Saline Area Schools: Board of Education Meeting (05.14.2024)

001Hi J... I didn't know you were here. How  are you? Good. How are you? Good. Former student. He's the man. Hope you're coming see to see our talent show in June. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. We are. Hello friends welcome to, I'm calling  to order the Board of Education for the Saline   Area Schools uh Board of Education Meeting  on May 14th, 2024 6:30 Would you all please   stand as you are able for the Pledge of  Allegiance as sung by Brad Gerber. Sung? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God   indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank  you Treasurer Gerbe you were pretty close to   singing it I appreciate that I'm going to pass  this over for two items for superintendent's

002recognition. Well thank you President McVey. I am  honored tonight to introduce the 2024 Saline Boys   Swim and Dive team led by coach Todd Brunty. This  team completed another very successful season   representing Saline High School the Hornets led  by captains Ethan Bull, Drew Miller, Deniz Ozil, and   Nick Twigg finished second at the MHSAA Swimming  and Diving Finals on March 9th. This second   place finish continued this remarkable 15-year  streak of finishing sixth place or higher at the   MHSAA Finals. That's incredible. On route to this  impressive accomplishment several Hornets earned   Awards including eight All SEC, four Regional  Diving Qualifiers, 18 MHSAA State Qualifiers, 8   MISCA All State, and six NISCA All American Awards,  and Coach Brunty will have to go through the   acronyms later on some of those. The team  achieved all this through hard work dedication   and

003commitment to each other and a long-standing  expectation to represent their families, peers,   districts, and community to the best of their ability. Coach Brunty come on up to the podium. [Applause] Yeah, well thank uh first I'd like to say thank  you to everybody for recognizing uh the team   and our accomplishments and we're very proud to  represent the school district like I said we as   a program have a I think an responsibility and  obligation to represent the community the best   we can, and we strive to do that, um we talk about  it continuously and we try to reach the level of   um um performance that represents everybody in  and out of the pool, and I just like to say thank   you there's so many people that are behind this  including all of you by recognizing us, and then  

004also the all the faculty at the High School, Middle  School. Principles who allow me to be there or go   early or something because something's going on,  and from Nick and Sandy and uh Community Ed for   the pool. All the way down to my Assistant Coaches  Kara um Kara Smith um I had, um, Alan Duski who's   been instrumental in helping me out and being able  to keep coaching and teaching he's taken a lot of   the responsibility on of the mornings which it's  getting to be harder and harder to do, but most of   all the boys uh their commitment to each other.  They really did this year come together as a team   and compete at the highest level uh we're real  close to winning it, but we are going to try and   go back next year and

005and try and get us another  win uh at state championship hopefully we'll be   back here next year celebrating that or some  something very similar, because we're going to   try and live up to our expectations so thank you  very much. That sounds great now what we'd like   to have is all the Boys Swim and Dive Team start, everybody come up and let's line up so that each   one of you are going to introduce yourself at the  podium, you would say your name, what year you   are in school and then what your events are, so  and so let's up line up behind Drew, and then   let's just go and make sure that we all um introduce  yourselves, and then we're going to line up over   by Coach Brunty for a picture with the Board of  Education. Okay go

006ahead Drew. All right I'll start.   I'm Drew Miller. I'm a senior I was Captain of uh  the Swim and Dive Team and my event is diving. I'm   Nick. I'm also a senior, and my I swim butterfly  and freestyle. My name is Ethan Bull. I'm also a   senior, and I swim backstroke and butterfly. My  name is Diego Valdez. I'm a junior and I swam the   100 butterfly and 200 IM. I'm Isaac. I'm a freshman.  I swim breaststroke and IM. I'm Joseph Rosales   I'm a freshman and I my event is diving. I'm Eli  and my I'm a sophomore, and my event is IM. I'm   Braylen. I'm a freshman and I'm a freestyler.  I'm Jason. I'm a freestyler and flyer.   I'm Jack. I'm a sophomore and I'm a  freestyler. Hi there. I'm Nathaniel. I'm   a junior and I'm

007a back shoker and freestyler.  I'm Dennis. I'm a senior and a Captain on the   Swim Team and uh my main event is freestyle. I'm  Jonah. I'm a junior, and I'm a freestyler. I'm   Thomas and I'm a freestyler. Way to represent. [Applause] Okay, sorry sorry sorry. okay let's go to our... I love it. [Applause] We're getting pretty good. Did you know one  of those divers? She has an idea I would think. Okay I'm just moving on to the next. We're gonna go. Okay yeah. Do you want to  go ahead? We're going to go right to the next   recognition. Superintendent Laatsch. Okay so I am  proud to introduce Washtenaw United Team Number 4   led by Coach Adam Winters. This team set some very  lofty goals at the start of the season, including   a Tree Town Trophy Championship,

008a first place  finish in a showcase tournament, a bid for USA   Hockey's High School Nationals, and ultimately  Division 2 State Championship. Washtenaw United   got off to a great start going 3 and one in league  play before the new year with the only loss coming   to Cranbrook, remember that name, in a game where our  only goalie had to leave halfway through the game.   Although the team came up short in January with  its bid to win the showcase tournament and the bid   for a spot at Nationals, Washtenaw United continued  to play strong against D2 opponents going 3 and 0   in January, at the end of January approached, as as  the end of January approached the United would go   through the toughest part of their schedule the  United faced four straight games against top six   D1 opponents games

009against Grosse Pointe North, St  Mary's, and Liggett although somewhat lopsided losses   left the team feeling good about their efforts,  however the United faced rivals Skyline here in,   Huron, in the first game of the Tree Town  Trophy where a disappointing effort turned to   a turning point for the team. Washtenaw United  left the locker room understanding the level of   play needed to be successful for the remainder of  the season and rallied for a 6-3 win over   Pioneer. Good for a second place finish in the  Tree Town Trophy series. The United would finish   their D2 schedule with a three and 2 record and  finish the regular season with two excellent   performances against St Mary's and the eventual D1  Champion Grosse Pointe South. The team carried over   their strong play at the end of the season  into the playoffs

010defeating Sacred Heart 7-0   in first round matchup, in the second round the  United would score five goals on the League's   best defensive team to earn a 5-1 victory and a  rematch in the championship game against second   place Cranbrook. Cranbrook had two of the three  top scorers in the league and the most goals,   four, including a player with 63 goals. The team  did a masterful masterful job shutting down her   and holding her to one goal in the team's 5-1  State Championship victory. Along the way, here's   some season highlights the largest team in Washtenaw United's history with all players contributing, 10   Saline players, which is the largest contributing  school, the most wins for a United Team, Daphney   Grant from Dexter led the team in goals with  22 six, in the playoffs two in each game. Cecilia   Hendrickson

011from Chelsea, led the team in points  with 36, including five goals and one assist, Sidney   Clark led Saline players with 12 goals, 14 assists  including the game-winning goal in the final game.   Saline play player Lily Schlack led all defensemen  and offensive categories with eight goals, 10   assists for 18 points, and goal tender Trista  Tracy from Chelsea set a team record for wins   14 and seven shutouts. With that said I'd like  to invite coach Adam Winters up to award the   Varsity letters that he has, and then we're going  to also call up the entire team. Yep, so let's bring   up the whole, the whole United Team come up, and  line up right over in here. Bring our whole team up. [Applause] A few thank yous uh before we get started,   just want to thank the

012uh the board for hosting   us uh means a lot your recognition uh to the team,  um and thank you very much Dr. Laatsch and Athletic   Director Mantha for for their work in recognizing  these players for letters this is the first   time um that we've been formally recognized with  letters for this for Girls Hockey so this is a big   moment for for the team and greatly appreciated  for all the work that's that's happened behind   the scenes. Quick quick thank you I've got uh  two assistant coaches, three assistant coaches   that are here, tonight Chad Clark, um Steve McDow,  and Sue McDow who was here somewhere there we go   so uh they're help this season's uh just so  valuable to to the team with their knowledge   and uh allows me to coach wouldn't be able to  do it

013without them. And this team um this is an   incredible group of young women just uh the things  they've accomplished this year uh it was it was   a a difficult start to the season just getting  kicked out kind of at the last minute from the   Ice Cube, having to move out to Chelsea not sure  how that was going to play out adding a 20 minute   drive one way, to practice you, uh each time turns  out we got our own locker room there we're now one   of two three teams in the state that have their  own locker room for Girls Hockey so we're pretty   proud about that we did a did a great job uh  decorating it and in our colors, so I think overall   the team's pretty happy to make that move, um but  I can't

014say enough about these these young women   doing great academically, most are multi sport  athletes or involved in some other uh activity.   We've got I think four lacrosse players, um debate  team, we've got you know all the whole gamut, so   these these girls are are great dedicated students  and athletes. So congrats guys let's give them a hand [Applause] All right so we got some letters to hand out  and I'm going to let you guys introduce yourselves   so once you do that I will give you your letter. We  do have some players um not from Saline who will   in, just Julia, and we also have two players who uh  two players who earned their letters elsewhere so   with other sports already got them so. Hi my  name is Sydney Clark. I'm class of 2025 and I   play

015forward center. Hi I'm Chloe. I'm class of 2024  and I play senior or I play center. I'm Casey Honer.   I'm class of 2027 and I play forward. I'm Sam Wawzysko.  I'm a senior and I play forward. I'm Abby Schroeder   I'm class of 2026 and I'm a defense. I'm Kendra  Wagner. I'm class of 2025 and I'm a forward. I'm   Nora Stevenson. I'm a junior and I play forward.  I'm Julianna Marini. I'm a junior and I play forward.   I'm Lily Schlack. I'm a sophomore and I play  defense. I'm Isabella Mack. I'm a junior and   I play winger. My name is Julia Berkholz. I'm a senior and my home school is Dexter, and I play defense. [Applause] Okay we're going to go take a picture. ...get up there I'll shoot over you guys. I can squat down. Wait hang

016on s... One, two, three. [Applause] looks good We'll just, we'll just pause for a second  or two while people like calm down, catch   their breaths, but DAR you are on deck,  because there is no public comment   this evening so we're going to go to uh  one extended public comment. So Denise   Frost you can come up and take the mic  and if it's green you're good to good to speak. Well first of all thank you um President  McVey for granting me the opportunity to present   our Saline High School Good Citizen Award at  this board meeting and to set shed some   light on the work of DAR. I'd also like to extend  my gratitude to Principal Miss Stager for her   guidance on ensuring that the Good Citizen Award  found its way to a deserving individual through   the

017counseling staff and before I go any further  I would like to introduce other DAR members that   are joining me this evening. I have Lauren Smith. She's the Regent of the Sarah Caswell Angell Chapter. Which represents the membership of  the Ann Arbor area, and she's also a parent alum   of a Saline graduate. Sharon Clark um is a Good  Citizen Chair of our Chapter. Myself I'm, oh one   other person Martha Balin is does public  relations and runs our website, and myself   I'm a historian, I'm a point person for Saline High School for DAR, and I'm also a parent of   three alumni from the school, and Lauren is  going to share what DAR is, and what um we do. Thank you Denise. The DAR is short for  Daughters of the American Revolution. We are   a service lineage-based Organization

018for  women who are descendants of individuals   involved in the Revolutionary War. The DAR  promotes historic preservation education   and patriotism. Tnternationally the DAR has  over 109 90,000 members and more than 3,000   chapters. We have a history of contributing to  many memorials and events. For over a hundred   years the DAR has owned a block of real estate  in Washington DC including the DAR Constitution   Hall and Memorial Hall. After World War II the  DAR contributed to some reconstruction efforts   in Europe, we've comm contributed over a half  a million dollars to the construction of the   World War II Memorial in Washington DC. 3/4 of a  million dollars was raised for the restoration   efforts of the Statue of Liberty, as well as other  memorials across the country. We support five DAR   schools located in underserved communities. The  genealogical research system

019is maintained by the   DAR and is available for public research. The DAR  museum has collection of over 30,000 artifacts   of historic nature mostly Revolutionary War some  subsequent. Annually the DAR scholarship committee   Awards over 1100 scholarships valued over $1.4  million. For anyone taking notes scholarship portal   opens November 1st this year and closes January  31st. We have scholarships available not only   to high school seniors, but college students, grad  students, and medical students. Locally our chapter   has consistently supported veterans at the VA  Hospital, the f families of veterans at Fisher House,   American Legion efforts, Vietnam Veterans Post 310,  they have an annual pig roast, we have fun helping   support their fundraiser, and we participate in the  Suicide Awareness Program. We have participated in   Wreaths Across America, and Unaccompanied Veteran  service serv Services at Great Lakes National   Cemetery and

020Holly. For the last several years  we've been in the Dexter Memorial Day Parade Where   We distribute over 1,000 Flags annually. We collect  monetary donations and school for school supplies   for underserved schools in our area. We promote  flag and constitutional awareness and education,   we have initiated a program to place markers and  American revolutionary veterans headstones located   in Washtenaw County. Last fall, at Oakwood Cemetery, here  in Saline, we placed new plaques for two American   revolutionary veterans mayor Brian Marl spoke  among other dignitaries at this event. We recognize   and honor accomplished seniors from local  high schools with a Good Citizen Award. Sharon? Good evening. The Good Citizen Award was created  in 1934 it's a recognition program sponsored by   the DAR to honor outstanding high school seniors  who demonstrate qualities of good citizenship   these qualities are dependability, service  leadership,

021and patriotism. This award serves to   encourage and recognize young people who are  actively contributing to their communities   and embodying the values of citizenship and  service. Each participating high school selects   one student per academic year to receive the DAR  Good Citizen Award. Students are given the option   of writing an essay, which is then judged by non  our members of the community. This is the way the   chapter winner is chosen. The chapter winner  is um the application of the chapter winner is   then submitted to the state, where another round  of judging occurs, the state then submits that   winner to um the national DAR. Our chapter had a  student not only from Saline this year, but also   Ann Arbor Pioneer, Chelsea, Dexter, and Whitmore Lake.  Just for the record and as a point of interest   um Saline High

022School had a national winner in  1985 Liam Burges-Lavery maybe some of you know him. Okay so ladies and gentlemen it is with  great pleasure that we're able to recognize one   of Saline High School's brightest stars, Erin  Huetteman has truly demonstrated what it means   to be a good citizen and it is an honor to  announce her as this year's recipient, at   our high school winner, as the High School  winner here in Saline of the Good Citizen   Award. With Erin along with her parents  Joe and Mary Ellen please join us up front. [Applause] As a senior with eight days left in her high  school journey, Erin's achievement are nothing   short of remarkable, she has not only excelled  academically earning a place on the gold honor   role but she is also been um inducted into the  National Honor

