001e e e okay good evening and thank you for braving the cold all it's getting sunnier um in joining our meeting tonight I appreciate you taking the time and let's begin with Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mrs Oxley will you do the roll call please uh Miss Hamil present Mr does Miss Mitchell here miss Acton present Miss hunt president and Mrs Fitzgerald here okay at this moment I would like approval of the agenda approval of the agenda support any discussion no okay all in yes I all in favor I oppos okay passes we're good keep moving uh superintendent report U we I just want to thank
002all the the parents who participated in uh conferences last week I know we've had a really good turnout waiting to get the uh the final pieces if you were unable to touch base with your child's teacher I hope that you will make an opportunity to uh to email them or reach out to them at the building um it is part of our commitment to you to be able to communicate um about your child's academic progress and parent teacher conferences multiple times a year are one of the vehicles we use to do that um and I'm going to end the superintendent report right there and just say thank you very much it's uh holy smokes it's we're off to a great start we're in the month of October already so that ends the superintend report for
003the month of October second support all discussion all in favor I opposed motion passes okay citizens requesting to attend or excuse me to address the board at this point I have two oh excuse me I had this one and I did want to make a little little comment before we start with that um and that is I spent a lot of time with masb this month Mets Michigan Association School boards and I have some information on things like um public comment board comment etc etc that deal with negativity or calling people out by name things like that and I would really appreciate it if you would make an effort to address things that have to do with the agenda that have to do with things we're doing with the schools and keep personal gripes out
004of it okay thank you nobody said no it's not okay so I guess it's okay all right first we have point of information yeah Pam is that a new policy that you are no it's not it's in the leadership it's part of masb that we always have had we just have never had to had occasion to have to use it so these are suggestions that you're making these are not it's not a suggestion I will not tolerate that any longer what okay Jane haran So Pam I just I want to understand what does that mean to the public What You Won't you won't tolerate public is that if they're gonna come up here and start yelling at a specific board member I'm just not going to deal with it and they're not going to insult
005each other either okay does that mean KCK out we have a very specific policy that explains how you handle complaints and this is not it it's not going to continue to be it so so my only I'm just trying to understand I want the community to be able to understand you're saying that if somebody calls somebody out and that's a little subjective as well because I don't know if we understand what that means then if they you know what it means very well which is okay we I I think we um important for the community to understand what that means um if that occurs again it's subjective what and it's not a policy help me understand how you're enforcing something that's not a policy you don't have to have policies you have yeah processes and
006policies aren't laws and every single thing you breathe and eat does not have to be part of a policy this comes directly out of the leadership book that I thought you guys probably all got in the mail like I do every month and and read it and it's a wonderful um article and it was just encouraging people to use it to avoid those kinds of things in the uh boardroom so that's my thing I'm just saying if you come up here to complain about my board members or me whatever um there's a different venue for that than the board but there is a venue for that so it's not you you know have to hush up ever that's not the point but this is not that venue okay so just just I'm done we have
007a point of order and point of uh information so I'm just trying to understand I can't help you any further than that okay which so if I'm clear on what you're saying this is not a policy um there are no specific uh you know uh guidelines that you have made clear to the community and so this doesn't really necessarily have to be a follow because this is your personal opinion thank you I understand actually it's from the masb leadership manual that we follow that's part of our policy is to follow theirs point of order um oh I'm sorry I got off track here I think the president's just asking everyone to be uh respectful and courteous exact with their comments and if there is and if there is a process for handling that sort of
008thing Jeff reading something it is polic is on the back of oh so if you were asking where the board policy is that's and the board policy on public complaints so if you've got a complaint board members everybody real quick if you have a complaint about professional staff member superintendent whoever there policy 9130 please refer this I I think we're looking for civil Discord civil Discord is all I'm asking for that's thank you so much for pointing that out um I also know that we do not regulate board uh Community comments so we cannot regulate what you all say so while this is a suggestion while there's a policy on the back of the paper that you all can read and you can choose to follow it as as it is there is no regulation
