001Good evening everyone. >> This is a meeting of the Southfield Board of Education and public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business and is not to be considered as a community meeting. There is one opportunity for public participation during the meeting and comments are limited to three minutes per individual. The board will listen to comments but may not respond during the meeting. If you wish to address the board, please submit a comment card immediately. Roll call. Telicia Bell, board president. >> Good evening, Evette Deval. Secretary Ammani Johnson, trustee Julia. GDI, student representative, >> Paris Whitman, student board representative, Jennifer Green, superintendent. Taking minutes this evening is Miss Carolyn Foster. Technical support is being provided by M1 Studios, and several members of our executive district network team are joining us in the audience. >>
002Thank you all. At this time, we'll have the pledge of allegiance if you don't mind standing. 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. Um, and for the record, we have Trusty Densen with an excused absent and trustee Leslie Smith Thomas in route. At this time, we're going to have board matters. Trustees, are there any board matters you would like to lift this evening through the chair? I would like to say that I did attend the parent meeting uh with university parents uh where Mr. Jackson was present and Dr. Green did join to talk to the parents about the move and answer any questions that were posed. The meeting
003flowed smoothly. The questions were asked and answered appropriately and I think parents got a lot of information in real time and a lot of their questions answered in real time. That kind of eased a lot of the uneasiness about the transition. Is it possible that we can have um scheduled meetings for those that weren't able to participate to have put it on their calendar for um moving forward if that's possible? Um so we will continue to have meetings with um the families of UK 12 as well as the staff. We meet as a team. Well, my um chief of staff meets with the team every Thursday to continue those move management meetings and then we update uh the OAC meetings every Monday to talk about what that entails. So, we will have those scheduled for
004the duration of this year and throughout the summer as we move into the next school year. Some of the requests that I've received were to put um one of the GoPros on a hat and walk through the building so that we can video some of the spaces so parents can feel more comfortable before we can actually allow them to go in and see the spaces. Some other requests um were perhaps that we allow families to go in during evening hours. We have to be mindful of scheduling because we do currently have scholars in those spaces. Um, I did also do a boardwalk with Trusty Anderson uh to one of those spaces that being uh Vandenberg where the K5 will be moving uh as part of this move management piece. So, she had a chance to
005see that. So, we're trying to find some creative ways to afford people an opportunity to those spaces earlier rather than later uh again with being mindful that we currently have scholars in there. So, we can't have one school on top of the other. So, we're looking at that as well. >> Thank you. >> Through the chair. One more thing if I might. Can is it possible that we can put together maybe a FAQ um for people as we get tend to get some of the same questions if we can generate like a FAQ. >> We are working through that as we speak and we will have that published relatively soon and it will be a living document as the questions continue to come in. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Trustees, are there
006any other board matters? Right. Hearing none, we are going to go to the report of the student board reps and we're going to start with Miss Paris Whitman of Southfield enting. >> My name is Paris. I'm the student board representative for Southwood High School for the Ark and Technology. Welcome to March. This month represents growth, resilience, and fresh beginnings. March is also Women's History Month, a time dedicated to honoring the women who lead, teach, support, and inspire every single day. We are especially fortunate to be part of a district where leadership at the board level is largely woman led. I would like to take a moment to recognize our district school board members. Julicia Bel, board president. Leslie Smith Thomas, board vice president. You wear Dval, board secretary. Nicole Densson, board treasurer. Jillian Holloway, board
007trustee. Jana Anderson, board trustee, and of course, our district superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Green. Their leadership sets the tone for excellence across our schools. Beyond the board, we honor our female teachers, administrators, staff members, mothers at home, and women across the world who continue to shape communities and open doors for others. Their impact reaches far beyond what is always seen. And this month, we celebrate their strength, dedication, and influence. For March, here are the past and current highlights for Southwood High School for the Arts and Technology. I'll first report on our sports highlights. Our competitive cheer team had an outstanding finish, finishing first in the league com finishing first in the league competition and second overall. We congratulate coach Stansi Napoleon for being named coach of the year. Our wrestling team also saw great success becoming
008gold division league champions in just their second year with several athletes earning first place finishes and multiple students qualifying for regionals. The bowling team had a successful season as well. The boys finished as blue league champions and senior Jason Taylor represented our school at the state level, finishing fourth in the entire state of Michigan. Both our boys and girls basketball teams had strong seasons and competitive playoff runs with several seniors preparing to continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiic level. Despite some challenges this year, our swim team still saw athletes advance to their finals to finals in their events. and our esports team recently wrapped up their season and continues practicing as they prepare for playoffs. Now, I'll get into the leadership and activities highlights. From February 21st through February 23rd, student council
009attended the state leadership conference. Students participated in workshops, watched presentations from schools across Michigan showcasing their leadership initiatives, and listened to student speakers who shared powerful personal experiences centered around this year's theme, mission possible. On February 26th, Gear Up visited during senior English classes to introduce students to additional post-secary options and assist with OC applications. They also met with juniors to discuss college preparation and planning for life after high school. National Honor Society hosted the student versus staff volleyball game for the first time since 2019 on February 27th. It was an exciting and competitive event that brought great energy to the building. While students put up a strong fight, the staff proudly maintained their winning streak. On March 4th, C2 Pipeline welcomed back Tia Conway, a 2017 ENT graduate for her for continuing her series
