001e e e hello welcome to our August meeting of the Jackson Public School Board I thank you for taking the time to come out of a really nice day that's not too hot and come in here and help us with things um I'd like to start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivis with liberty and justice for all Mrs Oxley will you please do the roll call uh Miss Hamilton present Mrs Brown Mrs Mitchell here M Acton present Miss hunt present and Mrs Fitzgerald here at this point I'd like to um I'll take a motion for approval of the agenda so moved support Second support all in favor oh I'm sorry discussion
002yeah I'd like to make another motion when can I make that motion to change well we're discussing right now so we do it after with this after we disc we're discuss it yeah after we discuss it you want to discuss it no but yeah we can't discuss it um so we can discuss it um the Clos session um I would like for us to place and I know we're going to vote on the next but I would like for us to place that after the citizens requesting to address the board um in the interest of not keeping our community here too late um since school is tomorrow so um I know that we're not voting on it right this second but that'll be the motion that I'll make um after we vote on this one
003okay all in favor I opposed okay it passes now I'd like to make a motion excuse me I'd like to make a motion for what we're not that our agenda I'm sorry so I cannot make a motions what you're saying we just out the blue yes no is that Robert's rules are you telling me or well hold on because Robert's Rules says we actually can make a motion any time during the meeting right now we're at the conset agenda your motion relate to the agenda it is oh well you didn't say that okay go ahead so I'd like to make a motion that we uh pull the citizens comment up before the Clos session and put the Clos session after the citizens request and comment we already voted on the order of procedure do I
004have a second for the motion is that what you're no I'm saying we already had that motion to leave it the same I'll second that second it I'll second that okay all in favor I I oh I'm sorry discussion so again same reason you know I would like for the community to be able to get out of here on time um for that I I would not there's a couple things hold on wait a minute you said discussion thank you for letting me finish Pam I appreciate that um again for the purpose of getting our community out of here on time I would like for us to put the citizen comment before the close session so that again you know school starting tomorrow to be able to honor their time they can get out of
005here on time so that's the purpose of this uh session this uh request okay we're done with discussion on changing the agenda can we do that when we already approved the agenda okay here we go okay all in favor I I opposed no no no okay that's three to three so it goes down we don't have a quum unfortunately okay now we're on the consent agenda could I have a motion to approve the consent agenda has minutes and Human Resources so moved support support discussion any discussion on last month's minutes or the human resources no okay as all in favor I opposed thank you okay at this point we're going to go into close session and I need a motion to go into close session so moved support support all in favor I I oppos
006okay all right we're going to close session um we'll be back for e e e motion to go back into Open session so moved support support all in favor I I opposed all those in favor yeah they did the I yeah and was Clos okay at this time the board is not in a position to make a final decision will be appropriate under the circumstances we were discussing the matter is not totally resolved um it is being tabled until next month in order to continue to have conversation with the parties involved there's more hold on I really do have it I can't find there we go good girl so I need a motion to approve the following table in the topic for next month and authorizing councel to enter into discussions with Mr B Beal
007and his legal counsel surrounding the terms of a possible separation agreement between Mr Beal and JPS motion support who gave a motion oh I did support shean to supports roll call vote please oh I'm sorry discussion yes some discussion okay so the community you all know that um I'm not going to tell you anything that happened in close session because we don't talk about what happens in Clos session so you're not hearing anything that happened in Clos session um I'm going to be a no vote on this not because I don't want what we all want what you all have spoken about what you want but because um I don't think this answers the uh concerns of the community one because we haven't heard them we didn't listen to you all we haven't heard you
008um um and then two um I don't trust that this is uh I'm trying to find the right words for it but um I don't trust this process um so that'll be my no vote but um that'll be the reason why um we'll likely get a a you know it'll probably pass and you know whatever the community then wants I'm always going to be in agreement with um um it also doesn't speak to you know the the offense to myself directly um and we all know that I uh is this issue is much bigger than myself but I am also the face of this issue um and it doesn't speak to that either so I'll be a no vote on it um I do hope that you know whatever the community wants we do get
009eventually but that will be why I'm voting no on it any further discussion no okay now do real quick uh Miss Hamilton no Mrs Brown Mrs Mitchel yes Miss hunt yes Miss Acton yes sorry Mrs Fitzgerald yes what's there number no I'm good thank you just uh the motion passes thank you very much um at this point we are going to go into public comment oh not yet oh I'm sorry Mr Beal has something to say I apologize for the delay I apologize for the delay um Miss Hamilton um I apologize for the hurt that I caused you I apologize for the inadvertent text that made your way I cannot sit in your shoes I do not receive it in the manner which you would receive it and I understand the unprofessional nature and how
010that is um beneath me I uh we've apologized I have apologized to you before and it is my hope that we can both move forward that I can be heard for my apology for the sincerity in which it was offered the first time and the one that is offered tonight but uh I certainly recognize the damage and the harm that this did to you and appreciate the opportunity to to air this publicly thank you Mr B okay at this point um we're going to have public comment and because there's so many it's limited to three minutes um three minutes each but I do want to make another comment before I go further um public comment is to be done in a professional way people don't just yell out their thoughts or uh insult somebody else
