001we good to you okay e good evening everyone good it's 6 o'clock and it is September 14th 2023 I would like to call this the information study session of the Lany School District Board of Education to order clerk could you please call the role Dr body Dr Kavanagh present Miss ly present Mr Lopez Miss Moore present Dr Rodriguez present Miss Williams Miss Willis cor is president thank you are there any additions to the agenda this evening seeing none okay uh I would like to move to public comments is there any public comments on agenda items Cen on oh this is easy let me move on all righty so this evening um we have a presentation looks like a solar energy presentation from um Carwin gold goldark and Anthony the if I pronounce your name incorrectly
002do not charge it to my heart I'm going to give the floor open to over to our amazing superintendent so he can introduce you how about that great thank you so much uh I it gives me great honor and privilege to introduce Karen goldmark and Anthony degman uh to uh the seats uh to give a presentation that I really do hope not only the board appreciates but the entire community so thank you very much good evening everyone can you hear me okay my name is Anthony De Gusman I'm the CEO of green link education and along with my colleague Karen goldmark and um Sam Brooks who's actually on a zoom line um that we're trying to link up right now very thrilled to be here and appreciate the opportunity to present to you um we've
003been working with the school district for many months now and we're excited to be here today to talk with you about the work that we've been doing provide you an update and um forecast some of the activities that are on the calendar for the near future um we have a brief presentation and slide deck that we'd like to go through this evening um and Karen and I are going to do the bulk of that talking um and I'm going to turn things over to her to get the ball rolling so next slide thank you Anthony is this on yes okay uh so what we'd like to do this evening is um update you for some months you've been hearing a discussion of the possibility of bringing renewable energy specifically solar energy to the school district
004um and you've even taken some actions authorizing the district to engage with WL we just want to summarize what has happened and what you can expect to see in the next several months as we move into a new phase of the project um so we'll give you some background preview what's coming and most importantly we're going to leave about 10 minutes at the end for questions and to gather your input which will shape the projects as we move forward um first a little more background about us at Green link um green link education is a minority and women-owned business uh that was founded to support schools navigate a increasingly complex sustainability sector um Karen and I both have you know over five Decades of experience working in schools and school administration and we recognize the
005importance to build a link or bridge between schools and that sector and schools need support in order to develop comprehensive sustainability plans and perhaps more importantly Implement those plans executing on these complex matters is quite difficult so that's where we come in um so as you can see Karen and I are credentials in terms of like understanding schools but we also surround ourselves with uh experts from across the country in particular sustainability experts we are thrilled to have Sam Brooks who I've worked with extensively in the past on this project Sam brings us a wealth of information about renewable energy um and has a wealth of uh tremendous amount of experience working with public Center entities um next slide um when we started working uh here uh we quickly came up with a set of
006highlevel sort of objectives um that we worked with uh superintendent Schon and Miss Tokar and the team uh with so first thing we wanted to do was create a sustainability plan with easy to act uh easy to Implement action steps um we also saw that there would be a lot of benefit to integrating sustainability into Master facilities planning processes uh We've uh really targeted expanding the district's sustainability expertise uh especially when it comes to supporting project implementation uh We've really been digging into Data you know we wanted to look at utility bills talk to people and understand what was going on so we can identify ways of saving money improving performance things of that nature and then um you know money we wanted to help the district identify opportunities to fund projects that we were
007recommending as well really excited and uh you know we're fortunate to say we've made a lot of progress towards uh these goals already um I just want to highlight a few for the board to reflect on tonight the plan is a 17-point plan so it's quite extensive um one of the top recommendations is to uh pursue renewable energy which is apt for tonight's conversation um we have been integrating sustainable Design Concepts uh in your modernization and your new construction projects so that's starting to take root um which we're really excited about uh in terms of uh building capacity uh we are fortunate to with the district obtain um one of 25 energy Champion prizes from the US Department of energy um so that's 100 $1,000 that goes towards uh Staffing here uh towards things like
008a resource conservation Management program that we'd like to put into place support the district with that will lower consumption save um money etc etc um and then lastly are two more things uh in that data we actually identified some really interesting things including an underperforming geothermal system that I think you're you're aware of so I think that was a really important discovery and there lastly um we have worked alongside um the the staff here to apply for over $10 million in federal and state grants most of which are still pending so we're excited about those opportunities I'm going to turn things back to Karen thank you Anthony so first question is why transition to renewable energy and there are many many reasons uh the first is that the school district currently spends $4.4 million on
009Utilities in total so of that two and a half million is actually just on electricity not gas which is another 1.7 million um and then the rest is water and sewer but the electricity alone is 2.5 million and so any savings you can capture in that area of course goes right back into the classroom in the form of teachers or whatever it is that the district sees U as what you'd like to spend on but any dollar that you spend on electricity you're not able to spend on anything else so reason number one cost Savings in addition as you may have noticed for example on the Thursday before school was scheduled to open extreme weather events are happening more and more frequently and there are serious reliability issues happening now and also very predictably in
010the future with respect to uh to reliability of power supply and that's something that on-site renewable energy when done properly can help address um and of course as you've noticed the temperatures are both hotter in the summer and at times more extreme in the winter both of which increase the cost of heating and and cooling buildings on the plus side after all that bad news there's over $300 billion right now available from the federal government either in the form of credits which we'll talk about in a moment or uh in the form of Grants which as you've heard we've already been applying for and several of the people in this room have spent some long nights writing those grants with us um so this is a great time to take advantage of the funding opportunities
