Saline Area Schools: Board of Education Meeting (09.24.2024)

001e e e yeah I mean I think it's like a huge portion of our and actually I think for man I mean I don't think he's going to confirm but our congregation has been there for us through some very tough times including for him when he lost his mom pretty and so I think for him um it's been a really good source of support and I don't think he's going to go conting anything soon but I think he definitely feels of good evening friends I'd like to welcome you to this evening's Board of Education meeting of September 24th 2024 uh I'd like to call the meeting to order and standing as you are able please join us in a pledge of allegiance LED tonight by Mr Tim Austin flag uned States stand indivisible andice thank

002you all very much um our I'd like to pass the microphone over to our superintendent we have a a brief recognition and I suspect there might if there are will there be students involved with this there are students here then there will be a brief photo op as well we're getting pretty good at that I think okay we'd like to start with um thanking uh Jerry aburo and Len Riri who are here from American Red Cross to present an award to Zack Cornelius the NHS advisor and our students so please come up and do so thank you just make sure the little green light is pressed or press the button that says push push and then it should turn green yep thank you there thank you being color challenge that was a challenge to begin

003with for me green green and red well we're delighted to be here I'm I'm pleased to offer a brief introduction to this I serve on the American Red Cross board for the last 15 years and I've been past five years chair of the biomed committee the biomed Committee of Red Cross in the country is the group that runs all the blood drives around so we're very pleased to specifically recognize the Seline public schools and Seline high school and Jerry in just a minute we'll be giving out the specifics with with the actual award but just to offer a comment um we as a red cross for our country is faced with numerous problems as you're all aware of from California fires to uh hurricanes in uh Florida to our own tornado just past May in

004uh kalamazo and Portage and we've deployed people all over the place but as a record goes this past meeting this past week we had in the country we 20% short on blood drive needs and that's a real issue so to be able to honor schools in our multiple County area there's over 108 schools that are involved we're pleased to announce that Seline is one of 11 of that whole group who got the Awards this year and if I'm not mistaken and Jerry can correct me I believe Seline was number one so uh just to to drill it down a bit we're very pleased we're honored because it obviously uh indicates the support that the students the teachers the administrators the parents the citizens who contributed were all part of this success so with that note

005as the medical folks on our Biomet committee uh ATT test to one Pine of blood saves three lives so when you take that number that Seline has done with the other districts not only in Washington but Wayne mome St Clair uh Livingston it really is profound what our students and our staffs in education have done we're honored to honor you this evening so with that let me introduce Jerry Jerry hi good evening board members it's good to see you again uh yeah this summer was kind of unique to us this summer we had a platelet shortage which was acute was strange for us because we collected as much platelets this year as we did last year the only thing we can attest to is that perhaps doctors were more aggressive and treating cancers this year

006across the country as Len Lenny stated there could be a hurricane and there is a hurricane Brewing down in the South right now we don't know how b or exensive this is going to be be uh but we have teams that are ready to help out what I can tell you is that Seline high school and Seline area schools have given us so much over the years data we've been able to collect is from 2019 January through this past August Seline high school has collected 1166 units of blood for the community over 3 3,300 people in our community have received life extension the receiving of red cells plasma and platelets during the pandemic it was Seline high school that stepped up for us one of only three uh they gave us blood drives during that

007summer whenever we wanted them Bill Elliot who retired uh was a huge huge proponent of ours and Zachary's today as well his team of NHS students have just been amazing without whom we would have difficulty getting through the pandemic during the pandemic I think you've heard something called convalescent plasma it is a miraculous product okay and it's still used because Co is going to be with us for the rest of our lives in one way or another it is transfused to patients who have sometimes a severe form of covid and a lot of times they get to recover within just days for of a kind of Less in plasma it's funny to me because before the pandemic we used plasma primarily and still today for those who suffer from severe burns if someone has a

008severe burn the house fire they're given typically a plasma transfusion to lubricate the wound and promote healing now it's used for also for convalescent plasma so these products are vital to the community and honestly don't know what we would do without Seline area schools we would really love to go back to Seline Middle School it's been a little while U we would love to go back there perhaps in the spring uh in addition to the Seline high school so I've got a couple of War here that are um due to Seline and its students and honestly if I could they really deserve a six-foot plaque for them okay but um just want to say thank you so much for supporting us at the Red Cross um and here they are well thank you very much

009and uh you're going to introduce our rep reci oh yeah the recipient come on up exactly thank you so much than you both of these belong to [Applause] you just want to say my kids do all the hard work for this I just oversee them so um these three young ladies could you stand up if you've donated blood here if you've donated at Seline you know that it's a straightforward process you walk in they get you checked in they you go straight to get your blood tested you get all this stuff done then after you get to chat with these like young men and women about their Futures their goals all those kind of things that's why people come to donate at Selene high school instead of a library elsewhere because when you do it

010here you get to talk to these just fantastic humans they're really great and they're saving lives in the in the extra things that they do they didn't have to do this this is a thing on top of school work right so it's really all of them so good job October 25th next blood drive do a picture I just want to say a quick word uh uh as a as a member of the 10 gallon club and Beyond I've been I've been donating blood since I was 17 in Canada and and around the world um this past summer uh the son of a very dear friend of mine uh required he he got severely scalded in a hot spring in near Provo Utah and was in the hospital for he just got out of the hospital

011after 8 weeks he had 40% Burns all over his body the plasma and other brought blood products were extraordinarily uh helpful for him so you just never can tell a young vital person uh one day the next day absolutely in need of this product and this support so I I want to thank you for your your work on this and we will like to take a little photo off if that's okay we're getting let's recognize our as long as as long as the students are up fr at this point I'd like to open the floor for public comment a member of the public May address the board briefly for up to three minutes or request to be scheduled it's coming along request to be scheduled on the agenda of future meeting please note that students

012will be given priority to speak on any topic the first public participation portion of the meeting will be limited to 1 half hour 30 minutes uh and normally and limited to agenda items a second public participation portion will be offered at the end of the agenda for any other comment individuals addressing the board should take into consideration the rules of common courtesy public participation portion of the meeting cannot be used to make personal attacks against a board member district employee or student they could all right I'd like to call David Rosenfeld please hello uh my name is Dave and my pronouns are wa I'm sorry we're gonna get the timing right because thank you very much pardon me I'll be very brief uh my pronouns are he him his and uh my comment today is

013regarding the proposed changes to the deac policy policy 9141 and essentially my ask of you all is just to not put this to a vote tonight um just uh I became aware of these the proposed changes just late last night and I've read them over and I do have some issues with them which I won't get into the details right now but uh I did Express the some some issues that I have with it to the policy committee meeting or the meeting earlier this evening as did another Community member and it's just um I yeah I I don't see you know I understand that that that you want to get uh committee members appointed and you have potential concern with om Oma violation but I think the answer to that is just go ahead and

014appoint your committee members uh just be careful not to violate the OM um and uh just follow your own board uh operating procedures and and standard protocol and put this to at least two readings allow yourself time to get the wording right the wording is important um and allow time for public feedback thank you thank you Mr Rosenfeld uh they're ready to go we have two students and since they are students we're going to allow you to go first regarding uh doesn't have to be the second portion are you both speaking together yeah so six minutes Worth or a total of three I think okay thank you hi my name is Alicia SAA and I'm a freshman at Seline high school and my name's Rebecca singer and I'm a junior at Seline and we're here

015with students Against Racism or SAR we're here to talk about the incident that occurred two weeks ago which we're pro probably all aware of where a student's car was vandalized and once we talked to SAR about it we actually discovered that another student had an in incident where their car was vandalized in the beginning of the year and they reported it to admin but nothing was done to address this situation and as we talked more with other students there have been multiple repeat events of this event and nothing has been done to address them most famously about these situations is what happened um a couple weeks ago with the racist words and the Nazi symbols on the student's car and last Wednesday there was a swasa drawn under another's students car SAR feels that the

016event that occurs two occurred two weeks ago was overlook looked and not talked about enough with students because these situations happen a lot at Seline we feel that the community retracts these incidents and different school system would treat these um incidents a lot differently most kids that we asked said that they would not feel comfortable reporting such incidents to admin if they um if something like that happened to them because they feel like nothing would be done about it many students feel scared to come to school because they're afraid that this situation can spark new and worse ideas in others Minds in my personal experience as a Jewish student I have dealt with many anti-semitic comments knowing that people are drawing swastic cars is scary and concerning that I could be a Target in the

017future and many other students that we have talked to that are a part of the groups um that the racist comments are towards also feel scared coming to school feeling that something worse Could Happen s feels that students should be given more support when they face these situations and should feel comfortable reporting them to admin with the knowledge that something will actually be done to address it sometimes at a student it feels good to know that there's direct support without not having us assume that there is additionally we feel like the students of shs should also be aware of the situation that happened even if this is just minimal details that uh can be given for legal reasons it could be a discussion during Hornet time or an announcement letting students know that counselors are

018here for them we just expect more support in the future thank you thank you Alicia and and uh Rebecca thank you very much I think that's it that's it we're getting a nod thank you very much uh we do have one extended uh comment Peri this evening and I'll let them set up will you introduce yourselves or should I be introducing you I'll let you introduce your we'll introduce ourselves um good evening my name is Kelly and I ly serve as one of the WID parent advisory committee for special education um reps from Seline and I'm also uh the young adult rep to the Seline special ed advisory committee and um we're doing extended public commentary this evening just to bring General awareness to the special ed millage within the WID hi I'm Daisy I

019am also a member of the special education advisory advisory advisory committee and um a parent advisory committee rep for the district at the ISD um we're going to talk about the there's what I don't know there's no okay um I was like that's ominous uh we're going to talk about the special education millit renewal that's on the ballot this November it will affect nine public school districts in Wasa County and we wanted to share about the new renewal proposal um The Proposal asks voters to renew an existing 23826 mil tax that would cover reim un reimburse cost for special education services for 12 years starting in 2026 the current millage is set to expire in 2025 we are coming to voters now to prevent a lapse in the special education funding we want to stress

020that this is just a renewal it's not a new tax every Public School in the county would benefit from the renewal in Michigan public schools are mandated to provide special ed services from birth through the age 26 and in wash County that means that we have more than 6,000 students uh preschool through age 26 plus nearly 900 children from birth to age three that receive special ed services um in Selen are schools one in six students receive special education services in Seline if the mill is not renewed Seline would be under funded by $6.2 million and would need to use General operating funds to cover the shortfall um as shared before special education services must be provided in Michigan from birth through age 26 however the state and federal governments provide about 37% of the

021funding needed to cover Services provided in Washington County our community's existing special education millage generates about 61% of the funding for special education millages a mill special education services a millage renewal would help help continue covering approximately 98% of all costs for special education services across washingon County's Public School Districts um if the millage is not renewed by voters schools would need to use $57 million of General funds to cover costs of special education services uh as a reminder that millage dollars stay local these are local dollars that stay with local schools so who exactly receives special education services students are eligible for service under 13 different disability areas that are listed here on the slide um many people may be aware of some disabilities on this list but we want to highlight that the

022list is quite Broad and also includes many hidden disabilities so who would the millage support students with learning disabilities students with speech and language impairment and students with other disabilities ranging from mild to severe because special education services are provided from birth through age 26 we provide a wide range of services for students and their families across the entire developmental Continuum to help Learners Thrive one key service I'd like to highlight is this point about transition support from College from school to college work and life as part of our special education services we help services and families identify transition opportunities which can include helping students go to college learn career skills and how to be active participants in their communities special education includes preparing students with disabilities for Real World jobs and careers allowing them

023to become productive happy and successful citizens to support themselves and reduce the need for tax-funded adult social service programs if needed more info on the service I don't think we need that we'll go to the next Slide the millage largely supports the staff needed uh to provide high quality special education services ranging from teachers to and Par professionals to teacher Consultants who assist help assist staff and provide professional development across the county to administrators and support staff currently washingon county has two special education millages that will be expiring in 2025 if voters approve the renewal in November they will be combined into one millage that would fund the special education services for 12 years starting in 2026 so here on this slide you can see what the current monthly cost is based on taxable home

