DPS BOE Meeting 5/12/2025

001[Music] And that's [Music] where I fly away. Fly away. Fly away. I'll fly away. Fly away, fly away home. Fly away, fly away, fly away home. Fly away home. Fly away, fly away, fly away. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hi. Um, I'm Caitlyn McDougall. I'm the middle school choir director and it has been a a lot of fun presenting these Kirby song series this year. Um, and I have been doing this collaboration concert um for the last couple years and these will also be hanging out with our sixth graders on uh May 22nd. So if you like what you're hearing, come here more. [Music] [Applause] See the colors dancing in the light constantly changing as patterns ignite. A finosa, a beautiful LA, a colorful rainbow that never fades away. So colorful color and

002bright and bright coloring in light reflecting in the light color [Music] into the light shine Yellow, purple and blue, indigo and orange. All the colors unique as I and you. Lavender and lilac, pink and amber too. Oh, and ruling and roll [Music] color. Golden lights coloring in reflecting in the light. No color. No color into view. Coming into view when we let the light shine through. See the [Music] color of color in me. I am you the final day by you [Applause] [Music] ever color and bright old and bright coloring in the reflecting in the light so color into the light shine through. Let the light shine through. Let the light shine through. Let the light shine through. Shine [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] through you enjoy your meeting and we will hopefully

003see you on May 22nd 7:00 p.m. at the high school auditorium. That's a big important detail. Thank you very much. [Music] They all like this is the meeting we're going to ask. All right, we'll move on to the agenda to our second presentation for the night high school innovative programming. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um I'm joined tonight by Teresa Hoff who is our student success coordinator at the high school and many other things. Also the point person excuse me for our innovative programming. We'll explain more in a moment. I do just want to say how touching that was to see young voices and there's a beautiful performance and now we've got to follow that. I always I always say that it's tough tough one to follow super performance but I think that

004you'll find this is heartwarming in its own way. Um the success of this program maybe on the other end of the educational spectrum. So, um, we'll we'll we'll we'll go ahead and proceed with our kind of explanation of the program. I know I came to you folks, several of us did. Uh, Mr. Johnson, uh, wanted to join us tonight, a family engagement. Um, kept him from us. So, we'll we'll kind of add his pieces here, too. Um, but we came to you um, a couple years ago, right? That was kind of like a the aftershocks of COVID, several years of an issue that we kind of been discovering where more and more students um from our juniors and senior classes were finding that they weren't able to after many many different um interventions were tried.

005Many different uh uh pieces and and help from staff, they weren't able to complete and were credit deficient at the high school. We found were leaving um for onlinemies, different places like that. for sometimes they graduated, but sometimes we also know they would go and then after a few months drop out basically. And it was kind of like we have the sterling 95 to 99% um graduation rate here at Duet High School. That was almost like the thing under the rug of like some of our students that make it transferred out and ended up on the roles of different schools as dropouts. And the conversation became like if if we could just hold on to these kids and have a different pathway to graduation, they could be Panthers. They could be uh part of the

006wit. We know we've got the staff, we've got the community, uh we've got the experience to kind of hang on to those kids and help them through. We know as educators um a and members of a community, a high school, uh diploma is a key um that can unlock a lot of doors. And if students do not gain that diploma, a lot of doors unfortunately are closed. So, this became a kind of a an imperative for us um to kind of find a solution for this. So I'll take this slide here and I'll turn it over to to toa to talk about the nuts and bolts of the program just that back to 2021 again this is a problem that existed before but I think co was really accelerating we talking uh the high school

007to their credit every Monday morning I get to join about every other time as my schedule allows every Monday morning uh Teresa leads a meeting with the high school counselors the high school principles and they're basically kind of all hands up on deck and talk about who's struggling and why and what interventions can we put in place going to help those is um and it's a very noble and inspiring thing to see every every Monday morning and in those meetings we started to talk about this problem and how we had credit official students that were leaving us and it was to the tune of 15 or so a year um were kind of not dropping out but transferring to a different learningmies online then kind of we could kind of lost track of them most

008of the time so along with Mr. Datson who had run a similar kind of alternative pathway to graduation. Um there were um uh opportunities for this in the state uh pupil accounting manual and their guidance under innovative programming and so that's why we called it the IT program or innovative programming explored our options programming funding staffing had lots of conversations internally we work with our pupil accounting staff both internally um and then the auditors at the state that we also work with to say how can we continue to capture their um full-time equivalency right how can we still capture them as full students um but then give them a different pathway to graduation um here as a doit student. So this is our guiding question. How can we be flexible to meet the needs of

009students for whom the traditional high school format is a barrier to graduation? There are programs like this all over the state. Um we we examined them, explored them, talked to a lot of people and then we kind of talked to staff and developed our own um plan which we brought to the board and the board was very uh enthusiastic about. So I'll let Mrs. Huff kind of explain how the program works. Yeah. So, we all got together and we were trying to decide like we can't let allow like any student that wants to just drop out of a high school move over into the IP program that we wanted to have some some criteria in place so that students that truly deserved or needed the program were the ones that were receiving instruction right in

010this program. So, we came we as a group we kind of went off of what Matt Dodson had done in his previous district with a program very similar that he had run. And so this is basically what we were seeing with our students. We had noticed that we had some students that at the end of their sophomore year were eight credits or fewer. So we're like that is not a path to graduation when you need 31 credits, right? You're you're behind. What are we going to do to help those students? We also noticed that we were having some students that had some really um critical issues at home. They had things that were outside of their control. Um, it could have been we looked at we identified students that had been homeless. We identified students

011that may not had as much support at home, students that um had medical issues, students that had mental health issues. So, we had the wide gamut of a lot of different things that were preventing students from attending to a high school and being successful. So, um those were all the criteria that we had decided that you know what we're going to take students um after they usually 11th or 12th graders when they're still credit deficient before they choose to leave because students around the 11th grade year start to see you know the beginning of 11th grade year the end of the sophomore year see that wow I'm really far behind and I'm getting really discouraged and this is really hard for me and I don't think I want to come to school anymore right and

012so you start to see attendance fall off and you start to see them exploring their other options we're like Okay, we have to do something. And I was involved in a lot of conversations that were really, really hard. And we had those situations come up that it was like we were irresponsible by not telling the parent and the student at that time that you're not going to make it, right? We're not going to make it. We've tried all these interventions. We've had you. I run the students. I'm a student success coordinator. I have students in my academic support class. We have all kinds of tutoring and all these things. And because of all these other issues that were outside the students control many times they were not able to you know be successful. So some

013guidelines that we also decided is that the the obviously the state of Michigan says you have to fulfill the Michigan merit curriculum. So we decided that the students had to do that. We also decided that was really important that the students come to school. Um we had students come after school. So Monday through Thursday from 2:45 to 4 I'm in a lab. students can drop in, they can come and work. Um, we ask students to come at least two days per week. I have some other students that come every single day of the week and work with me and get some mentoring during that time. Um, I'm trying to think what else we also, if you flip to the next thing, another guideline we felt was really, really important that students can participate in all

014the extracurricular activities that they can be a part of the sports teams. Um, we made we have the students come in for all the state testing. We make sure that they do that. And then the other really, really important thing is that we want to make sure that these students are supported at home. We make sure that they come in for all the screeners, the mental health screeners. I have a student right now that's in my program that comes in one day a week at 2:00 instead of 2:45 and she meets with her counselor and she's able to get some mental health um help with her and they can work through some different types of things that she needs to work on. And then the students receive a high school diploma and they walk at

015graduation. That was really important to us that students be able to um participate in the graduation ceremony and feel just like their peers, right? Just as just like anyone else. And I think at the time when we presented this to the board, the board felt that that was really important too. I remember that there was a lot of consensus then that people felt that that was a really important thing for our students. Um so this is our second year. We're at the end of the second year right now. We have students graduating. Um, the first year we had 13 students enrolled. Okay. Um, six students graduated last year with the class of 2024. I had, if anyone knows me, what the one thing they know is I never give up. I'm very tenacious. I go

