001I call this meeting of the South Record Board of Education together at 6:30. We stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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. >> Mr. Winston, may call the role, please. >> Yes. >> Lorie Hson, >> present. >> Amanda Flesher, >> present. AJ Johnson absent. Sher sh Fleser sorry >> present. >> Misha Early >> present. >> Daniel Winston present. And Shirley Tyler >> present. Next item on the agenda is the approval of agenda. Are there any corrections to the agenda? There are none. The agenda will be as written. Next item on the agenda is superintendent communications. >> Thank you, Madam President. I have two this evening. Uh I
002continue to be inspired by the way that all staff uh and when I say all, truly all came together for our preparedness for the first days of school last week. It was certainly a combined effort from all staff. When we think about the remarkable accomplishments of our summer bond work that we undertook in the summer of 2025 and the way that all staff came together to ensure that our spaces were ready for teaching and learning to occur starting on Tuesday was truly inspirational. And so um just thanking all the efforts of all the staff to make that possible and how people came together to work together to prepare our spaces for teaching and learning for the first day of school. Additionally, just a friendly reminder to the board of education as well as audience members
003that this Thursday is our district-wide block party welcoming the entire district back to school which is scheduled for this Thursday from 5 to 7:00 p.m. over at Thirstston High School. There's a number of exciting activities taking place as well as showcasing a variety of the programs that we have to offer when we think about community engagement of uh all of our schools across the district. So, um if you're looking for something to do Thursday evening and my understanding is that the weather is supposed to be favorable, by all means feel free to come out and join us. And that concludes my communications this evening, Madam President. >> Thank you. Next item on the agenda is board communications. Are there any? I have a couple. Um on Wednesday, September the 17th, the Wayne County Association of
004School Boards will be doing a virtual uh CBA class 3:27 on ethics in action. and it will be from 6 o'clock to 9:00. So, if anyone wants to uh take that class, see Chris and he'll sign you up for it. >> Shirley, which course is that? >> 327, Ethics and Action. also on since we had such a fantastic session for our mission vision and mission uh we want this to we want to keep the momentum up. So on September the 29th, uh Amy and her team will be uh giving us that great great session that they gave and that's from 6:00 to what timing. >> I mean it'll probably take us an hour, hour and a half. >> Oh, depending on >> Okay, we'll say give yourself a >> Okay, thank you so much. Of
005course. >> All righty. Um, >> is that the same? >> Yes. >> As presentation as we had the first run. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> And that's on September the 29th. >> Yeah, I got that. >> Okay, good. Next item on the agenda is comments from the audience. Are there any? >> There none. >> There are none. Okay. Next item on the agenda is Mr. Kinsey. will you um do us the pleasure of introducing our new hirees? >> I'd be glad to, Madam President. So, tonight uh joining us, we have two of our new hires uh sitting with us. I'll start here with Miss Valerie Hos. She'll be teaching middle school, I'm sorry, ELA over at Pierce. So, Valerie brings four years uh over four years of middle school ELA teaching experience. uh most recently
006um sixth grade ELA at Taylor Exemplar, which is another NHA school. Uh she has extensive higher education experience as an adjunct professor uh teaching English composition at Henry Ford College, Baker College, and Wayne State University for nearly two decades. Uh Valerie holds multiple master's degrees from Eastern Michigan University in written communication and theater arts. Her diverse background includes significant theater experience as an artistic director and youth theater program leader as well as being a published author of seven novels. Outside of teaching, Valerie's passionate about theater, directing, writing, traveling, and reading uh bringing this creative arts experience that uh to her classroom as she teaches uh language arts. So, welcome Valerie. >> Thank you. and noticed on um Valerie's resume, one of her references was actually the uh theater uh teacher of my daughter over at
007I got to give her a call. >> That's all right. >> So, also joining us tonight, we have another uh teacher, Miss Colette Thomas. Miss Colette Thomas will be teaching fourth grade over at Jefferson. She comes to us with over 18 years of teaching experience. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Wayne State University with a minor in language arts. She's passionate about using differentiated instruction to help kid help get kids where they need to be. Um she uses ability grouping, um targeted interventions, uh small groupoup instruction, uh workshop. So she has a plethora of skills to help uh meet those gaps uh that kids have. Her teaching philosophy uh revol centers around um making students feel safe and supported while they're in the classroom in a structured environment. Uh she has led
008after school clubs including choir and reading programs. Away from the classroom, Colette enjoys volunteering at her church, writing, singing, traveling, and spending quality time with her family and friends. So, welcome, Colette. >> Welcome. Welcome. >> So, we have two other teachers. Uh uh they weren't able to be here tonight. One of them you already know. So, one of them is coming back to us. Miss Kate, you knew you knew her as Kate Corier on the um on what you have. It says Kate O'Keefe. So she'll be teaching secondary math and science over at thirsten. So Kate brings a unique combination of engineering experience and teaching experience uh in mathematics. She holds a master's degree in secondary education from Depal University and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University uh where she was recognized