023Society where she has served as   Secretary, but Erin's commitment to service  doesn't stop there, she has a part in the   school she has a part been a part of the school  community which is evident through her roles as   a contributing member of the student council. Erin  has served as a class representative, a media   executive, and a student council president  during her senior year. Erin's involvement   extends beyond academics and leadership roles.  She has been an active partici participant in   various extracurricular activities as well, this  includes the Saline High School Link Crew Leader,   DECA member, earning State Finalist status,  Students Against Destructive Decisions, and   a valued member of the Saline Symphonic Band.  Additionally Erin has showcased her talents   as a majorette earning the honor of captain  during her senior year. Erin is the current   Miss Saline. Most

024recently Erin was recognized by  the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce as the Youth   of the Year. Erin's dedication to her pursuits  and her community is commendable and is what   the Good Citizen Award is all about. Erin's future  plans will be to attend Michigan State University and to study marketing and of course she will  continue to keep herself extra busy as she will   be a feature twirler with the Spartan Marching Band.  Congratulations Erin and let's give her a round of applause. Okay and at this time we'd like  to present Erin with the Good Citizen Award. There is a certificate Thank you. We give um our Good Citizen Award  winners um a book um called 1776 written by David   McCullough. It's very appropriate and there's a a check,  a wallet card, and a pen. So so congratulations and  

025we look forward to recognizing another student  from Saline High School um this coming year, under   the guidance of Miss St Stager and her staff.  Thank you for the opportunity to let us share with   DAR is and to honor Erin and her parents, her  teachers, coaches, all for the encouragement   and the empowerment they've provided to  Erin become such a good citizen. Thank you. [Applause] Well thank you very much Leslie it was nice  meeting you and the rest of the the folks   from the DAR. Tran were you going to try and grab  some pictures of them out in the uh foyer? Or foyer? Thank you. We were at the uh response  to previous public comment, now I I've tried to   get away from making too many statements and  I've actually got this down to a tight three  

026and a half minutes now I think. At the April  23rd Board Meeting there were several comments   from the public and I really would like to  address as many of them as I can. So the Board   was asked about Neola's perceived reluctance in  helping the District to develop administrative   guidelines uh and perhaps suggesting that it was a  way of delaying implementation of the Transgender   Non-Binary Student Policy. Neola normally doesn't  take an active role in the development of admin   guidelines they're generated as needed by  the district's administration, but soon after   that last board meeting the superintendent  was finally able to connect with the Neola   Rep who looked at the DEIAC's recommendations for  potential administrative guidelines, and found   that many of them could be crafted into a set  of guidelines, and they have been so there is a  

027draft now it's important to note that although  administrative guidelines may be presented to   the board by policy, we're not really required to  uh review them or vote on them they're developed   as a tool for administrators to help them to  implement the policies of the district. Their   absence does not mean that a policy is not  being implemented, is the point I really would   like to underline. To illustrate this point the  Transgender Non-Binary Student Policy, its policy   5517.02 for those of you following along, has  been implemented and continues to be implemented   and the in many aspects and these include restroom  accommodations as well as training for staff. To be   specific in response to the section titled Access  to Gender Segregated Activities and Facilities, the   district has added six gender neutral bathrooms  at the High School, open gender

028neutral bathroom   at the Middle School, and created processes  for students who prefer access to gender   neutral bathrooms and locker spaces. In response  to the section titled Training and Professional   Development there's, the District has hired  a DEI Position to provide internal training   around culturally responsive instruction and  staff are required to use shared definitions   of culturally responsive instruction as part  of the DEI Reflections within their Annual   Evaluations. So the list of training activities  is actually quite long and I'm going to cut out   a great number of them so I'll just share some  of the highlights the administration offered a   district-wide professional development last  year titled Inclusion Is and that included   uh sessions such as From Policy to Practice and  Using Data to Improve Outcomes for All Students,   Exploring Data Through an Equity Lens, and many  others. The

029District developed a law policy and   guidance supporting DEI and CRI Reference Sheet  for staff, as well as both professional development   and as a tool for communicating with parents. The  District developed a Transgender Non-Binary FAQ   to support staff, and a group of four District  leaders attended the creating change for LGBTQ  plus Equity training in order to better provide  internal supports for operationalizing this policy.   The administration developed a Communications  Plan for social identity related incidents, and   the leadership of the High School embraced  Rachel's Challenge to increase inclusive   community um and understanding and many many more.  The administration continues to work along uh   work on aligning student handbooks and PowerSchool reporting in order to properly report   and address bullying, harassment, and hate speech,  and acts. There were other comments at the last   board meeting regarding the imple implementation 

030of the policy and they included record keeping, dead   naming by staff, and field trip accommodations.  I'd like to note how difficult and challenging   those particular situations are and that they  are taken up and can be taken up on a one by by   one basis we would urge you if you have those  concerns to reach out to the superintendent or   administration to assist with resolving your  concerns, and on a personal note one speaker   at the podium mentioned something which was to me  quite profound, she mentioned that small unresolved   instances of abuse or transgressions seemingly  negligible that will accumulate throughout the   day and become an emotional burden and  for some of our more fragile students   it becomes an existential crisis. Students who  experience these threats and slights throughout   the day must then deal with their accumulated  weight

031and that thought has remained with me since   the last meeting as a representative of this board  let me say that, we recognize parents who speak on   these concerns, we recognize that parents who speak  on these concerns want to be an asset and we as a   board want to be supportive and that's the end of  my response to the public comment from last week.   Revisions Approval of the Agenda, items can be  added or deleted from the agenda and or the order   can be changed at the request of an individual  board member or the superintendent uh I'd like   to entertain a motion to uh approve the agenda  as printed. So moved Miller. Thank you. Support   Gerbe. Miller Gerby. So um all in favor please  say I. I... All right JM BG. Thank you 6-0. Thank   you very

032much. I'd like to hand it over  now to Caroline and Mateo our wonderful student   representatives. For tonight's student showcase  it'll be the Ethics Team. The presenters are   Michael Bryant, Brian Kang, Alex Larsen, Colin Learman,  and Sarah Yousif with their adviser Mr. Ornelas. Hello we are the Saline High School Ethics  Team and we just want to thank you all for um   recognizing us again today. Before I begin we  want to thank uh Mr. Ornelas who isn't here today,   um but he would has been our coach for uh this  year and it was his first year being the ethics   coach, and he did such a great job um and so yeah  we want to thank Mr O. We also want to thank uh   Shelley Venema who is no longer a teacher at the  Saline High School but

033she was our first teacher   uh when we first joined the team as sophomores,  and she created the Ethics uh Club at or sorry the   Ethics Team at Saline High School a few years back  and she came back um to see us perform or compete   see us compete at the national level um so we want  to thank her for all that she did for us, and also   Jeanine DeLay from A2 Ethics and A2 Ethics as well  for giving us the opportunity um in Michigan to   have such a strong philosophy competition program  at the University of Michigan. So before we   talk more about what we did at the national uh  competition I want to give you guys kind of like   a rundown of what our team is like, how how we uh  how how we became a

034a team, um so we like to have   fun our our team is made up of just it's you can  see it as pretty much just one big friend group uh   Michael, Coli,n and Alex have been childhood friends  for a long time and so they share a personal   connection that way, and they're also on the Saline  uh High School Soccer Team and they played at the   club level as well so they not only uh do they  share a personal connection but they also share a   connection as athletes and teammates, and on top of  that Michael and Sarah has been uh debate partners   uh since 8th grade and so uh when it comes to  ethics they they have down with their partnership,   and it was really cool to watch them um you know  embrace their uh partnership

035as well, and so yeah   uh we would also like to uh let you guys know  that Mr O. isn't here today like I said but um he   has had a great relationship with all of us and  without him we really wouldn't have made it to   uh where we did at the national competition um we  had a lot of uh weekly check-ins with him, meeting   with him to see uh how our cases were going, and he  really put uh his his utmost care into um how we   uh prepared ourselves for the national competition.  Yeah so before we get into exactly what we do uh   it's been a few years in the making since we've  before we've made it to National, so sophomore year   was our first year we all competed uh that was  COVID, so it

036was online, but we did well, we placed   third in the state, and we basically learned how  Ethics ran in short and what to do how it works   uh then our junior year we competed again at the  state level and we got second uh at that point   we got a pretty good rundown of how it works, we  got a good format going for each person uh and   then senior year we worked really hard we learned  um a lot of ethical things. So we got really good   with the cases we were able to win the States, and  then go on to Nationals and place third. So it was awesome. Yeah so a bit of what Ethics Bowl actually  entails um in terms of the competition itself. It's   two teams competing in a room with three judges  and we

037have a case set of 15 cases that address   um ethical issues in the world and each team gets  a certain case the first case is given to the team   that presents first that team gets to have a  presentation and share their thoughts on the   case and possibly a solution um to the problem and  then the second team gets to ask them questions to   hope to further their you know discussion of  the case and the team gets a response period   to respond of the case, and then the judges um  try to ask some deeper questions to really push   that team and think about um really the ethical  implications of the case and then it just switches sides. So based on our topics for Nationals  and um the State level as well they're very   heavy in most

038of the content and they go beyond  of what um your normal thinking and your daily   situations go for, so we've had cases on like  if a cow were to consent to being eaten is a   ethical to eat that cow, um to things like when  is it okay to out someone and is it ever okay um   and so a lot of the topics go back to different  philosophical dilemas um but of course you're   like your judges are philosophers, they're  professors, and so they obviously know a bit   more than us as high schoolers um and so what  we try to do always is show our knowledge and   defend our knowledge against um the professors  and always extend our train of thinking when we   realize um that there is more to think about  and so that's a lot

039of what ethics is. Yeah   and so for the actual like national competition  in North Carolina we were able to place third   out of I think about 30 teams. After we won  the Michigan competition, we participated in a   Regional competition against Maryland, and we won  that round which then sent us to Nationals, and   uh each state does that which means about  uh half the state so like 25 to 30 States   uh participate at the National Bowl, and the way  it worked is on the first day of the competition   we had preliminary rounds where I believe we  went three in one which then qualified us for   the quarterfinal on Sunday, and we won our first  quarterfinal round, and then we uh lost on a 2-1   decision in the semifinal um and then on points we  were awarded

040third place. We were really excited   about this because Saline Ethics is relatively new to  a lot of teams in the state but particularly uh   teams across the country and we really hope  that Saline Ethics can continue to carry on our   legacy and go back to National competitions and  potentially win one day. So like Brian mentioned   thank you all uh want to thank Mr. O. Miss  Venema, the Michigan Philosophy Department,   and everyone who helped contribute uh  to our team. So yeah have a good night. [Applause] Ethics Team do you mind uh do you mind if we  do a quick photograph with you at the... [Applause] Oops we have three, the board has  three action items this evening, I'd like   to entertain a motion to support the Washtenaw Intermediate School District's proposed   Special Education Millage Renewal  Question

041to be placed on the ballot   of the November 5th, 2024 election as  submitted by Superintendent Laatsch. So move. Support Miller. And I'm going to read a brief statement  just to kind of explain the impact of the special   education and millage. Before the ISD Board  votes to place the Special Education Millage   Renewal on the November 2024 ballot. they need  a resolution from each Local District School   Board supporting the renewal. The millage  renewal language will combine two previous   special education millages that both expire in  June of 2025, into one combined millage renewal.   The millage renewal will be for 12 years and  will generate approximately $51 million a year   for special education services for students  in our county, because it's a renewal there   is no change to the current property  tax rate. Saline Are Schools would lose   approximately

042$9.75 million a year if the renewal  doesn't pass, so it is significant and very important. It was uh Tim Austin made  the motion as seconded by Jennifer Miller. Any questions for Dr Laatsch. Oh I would add  that I did put um more of an FAQ flyer at every   body's desk to, it gives a few more answers  in in a one-page format. I suspect there's   going to be plenty of opportunities to to uh  talk about this throughout the rest of the   next few months. Treasurer Gerbe. Yeah, I just  want to give my I don't know words of support   on behalf of the Finance Team right like these  are essential services from incredible human   beings who are doing great work you know I was  talking to someone and I guess I I was going to   say this

043after you present because I'm sure  it'll be extraordinary in a few minutes but   um just that I was talking to a parent at you  know Saline soccer this weekend and they said   that they sought outselling specifically for  our special education services and the quality   of the people and the quality of things that we  do. I mean they said like we could have chose to   go anywhere and Saline was the choice so anyway  so and I know that that represents the WISD. I know   that represents the commitments we have with  our families all of it so my point is like I   emphatically support this and I think  this is essential and it's incredible   for our students and we're doing great work  with this money so just want to say that out loud. Great well let's put

044this to a vote please  all in favor please say I I.. Opposed. Hearing none   6-0. Thank you very much. The next uh recommended  motion before the board I'd like to entertain a   motion to approve the recommendation that NBS  Commercial Interiors and Interior Environment   supply and install the furniture in the new  Hornet Operation Center in the amount of $134,897.02 which includes a 5% contingency as  submitted by Rex Clary Executive Director of Operations. Gerbe motion. Do we have support?  Support Miller oh or you want Susan? Okay.   Susan you got it? Sure okay. Next okay Miller this  time. Okay thank you. Oh Rex. just operated.   With this uh so this will be the new furniture  package for the Operation Center um with this   approval um we're still scheduled for a Halloween  uh move in date and uh

045certificate of occupancy   to the Operations in Saline Area Schools um so this  would ensure the delivery of the furniture before   that date so we could do a seamless move together  as a group, during the month of October at some point. Does the move in date correspond with the  uh opening ceremony? It could. It doesn't have to,   I mean but it just asking. We're uh when I start  to see asphalt, we'll start to see asphalt in August,   we're finishing up cement in in the Interiors  um windows and doors will be going in here in   the month of June, so um we're starting to get it  weather tight and uh moving forward pretty quick,   so. Other discussion? Comments? Thank you. I'd like  to put to a vote then all in favor please say I.   I... Opposed. Right hearing

046none 6-0. Thank you and  please stick around I'd also like to entertain   the motion to uh approve the recommendation from  Lecole Planners that YellowLite, Inc. be   awarded a contract in the amount of $605,880.00 for the Saline Middle School roof integrated solar   installation as submitted by Rex Clary Executive  Director of Operations. So move. So move that? Who   was that Tim? Okay. Support Estep. Thank you Trustee  Estep. So this is the last piece to bid for the   Middle School um this is the installation  of the panels um we've purchased the panels   for the Middle School and the High School we've  purchased all the professional uh design work, um   we still have to bid the High School roof and the  High School installation of the panels this fall   um for next summer's work, but this completes  pretty much

047the High School it's we're under   budget actually as right now we're projected to be  under cost of $124,000, compared to the budget we   presented on December 12th um so we are turning in  the right direction uh not without work uh we did   have to rebid this uh to get more bid coverage,  and we also adjusted the schedule um to to to   get better pricing uh we were we did come in over  budget on the first bid so we reposted it within   the necessary time and then was able to get more  competitive pricing for more biders uh the way in   which we did it in this time so excellent work  by Lecole Planners, Amersco, um they pro they're   proven to be an excellent partner um ensuring  that we're going to get the rebates, ensuring   that we're

048taking all the necessary steps. Miranda has been working with us doing a great job   of you know again, leading those meetings, asking  the right questions so. Fantastic. And I and I'll   even back that up we talked a little bit about  this at at finance and uh first of all I want to   give my appreciation to you, I think you're being  an incredible steward with our taxpayers dollars,   and I appreciate you you taking that time and  and rebidding it and saying let's let's do that.   So um but the other thing we I think we were  talking about was this money we actually did   already approve the funds okay to do this, this is  just for the contract I think it was part of like   a 1.6 million was that correct? uh 1.6 million is  the budget

049for the installation of the panels at   both buildings. Yes. So anyway so I support  this and I appreciate your diligence. Thank you. Let's put this to a vote then all in favor  please say I. I... Opposed. Thank you very much 6-0.  Appreciate all the hard work Mr. Clary. And  uh I would like to say that thank you to   Community Education um you know we've got a  we use our schools to the fullest this summer,   and you know he generates revenue, our kids get  to go to camps, they use great facilities, he's   bouncing around, we got a roofing project at  the Middle School, we got construction at   the High School, we got limited capacity so Brian  Puffer is doing a great job just making sure it   works. Communicating and I thank him a lot for  doing

050that with us and working with us so. Was   great and in case the rest of the board has  thought I've forgotten I am still working on   a field trip up to for myself up to Jean Paul  II uh Secondary School yeah I know it's it's   farther away than I expected but I I will do a  photo up a photo shoot there on a really hot day   I'm sure and we'll figure out how they cool the  place electrically should be fun right thank you. Enjoy. We have one schedule, we have one  scheduled report tonight uh and I'd   like to introduce or call up to the front  Monica Ellis and Kevin Musson that it you just. Did I mispronounce your name again? President McVey, Dr Laatsch thank you for having us we do want to invite a team.  