016after students. And so, as soon as they gave me this job in September, I started calling students that dropped out of high school. Hey, guess what? We have this new program. I know it wasn't ready for you. It wasn't available for you, but guess what? We have it now. So, we found I found four students. I even found one one day at teach parent teacher conference night because I don't live into it, but I was driving through the McDonald's drive-thru and I even found one of my students there and I got her to come in and sign up for the program with her mom like within two days. So, I was like, I'm going to find these kids. I'm going to get them their diplomas. I'm going to help them give them support and let

017them know that Det High School hasn't forgotten about them. By the way, we told Teresa that in her next career, hope she never retires. Her next career, she could work in collections. going to go find you in the best way. In the best way. It was just so heartbreaking to get kids so close through the SST process and then have them, you know, drop out or have them be discouraged. And so it was just and many times, you know, we have the eight credits, but many times some of these kids were a lot closer than that. They had way more credits than that and they just had gotten to the point where it just felt like they weren't going to make it. Without saying names, can you share the story about at least one family

018you talked to and some of the emotion when they were told that this there was there was another opportunity? Yeah. So many times we have these conversations with the parents. We have parents crying. We have parents um you know just like we didn't know that this was even an option. I had a student last year and it's one of the parents wrote about this student. Um, I had a student last year that had been they had been dismissed from another district, but their uncle had like they were um living with their uncle. And so the student came in the last day to get their diploma. And Marbling, the school secretary, we she comes up and she just opened up up the case. She didn't walk at the graduation commencement. She opened up the case and

019then she just kept staring at it. She kept staring at and then she just tears just started going down her face and she's like I just never thought this would ever happen. I just seeing her name just meant so much to her and then she went to leave and she we watched her and she was going out to the car and she just like stopped and she kept looking at it. She stopped and like she must have stopped four times. Then she texted me that night and she it was 7 o'clock at night. She says, "I keep looking at this. I can't believe this is real." So that just tells you how powerful it was that she had and she didn't have that many classes to do, but she had some really severe family things

020that were going on. Some she just needed support. She needed some encouragement and she there she went and she was able to finish. So it was just amazing. So even after year one, we felt the impact. Yeah. This year we have 18 students that are currently enrolled. We have nine that are graduating. Um we have eight that are enrolled for next year. We're on good progress. students know I have had students, you know, come up to me and talk to me about it. There's not a stigma involved in it. There's not anything people don't think I think one of the other students wrote about how this program I wasn't made to feel like I took a lesser route or I feel like I'm less of anything because of the program. So, I think that that

021just really speaks to the climate that we're creating, how we're approaching this, the support we're giving students, and that we aren't giving this to every single student that, you know, like we make sure that the students that need it are the ones that are getting it. Yeah, that was a a big uh point of emphasis, I think, in the original conversation is that this not become like a path of least resistance. This was something that would truly due to the um diligence of the staff and some of the uh requirements for entry which can be flexible case um but to make sure this was reaching students we absolutely needed it not became something that kind of um got out of control that way. So so the impact really is that we're not turning people away

022saying we hit the end of the road. It was really hard as a teacher to look at some othermies nearby and see their graduation pictures, you know, posted and see five, six, seven, eight of our kids that we work so hard with. It was like, oh my gosh, this is just crushing me. So, it also gives students in many different situations, right? We have, like I said before, students that have been hospitalized for mental health, students that have medical issues, students that I've had, three students go through that have been parents that became parents through those throughout um their high school years and needing to finish this this program. Um and and yeah, we're losing 12 to 12 to 15 a year. And then we had in 2023 24 we had 15 leave and this

023year we've only had six. So, and the couple of them that left, they went for other reasons. It wasn't necessarily because they um didn't want to do this program. It was just some other kind of things came up. So, we know we can sleep well at night knowing we've done everything we can to keep students here, keep them with us and so that they can have every chance to graduate as with Panthers. Um, you know, and I think too, this is always a tricky thing, the counterfactual. If we hold on to this many kids, how many would have actually dropped out or left? Um, but you know, if we're talking about maybe 10 more students a year we're hanging on to and if we get about $10,000 per student, it's on a uh, you know,

024that those dollars add up pretty quick, you know, as far as that we're um, so the happy thing is that's not why we're doing it, but I think it's having a positive impact on the district in that way, too. So, um, we did want it's always more powerful to hear from students than from us, but as you know, this can be a sensitive thing. The students that are in this program, um, often have mental health issue, different things. It's a tough thing to talk about. And so that's why Miss Sub did solicit some of the testimonials that she's passed out. And we did receive a video from a very brave young lady named Rain. And we cleared it with her mother to make sure that she was okay that she was sharing this. She knows

025the audience is going to be attended um for it. And we want to share um Rain who was uh 11th. Yep. Graduating this year and what her story was and how what impact the program has had. And that'll kind of be the end of our presentation here. So we'll hear from Rain. Hi, my name is Rene Duplo. I am a student at D High School who is graduating here from the innovative program. Um, I originally got into this program and started this program because I got pregnant um my sophomore year and I went to fitness high school. Um, the innovative program helped me out. It's extremely by just giving me the opportunities to go out and actually be able to finish school and do good for myself and make my family proud as well. Um,

026was extremely hard and extremely, I guess, nerve-wracking to have to think about trying to finish school and have a baby and do everything like that. So the innovative program greatly gave me a chance to still do good and still get that education and that opportunity to finish high school. Um I if the innovative program wasn't there, I most likely probably would have dropped out of high school. I know it is a scary thing for me at least to say and I remember the thoughts of me at that time thinking, "Oh my god, what am I going to do?" Um, I just there was just so much to deal with and at that moment trying to take care of another kid and trying to figure out my whole rest of my life and being so young

027while also handling all those things, school was definitely one of those things where it's like what am I going to do? So, even though it is hard to say, even though I wish that I probably would have went out and whatnot, most likely I would have dropped out of high school and just not have finished it. Um, throughout this whole program and this experience, um, Mr. Dodson, Miss Martin, my counselor, and Miss Huff has been extremely helpful, supportive, and have always been there for me. They have always been communicating with me. They Miss Huff answers my questions back. She gave me calls. She was always there supporting me and cheering me on the whole entire way and helping me when I didn't understand something and being that support person and that teacher that I needed

028at the time. Um, I think this program is a really good thing to have and to continue to have for people who not only was in my situation, but also people who struggle with different things, struggle with getting bullied, struggling with trying to keep uh like there is just so much that can happen in anybody's life that hate to say it, school can have that impact of falling off their plate, especially when home life is dad or someone gets pregnant or just so many different things. I think that this program is a great opportunity to give people that chance to not only make themselves proud and do good and still get the education, but also to make their families proud and still have that chance to do everything. And I know a big thing that

029helped me was doing this program, but also still being able to do things like walk the stage and go to prom and do all those things cuz you still can be and be a kid. Like I can still have the chance to be a kid while also doing good for me and my son. And that was what my biggest thing was. But I really hope that this program continues and I hope that this video um was good and thank you so much for listening and just if you have any more questions, let me know. Hi, my name is Randy Dubo. The generation's so good on the camera, right? It's um but anyway, some very brave words from a young lady there in favor of the program. And again, I've talked to folks around here that

030so many times, especially when I start to work at central office. I left my job before this was in a principal ship. Before that, I was a teacher where you get to see the kind of impact day dayto day. Um, sometimes when we're having these conversations, it can sound like an academic exercise about helping kids. And when you hear testimonials like that or the ones that are in front of you, you realize that this isn't an academic exercise. This is real people's lives that we're impacting in a very, very positive way. So, in closing, I want to thank Dr. Spickard who's obviously moved on who was a big proponent of this program and obviously Mr. to provide it. First time I explained it to him, he was like, "Oh, yeah, that makes total sense. Why

031would we be doing this?" So, as I supported from the beginning, the board of education, we were a little bit um I wouldn't say worried, but just like, you know, this is a new program and what are we going to do here and just worried about what feedback would be? And I have to say, everyone on the board has been completely supportive of this. Um kind of blown us away on that. So, thank you. Without that kind of spur on, I think that that really gave us encouragement to kind of pursue this. Uh Mr. Spagnolo has been wonderful about securing funding and seeing the importance of this and also the high school staff, right? There was some tough conversations at first. People were weren't sure about what this was about, but once they were really