009of community comments public comments so you there's a policy the back of the statement you can read it okay first we have jie haran pardon me JD okay oh hey everybody's got it then William bear can you hear me now I'm I just sound rough I'm not sick I'm just old and rough um my name is JD haran I have a first grader in Northeast Elementary he went to Northeast Elementary his first kindergarten year and now he's there for his first grade year I have had a little bit of issues um so yesterday I wasn't even going to talk today you guys this is my first time come in here um yesterday supposedly my son was very bad had some bad words put his hands on some students and he got sent home with a
010big red paper that said he was awful like just just he was really not good that day and then today around two o'clock I get a phone call from his teacher that he's been great but guess what he won't tell me what 2 minus one is so I've had him down in a certain room with just me and him and I took his gym away when we know my son knows what two minus one is but because he was not wanting to talk to the teacher so you give me a call but you can't call me when he's hitting students the day before or cursing and it's really worrying me it's really worrying me about some of the stuff I hear my son definitely doesn't do at home definitely but he's doing it at school
011and when he's being good I get a call about a math question but when he's being bad I get a letter sent home about how bad he was but nobody could have called me because I could have showed up I could have talked to my son I could have talked to him on the phone I'm I'm 42 the only kid I got I haven't dealt with school in a long time a lot different from the 80s when I was in school really confusing but I'm nervous and I'm worried about the discipline my son is getting because my son doesn't act like that at home and he continues to act like that at school and and you don't call me when my son is hitting people and cursing at people and giving the middle finger you
012just send me a big red piece of paper home but then today I get a call I've had him in a class for an hour and a half because he won't tell me what two minus one is so I put my son on the phone I tell him honey what's two minus one put up your fingers take one down it's one Mommy why is this teacher spending an hour and a half away from the other students it's just it's concerning and I get why you took his recess away because he obviously wasn't doing his job as a student but when he's doing more inappropriate stuff they're not getting a hold of me and that's concerning to me not the two minus one the five minus one what's concerning to me is yesterday you didn't call
013me when he supposedly put hands on somebody or He was cursing or he was flipping the bird at six years old why didn't you as adults that I trust to watch my son why didn't you contact me because of that I got a call today because he didn't want to tell his teacher two minus one and I had to talk to him he's six he's six he's a mommy boy you know I mean we're not all he doesn't trust all adults he likes his teacher he tells me I like my teacher but he just didn't want to tell her the answer but that teacher took an hour and a half out of her day and then called me that much later when yesterday I got a big red piece of paper saying he was hitting
014people He was cursing he wasn't Act acting writer doing his work but today you want to call me about some nonsense when you should have called me and had me at that school to talk to my son and readjust his behavior and that didn't happen I'm worried having my son in the Jackson Public School I'm scared I'm scared the discipline isn't correct because he don't act like that at home I did conferences with my my son's teacher last week oh he crawls on tables he does this he well he don't do that at home what we need to work together if it takes the village why isn't the village pulling together you're only calling me when it's unnecessary I need you to call me and keep me informed when my son is not doing right
015so guess what we can be a team I don't feel like Jackson Public School District is a team kindergarten you had trouble I have a bus driver that's calling him out in front of other school kids cussing and tell him he's bad and he's six I'm I know that's a transportation problem but I have a problem with the teacher not calling me when he's really being bad you want to call me cuz he doesn't know two minus one but you've had him pulled aside for an hour hour and a half out at gym I got it on recording out at gym away from his other students just because my son didn't want to tell you two minus one and we know he knows it he was being a stubborn six-year-old and for our our teachers
016not to be able to control our six-year-olds and to be I'm a waitress I hate to say that to anybody it's embarrassing but am I going to call you and say I don't know what to do this table ordered three different drinks and I can't handle it click all right have a good day y'all there we go um can you follow up on this and find out what's going on with the the no big deal I'm traing her again yes yeah got it and hey I lived at 527 orang my whole life I'm 258 honey I know I just thought I right thank you guys I appreciate it thank you for bringing it to us okay at this point we have William bar evening good evening I just want to say I appreciate the opportunity