010titled Overreacting to Overachieving. Conway spoke about strategies for advancing academically and professionally and spoke about the importance of giving back and how to better perform in interviews using the STAR method. She expressed she continues returning to ENT because she wants to invest in the same community that helped shape her success. Also on March 4th, we hosted eighth grade tours for students from Levy Middle School and Thompson K through 8. On March 5th, we welcomed Bernie. During these tours, members of counselor's council link crew and other student organizations, guided middle school students throughout the building, showcasing our arts and technology pro programs, highlighted electives, and introduced career pathways available, including culinary arts and fire academy. Following the tours, students gathered in the auditorium for a panel featuring representatives from a variety of organizations who shared their
011experiences and answered questions from our for our future freshmen. The visit concluded with a soulful performance by our dance academy with truly cap that truly captivated the audience. On March 5th, Gearup also returned to English classes to assist students with financial aid, scholarships, and financial literacy guidance. Looking ahead, Business Professionals of America will attend the state leadership conference from March 11th through March 15th. Students who qualified by placing at regionals will complete their compete in their events, serving as voting delegates for state officer candidates, and attend workshops focused on leadership, time management, and scholarship opportunities. Those competing have been practicing consistently and working extremely hard in preparation and are excited to see their dedication reflected at states. Our book club on the same page is dedic is celebrating in a creative way. As this month
012is national reading month, they are hosting a book summary writing competition called the summary summit. Students will submit summaries of books they've read and the best entries will will earn prizes. Let me now tell you about the academic highlights. Progress reports were released on March 3rd. These reports serve as an important checkpoint for students to evaluate their progress, identifying areas for improvement, and finishing the quarter strong. It is a reminder that while we celebrate achievements, we also continue striving. Overall, March has already been filled with leadership, competition, and celebration as well as preparation. It feels fitting that a month dedicated to honoring strength and resilience has already reflected so much of both within our school community. As we carry as we continue through March, let us carry forward the st the spirit of growth and
013leadership that divides both this month and our district. Thank you and I look forward to sharing more next month. Go Warriors. Great job. Trustees, do you have any questions, thoughts, concerns? She did such an amazing job. Thank you so much, Miss. Now, we're going to move to Mr. Cheaty from University K12 Academy. Wake them up, Cheaty. >> All right. Um, hello Alise. Alise Ball, Margaret Collins, and Jewel Palmer Club. What do all these people have in common? They're women. However, they're also something else. They're all incredible contributors to STEM. As we move from Black History Month to Women's History Month, it is important to remember the people who lived every day as a combination of these two. We all have a lot of brilliant students in our districts. It's absolutely necessary to make for us
014to make sure our kids know they can achieve anything they decide to do. The best way to do this is by teaching our history. At least my two think so. Our black excellence program was filled with dancing, acting, poetry, singing, fashion, entrepreneurship, hairstyles, and beautiful artwork. Our staff and scholars showed us all the true meaning of excellence while making a mark in our illustrious history. A big thank you to Miss Barrett, Miss Pope, and Miss Marsh for planning and organizing another year of an absolutely phenomenal program that continues to uplift, inspire, and celebrate the brilliance within our school community. Also an example of women's history month. That wasn't the only way students learned. However, in Miss Barrett's class, a beautiful day of science, technology, engineering, arts, maths, machine, investing, innovation. Then there was digging with
015the African Americans class going to the DIA. As one of the students who went, even though I don't know much about art, learning about the Harlem Renesist and how a simple chair can teach you about history was amazing. After the trip in a letter class, students made a poem with the people at their table to talk about where they're from. One of which by Timothy Sanjay Remedy and Evan reads, "My origins are from afar. Miles across the deep blue, follow the North Star, and you'll discover something you never knew. Where the winds blow hot, where the climate never changes, animals with stripes and spots, savannah, desert, and mountain mares. A country full of culture, host flying higher than vultures, dancing, singing, and celebration. days of a story like the book of revelations. While learning is
016beautiful as is I think so I think for a person to truly understand the difficulty of a task they need to actually experiment with STEM. Our elementary schoolers scholars experimented with strawberries which helped in expanding their imagination and creativity. The tax was to build a roller coaster using strawberries as the scholars learned how to use them as connectors, hinges, constrainers, constraint hinges, angles, branches, etc. If you didn't know, I was struggling with some of those words. Um, I'm not really I'm not a mechanic. Uh, district is also aware of the importance of hands-on experience. Uh, as Miss Paris previously stated, we hosted a district science fair in the K2 category. I would like to say congratulations to Tiffany, an outstanding second grade scholar in Miss Charles's class for winning second delays in the district science
017fair. Tiffany produced project focused on a battery powered fan. Her question was, "What type of battery makes the fan spin fer?" Way to go, Tiffany. We are so proud of you. But that's not all. We at university Kra are extremely proud of our first ways winner in the dirt to physical category. Joseph Joseph compared the effectiveness of different cleaning products and bacteria. In the middle school category, Miss Ike first and third was tied for second place and the 9 to12 category join Camille and Micah place third who compared the temperature of water from different parts of the building. We are proud of all of you. Our school believes in making our school our second home. Our second grade scholars in Miss Child's class enjoyed having the opportunity to come to school in their comfy pajamas.
