001okay I'd like to call the meeting to order can I have roll call please Mr Antoine is here Miss Bonnet here Mr Connor Dr Dimas Miss Hein cars here miss rice gentlemen here gentlemen starting the meeting can we rise for the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all can I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda so we'll move support moved and supported any questions or concerns regarding the agenda seeing none all in favor I opposed motion carries Dr Robinson celebrations [Music] a few celebrations I want to get my mic on here a few celebrations um can you hear me now all right throat's a little raspy tonight folks
002sorry been been fighting a cold I'm from Washington Elementary um we had a celebration last week I was actually able to participate as a spectator in the caring School Community assembly they had a series of I think monthly assemblies they have but anyways the theme for the month was compassionate so they took the opportunity to recognize some students from lower L upper L and I think their special area classes for representing that value and they received a special certificate and then the students had some fun I think with a couple games before returning to class so celebrating the caring School communities at Washington Elementary um looking back I know most of our board members were able to be a part of our annual Retreat for the academies at Romeo High School this is uh you
003know part of the Ford NGL um structure that districts Academy districts would hold an annual Retreat that ultimately allows for some presentation on progress for the previous year we haven't been able to hold a traditional annual Retreat because of the pandemic so we were excited to get back to that and we kind of had two parts to the day we had several dignitaries in in our business partners there executive director from Ford and extra generation learning was with us that's the first time she had been in Romeo since our designation ceremony so we had the opportunity for a smaller group to spend some time in classrooms the last part of the school day then held our annual retrieve presentation and sat down and engaged with our business partners to get some input from them on
004updating of of the updating of our portrait of a graduate so a successful day a lot of positive remarks and we're grateful for the participation and support of everyone who was involved um some celebrations from the band program so it is Festival season and we had to navigate at the middle school some weather closures and things like that but they were able to the high school bands were participated across two different days at the district competition our Cadott and concert bands earned excellent division two ratings and our symphony banner and a superior division one rating they'll move on to the state band Festival in May and we had 14 different groups solo and Ensemble groups that participated in that festival and received division one or two honors for their performances high school student Joey Sarver
005was also named outstanding soloist of the salon Ensemble festival with a score of 99 out of a possible 100 points so congratulations thanks so congratulations to Mr Phillips and and our band students for and good luck to them as they continue on some of them to the state level um we started a new student organization this year Mr bossineau is involved in leading our mock trial team and so this is the first year for Romeo's mock trial team and and they took part in the regional competition so a lot of time goes into preparing outside of the school day for this and although they didn't move on to the the state competition they received a lot of Praise from other coaches and teams that have been at this for several years about how they performed
006and we look forward to going back again next year and and hopefully moving on to the state level competition so some some pictures of our students dressed in their professional attire when they participated in this event and got to interact with other teams and also with the judges in that from the court system I want to congratulate Cody Smith our athletic director Cody was recently selected Mi AAA region 10 athletic director of the year you see a picture there in an announcement from the Mi AAA um Cody was in Traverse City at their annual conference a week ago and received that plaque and and honors in front of his colleagues so we appreciate all that Cody does works a lot of hours and manages a lot of things so congratulations to Mr Smith on being
007selected athletic director of the year and we got some we've been talking about wrestling for the last couple meetings so we invited some wrestlers here tonight we figured we would just hold a short dual meet with the board members we'll be fine with this maybe not um so last time we met the team was handed off to on the team state finals so they they had a great run this season and and a great run at Kalamazoo they went into the team state finals seated number five and they defeated Davison in the quarterfinal round and Davison was the two-time returning state champ so if you know anything about wrestling they they've been doing that pretty good in Davidson for a while now so that was exciting to get that quarterfinal round win we ended up
008losing to Catholic Central in the semifinals who were the eventual division one state champs but it's just a huge accomplishment for coach Kelly coach stabley and all the wrestlers to to end up top four in the state division one for the team competition there's a separate individual State final competition and we actually had 13 of our 14 wrestlers qualify which is of course a record and almost perfect and so that middle picture there is is the group of wrestlers as they were headed off to Ford Field to compete at the individual state finals one of the neat traditions we have at Romeo High School is when our teams qualify for the state finals at the at the the day that they're going off to competition the kids kind of clapped them out and and so
009that's pretty neat if you've not ever seen a video of that so um so anyways we we had 13 qualifiers and I've invited our All-State wrestlers six of them finished in the top eight in the state which is quite an accomplishment one of them was unable to be here tonight but Mrs bonic if you wanna add towards the end of the table down there I got some certificates I'll call the young man up um one at a time and then guys will get a group picture together and we'll send you on your way so thanks for wearing your sweaters tonight I I appreciate that that's a little old school so old people like me appreciate the Lettermen sweater so Bryce Holt is a freshman who finished fourth and I don't think Bryce was able to
010to be here tonight Owen Youngblood Jr finished sixth place congratulations Ellen Josh McMillan senior finished eighth place congratulations Josh Tyler senior finished Seventh Place [Applause] ibonne Contreras I apologize if I mispronounced that senior finished sixth place I've learned that this is only his second year of wrestling so um congratulations [Music] and Braden Braden mirjavati senior was the individual 190 pound state champion congratulations so this doesn't happen with a lot of without a lot of support from parents and and coaches but tonight we have Mike stabley and Jim Kelly our wrestling coaches that are here want to give them a round of applause guys jump up in this photo nice so gentlemen congratulations on a phenomenal season and representing us well in your All-State status thanks for coming out tonight that's our celebrations for tonight moving