017to address you tonight as William bar I'm a candidate for the Jackson High School Board I've been in banking for 32 years or my banking experiences for 32 years um and I think that will leverage my skills as retired Banker as a father of two sons who graduated from Jackson Public Schools and have gone on to college I have firsthand knowledge of District strengths my wife is an educator with the same district and several family members share a passion for educ ation since retiring I've worked as a teaching assistant supporting students with cognitive disabilities my community involvement includes 14 years of Big Brothers Big Sisters and serving on the Jackson high ambassadors committee my motivation for running is straightforward restoring Integrity respect and honor honesty to the board I aim to prioritize the community or
018the value with seeking without seeking personal gain I pledge to support exceptional education for all Jackson Public School Employees students recognizing crucial roles of teachers the board Administration and all employees thank you and I hope that you I can earn your trust um I've been a lifelong resident of a Jackson for 62 years and my family has grown up here and I would love the opportunity thank you thank you very much and Thompson is that right her me Johnson all righty so our Unity is our strength and our diversity is our power so right now we're looking at a system that Prides itself on preparing students for the future teaching them about Civics uh civic responsibility and Leadership skills but where's the leadership when it comes down to our younger students let me be clear
019this board has failed we have failed our students by nine them real opportunity for civic leadership for civic engagement or taking charge of their future not when they graduate high school not when they go off to college but now while they're in middle school or even Elementary School the future Starts Now how do we expect young people to become tomorrow's leaders if today we don't give them the chance to lead we can't sit here talking about the importance of preparing students for life for success for civic duty but how can we be how can they be ready to lead the uh the real world when their voices are silence in the very schools that are supposed to teach them if we are serious about teaching civic responsibility then let's start with giving them responsibility let's
020Empower them to lead let them serve because leadership does not come with the age limit and it doesn't wait for a fancy title or diploma leadership about seeing what's wrong deciding to fix it this board refused to listen I've contacted this board many times I've spoke at the board meeting no one got back to me besides one person in Chicago the Chicago Public Schools district established a student voice committee that directly involved middle school students in the school governance since the formations Studies have showed that 12% increase in student engagement in Civic related activities and the school with strong student leadership programs have seen a 5% increase in attendance rates the Chicago youth Council founded that students who are actively involved in leadership programs are twice as likely to vote and participate in Civic activities
021in Philadelphia middle school students have played a key role in Philadelphia youth Commission the results are schools that incorporated student Leadership Council saw a 10% drop in dispar incidents and a seven uh 7% increase in student achievements other schools schools have embraced student leadership are thriving these students are engaged they're active they're leading their schools are flourishing because they understand the real change happens when you Empower them so my proposal is a use a youth board sitting here a seat at at the table for students who are directly impacted by the decisions you make not as tokens not as afterthoughts but real contributors to the process and middle schoolers are more than ready don't tell me that they aren't so you know we're already living with the consequences of your decision so the least you
022could do is have them have a say whether this board supports or not I be working with the Middle School at Parkside to create a student government where we'll build leadership platforms and and you know you refuse to create we'll create and give student voices they deserve the train is leaving with you or without you and I suggest you get on board because the future is going to wait for you to catch up so this board has an opportunity to do something different to be bold to finally step up and do what's right for our students or you continue making decisions in isolation as if you know better than the students you plan to serve and that brings me back with the quote I began with our Unity is our strength and our diversity is
023our power it's a diversity of thought of experience and voices including the voice of our youngest students that'll give the school district its strength it's when we unite all the voices that we find real power but that's up to you whether you choose to embrace it or continue silencing the very future you claim the Min thank you very very [Music] [Applause] much and now we have Nicholas thirston and then Chris Davis hello uh my name is Nicholas thirst I live here in Jackson Michigan I'm JPS alumni I wanted to address the board regarding the proposal for the um District Equity policy I strongly oppose the district Equity policy for a number of very good reasons and here's why um the city of Jackson government to use a local example uh has uh been participating in