011who may be saying something they don't agree with so if you are going to do anything but just listen and then say your peace and then listen and realize that you all have opinions we all have opinions but I will not have the disrespect and disruption of somebody yelling out when somebody else is talking or even just in general when it's not their turn to speak so um if that is a problem I will ask one of our officers to escort you out of the out of the auditorium okay let's begin Cheryl Simonetti and then Angela Arnold and then Heather Elby Scott uh good evening is this on okay um my name is Cheryl Simonetti I live at 4871 Country Lane and I am proud to say that my name will be on the November
012ballot to have a seat at your table uh the idiotic sensationalism of one unfortunate mistake is what got us to this point but what saddens me the most is the we they mentality that overshadows all the good things about Jackson Public Schools things that would have never been made possible without Mr Beal let me just name a few in 2018 we passed a huge Bond and when that Bond work was completed was done under budget that Bond provided a new Cascade School the opening of John R Lis all schools and buildings have safe and secure entrances and every building has new furniture we have four buildings that have full air conditioning John R Lewis Cascades monu and Sharp Park and the remainder of the buildings have partial air in collaborative spaces and front offices we
013had the creation successful creation of South Central Michigan virtual we created a JPS monor school and work in partnership with the Felician Sisters the creation of Jackson Pathways staff development staff development staff development Jackson County early college success successful contract bargaining and fiscal responsibility we hired a Dei director successful selling of old buildings in order to remain fiscally responsible the best fund balance position that JPS has ever been in ever our enrollment has increased over the last few years we've um secured propane and electric buses another thing to help that bottom line we partnered with the Glick found ation for the indoor athletic center successful pack passing of the recreation center and operating millage just recently we need to give this District our continued support and keep our minds on starting school and educating students
014tomorrow thank you thank you okay Angela Arnold is Angela here no okay uh Heather Alby Scott hi Heather hi I don't know if you can hear me um not gonna lie I'm super nervous but my mom taught me speak your mind even when your voice shakes um so first I want to apologize for not being here earlier when I saw the text um I had just kind of a moment of what just happened as I'm sure other folks have as well um I'm sorry I live with I don't know if you need my address all that stuff kind of skipped right over that um but I've worked in the district and I worked at Frost Elementary School and I saw what happened to the kiddos when they would say disparaging things so when I saw
015the text I thought well certainly we will hold superintendent field to the same standard and I I don't know if you are because I don't know what happens behind closed doors um but I guess I expected an admit admittance of uh bias right and because we all have biases and to say you don't is actually uh not a fact because we all do um and so I I kind of scoured back through articles I was like certainly there had to have been a time when superintendent B came out and said you know what I need to look Inward and I need to do some work on this and maybe I missed it you know I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes to the detriment of other people um but I'm
016not hearing that um in education we're taught to be curious not judgmental now is the time to be curious curious about what our kiddos are receiving as messages what our families are receiving in his messages I have been in schools and seen the children of color get treated differently and I was part of the team sorry I was part of the team that brought that to the district and then they did the equity audit and then I left the district to go on thinking well certainly they'll use this information and they'll make things better and then sly I feel like we've taken a lot of steps back so I'm here tonight um to just ask you to please every one of you look inward confront your biases admit you have them because our children our
017families they deserve that thank you wasn't I okay Freedom Mason Amy Gish and David warley wormsley hello hello my name is fra Mason and I am a concerned Community member and member of the family Coalition for change here in Jackson County I want to First say that I'm deeply saddened by the board vote to not keep the regular agenda and allow public comments to be before closed session it was very disrespectful to the community to move it to after Clos sessions especially when people have children that need to get to school now I'm going to be reading a letter that is from the Journey For Justice Alliance National director G2 Brown this is in reference to Jackson Public School Superintendent Jeff Beal to The Honorable Jackson Public School Board president and trustees the Journey For
018Justice Alliance is a National Organization of community groups in over 40 cities Across the Nation with over 2,000 members we use Community organizing to achieve our mission of equity and focus on educational Justice over the past two days we have hosted National sorry racial Equity events in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention but took this moment to pause and stand with JPS Schoolboard trustee Kesha Hamilton the iconic author Alice Walker wrote no one is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow the disparaging text message written by superintendent Beal referring to trustee Hamilton's intelligence is disrespectful distasteful and must be addressed by the board with immediate action and consequence we recognize the trusty Hamilton has been on the front lines and the fight for equity in the city of Jackson and
019we condemn the disrespect displayed towards her by your current administrator specifically superintendent be you all must acknowledge the harm and act swiftly to eliminate the continued racism and sexism trusty Hamilton is facing and battling daily while executing her duties as the board trustee and fighting for Equitable policies for JPS students staff in the community we stand with the family Coalition for Change and the Grassroots community in Jackson in demanding the immediate termination of superintendent Jeff Beal signed on this day August 20th 2024 G2 Brown who is the J forj Alliance National director thank you thank you very much Amy Kish and then David Warmsley good evening my name is Amy Gish and my address is suppressed Kesha the first time we met was March 15 2022 I SPO spoke during that evening Schoolboard meeting regarding
