001I'm going to call to order the uh regular board of education meeting at 6:30 p.m. And if we can stand and say the pledge of allegiance. So, this will be our first public comment section. A member of the public may address the board briefly for up to three minutes or request to be scheduled on the agenda for a future meeting. Please note that a student will be given priority to speak on any topic. The first public participation portion of the meeting will normally be limited to 30 minutes, one half hour, and will be limited to agenda items. A second public participation portion will be offered at the end of the agenda to allow for any other comments. Individuals addressing the board should observe the rules of common courtesy. The public participation portion of the meeting
002cannot be used to make personal attacks against board members, district employees, or students. We do have one student, Ava Jenkins from uh Selene High School. Hello. Okay. All good. All right. Hello. My name is Ava Jenkins and I am a student at soph a sophomore as a Seline High School. I alongside hundreds of my peers at the high school are extraordinarily concerned with the recent actions of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE. We've expressed this quite publicly with well attended walkout. As many if not all of us here today know, ISIS targeted and detained a parent at a school bus stop in Ipsani during drop off. Outside of Michigan, high school students have been terrorized with chemical weaponry. It is quite clear that there's no intent to spare schools in future actions. As
003a result, schools across all county have adopted an updated administrative protocol except for Seline. The lack of response to the situation harms the student body unnecessarily by creating undue stress on students and a physical safety risk to those susceptible to ICE, DHS and border control. The current policies surround an interrogation of students under the number 5540 is inadequate in protecting students and aggressive, unnecessary, and risky interrogations by ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies. I have come here today not only to increase attention on this matter but to advocate and request that these gaps be addressed by the school board and that a public statement be made to ensure families in Seline that our schools are safe from ICE. This means a policy that prevents ICE from accessing school facilities without a judicial warrant, barring
004the sharing of student data unless required by a judicial warrant and providing support to students and families affected. Every child deserves to go to school without worry. As a board of education, it is your responsibility to ensure that that is a reality for Seline students. Thank you. >> I don't have any other public comments. We do have one extended public comment by Tiffany Alexander. parent. >> I do not know that I can follow that up with anything better. Um, but I'm going to follow um in Selen's fantastic students footsteps. Uh, I'm also here to talk about Selen's protocols, policies, positions um on ICE cooperation. Um I did present a little slideshow that has a lot of data. It has a lot of law. It has a lot of statistics for you. Um but before I
005begin with that, students are not data. Families are not data. Families are people and they are part of our community. So I wanted to talk a little bit about my experiences with this at risk community. Um, I'm trying to be very careful and protect people. So, I'm going to go with last night I was at the protest in Romulus and there was a lot of crying, a lot of singing, a lot of chanting. Um, it was a good space full of people all on the same page wanting the same thing. Um, I ran into a woman while I was there who was protesting for her own right to continue to be here. Although she has legal status, her status is in jeopardy. Um, she has not committed any crimes. The reason I bring her up
006is because her niece and her nephew attend Seline Area Schools. Their grades have gone down. They have problems sleeping. Their mother, they hear her crying and sobbing at night. The kids are no longer participating in extracurriculars as they were. Um, they have both been depress or uh diagnosed with depression. and one has started selfharming. This is all based on fear that their relatives are going to be um whisked away because some of them already have. This time they're worried for their aunt. Again, this is happening right here in our communities where everybody here who was elected on this board was elected with the duty to protect these families. So, as I go through a bunch of statistics and data and numbers, I ask you all to keep your students and their families in mind. So,
007thank you. Um, as I said, our students and families are indeed impacted. Uh, ICE enforcement targets immigrants regardless of documentation, their families, and families of color in general. Enforcement at Selen area schools is a realistic concern. Over 20% of Selen area students are people of color. Uh the foreignb born population in the city of Seline is about 7% and about 20% in Pittsville Township. Uh families here have already been targeted. I'm sure everybody on the board already knows that a student was removed from Seline um over the summer. Uh the child had been here the majority of their life. Um, so, uh, yeah, families here have already been targeted. Uh, ICE action at schools disrupts learning environments. Um, witnessing an arrest and attention is traumatic. We've all seen what happens to the kids in Minneapolis.