024a DE EI program for the last several years that has so far ended in disaster it has contributed to wasteful government spending unchecked discrimination and harassment of others higher crime rates and Corruption at City Hall uh local leaders in City Hall are denying that crime has gten higher they have falsely reported things in order to um become eligible for grants that we ordinarily would not be able to receive and by misre presenting the city of Jackson in order to obtain eligibility for those grants has created a desparate um outcome and a discriminatory effect over residents of the Formerly Known uh the street formerly known as Francis Street which has been renamed at Martin Luther King Drive based on recommendations for Di program administrators participants and beneficiaries what we saw there was uh the city of
025Jackson has received a multi-million dollar Grant that requires a dollar cost match in order to uh become eligible for re a road reconstruction on uh MLK Drive or MLK Junior Drive excuse me this street is one of the nicest streets in the city of limit uh it was repaired uh reconstructed in 1995 the water lines were switched out even before people were having conversations about leadline concerns and it has no potholes uh even into the street have said this Street's perfectly fine why should I pay $115,000 per household and for some businesses being built over $100,000 to reconstruct a road that is perfectly fine this neighborhood has been targeted because of the skin color of the people that live there based on recommendations from the Dei program participants current mayor and City Council Members as
026well as political activists to the detriment of the residents their address was changed against their will we also see that another Street in Jackson was changed uh the name of the street was changed to Carl braing way against the will the people that live on the street uh multiple people came out and said I live on the street and I oppose this Milwaukee Street been Milwaukee Street for a long time there's no reason that we should have to change all of our stuff spend money out our pockets to uh update our information with banks government institutions and any else anyone else that they're doing business with the council voted against them anyways um we have seen increase in discrimination here at JPS by board members have made international news for saying that all white people
027are evil we have had Dei activists enter this room and promote racial discrimination and harmful stereotypes against people based on the color of their skin that would not have been possible if this count if this uh JPS board did not vote to sell the city of Jackson the former te Wilson School building uh that is now being rented to KES Hamilton's company for $1 per month um they're staging basically their their hate speech and their their um getting themselves into a frenzy then they come across the street down here and they attend the board meetings and they say hateful stuff to people like Shanda hunt they say stop pimping yourself out to whiteness uh they call they say Angela MIT you're a waste of space we can't wait till you're gone uh they say that
028Pam FAL do a racist and a white supremacist things that should never been said in this room it would not be possible if the city of Jackson was in compliance with the state of Michigan Constitution our state constitution has banned Dei in practice and policy even if it is not banned in name and our state constitution was written in a way that includes any departments and governmental entities that did not exist at the time the law was passed so the state uh state constitution has banned affirmative action style policies and practices that show or encourage governmental discrimination or preferential treatment Against One race or another one sex or another or any other protected status this also applies the city of Jackson's Dei program and so the city of ja itself is in violation of this
029and I'm sorry to the people whose rights have not been protected regardless of your ethnicity you do have rights under the law you are a valued member of this society and um I personally I don't support the harmful stereotypes that are being promoted or uh um whether it's by businesses or individuals political activists or governmental entities it is fundamentally wrong it is unamerican the people Jackson Michigan do not support these things they do not agree with these things and if you think that harmful stereotypes and racism hate speech are wrong vote no on the equity policy tonight please it'll mean the world to people like me thank you so much thank you very much I appreciate you making comments good evening board join here tonight by my campaign manager Logan um I walked in late
030so I missed um the beginning but what I did walk into I think is uh fitting considering what I wrote to say here tonight um on Saturday I had the privilege of meeting a young lady who was just beginning her journey as a new mom um as she spoke to me and my wife um about her exper experien in her short 3 months of motherhood uh you could see the joy and the love that she had in her eyes for her kid a few hours ago I was notified that she and her daughter were involved in a car accident this morning and both passed away at the scene as I thought about what I wanted to say here tonight I thought about um this incident and it and it reminds us um how fragile life