024value not the market value but taxable home value and we can't stress this enough that because it's a renewal there's really no change at all in the current tax rate the proposal will be on the November ballot we expect it to be a very full ballot so be sure to remember to flip your ballot um absentee ballots will be available starting September 26th um voter registration deadlines to vote in November by mail is uh Monday October 21st in person is Tuesday November 5th and online is Monday October 21st so we thank you um for your time this evening to build awareness for the millage and if you need any more information um feel free to visit the ISD web page they have a button right on the front page that takes you right to more

025talking points about the millage thank you thank you very much Daisy and Kelly thank you uh there's no response to previous public comment because I don't believe there was any um revisions or approval of the agenda items can be added or deleted from the agenda or the order changed at the request of an individual board member or the superintendent the agenda must be approved before proceeding further I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the agenda as printed so move stean Ste support gby Ste gerby um without objection all in fav faor please say I hi opposed great thank you we have an agenda I'd like to uh pass this over to superintendent lotch to introduce our student showcase okay we're very excited to have with us tonight the Seline Community Fair student animal exhibitors

026so come on up when you're ready and we've got a presentation for us tonight thank you uh my name is Jake shy tonight I'm here represent presenting the S Junior livestock Association the light is on I'm just right there um I just want to thank I'd like to start off by thanking the board the um administrators of the district and the staff for their support of Our Fair throughout the years it's a great partnership that we have and um thank you for inviting us tonight I'm just going to pass it off now to our students I'll think I'll start with William he's probably the most he kind of organized the students for us tonight uh hello everyone my name is William Rogers I'm a senior at Selen high school and I'm the president of the

027slen feeder calf Club I show feeder calfs goats poultry and rabbits at this Fair um behind me are many of the other junior livock members including Seline students that are all here we also have members that aren't from the school that are uh within our radius that show basically um what Junior livestock is about is that we have different clubs with uh different animal species and all these kids join the clubs and they get to raise their own animals and learn responsibility and hard work and how to auction their animal and Market it so um all the students are going to introduce themselves and tell you what they show my name is my name is Jackson shy I am a junior at s High School school I show steers and I've been showing animals for

028roughly seven years my name is Ashton Drake I a junior and I've been showing pigs and Steers for six years my name is Gracie Rogers I've been showing for 12 years and I show sheep my name is Kyle Zan and I'm a senior and I've been showing uh feeder Cs and steerers for nine years my name's Derek cron and I've been showing steers at the sleen fair my name is Max gearba and I'm a sophomore at sleen high school and I've been showing animals for the pig club and Seer club for eight years my name is Weston Rogers and I've been showing for about nine years and I currently show feeder cast my name is Henry Schneider I'm a senior at slen high school um show Lambs I honestly don't even remember how many years

029I've been doing it my name is Brock gball I'm in sixth grade and I show steers and pigs my name is son and I show Cals and my seventh year showing Cav my name is Emma Seager I'm in eighth grade at Seline middle school and I've been showing feeder CS for seven years my name's my name's on and I'm a seventh grader and I show Seline feeder caps my name is Elliot Seager and I've been swing feeder caps for two years um so basically within the junior Liv oh I'm Claire Wagner and I won Junior Homemaker and uh the Junior Homemaker award is also at the S Fair and uh kids can sign up to do that and adults for the senior Homemaker award and uh you have to do a countless different uh still

030exhibits so she did a great job did a bunch of different projects this year and you have to work really hard also uh adding on to about the junior livestock uh it's probably one of the best things that these kids can do when it comes to the fair because uh it not only shows that they can balance school and sports and like normal things they also raise their own animals and basically are becoming young Farmers from a young age so uh I think that uh we appreciate your support for the fair and we'd like to continue making the fair better so thank you thanks William William oh my gosh the board would very much like to have a picture with all of you young people sorry the parents can't come this time it's just the

031kids and uh there are no animals out there no in the no darn it yeah exactly than [Applause] I was at the fair a couple years ago Scott Gren asked me to host something and I was just a wonderful thing to watch the little ones bringing their lambs in and as the evening progressed the critters got bigger and bigger and until we had the 2,500 lb steers and uh uh yeah that was uh quite I was it was unexpected uh having not had a steer as a pet growing up I would like to introduce please uh Monique uslac uh and she'll tell you all about her we have two scheduled reports tonight one is the enrollment update and the other is this educational options Consortium is it working great uh good evening board members I'm

032manck uzelac the executive director of washt educational options Consortium I'm G to figure out how this works um I want to share a brief update as well as some very cute pictures though not necessarily uh quite as cute as the last round of pictures of uh of students from across the county um engaged in some of our shared programming that you guys uh have consistently supported since uh 2007 with the Advent of the Early College Alliance um we're still really proud to be able to offer the three different programs that we're offering the Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University wave the wasnot alliance for virtual education and washon International High School and Middle Academy Seline enrollment in these programs this year is uh ECA has 31 Seline students 30 of those are resident one

033School of Choice wave has 17 15 resident two School of Choice Washington International High School has 19 Seline students all Resident students got some language here from families who and students who want to apprec send their appreciation to all of you for supporting these programs and the opportunities that they've been able to provide within the context of our Public School Systems um I just I'll let you read the words of the families yourselves um but uh what I do want to share is that the Early College Alliance this year has 512 students enrolled um we're off to an amazing start this year those students are engaged in classes all across Eastern Michigan University's campus um we have uh this year expanded the number of students who are staying on for that fifth year and earning

034up to 60 college credits during their time with that with the Early College Alliance so students are able to attend high school in that very supported environment to learn the skills both academic and the soft skills to be able to succeed in those college classes and earn those college credits for free before they actually graduate from high school wave is near and dear to my heart because up until uh June of last year I was the director there I'd also like to introduce Sarah Giddings who's the new wave director here in the audience uh wave is unique in that it is our hybrid alternative program in the county wave runs year round students attend both online and in person to a lab environment that looks very much like a college Commons with multiple teachers and

035multiple staff all supporting students really in one big CL big big room setting with uh different pods where students will get either individualized or small group help on different U subjects there's also classes that run again somewhat on a College schedule about once a week or twice a week uh where students can actually have a more traditional in-person experience but all of their um the the students who are attending wave there's not a single story so we say alternative program but it's alternative in every sense of the word uh we have students who are primary Breadwinners in their family and need that flexibility to be able to work we have students who are court involved we have students students who were really looking for an opportunity to um pursue some of their outside interests and

036have the flexibility to be able to do that so we've had hockey players uh who who wanted the flexibility but online but also have that in-person support um and we've had students for whom just the large environment of a traditional program was challenging for a variety of reasons who wanted to come to a smaller supportive environment I think some of you were out there in a couple of years ago for some visits oh actually one thing I wanted to share is that wave is now offering Middle School uh the Middle School opened last year as the first year of a three-year uh Innovative Grant Award with um the new school's Venture fund uh this year it's expanded to seventh and eth grade it's a very tiny population last year it was just under 20 students

037this year it's about 10 students um and wave does uh do intake right up until the first week of October so there's yet another week of intake for Sarah uh wah high is our international borate program in the county and uh students there we have gotten off to a really nice year last year was a challenging year across weak due to some funding challenges uh and part of the changes over at Wah High last year were to shift from an 8 period block schedule to a seven period schedule what's been wonderful is that since school started at the end of August um it's it's really gotten into a nice Groove staff are very happy the kids there's a wonderful energy in the building and there's a positivity there that was I will say a little

038bit missing last year so we're actually on an upswing I would say over there um one student I've seen fairly regularly is a uh very very Smiley um and very engaging Seline student who says hi to me every time I'm in the building I wanted to share that some of your students make an impression just when you walk in the building over there looking ahead I wanted to share that the focus areas for this year is really making sure that the wave middle school programming continues to be robust and offer kind of a level of support for the middle school students that is needed in an alternative program uh the discussions of opening a middle school alternative have been years in the making and the grant offered us the opport opportunity to do that beginning

039last year um but it is still in those early phases of growing and assessing how well it's going the other piece is that the international Balor program is under its reauthorization year so there is a lot of Staff paperwork needs as far as that goes and there's a lot of reporting back to the IB organization itself so we're in the early phases of that process but that entire process is due this year we're also working really closely with Eastern Michigan to look at some part parip growth um some of our Wayne County Partners have actually purchased some seats into the early college program which is helping actually extend some of that programming here for our local wash participating districts as well and keeping some of that stabilization which is a lot of that b budget

040stabilization work that also continues one of the uh I want to thank Julie vulker who also volunteered to be part of our special education collaborative process work we have been working really closely one of the things that's a bit unique in the collaboration with weak is that the special education services for those ancillary staff follow the students from The Local District it requires a lot of coordination and partnership and it's been since 2017 was the last time we really reviewed deeply and revised those processes so we have a work group starting up again tomorrow and so I'm very thankful for the participants and our local special ed directors who are going to be part of that including Julie um um and I'm also at the in October starting a listen and learn with staff and

041families to really begin a strategic planning process around what are some of our community goals around these programs because they are so all so unique and offer such different types of programs to the families biggest thing I'd really like to say though today is thank you for your ongoing support and for reauthorizing the wasna educational options Consortium uh in 2023 uh if you've got any questions I'm happy to answer those thanks thanks manique thanks is are there any questions at the table we have one from Susan I have one or two and Brad has he's itching to ask a question so so um I know this may uh vary from um each uh you know each program but um how how um is the application process um like call for application is it referrals um

042yeah I guess with great question and it is a little bit different program by program so excuse me both ECA and uh W Mahi have enrollment Windows where they do information nights for prospective families there's an application period um they're a little bit different for each program and I don't know them off the top of my head but I can get you that information um sometimes school counselors are referring sometimes it's word of mouth sometimes people just see oh this is an offering within my district I'm interested in checking it out so there's a lot of different paths um at wave it's a little bit different there's referrals from Social Service there's referrals from the courts there's referrals from the district there's a lot of word of mouth as well but wave does enrollment pretty

043much all year um with a a big push in the fall and then another period of in the winter before the second period and then monthly they close it down for October during the month of count and then in February and otherwise there's about one or two per month orientations during that time um I had it another question um which was you kind of uh touched on it but the wave program um what kind of additional supports um are in place um because you mentioned some uh you know U social um support um outside of I'm just curious um what kind of um support is um provided with that yeah so um we've had uh for a population of about 300 well we're looking more 380 students for this year which was 340 was projected

044so wave Sarah keeps calling me saying I think we're the most popular School in town right now um but there are two counselors and a social worker jened social worker there are also Al for Teacher Consultants providing uh special education services with a posting soon to go up for a fifth um there's also significant um each student is assigned to a u an adviser who is really that child's and Family's primary point of contact with the program so if you were a student You' be assigned to Sarah as an advisor uh on a weekly basis she'd be talking to you to your family sharing kind of what's going on uh setting any kind of goal convers ations with the family talking about what kind of barriers or what sort of uh you know other other

045supports or Social Service type levers or other kind of barriers or needs that you might have and then figuring out like part of that advisory position advisory role is to know who to go to either on staff or who to go to as far as our Community Partners to help engage some of those supports for families that sounds amazing um I I hope on some level um we could do that in our school tools that sounds um awesome thank you bet one of the ways that happens is that the advisory case loads uh like staff are actually there there's a significant amount of their time that is kind of devoted to that advisory component um a while ago I used to say kind of a rule of thumb was it was about an hour per

046student per week it's slightly less than that now given the financial pressures but it is still a significant amount of individual time per pupil per week yeah uh quick question or two first of all we we at Eastern we love having the the ECA students and we're getting to the point we can recognize them my own building the College of Education uh they they're everywhere on Fridays I think but maybe they they're in other times as well I'm not sure um I have a question about this is a wave question so maybe Sarah uh might want to answer it what is the age limit can in wash now we've lost a number of students during the covid they just walked away from school uh I I'm I know of at least a couple of students