051A team up here to help us present and that's  who we are in Special Education, we're a team that   works together each and every day and I think  it's important that we present this as a team   so my members, my leaders, if you would come up  including you come up oh yeah all of you where's   our connecting students, come on up the whole group.  I'm going to have them each introduce themselves   as we kind of go through this we split up the  slides and it's important that everyone knows   there's a rhyme and reason why we've done what  we've done, uh but ultimately we have a lot of   teacher leaders here they lead inside of their  schools each and every day. We have our students   our connecting students, that are also here  today. They lead each

052and every day inside   of their schools and other schools, we want to  welcome them want to make sure that uh everyone   has a name and a face so we're going to do some  quick introductions here before Monica and I get started. Hi I'm Laney Miller. I'm a  senior at Saline High School and   I've been in the Connecting Program for two years now. Hi my name is is Kate Ashman. I'm a  senior at Saline High School and this is   my first year of Connecting and what  else what else you doing next year I   will be a paraeducator next year while attending school. [Applause] I am Nick Luther. I'm  a senior and I like I love   going to Connecting Club because  I'm graduating, and um I'm really excited. I'm Drew Miller and this is  my first year

053in Connecting. I'm a senior. Hi. I'm Noah Musson. I'm a senior and I've been  a part of the Connecting Program for two years. Hi. I'm Trish Fair, and I teach the Connecting  Program and also am an adviser for the Connecting Club. I'm Jody Feldkamp. I work at Saline  Middle School and um this is my 25th year   of teaching. We started our careers together. We  help develop your life skill program. We did. [Laughter] She's carried me for years. Yes I have. I'm Alicia Zak. I'm one of the   Early Childhood Special Education  teachers and a former Connecting Student. Hi. I'm Heidi Phelps I am one of the  representatives from the High School Resource   Room Life Skills. She's also a department leader  and and there will be a day that she stands up   here at this podium and

054presents to you likely  in one of these roles, just so everyone knows.   My name is Meg McClure. I'm also one of the teacher  leaders at the High School and I teach Resource Room. Hi. I'm Katie McGee I'm one of the  district's board certified behavior analysts. Hi. I'm Emma Stafne. I  graduated from Saline last year   and I'm a registered behavior  technician at Woodland Meadows. Hi. I'm Daisie Scharmen. I am a parent in the District.  I am the uh PAC Rep for the WISD and on the SEAC committee. Hi. I'm Luana Putz and I'm the  Student Services Specialist. Amongst many things, just so everyone knows without  Luana the wheels kind of fall off, okay?   We introducing ourselves? Monica Ellis  Assistant Director for Special Education   and Kevin Musson the Interim Director of Special  Education for just a little bit

055longer about ready   to get back into retirement, but we're going to get  this started and uh we're going to have Ben he's   he's working with us today, I'm not one to always  follow the slides, but I think everyone knows our   passion and our goal and special education, that's  to make our students a part of our community,   to make sure that they're accepted, and that's  something that's really important when you look   around and you look at these connecting students  and the work that they do each and every day uh   you look at our community and how accepting it  is is, you look at the job sites that we have   the people that we have, and it's really a special  place so forgive me for not always following along   reading things verbatim word for word but that 

056really is who we are without this team uh this   wouldn't happen all right I want to make sure  that that we are recognizing this team. These   people are outstanding each and every day what  they do for us so I want to make sure that that's known. Thank you Ben. So I'm not going to  read the Vision and Mission Statement of the   Special Education Department but this was um  established in um 2000 and I think it still   is very applicable today but I think the thing  that stands out from that mission statement is   um we collaborate with Gen ed teachers, the Gen ed staff,  parents community and students and that's what we   tried to do today is to bring those people to  the front, because they really do the job each   and every day, um and

057I think the last part of that  mission is so important success is a journey and   not a destination, and I think that's what we  have to keep in mind with all of our students   it's not the same path and it shouldn't  be, but it is success in their individual way. Yes, okay all right. I'm going to try to  give everyone a quick overview of our student   demographics so I have some numbers for you  so as of today we have a total of 851 Special   Education Students and 823 of those currently  have active IEPs and the other 28 are under an   initial evaluation and will have their IEPs by  the end of the school year, also as of today um   our staff has completed initial evaluations for  133 students for this school year so that's that's  

058quite a few. Now by building, um I'll try to go  through this quickly but um just to give you an   idea of how many students are in each building um  Early Intervention has 38 students, Early Childhood   Special Education has 26, Harvest 75, Pleasant Ridge  72, Woodland Meadow 72, Heritage 108 students, Middle   School 165, High School 203, our Alternative High  School has 10, um Young Adult Program 36, and then   we have two um non-public schools that we do  support and that's was Washtenaw Christian Academy   we have 14 students there, and St Andrew we have  four students. Now as for the primary disabilities   the breakdown I'm just going to give you the  top four, the majority of the students um that   we service there's 207 217 students with other  health impairment is their primary disability,   the next

059highest would be our speech and language  impairment disability of 176 students, followed by   specific spefic learning disability we have 169  students with that is their primary disability,   and then for autism spectrum disorder, we have  162 students. We do also serve as students with   primary disabilities of cognitive impairment, early  childhood developmental delay, emotional impairment,   deaf or heard of hearing, physical impairment,  traumatic brain injury, visual impairment, and   severe multiple impairment. We do have some  slides, I don't know if he's showing them or not,   but um we have a breakdown of the special  education, special education students by gender   and grade level. Gender it's approximately  60% of our special education students are male   and then 40% are female. Grade level I don't  know if you want me to go through every grade   level but I'll highlight just the

060highest  grade levels. 11th grade has 78 special   education students, followed by third grade  with 66, and then our Early Childhood Program   and 7th grade both have 64 students, and all  the others are ranging from 38 on up to you   know 60, 49, and so on. Next the breakdown  of students by ethnicity the Asian American   students 23, Black African-American students  24, Hispanic or Latino students 43, Multi-Racial   Multi-Racial students 78, and white students  672. As I mentioned we do provide services   to non-public schools in our district um the  services. We provide are the teacher consultant   services, speech services, social work services,  along with occupational therapy, and physical therapy. All right thank you both so this is our  program overview um this is where we range in   our special education services, so we have a few  um different

061multiple of ways that we service   students, one of which is our teacher consultants  and that's where our students receive services   um within our gened classrooms, we also have  resource rooms that we utilize which is additional   assistance that's beyond the gened classrooms, and  we have specialized life skill programs in the in   the district which is more intensive support for  our students that have more significant disability   and essential the life skill areas, and then we  have early childhood which is ages 3 to 5   and our young adult program ages 18 to 26. So in  addition to all of those core services we are   offering a range of related services to support  all of our children and students. That's things   like speech and language therapy, occupational  therapy, physical therapy, social work um our   BCBAs and also utilizing assistive

062technology. So our goal is always to provide individualized   instruction and programming to help reach everybody gain their full potential within Saline Area Schools. Hold on one second. I got you. So I I truly have to say  I have the best job in the whole district.   I say it all the time I try not to let everybody  know because I don't want people coming for me.   I get to work with the most amazing students  I get to see the change and the growth and   and the the love like truly Mateo is one of us,  absolutely, um and and it's just it's just the   most rewarding rewarding job and I'm so thankful  for it. We were recently invited to present at um   with Governor Whitmore and some legislatures  on the Connecting Program and again it says so   much

063about Saline of all our amazing programs  they chose our inclusion program, which again   shows Saline's dedication to inclusion and and  it's it's just who we are it's just it's what   we do and we love it. So um I think first we'll  show a quick video of um that we put together   we were the only school that had students put  together video. Every school put together video   of their program and most schools did um a  professional video production company and we   said no we got this, so um Faith Pearson and  Nate Bush put together an absolutely amazing video. Oh I thought... According to the New Oxford American  Dictionary the word connecting means joining   or linking things together especially  so as to provide access and comunication.  Here at Saline we bring this word to  life. Connecting is

064very much an experiential   learning class students learn about different  disabilities and then they go out and work in   the district with people from two all the way to  older than me. They are basically job shadowing   kind of like a paraeducator or a special education  teacher. So they're learning how to first of all   be comfortable with people who are different, how  to be welcoming to people who are different, just   about becoming a better person. Founded at Saline  High School in the Fall of 1998 on top of peer-   paraeducating training, the Connecting Program  has grown to include participating in numerous   peer bonding field trips and local fundraisers.  My favorite part of connecting is the community   we build because I might not know everybody in the  Connecting Program, but I definitely can walk into   the room feeling comfortable

065with everybody. One  of the things that makes connecting so strong is   they're high school students so they're really  cool so they can get kids to do things that we   adults could never do. The Connecting Program has  been known to change students perspectives and   plans for the future. When I first joined the  Connecting Program I thought that it was just   going to be an easy class, but instead in return  my perspective is so much different now. Before I   feel like I would always jump to conclusions  judgments because we all make judgments, it's   inevitable, I tend to stop myself and think about  their living a different life. I have it's so many   kids who are kind of on the line are they going to  go this way or that way and they take Connecting   and it truly

066is lifechanging for them and and it  kind of steers the whole course of their life. I've   always known I wanted to be a dancer but from  starting Connecting I have noticed my passion   for special education and helping people. So  someday I would love to open up a studio and have   classes for kids with disabilities. Everyone needs  a place that feels comfortable especially in high   school, when things seem to be changing all the  time, it's important to have a place that stays   the same. I think that's one of my favorite parts  about Connecting is in our competitive school, it's   not about your academic it's not about your IQ,  it's about are you a good human, and I think we   all need that. How do you feel? I feel I'm have the  winning shot and I beat

067the whole team. Yeah, he did.   I'm a connecting student, and I love helping people.  We have friendships, group lunch every day, for first   days, it's really important to me and it's the best  part of my life. I think every school should have a   Connecting Program, because this class has really  spread inclusivity throughout our school and even   for people not in the Connecting Program it  can motivate everybody to be more inclusive.  High school's hard I mean it's hard for a lot of  people so to feel like a rock star and and know   that you're doing good important work and making  a difference like that's pretty life changing. All right I know you want to hear from them, but  just one more thing that I'm super proud of is   I put together there's a site linked in

068here. We  don't have to go through that now um just kind of   where are they now of former connecting students  and as of today, we have 15 former connecting   students working in the district in some capacity.  We have um a former connecting student who's now   running the New 2 You Store. We have um a  connecting student that's an architectural   school studying specifically inclusive spaces. We  have um so many OTs right now so so super proud   of that, but I know you want to hear from them. So  just kind of what is Connecting to you or what is it to you? Okay um my Connecting experience  has been um a great one and it's gone too fast,   now that I'm in my last two weeks of school, um I  started Connecting last year sorry wow I'm just  

069like my mom. So last year um I took really hard  classes and Connecting was a class I could feel   safe in and free to express myself, um and then  after last year I knew I wanted to do again this   year, and um I have really enjoyed my experience  in the beginning of the year I chose to go to   a high school classroom and that was the best  decision I've ever made because the connections   I've made with the students are incredible, um  not only am I helping them they're helping me   more, and I have become best friends with so many  of the students that I work with um a few of them   are invited to my grad party, just because I love  them so much and I'm so excited. I have also   been able to help

070a student after school and  drive him home and that be that made us become   closer, and that has just been like the highlight  of my year. Connecting has been my why, for my   my life, for the past years. I it's reason I wake  up in the morning, it's the reason I'm excited to   come to school, and it's the reason that I'm  really sad to leave. So I hope that I can   always um make my mark with inclusion, wherever I  go and that's why I want to dedicate um my life   to this, like we saw in the video. So um I'm excited  to pursue both of my passions and make it one so   that's kind of what the Connecting experience is for me, but there's way more but I won't take your time anyways. So my Connecting experience 

071I'm v very grateful to be a part of it, um it's   definitely my favorite part of the day uh getting  a break from in person classes at the High School,   and um I actually have two connecting placements  back-to-back, which is pretty awesome and uh I'm   at uh Woodland Meadows and then Heritage and just  being able to hang out with them it's it's truly   special and I said it when I was in Lansing  on the panel it's yeah you you help them with   their reading and writing and their math and all  that, but you learn so much from your Connecting   Students and it's truly special and I'm so  thankful to be a part of it and yeah thank you. So like the video said without  Connecting I would not know that I   wanted to go into

072either working with like  special education or just working with the   special needs population in general, and I just  would not have known that without Connecting   I want to thank Miss Fair, because she has been my  rock through this and has really helped me just   fully embrace Connecting, it's definitely I wish I  would have joined at my freshman year, because it   was truly life-changing and I'm for like forever  grateful for the relationship that I built with   all of my students, and even with my paras and my  teachers that I have worked with, I love them all   so much, and this by far will be my favorite memory  of high school, and the best class that I've ever taken. Okay so this is my first year in  Connecting uh the class, but I've been   a a leader

073of Connecting Club this year  and then been a member for the past few   years, so both of those experiences have really  changed my life and shown me passion that I've   never seen before uh Nick and I are also  on the State Youth Activation Committee   for Special Olympics. So we drive to Lansing uh  every once in a while this year that has been   truly a life-changing moment, getting to sing  in the car with him and getting to have those   fun memories together um has been a super  important aspect of this year and a memory I'll never forget. The best part of Connecting is like um  I can see a lot of people and um I'm graduating   I want to thank Miss Fair, my mom and dad, and um  they're the best. I would say um Kevin