031is and the importance of treating each other with kindness and understanding and it's in moments like these that we put everything into perspective and highlight the need for us to work together in Civility and compassion in our efforts to better our district we must keep the needs of our kids and teachers at the center of all of our decisions we have to set aside our differences to come together to create a supportive and United Community that focus focuses on doing what's best for everyone in our schools my thoughts are with her family tonight during this incredibly difficult time and um I like I said I miss most of I'm go back and watch the video I'm not sure what started that but I just when I walked in and heard it um I couldn't help
032but really you know everything happens for a reason right I thought about these words before I walked in here and this is what I walked into so I think it's a message that everyone in this room needed to hear tonight um this is the last school board meeting prior to the election um I've been out here campaigning for eight months speaking to spoke to everyone at that table everyone at that table everyone almost everyone behind me um it's it's been fun and and rewarding branching out to the community and regardless of the results in 20 days um I hope to continue to um work with those connections and and really do something good for our district and our future Generations so uh good luck to all the candidates and I have faith our community will
033choose the right people to lead this District forward thank you thank you very much Chris and John is it five minutes five minutes y okay um I'm John King 203 third three short distance from here um as far as uh citizen comments you really have can't be censoring them much now with Maisha Jones's comments the good thing about you know letting her do that is it will F poorly on her so you know before you go worrying about oh all this I mean it's if she wants to do go that way you know it it's not going to work for her um uh I I thought it was interesting with Kesha with her talk about uh mentioning herself oh Kesha you know sort of in the first person or whatever I think it's like alism
034or something like that that the definition of doing that and part of it is you I seems like narcissism as being related to that um so that gets to I guess she suggested that one of you threatened her which was you know and so she didn't want to be in a meeting um a supporter of hers uh sh uh sby I guess accused Derek Dolby of threatening her like us you know that type of deal uh I seen a uh a a print screen that she did with what she suggest was the threat or whatever and it was just sort of ridiculous I mean the last thing I want to do is come to Derek dolby's defense so um so we got that going on um yeah so um then uh uh so there's all
035that going on uh Chris Davis uh he talked one member and getting the chairman of the local County Republican party to let him speak during a a Precinct delegates meeting um I I wouldn't have allowed it um so he spoke so then I went up and explained he's you know uh a Democrat you know to the left um so there were a few people people were kind of concerned that he was you know going to be there and they they there were some touchy things or you know uh party things they so they kind of Deb going in close session he got up and laugh and um so you know he was gone and then the next day you I start he's starting to say he was uh forcefully removed from the from the meeting
036that his life was threatened just I mean just a total big Whopper um so uh you know you know just the the lies like that um you know it's polit politic uh election season and um so um for the young man the middle schooler he goes on TV with the fire Jeff Beal uh sweat shirt um it's the question shouldn't be where's the leadership it's where's the parents um this is just silly season for them you know all these people saying oh all you are the ones that are you know causing the Ruckus or you know the CH acting like children I mean this just uh ridiculous so uh the PE oh finally uh there was uh the United Way person that a candidate uh kesa Hamilton's Mentor had words when three other people including
037another candidate and her husband were going out the door the candidate spun it like it was their fault um so there's all kinds you know the politics and the the falsehoods and everything are really bad um so uh you I'm endorsing Gina Hastings Cheryl simonti and William bear uh if if that matters to anyone you I see a lot of things and I'm against the Dei trying to suggest teachers and JPS are racist and that's why the kids uh are you know having issues with meeting you know uh certain standards uh Sheryl seti mentioned it you know we need the parenting and that's always been the case um as far as Jeff b a couple things I mean the financial by mean even in it's time here you know there's a lot less trash on