047who just gave up on their High School experience and walked away and I'm wondering do you take them at any age is approved as a program that can take students up to age 22 if they're facing a significant barrier and it is up to the school to sign off on that significant barrier so in Michigan you can go to school regular high school until you the 20 of the until the age of 20th of September up to 26 if you have an IEP uh wave has had students up to 22 because of U alternative uh they're coded in that alternative programs that can actually uh continue students who've had significant barriers to the education up to age 22 and um especially working in partnership with WD around those transition services and the special education supports

048we have had students who finished high school at the age of 25 and I think one even at 26 so but they need to be on the books is correct so in order to go beyond the age of 22 what beyond the age of 20 up to 22 there needs to be some kind of significant barrier that could even be I stepped out of school during covid and lost a year of my schooling that would count as a significant barrier yeah um and then from 22 to 26 you would need to there would need to be an IEP thank you very much Brad he's good uh Jenny oops uh I appreciated some of the um some of the the notes that you included from the families and just they um I I know I've heard

049from a number of families who've participated in one or more of the programs um I think I've heard the most about why High I think um a number of our students who have engaged in that or uh family friends around the county who have found that to be um a benefit to their students and and also um continued participation in extracurriculars at their home high school has also been um really exciting for them to be able to continue with that too um my question for you is just thinking about the graduates that we see here on the screen but thinking about your programs um maybe um you know of course maintaining privacy but could you tell us um some a you know some success stories what are kids doing after they leave your programs maybe

050one or two there's a wonderful range of them um we have students who have completed uh University degrees and uh one young man has uh just moved to Vietnam for his work uh we have students who are now in nursing a lot of uh a lot of healthc care interest I know from some of the students who have gone through wave we've had students who have finished up and said the college path is not for me but I am joining my family business and now I've got kind of this barrier out of the way I can do that we've had students go to um uh especially from uh y High and somewh from ECA some of the uh Ivy Leagues and um done some incredibly amazing uh amazing things there I can I'd be happy

051to share some stories as well with a followup email with some of these comments from families I just I think it's exciting to celebrate just that um students are finding their path and finding success and um you know post post high school or post um you know secondary or post I guess K K12 education um finding the path that leads to their Futures so thank you for supporting them and and for being such a positive influence on them as they um seek that next step well thank you all for making it an opportunity looking around the table I don't see anything else so uh students no yes no great well thank you very much manique and Sarah thank you so much for coming tonight I would like to introduce you for those who haven't met

052him before superintendent Lodge oh what did you call him snow day Steve that's coming up soon yeah I haven't done that for a while but I did today um thank you all we're going to talk about our latest enrollment report and uh let's talk first about how it's actually calculated because there is quite a bit of confusion between FTE the full-time equivalency versus head count so if you look at the bullet points up here um FTE is how we get funded so when we apply the uh per pupil expenditure dollar amount that's applied to the FTE and that's where we get the general the the big uh millions of dollars to support the school district so that's full-time student would equal 1.0 less than full time are counted as a decimal that's complex and time

053consuming because you often see different numbers as Miranda calculates that and helps get all that organized and then there's the head count where we count each student as one no matter if they're a halftime student or any part-time program it's always higher than the FTE count and it's easier to gather it this way and look at Trends so you actually see um we're going to look at this report two different ways we're going to look at it with FTE and we're going to look at it at with head counts close but you you'll see a slight difference okay it's a little bit hard to read from from there but in short when we look at 2324 at 4763 that's the blue bar and then we fast forward to this year the predicted uh count at

0544704 that's a difference of 59 students so 59 student loss is what's predicted whereas Miranda had originally put into the budget a loss of 110 students so you can see that that will be a positive reflection in um diary figure okay Ben can you just forward it yeah there or back one okay so back to headcount for a minute there are special programs that add into the head count and and those are listed here with Alternative High School young adult the weak programs that we just heard about yeah although the weak number is slightly different as manik actually has a more updated count which is a little higher but um anyway uh and that's because um Miranda keeps continually updating but manik is a little further ahead in the latest update uh and then Progress

055Park uh EC ecsa The Early Childhood special education and then we also include include was not Christian St Andrew as we still service special education students in these programs however um we're required to do that but we don't get additional funding for that just to just to point that out when we look at the actual head count here uh the predicted 2024 25 at 4592 but then you have to add in all those special programs so with that said it's a close number into that 4700 range there we go okay so I do want to sort already spoke about this but we'll summarize it with the current estimates are showing this loss of 59 students and yet we budgeted for a loss of 110 students and that's the CH the the budgeted amount is always

056that change from how many seniors are leaving because we've had these larger graduating classes that we've talked about with more a smaller incoming amount of young fives and kindergarten students so in between that is where the um gain was Associated this year in other words there were more people coming into the district um in in those other grade levels that equated a smaller than anticipated loss and as a result it's an increase of 51 students to the budget and at 9608 which is the current per pupil Foundation rate that increase will be approximately $490,000 in state um Aid revenue from the June budget so that that's a good thing because we will reflect that moving forward and that we would do that after count I mean again this is a prediction but Miranda is pretty

057accurate with this so um it's going to be in that neighborhood uh this is something from our previous um presentation but I did just want to keep I wanted to reiterate this point that we still are looking at this declining birth rate um throughout our nation so that's one of the factors we talk about when we see enrollment that is declining okay Ben give me a fast forward okay um and again these are repeats um from previous presentations but I do want to Point them out again so the washingon County birth rate over 20 years is catching up with us and and many other local districts who have also lost enrollment there's also it's clear that families have more choices than ever before is where they're sending students and whether that's virtual school um Charters

058private schools home schools technical colleges we know that there are more options than ever in addition we talk about affordability with high mortgage rates it's harder to afford home homes insuline and a lot of the surrounding areas in washingon County so what have we done to right size the budget because last year I kept talking about how we were reducing s FTE um to to our budget to right size uh primarily uh the population loss or student population loss at the middle and high school levels and we did do that however we've added some things back so I want wanted to go through that so uh at the top we wrote Our consistent goal which is this driving question of where are the opportunities to change the structure of our district to still maintain or

059exceed the outstanding student supports that we currently provide and we feel like we did this this past year in other words we went through a reduction process but there is very minimal if any impact on student programming and that's what we're trying to preserve and so when you look at it we and tried to evaluate this and be transparent at multiple levels in other words we we told the staff early on that we were seeking a 7.0 FTE reduction and I feel like we worked very collaborative collaboratively to achieve that with very minimal moves I would say involuntary moves we had very minimal involuntary moves as a result of that so what exactly happened well the changes completed achieved about $750,000 in general fund recurring expenses initially I had said that it was a million

060dollar which it was however we did need to add back some staff because we had a greater than expected enrollment coming back in um so with that said we look at the uh Selen middle school and high school at the 7 FTE reduction that I that I spoke about which um has has seen the largest enrollment decrease over the Last 5 Years in other words our elementary schools are starting to stabilize but those smaller classes from the elementary level are now um matriculating up to the middle school and high school level at the elemente level though because we started to see specific grade level growth we did add another teacher back there later in the summer so after I had gone through and said you know we're we're trimming um a million dollarss we needed

061to do that and we also Justified it because we were trying not to balloon class size at the elementary level and and felt that we needed to do that in addition um we also were seeing enroll increase enrollment in our El population and we needed another El teacher support and so we added that in addition that was because we needed to comply with the state with um certain ratios to make sure that we are providing proper support now we also did add additional staff um uh position at swwc seal the the learning coaches psychologist and resource room however the vast majority of that is being reimbursed by special education funds which is why as we heard tonight the special education millage is is important and we get a lot of funding from that um but

062all that bottom tier stuff is either being reimbursed by specialed educations uh special education funds Grant funds or in the case of swwc yes Seline pays a portion of that but so do the other five districts that are associated with those positions so when it's all said and done we had a better than expected $500,000 going back to the budget because our enrollment loss was less than expected and we trimmed $750,000 in savings from The General fund so we are pleased with that direction but we do know um and this is the end we do know that we have to keep working on this so what will happen next is we will go through Count Day verify that yes this is our enrollment and then we will again have Miranda Project out well what does

063that look like now for the next three years where is our fund balance currently where will it be in a few years and then we have to adjust just the projected loss column because eventually the goal is to stabilize where we don't have a loss that we just stay flat or start growing again and we feel that this now this is onee data but um a smaller than expected loss means that we are starting to stabilize at least for this this foreseeable future with that said what questions do you all have thanks for the report on our right sizing of the district we always knew we were heading in that right direction so is there anybody at the table Brad Tim and that's it so far so I will say that I I first of

064all I appreciate this report it reflects a number of the things that I I mentioned to you guys as part of my finance update the last meeting right and the things that kind of stand out for me are are that yes we do still have some ongoing work to do U but we're on this continuously as a as a finance team right so you know there are two things that we we will never stop looking at those two things are per pupil Foundation allowance and what is our student FTE right because that determines the primary funding source for our um you know the revenue for our school district and so uh I appreciate the people on the team I appreciate I want to reiterate what Steve said earlier about the partnership that we have developed

065with our with our unions with our individuals who had challenging um things were we had to make challenging decisions and all of that that really was a collaborative process and I'm proud of the way we've gone through that um I can also assure the the seven of us and in the community that we we will stay on top of this and we will keep this a continual focus of our our finance team our finance meetings enrollment is something we will talk about and will talk about um on a regular basis and the I guess I would say if I was highlighting a couple of things the the otherwise I would say um I'm encouraged as as as Steve is about the you know the increase for of 303 right at the over 284 at the

066kindergarten level that that that's positive for for stabilization but we are still seeing 398 out and 303 in so we're going to have some continuous work to do in that regard but um the the the co- the people coming back to us or moving in um cohort to cohort is is a positive trend that I want to recognize as well right that we saw increases in areas where I think I could be bold and say we didn't necessarily know if we would see increases in those we thought we'd just be stable so uh thank you to the team thank you to Dr lot for this report and uh I'm I'm I'm cautiously optimistic as the finance chair is the words I would use I kind of want to Echo a little bit about what Brad

067said the numbers are definitely encouraging going in the right direction obviously right now couple couple things um the young fives we added a another classroom yeah we added a section a section there and there is the the young five students are treated like kindergarteners but they because they in terms of per people funding we get but then it repeats so it's kind of this unique in that then they'll go forward and be counted as kindergarteners again again yeah exactly but we did we did increase that and then do you know the number number of uh Stu uh School of Choice students that are in this number do you know have that I I do not offand but I will go back and calculate that okay I'm just curious presentation went down yeah I will I

068I will get that number for you though okay perfect thanks I just uh wanted to highlight um with the Staffing changes and the slides still up um I just wanted to give you an opportunity to say uh to re iterator to say again um that this was done through attrition we didn't have any um layoffs or any um sort of thing uh so I know I know transfers are are never easy but um everyone was able to maintain employment that uh did not separate otherwise from the district right that's right and there really were at the when it was all said and done there was one involuntary transfer I believe um as as we we we tried to return people to their position that they were transferred to in the summer if we were able

069to wonderful news on the on the um the loss of 59 versus the 110 forecasted um just wanted to do a temperature check on anything with regarding class sizes and how that affects things this year if we have more students than we thought right I mean and that would reflected in the adding the one Elementary FTE so I mean that was the conversation of saying well do we really want elementary class size at I can't remember the exact grade level that this was at but you know do we want it at 30 or do we want it down to 26 by adding another teacher and we said we needed to make it down to 26 that's an analogy but the point is is we are trying to maintain those windows of what we would like

070to have as class size at the elementary level as often as we can thank you for always being cognizant of that and aware it's a a big one on parents Minds I know I'm asked about sometimes go right ahead so I I I'll piggyback on that idea because I think that also um we have contractual limits with class size but I also want to note that we have um some goal sizes for our district as well right about what we just find to be ideal for class sizes for students in general right so I believe that we exed those contractual um oblig or whatever you want to call them the contractual agreements that we have with our with our um our unions and then we have our own in place so I want to highlight