011on to presentations no presentations this evening all right can I have a motion for consent action so we'll move support move by DMs supported by counter are there any questions or concerns no all in favor I opposed motion carries moving on to informational updates and Communications you had a couple um cards that were received at the central office Dr Robinson did you have anything else for that one no and then we did have a facility meeting Mike do you want to do you want me to yeah I can do it um we had a facility meeting um the main purpose of the meeting was to get together prior to this board meeting to discuss the furniture the furniture bid and acquiring furniture for all of our in our elementary buildings and I I believe uh
012Dr Robertson's going to speak a little more about that for us also the technology oh and the technology upgrade was another big part of the presentation as well that um Mr Nelson went over with us and that's also a resolution for this evening I did have a couple of questions after the meeting I talked with Mr Nelson and got the answers that I needed so I feel good about it any other questions on the facilities meeting okay all right I guess we'll dive into the superintendent's report um so we do have uh Building Technology upgrades project resolution tonight and I asked Mr Nelson um to join us as a part of of my report so Mark if you want to jump up and just give us a quick recap of what the project is and
013then if the board has any further questions sure uh this project involves equipping new classrooms so there are classroom additions at Indian Hills and Hamilton Parsons as well as the addition to Croswell Early Childhood Center so these classrooms of course will require classroom technology and then all of the supporting technology like cameras and PAs clocks all of those types of things at Croswell it also involves the removal of existing technology and then the replacement after things like ceilings are replaced and that construction that it's all included in this as well in addition all elementary cafeterias will be receiving large format presentation areas except have all Havel has one but the other four don't have a large format presentation system like these so this project also includes those spaces and I'd be happy to answer any
014questions all right thank you Mark thank you um construction update Mr Murray and Mr storm are not here tonight um but we went through uh Elementary Mr Murray's been leading a design committee with representatives from all five of our elementary buildings and and our furniture classroom purchasing as part of the 2021 bond for elementaries weave this is of course a large-scale project because of just the volume of General Ed classrooms that we're going to replace and so we decided last fall that we would approach this in two phases and the first phase is we'll get their Furniture this summer and those are the buildings that aren't having any other construction so this can be the focus in those buildings in addition to Summer cleaning and then we'll cycle back in the summer of 24 and
015take care of both Indian Hills and Hamilton Parsons along with the Croswell facility Croswell in our early childhood kids are a different type of classroom set up so their design meetings actually start this Wednesday but that'll be kind of phase two so had a lot of good conversation teachers are very protective of their classrooms the furniture that we have has has definitely seen its time we'll we'll take some steps to offer that furniture sometimes there are non-profits and agencies that can make use of of some of that furniture some of it will be recycled scrapped or disposed of but that's all part of the process to deploy but we hope to see hevel Washington and Amanda Moore get their new General Ed classroom Furniture so in the facilities report or committee meeting it's important to
016note that some of the specialty furniture for our new stamina music and that that isn't a part of this resolution and we still have some conversation to have to be had about our young fives classrooms and our special ed classrooms so we'll be bringing another resolution I'm going to guess in another month or so to approve the rest of that purchase um so any questions on on that Elementary classroom Furniture proposal all right I'm just checking back in on safety we had the presentation uh from Jason Russell president of secure education consultants and then our time with the board in closed session so I just just want to share with the board and the public you know it was it was encouraging we're we're never all the way there on school safety I mean even
017tragic events that we hear about in the media today have to keep this at the top of our list but I'm appreciative of the expertise of SEC and Mr Russell and when you hear people like that who have have done these Assessments in hundreds of schools and districts to to say that you know he feels like we're in a good spot and he's confident things like the top two percent of districts that they've reviewed that there's a lot of credit that goes with a lot of people who have done a lot to to make that but uh in terms of the recommendations much of our recommendations involve some kind of signage updating an example of that would be we have our exterior doors numbered only certain entrances in a building have a key fob entry
018and our First Responders are given key fob so by changing the color of those numbers or an extra sign so that in the event of an emergency responders would clearly know that you know this door with a blue number is where I can gain access so the first step in just putting something like that in place is to actually get our signage updated we've added on to some buildings and added some additional exterior doors so there is some updating in the in the number system or sequence that we will take care of as these projects are completed there's some survey valence things that that we're going to work on with Mr Nelson and his team and and in some cases it's work that was in the 2021 bond that we might pull some of that
019forward and do it earlier based on some of the recommendations and then Communications much of our our communication recommendation really will be solved by our two-way radio project that the board has already approved so the other thing that I just wanted to mention is the we've reached agreement on the contractor agreement for Access of the two-way radio tower in Bruce Township their board will be voting on that at their April meeting so by the next time we meet I hope to be able to tell the board we're good and we're ready to move forward so we hope to have that fully implemented by the start of next school year um I wanted to let the board and the public know that we have signed an Loa in terms of the calendar for next year we
020had published uh the calendar a month or so ago and we've worked with the association to make one change to the calendar and that is to move next year's February 7th PD day up earlier in the year to September 27th we think with some of the initiatives that are on the Forefront it will be better to have our professional development time front loaded we have also found over time that Mother Nature has more control over things in February than than we like so so we'll make that change for next year and and then you know future calendars of course would be part of a future agreement that that we'll be working on academic Services Mrs McFarland a few things tonight from academic services good evening board members so just an update we did complete the