011take advantage of the credits that are there to make these Investments um and those won't be around forever it's a 10-year plan the inflation reduction act and we've already used one year of it uh from 2022 to now so nine years to go to use these incentives um as you're probably aware the state of Michigan and the City of Lancing both have climate goals the state of Michigan aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and the City of Lancing aims to have a 59% reduction in its emissions by 2040 which seems quite close for that kind of a goal that said the school district with all of its buildings is a major player for the city and there's no way the city will make that goal without turning to you and saying hey School District
012we we need your help to make the climate reduction goals so the school district taking action on this now helps the state and the city meet those goals and of course as you're all concerned first and foremost with the future and our children and the future they face they are the ones who will face the challenges that we address or don't address now so all of those reasons really uh lean towards Rapid action on the environmental justice front 2third of Lancing schools are in communities where the asthma rate is at or above the 90th percentile nationally and you may wonder what asthma has to do with renewable energy and that's a good question and the answer is it's in the particulate matter that comes from the way we power our homes through coal plants and
013gas PLS that are off site to the way we heat our schools and our houses with gas to the way we power our vehicles including diesel school buses so each step of the way particulate matter comes into the air from fossil fuel combustion and so it's been well proven that the parate matter um the kind of parts per million in the air have a serious effect on asthma um and so the more rapidly we can clean up the air through moving through renewable energy the better for um the health of our students and for everyone in the community um and finally there is the potential for Revenue generation when um sized properly and that's part of the questions that we'll talk about tonight um Anthony I believe you're going to talk just a little bit
014about solar energy I will um so this slide um really want to focus on three characteristics of solar energy the first is that it's extremely well established um and particularly in schools and approximately one in 10 schools have solar panels nowadays and that's growing rapidly and exponentially as you might imagine so uh it's a path that's been well traveled by schools across the country including in this area as you may know St John's and and East Lancing school districts have solar panels um and you know over time and and and close examination um solar panels have also been proven to be safe um so solar panels uh have not been proven to cause any sort of harm um to uh those around them uh they are safe to install they are safe to operate so
015um that is you know contributing to you know their growth uh as a really go-to renewable energy source and um that's the last piece is they are more affordable than ever um over the last couple of deca decades pricing on solar in particular has decreased precipitously um bringing it more in range and more affordable you used to hear a lot of like oh that's nice but it's extremely expensive those those sort of conversations have changed significantly in particular uh with the inflation reduction act um schools and nonprofit institutions now have the uh ability to um capitalize on uh really large discounts on uh renewable energy P purchases uh 30% is um something we are estimating if not more uh on solar energy P purchases um would be um something that we're looking at in terms
016of our pricing models thank you Anthony okay this slide is a little bit dense and I'm going to summarize some of it I'm not going to be here for half an hour on it I promise but uh wanted to recap what you've already done and I'll do that part briefly so as you already know you authorized the district to uh submit a response to bwl's RFP you authorize the district to enter into negotiations with the solar developers who are identified through a public process and all of that so skip ahead to the part that you have haven't heard about perhaps yet is in the course of the dialogue with bwl they to say that they were enthusiastic and excited to see a response from the school district as a bit of an understatement they called
017multiple times and said fantastic let's meet let's talk when uh those conversations happened essentially what bwl said is they're going to remove any uh size constraint and any timing constraints for for school district projects so uh this might be a little weed but that RFP that the school district responded to required a minimum of a megawatt which is a lot for some of the school district sites and bwl said don't worry we want to work with you so much and we're so excited about what you're doing you don't have to hit that number you can have a smaller panel set on site particularly in recognition of what some have raised as the you know preserving open space for students Etc so there are no size restrictions on the on the array size on sites and
018there's no timing restriction these don't have to be in by a certain point we can do them with you over time as makes sense so that was the kind of bwl Point um they're very excited they're eager um and pending these next set of conversations I'll describe now they'll be ready to do their end of the work so what you'll see uh today is of course the study session the next thing you'll see is a design Professional Services contract with ner Logics which is by the way not the same as site logic it's easy to conf confus them but there are two companies that have that name in them logic ener Logics is the solar developer um who's been identified as a really strong partner for those on-site solar projects at schools so you'll see
019a contract um brought to you for approval to enter into design work with them they will then do this in-depth design based on these new relaxed constraints from bwl and bring those to you for another study session later this fall you'll have the opportunity to really get into the math with them about the savings and the revenue and the cost and to get into what it might actually look like they'll show you pictures of the sites with where the arrays would be and you can say here not there you can say yes that roof not that roof all of that um and you can expect to see designs for solar sometimes on the roof but only where your roofs can handle it so that's not everywhere and sometimes on the ground um and then pending
020that review and the refinement of those designs then the specific projects would come to you for a vote if you were to vote to move forward with them then you could expect to see installation starting in the Summers whether that's summer 24 or summer 25 really depends on the long lead time to procure the panels right now there's a bit of a back order in the United States for solar panels um but the sooner we get to that point the sooner the order goes in the sooner the installation happens and again we have time at the end for questions but wanted to give you that overview uh Anthony I believe you're oh no I'm supposed to keep going yeah you can keep going so speaking of questions we are now at that point um the
021topics that we know have been raised previously are around safety security and maintenance um and preserving Recreation space so we've spoken a little bit about safety um about security we always recommend fencing around solar installations so that people can't get just walk through them and around maintenance we always recommend ongoing maintenance contracts so that you don't have to maintain solar panels that's a fairly specialized field but it's also uh really come down a lot in price and so it's not an onerous burden um and preserving Recreation space we certainly heard that recommendation and we're so pleased that bwl removed that size restriction so now we'd like to stop and just hear your additional questions or comments yeah thank you thank you thank you are there any question questions from our board members yes Dr Rodriguez