032explained to uh the purpose and what need this was serving, I think they were really really behind it. So, I want to thank them as well. So, of course, none of this could be possible without Mrs. Huff. So, thank you, Mrs. H. Wonderful. So, any questions about the program? Questions here? So, uh a couple questions. Who who provides the content for us? The Apex. We do it through Apex. Apex. There's an online credit recovery service that the students access their um core requirements. Okay. Um and then secondly, for other pro for other districts that run programs like this, I mean, how many students are they typically getting? Are we more or less? I mean, are we expecting more growth in this or really depend on on the school district and their need? I don't know

033that we think, well, this will grow much more. You know, I think this probably fills a need. I want to speak for Tracy. Yeah, we talked about having no more than 20. We're not going to seek out students from other districts. We're not going to seek out, you know, those situations. Um the student that I talked about earlier that was dropped from the um schools was a relative of somebody who lived in the district and had four kids in the district. So, we're not going to seek out um other students from other districts. We chose not to solicit um other students that way, but we want to just serve our students. Um the way things are going with the students and that are credit deficient running things be running credit recovery in the summer. We

034really don't anticipate it getting much bigger than this. You really serve those kids who have that the real but you're able to serve everybody who does have a need here. Yes. Yeah. You're not turning anybody away. So like if we got to 20 if there's like he said we have some leeway we got to 21 you know what I mean we're not going to say oh we have a cab at 20 we're not going to turn we're not in the business of doing that anything else other questions I just want to say thank you to myself obviously thank thank you to everybody that was involved in getting this started but as we listen and I look through all of this I mean I see inspiring potential my daughter cheering me on um all those things.

035So not our kids. Thank you. Spectacular. [Applause] Hey Rob, you're up. Yes. And I know you guys you're on a tight timeline, so I am going to move through this pretty quick. Please have questions along the way. Some of the information in here I'm not going to go through because you've seen it before, but I'd like to build the really the whole presentation. So, you've got one place to to look. So, Congress proposal you've seen like three times now, not going through that. What I really wanted to focus on was the Senate subcommittee proposal which was released about a week and a half ago. Talk about the similarities and differences between the governor and the Senate proposal. So, the Senate came out with a $400 per pupil foundation allowance. that was $8 more per people

036than what the governor proposed. So place about $25,000. You'll see that on the next slide. Uh the Senate also proposed increases as the governor did in both at risk and special ed. I don't anticipate any net increase uh in our special ed categorical funding received. We might receive some at risk uh categorical funding through the Senate's proposal. They did propose more than the governor did. Um, but we're in a weird state right now where the the data that's collected for planning see if you're at risk um is kind of skewed uh because some things that are dropped off at the federal level uh and just collecting um the student data that we eat, especially with free breakfast and lunch for all students. So, we've got an effort to try to collect that data to get

037our funding up, but for right now, um I'm not sure that we'll see any increase in our atrisisk funding under either proposal, but more likely under the Senate proposal. Uh the Senate did exactly what the governor did, which was eliminate one of the Mipers cost offsets. Um as you recall, that was a loss of funding um in the sense that we didn't get a foundation increase last year, but we did get the uh UAL flow through that was deemed as one time. The Senate did give the Mipers employee healthcare reimbursement categorical. They did fund it at a little higher level than the governor did. You'll see the dollar differential on the next slide. Both the governor and the senate have said these are onetime funds, really kind of a transition as districts look for an

038additional 3% of employee health care costs through retirement. So I'm guessing that they think that that rate might go down in a year, but I'm I'm skeptical that that will be the case. And then if you look at the last six bullet points, they're all consistent with what the governor proposed um both in categorical and amount with the exception of the mental health and school safety categorical. the Senate has put some additional knowledge, but we'll go over about what the governor did uh in and her proposal. Um the House, again, you've seen that it's not a really a full-blown proposal. It was kind of a half proposal. Still waiting to see their their full proposal, which I'm told is coming out by the end of the month, but beyond that, I haven't heard anymore. So,

039when we look at the dollars specific to DWIT, I really only want to focus on four lines because everything else is consistent with what we saw the last month. uh the foundation increased 392 for the governor, 400 for the Senate. So you can see that million219 versus the million244 or that additional $25,000 under the Senate proposal. And then I want to highlight the the line that says increase for Mipser's employee healthcare reimbursement. Again, with the Senate putting more dollars into that, it's 172,000 under the governor's proposal and 293,000 of the Senate proposal. And then lastly, I just want to focus on the bottom two lines, which is we're up to nine staff retirements, resignations, and reconfigurations. Five of those positions will not be replaced, which is a projection of about a $360,000 savings. However, we

040do have the addition of a half-time special ed teacher that we need to add into the budget at a cost of about $50,000. So, right now, our bottom line on the governor's proposal is about a million7 deficit. On the Senate, it's about a million562. But as we've talked, we have to look structurally where we're at. So, as we back out our one-time amounts that are in this budget, structurally, we're at a $337,000 deficit right now with the governor's proposal and $191,000 with the Senate subcommittee proposal. We're less than a month from the board approving. June 9th is when the board will approve the budget. Um so to be a little more conservative, what you will see if nothing changes between now and June 9th is the governor's proposal um which will show a deficit of

041a million7 with a structural deficit of 337. And then finally, what we'll do over the next month is we'll continue to watch enrollment. It looks like we're we're trending flat year-over-year going at 2526. Uh continue to review staffing. Uh the insurance legislation is kind of out there. I haven't seen any movement at the state level, but just know that that's in the background if at some point they decide to move on something. Senate full house uh proposals, we're looking for those to come out. So, I don't know if the Senate will move their uh subcommittee report to the full Senate here in the next few weeks. Uh and I don't know when again the House might put something forward. Um and so that's a full budget, not a partial budget. We'll work internally. We do

042have a finance committee meeting scheduled next week where we'll talk a little more detail and then ultimately board approval on June 9th. So I know that was quick but if anyone has any questions just those numbers you feel somewhat confident will wind up around the added $400 for people time to come around that number. Yeah, it does. And even with the house's partial proposal, they proposed a 417. Uh, so I do think we'll we'll land in in that 400 range unless for some reason when we get to the the ceremony conference a week or this Friday um for whatever reason the numbers are off, but I'm not hearing that that's the case. So I think that's a pretty solid number. In terms of enrollment, do we have preliminary kindergarten numbers due for 25 26 and

043are they coming in very similar to where we are this year? Early on, yes. Um what we get is a weekly update from Tracy of where where we are and then obviously with with our school choice window opening up um we supplement where we need to. So we appear to be kind of trending about where we we've thought of this time of year but we'll continue to monitor that over the next month. No surprises. No, no, not sends us. Any other questions? Question. What are the nine retirement like what? And then it says we have five that we weren't replacing. Yep. So, the five that aren't being replaced is uh an elementary teacher and four special eds. And the nine positions overall it's three teaching positions assistant principal at the high school uh reconfiguration of

044tech director communications coordinator uh and then Harris. Do you feel okay without having some of those positions returned? Yes. We'll have to do what we do. Yes. Yeah. And we're we're not filling those through attrition. Um so we have four uh resations uh currently within our special ranks raise our student class numbers or anything. Yeah. Yep. So, yeah, we do have capacity in working with our web director to do that. Um and probably reduce we have any more resations between now and start of the school year. Are we still in September for the draft? I think so. I I just don't see a moving quickly. So, yeah, I'm expecting September. Anything else? Thank you. appreciate you doing all this knowing as a moving target. It can be a challenge at times, but we get some

045help. That concludes our presentation for this evening. So, we'll move next to public communication for items on the agenda. Seeing none, we will close public communication. Uh there is no student report today. So, we will move forward there and we'll move to item seven, the consent agenda. It is a recommendation by superintendent Kevin Board of Education to approve, adopt, and accept the following items for immediate implementation and appropriate action as presented. The approval of minutes for the regular meeting from April 14th, the work session from April 28th, and our close session from April 28th, all in 2025, the treasurer's report and bills confirmation payment for the month of April 25, treasurer review checks, ACH debits, and the purchase card for the month of April 25. and outofstate overnight field trips or DIT high school French