008Um, it can cause PTSD associated directly with their school environment. Um, and it can cause absences due to fears of ice activity as well as just regular stress and strain causes you to get sick. Thank you. Uh, now legal obligations under federal and state law. Everybody elected is legally obligated to protect student welfare, provide equal access to education regardless of immigration status, which by the way, over 70 countries in the world do that. That's not special to the United States. You can check that with the um UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Maintain a safe and orderly learning environment. Protect student privacy. Fourth amendment protections. Compulsory attendance. Anti- ice discrimination. Anti- ice discrimination. Anti-discrimination. Title six and Elliot Larson. And the school board ultimately has the authority over property access. Okay. So regardless
009of what this current administration is claiming the laws are, the laws are actually very clear and anybody can read them for themselves. Um eventually this will end and when it does, law enforcement, real law enforcement will be restored. and those who violate those laws by exposing their students to danger. Well, failure to comply as it says with these legal obligations could result in liability on behalf of the district because eventually this will this will be done. Thank you very much. uh community policy and sentiment. On February 5th, 2026, leaders of local law enforcement agencies, including the Selen Police Department and Washington County Sheriff's Office, held a town hall meeting to articulate a unified approach to ICE. They advised residents that do not uh that they do not have to open the door to anyone without
010a valid judicial warrant. Local officers are here to protect the local community, not to do federal law enforcement. and county jails will not hold detainees without a judicial warrant. In addition, 70% of Michigan voters surveyed support statewide legislation requiring a warrant from a judge before enforcing insensitive areas, including schools. So, the majority of your voters support following the law, which means having a um judicial signed warrant. Articulating a policy against ICE cooperation is consistent with local law enforcement protocol and has the overwhelming support of your voters. Any cooperation with ISIS's illegal practices goes against our local law enforcement and their recommendations. Again, keeping with, if you would please, thank you. um community sentiment. All the local ISDs, uh many statewide, this is just a few innoc have adopted positions. Ipsellani, Ann Arbor, Chelsea, uh Detroit
011public, uh Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Calamazoo, these are just a few um quite of them being Washington County. Uh often Seline talks about um in my history with Seline being ahead of the curve. Um that that's actually a quote from our former superintendent to be ahead of the curve. Uh what we're asking for Selene to do is catch up. Thank you. So ultimately your students deserve and their families deserve clarity. All right. Current currently there is no clarifying uh Selen area school policy or protocol regarding ICE enforcement. In the absence of clearly communicated policy, families can only speculate on what SAS will do based on informal statements and rumors. Students and families do not know whether their school is sta safe. And the students and families deserve better. And they're telling you that the students
012are telling you with their voices with walkouts that they want to hear from you. Okay. Now, I'm going to uh expand upon this need for clarity right now. Um, you may or may not be aware, but there is currently at least one family that I particularly know of who is right now hiding whose student should be attending here. But due to statements that were made by a position in power, a person in position of power online for public consumption, that family took off because they think you're out to get them. When there are public statements that are harmful, that say you are against me and you want to hurt me. In the absence of clarification, silence affirms those statements when it comes from a position in authority. For those families and for others, your silence
013is quite deafening. So, what are we asking you to do? Um, we're asking for an immediate board of education resolution. Uh, simply following the law. No access to any school facilities without a signed judicial warrant. Also, protocols for what access looks like when they have a signed judicial warrant. No sharing of any information or data about students or their families unless in compliance with the signed judicial warrant. Again, that's just following the law. Um, communication to families regarding district policies and protocols, uh, so that people know what's going on and what to expect. And support for impacted families. Um, I personally know students who are still upset about the child who was deported and that's not something that they've had anybody talk to them about. And we all know that teenagers are not necessarily going