021media materials review process the parent who had requested us to review materials has been notified and we're working through that with that parent um just an update about summer school we're busy excuse me busy doing planning and we have postings out for a majority of the summer school positions I met with Mr osbo today so we should see High School postings for the adults to uh um staff the summer school programs after spring break so when we return from spring break building levels we'll be reaching out to families of students who may qualify for that support during summer school we're hopefully going to beef up our girls in stem last year was our first year and it was a four day and they couldn't get enough of it so Mrs Dawson and I are meeting
022on Wednesday and we're hoping to come up with a A plus plan utilizing some of our CTE classrooms and teachers and apparently we have some drone thing going on this Summer that the ISD is going to have in our building so we'll leverage that too the the last thing I want to talk to you about is our continent thank you our return to and learn continuity of services plan so with the ARP asker 3 funds so remember there was regular sr2 now there are ARP s or three Grant funds they run run through the um 2023-24 school year and we have to have them expended by September 30 of 24. we are required to post which we've done and review our return to learn and continuity of services plan not greater than every six months
023so we worked on this and I presented at the September board meeting this September so this is the sixth month there are no changes obviously we are all in person we do have RVA for middle and high school families if they so choose and there are no current mandates from the county health department so there are no changes in our continuity of services plan and rumor has it the pandemic is going to be over in May yeah so um but every six months I'll come back up if changes need to be made obviously we'll work with the board beforehand but we're following the legal requirements that are required for us to continue to accept those funds and use those funds any questions from the board members around that ma'am thank you okay thank you so
024uh last port of last part of my report for tonight is um just wanted to check back in on uh our Workshop meeting and just a a quick review of of the things that we discussed um there um so the heart of our evening was some time with members of our leadership team and the board had approved our strategic plan in in January we needed to dig in as a district leadership team and create some year one action plans so we did that and we took time to share those with the board in some cases some of that work was already underway and then others you know we're we're beginning to work we also took the opportunity to share those those handful of things in each Focus area that we would kind of use as
025measurable objectives when we get to the end of year one and we're really hopeful that that March Retreat can or Workshop can be that place where we're checking back in on the previous year and talking about what what is in store in the the next year of the plan and at some point if we're checking goals off the list and we're making progress to the point where we think we need to revisit the plan then we could go back into that type of process so year one action plans are are underway we talk about kind of some quarterly updates on this strategic plan the first quarter of this year of course was developing the action plan so we'll check back in with the board July or August on progress that we've made in the second
026quarter of this year we also spent some time that night directly connected to the Strategic plan in many ways was our leadership priorities for the 23-24 school year a more refined list that we have have done with the leadership team is these kind of top 13 priority initiatives uh and then those that are bolded or have the resolution 26 and parentheses of course are those non-general fund uh initiatives in this case some additional Staffing or staff positions that um we're we have the money um and uh we'd like to get ahead of getting out to get the best candidates for these positions but they would all be for for next year in terms of filling those three highlighted ones so we spent some time at our last DLT meeting trying to make sense of some
027groupings of how we would bring these initiatives to the board and and I would guess much of this would come in between now and the end of June as long as we get a little bit more information on the budget school aid budget for next year and and the next month or so here in some cases it might be July or August and there are some things here that don't require any additional expenditure or any formal board approval but we'll continue to update on these and bring these to you we have three tonight um is there any questions on this list okay we talked about our shared time agreement with the Lutheran High School Association or specifically Luther North and for several years through share time in the people accounting manual for the state of
028Michigan we have partnered with Lutheran High North to employ some of their elective Area Teachers so we took some time at the workshop to just do a four-year analysis of Revenue expenditures some of the challenges we deal with and people accounting around that so typically the district would bring renewal of that contract each June to the board sometimes our May meeting to extend it for an additional year you know the discussion we've had the the numbers and there's been some attrition over time for I think a few different reasons so we're still in discussion uh internally with that and I'll have some discussions with with their superintendent later this week and so um we just wanted to review that in our resolution tonight that just the board acknowledges we're in discussion the possibility of discontinuing
029that but no decision has formal decision has been made as of yet um and then uh lastly tonight from the workshop is um we we've done some unique enrollment forecasting and most recently we elicited the support of plant Moran kressa to do an enrollment forecasting study for us we had a follow-up meeting Vicki and myself with uh two members of their team and it's it's a it's a very lengthy report but uh Paul Wills from plant Memorial caressa was able to direct us to a half dozen or so pages in the report that really kind of tell the story based on birth rates and demographics and engaging with the municipalities and all of that so we've invited Paul to come to our next meeting to do a short presentation to kind of present some of
030the highlights for the board and the community our work around enrollment forecasting really started before this year but specifically this year is looking at our and our elementaries and and trying to begin to create some balancing of those numbers this report has helped us dramatically with a five-year Lookout as to how the district enrollment is forecasting and and also individual buildings um so um I believe it's best is does our our team who is involved in this to to Target our elementary schools in that 400 to 450 range we have a couple that are over that and and we have uh a few that are under that um most recently Washington Elementary has fallen into that 350 to 370 range and so we began to look at how might we be able to support them