074Musson is   the um like, I love going to Lansing to see all the  people, in school for me, um I will say I'm going to   miss everbody um in a school and I'm going to miss  Heidi Phelps she's special to me and I care about her. All right as you can see it we all get  emotional because we just we love it it's it   truly is whoever said their why it is our why and  it's it's why we do it, um have some very exciting   things coming up getting in fact I just talked  to Kaylee today from Dexter doing a lot of Unified   Sports. We did a, we threw in some Unified  Basketball with our student staff um basketball   game this this year and it was amazing. The whole  High School just cheering for our

075kids that's what   inclusion is all about so we have some basketball  games planned and we are also have been invited to   play at LCA with the Pistons, so we'll do either  before or after, and we'll be selling tickets so   if you can help us sell tickets to that. I got yeah.  We we already promised the guy that we would sell   the most cuz it's Saline and that's what we do,  because we're inclusive so we're super excited   about that. So a lot of Unified Sports I am  actually stepping down from the Connecting Club,   Miss Munn and I because we've done it for seven  years, and I want to kind of spend my time more   getting the Unified going. So um Miss McClure and  Miss Markey or Miss Gose is going to take it over.  So we're

076super excited about that get some young  fresh blood in there, it's super fun, um yeah so   just great things happening for Connecting and again thank you and thank you Saline for making this   happen because it is it is unique and and it's  it's beautiful and it is what makes Saline so awesome. Thank you to the Connecting  Students very much for what they do   each and every day. You guys can go have  a seat. You did a great job Nick. Do you   tell your parents? Hey Nick, Nick do you  tell your parents how much sugar I gave   you on the way to Lansing? All those donuts? Yeah. You tell them? Yeah. That happened that happened .  We do want to show you just a quick little bit  of this video this was Saline versus Dexter this   year this

077is this is a part of what we're trying  to do, what we're trying to improve on, is become   uh to become more a part of the Unified Sports.  We're talking about football for next year, Dr.    Laatsch has made that a point with our new football  coach uh that he will be helping us with that. We   we have a bowling league, most of you don't know  that, but I think this Friday we'll be bowling   again. So we're trying to increase this as  much as we can to get this exposure for our   students, but Ben if you could just show a little  clip of this I think this is a great day for us. [Music] [Music]   Yeah. Thank you Ben. I think you guys get  the point with that. So it's a lot of fun   at

078the bowling alley they have pizza, they  have pop, it's a great time. They they do   a wonderful job together so it's a lot of  fun. I'm going to welcome up Heidi and Meg   they're going to talk a little bit about  our staffing and professional development. So like Kevin said it really does take a whole  team, to do what we do, um and this slide highlights   just how many people it takes. So throughout  the district we have 20 Teacher Consultants, 16   Resource Room Teachers 12 Life Skills Resource  Room Teachers, 4 Young Adult Teachers, 2   ECSC or Early Childhood Special Education  Teachers, 13 Speech and Language Pathologists,   10 social workers, 4 School Psychologists,  107 Paraeducators, 4 School Nurses, 3  Social Emotional Learning Coaches, and if you  know Special Ed we love our acronyms. So we also   have

0792 Board Certified Behavioral Analysists or  Analysts um or BCBAs, and 6 RBTs or Registered   Behavior Technicians. In addition to those,  we also have contracted staff so we have 5  Part-Time Occupational Therapists, 1 Full-Time  Physical Therapist, and 1 Part-Time School Psychologist. Awesome, so with all the staff  we always have our yearly and more annually   professional developments, including the  NVCI, QBS, but then on top of that we're   always looking to up our game looking at what  is remaining in compliance as far as policies   and legal requirements, and then while with that  collaborating with the ISD here in Washtenaw   County. Where we've had professional development as  a department working on different plaf statements   looking at interactive IEPs for our staff to  utilize and recall indiff indifferentiation   for policies. On top of that as a district wide  we've been

080able to lead some UDL practices   within our district, um during the symposium  we've also been looking at increasing our   evidence-based interventions as a department, and  this summer we're looking forward to as a small   team, collaborating and partnering up to see how  we can really expand those interventions to meet   our student needs and really all of Saline student  needs, and then number five is that collaborative   effective piece, continuing the partnerships  we have within the community within our district   each building each level there's some so many  different components so many team members as Meg   said that it's never without that collaborative  piece that we have been successful in our development. Flipping for me? Thank you all  right Daisie oh are we up next or were you   guys next and then okay come on up. Then you guys 

081come up. I flip too soon. Emma Stafne and Katie McGee.  Hi. So we're talking about the collaboration and  partnerships of Saline. So first we have our MTSS  integration which is our multi-tiered systems of  um support and this is collaborating with staff to   address student needs at all tiers and all levels.  Second is our transition support partnering with   adult agencies for post school planning so really  looking at what our students can get after they're   out of school, Michigan Alliance for Families  so providing resources and support for parents. Then also we're collaborating with therapeutic  services in the community for students that are   seeking outside therapies um to provide resources  and the support in that manner, and then also for   community inclusion so we're really partnering  with the local organizations for inclusive   opportunities um this includes job sites for

082our  young adult students this includes field trips um   this also includes partnering with grocery stores  for um our kiddos in those life skills classroom   working on those life skills and being a part of  the community, and all the things that come with   life skills, such as shopping, and then also um  one of our really big programs is collaborating   with the WISD for the Para-to-Teacher Cohort and  this takes um this gives paras opportunity   in scholarships to continue their education to  become certified teachers, um and a lot of the   times a lot of those certified teachers also end  up being a part of our program which is wonderful. All right Daisie you're up. I got it this time. I  got it this time. You know this is this is one   of the most important things that I

083think we  do, and that's our Special Education Advisory   Committee and our relationship with our families  they are the voice to us so we can hear concerns   and we hear that on a monthly basis so Monica and  I are always there to meet with them they create a   wonderful agenda, but our SEAC has really took it up  a notch in this new team of SEAC members has really   done a remarkable job to create parent mentors,  coffee time for our parents, uh more training   for parents, in addition what we I'm sorry, I tend to do that sometimes. Ladies and gentlemen Daisie Scharmen.   right here. My gosh, he took, look all of my notes. My gosh, um the SEAC relaunched after COVID   um it sort of wasn't here for a while and then we  relaunched after COVID and we came

084back to school we   have reps from Young Adult all the way down to  ECSC. So we want to have a parent rep for every   building um let's see the Reps from the seak also  sit on the WISD PAC, so that's myself and who else   is is it Tara? Tara right now, okay transition.  Yep um let's see what else we partner we're trying   to partner with the uh Special Education staff  and the Foundation to help with grants um we're   trying to provide educational opportunities,  and resources for parents in the district who   have questions, um also connect parents and their  students with social groups we just had um a K-5   uh meet up at Pleasant Ridge on Friday, which was  really successful we had quite a few parents and   kids show up, and they all had a

085great time Alicia  was there, so yeah. So anything else? Okay thank   you. I do that sometimes, um you know part of the  part of the way in which we do this too is we do   a parent survey and that's important to hear the  voice of the parent, so we do a survey uh it used   to be every year, right now it's every couple  of years, because there's a lot of things that   that that we need to do. You know there's a lot of  things that they're requesting of us, you know we'   we've uh revamped our SEAC, we've we've worked  on our website according to what parents are   asking, we've worked on more parent trainings, so  this is a part of what we're hearing consistently   out there so we're trying to do a much better job 

086of making sure that we do that. So this partnership   is been really important for us making sure I  didn't forget anything the parent mentor part, I   just want to that that to me is one of the most  important things at every grade level at every   building as you transition in there's a parent  mentor for you. As a parent they can guide you   through processes, they can guide you through what  it's like in that building, and that's important uh   so we have these parent mentors actually listed  on our website and and so far the feedback has   been really, really great. They're going to be at  all of our kindergarten open houses, you're going   to start seeing them at our open houses, we've got  them a banner for their table so please say hello   when you have

087a chance uh you'll see Daisie at uh  at the High School and she'll be representing and   helping parents adjust, because it's so different  just going from building to building and that's   what that's about and I'm really proud of the fact  that we were able to get that done for our parents   this year. So thank you, oh on to budget. That's you  and I, Monica. All right, we just talked a little bit   about this and I think that this is important  uh there's there's the millage component, are   we on the slide there, you're always there, thank  you Ben. So with that we wanted to show you just   kind of the revenue breakdown of how things look  first is is the inter the intermediate uh sorry   the WISD County Tax Act 18, that's about 61% of our 

088funding, all right so when we talked about that   thank you Mr. Gerbe for your kind words, that's very  much appreciated, and you heard the difference of   what that would be. As we go through this budget  $9 million that's a that's a massive deficit to   us in in the programming that we do, uh you have  9% of that being federally funded and also 30%   being state funded so Monica is going to talk  just a little bit about our expenses. So much of   our expenses go to the very talented and um um  very successful staff with you know salary and   budget and benefits but um we also have a a small  section well not small but it's 5% of contracted   services and that is something that Kevin and  I have really tried to look at and adjust

089and   um during COVID we really had to rely on some  of the contracted services, because we weren't   finding quality um employees so we had to rely on  that, but now we are looking at other ways we are   getting better um pools of candidates so we're  um able to hopefully reduce that a little bit,   because those services tend to be a little bit  more expensive, um and then obviously material   so we do need to have you know materials in  the classrooms and we're constantly looking   at other ways to make sure that we're being  fiscally responsive with responsible with those materials. Got too many papers here. I do. And  they're sticky. They are. Okay it was previously   stapled. All right next is kind of our future plans  and goal and that's going to be uh Katie and

090Emma   Stafne again, they're going to talk a little  bit about our future plans and goals. Thank   God there's no red cards today, because we're  just going to keep going just so you know, yeah. So for the upcoming school year one of  our big goals is for the transition of   new leadership um and this is to ensure  that the transition is smooth and we're   providing supports for that new leadership  and continuing just to grow our leadership   systems, um and then enhance tier 1 um social  emotional support, this is to ensure that all   students have access to social emotional learning,  as well as embedding some of that um some of   those practices into our daily curriculum for  all students, um and then also improve student   achievement objectives, so setting ambitious  yet attainable goals for academic growth and

091well-being. And then we also have our  professional development initiative so providing   ongoing training for staff on evidence-based  procedures, so things that are proven to work   and of course our cultural competence and  then our family and community engagement so   engaging families in the community  as partners in student support and education. Okay just to just in conclusion  I I I think you guys understand we're we're   in a transitional part of our careers where we're  we're doing our very best to get our next leaders   ready. We've have two wonderful candidates uh  nothing to be determined yet but we were very   excited about both candidates that had applied  for the Executive Director Position both very   very talented people, so we're excited to kind  of see this, we're excited to be a part of this   transition into new leadership that's

092going to be  a huge component of of what we do moving forward.   In addition we want to continue to expand that  evidence-based interventions making sure that   everything that we do with our students has  evidence behind it when we're working with   through curriculums, uh that the expansion of  our Unified Sports, uh as well as continuing   our peer-to-peer uh Connecting program, our PALS  program, Our STARS program, that's crucial, that's   critical. We we've heard it in interviews, we've  heard it from people uh they they grew up they   were born and raised in it they didn't know it any  different, and that's really what we're about and   we appreciated hearing some of that during  uh during the recent interviews that we've   been through. So for our conclusion we wanted to  open it up we wanted to thank you all

093for this   opportunity thank our teams they're outstanding,  they're wonderful our connecting students, thank   you guys all for coming in tonight. You  know, we know there's going to be some Q&A   uh I've had some great emails already from a few  of you that we've uh kind of been able to to to   look at ideas and suggestions that you have so we  appreciate that, but is there any other questions   that the board has for us. We'll just open it up  to the board any anyone wants to pipe up.   And I'd like to know what other board members may be um  you know talking if you took away anything from   conversation prior um to this meeting um so so um  I love all of the collaboration that happens in   the district, um that supports some of our students 

094who have disabilities um with initiatives that are   pro promoting belonging, um my own children have  had opportunities to participate in programs   like PALS at the middle school, and mentorship  which I believe um sort of new between the high   school and elementary students um and so um it's  you know sounds I've gotten great feedback about   the mentorship and uh being excited to um see  mentors on Thursday so gotten good good feedback   from uh students um and so um clearly you know  there's lots of strengths um in you know that   you've showcased here um tonight, and uh you're  elevating that and that's wonderful um so I had   questions, um I guess where you feel that there  needs to be where there's needs for improvement   and um how you're addressing it, um I also would  have liked uh

095to have seen maybe that could be   another presentation um a lot more uh specific  data as far as um inequities that exist with   students with disabilities um so that can include  number of suspensions, bullying and harassment   incidents, um we've heard from um I believe during  listening sessions um that uh you know that that   seems to be um something that that occurs um and  is an issue um an incidents um from adults um data   that includes state and federal reporting um for  example seclusion and restraint um data and data   broken down by race and ethnicities, so um you  know and it's something we talk about in the   DEI Advisory Committee, and so I think um that's  important um just to um you know address and um   see you know see how um improvements happening  there um

096and then sorry um and then how how it's   being addressed um so uh professional development  for um staff um so not just the the staff who work   in Special Education, but you know how are the  educators being supported with um students who   um are within the the classroom and um you know I  know we have some uh people I know Jody at the    Middle School is um you know supports um students  um you know communicating with um educators and   um that's wonderful, um so yeah I'm just curious  um about all of those questions. That that that   was a lot of questions, so let me let me kind of  break that down, if you look at things, first let's   just talk about behavior and how we handle things  inside of Saline Area Schools, first and

097foremost   we have monthly meetings we we we do that with  uh Katie where'd you go? There she is. Katie uh   her partner Sharon, uh Liz Westfall, from the ISD,  Monica, and myself, we break down the data we look   at what's going on specifically with students  with disabilities in terms of behavior. We work   together uh collaboratively with plans we we take  our plans then back to the building to make sure   that those are implemented appropriately. We've  shown huge success, quite honestly, I have shared   uh with the Core uh quite often about how much we  have decreased behavior and seclusion restraints.   I I want to say the last time I had sent it to  him that was the beginning of this year we we'd   reduce everything by about 50%, so that's that's  those are good numbers, I

098would I'd be happy to   go through and edit some of that so you guys can  look at the data and the numbers specifically, but   ultimately this team approach taking it back  into the buildings, the teams that we have, and   what's going on and not to mention you even have  young employees like uh Emma Stafne. She's an RBT,   right she became a para, she made her herself, she  took these classes, she did all this stuff, she's   one of those that that is so talented at such a  young age that we're sending her in to work with   various different students to really correct that  behavior and it's worked successfully for us so. I   I really appreciate the work of the of the BCBAs and the RBTs to help us change that. Ultimately   as as we kind of