014to come and tell us when they're all upset. And Seline, you're very lucky. You have quite quite a few kids who come up here and articulate and tell you where what they feel. They're looking for you, the adults in this world. Where are we are full of such chaos to respond. Um access to support and grief counseling because these kids need it. Uh teacher and staff support because they need it. We don't know how many of their families are personally impacted. It's wrong to assume that they would not be. And it's not easy if you've lost a student or you've had a student who's lost family members to deportations. Um this this has a huge emotional impact on a group of people who've already been asked to do way too much. uh protocols for students
015with absences or with difficulty completing work due to stress, anxiety or fear uh leaving the home caused by ICE situation. When you're already marginalized, you walk into Selen area schools already stressed out from the moment you walk in the door. I know that from my graduate and the amount of pressure that my kid was under does not even come close to were you worth mentioning in comparison to this. So these kids are stressed, they are anxious, they are afraid, and now they still have to turn in their homework on time. There needs to be some protocol and discussion around this because these are not normal times. Lastly, I would ask you to ask your students what it is they need from you. All right? Um what you can do to feel safe. Now, it's very
016possible that all of these things are actually already occurring behind closed doors. Um, I have had the privilege of working with our new superintendent on a few things and I have to say I have just been so grateful for her guidance and support in so many of the questions and and things that I've had. So there's possible that a lot of the administrators are doing all of this good work already. Um, and I would not be surprised if that is the case. The problem is that silence in these circumstances is how we got here, which some of you have heard me say over and over again. This is not the time to be quiet. This is the time to be loud. This is the time to take up space. This is the time to be
017courageous and speak up. All right. The most courage I see coming from these schools are from these children. I the adults or adults the adults are seeing it from the kids. The kids need to see it from the adults. They need to see it and hear it from you. Especially right now, the only narrative out there is not one that supports them. Okay? It's not. And these kids, they're looking, they're watching. Even if they're not saying, you put something publicly available for them to read, they're reading it and they're talking about it and they're upset. So I ask you again, this is a lot of facts, a lot of data. You all have access to it. Look it up. If you don't believe it, check it out. But ultimately, now is not a time for
018silence. Now is a time for you guys to use your voices as your students are asking you to and be loud. Condemn any narrative that we should be going along with ICE, which again, this is illegal and one day this will stop. and those who decided to go along with illegal actions will be held accountable on a local level. You will not have presidential immunity. So I ask you to speak up now for your students. Be loud. Be as courageous as they are. And take up space. Okay. So we'll move on. Uh response to previous public comment. I have none. And now revision and approval of the agenda. Can I have a recommended motion to approve the agenda as printed or revised? >> So moved. McVey >> support Hansen. >> All in favor? >> I
019I >> opposed hearing none. Motion carries 70. How about that? >> Um, student showcase lean Chelsea ski team presentation presented with Jillian Hayes. Um, Tessa Smith from Chelsea and Breen Hardcourt and coach Elizabeth Johnson. >> That good? All right. Thank you for having us out tonight to talk about what we do on the hill. Um my name is Elizabeth Johnson. I am the head coach of the boys and girls ski team. Um team began I'll give you a quick rundown first of our history. Um team began in 2017. It's a co-op team between Chelsea and Seline. So nice mix of students. Um I like to say skiing well I don't this isn't my story but I agree with him the way he said it. Skiing is really unique because on Monday night we force the
020kids to practice together alongside their competitors. We share courses with other teams. We work with other teams. They ride up on the chairlift with, you know, the people they're racing with. Tuesday, we make them be, you know, athletes. They compete against the same people. Then Wednesday, we turn around and practice with them again. So, you know, they're forced to be cordial and create their own little community that's very different than a lot of other sports. And we're a winter sport, so we're at the mercy of mother nature. Sun, rain, snow, all of it. Um, we ski Mount Brighton with a team or in a league of 13 other teams. Uh, we do two disciplines. Explain them real quick. Uh, GS, higher speed, larger turns, heavier reliance on timing and strength. And then we have slalom.