031moving forward with some things that could potentially make sense and and our review began with just looking at the 27 mile Corridor you know east to west in the district and and there are some developments on the east side of the district that are south of of 27 mile that are critical to the enrollment at Havel so to just say everyone who lives South at 27 mile Goes to Washington Elementary would make sense geographically but we're we're getting more into the weeds to say if if there are residential developments or there are areas that go to a different school from that area of you know redistricting them wouldn't make sense to to help a problem somewhere and create more somewhere somewhere else but so we shared shared with you at the meeting the really a
032geographic small geographic area with three or four developments in there that um you know we're we're going to begin communicating with those families about redistricting those students to Washington Elementary for next year that's about 46 students I think when all is said and done because of course we have fifth graders that are moving on to Middle School we're enrolling new kindergartners right now daily and young five students so we'll also take a look at those that might fall into that geographic area but our task is we discussed at the workshop is to begin communication over the next month and then we would come to the board at the next meeting to approve that redistricting so this group is small enough we will speak to every family individually and make sure that their questions get answered
033all right that's all that I have see any public comment tonight that is in relation to anything we are voting on just do a quick double check all right so all of these will be at the following public comment time on the board meeting so moving on can I have a motion for employee services resolution number 20 which is a Personnel update it is the hiring and um retirements resignations that have happened since our last meeting motion move by rice supported by I course are there any questions all in favor aye opposed motion carries next is superintendent resolution number 21 which is the RCs leadership organizational structure updates this has to do with what we discussed at our Workshop meeting recommending changes to align with the current industry values for our some specific leadership roles
034so move move by DMS support by Connor any questions or concerns on this all in favor I opposed motion carries next one is employee services resolution number 22 which is the organizational structure and the contract proposal can I have a motion moved by Connor support support by Demas are there any questions seeing none all in favor I opposed motion carries next one is our technology resolution number 23 which is our technology upgrades this has to do with installing large venue projection systems and the elemental cafeterias auditions at Indian Hills ham Park Roswell that will have new technology for stem music and art classes motion support moved by Antoine supported by rice any questions all in favor I oppose motion carries next one is our facilities resolution number 25 which is our construction management fee adjustments
035this has to do with some changes uh due to jobs and Staffing are there any questions or concerns did we skip one oh I'm so sorry I skipped our furniture I do apologize I wear the glasses but doesn't mean I can see facility resolution number 24 which is our Elementary classroom Furniture proposal which is the three schools with two to follow the following year so moved okay we got a tie we have a motion by rice support by Demas any questions or concerns seeing none all in favor I opposed motion carries the next one was facility resolution number 25 which is our construction management fee adjustment ocean motion by Antoine support support by icorst questions or concerns seeing none all in favor I I opposed motion carries next one is our superintendent resolution number 26
036which is the 2324 leadership priorities group one which we discussed at length at our last Workshop meeting motion moved by rice support by Demas any questions comments concerns all in favor aye opposed motion carried we have the business services resolution number 27 which is the shared time this is the four-year analysis and any questions on this one seeing none all in favor aye opposed a post by Connor so that's five one um may I have a motion to go into closed session this is for collective bargaining move by Dimas second support by rice this requires a roll call vote can I can I go back to 27 just a formality but yes we did not get a motion in second before the vote can we yes go back and clarify yeah do I have a
037motion so move moved by Demas support supported by icorst all in favor aye opposed we have one okay I do apologize for that um now may I have a roll call for closed session uh Mr Antoine is yes uh misspanic yes Mr Connor yes Mr Dr demons yes I course yes Miss rice yes all right we are going into closed session and we do expect to come out to have another resolution so you're welcome to wait just doing it so they can kind of hear all right can I have a motion to come out of closed session so move by counter support by Dimas sorry um roll call Mr Antoine is yes Miss Bonnie yes Mr Connor yes sir Dr demons yes Miss I course yes Miss rice yes so now we are back in
038regular session and sorry I have to grab my can I have a motion um for employee services resolution 28 which is the afscme child care wage proposal moved by Demis support by Connor any questions or concerns all in favor aye opposed motion carries congratulations I do think we have a couple reps here today so yay thank you for all that you do moving on is there any uh board discussion for the good of the district foreign just as a reminder I'm going to call these individuals that had filled out the form so these are the ones that we'll be speaking tonight we do ask that you keep your comments to three minutes I try my best to kind of give you a little 10 second warning so if you can wrap it up and and
039honestly be respectful of that the other part is just remember that this is a meeting of the board to do the board's business in public it's not a public meeting that's why we kind of say on here you know did you speak with your school principal things of that nature because you're not going to get any real feedback tonight however there's a place on this forum if you you know give your give your contact information or if you ask a question we will make sure that either the board follows up or the administration depending on the topic so just want to let you guys know that for some of you that might be new this isn't different it's just the way we've always done it the way most boards do it I should say the
040first one is David Newman and I'll just ask that you you know state your name and your address and also your affiliation with the school district foreign thank you my name's Dave Newman I live in uh Carriage Hill subdivision and my daughter is a student of Romeo High School can you hear me by the way okay um I had a whole lot of information that I wanted to go over but I'm really getting Consolidated down to a couple of key points that I really want to stress um the first thing is the the last few meetings there's been some anti-trans anti-lgbtq uh sentiment expressed and um and it's basically a theme that's going on across the country and I believe that these laws are putting children's health safety and even lives at risk um I've