099go forward and we think about  things like what do we want to be better in, uh   definitely that tier 1 uh we are currently  the ones responsible with the social emotional   learning coaches, we wanted that we wanted that  that to be a part of us. We meet with them there   is money targeted for an additional person  through a grant for next year that'll give   us 4 social emotional learning coaches. The  point and purpose of that is to teach those tier 1. [Music] I thought that's what it meant too. I love  that. I actually was kind of I was kind of into   that. Play it again. So we really want to work on  that social emotional learning concept right   so we're actually pushing these people in to  teach the Gen Ed curriculums about this social   emotional

100learning and and the hope is is that  we're building this tier of support, so ultimately   as we move through those students are going to  push up and better understand what it's like, I I   like the term that Trish Fair used, what it's like  to be a good human, and and I think that that's a   real big point of what we're trying to do with the  social emotional learning coaches uh when you're   you know so there was a lot more questions, I don't  want to miss anything what. Yeah because I didn't   ask spe specifically about that component um. Okay.  So um yeah so so when you're talking about um   some of the str the things that you're working on  improving right um. Yeah. And then what was the other the   more specific um data um so

101I'm glad to hear about  and I would like to hear further um about you know   the decrease and you know that's that's what  I think is important to to put out there there   as well. Sure. To the public and because yeah you know  there's been past um information so um that's come   to the public and so you know it's important to  to be transparent and put that out there um and   then my other thing was so the in inequities and  then um the professional development for teachers   um you know the special ed obviously um there's  lots of uh training um and so I'm wondering how   um yeah how the educators um are being supported  in that um yeah. Okay I I think that one slide did   target that information of what we're doing uh  specifically

102with training for next year so if   there's any further clarification we'd be happy  to to give it to you if there's an area that that   the board feels that we need to look at we'd be  happy to to to consider that as well uh again   when it comes to the data. I have provided that  to Dr. Laatch and the Core we try to update them, I'll   continue to do that and uh I I'm sure I can make  that editable so that you guys can can see that   information to recognize I think what we have done  uh consistently over this last year and a half so.   Yes. So because Trustee Estep asked about questions I  had asked about um the Transportation Services   and the kind of training that the uh and support  that we have on

103the buses as well as how we're   fitting students uh with special needs and sort  of what the protocol was uh for transportation   so that was my question that we discussed over  email if you wanted to share, and then I just had   another question about or maybe just wanted  to highlight wondered how the new playground   inclusive playground equipment is working out from  the bond for the kids, and um we had talked you and   I about the um the new weight rooms and just ways  to help all of our students. I love the inclusive   sports, but maybe in the cheerleading I see out in  the community, but other ways to help our students   stay active. Yes. At all differing levels of  abilities.Yep. Starting with transportation it   was it was, I'm glad you sent that because a lot 

104of times this is about being public and talking   about what we're doing, uh we partnered with Rex  Clary, Tracy Mulcare inside of Transportation, there's   going to be actually in August, we're going to  create a day and time that every year our parents   know when you can come up their their children  with disabilities, would be able to get on a bus,   they'd be able to walk through a bus, take a small  ride, make sure that they're seated appropriately.   Whether that's a star seat, a harness whether  that's uh any type of restraining device that   keeps them safe, uh locking down their wheelchairs  appropriately, we mark their wheelchairs, a lot of   things that go on with this. So this is going to be  a part of what we do each and every day. Most of   you probably aren't

105aware we do train bus drivers,  we do train uh the monitors as well that's a part   of our department, uh anything from the nonviolent  crisis Intervention we've even had things get as   specific where Katie McGee could come in and work  specifically on be behaviors on transportation   uh with our teams to make sure that our students  are there. we often have paras that we'll fill in   as bus monitors so we do a lot of that training  we're going to continue when a parent brings it   up, when others bring it up, we make sure that uh  that's a that's that is a big part of of what's   happening, so thank you for that. Yeah speaking  about the bus training do the students uh or   special need students receive spe particular  training in emergency situations, egress, that   sort

106of thing. Yes. That's two or three times a year  something like that. Yes. Same. Great. No different.   And before we move on. Hold on. I just want to say oh. The  one question um Trustee Gold was asking was about the   weight room, and I know. We are. Doing some good  things related to inclusion. Yeah this started   back with the Foundation, Joe Welton that's a name  I tell you what love that man. Joe Welton who's now   in Chelsea had written a foundation Grant uh  almost $10,000 so there's a small weight room   that we use each and every day at our High School  all of that equipment we've already worked it out   with Rex. Rex is redoing the lighting, he's redoing the painting, uh he was a part of this   process as was Dr. Laatsch. All that

107old equipment  from 20 years ago is gone, and we are bringing in   brand new equipment whether that's ellipticals,  whether that's bikes, treadmills uh so that's a   part of what we're doing so Rex has partnered  with us, and uh we we will have that Rex am I   wrong? June? We're going to start the painting in  June? Correct. So we'll start the painting in June   we're going to we're going to order our equipment  at the end of the month it's in my calendar and   then uh we'll have everything moved in so Rex is  going to move everything and we're going to have   a brand new weight room for our students at the  High School, that's going to be neat. Yeah, we also   Unified PE. Oh yeah oh thank you. Unified PE something  new at our High School

108uh not just your standard   Physical Education there's actually going to be a  Unified Physical Education so that again partners   that 50/50 ratio of students uh with disabilities  and non- disabilities to partner together. It's   going to be not only, uh you know the the different  sports that they're going to learn, the workouts   that they're going to learn, the foods that are  important for them to eat. So it's really this   variation of curriculum and we're super excited  about having that next year, we were able to put   that together slip it in the book and it's it's  filled. So we're excited about having that class.   Playgrounds. Thank you see I know I need. Thank  you playgrounds, Rex we're on schedule for all of   our playgrounds this summer? Yep, so playgrounds  will go in this summer modeled after you

109know   some of the work that was done at Pleasant Ridge.  Nicole Phelps had led that charge back in the day,   so uh definitely more of an inclusive playground  that are safer for our students so. Yep. I just   want to say Kevin I want to thank you very  much for your willingness to provide data   once you've edited it, and taken out PIIs and  whatever, that's great, looking forward to that. Okay. Okay so I just want to say I and I say this  to everyone who listens that there is no Special   Education around that's the same as Saline. It's  really, really a remarkable special space when   people asked what my kids were doing last week  I said celebrating inclusion, because that's what   happens here it's not just something that um is  a part of a program, but

110it's celebrated here in   our schools and in our communities, and um  like Lanie said even if you're not a part   of the Special Education Program or a part of  Connecting, it's creating a more inclusive space   for for our students. So um I've worked in three  districts and there's nothing like um nothing   like the special education supports and services  and the inclusion model here in Saline. From the   paraeducators who um their dedication and their  desire to to create support but also independence   um for the students they um partner with, to um the  teacher consultants and resource room teachers who,   who stand alongside the classroom teachers it's  not a separate thing it's really a collaborative   um approach to things and I know that when I was  a classroom teacher here um that partnership meant   all the difference

111for the way that I could do my  job, and and um how I could teach all the kids in   my classroom so I appreciate that. The para-to-teacher cohort so exciting. I saw some graduates   um this year from our from many of our paras here  in the district and I'm just really excited to see   um their passion continue to develop and to see  how they'll continue to have an impact in um in   special spaces um because of that opportunity.  I I just can't thank Daisie enough her leadership   um as a parent, her experience that she shares, and  how um she provides those mentors that you were   talking about how parents um don't feel alone and  have that support and um just an ear even an ear   outside of the school system, somebody who's been  there somebody

112who's walked in those shoes, so I   appreciate Daisie's willingness to step up and lead.  I I appreciate the stewardship of the finances   that you've been given and how I think that um  you do a lot with the dollars that you're given   um other districts are given the same dollars  or more and um it's not the same result so I   see that and I recognize that and um I know that  every dollar of that millage is um being put to   good use for our students, um I think I guess I'll  just say um I have all these things one of my kids   biggest regrets is that Unified PE didn't happen  this year they they might come back and uh ask   to visit that class, I'm sure when they're home  uh home from college, but um they're

113so excited   that that's happening for their friends at the  High School um I wrote down this list of names,   I just I appreciate uh Jody, one of the things  I know you've carried Kevin a long time and   his wife back there Beth too um both in special  education, but one thing that I remembered when   you were standing up here Jody is how you have  moved a time or two, and it hasn't always been   I know it hasn't always been what you've wanted,  but you have done it in a way that has made such   an impact on your colleagues and the students  that you teach, so I appreciate that. Let's   see I'm just gonna I don't know I'm gonna forget  someone, but I will say that um the Musson's are our neighbors and Noah has been

114Drew's best  friend I think since birth maybe I don't   know Drew is probably embarrassed right now  um but I I think along with Drew and Noah's   friendship Laney tagged along and when she  did tag along Kevin poured into her and I   think that really planted some seeds for her um  and created the young woman that you saw tonight um I think that Connecting has created a community  for my kids that they didn't expect um they have   I think the thing that keeps coming up for us is  the genuine and authentic relationships that have   developed from that experience, and how even the  relationships we've known Nick, I think most of   his life Nathan was in my class his older brother  so we've known Nick a long long time and although   we knew Nick the depth of

115the friendship  that has um created because of Connecting   and because of the experiences would not have  been there without Connecting. So I appreciate   the work that you're doing for our kids who are  identified in the numbers that you spoke about,   but for our entire community. So thank you so  much. Congratulations on your double retirement, soon. Anything else? I'll go next if that cool. All  right. So first of all um you heard me earlier   speak to to the parent who sought me out at soccer  and that it's that's a nice moment to to be a   trustee and to stand there and to represent Saline  right like that is like awesome right, so um you   know as a as an educator I can't help but marvel  at the staffing and professional development slide,   and just think about

116all the different areas of  expertise that impact kids on a day-to-day basis,   right? And so like I'm incredibly thankful you  could work in a lot lot of places your expertise   would be valued and welcomed anywhere and you work  here so, so thank you right, like we have a great   school District because of all of the resources  and things that we're able to pour into students   and so as a trustee like it run, it runs itself and  it comes to my door and it's like yeah we're good   that's right, but um but the reality is it happens  because of you and because of your efforts and and   because of these teammates as you call them and  and that really is important, it's important to   me as an educator I will tell you as an educator  myself

117thank you so much for the things you do   in classrooms to help me to be like I because it  happens in my school district too to be a better   educator right, those things matter, right it helps  us to to to personalize education, it helps us to   be able to provide targeted services to those  students who' require it, and it's important   because then when we can do that our our students  thrive, and you're hear my question in a second,  but um I want to make sure that I I say that  and speaking to I I I I don't want to go to   my question without also stating you young people  standing back there and connecting and or sitting   back there and connecting you are extraordinary,  thank you for committing to these young people,   thank you for

118building on your own, um you know  beliefs and understanding and love and like that   is genuine and absolute love and support, and and  it is something that is an incredible point of   pride and I thank you incredibly for it. And so  speaking of evidence thinking of connections and   all of that one of the things that we recently  discussed here at the table was School of Choice,   and um one of the things that I'm so thankful  about is I re and I told Dr. Laatsch this, and I've   said this that I believe that the the that our  staff is so extraordinary that the earliest the   interventions we can make the better for kids, and  so for me for us to say that we're going to target   and we're going to try to say okay let's capture 

119our youngest learners, I think that gives us the am   most amount of time to show that growth. Would  you echo that? Would you agree? Yeah definitely   the earlier the better, right, we want to capture  students within that K-3 range make sure that we   have evidence-based interventions implemented  and function as a team, with the families the   other thing is is the relationships are easier to  build at that early level as they come through the   door, sometimes when they get down their career and  they might not have had such a great experience in   other districts, we spend more time just trying  to get people on the same page with with how   we're doing things. So I I I agree with you that  the earlier the better anytime uh will School   of Choice and/or interventions for these students. 

120And I appreciate you being willing to to to share   data with us and I also really appreciate the the  mentoring piece and the and the connection with   parents and Daisie thanks for for being here  tonight and representing those families and   those parents and all that. So thank you some a point  of pride for me and I've said enough so appreciate it. So first off I want to thank everybody  that came out here and put this presentation   together uh a lot of lot of information and  then I appreciate some of the questions that   the board uh presented also because there was  so much information but there was a lot of   lot more information that can be there  so I appreciate that. The Special   Education Department has always been a pillar  of our community and our school

121district and   and I I can't say enough about that and um the  Connecting Club and Connecting Program is just   awesome I think uh when that kind of all got  created and the involvement that students have   with the other students, it works both ways, it it  affects both people's lives, and I think that's   awesome and the stories that we were told today  impact that, um and so then as far as emails I   did email you earlier um and I appreciate your  response it was kind of in in reference to the   Positive Prevention Plus Program and the FIOA request that we were getting on the opt out   and how you're working with this the parents  on that and I appreciate the transparency in   that. Absolutely. Yeah we've had wonderful parent  meetings so far we've been able to

122bring parents   and to show them the curriculum directly, uh  you know with Monica and I being there uh looking   at our future we've we've talked about you know  what else can we do, what else can we do better,   and uh we're thinking about right now we want to  have one of our teachers who could even be here   right now, she's behind me, uh demonstrate teaching  these lessons. So parents can actually see it, watch   a video, be able to come in and actually see how  that would look we have to be cautious with the   observations although we've done them uh we we do  want to be cautious with uh the students inside   of that classroom and their needs in particular,  so it's it's kind of a fine line and that we're   walking right now but I

123think we've been able  to get things worked out for for everybody. I   appreciate that and then I also want to thank  you on your second retirement and I appreciate   you coming back and filling this gap for us. Thank you.  Appreciate you. Perhaps you'll get it right this time   Right? Susan you had more to say. Yeah I just wanted to  make short followup um with the the data um that   I'd brought up, with equity, um to make sure that  Steve will get us that information um hopefully   share it with the public and um I think it  would be good for the Diversity and Equity   um Advisory Committee um to know um as well  um and hopefully you all um have results from   um you know our Equity and District surveys um  that have happened as well

124so you can kind of   get some of that um feedback about how students,  so for an example um I know as far as inclusive   curriculum um students with disabilities um  that was like a high number that we needed   more of that in the curriculum um so you know  information like that super helpful for you   all to consider as well so and you know that's  available in everything, but I just wanted to put   that up as far as data sharing and. Sure, sounds  good, all right did we go over our 10-minute mark. Plus. Oh okay I'm sorry. I always wanted to come  up here and get a red card just so I could say   it. Mateo our student representative does have  something to add as well. Oh boy. Well I just   first want to say thanks