046students and others trip to France from June 16th through 25th 2025. Do we have a motion? Support. Moved and supported. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. Any oppose? Consent agenda passes. Next, we'll move to action items. is the re recommendation by superintendent Kevin Revide the board of education adopt the Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency bianial election resolution and designate a board member to attend the meeting on Monday June 2nd 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Also an alledgement should be designated uh the DIT public schools boards Kevin Armbrer and Stacy Rulles for election for the CC Resa board of education. Do we have a motion without names? What does anybody want to volunteer? I've done this before. Anybody hasn't done it yet? It's really not tough and does not take a lot of

047time. Okay. So, we'll put you down for now. Okay. Number two. [Music] Wow. There is a motion. walk out. I'm hearing there's a motion on the table for Dwight Danspike to be the primary and newly appointed board member to be named later as the alternate. Do we have a second for that motion? So move the motion. You can't support it. All right, there we go. Move to support it. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Okay. Motion carries. Usually it's the person who's not in attendance. Right. All right. Now we will move on to public communications for items not found on the agenda. No. All right. Close that and move on to our superintendent. All right. So, first of all, I just want to do one final shout out for staff appreciation

048week to every member of our team who helps make this district what it is. A special thank you to our incredible support staff, including our prayer professionals, secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, tech staff, and so many others who efforts often happen behind the scenes, but are absolutely essential to our student success. Whether you're in a classroom as a teacher, an office, in the kitchen, or on the bus, your impact is felt every day. We are truly grateful for all that you do. Uh so when you see in front of you, you have these coasters here and those are our staff members. This week, I want to thank Devon, the central office team for helping support that and making sure we can push that out to our staff. We have I just want to

049do a couple reminders. Um, we have seniors award night on the 14th of this week. Senior's last day is the 16th and they'll have senior breakfast on the 30th and then June 1st will be our graduation. And then the last day for all students is June 6, which I'm sure people are pretty excited about. But that's all for my report. Great. Thank you. Any questions for superintendent? Okay. We will close superintendent's report and we move on to board member announcements. Is there anything any board members would like to share? Okay. So, absent announcements, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. Move to support. All those in favor, please say I. I. We are adjourned and we will take about a threeminut recess before we start our special meeting. I pledge allegiance to the flag of

050the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Starter. Mr. Starter. Mr. Weieber, will you please take the role? Angelina Barnes here. Anna Carpenter still here. White hands here. Start still not here. John Tramatana here. Brad Weaver is here. Great. Uh do we have a motion to adopt our agenda? So move support. Move to support any discussion. All those in favor, please say I. We have an agenda and the agenda for this are the three interviews for board candidate interviews. Uh we are taking them in alphabetical order. So first up is Janelle Kinski. Welcome. Thank you. Just so for all the candidates know, we have about six questions. So we'll just kind of go round robin. We're going to

051try to keep these introduced to about 15 minutes a piece. We we don't want to cut you off, but we just want to be respectful of everybody's time. Uh so uh first question I guess we technically have seven uh because uh you know tell us first about your interest why you want to serve here um the skills and experience you bring to the board table and if appointed to the board will you seek re-election in 2026 when the reappoint expires. Yeah. First of all just thank you for the opportunity to be here. Appreciate being named one of the finalists. Um again my name is Janelle Brzinski as you introduced. Um just want to um really share my intent as you know having a heart for public service as you saw in my letter um that

052you received earlier. Um my professional role um has always been with public entities and it's really due to that heart for public service. So the first half of my career I spent in the Michigan legislature and the house of representatives. The second half of my career has been moving into the public education sector. I currently work for the Center for Charter Schools at Central Michigan University. And both of those roles really um solidified my my love that I've had my whole life for not just service, but for public service. Um I'm also a parent of young children, three and six. So um our oldest is in kindergarten at Shady Road. The youngest will be there in a few years. and really just wanting to offer my time, my heart for service, my experience professionally that

053I think could be an asset to the board um to be able to bring that long-term impact. We're really committed to the community of Dwit. We love being here. We've been here about a little over eight years um and really, you know, look forward to having our family here in the long term. So, and then to your last question, absolutely. Um this would be a long-term commitment in my mind. Great. So, how would you see your role and responsibilities as a school board member? Yeah, thank you for that question. As I was considering that as as Deb sent that over ahead of time, you know, obviously there's so many things to being a board member and so many things that that you learn once you get in that role as well, right? But a few

054things came to mind really of you know the difference between governance and management and the distinct roles between the superintendent and the board members who serve in the board members capacity of you know having a large part of our role being putting a strong superintendent and management in place so that they can you know perform their role and that we can have a very separate role as a board member. So, I think that really comes to mind first. Obviously, a lot of other things that are requirements of us as board members, you know, setting a budget. I think, you know, making sure that we're really seeing that the budget aligns with the financial priorities that we set out both in strategic planning, you know, long-term visions and goals of of the entity as well. So,

055not just, you know, a budget for the sake of having a budget, but a budget that aligns with our mission and priorities, I think is really important as well. And then obviously too strategic planning having a vision for the district that then the superintendent can take and run with. So um saw that you know we're coming to the end of our current strategic plan and would look forward to being a part of that next strategic plan as well. Great. Thank you. Um what are the three most significant challenges facing our district? Yeah, another thing is that you know I sat and thought about that probably not much different than significant challenges that face most districts right in the state. Um one of them that came to mind was recruitment and retention of staff obviously going

056to be a long-term challenge. There was one of the documents I had been reading um you know had a data point about how many teachers have been serving for a long period of time in the district. So as we're looking out you know 10 plus years of what that looks like for recruitment and retention of staff. Um, another thing too, I mentioned I have a kindergartener. You know, the world that they will graduate into when is just so so far down the road. So, really being forward thinking of what things that we're putting into place that they can really see success in their postsecary life, whatever that might be, if that's college or the trades, you know, the workforce. Really making sure that all students are set up for success in the different world that

057they'll be leading into as as they leave um in the future. Another one too, you know, obviously following um the the budget presentation earlier is really just the long-term fiscal health of the district. Um there's so much with rising costs and uncertainty with funding. There's also so much financially that's out of our control with um state funding and federal funding that really making sure that we're being forward thinking and maintaining the fiscal health of the district um long term. As a board member, you will be asked to make decisions where you must put aside what's best for you, your family, your friends, and your school to do what's best for the students and the district as a whole. What does that mean to you? Yeah, means a lot to me. Um, I would want to

058operate with the utmost of integrity. As I mentioned, I have a heart for public service. So, that is really important to me. Um, is what that public service means. And that means putting self-interest aside for the interest of who you're serving. that would be the the community and the district that that we're in. So, um, as I mentioned earlier, I started my career in the Michigan legislature. Um, really, you know, just got a firsthand view of what being true public servants meant. Um, to me, that means having a perspective. I have a unique perspective as a young parent who's just starting in the district. I have a unique perspective because of the professional roles that I've held. um bringing that perspective, really being a good listener, listening to experts in the field, listening to our

059um administration that's in place, listening to the community of really being an ambassador of the constituency that we're serving, listening to everybody and really, you know, bringing that back to build consensus as a board to be able to speak as one voice in the end. So could you tell us what you would like to see changed in the district and how you envision your role in that change? Yeah. Um I think a little bit, you know, unique certainly to this being an appointment process versus an election process, but also to um you know, I know people often would run for public service because they want to see something totally different or they disagree with something that's going on. You know, I come to this as being grateful that we live in the community that we

060do. Um, you know, in our first two years as parents in this district, I just far exceeded our expectations of what what we've seen in day-to-day and I'm sure that will just continue as we go on. So um as far as things changing I think to me longterm would be having that mindset of how do we sustain a culture of excellence long term of not just resting on you know that we're excellent now but as it says in our our mission of how do we have that culture of excellence going long term. So, that would be something I'd be interested in as a role of a board member of how do we set up that long-term success so that we don't kind of rest with the assumption that we'll always be in a role of

061excellence, but that's something that's continuing um continued growth. How would you define the following terms in the context of a schoolboard member's role? Confidentiality, chain of command, and consensus. Um I'll start with the end consensus I think is obviously very important. Um I mentioned in a previous response of the board speaking with one voice right that we bring our perspectives but that we all move forward and for the best of the district. So that would be um that would be one. um confidentiality. I think obviously, you know, working with the utmost integrity in that role as a board member um while still, you know, being highly respectful of the open meetings act and that we are a public body um and what you know what deliberations are appropriate to happen in an open meeting versus