041put together some statistics that kind of show some of the concern that I have one third of lgbtq Youth experience parental acceptance two-thirds don't parental rejection leads to a 700 increase in attempted suicide and 500 percent higher likelihood of high levels of depression one-third of them hide their sexual identity until well into adulthood because they don't believe their parents or family will accept them one in six lgbtq youth are forced to take conversion therapy as a result in with the result of suicide attempts being 250 percent more likely thirty percent of LG lgbtq youth are physically threatened or harmed leading to a tripling of the suicide rate compared to cisgender kids trans youth in this country are scared they have been victims of hatred and violence and have been socially excluded and it's not all
042just from their peers in the classroom much as being driven by parents that are having fear their fears exploited by figures in our society and it's not just the parents being exploited there's radical organizations that are using event Evangelical Christian leaders as well we saw that with the recent uh a religious leader I guess it is a stretch citing Nazi rhetoric Independence positions while parents in the school district cheered the result of these attacks on trans and non-binary kids by our leaders has increased the Suicidal Thoughts in major depression in those groups half of trans and non-binary youth have considered suicide in the last two years they have overwhelmingly cited an onslaught of anti-trans legislation as the driver shamefully it's adults that are putting their health lies in the health and lives in danger there
043are signs of hopes however however there are school districts that have employed inclusive gender affirming programs and in those cases they've seen youth suicide rates drop by 50 percent um I think in conclusion I just want to say that there's some there's some dangerous organizations out there that are aligned with people sometimes in this room or just in society in general is that right oh okay um I just want to make sure that we create a safe space for our kids regardless of their gender their gender identity and I don't want to go down the path that some other states have where where we see changes in like history being taught um look Florida is teaching that there's no racial component to the Rosa Parks story things like that that's eventually the path so thank
044you appreciate it [Music] next I have Ben O'Brien Ben O'Brien you can just state your name and address that you can do your name and address up there just so they can hear you at home yes um I am Ben O'Brien um in the course of the previous school board meetings it has become clear that this is in large part about lgbtq plus issues as well as age-appropriate reading as it comes to sexual assault slash sex especially in in that spirit I want to make it evident that I am in favor of keeping the challenge books in the library to start with the ones that tackle queer issues there's a fear that they Pander to an agenda the goal of which is to indoctrinate the youth into becoming or into believing that they're gay and
045to that I have to say I have no respect for someone who says to a young person you're gay and you must accept it and I also have no respect for someone who says you're straight and you must accept it and while that isn't explicitly being said there are unambiguous efforts to minimize the number of gay children in Romeo on the basis of religious freedom the fact is I don't want one more person in this world who's queer I just want everyone who is to be treated with love and kindness instead of hatred and rage on the basis of religious freedom though this is simply not enough in my religion gay people are celebrated and welcome why does your religion decide the books that I should get to read when my spiritual beliefs are totally
046different from yours why does your religion take precedence now the main thing you want to focus on is the idea that these books are too graphic from my age group firstly being attracted to someone to your same sex is not graphic it's identical to the attraction of a man to a woman it's identical to the feeling they have towards one another moreover books actually having graphing content in them is not a good reason to remove them from a high school library the Bible is full of graphic content there's instances of racism genocide child prostitution cannibal is a mass murder Etc but I hope you would not agree that this means that we should remove the Bible from public schools it still has valuable themes and lessons and ideas that are not diminished by the tale
047of lot and his daughter moreover a book being contentious is all the more reason to keep it in a school library whether one agrees with the statement a book is making or not Banning the book limits the capacity to think which is important for so many reasons it promotes Innovation critical thinking personal growth and the idea of democracy but the most important thing I want to highlight is that reading books that have themes relating to rape and sexual assault is vital for protecting oneself from a similar situation all evidence demonstrates that higher awareness of sexual assault and more sex education correlate with a lower rate of sexual abuse it's graphic uncomfortable and scary but one in Six Women in one in 33 men are forced to learn about this on their own the hard way
048and this is not fair nor Equitable and it diminishes our Collective Humanity to remove the ability of the availability of sex education to people who are in potential danger and to be clear that's what it is education the books from the library aren't porn they're themes there are themes in the books the goals of which are to not are not to induce erotic excitement nor to even suggest that Sexes spend three minutes if you can wrap up okay yeah I'm on the last bit you'd be hard-pressed to find someone that who read Vladimir not because the leader otta who finished their reading and found the actions of the protagonists to be anything other than morally demonstrable despite the book's incredibly graphic nature I would also add that again those who are more aware are less
049likely to be in danger themselves [Music] can I have Craig Jones Craig Jones if you can State your address and your affiliation to the school yeah my name is Craig Jones I live at 11715 metal place in Washington Michigan I have I've had two students in the school system I've had a senior right now and um I had a daughter who graduated and is in college now and I just you know she went through a lot going through here and but always kept it very to herself and she asked me to come and just you know seeing the things going on with the school and and voice Our concern my family and I moved to The District 20 years ago and seeing the trends that are going on right now I don't think I would
050have made that decision that I uh seen the way things are going here so again I just want to support what everybody else is saying and hope you guys uh consider that and make it an inclusive environment so thank you Mark Evans yeah he's here it's your address and the affiliation yeah good evening my name is Mark Evans I've lived in the village of Romeo for 35 years our three children graduated from Romeo high school and our granddaughter is a recent Romeo grad also my wife Janice taught in the Romeo school system for 11 years then she went on to be a principal in another District now I was pastor of Saint John Lutheran Church here in the village for over 20 years at last month's school board meeting a minister spoke to you and