021So, it's a little bit more technical turns, smaller, high on reflexes, high on focus, takes a lot of skill. Um, and then I'll give you a quick rundown of our team. We have se this year we had 17 total athletes, nine boys, eight girls, 12 of them were from Seline, five from Chelsea, and one ECA student included in that Chelsea bunch. We had eight races, six regular races, which is shorter than normal thanks to mother nature. Uh, and then two all day races, our league championships where both JV and varsity participated, and then regionals where varsity participated. And then with that being said, I'll pass you off to these two great athletes to explain more of what they do and why they like it. And you know, thanks for having us. >> Um, so I
022can start. I'm also very glad to be back. I was off due to skiing. Um, I am a captain on the Selen Chelsea ski team. I am one of the two returning girls. All of our other athletes, let me move this up actually. Um, all of our returning athletes either graduated or they decided to do something else, which is perfectly fine. Um, I joined skiing because I loved it. When I did it for the first time in COVID once, I went down straight down the hill, arms and legs out, and I did not stop. I did unfortunately break Mount Holly's um, fence. I don't think they repaired it, and I feel really bad about it. Um, but that's pretty much where it all started. I ended up joining my sophomore year and I just finished
023it, which is yippee. Um, our banquet is March 10th, so I'm super duper excited to give out paper plate awards to all of our athletes. It's not like your typical like cleanup award and cheerleader award. They all get something very unique that I'm not going to spoil because I have an award for this one and I don't want her to know what it is. Um, but my favorite event is GS. I love being able to go fast and I just think it's super duper cool and super awesome. Um, Tessa and I also have a rivalry that started in my junior year, her sophomore year. she wanted my number, which was 595. And so we kept going back and forth. Um, I eventually lost this year on January 25th by 1.25 seconds. So she is now
024the reigning champ of our two-year rivalry. So best off to you. >> Thanks. Um, hi, I'm Tessa. I'm from Chelsea, but I'm also an ECA student, which is pretty interesting. Um, I joined the team my sophomore year, like she said, same as her. Um, uh, I've been skiing for seven years prior, and my mom actually found the team. Hey, mom. Um, so she found the team and told me that I should join. And at first, I was wasn't really sure about it because I don't know, I had a lot going on with UCA. It's kind of a lot of work. But I joined it. And I like that they don't have like after school. It's not immediately after school, so I have time to like go home, prepare myself. Um, and I'm not always late,
025which is something that happens at track. Um, yeah, I'm speaking on behalf of all Chelsea students when I say we all really enjoy being a part of it and would like to thank you all very, very much for letting us join. Um, I know that we've all met a lot of fun Seline members like our rivalry. It's been so much fun. Um, yeah, we all really enjoy it and we're super happy to be here. Thank you. >> Any questions? >> Hi, D. >> Oh, my my mic's on already. I'm sorry. Um, so thank you for coming. I'm a skier. Um, so I had a had a question about cost. um because it it's a very very expensive sport and we want to make sure that we have access for um all who might want to
026be able to participate. So >> if people don't have their own equipment, is there some kind of deal on rental, etc.? >> So we are self-funded at the moment. So it's a little tight, but that's okay. We like being there anyway. Um we don't have rentals are actually more expensive than um finding a used set of skis. But we have a really good network through honestly the other my assistant coaches who are parents in the district and parents around here that have kids that have ski raced forever that you can get a pair of skis for 100 bucks, a pair of boots for a hundred bucks or a couple hundred bucks. So it brings down that upfront cost quite a bit when you're not buying brand new gear. Um, you know, there's some area there's
027some things around here that you can kind of find people that willing to give you an extra good deal because you're passing along such a good sport or just, you know, hand me down stuff from siblings and all that. It's a bit of a challenge, but we can generally find something that fits everyone's budget. Yeah. Or do our best. >> Yeah. >> My only other comment was um Jillian, March 10th is our CES second hearing and that's our sexual education curriculum for our high school students. So, if you have any feedback, maybe you could send it to the board ahead of time because I'd love to hear student feedback on that. >> Thank you guys so much. >> And then if we can get a picture with the board over Okay. the administrative and board
028committee update, superintendent updates. >> Thank you all for being here. Thank you, Board President Austin. Um I think my update will be a little shorter. I've got three main things to share with you. First, um just a reminder that uh we want to take a moment to highlight the incredible work of the Selen High School Drama Club and their production this week of Hello Dolly, a classical classic musical filled with humor, romance, energetic dance numbers, and some well-known songs. And those performances will take place Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 7:30, and Sunday at 2 pm. And so, um, tickets are on sale, and you can, and I'd encourage our board members to come see that as well. And anyone here and beyond. I want to express, um, some thanks to some of our board uh,