022thank you Labs that we are using the students and the faculty are using the parking spaces that we can put some solar panels so yes we have looked at what's called canopy parking solar panels that is one possibility for some of the sites um canopy parking is slightly more expensive than uh the kind of arrays you see in these pictures that either are ground Mount or roof mount um so it's a question of pricing and that's part of the design we'll get into in this next phase of where whether it makes sense to put it in the parking lot on the field on a roof some combination you say the Easter High no East Lancing high school already had some solar panels East Lancing I believe it's the high school they had them close to
023the communities or close to the schools or they have it far away from the communities housings I have to go back and look at their uh setup but I believe they have what's called a little a setback where it's not right up on the street there's a little distance between the street and the panels um but it is on uh it's it's on a field space that they had thank you Dr kavanau hi thank you for the information I'd like to clarify something in your timeline um I see that in one of the the bullet points we have for upcoming it says electrical upgrades by BD bwl where necessary I was just curious who Bears those costs uh it depends what kind of upgrade we are talking about I'm glad you asked uh so an
024upgrade that is to uh equipment that belongs to the district for example a panel on site at the school is the district's responsibility an upgrade that is on bwl's side is something where bwl wants to negotiate some kind of cost sharing the recent funding that was passed in the state of Michigan to support renewable energy projects it's there's a question whether that funding can support the bwl side of the project or not and nobody has really figured that out yet um so our expectation is that that will be one of the kind of design questions that we engage in in these next several months and and we've started that conversation with them already so questions any more questions from the board members no all righty well thank you so very much for taking time out
025to present today um when it comes to Mother Earth I totally support this work so thank you again superintendent do you have thank you very much I mean like all the things we do in this District trying to get us to the most uh safest but healthiest and also Cutting Edge way to save money and serve children uh together I mean what a great thing for us to do so thank you thank you it's an honor thank you okay are we ready let us move on all righty so at this time we are going to go into other business deemed necessary and that would be um our board um interview of candidates for the vacant seat I don't think I need a mo no ET stay here no no he go all righty um I've
026got jokes tonight no but we will um first of all I want to thank our candidates that are here tonight um for tonight's interview uh Sierra stro are you okay you're here so uh we're going to go in order you all received I believe an email with the order of or maybe not we okay well I will give you the order we are going to um go in order I will call out your name um we have a conference room in the back where I can have our Administrative Assistant if you're not actually interviewing they can take you over to the um conference room if you'd like to sit in the conference room if not you you're welcome to sit out here while we're conducting the interviews um and we're going to start with Sierra
027stro if I don't pronounce your name correctly do not charge it to my heart after Sierra will be Carlton Evans o this is D yes tell me your name I appreciate you so much um Ted Lawson Daniel um no noski I think it is Amanda Jones thank you so very much and we don't have the last person all right so that is the order of our interviews for this evening um and Lori can if you're interested in going over to the conference room do we have anyone interested they can't pardon don't listen to you yeah this is no no if they can't saying we can't kick them out it's a public meeting no no we don't want to but I thought we decided I didn't confuse you all like I said if you're interested this
028is a public meeting so you're welcome to stay but if you're interested in going over to the conference room to gather your thoughts you're welcome to do so thank we'll have minutes to answer the questions did you rece yes and it's Saria it's okay not a problem awesome good evening thank you so much for your time I did uh create a packet for you if you tap to the gold in your packet it'll be the questions and answers for the interview and the event that our time is spersed um but I am Seria stro I am currently a state of Michigan employee I work as a departmental data analyst um I particularly do quality improvement and quality assurance um I am so happy to be here today I've also done foster care with the local
029uh office in ingum County um I did that for several years I've done a lot with uh child welfare there um as well as set on a couple of different uh boards and projects um with the state but also outside with Community organizations such as my church um and I just now have a len child who is attending in this District so I am so excited to be here thank you so very much and I'm so glad to hear that your child attends one of our amazing schools so I'm gonna start you have we have four questions I'm gonna start with the first question and that is in your opinion what is the functional relationship between the board with the superintendent and other District staff so my view of the function between the relationship with
030the board and superintendent and the staff it's really uh a joint effort of shared responsibilities and collaboration um the superintendent in my role in my eyes plays a pivotal role in executing the board's policies and managing those day-to-day operations they also represent the community and Advocate uh for its needs when it comes to The District staff and the teachers and the admin and the Personnel the boots on the ground is what we say in in social work um they directly uh work together in those roles in delivering education and services to the children in the district but collaborating that relationship so that relationship is one that is team work um and ensuring that the mission is achieved thank you the next question as a board member what would you what would be your number one
031priority for the school for laning school district for me the number one priority uh first starts with the the foundation the the mission the values the top priority is up to number one uphold that but also representing the voice of the students and the parents um and the family amilies and helping make those formed decisions I'm a data analyst so I look at data I analyze through systems and creating realistic expectations and measurable goals um the main thing for me is to never uh overpromise and under commit right we want to make sure that we're being accountable one to another um but mainly uh collaborating and fostering that um environment of cohesiveness and managing with what the board has already done great work um but holding that that mission and that inclusion and equality for
032all of our students thank you question number three what do you think are the greatest opportunities for the district there is always opportunities of growth um I always say we want to live in a life where we can be the ABCs I teach my child that always be conquering something um I say education equality is the big thing Community Partnerships uh mental health support if you can look at the recent numbers um in our area right now mental health is something that has been ongoing a struggle in the community of laning um specifically uh after the effects of coid um professional development for our teachers and uh retention of our teachers and our staff um and children in the district as well um so all of those opportunities can drive those positive outcomes for growth