051gave you his views on how he believes the Christian faith judges and rejects those individuals who are not heterosexual I'd like to share with you a different opinion on that and I will not be quoting Adolf Hitler but rather I'll start where my faith begins and that is with the life and teachings of Jesus as I understand them and as they're found in the four gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John in these gospels Jesus commands me to love all people and as hard as it is sometimes even my enemies he accepted all kinds of people and this so enraged his own religious leaders that they had him crucified and while Jesus was dying on a cross his enemies mocking him he said father forgive them for they know not what they do now I know
052as school board members yours is a thankless task for we live in a world that is overflowing with distrust anger and hatred and I hope that in the future if you are asked to make decisions concerning what books are suitable for our school libraries that you do not let this anger and hatred Cloud your decisions and that you will keep in mind the first amendment of our country's Constitution which guarantees free speech My Hope Is that you will take into account the needs and conditions of all students no matter their race their religion or sexual orientation and that you do this with compassion tolerance love and understanding for in this horribly fractured culture in which we live problems will not be solved by Banning books and so I will keep you in my prayers as
053you navigate these dangerous and Troubled Waters in which we all live thank you Danielle Danielle Lee hello my name is Danielle Lee I'm at 171 Tilson Street I have a third grader at Amanda Moore after hearing the last board meeting I felt compelled to come speak to you today to be honest I wasn't sure what I was most upset about whether it was the pastor speaking about our school board asking to protect our children from words in a book or that he said God created just man and just women and that children that have identified differently are not humankind or the thought that a quote from Hitler would be helpful in any capacity I am a practicing Catholic and while I need a lot of practice I was pretty surprised to hear the type of
054speech coming from a man of faith especially at a school board meeting I personally believe as parents we can handle teaching our children religion at home however if we're going to look to the Bible for any help I would like to suggest Matthew chapter 8 verse 8. the Centurion says to Jesus Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my servant shall be healed you see the Centurion was asking Jesus to heal his servant and friend do you know what Jesus said he said let it be so he didn't ask if the servant was a good man or if he was married to a woman or if he identified as male or female he simply said let it be so whether you believe in actual
055Miracle occurred and the servant was healed is irrelevant the point is Jesus did not stand in Judgment of the man he just helped him I would ask that we spend more time being kind to each other and understanding than standing in judgment it was also made clear there was a big concern what types of books we have in our library at school and what is being taught to our children first as a parent I know my child is going to learn a lot of what I consider inappropriate things at school she isn't learning them from a book or a teacher she's learning them from her fellow classmates the things my third grader is already asking me would make most of us blush I trust this Administration will figure out a good plan to make sure
056there's age-appropriate content available to our children I'm not worried that these words in a book will harm my child I believe words can open up conversation and invoke empathy I am way more concerned about our child's actual safety at school here we are again with another school shooting where three children and three adults adults were killed today the leading cause of death in children in America is gun violence it is literally surpassed vehicle accidents you want to talk about protecting our children then let's get serious about protecting our children from a real threat of their lives not some words in a book I pray that when my child reaches the middle and high school level she will have kind and caring staff teachers and administrators who will welcome her with open arms no matter how
057she identifies I pray that our Romeo administrators will find the courage to speak out against hate speech and provide an inclusive environment for all thank you April Gallant Gallant I would like to thank the board for giving me the chance to just State your affiliation no you're fine I won't even start the clock until okay um I'm April Gallant obviously um I don't currently have an affiliation as a previous uh student of RCs well you're an alumni then oh right I didn't graduate from Romeo I did leave before I was able to finish and I finished elsewhere all right um sorry but you live in the community yes I am still a resident perfect thank you thank you um and thank you again for allowing me to speak um I'm here to address comments made
058at last week's regular board meeting regarding the censorship of literature in our schools libraries specifically but not limited to the desired removal of queer and lgbtq plus literature uh as a member of the lgbtq community and a long time resident of Romeo I've lived here for my whole life and my parents and grandparents before me um it is very disheartening to see a call for the removal of these resources um even more so to see the cries for censorship Across the Nation that have been specifically targeted at the queer Community queer students and queer family queer family sorry Romeo has always been a little village and we value our sense of community in our schools and in our town um And We Gather in our town hold festivals and fundraisers as a community and it's
059wonderful and if you don't know your neighbor here your parents probably would and we like it that way and that's why it breaks my heart and my community is hard um to see such misled anger directed at such a strong part of our community while our students should have access to age-appropriate material choosing one ideology to uphold in our schools will only further harm all of our students some topics are perhaps controversial or difficult and they may make some people uncomfortable but at the end of the day if a child doesn't want to read a book they simply won't read the book The Works that are being targeted have some material that may make some readers uncomfortable but that is arguably why they are such an important research for Learning and for providing a safe
060place for children and students to feel heard um we learn through stories we always have as humans we learn empathy through characters we learn to be cautious for ourselves and for others and we may even learn to be cautious of others and while there is a limit to what is acceptable for students to consume these books are there for their education and development difficult topics exist in books because they exist in our world and even our community removing these books is removing an important resource that students may not otherwise have access to and that puts our students at risk awareness and education are invaluable resources for growth life and development and safety for students and all individuals removing these Works removes a child's freedom to learn outside of the curriculum and could prove harmful in