038my street since he's come here I I think they got rid of the vending machines another things that are just improvements that uh maybe he's not perfect but I've seen a lot of positives with him so this your time is okay thank you thank you very much that's it for public comment um citizens reting board so discussion item District Equity policy who's doing that one Madam president for purpose of discussion I'll move approval of the equity policy you do what move approval of the equity policy You Pull It approve it okay hello to approve it is there a second support discussion so I've read this Equity policy I disagree with it as written and I'm concerned that I'd be acting outside of the scope of my authority okay uh chair uh appreciate the consideration of
039uh the equity policy this has been something that uh has changed significantly from um maybe not significantly but changed uh in a couple of different ways I'd like to point out and uh so that everyone is kind of on the um same page from when this was first introduced and on the discussion table uh first introduced in April um and we talked about it on in some meetings before uh we tabled it for August uh and we're not able to discuss it in August for uh obvious reasons uh but uh some of the uh just as people are trying to figure out um some of the things that changed around uh the uh policy went to um our director of diversity Equity inclusion and curriculum uh Kelly Crum who has over a decade of experience
040in uh having worked at Jackson College back to 2013 serving as the chief diversity officer director of diversity equity and belonging there um obviously has experien uh working here uh since she was hired here uh that went to uh the original Equity policy and made some of the changes if you're comparing the April policy to uh the current policy uh one is uh the first bullet point is the first bullet point two and8 were combined into what is uh now the second bullet point 3 and 11 were combined into the third bullet point uh four got moved to six um if you're looking at the different versions of version two that then uh went through our uh legal council and became version three um that section was five that became seven but is uh now
041deleted in what you see before you tonight uh six and seven were combined into eight nine is the new four 10 is five and 12 is nine so things did uh get combined uh they did get moved around uh this policy polls from a couple of different districts uh mainly uh borrows language from Grand Rapids Public Schools and as the result of many um uh years of uh Community conversations uh with parents residents uh months of feedback from staff administrators uh conversations with our Administration here um with those across the district and editing from uh District leadership including uh superintendent Beal and um uh Kelly here uh I did uh have Brendan look at it made some recommendations that are reflected in The Proposal before you tonight and um you know my my feeling is
042we've uh spoken about this twice as a board I spoken with a number of you about it individually um uh each one has been offer you know everyone here has been able to offer amendments and offer feedback as we've gone through this process um appreciate the opportunity to sit with some of you and and gain your perspective on it as well um even if uh we disagree and you know I'll say that um there is a line between um policy and uh goal setting and Metric making uh I think that this policy strikes the balance of affirming some of the work that we are doing now and setting that into a policy and the resulting uh work that we have to do and the work that we want to see in terms of the metrics
043that we want to see out of this is best made in uh the goal setting metric placement that we do within uh the superintendent evaluation um we've done that uh frankly uh in the Dei space before um two cycles back uh we did it last year with um uh treny on an absenteeism uh placing some of that into uh the superintendent uh goal setting I think that if we want to um direct staff on specific goals uh that's not we shouldn't be putting that into the policy uh but we should be working to make that some something that um the superintendent focuses on and ultimately carries out for the board so that's what I have to say about that yes so um this policy which reads like a memo is ambiguous and repetitive um of
044other policies that are currently on the books at JPS um this doesn't go beyond it doesn't add it doesn't even necessarily support um the policies we have on the books currently because of its ambiguousness um it's lacking in smarty goals um like I said already it's ambiguous which is unclear also um so I will not be supporting this policy um not for the reasons mentioned at public comment time but as an individual who um has done a lot of work in uh living a life of uh that's been based in inequities perpetrated by Society um thereby understanding what Equity actually looks like um also as an individual who uh specializes in diversity Equity inclusion and anti-racism um you know I get a lot of public comment uh affirming that thank you um um I recognize
045this policy is is is not going to do what we think it's going to do um in my opinion is basically just a smoke screen um even the goals that are whatever goals that might be you know listed in here um they're not smart smarty so strategic measurable ambitious realistic time bound inclusive Andor Equitable um and then even more importantly policy like law um can sound good the bigger issue around policy is who's implementing it who's reading it interpreting it and then implementing it um this board has shown know through its recent actions and actions that have uh lasted and and been uh consistent um in their behavior and in how they apply policy as to being inequitable meaning that they do not operate in equity um and as much as I'm excited that we