009with multiple honors. She was awarded the STEM educator of the year in 2019 and is actively involved in community organizations including the engineering society of Detroit and serves as the co-chair of the Gross Point Academy 2025 auction. Away from work, she enjoys swimming, spending time with her children, and participating in various philan philanthropic uh activities. So, welcome Kate. Also, we have Mr. John How. He will be teaching health and PE over at Thirstston. So he brings seven plus years of education experience, most recently serving as a PE teacher and athletic director for another NHA school. He holds a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from Mary G Mary Grove College and has extensive experience in sports officiating and coaching. So, John is a certified MHSA official in baseball, softball, and basketball, and has served as
010head coach for multiple teams, including men's softball since 1997, and freshman girls basketball at Farmington High School, which he still coaches there now. So, we'll see what we can do about that. His coaching philosophy emphasizes promoting fitness, teamwork, motor skill development, and sportsmanship while creating safe and inclusive environments for all students and athletes. He brings a unique leadership experience from his previous career in retail management and loss prevention, skills that he feels translates very well to the classroom and managing athletic programs. So outside of work, he stays actively involved in youth sports uh through officiating and coaching and is passionate about following his son's academic and a athletic achievements. So welcome. That concludes, Madam President. >> Welcome. Yes. Do I have a board member willing to adopt the consent agenda? The chair? >> Yes. I'd
011>> like to move the adoption of the following resolution, please. >> Do I have a support? >> Support. >> It's been moved by Mrs. Flesher and supported by Mrs. Hicks. All in favor? >> Any nays? Zero. Six eyes's and zero ns. Resolution adopted. Next item on the agenda is the presentation of Miller Johnson's school board policy services. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh if I may, uh congratulations to our newest hires who uh certainly welcome you in the district. You're welcome to stay. However, if you wanted to get about the rest of your evening, that would be okay as well. Um, but congratulations and welcome. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. >> And additionally, no stranger to public education. Uh, we have Mr. Adam Bllelock here this evening to uh present to the board of education
012from Miller Johnson about what Miller Johnson has to offer when the board thinks about uh when the board thinks about uh how we go about the board's policies and uh and so to present to us this evening we have Mr. Clay Lot here and so with that I will turn it over to Adam. >> Good evening and thank you for your time. Uh I know I shared briefly before the meeting but I want to reiterate uh thank you all for your service. Uh I am a former school administrator. I spent about four and a half years as a director of human resources at Lincoln Consolidated Schools. And when I sat in that seat, I received a presentation like this. And so I now have the benefit of having gone through this process as an administrator
013and as an attorney that's going through the policy process. So, um, for those that have left, this is the more boring part of the presentation, unfortunately, because new hires is always one of the most exciting things that we get. So, a little bit about myself. Um, I shared a little bit about my time at Lincoln Consolidated, but I've been practicing attorney for 12 years. Um, I live not too far from here. I'm a Leavonia resident myself. Uh, and my spouse has a Dearborn connection as well. She teaches at Fords High School. So, my life is education. Um, I work with school boards and school administrators all day, every day. Um, and I have the the benefit of having some of that administrative experience as well. So, um, thank you. I I do want to spend
014a little time going over it, but mostly I want to I want to hear your questions. And policy is one of the most fundamental things that a board does. So, this is an important decision and I want to make sure that you have all of the information you could possibly want or need before you make a decision. All right. >> All right. So, let's start with why. Why would we do this? Um, and the reality is that as practitioners, Miller Johnson identified what we thought was a need. Um, we practice law and we work. And one of the first things that I say with any difficult decision is what does your policy say? And the problem that we identified was the one that I identified was when I was a school administrator. And so when
015I was sitting in this seat here talking to my board, I said these exact words there. I'm sure there's a board policy on it. I have no idea if I'm complying or not complying with every board policy because they are this thing. It is impossible for me to know every word of every policy because it's a for it's a foreign tractor. And so out of that arose what Miller Johnson sees as its kind of ethos and its philosophy with policy and that is to trim it down, keep it simple and make it so that we structure things and we focus in on hiring good administrators that make good decisions and make sure that we follow the important roles that are there between the board and the administration. So, and you're seeing it in the slides
016right here. Some of the concerns were those bloated policy buffs. Um, I'm in the process right now of transitioning another school district into Miller Johnson's policy services and we're reviewing policies with their board that haven't been updated since 1993. >> 20 or 33 years since they've been updated. And so that is the kind of problem that we identified that resulted in Miller Johnson deciding to do its own policies arrest. And then the next pieces are the how difficult it was to follow. So I candidly spend a lot of time in the title N space. It's a very prescriptive procedure and following it is very difficult. So the Miller Johnson philosophy is to trim it down and keep it as simple and understandable as possible and to try and use as much plain language as possible.