018Can I not put a picture there? You got off your pajamas. I have consistently say that people should be celebrated for their accomplishments. So I would like to congratulate some people who go above and beyond. People like Paris and who are currently heading the podcasting department of the school. So watch out for that on the YouTube channel. Watch out for that on the YouTube channel. And then we have McKenzie whose soccer team went undefeated last summer. Yeah, I'm not I'm not that good at sports. But last but not least, Jacob, who while being a third grader in a new school, managed to stand out with his ability to make everyone feel welcome. We as Chargers believe in charging right into the future. But as you know, charging entities is dangerous without a plan. Our current
019plans with the parent teacher conference this Thursday, so check out your kids. The U will be doing state and district testing throughout April. Most notable is SAT and PSAT along with Ready and MSTEP. They better be studying. AB testing will happen in the first and second weeks of May. I don't like that one. >> Anyways, thank you. >> Thank you both so much. Trustees, do you have any questions? >> Um, yes. I'd like to thank both of you for um acknowledging the women's month and acknowledging us. Thank you very much. Anyone else? All right. Thank you. You both did an amazing job. Um, per usual, if you would like to leave at this time, you're able to um to work on homework. I heard progress reports came out, parent teacher conferences this week, all of
020those things. If not, you're welcome to stay. >> Thank you. Now, we're going to have the report of the Oh, I'm sorry, superintendent. >> Thank you, Madam President. Um, we are going to keep the report of the superintendent brief this evening because we do have our big state of the district on tomorrow. So many of the announcements will be shared to our entire community on tomorrow. But I would like to acknowledge our partner of the month. And while Officer Dari Cross could not be here with us tonight, we do have a short video that we would like to share recognizing Mr. Cross. All right, greetings. I am Miss Porsche Eubanks, the proud principal of Thompson K8 International Academy. I am honored to nominate security guard Dari Cross for partner of the month. Officer Cross came
021to Thompson last school year a bit nervous and understandably a little shy because he was entering a new learning community. However, this school year we have seen a tremendous change in Officer Cross. He steps in whenever he is needed. He greets our scholars at arrival and dismissal and he also assists at after school events. Officer Cross is willing to lend a helping hand no matter what is needed of him. We appreciate Officer Cross here at Thompson K8. And so, Mr. Cross, congratulations on behalf of our school community. continue the good work and we appreciate you. Thank you. >> Mr. Cross, I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Cross. >> All positive things. >> That's good. >> No less than 10 people nominated you for the partner of the month. So, I'm actually here to surprise
022you and congratulate you on being the partner of the month. >> Good. Thank you. I appreciate >> No, thank you. So, thanks to Principal Eubanks, assistant principal ector, and all of the staff that nominated you. Great job. >> Thank you. We are having u our regular board meeting on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. We'd like to welcome you so that we can formally acknowledge you in front of the entire community and present you with a small token of our appreciation. >> Okay, >> I like that. >> We'll see you then. All right, congratulations everybody. Congratulations. >> Yes, congratulations. >> Well done. And while he could not be here this evening, we will ensure that his uh token of appreciation and his certificate do get to my son Braden Gillum goes to university as well. >>
023Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And I think that uh Cheti stole a little bit of our thunder with the employee of the month because he already started talking about the amazing woman's history and the amazing science teacher over at the University K through 12 Academy and that is Miss Stacy Barrett. My name is Ladana Gillum. My son Braden Gillum goes to university K through 12. Um, we nominated Miss Barrett for teacher of the week or teacher of the month. Um, I just wanted to point out some things about Miss Barrett. When Brandon first got there, um, a little backstory, when we first got there during CO, we lost at least seven family members. It was a rough time, including my husband, his father. Um, my father-in-law passed 6 months later, then my dad
024passed. So, just to say the least that, you know, he was going through a lot. Um, I was going through a lot. Um, sometimes as parents, we need reinforcement and backup. And she was that for me. Not only did she email me, stayed on the phone with me for an hour, she listened to me with sympathy, compassion. Um, we stayed on the phone for a long time. Um, and I was emotional because I want the best for my child and I could see that her interest was the same. She wanted the best for him as well and wanted him to do well in her class. She deserves this. If nobody else does, she does. Um, so Miss Barrett, thank you for being that extra ear, that extra set of eyes. Thank you for the compassion
025that you showed me and Braden during our time of chaotic life. Um, and I just think that you should be recognized not only today but every day. >> Good to see you. Hi. Hello. How are you? >> I am welcome back. How's it? >> I'm always in her classroom and she's like, "What's up today?" >> Good to see you. >> Thank you for being amazing. Thank you for being the employee of the month. >> All right. That's so awesome. Thank you so much. >> You are so awesome. >> But yesterday, I went home to like >> you are amazing and I She does deserve it. Give her another round of applause. the video nomination that we received from one of your parents, Miss Gillian, but I will say this, she absolutely echoes the sentiment of
026many of your parents regarding your connection to them, not only in the classroom, but their social emotional needs as well. So, I will let you watch the video. I told them, I've had the honor of watching your career for 30 years and have known you longer than that. And this nomination came as no surprise to me. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Look y'all. I'm sorry. This is Oh, okay. Gotcha. Okay. I usually speak extemporaneously, but after that. So, I'm going to read uh to be loved is a gift. To be seen is soothing and satisfying. But to be appreciated is absolutely profound. To the students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, and other stakeholders who saw fit to recognize and appreciate me in this way, I'd like to express my most sincere gratitude. On my way