033um and looking at those critical vacancies that we have for sure thank you our last question what do you think the board should do to attract and maintain students to the lanine school district great question follows up to my number three datadriven decisions data driven decisions making those decisions based upon the real results and data that we have currently of course we've seen facility improvements but that is ongoing operating in the the spirit of Excellence um the safety and the well-being there's been a big scarcity in the world uh due to the gun violence and certain uh issues that parents are bringing up even just the retention surrounding the teachers and making that Community engagement a big piece of what the mission and values are making them feel committed and connected to something um I
034know that that's a big big thing with inclusivity and equality um in effective marketing we want to see what they're doing they they they want something to be proud of and be proud to be connected to this school and say they're doing the very best that they can to promote the students to bring them and to keep them thank you so very much for your time this evening thank you you're welcome all righty give us one second to kind of prepare for the next candidate do you and I have these two for the ones that are um out this evening yes yes yes if Lor could could grab those for us thank you why do I keep looking at you thank you I think so all righty Mr Evans Carlton Evans if you could join
035us please doctor did I say doctor you guys going to get me in trouble stop all righty all righty you heard The Spill but I can repeat it you're going to have two minutes to introduce yourself to the board good evening good evening ladies and gentlemen uh my name is Carlton Evans um I've been in the Lancing area for about 50 years now I was born and raised in the city of Detroit uh I came up here to go to MSU there I received the Bachelor's of microbiology I was a microbiologist with the state of Lancing for about 35 years I retired from that and I've been doing many many other things uh since then uh I have four children children they all went to the uh Lancing uh School District uh I've been a
036disc jockey uh a poet uh artist and now I am a facilitator uh I founded a nonprofit the Northstar Alliance for for justice which I chair our Focus right now is on education I also own a equity consulting firm McDuffy and I'm excited for this opportunity amazing thank you our first question in your opinion what is the functional relationship between the board with the superintendent and other District staff uh the the the staff report to the uh administrators uh the administrators report to the superintendent and the super superintendent reports to the board the superintendent and the board developed uh policy uh budget they do that hand inand Consulting with each other um from what I have seen uh it is a very good relationship I don't see any tension or uh uh hatred uh between
037the superintendent and the uh board members all righty as a board member what would you what would be your number one priority for the Lancing School District um these two things are connected funding and more staff I think if you had the funding you would have the the staff um I think that's very important I think it's an opportunity right now with uh the progressive politicians we have in charge now they Governor Whitmer gave a lot of money to Michigan schools L and I think there's an opportunity there to receive more and I would be remiss if I didn't also add that I think racism is also a big problem but I'm not when I say RAC racism is a problem in the schools I don't mean to pick on the schools uh we live
038in America and it doesn't matter where you cut American society you find the anomaly of racism all righty so what do you think are the greatest opportunities for the district I think the greatest opportunity you have all already embarked upon uh at a previous meeting uh the the board passed a motion to start a multicultural initiative I believe this is an excellent opportunity uh it it it it tells me that you're not interested in incremental change that you're interested in transformational change you're interested in changing the culture you're interested in changing the curriculum and I am very excited and pleased about about that all righty so what do you think the board should do to attract and maintain students to the to lanine to the lansine school district uh I think every parent wants the
039best for their child and they're going to put their child in the school that they feel gives them the most opportunities to succeed and I think that the lanon school district has been doing things to help that like for instance the I believe it's the Lancing pathway promise uh it reminds me of my high school I graduated from ctec high school in Detroit and there students were given the opportunity to Major uh an architecture uh bio biotech my major was uh Science and Arts I was programming mainframe computers uh at the age of 18 back in 1969 uh was a long time ago long time ago so the uh Lancing pathway promise gives children the opportunity to uh major major is the wrong word but to focus on uh areas that they have an interest
040in that will help them to better succeed when they go to college uh and also to get a job in the real world all right well those are all of our questions thank you so much Mr Carlton or Mr Evans excuse me thank you for joining us today or this thank you thank you very much for your time welcome all righty I might have you say her name you got it she knew exactly I want you to say your name in the micro in the microphone for me yes good evening my name is Dean narez Martinez welcome thank you so much thank you thank you so much and once again do not charge that to my heart alrighty you've got two minutes introduce yourself to the boort hi everyone my name is De yanita narez
041Martinez I am an assistant professor of urban and Regional planning at Michigan State University um I research housing Justice and housing insecurity um specifically in the latinx community but also with unhoused populations um I before becoming an academic I worked uh for the US Congress uh for Congressman R Galva as an Outreach coordinator uh in Arizona I also um was involved in education advocacy uh with an organization called um save ethnic studies in Arizona when the State of Arizona tried to ban Mexican-American studies in the K2 system um and I also uh worked for uh miamia education fund which was a nonprofit uh that aimed to get Latinos more involved in the um or civically engaged um but I wanted to um Begin by addressing the uh school board and the superintendent um and thank
042you for the opportunity to interview for this vacancy um in considering my application I think you should know that I'm the product of the public school system in Arizona and California my Elementary and high school education was in St Louis and Yuma Arizona um the uh these schools serve border communities that include students whose families often closely are connected to the bational environment that exist on the US Mexico border I am a graduate of the University of Arizona and my PhD is from the University of California Irvine currently I'm a 10year track faculty member at Michigan State University and so um I share this so that you can appreciate my belief in and my commit commitment to public education and the opportunities that they can provide to individuals um they are not only vital uh