046have our uh Dei director here um our Dei director can go no further uh than the administration that they are under um so while they may or may not uh you know uh recognize equities and or inequities they are under an Administration that does not recognize true Equity does not operate in true Equity this board does not operate in true Equity um so I will be a hard no like I said not for the reasons mentioned in public comment but um yeah this is a hard note for me roll call vote please what are we voting on I this is a discussion item right not accept the this is a discussion it did we change it to no no I thought it was just a discussion did we make it an action item we did
047that okay so no Mr does Mrs Mitchell yes Miss Acton no Miss hunt yes and Mrs Fitzgerald yes okay motion passes um now we'll go to board comment and calendar anyone on the board want to jump in I will I would just like to thank the teachers the administrators and any support staff that was at conferences I can personally speak to parksite in the high school because that's where my two students are um but I've heard from other parents too um teachers were working hard that night there were you know lines up even at the secondary so that was nice to see so I would just like to thank them for all of their hard work yes maybe else yes yep so um so board comments for me tonight um I want to get into
048a habit of thinking I think I have a little bit thanking our teachers and for all the work that they do um you know without you what would we be doing you know I mean education but um a little humor just a little could be dry but either way um if we were to update our board policies um regarding a public comment which we cannot do you know according to state law but if we were I would like for us to suggest to our community um to not not touch our students um it's one thing for us to talk to adults and I you know I handle the heat because I'm sitting in the seat and clearly I can hear handle it well um but uh when it comes to our students you know um
049that's a whole different story um so again like I said we I recognize that as much as we can suggest and make recommendations and all those different things um we cannot regulate and or censor what's coming across that public comment table but I would suggest in the name of Civility and all that's respectable not to touch our students it's unacceptable to um to critique uh our students you know um like I said I you know recognize that there's no censoring um that we can uh legally put in place at uh the public common table but I think adults should be uh respectful um adult enough to leave kids alone um students alone so um that's my comment was there a student issue that we don't know about yeah so we yes we did have a
050public commenter uh critiquing one of our students um I'm I'm still blown away that uh John C King came this close to like supporting me but um you know just I I want to say good luck to all the candid um this is uh not easy work um it is it is easier uh I think surprisingly sitting up here than it is um dealing with what uh administrators and teachers have to go through every day um so I appreciate uh all of those uh Educators uh that have to uh try to educate our students in navigating some some incredibly uh difficult issues um and frankly with some uh incredibly difficult parents uh none of which are here tonight um but uh you know I just want to say thank you uh to those that continue
051to um dedicate yourselves to the profession and educating future generations of jacksonians in terms of uh board comments um you know I I do hope that everyone can remain civil and and respectful um you know that is not a luxury that I think exists um often times in this space uh but I will offer you know Johnny King raised uh miss Shelby who um was here last week and talked about and I I actually I got this new notepad and actually took notes of um what individuals were saying so I happen to take notes of what she said um talking about swinging swinging first saying that I will put hands on people and that I will knock everyone the F out um I think that Madam president when you talk about regulating some of the
052content of the citizen comments uh that is certainly not acceptable one uh it is not something that we should be tolerating here in uh this space and a public space and particularly representing schools and trying to represent the best out of what we want to show to our students um about uh how we behave as adults and how we want our children to behave uh and two the open meetings Act is very clear um about you know personal tax aside about any comments that are uh disruptive to uh the piece of the meeting you know John C King has talked at me for 10 years um on the other side of the table um and you know he may argue that uh you know what what what he may about uh restrictions of Free Speech
053but um I do think that there is a line that can be drawn over uh intimidation and uh physical uh threats um in a in a space like this um you know we can we can acknowledge that we have political differences philosophical differences uh we can agree and disagree on different issues and on different policies um no one here has to like me uh but I think we all can agree that uh this is not the place or uh threats of physical violence and that's something that this board doesn't have to tolerate uh and legally we don't have to tolerate um outside of that uh appreciate uh the board support for the equity policy um you know we talked about uh there were some comments about you know how uh that work advances at the