017So ultimately what we kind of identified as the problem is that there were these massive policy books that the administrators couldn't follow and ultimately what that was resulting in was conflict. It was difficult to administer and it was very difficult for the administrators to do their job because they were being hamstrung by policies that they didn't know or even understood existed. So we started getting this request for solutions. Our clients were coming to us saying, "Hey, how can you help? Can you rewrite this? Can you can you do something with this?" Uh, and we said, "Yes." So, what we identified in terms of the fundamental policy pieces, what is what we would call fluffy language, things that aren't necessarily required, that might sound very nice, but ultimately get pointed to by someone that's in conflict
018with the district. and they say, "Hey, you didn't do this thing, whatever it may be, even if it wasn't legally required." And that's another piece of the issues that we we identified was a number of restatements of the law. So, in the Miller Johnson philosophy, in the Miller Johnson policy book, what we do is we cite to the law instead of restating it. Um, because candidly, the law changes the revised school code and the state school a act get amended every single year. And if we're not keeping up with those changes, then we tend to fall into errors. So ultimately, who gets the blame for those things? It's not anyone's fault in our view. It's just an the nature of the process and and the structure that's been in place. And so we offer ourselves
019as a alternative or a solution to that. So in terms of our objectives, we want to streamline the process and streamline those policies. So that 4inch binder that most school districts have as their policy manual, Miller Johnson's standard like baseline before we get into the customization that we do for each school district, it's about 45 pages. >> Oh my god. >> That's usually the reaction that we get. So one of the questions that I'm sure Trusty Hicks, who I understand is part of our policy committee, is going to ask is how do you do that? >> Yeah. Yes. Um, so I I'm going to point out to one particular example and I think of Neola policies because that's the one that I run across more most commonly. >> There are at least four anti-discrimination, anti-harassment
020policies in the Neola policy book. There's one for administrators, there's one for professional staff, there's one for support staff, and there's one for students. Sometimes there's one for the board, too. So that particular policy in the new book is like 10 pages long. Miller Johnson's anti-harassment policy is a paragraph and what we do is behind that we have administrative regulations that are a little bit longer. They're about 80 pages in our baseline manual um that give effect to that policy. So ultimately the board says hey no unlawful harassment for any of the protected classes which is the policy statement that we should be focused on. And then we give and delegate to the superintendent and the administrative team the authority to implement administrative regulations behind that. And therein is the process. There's the policy p
021pieces that we need to fit in. And so ultimately for something like title 9 we struggle to cut it down because there's a lot of process that's required by the law. But for other areas, we generate a little bit more flexibility than what we have historically and what we see in a lot of other policy. Okay, I got to come back to my slide to keep me on pace here. Um, so in terms of our focuses, right, we focus on what needs to be in there. So there are a number of policies that are required by law. A strange one is we're required to have a wastewater management policy. Now, the number of times that I've used that as a school administrator or school lawyer is exactly zero, but it is still required to be
022in there. So, we've got one for that. We're required to have a Title 9 policy. Unfortunately, I deal with those more frequently. And you know what? We inform our structures based on the experience that we have. Ultimately, the goal is to meet the needs of the board and the administrative team. Um, and one of the things that I see often in the policy manuals that I review that aren't ours is these really prescriptive requirements that ultimately are just really difficult to comply with. So, an example that I'll provide is that it seems like every policy I review else from someone else, any of our competitors, is they they include these like really short time frames for doing something. And invariably the problems that come up always come up at the busiest times. And so it
023gets very difficult to follow those very prescriptive time frames when all of the things that are going on in the administrative world are going on at that time. So that's something that I always keep an eye out for when I'm doing these things. Any questions about philosophy or ethos or any of those things? My main question is is if we have a question following up on the policy as a group, do we meet as a whole group? >> How soon before we should anticipate a response? >> So I'll give an example from today is that I have a former colleague of mine that reached out saying, "Hey, we've got a question about the policy updates that you put out in August." and they're like, "Can we meet at one o'clock tomorrow?" And I said, "Yes."