062um in anything that would be confidential. I think transparency, open communication would be of the utmost importance. And what was your third term? Chain of command. Thank you. I mentioned in my opening answer um the difference to me between governance and management. Um so really making sure that we are being respectful of everybody's roles um and everybody's expertise and making sure that um not only are those two roles separate but then chain a command within the district as well. Uh final question that we have and we've touched on this a little bit, but at times you might be caught between legitimately opposing points of view. There may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law that you're required to uphold as a trustee. So how do you handle that

063potential conflict? Absolutely. And it's a law um we are a public entity, right? So um and having the professional experience I do have just the utmost respect for for that besides um of needing to enforce the law. um in my current role to keep very well informed of you know the budget process requirements that are coming into the public education sector. So something that I I watch closely um just on the personal level. So um of really making sure that um that we're following that. And then as far as personal interest aside, as I mentioned earlier, um I love to listen and really gain perspectives. I think I have a unique and um and a great perspective, but I know that I don't have all the answers. that's not my leadership style. So really making

064sure that I would gain perspective from everybody and at the end of the day making sure that we have consensus that not only right that what we're doing here far outlasts my child being here, anybody's children being here. So having that perspective as a parent, but making sure at the end of the day that it's what's best for the district, not what's best for us personally and then speaking with that one voice as you move forward with the vote. Great. Thank you. That's all of our questions. any questions for us or anything in the last few minutes? No, just thank you for the opportunity. Like I said, really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to our second candidate, Megan Char. Am I pronouncing that correctly? You are. Okay, welcome. anything you

065want to start out with and tell us about yourself and why you're interested in this position. Absolutely. So, my background is in education, law, and government. So, I think I have a unique combination of experiences that I could offer to the board. Um, I also have strong ties to the community. Although I wasn't raised here, my husband's family has been here for generations. In fact, his grandfather was on, I believe, one of the first board of education for DIT. So, it would allow me to carry on my husband's family legacy that goes back decades in this community. But not only that, I'm passionate about the purpose of the board and that's to make sure that all of the youth in DIT thrive and have the opportunities available to them to receive quality education, which I

066think is one of the reasons that we chose to come back here to delight and raise our voice here. I have a five-year-old who's in Young Fives over at Shady Road and then a two-year-old. So, um we're in it for the long haul here in Dew. I would love this as an opportunity to continue my public service um kind of career and shape my local community. I've been in public service my entire life. Um I started as a lifeguard and a daycare um day camp counselor at a YMCA before getting a teaching degree and then going into law. My first law job was serving underserved populations at a legal services organization before I made my way to state government where I really turned my focus to bettering the state of Michigan as a whole for

067all the citizens of Michigan. And if we were to appoint you, do you plan on running in? I do. Okay. How do you see your role and responsibilities as a school board member? I think the school board is a multiaceted organization. You guys serve as policy makers on the local level. You also advocate for students and staff and you serve as a liaison to the community. So there's a lot that this board does. I think my role within the board of education would be to work with the rest of you on this body to create a vision and direction for Dwit and Dwit public schools well into the future beyond my children. Um, I would like to see this continue to be the district you come to when you're in the greater Lancing area, the

068school that parents vi to get their kids into if they don't live in Dwit. Um, I think that the board does that through various actions. You evaluate the superintendent and hold him accountable for the effective administration of the district. You also review and approve the budget which needs to ensure that funding is going to the appropriate places to advance quality education and a safe learning environment. You have to attract and hire and hopefully retain um dedicated professionals and teachers that will meet our kids where they're at and will help them have a positive learning experience which can be difficult for some. And then also, I think that this is important right now, but you serve as a liaison between the schools and the community. And there have been a lot of school bonds up for

069a vote this past May, and many did not succeed, surprisingly. Um, and I think that there is trust that needs to be fostered between the board of education and the community to have things like that pass so that the community can trust that you are doing what you can to better all students. So that requires this balance of what does the community want and need and how can we align that with what the district wants and needs so that everyone feels like their needs are being met. And that's a really difficult thing to do that this board has to juggle. So I think taking on all of those actions as a group is really important. All right. Uh what are the three most significant challenges facing our district? So I think safety is always a

070top concern facing schools now and I don't just mean physical safety. I think this board has done a lot for that through this past bond and the updating of all of the facilities. that's been fantastic and will continue to be. Um my son's school I think is next up this summer. So um but physical safety also accounts for safety and security plans which have to be reviewed frequently to ensure that they are um effective and they're addressing any emerging concerns in schools. I know that there was an issue on a bus earlier this year. So bus safety and obviously transportation as a whole is kind of a hot button issue in Dit. But then we have our emotional safety and making sure students feel engaged and supported in schools. So I think that the board

071has a role in establishing policies and procedures to address bullying, cyber bullying, discrimination, and all the mental health issues that we see these days. Those can be really tough conversations. And I don't think that they're ones to be shied away from. We need to ensure that our kiddos feel supported when they go to school emotionally because that's when they're going to learn the best. Um, I think the next challenge would be transparency. Just making sure that the community members feel heard and understand what's going on. That's super difficult when you're dealing with a community at large because you're dealing with a group of people who have different education backgrounds, who have different lived experiences, and who have different belief systems. So sometimes that means tailoring our communication and our message in different ways so that

072there can be a mutual understanding amongst all of these people. And so not just putting out one message, but thinking about how it may be received by various groups is important to build that trust in the community and make sure they understand what we're doing for the schools. And the last issue I think I would address um is just programming. I think Dwit does great on standardized testing. The presentation tonight was illuminating to me. I was not aware of the program that was started two years ago, but I think continuing to push for diverse offerings so that kids who choose paths outside of the traditional four-year college education after high school have their needs met and have the potential to be successful members in our community when they graduate. So, the more um skillsoriented training

073we can offer, I think will help our kiddos in the future as well. Thank you. As a board member, you'll be asked to make decisions where you must put aside what's best for you, your family, your friends, your school to do what's best for the students and the district as a whole. What does that mean to you? Yeah. So, this is something I'm incredibly familiar with. As a teacher, it was ingrained in me that you do what's best for your students and you put your beliefs or your needs aside to make sure that their academic success and and really emotional success is accounted for. And then as a lawyer, I took an oath to serve my client and put their needs above any personal beliefs that I have. And I have certainly in my time

074as a litigator at the Department of Attorney General had cases that don't align with my personal beliefs. Um, but you zealously represent your client and I think in this case your client is the district and all of the youth of Dwit and all the youth to come that will be affected by these decisions. So just like in my current role with the secretary of state, there are times when I have to advocate for policies that may not be best for my family, but they're best for all of the citizens of Michigan. or times where I have to implement laws and regulations that I didn't back initially and that's the law and now it's my job to set that aside, act professionally and do what's best for everyone. Okay. What would you like to see changed

075in the district and how would you envision your role in that change? Absolutely. So again, I think that there can be more done to account for kiddos who don't fit the traditional mold of a a student who's going to go through high school and move on to college and graduate with a four-year degree. I would love to see more programs and offerings and support systems for those kids. While they're not the majority of kids into it, they do still matter. Um, I get a little bit emotional because I can see my son taking a path that's different than the norm. So, having opportunities available for those types of kids is really important. Sorry. How would you define the following terms in the context of being a school board member's role? Confidentiality, chain of command, and

076consensus. I can repeat. Okay. So confidentiality I see as the need to keep certain information out of the general public purview. Um and that won't always be the case especially for a board. We are subject to the open meetings act. Very grateful you guys don't do Robert's rules. I've had to do those before. So um I appreciate that you have different policies and procedures in place for that. But confidentiality in the context of the board, I think is you may have sensitive information at your disposal related to students and staff that should not be disseminated to the public as a whole. And so it's your duty to protect their personal information um from getting out. Chain of command. Chain of Okay. So the chain of command I see kind of as a hierarchy within an