043but essential to our youth our family and our democracy thank you okay we'll start with the first question in your opinion what is the functional relationship between the board the superintendent and other District staff yes so the role of the governing board is essentially to set policy and monitor the education of um the execution of policy by the superintendent and his staff um thus operational responsibility is vested in the superintendent and his staff the board's responsibility is to consider and adopt those policies that not only ensure equal educational opportunity but actually provide each student the opportunity to realize their full potential I'm the daughter of Migrant Farm Workers who is now a university professor and that's thanks to public schools and so um I take I would take this job very seriously I have no
044doubt that our Lancing schools are full of students who are just as capable and share uh in those dreams and need us to make um uh to make sure that they have the skills and opportunity to be the scholars leaders and community members that will be um able to build a better and more inclusive Michigan my consideration um on matters that require governing board approval uh will be guided by Dei diversity equity and inclusion I will advocate for restorative justice which is something that the board already um or the that the school district has been doing since 2004 but I think needs to be pushed a little bit more um and uh fully consider all viewpoints thank you as a board member what would be your number one priority for the line School District yeah
045so that would be uh educational Excellence the adoption um acceptance and delivery of educational Excellence across the board in everything that we do be it the classroom the library Sports extracurricular activities parent involvement um we must make it our institutional cultural priority that every student can succeed each has the funds of knowledge to bring the foundational knowledge skills and abilities to become engaged Learners I reject the deficit model of Education that has been um historically flawed and racist um excuse uh a racist excuse for allowing students to become statistics that feed our youth into the pipeline of incarceration we must stand in defiance of those policies that fail our students and allow them allow them to fail all students are Learners they all bring a plethora of knowledge that we must recognize and build upon
046expectations matter we as an institution must believe in every student irrespective of color gender identity circum cumstance or income we are a country that has historically rejected or resisted change then slowly embraced the importance of um of evolving and embracing the diversity of many races cultures languages and identities the Need For Change remains as an ongoing constant need and one of the big things that I would also like to address would be um addressing the racial disparities in discipline and also in achievement and opportunity um uh across the board throughout the entire District what do you think are the greatest opportunities for the district yeah so I think that our students are our greatest opportunities um and their families and the um Lancing School District uh uh greater community so in partnership with an Engaged
047faculty and staff both can be and are the path forward every student administrator faculty and staff member wants to be respected encourag encouraged and rewarded for excellent work um let us not just say it but really do it and commit to both the students and um our staff and the community uh that starts with understanding what respect is and how it can be a part of every students administrators faculty and staff's daily experience the same is true for encouragement and reward this will require that we move away from a punitive mentality and incorporate uh that incorporates punishment as a to promote respect en encouragement or reward it does not if we can incentivize respect encouragement and reward we together as the LSD greatest uh are the greatest asset um to set A New Path forward
048okay all righty so what do you think the board should do to attract and maintain students to the Lancing School District yeah so I would answer that question maybe with a question and so I would say that my initial question to that is who are we trying to attract and who are we trying to keep and why um to answer those questions we need to have an open and honest conversation and exchange of ideas race and income are likely factors that negatively impact enrollment and retention we a white flight and income flight are real my first priority would be to keep the students we have and give them substantial reasons to stay that means providing and delivering educational Excellence every day that requires that we be bold and provide educational Excellence um and embrace uh
049the educational Scholars of color who have provided a rich source of educational programs to enhance student learning to transform students into educational leaders no one wants to fail no one wants to be poor or unrecognized so our challenge is to constantly question how do we instill confidence and success into every student's vision of themselves and the students that we already have and that um uh so that we can retain them as at the same time that we show the educational Excellence that we are instilling in them and that will hopefully attract also additional students to our community thank you that's it for our questions thank you so much oh okay hi my name is Ted Lawson um I'm originally from the ipsan area but I've lived in Lancing oh since the early 1980s um both
050my kids went through the district Sheridan Road aotto and Eastern High School and I have a granddaughter currently at Kavanaugh so um I currently work at Meyer and I'm no stranger to boards and committees and I currently serve on the Ingam County Board canvas service I'm done okay I believe it's to recruit and hire and evaluate the superintendent speaking for the board and set policies governing salaries and benefits of staff I also want to work to establish the best care curriculum possible to help our students succeed thank you second question as a board member what would be your number one priority for the Lance for the laning school district students oh students definitely I want to provide a safe welcoming environment where students have the resources needed to achieve all right what do you think
051are the greatest opportunities for the district I want to continue to partner with the local colleges and universities that will provide additional opportunities for students to Aur further achieve I I just noticed we have a partnership with alette now and I think that's great uh also I want to the the CTE program should be continue to be promoted I think that's just great thank you and our last question what do you think the board should do to attract and maintain students to the Lancing School District good question well first we need to identify why parents are choosing uh Charter or these others options I guess and find you know just find out why but then we want to promote why the Lancing schools are better and I believe so and through media or Billboards whatever
052um ways we can use you know just to let people know that hey this is a great School District alrighty those are all of our questions yeah thank you so much thank you for taking the time this evening all righty okay alrighty Daniel I am not going to mess up your last name say your last name in the microphone no whiskey there you go thank you so much for joining us this evening I'll go through the Spiel two minutes you got it introduce yourself to us please thank you uh my name is Daniel noisy I'm a parent of a one-year-old and a foster parent of a six-year-old who's attending the Lancing School District been a foster parent since 2011 had various children at different schools around the district um and now moving towards uh pre-adoption
053status uh previously in my life I was a high school teacher and Coach I started my career in Memphis City schools and Tennessee and then moved back to Michigan with my wife uh who's also from the greater lancine area when she got a job at the lanan school district as a speech pathologist uh I got a a job at Danville High School for a year and then transitioned full-time into my faith community where I continue to serve now as the president of what we call our mission center across Michigan so I supervise and support congregations campgrounds and Ministries all throughout the state I was born in Harbor Beach Michigan in the thumb area went to a small rural School uh found many advantages there got my education at Central Michigan University and I'm excited now