020this superintendent's retaliatory actions towards you and based on similar encounters with his retaliatory actions towards me and other that I witnessed I told you that his is a patterned Behavior this superintendent uses the power of his position to harass bully intimidate and manipulate once he is no longer superintendent that power is gone he'll have nothing to use as a means of coercion my encounters with Jeff as my abuser are on record he has been enabled by the former board five and the current board five and I believe the superintendent's text messages were likely intended for board president Pam Fitzgerald she is in my opinion his strongest Ally she has intentionally lied to a current School Board candidate communicating as board president and those lies are part of her patterned Behavior as well Pam you ought
021to be ashamed of yourself for blaming Dan Evans for playing a role in the retaliation case of retired art teacher Penny Davis who won at every court level that case was tried or reviewed a simple online search for the date corresponding to the initial incident involving Penny Davis and student MH was October 12 2015 you can Snicker all you want I wasn't snickering you were another online search proves Jeff Beal began working as superintendent for Jackson Public Schools June 2nd 2014 14 simple math shows that Dan Evans was well into his retirement years when the Penny Davis incident took place Jeff Beal was the only Superintendent at that time of the incident and you Pam were a school board member during that time we had contacted you or attempted to no Jeff and Jeremy Patterson
022were not required to stand in at the end quote I sent the court transcripts to Chris Davis to prove you are Li Jeff and Jeremy were the per perpetrators all along Ben pack and barbear poly weren't called to the witness stand for their innocence either they played Major roles in harassing bullying intimidating and manipulating just as much as Jeff be and Jeremy Patterson Pam don't think for one minute that you are pulling the wool over my eyes this superintendent has spent his time pading his pension by telling the school board what his salary should be and what extra pay he should get since the majority of the school board members are his alies the superintendent has accomplished his goal public tax dollars will continue to be used three minutes is over thank you very much
023Amy okay David is David here okay Annette Jones Andrew bowler I know I do three at a time so you keep it going oh it is bow it's a w thank you Andrew oh Andrew Bowen and Joanie candelo three okay this superintendent has spent this time padding his pension by telling the school board what his salary should be and what extra pay he should get since the majority of school board members are his allies the superintendent has accomplished his goal public tax dollars will continue to be used to pay a person who likely a large payoff who corrupted a school district and us accomplishments to make his Dirty Work character makes a man of great stature not money Jeff you once told me that your dad criticized your decision to go into education because there
024isn't any money to be made in education I Can See Clearly shame on you Angela Mitchell for dismissing Jeff Beal's use of the nword all openly and freely with colleagues especially in the company of a black woman something the media Outlets selectively fell to air when former HR Director Nicole Johnson addressed the board about it Kesha do you recognize the patterns gender skin color he despises those who are not like him I Can See Clearly Kesha I'm confident that you will maintain the community's best interest as you stay the course as a member of this board as always and please know you have my full support thank you for serving allive Jackson on this board you are appreciated thank you Amy Gish and I too I am a black Latina woman and I was told
025that those are three strikes against me and yes I used to work here my my name is Anette Jones and I don't think I have to give my address because I didn't hear Amy give hers but it's unfortunate Pam I have been witness of you verbally attacking Kesha in my presence I don't know if you remember but I do that really changed my view of you that was not cool at all definitely a poor example I'm very sad to see this JPS was my place but as they say three strikes against you you're black Latina woman you have two strikes against you so you can be thankful for that so thank you for those of you who are fighting and trying to help us out good night [Applause] hi everyone my name is Ree Dillard
026I'm gonna be speaking on behalf of Andrew tonight um he's a former student of JPS and a concerned Jackson resident his comments detail some patterns of inequity that he's seen in recent years um but he couldn't stay here to offer his comments himself because of the agenda change that brought our comments to be at the end of the night um I also do have a comment card in there um for myself which you can remove the name is Reese um so some patterns we've been seeing here in 2018 a former JPS employees sued JPS for damages related to retaliation harassment and bullying in 2019 two former teachers filed a lawsuit against JPS alleging a hostile and unsafe work environment in February of 2022 trustee Kesha Hamilton reported harassment bullying and threats from superintendent Beal in
027in May of 2022 dozens of former teachers primarily women parents students staff and former assistant superintendent of HR a former JPS teacher of the year a former Union president and others gave over 12 hours of public comments recounting instances of bullying threats and harassment in 2022 after losing multiple uh after losing at multiple lower courts in the Michigan Supreme Court um they refused to hear an appeal presented by JPS and upheld the lower court opinion result in and JPS ping out of the general fund almost $700,000 because of retaliation harassment and bullying naming Jeff Beal and Jeremy Patterson as the primary actors in 2022 Jeremy Patterson was promoted by Jeff Beal and the board in a 5 to1 vote to assistant superintendent of SEC secondary education in a consistent 5 to2 vote the board approves
028that extra duty pay to Jeff Beal for the purpose of overseeing HR in the amount of 63,000 plus dollarars over the past five years but in 2022 JPS also hired a director of HR um but superintendent Beal is still receiving that extra duty pay of 63,000 uh plus dollars we have three open seats this year for the school board and um Andrew and myself I speak for myself here urge you to be very selective about the people you put on this table thank you [Applause] thank you very much uh Joanie Orel and then Crystal no last name and Chris Davis thank you I'm joonie orello you guys know I live in Jackson and I just want to say how disappointed I am that you guys went in the Clos session and made us wait two
029and a half hours before we can comment I have a daughter who's going in the first grade at the monu and her bedtime is 8 o' I was not able to be home with my daughter because I want it to be heard and it's important to the board according to their policy that the board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on District matters we did not set this meeting date we did not set the first day of school you guys scheduled a board meeting on the night before the first day of school I have to wonder whether the board and the administrators even care about the well-being of our children inside of school and outside of school and Pam don't