027here, I saw a quote. Because of Women's History Month, it was quote by Carrie Chapman Cat, who was a women's suffrage um proponent. She said, "To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves." For nearly 30 years, I have given myself educating our children and my many communities. Today, I challenge each and every one of you to continue to give of yourselves and watch and see how you will be rewarded far beyond measure. Thank you. >> One of the many, many reasons that she deserved this honor. Moving on, we will go to the legislative update. And I do believe that all trustees received the legislative update that um Secretary Werval shared with us. The one thing that I want to continue to lift, although
028it's not new as of two weeks ago, um that of the governor signing the bill that will prohibit cell phones from being in the classrooms in the fall. You will hear me reiterate that at every board meeting from now until fall of 2026. Um it will go into place 2026, 2027. We actually have a current board policy that states that they should not be in the classrooms, but they should only be used during hallway or hall passing time and during common space. But this is now law. Therefore, the law supersedes board policy and it will be enacted at a stronger level. So, I want to continue to reiterate, you have to hear something nine times, practice it 20 times before it becomes a habit. So, you will hear it at nauseium um between now and
029then because I don't want any of our parents and more importantly our scholars to say that they were unaware come fall of next school year. Moving right along, we will go into our staffing update presentation. Trustees, I believe you have it in your binders as well. >> It will be quick because it is short and I am pleased that it is short. Adler still has the one ASD uh teaching position. However, we have identified a candidate for the 2627 school year. That person will be starting and joining us for the next academic school year. We also have a candidate identified for the speech pathologist position. And while we are waiting those candidates to be onboarded, we do have those positions being filled by an ISSN team member and by one of our partner organizations. Moving
030on to that of McIntyre, as you are aware, we have the long-term substitute filling that position as has been for the duration of this school year. With Stevenson, we will have a resource room vacancy. It is not currently vacant, but the person in that position has accepted a teacher consultant position within the district. So, they are transitioning to a new role within our organization. and when they transition into the new role, that will create a a a position to be backfilled there at Stevenson for their resource room. Um, at Bernie, one ASD teacher um candidate has been identified for the 2627 year. You can see that our ISSN department has been busy with interviews um and we are very pleased with that. Also want to take a moment and recognize Miss Yolanda Johnson. She is
031our teacher that I spoke of last month regarding uh talent together. She was the teacher that was on the alternate track to certification and we are very very very proud of Miss Johnson because she passed her teacher certification exam on the very first time. So please give Miss Johnson a round of applause. At the end of this school year, she will be completed. She will have completed her residency and in fall of 2627, she will be joining us as a certified ASD teacher. So again, we're really, really proud of Miss Johnson. Thompson has two ASD teacher vacancies. Those are being filled by substitute teachers. We are working feverishly to get those filled. The Spanish teacher position is being filled by the MEG languages support and our community um schools coordinator. We should have taken that
032off because that gentleman has started and I met him over there this week. So that position is now filled as well. So we can strike through that last one there. Levy blank slate. No vacancies. Yay. We have a few of them. >> We do have a few. South High School for the Arts and Technology. One ASD teacher and again we have a candidate identified. An offer is being formulated. until that um offer has been accepted. We do have an ISSN team member filling that position. University K12 blank slate, no vacancies. Yay. KC, we have one SXI teacher candidate um declined this position. So, we have reposted that for future consideration and one social worker vacancy being filled by a partner. Busy, we have two speech pathologists. Both are being filled by our partner organization. two
033ECSC teachers. Um those are our early childhood special education classes. Both being are being filled by a substitute retiree and one EIV teacher which is our early intervention. Moving on to our district-wide positions, we have one ISSN Medicaid billing supervisor and one ISSN teacher consultant. That teacher consultant position is the position that I referenced at Stevenson. we have someone transitioning into this role which will create the back fill um the need for back fill at Stephvenson and two ESL support teachers because our ESL population is growing. That concludes my staffing report for this month. >> All right, any questions board president? >> I think we may have one trust >> board president. Thank you. >> Do you have any questions? I'm sorry. >> Thank you, board president. Um Dr. Green the speech pathologist are they
034full-time in bus at busy and uh was it busy and Adler? >> So we have speech pathologists are districtwide positions and they are assigned to respective buildings based on their case load currently because we have those vacancies in our district. We have a partner organization providing services for our scholars. So they're not full-time here every day. care based on the hours outlined in the students individual education plan. So if it's outlined that the person should receive services 20 hours per week, then the speech pathologist is in the building for 20 hours that week. It's all based on the student need, not based on the adult schedule. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, board president. Next, that was perfect lead in to our busy director, Dr. Ursula Kelly Wash. All right. Good evening
035everyone. My name is Ursula Kelly Wash and good evening board members, Superintendent Green. I'm happy to present the March busy report. And as it's already been mentioned, uh March is reading month and so we were very pleased to have Dr. Green with us as a special guest reader on March 3rd. She read to Early Head Start um Head Start and GSRP classrooms and it was such a joy. They were um they listened intensely. They were motivated by the pictures and so thank you very much um Superintendent Green. the the baby rooms, they were very um well um positioned and they listened very well and you know it was great. But um we have um acknowledged March is reading month but most importantly um at Buzzy we're still focused on reading um support for our students.