054to be a resident in Lancing where I've been involved in uh faith-based Community organizing and and several efforts in the child welfare system I'll begin with our first question in your opinion what is the functional relationship between the board the superintendent and other District staff my first thought in response to that question as a professional registered parliamentarian is to look to the board's policies uh and so I did that and found that uh policy 1210 already States the board superintendent relationship uh that uh and also 3112 and 4112 on board staff Communications for both professional staff and support staff and so they've outlined as we've heard here that the board's responsibility is to work with the superintendent who is the chief executive and administrative officer for the school district so all Communications from staff need
055to go through the superintendent to the board and then vice versa all uh decisions and Communications from the board to staff go through the superintendent and so I would certainly follow those policies as they're already written U but beyond that philosophically in my experience advising boards and serving on boards uh as a parliamentarian and in my role uh as a church president I found that the most effective boards are ones that hire their CEO or or manag with a vision in mind and then support that Vision through that CEO so anytime boards leave their kind of 10,000 foot view of the overreaching policy uh budget decisions on the big picture and get down into the weeds that's when things usually go off track and and Boards get distracted and there's confusion so I would as
056a board member want to stay at that high level uh policy collaboration with the superintendent opening uh honest dialogue with staff in the appropriate forums uh and Gathering that feedback but making sure it's always funneled properly both ways question number two as a board member what would be your number one priority for the Lancing School District yeah I would say to be a pipeline to Prosperity um I say that in contrast to the The Narrative uh of being a pipeline to the prison system uh because I think that a challenge for urban school districts in many places including Lancing is the negative reputation uh that comes with uh poor test scores or things that are measured by standards that as a former teacher I know don't always capture real outcomes of learning um we've heard
057about some of the implicit bias that's in those kinds of measures and um the cultural dynamics that that bring uh students in in some districts uh come from different places than many others and so for me the measure would not just be student achievement but H how do we develop active and productive community members as our end goal and and ready them for the next stage of their life where they can be uh fully expressed themselves and strive for their own personal fulfillment whatever that path may look like uh often that could be college or or post-secondary education or training uh but it could also mean starting a family uh exploring the world in different aspects and anything we could do as a district uh to turn around that narrative for urban schools uh to
058be a leader uh and say that we're not just going to live by test scores or uh explicit measures although those are important um that we'll be honest with ourselves and hold high expectations for everyone okay what do you think are the greatest opportunities for the district I thought of three primary ones uh the first from my perspective personally is to enhance parent and Community engagement uh and incorporating family input into schools you know I've been a foster parent several times but last year when I kind of changed my perspective to being a full-time parent and really investing in the district long term I tried to be involved as a parent of a kindergartener and found it really frustrating that there wasn't a parent teacher organization to go to there wasn't a clear path to
059volunteer or know what the school needed from parents and community members and I've heard from peers and and neighbors and friends that they want to be involved they want to help but they don't know how we're not communicating that uh and again from my parliamentarian perspective back to the policy we have one of in the in the manual 2112 on parent involvement but I search The District web page and don't find that plan out there for schools don't see it clearly articulated how could I as a parent or Community member be engaged and so that would be number one focus on that um and be very clear in the handbook how do we get involved and then communicate that widely uh secondly I'd say leading implementation in advancement of sustainability efforts um and we heard
060some of that tonight already that's great and I think that's wonderful on the building uh side of things for Energy Efficiency and renewable energy but I think it goes beyond that um we know we're living in a world of climate change and it's going to impact every dimension of Our Lives I think Michigan uh is poised to see an influx of people um because of our location in the Great Lakes and our climate and also the uh infrastructure we already have here with General Motors and a locally owned utility company a land grant institution all those things together so I'd say Beyond just the fac facilities making it a priority in our educational programs that we're we're teaching Urban Agriculture and exploring what we do at ersa we're partnering with MSU and and other places
061uh to take advantage of that and to live out daily choices in our schools teaching not just recycling but how do we refuse things repair things reduce all of those kind of conceptual things that are real tangible outcomes and then finally I'd say developing public private Partnerships so some things that have been mentioned like Board of Water light olet those are all great starts but I think we have to be more aggressive with our business uh Community uh with Foundation support you know there are other places uh particularly in Suburban areas that have substantial funding um booster clubs all those things that really uh just put a lot of uh enhancement opportunities that I think we could pursue as a district all righty and our last question what do you think the board should do
062to attract and maintain students to the laning school district for me it gets back again to uh Community involvement and primarily the word I would use is relationship I think that people stay when they feel connected uh and I think that's for parents and for students U my experience as a coach and educator and uh involvement and orientation when I was at universi says that uh you know research shows students who are connected to something beyond the classroom are more likely to stay so if that's a club after school a sports team arts dance music whatever it can be that builds a relationship that goes beyond just the classroom uh similarly you know I think we have many students who come from trauma and collectively students are traumatized sometimes in our culture and my experience
063as a foster parent is that resiliency comes when uh young adult children have uh positive meaningful relationships with a caring invested adult um my wife and I were working once with some young adults and a sibling to that young adult who we were mentoring asked my wife to be at her case management team and she said that my wife was the only person only adult she knew who was not paid to be in her life she knew teachers counselors but everyone was paid to be there so anything we can do as a school district to bring our community into that relationship so that our students have those connections with coaches you know Club leaders field trips chaperon whatever it might look like I think that's really uh I think that's what we have an opportunity