030make a face at me that is so disrespectful do what you do you make faces all the time and it's disrespectful but I'm going to go back to my comment because you ask people not to be disrespectful so if you could please be professional I'd appreciate that [Applause] I I just had cataract surgery and I'm squinting sorry you make faces every meeting so anyways back to my comment I am a member one of the leading members of family Coalition for change I sent an email that was four pages long citing the anti-harassment policy that is held against the students it includes citations to what the board is supposed to do to hold accountability I cited the bullying policy quoted copied and pasted I put one sentence about that lawsuit in there and the only person
031that responded to me was Pam saying that I had the wrong lawsuit that is involved Dan she provided me misinformation the lawsuit was when Dan Evans was still superintendent it languished for years and unfortunately Jeff beel was hired just in time to be sitting in the hot seat when the discussion was made he had nothing to do with it I am an attorney I pulled the case I read the case I read the facts in there it specifically stated what Jeff field did so please stop providing the public with misinformation and then accusing somebody else of doing the same how could you guys go and close session without hearing the public when it's your board policy that says it's important I've been commenting for 2 years there was an investigation for my daughter nothing has
032been done except for two years later offering her to walk for graduation and in the investigation it showed that there was discrimination against her but nothing could be done and guess who oversees all of those investigations guess who oversees Foya guess who oversees part of HR and receives extra salary for that one man and you guys are allowing him to have full control by being a yes for please take action and do what's [Applause] right okay I have a name of Crystal with no last name no okay Chris Davis good evening Mor my name is Chris Davis um I'm deeply disheartened that on the eve of a new school year in a time of a looming budget Challenge in a time of where JPS is currently ranked in the bottom 50% of schools in the
033state of Michigan and in a time where according to state test scores only 17% of our students are proficient in math and only 30% are proficient in Reading multiple buildings are labeled as a partnership school with the state we find ourselves here tonight addressing yet another instance of harassment and bullying from the highest level of leadership in this District but let me be clear I will not shame the victims I will not ignore the numerous testimonies that have been given at this Podium I have not I will not ignore numerous court rulings I am calling on this school board to stop sweeping the pattern of behavior under the rug as Cheryl mentioned there has been some good things going on with the school district as far as new buildings and all that but these are
034the important issues only 17% of our students know how to do math only 30% know how to read we only graduate 80% of our students regarding the text message whether it was accident accidental or intentional apologize for or not the fact that someone felt it was appropriate to make such a statement reveals a deep or more troubling issue over the past nine months as I considered running for a seat on that board I've closely observed all of you and your actions I hoped that I can learn from you and learn how to be a board member for this community I've learned something though I've learned how I would not conduct myself if this community elects me for months I've sat in the audience and watched as you disrespected and dismissed not only each other but
035the citizens who come here to speak to you staring off into space or playing on your phones or looking at your laptop as Angela is doing currently this November our community will have the opportunity to fill three seat seats on this board and I am relieved that we have our candidates and they are not incumbent on this ballot every one of you should be not only be outraged by the culture of harassment and bullying that has taken root under this leadership but you should also be ashamed that you have condoned it with your silence and continue to make excuses for it I strongly urge our school board to confront the deeply entrenched pattern of misconduct and immediately initiate a formal investigation as someone running for the JPS School Board I believe in creating a culture
036of respect inclusion and accountability our Educators administrators and board members should uphold these values in every interaction we need leaders who will uplift and support each other not tear each other down and I stand with all of those affected and all of those who believe in maintaining respectful and collaborative environments in our school and I also want to point out got a couple more seconds here that only four of the 10 candidates on the ballot this November cared enough to be here tonight and for the community I want you to think about that when vote in November and I want to end with one more quote it's actually from the board president Pam feral she said this to a citizen in response to a citizen comment back in May if you don't have anything nice
037to say don't say anything at all um Joanna Perkin Maisha Jones and re dard I am Joanna Perkin former English teacher English chair building committee chair of 20 years and teacher of the year within Jackson Public Schools during my Appo if I wasn't ruthlessly and feverishly retaliated against by superintendent Beal simply by speaking the truth and making professional inquiries as building committee chair I would still be in the classroom doing what I have been so passionately gifted to do by God the board was made aware in detailed letters of concern and whistleblowers while I was enduring these atrocities and the board continues to be complicit since retiring early superintendent Beal has continued to retaliate against me for attending board meetings and speaking the truth I would love to say there are only a handful of
038individuals who have experienced superintendent be retaliation but sadly during the last few years multitudes of women many black from HR Director teacher of the year Union president a principal board member a Litany of teachers all have come forward with facts here at board meetings over and over with certified letters letters of concern to the board but you know all of that just as you know superintendent Beal was found guilty of retaliation in the court of all all the way to the Supreme Court costing the district near a million bucks from there he went on to promote his buddy Jeremy Patterson the other individual found guilty of retaliation in that same case from Principal to assistant superintendent then he went on to move his direct his HR Director Nicole Johnson Nicole Johnson out of the way
