leadership conference update. Per board policy, anytime we do public um professional learning, we like to report out on it. So, I would like to take this opportunity first of all to thank Dr. Brian for also coming. We are one of the very few boards in the state of Michigan that always has um all seven of us go and we do that as a way to learn as much as we can that we can bring back to the district.
058So I'd like to take this opportunity and ask everyone to kind of maybe give a highlight of the weekend. Mr. Ne, you want to start down at the end? >> Um sure I can start. Um just before the conference I attended the annual conference of the Michigan Association of School Board Attorneys and we learned some updates to the law. Um cell phone usage in schools is a big topic. The legislature began but did not adopt anything. So that's still an unresolved issue. There was also a fairly significant Supreme Court case a few months ago dealing with the the rights of parents to opt out of certain curriculum on religious grounds. So it was a very informative conference. >> Thank you, Mrs. Eaggan. >> Yes. Um artificial intelligence seemed to be the hot topic at MASB
059conference this year and I anticipated um I participated in breakout sessions um titled board members what can I AI do for you? Um with Mr. Ne. um that was um basically going over from a board member's perspective some artificial intelligence um prepping for um board meetings and doing investigative um kind of work on our data. Um separately I attended the high school and beyond um breakout session and I actually used Microsoft co-pilot to help me generate a summary of that um high school and beyond session and I'm going to read it. The session explored the current status of students, their historical education uh educational context and future trajectories particularly in relation to evolving workforce demands. A key focus was the integration of artificial intelligence and the skill sets students will need to thrive in a
060rapidly changing market. The discussion emphasized the importance of community involvement, including parents, educators, and students in understanding and applying AI in educational settings. This collaborative approach aims to better prepare students for post-secondary success and lifelong learning. Overall, the session provided valuable insights into aligning education with future societal and technical technological needs. So that was my first experience using artificial intelligence. Um and I think based on the board workshop that we had had um the last time we were together um it certainly taught me a little bit about my lack of writing skills and how much more robust it can become by using this tool. So that was great. The last thing I want to say is in my own words I bought a book. Um this was one of our um keynote speakers, George Kuros,
061and I found him very inspirational. I think Dr. Ryan was there during the time too. So that was great to have the whole team there. >> Yeah. Thank you so much, Mrs. Egan, Mrs. Love. Um there was um definitely a time when we all collaborated at the same event uh talking about onboarding and team membership. That was definitely my favorite part. And I think Clarkston has a huge strength in uh not seeing eye to eye on every issue, but uh we've become an example across the state on collaboration and working as a team. And I thought that was really impressive and definitely my favorite part. >> Just since I get to play along too with here, I know. But one thing just for our community to know and they won't say it. Um I was
062inspired not only by our board who was fully engaged and and literally for what five strict five days um looking to learn more about their understanding how to improve a lot for our students, our schools and our community. Uh but one point it was Saturday morning of the conference and it was it was I don't know after 7:00 a.m. in the morning. It was still dark out like it is right now. There were hundreds and hundreds of schoolboard members all in a session together talking about how to improve education and how to make it better for kids. And I'm thinking to myself as a superintendent very much that we have seven volunteers and then volunteers literally across the state of Michigan that have such a passion and a caring and a drive to help support
063learning uh that early early still dark Saturday morning uh far from home. Um they were still all in and committed. The level of energy in the room was amazing and I just hand it to our board uh for their commitment and those individuals across this great state who volunteer their time, their energies to to make things happen. It was truly great to be able to um spend a couple days with our board that way. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Dr. Ryan, Mrs. McInness. >> Uh Dr. Ryan, thanks for those comments because I'm side step going to say that I think this is the best board in the entire state of Michigan and I don't have a problem saying that. I really don't. So, while I know my superintendent believes that of us too,
064I believe it of us because I know what we do when we're at conference and what we bring back to the district. Um, I also attended the all day, um, Michigan Council of School Attorneys, which I usually do every year because I kind of wish I should have been an attorney, I think. Um, I also very much enjoyed George Cororus's presentation. Um, he's a passionate advocate in education. His biggest message was cultivating innovation with our within our schools. He dove into transformative educational practices that inspire educators and leaders to create vibrant, empowering learning environments. And I'd like to read a quote from him. A teacher's influence doesn't stay in school. It goes out into the world and cannot truly be measured. Every student you inspire to do something go something great goes on to inspire
065others. There is no limit to your impact. George Cororus hash because of the teacher. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. McInness. Mr. Clark, >> um overall I had a great experience there as this was my first one. Um I I attended the fundamentals of schoolboard uh training class and and I kind of found it that uh a lot of it was repeat information and and this was a good thing because our school board does such a good job of onboarding that I have not felt lost since I've been here and uh that was um also noticed by local school board members from Lake Orian that that notice how good of a job that we do and it was kind of reaffirmed and and that we are doing the right things and there was a lot
066of good uh courses to take and clinics to take such you know along with the AI and uh CTE and and grant clinics. So, a lot of good a lot of good training, a lot of good learning. Um great time with the board and uh definitely look forward to the next ones. I think that it was all inspiring to see all of what Michigan is doing to help and to better educate our our students. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Hire. Um I don't have too much to add to the uh mutual admiration society um that we have going uh here today, but I did attend this session in addition to everything you all mentioned on board culture and I was hoping that would you know give us some ideas as Mrs. Crane and I