036So that's, you know, making sure that they are u focused on reading comprehension, making sure that they're enhancing their vocabulary, making sure that teachers are asking open-ended questions as they're engaging in reading. And so every month is reading month at Busy. And so we're um sending out more invitations for people to read and just um we're also inviting our parents to read um to the students as well. That's our family engagement piece for this month. So once again, thank you. Okay, so for the director's report, once again, we'll go over enrollment, um our average daily attendance, um the monitoring report for our child fine form, um education, health and safety, and family engagement. So for our um enrollment, we are currently um filled for early head start. Um both classrooms are um eight students each
037so 16 with a waiting list. Um for Head Start we're continuously enrolling um students and so we have just um about actually it's really 10 vacancies but we have um right now at this report it's um 82 slots and then for GSRP we are actually focused more on enrolling for next year. So currently our um and we now we have URA manager which is wonderful and she is transitioning those um Head Start students to GSRP as we speak. So they're um focusing on enrollment and we're trying to make sure that um she's going out our manager to our elementary schools and so that talking about um Busy and all of the wonderful learning opportunities. So, we're still focused on enrollment. That's our main goal. Okay. Next, for our average daily attendance for February, um for
038early Head Start, 84% for Head Start, 83% for our blended classrooms, Head Start GSRP, 82% and GSRP, 83%. And um that's you know of course with some of our um illnesses, wintertime illnesses are we're still averaging pretty well with um our um average daily attendance but also making sure that parents are very attentive to their scholars needs and that if they need to stay at home they they will stay at home. So for our um sorry our CACFP it's a little low for um February because we were out of course the for that one week but for breakfast um for students 966 servings adults 246 for our AM snacks um 149 um students were fed and then for adults 52 for lunch um students 866 7 adults um and then for our snack students 812
039servings and for adults 187. Right now um the family service workers with the whole URIA team and myself. We're meeting with Mr. Groves and Kim Tamrell to um really make sure that we're well positioned for an audit that is coming up next month and a surprise visit we've heard may take place um any day now. So, we're making sure that our paperwork um you know is is together um for our formula for babies who are doing their formula for um just um any type of servings, our civil rights um um paperwork. So, we're just making sure that everything is um together and we've been working like I said with Mr. Gross and Mr. Okay, for our child fine form, we are always encouraging teachers if they notice any type of um social, emotional, academic um
040needs to always complete the child fine form and we submit that to our um child fine coordinator. Right now we're at 19. Uh we're just making sure that our students are their needs are met. Early intervention is the best intervention. So if there is some type of speech or academic or social emotional needs that we can work um together um cooper um collaboratively to just meet the needs of our scholars. Okay. And for um education, we are now on period three for our core or child observation record. Um last um for period 2 we had several classrooms who were at 100% but not all. So that is definitely the goal for period 3. Um this is actually the last period for our um students because we end in May but not for um early head
041start because they are 12 months. So they will enter for period 4. But it's always just making sure that um our teachers are doing observations based on KDIs and um writing their anecdotal notes which they enter and so that creates our progress reports as well. Um we were fortunate to send five teachers um to um the my conference in Grand Rapids. And so they were able to um learn about early childhood um all things early childhood as far as um reading, writing, um social emotional um awareness. And so it was great that they were able to participate. And we actually had one teacher participate as a presenter, which was great. Um tomorrow is our professional learning day. We are doing CPI training, crisis prevention intervention, which is great. Um it's really it will help our
042um teachers better meet the needs of students in a respectful and um collaborative way and to make sure that that we're able to deescalate any type of um you know behaviors that may be presented in some form or fashion. And then we're also going to have um a mindfulness um um session prior to that because that is a heavy topic and it's actually a two-part um session. The second session will be March 22nd and we always do our educators empowering educators. We're on our second round now. And then we've also encouraged um teachers to when they present to have a handout so that way we can create something that teachers can go back and reference. And um like I said, the weekly staff newsletter, it always has tips and different ideas for all things early
043childhood education. And this week we focused on enrollment because that's what we're trying to make sure that our early Head Start students, they're transitioning to Head Start, Head Start, they're transitioning to um GSRP. And I've also been encouraging um students with the discovery program to make sure that our um GSRP students are well positioned to, you know, transition to the elementary schools and start with the summer program, too. Okay. Our Black History program was very well attended. We had 100 like I think it was 125 parents in attendance. It was really great. I mean the students um so impressive with um their command to um you know um share information about what they were focused on whether it was the arts, sports, uh um politics and their confidence for presenting in front of their family
044members. It was just amazing. So, I'm very happy that the teachers were able to um you know, work with our scholars and just gain confidence and really parents were just asking like when's the next um performance and so hopefully we can maybe work and do something for spring. But I was very impressed and proud with the way um our teachers were able to work with our scholars and um and like I said for family engagement for this month our parents are actually in the classrooms reading to our scholars for uh March's reading month and it's so um inspiring to hear how a lot of the children they're so excited that their fathers and you know their parents are actually reading and so hopefully that's something that they'll carry on as they you know go through
045elementary and even middle school. It's always great to have your parents um represent and be present during your educational experiences. So, and in kind, we're increasing um we're at $333,8163. It may even be a little bit more um at this time. And Miss Rogers and I were trying to look at a digital way. Um we we actually were going to do like a little um I guess like a briefing um just something that we can do so parents can just on their phone they can easily report in kind and then we'll get it and it'll provide some reports and easy data so it's not so laborous and just for the data entry. So we're working on that and um that's it. Um, are there any questions? >> Well, President, be before we entertain questions, I