039a black woman after reiterating the word in its entirety in her presence from there he hired himself as HR director and Foya coordinator removing all checks and balances so that all roads lead back to him when board member Kesha Hamilton made inquiries regarding the extra 60k he still receives still receives still receives for no for no longer doing HR duties is someone else is was fi someone else was finally hired he physically accosted her and aggressively retaliated against her fast forward a year later this recent incident we are here for today in which he continues to retaliate against Kesha by accidentally sending her a disparaging text about her competency it's wildly reminiscent of the email he sent me while I was employed that he sent to a principal in which he accidentally included me in
040to handle me at evaluation time but to the board are all well aware of this and superintendent intendent Bill continues to break federal state contractual and laws and policies and retaliate against anyone who compromise compromises his ability than your time is up continue to do whatever Joanna your time is up thank you your time is up Joanna your time is up your time is on uhhuh Joanna your time is up please sit down Joanna please sit down no we have three why don't you look at the board policy if there if there's more than nine if there's more than nine we go to three minutes Misha Jones good evening good evening Angela did you get elected just to vote for everything Jess and Pam Jeff and P c um bring to the table you have
041never contributed anything not good or bad to conversations please stop taking up space your voice and lack thereof provides no meaningful value here Marilyn well I know you have made contributions to conversations about school finances I'm sure you've heard about the almost million dollars that was paid out due to Jeff and Jeremy's action I'm just curious do you care more about the money or the lack there of of the integrity and character of the person that you continue to allow to have a job I'm checking in on your Humanity right now shalanda I don't care how you have advanced in your personal life but could you please stop pimping yourself out to whiteness to obtain political power when statements that that I hear and I often make like just because someone is black does not
042excuse me that is not okay to attack the board members it says directly on the thing are you going to pause my time so I can express it says you can address the board members directly on that paper I didn't say you could harass the board I'm not harassing them I'm speaking straight facts you don't even know them when statements like this are made and I say black does not mean that they are qualified I think of you it is embarrassing to me as a black woman that you represent black women in leadership the definition of racism by Google is defined as Prejudice discriminatory and ant antagonistic by individual Community or institution against a person or people on the bias of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group typically one that is minority
043or marginalized Pam it is no secret by definition and your actions even that we've seen tonight that you are a racist you just because you have a black friend or a black neighbor or know some black people you are a racist do you know my there is little in black family you are a racist and do you know um while we know that there is no hope for you all we can do is pray and hope that your time comes as quickly as possible so you can move on Jeff the picture of whiteness and white privilege leader of the good old boy club how many lines are you going to cross before your humanity and conscious activates this board has let you get away with so much corruption I don't even think you believe that
044you are doing anything anything wrong you should be in jail for some of the things that you have done I came here tonight with my JPS shirt on hoping and praying that we all would recognize the complacency in this disturbing and heinous Behavior but you decided to have a Clos meeting about this egregious act by your superintendent and didn't even get community input this lets me know that you are your time is up thank you mayisha your time is up okay we have Rees Dillard Nyla orelo and Penny Davis I've already I've already addressed the but um yeah I I truly hope that you listen to your community that is so Reese upset haven't you already haven't you already spoken I have on behalf of uh Andrew okay oh I'm sorry yeah I do that
045thank you reys I'm I'm really sorry that that's okay um Nyla orelo a Nyla that's okay just talk about what you're thinking my name is ANUK I go to J High here and my sister has been victimized so many times on the bus she has not felt safe the bus driver has always always came after her nobody else on that bus but her she has always been unsafe felt like she should not be on that bus but yet she has to cuz there's no other option for her but yet we've brought it up to you guys so many times and y'all have done nothing about it she is only 11 years old you guys should protect protect her and her safety and everyone else's a her bus monitor or whatever he was had a gun
046on that bus that made her feel so unsafe she did not want to go to the school the next day I have so many friends that have been bullied and harassed at Jackson high and you guys have done nothing about it one killed himself because of how much you guys do not press protect us students and our mental health you guys have not done anything to make sure us kids are safe you guys say that you will take care of it you will be responsible for it and get it worked out but you guys who still have not done this till this day you guys have lost a great Soul y'all will never know what we have to go through because you guys don't know them personally like we do you guys say you will
047take care of it and protect us but yet you're still losing kids live left and right till this day and every time I brought this up to my principal y'all never did nothing never spoke about it this is y fault that she lost her friend so how was that she's afraid to let you guys know that they're both Native American Penny you don't have to I was G to really speak at all um but after hearing what happened to Kesha broke my heart I have been harassed by this place here I love this school my things are trans parency that I hope for the future openness honesty and most of all care for our kids our kids we have come to principles we have come to superintendence nothing's done nothing is done it's always pushed
048in the corner I've come to Schoolboard members back in the past and that's what really tears my heart no one no one is listening no one's doing anything and I can say that honestly I know firsthand um something I want to talk about real quick is Jeff bill got here in 2014 and we had good hopes for him we l Dan Evans through and through okay I've worked here probably over 30 years before I was kind of run off or got sick because of the um abuse that I took from these people bullying disrespect it goes on and on and I'm just not one of the teachers that have suffered that um in my perpetrators it's in the court of law it was Jeff Beal um and I wish P don't say that Jeff be