054rate at which uh the superintendent allows it which I can agree in some sense uh but that is why uh we enshrine that in policy as a board uh and give that as a directive and an official policy uh to direct the superintendent whether that is superintendent Beal or subsequent one uh that we want that work to continue and as I've said to many of you no policy is perfect uh this one I'm sure is not uh but that doesn't mean that we can't continue to have discussions about it amend it in the future make it stronger and better for the district that's all I have Madam president so good luck there's um three open seats and 10 candidates running so good luck to all of you and I just wanted to thank everyone for
055coming out tonight it's a this is your time thank you so much and thank you for all the staff for the time and effort you put into the kids to have them be lifelong Learners I appreciate that I too excuse me I too would like to thank everyone for coming tonight um again as it's been mentioned we do have three vacant seats we have 10 candidates that are running wishing everyone well also asking that the community do their homework and speak to the candidates um we want to know their why we want to know their why we want to see um this board functioning for the purpose of our student population um I am optimistic that we are about to we're on the horizon of making a sheer pivot in the right direction um toward
056academic Excellence focusing on our district PRI priorities and initiatives that will encourage and keep some of our teachers we there's just so much that we're missing and I'm I'm hopeful that with these new seats being filled that we will have a clean slate and have new goals that we can work toward accomplishing additionally I also want to thank Avon for being Dynamic courageous having a youth voice one that we should honor thank you so much for coming and continuing to speak your truth I have worked years with um young people and I know when a youth feels silence they've expressed that to me and to have you present not just at this meeting but other meetings with the support of your mother continue to um be courageous and speak up and and do what's right
057I thank you for that I really appreciate that and to the parent that was here talking about her um expressed some concerns about her child I am hopeful that we will be able to address that and move forward with being consistent in our discip discipline practices as teachers and as administrative staff principles overseeing these issues that are arising thank you so much I just have a couple things um I am just so pleased how things are turning out and I listen to the board candidates and what they have to say but I have two things I wanted I wanted to say about that um we have 10 candidates and I don't think any of us know all of them personally but what you said was so huge find out why why would someone want to
058spend easily 20 hours a week on something that you don't get paid for for you don't get a whole lot of accolades for let me guarantee that and look for someone who is willing to compromise for the good of the district who has public relations for Jackson Public School 100% make sure the person that you vote for is a Jackson Public School supporter it's our duty as board members to toot our own horn in our district when things good happen when there are problems it's our responsibility to address them in a open open way and open way is bringing it up discussing and finding resolution hopefully so please when you're vetting vetting these candidates I ask that you make sure you know why that person wants to be a jack Public School Board member [Music]
059and PR for JPS is huge there's so many good things going on it's so hard to get it out we're the only large Urban School in our County and it's just so hard to get it out if we don't do it ourselves so it's very important that we do get the message out it's always a great day to be a VI King remember that that's been around for a long time okay that's all I have to say then let's go on to oh go ahead yeah um I just wanted to remind everybody that Jacko which is the largest business expo that we have here in Jackson run by the Chamber of Commerce we just wanted to invite everybody else to come see um scnv and and JPS we have two big booths and it's really
060impressive to see what the schools and the businesses work together um and as the chamber changes and grows it's it's a great event to be a part of so we will be there from 1 to 5:30 so if you want to come and see your teachers or your principals um and be mostly our administrators not our teachers there but and myself and everybody else um we encourage you guys to come out and hang with us and spend four or five hours no I'm just kidding spend an hour with us this is Thursday um from 1 to it's it runs from 1: to 7: but from 5:30 on it's an after hours for the chamber sorry yeah it's the American one okay calendar November 19th regular meeting JHS Media Center at 6 o'clock that's the shortest
061calendar I think we've had ever move to journ support all in favor I opposed okay meeting adjourned thank you very much for coming and I appreciate your input e e e