077organization and that's to ensure that responsibility and accountability have a defined flow throughout the organization. The board of education is essentially the top of the hierarchy when it comes to district policies. Now administration and the management of the schools go through a different chain of command that's head up by the superintendent. The board does have some interaction there because they oversee and evaluate the superintendent and ensure that there's effective administration of the district. I think it's important that even though the board sits essentially at the top of the chain of command, you're still responsible for hearing the opinions and the effects of your decisions and taking those into account and how they'll affect everyone below you in that chain. And I think the last was consensus. All right. So the consensus in my mind is

078just a shared agreement or a general understanding. And so the board cannot act without a consensus. There must be um a consensus in order to take action through a voting process. And consensus may not always be possible. I think that there's a lot of issues that are discussed before the board that might have differing perspectives from board members, but it should always be the goal and the preference to a to achieve that mutual understanding and shared agreement in order to take action on those items. Okay. The last question that we have for you at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing points of view. There may be difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law you require to uphold as a trustee. how you handle that conflict. So again, I

079think that this is similar to my role as a lawyer and to act professionally on behalf of your client or the district. And so while I may think that something would benefit my family, that is not my role on the board. And those items need to be set aside. and they may have a part in discussion of items just to raise differing points of view or thoughts but ultimately when it comes down to decision making it needs to be the logic and understanding that I need to do what's best on behalf of all of the kids in DITIT and the entire school district not just what might benefit my kid who's a little bit different than the majority. So, I think really um keeping that in mind is important and having your focus on who

080it is that you're trying to benefit and it's it's not just my family at this point. Great. Any questions for us before you finalize your I do not I just want to thank you for this opportunity. I really appreciate the chance to be here today. Great. Thank you so much for your interest. Appreciate it. Okay. And we will welcome now our final candidate, Kyle Smith. Kyle. So tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're interested in this role and if you would plan on running again in 2026. Sure. So my name is Cosmet. Uh I graduated from Dit High School back in 2007. I was the valictorian. Uh went on to central and earned a bachelor's in accounting. Then I went to work for the Dow Chemical Company subsidiary up in Midland for

081a few years. End up going back to Central to get my masters uh in valuedriven organizations. Um I came back to do it when my wife and I were uh starting a family because of the start that I got into it. Um I do plan to uh run again in 2026. So I am excited for the chance to possibly work with all of you. Um and feel that I can bring a lot of technical specifically numerical expertise. Um so being an accountant now for many years I uh am very big on collecting data, analyzing research. Um so being prepared and very logical and ready for say every board meeting. um very used to uh board meetings. I'm actually served as a board member of the honors alignment board at Central as soon as I graduated

082from that in 2011. have been serving as on that board for however long that is uh 14 years now going back there sort of working on say scholarships for students volunteer events uh some fundraising and then currently in my role actually right now I'm kind of the ad hoc treasurer of the Michigan organization of nurse leaders uh that my company Michigan Health and Hospital Association partner with um they don't really have a treasurer right now so I'm we're helping them out uh they so I'm presenting their financials working with them. So very used to board meetings and all all that comes with those as well. Great. So how would you see your role and responsibilities as a school board member? So for responsibilities school boards are responsible to the electorate that gives them the right

083to serve. Right. So they are responsible for upholding the state's laws and regulations. They do various activities such as graduating the senior class, approving the operating budget, um adopting various policies. They only really have one employee, the superintendent. Um so they hire, they evaluate, they're assessing the performance of him or her. Um they really establish that long-term vision, set that direction for the district. My role as the board member is to be a part of that team really over help oversee implement those policies and contribute to the overall health of D public schools. Thank you. All right. So what are the three most significant challenges facing our district? So I've given this one uh a lot of thought and have actually been speaking to a lot of my colleagues uh around the area. Several of

084them are also governors um from around the lancing area and wanted to highlight that DIT has a strong reputation. It's viewed very favorably in many different aspects. Um and so it really highlights our ongoing commitment to excellence. Now that being said, there's obviously you know challenges. Uh they're going to be the things that every district from Lancing area, Michigan country uh is facing. Uh as an accountant, I focus on the numbers first. Uh so you have our fiscal realities of being a school in 2025. Um you're staring at, you know, revenue shortfall. It feels like every single year. Um you have got to handle budget changes uh at the whim of of the state. It feels like possibly losing programs. You not sure if you know we'll have the free lunch next uh year. You

085don't know what programs will be around for your have vulnerable youth. Um, so that's always going to be a challenge. Um, do it has a history of supporting its schools, you know, 2016 bond, 2021 bond. So, we're very fortunate where we live. But, um, as noted, uh, past week, what was it? 50% of all the bonds around the state, uh, failed. Little coin flip. Just our neighbors up in St. John's failed theirs pretty spectacularly, unfortunately. Um, so, who knows what the future's going to bring with those. um fortunate that we live where we live but we don't know what it's going to be. So finances are always going to be a challenge. Secondly, um the overarching challenge of our curriculum, just ensuring that for our students learning as they move from year to year, from

086how we have to set up school to school, is that appropriate? Is it preparing them for those next steps? Whether that's a career, whether that's a going on to college, whether that's going somewhere else, no matter what it is, are they ready? Um and then along with that, are we supporting the people delivering that instruction? Are we uh overworking our teachers? preventing staff morale. Um, one of the things that when I was doing the research for this was I went and found our Panther points of pride that is the pop from last year. Um, and every single uh, school, every single building, um, one of their staff feedback was and parents feedback was working on communication. So, the communication from staff to parents is always going to be a challenge. Um, you always want to

087know how your kids doing when you're not there, you're not seeing them. I've got two young ones, a soon to be kindergarter, soon to be second grader. So, understand that. Um, you always want to know, right? And so, is are they learning? Are they ready? Are they going to be prepared? Uh, lastly, um, one of the items that's always going to be a top of mind for parents and the district, uh, is going to be ensuring the safety of our students and staff. Um, that's from things like internally. Um, one of the people I talked to, uh, mentioned, you know, they had grandkids in the area and they were having an issue, say, with bullying, just inner student stuff. Um, but beyond that, just are we protecting our at youth, um, particular at youth, um,

088students. And then, um, as noted, the bonds, particularly the past couple, right, have really focused on those improving, constant improving for our safety, you know, security, cameras, single points of entry. um that's always going to be the case. It's it's an ongoing process. You're never 100% guaranteed safety, but you keep working at it. Um and you're always trying to stay that one step ahead and the world we live in. So that's finances, the curriculum, and just overall safety would be my main three. Excellent. As a board member, you'll be asked to make decisions where you must put aside what's best for you, your family, your friends, your school to do what's best for the students, and the district as a whole. What does that mean to you? So, I've been a certified public accountant uh

089CPA for over 12 years now. And CPAs are known for well, their love of the mundane numbers, yes. But beyond that, they adhere to a strict code of ethics. uh even when I've not been directly serving external clients the the the public I have fulfilled all the requirements annually to maintain that license and active status because of I believe in what it means and really what it means is that when you're auditing financial statements you keep the true users uh at the forefront of your mind and that's the general public so even though you're working with a client you are really doing the work for the general public and that's the philosophy that I think also applies to a board like this, right? Even though say we have again one employee and we're the district,

090the true users are again the students. So you have to keep them at the absolute forefront. They are paramount with the overall student population's best interest. That takes preference over anything that you might have as a personal affiliation. Okay, I have the next question. What would you like to see changed in the district and how would you envision your role in that change? So as mentioned um I think the school and board and the district are doing really well. Um so the changes I would make is again working towards that continuous improvement. There's always going to be things you can improve but we are really in a good spot where you don't have to hit an absolute home run. There's not anything that needs a complete overhaul. Um we're very fortunate uh where we live

091this uh town. is I came back here specifically for the schools to be here. Students come here as a school of choice over and over again. Um my cousin uh sorry my nephew um school of choice tier um because he needed to get out hasn't came here. Um so one main thing I would say for change um is working on that communication. Um so continuing to deliver those uh really those points of pride uh making sure that parents are aware of what they're what's being worked on that staff is communicating down to the staff some principles are communicating with their teachers the board is communicating they do a great job just want to see that continually improve. How would you define the following terms in the context of a schoolboard member's role? Confidentiality, chain of