071that as well I that was something I've learned as a finance person is and being on the board so I appreciate those things right great Lauren Susan students no no no students well Dr L okay as much as we'd like to ask you 20 or 30 questions I appreciate the report thank you so much I'd like to turn the uh floor over to once our once our guest Sate I'd like to turn the floor over to uh Jennifer Miller secretary Miller who is also the chair of the policy committee thank you okay um so we have had two meetings um since our last policy meeting since our last board meeting and so I just wanted to um wanted to kind of walk us through that timeline a little bit so so first um I wanted

072to just uh let everyone know that um I don't even remember when it actually began but um at at a point when the de was presenting to the board and um and they were presenting more than any other um any other body or or um group um in that they were presenting four times times a year when most um all of our other advisory committees and even departments were presenting more like once a year so excuse me other than teaching and learning so um that prompted a little bit of um I think some deep dive by uh president McVey so he started to kind of look more closely at the policy and and think about um that particular item but then since look at that item started to look at a little bit more and

073then we had some conversations I know he had some conversations with others on the deic and so he then proposed um some a series of revisions and I believe it was in July June or July the policy committee um reviewed those uh consider those um revisions and um at that point gave uh president McVey some feedback um around those proposed revisions and he uh decided to remove his um request or proposal for revisions and went back um and made some revisions to his revisions proposed revisions and resubmitted them so um so that's kind of the timeline of how we got on um this policy and just some some revisions um but then I also wanted to mention some other things that were happening so in the background um this particular year on deac um there

074are 20 members not including um the trustees and I believe not including um the superintendent or his design or their design um so there are 20 members of of the de and um nine so uh at the end of the year nine um positions either expired and or people um decided not to continue um on the deic and so we have if you're thinking about 20 members total with a vacancy nine nine vacancies um it leaves a rather um sparse group and so um so there was some some thought about um considering some of the revisions but also considering that there is um a need to fill nine vacancies so um in in moving ahead uh we began to focus significantly on the membership selection criteria because um of that of because of those vacancies

075and wanting to move forward with that one particular Revision in an attempt to um prioritize the work of the deic and as you noted tonight we had two students who spoke to us about some um some occurrences at our high school and so having the deic um active and um uh doing their work so that they can um respond and um and support the work of the district is important so um one of the revisions that came to us was regarding um the appointment or selection of new um new members of the deic and there was some concern because um the current process outlined in the um in the policy leaves a little bit of a little bit to interpretation and so the practice um I think uh with with all good intentions um there

076was some there was some area that that was concerning um and so we sought out uh legal advice from um masb and also um Brad basic at masb and then secondarily we wanted to have some confirmation so we also reached out to trun who um Jennifer Starin is the attorney that uh we reached out to through trun and so we have two different legal opinions on this one revision so I wanted to just um to take you through then the uh how how the how those reports uh came to be so um I had a phone conversation with Brad bassic so I have um some notes and when I was talking with Brad um he went he first before even our phone conversation he went through the policy but then he also went into our

077policy catalog and looked at other advisory committees namely the wellness committee and um The sexed Advisory Board to see how the policies read for um seat appointment or seating of new members on those two committees and so he he looked at the three policies and noted that um there was there were differences but the most significant differences were in the de and so he had some recommendations so he went he went back and forth and he said that there was some gray area but when he at the end end of our conversation noted that um although although the trustees were participating with the co-chairs to reach consensus um which he thought was was appropriate he said that if there was dissent on the part of the of the trustees that could be seen as a

078vote to exclude or decision to exclude and so he said you know if everyone is in agreement um there might not be cause for a alarm but if there was some concern or dissension noted from the trustees it could be seen as um a vote and we um can't have that vote so he he had some concerns there and his recommendation was to model the um selection process after the sex de advisory or the wellness committee so we had that bit of information um but because Brad um I know that uh trusty eastep also reached out to Brad and he was he he did kind of go back and forth except on that one piece of dissension so then we reached out to um to trun and so um I'll read just a bit about

079uh what trun came back to us with so while I'm sorry just did the policy committee reach out to tr or did Dr lch so uh I reached out to you to see if we could contact so to see about to to get your feedback on contacting um uh Jennifer Starin at trun and um Steve was making that contact already so he reached out right thanks for clarifying that part so via email so so the first was a conversation that I had the second was an email um that Steve sent so um this is from Jennifer Starin and also her partner um Kelly Bowman so while board members at a regular board meeting subject to the Oma May engage in cons consensus decision-making to appoint community members to a committee board members at a committee

080meeting made up of less than a quorum may only engage in decision making if the committee complies with Oma the Oma post uh require the Oma requires public posting of a meeting holding open meetings in place of uh sorry at a place available to the public including an opportunity for public participation during every open meeting making all committee decisions in Open Session convening and closed session only when permitted keeping minutes of committee meetings based on the information you've provided uh let me see based on the committee uh based on the information that you've provided it sounds like the two board members are on the committee and the committee is deciding which members appoint the committee if that's the Comm if that's the case the committee consists of less than a quorum Which is less than

081four but is um and is empowered with governmental authority to decide who will be on the committee but it says therefore it would be an Oma violation for the committee to make this decision if it is not in compliance with the Oma requirements listed above so she deemed that we could make the decision in the committee but not in a closed um in a closed session so the two could make that decision so so anyways because um and I know I've been referring refering to this as a great area but we do feel like we have two legal opinions that prompt us to reconsider how the appointment happens to the um to this committee enough that we just want it to be um transparent and we want it to be um fair and we also

082felt like it was a benefit to have it align with um with our other committee assignments or sorry our other um advisory committees so if you look at the packet um in the policy the green are additions to the policy and the red strikeouts are where we would delete the policy so it says currently the board shall or I'm sorry this is an addition and it says the committee shall have no more than 20 members then it says the board shall establish a de and shall determine the terms of service for the de the number of members to serve on the AC and a member selection process that reason reflects the District student population so I want to note here that we have gotten some feedback on this so I want to just pull this

083piece forward and respond to public comment on this one piece for all of you to um take in also so this was taken directly from the sexed advisory um policy and with the changes of course instead of saying cab it says de and um and one of the notes that Brad manasik made made was that the deic um or sorry that the board establishes this committee and then determines the terms of service and the number of members to serve additionally when we were meeting as a committee we thought that it would be a benefit to have the membership reflect the district's population or student population um but I will note that in public comment at our policy meeting earlier that it was never Our intention for um this to limit the number of um participants

084from um diverse backgrounds so for example um the example was given that if the district for example only had 2% um black students that it we wouldn't it was never Our intention to limit the deic to only 2% um black student U participation or black um you know participants at all on the deic so that's that's something that um we should consider this is is as the cab um reads so if that is a concern here we might want to address it with the cab policy also it was also noted that this is a bit redundant because it says that we're going to establish determine the number determine the terms of service it is um in um it is a reflection of the cab so perhaps you know if that's if that's a concern to

085you that we can address that but we did model it after that policy for consistency okay I W to direct us further down to letter B where it says um the superintendent Andor their design Shall Serve as co-chair and an additional co-chair shall be selected by the superintendent Andor their design with committee feedback excluding Board of Education trustee Representatives this co-chair will be selected by the existing committee and at least one of the co-chairs shall be a parent of a child attending a district school applications shall be reviewed and decided upon by the superintendent Andor design co-chair one student rep and two additional volunteer committee members Board of Education trustees May observe the application process but not deliberate or decide and then it strikes out and continues to read applications will be reviewed on a

086rolling basis and then the last revision I believe um is in C it says if selected the applicant will be notified by the superintendent and or their design when a vacancy becomes um available so um the one thing that I wanted to also answer from um public comment if you scroll up in um in the policy let's see it's the second full paragraph So we have the board of education then you see where it says lenary School District then looking down to where it says the diversity equity and inclusion advisory committee I want to read the last sentence or the last part of let me see here where it says committee members committee members are expected to have a demonstrated interest in and commitment to advancing the district's Dei initiatives and efforts um and then

087it goes on to include um to list uh the stakeholders included in the committee um the the subgroups committed in the uh called out in the in the policy so I I also wanted to um assure um uh some some public comment in our um policy meeting that that sentence would be um is a part of the policy that would uh provide a measure of safety for the community members or the committee members who um who are interested in supporting and furthering the district's demon the district's um initiatives and efforts in Dei and um therefore anyone considered would have demonstrated an interest in and a commitment to and um and and commitment to advancing so there is some Safeguard there in in the selection that that would be you know um something that that in

088the application and review process would be um would be uh you know a preliminary um requirement for consideration um in terms of um in terms of some other um I guess the only other thing too is that someone said par we said parent in the district and I know that was a that was just um that was something that we um inadvertently use the term parent and we would strike that to be in alignment with all of our other policies so that it would read something like um caregiver and or um I'm trying to think of what it was consistently caregiver and or parent what' you say parent parents parent parent SL caregiver is what it is in other policies so we would we could um he Jenny do that um I just wanted to

089add um in C in the sexed policy it does say only parent so just a flag yeah so that could be why we said which is where it came from we might need to we might need to um we might need to amend both of those um and then lastly I just wanted to say um publicly that um it is not my intent to to rush this policy I do have a sense of urgency in that um just as I said earlier we have had um you know some some Community um community and school related events that um that deserve and could be could be benefited from um some uh considerations and or um what did we say we didn't say recommendations we said insights from the um because also we can't say recommendations because

090that's an Oma violation so insights from the um de and I don't think that I think that those are those have been brought to um the Forefront of our minds most recently but they are concerns that are ongoing and and um and I know that the deic takes incredible um intentionality to the work that they that they do and so I have been feeling torn on the selection process um especially in light of the attorney um conversations and and email in that on one hand um I would like to see the de have appointments sooner rather than later so that they can get on with their committee work and the work that benefits our district and also I know that it's important for us to have Community feedback and to have multiple readings and so

091as you can see I am feeling both sides of that coin right now and um it is never it was never my intent to uh take that second reading away from anyone but I just wanted everyone to know that at any point um you know a trustee could call for for a motion so I I'm not planning on doing that unless it seems that we are all in consensus um earlier this week um it came to mind that um this is really to make sure that we are in compliance with the law so that we don't have um you know any any um issues or recourse moving forward so that could be different than um you know considering other kinds of revisions so that is what I have to say about that um and I

092would like to invite um the other members of the policy team Andor Steve who also participates in our meetings if they have anything to add and then we'll open it up to the rest of the board for questions I think I'd like to respond after we hear what the other um individuals um that aren't on the policy committee say but I just wanted to say Jenny I know that this is a really challenging position on the board being the policy chair and I think you're doing a really great job and trying to consider all voices um and being organized and I thank you for that and look forward to hearing what other people say and then I'll chime in so Michael do you want to facilitate the conversation then uh I'm happy to I do

093have some clarifying questions but I saw Susan beat me to it okay maybe I'll answer some of those I have I have questions maybe do you want me to pose my questions now go for to oh thank you uh first of all is there a co-chair presently I know we have Ryan Kerr is the the Pres superintendent's designate the co-chair um ended her term of service in this spring so we currently do not have a co-chair thank you are there applicants ready to uh join the board that you're can call on yes and there are two current um deic members who have volunteered to be considered for co-chair and maybe this question is for later but can we I I understand the issue of uh the fact that our existing policy says X that board

094members can participate but if they do then they're we're having an Oma issue so is it possible to be in compliance at this point by simply asking board members not to make a decision could just say board members we've all been aware of the conversation let's just stand back and by the way I'm going to attend uh de I've never attended before uh I'm just going to you know be one of these flies on the wall just to get a chance to meet some of the other board members but can we simply being compliance by at this moment by stepping back I I think that's possible we could discuss what that would look like um but that currently with Ryan Kerr being the only co-chair um my recommendation would be for a second co-chair to