046did want to comment on um something Dr. Kelly Wash mentioned regarding the rising kinders and maintaining that vertical transition to our district as kindergarteners. So, with our summer discovery program, as of this evening, our very own summer Caldwell Corros um text me the update and stated that we have 19 scholars that are rising kindergarteners that will be in our summer program thus far. And you know, we just opened the window to register as of last week. So, that's 19 additional kindergarteners that we will have in our district coming from busy. So, thank you. >> No, thank you. We I've been sending it out via Kambboo and so that's our platform for um you know contacting our parents and so they're very responsive and um and very appreciative of the summer program as well. >> Chair
047board president may Dr. Wash um the the food program the the students there are the young students um the ones with dietary restrictions how can you can you tell the viewing um audience how they're accommodated? >> Well, they are accommodated um for those who have um any type of dietary restrictions. Number one, it has to be medically documented. And um once we receive that type of information, like I said, working with Mr. Groves and um Kim Tamrell, we have forms that now parents have to fill out. Of course, it needs to be accompanied by the medical documentation and that will be on file now. And so, um everything is a growing process. We're learning more each day, even with our um formula um you know um as far as like making sure that we have
048on record how the formula is being um supported by the parents and and how we have to document that every day. But it's it's a learning progress. But yes, that is how it has everything that we do has to be medically documented because we are really not allowed to have outside food at Busy unless there the scholar has some type of medical documentation supporting that. And so that's what we do except for the the milk. If um the um district substitution is the um soy milk and if they need that, the parents just need to sign that. It doesn't really need the medical documentation. It's the food. >> Thank you >> to the chair. >> You're welcome. >> Yes. >> Um Dr. Kelly Wash, um thank you so much to you and your team and
049and Dr. Green and her team as well to see the movement and the sustainability that you now um are showing through um the the different programs that you offer. It's really good to see enrollment numbers are up and I'm glad to hear, Dr. Green, that we now are building a bridge to make sure that our scholars stay in the district. So, thank you for all of your work. >> Thank you. I appreciate everyone. changing the culture >> trying to but yes it with um enrollment it's just kind of like step by step we need to kind of redo our enrollment packet um make sure that our forms are correct and um that we're documenting everything that we do so that if anyone comes in we have all of the information and the data that we
050need any additional questions All right. Okay. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> Does that conclude her? >> That concludes the report of the superintendent. >> Thank you. For the record, I want to um I say announce Leslie Smith Thomas at 7:42. Okay. Public participation. If you wish to address the board regarding a school related issue that has not yet been resolved by school administration, please submit a comment card immediately. Comments are limited to three minutes per individual. As a matter of fairness, speakers with speakers with complaints against individuals are asked not to mention any persons by name. Complaints concerning employees pertain to board policy 9130 should be brought to the attention of the school principles or other administrators before coming to the board of education. Your cooperation is appreciated. Miss Marie Banks, please. I
051want to say good morning, but good evening everyone. Marie Banks, 29506 Andover Boulevard, Firmington Hills, Michigan. Um, just want to speak to you briefly. Um, I always come up and talk about university and I will do that until the last one graduates or even after. Um, last month, uh, the last day of the month, university had a Black History Month program and I snuck in and and and got to see my daughter dance. And when I was there, it was a quick reminder of why I love university. I hate that Miss Barrett left, cuz she was the MC. and the cultural experience. Like these kids, they won't even really understand it until they go outside of their comfort zone and realize the confidence that they've gained just from even the presentation on the different hairstyles,
052the different types of dance that they saw and the proudeness of what they would gain just from seeing it on display at their school. To all the parents that are thinking about where you're going to send your child to school, think about where your child is going to be celebrated. Think about where your child is going to be educated. My daughter is at Case Western Reserve University. It's a top 25 premed program in the country. She is a student athlete uh representative for the fresh for her freshman class and is doing well and is still saying in her second semester I learned this in AP seminar I learned this in calc in in AP calculus so what I'm saying to you all that as we transition to our new building to our new facilities that
053we stay as a community our admin has been communicating that meeting that was lifted up. That was a monthly meeting that our admin has every month and she invited James Jackson to come and the superintendent to come to that meeting. They're working very hard. This month we're having a university campus night where it's open to all university families. people who are interested in university, you all need to come out and see what we have before somebody else comes in and we won't even recognize the school in five years. And so as we are really trying to maintain or even increase our enrollment, let's put our resources in our academics and our sports and our arts and even maintain it while we're in a temporary. We have to. If that costs us more money, let's step
054out on faith. The budget might not be balanced, but we got to spend it to keep it. I know. I know it's tough, but we got to do it. Thank you to everybody. >> Thank you. >> Miss Samuel, please state your name and address for the record, please. >> Hello, Marquita Samuel. Um, my address is 12, sorry, 21440. I'm about to give my business address Glenn Morris Street, Southfield 48076. Um, so the question that I had for the district, does the district have a foundation or a nonprofit within its for partnerships? >> Board President, as if I may not to address public participation because our board policy prohibits us from addressing public participation in real time. Got it. Um, however, our chief of staff is in the audience and I'm sure that he will be
055more than happy to uh speak to you regarding the reestablishment of the district's foundation um in real time. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you, superintendent, for not responding to >> one more. Okay. Um, Miss Red, if you can please state your name and address for the record, please. Good evening everyone. My name is Lauren Red. My address is 27501 Morningside, Lether Village, Michigan 48076. My question is um I'm sure it'll be a answered tonight, but if there can be a status provided on the hiring of the new head coach for the football team. There was a meeting scheduled to meet the new coach yesterday and it was cancelled. Um there is also concern with um conditioning being held for the students and if they're um the supervision without a a coach in
056place. >> Thank you so much for president again not to respond to any public participation in real time. However, we will draft a correspondence to all of our uh student athletes and their parents tomorrow regarding the changes that just occurred within the last 24 hours. So, we are trying to get that out to our families in real time, but we have had a recent development again within the last 24 hours and we will have something drafted for them. >> Thank you, Dr. Green. >> We don't have any more, did we, Miss? >> Yep. Okay. No additional All right, action items. Trustees, is there a motion to approve our minutes from January 27th from our special board meeting and study session as well as the minutes from our special board meeting and close session? >> So