024So, it's not always that quick. Sometimes it's a little bit more complicated, but one of the things that I pride myself on and our team that Billy Johnson prides oursel on is responsiveness. And so, we very much focus in on getting answers as quickly as we can to our team. So when we go through the policym process, when we do a transition like we're discussing tonight, um we generally say it's about five or six 2 to three hour meetings. That's that's what I say. And we usually space them out so they're about 3 or 4 weeks apart. And part of that is to allow us to do the work in between meetings that we need to do. But ultimately what we'll do is we line up the old policies and show you what we would
025say is our replacement and we crosswalk those things over. And so at the end of the process, you as a board member have a document that says here's the old policy and here's the replacement and we've gone through every single one of them. And what you'll notice, it's funny, is the first meeting or two tends to move very, very slowly. And then we pick up pace as folks understand what we're doing and how we're trying to manage those things. And by the end of the process, invariably we're talking with board members like, "Oh, we don't need that. That's a bunch of bunch of hoie or a bunch of words that we don't need anymore." Um, so that's just a little bit of insight of how that process works as well. Okay. Um, trying to keep
026myself on track. All right. So, getting more into that transition pro process, right? So we'll spend five or six sessions, 2 to three hours a piece, typically with the board policy committee. Um, and at the end of that process, we've got our crosswalk and we've got a baseline policy manual. Uh, and all of those things have been customized as requested and as needed by the board. And then we'll also sit down and typically uh when we do the administrative regulations, we'll spend one day in a district and we'll schedule a time that's convenient to the district administrators and we'll have each department cycle in in like hour-long cycles. So, we'll spend an hour with HR, we'll spend an hour with the business manager, we'll spend an hour with the curriculum folks in order to get
027all the pieces that they may need as it relates to those administrative regulations that are implementing the board policies. As it relates to those administrative regulations, they're they're structured to be a little bit more flexible and updated more frequently because they are based on the operational needs of the district. So that example I was providing earlier about meeting tomorrow is about an administrative regulation that we put out in August based on the Supreme Court decision back in June. >> And that's always one of the other questions that we get when we talk about the the policy service. How often are the updates? We don't schedule updates but typically we are doing updates three to four times a year based on the needs of what's going on in the world. So in this particular example, we
028had the Supreme Court decision at the end of June and there were two other items. So we put out an August update which is not part of our normal schedule because it was important to get those things out and in place before the beginning of the school year. Frequently we'll do one in the fall again in the spring, but I remember when we had all the PAR amendments a year and a half ago um that we were doing a lot of updates in order to match those things as well. And that's atypical because we just we don't feel that saying you're going to get an update every six months is the right way to approach that. It's really based on what's going on in the world and and how I want to deal with those
029things. >> Does the board get a chance to review the administrative rules? So by default and I say by default because this is something that we can change obviously by default we structure it so that the superintendent is required to provide 30 days not notice before an administrative regulation would take effect. I've seen it and I've written the language where the board approves those things. Um although there's some trade-offs when you do something like that largely based on how quickly you can do it. Um, so one other example in terms of how our ethos works out is we've had a lot of pain ponging on Title 9 regulations over the last few years been a lot of change back and forth. The actual board action for our Title N regulations, we never changed the policy.