064to do and from a rural perspective I'd say we often didn't have institutions that we could draw on as a as a child we had to travel hours to get to a shopping mall or something like that here in the state capital we've got so many opportunities to think about you know not only public leaders but an international airport right a a a facility for rare isotope beams all of those things and I just summarize that the best experience two of our foster children I think had was actually a summer enrichment opportunity where they got to go to three or four different places I think it was the art reach and the zoo and a couple different places uh in June just for half days those kinds of opportunities are something that we could offer
065that other school districts can't that could really set us apart and build relationships that connect parents and families with the school district thank you thank you so very much all righty our last applicant Amanda Jones all righty two minutes tell us about yourself right thank you hello um and thank you for having me um my name is Amanda Jones and I am a proud product of the Lancing School District I went to seon high school as well as Wayne wght and Wood Creek um and I am the proud parent of a student in the school district and then I have a one-year-old as well so she's not quite ready for school yet but we'll be there soon um I have a bachelor's degree in English from uh Central Michigan University and a master's degree in
066strategic communication that I received from Michigan State University I currently work for Michigan State University as a strategic integration manager for the IT department within student life and engagement so um I leas and build relationships project management uh Partnerships between my assigned partner organization which is culinary services and the IT department um we are one of the largest divisions on or at MSU and we are responsible for the care and keeping of all of those students outside of the classroom and sometimes inside the classroom um something that uh I've been passionate about since I was I always thought that I'd be a teacher but life kind of got in the way and other interests proved um more interesting but uh working this is the third University that I've worked at if you uh count my
067experience as a student employee at Central Michigan University so education has always been a foundation of my personal and professional interests thank you we'll begin with the first question in your opinion what is the functional relationship between the board the superintendent and other um District sta staff excuse me have been repeating myself you've been doing a lot uh the superintendent and other District staff they are the subject matter Experts of of all that we're doing here with within the school district they know the content they know the people they know the obstacles and they know the opportunities um the board their role is to listen to that subject matter expertise or the resources and expertise experts that they're bringing in ask questions seek additional resources and really consider uh the information being provided to dis
068to agree or disagree as needed with the recommendation made by the superintendent and his uh staff I think that the board also has the influence and the power to assist with the superintendent and his staff in bringing I'm sorry I've lost my place um in bringing in additional resources they have a role of clearing obstacles and making things move forward um or make it possible some some things just don't move forward until the board says so uh I think that there's also sort of a circular it's it's kind of a you know um a cyclical relationship and a bit of a vend diagram as well where the board and the superintendent and District staff take turns being responsible accountable consulted and informed in the projects and decision- making and policy setting that happens um and
069they are they're doing all that for that to take action in for the betterment and continuing operations of the district lastly I think that the board has a unique role to be representative of the community um and the students uh of the district that we are in many of them are parents uh in the district or nearby um professionals and business owners uh it's important that the board listen to and represent their constituencies in and and take action to for the betterment of their interest even when those might differ from their personal opinions um I think that you're representative of and not just an individual and you need to act accordingly as a board member what would be your number one priority for the laning school district um my number one priority is pretty large
070um I think that one of the most important things that the school district should do is meeting the needs of uh 21st century fam students and families uh we've gone through quite some revolutionary things recently um and the today's family is wildly different than when I was a student and when my parents were students um and I think that I know having worked in higher education in school to in schools previously that the the Wheels of Change move slowly so there are areas where we might still be doing things the way that they were done when I was in school or even as far back as when my parents were in school um but the families today resource allocation the way that we value our time and our effort and our money um is different
071uh the parenting philosophies that we employ are different the goals and dreams that we have for ourselves and for our children are different than in previous generations and what has the school district done already um what are you currently doing what are you planning to do um to meet the new challenges and the families where they are off the top of my head that includes areas like wraparound care uh transportation technology being responsive to elements of uh diversity Equity inclusion belonging and Justice um what accommodations are we making available to our students of course safety um academic and career Readiness programming across the K2 Spectrum uh social and emotional learning I would view each decision that I made or voted on uh recommended Etc through the lens of how is the district how is this
072decision meeting the needs of today's students where they are now where their families are now and where they're going to be tomorrow okay what do you think are the greatest opportunities for the district I think that the Lancing school district is uniquely poised for some opportunities um unlike the districts that are are in the surrounding area some of those include Innovation and disrupting tradition uh I think that we have the expertise and uh the stiiven or you know the Gen squa um to really disrupt um some of the tradition or the old best practices and and move forward with the new I think that we have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to build up the success and break down the barriers for students from underrepresented backgrounds and social identities um and I think that the
073Lancing school district is uniquely poised um based on its proximity to uh institutions like MSU LCC Sparrow state and local government other large businesses in the area other large um Charities or or small Charities too nonprofit organizations in a way that even districts that inhabit the same county do not we are very unique in that we have our spoken wheel um to all of those resources is not comparable it's above and beyond what the other districts have off have um access to our last question what do you think the board should do to ATT attct and maintain students to the Lancing School District um similarly as I just mentioned I think that building Partnerships that appeal to families uh especially in the area of Music Arts Sports career apprenticeship opportunities educational opportunities what are we