125to Miss Fair she  does so much for the Connecting Program   with setting up bowling and the basketball  game which was probably one of the most fun   things ever, and I'm excited to see all  the Unified stuff that she has planned   because that stuff sounds super cool, and  a question for Mr. Musson um will you be   bowling with us this Friday and if so do  you think you'll be able to bowl above a 60? Yes I am planning on coming there is,  if there's bumpers I tell you what there's   bumpers I got a shot at beating a 60 besides that  forget about it. Well I just want to thank you and   the team really everybody who came tonight and  spoke thank you so much on behalf of the board   thank you. Thank you. Bravo, all right

126we have  um three discussion items coming up and I I   you saw me getting up I was double checking that  we had the presentation let me get the clicker. tomorrow tomorrow morning I I went to the meeting. You went to the presentation uh uh  Secretary Miller I really appreciate that.  All right I'm gonna click, click, and click and  I can think I can do this in under four minutes   you know every time I say that there's always  somebody goes, and I'm looking at you Caroline,   there's somebody's going all right we'll see  about that. Oh my gosh please don't, uh last month   oh I lost my own presentation here hang on a  second got to call it up, that doesn't matter   I'll use this one. Last month Brian Marcel of  the Washtenaw Intermediate School District gave  

127a presentation providing an overview of the WISD  budget, now according to Michigan's revised school   code the general fund budget of the WISD must be  reviewed by school boards from each district in   the county the WISD shares the budget with us each  May and board members have until the end of the   month to revie review and respond to it. At the  end of our review we will adopt a resolution in   the next few minutes to support or disapprove it,  if any board member would like to submit specific   budget objections, in writing, through an email to  me I will attach those to a response to the WISD   and send it by the end of next week. The WISD board  will review all notes from districts at their next   board meeting, I think I'm synced up still. I

128want  to take a moment to note what the WISD does with   their funding. They provide uh comm uh support  countywide network connectivity, school data, and   among other things support for PowerSchool. The  WISD offers many learning series for certified staff   across the district and supports several learning  networks. They also offer additional instructional   supports across the county. I'll just hold there  for a moment. So this slide and the next indicate   many of their professional learning opportunities  both for educators and for youth including   DEI efforts, STEM related efforts, and assistance  with many uh special populations including the   chronically absent. They also engage in community  and school partnerships with a focus on student   health and wellness. So additionally something  we learned about at last year's meeting, about   this time, was that they support the My Future Fund  which is

129a children's saving account program which   is pretty cool and finally the funds they receive  support school and student safety initiatives and   training. So now in comparison we are talking  about this in finance the uh general education   budget is much less than the special education  budget and it should be noted that they have   set an annual goal of maintaining a fund balance  of approximately three million in the special ed   budget and almost $5 million in the general  education budget. So here is a brief snapshot   of the revenues for the general fund sources  and millions of dollars, the smallest amount   under 2 million comes from State operations while  the majority almost 15 comes from uh restricted   grants at the state level, changes from last year  include uh an increase in property taxes, which is   good, an increase

130in state funding and transfers  to pay for a Career Technical Education Director   and Mr Dr Rowe. This conservative budget assumes  there's no Grant Revenue carried over to a 24-25  year although some of that Grant money might.  Expenditure changes include the funding for the   Career Technical Education Director and the  inclusion of a Business Services position due   to increased need, um getting close to the end,  expenditures also assume that all vacancies   are filled uh all step increases are made and that  there is a 2% salary increase and also that health   care costs have increased by about 4.5% so this is a snapshot of the general fund   balance in millions of dollars, we use percentages  here, but uh millions of dollars and their balance   they dipped into their balance just a wee bit this  year. Each year the

131original amount is assumed at   a much more conservative amount than the actual  amount, so if you see the negatives there uh that's   the um if I got this right the final actual amount  of the budget is in blue uh and usually it's   above their estimated amounts, so um basically the  presentation has changed very little in fact the   graphics are still old and tired, but I I like the  Special EdS graphics a lot better, uh I would like   to entertain a motion at this moment to support  the WISD 24-25 Budget Resolution as submitted. Based   on this presentation. Support Miller or I guess  motion Miller. Okay are you going to move? JM.   Thank you. Support Gold. Thank you very much Lauren  Gold. Are there any discussions if you have any   questions again please because I I didn't

132address  them to Jenny she was actually there I just have   the notes at the PowerPoint uh but if you have  any questions we'll try our best to answer them. One one thing I'll just add that I  was very impressed with and I'm I know   it's something that we talk a lot about um  at our table with our District budget but um   the ISD is also uh continuing to maintain a a  relatively healthy Fund Equity Balance which I   think is important and really also when you  do have that healthy Fund Equity Balance it   shows the um integrity of the budget as a whole  I believe so um looking at how their dollars are   spent and um the collaboration across the county  I think is is um a really, uh it's a model for   others so. I've

133worked a lot with the folks up  at um WISD and uh they're they are extraordinarily   professional staff and, um I I really appreciate  I agree with you 100%. Any other comments? No. Yep   Tim. I just want to say I I like the um increased  spending with the CTE and so forth and giving the   opportunity to other students that maybe  are not part of the Consortium Program   here uh would like to see maybe down the road  maybe a little bit of information given to us   about what the impact they've had on these  other schools and stuff and maybe a report   on on that somehow. I think it would be  that's kind of what I'm asking. That is exactly. Well thank you it's been noted and I I  don't think that deserves a a note to the

134to them   about the budget, but uh we'll we're on it we're on  it Dr. Dr. Laatsch is on it. Great well let's put this to   a vote then. All in favor of supporting the WISD  2024-2025 Budget Resolution as submitted please   say I. I... Opposed? Hearing none. 6-0. Thank you so much.  Betty will fill the document out and move along.   We're o over now to uh Brad Gerbe on the Finance  Committee update. All right, uh finance committee   met at 5 o'clock today, we had five items that  were discussion items for us and we covered the   following ground. On the first one rec was is a MDE  Required uh Food Service rebidding the action will   happen in June every 5 years, we are required to  by the state through a very prescrip prescriptive   process to uh to

135bid that out and that will come  to our district as an action item in June. One   of the points of pride right now for us is how  awesome our food service is and right now for us   if we look at our overall budget um food service  is a um we are not supporting it through the   General Fund right now so that is a positive for  our overall school um budget, but if we needed to   that would be what we would have to do and and we  would be prepared to to have that conversation as   a finance team. We talked um the next two items  kind of almost tied together hand-in-hand. The   Governor, the House, and the Senate are starting to  to put out budgets, they're starting to talk about   that things, and and that's good

136because we will  have to set our um budget for the 24-25 school year   by June 30th, so first of all I guess I would say  at 6 pm on June 11th we would invite the public   and I hope invite the Board to participate in our  Annual Budget Hearing, so again that will happen   on June 11th at 6pm. Couple of highlights that  are there and some things that are going to be   reflected in both our original uh budget for 2025  as well as the final amendment uh we're getting   a little more clarity with regards to per pupil  allotment and any potential increase uh on the low   end there's a $217 increase, the high end is 302,  um so we're going to budget right now on 217 and   and if it comes in higher than that we'll

137always  be be happy about that. So that's about 309,000   additional dollars that would come to the District  and it is higher than our original projection, which   our original projection was going to be um an  increase of $150 per student so so overall like   as far as you know affects our budget that that  looks good, some one of another highlight for   me is um and this is going to remember it's like a  it's it's a big horse trade and it's not done yet,   right, so like there are priorities that the House  has and the Senate has and the Governor and they   got to figure some of those details out about  who, you know what's spending, and what have you,   but um some positive things is the MPSERS  which is what we pay for uh for for

138retirements   and pensions um is is looking as healthy as it's  ever looked and in fact the health care portion   of it is even running um like excess revenue, it's  it's um it's about I think it was 40 40 million dollars or   was that? it's? it's? it's over? 140%. 140%. That's it. Yeah  okay thank you I knew there was a 40 in there. So   it looks so in that regard that's positive and  that's good and so there are going to be some   conversations about now how, what do we do with  with that money, and how do we be you know good   tax or you know spend our taxpayers money um  well. And the last thing I have which is also   um a positive thing with regards to um potential  for our district is that enrollment right

139now in   kindergarten is is looking pretty, pretty solid,   it looks as good we we seeing a general trend um   that people are tending to enroll and go through  kindergarten roundups and those kinds of things earlier   than and that really helps the District um and  I guess I'd put an appeal to any kindergarten   families out there, it really helps us to to you  know develop staffing, it helps us to understand   about you know what we need the decisions we need  to make from a structural standpoint, but right now   we anticipate that kindergarten enrollment um  um will will be up and so that is always a good   thing right more money and more students equals  greater financial footing for the district so.   Those were the items we talked about the the  bond stuff we talked about

140earlier and and that   was our our meeting unless my compadres on the  team have other things to add. I did not. We gonna   meet next month? So we are we're going to meet  next month because next month's kind of a big   one for us, right? That the June meeting is like  I said uh the Budget Hearing and then we will um   we will we will we will rest upon that in July, so  we'll come back together in August. Thank you. That   was it? Thanks very much sign, sign sealed and yeah  right any questions for? All right the next uh item   on the agenda is a a brief dis I I don't know if  it's going to be brief or not we'll see uh it's a   process for how the board seeks legal advice, which  uh

141we in fact what I have is a two-page write up,   and I'm happy to give that out to everybody  uh after the meeting as well, uh based on the   notes that I received from everybody. I've gathered  together a number of policies and to try and sort   out the question. So here we go uh at the April  23rd Board of Education Meeting uh Trusty Estep   made an inquiry, and I'm taking this from uh the  minutes from our last meeting, uh what is the proc   what, what is hang on, what is the process for the  board to contact legal, if there is a concern   or complaint with superintendent. or board member, or when a serious concern is brought to the board,   or if there's potential liability issues for the  board, as it impacts the district and the

142community.   Trustee Estep also noted that there should be no  issue with a board member asking questions and   asking that legal has input in determining what  the step next step should be. I absolutely agree. So   under the heading now of Asking for Legal Services  as a reminder to the community, Saline Area Schools uses   two legal firms, Thrun Law Firm and Collins and  Blaha, who assist with clarifying broader legal   issues regarding policies that guide this board,  they can also offer advice regarding next steps.   So who reaches out to them? The board president  speaks on behalf of the board um and it's   sometimes I have designated the superintendent to  ask a particular question of our legal services. So   there are two big issues, two big pots, to consider,  one is policies and the other are complaints. So   let's

143talk about the policies first, so if there's  a question about policy, historically the board,   through the board president, has reached out to  legal services and sometimes a superintendent has   proactively reached out, uh one recent example uh  was over the display of certain flags in schools.   If an individual board member wants to raise  a question about policy they should bring it   to the Policy Committee, in the Board Operating  Procedure that's 0131.1, and under Development   and Updates number 4, it say the Chair of  the Policy Committee or the Superintendent can   formulate the question, with the help of the board,  for legal services. Policy Committee can also reach   out to the Board's Neola Representative. Now under  the next big bucket, uh Concerns and Complaints. If   there is a concern or a complaint these have to be  addressed in

144closed session of the Board. From what   my understanding that's policy 0167.2 Close  Sessions, um and it's quoted, "the board by means of   a roll call vote can meet in closed session one  closed to the public for the following purposes,"   and the first one is the one that's relevant, "to  consider the dismissal, suspension, or disciplining   of or to hear complaints or charges brought  against or to consider a periodic personnel   evaluation of a public officer, staff member, or  individual agent if the named person requests a   closed hearing um majority vote is required so if  a complaints addressed in closed session then the   board can discuss it the time the advisability of  seeking help from legal services. Board member can   make the case about the advisability of contacting  legal services so action can then be brought by   the

145whole board." I think we I'm not sure if we  have to vote outside close session if we're going   to go for legal services or not or we can just  make a decision, we'll have to see that, probably   to cross the t's and dot the i's. We should vote  outside of close session. If a member of the public   has a complaint about the superintendent, there  is a public complaint process, that's policy 9130.   All complaints, all complaints need to begin  with discussions with the superintendent or   the administrators, if they're not, or sorry with  the superintendent, if they're not resolved then   the complainant may file a formal complaint with  the vice president of the board. If necessary the   board would go into close session to determine  next steps. The next steps could mean contacting   legal services for advice.

146If a board member  raises an issue or concern that or amplifies a   concern raised by a member of the public, our board  operating procedure I'm looking at 1210 basically   says uh under Board Superintendent Relationship  um suggests that it begin with a discussion, always   begins with a discussion between the parties,  and relates to oversight of the superintendent   or by contacting the board president to address  these concerns or questions as with all other   procedures for addressing complaints they begin  with discussion between the key parties. That's   what I've been able to gather from all of the  the different policies and I I I think perhaps   a section in the Board Operating Procedure should  maybe tie all these things together and make it   really clear step-by-step, so if I've missed a  step or overlooked something now's your chance   to

147uh to share your insight and I hope I hope  Susan that helped you I took you at your I took   you uh that you wanted a sense of the process to  clar for clarity and that's what I hope, I was able   to provide. Can you go back? I just. Yes I know  I read this. I didn't get a chance to print it out   for everyone. But yeah and I'm aware of like all  of these policies but yeah tying it all together   makes sense, um you had mention I'm sorry um I  missed um outside of the public complaint which   is the public, not board members um to follow  that process um you had mentioned one of the   bylaws and I don't it was early on 01 something  something. 0167.2. That's the policy about making policies  yeah.