067look to tackle that board goal here in the upcoming few months. And so I think um it's really great to uh hear a lot of the same stuff in the general sessions and each attend a variety of different clinic sessions and um it's always good to chat about different perspectives on seeing some of the same information. I think that makes us a better team and look forward to uh putting that to work as we tackle our board goals and whatever challenges come up the rest of this year. >> Thank you. Uh I got there early. I took two CBA classes. One was practical governance was which was a whole bunch of case studies and discussions networking. It was really interesting to see how other boards tackle it and like my colleagues have said I feel
068like we are already doing so many things right but I still think you can never stop learning. You can never stop reaching out to try and see if it can be done better. Um I also took one on conflict resolution. Um I did a clinic breakout and I think Mrs. Rogers and Miss Nag will be proud of me. It was called Beyond the Audit. So, and it was um I don't know that I would say interesting. I'm so glad you guys find it interesting, but it was I it was very helpful. I will say that for sure. And then I also one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend uh like Mrs. Love, we went to a clinic session on the importance of onboarding and it was given by our very own Mrs. Kelly
069Hoor and we all showed up. Little did she know, I think she was shocked, but to then talk about all of us while we're sitting right in front of her and how important it was to on board and then it has turned into this board that you see before us. We don't always see eye to eye. We don't always agree on everything, but we have a deep respect for each other and I think we actually really like each other. So, I appreciate all of you very much. Um, so thank you. Anything else on that? No. Okay. Item 7.3 is our district safety committee update. Mr. Hire, >> thank you, Mrs. Crane. Um, I along with Mr. Ne are on the district safety committee this year and uh we did have a meeting. Uh, Mrs. Karina
070and I discussed that as we fulfill our board liaison duties and serve in a variety of capacities that we should be reporting back um to the board at least >> that it happened something took place not in very much detail. So I just I did want to let you know that we had one of our uh two annual meetings. It's a chance for Independence Township Police and and fire and Springfield Township Police and fire liaison officers um leadership in those capacities. We invite a variety of community folks together and try to get as many people together as possible and and it's a great chance to really share best practices, what's going on with each respective um entity and and you know the police are always improving their systems and um it it's kind of amazing
071how they don't talk as much as you think they talk outside of the venues that we give them to talk. So, it's good that we're the facilitator to bring important community folks together um to be able to have those conversations of how does, you know, certain software work and how does that interface with our protocols of, you know, numbering our doors and our building maps and those kinds of things. And so, uh very educational. I think we feel an important community role, um in that, uh safety capacity as well because obviously that is our top priority here, um as a school district. >> Thank you very much. Uh yeah, one of the things when I took over as president is I really did want I think as a way to when we sit on all
072of these committees, it's we need to I think let each other know and let the public know um you know what we're doing. And I know like with policy committee, we see that in our agenda. We see the minutes. So it's nice to see get a report out on that. I appreciate it. Um okay, item eight is discussion items. There are none. Item nine is the second opportunity for citizens to address the board. Citizens are welcome to address the board on any topic at this point on the agenda. I believe I saw someone from the audience uh signing up. So, Mrs. Allen is getting that for me. While she is bringing me the signup sheet, I would like to remind everyone that speakers will be limited to those who follow the correct procedure. So, please
073fill out the signup sheet as directed. I would also like to remind everyone that calling out individuals in this form is inappropriate. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Anyone who engages in criticism of and or a personal attack of an individual will be prevented from doing so. Please keep your remarks and your attention directed to the full board. I have Mr. Jeff Delinger. Did I say that right? Dinger. Dinger. And thank you for coming tonight, Mr. Dinger. If you could please state your name and address and then I will start your two minutes. >> Jeff Dinger, 7540 Peril Lake Road, Clarkson. >> Thank you. >> Uh my name is Jeff Dinger. Uh I was banned from Independence Elementary on October 7th. On the 12th, my wife and I emailed a demand letter as well as
074a formal policy and personnel complaint to Dr. Ryan, but it has gone unanswered. The board president, Miss Crane, told me to be assured. Dr. Ryan will respond directly, but I am here today with no reply. I was banned for a reason that was found to be not true. Dr. Ryan uh walked that back immediately. Um with with a change, uh I was banned for yelling at a student, which didn't happen. Dr. Ryan then said it was for making derogatory comments about a child that didn't happen. After Dr. Ryan investigated, he found uh that it didn't happen. Surprise, surprise. And a third reason of aggressive posturing, which Google defines as having hands on hips or shaking a finger, which I didn't do either. Uh I don't know how many parents have been banned for putting their
075hands on their hips, but I'd like to think I'm the first. The school's taken no action ever despite many emails from my wife and I on the topic of bullying. So when the school's inaction left me no choice but to speak to another parent and I asked politely that she talk to her child about this bullying behavior of my daughter, I was punished. But to protect who? You determined I never spoke to or about the child and the mother is not an employee or herself a student of the school. What protection is she offered by the state of Michigan where my rights as a parent can be infringed upon? I have a personnel complaint for Beth Clark. Miss Clark spent 26 years as a police officer and she did not learn how to do a
076fair or impartial investigation. Her laziness led to a snap decision to ban me from my daughter's school for a reason that was found to be untrue. She should be fired. She has no business working for Clarkson schools and she should be ashamed of herself for the lazy, sloppy, incompetent police work that she has performed. >> Hey, Mr. Dinger, your two minutes are up, please. Thank you very much. All right. Items 10 are our information items. The next board of education meeting is Monday, December 8th, 2025 at 700 p.m. Item 11 is adjournment. May I have a motion, please? >> I move to adjourn. >> Support. >> Oh, sorry. Very quickly. Yes. Uh I was talking to Mrs. MLAN board about um adding a meeting on December 15th time to come but more information on that
077to come as well. Um sorry about that. Item 11 is adjournment. May I have a motion please? >> I move to adjourn support. >> All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Meeting is adjourned.