061the long run not only are they potentially valuable as educational resources but they are also essential to giving students a voice and making them feel seen as students that were previously attending RCS queer students my experience I was watching my peers and Friends be harassed sometimes on a daily basis they were bullied ostracized disrespected and occasionally even heard or threatened because they didn't love or exist normally and a book has always been and will always be a safe space for anyone who sees themselves or their history in the pages and it would be an injustice to take this away from our students thank you for your time I know you'll consider our students and I hope that you'll consider what I've shared with you I've left a paper version in April I will just say
062you stuck exactly to three minutes on the DOT so we appreciate that uh Susan heyer good evening I live at 61652 Glenwood Trail in Washington Township my affiliation is I'm a former board member parents have the right to make the decision which books their children can and cannot read they do not have the right to make that decision for other parents and their children people are using opinions in an attempt to justify designing curriculum absence of the necessary knowledge and credentials there is a well-defined and established process that curriculum is based on each district develops their own curriculum based on standards approved by the State Board of Education it is a responsibility of all of us to guide our children so that they are prepared to successfully navigate the world we live in please for
063the sake of all our children take the time to educate yourselves on issues as a former member of this board I know this board has always governed by laws policy and rules I have no reason to believe that will change possibly more important of all the points I've just spoken about is a question of priority I believe right now priority number one is the safety of our children as you know there's been another shooting today at an elementary school in Nashville leaving three children and three adults dead that is where our attention needs to be our children Educators administrators and support staff deserve better thank you for the opportunity to address you this evening palette white hi my name is Arielle fallette wife some of you know me some of you don't I'm from Romeo
064I just transferred my kids into Romeo schools from Armada schools we had choiced out because of the lack of kindergarten Readiness at the time when we needed it so that's why we were at Armada I have three kids like I said in the district and I chose the district because of the strong Academy model that is funded by NGO however I'm deeply concerned about the findings of the 2022 School climate survey report the report reveals that some students in our district don't feel safe they don't feel welcomed and they don't feel included in their school community it is alarming to see that some students have experienced bullying and harassment at school furthermore the report highlights the importance of social emotional learning and diversity equity and inclusion in promoting students academic and social success as a
065parent I strongly believe that social emotional learning and diversity equity and inclusion are crucial components in creating a positive and inclusive School climate social emotional learning help students develop important life skills such as self-awareness and responsible decision making and relationship building di is an essential oh I'm sorry is essential to ensure that all students feel included and valued regardless of their background or identity I want to quote Cheryl carrier the Ford NGL director who said it is imperative that schools create a safe supportive and inclusive environment that ensures all students all students can Thrive academically socially and emotionally I agree with Cheryl's statement and I encourage the district to take action based on the concerns found in the climate report uh of course this isn't going to do it okay uh finally I'm deeply deeply
066troubled by the anti-sel anti-dei and anti-lgbtq rhetoric that has been expressed by some community members and staff affiliated with the schools this type of rhetoric is unacceptable and creates an unwelcoming environment for many students it is time for us to come together as a community and support the social and emotional well-being and academic success of all of our students thank you so much for your time [Applause] I have Maddie I won't even try to say your last name okay so Maddie if you don't mind stating your name that'd be great it's pronounced kuchenmeister good evening my name is Maddie kuchenmeister I graduated from Romeo High School in 2022. I've been in the Early College of Macomb program since 2020 and I was the student leader of the Romeo marching band from 2020 to 2022. I'm
067here as a representative not only for myself but for my family for my friends and for my peers feel demeaned belittled and marginalized in this community I'm here for the students who feel unsafe in their school a place in which they spend seven hours a day because of how they were treated by some of their peers teachers and administration I'm here for the students that are told that they are less than that they don't deserve rights told that they should kill themselves simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity I have heard the cries of my friends after they have been harassed and bullied but they don't feel safe enough to report these confrontations to the administration because they feel their voices won't be heard this kind of environment in our schools is not
068what we should be striving for as a community discrimination and marginalization have no place anywhere but especially not in a school we should be fostering an environment of Love of empathy and of undiscriminated support every student deserves these things it doesn't matter what they look like who they love or what politics they support every student deserves their voice to be heard which should not be encouraged is an environment of hatred which should not be encouraged is the mentality of US versus them which should not be encouraged is a hate speech but from a reverend who is literally quoting Hitler the man who orchestrated the murder of over 11 million people Romeo is better than this we need to protect every child not just the children who look and act a certain way I know this
069is possible because I've experienced it in small amounts but I've experienced it let me tell you that I have received the love and support I needed for my parents friends and teachers in my time at Romeo the support has allowed me to continue my success in academics and in my community unfortunately I also experienced hatred and discrimination alongside of it as a community I know we can take the steps to prevent students from experiencing hate and fear and replace it with love and support it all starts with inclusivity and love from our board and administration thank you thank you Marie kuchenmeister good evening my name is Murray kuchenmeister I live in the village on West Saint Claire that was my lovely daughter who was very well spoken my husband and I are graduates of Romeo