092command, and consensus. So, start with confidentiality. Um, that one's pretty simple. So, as again a CPA, I see um not only a lot of personally identifical information, um I also happen to be the controller at my current role. So, I am in charge of say payroll um extremely confidential uh within my organization. So uh it's responsible for people's salary information. We are also a health organization. So I um see you know PII that has to be maintained. Um so that one making sure that you are handling information the way it is required or should be handled is extremely important. Um we are obviously being recorded uh live streamed but so you know we understand the difference between open meetings and going behind and closed session doors um chain of command again the board is the

093governance the governing body they oversee the superintendent they're evaluating theirs and then the superintendent is the head of on down um so I understand the concept of an overarching board making presentations as a external auditor to boards um for various school districts, uh, governments, agencies, uh, and companies. Um, they're responsible for that really that oversight. Um, the chain of command works its way up, but at the end of the day, um, you guys are the ones making policy decisions, that oversight, but a lot of the internal decisions are going to follow from Kevin down. And then consensus. Uh the last one, um really working together to find work as a team to you're going to have varying opinions, which I think is extremely important. You're not going to want to all be have a group

094think. Uh you don't you want to have those different experiences. You want somebody who can offer up various viewpoints. You don't want to all be the same person, but at the end of the day, you are still the board. you act as one when it comes to uh putting your foot out in there, putting your voice out there. What policy are you making? You stand behind it. Um the decisions that are made by the board are the decisions made by the collective board. What your opinion is maybe um is not as um important or as relevant to the discussion as the board has decided to do XYZ and that is the decision of the team. Last question we have for you is at times you may be caught between legitimately opposing points of view. There

095may be a difference between your personal point of view and the policy or law you're required to hold as a trustee. How do you handle that conflict? Balance um say relatively easy. Um as a as an honor um you get um not used to but you definitely hear about oh the auditors are here and we've you know served as say the bad guys. uh we're upholding the uh rules and regulations when it comes to hey you need to present it like this that's how it's going to be where the board is responsible for passing down those state laws and regulations right that's at it at its heart so if there's a conflict of hey I think we should do X and there's a law that states why you're going to have to follow why because

096the overarching law states that uh you got to present your financial statements according to Gazsby whether you like it or not so um you're going to have different opinions Um but those are not as important as again setting that overall direction for the district. The health of the student body and the future of DWIT is really what matters. It's paramount. Great. That's all our questions. Any anything you need from us? Again, thank you all. Appreciate it. Great for your time. And again, I just want to thank all three of our finalists and all the others who also applied as well. Um I can tell you that five of the six of us were appointed. So seats come up for the other two who aren't selected today. It's not because you didn't meet the criteria or

097you're not qualified. Um and I would hope that you would and I would encourage you to continue to have interests. You know, elections come up and and point and uh seats become available as well. So thank you for putting yourselves out here for applying and for uh you know doing your best to uh put your name out there for public service. It's not an easy thing to do. So we appreciate all that you do. All right. So we will close our portion of the meeting for interviews and we will move on to public communications. Okay. We will move on to action items which is a board trustee appointment. And so uh as we start the discussion and deliberations here I would just encourage board members to think about what we've talked about before with the

098six people who are currently on this board. Are there things that one of these candidates brings that maybe we don't have? Is there a qualification that could enhance what we do have um to strengthen our team? That's ultimately what we're looking for. I think we would all be in agreement that all three of these individuals are highly qualified for this seat. It's just a matter of, you know, what's best going to fit with what we don't have or may be lacking. So, I will start deliberations with that and open up the floor for any comments or feedback from any of our other board members. I'll just say that I I I don't I don't want to make this decision to be very frank with you. I these are three very very qualified individuals. I mean

099absolutely. I mean and I I I guess I want to say this publicly like to echo what John just said like stay involved like you're all great community members. Kudos to you for just stepping up. So but don't take anything that we're about to say like personally. So I I I just I want to throw that out there. But I think, and this is this is my perspective of of filling a board seat like this, it's an opportunity to to look at things that that we need on this board. Um, somebody with younger kids in the district that's going to show me that you're going to be around for a little while. Check the box on all of those. Um, somebody that's going to work collaboratively uh with all of us and and knows the

100role of a board versus, you know, diving down into an issue. Check the box on that. Um, I I think finally like understanding the the community aspect of this and and how that works and and again checks the box on all of that. Like so I'm say all of that because I'm open to to the rest of the board of of what you guys are looking for and I I I honestly want to hear what what you think we need on the board to have a conversation and then hopefully we can figure this out. I'll I'll echo a lot of what you just said, Brad. I I think I appreciate all three of you coming in and chatting with us. Honestly, I think all three of them would do a wonderful job on the board

101and and would be a great fit and are very qualified candidates. So, I I agree with you. It's not an easy choice to make. Um I agree with a lot of the boxes that you talked about, too. I think the community involvement, transparency was something that came up a lot from everybody, and I was glad to hear about that. speaking, you know, as a collective board came up, I think, in all three of them. And I think that was great to hear. That's definitely something we want. And kind of continuing that culture of excellence long term is coming up a lot. And I agree that's really important. So probably none of that was all that helpful because I pretty much said what you said and say all three of them I think would be great.

102Who's next? Go ahead. Me? Yeah. I'm just so glad I'm not up to it. It's not for lack of not wanting to speak about these three candidates. They're incredible. Um, for once, you have rendered a lawyer unable to uh speak. Great job, all three of you. Um, I will say, um, you know, everyone has incredible background, experience, um, in all of the areas of things that you do as a board member. Um, I did find, um, I'm I'm fascinated by Kyle's experience in, um, the financial aspect. Um, we're going to be looking at some fiscal challenges. We're going to, as we move towards a bond, um, a lot of that stood out for me. I think the other two candidates could most certainly do those things as well. Um but that was uh a little

103more unique to me um when I'm looking at that and then you know that experience as an auditor um I think does does come in a little different than what the rest of us have always um you don't have to I opened you could have gone first you chose to open um so I I guess I would echo a lot of what's been I feel like this is having been through the appointment process. So, having sat out there being appointed and then having to run and understanding what I thought happened when I sat out there versus what I understand what happens now that I'm on this side. It's a very different world. Um, so I think that as a as a district, we were blessed to have a really really strong pool of applicants across

104the board. It was tough. It was tough getting to the three. It's true. Okay. because we were so blessed with talented folks that had genuine interest in terms of what they could bring to the table here. Um, what I think that when I think about what I we need is we still need we need more collaborators and we need people that can be future thinkers and I heard that from a couple candidates um as they spoke today. Um, I think that there are are some things that we are going to have to face as a district where I would say we are blessed in a sense from a financial standpoint that we have Rob, right? But I also think some of the legislative stuff is going to be tricky for us potentially to move forward.

105I think that there's some spec places in there where that expertise could speak to helping to support our collective understanding where we don't have groups on the grounds as individuals. Um we do have a legal background on this on this team, but I think that we have served well too in the past to have differing opinions at times on perhaps the same issue. So, I think that I say all that to say I I think we could go a number of different ways, but I think that each of them bring something that would be really unique to us. Um, that could help us differentiate where we go next. Um, and for me, one of the biggest sticking points is the forward future thinking. That's a big deal to me when I think about Brad said

106it the last time we were together that when he first got on the board we were talking about chairs and you know the the buildings in that regard and now we're talking more about things that are going to enhance and get our students more future ready. I think that's a very different place to sit in. So to understand legislatively how some of those things may be impacted financially how those things might be impacted legally how those things might be impacted I think it'll be huge for us as we move forward. So, I think as I think about number 10, number three, and number seven, there's I could feel comfortable in a couple different places, but I'm not really I could give you my my rank order, but you haven't access to do that yet. So,

107I would prefer to go last on that. Oh, I don't know whose numbers because now that we're finalists, we need Yeah, that's correct. So, the meetings these names, I just don't know who your numbers are. I just want to be clear. No worries. All right. Who wants to start having the heart conversations now? Last. So, you do need to make a decision. It will be difficult. What you do need to make I I I will say this. I I think the financial aspect that Kyle brings is is is helpful. Um I I think lawyers are generally good people. I but but I and I and I have I I have somewhat of a of a luxury in this is I I I have interacted with with Janelle outside of this and I I know her