148Okay, what did you mention about that? That  was regarding if we if an individual board member   wanted to challenge or raise a question about  policy, when do we get legal input on that that   was what that section was about. Was it the about  the complaints section you were had a question? So um I guess it's still not clear to me, um  because you had mentioned the closed session   component, so, if one or two board members are  curious and brought up that we need as a board   to contact legal, right, they're requesting that, um  to to follow whatever process um is that something   that comes to a closed session or? That's a good  question and from everything I've been able to   see from our policies that if there's any, well  it depends on if it's regarding

149a complaint   then we go into closed session because it deals  with a complaint, at which point if a couple of   board members say we really have to seek legal  services support for this, then we just sort of   discuss that in closed session and maybe phrase  behind close session, we'll frame the question   what it is we're looking for, because we want to  get best bang for our buck if we're contacting   legal. That's the sense that I got I didn't see  any other situation where a board member can   just raise it, because it's we're either talking  about policies or dealing with complaints. So if   there's a third category or bucket of concerns  I I haven't seen it yet, I don't I and I may have   missed it. So so it not being the the complaint  not necessarily

150coming from a person of the public.   But from a board member? Yes.  Yeah so. Or about a board member like? Oh well, then the phrase your question  because I'm not quite sure I'm getting it and   if anyone can help that. No, I thought, I thought  you mention you it's part of my question about   a board member or um superintendent. Well then see  that's another thing that's unclear. We there is a   process for complaints for the superintendent and  you had asked also in in your question, which had a   lot of elements in it. What if there's a concern  with a board member. Okay we do have a section   of the Board Operating Policies if one would want  to raise a complaint against another board member. Yes.   Is that what you're talking about? Yes that has  nothing

151to do with legal? Right. Right right right.  Right so that's what I'm I'm asking you to clarify  what you're asking me right now that's all. So and   and to be clear because I think everybody's  getting confused about um what the board   operating procedures are, um that they are um  procedures, right it it's not um necessarily   the policy. I feel like the BOP is getting elevated  um when we have policies to to go back on um so I   want to make that clear. I'm not asking about  um that whenever, we regardless of what it is   for example you mentioned the flags and schools,  as a recent I don't, I don't remember what was   that process I I I'm not sure I know what you're  talking about with that. A member of the public   started the discussion

152with the superintendent  and the board by sending a letter, probably was   several members of the public, to as SAS Board and  in order to clarify it, the Superintendent sent   a message, sent a note to was it Thrun or Collins and Blaha, one  of the companies, saying what's what so what is the   actual policy regarding flags in the classroom,  the particular flag, or whatever flags, I forget   what the issue was exactly. And that's that's  how that happened, and that informed, I think it   went to policy committee afterwards or it was  or was relayed back to the Board or relay back   to the parent. I'm not really sure what happened  at the end of that. That's a parent requesting legal.   That was... A community members requesting legal. No  they didn't, no they they had a question about  

153the policy, hey how come flag x can be flown in my  kids's classroom. If you can you might. If this is   recent I not even. Within the last year. Well there were a  number of parents that expressed concern and they   ask me, are we violating the policy a policy  to have Black Lives Matter flags in teachers   classroom. I sought a legal opinion from Thrun and  they said, we are not violating a policy by having   Black Lives Matter flags in the classroom.  Right so by giving that as an example that was   something that's probably not an example that came  from this from us no. Exactly. So I appreciate that   yeah, but we have issues that have come before  the Policy Committee and have gone up to legal   and we've crafted and framed the right questions  and

154sent it up, right, so perhaps you as Policy   Chair. So couple things, one is I would like you to  share that you. Oh yeah sure. You've created there so I can kind   of read it and kind of digest it a little bit. The  other thing is uh so I'm kind of gathering there's   if a, the difference between going to close session  to look for legal opinion versus just kind of in a   policy committee coming up and going to seek legal  opinion, I think there's two different things there,   but I do agree kind of with Susan that maybe there  is is maybe not clarity in how yeah we have a we   have a policy on how we're uh if if there's a a  concern from a, a parent, or stakeholder has against   administration or superintendent there's

155a policy  or there's a way of going about that, um from a   board member standpoint is is is it clear, I don't  think that that's very clear and so maybe I don't   know if that can be clarified in the existing  policy that we are talking about with our um   complaints from uh from stakeholders, or if that  has to be a different policy? I'm not sure. Well. I   guess that's what I'd like to know. No that's  good and all these things need clarification   so what I'm going to recommend is uh because I  only just drafted this this afternoon just as   we were walking in, I had a a wet printed copy, so  obviously it requires some in input from everybody   on this board. So what I'd like to do if I could  recommend this now and

156maybe we can move to close   the discussion at this, is let me give you the what  I think is is a pretty good two-pager that clar   clarifies your questions and uh perhaps you know  later we can embed this into the board operating   policy, uh and we'll take a couple of weeks to look  it over and double check and triple check because   I mean I don't want to put anyone on the spot for  saying yes this is right or wrong this is just   Mcvey's gathering stuff together. The other thing  that Susan you just mentioned was about elevating   the Board Operating Procedure, I have been working  throughout the summer, actually uh very slowly   at dragging the Board Operating Procedure going  through every aspect of it, and making sure that   everything that's there relates to actual board  policy

157exactly and it needs to the Board Operating   Procedures are, here's the policy, here's how we're  going to take it out, and make it work as best as   it follows the policy. There are some really tricky  spots like uh how we in the organizational meeting.   How, in fact Jenny Miller had raised way back, how  do we um re review replacement candidates for the   board, if somebody steps down. It's very vague.  It's very wide open, and uh I'm I feel nervous   when we set, we must do the following eight things  well I want I agree with you Susan they need to be   based on policy. So let me let me just say this let  me give this to you all uh over the next couple   days or well this evening. Yeah oh there's still  questions I'm sure

158but let me give this to you   in the next couple days and address any questions  that have come up right now, and and I'll see if I   can tidy it up, give it to you, and then you can  edit away in a Google doc or something um or   we'll figure out a way to do it, you know, no we  can't do it. I'll give you each of them if you   have notes bring them to me and we'll work it  out. Yeah I know sorry, isn't quite right. Lauren   Gold. Dr. Gold. Okay, so the question I have is that  I don't even really know what the question is. So   I just want to try to understand, so you would ask  for a lawyer when you had a legal question, correct?   Any person would ask for a

159lawyer when they  had a question regarding the law or a complaint   regarding a law not being followed correct? You're  talking about in general public? Because it just is   I can't make sense of what the actual question is.  So it's clear to me that we have a policy for or   if the public complains about the superintendent  or files a complaint, that we have a policy etc.   It's clear, maybe, that if a board member has a  concern about the superintendent we can go into   closed session, I think, but I'm not sure that what  Trustee Estep is asking is is there a policy for if   one board member has a concern about another board  member going that way? Or if the superintendent has   a concern about the board member? I just want to  know what the two part,

160I just really don't, I'm   like flummox as to what the actual question is. Sure.  I'm sorry. I just I can read this two-page document,   but I don't understand what the quo, if we're  even anywhere in the ballpark of what Trustee Estep. This   a good opportunity for, for for Susan to clarify  the question. Well, yeah I can um actually read what   um Betty and I uh made sure that um I captured  uh or that we captured in the minutes um which   we approved earlier um so maybe that'll help uh  from last last time. So um I inquired on what the   process is for the board to contact legal if there  is a concern or complaint of a superintendent or   board member or when a serious concern is brought  to the board or if there's potential liabilities  

161issues for the board as it impacts the district,  the community, um also if one or more board members   um ask for legal input, how does that happen? I  said the board has autonomy um this is per policy   um to contact uh legal councel, uh would a board  member have to go through the public complaint   process, which I think hopefully we all agree that  that's not um how that would work um to address   concerns from um community or board members um and  then, yeah, there there should be no issue with with   a board member asking questions and asking that  legal has input in determining what next steps   would be. So yeah just wanting clarification,  so nothing to do with a complaint about, nothing   to do with that, um Board Operating Procedure.  So what I thought I

162heard President McVey say   is that if somebody wanted legal, the procedure is  to go to the President to ask for that, the Board   President. How does the board president decide? Well  the board president doesn't have sole authority to   make decisions on that type of thing. That's right  and neither does an individual so. Exactly. So how   do we do the process? So this is what this is what  this two-pager suggested if you have a concern and   maybe we have to say rather than a complaint  or a policy issue, that we still have to. I'm sorry. Then rather than go uh through we we may  just have to go through closed session every   time, because some of the issues that we're  talking about might be extraordinarily sensitive   either regarding an individual board member or an  individual in

163the district or the superintendent.   This is why I think going back to closed session  167.2 to anytime we're dealing with issues of a   sensitive nature like that then a closed session  is the right place. At which point I think then we   decide then an individual board member can make  their case as to whether we should go to and get   support for legal if the policies aren't clear  enough. I think that. I think that's tricky as   far as what we can go into closed session for um  I know a person would have to request if it was   a complaint about them, they would have to request  that it be private or be in closed session. That's   exactly right. Otherwise public. That's exactly what I read  correct. Yes, but I think that's outside of what   I guess

164um I'm asking if, for example the flag I  think uh previously, um you you had a question uh   similar, I'm talking about uh uh Trustee Austin um  in the past a former board um and had a question   uh that came up about you know flags and signs  and stuff and that was you know it sought at   a later time as well but um you know it was one  individual like you you had brought it up and then   the superintendent brought us, um actually in closed  session, to answer that question. So that's where   that happened, that was the process that happened  all the time, um seemed like with um uh with   Superintendent Graden uh when there was uh legal  um that came through and that's something that   we could do in closed session, but prior to

165that  point you know if we don't have the legal advice,   um so I'm just looking at conflict of of interest  of if we don't necessarily if it's involving you   know um District Admin not necessarily wanting the  superintendent to do that um or the superintendent   not I you know I I that's just my question. As  far as like the conflict and also um as far   as a board member, if you know somebody's seeking  advice on that that should be you know the board   right? Taking um uh that role, so that's kind of my  you know I mean it could be a variety of things   that there would be a conflict um or information  that um we would want to go to the process, because   yeah we can't make um you know we could speak  for the

166board right um publicly or you know um   and state that, but we can't take action without  it being here, like the board takes action right   at the board table. Right and just before we  so before we get to Brad and that action is   to seek legal advice possibly and as I heard you  say a few times an individual board member can't   do it, we have to do it as a board. Brad? Yes and I  we had that discussion um that was not even last   meeting but maybe a couple of months ago um this  spring we had that we had kind of this similar   discussion about um seeking legal and um yeah. So  if I could just say then it seems like basically   after reading the policies the only mechanism that  we have to discuss sensitive

167issues like that, is   to go into closed session, and have a discussion,  and then the sausage gets made so to speak in   closed session, that's when we make the decision to  move or not. I don't see any other mechanism that   a board or this board has at their disposal right  now, but if you all with your big minds can find a   better, clearer way I'm looking forward to hearing  about it, but speaking of big minds Brad. A   couple of things so yeah I I think the biggest  con question over four years now has been if if   I wanted to to have legal services sought right?  How much quote unquote power influence whatever   word to to to request those kinds of things, right?  And and I would say that like for me it comes down   to

168a preponderance of us right so I don't know if  I want to go in a closed session every time that we   talk about wanting legal services I think what we  do is we discuss it and then if we want to have a   motion made to you know request legal um opinion  on it and then four people want to vote for that   I guess that's that's where I would lie on that,   and then the other thing, the other this is just an   idea take it or leave it, put it wherever, put on  the list it would be you know we have a we have a   person who's like our a Title 9 Coordinator for  the District, right? Somebody who like takes those   things and manages them and makes recommendations.  I don't know if that would

169be something that the   board could consider but maybe we consider having  someone, who is our like, mediator or our individual   who is independent of us and would make a decision  about if that was if if it had validity. I I don't   know I'm trying to think of a way to like because  I think what Trustee Estep is saying is if we have a   conflict of interest with regards to the the legal  complaint then four of us might have a trouble   with a preponderance in that case and so then who  do we provide that authority to is my point. Brad. I   don't know. It sounds like you presented the seeds  of a potentially a new policy. I don't know just a   just a. I don't know a idea. Tim and Jenny both put up your  fingers

170at the same time. Okay. I mean I just think   that you share your the information you came up  with I mean seems like this is a spaghetti bowl   of stuff all kind of intertwined and um because  one thing I don't want to do is I don't want to   limit or uh prolong any kind of seeking legal help  either. So I don't want to okay we got to wait till   the second Tuesday of the of the month or the  fourth Tuesday of the month to have a closed   session or a a meet a talk here to to get four  votes. I mean if it's a policy issue a lot of times   back when we were on the board you know back  when Scott was a superintendent and I think this   is still the same with Steve,

171if if if a board  member has something or a couple board members   have something that they think that we should look  at legal it's not just we're we're requesting it   the superintendent also feels that there should  be legal sought as well so therefore um I think we   don't want to you know have to wait for a meeting  to do that and and slow something down, but I do   think that there is some uh clarity needing to be  made I guess around what I feel is more the direct   question of how the adm how, how a board member  would seek legal if they had an issue with a board   member or a superintendent or an administration. I  think that's where that's where I think we would   need to probably go into closed session or there  needs

172to be more clarity on that. That's what I see,   so I think if we can get the paperwork that you've  already created and thank you for doing that uh   Michael and let us kind of digest it a little bit.  Of course. That would be helpful. Okay I just um   a couple of things, uh one I I appreciate that  you pulled those together I know that um I know   that I had been looking through Board Operating  Procedures and Policies um to kind of get um to   kind of wrap my mind around it too, so I appreciate  that you put it all in one spot so that I don't   have have you know 80 tabs open on my computer.  Second, I think that um you know we've we've   had some ideas here tonight around um potentially  even

173creating new policy um either separate or in   conjunction with Board Operating Procedure and  I just uh want to remind everyone that at any   point um any trustee can make a recommendation  to the Policy Committee so if you want to craft   a policy and bring that to the policy commit for  consideration that is an option. And um finally I'm   not sure I guess I'm just going to call a spade a  spade, I'm not sure if this um I'm not sure if this   discussion or the purpose for this discussion was  because there isn't clarity in how to seek a legal   opinion or if there are issues that are currently  happening, and I do think that we have a mechanism   for like Michael said having starting with those  discussions um person-to-person first and then   moving forward in the

174um in the process which  could include a closed session. I want to be really. I want to be really clear that from  my perspective in reading the policies and   in having um a chance to kind of think  about this, I think that that there needs   to be a system of checks and balances, so that  there isn't um an individual seeking uh legal   opinion apart from the board unless they are um  financially um paying for that themselves, and I   also think that we need to be really careful  that we are not, that we are representing the   school district and our community and not um  personal agendas or vendettas so. So person, okay   if you're talking about, it sounds like. She's not. Other conversa. She's not? General. That's my own thinking and thoughts.   But you said something 

175current, like I I have no idea like. I don't know if there's something currently going on I went   back and watched the past several board meetings  to try to figure out if there was something that   I didn't know, and I went back and read policy  and procedure to try to put together an answer   to the question that I still am not 100% clear on.  Yeah and I don't think, I think I'm made it clear   that it's not an individual board member like  making that decision. The board can do it. We've   had those again those conversations, in the past  multiple times, I've asked about this process   um and so yeah I I don't think it's like an  individual board member asking to make make that   decision, right? And it's simply asking for legal  advice, right? So when

176you were talking about Title   9 as someone, um it's simply asking the advice  right? Putting a problem um or a concern in front   of the lawyer to help the board. Right? That that's  what it is right? That's, that's what come up um and   so um sounds like we don't have a clear process.  Can I ask for clarification on that? Because this   is where I don't, this is where, where I get lost. You would like to have an individual board members   say, I have a concern I want to seek legal advice  on this issue. Okay because that that's what I'm   misunderstanding because that's what it sounds  like when a it sounds like what you're saying   is that an individual trustee raises a concern  and that that should go immediately to legal for   a lawyer's advice, so

177if I'm misunderstanding  this is what I keep coming back to. Well when   we're when multiple board members are hearing  about concerns, right, and the president or any   other officer doesn't have the authority to act  on things right, um could give resources I think   that's great to give um community members um you  know the resources of public complaints right, so   you know that's shared information and the board  having that information and saying hey guys like   maybe we should you know put this to legal  as far as um you know this is a concern that   has come come up so it's not an individual, um  specifically, um asking for their legal legal   purpose for any other like it it's come up, right.  So I don't, I don't understand what. So I guess I guess   my my thinking