029committees and groups that have uh, had some meaningful con uh, contributions to our strategic planning process. In the last couple of weeks, we have um met with we had a great conversation with SEAK last night. Um we've had some continuing conversations with the DEIAC. Uh we also met with um teachers in a in a symposium session. Our administrative team came together last week in some really uh deep planning sessions looking at data but also like the human aspect as pointed out earlier of of this work that we do. We have had ongoing work since August that um was part of my onboarding and and meeting the community um and some more intentional work then since November and December. And so I think those groups and and uh commit to you continuing strategic plan work with
030you. I look forward to the board committee's first meeting on that work as well. And um keeping a strong focus on academics at the center of our work, but um all of the things that we do to support our staff and students will be a part as well. And just the last message I'd uplift tonight is um the phrase it takes a village has never in 21 years in my career resonated more than it does right now in moments of celebration over the last uh two to three weeks. Uh it the phrase feels very good as we've celebrated together. But there's also been moments of hardship that have impacted our district community and times marked by loss, sometimes uncertainty uh and safety or even making it home. And so I've witnessed just what a village
031looks like in the last two weeks from for again 21 years in education. I think it was best demonstrated in the last two weeks. And I have also seen parents um trust us and lean into partnerships to allow us to do the important work we do. And so I appreciate our parents and uh when we say all means all and getting all home and happy and healthy and safety and safe and then those who have had disrupted environments as well uh home safe and taken care of and I just wanted to share that um to close. >> Jillian, do you have anything? >> Yes, I do. Um, starting off strong with winter sports. Thank you, ski team. Um, some of them, most of them are finishing up or wrapping up quite soon. I know there's
032a couple boys sports and a couple girls sports finishing up in the next few weeks, which is super duper exciting. Um, which means spring sports are right around the corner. So, be prepared all of the student athletes to get ready for your spring sports. Um, in terms of that, finals are coming up. So, anybody that has to take care of any of that, be ready for the next two weeks for your grades to kind of be cracking down and kind of locked in unless you have a very strong um end of the class. I'm also very glad to be back. I don't know how much longer I'll be here as I have track coming up soon. So, let's hope that I don't have any meets on Tuesdays that go really long because running the two
033mile means I'm one of the last events. So, that's really really cool. Um, seniors, your FAFSA and scholarships deadlines are coming up soon. Just a reminder to get all those fun things in. I know I certainly am. I'm going to go home and write more scholarship essays. So, so much fun. Um, and as well, just some cool things that I heard today from Mrs. Stoie. The principles of biomedical science have started to fill out Google forms for innovations that they would like to start creating, which I think is super duper cool. as somebody who is in biomedical innovations which is kind of the senior capstone of the PLTW classes and I know my end of the year is I have to create a magnum opus of an innovation that I would like to create. So
034seeing all of the prototypes coming out from um PBS is extremely cool. So thank you. uh general and committee updates from trustees. Start uh cares met last week and there were some great grant requests. They will be reviewing them. They get together again in March to go over that and then they will present to us in April. And then the new strategic planning committee, we've decided we're going to be meeting near the end of March for that. I didn't know if we were going down the line. Um, so on policies or on committee updates, policy first, um, I've been spending a lot of time with Lauren and Jason and Betty and, uh, Rachel as we, uh, look over all the TRUN policies. So, I think that that's going very well and I defer to my
035colleagues to say anything else that they would like to say. Um, I'll be attending the DEIAC committee tomorrow. I'm pretty excited because um it'll be the first time that I've been able to be at one of those meetings. I've never been placed on that committee. Um, so this is my opportunity for the next two months to be a part of their circle. So, that's great. Um, the foundation for Selen Area Schools fundraiser uh was a lot of fun. It was Rachel's first uh fundraiser for Selen Area Schools, I think. Um I texted Stacy. I'm just going to see if she texted me back. She didn't. Um to see what our final number was. Do you have it, Rachel? >> I do not have it. Actually, that came up early this morning and I didn't have
036a chance to message her from the day that we we've had, the productive day we've had, but we could get that from her and share it out maybe next time. >> It was in the 80,000s while we were there Friday, but I know that they have to count everything and do a little reconciliation. So, congratulations to the wonderful um foundation and thank you to all of our donors and all of our volunteers for that. Um few other uh general announcements, our FCCLA uh friends who were just here. Today's their first day of state, so thinking of them. We forgot about the red shirts. I thank you, Lauren, for mentioning I forgot. Um so, I want to say congratulations to them. Um, I wanted to reinforce something that Rachel said about the taking a village. I