049wasn't here and that he was no part of the lawsuit or The Whistleblower suit please because he was he was the main culprit along with Jer patteron here um and how embarrassing it is when me I'll tell you just one incident when I was shipped over Parkside and I was a highly um Effective Teacher and then all of a sudden I'm on what is it called I don't even remember the initials now but I was on the bottom all right yeah plan assistance thank you and um so you you talk to your principal that time it was Jeremy Patterson he'd come down to my room and it's end of the day and I'm like okay that's fine we can talk but I have to use the bathroom no problem how intimidating that can be to
050you know a female teacher come on Jeremy and then you guys just promote them even more I don't get that but that's something you guys got to live with that me um I've forgiven you guys you know because if we hold letting foret ourselves people do Penny your time is over thank you thank you we have Nicholas thirston William Hastings and Zoe Lions good evening my name is Nicholas th I live here in Jackson Michigan I live here in the neighborhood I heard about happened and I just would like to express my support for Jeff Beal I genuinely do believe that you've done the best you possibly can to keep the district on the right path at least financially you've done your job there as an administrator you've made the decisions that you felt were
051right at the time and uh you know I I think you should be proud that you have meet you've met and you reached a lot of the goals that you had for the budgets of the JPS District um as far as a lot of the identity politics stuff that's get pushed around here I think it's really important for you guys to consider uh with the uh progression of discussion around the equity policy that many people do not support it may be found unconstitutional in courts um that how many of your employees are only here to attack this organization how many of them want to see you and bankrupt the school district how many of them hold uh hate in their hearts and they clock into work and how does that translate to the students the
052student grades are uh extremely low and it makes me wonder are teachers clocking into the classrooms and doing the work of a teacher are they there to push identity politics are they there for a personal Grudge or an agenda are they uh are do they care about teaching do they hate their jobs should they maybe go work somewhere else is there something else they should do with their lives be happier but this the school district definitely is um struggling is in terms of uh functioning as a school but that job is that's on the teachers um and I hope that the board will consider uh striking down the equity policy that's been proposed I think it's creating a more hateful environment where the it seems like the teachers are just waiting to take turns to
053attack the administration and that is not good for the students maybe that's what's distracted them from their work in the classroom thank you for your time thank you very much William go so timing timing we were told is everything it needs to be pointed out that the scandalous Wayward text message that is being used as a pretext to destroy Jeff be's career at JPS was sent on July 23rd but the crafty and can kha Hamilton kept it hidden right up your sleeve didn't you sweetheart until last Friday when she de she decided it was the most politically opportune time to do so public transparency be damned something else happened that Friday I'm gonna need I'm GNA need my time back I'm gonna need my time back what uh rent to M be quiet I'm getting
054my time back I want my time back now I no you're not so something else happened last Friday Kesha removed the banner header image from her Facebook page the header image contained a quotation and of a woman named Joanne chard who is Joan chesimard well on May 2nd 1973 Joanne and two other uh wanted criminals were pulled over by the New Jersey State Police after the officer spotted gun the vehicle Joanne chazard first shot Trooper James Harper in his shoulder in the in ensuing gunfight Trooper verer Forester was murdered execution Style with his own weapon a crime for which Joan chesar was convicted make no mistake AK Kesha Hamilton kesa Hamilton uses her social media to glorify terrorists and cop killers be quiet be whatever you say losers but that's just the tip of the
055iceberg Joan chesmar was the member of a domestic terrorist group called The Black Liberation Army between 1970 and 1976 this group was responsible for 70 acts of violence including ining the murder of 13 police officers most of these murders were ambushes and one officer was murdered sitting at his desk at a police station the single most evil act though committed by this group in my opinion was planting a bomb in St Brendan's Church in San Francisco to Target the mourners at a funeral service for a police officer who had been murdered in line of duty Kesha's Idol and role model and Dreamboat pinup girl Joanne chesimard was able to flee the country and is on the FBI's most wanted list for murder and domestic terrorism to this day Kesha Hamilton you are morally unfit to
056serve in any c public capacity and doubly unfit to serve on a school board charged with preparing thousands of children for adult life and responsibilities the true contact of content thank you William your time is up thank you Zoe lions and Sherry Butters and Aven Johnson I'm not sure how you all do this all the time this is traumatic um my name is Zoe Lions I am the parent of three adult sons who graduated from JPS and I'm here because I was asked to show up and I'm working to follow the lead of people of color in my life this is an opportunity for the growth of J the JPS board and the superintendent for growth one only needs to search how to teach white people about anti-racism that's what I did this afternoon here
057are some ways that we as white people can do our part to grow for the people of color and the marginalized folks around us pause before contributing to the conversation or hitting on an email or text check the other white people in the room we must constantly educate each other and hold each other accountable excuse yourself if you're having strong emotions especially if there are folks in the room who experience Prejudice and harm firsthand have a support system of other white people people who are learning and growing in the work of equity not those that will coddle your feelings of discomfort finally sit in the discomfort this is just pumper today be curious on what we can do different and better for marginalized folks around us people of color women or both and do this