178on this, is that if a complaint has  been raised, um by a member of the public, it's my   understanding that a trustee could come to a  meeting and say a complaint has been raised   I'd like to make a motion for us to seek legal  opinion on this and then the board can vote, but   when things are happening in email and not in  public, this is where I think all of us start to   like not say anything in the emails, because that  would be violating OMA. So when a complaint comes up   in an email that's one thing, but then I think that  we need to then say, I'd like for this to be added   to an agenda or I'd like to make a motion that  this happen. And that happened last time, but um it   was

179not added to the agenda. This discussion  item not the motion to seek legal opinion. That could have come out of the discussion but what happened. You could have made that motion. There was action taken prior to that   point anyways, so. And we do have a policy. Based on  the policies that we had which was to initiate a   discussion. That's the action that was taken. But it  was a legal concern that. It was a concern that it   might be a legal concern. Yeah. The motion was  never made that I have this I have x concern   and I would like to seek legal opinion. We can't  do that by email, right, and that's why. Correct. No that's   but at the meeting you're saying. Yes. That we shut you  down from moving forward in the discussion. No one   knew what

180that discussion was involving so no one  could make the motion to move it forward at least   speaking from me personally I didn't understand it  and typically when things are added to an agenda   the board member contacts the president to ask  for something to be scheduled on an agenda, when   something comes up there's there's an un I guess  it's a spoken rule but maybe unwritten rule with   MASB that there are no surprises at the board  table. So when something like that comes to the   board table when there's an item that's wanting  to be added to the agenda and it's and for me   it's not clear what that item is, I'm not going to,  I'm not going to move that forward on that agenda   without further understanding. It was brought  to the board on a Friday, stating

181that we should   have a discussion on it, um there was discussion  outside of legal to say let's do this and that is   a violation, um to have that conversation so that's  why the conversation needed to happen at the table,   right. That came up. Just to be clear you didn't ask for  that specific conversation. You asked for, what   is the mechanism for seeking legal. You did not say,  I have this concern I would like to contact legal.   Yes, I spelled it out, as far as what the concern is.  Well I'm speaking for myself I did not understand   what that motion was so. Okay, the public can have  can do FOIA if they want. If you're referring to   that original email, to get any further past the  initial assumption, that was raised in the first   couple paragraphs

182or first paragraph, based on a  concern from a member of the public, that would   have required deliberation about that issue via  email which we weren't in any position to do at   the end you said you wanted you would ask that we  approach legal regarding whatever the particular   issue was, but by the end of that email what  it started as an assumption is turned into   a concern about a liability, First Amendment  rights, etc, etc and the whole thing was it it wasn't. If I had seen in my conversations with  the superintendent and Jackie some an issue   that it was exactly how how you spelled it out  in the worst case scenario. I would have called   a special meeting to say, we need to address this right now because it can't happen. And. So you have that decision.

183We would  have gone closed session because it would have been a complaint against the superintendent and we   would have decided at that point that we need to  go for to legal for advice and here's how we'll   phrase the question, as a board and and that's  how I understood it. That's why nothing happened,   you weren't being ignored, the conversation could  not happen via email, that's all there is. First   email president McVey I'm asking you to contact  independent legal counsel for the board regarding   the legality and ethics of these actions. I'm going  to skip. Of these actions and the actions being   that you thought somebody was being censured by  the superintendent. Correct? Yes because we were contacted   multiple times. You thought that an individual thought  they were being censured. So I said it was in a conflict of   interest

184um. What's the conflict? For the superintendent to  be involved in this process and I said per policy   it's within the board's purview to specifically  consult legal counsel because we have a policy on   it regarding this very serious matter and then I  said if you find it necessary for a board member   to make a motion, in order for this action to  occur, I'm more willing to do that at the board   meeting on Tuesday, that was Friday. Great, no we can  stop at that point because you had said that this   has that, that the board has to ask legal, not  an individual. Yes, exactly. Not the president, not an individual, not   an individual, and not the president that's. Yeah  exactly. So Superintendent Laatsch would like to add.   If the complaint is against me shouldn't somebody  tell me

185what the complaint is? I'm unaware of the complaint. Which is why a closed session  would have been appropriate. Okay and   where how do we get to that process that's where.  That's all written in this document that   I'm going to share with you tonight  or tomorrow. And a and a board member   and it's all in the policies pardon  me for interrupting it's all in the policies. Policy regarding close  sessions if there's a concern   for discussion we go into closed session.  You might want to look into OMA with that. What? I'm not I'm reading to you. I'm reading,   straight from email. I'm reading  the. I'm reading the policy to consider. Right so as I had said earlier I'm  happy to give this document to you all I'm   happy to have you add comments to it that  could

186end up as either new policies or part   of the Board Operating Procedure. I don't know  if reviewing that particular instance right now,   I really did not want to litigate that, that email  at this point if you have a concern about the way   I addressed it that's that's your there are  probably remedies in there, but at this point   I don't want to, I don't think this board should be  relitigating or even talking about that particular issue   because on the agenda right now is a discussion  about the process. And if you want to speak in   generalities great, but if you want to speak in  specifics probably it's it's not very helpful. And   and I think if you can just share that document  with all of us and then we can kind of. Yeah. You   got it. Bring

187it up at a. Appreciate it. Future board meeting. Thank you. Or two or three from now whenever whatever yep.   And OMA it's Open Meetings Act through the State of Michigan. I know what Open Meetings Act is but when you say you might want to look in Open Meetings Act with that issue. Explain what you mean. Yes. I. Yes because in Open Meetings Act as we all know there are specific, items that a board may meet in close session for, so that's why I was saying let's   check that, are you able to do that for you  know considering something when we haven't   contacted legal, like we can go in close session  if we have like a legal opinion right or about   security, like there's very specific things, I'm  I'm I'm saying check into it. I'm not I mean

188I   could sit here and read it. No I appreciate  that clarity. I just read it to. I just   want to make sure that when we throw out things  like, you might want to check OMA, that we clarify   what we're checking it about because sometimes it  appears as if you're like saying please check OMA   on that and sometimes it appears as if you're  throwing out that that everyone is violating   OMA except you. So thank you for the clarification.  Thank you. It's about legal advice yes. Thank you. I   I don't even know where my agenda is now thank if  you don't mind now please uh we we left with an   issue that I will gladly uh send this document to  us all for comments and additions and tally them   up, thank you very much. Administration board  updates

189Dr. Laatsch. Okay I have two and one involves   Caroline Clark. So there were the two 2024  MIPA Awards, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and there were lots of our students  that received a number of awards. Caroline is was   second place for the Salinian for Saline High  School in her feature writing involving sports.   So that is great. Very good. And then another thing  just in that um Jackie shared with me which is is   great, um first want to acknowledge Asian Pacific  American Heritage Month and also Jewish American   Heritage month. So a freelance reporter writing  with the Detroit Jewish News contacted Jackie   as she was compiling an article about how Washtenaw  County School Districts were acknowledging Jewish   American Heritage months in schools and classrooms  and after sharing a summary of our efforts through   social media, bulletin boards, digital

190displays, choice  boards, recommended books, guest speakers, and so   forth the reporter shared with Jackie that  Saline has the most robust programming that   she has seen in acknowledging of the month.  So um Jackie and myself want to thank our equity teams, teachers and principles, um who help us  demonstrate our commitment to diversity inclusion   across the district. Thanks. Thank you I'll just  make a quick note uh I was at the Future Farmers   of America Potluck last night their 87th, and I  tell you it is if you've ever if you've never   been to their potluck please consider going the  next time. I know you were there last year right   Tim? Best potluck on well its in Washtenaw. Let's  just this like go over the top right thank you. Okay um I just have two quick updates me  and Mateo

191had the opportunity to meet with uh   the Saline Alumni Association with a lot of  um the other leaders in our class so it was   super cool for them to reach out to support  us and help us after we graduate, um also um   yesterday student council, the Seniors, had their  last student council meeting ever which was super   cool and we just wanted to thank the Juniors  for planning prom. That will be happening on Saturday. And with Caroline saying senior last  days is next Friday, we're anxious, and we're   pushing through and it's good and with the um  sports coming up some playoffs is super cool.   The boys lacrosse is playing playoffs right now,  girls lacrosse like won their first SEC title   this year, in boys volleyball is doing amazingly  amazing which is super cool, and I just

192want to say   thank you to all the mothers and Happy Mother's  Day from this past Sunday because that was super fun. So kind of short but just want to congratulate  all the seniors as uh yes like Mateo just said the   another week or so school and they they'll be out  so that's great, and then a prom coming up this   weekend uh I think that's exciting for everybody  it's kind of it's moved off campus this year so   that's kind of fun, and uh just hope all the kids  make good decisions and have fun, be safe.   All right love that, so nice. I want to acknowledge  this past week was Teacher Appreciation Week but   I really think it's staff appreciation week and  uh I want to acknowledge all the people that are   incredible staff members for our

193school district  and the things you do for kids and and all of that   so thank you for that, um and then I I would be  remiss if I didn't say how much and how much joy   um I experienced earlier I always love the student  showcase it's my definitely my favorite part of   the meeting but um I am so grateful and thankful  for any person who is a part of our admin teams,   part of our whatever, whatever teams were were to  that we recognized more kids tonight and and those   kids felt good about you know being woman hockey  players, right, and like I was just so excited about   that so I want to say how grateful and thankful  I am and how much I think that's great for kids   and then that's what we should be

194doing here  right is kids, kids, kid, kids, kids and so thank   you so much and Washtenaw United, I'm excited for you and you you deserve those letters and congratulations. I was just going to say some echo some of the same things um congratulations   to the seniors um I know that I think you said  nine days, but I I've heard a rumor that it might   only be, um I don't know. If you're traveling  to the Region of Ohio uh near Lake Erie I wish   you safe travels next week. Congratulations  to the Juniors um for the hard work that they've   put on um for prom and I know that the seniors are  going to enjoy that after last year, they did a lot   of work uh to put on a prom last year. I also  want to just echo

195uh what Brad said about staff   appreciation and again um Saline said celebrates  staff staff appreciation like none other. I   was reflecting on that and uh it's just um it's  one week uh it's nice to be recognized if you're   thinking of teachers during the other weeks of the  year or staff um I was recently at a lacrosse game   and um the uh players got to pick a um staff  member to recognize and one of the lacrosse   players Donovan Gillow um recognized the support  and the just um gratitude that he has for one   of the women who works in the cafeteria and so I  think sometimes um we think about teachers because   it's called teacher appreciation week but it  really is about the staff and the whole community   and how they pour into those kids. I guess

196in  other senior news I don't know I've been getting   like water balloon remnants on my driveway. I don't  know water balloon remnants. I don't know something   about that, but seniors thanks for your leadership.  Thanks for um thanks for your time here and Saline   and um I know you're going to wrap up these  next two weeks with that fun and uh and uh make   sure that you get those classes done. good luck. I  briefly forgotten uh if you're going don't forget   Compass Night on Thursday night if you're able  to make it I hope to see some of you there thank you. Okay um so well maybe I'll, there's a a couple  of things um so the DEIAC meeting is this week um   and also The Sex Ed Advisory board meeting um  so I didn't want to

197take anything from that   but um there, uh I think um the SEAB is close to  um uh hopefully choosing this week um one of the   curriculums that they will be um recommended,  recommending so um uh information will come later   uh regarding that, um and then uh so this week  I don't know if other elementary schools are um   doing Field Day um either this week or probably  soon in the future um and I'm uh helping out with   that um to support the little ones um and so uh  and also um um yes uh with the the FFA um I was   able to um purchase some of their beautiful  flowers, um so that was nice to have over um   Mother's Day weekend, um so got to en enjoy those,  um so thanks for for doing that um

198and then uh I   guess lastly um I so so this is just um kind of  another requests for a future uh agenda item I   just want to make sure that I um ask publicly. I  will be sending an email um so information on uh   to the Board sending um information only um on SAS  Board Policies regarding administrative guidelines   and forms as an extension of board policies. We  currently do not have um any that are public um as   districts do um I know the WISD has um public  uh Neola uh guidelines out there um you know   so it there's no reason that it shouldn't be  accessible to board members, um to staff, um   and students, and family um and so you know that  I'll send policy information on that um and um   also possibly request that

199you know if if we're  not making it public, maybe it should come as an   action item here at the board um to request  that that information be public. We want to   make sure that there are consistent uh forms and  guidelines um that are related specifically to   our policies, specifically to law, um make sure that  you know families aren't getting different things   and we want to make sure that um things are gram  grammatically correct and um you know um in line   with with policies, and so um I just uh wanted  to to bring that up as information that I will   be sending because that has uh come up uh  for years now um and so I I just wanted   to to make sure that we are um aligned on  that, thanks. Excuse me a second since

200you're   using the board update poli time for this.  Will you be running that discussion? Sure. Okay. I want to make sure that  anything that I ask isn't via   email only um because I don't want a  thousand questions right to come back   I want to make sure that um that  that's something I am requesting. So I was also going to wish um the moms in the  community a happy belated Mother's Day, as the   first teachers of our kids and in addition,  wanted to highlight teacher appreciation week   last week um and a special measure of gratitude  to our um retiring teachers I see that there are   always a few teachers retiring in our board  updates and um just you know it was really   nice having the presentation last time and I saw  some familiar names uh on

201the list this time and   I won't go calling people out because I don't  want to miss anyone but I'd like to thank those   teachers who are retiring at the end of the school  year, and a shout out to our students who are in   their last month of school uh we often highlight  uh kids accomplishments here but I know for some   of the kids out there in case anybody's still  listening uh the end of the year can bring up   a lot of stress and difficulty and um for some of  you, just getting up in the morning and getting to   school every day has been hard and May is a lot  um and so a shout out to all the families who   are getting their kids out during uh what can  be challenging last months and uh

202the kids for   hanging in there and be safe and careful and  um have a great time at prom everybody.   Thank you very much. The Consent Agenda, the agenda  listed in this agenda will not be read aloud the   motion noted will allow for the authorization  of all listed items without discussion unless   a board member, uh request that anyone or all be  considered individually. I'd like to entertain a   motion to authorize the Consent Agenda as printed.  So Moved. Would that be Tim Austin? Support. Would that   be Susan Estep or Lauren Gold? I couldn't hear.  Support Estep. Thank you. All in favor please say   I. I... Opposed. 6-0. Thank you. Items on the next agenda  Dr. Laatsch. Our primary scheduled report is going to   be the District Strategic Council update. Nice.  Thank you very much, um there's no

203public comment I believe so a next board meeting will be held  on May 28th at 6:30, and uh I'd like to entertain   I'm going do it this way tonight I'll entertain a  motion to adjourn this regular Board of Education   meeting on May 14th, 2024 at 9:28. Motion Gerbe.  Gerbe. Second Gold. Gold. Gerbe and Gold, the two G's thank   you very much. All in favor please say I. I.. Thank  you. Opposed. Great. See you next in two weeks. So so...