057moved. >> Support. >> It has been moved and supported questions hearing none. We're secretary, would you please call for the vote? >> Trusty Thomas, >> yes. >> Myself, yes. Trusty Johnson, >> yes. >> Trusty Bell, >> yes. >> Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty, yes. >> Motion carried. Information items. >> Thank you, board president. The first information item, trustees, uh, will be tabled. We learned some new information regarding the ENT fire suppression line testing. more specifically the fire hydrant replacement portion of it. So we are going to uh have to table that until the next study session or the very next meeting that we have. So we will bring that back before you um in two weeks. Uh moving along, we do have joining us this evening that of Miss Kelly with an I uh Ferguson
058representing Barney Mallow. She's going to speak to us regarding 6457, 6458, 6459, and 6460. All of which are site updates at Bernie and Thompson. The hard tile recommendation after going out for RFP, the site upgrades at Thompson, the Levy site upgrades, and the Bernie site upgrades. So, three different site upgrades and one is a hard tile recommendation of which I believe the lowest bidder is being recommended in all four categories. >> That is correct. >> Um, good evening everybody. Welcome. Welcome. >> Hi. Um, I'm just here once again to ask for um board approval to move forward with the recommended low biders for these four bid categories beginning with the Bernie K8 hard tile package. As you guys currently know, we are under construction at Bernie. It's it's actually looking really good. I was there
059today and it's it's so beautiful. Um, this hard tile, which is ceramic tile, which will go in a lot of different places, the gymnasiums, the restrooms, and it's just going to make you guys feel like a million bucks. Our low bidder actually is does not cost a million bucks. Our low bidder actually came in under the estimate. So, that's really good for us. So, we are asking for approval for that. Um, and as Dr. Green mentioned the next three are for Thompson, Levy, and Bernie site upgrades. What these site upgrades do are similar to what we're going to be doing at Allard this summer is they're going to help replace um some of the parking lots so that way you'll have a nice smooth paved parking lot, but most importantly, you also have proper drainage.
060So, I know I was once again I was at Bernie today and just driving around. I think some people were going to go and practice on the baseball field, um a a club or some sort, and you could see a little bit of the ponding of the water. So, we want to get that nice and cleaned up so that when you guys come back to school in the fall, everything is a-ok. Okay. And as she mentioned, all three of those low bidters are the ones that we are recommending. Are there any questions? >> It is. Site work's expensive, but it lasts a long time >> and that's important to lift for our community. Um, people don't see site work, they see the beautiful buildings, but the site work is the equivalent of no longer having
061potholes when we're driving across the parking lots and or not having the ponds in the parking lot from the the uh water settling um which can then cause foundational issues on our campuses as well. So all of this is extremely important relative to the projects that we have and that were approved in the 2022 bond package. >> Correct. >> Trustees, do we have any questions? President. >> Yes. >> Hi, Kelly with the I. >> Hello. >> Hi. Um I know you're just getting going with this, but um do you have a time that it's going to take to do all these projects? >> Yes, I do. So for Bernie and Levy, because those campuses are vacant currently right now, we do plan on having the site work contractors start relatively quickly. Um I actually had
062a call this morning from the Levy um contractor, which is Jaclyn Contracting, and they wanted to start tomorrow. So I said, "Hold off, hold your horses. We're going to start, but not too soon." But both um all three projects are planned and anticipated to be completed prior to August 24th which is the first day of school. So you guys are going to come in to a nice clean site. >> However, we cannot start until we have proper approval. >> Correct. >> Through the chair. >> I have a question about the material. Yes. Because oftent times we've been >> repaving and filling the potholes. So will this be done with something that's has a longer sustainability? the um what they're going to use to do it. >> Yes. Um they are we have a lot of
063the details for the paving in particular meet the Oakland County code requirements. So there is going to be um a um I don't remember the exact there's going to be a stone base which is going to help with that stability as well as um repaving of the top. I think there's two courses of repaving on top of that. Um, one thing that's nice as we mentioned for that under drainage system is a lot of that those cracks and potholes and um, deterioration are because of a lot of the existing site storm lines are in bad condition and so they're causing a lot of the cracking to occur. So at all three schools we're going to be putting in an under drainage system, but it's a system that is going to be um, not visible to
064everybody. You could either have under drainage or you could have a pond. But this way, we're allowing the community to be able to have more access to more landscaped areas. So, you won't have to worry about fencing around something. Um, people traveling and getting in the pond is it's going to be nice and good. >> Are there any additional questions? I'd like to hear about asphalt that's going to look good. We can't see it. This This is a lot of cost. We know it's bond dollars, but I'm glad that you lifted that, Dr. green because we're currently driving through ponds and potholes at one of our schools. Lots of ponds and potholes. >> We are working to get those filled as we speak. >> Some of them, yes, some of those potholes were filled earlier
065this week. We started filling those on Monday. Different campus, not the three that you referenced. >> Thank you. Okay, >> parents, please stay off the sidewalk. One last thing I forgot you reminded me um with that at all three of these schools uh at all at Bernie Atler I'm sorry Bernie Thompson and Levy we are also going to be replacing the exterior concrete pad right outside of all the exterior doors. So sometimes you know the heave that's not stable but we're going to make it nice and flat and ADA compliant so that way we're good there too. So it's going to be a nice path around for people to walk and to ride and all that good stuff or roll I should say not ride. Thank you so much. Dr. Green, are you asking for
066these items to be actionable? >> It's like the wish of the board. The teams are ready to work and we would like to take advantage of getting them on site as soon as possible. >> Trustees, is there a motion to make reports 6457, 6458, and 6459, and 6460 actionable tonight? >> So moved. support. >> It has been moved and supported. Any questions? >> Board President, for uh clarification on Robert's rules, are is the motion to simply make it actionable or are you asking to open and approve? >> Open and approve report 65. >> Trusty Johnson, are you willing to amend? Okay, >> you're willing to Okay, thank you. >> Support. >> It's been properly moved and supported. Any questions? Hearing none, board secretary, will you call for the vote? It's hot in here. Anybody else?