037I really wanted to thank her, Laura Washington, and all of our staff for um, always supporting our students. Um, I've been having a lot of fun. I've seen Jason um, at a couple of these. Teresa Stagger and I today we're doing it together. Um, there's a lot of Shark Tank going on. There's a lot of, um, biotech presentations going on. Three weeks of these going through the high school. So, there's a whole lot of activity. It's been really fun to um give kids a little bit of feedback from the business world. Um and I appreciate uh the teachers reaching out to us for that. Jillian, I did your form this afternoon. Favorite topic, city of Seline Water. So, excellent. Excellent. Um I wanted to um address Ava and Tiffany's comments. Um I trust in our
038policies and I trust in our staff and the work we've done on this to date. I am very open to a resolution to support our students at any time. So that's just my piece and that's it for me. I just want to recognize the administration of some things that they got involved in over this weekend. the there was 20 kids that went down to Costa Rica for an incredible trip to deal with uh being immersed in culture and it was an absolute flawless phenomenal trip right up until departure day at 3:00 a.m. when phones started ringing. Uh half the students had a bout with uh the neuro virus which can be pretty debilitating. And I got a front row seat to the whole show because my son was in Costa Rica as well. And the
039minute I saw Teresa Stagger and Rachel's names added to our WhatsApp group text, I had no fear, complete confidence, complete trust in what was going to transpire in the next two or three days. And I just can't even begin to tell you the trust that you've earned from the students and the families. Uh talk about it takes a village. It was whatever you think they did, multiply it times about 20. U they were up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning. I don't think they've slept until that last student arrived in Seline. I think it was today or might have been yesterday. Uh just absolutely A+. Uh I actually really enjoy when these things tend to blow up because you get to see people shine and you get to see people rise to the occasion. And this
040administration staff is just home run. fantastic job. >> I absolutely concur with that. I was following along with everybody else this weekend. Uh Nate and I were practice judges for AFCCLA, which was a lot of fun. Thanks Nate for joining me on that. And uh tomorrow I'm heading up to Lancing to be one of the official judges for their second day of the FCCLA. And uh thanks for also mentioning the sharks. I was got to be a shark this morning as I know Jason was and Jennifer and I'm not sure who else was a shark, but that was a lot of fun. Um, also the two others on the board were uh along with me were readers for the one month one book secret book uh read. I won't mention the name. And I did
041want to comment that although there were a lot of notes from the meeting at the CQC and I can't attend the next one but Nate will will fill in for me. Uh couple of things stood out. One was that Gail Swinson of the Selen Fair Board just wanted to remind us all that this is the 90th year of the fair. It's one of the oldest in the county and it's September 2nd to 6th this year, always the five days before Labor Day. So mark your calendars and they're always looking for merchants, volunteers, and sponsors. I've been a volunteer there for ages, greeting people at the door and we're tick ripping tickets and whatever we do. Whatever they tell me to do, they say do it, we do it, right? and uh Selen Area Library. Uh
042just a note is that they have a millillage renewal coming up in August and they're working on their ballot question. So they're looking for community uh committee volunteers to work on that millillage renewal uh ballot language. And that's all I have. Thank you. Uh just to echo uh something that Vice President Stein said, the uh FSAS fundraiser was fantastic. Um I actually won something. I never win anything, so very excited about that. Uh did the Shark Tank today like several of my colleagues, uh if anybody in the public gets a chance to do that, it is fantastic. It's super fun to do. Highly recommend it. Uh it is absolutely terrific. Uh welcome back to Jillian. Great to have her back. Uh hopefully she can uh stay with us. Uh Jillian, for everybody that doesn't know,
043does just about every single activity and club that exists here in Seline. So she is very very busy. Uh very uh very happy to have her back. Uh policy committee uh as Vice President Stein had mentioned. Uh we're working on switching the framework over. Uh Dr. Kowalsski's working group teams are doing a fantastic job. We're making I think really good progress. Uh and there will be some uh some more feedback going out to board colleagues uh on some particular items that we talked about in the last meeting uh so that we can get uh hopefully start to get that across the finish line here in the next couple of months. That's it. >> Uh I'd like to thank the speakers for their advocacy for our students and immigrant families. On a personal note, um I
044also attended the uh foundation event which was uh really wellrun and I appreciate all the hard work by those who put it on and the generosity of the community. Um it's exciting to see how those funds get um you know get used throughout the um kids educational journeys and uh seeing Sarah Stuki describe um science always makes me wish I could be a science teacher or take a science class again in my life. So um that was really great. Um, I'd like to, um, uh, state that I'm thinking of the Pleasant Ridge community. Um, I'd like to, uh, send out, uh, congratulations to the, uh, winter band concert, which was phenomenal. We, they had a guest conductor from the University of Michigan, which was pretty cool. And, um, yeah, that's what I've been up to.