108to be a good mom, a good community member and but but also I think a good foe. Um, and I say that with the utmost respect of uh we have disagreed on a lot of things, but um we're still we still can work together and I think that that's that's where I lean. Um just because I mean I again I have I have that advantage. Um, I want somebody that that I can engage with and try to understand where they're at respectfully and and have that interaction. And that has been my experience with her. So, that's that's where I will put my cards right now in my card. But, um, certainly open to to others. I I think Janelle was great. I certainly think she's a great option. I I also think that Kyle has

109something great to offer with the financial background coming into the bond and being a graduate of DIT, he's seen a couple different perspectives. So, he's he's been here as a student. He came back here because the schools are important to him. I think that's a valuable perspective and piece of insight as well. So, if if we're putting cards on the table, I'll put mine there, but I think all three of them would be a great option. It's a pile card. already called last. I didn't know we could like either new president has been set. Um I think that's a really good point and particularly on the uh being a Dway graduate. um we've been talking a lot about what what is our um caricature of of a graduate and and what do we want and

110what was their experience and and wanting to reach out to our graduates and talk to them about um going out in the world. How how'd it go for you? Um and also I'm really looking at that bond. I want to better understand from a board perspective um financial um components and and those challenges. Um but but I'm torn. I I definitely love um a good legal colleague. So this is tough. Um, I would right now probably car I I my role is different. I facilitate. Oh, okay. All right. I see. I like I think I'm pretty. So, um, as I said, I I feel like we have three really strong finalists. Um when I think about who I think could help us in some ways that we might not be able to help right now

111or could help us think first of our thinking challenge I think I'll just say that my votes it out. Okay. All right. So guess I'll break it. Um yeah like I've said all three of those all three of our candidates are are really really great. It's when I look at this perspective, when I go through all of the resumes or we go through the interviews, it it looks at what what do we not have, what what could enhance us? And I I do the same thing when we have done two superintendent searches during my time here as well. I think we had great candidates in both of those pools. Any one of them could have done the job, but who is the right person for right now? And that often can vary. Um I I

112what I like about all of these candidates is is what has been said and bringing different perspectives. Um I I do as as a student of governance and as someone who has, you know, taught governance and and sit on the board of directors for the Michigan Education or Michigan Association of School Boards, governance is very important to me. Roles and responsibilities of board members are very important to me. It's people need to be able to do this job the right way. um to not get in the weeds, to not meddle into staffing issues. And some of you have heard that and some of you talked about today, we do have one employee and it is not our job to get involved in any of those other personnel matters. That's his job. And I think it's

113really important when we sit up here collectively as seven people that we all understand those roles. And so based on that and based on experience in that area, um right now I need to channel as well given her her government's experience and some of the things that she's accomplished. Any thoughts from anybody? Yeah. Hey, and again, no, this is no disrespect to anybody who's from Dwit, graduated from Dwit. Hey, I know you did. But um part part of why I ran for school board was I think Dit is a great place, but this is not um it's almost too great of a place. I think I think we need perspectives from outside of our community and I think we've talked about that with Kevin seeking professional development outside of the state and and um getting

114those ideas. I think portrait of a graduate that Angelina and Dwight have been talking about is definitely something we should pursue and all all those things I again professionally I get to see what's happening in other states and I can tell you Michigan's not doing it right and I and I I know going off on a tangent here but I'm just simply saying like I think I think an outsers's perspective is not necessarily a bad thing from somebody who's not from the district and I I Again, there's nothing wrong. I think we we should be proud of our graduates. We should seek feedback from our graduates. I don't I don't think that's a bad thing, but um I don't think it's bad to have somebody from the outside. Please obviously whoever doesn't make it tonight,

115right? Be present with us. because this is still your community and we're still the board. That has to represent the views that you have. And so don't take this as they didn't like me, they didn't want me. I think you all know there's a moment for everything. This may not have been the moment, but that moment may be coming and it may come in a different way where we need input and insight. And when I think about the strategic plan we went through, we pulled from community members So, we need your voices um and we need your insights in different ways. Whether that be conversations with all of us, whether that be conversations when you see us at Meyer, but like we need that support to be better as a board and better as a

116community in navigating what happens over the next several years. So, I would ask, and maybe it's not a fair ask, is don't let these people know that we see you here. like find us at different points and intersect and interact with us to help us get and and appropriately challenge like the decisions that we have made because there's a platform for you to do that. So that would be my ask fair or unfair I want to put it on the table. Yeah. And I've said that outside of opportunities on the board there are also opportunities on committees. We have a lot of community members, parents members on committees. Um we have a lot of uh we have a foundation board. We have a lot of different opportunities for people to volunteer to get involved in

117these risks. No, I I I still lean Kyle. I think the financial perspective is really valuable coming into the process, but I think Janelle will do a great job, too. I think she will. I do have concerns about the Senate for sure and us being public education nerd. I just don't know enough and it it does raise some concerns for me and whether that create conflicts or um lead us in a different I don't know how to get more information about it. I I mean I if you know tell me. So So as a charter school authorizer they do not directly operate schools. They can authorize schools anywhere in the state. Um I the the the appoint um board members that oversee the operations of those schools. And so that's that's kind of the one

118of the main differences between a traditional public school body and a and a charter school. Um part of what an authorizer's role is is to educate those board members on what they're supposed to do. And quite honestly, I think a lot of the ideas that I have brought to this board are a result of working in that sector. And it's things like the presentation that Brian gives us twice a year on academics. We never had that before. And that is a regular practice that happens in charter schools. Um not only that, more financial transparency um from the authorizer to those schools as well as operational things. So all those things are outlined within a charter contract. You can go read their contracts. It's all on their website if you want to read a charter contract.

119It's pretty interesting document. Um, but I think so kind of directly to your question, it like in in a theoretical world, could Central Michigan University, the board of trustees of Central Michigan University, it's not it's not Janelle, it's not the executive director, it's the board of trustees of Central Michigan University. They can put a school in our backyard. Will they? I I don't think so. I don't think it's going to happen. Um they can't compete with what we have and if they do then we then we are doing something. Um we're doing something wrong. Um but I I I can say I don't have any concerns of of conflicts, anything like that. I think on top of that, I think there's some great perspectives that could be brought from that work and and and if

120you want evidence, I mean, I I'm part of that evidence because that's that's a lot of the perspective that I that I think I bring to the board. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Any further discussion before I'll entertain any motion? Okay. All right. Anyone wants to make a motion, I'll entertain motions now. Do you want to go first? Wait, no. I'll make a motion to appoint Janelle Rinski to the public schools board of trustees. Is there a second? Okay. Moved and supported. Any further discussion with the motion? Deb, do you need a roll call vote for us on this? Yes, please. Okay, please take a roll call. Angelina Barnes, yes. Anna Carpenter, yes. Hans, yes. S here. John Tman, yes. Fred Weaver is a yes. Okay, motion carries. Congratulations. And thank you both

121to Megan and Kyle. Um, like you said, sucks. We've this this sucks and to do this publicly and I'm I'm sorry to have to sit and listen to it. I really am. We most of us have been there. It's not fun. Um but like we said, please stay involved, stay active, communicate with us, talk to us. Um there are other ways to get involved and like I said, uh board seats do come up more frequently. Uh so there will be other opportunities and we would encourage you to to reapply. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Any further comments from anybody? We will Janelle, you can sit around. We're going to administer you the office quickly. Janelle, if you want to come over here towards the camera and here we go. I do solemnly swear

122I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of this state the Constitution of this state and that I will faithfully discharge the duties and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the board of education of the office of the board member of education of the Whit public schools Clinton County of the Whit public schools Clinton County according to the best of my ability. Thank you. Okay. All right. Anything else for anybody before we'll entertain a motion to journ? Yeah. Can I can I suggest that for the two candidates that we didn't select tonight? I know that you talked about committees. Is there is it the right or responsible thing to reach

123out to folks to talk about or share information about those things? Sure. So, I think that's perfectly appropriate. I think about the curriculum committee where we we sometimes have parental involvement and engagement, but we don't always. It's usually folks that are employed by the district and then three or four of us. Um I that's a place where we could get some folks in connected with what we have going on. If there are other committees whether it be policy or other places where it be specific or appropriate to have people connected I would ask that we can make that. Yes. So govern says is this what you're thinking? Yeah. All right. Motion to adjurnn. All those in favor please say I.