058the Jackson in at in the city of Jackson for our children and our schools who need you thank you Zo good evening my name is Sher Butters um I'm going to read my comments because it's been a really long day and um so I'm gonna try and stay on topic um I live in the city of Jackson I'm part of the JPS School District I am also a mom of three high school graduates here from J high and I've been a proud Jackson high parent for many many years I've not been a proud Jackson high parent for the past couple of years and that is because of how I have seen this school board tolerate the mistreatment and disrespect of our board member Kesha Hamilton um professionally I serve as the manager of the Jackson
059collaborative Network we are a collective impact network uh that is working to create lasting sustainable change in the Jackson County Community as a network we are committed to promoting and pursuing equity in all things understanding who is experiencing worse outcomes and why and working to address those as a collector Ive body we recognize that as individuals not a single one of us created the structural and institutional racism that is present in our community but by not taking any action we are holding it in place as individuals that are elected to represent the children in this District you have the power and responsibility to oversee the performance of the superintendent many occasions I'm not sure you've fulfilled that responsibility I strongly encourage you to take brave action to address the issue at hand and not permit
060and thereby promote and condone conduct that marginalizes a woman of color by the senior most leadership within JPS I ask you to consider the message that your action or inaction sends to the children the parents teachers our community and educational community at large about Jackson Public School's commitment to Excellence and Justice in fulfilling its Miss Miss to prepare all students to succeed thank you thank you R hello my name is Avon Johnson and I sent a Google Document to this board a few months ago it was laying out a lot of serious issues within the school and yet only one person responded that was Miss Hamilton the lack of respon from the rest of you speaks volume about the inactivity and disregard for student voices is this a level of dedication we should expect from
061those who are supposed to serve us what it that say about the commitment to student advisory while waiting for response student in our district were dealing with Fallout from your in action and even before I've heard from students who had their personal property seeds without cause and let me remind you that taking someone's phone without cause is an evasion of privacy and unconstitutional students had had their backpack search under under weak pretenses and their dignity is compromised by staff members who are supposed to be protecting them these are not isol isolated incidents they're part of a larger pattern and the board does not act it's only going to get worse this board has had a lot of opportunities to act and show you care about students yet what have you done the policies you have
062in place are outdated and do not protect us do not respect our rights and the way you have handled these situations is a bad look now I've gone through your search and seizure policy and it's clear that that is a serious problem this is a policy that you're supposed to beting protecting students but instead it's being used to justify invasions of privacy the fourth amendment guarantees protection against unreasonable searches yet this policy seems to be defined as anything you wish to search us for and unreasonable you said in your document means anything you wish students rights are being violated and this policy is nothing more than a blank check for administration to do as they please then there's the student government policy which is supposed to empower students but in reality is just another example
063on how this board fails to follow through the policy talks about giving students a voice but those rights aren't fully realized the board says it's supposed to protect Student Government but where's the action where's the support the truth is that the handbook for Middle School at Parkside that includes the dress code academic appeals and more isn't being followed and neither are your board policies this board is in supporting students who want to be involved who want to make a change or who wants to speak out we need to address these UNC Constitution actions the lack of publicity and the tools and resources that students have and we need to get this end to the agism that's happening in our schools additionally I find this is an embarrassment that you continue attacking Kesha Hamilton for doing
064her job um thank [Applause] you we have Savannah Hart shaquay Selby and Cornell sample the second I wrote it if that's okay my name is Savannah Hart and I have a nine-year-old who attends Shar Park last year I contacted you Jeff F to file a complaint against the principal of Sharp Park which is my right according to what is it the handbook the JPS one um at the time you initially attempted to dissuade me from any formal complaint and eventually insisted did your opinion was I had no founding for a complaint and your decision was Final I emailed the entire school board and was only answered by one board member initially Miss Hamilton Miss Hamilton told me how to um appropriately file and listen to my complaints with empathy compassion and she also gave me
065instruction on how to file correctly even so you Mr Beal found my complaint unfounded so I filed a complain against you with the board at this point I would begin communicating with Pam Fitz jar old who then insisted I had no founding for my complaint against Jeff beel Pam you told me you spoke for the board but you didn't did you in Spring I posted a Tik Tok on social media and a commenter suggested doing a Freedom of Information Act request pertaining to my name and my son's name so I did it was at this time I discovered the dishonest way the principal of my son's school Jasper Lusby spoke about me and the misinformation she offered you Jeff and though I cannot prove she knew the information was false my opinion is her decision
066to offer misinformation was completely intentional so tonight I had to attend my son's fourth grade um orientation and I brought the mutual restraining order which I which replaced a criminal po I have held against my ex-husband my abuser this Mutual restraining order your principal of Sharp Park Jasper Lusby stated via email did not exist here it is it does exist like every other aspect of documentation I stated existed in have since emailed the board and actually I found it in my freedom information act request meaning that you already have it I have almost felt sorry for you Jeff because I think you chose to trust Jasper Lusby when you cannot but I stopped feeling sorry for you when you choosing not to commit to any sense of due diligence continued to actively harm my 9-year-old