045So, >> mine will be short. um the chamber there's still you still have time to nominate um people for the circle of excellence. Uh those are due on noon on um March 16th. So uh you can go to the website and um get get information there on what nominations and so forth. And then also I want to concur with um uh Nate and the Dr. Gowalsski and and her team over the weekend. It was just mind-boggling what they did and how quickly they did it. Thank you. Okay. Action items. Can I have a recommend a motion to accept the resolution authorizing the issuance and delegating the sale of Selen Area Schools 2026 refunding bond 2016 as submitted by assistant superintendent Miranda. So move Berwick >> support tiss. >> Hello. We have an opportunity. The environment
046is financially um set to where it'd be favorable to refinance. This opportunity is because the bonds become callable in May. And so this ratification allows me to continue that work to continue to watch it with our partners. and then we'd be coming back um to you for action item where we'd ratify the actual um the bond sale in kind of a May April May time and then the the bonds would close in May and June and obviously if it ever becomes not financially um beneficial for us then we would we would stop that but this allows us to continue that process. Any questions? All in favor sign I >> opposed hearing none. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Um can I have a recommended a motion to approve the train US incorporated to provide and install
047HVAC building management system controls for the heritage steam edition and the amount of $635,038 as submitted by Rex Clary, executive director of operations. Motion to >> support repay. >> So this is the last uh should be the last uh contract for heritage. Uh we've been value engineering it uh working with train holding them accountable on other jobs making sure those jobs got completed. Um and our students are great learning spaces uh before we awarded this. Uh we feel we're in a good spot right now. We are going to go ahead and award this to train for the work to be done this summer starting this summer at Heritage and the following summer as well. >> Okay. Okay. All in favor? >> I opposed. Hearing none. Motion carries 70. >> Thank you. >> Consent agenda. The
048consent agenda is listed in the agenda and will not be read aloud. The motion will noted will allow for the authorization of all listed items without discussion unless a board a member of the board requests that any one of these be considered individually. Can I have a recommend a motion to authorize the consent agenda as printed? >> So move >> I'll support >> Steman. All in favor I opposed hearing none. Motion carries 70 items scheduled on the next agenda. So we'll have the budget amendment, the seab public hearing number two and super superintendent district update presentation. >> Yes. And we um as part of that too, we may have a couple additional course additions to the middle school course offerings. And I will provide um an update to you all in the community since my
049last update on the transition plan that led into some work um up until now post transition plan into strategic planning. So I'll provide an overview and high level overview of some of those things. >> Okay. This is a second uh public comment. A member of the public may address the board briefly for up to three minutes or request to be on the scheduled on the agenda for a future meeting. We have one here. Elizabeth Araza. Do we have Okay, this is terrifying. I hate public speaking. My name is Elizabeth. My son Elias graduated from Selen High School last year and my daughter Andy is currently a junior at Selen High School. On January 29th, Andy organized an ICE out walk out. The purpose of the walk out was to request a statement of support from
050the district for students and teachers that are afraid due to current immigration and customs enforcement actions. Secondly, they asked for a plan in place so kids know they will be safe at school. The response was disappointing at best. A community message on February 13th titled the power of patience really summed up the response or should I say lack of response. While I agree patience is a virtue while awaiting spring and groundhogs, patience is not warranted while your students are actively experiencing high levels of fear. Trauma does not wait patiently. I could stand here and spit facts all day long about how and why ICE actions are wrong. I could show you the data about the trauma these actions inflict on children. But I think you already know these things. So let's start from here. We
051all know and agree a scared child in crisis cannot learn. We all know and agree that a school district is responsible for the education and safety of all the students in your district. Let's skip the political debates and focus on the facts. There are students in your district right now experiencing trauma due to ICE actions. It is your job to educate and keep these students safe. I am asking you to do your job. Your students need you to be proactive, not patient. Firstly, I am asking for you tonight to issue a clear public statement of support that tells our students and teachers they belong in our school community, no matter their background or documentation status. Secondly, develop and share a plan for safety. a plan that outlines how staff will respond in the event of