095be selected tomorrow at the next de meeting and then move forward one way or another after that that seems to make sense so those are my three of my four questions you waiting on four the fourth one may be moot based on what the rest of you all say all right um so I have a few things um so a question about so there was a second so Michael you had a proposed revisions and then you took those back and proposed something else and is that what we're looking at no I believe that this part I made a recommendation to not have board members uh participate in the selection procedure but since that time the policy committee has evolved this based on my reading now to include three additional people student rep and two parents

096or two volunteers to help in the process so this is language that's not exactly mine but it's in it's in the same Faith to what I was uh proposing so we took so just to let you know we took Michael's um recommendation and that is kind of what we ran by legal and then taking the advice from legal and Michael's recommendation crafted what is in front of you now as the policy committee okay um and so just I guess clarifying from um looking at other policies um so the changes where you were talking about that it came specifically from cab um it actually does say students um that was I can you do do you recall who asked for students to be it was C that came from that particular piece so I can tell

097you ex well I'm sure you can tell too um but there the language that was taken sorry I the language that was taken from or crafted I guess to be in reflection of the cab was um I'm sorry looking up at the top the board shall establish and then looking down [Music] below I'm trying to remember I would have to look at the comparison of the two but the student rep during during the conversation on the 16th um the student rep was added and I I do you remember okay thank you I think that may have come from the fact that um when we were looking at it they we talked about parent representation and we were talking about how recent grads and students would have a unique amount of insight to share with the

098de um and how there was nothing in the current policy if I could just I think you're misunderstanding what part I'm talking about well you if I could just say you're asking about students and how it's different from the seab correct no I think no she's asking in the par B if I'm understanding correctly yes it says applications shall be reviewed and decided upon by the superintendent Andor design co-chair one student rep and two additional volunteer committee members and I no oh I I'm looking at the committee shall have no more than 20 members and so it's talking about the board shall establish and from my understanding that was student population yeah so that was from the cab language however cab says District District's population I believe it does not include student there so that's

099where yeah uh again I'm trying that was not a revision do you remember who asked for it to be student population Jen was that you I don't remember I have the sexed um policy up and Susan is right it says membership selection process that reasonably reflects the district's population um I I I I don't know I think it's getting it the same thing but I just wanted to stand still by the piece of public comment that we did receive earlier and I acknowledge that we did not intend for percentages to be allocated in a particular way so the spirit of what that says could be reworked a little so it's it's um yeah we'd be open to revisions there also I think from what I remember I don't remember who raised it but I think

100when we raised the idea of District population versus student population we were acknowledging that we do have um students who are um School of Choice who are not necessarily represented in the district but they would be represented in the student population if I if I could add I'm just a little nervous as the person who made these recommendations I'm worried that we're going to go down a rabbit hole in the next few minutes focusing on whether this how like seab and wellness this is each of those three committees before each of those three committees is going to have its own flavor this committee does not have a member of the faith community which the seab is called by law to have it's different they're required they're different requirements and and you all as a committee

101can the de is welcome to come back and make recommendations for how they want to change it if they want to have 55 members and a marching band they can do it it's okay but they have to make the decision I think and and I'll just clarify the reason the reason why just a point of clarification to Michael's comment the deac cannot establish a different membership number other than the Board of Education policy yes they can make a recommendation to the policy committee and that's and there's a process for doing it but if they decide there is a process for doing it if they want to go through and make change to we can no longer use the word recommendation oury so they can share insight and they can share ideas they cannot yes I

102don't know if the I need Clarity on that I'm I'm again I I want to try to avoid us going down that rabbit hole though and just to try to keep us to focus on this so let me just also say I think the three of us are in agreeance especially after getting um Community feedback that if we wanted to strike the District student population piece because it's the intent um was not that we would limit um that we would limit anyone because um you know a percentage had already been filled and I think that's why it says reasonably but we don't need we can I think we're all in agre on that but other questions yes I have a ton but I'm trying not to go I saw you roll your ass now trying

103not to go into a rabbit hole but um I'm just making the decision as to whether I want to continue and I'm not going to well Happ well let me just say let me just say the reason why the reason why we chose the two um advisory the other two advisory committees is at the recommendation of um Brad bassic to consider that that um having them although you said like they are distinctly different but having some alignment could offer some clarity and also um you know be consistent so um so this actually has so when the committee um worked on this in 2021 um which was um my myself and arom um so we actually did look at those um so sexed and um Wellness um again sexed well both of these are required by

104law to have um with when this came up the sex ed actually isn't prescriptive at all um and so that's why it is more perspect prescriptive um because even with our sex aded right now because it says here the board shall establish a de a and shall determine D D D D the numbers although that's already within the policy so um it's unclear like with sex ed it doesn't have you know it does have um the makeup of the committee but it doesn't have like the number or um the application process or um so this is we already made it sort of prescriptive and now it's like super prescriptive but with this um you know component um that the board shall establish that so I'm confused um are we saying the board shall establish the

105terms of services and all of that even though it's within the policy now are is that we're the board is a proving that through the policy or I'm just I'm confused is it an annual thing I um I'm totally confused about that if if I if I may and I don't want to not reply to Susan's comment but I didn't know if you wanted to reply to it but I just wanted to pull us up a little strategically so um at a 50,000 foot level this conversation is because of legal advice so we we can think about um the exact content of of you know student population District population Etc the most important thing to me personally is that we have received legal advice which is prompting changes here um and so I just thought

106if we could pull ourselves up there and and and see if we're kind of aligned on the necessity to change the um the board and involvement in the application process that would be helpful to me and and then we can you know talk about the language but I think first we have to get agreement that like we have a two legal opinions um that I think we need to react to which that wasn't consulted initially right so was this did this go back to legal and I'd like the legal information if that's something you all cons send um did this so I I think what what I I'm hearing is Jennifer sterlin um said that we need to extract decision making and Jenny has the exact language um from this process so this was an

107attempt to create something to to pull the board trustees out of the minutia of that process to safeguard us with regards to om so so no this didn't just to answer your question this didn't go to Legal this was prompted after two legal opinions and this is like a first reading of the okay of the draft I would like to to um I guess go back with some history here um so I believe this started back in maybe June that um Brad bastic was going to be contacted um about the question of whether how we are doing it now or have been um because we're not appointing and that language is still in there um says appointing um which I thought that was the question um since the board members you know I think Jenny's

108been on since we started this process of choosing uh members um and with that it's been co-chairs um uh two board members again raday was on well now it's yeah um could you just clarify I just want you're talking about how we have chosen committee members in the past yes okay because that's what we're talk yeah no I just that's so you're you're talking about who was involved in choosing yes committee members in the past cuz then you said something about appointment and then back there said both are required by law I'm just trying to clarify where you're at with this so right I'm not talking about so okay so right now you're describing the process in the past of choosing committee members which we are have been advised by law to change the process

109right well the process isn't listed in here and it still says the word appoint so it still says that the board would reps and the superintendent or design a point that never came out of this draft which I thought was the question at hand um but with that with that question um you know the process has been and I actually because we weren't getting answers um to move forward with with choosing or with the process of getting more um committee members um I went ahead and contacted Brad as well because I wasn't sure what Sorry Brad with um masb because I wasn't sure um you know yes or no can we move forward um and so he um had shared the way I described it which you know we're all at the table we're discussing

110these applications um the applicants at the end of the day it's the superintendent or appointee I think it's been the superintendent where um from that discussion um which again bringing up like I mean just really discussing that um you know this is a good applicant and and whatever um that was in the hands of the chair and the superintendent um for example the last time we chose like we talked about about it at the meeting um there was somebody who we didn't discuss as a um potential like we didn't Elevate their application or you know um talk about them as a strong candidate um yet they were chosen and that was fine I mean me and Jenny didn't didn't say anything like no you can't do that right um because that's in their hands so

111when I talked to Brad about that he said as long as the administrator is actually making the appointment which the administrator contact contacts all of those people um hopefully does some on wording and then um that's how that do like that's how that works um and so I think the question being a point um that you know this the board members are appointing that's not factual we haven't did that so I thought that was kind of the question do we need to remove that um and after I talked to Brad I brought that back because you know we want to get members uh because we lost a lot unfortunately um and so especially during this time we need members um and need to move the work forward um so I thought we were good to

112move forward I talked to president McVey um and then I was told we're not moving forward um and I'm not sure if that was President McVey making that decision um I don't know how the fact that this wasn't didn't come to the board till now how this has been been held up for months um unless it was McVey sorry president McVey or superintendent lotch I'm unsure but I don't think it's okay for a committee to hold up the word sorry i' like you should actually why don't you ask me Susan ask you what you said you weren't sure if I was the one holding things up why don't you ask because I talked to you and you said we can move forward I was that's because I got a little incorrect information did you just

113say a second ago that the superintendent appointed someone and that you and the board me other board members you serve with did not want that person or you steep back did you just say that oh oh okay fine uh I'm no I was under the impression that you all could move ahead as long as the board members were not participating in the selection and in the interim you received some additional legal support uh you I I said that to you after speak after I heard that you were all speaking with Brad beness and then after that conversation I had with you we went for additional support from trun Law Firm they all said the same thing keep the board members away from the decision making that's that's what I I understand so so can I

114can I clarify because I did ask Brad I did ask Brad bassic um who is is legal at masb um and and I I presented him with a specific scenario so hypothetically I said um say the superintendent or their design puts forth an application and the Board of Education trustees find that that application that person does not have a demonstrated interest in and commitment to advancing the district's Dei initiative and efforts and the superintendent continues and says that it would be good to have diversity of thought it would be good to have opposing opinions or ideas and the uh trustees again come back with it's stated specifically in the policy that that is a requirement of the committee members and he came back and said that in dissuading the selection of that applicant that would

115be considered a vote to exclude but he could have put them on the committee I'm just saying that's what the legal team said okay I I'm just talking about what we're talking about um where a superintendent only talks about one person to put on the committee and in addition it was the whole room discussing that which included co-chairs as well um so I mean at the end of the day kind of like last time um they could be put you know they could make that decision so that's that's true and I did and that's why I posed the scenario to that's why I oppose the scenario so I I'm not going to continue to argue that was just the scenario and I'm just recanting clarifying appreciate can I clarify did is what so I don't

116recall this there was a person that everybody did not want that I appointed to the committee I don't recall that it feels like that's what you're saying no it wasn't someone that we um discussed as length or sorry at length um at everybody else like me was on but yeah that person wasn't there was a list generated at that meeting and this person was not on that list but it wasn't someone that had been disqualified and so um when there continued to be a vacancy that application was raised without a second meeting okay but just to clarify to the public I did not appoint that person correct I think Laura made the phone calls okay and that's not the same person we're talking about though okay I think jennif go ahead Jennifer I'll be real

117quick Tim um I I just wanted to um make one comment and then one question for Jenny which I'm pretty sure I know the answer to um but Susan you said this has been held up by committee members for months or held up by the committee for months I just looked at my email um Lauren Steve Betty and I received a message from Jenny on September 4th asking us to have a meeting a policy meeting which we all replied to right away um we ended up picking the 16th of September as the day that we were all available we met and it's on our on our agenda tonight so that's within within the month um so we actually scheduled an extra meeting because we understood the urgency and the the commitment to do the work

118and I I think that the committee responded pretty pretty pretty quickly um the second question or this question that I have the um the communication with Jennifer sterlin that's in writing you have a written document that says we should change this process I I read to you what she said yeah and there's more so you can get more from it she explains exactly what is ETC um I also just wanted to say that initially this conversation started even before that September conversation when Michael had initially sent his first recommendations um the re and then he sent them back again with some modifications the reason for the September the quick turnaround in September was because upon um upon Ryan curbing um Steve's design and upon reviewing Michael's um uh revisions and concerns around Oma it prompted