074doing to enhance the uh educational experience outside of our traditional understanding of Academia um where are we involving the community to bring those resources including family members many of our school district families are business owners or experts in the field themselves and how are they being involved um I think demonstrating a commitment and investment to emotional intelligence including things like addressing bullying being responsive to neurod divergences um or examples of neurod divergencies uh the lgtb qia community um and other social identities I I think that if people are not feeling safe here if they are vulnerable in a way that it detracts from their ability to learn or participate in the school district then we are doing them an incredible diservice and we want to highlight all the ways that we are not you know
075we all the ways that we are meeting those needs committed to um serving this the students as they are and committed to um preventing harm and addressing instances of harm where they happen lastly I think that we want to continue build maintain um the variety of offerings that we have for uh students who are achieving and students who need support um whether that's AP courses I remember as a student at the I don't know at the time at when I was a senior um the Lancing School District had the most AP courses available in the area um across the three high schools um also dual enrollment um things like tutoring how are we meeting the needs of special education how are we meeting the needs of those who are uh Hands-On Learners or kinesthetic and
076uh how are we uh our extracurriculars are a widen variety and not just in the traditional set um what counseling services are we offering in terms of academic support guidance um mental and physical well-being in areas like that thank you so much those are all of our questions thank you I would like to thank all of our applicants that came out tonight are the second half of our interviews will um resume on Monday uh what day is Monday the figure it out the 18th you're amazing Monday the 18th um and thank you very much you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting or or you can leave it doesn't matter but I want to again thank you for taking the time and the commitment to come out and interview for this for this
077position is very important so thank you very much let's take a minute or so just to kind of get ourselves together thank you okay well I'm going to move into our public comment this evening and it looks like we have a public comment on a non aggenda agenda item if I can have steuart Reynolds please come to the podium you have three minutes and there's a timer right over there the board typically does not respond to public comments when you're ready just let us know and we'll start the clock good evening I'd like to tell the superintendent that he's not doing his job real well the reason why is because after all I've been with the district for over 25 years I've been a public uh person that wor grew up in the school district
078I went to kendan Elementary went to Gardner middle school which was 6 through eight not like what you have right now 5 through 8 in my building that I'm at right now working currently at it is not accessible to be a Junior High in your book I'd like to know in Harvard what is a definition of a Junior High Mr superintendent I'd like to hear your comment as well and I also would like to also say this that pretty much that when I have unruly students when am I supposed to to do with them I can't discipline them because they don't want to listen to me they flip me off they call me names they call cursed and pretty much I try to take their cell phones away from them they don't want to do
079that they feel like I'm invading their privacy and I'm not I'm just following protocol what is necessary for a school policy as well and they don't want to listen at all what do you have to say about that sir on to public comments that's because he's too busy looking for little kids teeth that's all I have to say at this time are there any comments from the board at this moment yes Dr Kavanaugh I'd like to commend everyone not just the folks who uh we heard from tonight but the folks will hear from Monday as well for putting their name forward um as someone who went through the appointment process um about a year and a half ago I know how scary it can be and how Brave you all must have been to decide
080that it was something that you were willing to take on so I just wanted to thank all of you for being willing to serve your community Dr Rodriguez thank you I want to say the same thing thank you very much for applying but more important thank you for all the enthusias and good things that you want for l in a school district and for the our community and the students you are very positive about our district what we are doing the goal and objectives we are not perfect but we know that you are here because you have interest in the students all the students all the staff and the laning thank you very much and thank you for giving us also faith and new new beginning for all of us to continue to be more
081members oh go ahead oh okay okay me then I was going to say that's okay uh first of all I want to remind everybody that we're only days away from Hispanic Heritage Month so I hope to see our district you know display some of the uh not only the the the traditional dance or the the the food but also some some effective uh learning experiences for students there's a lot of Mater material right now especially with the internet and uh um things that we can um Google and find you know uh but um no I I think that we need to um look at ways to uh bring um bring information to students that that is pertinent to them and this is Hispanic month next time it's another group but we should do that for
082everyone and I think the Multicultural education is going to help us do that as we move forward on on that realm uh I too want to thank everybody that came to apply thank you very much um it's um it's almost like having a um it's not a profession but a vocation working with uh nonprofit groups and and school boards because uh we're not here because of the money obviously so um thank you very much for for taking the opportunity to apply gracias thank you thank you um I really uh feel really blessed to be on this board and um admire so much everybody who sits up here and um I'm so honored that all of you came to throw your name in um I'm really impressed by all of you this is going to be
083very difficult but just I hope you can feel how much we appreciate your willingness to um kind of come here and look at us and say hey we want to help um it says so much about our community that there are people like you who are willing to come forward and put yourselves through the through this ringer and um so I just hope you can all feel how much I can I'm sure I speak for all of us how much we appreciate you thank you so much last but not least um I also was initially joined the board 2017 as an appointee to fill a vacancy and then was elected um and uh man you guys put the candidates that interviewed with Michael H to shame so it's a it's going to be a shame
084that we can't take more than one of you but what I would strongly encourage is if you're if you're ultimately not the one that's picked you should run run for the seat in 2024 and I'm saying that as somebody who would potentially be on the ballot so um if you don't get it this time around don't go too far because there's going to be elections to uh for the for some of the other seats on the same board um and so I appreciate all of you thank you Dr body thanks everyone well at this time I don't have any words to say I've already thanked everybody but I'm with no further business before the board it is 7:16 and we are adjourned