030We just changed the administrative regulations behind it in order to conform with what the legal requirements were at the time. >> But we do have the option of reviewing those. >> Absolutely. So that it causes conversation about how they're proceeding. >> Absolutely. So I would always recommend the board have at least notice of those things before they go into effect. And so the quintessential example that we'll provide, which is very Michigan focused, is if the board adopted a policy saying that you're only going to use maze and blue paint in the hallways. And the superintendent being a Michigan I'm a Michigan state guy. The superintendent being a Michigan state guy said, "Hey, I'm gonna use green and white paint." By providing notice to the board, the board would be able to say, "Hey, that doesn't
031conform with our board policy here. Get the maze and blue paint in the hallways. That's how we're going to do it here." Um, and that's the intent is to is to do exactly that, to have that conversation about what the whether or not we're comporting with the policy. Okay. Um, in terms of our structure, we talked a little bit about that already. We usually recommend a policy committee or a workg group model. Three-ish board members is about the right number typically. Um, and then one to two meetings with the admin team, typically with a a person like the superintendent or an assistant superintendent that's kind of overseeing as the rest of the administrative team comes in and out. Okay. So, we always want to talk about cost uh because that's an important consideration here. Um
032we use a flat fee structure for Miller Johnson. So, the bill is the bill. Um for the policy manual, including the transition, $6,500 flat fee for the administrative regulations, $1,100 for a total fee of $17,500 for both of them. And then on an annual basis after that, we use it's a $4,000 flat fee. and that includes a hosting service. So, have any of you looked at a Miller Johnson policy client on the website before? So, we have a policy service that I really like that's like a good searchable interface. I would recommend you do that. Um, so neighboring district Redford Union uses us for policy services. Uh, Garden City also does. Go on their websites, look at their policy manual, search things a little bit. That would be a great way to see what that
033service looks like. And so the hosting fees for that are also included in that flag. Okay. And then we always include kind of the role of legal counsel. Um, one of the things that I don't want you to take away from this conversation is that, oh, we're going to hand you a policy manual and you just take that. or leave it. >> That is not how we operate in any way, shape or form. Um, as someone again that's done on both sides of this, the purpose of that transition process is to make sure that everything that's important to you is included in the updated policy manual. Now, we may have recommendations on how to cut it down or trim it, um, how to do it more efficiently. We may have recommendations on if it's a
034good idea or a bad idea. But at the end of the day, the board gets to set its policy. The only time that you will hear me say, "No, no, no, no, don't do that." is when I think it's illegal. >> Okay, you laugh, but it's happened. Um, and then ultimately the goal is to give something that's usable. >> Um, that that was the reason and the impetus for me to go through this process when I was an administrator is that I was dealing with a manual that I didn't find usable. And so I advocated internally to a board of education just like you. And ultimately we made a change. Um and now I'm here on the other side of it to offer why we are different and offer why uh you might want to
035consider using us versus one of the other options. Um we talked a little bit about internally about the number of districts that we want to take on. I will be honest, I do not want to be policy service for every single school district in the state of Michigan. I don't think that's a good idea. Um, but I think we might be a good fit for you and that's part of why we're here today. Um, I've got a list of references for you. That is a number of the districts that we use all over the tri county area. Um, you've got a copy of the presentation. And I guess I'll turn it over and ask if you've got more questions or concerns or anxieties or thoughts. I I think I made myself clear enough. >> Are
036there any other questions? >> I'm shocked. >> I am too. >> I'm thrilled. Yeah. I'll pause a little bit longer, but I will run on at some point here. >> No, you definitely answered my questions and those are all things that we run into with our current >> policy and [Music] >> well, I guess maybe and this is I'll ask the question. What are the challenges that are prompting this conversation right now? the committee, the whole committee is itself. We had asked for some clarification on one policy and it was what a month and a half and we still didn't get it. >> Over a month and a half. >> Yeah. >> And then, you know, it's difficult to navigate. There's >> the chair. >> Yes. >> I'll I'll piggy back on Lori, too. has