119a deeper dive into that particular piece um um and so and and I will say that if anyone thinks that I am the reason for holding well I just want to say publicly if anyone thinks that I'm the reason for holding this up I will say that I have offered to president McVey that I don't feel comfortable participating as the policy or as the practice currently stands but I am willing to step back and allow any other trustee to step in in that in my place thank you and I I know Tim we don't want to take your your mic but but we have a but what I want again get to the 50,000 foot view we have a letter from our attorney saying we need to change the process and that's what I'm hearing

120and that's what I would like to do but that wasn't till till recently so everything's been held up over the summer then let's do it so I guess what I'd like to see I don't really care to rehash what has happened in the past I think we're looking at our existing policy in front of us right now and I just want to address this so I think it is important that we um um do have two readings I would like to see two readings and I don't see how um what I'm reading here is the committee shall have no more than 20 members so they can still function tomorrow and continue on doing the work that they're doing but well so so let me just I'm just going to say yes they can continue to

121meet tomorrow they can they can select a second co-chair they can however um within that committee there are at least I don't know the audience can correct me or Susan at at least five subcommittees that do active work and it's a it's a heavy lift and so to have limited number of committee members does slow the work it can continue so yes you are correct this this is what I guess happens then because I think it's important that we have the two readings and obviously there's a lot of in people and board members with comments and maybe wanting clarification on things they operate with the 11 members they have they can select another co-chair and then after we've vote on this then they can seat new members and that way and and if if if

122the subcommittees are less or one subcommittee can't do they can still do something so that's I I suggest that we we let Ryan Kerr know that he doesn't seat anybody else until we vote on this and we can vote on that in two weeks but so currently the Committees existing and per policy all who's who's holding this up that's just what who who is saying nobody's holding we're trying to expedite this and have a conversation and I want to I want to acknowledge what Tim said because um you know it sounds like we have a few things to continue to talk about so I also like the operating procedure for the two readings but my concern is we have a legal document that says we need to change the process so until we all agree

123whether it's one one reading with a motion two readings with board operating procedure the point is we have a legal ruling that we should act upon and the Committee Member should not go through the current selection process as it stands because we have legal advice to change that process I'd like to um say then since we're in a first reading situation whether we have a second or not there is a line that absolutely needs to be changed based on all this discussion that somehow got missed and I believe Susan even mentioned it thank you very much for pointing that out the the Board of Education Dei committee members should be struck the superintendent design will appoint along with the coach you have to change the language in fact I think I I'm in looking at

124the policy again um thank you for bringing that up um I think that the B what's green and B um is the is the piece that contradicts that top statement so um perhaps um I'm just looking at this that perhaps the a vacancy where that is um should just be moved that a vacancy and then um proceeding to the end of that paragraph could be moved to where it says applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis attached to be I didn't I'm sorry can I just I didn't read that the sentence in blue says the Board of Education Dei committee members and superintendent or designate will appoint new members to the committee when there is a vacationy I guess I didn't read that as meaning a board of education trustee I thought it was

125just naming the committee so that's why I didn't see it as being a problem because I thought it was saying the committee members not necessarily a trustee I mean I think we should clarify it if there's any question but I think that's what how it got quote unquote missed is that my reading of that is that it was the committee members meaning yes that's what I I read I read I don't think it's that we just didn't see that I think the way that I read that was not that it was the Board of Education trustee but the committee members themselves and that the reason it said the Board of Education was because it's a Committee created by the board of education but not and so I think you could easily just get rid of

126the word Board of Education and just say Dei committee members as you know I think you guys should word word Smith that in the policy isn't English wonderful sorry for interrupting you thank you for catching that there are two exactly two ways to read that sentence and you found found both of them and then just since I'm speaking I guess I'd like to clarify from trusty eastup or others is there I have two points of clarification so is it important to anyone that a board trustee have involvement in the selection of committee members mbers because I feel like we're in the weeds of deciding whether or not that is legal or not but if we step back is the real issue and the heat about this that anyone feels that a board of that a

127truste should specifically have involvement in the committee well and let me just clarify the initial the initial conversation let me just tell you the initial conversation with Brad bassic would be that the that these appointments are made publicly that was his first recommendation that these appointments the that the whole process is done publicly in an open meeting when I explained to him that there had been some concern and um some uh some calls for safety around the the meeting the reason why the meeting is closed is because of um potential harm or threats that have been um made you know via social media or otherwise um and so it is a closed meeting to protect the anonymity of the committee members unless they choose to um present themselves publicly as members of that committee so

128when I when I mentioned that to him he said well if you want to remain closed then it needs to be so I understand that legal is clearly saying that the board of trustee member cannot have a decisionmaking role what I think trusty EA is suggesting is that without a decision-making role they should still be allowed or have been traditionally still involved in the conversation in some capacity and so I think that's where the gray area I'm just reiterating because I think our conversation probably gets a little confusing for everyone because I got a little confused and I have the paper in front of me so I'm just reiterating I think the gray area that's being referenced is the gray area of whether or not having a trustee member just like in the room when

129the room where it happens is legal or not legal is that correct as long as they're not making the appointment yeah yeah so that's but here's the question we choose members we've chosen members is it worth but is that really did the sex but we need to extract so to answer Lauren's question I do not think a board of education trustees sitting on a committee should be making any decisions apart from this board table including the selection of De so I hear you on that and I'm asking does anyone sitting at this board table feel that having a truste member within the conversation whether they are a voting like decision maker or not is important substantially in some way because if we all agree that it's not important or necessary then that's one part of

130the discussion that goes so if anyone here I am not on that committee I don't I would like to hear the argument if somebody is saying that a board of trustee members should be involved in a listening capacity outside of in the choosing process then I'd like to hear the rationale for that because I tend to agree with uh trustee stean that even the appearance of it being a the the the uh Board of trustee member being there is inappropriate if that's what our lawyers are saying and it's cleaner just to not have them involved on the other hand I could see that there might be compelling arguments to have them involved um such as just having a a a role of oversight but I'm not sure how that's not fulfilled by having the other

131people that we were trying to outline here in other words members of the committee itself so I'd like you to speak on that trusty yeah I I would like to respond to that can I Brad was just ahead of you Susan okay s so so I would like to to reiterate that and say like I guess I see this through like okay first of all our legal advisors are telling us that we shouldn't be there and that we should or that we shouldn't have a part in the say of who's on the committee right like that is their legal advice to us because then we could be seen as having power outside the seven of us and I don't have individual power right I have power as a part of a team right and so

132for me I think that to answer your question definitively I I am very strongly in favor of not having us be part of of that process we can't hear you so I hear that from you from trusty stean uh and I think from trusty Austin so I'm just waiting to hear from truste East and I'd furthermore just say one more thing if I can while it's my like okay so we I I equate this with like making hiring decisions right so like when our you know our staff members right have a need for a position to be filled right we take applications for that position right and we don't put a board of education trustee on those committees to advise in those committees either right we trust our people right and so we say to

133our our team right which in this case this committee would be what we're saying here of design co-chair one student rep two additional volunteer committee members and those people make Rec what we we're saying not insights to us about what that process would look like so I guess I'm inclined to trust that committee and say that if it's at all even possible that our legal providers are saying to us that this is a violation of om then for me it's an absolute like I don't think so so so that's the end of my point in in here just a question about um I want to answer your question for sure um but a question about there's nothing that says like in here it says the board reps are still present so I'm not sure what

134you're talking about with legal advice that they're not supposed to be so I I can answer that so in our in our discussion in our discussion um because yes because it is an advisory committee it did say um because it is a board advisory committee um when we were having this discussion um it was the policy committee said that because it is a board advisory committee that having the board trustees observe the application selection process was appropriate but not deliberating or deciding so observing is different than participating in the decision-making process I and just to answer Lauren's question what I'll say is that um what I'll say is that in any other in any other um committee or in any other board advisory I would say that having the decision made publicly and having since

135it is a board advisory having the decision made publicly and having the board deliberate on the candidates would be um I think would be something to consider but because of the request of anonymity of this group and also of cab I think that we have to um make considerable changes um and then lastly what I'll say and this would fall under operations and and if Steve wants to he can speak on this but for the sex at advisory when I was doing some some research to just find out how other committees do this um at their most recent selection and this was when m Michelle ctz was still um here and involved and so I don't know if we've been able to open her um open her uh drive but she had a rubric that

136um she took the application that had been um created for applicants and created a rubric names were removed from the applicants and they were held up by the commit by the superintendent and co-chair to consider um without names and they were scored on the rubric and then um those that's how the decision was made with the rubric so there was um a there was just a little bit more of um I don't know how you want to say that like there was a little bit more uh yeah it was clean and it removed some of the um subjective yeah bias and subjectiv I think they did that very differently so Cameron um was part of the last one um and I think this brings a a great Point as far as um Laura Washington wrote

137a standard organization procedure um like I I found it in my email and then also um Ryan Kerr do you oh thought you said something um Ryan Kerr actually along with the deac created sort of a charter and that was the last meeting I believe both the superintendent and um uh trusty Miller was there um where they talked about that process and how to um I mean it was like half the meeting um about you know H having this document that lives under the appointed um chair um so I think that's kind of what you're referring to I I know with Cameron um we were um trusty gold and I were there um listen to the conversations um that came up uh they had you know it was really unique like they did a video

138interviewing and um which was kind of cool like they had to submit a video and stuff so that was kind of like his unique uh process I think um I I would ask if maybe that's written I thought it was really um good and then there was like administrators and staff who were at the table that he had invited um but I you know I feel like so as a board member who's been on the board for six years I've always heard that when you're serving on advisory committees and you're a rep you don't participate in the conversations I've seen trustees sit down and make recommendations at the table um you know I prefer to just go and kind of listen and support um and you know there's there's not supposed to be like that

139super engagement um and I've always been told that I was looking to see if that was in policy um or the board operating procedure and I don't know if it explicitly says that this is where I would suggest that go for all advisory committees um when I'm hearing that messaging those details of you're not supposed to be that involved in sitting down and actually you know leading conversation or whatever it may be um then that needs to be explicit for all advisory committees or community members or community community um committees that we're serving on um I will say um questions have come up about the policy and that's something that a board rep could you know come bring up um which I would consider um this conversation of a board trustee or more uh multiple

140board trustees it sounds like if people in the room had said well that's not consistent with the application right or that's not consistent with the standards we have here I don't think that's actually that's actually saying hey we need to revisit this right I would think that would be a board rep I'm not saying that happened that would be a board rep role to be like oh well this is our this is our policy this is what's outlined here so and that can happen within a meeting um or to S you know go back and and answer questions or whatever um I think because we put numbers numbers on it um the deac back in 2019 um before that that ended up being a community Advisory Board there were like 50 you know um members

141because you know the administration were were saying oh hey you you you could be on it you could be on it right so so that was where we had to be prescriptive with the number um I think with like SE saided we were at the table this time because there was a concern and a complaint that we didn't have all the sexed um membership that the law outlines that we need to have and so um I believe at that time um Brad and I uh when he was on sexed we had to step in and support uh Michelle czecho itz and the superintendent and be like let's make sure we have the clergy um make sure we have the student members and so it it was very policy related making sure that we were complying

142um and so we were able to come back and share as reps yes we fit all of those we're good to go can we can I call a point of order because I think we're getting off of the the I think there other P to there are other pieces of the policy that definitely the policy committee is working on and those are things that you're touching on and I I I hope to soon bring those um for further discussion and I just wanted to also say um my apologies for saying it was Michelle cwit when I asked Steve about um about the rubric he thought that Michelle had created the rubric and so um they were in um they were making efforts to retrieve that from her Google drive but if it's Cameron then we

143can reach out to Cameron and see if he has that um as potentially an a way and it's not even for the board that would be a way for the policy to be operationalized so coming back to the policy if we might to the reds or to the green Reds and greens looking at the first oh sorry looking at the first green um where it says the board shall establish a Dei policy or de and shall determine the terms of service for the deic the number of members to serve on the AC and the membership selection process that shall reasonably reflect the district's student population um hearing from everyone and their um comments tonight I am um I am I am open to suggestions here what I wanted to just say is that it seems