067Okay. All right. >> Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Please call the contractor back and tell them they can start tomorrow. But then again, it's supposed to snow on Thursday, so they may need to hold off. >> I am sorry. Sorry, audience. It is >> scheduled to snow. >> Okay. Um, board president, the next item for information is that of technology designer. And yes, um, we, if you may recall, we separated our professional services with our previous tech designer a few months ago that was working on the bond and we went back to seek other professional services or other professional vendors to continue the work. um working closely with Oakland schools and with our legal team, we have identified a very reputable company to come in and continue the work um moving
068forward and to correct some of the wrongs that the previous company um did um or designed improperly for what our district needed. So, I'm not going to say they did something wrong. Please correct that for the minutes. they improperly designed some of the things that we needed here in the district. So, that having been said, again, we went back out, we found um a company that we are completely confident, as is Oakland Schools and Plant Moran Real Point. This is the recommendation of Plant Moran Realoint. You will see it in writing in your binder. Um the price point is the equivalent of what we were paying the previous designer. So this is aligned with what was budgeted in our PQ app and the 2022 bond application. >> Trustees, do we have any questions? >> Um
069what to share? What exactly are they designing? >> So they designed the technology that provides the security for our schools. For example, you see us with the ID badges. So when we come into the buildings, we can use our ID badges versus that of hard keys. So those are called strike pads. They design the security features. They don't design the technology that you are accustomed to as a scholar. The computers and the Chromebooks and all of those things. Those are separate and come from a different entity. They are designing the security systems, the cameras, all things technology that will provide you with a safe a safe learning environment as you move forward. It looks like we have another question. Trustees, any additional questions >> through the chair? My question is, um, you indicated that there
070were designs that weren't in line with what the district needed. Um, what I want to know is did we lose any time and revenue from going down that path and now we're course correcting? >> We did not. >> If so, how much? We did not lose any revenue thanks to our amazing IT team that is in our district uh led by Allison Der. They stepped up and carried the weight of the technology design throughout the process. Um timewise I think we are doing good. There are a couple schools we've had to go back and make some midcourse corrections on. uh one of which was Stephvenson because their strike pad wasn't working and they had to use a hard key to get out of the main office. That has been corrected as of this week. So,
071there are some pieces that we did have to go back and correct. Um nothing that was earthshattering but more of an inconvenience for some of our schools and we're grateful that they allowed us the time to get those things done. But as of today or as of Monday and uh Trusty Holloway saw some of the IDS people there at the study session before they were even approved they jumped in and started helping us get those things done. So we're grateful for their support. >> Thank you. >> Any additional questions trustees? >> Dr. Green, are you asking that we open and approve report 6461? >> If it is the pleasure of the board. Trustees, is there a motion to open and approve report 6461? >> So moved. >> It has been moved and supported. Are there
072any additional questions? >> Hearing none. Board secretary, would you please call for the vote? >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Hay. >> Yes. >> Trusty Johnson. >> Yes. Thomas >> motion carried. >> That is all that I have for information items. Board President, >> thank you. Superintendent Green, we are going to move on to our financial report and monthly bill dispersement. Trustees, we all received those. We had not received any questions regarding the monthly um bill dispersement or financial report. Are there any question? Okay, >> great. Moving on. For the good of the order, um I will start with um first saying being careful of opening emails these days and clicking on links. Just a reminder to be very very very careful. Um, I also wanted to say thank you
073to the board members. I have noticed Miss Foster is Miss Foster is really busy scheduling people for um, March for Reading Month. So, our board has been out at the different schools. We still have time. Don't get mad. Every school we're coming around. Um, but I am thankful and grateful for a board that's out um, for March for Reading Month. Um, Trustee Holloway lifted that at our last meeting. So, everyone is doing out our superintendent um because I talk to her every day. She's normally running in and out of a school. So, I'm sure um she's probably hit them all once already, but I just want to say thank you. Um >> I will be at all of them, but not I'm not quite there yet. >> So, I just wanted to say thank you
074to the board um and the staff that's going around reading um because it is important. And after being in the schools, thank you to all of our teachers. I know it's not teacher appreciation month, but you're appreciated every month. And we just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you for working so hard um and helping our scholars to be better. Um and that's all I have. Anyone else for the good of the order? All right. Future meetings. Wednesday, March 11th, tomorrow. There is no school tomorrow. Repeat after me. No school tomorrow. Professional development nor students. Let me students students students till summer is back there like don't you say that listen I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry her and Miss Lysy they was about to jump me I'm sorry guys no students tomorrow
075no scholars tomorrow it is professional development day and say that again >> no professional development >> okay yes and our VP wanted me to make sure I said professional development professional development uh and then tomorrow we have our state of the district at Southfield High School at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, the state of the district. And then Tuesday, March the 24th, we have a special board meeting and study session here at 6:00. Monday, March the 30th through April the 3, we have spring recess. No school for everybody. No school, no school, spring recess. And then Tuesday, April the 14th, we have our regular board meeting back here at 7 o'clock. Meeting adjourned at