052ICE activity at or near a school. I need you to be able to look these kids in their eyes and tell them, "You are safe here. You belong in this school and we have a plan to protect you. I am thankful for the positive experiences we have had over the last few years in this district. Thanks to our positive experiences, I expect more from you and I believe that you can do better. Our children don't need your patience. They need you to do your job and provide them with a free, quality, equitable education as required by our own state Michigan state constitution. Thank you. Um, we have one from Eric John Roberts, substitute teacher. >> Good evening. My name is Eric John Roberts. I'm a substitute teacher with EDG staff. Back on December 9th, I
053worked a half day at Heritage Elementary School in a room that pulled out students for additional support. Um that morning I had to make two CPS complaints. One was pursuant to a conversation with me, a student, and a parapro about parental abuse at home. The other is the subject of my outreach here tonight. Another student had a large bruise on the lower back that was visible when the child sat down. The parapro mentioned this to me and I saw this bruise though it was near the end of the time this child was in that resource room prior to returning to their regular class. Having been trained by EDG staff, I went to the office and asked a nurse if a nurse was available to relay this information about a bruise. After I said that child's
054name, the office administrator identified the child's last name, told me the nurse is not in and asked if I suspected abuse. I told her it might be, but I couldn't talk with the child and she said that the nurse would follow up. What happens next is illegal on Selen's part and should be rectified and new policies implemented to stop this from happening again. After my assignment, I called CPS for both concerns as required by law to immediately call CPS and follow up with a written report within 72 hours. I reported this bruise out of an abundance of caution, especially in light of an office staffer who knew who knows this child more than I and had asked if I suspected abuse. Leadership at Heritage Elementary informed EDG staff I would be barred from any substitute
055assignments at Heritage while the duration uh uh while the child with the bruise is enrolled there. Specifically, Heritage told Edgistaff in writing that quote, "While the substitute had good intentions and is a mandated reporter, the result of this report caused trauma for the family. I was told that I'm not being blacklisted for filing the report, which is plainly illegal, but instead blacklisted for not following Selen Area Schools procedures on filing CPS reports, which are not made available or readily communicated to the substitute teachers. Um, this is not a meaningful difference. The law MCL 330.17235 section 5 states that an individual who makes a report under this section in good faith shall not be dismissed or otherwise penalized by an employer or contractor for making the report. Heritage Elementary is a contractor in relation to myself
056and EDG staff. And this law, I had to look it up. A lot of these things only apply to employers, right? Like whistleblower protections. this law explicitly applies to contractors as well. So, I've sent um other feedback for you, including um recommendations I would consider. Um I've been I've done 2,000 hours of school board and training and served as a board member myself and plenty of hours with EDG staff. uh you can't you can't have a culture that disciplines people for the outcome of a uh a mandated report when a child has a bruise. Um I think I did uh what is necessary. I um am still a substitute teacher in other schools and uh around the county. And uh I think that you really should um you know review the situation to see if
057there are uh tweaks that can be made um to best prioritize child safety. Thank you. The next board of education meeting will be held on March 10th at 6:30 p.m. We're going to enter into close session. Can I have a recommended motion to enter close session of the board of education at 7, let's say 7:2 p.m. with the intent to reopen session? >> Uh 8 p.m. >> Okay. 8:00 related to the purchase of or lease of property acquisition in accordance with the open meeting act. We will be joined in the meeting by Rex Clary, Miranda Owley, and superintendent Kowalsski. This requires twothirds vote. Roll call vote. >> Oh, Cara Davis as well. Sorry. >> President Austin, quick question. Will there be action taken afterwards? >> No action taken. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yep. Can
058I have a motion to enter close session? >> So move Steen support gold. >> Gold. Okay. Uh roll call vote. Uh President Austin I >> Secretary Berwick. >> Hi. >> Trusty Gold. >> Hi. >> Trusty Hansen. >> I treasurer McVey. >> Hi. >> Vice President Steen. >> Hi. >> Trusty Tisidus. >> Hi. Okay, thank you. Can I have a recommended motion to adjourn the regular board of education meeting on February 24th? >> So move 8:25 support to McVey Tisd. All in favor I opposed hearing none. Motion carries 70.