144as if the um establishment and the terms of service and the number of members are outlined below and it also um it seems that our um intent to um our intent to create more diversity may have limited diversity so as the policy chair I'm asking for the seven to weigh in on striking that first green or leaving a portion of it are you saying you would like to strike the proposed language change that you offered I'm saying based on our discussion tonight and public feedback that I'm asking if the seven would like to see any of that remain or um if we're in agreeance that because it's outlined below and because the intent of um of diversifying the uh application pool um is not actually what the impact of that last um statement The District

145student population that's not the impact and intent um are not matching so I'm asking if um the trustees would would be opposed to striking that want to just go down the yeah no I'm not opposed okay no not opposed not opposed just to move things along I'll say I'm not opposed okay okay and Tim okay so moving forward we could strike that in a second reading moving further down to um I think the next item in question was at the top of the yep well at the top sorry it's not green it's at the top of the second page where it says the Board of Education Dei committee members there was a suggestion here for clarity even though it says Board of Education Dei committee not Board of Education trustee um but for point of

146clarification would it be um something that the board would consider to just strike the words Board of Education so that it is Dei committee members yes Michael says anyone opposed okay no might want to just keep it consistent language and call it the de a or spelled that out but not opposed so Betty when Betty's watching we're going to strike Board of Education Dei committee and just name it de the the deic members and superintendent okay moving down to B where there is green um I didn't hear any specifics here I'm willing to chime in that I think that this is good language and it's consistent with the legal advice that we have received and I agree I concur with Brad I'm okay with this language as is I agree well I it sounds almost

147like we're voting but we're not voting just I just need to know yeah no Chang so um the language isn't consistent with the super superintendent and or their designate with the rest of the policy so I think that's something that needs to recomendation so going through going through the policy we would do um what do we what do we call that that would be a um scrier scrier error or scrier revision to change it to all say superintendent Andor their design is that what you're suggesting no um right now it says superintendent and in parentheses or designate okay so we would make those otherwise you're having three chairs yep we'll make those match okay and then um C says um oh sorry go ahead back to B uh in B uh we had agreed that

148we should not just have parent uh oh thank you parent and Care caregiver parent caregiver to be consistent okay um and then uh someone today brought up the question of whether or not having a student rep would slow the uh ability to uh move forward is that a like during the summer is that a uh I don't I just have a question as to whether that was something we want to take into consideration it has happened in the past where um students have graduated so um I think that I think the reason why it was included there one student rep was for having because we are students first and um we believe in student voice so potentially um I'm wondering if Steve might even be able to speak to the operationalizing of of this but

149we typically know in May who is going to be rolling off so would it be possible to seat new um applicants in May before students have moved on what do you think do you think that'd be potentially so I'm in well another question I have I'm sorry is just it doesn't say that all those people have to be there necessarily in order to move forward like you could put something like may be reviewed instead of shall you review it I don't know and decided upon by the superintendent or design co-chair one student rep and or to and to additional volunteer committee members so I guess what I'm asking is is this I'm not is does this limit the committee too much if one additional volunteer can't make it to a meeting or a student yeah

150that's what I'm saying maybe we should add like up to or decided upon by a group including or you know something where if somebody misses we don't have a student that that's the goal is to have all those people there to help fill the but um I mean the final decision is going to be made by the superintendent the two co-chairs right so what if it were to say applications shall be reviewed and decided upon by the superintendent or design co-chair in addition other Representatives might may include a student rep and up to two additional volunteer committee members may include so just real quick are we violating Oma by giving a committee power to make a decision well the committee is reviewing but the but the superintendent or design uh notifies the is that in

151there the committee is not making policy decisions or financial decisions so we're not they are not V they're not elected officials how I'm reading it nor are they elected officials so om doesn't but but giving a committee a task that's not just recommendations a decision then that's that is oma violation so it says specifically here that there reviewing the applications and then down below it says um so we could change this to say uh reviewing let me see it says reviewing the applications and then C says if selected the applicant will be notified by the superintendent so we could tighten that up to say the superintendent or design will make final selections and the applicant will be notified because um so in the middle there it says application shall be reviewed and decided upon by

152superintend attendant or design co-chair one student rep and two additional volunteers so that to me says all of those people are so we could remove the decided upon if if you're concerned because I am also concerned about Oma obviously so we could just say applications shall be reviewed let me know if everyone is if there's anyone opposed to this applications shall be reviewed by the superintendent or design co-chair Additionally the committee may include one student rep and two additional volunteer committee members Board of Ed Board of Education trustees May observe the application process but not deliberate or decide and then we could add here that the superintendent or design will notify will make I'm sorry so C would say the superintendent or their design will select and notify members superintendent or designate is not selecting

153those five people are or they're they're reviewing the applications and then com that's that's what I I don't I don't I honestly that that's how we've been doing it well we're asking how we like so that's that's how we have been doing it and honestly I don't have a problem with it except that the um participation of the elected trustees is the Oma concerned so I don't have a problem with this group coming to a consensus and having the superintendent or design um make the final notification however um if we need to if we need to change that language so that everyone is in favor that's fine Jenny I'd like to thank you for taking it this far I'd also like to then say I think it's time to land This Plane I've heard from

154you and others that you're okay with the second reading that it's not going to bog things down too much so if there are any other notes like things that we've missed and I appreciate the Andor design aspect that was that was a that slipped through um let's pass those along to you but I'd like us to leave this now Michael I just want to clarify unless there are some final clarifying question final final so when we were when s when um Lauren asked the question about including a trustee I heard a little bit of a change in the temperature of of possibly so the last this sentence says Board of Education trustees May observe the application selection process but not deliberate or decide but I heard in the discussion that we were we were going

155towards not being comfortable with the trustees being there so I just wanted to clarify how that's moving forward that that's number one and then number two is just going back to the legal opinion I want to make sure that we are not initiating a process for selection of committee members with a legal judgment that we need to change our process until we can get through a second reading those my last I don't the the answer to the second part is no the second the answer to the first part is we've received legal opinion saying that the trustees are allowed to be there as part of the consensus correct uh they're allowed to be yeah presid but yeah yeah I mean we can we can forward that on I think that that section is something that

156should be a board operating procedure for all advisory committees and all Community committees and I hope that we're working now on sex ed and wellness and what other other policies to be this prescriptive well I appreciate that note because over the summer I revised the board operating procedure based on the things that we've heard but I'm just sort of waiting for the dust to settle this sem this semester uh before we roll that out for a discussion because that's G to take some time just wanted to then switch gears to finish the rest of my report because we had a meeting tonight also so I just wanted to to say tonight that we had a second policy meeting um and I just want to remind everyone too who might be watching and listening that the

157policy committee meets once a month and so um that was why we moved a meeting to have two meetings this month because um we felt um we just felt that um the need the need to try to move toward seating new members so I just wanted to to make everyone aware that we do consistently meet once a month and that does sometimes mean that the work takes longer so the last thing um that I just wanted to make everyone aware of and so that if you have anything that you want to add you can but our meeting tonight um we had one item raised um it's kind of been um tabled but we do have one request so um there has been some concern that there has been some aerial advertising over District properties recently

158and they are advertising for substances that are um prohibited on student property um while we recognize that the FAA regulates the airspace so that's not necessarily something that we can control we would ask that anyone who might be attending a legislative breakfast um I know Michael you usually attend those so anyone who might be attending a legislative breakfast who would have more um Insight or thoughts around um regulating the airspace over District property especially when advertising prohibitive substances for um for for students we know that they're legal otherwise um that that might be an inquiry to our state and um um you know our our Michigan reps and our national reps as the legislative relations uh person for the Wasa Association School boards I will bring it up okay we we also just want to

159recognize that that is not something that we feel like a policy or um or uh even operationalizing um airspace is something that's within our purview so in fact um there are cities that have tried and failed miserably at that but it has been a concern that has been brought up so we just wanted to raise that and then the other thing is that um we separated out this particular piece the membership selection process for de however um uh president McVey has given us some other um proposed modifications or revisions to the de policy that we considered tonight and we are interested in moving those to um to you very soon I appreciate that thank you so much for the brief and concise report Jenny um administrative and board updates please uh and by the way

160we just a reminder we do have also a closed session tonight so Dr okay thanks I just want to read one statement as it relates to the high school racism and hate speech incident we do take all these incidents of racism and hate speech very seriously I released a statement to the district families on Saturday September 14th we've been following due process and have interviewed the students who were victimized as well as students believed to be involved in the incident as this process is ongoing and due to the protected nature of student records were not able to comment further on the incident at this time um while we wait for a formal resolution our Dei Specialists administrators members of our student support teams are focused on supporting our student body both wrapping around individual students

161in need of support and through ongoing collaboration with student groups who share our values around diversity Equity inclusion however I am recognizing that at least one group of Representative students tonight that we heard from and SAR doesn't believe this to be the case I appreciated sar's thought of addressing this with the student body during Hornet time and I'll personally address this with the um High School administration thank you um we can start at either end of the table and actually we'll start with our student reps you've been so quiet and so patient okay we just wanted to touch on next week with homecoming and all the grades will be having spirit week and then also the Selen Community parade with all businesses clubs Sports and thank you to everyone that made that possible thank you

162so just a couple things uh one I I do want to send a thanks out to the staff that came to the last board meeting and um spoke up I thought that was um good to hear from them and them give us their feedback as it's in important to have their feedback when considering any of these curriculum changes um also tomorrow Wednesday September 25th is the national see you at the poll day and it's kind of it's a national student L event where uh kids will come to the flag pole and pray for the school or whatever's on their mind I guess so it's a um Liberty school will be meeting at 7:30 at the flag pole and the S high school and the FCA will be meeting at 7:20 at the flag pole thank

163you sham Susan yes I um wanted to thank our students Against Racism um for coming up and um talking about um some concerns actually um I have had and expressed um with the communication um to the student body um not happening um and I say that in regard to my understanding is that we're supposed supposed to be doing anti-bullying programs and um have a duty for um our students to um you know know how to um shut down um you know up standard um to you know shut down some of that um uh hate and to be educated about um you know that that it's not at all AC acceptable um so I I feel that there could have been to our students who are high schoolers um and I believe have the matur maturity

164to um have these conversations that sending the message that it is not okay um it is unacceptable behavior um we take this seriously and you know and I trust that that it it will be taken seriously um but I feel like our students um are in the dark um we got feedback from the fall that um when there was you know stuff in the bathrooms the students were concerned that they had no idea um the students impacted um are their peers um and while you know names don't need to be given or necessarily um the total situation um you know I know that they they would want to support and to um have a more of a a a community in you know helping um stand up against this hate um additionally it was not

165address that um it was not only racism it was anti-Semitism as well um and so that's disturbing to me that that um was not brought up um and and um you know our student um said today that that made her feel unsafe and so um I don't know why we're not talking to our children um our students um I thought you know during Hornet time um that kind of those conversations were going on um I think you know our teachers need to be supported in having those conversations with our students um to call that out um because otherwise you know how like how are we creating this safe and welcoming Community when that is going on so I just um you know I'm committed to to fighting um hate in our uh schools in our

166district um and so I I just want to let the students know that I support you the families I support you um and I will um speak out um always um you know in support and I denounce the hate that has happened thank you trusty e Jennifer okay so I um I'll be brief also but I just wanted to um uh thank Daisy and um Kelly for coming to our meeting tonight and elevating the importance of the special ed renewal um millage that is going to be on the ballot coming up in November and um while Daisy and uh Kelly can tell us all of the merits of um and all of the um details surrounding the millage um I know that our school staff can't do that publicly but trustees can so I would

167like to put my full support behind the renewal of the special education millage I hope that you'll consider that um one of the things that struck me in that presentation and also in um a recent um like postcard flyer that we received was that this millage um impacts every student every day and so I just want us to consider um in our district that exemplifies and highlights inclusion on a level that I have not seen in other districts this millage supports those efforts and those initiatives I will be voting yes and I would encourage our community to vote Yes on that millage um additionally I um I wanted to say thank you to the students Against Racism who attended um and spoke tonight um I am um I am I guess I am um just