037been involved policy for a long time. It's one of my >> key key loves and it's the triplicate quadruple stuff that you're talking about. It it's so confusing and it's the same policy like you referred to in four different places which makes the document very hard to maneuver even for the committee let let alone bringing it back to the board for a discussion and to understand why is it that way. I mean, I I'm very impressed myself on simplifying it down to have the one, you know, the meat in the front and then what how you're going to do it is in the back. And that's pretty much what the board's job is. Um, we, you know, we pass the policy, set the policy, but then it turns over to Jason. He has to enforce
038them. But to follow along with Lori, we need to know, which I like what you said about 30 days notice to the board. We need to know how is he enforcing it because the board as a whole may not agree with that or there might be some contentious things going on in the district and com conflict. So, I like that idea of communication but keeping it simple and even the board gets confused with a lot of these policies and forced choices over the years. Like I chaired the committee for a long time and back and forth with Lori and some of the choices that come up we don't even understand. Even some of us that have been involved in policy for 20 years like Lori and I, it's very confusing. So, I I like what
039I'm hearing from you with your approach and how that is and I think it will open up the door and have better communication with the board and our our superintendent and our administrators that we're all on the same page and we understand it. So, thank you. >> So, one piece that I think that you raised that is important is that update process. >> Yes. >> So, I'll give you just an example of what our most recent update looked like and it was fairly narrow. There's only I think three or four policy and administrative regulations. But what we do is we do a memo to MJ policy client and then we offer a short succinct three to four sentence explanation of what the change is so that you have some context for why we're changing the
040words on the page. And then typically we'll include and it depends a little bit on how major the revision is. um we'll include like a red line so you can see the changes or sometimes we say this one needs to be totally thrown out based on the changes that we're seeing. So we just give you a a new policy based or a new administrative regulation based on the circumstance. So like Title 9 would be an example of we toss the whole thing out. We're like we got to change everything. So and the in the grievance procedures. Um but the the policy that we we revised recently in response to the Supreme Court decision was based on parental objections and opt outs and it's like these very nuanced concepts um that are difficult to apply and
041so we want to give kind of that succinct like summary of okay here's the reason and then ultimately it's on the board to make that decision about adoption or not um or if they want to keep what they've got but you've always got a recommendation and then uh as I said in terms of responsiveness, which is I think like a core component of Miller Johnson. Like that's who we are. >> Um, is that we always want you to at least know that we're working on it. >> So like I I I get this sometimes where I'll get a very difficult question and it takes a little time and even the response to say, "Hey, I've got it. We're working on it." is helpful when you're not getting a response for six or eight weeks. That's
042kind of painful. That's not something. >> no, it's not. >> Yes. >> Adam, you said that um >> you guys don't want to have every school in the state. >> Nope. >> But you said that we you think that we are >> maybe a good fit? Why not everyone? And why us? So why not everyone is that in order to serve all 500 plus school districts in the state of Michigan, we would need to be a one-sizefits-all outfit. There's no way to do it with the the resources that we have without doing one size fits all. Here you go. Goodbye. >> So I don't think that fits our like core function of who we are. >> Um and then I I didn't share this. I've got a couple of South Redford connections. Um, so I
043worked with Bill Sims, who I know was the high school principal for a number of years. Um, I've got a colleague from Lincoln that uh that was in the high school for a number of years. Uh, I've I've seen your team around in various capacities and it it feels like a good fit. It just feels like folks that um that have kind of the same ethos and mindset that we have. So that's my take on it. >> Good question. Very good. Yeah. Yes. >> Anyone else? >> I I just have a comment to the chair. I I mean, we some of us been doing it a long time and my mentor taught me that keep it simple. Simple is best. And and and to hear you present that, I've never heard it presented that way.