070high school we grew up here and chose to raise our family in this community we are business owners active in the schools Romeo band and in our church Community we have a foster son and a biological son both in seventh grade a son who is a sophomore and our daughter obviously who is a 2022 graduate of Romeo and uh will be a 2023 graduate of the Early College of Macomb program and is attending Kendall College of Art and Design in the fall she is also gay I'm curious to know if any of the board has any idea of how many students are on the queer Spectrum in our district I bet it's more than you imagine some board members and Mr Eason last month talked about protecting our schools but who exactly are you protecting
071them from are we separating our students into groups of who does and does not deserve support and protection Mr eason's three plus minutes last month had so many historical biological and biblical inaccuracies that it was hard to believe that he would be asked to speak in front of a group such as montessor Liberty many of the things he proposed Banning are either easily accessible on a cell phone or not even in the realm of a public school and yet there was a pause from the audience have we no separation of church and state incidentally do you know that you can be called a reverend without any Seminary training you can get a business degree in a 10-3 hour Saturday class and call yourself a reverend food for thought because of my involvement in the schools
072I have the honor of knowing many current and former students many are on the queer Spectrum many are here tonight and many have Fierce Ally friends do these young people not deserve to be protected as much as the students who subscribe to your belief system and what makes one group more or less Worthy is it the fact that they're scholarship winners in the top percentages of their class performers future business owners future scientists athletes teachers humans is that not enough when you erase the accomplishments and history of queer people you effectively erase the futures of our talented and intelligent queer students who have no other agenda than living productive and happy lives Banning materials related to the accolades of queer people clearly demonstrates to the queer students of Romeo that they have little worth mathematician
073Alan Turing a gay man effectively disarmed the Nazi U-boats without him we may be very well speaking the German which Mr Eason loves so much you can disagree with another person because it goes against your moral code it is abhorrent to be discriminatory again against the students you're sworn to serve thank you Emily mellett Emily mallets Emily melitz my husband and I are 2005 Romeo graduates and we have two students currently in the district good evening I want to read a few excerpts from an educational organization that I greatly respect it might seem random but it all makes sense one of their goals is quote educational equity and justice for all Equity was referred to in social media posts last Fall by a board member as causing quote disillusionment and depression and as quote racist
074propaganda a Blog from this org States the importance of school culture and quote ensuring that the school is a welcoming and supportive place for students of all demographic groups and their families and the educators are culturally proficient and able to help students capitalize on their diverse strengths a report from the organization mentions their goal to have quote a strong platform to launch intensive efforts to remove barriers for underserved students with those few statements this organization may be called woke in the minds of some in this room and it may come as no surprise to know that the organization's executive director has pronouns on her Twitter profile in a recent interview a board member referred to people wanting the right pronouns in the right bathrooms as a fake crisis compared to the real problem of fentanyl
075while fentanyl is nothing to be ignored I would Point attention to the fact that lgbtq youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers with an estimated 1.8 million seriously considering suicide each year in the U.S according to a study from NIH interventions that promote positive School climate can reduce both that risk and adverse mental health outcomes that includes using the right pronouns so I'm here today excuse me back to this executive director with pronouns in her profile her name is Cheryl carrier I know the board now instantly knows the organization I'm talking about but for everyone else in the room it's our District's very generous Partners at Ford Next Generation learning so I'm here today to express my concern regarding comments and actions taken by some members of our community and
076school board that are in opposition to the values and goals of our partners at Ford by partnering with Ford and embracing the values of diversity equity and inclusion we are giving our students the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world it is a public school's responsibility to ensure that our students are prepared to thrive in a diverse and inclusive Society I urge you to continue to prioritize our District's partnership with Ford and to remain committed to the values and goals that they represent I also urge you to invoke the section of bylaws that allows you to prohibit behavior during public comment that is quote intemperate abusive defamatory or discourteous allowing pastors to quote Hitler and spew anti-lgbtq rhetoric is discourteous to put it nicely I also urge the district to take a
077stand and publicly reaffirm their commitment to supporting and protecting all students as is the role of public schools as Martin Luther King Jr once said their biggest stumbling block was the quote white moderate who was more devoted to order than to Justice who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive piece which is the presence of justice so I ask you will you continue in the lane of a negative peace to avoid tension or will you work towards a positive piece which may cause resistance but tells the students and teachers in this community that you have their backs and tells our partners at NGL that you share their same values thank you very much all right that that's all of the public comment for tonight and I just want to
078some of you weren't maybe here last time we did have a workshop meeting so I just want to Circle back and and let everyone know as someone who has served on this board for more than a decade um you know we don't know what someone's going to say at the podium hindsight's always 20 20. so it's on one hand I'm really glad to see people involved and excited about Romeo Community Schools a couple words that were said tonight kindness love I don't think anybody at this table disagrees with any of that we absolutely want to see positive things for our schools when people think about the action that we take look at our strategic plan we definitely have safe and security on there we definitely have inclusivity on there we are definitely moving in a
079direction that is reflective of what we heard in our survey so feel free to reach out if you need more information on that as for the book review just want to let everyone know there is a process in place if parents do not want their children reading something they can allow that for their own children and the review process is really set for a very high standard of it's best in curriculum what's best for age-appropriate and so whatever rumors you might be hearing and unless you hear it from the administration as to what books are in or out you know make sure you have quality information on that before you jump to any conclusions so with that I just want to ask for a motion to adjourn moved by Dr Dimas support support by eye
080course all in favor aye opposed motion carries all right