168I just want to acknowledge and respond to their feelings and to the um requests that they've made and I'm happy to hear that um superintendent lch is going to respond to many of their ideas and their concerns that were raised here um many of you know that I have a child who attends school in Springfield Ohio and she was out of school last week because of hate speech and hate acts that are occurring in her community and so when I heard the students speaking tonight it resonated um with with um what I've been hearing from my daughter community members in her area her teammates who are Jewish and black and feeling the impact of the national scale of hate that exists in our community and so I just want to stand with those students and

169say that that I appreciate that they came and that we are listening and um and uh I appreciate superintendent's resp uh latch's response thank you thank you secretary Miller um I do have two things actually as we're going down the table uh I was at Monday's legislative breakfast so we missed that opportunity that that one but I just want to say the uh a week ago Tuesday the Senate Bill 911 was passed uh and that codified the reduction in the msers rate by 5% reduction of 5% which is going to put money in our pocket immediately at this District um and so after Decades of employees part yes by after Decades of employees paying % to for health care in their retirement years that bucket the OPB the uh uh other post employment benefits has

170been filled um I think that also means that you will no longer have to pay that 3% is that your fingers crossed there it says Brad um and uh this tomorrow in fact uh the that bill is in front of the house and it my source is up there Lancing say it's very likely it's going to pass so you be uh one other item is that on Sunday uh and afternoon uh superintendent lch and I are going to strap on our running shoes is that what we say strap on anyway we're tie on tie on our running shoes and run in the Run tough it'll be my very second uh 5K I'm looking forward to that and uh it should be a well let's call it fun we'll say Fun Since other people have since

171discovered I've got a slight interest in this and I've been given now ads for the Turkey Trot the Dexter Hustle the uh I don't know what run scare run I mean they think I'm like addicted to this I'm not it's it's still I'm still terrified all right that's all thank you and just to back to reality here this is an extraordinarily important run as you will probably attest to uh this this fundraising event uh because it it does uh proceeds do go toward the fight against Childhood Cancer and that's why we really are doing it and uh I will keep that in mind as I'm slogging it along thank you watching the 12th graders pass me um that would be the the sophomores yeah the fast sophomores from the cross country team totally not biased

172um anyways uh Jenny plus one to everything that you said about the millage renewal um so I I I I won't add on to what you eloquently put about that support thank you so much uh yes I will also be at the Chad tough run along with many of our sports teams from both Selen and the University of Michigan um my thoughts are with Jason and Tammy and uh Tommy CJ and Chad's memory as we celebrate his birthday this week and and have his um his run uh to fight dipg and pediatric brain uh tumors so thank you for considering coming to that um to the students from SAR who came earlier um thank you it's really really scary to get voice and to do public speaking when you're not used to it uh so

173so thank you especially about incredibly important topics that you raised for all students um please remember we have okay to say um please report um you are our our definite Partners in in this work thank you um to Marcy Goyette uh Megan Cameron and all of the other teachers from a Heritage that came last week or last board meeting um I'm really glad that we can give you additional time um I know you haven't had a chance to get together I I've enjoyed hearing some feedback since the last meeting um it's really important that we partner with the people who are teaching the content um and I would look forward to hearing what the Middle School teachers um say as well so thank you for reaching out to us we appreciate you always all right

174by the time it gets to me you guys have covered so many things that it's um so like you know I have to thank teachers for for partnering with us and having those those important conversations um you know that sexed work is ongoing so I appreciate everybody who is involved with cab and who is doing those kinds of things um I want to thank our current deac some of which are in the audience today for your continued work while we work through the the policy but thank you for your commitment to these students thank you for your commitment to our district I appreciate those efforts and and that's not you know your work right now is important too so anyway so I make sure I say that um I want to also give my 100%

175complete support to to the to the millage renewal uh washut county is one of the select counties that chooses to um to provide this funding for our students to enhance the fact that um you know it does not meet the 100% funding our our per pupil allowance does not meet the 100% requirements that are needed to fund these initi for these students and so this is absolutely essential and I am a yes vote as well uh I want to note that the you know with with Chad tough on Sunday and I am so appreciative of so many people in our community who who come together to do those those things and I think it's important uh there's also our soccer team is supporting the there's the Buddy Walk at bour Park in an arbor this

176weekend so we have a number of soccer players who are supporting that as well um you know the MERS reduction that's on my list here and uh yeah house it's your turn and let's get it done all right and uh and I lastly want to say I I just we we've we' we've had a number of comments about I I am personally sorry for anyone who endures pain due to racism and anti-Semitism or any type of thing that might come about and I we want to do better we're going to try to do better we're going to keep you know working towards it and I want you to hear from from this trustee that I I I don't welcome it I I condemn it and I I I support I I hope we we're supporting

177you please let us know how we could support you I'm so glad that students came out tonight and talked to us and said these are the things that are happening these are ours exp our experiences and Dr L thank you for for noting those things and the seriousness of that and how you're going to you know embody that and take that back in in what have you okay and uh yeah that's enough thank you um it's almost October uh so please discuss with your physician whether or not uh the flu and covid booster are right for you and your child they probably are and will help our kids keep our kids in school uh I am uh especially so proud of NHS uh the award tonight um I mean all the presentations tonight have been

178mentioned so I'll move forward but uh as I said I I love blood donors and playlit donors and plasma donors and um I'm really so proud of NHS um and their effort and hearing Seline highlighted like that tonight uh was really nice and um I'm going to start with this positiveness but it is with and I rarely read comments but I'm going to have to read this one it is with great disappointment and frankly outrage that I note the racist graffiti that victimized our students at the high school already this fall I was hoping against hope that this incident would was an isolated one but that the public comment tonight from SAR students re reinforces my suspicion that it was not uh like everyone else I want to stand in solidarity with those targeted by

179these cowardly and hateful acts I want to especially highlight that black students in our district have had to endure repeated acts of racism just in the time I've been a parent and now elected trustee in this District in addition the use of the hateful swastika is offensive and terrifying for multiple communities including of course the Jewish Community these incidents resonate throughout the community and cause fear anger and despair and while I applaud the efforts of our schools in improving our responses the entire Community needs to respond proactively the truth of this is is that this is not a Seline problem it's not not a Seline schools problem it's a nationwide problem and unfortunately in 2024 it feels to be getting worse instead of better for a myriad of reasons it is the responsibility of all

180parents clergy and community members to speak out against these acts of hate it is our responsibility these white supremacist groups are coming for our kids they want to Target our vulnerable kids and it is not by accident and the only thing that is going to inoculate our communities and our kids from this is a collected evidence effort of all of us to stand up to talk about it at our dinner tables to enforce the rules strongly and then to make the enforcement of those rules public so that it serves as a deterrent we also need prevention we need prevention at the dinner table even if these acts don't affect your family like they affect mine I beg parents and family members and clergy and coaches and teachers and Par Educators to not be afraid to

181have these conversations to stand up and say that it is wrong and that you don't tolerate it and that you don't support it and it doesn't have to be a swastica it can be some stupid drawing or some off-side comment it does it could be what people are saying are funny and just because a student of color laughs along doesn't mean they're not dying a little inside so I'm just asking everyone in the community to stand with Dr lch and stand with our principles and stand with our teachers in talking to your kids and hold your kids accountable and ask them to speak up so I applaud the students for coming tonight that is the first step and I really hope to see Improvement by the time my you know time serving here is done

182and if to the extent that I can be part of this change and I can extend my huge amount of empathy to the black students and the students um affected I do so thank you Dr gold I just want pause for a second just to let that all sink in I'm going to send the uh time code of this uh part of the meeting from about nine o'clock onward till now to the students directly so they can hear your words because you almost all of you commented on the students and I really appreciated them and I didn't say anything about it but I'm glad you all did and I certainly agree with you um I'd like to entertain a motion to authorize the consent agenda as printed please so moves Stam do we have support

183support ta Tim Austin thank you very much all in favor please say I I I great excellent hey Dr Lut what items are scheduled on the next agenda on the myip scheduled report that's the continu continuing improvement process that the teaching and learning team will do l by Cara Davis excellent speaking of Cara Davis you oh great we at the public comment member of the public May address the board briefly for up to three minutes or request to be scheduled on the agenda of a future meeting thank you I'd like to call up Michaela Lewis Maria and I'm not sure if I got the last name wter Walter Walter wter okay dear Seline Area School Board in community we the members of your diversity equity and inclusion advisory committee are devastated by the recent hate

184acts that have taken place at the high school and in the community we come here tonight in our share support of the students and families most harmed by these actions nobody should ever have to experience what you have we offer love and support to you we thank the district trustees and Community who have denounced these hate acts now as they have done in the past we encourage everyone to do the same the seriousness of a hate Act is that it attacks a person's Humanity acts like this can destroy communities we cannot let that happen hate acts don't just harm individuals they harm the whole Community by striking at our shared values these are learned behaviors a child does not enter the world seeing other people as lesser than themselves they learn this and they can

185unlearn it but not without the dedic of the whole Community as members of this committee we ask what can you do to model the behavior you want in our community we all make mistakes and we're all human and we must acknowledge harmful actions take responsibility heal the harm and move forward but we cannot move forward without collectively recognizing all of the harm caus anyone who is sincerely interested in moving forward to heal heal our Sol lean area schools Community please share your thoughts with the diversity equity and inclusion advisory committee our committee is charged with making recommendations to the board for how to improve our school climate at a future board meeting we are dedicated to transforming our district into a more diverse Equitable and inclusive district for all students everyone belongs here thank you

186so much and uh our last speaker peral peral and I'm I'm going to ask you to pronounce your last name I have a long last name it's complicated it's pangl I'm personal pangenan um thanks for the the board for allowing me to speak I too just wanted to uh comment on um these acts I have a a child who graduated uh from high the high school a year ago she's a sophomore in college now and I have two children a sophomore sorry freshman and a a junior right now and I've been um we've been s residence for over 20 years now and I'm just saddened uh this isn't the first time this uh this past month that some racist act has happened it's happened several times I'm discouraged and I would U I'm I'm pleased

187that the board is renouncing um racism and hateful acts uh I would like the board to be and the school to be much more aggressive and proactive about protecting our students uh protecting our staff the families um I am discouraged that this won't be the last time that we see these news reports um I'm also more fearful you know it starts as you mentioned before it starts maybe with comments and then escalates into physical acts like graffiti vandalism and the thing that I'm most fearful of is also acts of violence directly against students families faculty and staff uh thank you very much appreciate your time thank you very much uh the next board meeting the next Board of Education meeting will be held on October 88th uh at 6:30 here uh we are going to

188I'd like to entertain a motion to enter close session at 9:25 with the intent to reopen at about I really can't guess uh 10 with luck sooner than that uh for the purpose of discussion of uh Personnel matters under Section 8A and for a superintendent evaluation also under Section 8A under Section 8A a simple majority vote is sufficient to enter into a closed session do I have a motion so moved and who that is e SE e thank you Al second Brad gerby thank you so much all in favor please say I I I great we'll take a little five minute uh break and uh see you at five 9:21 sorry so you've got your there will be action immediately following a very brief uh been Micha said we're good to e e e we

189have returned to open session there is one brief item I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the settlement and release as discussed en Clos session on September 24th do I have a motion to do so support Eep s e oh support are you also moving do we have a motion I'm motioning yes okay you also support um I'll support it I rarely do that but so motion to approve the settlement and release as discussed in closed session on September 24th we have moved by Susan seconded by support by McVey uh we really have already discussed this so the vote all in favor we may have to do a Voice vote but all in favor please say I I so that's one all opposed say nay or I or same sign Nay n is that

190also n all the way down right great uh that's six and uh superintendent lch knows what to do I'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn the regular Board of Education meeting at 10:25 so moved Eep Eep support Ste stean yes thank you all in favor please say I I I oppos come on someone's got to oppose it thank you very much everyone tap tap