044It's all these pages and pages and confusion. even people that kind of know their way around, there's a lot of conflict and easy misunderstanding. So when you say simple, um I I like that concept a lot. Well, I and I'll say I don't blame folks for it because what happens is that something happens and the response is we need a policy to deal with that >> and maybe it's my time as an administrator, maybe it's my experience as as an attorney, but we do not need a piece of paper to respond to every problem that we've ever had in my view. Um, and what I would say is if it is your view, then we are probably not the right probably not the right service for you. Mhm. >> Um because there are other services
045that offer that. But and again core core functionality, my recommendations as it relates to how I deal with boards all the time is that you want to hire good a good team, a good superintendent, a good team around them, and you want to let them do their job. Give them some guidance, give them vision. But if you're in the weeds at every single decision that's getting made in every single building, um that's where I see more dysfunctional organizations. And so the hope is that by some of this structure, we can do what we do best and then give our administrators the room that they need to work. >> I like that. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you. Thank you. >> Next item on the
046agenda discuss. >> Okay. Next item on the agenda is discuss food service meal pricing. Mr. B. >> Thank you, Madam President. The United States Department of Agriculture has released updated minimum pricing requirements for adult meals in community eligibility provision schools. While the district's current adult breakfast price of $325 remains above the federal minimum, the lunch price of $5.15 falls below the new United States Department of Agricultural minimum of $5.32. To ensure compliance with USDA guidelines, the district has adjusted the adult lunch price to $5.50 effective immediately. This amount not only meets the current federal requirement, but also provides a small buffer to minimize the need for frequent future increases. This change does not impact our student meal pricing and Chartwell's Food Services will make necessary updates to reflect the new pricing modification. There is no
047action needed from the board at this time. Does anybody have any questions about that for Jason? I'm just going to wait a couple minutes for the next item. >> So, you can start back. >> I'm going to wait. While I'm waiting, I just want to uh let everybody know that um Don came down and and gave our award and he interviewed me and it turned out very nice. [Music] Okay, next item on the agenda is discuss Michigan Association School Board Conference and Delegate Assembly. At a board meeting on September the 8th, 2025, the board will discuss the Michigan Association of School Boards, MASB 2025 annual leadership conference, which will take place Thursday, October the 23rd, 2025 through Sunday, October 26, 2025 at the Grand Travels Resort in a board will also discuss having a certified
048voting delegate in attendance at the delegate assembly which takes place on Thursday, October 23rd at 700 p.m. The board will also discuss naming a delegate alternate ahead of consideration at the board's next meeting. All school board members will in All school board members are invited to attend the delegates assembly. At the delegate assembly, MASB's members need to consider, debate, and adopt resolutions which are the driving force behind the various positions taken by MASB on issues affecting public education and Michigan schools. While only delegates or their alternates certified in advance by their board may offer motions and vote, any school board trustee may speak on the issues and participate in the debate. The delegate assembly is made up of at least one voting delegate from which of the school district in this state. If the district
049desires to send a delegate, the delegate and alternate must be certified by Thursday, October the second, 2025. So, we can discuss it um if anyone is interested in going to the annual leadership conference. Miss Tolliver, I will be out of town during that time. >> Okay. >> I will be back for the following meeting, but >> Okay, that's October 23rd through the 25th. >> Okay. Anyone else? I will be attending that meeting. [Music] Um, I have no tapes. >> Thought you were thinking about >> Yeah, I had a conversation with the boss. >> Oh, >> okay. So, next item on the agenda. So you better show up. >> Oh, I will. I will. Next item on the agenda is discuss and consider employment contract for superintendent of schools. Lori, that would be you. That would
050be me. Yes. >> Okay. Um Shirley, myself, and AJ met with Mr. Bob, Mr. Bob and Dr. Weber and kind of ironed out a um tenative contract for next year which is in this and all board members received a copy of what we tenatively agreed to and I had asked if anybody had any questions which I did not receive it. So, I guess we're ready to discuss and consider. Okay. Are there any questions or anything anyone wants to say >> to the chair? >> Yes. >> Just one. I know it's more confidential, but um this is not close session or anything. The board is allowed to keep a copy of his contract, right? For our own personal information to have to refer back. We have in the past. >> Yeah. I don't see any reason
051not to. Mr. Bob, do you see any reason they wouldn't be allowed to have a copy? >> I do not. >> Okay. >> I do not. >> The only thing I would ask is that if you want to turn it in, you can. If you'd like to keep it, you can. But if you're keeping you're keeping it, >> right? Right. It's confidential, but it's it's we have it if anything comes up where we can refer back to it. >> Yes. >> It was sent in our email though, wasn't it? >> Yes, it was. >> I prefer the digital copy. I don't want to lose the paper. >> Copy. >> Yeah. It's much easier if we have the copy than rather searching through to find it. >> Right. No. If I take it home, it's going
052to be in a stack of papers. Uh-uh. >> Nope. You can keep it. >> See, if I didn't, Lori or I would be calling you saying, "Okay, where was that? Google it and send it to us. We know you keep records. The digital >> you guys are going to lose it anyway." So, >> well, there's a better chance if we take it home with us. We won't. >> 20 years of paper that you have. Lori keeps everything. >> No, Lori does not anymore. I finally got >> Oh, good. >> rid of records all the way back to 2004 from the school. >> Well, that's great. >> Yeah. >> I'm purging, too. >> Yeah. >> I mean, things are obsolete, out of print, and everything that we have. >> Yeah. Most everything we need is on
053the website anyway. So >> that's why I >> It's just easier to have Amanda search for it >> cuz she'll find it. >> Okay. There is a >> Yes. >> Last page. >> Do I have a school board member willing to adopt the resolution? Can I adopt it even though I was on the committee? Okay. I would like to adopt the resolution support. >> It's been moved by Mrs. Hicks and supported by Mrs. Early. All in favor? >> Six eyes, >> zero nazs. Resolution adopted. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is comments from the audience. >> We have one >> topics not related to the agenda. >> We have one. >> Wow. Okay. >> All right. U Coach Olivia. >> I have to read the little spill.