067child and myself the only thing other thing I want to bring up is that in my Freedom of Information Act there is a email between you Pam and Pam Jeff and in it you say I anticipate that she me will attempt to file a complaint against the board if she's meeting with Kesha or Libby this would seem on par with the course that's actually why I'm here I'm going to hand that email over to miss Hamilton I want to close in saying I don't think you're the sole problem Jeff however a superintendent you've become emblematic of what's been and remained seriously wrong with Jackson Public Schools and I don't just wish for your removal Jeff I think most of the board should be replaced thank [Applause] you hello um hello so I just want to
068ask is there a code of ethics that the board follow or is this the high school Mean Girls and Boys Club because I'm just trying to understand how the board can condone such Behavior from um the superintendent when the student handbook says and I quote bullying rising to the level of unlawful harassment when one or more persons systematically and chronically inflict physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more student or employees in bullying is based on one or more protected classes so if this is the what we're pushing down our students voice how is the superintendent send superintendent aka the leader of the pack of the school district able to act in this Behavior I mean y'all acting worse than my daughters in middle school and are we forgetting what we're here for because
069I thought it was the students but it's seeming like the ego or political agenda I don't know what's happening but y'all need to get it together KH as you were referred to I know they tried to come for you in their closed door meeting and I hope you stood your ground all 10 toes down cuz guess what you don't need no Army behind me you are the Army straight like that you know how we come thank [Applause] you since some of you want to act like the children that I work with I will talk to you like the children that I work with sit there and take this conversation on the chin it may be hard but sometimes growth is hard good evening distinguished members of the Jackson Public School Board those who are just
070occupying space we see you those who are just talking to each other and spending time writing on your paper while the community members are speaking we see you the close session was intentional manipulation in hopes of community members leaving some did leave but yeah we stayed I live less than a half mile from this location with four high school age children and not a single one attends Jackson high I am a Community member I work with the children who attend here I am simply a bystander a conflict is a situation in which an individual has an inacceptable differences in interest expectations values and opinions that occur in or between other individuals or groups bullying is the use of force coercion hurtful teasing or threat to abuse aggressive ly dominate or intimidate that behavior is often
071repeated and habitual one essential pre prerequisite is the preception of an imbalance of physical or social power that imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict we clearly see bullying 75% of employees have witnessed workplace bullying Behavior 62% of workplace bullying C cases result in the resignation of the victim 70% of the time the bully is the one who stays with the company while the victim leaves only 1% of workplace bullying victims end up confronting the perpetrator 29% of bullies act in groups examples of workplace bullying culture is spreading malicious rumors about someone or constantly putting them down in meetings the B the bully is that way because of such things as personal issues in their life insecurities or a lack of proper training in managerial communication and techniques 70% of young young people have seen bullying in
072their schools when a bystander intervenes bullying stops within 10 seconds 50 57% of the time what are we what are our children seeing what mirror are we showing them is okay to model after I teach anger management to a group of revolving Youth and I always tell them the mouth says what the heart feels who are we to hold our children accountable for bullying bullying and not the peers around us yes it may be uncomfortable to have this conversation with a coworker loved one or friend but you know what you will be 100 times better in the end I will leave you with two quotes if you are neutral in situations of Injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor the oppressor to sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men
073thank you very much at this point I will call for a motion to adjourn oh that's okay come here that's good thank you they did lock the doors thank you John King thank you um I live at 2033 Street here in the city not too far away um I I've seen the tweet and then all a sudden everyone uh kesa all her supporters are saying oh it's racist and sexist you know I don't know what term in there you could say you know was be you know mentioned sex or race and unfortunately that's sort of the the the politics um you know it just gets when kesa was running I knew she would in trouble uh she mentioned the agenda or not the agenda but the the curriculum that you know it it had to
074be changed uh you know there's the black life matter uh type of uh politics that she was for that oh we got to uh change the curriculum and and you know teach how bad racist the United States of America is and and so on um I've mentioned before uh you know Jeff Beal is a white male and to kesa that's three straight breaks against him according to her math um you know she's criticized shal hunt that she's the equivalent of someone that a black person that goes out and helps catch Runway slaves and it it just goes on and on and on with Kesha um from the Tweet you know it it makes sense to me that you know she's always asking questions about um you know getting clarification and but it to me it's
075it's probably more and I mentioned it before bullying harassment and stuff and yet she says she's the one being bullied and harass and everyone here I mean it's just absurd uh you know the politics that's going on here there's tesor are down chrisy was able to catch that you know while I was eing before I came over it's not because of Jeff Beal it's much more because of Kesha Hamilton and everything like that I can get into single mothers you know that black lives matter Kesha Hamilton promotes oh that's good it causes a lot of problems and it makes it tougher for children and they have more problems in school and everything like that so it just goes on and on um and you know it it's just a shame Jeff be maybe made a
076mistake you know by you know you know hitting the wrong thing apparently but I basically agree with what he said hea is that bad with her behavior thank you thank you John I appreciate your time at this point I'll entertain and move so Move Motion support Second yes support okay discussion all in favor I opposed thank you we are adjourned