054Let me read the spill. >> Comments from the audience. When addressing the board, please state your name, address, and affiliation. The board welcomes comments from the public and values the input our stakeholders bring to the table. The president respectfully reminds all of us this is not a forum for debate. The board may choose to ask clarifying questions regarding and express concern but will not respond to the concern at the meeting. You can expect a timely response from the appropriate individual. Personal matters cannot and will not be discussed in this forum. So you have three minutes. Can I have my phone setting up or will someone tell me the time? >> I will tell you the time. >> Perfect. >> Yes. So, I'll let you know when to go in 1.8 seconds. >> Okay, cool. >>
055My phone up. >> I put pressure on you right now. So much pressure. >> All right. Ready? You may come. >> Okay. Just to state all the things I have to. My name is Olivia Palar. I am acting as the assistant coach for the high school soccer team. I live on wood line over there. Um the issue that I'd like to bring to the board tonight is the matter of a student athlete. Um I am kind of being put around the spot on this. So I'm going to just kind of give my two sides of the situation and let the powers that be uh handle the situation. Um it was brought to my attention uh while I was out of town that there was a situation ongoing between a student athlete and the coach. Um,
056however, I was not obviously there because I was out of town. Um, when I got back into town, uh, the process of addressing the situation began. Um, and the situation is in the process of being addressed, uh, by everyone involved. Um, and I'll just go ahead and state the student athletes name. At this time, it's Dell Brown. Uh, he's a junior. That's direct in sort. Um, and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here because I am the least senior in the situation. Um, but I wanted to just again bring it to your attention. Um, any questions that need to be answered, I'll answer them. I don't know why I was the one that was nominated to present this, but here I am. Well, our normal process would be to have the superintendent
057contact you and get more details. >> Okay. >> Is there anything else you would like to say? You still have a minute and 20 seconds. >> Yes. >> Um, >> okay. >> Thank you for making the board aware of this situation. I have an unrelated question for you. What's your favorite soccer position? >> Well, I played uh centerman and uh wingman in in high school for Thursday. So, he's kind of my favorite. Um so, yeah, that's my favorite. Superintendent was actually my soccer coach when I went to school. >> He was my assistant principal for like two years. >> I was defense though, so I didn't do as much running as you. Okay. A lot of running. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Now you're really making me feel old. >> It's not my fault y'all
058are still sitting up here. >> So, Mr. Bab, you're going to file. >> Uh either myself or another administrator. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. Next item on the agenda is plus delta plan for improvement. Mrs. Davis, Madam President, what processes help the board's work this evening? Pluses >> to the chair. >> Yes. I would say we should thank the hospitality for the delicious cookies and we should also um I thought the presentation was good and I think we went in the right direction as far as the policies are concerned. Okay. [Music] >> Yes. I would agree with the man and that we need to follow a new direction whether it's uh what is it J >> J Miller or >> Bill Johnson >> Miller Johnson or the other one that we'll be presenting in two
059weeks but >> yes >> you know because not being able to get answers to the questions. >> Yes, >> you're right. I agree. Um, I'd just like to piggy back on um, Adam's presentation was very good. I I enjoyed that. K I SS So my secretary can record that presentation. >> We didn't have more than one tonight. >> Put the right one down. Keep it moving. >> What processes would help the board's work in the future? Deltas. I didn't have anything else. >> Well, I guess that would mean none. >> And um before I adjourn, Amy, I'd like to tell you that one of the gentlemen that you helped um get his young man in Adams Yes. >> told me to tell you that you were such a blessing to him. Thank you. >> And
060he thanks very very much. >> Good to hear. Good to hear. Thank you. >> If there's nothing further that comes before this meeting, I adjourn this meeting at 7:27.